Arizona Theatre Company (ATC) will bring live theatre back to the Temple of Music & Art in Tucson in January and the Herberger Theater Center in Phoenix in February – albeit to limited audiences – with an entertaining and engaging six-show Mainstage Season chosen by Artistic Director Sean Daniels.
In addition to live theatre, ATC will release an exclusive limited-time broadcast of each performance for ticket holders uncomfortable returning to the theatre to view at home. Exclusive show broadcasts will be shot on opening night with three cameras and will be produced for at-home viewing. Audiences for live performances will be limited to approximately 25 percent of theatre capacity, and shows will be held under strict Arizona Department of Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID-protection guidelines.
“With in-home viewing and extensive new safety protocols in our theatres, we’re most likely to be the safest venue in town,” said ATC Artistic Director Sean Daniels. “As the State Theatre, we’re determined to make sure Arizona continues to be a leader in the national cultural conversation. With Broadway closed until at least next summer, it’s a time for the nation’s focus to be on the great regional theaters that make up the vast majority of theatre created in our country.”
He continues, “With a new musical about RBG and Arizona’s beloved Sandra Day O’Connor by America’s most produced playwright, Arizona Theatre Company is primed to make Arizona the theatrical center of the country.”
Because ATC is a member of the League of Resident Theatres, they must adhere to state and city guidelines as well as receive approval from professional unions, notes Geri Wright, managing director of ATC.
“We are committed to doing everything we can to meet the expectations of our patrons, donors and communities, and we are equally committed to safety and prevention,” Wright said.
Among the steps being taken to ensure comfort and safety:
• Adjustments have been made to ensure socially distanced seating to meet health guidelines, resulting in 25% capacity in the theatres.
• Masks will be required for all audiences.
• Improved air filtration systems will be in place.
• Additional sanitation and safety protocols.
• Additional matinees.
The season opens with ATC Artistic Director Daniels directing the delightful award-winning musical about the magic that happens when we let ourselves say, “yes,” My 80-Year-Old Boyfriend, created by Charissa Bertels, Christian Duhamel and Edward Bell, will run Jan. 23-Feb. 13 in Tucson and Feb. 18-March 7 in Phoenix.
Daniels also will direct the second show of the season, a new musical about Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sandra Day O’Connor, the first two women to serve on the United States Supreme Court, Justice A Musical. Written by Lauren Gunderson, one of America’s most produced playwrights with a growing partnership with Arizona Theatre Company, and with music and lyrics by Brian Lowdermilk and Kate Kerrigan, Justice A Musical will be staged March 13 to April 3 in Tucson and April 8-25 in Phoenix.
Justice will be followed by:
• Nina Simone: Four Women, a face-to-face musical evening with the fiery genius that is a tribute to the four little girls lost in the tragic 1963 Ku Klux Klan bombing at the 16thStreet Baptist Church in Alabama. Written by Christina Ham, directed by Tiffany Nicole Greene. April 24-May 15 in Tucson, May 20-June 6 in Phoenix.
• Women in Jeopardy!, Wendy MacLeod’s riotous comedy about trading in wine glasses for spy glasses when the mid-life crisis just isn’t your speed. Directed by Daniels, the show will be in Tucson June 5-26 and in Phoenix July 1-8.
• how to make an american son, by ATC Artistic Associate christopher oscar peña, directed by Kimberly Senior, a co-production with Rattlestick Playwrights Theater. A moving new play about the complexities of privilege, citizenship and the most complex relationship of all: family, how to make an american son will be in Tucson July 17-August 7 and in Phoenix Aug. 12-29.
• The Legend of Georgia McBride, written by Matthew Lopez and directed by Meredith McDonough. A big-hearted, fierce, music-filled comic cornucopia of camp, country music, drag, domestic dilemmas and larger-than-life divas, The Legend of Georgia McBride will be in Tucson Sept. 25-Oct. 16 and in Phoenix Oct. 21-Nov. 7.
“In the coming weeks, we will be reaching out to our subscribers to determine if they want to attend in-person or prefer to watch at home so we can accommodate their wishes,” Wright said. “Our team is eager to get back to the theatre, to see the faces of our audiences and to share the magic of live theatre together.”
Flexible Star Packages for the full six-play season are available at www.arizonatheatre.org. Additional packages and single tickets will be released as seating is available.
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