Tag Archives: Season Announcement

PRESS RELEASE: Baltimore Center Stage Announces 2018/19 Mainstage Season

Posted on by
Reply

FOR RELEASE ON MARCH 8, 2018

Baltimore Center Stage Announces 2018/19 Mainstage Season

Baltimore—March 7, 2018. Baltimore Center Stage is pleased to announce its 2018/19 Mainstage Season, which includes a world premiere and a classic family drama, along with provocative political and social justice stories providing a lens into American life across cultures.

“Our 2018/19 Season is going to be a theater-goers’ theater season, full of the kind of diverse, smart, entertaining and thought-provoking work you have come to expect from Baltimore Center Stage,” said Michael Ross, Baltimore Center Stage Executive Director. “It’s a season of acclaimed hits, voices new and returning, and stunning theatricality. “

Our 56th season kicks off with the sultry American classic, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Award-winning playwright Lauren Yee brings a fresh comedy to the stage with King of the Yees, and Marcus Gardley’s A Wonder in My Soul, updated with a Baltimore setting, will be our holiday production. The season will also feature Paula Vogel’s highly acclaimed play Indecent, and the 2015 Tony Award-winning musical Fun Home. The world premiere of Christina Anderson’s How to Catch Creation will close out the 2018/19 Season.

2018/19 Season

A SULTRY AMERICAN CLASSIC
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
by Tennessee Williams
Sep 13–Oct 14

In this enduring American classic, family ties and layers of lies collide over the course of one simmering Southern summer night. Themes of morality, greed, and desire play across the stage in this explosive drama about what can happen when illusions begin to unravel. Brick, racked with guilt over his best friend’s death, numbs his pain with drink. Maggie, his wife, is determined to win even fleeting attention from her neglectful husband. But when three generations come together to celebrate a birthday—and discuss a will—all of the players start to the crack under the pressure and the heat. How long can tensions build in a house boiling over with uncertainty, secrets, and maybe even love?

HEARTFELT HILARITY BRIDGING GENERATIONS
King of the Yees
By Lauren Yee
Oct 25–Nov 18

Playwright Lauren Yee has always felt like an outsider, especially compared to her father, Larry, the unofficial center of their Chinese American community. When Larry suddenly goes missing, Lauren has to chase through time, space, and the fourth wall itself to find her father, save his story, and chronicle a vanishing piece of American culture. Explore the vivid legacy of one changing Chinatown through the vibrant imagination of a new generation in award-winning playwright Lauren Yee’s smart and cheeky family comedy.

A STORY OF FRIENDSHIP, FAMILY, AND THE HEART OF A NEIGHBORHOOD
A Wonder in My Soul
By Marcus Gardley
Nov 29–Dec 23

In a Baltimore beauty shop, two longtime co-owners and best friends grapple with a major decision. Remain as the anchor of their beloved neighborhood, or relocate under the pressures of gentrification and crime? In dialogue that resonates with everyday poetry, and filled with music both profound and stirring, A Wonder in My Soul looks at the evolution of one family and a whole community through the eyes of two best friends and their lifetime of friendship.

A COMING-OUT MUSICAL, BASED ON A TRUE FAMILY
Fun Home
Jan 17–Feb 24
Music by Jeanine Tesori
Book and lyrics by Lisa Kron
Based on the graphic novel by Alison Bechdel

Welcome to the Bechdel family. But just what family is it? Through the searching eyes of daughter Alison—aged 9, 17, and then 42—we meet her ever-shifting and sometimes unreliable memories of brothers, mother, and above all her repressed father, along with recollections from the family funeral home to Alison’s coming out. Based on Bechdel’s own best-selling illustrated memoir, this poignant tale harnesses every facet of music and theater to explore and unravel the mysteries of childhood and the surprising secrets that shape a life. Winner of the 2015 Tony Award for Best Musical, from the composer of Caroline, or Change and the writer of 2.5 Minute Ride.

