2010-2011 Season Announcement

Today was the official season announcement! We now know the shows that will be going on next year.

In the third year of training at my Conservatory (which will be next year for me and my classmates), students become Associate Company Members of the super-exciting Repertory Company. Which means that the shows I'm about to list were of particular interest to my class this year, as we could be in them. *squeal!*

I'm pretty much just going to copy and paste the press release now, since it's a lot to type up...



Antigone Now by Melissa Cooper
Preview October 4; Opening Night October 9, 2010
Touring dates and locations to be announced.

A modern retelling of Sophocles' classic play, Antigone.

ANGELA'S NOTE: Antigone Now will be the ensemble show for my class next year. It's part of the educational theatre series that the theatre has been doing for the past few years. We will be touring it to schools in the area, as well as other performance spaces. It will also be performed as part of the Ringling International Arts Festival in 2010. And the best news of all? Our Machinal Director is coming back to direct us in it!



Bonnie & Clyde: A New Musical, Book by Ivan Menchell, Music by Frank Wildhorn, Lyrics by Don Black
Pre-Broadway Run
Previews November 12 &13
Performances November 14 - 18
Press opening on November 19, 2010
Runs through December 19, 2010

Everybody had a dream. They had a plan.

Bonnie and Clyde's riveting adventures are brought to the stage in this vibrant and stylish new musical from the composer of Jekyll and Hyde, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Svengali and Wonderland! This seductive and cinematic new musical examines how a troubled Texas teen and a love-sick waitress became America's most infamous couple, with a thrilling new score that combines rockabilly, blues and gospel music. This is a pre-Broadway engagement.

ANGELA'S NOTE: Yes, you read that right. My theatre is doing this show in 2010, and the producers expect to put it on Broadway in 2011. HOW COOL IS THAT??? Actually, I wasn't allowed to say this before now (as the season hadn't been announced yet), but I got to audition for it last month! Please pray for me! It's being directed by Jeff Calhoun, whose production of Big River for Deaf West won a Tony Award for Excellence in Theatre in 2007. AMAZING!

La Bête (The Beast) by David Hirson
January 7-February 24, 2011

This sharply funny comedy follows a 17th century acting troupe whose financier/patron forces them to add an actor to their ensemble - the street-performer Valere. Trouble soon follows when the troupe's cultured leader hates the new actor. But Valere soon charms the troupe, and the audience, with his impressive and highly entertaining antics. Find out who wins in this laugh-a-minute, award-winning play. Winner of an Outer Critics Circle Award and Olivier Award.

ANGELA'S NOTE: Rumor has it that this show is in verse. In other words, it's the closest thing to a classical piece in our season. And you know how I love the classics! *fingers crossed* It will be directed by Artistic Director. Apparently, our theatre got the rights before it was announced that it will be going to the West End this coming season. We're so in vogue!

Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose
January 14-March 31, 2011

Drama Desk Award winning and Tony Award nominated drama

A gripping contemporary classic about a young man on trial for allegedly murdering his father, but one lone juror among the twelve is not convinced the boy is guilty. As he examines all the possibilities of what might have happened the night of the murder, his open-minded outlook convinces the other jurors there is a possibility of innocence after all. This engrossing courtroom drama will keep you on edge to its final moments.

ANGELA'S NOTE: This show is going to be done in conjunction with another theatre, and will begin its run there. Which I think means that some of the men from my class will be out of town for a while. Sadness! But what a great play to get to do. And it's going to be directed by the amazing Frank Galati. Do you think they could rewrite it as "Eleven Angry Men and One Angela"? ;)



Boeing Boeing by Marc Camoletti translated by Beverley Cross and Francis Evans
January 21- April 23, 2011

A stylish knee-slapping romp through the age of glamorous, jet-setting air travel. The debonair Bernard, an architect living in Paris, is juggling relationships with three vivacious flight attendants - each of whom believes she is his only girl. All goes well until his friend Robert arrives for a visit, and the airlines decide to change their schedules! Chaos and fun take off as Bernard's clever plans unravel. High flying fun! Boeing Boeing recently enjoyed a successful Broadway revival with 279 performances.

ANGELA'S NOTE: I cannot tell you how excited I am for this show. It was on the West End and on Broadway just a couple of years ago, and I wanted to see it but never got the chance. I love farce, but I've never really gotten the chance to be in one... And there are three roles for young women in it... *crosses fingers* It will be directed by Head of Program (aka Analysis Professor, aka Mystery Plays Director).



Deathtrap by Ira Levin
March 11-May 14, 2011

Sidney Bruhl was once a celebrated playwright famous for his intricate thrillers. Now slightly past his prime, he enlists an ambitious younger writer, Clifford, to help him pen his deadliest tale yet. But as Clifford secretly begins writing his own version of Sidney's life story, and the quirky psychic next door begins to have real premonitions of murder, events quickly spiral out of control - who will survive? This is the most successful and popular whodunit in history!

