Arizona Theatre Company Completes 2019/20 Schedule With THE ROYALE And WOMEN IN JEOPARDY

Arizona Theatre Company (Sean Daniels, Artistic Director; Billy Russo, Managing Director) has announced that the final two plays for the 2019/20 season are Marco Ramirez' riveting The Royale, inspired by the real-life experiences of Jack Johnson, the first African-American heavyweight world champion, and Wendy MacLeod's riotous comedy, Women in Jeopardy!

Daniels, who will assume full-time responsibilities as new artistic director in May, also will direct Women in Jeopardy! The show premiered under his direction at the Geva Theatre in Rochester, N.Y. and also was produced at Merrimack Repertory Theatre where Daniels served as artistic director before being named to his new role in Arizona.

The Royale will be on stage at the Temple of Music & Art in Tucson from Sept. 7-28 and at the Herberger Theater Center in Phoenix from Oct. 3-20. Women in Jeopardy! will be in Tucson from April 18 to May 9 and in Phoenix from May 14-31.

"What an absolute joy to introduce Arizona to two of the most exciting voices in the American Theatre today," Daniels said. "Both of these playwrights will be coming to Arizona to be a part of our community. It's the beginning of how, in addition to the fantastic artists we have here, more and more of the best in our business will start to call Arizona their artistic home."

Russo added that "these two productions complete a full and exciting season that continues Arizona Theatre Company's mission of producing plays and musicals that illustrate the gloriously wide-ranging ways that stories can be told in the theatre. It is an essential value to what we strive to bring to the citizens of our great state."

Ramirez, who is currently creating The Twilight Zone with Jordan Peele and headed up Daredevil for Netflix, "creates an amazing world as he takes us back to 1910 to see what transpired when 'the fight of the century' happened - but more importantly, what happens when a brother and a sister come to terms about how they can best help each other in a tough world. It's a truly theatrical experience, and one that you don't need to be a sport fan to get wrapped up in the story of Jay 'The Sport' Jackson and his sister."

The New York Times described The Royale as "absorbing drama about a black prizefighter in the early 20th century. That this production never deploys real physical blows in recreating life in the ring is by no means to say that it doesn't pack a punch."

In Women in Jeopardy!, middle-aged mom Liz has a new man. And, let's face it, he's just plain creepy. When a mysterious disappearance sets the community on edge, Liz's best friends leap to the rescue as the zany caper flings them from the 'burbs to the wilds of Utah. It's a riotous comedy about trading in wine glasses for spy glasses when the mid-life crisis just isn't your speed.

Wendy MacLeod's play The House of Yes was turned into a movie with Parker Posey, and her comedies are produced widely across the country.

The Boston Globe wrote that "the laughs in Wendy MacLeod's play, come fast and furious...It's all good, silly fun, directed with precise comic timing by the seasoned Sean Daniels...a new work that's modern, lively, and loads of fun."

Previously announced shows for the 2019/20 season include Lauren Gunderson's Silent Sky; the powerful musical love story Cabaret; Athol Fugard's story of South Africa in the early years of apartheid, Master Harold...and The Boys; and The Legend of Georgia McBride, an hilarious and heartwarming story of Casey, a broke Elvis impersonator with a baby on the way, a co-production with Milwaukee Repertory Theater.

Renewing subscribers may call the box office in Tucson at (520) 622-2823 or in Phoenix at (602) 256-6995. Single tickets will go on sale on Aug. 5.New subscriptions packages for the 2019/2020 season will be available for sale to the general public starting April 19.

Arizona Theatre Company also announces that the intensive five-week Summer On Stage (SOS) back-stage/on-stage training program will culminate this year with the student-driven productions of Qui Nguyen's She Kills Monsters, directed by Israel Jiménez, and Roald Dahl's Matilda The Musical, book by Dennis Kelly, music and lyrics by Tim Minchin and directed by Jasmine Roth.

For more information, visit www.arizonatheatre.org.

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