Palo Alto Players Announce First Ever Staged Reading Companion Series for 2017-18
By: BWW News Desk Jul. 28, 2017
Palo Alto Players, the Peninsula's first theatre company, announces its inaugural staged reading companion series for the company's 87th season.
The 2017-18 line-up for the companion series, beginning September 2017, was unveiled Thursday, July 27th via Facebook Live by Artistic Director Patrick Klein and Board Member Kristen Lo.
The companion series will feature rarely produced plays that complement the company's mainstage productions in tone and theme and includes CalamiTy West's GIVE IT ALL BACK, Deborah Zoe Laufer's INFORMED CONSENT, THE LARAMIE PROJECT: TEN YEARS LATER by Moisés Kaufman, Leigh Fondakowski, Greg Pierotti, Andy Paris and Stephen Belber, THE UNDENIABLE SOUND OF RIGHT NOW by Laura Eason, and Meg Miroshnik's THE TALL GIRLS.
These free, one-night only performances will be held at the Lucie Stern Theater located at 1305 Middlefield Road in Palo Alto. More information available at www.paplayers.org or by calling 650.329.0891.
"The stage-reading companion series has been something I've been hoping to introduce at Palo Alto Players for quite a while, and this coming season titled "the world turned upside down" is proving to be the perfect time to launch what we anticipate will be a beloved pairing for our traditional five show line-up." says Artistic Director Patrick Klein. "I am over the moon to be partnering with Palo Alto Players' Board Member Kristen Lo to discover and present these relatively unknown titles. It's quite thrilling to be able to expand our collective theatrical vocabulary through new, thought-provoking and diverse scripts, and discover themes that so perfectly complement the mainstage season. And through the generous support of an anonymous donor, this series will be presented free to the public, as we seek to expand and enhance our patron's experience at Palo Alto Players and introduce new theatregoers to our wonderful community theater."
In chronological order, Palo Alto Players' staged reading companion series for the 2017-18 season is as follows:
GIVE IT ALL BACK
September 27, 2017
by CalamiTy West
...a companion staged reading for Palo Alto Players' production of MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET
In a swank French hotel room in the mid-1960s, an artist hides out from a world that's turned on him. As a cavalcade of familiar faces tries to break down his door, he smokes, talks, drinks, and tries not to think about acoustic versus electric. But when a prime career opportunity lands on the table, he has to decide which version of himself he wants to be, and how to keep the past from bubbling up beneath him. CalamiTy West delivers a hilariously sardonic examination of how you hold onto your art when everyone else thinks that it's theirs.
INFORMED CONSENT
November 15, 2017
...a companion staged reading for Palo Alto Players' production of PETER PAN
With genomic breakthroughs happening at breakneck speed, we can learn more about what our futures may hold than ever before. But how much should we know? And who gets to decide? An electrifying new play by one of the most exciting voices in American theater, INFORMED CONSENT is a powerful drama about one woman's quest to answer the mysteries of science and her own life. Inspired by a landmark court case between one of the country's largest universities and a Native American tribe based in the Grand Canyon, INFORMED CONSENT takes us into the personal and national debate about science v. belief, and whether our genetics defines our fate.
THE LARAMIE PROJECT: TEN YEARS LATER
January 31, 2018
By Moisés Kaufman, Leigh Fondakowski, Greg Pierotti, Andy Paris and Stephen Belber
...a companion staged reading for Palo Alto Players' production of THE LARAMIE PROJECT
Ten years after the murder of Matthew Shepard, five members of Tectonic returned to Laramie to try to understand the long-term effect of the hate crime. They found a town wrestling with its legacy and its place in history. In addition to revisiting the folks whose words riveted us in THE LARAMIE PROJECT, this time around, the company also spoke with the two murderers, McKinney and Henderson, as well as Matthew's mother, Judy Shepard. THE LARAMIE PROJECT: TEN YEARS LATER is a bold new work, which asks the question, "How does society write its own history?"
THE UNDENIABLE SOUND OF RIGHT NOW
May 8, 2018
by Laura Eason
...a companion staged reading for Palo Alto Players' production of ROCK OF AGES
1992. Chicago. Hank is struggling to keep his legendary rock club going amid changing times and changing tastes. But when his beloved daughter, Lena, starts dating a rising-star DJ, Hank must contend with the destructive power of the Next Big Thing. Like a blast of feedback from a Fender amp, THE UNDENIABLE SOUND OF RIGHT NOW brings to hilarious and heartbreaking life the moment in popular culture when Kurt and Courtney ruled, but Moby was just around the corner...
THE TALL GIRLS
June 27, 2018
...a companion staged reading for Palo Alto Players' production of THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER
The tiny hamlet of Poor Prairie doesn't see a lot of folks coming into town, least of all men - they've all left to find desperately needed work. So when one gets off the train, everybody talks. But this man is mysterious. He's from Poor Prairie, but nobody knows where he's been and his story's got some...gaps. A few things are clear, though - he's teaching at the high school, he knows basketball, and most importantly, he has the only inflated basketball in town. Inspired by the flourishing and the decline of high school girls' basketball teams in the 1930s rural Midwest, The Tall Girls asks: who can afford the luxury of play?
For information on how to reserve seats for the staged reading companion series, join Palo Alto Players' email list or visit paplayers.org/staged-reading-series for updates.
Season subscribers will get first access to reservations and priority seating for the series. To purchase season subscriptions, visit the company online at www.paplayers.org, by phone at 650.329.0891, or in person at the Box Office at the Lucie Stern Theater located at 1305 Middlefield Road in Palo Alto, Tuesday-Thursday 11am-4 pm PT. Season subscriptions are on sale now starting at just $125 for all five productions. Special discounts for seniors, educators, military and patrons under 30 are also available. Some restrictions may apply. In addition to significant savings, subscribers receive other benefits such as priority seating, free ticket exchanges, discounts on the purchase of additional single tickets, and invitations to special events. Individual tickets for MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET go on sale August 7, 2017 and for the remaining season beginning in October.
In cooperation with The City of Palo Alto, Palo Alto Players performs at the Lucie Stern Theater located at 1305 Middlefield Road in Palo Alto, California. Use of this facility is made possible through support from The City of Palo Alto, Community Services Department, Division of Arts and Sciences, and from our patrons.
Founded in 1931, Palo Alto Players is the San Francisco Peninsula's first theatre company. Based at the Lucie Stern Theater, built explicitly for Palo Alto Players in 1933, Palo Alto Players produces a season of comedies, dramas, classics, and musicals from September to June. Audiences and participants come from all over the Bay Area to be a part of Palo Alto Players' productions. Palo Alto Players is committed to providing a meaningful theatre experience for both audience and production participants. Intrinsic in this is the belief that theatre benefits the community-at-large and enhances the quality of life of those who are touched by it through education, enlightenment, and enrichment. Palo Alto Players is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization established for public benefit.
For more information about Palo Alto Players and upcoming shows, please visit www.paplayers.org or call the box office at 650.329.0891. Follow Palo Alto Players on Twitter @PaloAltoPlayers or twitter.com/PaloAltoPlayers, on Instagram @PaloAltoPlayers, and on Facebook at facebook.com/PaloAltoPlayers.
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