NCTC Announces 2007-08 Season

The New Conservatory Theatre Center has announced a diverse array of productions for Pride Season 2007-08.  

On top of eight full-scale productions, NCTC will jumpstart the season August 1-19 with The Big Voice: God or Merman?, a critically-acclaimed, side-splitting, new off-Broadway musical from New York.  This special event limited engagement features writers (and original cast members) Steve Shalchlin and Jim Brochu, and is directed by Anthony Bornao.

A bonus winter cabaret series, Divas in December, sets out to prove that divas and passion will always be in fashion during the holidays.  Carole Cook brings her one-woman show Dress Up to the Decker Theatre for a special ten-performance engagement.  Sharon McKnight will ring in the holiday season with fifteen provocative cabaret performances of Songs to Offend Almost Anyone for the Holidays.

The Big Voice: God or Merman?
August 1 – 19, 2007
SF Premiere Special Event: A Musical Comedy in Two Lives
Written/Performed by Steve Shalchlin and Jim Brochu (original cast)
Directed by Anthony Bornao
Decker Theatre

Steve and Jim tell all! The Big Voice: God or Merman? is a critically-acclaimed new musical from New York about a Baptist from Arkansas and a Catholic from Brooklyn who find Eternal Salvation in the Temple of Musical Theatre. This side-splitting comedy, featuring the original cast, is a about a "gay marriage" between two men performed by the couple themselves.

Greater Tuna
August 10 – September 16, 2007
Comedy
Written by Jaston Williams, Joe Sears, & Ed Howard
Walker Theatre

Good morning, Tuna! Greater Tuna, created by Williams, Sears, and Howard, is set in the fictional town of Tuna, Texas—the "third-smallest" town in the state.  This two-man show, self-described as having "plenty of 'Tex' appeal," has plenty of character (and characters!) and is, at the same time, an affectionate commentary on and a withering satire of small-town Southern life and attitudes.

Holding the Man
September 21 – November 4, 2007
A Love Story
US Premiere from Australia
Adapted by Tommy Murphy from the memoir by Timothy Conigrave
Decker Theatre

Tommy Murphy's adaptation of Timothy Conigrave's award-winning memoir chronicles Conigrave's fifteen-year relationship with John Caleo that started at an all-boys Catholic school and weathered disapproval, separation, temptation and, ultimately, death. This work tells a breathtakingly honest, achingly funny, and completely heart-wrenching story that speaks across generations, sexual preferences, and cultures.

Based on a Totally True Story
November 2 – December 16, 2007
Urban Comedy/Drama
By Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
Walker Theatre

Ethan Keene is a young, talented playwright and comic book writer on the verge of making it big. When a veteran Hollywood producer decides she wants to turn one of his plays into a horror movie, the frenzy that follows forces him to deal with the real drama in his life – his relationship with his family and his boyfriend.

In Gabriel's Kitchen
January 11 – February 17, 2008
Drama
US Premiere from Canada
Written by Salvatore Antonio
Decker Theatre

In Gabriel's Kitchen is Salvatore Antonio's debut play, centering on an Old-World Italian-Canadian family's reaction to their youngest son's homosexuality.  The play exposes the irreversible consequences that Gabriel, the "favorite" son, and his tight-knit family face after he falls in love. In Gabriel's Kitchen explores the destructive nature of denial and the almost imperceptible hope which springs from epiphany.

I Am My Own Wife
January 25 – March 2, 2008
Drama
Written by Doug Wright
Walker Theatre

Based on a true story, the Tony Award-winning I am My Own Wife tells the fascinating tale of Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, a German transvestite who managed to survive both the Nazi onslaught and the repressive East German Communist regime.

Thrill Me: The Leopold and Loeb Story
March 28 – May 4, 2008
Musical Drama
Book, Music and Lyrics by Stephen Dolginoff
Walker Theatre

Nathan Leopold was passionate about Richard Loeb, who was passionate about crime and excitement. Thrill Me reveals the series of events in 1924 Chicago that led impending law students Leopold and Loeb toward notoriety as "the thrill killers."

It's Murder Mary
May 9 – June 28, 2008
World Premiere Comedy
Written by Andrew Black and  Patricia Milton
Decker Theatre

Whodunnit? The hunky porn star, the aging actress, or possibly the dashing college student? This NCTC commissioned production, set at an exclusive Russian River resort, is a campy yet tension-filled murder mystery that will keep you guessing until the last body falls.

Men In Uniform
May 30 – July 6, 2008
World Premiere
Short Plays by Bay Area Writers
Featuring the work of: Kenyon Brown, Jamie Daniel, Garret Jon Groenveld, Bob Hayden, Tom W. Kelly, Brian Tognotti, Christopher Wiley, and BK Wells
Conceived and compiled by Tom W. Kelly
Walker Theatre

A vibrant and sexy collection of new work by Bay Area writers from NCTC's Gay Playwriting Workshop, Men in Uniform is a testosterone-suffused, sexy compilation of short plays that involves men in (and out of) uniform including Marines, security guards, sportscasters, exterminators, auto mechanics, and preachers.   Issues of masculinity, sexuality, identity, community, and eternal salvation are tantalizingly tempered by humor, fantasy, and humanity.

Divas in December
Carole Cook in Dress Up
10 Performances: November 28 – December 1, 2007
One-woman show
SF Premiere
Decker Theatre

This holiday season, NCTC hosts brassy & bold actress/entertainer Carole Cook in her one woman show that recalls her extraordinary life growing up in Texas, her career on stage  (42nd Street), screen (Sixteen Candles), and television (The Merv Griffin Show, Dynasty).  The evening promises raucous mirth with plenty of holiday cheer.

Divas in December
Sharon McNight: Songs to Offend Almost Everyone for the Holidays
15 performances: December 12 – 30, 2008
Cabaret
Decker Theatre

Chock full of holiday irreverence, political incorrectness, and first amendment rabble-rousing, this provocative cabaret evening is designed to offend minorities and majorities of every persuasion.

Season subscriptions for Pride Season 2007-08 range from $140 to $280. This year, NCTC introduces a New Audience Flex Pass for ages 18-25, which includes all nine Pride Season productions for only $75, with a valid ID.  Returning subscribers may purchase subscriptions for Pride Season 2007-2008 beginning April 2, and subscriptions will be available for new subscribers starting May 7.

Single tickets are $20-$40 and go on sale July 5, 2006. Season samplers (three-show subscriptions) range from $50-100. Single tickets and subscription packages are available through the NCTC Box Office at 415-861-8972 Wednesday through Saturday, 1:30-7PM, and Sunday through Tuesday, Noon-3PM.  Tickets and subscriptions may also be purchased online at www.nctcsf.org.  Student rush tickets may be purchased for $15 with a valid student ID at the NCTC box office two hours before the performance.

Special Event tickets for The Big Voice: God or Merman?, Dress Up, and Songs to Offend Almost Anyone for the Holidays are sold separately, but may be added onto all 2007-08 Pride Season subscription packages.  These tickets will be available starting on July 5 and will range from $15-$35 each.

The New Conservatory Theatre Center is located at 25 Van Ness Avenue, near Market Street.

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