THE OLD GLOBE TO OPEN ITS 2018–2019 SEASON
with the WORLD PREMIERE of the NEW MUSICAL
HEART OF ROCK AND ROLL,
Inspired by the Songs of HUEY LEWIS AND THE NEWS

Performances Will Run SEPTEMBER 6 – OCTOBER 21, 2018

See What HUEY Had to Say to ROLLING STONE!

PHOTO EDITORS: Advance photos for Heart of Rock and Roll are available by clicking here.

SAN DIEGO (February 9, 2018)—The Old Globe today announced that its 2018–2019 Season will kick off with the world premiere of the new musical Heart of Rock and Roll, inspired by the songs of Huey Lewis and the News, featuring a book by Jonathan Abrams and story by Tyler Mitchell and Jonathan Abrams. It will be directed by Gordon Greenberg with choreography by Lorin Latarro and music supervision, arrangements, and orchestrations by Brian Usifer. Heart of Rock and Roll will be presented by special arrangement with Tyler Mitchell, W. Leo Kiely, Bill Kiely, Whitney Kiely Moehle, and Tamar Climan. Mr. Lewis released a brief video to Rolling Stone about the show (with a surprise guest cameo)—click here to see for yourself!

Heart of Rock and Roll will run September 6 – October 21, 2018 on the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage in the Old Globe Theatre, part of the Globe’s Conrad Prebys Theatre Center. Preview performances run September 6 – September 13. Opening night is Friday, September 14. Tickets are currently available by subscription only. Tickets can be purchased online at www.TheOldGlobe.org, by phone at (619) 23-GLOBE, or by visiting the Box Office at 1363 Old Globe Way in Balboa Park.

With chart-topping songs such as “Hip to Be Square,” “Do You Believe in Love,” “Workin’ for a Livin’,” and the Academy Award-nominated “The Power of Love,” Huey Lewis is one of the most beloved musicians of his generation. Now his high-energy hits will keep your heart still beatin’ at this irrepressible world premiere musical. Bobby is a former rock singer who has traded in his guitar for a stable job in corporate America. He’s on the verge of closing the ultimate business deal and winning the girl of his dreams (who’s also the CEO’s daughter)—that is, if he doesn’t jeopardize everything by reuniting with his band for another shot at rock-and-roll glory. Rediscover Huey Lewis and the News’s heart-pumping classics in this hilarious and electrifying new musical about holding onto your dreams and never losing the thrill of the “heart of rock and roll.”

The creative team includes Tony Award winner Derek McLane (Scenic Design), Tony winner Paloma Young (Costume Design), Tony winner Howell Binkley (Lighting Design), Tony winner John Shivers (Co-Sound Design), David Patridge (Co-Sound Design), Tara Rubin Casting/Eric Woodall, CSA (Casting), and Anjee Nero (Production Stage Manager). Casting will be announced at a later date.

“Everyone at the Globe is beyond excited to have Huey Lewis’s thrilling songs open our 2018–2019 Season in this rocking and rollicking new musical,” said Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein. “Full of laughter and joy, Heart of Rock and Roll tells a sweet story of how our wildest dreams sometimes do come true, only in slightly different ways than we imagined. Huey Lewis and the News’s songs—one monster hit after another—deliver jolts of joy and surges of energy, all perfectly suited to the musical theatre stage in Brian Usifer’s amazing arrangements. Huey’s talent has drawn a brilliant team of theatrical visionaries together, led by the witty and imaginative director Gordon Greenberg, and they’ve made a musical that’s about as great a night out as I can imagine. I can’t wait to share it with San Diego’s audiences.”

Huey Lewis is the iconic front man of the multiplatinum, Grammy Award–winning, and Academy Award–nominated rock-and-roll band Huey Lewis and the News. Formed from two rival Bay Area bands in 1979, Huey Lewis and the News has sold over 30 million albums that produced nineteen Top 10 and three No. 1 hits, including the global smash “The Power of Love,” which was nominated for an Academy Award. Their landmark 1983 album Sports sold over 10 million copies in the U.S. alone and features four Billboard Top 100 hits: “If This Is It,” “Heart and Soul,” “I Want a New Drug,” and “The Heart of Rock & Roll.” Their follow-up album, Fore!, reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Top 200 with five singles on Billboard’s Top 10 singles chart, two of which were No. 1 hits: “Stuck with You” and “Jacob’s Ladder.” All five albums released by the band between 1982 and 1991 have been certified either Gold, Platinum, or Multi-Platinum. The band continues to tour the globe and thrill audiences worldwide.

