New Conservatory Theatre Center Announces RIDE THE CYCLONE And More for 2024-25 Season

New Conservatory Theatre Center has announced the line-up for an enchanting 2024-25 Season. In keeping with their commitment to bring new voices to stage, the 2024-25 Season brings six shows to the stage with World, Regional, West Coast & San Francisco premieres, and a holiday special by The Kinsey Sicks.

Nationally and internationally renowned as San Francisco's premier LGBTQ+ and Allied theatre center, NCTC's 2024-25 Season highlights Queer stories of heartfelt discovery, magical adventures, and taking the road never traveled. The sky is not the limit, as this season we will travel to the creeks and bayous of Alabama, Philadelphia and a certain magical kingdom, savor Mexico City, bobble on floaties in Palm Springs, and step a toe into the great beyond!

NCTC's Founder and Artistic Director Ed Decker shares, “For over four decades we have deepened our commitment to enlightenment, growth, and change in partnership with the Bay Area Queer and Allied communities. The stories we share in NCTC's 24-25 Season are the windows to untold cultures, societies and lives. They enhance our connection to one another and nurture our quest for the wellbeing and mutual respect that we all aspire to and deserve.”

Kicking off NCTC's 24-25 Season in September is the Regional Premiere of Jacob Richmond & Brooke Maxwell's witty yet thoughtful musical turned internet sensation, Ride the Cyclone. Reaching for the skies takes on a whole new meaning when six members of a Canadian chamber choir take a fateful rollercoaster ride to the great beyond. When they awake in limbo, a mechanical fortune teller invites each to tell a story to win a prize like no other – the chance to return to life. Both madly hilarious and surprisingly introspective, this award-winning musical poses the question of what makes a life well-lived or in some cases, worth saving.

Jacob Richmond (pronouns: he/him) is the co-founder of Atomic Vaudeville, a popular cabaret theater series in Victoria, BC. He's won a CBC Radio One Award for Best Comedy (From Canada to Canada) and a Vancouver Fringe Favorite Award (Legoland) among others. Richmond has written several plays, including: The Qualities of Zero (Dora Award nomination, Montreal MECCA Award winner for Best Text); Small Returns (Theatre Passe Muraille); Legoland (SummerWorks Award for Best Text, Frigid Festival New York Favorite Production, Vancouver Fringe Favorite Award); From Canada to Canada (CBC Radio One Award, Best Comedy); and The Punch and Judy Show (Caravan Farm Theatre). Born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, he majored in history and performance at Concordia University (Montreal).

Brooke Maxwell (pronouns: he/him) is a freelance musician, composer, and educator based in Victoria, BC, Canada. He has scored as well as created the sound design for multiple works, his most recent being Gruff for Puente Theatre. A prominent artist in Canada, Maxwell has underscored and sound designed several local Canadian and national works: Gruff (Puente Theatre), And Slowly Beauty (Belfry Theatre, National Arts Centre, Tarragon Theatre), A Tender Thing (Belfry Theatre) The Glass Menagerie, Long Day's Journey into Night (Bluebridge Theatre), Joan (Theatre SKAM), Busted Up (Open Pit Theatre).

October brings the stirring and provoking West Coast Premiere of southern playwright Audrey Cefaly's The Gulf. Betty wants change. Kendra likes the status quo. On a small fishing boat in the Alabama Delta, a tranquil evening of playful banter takes a volatile turn as two lovers witness the weight of their unspoken words. Will Kendra and Betty move past affectations and pretense or will pooled resentment cause their love to drift? 

Playwright Audrey Cefaly (pronouns: she/her) is an alumna of the Playwrights' Arena cohort at Arena Stage, a recipient of the Walter E. Dakin Fellowship from the Sewanee Writers Conference, and a Dramatist Guild Foundation Travelling Master. She is published by Concord Theatricals, Smith & Kraus, and Applause Books. Cefaly's plays have been produced by Cincinnati Playhouse, Florida Studio, Florida Rep, City Theatre, Penobscot Theatre, Gulfshore Playhouse, Merrimack Rep, Signature Theatre, Barter Theatre, Vermont Stage, Oregon Contemporary Theatre, 16th Street Theater, Capital Stage, About Face, Kitchen Dog Theatre, Circle Theatre, Theatre Three, Aurora Theatre, Quotidian Theatre Company, and University of Alabama at Birmingham. Her play Alabaster received an 11-city Rolling World Premiere, the largest in National New Play Network history. 

In December The Kinsey Sicks - America's Favorite Dragapella Beautyshop Quartet - arrive in style with their raucous and joyful year-end roundup Deep Inside Tonight! a hilarious musical newscast-run-amok! The Kinsey Sicks bring their glorious award-winning harmonies to the NCTC stage where it all began in celebration of their 30th anniversary tour. Tune in for outrageous hijinx, the wittiest of parodies, and a performance as delightful and legendary as the girls themselves.

