Our Season at a Glance
Photo by Ed Flores
World Premiere Mystery
Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of The Suicide Club
Written by Jeffrey Hatcher
Directed by David Ira Goldstein
Tucson: September 17 – October 8, 2011
Phoenix: October 13 – 30, 2011
In the heart of London, behind the impassive facade of a windowless house, some of Europe’s most powerful men gather to play a game. The game is murder and this is The Suicide Club. But the Club has a new member: Sherlock Holmes—brilliant, perceptive, the greatest detective in the English-speaking world. Does Holmes wish to die? Will he have to kill? Can his old friend Dr. Watson save him? Or doesn't Holmes want to be saved? A beguiling World Premiere thriller commissioned by ATC from one of our favorite authors brings the famous detective alive in a tale full of mystery, twists and chills.
Photo by Ed Flores
Tony Award-winning comedy - Best Play 2009
God of Carnage
Written by Yasmina Reza
Directed by Rick Lombardo
Tucson: October 22 – November 12, 2011
Phoenix: November 17 – December 4, 2011
“Sticks and stones can break my bones” … but when Benjamin hits Henry at a nearby park, it starts two sets of parents on a comically explosive downhill slide from political correctness to character assassination. In this universally acclaimed new comedy by the author of Art, adults come together for a civilized evening of coffee, cake and conversation about their kids. But frayed nerves soon surface and the grownups begin to outdo their pugnacious children in bad behavior, disproving the notion that “words can never hurt me.” Winner of the 2009 Tony Award for Best Play, God Of Carnage is a hilariously harrowing look at the minefield of modern marriage.
Contains mature language
Photo by Jeanne Tanner
Daddy Long Legs
Music and Lyrics by Paul Gordon
Book by and Directed by John Caird
Based on the Novel by Jean Webster
Tucson: November 26 – December 21, 2011
Phoenix: December 29, 2011 – January 15, 2012
From the Tony Award-winning director of Les Miserables and The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, and the creators of the Tony Award-nominated Jane Eyre, comes a heartwarming new musical based on a book beloved for generations. Daddy Long Legs tells of a young girl’s Cinderella journey into womanhood, as well as a confirmed bachelor’s awakening into love. Told through a series of letters between Jerusha Abbott, the oldest orphan at the John Greer Home, and Jervis Pendleton, her mysterious benefactor, Daddy Long Legs is a testament to the power of the written word and its ability to touch our hearts. An elegant and inventive romance, this award-winning musical love story has been lauded for its innocence, its sheer beauty, and its depth of emotion, not to mention its magnificent musical score. Winner of three prestigious Ovation Awards including Best Book, Best Score and Lead Actress in an Original Musical.
"Completely winning” – The Los Angeles Times
Also available for purchase:
- Original Cast Recording of Daddy Long Legs, featuring Megan McGinnis and Robert Adelman Hancock - $25
- Souvenir Poster, autographed by the cast – $10
- John Caird’s new book, Theatre Craft, autographed by Mr. Caird himself - $40
Merchandise is available by calling the ATC Box Office at 520-622-2823 or 602-256-6995 and will also be sold in the lobby prior to each performance and during intermission.
Photo by Ed Flores
Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps
Adapted by Patrick Barlow
From the novel by John Buchan
From the movie by Alfred Hitchcock
Directed by Joel Sass
Tucson: January 14 – February 4, 2012
Phoenix: February 9 – 26, 2012
Mix a Hitchcock masterpiece with a juicy spy novel, add a dash of Monty Python and you have … Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps. A mind-blowing cast of four actors play over 150 characters in this fast-paced tale of an ordinary man on an extraordinarily entertaining adventure. The madness begins when mild-mannered Richard Hannay starts his evening at the theatre and ends the night with a dead body in his lap. Caught in maze of murder, espionage and flirtatious entanglements, our hero careens from the British music hall to the moors of Scotland and back to the London Palladium in search of a plausible alibi and the true identity of the killer. Broadway’s most intriguing, most riotous, most unmissable Tony-winning comedy smash proves that anything the movies can do, the theatre can do more hilariously!
“Once this fun ride leaves the station, you don’t want to get off!” – New York Daily News
“Absurdly enjoyable” – The New York Times
Photo by Ed Flores
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s
The Great Gatsby
Adapted by Simon Levy
Directed by Stephen Wrentmore
Tucson: February 25 – March 17, 2012
Phoenix: March 22 – April 8, 2012
Considered by many to be the Great American Novel, The Great Gatsby is at once titillating, fascinating and shocking in its portrayal of The Jazz Age that was soon to disappear from the American landscape. In this first authorized adaptation since 1926, Simon Levy brings the humor, irony, pathos and loveliness of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s American classic to the stage. Navigate the languid atmosphere of wealth and privilege with Nick Carraway as he observes the glittering, elaborate parties of his neighbor, the infamous and ellusive Jay Gatsby. Part of ATC’s AMERICA PLAYS! Celebrating Great American Stories series, The Great Gatsby’s sharp depiction of the “American Dream” resonates anew for each generation.
Photo by Ed Flores
Winner of six 2010 Tony Awards including Best Play
Red
Written by John Logan
Directed by Richard E.T. White
Tucson: April 7 – 28, 2012
Phoenix: May 3 – 20, 2012
Master Abstract expressionist Mark Rothko, one of the most visionary artists of the 20th Century, has landed the commission of a lifetime, a series of murals for New York’s Four Seasons Restaurant. As he wrestles with the overwhelming task of creating multiple paintings on a grand scale, his new young assistant questions his views of art, creativity and commerce. What follows is a raw and provocative dialogue between master and novice, old guard and new guard exploring the question, “Is art meant to provoke, soothe or disturb?” Based on true events, Red is a searing portrait of an artist’s ambition and vulnerability as he tries to create a definitive work for an extraordinary setting. Red is the winner of six 2010 Tony Awards including Best Play, the most honored play of the Broadway season.
