BECAUSE OF WINN DIXIE, LES MISERABLES and CLYBOURNE PARK Featured in Arkansas Rep's 2013-14 Season

Arkansas Repertory Theatre (The Rep), the state's largest nonprofit professional theatre, is proud to announce its 38th MainStage Season. The new season will include vibrant new artistic experiences that exemplify The Rep's mission of producing diverse work of the highest artistic standards for its Arkansas audience.

THE 2013-2014 MAINSTAGE SEASON

PAL JOEY
Sept. 6 - Sept. 29, 2013

Taking the stage Sept. 6 - Sept. 29, 2013 is a re-conceived version of the Rodgers & Hart 1940 classic Pal Joey.

Joey has the voice of an angel and a devilish charisma. When the ambitious young black singer lands at a white Chicago nightclub in 1948, he intrigues the sassy chorus girls, the jazz-loving pianist and, most dangerously, a rich beautiful socialite. Hungry to headline at his own glittering club, Joey is willing to do whatever he can to get there.

RED
Oct. 25 - Nov. 10, 2013

In partnership with the Arkansas Arts Center's upcoming exhibit "Mark Rothko in the 1940's: The Decisive Decade," we are thrilled to announce the production of the revealing Rothko bio-drama Red, on stage Oct. 25 - Nov. 10, 2013.

Written by John Logan and set in Rothko's studio on the Bowery, Red drops you squarely inside the world of the painter and sets your heart pounding, chronicling the tormented artist's two-year struggle to complete a lucrative set of murals for Manhattan's exclusive Four Seasons restaurant. This production provides a rare glimpse of an artist through the lens of his relationship with his naïve young assistant, who must choose between appeasing his mentor-and changing the course of art history.

Amid the swiftly changing cultural tide of the late 1950s, Red is a startling snapshot of a brilliant artist at the height of his fame. When his new assistant challenges his artistic integrity, Rothko must confront his own demons or be crushed by the ever-changing art world
he helped create.

BECAUSE OF WINN DIXIE
Dec. 6 - Dec. 29, 2013

A world premiere musical brings a Tony Award-winning creative team to Little Rock this holiday season. On stage Dec. 6 - Dec. 29, 2013, Because of Winn Dixie, with book and lyrics by Nell Benjamin and music by Duncan Sheik, is a new musical based on the popular 2000 novel by Kate DeCamillo.

Taran, an Irish Wolfhound, has been cast in the title role of "Winn-Dixie," trained by Broadway's foremost animal trainer, Bill Berloni. This will be the first pre-Broadway musical starring a live dog as the central character.

Because of Winn Dixie tells the story of lonely young girl who moves to Florida with her father. She goes into the Winn-Dixie supermarket and comes out with a large stray dog who helps her rekindle an almost lost relationship with her father.

CLYBOURNE PARK
Jan. 24 - Feb. 9, 2014

Winner of the 2011 Pulitzer Prize and 2011 Tony Award for Best Play, Clybourne Park is a bitingly funny and fiercely provocative new play about the volatile combination of race and real estate.

On stage in the new year from Jan. 24 - Feb. 9, 2014, written by Bruce Norris and directed by Rep founder Cliff Baker, this ferociously sharp play is inspired by Lorraine Hansberry's popular classic A Raisin in the Sun.

Clybourne Park portrays fictional events set before and after the Hansberry play and is loosely based on historical events. In 1959, a white couple sells their home to a black family (the Younger family from A Raisin in the Sun), causing an uproar in their middle-class neighborhood.

Fifty years later in 2009, the same house is changing hands again, but the stakes have changed. As neighbors wage a hilarious and pitchEd Battle over territory and legacy, Clybourne Park reveals just how far our ideas about race and gentrification have evolved.

When our houses become our homes, and our neighborhoods become our identities, what will we do to protect them? As hidden agendas unfold, an unforgettable story is revealed without good guys or bad guys, just real people with real concerns about the future of their community.

LES MISERABLES
March 7 - March 30, 2014

A co-production with Arizona's Phoenix Theatre, Les Miserables returns to The Rep stage March 7 - March 30, 2014.

Discover a nation in the grip of revolution, where convict Jean Valjean is on the run. Hunted relentlessly by the policeman Javert for breaking his parole, he must leave his past behind and keep his vow to raise the young orphaned Cosette. But with revolution in the air and Javert closing in, Jean Valjean has no choice but to fight for his life and sacrifice everything to protect the people he loves.

THE SECOND CITY
April 21 - May 4, 2014

The Second City Touring Company loads up the tour bus and heads to Little Rock April 21 - May 4, 2014. Hilarious, fast-paced and always topical, and highly interactive with priceless audience interactions, The Second City has audiences rolling in the aisles all across the country. No institution escapes the satiric eye of The Second City - from the blowhards of the Beltway to the Hollywood elite.

THE COMPLEAT WORKS OF WLM SHKSPR ABRIDGED
June 6 - June 22, 2014

Life is short. The complete works of Shakespeare are long. Now all of the bard's most familiar pieces are condensed into one hilarious roller-coaster spoof. Ending The Rep's season is an entertaining romp on stage June 6 - June 22, 2014, as audiences will see all of Shakespeare 37 plays in only 97 minutes.

Advance Season Subscriptions are on sale now and will range from $180 - $260 through March 31, making subscribing to The Rep the best way to get the best seats at the best price ahead of sellout shows. Subscription pricing will go up in April. Single ticket sales open to the public in August. Call The Rep's Box Office at (501) 378-0405 for more information on Season Subscriptions or visit www.therep.org.

To post a comment, you must register and login.