Webb's City at the Palladium Theater
Source/Author: Kate Merritt, Director of Alumni Programs
September 14, 2017
If you've ever attended a Shorecrest musical theatre production, you know that our students and the faculty who shape them are extremely talented. Many of those young thespians continue to find avenues to perform as alumni. This fall, members of the St. Petersburg community will have a chance to see many Chargers in action--both current students and alumni--in a unique performance of Webb's City: The Musical, a Concert Version, written by current Shorecrest faculty member Bill Leavengood '78 with music by former faculty member Lee Ahlin.
In 1999, the Pinellas County Millennium Celebration commissioned Leavengood and Ahlin to create a new musical based on the life and times of J. E. “Doc” Webb, the colorful St. Petersburg entrepreneur called the “P.T. Barnum of Retail.” In 1925, Webb opened a tiny drug store on Ninth Street and over the next five decades transformed it into a 77-store complex covering ten city blocks. In its heyday, Webb’s City attracted 60,000 visitors per day.
The musical Webb’s City premiered in the year 2000, at both Ruth Eckerd Hall and the Mahaffey Theater. The show was such a hit that a new non-profit arts organization, LiveArts, was created to bring it back to the Mahaffey Theater in 2001, where it broke their box office records, selling more than 10,000 tickets. A community theatre production was mounted at St. Petersburg Little Theatre a few years later where it broke their box office records as well.
Now, the Palladium Theater and American Stage, with underwriting by Jim and Suzanne MacDougald and Larry and Joyce Beltz, present a brand new multimedia concert version featuring all of the great music from the original musical, expertly woven together with narration, scene highlights and iconic images from five decades of St. Petersburg and Webb’s City history. The show reunites original production’s creators Bill Leavengood '78, who will direct the production, and Lee Ahlin, who will serve as the musical directory.
Leavengood and Ahlin have assembled a wonderful cast, many who are current Shorecrest students or talented alumni!
Doc Webb…………….... Jim Sorensen
Aretta Webb……………. Senna Prasatthong-osoth '19
Leo Kerns……………..... Terrence Jamison
Frank Hubert………….... Charles Reynolds '81
Marie Webb………….…. Emilia Sargent
Breadline Betty…………. Stephanie Roberts
Bunie Webb…………….. Michael McGuigan
Jimmy Webb……………. Mitch Marois '10
Ensemble………………. Susie Rayburn, Josh Moody, Olivia Sargent, Charlotte Leavengood '17, Will Hess '19, Ari Weiss '20, Shannon Wright '20, Reilly O’Neill '20, Erin Wilson '20, Oliver Hess '21
The production will run Thursday, September 14 through Sunday September 17. To get tickets visit www.mypalladium.org.
![Theatre on the Green [Photos]](/Images/1px.png?command_1=url&url_1=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.shorecrest.org/userfiles/shpsv2mvc/images/news-images/TheatreontheGreenSQ.png&command_2=resize&height_2=85 "Theatre on the Green [Photos]")