Chicago's American Theatre Company to Bring Back Original Off-Broadway Version of HAIR in 2013

American Theater Company today announced Season 28, which kicks off with two American classics in rotating repertory – The Catholic Repertory: Doubt & Agnes of God – featuring Ensemble Member Sadieh Rifai; and a Chicago holiday repertory – The Radio Repertory: The Wizard of Oz & It's a Wonderful Life – directed by ATC Artistic Associate Jason W. Gerace.

The season continues with the World Premiere of the revised version of the United States Theatre Project's columbinus, conceived and directed by Artistic Director PJ Paparelli. Following in the wake of contemporary shootings like those at Virginia Tech, Paparelli will return to Littleton, Colorado for the first time in ten years to conduct new interviews with survivors and community members; the revised production of columbinus will be part of the theatre community's citywide discussion on school violence "Now Is the Time to Act," together with Steppenwolf and About Face Theater.

Closing out Paparelli's 5th anniversary season as Artistic Director at ATC is a restored and revised version of the classic American rock musical Hair. Following the success of The Original Grease, Paparelli now teams up with Hair co-creator James Rado to restore original material from the 1968 off-Broadway production that hasn't been seen in 45 years.

"Season 28 tells landmark stories at the heart of being an American. Faith, community, school violence and war: all the triggers that engage Americans in passionate dialogue," says Paparelli. "Season 28 is a collection of explosive American stories offered up in the ways that have uniquely defined ATC over the last 5 years: exploring a repertory of classic American plays, introducing an iconic film into our holiday radio play tradition, revising a documentary theatre piece that changed my life, and partnering with the author of a revolutionary musical to restore original material. I've never been more excited about a season than this one."

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