About THE PRETTY PANTS BANDIT: Inspired by True Events
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From housewife to hero, Marie Baker, her gang, and one infamous pair of guns took the country for a year-long ride that would make headlines.
Notoriously leaving the men she robbed with their pants down, her evolution became a revolution. Amongst the sparkling and scintillating back drop of 1930s Miami, and with an unforgettable pop-rock score,THE PRETTY PANTS BANDIT will steal your inhibitions and your heart. |
A story of a woman leaving an abusive marriage to pursue a vigilante quest for vengeance quickly becomes something so much more. Set against the economic and racial disparity of this time in Miami, THE PRETTY PANTS BANDIT gives voice to the voiceless and empowers the powerless; shedding a light on very present issues through the vintage lens of the golden age of the American Gangster.
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THE STORY
In 1932, ROSE DURANTE flees the abuse of her husband, low level mob "Bag Man", ANGELO DURANTE. Determined to exact vengeance, she steals his account book on her way out, adopting the alias MARIE BAKER and hatching a plan to snatch her husband's (and the mob's) "dirty cash stash" from businesses all over Miami. MARIE learns pretty quickly that she's going to need some help to succeed. With that in mind, our unlikely heroine finds her way to some unlikely heroes in the form of the perpetually hustling teenaged playboy JAYE, math wizard and Cuban bar back, CESARIO and the strong, silent, gentle giant, SAM. MARIE and the BOYS make their hideout in the bar of LAWRENCE and KAT WALKER-a brother and sister down on their luck and down in their spirits. MARIE and her "PANTS GANG" quickly make headlines after their first heist features the theft of Al Capone's favorite pistols, and every male employee getting forced to drop their trousers at gun point by THE PRETTY PANTS BANDIT herself. Intrepid reporter, GLORIA ROWE, sees an opportunity to get out of the gossip columns and onto the front page with MARIE's tale of sticking it to the man-and she does just that-lighting a fire in the hearts of Miami's downtrodden and catching the attention of its corrupt police chief, H.LESLIE QUIGG. With ANGELO and QUIGG feeling the hit to their pride and their pockets, MARIE and the gang begin to feel the heat of pursuit, even while their stars and bank accounts rise.
The sudden fame and very real danger begin to take a toll on MARIE, who was not prepared to have an entire city banking on her to show them how to take their power back. All the while, our BOYS struggle to discover who they are beyond the headlines, and LAWRENCE is falling in love with MARIE BAKER, who just might be falling apart. QUIGG vows to take them down, but MARIE strikes a deal, slapping the blame on her husband, gaining freedom for her BOYS, and taking back her own name and dignity, ROSE DELANEY. The trade-off is 3 years in the clink for ROSE, but during that time-with the help of the women of Miami-she is able to discover who she will become, inspiring us to do the same.
The sudden fame and very real danger begin to take a toll on MARIE, who was not prepared to have an entire city banking on her to show them how to take their power back. All the while, our BOYS struggle to discover who they are beyond the headlines, and LAWRENCE is falling in love with MARIE BAKER, who just might be falling apart. QUIGG vows to take them down, but MARIE strikes a deal, slapping the blame on her husband, gaining freedom for her BOYS, and taking back her own name and dignity, ROSE DELANEY. The trade-off is 3 years in the clink for ROSE, but during that time-with the help of the women of Miami-she is able to discover who she will become, inspiring us to do the same.