Jonathan Abrams (Book, Story) is a film and television writer and producer. He most recently wrote an original pilot, “Bishop,” for A&E Network and has developed dramas for FOX, ABC, NBC, and The CW. In feature films, he most recently wrote his original idea Diplomats for 20th Century Fox with Chernin Entertainment producing. He has sold or optioned numerous screenplays, including Relativity Media’s romantic comedy The Wedding Doctor, with Nicole Kidman attached to star.He was also a credited producer on Summit Entertainment’s Escape Plan franchise. He is a graduate of University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts.

Tyler Mitchell (Story) has over two decades of experience in film and television as a producer, writer, and executive. His producing credits include The Incredible Burt Wonderstone starring Steve Carell and Jim Carrey; Lucky Number Slevin starring Josh Hartnett, Bruce Willis, Ben Kingsley, and Morgan Freeman; The Angriest Man in Brooklyn starring Robin Williams and Mila Kunis; and most recently the critically acclaimed film Maudie starring Sally Hawkins and Ethan Hawke. Mr. Mitchell’s television credits include NBC’s “Kidnapped” and “My Own Worst Enemy,” both of which he produced and wrote. As a production executive, Mr. Mitchell has overseen the development, production, and financing of many films, including The Butterfly Effect starring Ashton Kutcher and Amy Smart and The Rum Diary starring Johnny Depp and Aaron Eckhart. Mr. Mitchell is currently Senior Vice President of Imagine Entertainment, an award-winning film and television production company.

Gordon Greenberg (Director) returns to The Old Globe, where he directed and wrote additional material for Working (co-adapted with Stephen Schwartz and Lin-Manuel Miranda), which went on to an extended run at Broadway in Chicago and later at 59E59 Theaters in New York (Drama Desk Award). His other directing and writing work includes this season’s London revival of Barnum (Menier Chocolate Factory), co-writing and directing the Broadway stage adaptation of The Secret of My Success (Universal Stage Productions), directing The Angel and Sparrow (Segal Centre in Montreal), writing the new book for Meet Me in St. Louis (The Muny’s 100th anniversary), directing and co-writing Mystic Pizza (MGM/The Araca Group), and co-writing Dracula! The Remix and Ebenezer Scrooge’s Big [your town here] Christmas Show! (Bucks County Playhouse). Mr. Greenberg co-wrote and directed last season’s Broadway stage adaptation of Irving Berlin’s Holiday Inn (Roundabout Theatre Company/Universal Stage Productions, PBS’s “Great Performances”) and directed the acclaimed West End revival of Guys and Dolls, which starred Rebel Wilson and received six Olivier Award nominations (West End, Chichester Festival Theatre). He also directed Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris (Drama Desk, Drama League, and Outer Critics Circle Award nominations) and the stage adaptation of Disney’s Tangled; co-wrote original movie musicals for Disney Channel and Nickelodeon; and directed regional work at Williamstown Theatre Festival, Paper Mill Playhouse, Goodspeed Musicals, Huntington Theatre Company, Signature Theatre Company, New York Stage and Film, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Capital Repertory Theatre, and more. He attended Stanford University and New York University and is a member of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, Writers Guild of America, and The Dramatists Guild of America.

Lorin Latarro (Choreography) recently choreographed Broadway’s Waitress, Les Liaisons Dangereuse with Janet McTeer and Liev Schreiber, and Waiting for Godot with Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart, and she is the Associate Choreographer of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and American Idiot. Her additional choreography includes Chess (The Kennedy Center), Lin-Manuel Miranda’s 21 Chump Street for “This American Life” (Brooklyn Academy of Music), The Public Theater’s Twelfth Night and The Odyssey (Delacorte Theater), Queen of the Night (Diamond Horseshoe), Assassins, God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, and Fanny (City Center Encores!), Between the Lines (Kansas City Repertory Theatre), Beaches (Drury Lane Theatre), and A Christmas Carol (McCarter Theatre Center). Ms. Latarro is a Bucks County Playhouse Artistic Associate and a Juilliard School graduate. Her upcoming work includes La Traviata at The Metropolitan Opera. lorinlatrarro.com.

Brian Usifer (Music Supervision, Arrangements, and Orchestrations) is a New York City–based music director, pianist, orchestrator, arranger, producer, and composer. He is currently the Music Director of Disney’s Frozen, which made its world premiere in Denver in summer 2017 before its opening on Broadway this season. He is also currently the Associate Music Supervisor of The Book of Mormon on Broadway and on tour, which won nine Tony Awards including Best Musical. Previously, Mr. Usifer was the Music Director of Kinky Boots on Broadway, which won six Tony Awards including Best Musical and Best Original Score; the cast recording won the 2014 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. He was also the show’s Associate Music Supervisor for the national tour and the productions in Toronto and on the West End, where it won the Olivier Award for Best New Musical. brianusifer.com.

Heart of Rock and Roll at The Old Globe is supported in part through gifts from Production Sponsors Terry Atkinson, Elaine and Dave Darwin and Sheryl and Harvey White. Financial support is provided by The City of San Diego.

Additional events taking place during the run of Heart of Rock and Roll will include the Vicki and Carl Zeiger Insights Seminar, Subject Matters, Post-Show Forums, and free AXIS events.

Tickets to Heart of Rock and Rollare currently available by subscription only and can be purchased online at www.TheOldGlobe.org, by phone at (619) 23-GLOBE [234-5623], or by visiting the Box Office at 1363 Old Globe Way in Balboa Park. Discounts are available for full-time students, patrons 29 years of age and under, seniors, military members, and groups of 10 or more.

Performances begin on September 6, 2018 and continue through October 21, 2018. Opening night is Friday, September 14 at 8:00 p.m. Regular performances: Tuesday and Wednesday evenings at 7:00 p.m., Thursday and Friday evenings at 8:00 p.m., Saturdays at 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., and Sundays at 2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.

LOCATION and PARKING INFORMATION: The Old Globe is located in San Diego’s Balboa Park at 1363 Old Globe Way. Through a special arrangement with the San Diego Zoo, Old Globe evening ticket-holders have the opportunity to pre-purchase valet parking in the Zoo’s employee parking structure. With a drop-off point just a short walk to the Globe, theatregoers may purchase fast, easy, convenient valet parking for just $14 per vehicle per evening. Pre-paid only, available only by phone through the Old Globe Box Office. Call (619) 234-5623 or visit
www.theoldglobe.org/plan-your-visit/directions--parking/valet-parking. The Balboa Park valet is also available during performances, located in front of the Japanese Friendship Garden. For additional parking information visit www.BalboaPark.org.

There are numerous free parking lots available throughout the park. Guests may also be dropped off in front of the Mingei International Museum. There is a 10-minute zone at The Old Globe, used only for daytime deliveries, ticket purchases, and handicapped access dropoff. For directions and up-to-date information, please visit www.theoldglobe.org/plan-your-visit/directions--parking/detailed-directions.

PLEASE NOTE: To look up online or GPS directions to The Old Globe, please do not use the Delivery Address above. For GPS users, please click here for the map coordinates, and here for written directions to The Old Globe and nearby parking in Balboa Park.

CALENDAR: The Importance of Being Earnest (1/27/18–3/4), Uncle Vanya(2/10–3/11), AXIS: Give Love San Diego (2/10), American Mariachi (3/23–4/29), AXIS: Mariachi Reyna (3/31), The Wanderers (4/6–5/6), AXIS: Happy Birthday, Mr. Shakespeare! (4/21), A Thousand Splendid Suns (5/12–6/17), coLAB: Program Showcase (5/12), Native Gardens (5/26–6/24), The Tempest (6/17–7/22), Dr. Seuss’s The Lorax (7/2–8/12), Barefoot in the Park (7/28–8/26), Much Ado About Nothing (8/12–9/16), AXIS: Mexican Independence Day Celebration (9/15), 2018 Globe Gala (9/22).