WOULD YOU GO TO JAIL FOR WHAT YOU LOVE?
Indecent
By Paula Vogel
Produced in Association with Arena Stage and Kansas City Rep
Feb 28–Mar 31

What is the cost when we sacrifice truth for success? Can radical love be pious, or merely provocative? Does every religion sell God for a price? Follow the true story of a play, a playwright, and a plucky troupe of Yiddish theater artists from 1906 Warsaw to 1923 Broadway, from risky experiment to global sensation—and ultimately shattering scandal. The latest hit from the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright of A Civil War Christmas, The Baltimore Waltz, and How I Learned to Drive, this highly acclaimed and award-winning drama pays homage to artists ahead of their time and doomed to pay the price.

FROM LOVE TO ART AND BACK AGAIN
How to Catch Creation
By Christina Anderson
May 2–26

In the mid-1960s, a young writer’s life turns upside down when her girlfriend drops some unexpected news. Even 50 years later, the reverberations of that moment, and its unexpected consequences, still echo in the intersecting lives of four individuals caught up in a rapidly changing world. This is a bittersweet story of finding and following our passions from Christina Anderson, winner of the Lorraine Hansberry Award. This world-premiere play that explores the universal act of creation—of life, of family, of art—spans space and time to inspire a new generation of makers and lovers.

About Baltimore Center Stage

Baltimore Center Stage is a theater committed to artistic excellence. We engage, enrich, and broaden the perspectives of diverse audiences through entertaining and thought-provoking work and educational programs. Named the State Theater of Maryland in 1978, Baltimore Center Stage has steadily grown as a leader in the national regional theater scene. Under Executive Director Michael Ross, Baltimore Center Stage is committed to creating and presenting a diverse array of world premieres and exhilarating interpretations of established works. Baltimore Center Stage believes in access for all—creating a welcoming environment for everyone who enters its doors and, at the same time, striving to meet audiences where they are. In addition to Mainstage and Third Space productions in the historic Mount Vernon neighborhood, Baltimore Center Stage ignites conversations across Baltimore and beyond through the Mobile Unit, which brings high-quality theater to economically, culturally and geographically diverse communities. The theater also nurtures the next generation of artists and theatergoers through the Young Playwrights Festival, Student Matinee Series, and many other educational programs for students, families, and educators

Everyman Theatre Blends Global Perspectives, Women’s Voices, and Truth-in-Storytelling for Transfixing, Entertaining 2017/18 Season

Posted on by
Reply


Everyman Theatre announces their 2017/18 Season and it’s filled with pieces by award winning authors as well as local folks, as well! Looks like an exciting season!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 21, 2017
 
