Southampton - Center Stage at Southampton Cultural Center will present the rarely produced Cole Porter musical comedy, "50 Million Frenchmen," opening January 6, 2011 at SCC's Levitas Center for the Arts. The production is supervised by Lee Davis, directed and choreographed by Michael Disher, and musically directed by Robert Peterson, "50 Million Frenchmen" will be performed through January 16, with Thursday through Saturday performances at 8 p.m. and Sunday matinees at 2:30 p.m.

"50 Million Frenchmen," with a book by Herbert Fields and music and lyrics by Cole Porter, opened on Broadway in 1929 and was adapted for film two years later. The title refers to the hit 1927 song "Fifty Million Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong" by Willie Raskin, Billy Rose, and Fred Fisher, which compared free attitudes in 1920s Paris with censorship and prohibition in the United States. The musical's plot is typical of the standard boy-meets-girl plots of musical comedies of the first half of the 20th century.

The musical premiered on Broadway at the Lyric Theatre in November 1929, a month after the Stock Market crashed, and closed in July 1930 after 254 performances. Directed by Monty Woolley with choreography by Larry Ceballos and scenic design by Norman Bel Geddes, the cast featured William Gaxton, Genevieve Tobin, Betty Compton and Lester Crawford. A 1991 concert version was staged with the book adapted by Tommy Krasker; a studio recording was made featuring the concert's cast.

The plot centers on Peter Forbes, a young American millionaire who journeys to Paris and bets his friends Billy Baxter and Michael Cummins that he can live without his money for a month and, while doing so, endear and engage himself to Looloo Caroll, a young woman he adores. She is in Paris with her parents and her best friend Joyce. The catch is that Peter has one month, until July 4, to announce their engagement at the Chateau Madrid.

The score includes: "Paree," "What You Do to Me," "You Do Something to Me," "Let's Step Out," "The Tale of the Oyster," "You've Got That Thing," "Find Me a Primitive Man," "The Boyfriend Back Home," "I'm in Love," "I'm Unlucky at Gambling" and "You Don't Know Paree."

Center Stage's production stars Jack Seabury as Peter Forbes, Erin Clancy as Looloo Carroll, Anita Boyer as Joyce Wheeler, Adam Fronc as Michael Cummins, Lauren Rowland as Violet Hildegard, V.J. Chiaramonte as Billy Baxter, Bethany Dellapolla as May Devere, Karen Hochstedler as Mrs. Carroll, Ken Rowland, as Mr. Carroll and Mike Canestraro as Louis Pernasse. Chorus members include: Michael Contino, Anika Hochstedler, Kasia Klimiuk, Christine Martinez, Amy Rowland, Thomas Pandolfo and Kieran Siao.

Showtimes are Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. on the stage of The Levitas Center for the Arts, 25 Pond Lane, across from Agawam Park in Southampton Village. General admission is $25 and student rate (under 21 with ID) is $12. Group rates are available and reservations are encouraged. For tickets, call Southampton Cultural Center at 631-287-4377 or purchase tickets online at www.scc-arts.org.