The Westport Country Playhouse, under the artistic direction of Joanne Woodward, today announced details of its 75th anniversary summer season when it reopens its doors after a $17.8 million renovation. 
Back Home: Westport Country Playhouse announced its 75th anniversary season at a Westport news conference today. (CLICK TO ENLARGE Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com
It also said it will partner with the Westport Arts Center on other programs in the fall and winter months. Woodward will direct one play in the four-production summer series running June 16 through Sept. 4.
“This is my swan song the fifth season. It’s been a trip, I can tell you,” said Woodward, who is giving up her post at the end of the year to become artistic director emeritus. She spoke at a news conference at Westport’s Acqua Restaurant.
She said there was one common theme running through selection of “Finian’s Rainbow,” Dear Brutus,” “The Member of the Wedding,” and “Journey’s End” ֖ “those plays Joanne always wanted to do and better do it now.”
Finian’s RainbowӔ will reopen the Playhouse, June 16 through July 3. The musical, combining fantasy, folklore, romance and humor, includes such well known songs as How Are Things in Glocca Morra?,Ӕ Old Devil Moon,Ӕ Look to the Rainbow,Ӕ and If This Isn’t Love.Ӕ
Dear Brutus,Ӕ a whimsical and funny play about second chances, is written by J.M. Barrie, author of Peter Pan.Ӕ It will be presented July 7 – 24, directed by Gregory Boyd, artistic director of the Alley Theatre in Houston.
Carson McCullers’ The Member of the Wedding,Ӕ a coming-of-age tale set in a small Georgia town, will play July 28 Aug. 14.
Woodward, a Georgia native, said, ֓It is home country for me, bringing back so many memories of my childhood, both the good and the bad. So much is stirred in me that I will direct it myself.
She added, “I haven’t directed a play in three years now, and it’s the most wonderful thing I can think of.”
ԓJourney’s End by R. C. Sheriff, directed by Gregory Boyd, is set for Aug. 18 Ԗ Sept. 4. This play is one of the finest anti-war pieces every written, yet it is also about human decency, comradeship and trust—-even in the most traumatic surroundings,Ӕ Woodward said.
“I don’t believe in war,” she told reporters. “I don’t see what it does.”
For the first time in its history, the Playhouse will follow its summer season with its first-ever winter season of plays, with one play in October, a holiday show in December, plus a third production in March 2006.
The holiday show, running Dec. 1 18, will be ֓David Copperfield by Charles Dickens. The October and March productions are not yet selected.
Prior to the official season opening, actor Christopher Plummer, a Weston resident, will headline the Playhouse’s 75th Anniversary and Reopening Gala presentation of ԓA Word or Two, Before You Go, written, arranged and performed by Plummer, on Friday, June 3, at 6:30 p.m.
The ԓNinth Annual Doo-Wop and Oldies Spectacular, will take place Friday, Sept. 9 at 8 p.m. and Chicago City Limits will bring sketch comedy and improvisation to the Playhouse stage on Saturday, Nov. 19 at 8 p.m.
ԓFunny Mondays will showcase new comedy works, read by professional actors, without sets or costumes. The comedy readings, titles to be announced, are scheduled on Oct. 17 and Nov. 21, at 7 p.m.
ԓTuesdays at Seven will offer film screenings accompanied by special guests talking about their experiences in making them.
ԓThe film series was such a hit last season that we’ve made it a regular part of the Playhouse experience, said Woodward, who will star with her husband, Paul Newman, in the mini-film festival.
The motion pictures will be ԓThe Verdict on Sept. 27, ԓThe Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds on Oct. 4 and ԓMr. and Mrs. Bridge on Oct. 11. Special guests will be announced.
Playhouse officials also said it will team with the Westport Arts Center to co-present artists in a partnership it is calling “Arts in the House.”
Kicking off the programming will be Odetta, known for her interpretations of African-American musical traditions, producing a unique blend of blues, folk and spirituals, on Saturday, Sept. 17 at 8 p.m. Opening for Odetta will be actor/musician Guy Davis, contemporary blues artist.
ԓSelected Shorts, also an Arts in the House presentation, will be sponsored by WSHU Public Radio Group on Wednesday, Sept. 21 at 7:30 p.m. The evening will offer some of the Playhouse’s favorite actors reading contemporary and classic short fiction, hosted by Isaiah Sheffer and taped for broadcast on National Public Radio as part of its popular series.
Jonatha Brooke, singer/songwriter and underground sensation, will be an Arts in the House presentation on Saturday, Oct. 22 at 8 p.m. Brooke has been recording albums that merge folk and pop since the early ‘90s.
Arts in the House will present Charlie Chaplin silent films accompanied by their original scores played by the country’s leading vintage American musical group, the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra, on Tuesday, Dec. 27 for two performances.
At 7 p.m., two classic films, ԓThe Kid and ԓThe Adventurer, will be screened. At 2 p.m., there will be a shortened program for children 10 and up with a showing of one film only, ԓThe Kid.
Woodward said programming for children and developing their interest in the theater was a major priority for her.
ԓI couldn’t count the number of people who have come up to me on the street and told me about their first experiences at the Playhouse, as youngsters, at one of our plays for children, she said. ԓWe hope to introduce the next generation of youth to theatre with our Family Festivities series.
The Pushcart Players will begin the series with their production of ԓPeter and the Wolf on Sunday, Sept. 18 at 1 p.m and 4:30 p.m., preceded by an introduction to musical instruments by members of the Norwalk Youth Symphony.
“The Velveteen Rabbit,Ԕ will be produced by Mum Puppet Theatre on Sunday, Oct. 9, at 1 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. Direct from off-Broadway, Children’s Letters to God,Ӕ a new musical inspired by the international best-selling book, will play Sunday, Nov. 20 at 1 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.
Also part of the Family Festivities series will be the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra accompanying the silent film, The Kid,Ӕ starring Charlie Chaplin, on Tuesday, Dec. 27 at 2 p.m.
Subscriptions to the 2005 four-play summer series and 2005-2006 three-play winter season and tickets to all special events, including the 75th Anniversary Reopening Gala with Christopher Plummer, Arts in the House, Family Festivities, Funny Mondays and Tuesdays at Seven, are now on sale.
Non-subscription tickets for the four summer productions will be available May 23, beginning at 10 a.m. Winter season non-subscription tickets will be available on Sept. 19. Tickets may be purchased at the Playhouse box office or via mail, fax, phone, or the Internet.
The 75th anniversary season sponsor is U.S. Trust. Corporate sponsor is Deloitte. Media sponsors are Brooks Community Newspapers, Fairfield County Weekly and WSHU Public Radio Group.
Support provided by the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism. The 75th Anniversary Season Re-Opening Gala is sponsored by Bank of America, Bank of New York, Black Bear Wine & Spirits, Cohen & Wolf, Factset, Northern Trust, Pfizer, Polo Ralph Lauren, Tiffany & Co., and Westport Resources.
For more information on the 75th anniversary season, call the box office at (203) 227-4177, or visit www.westportplayhouse.org.
