LAGUNA PLAYHOUSE ANNOUNCES 2008-2009 SEASON
LAGUNA BEACH, CA – March 24, 2008 – Innovative. Fun. Stylish. Those are just some of the words that describe The Laguna Playhouse’s 2008-2009 Mainstage season of seven plays—the Playhouse’s 88th year of continuous operation.
According to Laguna Playhouse Artistic Director Andrew Barnicle, “Our 88th season will be filled with music, laughter and maybe a gentle tear or two as we are producing three distinct musicals, including a World Premiere commissioned by The Laguna Playhouse. We also have acclaimed West Coast Premieres and Orange County Premieres, including a very funny, thoughtful and poignant play by Michael Hollinger, author of last season’s hit comedy Red Herring. And by popular demand, we’re bringing back Sister’s Christmas Catechism for 12 performances this December. Our subscribers as well as single ticket buyers won’t want to miss this season—there’s something here for everyone!”
“Our new season builds on The Playhouse’s rich theatrical legacy, and is a perfect example of why The Laguna Playhouse is at the forefront of the regional theater community,” notes Managing Director Karen Wood.
LAGUNA PLAYHOUSE 2008-09 SEASON
The Marvelous Wonderettes
July 8 – August 31, 2008
By Roger Bean
Take four endearing characters, add nearly two dozen classic pop songs from the 50s and 60s, mix it with an engaging story, and you have a recipe for an unforgettable evening of musical theater! This cotton-candy colored, non-stop musical blast from the past transports audiences back in time to the 1958 Springfield High School prom, where we meet The Wonderettes: Betty Jean, Cindy Lou, Missy and Suzy—four girls with hopes and dreams as big as their crinoline skirts, with voices to match. As they talk and sing about their lives and loves, audiences are treated to the girls performing such songs as “Lollipop,” “Dream Lover,” “Stupid Cupid,” and many more. This must-take trip down memory lane that critics have dubbed “the female Forever Plaid” ran for more than a year in Los Angeles and is now on its way to New York, but Laguna Playhouse audiences get to see it first!
West Coast Premiere
Don’t Talk to the Actors
September 9– October 12, 2008
By Tom Dudzick
In this new comedy The Buffalo News calls “drop-dead, scream-out-loud, tear-wrenchingly funny,” fledgling Buffalo playwright Jerry Przpezniak and his fiancé Arlene Wyniarski are suddenly swept up in the whirlwind of New York's theatre scene when Jerry's locally-produced play is serendipitously seen by a hot-shot producer and optioned for Broadway. It's a young playwright's dream, but the characters and dilemmas they encounter (including an old TV star and his bawdy TV wife, a stuck-up director and a distressed stage manager) in the high stakes, big money, ego-driven world of the Great White Way are the things nightmares are made of. From the author of the hit holiday show, Greetings!
West Coast Premiere
Leaving Iowa
November 11 –December 14, 2008
By Tim Clue and Spike Manton
Told in flashback, this hilarious sentimental comedy about a journalist who returns home to Winterset, Iowa to find a final resting place for his father’s ashes is a nostalgic ode to days gone by. As the journalist searches for the perfect spot to scatter the ashes, he relives the summer vacations he spent as boy trapped in the family station wagon en route to uninteresting historical sites with a well-meaning but naïve father. With a generous dollop of humor and a heart as big as the Midwest, Leaving Iowa shows us that the journey really is as important as the destination. Nominated for Best New Play in the country by the Detroit Free Press, Leaving Iowa is guaranteed to keep you laughing and remembering the childhood vacations you tried to forget.
OC Premiere
Around the World in Eighty Days
January 6 – February 8, 2009
By Mark Brown
Jules Verne’s classic novel comes to life on stage with five actors playing more than three dozen roles! Proper London gentleman Phileas Fogg strikes a wager with fellow members of the Reform Club that he can travel around the world in a mere 80 days—a mighty feat in the 1870s. With him goes his trusty French servant, Passepartout, while tenacious Detective Fix, who has mistaken Fogg for a fugitive bank robber, shadows him every step of the way. On his journey, Fogg encounters romance, adventure and a host of colorful characters who both help and hinder his progress. Will Fogg make it back in time to win the wager? This fast-paced, clever comedy is a stylish theatrical rollercoaster ride that the L.A. Times called “clever, crisp and cunning.”
