Theaterworks reveals lineup for upcoming season
Theaterworks Hartford has announced its 2021-2022 subscription season of four shows: a new musical about monsters; a powerful, political gay love drama; a comic update of a Greek myth with eco-conscious overtones; and a premarital comedy that Theaterworks has been hoping to stage for a couple of years now.
The company’s producing artistic director, Rob Ruggiero, says he sought to craft a balanced season with humor, timely issues and a diversity of playwrights and performers.
Theaterworks’ perennial homegrown holiday show “Christmas on the Rocks” will return, but not as part of the subscription season, and as a live show only, not streamed.
The season
The season opens in October/november with the world premiere of “Monstersongs” by Rob Rokicki, composer of “The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical.” Ruggiero calls it a “safely immersive sung-through rock musical, about how we create the monsters in our lives.” By immersive he means “not interactive, but a song can happen behind you, or you can see it on a screen. It’s part theater, part concert, part ride.” “Monstersongs,” Ruggiero says, “is not campy, but fun. It’s scary but has heart.” It has been released a combination graphic novel and concept album and had has had several concert-style presentations, but this will be its first full theater staging. The director is Jenn Thompson, a Theaterworks veteran (“Moonlighters,” “A Doll’s House
Part 2,” “The Call”) who helmed the “Monstersongs” presentation at the 30th Annual Festival of New Musicals in New York City in 2018.
The live return of “Christmas on the Rocks” follows in November/december, outside of the subscription season. The seasonal staple humorously marks the midlife crises of classic Christmas characters. Last year Theaterworks aired a special virtual edition of the show, shot from the perspective of its beleaguered bartender character.
The February/march attraction, “This Bitter Earth,” is a gay romance that also serves as a political debate between a white Black Lives Matter activist and an inactive Black playwright. It’s by Harrison David Rivers, who has another of his thoughtful romantic plays, “Proximity,” getting a Theaterworks virtual workshop Sept. 10-29. “Proximity” is directly Covid-themed, but Ruggiero says “This Bitter Earth” also fits the times. “It’s an interracial love story. I read it PRE-COVID, but with COVID and the racial injustice pandemic, it resonates beautifully.” Ruggiero doesn’t know yet who will direct “This Bitter Earth,” but that “it’s important that a BIPOC director does it.”
Ruggiero himself will direct “Zoey’s Perfect Wedding” in the May/june slot. It’s a comedy by Matthew Lopez, whose “The Legend of Georgia Mcbride” was a hit for Theaterworks in 2018 and whose “The Whipping Boy” and “Somewhere” were both done at Hartford Stage. “Zoey’s Perfect Wedding” has appeared on several revised or postponed Theaterworks season lists and may finally happen. “We chose this slot because it bumps up against the wedding season. On a basic level it’s really funny. It’s celebrating love and the things that will make us happy. The characters are involved in the drama of their lives, with real heart and focus at the end.”
The season ends in July/august 2022 with “Hurricane Diane” by Madeleine George, a radical American updating of the Greek deity Dionysus as a “butch gardener” named Diane who attempts to sway her suburban followers to save the planet. The play has had numerous productions around the country, including off-broadway in early 2019. Ruggiero says the Theaterworks rendition will be directed by a woman (yet to be determined) and will hopefully have a gender fluid or non-binary actor in the lead role.
Subscriptions are back, but so are memberships
The four shows are available with a season subscription, which is offered at several rates: a $190 “Classic Subscription,” a $255 “Plus Subscription” with better seating, or a $750 “Pay It Forward subscription” with priority seating and other perks.
During the coronavirus crisis Theaterworks produced over a dozen virtual events, switching to a monthly membership model. Memberships will still be available for those who want to experience the shows virtually. Theaterworks negotiated with the actors union Equity to allow streams of the shows to begin airing during the last week of the live run and remain available for a week after the live run has closed.
Other streaming events will also be offered, including four workshop productions of new plays that will only be available virtually. “We learned how to do it during COVID and wanted to continue it,” Ruggiero says, praising the “clean aesthetics” of the video readings. The theater chat series “Get Sauced” will return, probably in a new, non-instagram format. While there will be a good number of streaming programs, Ruggiero says Theaterworks will not be committing to monthly online offerings now that live mainstage shows are back.
Memberships will now be $95 for a year or $9 per month.
Season subscribers get access to the all the virtual programming, while members will be given $10 discounts on tickets to live shows.
COVID-19 concerns
In the event of a COVID shutdown, Theaterworks will offer only virtual streams of the shows and give subscribers a credit for the difference between a subscriber ticket and a member one.
Theaterworks renovated its theater space at 233 Pearl St. about six months before the Covidshutdown.it’spossiblethatthebuilding’s gallery space will reopen as well. The theater auditorium may be reconfigured to allow some social distancing, Ruggiero says. The theater has not confirmed what COVID safety guidelines might be in place, but Ruggiero says it is “leaning towards” asking audiences for proof of vaccination of a negative test.
“We will keep things to one act,” meaning no intermission, Ruggiero says, “to get people in and out safely. It’s important to figure out how to manage audience confidence.”