Hartford Stage Announces Fräulein Maria for SummerStage 2011

Family-friendly Dance Piece Performed to The Sound of Music Soundtrack
Hartford Stage will launch its 2011 SummerStage season next June with Doug Elkins' & Friends' Fräulein Maria, the innovative and award-winning dance piece performed to the soundtrack to Rodgers & Hammerstein's movie classic, "The Sound of Music."

Fräulein Maria has a cast of 14 dancers and was conceived and choreographed by Elkins. The production is directed by Barbara Karger and Michael Preston and is presented in cooperation with The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization. Tickets for Fräulein Maria are on sale now to subscribers and go on sale to the general public Dec. 10. The production will run at Hartford Stage June 15 - 26, 2011.

Fräulein Maria is Rodgers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music as re-imagined by Elkins. It began as a love letter to Elkins' children and is now a bona fide family tradition as well as a gender bending, tour-de-force comedy. Elkins' humor shines through his idiomatic tips of the hat to such dance legends as Martha Graham, Paul Taylor and Merce Cunningham. He merges modern and popular dance forms including hip-hop and "vogueing," reinventing this beloved classic into an edgy and fun cabaret romp.

Tickets range from $25 - $50. To purchase tickets, call the Hartford Stage Box Office at 860-527-5151, or visit our website at www.hartfordstage.org. Groups of 10 or more may receive discounts; call the box office for further information.