BALLS, THE ORIGINALIST and More Highlight 59E59 Theaters' 2018 Subscription Season

59E59 Theaters will re-launch their Theater A subscription series for 2018. The 5-play series is available for $245. For the first time, 59E59 is offering a two-play "Brits Off Broadway Bonus," which allows subscribers to secure seats to the Brits Off Broadway offerings in Theater A for an additional $98.

Subscribers are given a complimentary membership to 59E59 Theaters (a $59.59) value, which they can use for low member pricing on shows in Theaters B & C as well as additional perks like restaurant and parking discounts and 30% off drinks at 59E59 Theaters' famous E:Bar.

Subscription renewals begin on Wednesday, November 8 at Noon. Current subscribers can call the 59E59 Box Office at 646-892-7999 to renew their subscriptions. Sales open to 59E59 Members who are new subscribers on Tuesday, November 28 at Noon. Sales open to the general public on Tuesday, December 5 at Noon. Subscriptions are available for purchase by calling Ticket Central at 212-279-4200 or visiting www.59e59.org.

59E59 Theater's subscription series, which features seven exciting NYC premieres, launches with BALLS, written by Kevin Armento and Tony Award-nominee Bryony Lavery. This athletic production from One Year Lease (producers of Armento's Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally and Lavery's Stockholm, both at 59E59) and Stages Repertory Theatre transforms Theater A into a tennis court where the infamous "Battle of the Sexes" tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs plays out in real time.

Following BALLS, the Canadian-based 2B Theatre Company returns to NY with the US premiere with OLD STOCK: A REFUGEE LOVE STORY, the true story of two Jewish-Romanian refugees, featuring Klezmer-folk sensation Ben Caplan.

For the two-show Brits Off Broadway Bonus: Alan Ayckbourn returns with the brand new comedy (his 81st play!), A BRIEF HISTORY OF WOMEN, which had its world premiere at Ayckbourn's home theater, the Stephen Joseph in Scarborough. The critically acclaimed THE SECRET LIFE OF HUMANS, inspired by Yuval Harari's international bestseller, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, comes from London's acclaimed New Diorama Theatre.

59E59 welcomes DC's top theater company Arena Stage with John Strand's political scorcher THE ORIGINALIST, a play that sold out twice at their home theater in Washington.

Audience favorite Hershey Felder returns, this time inhabiting the life and music of Irving Berlin in Hershey Felder AS Irving Berlin. Prospect Theater Company rounds out the season with a new musical to be announced.

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59E59 Theaters' 2018 Subscription Season:

January 16 - February 25
BALLS written by Kevin Armento and Bryony Lavery, directed by Ianthe Demos and Nick Flint
With Danny Bernardy, Donald Corren, Alex Gould, Danté Jeanfelix, Zakiya Markland, Olivia McGiff, Elisha Mudly, Cristina Pitter, Richard Saudek, and Ellen Tamaki
Produced by One Year Lease Theater Company and Stages Repertory Theatre

It's 1973, and Houston's Astrodome is playing host to one of the biggest cultural events of all time as Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs face-off in The Battle of the Sexes tennis match. BALLS is a high-intensity theatrical re-telling of this unforgettable match and the cultural debates it ignited around sexism, women-in-sport, and equality. One Year Lease's signature high-energy physical style embraces the carnival atmosphere of the original event, and features a shot-by-shot imagining of the entire match.

March 8 - April 22
OLD STOCK: A REFUGEE LOVE STORY, created by Hannah Moscovitch, Ben Caplan, and
Christian Barry; written by Hannah Moscovitch; directed by Christian Barry
With Ben Caplan, Chris Weatherstone Chaim, Mary Fay Coady, Chaya, Graham Scott, and
Jamie Kronick
Produced by 2B Theatre Company

A dark folktale woven together with a high-energy concert, this genre-bending music-theatre hybrid starring Klezmer-folk sensation Ben Caplan is inspired by the true stories of two Jewish Romanian refugees who arrived in Canada in 1908. Called "irresistible" by The Scotsman, It's about how to love after being broken by the horrors of war. It's about refugees who get out before it's too late, and those who get out after it's too late. And it's about looking into the eyes of God.

May 1 - May 27 (Part of Brits Off Broadway)
A BRIEF HISTORY OF WOMEN written and directed by Alan Ayckbourn
With Russell Dixon, Anthony Eden, Frances Marshall, Laura Matthews, Laurence Pears, Louise Shuttleworth
Produced by the Stephen Joseph Theatre

A comedy in four parts about an unremarkable man and the remarkable women who lovedhim, left him, or lost him over 60 years; and of the equally remarkable old manor house that saw and heard it all happen.

June 5 - July 1 (Part of Brits Off Broadway!)
SECRET LIFE OF HUMANS written by David Byrne, directed by David Byrne & Kate Stanley
Produced by New Diorama Theatre in a co-production with Greenwich Theatre

In 1949, Dr. Jacob Bronowski installs a secret, alarmed room in his house. Fifty years later his grandson discovers his secrets, unearthing echoes from across six million years of human history, told from the perspective of a century in which every year is a revolutionary year. Inspired by Yuval Harari's international best-seller, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind. It was called "bold, beautiful and utterly absorbing" by The Stage. The Guardian said it "unfolds with thriller-like precision."

July 14 - August 19
THE ORIGINALIST written by John Strand, directed by Molly Smith
With Edward Gero and two additional actors to be announced
Produced by Arena Stage in collaboration with Middle Finger Production

Four-time Helen Hayes Award winner Edward Gero returns to his "lively performance" (Washington Post) as controversial Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. When a bright, liberal, Harvard Law School graduate embarks on a nerve-wracking clerkship with the conservative Justice, she discovers him to be both an infuriating sparring partner and an unexpected mentor. How will their relationship affect one of the most incendiary cases ever to reach the nation's highest court?

August 24 - October 28
Hershey Felder AS Irving Berlin written by Hershey Felder, directed by Trevor Hay
With Hershey Felder
Produced by The Town Hall in Association with Hershey Felder Presents

59E59 favorite Hershey Felder returns with his critically acclaimed salute to Irving Berlin. Jerome Kern famously said, "Irving Berlin has no place in American music-he is American music." George Gershwin called him "the greatest songwriter that has ever lived." From Tin Pan Alley to Broadway to The Silver Screen, and from the pop charts to the steps of the nation's capital, Berlin's music provided America with the soundtrack of a century. Hershey Felder AS Irving Berlin brings the man behind the iconic music to life in an evening reflecting his remarkable journey from child immigrant to America's most beloved and prolific songwriter featuring some of the composer's most popular and enduring songs including "Alexander's Ragtime Band," "Always," "Blue Skies," "God Bless America," "Puttin' on the Ritz," "There's No Business Like Show Business," and "White Christmas."

November - December
Prospect Theater Company returns with the NYC premiere of an original musical to be announced.

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