Rubinstein Helmed 'RFK', 'AWAKE AND SING!', 'CRUMBS' Among L.A. Theatre Works 2010 Season Offerings

Now entering its 24th year of recording plays for radio, L.A. Theatre Works is gearing up to add 10 significant plays to its Audio Theatre Collection, the largest archive of its kind in the world. One play will be presented and recorded each month, October through July, at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles as part of L.A. Theatre Works' "The Play's The Thing" live-in-performance radio theater series, with each of the performances recorded for radio syndication and for distribution to over 8,000 libraries across the U.S. L.A. Theatre Works Productions are broadcast weekly on KPCC 89.3 FM in Southern California and on public radio stations nationwide, and can be streamed on demand at www.latw.org.

The 2009-10 schedule includes an eclectic mix of new work and classics, dramas and comedies - but the highlight is the world premiere of RFK: The Journey to Justice by Murray Horwitz and Jonathan Estrin. A behind-the-scenes look at the high-stakes political drama that accompanied the civil rights movement, RFK follows in the tradition of other acclaimed L.A. Theatre Works docudramas such as Top Secret: The Battle for the Pentagon Papers, The Great Tennessee Monkey Trial, The Real Dr. Strangelove, and The Chicago Conspiracy Trial. This new L.A. Theatre Works-commissioned work will tour nationally prior to its presentation in March as part of the Los Angeles season.

In addition to RFK, L.A. Theatre Works will offer nine exceptional plays representing a wide range of genres to its audiences in Los Angeles, including Once in a Lifetime by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart (starring Edward Asner and Jonathan Silverman); Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde by award-winning playwright Moises Kaufman (starring Simon Templeman and John Vickery); Crumbs from the Table of Joy by Lynn Nottage (starring Russell Hornsby, Deidrie Henry and Charlayne Woodard); Awake and Sing! by Clifford Odets (starring Mark Ruffalo and Lauren Ambrose, stars of the 2006 Tony Award-winning Broadway revival, and directed by Bartlett Scher, Tony Award-winner for his direction); The Savannah Disputation by Evan Smith (starring Bruce Davison); The Constant Wife by W. Somerset Maugham (with Tony-nominee Kate Burton, John de Lancie and Rosalind Ayres); Side Man by Warren Leight (starring original cast members Edie Falco and Tony Award-winner Frank Wood); She Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith (starring James Marsters and Tony Award-winner Roy Dotrice); and Doctor Cerberus by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (Bart DeLorenzo directs Adam Arkin and JoBeth Williams).

"Our goal in choosing a season is not only to find plays that will entertain and educate our audiences here in Los Angeles, but to curate a series of important work that will be preserved and made available to a much wider audience. Through our weekly broadcasts and internet streaming, we're able to make theater widely and easily accessible throughout the U.S. and the world," explains L.A. Theatre Works Producing Artistic Director Susan Loewenberg.

The details and dates for the 2009 - 2010 "The Play's the Thing" season are as follows:

OCTOBER
Edward Asner and Jonathan Silverman star in George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart's Pulitzer Prize-winning Hollywood spoof, Once in A Lifetime; Chris Hart, son of the legendary playwright directs. It's 1929 as The Jazz Singer hits the headlines and the "talkies" promise to change movies forever. Enter three down-and-out vaudevillians who hatch a hare-brained scheme to "make it big" in Tinsel Town. Their plan? To open a voice academy for the witless stars of silent movies. The only things standing in their way are ditzy starlets and power-hungry movie moguls. Five performances of this classic screwball comedy take place October 21-25 (Wednesday at 8 pm, Thursday at 8 pm, Friday at 8 pm, Saturday at 2:30 pm, Sunday at 4 pm).

NOVEMBER
In three short months, Oscar Wilde, the most celebrated playwright and wit of Victorian England, was toppled from the apex of British society into humiliation and ruin. Playwright Moisés Kaufman draws from trial documents, newspaper accounts, and the writings of key players to ignite an incendiary mix of sex and censorship, with a cast of characters ranging from George Bernard Shaw to Queen Victoria herself, in Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde. Brendon Fox directs Simon Templeman and John Vickery November 18-22 (Wednesday at 8 pm, Thursday at 8 pm, Friday at 8 pm, Saturday at 2:30 pm, Sunday at 4 pm).

