Since its founding in 2007, Patrick Street Productions has been pushing the boundaries of musical theatre for Vancouver audiences - offering up shows that might otherwise never have made their way to the city.
Now, with its first ever two-play season, the New Westminster company is stepping back into the golden age of musical theatre to stage Out of a Dream, a Rodgers and Hammerstein revue.
Out of a Dream runs Feb. 5 to 16 at the York Theatre on Commercial Drive.
New Westminster's Peter Jorgensen, co-artistic producer of Patrick Street Productions - with his wife, Katey Wright - is directing the production.
That they've chosen the work of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II to open the season is, Jorgensen said, a fitting gesture for the company devoted to contemporary musical theatre.
"Contemporary musical theatre really began with them, and the risks they took as writers," he pointed out.
Patrick Street's second musical, which follows in March, is Floyd Collins - written by current Broadway phenom Adam Guettel, whose Light in the Piazza was a hit for PSP in 2011. Guettel also happens to be the grandson of Rodgers.
"We just love the balance between the two shows and the lineage between Richard Rodgers and Adam Guettel," Jorgensen said.
Out of a Dream was created by Jorgensen himself. There were already some Rodgers and Hammerstein revues in existence, but Jorgensen chose to create his own, he said, because none of the existing ones honoured the composers in the way he wanted them to be honoured.
Though he's long been a fan of the duo's work, he said directing the Chemainus Theatre production of Oklahoma! a few years back gave him an entirely new appreciation of their depths.
"Really sitting down with the music and lyrics and seeing how the songs were constructed, ... there was so much sophisticated craftsmanship in what they did," he said, adding his respect for their work "ballooned" after that. "I wanted to create my own tribute to them."
Out of a Dream includes songs from all 11 shows created by the duo.
That includes the five big hits - Oklahoma, Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I, and The Sound of Music - along with the lesser-known State Fair and Cinderella, plus those shows that were considered "flops" - Allegro, Pipe Dream, Me and Juliet, and Flower Drum Song.
Jorgensen noted with a laugh that none of them would be considered failures by today's standards, since they all ran for at least 200 performances on Broadway. But they didn't achieve the same level of fame as other Rodgers and Hammerstein offerings.
In part, Jorgensen said, that's because the two were pushing the boundaries of musical theatre.
Allegro, for instance, came into being between Carousel and South Pacific.
"They created that show at the peak of their creativity together," Jorgensen said, noting it shows in the music and in the risks they took with it - even including a Greek chorus to comment on the action.
Jorgensen has woven together offerings from all 11 plays to create an evening that he says will appeal to fans of the golden era of musical theatre.
"They'll be taken back to those stories they remember," he said. "And they're also going to have some surprises."
Jorgensen is particularly pleased with the cast he's assembled for the production.
"We're lucky in Vancouver. We're a smaller market, but within our market we're got really top-notch performers," he pointed out.
Jorgensen has been able to assemble an "A-list" cast, including Warren Kimmel and Caitriona Murphy, who'll be familiar from Arts Club and Patrick Street productions.
They're appearing alongside Kaylee Harwood, best known locally for her performance as Cosette in the Arts Club's Les Misérables. She also went on to appear at the Stratford Festival and then on Broadway with Stratford's Jesus Christ Superstar, and this season she'll return to Ontario for her second season at the Shaw Festival.
"Her career has really taken off," Jorgensen says, noting he's thrilled to have her in Out of a Dream.
"I feel like she was born to do Rodgers and Hammerstein - the look, the voice, the acting, it's all there."
They're joined by two young performers whom Jorgensen describes as two "huge up-and-comers": Kazumi Evans and Sayer Roberts.
Evans - who played Maria in Royal City Musical Theatre's West Side Story in 2008 - has been on Jorgensen's radar for quite some time. Most recently, he notes, while he was directing Arts Club's Avenue Q, Evans stepped in partway through the run when another performer had to withdraw.
Roberts, meanwhile, is a New Westminster native who most recently dazzled local audiences in last year's Royal City Musical Theatre production of Oklahoma! - a performance that has earned him an Ovation Award nomination.
"People were raving about his performance," Jorgensen says.
He adds he loves finding young talent like Evans and Roberts.
"It's exciting when you find the show that you go, 'That's the one, that's the one I want to work with you on.'"
Wrapping the evening up in a perfect package is the fact that its run extends over Valentine's Day - and Rodgers and Hammerstein were nothing if not romantic.
"It's one of their strong suits," Jorgensen said with a smile. "It'll be a really lovely show to take your honey to."
Patrick Street has teamed up with Federico's Supper Club to offer dinner and show packages, with a special offering for Valentine's evening.
Jorgensen is hoping the show will draw an audience that might not have ventured out to some of Patrick Street's earlier, lesser-known productions. Once they're in, he says, he hopes those same audience members will think about returning for a future performance - such as, for instance, Floyd Collins, which is running March 11 to 30.
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Out Of A Dream runs Feb. 5 to 16 at the York Theatre, 639 Commercial Dr. in Vancouver.
It's on Tuesdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m., Saturdays and Sundays at 2 p.m.
Tickets start at $19. Buy online at tickets.thecultch.com or by phone at 604-251-1363.
