TheatreWorks Silicon Valley's 14th New Works Festival Lineup Set

Continuing its commitment to developing new works, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley will gather playwrights and composers from across the nation for its 2015 New Works Festival at Palo Alto's Lucie Stern Theatre, where the public can attend performances, offer feedback, and participate in a panel discussion with the artists.

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley's Director of New Works Giovanna Sardelli has announced this year's festival line-up, including a musical comedy with music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa, directed by Jeffrey Seller, and based on the illustrated novel The Man in the Ceiling by Jules Feiffer, who will sign books at one of the readings (details to be announced). The festival also includes a gospel journey from George Brant, directed by Neil Pepe, a dark comedy with bite from Lynn Rosen, an exploration of romance in the age of technology from Jason Gray Platt, a high stakes political drama from Suzanne Bradbeer, and a special late-night extra musical in concert by The Paper Raincoat, Alex Wong, Amber Rubarth, and Devon Copley. This year's program runs August 8-16, 2015 at the Lucie Stern Theatre, 1305 Middlefield Rd., Palo Alto. Festival passes ($65; $49 for season subscribers) and single event tickets ($19), will be available July l by calling (650) 463-1960 or online at theatreworks.org.

The full 2015 line-up includes: THE MAN IN THE CEILING, a new musical comedy based on the Jules Feiffer illustrated novel about one man's struggle to become a successful artist, with music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa and book by Jules Feiffer; MARIE AND ROSETTA, a new drama from George Brant about the 1940s gospel circuit; MAN AND BEAST, a dark comedy from Lynn Rosen about the perils of caregiving; THE THERE THERE, a sweeping half-century technology-infused romance from Jason Gray Platt; and CONFEDERATES, a fresh, modern political drama by Suzanne Bradbeer. This year there will also be a special late night extra, a musical-in-progress entitled THE PAPER RAINCOAT, composed by members of the indie band of the same name, Alex Wong, Amber Rubarth, and Devon Copley. Festival-goers will also have the opportunity to interact directly with the writers in a Meet the Artists Panel.

Attracting theatregoers from across the country, TheatreWorks' New Works Festival offers audiences an extraordinary opportunity to experience new plays and musicals in their early stages of development. For two busy weeks in August, audiences will applaud, debate, and help shape five new shows for America's future, while sharing fine foods with their authors in the starlit courtyard of the Lucie Stern Theatre. (Local Bay Area food trucks will be available at the festival, where attendees can enjoy quick gourmet meals between performances.)

The Festival line-up is as follows:

READINGS OF MUSICALS:

An Illustrated Musical Comedy

THE MAN IN THE CEILING

Music & Lyrics by Andrew Lippa

Book by Jules Feiffer

Based on the illustrated novel by Jules Feiffer

Directed by Jeffrey Seller

Someday he'll be an artist! But for now, Jimmy is a flop as a boy: hopeless in class, helpless at sports, clueless as Mom and Dad. Can you find happiness with just a pen? A Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist joins a Tony-nominated composer to find out.

Andrew Lippa (Music & Lyrics) has written music and lyrics for the Broadway hits Big Fish; The Addams Family; and You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. Other shows he has written for include The Wild Party, John & Jen, I Am Harvey Milk, A Little Princess, and Asphalt Beach. He has been nominated for Tony and Grammy Awards, and has received both Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards.

Jules Feiffer (Book) has written and/or illustrated 14 children's books, including the children's classic The Phantom Tollbooth (illustrations). His screenplays include "Little Murders," "Carnal Knowledge," "Popeye," and "I Want To Go Home." The Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill, NY, recently exhibited all 150 pages of illustrations from his noir graphic novel, Kill My Mother.

Jeffrey Seller (Director) is best known for producing Hamilton, In the Heights, Rent, Avenue Q, and for directing Rajiv Joseph's Fly at Dallas Theatre Center.

READINGS OF PLAYS:

A Gospel Journey

MARIE AND ROSETTA

By George Brant

Directed by Neil Pepe

With competition growing on the 1940s gospel circuit, Sister Rosetta Tharpe unveils a new partner, a beauty with a voice made in heaven. Will they blend, will they break, will life's truths and tragedies find harmony at last? One of today's fastest rising new playwrights has crafted an astonishing new play with unforgettable music.

George Brant's (Playwright) works include the recently opened Grounded, directed by Julie Taymor and starring Anne Hathaway at New York's Public Theatre, Elephant's Graveyard, The Mourners' Bench, and Three Voyages of the Lobotomobile. His scripts have been awarded the Kennedy Center's David Cohen National Playwriting Award, an Edinburgh Fringe First Award, the Smith Prize, and the Keene Prize for Literature. He is published by Samuel French, Oberon Books, and Smith & Kraus.

Neil Pepe (Director) is Artistic Director of The Atlantic Theater Company in New York. He is a frequent collaborator with David Mamet and recently directed his show A Life in the Theatre on Broadway.

