THE SPARROW AND THE BIRDMAN And MAKEOVER Among TheatreWorks Lineup Of New Works Festival 2009

TheatreWorks, the nationally-acclaimed theatre of Silicon Valley, celebrates its 40th Anniversary season and commitment to the creation and development of new works with its New Works Festival ‘09, sponsored by Microsoft. The eighth annual Festival commences July 15 with the world premiere production of Tinyard Hill, a rousing new musical by Tommy Newman and 2009 Jonathan Larsen Award-winning composer Mark Allen.  This season’s festival, held in Palo Alto at the Lucie Stern Theatre, will feature workshops of new works by artists including Chris Smith, Raquel Bitton, Darrah Cloud , Kim D. Sherman, Joe DiPietro, Brendan Milburn, Valerie Vigoda, Laura Schellhardt, Rajiv Joseph, Kait Kerrigan, and Brian Lowdermilk, in addition to stunning concerts by Grammy-winning vocalist Maureen McGovern, and the nationally acclaimed singer and composer, Vienna Teng.  Tickets go on sale May 29 at 650-463-1960 or theatreworks.org.

TheatreWorks has assembled an impressive lineup for the 2009 New Works Festival, featuring staged readings of three new plays including The Sparrow and the Birdman, a sensuous song-filled drama about the unforgettable Edith Piaf by Raquel Bitton and Chris Smith, Auctioning the Ainsleys, a humorous drama by Laura Schellhardt to be directed by recently appointed New Works Director Meredith McDonough, and The North Pool, a cat and mouse thriller from playwright Rajiv Joseph.  The Festival will also feature staged readings of three new musicals including Makeover, the story of a feisty single mother who builds an empire from her gift for glamour, with book and lyrics by Darrah Cloud and music by Kim D. Sherman, Ernest Shackleton Loves Me, a fever dream musical with music by GrooveLily team Brendan Milburn and Valerie Vigoda, and book by Joe DiPietro, and Tales From the Bad Years, a new musical for a generation of lost and adrift twenty-somethings, from Kait Kerrigan and Brian Lowdermilk.

The Festival will also present Maureen McGovern, the Grammy-winning Broadway and pop star in a moving evening in song, A Long and Winding Road: The Concert, and Stanford-grad and nationally acclaimed singer/composer, Vienna Teng in a concert of her greatest hits and brand new songs from her new musical.  Additional events will include The Big Four O: Hurwitt and Kelley, a special conversation with San Francisco Chronicle theatre critic Rob Hurwitt and TheatreWorks’ Founding Artistic Director, Robert Kelley; Young Playwrights Showcase, a selection of the best from TheatreWorks’ Young Playwrights Initiative; Bay Area Playwrights Take the Stage, an intriguing and innovative evening of mini-readings hosted by Theatre Bay Area; and Meet the Festival Artists, where the Festival’s featured playwrights and composers will share their challenges and triumphs in creating new works.

Recently appointed New Works Director Meredith McDonough will oversee this summer’s New Works Festival.  McDonough has been actively developing new works for the past ten years at theatres including Actors Theatre of Louisville, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Round House Theatre, The Public Theatre, LABryinth Theatre Company, Ars Nova, Women’s Project and Productions, New Georges, and the Drama League.  She spent two years as the New Works Program Director at the National Alliance for Musical Theatre, and three seasons as a resident director at Actors Theatre of Louisville, famed for its annual Humana Festival of New American Plays.  She has personally directed over twenty world premiere plays and musicals.

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