HotCity Theatre Announces 2011 Season

HotCity Theatre, a professional theatre company with a focus on contemporary programming and new play development announces programming for the 2011 upcoming season. HotCity theatre produces a calendar year season and with the presentation of three new scripts on the Kranzberg Mainstage as well as the 6th AnnuAl GreenHouse New Play Festival, will be adding focus on the portion of their mission relating to the development and production of new scripts.

Marty Stanberry, Artistic Director says "The season came together, perhaps subliminally, as I became aware of the crazy effects that cable news shows, internet advertising and religious pundits are having on our lives today. Current political races in California, Arizona and Nevada have been described as products of "the wild west" - a theme explored in "True West." We have heard from so many religious (or rather cultish) factions about aliens coming to destroy us - hilariously reflected in "Intelligent Life!" Then there's "The Winners" - about our deepest hopes of winning a huge lottery! The season then closes with "Whammy" - our obsession with self-help and the countless gurus that will show us the way! We have chosen shows that are both fun and thoughtful, entertaining and meaningful in a seemingly chaotic world."

John Armstrong, Managing Director says "Our staff at HotCity is building on the success of this year's New Play Festival by offering more work from our GreenHouse Series. Patrons have been very vocal about their excitement in supporting playwrights and seeing something completely new in our Mainstage Series. With growing notoriety in the local and national arts community, there is an important opportunity to use St. Louis as a showcase for upcoming and established authors. An increasing number of quality submissions and dramaturg Liz Engelman's return to the New Play Festival in 2011 is a catalyst for a stronger focus on presenting new work. For those patrons who helped us sell out shows during the 2010 run of Glengarry Glen Ross, we are excited to present True West, a script perfect for our brand of theatre: Bold, darkly humorous, theatrical, and intense. Directed by Doug Finlayson who will return to us after this month's Equus, we expect Sam Shepard's most popular play to be an equally big hit."

True West

By Sam Shepard

Directed by Doug Finlayson

Feb 4th - 19th

The season kicks off with Sam Shepard's True West - now a modern classic that made both John Malcovich and Gary Sinise stars! Two brothers come to a head with their testosterone-driven rivalries that climaxes with a riotous collaboration that literally reduces their relationship to a pile of rubble.

Intelligent Life

By Lauren Dusek

Directed by Annamaria Pileggi

April 29th - May 14th

Set in the basement of a tenant house in Utah, "Intelligent Life" tells the farcical tale of extraterrestrial, peyote-driven enthusiasts, self-titled "Utah Alien Chasers." This ramshackle group discovers a mud-stained little boy in a dinosaur costume who may or may not be an alien. What is certain is that the boy has a genius level IQ and telekinetic powers that are beyond this world!

The Winners

By David L. Williams

Directed by Marty Stanberry

Sept. 9th - Sept. 24th

Cassie and Kurt just won $337 million in the lottery! The first thing they buy? A night with a call-girl! What starts as a playful fantasy turns into something darker when one person decides that sex is not the only thing for sale - what price would you pay to make all your fantasies come true?

The 6th AnnuAl GreenHouse New Play Festival

November 18th, 19th, and 20th

Three plays "in progress" are chosen from over 250 submitted by playwrights all over the world. Each script is given a workshop that includes professional directors on staff at HotCity, a professional dramaturg (a literary drama scholar) and professional local actors. This workshop provides a springboard for re-writes, culminating in readings at the festival by professional actors and adjudicated by HotCity artistic staff. At the festival event, scripts are performed as staged readings, followed by talkback sessions where you, the patrons, are given the opportunity to offer your thoughts and ask questions of the playwrights.

Whammy!

Conceived and directed by Chuck Harper

Dec. 2nd - Dec. 17th

Oprah Winfrey and Ethel Merman. Dr. Phil and Phil Silvers. Nietzche and The Shirelles? WTF? The artistic team that brought you "The Probe: An Inquiry into the Meteoric Rise and Spectacular Fall of Orson Welles in Hollywood" rides again in this madcap multi-media dance-theatre comic exploration of self-help, sexual dysfunction, 1960's dance parties, obsessive-compulsive disorder, pharmaceutical bliss and suicide. Want to know the seven secrets to a sane self? You know you do. And there's only one way to find out.

Performances located at the Kranzberg Art Center at 501 N. Grand Ave.

General Admission tickets are $25 for adults and $20 for seniors (62+).

Student Rush tickets are available 10 minutes before each show for $15.

Preview tickets are $15

All Mainstage ticket reservations can be made at www.hotcitytheatre.org.

HotCity Theatre operates under a Small Professional Theatre contract with Actors Equity, the union of professional actors and Stage Managers in the United States, and receives funding from the Siteman Foundation, Regional Arts Commission, The Whitaker Foundation, The Arts and Education Council, The Greater St. Louis Community Foundation, The Missouri Arts Council, The Fox Performing Arts Charitable Foundation, The John R. Goodall Charitable Trust and the William A. Kerr Foundation, as well as generous individuals in the community.

For more information, contact John Armstrong at 314-289-4061 or email at jarmstrong@hotcitytheatre.org.

 

 

 

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