Beck Center Announces 2010/11 Professional Theater Season

Beck Center for the Arts is proud to announce its 2010/2011 professional theater season, featuring something for every taste and the reopening of the Studio Theater.

"As is our tradition, our 2010/2011 theater season offers an eclectic mix of shows," says Artistic Director Scott Spence. "I am especially excited that our Studio Theater returns after a year's downtime. We have expanded and refurbished our seating to make your experience that much better. Come to Beck Center and find out what you've been missing!"

Subscriptions for the 2010/2011 professional theater season are now available. For more information, call 216.521.2540 ext. 10. Individual ticket sales begin August 1, 2010. Beck Center is located at 17801 Detroit Avenue in Lakewood, just 10 minutes west of downtown Cleveland. Free onsite parking is available.

My Fair Lady
Book and Lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner
Music by Frederick Loewe
Adapted from George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion
Directed by Paul Gurgol
September 17 - October 17, 2010; Mackey Main Stage

Winner of six Tony Awards, My Fair Lady is a triumph. This esteemed classic musical adaptation of George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion has stood the test of time to become a musical theater powerhouse and an all-time audience favorite. It marks the return of one of the area's top directors, Paul Gurgol, who brought us last season's critically acclaimed Fiddler on the Roof. He most certainly will showcase a "fair lady" for the ages.

Wings
Written by Arthur Kopit
Directed by Sarah May
Starring Dorothy Silver
October 8 - November 7, 2010; Studio Theater

Beck welcomes back Cleveland theater legend Dorothy Silver in a role that inspires and crackles. American playwright Arthur Kopit does the unimaginable: taking us inside the brain of former aviatrix Emily Stillson as she experiences and recovers from a potentially life-shattering stroke. Wings is a brilliant tour-de-theatre that manages to both illuminate and share a touching empathy with the audience. It's a truly uplifting journey that speaks to the strength of the human mind and body.

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Lyrics by Tim Rice
Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber
Directed by Scott Spence
December 3, 2010 - January 2, 2011; Mackey Main Stage

Beck continues its holiday tradition of fine family entertainment with this humorous retelling of the biblical story of Joseph of Canaan. Audiences will rollick over the many different musical stylings that Joseph provides: from Marleyesque reggae to French Café to spur-slapping country western to an Elvis-channeling pharaoh. Designer Trad Burns promises to treat the audience to an amazing light show while Martín Céspedes' buoyant choreography will illuminate the stage further yet!

Jerry Springer: The Opera
Written by Richard Thomas and Stewart Lee
Directed by Scott Spence
Featuring Matthew Wright as Jerry Springer
February 18 - March 27, 2011; Studio Theater

Regional premiere! Strippers, cheating spouses, tap-dancing Ku Klux Klan members. Just another episode of America's favorite lurid TV talk show, The Jerry Springer Show. Come see what happens when Jerry and his show end up in Satan's world in this musical that London's The Sunday Times calls "a shocking, irresistibly funny masterpiece." We promise this wickedly funny show, winner of London's Best New Musical award, will leave you talking for a long time. Not to be missed...but leave the kids at home!

The Underpants
Steve Martin's adaptation of a play by Carl Sternheim
Directed by Matthew Earnest
April 1 - 23, 2011; Mackey Main Stage

If Jerry Springer whets your appetite for laughs, you won't want to miss the regional premiere of Steve Martin's The Underpants. Matthew Earnest returns after a triumphant turn directing last season's Is He Dead? Described by The New York Times as "laugh-out-loud funny," The Underpants is about a puritanical bureaucrat and his wife Louise, who becomes an instant celebrity when her underpants accidentally fall down in public. Steve Martin uses saucy jokes, witty wordplay, slamming doors, and sophisticated literary style to lampoon our contemporary culture's fascination with fame.

Hairspray
Book by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan
Music and Lyrics by Marc Shaiman
Lyrics by Scott Wittman
Directed by Scott Spence
Featuring Kevin Joseph Kelly as Edna Turnblad
July 8 - August 14, 2011; Mackey Main Stage

It's 1962, and pleasantly plump Baltimore teen Tracy Turnblad has only one desire - to dance on the popular Corny Collins Show. When her dream comes true, Tracy is transformed from social outcast to sudden star, but she must use her newfound power to vanquish the reigning Teen Queen, win the affections of heartthrob Link Larkin, and integrate a TV network - all without denting her ‘do! Don't miss the locally produced premiere of Hairspray, Broadway's musical-comedy phenomenon that inspired a major motion picture and won eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical. Welcome to the ‘60s, but make sure to bring your Aqua Net!

Programming at the Beck Center is made possible through the generous support of the Ohio Arts Council. Beck Center gratefully acknowledges the generous funding provided by the citizens of Cuyahoga County through Cuyahoga Arts and Culture.

Beck Center for the Arts is a not-for-profit 501(c)3 organization that offers professional Theater Productions on two stages, arts education programming in dance, music, theater, visual arts, early childhood, and creative arts therapies for special needs students, and gallery exhibits featuring regional artists.

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