press release
March 2003


Broadway Actor Joins PCPA Company
As Special Guest Artist

Guest Actor Michael Gruber joins PCPA Theaterfest for this spring and
summer’s production of Crazy For You. Mr. Gruber will be playing
Bobby Child who wants nothing more than to dance on stage. Michael
has done a lot of dancing on stage, including the greatest stages
in the world – on Broadway! His credits there include Mike Costa in
the final company of A Chorus Line, Munkustrap in Cats, the Tinman
in The Wizard of Oz (with Roseanne), Hortensio in Kiss Me, Kate, and
the original companies of Miss Saigon, Swing! and My Favorite Year.
Mr. Gruber was also one of the three Americans asked to reprise their
role for the Cats movie, filmed at the Adelphi Theatre in London.
Favorite regional roles include Don Lockwood in Singin’ in the Rain,
Young Ben in the critically acclaimed revival of Stephen Sondheim’s
Follies (with Ann Miller), and Fingers in Red, Hot and Blue (all at
the Paper Mill Playhouse), Wizzer in Falsettos (Alliance Theatre,
Atlanta), Tom Marlowe in the world premiere revival of Good News (Music
Theatre of Wichita), Jud Fry in Oklahoma (Arizona Theatre Co.), Cousin
Kevin in the 1999 concert tour of The Who’s Tommy, Lucky in Dames at
Sea (Goodspeed Opera House), Billy in Anything Goes (Fifth Ave. Theatre,
Seattle), Michael in Smokey Joe’s Cafe (Sacramento Music Circus), Riff
in both National and European touring companies of West Side Story, and
the emcee of The History of Sex, an original musical review at the
Golden Nugget in Las Vegas. He is also the composer and co-author, along
with collaborator Jennifer Allen, of three original musicals, Hit It,
Mike!, The Old Dead Five and Vegas Organic.

Also joining the spring and summer companies is PCPA graduate Melinda
Ann Parrett who will be playing opposite Michael Gruber in Crazy for You
as Polly Baker, the girl who’s reluctant to be won over by Bobby Child.
Melinda’s PCPA credits include 42nd Street (Peggy Sawyer), Rope (Janet),
Anything Goes (Erma), Gypsy (Tessie Tura), Cinderella (Queen Maisie),
The Tempest, Grease, Carousel, and The Unsinkable Molly Brown. Since her
last PCPA stint, Melinda made her East Coast debut in Dames at Sea at
the Goodspeed Opera House with Michael Gruber, appeared in A Christmas
Carol at Geva Theatre (directed by PCPA’s Mark Booher), and most recently,
played Cathy in the West Coast premiere of The Last 5 Years at the
Oregon Cabaret Theatre.

Michael and Melinda will join PCPA’s company of resident professionals
along with other guests, interns and students who make up PCPA Theaterest,
the professional resident theatre company of the Central Coast since 1964.


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