Palo Alto Players Sets 2016-17 Season

Palo Alto Players, the Peninsula's first theatre company, announces its 86th season - "From Stage to Screen and Back Again" - featuring a collection of plays and musicals whose time-honored stories have been theatrical hits both on stage and in film. The 2016-17 line-up, beginning September 2016, was unveiled Saturday, January 30 by Artistic Director Patrick Klein and Managing Director Diana Lynn Berenstein at the company's annual Season Announcement Party and includes Disney's THE LITTLE MERMAID; THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK; A DAY IN HOLLYWOOD, A NIGHT IN THE UKRAINE; Monty Python's SPAMALOT and THE GRADUATE. All performances are held at the Lucie Stern Theater located at 1305 Middlefield Road in Palo Alto. Subscriptions are on sale now online at www.paplayers.org or by phone at 650.329.0891. Individual tickets for the September show go on sale in August and for the remaining season beginning in October.

Palo Alto Players' 86th season kicks off in September 2016 with the Peninsula premiere of Disney's re-telling of the classic Hans Christian Andersen story, THE LITTLE MERMAID, followed in November with a gripping new stage adaptation of THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK. Ushering in the new year in January 2017, the company presents the rarely-produced hilarious musical gem A DAY IN HOLLYWOOD, A NIGHT IN THE UKRAINE. The laughter continues in April with the Tony-award winning musical SPAMALOT, adapted from the 1975 cult film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Closing the season in June is Palo Alto Players' premiere of the 1960s cultural phenomenon, THE GRADUATE.

"The theme, which is essentially about live theatre embracing its Hollywood cousin, came to me a couple of years ago and I didn't feel I had the perfect collection of titles for it until now," says Palo Alto Players' Artistic Director Patrick Klein. "This creative partnership between Hollywood and Broadway has been a true give and take for over a century, but from this creative push and pull hundreds of hits for the stage have been born. Next season, I'm thrilled to be showcasing some of the best at Palo Alto Players as we celebrate the marriage between stage and screen."

In chronological order, Palo Alto Players' 2016-17 season is as follows:

Disney's

THE LITTLE MERMAID

September 17 - October 2, 2016 (Preview September 16)

Music by Alan Menken

Lyrics by Howard Ashman & Glenn Slater

Book by Doug Wright

Based on the Hans Christian Andersen story and the Disney film produced by Howard Ashman & John Musker and written & directed by John Musker & Ron Clements

Originally Produced by Disney Theatrical Productions

Plunge into the colorful depths of an undersea wonderland as the Lucie Stern stage is transformed into an aquatic playground underscored by a funky Calypso beat. From the creators of Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and Little Shop of Horrors, this enchanting musical features an infectious score that includes the popular songs "Part of Your World," "Under the Sea" and "Kiss the Girl." Adapted from the beloved fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen into one of Disney's most popular animated films of all time, THE LITTLE MERMAID is now a big-hearted, lavish theatrical spectacle you won't want to miss.

"Visually ingenious and emotionally satisfying. A musical that does justice to the lovely film from which it sprang." -The Wall Street Journal

THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK

November 5 - 20, 2016 (Preview November 4)

A Play by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett

Based upon "Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl"

Newly Adapted by Wendy Kesselman

In this transcendently powerful new adaptation by Wendy Kesselman, Anne Frank emerges from history a living, lyrical, intensely gifted young girl, who confronts her rapidly changing life and the increasing horror of her time with astonishing honesty, wit, and determination. An impassioned drama about the lives of eight people hiding from the Nazis in a concealed storage attic, THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK captures the claustrophobic realities of their daily existence - their fear, their hope, their laughter, their grief - artfully bringing Anne's words to life for a new generation.

"Wendy Kesselman's finely textured new DIARY tells a deeper story. A sensitive, stirring and thoroughly engaging new adaptation." -NY Newsday

A DAY IN HOLLYWOOD, A NIGHT IN THE UKRAINE

January 21 - February 5, 2017 (Preview January 20)

Book and Lyrics by Dick Vosburgh
Music by Frank Lazarus

Who better to shake those winter blues than the Marx Brothers! Two one-act musicals provide a "double feature" as hilarious as any presented in Hollywood's heyday. The first act, A DAY IN HOLLYWOOD, takes us to the lobby of Grauman's Chinese Theatre in the 1930s where the ushers sing a musical tribute to the screen stars and productions of that magical era - including a musical homage to film clichés and a tap salute to the 1930 Production Code governing on-screen "naughtiness." The second act, A NIGHT IN THE UKRAINE, sweeps us away to Russia for a madcap musical featuring all the usual loony Marx Brothers suspects. Nominated for five Tony Awards, this rollicking, innovative two-musicals-in-one is a guaranteed toe-tapping, belly-laughing delight.

"A night of magic." -The New York Post

Monty Python's

SPAMALOT

April 29 - May 14, 2017 (Preview April 28)

Book & Lyrics by Eric Idle

Music by John Du Prez & Eric Idle

A new musical lovingly ripped off from the motion picture "Monty Python and the Holy Grail"

From the original screenplay by Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin

Monty Python's SPAMALOT, the musical comedy sensation lovingly ripped off from the film classic Monty Python and The Holy Grail, arrives this spring to spread laughter and cheer throughout the kingdom. As gleefully silly yet wickedly smart as Monty Python, the beloved British comedy troupe that inspired it, SPAMALOT tells the tale of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table as they embark on their quest for the Holy Grail. You'll enjoy some mostly handsome Knights, a bevy of beautiful showgirls, not to mention cows, killer rabbits, and French people, before the familiar sound of clomping coconut shells brings down the curtain on the season's goofiest, if satirically dead-on, comic delight.

Winner of the 2005 Tony Award for Best Musical!

"You could put a happy-meter in the theatre and watch it go off the charts. You'll laugh a lot!" -Toronto Star

THE GRADUATE

June 17 - July 2, 2017 (Preview June 16)

A Play adapted by Terry Johnson

Based on the novel by Charles Webb and the motion picture screenplay by Calder Willingham and Buck Henry

By special arrangement with StudioCanal

"Plastics, Ben. Plastics. Will you think about that?" Recent college graduate Benjamin has excellent grades, very proud parents and, since he helped Mrs. Robinson with her zipper, a fine future behind him...A cult novel, a classic film, a quintessential hit of the 60s, now Benjamin's disastrous sexual odyssey is brought vividly to life in this brilliantly mod and hilarious stage adaptation.

"This bittersweet comedy is rich, full and funny. Enjoy!" -NY1

For more information or to purchase season subscriptions, visit the company online at www.paplayers.org, by phone at 650.329.0891, or in person at the Box Office at the Lucie Stern Theater located at 1305 Middlefield Road in Palo Alto, Tuesday-Thursday 11am-4 pm PT. Early bird subscriptions prices (starting at just $125 for all five productions) are available through May 8, 2016. Prices increase after May 8. Special discounts for seniors, educators, military and patrons under 30 are also available. Some restrictions may apply. In addition to significant savings, subscribers receive other benefits such as priority seating, free ticket exchanges, discounts on the purchase of additional single tickets, and invitations to special events.

In cooperation with The City of Palo Alto, Palo Alto Players performs at the Lucie Stern Theater located at 1305 Middlefield Road in Palo Alto, California. Use of this facility is made possible through support from The City of Palo Alto, Community Services Department, Division of Arts and Sciences, and from our patrons.