live theater @ THEATREWORKS
Jun. 16th, 2010 09:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thoreauthe play that won best musical at the Tonys, "Memphis" - workshopped at Theatreworks in Palo Alto.
The theater has a staggering track record for new works and is a very intimate place to see other plays.
We are going this Saturday to see their latest offering: OPUS - A PLAY WITH STRINGS.
Auctioning the Ainsleys
By Laura Schellhardt
World Premiere
Going once…going twice…The bids come fast and furious as a family of professional auctioneers puts its heart, its heritage, and even its darkest secrets on the block in this comic drama that electrified our New Works Festival. With a brilliant flair for mystery, language, and laughter, one of America’s hottest young playwrights explores what happens when what we own becomes more important than who we are.
The Light in the Piazza
Book by Craig Lucas
Music and Lyrics by Adam Guettel
Beneath the Tuscan sun in 1953, this illuminating Broadway hit celebrates the many facets of love with a vibrant heart. A protective American mother is vacationing with her radiant but fragile daughter, who falls head over heels for a passionate young Florentine. To the soaring melodies of what The New York Times called “the most intensely romantic score since West Side Story,” all three embark on a life-changing journey beyond danger into light.
“A superior achievement...one of the most significant musicals of the decade.” –The New York Times
Superior Donuts
By Tracy Letts
Regional Premiere
Pulitzer Prize winner Tracy Letts’ recent Broadway success is a fresh-baked tale of friendship and redemption in a crumbling donut dispensary on Chicago’s North Side. Warm, funny, and deeply moving, it introduces an eager new counterman—an African American kid whose bright ideas mask a cloudy past. Setting out to refurbish the coffee shop and its long-stale proprietor, he encounters first a wall of resistance then a well of unexpected heart. Contains mature language.
“A soulful play, full of humor and humanity.” –Variety
A Christmas Memory
Based on the story by Truman Capote
Book by Duane Poole
Music by Larry Grossman Lyrics by Carol Hall
World Premiere
Sure to delight the entire family, Truman Capote’s enchanting masterpiece springs to life in a big-hearted, gloriously tuneful musical from a team of celebrated Broadway vets. A wistful memoir of cherished youth, it chronicles a young boy’s loving friendship with an eccentric aunt in the small-town South of the 1930s, where misfits Buddy and Sook launch kites, haunt speakeasies, and mail fruitcakes to everyone from Jean Harlow to President Roosevelt!
The 39 Steps
Adapted by Patrick Barlow
From the novel by John Buchan
From the movie of Alfred Hitchcock
2007 Olivier Award—London’s Best New Comedy
A hilarious, high-speed spoof of Alfred Hitchcock’s silver-screen classic, this irresistible Broadway smash hurtles a notorious fugitive and a spellbound blonde from a London music hall north by northwest to Scotland’s most remote highlands. Will they save Britain from a den of devious spies? An ingenious homage to the master’s greatest films, it creates trains, planes, moors, and more in a wildly funny flight to the heights of theatrical invention.
“Absurdly enjoyable, gleefully theatrical…a perfect soufflé.” –The New York Times
The North Pool
By Rajiv Joseph
World Premiere
The truth shifts constantly in this riveting cat-and-mouse thriller from one of America’s most exciting new playwrights. What’s bothering the Vice Principal at Sheffield High, a suburban minefield of profiling and political correctness? What secrets trouble the transfer student from Saudi Arabia, secrets stashed in lockers and cached on high-tech phones? As tension mounts, the semester reaches its final hour. And the time for revelation begins. Contains mature language.
Snow Falling on Cedars
Based on the book by David Guterson
Adapted for the stage by Kevin McKeon
Regional Premiere
The beloved novel springs to life in this haunting tale of murder, redemption, and star-crossed romance set on a misty Washington island in 1954. Pride, prejudice, and the legacy of forbidden love permeate the trial of a Japanese-American veteran charged in the death of a rival, rekindling memories of the wartime internment that once divided this remote community, and threatens its humanity still. Contains mature language.
“Stunning...beautiful…consistently enthralling.” –Portland Mercury
[title of show]
Book by Hunter Bell
Music and lyrics by Jeff Bowen
Regional Premiere
Imagine a funny new musical written by a pair of terrifically talented/ ambitious/clever young writers about a pair of terrifically talented/ ambitious/clever young writers writing a funny new musical. An unabashed love letter to the agony, ecstasy, and idiocy of making musical theatre, this dizzying backstage comedy chronicles the struggles of five theatre geeks to escape a run-down rehearsal hall and scale the heights of Broadway! Contains mature language.
“Hilarious! A fresh new musical worth cheering!” –New York Times
The theater has a staggering track record for new works and is a very intimate place to see other plays.
