Geva Theatre Center Announces Spring Season

Geva Theatre Center's Artistic Director Mark Cuddy has announced the line-up for an exciting 2012 spring season in the Ron and Donna Fielding Nextstage, the organization's intimate 180-seat venue.

"This spring, we bring four diverse theatrical experiences to Rochester: two entrancing solo performers from New York City, a hit production from outside Boston, and a landmark play being produced by one of Rochester's exciting up-and-coming theatre companies," said Cuddy. "Together, these four guest shows percolate with a tremendous range of stories, characters and emotions. They are a perfect complement to our Signature Productions in the Wilson Mainstage, all at a very affordable price. And they fit the intimacy and dynamic of our contemporary venue, the Fielding Nextstage."

While Geva's Nextstage has served as a home to numerous local and national performance companies in recent years, Geva has not presented a series in the venue since 2007. This represents a significant investment and bold risk for Geva to expand its breadth of programming, stimulate the downtown economy, and serve the diversity of the Rochester community.

For over 38 years, Geva Theatre Center has been Rochester's producer of top quality theatre at an affordable price, providing residents the opportunity to enjoy superb, landmark productions in their own community. Geva Theatre Center continues to be an anchor cultural organization in Rochester, the most attended regional theatre in New York State, and a leader among professional theatres in this country.

The 2012 Spring Nextstage Season:

I GOT SICK THEN I GOT BETTER
By Jenny Allen
Directed by James Lapine and Darren Katz
March 7 - 11

A comic riff on one woman's harrowing adventures after falling down the medical rabbit hole. Diagnosed with and treated for ovarian cancer in 2005, writer and performer Jenny Allen tells her story of the dizzying tailspin following her diagnosis, combining biting humor with searing emotion in a witty, bittersweet monologue that limns the personal and family collateral damage brought by a life-threatening illness.

ANGELS IN AMERICA: MILLENNIUM APPROACHES
By Tony Kushner
Directed by David Henderson for Method Machine
March 22 - April 1, 2012

1984: As the AIDS epidemic in America escalates and Ronald Reagan is elected to a second term, disparate lives intersect, intertwine, collide and blow apart during a time of heartbreak, reaction and transformation. Ranging from earth to heaven, from the political to the intimate to the visionary and supernatural, this Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning play - considered one of the most important of the 20th century - is an epic exploration of love, justice, identity, theology and the difficulty and necessity of change.

VOICES OF THE SPIRITS IN MY SOUL
By Nora Cole
Directed by Nora Cole
April 12 - 15, 2012

Conjuring and inhabiting the spirits of both her enslaved and free ancestors and other great race women, writer and actress Nora Cole chronicles the African American experience in this solo show. Stories include those of her great, great grandmother who was born into slavery but saw it abolished during her lifetime, and her great aunt, a longtime activist and founding member of the local NAACP chapter in Rochester.

TWO JEWS WALK INTO A WAR...
By Seth Rozin
Directed by Melia Bensussen
April 27 - May 20, 2012

Hysterically funny and amazingly poignant. Inspired by the true story of the last two surviving Jews in all of Afghanistan, the only thing seeming to bind this small Jewish community together is that they both hate each other's guts. In a dilapidated old synagogue in Kabul, this odd couple's bold solution for rebuilding their community not only brings them closer to the essence of their faith but, quite possibly, each other.

Ticket Packages on Sale Now. See all 4 shows for the price of 3: $79 (Geva Subscribers) and $89 (Non-Subscribers). Tickets for individual shows will go on sale on January 1, 2012.

FOR RESERVATIONS call (585) 232-GEVA (4382) or visit www.gevatheatre.org.

Geva Theatre Center is locates at 75 Woodbury Blvd, Rochester, NY 14607.

Founded in 1972, Geva Theatre Center is a not-for-profit, professional theatre company dedicated to creating and producing professional theatre productions, programs and services of a national standard. As Rochester's leading professional theatre, Geva Theatre Center is the most attended regional theatre in New York State, and one of the 25 most attended in the country, attracting over 170,000 patrons annually, including more than 16,000 students.

The 552-seat Elaine P. Wilson Mainstage offers a wide variety of shows, from musicals to American and world classics. The 180-seat Ron & Donna Fielding Nextstage is home to Geva's own series of cutting-edge drama, comedy and musical theatre; Geva Comedy Improv; Geva's New Play Reading Series and the Hornet's Nest - an innovative play-reading series facilitating community-wide discussion on controversial topics. The Nextstage also hosts visiting companies of both local and international renown.

Geva Theatre Center offers a wide variety of educational, outreach and literary programs, nurturing audiences and artists alike. Since 1995 the organization has been led by Artistic Director Mark Cuddy.