EMERGING AMERICA Festival Programming Announced

The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.), Huntington Theatre Company, and the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston announce programming for the third Emerging America.

From June 21 through 24, Emerging America will "bring together some of the country’s most promising performers, writers, companies, and directors for a weekend filled with energy, imagination, creativity, and drama."

Emerging America spans Boston and Cambridge with events happening at all three artistic homes throughout the four-day festival: A.R.T.’s OBERON, 2 Arrow St. Cambridge MA; the Huntington’s Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA, 527 Tremont Street, Boston; and the ICA at 100 Northern Avenue, Boston.  

Weekend passes and individual tickets go on sale Wednesday, February 15, 2012. Ticket prices range from $5 to $25, and packages are available for special discounts and experiences across all three institutions.  For more details and for tickets visit http://www.emergingamericafestival.org.

 

This year's events will include:

 

PIRATES OF PENZANCE

By Gilbert and Sullivan, Directed by Sean Graney, Performed by The Hypocrites

Thursday June 21 at 8pm, Friday June 22 at 10pm, Saturday June 23 at 6pm, and Sunday June 24 at 4pm – A.R.T.’s Oberon

Bringing their sold-out production from their native Chicago, The Hypocrites treat this hilarious musical in an entirely thrilling new way. Treat yourself to an eighty-minute exotic excursion featuring bathing beauties, philosophizing pirates, and grown men in remarkably short shorts! Warning: If you want boring, stay away; this experience will cause immense joy and the compulsion to spontaneously sing along. Come ashore with the “Very Model of A Modern Major General,” the Pirate King, and a banjo-picking Mabel. The show features beach balls, sunshine (the artificial kind), and tons of fun music.

 

THE HOTEL NEPENTHE

Huntington Theatre Company presents the Actors’ Shakespeare Project’s production

Written by John Kuntz, Directed by David R. Gammons

Thursday, June 21 at 7:30 and 10:30pm, Friday, June 22 at 8pm, Saturday, June 23 at 2pm and 8pm, and Sunday, June 24 at 2pm – Huntington Theatre Company’s Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA

Winner of the 2011 Elliot Norton Award for Best New Script. A starlet and her paramour, a senator’s wife and a prostitute, a mother of an abducted child, a bus driver, a taxi dispatcher, a desperate lover — these lives and others intersect in and around the Hotel Nepenthe as mysteries multiply and deepen, and interactions between strangers reveal an unsettling interconnectedness among all. The 2011 Elliot Norton Award-winning ensemble of Marianna Bassham, Daniel Berger-Jones, John Kuntz, and Georgia Lyman reunites for six performances only.

 

STEVE CUIFFO IS LENNY BRUCE

Friday June 22 and Saturday June 23 at 8pm – A.R.T’s OBERON

The celebrated performer Steve Cuiffo has immersed himself in the work of Lenny Bruce, delivering sublime, hyper-real, verbatim resurrections of the great American thinker’s monologues. The New York Times has declared, “Lenny Bruce is brought back from the dead in the form of Mr. Cuiffo,” who will perform a compilation of Bruce “bits” on still-hot topics, including organized religion, race, illegal and prescription drugs, sexual mores, obscenity, and the Constitution. It’s fifty years later, but Bruce’s often prophetic, freedom-loving skewering of American culture is as dazzling, hilarious and insightful as ever.

 

EXPERIMENT AMERICA

Friday, June 22 from 9:30pm to 1am - The Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston

What if your phone could let you in on the secret stories of strangers in the crowd? Immersivetheater artist Mikhael Tara Garver (Fornicated From the Beatles, and the sold-out Experiment America 2010) will collaborate with over fifty writers, dancers, actors, and performers to bring you an evening filled to the brim with music, dancing, and hidden discoveries with unexpected encounters waiting in your pocket and around every corner at the ICA. It’s a dance party, it’s a performance, it’s an experience: it’s Experiment America. 

 

JOIN THE CONVERSATION! BRUNCH

Sunday, June 24 at 12pm — Huntington Theatre Company’s Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA

Enjoy live music and brunch selections and mingle with other festival-goers to talk about the weekend’s adventures and experiences. Exciting performers to be announced.

