Lakewood Playhouse Announces Its Landmark 80th Anniversary Season

The Lakewood Playhouse Celebrates Its 80th Anniversary Season with Seven Premier Shows! All our shows embrace the theatre that we have become, while keeping our eyes towards evolving towards the future! Season Ticket Renewals are currently underway and will be open to New Season Ticket Buyers on May 25th, 2018!

Here is the Sensational Line-Up for Our Landmark 80th Season!

BRIGHTON BEACH MEMOIRS

By Neil Simon

"The Author of 'The Odd Couple' Take You Back to Where It All Began"

September 7th through September 30th, 2018

Part One of Neil Simon's autobiographical trilogy: a portrait of the writer as a young teen in 1937 living with his family in a crowded, lower middle-class Brooklyn walk-up. Eugene Jerome, standing in for the author, is the narrator and central character. Dreaming of baseball and girls, Eugene must cope with the mundane existence of his family life in Brooklyn: formidable mother, overworked father, and his worldly older brother Stanley. Throw into the mix his widowed Aunt Blanche, her two young (but rapidly aging) daughters and you have a recipe for hilarity, served up Simon-style. This bittersweet memoir evocatively captures the life of a struggling Jewish household where, as his father states "if you didn't have a problem, you wouldn't be living here."

YES, VIRGINIA, THERE IS A Santa Claus

By Andrew J. Fenady

Based upon the teleplay by Val DeCrow and Andrew J. Fenady.

"The Beautiful Story of How One Girl's Letter Changed the World"

November 23rd through December 16th, 2018

Inspired by a simple, poignant letter written over 100 years ago by 8-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon to the editor of the New York Sun-and by the timeless editorial response printed on the front page of the Sun. "Dear Editor, I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says if you see it in the Sun, it's so. Please tell me the truth. Is there a Santa Claus?"

Forbidden Broadway

Created and written by Gerard Alessandrini Ride

"Broadway's Greatest Shows Turned Silly"

January 11th through February 3rd, 2019

Our Fourth of Our OUTSIDE the (Music) BOX Presentations

CHICAGO, ANNIE, SPAMALOT, HELLO DOLLY, LES MISERABLES, PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, RENT, CATS, HAIRSPRAY, A CHORUS LINE, MAMMA MIA, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF and WICKED... They're All Here! The satirical style of "Weird Al" Yankovic meets Broadway in this long-running Off-Broadway hit musical revue! Broadway's greatest musical legends meet Broadway's greatest satirist in this hilarious, loving, and endlessly entertaining tribute to some of the theatre's greatest stars and songwriters.

ANGELS IN AMERICA - Part One: Millennium Approaches

and

ANGELS IN AMERICA - Part Two: Perestroika

Both by Tony Kushner

"The Two-Part Pulitzer & Tony Award Winning Epic Presented in Repertory"

February 22nd through March 17th, 2019

PART ONE - Celebrates its 25th Anniversary in 2018

Fridays & Saturdays at 7:00pm (Special Time) and Sunday Matinees at 2:00pm

"Pay What You Can" Performances on Wednesday Nights at 7:00pm

In the first part of Tony Kushner's epic, set in 1980's New York City, a gay man is abandoned by his lover when he contracts the AIDS virus, and a closeted Mormon lawyer's marriage to his pill-popping wife stalls. Other characters include the infamous McCarthy-ite lawyer Roy Cohn, Ethel Rosenberg, a former drag queen who works as a nurse, and... yes... an angel.

PART TWO - Celebrates its 25th Anniversary in 2019

Sunday Evenings at 7:00pm

"Pay What You Can" Performances on Thursday Nights at 7:00pm

In the second part of Tony Kushner's epic, the plague of AIDS worsens, relationships fall apart as new, and unexpected friendships, take form.

INSPECTING CAROL

By Daniel Sullivan

"Noises Off Meets Christmas Carol in One Hilarious Show!""

April 19th through March 17th, 2019

A man who asks to audition at a small theater is mistaken for an informer for the National Endowment for the Arts. Everyone caters to the bewildered wannabe actor, and he is given a role in the current production, A Christmas Carol. Everything goes wrong, and hilarity is piled upon hilarity.

A Lakewood Playhouse Premier AND a South Sound Premier!

THE PRODUCERS

BOOK by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan / MUSIC & LYRICS By Mel Brooks

Based on the film by Mel Brooks

"The Mel Brooks Record Breaking Musical Storms the Playhouse!"

June 7th through July 7th, 2019

A down-on-his-luck Broadway producer and his mild-mannered accountant come up with a scheme to produce the most notorious flop in history, thereby bilking their backers (all "little old ladies") out of millions of dollars. Only one thing goes awry: the show is a smash hit! At the core of the insanely funny adventure is a poignant emotional journey of two very different men who become friends.

BONUS SHOWS

11th ANNUAL HALLOWEEN RADIO SHOW: THE WAR OF THE WORLDS

October 12th, 13th & 14th, 2018

The Return of our MOST POPULAR Radio Show to the Lakewood Playhouse and the Kick Off for our 80th Season's FRIENDS FUND. Orson Wells' Masterpiece is always a huge hit that we present every five years as it's anniversary presentation matches the year of our Anniversary!

LAKEWOOD INSTITUTE of THEATRE Presents: THE VELVETEEN RABBIT

8 SHOWS ONLY- October 25th through November 4th, 2019

The Velveteen Rabbit is an emotional journey through time, as told through the eyes of a young man looking back on his childhood. By reliving the relationship between his 4-year-old self and his favorite toy, the velveteen rabbit, he rediscovers the true meaning of friendship. The play explores the rewards of loyalty, the poignancy of loss, and the wonderful, surprising powers of love.

ABOUT OUR THEATRE: The Lakewood Playhouse was founded in 1938 and has established itself with theatre that is both intimate and epic. The theatre is located within the Lakewood Towne Center, 5729 Lakewood Towne Center Blvd., Lakewood, Washington 98499. For further information about LAKEWOOD

PLAYHOUSE's 80th SEASON please contact the Box Office at the Lakewood Playhouse (253) 588-0042 or make any e-mail queries to John Munn, Managing Artistic Director, at jmunn.lakewoodplayhouse@gmail.com.

To post a comment, you must register and login.