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Beginning June 26, Vassar & New York Stage and Film's Powerhouse Theater will celebrate its 25th anniversary season. Powerhouse provides its audience a window into the creative process of some of the nation's top artists and writers as they engage in the rigorous development of plays and musicals, before going on to larger stages in New York, across the country, and around the world.
The 2009 Powerhouse Theater season, a silver celebration, will run through August 2, on the historic Vassar College campus in New York's Hudson Valley.
Highlights of the season include
--several plays that explore the intricate connections of love, family, desire, and friendship, including Pulitzer and Tony Award-winning playwright John Patrick Shanley's Pirate, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Beth Henley's The Jacksonian, Keith Bunin's Vera Laughed, and Joanna Murray-Smith's Ninety;
--the fully-staged musical production of The Burnt Part Boys (in advance of its 2010 New York premiere) presented at Powerhouse in collaboration with Playwrights Horizons and the Vineyard Theatre;
--the newest project from Duncan Sheik (Tony Award-winning composer of Spring Awakening), Kyle Jarrow (The Very Merry Unauthorized Children's Scientology Pageant) and Keith Powell (from NBC's 30 Rock) - Whisper House - a musical set in a haunted lighthouse;
--Tina Girlstar, a musical with a satiric, black-comedic take on the contemporary music industry by Anton Dudley, Charlie Sohne, and Brian Feinstein;
--One Slight Hitch, written by Lewis Black (The Daily Show), comedian and New York Times bestselling author;
--free Powerhouse Apprentice Company performances of works by Shakespeare (Twelfth Night and The Taming of the Shrew) and Euripides (The Trojan Women);
-- Before curtain on Friday and Saturday evenings during the Powerhouse season, several area restaurants will offer a light dinner menu on Powerhouse patio;
--and, in celebration of 25 seasons developing and presenting great new theater, Vassar & New York Stage and Film will present a gala benefit concert on Saturday, June 27.
Season after season Powerhouse audiences have had the chance to be a witness to the creative process and development of award-winning works through artistically exceptional and affordably priced performances, including John Patrick Shanley's Doubt (four Tony Awards including Best Play and Pulitzer for Drama), Warren Leight's Side Man (two Tony Awards including Best Play and Pulitzer nominee), and Jay Presson Allen's Tru (Tony Award for Best Actor).
Last summer Opera News described Powerhouse as "a safe haven for plays to be nurtured before they make their way into the world, an incubator where writers can work on the development of a show without commercial and critical pressures, far from the ka-ching of Broadway."
On the "Mainstage" there will be three fully-staged works this year, including two plays: Ninety, Joanna Murray Smith's provocative reflection on marriage (Powerhouse, June 30 - July 12) and Vera Laughed, Keith Bunin's romantic, Chekhovian take on relationship triangles (Powerhouse, July 22 - August 2), as well as the new musical The Burnt Part Boys, with book by Mariana Elder, lyrics by Nathan Tysen, and music by Chris Miller, directed by Erica Schmidt (Martel, July 17 - 26). Major funding for The Burnt Part Boys has been provided by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation's Playwrights Horizons Musicals in Partnership Initiative.
In addition, two "Martel Musicals" will be offered this season as concert readings: Tina Girlstar, a biting black comedic look at the contemporary music industry with book by Anton Dudley, lyrics by Charlie Sohne, and music by Brian Feinstein (Martel, July 1, 2) and Whisper House, a musical set in a haunted lighthouse, with music and lyrics by Duncan Sheik, book and lyrics by Kyle Jarrow, and directed by Keith Powell (Martel, July 10, 11).
This season's "Inside Look" series, workshop presentations of plays with partial production values, will feature New York Times-bestselling author Lewis Black's latest play, One Slight Hitch, directed by Joe Grifasi (Susan Stein Shiva Theater, July 17 - 19) and an urban fairy tale by Ben Snyder, Shoe Story, directed by Tony nominee Thomas Kail (Susan Stein Shiva Theater, July 23 - 25).
The Readings Festivals are a very popular (and free) offering of the Powerhouse experience with actors performing "script in hand," bracketing the beginning and end of each season. This year the first Readings Festival (Susan Stein Shiva Theater, June 26 - 28) will include works by Bryan Delaney, Yussef El Guindi, Theresa Rebeck, and Julian Sheppard, while the second (Susan Stein Shiva Theater, July 31 - August 2) will include works by Andrew Dolan, Beth Henley, Dan Moran, John Patrick Shanley, and ReGina Taylor.
The Powerhouse Apprentice Company will present free performances of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night (directed by Anthony Luciano) and The Taming of the Shrew (directed by Brian McManamon) as well as Euripides' The Trojan Women (directed by Dennis Reid). All performances will be held in the Outdoor Amphitheater on the Vassar campus Friday through Monday beginning July 10 through July 27. In 2007, these performances were named the "Best Way to Introduce Kids to the Classics," by Hudson Valley Magazine, in their annual "Best of the Hudson Valley" issue. On consecutive Thursday evenings in July, during "Late Night at the Lehman Loeb," member of the Powerhouse Apprentice Company will present a unique "soundpainted ballet," Dances at an Exhibition (directed by Mark Lindberg), inspired by art on exhibition at the college's Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center.
The Powerhouse gala benefit concert will be held on Saturday, June 27, and will feature songs and selections from productions of the past 25 years as well as some very special guest artists. (Additional details to be announced.)
On Friday and Saturday evenings, before curtain, several area restaurants will offer a light dinner menu on the Powerhouse patio. (Details and schedule to be announced.)
This year, continuing its mission of presenting artistically exceptional and affordably priced performances, Powerhouse Theater will offer a $5 student rush ticket for students of up to 25 years of age [available 15 minutes before curtain]. Season subscriptions, available beginning May 20, will cost $165.75 per person and include admission to all shows (Mainstage, Martel Musicals, Inside Look, and Reading Festivals). Individual tickets ($35 for "Mainstage"; $25 for "Martel Musicals"; $20 for the "Inside Look" series) will go on sale June 3. See http://powerhouse.vassar.edu for additional information.
