ROAD SHOW, ORLANDO, THE WIZ and More on Tap for 2017-18 at The Lyric Stage
By: BWW News Desk Mar. 16, 2017
The Lyric Stage Company of Boston announces 5 of 7 plays for its 2017-18 Season, Spiro Veloudos's 20th Season as Producing Artistic Director.
The Lyric Stage Sondheim Initiative continues with two musicals with music and/or lyrics by Stephen Sondheim (one a Boston premiere), the return of one of the Lyric Stage's favorite productions, the Boston professional premiere of a play by Sarah Ruhl, plus another multi-Tony Award-winning American musical.
ROAD SHOW - The Boston premiere of Stephen Sondheim's newest musical adventure, it's the true boom-and-bust story of two of the most colorful and outrageous fortune-seekers in American history.
GYPSY - "Everything's Coming up Roses" in this brilliant musical based on the real-life memoirs of Gypsy Rose Lee and her stage-mother, Mama Rose.
SOUVENIR - Spiro Veloudos revives one of his favorite productions with the original cast! Souvenir is a sweet, inspiring, hilarious portrait of Florence Foster Jenkins, the passionate but self-deceiving music lover.
ORLANDO (adapted from the original novel by Virginia Woolf) - Sarah Ruhl brings the novel to life on stage in a grand, epic adventure that transcends time, space, and gender. Produced in cooperation with the Modern Theatre and Suffolk University.
THE WIZ - Winner of 7 Tony Awards, The Wiz is an energetic retelling of The Wizard of Oz featuring an eclectic score filled with rock, gospel, and soul.
PLUS TWO MORE PLAYS!
7-play, 4-play, and 3-play subscriptions are now on sale for the 2017-18 season which runs from September, 2017 through June, 2018. Early Bird prices start at $150 and offer savings of up to 22% off regular ticket prices.
More About The Lyric Stage's 2017-18 Season:
ROAD SHOW
music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by John Weideman
directed by Spiro Veloudos
On his continuing journey through the works of Stephen Sondheim, director Spiro Veloudos brings us Sondheim's latest work, Road Show, the true boom-and-bust story of two of the most colorful and outrageous fortune-seekers in American history. From the Alaskan Gold Rush to the Florida real estate boom in the 1930s, entrepreneur Addison Mizner and his fast-talking brother Wilson were proof positive that the road to the American Dream is often a seductive, treacherous tightrope walk. As the Guardian said, "Road Show is lyrically witty, musically rich, and has the sardonic satirical appeal of the Sondheim-Weidman Assassins."
SOUVENIR, A Fantasia on the Life of Florence Foster Jenkins
by Stephen Temperley
directed by Spiro Veloudos
Spiro Veloudos is thrilled to be able to remount one of his favorite productions in celebration of his 20 years as Producing Artistic Director. Souvenir is an affectionate portrait of Florence Foster Jenkins, one of the finest coloratura sopranos in history -- but, alas, only in her own mind! Despite being called "majestically awful," her concerts in the 1930s and '40s, including a legendary appearance at Carnegie Hall, were not only sold-out but were attended by the crème de la crème of Manhattan society. Told affectionately through the eyes of her longtime accompanist Cosme McMoon, Souvenir is the sweet, inspiring, hilarious portrait of a passionate music lover who believed that "what matters most is the music you hear in your head." Featuring Leigh Barrett & Will McGarrahan recreating their acclaimed performances.
GYPSY
music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by Arthur Laurents
directed and choreographed by Rachel Bertone
Featuring one show-stopping song after another - "Everything's Coming Up Roses," "You Gotta Have a Gimmick," "Let Me Entertain You," and more! - Gypsy is based on the real-life memoirs of burlesque mega-star, Gypsy Rose Lee, and her stage-mother behind the curtain, Mama Rose. In the tradition of My Fair Lady, Avenue Q, Into the Woods, and Sweeney Todd, Gypsy will once again prove that the intimate Lyric Stage is the perfect place to experience the very best of the American musical theatre.
ORLANDO (adapted from the original novel by Virginia Woolf)
by Sarah Ruhl
directed by A. Nora Long
Virginia Woolf's novel Orlando has been described as the most charming love letter in literature. Sarah Ruhl brings the novel to life on stage in a grand, epic adventure that transcends time, space, and gender. After a particularly wild night in 17th-century Constantinople, Orlando the man wakes up to find himself a woman, and abandons herself to five centuries of change with an insatiable appetite to discover what it means to live fully in the present, in her own skin, and in her own time.
THE WIZ
book by William F. Brown music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls
directed by Dawn M. Simmons
A soulful retelling of L. Frank Baum's beloved The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, The Wiz combines fairy-tale glamour with street smarts to make a classic fantasy relevant for today. Winner of seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Score, The Wiz ingeniously mixes rock, gospel, and soul, and features hits like "Ease on Down the Road," "A Brand New Day," and "Home."
The Lyric Stage Company of Boston is Boston's oldest resident theatre company. Founded in 1974 by Polly Hogan and Ron Ritchell, its mission is to produce a range of live theatre, reflecting the different cultures of the Greater Boston area, and providing an intimate home for established and emerging Boston-based artists. Since 1997, the Lyric Stage has been led by Producing Artistic Director Spiro Veloudos, and, with Managing Director Matt Chapuran, produces seven shows each season to an annual audience of over 35,000, including 2,200 season ticket holders, in an intimate 240-seat theatre, established in 1991 in the YWCA Building at 140 Clarendon Street. In addition, the Lyric Stage offers Lyric First Stage, an educational summer program for teens, and Lyric First Curtain, which offers theatre-based education in non-traditional learning environments. Its partnership with the Boston Dance Alliance offers subsidized rehearsal space, and through a partnership with Fresh Ink Theatre, it supports the development of new plays by local playwrights. Highly acclaimed for the breadth, excellence, and variety of its productions, the Lyric Stage is the recipient of 31 Elliot Norton Awards, and 63 Independent Reviewers of New England (IRNE) Awards.
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