from our friends at Arizona Theatre Company:
Arizona Theatre Company will launch its 54th season with Artistic Director Sean Daniel’s first fully chosen six-play Main Stage lineup complemented by additional co-productions, nine exciting and innovative local and national collaborations and partnerships and numerous new-work development programs.
“With our upcoming season, the first I got to fully plan, we’re laying out the blueprint for how Arizona Theatre Company can truly be the State Theatre.” Daniels said. “We’ll work with organizations larger and smaller than us to establish Arizona as one of the most exciting and innovative states when it comes to producing theater, and in the creation of new work. We’ll launch a year-round musical theater development program and nine new partnerships will reshape the arts in Arizona.”
ATC will partner with University of Arizona, ASU/Gammage, Herberger Institute of Design and Arts, Stray Cat Theatre, Tony Award-wining Tom Kirdahy Productions, Southwest Shakespeare Company, The Winding Road Theatre Ensemble of Tucson, Playwrights Center in Minneapolis and the fourth-largest music company in the world, BMG.
Full details of the partnerships will be announced in the coming weeks
“In addition to our usual six-play Main Stage Season, this will add two co-productions in Phoenix, one co-production in Tucson, two reading series and at least four musical and play workshop productions that will happen throughout the state,” Daniels said. “It’s time for Arizona to be a national leader, and Arizona Theatre Company is the way that happens.”
Main Stage Season
The 2020/2021 Main Stage Season opens with the Daniels-directed My 80 Year Old Boyfriend, created by Charissa Bertels, Christian Duhamel and Edward Bell. My 80 Year Old Boyfriend is a delightful award-winning musical about the magic that happens when we let ourselves say"yes." From a chance encounter to the unlikeliest of friendships, Charissa discovers there's much she can learn from her surprising new companion. Based on the true story of Broadway performer Charissa Bertels, My 80-Year-Old Boyfriend is an incredible musical tale of the most unlikely pair as they reach across generational barriers to find friendship and learn a bit more about themselves. This show will be going on tour after playing in Arizona. Details will be announced. Tucson: Sept.5-265 Phoenix: Oct. 1-18.
My 80-Year-Old Boyfriend will be followed by:
Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberly by America’s most produced playwright Lauren Gunderson (Silent Sky) and Margo Melcon, directed by Melissa Crespo. A cleverly imagined sequel to Pride and Prejudice! Mary Bennet is unmarried, nerdy, and growing tired of her role as the obedient middle sister. Miss Bennet is an energetic, witty, and romantic holiday comedy about family, awkward love, and personal transformation blending modern wit and grand period style. Perfect for all Jane Austen fans. Tucson: Oct. 17-Nov. 7; Phoenix: Nov. 11-29.
Little Shop of Horrors, music by Alan Menkin, book and lyrics by Howard Ashman, directed by Casey Stangl. With a charming doo-wop and Motown-flavored score containing several well-known tunes, including the title song, "Skid Row(Downtown)", "Somewhere That's Green", and "Suddenly, Seymour", Grammy and Academy Award-winning duo Howard Ashman and Alan Menken’s (Disney's Beauty and the Beast) Little Shop of Horrors will satisfy your craving for tongue-in-cheek humor, toe-tapping songs, and murderous hijinks! Tucson: Dec. 5-26; Phoenix: Jan. 8-31 2021.
how to make an American Son by christopher oscar peña, directed by Kimberly Senior in a co-production with The Rattlestick Playwrights Theater. The world premiere ofa moving new play about the complexities of privilege, citizenship, and the most complex relationship of all: family. Senior directed Disgraced on Broadway when it won the Pulitzer Prize. A “Model Immigrant” and business mogul, Honduran born Mando’s cleaning empire is bracing for a downturn and he must rein in his over-privileged American son Orlando. In the wake of a personal crisis, Orlando suddenly finds himself responsible for the fate of a treasured undocumented worker and the future of his father’s entire enterprise. The show will go directly from its world premiere to to play Off-Broadway. Tucson: Jan. 23-Feb. 13, 2021; Phoenix: Feb. 18-March 7.
Pru Payne by Steven Drukman, directed by Sean Daniels. The world premiere of a life-affirming story of love, (memory) loss, and how we deal with it all.Pru Payne explores love and family by hilariously and heartrendingly asking: what’s the best way for any of us to be remembered, and what’s love got to do with it? Tucson: March 13-April 3; Phoenix: April 8-25.
Nina Simone: Four Women by Christina Ham, directed by Tiffany Nicole Greene. A face-to-face musical evening with the fiery genius.Nina Simone rocked the nation with “Four Women,” her tribute in song to the four little girls lost in the tragic 1963 bombing by the Klu Klux Klan at the 16thStreet Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. Nina Simone: Four Women imagines a conversation, often through music, between Simone and three African-American women from varied walks-of-life. Director Greene is the current Resident Director on Broadway’s Hamilton. Tucson: April 24-May 15; Phoenix: May 20-June 6.
PARTNERSHIPS
With full details to be announced in the weeks ahead, here is a brief look at what to expect in 2020/2021.
•BMG: which is the world’s fourth-largest music company and the first new global player in the recording business in decades. ATC Artistic Director Sean Daniels and Elyse Cogan, Director, Theatrical of BMG, are excited to announce a groundbreaking partnership to begin creating, workshopping and producing new musicals using today’s top theater artists and BMG musical artists. This is the first known partnership of its kind.
• University of Arizona: to produce the “hilarious and dizzyingly fun” Hot Pink by Joanie Drago and directed by Veronika Duerr.
• ASU/Gammage. Project to be announced.
• Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts: workshop of “Froggy” by Jen Haley, directed Matt Morrow.
• Stray Cat Theatre: the world premiere of Bleeding Hearts by Steve Yockey (Mercury, Wolves, Pluto, Octopus), directed by Daniels and starring Veronika Duerr, the stunning lead from this season’s production of Silent Sky.
• Southwest Shakespeare: a reading series focusing on new work created from classic texts.
• Tom Kirdahy Productions: details to be announced soon.
• Winding Road Theatre Ensemble: a reading series focused on new work using artists from ATC and Winding Road Theatre Ensemble.
• Playwrights’ Center in Minneapolis: providing year-long dramaturgical support as we launch these new work efforts.
MUSICAL THEATRE WORKSHOP SERIES
The following shows will be workshopped throughout the 2020/2021 season and open to subscribers and donors.
• ‘Sueños’ by Jessie Sanchez
• Jeanette by Lauren Gunderson and Ari Afsar, Directed by Erin Ortman
• ‘Untitled But Sure To Be Awesomely Titled 70’s FM Radio jukebox lovefest- get ready’ by Chris D’Arienzo (Rock of Ages), directed by Sean Daniels
More shows will be announced at a later date.
Season-ticket packages for ATC’s Six Main Stage Season are available for renewing subscribers now. Renewing Subscribers will also have exclusive access to those new co-productions and events.
New subscriptions will be available for sale starting on sale April 1. Single tickets will be available for purchase later this year. For information, visit www.arizonatheatre.org.
To see a video of Artistic Director Sean Daniels talking about the season, visit https://youtu.be/dPPAjhDBqc4.
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