Fine Arts Center Theatre Co Announces Assassins As First Show Of Season

The Fine Arts Center Theatre Company announces its 2011-2012 season, featuring Assassins, Of Mice and Men, and Hairspray as well as the Colorado Premiere of the Pulitzer Prize nominated play, In the Next Room, or the vibrator play.

The 2011-12 season will also mark the debut of Scott RC Levy as the new Producing Artistic Director, after serving in the same capacity at the Penobscot Theatre in Bangor, Maine, since 2005. Levy begins his tenure at the FAC with some new and innovative programs, including Artistic Director Forums, cast and crew talkbacks, a new holiday production, and various subscription options, including a Flexpass (see below).

"I'm thrilled to announce my selections for the 2011-2012 main stage season," said Levy. "I've designed this diverse selection of plays and musicals to engage and entertain our entire audience, those who have been enjoying our productions for years, and those who have yet to enter the beautiful SaGaJi Theatre. There's something for everyone and I can't wait to get started!"

Fine Arts Center Theatre Company 2011/2012 Season

· Assassins
Sept. 29 - Oct. 23, 2011
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim; Book by John Weidman
· A Year with Frog and Toad
Dec. 1 - 23, 2011
Music by Robert Reale; Book and Lyrics by Willie Reale; Based on the books by Arnold Lobel
· In the Next Room, or the vibrator play
Feb. 2 - 19, 2012
By Sarah Ruhl
· Of Mice and Men
March 15 - April 1, 2012
By John Steinbeck
· Hairspray
May 10 - June 3, 2012
Book by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan; Based on the film by John Waters
Music by Marc Shaiman; Lyrics by Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman

ASSASSINS
This groundbreaking American musical kicks off the 2011-2012 season and introduces new Producing Artistic Director Scott RC Levy with a ‘bang'! Bold, surreal, disturbing, thought-provoking, and alarmingly funny, Assassins lays bare the lives of nine individuals who assassinated or tried to assassinate the President of the United States (made possible by the story depicted in our current production of 1776). From John Wilkes Booth to Lee Harvey Oswald, this 2004 Tony-Award winner bends the rules of time and space, and takes us on a vaudeville-inspired rollercoaster ride that forces us to wonder why everybody's right to be happy can include killing a President.

ASSASSINS contains adult language & situations and violence.

A YEAR WITH FROG AND TOAD
The well-loved characters of Arnold Lobel's stories hop from page to stage in this Tony-nominated musical for the whole family. Remaining true to the spirit of the original stories, the show follows two great friends (the cheerful, popular Frog and the rather grumpy Toad) through four, fun-filled seasons. Waking from hibernation in the Spring, they proceed to plant gardens, swim, rake leaves, go sledding,celebrate Christmas and learn life lessons along the way. A jazzy upbeat score that bubbles with melody and wit makes this inventive, exuberant, and totally enchanting musical destined to be a holiday classic.

A YEAR WITH FROG AND TOAD contains slapstick comedy and lots of cookie eating.

IN THE NEXT ROOM, or the vibrator play
An electrifying new comedy, this 2010 Pulitzer Finalist makes its Colorado Premiere at the Fine Arts Center this February. At the twilight of the Victorian age, a new medical device is developed to calm women diagnosed with "hysteria." As Dr. Givings pioneers this intimate new therapy, his young wife becomes determined to investigate the experiments that have patients leaving the procedure room with a rosy glow. Ruhl's stylish comedy pulses and hums along as it dispels old-fashioned notions of female sexuality, intimacy and marriage at the dawn of the age of electricity. "Insightful, fresh and funny, the play is as rich in thought as it is in feeling...one of the most gifted and adventurous American playwrights to emerge in recent years...In the Next Room is a true novelty: a sex comedy designed not for sniggering teenage boys - or grown men who wish they were still sniggering teenage boys - but for adults with open hearts and minds." -The New York Times.

IN THE NEXT ROOM, or the vibrator play contains adult situations.

OF MICE AND MEN
Hitch a ride to 1930's California for this journey through the heartland of America. As the Fine Arts Center's yearlong 75th anniversary concludes, the FAC Theatre Company presents this production of Steinbeck's seminal work, which he personally adapted from his classic novella 75 years ago. It is the haunting tale of George and Lennie, two lonely migrant workers who are seeking a place they can call their own. Their unlikely friendship infuses both men with hope for the future, but unfortunately, "the best laid schemes o' mice and men" fall apart as they struggle to realize their dreams.

OF MICE AND MEN contains adult language & situations and violence.

HAIRSPRAY
Be swept away to 1960's Baltimore. The 50's are out...and change is in the air in this 2003 Tony-Award winning musical which has been delighting audiences across the country. Loveable plus-size heroine, Tracy Turnblad, has a passion for dancing, and wins a spot on the local TV dance program, "The Corny Collins Show." Overnight she finds herself transformed from outsider to teen celebrity. Can a larger-than-life adolescent manage to vanquish the program's reigning princess, racially integrate the television show, and find true love (singing and dancing all the while, of course!) without mussing her hair?

HAIRSPRAY contains music that will leave you dancing in the aisles.

NEW THIS SEASON

· PREVIEW THURSDAY: Our performance schedule now begins with a Preview performance on the first Thursday of every production (the night before opening night). This reduced-price performance will be held to introduce one of the most important elements of a production to the process: the audience. This gives the creative team an opportunity to see how folks react to the production and make changes before official opening night.

· SATURDAY MATINEES: We're expanding our performance schedule to five shows a week, by including a Saturday matinee each week. This extra afternoon performance allows you the opportunity to visit the Taylor Museum before or after the show and have lunch in our award-winning Amuzé at the FAC restaurant.

· STUDENT MATINEES: For A Year with Frog & Toad and Of Mice and Men, the FAC will have student matinees on Tuesdays and Thursdays in the second and third week of performances at 10 a.m.

· FLEXPASS: Want more flexibility? A new subscription option for those who don't want to commit to the full season, or a specific performance night. FLEXPASS allow you to redeem coupons to any performance of any production in any combination (redeem them all at once, in pairs, one at a time, etc.). These coupons are also transferable, so make a great gift. Available in four, five or six-ticket coupon booklets.

· ARTISTIC DIRECTOR FORUM: Join us for regularly scheduled talkbacks with the cast and creative team following performances of each production. If the talkback follows a performance you didn't attend, you are welcome to join in free of charge.

SUBSCRIPTION PACKAGES
Subscribers to the 2011-2012 season save up to 27 percent off the single ticket price and get the best seats plus a generous benefit package. Subscription packages start as low as $75.

For more information on the subscription package, call the FAC Box Office at 719.634.5583.

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