William Inge Theatre Festival Opens with A DOCTOR IN SPITE OF HIMSELF, 4/13

A preview presentation of a new musical by Sheldon Harnick (co-creator of Fiddler on the Roof) opens the 30th Annual William Inge Theatre Festival on April 13, 2011.  The Inge Festival-the Official State Theatre Festival or Kansas-runs April 13-16 in Independence, Kansas.  Tickets go on sale online on March 1.

Sheldon Harnick's newest work is A Doctor in Spite of Himself, based on the play by Moliere. David Glenn Armstrong will direct the professional cast in a concert reading of this new musical, with music, books, and lyrics all by Sheldon Harnick, who will be present at the festival.

"It is a tremendous honor to host a preview presentation of this terrific new musical" said Inge Center Artistic Director Peter Ellenstein.  "Our mission is to support and nurture the creation of new scripts, whether by students, up-and-coming professionals, or, in the case of Sheldon Harnick, a creator of some of the most beloved musicals in the world."

A Doctor in Spite of Himself is a musical comedy whose classic plot devices lead to hilarious ends.  A woodcutter is manipulated by his spiteful wife to impersonate a brilliant doctor.  He is called to an emergency case-a lovely young woman curiously struck by muteness.   Mix in a cast of eccentrics, and the comic antics build to the climatic resolution.

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and multiple Tony Awards, Harnick was the 2007 William Inge Theatre Festival Honoree, in Independence.  In addition to Fiddler on the Roof, he co-created The Rothschilds, The Apple Tree, She Loves Me, Fiorello!, The Body Beautiful, and many more.  Tickets to the reading of A Doctor in Spite of Himself are $20.00.

The Inge Festival culminates with a spectacular multi-media tribute to Marsha Norman, the Pulitzer Prize and Tony-winning dramatist of multiple moods and genres, which is on Saturday, April 16.
Ms. Norman will personally accept the William Inge Theatre Festival's Distinguished Achievement in the American Theatre Award at the William Inge Theatre at Independence Community College.
Ms. Norman, who will be present all four days of the Inge Festival, earned her Pulitzer Prize for 'Night, Mother, a drama of a war of nerves with fatal stakes between a mother and daughter.

At the other end of the spectrum, Ms. Norman wrote the book and lyrics for the Broadway musical The Secret Garden, capturing the magic of the famous children's novel.  The Secret Garden earned Ms. Norman the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical.
There is an additional Tony nomination, for the book of the musical The Color Purple, which opened in New York in 2005.  Ms. Norman also penned the books and lyrics to The Red Shoes, another original musical for the Broadway stage.
Tickets to the Tribute are $35.00.
Plenty more is packed in between the opening of A Doctor in Spite of Himself and the closing Tribute to Marsha Norman.
Thursday, April 14, at 7:30 p.m., is a reading of a new play by Dael Orlandersmith, the Inge Festival's Otis Guernsey New Voices in the American Theatre Award winner.  Tickets are $20.
Friday, April 15, at 6 p.m., is the Gala Dinner.  This is a fund raiser for improvements to the William Inge Family Home, which is now a year-round artist retreat.  The evening features live entertainment from professional guest artists.  Tickets are $40.
And through the daytime April 14, 15, and 16, professional guest artists share their expertise at workshops and panels.  A daytime pass is $35.
Tickets go on sale online on March 1.

The William Inge Theatre Festival is a unique blend of Broadway and Hollywood mixing with hometown hospitality and Midwester can-do spirit.  Hundreds of Independence community volunteers provide hospitality to visiting guest artists, theater students, and theater buffs from across the nation.  In addition to evening performances by professionals from Broadway and Hollywood, patrons enjoy dozens of workshops, panel discussions, a scholars conference and social events.
 
Major supporters of the William Inge Center for the Arts include the Kansas Arts Commission; the National Endowment for the Arts, the Hallmark Corporation, the Dramatists Guild Fund, and Independence Community College.
 
The Inge Festival's setting is the quaint small town of Independence, located in rural southeast Kansas.  It is 90 miles north of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and 140 miles south of Kansas City, Missouri.
 
The Inge Festival is sponsored by the William Inge Center for the Arts, a year-round professional arts center at Independence Community College.

The college is also home to the William Inge Collection, which includes correspondence, original artwork, and some 400 manuscripts by Inge, as well as Inge's personal library and record collections. During 2009, six of the unpublished plays from the Collection were publicly performed for the first time, including one world premiere in New York.

The Inge Collection at Independence Community College is the most extensive collection on William Inge in existence, and remains a valuable resource for theater researchers, practitioners and admirers of the playwright.  The Inge Collection houses about 25 scripts by Inge that still have not been published.

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