Arkansas Rep Announces 2020 Spring Season; ANN, BYE BYE BIRDIE and More

Arkansas Repertory Theatre announces its Spring 2020 Season. The new season, which begins in January, marks the first selected under the leadership of Little Rock native Will Trice, the Rep's new executive artistic director.

"The season is a trio of productions I think audiences are going to love," Trice said, adding that in Fall 2020 The Rep will resume a full-season schedule on a school-year calendar. "We've got a Tony Award-winning icon in a tour-de-force performance; a visionary adaptation of a contemporary, best-selling novel; and undoubtedly the most fun of the classic musicals."

Trice added: "These are three very different stories, each told in a very different way. But they are all uplifting, entertaining, and can only be experienced live at The Rep. I can't wait to share this season with my hometown."

The Spring 2020 Season

Ann

Jan. 29-Feb. 16, 2020

By Holland Taylor

Two indomitable women. One inspiring, hilarious night.

Tony Award winner Elizabeth Ashley is the legendary Ann Richards in ANN, a no-holds-barred look at the brassy, blue governor who changed the face of Texas politics.

A woman who always had the right one-liners loaded and ready to fire, ANN is brought to vivid life in a tour-de-force performance by Tony Award-winner and Emmy and Golden Globe-nominee Elizabeth Ashley (Barefoot in the Park and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof on Broadway, "Evening Shade," Netflix's current hit "Russian Doll") and directed by Drama Desk Award-winner Michael Wilson (Gore Vidal's The Best Man and The Trip to Bountiful on Broadway).

Come sit a spell for this "frank, funny, and warm" (NY Times) story of an impassioned woman who enriched the lives of her followers, friends, and family ... with all the charm, charisma, and persuasion that makes a politician good at her job.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

April 1-19, 2020

A play by Simon Stephens

Based on the novel by Mark Haddon

Experience a new perspective.

Fifteen-year-old Christopher has an extraordinary brain. He is exceptional at mathematics, but ill-equipped to interpret everyday life. He has never ventured alone beyond the end of his road, he detests being touched, and he distrusts strangers. And now he is on a mission - an investigative adventure that will upturn the world of his family and community forever.

Based on the award-winning novel that has sold more than 5.5 million copies world-wide, CURIOUS INCIDENT is the winner of seven Olivier Awards and five Tony Awards, including Best Play. Hailed by The London Times as "a phenomenal combination of storytelling and spectacle," it is a breathtaking theatrical experience with visionary design that will fill you with hope and put you inside the brilliant mind of a boy who sees the world as most of us can only imagine.

Bye Bye Birdie

July 8-26, 2020

A Musical Comedy

Book by Michael Stewart

Music by Charles Strouse

Lyrics by Lee Adams

Originally Produced by Edward Padula

Put on a Happy Face, Kids, 'cause you've got A Lot of Livin' to Do.

It's 1958 in Sweet Apple, Ohio, and the telephones are ringing off the hook. Hip-swinging, rock-and-roll heartthrob Conrad Birdie is coming to town to plant One Last Kiss on his #1 fan, broadcast live on the Ed Sullivan Show. Star-struck fathers, jealous boyfriends, struggling managers, and frustrated better-halves, are all caught up in a whirlwind of poodle skirts and letterman jackets ... and the cameras haven't even started rolling.

Experience this beloved classic through a fresh, new production directed by Jeff Award-winner and Olivier Award-nominee David H. Bell (Hot Mikado, the Closing Ceremonies of the Atlanta Olympics). Good old fashioned, teenage rebellion never sounded this catchy.

Season Subscriptions are on sale at TheRep.org or by calling the Box Office at (501) 378-0405. Subscriptions start at just $96 and are the most economical way to see all of the productions included in the Spring 2020 Season. Single ticket go on sale four weeks before a show opens.

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