'LADY DAY', BABETTE'S FEAST, ALL NIGHT STRUT! and More Set for Portland Stage's 2017-18 Season

Portland Stage has announced its 2017-18 Mainstage Season!

"It is always inspiring to have a group of people who see a body of work, start to finish. I greatly appreciate the willingness of our audience to venture with us on a wide range of theatrical journeys. I'm especially excited about the lineup for the upcoming 2017-2018 Season, which includes several new plays that I think audiences will like." Anita Stewart, Portland Stage Executive and Artistic Director.

Portland Stage creates one-of-a-kind productions specifically planned for its community. Each season, Stewart looks for a way to connect the plays with a thematic thread. For the 2017-2018 Season, that thematic thread is a sense of discovery about the characters. One might think they know who they are meeting in the first scene, but as a play continues, audiences discover that characters they thought they knew have an unexpected side. Stewart thinks these stories highlight individuality of people, and she hopes the community will see themselves in the characters, and be able to relate them to their lives, to their communities, and to their own family traditions right here in Maine. There is a lot within this upcoming season to contemplate, experience and discuss.

In addition, after the enormous success of The Irish... and How They Got That Way, an exciting co-production with Maine State Music Theatre in August 2016, this summer Portland Stage and MSMT will present The All Night Strut! Conceived and Originally Directed and Choreographed by Fran Charnas.

For more information, or to subscribe, visit portlandstage.org.

Please note: Single tickets for all the shows listed below go on sale July 5th, 2017. Subscribers can always renew by phone or in-person at the Box Office, or in the lobby during the runs of String Around My Finger and Disgraced. All subscribers get a 15% discount off adult tickets to this year's holiday show, It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play, sold separately from subscription packages. Subscribers also get a discount to The All Night Strut! (Discount available through June 15th, only). Tickets for The All Night Strut! Go on sale to the general public April 28th, 2017. Call the box office for more information at 207.774.0465.

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ANNOUNCING PORTLAND STAGE'S 2017-18 SEASON:

Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill
by Lanie Robertson
September 19 - October 15

Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill recounts Billie Holiday's life story through the songs that made her famous. It's 1959, Billie Holiday is performing in a run-down bar, during one of her last performances of her lifetime. Through her poignant voice and moving songs, one of the greatest jazz singers of all-time shares her loves and her losses.

Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill is presented by special arrangement with SAMUEL FRECH, INC.

Complications from a Fall
by Kate Hawley
October 24 - November 12

When Helen needs to leave her elderly mother to attend a conference, she reluctantly calls on her absent younger brother Teddy for help. Over the weekend, Teddy truly sees his mother-perhaps for the first time-and learns secrets from the past in this heartwarming drama about the memories we cherish, and those we try to forget.

It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play
adapted by Joe Landry
November 24 - December 24

We'll celebrate the Holiday Season with this beloved American classic. This heartwarming story of renewal is retold as a 1940's radio broadcast complete with sound effects performed live on stage. With the help of an ensemble and an angel named Clarence, George Bailey discovers the million different ways we are tied to those around us.

Produced by special arrangement with Playscripts, Inc. (www.playscripts.com)

Babette's Feast
Conceived and developed by Abigail Killeen
Written by Rose Courtney
Adapted from the short story by Isak Dinesen
January 23 - February 18

A refugee transforms a closed religious community by sacrificing all she has to throw a lavish dinner party. Through her radical hospitality, this mysterious woman converts her guests' deeply held notions of scarcity and judgement and opens them up to give and receive abundant grace. This adaptation re-imagines the story you thought you knew about Babette's singular feast: deep, funny, dangerous, sensual, and beautiful.

Red Herring
by Michael Hollinger
February 27 - March 25

Maggie's a tough, Boston cop, trying to get her finger on the one man who gave her the slip: Jack Murphy, a sly crime boss who worked his way into her heart. As she deals with murder, mystery, and intrigue in Boston Harbor, she also has to deal with Frank, an FBI gumshoe with a proposal more dangerous than commie spies, murderous mobs, and McCarthyism combined: marriage.

The Niceties
by Eleanor Burgess
April 3 - April 22

In this riveting two-person drama, Zoe, a biracial student, and Janine, her white professor, meet to discuss their differing views on Zoe's paper about slavery and the American Revolution. This polite clash of ideas soon landslides into an explosive discussion of race, history, privilege, and social justice.

Sex and Other Disturbances
by Marisa Smith
May 1 - May 20

Join us for the world premiere of New England playwright Marisa Smith's latest play. Sarah's husband is obsessed with the collapse of Western civilization. On a search for happiness and escape, she unexpectedly finds herself having a little affair, wondering, "What's the harm?" Sarah finds out the hard way in this fast-paced comedy about friendship, love, sex, and other disturbances

In Addition to Portland Stage's 2017-2018 Season, Maine State Music Theatre and Portland Stage Present:

THE ALL NIGHT STRUT!
Conceived and Originally Directed and Choreographed by Fran Charnas
Musical Arrangements by Tom Fitt, Gil Lieb, and Dick Schermesser.
Additional Orchestrations by Corey Allen.
Produced by Portland Stage in collaboration with Maine State Music Theatre.

This musical revue moves through the Depression, World War II and the post-war boom in a two-act musical celebration of the 1930s and '40s. Weaving together the work of legendary songwriters such as Hoagy Carmichael, Frank Loesser, Duke Ellington, Johnny Mercer, Cab Calloway and the Gershwins, the story moves through time and place telling the story of a beloved American era through its song and music. Two of Maine's most revered cultural institutions, Portland Stage in Portland and Maine State Music Theatre (MSMT) in Brunswick, continue their partnership that will bring a closer connection between the two communities and deepen the program offerings for both theatres' audiences. Tickets for MSMT and Portland Stage Subscribers will go on sale April 4th through June 15th at a discounted price. Full Price tickets go on sale to the general public on April 28th.

The All Night Strut! Is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI). All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI. www.MTIShows