Los Altos Stage Company Health-Hopefully Announces 2020-2021 Season

Los Altos Stage Company's 2019-2020 season opened with a bang in September 2019, with the critically-acclaimed West Coast Premiere of Admissions (the highest attended straight play in the 25-year history of the Company!), followed by the holiday classic Miracle on 34th Street: A Live Musical Radio Play and the again-critically-acclaimed South Bay Premiere of OSLO, the third highest attended straight play in the history of the Company. Quite the start to our 25th Anniversary season. Until the totally unforeseen impact of COVID-19.

From Executive Director, Gary Landis:

"Today, theater companies large and small are struggling with the impact of the current closure, as well as with planning for the future, for a next season. When and how should we open? What type of works will be able to present safely? Will there be an audience? If so, what size? And so much more.

"Truthfully, at this time it is impossible to answer any of these questions. The best we can do is to plan in a way that places safety first and that provides for the greatest degree of flexibility in terms of resources, content, and delivery of that content as we look into next year.

"We will present four plays and one musical, arranging these shows so that the works presented in the fall and winter have smaller casts, while larger productions occur later in the season.

"It is in this context that we announce Los Altos Stage Company's 2020-2021 season. It is a season filled with stories that underscore our need for human connections, stories of people seeking out others to help them make sense of their lives and the challenges they face. In our trying times, many of these plays will affirm how much we need one another and why."

With this backdrop, Los Altos Stage Company is thrilled to announce its 2020-2021 Season, continuing its proud tradition of presenting bold, entertaining, and thought-provoking theatre.

First up is Tiny Beautiful Things, based on the book by Cheryl Strayed (author of the best-selling Wild) and adapted for the stage by Nia Vardalos. The story follows Sugar, an online advice columnist who uses her personal experiences to help the real-life readers who pour their hearts out to her. Tiny Beautiful Things is a play about reaching when you're stuck, healing when you're broken, and finding the courage to take on the questions that have no answers. Tiny Beautiful Things will be directed by award-winning Bay Area director, Jeffrey Lo, and performs September 24-October 18, 2020.

Next up is I and You, by Lauren Gunderson. Housebound because of illness, Caroline hasn't been to school in months. Confined to her room, she has only Instagram and Facebook for company. That is until classmate Anthony bursts in - uninvited and armed with waffle fries, a scruffy copy of Walt Whitman's poetry, and a school project due the next day. Caroline is unimpressed all around. But an unlikely friendship develops, and a seemingly mundane piece of homework starts to reveal the pair's hopes and dreams - as well as a deep and mysterious bond that connects them even further. I and You will be directed by LASC's Production Manager, Allie Bailey, and performs November 5-29, 2020.

Ringing in 2021 is Dry Powdery, by Sarah Burgess. After throwing himself a lavish engagement party in the same week that his private equity firm forced job cuts at a national retailer, Rick is facing a PR disaster complete with angry protesters and scathing editorials. Luckily one of his Managing Directors, Seth, has the ideal fix: a cheap buyout of an American manufacturer that will grow jobs and save face. But Jenny, another of the firm's partners, favors a cutthroat strategy that will maximize profit at any cost. Dry Powder is a razor-sharp and whip-smart comedy that skewers the world of high finance. Dry Powder will be directed by LASC's Executive Artistic Director, Gary Landis, and performs January 28-February 21, 2021.

Up next is Robert Harling's celebrated Southern classic of family and friendship, Steel Magnolias, rescheduled from the 2019-2020 season. Steel Magnolias introduces us to a group of strong, beautiful women who have a standing Saturday appointment (including a fair amount of verbal ribbing) at Truvy's Beauty Parlor in Chinquapin, Louisiana. The story centers around Shelby, who moves from wedding to childbirth to medical complications with a love of life and a willingness to bravely face its possibilities. Popularly adapted for the screen, this is the play that started it all. Steel Magnolias will directed by award-winning Bay Area director, Jenny Hollingworth, and perform April 8-May 2, 2021.

Closing out the season, and also rescheduled from the 2019-2020 season, LASC presents Sunday in the Park with George. Inspired by George Seurat's magnificent painting, "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte," Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's soaring musical is itself an artistic masterpiece. The musical begins with the story of George and his model and lover Dot. As George struggles to find his artistic voice, he becomes more and more distant from the one woman who truly sees him for who he really is. A century later, George and Dot's descendants, grapple with the same issues of artistic ingenuity. Melodic and heartbreaking music, poetic lyrics, and quick, jaunty wit, reveal universal truths about the nature of art, love, and passion. Sunday in the Park with George will be directed by award-winning Bay Area director, Alex Perez, and performs May 27-June 27, 2021.

Los Altos Stage Company is a quintessential American neighborhood playhouse, serving Los Altos, the Peninsula, and the greater South Bay area, and paying tribute to the full canon of American musicals, comedies, and dramas. This 26-year-old theatre company strives to bring together a diversity of theater enthusiasts, practitioners, and supporters to create, explore, and celebrate the rich tapestry of American culture and experience through live theatre. Los Altos Stage Company produces five shows annually at its intimate 99-seat theater located on the Hillview Community Center campus.

Season subscriptions (5-Show Stage Passes - Any Show, Any Time) are on sale now through July 31, 2020, for a single discounted price of $150, and are available at losaltosstage.org, or by calling the Los Altos Stage Company Box Office at (650) 941-0551.

To post a comment, you must register and login.