The Kinsey Sicks have performed for over three decades at arts centers, music venues, and comedy festivals throughout the U.S. and around the world. Their work includes an Off-Broadway show (DRAGAPELLA), and extended run in Las Vegas, two feature films (I Wanna Be a Republican and Almost Infamous), four concert DVDs, a dozen albums, and appearances in more than 40 states, Canada, Mexico, Europe, and Australia. The Kinsey Sicks award-winning a cappella singing, signature satire, and timeless take on drag have earned them a dedicated and diverse following since 1993. 

There's magic in the new year with Colman Domingo's adventurous and heart-warming, Wild with Happy. When the process of grieving his mother involves an overly enthusiastic funeral director and a demanding Aunt Glo, there's nowhere for Gil to turn but a wild grab-an-urn-and-go roadtrip to find his fairytale ending. From the mind of Colman Domingo comes a wondrous comedy about the sometimes bizarre and often inexplicable bonds of family. 

Playwright Colman Domingo (pronouns: he/him) is a Tony, Oscar,  Sir Lawrence Olivier, Drama Desk, Drama League and NAACP Theatre Award nominated, OBIE, and Lucille Lortel Award winning actor, playwright, director and producer.  His plays include A Boy and His Soul, Up Jumped Springtime, and The Brothers, and he has co-written two musicals SUMMER: The Donna Summer Musical, and Lights Out: Nat "King" Cole. Colman received his Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from Ursinus College. He is on the faculty of University of Southern California School of Dramatic Arts as a Professor of acting, having served as a Juilliard School Creative Associate and a faculty member of the Yale School of Drama. Colman has appeared in some of the most profound films in recent years such as Barry Jenkins' If Beale Street Could Talk, Steven Spielbergs' Lincoln, Lee Daniel's The Butler, Ava DuVernay's Selma, Nia DaCosta's Candyman, Janicza Bravo's Zola, and most recently Rustin by Julian Breece and Dustin Lance Black.

Discover mystical and mouth-watering encounters in Mexico City come April with Eric Reyes Loo's world premiere commission, Simple Mexican Pleasures. Heartbroken from a breakup, Eric does what many do: deny the pain and skip town. But he finds it's hard to enjoy a pozole in peace when the spirits of your ancestors are quibbling in both ears. Through raucous conversation with his ghostly guides and a surreally hot hookup. Eric's impulsive trip to Mexico City awakens his need for identity, familial ties, and a deeper connection to his roots.

Playwright Eric Reyes Loo (pronouns: he/him) first joined NCTC as a writer on the hit podcast In Good Company. His play This is Only a Test was produced to acclaim by Broken Nose Theatre in Chicago. His autobiographical play Death and Cockroaches was produced in 2018 by Chalk Rep in Los Angeles. In addition, Eric is a television writer/producer on Guidance for AwesomenessTV/Hulu and A.J. and the Queen on Netflix.

Finally, NCTC concludes its magical season with a jubilant party in Palm Springs in To My Girls by JC Lee. A tight group of gay men reunite in Palm Springs for a weekend of rekindling friendships, toasting the end of the pandemic, and the biggest highlight: recording a lip-synched music video. Turns out a vacation in this dreamy town is not all fun and games when there's gossip and grudges floating in the air. This heartwarming and vivacious story explores what happens when the inflatable swans are tossed aside and the truth is laid bare.

Playwright JC Lee (pronouns: he/him) writes for theatre, film, and television. His play Luce premiered in 2013 at Lincoln Center Theatre, and he co-wrote the film adaptation that premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. His plays have been staged and developed at The Old Globe, Magic Theatre, The Williamstown Theatre Festival, Next Theatre Company, Marin Theatre Company, Center Theatre Group, Azuka Theatre Company, among others. His TV credits include Apple TV+'s The Morning Show. ABC's How To Get Away With Murder, and HBO's Looking and Girls.

NCTC offers a wide variety of subscription options to access the lowest ticket prices, best seats, and most perks all season long. There are five ways to join as a subscriber for the 24-25 Season including the Full Season subscription package, the 6-Ticket Anytime Flex Pass, the 6-Ticket Weeknight Flex Pass, the 4-Show Package, and the 4-Ticket Anytime Flex Pass. Flex passes offer all the benefits of a season subscription with the flexibility to use tickets however you like. Subscriber benefits include huge savings on ticket prices, access to the best seats, free and easy ticket exchanges, 40% off guest tickets, savings on non-subscription shows and much more. Subscriptions are now available at nctcsf.org/subscribe or by calling the Box Office at 415.861.8972.

New Conservatory Theatre Center has been San Francisco's premier LGBTQ+ and Allied performing arts institution and progressive arts education conservatory since 1981. NCTC is renowned for its diverse range of innovative, high-quality productions, touring productions and shows for young audiences; its foundational anti-bullying work with youth and educators through YouthAware; and its commitment to developing new plays to continue expanding the canon of queer and allied dramatic work.

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