Woody Guthrie bound for Willows!

Award-winning musical celebrates life and travels of
famous folksinger across America in the 1930s.

Previews begin October 9 - running through November 12, 2006: tickets on sale now 

Concord, CA.  September 12, 2006 – The musical Woody Guthrie's American Song, based on the songs and writings of the beloved American folksinger, returns to the Willows Theatre in Concord from October 9 – November 12, 2006.  (First presented on our stage in 1997, this show was the write-in favorite of our audiences for this, our 30^th anniversary season.  Woody Guthrie's American Song offers a feast of the famous singer’s ballads, complemented by reminiscences drawn from his many essays, all delivered by a five-person ensemble.

The show was adapted by Peter Glazer, whose father, folksinger Tom Glazer, often performed with Guthrie in the '40s and '50s.  Glazer provides a very clear picture of the Guthrie persona: easygoing but direct, ironic but generally optimistic, humorous and capable of considerable passion.  Suitably tough and gritty, the show presents a drifter's view of Depression-era America, from the plains of Oklahoma to a boxcar heading west to a hobo camp in California and finally to New York City in the late '40s.

Woody Guthrie premiered at the American Stage Festival in New Hampshire in 1988 and has since been performed throughout the country.  Bay Area audiences first encountered it in a 1992 Berkeley Rep/San Jose Rep co-production which was honored by the Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle as Best Musical (an award that was shared with the Willows’ production of Smoke on the Mountain).  The show also received the Chicago area Joseph Jefferson Award for Best Musical Production in 1991.

The guitar-strumming, banjo-picking, bass-plucking company performs 23 of the prolific songwriter’s hits, from the dust-bowl ballads "So Long, It's Been Good to Know You" and "Oklahoma Hills," to the working man's laments "Ain't Gonna Be Treated This Way" and "End of My Line," to the news-related folk hymns "The Reuben James" and "Deportee," to the great American anthems "Bound for Glory" and "This Land is Your Land."

The cast members speak through the voice of Guthrie, drawn from his many essays and books, and become the people who inhabited the world he wrote about: dust-bowl refugees, migrant farm workers, Bowery bums, sailors, families, Americans.

Willows Theatre Artistic Director Richard Elliott will direct the show, which opens October 13 and runs through November 12, 2006, at the Willows Theatre, 1975 Diamond Boulevard, Concord, CA.  Preview performances begin October 9th.

 “The show is not so much a musical biography or songbook revue as it is an observation of primarily poor and working class America between the two world wars,” says director Elliott.

“The thing that amazes me about the material is the humor, hope and determination that Woody Guthrie found and wrote about amid pretty awful living and working conditions.  He was a folksinger in the truest sense – he brought news of the day to folks who couldn't read or didn't have access to newspapers or radios.  By singing folk songs, which are pretty simple and easy to remember, the message was spread throughout work camps and farms and small towns and big cities by other folksingers.”

[For PRODUCTION PHOTOS, click here]

THE CAST

Mujahid Abdul-Rashid* (Vallejo) will make his Willows Theatre debut as Man.  He has appeared with Sacramento Theater Company, Magic Theatre, Lorraine Hansberry Theater, and TheatreWorks.

Michael Ching* (Lafayette) returns to the Willows, and to the role of Second Young Man, which he performed in our 1997 production.  He has also appeared on the Willows stage in Gypsy and Teahouse of the August Moon.

Cindy Goldfield* (San Francisco) appears as Woman.  She returns to the Willows, having previously appeared in Over the Tavern, Merrily We Roll Along, Brimstone, In the Beginning, Moon Over Buffalo, Dames at Sea, and three different productions in the Nunsense series.

Sam Misner* (Petaluma) will make his Willows Theatre debut as First Young Man.  He has appeared with Abydos Theater in San Francisco, California Shakespeare Theater, Foothill Theatre Company and Shakespeare Santa Cruz.

Megan Smith (San Francisco) makes her Willows Theatre debut in the role of Young Woman.  She has appeared at San Jose Rep., California Shakespeare Theatre, TheatreWorks, Napa Valley Rep, and Foothill Theatre Company.

Members of the bluegrass group Spinning Wheel will provide the on-stage music, playing guitar, banjo, fiddle, mandolin, string bass and harmonica.

*Member, Actors’ Equity Association

PRODUCTION TEAM

As artistic director of the Willows since 1986, director Richard Elliott has overseen the company’s growth from a small community theater to a nationally recognized professional LORT theater company, recipient of two NEA grants for the commission of new outdoor drama, and has overseen the development and production of more than 15 new plays and musicals.  Elliott has directed over 100 productions, garnered two Shellie awards, and won the Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle director’s award for the West Coast premiere of Brimstone.  He has produced and directed the acclaimed musical John Muir’s Mountain Days, based on the life of environmentalist John Muir, and is currently overseeing the development of a newly commissioned piece, Sacagawea.  Mr. Elliott is a past recipient of the Arts Recognition Award from the Arts & Cultural Commission of Contra Costa County.  He holds a B.A. in Theatre from West Virginia Wesleyan College and a Master’s of Fine Arts from the University of Arizona, where he was a guest director in 2005.

The design team for Woody Guthrie’s American Song  includes Shaun Carroll (Properties & Set Dressing), Jackie Hill (Lighting Design), Adam Puglielli recreating the original design by Andrea Bechert (Scenery), and B.J. Bandy (Costumes).  Christine Butler* is production stage manager.

Ticket and Schedule Information

Tickets are $30-$35 with discounts for students (6-18), seniors (65+), and groups (10+).  To purchase tickets call (925) 798-1300 or visit order online.  Performances are Tuesday through Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday at 8:00 p.m., and Sunday at 7:30 p.m., with matinees Wednesdays at 3:30 p.m., Saturdays at 2 p.m., and Sundays at 3 p.m.

The Willows Theatre is located at 1975 Diamond Blvd. next to CompUSA and REI in the Willows Shopping Center in Concord, across the street from the Concord Hilton and one block east of the Willow Pass Road exit off Highway 680.

The Willows Theatre Company daytime box office is located at 1425 Gasoline Alley, Concord, at the corner of Bisso Lane, one block north of Concord Avenue.  The daytime box office hours are Monday-Saturday 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. and Sunday Noon-5 p.m.  The theatre box office and will-call window, located in the theater lobby, opens one hour prior to each performance. For more information call (925) 798-1300 or visit our Web site at www.willowstheatre.org.