More On the Public’s 2021-2022 Season
ArtScene SA wanted to find out more about what patrons can expect this fall, so Interim Executive Artistic Director Jeff Morden was kind enough to fill us in.
“We are excited to be preparing for the return to live, in-person performances for our upcoming 2021/22 season, beginning in September 2021,” he said. “We are fortunate to have survived this 18-month interruption and we can begin again to employ local creative professionals to share diverse stories on our stages and bring the magic and spectacle of live professional theater to local audiences.
“We are still actively collaborating with Actors’ Equity Association to determine what the patron experience will look like. We have various scenarios in place for audiences, from 50% to 100% capacities, both with and without audience members masked and socially-distanced. It will be approximately another four to six weeks before we can confirm what patrons can expect. We will be operating as a 100% vaccinated production company, which enables additional considerations and reduces some burdensome restrictions.”
Here are the rest of the season’s productions.
Jan. 14-Feb. 20
35MM: A Musical Exhibition
Music and Lyrics by Ryan Scott Oliver
Based on Photographs by Matthew Murphy
Vocal Arrangements and Orchestrations by Ryan Scott Oliver
A picture is worth 1,000 words — what about a song? Can a picture inspire a song or fifteen? In 35mm, each photo creates a unique song, moments frozen in time; a glimmer of a life unfolding, a glimpse of something happening. A stunning new multimedia musical which explores a groundbreaking new concept in musical theater. This intricately woven collection of stories told through song re-imagines what the modern American musical can be.
Mar. 25-May 1
She Loves Me
Book by Joe Masteroff
Music by Jerry Bock
Lyrics by Sheldon Harnick
Set in a 1930s European perfumery, we meet shop clerks Amalia and Georg, who, more often than not, don’t see eye to eye. After both respond to a “lonely hearts advertisement” in the newspaper, they now live for the love letters that they exchange, but the identity of their admirers remains unknown. Join Amalia and Georg to discover the identity of their true loves… and of all the twists and turns along the way!
May 20-June 26
A Bronx Tale The Musical
Book by Chazz Palminteri
Music by Alan Menken
Based on the play by Chazz Palminteri
ased on the critically acclaimed play that inspired the now classic film, this streetwise musical will take you to the stoops of the Bronx in the 1960s — where a young man is caught between the father he loves and the mob boss he’d love to be. Featuring a book by Academy Award nominee Chazz Palminteri, music by Oscar, Grammy, and Tony Award winner Alan Menken, and lyrics by Grammy Award winner and Oscar and Tony Award nominee Glenn Slater, A Bronx Tale is a story about respect, loyalty, love, and above all else: family.
Jul. 15-Aug. 21
Once On This Island
Book and Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens
Music by Stephen Flaherty
Based Upon the Novel “My Love, My Love” by Rosa Guy
Ti Moune, a peasant girl, rescues a wealthy boy from the other side of the island, Daniel, with whom she falls in love. Unbeknownst to Ti Moune, the pompous gods who preside over the island make a bet with one another over which is stronger, love or death, the stakes being Ti Moune’s life. When she pursues Daniel, who has returned to his people, Ti Moune is shunned because of her lowly status. Her determination and capacity to love, though, is not enough to win Daniel’s heart, and Ti Moune pays the ultimate price; but the gods turn Ti Moune into a tree that grows so strong and so tall, it breaks the wall that separates the societies and ultimately unites them.
Mr. Morden continued, “We are excited to include in our upcoming season three regional premiere productions (Tick, Tick…Boom!, 35 MM, and A Bronx Tale) that have not been previously produced locally. We have extended our production runs to enable patrons more opportunities to see a production.
“Also, we have maintained our ticket prices at the original 2020/21 levels, and reduced our military, senior and youth ticket prices to make professional theater more affordable to audiences in our community.” Ticket prices can be found on the Public’s website. Season tickets will go on sale in late summer 2021.
Artwork by Jeremy Whittington.
