Geva Theatre Center Announces Its 2019-2020 Season
By: A.A. Cristi Mar. 11, 2019
Geva Theatre Center's Artistic Director Mark Cuddy and Executive Director Christopher Mannelli are proud to announce the 10 major productions and 2 festivals of the much anticipated 2019-2020 Season, the non-profit theatre's 47th year of making professional theatre of a national standard in Rochester.
Since the 2014-2015 Season, ESL Federal Credit Union has sponsored the Wilson Stage Series, and continues its commitment as the Sponsor for the Geva Theatre Center 2019-2020 Season. Dr. Dawn Lipson will serve as Honorary Season Producer.
The Wilson Stage features one of musical theatre's biggest hits; a nail-biting drama set in a university; a new play from the writer of Women in Jeopardy!; a joyously melodic musical based on an award-winning film; a world premiere tale about beauty, truth and perception; and an all-American comedy about two very new Americans.
Geva also announces the return of the theatre's magical production of Dickens' classic tale of redemption, the KeyBank production of A Christmas Carol, which has truly become Rochester's holiday tradition. Geva will present a full line-up in the Fielding Stage throughout 2019-2020: nurturing new plays in the Festival of New Theatre, and an eclectic range of contemporary plays in the Fielding Studio Series. Additionally, the Fielding Stage will be a venue for the KeyBank Rochester Fringe Festival.
Geva is committed to serving diverse artists and communities. As with this current season, over half of next season's productions are written and directed by women. Three plays featured in the 2019-2020 Season are written by playwrights of color and five plays will be helmed by directors of color.
"We continue our commitment to producing the newest stories for Rochester - all but one show was written in the 21st Century. Rochester deserves the very best, and our playwrights, directors, actors and designers will represent the diverse talent of the American Theatre." stated Artistic Director Mark Cuddy. "With a world premiere set in Kodak Park, our Rochester Stories project in 2020 follows the premieres of The Agitators and Revival: The Resurrection of Son House."
"At the core of what we do is the celebration of the human experience," commented Executive Director, Christopher Mannelli. "In next year's season we are proud to bring stories on our stage that will inspire and entertain all of the Rochester community."
"It is ESL's honor to support Geva Theatre Center, one of the greatest assets to Rochester's arts community," said Celeste Kier, Senior Vice President/Director of Customer Experience, ESL Federal Credit Union. "At ESL, we celebrate and support those organizations who demonstrate devotion to our community and commit to bettering people's lives. For more than 40 years, Geva has been instrumental to the arts and cultural experience in Rochester, and we are excited to support their 2019-2020 Wilson and Fielding Stage Series."
The 2019-2020 Season will be a landmark one for Mark Cuddy who celebrates his 25th Season as the theatre's Artistic Director. His tenure has seen numerous changes for Rochester's leading professional theatre including the establishment of Education, Literary, and now Engagement Departments to serve residents; introducing over two dozen world premieres on Geva stages; the addition of the 180-seat Fielding Stage in 2000; and the $9 million renovation of Geva's historic home and acquisition of artist housing in 2016. During his time at Geva he has worked alongside talented and dedicated staff, artists and trustees to build Geva into a theatrical powerhouse boasting one of the largest audiences of any professional regional theatre in the Northeast with a reputation for excellence in education programming and new play production.
Since 1973, the not-for-profit Geva Theatre Center has been Rochester's professional theatre home, offering patrons the opportunity to enjoy the work of the country's top artists in an intimate setting right in their own community.
2019-2020 Season
Wilson Stage Series
LA CAGE AUX FOLLES
Book by Harvey Fierstein
Music and Lyrics by Jerry Herman
Based on the play by Jean Poiret
Directed by Melissa Rain Anderson
Musical Director Don Kot
Choreography by Sam Hay
September 3 - October 6, 2019
In sunny St. Tropez, Georges and Albin run a glamorous nightclub with fabulous drag performers. Their blissful existence is turned upside down when Georges' son announces that he is getting married...to the daughter of one of France's most conservative politicians. Georges and Albin do their best to ensure that the marriage goes off without a hitch, with hilarious results. One of musical theatre's biggest all-time hits, La Cage aux Folles features an exuberant score by Jerry Herman (Mame; Hello, Dolly!). Winner of six Tony Awards including "Best Musical" when it premiered in 1983, both the 2004 and 2010 Broadway revivals won the Tony Award for "Best Revival of a Musical." Celebrating his 25th Anniversary at Geva, Artistic Director Mark Cuddy will star as nightclub owner, Georges.
