CTG/Ahmanson Announces 09-10 Season - Spamalot, Mary Poppins
By: Robert Diamond Feb. 12, 2009
Center Theatre Group's 2009-2010 season at the Ahmanson Theatre is a yearlong celebration of big, lush Broadway hits, including four Tony Award-winning musicals, the 2008 winner of the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award for Best Play, and a rare, limited engagement of two stage virtuosos.
The CTG/Ahmanson Theatre's 43rd season at the Los Angeles Music Center will include "Monty Python's Spamalot," "August: Osage County," "Mary Poppins," "Dreamgirls" and Rodgers & Hammerstein's "South Pacific" - with a bonus option of "An Evening with Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin," it was announced today by CTG Artistic Director Michael Ritchie.
"This is a powerhouse season, filled to the brim with theatre's highest awards and its most talented artists," said Ritchie. "We have a heartwarming and cherished family tale, a heart-wrenching tragi-comedy of family dysfunction, a glitzy quest for fame and fortune, a hilarious, Spam-fueled search for Christian relics, and budding love stories in a World War II tropical paradise."
"It's the type of season that I love because the productions are epic in scale - even our bonus option engagement features larger than life personalities - and these productions take us through a wide range of experiences."
"An Evening with Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin"
Kicking off the Ahmanson Theatre's new season will be a one-week-only engagement with two of the most acclaimed performers of our time, "An Evening with Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin," presented as a bonus option, June 23 through 28, 2009.
"An Evening with Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin" reunites the two Tony Award-winning virtuosos (and lifelong friends) for the first time since they starred in the 1979 Broadway production of "Evita."
"An Evening with Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin" is a unique musical love story told entirely through a masterful selection of the greatest songs ever written for the stage.
"They may croon ‘Baby It's Cold Outside,' but Patinkin and LuPone keep the house nice and comfy. The pair radiates their warmth all the way to the theatre's back rows," said Wendy Rosenfield of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Tim Dunleavy of Talkin' Broadway called the show "Spellbinding . . . more than just a concert: it's a celebration of the history and richness of musical theatre. And with this beautifully constructed show, they're making a little bit of history again."
"Monty Python's Spamalot"
Summer 2009 at the CTG/Ahmanson Theatre gets into full swing with "Monty Python's Spamalot," the popular musical lovingly ripped-off in quotes from the internationally famous comedy team's most popular motion picture, "Monty Python and the Holy Grail." "Spamalot" will play for nine weeks only, July 7 through September 6, 2009. The opening is set for July 8.
This is the first time the international hit musical comedy will be presented in Los Angeles. John O'Hurley will star as King Arthur.
Directed by Mike Nichols, "Monty Python's Spamalot" features a book by Eric Idle, based on the screenplay of "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" by Monty Python creators Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin, with music and lyrics by the Grammy Award-winning team of Idle and John Du Prez. Casey Nicholaw is the choreographer.
"Monty Python's Spamalot" is the winner of three 2005 Tony Awards including Best Musical and Best Director, as well as the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for Best Musical. The original cast recording of "Monty Python's Spamalot" won the 2006 Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album.
"Monty Python's Spamalot" recounts the legendary tale of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table and their quest for the Holy Grail, featuring a chorus line of dancing divas and knights, flatulent Frenchmen, killer rabbits, and an armless and legless knight.
"Monty Python's Spamalot" is produced by Boyett Ostar Productions.
Set and costume design for "Monty Python's Spamalot" is by Tony Award-winner Tim Hatley, lighting design is by Hugh Vanstone and sound design is by ACME Sound Partners.
The Steppenwolf Theatre Company's production of "August: Osage County," the 2008 Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning play that tells the bitingly funny and sensationally entertaining tale of a dysfunctional Oklahoma family, is coming to the CTG/Ahmanson Theatre as the second production of the season, September 8 through October 18, 2009. Opening is set for September 9.
