The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center has announced selections for this summer's Cabaret and Performance Conference, under the leadership of Artistic Director Michael Bush.
Public performances begin Wednesday, August 3 with Cabaret Opening Ceremonies and Preview, free to the public, and will conclude Saturday, August 13 with Grand Finale Cabaret. Eight additional performances, including two performances featuring the 2011 Cabaret Fellows and one performance featuring the 2011 Cabaret Junior Fellows, will also take place.
With this season's theme "Sing For Your Supper," the conference will present evenings with Broadway's
Jim Dale (Tony Award winner and the iconic voice of the Harry Potter audiobook series),
Penny Fuller (returning for her seventh season),
Lillias White (winner of the 1997 Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, People's Choice Award, and The Outer Critics Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her role as Sonja in the Life), and the renowned composer/songstress
Amanda McBroom, in solo performances that celebrate their own personal life stories through their songs.
Additional performances include the 2nd Annual O?Neill Follies, featuring the talents of
Joel Silberman,
Euan Morton,
Allan Harris,
Amanda McBroom, Andre DeShields,
Gretchen Reinhagen, and
Liliane Montevecchi. This season will also feature two cabaret theater projects in development under the musical direction of
Steven Ray Watkins and the direction of Mr. Bush, including a free to the public workshop performance of Cross that River by Allan and
Pat Harris and
Michael Aman, and 40 Naked Women, A Monkey, and Me by
Jonathan Brielle.
Supplementing the season are the Cabaret Fellows and Cabaret Junior Fellows Programs. The Fellows are a select group of professionals who are provided with an intense course of study under the direction of
Barry Kleinbort and
Penny Fuller and the support of four music directors. With two classes daily, the Fellows prepare for two scheduled public performances during the conference, but are also encouraged to experiment and sing nightly at the conference's open mic sessions. In 2010 the Conference added a similar Junior Fellows Program for young people in their teens. Cabaret Fellows will have two evening performances, August 6 and 11, and Cabaret Junior Fellows will have one evening performance on August 12.
In regard to the upcoming season, Mr. Bush said, "Our goal this season is to explore the possibilities of expanding the definition of cabaret for our time. With this wide variety of talent and events, from Broadway's
Jim Dale and
Lillias White, to our new teens program? our own version of Glee ?we can prove that today's cabaret theatre is alive and vibrant."
Tickets are now on sale for this year's summer conferences, including along with the Cabaret and Performance Conference: National Music Theater Conference public staged readings June 25 ? July 15, and National Playwrights Conference public staged readings July 6 ? 30. Tickets may be ordered online at
www.theoneill.org or through the box office at 860.443.1238. Discounted tickets are available to O?Neill Members; for information, email Membership@theoneill.org or call 860-443-5378 x211.
Cabaret and Performance Conference ? Public Performances (Schedule Subject to Change)
Cabaret Opening Ceremonies and Preview, free performance featuring conference artists, Wednesday, August 3, 8pm
Amanda McBroom, Thursday, August 4, 8pm
Penny Fuller, "Lost and Found," Friday, August 5, 8pm
2011 Cabaret Fellows: Evening One, Saturday, August 6, 8pm
2nd Annual O?Neill Follies: An Evening in Two Acts with optional picnic dinner, featuring
Joel Silberman,
Euan Morton,
Allan Harris,
Amanda McBroom, Andre DeShields,
Gretchen Reinhagen, and
Liliane Montevecchi. Pre-order a picnic dinner at the Box Office and dine on the beautiful grounds of the O?Neill between the two acts. Sunday, August 7, 6pm
Jim Dale, "Still Carrying On," Tuesday, August 9, 8pm
Lillias White, "From Brooklyn to Broadway," Wednesday, August 10, 8pm
Cross that River by Allan and
Pat Harris and
Michael Aman and 2011 Cabaret Fellows: Evening Two, are both scheduled for Thursday, August 11. Cross that River will be performed at 2pm, and the second evening of the 2011 Cabaret Fellows will be performed at 8pm.
2011 Cabaret Junior Fellows in Concert and 40 Naked Women, A Monkey, and Me by
Jonathan Brielle, Friday, August 12, 8pm
Grand Finale Cabaret, Saturday, August 13, 8pm
The
Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, founded in 1964 in honor of
Eugene O'Neill, four-time Pulitzer Prize Winner and America's only playwright to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, is the country's preeminent organization dedicated to the development of new works and new voices for the American theater. The O'Neill has been home to more than 1,000 new works for the stage and 2,500 emerging artists. Scores of projects developed at the O'Neill have gone on to full production at other theaters around the world, including Broadway, Off-Broadway and major regional theaters.
O'Neill programs include the National Playwrights Conference, National Music Theater Conference, National Critics Institute, National Puppetry Conference, the Cabaret & Performance Conference, and National Theater Institute, which conducts semester-long, fully intensive theater training programs and Theatermakers, a six-week summer program.
In addition, the O'Neill owns and operates Monte Cristo Cottage as a museum open to the public. Childhood summer home of
Eugene O'Neill, the Cottage is a National Historic Landmark.
The
Eugene O'Neill Theater Center received the 2010 Tony Award for Regional Theater, a special Tony Award for Theatrical Excellence in 1979, the National Opera Award, the Jujamcyn Award for Theatre Excellence, and the Arts and Business Council Encore Award. For more information, visit www.theoneill.org or email theaterlives@theoneill.org.
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