50 YEARS AND COUNTING: A MUSICAL REVUE SET TO OPEN JUNE 27

VIRGINIA THEATRE FESTIVAL TO OPEN 50TH ANNIVERSARY SEASON WITH 50 YEARS AND COUNTING: A MUSICAL REVUE

VTF WELCOMES BACK LONGTIME ARTISTIC DIRECTOR ROBERT CHAPEL TO LEAD CAST OF FESTIVAL VETERANS PERFORMING PROGRAM OF FAVORITE SONGS FROM ITS FIRST HALF-CENTURY

50 Years and Counting: A Musical Revue Opening June 27 at Culbreth Theatre

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – DATE – 2024 – The Virginia Theatre Festival is inviting audiences on a golden journey down its own musical memory lane with the 50th Anniversary season-opening production, 50 Years and Counting: A Musical Revue.

This special limited-run celebration welcomes back the theatre’s longtime former Artistic Director Robert Chapel and a cast of 10 VTF alumni for a show that will feature some of musical theater’s most beloved and showstopping songs from musicals VTF has produced over the last half-century, including Guys and Dolls, My Fair Lady, Carousel, Ragtime, Spamalot, and more.

50 Years and Counting: A Musical Revue will run from June 27-30 at the Culbreth Theatre.

Founded in 1974, VTF is the Commonwealth’s longest-running professional summer theatre company and was formerly known as the Heritage Repertory Company, Heritage Repertory Theatre, and Heritage Theatre Festival before renaming as the Virginia Theatre Festival in 2022.

“When we began thinking about this special anniversary season, we knew that we wanted to do something to honor our past as we look toward our future,” said Virginia Theatre Festival Artistic Director Jenny Wales. “We thought there was no better way to do that than to bring back Bob Chapel and these ten extraordinary and audience-favorite performers who have graced our stages through the years.”

It is particularly appropriate to be filling the Culbreth Theatre with these songs, since Chapel was the first to introduce musicals to what is now VTF with his production of I Do, I Do in 1988. A tradition of at least one musical each summer was launched in 1993 with Chapel’s production of Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill.

The meaning of this invitation to return is not lost on Chapel. “It is a complete and wonderful honor to be asked to come back to do this particular project,” he said, “and especially because I get a chance to work with all of the actors in this cast who have worked with us over the years.”

Complete cast information available here.

Chapel was also heartened by the response he received when he reached out to potential cast members. “Every single person said yes,” he said. Nate Patten, a UVA alumnus who has gone on to a successful career as a music director in New York, did one better. “I said, ‘Nate, it’s Bob Chapel,’ and before I could say anything else he said, ‘The answer is yes!’”

If he had included every actor who wanted to come back, Chapel said, “the show would have been five hours long!” However, he added, all VTF actors are indeed being welcomed to come see the show and participate in a special reunion event over that weekend.

The same tough choices came when it was time for Chapel to select the songs for the show, which are carefully balanced between heartfelt ballads and more humorous fare.

50 Years and Counting: A Musical Revue will feature songs including “There’s No Business Like Show Business” (Annie Get Your Gun); “Luck Be a Lady” (Guys and Dolls); “Maria” (West Side Story); “God Bless the Child” (Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill); “I Could Have Danced All Night” (My Fair Lady); “Climb Every Mountain” (The Sound of Music); “Ain’t Misbehavin’” (Ain’t Misbehavin’); “Being Alive” (Company); “Heart” (Damn Yankees); “A Cockeyed Optimist” (South Pacific); and many more.

The 50th Anniversary Virginia Theatre Festival season will also include productions of Little Shop of Horrors (July 11-21 in the Culbreth Theatre) and The 39 Steps (July 25-August 4 in the Ruth Caplin Theatre). Tickets for the 2024 season will go on sale on Thursday, June 6.

The Virginia Theatre Festival is a program of the University of Virginia, with support from the Office of the Executive Vice President and the Provost, Vice Provost for the Arts, The Caplin Foundation, The Thomas and Carolyn Witt Foundation, College and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and Department of Drama. The 2024 Virginia Theatre Festival is also supported by a generous grant from The Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation.

50 Years and Counting: A Musical Revue is supported by a generous grant from The Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation. This show is also presented by ArkWise Wealth: An Ameriprise Private Wealth Advisory Practice, C-VILLE Weekly, and UVA Arts Council.

VTF donors provide essential support to the organization, while enjoying exclusive benefits like gaining access to purchase tickets in advance of public sales, invitations to special events, behind-the-scenes access, and more. For more information on ways to support the upcoming season, visit virginiatheatrefestival.org/support.

To learn more about the Virginia Theatre Festival and its 50th anniversary season, visit virginiatheatrefestival.org.