SPUNK, DOGFIGHT and More Set for WaterTower Theatre's 2013-14 Season

Terry Martin, WaterTower Theatre Producing Artistic Director, announced this evening the Company's 2013-2014 Main Stage season at a special VIP Sneak Preview held at the Addison Theatre Centre.

The season opens with the musical biography Hank Williams: Lost Highway (October 11 - November 3, 2013) followed by the Regional Premiere of a new holiday show for WaterTower Theatre, Ken Ludwig's The Game's Afoot (Holmes for the Holiday) (December 13 - January 5, 2014). The season continues in early January with the Regional Premiere of a new adaptation of the Mark Twain classic, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (January 24 - February 16, 2014), and then the Obie-winning play Spunk (April 11 - May 4, 2014). The fourth Main Stage series production is the Regional Premiere ofGood People (June 6 - 29, 2014) and the final production of the season will be the Regional Premiere of the new musical Dogfight (July 25 - August 17, 2014). The 13th annual Out of the Loop Fringe Festival will be held March 6- 16, 2014.

Directors for each production will be announced at a later date. All productions will be staged at the Addison Theatre Centre at 15650 Addison Road, Addison, Texas 75001.

There will be no price increase in subscriptions or single tickets for the 2013-2014 season. Five-play season subscriptions range in price from $75 (Previews) to $150 (Saturday evening/Sunday matinee).

The renewal deadline for current subscribers to keep their same seats is July 12th. Subscribers who renew by June 24th will be entered in a drawing to win a $50 VISA gift card courtesy of Frost Bank.

THE 2013-2014 SEASON:

Hank Williams: Lost Highway

By Randal Myler and Mark Harelik

Sponsored by Frost Bank

Sponsored by WaterTower Theatre Board of Directors

More than 50 years after his death, Hank Williams still ranks among the most powerfully iconic figures in American music. A musical biography of the rise and fall of the brash, forever young, always legendary singer-songwriter Hank Williams stands among the greatest innovators of American popular music. Follow Williams on his often lonely journey from backwoods Alabama to super-stardom at the Grand Ole Opry. This unforgettable tribute highlights his unique magic as a performer and the simple spell of his yearning songs, and features over 20 hits, including "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry," "Jambalaya" and "Hey, Good Lookin'."

Randal Myler has received two Tony Award nominations (Best Musical/Best Book of a Musical) and a Drama Desk nomination (Best Musical Revue) forIt Ain't Nothin' But The Blues. Myler is also the co-author of the musical biography of Janis Joplin, Love, Janis. He also wrote Dream A Little Dream: The Mamas And The Papas Musical with Denny Dougherty.

Mark Harelik is the author of The Immigrant, The Legacy, and Hank Williams: Lost Highway. As an actor, he has appeared in numerous plays at The Mark Taper Forum, the American Conservatory Theater, Seattle Repertory Theatre, the Intiman Theatre, the Denver Center Theater Company, the La Jolla Playhouse, The Globe Theatres and South Coast Repertory Theater.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

By Laura Eason

Adapted from the novel by Mark Twain

Regional Premiere

Sponsored by Atmos Energy

Mark Twain's classic novel of Missouri boyhood comes to life in this high-spirited theatrical romp. Mischievous Tom and his pal Huck witness a murder and then embark on a string of wild escapades. Becky Thatcher, Aunt Polly, Injun Joe and the rest of the group join Tom in this timeless family tale. Laura Eason's brand new adaptation of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, brings out the child in all of us, as we explore the thrill of mischief-making, the fickleness of first love, the cold shivers of an adventure gone wrong, and the excitement of discovering real live buried treasure. This is a story for anyone who celebrates all that is glorious about childhood.

Laura Eason is the author of more than twenty full-length plays, both original work and adaptations. She is an Ensemble Member and the former Artistic Director of Lookingglass Theatre, Chicago. She is also an Affiliated Artist of the Obie-winning New Georges and an alumna of the Women's Project Playwright's Lab and America-in-Play in New York City.

Spunk

By George C. Wolfe

Adapted for the stage from three short stories by Zora Neale Hurston

Music by Chic Street Man

Spunk is a wild, bluesy wail-three stories by the great Harlem Renaissance writer Zora Neale Hurston, adapted into a staggeringly theatrical play by George C. Wolfe, who won an Obie for its 1989 off-Broadway premiere production. A trio of vignettes of African-American life in the first half of the 20th century, Spunk is a raucous, charming, blues-infused look at love, revenge, jealousy, and the fine art of the hustle.

Zora Neale Hurston released her first novel, Jonah's Gourd Vine, in 1934. Two years later, she received a Guggenheim fellowship, which allowed her to work on what would become her most famous work: Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937). She is considered one of the pre-eminent writers of twentieth-century African-American literature.

