Theatre Press Releases MCC THEATER
ANNOUNCES 2011-12 SEASON
MCC TO MOUNT A FULLY RE-IMAGINED
VERSION OF THE MUSICAL
“ C A R R I E ”
MARKING THE FIRST PRODUCTION
ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD SINCE 1988
AND
TWO WORLD PREMIERE PLAYS:
LAURENTS/HATCHER AWARD-WINNER
“ T H E S U B M I S S I O N ”
BY JEFF TALBOTT
“ W I L D A N I M A L S Y O U S H O U L D K N O W "
BY THOMAS HIGGINS
New York, NY – MCC THEATER (Robert LuPone, Bernard Telsey, William Cantler, Artistic Directors; Blake West, Executive Director) today announced their 2011-12 season, which marks the company’s 26th consecutive season producing and developing new work by today's most provocative and vibrant artists.
The Season:
A World Premiere
September 8 - October 16, 2011
The Submission
By Jeff Talbott
Directed by Walter Bobbie
Shaleeha G’ntamobi’s stirring new play about an alcoholic black mother and her card sharp son trying to get out of the projects has just been accepted into the nation’s preeminent theater festival. Trouble is, Shaleeha G’ntamobi doesn’t exist, except in the imagination of wannabe-playwright Danny Larsen, who created her as a kind of affirmative-action nom-de-plume. But a nom-de-guerre may prove more useful as the lies pile up, shaky alliances are forged, and everyone dear to Danny must decide whether or not to run for cover as the whole thing threatens to blow up in his lily white face.
New York-based actor Jeff Talbott makes an auspicious play-writing debut with The Submission after taking home the first-ever Laurents/Hatcher Award for the play earlier this year. Walter Bobbie (School for Lies, Chicago) directs MCC Theater’s world premiere production of this funny and furiously intelligent new play.
A World Premiere
November 3 – December 11, 2011
Wild Animals You Should Know
By Thomas Higgins
Directed by Trip Cullman
Matthew and Jacob are an unlikely pair of friends. Matthew is a soccer star, full of brio and teenage swagger. Jacob is, well, not. Beneath the surface, though, the two are locked in an innocently erotic game of cat and mouse. When Matthew’s reluctant father, Walter, is wrangled into chaperoning the boys’ trip to a wilderness scout camp, he finds himself drawn into their adolescent game. But Matthew has secretly decided just how far he’s willing to go for his final act of scouting and everyone might do well to heed the scout’s motto: Be Prepared.
Playwright Thomas Higgins makes his New York debut with this tale of ruin and redemption that takes a magnifying glass to the sometimes blurry line between predator and prey. Trip Cullman, renowned for Off-Broadway hits like A Small Fire and The Bachelorette, will direct.
Begins January 31, 2012
Carrie
Book by Lawrence D. Cohen
Music by Michael Gore
Lyrics by Dean Pitchford
Based on the novel by Stephen King
Orchestrations by Doug Besterman
Vocal Design by AnnMarie Milazzo
Music Direction/Arrangements by Mary-Mitchell Campbell
Choreography by Matt Williams
Directed by Stafford Arima
Carrie White is a misfit. At school, she’s an outcast who’s bullied by the popular crowd, and virtually invisible to everyone else. At home, she’s at the mercy of her loving but cruelly over-protective mother. But Carrie’s just discovered she’s got a special power, and if pushed too far, she’s not afraid to use it…
Based on Stephen King’s bestselling novel, the musical of Carrie hasn’t been seen since its legendary 1988 Broadway production. Now, the show’s original authors have joined with director Stafford Arima (Altar Boyz) and MCC Theater for a newly reworked and fully re-imagined vision of this gripping tale. Set today, in the small town of Chamberlain, Maine, Carrie features a book by Lawrence D. Cohen (screenwriter of the classic film), music by Academy Award winning composer Michael Gore (Fame, Terms of Endearment), and lyrics by Academy Award winning lyricist Dean Pitchford (Fame, Footloose). The cast will be led by Tony Award nominee Marin Mazzie(Next to Normal, Kiss Me Kate) as Carrie’s evangelical mother, Margaret White, and Molly Ranson (Jerusalem, August: Osage County) as the lonely, vengeful, yet fragile girl at the center of it all.
“We are wrapping up our 25th Anniversary season, and it’s been an amazing year,” commented MCC Artistic Director Bernie Telsey. “We’ve always been about developing new plays, fresh voices, and challenging artists. Earlier this year, David Duchovny made his stage debut in The Break Of Noon, a bang-up world premiere by our Playwright-in-Residence Neil LaBute; Laurie Metcalf won both Obie and Lortel awards for her performance in Sharr White’s The Other Place, which was also the author’s New York debut; and now Joely Richardson is returning to the stage in Michael Weller’s Side Effects, and she’s magical. It’s the kind of work Bob, Will and I love, and we think we are going raise the bar even higher next season. Jeff Talbott’s The Submission was developed entirely at MCC; it’s his playwriting debut and has already won the Laurents/Hatcher Award, and we are really excited to put him together with Walter Bobbie as director. Our pal Trip Cullman returns to direct a play Joe Mantello introduced to us, Thomas Higgins’ Wild Animals You Should Know, and yes, Thomas is another author receiving a New York debut. And what can I say about Carrie? We’ve been in love with this piece since we heard a reading two years ago, and we can’t believe the amazing work that Larry, Michael, and Dean are already doing with Stafford to reconceive the show for the MCC stage. It’s so moving, and Marin Mazzie and Molly Ranson are going to knock people out.”
Season subscriptions for all three 2011-2012 mainstage productions are priced at $109-$149 and are available by visiting www.mcctheater.org. Individual tickets will go on-sale at a later date. All performances will take place at the Lucille Lortel Theatre (121 Christopher Street, NYC).
MCC Theater is currently celebrating its 25th anniversary season as one of New York City's leading Off Broadway theater companies, committed to presenting New York and world premieres each season. When MCC Theater was founded in 1986, its mission was simple: to bring new theatrical voices to theater-going audiences. MCC Theater continues to accomplish this yearly through three programmatic areas: its mainstage works; its Playwrights’ Coalition, which actively seeks and develops new and emerging writers; and its Education & Outreach Programs, including the Youth Company, which allow more than 1,200 students yearly to experience theater, increase literacy and discover their own voices through the creation of original theater pieces. Notable MCC Theater highlights include: the 2008 Tony Award-nominated reasons to be pretty by Neil LaBute, last season’s The Pride, Fifty Words, the 2004 Tony-winning production of Bryony Lavery’s Frozen; Neil LaBute’s Fat Pig;Rebecca Gilman’s The Glory of Living; Marsha Norman’s Trudy Blue; Margaret Edson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Wit; Tim Blake Nelson’s The Grey Zone and Alan Bowne’s Beirut. Over the years, the dedication to the work of new and emerging artists has earned MCC Theater a variety of awards.
For a complete production history, visit www.mcctheater.org.
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