Chenango River Theatre Announces 2011 Season

Chenango River Theatre's 2011 season (sponsored by Davidson Fox & Co. and pressconnects.com) will include the area premiere of two comedies that have been wildly popular around the country, plus a new musical based on the songs of Neil Sedaka (a great follow up to last season's massive hit The Marvelous Wonderettes). The season concludes with the classic drama The Diary of Anne Frank.

Running June 3 - 26 is Almost, Maine (Co-Produced by Naima & Ara Kradjian and The Daniels Family) - one of the most produced shows in the country last year. A delightful romantic comedy and a magical look at relationships of the heart, this story of a town and its people will leave you spent from laughter and thoroughly warmed from the inside out. On a cold, clear, moonless night in the middle of winter, all is not quite what it seems in the remote, mythical town of Almost, Maine. As the northern lights hover in the star-filled sky above, the town's residents find themselves falling in and out of love at an alarming rate. Knees are getting bruised, hearts are getting broken; but The Bruises heal and hearts mend - almost - in this charming mid-winter night's dream.

Next up is the comic home run of Rounding Third (Co-Produced by IBM) running July 8 -31. It's the journey of two Little League coaches through an entire season, from their first meeting to the championship game. Don is the tough, blue-collar, win-at-all-costs coach whose son is the star pitcher. Michael is a corporate executive, a newcomer both to the town and to baseball - his son has never played before. Assistant Coach Michael wants everyone to have a good time, win or lose. Coach Don is teaching the kids how to win, period. Over the course of exhilarating victories & heartbreaking defeats, the two men nearly come to blows over how to lead the team. Are we raising kids to be feel-happy losers? Or kids who'll do whatever it takes to win?

In the same vein as last year's smash hit The Marvelous Wonderettes will be Breaking Up Is Hard To Do (Co-Produced by NBT Bank, Media Sponsor Cool 100), a new musical featuring many of Neil Sedaka's most popular songs. With only a 3-week run (instead of the normal 4), this musical will sell out early, even with Wednesday performances added to the regular schedule. It's the story of Lois and Marge, two friends from Brooklyn in search of good times and romance over one wild Labor Day weekend. Marge's fiancé has called off their wedding and her best friend, Lois, is determined to cheer her up and get her back on the market, so they head for the Catskills and the Paradise Resort. On their wild get-away, the girls meet some colorful characters - journey back to a more innocent time and relive summers gone by with all the trials, tribulations and emotional upheavals of teenage life and love.

Closing the season is the great American classic, The Diary of Anne Frank (Co-Produced by Pete & Karen Raymond and Ruth & Charles Young with Brandilynne & Scott Craver). In this transcendently powerful new adaptation, running Sept. 30 - Oct. 23, Anne Frank emerges as 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, this play is one of only 6 in history to win the Pulitzer Prize, the Tony Award, and the NY Drama Critics Circle Award.
In addition to the main stage performances, up to 10 special on school time performances will be scheduled. Teachers and educators interested in those performances should call 656-8778 soon for information - all 5 of last year's educational performances of Of Mice and Men sold out.

Season tickets start as low as $55 for all 4 shows for First Time Subscribers and go on sale April 1. Individual tickets for each show go on sale May 10. To request a season brochure, call 656-8499 and leave your name, address and phone number. For more information: www.chenangorivertheatre.org.

Chenango River Theatre's intimate, air-conditioned 99 seat theatre is 15 minutes north of Binghamton at 991 State Highway 12.

CRT is the greater Binghamton area's only professional non-profit theatre company under annual contract with Actors' Equity Association. Every play features members of AEA, the national association for professional actors and stage managers in the United States - the same actors you see on television, in film and at major theatres across the country.