Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks

The Force is with Grove Playhouse

The Coconut Grove Playhouse has signed Mark Hamill to co-star with Rue McLanahan in the March 18 - April 13 production of Six Dance Lessons In Six Weeks.

Hamill, though best known as Luke Skywalker in the mega-movie hit STAR WARS and its sequels, also is an accomplished stage performer, with Broadway appearances in Amadeus, The Elephant Man, The Nerd and Harrigan 'n Hart on his resume.

The Grove has also swapped out its second show in the 135-seat Encore Room later this season. The Unexpected Man will be replaced by X'd: Confessions of a Mormon Boy, a new one-man show by Steven Fales about his struggle with homosexuality, which resulted in his excommunication from the Mormon church. X'd will run March 4 - May 11, following up on the current solo show Addicted: A Comedy of Substance.

Both upcoming productions are billed as pre-New York tryouts in what has become a season of potential transfers. Last fall's Urban Cowboy stage remake has been recast and retuned to begin previews on Broadway, opening in February; there's also talk of a similar move for the Grove's current musical comedy Romeo & Bernadette in the wake of its enthusiastic Miami reception. And, coming up Feb. 11 - March 9, is another world premiere, Joel Kimmel's musical Boulevard of Broken Dreams, about the life of famed but star-crossed songwriter Al Dubin.

South Florida Sun-Sentinel :: January 24, 2003