Penguin Rep Theatre Announces 2012 Season

Penguin Rep Theatre's 2012 season opens Friday, May 18 and runs through Sunday, October 28, artistic director Joe Brancato and executive director Andrew M. Horn announced today.

The Hound of the Baskervilles, a comedy adapted by Steven Canny and John Nicholson from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's celebrated mystery and featuring legendary detective Sherlock Holmes and his assistant Dr. Watson, is the first of four mainstage productions selected for the nonprofit professional theatre's 35th season. Part Alfred Hitchcock, part Marx Brothers, The Hound of the Baskervilles will be directed by Mark Shanahan and presented from May 18 through June 10 at Penguin's intimate, 108-seat theatre in Stony Point (Rockland County), New York.

Next up is a retirement story with a twist -- Richard Dresser's comedy The Last Days of Mickey and Jean directed by Mr. Brancato (June 29 – July 31). When Mickey, a fugitive mobster from Boston, is forced into "retirement" with his long-time girlfriend Jean in Paris, the couple runs into one hilarious situation after another – and discovers shocking truths about each other along the way.

Summer 2012 brings Don't Talk to the Actors, a backstage comedy by Tom Dudzick, author of Miracle on South Division Street and Over the Tavern (August 3 – August 26). The show reunites two-time Tony Award nominee Beth Fowler and Richard Kline, known to millions of TV watchers as "Larry" on the classic sitcom Three's Company, who starred in Mr. Dudzick's Greetings! at Penguin Rep last season, under the direction of Thomas Caruso.

Closing the season will be The How and the Why, a new play from In Treatment author/producer Sarah Treem about sex and gender, nature and nurture, loss and love. (October 5 – October 28). Suggested for mature audiences, The How and the Why will be directed by Mr. Brancato.

Performance days and times for mainstage productions are: Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturday nights at 8:00 p.m., with matinees on Saturdays at 4:00 p.m. and Sundays at 2:00 p.m.

A new series of the popular Monday evening Play With Your Food readings begins June 11 and will be catered by Jimmy's on Main Restaurant in Nanuet, New York. (Other dates: July 16, August 6, August 27, September 10).

SUNY Rockland Community College's Cultural Arts Center in Suffern, New York is the venue for two special events. The Kosher Comedy Tour, featuring three of today's funniest Jewish comedians Peter Fogel, Cindy Miller and Stu Moss, arrives Saturday, September 22 at 8:30 pm. Comic Steve Solomon whose My Mother's Italian, My Father's Jewish & I'm in Therapy sold out last season is back with a new show featuring anecdotes about his family: My Mother's Italian, My Father's Jewish & I'm Home For the Holidays. On Saturday, October 20 at 8:00 pm, join Steve for holiday dinner at Grandma's where, if you're under 55, you're allowed to sit at the children's table.

Mr. Horn and Mr. Brancato also announced that Tom Dudzick's comedy Miracle on South Division Street, which had its world premiere at Penguin Rep in 2009, moves Off Broadway for an open-ended run at St. Luke's Theatre beginning Wednesday, April 25. Miracle on South Division Street is co-produced by Penguin and Morton Wolkowitz (Stomp, The Unexpected Man) and joins Angelo Parra's The Devil's Music: The Life and Blues of Bessie Smith, which is now in its eleventh month at St. Luke's Theatre. Just last week, The Devil's Music starring Miche Braden, was nominated for a 2012 Lucille Lortel Award.

Subscriptions to 2012 mainstage productions are on sale now and start as low as $101 for the four plays. Mr. Horn points out that subscribers save 25 to 35% off single tickets, and that the very best seats in the house go to subscribers before single tickets go on sale. "Bringing friends or family just got easier," says Mr. Horn, "with subscribers receiving $9 off the purchase of additional tickets". Lost or forgotten tickets? "Don't worry", says Mr. Horn. Need to exchange your tickets for a different date? "It's not a problem," says Mr. Horn, stating that only subscribers may exchange their tickets. For no additional charge, patrons can select value-added subscription series that include opening receptions, post-performance discussions among the artists and audience, and pre-show tastings supplied by local restaurants. An additional incentive, says Mr. Horn, "is to dine out at a discount, with select restaurants offering special benefits to Penguin subscribers".

Individual tickets go on sale beginning April 15. Tickets for mainstage productions are priced at $39 each. Discounts are available for groups of 10 or more and young people (30 and under).

Tickets for The Kosher Comedy Tour are priced at $39 each ($34 for Penguin subscribers) and tickets for My Mother's Italian, My Father's Jewish & I'm Home For the Holidays are priced at $44 each ($39 for Penguin subscribers). Tickets are $21 for the Play With Your Food readings.

To order tickets or for further information, visit Penguin Rep's website at www.penguinrep.org or call 845-786-2873.

Penguin Rep Theatre, Rockland County's first and only year-round, non-profit professional theatre, was founded in 1977 in a century-old hay barn converted to a theatre, by Joe Brancato and Fran Newman-McCarthy, Treasurer of the Board of Trustees. Penguin Rep celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2007 when it spruced up its theatre, which now features heating, air conditioning, wheelchair accessible rest rooms and seating, new upholstered theatre seats, and plenty of free parking.

Penguin Rep Theatre gratefully acknowledges general operating support from the New York State Council on the Arts, a public agency celebrating 60 years of building strong, creative communities in New York State's 62 counties; the Shubert Foundation, and the Cory and Bob Donnalley Charitable Foundation.

Kosher Comedy Tour and My Mother's Italian, My Father's Jewish & I'm Home For the Holidays are generously underwritten by Barry and Helene Lewis. The Off Broadway presentation of Miracle on South Division Street is co-produced by Morton Wolkowitz (producer of Stomp and The Unexpected Man) and is made possible with the generous support of Barry and Helene Lewis and Joseph Grosso.