South Bend Civic Theatre Sets 2016 Season

From the cobblestone streets of London and the islands off the Irish coast, to the halls of Harvard and clamor of the second Continental Congress, Artistic Director, Mark Abram-Copenhaver, is proud to announce the 2016 season at the South Bend Civic Theatre.

This is Mark's fourth season at the artistic helm of the Civic, and he proudly shares, "this season truly has something for everybody. We present an array of artistic adventures throughout the year." He continues, "Whether you subscribe to the Broadway, Off-Broadway, Firehouse Series, or even pick and choose your own path through the shows we're producing this year, you will be delighted and excited, and also challenged and stimulated. That's the beauty of the theatrical season."

The Broadway Series includes five shows, four of them in the Wilson Theatre. The series opens with The Music Man, followed by 1776, The Game's Afoot, Mary Poppins (at St. Patrick's Park), and wrapping up in the fall with Legally Blonde the Musical.

The Off-Broadway Series presents two shows in the Warner Theatre, and two more in the latter half of the year in the Wilson Theatre. Pulitzer Prize Winner (2012) Water by the Spoonful leads off 2016, with The Other Place in early summer, and The Cripple of Inishmaan and The Mountaintop bookending the autumn months.

The Firehouse Series is comprised of three productions in our neighborhood venue, The Firehouse Theatre at 701 Portage Avenue in South Bend. Away from the two larger venues of the Wilson and Warner Theatres on Main Street, Firehouse shows get a little grittier, but they provide just as much art, entertainment, and magic as our other shows. 2016's Firehouse Series presents: Stop Kiss, Rantoul and Die, and The Weir.

Subscriptions can be purchased by contacting the box office at boxoffice@sbct.org or 574-234-1112. Single tickets go on sale December 1st.

The Broadway Series

The Music Man

Book, Music and Lyrics by Meredith Wilson

Directed by David Case

Jan 29 - Feb 21, 2016 in the Wilson Theatre

Sponsored by Holy Cross Village and 1st Source Bank

By turns wicked, funny, warm, romantic and touching, The Music Man is family entertainment at its best. Meredith Wilson's six-time, Tony Award-winning musical comedy has been entertaining audiences since 1957 and is a family-friendly story to be shared with every generation.

The Music Man follows fast-talking traveling salesman Harold Hill as he cons the people of River City, Iowa into buying instruments and uniforms for a boys' band he vows to organize - this despite the fact he doesn't know a trombone from a treble clef. His plans to skip town with the cash are foiled when he falls for Marian the librarian, who transforms him into a respectable citizen by curtain's fall.

1776

Book by Peter Stone, Music and Lyrics by Sherman Edwards

Directed by Jerry O'Boyle

Apr 15 - May 1, 2016 in the Wilson Theatre

Witness the birth of a nation as our forefathers struggle to craft the Declaration of Independence. The seminal event in American history blazes to vivid life in this most unconventional of Broadway hits. 1776 puts a human face on the pages of history as we see the men behind the national icons: proud, frightened, uncertain, irritable, charming, often petty and ultimately noble figures determined to do the right thing for a fledgling nation.

It's the summer of 1776, and the nation is ready to declare independence...if only our founding fathers can agree to do it! 1776 follows John Adams of Massachusetts, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, and Richard Henry Lee and Thomas Jefferson of Virginia as they attempt to convince the members of the second Continental Congress to vote for independence from the shackles of the British monarchy by signing the Declaration of Independence.

The Game's Afoot

Written by Ken Ludwig

Directed by Tucker Curtis

Jun 3 - 12, 2016 in the Wilson Theatre

Sponsored by Nyloncraft

Winner! 2012 Mystery Writers of America Edgar Allen Poe Awards - Best Play!

It is December 1936 and Broadway star William Gillette, admired the world over for his leading role in the play Sherlock Holmes, has invited his fellow cast-members to his Connecticut castle for a weekend of revelry. But when one of the guests is stabbed to death, the festivities in this isolated house of tricks and mirrors quickly turn dangerous. Then it's up to Gillette himself, as he assumes the persona of his beloved Holmes, to track down the killer before the next victim appears. The danger and hilarity are non-stop in this glittering whodunit set during the Christmas holidays.

