TheatreSquared announces Tenth Anniversary Season
Ambitious lineup includes 220 performances, World Premiere
April 9, 2016
NORTHWEST ARKANSAS — April 9, 2016 — TheatreSquared (T2) Artistic Director Robert Ford and Executive Director Martin Miller today announced the Tenth Anniversary Season, an ambitious lineup celebrating ten years of remarkable growth for Northwest Arkansas’s professional theatre. The subscription season launches in August with T2’s largest production to date, the modern classic Amadeus (Aug. 27-Sept. 20, 2015), and continues with the Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Water by the Spoonful (Oct. 15-Nov. 8, 2015), the wildly theatrical Peter and the Starcatcher—T2’s first co-production with the Arkansas Rep (Dec. 3, 2015-Jan. 3, 2016), the world premiere of Fault (Feb. 4-28, 2016), and the acclaimed new comedy Rapture, Blister, Burn (Mar. 3-Apr. 17, 2016). Four- and five-play subscription packages are on sale now via Tickets Northwest Arkansas at (479) 571-2785 or online at theatre2.org/subscribe.
In addition to the five-play subscription season, T2 will stage the acclaimed new musical comedy Murder for Two (May 12-29, 2016); will develop five new plays at the 2016 Arkansas New Play Festival (June 16-26, 2016), including a fully staged premiere; and will tour 70 Arkansas schools with the irreverent literary comedy, The Poe Show.
“We’re celebrating ten years with the most ambitious lineup of plays we’ve yet produced,” said Ford. “Starting with T2’s largest show to date—Amadeus—this bold anniversary season will include a wildly theatrical coproduction with the Arkansas Rep, two Pulitzer and Tony Award-winners, and a world premiere. It’s going to be a landmark year.”
"We’ve done something unusual in response to a tenfold increase in audience over the last six seasons,” said Miller. “We’ve lowered our ticket prices. We believe our region’s professional theatre should be accessible to every Arkansan, and so for Season 10, our lowest-cost package will be $40 cheaper—five plays for just $70. We’ve also added 30 performances, including a new Wednesday night series, to help keep up with demand.”
The season begins in August with Amadeus by Peter Shaffer. In this contemporary classic, composer Antonio Salieri schemes to discredit a foul-mouthed former child prodigy who he fears will threaten his legacy. But genius, it seems, is not easily obscured, and Salieri must ask himself how far he will go to destroy the young Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Winner of five Tony Awards—including Best Play—and the Oscar for Best Picture, Amadeus weaves intrigue, comedy, suspense, and music into a tale of breathtaking dramatic power. Performances are August 27 – September 20, 2015.
In October, TheatreSquared will stage the Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Water by the Spoonful, by Quiara Alegría Hudes. Elliot Ortiz is back from Iraq, working a Subway shop in Philly, and hoping to turn his winning smile into an acting career. Elsewhere, four strangers in an internet chat room seek support facing their demons. When these real and virtual worlds collide, reality splinters, and life itself is at stake in this acclaimed, provocative, and unexpectedly humorous journey to redemption. Performances are October 15 – November 8, 2015.
For the holiday season, TheatreSquared will produce the five-time Tony Award-winning adventure Peter and the Starcatcher, adapted by Rick Elice from the novel by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson with music by Wayne Barker. The play is an innovative retelling of how an angst-ridden orphan became the immortal Peter Pan. Critically acclaimed for its mix of “lighthearted brilliance and existential shadow” (The New Yorker)—with a dozen actors juggling stagecraft, music and 100 characters—T2’s epic-scale co-production with the Arkansas Repertory Theater has something for audiences of every age. The play will open in NWA from December 3, 2015 – January 3, 2016 before continuing its run in Little Rock later in January.
In the new year, TheatreSquared will stage Fault, a world premiere by T2 Artistic Director Robert Ford (Look Away, The Spiritualist). In the aftermath of nuclear disaster in the Arkansas River Valley, Gabe disregards a government quarantine and returns to his family farm. When a mysterious woman wanders onto his land, the two are drawn inexorably into a perilous contest of secrets and blame. Performances are February 4 – 28, 2016.