Good People

By David Lindsay-Abaire

Regional Premiere

Sponsored by Women of WaterTower Theatre

Sponsored by Barbara and Bob Bigham: the Baylor Oral Health Foundation

When Margie Walsh loses her job at a South Boston dollar store, she reaches out to her old friend and flame Mike, a Southie boy who made good when he became a successful doctor. What begins as an attempt to hit Mike up for a job takes on a threatening cast when Margie realizes the power that secrets from Mike's past life hold over his current one. Penned by Pulitzer Prize-winner David Lindsay-Abaire, Good People is an incisive and funny character study of old friends, old flames and the question of whether you can ever leave the old neighborhood behind.

David Lindsay-Abaire won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his acclaimed Broadway play, Rabbit Hole. He was most recently nominated for a Grammy Award with composer Jeanine Tesori (Best Musical Show Album) and two Tony Awards (Best Book of a Musical and Best Score) for their work on Shrek the Musical. His plays include Fuddy Meers, Kimberly Akimbo, Wonder of the World, High Fidelity and A Devil Inside, among others.

Dogfight: A New Musical

Music and Lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul

Book by Peter Duchan

Based on the Warner Bros. Film - Screenplay by Bob Comfort

Sponsored by Rainmaker Advertising

Regional Premiere

Winner of the prestigious 2013 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Musical! Set on the eve of the Kennedy assassination on November 21, 1963,Dogfight chronicles the story of newly inducted Marine, Eddie Birdlace. Before shipping out to Vietnam, Birdlace and his friends make a bet: Each man contributes $50 to a pot, and whoever brings the ugliest date that night to a bar wins the prize. But when Eddie meets Rose, an awkward and idealistic waitress as his date, she rewrites the rules of the game and teaches him the power of compassion. Dogfight is a musical adaptation of the 1991 indie film starring River Phoenix and Lilly Taylor.

The Tony-nominated team of Benj Pasek and Justin Paul wrote A Christmas Story, Edges and James and the Giant Peach. Their original songs are featured in the popular NBC-TV series "Smash." They are winners of the 2007 Jonathan Larson Award which honors achievements by composers, lyricists and librettists. They have won the 2011 Richard Rodgers Award for Musical Theatre from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a 2011 Sundance Institute Fellowship, the 2011 ASCAP Richard Rodgers New Horizons Award, the 2011 ASCAP Songwriters Fellowship Award, and a 2007-2008 Dramatists Guild Fellowship.

Ken Ludwig's

The Game's Afoot (Holmes for the Holiday)

Regional Premiere

Sponsored by Liberty Capital Bank

It's December 1936 and stage star William Gillette, an iconic actor admired all over the world for his role as Sherlock Holmes, is shot onstage during a show. While he recuperates, he invites his fellow cast members to his Connecticut castle for a lively Christmas weekend of fun. But, when one of his guests is found stabbed to death, the fun turns dangerous. It's up to Gillette, as his assumes the persona of his beloved Holmes, to find the killer before someone else is killed. The hilarity is non-stop in what is a glittering whodunit set during the Christmas holidays! Oh, did we mention it's written by Tony Award winner Ken Ludwig (Lend me a Tenor, Moon Over Buffalo).

Ken Ludwig is a playwright whose work has been performed in at least 30 countries in over 20 languages. He has won two Laurence Olivier Awards, holds three Tony Award nominations, two Helen Hayes Awards, the Edgar Award, the SETC Distinguished Career Award, to name a few. His best known plays include Lend Me A Tenor, Crazy For You, Moon Over Buffalo, Three Musketeers, Treasure Island and The Beaux' Stratagem.

OUT OF THE LOOP FRINGE FESTIVAL

March 6 -16, 2014

Sponsored by The Town of Addison and Texas Commission on the Arts

Over the past 13 years, WaterTower Theatre has hosted more than 100 artists and companies in its nationally acclaimed 10-day fringe festival of music, dance and theatre. Now recognized as one of the most important fringe festivals in the country, the Out of the Loop Fringe Festival has been instrumental in providing a forum for new works, new artists and emerging voices in the arts.

SUBSCRIPTION SERIES:

WaterTower Theatre offers a host subscription options, in addition to the standard five-play, full series subscription (Hank Williams: Lost Highway, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Spunk, Good People, Dogfight). offers the best seating and deepest discounts over individual tickets. Continuing again next season are a number of fairly new series designed to enhance the theatre-goers experience:

Enhanced Theatre Experience Series:

Behind-the-Scenes: a five-play series the first Friday night of the run that includes a pre-show conversation/talk with an actor, director, designer, producer, etc. (held at WaterTower Theatre).

Conversation with the Artists: a five-play series on all Wednesday nights and Sunday matinees that includes a post-show discussion with the actors.

