Wagner College Theatre Announces 2011 Fall season

The Wagner College Theatre is pleased to announce its 2011-12 season, a mix of classic musicals, edgy comedies, Greek satire and even a new musical from Tony and Grammy award-winning composer Galt MacDermot. The theatre is also excited to share the news about its partnership with Staten Island's Snug Harbor Cultural Center.

This year Main Hall, Wagner College's most iconic building and home to the WCT Main Stage, is under renovation. That hasn't stopped the Wagner College Theatre. The college community and its Staten Island supporters have demonstrated incredible resilience and creativity. Both Main Stage shows this fall, including "My Fair Lady," will be performed in the Music Hall of the Snug Harbor Cultural Center (www.snug-harbor.org), located just a couple of miles from campus.

"We are excited to enter this new relationship," said WCT head Felicia Ruff, "and we see it as an opportunity for both institutions to develop new audiences. The Theatre Department is grateful to have such warm and accommodating hosts."

Lerner & Loewe's "My Fair Lady" opens in November. Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl, puts her life - and ladyhood - in the hands of Professor Henry Higgins in the 1956 show that made history with what was then the longest run of any musical theatre production on Broadway. Drew Scott Harris, long-time guest director at Wagner, returns to direct alongside guest choreographer Lisa Guignard and Wagner Musical Director Lauri Young. The show runs from Nov. 16-19 and Dec. 1-4.

The fall's Stage One studio theater season opens with Casey Kurtti's "Catholic School Girls" on Oct. 11. The Urban Dictionary defines "catholic school girl" as "the stereotype describing the girl who gives the appearance of being very conformist, wholesome, and pure of ‘sin' ... but in reality has a deep compulsion to be the contrasting opposite." This coming-of-age comedy follows four girls and the nuns who teach them. Staten Island favorite Mickey Tennenbaum, who directed "Loose Knit" on Stage One early this year, will once again take the reigns of this edgy comedy, set in the 1960s. The show runs from Oct. 11-16.

Following in Stage One is Aristophanes' "Lysistrata." In this classic political satire, the women of Greece go on a sex strike, forcing the men to negotiate peace and end the Peloponnesian War. Helen Huff, who directed "How I Learned To Drive" in 2008, returns to Wagner to direct. The show runs from Nov. 29 to Dec. 4.

For the full program, show dates and times, please visit the Wagner College Theatre website (www.wagner.edu/departments/theatre/production).