Syracuse Stage Announces 2010/2011 Season: Broadway Standouts, American Classics, and New American Voices
(Syracuse, NY)–Syracuse Stage is pleased to announce the 2010/2011 season, offering the world’s greatest suspense writer with the Tony Award-winning “The 39 Steps,” the beloved holiday classic “A Christmas Story,” the landmark Pulitzer-Prize winning musical “RENT,” August Wilson’s lyrical and rousing “Radio Golf,” the inspirational story of Helen Keller in “The Miracle Worker,” and the healing power of a perfect joke in “The Clean House.”
“The 2010-11 season continues the success, excitement, and imagination of the current season,” said Producing Artistic Director Timothy Bond. “As I get to know the community, I recognize how integral Syracuse Stage is to the cultural richness of our region, and I take great pride in bringing our country’s leading theatre artists to our hometown stage. From Broadway standouts to American classics to vibrant new American voices, the new season promises rewarding and fulfilling theatre for your enjoyment.”
Season subscriptions: Several Six-Play Subscription Packages are available and range in price from $96-$264. Ages 40 and younger: $120. Ages 18 and younger: $96. Discounts for seniors are available for the matinees and weekday evening series. Special series and events are available with select packages for no additional fee. Six-Play Subscription Packages are now available at the Syracuse Stage Box Office, 315-443-3275 or in person at 820 East Genesee Street. Hours: Monday – Friday, 10 a.m. — 6 p.m.
SEASON OVERVIEW
Alfred Hitchcock’s “The 39 Steps”
October 20 — November 7
Adapted by Patrick Barlow
Directed by Peter Amster
“Absurdly enjoyable! This gleefully theatrical riff on Hitchcock’s film is fast and frothy, performed by a cast of four that seems like a cast of thousands.” — The New York Times
Gunshots, murder, and dastardly plots; seductive spies, thrilling chases and serious flirtation; they’re all part of this rollicking comedy/mystery and Broadway hit. Based on the 1935 classic film by Alfred Hitchcock, The 39 Steps follows Richard Hannay as he sets out for a night of music hall entertainment only to be ensnared in a dangerous attempt to smuggle top-secret information out of the country. Four actors and ingenious and inventive staging prove that anything movies can do, theatre can do more hilariously.
“The 39 Steps” premiered in London in 2006, won a 2007 Laurence Olivier Award in 2007 for Best New Comedy, and won two Tony Awards when it transferred to Broadway in 2008. Now playing off-Broadway at the New World Stages, the play features four actors performing 150 different roles. “The 39 Steps” is a co-production with The Cleveland Playhouse.
“A Christmas Story”
November 30 — December 30
Based on the motion picture by Jean Shepherd, Leigh Brown and Bob Clark
Adapted by Philip Grecian
Directed by Seth Gordon
“You’ll shoot your eye out with laughter.” — StarkSilverCreek.com
A smoking furnace, a bully named Farkus, a pack of thieving-baying hounds, a dingblang-fuzzle-whizzin-mouthed old man, a prized leg lamp that’s more leg than lamp–and a bunny suit: Is this the stuff of Christmas? It is for Ralphie, and all he really wants is a legendary official Red Ryder 200-Shot Carbine Action Range Model Air Rifle with a compass and this thing which tells time built right into the stock. Brighten the holidays with this hilarious and critically acclaimed stage adaptation of Jean Shepherd’s wry and witty tale of a special Christmas past and journey back to a time when we all had less and it felt like more.
The film “A Christmas Story” opened in theatres in 1983, and has since become an American classic. Since 1997, the movie has been shown on television every year on Christmas Eve into Christmas Day in a 24-hour marathon. Based on a series of short stories by Jean Shepherd, the film was adapted into a stage play in 2000 by Philip Grecian, which has enjoyed successful runs in every corner of the United States and parts of Canada. Seth Gordon directs in Syracuse, after directing the highly praised and well received world premiere at The Cleveland Playhouse.
“A Christmas Story” at Syracuse Stage will require casting local children in key roles; casting information will be announced later this year.
“RENT”
A Co-Production between Syracuse Stage and Syracuse University’s Department of Drama
January 18 — February 13
By Jonathan Larson
Directed and Choreographed by Anthony Salatino
“What makes Rent so wonderful is its extraordinary spirit of hopeful defiance and humanity.” – The New York Times
Jonathan Larson’s Broadway phenomenon ignites the stage with passion and energy. One year–525,600 minutes–in the lives of seven young friends from Alphabet City brings love, loss, tragedy and triumph in a whirl of non-stop music. Larson built the show on the artists and addicts he knew in his neighborhood as they battled poverty, drugs, AIDS and the looming gentrification of their Vie Boh me. Urban and gritty, this Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical brims with raw emotion and infectious enthusiasm.
