A BOY AND HIS SOUL Opens Vineyard Theater's 2009-10 Season, Previews In Sept.

The Tony Award-winning Vineyard Theatre (108 East 15th Street) will open its 2009-10 season with the New York premiere A BOY AND HIS SOUL, written and performed by Colman Domingo (PASSING STRANGE), set to begin previews in September. In early 2010, The Vineyard will present the world premiere of THE METAL CHILDREN, written and directed by Adam Rapp (RED LIGHT WINTER). In Spring 2010, The Vineyard and Playwrights Horizons are set to co-produce the premiere of THE BURNT PART BOYS, a new musical by Mariana Elder (book), Nathan Tysen (lyrics) and Chris Miller (music), directed by Erica Schmidt (HUMOR ABUSE). In announcing the season, Douglas Aibel, The Vineyard Theatre's Artistic Director, said the theatre will also continue its popular Lab Production series.

Following are details about The Vineyard's 2009-10 season:

A BOY AND HIS SOUL -- September, 2009

The Vineyard kicks off its 09-10 Season with the New York premiere of A BOY AND HIS SOUL, written and performed by Colman Domingo, best-known for his performance in the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical PASSING STRANGE. A BOY AND HIS SOUL is a moving and hilarious new play that explores the life-experiences of a young African-American man in 1980s Philadelphia, propelled by the beat of classic soul music.

In addition to his Obie Award-winning performance in PASSING STRANGE, Mr. Domingo recently appeared in the world premiere of Athol Fugard's COMING HOME at Long Wharf Theatre, and is a regular on LOGO-TV's "The Big Gay Sketch Show." As a director, he helmed the Off-Broadway premieres of Lisa Ramirez's EXIT CUCKOO and Lisa B. Thompson's SINGLE BLACK FEMALE.

Tony Kelly is set to direct; creative team is to be announced.

THE METAL CHILDREN -- Winter, 2010

Continuing The Vineyard's upcoming season is Adam Rapp's new play THE METAL CHILDREN, about censorship in rural America. Written and directed by Mr. Rapp, author of the long-running Off-Broadway play RED LIGHT WINTER, THE METAL CHILDREN follows the controversy created in a small town when a Young Adult novel about teenage pregnancy is banned, igniting heated emotions over abortion, religious beliefs and censorship.

Mr. Rapp's other plays include NOCTURNE, FINER NOBLE GASES, STONE COLD SERIOUS, BLACKBIRD, TRUBLINKA, AMERICAN SLIGO, and BINGO WITH THE INDIANS. He was a 2006 Pulitzer Prize finalist for RED LIGHT WINTER, which also received two Obie Awards. He is also the author of the Young Adult novel "The Buffalo Tree," which was censored by the Muhlenberg School Board in Reading, PA due to its themes, graphic language, and sexual content.

Cast and creative team are to be announced.

THE BURNT PART BOYS -- Spring, 2010
a co-production with Playwrights Horizons at Playwrights Horizons

THE BURNT PART BOYS -- a new musical by Mariana Elder (book), Nathan Tysen (lyrics) and Chris Miller (music), directed by Erica Schmidt (HUMOR ABUSE) -- will be presented as a co-production by Playwrights Horizons and the Vineyard Theatre at Playwrights Horizons.

Following a developmental Lab Production, at The Vineyard from May 26 to June 6, 2009, THE BURNT PART BOYS will be presented this summer at New York Stage and Film at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, and will then receive its New York City premiere in spring of 2010.

The unique developmental track of THE BURNT PART BOYS -- which involves the collaboration of two New York City theatre companies, Vineyard Theatre and Playwrights Horizons, and one regional theatre, New York Stage and Film Company -- comes in part under the aegis of a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to Playwrights Horizons for the development of new musicals in partnership with a regional theatre, wholly within the non-profit system from start to finish. The 2010 debut of THE BURNT PART BOYS marks the first time that the two award-winning theaters, Playwrights Horizons and Vineyard Theatre, have co-produced together.

THE BURNT PART BOYS is set in West Virginia in 1962.The musical follows a group of teenagers whose fathers were killed ten years earlier in a tragic coal mining accident. When they learn that the mine will be reopened, they set out secretly in the hopes of seeing the site, and keeping it closed. A deeply moving and powerful odyssey, THE BURNT PART BOYS is an unforgettable coming-of-age tale, set to a haunting and distinctive bluegrass and pop inspired score.

Composer Chris Miller and Lyricist Nathan Tysen were the 2008 winners of The Vineyard's Kitty Carlisle Hart Musical Theatre Award, as well as the Jonathan Larson Award and the Richard Rodgers Award. Their collaborations include FUGITIVE SONGS and THE MYSTERIES OF HARRIS BURDICK.

Next season, The Vineyard continues its Developmental Lab Series, a popular presentation of small-scale work-in-progress productions -- not open for review by critics. Currently in development for the 2010 Lab Series: THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS, a new musical -- about the famous 1930s Scottsboro Case in which a group of innocent African American teenagers are unjustly accused of a heinous crime -- with music and lyrics by John Kander and Fred Ebb (CABARET, CHICAGO), book by David Thompson, directed and choreographed by Susan Stroman. Also, THE TYPOGRAPHER'S DREAM, a play by Adam Bock (THE RECEPTIONIST and THE THUGS) that follows three lonely, intertwined souls navigating the existential boundaries of their jobs, selves and one another, under the direction of Anne Kauffman (GOD'S EAR).

Vineyard Theatre is embarking on a new collaboration with famed St. Ann's Warehouse in Brooklyn; members will also be offered a "bonus" show (details are to be announced).

Vineyard Theatre is a non-profit Off-Broadway theatre company dedicated to new work, bold programming and arts education. One of America's preeminent centers for the creation of new plays and musicals, such as the Pulitzer Prize-winning plays THREE TALL WOMEN by Edward Albee and HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE by Paula Vogel and the Tony Award-winning musical AVENUE Q, The Vineyard has consistently premiered provocative, groundbreaking works and developed innovative educational collaborations. The company opened its 08-09 season with Tarell Alvin McCraney's GLAAD Media Award-winning play WIG OUT!, followed by The Civilians' THIS BEAUTIFUL CITY, which recently received a Lucille Lortel Awards nomination for Outstanding Musical.

Douglas Aibel is the Artistic Director of Vineyard Theatre; Jennifer Garvey-Blackwell is Executive Director.

For information about Vineyard Theatre, call 212-353-0303 or visit www.vineyardtheatre.org

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