Always...Patsy Cline You Can't Take It With You Sep 8–Oct 1, 2017 Feb 16–Mar 4, 2018 By Ted Swindley By Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman
Lyric Arts is opening its season with a remount of its very successful production Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman’s You Can’t Take It With You centers on the of Always...Patsy Cline, bringing back the lovely and talented Gracie Anderson as delightfully eccentric Sycamore family, which allows each member to pursue his Patsy. Based on a true story, this two-woman show recounts the unlikely or her own ambition in the home. Their routine is disrupted Alice Sycamore, who friendship between Cline and her most devoted fan, Louise Seger, played by Kate Beahen. dinner.
With down-home humor, heartache, and 27 of the stars most popular hits, this This Pulitzer Prize-winning farce, recently revived on Broadway, is one of the beloved musical tribute give us an intimate glimpse into Patsy Cline’s legendary most popular and successful plays of modern times. life through her unforgettable music.
She Loves Me Flavio Betrayed–A Commedia Mar 23–Apr 15, 2018 Oct 13–Oct 29, 2017 By Scott Ford Music and Lyrics by Sheldon Harnick and Jerry Bock
This Tony Award-winning musical is set in a 1930’s European perfumery, we meet disguise, deceit, insults, romance, friendship, stinky cheese, and contemporary two shop clerks, Amalia and Georg, who, more often than not, don’t see pop culture references. It follows the delightfully convoluted story of our hero eye-to-eye. What they don’t know is that they both responded to the same Flavio, whose best friend is trying to steal the hand of his beloved Isabella, while “lonely hearts” advertisement in the newspaper. They each live for the love letters they receive from each other, without knowing that the other is the one his prime. It is up to Isabella’s faithful and clever servant Pedrolino to dodge writing them. danger and keep them together. Considered by many to be the most charming musical ever written, She Loves Me Scott Ford’s ridiculously silly play had its world premiere performance at Anoka is a warm romantic comedy with an endearing innocence and a touch of old Ramsey Community College and Lyric Arts couldn’t be more proud to give this world elegance. show its professional debut.
Coney Island Christmas A Wrinkle In Time Nov 17–Dec 17, 2017 May 4–13, 2018 By John Glore By Donald Margulies 17 In a new play by John Glore, adapted from the beloved 1962 novel by Madeleine This area premiere has been described as an “incredible enchantment” by the L’Engle, one of literature’s most enduring young heroines, Meg Murray, is L.A. Times, Coney Island Christmas introduces us to Shirley Abramowitz, a young back—braces, stubbornness, and all—to join forces with Mrs. Whatsit, Charles Jewish girl who, much to her immigrant parents’ exasperation, is cast as Jesus in Wallace and more to battle malevolent forces so she can rescue her father, save the school’s Christmas pageant. As Shirley, now much older, recounts the memorable story to her great-granddaughter, the play captures a timeless and universal tale of what it means to be an American during the holiday season. In the end, Meg proves, without question, that love CAN overcome evil. Pulitzer Prize winner Donald Margulies weaves together nostalgia, music, and merriment in this new seasonal classic for people of all ages and all faiths. Steel Magnolias
Jun 8–24, 2018 Forever Plaid: Plaid Tidings By Robert Harling Nov 30–Dec 17, 2017 This well-known comedic drama is about the bond amongst a group of women at By Stuart Ross an in-home beauty parlor owned and operated by the outspoken and wise-crack- ing Truvy as they follow the marriage and motherhood of local social leader Forever Plaid: Plaid Tidings is a deliciously fun revue, chock-full of Christmas M’Lynn’s daughter Shelby. The ensemble also includes the curmudgeonly Ouiser, eccentric millionaire Miss Clairee, and the shy and anxious newcomer Annelle. the singing quartet Forever Plaid was broadsided by a school bus and killed instantly, are miraculously brought back for a posthumous performance. Filled with sidesplitting repartee—and not a few acerbic but humorously revealing verbal collisions, Steel Magnolias is alternately hilarious and touching Plaid Tidings is the Christmas special they never got to perform, a truly and, in the end, deeply revealing of the strength and purposefulness which “heaven-sent” holiday treat that will lift audiences’ spirits with classic music sung 18 underlies the antic banter of its characters. in perfect harmony.
Superior Donuts Guys and Dolls Jul 13–Aug 5, 2018 Jan 12–Jan 28, 2018 By Abe Burrows and Jo Swerling By Tracy Letts Music and Lyrics by Frank Loesser Superior Donuts takes places in the historic Uptown neighborhood of Chicago, Frank Loesser’s brassy and immortal musical comedy about rolling the dice and where Arthur Przybyszewski runs a donut shop that has been in his family for Season falling in love under the bright lights of Broadway involves the unlikeliest of sixty years. Franco Wicks, a young black man and Arthur’s only employee, wants Manhattan pairings: a high-rolling gambler and a puritanical missionary, and a to modernize the shop while Arthur is more content to spend the day showgirl dreaming of the straight-and-narrow and a crap game manager who is reminiscing about his Polish immigrant father. anything but. Described as a “…soulful play, full of humor and humanity” by Variety, this Guys and Dolls takes us from the bustle of Times Square to the dance clubs of provacative comedy-drama by Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize–winning author Havana to the sewers of New York City as it demonstrate the great lengths to Tracy Letts explores the challenges of embracing the past and the redemptive which a guy will go when he truly falls in love with a “doll.” power of friendship and is an area premiere.
Photo credit: Scott Pakudaitis