Steve Scott to Direct VANYA AND SONIA in 2015; Larry Yando to Play 'Scrooge' in A CHRISTMAS CAROL at the Goodman

Today, Artistic Director Robert Falls announces that his longtime associate, Producer Steve Scott, will direct Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Christopher Durang's Tony Award-winning, "deliriously funny, hilariously demented" Broadway hit, in Spring 2015 (dates TBA). A loving send-up of Chekhov's greatest works, Vanya makes its Chicago premiere in the Albert Theatre as part of the Subscription series in the theater's 90th Anniversary "Season to Celebrate." (One play is TBA.)

For a limited time, Subscriptions start at $90 in honor of the milestone season; call 312.443.3800 or visit GoodmanTheatre.org. Individual tickets go on sale in August. The Goodman also announces that Chicago favorite Larry Yando will return as Ebenezer Scrooge-"a role he has played with relish for six years" (Chicago Sun-Times)-for his seventh turn in the 2014 production of A Christmas Carol, November 15 - December 28. Artistic Associate Henry Wishcamper returns to direct for his second consecutive year. Group tickets (15 or more people) for the 37th annual production of A Christmas Carol are on sale now; call 312.443.3820 or e-mail Groups@GoodmanTheatre.org. Individual tickets (starting at $25) go on sale in August.

"We're thrilled to produce this wonderful new play by Chris Durang, one of America's finest comedic writers, in our landmark season. It is in capable hands with Steve Scott, who has established himself among Chicago's most prolific directors with an impressive body of work over the past three decades," said Artistic Director Robert Falls. "We also warmly welcome back Larry Yando, one of Chicago's finest, most versatile actors, to A Christmas Carol."

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike premiered at McCarter Theatre in 2012 prior to its 2013 Broadway engagement, for which it earned the 2013 Tony Award for Best Play. Siblings Vanya and Sonia have spent their adult years trapped in mundane lives at their family's cottage, caring for their ailing parents. Meanwhile, their self-involved sister Masha, a glamorous movie star, has traveled the world in decadent style. After their soothsayer/cleaning woman Cassandra warns Vanya and Sonia of impending doom, Masha arrives unannounced-accompanied by her hunky young lover Spike. When Masha reveals plans that will upend the family, long-repressed resentments bubble over in a weekend full of wild costume parties, voodoo dolls and surprise romance.

Christopher Durang's other works include A History of the American Film (Tony nomination, Best Book of a Musical); The Actor's Nightmare; Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You (Obie Award); Beyond Therapy; Baby with the Bathwater (Playwrights Horizons); The Marriage of Bette and Boo (Public Theater, Obie Award and Dramatists Guild Hull Warriner Award); Laughing Wild (Playwrights Horizons); Durang/Durang (an evening of six plays at Manhattan Theatre Club); Sex and Longing (Lincoln Center Theater); Betty's Summer Vacation (Playwrights Horizons, Obie Award); Mrs. Bob Cratchit's Wild Christmas Binge (City Theatre in Pittsburgh); Adrift in Macao (a musical written with composer Peter Melnick, at Philadelphia Stage Company); Miss Witherspoon (McCarter Theatre and Playwrights Horizons, Pulitzer Prize finalist) and Why Torture is Wrong, and the People Who Loved Them (Public Theater).

A member of the distinguished Artistic Collective, director Steve Scott has overseen more than 200 productions in his role as Producer of Goodman Theatre, where his directing credits include Horton Foote's Blind Date; Rabbit Hole; Binky Rudich and the Two-Speed Clock and No One Will Be Immune for the David Mamet Festival; Dinner With Friends; Wit; the world premiere of Tom Mula's Jacob Marley's Christmas Carol; A Midsummer Night's Dream (co-directed with Michael Maggio) and the 1989- 1992, 2011 and 2012 editions of A Christmas Carol. Other recent directing credits include Yellow Face, The DNA Trail, and Yohen at Silk Road Rising; American Myth at American Blues Theatre; The Mandrake at A Red Orchid Theatre; Clybourne Park, Elemeno Pea, Elling, A Delicate Balance, Lettice and Lovage and Shadowlands for Redtwist Theatre; Souvenir and Black Pearl Sings at Northlight Theatre; The Beauty Queen of Leenane, Buried Child and Dealer's Choice for Shattered Globe Theatre; Frozen for the Next Theatre Company; A Midsummer Night's Dream and Much Ado About Nothing for the St. Lawrence (Ontario) Shakespeare Festival; and a number of productions for the Eclipse Theatre (where he is an ensemble member).

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