Beck Center Announces 2011/2012 Season

Beck Center for the Arts is proud to announce its 2011/2012 professional theater season, featuring six productions new to Northeast Ohio.

"I am more than thrilled that the Beck Center will offer Northeast Ohio audiences so many opportunities to see local and regional premieres next season," says Artistic Director Scott Spence. "Six of our seven productions are either brand new to local audiences or have only been seen in national tours." In addition to presenting new productions to area theater-goers, the Beck Center is known for its eclectic mix of shows. Spence adds, "As always, we are trying to offer great diversity in both titles and content." Beck Center's current season, which ends in August, has already experienced record-breaking sales and the theater hopes to build on this success with the announcement of its new season.

Subscriptions for the 2011/2012 professional theater season can be purchased after May 15, 2011. For more information, call 216.521.2540 ext. 10. Individual ticket sales begin August 1, 2011. Beck Center is located at 17801 Detroit Avenue in Lakewood, just 10 minutes west of downtown Cleveland. Free onsite parking is available.

REGIONAL PREMIERE
The Marvelous Wonderettes
Written and Created by Roger Bean
Directed by William Roudebush
Musical Direction by Larry Goodpaster
Presented through special arrangement with Steele Spring Theatrical Licensing
September 16 - October 16, 2011; Mackey Main Stage

A cotton-candy colored, non-stop pop musical blast from the past! Meet the Wonderettes at the 1958 Springfield High School prom - four girls with hopes and dreams as big as their crinoline skirts and voices to match. Learn about their lives and loves as the girls perform your favorite songs from the ‘50s and ‘60s including Lollipop, Dream Lover, It's My Party, It's In His Kiss, and many more. Fast-forward to their 10-year high school reunion where this dynamic group performs once again and see how their lives and friendships have changed and endured. A must-take musical trip down memory lane!

REGIONAL PREMIERE
Race
Written by David Mamet
Directed by Sarah May
Presented through special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc.
October 21 - November 20, 2011; Studio Theater

From America's foremost playwright, David Mamet, comes his most explosive four-letter word yet. Race. This riveting new play by Mamet, a Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning author, tells the story of three attorneys, two black and one white, who must defend a wealthy, white executive charged with raping a black woman. Mamet's scalpel-edged intelligence and corkscrew plot twists raise issues that offer ample nutrition for full-course, post-theater dinner conversation.

Encore Production of Smash Hit Musical!
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Lyrics by Tim Rice
Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber
Directed by Scott Spence and Martìn Céspedes
Musical Direction by Larry Goodpaster
Choreography by Martín Céspedes
Presented through an exclusive arrangement with R&H Theatricals and The Really Useful Group
December 2-31, 2011; Mackey Main Stage

Back by popular demand! Many original cast members return for this encore presentation of last season's smash hit. Beck Center continues its holiday tradition of fine family entertainment with this humorous retelling of the biblical story of Joseph of Canaan. Center stage will be awash with a rainbow of colors in this rollicking musical, complete with a rousing children's chorus, an amazing light show, buoyant choreography, splashy costumes, and musical stylings that appeal to all tastes-from Marleyesque reggae to spurslapping country western to an Elvis channeling pharaoh.

Spring Awakening
Book & Lyrics by Steven Sater
Music by Duncan Sheik
Based on the play by Frank Wedekind
Directed by Victoria Bussert
Musical Direction by Ryan Fielding Garrett
Choreography by Gregory Daniels
In collaboration with the Baldwin-Wallace College Music Theatre Program
Presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI)
February 3 - March 4, 2012; Mackey Main Stage

Winner of 8 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Spring Awakening is a rock musical adaptation of the controversial 19th century German play that explores with poignancy and passion the turbulent journey from adolescence to adulthood. Follow this group of teenagers on their passage as they navigate self-discovery and coming-of-age anxiety in a powerful celebration of youth and rebellion. This landmark musical is an exhilarating mix of morality, sexuality, and rock & roll. This show is recommended for audiences 17 years and older.

REGIONAL PREMIERE
The Velocity of Autumn
Written by Eric Coble
Directed by Eric Schmeidl
Starring Dorothy Silver
March 23 - April 29, 2012; Studio Theater

Beck Center presents a regional premiere of another critically acclaimed play by Cleveland's resident playwright, Eric Coble. Lillian is an elderly woman with a wicked sense of humor. Despite her children's attempts to move her into a retirement home, she is determined to spend her final years in her Brooklyn brownstone. Her estranged son, Tom, is forced back into her life after years of separation when Lillian threatens to burn down her home. What follows is a delicate tale that walks a tightrope between sadness and joy, fear and hope, and love and frustration. Lillian's story is vivid with brilliant imagery, affectionate humor, and a touching relationship that you won't soon forget.

REGIONAL PREMIERE
Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson
Book by Alex Timbers
Music & Lyrics by Michael Friedman
Directed by Scott Spence
Musical Direction by Larry Goodpaster
Starring Dan Folino as Andrew Jackson
Presented through special arrangement with Musical Theatre International (MTI)
May 25 - July 1, 2012; Studio Theater

This contemporary musical explores the title character's life through the unconventional approach of irreverently emotional, punk rock music. In Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, we meet America's first political maverick, who kicked British butt, shafted the Indians and smacked down the Spaniards all in the name of these United States. Who cares if he didn't have the constitutional right? An exhilarating and white-knuckled look at one of our nation's founding rock stars, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson recreates and reinvents the life of "Old Hickory", from his humble beginnings to his days as our seventh Commander-in-Chief. This show is recommended for audiences 17 years and older.

Legally Blonde The Musical
Book by Heather Hach
Music & Lyrics by Laurence O'Keefe and Nell Benjamin
Based on the movie "Legally Blonde"
Directed by Scott Spence
Musical Direction by Larry Goodpaster
Choreography by Martín Céspedes
Presented through special arrangement with Musical Theatre International (MTI)
July 6 - August 12, 2012; Mackey Main Stage

Based on the hit movie of the same name, Legally Blonde is now an award-winning Broadway hit musical created by a top-of-their-class creative team. Don't underestimate Elle Woods, a college sweetheart, homecoming queen, and not-so-dumb blonde who doesn't take "no" for an answer. When her boyfriend dumps her for someone "more serious," Elle puts down the credit card, hits the books, and sets out to go where no Delta Nu has gone before - Harvard Law School. Along the way, Elle proves that being true to yourself never goes out of style. Nominated for 7 Tony Awards, this feel-good musical comedy is like "omigod you guys" a dream come true. The verdict? This much fun shouldn't be legal!

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.