Robert Forster in THE LIFEGUARD, CLYBOURNE PARK, INFORMED CONSENT and More Set for Geva Theatre's 40th Season
By: BWW News Desk Mar. 19, 2013
Two productions remain in Geva Theatre Center's 40th Anniversary Season in the Wilson Mainstage: The Whipping Man, Matthew Lopez's Civil War Drama, and the season's grand finale, William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Spring 2013 Fielding Nextstage Season is in full swing with Bob currently playing, and No Child... and Venus in Fur yet to come.
The 2012-2013 Season has drawn visitors from as far as away as Japan and Mexico to see Robert Vaughn in You Can't Take It With You. Thousands of subscribers got up close and personal in Freud's study with guided backstage tours of Freud's Last Session, 20,000 people enjoyed the theatre's annual production of A Christmas Carol and over 18,000 attended the Western New York premiere of Next to Normal.
The 2012-2013 Season also saw an enhanced level of engagement between Geva's artists and audience. Throughout the season, Geva has been working with the Rochester Central Library's Book Sandwiched-In and Teen Central programs; The Book Club Play featured a cross section of the community following the entire process of a Geva's theatre-making from first artistic meeting to final performance, and cast members attended numerous book clubs around town. Geva's Education Team has been out in full force throughout the season in the schools and at student matinees ensuring that area young people are given the best live theatre experience possible; and free readings of new plays attracted record numbers "getting in on the ground floor" of the creation of new work for the American Theatre. That is just the "tip of the iceberg" as far as Geva's connection to the Rochester community. For the 2013-2014 Season, Geva will be building on this and exploring innovative ways of connecting patrons and artists and art with the community.
Geva has expanded its already extensive accessibility programs with an open-captioned performance for every Mainstage production, provided in part by a grant from Theatre Development Fund's TAP Plus Program in partnership with the New York State Council on the Arts. New assistive listening devices, sponsored by the Hearing Loss Association of America - Rochester Chapter, have helped make the theatre a great experience for those with hearing loss. Throughout the summer, the theatre will be working to improve the acoustics in the Mainstage and install more wheelchair seating options - all to make the theatergoing experience comfortable and enjoyable for everyone.
Geva Theatre Center's Artistic Director Mark Cuddy and Executive Director Tom Parrish are proud to announce the much anticipated 2013-2014 season, the organization's 41st season of producing professional theatre of a national standard for audiences in the Greater Rochester region.
The 2013-2014 Wilson Mainstage Season features a high octane, all-American musical; a hilarious homage to a Hitchcock classic film; a new play by the author of Almost, Maine; an Olivier, Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning play about race and real estate; the world premiere of a play ripped from the headlines; and the finale - a beloved and timeless comedy from an American Master. Geva's magical production of A Christmas Carol has become Rochester's holiday tradition and will return for 2013.
Building on the success of the 2012 and 2013 Fielding Nextstage Seasons, Geva will present a full program of productions in the Fielding throughout 2013-2014, including Geva's entry in the First Niagara Rochester Fringe Festival, and an eclectic range of contemporary plays in what will be known as the "Studio Series."
Rochesterians are also in for a huge, pre-season treat as Geva announces the first of its summer events. Academy Award-nominee (and Rochester native) Robert Forster will make his Geva debut in the world premiere of The Lifeguard: Ronald Reagan and His Story, by award-winning writer David Rambo. The Lifeguard will be performed in the Fielding Nextstage for a strictly limited run from June 13 - June 30, 2013. The complete summer season will be announced in the near future.
"Professional theater-making at Geva involves hundreds of guest artists and resident staff who have already been planning and developing the new season for months" commented Artistic Director Mark Cuddy. "Playwrights, directors, actors, and designers are eagerly anticipating joining with the over 135,000 expected attendees to create memorable performances just for our community: Made IN Rochester, FOR Rochester."
"Geva Theatre Center has been making top quality theatre and educational programming for Rochester for over 40 years, and the 2013-2014 Season continues that legacy," adds Executive Director Tom Parrish. "We are grateful to the thousands of season subscribers that have already signed on to make this memorable season with us, and to our many donors, whose philanthropic support makes all of Geva's artistic, education, literary and community building work possible."
Since 1972, the not-for-profit Geva Theatre Center has been Rochester's theatre home, offering patrons the opportunity to enjoy the work of the country's top artists right in their own community. Geva Theatre Center is one of the premier cultural and educational institutions in Rochester, the most attended regional theatre in New York State, and a leader among American professional theatres.
