Marc Acito & Jeffrey Stock's A ROOM WITH A VIEW Completes Old Globe's 2011-2012 Winter Season

Executive Producer Lou Spisto has just announced that the World Premiere of the musical A Room with a View, with a book by Marc Acito, music by Jeffrey Stock (Triumph of Love) and lyrics by Acito and Stock, will complete the Globe's 2011-12 Winter Season. Scott Schwartz will direct the new work based on the classic novel by E.M. Forster. A Room with a View will run in the Old Globe Theatre, part of the Conrad Prebys Theatre Center, March 2 - April 8, 2012. Opening night is Saturday, March 10.  

A Room with a View blends a gorgeous score with the timeless story that inspired the Academy Award-winning film. Amid the golden sunlight and violet-covered hills of Tuscany, shelterEd English girl Lucy Honeychurch meets freethinking George Emerson and for the first time glimpses a world of longing and passion she had never imagined. Upon her return to her corseted Edwardian life, Lucy must decide whether to yield to convention or give up everything she has ever known.

Spisto commented: "I really believe in this work, and I think our audience will enjoy being part of its launch. The score is stunning, and the story feels so right as a stage musical - these characters really do need to sing."

As previously announced, the Globe's 2011-12 Winter Season also features the World Premiere musicals Some Lovers by music legend Burt Bacharach and Tony Award winner Steven Sater and Nobody Loves You by Gaby Alter and Itamar Moses, as well as the West Coast Premiere of John Kander and Fred Ebb's The Scottsboro Boys, recently nominated for 12 Tony Awards including Best Musical, directed and choreographed by five-time Tony Award winner Susan Stroman. The two plays receiving World Premiere productions are Somewhere by Globe Playwright-in-Residence Matthew Lopez and The Recommendation by Jonathan Caren. The new season also includes Richard O'Brien's The Rocky Horror Show, the West Coast premiere of Horton Foote's Dividing the Estate and the Eugene O'Neill classic Anna Christie directed by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner David Auburn.

Marc Acito is the author of the popular comic novel How I Paid for College: A Novel of Sex, Theft, Friendship and Musical Theater, which won the Ken Kesey Award for Fiction, was Editors' Choice by The New York Times and was chosen as a Top Teen Pick by the American Library Association. Translated into five languages, it also inspired a sequel, Attack of the Theater People. Acito's play Birds of a Feather, which tells the true story of the nationwide controversy caused by gay penguins in the Central Park Zoo, will receive its world premiere at The Hub Theatre in Fairfax, Virginia in July, 2011. He also co-wrote with award-winning screenwriter C.S. Whitcomb the twisted Christmas comedy Holidazed, which ran for two seasons at Artists Repertory Theatre in Portland, Oregon. With composer Amy Engelhardt of the "band without instruments" The Bobs, he's created Bastard Jones, a rock musical adaptation of Henry Fielding's raucous The History of Tom Jones. A former professional opera singer, Acito regularly performs "singing commentaries" on National Public Radio's "All Things Considered." His humor column, "The Gospel According to Marc," ran in 19 alternative newspapers nationwide. A product of the musical theater program at Carnegie Mellon University, Acito graduated from Colorado College, which in 2009 awarded him an honorary doctorate. He lives in New York City, where he teaches story structure to writers of all genres at New York University's School of Continuing and Professional Studies.

Jeffrey Stock composes a wide range of music, from Broadway musicals to orchestral works and opera. He composed the music for the Tony Award-nominated Broadway musical Triumph of Love, starring Betty Buckley, F. Murray Abraham and Susan Egan. The show was named by USA Today as the Best New Musical of 1997-98. The New Yorker raved: "Smart, fresh and funny... Jeffrey Stock makes a remarkable Broadway debut." The New York Post wrote: "I was enthralled by Jeffrey Stock's score... dazzling!" Triumph of Love has received over 100 productions at theaters around the country and in Europe and Japan. Stock's symphonic and choral commission Lulie the Iceberg premiered at Carnegie Hall featuring the world's most renowned cellist, Yo-Yo Ma, and narrated by Sam Waterston. Based on a book by HIH Princess Takamado of Japan, Lulie the Iceberg was recorded on Sony Classical and has also been performed and televised in Europe. Stock received the prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship for music composition and the Jonathan Larson Grant (a memorial fund for the composer of Rent). He was one of the composers of the Off Broadway musical Songs from an Unmade Bed, which was presented to great acclaim at New York Theatre Workshop. He wrote the music and libretto for The Voice of Temperance, an operetta based on Prohibition texts, commissioned by The Public Theater in 1995. Stock also received a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to write the score and libretto for a new opera based on Boccaccio's Decameron, entitled Lodovico. He has won residencies at artist colonies including McDowell, Millay and Blue Mountain Center. He has lectured extensively in Beijing and Shanghai. He spent several years living in Bali, Indonesia, intensively studying the local language, customs and music. In 1994 he had the opportunity to study in Japan with legendary composer Toru Takemitsu. He received a B.A. in music from Yale University.

