Full Length Plays
Adrift in Macao
Adrift in Macao premiered at
Primary Stages in New York City
2007
Book and Lyrics by Christopher Durang
Music by Peter Melnick
Directed by Sheryl Kaller,
Musical Direction was by Fred Lassen
Choreography by Christopher Gattelli
Scenic Design by Thomas Lynch
Lighting Design by Jeff Croiter
Costume Design by Willa Kim
Orchestrations by Michael Starobin
Casting by Mark Simon
Rachael deBenedet
Photo by Mark Garvin
Cast
Rachel deBenedet, Orville Mendoza and Michele Ragusa, Alan Campbell as the mysterious ex-patriate Mitch, Will Swenson as the shady and womanizing nightclub owner Rick, and Jonathan Rayson and Elisa Van Duyne as the Trenchcoat Chorus.
And before that, this light-hearted film noir parody musical had a successful run at Philadelphia Theatre Company in the fall of 2005, winning three of the show’s performers Philadelphia’s Barrymore Awards: Rachel deBenedet for Best Actress in a Musical, and Orville Mendoza and Michele Ragusa for Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress in a Musical. The three performers recreated their roles in the Primary Stages production and are on the CD.
The show is a light-hearted, playful parody of two Hollywood genres: the film noir movies, in which the leading man is always mysterious and can't go home for murky reasons he won't say; and the less known “exotic adventure” movie set in Hollywood versions of China or Morocco or Trinidad, And in these foreign places, the leading lady can seemingly get a job singing in a nightclub no matter how well she does or doesn’t sing.
Orville Mendoza, and Michele Ragu
Photo by Mark Garvin
In Durang and Melnick’s romp, the mysterious man is Mitch named for Robert Mitchum. And the nightclub singer who falls in love with him is named Lureena, and is a mixture of Jane Russell, Rita Hayworth and Ava Gardner, a wised-up broad who’s still underneath a hopeless romantic. Plus there's also the mysterious Mr. McGuffin who everyone is searching for. Songs include In a Foreign City in a Slinky Dress, Pretty Moon Over Macao, The Chase, and Ticky, Ticky, Tocky Bangkok.
Performance Rights Available Through Concord Theatricals
CD of Durang-Melnick Musical Adrift in Macao Now Available on Amazon.com