PASSION, CASA VALENTINA & More Set for Pandora Productions' 2015-16 Season

Pandora Productions has been presenting plays and musicals that speak to the LGBTQ community for over 20 years but in the 2015-2016 season she will step outside the comfortable 'box' to present a Tony award winning musical by a gay composer but without the usual LBGTQ themes. Stephen Sondheim's PASSION opens the season in September.

Following the season opener, will be new and old plays of historic significance. CASA VALENTINA, though brand new from Harvey Fierstein, takes on cross-dressing in 1962 Catskills; THE BOYS IN THE BAND by Mart Crowley is perhaps the quintessential 'gay' play having shocked theatre goers in 1968; THE CHILDREN'S HOUR is a 1932 classic by Lillian Helman and closing the season is the Charles Busch transvestite classic, PSYCHO BEACH PARTY.

Pandora will once again enjoy sponsorship and support from The Kentucky Arts Council, Brown-Forman and Leo in addition to the Title Sponsors listed below.

PASSION - Music & Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, Book by James Lapine

Director: Michael J. Drury; Musical Director: Doug Jones

Sponsor: Charles & Carol Pye

A remote military outpost in 1863 Italy becomes a wondrously rich and complex metaphor for the landscape of the human heart. A handsome army captain, separated from his beautiful - but married - mistress, is forced to re-evaluate his beliefs about love when he becomes the object of the obsessive, unrelenting passions of Fosca, his Colonel's plain, sickly cousin. The sweeping, romantic score of this haunting and powerful chamber opera is intimate, raw, erotic and dark exploring universal yet often unspoken truths.

Performances: September 17, 18, 19, 24, 25, 26 @ 7:30 p; 20 & 27 @ 5:30 p; & 26 @ 2:00 p

CASA VALENTINA - by Harvey Fierstein

Director: TBA

Sponsor: Michael Taggart Photography

In 1962, most men went to the Catskill Mountains to escape the summer heat, but others went to escape something else entirely: being men. Nestled in the land of dirty dancing and borscht belt comedy sat an inconspicuous bungalow colony that catered to a very special clientele: heterosexual men whose favorite dressed and acted as women. It was paradise for these men to spend their weekends discreetly and safely inhabiting their chosen female alter egos. But when faced with the opportunity to become an official organization, these "self-made women" had to decide whether public recognition would help them gain a place in open society or spell their own personal disaster.

Performances: November 12, 13, 14, 19, 20, 21 @ 7:30 p; 15 & 22 @ 5:30 p; & 21 @ 2:00 p

THE BOYS IN THE BAND - by Mart Crowley

Director: Michael J. Drury

Sponsor: TBA

This play represents a major milestone in American theatre as the first play to openly portray the pleasures, miseries and private lives of gay men. The Boys in the Band is set during Harold's 32nd birthday party. The evening begins as a hilarious and spirited celebration among friends until unexpected guests and games reveal tensions that unravel these men's souls. The party moves to a heart-wrenching, and climactic end.

Performances: January 7, 8, 9, 14, 15, 16 @ 7:30 p; 10 & 17 @ 5:30 p; & 16 @ 2:00 p

THE CHILDREN'S HOUR - by Lillian Hellman

Director: Georgette Kleier

Sponsor: TBA

Karen and Martha run a girl's school in 1930's New England, where they become entangled in a devastating story of deceit, shame and courage. When a student is punished for one of her many misdeads, the mean spirited youngster rushes to her rich, indulgent grandmother to explain why she has run away from school. She accuses her teachers of having an "unnatural relationship" and blackmails another student into corroborating her accusation. This whisper spreads and triggers a chain of events with extraordinary consequences.

Performances: March 10, 11, 12, 17, 18, 19 @ 7:30 p; 13 & 20 @ 5:30 p; & 19 @ 2:00 p

PSYCHO BEACH PARTY - by Charles Busch

Director: Gil Reyes

Sponsor: Crosby Law Offices

Chicklet Forrest, a teenage tomboy, desperately wants to be part of the male-dominated surf crowd on Malibu Beach in 1962. One thing getting in her way is her unfortunate tendency towards split personalities. Among them is a black check out girl, an elderly radio talk show hostess, a male model named Steve and the accounting firm of Edelman and Edelman. Her most dangerous alter ego is a sexually voracious vixen named Ann Bowman who has nothing less than world domination on her mind.

Performances: May 12, 13, 14, 19, 20, 21 @ 7:30 p; 15 & 22 @ 5:30 p; & 21 @ 2:00 p

Pandora Productions will once again return to the historic Henry Clay Theatre for the entire 2015-2016 season. The theatre is located at 604 South Third Street, 3rd Floor, Downtown Louisville. Subscribers can save 30% off the single ticket rate this year at $80 each for a regular subscription or $70 for Seniors and Students, subscriptions are available through the run of PASSION. Single tickets are $20 in advance and $22 at the door for all productions this season and along with subscriptions are available online at http://www.PandoraProds.org, or via phone at 502.216.5502.

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