WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN & More Announced in MainStage Irving-Las Colinas 2020-21 Season

Fresh off a record-setting run of A Chorus Line last fall, MainStage Irving-Las Colinas announces its 2020-2021 Irving Arts Center series to be produced in the Dupree Theatre (3333 N. MacArthur Blvd., Irving TX).

Board President Clayton Cunningham says of the upcoming season, "We are committed to providing a top-notch and affordable live theatre experience to our devoted and beloved patrons, and I'm predicting that our upcoming season will delight them! I also think these titles will tantalize new audiences to check out our award-winning organization for the first time."

The 2020-2021 season will include five productions (two musicals, three plays), plus the organization's annual Christmas fundraising concerts in December. Additional projects, to be presented at the theater's new space in Downtown Irving (MainStage 222), will be announced at a later date. Directors and music directors will be announced soon.

MainStage 2020-2021 Series:

Kicking off the season is the homicidal romp, A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder. The Tony Award®-winning musical comedy favorite will knock audiences dead with its unforgettable music and nonstop laughs.

As a holiday offering (now a MainStage tradition), Have Yourself A Broadway Little Christmas is a special season addition. This December, audiences will have four chances to celebrate the yuletide with the best talent in DFW performing favorite Christmas tunes from films and Broadway shows.

Next up? Nilo Cruz's Anna in the Tropics. This steamy 2003 Pulitzer Prize winning play is set in 1929 in a Floridian Cuban American cigar factory.

Laughs will follow with Sherwood: The Adventures of Robin Hood, a fun and light-hearted take on the beloved bandit from one of America's most popular playwrights - Ken Ludwig.

Audiences will then experience the lushness of a Tuscan vacation when four women clash, bond and bloom in Enchanted April.

And finally, the 2020-2021 season will conclude with another musical. This one tells a tale of mad love in 1980s Madrid - Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.

MainStage performances run nightly Thursday-Saturday at 7:30 PM with Sunday matiness at 2:30 PM. Season tickets (which range from $85-$110) will go on sale on June 1, 2020. Single tickets will be available on August 1, 2020. For ticket information, call the Irving Arts Center Box Office at 972-252-2787 or visit www.irvingtheatre.org.

About the shows:

A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder

November 6-21, 2020

Book and Lyrics by Robert L. Freedman, Music and Lyrics by Steven Lutvak

Based on the novel, Israel Rank by Roy Horniman
Getting away with murder can be so hilariously economical, and there's no better proof than this winner of the 2014 Tony Award® for Best Musical. GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE tells the uproarious story of Monty Navarro, a distant heir to a family fortune who sets out to jump the line of succession by - you guessed it - eliminating the eight pesky relatives (all played by one fearless man) who stand in his way. Of course, it will all be worth it if he can slay his way to his inheritance... and be done in time for tea. A Knock-'Em-Dead Hit Show!

Have Yourself A Broadway Little Christmas

December 10-12, 2020 (Season Add-on)

Ho! Ho! Ho! Irving's own Amy Stevenson and Craig Boleman are back with an all-star cast of DFW's best musical talents to perform your favorite holiday songs made famous by Broadway shows and movie musicals. Guests will be swept away by hits from a variety of musical favorites like White Christmas, Mame, Holiday Inn, Broadway's Elf and many more! The evening will conclude with a holiday sing-along as well as auction and raffle opportunities. 'Tis the Season!

Anna in the Tropics

January 22-February 6, 2021

by Nilo Cruz

Exotic and enticing, this poetic play is set in 1929 in a Floridian Cuban American cigar factory. It's a place where cigars are still rolled by hand and "lectors" are employed to read newspapers, poetry, and novels to the workers. The new lector reads Tolstoy's Anna Karenina unaware that the passions it inflames will spin the listeners' relationships out of control. Winner of the 2003 Pulitzer Prize, this wistful and effecting work reaches for the artistic heavens! Tropical, simmering and steamy!

Sherwood: The Adventures of Robin Hood

March 12-27, 2021

by Ken Ludwig

An extraordinary new take on the legend. A fun romp full of swashbuckling and romance, Ken Ludwig's take on this beloved story is a moving tale of a young man's discovery that everyone has a responsibility to care for his fellow man. Packed with thrills, romance, laughs, and great characters like Little John, Friar Tuck, and Maid Marian, Robin Hood! tells the timeless story of a hero of the people who takes on the powers that be. Swashbuckling Fun!

Enchanted April

May 7-22, 2021

by Matthew Barber, from the novel by Elizabeth von Arnim

Under the Mediterranean sun, the four women clash, and then begin to bond and bloom. Sunshine and wisteria ease the stresses of marital woe and post-war 1920s society...until their men show up to once again upset the balance. Based on the novel by the same title, this story overflows with charm exploring the rejuvenating effects of an Italian sojourn on two beleaguered London housewives and the two upper-class women they recruit to split the rent on a vacation villa. Wisteria, Romance & Comedy!

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown

July 23-August 7, 2021

Book by Jeffrey Lane • Music and Lyrics by David Yazbek • Based on the film by Pedro Almodóvar

Both touching and hilarious, this zany musical whisks us off to sexy 1980s Madrid, and to the unravelling world of Pepa, Pepa's wandering lover, the lover's nutty ex-wife, their son and his fiancée, Pepa's ditzy friend and that friend's suspicious boyfriend, plus a lawyer, and a talkative taxi driver. All this comedic chaos is served up with a very specially laced gazpacho, and an irresistible Spanish beat. Exhilarating musical farce!

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