Jessica Stone's BAREFOOT IN THE PARK, Kathleen Marshall-Helmed 'MUCH ADO' and More Set for The Old Globe's 2018 Summer Season

The Old Globe today announced the additional productions in its 2018 Summer Season, including the classic Neil Simon comedy Barefoot in the Park directed by Jessica Stone (Ken Ludwig's Robin Hood!, Arms and the Man, and Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike at the Globe), which will run July 28 - August 26, 2018. The Summer Shakespeare Festival lineup will include The Tempest, running June 17 - July 22, 2018, and Much Ado About Nothing, directed by three-time Tony Award winner Kathleen Marshall (the Globe's Love's Labor's Lost), running August 12 - September 16.

Summer Season 2018 subscriber tickets will go on sale on Sunday, October 22 at 12:00 noon.

The 2018 Summer Season will begin with the previously announced Dr. Seuss's The Lorax, presented by The Old Globe and Children's Theatre Company, in partnership with The Old Vic. Based on the book The Lorax by Dr. Seuss, it was adapted for the stage by David Greig, with music and lyrics by Charlie Fink, and directed by Max Webster. Originally produced at The Old Vic in London, where it was directed by Webster, Dr. Seuss's The Lorax includes puppet design by Finn Caldwell and Nick Barnes, whose puppetry design work helped bring to life the Tony Award-winning War Horse; choreography by Drew McOnie; and scenic and costume design by Rob Howell. Performances run July 2 - August 12, 2018, on the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage in the Old Globe Theatre, part of the Conrad Prebys Theatre Center. Children's Theatre Company, based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, will present Dr. Seuss's The Lorax as part of their 2017-2018 season, with performances April 17 - June 10, 2018.

Direct from London's West End comes the critically acclaimed and Olivier Award-nominated musical event of the summer. Silky soft Truffula trees provide the perfect ingredient for a nifty new garment. But when demand skyrockets, who will speak for all the trees in the Truffula forest? Enter the Lorax. Dr. Seuss's The Lorax has been enchanting adults and children alike for generations, and this summer his irresistible, big-hearted, mustachioed hero will be brought to inventive life in what critics call a "mad, uproarious delight" (The Independent). Audiences of all ages will be thrilled by the brilliant, eye-popping colors, infectious music, and beloved story that the Financial Times called "joyous and all-too-timely."

This summer, director Jessica Stone (Ken Ludwig's Robin Hood, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike) returns to the Globe to extend our decades-long relationship with giant comic playwright Neil Simon with this fresh and hilarious new look at his "bubbling, rib-tickling comedy" (The New York Times). Barefoot in the Park continues the Globe's 2018 Summer Season, running July 28 - August 26, 2018, in the Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, part of the Conrad Prebys Theatre Center. Fresh off a honeymoon at the Plaza Hotel, free-spirited Corie and her buttoned-down husband Paul find themselves struggling to adjust to married life in their run-down New York walk-up. Throw in a loopy meddling mother, an eccentric Bohemian upstairs neighbor, and a double date that goes disastrously wrong, and you've got the perfect recipe for laughter.

The Old Globe 2018 Summer Shakespeare Festival will once again present the finest of the Bard's work outdoors under the stars in the Lowell Davies Festival Theatre. Summer will officially arrive with The Tempest, running June 17 - July 22, 2018. Thrown out of power by his wicked brother, Prospero, the Duke of Milan, lives in exile on a desert island. For company, he has only his daughter Miranda, the spirits who are native to the island, and his beloved books. The books are the source of his dark magic, which he uses to lure his enemies to the island so he can exact revenge. But his plot could destroy Miranda's happiness, so Prospero must choose between his own anger and his daughter's future. Brimming with magic and romance, this enchanting fantasy kicks off the 2018 Shakespeare Festival with spectacle under the stars.

