Diversionary Theatre and Rose Marcario will present The Break Up Notebook: The Lesbian Musical as an official event of San Diego LGBT Pride. Opening July 12 and running through August 12, Break Up Notebook is the award-winning, hilarious, touching and sexy musical comedy for anyone and everyone who has ever had a broken heart and lived to tell about it. Based on Patricia Cotter’s critically-acclaimed hit play of the same name, The Break Up Notebook: The Lesbian Musical has music and lyrics by Lori Scarlett.

“We are very excited to be presenting the second full production of Break Up Notebook,” said Dan Kirsch, Diversionary’s Executive & Artistic Director. “I saw the show in Los Angeles a year ago, and we started talking then about how fun the show would be for our community. Rose Marcario has put together a stellar creative team, including G. Scott Lacy, a favorite music director of many San Diego productions. We’re proud to be included in the San Diego LGBT Pride roster of cultural events.”

Chrissy Burns

Andy Collins

Mei-Ling Downey

Melissa Fernandes

Molly Lahr

Beth Malone

Jeannine Marquie

Tori Roze

Rose Marcario produced the Los Angeles production, in association with the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center, and is bringing her expertise to the Diversionary production. Marcario has assembled a creative team of tremendous accomplishment, including two-time Tony Award winning producer/director Peter Schneider, music director G. Scott Lacy and choreographer Christine Kellogg.

“Amazingly, The Break Up Notebook: The Lesbian Musical is the first lesbian musical in the history of the theatre to break into the limelight,” said Marcario. Scoring a stunning upset victory in last year’s theatre award season, the show was honored with Los Angeles’ highest theatre honor, the 2006 Ovation Award for World Premiere Musical” and has just received Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Musical Score. Along with the Ovation Award, Break Up Notebook received six Garland Awards from Backstage West. The press was equally enthusiastic: a Los Angeles Times Critics Pick, the LA Weekly’s Recommended accolade and a Critic’s Pick from Backstage West.

The musical tells the story of Helen Hill, a 33 year old lesbian who has recently been dumped. She is heartbroken, she’s stunned and she’s determined to go out there and do it all over again. With the support of her best gay boyfriend, Bob and her butch femme gal pals, Monica and Joanie, she jumps back into the dating pool. What she finds takes her a bit by surprise…two-stepping twelve-steppers, anxiety prone lawyers, a dominatrix, Match.com, dental dams, grrrl bands, rebound bad dates, rebound great dates, hot girl on girl action, and maybe…just maybe…somewhere out there…Helen might find the girl of her dreams.

Diversionary Theatre was started in 1986. The mission of the theatre is to produce plays with gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender themes that portray characters in their complexity and diversity both historically and contemporarily.

The Break Up Notebook: The Lesbian Musical will be the first show of Diversionary Theatre’s 2007-2008 season, and will preview on Thursday and Friday, July 12 and 13, and open on Saturday, July 14 and run through Sunday, August 12. Performance times are: Thursday at 7:30pm, Friday and Saturday at 8:00pm, Sunday at 2:00 and 7:00pm, and a Monday, July 30 performance at 7:30pm.

Single tickets will go on sale in early May once the entire 2007-2008 season has been announced. Single tickets for this production will be $31 for Thursday, Sunday and Monday performances, $33 for Friday nights and $35 for Saturday nights, with a $4 discount for those with a San Diego Pride Festival pass, students, seniors 60+ and active military. Tickets for opening night will be $41 and include a post-show cast party.

Sales to groups of 10 or more are now on sale for selected performances. For tickets or information, call the Diversionary box office at 619.220.0097 or log on to www.diversionary.org.

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The City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture provides major support for Diversionary Theatre.

Diversionary Theatre and Rose Marcario, in association with the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center, present THE BREAK-UP NOTEBOOK: The Lesbian Musical
Written by Patricia Cotter (Book) and Lori Scarlett (Music and Lyrics)
Directed by Peter Schneider
Music Director: G. Scott Lacy
Choreographer: Christine Kellogg

ABOUT THE CREATIVE TEAM

Peter Schneider (Director) came to Los Angeles as Associate Director of the 1984 Olympic Arts Festival. As a director, he has helmed Marc Blitzstein’s opera REGINA, the Los Angeles production of GRAND HOTEL: The Musical, a new live action/animation short starring Julie Andrews celebrating the 40th anniversary of Mary Poppins, and SISTER ACT: The Musical, among many others. Schneider produced the Tony Award-winners THE LION KING and Elton John and Tim Rice’s Aida on Broadway. In London he produced CAMELOT, starring the late Richard Harris. As former President of Animation and Chairman of the Studio for the Walt Disney Company, Schneider was responsible for creating and distributing 50 movies, including THE LITTLE MERMAID, TOY STORY, THE LION KING, WHO KILLED ROGER RABBIT and THE PRINCESS DIARIES.

Playwright PATRICIA COTTER (Book) co-wrote a screenplay with Dustin Hoffman for his company, Punch Productions, and recently developed a pilot for 20th Century Fox Television and Watson Pond Productions. Her play, THE BREAK UP NOTEBOOK, was a 2002 GLAAD Award nominee. Other plays include FLAWED, BEST/WORST, THE GIRLS and THREE. Cotter is a playwright in residence at Apartment A Theatre Company in Venice, California, and recently worked with Disney Theatrical and Music International adapting the Disney film MULAN for the stage. Cotter received a Daytime Emmy Award for her writing on Comedy Central’s Win Ben Stein’s Money.

LORI SCARLETT (Music and Lyrics) was the composer/lyricist for Sneaux!,which ran for six months at the Matrix Theater and was nominated for six LA Weekly Theater Awards, including Best Musical. With collaborator David Manning, Lori co-wrote the theme song for the film "The Audition" and contributedmusicto The New Normal, a new musical being developed byacclaimed L.A. composer David O. Also an accomplished actress, Lori played Dianain the Ovation Award-nominated Atalanta. She is currently writing music and lyrics forthe new musical White Cotton Panties with comic book writer Marc Andreyko.

G. SCOTT LACY (Music Director) musical directed FALSETTOS for Diversionary for which he was nominated for a 2003 Robby Award (Show Mag) for Best Musical Direction. He is a member of the Artistic Ensemble for Lamb’s Players Theatre. Regional credits include Los Angeles Musical Theatre Guild, the Tony Award Winning La Jolla Playhouse, San Diego Opera, San Diego Repertory Theatre, North Coast Repertory Theatre, the Emmy Award Winning Malashock Dance, and many others.