PHOTO EDITORS: Digital images of The Old Globe’s productions are available at www.theoldglobe.org/press-room.

The Tony Award-winning Old Globe is one of the country’s leading professional regional theatres and has stood as San Diego’s flagship arts institution for over 80 years. Under the leadership of Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein and Managing Director Timothy J. Shields, The Old Globe produces a year-round season of 15 productions of classic, contemporary, and new works on its three Balboa Park stages: the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage in the 600-seat Old Globe Theatre and the 250-seat Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, both part of The Old Globe’s Conrad Prebys Theatre Center, and the 605-seat outdoor Lowell Davies Festival Theatre, home of its internationally renowned Shakespeare Festival. More than 250,000 people attend Globe productions annually and participate in the theatre’s artistic and arts engagement programs. Numerous world premieres such as the 2014 Tony Award winner for Best Musical, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, Meteor Shower, Bright Star, Allegiance, The Full Monty, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,and the annual holiday musical Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas! have been developed at The Old Globe and have gone on to enjoy highly successful runs on Broadway and at regional theatres across the country.

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HUEY LEWIS AND THE NEWS TOP 10 BILLBOARD SINGLES

Title                                                                 Year                   Peak

“The Power of Love”                            1985                 #1

“Stuck with You”                                      1986                 #1

“Jacob’s Ladder”                                     1987                 #1

“But It’s Alright”                                        1994                 #1

“Hip to Be Square”                                 1986                 #3

“Perfect World”                                        1988                 #3

“The Heart of Rock & Roll”                 1984                 #6

“If This Is It”                                                  1984                 #6

“Doing It All for My Baby”                    1987                 #6

“Do You Believe in Love”                   1982                 #7

“Heart and Soul”                                      1983                 #8

“Workin’ for a Livin’”                               1982                 #9

“I Know What I Like”                               1987                 #9

CREATIVE TEAM BIOGRAPHIES

Derek McLane (Scenic Design) has designed over 350 productions on Broadway, Off Broadway, internationally, regionally, and on television. He was last at The Old Globe with In Your Arms. His Broadway credits include The Price, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Fully Committed, Noises Off, Gigi, Anything Goes, Ragtime, 33 Variations, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, The Heiress, Nice Work If You Can Get It, Follies, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, Million Dollar Quartet, The Pajama Game, and I Am My Own Wife. His Off Broadway credits include If I Forget, Love Love Love, The Night of the Iguana, Sweet Charity, Buried Child, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Spoils, Into the Woods, Ruined, Macbeth, and Hurlyburly. Mr. McLane’s television credits include the Academy Awards (2013–2017) and the live NBC musicals The Sound of Music, Peter Pan, The Wiz, and Hairspray. He has received Tony, Emmy, Obie, Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel, and Art Directors Guild Awards. He is on the board of directors at The New Group and Fiasco Theater and has been a mentor for Theatre Development Fund’s Open Doors program for the past 15 years.

Paloma Young (Costume Design) previously designed The Old Globe’s 2006 Summer Shakespeare Festival production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. She designed the Broadway productions of Peter and the Starcatcher (Tony Award), Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 (Tony nomination), and Bandstand (Drama Desk Award nomination). Her Off Broadway credits include The Great Comet (Kazino, Lucille Lortel Award), Fly by Night (Playwrights Horizons), Recall (Colt Coeur), Permission (MCC Theater), and Brooklyn Babylon (Brooklyn Academy of Music). She has designed regionally at American Repertory Theater, Dallas Theater Center, South Coast Repertory, Arena Stage, La Jolla Playhouse, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Hand2Mouth, and Mixed Blood Theatre, among others. palomayoung.com.

Howell Binkley (Lighting Design) won the 2016 Tony Award for Best Lighting Design of a Musical for Hamilton. His Broadway credits include Come from Away (2017 Tony nomination), Allegiance, After Midnight (2014 Tony nomination), How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (2011 Tony nomination), West Side Story (2009 Tony nomination), In the Heights (2008 Tony nomination), Jersey Boys (2006 Tony Award), Avenue Q, The Full Monty, Parade, and Kiss of the Spider Woman (1993 Tony nomination, Olivier and Dora Mavor Moore Awards). He is the Co-Founder and Resident Lighting Designer of Parsons Dance.