SUMMER 2013:
WORLD PREMIERE
Robert Forster in
THE LIFEGUARD: Ronald Reagan and His Story
By David Rambo
Directed by Mark Cuddy
JUNE 13 - JUNE 30, 2013
Set against the backdrop of the historic negotiations with Mikhail Gorbachev that ended the Cold War, Ronald Reagan reminisces on his extraordinary life. From his humble beginnings in rural Illinois to a Hollywood film career and ultimately, Leader of the Free World, Ronald Reagan's journey to greatness is chronicled in this gripping one-man play. Written by one of today's hottest TV-writers, The Lifeguard stars Academy Award-nominee Robert Forster making his Geva debut.
2013-2014 Wilson Mainstage Season:
A Countrified Musical
PUMP BOYS AND DINETTES
Book, Lyrics, and Music by John Foley, Mark Hardwick, Debra Monk,
Cass Morgan, John Schimmel, and Jim Wann
Directed by Mark Cuddy
Choreography by Peggy Hickey
Welcome to the Double Cupp Diner, way down on Highway 57 between Frog Level and Smyrna, where the cherry pie is fresh and served with sass, and the music and the waitresses are like the coffee - hot! The boys from the gas station next door play a high-octane blend of country and bluegrass packed with highly entertaining toe-tappers about life, love, and good times. Come and melt your troubles away with a generous serving of great music and foot-stomping fun.
Alfred Hitchcock's
THE 39 STEPS
Adapted by Patrick Barlow
From the novel by John Buchan
Directed by Sean Daniels
Hitchcock meets hilarious as Englishman Richard Hannay encounters dastardly murders, double crossing secret agents and devastatingly beautiful women in this fast-paced whodunit. Part espionage thriller and part slapstick comedy, four actors play over 150 characters in this ingeniously adapted homage to film noir and theatrical stagecraft. A runaway hit in London and on Broadway and the winner of the Olivier Award for Best New Comedy.
Rochester's Holiday Tradition
A CHRISTMAS CAROL
By Charles Dickens
Adapted for the stage by Mark Cuddy
Music and lyrics by Gregg Coffin
Directed by Mark Cuddy
On Christmas Eve, Scrooge is visited by a series of ghosts who remind him who he was and what he might yet become. He learns the true meaning of the season and that it's never too late to make a new start. The famous tale of redemption for the most despised man in London will awaken your heart and rekindle your spirit in this critically acclaimed adaptation. Recommended for the entire family! (Please remember that children under five are not permitted in the theatre.) *Note: Not a part of the subscription series.
From the Author and Director of Almost, Maine
LAST GAS
By John Cariani
Directed by Skip Greer
Somewhere on a remote wooded road - not far from Almost, Maine - sits Nat Paradis' "Last Gas Convenient Store." As Nat sorts through life as a single parent, his teenage son and fun-loving father give him constant grief, and time seems to slip through his fingers. When an old flame returns to town, Nat gets a rare second chance, only to discover that in between love lost and love found, life throws a lot of curve balls. A bittersweet, romantic comedy full of heart, humor, and baseball.
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Tony Award and Olivier Award for Best New Play
CLYBOURNE PARK
By Bruce Norris
Directed by Mark Cuddy
A wickedly funny and fiercely provocative play about the volatile combination of race and real estate. In 1959, a white couple sells their home to the Younger family of A Raisin in the Sun, causing uproar among their white neighbors. Fast forward 50 years and the same house lands in the hands of a white couple with plans for gentrification and a knack for saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. While the stakes have changed over the years, the debate remains strikingly similar as neighbors wage a hilarious and horrifying battle revealing just how far ideas about race have evolved-or have they?
World Premiere
INFORMED CONSENT
By Deborah Zoe Laufer
Directed by Sean Daniels
Ripped directly from the headlines. An ambitious geneticist faces ethical battles in both her professional and family worlds. Gillian is hired to help determine why a Native American tribe is being devastated by diabetes, but her research calls into question their most sacred traditions. Meanwhile, at home, she and her husband are confronted with the choice of using modern science to determine whether their four year-old daughter will be haunted by the family's medical history. With scientific breakthroughs happening at breakneck speed, this heartwarming and honest tale explores the question of just how much knowledge is too much.
A Timeless American Comedy Classic
THE ODD COUPLE
By Neil Simon
Directed by John Miller-Stephany
One of Neil Simon's most recognizable and timeless comedies. Fastidious Felix is thrown out by his wife. His only refuge is with best friend, Oscar, a recently divorced sportswriter whose apartment is a study in slovenly chaos. Friends, yes, but with decidedly different approaches to life, to love - and yes, to housework - the results are side-splitting laughter and classic comedy. The trials and tribulations of this peculiar pair trying to create their new, unmarried lives have been entertaining audiences for nearly 50 years.
