Contra Costa Civic Theatre Announces Its 2017-18 Season

Contra Costa Civic Theatre (CCCT) today announced its 58th Main Stage season, including two blockbuster musicals, two plays with very different views of family, and a wildly theatrical version of Grimm's fairy tales.

Opening the season is Kander and Ebb's CABARET, from September 22 through October 22. Based on Christopher Isherwood's Berlin Stories, Cabaret explores the swirling maelstrom of a changing society through the interwoven stories of a third-rate chanteuse, an American writer, the inhabitants of a once-respectable boarding house, and the denizens of a seedy Berlin nightclub. Led by the enigmatic and dazzling Emcee, Cabaret is an intoxicating experience, featuring well-known classics such as "Don't Tell Mama," "Maybe This Time," and the title song.

For the holidays, CCCT presents the comedy OVER THE RIVER AND THROUGH THE WOODS, from November 17 through December 10. Written by Joe DiPietro, author of the off-Broadway hit I Love You You're Perfect Now Change and Tony award-winner for the musical Memphis, Over the River... is a love letter to family as grandson Nick decides to take a job across the country and then has to convince his four Italian-American grandparents that it's the right move.

Next up is Mary Zimmerman's imaginative, highly theatrical THE SECRET IN THE WINGS from February 16 through March 11. Filled with mystery and tinged with Zimmerman's signature wit and humor, this collection of lesser-known Grimm's fairy tales-told through storytelling, music, and movement-takes us on a thrilling, sometimes scary journey from "Once Upon a Time" to "Happily Ever After."

Coming in April is VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE, playwright Christopher Durang's comic mash-up of the plays of Anton Chekhov, mixed with his own unique brand of humor. Vanya and Sonia have never left their childhood home in Bucks County, PA, while sister Masha has been traipsing around the world as a successful actress. When Masha comes home with her boy toy, Spike, the normally quiet household is thrown into utter chaos. Winner of the 2013 Tony award for Best Play, Vanya... plays April 13 through May 6.

Closing out the 2017-18 is the blockbuster musical, RAGTIME, based on E.L. Doctorow's novel, from June 15-July 22. Set in 1906 New York, with book by Terrence McNally and a glorious period score by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, Ragtime sweeps across the diversity of the American experience to create a stirring epic that captures the heartbeat of a country.

In addition to the Main Stage season, CCCT will present a special holiday offering, the musical ALL IS CALM, for four performances only from December 14-17. This haunting musical tells the story of The Christmas Truce of 1914: It's Christmas Eve 1914 on the Western Front. Out of the violence a silence, then a song. A German soldier steps into No Man's Land singing "Stille Nacht." Thus begins an extraordinary night of camaraderie, music, and peace. A remarkable true story, told in the words and songs of the men who lived it.

Season subscriptions for CCCT's 2017-18 5-play season will be available online at www.ccct.org or by phone at 510.524.9012 beginning May 12, 2017; single tickets will go on sale August 1. Please note that ALL IS CALM is not included in the subscription package; ticket information for this limited run will be announced at a later date. All performances take place at CCCT's intimate and fully accessible theatre in the Flynn building located at 951 Pomona Avenue in El Cerrito. Free parking is provided in the adjoining lot. For more information, visit www.ccct.org.

ABOUT CONTRA COSTA CIVIC THEATRE

Contra Costa Civic Theatre, established in 1959 by Louis and Bettianne Flynn and a group of dedicated volunteers and now under the artistic direction of Marilyn Langbehn, is a non-profit community theatre with its permanent home in El Cerrito, CA. Our mission is to provide affordable, high-quality entertainment to residents throughout the East Bay and provide training in performing arts for children and adults. We are proud to be an independent, self-sufficient organization presenting five Main Stage and thirteen youth productions annually in our intimate two hundred-seat theatre.

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