Red Branch Theatre Company's 2015 Season to Feature SPRING AWAKENING, DOGFIGHT & More

Red Branch Theatre Company unveiled titles for the 2015 season today on their website. The theatre company, in residence at Drama Learning Center, will open its seventh full season with Spring Awakening, the contemporary rock musical adaptation of the classic play about teenage angst and growing pains. Adapted by indie rock guitarist Duncan Sheik and Steve Sater, Spring Awakening won eight TONY Awards (including Best Musical) when it premiered on Broadway in 2006.

Summer theatre will return to the Red Branch stage in 2015 with a revival of one of the company's most successful past productions to date. While the staging will mirror Red Branch's past production, the cast will be new-entirely comprised of young professional theatre artists aged 18-25. This marks the first time that Red Branch will cast an entire company of emerging artists. The title of the summer musical will be announced on January 1, 2015 and will complement the season's theme.

Following the summer revival production, Red Branch will produce Pasek and Paul's Dogfight. Adapted from the 1991 film by Bob Comfort about redemption and compassion, Dogfight is set against the backdrop of a soldier's imminent deployment for Vietnam in 1963. With a hauntingly beautiful score by the musical theatre duo responsible for Edges, James and the Giant Peach, and A Christmas Story, this chamber musical won critical acclaim and a Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Musical in 2013.

Red Branch will close its 2015 season with a new musical based on the timeless characters created by Beatrix Potter more than a century ago. December will mark the world premiere of Peter Rabbit: A New Musical, penned by local composer, pianist, and educator Dustin Merrell.

Spring Awakening and Dogfight are produced by special arrangement with permission from Musical Theatre International (MTI).

"We thought it a fitting time to program a season about growing up as we are in the midst of our own organizational growth," states co-founder and Executive Producer Stephanie Lynn Williams. In conjunction with the titles of the 2015 productions, Red Branch also announced their intention to officially incorporate as a 510©3 non-profit organization today. "We have gotten immeasurably far in the past seven seasons through the generosity of artists and audiences alike. We have established ourselves as the newest professional theatre in Howard County, and continue to produce high-quality work that is affordable for all," Williams continues. "We have known for a long time that we wanted to take this next step in Red Branch history, but now is finally the right time." Articles of incorporation are being filed with the State of Maryland, and the theatre company intends to be its own legal, charitable entity by October 2015. A founding Board of Directors will be announced at a later date. Red Branch Theatre Company is dedicated to fostering a love of theatre in its audiences that is life long through professional performances and a passionate acting company. Producing 4-5 titles a year with a mix of contemporary and family-friendly titles, Red Branch brings audiences and artists together to experience theatre that is exciting, affordable, powerful, and thought-provoking.

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