Human Race Theatre Announces Their 2010-2011 Season

The Human Race Theatre Company will begin the 2010-2011 Eichelberger Loft Season of The Human Race in a special collaboration away from The Loft, and will end it with a musical which it helped develop. In between, Dayton's own professional producing theatre will provide plenty of drama, comedy, and music for all.

The season begins with the previously announced special collaboration with Wright State University's Theatre Department. The joint production of Tracy Letts' Pulitzer Prize-winning August: Osage County, one of the most critically-acclaimed plays of the millennium, will be presented at Wright State.

Then it's back home to The Loft for the rest of the season (more on the shows and the dates of each production at the end of the release):

The incredibly funny The 39 Steps, a loving take-off of the 1935 Hitchcock thriller

For the holidays, 8-Track: The Sounds of The ‘70s, a four-person musical review that brings back all of the decades' big hits.

Shakespeare's frolic-filled Twelfth Night. The Bard's comedy features the antics of Sir Toby Belch, who will also appear in more than 50 area schools with his comic peers in Belch, Bottom and the Boys, our Theatre in Context centerpiece, done in collaboration with The Muse Machine.

The impassioned drama Permanent Collection, a tale of artistic, historic and racial conflict at an idiosyncratic art museum.

Gregg Coffin's right next to me, a new musical about the wife of a serviceman, which was workshopped by The Human Race last summer.

Each presentation is scheduled to run three weeks, with the same special events in each run at The Loft: a Thursday night preview, preceded by the Inside Track discussion with the director(s) in the Loft lobby; Friday Opening Night followed by a party with the cast; a Tuesday night Lite Fare at The Loft; a "While We're on the Subject" talkback after a Sunday matinee; and a Saturday signed and audio-described performance opportunity.
Subscriptions are available in 3-, 4-, 5- or 6-show packages by calling Ticket Center Stage at (937) 228-3630 or toll-free at (888) 228-3630, or in person at the Schuster Center Box Office.

The Loft Season is again sponsored by The Jack W. and Sally D. Eichelberger Foundation.

Further information on the 2010-2011 Eichelberger Loft Season shows:

August: Osage County
By Tracy Letts
September 23 - October 10, 2010

AT WRIGHT STATE UNIVERSITY'S FESTIVAL PLAYHOUSE

The New York Times called August: Osage County "Highly entertaining! A riproarer." Variety said it's "consistently rich, raw and intense." The saga of the Weston family of Oklahoma and its many issues - and, boy, do they have issues - won five Tony Awards and the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Drama - and The Human Race and Wright State University's Theatre Department are combining to make Dayton one of the first regional sites to present Tracy Letts' masterpiece. The show is too big for The Loft - literally - so it will be presented at WSU, but don't worry - we've ensured plenty of good seats for our subscribers, on the night of the week you prefer. There will be some slight adjustments of showtimes, and a rarity for a Human Race performance - free parking..

The 39 Steps
Adapted by Patrick Barlow
October 21 - November 7, 2010

Combine the styles of two of the greatest British exports - Alfred Hitchcock and Monty Python - and set four performers loose to play more than 150 characters, and you've got one of the funniest shows to hit the stage this millennium. The 1935 movie of The 39 Steps, based on John Buchan's novel, was a typical Hitchcock masterpiece - an innocent man caught up in a deadly ring of spies tries to solve the mystery - but the stage adaptation is a masterpiece of comedic invention, an hilarious romp that was a huge hit in London, on Broadway, and through a national tour.

8-Track: The Sounds of the ‘70s
Conceived by Rick Seeber
Musical Arrangements by Michael Gribbin
December 2 - 19, 2010

It's rockin' nostalgia for the holidays in this new musical revue that presents the songs of the ‘70s in all their glory, or lack thereof. Expect plenty of flashy outfits and hairdos as four talented performers rediscover the heart and soul of the forgotten decade, with music made famous by artists from Donna Summer to the Eagles to Debby Boone. You'll be "Stayin' Alive" as you ride "The Peace Train" to the "YMCA." The LA Times called 8-Track "powerful good fun" and the Minneapolis Star Tribune said it's "an infectious, joyous celebration."

Twelfth Night
By William Shakespeare
January 27 - February 13, 2011

"Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them." is one of the many famous lines from a play that was born great and has stayed that way through the centuries. A work that begins with the plaint "If music be the food of love, play on" and arrives at "Many a good hanging prevents a bad marriage" has to be one of the Bard's greatest comedies, especially with characters named Belch and Malvolio. And there's plenty of good old Shakespearean mistaken identity, too.

Permanent Collection
By Thomas Gibbons
April 14- May 1, 2011

Loosely based on the real story of the Barnes Foundation of suburban Philadelphia. The eccentric creator and benefactor of the fictional Morris Foundation takes an odd turn when he wills his important art collection to an historically black college. When the college selects an African-American businessman as the museum's director, he discovers significant African-American sculptures stored away and intends to display them, setting off gripping battles on both racial and artistic fronts. The Los Angeles Times called Permanent Collection "sophisticated and deft."

right next to me
By Gregg Coffin
May 26 - June 12, 2011

From the gifted composer/playwright who created the Human Race hits Convenience and Five Course Love comes a new musical about a military wife's struggles when her husband is sent to Iraq, and the family that supports her. Gregg Coffin calls right next to me a story about the distance between people and the space love leaves behind when it goes. The Sacramento Bee calls it "a beautifully moving piece." right next to me has evolved from a workshop by The Human Race in July 2009.

Founded in 1986, The Human Race Theatre Company moved to the Metropolitan Arts Center in 1991, taking up residence at the 219-seat Loft Theatre. In addition to the Eichelberger Loft Season, The Human Race produces for the Victoria Theatre's Broadway Series, the Musical Theatre Workshop series, and special event programming. The Human Race, under the direction of Artistic Director Marsha Hanna and Executive Director Kevin Moore, also maintains education and outreach programs for children, teens and adults, as well as artist residencies in area schools, The Muse Machine In-School Tour, Youth Summer Stock, and The Human Race Conservatory. Human Race organizational support is provided by Culture Works, Montgomery County Arts and Cultural District, Shubert Foundation, the Miriam Rosenthal Foundation and the Ohio Arts Council. The Ohio Arts Council helped fund this organization with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans.

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