“Zanna, Don’t!” is back for its third not-so-straight summer

Seattle, WA— Contemporary Classics will revive their hit summer production of ZANNA, DON’T! for a third time this summer June 25-July 3 at Seattle Repertory Theatre’s PONCHO Forum, coinciding with the 2010 Seattle Gay Pride Festival.

ZANNA, DON’T! is a hip musical fairy tale about a matchmaking teen who turns relationships upside down, challenges our point of view, and changes the world forever. In a world where it’s normal to be gay and taboo to be straight when Kate and Steve fall in love it’s up to Zanna, the local love fairy, to search for the right spell to make the world safe for the two lovers. But Zanna’s spell has a bigger impact than he planned. Is this new world really what he wanted? With a little magic and a fresh pop score, ZANNA celebrates the discovery of love in a world of adversity.

“We’re so happy to be bringing ZANNA, DON’T! back this summer,” Contemporary Classics artistic director Brandon Ivie said. “I feel ZANNA is like our gay ‘Christmas Carol.’ It had such an impact on our audience that I can’t think of a better way to spend a summer.” The Seattle production was named one of the Best Musicals of 2008 by Seattle Gay News and won a Seattle Times Footlight Award. ZANNA, DON’T! played Off-Broadway in 2003 and received four Drama Desk Award nominations for Best Musical, Best Book, Best Music and Best Lyrics.

The cast includes some of Seattle’s best young talent. Returning cast members include Justin Huertas (Seattle Rep’s Speech & Debate, ArtsWest’s History Boys), Sarah Davis (Village Theatre’s Terezin and Piece), Bill Williams (Village’s The Gypsy King, Beauty and the Beast), Cornish grad Diana Huey (5th Avenue’s Mame), Jared Michael Brown (ArtsWest’s Measure for Pleasure) and Lindsey Hedberg (Village Theatre’s The Yellow Wood). Joining the new cast is Kyle Anderson (Village Theatre’s Stunt Girl) and University of Washington student Casey Oliver.

The entire production team returns, including Contemporary Classics’ artistic director Brandon Ivie (A New Brain) as director/choreographer, Mark Rabe (Seattle Children’s Theatre’sBusytown, Goodnight Moon) as music director, Harmony Arnold (Seattle Rep’s My Name is Rachel Corrie, Boom) as costume designer, Robert J. Aguilar (Seattle Rep’s Boom, Speech & Debate) as lighting designer, and recent UW MFA grad Andrea Bush (Book-It’s upcoming Cider House Rules, Washington Ensemble Theatre’s Robopop!) as set designer.

The production runs Tuesday-Sunday at 8pm. Tickets are $20 general admission.

Founded in 2003, CONTEMPORARY CLASSICS got its start fundraising through concerts and cabarets. Since producing their first Seattle premiere in 2005 (Andrew Lippa’s john & jen) they have produced Jason Robert Brown’s The Last Five Years, William Finn’s A New Brain, and Tim Acito’s Zanna, Don’t!, and eight editions of the popular New Voices songwriter showcase series. New work development includes the Showtune Suckapunch series has produced the world premiere readings of Over Seas and Razia’s Shadow, and The Songs of David A. Austin, featured songs from the author’s upcoming Broadway debut, Writing Arthur. The Contemporary Classics season continues with The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, The Yellow Wood, [title of show] and Over Seas.