Hayden Jones is 'Benjy Stone' and Ariana Lucius as 'KC Downing'
Mesa Community College’s Act I Musical Productions presents My Favorite Year, opening October 18th in the newly renovated MCC Theatre.
My Favorite Year, written by the Tony Award winning team Stephen Flaherty & Lynn Ahrens and book by Joseph Dougherty, is based on the 1982 film starring Peter O’Toole.
It's 1954, and Benjy Stone, freshman writer on TV's King Kaiser Comedy Cavalcade, is assigned the daunting task of baby-sitting veteran Hollywood swashbuckler Alan Swann while he's doing a live guest appearance on the show. The effort to keep the reckless Swann off the booze and out of the papers during the rehearsal week nearly drives Benjy to the brink. But when he's given an unexpected glimpse into Swann's broken heart, Benjy begins to discover a thing or two about life and love.
My Favorite Year is produced by SueAnne Lucius, Chair of the Music Department at Mesa Community College. The show runs October 18 - 27, 2012 in the MCC Theatre at Mesa Community College, 1833 W. Southern Avenue, Mesa, AZ. Performances are October 18*, 19, 20, 25, 26*, 27*, 2012 at 7:30 pm and October 20* and 27 at 2:00 pm.
My Favorite Year opened during the 1992 – 1993 Broadway Season at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre. It received Tony Award, Theatre World Award, and Drama Desk Award nominations as well as wins for all three categories for Andrea Martin’s performance of “Alice Miller.”
MCC cast members include: Harrison Jones* and Hayden Jones, identical twin brothers who double cast in the role of “Benjy Stone,” freshman writer on the Comedy Cavalcade; Britanee Hudson* and Kate E. Cook are double cast in the role of “Alice Miller,” King’s old partner from the Catskills and writer on Comedy Cavalcade; and Caitlin Dhuse* and Ariana Lucius are double cast in the role of “K.C. Downing,” assistant to the producer, and the only straight man in a world of funny people.
The star of the King Kaiser Comedy Cavalcade is of course, “King Kaiser” played by Nathan Luis. The rest of the writing staff includes: Justin Peterson as “Sy Benson,” head writer and bully extraordinaire; Emmy Antillon as “Herb Lee,” the silent but expressive side-kick to Alice; and keeping things in check is the tightly wound, antacid chewing producer of the Comedy Cavalcade, “Leo Silver” played by James Blount. Marshall Glass plays the Hollywood leading man guest starring on the show this week.
Over in Brooklyn we find Benjy’s eccentric mother, “Belle May Setinberg Carroca,” beacon of Brooklyn society played by Allyson Van Patten, and her husband “Rookie” Carroca, a compact Filipino man who held the bantam weight title for well over six months played by Christopher Rodriguez.
Other cast members include: Kat Abruzzese, Katie Bandy, Anthony Chavez, Kacie Claudel, Cody Duke, Trina Foley, Diana Grijalva, Dan Grivois, Alexis Jones, Stefan Jorgensen, Christina Kiser, Audra Nelson, Brandon Nelson, Zach Payne, Kinsey Peotter, Elise Stoffer, Austin Stuart, and Indiia Wilmott.
Tickets are on sale now with pricing at $15 for the general public, $12 for staff, faculty and alumni, and $10 for seniors and students. Please call the Box Office at (480) 461–7172, or pick your seats online at www.ezticketlive.com/mcc. Group rates are also available.
*denotes the performers and dates that coincide with the double casting.
About Mesa Community College
Mesa Community College provides outstanding transfer and career and technical programs, workforce development, and life-long learning opportunities to residents of the East Valley area of Phoenix, Arizona. MCC excels in teaching, learning and empowering its more than 40,000 students to succeed in a local and global community. Mesa Community College is one of ten colleges that comprise the Maricopa County Community College District.
Please direct media inquiries to Angela Askey at angela.askey@mesacc.edu or Sally Mesarosh at sally.mesarosh@mesacc.edu or the Office of Institutional Advancement at 480-461-7445. IA website: www.mesacc.edu/ia.
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