Musical on Toklas & Stein Among '07/8 Urban Stages Shows

Urban Stages has announced the schedule for their upcoming season, which will include two world premieres and one New York premiere at their space on 259 West 30th Street between 7th and 8th Avenues.

"This season, their 24th, finds Urban Stages focusing on literature and great historical figures who had a profound effect on their times.  With works featuring legends such as Lawrence of Arabia, Gertrude Stein and even the proverbial Blue Bird of Happiness, the three plays run the gamut from seriocomic historical drama (The Oxford Roof Climber's Rebellion), to musical theater (27 rue de Fleurus), to entertainment for the entire family (The Blue Bird).  For the first time in the company's history, theater fans will be able to purchase a Patron's Pass for $120, which will give them 2 tickets to each show, a 50% discount off the full price of $40.  Patron Pass members will also have access to special events and priority seating," state press materials.

The season is as follows:

The Oxford Roof Climber's Rebellion by Stephen Massicotte
October 12th – November 18th
"The Oxford Roof Climber's Rebellion is a fictionalized tale of a true event – the meeting of poet Robert Graves and T.E. Lawrence, also known as Lawrence of Arabia, at Oxford University after the First World War. Lawrence has recently been cast out of the Paris Peace talks of 1919, and Graves has barely survived the trenches of the Somme. Now that these two great men have survived the war, neither one of them can sleep, nor can they write or share their incredible experiences with anyone.  As an act of rebellion against shell shock the two resolve to return to the frivolous days of undergraduate rebellion before the events of the Great War, enacting playful pranks in an attempt to express their feelings about what they have witnessed. As their movement gains momentum, Lawrence's nemesis, Lord Curzon, sees in their humorous protests the seeds of deeper sedition and aims to undo the Rebellion before it has possible tragic ramifications."

Stephen Massicotte's award winning plays include A Farewell to Kings, Pervert, The Emperor of Atlantis and the popular "Star Wars" inspired Boy's Own Jedi Handbook. The Oxford Roof Climber's Rebellion recently received the 2007 Canadian Author's Association award for Best English-Language Play For Adults.

The Blue Bird, by Stanton Wood, adapted from the play by Maurice Maeterlinck
December 11th – January 13th
"In The Blue Bird, Stanton Wood (The Snow Queen, The Magical Forest of Baba Yaga) adapts Maurice Maeterlinck's early 20th Century play for Urban Stages. This multimedia musical spectacular is about a materialistic Staten Island girl who goes on a fantastical journey with some magical household companions to find the fabled 'blue bird of happiness.'

Wood is currently the Playwright-in-Residence at Offworld Theatre Company, and has received developmental support from Manhattan Class Company, Primary Stages, New York Theatre Workshop, City Theatre in Pittsburgh, and the Carnegie Mellon Showcase of New Plays. This is the third year in a row that Stanton has written Urban Stages' annual Holiday Show, which has become a New York City tradition enjoyed by thousands of families. Colm Clark, who collaborated with Wood on The Magical Forest of Baba Yaga, will compose original music for the play. Urban Stages is the recipient of a special grant from TCG to collaborate with international avant-garde designer Andrei Bartenev on the sets and costumes for this production."

27 rue de Fleurus, written by Ted Sod, music and lyrics by Lisa Koch
February 28th – April 6th
"27 rue de Fleurus is a new musical derived from the imagination of Alice B. Toklas.  Alice tries to set the record straight about being Gertrude Stein's 'wife' for nearly 40 years.  Gertrude grows tired of Alice's lack of panache for telling her perspective of their story and attempts to hijack the play as only the author of such lines as "sugar is not a vegetable" can.  But Alice has secrets to share with the audience that silence the famously verbose Gertrude.  This celebrated couple confronts each other about love, marriage, jealousy, genius and a few other delicious topics while Pablo Picasso, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Mabel Dodge, Sylvia Beach and even Jean Harlow drop by for a visit. "

Ted Sod's work has been primarily produced in Seattle, including Stealing (O'Neill Theatre Center Music Theatre Conference; Seattle Group Theatre), The Kiss, and Not Sunset Boulevard (Alice B. Theatre). He has directed many plays and readings, played villains on all three Law and Orders; is dramaturge for the education department at The Roundabout Theatre Company and teaches directing at Brooklyn College.  Lisa Koch is an irreverent singer, songwriter and performer whose work blends comedy, theater, and music with dysfunctional characters. She produces, writes, and performs all over the country and is based in Seattle.

"Founded by Artistic Director Frances Hill in 1983, Urban Stages' mission is to discover and develop new plays by authors of diverse cultural backgrounds.  Their most recent productions were the critically acclaimed Apostasy by Gino DiIorio, and Bulrusher by Eisa Davis, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Urban Stages has had two highly acclaimed commercial transfers, Minor Demons and Men on the Verge of a His-Panic Breakdown, which won an Outer Critic's Circle Award. Urban Stages' production of The Sweepers transferred to Capital Rep in Albany where it broke box office records."

Ticket information for Urban Stages' 2007-2008 season will be available on the company's web site at www.urbanstages.org.

 

To post a comment, you must register and login.