Wine Lover's Series: a series with a pre-show wine tasting experience every time a patron attends. A three-play series that includes Hank Williams: Lost Highway, Good People, and Dogfight.

Sample Series: an introduction to theatre, three-play package that includes Hank Williams: Lost Highway, Spunk and Good People.

Music Lover's Series: a three-play subscriptions that includes two great musicals: Hank Williams: Lost Highway, Spunk and Dogfight.

Design Your Own series: this series provides the most flexibility of all of WaterTower Theatre's subscription packages. Patrons can choose their own plays and dates to put their own series together.

Student Subscription Series:

· A student subscription series will be offered, including a special student Design Your Own Series.

Hero's Subscription:

· Men and women in uniform: fire, police, EMTs, veterans, current members of the armed forces and their immediate families will be offered a special subscription of 50% off any five-play subscription package (excluding DYO, special affinity programs, special miniseries).

Ticket Information: Current subscribers are able to renew their season subscriptions by mail, fax (972.450.6244) or by calling the Box Office at 972.450.6232. Online ordering for new subscriptions will be available in June. New subscriptions are on sale now. However, seating will not be assigned until mid-July. Ken Ludwig's The Games Afoot (Holmes for the Holidays) and the Out of the Loop Fringe Festival are non-subscription events.

Multi-award winning Director Terry Martin is in his 14th season as Producing Artistic Director of WaterTower Theatre where he has overseen more than 79 productions. During the 2012-2013 season, he directed WaterTower Theatre's productions of The Mystery of Irma Vep, Putting It Together, The Ugly One and The Grapes of Wrath. In his role as WaterTower Theatre's Producing Artistic Director, Terry oversees both the administrative and artistic aspects of the Company's $1.3 million annual operating budget.

Under his leadership WTT has grown from a small local theatre company to one of the leading regional theatres in Texas. While consistently maintaining the artistic integrity of the work WTT produces and gaining much critical acclaim, he has - through keen business acumen - managed to keep the theatre in the black and maintain a large paid capacity for the past many seasons.

Some of his more than 50 directing credits at WTT include Spring Awakening, The Diary of Anne Frank, Smokey Joe's Café, As You Like It, Almost, Maine, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Man of La Mancha, Humble Boy, The Crucible, Take Me Out, A Country Life (which he adapted from Chekhov's Uncle Vanya and won the 2005 Rabin Award - Best New Play), Cabaret, It Ain't Nothin' But The Blues, Company, An Inspector Calls, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, The Laramie Project, You Can't Take It With You, Book of Days, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (2002 Rabin Award - Director of a Play), Sweeney Todd (2002 Rabin Award Nomination - Director of a Musical), Desire Under the Elms, Ravenscroft, Rockin' Christmas Party (2000, 2001), Enter the Guardsman (2001 Rabin Award Nomination - Director of a Musical), Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill and Little Shop of Horrors (2000 Rabin Award Nomination - Director of a Musical) among others. For Plano Repertory Theatre, he has directed Journey's End (2000 Rabin Award - Director of a Play), Dracula, La Bête, Little Shop of Horrors and Pump Boys and Dinettes. Terry was named "Best Theater Director" in theDallas Observer's "Best of Dallas 2002."

He has appeared on stage recently at WTT in Our Town, and previously in Blackbird (2008 Dallas Fort Worth Theatre Critics' Forum Award), The Woman in Black, Dinner with Friends, The Guys, Bash: Latter-day Plays (2002 Rabin Award Nomination - Actor in a Play) and at PRT in The Only Thing Worse You Could Have Told Me... (1998 Rabin Award - Actor in a Play, 1998 Dallas Theater Critics Forum Award), The Woman in Black (2000 Rabin Award Nomination - Actor in a Play), and Lonely Planet.

After growing up in south Alabama, Terry spent 12 years in New York City working in theatre, television and film. While there, he directed and acted at The Village Theatre Company, Carnegie Hall Studios and Theatre at St. Marks as well as television appearances on ABC's One Life to Live and NBC's To Serve and Protect. He holds a BFA from the University of Alabama and has trained professionally with Sanford Meisner, Fred Kareman, Wynn Handman, Sally Johnson and Lehmann Byck. Terry presently teaches on-going acting classes in the Sanford Meisner Technique at WTT, as well as having served as Adjunct Professor of Acting at the University of Texas at Dallas.

WaterTower Theatre is one of the leading regional theatres in North Dallas and Texas. The Company's 2013-2014 season will be its 17th season. It is consistently recognized for its artistic excellence by the Dallas Theatre League, Dallas/Fort Worth Theatre Critics Forum, The Dallas Morning News, The Dallas Observer, D Magazine and The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, among others. WaterTower Theatre has a subscription base of more than 2,020 subscribers and serves an audience of over 32,000 patrons annually.

 

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