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Geffen Playhouse Producing Director Gilbert Cates will direct the world premiere adaptation of Lerner & Loewe’s classic musical Paint Your Wagon. American playwright David Rambo will revise this classic American tale set in the midst of the California Gold Rush. The Geffen Playhouse production of Paint Your Wagon is the first revival of the musical and is being presented in association with Christopher Allen, D. Constantine Conte and Larry Spellman. Paint Your Wagon is the story of a grizzled old prospector and his sixteen-year-old daughter who finds gold near their camp. When the word gets out, gold miners descend upon the area and create a boomtown. The Geffen Playhouse production of Paint Your Wagon begins in previews at the Brentwood Theatre on November 23 and runs through January 9, with press performances beginning December 1, 2004.

“I am so thrilled to be directing the revival of this truly American play, set in one of the most exciting eras of this country, the California Gold Rush,” said Cates. “This is also an incredibly unique opportunity for us to work with the estates of Lerner and Loewe and with David Rambo, one of the hottest American playwrights today, in rethinking this classic story about hope and love in America.”

Cates is the recipient of the James A. Dolittle Award for Leadership in Los Angeles Theatre. The Geffen Playhouse production of Collected Stories, which was directed by Cates, received the 1999 Ovation Award for Best Play. Cates served two terms as President of the Directors Guild of America from 1983 to 1987. In 1989, he received the Guild’s Robert B. Aldrich Award for extraordinary service, and in 1991 he received the DGA’s Honorary Life Membership.

The collaborative team of Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe dominated the Broadway stage and American musical theater from 1947 through to the 1960s. With celebrated musicals including Brigadoon, My Fair Lady, and Camelot, the works of this playwright and lyricist duo continue to premiere on stages all over the world.

Paint Your Wagon made its Broadway debut at the Shubert Theatre in 1951 and ran for 289 performances.