Following The Tempest in the Summer Shakespeare Festival in the Lowell Davies Festival Theatre is Much Ado About Nothing, running August 12 - September 16, 2018. Three-time Tony Award winner Kathleen Marshall (the Globe's Love's Labor's Lost) makes her triumphant return as director to our Festival Theatre stage with one of the greatest romantic comedies ever, in a production full of colorful characters, passionate poetry, and Shakespeare's wittiest wordplay. Everyone can see that confirmed bachelor Benedick and headstrong Beatrice are meant for each other-except for Benedick and Beatrice themselves! While their friends try to trick the bickering pair into admitting they're in love, their young sidekicks Hero and Claudio start a romance of their own. But will false accusations, broken promises, and even a nutty and bumbling police force prevent a happy ending?

"The Globe's 2018 summer lineup is everything this theatre is celebrated for: great Shakespeare by leading American artists, a classic crowd-pleasing comedy, and a return to our beloved friend Dr. Seuss," said Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein. "These shows are smart, fun, and vibrant, and great for the entire family. The Globe's relationship with Neil Simon goes back decades and includes premieres of his plays. Barefoot in the Park is one of his early triumphs, and a favorite of mine. The great Jessica Stone has a fresh take on the play that is sure to delight. Kathleen Marshall, whose Love's Labor's Lost is a Shakespeare that will long be remembered, returns with one of Shakespeare's top masterpieces of comedy and romance, Much Ado About Nothing, a perfect match of director and play. The Tempest, Shakespeare's late play about forgiveness and the rediscovery of kindness, couldn't be more of a balm for our world. And Dr. Seuss's The Lorax, in a superb stage adaptation by London's world-renowned Old Vic, is a dazzler that gets us smiling and dancing even as it reminds us how precious our natural environment is. These are four shows at the top level of what theatre art can be, and I am thrilled to share them with San Diego audiences."

Season subcriptions offer substantial savings with special subscriber benefits. Tickets to the Globe's 2018 Summer Season subscriptions will go on sale on Sunday, October 22, and range from $118 to $373. Single tickets for most shows begin at $30. Subscription packages can be purchased online at www.TheOldGlobe.org, by phone at (619) 23-GLOBE [234-5623], or by visiting the box office at 1363 Old Globe Way in Balboa Park. Discounts are available for full-time students, patrons 29 years of age and younger, seniors, military members, and groups of 10 or more.

Don't miss the many humanities-based events surrounding each production-including Insights Seminars, Post-Show Forums, and Shakespeare in the Garden. Ongoing Arts Engagement programs throughout the year include Globe for All, AXIS, coLAB, Behind the Curtain, Bard Basics, Reflecting Shakespeare, Community Voices, Breaking Bread, Pam Farr Summer Shakespeare Studio, Subject Matters, and Behind-the-Scenes Tours. Pioneering programs include Free Student Matinee Series, Sensory-Friendly Performances, School in the Park, and The Old Globe and University of San Diego Shiley Graduate Theatre Program. Watch for details of exciting new guests to be announced for In Conversation with Barry Edelstein, January's Powers New Voices Festival, and the 2018 Shakespeare in Prisons Conference, March 23-25, 2018. The Old Globe is an internationally recognized cultural icon striving to serve its audiences with the best possible theatrical experiences while providing year-round arts engagement and community programs for the citizens of San Diego County.

The Tony Award-winning Old Globe is one of the country's leading professional regional theatres and has stood as San Diego's flagship arts institution for over 80 years. Under the leadership of Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein, The Old Globe produces a year-round season of 15 productions of classic, contemporary, and new works on its three Balboa Park stages: the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage in the 600-seat Old Globe Theatre and the 250-seat Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, both part of The Old Globe's Conrad Prebys Theatre Center, and the 605-seat outdooR Lowell Davies Festival Theatre, home of its internationally renowned Shakespeare Festival. More than 250,000 people attend Globe productions annually and participate in the theatre's artistic and arts engagement programs. Numerous world premieres such as the 2014 Tony Award winner for Best Musical, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, Bright Star, Allegiance, The Full Monty, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and the annual holiday musical Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas! have been developed at The Old Globe and have gone on to enjoy highly successful runs on Broadway and at regional theatres across the country.

