FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more information, interview possibilities or media passes, please contact:
Leigh Allen, Marketing Director
leigh@humanracetheatre.org
(937) 461-3823, ext. 3112
THE HUMAN RACE THEATRE COMPANY PROUDLY ANNOUNCES
THE 2008-2009 EICHELBERGER LOFT SEASON…
PLUS ONE
DAYTON, OH – February 18 – From Beowulf to the Beatles, Sister Clarissa to Aunt Ester, Father Flynn to Tiny Tim, The Loft Theatre will deal with characters of wildly varying character next season, and those characters will be coming from wildly varying places and times – ancient England, fairly old England, fairly old Appalachia, with 20th century stops in Pittsburgh, Buffalo, the Bronx and Manhattan.
The Human Race Theatre Company’s 2008-2009 Eichelberger Loft Season only lasts ten months, but it covers a millennium. Without a Doubt, it would be a tremendous season, but with a Doubt – John Patrick Shanley’s Doubt, A Parable, it will be downright terrific.
The five-show subscription season opens in Polish-American Buffalo in the fifties and ends in African-American Pittsburgh in the aughts, and right in the middle is a side trip so long and arduous it will take a major collaboration with Dayton’s marvelous Rhythm in Shoes to carry it off – a new musical that actually makes Beowulf fun. Honest.
It’s a season of laughs, of music, of some of the most profound drama of our time. And in addition to the subscription season, The Human Race will have a special holiday presentation of an all-time Christmas favorite – maybe the all-time Christmas favorite.
The five plays of The Eichelberger Loft Season are:
Over the Tavern
By Tom Dudzick
September 4 – 21, 2008
Meet the Pazinskis – and get ready to laugh, and be touched as well. It’s Buffalo in 1959 and Chet and Ellen Pazinski live above their tavern with their four children, aged 12 to 16, each offspring hell-bent, or at least Purgatory-bent, to make mischief. Toss in a septuagenarian nun who’s devilish with a ruler, and everyone’s concerns about faith and sex and family relations, and it’s a rollicking feast, even without the spaghetti that’s yearned for but never there. No wonder the Chicago Tribune called Over the Tavern, “Absolutely enchanting…a little bit of heaven.”
Ears on a Beatle
By Mark St. Germain
October 16 – November 2, 2008
It’s the 1970s. President Nixon is very concerned about John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s opposition to the Vietnam War, so J. Edgar Hoover assigns two FBI agents to maintain surveillance on Lennon. Crusty veteran Howard and starry-eyed rookie Daniel keep their eyes and ears on the Beatle so ardently that one ends up sharing a friendly beer with John and the other falls in love with a Lennon protégé. As the agents’ outlooks evolve, major news events of the ‘70s fly by, and amazing conspiracy theories bloom.
Brother Wolf
By Preston Lane
Music by Laurelyn Dossett
January 29 – February 15, 2009
No one in Dayton grasps the traditions of Appalachian music and movement better than our own Rhythm in Shoes! Rick and Sharon and the gang will be joining our actors to highlight a modern retelling of Beowulf. Fiery preacher Brother Wolf does battle with the evil Grin Dell and his Maw to save his mountain community, all to old time gospel and traditional folk tunes. if you liked Oh, Brother, Where Art Thou?, you’re going to love Brother Wolf – classical fun with one of the great legends of yore.
Doubt, A Parable
By John Patrick Shanley
March 19 – April 5, 2009
There’s no doubt that Doubt is one of the great plays of our time. The battle for truth between Sister Aloysius and Father Flynn, set off by the Sister’s suspicion the priest might have molested a boy at the Bronx parochial school she runs, was awarded the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the Best Play Tony Award, and about every other award for which its Broadway run was eligible. Doubt, A Parable is deceptively amusing and gentle, but as the New York Times says, “it sends off emotional depth charges that go far deeper.”
Gem of the Ocean
By August Wilson
June 11 – June 28, 2009
“When Mr. Wilson is at the top of his form, there are few living playwrights who can touch him,” said the New York Times of Gem of the Ocean in 2004. Wilson died in 2005, but his work lives on, especially his “Pittsburgh Cycle,” a play-per-decade look at 20th century African-American life. Gem was the next-to-last written, but the first chronologically, and features a matriarch who bridges continents and dictates ethics for future generations, played by Sheila Ramsey, a founding artist of The Human Race and artistic director of The Dreamkeeper.
In addition to the five shows that make up the subscription season, The Human Race will present an all-time holiday favorite:
A Christmas Carol
By Charles Dickens
December 4 - 21, 2008
This toast of Christmas past, present and future isn’t part of the 2008-09 subscription package, but it’s available to season subscribers at their per-show price. What could make the holidays happier than watching Scrooge’s metamorphosis and catching the Cratchit family’s spirit? Wipe out the bah and humbug, join in a carol and give your Christmas a goose, by dropping into The Loft, every one.
Each presentation is scheduled to run three weeks, with the same special events in each run – a Thursday night preview, Friday Night Opening Night followed by a party with the cast, a Tuesday night Lite Fare at The Loft, a Sunday matinee “While We’re on the Subject” talkback session, and a Saturday signed and audio-described performance opportunity.
Full season subscription prices will be slightly less expensive than this season, structured so subscribers get all five shows for the price of four individual show tickets. The 3-show Series I and II will no longer exist, replaced by the flexible Pick Three, which allows subscribers to choose any three of the five shows. Pick Three prices per show will be higher than those for full subscriptions, but below individual ticket prices.
Subscribers who choose either the full season or Pick 3 will be able to add A Christmas Carol at a special discount.
Subscriptions are available by calling Ticket Center Stage at (937) 228-3630 or (888) 228-3630, or in person at the Schuster Center Box Office.
More information about The Human Race Theatre Company and its many activities may be found at www.humanracetheatre.org.
The Loft Season is sponsored by The Jack W. and Sally D. Eichelberger Foundation.
###
Founded in 1986, The Human Race Theatre Company presents universal themes that explore the human condition and startle us all into a renewed awareness of ourselves. The company moved to the Metropolitan Arts Center in 1991, taking up residence at The Loft, a 219-seat theatre. In addition to the Loft Series (in collaboration with the Victoria Theatre Association) The Human Race produces for the Fifth Third Broadway Series, the Musical Theatre Workshop series, and special event programming. The Human Race, under the direction of Artistic Director Marsha Hanna and Executive Director Kevin Moore, also maintains educational outreach programs for children and adults, guest artists and artist residencies in area schools, The Muse Machine In-School Tour, Youth Summer Stock and The Human Race Conservatory. The new Caryl D. Philips Creativity Center of The Human Race opened in January 2006 to provide a space for extensive theatre education classes and workshops.