Revival Theatre staging regional premieres in 2016-17

CEDAR RAPIDS - Revival Theatre Company is featuring regional premieres in its 2016-17 season of cutting-edge, thought-provoking musicals.

' 'Evita”: Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's 1979 Broadway blockbuster will open the season in the fall.

It's a powerful look inside the passionate and tragic life of Eva Peron, the woman who used her beauty and charisma to rise from the slums of Argentina to the presidential mansion as First Lady.

Peron won international acclaim and adoration from her people as a champion of the poor, while glamour, power and greed made her the world's first major political celebrity.

' 'Grey Gardens”: The troupe's second show introduces audiences to this new musical about Edith Bouvier Beale and her daughter, 'Little” Edie, the eccentric aunt and cousin of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

Once bright names on the social register, they became East Hampton's most noted recluses.

The musical documents their journey from royalty to ruin, set to music from Tin Pan Alley jigs to soaring ballads, woven through a tapestry of lost dreams, sacrifices, hopes and compassion.

' 'Victor/Victoria”: Blake Edwards' shimmering musical will close the season in the summer of 2017.

Based on the 1982 film starring Edwards' wife, Julie Andrews, it's the tale of a down-and-out British soprano who struggles to find work in a Paris nightclub in the 1930s.

While trying to scam a free meal, Victoria meets cabaret performer Toddy who comes up with an idea that will change everything.

Acting as her manager, Toddy bills her as a male female impersonator. When the nightclubs eat it up, the duo makes it big. Even a Chicago mobster is enamored with Victor - or is it Victoria? Keeping the truth a secret is no easy task.

The show is filled with door-slamming, cross-dressing musical acts and Broadway-styled production numbers.

Production dates, venues and tickets will be announced at a later date.

Revival's current season ends with 'Funny Girl,” at 8 p.m. June 2 to June 4 and 2:30 p.m. June 5 in Dows Fine Arts Center at Coe College.

Formed in 2014 by Brian Glick and Cameron Sullenberger, Revival Theatre Company is a non-profit professional troupe performing in various Cedar Rapids venues. For details, go to revivaltheatrecompany.com.