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APPROPRIATE, 'FATHER COMES HOME FROM THE WARS' and More Set for Season 29 at Actor's Express
By: BWW News Desk Apr. 26, 2016
Actor's Express announces its 29th Season including two Tony Award winners and three Atlanta premieres.
The season opens July 30 with a modern take on Stephen Sondheim's game-changing musical Company directed by Actor's Express Artistic Director Freddie Ashley (Sweeney Todd, Rent). In the fall, Actor's Express will produce the Atlanta premiere of Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' raucous dark comedy Appropriate, a standout at the 2013 Humana Festival of New American Plays. A visceral new production of Arthur Miller's classic American drama The Crucible kicks off 2017 followed by the Atlanta premiere of The Legend of Georgia McBride by Matthew Lopez, a music-filled comedy about an Elvis impersonator turned drag queen. The season will close with the Pulitzer Prize finalist Father Comes Home from the Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3), Suzan-Lori Parks' epic trilogy about a slave's journey to freedom during the Civil War.
In addition to its mainstage season, Actor's Express will produce the second incarnation of Threshold, its weeklong playwriting festival scheduled for the first week of December. Libby Whittemore returns to the Express stage for the eighth year for three engagements throughout the season with her cabaret series Libby's at the Express.
Season subscription packages are now on sale and can be purchased online at actors-express.com or by calling 404-607-7469. Single tickets will go on sale June 20, 2016.
ABOUT THE PLAYS:
Company
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim; Book by George Furth
Directed by Freddie Ashley
July 30 - September 4, 2016
Sondheim is back at AE! Winner of Seven Tony Awards including Best Musical!
Robert is turning 35 and still single, living in New York City. Surrounded by friends, all of whom have coupled off, he confronts his perpetual bachelorhood in a series of hilarious interactions - just in time to blow out his birthday candles. This game-changing musical gets a modern makeover in AE's Season 29 opener with unforgettable renditions of some of Sondheim's best-known songs, including "The Ladies Who Lunch" and "Being Alive."
Appropriate
Directed by Freddie Ashley
October 29 - November 20, 2016
A southern gothic sizzler with more secrets than you can shake a stick at.
2014 Obie Award Winner for Best New American Play.
In this raucous dark comedy, the dysfunctional Lafayette siblings descend on their ancestral Arkansas home to settle their father's estate. When they start digging through an accumulation of hoarded junk, they uncover more than a crumbling plantation mansion. A disturbing secret discovered among the clutter launches them into a scorchingly funny theatrical family fight fest and forces them to question the father they thought they knew.
The Crucible
Directed by Freddie Ashley
January 21 - February 19, 2017
Winner! Tony Award for Best Play!
The witching hour is at hand in the tight-knit community of Salem. Personal vendettas collide with lust and superstition, fueling widespread hysteria. Do witches walk among us, or has revenge created a monster? As paranoia grips the tiny town, reason takes a back seat to fear - and all hell breaks loose in this visceral new production of Arthur Miller's riveting masterpiece.
The Legend of Georgia McBride
By Matthew Lopez Directed by Portia Krieger
March 18 - April 16, 2017
A hip-swiveling, sashaying comedy with sass to spare!
What do you do when your Elvis act gets the axe? With a pregnant wife, an empty bank account and an eviction notice coming his way, Casey has no choice but to trade his jumpsuit for sequins and strut his stuff as the Florida panhandle's newest drag queen. This music-filled comedy about finding your true voice will leave you laughing and rooting for the underdog.
Father Comes Home from the Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3)
By Suzan-Lori Parks Directed by Martin Wilkins
June 3 - July 2, 2017
Finalist for the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Winner - 2015 Obie Award for Playwriting.
Offered his freedom in exchange for fighting for the Confederacy, a slave named Hero follows his master into the Civil War. His epic journey takes him through the battles of war, and he comes to discover the cost of freedom, the heartbreak of love and the enduring power of home. Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks' (Topdog/Underdog) acclaimed trilogy is one of the most celebrated American plays of the past decade.
Since its founding in 1988, Actor's Express has sought to nurture the next generation of playwrights through workshops, readings, and full productions of new plays; to develop and nurture Atlanta's artistic community through theatre training; to catalyze the dialogue essential to the vitality of our neighborhood and our city; and to enhance Atlanta's reputation nationally as a thriving center for live performance.
Actor's Express is located on the west side of Atlanta in the King Plow Arts Center at 887 W. Marietta Street, Suite J-107, Atlanta, GA 30318.
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