Broadway actor joins Fox Valley Rep's 'Breaking Up is Hard to Do'
National Broadway performer and Downers Grove actor Fred Zimmerman joins Fox Valley Repertory this spring to relive the summer of 1960 set to Neil Sedaka's great hits with the musical "Breaking Up is Hard to Do."
Directed by Fox Valley Rep Veteran and Multi-JEFF Award-winning Choreographer and Director Kevin Bellie, performances will take place at the Pheasant Run Resort Mainstage through May 20.
"Breaking Up is Hard To Do" is a cruisin' adventure through the summer of 1960, full of colorful characters, mistaken identity, and romance. Patrons will relive the excitement of their first kiss while tappin' their toes along to 18 of rock-n-roll legend Neil Sedaka's chart-toppin' songs, including “Where the Boys Are," "Sweet Sixteen," “Love Will Keep Us Together,” "Calendar Girl," and, of course, the title song, "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do.”
Fred Zimmerman plays the role of Harvey – the resident comedian at Esther's Catskills resort who falls in love with the one person who truly appreciates the man behind the jokes – Esther. You'll enjoy watching him take the leap of faith for the sake of love, while other characters in the show also find love.
Zimmerman recalls his own marriage of 22 years relating to how his character Harvey gets engaged to Lois in the show.
“My wife, Cathy, and I had been dating for over 4 years, and we got into an argument about where things were going. After a while of raised voices back and forth, Cathy said in an exasperated fashion, “Well, I consider us engaged!” And I wittily retorted, “Well so do I!!” We stopped and realized what had just happened, and Cathy then said that I had until the end of the month to propose properly. I made a reservation at a B&B in Delevan, WI, and we went up there the last weekend of that month, and 22 years later, the rest is history.”
While this is the first Fox Valley Repertory show for Zimmerman, he has spent the last 25 years performing in comedies, dramas, and musicals in National Broadway Touring Companies, Regional and Stock companies across the country, as well as locally.
He was in the original cast of the Hal Prince's Tony-award-winning revival of "Show Boat" at the Auditorium Theatre, playing JP Morgan in the National Touring Company of Ragtime directed by Frank Galati, as well as Santa in the family favorite "The Radio City Christmas Spectacular" starring the Rockettes. Fred was also in the original cast of Stephen Sondheim's musical "Bounce," directed by Hal Prince, which opened at The Goodman Theatre and moved to The Kennedy Center. Chicago audiences have also enjoyed his performances at theatres such as Northlight, Court, the Encore Series at the Auditorium, and over 17 productions at The Marriot Theatre.
“'Breaking Up is Hard to Do' offers fun nostalgia to our patrons, as we call can remember a time when we were young and in love,” says Artistic Director John Gawlik. “Combine 'Dirty Dancing' with 'Where the Boys Are,' and you get a musical full of teenage infatuations, excitement, innocence, first kisses, first fights – which can all be used to describe this fun production.”
The cast of "Breaking Up is Hard to Do" features (in alphabetical order): Michael Brown, Roselle native Stephanie Herman, Christina Myers, Creg Sclavi, Heather Townsend and Fred Zimmerman of Downers Grove.
It is now playing through Sunday, May 20. Show times are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m.; Sundays at 2 p.m. Thursday performances are available on April 5 at 8 p.m.; and April 12 and 26 and May 17 at 2 p.m. The show is rated PG.
This program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency, and is sponsored in part by the Daily Herald and Delnor Express Care.
Pheasant Run Resort is located at 4051 E. Main St., St. Charles. For tickets, call the Pheasant Run Box Office at (630) 584-6342, or visit www.ticketmaster.com. Additional performance information may be obtained at www.foxvalleyrep.org.