The Canton Comic Opera Company will present the 1927 romantic musical comedy RIO RITA with music by Harry Tierney, lyrics by Joseph McCarthy and book by Guy Bolton and Fred Thompson and on Saturday, July 19 at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday, July 20 at 2:00 p.m.  All performances will be at the Canton Jewish Community Center Auditorium, 2631 Harvard Ave. N.W., Canton, Ohio 44709.  RIO RITA will feature a cast of 30 and a full orchestra directed by Joseph N. Rubin. Tickets are $18.00 for general admission.  To purchase tickets and for more information call (330) 327-2985, or view the Canton Comic Opera Company’s website at www.cantoncomicoperaco.com.

Originally produced by Florenz Ziegfeld, RIO RITA opened on Broadway in 1927 and ran 494 performances, becoming one of the longest running shows of the decade.  The show was filmed twice, first in 1930 with John Boles and Bebe Daniels and in 1942 with Abbott and Costello.  One of America’s most popular operettas, RIO RITA was constantly revived by stock and amateur companies all over the country, but has never been performed in Canton.  Harry Tierney’s memorable score contains such hits as “Rio Rita,” “The Ranger’s Song” and “If You’re in Love You’ll Waltz.” Harry Tierney also wrote such successful musical comedies as IRENE (which contains the classic song “Alice Blue Gown”) and KID BOOTS.

RIO RITA is a musical comedy in which high romance and outrageous comedy collide. It is the story of Rita, a Mexican beauty, who is courted by two suitors: a powerful but sinister general, and a mysterious Texas Ranger in search of a crafty bandit, The Kinkajou. Amid the story of betrayal and romance, the wild antics of Chick Bean and Ed Lovett bring incredible hilarity as Chick tries to conceal from his new wife the embarrassing--and dangerous--fact that he is actually still married to his old one! Tense drama and endless laughs abound; but who is the real Kinkajou...?