Academy Award-winner ("Bonnie and Clyde") and four-time Tony Award-nominee Estelle Parsons will star in the role of the family matriarch, Violet.
Written by 2008 Pulitzer Prize-winner Tracy Letts, this grand and gripping new play tells the story of the Westons, a large extended clan that comes together at their rural homestead in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, after the alcoholic patriarch disappears. Forced to confront unspoken truths and astonishing secrets, the family must also contend with Violet, a pill-popping, deeply unsettled woman at the center of the storm.
Directed by 2008 Tony Award-winner Anna D. Shapiro, "August: Osage County" is a rare theatrical event: a large-scale work filled with 13 unforgettable characters, a powerful tragicomedy told with unflinching honesty.
"August: Osage County" had its world premiere at Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago in 2007.
The play was nominated for seven Tony Awards including Best Play and Best Director, and was the recipient of Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and New York Drama Critics Circle Awards, including Best Play, Best Director and Best Scenic Design.
Charles Isherwood of The New York Times called "August: Osage County," "The most exciting new American play Broadway has seen in years," and it was voted The #1 Play of the Year by Time, The Associated Press, Entertainment Weekly and TimeOut New York. When Estelle Parson joined the show on Broadway in June 2008, Isherwood said, "Estelle Parsons gives a superb performance . . . sends chills down your spine. It may prove to be a crowning moment in an illustrious career." The show, which the London critics hailed as "the must-see play of the year - possibly a lifetime," opened to rave reviews at The National Theatre in November 2008.
The scenic design for "August: Osage County" is by Tony Award-winner Todd Rosenthal, costumes by Ana Kuzmanic, lighting by Ann G. Wrightson, sound by Richard Woodbury and original music by David Singer.
"August: Osage County" is produced by Jeffrey Richards, Jean Doumanian, Steve Traxler and Jerry Frankel.
The world's most famous nanny will arrive in Los Angeles with Broadway's supercalifragilistic, award-winning hit "Mary Poppins," the third production of the CTG/Ahmanson's 2009-2010 season, November 13, 2009, through January 10, 2010. Opening is set for November 15.
Combining the best of the original stories by P. L. Travers and the beloved Walt Disney film, "Mary Poppins" is produced by Disney and Cameron Mackintosh, and includes many of the original songs from the film, with music and lyrics by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman, who won two Oscars for the film version of "Mary Poppins."
The new stage production has been created in collaboration with Cameron Mackintosh, Oscar-winning screenwriter Julian Fellowes, who has written the book, and the Olivier Award-winning British team of George Stiles and Anthony Drewe, who have written the new songs for the production. "Mary Poppins" is directed by Richard Eyre, with co-direction and choreography by Matthew Bourne and co-choreography by Stephen Mear. Bob Crowley has designed the sets and costumes, and the lighting design is by Howard Harrison.
Ashley Brown, who originated the title role on Broadway, and Gavin Lee, who originated the role of Bert in the hit Broadway and London productions, will perform in the Ahmanson production.
Including such wonderful songs as "Chim Chim Cher-ee," "A Spoonful of Sugar," "Let's Go Fly a Kite," and, of course, "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious," it's understandable why the New York Daily News hailed "Mary Poppins" as "a roof-raising, toe-tapping, high-flying extravaganza!" And Elysa Gardner of USA Today said, "‘Mary Poppins' is irresistible! You'll feel like a kid again."
"Dreamgirls"A brand new production of "Dreamgirls," one of Broadway's most popular shows, will be the fourth production of the new season at the CTG/Ahmanson Theatre, February 24 through April 4, 2010. Opening is set for February 26.
Full of onstage joy and backstage drama, "Dreamgirls" tells the rags-to-riches story of a 1960s R&B girl group, and the trials and tribulations that come with fame and fortune.
This new incarnation of "Dreamgirls" will arrive at the Ahmanson directly from the world famous Apollo Theater in New York City, where it will open in November 2009.
