Ring Bells!  Sing songs!  Type typewriters!
Ann Arbor Civic Theatre is back.
You'll be hearing plenty of tpewriters, anyway, clattering away in "The Front Page,"  Charles Mac Arthur and Ben Hecht's classic comedy-thriller of yellow journalism in wild-and-wooly Chicago of the 1920s.  Opening Thursday on the former Performance Network stage, the revival marks the first Civic production since last September.
"With this show we've taken on some of the responsibilities of moving Ann Arbor Civic into a new space," says "Front Page" Director, Glenn Bugala.   "We're not only putting on a show, but setting up shop backstage."
While that performance space is due for demolition this summer, that doesn't mean AACT--which appeared near death last year due to financial woes--isn't alive and kicking.
"We're trying to take some Civic pride, if you'll pardon the experssion," Bugala says, laughing.  "We've repainted the (old Network) lobby, trying to make it our own." 
The hope is that Civic loyalists old and new will respond by turning out in ample numbers for the two week "Front Page" run.  "Certainly this production is crucially tied to Civic Theatre's future," Bugala says frankly.  "We'd like a great turnout."
First presented in 1928, "The Front Page" is a wild hot-type ride set in the press room of downstate Joliet Prison.  convicted murderer Earl Williams (played by Michael Roehrig) is due to be executed for a murder he claims he didn't commit, and a slew of hard-boiled, raucous reporters hang around scheming angles to get a scoop on Earl's end.
Slickest of the scribes is Hildy Johnson (Carl Hannah), dapper star reporter for the (fictitious) Chicago Post, who's decided to shuck his journalistic endeavors in favor of marrying rich New York heiress Peggy Grant (Emily Phenix).  Hildy's catching the late-night train for NYC, perhaps unaware what lengths his hard-boiled editor boss Walter Burns (Charles Sutherland) will go to keep him in the fold.
Walter's often-nefarious actions aren't inspired by friendship, but by the cold fact that Hildy's the best in the business, and too valuable commodity to lose.  Walter's   comic yet unabashed ruthlessness sets the tone for this cynical yet wildly funny show, which runs the gamut from romance to prison break to corruption in high places, to outright violence in the name of Getting That Story.
"I was pleasantly surprised at the number of guys we got at auditions," Bugala says. ("The Front Page" demands a large, mostly male cast.)  We've got Civic veterans like Charlie, Larry Rusinsky, Laurie Atwood, and we've also got some brand-new folks.  That's just the kind of combination we wanted."
Bugala stresses that a brisk pace is crucial to the show.  "The jokes play a lot better when they're fast.  We're trying to break a speed record for this show, and we're trying to emphasize its facical aspects, since most of the reporters are not nice guys.  They're looking for dirty stuff on people to write about.
"I think there's an applicability to today's audience and their experience with tele-journalism."
Still Bugala and company intend to drape "The Front Page" in a look of bygone days.  "I begin each scene with a kind of frozen snapshot tableau," the director says.  "Everyone is wearing sepia-toned clothing, lending to a feeling of the old dagguereotypes.  The set is brown and tan, and we'll be using a lot of amber lights.  "If you saw The Sting, that's the kind of feeling we're trying to create."
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Ann Arbor Civic Theatre will present "The Front Page" Thrusday-Sunday, March 8-11 and 15-18 at 408 West Washington St. (the old Performance Network).  Curtain is 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday.  Tickets are $16 general, $14 student/seniors, $8 all seats Thursdays.  For reservations, call (734) 971-2228.