CURTAINS Kicks Off Drudy Lane Oakbrook's 25th Season 3/19

CURTAINS, the hilarious new musical whodunit that was a "must-see" hit of the 2007-2008 Broadway season, playing over 500 performances, kicks off Drury Lane Oakbrook's 25th anniversary season. The production previews March 19, opens Thursday, March 26 and runs through May 17 at Drury Lane Oakbrook, 100 Drury Lane, Oakbrook Terrace, IL. This is the first regional production of CURTAINS, preceding even the first National Tour. CURTAINS is the winner of nine Drama Desk Awards and eight 2007 Tony Award nominations including Best Musical, Best Book, Best Score, and Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical (David Hyde Pierce).

Michael Kuchwara of the Associated Press called CURTAINS "Musical comedy heaven! Blissful, very funny, and thoroughly entertaining!" William Goldman of Variety raved, "An insanely funny evening. Show stopping applause and wild laughter throughout." Jeffrey Lyons of WNBC enthused, "A big, delightful musical packed full of show-stopping numbers and the wittiest book in years!"

CURTAINS features a book by Rupert Holmes (Say Goodnight Gracie), music and lyrics by Broadway legends Fred Ebb and John Kander (Cabaret and Chicago), an original book and concept by Peter Stone (Titanic, 1776 and The Will Rogers Follies), with additional lyrics by Rupert Holmes (The Mystery of Edwin Drood and Say Goodnight Gracie).

A "play within a play," CURTAINS takes place backstage at Boston's Colonial Theatre in 1959. It's the opening night of "Robbin' Hood of the Old West" and the new musical could be a smash hit, if it weren't for the show's incredibly untalented leading lady. When she is murdered during the curtain call, Lieutenant Frank Cioffi is summoned to conduct an investigation. The lure of the theater soon becomes irresistible to the stage-struck detective and he finds himself just as dedicated to making the show a hit as he is to solving the murder.

Multi Jeff Award-winning director William Brown makes his Drury Lane directorial debut with CURTAINS. Previous directing credits include productions at various Chicagoland venues including the Writers Theatre, TimeLine Theatre, Northlight Theatre and the Goodman Theatre's annual production of A Christmas Carol.

Starring in Curtains will be Sean Fortunato as "Lieutenant Frank Cioffi", Nancy Voigts as "Carmen Bernstein", Christine Sherrill as "Georgia Hendricks", James Rank as "Aaron Fox", Jessie Mueller as "Niki Harris", Jeff Cummings as "Daryl Grady", John Reeger as "Christopher Belling", Eric Parks as "Johnny Harmon", Mark David Kaplan as "Oscar Shapiro", Michael Parker Ayers as "Bobby Pepper", Jim Corti as "Sidney Bernstein", Nicole Hren as "Bambi Bernet", Gary Carlson as "Detective O'Farrell", Paula Scrofano as "Jessica Cranshaw", Matt Raftery as "Randy Dexter", Joey Stone as "Harv Fremont" as well as ensemble members Jarret Ditch, Stephane Duret, Michael Glazer, Cessalee Martinez, Katheryn Patton, Andrea Prestinario and Angie Schoofs.

The performance schedule is as follows: Wednesdays at 1:30 p.m. ($29), Thursdays at 1:30 p.m. ($29) and 8 p.m. ($33), Fridays at 8:30 p.m. ($35), Saturdays at 5 p.m. ($35) and 8:30 p.m. ($35) and Sundays at 2:00 p.m. ($35) and 6 p.m. ($33). Dinner theater packages range from $43.75 to $56 depending on the day of the week. Subscriptions for the 2009-10 season are now available for as low as $122 for 5 shows. For reservations, phone (630) 530-0111 or call TicketMaster at 312.559.1212. You may also visit www.ticketmaster.com or www.drurylaneoakbrook.com.