We are going this Saturday to see their latest offering: OPUS - A PLAY WITH STRINGS.
An internationally famous string quartet finds both harmony and dissonance in this smart, funny, and compelling study of artistic passion. Forced to find a new member just days before an appearance at the White House, they are caught in a crescendo of talent and personality, their collaboration tested and their art insecure. A behind-the-scenes look at the world of great music, this intriguing “dramedy” proves that making art and living life have many a measure in common.their next season is pretty stacked - - it includes:
Auctioning the Ainsleys
By Laura Schellhardt
World Premiere
Going once…going twice…The bids come fast and furious as a family of professional auctioneers puts its heart, its heritage, and even its darkest secrets on the block in this comic drama that electrified our New Works Festival. With a brilliant flair for mystery, language, and laughter, one of America’s hottest young playwrights explores what happens when what we own becomes more important than who we are.
The Light in the Piazza
Book by Craig Lucas
Music and Lyrics by Adam Guettel
Beneath the Tuscan sun in 1953, this illuminating Broadway hit celebrates the many facets of love with a vibrant heart. A protective American mother is vacationing with her radiant but fragile daughter, who falls head over heels for a passionate young Florentine. To the soaring melodies of what The New York Times called “the most intensely romantic score since West Side Story,” all three embark on a life-changing journey beyond danger into light.
“A superior achievement...one of the most significant musicals of the decade.” –The New York Times
Superior Donuts
By Tracy Letts
Regional Premiere
Pulitzer Prize winner Tracy Letts’ recent Broadway success is a fresh-baked tale of friendship and redemption in a crumbling donut dispensary on Chicago’s North Side. Warm, funny, and deeply moving, it introduces an eager new counterman—an African American kid whose bright ideas mask a cloudy past. Setting out to refurbish the coffee shop and its long-stale proprietor, he encounters first a wall of resistance then a well of unexpected heart. Contains mature language.
“A soulful play, full of humor and humanity.” –Variety
A Christmas Memory
Based on the story by Truman Capote
Book by Duane Poole
Music by Larry Grossman Lyrics by Carol Hall
World Premiere
Sure to delight the entire family, Truman Capote’s enchanting masterpiece springs to life in a big-hearted, gloriously tuneful musical from a team of celebrated Broadway vets. A wistful memoir of cherished youth, it chronicles a young boy’s loving friendship with an eccentric aunt in the small-town South of the 1930s, where misfits Buddy and Sook launch kites, haunt speakeasies, and mail fruitcakes to everyone from Jean Harlow to President Roosevelt!
The 39 Steps
Adapted by Patrick Barlow
From the novel by John Buchan
From the movie of Alfred Hitchcock
2007 Olivier Award—London’s Best New Comedy
A hilarious, high-speed spoof of Alfred Hitchcock’s silver-screen classic, this irresistible Broadway smash hurtles a notorious fugitive and a spellbound blonde from a London music hall north by northwest to Scotland’s most remote highlands. Will they save Britain from a den of devious spies? An ingenious homage to the master’s greatest films, it creates trains, planes, moors, and more in a wildly funny flight to the heights of theatrical invention.
“Absurdly enjoyable, gleefully theatrical…a perfect soufflé.” –The New York Times
The North Pool
By Rajiv Joseph
World Premiere
The truth shifts constantly in this riveting cat-and-mouse thriller from one of America’s most exciting new playwrights. What’s bothering the Vice Principal at Sheffield High, a suburban minefield of profiling and political correctness? What secrets trouble the transfer student from Saudi Arabia, secrets stashed in lockers and cached on high-tech phones? As tension mounts, the semester reaches its final hour. And the time for revelation begins. Contains mature language.
Snow Falling on Cedars
Based on the book by David Guterson
Adapted for the stage by Kevin McKeon
Regional Premiere
The beloved novel springs to life in this haunting tale of murder, redemption, and star-crossed romance set on a misty Washington island in 1954. Pride, prejudice, and the legacy of forbidden love permeate the trial of a Japanese-American veteran charged in the death of a rival, rekindling memories of the wartime internment that once divided this remote community, and threatens its humanity still. Contains mature language.
“Stunning...beautiful…consistently enthralling.” –Portland Mercury
[title of show]
Book by Hunter Bell
Music and lyrics by Jeff Bowen
Regional Premiere
Imagine a funny new musical written by a pair of terrifically talented/ ambitious/clever young writers about a pair of terrifically talented/ ambitious/clever young writers writing a funny new musical. An unabashed love letter to the agony, ecstasy, and idiocy of making musical theatre, this dizzying backstage comedy chronicles the struggles of five theatre geeks to escape a run-down rehearsal hall and scale the heights of Broadway! Contains mature language.
“Hilarious! A fresh new musical worth cheering!” –New York Times
