Berkeley Playhouse Announces 2013-14 Season

Berkeley Playhouse has announced the lineup for its sixth season. The family-friendly season of musicals timeless and new opens in October with Andrew Lippa and Brian Crawley's enchanting A LITTLE PRINCESS, directed by Berkeley Playhouse Artistic Director Elizabeth McKoy. Marissa Wolf returns to the company to direct MerEdith Wilson's THE MUSIC MAN in February, followed by THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE in April, directed by Kimberly Dooley. Closing the MainStage season is SHREK THE MUSICAL directed by Elizabeth McKoy in July. In addition to the MainStage season, the company will present winter, spring, and fall YouthStage productions. The entire 2013-14 season will be staged at the Julia Morgan Theater (2640 College Avenue) in Berkeley. Subscriptions ($54-$112) on-sale March 23; single tickets ($17-$60) on-sale August 1. For tickets and information, the public may visit berkeleyplayhouse.org or call 510-845-8542x351.

"I couldn't be more excited about our upcoming season," said Berkeley Playhouse founding Artistic Director Elizabeth McKoy. "When does a dream become a desire? What turns a want into a need? These are but two of the questions Berkeley Playhouse will explore in our 2013-14 MainStage season with our productions of A Little Princess, The Music Man, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, and Shrek The Musical. The new season also sees the continuation of our New Works program with a commissioned work for our KidStage, based on the Robin Hood story, as well as entering the next phase of our new commissioned MainStage production, Bridges. In 2014, we will stage a reading of Bridges in anticipation of a fully produced production that will appear as part of our 2014-15 season."

Continued McKoy, "Berkeley Playhouse aims to create works that are multilayered, where an adult and a child see the same show and have both shared and unique experiences, where stories feel important and represent the diverse audiences that make up the Bay Area and the world. With gorgeous music, stories that resonate with our community, multigenerational and multicultural casts, Berkeley Playhouse continues to reflect the community we live in."

In chronological order, the Berkeley Playhouse 2013-14 season is as follows:

A LITTLE PRINCESS

Music by Andrew Lippa

Book and Lyrics by Brian Crawley

Directed by Elizabeth McKoy

October 24 - December 8, 2013

Opening/Press opening: October 26 (Previews: October 24, 26)

Berkeley Playhouse opens its sixth season with A LITTLE PRINCESS, based on the treasured Frances Hodgson Burnett novel, and featuring a score by Tony nominee Andrew Lippa and book and lyrics by Brian Crawley. Daughter of a wealthy gentleman, young Sara Crewe is treated like a little princess. When her father, a renowned adventurer, is reported killed in action, Sara's charmed life takes a dramatic turn. Separated from her father, and consigned to a London boarding school, Sara's imaginative powers come to the rescue, helping her to win the affections of the other boarders, and transform a drab institution into a place of magic and mystery. Relying upon her beliefs in magic and in her inner royalty, Sara emerges with grace and virtue against all efforts to stamp out her spirit. Berkeley Playhouse Artistic Director Elizabeth McKoy, who helmed the company's record-breaking production of The Sound of Music, directs this delightful musical.

THE MUSIC MAN

Music, Lyrics, and Book by MerEdith Wilson

Directed by Marissa Wolf

Story by MerEdith Wilson and Franklin Lacey

February 13 - March 23, 2014

Opening/Press opening: February 15 (Previews: February 13, 15)

Berkeley Playhouse continues its sixth season with the Tony-winning THE MUSIC MAN. An affectionate homage to small town America at the turn of the century, THE MUSIC MAN follows fast-talking traveling salesman "Professor" Harold Hill as he cons the people of River City, Iowa into buying instruments and uniforms for a boys band he vows to organize, despite the fact he doesn't know a trombone from a treble clef. It's all part of a big swindle, but falling in love wasn't part of the deal. Hill's plans to skip town with the cash are foiled when he falls for Marian the librarian, who vows to turn him into an honest man.

THE MUSIC MAN features such classics from the musical theatre cannon as "Ya Got Trouble," "Goodnight My Someone," "Till There Was You," and the show-stopping "Seventy-Six Trombones." Marissa Wolf (Crowded Fire Theater, Shotgun Players) helms this gem from the Golden Age of Broadway, her MainStage directing debut at Berkeley Playhouse.

THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE

Music and Lyrics by William Finn
Book by Rachel Sheinkin

Conceived by Rebecca Feldman
Additional Material by Jay Reiss

Directed by Kimberly Dooley

April 5-May 4, 2014

Opening/Press opening: April 5 (Previews: April 3, 5)

No musical exemplifies the humor and poignancy of adolescence more than THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE. This unlikely hit musical comedy chronicles the experiences of six adolescent outsiders vying for the spelling championship of a lifetime. Winner of the 2005 Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical, this hilarious and warm-hearted tale of overachievers' angst celebrates the triumph of doing the best you can. Kimberly Dooley (Once on This Island, Seussical the Musical, Lucky Duck, The Wiz) directs this tale of tenacious tweens, and grown-ups who barely managed to escape childhood, who learn that winning isn't everything and losing doesn't necessarily make you a loser.

SHREK THE MUSICAL

Music by Jeanine Tesori
Book and Lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire

Based on the Dreamworks Animation Motion Picture and the book by William Steig

Directed by Elizabeth McKoy

July 10 - August 24, 2014

Opening/Press opening: July 12 (Previews: July 10, 12)

The final main stage production of Berkeley Playhouse's sixth season is the irreverent SHREK THE MUSICAL. We all dream of a happily ever after, but for one lovable Ogre, happily ever after simply means being left alone, or so he thinks. In a faraway kingdom turned upside down, a swamp-dwelling Ogre embarks upon an adventure of a lifetime. Joined by a wise-cracking donkey who won't shut up, this unlikely hero fights a fearsome dragon, rescues a feisty princess, and learns that real friendship and true love aren't only found in fairy tales. Full of toe-tapping new songs, SHREK THE MUSICAL is part romance, part twisted fairy tale, and all fun. Berkeley Playhouse Artistic Director Elizabeth McKoy directs.

YouthStage productions

Berkeley Playhouse believes that kids and teens have the ability to command their own audiences. The company's acclaimed YouthStage gives talented students the opportunity to participate in full-scale youth-only productions of the highest quality with some of the best professional directors, choreographers, and designers in the Bay Area. Cast members of YouthStage productions receive ongoing training in acting, voice, and movement. Winter, spring, and summer YouthStage productions TBA.

Berkeley Playhouse was founded in 2007 by Artistic Director Elizabeth McKoy, a professional theatre actor, director, and teacher for over 25 years. Under the artistic guidance of McKoy, and Managing Director Lauren Hewitt, Berkeley Playhouse is a professional theatre for all ages that presents a season of year-round musicals, providing children and families with unique and sophisticated musical theatre experiences. In addition, Berkeley Playhouse has a musical theatre conservatory which offers a range of educational instruction classes in music performance skills. In 2009, Berkeley Playhouse made its permanent performance home at the historic Julia Morgan Theater in Berkeley.