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The Old Globe 2018 SUMMER SEASON:

Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage, Old Globe Theatre, Conrad Prebys Theatre Center

July 2 - August 12, 2018, with Opening Night on Friday, July 6

Dr. Seuss'S THE LORAX

Based on the book The Lorax by Dr. Seuss

Adapted for the stage by David Greig

Music and lyrics by Charlie Fink

Directed by Max Webster

Puppet design by Finn Caldwell and Nick Barnes

Puppetry direction for Gyre & Gimble by Finn Caldwell

Choreography by Drew McOnie

Scenic and costume design by Rob Howell

Lighting design by Jon Clark

Sound design by Tom Gibbons

Musical direction and arrangements by Phil Bateman

Presented by The Old Globe and Children's Theatre Company, in partnership with The Old Vic Originally produced at The Old Vic Theatre in London

Direct from London's West End comes the critically acclaimed and Olivier Award-nominated musical event of the summer. Silky soft Truffula trees provide the perfect ingredient for a nifty new garment. But when demand skyrockets, who will speak for all the trees in the Truffula forest? Enter the Lorax. Dr. Seuss's The Lorax has been enchanting adults and children alike for generations, and this summer his irresistible, big-hearted, mustachioed hero will be brought to inventive life in what critics call a "mad, uproarious delight" (The Independent). Audiences of all ages will be thrilled by the brilliant, eye-popping colors, infectious music, and beloved story that the Financial Times called "joyous and all-too-timely."

David Greig (Adaptation, Dr. Seuss's The Lorax) is an award-winning playwright and, since 2016, Artistic Director of the Royal Lyceum Theatre Company, Edinburgh. His plays have been staged in the U.K. and around the world. His recent work includes Cover My Tracks (The Old Vic, Latitude Festival, U.K. tour), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (West End), Lanark (Citizens Theatre, Edinburgh), The Events (Traverse Theatre, Young Vic), Midsummer (Traverse Theatre, Soho Theatre, Tricycle Theatre), Dunsinane (Royal Shakespeare Company), The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart (National Theatre of Scotland), and Monster in the Hall and Yellow Moon (TAG Theatre Company, Glasgow).

Charlie Fink (Music and Lyrics, Dr. Seuss's The Lorax) was front man and songwriter for Noah and the Whale from 2007 to 2015. The band released four albums, which collectively sold over a million copies, and performed worldwide. He produced Laura Marling's Mercury Prize-nominated album Alas, I Cannot Swim, and wrote and produced music for Charlotte Gainsbourg, Foxes, and Eliot Sumner among others. He has also directed music videos and two extended short films, and he wrote the music for and performed in Cover My Tracks (The Old Vic, Latitude Festival, U.K. tour).

Max Webster (Director, Dr. Seuss's The Lorax) has theatre credits including Queers and Cover My Tracks (The Old Vic, Latitude Festival, U.K. tour), The Winter's Tale (Royal Lyceum Theatre Company, Edinburgh), King Lear (Royal & Derngate, U.K. tour), Mary Stuart (Tokyo), Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare's Globe, international tour), Orlando, To Kill a Mockingbird, and My Young and Foolish Heart (Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester), Opera Highlights (Scottish Opera, tour), James and the Giant Peach and My Generation (West Yorkshire Playhouse), Twelfth Night (Regent's Park Open Air Theatre), Skewered Snails (Southbank Centre), Anna Karenina (Arcola Theatre), The Chalk Circle (Aarohan Theatre, Nepal), and Carnival Under the Rainbow and Feast Kakulu (Hilton Arts Festival, South Africa). Mr. Webster is an Associate Director at The Old Vic.

