FOR RELEASE : March 2, 2011
MEDIA CONTACTS
Connie Shaver, 612-308-5785
connieshaver@charter.net
Susan Berdahl, 651-767-8492
berdahl@parksquare.org
PARK SQUARE THEATRE ANNOUNCES 2011-2012 BROADWAY-INSPIRED SEASON
(SAINT PAUL, Minn.) – Park Square’s 36th season will open with a perceptible crackle when
the Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning play, AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY comes to its
stage in September. Leah Cooper, in her Park Square debut, directs this gripping dark comedy
that lit Broadway on fire in 2007.
Following August: Osage County, the Midwest premiere of an inventive new adaptation of
OLIVER TWIST comes to life. Joel Sass will direct this theatrical adventure that’s told by a
chameleon cast of 13, who combines Dickens’ original text with Victorian music hall tunes.
December brings a revival of Joseph Vass’ THE SOUL OF GERSHWIN: THE MUSICAL
JOURNEY OF AN AMERICAN KLEZMER back home to Park Square. Since its world
premiere in 1999 (originally titled Gershwin the Klezmer), this 23-song theatrical concert has
traveled from Toronto to Miami. The Park Square production features the talents of Director
Peter Moore and actor Michael Paul Levin as Gershwin with instrumental music performed by
Klezmerica. To be announced is a trio of vocalists, featuring a cantor as well as jazz and
gospel soloists.
The holiday highlight will be a new musical revue created by Austene Van and Thomasina
Petrus. Petrus and Julius Collins III (Always & Forever at Illusion Theater) team up to perform
in the song-filled HOT CHOCOLATE.
(more)
Another Tony Award-winning play joins the line-up as the acclaimed musical RAGTIME,
directed by Gary Gisselman, opens in January 2012. Theater Latté Da’s Denise Prosek
makes her Park Square musical directing debut with this dazzling production featuring the
largest cast to appear on the theatre’s stage.
The season continues with Playwright Carlyle Brown premiering a brand new work,
AMERICAN FAMILY, commissioned by Park Square and directed by award-winning Marion
McClinton in March. In April, John Patrick Shanley’s DOUBT, A PARABLE, starring the
inestimable Linda Kelsey, will be directed by Park Square stalwart Craig Johnson, taking the
reins 20 years after his last directing turn for the theatre.
Zach Curtis makes his Park Square directorial debut with LAUGHTER ON THE 23rd FLOOR.
This zany comedy, the first Neil Simon play that Park Square has staged, is based on Simon’s
early experiences with Sid Caesar’s “Your Show of Shows.” It closes the season in June 2012.
The perennially popular productions of OF MICE AND MEN and THE DIARY OF ANNE
FRANK complete the season with a full schedule of student matinees that will serve more than
20,000 middle and high school students.
In announcing the 2011-12 line-up, Artistic Director Richard Cook said, “This season builds
toward our upcoming two-stage programming. The proscenium stage will be Park Square’s
Broadway – skillfully-crafted ambitious shows with big bones; brand new work built for and by Alist talent; and revivals that can entertain whole families at a time. The season also includes
one Park Square first. We’ve never staged a Neil Simon play before and we’re excited to add
this surprise–a lesser-known tour-de-force from Simon’s ‘pure comedy’ days–to our schedule.”
Cook also revealed early casting decisions, which include the actors for Hot Chocolate, The
Soul of Gershwin and Doubt, and Zach Curtis and Terry Hempleman (Of Mice and Men);
Noel Raymond, John Middleton and James A. Williams (American Family); and Michael
Paul Levin, Ari Hoptman, Eric Webster, Bob Malos, Karen Wiese-Thompson, Craig
Johnson, Randy Funk, Katherine Tieben and John Catron (Laughter on the 23rd Floor).
All performances are in the company’s proscenium theater in Saint Paul’s historic Hamm
Building, 20 W. Seventh Place. Season tickets are on sale now and are available at 651-2917005 or online at www.parksquaretheatre.org.
Show descriptions and schedule follow on next pages.
PARK SQUARE THEATRE 2011-12 SEASON
September 16-October 2, 2011 (Previews begin September 9)
August: Osage County
by Tracy Letts
Directed by Leah Cooper – Park Square debut
In this fiercely funny, bitingly sad story, a large extended family returns to the homestead when
their alcoholic patriarch disappears. Forced to confront unspoken truths and secrets, the family
must also contend with Violet, the acid-tongued, pill-popping grandmother at the center of this
storm.
October 21 – Nov. 6, 2011 (Previews begin October 14)
Oliver Twist
Midwest Premiere
By Charles Dickens
Adapted by Neil Bartlett
Directed by Joel Sass
A young orphan in London escapes the workhouse only to fall in with a band of pickpockets.
This theatrical adventure is told by a chameleon cast of 13, who combine Dickens’ original text
with Victorian music hall tunes
December 15, 2011-January 1, 2012 (Previews begin December 8)
The Soul of Gershwin: The Musical Journey of an American Klezmer
Music and Lyrics by George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin
Additional Lyrics from Porgy and Bess by DuBose Heyward
By Joseph Vass
Directed by Peter Moore
Explore the roots of music that influenced the great American composer George Gershwin
(Michael Paul Levin) as he travels the city that stirs his soul – bustling with Yiddish theatre,
cantor chants, popular tunes, folk songs, blues, jazz and opera.
December 2-18, 2011 (Previews November 30-December 1)
Hot Chocolate
A new musical revue
Created by Thomasina Petrus and Austene Van
Directed by Austene Van
A young couple (Thomasina Petrus and Julius Collins III) juggles competing family
expectations, literally shopping ‘til they drop. When they finally stop for a cup of hot chocolate,
they discover the “secret recipe” that can weave the diverse threads of their lives into new
traditions.
January 27-February 19, 2012 (Previews begin January 20)
Ragtime
By Terrence McNally, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and music by Stephen Flaherty
Based on the novel by E.L. Doctorow
Directed by Gary Gisselman
Musical direction by Denise Prosek – Park Square debut
RAGTIME is a sprawling fictional account of American manners and mores in the early part of
“the American Century.” Mixing colorful fictional and real-life characters, this celebrated
sweeping musical will feature the largest cast ever seen on Park Square’s stage.
March 23-April 7, 2012 (Previews begin March 16)
American Family
World premiere commission
by Carlyle Brown
Produced with Carlyle Brown & Co.
Directed by Marion McClinton
As a woman returns to the playground where she last saw her mother, she searches for the life
she might have had. By revisiting her past, and meeting the half-brother she never knew, she
finds a new path back to herself.
April 27-May 13, 2012 (Previews begin April 20)
Doubt, a Parable
by John Patrick Shanley
Directed by Craig Johnson
The formidable Sister Aloysius (Linda Kelsey) does not approve of the charismatic Father
Flynn, or the favor he shows one of her students. In fact, she considers charging the priest with
her unproven allegations. Their battle for truth and personal integrity leaves audiences with
questions to ponder long after the curtain goes down.
June 8-July 8, 2012 (Previews begin June 1)
Laughter on the 23rd Floor
by Neil Simon
Directed by Zach Curtis – Park Square debut
Chaos is king backstage at the Max Prince Show, a popular 1950s comedy-variety TV series
based on Sid Caesar’s fabled “Your Show of Shows.” The stress of slipping ratings is eating
Max alive, but his staff hurls nonstop zingers at each other and everyone within earshot.
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