TOUCHTONES, A DOLL'S HOUSE and THE BLUEST EYE Set for Arden Theatre Company's 2017-18 Season
By: BWW News Desk Mar. 02, 2017
Arden Theatre Company announces the first three shows of their 2017/18 30th Anniversary Season and continues their mission to present great stories by great storytellers.
Producing Artistic Director Terrence J. Nolen says, "We are thrilled that our 30th Anniversary season includes some of our most treasured artists. We've premiered eight plays by Michael Hollinger throughout our history, and next season we will produce our first Michael Hollinger musical, TouchTones, which is written with composer Robert Maggio. TouchTones will be directed by Emmanuelle Delpech, who directed this season's acclaimed production of The Legend of Georgia McBride."
"Raelle Myrick-Hodges, a former Arden Professional Apprentice who also directed Two Trains Running for the Arden in 2015, comes back to direct Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye. Since our first season in 1988, adaptations of great literature have been a cornerstone of the Arden's artistic mission. This beautiful novel is adapted by Lydia Diamond, whose play Stick Fly was produced by the Arden in 2013."
"Finally, A Doll's House is a play that I've long wanted to direct. I will be co-conceiving this production with Designer Jorge Cousineau, one of our region's most brilliant theatre-makers. The cast will include Katharine Powell as Nora, Cody Nickell as Torvald, and Scott Greer as Dr. Rank."
Two additional Mainstage productions and two Arden Children's Theatre productions are yet to be announced.
2017/18 Season Shows Descriptions:
TO BE ANNOUNCED
9/21/17 - 10/22/17
F. Otto Haas Stage
TOUCHTONES - World Premiere!
Story by Michael Hollinger & Robert Maggio
Book & Lyrics by Michael Hollinger
Music by Robert Maggio
Directed by Emmanuelle Delpech
10/19/17 - 12/3/17
Arcadia Stage
It's 1999, the cusp of a new millennium, and technology promises fantasy, intimacy, and anonymity. "Welcome to TouchTones..." - a world of role-play, secret delights, and identities taken and mistaken. Directed by Emmanuelle Delpech, who staged this season's The Legend of Georgia McBride, TouchTones is a titillating new musical comedy about love, sex, and the voice at the other end of the line.
A DOLL'S HOUSE
By Henrik Ibsen
Directed by Terrence J. Nolen
1/11/18 - 2/25/18
Arcadia Stage
Nora and Torvald are living their dream life with the brightest of futures. And then a long-buried secret rises to the surface, and Nora must choose between outward perfection and inner truth. Still shockingly relevant, this revolutionary classic will be brought to life in the intimacy of the Arcadia Stage.
Toni Morrison's
THE BLUEST EYE
Adapted by Lydia R. Diamond
Directed by Raelle Myrick-Hodges
3/1/18 - 4/8/18
F. Otto Haas Stage
Pecola Breedlove, a young black girl growing up in the 1940's, wants nothing more than to be loved. Confronting turmoil at home, she prays for Shirley Temple's blue eyes, believing their beauty is the only thing standing between her and the happiness of the white girls at school. Based on Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison's first novel, this powerful adaptation explores the destructive power of racism and the strength of a community attempting to embrace an era of change.
TO BE ANNOUNCED
5/17/18 - 6/17/18
F. Otto Haas Stage
Three and Five-Show Mainstage Subscriptions are now on sale for the 2017/18 Season and range in price from $93 - $200. Call the Arden Box Office at 215.922.1122, order online at www.ardentheatre.org, or visit the box office at 40 N. 2nd Street in Old City, Philadelphia.
Founded in 1988, Arden Theatre Company is dedicated to bringing to life great stories by great storytellers-on the stage, in the classroom, and in the community. Five productions are staged each season as part of the Mainstage series and two productions through Arden Children's Theatre, the city's first resident professional children's theatre program. New work is produced through the Independence Foundation New Play Showcase. The Arden's Education Department includes: Arden for All (AFA), a theatre access and education program for underserved young people; Arden Drama School, the after-school, Saturday, and summer camp classes for students in grades pre K-12; Teen Arden, an immersive after-school access program for Philadelphia-area based teenagers; and the Arden Professional Apprentice Program, a nationally renowned comprehensive theatre management training program. The Hamilton Family Arts Center is the new facility dedicated to education programs and new play development.
The Arden has received numerous honors including 65 awards and 334 nominations from the Barrymore Awards for Excellence in Theatre. The Arden is a winner of four "Theatre Company of the Year" designations (Philadelphia Inquirer), six Philadelphia Magazine "Best of Philly" awards and three "Best of Philly Kids" awards, the City Paper's Reader's Choice Award and the prestigious "Great Friend to Kids Award" from the Please Touch Museum for Arden Children's Theatre work. For accessibility efforts, the Arden was named a "Keystone of Accessibility" by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Arden Theatre Company is a professional, nonprofit 501(c)(3) theatre company and a member of the Theatre Communications Group, the League of Resident Theatres, Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau, and Old City Arts Association. The Arden also participates in The Barrymore Awards, a program of Theatre Philadelphia.
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