The Skylight Theatre Company presents “Bronco Billy – The Musical.”
Book by Dennis Hackin
Music and Lyrics by Chip Rosenbloom, John Torres
Additional Lyrics by Michele Brourman
Directed by Hunter Bird
Running July May 18 through July 21st.
The Skylight Theatre, 1816 1/2 N Vermont Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90027
This is a brand new musical from the brilliant mind of novelist, screenwriter, playwright and producer Dennis Hackin.
He wrote the original film, a love letter to his parents who always wanted to be cowboys and moved their family from Chicago to Arizona to live out their dreams.
Bringing this story to us as a musical is another kind of dream altogether. It has a gorgeous retro feel, set in the 70s and it follows the adventures of a vaudeville troupe of actors gathered together around the star of the show, Bronco Billy, an orphan from Brooklyn who was inspired by the TV heroes of his scattered childhood and who dreams of taking them all to Hollywood to win a contest and have their very own TV show.
They are a glorious group of misfits and ex-cons looking for a second chance and some true love. They stumble across an heiress on the run from her murderous stepmother and the story is set and off we go on this wonderful, hilarious and magical adventure.
The songs are many and absolutely brilliant. The story is madcap, fun and hilarious, and all these disparate characters are so beautifully portrayed by this group of astoundingly talented actors that we are invested in them all at the first. There are some truly spectacular villains and boy do they have fun with their extremely dastardly intentions!
So the story is excellent, the characters wonderful and the songs stupendous. Did I leave anything out? I just can’t tell you how much fun I had at this show! The set is magical too, everything adapting seamlessly from one scene to the next, boxes becoming cars, wardrobes becoming doorways, becoming tables, becoming fire pits, all of it masterful and truly another character in the show. The wardrobe too is excellent, every attention to detail, in fact, was perfection.
This was my first time at The Skylight Theatre in Los Feliz. It’s a beautiful space, full of life and energy and it just felt like the perfect place for a show like this. The music is played by a live band, and what a band indeed! They were fantastic, all gorgeous guitars and saxophones and beautiful basses and keys and flutes and on and on…amazing musicians!! The music makes the show of course, the actors voices were Broadway perfect…really. If you have a soul you will get to this show as quickly as you can, I have told everyone I know they have to go…it’s just that good!!!
I can’t single any one performance out because they are all so brilliant. Don’t find an excuse not to see this amazing show! Don’t dawdle either, the show is only on until July 21st. After that I can only presume they will be Broadway bound!
Love, love, loved it!!!
http://skylighttheatre.org/event/bronco-billy-the-musical/
Based on the Warner Bros. Motion Picture written by Dennis E. Hackin
By special arrangement with Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures
Musical Director: Anthony Lucca
Choreographer: Janet Roston
Produced by Gary Grossman, Tony Abatemarco
Directed by Hunter Bird
Cast:
Eric B. Anthony, Michele Azar, Benai Boyd, Marc Cardiff, Randy Charleville, Fatima El-Bashir, Kyle Frattini, Bella Hicks, Amanda Leigh Jerry, Chris M Kauffmann, Anthony Marciona, Jamie Mills, Pat Towne, Michael Uribes,
DESIGNERS
Scenic Design: John Iacovelli
Costume Design: Ann Closs-Farley
Lighting Design: Brian Gale
Sound Design: Cricket S. Meyers, Daniel Tator
Projection Design: David Murakami
Properties Design: Kevin Williams
PRODUCTION STAFF
Arrangements/Orchestrations: David O
Casting: Michael Donovan
Fight Choregraphy: Matt Franta
Associate Fight Coordination: Brandon Pugmire
Public Relations: Judith Borne
Marketing: Patty Onagan
Company Manager: Ashley Felkner
Production Stage Manager: Christopher Hoffman
Stage Managers: Ben Altman
Assistant Stage Manager/Technical Direction: Garrett Crouch, Matt Gardner
Associate Producer: Danny Hackin
Logo Art: Meat and Potatoes
Graphic Design: Guillermo Perez