TheaterWorks Announces Their 2009-2010 Season

At a packed event last night at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, TheatreWorks, the nationally-acclaimed theatre of Silicon Valley, announced its 2009-2010 season to a crowd of enthusiastic patrons and supporters. Under the direction of Founding Artistic Director Robert Kelley, the company is celebrating 40 years of bringing quality theatre, including more than 50 world premieres, to the San Francisco Bay Area.

The season announcement, which culminated a day of public activities launching the company's Ruby Anniversary, revealed that TheatreWorks will once again be presenting the area's first looks at several news-making productions, and deepening its commitment to presenting new works. The company announced a vibrant season leading off with an extensive New Works Festival that will draw national artists to the area; a World Premiere musical to be directed by the Tony Award-winning director of Les Miserables; two West Coast Premieres; two Regional Premieres, and two classics brought to the stage.

Before a cheering crowd, TheatreWorks' founding Artistic Director Robert Kelley and Managing Director Phil Santora proudly unveiled a line-up for 2009-2010 that includes: the World Premiere musical DADDY LONG LEGS by Paul Gordon, the composer of last year's triumphant hit EMMA, in collaboration with John Caird, who will also direct; the West Coast premiere of Pulitzer Prize winner Paula Vogel's A CIVIL WAR CHRISTMAS; Regional Premieres of David Henry Hwang's ferociously funny look at the mixed-up melting pot of modern America, YELLOW FACE, and a behind-the-scenes look at the world of great music, OPUS; plus two revived gems: the stunning American drama TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, and Chaim Potok's tale of two Jewish teenagers in 1941 Brooklyn, THE CHOSEN. The season will launch with an extended New Works Festival, in which Festival Pass holders will be able to witness works-in-progress by leading playwrights and composers, participate in discussions, and attend workshops, book-in-hand readings, and sing-throughs. The highlight of the New Works Festival will be a vibrant World Premiere musical, TINYARD HILL.

Five productions will be mounted at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts and three will be staged at the Lucie Stern Theatre in Palo Alto. In chronological order, the TheatreWorks 2009-10 season is as follows:
A New Country Musical
TINYARD HILL
Book and Lyrics by Thomas M. Newman
Music by Mark Allen
World Premiere
The season launches with a New Works Festival, which will attract playwrights and composers from across the nation, developing their latest works. Festival Pass holders will have a host of readings, sing-throughs, workshops, and discussions to choose from. Tinyard Hill, Georgia is a small town partial to old-time music and new-forged dreams, especially for a handsome young blacksmith hammering out a living at the historic smithy his family has owned for generations. When an out-of-this-world beauty and an out-of-the-blue draft notice arrive within days, his life is turned upside down. Set in the '60s to a foot-stompin' country-pop score, this feisty new musical tells of romance, rebellion, and patriotism in an era of irresistible change. This delightful new musical was a hit at the National Alliance of Musical Theatre's Festival of New Works. It was recently announced that composer Mark Allen was just awarded the 2009 Jonathan Larsen Award for Emerging Composers.
July 15-August 9, 2009 (press opening July 18)
Lucie Stern Theatre, Palo Alto

A Biting Backstage Comedy
YELLOW FACE
By David Henry Hwang
Regional Premiere
A revealing backstage comedy from the Tony Award-winning author of M Butterfly, this ferociously funny, utterly unreliable memoir chronicles David Henry Hwang's struggle to define racial identity in the mixed-up melting pot of contemporary America. Part fact, part fiction, provocative yet full of heart, this Obie Award winner is a tale of cultural politics, family fortunes, and artistic integrity, an insightful look at the pitfalls and promise of our "P.C." world. Broadway star Francis Jue recreates his award-winning performance. It premiered at the Mark Taper Forum and had its Off-Broadway premiere at the Joseph Papp Public Theater. In 2008, Yellow Face gave Hwang his third Obie Award in Playwriting and made him a third-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

"Wickedly funny...a brilliant play." -The Hollywood Reporter

Aug 26-Sept 20, 2009 (press opening Aug 29)
Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts

A Classic Tale of Family and Friendship
THE CHOSEN
By Aaron Posner and Chaim Potok
Based on the novel by Chaim Potok
Warmth, wisdom, and generosity illuminate the unlikely friendship of two Jewish teenagers from very different backgrounds who grow to manhood in the post-war turbulence of 1940's Brooklyn. Discovering in one another a portal to new ideas and unexplored worlds, each must chart his course through a sea of conflicting expectations. This now-classic story of fathers and sons, faith and family, transcends ideology to reveal the universal connections of the human spirit. Based on the 1967 novel (also a 1981 film), the play premiered in 1999 in Philadelphia, where it won the Barrymore Award for Best New Play. It went on to acclaimed productions in New York and around the country.

