Living Locally: I Love Lucy® Live on Stage!

U.S. Bank Broadway in Portland is pleased to announce the Portland premiere of I LOVE LUCY® LIVE ON STAGE, the brand-new hit stage show adapted from the most beloved program in television history.  The national tour will play Keller Auditorium from April 7 – 12, 2015.

I LOVE LUCY® LIVE ON STAGE is the brand-new hit stage show adapted from the most beloved program in television history! America’s favorite foursome – Lucy, Ricky, Fred and Ethel – is live on stage and in color for the very first time!

Thea Brooks and Euriamis Losada lead the company as Lucy and Ricky Ricardo, with Kevin Remington and Lori Hammel playing Fred and Ethel Mertz, the Ricardo’s loveable landlords and sidekicks. The cast also includes Sara Jayne Blackmore, Sarah Elizabeth Combs, Gregory Franklin, Jody Madaras, Carlos Martin, Denise Moses, Cindy Sciacca, Kami Seymour, Richard Strimer and Mark Christopher Tracy.

An “out-of-body experience for ‘Lucy’ fans” according to Showbiz Chicago. I LOVE LUCY® LIVE ON STAGE takes audience members back to 1952 as members of the Desilu Playhouse studio audience where they await the filming of two hilarious and oh-so-familiar I LOVE LUCY® episodes, “The Benefit” and “Lucy Has Her Eyes Examined.” A charming host entertains and enlightens the crowd to the behind-the-scenes filming process of a brand new thing called “television,” the Crystal tone Singers perform advertising jingles in perfect 50’s style harmony and the sidesplitting antics of America’s favorite foursome – Lucy, Ricky, Fred and Ethel.  It’s a one-of-a-kind theatrical experience TV Guide’s William Keck calls “the most entertaining stage production I’ve seen in years – including Broadway!” 

The iconic hit sitcom I LOVE LUCY® originally aired on CBS from 1951 – 1957 for a total of six seasons and 179 episodes and is widely considered to be one of the most popular programs in the history of television. Due in no small part to its relatable characters, sharp comedic writing and Lucille Ball’s signature zany charm, the show continues to endear new audiences with every passing generation. The program was a technical trailblazer, pioneering the multi-camera shooting technique (still employed by the majority of traditional sitcoms to this day) and the use of 35mm film for the capture of a weekly, 30-minute scripted television program (which made possible the re-airing of episodes at a later date, what we now know as “reruns”). In September 2012, I LOVE LUCY® was named the “Best TV Show Of All Time” and the “Greatest TV Comedy” by People Magazine and ABC’s “20/20” special “Best in TV: The Greatest TV Shows of Our Time.”

I LOVE LUCY® LIVE ON STAGE had its world premiere in Los Angeles at the Greenway Court Theatre from October 2011 – February 2012. A subsequent Chicago production was launched that played two engagements at the Broadway Playhouse, September 2012 – March 2013. The national tour visited cities including Toronto, Boston, Philadelphia, Nashville and Costa Mesa.

The show is produced by Stephen Kahn (executive producer), David George (executive producer), Allan Williams (executive producer),Jeff Davis (executive producer), Dede Harris, Sharon Karmizan, Hyra George, Kim Flagg, Barbara Alpert, Sophie and Alan Alpert,Neil Hoffman, Nancy Alpert, Teri Alpert and David Carpenter (associate producer), under license from CBS Consumer Products.