The season will also celebrate 20 years of performances in the Intiman Playhouse at Seattle Center, where the 2007 line-up includes Thornton Wilder's The Skin of Our Teeth; Chekhov's Uncle Vanya, newly adapted by Craig Lucas; and Lucas's world-premiere drama Prayer for My Enemy, all under the direction of Artistic Director Bartlett Sher. Fracaswell Hyman, a director, writer and producer, will make his Intiman debut directing the American Cycle production of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, adapted by Christopher Sergel.
"This is a very American season,"Â says Artistic Director Bartlett Sher. "ÂAll five of the plays are unique, but they all deal with how we look at our environment, how we feel about our families, how we see ourselves in an American context and how we understand our own history. It is also a season that explores different ways of telling stories in the theatre, a major focus of my own artistic explorations and my work with the visionary designers who will part of our season."Â
The season will showcase Intiman's signature qualities of artistic excellence, intellectual vitality and a commitment to building strong communities in our region. Special events celebrating Intiman's history and achievements, including the 35th Anniversary Gala and a series of conversations with artists, will be announced soon. The year will end with the 10th anniversary production of the holiday classic Black Nativity: A Gospel Song Play by Langston Hughes.
Subscription packages are available now by calling 206.269.1900 or by visiting www.intiman.org. Single tickets for The Light in the Piazza will go on sale March 16; single tickets for all productions at the Intiman Playhouse will go on sale March 31.
The 2007 season will launch in April with the "homecoming"Â of The Light in the Piazza, written by Intiman Associate Artistic Director Craig Lucas and Artist in Residence Adam Guettel. The musical premiered at Intiman in 2003, traveled to Chicago's Goodman Theatre, won six Tony Awards for its Lincoln Center production in 2005, and returns to Seattle as part of its current National Tour, directed by Sher. The direct-from-Broadway production-which captures the passion of first love in Guettel's Tony-winning and Grammy-nominated score-features songs, orchestrations and a revised book new to Seattle audiences, as well as a physical production that was honored with three Tony Awards for its design.
The Light in the Piazza will play April 17-29 at The Paramount Theatre, co-presented by Broadway Across America - Seattle, Intiman and Seattle Theatre Group. The press opening is Tuesday, April 17 at 7:30. Members of the creative team and cast for The Light in the Piazza are available now for interviews.
Additional information about the production and information about special community events and opportunities for local artists and students will be announced soon. Single tickets will go on sale Friday, March 16 and will be available by calling 206.292.ARTS (2787) or through www.BroadwayAcrossAmerica.com.
A complete season schedule for productions at the Intiman Playhouse, 201 Mercer Street at Seattle Center, follows.
The Skin of Our Teeth, By Thornton Wilder, Directed by Bartlett Sher, April 28-June 2, Press Opening: Friday, May 4 at 8 pm
Thornton Wilder received Pulitzer Prizes for both Our Town (produced at Intiman as the first American Cycle production in 2004) and The Skin of Our Teeth, a comedy about a typical American family-in a not-so-typical American family drama. Wilder's allegorical Everyfamily live in a world continuously at risk of being trampled by a dinosaur, threatened by an iceberg, ravaged by a flood and ruined by war. The Skin of Our Teeth is a tribute to the indomitable human will not just to survive, but to persevere until we triumph over natural and man-made disasters alike-if only by the skin of our teeth. Bartlett Sher's production will feature scenic and costume designs by Michael Yeargan and Catherine Zuber, his Tony Award-winning collaborators on The Light in the Piazza and Awake and Sing!.
Leading the ensemble cast of The Skin of Our Teeth will be Annie Scurria, previously seen at Intiman as Loë Rieman in the 2004 world premiere of Singing Forest by Craig Lucas, and Howie Seago, an award-winning actor, producer and director who has worked extensively with the National Theatre for the Deaf. "I met Howie Seago in 1986 when he starred as Ajax in a production directed by Peter Sellars, and I was in the ensemble," said Sher." He is an extraordinarily gifted actor and his physical expression is of epic proportion, which makes him a great match for the expansive character of Mr. Antrobus. Annie Scurria has a similar fearlessness and, since our first collaboration on Singing Forest , I've been looking for the right project to work with her again. They are both actors equal to the scale of Wilder's spirit and imagination."Â
Uncle Vanya, By Anton Chekhov, Adapted by Craig Lucas, Directed by Bartlett Sher, June 12-July 18, Press Opening: Saturday, June 16 at 8 pm
In 2005, director Bartlett Sher and writer Craig Lucas collaborated on a new adaptation of Chekhov's Three Sisters, emphasizing in the translation the sound of living speech, accessible and fresh. This season, they continue their investigation into Chekhov's alternately funny and heartbreaking genius with a new adaptation of Uncle Vanya, a story of characters who rebel against their own thwarted desires and act on their passions, and discover both grief and hope. This will be Intiman's first production of Uncle Vanya since founder Margaret Booker's staging of the play in 1975.