 

THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE

Sunday, June 24 at 6pm – A.R.T.’s OBERON

By Stickball Productions, Based on the novel by George V. Higgins, Adapted for the stage by Bill Doncaster, directed by Maria Silvaggi

The godfather of badass Boston crime stories comes to life in this stage adaptation of George V. Higgins’ The Friends of Eddie Coyle.  Set in the winter of ’69, Eddie Coyle is a bottom of the barrel hood tried to stay alive and out of jail among his “friends” – bank robbers, student radicals, bartenders, hit men, cops and informants.  The Friends of Eddie Coyle has been called the best crime novel ever written and now Higgins’ dialogue comes alive through live theater in a return to OBERON following its sold out winter run.

 

FESTIVAL CLOSING PARTY

Sunday, June 24th at 8:30 p.m. — A.R.T.’s OBERON  Special guest artists to be announced.

 

And launching soon:

THE EMERGING AMERICA AUDIO PLAYS, PODCASTS, AND WALKING TOURS

A new batch of dynamic free downloads follow the dozens of audio events offered in 2011 and 2010. The Huntington Theatre Company shares site-specific audioplays by Huntington Playwriting Fellows and inspired by locations surrounding each Emerging America partner venue. The A.R.T. and ICA offer podcasts and walking tours from local artists and festival participants. Listen in and explore, investigate, and imagine the lives of places in Boston and Cambridge. More info at http://www.emergingamericafestival.org.

 

ABOUT THE PERFORMERS:

 

Steve Cuiffo (actor/creator – Steve Cuiffo is Lenny Bruce) is an actor and magician who creates solo shows and works collaboratively with a range of artists. He has created original works such as Steve Cuiffo Is Lenny Bruce andThe Amazing Russello Magic Hour. His performing credits include The Wooster Group’s North Atlantic, Radiohole’s Fluke, The Foundry Theatre’s Major Bang and The Roaring Girle, Donald Byrd’s Byrdlesque, and Tea Alagic’s The Filament Cycle.  Steve’s new show, ELEPHANT ROOM, a collaboration with Geoff Sobelle and Trey Lyford, recently premiered in at the Philadelphia Live Arts Festival and Arena Stage in Washington, D.C.

 

Bill Doncaster (Playwright – The Friends of Eddie Coyle) is a former reporter, former Mayor’s spokesman in Somerville and currently works at Lesley University. His short and one act plays have been produced in Boston, Chicago, New York, Florida and Louisiana and he's a two-time winner of the Best Play award from Playwright's Platform. He attended North Adams State College before they changed the name, earned his BFA from Emerson College, and is currently working on his MFA in Creative Writing at Lesley University.  He’s a member of the Dramatists Guild.

 

Sean Graney (Director – Pirates of Penzance) is the Founding Director of The Hypocrites, a company where he was the Artistic Director for 14 years. Sean has directed over 30 productions for The Hypocrites since 1997. He was a participant in the NEA/TCG Career Development Program for Directors. He has won two Joseph Jefferson Citation awards for the Direction of Equus and Machinal. He has directed Edward II (Chicago Shakespeare), The Hairy Ape (EugeneO’Neill Festival at Goodman Theatre), The Comedy of Errors, The Mystery of Irma Vep and What the Butler Saw (Court Theatre), The Complete Works of  William Shakespeare (abridged)and Yankee Tavern (Milwaukee Rep), The Elephant Man (Steppenwolf for Young Audiences), The Hundred Dresses, Hana’s Suitcase, and Honus and Me (Chicago Children’s Theatre). He also has adapted several plays, most recently Sophocles: Seven Sicknesses, an adaptation of all seven surviving texts of Sophocles.

 

Maria Silvaggi (Director – The Friends of Eddie Coyle) has been involved in some form of theater since she was 10 years old and she has spent the last 30 years working in all aspects of theater in Boston and New York.  She is a founding member of StickballProductions.  She majored in theater at North Adams State College and did graduate work at Kent State.

