Southeastern Louisiana University

Columbia Theatre features Gentlemen Prefer Blondes Feb. 18

Contact: Christina Chapple

2/9/06

CAPTIONS …

(picture #1) GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES – Christina Wolfe as Lorelei Lee and Lindsey Clayton as her pal Dorothy star in the Windwood Productions’ “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,” coming to Southeastern Louisiana University’s Columbia Theatre for the Performing Arts on Feb. 18. For information and tickets, call 985-543-4371 or visit columbiatheatre.org.

(pictures #2, 3) DIAMONDS ARE A GIRL’S BEST FRIEND – Christina Wolfe as zany gold-digger Lorelei Lee will perform the showstopper “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” in the musical “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” at Southeastern Louisiana University’s Columbia Theatre for the Performing Arts on Feb. 18. Curtain time is 7:30 p.m. at the downtown Hammond theater.

       HAMMOND – “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,” the zany musical adventures of chorus girl Lorelei Lee, is coming to Southeastern Louisiana University’s Columbia Theatre for the Performing Arts on Feb. 18.

       Curtain time for this latest production of the Columbia’s 2005-06 season is 7:30 p.m. at the downtown Hammond theater.

       “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” revolves around the unforgettable Lorelei, a role made famous on Broadway by Carol Channing in 1949 and on screen by Marilyn Monroe in 1953. Set in the Roaring Twenties, “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” chronicles the madcap antics of this fun-loving and hedonistic gold-digger and her sail aboard the “Ile de France” to Paris with her chum Dorothy Shaw.

       The score is packed with lively, chipper melodies neatly evoking the fancy-free age of the late 1920s. Tuneful melodies such as "A Little Girl From Little Rock," "I Love What I'm Doing," "Just A Kiss Apart," "Bye Bye Baby," "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes," "I'm A Tingle, I'm Aglow," and the show-stopping "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend" are just a few of the gems from the collaboration of Jule Styne (“Gypsy,” “Funny Girl,” “Sugar”) and lyricist Leo Robin.

       Famed “New York Times” critic Brooks Atkinson said of the musical, “Every part of it is alive and abundantly enter­taining. And above it all totters Lorelei, who is batting her eyes, murdering the English language and carrying the whole golden world along by her sheer audacity. ‘Gentlemen Prefer Blondes’ was always funny. It is even funnier now.”

       “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” is produced by Windwood Productions, which has also brought to the Columbia shows such as “Barry Manilow's Copacabana,” “The Unsinkable Molly Brown” and last year’s popular “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.”

       “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” drew enthusiastic acclaim for director and choreographer Paula Hammons Sloan, who returns to direct and choreograph “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.”

       Tickets for “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” are available online at columbiatheatre.org and at the Columbia box office, 220 E. Thomas Street, 985-543-4371. Tickets are $35, Orchestra 1 and Loge; $30, Orchestra 2 and Balcony 1; $24, Orchestra 3 and Balcony 2. Box office hours are noon-5 p.m., weekdays.