April 19, 2009
For IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Heather Nowlin
(801) 581-7222 or
heather.nowlin@ptc.utah.edu
Pioneer Theatre Company’s 2009-2010 season to feature a wide range of theatre, including show-stopping musicals A CHORUS LINE and 42ND STREET
Season also offers classic dramas, a holiday comedy, and Utah and World Premieres
Pioneer Theatre Company is pleased to announce a 2009-2010 season featuring two sensational dance musicals, the Utah premiere of a recently discovered comedy by Mark Twain, a beloved seasonal story of a boy’s quest for a Red Ryder BB gun, the world premiere of a compelling and often humorous play about two sisters, an electrifying courtroom drama, and a classic play about life in a small town in America at the turn of the twentieth century.
The season opens with the “singular sensation” A Chorus Line, and closes with the true “Lullaby of Broadway,” 42nd Street.
A Chorus Line,running September 25 through October 10, 2009, unfolds as 16 dancers auditioning for parts on Broadway are asked to reveal a little something about their pasts, their personalities and the experiences that shaped their lives. The show ran for fifteen years on Broadway and became one of the most legendary musicals in the history of show business.
Following A Chorus Line will be the Utah premiere of a “new” comedy by America’s greatest comic writer, Mark Twain. Is He Dead?, which will run from October 30 through November 14, 2009, was discovered in Twain’s papers in 2002, adapted by playwright David Ives and opened on Broadway in 2007 to widespread acclaim and peals of laughter. The Wall Street Journal called it “Shriekingly funny – I don’t know when I’ve heard a New York audience laugh louder or longer,” and Variety described it as “an elaborate madcap comedy that registers high on the mirth meter and reaches especially giddy comic heights!”
For the holiday season, PTC will present a stage adaptation of the hilarious seasonal film A Christmas Story,running December 4 through December 19, 2009. This semi-autobiographical story, originally written by author and radio personality Jean Shepherd and adapted for the stage by Philip Grecian, is about a boy named Ralphie and his quest for the Christmas gift of his dreams: an official Red Ryder, carbine action, two-hundred shot range model air rifle.
From January 8 through January 23, 2010, PTC will produce the world premiere of Touch(ed) by Bess Wohl. A touching, often humorous, always compelling and sometimes suspenseful play about the special relationship between two sisters, Touch(ed) was discovered as part of PTC’s New Plays Initiative.
Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose (stage version by Sherman L. Sergel) is the riveting courtroom drama that has been the basis for a television drama, a classic film and a hit Broadway show. It will run from February 12 through February 27, 2010.
Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, the evocative drama about the townspeople of Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire at the turn of the twentieth century, will run from March 12 through March 27, 2010. Wilder’s play about family, neighbors, community and the triumph of the human spirit has been called the great American play and remains profound and relevant seventy years after its premiere in 1938.
The season finale 42nd Street, running April 23 through May 8, 2010, is a Tony Award-winning song-and-dance extravaganza about a small-town girl who arrives in New York hoping to take Broadway by storm in the middle of the Great Depression. Featuring one show-stopping number after another, 42nd Street is a celebration of show business and the people who chase their dreams on stage, designed to make audiences tap their toes and forget their troubles.
Remarking on the season, PTC Artistic Director Charles Morey said, “In these trying times, I think all of us could use a good time, have some laughs, be told some great stories, and forget our troubles for a couple of hours when we escape to the theatre. Our 2009-2010 season is designed to do just that. It’s got two great musicals, two wonderful comedies, and two memorable dramas that tell riveting and moving stories. We have also found an exciting new play by a young playwright named Bess Wohl that we discovered through our New Plays Initiative. Touch(ed) is a compelling story of the bond between two sisters and the sacrifices they are willing to make for one another. It’s also a bit of mystery, in that the audience is never quite sure what’s going to happen next.”
Season tickets range from $70 to $256, which means that season ticket patrons pay between $10 and $37 a ticket to see shows that cost over $100 on Broadway or National Tours. Notes PTC Managing Director Chris Lino, “For the price of one or two tickets to a Broadway show theatergoers can have a full season of entertainment at PTC, and be assured of the best seats and the convenience of exchanging their tickets if they can’t make their regular performance. And, as our long-time patrons know, you’ll be seeing the same actors who appear on Broadway stages, and the same spectacular sets and costumes that you would see on Broadway.”
For season tickets contact Pioneer Theatre Company’s Box Office at 801-581-6961 or visit us online at www.pioneertheatre.org.
Pioneer Theatre Company, Utah’s premier professional theatre, performs at the Roy W. and Elizabeth E. Simmons Pioneer Memorial Theatre, located on the University of Utah campus at 300 South and 1400 East, Salt Lake City UT 84112-0660. The theatre is equipped with an elevator, hearing assistance devices, and handicapped parking.
Free parking within a block of the theatre is available for all performances.
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Season Ticket Packages
For season tickets contact Pioneer Theatre Company’s Box Office at 801-581-6961 or visit us online at www.pioneertheatre.org.
The Seven Play Package
Get tickets for all seven shows in our season, and receive a discount of up to 65% on all tickets, a shot at the best seats before they go on sale to the general public, and a voucher good for free admission to any show in the season (excluding A Chorus Line and 42nd Street).
The Pick Five Package
This option allows patrons to select any five shows in the season and receive both the season ticket discount and preferred seating.
The Flex Pass
This season package provides patrons with $230.00 worth of credit redeemable at the discounted season ticket rate for any shows the patron wishes to see.
$70 Upper Balcony Package
Patrons can purchase tickets to all seven shows for only $70.00. Seats in this package are in the Upper Balcony section, and can be upgraded to any available Main Floor or Loge seat at the discounted season ticket price. This package also includes a free voucher for any show except A Chorus Line or 42nd Street.
The $99 Rush Pass
This is a season pass that allows patrons to come to the theatre an hour before any show and get the best available single ticket for that night. It’s good for all shows in the season, including both musicals.
All packages include a discount on tickets, flexible exchange privileges, priority seating, the ability to purchase additional tickets to individual shows at a discount, and a subscription to Backstage, PTC’s newsletter.
Pioneer Theatre Company’s 2009-2010 Season
A Chorus Line*
Book by James Kirkwood and Nicholas Dante
Music by Marvin Hamlisch
Lyrics by Edward Kleban
September 25 to October 10, 2009
Is He Dead?
A New Comedy by Mark Twain
Adapted by David Ives
October 30 to November 14, 2009
A Christmas Story
By Philip Grecian
Based upon the motion picture A Christmas Story written by
Jean Shepherd, Leigh Brown and Bob Clark
And on the book In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash
By Jean Shepherd
December 4 to December 19, 2009
Touch(ed)*
By Bess Wohl
January 8 to January 23, 2010
Twelve Angry Men
By Reginald Rose
Stage Version by Sherman L. Sergel
February 12 to February 27, 2010
Our Town
By Thornton Wilder
March 12 to March 27, 2010
42nd Street
Music by Harry Warren
Lyrics by Al Dubin
Book by Michael Stewart and Mark Bramble
Based on the novel by Bradford Ropes
April 23 through May 8, 2010
*Contains some strong language or mature themes