TheatreWorks readies 2 world premieres for 2024-25 season
Also on tap are Jane Austen, Hershey Felder and a `basketball bromance'
After nearly disbanding last year, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley is bouncing back with a full season featuring two world premiere musicals and a regional premiere about a “basketball bromance” in 2024-25 season, the company announced this week.
The 2024-25 campaign will also mark a return by popular solo performer Hershey Felder, this time focusing on famed Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff; a Jane Austen-themed romantic comedy for the holidays; as well as the company's widely acclaimed New Works Festival on Aug. 9-19. Last year's New Works Fest helped launched the two musicals that will see their debuts in the coming season.
The season, running October-July 2025, consists for four plays and two musicals and will mark the first season programmed by new Artistic Director Giovanna Sardelli.
The fact that the company is serving up a full season of shows marks a substantial victory for TheatreWorks, which last year needed an emergency fundraising campaign to survive past November. Sardelli said that successful campaign has influenced this upcoming season.
“We are so immensely grateful to TheatreWorks' vast network of supporters who responded to last year's Save TheatreWorks
Now campaign in full force and provided crucial funding in our time of need,” she said in a statement. “This inspired us to explore the theme of being better together onstage. These thrilling plays and musicals center on community — uplifting the power of human connection and how joining together makes us stronger.”
More information and subscription packages are at TheatreWorks.org. Single tickets will go on sale later.
Here's the new season at a glance.
“KING JAMES” (OCT. 9-NOV. 3, MOUNTAIN VIEW CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS) >>
Award-winning playwright Rajiv Joseph (“Archduke,” “Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo”) returns to TheatreWorks with this season-opening comedy about two strangers who develop a bond over their mutual love for basketball legend LeBron James.
“MISS BENNET: CHRISTMAS AT PEMBERLEY” (DEC. 4-29, LUCIE STERN THEATRE) >> The holiday show developed at TheatreWorks by Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon has become one of the most produced holiday shows in the country not written by a dude name Dickens. The rom-com focuses on the the unlucky-atlove (so far) Mary Bennet, the middle sister in Austen's “Pride and Prejudice.”
“HERSHEY FELDER: RACHMANINOFF AND THE TSAR” (JAN. 10-FEB. 9, MVCPA) >>
Felder, whose musical and storytelling talents have long made him a favorite with Bay Area theater fans, returns to tell the story (with anecdotes and music) of the famed Russian composer who immigrated to the U.S. after the 1917 revolution.
“HAPPY PLEASANT VALLEY: A SENIOR SEX SCANDAL MURDER MYSTERY MUSICAL,” MARCH 5-30, LUCIE STERN THEATRE) >> With a title like that, you can pretty much expect a fun zany comedy with catchy songs and a pinch of risqué content. With a book, music and lyrics by Min Kahng, “Pleasant Valley,” getting its world premiere, follows the relationship between a Gen Z influencer and her Korean American grandmother.
“THE HEART SELLERS” (APRIL 2-27, MVCPA) >> Lloyd Suh, whose play about the Chinese Exclusion Act, “The Far Country,” just wrapped up a run at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, penned this immigration-themed play getting its North American premiere at TheatreWorks. The comedy, set in 1973, focuses on two women whose lives are changed by the Hart-Celler Act that abolished immigration quotas.
“5 AND DIME” (JUNE 18-JULY 13, MVCPA) >> The musical by Ashley Robinson (book), Dan Gillespie Sells (music) and Shakina (lyrics) is an adaptation of Ed Graczyk's film and play “Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean.” The show follows a group of Texas pals celebrating the 20th anniversary of their James Dean fan club.