Based on Puccini’s “La Boheme,” “Rent” opened off-Broadway in January 1996 to wide critical acclaim. It quickly moved to its Broadway home, the Nederlander Theatre, where it ran for 12 years, becoming the eighth longest running Broadway musical in history. “Rent” won the 1996 Pulitzer Prize for drama and was nominated for ten Tony Awards, winning four, including Best Musical and Best Original Score. The rock musical was adapted into a 2005 feature film directed by Chris Columbus starring most of the original cast, including SU Drama alumnus Taye Diggs ’93, Idina Menzel, and Adam Pascal. “Rent”‘s composer, lyricist and scribe Jonathan Larson died suddenly of an aortic aneurism just before previews began off-Broadway, a testament to Larson’s message that there is “no day but today.”
August Wilson’s “Radio Golf”
February 23 — March 13
Directed by Timothy Bond
“Gorgeous writing with a big heart. Not only is this Wilson’s most contemporary work, it is also his most accessible and most unambiguously political–an urgent call to remember what the 20th century has done to these people and their community.” — Newsday
How do we move forward without leaving behind difficult but defining aspects of our past? A powerful and timely drama from the most celebrated American playwright of this generation, “Radio Golf” tells the story of a man striving to become the first African American mayor of Pittsburgh. He’s forced to weigh the importance of family, legacy, heritage and history against the truth of his political and class ambitions.
Moving, funny, lyrical and rousing, “Radio Golf” is the inspiring final play of August Wilson’s monumental, ten-play 20th Century Cycle and career, “Radio Golf” is the final installment in August Wilson’s 10-play 20th Century Cycle, chronicling the African American experience during each decade of the 20th Century. “Radio Golf” received four 2007 Tony nominations, including Best Play, and won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best American Play.
With “Radio Golf,” Stage’s Producing Artistic Director Timothy Bond continues his commitment to produce Wilson’s 10-play cycle. Past Wilson productions at Syracuse Stage include “Fences” (2010), “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” (2008), “Gem of the Ocean” (2007), “Jitney” (2002), “The Piano Lesson” (1996), and “Fences” (1991). Wilson’s cycle (in order of decade which the drama is set) includes “Gem of the Ocean,” “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone,” “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” “The Piano Lesson,” “Seven Guitars,” “Fences,” “Two Trains Running,” J”itney,” “King Hedley II” and “Radio Golf.” “Radio Golf” is a co-production with Geva Theatre Center of Rochester, NY.
“The Miracle Worker”
March 23 — April 23
By William Gibson
Directed by Paul Barnes
“A stirring piece of theatrical storytelling.” — The Wall Street Journal
“Once I knew only darkness and stillness… my life was without past or future… but a little word from the fingers of another fell into my hand that clutched at emptiness, and my heart leaped to the rapture of living.” In her own words, Helen Keller captures the inspirational heart of William Gibson’s classic American play. Between the emptiness and the rapture, though, came a fierce struggle of wills, with Helen, in her darkness and stillness, on one side, and the determined Annie Sullivan on the other, a young woman who had endured a lifetime of pain in just twenty years. Gibson’s text is unsparing and unflinching in its depiction of their confrontation and mutual triumph. The hearts leaping will be ours.
Set in the American South in the 1880s, “The Miracle Worker” tells the story of real-life Medal of Freedom winner Helen Keller, who suddenly lost her sight and hearing at the age of 19 months, and the extraordinary teacher who taught her to communicate with the world, Annie Sullivan. The 1960 Broadway premiere won four Tony Awards including Best Play, and starred Patty Duke as Helen Keller and Anne Bancroft as Annie Sullivan.
“The Miracle Worker” at Syracuse Stage will require casting local children in key roles; casting information will be announced later this year.
“The Clean House”
May 4 – 22
By Sarah Ruhl
Directed by Michael Barakiva
“One of the finest and funniest new plays you’re likely to see in New York this season.” — The New York Times
Matilde (pronounced Ma-chil-gee) has a problem: she’s a cleaning lady who doesn’t like to clean. She’d rather think up the perfect joke. Now that her parents (once the funniest people in Brazil) are dead–her mother died laughing–she is the funniest person in her family. Mathilde works for a doctor named Lane, who has a problem: Lane’s husband Charles, a surgeon, has found his soul mate, and it’s not Lane. It’s Ana, a vibrant Argentinean woman, who is dying, and that is Charles’s problem. Sarah Ruhl is an exceptional playwright and MacArthur Foundation Fellow whose work has garnered Pulitzer nominations and justified recognition from Broadway to theatres across the country. “The Clean House” is one of her best, a compassionate, theatrically bold, and emotionally rich comedy. The perfect joke is worth the wait.
