O'Hara, Foster et al. Set for Kennedy Center in '10-'11

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts announced its 2010-2011 theater programming. The season will feature: a Center-produced revival of Stephen Sondheim's Follies; ON THE FRINGE: Eye on Edinburgh featuring new work by artists emerging from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe; 11 and 12, directed by Peter Brook; Chekhov InterNational Theatre Festival's Three Sisters and Twelfth Night; DRUID's The Cripple of Inishmaan; and Penumbra Theatre Company's new production I Wish You Love, as part of the Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays. Barbara Cook's Spotlight will bring six theater cabaret performers in its fourth season, and audiences will delight in touring productions of Hair, Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific, Wicked, and Next to Normal. The 2010-2011 season is as follows:

BARBARA COOK'S SPOTLIGHT, October 15, 2010 - April 1, 2011, Terrace Theater

In its fourth season, Broadway legend Barbara Cook continues to shine the spotlight on her top-notch Broadway peers. The six performers in the 2010-2011 season will include Kelli O'Hara on October 15, 2010; Ashley Brown on November 19, 2010; Norm Lewis on December 10, 2010; Sutton Foster on January 14, 2011; Tammy Grimes on January 28, 2011; and Alexander Gemignani on April 1, 2011.

THREE SISTERS and TWELFTH NIGHT, October 19 - 23, 2010, Eisenhower Theater

The Kennedy Center presents the exclusive North American engagement of the Chekhov InterNational Theatre Festival productions of Three Sisters and Twelfth Night. Anton Chekhov's Three Sisters, the North American premiere, follows the disappointments of an upper class Russian family at the turn of the 20th century. In Shakespeare's comedy Twelfth Night, Viola disguises herself as a boy in Duke Orsino's court resulting in funny romantic mishaps. Both plays are directed by Declan Donnellan, designed by Nick Ormerod and are performed in Russian with English surtitles.

ON THE FRINGE: Eye on Edinburgh, October 28 - November 14, 2010, Various

Presented in association with the British Council, On the Fringe: Eye on Edinburgh is a three-week event featuring new work emerging from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe - a place that has been a crucible for the creation of innovative and experimental work.  Presented by playwright/director David Leddy, the U.S. premiere of Susurrus is narrated via headphones and set at various locations around the Kennedy Center. The production draws on live art and adds layers of theatricality by locking individual members of the audience into a private play, hearing anonymous speakers tell stories of opera, botany, and relationships, all linked to the pathways around them.

HAIR, October 26 - November 21, 2010, Opera House

Winner of the 2009 Tony Award® for Best Musical Revival, Hair kicks off its national tour at the Kennedy Center. The production tells the story of a group of young Americans searching for love and peace during the Vietnam era. A portrait of a movement that changed the world, its rock score paved the way for some of the greatest musicals of our time. Directed by Diane Paulus and choreographed by Karole Armitage, Hair features book and lyrics by Gerome Ragni and James Rado and music by Galt MacDermot.

Rodgers & Hammerstein's SOUTH PACIFIC, December 14, 2010 - January 16, 2011, Opera House

Based on James Michener's Pulitzer Prize winning book Tales of the South Pacific, South Pacific features music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, book by Oscar Hammerstein II and Joshua Logan, and is directed by 2008 Tony Award® winner Bartlett Sher. Set on a tropical island during World War II, the musical tells the romantic story of two couples and how their happiness is threatened by the realities of war and by their own prejudices. A reinvention produced by Lincoln Center Theater, the musical won seven Tony Awards® in 2008 including Best Musical Revival and Best Director. With a cast of 34 and an orchestra of 26 members, South Pacific includes popular songs such as "Some Enchanted Evening," "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair," and "There is Nothin' Like a Dame."

THE CRIPPLE OF INISHMAAN, February 8 - 12, 2011, Terrace Theater

One of Ireland's foremost theater companies, the Galway-based Druid returns with The Cripple of Inishmaan written by Academy Award® winner Martin McDonagh and directed by Garry Hynes, the first woman to win a Tony Award® for Best Direction. Set in rural Ireland in 1934, the play depicts the impact that a Hollywood film crew has over the local residents of a small town in Inishmore when young "cripple" Billy Claven is selected to star in the film.

11 AND 12, April 14-17, 2011, Eisenhower Theater

Based on the novel Life and Teaching of Tierno Bokar - The Sage of Bandigara by African writer Amadou Hampaté Bâ and adapted by Marie Hélène Estienne and Peter Brook, 11 and 12 explores how a theological conflict over whether a certain prayer should be recited eleven or twelve times leads to hatred, violence, and massacres. Set in West Africa under French occupation, this true story is directed by Peter Brook.

FOLLIES, May 7 - June 5, 2011, Eisenhower Theater

The Kennedy Center will mount a major revival production of Stephen Sondheim's Follies. Winner of seven Tony Awards® for its original 1971 Broadway production, Follies features music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim with a book by James Goldman. Directed by Eric Schaeffer with choreography by Warren Carlyle, this new Kennedy Center production follows the emotional journeys of two middle-aged couples attending a reunion for former members of the musical revue "Weismannn's Follies." Popular songs include "Broadway Baby," "I'm Still Here," "Too Many Mornings," "Could I Leave You?" and "Losing My Mind."

I WISH YOU LOVE, June 11 - 19, 2011, Terrace Theater

Produced by Penumbra Theatre Company, I Wish You Love is a new play with music that follows a moment in the life of Nat "King" Cole. Written by Penumbra's Associate Artistic Director Dominic Taylor, and directed by Artistic Director and Obie award winner Lou Bellamy, the play is used as a window into not only the life of the star, but also an examination of American life in 1957. Penumbra is the 2011 recipient of the Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays.

WICKED, June 15 - August 21, 2011, Opera House   

Long before that girl from Kansas arrives in Munchkinland, two girls meet in the land of Oz. One - born with emerald green skin - is smart, fiery and misunderstood. The other is beautiful, ambitious and very popular. When Wicked first played at the Kennedy Center in 2005, it broke box office records and sold out in record time. Winner of 26 major awards, including a Grammy and three Tony Awards®, Wicked, the untold story of the witches of Oz, features music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and book by Winnie Holzman, and is based on the best-selling novel by Gregory Maguire. With musical staging by Tony Award® winner Wayne Cilento, Wicked is directed by Tony Award® winner Joe Mantello.

NEXT TO NORMAL, June 28 - July 9, 2011, Eisenhower Theater

From the director of Rent comes Next to Normal, an emotional musical with a contemporary score about a family trying to take care of themselves and each other. The musical tells the story of a mother who struggles with bipolar disorder and the effect it has on her family. Winner of three 2009 Tony Awards® including Best Score, Next to Normal features music by Tom Kitt, book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey, and was chosen as "one of the year's ten best" by major critics around the country. The musical played a pre-Broadway engagement at Arena Stage in 2008.

Shear Madness, Continuous, Theater Lab

As it has for more than 23 years, Shear Madness by Paul Portner, adapted by Bruce Jordan and Marilyn Abrams, continues to play in the Theater Lab. Shear Madness, the comedy whodunit, takes place in present-day Georgetown and engages locals and tourists alike as armchair detectives to help solve the scissor-stabbing murder of a famed concert pianist who lives above the Shear Madness hairstyling salon. The show combines up-to-the-minute improvisational humor and a mixture of audience sleuthing to deliver a unique performance each night.