Sun Valley Center for the Arts Announces Its 2015 Summer Concert Series and Company of Fools 20th Season

The Sun Valley Center for the Arts has announced their 2015 Summer Concert Series, as part of The Center's 45th Season, and Company of Fools' 20th Season of award-winning theatre.

Artistic Director Kristin Poole commented, "There is always such anticipation of the summer and our corresponding summer season announcement. It's such a thrill to witness the excitement and enthusiasm for our programs but particularly with the summer concerts series that punctuate the summer season and this year with Company Fools marking the milestone of their 20th Season. We are delighted to be welcoming such diverse artistic talent to the valley and look forward to sharing these programs and performers with the community."

The Sun Valley Center for the Arts 2014/2015 Season

2015 SUMMER CONCERT SERIES

The John Butler Trio
June 23, 2015

The 2015 Summer Concert Series kicks off on June 23 with the John Butler Trio. This Australian roots and jam band sells out concerts around the world and has released several chart-topping albums in Australia and appeared on Conan. Their most recent release, Flesh & Blood (2014), was recognized with "Best Blues and Roots Album" at the 2014 ARIA (Australian Record Industry Association) awards.

Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue
August 3, 2015

Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue come to the valley on August 3 with their hard-edged funk that employs hip-hop beats, rock dynamics and improvisation in a jazz tradition. New Orleans native Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews leads this band, which has toured in the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, Japan, Russia and Brazil and performed at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards in 2014. In addition, they've made guest appearances on Conan, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Arsenio and Austin City Limits.

Wilco
August 16, 2015

The Concert Series concludes on August 16 with experimental folk and art rock band Wilco. With lead singer Jeff Tweedy at the helm, Wilco draws influence from alternative country, The Beatles, Beach Boys harmonies, classic pop and more. Known for their adventurous spirit and ever-changing sound, they've won two Grammy Awards, made multiple television appearances, and are wildly popular on tour.

COMPANY OF FOOLS 20TH SEASON

VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE

By Christopher Durang

July 1-22, 2015

Liberty Theatre, Hailey

Directed by Gary C. Hopper

Company of Fools' production of Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike marks the Company's first foray into the outrageously hysterical and often absurd world of playwright Christopher Durang. Guest director Gary C. Hopper returns after directing the Company's wildly successful God of Carnage in 2012. In choosing this comedy, Company of Fools heralds its 20th Season with a play that opens up our senses-with laughter.

Vanya and his adopted sister Sonia live a quiet life in the Pennsylvania farmhouse where they grew up, but their peace is disturbed when their movie star sister Masha returns unannounced with her twenty-something boy toy, Spike.

AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY

By Tracy Letts

September 30-October 17, 2015

Liberty Theatre, Hailey

Directed by John Moon

Living on stage-it is the foundation on which Company of Fools was built. August: Osage Countybrings the Company back to its roots in this complex ensemble-driven piece. It wouldn't be a 20th Season without a play that shines a floodlight on family dynamics and on Company of Fools' gift for telling stories of the human heart.

A vanished father. A pill-popping mother. Three sisters harboring shady little secrets. When the large Weston family unexpectedly reunites after Dad disappears, their Oklahoman family homestead explodes in a tornado of repressed truths and unsettling secrets. One of the most important plays of recent years, August: Osage County unflinchingly-and uproariously-exposes the dark side of the Midwestern American family. Winner of the 2008 Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award.

A YEAR WITH FROG AND TOAD

Music by Robert Reale/ Book & Lyrics by Willie Reale

December 16, 2015-January 3, 2016

Liberty Theatre, Hailey

Directed by John Glenn

As part of its 20th Season, Company of Fools is delighted to bring the Valley's two favorite amphibians home for the holidays-FROG and TOAD! Last performed in 2010, this delightful play has been the subject of constant pleas from our Valley to restage the show for a whole new generation of children.

The play remains true to the spirit of Arnold Lobel's original stories as it follows two great friends-the cheerful and popular Frog and the rather naive Toad-through four fun-filled seasons. Waking from hibernation in the spring, they proceed to plant gardens, swim, rake leaves and go sledding, learning life lessons along the way, including a most important one about friendship and rejoicing in the attributes that make each of us different and special.

OUTSIDE MULLINGAR

By John Patrick Shanley

February 17-March 5, 2016

Liberty Theatre, Hailey

Directed by Denise Simone

How fitting to end the 20th Season with the playwright who started Company of Fools' journey to Idaho 20 years ago. For it was seeing the Company's production of Mr. Shanley's Danny and the Deep Blue Sea back in 1996 that prompted Bruce Willis to suggest giving Hailey, Idaho a try. And so they did. The rest, as they say, is history.

Outside Mullingar is about the romance of Anthony and Rosemary, neighbors in rural Ireland who are nearing their middle years. The play is by turns poetic, uplifting, dark and funny as hell. Anthony is an introverted farmer and Rosemary is the woman who vows to have him at all costs. When Anthony's father threatens to disinherit his son, Rosemary steps into the middle of a land feud and family eccentricities beyond what one might imagine. On the brink of romantic catastrophe, this one-of-a-kind Irish heroine fights against time and mortality in hopes of securing her dream of love.

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