With music by Academy Award-nominee Henry Kreiger and lyrics and book by Tony and Grammy Award-winning Tom Eyen, "Dreamgirls" features unforgettable hits such as one of the greatest Act One closing numbers in theatre history - "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going," the infectious "One Night Only," and "Listen," which was created for the film adaptation of "Dreamgirls," received an Academy Award nomination and will now be incorporated in this new stage version.
"Dreamgirls" is directed and choreographed by Broadway director and choreographer Robert Longbottom (who was at the helm of the CTG/Mark Taper Forum and Broadway version of the new version of "Flower Drum Song") and co-choreographer Shane Sparks (from TV's "So You Think You Can Dance" and MTV's "America's Best Dance Crew").
Scenic design for "Dreamgirls" will be by Robin Wagner, lighting by Ken Billington and costumes by William Ivey Long.
"Dreamgirls" is produced by John Breglio for Vienna Waits Productions.
"Dreamgirls" received 13 Tony Award nominations including Best Musical when it opened on Broadway in 1981.
A luscious new production of one of Broadway's most endearing musicals, Rodgers & Hammerstein's "South Pacific" will be presented by Lincoln Center Theater, in association with Bob Boyett and NETWorks Productions, as the final production of the 2009-2010 season at the CTG/Ahmanson Theatre, June 29 through August 22, 2010. The opening is set for June 30.
Bartlett Sher directs Rodgers & Hammerstein's "South Pacific," which was the first Broadway revival of the Pulitzer Prize-winning musical since its 1949 premiere, and which swept the 2007-2008 theatre awards, winning seven Tony Awards including Best Musical Revival as well as the Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Drama League Awards for Best Musical Revival.
Based on James Michener's Pulitzer Prize-winning book "Tales of the South Pacific," Rodgers & Hammerstein's "South Pacific" has music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and a book by Oscar Hammerstein II and Joshua Logan.
Set on a tropical island during World War II, the musical tells the sweeping romantic story of two couples - U.S. Navy nurse Nellie Forbush and French plantation owner Emile de Becque, and Navy Airman Joe Cable and a young local native girl, Liat, and how their happiness is threatened by the realities of the war and by their own prejudices.
Rodgers & Hammerstein's "South Pacific" premiered at the Majestic Theatre on April 7, 1949, and went on to enjoy a five-year Broadway run winning nine Tony Awards including Best Musical, the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and countless other awards. Considered by many to be the finest musical ever written, the score's songs include such musical theatre classics as "Some Enchanted Evening," "Younger Than Springtime," "Bali Ha'i," "There is Nothin' Like A Dame" and "A Wonderful Guy."
The production features a cast of 40 with musical staging by Christopher Gattelli, sets by Michael Yeargan, costumes by Catherine Zuber, lighting by Donald Holder, sound by Scott Lehrer and music direction by Ted Sperling. An orchestra of more than 20 musicians will perform the original orchestrations by Robert Russell Bennett and dance and incidental music arranged by Trude Rittmann.
Ben Brantley of The New York Times said about the 2008 production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's "South Pacific," "I know we're not supposed to expect perfection in this imperfect world, but I'm darned if I can find one serious flaw in this production."
Elysa Gardner of USA Today said, ". . . spine-tingling moments ensure that this gorgeous revival of ‘South Pacific' doesn't just float; it soars."
CTG's 2009-2010 Ahmanson Theatre Season Available on Subscription Only
Tickets for the Ahmanson Theatre's 43rd season are currently available by subscription only.
For information and to charge subscriptions by phone, call the Exclusive Season Ticket Hotline at (213) 972-4444. To purchase subscriptions on-line, visit CenterTheatreGroup.org. For information regarding audio description and Project D.A.T.E. (sign language interpreted performances) and discount subscriptions for the deaf and hard of hearing, call TDD/Voice (213) 680-4017.
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