Children's Theatre Company (CTC) is the nation's largest and most acclaimed theatre for multigenerational audiences. It creates theatre experiences that educate, challenge, and inspire for more than 275,000 people annually. CTC is the only theatre focused on young audiences to win the coveted Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre and is the only theatre in Minnesota to receive three Tony nominations (for its production of A Year with Frog and Toad). CTC is committed to producing world-class productions at the highest level and to developing new works, more than 200 to date, dramatically changing the canon of work for young audiences. CTC's engagement and learning programs annually serve more than 85,000 students ages 2 to 18 through Theatre Arts Training, student matinees, Bridges, and early childhood arts education programs that bring students to the theatre and bring teaching artists into the classroom. The ACT One program is CTC's comprehensive platform for access, diversity, and inclusion in their audiences, programs, staff, and board that strives to ensure the theatre is a home for all people, all families, reflective of their community. www.childrenstheatre.org.

The Old Vic is London's independent not-for-profit theatre, creating world-class entertainment on an international scale-through their work on stage, whether it be a comedy or a new musical, a dramatic work or a show for all the family; their projects with young people; their employability programs; their social media channels; or their late-night cocktail bar. They are almost 200 years old, and today, as they enter their third century under the leadership of Artistic Director Matthew Warchus, their goal is to be full. Full of life, full of creativity, full of people, full of opportunity, full of fun, full of hope. A collective passion, belief in the power of theatre, inclusion, and sense of adventure are the long-held values that still drive The Old Vic forward today. As they look to the future, they do so with optimism, courage, and an irrepressible spirit. And a knowledge that the commodity that will be most prized tomorrow is creative imagination. It is what they make, share, trade in, uphold; and it is why The Old Vic is as vital today as it was in 1818 when it first opened its doors.

Theodor Seuss Geisel is quite simply one of the most beloved children's book authors of all time. His long list of awards includes Caldecott Honors for McElligot's Pool, If I Ran the Zoo, and Bartholomew and the Oobleck; the Pulitzer Prize; and eight honorary doctorates. Works based on his original stories have won three Academy Awards, three Emmy Awards, three Grammy Awards, and a Peabody Award. Mr. Geisel wrote and illustrated 45 books during his lifetime, and his books have sold more than 650 million copies worldwide. Though Mr. Geisel died on September 24, 1991, Dr. Seuss lives on, inspiring generations of children of all ages to explore the joys of reading. For more information about Dr. Seuss and his works, visit www.Seussville.com.

The primary focus of the Dr. Seuss Enterprises, L.P. is to protect the integrity of the Dr. Seuss books while expanding beyond books into ancillary areas. This effort is a strategic part of the overall mission to nurture and safeguard the relationship consumers have with Dr. Seuss characters. Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss) said he never wanted to license his characters to anyone who would "round out the edges." That is one of the guiding philosophies of Dr. Seuss Enterprises. Susan Brandt heads Dr. Seuss Enterprises as President.

Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, Conrad Prebys Theatre Center

July 28 - August 26, 2018, with Opening Night on Thursday, August 2

BAREFOOT IN THE PARK

By Neil Simon

Directed by Jessica Stone

Fresh off a honeymoon at the Plaza Hotel, free-spirited Corie and her buttoned-down husband Paul find themselves struggling to adjust to married life in their run-down New York walk-up. Throw in a loopy meddling mother, an eccentric Bohemian upstairs neighbor, and a double date that goes disastrously wrong, and you've got the perfect recipe for laughter. This summer, director Jessica Stone (Ken Ludwig's Robin Hood, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike) returns to the Globe to extend our decades-long relationship with giant comic playwright Neil Simon with this fresh and hilarious new look at his "bubbling, rib-tickling comedy" (The New York Times).