“The Clean House” won the 2004 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, awarded annually to the best English-language play written by a woman, and was a Pulitzer Prize finalist. At the end of 2006, Entertainment Weekly magazine named the New York production one of the top ten theatrical attractions of the year.
SIX-PLAY SUBSCRIPTION PACKAGES RANGE $96-$264
Opening Night: $150-$264
Fri and Sat Evenings: $150-$246
Matinees–Sat, Sun, Wed: $150-$234
Weekday Evenings–Tues, Wed, Thur: $150-$198
Wed & Thur Preview: $120-$156
Age 40 and under: $120
Age 18 and under: $96
*Discounts for seniors are available for the matinees and weekday evening series.
*Special series and events are available with select packages for no additional fee.
HOW TO SUBSCRIBE
Season subscriptions are available at the Syracuse Stage Box Office, 315-443-3275 or in person at 820 East Genesee Street. Hours: Monday – Friday, 10 a.m. — 6 p.m.
Discounts for seniors are available for the matinees and weekday evening series.
Special Series and Events are available with select packages for no additional fee.
BENEFITS TO SUBSCRIBING
Extra $48 value . . . One Free Ticket!
Best Seats: the same choice seats for each play.
Best Prices: save over the price of single tickets.
Best Single Ticket Discounts: a discount on additional tickets to share with friends.
Discounts to Area Restaurants
Best Ticket Exchange: no charges for easy exchange by phone, fax, mail or in person.
Best Ticket Replacement Guarantee: insurance should they be lost or stolen.
StageView Newsletter: the insider’s view to what’s happening at Stage.
SPECIAL SUBSCRIPTION SERIES & EVENTS
Prologues — NEW in 2010! — 1 hour before each performance
A free, 20-25 minute, intimate pre-show conversation with a member of the cast held prior to every performance. Starting time: one hour prior to curtain, except Wednesday matinees when patrons may enjoy the Wednesday @ 1 Lecture Series. Get more out of your Syracuse Stage experience. Prologue is supported by the Grandma Brown Foundation.
LGBT Pride Night Series — NEW in 2009! – (Thursday Previews)
Get IN with the OUT crowd – pre-show receptions with food and music.
LIVE in the Sutton Series — NEW in 2009! – (Opening Nights)
Come for the show, stay for the music — post-show parties with food and music.
Actor Talkback Series (Sunday Evenings)
Hundreds of patrons enjoy the Sunday Discussion series immediately after the 7 p.m. performance of each play. This is a comfortable forum where your questions are answered by members of the cast and Stage staff.
Wednesday at 1 Lecture Series (Wednesday Matinees)
A free and informative talk about each play, starting at 1 p.m. before the Wednesday matinee performances.
Signed Interpreted Performance Series (Saturday Matinees)
For every production there is a Saturday matinee performance that is signed for our hearing impaired audience members.
*Special event programs are additionally funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation/The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and administered by Theatre Communications Group, the National Organization for the American Theatre.
SYRACUSE STAGE
Syracuse Stage is Central New York’s premier professional theatre. Founded in 1974, Stage has produced more than 220 plays in 36 seasons including a number of world, American, and East Coast premieres. Each season 90,000 patrons enjoy an adventurous mix of new plays and bold interpretations of classics and musicals featuring the finest theatre artists. In addition, Stage maintains a vital educational outreach program that annually serves over 30,000 students from 24 counties. A solid core of subscribers and supporters helps keep Syracuse Stage a vibrant artistic presence in Central New York. Additional support comes from the government, foundations, corporations and Syracuse University. Syracuse Stage is a constituent of the Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for the American theatre, and a member of the Syracuse Chamber of Commerce, the Arts and Cultural Leadership Alliance (ACLA), the University Hill Corporation and the East Genesee Regent Association. Syracuse Stage is a member of The League of Resident Theatres (LORT), the largest professional theatre association in the country.
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Syracuse Stage I Producing Artistic Director: Timothy Bond I Managing Director: Jeffrey Woodward
820 E. Genesee St. I Main: 315-443-4008 I Box Office: 315-443-3275 I www.syracusestage.org
