At a time when theatres are dark, Arizona Theatre Company’s creative light is shining brighter than ever. Pivoting to adapt to and address the new normal, ATC has designed a diverse, multi-layered approach to the 2020-2021 season, offering a robust array of imaginative opportunities to stay connected with and entertain audiences in Arizona and across the nation and leading to a safe return to Mainstage productions in January 2021.
Current plans call for a six-show season that kicks off in January and continues through November 2021. Six-show subscribers will receive tickets for all six shows once dates are set, and all Mainstage plays will have a professional three-camera shoot on Opening Night. Any subscriber who feels unsafe in attending during the run will be sent a link to watch the taped production.
In the coming months, ATC is presenting a series of digital content, virtual workshops and outdoor musical offerings. From hearing a new musical in an out-of-doors concert hall to holiday music in a garden, ATC is partnering to provide events that audiences can enjoy throughout the Fall.
Along with online projects like Hang & Focus Live, a weekly Facebook Live show and podcast that engages the community in topics of current relevance, ATC this week is launching an expanded series of digital plays, readings, monologues and podcasts including virtual co-productions with six theatre companies and top creative minds.
This week, ATC is partnering with The 24-Hour Plays, a national project pairing playwrights and actors to create monologues in 24 hours, This is the first time the program has focused on a single state and is focusing on 28 playwrights and actors from Arizona.
Among the collaborators of ATC’s digital season are America’s most-produced living playwright Lauren Gunderson, Latinx Playwriting Award winner Benjamin Breene, Tucson playwright Monica Bauer and the Mariachi stylings of Brian Quijada. With a focus on Arizona, ATC is starting a project to tell the true story of Arizona’s great statesman, Senator John McCain.
“Arizona Theatre Company is committed to producing world-class theatre and sharing stories in multiple ways,” said Artistic Director Sean Daniels. “Even during these unprecedented times, we haven’t stopped working to bring top-quality theatre and stay connected to our community wherever they may call home. We’re constantly looking at how we redefine the role of a theatre company and how we can consistently engage and reflect the community in what we produce and present.”
“In all that we do, we are ensuring that we’re able to return in a healthy way,” he added.
The first round of ATC’s Digital Season will feature The Heath by Lauren Gunderson and directed by Daniels; Alma by Benjamin Benne (Latinx Playwrighting Award) and directed by Catherine María Rodríguez; Walk Into The Sea by ATC Playwright-in-Residence Elaine Romero and directed by Melissa Crespo; Somewhere Over The Border by Brian Quijada, coproduced with Teatro Vista; The 24 Hour Plays: Arizona Special Edition, Mark Armstrong, Artistic Director; Covenant by York Walker and directed by Tamilla Woodard; Vivian’s Music: 1969 by Monica Bauer; Road To The Pacific: The Story of Lewis and Clark, a series of five 20-minute radio play podcast episodes coproduced with Dad’s Garage Theatre Company; Maverick: The John McCain Project; The christopher oscar peña project, coproduced with the Orchard Project; Coronalogues,created and curated by ATC Associate Artistic Director Chanel Bragg; Forensics by Reggie White and Gunderson; The Realness by Idris Goodwin and directed by Wendy Goldberg; Slow Food by Wendy MacLeod; The Making of a Great Moment by Peter Nachtrieb, in association with Z Space in San Francisco; and the previously announced co-development of Tampa with Florida Studio Theatre.
“Looking ahead to 2021, we plan to return to live theatre when it’s safe,” said ATC Managing Director Geri Wright. “We are applying strict CDC-driven guidelines and direction to ensure the safety and protection of patrons, actors, staff and volunteers. We are eager to look out onto the faces in our audiences and share the remarkable ATC live-theatre experience again.”
Plans are to open Daniels’ first fully chosen Main Stage lineup in January, with shows to be presented throughout the spring and summer, a time when ATC has traditionally been dark, and ending in November. All shows will offer a video option for any ticket holders who aren’t able to be in the theatre when shows are performed.