2013-2014 Fielding Nextstage Season:
World Premiere
ALL YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED
By Greg Kotis
Directed by Sean Daniels
A Geva Theatre Center Conservatory Production
Geva's entry into the First Niagara Rochester Fringe Festival. An evening of short, silly, subversive, satirical plays and charming, musical numbers where hijinks ensue. Two-time Tony Award-winner Greg Kotis (Urinetown) answers all your questions. All of them.
FESTIVAL OF NEW THEATRE
OCTOBER 2013
A two-week showcase of new plays and projects that are currently in Geva's developmental process. More than 250 full-length or short works have received readings and/or workshops as part of Geva's new play development programs, and more than 65 have had subsequent productions around the country and the globe.
SISTER STRIKES AGAIN!:
LATE NITE CATECHISM 2
By Maripat Donovan
Starring Colleen Moore
Just when you thought it was safe to go into the classroom... Sister is back! And so are the nun-stop laughs. With the blessings of the archdiocese, Sister has assembled banners, filmstrips, mimeographed handouts, historical facts, and hysterical insights as she conducts her class in an overview of Heaven and Hell, comparing them to a catholic version of Chutes and Ladders. Sister also offers her personal list of sins for the new millennium. With all the wit, wisdom, and wackiness of the original, Sister Strikes Again! is bound to bring back former students and make millions of new converts.
2014 Fielding Studio Series (JANUARY - MAY 2014):
World Premiere
TINKER TO EVERS TO CHANCE
By Mat Smart
Directed by Sean Daniels
Play ball! Lauren makes a rare trip home to Chicago to take her ailing mother to the biggest Cubs game of the year, Game 6 of the 2003 NLCS. But her mother has disappeared, leaving behind her caretaker and the fresh manuscript of a play about Cubs great Johnny Evers. A story about second chances and the redeeming power of baseball.
STRANDED ON EARTH
By Eric Coble
Starring Brigitt Markusfeld
One woman's mysterious tale of a life held in suspension. Alexa, a brilliant artist, flashes between the mundane chaos and poetic depths of her world, circling in on the moment when everything changed, the moment between Before and After.
PLUS, TWO MORE Studio Productions TO BE ANNOUNCED!
Because professional regional theatre cannot be sustained on ticket sales alone, Geva Theatre Center thanks in advance those generous individuals and businesses that have already committed and will commit to making our 2013-2014 Season one to remember.
Subscriptions for the Wilson Mainstage Season (beginning at only $132 - up to 3 plays free) are on sale now. Subscriptions for the Spring Fielding Nextstage Series will go on sale this Spring. Subscribing is easy, flexible and affordable. Subscribers enjoy the best seats at the best prices plus a host of exclusive benefits like ticket exchange privileges, priority advance booking and discounts, money-saving coupons to area restaurants, free coat check and more. Subscribers to the 2013-2014 Season will be able to purchase tickets for The Lifeguard beginning April 4, and for A Christmas Carol beginning May 1. Tickets for The Lifeguard go on sale to the general public on May 1; tickets for A Christmas Carol go on sale to the general public on September 23; and tickets for Late Night Catechism 2 will go on sale at a date to be determined. Tickets to individual shows will go on sale to the general public on August 6, 2013. All plays, artists, schedules and prices are subject to change.
Geva Theatre Center is Rochester's leading professional theatre and the most attended regional theatre in New York State. Founded in 1972, Geva serves up to 160,000 patrons annually, including more than 20,000 students. The 552-seat Elaine P. Wilson Mainstage offers a wide variety of shows, from musicals to American and world classics.
The 180-seat Ron & Donna Fielding Nextstage is home to Geva's own series of contemporary drama, comedy and musical theatre; Geva Comedy Improv; Geva's New Play Reading Series and the Hornet's Nest - a nationally recognized, innovative play-reading series facilitating community-wide discussion on controversial topics. The Nextstage also hosts visiting companies of both local and international renown.
Geva Theatre Center offers a wide variety of educational, outreach and literary programs, nurturing audiences and artists alike. Since 1995, the organization has been under the artistic direction of Mark Cuddy.
For reservations and ticket information, contact the Box Office at (585) 232-Geva (4382), or visit Geva's website at www.GevaTheatre.org.
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