“5 & Dime” – TheatreWorks’ New Works Festival at Lucie Stern Theatre

Hundreds of lovers of new theatre will gather this August for an advance look at

tomorrow’s hits at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley’s 21st New Works Festival. Returning to Palo Alto’s Lucie Stern Theatre to celebrate the company’s legacy for fostering new theatre, this unique festival offers audiences an extraordinary opportunity to experience new plays and musicals in their early stages of development. With multiple performances of each work and input from the audiences, playwrights and composers are able to revise and refine their shows during the festival, allowing audiences to view the exciting evolution of brand-new pieces of theatre. Readings and events from August 9-18, 2024—for more information, visit https://theatreworks.org/new-works/nwf/

See a premiere musical in the making as TheatreWorks stages readings of the rollicking country musical “5 & Dime” ahead of its World Premiere in the company’s 2024/25 season. Set in a small Texas town in 1975, the all-female fan club of 50s heartthrob James Dean hosts a reunion commemorating the 20th anniversary of the actor’s death, recalling the life-changing period when Dean, along with Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson, were in nearby Marfa, Texas filming Giant. In a dime store alive with jukebox songs and downhome humor, the women share cherished illusions and faded dreams, until they are interrupted by a glamorous stranger ready to expose the truths of their sheltered lives. Based on the play and film “Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean” by Ed Graczyk. This new musical features a book by Ashley Robinson (“Brokeback Mountain”), Dan Gillespie (“Everybody’s Talking About Jamie,” “Brokeback Mountain”), Lyrics by Shakina (NBC’s “Quantum Leap,” Hulu’s “Difficult People”).