Artistic Director, Stage Director
The Spitfire Grill
Garry Marshall, Burbank CA
Music and Book by James Valcq
Lyrics and Book by Fred Alley
Based on the film by Lee David Zlotoff
Directed by Dimitri Toscas
A hearty helping of the great American musical - Order up!
Run away to a small town where they “roll the streets up at night” and find yourself in a café that serves up a soul-stirring story with a strong cup of joe. This joyous musical bubbles over with toe-tapping fun and soaring, heart-felt melodies – and is proof that a new beginning is as close as your own back porch.
"Director Dimitri Toscas’ most inspired twist is to dole out Valcq’s orchestrations among company members, with Ruggiero and Schroeder on guitars and mandolin, Kerns on accordion, Nicu Brouillette (in the usually throw-away role of “The Visitor”) on violin, and Saviano on clarinet (playing notes originally written for cello), with a mostly hidden James Lent tickling the ivories, all of the above under Anthony Zediker’s accomplished musical direction.
It’s an approach that American audiences first saw when Scottish director John Doyle had his Sweeney Todd cast stand in for a traditional pit orchestra, but unlike that 2005 Broadway revival (which seemed more “director’s concept” than actual Sweeney), Toscas’ Garry Marshall Spitfire feels like the real thing."
-Steven Stanley, StageSceneLA