Playhouse On Park Announces 2022-23 Season

Patrons and friends from the Playhouse on Park community tuned in for Playhouse's Season 14 Big Reveal in-person and via livestream; the season was announced by Executive Director Tracy Flater and Co-Artistic Directors Sean Harris and Darlene Zoller.

"Our theme for the 2022-23 is Perseverance. While the definition of this word could clearly define our entire existence, especially these past two years, we know that we have a long road ahead in order to rebuild our audiences back to the pre-pandemic level. Therefore, we must persevere. To coincide with our journey, we are highlighting a season of fighters and survivors. We invite you to join us for a series of stories that will move you, and characters who battle to persevere." -Executive Director, Tracy Flater.

Managed under the direction of Playhouse Theatre Group (PTG) Inc., Playhouse on Park is Greater Hartford's award-winning destination for the performing arts. Playhouse on Park offers a wide range of thought-provoking, inspiring and thoroughly enjoyable productions that leave audiences often smiling, sometimes crying, and always talking about what they have just experienced. PTG, Inc. produces award-winning theatre year-round, including a Main Stage Series consisting of plays and musicals; a Theater for Young Audience Series, which is part of their Literature Alive Field Trip Program; Comedy Nights; Dance; Music; Improv, an extensive educational program and more.

Season 14 will open with LADY DAY AT EMERSON'S BAR AND GRILL by Lanie Robertson. The time is 1959. The place is a seedy bar in Philadelphia. The audience is about to witness one of Billie Holiday's last performances, given four months before her death. In Robertson's Tony award-winning play, Holiday engages the audience with salty, often humorous reminiscences of her troubled life as a traveling performer in a segregated south. With the help of her piano man, Jimmy Powers, she lets music tell her story, sharing soulful and heart-wrenching songs from her memorable canon including: "Strange Fruit," "God Bless the Child," "When a Woman Loves a Man," and "Ain't Nobody's Business if I Do." LADY DAY AT EMERSON'S BAR AND GRILL runs September 28 - October 16, 2022.

Running November 2 - 20, 2022 is August Wilson's FENCES. Set in segregated Pittsburgh in the 1950s, Fences depicts the life of Troy Maxson, a former Negro League baseball star now scraping by as a sanitation worker. A towering figure facing thwarted aspirations, Troy attempts to assert control in his life through his relationships with his wife and son. But even as he takes responsibility for their safety and well-being, he betrays them each in ways that will forever alter their lives. Part of August Wilson's 10-play Century Cycle, Fences explores the walls we build around ourselves and our loved ones, while also illuminating one family's struggles in a racist society. Fences is the winner of the Pulitzer Prize, two-time Tony Award-winner, and one of the most groundbreaking plays of the 20th century.

Paula Vogel's INDECENT will run January 25 - February 26, 2023. Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Paula Vogel tells the explosive and deeply moving story of the controversial 1923 Broadway debut of Jewish playwright Sholem Asch's God of Vengeance-a play about a forbidden lesbian romance that enchanted and outraged audiences. We follow the path of the artists who risked their careers in order to perform it. It actively pays tribute to the Yiddish, immigrant families, Jews, theater makers, and the women, specifically the queer women, who are erased from historical narratives. Indecent is a riveting backstage drama filled with music, groundbreaking theatre, and stage magic.

stop/time dance theater is gearing up to take the stage for their annual production, which you can add to your subscription at a 20% discount! This will be the 18th original stop/time show and their 14th show as the Resident Dance Company of Playhouse on Park. Our cast of 18 promises to entertain you with original choreography and memorable music. Singing, dancing, and lots of heart make stop/time an audience favorite. Conceived, Directed and Choreographed by Darlene Zoller, stop/time will run March 22 - April 2, 2023.

Playhouse on Park is proud to present the World Premiere WEBSTER'S BITCH by Jacqueline Bircher. When their Editor-in-Chief gets caught using some unexpected profanity, the employees of Webster's Dictionary find themselves at the center of an internet uprising over gender and obscenity in the age of social media. As office politics collide with ambition, morality, and lexicography, the future of the English language hangs in the balance. A play about vulgar words and the people who define them. Running May 31 - June 18, 2023.

The 14th Main Stage Season will close with BANDSTAND; music by Richard Oberacker, with a book and lyrics by Robert Taylor and Richard Oberacker. It's 1945. American soldiers return home to ticker-tape parades and overjoyed families, and Private First Class Donny Novitski, singer and songwriter, returns with the hope of rebuilding his life. When NBC announces a national competition to find the nation's next swing band sensation, Donny joins forces with a motley group of fellow veterans, and together they form a band unlike any the nation has ever seen. However, complicated relationships, the demands of the competition, and the challenging after-effects of war may break these musicians. Victory will require every ounce of talent, stamina, and raw nerve that these musicians can muster. BANDSTAND runs July 12 - August 20, 2023.

The first show in Playhouse on Park's Theatre for Young Audiences series is A Charles Dickens CHRISTMAS, running December 10 - 30, 2022. Music by Douglas J. Cohen, lyrics by Tome Toce, book by Robert Owens Scott; conceived and originally directed by Bruce Colville. A Charles Dickens CHRISTMAS is a highly original and humorous take on A Christmas Carol that follows a young Charles Dickens, unable to find much joy in life, struggling to write the Christmas story that will become the most famous holiday tale of all time. With the intervention of a magical muse, the elements of his famous A Christmas Carol begin to take shape. Dickens learns the true meaning of Christmas and finds in his past the inspiration for his immortal holiday classic. A Charles Dickens Christmas' rich musical score is sure to put the holiday cheer into every member of the audience.

The next Theatre for Young Audiences production is the world premiere of DANDELION, adapted from the children's book by Don Freeman. This musical tells the story of Dandelion. He is a shy, awkward lion, filled with middle school angst. When he gets invited to Jennifer Giraffe's impromptu party, Dandelion decides to reinvent himself. He ultimately discovers that it's better just to be yourself! In addition to the theme of staying true to who you are, the musical explores the issues of bullying and social exclusion. Book and lyrics by Joan Ross Sorkin, with music by Mary Liz McNamara. DANDELION will run April 19 - May 7.

Playhouse on Park is also thrilled to announce that they are hitting the road! Their first ever touring production will be POLKADOTS: The Cool Kids Musical. Book by Melvin Tunstall III, music by Greg Borowsky and Douglas Lyons, lyrics and original concept by Douglas Lyons. POLKADOTS will tour March 6 - March 31, 2023. This musical follows 8-year-old Lily Polkadot who just moved to the "Squares Only" small town of Rockaway. As the first Polkadot in an all Square school, Lily faces an almost impossible task of gaining acceptance from her peers. From daily bullying to segregated drinking fountains, Lily's quest seems hopeless until she meets Sky, a shy Square boy whose curiosity for her unique polkadot skin blooms into an unexpected pal-ship. Inspired by the events of The Little Rock 9, Polkadots serves as a colorful history lesson for children, reminding them that our individual differences make us awesome, not outcasts.

Season 13 Subscribers will be able to renew their subscriptions throughout the month of May. Subscriptions will go on sale to the general public June 1, 2022. Individual Tickets and Group Sales will go on sale July 1, 2022. For information on Season 14 Comedy Nights, information on Playwrights on Park, and special events, visit www.PlayhouseOnPark.org.

To learn more, call the Box Office at 860-523-5900 x10 or visit www.PlayhouseOnPark.org. Playhouse on Park is located at 244 Park Rd. West Hartford, CT 06119.