[NEohioPAL]Cleveland Public Theatre announces 2004-05 season!

[Dan Kilbane]

For Immediate Release
Contact:  Dan Kilbane, Director of Marketing
216/631-2727 ext. 203
dkilbane at cptonline.org <mailto:dkilbane at cptonline.org>
April 29, 2004
Cleveland Public Theatre Announces
2004-05 Season

NOTE:  The Danceworks 05 roster will be announced at a later date.

Main Stage Productions in the Gordon Square Theatre

October 16-30
A BRIGHT ROOM CALLED DAY by Tony Kushner
Directed by Lester Thomas Shane
Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner’s powerful portrayal of
individual resolution, irresolution and dissolution in the face of political
catastrophe, A Bright Room Called Day follows a group of artists and
political activists struggling to preserve themselves in 1930’s Berlin as
the Weimar Republic surrenders to the seduction of fascism.  Written in
1985, partially in reaction to the reelection of Ronald Reagan, it proves to
be remarkably prescient today.

February 12 - 26
VENUS by Suzan-Lori Parks
Directed by Associate Artistic Director Jyana S. Gregory
In 1810, The Venus Hottentot (as she is dubbed) - a young black woman with
an enormous posterior - is lured away from her menial job in South Africa to
tour the world and make lots of money.  Once in England, however, she is
sold to a freak show, and becomes a star.  Suzan-Lori Parks is one of
America’s most important playwrights and is a Pulitzer Prize winner for
Topdog/Underdog.

May 14 - 28
BETTY’S SUMMER VACATION* by Christopher Durang
Directed by Artistic Director Randy Rollison
Betty is looking forward to her summer share at the ocean.  But Trudy, whom
she knows only slightly, chatters incessantly; and then there are the other
housemates - sexy, lout Buck, who’s pathologically on the make with women
all the time, and withdrawn Keith, who carries a shovel and a mysterious
hatbox and just may be a serial killer.  Then the emotionally anarchic
landlady, Mrs. Siezmagraff moves in too; and she invites a crazy derelict to
dinner, and, well, the vacation becomes more and more of a strain for poor
Betty.   Not to mention there seems to a laugh track coming from the ceiling
that no one seems able to shut up.  Death, destruction, mayhem - Betty finds
it all in her seaside retreat.  Christopher Durang is one of the country’s
most outrageous comic playwrights as we saw from his Mrs. Bob Cratchit’s
Wild Christmas Binge.  Betty’s Summer Vacation won four 1999 Obie Awards and
added to his string of hits, which include Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It
All for You, Beyond Therapy, The Marriage of Bette and Boo, and Baby with
the Bathwater.

*Pending final approval of rights

Second Stage Productions

September 25 - October 9 in the Upstairs Theatre
THE CONFESSIONS OF PUNCH AND JUDY
Conceived and performed by Tannis Kowalchuk and Ker Wells
Directed by Raymond Bobgan,
A funny, nightmarish story of a couple that embarks on a life-altering
journey when they begin confessing their past lies to one another.

October 28 - November 7 in the Upstairs Theatre
Jeffery Roberson as Varla Jean Merman in
GIRL WITH A PEARL NECKLACE - An Act of Love
The international chanteuse and good time girl returns to Cleveland for her
fourth engagement.

January 7 - February 6 in the Upstairs Theatre
BIG [BOX]
On separate weeks, five artists are given keys to the theatre and left alone
to create.

March 3 - 13 in the Upstairs Theatre
4 MINUTES TO HAPPY
Written and performed by Sarah Morton
Directed by Randy Rollison
"I've always been a good test taker," says our over-achieving narrator.  So
what happens when she flunks a doctor-administered depression test? In this
comic and revealing solo piece, one woman sets out on a quest for the
perfect way to "get happy," trying everything from hot showers to hip hop.
Will she succeed? A poetic and timely look at the pitfalls and detours we
sometimes encounter on the road to happiness.

April 14 - 24 in the Upstairs Theatre
THE SECRETARIES*
By the Five Lesbian Brothers
Directed by Trad A Burns
The Secretaries is a riotous comedy written in the style of a Hollywood
slasher movie dealing with an insular all-female world of secretaries in the
office of a lumber mill.  When newcomer Patty Johnson arrives, she discovers
a close-knit group of women who chat about diets, their nails, get together
for Girls Night Out, and ritualistically kill one man per month.

*Pending final approval of rights




http://www.eager-to-acquire-knowledge.net/

Dan Kilbane
Publicist
Cleveland Public Theatre
6415 Detroit Ave.
Cleveland, OH  44102
tel:  216/631-2727 ext. 203
fax:  216/631-2575
www.cptonline.org
dkilbane at cptonline.org

BRING IT ON!