Wednesday, March 4, 2015

ICCT announces 60th Season

The ICCT press release...

Iowa City - The Iowa City Community Theatre is so excited to announce the shows for our landmark, 60th Anniversary Season. To celebrate these 60 years of ICCT, each show represents one of the six decades, from the 1950s-2000s. We are so proud of our role in the artistic community. Stay tuned for audition info and FlexPass information!

50s – DAMN YANKEES Directed by Katie Boothroyd
Opening Night 9/18-9/27
Middle-aged baseball fanatic Joe Boyd trades his soul to the Devil, also known as Mr. Applegate, for a chance to lead his favorite team to victory in the pennant race against the New York Yankees. As young baseball sensation Joe Hardy, he transforms the hapless Washington Senators into a winning team, only to realize the true worth of the life he’s left behind. Joe ultimately outsmarts Applegate, returns to his former self, and shepherds the Senators to the World Series. This classic is a seven time Tony award winning show and a staple in every musical lover’s library. With Katie Boothroyd’s excitement for the genre and material, every audience member will leave sporting a huge grin.

60s – PSYCHO BEACH PARTY Directed by Louis Doerge
Opening Night 10/23-11/1
This marriage of the Alfred Hitchcock psycho drama and Beach party Giget film genre is perfect for Halloween! Chicklet Forrest, a teenage tomboy, desperately wants to be part of the surf crowd on Malibu Beach in 1962. One thing getting in her way is her unfortunate tendency towards split personalities. Among them is a black check out girl, an elderly radio talk show hostess, a male model named Steve and the accounting firm of Edelman and Edelman. Her most dangerous alter ego is a sexually voracious vixen named Ann Bowman who has nothing less than world domination on her mind. Louis Doerge, a filmmaker who has worked with stars featured on shows such as Dexter, Friday Night Lights, and even Buffy the Vampire Slayer, has a vision for this rockin’ romp that promises an evening of surf rock zingers, thrills, and campy fun!

70s – THEOPHILUS NORTH Directed by Kehry Anson Lane
Opening Night 12/4-12/13
This off-Broadway, Helen Hayes award winning play by Matthew Burnett based on the novel by Thornton Wilder, focuses on the life Thornton’s twin would have been a part of, had he survived birth. Set in the resort town of Newport, RI, during the height of the Jazz Age in summer, 1926, Theophilus North follows the exploits of the title character as he searches for adventure and his place in the world. Quitting his teaching position in New Jersey, and stranded in Newport after his jalopy breaks down, thirty-year-old Theophilus takes odd jobs (tennis instructor, French tutor, private reader…) in houses of the wealthy, infiltrating himself into the lives and troubles of Newport’s residents, both upstairs and downstairs. But the greatest adventure in store is not at all what he has imagined… Kehry Anson Lane’s vision shows us the potential of the magic of theatre and the charm of every person’s life.

80s – BEST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE in TEXAS Directed by TBA
Opening Night 1/22-1/31
This Drama Desk, Olivier, and Tony award winning musical gives us a happy go lucky view of small town vice and statewide political side-stepping recounts the good times and the demise of the Chicken Ranch, known since the 1850s as one of the better pleasure palaces in all of Texas. Governors, senators, mayors, and even victorious college football teams frequent Miss Mona’s cozy bordello until that puritan nemesis Watchdog focuses his television cameras and his righteous indignation on the institution.

90s – LOST IN YONKERS Directed by Nate Sullivan
Opening Night 3/11-3/20
This Pulitzer and Tony Award winning play by Neil Simon is one of his best known contemporary comedic memory plays. Bella is 35-years-old, mentally challenged and living at home with her mother, stern Grandma Kurnitz . As the play opens, ne’r do-well son Eddie deposits his two young sons on the old lady’s doorstep. He is financially strapped and taking to the road as a salesman. The boys are left to contend with Grandma, with Bella and her secret romance, and with Louie, her brother, a small-time hoodlum in a strange new world called Yonkers. Nate Sullivan’s love for this show is apparent in his handling of it. His vision for the show is rooted in honesty and all the comedy that comes with it.

2000s – AMERICAN IDIOT Directed by Jaret Morlan
Opening Night 4/22-5/1
Based on the Grammy award winning concept album of the same name by Green Day, this two time Tony award winning high concept Broadway hit has contemporary themes and an edginess that holds important social message for the masses. Johnny, Tunny and Will flee the constraints of their hometown for the thrills of city life, but their paths are quickly estranged when Tunny enters the armed forces, Michael is called back home to attend familial responsibilities, and Johnny’s attention becomes divided by a seductive love interest and a hazardous new friendship. An energy-fueled rock opera, American Idiot, features little dialogue and instead relies on the lyrics from Green Day’s groundbreaking album to execute the story line. Jaret Morlan’s concept showcases the grit and beauty in the youth of what’s left in a post 9/11 America. His deep love for this band, this album, and the content explored within it will rattle and excite the minds of everyone viewing it. ICCT is excited to give this show to our theatre, and to the members of the community who will be in the audience to share in it.

No comments: