ROCHESTER, N.Y: Geva Theatre Center has announced its 2018-19 season, featuring 11 productions.
“Our stories for the stage in 2018-19 will not only include a wide range characters, but also of writers, directors, actors and designers,” stated artistic director Mark Cuddy in a statement. “And fully a third of our subscription shows will be world premieres, owing to our commitment to creating a new body of dramatic literature for the American theatre.”
The season will start with Hair (Sept. 4-Oct. 7), with book lyrics by Gerome Ragni and James Rado, and music by Galt MacDermot. The rock musical follows a group of free-spirited friends in the ’60s as they rebel against the Vietnam War and social conformity. Melissa Rain Anderson will direct.
Next up will be Deborah Zoe Laufer’s Fortune (Oct. 4-21), produced in partnership with the Hangar Theatre, a romantic comedy about a storefront psychic who has given up on love. Laufer will direct.
Following will be Thurgood (Oct. 16-Nov. 18), by George Stevens Jr., about the life and career of Justice Thurgood Marshall, the first African American to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court. Lou Bellamy will direct.
The season will continue with the world premiere of Brent Askari’s Hard Cell (Jan. 8-Feb. 3, 2019), a comedy of mistaken identity that follows a college professor lost in a small Midwestern town. Skip Greer will direct.
Next will be the world premiere of The Magician’s Daughter (Jan. 24-Feb. 10, 2019), by Lila Rose Kaplan. The play, inspired by Shakespeare’s The Tempest, is a magic show about how a man’s addiction affects his relationship with his daughter.
Following will be Stephen Karam’s The Humans (Feb. 19-March 17, 2019), a co-production with Syracuse Stage, about a family from Pennsylvania who gather in New York City to celebrate Thanksgiving and share a meal that reveals some family secrets. Cuddy will direct.
Next up will be Karen Zacarías’ Native Gardens (March 26-April 21, 2019), a co-production with Syracuse Stage, about a dispute over a fence that erupts when a Latino couple moves next door to a well-established family and their prize-winning garden in Washington, D.C. Melissa Crespo will direct.
The season will continue with Marco Ramirez’s The Royale (April 11-28, 2019), produced in partnership with the Kitchen Theatre Company, about the first African-American boxing competing to be the heavyweight champion of the world. Pirronne Yousefzadeh will direct.
The mainstage season will conclude with the world premiere of Revival: The Resurrection of Son House (May 1-June 2, 2019), written and directed by Keith Glover, with music by Son House, Billy Thompson, and Glover. The show, commissioned by Geva, is a celebration of blues legend Son House, who inspired generations of blues artists from B.B. King, Eric Clapton, and Bonnie Raitt, to Susan Tedeschi, Joe Bonamassa, and Jack White.
Additional programming will include the Festival of New Theatre (Oct. 29-Nov. 11), a showcase of new plays and projects currently in development.
For the holidays, Geva Theatre Center will present A Christmas Carol (Nov. 29-Dec, 29), adapted by Cuddy from Charles Dickens, with music and lyrics by Gregg Coffin. Cuddy will direct.
The programming will also include the return of Erma Bombeck: At Wit’s End (March 12-31, 2019), by Margaret Engel and Allison Engel, about a housewife and who champions the lives of women with her truthful humor column. Pam Sherman will star, and Cuddy will direct.
Founded in 1972, Geva Theatre Center is dedicated to creating and producing new and classic works.
