ANAHEIM HILLS, CALIF.: The Chance Theater will celebrate its 2015 season by nearly doubling its number of productions. With the opening of a new second stage space on Feb. 7th, the Chance will be able to expand its programming into the theatre-for-young-audiences (TYA) realm.
The 2015 season will feature a six-show subscription series, including a world premiere musical and a work by resident playwright Lauren Yee, as well as a two-show holiday series and a three-show TYA series.
The subscription series will open with the world premiere of Loch Ness (Jan. 30–Feb. 28, directed by Marshall Pailet), with lyrics and book by AD Penedo, and music and book by Pailet. Loch Ness follows a scientist’s daughter who finds her own version of the infamous monster. The musical was developed through the Chance’s OTR reading series.
Next up will be the Southern California premiere of After the Revolution (April 10–May 10, directed by Chance artistic director Oanh Nguyen) by Amy Herzog, about a Marxist family whose political beliefs are questioned after a revelation about their grandfather.
The third show will be the West Coast premiere of Yee’s Samsara (April 30–May 31), in which a couple unable to have children must decide if they wish to use an Indian surrogate. Next is the Broadway hit musical Hairspray (July 10–Aug. 9, directed by Kari Hayter), about dancing and race relations in ’60s-era Baltimore.
The fifth show will be the West Coast premiere of Jenny Connell Davis’ The Dragon Play (July 23–Aug. 23, directed by Marya Mazor), about a dragon’s quest for freedom, her desire for human love and the men who get trapped between the two. Closing out the mainstage season will be Samuel D. Hunter’s A Bright New Boise (Sept. 25–Oct. 25), in which a man attempts to reunite with the family he has never met.
During the holidays, audiences will be treated to performances of Joseph Robinette and Evelyn D. Swensson’s Anne of Green Gables musical (Sept. 25–Oct. 25, directed by managing director Casey Long) and the 12th anniversary performance of Jeff Goode’s foul-mouthed The Eight: Reindeer Monologues (Dec. 8–23, directed by Alex Bueno).
For the younger theatregoers, the Chance will perform Alice In Wonderland (Feb. 26–March 8, directed by Darryl B. Hovis) and Susan DiLallo and Danny Abosch’s Fancy Nancy: The Musical (May 29–June 7, directed by Kelly Todd). The TYA season will close with the world premiere The Legends of Sleepy Hollow (Oct. 8–18, directed by Darryl B. Hovis), an adaptation of the famous tale by Jonathan Josephson.
In addition to its season announcement, the Chance announced Yee’s playwriting residency. As part of her residency, the Chance will not only produce Samsara but will also present two of her plays in its OTR Reading Series: King of the Yees and The Tiger Among U.
The Chance Theater is the official resident theatre company of Anaheim, focused on contributing “to a more compassionate, connected, and creative Orange County.”