A Dark Comedy with Bite

MAN AND BEAST

By Lynn Rosen

Directed by Giovanna Sardelli

As his predictable life crumbles around him, a white social worker cares for a black client who cares for an orange tiger. Does everyone bite the hand that feeds them? Caregiving has rarely been more conflicted, or complex.

Lynn Rosen's (Playwright) plays have been produced or developed with: Women's Project, New Georges, Ensemble Studio Theatre (currently under commission), Centerstage (Baltimore), The Studio Theatre, Working Theater, The New Group, The Lark, terraNOVA Collective, New Harmony, and GEVA, among others. Lynn co-writes the award-winning web series Darwin, directed by Carrie Preston, and is a Resident Playwright at New Dramatists.

Giovanna Sardelli (Director) helms her second New Works Festival as the Director of New Works. This past year, Giovanna directed Rajiv Joseph's Describe the Night at the 2014 Festival and The Lake Effect on the TheatreWorks mainstage as well as Little Children Dream of God by Jeff Augustine at New York's Roundabout Theatre Company.

The Cycle of Romance

THE THERE THERE

By Jason Gray Platt

Directed by Courtney Sale

Love lost. Love found. Love beckons, bewilders, grieves, and heals. We invent technology to define it, to protect it, to connect us ever more closely. And still, love breaks. But sometimes, played out over half a century, love lasts.

Jason Gray Platt's (Playwright) work has been produced and developed around the country by the American Repertory Theater, Actors Theatre of Louisville, The Flea, and Denver Center Theatre Company, among others. Originally from Arizona, Jason now lives in New York.

Courtney Sale (Director) is Associate Director of Indiana Repertory Company and has a national reputation for developing new works.

A High Stakes Political Drama

CONFEDERATES

By Suzanne Bradbeer

Directed by Lisa Rothe

Dad's running for President. Daughter's running wild. Reporters are running out of time. Then someone unfurls a Confederate flag. This headline-hunting political drama is a fresh, fascinating, and intense look at today's muckraking media.

Suzanne Bradbeer (Playwright) is a playwright, librettist, and children's story writer, and recently participated in TheatreWorks' 2015 Writer's Retreat, where she worked on the new musical Careful! The Sharks Will Eat You! with collaborators Jay Alvarez and Gaby Gold.

Lisa Rothe (Director) is the Director of Global Exchange for The Lark Play Development Center, and was nominated for the Joe A. Callaway Award for Direction for Hold These Truths by Jeanne Sakata, produced by Epic Theatre Ensemble in New York.

EXTRAS:

A Special Late-Night Extra

A New Musical in Concert

THE PAPER RAINCOAT

By Alex Wong, Amber Rubarth, and Devon Copley

Artistic Liaison: Leslie Martinson

Featuring songs from their new musical in development and hits from their self-titled album, New York's nationally-touring (with TheatreWorks favorite Vienna Teng) indie band The Paper Raincoat chronicles a woman's poignant, memory-driven journey into what might have been.

The Paper Raincoat is an imaginative collaboration between Brooklyn songwriters Amber Rubarth, Alex Wong, and Devon Copley that brings to life a colorful world teeming with compelling characters, dream-like storylines, and metaphorical narratives. Their eponymous debut album was released in 2009 and has received accolades from critics and fans alike, including Paste Magazine, which wrote, "We think the world might be a little better if everyone heard this record."

Alex Wong is a Latin Grammy-nominated producer and artist. His solo album was featured on NPR, he has produced albums for artists including Delta Rae, Vienna Teng, and Ari Hest, and his music has appeared in films/commercials including The Last Song, The Lincoln Lawyer, and Google.

Folk songwriter Amber Rubarth has performed her music internationally in Europe, Japan, and the US, including tours with Emmylou Harris and Kenny Loggins, and concerts at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. She composes for films, including Joan Rivers' documentary, and is releasing her seventh album this autumn. She also won the Grand Prize in the prestigious NPR Mountain Stage New Song contest in 2010.

Devon Copley, a San Francisco-based songwriter/lyricist, spent a decade touring the country as a performer in pop/rock bands, most notably with The Animators. A lifelong lover of musical theatre, he studied at the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop and has performed in Evita, Hair, and The Caucasian Chalk Circle.

Leslie Martinson is TheatreWorks Silicon Valley's Associate Artistic Director and will act as Artistic Liaison for this team.

MEET THE ARTISTS PANEL

The Festival's featured playwrights and composers share their anecdotes and insights into creating brave new works for the American Theatre.

New this year: 15 minutes before the panel begins, TheatreWorks will present a short play from the winners of this year's 1440 Countdown - Check Your Six. Comprised of five students from Milpitas High School (Joronica Vinluan, Holly Nguyen, Kalina Aragon, Connor McGarry, and team captain Peter Rafe) the group will perform the short play that won them TheatreWorks' annual contest which finds high school students from around the Bay Area spending 24-hours locked down in a professional rehearsal studio creating original works.

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