ANGELA'S NOTE: I honestly don't know anything about this play yet. It sounds fascinating. Based on some quick internet searching, I don't think there's a role for me in it (the two women in the show seem to be in their 50s). But there could be a young man in it, which means one of my classmates might be involved. I'm excited to see it. I don't know who will be directing it yet. But apparently, our theatre got the rights JUST before it was announced that it's going to be produced on the West End and Broadway soon. That's TWO shows that are in our season right before other major productions. We're setting trends left and right around here!



Las Meninas (The Waiting Women) by Lynn Nottage
March 18-May 15, 2011

A story of an unlikely friendship, and an even unlikelier romance, unfolds in the royal court of 17th century France. Queen Marie-Therese longs for the love and attention of her husband, King Louis XIV, but when she receives a mysterious package from a relative containing an African man named Nabo, her entire world changes. Nabo becomes the Queen's close companion, but their relationship puts their lives, and the life of their child, in peril. From the Pulitzer Prize-winning and internationally renowned African American writer Lynn Nottage.

ANGELA'S NOTE: I love Lynn Nottage's play, Crumbs from the Table of Joy, so I am totally geeked about this. It's especially cool to do it because Lynn Nottage just won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize in drama for her play Ruined. It sounds like it's going to have a HUGE cast, so I have a feeling that all of my classmates and I will be in it (as ensemble, if nothing else). A couple of my classmates were asked to audition for it. Please pray for them! It will be directed by Artistic Director. It sounds like this is only the second production of it, and the first was directed by Artistic Director at another theatre years ago.



Unplugged 2011 (TBA)
[The Theatre]'s new play festival returns, with readings planned for April 5, 7, 9, and 10
Full details, titles and final dates will be confirmed later this year.

World Premiere: New Play (TBA)
Join us as we explore a ground-breaking piece of new American theatre in the greater depth of a full production, presented from April 15 through May 14, 2011.

ANGELA'S NOTE: The two above things might very well include me or my classmates... but everything is still TBA at the moment. "Unplugged 2010" is almost upon us, and the world premiere new play might be chosen from amongst the readings and workshops that they're currently working on, but they're not sure yet.

George Gershwin Alone by Hershey Felder
May 19-June 5, 2011

Beethoven as I Knew Him by Hershey Felder
June 7-12, 2011

ANGELA'S NOTE: The above two plays are one-man shows, performed by the author. Apparently, he's an incredible performer. The weird thing is, I don't know if I'll get to see Beethoven. Why? Because I will have *gasp* graduated by then! And I might be moving before that point! Oh man, I can't think about that yet. Too stressful. Take deep breaths. Wow.



So that's the Rep season! So exciting!
But I don't want to leave out the lovely 1st-years. Next year, they'll be 2nd-years, which means they'll be the ones performing in the Conservatory season (as my class is right now). And they have one heck of a season to look forward to! Here it is:


Two Gentlemen of Verona by William Shakespeare
directed by Head of Program (aka Text Analysis Professor, aka Mystery Plays Director)
Starring the entire class of 2012!
October 26, 2010 - November 14, 2010

What's more important - love or friendship? In a world full of adolescent angst and hormones, the outcome is inevitable! A bright sparkling comedy about romance, passion, music and fickleness of youth. A contemporary look at Shakespeare by the entire second year conservatory class.


reasons to be pretty by Neil LaBute
directed by Acting Professoressa
January 4, 2011 - January 23, 2011

A passing comment about a female coworker's pretty face threatens to unravel the relationships between four friends. A scathing, dark comedy about our culture's fixation on surface beauty, by the author of Fat Pig.


The Lady from the Sea by Henrik Ibsen
February 22, 2011 - March 13, 2011
directed by 1st-Year Acting Professor

Obsession, passion and guilt overpower the spirit of Ellida Wangel and she struggles to choose between a mysterious stranger and her husband in this fascinating play of the greatest writers of the modern age.


Tartuffe by Molière
April 12, 2010 - May 1, 2010
directed by guest artist Wes Grantom

The classic comedy of religious hypocrisy, by one of the world's great comic playwrights. Orgon falls under the power of the dark and lascivious religious leader Tartuffe, and his family goes to outrageous lengths to show him the truth about this treacherous zealot! A classic French comedy performed in the [Historic Theatre].



Yeah, their season is completely envy-inducing. I'm so happy for them!


In other words, local folks, I highly recommend that you get subscriptions to these seasons. Because both the Rep season AND the Conservatory season are going to be sensational. Mark my words!


I'm off to enjoy a little of my "spring break". :)

All good things,

~A~