Public Theater to Premiere LaChiusa's GIANT, HERE LIES LOVE About Imelda Marcos & More; Full Season Announced!

Public Theater has announced the line-up today for The Public's 2012-2013 Season, beginning in the fall with an October rededication of The Public's historic downtown building. The season continues the theater's nearly 60 year tradition of developing new theatrical voices and presenting Shakespeare to the entire New York community.

In the spirit of A Chorus Line; HAIR; Caroline, or Change; and Passing Strange, The Public's 57th season will premiere two new musicals, beginning in October with GIANT, an epic love story with book by Sybille Pearson, music and lyrics by Michael John LaChiusa and directed by Michael Greif.

April will feature the world premiere of the new musical, HERE LIES LOVE about Filipina First Lady, Imelda Marcos, with concept and lyrics by David Byrne, music by David Byrne and Fatboy Slim, and directed by Alex Timbers.

The Downtown Season will present world premiere plays by acclaimed actor/playwright Colman Domingo; best-selling author Nathan Englander; renowned international writer/director Guillermo Calderón; and theatrical genius Richard Foreman.

Award-winning playwright Richard Nelson returns to The Public in the fall with SORRY, the third in a series of plays about the Apple family that will open on election night, November 6, 2012. Original cast members from That Hopey Changey Thing and Sweet and Sad will reunite for this world premiere Public Lab production: Jon Devries, Maryann Plunkett, Laila Robins, Jay O. Sanders, and J. Smith-Cameron.

The sixth Public Lab season will also include DETROIT 67, a world premiere by Dominique Morisseau and directed by Kwame Kwei-Armah. Morisseau wrote this new play in The Public's 2011 Emerging Writers Group. Tickets to all Public Lab productions are $15.

While Shakespeare in the Park celebrates 50 years at the Delacorte Theater this summer with AS YOU LIKE IT and INTO THE WOODS, The Public's Mobile Shakespeare Unit will be presenting RICHARD III downtown in August in the LuEsther Theater for a limited run following three weeks of touring the free professional production to prisons, homeless shelters, centers for the elderly, and other community venues in the five boroughs.

"These plays, explosive and lyrical, raw and sophisticated, by young artists and masters, are a rich expression of the huge range of theater that finds a home at The Public," said Artistic Director Oskar Eustis. "We mix artists and we mix audiences, creating a community that is as rich as America itself. In this season, where we are revitalizing our building, our lobby will be the most exciting place to be in New York."

The Public Theater will continue its successful MEMBERSHIP PROGRAM, which offers patrons the opportunity to purchase significantly discounted tickets to shows and events throughout the year for an annual $55 (tax-deductible) donation. Single tickets for the 2012-2013 Season will go on sale later this year.

2012-2013 DOWNTOWN SEASON:

Mobile Shakespeare Unit:
All tickets $15 RICHARD III By William Shakespeare Directed by Amanda Dehnert July 17-August 5 (touring throughout the five boroughs) August 7-26, 2012 (LuEsther Theater)

One of Shakespeare's most charismatic villains cuts a scorched-earth swath through the politicos, power-mongers, and even family members who stand between him and the crown. But before King Richard III can enjoy the fruits of his ill-gotten gain, something stirs that freezes him in his tracks: conscience. Shakespeare's bracingly theatrical, surprisingly moral exploration of violence and its consequences is a production of The Public Theater's Mobile Shakespeare Unit.