The Old Globe to Celebrate Its 80th Anniversary at Balboa Park Centennial Celebration

The Old Globe will celebrate its 80th Anniversary as part of the Balboa Park Centennial Celebration with a full roster of great plays in its regular season and a Summer Season featuring Shakespeare on stage and in film, along with our popular ongoing programs. Programming for the entire year of the Globe's 80th Anniversary and the Centennial was carefully chosen to bring the party to the people year-round! San Diegans and tourists alike are invited to join us for amazing productions that are part of our Globe 2014-2015 Season and 2015 Summer Season, several outreach programs, education offerings -- and what would an anniversary be without the Globe Guilders 25th Annual Celebrating Couture Fashion Show and our Annual Gala?

The 2014-2015 Season began September 13 with the World Premiere of Bright Star, a new American musical with music by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell, followed by Marco Ramirez's wildly theatrical new play The Royale and our 17th annual production of Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! But that was only the beginning of our celebration...

We moved into our 81st year with Globe veteran Scott Schwartz returning January 24 to direct Kellen Blair and Joe Kinosian's Off Broadway hit, Murder for Two, a vaudevillian mystery musical with an energetic two-man cast. With The Twenty-seventh Man, Globe Artistic Director Barry Edelstein returns to the play he premiered in New York by award-winning novelist Nathan Englander and reimagines it for the Globe's intimate in-the-round space, bringing us larger-than-life personalities and an unforgettable reminder of the transcendent power of storytelling. It makes its West Coast Premiere February 14. Learn more about the production and Edelstein's experiences working on this amazing piece of theatre when the Globe presents Barry Edelstein In Conversation with Nathan Englander on February 18 at 6:00 p.m.

The Globe is delighted to welcome one of the true visionaries of the American theatre, Tony Award winner Mary Zimmerman, who makes her long-awaited San Diego directing debut beginning March 21 with an enchanting theatrical spectacle, The White Snake. Jonathan Tolins's "totally fictional" Off Broadway hit, Buyer & Cellar, will have you rolling in the aisles. Yes, Barbra really does have a mall in her basement -- what could it possibly be like to work there? Directed by Ron Lagomarsino, performances begin April 4.

In-demand director Jessica Stone, who recently made her Globe debut with Christopher Durang's Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, will direct George Bernard Shaw's Arms and the Man. Utterly romantic and one of the wittiest and most charming plays of the English stage, Arms and the Man mixes smarts and silliness in a wonderfully entertaining tale of love and war beginning May 9. Globe favorite James Vásquez (Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas!) will direct the West Coast premiere of an exciting new American play, Rich Girl, by acclaimed playwright Victoria Stewart, beginning May 23. Rich Girl, a modern retelling of the Henry James novel Washington Square and stage and screen classic The Heiress, is a moving and funny new play about mothers and daughters, love and money, and whether they can ever coexist.

Then it's on to a summer of great Shakespeare and more! 2014 Tony Award winner for A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder and former Old Globe Shakespeare Festival Artistic Director Darko Tresnjak returns July 1 to direct the spectacular musical classic Kiss Me, Kate, with music and lyrics by Cole Porter, book by Sam and Bella Spewack, and choreography by Peggy Hickey, in association with Hartford Stage. Porter's witty and high-spirited songs will transport you into the wings as a touring company gets ready to open a musical version of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, starring a divorced couple whose offstage battles threaten to bring down the curtain.

Director Rebecca Taichman, whose time-traveling Time and the Conways fascinated audiences last April, is back to direct Shakespeare's delightful and romantic Twelfth Night, beginning June 21. Six-time Tony Award nominee Scott Ellis, who has three shows on Broadway this season, will make his Globe directorial debut August 16 with Shakespeare's hilarious The Comedy of Errors.

Rounding out the Summer Season on July 24 is the West Coast Premiere of the comedy Ken Ludwig's Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery, a wildly inventive adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's classic mystery The Hound of the Baskervilles.

"As always, the Globe welcomes our country's most exciting theatre artists to San Diego, and they are a spectacularly talented group," said Old Globe Artistic Director Barry Edelstein. "Their work -- and especially the abundance of laughter and light it brings -- marks the Globe's happy contribution to our city's celebration of Balboa Park's Centennial. I'm proud to note too that these productions will be surrounded by our full spectrum of humanities, outreach, education, and community efforts. All in all the Anniversary year will bring to our city a rich and wonderful program befitting the flagship arts institution of our region, and a season that demonstrates what a 21st-century American theatre can be."

The Globe will also present a series of free Monday night film screenings of Shakespeare through the eras to celebrate both the Balboa Park Centennial and the theatre's 80th Anniversary. On June 29, the Globe will present Henry V, directed by Laurence Olivier in 1944, in the Lowell Davies Festival Theatre. It will be followed by Orson Welles's 1965 classic Chimes at Midnight on July 13 and Joss Whedon's 2012 Much Ado About Nothing on August 3, both on the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage in the Old Globe Theatre, part of the Conrad Prebys Theatre Center. The series will conclude on August 24 with Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins's groundbreaking 1961 New York City riff on the Bard's Romeo and Juliet, West Side Story, in the Festival Theatre.