Mary Poppins

Original Music and Lyrics by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman

Book by Julian Fellowes

Directed by Mark Abram-Copenhaver

Jul 22 - 30, 2016 in the Fischgrund Center for the Performing Arts

at St. Patrick's County Park

Sponsored by Merrill Lynch - Matt Kahn Associates

Everyone's favorite, practically perfect, nanny takes the stage in this Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious musical adventure.

One of the most popular Disney movies of all time is capturing hearts in a whole new way: as a practically perfect musical! Based on the books by P.L. Travers it delighted Broadway audiences for over 2,500 performances and received nominations for nine Olivier and seven TONY Awards, including Best Musical.

The jack-of-all trades, Bert, introduces us to England in 1910 and the troubled Banks family. Young Jane and Michael have sent many a nanny packing before Mary Poppins arrives on their doorstep. Using a combination of magic and common sense, she must teach the family how to value each other again. Mary Poppins takes the children on many magical and memorable adventures, but Jane and Michael aren't the only ones she has a profound effect upon. Even grown-ups can learn a lesson or two from the nanny who advises that "Anything can happen if you let it."

Legally Blonde the Musical

Book by Heather Hach, Music and Lyrics by Laurence O'Keefe and Nell Benjamin

Based on the novel by Amanda Brown and the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer motion picture

Directed by Carys Kresny and Kevin Dreyer

Sep 16 - Oct 2, 2016 in the Wilson Theatre

Sponsored by Tuesley Hall Konopa, LLP

A fabulously fun international award-winning musical based on the adored movie, Legally Blonde The Musical, follows the transformation of Elle Woods as she tackles stereotypes, snobbery, and scandal in pursuit of her dreams. This action-packed musical explodes on the stage with memorable songs and dynamic dances. Equal parts hilarious and heart-warming, this musical is so much fun it should be illegal!

Legally Blonde the Musical will take you from the sorority house to the halls of justice with Broadway's brightest new heroine (and of course, her chihuahua, Bruiser). Her life is turned upside-down, however, when her boyfriend dumps her so he can start getting serious about his life and attend Harvard Law. Determined to get him back, Elle uses her charm to get into Harvard Law. At school, she struggles with peers, professors, and Warner Huntington. With the help of Paulette and Emmett, though, Elle quickly realizes her potential and sets out to prove herself to the world.

The Off-Broadway Series

Water by the Spoonful

Written by Quiara Alegría Hudes

Jan 8 - 17, 2016 in the Warner Theatre

Directed by Marlon D. Deleon

Winner of the 2012 Pulitzer Prize!

Somewhere in Philadelphia, Elliot has returned from Iraq and is struggling to find his place in the world. Somewhere in a chat room, recovering addicts keep each other alive, hour by hour, day by day. The boundaries of family and community are stretched across continents and cyberspace as birth families splinter and online families collide. Water by the Spoonful is a heartfelt meditation on lives on the brink of redemption.

The Other Place

Written by Sharr White

Directed by Aaron Nichols

May 13 - 22, 2016 in the Warner Theatre

Just as Juliana Smithton's research leads to a potential breakthrough, her life takes a disorienting turn. During a lecture to colleagues at an exclusive beach resort, she glimpses an enigmatic young woman in a yellow bikini amidst the crowd of business suits. One step at a time, a mystery unravels as contradictory evidence, blurred truth and fragmented memories collide in a cottage on the windswept shores of Cape Cod.

The Cripple of Inishmaan

Written by Martin McDonagh

Directed by Jim Geisel

Aug 12 - 21, 2016 in the Wilson Theatre

Set on a remote island off the west coast of Ireland in 1934, The Cripple of Inishmaan is a strange, comic tale in the great tradition of Irish storytelling. As word arrives on Inishmaan that the Hollywood director Robert Flaherty is coming to the neighboring island of Inishmore to film Man of Aran, the one person who wants to be in the film more than anybody is young Cripple Billy, if only to break away from the bitter tedium of his daily life.