Jessica Stone (Director) worked as an actress on and Off Broadway and in television and film for the last 30 years. Her Broadway credits include Anything Goes, Butley, The Odd Couple, The Smell of the Kill, Design for Living, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, and Grease. Her Off Broadway credits include Crimes of the Heart, Krisit, The Country Club, June Moon, Tenderloin, and Babes in Arms. She has performed in regional theatres across the country including Huntington Theatre Company, Mark Taper Forum, Geva Theatre, McCarter Theatre Center, and 10 seasons at Williamstown Theatre Festival. Ms. Stone's television credits include series-regular and guest-starring roles on CBS, NBC, ABC, and Hulu. Her film credits include work with Ang Lee, M. Night Shyamalan, and Kevin Bacon, among others. Concurrently, she was an assistant/associate director on and Off Broadway to Nicholas Martin, Joe Mantello, David Warren, and Christopher Ashley. Ms. Stone's directing career began in earnest with her all-male 2010 production of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum for Williamstown Theatre Festival. Her directing credits now include Ken Ludwig's Robin Hood! and Arms and the Man (The Old Globe), Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike (The Old Globe, Huntington Theatre Company), Charlotte's Web (Theatreworks USA), June Moon and Neil Simon's Last of the Red Hot Lovers (Williamstown Theatre Festival), Absurd Person Singular and A Funny Thing... (Two River Theater Company), The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Bucks County Playhouse), and Bad Jews (George Street Playhouse). Ms. Stone's upcoming productions include Bad Dates for Huntington Theatre Company and Dancing at Lughnasa for Two River Theater Company. She currently lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two sons.

The Old Globe 2018 SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL:

Lowell Davies Festival Theatre

June 17 - July 22, 2018, with Opening Night on Saturday, June 23

THE TEMPEST

By William Shakespeare

Directed by TBA

Thrown out of power by his wicked brother, Prospero, the Duke of Milan, lives in exile on a desert island. For company, he has only his daughter Miranda, the spirits who are native to the island, and his beloved books. The books are the source of his dark magic, which he uses to lure his enemies to the island so he can exact revenge. But his plot could destroy Miranda's happiness, so Prospero must choose between his own anger and his daughter's future. Brimming with magic and romance, this enchanting fantasy kicks off the 2018 Shakespeare Festival with spectacle under the stars.

August 12 - September 16, with Opening Night on Saturday, August 18

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING

By William Shakespeare

Directed by Kathleen Marshall

Everyone can see that confirmed bachelor Benedick and headstrong Beatrice are meant for each other-except for Benedick and Beatrice themselves! While their friends try to trick the bickering pair into admitting they're in love, their young sidekicks Hero and Claudio start a romance of their own. But will false accusations, broken promises, and even a nutty and bumbling police force prevent a happy ending? Three-time Tony Award winner Kathleen Marshall (the Globe's Love's Labor's Lost) makes her triumphant return as director to our Festival Theatre stage with one of the greatest romantic comedies ever, in a production full of colorful characters, passionate poetry, and Shakespeare's wittiest wordplay.

Kathleen Marshall (Director) directed Love's Labor's Lost at The Old Globe in 2016. Her Broadway credits include In Transit, Living on Love, Nice Work If You Can Get It, Anything Goes, The Pajama Game, Wonderful Town, Grease, Little Shop of Horrors, Follies, Seussical, Kiss Me, Kate, 1776, and Swinging on a Star. Her Off Broadway and regional credits include Two Gentlemen of Verona (New York Shakespeare Festival), Saturday Night (Second Stage Theatre), My Paris (Long Wharf Theatre), Ever After (Paper Mill Playhouse), Diner (Signature Theatre Company), Living on Love (Williamstown Theatre Festival), Mamma Mia! (Hollywood Bowl), and The Unsinkable Molly Brown (The Muny). She was the Artistic Director of City Center Encores! for four seasons, where she directed and choreographed The Band Wagon, I'm Getting My Act Together and Taking It on the Road, Bells Are Ringing, Carnival, and Babes in Arms, among others. She also choreographed the musical sequences in the film My Week with Marilyn. Her television credits include Once Upon a Mattress, The Music Man (Emmy Award nomination), and "2 Broke Girls." She has received three Tony Awards (out of nine nominations), three Drama Desk Awards, three Outer Critics Circle Awards, the Astaire Award, the George Abbott Award, the Smith College Medal (her alma mater), and the Pennsylvania Governor's Award for the Arts, and she has been named a Distinguished Daughter of Pennsylvania. She is an Associate Artist of Roundabout Theatre Company and a member of the Executive Board of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society.