ONE MAN, TWO GUVNORS; SATCHMO AT THE WALDORF & More Set for Court Theatre's 61st Season

Court Theatre announces its 61st season under the continuing leadership of Artistic Director Charles Newell, Executive Director Stephen J. Albert, and Board Chair Marilyn Fatt Vitale. The company's 2015/16 season will bring together some of the finest local and national artists to illuminate a host of classics, Midwest Premieres, and a World Premiere. The season will feature August Wilson's Gem of the Ocean, directed by Resident Artist Ron OJ Parson; the World Premiere adaptation of Aeschylus' Agamemnon, translated by Founding Artistic Director Nicholas Rudall; the Midwest Premiere of Terry Teachout's critically-acclaimed Satchmo at the Waldorf, directed by Artistic Director Charles Newell; Eugene O'Neill's classic Long Day's Journey Into Night, directed by David Auburn; and the Midwest Premiere of Richard Bean's award-winning adaptation of Goldoni's Servant of Two Masters, One Man, Two Guvnors, directed by Artistic Director Charles Newell.

"Our 61st season is packed with so many incredible local and national artists," notes Artistic Director Charles Newell. "Court is honored to have Resident Artist Ron OJ Parson direct our season opener as we continue our exploration of August Wilson's Century Cycle with Gem of the Ocean. I'm excited to work once again with our Founding Artistic Director Nicholas Rudall to create a world premiere translation of Aeschylus's Agamemnon, continuing our three-year commitment to the House of Atreus Greek Cycle. Renowned Playwright David Auburn joins us again after our 2013 production of his modern classic, Proof, to direct Eugene O'Neill's definitive work Long Day's Journey Into Night. We're thrilled to introduce Chicago audiences to two incredible plays with the Midwest premieres of Terry Teachout's Satchmo at the Waldorf and Richard Bean's award-winning British comedy One Man, Two Guvnors. Building on the success of our 60th Anniversary season, we carry this momentum into next season to take audiences on another signature Court journey."

The 2015/16 Court Theatre Season Up-Close:

Gem of the Ocean
September 10 - October 11
Directed by Ron OJ Parsons
Written by August Wilson

Resident Artist Ron OJ Parson continues his triumphant tour through August Wilson's iconic century cycle with Gem of the Ocean, his seventh Wilson production at Court Theatre. Nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play in 2005, Gem of the Ocean is a fantastical story of freedom, justice, and redemption. A new century has dawned in America, but the shadow of slavery's legacy lingers. As a city desperate for freedom descends into chaos, a murderer arrives on the doorstep of Ester Tyler's Pittsburgh home. Known as a cleanser of souls, Ester must take this stranger on a spiritual journey of healing and renewal to the mythical City of Bones. Actress Greta Oglesby (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom) returns to play Ester, a role she originated in 2003, and will be joined by Court favorites A.C. Smith (Fences, Jitney), Alfred Wilson (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Jitney), David Alan Anderson (The Mountaintop), and Tyla Abercrumbie (The Piano Lesson).

World Premiere
Agamemnon
November 5 - December 6
Directed by Charles Newell
Written by Aeschylus
Translated by Nicholas Rudall

Featuring a world premiere adaptation by renowned scholar and Founding Artistic Director Nicholas Rudall, Agamemnon delivers the second installment of Court's groundbreaking Greek Cycle. Actors Sandra Marquez (Clytemnestra) and Mark Montgomery (Agamemnon) return to resume the harrowing tale of the House of Atreus following last season's incredible Iphigenia in Aulis. Ten war-torn years have passed since the Greek fleet sailed from the shores of Aulis on winds conjured by the goddess Artemis in exchange for the bloody sacrifice of King Agamemnon's eldest daughter, Iphigenia. Inside the walls of Argos, Clytemnestra orchestrates an unexpected welcome for her King as she patiently awaits his fateful return to a house torn apart by horror and sorrow.

Midwest Premiere
Satchmo at the Waldorf
January 7 - February 7, 2016
Directed by Charles Newell
Written by Terry Teachout

After one of his final performances, Louis Armstrong retires backstage and begins to reminisce about his incredibly successful career. As the evening unfolds, he reveals an intimate, unknown portrait of the man behind the trumpet and the ever-evolving struggle to live with dignity as a Black musician in a White world. Written with theatrical ingenuity by Terry Teachout, who has entrusted Artistic Director Charlie Newell with the play's Midwest premiere, Armstrong's story is told through the voice of a single actor playing both Armstrong and his Jewish manager Joe Glaser, bringing to life an emotional journey of deep friendship and its tragic destruction. Satchmo at the Waldorf is an intimate exploration of Armstrong's life, legacy, and above all, jazz.

Long Day's Journey Into Night
March 10 - April 10, 2016
Directed by David Auburn
Written by Eugene O'Neill

Court Theatre is thrilled to deepen its relationship with playwright David Auburn as he directs one of the greatest plays penned in the twentieth century, Eugene O'Neill's masterpiece Long Day's Journey Into Night. As a once bright morning fades slowly into a dreary fog of evening in the Tyrone household, members of the family crash together and pull apart inside a web of long-held suffering, buried secrets, and unspoken trauma. As powerful as it is poignant, Long Day's Journey into Night offers a searing depiction of a family as they struggle to heal themselves and forgive each other.

Midwest Premiere
One Man, Two Guvnors
May 12 - June 12, 2016
Directed by Charles Newell
Written by Richard Bean

A dazzling and award-winning success from London to Broadway takes the stage at Court for its Midwest Premiere. Set in 1963 on the coast of Brighton and delightfully underscored by a live skiffle band, this hilarious play with music transforms Goldoni's 18th century Comedia dell'Arte classic Servant of Two Masters into modern comedy full of satire and slapstick. Following the success of their partnership on An Iliad, Artistic Director Charles Newell and actor Timothy Edward Kane team up once more for a wildly different and much more light-hearted endeavor. They are joined by Court favorites Elizabeth Ledo (Tartuffe), Hollis Resnik (The Good Book), and Chaon Cross (Proof) for a rollicking jaunt through a swirl of cross-dressing twins, dead fiancés, crooked lawyers, and general buffoonery.

Five, four, and three play subscriptions to Court's 2015/16 season range from $90 to $280 and are on sale now. To purchase a subscription or to receive more information, call the Court Theatre Box Office at (773) 753-4472, or visit Court's website at www.CourtTheatre.org. Individual tickets for all shows will be available on August 1st. Groups of 10 or more may reserve tickets by calling Groups Manager Kate Vangeloff at (773) 834-3243.

To post a comment, you must register and login.