Wilson Stage Series
THE NICETIES
Directed by Nicole A. Watson
October 22 - November 17, 2019
In this explosive play, Zoe, a driven black student, and respected white professor Janine meet to discuss a paper Zoe is writing about the American Revolution. Polite conversation of grammar and Google quickly becomes a powder keg of race, history, and power, from which neither woman will leave unscathed. An explosive and provocative nail-biter.
Fielding Studio Series
QUEEN
By Madhuri Shekar
Directed by Pirronne Yousefzadeh
November 7 - November 24, 2019
Two PhD candidates, Sanam and Ariel, have spent the last seven years exhaustively researching vanishing bee populations across the globe. Just as these close friends are about to publish a career-defining paper, Sanam stumbles upon an error which could jeopardize everything. Both women must make an impossible choice - look the other way and save the bees, or tell the truth and face the consequences.
Wilson Stage Series
SLOW FOOD
Directed by Skip Greer
January 14 - February 9, 2020
Peter and Irene's anniversary celebration in Palm Springs is off to a rocky start, but they are looking forward to a nice meal in a local restaurant. It's just their luck to be served (or not) by a perfectionist waiter who won't bring them their food and has them questioning everything - from their menu selections to the state of their marriage. A new comedy by Wendy MacLeod (Women in Jeopardy!).
Wilson Stage Series
ONCE
Book by Enda Walsh
Music and Lyrics by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová
Based on the Motion Picture Written and Directed by John Carney
Directed by Mark Cuddy
Music Director Don Kot
A Co-production with Syracuse Stage
February 19 - March 22, 2020
The story of a guy who gave up on love and music, and the captivating woman who inspired him to dream again. He spends his days working at his father's Dublin fix-it shop and his nights playing music in pubs. He is on the verge of giving up music altogether when he meets her: a Czech immigrant who refuses to let him abandon his guitar. Over the course of a week, this friendship grows into a musical collaboration and, ultimately, a powerful (but complicated) love. Featuring all of the magical songs from the critically-acclaimed 2007 film, including the Oscar-winning "Falling Slowly," this beautiful, joyously melodic show celebrates the power of music to connect us all. Winner of eight Tony Awards including "Best Musical" and "Best Book," and the Grammy Award for "Best Musical Theatre Album."
Fielding Studio Series
CRY IT OUT
By Molly Smith Metzler
Directed by M. Bevin O'Gara
A production of the Kitchen Theatre, Ithaca
March 5 - March 22, 2020
Cooped up with a new baby and starved for conversation, Jessie invites her funny and forthright neighbor Lina, also a new mom, for coffee in the yard between their duplexes. Despite their vastly different finances, they become fast friends during naptimes-while someone watches from the mansion on the cliff overlooking Jessie's yard. This comedy by a writer/producer of Shameless takes an honest look at the challenges of being a new mom, being at home with a baby, and the dilemma of returning to work.
Wilson Stage Series
World Premiere
LOOKS LIKE PRETTY
By Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder
Directed by Valerie Curtis-Newton
March 31 - April 26, 2020
In 1963 in a lab at Kodak Park, Mr. Walters and his younger colleague Charlie are putting the finishing touches to the newest color film technology. When Gloria, a new African American employee at Kodak, questions the authenticity of color in the film, the success of the whole project is at stake. Innovation, revolution, commercialism and perception are tested in this historical fiction inspired by the real science of color film evolution. Co-Commissioned by Geva Theatre Center and the Ensemble Studio Theatre / Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Science & Technology Project.
Fielding Studio Series
WHERE DID WE SIT ON THE BUS?
Written and Performed by Brian Quijada
Directed by Chay Yew
April 23 - May 10, 2020
With pulsing rhythms and original rhymes set to a live, looped soundtrack, Brian Quijada's electric one man show is a hip-hop autobiography about falling in love with performance, the power of family, and growing up Latinx in a world that categorizes everyone in black and white. "An explosion of energy, raw emotion, and irresistible storytelling." -The Chicago Sun Times.