Lineup Delivers Thought-Provoking Combination of Story and Character
Baltimore, MD – Following up on a successful year accentuated by record-breaking subscribership and trailblazing new work, Everyman Theatre announces the six-play lineup for its 2017/18 Season, celebrating actor-driven storytelling through a lens of global diversity and stories inspired by true-life events.
The season includes acclaimed works from four women playwrights, including the poignant, lauded Intimate Apparel, from two-time Pulitzer winner Lynn Nottage, Lauren Gunderson’s ruckus revisionist comedy, The Revolutionists, set during the Reign of Terror, only the second production of The Book of Joseph, the locally-inspired new play by Karen Hartman, and a co-production of Julia Cho’s deliciously touching drama Aubergine, in association with Olney Theatre Center.
Everyman will also stage two revivals next season, including Eugene O’Neill’s Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning masterpiece, Long Day’s Journey Into Night and, as previously announced, the gripping, Tony Award-winning drama M. Butterfly, by David Henry Hwang.
“Several overlapping themes organically emerged during the course of designing our newest season,” said Founding Artistic Director Vincent M. Lancisi. “From uplifting personal and collective legacies to unexpected truths hidden and discovered, Everyman Theatre’s 27th season gives voice to characters and experiences that are not ordinarily heard. Audiences can expect acting and storytelling of the highest caliber, along with a satisfying, stimulating mix of genres, tones and points of view. These are six amazing works designed to illuminate, startle, and surprise—come early, often, and with friends!”
“Whether it’s bold new work that inspires you, the incredible talent of our Resident Company of actors, or our mantra, ‘great stories, well told,’ Everyman’s newest season delivers on the core strengths that we—and our audiences—hold most dear,” said Managing Director Jonathan K. Waller. “Creating opportunities, experiences, and dialogues around great theatre is why we are here, and, through our mainstage, education and community engagement programs, we are delighted to provide so many ways for audiences to join along.”
Everyman Theatre 2017/18 Season:
M. Butterfly
By David Henry Hwang
Directed by Vincent M. Lancisi
September 6 – October 8, 2017
East meets west. Fact meets fiction. Illusion meets reality. When a powerful French diplomat becomes enchanted with a divine Peking opera star, little can quell the thirst of their intoxicating desire—but this diva is hiding more than her true identity. Celebrating its 30th anniversary this season, David Henry Hwang’s torrid and timeless Tony Award-winning M. Butterfly brings hide-and-seek to the stage in a gripping fable that proves the allure of fantasy and the power of obsession are a recipe for betrayal.
Intimate Apparel
By Lynn Nottage
October 18 – November 19, 2017
Wearing her heart on her sleeve while sewing intimates for her clientele, Esther is the talented African American seamstress in turn-of-the-century New York who has built a savings for herself making beautiful undergarments—while earnestly daydreaming of new beginnings, romantic possibilities, and the lingering affection she shares with a Jewish fabric merchant. But when an egregious deception cuts short heartfelt desires, can class, culture and circumstance outmatch the strength of human spirit? Inspired by a true story, Intimate Apparel is a heart-rending contemporary work in the style of an enduring classic—from the first female playwright to win two Pulitzers.
The Revolutionists
By Lauren Gunderson
December 6, 2017 – January 7, 2018
East Coast Premiere
Greetings from the French Revolution—where heads will roll. When you put former queen Marie Antoinette, assassin Charlotte Corday, playwright Olympe de Gouges, and Caribbean spy Marianne Angelle in a room together, literally ANYTHING can happen—especially big laughs! France’s fight for equality and freedom propels itself to modern times with this bold, brave and blisteringly funny new work about feminism, legacy and standing up for one’s beliefs. Who runs the world? The jury’s still out, but these girls sure as hell changed it.
Long Day’s Journey Into Night
By Eugene O’Neill
Directed by Donald Hicken
January 31 – March 4, 2018
What begins as an ordinary summer day at the Connecticut home of the Tyrone family morphs into a night filled with foggy, drink-laced demons where long-buried secrets are revealed – and once exposed cannot be ignored. A long-revered showcase for tour-de-force performances, Eugene O’Neill’s Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning masterpiece (published posthumously) lays bare what we all know to be true: the ardor of familial love cannot always protect you. Long Day’s Journey Into Night is an autobiographical insight into its late, legendary playwright – and a compassionately brutal look at one family’s struggle to fight for and love itself.
Aubergine
By Julia Cho
Directed by Vincent M. Lancisi
Produced in association with Olney Theatre Center
March 14 – April 15, 2018
Mid-Atlantic Premiere
When words fail, a home-cooked meal transcends differences in this touching story of intergenerational connectedness, forgiveness and the sweetest spice of life: love. As a Korean family struggles to relate across emotional and cultural divides, it’s the ingredients they share in common that lead to understanding. A perceptive and lyrical exploration of the act of cooking as a form of expression,Aubergine is a mouthwatering meditation on the beauty of life where hope is no mere ingredient—it’s the main course.
The Book of Joseph
By Karen Hartman – Based on the life of Joseph A. Hollander and his family
Directed by Noah Himmelstein
May 9 – June 10, 2018
East Coast Premiere
Like so many great mysteries, it all began in an attic with a dusty old suitcase… The discovery of a stash of letters stamped with Swastikas opens clues to an untold family history spanning multiple generations in The Book of Joseph—the gripping true story of resilience and truth-tracking determination spanning Baltimore and beyond. Richard Hollander’s book, Every Day Lasts a Year: A Jewish Family’s Correspondence from Poland, is brought to the stage in this mesmerizing new adaptation that restores a family’s uncharted legacy—celebrated by revelation and remembrance.
Tickets:
Subscriptions ($90-305) are now available for the 2017/18 season. Current subscribers must renew their subscriptions by June 18, 2017 in order to retain selected seats. New subscription orders will be accepted starting July 1, 2017. Single tickets go on sale August 1, 2017.
As part of Everyman’s ongoing commitment for making theatre affordable and accessible to a wide audience, new for the 2017/18 season is an expansion of the popular “Check Us Out” subscription package (available exclusively to new subscribers) which includes either Tuesday evening or firstSunday evening performances for all shows, for $100 or less.
Find more information, pricing and buy tickets online (www.everymantheatre.org), by phone(410.752.2208), or at the Everyman Theatre Box Office (315 W. Fayette Street, Baltimore, MD 21201).
About Everyman Theatre:
Everyman Theatre is a professional Equity theatre company celebrating the actor, with a Resident Company of artists from the Baltimore/DC area. Founded in 1990 by Vincent M. Lancisi, the theatre is dedicated to engaging the audience through a shared experience between actor and audience seeking connection and emotional truth in performance. Everyman is committed to presenting high quality plays that are affordable and accessible to everyone. The theatre strives to engage, inspire and transform artists, audiences and community through theatre of the highest artistic standards and is committed to embodying the promise of its name, Everyman Theatre.
MSAC provides financial support and technical assistance to non-profit organizations, units of government, colleges and universities for arts activities. Funding for the Maryland State Arts Council is also provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.
Everyman Theatre is a proud member of the Bromo Tower Arts and Entertainment District and the Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance.
Vincent M. Lancisi is the Founding Artistic Director of Everyman Theatre; Jonathan K. Waller is the Managing Director. For information about Everyman Theatre, visit www.everymantheatre.org.

