judith Ivey, Zach Grenier, Amber Tamblyn and Thomas Sadoski are among actors announced for productions in the second half of Vassar College’s and New York Stage and Film’s 32nd Powerhouse season.
The season began June 24 at the Powerhouse Theatre on the Vassar campus near Poughkeepsie, NY.
The annual summer program offers full productions of new plays and musicals, workshop presentations and readings of works-in-progress. Among those debuting new works this summer are José Rivera, John Patrick Shanley, Lucy Thurber, Taylor Mac, Josh Radnor and Santino Fontana.
Among shows developed at previous Powerhouse summer seasons were both 2016 Tony Award winners, The Humans and Hamilton.
Taylor Mac’s A 24-Decade History of Popular Music, co-directed by Mac and Niegel Smith, will receive a three-hour work-in-progress presentation July 22 and 23, and will culminate in the project’s first-ever 12-hour/12-decade performance cycle from noon to midnight on July 30.
The mainstage production of Sarah DeLappe’s The Wolves (July 21-31), directed by Lila Neugebauer will feature Susannah Perkins (Every Angel is Brutal), Lauren Patten (Fun Home), Jenna Dioguardi, Tedra Millan (LOL), Sarah Mezzanotte (Royal Pains), Brenna Coates (Ice Girls), Samia Finnerty, Midori Francis (Connected), Lizzy Jutila and Jodie Markell (Machinal, Balm in Gilead, Snakebit).
An “Inside Look” workshop of the new play Fingersmith (July 29-31) by Alexa Junge (Friends, The West Wing), based on the novel by Sarah Waters, directed by Bill Rauch (All The Way), will feature Colby Minifie (Long Day’s Journey Into Night), Elise Kibler (The Heidi Chronicles), Deirdre O’Connell (The Path), Nick Westrate (Casa Valentina, Tribes), Rocco Sisto (The King and I), Mandi Masden (Our Lady of Kibeho), Kathryn Kates (Orange is the New Black), Jade Wu (Luke Cage), Daniel Molina (The Ape), Mitchell Sink (Matilda The Musical), Barzin Akhavan, Steve Mellor, Alejandra Escalante (Goodman Theatre’s 2666) and Ripley Sobo (Steve Jobs, Matilda The Musical).
The second Readings Festival includes:
The Portuguese Kid (July 22), written and directed by Academy Award, Tony, and Pulitzer Prize winner John Patrick Shanley, featuring, Zach Grenier (The Good Wife), Elizabeth Canavan (Between Riverside and Crazy), Marylouise Burke (Fish in the Dark), Pico Alexander (Punk Rock) and Kate Rockwell (Bring It On).
We Are Among Us (July 23), written by Stephen Belber, directed by Daniella Topol, and featuring Devika Bhise (The Man Who Knew Infinity), Heidi Armbruster (Younger), Angel Desai (Company), Shiloh Fernandez (Ironbound) and Albert Jones (The Night Of).
Sacred Valley (July 23), written by Josh Radnor, directed by Sheryl Kaller, and featuring Amber Tamblyn (Two and a Half Men, Joan of Arcadia), Thomas Sadoski (The Newsroom) and Michael Oberholtzer (Hand to God).
Between the Lines (July 24), music and lyrics by Elyssa Samsel and Kate Anderson, book by Timothy Allen McDonald, based on the books Between the Lines and Off the Page by Jodi Picoult and Samantha van Leer, directed by Jeff Calhoun, and featuring Sarah Lasko, Curt Hansen (Next to Normal), Becca Ayers, Christina DeCicco (Evita), Krystina Alabado (American Psycho), Luke Hawkins (Hail, Caesar!), Matt Stocke, Madeline Doherty (The Producers), Martin Landry (Twilight: The Musical), Janice Landry (Deployed) and Megan Rozak.
Rancho Viejo (July 24), by Dan LeFranc, directed by Daniel Aukin, and featuring Judith Ivey (The Audience), Peter Scolari (Girls), Mark Zeisler (Piece of My Heart), Lisa Emery (Casa Valentina), Johanna Day (Madame Secretary), Tyrone Mitchell Henderson, Socorro Santiago (All My Children), and Luke Slattery (The Family).
Members of the noted Powerhouse Theater Training Program will also present a reimagining of William Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew (July 22-24), directed by Andrew Willis-Woodward; Soundpainting (July 21, 28), a series of improvisational performances; and The Price of Salt (July 24-25), by Emily Mendelsohn and Maggie Namaulyanga, directed by Mendelsohn.
Casting was managed by by Telsey + Company / Will Cantler, CSA; Karyn Casl, CSA.
For tickets and additional information on the season, visit Powerhouse.Vassar.edu
WHAT'S IN STORE FOR THE SUMMER THEATRE THAT BROUGHT US HAMILTON?
(Updated July 20, 2016)