David Patridge (Co-Sound Design), along with John Shivers, designed the Globe’s productions of Emma, Robin and the 7 Hoods, Sammy, and Ace. He designed the Broadway productions of Holler If Ya Hear Me and Soul Doctor and the U.S. tours of Flashdance, Mamma Mia!, and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. His regional credits include three seasons with The Muny (2015–2017) as well as First Wives Club, Harmony, The Nutty Professor, Beauty and the Beast, Singin’ in the Rain, Sweeney Todd, and Miss Saigon. He designed Gigantic Off Broadway and Das Wunder von Bern internationally. Mr. Patridge also served as associate sound designer on Paramour, Kinky Boots, Hugh Jackman: Back on Broadway, Leap of Faith, Bonnie & Clyde, We Will Rock You, Sister Act, Come Fly Away, 9 to 5, The Little Mermaid, Mamma Mia!, Tarzan, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,and In My Life. He is a recipient of the Kevin Kline and Suzi Bass Awards for Outstanding Sound Design.

John Shivers (Co-Sound Design) designed, with David Patridge, Emma, Robin and the 7 Hoods, Sammy, and Ace at The Old Globe. He currently has in development Pretty Woman, The Sting, and Gettin’ the Band Back Together. His other credits include Cirque du Soleil’s Paramour, The Muny’s 2015–2017 seasons, Kinky Boots (2013 Tony Award), Hugh Jackman: Back on Broadway, Bonnie & Clyde, Sister Act, 9 to 5, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Little Mermaid, Tarzan, In My Life, and Billy Crystal’s 700 Sundays. His international credits include The Secret, Tarzan, Das Wunder von Bern, and The Lion King (Shanghai and Singapore). His other regional credits include Hood, Born for This, Moonshine, Harmony, The Nutty Professor, and Tales of the City, as well as work with Savion Glover, Dionne Warwick, Burt Bacharach, Gregory Hines, and Electric Lady Studios.

Tara Rubin Casting/Eric Woodall, CSA (Casting) has cast the Globe’s Guys and Dolls, Othello, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Dog and Pony, A Room with a View, and others. Their select Broadway credits include King Kong (upcoming), Prince of Broadway, The Band’s Visit, Bandstand, Indecent, Sunset Boulevard, Miss Saigon, Dear Evan Hansen, A Bronx Tale The Musical, Cats, Falsettos, Disaster!, School of Rock, Gigi, Bullets Over Broadway, Aladdin, Les Misérables, The Heiress, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Billy Elliot: The Musical, Shrek The Musical, Young Frankenstein, Mary Poppins, Spamalot, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, The Producers, Mamma Mia!, Jersey Boys, and The Phantom of the Opera. Their Off Broadway credits include Here Lies Love and Love, Loss, and What I Wore. They have also cast regionally for Yale Repertory Theatre, Bucks County Playhouse, Paper Mill Playhouse, and Berkeley Repertory Theatre.

Anjee Nero (Production Stage Manager) has previously worked on The Old Globe’s productions of The Importance of Being Earnest; Benny & Joon; King Richard II; Picasso at the Lapin Agile; October Sky; Kiss Me, Kate; The Twenty-seventh Man; Bright Star; Dog and Pony; The Winter’s Tale; Be a Good Little Widow; Allegiance; A Room with a View; Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show; The Savannah Disputation;and Kingdom. Ms. Nero also worked on the Broadway production of Bright Star and most recently launched the first national tour. Her selected La Jolla Playhouse credits include Sideways directed by Des McAnuff, Ruined directed by Liesl Tommy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream directed by Christopher Ashley, and Herringbone directed by Roger Rees and starring BD Wong. Ms. Nero has worked with several prominent regional theatres including The Kennedy Center, Center Theatre Group (Ahmanson and Kirk Douglas Theatres), Hartford Stage, SITI Company, Huntington Theatre Company, and Berkeley Repertory Theatre, in addition to having toured nationally and internationally with various organizations.