Tickets Go On Sale for Long Wharf Theatre's 2009-10 Season 9/8

Single tickets for Long Wharf Theatre's 2009-10 season will go on sale Tuesday, September 8 at 10 a.m.

The Mainstage season will begin with a re-exploration of The Fantasticks, featuring songs like "Try To Remember" and "Soon It's Gonna Rain" -- stirring music beloved by generations of theatergoers. The theatre will stage the world premiere of Athol Fugard's Have You See Us?, a powerful exploration of the impact of prejudice on people's lives. Fugard continued his long association with Long Wharf Theatre during the 2008-09 season with the premiere of moving Coming Home. Sam Waterston of TV's "Law and Order" and Long Wharf Theatre's Travesties, will star. Sylvia, the international hit comedy by A.R. Gurney about a man and his dog, will be offered on the Mainstage. Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House furthers Artistic Director Gordon Edelstein's exploration of the classics, carefully re-examining the plays to search for what is vibrant and current about them, a process done to great critical acclaim in his recent productions of The Glass Menagerie (which is moving to New York in the spring), The Price and Uncle Vanya, among others.
Coming to Stage II will be the world premiere of Lil's 90th, by Darci Picoult. Partners in life, but rarely seen together on stage before, the presence of legendary actress Lois Smith and Long Wharf's beloved David Margulies (The Price, Rocket to the Moon) is a rare, not-to-be-missed opportunity to see two truly great actors perform together.

Rounding out the Stage II season will be No Child, written and performed by Nilaja Sun. This astonishing story takes place in one of the most important venues in society - a public school. This true story about the shocking failures of schools is a testament to how easily lives can be turned around by loving and committed teachers. It is a picture perfect portrait filled with laughter and tears.

Tickets range from $70 to $20. For more information on specific shows, or to purchase tickets, call 203-787-4282 or go to www.longwharf.org. Subscriptions to the 2009-10 season are still available and on sale through the box office as well.
Long Wharf Theatre: 2009-10 SEASON

The Fantasticks

Book and Lyrics by Tom Jones

Music by Harvey Schmidt

Directed by Amanda Dehnert

October 7-November 1, Mainstage

This hit musical with book and lyrics by Tom Jones and music by Harvey Schmidt, the longest running Off-Broadway musical in history, tells the story of Luisa and Matt, a pair entering the bloom of their youth. Their fathers, scheming to encourage their budding love, hire the trickster El Gallo to "thwart" their romance. By moonlight, Matt and Luisa fall hard for each other. However, can their romance survive the sunlight?

Have You Seen Us?

A World Premiere by Athol Fugard

Directed by Gordon Edelstein

November 24- December 20, Mainstage

Christmas Eve. A diner in a Southern California strip mall. Henry Parsons, a professor and South African transplant comes in for his usual-a turkey sandwich and insulting banter with Adela, the Mexican-American waitress. The two creep towards a fragile understanding until Solly and Rachael, an eastern European Jewish couple sit down to eat. The couple's entrance forces Henry to a reckoning with the demons in his heart and, for a moment, unites four lost souls. Athol Fugard returns to Long Wharf Theatre, unrelenting in his search for our common humanity.

Lil's 90th

A World Premiere by Darci Picoult

January 6-February 7, Stage II

As Lillian nears a milestone birthday, she and her family put the finishing touches on the much-anticipated party at which she'll make her singing debut. There's a speech to be written, a band to rehearse and, of course, an outfit to choose. But then Lil's husband Charlie's secret gets out-the birthday surprise that he hoped would make her day may instead tear their lives apart. In Darci Picoult's playful and poignant new play, when reason fails, it is the power of love that stands the test of aging.
Sylvia

By A. R. Gurney

Directed by Eric Ting

February 17-March 14, Mainstage

Sylvia, a lovable dog, would do anything for Greg. A constant companion, she loves him unconditionally and hangs on his every word. Greg would do anything for Sylvia, even staying home from work to spend time with her. Greg's wife Kate, on the other hand, isn't thrilled that Sylvia's made herself so at home, let alone that she's sleeping on Kate's precious couch. Add the fact that Sylvia is played by a vivacious young woman and you view the relationship between a man and his best friend in a whole new way. A.R. Gurney, author of The Dining Room and The Cocktail Hour, charms with his comedy, which has been a hit in the United States and internationally.

No Child...
written and performed by Nilaja Sun
directed by Hal Brooks

March 17-April 18, Stage II

In her revelatory solo show, writer/performer Nilaja Sun draws from firsthand experience as a teaching artist in New York City's public schools, portraying 16 characters in 70 minutes to illuminate the trials and triumphs within America's education system. No one-teacher, student, janitor, principal or security guard-is left behind by Sun's hilarious and heartbreaking expose, which has been a smash hit off Broadway and across the nation.
A Doll's House

By Henrik Ibsen, Adapted by Gordon Edelstein

Directed by Gordon Edelstein

April 28-May 23, Mainstage

After years of facing financial challenges a suburban family is finally on their feet again. Dad has an important new job at an investment bank, the kids are doing well and Mom, at last, is able to make a home befitting her dreams. Unfortunately their financial resurrection is built on an illusion. Dad's rise, unbeknownst to him, has been in large part illegally engineered by his wife Nora and the chickens are about to come home to roost. This world premiere adaptation casts Ibsen's beloved, visceral drama in a contemporary light. A classic drama and a thrilling new work for 2010.

ABOUT THE THEATRE

Long Wharf Theatre (Gordon Edelstein, Artistic Director; Ray Cullom, Managing Director), entering its 45th season, is recognized as a leader in American theatre producing fresh and imaginative revivals of classics and modern plays, rediscoveries of neglected works and a variety of world and American premieres. More than 30 Long Wharf Theatre productions have transferred virtually intact to Broadway or Off-Broadway, some of which include The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, Durango by Julia Cho, the Pulitzer Prize-winning plays Wit by Margaret Edson, The Shadow Box by Michael Cristofer and The Gin Game by D.L. Coburn. The theatre is an incubator of new works, including this past season's A Civil War Christmas, by Paula Vogel, and Coming Home, by Athol Fugard. Long Wharf Theatre has received New York Drama Critics Awards, Obie Awards, the Margo Jefferson Award for Production of New Works, a Special Citation from the Outer Critics Circle and the Tony® Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre.

 

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