THE SOUNDS OF SILENCE Kicks Off TheatreWorks' 44th Season Tonight

An audience of theatre enthusiasts waited in anticipation at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts last night, when Founding Artistic Director Robert Kelley and Managing Director Phil Santora of TheatreWorks, the nationally-acclaimed theatre of Silicon Valley, unveiled the thrilling line-up for its 2013-2014 season. Opening with a groundbreaking World Premiere developed at last season's New Works Festival, the line-up will also give Bay Area audiences their first look at a Broadway hit by playwright Jon Robin Baitz (The Substance of Fire, A Fair Country, Three Hotels); an Off-Broadway smash by Kenneth Lin (Fallow, Po Boy Tango); and a historical drama from Lauren Gunderson (Exit, Pursued by a Bear). Also announced is an enchanting musical journey told through little-known Stephen Sondheim gems.

TheatreWorks' 44th season will boast the Regional Premiere of gripping Pulitzer Prize finalist OTHER DESERT CITIES from acclaimed playwright Jon Robin Baitz, about a family in turmoil over an about-to-be-published memoir. This razor-sharp comedic drama, a co-production with The Old Globe in San Diego, comes to Bay Area audiences fresh from its lauded Broadway run at the Booth Theatre, where it ran through summer 2012.

The season launches with the favorite of last season's New Works Festival, THE LOUDEST MAN ON EARTH, a sizzling romantic comedy about a couple - one deaf and one hearing - attempting to navigate life's twists and turns, written by innovative playwright Catherine Rush (This Island Alone, ASL Shakespeare project translation of Twelfth Night). THE LOUDEST MAN ON EARTH, in its main stage World Premiere, will kick off the 2013 New Works Festival, at which leading playwrights and composers from across the country present new works to audiences who can participate in discussions, view works-in-progress, and attend book-in-hand readings and sing-throughs of new musicals.

Another season highlight is the California premiere of Kenneth Lin's Off-Broadway hit, the searing political drama WARRIOR CLASS, which confronts a dangerous mix of politics and idealism in a taut saga of backroom electioneering. Winner of the TCG Edgerton New Play Prize, WARRIOR CLASS was an instant smash that The New York Times hailed as "absorbing. Crackles with authenticity."

The company will present local audiences with two more Regional Premieres. First up is SILENT SKY by rising young playwright Lauren Gunderson (Exit, Pursued by a Bear), an exquisite blend of science, history, and romance, following a turn-of-the-century astronomer as she struggles for recognition in a society determined to keep a woman in her place. TheatreWorks will also give local theatergoers their first peek at HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES, a raucous physical comedy by British playwrights John Nicholson and Steven Canny (winner of 2009 and 2010 Sony Gold Drama Award for his BBC radio plays). This adaptation of one of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's most celebrated mysteries, starring three actors in over 20 roles, stirs an ancient family curse, a spectral hound, a deranged killer, and a pair of well-known sleuths into a comic masterpiece alive with mystery, suspense, and uproarious fun.

Rounding out the season are three musicals. TheatreWorks' holiday attraction will be the exuberant Broadway musical adaptation of LITTLE WOMEN, based on the beloved novel by Louisa May Alcott. The company also presents Olivier Award winner ONCE ON THIS ISLAND, a thrilling Caribbean fairy tale from the creators of Ragtime. And finally, TheatreWorks is pleased to present the intimate Stephen Sondheim gem MARRY ME A LITTLE, which includes rarely heard songs once intended for Sondheim hits such as Follies and A Little Night Music.

