Penguin Rep Theatre Announces 2011 Season

Penguin Rep Theatre's 2011 season opens Friday, May 20 and runs through November 6, artistic director Joe Brancato and executive director Andrew M. Horn announced today.

Greetings!, Tom Dudzick's heartwarming comedy about a family blessed by an unexpected miracle, is the first of four mainstage productions selected for the nonprofit professional theatre's 34th season. "We are thrilled to have Tom Dudzick, author of Over the Tavern and Miracle on South Division Street, back for the third year in a row to kick off a new season at Penguin Rep," says Mr. Brancato. Greetings! will be presented from May 20 through June 12 at Penguin's intimate, 108-seat theatre in Stony Point (Rockland County), New York.

Next up is the New York premiere of Deborah Zoe Laufer's Sirens, a romantic comedy about finding one's muse and falling in love with your spouse all over again (July 8 - July 31). Summer 2011 brings Shipwrecked! An Entertainment for audiences young and old by Pulitzer Prize winner Donald Margulies (August 12 - September 4). Closing the season will be the New York premiere of Mat Smart's heartfelt new play, Samuel J. and K., about a pair of brothers finding their game, their lives and their bond challenged as never before (October 14 - November 6).
Performance days and times for mainstage productions are: Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturday nights at 8:00 p.m., with matinees on Saturdays at 4:00 p.m. and Sundays at 2:00 p.m.
Building on its mainstage season, Penguin Rep will also produce a Children's Theatre Festival featuring Theatreworks USA presentations of North, South, East & Jim West starring puppeteer Jim West (July 19 & July 21) and Sweet Potato Pie & Such with performer Queen Nur (July 20).
A new series of the popular Monday evening Play With Your Food readings begins May 23 and will be catered by Jimmy's on Main Restaurant in Nanuet, New York. (Other dates: July 11, July 25, August 22, September 12).

History is a wonderfully funny thing - if only it was true! - when Robert Wuhl (Arli$) takes us on an outrageous comic romp through the American past. Assume the Position, an all-new follow-up to the Emmy Award-winning comedian's acclaimed HBO special, will be presented for one performance only, Saturday, September 10 at 8:00 pm, at SUNY Rockland Community College's Cultural Arts Center in Suffern, New York. 

SUNY Rockland Community College will also be the venue for a special presentation of Steve Solomon's Off Broadway hit comedy My Mother's Italian, My Father's Jewish & I'm in Therapy. One part lasagna, one part kreplach and two parts Prozac, Italian + Jewish = Therapy will be presented Saturday, October 1 at 8:30 pm.

Penguin Rep's Annual Auction returns Sunday, October 9. Admission is free.Mr. Brancato also announced that Angelo Parra's The Devil's Music: The Life and Blues of Bessie Smith,starring Miche Braden, will open at St. Luke's Theatre for an open-ended Off Broadway run beginning Monday, June 5. Conceived and staged by Mr. Brancato, The Devil's Music was commissioned and originally presented by Penguin Rep and will be co-produced by Penguin and Edmund Gaynes.

Subscriptions to 2011 mainstage productions are on sale now and start as low as $92 for the four plays. Mr. Horn points out that subscribers save 20 to 30% off single tickets, and that the very best seats in the house go to subscribers before single tickets go on sale. "Bringing friends or family just got easier," says Mr. Horn, "with subscribers receiving $5 off the purchase of additional tickets". Lost or forgotten tickets? "Don't worry", says Mr. Horn. Need to exchange your tickets for a different date? "It's not a problem," says Mr. Horn, stating that only subscribers may exchange their tickets. For no additional charge, patrons can select value-added subscription series that include opening receptions, post-performance discussions among the artists and audience, and pre-show tastings supplied by local restaurants. An additional incentive, says Mr. Horn, "is to dine out at a discount, with select restaurants offering special benefits to Penguin subscribers". 

Individual tickets go on sale beginning April 15. Tickets for mainstage productions are priced at $34 each. Discounts are available for groups of 10 or more and young people (30 and under). Special reduced-priced weekday matinee performances for senior and student groups are also slated (May 20, July 8, August 12, October 14).

Tickets for Robert Wuhl's Assume the Position and My Mother's Italian, My Father's Jewish & I'm in
Therapy are priced at $34 each ($29 for Penguin subscribers). Tickets are $21 for the Play With Your Foodreadings and $17 for The Children's Theatre presentations. To order tickets or for further information, visit Penguin Rep's website at www.penguinrep.org or call 845.786.2873.