Ensemble Theatre Co Announces 2019-20 Season; EMMA THE MUSICAL, AMERICAN SON, and More

Ensemble Theatre Company (ETC) announces its 2019-20 Season of plays. ETC's 41st Season is the company's seventh year at The New Vic in downtown Santa Barbara, and features a thrilling selection of extraordinary works, including William Shakespeare's Measure for Measure, a radio play version of the beloved holiday story It's a Wonderful Life, a musical adaptation of Jane Austen's Emma, the West Coast premiere of the Broadway play American Son, and an inspirational pop and jazz musical about the legendary Rosemary Clooney. ETC's 2019-20 Season will build upon the momentum of its successful and celebratory 40th Anniversary 2018-19 Season.

"We're excited to present a season ranging from the classics to plays that are contemporary and timely, including two thrillers (one by Shakespeare), two musicals, and a hilarious and touching adaptation of a family holiday story," said ETC's Artistic Director Jonathan Fox.

The 2019-20 Season opens with Measure for Measure, one of William Shakespeare's most beguiling plays. The play tells the story of one of Shakespeare's more infamous bargains: a young woman's virginity in exchange for her brother's life. This story of tyrannical authority, sexual power, and gender politics is especially resonantin today's #MeToo culture. Directed by Artistic Director Jonathan Fox, ETC's production of Measure for Measureis set in contemporary society and examines Shakespeare's enduring question of why "some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall." Measure for Measure runs October 3-20, 2019.

For the holiday season, ETC presents Joe Landry's It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play, adapted from the screenplay by Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett, Frank Capra, and Jo Swerling. Set in a fictional town of Bedford Falls in the 1940s, this sweet, moving and classic American Christmas fantasy story, combined with the inventive comedy of a radio play, will surely ignite the holiday spirits in the entire family. Directed by Brian McDonald, award-winning director and actor, It's a Wonderful Liferuns December 5-22, 2019.

The season continues with Emma: The Musical, a charming and clever musical adaptation of Jane Austen's beloved novelwith book, music and lyrics by Tony Award nominee Paul Gordon. A beautiful, witty, and determined young woman plays matchmaker in a disastrous way, leading to a whirlwind of complications, and eventually, self-discovery. This production will be directed by Andrew Barnicle, who directed ETC's highly popular 2017 production of Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley. Emma: The Musicalruns February 6-23, 2020.

In the spring, ETC presents the West Coast premiere of Christopher Demos-Brown's American Son, a gripping new play fresh from Broadway. This nail-biting story takes place in real time in the waiting room of a police station where, in the middle of the night, an African-American woman and her estranged husband eagerly await news of their missing teenage son, who may have been picked up by the police. This breathtaking drama looks at subtle, and not-so-subtle, racism in American culture. This production of American Sonis a co-production with The English Theatre Frankfurt, continental Europe's largest English-speaking theater. Their most recent collaboration was on the 2018 production of The Invisible Hand. This play will be directed by Jonathan Fox and runs April 9-26, 2020.

ETC closes the 2019-20 Season with Tenderly: The Rosemary Clooney Musical, written by Janet Yates Vogt and Mark Friedman. It is a remarkably personal and poignant musical story of the woman whose unparalleled talent and unbridled personality made her a legend. Featuring a live, on-stage band, Tenderly presents such signature songs as "Hey There (you with the stars in your eyes)," "Tenderly," and "Come On-A My House." This production will be directed by Jenny Sullivan, who recently directed ETC's 2018 award-winning and "LA Times' Critics' Pick" production of The Legend of Georgia McBride. Tenderly runs June 11-28, 2020.