Merrimack Repertory Theatre to Open 2015-16 Season with Benjamin Scheuer's THE LION

Merrimack Repertory Theatre's (MRT) 2015-16 Season will open with "The Lion", a highly-acclaimed one-man musical written and performed by Benjamin Scheuer and directed by Sean Daniels, MRT's Incoming Artistic Director. The MRT production will run August 26 - September 20, 2015. "The Lion" is currently running in New York and receiving rave reviews.

Daniels will reveal his entire inaugural season lineup at the 2015-16 Season Announcement event on Monday, March 23 at 6:00 pm. The event is free and open to the public and will be held at the company's Nancy L. Donahue Theatre at 50 E. Merrimack St. in Lowell.

The autobiographical musical features Benjamin Scheuer accompanying himself on six guitars as he tells his own gripping coming-of-age story. The award-winning songwriter inspires and disarms with his raw wit and emotional depth as he leads the audience on a rock n' roll journey from boyhood to manhood, through pain and healing, to discover the redemptive power of music.

Sean Daniels is thrilled at the opportunity to bring this show to local audiences. "It was one of the real joys of my professional career developing 'The Lion' with Benjamin Scheuer. Starting with just four songs and his beautiful story, we built a show that ended up traveling the world and playing commercially in New York City. I knew that before this most recent version started playing in other theatres that I wanted to bring it to MRT - and use it to launch my time here.

"This is the type of artists we'll be seeing more of, and the type of work we'll be developing as MRT becomes one of the leaders in new play production in the country. Oh, and also, Ben (and his father before him) went to school here - so I owed him a trip back home."

"The Lion" originally ran in New York at the Manhattan Theatre Club in 2014 and then transferred to London's West End. It is currently playing to packed houses at the Lynn Redgrave Theater at Culture Project in New York through March 29.

The New York Times' Charles Isherwood says, "Only the hardest heart could resist" and Michael Giltz at the Huffington Post called the show "The best musical I've seen this year." The London production garnered praise from the major newspaper The Stage, whose reviewer Mark Shenton identified it as "Absolutely the best original musical of the year so far, on either side of the Atlantic...I doubt I'll see another show this year so poignant, so personal, so heartfelt, so sincere and so simply staged as 'The Lion' - a masterpiece."

"The Lion" is part of MRT's 2015-16 subscription series. Subscriptions are currently on sale with Early Bird pricing in effect through March 8. Non-subscription tickets for will go on sale in summer 2015. More information about tickets and subscriptions can be found at mrt.org or by contacting the Box Office at 978-654-4678.

Merrimack Repertory Theatre (MRT) has been Merrimack Valley's professional theatre company since 1979, and is an integral part of Lowell's identity as the cultural heart of the region. MRT is known for its high production standards and for creating compelling new plays and regional premieres that reflect the lives and emotions of its audiences. Sean Daniels has been tapped as the company's fourth Artistic Director, beginning with the 2015-16 Season. MRT is one of the 74 members nationwide of the League of Resident Theatres (LORT.)

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