THE LYRIC STAGE COMPANY ANNOUNCES TWO
ADDITIONS FOR 2006-2007 SEASON
(BOSTON) – The Lyric Stage Company is pleased to announce two additional shows for its 2006-2007 Season: Souvenir: A Fantasia on the Life of Florence Foster Jenkins by Stephen Temperley, and the classic comedy Arms and the Man by George Bernard Shaw. The previously announced productions are the Tony Award-winning musical 1776 by Peter Stone and Sherman Edwards, and the New England premieres of Heather Raffo's Nine Parts of Desire and See What I Wanna See with words and music by Michael John LaChiusa. Two more selections will be announced as soon as possible to complete the season.
Souvenir is the hilarious portrayal of the wealthy, eccentric music-lover, Florence Foster Jenkins, who became famous for her annual recitals and concerts in the 1930s and ‘40s. Despite the fact that she could not carry a tune, New York society flocked to attend her charity performances which achieved cult-status, culminating in a sold-out performance at Carnegie Hall, and she recorded several popular albums (The Glory ??? of the Human Voice and Murder on the High Cs). This funny and poignant new play with music previously received critically acclaimed productions at the York Theatre Company, the Berkshire Theatre Festival, and on Broadway in 2005. Local favorite Leigh Barrett (currently starring in Ragtime at the New Rep) will play Mrs. Jenkins, and Producing Artistic Director Spiro Veloudos will direct.
First produced in London in 1894 and published in the collection Plays Pleasant in 1898, George Bernard Shaw's masterpiece of comedic drama Arms and the Man is said to be his most popular and most successful play. Set in war-torn Bulgaria in the mid-1880s, a young woman's overly idealistic and romantic notions of both love and war are turned upside down when a handsome enemy soldier appears at her bedroom window. Shaw takes the title for this charming comedy from Virgil's ode to the heroics of war, The Aeneid (“Of arms and the man I sing”) and uses it ironically to highlight the foolishness and foibles of war and love.
Season ticket packages are now on sale at the Lyric Stage Company Box Office at 140 Clarendon Street and by phone at 617.585.5678. Additional information can be found on our website at www.lyricstage.com.
About the Lyric's 2006-2007 Season
1776
Music and lyrics by Sherman Edwards
Book by Peter Stone
Directed by Spiro Veloudos
Musical Direction by Jonathan Goldberg
Choreography by Ilyse Robbins
September 8 – October 14, 2006
TONY AWARD WINNER FOR BEST MUSICAL
It's the sweltering summer of 1776, and the second Congressional Congress has convened to discuss, argue about, and vote on declaring independence from the tyranny of Britain. Massachusetts' own John Adams – obnoxious, disliked, compelling, and heroic – must convince his peers to take this bold step using sheer determination and power of persuasion. Told with humor, wit, powerful emotions, and wonderful songs, 1776 is a stirring celebration of our nation's birth and the passion, patriotism, and courage of our founding fathers.
“You have to love this musical... It's a dazzling Fourth of July fireworks display, but one that leaves a glowing afterimage of a proud history." – New York Post
Heather Raffo's
Nine Parts of Desire
October 20 – November 18, 2006
NEW ENGLAND PREMIERE
Iraqi-American journalist, playwright, and actor Heather Raffo spent eleven years conducting dozens of interviews with a cross-section of Iraqi women, and her resulting play lifts the veil on exactly what it means to be a woman in the age-old war zone that is Iraq. The powerful and heartbreaking stories of survival of these Iraqi women will forever change your view on the politics and people of the Middle East.
“A triumph! An example of how art can remake the world.” – The New Yorker
See What I Wanna See
Words and music by Michael John LaChiusa
Directed by Stephen Terrell
January 5 – February 3, 2007
NEW ENGLAND PREMIERE
Two adulterous lovers. A mysterious murder in Central Park. The miracle of a devastated city's rebirth. Based on three short stories by the Japanese writer Ryonosuke Akutgawa, See What I Wanna See is a fascinating and provocative exploration of truth and our subjective perceptions of the world, complete with a lush, contemporary, and jazzy score from Michael John LaChiusa (Broadway's The Wild Party, Hello Again), one of the country's most admired and most discussed theatre artists.
“An intelligent, adult musical that entertains and astonishes at the same time.” –Associated Press
Souvenir: A Fantasia on the Life of Florence Foster Jenkins
A new play with music by Stephen Temperley
Directed by Spiro Veloudos
Featuring Leigh Barrett
Spring 2007
BOSTON PREMIERE
Real-life eccentric heiress Florence Foster Jenkins fancied herself a coloratura soprano – but the exact opposite was true! Despite being called “majestically awful,” her concerts in the 1930s and ‘40s, including a legendary appearance at Carnegie Hall, were not only sold-out, but were attended by the crème de la crème of New York society. Told affectionately through the eyes of her longtime accompanist Cosme McMoon, Souvenir is the sweet and inspiring, and yes, hilarious, portrait of a passionate music lover who believed that “what matters most is the music you hear in your head.”
“If you're lucky enough to see Souvenir, you'll laugh until you cry! It's downright hilarious! There aren't many theatrical experiences as good as Souvenir!”
- The Boston Globe
Arms and the Man
by George Bernard Shaw
Spring 2007
Young and idealistic Raina Petkoff is devoted to her fiancé, Sergius, a recent hero in the 1885 Balkan wars. But her world is forever changed when a pragmatic enemy soldier who prefers carrying chocolates to bullets bursts into her bedroom in the middle of the night seeking refuge. As Raina and her “chocolate cream soldier” find unexpected love, master playwright G. B. Shaw skewers the so-called heroics of war, the ideals of perfect love, and middle-class pretensions in this delightfully witty romantic comedy. All's fair in love and war!
“Arms and the Man remains hugely entertaining – remarkably resilient after more than 100 years!”
- The New York Times
About the Lyric Stage Company of Boston
Boston's oldest professional theatre company, the Lyric Stage Company of Boston is dedicated to presenting a wide range of plays and musicals of the highest quality, including world premieres, regional premieres, and classics, that are entertaining, challenging, and provocative. Founded in 1974, the Lyric Stage Company is deeply committed to nurturing the talents of Boston area theatre artists through employment, training, and development opportunities. Under the leadership of Producing Artistic Director Spiro Veloudos and Managing Director Sara S. Glidden, the Lyric Stage Company presents seven shows each season to an annual audience of over 40,000, including 2,000 season ticket holders, in an intimate 240-seat theatre located in the YWCA Building at 140 Clarendon Street. In addition to presenting seven productions a year, the Lyric Stage Company offers the special programs Growing Voices, a new play development program to develop and nurture local writers and their work and to contribute to the body of American plays and musicals; Lyric First Stage, an educational summer program for teens; and Lyric First Curtain, to provide performance and enrichment experiences to youth. Highly acclaimed for the breadth and variety of its high quality productions, the Lyric Stage Company is the recipient of ten Elliot Norton Awards and 26 Independent Reviewers of New England (IRNE) Awards.
The Lyric Stage Company is supported in part by a grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency, and the Boston Cultural Council, a program of the Mayor's Office on Arts, Tourism, and Special Events, a municipal agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council.
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