Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
Opens 2008 Woodminster Season

Tickets on Sale Now – Discounts for children, seniors, groups, season ticket/flex pass holders

June 13, 2008 - Oakland, CA -- Producers Associates, Inc. announces that Seven Brides for Seven Brothers will open the 42nd season of the Woodminster Summer Musicals. Opening on Friday, July 11, and playing two weekends, this lively dance-rich musical is based on the 1954 MGM film starring Howard Keel and Jane Powell. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers will be performed on July 11, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19, and 20. All performances are at 8 p.m. in historical Woodminster Amphitheater, in Oakland’s Joaquin Miller Park, 3300 Joaquin Miller Blvd.

Tickets for Woodminster shows range from $23 to $38, with children and seniors receiving a $2 discount. Season tickets for all three shows are also available, and provide about a 15% discount over the single ticket prices. In addition, Woodminster’s KIDS COME FREE program allows children 16 and younger to attend for free with paying adults (limitations apply.) Also, groups of 25 and more can purchase blocks of seats for half price, providing an affordable outing or a delightful fundraiser for a church or service group, neighborhood association, or any other group. For information about tickets, check www.woodminster.com or call 510-531-9597.

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers is a musical adaptation of a Stephen Vincent Benét short story, The Sobbin’ Women, which in turn is based on an ancient Roman legend, The Rape of the Sabine Women. In this version seven young men living in squalor under one roof in an isolated mountain camp somewhere high up in the Cascade Mountains of Oregon, circa 1850, decide they need the touch of femininity to help them mend their wild ways. Known as the wildest bunch of brutes around those parts, the Pontipee Brothers, led by Adam, the eldest, have been barred from town or going anywhere near the town's young women. One day in the restaurant, though, Adam comes upon the beautiful and feisty Milly and convinces her to marry him almost immediately. No time for a honeymoon, Milly is surprised to discover that Adam has six brothers, all living in the Pontipee home without any semblance of order or decorum. In self-defense, she goes about taming them amidst many adventures and squabbles. Eventually, the brothers find brides in their own unusual fashion, and all are married "real legal-like" during a rousing finale.

The script is by Lawrence Kasha & David Landay, with lyrics by Johnny Mercer and music by Gene de Paul. New songs for the stage musical are by Al Kasha & Joel Hirschhorn. The Woodminster production will be directed by Joel Schlader, with choreography by Alex Sanchez. Music direction is by Kim and Dick Vetterli.

After Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, the 2008 season will continue with Seussical August 8-17, and The Pirates of Penzance September 5-14.

The Woodminster Summer Musicals is winner of Oakland Magazine’s 2008 Readers’ Choice Award for best Theater Company. The shows are performed under the stars at Woodminster Amphitheater, an open-air performance facility in Joaquin Miller Park high in the Oakland Hills. The park's spectacular views and serene woodsy environment made it the perfect setting for the amphitheater, cascades, reflecting pool, and paths that were originally built as a WPA project in 1939-40. For many East Bay families, it is a long-standing summer tradition to enjoy a picnic in the park and then see a musical at Woodminster.

Producers Associates, Inc. was founded in 1967 by James and Harriet Schlader to provide affordable live summer family entertainment in the East Bay, and to foster a love of live theatre. For the last 42 years, the organization, in partnership with the Oakland Park and Rec Department, has been producing summer musicals at Woodminster Amphitheater. Today the Woodminster Summer Musicals sell more tickets per year than any other resident performing arts group in the city. Over 27,000 ticket holders passed through the Woodminster gates for the 21 performances of the 2007 season, including 3,000 children who attended for free under the organization’s Kids Come Free program. For more information about the 2008 season or history of the organization, visit www.woodminster.com.

- end press release -

Background information here.

Cast here.

Photos here.

Joven Calloway and Dane Paul Andres are two of the Pontipee brothers in Woodminster’s Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.

Todd Schlader (a brother) and Amy Leonard (a bride) in Woodminster’s Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.

Opening on Friday, July 11, and playing two weekends, this lively dance-rich musical is based on the 1954 MGM film starting Howard Keel and Jane Powell. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers will be performed on July 11, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19, and 20. All performances are at 8 p.m. in historical Woodminster Amphitheater, in Oakland’s Joaquin Miller Park, 3300 Joaquin Miller Blvd.