The Old Globe will open its 2015-2016 Season with In Your Arms, a World Premiere dance-theatre musical featuring direction and choreography by Tony Award winner Christopher Gattelli and original music by Tony Award winner Stephen Flaherty. Co-conceived by Gattelli and Jennifer Manocherian, In Your Arms is a sweeping and romantic evening of theatre that will run September 16 - October 25 and will feature 10 dance vignettes telling wordless stories of love, yearning, and romance, constituting a magical evening of movement and music performed by a cast of 20 talented dancers. These vignettes are written by an incredible and diverse lineup of theatre powerhouses, including Douglas Carter Beane, Nilo Cruz, Christopher Durang, Carrie Fisher, David Henry Hwang, Rajiv Joseph, Terrence McNally, Marsha Norman, Lynn Nottage, and Alfred Uhry. This unprecedented constellation of America's preeminent writers for the stage has amassed 14 Tony Awards, five Pulitzer Prizes, six Pulitzer finalist designations, and one Academy Award.

The 2015-2016 Season will also kick off in our in-the-round theatre with an exciting production to be announced soon.

This holiday season, everyone's favorite Green Meanie will be back at the Globe! Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, a wonderful, whimsical musical based upon the classic Dr. Seuss book, returns on November 7 to delight San Diego families for its 18th incredible year. Once again directed by James Vásquez, The Grinch features book and lyrics by Timothy Mason and music by Mel Marvin. The original production of Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! was conceived and directed by Jack O'Brien with Additional Lyrics by Theodor S. Geisel, Additional Music by Albert Hague, and original choreography by John DeLuca.

Don't miss the surround events for each production -- including Insights Seminars, Post-Show Forums, Subject Matters and Shakespeare in the Garden. Even kids can get in on the act and audition for our Summer Shakespeare Intensive and Middle School Conservatory, running during the summer. Join us for the Anniversary celebration at the Globe Guilders 25th Annual Celebrating Couture Fashion Show and our Annual Gala (and one more surprise party to be announced)! And our ongoing outreach programs, including Globe for All and New Voices Festival, continue, with details and dates to follow.

Murder for Two, The White Snake, Arms and the Man, Kiss Me, Kate, In Your Arms, and Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! will play on the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage in the Old Globe Theatre. The Twenty-seventh Man, Buyer & Cellar, Rich Girl, and Ken Ludwig's Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery will run in the Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre. Both theatres are part of the Globe's Conrad Prebys Theatre Center. Twelfth Night and The Comedy of Errors will run in the Lowell Davies Festival Theatre.

"In 2015, San Diego marks the Centennial of the Panama-California Exposition and also the 80th Anniversary of The Old Globe. Both commemorations celebrate the vibrancy of Balboa Park, a place that defines this city as a cultural force to be reckoned with nationwide, and both deserve great festivities. The Globe has put together a full year of laughter, fun, and the most vivid theatricality we could muster," said Old Globe Artistic Director Barry Edelstein. "Among the things we are proudest of, as leaders and custodians of The Old Globe, is the breadth of work this theatre produces. From Shakespeare to Sondheim, from world classics to world premieres, The Old Globe presents an unparalleled range of work as a part of its ongoing mission to serve the San Diego community it calls home. Summer will find the celebration in high gear as we present two of Shakespeare's most crowd-pleasing plays outdoors, in productions by true luminaries of the American stage. Indoors we'll welcome one of our closest friends to reimagine a classic musical with a Shakespeare connection of its own, and we'll present the West Coast Premiere of a new stage adaptation of a beloved Sherlock Holmes mystery. Plus, as a special double-anniversary gift to San Diego, we're going to throw our doors open for free screenings of four of the best Shakespeare films ever made. It's going to be a yearlong party on our campus and a demonstration of all the wonders the Globe has brought our city for eight decades."

Season subscriptions offer substantial savings with special subscriber benefits. Subscriptions can be purchased online at www.TheOldGlobe.org, by phone at (619) 23-GLOBE [234-5623], or by visiting the box office at 1363 Old Globe Way in Balboa Park. Subscriptions to the Globe's 2015 Summer Season range from $97 to $346. Single tickets for most shows begin at $29. Discounts are available for full-time students, patrons 29 years of age and younger, seniors, and groups of 10 or more.

The Old Globe is located in San Diego's Balboa Park at 1363 Old Globe Way. There are numerous free parking lots available throughout the park. Guests may also be dropped off in front of the Mingei International Museum. The Balboa Park valet is also available during performances ($12), located in front of the Japanese Friendship Garden. For additional parking information visit www.BalboaPark.org. For directions and up-to-date information, please visit www.TheOldGlobe.org/Directions.

PLEASE NOTE: To look up online or GPS directions to The Old Globe, please do not use the Delivery Address above. There is only a 10-minute zone at that physical address. For GPS users, please click here for the map coordinates, and here for written directions to The Old Globe and nearby parking in Balboa Park.

The Tony Award-winning Old Globe is one of the country's leading professional regional theatres and has stood as San Diego's flagship arts institution for over 75 years. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Barry Edelstein and Managing Director Michael G. Murphy, The Old Globe produces a year-round season of 14 productions of classic, contemporary, and new works on its three Balboa Park stages: the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage in the 600-seat Old Globe Theatre and the 250-seat Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, both part of The Old Globe's Conrad Prebys Theatre Center, and the 605-seat outdoor Lowell Davies Festival Theatre, home of its internationally renowned Shakespeare Festival. More than 250,000 people attend Globe productions annually and participate in the theatre's education and community programs. Numerous world premieres such as 2014 Tony Award winner for Best Musical A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, The Full Monty, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, A Catered Affair, and the annual holiday musical Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! have been developed at The Old Globe and have gone on to enjoy highly successful runs on Broadway and at regional theatres across the country.

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