L.A. Reprise! Announces They’re Playing Our Song and Names Gunton as Replacement for Sills in Twentieth Century

L.A. Reprise! has announced that it will present a one-night-only staged reading of the musical They’re Playing Our Song as part of its “Broadway Best” series on Monday, January 27. The show, which starred Lucie Arnaz and Robert Klein in its Broadway production, has music by Marvin Hamlisch, lyrics by Carole Bayer Sager, and a book Neil Simon. The Reprise! reading will feature Christopher Sieber (Into the Woods, Beauty and the Beast) and Lea Thompson (Back to the Future on film, Caroline in the City on TV, Cabaret on Broadway) as a songwriting couple whose relationship has its ups and downs.

They’re Playing Our Song will be presented on a dark night for the Reprise! production of the Cy Coleman-Betty Comden-Adolph Green musical On the Twentieth Century, which begins performances on January 21. Bob Gunton, who played Juan Peron opposite Patti LuPone in Evita on Broadway, is now set to appear as theatrical producer/director Oscar Jaffee in place of the originally announced Douglas Sills. He will appear with Carolee Carmello (Kiss Me, Kate, Parade) as Lily Garland, the role for which Reprise! had previously promised Kristin Chenoweth. The cast also includes Dan Butler and Robert Picardo as Oscar’s cohorts, Owen and Oliver; Damon Kirsche as the preening matinée idol Bruce Granit; and Mimi Hines as religious nut Letitia Primrose. The production will be directed by David Lee, with Gerald Sternbach serving as musical director.

Tickets for On the Twentieth Century, which runs January 21-February 2, are $50-60, and all tickets for They’re Playing Our Song are $55. To purchase tickets for either or both shows, phone the UCLA Central Ticket Office at 310-825-2101. For more information about Reprise!, visit the website www.reprise.org.