Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Popular Demand
Arkansas Public Theatre announces season
Ed McClure loves a secret.
Actually, when this story was written, he had eight secrets — the eight shows he was planning to announce March 1 for the Arkansas Public Theatre’s 34th season. By the time this appears in print, word will be out — and he’ll still be just as excited.
“Waiting to tell all of our friends and supporters is so … challenging,” says McClure, one of the theater’s founders and its artistic director, laughing. “But it’s also kind of fun to know something almost no one else does — and to get to see everyone’s faces when it’s announced!”
Now that the party on Friday let the puppet out of the bag, McClure can share in print that the season starts with “The Rocky Horror Show,” most recently on the APT stage in September 2017, and ends with “Avenue
Q ,” with one more musical and five “straight” plays in between.
“Demand has been so high to produce and present ‘Rocky Horror’ again we decided to bring it back,” says McClure. “It will likely be a combination of new and old [actors], depending upon interest among former cast members.”
Auditions are set for 7 p.m. July 29, with performances Sept. 13-15, 19-22 and 26-29.
The second musical unveiled isn’t a new one, but it will be the first full-scale Northwest Arkansas production for “Newsies,” a 1992 Disney musical by Alan Menken.
“It is lively, historical, moving and has roles for all ages,” promises McClure of the show set in turn-of-the20th-century New York.
“Newsies” is the tale of a charismatic newsboy who rallies “newsies” to rebel when titans of publishing raise distribution prices at the newsboys’ expense. It’s Disney, says McClure, “only in the sense that good triumphs over evil, every song makes you want to rise up, and kids are the real stars of this show.”
Auditions are scheduled for 7 p.m. Dec. 16, with performances Feb. 7-9, 13-16 and 20-23, 2020.
And rounding out the musical offerings in the summer of 2020 will be “Avenue Q ,” making its debut on the APT stage.
Winner of the Tony “triple crown” for Best Musical, Best Score and Best Book, “Avenue Q” is part flesh, part felt and packed with heart, McClure’s description says. Opening off-Broadway in 2003, the musical, which follows life in New York’s Avenue Q neighborhood for a puppet named Princeton and his friends, moved to the Great White Way the same year and ran for more than 2,500 performances.
“Although the show addresses humorous adult issues, it is similar to a beloved children’s show — a place where puppets are friends, Monsters are good, and life lessons are learned.”
Auditions are at 7 p.m. June 15, 2020, with performances July 24-26, July 30-Aug. 2 & Aug. 6-9, 2020.
Surprisingly perhaps, says McClure, choosing the non-musical offerings is always the most complex — “because non-musicals are inherently less universally known and often deal with topics which might not be everyone’s cup of tea.”
“I try to look for collective variety among the non-musicals,” he explains, “in style, content, presentation and purpose. If one title speaks to a patron, the hope is the patron will be willing to take a chance on the others. The 2019-20 shows are diverse, they are all hilarious, three of them are new scripts told in unique ways — and did I mention they are all hilarious?”
On the non-musical schedule are:
“A Comedy of Tenors” — There’s one hotel suite, four tenors, two wives, three girlfriends and a soccer stadium filled with screaming fans. What could possibly go wrong? It’s 1930s Paris, and the stage is set for the concert of the century — as long as producer Henry Saunders can keep Italian superstar Tito Merelli and his hot-blooded wife, Maira, from causing runaway chaos.
“It is a new play — a sequel to Ken Ludwig’s ‘Lend Me a Tenor,’ which we have done twice,” McClure says. “It is a beautifully set and costumed show that is a true farce with slamming doors, mistaken identities and scantily clad players.”
Auditions: 7 p.m. Sept. 16 Performances: Nov. 1-3 & 7-10
“A Tuna Christmas” — In this hilarious sequel to “Greater Tuna,” it’s Christmas in the third-smallest town in Texas. Radio station OKKK news personalities Thurston Wheelis and Arles Struvie report on various Yuletide activities, including the hot competition in the annual lawn-display contest.
“We have done it twice,” McClure says of the show, “and Mike Maloney and I performed the roles both times. But alas, it’s time for new blood, and we look forward to casting two new men to play the 22 denizens of Tuna, Texas. The show is only hilarious if you have the two men play all the roles. Part of the fun is their ability to quick change almost instantaneously.” Auditions: 7 p.m. Nov. 4 Performances: Dec. 13-15 & 20-22
“Meteor Shower” — Written by Steve Martin and starring Amy Schumer and Keegan-Michael Key on Broadway, this comedy finds Corky and Norm excited to host Gerald and Laura at their home in the valley outside Los Angeles to watch a once-in-a-lifetime meteor shower. But as the stars come out and the conversation gets rolling, it becomes clear that Gerald and Laura might not be all that they appear to be. Auditions: 7 p.m. Feb. 10, 2020 Performances: March 20-22 & 26-29, 2020 “Buyer & Cellar” — Written by Johnathan Tolins, this is the story of a struggling actor in L.A. who takes a job working in the Malibu basement of a beloved megastar, Barbra Streisand. Auditions: 7 p.m. March 10, 2020 Performances: May 1-3 & 7-9, 2020
“The Clean House” — The play takes place in what author Sarah Ruhl describes as “metaphysical Connecticut,” mostly in the home of a married couple who are both doctors. Trouble comes when Lane’s husband Charles reveals that he has found his soul mate in a cancer patient named Anna. Auditions: 7 p.m. May 4, 2020 Performances: June 12-14 & 18-20, 2020
“Every season is the same but unique,” McClure says. “It’s the same number of plays and musicals, but the overall product is always completely different!”