WaterTower Theatre announces 2009-2010 season

by Shawn Parikh

13th season full of "rousing musicals, classic dramas, side-splitting comedies and highly anticipated regional premieres."

WaterTower Theatre and Producing Artistic Director Terry Martin are proud to announce the 2009-2010 season for WTT’s Main Stage Series. WTT’s thirteenth season promises to entertain and engage audiences with rousing musicals, classic dramas, side-splitting comedies and highly anticipated regional premieres. The season will consist of six fully-staged productions as well as the highly successful Out of the Loop Fringe Festival.

“Our 2009-2010 will be filled with music and laughter as we present a season of sensational musicals and playful comedies guaranteed to keep audiences entertained, as well as works that speak to many timely issues,” said WaterTower Theatre Producing Artistic Director Terry Martin. “WaterTower has always strived to bring the highest level of thought provoking and exhilarating theater to North Texas and our 2009-2010 represent some of the most entertaining plays I’ve read in many years.”

WTT’s 2009-2010 Main Stage season consists of:

• Grey Gardens the Musical from October 1 – 25, 2009. Book by Doug Wright; Music by Scott Frankel; Lyrics by Michael Korie. Behind the closed doors of a dilapidated mansion, alongside fifty cats and piles of rubbish, live Edith Bouvier Beale and her daughter “Little Edie” - the eccentric relatives of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Go inside the walls of two shockingly different worlds: the resplendent Grey Gardens of 1941 and the Grey Gardens of 1973 – a crumbling shadow of its former self. Based upon the groundbreaking documentary film by David and Albert Maysles, Grey Gardens is the hilarious and heartbreaking story of two women whose combative and codependent relationship is the one pillar in a constantly eroding house. Area Premiere.
• Laughter on the 23rd Floor from January 14 – February 7, 2010. By Neil Simon. It's 1953. Comedian Max Prince is the funniest man on television and his writers are the best in the business. But McCarthy is scaring the country with his 'reds-under-the-beds' paranoia and the network wants Max to dumb down his show so advertisers can sell more soap. As the bean-counters close in and the fear-mongering spreads, Max and his brilliant gang of writers struggle to keep joking. Based upon his days of writing for Sid Caesar, Laughter on the 23rd Floor is Neil Simon’s hilarious and touching behind-the-scenes homage to the golden age of American television and the crazy writers' room that became known as 'the Harvard of comedy.'
• Is He Dead? from April 1 – 25, 2010. A new comedy by Mark Twain, adapted for the stage by David Ives. French painter Jean Francois Millet desperately wants to marry his girlfriend Marie, but he has no money and fewer prospects. In a moment of desperation, he hatches an ingenious plot to fake his own death to drive up the price of his paintings. Yet in order to reap the rewards, he must pose as his imaginary twin sister! Written in 1898, Is He Dead? is the newly discovered Mark Twain comedy filled with mistaken identities, crazy complications and mischievous fun! Regional Premiere.
• Black Pearl Sings from May 20 – June 13, 2010. By Frank Higgins. In the midst of the Great Depression, Susannah Mullally travels the country, recording lost traditional songs for the Library of Congress. When she encounters Pearl in a Texas prison, Susannah uncovers a treasure-trove of unrecorded slave-era music. But can Pearl hand over her ancestor’s songs without giving up something of herself? Starring powerhouse performer Liz Mikel, Black Pearl Sings is the powerful, honest, and wryly funny story of two women from radically different backgrounds and the music that unites them. Area Premiere.
• The Full Monty from July 8 – August 1, 2010. Book by Terrence McNally; Music and Lyrics by David Yazbek. When the local mill experiences massive layoffs, six unemployed steelworkers are out of luck, out of cash and out of shape. Desperate to keep their families intact, they hatch an all-or-nothing scheme to make some quick cash. But will they have the nerve to follow through with their plan and go The Full Monty? Boasting a toe-tapping rock ‘n roll score, The Full Monty is a musical endowed with big laughs, big heart and a jaw-dropping finale that just might charm your pants off!

In addition to the Main Stage season, WaterTower Theatre will also produce the following season extras:

• Forever Plaid: Plaid Tidings from December 3 – 23, 2009. The very best of Forever Plaid wrapped up in a nifty package with a big bow on top! Filled with Christmas standards that have all been “Plaid-erized,” the boys of Forever Plaid are back to do their Christmas Special. Sent back to Earth to add a little harmony to the world, Forever Plaid: Plaid Tidings is one holiday treat that is truly “heaven-sent!” Holiday Extra.
• Out of the Loop Fringe Festival from March 4 – 14, 2010. For the past eight years, WaterTower Theatre’s Out of the Loop Fringe Festival has wowed audiences with an exciting and unmatched artistic lineup. Featuring some of the best acts in theatre, music, dance and art from around the region, OOTL continues to bring all three spaces of the Addison Theatre Centre alive with exciting, contemporary work.

Season tickets for WTT’s 2008-2009 Main Stage season can be purchased by calling the box office at 972-450-6232. Season ticket prices range from $75 to $150. Individual ticket prices range from $22 to $40 per show. Performance times are Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., and Sundays at 2 p.m. Season extras are currently available only to season subscribers. Prices and show times for season extras vary. For specific information on season extras, call the WTT box office at 972-450-6232.

Posted by Shawn