CINCINNATI PLAYHOUSE IN THE PARK ANNOUNCES 2007-2008 SEASON

A Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winner for best Broadway play, two recent off-Broadway hit musical comedies, a tribute to one of music’s most legendary performers and a hit new play in one of its first United States productions are among the shows scheduled for the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park’s 2007-2008 theatre season. Announced today, the Playhouse’s new lineup includes one world premiere and seven regional premiere productions, as well as the return of one of the most popular shows in its history.

Highlights include John Patrick Shanley’s Doubt, one of the most critically acclaimed plays of the last decade, and the regional premieres of the off-Broadway hit musicals Altar Boyz and The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!), both helmed by their original directors. Ella is a musical tribute to America’s “First Lady of Song,” Ella Fitzgerald, while The Blonde, The Brunette and the Vengeful Redhead has played to rave reviews and to sold-out audiences across Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Kicking off the season is the return of Dracula. The 1995 Playhouse production of the show sold out entirely prior to its opening night. The season also includes the re-visioning of three classic stories: William Shakespeare’s Othello; a three-person, 90-minute adaptation of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment; and a fast, funny and highly imaginative romp through Jules Verne’s Around the World in 80 Days.

According to Playhouse Producing Artistic Director Edward Stern, “I’m excited to announce this upcoming season and proud that we are able to introduce so many of these acclaimed plays and audience favorites to Cincinnati. Even though Playhouse productions have played in New York and London, Australia and Hong Kong, all across the U.S. and now even on Broadway, our focus always has been and continues to be providing the best theatrical experiences for our many supporters here in the Tristate.”

The Robert S. Marx Theatre Season (sponsored by The Otto M. Budig Family Foundation)

He’s back! The Playhouse season begins with the return of one of the most popular productions in the theatre’s history. Audience members thirsty for an edge-of-their-seat thriller will celebrate Hamilton Deane and John L. Balderston’s Dracula, September 4 – October 5, 2007 (opening night: September 6). When a young woman becomes deathly ill with a puzzling disease, the legendary Dr. Van Helsing discovers that supernatural forces are at work and the family’s new neighbor Count Dracula is at the heart of the mystery. Featuring extraordinary special effects, Dracula is deliciously decadent, sensual yet deadly and spellbinding entertainment. As he did in 1995, Stephen Hollis will direct the production.

Director Stafford Arima (this season’s Ace) will return to the Playhouse to re-mount his production of the hit musical Altar Boyz, which is still entertaining off-Broadway audiences nightly, from October 16 – November 16, 2007 (opening night: October 18). On the last night of their “Raise the Praise” U.S. tour, the Altar Boyz are coming to Cincinnati to rock the masses of all denominations. Join Matthew, Mark, Luke, Juan and Abraham (he’s Jewish) as they attempt to save souls and raise spirits with their spectacular music, sensational dancing and uncanny ability to drop the funk in freaky five-part harmony. Sharing a message of tolerance, love and the power of good hair products, this is one boy band manufactured in heaven. With a book by Kevin Del Aguila, music and lyrics by Gary Adler and Michael Patrick Walker and a story conceived by Marc Kessler and Ken Davenport, Altar Boyz won the 2005 Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Off-Broadway Musical. According to New York Magazine, “This sweet-natured spoof can lift the spirits of even the most jaded theatergoer. Praise be.”

This upcoming holiday season will mark the 17th annual Playhouse production of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, presented by the Stona Fitch Family and KeyBank. A Christmas Carol returns December 1 – 30, 2007 (opening night: December 6). The Playhouse's production features a faithful adaptation by Howard Dallin, a cast of nearly 30 actors and elaborate costumes and special effects. Bruce Cromer will return as the miserly curmudgeon Ebenezer Scrooge, who gets one last chance at redemption thanks to four very persuasive spirits. A Christmas Carol is not part of any subscription package, although subscribers do receive discounts and early buying opportunities. Playhouse Associate Artistic Director Michael Evan Haney directs for his 15th year.

Robert Hewett’s The Blonde, The Brunette and the Vengeful Redhead continues the Playhouse’s Marx season in one of its first U.S. productions (January 15 – February 15, 2008; opening night: January 17). When a very desperate housewife suspects her husband has been cheating, she commits a crime of passion that forever changes her life and the lives of everyone around her. One actress transforms into multiple characters in this intriguing and poignant play in which each new voice unravels ever-more revealing twists to the story. A runaway hit in Australia, New Zealand and Canada’s renowned Stratford Festival, The Blonde, The Brunette and the Vengeful Redhead was described by the Toronto Star as “theatre that is intensely compelling and rewarding.”

Winner of the 2004 Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award for Best Play, John Patrick Shanley’s Doubt (March 4 – April 4, 2008; opening night: March 6) is set against the backdrop of a Bronx Catholic school in 1964. A hard-edged nun grows suspicious when a young priest seems to take special interest in a new student. Convinced that the man will be blindly protected by the church hierarchy, she sets out to confront him herself. But are her fears based upon moral certainty or stubborn prejudice? One of the most critically acclaimed plays of the last decade examines the blurry line between reality and gossip, discipline and compassion, truth and doubt. This fast-moving, suspense-filled drama is as gripping as it is thought-provoking. Time Magazine called Doubt the “#1 show of the year,” and The New York Times described it as “an inspired study in moral uncertainty with the compelling structure of an old-fashioned detective novel.”