DECEMBER
Crumbs from the Table of Joy is a sly coming-of-age comedy by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage. The Crump family is in trouble. Godfrey is widowed and adrift, and his teen daughters, Ernestine and Ermina, have immersed themselves in the glamorous illusions of Hollywood to escape the racial prejudice of 1950s Brooklyn. But things changes quickly when free-spirited Aunt Lily (Charlayne Woodard) shows up. Suddenly, Godfrey remarries a white woman, Ermina discovers boys, and Ernestine is torn between embracing bebop and the Communist Party. Also featuring Russell Hornsby and Deidrie Henry. Seret Scott directs December 9-13 (Wednesday at 8 pm, Thursday at 8 pm, Friday at 8 pm, Saturday at 2:30 pm, Sunday at 4 pm).

JANUARY
Awake and Sing! is Clifford Odets' 1935 masterpiece, a moving portrait of a Jewish immigrant family crowded together in a cramped Bronx tenement and laid low by the Great Depression. Mark Ruffalo and Lauren Ambrose, stars of the 2006 Tony Award-winning Broadway revival, reprise their roles for L.A. Theatre Works, as does director Bartlett Sher, Tony Award-winner for his direction of that production. January 13-17 (Wednesday at 8 pm, Thursday at 8 pm, Friday at 8 pm, Saturday at 2:30 pm, Sunday at 2 pm).

FEBRUARY
In The Savannah Disputation by Evan Smith, a perky evangelical encounters a priest (Bruce Davison) and two Catholic sisters - and her attempts to convert them to her style of Christianity have hilarious results. Irreverent comedy is resurrected in this religious battle of wits. Gwenn Victor directs February 17-21 (Wednesday at 8 pm, Thursday at 8 pm, Friday at 8 pm, Saturday at 2:30 pm, Sunday at 4 pm).

MARCH
John Rubinstein directs RFK: The Journey to Justice, a world premiere, behind-the-scenes look at the high-stakes political drama that dared the country and its citizens to look into the mirror - and change. Robert Kennedy had an early mistrust of Dr. Martin Luther King and his tactics, but became one of the civil rights movement's greatest champions. Playwrights Murray Horwitz and Jonathan Estrin bring the challenges, victories, and defeats of that era to a new generation through their exploration of Kennedy's transformative experience in this L.A. Theatre Works-commissioned docudrama . A two-month national tour including performances at the University of Notre Dame's DeBartolo Performing Arts; the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland; Stanford Lively Arts at Stanford University; and the Modlin Center for the Arts at the University of Richmond, all of which provided funding for the commission, will culminate with five Los Angeles performances March 17-21 (Wednesday at 8 pm, Thursday at 8 pm, Friday at 8 pm, Saturday at 2:30 pm, Sunday at 4 pm).

APRIL
The Constant Wife by W. Somerset Maugham. There's something Constance Middleton's friends are dying to tell her: her husband is having an affair - with her best friend! Despite their hints, Constance remains ever cool, and seemingly oblivious. Or is she? In this biting comedy of manners, marriages and mistresses, Constance - a not-so-desperate housewife - has some ideas her own about extra-marital activity that surprise everyone in the end. Featuring Tony-nominee Kate Burton, John de Lancie and Rosalind Ayres. April 14-18 (Wednesday at 8 pm, Thursday at 8 pm, Friday at 8 pm, Saturday at 2:30 pm, Sunday at 4 pm).

MAY
Starring original cast members Edie Falco and Tony Award-winner Frank Wood, Side Man by Warren Leight is a touching and funny tale that spans three decades, capturing the pulse and climate of the New York jazz scene. Alternating between a New York City apartment and a smoke-filled jazz club, Clifford re-counts the poignant story of his jazz trumpeter father, the failure of his parents' marriage, and the decline of jazz as popular entertainment. Also starring Scott Wolf. May 12-16 (Wednesday at 8 pm, Thursday at 8 pm, Friday at 8 pm, Saturday at 2:30 pm, Sunday at 4 pm).