THE SONGS for TONIGHT
City of the Sun: Ensemble feat LAWRENCE & GLORIA
I Was: MARIE
More Than a Dress: MARIE
Femme Fatale: LAWRENCE feat MARIE, JAYE, SAM, CESARIO (The Boys) and Ensemble
Pot of Gold: MARIE & The Boys
Story Worth Writing: GLORIA, Ensemble
The Chosen One: QUIGG, Ensemble
Make it Beautiful: LAWRENCE, MARIE, Ensemble
Big Boy Dreams: JAYE, CESARIO, SAM
Heist Montage: MARIE, JAYE, CESARIO, SAM, LAWRENCE
Front Page News: GLORIA, MARIE, JAYE, CESARIO, SAM, Ensemble
Bigger: MARIE, feat LAWRENCE
The Chosen One (Reprise)/I Am: QUIGG, MARIE, Ensemble
Kat's Song: KAT, feat LAWRENCE
It's Criminal: LAWRENCE, MARIE & The Boys
To Ever Do It: MARIE & The Boys
I Will Be/Front Page News (Reprise): MARIE, GLORIA, The Boys, Ensemble
Finale (She Speaks): MARIE, GLORIA, The Boys, Ensemble
I Was: MARIE
More Than a Dress: MARIE
Femme Fatale: LAWRENCE feat MARIE, JAYE, SAM, CESARIO (The Boys) and Ensemble
Pot of Gold: MARIE & The Boys
Story Worth Writing: GLORIA, Ensemble
The Chosen One: QUIGG, Ensemble
Make it Beautiful: LAWRENCE, MARIE, Ensemble
Big Boy Dreams: JAYE, CESARIO, SAM
Heist Montage: MARIE, JAYE, CESARIO, SAM, LAWRENCE
Front Page News: GLORIA, MARIE, JAYE, CESARIO, SAM, Ensemble
Bigger: MARIE, feat LAWRENCE
The Chosen One (Reprise)/I Am: QUIGG, MARIE, Ensemble
Kat's Song: KAT, feat LAWRENCE
It's Criminal: LAWRENCE, MARIE & The Boys
To Ever Do It: MARIE & The Boys
I Will Be/Front Page News (Reprise): MARIE, GLORIA, The Boys, Ensemble
Finale (She Speaks): MARIE, GLORIA, The Boys, Ensemble
THE CAST
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CHRISTINE DWYER* (MARIE BAKER): Christine Dwyer appeared on Broadway and the 2015 Tony Awards as Elphaba in Wicked. National Tours: Waitress (Jenna), Finding Neverland (Sylvia), RENT (Maureen). Other credits include Ragtime (Mother), Murder Ballad (Sara) Rock Of Ages (Regina), and JCS Live on NBC with John Legend, Sara Bareilles and Alice Cooper. IG: @cteendryer
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BRADLEY GIBSON* (LAWRENCE): a North Carolina native, was last seen on stage starring as Hercules in the pilot production of Disney’s Hercules at Papermill Playhouse. Bradley has appeared on Broadway in the OBC of ROCKY, and A Bronx Tale, in addition to starring as Simba in Disney’s The Lion King, and CHICAGO. Off Broadway credits include, The School for Scandal, and Love’s Labours Lost with the Public Theatre. On screen, Bradley can be seen in the drama Partner Track (Netflix), Power Book 2: GHOST (Starz), Kung Fu (CW), and the film Fire Island (Hulu). Boston Conservatory alum. IG: bradgibson13
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BRIAN CHARLES JOHNSON*(H. LESLIE QUIGG): Original Broadway Cast member of both Spring Awakening and American Idiot. Some Tv/Film credits include Wolf of Wall Street, Law & Order: SVU, Gotham, Master of None, and Chicago Fire BGV for Allen Stone. AEA/SAG-AFTRA. Go Bills!
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XAVIER REYES* (CESARIO): Xavier is a proud Puertorican actor! Having worked all over US, Puerto Rico, Japan and Canada, favorite credits include: Lynn Nottage's CLYDE'S, Pulitzer Award Winning SWEAT and Anna in the Tropics , Moliere's SCAPIN, Trading Places directed by Kenny Leon, Kinky Boots Broadway National Tour, Fun Home, Hair, In The Heights, Rent, West Side Story and others.
Follow @XavierReyesActor |
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ELIJAH CALDWELL (SAM) an Obie Award Winner. Original Standby in A Strange Loop at Playwright's Horizon. Associate Music Director for Chicago Pre-Broadway engagement of The Devil Wears Prada. A graduate of The UNC Chapel Hill in Classical Piano & Masters in Musical Theatre from NYU.
IG:@thisiscaldwellofficial www.thisiscaldwell.com |
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JACK BAUGH (JAYE): Jack is so excited to be Jaye in The Pretty Pants Bandit! His most recent credits include Dwight in The Office! A Musical Parody, Troy in High School Musical, and Spencer in Here I Am. He would like to thank his family and friends for helping him get to where he is today!
