Temptations musical set for Berkeley

Berkeley Repertory Theatre’s 2017-18 season will include two world premieres, a West Coast premiere and “Angels in America,” the company announced Tuesday.

The season begins in August with the world premiere of “Ain’t Too Proud — The Temptations,” a musical about the groundbreaking R&B group. Detroit native Dominique Morisseau writes the book, Tony Award-winner Des McAnuff directs, and the songs come from the Motown songbook.

Artistic director Tony Taccone, whose next season will mark his 20th at Berkeley Rep (leading up to a previously announced retirement in 2019), will direct the company’s October show, Daniel Handler’s “Imaginary Comforts, or The Story of the Ghost of the Dead Rabbit.” Developed in Berkeley Rep’s Ground Floor program, this world premiere brings Handler’s sense of whimsy — he’s known for his Lemony Snicket children’s book series — to a play for adults.

Taccone will also direct “Angels in America,” whose two parts play in repertory starting next March. When he was artistic director of Eureka Theatre in the late 1980s, Taccone commissioned Tony Kushner’s lyrical, fantastical two-part epic, which tackles AIDS, gay life and politics; he also co-directed the show’s full world premiere in 1994.

Associate director Lisa Peterson directs two shows next season, starting in November with Lillian Hellman’s “Watch on the Rhine,” a 1941 play about the United States’ decision to fight in World War II. February brings her production of “Office Hour,” by Julia Cho, whose “Aubergine,” also at Berkeley Rep, recently won the esteemed Will Glickman Award for best new play to premiere in the Bay Area in 2016. “Office Hour” explores a university professor’s fear of a shooting on campus.

Concluding the season in May is Nilaja Sun’s “Pike St.,” under the direction of Ron Russell. This West Coast premiere, chronicling three generations of a Puerto Rican family, centers on a single mother trying to protect her clan as a hurricane looms.

Casting for each show will be announced at a later date.

Jennie Warren Julia Cho, playwright of “Office Hour.”

Berkeley Rep Dominique Morisseau of “Ain’t Too Proud.”