The Tenth Anniversary Subscription Series will conclude with the 2013 Pulitzer Prize finalist Rapture, Blister, Burn by Gina Gionfriddo. Sparks fly in this “intensely smart, immensely funny” (The New York Times) comedy about women who want to have it all. After grad school, Catherine built a career as a rock-star academic; Gwen built a life with her family. Decades later, a dangerous game begins as each tries to claim the other’s territory. Performances are March 31 – April 24, 2016.
Subscribers can also add tickets to the multi-award-winning, limited-run musical Murder for Two, which T2 will stage in May. Everyone’s a suspect in this new musical comedy fresh from its national debut, with book and music by Joe Kinosian and book and lyrics by Kellen Blair. A small-town policeman dreams of making it to detective — and one fateful night, his opportunity arrives in the form of a dead Great American Novelist. One actor investigates, the other plays every suspect, and both play the piano in this whip-smart, winking homage to an old-fashioned theatrical murder mystery. Performances are May 12 – 29, 2016.
Subscribers may also add discounted passes to TheatreSquared’s 2016 Arkansas New Play Festival, the state's flagship celebration of bold new plays, in June 2016. Next year, the festival will include a fully staged premiere, four staged readings of brand new work, and a host of exclusive behind-the-scenes events over two weekends from June 16-26, 2016.
Tickets for TheatreSquared's Tenth Anniversary Season are on sale now to new and renewing subscribers only. Subscription options include five-play packages starting at $70 and four-play packages starting at $60. Series options include Wednesday through Saturday evenings at 7:30pm, as well as Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2pm. Limited tickets are also available to T2’s Opening Night Series on the first Friday of each production, which includes a champagne toast and a catered reception with the cast. Add-on options available for T2 subscribers include discounted reserved parking at the Deck at the Dickson ($3.75/show); a Kids’ Club Pass, allowing a child (4+) to enjoy theatre classes at Nadine Baum Studios while her parents enjoy the play ($15/show); and the Dine Around Pass, which includes three-course meals at downtown restaurants before the first Saturday matinee ($22/show).
Benefits for all T2 subscribers include savings of up to 15% on each ticket, prime seating reserved before single tickets go on sale, free unlimited exchanges, and same-day discounts at T2 Partners. Partners include Arsaga's at the Depot, offering 20% off entrees; Bordinos, offering a $20 three-course meal with wine pairing; Fresco Restaurant, with a 25% discount; Greenhouse Grille, offering 25% off; Table Mesa, offering a $20 four-course meal with wine; and Cork and Keg, offering 20% off beverages. Subscribers also save 15% on taxi service to and from the theatre with Green Cab Co. and receive 20% off rooms at Dickson Street Inn and a special $89 rate at the Chancellor Hotel.
Subscriptions are on sale now at the Walton Arts Center Box Office, and can be reserved by calling (479) 571-2785 or by visiting theatre2.org/subscribe.
TheatreSquared’s is Northwest Arkansas’s professional regional theatre, offering an intimate live theatre experience for 30,000 patrons each year in its 175-seat space and in schools throughout the state. In 2011, TheatreSquared was recognized by the American Theatre Wing, founder of the Tony Awards, as one of the nation’s ten most promising emerging theatres. TheatreSquared has experienced remarkable growth in recent seasons, expanding its audience tenfold in the past five years. The theatre recently released its Vision 2017 report with its priorities supported by a three-year, $1.03 million grant. For further information or press tickets, contact TheatreSquared at (479) 445-6333 or visit theatre2.org.
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Major funding for the TheatreSquared Season 10 is provided by The Walton Family Foundation, Inc.; and by the Arkansas Arts Council, an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Major marketing support for TheatreSquared Season 10 is provided by the Fayetteville Advertising and Promotions Commission. Media sponsors include NWA Media, Fayetteville Flyer, CitiScapes, KUAF, and Mailco USA.