Exclusive: 2019-2020 SEASON ANNOUNCEMENT at Lyric Arts

I'm beyond thrilled to share with you all this Broadway World exclusive announcement of Lyric Arts' 2019-2020 season! Lyric Arts will forever have a special place in my heart for a multitude of reasons. It was the theater I grew up with going to when I was young, I had my first real internship there and then eventually worked there full time after college. They have made tremendous strides in the last couple of years from beginning to pay their actors, crafting beautifully compelling stories and really pushing the boundaries on their season choices.

"This is a season that is full of heart. My biggest goal in programming this season was selecting shows with interesting stories and memorable characters that will entertain and engage our audiences while also inspiring authentic emotion-whether it be joy or sadness or simple delight" said Artistic & Executive Director Laura Tahja Johnson who recently celebrated her 15th year with Lyric Arts.

Season subscriptions for this season will go on sale April 29, 2019 as well as single tickets to go on sale May 20, 2019. For more information on these shows, you can visit their 2019-2020 season page. Be sure to follow their social media badges including their Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for audition updates!

Bright Star

Playing Sept. 6 through Sept. 29, 2019
Directed by Scott Ford
Music, Book, and Story by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell
Inspired by a real event, "Bright Star" tells a sweeping tale of love and redemption set against the rich backdrop of the American South in the 1920s and '40s. When literary editor Alice Murphy meets a young soldier just home from World War II, he awakens her longing for the child she once lost. Haunted by their unique connection, Alice sets out on a journey to understand her past - and what she finds has the power to transform both of their lives.

Proof

Playing Oct. 18 through Nov. 3, 2019
Directed by Matt McNabb
By David Auburn
"Proof" focuses on Catherine, an enigmatic young woman grieving the recent loss of her father, a brilliant mathematician who suffered from dementia. Just as Catherine begins to fear she might suffer from the same condition, her manipulative older sister, Claire, returns home. In addition, Hal, one of her father's former students, arrives in the hope of making a mathematical discovery among the notebooks her father left behind. What Hal discovers brings to light a buried family secret which leaves Catherine wondering how much of her father's genius-or madness-she might inherit.

A 1940s Radio Christmas Carol

Playing Nov. 22 through Dec. 22, 2019
Directed by Sean Byrd
by Walton Jones, David Wohl, Faye Greenberg
It's Christmas Eve, 1943, and the Feddington Players are preparing for a live radio broadcast of their own version of Dickens' "A Christmas Carol". Playing Scrooge is William St. Clair, a veteran actor with no radio experience. Complicated by noisy plumbing, missed cues, electrical blackouts, and the over-the-top theatrics of their special guest, the broadcast takes a hilarious turn when the performers are forced to improvise a hysterically unusual ending in order to "save the show."

Bloomsday

Playing Jan. 10 through Jan. 26, 2020
Directed by Elena Giannetti
by Steven Dietz
Robert returns to Dublin to reunite with Cait, the woman who captured his heart during a James Joyce literary tour thirty-five years ago. Dancing backwards through time, the older couple retrace their steps to discover their younger selves. Through young Robbie and Caithleen, they relive the unlikely, inevitable events which brought them-only briefly-together. This Irish-centric love story blends wit, humor, and heartache into a buoyant, moving appeal for making the most of the present before it is past.

Flora & Ulysses

Playing Feb. 14 through Feb. 23, 2020
Directed by TBD
By John Glore
Based on the Novel by Kate DiCamillo
Can a little squirrel change the human heart? After a near-death experience with a vacuum cleaner, a squirrel is rescued by Flora Belle Buckman, a 10-year-old self-proclaimed cynic. She names him Ulysses and soon discovers he has been reborn a superhero, with powers of strength, flight, and the ability to type poetry on Flora's mother's typewriter! Together, they embark on an unpredictable adventure, which has the power to awaken the possibility of hope--even for someone as cynical as Flora.

The Mystery of Edwin Drood

Playing March 13 through April 5, 2020
Directed by Matt McNabb
Book, Music, and Lyrics by Rupert Holmes
Join the colorful characters of the London's Music Hall Royale-a delightfully loony Victorian theater troupe-as they present "The Mystery of Edwin Drood," based on Charles Dickens' final, unfinished novel. The story centers on the young and charming Edwin Drood, who has been mysteriously murdered-but, by whom? His leering romantic rival? Mysterious twins newly arrived from Ceylon? Or, someone else more dastardly and villainous?

Unfortunately, Dickens passed away before revealing the culprit. So, in order to solve the mystery, the killer must be chosen by audience vote, revealing a different ending each night.

The Other Place

Playing April 24 through May 10, 2020
Directed by Anne Byrd
By Sharr White
Juliana Smithton is a successful biophysicist and supremely put-together professional woman whose life seems to be coming unhinged, just as her research is leading to a potential breakthrough. Her husband has filed for divorce, her estranged daughter has eloped with a much older man, and her own health is in jeopardy.

But, in this brilliantly crafted work, nothing is as it seems. Piece by piece, a mystery unfolds as fact blurs with fiction, past collides with present, and the elusive truth about Juliana boils to the surface in a haunting drama about what happens when one woman's life takes a disorienting turn.

The Foreigner

Playing May 29 through June 21, 2020
Directed by Scott Ford
By Larry Shue
While on a much-needed getaway at a fishing lodge in rural Georgia, Charlie Baker-a pathologically shy Englishman overcome with fear at the thought of making conversation with strangers-passes himself off as a foreigner from an exotic country who doesn't speak English.

Thinking Charlie doesn't understand what is being said, the lodge's guests each begin revealing their deepest, darkest secrets. Eventually he overhears much more than he should and discovers a sinister plan that must be stopped, leading to a wildly funny and surprising ending in which things go uproariously awry for the "bad guys" and the "good guys" emerge triumphant.

How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying

Playing July 10 through August 8, 2020
Directed by Ben Thietje
Music and lyrics by Frank Loesser
Book by Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock, Willie Gilbert

When a restless, creative, and ambitious window washer named J. Pierrepont Finch happens upon a book entitled "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying," he decides to begin his own rise up the corporate ladder. With the book's instructions and a dose of his own cleverness, Finch starts by landing a job in the mailroom at the World Wide Wicket Company. Along the way, he encounters aggressively compliant "company men," backstabbing coworkers, caffeine addiction, office politics, and-of course-true love.

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