TheatreWorks eyes October forareturntolivetheater
Company to open its 51st season with ‘Lizard Boy’
TheatreWorks Silicon Valley is targeting October as the time to return to live theater.
The award-winning company recently announced that it plans to return to live performances with the start of its 51st season, which has now been postponed until October because of the pandemic. The season will consist of eight plays, running through August 2022, of which four will be mounted at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, three will be staged at Palo Alto’s Lucie Stern Theatre and one at a location TBA.
“The safety and well-being of our community is of paramount importance, and while the pandemic continues, we understandably must delay in-person performances,” said TheatreWorks’ artistic director Tim Bond. “But with the encouraging reduction in new cases and rollout of vaccinations, we can now look ahead and are very much looking forward to reopening our doors. We know the day will come when we can once again safely gather together, to celebrate the human spirit and share the power of live theatre.”
The 51st season launches with the new indie folk-rock musical “Lizard Boy” (Oct. 6-31). Visit theatreworks. org for details.
The season’s first two productions, “Lizard Boy” and “It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play,” will be available to watch both intheater and at home via video streaming, the company says. And prior to the new season kickoff, TheatreWorks will continue to present virtual performances and other offerings, including three world premieres by Hershey Felder.
Subscription packages will go on sale soon. Current subscribers will be contacted in early summer to address any changes that need to be made due to the new schedule.
Here’s a rundown of the season.
“Lizard Boy”: The musical boasts a cast of three actors playing a wide assortment of musical instruments (cello, ukulele, kazoo, etc.) “to tell this fresh comic book-infused tale of identity, acceptance and saving the world,” the company says. It runs Oct. 6-31 at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts.
“It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play”: TheatreWorks’ holiday show is a re-created “radio play” performance of the famed Christmas movie, including commercials and wacky sound effects. It will run Dec. 1-26 at the Lucie Stern Theatre.
“Hershey Felder as Monsieur Chopin”: Acclaimed actor-pianist Hershey Felder explores the life of yet another legendary composer — Fryderyk Chopin — in this production that runs Jan. 19-Feb. 13, 2022, at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts. On Saturday, Felder debuts “Before Fiddler,” his new show about Yiddish author Sholem Aleichem. The show will be livestreamed by TheatreWorks (theatreworks.org).
“Sense and Sensibility”: The company is presenting the regional premiere of this musical adapted from
Jane Austen’s classic novel. It was written by Tonynominated composer Paul Gordon. Founding artistic director Robert Kelley will helm this production running March 2-27, 2022, at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts.
“Gem of the Ocean”: Tim Bond has a long history of directing the plays of the legendary August Wilson, and he’ll helm this production of “Gem,” the first in Wilson’s 10-part “Pittsburgh Cycle” examining the lives of African American people in the 20th century. It runs April 5-May 1, 2022, at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts.
“Queen”: Madhuri Shekar’s 2017 play focuses on best friends and Ph.D. candidates whose relationship is tested when their groundbreaking research into the great bee die-off comes under scrutiny. It runs in May, but the exact dates as well as the location have yet to be determined.
“Ragtime”: The awardwinning musical by Terrence McNally and Stephen Flaherty is adapted from E.L. Doctorow’s novel. It plays June 1-26, 2022, at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, directed by Robert Kelley.
“Nan and the Lower Body”: This is the world premiere of Jessica Dickey’s comedy/drama, a hit at TheatreWorks’ 2019 New Works Festival. The show centers on Nan, the brilliant and complicated lab assistant of Dr. Georgios Papanicolaou, who famously invented the Pap Smear test for cervical cancer. It runs July 13— Aug. 7, 2022, at the Lucie Stern Theatre in Palo Alto.