What Are People Saying About it?

"...Enough razzle-dazzle to fill a a production three times its size!"
"A comedic dream team!"
"Calling this a 'high profile snag by CATCO' would be the understatement of the year!"
--Dwayne Steward, Metromix.com

“It’s hard to imagine a more exciting start to CATCO’s season than the world premiere of a new musical headed for New York…’Last Smoker’ already looks like an off-Broadway hit!”
–Michael Grossberg, The Columbus Dispatch

“Full of laughs and musical gems...”
“A lovely addition to CATCO's production schedule – and a great way for rock 'n' roll fans to enjoy a night at the theater!”
–Jon Theiss, CityScene Magazine

“Hilarious, thought provoking, and extremely clever.”
–Audience Survey

“It’s very intimate and feels like it’s performed for the audience, not just at it.”
–Audience Survey

“It is a poignant, edgy satire on a modern day America…..Need to see it again..great comedy!”
–Audience Survey

"It’s set in the very near future when antismoking laws are becoming draconian....One friend said to me, ‘I’ll be the last smoker in America,’ and it just gelled for me...At readings of the show, we’ve gotten an enthusiastic response from both smokers and non-smokers...Side Show was a pretty serious show, and this one is a farce. But they are both about outsiders. I’ve always been attracted to that.”
--Bill Russell, as quoted by Erik Pipenburg, The New York Times ArtsBeat

"I like to write music that connects emotionally, but farce is all about being as funny as possible in broad surface gestures...I began to think my music would bog down the comedy. I realized that, if you work in the rock idiom, you can write music that serves fast-paced comedy and has emotional content."
--Peter Melnick, as quoted by MIchael Grossberg, The Columbus Dispatch

"The musical received a developmental workshop production at the New York Musical Theatre Festival in the fall of 2009 where it extended and played to sold-out audiences."
--Andrew Gans, Playbill

About Our Director:

Andy Sandberg

Andy Sandberg has been represented on Broadway and London’s West End as a producer of the hit revival of HAIR: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical (2009 Tony, Drama Desk, Drama League, Outer Critics Circle Awards). Off-Broadway, Andy was a producer of Vigil, a dark comedy by Morris Panych, starring Tony nominees Malcolm Gets and Helen Stenborg, and he is currently represented by his participation in Nora and Delia Ephron’s Love, Loss, and What I Wore. Recent/Upcoming: Hal Prince’s Paradise Found at the Menier Chocolate Factory (London) and A Perfect Future, by David Hay. As a director, Andy’s recent credits include R.R.R.E.D. (NYMF), Bernice Bobs Her Mullet (NYMF), Into the Woods (Blue Hill Troupe), "Eli’s Comin’ to Broadway," a BC/EFA benefit hosted by Nathan Lane (Alice Tully Hall/Lincoln Center), and two Sing for Hope benefits featuring the talents of Dick Cavett, Michael Cerveris, and Richard Kind, among others. Recent Workshops/Readings: Operation Epsilon, Garbo & Me, and Mother Russia. In 2007, Andy assisted Hal Prince on the Broadway production of LoveMusik (SDC Fellowship). B.A. Yale University. Proud member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, as well as Actors’ Equity Association. He currently sits on the boards of Sing for Hope, The Yale Dramatic Association, and The Whiffenpoof Alumni Association. For more information, please visit www.AndySandberg.com.

Who Are The Authors?

Bill Russell (Book and Lyrics)

Bill Russell received a Tony nomination for the book of Side Show and shared one with composer Henry Krieger for score. He co-wrote the book and lyrics for Off-Broadway’s Pageant and directed it at the King’s Head Theatre in London and in the West End, where it received two Olivier Award nominations. Mr. Russell subsequently directed Pageant in Chicago, Los Angeles, the University of Kansas, and Stoneham, MA. He authored book and lyrics for Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens, directing it in New York and in London’s Fringe and West End, among many others. Everything’s Ducky (music by Henry Krieger) premiered with TheatreWorks and garnered the Will Glickman Award for Best Play (S.F. Bay area) and the “Backstage West” Garland Award for Best Score. A revised version under the new title Lucky Duck was produced at the Old Globe, and Mr. Russell directed a version at the Boston Conservatory. Mr. Russell’s latest creation with Henry Krieger, Up in the Air, premiered at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. His credits as lyricist include the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular and the official theme for Gay Games. Honorary doctorates from Morningside College and the Boston Conservatory. For more, please visit www.BillRussell.net.

Peter Melnick (Music)

Peter Melnick's musical Adrift in Macao, a parody of film noir written with librettist Christopher Durang, was presented Off-Broadway at Primary Stages after a successful and award-winning run at the Philadelphia Theater Company. The New York production earned Melnick a Drama Desk Award nomination for his music. Melnick also composed the score to Twyla Tharp's Sextet and, with Bill Russell, wrote two musical one-acts, Patter for the Floating Lady based on Steve Martin's eponymous play, and A Bad Spell. Melnick’s film scoring credits include “L.A. Story,” the Steve Martin comedy; “The Only Thrill,” starring Diane Keaton and Sam Shepard; Horton Foote’s “Convicts,” with Robert Duvall and James Earl Jones; and Bob Saget’s truly obscene “Farce of the Penguins,” with penguins. Melnick's television credits include the recent PBS feature-length documentary, “Cinema’s Exiles: From Hitler to Hollywood”; “Indictment: The McMartin Trial”; “Grand Avenue”; and “Lily Dale.” For more information, please visit www.PeterMelnick.com.

Play Notes

Coming Soon!