Citty Circle's busy month

City Circle - That highly motivated theatre in Coralville has two shows debuting in June and both of them are in Iowa City. This weekend Hello Dolly! can be seen at the Englert Theatre in downtown Iowa City. On June 19th, you can catch a less well known play, The Little Dog Laughed by Douglas Carter Beane, at the Riverside Theatre Gilbert Street stage.

"And what do you do for a living, Mrs. Levi?" asks Ambrose Kemper in the first scene of this delightful musical comedy.

"Some people paint, some sew...I meddle," replies Dolly. And therein lies is the heart of this American classic.

Hello Dolly! is full of memorable songs including Put On Your Sunday Clothes, Ribbons Down My Back, Before the Parade Passes By, Elegance, Hello, Dolly!, It Only Takes a Moment and So Long, Dearie. The show is directed by Michael Stokes.

The cast:

Mrs. Dolly Gallagher Levi: Patti McTaggart
Ernestina: TBA
Ambrose Kemper: Brian Martin
Horace Vandergelder: Christopher Carpenter
Ermengarde: Collette Forcier
Cornelius Hackl: Kehry Anson Lane
Barnaby Tucker: Adam Koffman
Minnie Fay: Sami Wendell
Irene Molloy: Kate Thompson
Mrs. Rose: Rachel Howell
Rudolph Reisenweber: Cary Beatty
Large Ensemble of Men and Women: Andy Ingham, Andrew Rouner, Mike Sobaski, Matthew James, Bryant Duffy, Olivia Symmonds, Megan Henry, Lily Pappas, Rachel Hileman, Laurel Tippe, Katie Guckert, Katie Eaton, Michelle Altmaier, Katie Crouch, Tim Keating, Kinderek McElvain

In The Little Dog Laughed, Mitchell is a rising Hollywood film star, a romantic leading man. Every piece of his career has been planned by his manager, Diane, and they are in many ways a "couple". But one fateful and drunken night, Mitchell hires a hustler to come to his New York hotel room. Alex, the hustler, thinks of himself as straight, just as Mitchell does. But it's evident that a spark his been lit between them. As they fumble through their feelings for each other, both Diane and Alex's roommate/girlfriend Ellen begin to catch on. All four of their lives turn into chaos, and the outcome is a surprising one. This show is a benefit to raise money for I-CARE and the Coralville Center for the Performing Arts. This show is directed by John Harper.

The cast:

Matthew James as Mitchell Green (The movie star)
Bryant Duffy as Alex (The "Rent Boy")
Rachel Howell as Diane (The agent from hell)
Lorin Ditzler as Ellen (the "rent boy's" girlfriend?!)

For information and tickets to either show, go to City Circle's website.