Five productions will be mounted at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts and three will be staged at Palo Alto's Lucie Stern Theatre. In chronological order, the TheatreWorks 2013-2014 season is as follows:

The Sounds of Silence
The Loudest Man on Earth
By Catherine Rush
World Premiere

A runaway hit last summer during TheatreWorks' 2012 New Works Festival, The Loudest Man on Earth will again feature a tour-de-force performance by Deaf actor Adrian Blue, who speaks volumes without saying a word. This sizzling romantic comedy follows a deaf, reclusive stage director and a bold, charismatic journalist as they work together to navigate a police bust, a senile grandmother, Koko the signing gorilla, a slick car salesman, and their budding, uncertain romance. Playwright Catherine Rush's works have been commissioned and developed by Philadelphia Theater Workshop and New York Theater Workshop (The Loudest Man on Earth), BCKSEET Productions (Losing the Shore), Martha's Vineyard Playhouse (This Island Alone), and Wheelock Family Theatre in Boston (A Nice Place to Live).
TONIGHT, July 10 - August 4, 2013 (Press opening July 13)
Lucie Stern Theatre, Palo Alto

The Hit Broadway Comedy-Drama
OTHER DESERT CITIES
by Jon Robin Baitz
Pulitzer Prize finalist 2012
Tony Award Best Play Nominee 2012
2012 Winner of Drama League Award for Distinguished Play
2011 Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play
Regional Premiere
Co-produced with The Old Globe, San Diego

In this sharp and witty hit from Jon Robin Baitz (creator of TV show Brothers and Sisters, author of The Substance of Fire, A Fair Country, Three Hotels), a Hollywood star's desert estate glows with Christmas cheer. But home for the holidays is daughter Brooke, a novelist whose tell-all memoir threatens to rip the politically-divided clan apart. With dazzling wit and razor-sharp insight, this Pulitzer Prize finalist, Tony Award Best Play nominee, and winner of the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play and Drama League Award for Distinguished Play balances fierce comedy and riveting family drama in its Regional Premiere at TheatreWorks, co-produced with San Diego's The Old Globe. Contains mature language.
"All family reunions should be this satisfying. Witty. Deeply enjoyable." The New York Times
August 21 - September 15, 2013 (Press opening August 24)
Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts

A Power Play
Warrior Class
by Kenneth Lin
California Premiere
Winner of TCG Edgerton New Play Prize

This comedic drama, which made its Off-Broadway debut last year at Second Stage Theatre Uptown, will receive its California Premiere at TheatreWorks. A son of Chinese immigrants, decorated war veteran, and charismatic speaker on the cusp of his political career, congressional candidate Julius Lee is dubbed "The Republican Obama." When word of a youthful indiscretion threatens scandal, he discovers the dangerous intersection of politics and idealism. This incisive political drama from Kenneth Lin (Fallow, Po Boy Tango) offers insight into the cutthroat world of hardball politics with a taut, topical saga of backroom engineering.
Contains mature language.
October 9 - November 3, 2013 (Press opening October 12)
Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts

A Musical Classic for the Holidays
Little Women
Book by Allan Knee
Lyrics by Mindi Dickstein
Music by Jason Howland
Based on the novel by Louisa May Alcott

TheatreWorks celebrates the holidays with four precocious New England sisters, beloved by six generations of readers, as they come of age in this exhilarating Broadway musical adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's cherished 1860s novel. Overflowing with laughter, tears, and memorable songs, Little Women, which debuted on Broadway in 2005 starring Sutton Foster (Tony Award nominee, Best Actress), follows feisty aspiring writer Jo, traditional Meg, soft-spoken Beth,
and vivacious Amy on their exuberant journey of personal discovery,
romance, heartbreak, and enduring sisterhood.
December 4 - 29, 2013 (press opening December 7)
Lucie Stern Theatre, Palo Alto

The Sky's No Limit
Silent Sky
By Lauren Gunderson
Regional Premiere

Astonishing discoveries await Henrietta Leavitt as she maps distant stars in galaxies beyond our own. But this brilliant, headstrong pioneer must struggle for recognition in the man's world of turn-of-the-century astronomy. In this exquisite blend of science, history, family ties, and fragile romance from rising playwright Lauren Gunderson (Exit, Pursued by a Bear)
a passionate young woman must map her own journey through a rigid society
determined to keep a woman "in her place."
"A captivating blend of relationships, science, and romance." Stage Scene LA
January 15 - February 9, 2014 (press opening Jan 18)
Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts

A Soaring Musical Celebration
Once on This Island
Book and Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens
Music by Stephen Flaherty
Based on the novel "My Love, My Love" by Rosa Guy
Oliver Award Winner for Best New Musical
Eight-Time Tony Award Nominee

Heartwarming and inspiring, this exuberant musical from the Tony Award-winning creators of Ragtime follows Ti Moune, a peasant girl on a tropical island in the French Caribbean. When she rescues a wealthy young aristocrat from the wreckage of a car accident a star-crossed love affair begins in defiance of the class divide. A timeless legend filled with joy, heartache, and adventure, Once on this Island boasts a score pulsing with irresistible Caribbean beats from Tony Award-winner Stephen Flaherty (Ragtime, Seussical, Lucky Stiff, Dessa Rose).
March 5 - 30, 2014 (press opening March 8)
Lucie Stern Theatre, Palo Alto

A Hilarious Spoof
Hound of the Baskervilles
By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Adapted by Steven Canny and John Nicholson
Regional Premiere

In the wacky style of The 39 Steps, this laugh-a-second send-up of Sherlock Holmes stirs an ancient family curse, a spectral hound, a deranged killer, and a pair of well-known sleuths into a comic masterpiece alive with mystery, suspense, and uproarious fun. Three brilliant actors play dozens of roles as the deerstalkered boy of Baker Street faces off against
the colossal canine of the moors.
April 2 - 27, 2014 (press opening April 5)
Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts

The Most Intimate Sondheim Musical
Marry Me a Little
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Conceived and Developed by Craig Lucas and Norman Rene

The master of the modern musical weaves an intimate tale of love and possibility in this charming, funny, and sophisticated collection of rare Stephen Sondheim songs. In their walk-up apartments, two lonely 20-somethings pass a night filled with poignant dreams and romantic fantasies, unaware that they live just a floor apart. Originally premiered in 1980, Marry Me a Little features rarely heard songs once intended for Sondheim hits
such as Follies and A Little Night Music.
June 4 - 29, 2014 (press opening June 7)
Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts

Since its founding in 1970, TheatreWorks has become one of the nation's leaders in cultivating and producing new musicals and plays, developing and premiering more than 60 works by new and veteran artists. The company's New Works Festival and Writers Retreat programs attract authors and composers of national stature (Paul Gordon, Marsha Norman, Henry Krieger, Stephen Schwartz, Duncan Sheik, Joe DiPietro, and Andrew Lippa, among many others), providing an artistic home in which America's theatre artists can create new works. In addition, the company has developed scores of works which have gone on to both regional and Off-Broadway productions. A home for artists developing new works, it was at TheatreWorks that Memphis, the 2010 Tony Award-winning musical that played on Broadway for three years before embarking on its current national tour, was first workshopped and received its world premiere.

TheatreWorks is an Equity/LORT theatre, producing eight shows annually, playing to more than 100,000 patrons a year. TheatreWorks continues its dedication to the Bay Area community with increased audience services and subscriber benefits, Wednesday discussion nights, and opening night celebrations in which the community is invited to mingle with writers, cast, and crew. In addition, TheatreWorks offers many public services such as the costume rental program, and the education outreach program that reaches some 24,000 students annually with in-class workshops, student matinees, the lauded Bridges Project, the Young Playwright's Initiative, the touring assembly Oskar Trilogy, and The Healing Project at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital.

For more information or to purchase subscriptions ($99-$492), the public can call 650-463-1960. Subscriptions are on sale now; single tickets will be on-sale beginning June 5. Special pricing is available for Educators, Seniors, and patrons under 30. Subscriptions are also available online at theatreworks.org.

Pictured: John Robin Baitz. Photo credit: Deana Lawson.

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