World Premiere Prayer for My Enemy, By Craig Lucas, Directed by Bartlett Sher, July 27-August 26, Press Opening: Friday, August 3 at 8 pm
This world premiere explores the connection between two long-separated childhood friends, Tad and Billy, who are unexpectedly reunited as adults. Tad has returned to their hometown after a divorce, and Billy is about to leave for his first tour of duty in Iraq . As Tad reconnects with Billy, as well as with Billy's parents and sister, Lucas creates a portrait of an American family, divided by their experiences and beliefs but bound together by a fierce, unarticulated love. Lucas illuminates their lives by literally giving voice to the unspeakable: Prayer for My Enemy includes not only conversations between the characters, but also dialogue that captures their interior lives, in which they express their most private thoughts for only the audience to hear.
The American Cycle: To Kill a Mockingbird, By Harper Lee, Adapted by Christopher Sergel, Directed by Fracaswell Hyman, September 14-October 28, Press Opening: Wednesday, September 19 at 7:30 pm
Intiman's American Cycle is a five-year series that combines great art on the Intiman stage, collaborative partnerships and a series of free public programs that encourage community-wide civic dialogue; past productions include adaptations of Richard Wright's Native Son and John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, and Thornton Wilder's Our Town. This year's production is To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning story of Atticus Finch, a lawyer who defends a black man accused of raping a white woman in 1930s Alabama . As seen through the eyes of Atticus's young daughter, Scout, this beautifully written classic tells deep truths about the divisions, solitude and emotional richness of life in the Deep South . Director Fracaswell Hyman has focused his career on stage and television projects that engage the hearts and minds of young people, including writing, directing and producing original programming for children's television. Prior to moving behind the scenes, Mr. Hyman was an actor who appeared on Broadway, films and television. His credits include David Merrick's revival of Oh, Kay!, Spike Lee's Malcolm X and the ABC mini-series Separate But Equal starring Sidney Poitier.
Dates, plays and artists are subject to change.
Subscription packages are now on sale, ranging in price from $180 to $250. In addition to the full five-play season, Intiman offers three- and four-play packages and Flex Pass vouchers for the convenience of its patrons. Discount packages are available for seniors, patrons under 25, groups and educators.
Single tickets for all productions at the Intiman Playhouse will go on sale Saturday, March 31 at noon and can be purchased by phone at 206.269.1900, on-line at www.intiman.org or in person at the Intiman Playhouse, 201 Mercer Street at Seattle Center.
Intiman Theatre received the 2006 Tony Award® for Outstanding Regional Theatre. Founded by Margaret Booker in 1972 and now under the leadership of Artistic Director Bartlett Sher and Managing Director Laura Penn, INTIMAN produces classics, contemporary plays and new work. World premieres include The Light in the Piazza by Craig Lucas and Adam Guettel, based on the novel by Elizabeth Spencer, winner of six 2005 Tony Awards; Singing Forest by Craig Lucas, winner of the American Theatre Critics Association's Steinberg New Play Award; Nickel and Dimed, Joan Holden's adaptation of Barbara Ehrenreich's non-fiction bestseller about America's working poor; and Robert Schenkkan's The Kentucky Cycle, winner of the Pulitzer Prize. Intiman is dedicated to community building, civic engagement and multigenerational education initiatives, including The American Cycle and Living History, an award-winning arts-in-education program that works in high schools throughout Washington state. At its annual Civic Awards in 2006 the Municipal League of King County named Intiman the Organization of the Year, the first arts organization to be so honored, recognizing its outstanding contributions to the community.
Intiman Theatre gratefully acknowledges the following for their institutional support: The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, Ameriprise Financial, Norman Archibald Charitable Foundation, ArtsFund, The Boeing Company, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, The William Randolph Hearst Foundations, Humanities Washington, Intiman Theatre Foundation, Kreielsheimer Remainder Trust, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Microsoft Corporation, Nesholm Family Foundation, The Norcliffe Foundation, PONCHO, The Shubert Foundation, The Seattle Foundation, Theatre Communications Group, U.S. Bancorp Foundation, Washington Mutual and Wells Fargo Bank. Additional funding is received from Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs, City of Seattle; 4Culture; Washington State Arts Commission; and National Endowment for the Arts. -- www.intiman.org
Posted February 14th, 2007 by ruzik_tuzik
