Bucks County Playhouse Moves OSCAR HAMMERSTEIN FESTIVAL to Spring 2016

Bucks County Playhouse announces that due to unforeseen artist scheduling conflicts, the Oscar Hammerstein Festival will be moved from fall to spring, 2016.

"While we regret that we aren't able to keep the Festival on schedule for this fall, this change gives us the chance to use the Festival as a springboard for our summer season. Moving the Festival to spring also gives us the opportunity to cultivate new possibilities to celebrate Oscar Hammerstein and the birth of new work inspired by the legacy he created at his Bucks County farm," said Alexander Fraser, Producing Director of the Playhouse. "We are thinking April, and will announce the new schedule shortly." The box office will contact all ticket holders to make necessary arrangements.

Executive Producer Robyn Goodman continued, "So we can still celebrate Oscar this fall, we've put together a Rodgers & Hammerstein Film Festival, showing three film versions of their greatest musicals: OKLAHOMA, THE KING & I and THE SOUND OF MUSIC. Our commitment to the Festival remains as strong as ever, as we continue development on our new musical comedy about the pilgrims."

The Rodgers & Hammerstein Film Festival will offer the following screenings at the Playhouse:

THE KING AND I - Friday Evening, October 2 at 7:30 p.m.
OKLAHOMA! - Saturday Matinee, October 3 at 3 p.m.
THE SOUND OF MUSIC - Saturday Evening, October 3 at 7:30 p.m.

Passes for all three films are $40 for adults and $25 for kids (ages 4-12). Individual tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for kids. For more information, or to purchase tickets to the Rodgers & Hammerstein Film Festival, visit: www.buckscountyplayhouse.org.

ROBYN GOODMAN is lead producer of Rodgers + Hammerstein's CINDERELLA, currently on national tour. She developed and produced the musicals AVENUE Q (2004 Tony Award) and IN THE HEIGHTS (2008 Tony Award). Other Broadway productions include STEEL MAGNOLIAS, BAREFOOT IN THE PARK, THE PERFORMERS, BENGAL TIGER AT THE BAGHDAD ZOO with the late Robin Williams, WEST SIDE STORY, AMERICAN IDIOT, METAMORPHOSES and Off-Broadway's ALTAR BOYZ.

ALEXANDER FRASER, Producing Director of Bucks County Playhouse, has worked as a theatrical producer, general manager and non-profit executive for over 75 Broadway, off-Broadway, West End and touring productions including KINKY BOOTS, Larry Kramer's THE NORMAL HEART (for which he received the 2011 Tony Award), Nora and Delia Ephron's LOVE, LOSS AND WHAT I WORE (including NY, Chicago, Toronto, LA and Sydney), Charles Busch's THE DIVINE SISTER, August Wilson's JITNEY, Stephen Sondheim's SATURDAY NIGHT and Suzan-Lori Parks' TOPDOG/UNDERDOG (Pulitzer Prize).

Bucks County Playhouse, a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization, provides the finest theatrical entertainment for visitors and residents of New Hope, Doylestown, Lambertville and the Delaware Valley. Under the direction of Alexander Fraser and Robyn Goodman, its mission is to present first class professional entertainment and regain the Playhouse's historic place in the national theatrical landscape; and to stimulate, support, inspire and celebrate the performing arts via community programs, partnerships and arts education.

Located between Philadelphia and New York, Bucks County Playhouse opened in 1939 in a converted 1790 gristmill after a group of community activists, led by Broadway orchestrator Don Walker and playwright Moss Hart, rallied to save the building. The Playhouse quickly became one of the country's most famous regional theaters, featuring a roster of American theatrical royalty including Helen Hayes, Kitty Carlisle, George S. Kaufman, Grace Kelly, Robert Redford, Bert Lahr, Walter Matthau, Angela Lansbury, Bernadette Peters, Alan Alda, Tyne Daly, Liza Minnelli and Audra McDonald and remained in continuous operation until December 2010. In 2012, the Playhouse re-opened thanks to the efforts of the Bridge Street Foundation, the nonprofit family foundation of Kevin and Sherri Daugherty, and Broadway producer Jed Bernstein.

Since its renovation, significant productions include Terrence McNally's Mothers and Sons starring Tyne Daly which moved to Broadway and was nominated for two Tony Awards; Misery by William Goldman based on the Stephen King novel which opens on Broadway in fall, 2015, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, starring Marilu Henner and playwright Christopher Durang, and this summer's hit production of Company starring Justin Guarini, which the Wall Street Journal claimed "borders on the miraculous. The Playhouse is surely headed back into the spotlight."

Visit the box office Tuesdays-Saturdays, 12pm to 5pm, Sunday, 12pm to 5pm, or call (215) 862- 2121. For more information, go to www.bcptheater.org.