"Spellbinding...pure magic." -Chicago Sun-Times
7-Nov 1, 2009 (press opening Oct 10)
Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts

An American Musical Celebration
A CIVIL WAR CHRISTMAS
By Paula Vogel
West Coast Premiere
This glorious tapestry of the American experience weaves fact and fiction, old-time carols, and traditional tunes into a whimsical saga of a divided nation longing for new hope. Set on a snowy Christmas Eve in Washington, 1864, it imagines celebrated figures from Abe Lincoln to Walt Whitman rubbing elbows with colorful characters drawn from every stratum of society. Created by Pulitzer Prize-winner Paula Vogel, it is a heartwarming holiday feast for the entire family. The play premiered in November 2008 at the Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, where it received accolades by the New York Times and other national media. "A rich and moving play with music" -Variety

Dec 2-27, 2009 (press opening Dec 5)

Lucie Stern Theatre

A New Musical Romance
DADDY LONG LEGS
Book by John Caird
Music and Lyrics by Paul Gordon
Based on the novel by Jean Webster
World Premiere
Directed by John Caird
In the must-see event of the year, the composer of TheatreWorks' triumphant hit Emma joins the Tony Award-winning director of blockbuster Les Misérables to create a glorious new musical romance. Set in turn-of-the-century New England, it is the story of Jerusha Abbott, a talented orphan sent to a prestigious college by an anonymous benefactor she whimsically dubs "Daddy Long Legs." Revealed through witty, wistful letters, her journey to self-sufficiency, education, and romance chronicles the emergence of a delightfully independent American woman. Co-World Premiere with Rubicon Theatre Company

Jan 20 -Feb 14, 2010 (press opening Jan 23)
Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts

A Comic Confección
SUNSETS AND MARGARITAS
By José Cruz González
West Coast Premiere
Papa Candelario is losing his grip! Once a neighborhood hotspot, his Mexican restaurant has lost some fire, and his overly-assimilated family is spinning out of control. What's a man to do when his son has visions of the Virgin, his sassy granddaughter is dating a girlfriend, and his cherished Cadillac just crashed through the kitchen wall? This colorful new comedy is a tasty combinados with a heart of pure gold. The show will receive its world premiere in April 2009 at the Denver Center Theatre Company, which commissioned the work.
Mar 10-Apr 4, 2010 (press opening Mar 13)

Lucie Stern Theatre

A Stunning American Drama
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
Dramatized by Christopher Sergel
From the novel by Harper Lee
Timeless, compassionate, unforgettable, this Pulitzer Prize-winning classic resonates across the decades, inevitably finding its place in the human heart. Seen through the enquiring eyes of Scout, a young tomboy learning the hard truths of prejudice and privilege in Depression-era Alabama, this endlessly engaging tale of heartache and joy, innocence and integrity, finds the search for family, justice, and common ground the defining test of the American character.

"It can still move you...an emotional gut-punch." -Seattle Times
Apr 7-May 2, 2010 (press opening April 10)
Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts

A Play with Strings Attached
OPUS
By Michael Hollinger
Regional Premiere
An internationally famous string quartet finds both harmony and dissonance in this smart, funny, and compelling study of artistic passion. Forced to find a new member just days before an appearance at the White House, they are caught in a crescendo of talent and personality, their collaboration tested and their art insecure. A behind-the-scenes look at the world of great music, this intriguing "dramedy" proves that making art and living life have many a measure in common. The play premiered in Philadelphia in January 2006, where it earned rave reviews.

