The Westport Country Playhouse said today it will follow its traditional summer season with a series of three theatrical productions from October
2005 through March 2006.
The newly renovated Playhouse will now serve as a year-round center for performing and cultural arts, including a yearly summer season.
Reflecting the additional programming as well as a succession in artistic leadership, the autumn through spring period is dubbed the “Season of Change,” an announcement said.
Joanne Woodward, who has served as artistic director since 2001, will resign her position at the end of this year to become Playhouse artistic director emeritus.
She will remain an active member of the Playhouse board of directors, and will work on educational program development, among other areas.
Tazewell Thompson, stage and opera director and playwright, will succeed Woodward as artistic director on Jan. 1.
“As we move outside the summer months, the ‘Season of Change’ offers a variation on the way we offer tickets to our patrons,” said Chance Farago, Playhouse director of communications.
“Instead of a traditional subscription package, we will offer 3-Packs, which carry similar benefits as a subscription. 3-Pack purchasers will be seated before the general public can purchase individual plays, and will be able to exchange their tickets as in the summer.”
He said future programming will be more varied than in the past. “We may offer a series of workshops, short-run dramatic or musical works, as well as full-length plays,” Farago said.
3-Pack purchasers will be given advance opportunities to buy in the future, but their tickets will not be linked to specific renewable seat locations.
The ‘Season of Change’ is a collaboration between Woodward and Thompson. Woodward will select the first two plays, and direct one. Thompson will direct two, and select one, the announcement said.
The first play of the season will be directed by Thompson and run from Oct. 27 through Nov. 12.
Tne announcement said several titles are being considered including: “Berlin to Broadway with Kurt Weill,” a musical revue; “The Underpants,” a comedy by Steve Martin; “The Last Five Years,” a musical composed by Jason Robert Brown; “Awake and Sing,” a drama by Clifford Odets; “Fallen Angels,” a comedy by Noel Coward; “Auntie and Me,” a play by Morris Panych; or “an exciting project yet to be discovered.”
Woodward selected, and will co-direct with associate artistic director Anne Keefe, a holiday classic, Charles Dickens’ “David Copperfield.” The family production, playing Dec. 1 – 17, is adapted by Giles Havergal, the Olivier and Drama Desk Award-winning director of “Travels with My Aunt.”
Thompson has selected, and will direct, the final play of the “Season of Change,” a co-production with Washington, D.C.‘s Arena Stage, a pioneer of the regional theatre movement. “On the Verge or The Geography of Yearning”
by Eric Overmeyer will be presented March 9 through March 25, 2006.
The performance schedule for the “Season of Change” will be Tuesdays at 7 p.m.; Wednesdays and Thursdays at 8 p.m.; Fridays and Saturdays at 8:30 p.m.; Sundays at 7:30 p.m. (first week only); matinees on Wednesdays at 2 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m.; and Saturday twilight shows at 4 p.m.
Opening night (first Saturday) begins at 7:30 p.m. with no 4 p.m. show on that day. During the third week of production, there will be a student matinee on Thursday at 11 a.m.
Special series will feature the popular TalkBack series, where members of the company return to the stage after the performance on the second Thursday evening for a lively discussion with the audience. Symposium Sundays also return with knowledgeable guests who are invited to speak with the audience after the first Sunday matinee.
A new fixture in the Playhouse schedule will be a series of Open Captioned performances on the second Sunday matinee. Open captioning is a text display located on the side of the stage.
Scrolling the words in synchronization with the performance, it assists people with varying degrees of hearing loss, as well as hearing audience members who might not catch every word during a performance.
Advance ticket sales, now available to the general public, are by 3-Packs, which include a ticket to the same seat for each of the three productions. 3-Packs are priced at $105 to $225 each for three shows.
Current summer season subscribers will have seating priority on 3-Pack orders received by July 29. All orders will be taken on a first-come, first-served basis.
Single tickets, on sale Sept. 19, are $35 to $75 each.
Special events, including music, comedy, film, readings of short fiction and new plays, and a Family Festivities series will also be a major part of the Playhouse’s “Season of Change” from autumn through spring, the announcement said.
3-Pack purchase is available by fax or mail, or by visiting the Playhouse during a performance of the current production, “Dear Brutus,” through July 24.
For an order form or for more information, call the box office at (203)
227-4177 or visit the box office. Information about the Playhouse is also available at www.westportplayhouse.org.