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CARLA MONGADO (GLORIA ROWE): is grateful to the Pretty Pants Bandit family! Carla is a singer and actor whose credits include: the US Premiere of Clockmaker's Daughter as Constance, Dear Mom, I'm Gay; Island Song as Jordan, Ellipses as Triangulum, and Wow, Seattle?" as Pax; She can be heard on the Original Concept Album Recording of Goodbye New York and Platinum Girls. @mecarlalooo
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TIFFANY RENEE THOMPSON* (KAT):Tiffany is a proud NYC-born and based actor. Off-Broadway -Little Shop of Horrors (Crystal), Pip’s Island (Shelley). Select Regional Credits: Ghost: The Musical (Oda Mae), Seussical (Sour Kangaroo), and Avenue Q (Gary).
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Music Director MATT DEITCHMAN: Matt Deitchman is a NYC based music director, orchestrator, actor, composer and multi-instrumentalist. Music credits incl. — Broadway: A Strange Loop, Almost Famous; Off-Broadway: Trevor the Musical; Regional; Chicago Shakespeare, South Coast Rep, Asolo Rep, Shakespeare Theatre (D.C.), Marriott Theatre, Ogunquit Playhouse.
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Band: Matt Deitchman, Gerard Canonico , Minnie Moline Jordan
THE WRITERS
CHASE PEACOCK is an actor, singer, composer from Atlanta, Georgia currently based in New York. He was a member of the original cast of Green Day's American Idiot on Broadway. Chase wrote and recorded the entire score for the web series Wiener And Wiener. As a songwriter he has written and recorded many songs as a solo artist and wrote the song "Boomerang" which appeared on Country artist Rachel Potter's album NOT SO BLACK AND WHITE.
JESSICA DeMARIA is a New York based performer and writer. Jessica's first co-written musical, THE LAST TIME WE WERE HERE, appeared at the New York Musical Theatre Festival in June 2015 and received a workshop production at Synchronicity theatre in August of 2016. Her original arrangements of American folk music have appeared in productions of The Sleepy Hollow Experience all over the country and she was featured on the Spotify Original Podcast, "You Heard Me Write" during its inaugural season. Her most recent composition premiered in a new short film, "The Name", in Chicago in September of 2022.
THE MUSIC
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THE ORIGINAL PRODUCTION
THE PRESS
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"Chase & Jessica offer a fresh new voice in the musical theatre world with powerful storylines and exquisite melodies! A dynamic duo with a bright future ahead! They understand the power of collaboration, which creates an efficient and highly creative pre-production period!"-Ricardo Aponte, Choreographer/Director
“Jessica and Chase have a knack for writing incredibly melodic music and they also have such a penchant for interesting, unexpected stories. It is always a treat to see what new tricks they have up their sleeves.”-Freddie Ashley, Artistic Director, Actor's Express "Chase and Jessica, in seven years, have found all the aspects of what makes this play worthy of being noticed and off the charts!" |
"It's rare to find a writing/composing team that's capable of doing more than one aspect of musical theatre well. Chase Peacock and Jessica De Maria can do it all, and do it extremely well to boot. "-James Donadio, Associate Artistic Director of Georgia Ensemble Theatre
"The Pretty Pants Bandit is wholly original and highly energetic...This is an exciting venture."-ArtsAtl "Creators Chase Peacock and Jessica De Maria have written a show which is as sassy as it is sensually superb...The music is superb, eclectic, and thrilling, the cast stellar, and the book funny although intelligent and wickedly cheeky." |
Interviews with Chase & Jessica
VoyageATL 2019 City Lights with Lois Reitzes 2016 City Lights with Lois Reitzes 2020 BroadwayRadio Podcast 2022 City Lights with Lois Reitzes 2022 BroadwayRadio Podcast 2023 Media Contact
Ph: 631.561.8424 Email: chaseandjessicamusicals@gmail.com IG: @theprettypantsbanditmusical TikTok: @theprettypantsbandit www.chaseandjessica.com Production Photo credit: Casey Gardner Ford |