Because audiences have different ideas of what is suitable for our younger patrons,
the following information is provided to assist you with this decision.

South Pacific

The Secret Garden

Steel Magnolias

Play It By Heart

The Music Man

Rodgers & Hammerstein's  

SOUTH PACIFIC

In Issaquah:
September 15 - October 24, 2004
(on sale: August 18, 2004)

In Everett:
October 29 - November 14, 2004  
(on sale: September 29, 2004)

Versions available to preview: There is a 1958 film version available (rated G), featuring Rossano Brazzi as Emile de Becque, Mitzi Gaynor as Nellie Forbush, and John Kerr as Lt. Joseph Cable., as well as a 2001 TV version (available on DVD, not rated) featuring Glenn Close and Harry Connick Jr.

Our production length: TBD

Synopsis: Written in 1949 and set on an island in the South Pacific during World War II, Rodgers and Hammerstein's groundbreaking musical classic follows the love of plantation owner Emile de Becque for the spirited Navy nurse Nellie Forbush, and the love of Lt. Joseph Cable (young Marine on a secret mission) for the young Liat, a native girl. The love stories center on Nellie and Cable's attempts to overcome their prejudices and overlook embedded attitudes ("You've Got to be Carefully Taught") that are hindering their romances. Side plots include singing sailors who long for the company of women ("There is Nothin' Like a Dame"), while they're stuck in the waiting time of the war.

Sexual content: implied sex, man dresses in women's clothing (in a comedic song), sexual references in lyrics, women spoken of as dancing without tops on, "recreation" referred to.

Language: Bloody Mary repeatedly says "stingy bastards." Other words: "damn" and "hell" are used. The phrase "lick the Japs" is used to refer to defeating the enemy.

Substances: drinking and smoking, a character admitting to being drunk.

Violence: general WWII context, character dies (not on stage).

In Issaquah:
November 10, 2004 - January 2, 2005
(on sale: October 6, 2004)

In Everett:
January 7 - 23, 2005
(on sale: October 20, 2004)

Versions available to preview: The musical is based on the popular children's book of the same name, by Frances Hodgson Burnett, who also wrote A Little Princess . There are many film versions of the book, including the 1987 Hallmark Hall of Fame version (rated PG), and the 1993 screen version (rated G).

Our production length: Act I: 1:10, Act II: 1:08, with a 15 minute intermission.

Synopsis: From the beloved book comes one of Broadway's most ravishing musicals. After being orphaned by a cholera epidemic in India , young Mary Lennox is sent to England to live with her widower uncle. Still grieving for his wife Lily who died ten years earlier during childbirth, and distraught over the condition of his bedridden son, Archibald casts a dark shadow over the manor. The show is often stormy and gloomy at the beginning, and features the ghosts of Mary's parents and others from India , as well as Lily. The show begins in India , with a choreographed version of the deaths of Mary's parents, staged like a game, with a red handkerchief indicating someone's death. Throughout the show, the spirits of the dead appear on stage and sing and interact with the characters. When Mary discovers her aunt's neglected garden, she sets about restoring it to life...and soon love blooms anew. This tale of hope and healing, set to a gorgeous score, promises breathtaking, inspiring entertainment for the entire family.

Sexual content: None.

Language: Characters shout at one another, anger and arguments, between adults, the children, and from adults to children.

Substances: One character is given a shot to calm him down.

Violence: None done to anyone, but the children have tantrums.

Other: How people deal with the death of a loved one is a central theme of this show.

About Our Production: The theatrical adaptation of the beloved book adds a new element. The characters from the novel are joined in the musical by ghosts, who help bring the past to life on stage and guide the living characters through the story. The extended explanation below is provided to help your entire family to better understand and enjoy the production.

The show opens with Lily, a beautiful woman in a blue dress, singing in a tree.

A chanting Fakir (a snake charmer) then appears, which shows us we're now in India , where young Mary Lennox lives with her parents.

Her father, an officer in the British Army, is holding a cocktail party. When the adults at the cocktail party begin to take ill, Albert finds Mary and rushes her to bed. Mary then has a nightmare in which the adults, dancing around her bed, one by one fall ill and die.