Wilson Stage Series
VIETGONE
By Qui Nguyen
Original Music by Shane Rettig
Directed by Pirronne Yousefzadeh
May 5 - May 31, 2020
It's 1975 and Saigon has fallen. He lost his wife. She lost her fiancé. But now in a new land of Harleys, hot dogs and "howdy!", they just might find each other. This modern twist on the classic boy-meets-girl story takes audiences on a hilariously rip-roaring adventure across 1970s America with a hot soundtrack that serves up hip-hop, sass and comic-book quick cuts.
Special Productions and Events
KEYBANK ROCHESTER FRINGE FESTIVAL
In the Fielding Stage
September 10-21, 2019
The Fielding Stage will once again be a venue for the KeyBank Rochester Fringe Festival, hosting a wide variety of performances.
FESTIVAL OF NEW THEATRE
In the Fielding Stage
October 7 - October 20, 2019
A two-week showcase of new plays and projects that are currently in Geva's developmental process. More than 330 full-length or short works have received readings and/or workshops as part of Geva's new play development programs, and more than 65 have had subsequent productions around the country and the globe.
Rochester's Holiday Tradition
The KeyBank production of
A CHRISTMAS CAROL
Adapted by Mark Cuddy Music and Lyrics by Gregg Coffin
Directed by Mark Cuddy
In the Wilson Stage
November 27 - December 29, 2019
On Christmas Eve, Scrooge is visited by a series of ghosts who remind him who he was and what he might yet become. He learns the true meaning of the season and that it's never too late to make a new start. The famous tale of redemption for the most despised man in London will awaken your heart and rekindle your spirit in this critically acclaimed adaptation. Recommended for the entire family! (Please remember that children under five are not permitted in the theatre.) *Note: Not a part of the ESL Wilson Stage subscription series.
Because professional regional theatre cannot be sustained on ticket sales alone, Geva Theatre Center thanks those generous individuals and businesses that have already committed to making the 2019-2020 Season a memorable one: ESL Federal Credit Union; Dr. Dawn Lipson; Rockcastle Florist; All-Occasions Catering; Hedonist Artisan Chocolates; immaginé Photography; Julia K Caters; Madeleine's Catering; Marshall Street Bar & Grill; Native Bar & Eatery; Salena's Mexican Restaurant; Tasteful Connections Catering; and Media Sponsors 13 WHAM TV, 98PXY, Fox Rochester, WARM 101.3, The Drive, WDKX, WHAM 1180, News10NBC, WROC TV, WYSL, and WXXI Public Broadcasting.
Subscriptions for the full 9-Play 2019-2020 Season are on sale now from $224.50. The Wilson Stage Series and Fielding Studio Series may be purchased separately, from $133 and $91.50 respectively. Subscribing is easy, flexible and affordable. Subscribers enjoy the best seats at the best prices, plus a host of exclusive benefits like ticket exchange privileges, priority advance booking and discounts, money-saving coupons to area restaurants, free coat check and more. For more information on subscribing to Geva's 2019-2020 Season visit: https://www.gevatheatre.org/subscribe/ Subscribers to the 2019-2020 Season will be able to purchase tickets for A Christmas Carol in July 16. Tickets to all individual shows (excl. A Christmas Carol) will go on sale to the general public on July 16, 2019. Tickets to A Christmas Carol will go on sale to the general public on Monday, September 23. All plays, artists, schedules and prices are subject to change.
Geva Theatre Center
Founded in 1972, Geva Theatre Center is a not-for-profit, professional theatre company dedicated to creating and producing professional theatre productions, programs and services of a national standard. As Rochester's leading professional theatre, Geva Theatre Center is the most attended regional theatre in New York State, and one of the 25 most subscribed in the country, serving up to 160,000 patrons annually, including more than 16,000 students.
The 516-seat Elaine P. Wilson Stage is home to a wide variety of performances, from musicals to American and world classics. The 180-seat Ron & Donna Fielding Stage is home to Geva's own series of contemporary drama, comedy and musical theatre; Geva's New Play Reading Series and the Hornets' Nest - an innovative play-reading series facilitating community-wide discussion on controversial topics. In addition, the Fielding Stage hosts visiting companies of both local and international renown.
Geva Theatre Center offers a wide variety of educational, outreach and literary programs, nurturing audiences and artists alike. Since 1995, the organization has been under the artistic direction of Mark Cuddy.
For Reservations And Ticket Information, Contact The Box Office At (585) 232-geva (4382), Or Visit Geva's Website At Www.gevatheatre.org.
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