NORRISTOWN, PA: Theatre Horizon has announced its 15th season, featuring a new-play reading, concert versions of two celebrated musicals, and three fully staged productions—a milestone for the company, which expanded its programming in recent years to include five events per season.
“I was craving a 15th anniversary season that would be fun, smart, and ambitious, so we’re blowing the roof off and programming seven shows,” said artistic director Erin Reilly in a statement. “The caliber of artists in this upcoming season is bar none, and each play unpacks big ideas that patrons will be buzzing about all the way home. Combined with two reunion concerts of beloved musicals, it’s the perfect mix of classic and new.”
The season will kick off with a concert staging of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Into the Woods, the classic fairy-tale mash-up musical about what happens after “happily ever after” (Sept. 27-29). Matt Decker and Amanda Morton will direct, and the cast will include performers who appeared in the troupe’s 2015 production of the show.
Theatre Horizon will then partner with Power Street Theatre Company to present Minorityland (Oct. 11-13). In the bilingual play, written and directed by Erlina Ortiz, a diverse community struggles with gentrification after a local university purchases properties in town.
Next up is The Hound of the Baskervilles (Nov. 10-Dec. 8), by Steven Canny and John Nicholson, an adaptation of the Sherlock Holmes novel about a family curse and a killer on the loose. Matt Pheiffer will direct.
The season will continue with a concert presentation of the Alan Menken and Howard Ashman musical Little Shop of Horrors (Jan. 24-26, 2020) to celebrate the company’s 15th anniversary. In the popular show a flower shop employee stumbles across a strange new plant that boosts traffic at the dying store, but he discovers that the only way to satisfy the plant’s thirst is with human blood.
Following will be The Agitators (Feb. 28-March 22), by Mat Smart, about the historic relationship of Frederick Douglass and Susan B. Anthony.
A reading of Christine Evans’s Galilee (April 17-19) is next on the roster. In the piece a biology student puts her education on pause when she is called to save the family business after sea temperatures rise. Artistic producer Rebecca May Flowers will direct.
The season will close with Athena (May 14-31), by Gracie Gardner, about two teenage fencers training for the Junior Olympics. Kathryn MacMillan will direct.
Theatre Horizon, founded in 2005, seeks to educate youth and share contemporary theatre with diverse audiences.