When Mary wakes up from her nightmare, she learns from two army officers that everyone at the party, including her mother and father, have indeed died of cholera.

She is taken to live with her Uncle Archibald in Yorkshire , in the north of England . She is followed there by ghosts of those who died in India , including her mother and father. They are following her to look after her, to help her recover from the loss of her parents, and to help her be strong in a difficult time.

England is drab, and the living people there usually wear dark clothing. The ghosts, on the other hand, are colorful and vibrant. Some of the ghosts are English people, in fine dresses and uniforms. Two of the ghosts, the Fakir and the Ayah (Mary's nanny) are Indian, dressed in Indian fabrics.

Mary (and the ghosts) discover a dark, sad house. Her Uncle Archibald is also grieving a loss-the death of his wife, Lily, the beautiful woman in the blue dress we saw singing in a tree. The ghost of Lily follows Archibald just as the ghosts from India follow Mary-trying to help him recover from his grief. The ghosts use different ways to help the living find their way-sometimes they "haunt" them or scare them, sometimes they reach out to try to comfort them.

Always the ghosts are trying to help the living to recover, to live fully, and they will not leave until their mission is accomplished.

As Mary learns more about the house, and its secrets, the ghosts will help her to help the troubled living who live there...eventually leading her to the secret garden.

STEEL MAGNOLIAS

In Issaquah:
January 19 - February 27, 2005
(on sale: December 8, 2004)

In Everett:
March 4 - 20, 2005
(on sale: December 22, 2004)

Versions available to preview: The award winning 1989 film version (rated PG), featuring Sally Field, Dolly Parton, Daryl Hannah, Olympia Dukakis, and Julia Roberts, is based on the play, but the play does not feature the men, it is the women only.

Our production length: Act I is one hour ten minutes, Act II is fifty minutes. There is one fifteen minute intermission.

Synopsis: Full of life and brimming with laughter, Robert Harling's beloved play (like the award-winning movie that followed it) weaves wit, wisdom, and winning drama into a shining celebration of the incomparable, indomitable female spirit. Through the joys of weddings to the woes of marriage to sorest trials a woman can face, six friends sit in a Louisiana beauty shop and gossip and giggle and give each other the steely resolve they need to survive the best and worst life can bring. Characters include the diabetic Shelby , her upcoming wedding and desire to have children (despite the risks), quirky newcomer Annelle who has a suspicious past (involving a husband who ran off), the mean-spirited Ouiser.

Sexual content: Sexual orientation of relatives is discussed.

Language: name calling, some threats, all in humor: "go to hell," "piss God off," "pig from hell," are each said once, and "damn" is said twice.

Substances: Valium is mentioned, and characters are gossiped about as having been "high."

Violence: a gun briefly appears on stage, but is not used.

In Issaquah:
March 16 - April 24, 2005

In Everett:
April 29 - May 15, 2005

Please note: this guide contains major plot spoilers.
Play It By Heart is a new musical; therefore, the information provided below is subject to change.

Versions available to preview: As this is an original work, there is no version available to preview. The script is available at the Box Office for you to read. Samples of the music are available here.

Production length: Act I is one hour twenty minutes, Act II is one hour seven minutes. There is one fifteen minute intermission.

Production notes: Strobe Effect Lights are used during the Performance. A Haze/Fog Effect is used during the Performance.

Sound Note: The music in this production is amplified. Ear plugs available from House Management.

Synopsis:
Play It By Heart opens with a whirlwind country tour in which we follow the rising career of Jeannine Jasper: the reigning Queen of Country Music. Jeannine dazzles audiences with her crowd-pleasing tunes and commanding stage presence. With the help of the head of her record label, Lyle, supportive father Buck and meddling, but well-intentioned mother Naomi, Jeannine has spent the last 20 years climbing to the top of Country Music charts. Two decades on the road, however, has taken its toll, and Jeannine returns backstage exhausted from her most recent tour stop. She soon learns that her record company, dissatisfied with her music, has brought in the slick-talking, money-minded record executive, Ari Gold, to give Jeannine's traditional country music a modern spin.