Scott Schwartz directed the Broadway productions of Golda's Balcony and Jane Eyre (co-directed with John Caird). He recently directed Brighton Beach Memoirs and Broadway Bound in repertory in the Old Globe Theatre and Lost in Yonkers in the Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre at The Old Globe. His Off Broadway work includes Bat Boy: The Musical (Lucille Lortel and Outer Critics Circle Awards, Outstanding Off Broadway Musical; Drama Desk Award nomination, Outstanding Director of a Musical), tick, tick... BOOM! (Outer Critics Circle, Outstanding Off Broadway Musical; Drama Desk nomination, Outstanding Director of a Musical), Rooms: A Rock Romance, The Foreigner starring Matthew Broderick (Roundabout Theatre Company), Kafka's The Castle (Outer Critics Circle nomination, Outstanding Director of a Play), Miss Julie and No Way to Treat a Lady. He also directed Golda's Balcony on tour, in London, in Los Angeles at the Wadsworth Theatre and in San Francisco at American Conservatory Theater. He directed the World Premiere of Séance on a Wet Afternoon, a new opera starring Lauren Flanigan, at Opera Santa Barbara and subsequently at New York City Opera. Schwartz's other recent credits include Arsenic and Old Lace starring Tovah Feldshuh and Betty Buckley (Dallas Theater Center), Othello and Much Ado About Nothing (Alley Theatre), Reckless (The Denver Center for the Performing Arts) and a re-envisioning of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (Paper Mill Playhouse, Theatre Under The Stars, Theatre on the Square and North Shore Music Theatre; 2008 IRNE Award, Outstanding Director of a Musical). Schwartz is a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, an Associate Artist at Alley Theatre and a graduate of Harvard University.

The complete 2011-2012 winter season at The Old Globe includes:

· Richard O'Brien's The Rocky Horror Show - Book, Music and Lyrics by Richard O'Brien (Sept. 15 - Nov. 6, 2011) Old Globe Theatre, Conrad Prebys Theatre Center

The 2011-12 Season opens with a revival of the enduring musical phenomenon The Rocky Horror Show, featuring the sweet transvestite from Transylvania, Dr. Frank N. Furter, and his time-warped laboratory of sexual and scientific possibilities. Director Oanh Nguyen, Artistic Director of Southern California's award-winning Chance Theater, is renowned for his distinctive interpretations of contemporary musicals.

· Somewhere by Matthew Lopez (Sept. 24 - Oct. 30, 2011) Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, Conrad Prebys Theatre Center

After receiving its West Coast Premiere at the Globe in 2010, Playwright-in-Residence Matthew Lopez's play The Whipping Man took New York by storm. His newest work, infused with dance, takes place in 1959 and tells the story of a family of dreamers whose home is scheduled for demolition to make way for the construction of Lincoln Center. Giovanna Sardelli, who last collaborated with Lopez on the Globe's production of The Whipping Man, will direct the World Premiere production.

· Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! - Book and Lyrics by Timothy Mason, Music by Mel Marvin (Nov. 19 - Dec. 31, 2011) Old Globe Theatre, Conrad Prebys Theatre Center

Everyone's favorite green meanie will return for his 14th consecutive year in the delightful and heartwarming musical that has become a beloved San Diego holiday tradition. James Vasquez returns to direct.

· Some Lovers - Music by Burt Bacharach, Book and Lyrics by Steven Sater (Nov. 26 - Dec. 31, 2011) Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, Conrad Prebys Theatre Center

Academy and Grammy Award-winning music legend Burt Bacharach teams with Tony Award winner Steven Sater (Spring Awakening) for the World Premiere of a new musical. Based upon The Gift of the Magi, the classic O. Henry short story, Some Lovers features a new score by Bacharach.

· Dividing the Estate by Horton Foote (Jan. 14 - Feb. 12, 2012) Old Globe Theatre, Conrad Prebys Theatre Center

Beloved American playwright Horton Foote's Tony-nominated comedy receives its West Coast Premiere under the direction of Michael Wilson. Wilson, considered the foremost interpreter of Foote's work, reunites with Dividing the Estate's Broadway creative team and members of the cast to remount this modern classic. A co-production with the Alley Theatre.

· The Recommendation by Jonathan Caren (Jan. 21 - Feb. 26, 2012) Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, Conrad Prebys Theatre Center

A chance encounter with an accused felon puts the longtime friendship of two college roommates at risk in this World Premiere play by Jonathan Caren. Caren is a recent graduate of the Playwrights Program at The Juilliard School and one of America's exciting new theatrical voices. Jonathan Munby (Donmar Warehouse's The Prince of Homburg and Life is a Dream) directs.