 

The Hypocrites (Originating producers/cast of Pirates of Penzance)

Founded in 1997 by Artistic Director Sean Graney, The Hypocrites are recognized as groundbreakers in the city ofChicago. The company has grown significantly in the past few years, receiving acclaim for The Threepenny Opera at the Garage Space at Steppenwolf, The Hairy Ape produced in association with Goodman Theatre as part of its O’Neill Festival, Oedipus at The Building Stage, Cabaret presented at the DCA Storefront and No Exit at the Athenaeum.  Their smash-hit Chicago production of Our Town, directed by David Cromer, transferred in 2009 to Off-Broadway.

 

Stickball Productions (Originating producers – The Friends of Eddie Coyle)

Stickball Productions, Inc., is a 501(c)(3) non-profit theater company, dedicated to producing compelling stories through live action.  We hope, most of all, to bring people back into the theater who perhaps haven't been in a while.   Movies and books are great -- we love 'em too -- but there's something about experiencing the story live that makes for a great night out.

 

David R. Gammons (Director/Scenic and Costume Design – The Hotel Nepenthe) previously directed and designed The Hotel Nepenthe (2011 Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding Ensemble) for Actors’ Shakespeare Project, where he has also directed and/or designed The Duchess of Malfi, The Tempest, Titus Andronicus (2007 Elliot NortonAward for Outstanding Director), and King Lear. Other directing credits include projects at SpeakEasy Stage Company, Suffolk University’s Modern Theatre, Boston Playwrights Theatre, The New Repertory Theatre, American Repertory Theatre, Brandeis Theatre Company, and The Boston Conservatory. Mr. Gammons is a graduate of both thedirecting program at the A.R.T. Institute for Advanced Theatre Training, and the Visual and Environmental Studies department of Harvard University. He has been director of the theatre program at Concord Academy since 2000, where he has directed productions by Sophocles, Shakespeare, Chekhov, Pirandello, Brecht, and Suzan-Lori Parks, the first high school production of The Laramie Project in February 2001, and eleven original experimental world premieres. davidrgammons.com.

 

John Kuntz (Playwright/Actor- The Hotel Nepenthe) is a founding member of Actors’ Shakespeare Project where he has appeared in The Hotel Nepenthe (2011 Elliot Norton Award winner for Best Ensemble & Best New Script), and ten Shakespeare productions. At the Huntington, he appeared in Betty’s Summer Vacation and was a member of the inaugural cohort of Huntington Playwriting Fellows. He has also appeared in productions at the American Repertory Theatre, Ohio Theatre, Urban Stages, Company One, New Repertory Theatre, The Nora Theatre Company, and The Lyric Stage Company. He is the author of 14 full-length plays including The Superheroine Monologues (co-written with Rick Park), Sing Me to Sleep, Freaks, Starfuckers (Elliot Norton and New York International Fringe Festival Awards), After School Special, My Life with the Kringle Kult, Miss Price, Glitterati, Emerald City, Jasper Lake (Michael Kanin and Paula Vogel National Playwriting Awards), Jump/Rope, Actorz with a Z, and his solo show, TheSalt Girl(2009 Elliot Norton Award for Best New Play.)

 

Actors’ Shakespeare Project (Originating producers – The Hotel Nepenthe)

Founded in 2004, Actors’ Shakespeare Project has produced more than 30 plays at 15 unconventional, “found” venues throughout Greater Boston. At the core of ASP’s work is the Resident Acting Company, a company of actors and teaching artists who approach each play as the centerpiece of a larger community project comprised of a rich set of events, residencies, and outreach programs for both adults and youth that crack the play open in visceral andpersonal ways and make connections between the plays and our lives here andnow.

 

Mikhael Tara Garver (Creator – Experiment America) has worked at the Atlantic Theater, American Repertory Theater, Collaboraction Theater, American Conservatory Theater, The Kitchen, Bard University, Grand Arts Center, New York University, American Theater Company, DePaul University, Timeline Theatre, Court Theatre, The Public Theater and Steppenwolf Theater Company among others. Selected Work: her original Fornicated From the Beatles (A.R.T.); Cloud 9, The Tempest (Atlantic Theater); Gloryana (The Public Theater); The Pool of Bethesda (Midwest Premiere - After Dark Award); Recent Tragic Events (Top ten shows Time Out/Chicago Tribune); and Faith Healer(Jeff Award). Associate director for Sleep No More A.R.T; M.F.A. Honors Columbia University (Heyward Award); National Theater of Scotland’s 2009 Emerging Artists. Artistic Assoc. SITI Company. Artistic Director/Co-founder of former Uma Productions. Artistic Director of the The New Ensemble. She created the2010 Experiment America. www.mikhaeltaragarver.com

 

 

ABOUT THE AMERICAN REPERTORY THEATER (A.R.T.)