Jeannine, dedicated to her personal music style, resists Ari's attempt to transform her life's work. And, when her high school sweetheart and lost love, Billy Tucker, waltzes back into her life, Jeannine decides to leave the music business behind. Jeannine's up-and-coming country pop-star sister, Jamie Lynn, however, has been waiting in the wings, watching as the Jasper family forgot its youngest member in pursuit of Jeannine's stardom. As Jamie Lynn prepares to forge her own way, she signs a recording contract with Ari. However, a deeply buried family secret will change everything as it threatens to tear the Jasper family apart.

Sexual content:
Character has seductive moment onstage with a slightly revealing robe; sex/pregnancy out of wedlock; underage sex, teen pregnancy; song lyric: "we won't have far to go, to go too far this time;" suggestive choreography; characters are talked about as being drunk and high and "unconscious or in bed with some new guy;" "Great, I'll go pimpin'" (character's reply to being told to drive a Cadillac or Lincoln); mention of a television program where a woman's breasts explode; character said to have run around "with her skirt up in the air"; talk of "havin' relations"

Language:
Swear words, etc:
Forms of oh my god, my god, god, or dear Lord: multiple times
Damn, damnit: multiple times
Hell (as in "where the hell have you been?" and in song lyrics): multiple times
Devil (as in "trying like the devil" and in song lyrics): multiple times

Names called : drunk slut; bastard; "smarmy little chippie;" "ignorant, inbred hick;" "who's your daddy?"

Substances: One character is a "recovering alcoholic;" alcohol and drug abuse is alluded to; alcohol, cigarettes, and prescription pills are consumed on stage, including one character who becomes highly intoxicated in an amusing "hazing" situation; character says "I was nine before I realized that Jack Daniels wasn't actually my uncle;" a character goes to a "spa" (rehab) to recover; characters are talked about as being tipsy; drunk and high, or alternately, sober; someone described as looking like "a coke dealer who bought a dude ranch"; one character says about another "you can't so much as get outta bed without a pick-me-up and you can't get to sleep at night without your little helpers either."

Violence: Character grabs the arm of another in an argument; one on stage fist fight: a character punches another and knocks him out.

Other (contains plot spoilers): Character mentions having lost two babies; character makes menacing and insinuating comments and threatens blackmail, then is himself blackmailed; character discovers he has a child, child discovers the people she called "mom and dad" are actually her grandparents-and her "sister" is her mother.

Meredith Willson's  
THE MUSIC MAN

In Issaquah:

May 11 - June 26, 2005

(on sale: April 6, 2005)

In Everett:
July 8 -24, 2005
(on sale: April 20, 2005)


Versions available to preview: The 1962 film version (rated G), features the incomparable Robert Preston, Shirley Jones, and a young Ron Howard. In 2003 there was a made for TV version (rated G) with Matthew Broderick and Kristin Chenoweth, which is available on DVD.

Our production length: Act I is one hour ten minutes, Act II is 45 minutes. There is one fifteen minute intermission.

Synopsis: This rousing classic will set every toe tapping with beloved tunes like "Seventy-Six Trombones," "Lida Rose," "Trouble" and "'Till There Was You." Harold Hill comes to River City to sell the town on the dangers of pool and the virtues of music, plying their hearts in hopes of pocketing their cash. The clever but cloistered town librarian sees right through this flim-flam man, and sets about debunking his scam. But, of course, neither of them expects to fall in love... Meredith Willson's masterwork is the quintessential American musical.

Sexual content: "Dirty books" are referenced (in this case meaning Chaucer, Balzac, and so on). Corsets mentioned. A character kisses a strange man to distract him. Sexual innuendo ala 1950s.

Language: One teen aged girl repeatedly says "Ye gods." "Hussy" used in a song. Threat by a father to his daughter's boyfriend: "I'll by God horsewhip you till Hell won't have it again."

Substances: None of note.

Violence: One character tries to slap another and misses, hitting another character. One character threatens to kill another when he badmouths someone.