THE REAL THING, HEARTBREAK HOUSE, THE GIVER and More Set for Main Street Theater's 2013-14 Season

Main Street Theater Announces its 39th MainStage Season and 34th Theater for Youth Season. Founded in 1975, Main Street Theater is a fully professional theater which operates out of 2 spaces: its Times Blvd. location in Rice Village and our Chelsea Market space on Montrose.

"The new season has the same broad range we always strive for: two regional premieres, two plays by women writers, modern classics, 'classic' classics, and a musical presented on an intimate scale." -ReBecca Greene Udden, MST Executive Artistic Director and Founder

2013-2014 MainStage Season:

THE REAL THING

By Tom Stoppard

Directed by ReBecca Greene Udden

September 5 - 29, 2013

Playing at MST - Rice Village

In The Real Thing, Tom Stoppard combines his characteristically brilliant wordplay and wit with flashes of insight that investigate the mystery of love, the nature of honesty and the joy of beautiful, skillful language. Using a play-within-a-play, Stoppard mines the romantic permutations of two creative couples -- actors and a playwright -- to explore the themes of semblance and reality. Winner of the Tony Award for Best Play in 1984; Winner of the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play in 1984.

A CIVIL WAR CHRISTMAS: AN AMERICAN MUSICAL CELEBRATION

By Paula Vogel

Music by Daryl Waters

Regional Premiere

Directed by Troy Scheid

November 29 - December 22, 2013

Playing at MST - Chelsea Market

It's 1864, and Washington, D.C. is settling down to the coldest Christmas Eve in years. In the White House, President and Mrs. Lincoln plot their gift-giving. On the banks of the Potomac, a young rebel challenges a Union blacksmith's mercy. In the alleys downtown, an escaped slave loses her daughter just before finding freedom. This musical by Pulitzer Prize-winner Paula Vogel intertwines many lives in a hopeful season in one of the country's darkest times.

INTO THE WOODS

Book by James Lapine

Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim

A co-production with Prague Shakespeare Company

Directed by Guy Roberts

January 19 through February 9, 2014

Playing at MST - Rice Village

Main Street Theater once again will team up with Guy Roberts and Prague Shakespeare Company to create a new, intimate production of James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim's now-classic take on everyone's favorite storybook characters. To be produced in MST's Rice Village theater, the production will return the material to its storytelling roots, using a small company and simple accompaniment in the inventive style characteristic of Roberts' work.

The story follows a Baker and his wife's wish to have a child, Cinderella's wish to attend the King's Festival, and Jack's wish that his cow would give milk. When the Baker and his wife learn that they cannot have a child because of a Witch's spell, the two set off on a journey to break the curse. Everyone's wish is granted, but the consequences of their actions return to haunt them later with disastrous results.

In 1988, Into the Woods won Tony Awards for Best Original Score and Best Book of a Musical.

BETHANY

Susan Smith Blackburn Prize Finalist

By Laura Marks

Regional Premiere

Directed by Andrew Ruthven

March 27 - April 19, 2014

Playing at MST - Rice Village

Bethany is a darkly comic exploration of the limits of morality in desperate times. Set in an American exurb wiped out by foreclosures, the play follows Crystal, a financially-strapped mother who discovers just how far she'll go to be reunited with her child.

HEARTBREAK HOUSE

By George Bernard Shaw

Directed by ReBecca Greene Udden

May 8 - June 1, 2014

Playing at MST - Rice Village

September, 1914. The topsy-turvy household of Captain Shotover and his daughter Hesione Hushabye entertains weekend guests: Ellie Dunn, her father, and her fiancé. Unfortunately, Ellie's fiancé is a scoundrel, her father is a bumbling prig, and she's actually in love with Hesione's husband Hector. This bold mix of farce and tragedy lampoons British society as it blithely ignores the catastrophe looming on the horizon that will become the War to End All Wars. And being Shaw, of course sprinkled atop that bracing analysis is wit and humor - and sparkling Shavian language.

2013-2014 Theater for Youth Season

All Theater for Youth productions are based on children's literature and take place at MST - Chelsea Market. MST serves over 120,000 children, educators, and family members each year through our Theater for Youth.

Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat

Based on the book by Dr. Seuss
Play originally produced by The National Theatre of Great Britain

Recommended for Pre-Kindergarten and up

September 28 - October 26, 2013

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

By Barbara Robinson

Recommended for First Grade and up

November 16 - December 21, 2013

The Giver

Based on the book by Lois Lowry
Adapted by Eric Coble

Recommended for Fourth Grade and up

January 25 - February 15, 2014

A Year with Frog and Toad

Based on the books by Arnold Lobel
Book and Lyrics by Willie Reale, Music by Robert Reale

Recommended for Pre-Kindergarten and up

March 1 - April 5, 2014

James and the Giant Peach

From the book by Roald Dahl
Dramatized by David Wood

Recommended for Kindergarten and up

April 19 - May 17, 2014

SUMMER EXTRA:

Pippi Longstocking

From the book by Astrid Lindgren
Adapted by Thomas W. Olson, Music by Roberta Carlson

Recommended for Kindergarten and up

June 8 - August 3, 2014

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