WaterTower Theatre Announces its 2011-2012 Season of 5 Main Stage Productions Plus a Holiday Show

The Blockbuster Season Includes the Tony Award-Winning Musical Spring Awakening and The Tony Award-winning play August: Osage County

EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE: Tuesday, May 2, 2011 @ 6 PM Media : Greg Patterson 972-450-6227/ [email protected] Box Office: 972-450-6232

Addison, TX…( EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE: Tuesday, May 2, 2011 @ 6PM)…WaterTower Theatre Producing Artistic Director Terry Martin today announced the ’s 2011-2012 Main Stage season at a special VIP Sneak Preview held at the Addison Theatre Centre. The season opens with the Tony Award-winning musical Spring Awakening (September 30 - October 30, 2011) followed by the return of the popular holiday show Rockin’ Christmas Party (November 26 - December 18, 2011). The season continues in early January with The Diary of Anne Frank (January 6 - February 5, 2012), the Tony Award-winning play August: Osage County (March 30 - April 29, 2012), Boeing-Boeing (May 25 - June24, 2012) and Smokey Joe’s Café (July 20 - August 19, 2012). The annual Out of the Loop Fringe Festival will be held March 1 - 11, 2012. All productions will be staged at the Addison Theatre Centre at 15650 Addison Road, Addison, Texas 75001.

Terry Martin will direct Spring Awakening, The Diary of Anne Frank and Smokey Joe’s Café . René Moreno will direct August: Osage County , Amy Anders Corcoran will direct Rockin’ Christmas Party and Robin Armstrong will direct Boeing-Boeing .

Current WaterTower Theatre subscribers will be offered the opportunity to renew their season subscriptions at this year’s prices. Some series prices will increase slightly next season and some series prices will decrease. Single ticket prices for the 11-12 season increase for some performance days and some remain the same or decrease (opening night price decreases, while Thursday evening price increases and Friday evening remains unchanged). The +/- modest adjustment in ticket prices is a reflection of consumer purchasing activity.

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Spring Awakening

Music by Duncan Sheik Book and Lyrics Steven Sater Based on the play by Frank Wedekind Directed by Terry Martin

This rock musical adaptation of an 1891 German play is set against the backdrop of a progressive and provincial late 19 th century Germany. Spring Awakening tells the timeless story of teenage self-discovery and budding sexuality through the eyes of three teenagers. Haunting and provocative, Spring Awakening celebrates an unforgettable journey from youth to adulthood. The musical won multiple (8 awards including Best Musical).

German playwright Frank Wedekind’s 1891 play of the same name was so shocking for its era that when it opened in New York 26 years later, it took a Supreme Court injunction to allow the show to go on, and only then for a single performance before closing.

Spring Awakening has been called “the best musical of a generation” ( NY Observer ). Adapted from Wedekind’s play, with a score by Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater, book by Steven Sater, the musical depicts how a dozen young people make their way through the thrilling, complicated, confusing and mysterious time of their sexual awakening.

The musical includes mature themes and adult language.

The Diary of Anne Frank

Adapted by Wendy Kesselman Based on the original play by Frances Goodrich and Based upon the book Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl Directed by Terry Martin

The Wendy Kesselman adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning and Tony Award-winning play by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett received two Tony Award nominations in 1999 including Best Play.

More than one million children perished in the World War II Holocaust. Anne Frank was one of those children. The play is based on the classic work of nonfiction Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl . The play tells the true story of the remarkable spirit of a young girl who lived and perished during a time when difference was not tolerated by Adolf Hitler, and when some people risked their own lives to help others like Anne Frank and her family.

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August: Osage County

Written by Directed by René Moreno

August: Osage County is a grand, gripping play which tells the story of the Weston’s, a large extended clan that comes together at their rural Oklahoma homestead when the alcoholic patriarch disappears. Forced to confront unspoken truths and astonishing secrets, the family must also contend with Violet, a pill-popping, deeply unsettled woman at the center of this storm. August: Osage County was the winner of the 2008 and the .

Tracy Letts is the author of Killer Joe , Bug , and Man from Nebraska , which was a finalist for the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. His plays have been performed throughout the country and internationally. A performer as well as a playwright, Letts is a member of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company where August: Osage County premiered.