· A Room with a View - Book by Marc Acito, Music by Jeffrey Stock, Lyrics by Jeffrey Stock and Mark Acito (March 2 - April 8, 2012) Old Globe Theatre, Conrad Prebys Theatre Center

Amid the golden sunlight and violet-covered hills of Tuscany, shelterEd English girl Lucy Honeychurch glimpses a world of longing and passion she had never imagined. A World Premiere musical based on the classic novel by E.M. Forster directed by Scott Schwartz.

· Anna Christie by Eugene O'Neill (March 10 - April 15, 2012) Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, Conrad Prebys Theatre Center

Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning playwright David Auburn (Proof) directs Eugene O'Neill's poetic masterpiece about the knotty relationship between an old sailor, his daughter and her seafaring young lover.

· The Scottsboro Boys - Music and Lyrics by John Kander and Fred Ebb, Book by David Thompson (April 29 - June 10, 2012) Old Globe Theatre, Conrad Prebys Theatre Center

Nominated for 12 Tony Awards including Best Musical, The Scottsboro Boys is the final collaboration by musical theater giants John Kander and Fred Ebb (Chicago, Cabaret). Five-time Tony Award winner Susan Stroman directed and choreographed the musical's recent Broadway outing and will return to helm its West Coast Premiere. This daring and entertaining new musical tells the shocking and inspiring true story of the notorious 1930s Scottsboro case in which nine African American men were unjustly accused of a terrible crime. A co-production with American Conservatory Theater.

· Nobody Loves You - Music and Lyrics by Gaby Alter, Book and Lyrics by Itamar Moses (May 9 - June 17, 2012) Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, Conrad Prebys Theatre Center

Nobody Loves You is an irreverent new musical comedy about the search for real relationships in a pop culture that is anything but. A young grad student joins a reality television dating show to win back his ex-girlfriend and is instead seduced by fame in this World Premiere production directed by Michelle Tattenbaum.

The season also includes a special music theater event commissioned by The Old Globe in celebration of its 75th Anniversary. Odyssey, conceived and directed by Lear deBessonet with music, lyrics and book by Todd Almond (Girlfriend, We Have Always Lived in the Castle) is a reimagining of Homer's epic poem performed by both professional artists and over 60 members of the San Diego community. Odyssey, part of the Globe's Southeastern San Diego Residency Project, will be performed on Sept. 30, Oct. 1 and 2, 2011 in the Lowell Davies Festival Theatre.

Additionally, The Old Globe/University of San Diego Graduate Theatre Program will present Twelfth Night, Shakespeare's magical comedy of mistaken identities, Nov. 6 - 13, 2011 in the Conrad Prebys Theatre Center's Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre. The nationally-renowned professional actor training program is an intensive two-year course of graduate study in classical theater. Richard Seer directs.

The current 2011 Summer Season features the annual Shakespeare Festival led by acclaimed director Adrian Noble. Noble will direct The Tempest (June 5 - Sept. 25) and Amadeus (June 12 - Sept. 22). Presented in repertory, the Festival will also include Much Ado About Nothing (May 29 - Sept. 24) directed by Ron Daniels. The Summer Season also includes Hershey Felder as George Gershwin Alone (July 1 - July 10), Hershey Felder in Concert: The Great American Songbook (July 11 - July 17) and Hershey Felder in Maestro: The Art of Leonard Bernstein (July 22 - Aug. 28) directed by Joel Zwick and Engaging Shaw (July 29 - Sept. 4), John Morogiello's romantic comedy directed by Henry Wishcamper.

For more information and season subscriptions, visit www.TheOldGlobe.org, call (619) 23-GLOBE [234-5623] or visit the Box Office at 1363 Old Globe Way in Balboa Park.  

The Tony Award-winning Old Globe is one of the country's leading professional regional theaters and has stood as San Diego's flagship arts institution for 75 years. Under the direction of Executive Producer Louis G. Spisto, The Old Globe produces a year-round season of 15 productions of classic, contemporary and new works on its three Balboa Park stages: the 600-seat Old Globe Theatre and the 250-seat Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, which are both part of The Old Globe's Conrad Prebys Theatre Center, and the 605-seat outdoor Lowell Davies Festival Theatre, home of its internationally renowned Shakespeare Festival. More than 250,000 people attend Globe productions annually and participate in the theater's education and community programs. Numerous world premieres such as The Full Monty, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, A Catered Affair and the annual holiday musical Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! have been developed at The Old Globe and have gone on to enjoy highly successful runs on Broadway and at regional theaters across the country.

 

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