FOREVER PLAID, MARY POPPINS and More to Play Beck Center's 2014-15 Season

After an acclaimed 80th theater season, Beck Center for the Arts is proud to announce its 2014-2015 professional theater season, seemingly the most eclectic yet. Known for its uniquely diverse theatrical productions, Beck Center's new season includes five musicals, the fourth Baldwin Wallace Musical Theatre collaboration, two locally-produced premieres, one regional premiere, and a Pulitzer Prize-winning drama.

"There are so many titles this coming season that will truly excite the artists," remarked Artistic Director Scott Spence. "This can only translate into great theatre for our audiences."

Subscriptions for the 2014-2015 season go on sale Friday, June 13, 2014. For more information, call Beck Center Customer Service at 216.521.2540 ext. 10. Flex passes and individual tickets may be purchased after Thursday, July 31, 2014. Curtain times are 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays, for all shows except Mary Poppins. Preview performances are the Thursdays before opening night. Beck Center is located at 17801 Detroit Avenue in Lakewood, just 10 minutes west of downtown Cleveland. Free onsite parking is available. For more information visit beckcenter.org.

Details for the same season are as follows:

Forever Plaid
Written and Originally Directed and Choreographed by Stuart Ross; Music by Various Artists
Musical Continuity Supervision and Arrangements by James Raitt
Directed and Choreographed by Martín Céspedes; Musical Direction by Bryan Bird
Presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI)
September 12 - October 12, 2014; Mackey Main Stage

This deliciously goofy revue centers on four young, eager male singers who are killed in a car crash in the 1950's on the way to their first big concert. They have been miraculously revived from the afterlife for a chance to fulfill their dreams and perform the show that never was. This original "boy band" sings in the closest of harmony, squabbles over the smallest intonations, and executes charmingly outlandish choreography while audiences hum along to some of the most beloved classic hits such as "Three Coins in the Fountain," "Rags to Riches," "Love is a Many Splendored Thing," and more!

[title of show]
Music and Lyrics by Jeff Bowen; Book by Hunter Bell
Directed by Scott Spence; Musical Direction by Larry Goodpaster
Presented through special arrangement with R&H Theatricals
October 10 - November 16, 2014; Studio Theater
No performance Saturday, October 18, 2014

A musical about two guys writing a musical about two guys writing a musical! This Tony Award-nominated musical comedy is about Jeff and Hunter, two struggling writers, who decide to enter a new musical theater festival. The problem? The deadline for submission is a mere three weeks away. With nothing to lose, the pair decides to create something new with the help of their friends. With the cast in place, they make a pact to write until the festival's deadline and dream about how the show will change their lives. [title of show] follows their journey through the gauntlet of creative expression as they learn about themselves as people, friends and artists.

LOCALLY PRODUCED PREMIERE!
Mary Poppins
Original Music and Lyrics by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman; Book by Julian Fellowes; New Songs and Additional Music and Lyrics by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe; Co-Created by Cameron Mackintosh
Directed by Scott Plate; Musical Direction by Larry Goodpaster; Choreography by Martín Céspedes; Featuring Rebecca Pitcher
Presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI)
December 5, 2014 - January 4, 2015; Mackey Main Stage

Based on the books by P.L. Travers and the classic Walt Disney film, Mary Poppins delighted Broadway audiences for over 2,500 performances and received nominations for nine Olivier Awards and seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical.

The jack-of-all trades, Bert, introduces us to the troubled Banks family in 1910. Young Jane and Michael have sent many a nanny packing before Mary Poppins arrives on their doorstep. Using a combination of magic and common sense, she must teach the family how to value each other again. Mary Poppins takes the children on many magical and memorable adventures, but Jane and Michael aren't the only ones she has a profound effect upon. Even grown-ups can learn a lesson or two from the nanny who advises that "anything can happen if you let it." Filled with timeless classics such as "Feed the Birds", "Jolly Holiday", "Step in Time" and the Academy Award-winning "Chim-Chim Cher-ee," Mary Poppins is an enchanting mixture of irresistible story, unforgettable songs, breathtaking dance numbers and astonishing stagecraft that makes it the musical that soars high above the rest.

REGIONAL PREMIERE
Dogfight
Music and Lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul; Book by Peter Duchan;
Based on the Warner Bros. film and screenplay by Bob Comfort
Directed by Victoria Bussert; Choreographed by Gregory Daniels; Musical Direction by David Pepin
In collaboration with Baldwin Wallace University Music Theatre Program
Presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI)
February 6 - March 15, 2015; Studio Theater

This hauntingly beautiful musical was praised by countless critics and nominated for nearly every award available including winning the Lucille Lortel Award for Best Musical in 2013. Based on the 1991 Warner Brothers film, Dogfight takes audiences on a romantic and heartbreaking theatrical journey. It's November 21, 1963. On the eve of their deployment to a small but growing conflict in Southeast Asia, three young Marines set out for one final boys' night of debauchery, partying and maybe a little trouble. But when Corporal Eddie Birdlace meets Rose, an awkward and idealistic waitress he enlists to win a cruel bet with his fellow recruits, she rewrites the rules of the game and teaches him the power of compassion.

Lend Me a Tenor
Written by Ken Ludwig
Directed by Scott Spence
Presented through special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc.
March 27 - April 26, 2015; Mackey Main Stage
No performances April 4 & 5, 2015; additional performance Thursday, April 23, 2015

A classical farce! Check in to this zany 1930's hotel-stay complete with mistaken identities, misunderstandings, mixed signals, and doors (lots of doors.) This comedy follows the fiery-tempered, world famous Italian superstar, Tito Merelli, as he arrives in Cleveland to make his debut with the local opera company, then promptly goes missing. As the show's producer conspires to cover for Tito's absence, placate his hot-blooded wife, and distract his most passionate fans, chaos of operatic proportions ensues. Winner of three Tony Awards and four Drama Desk Awards, Lend Me a Tenor was also nominated for a Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play in 2010.

The Young Man from Atlanta
Written by Horton Foote
Directed by Eric Schmeidl
Presented through special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc.
May 29 - June 28, 2015; Studio Theater

This 1995 Pulitzer Prize winning drama comes from Horton Foote, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of To Kill a Mockingbird and Tender Mercies. The Young Man from Atlanta is the story about a Texas couple's attempt to make sense of the death of their son, which becomes more complicated when the man he had been "rooming with" in Atlanta arrives. Called a "beautifully wrought and very moving play" by Variety, this profound story explores grief, faith, sexual orientation, race relations, and the American dream.

LOCALLY PRODUCED PREMIERE!
American Idiot
Book and Lyrics by Billie Joe Armstrong; Book by Michael Mayer; Music and Lyrics by Green Day
Directed by Scott Spence; Musical Direction by Larry Goodpaster; Choreographed by Martín Céspedes; Featuring Dan Folino
Presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI)
July 10 - August 16, 2015; Mackey Main Stage

A critical smash on Broadway and in London, the two-time Tony Award winning hit musical American Idiot tells the story of three lifelong friends, forced to choose between their dreams and the safety of suburbia. Their quest for true meaning in a post 9/11 world leads them on an exhilarating theatrical journey. Based on Green Day's Grammy Award-winning multi-platinum album, American Idiot is an energy-fueled rock opera that boldly takes the American musical where it's never gone before.

Beck Center for the Arts is a not-for-profit 501(c)3 organization that offers professional theater productions on two stages, arts education programming in dance, music, theater, visual arts, early childhood, and creative arts therapies for special needs students, free gallery exhibits year-round, and outreach education programming.