Boeing-Boeing

Written by Marc Camoletti Directed by Robin Armstrong

This hilarious 1960's romp, immortalized by Jerry Lewis and Tony Curtis on film, has a handsome bachelor juggling three international flight attendant fiancées.

In the comedy, an architect living in Paris has been successfully juggling three flight attendant fiancées with his housekeeper reluctantly playing romantic air-traffic controller as they fly in and out of his swank bachelor pad. But when an old school pal visits, things get rather turbulent. Schedules change, flights are delayed and chaos ensues in this whirl of mayhem and matchmaking.

This classic farce was written in the 1960’s by French playwright Marc Camoletti. An English translation became a smash hit in London’s West End, and a recent Broadway revival brought it to the attention of an American audience . Boeing-Boeing won the 2008 Tony Award for Best Play Revival and for Best Play Revival.

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Smokey Joe’s Café

Written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller Directed by Terry Martin

Leiber and Stoller, as much as anyone, virtually invented rock n’ roll, and their songs provide the basis for a musical that illuminates the golden age of American culture. In an idealized 50’s setting, the classic themes of love won, lost and imagined blend with slices-of-life emotions featuring some of the greatest songs ever recorded. These songs include “Hound Dog,” “Love Potion #9,” “Jailhouse Rock,” and “Yakety Yak.” Smokey Joe's Café was conceived by Stephen Helper, Jack Viertel, and Otis Sallid. Presented in a revue format with no unifying theme, it showcases 39 songs, sung by members of the cast in various combinations, with no dialogue.

Smokey Joe’s Café is an ensemble musical that won a Grammy Award for Best Musical and was nominated for seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical.

Rockin’ Christmas Party

Written by Dave Steakley Directed by Amy Anders Corcoran

Addison's rock-n-soul holiday spectacle, Rockin' Christmas Party , reigns as one of our town's longest-running traditions! Bigger, brighter and merrier than ever, this award-winning production sure knows how to put the Christmas spirit in your heart as the cast shake, rattle and roll down Santa Claus Lane! It's great fun for the whole family.

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2011-2012 WaterTower Theatre Subscription Season Overview:

Spring Awakening Previews – September 30, October 1 Pay What You Can – October 2 Opening Night – October 3 October 5 – 30, 2011

Rockin’ Christmas Party Opening Night – November 26 November 27 – December 18, 2011 Non-subscription event

The Diary of Anne Frank Previews – January 6, 7 Pay What You Can – January 8 Opening Night – January 9 January 11 – February 5, 2012

Out of the Loop Fringe Festival March 1 – 11, 2012

August: Osage County Previews – March 30, 31 Pay What You Can – April 1 Opening Night – April 2 April 4 – 29, 2012

Boeing-Boeing Previews – May 25, 26 Pay What You Can – May 27 Opening Night – May 28 May 30 – June 24, 2012

Smokey Joe’s Café Previews – July 20, 21 Pay What You Can – July 22 Opening Night – July 23 July 25 – August 19, 2012

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2011-2012 Season Ticket Prices:

5-play season subscriptions range in price from $75 (Previews) to $150 (Saturday evening/Sunday matinee).

Series and single ticket prices will increase slightly on some performance dates but decrease on others. The average increase is less than 10%.

Saturday evenings and Sunday matinees are now priced the same; Friday evening prices remain unchanged; Thursday evening prices increase slightly; Wednesday evening prices have a modest increase. Opening night prices have been decreased, while preview prices remain unchanged.

New Season Subscription Packages Available:

For the 2011-2012 season, WaterTower Theatre will introduce a number of new season subscription options and mini series. These will include:

Design Your Own series:

• This option allows a patron to “build” their own series by choosing three or more plays from the season to which they can attend on different performance days. This series costs more than the traditional 5- play subscription series and the patron does not have the same seat for each show. It does, however, offer the convenience of greater flexibility.

Wine Lovers’ series :

• This is a 3-play subscription package that includes a pre-show wine tasting at WaterTower Theatre. • This is a Friday night series on the first Friday of the run. The series will include the following productions: August: Osage County, Boeing-Boeing and Smokey Joe’s Café.

Pride of WTT:

• This is a 3-play subscription package designed for Dallas’ GLBT community. It will include a pre-show Happy Hour at WTT and the performance. • It is a Friday night series on the 2 nd Friday of the run and will include the following three productions: Spring Awakening, August: Osage County and Smokey Joe’s Café .

