Cygnet Theatre Announces 15th Season Shows Ranging from Classic Comedy to World Premiere

Cygnet Theatre is proud to announce its 15th season of presenting entertaining, thought-provoking and inspiring theatre. The 2017/2018 season reflects how it felt to be fifteen years old when everything was exciting, new, emotional and hilarious...and of course, seemed to mean life or death.

At fifteen you just want to have fun, and that's how we start the season - with the laugh-out-loud musical comedy Animal Crackers, based on the original Marx Brothers movie and Broadway hit. Hijinks meet high society when Captain Spaulding and his cronies mix up with social climbers and stolen paintings. A hilarious book written for the Marx Brothers by George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind, this slapstick, madcap musical busts out with zany songs, quick changes and lavish dance numbers. Directed by Sean Murray, with costumes by Jennifer Brawn Giddings and a featuring a cast including Josh Odsess-Rubin and Bryan and Katie Banville, you can expect Groucho, Chico, Harpo, and Zeppo to kick off the season with comedic anarchy and improv that just might change nightly.

In the fall we embrace the dreams, struggles and innocence of adolescence with the 1971 Pulitzer-Prize winning drama The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds. Directed by Rob Lutfy, this intimate look into the lives of a dysfunctional family illustrates universal truths about the human struggle for acceptance and reveals how each person adapts and responds differently to life's harsh uncertainties. Written by Paul Zindel, a playwright and science teacher, the play is often called "Tennessee Williams-esque" for its moving look at a mother and her two daughters struggling in a home that is more like a madhouse. Audience members may recall the film directed by Paul Newman featuring JoAnne Woodward and the award-winning 1978 Broadway production featuring Carol Kane and Shelly Winters. Next up is The Legend of Georgia McBride, a show that celebrates finding your own voice and signing your own song. Written by Matthew Lopez (The Whipping Man), this highly entertaining crowd-pleaser recently wowed New York audiences at the Lucille Lortel Theatre. Full of sass and good spirit, the musical follows Casey who is young, broke, just found out his wife is going to have a baby, and has lost his gig as an Elvis impersonator. When his club brings in a drag act led by Miss Tracy Mills, Casey is given the opportunity to trade one sequined outfit for another. Featuring Cygnet favorite David McBean. A Cygnet tradition returns for the holidays with the family favorite A Christmas Carol. Cygnet Theatre invites you to start your own family tradition with one of ours. This season welcomes the return of the holiday classic adapted from Charles Dickens' timeless tale of hope and redemption. Featuring original music, creative stagecraft and puppetry, and live sound effects. Step into a Victorian Christmas card for a unique storytelling experience that is sure to delight the entire family!

The first play of 2018 is The Last Wife - a bold and contemporary return to Tudor England and the story of Henry the VIII's strong-minded wife, Katherine Parr, a feminist before her time. Brilliantly written by veteran Canadian actor and playwright Kate Henning, this is only the second US production. Henning's writing has been called, "mature and intellectual as well as witty and spicy," and in The Last Wife, she embraces a clever mix of fact and fiction. The modern staging and dress and the contemporary dialogue have the effect of clarifying and emphasizing the historical significance of Katherine's role in the Tudor realm.

The Last Wife premiered last year at the Stratford Festival in Ontario and addresses topics as relevant today as they were 500 years ago, such as relationships between women and power, female education, war and empire. Rob Lutfy directs this modern take on how the Royals might have really behaved in private.

In the spring, we revisit one of our favorite Stephen Sondheim musicals, A Little Night Music. Originally presented in 2008, Sean Murray will direct and act in this sophisticated, literate and stylish, romp through the country. Cygnet Theatre, with a record for embracing and producing Sondheim musicals, will present this audience favorite with a live orchestra. Featuring the hit song "Send in the Clowns" and starring Karole Foreman, Sandy Campbell, David Humphrey, and Sean Murray.

We close the season with the World Premiere of The Wind and the Breeze, which was first introduced to Cygnet audiences through the Bill and Judy Garrett Finish Line Commission. Written by New York playwright Nathan Alan Davis, the new work explores the politics of place, the unspoken expectations of friendship and what happens when we choose to stand our ground on shifting sands. Current Cygnet subscribers will be notified by mail regarding subscription renewals. New subscription sales will be available beginning March 1st. For more information regarding subscriptions packages please contact the box office at 619-337-1525 or visit www.cygnettheatre.com.

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