JUNE
Martin Jarvis directs She Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith, starring James Marsters and Tony Award-winner Roy Dotrice. Tongue tied, uptight Charles Marlow needs a lesson in the art of love. He longs for a wife, but finds it easier to have a bit on the side. The barmaid seems fair game - but there's more to her than meets the eye. Bawdy high-jinx, popped pretensions, and good dirty fun are the hallmarks of this romping frolic that's kept audiences laughing for over two centuries. June 16-20 (Wednesday at 8 pm, Thursday at 8 pm, Friday at 8 pm, Saturday at 2:30 pm, Sunday at 4 pm).

JULY
Doctor Cerberus by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa is a coming-of-age, coming-out cocktail with a twist of terror. Thirteen-year-old Franklin Robertson is trying to survive adolescence. His parents don't understand him, his brother torments him, he has no friends - and he's more interested in the high school quarterback than in any girl. The one bright spot in his life is the glow of the black-and-white TV in his parents' basement. Here, he worships at the altar of the Saturday Night Horror Movie, hosted by the eerie Dr. Cerberus. Before long, Franklin is convinced that only by going on the show will his life be redeemed - by Dr. Cerberus himself. Bart DeLorenzo directs Adam Arkin and JoBeth Williams July 14-18 (Wednesday at 8 pm, Thursday at 8 pm, Friday at 8 pm, Saturday at 2:30 pm, Sunday at 4 pm).

Performances of "The Play's The Thing" are recorded live at the Skirball Cultural Center, located at 2701 N. Sepulveda Boulevard, in the Santa Monica Mountains just off the San Diego (405) Freeway (exit Skirball Center Drive). Tickets range from $20.00 to $48.00. On site, secure parking is free. Assisted listening devices are available. For reservations and information, call the L.A. Theatre Works Box Office at (310) 827-0889 or go to www.latw.org. (*Please note: all links should point only to L.A. Theatre Works and not to the Skirball which is only the venue and is not producing these events. Tickets and up-to-date information are not available on the Skirball website.)

L.A. Theatre Works' radio theater series can be heard locally in Southern California on 89.3 KPCC every Saturday from 10 pm to midnight, and can also be streamed on demand at www.latw.org/. L.A. Theatre Works can also be heard on the following stations (check local listings for broadcast times): 89.7 WGBH, Boston, MA; 91.5 FM WBEZ, Chicago, IL; 94.9 KUOW, Seattle, WA; 90.1 WABE, Atlanta, GA; 94.1 KPFA, Berkeley, CA; 91.1 KRCB, North Bay (San Francisco, CA); 89.1 KVPR, Fresno, CA; 89.3 KPRX, Bakersfield, CA; and many other stations nationwide.

RFK: The Journey to Justice is a commission led by the University of Notre Dame's DeBartolo Performing Arts Center and co-commissioned by the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland, Stanford Lively Arts at Stanford University, and the Modlin Center for the Arts at the University of Richmond. Additional funds provided by the Susan Raab Simonson Commissioning Project.

Lead funding for "The Play's The Thing" has been provided for the 2009-10 season by The Peter Glenville Foundation. Additional major support for L.A. Theatre Works programs and productions comes from the Sidney E. Frank Foundation; the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation; the Capital Group Companies Charitable Foundation; the National Endowment for the Arts; the City of Los Angeles, Department of Cultural Affairs; and the Los Angeles County Arts Commission. Major funding for L.A. Theatre Works' Broadcast Series is provided by the S. Mark Taper Foundation. Founded in 1989, the S. Mark Taper Foundation is a private family foundation dedicated to enhancing the quality of people's lives by supporting non-profit organizations and their work in the community.

Photo of John Rubinstein by Sarah DeBoer/Retna Ltd.

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