Baltimore Center Stage Announces 2017/18 Mainstage Season

Posted on by
Reply


Baltimore Center Stage recently had it’s grand re-opening and it looks like their back with GUSTO! Check out the 2017/18 Season for the Mainstage! Hope to see you out at some of the shows!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Baltimore—April 19, 2017. Baltimore Center Stage is pleased to announce its 2017/18 Mainstage Season, which includes productions that focus on faith, love, family, the state of the nation, revolution, and a to-be-announced world premiere play with music. This marks the theater’s first full season back in its newly renovated home on Calvert Street.
“Art at its best, for me, is a metaphor on the human condition, and that is what we think about as we choose our plays,” said Artistic Director Kwame Kwei-Armah. “I’m thrilled to present our spectacular next season line up for our Mainstage series. And I’m excited to say we’ll announce our full list of programming soon, including Third Space and Mobile Unit productions. From our renovated building, which is intended to make everyone who enters feel welcome, to our diverse season of plays, we’re continuing our mission of access for all.”
 
2017/18 Season
 
The Christians
By Lucas Hnath
Directed by Hana S. Sharif
Sept. 7–Oct. 8, 2017
Does absolute tolerance require tolerance of the intolerant? Can a divided head find a way to lead? When the stakes are eternity, what happens if your pastor is wrong? These are the questions that arise in a present-day American megachurch in The Christians, a new play about the seemingly insurmountable distance that exists when people of the same religion hold different beliefs. Stunning in its theatricality, this production will feature multiple choirs from area churches. Prescient in its investigation of the commercialization of religion, this play spotlights the sensitive and challenging obstacles of all successful organizations.
 
Shakespeare in Love
Based on the screenplay by Marc Norman & Tom Stoppard
Adapted for the stage by Lee Hall
Directed by Blake Robison
Oct. 19–Nov. 26, 2017
“Shall I compare thee to a something something… mummers play?” And so begins one of Shakespeare’s most famous sonnets, and this charming story of love, inspiration, muses, and art, based on the Oscar-winning film. This smart and poignant tale offers a smattering of allusions that will delight anyone familiar with the Bard—or simply the English language. This story is as crowd-pleasing as mistaken identities, a shipwreck, and love triumphant, and is set in a time when a Londoner could still utter the words: “Shakespeare? Never heard of him.” A great play for the entire family.
 