Student Subscription Series:

• A new student subscription series will be offered, including a special student Design Your Own Series.

Military Discount:

• Veterans, current members of the armed forces and their immediate family will be offered a special military discount of $3 off all single tickets.

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About The Directors:

Robin Armstrong

Robin holds a Bachelor of Science in Directing from Northwestern State University (Natchitoches, LA) and an Master of Fine Arts in Directing from Virginia Commonwealth University (Richmond, VA). Robin has worked in professional theatre as a director and actor (numerous theatres across the country) and as a fight director (Theatre Virginia, Collin Theatre Center, The Shakespeare Festival of Dallas, Classical Acting Company). Her touching play about relationships, Smoldering Ember , was produced at the Vitality Play festival sponsored by Speaking Ring Theatre Company, , IL, and more recently at the Festival of Independent Theatres in Dallas. She has served on the faculties of Collin College, the University of Texas at Dallas and Interlochen, the nationally renowned arts academy in Michigan. She is a twelve-time winner of the Collin Theatre Award, including Best Actress in 1995 for Kringle's Window. Robin re-joined the Collin Theatre faculty in 2002, teaching Directing and Stage Combat and serving as Fight Director on A Clockwork Orange . Locally, Robin directed the critically acclaimed Eleemosynary and the regional premieres of 52 Pick-Up and Toothpaste & Cigars for Act I Productions; Macbeth , Communicating Doors , Betrayal , The Day After the Fair and No Sex, Please, We're British for Theatre Britain; staged the fights for risk Theatre Initiative’s and Waiting for Godot , the Dallas Shakespeare Festival's Richard III ; and directed Fuddy Meers for the University of Texas at Dallas. She also directed the award-winning Collin Theatre Center productions of How I Learned to Drive and The Complete Works of Wllm Shkspr (abridged) . Robin has received Leon Rabin Award nominations for costuming The Frog Prince and Jack and the Beanstalk at Theatre Britain, and Hair for Uptown Players. Robin won the Column Award for Best Costuming for Jack and the Beanstalk, The Rocky Horror (Puppet) Show, Cinderella and . Her production of Snake in the Grass at Circle Theatre was named as the Critic's Choice for Best Theatre Production in Forth Worth during 2007. Robin recently received three Dallas Critics Forum Awards for her work at Circle Theatre.

Amy Anders Corcoran

Amy Anders Corcoran, director and choreographe r, recently completed her Master of Fine Arts in Directing at Penn State University under the tutelage of Tony Award-nominated Susan H. Schulman. Amy was the 2009 SDC Noel Coward Fellow for Comedic Direction, which placed her on a production of Private Lives at California Shakespeare Theater. Her directing credits include two productions of Smokey Joe’s Café, The Little Dog Laughed, Rabbit Hole, In Trousers and All Night Strut . Her choreography credits include Crazy For You , Company and this summer's off-Broadway production of Thank You for Being a Friend: The Unauthorized Golden Girls Parody Musical . She has assisted on productions in London, Ontario, Canada at the Grand and at Goodspeed House under Mark Rucker, Michael Lichtefeld and Christopher Gattelli. In 2010, she directed WaterTower Theatre’s production of Circle Mirror Transformation and was the assistant director of Our Town .

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Terry Martin Multi-award winning Director Terry Martin is in his 13th season as Producing Artistic Director of WaterTower Theatre where he has overseen more than 70 productions. During the 2010-2011 season, he directed WaterTower Theatre’s productions of Our Town and The Lieutenant of Inishmore. In his role as WaterTower Theatre’s Producing Artistic Director, Terry oversees both the administrative and artistic aspects of the Company.

Under his leadership WTT has grown from a small local theatre company to one of the leading regional theatres in Texas. While consistently maintaining the artistic integrity of the work WTT produces and gaining much critical acclaim, he has - through keen business acumen - managed to keep the theatre in the black and maintain a large paid capacity for the past many seasons.

