Goodman 2010-2011 Season to Feature Ruhl, CANDIDE et al.; Season Announced

Artistic Director Robert Falls announced Goodman Theatre's initial five-play line-up, including two reimagined classics and three world-premiere productions (two of which are Goodman commissions) that define the theater's new 2010/2011 season; three plays are still to be announced. 

A major new revival of the Leonard Bernstein and Hugh Wheeler musical Candide is freely adapted from Voltaire's classic by Tony Award-winner Mary Zimmerman-"a specialist in literary spectacle (from whom) theatrical fireworks are to be expected" (The New York Times)-and starts the season in September. In October/November, Artistic Director Robert Falls re-examines Anton Chekhov's masterwork The Seagull-"no modern American director is better than Falls at making a play's iconic moments pop with fresh irreverence" (Chicago Tribune). Next, director-playwright-actor ReGina Taylor, whose work has been praised as "arresting and imaginative" (Chicago Tribune) brings her world premiere of Rain to the Goodman in February/March 2011 and rising star Thomas Bradshaw, whose work is "likely to leave you speechless!" (The New York Times) premieres his Goodman Theatre-commissioned world premiere of Mary in February/March 2011. Sarah Ruhl, "one of the most gifted and adventurous American Playwrights to emerge in recent years" (The New York Times), returns to her hometown with her Goodman Theatre-commissioned world premiere Stage Kiss, in March/April 2011. Season subscriptions are now on sale: 312.443.3800.

An Opening Benefit launches the milestone season on Monday, September 27 at the Art Institute of Chicago's Modern Wing-the location of the theater's former home of 75 years. Honored will be those who paved the way for the new Goodman and made possible its myriad artistic, economic and community engagement achievements over the past decade. The evening will culminate with a performance of Candide. For tickets and more information about the Season Opening Benefit, call 312.443.5564. This will be the first in a season-long series of commemorative happenings.

About the Plays and Artists in Goodman Theatre's 2010/2011 Season

Candide
Music by Leonard Bernstein
Book Adapted from Voltaire by Hugh Wheeler
New adaptations from Voltaire by Mary Zimmerman
Lyrics by Richard Wilbur
Additional lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, John Latouche, Lillian Hellman,
Dorothy Parker and Leonard Bernstein
Directed by Mary Zimmerman
September and October, 2010
In the Albert Theatre

Tony Award and MacArthur "Genius" Award-winning director Mary Zimmerman's breathtaking new production of Candide is the theatrical event of the season. In addition to the music of Leonard Bernstein, Candide features contributions from the greatest lyricists of the 20th century, from Richard Wilbur to Stephen Sondheim. In this racy musical satire, naive Candide is banished for romancing the Baron's daughter, only to be plagued by a series of absurd hardships that challenge his optimistic outlook of life and love.

The Seagull
By Anton Chekhov
Directed by Robert Falls
October and November, 2010
In the Owen Theatre

Goodman Artistic Director Robert Falls directs an intimate new production of Chekhov's masterwork The Seagull, whose unforgettable characters reveal the passion and pathos of everyday life. When famed actress Irina visits her family with her young lover Trigorin in tow, they become ensnared in a tragicomic tangle of romance, intrigue and unrequited love. Don't miss this unique opportunity to experience a 20th century masterpiece, interpreted by one of America's outstanding directors-in the Owen Theatre.

Rain
By ReGina Taylor
January and February 2011
In the Albert Theatre
A World Premiere

Rain is ReGina Taylor's most personal and intimate work to date. Fiercely independent Iris has made a successful life for herself as a journalist in New York City, but when her marriage fails, she begins to unravel. In search of solace, Iris returns to her mother's house in Texas, but her homecoming proves more confounding than consoling when her mother makes a shocking announcement. As long-buried family secrets come to light, Iris must face her past and make some difficult decisions about the future.

Mary
By Thomas Bradshaw
Directed by May Adrales
February and March 2011
In the Owen Theatre
A World Premiere Goodman Theatre Commission

Outrageous. Ruthless. Explosive. Named "Best Provocative Playwright" by The Village Voice, Thomas Bradshaw pulls no punches in his comic absurdist drama Mary. At the height of what Time magazine dubbed "AIDS hysteria" in 1983, college student David invites his boyfriend home to his parents' house in Virginia where nothing has changed since the 1800s-including the slave quarters. Confronting hypocrisy and oppression with exhilarating wit, Bradshaw's incendiary work is "likely to leave you speechless!" (The New York Times).

Stage Kiss
By Sarah Ruhl
March and April 2011
In the Albert Theatre
A World Premiere Goodman Theatre commission

In this quirky new comedy by MacArthur "Genius" Award-winner Sarah Ruhl, art imitates life-or is it the other way around? When ex-lovers HE and SHE are thrown together as romantic leads in an outrageously dreadful melodrama, they quickly lose touch with reality as the story onstage begins to follow them offstage. Stage Kiss is a hilarious, off-beat fairy-tale about what happens when lovers share a stage kiss-or when actors share a real one...

The new season marks the Goodman's 10th in its home at 170 N. Dearborn and anchor of Chicago's revitalized North Loop Theatre District-and its 85th year as the city's largest not-for-profit producing theater.

Currently on stage: Brian Dennehy in the Broadway-bound double-bill of Hughie/Krapp's Last Tape. Hughie is written by Eugene O'Neill and directed by Robert Falls and Krapp's Last Tape is written by Samuel Beckett and directed by Jennifer Tarver (Extended through February 28; Albert Theatre).

Upcoming productions in the 2009/2010 Season include: the world premiere of The Long Red Road by Brett C. Leonard, directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman (February 13 - March 21; Owen Theatre); the world premiere of the Goodman commissioned A True History of the Johnstown Flood by Rebecca Gilman, directed by Robert Falls (March 13 - April 18, 2010 in the Albert); The Good Negro by Tracey Scott Wilson, directed by Chuck Smith (May 1 &#8211 June 6, 2010 in the Albert); and The Sins of Sor Juana by Karen Zacarías, directed by Henry Godinez (June 19 &#8211 July 25, 2010 in the Albert) which launches the Goodman's 5th Latino Theater Festival.

Named the country's "Best Regional Theatre" by Time magazine (2003), Goodman Theatre is a leader in the American theater, internationally recognized for its artists, productions and educational programs since its founding in 1925. Artistic Director Robert Falls and Executive Director Roche Schulfer's forward-thinking leadership has earned the Goodman unparalleled artistic distinction, garnered hundreds of awards-including the Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre (1992) and Pulitzer Prizes for Ruined by Lynn Nottage and Glengarry GLen Ross by David Mamet&#8211and moved dozens of plays from Chicago to stages in New York and abroad. Central to its commitment to the reinvestigation of classics and development of new plays and artists is the Goodman's Artistic Collective, including Brian Dennehy, Frank Galati, Henry Godinez, Steve Scott, Chuck Smith, ReGina Taylor and Mary Zimmerman. The largest not-for-profit theater in Chicago, the Goodman moved in 2000 into a brand new state-of-the-art complex which houses two principal theaters: the 856-seat Albert Ivar Goodman Theatre and the 400-seat flexible Owen Bruner Goodman Theatre. Board Chairman is Patricia Cox and Karen Pigott is President of the Women's Board. American Airlines is the Exclusive Airline of Goodman Theatre.

Goodman Theatre proudly celebrates ten years in its home on Dearborn Street-and a decade of great achievements. Visit GoodmanTheatre.org for more information.