Westport Country Playhouse Announces 80th Anniversary Season

Westport Country Playhouse will celebrate its 80th anniversary in 2010, staging a season of five productions including musicals, comedy and drama at the historic theater in Westport, Connecticut. 2010 will be the first official season of artistic programming by Mark Lamos, who was appointed Playhouse artistic director in February 2009.

"It was an exciting challenge to create the 80th-anniversary season for this historic Playhouse," said Lamos. "First of all, I wanted to continue the tradition of theater for our community with as wide a variety of plays and musicals as possible---some celebratory, some profound, others really joyful and inspiring, even daring. We want to open up avenues into a bright new future now, and hopefully this season will lead the way."

"Our 80th-anniversary celebration has a unique lineup: two musicals, one grand, the other intimate; two of the greatest plays of the 20th century, one based on one of the most important and beloved books ever written; and a yet to be announced contemporary comedy that will bring a little edge to our proceedings," Lamos continued. "I'm eager to share these shows with the communities that make up our audiences, and the artists who love our theater; and I look forward with enthusiasm to taking the first steps into a new beginning for the Westport Country Playhouse."

The enchanting musical comedy, "She Loves Me," will begin the celebratory season, April 27 through May 15. With a beautiful score and delightful book by the team that created "Fiddler on the Roof," the show has all the grace, allure and spirit that established it as one of the all-time great Broadway classics. Lamos will direct.

The plot involves Georg and Amalia, who are madly in love. They just don't realize it yet. Caught up in a feud at the perfumery where they work, neither suspects that the other is their anonymous romantic pen pal. Book is by Joe Masterhoff; music by Jerry Bock; lyrics by Sheldon Harnick. The show was the inspiration for the Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan film, "You've Got Mail."

A TBA production is scheduled for June 1 through June 19. According to Lamos, the play will be "a bright, smart new contemporary comedy hit."

A play of luminous beauty and rare power, "Happy Days" by Samuel Beckett, the Nobel Prize-winning author of "Waiting for Godot," recently revived on Broadway to wide acclaim, will run July 6 through July 24, directed by Lamos. Beckett's masterpiece, the story of one woman's cheerful optimism in the face of a trifling universe, is among the most inspiring and exhilarating explorations of what it means to be alive.

The joyful and touching musical, "I Do! I Do!," will be staged August 10 through August 28. Written by Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt, composers of "The Fantasticks," the endearing story spans 50 years in the marriage of Agnes and Michael. One man, one woman and a captivating musical score encompass all the richness and variety of experience inherent in taking the plunge into a life spent with someone you love.

A timeless and powerful classic, "The Diary of Anne Frank," by Francis Goodrich and Albert Hackett, newly revised by Wendy Kesselman, will play September 28 through October 16. During the Second World War, Anne Frank and her family go into hiding to escape the Nazis. Her account of the time spent in a small Amsterdam attic remains among the greatest personal stories from the darkest moment in history, and one of the most compelling coming of age tales ever told.

The 2010 performance schedule is Tuesday at 8 p.m., Wednesday at 2 and 8 p.m., Thursday and Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 4 and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. Special series feature Previews, A Taste of Tuesdays, Opening Nights, Thursday TalkBack, Sunday Symposium, Backstage Pass and Open Captioning.

Series ticketing options include 5 and 4-play subscriptions and the new "A Taste of Tuesdays" subscription along with the flexible Pick 3 and FlexTix options. Subscriptions, starting at $125 for all five productions, are now on sale. Single tickets range from $35 to $60; opening night tickets, including post-performance reception, are $65. Students and educators are eligible for 50% discounts. Groups of 10 or more save up to 30%. For group sales information call (203) 227-5137, x120.

About the Playhouse

Westport Country Playhouse, a not-for-profit theater, serves as a treasured home for the performing arts and is a cultural landmark for Connecticut. Under the artistic direction of Mark Lamos and management direction of Michael Ross, the Playhouse creates quality productions of new and classic plays that enlighten, enrich and engage a diverse community of theater lovers, artists and students. The Playhouse's rich history dates back to 1931, when New York theatre producer Lawrence Langner created a Broadway-quality stage within an 1830s tannery. The Playhouse quickly became an established stop on the New England "straw hat circuit" of summer stock theatres. Celebrating its 80th season in 2010, Westport Country Playhouse has produced more than 700 plays, 36 of which later transferred to Broadway, most recently the world premiere of "Thurgood" and a revival of Thornton Wilder's "Our Town" with Paul Newman, and in earlier years "Come Back, Little Sheba" with Shirley Booth, "The Trip to Bountiful" with Lillian Gish, and "Butterflies Are Free" with Keir Dullea and Blythe Danner. For its artistic excellence, the Playhouse received a 2005 Governor's Arts Award and a 2000 "Connecticut Treasure" recognition. It was also designated as an Official Project of Save America's Treasures by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and is entered on the Connecticut State Register of Historic Places. Following a multi-million dollar renovation completed in 2005, the Playhouse transformed into a year-round, state-of-the-art producing theater, which has preserved its original charm and character. In addition to a full season of theatrical productions, the Playhouse serves as a community resource, presenting educational programming and workshops; a children's theater series; symposiums; music; films; and readings.

For more information or ticket purchases, call the box office at (203) 227-4177, or toll-free at 1-888-927-7529, or visit 25 Powers Court, off Route 1, Westport. Tickets may be purchased online at www.westportplayhouse.org.

 

To post a comment, you must register and login.