SAN DIEGO, CALIF.: The Old Globe has announced its 2016–17 season, featuring the return of a holiday favorite and a world premiere.
The season will begin with the West Coast premiere of October Sky (Sept. 10–Oct. 23), with a book by Marsha Norman and Aaron Thielen and music and lyrics by Michael Mahler. Based on the film, the musical is about a young coal miner in 1957, inspired by the launch of Sputnik, who dreams of building his own rockets. Rachel Rockwell will direct.
Following will be The Lion (Sept. 29–Oct. 30), written and performed by Benjamin Scheuer, a coming-of-age story told through song. Sean Daniels will direct.
Next will be Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure (Nov. 1–13), part of the Globe for All: Touring Shakespeare in the San Diego Community. The production will tour to military bases, homeless shelters, prisons, centers for the elderly, and other community venues, in addition to being presented at the Old Globe for two performances. Patricia McGregor will direct.
Also part of the programming will be Shakespeare’s Two Gentleman of Verona (Nov. 12–20), presented by the University of San Diego Shiley Graduate Theatre Program. Richard Seer will direct.
Just in time for the holidays will be the return of Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (Nov. 5–Dec. 26), with book and lyrics by Timothy Mason and music by Mel Marvin. James Vásquez will direct.
Following will be Steve Martin’s Picasso at the Lapin Agile (Feb. 4–March 12, 2017), about Pablo Picasso and Albert Einstein’s visit to a watering hole filled with struggling artists and would-be geniuses. Barry Edelstein will direct.
Next will be the world premiere of Nick Gandiello’s The Blameless (Feb. 25–March 26, 2017), about the power of familial bonds in the most extraordinary of circumstances. The play was developed in the 2016 New Voices Festival. Gaye Taylor Upchurch will direct.
The season will continue with Lolita Chakrabarti’s Red Velvet (March 25–April 30, 2017), about the first African-American actor to play Othello on the English stage. Rachel Chavkin will direct.
Following will be Dominique Morisseau’s Skeleton Crew (April 8–May 7, 2017), presented in association with MOXIE Theatre, about workers at an auto plant in Detroit during the financial crisis of 2008. Delicia Turner Sonnenberg will direct.
Next up will be PigPen Theatre Co.’s The Old Man and The Old Moon (May 13–June 18, 2017), about an old man who refills the light that spills out of the moon every night. The production will feature shadow puppetry and indie-folk music. Stuart Carden will co-direct with PigPen Theatre Co.
Next will be the world premiere of Fiasco Theater‘s adaptation of Molière’s The Imaginary Invalid (May 27–June 25, 2017), an Old Globe commission, about a hypochondriac who wants his daughter to marry into a family of physicians.
The Old Globe, founded in 1937, presents both classic and contemporary works.
