Producers Alexander Fraser, Robyn Goodman, Stephen Kocis and Josh Fiedler announced that the season will include Stephen Sondheim's musical Company; National Pastime, a new musical about baseball; the Marx Brothers classic musical Animal Crackers; the evergreen comedy On Golden Pond; and It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play.
Hunter Foster will direct the season's first two offerings, National Pastime and Company; both will feature choreography by Lorin Latarro.
About the upcoming season, Goodman and Fraser stated, “Musicals have a long history here at Bucks County Playhouse and this year we're delighted to offer more of them to our patrons. It's always exciting to have a work by Mr. Sondheim as part of the season, and bookending his Company with the new musical National Pastime and the Marx Brothers classic Animal Crackers feels like a great fit for the Playhouse. On Golden Pond continues to resonate with audiences 40 years after its debut on Broadway and we expect our audience will love it just as much, along with It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play, which in recent years has become a new holiday classic for theaters around the country. We are eager to see the growth this season of the 2nd Oscar Hammerstein Festival and look forward to presenting more work by talented up-and-coming writers. All in all, we look forward to this being a landmark season for Bucks County Playhouse."
Season details follow:
NATIONAL PASTIME April 2-19
"It’s 1933 in Baker City, Iowa... WZBQ Radio is going under and Barry, the station’s owner, is trying to save it. Karen, Barry’s co-owner, wants to sell the station. Will a crazy scheme involving baseball change Karen’s mind and cause her to fall in love in the process? National Pastime is a musical valentine to love, baseball and the American Dream. Music and lyrics by Al Tapper, book by Tony Sportiello. Choreographed by Lorin Latarro and directed by Hunter Foster."
COMPANY
May 29-June 2
Stephen Sondheim's 1970 musical smash
"It's Robert's 35th birthday, and his friends want him to settle down! During a hilarious array of interactions over dinners, drinks and even a wedding, 'those good and crazy people my married friends' finally make Robert understand that being alone isn't really being alive. Music and lyrics by Mr. Sondheim, book by George Furth. Choreographed by Lorin Latarro and directed by Hunter Foster."
ON GOLDEN POND
July 10-Aug. 2
Written by Ernest Thompson
"On Golden Pond debuted on Broadway in 1979 (later a film starring Henry Fonda and Katharine Hepburn) is an enduring comedy set on a beautiful New England lake where Ethel and Norman Thayer have spent their summers for nearly 50 years. Their tranquil hideaway is disrupted when their daughter and her newest boyfriend turn up unexpectedly to leave his precocious teenage son with the elder Thayers for the summer."
ANIMAL CRACKERS
Aug. 14-Sept. 6
"A hit musical starring the Marx Brothers in 1928 (and the subsequent film classic in 1930), Animal Crackers has a book by George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind; music and lyrics by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby. The production has adaptation by and directed by Henry Wishcamper and choreographed by John Carrafa.
Animal Crackers centers on Captain Spaulding, the intrepid African explorer and inveterate womanizer, as he and his co-horts upend a swanky soiree and become caught up in a screwball search for the thief of a priceless painting."
IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE: A LIVE RADIO PLAY
Dec. 11-27
"Bucks County Playhouse will celebrate the 2015 year-end holidays with the beloved classic film, performed as a 1940s live radio broadcast. An ensemble of over two dozen characters bring the story of George Bailey and his unforgettable redemption to live on stage. Written by Joe Landry, directed by Gordon Greenberg and choreographed by Lorin Latarro."
Subscriptions are now available for all five productions; single tickets are on sale for National Pastime. Visit www.bcptheater.org or call (215) 862-2121.
