ANGELS IN AMERICA, SKELETON CREW, 42nd Humana Festival Highlight Actors Theatre of Louisville's 2017-18 Season

Today, in the midst of preparations for the nation's most influential festivals of new work, the Humana Festival of New American Plays, Artistic Director Les Waters and Managing Director Kevin E. Moore announce Actors Theatre of Louisville's 2017 - 2018 Season.

The lineup features an entertaining and captivating assemblage of stories, including an epic two-part Tony Award-winning drama, a delightfully wacky comedy spun from a classic children's song, a moving portrait of a community of workers in a Detroit auto plant, the revival of a hilarious Christmas romp and the return of the two most popular and beloved holiday shows in the region.

"I am very proud that we bring American theatre's most compelling voices to Louisville," says Les Waters. "Our 2017-2018 Season affirms Actors Theatre's commitment to sharing stories that not only entertain, but also encourage us to explore and redefine the world we live in now. These extraordinary plays offer our diverse audience of theatregoers moments of insight, beauty, humor, and imagination."

Kevin E. Moore adds, "This is one of our most ambitious seasons yet, and one that should be experienced by all the communities Actors Theatre serves. Through our commitment to accessible performances, enrichment and educational programming, and highly flexible season packages and ticket options, we open our doors wide to ensure that everyone in Kentucky, Southern Indiana, and beyond can have access to the best theatre in the region."

Actors Theatre kicks off the Brown-Forman Series with Tony Kushner's two-part theatrical masterpiece, Angels in America. Both plays will be directed by Actors Theatre's Associate Artistic Director, Meredith McDonough. Part One: Millennium Approaches and Part Two: Perestroika will run in rotating repertory from August 29-October 15, 2017. These celebrated plays, considered a landmark achievement in American playwriting, take place in the early days of the AIDS epidemic. Following a band of characters and their intersecting personal, political, and spiritual crises, Kushner examines how the forces of history impact individual lives during a time of intense social change.

Actors Theatre will present Anne Washburn's Little Bunny Foo Foo from January 9 - February 4, 2018. Directed by Actors Theatre Artistic Director Les Waters, this playful reimagining of the classic children's song, with original music by Dave Malloy (currently represented on Broadway with the hit musical Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812), is goofy fun for anyone who is still (or has ever been) a kid.

A powerful and timely production of Skeleton Crew by Dominique Morisseau will take the stage January 24-February 11, 2018. This beautifully written drama traces the shifting bonds and power dynamics within a makeshift family of workers in the heart of Detroit's struggling auto industry during the 2008 recession.

A special production, yet to be announced, will take the stage in November, 2017, rounding out Actors Theatre's Brown-Forman Series.

Actors Theatre will once again celebrate the holidays with Louisville's favorite family traditions: Fifth Third Bank's Dracula, adapted by WilLiam McNulty, September 6-November 2, 2017, and Fifth Third Bank's A Christmas Carol, adapted by Barbara Fields, November 21-December 23, 2017. Added to the holiday offerings this year, Joe Mantello's adaptation of David Sedaris's hilarious and irreverent Christmas adventure, The Santaland Diaries, directed by our Associate Artistic Director Meredith McDonough, will be produced in the Victor Jory Theatre December 1 -December 23, 2017.

The 2017-2018 Season will culminate with the 42nd Humana Festival of New American Plays, February 28 - April 8, 2018. The Festival is the country's leading opportunity to see groundbreaking, brand-new work by American theatre's most talented writers. The Festival is underwritten by the Humana Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Humana, Inc. The 42nd Humana Festival lineup will be announced in November, 2017.

2017-2018 Season Ticket Packages are on sale now, with 7-Play Brown-Forman Series Season Ticket Packages starting at just $140. Brown-Forman Season Ticket Holders receive a host of benefits, including pre-sale access to all tickets prior to the general public, flexible ticket exchanges, bridge toll reimbursement for Southern Indiana residents, parking discounts and invitations to special behind-the-scenes events. Discounted packages are also available for seniors, students, educators and individuals 35 years of age and under. Single tickets for Fifth Third Bank's Dracula and A Christmas Carol as well as The Santaland Diaries will go on sale on Tuesday, May 9 in conjunction with Louisville's Hometown Tourist Celebration, and the entire 2017-2018 Season will go on sale on June 15, 2017. Actors Theatre's Box Office is located at 316 West Main Street, Louisville, KY, 40202, and can be reached by calling 502.584.1205.

Actors Theatre is committed to making the theatergoing experience accessible to everyone, and offers open caption and audio-described performances throughout the season. Large print programs and assistive listening devices are also available at every performance. For a full performance schedule and more information about Actors Theatre's access services, visit actorstheatre.org/your-visit/seat-charts-and-accessibility.

Now in its 53rd Season, Actors Theatre of Louisville, the State Theatre of Kentucky, is the flagship arts organization in the Louisville community. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Les Waters and Managing Director Kevin E. Moore, Actors Theatre serves to unlock human potential, build community, and enrich quality of life by engaging people in theatre that reflects the wonder and complexity of our time.

Actors Theatre presents almost 350 performances annually and delivers a broad range of programming, including classics and contemporary work through the Brown-Forman Series, holiday plays, a series of free theatrical events produced by the Professional Training Company, and the Humana Festival of New American Plays-the premier new play festival in the nation, which has introduced 450 plays into the American theatre repertoire over the past 40 years. In addition, Actors Theatre provides more than 15,000 arts experiences each year to students across the region through its Education Department, and boasts one of the nation's most prestigious continuing pre-professional resident training companies, now in its 45th year.

Over the past half-century, Actors Theatre has also emerged as one of America's most consistently innovative professional theatre companies, with an annual attendance of 140,000. Actors Theatre has been the recipient of some of the most prestigious awards bestowed on a regional theatre, including a Tony Award for Distinguished Achievement, the James N. Vaughan Memorial Award for Exceptional Achievement and Contribution to the Development of Professional Theatre, and the Margo Jones Award for the Encouragement of New Plays. Actors Theatre has toured to 29 cities and 15 countries worldwide, totaling more than 1,400 appearances internationally. Currently, there are more than 50 published books of plays and criticism from Actors Theatre in circulation-including anthologies of Humana Festival plays, volumes of ten-minute plays and monologues, and essays, scripts and lectures from the Brown-Forman Classics in Context Festival. Numerous plays first produced at Actors Theatre have also been published as individual acting editions, and have been printed in many other anthologies, magazines and journals-making an enduring contribution to American dramatic literature.

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