Different Stages to Open 2014-15 Season with THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE

Different Stages opens its 2014-2015 season with The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, by Jay Presson Allen. Based on the 1961 novella by Muriel Spark, Jean Brodie is the story of an uncommonly progressive schoolteacher at an uncommonly conservative school in Scotland. The title character is a young woman who adores teaching. She is a teacher, "first, last and only," she tells her students. And she is in her prime, she states proudly. She is not just a schoolteacher - her educational methods go far beyond the classroom. She takes her girls to museums, to the theater and to the opera. She neglects the mundane subjects like math, preferring to focus on exposing her students to beauty and art. She is proudly uncommon and equally uncouth, taping photographs of Mussolini over a poster bearing the motto, "Safety first!" She selects favorites of "her girls," and directs her uncommon passion and energy to them, predicting what their futures will hold, frequently telling them how much she loves them.

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie is directed by Norman Blumensaadt. It features Rose Kentspeth (The National Shakespeare Conservatory) as Jean Brodie and Karen Jambon (Arsenic and Old Lace) as the school principle Miss MacKay. The Brodie girls are played by Taylor Flanagan (Peer Gynt), Sara Snyder, Emily Villarreal and Frances Bello (all featured in Metal Queen). The art teacher is played by Beau Paul (Uncle Vanya), and the music teacher is played by Steven Fay (Arsenic and Old Lace). Also in the cast are Katherine Schroeder (Pygmalion), Larry Oliver (Cyrano de Bergerac), as well as Hannah Newcomer and Madeline Silvestro (Summer Youth Theatre).

Performances are Thursdays through Saturdays at 8pm. and Sundays at 7pm. No performance on Thanksgiving, Thursday, November 27. There is an added performance Wednesday, December 10. Tickets are Pick your Price: $15, $20, $25, and $30.