"Drama, humor, and music in perfect harmony." -Miami Herald
June 2-27, 2010 (press opening June 5)

Mountain View Center

Since its founding in 1970, TheatreWorks has become one of the nation's leaders in cultivating and producing new musicals, developing and premiering more than 50 works by new artists as well as veterans. The company's New Works Festival and Writers Retreat programs attract authors and composers of national stature (Paul Gordon, Marsha Norman, Henry Krieger, Stephen Schwartz, Duncan Sheik, Joe DiPietro, and Andrew Lippa, among many others), providing a solid place for America's musical theatre artists to create new works. In addition, the company has developed scores of works which have gone on to both regional and Off-Broadway productions.

TheatreWorks is an Equity/LORT theatre, producing eight shows annually, playing to more than 100,000 patrons a year. TheatreWorks continues its dedication to the Bay Area community with increased audience services and subscriber benefits, the "How TheatreWorks" series, Wednesday discussion nights, and opening night celebrations in which the community is invited to mingle with cast and crew. In addition, TheatreWorks offers many public services such as the costume rental program and education outreach program TheWorkshop, which reaches some 12,000 students annually with in-class workshops, underwritten matinees, the lauded Bridges Project, and the Young Playwright's Initiative.

For more information or to purchase subscriptions ($115-$410), the public can call 650-463-1960. Subscriptions are on sale now; single tickets will be on-sale beginning June 1. Subscriptions are also available online at theatreworks.org.

FOR CALENDAR EDITORS:

WHAT: TheatreWorks announces the line-up for 2009-10 season that includes the World Premiere musical DADDY LONG LEGS, by Paul Gordon, the composer of last year's triumphant hit EMMA, in collaboration with John Caird (Tony Award winning director of Les Miserables) who will also direct; the West Coast premiere of Pulitzer Prize winner Paula Vogel's A CIVIL WAR CHRISTMAS; regional premieres of David Henry Hwang's ferociously funny look at the mixed-up melting pot of modern America, YELLOW FACE, and a behind-the-scenes look at the world of great music, OPUS; plus two revived gems: the stunning American drama TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, and Chaim Potok's tale of two Jewish teenagers in 1941 Brooklyn, THE CHOSEN. The season will launch with an extended New Works Festival, in which Festival Pass holders will be able to witness works-in-progress by the nation's leading playwrights, participate in discussions, and attend workshops, book-in-hand readings, and sing-throughs. The highlight of the New Works Festival will be a vibrant World Premiere musical, TINYARD HILL. Five productions will be mounted at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts and three will be staged at the Lucie Stern Theatre in Palo Alto.

SCHEDULE:

Tinyard Hill

Music by Mark Allen, Lyrics and Book by Thomas H. Newman

July 15 - August 9 (press opening July 18)

Lucie Stern Theatre

Yellow Face
By David Henry Hwang
Aug 26-Sept 20, 2009 (press opening Aug 29)
Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts

The Chosen
By Aaron Posner and Chaim Potok
Based on the novel by Chaim Potok
Oct 7-Nov 1, 2009 (press opening Oct 10)
Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts

A Civil War Christmas:
An American Musical Celebration
By Paula Vogel
Dec 2-27, 2009 (press opening Dec 5)

Lucie Stern Theatre

 

Daddy Long Legs
Book by John Caird
Music and Lyrics by Paul Gordon, Based on the novel by Jean Webster
Directed by John Caird
Co-World Premiere with Rubicon Theatre Company.

Jan 20 -Feb 14, 2010 (press opening Jan 23)
Mountain View Center

Sunsets and Margaritas
By José Cruz González
Mar 10-Apr 4, 2010 (press opening Mar 13)

Lucie Stern Theatre

To Kill a Mockingbird
Dramatized by Christopher Sergel
From the novel by Harper Lee
Apr 7-May 2, 2010 (press opening April 10)

Mountain View Center

Opus
By Michael Hollinger
June 2-27, 2010 (press opening June 5)

Mountain View Center

PERFORMANCES: All previews at 8pm; regular performances: Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 7:30pm, Thursdays through Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays at 2pm and 7pm
WHERE: TheatreWorks at Lucie Stern Theatre, 1305 Middlefield Rd, Palo Alto

TheatreWorks at Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500
Castro St., Mountain View

TICKETS: For information or subscriptions ($115-$413), the public can call

650-463-1960, or visit theatreworks.org.

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