The 54th Main Stage Season lineup, beginning in January, includes:
My 80 Year Old Boyfriend, directed by Daniels and created by Charissa Bertels, Christian Duhamel and Ed Bell; Pru Payne by Steven Drukman, directed by Daniels; and a face-to-face musical evening with Nina Simone: Four Women by Christina Ham, directed by Tiffany Nichole Greene.
Arizona Theatre Company will present two plays in Summer 2021: Women in Jeopardy! by Wendy MacLeod and how to make an American Son by christopher oscar peña and directed by Kimberly Senior in a co-production with The Rattlestick Playwrights Theater. Matthew Lopez’s The Legend of Georgia McBride, directed by Meredith McDonough will be on-stage in Fall 2021. Specific show dates will be forthcoming.
Current plans call for a mini-season that will run from November/December 2021 through late spring 2022, kicking off with Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley, directed by Melissa Crespo.
Subscriptions to ATC’s 6 Main Stage Season are currently on sale. Single tickets will be available for purchase later this year.
“We couldn’t be more inspired by all the subscribers and theatre-goers who are by our side and supporting us during this unprecedented time,” Daniels said. “Together, we will bring theatre back on stage even stronger than ever.”
For more information, visit www.arizonatheatre.org.
MY 80 YEAR OLD BOYFRIEND
Created By Charissa Bertels, Christian Duhamel, & Ed Bell
Dates to be announced
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.
PRU PAYNE
By Steven Drukman
Directed by Sean Daniels
Dates to be announced.
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?
“Drukman’s characters are maddening and lovable, and you just want to spend more time with them.” – American Theatre Magazine
NINA SIMONE: FOUR WOMEN
By Christina Ham
Directed by Tiffany Nichole Greene
Dates to be announced
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 of the Ku Klux Klan at the 16th Street 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. Directed by Tiffany Nichole Greene, who is the current Resident Director on Broadway’s Hamilton.
“This is still a remarkable show in many ways – it is totally different from any revue you ever saw and, especially given this fine casting, it catches one of the great thinkers, activists, and musicians of the 20th century as she surely was feeling in that given moment in time.” – Chicago Tribune
WOMEN IN JEOPARDY!
By WENDY MACLEOD
Dates to be announced
A riotous comedy! Screw the mid-life crisis; let’s solve some crimes! Middle-aged mom Liz has a new man. And let’s face it… he’s just plain creepy. When a mysterious disappearance sets the community on edge, Liz’s best friends leap to the rescue. This is a hilarious comedy about trading in wine glasses for spy glasses when the mid-life crisis just isn’t your speed.
“The laughs in Wendy MacLeod’s play, come fast and furious…It’s all good, silly fun, directed with precise comic timing by the seasoned Sean Daniels… a new work that’s modern, lively, and loads of fun.” – Boston Globe
SHOW SPONSORS:
Tucson Production Sponsor: Shirley Estes
HOW TO MAKE AN AMERICAN SON
By christopher oscar peña
Directed by Kimberly Senior in a co-production with Rattlestick Playwrights Theater
Dates to be announced
A moving new play about the complexities of privilege, citizenship, and the most complex relationship of all: family.
Directed by Kimberly Senior who 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 LEGEND OF GEORGIA MCBRIDE
By MATTHEW LOPEZ
Dates to be announced
A big-hearted, FIERCE, music-filled comedy. A theatrical cornucopia of camp, country music, drag, domestic dilemmas, and larger-than-life divas awaits you! Casey is an Elvis impersonator with everything going for him, including a flashy sequin jumpsuit. But just like that he loses his gig, rent is overdue and his wife announces a baby on the way. So when Elvis leaves the building and a drag show moves in, “The King” transforms into an all-out queen with the help of some new friends who become the second family Casey never saw coming. With snappy zingers and dance-worthy numbers, this wildly entertaining story will challenge your assumptions with extraordinary humor and depth. A valentine to the drag queens who helped mentor the playwright through his own coming out as gay while growing up in Florida, ATC is thrilled to bring you this light and fizzy comedy that’s as sweet as it is hilarious.
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