The Mountaintop

Written by Katori Hall

Oct 21 - 30, 2016 in the Wilson Theatre

Sponsored by the African American Community Fund of

the Community Foundation of St. Joseph County

A gripping reimagination of events the night before the assassination of the civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. On April 3, 1968, after delivering one of his most memorable speeches, an exhausted Dr. King retires to his room at the Lorraine Motel while a storm rages outside. When a mysterious stranger arrives with some surprising news, King is forced to confront his destiny and his legacy to his people.

The Firehouse Series

Stop Kiss

Written by Diana Son

Mar 25 - Apr 2, 2016 in the Firehouse Theatre

Callie and Sara are walking down the 1998 streets of New York City when they share their first kiss. However, this kiss turns into a nightmare. Suddenly they are violently attacked by a random onlooker, putting Sara into a coma. Diana Son elaborates on the depths of human emotion as this story, told out of chronological order, focuses on the intimate love of Callie and Sara while posing questions to larger issues of justice and discrimination.

Rantoul and Die

Written by Mark Roberts

Directed by Chuck Gessert

Sep 9 - 17, 2016 in the Firehouse Theatre

Sponsored by Schindler, Olson & Currey

From the writer and executive producer of Two and a Half Men comes a new play with four of the funniest, ugliest, heartbreakingly real characters ever, all crammed together in a grimy little world that makes the local Dairy Queen and Dante's Inferno seem one and the same. Rallis and Debbie's marriage has reached its expiration date. In fact, it's soured and stuck to the bottom of the carton. She wants him to pack his stuff and hit the bricks, but he's clinging to the past like a cat on a screen door. How far will a man go to hang on to his lady fair? Love and hate are pretty indecipherable in this comedy about a husband and wife who have just about had it with each other, but can't stand to let the other go.

"A rant of the highest magnitude...diving off a building into a glass of water. I know I'd pay to see a guy do that." -Tom Waits

The Weir

Written by Conor McPherson

Directed by Scott Jackson

Oct 14 - 22, 2016 in the Firehouse Theatre

In a bar in rural Ireland, the local men swap spooky stories in an attempt to impress a young woman from Dublin who recently moved into a nearby "haunted" house. However, the tables are soon turned when she spins a yarn of her own.

The Kids 4 Kids Production

Disney's Aladdin JR.

Music by Alan Menken, Lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice

Based on the 1992 Disney film Aladdin

Directed by Josh Napierkowski

Mar 11 - 20, 2016 in the Wilson Theatre

Welcome to Agrabah, City of Enchantment and the fantastic tale of the street rat who became a prince!

All of your favorite characters from the hit Disney film - Aladdin, Jasmine, Iago, Jafar, the Genie, and more - are here in Disney's Aladdin JR., a musical adventure filled with magic, mayhem, and flying carpet rides.

Disney's Aladdin JR.'s tuneful, accessible Academy award-winning score, with songs by Alan Menken, Howard Ashman, and Tim Rice, including "A Whole New World" and "Friend Like Me," will send audiences soaring.

The Holiday Production

It's a Wonderful Life:

A Live Radio Play

From the screenplay by Frances Goodrich

Albert Hackett, Frank Capra, and Jo Swerling

Directed by Jewel Abram-Copenhaver

Dec 2 - 23, 2016 in the Wilson Theatre

Join us and enjoy George Bailey's Christmas Eve journey with a festive "behind-the-scenes" point of view in this ensemble presentation of this American holiday classic. The world of live radio paints a completely different picture that a traditional stage play, and not only will you be able to enjoy Bailey's enlightenment through his guardian angel, Clarence, you get a second helping of entertainment by witnessing the artistic mayhem of the actors, props, and sound effects in the studio. It is truly an exciting adventure for you and your family to go on, so join us as our live studio audience!

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