All production photos © Fifth Avenue Theatre Fifth Avenue Theatre Seattle, WA Nov. 26-Dec. 17, 2000 Director & Choreographer: David Armstrong Musical Director: Joel Fram

Backstage Magazine: "First and foremost among the cast was Michael Gruber as Billy Crocker, singing the Porter tunes with panache and deftly avoiding the inherent pitfalls of a role written rather schizophrenically as a comic/romantic lead." TalkinBroadway.com: "Michael Gruber proved to be a triple threat with his singing, dancing and comedic timing in the part of Billy Crocker." Bio: Michael Gruber (Billy Crocker) Mr. Gruber has just recently finished working on the latest incarnartion of the Charles Strauss, Stephen Schwartz, Joseph Stein musical Rags at the Walnut Street Theater in Philadelphia (Saul). Broadway credits include: The final company of A Chorus Line (Mike), original companies of Miss Saigon, My Favorite Year and The Wizard of Oz (Tinman) with Roseanne, Cats (Munkustrap), and Swing!. Mr. Gruber had the honor of being one of three Americans asked to recreate their Broadway roles for the video production of Cats, which was shot at the Adelphi Theater, London. Regional credits include: Tom Marlowe in the revival of GoodNews! at Music Theater of Wichita, Whizzer in Falsettos at the Alliance Theater in Atlanta, Jud in Oklahoma! directed by Vivian Martelon for the Arizona Theater Co., Don Lockwood in Singin'in the Rain and Young Ben in the critically acclaimed production of Follies both at the Paper Mill Playhouse. He has recorded several albums for London based producer John Yap, including Singin' in the Rain, 42nd Street, Good News!, The Most Happy Fellow, Wonderful Town and The Music Man. He is also the composer and co-writer of an original musical Hypatia as well as Hit It, Mike!, a one woman show written for and with his collaborator, Jennifer Allen. Playbill Cover Ad Theatre Flyer Photos Musical Numbers Article from the theatre's newsletter Press release from the theatre Article from Theatre.com Preview from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer Review from the Seattle Times Review from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer Review from the Seattle Union Record Review from Backstage Magazine Review from the South County Journal Postview from Seattle.CitySearch.com Seattle journalist David-Edward Hughes interviewed Dee Hoty, Michael's co-star in Anything Goes, for Theatre.com. Here is a small portion of that interview, where Ms. Hoty comments on her castmates: Hughes: You seemed to be having a ball in the show with your leading men Bronson Pinchot and Michael Gruber. Hoty: It's just great. Bronson is so much fun. There's never a dull moment out there on stage with Bronson, and Michael is SO delicious in the role of Billy Crocker...I've seen others do it, and Michael's just got it going on. I think Donna English is a wonderful Hope. She sings beautifully, and it's a tough thing doing that ingenuey thing, and she really brings it off with grace and humor. And Allen Galli, who's a local actor, who plays Moonface...he's just terrific! David told me that Allen beat out a lot of New York people for Moonface, and you can see why. © 12/10/2000 theatre.com Productions Index main Library Index