Contains mature language
“Intense and exciting. It’s impossible not to feel thrilled.” – The New York Times
"Smart, exciting and scintillating" – The New Yorker
Café Bohemia
ATC’s New Play Reading Series
Hear original plays at the Temple Lounge in Tucson!
Tucson: September 10, 2011 – April 14, 2012
Phoenix: No Scheduled Events
Arizona Theatre Company announces Café Bohemia, a season of play readings, jams and ideas, featuring diverse new works from bold and inventive playwrights. Café Bohemia invites audiences to The Temple Lounge at The Temple of Music and Art in downtown Tucson, a comfortable and intimate space, to participate in the new play process and to hear works read aloud by the best local and national actors.
The playwrights of these exciting new works will be present at the readings as they continue to develop their scripts. Tucson audiences are invited to enter the dramatic process at its inception, being among the first people in the world to hear these stories come to life, investing in the future of the American theatre by starting relationships with new playwrights and new audiences. Café Bohemia is sponsored by Providence Service Corporation. Admission is only $5!
“Café Bohemia is a space for new voices, sharing ideas and asking questions,” said ATC Associate Artistic Director Stephen Wrentmore. “It partners and reflects our main stage season, but also offers an opportunity for us to spotlight a new generation of artists with our audiences. In the relaxed environment of The Temple Lounge, we get to hear readings of six new plays and share our response. What I love is the transparency of process and the excitement of creating a play-jam. It offers a rough and ready authentic response to a play by a group of talented actors who are responding, like a jam session, to the play as they read it. And with the continued commitment of ATC in supporting the Latino Playwriting Award and the Arizona Playwriting Award these works could become nationally significant over time.”
Contains mature themes and language.
The plays presented during the 2011-2012 season were:
La Bella Familia
by Edwin Sanchez
Winner of ATC’s 2011 National Latino Playwriting Award, La Bella Familia by Edwin Sanchez asks the age-old question, does the end justify the means? Do “bad” people fall in love and do “good” people do terrible things? The play centers on Bella, a Puerto Rican hit woman, her family and the neighbors from hell. As the two families try to use each other to rescue them from a life of loneliness, Bella decides to make whatever sacrifice is necessary to guarantee her son a peaceful future. But things aren’t always as they appear. As these characters weave in and out of each other’s lives, the questions of “Who’s good?” and “Who’s bad?” take on a new relevance. The National Latino Playwriting Award was established by Arizona Theatre Company to create a greater awareness of the work being done by Latino playwrights. Recent recipients of the Award are Raul Garza, Carlos Murrillo, and Karen Zacarias. Felix Pire's winning play, The Origins of Happiness in Latin, was produced by ATC. Previous winner Kristoffer Diaz’s The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity was honored as a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2010.
The Last Red Book
by Michael Fenlason
2011 Arizona Playwriting Award winner The Last Red Book by Michael Fenlason is set in 1913 New York, where John Beverley publishes little books to improve people’s lives until the night his wayward brother is murdered in the Bowery. Beverley becomes unhappy and suspicious of the plodding police investigation that pins the murder on a battered woman of the streets. In deciding to investigate, he must descend to New York’s underworld of criminals and poets, artists and prostitutes, to discover the shocking truth of his brother’s death and life. The Arizona Playwriting Award was established by ATC to honor the quality of work created by Arizona playwrights. The award is meant to identify a play or musical of the highest caliber submitted by a current resident of Arizona.
Used To Was (Maybe Did)
by Brian Dykstra
Used To Was (Maybe Did) is a Hip Hop play that uses the language of Hip Hop Poetry to argue age-old questions within the form. Style v. Substance, Ethics v. Selling Out, The Spirit of Hip Hop v. The Money of Hip Hop. Is it a language of love and inclusion, or is it all about the green? Used To Was (Maybe Did) will be presented in conjunction with the Tucson Museum of Art as part of TUCSON ROCKS!
Wetback
by Elaine Romero
The Minuteman Militia hold political rallies in the park, heightening the tension on the U.S./Mexican border. Wetback charts the intertwined fates of a privileged Latina high school principal, a Chicana activist journalist, and a Mexican undocumented worker. As the irrevocable consequences of the actions of the two women spin out of control, they find themselves grappling with their relationship to their cultural heritage for very different reasons.
Hunka
by Larissa FastHorse
After a lifetime of struggling with drugs and alcohol, Laura suddenly reconnects with the baby she gave up for adoption over twenty years ago, Nicole. However, the reunion was not as innocent as it seemed and opened up more questions than answers between Laura, Nicole and Rex, the child Laura kept.
They are brought together by Kit, Rex's teenage, homeless girlfriend, on the day she is going to have Rex's baby. Laura sees this baby as a chance to redeem herself as a mother, while Nicole didn't know anything about it, causing her to further question why she is in this "family". Kit is keeping the secret that Rex has split and orchestrates this night in a desperate attempt to find an ally to help her keep her child in a world where she is out of support and time.
As the night wears on, more secrets are revealed as Nicole and Kit realize that family is a choice. Sometimes a crazy choice, but one they are ready to make.
The Color of Stars
by Dwayne Hartford
Presented in partnership with Childsplay
When Eddie is sent to live with his grandparents in rural Maine while his father is at war, a mysterious stranger arrives and a disastrous event soon follows. Only Eddie can solve the mystery that's tearing the town apart. A touching story about life in America during World War II, family, and the importance of telling the truth. A Childsplay world premiere read as part of Café Bohemia!
