Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Arizona Theatre Company Announces Their 2011/2012 Season

Posted By on Tue, Mar 8, 2011 at 9:00 AM

The season includes a production of Red, which won the 2010 Tony for Best Play, God of Carnage, which won the same award in 2009, the world premiere of a Sherlock Holmes adaptation, and Daddy Long Legs, a heartwarming musical about a young woman's "journey into womanhood".

The list of plays, complete with sales-pitch-like summaries for each from ATC, is below the cut.

World Premiere Thriller
SHERLOCK HOLMES and the Adventure of the Suicide Club
by Jeffrey Hatcher
Based on "The Suicide Club" by Robert Louis Stevenson
and characters created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

In the heart of London, behind the impassive facade of a windowless house, some of Europe’s most powerful men gather to play a game. The game is murder and this is The Suicide Club. But the Club has a new member: Sherlock Holmes—brilliant, perceptive, the greatest detective in the English-speaking world. Does Holmes wish to die? Will he have to kill? Can his old friend Dr. Watson save him? Or doesn't Holmes want to be saved? A beguiling World Premiere thriller commissioned by ATC from one of our favorite authors brings the famous detective alive in a tale full of mystery, twists and chills.

Tony Award Winner — Best Play 2009
GOD OF CARNAGE
by Yasmina Reza

“Sticks and stones can break my bones” … but when Benjamin hits Henry at a nearby park, it starts two sets of parents on a comically explosive downhill slide from political correctness to character assassination. In this universally acclaimed new comedy by the author of Art, adults come together for a civilized evening of coffee, cake and conversation about their kids. But frayed nerves soon surface and the grownups begin to outdo their pugnacious children in bad behavior, disproving the notion that “words can never hurt me.” Winner of the 2009 Tony Award for Best Play, God Of Carnage is a hilariously harrowing look at the minefield of modern marriage.

Contains mature language

DADDY LONG LEGS
Music and Lyrics by Paul Gordon
Book by John Caird
Based on the Novel by Jean Webster

From the Tony Award-winning director of Les Miserables and The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, and the creators of the Tony Award-nominated Jane Eyre, comes a heartwarming new musical based on a book beloved for generations. Daddy Long Legs tells of a young girl’s Cinderella journey into womanhood, as well as a confirmed bachelor’s awakening into love. Told through a series of letters between Jerusha Abbott, the oldest orphan at the John Greer Home, and Jervis Pendleton, her mysterious benefactor, Daddy Long Legs is a testament to the power of the written word and its ability to touch our hearts. An elegant and inventive romance, this award-winning musical love story has been lauded for its innocence, its sheer beauty, and its depth of emotion, not to mention its magnificent musical score. Winner of three prestigious Ovation Awards including Best Book, Best Score and Lead Actress in an Original Musical.

"Completely winning” — The Los Angeles Times

ALFRED HITCHCOCK’S
THE 39 STEPS
Adapted by Patrick Barlow
From the novel by John Buchan
From the movie by Alfred Hitchcock

Mix a Hitchcock masterpiece with a juicy spy novel, add a dash of Monty Python and you have … Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps. A mind-blowing cast of four actors play over 150 characters in this fast-paced tale of an ordinary man on an extraordinarily entertaining adventure. The madness begins when mild-mannered Richard Hannay starts his evening at the theatre and ends the night with a dead body in his lap. Caught in maze of murder, espionage and flirtatious entanglements, our hero careens from the British music hall to the moors of Scotland and back to the London Palladium in search of a plausible alibi and the true identity of the killer. Broadway’s most intriguing, most riotous, most unmissable Tony-winning comedy smash proves that anything the movies can do, the theatre can do more hilariously!

“Once this fun ride leaves the station, you don’t want to get off!” — New York Daily News
“Absurdly enjoyable” — The New York Times

Arizona Premiere
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s
THE GREAT GATSBY
Adapted by Simon Levy

Considered by many to be the Great American Novel, The Great Gatsby is at once titillating, fascinating and shocking in its portrayal of The Jazz Age that was soon to disappear from the American landscape. In this first authorized adaptation since 1926, Simon Levy brings the humor, irony, pathos and loveliness of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s American classic to the stage. Navigate the languid atmosphere of wealth and privilege with Nick Carraway as he observes the glittering, elaborate parties of his neighbor, the infamous and illusive Jay Gatsby. Part of ATC’s AMERICA PLAYS! Celebrating Great American Stories series, The Great Gatsby’s sharp depiction of the “American Dream” resonates anew for each generation.

Winner of six 2010 Tony Awards including Best play
Arizona Premiere
RED
By John Logan

Master Abstract expressionist Mark Rothko, one of the most visionary artists of the 20th Century, has landed the commission of a lifetime, a series of murals for New York’s Four Seasons Restaurant. As he wrestles with the overwhelming task of creating multiple paintings on a grand scale, his new young assistant questions his views of art, creativity and commerce. What follows is a raw and provocative dialogue between master and novice, old guard and new guard exploring the question, “Is art meant to provoke, soothe or disturb?” Based on true events, Red is a scaring portrait of an artist’s ambition and vulnerability as he tries to create a definitive work for an extraordinary setting. Red is the winner of six 2010 Tony Awards including Best Play, the most honored play of the Broadway season.

Contains mature language

“Intense and exciting. It’s impossible not to feel thrilled.” — The New York Times
"Smart, exciting and scintillating" — The New Yorker