Finally, the Marx Season concludes with an intimate look at legendary singer Ella Fitzgerald in Ella (April 22 – May 23, 2008; opening night: April 24). It’s 1966 and Ms. Fitzgerald is preparing for one of the most important concerts of her career. As she jams with the musicians and gets ready to meet the audience, Ella reflects on her life, her secrets and the love of music that made her soar. Featuring all of her most famous hits, including “A Tisket, A Tasket,” “How High the Moon,” “That Old Black Magic” and “They Can’t Take that Away from Me,” this swinging new musical invites audiences to fall in love all over again with the magic and soul of Ella Fitzgerald. The show features a book by Jeffrey Hatcher, an idea conceived by Rob Ruggiero and Dyke Garrison and musical arrangements by Danny Holgate. Broadway veteran Tina Fabrique will reprise her critically acclaimed performance described by Variety as evoking “the maternal musical spirit of Miss Ella with remarkable skill and finesse; her must-see performance has audiences grooving.”

The Thompson Shelterhouse Season (sponsored by Heidelberg Distributing Co.)

The Thompson Shelterhouse season begins with William Shakespeare’s Othello (September 22 – October 21, 2007; opening night: September 27). One of the Bard’s most compelling tragedies is made all the more moving by the intimate setting. When the Moorish General Othello marries the beautiful Venetian girl Desdemona, the villainous Iago devises a sinister plot to ruin them and everyone around him. This highly charged tale of jealousy, love, revenge and murder explores the overwhelming and sometimes destructive power of human emotion. With its racing plot and intense dramatic details, Othello is one of Shakespeare’s most exciting, intriguing and heartbreaking plays. Edward Stern will direct.

The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!) (November 3 – December 23, 2007; opening night: November 8) begins with a simple plot that features an innocent waif, her charming and heroic suitor, a menacing landlord … and rent that’s past due. The story is then rewritten in five different styles, as though it were penned by the most famous Broadway composers and lyricists of all time: Rodgers and Hammerstein, Stephen Sondheim, Kander and Ebb, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Jerry Herman. What ensues is a side-splitting evening of clever send-ups and faithful tributes to that wonderful world of musical theatre in this deft and daffy show that took New York by storm. The show features music by Erick Rockwell, lyrics by Joanne Bogart and a book by the two. It will be helmed by its original director Pamela Hunt and was described by the Village Voice as “witty! refreshing! juicily merciless!”

The Shelterhouse season continues with a heart-racing 90-minute adaptation of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment, written by Marilyn Campbell and Curt Columbus (February 2 – March 2, 2008; opening night: February 7). Two elderly women are found murdered and a detective must rely on the information provided by their penniless young neighbor to solve the investigation. A thrilling psychological drama, Mr. Dostoevsky’s timeless masterpiece gets a stark, bracing and stunningly theatrical re-visioning in which just three actors portray the novel’s key characters. Audiences are invited to journey into the mind of a criminal and his search for redemption in a show described by Talkin’ Broadway as “an audacious and exciting production that takes a classic and makes it vivid and relevant for a modern audience.” Michael Evan Haney directs.

The Playhouse will welcome the birth of another exciting world premiere play with this year’s winner of The Mickey Kaplan New American Play Prize (Title to be announced, March 22 – April 20, 2008; opening night: March 27). Many of the theatre’s past premiere plays have gone on to national and international success. From In Walks Ed, The Dead Eye Boy and Coyote on a Fence to The Love Song of J. Robert Oppenheimer and this season’s Ace, the list includes a Pulitzer Prize nominee, London and off-Broadway hits and nationally acclaimed award winners.

The Shelterhouse season closes with Mark Brown’s new theatrical adaptation of Jules Verne’s classic Around the World in 80 Days (May 10 – June 8, 2008; opening night: May 15), which combines 24,000 miles, 39 characters, five actors and two fun-filled hours. Audiences will join Phileas Fogg on the world’s original amazing race. Via rail, boat and even elephant, Mr. Fogg must travel the globe in just 80 days or he will forfeit a fortune. But a snooping detective, a possible human sacrifice, a runaway train and even the will of Mother Nature all conspire against his adventure of a lifetime, threatening not only his journey but also the heart of the woman he loves. This high-spirited, fast-moving and highly imaginative show is a hilariously entertaining comedy described by the Los Angeles Times as “witty in the extreme.”

Subscriptions to the 2007-2008 Playhouse season are available now in a variety of packages. Prices range from $125 to $297 for the five-show Robert S. Marx Season, $186.50 to $301.50 for the five Thompson Shelterhouse shows and from $294.50 to $543 for the full 10-show combination series package. New this year, the Playhouse is launching a “Build Your Own” subscription package that allows patrons to create their own season of from four to nine shows in either theatre, with prices ranging from $156 to $414. Full-time students can attend all five Marx Theatre shows or, new this year, all five Shelterhouse shows for just $90. Other discounts are available for senior citizens, young professionals and full-time educators. A couple purchasing subscriptions on selected days in the Marx Theatre even can receive $100 at the end of the season to help cover the cost of baby sitters thanks to the Baby Sitter Rebate Series.

Costs for most packages depend on the day of week and seat location desired. Some sections are sold out. Single tickets for all shows will go on sale to the general public in August. To purchase subscriptions or for more information about the 2007-2008 season at the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, call 513/421-3888 or toll-free throughout Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana at 800/582-3208. For Telecommunications Device for the Deaf access, call 513/345-2248. Subscription information and forms also are available by visiting our online subscriptions page.