The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) is one of the country’s most celebrated theaters and the winner of numerous awards, including the Tony Award, the Pulitzer Prize and Elliot Norton and I.R.N.E. Awards. In May of 2003 it was named one of the top three regional theaters in the country by Time magazine. The A.R.T. was founded by Robert Brustein in 1980, who served as Artistic Director until 2002, when he was succeeded by Robert Woodruff. In 2008, Diane Paulus became the A.R.T.’s Artistic Director. During its 31-year history, the A.R.T. has welcomed manymajor American and international theater artists, presenting a diverse repertoire that includes premieres of American plays, bold reinterpretations of classical texts and provocative new music theater productions. The A.R.T. has performed throughout the U.S. and worldwide in 21 cities in 16 countries onfour continents.  Since becoming Artistic Director, Diane Paulus has programmed innovative work that has enhanced the A.R.T.’s core mission. Productions such as Sleep No More, The Donkey Show, Gatz, The Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, Prometheus Bound and Death and the Powers: The Robots’ Opera have immersed audiences in original theatrical experiences. The A.R.T.’s club theater, OBERON, which Paulus calls a "second stage for the 21st century," has become an incubator for local artists and has also attracted national attention for its groundbreaking model for programming. Through all of its work, the A.R.T. is committed to building a community of artists, technicians, educators, staff and audience, all of who are integral to the A.R.T.’s mission to expand the boundaries of theater.

 

ABOUT HUNTINGTON THEATRE COMPANY: 

Over the past 30 years the Huntington Theatre Company has developed into Boston’s leading professional theatre. Under the direction of Artistic Director Peter DuBois and Managing Director Michael Maso and in residence at Boston University, the Huntington brings together world-class theatre artists fromBoston and Broadway and the most promising new talent to create an eclecticseason of exciting new works and classics made current. By also mentoring playwrights in the Huntington Playwriting Fellows program, educating young people in theatre through its nationally renowned programs in education, and providing Boston-based companies with discounted audience services and first-class facilities at the Huntington-built and operated Stanford Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, the Huntington cultivates, celebrates, and champions theatre as an art form. The Huntington has transferred over a dozen productions to New York, including two last fall: the Broadway premiere of Lydia R. Diamond’s Stick Fly and the Roundabout Theatre Company production of Stephen Karam’s Sons of the Prophet. A national leader in the development of new plays, the Huntington has produced 83 New England, American, or world premieres to date, with three world premieres scheduled for the 2011 - 2012 Season, and its education and community programs serve 25,000 young people and underserved audiences each year. The Huntington performs in two homes – the BU Theatre on the Avenue of the Arts and the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA in the South End. The Huntington was founded in 1982 by Boston University and separately incorporated as an independent non-profit in 1986. Its two prior artistic leaders were Peter Altman (1982 — 2000) and Nicholas Martin (2000 — 2008).For more information, visit huntingtontheatre.org.

 

ABOUT THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART/BOSTON (ICA): 

An influential forum for multi-disciplinary arts, the Institute of Contemporary Art has been at the leading edge of art in Boston for more than 70 years. Like its iconic building on Boston's waterfront, the ICA offers new ways of engaging with the world around us. Its exhibitions and programs provide access to contemporary art, artists, and the creative process, inviting audiences of all ages and backgrounds to participate in the excitement of new art and ideas. The ICA, located at 100 Northern Avenue, is open Tuesday and Wednesday, 10 am — 5 pm; Thursday and Friday, 10 am - 9 pm; and Saturday and Sunday, 10 am — 5 pm.  Admission is $15 adults, $10 seniors and students, and free for members and children 17 and under. For more information, call 617-478-3100 or visit our Web site at www.icaboston.org.

 

 

For tickets and more information, visit www.emergingamericafestival.org

Further details to be announced soon.