Some of his 40 directing credits at WTT include As You Like It, Almost, Maine, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, , Humble Boy, The Crucible, Take Me Out, A Country Life (which he adapted from Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya and won the 2005 Rabin Award – Best New Play) , , It Ain’t Nothin’ But The Blues, Company, , The Mystery of Edwin Drood, The Laramie Project, You Can't Take It With You, Book of Days, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (2002 Rabin Award – Director of a Play), Sweeney Todd (2002 Rabin Award Nomination – Director of a Musical), Desire Under the Elms , Ravenscroft, Rockin’ Christmas Party (2000, 2001), Enter the Guardsman (2001 Rabin Award Nomination – Director of a Musical), Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill and Little Shop of Horrors (2000 Rabin Award Nomination – Director of a Musical) among others. For Plano Repertory Theatre, he has directed Journey’s End (2000 Rabin Award – Director of a Play), Dracula, La Bête, Little Shop of Horrors and Pump Boys and Dinettes . Terry was named "Best Theater Director" in the Dallas Observer's "Best of Dallas 2002."

He has appeared on stage recently at WTT in Our Town , and previously in Blackbird ( 2008 Dallas Fort Worth Theatre Critics’ Forum Award), The Woman in Black , Dinner with Friends, The Guys, Bash: Latterday Plays (2002 Rabin Award Nomination - Actor in a Play) and at PRT in The Only Thing Worse You Could Have Told Me… (1998 Rabin Award – Actor in a Play, 1998 Dallas Theater Critics Forum Award), The Woman in Black (2000 Rabin Award Nomination – Actor in a Play), and Lonely Planet .

After growing up in south Alabama, Terry spent 12 years in working in theatre, television and film. While there, he directed and acted at The Village Theatre Company, Carnegie Hall Studios and Theatre at St. Marks as well as television appearances on ABC’s One Life to Live and NBC’s To Serve and Protect . He holds a BFA from the University of Alabama and has trained professionally with Sanford Meisner, Fred Kareman, Wynn Handman, Sally Johnson and Lehmann Byck. Terry presently teaches on-going acting classes in the Sanford Meisner Technique at WTT, as well as having served as Adjunct Professor of Acting at the University of Texas at Dallas.

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René Moreno

René Moreno is a Dallas-Ft. Worth based theatre director whose productions have garnered both critical acclaim and award recognition. In 2008, he directed ’s Edmond (Second Thought Theatre), All’s Well That Ends Well and The Merchant of Venice (Shakespeare Dallas), ’ A Streetcar Named Desire and the Maltby/Shire musical revue Than Ever (Contemporary Theatre of Dallas). René also appeared onstage as the title role in Richard III (Kitchen Dog Theater). Regionally, his varied directing work has been seen at Dallas Theater Center, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, The Guthrie Theater/Guthrie Lab, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Opera Theatre, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, as well as DFW’s Circle Theatre, Theatre Three, WaterTower Theatre, Plano Repertory Theatre, Classical Acting Company, Echo Theatre, WingSpan Theatre Company, Collin Theatre Center, and Dallas Children’s Theater among others. As an actor, he appeared on Broadway, Off-Broadway, at major regional theatres across the country, on radio, film and television. René holds a Master of Fine Arts in directing from the Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University. René is an Artistic Associate with both Shakespeare Dallas and Contemporary Theatre of Dallas.

About WaterTower Theatre:

WaterTower Theatre is one of the leading regional theatres in North Dallas and Texas. It is consistently recognized for its artistic excellence by the Dallas Theatre League, Dallas/Fort Worth Theatre Critics Forum, The Dallas Morning News, The Dallas Observer, D Magazine and The Fort Worth Star-Telegram , among others. WaterTower Theatre has a subscription base of more than 2,100 subscribers and serves an audience of over 36,000 patrons annually.

WaterTower Theatre gratefully acknowledges the support of The Town of Addison, TACA, Texas Commission on the Arts, the 500 Inc., and the National Endowment for the Arts. WaterTower Theatre is supported, in part, through the generosity of Ackley Financial Group, Inc., Atmos Energy, AT&T Yellow Pages, Don and Barbara Daseke, The Embrey Family Foundation, Liberty Capital Bank, Rainmaker Advertising and The Shubert Foundation.

Ticket Information:

Current subscribers are able to renew their season subscriptions by mail, fax (972.450.6244) or by calling the box office at 972.450.6232. Current subscribers can receive this year’s package prices if they renew by May 30 th .

New subscriptions will go on sale in June 2011.

Rockin’ Christmas Party is a non-subscription event.

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