SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER - Lucy Lawless in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

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SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
13 May 2005

GREASE,' `GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES' MAKE IT A MUSICAL WEEKEND.

Productions of two much-celebrated musicals open tonight and run through Sunday. "Grease" will be playing at the Paramount Theatre. And the 5th Avenue Theatre hosts "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes."

Both productions showcase famous, or at least formerly famous, performers.

Perhaps not everyone is up on the achievements of Frankie Avalon. He was a chart-topping pop singer in the 1950s and early '60s. He then went on to star in several 1960s "beach blanket" movies. Suffice it to say that he was a teen idol. In "Grease," which premiered on Broadway in 1972, Avalon is a Teen Angel. In a dream sequence, he descends from on high to sing "Beauty School Dropout," an admonition advising a lackadaisical student to "go back to high school."

Avalon played that very role, and sang that very song, in the 1978 John Travolta/Olivia Newton-John movie version of "Grease."

The 5th Avenue's "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" is a joint production with the Seattle Men's Chorus. It is a concert version of the show, meaning that sets, costumes and choreography are minimal but the music is all there.

Putting it there, in addition to the 250-member chorus, are Lucy Lawless and Faith Prince. They play, respectively, Dorothy and Lorelei, two charmers who work their wiles on wealthy men. The ladies' theater of operations is a luxury ocean liner on its way to France.

Lawless is best known for playing the title role in the TV series "Xena, Warrior Princess." Prince, a Broadway veteran of "Guys & Dolls" and other musicals, played parts in "Spin City" and "Huff" on TV.

"Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" premiered on Broadway in 1949.

Tickets to the Paramount's touring production of "Grease" are $20-$55; 206-292-2787 or at the Paramount box office, 911 Pine St. Tickets to the 5th Avenue's "Blondes" are $27-$77; 206-292-2787 or at the box office, 1308 Fifth Ave. There are no service fees on tickets purchased at the box offices.

-Joe Adcock