Pearl Theatre Company 2012-13 Season to Include Terrence McNally World Premiere
By: Kelsey Denette Mar. 15, 2012
The Pearl Theatre Company 29th season, beginning October 2012, will culminate with the world premiere of And Away We Go, a new play written expressly for the The Pearl by four-time Tony Award-winner Terrence McNally.
The 2012-13 season begins this fall with Figaro, a fresh adaptation by Charles Morey. The work is based on Beaumarchais’s’ 1778 playThe Marriage of Figaro, the comedy that preceded the Mozart opera. In the winter, the company will present the New York premiere of writer-performer James DeVita’s In Acting Shakespeare, the personal, playful story of one man’s journey from the fishing boats of Long Island to a life as a classical actor. Next, The Pearl will stage Henry IV, Part 1, Shakespeare’s tale of a headstrong prince teetering between two very different fates. The play picks up where Richard II (produced by The Pearl in the 2011-12 season) leaves off. The season will conclude with Terrence McNally’s And Away We Go.
“For our inaugural season at the new 42nd Street home of The Pearl, we are especially pleased to offer this lineup of great plays. The Pearl is dedicated to connecting audiences to classics of the stage, and this quartet offers a season of great variety and compelling ideas. Change, energy and initiative are lines of action in each of these works, marking them as a fine fit to the aspirations of The Pearl in a vibrant new space,” says Sullivan. “To conclude our 29th season with a new work by Terrence McNally—a play about theatre companies written especially for The Pearl—is an exceptionally exhilarating prospect for our company and for our audiences.”
McNally, whom The Pearl commissioned to write And Away We Go, says, “I have long admired The Pearl for its commitment to a company of actors who take on the challenge of finding new life and relevance in the great plays of the past, many of them written specifically for companies much like The Pearl. The invitation to write a new play for them was one I could not resist. It’s an exhilarating proposal—a daunting one, too.”
Subscriptions for The Pearl’s 2012-13 season can be purchased now by calling 212.598.9802; as of April 1, they will be available at www.pearltheatre.org.
THE Pearl Theatre Company 2012-13 SEASON
Figaro
Adapted by Charles Morey, from Pierre Beaumarchais’ The Marriage of Figaro
October 19—November 18, 2012
He’s getting married in the morning, and the enterprising Figaro (servant, barber, professional troublemaker) couldn’t be happier. But with everybody scheming to come between him and his bride, Figaro will need all his cunning to make it down the aisle. Flitting between naughty nobles and wily nobodies, this new adaptation of Beaumarchais’s comic masterpiece offers clever schemes, crafty disguises, and just a soupcon of True Love Conquers All.
In Acting Shakespeare
By James DeVita
January 10—February 3, 2013
24 year-old Jimmy felt a little at sea: literally and figuratively. The worn-out fisherman was searching for a new career—he found Shakespeare. In Acting Shakespeare, written and performed by actor and playwright James DeVita, delivers a fun and fervent tribute to one man’s journeys with history’s greatest poet. Deftly weaving Shakespeare’s life with reminiscences of DeVita’s days on a Long Island fishing boat (and nights as a classical actor), this rich one-man show explores the beauty of words, the power of memory, and the profound impact art can have on the course of a single life.
Henry IV, Part 1
February 15—March 17, 2013
Henry Bolingbroke won the crown, but the fight to keep it has barely begun. But while the king prepares for war, brash Prince Hal and a boisterous crew of robbers, ruffians, and rascals, laugh at the gathering storm. Whirling us into a world where the rule of Henry and the magnificent misrule of Jack Falstaff are about to collide, Shakespeare tells a rousing tale of comic conspiracies, heroic deeds, and of how a prince’s coming of age will shape the fate of a nation—one way or another.
And Away We Go (World Premiere)
April 19—May 19, 2013
Times change but life in the theatre remains the same: chaotic, sometimes brutal but often euphoric, too. And Away We Go time travels from backstage in ancient Athens to a rehearsal at London's Globe Theatre, from Versailles’s Royal Theater to the first reading of a new play by Chekhov—with an unlikely stop in Coral Gables and the American premiere of Waiting for Godot along the way.
About The Pearl Theatre Company
Founded in 1984 by a small troupe of artists in Chelsea, The Pearl has grown into a renowned Off-Broadway company. The Pearl connects audiences to timeless classic plays, while providing an artistic home to theatre professionals, especially its core company of resident actors. As New York’s only classical resident company, The Pearl has produced a body of work encompassing the full breadth of theater history, from ancient Greek tragedy to contemporary works rooted in the classics. The Pearl has garnered numerous awards, including, most recently, a special 2011 Drama Desk Award for "notable productions of classic plays and nurturing a stalwart resident company of actors” and a 2011 Lortel Award nomination for Best Revival (for The Misanthrope).
The Pearl recently signed a 20-year lease on 555 West 42nd Street, the venue formerly occupied by Signature Theatre Company.
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