OC Premiere of Hit Musical
Ella
February 17 – March 22, 2009
Book by Jeffrey Hatcher
Conceived by Rob Rugiero & Dyke Garrison / Musical arrangements by Danny Holgate
It’s a life lived out loud in this exhilarating new musical about The First Lady of Song, Ella Fitzgerald. This theatrical event weaves myth, memory and music as it tells the uplifting and poignant story of one of the greatest jazz/pop vocalists of the 20th century. It’s 1966 and the fabled songstress is preparing for one of the most important concerts of her career. As she jams with the musicians (including famed trumpeter Louis Armstrong) and gets ready to meet the audience, Ella reflects on her life, her secrets and the love of music that made her soar. Featuring more than a dozen 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.
World Premiere Commissioned by The Laguna Playhouse
All the More to Love
March 31 – May 3, 2009
Music by Craig Bohmler
Lyrics by Marion Adler / Libretto by Marc Jacobs
From the composer and lyricist of The Laguna Playhouse hits Gunmetal Blues and Enter the Guardsman comes a brand new musical about the unusual people who visit a plus-size consignment boutique and their quest for love, self-respect and the deeper meaning of wearing someone else’s clothes. Inspired by the name of an actual shop located in Northern California and its proprietor, Erna, All the More to Love attracts a loyal and diverse clientele. In this “day in the life” of the store, a shy, conservative woman blooms into a sexy siren, a steel worker finds his “feminine side,” a pair of sling back pumps seduce a repressed data analyst, a disconsolate biker chick finds herself enshrined in an impressionist masterpiece, and more. In their search for identity, transcendence, and beauty, customers arrive on Erna's doorstep. With humor, a little magic and a lot of music, they all find exactly what they need.
West Coast Premiere
An Empty Plate in the Café du Grand Boeuf
May 26– June 28, 2009
By Michael Hollinger
Victor, a wealthy American expatriate living in Paris in 1961, owns the fabulous Café du Grand Boeuf, the world's greatest restaurant reserved solely for his private use. He arrives one summer evening after a trip to Madrid in a very bleak mood—his idol Ernest Hemingway has just committed suicide, and Victor’s doomed love affair has finally ended. As his fastidiously French staff fusses over him, he announces his decision to starve himself to death! The staff attempts to dissuade Victor by seducing him with culinary delights, but they find that the way to a man’s heart may not be through his stomach. This dark comedy that the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin calls “a humorous dish of witty wordplay” celebrates the joys of cooking, sex, bullfighting, and the works of Hemingway in a funny yet bittersweet tale of the absurdities and contradictions inherent in being human. From the author of last season’s hit comedy Red Herring.
SPECIAL NON-SUBSCRIPTION SHOW
Back by Popular Demand
Sister’s Christmas Catechism: “The Mystery of the Magi’s Gold”
December 15 – 24, 2008
She’s back! Everyone’s favorite late-nite nun returns with a holiday show that will keep audiences laughing as they watch Sister tackle the question that has been puzzling historians throughout the ages: What ever happened to the Magi's gold? Think CSI: BETHLEHEM as Sister engages the audience to help solve the mystery through a forensic examination of the nativity scene. Sister hunts under the manger and over camel humps in her quest for clues.
2008-2009 Subscription Prices
$175 - $770
Single Tickets
$25 - $115
(half-price subscriptions and tickets for students, teachers and military are available)
Season Subscriptions
On Sale Now!
Single Tickets to The Marvelous Wonderettes and Sister’s Christmas Catechism
On Sale June 1
Single Tickets for All Other Shows
On Sale July 1
For ticket or subscription information, contact The Laguna Playhouse
949-497-2787 / www.LagunaPlayhouse.com
TICKET INFORMATION
Three Easy Ways to Buy Tickets to our Productions!
By Phone
949-497-2787 ext. 1 (group tickets ext. 229)
Online
In Person
Box office is open daily from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m.
(10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on performance days)
Theatre Address
606 Laguna Canyon Rd., Laguna Beach, 92651
Parking Information
Laguna Beach is a popular destination year round. On weekends, holidays and during the summer months we strongly encourage theatre patrons who are driving to the theatre to allow plenty of extra time for parking. A small private parking lot located behind The Laguna Playhouse is available for a modest fee. Additional parking is located across the street in a municipal parking lot. During the summer, The Playhouse lot is not available. Patrons may opt to park at the ACT V parking lot for a modest fee, located a mile from the theatre up Laguna Canyon Road with a free trolley service that runs from 9:00 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. For more information, contact the Laguna Beach Visitors and Conference Bureau at (949) 497-9229.
Playhouse Information
949-497-2787