Lookingglass Alice
Adapted by David Catlin from the works of Lewis Carroll
Directed by Jeremy B. Cohen
Nov. 30–Dec. 31, 2017
Fall down the rabbit hole with Alice and a cast of characters as wild as whimsy and wicked as royalty. If you’re curiouser about the other side, David Catlin’s adapted tale will send you into a tailspin of queens and pawns, riddles and mind games, madness and tea parties. Our holiday season offering is perfect for the entire family, and children of all ages will delight in this wonderful world. Families can come together to build a theatergoing tradition and enjoy the spectacular realm created from author Lewis Carroll’s legendary imagination. Join us down the rabbit hole.
 
Skeleton Crew
By Dominique Morisseau
Directed by Nicole A. Watson
Feb. 1-Mar. 11, 2018
Part of the Women’s Voices Theater Festival
From the playwright of Detroit ’67, Skeleton Crew (the third play in Dominique Morisseau’s acclaimed Detroit trilogy) tells the story of four workers at the last exporting auto plant in Detroit struggling to survive as their way of life disappears. Set around 2008, this play vividly portrays the modern struggle in a changing America, and reveals the real people on the factory line. This skeleton crew—the bare minimum number of staff needed to function—is made up of people who keep the vital operations of the plant running in the face of obstacles, rumors, and, eventually, the confirmation of their worst fears. Loyalties are tested and boundaries are crossed as this vibrant team of loyal and proud workers navigate an uncertain future.
 
George Orwell’s Animal Farm
Adapted by Ian Woolridge
Directed by May Adrales
Mar. 1–Apr. 1, 2018
One day on Manor Farm, shortly before his death, an old boar named Major told the other animals about his dream. United by the realization that all animals have a common enemy—man—the animals revolted against the tyranny of forced work. They fought and gained their freedom and established a system of thought, Animalism, based on the wise words of the Major. All animals are comrades. All animals are equal. But as months and years pass, the exalted words of the Major become distorted, and the citizens of Animal Farm come to see that some animals are more equal than others.
 
To Be Announced
Written and directed by Kwame Kwei-Armah
May 10–June 17, 2018
Baltimore Center Stage is finalizing details on a major new project that will be an extraordinary finale to the 2017/18 Season. Like Marley, this play by Artistic Director Kwame Kwei-Armah is still being finalized and is not quite ready to be announced with the rest of the season.
For more information, or to purchase a 2017/18 Season Membership, please call the Box Office at 410.332.0033 or visit centerstage.org.
Baltimore Center Stage is supported by a grant from the Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC), an agency dedicated to cultivating a vibrant cultural community where the arts thrive. An agency of the Department of Business and Economic Development, the MSAC provides financial support and technical assistance to nonprofit organizations, units of government, colleges and universities for arts activities. Funding for the MSAC is also provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency, and the Baltimore County Commission on Arts and Sciences. Baltimore Center Stage’s 2017/18 Season is made possible by The Shubert Foundation and the Baltimore County Commission on Arts and Sciences.
 About Baltimore Center Stage
Baltimore Center Stage is a professional, nonprofit institution committed to entertaining, engaging and enriching audiences through bold, innovative and thought-provoking classical and contemporary theater.
Named the State Theater of Maryland in 1978, Baltimore Center Stage has steadily grown as a leader in the national regional theater scene. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Kwame Kwei-Armah OBE and Managing Director Michael Ross, Baltimore Center Stage is committed to creating and presenting a diverse array of world premieres and exhilarating interpretations of established works.
Baltimore Center Stage believes in access for all—creating a welcoming environment for everyone who enters its theater doors and, at the same time, striving to meet audiences where they are. In addition to its Mainstage, Off Center and Family Series productions in the historic Mount Vernon neighborhood, Baltimore Center Stage ignites conversations among a global audience through digital initiatives, which explore how technology and the arts intersect. The theater also nurtures the next generation of artists and theater-goers through the Young Playwrights Festival, Student Matinee Series and many other educational programs for students, families and professionals.