Artists Repertory Theatre '08-'09 Season

[Van]

Inspired Soundlights post I thought I'd do one of my own.

Artists Repertory Theatre is proud to announce its 2008 - 2009 Season.

If you'd like to watch a video of the season announcement please follow this link;
http://www.artistsrep.org/2009_season.html

For the rest of you;

Blackbird by David Harrower Sept 3 - Oct 12

Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl Sept 16 - Oct 26 < hoping to design this one>

Holidazed by Marc Acito Nov 18 - December 28 a world premiere

The Seafarer by Conor McPhearson Jan 6 - Feb 15 west coast premiere

String Of Pearls by Michele Lowe Jan 27 - Mar 8 West Coast Premiere

Distracted by Lisa Loomer Apr 14 - May 24

Three Sisters By Anton Chekhov A commissioned adaptation by Tracy Letts. May 5 - Jun 14

and
Speech & Debate by Stephen Karam West Coast premiere dates and venue TBA


It looks to be a busy and fascinating season. As always if you're in the area and want to see a show, take a tour, or just say hi, don't hesitate to stop by or call.

[derekleffew]

I think I like Alex's PTC season better. Sorry.

[gafftaper]

"The Seafarer"
That wouldn't be the life story of Captain Bogg would it? I'm SO there if it is!


Interesting that there are so many new shows in the list. Do you typically not do a lot of "safe standards"... like a certain theater in Salt Lake City?

Is it the job of your second stage to do new works and the main stage to do the better known works?

[Van]

Originally Posted by gafftaper

"The Seafarer"
That wouldn't be the life story of Captain Bogg would it? I'm SO there if it is!


Interesting that there are so many new shows in the list. Do you typically not do a lot of "safe standards"... like a certain theater in Salt Lake City?

Is it the job of your second stage to do new works and the main stage to do the better known works?

Most of our focus tends to be bringing brand new works to Portland / the West Coast. I have to say we probably pay more in royalties every year than a lot of theatres twice our size. Artists Reps mission statemant is as follows;

Mission Statement

Artists Repertory Theatre challenges artists and audiences with adventurous and provocative plays staged in an intimate environment. We offer surprising experiences that expand hearts and minds. Artists rep feeds our community’s artistic soul with premieres, re-imagined classics, new play development, and educational outreach.

So as you can see we we do a LOT of new stuff.

No The Seafarer is about four sailors playing poker then a a guy shows up on a dark and stormy night. It's apparently Very good. Cap'n Bogg and Salty just closed a performance at the Keller Auditorium which they produced with Oregon Childrens Theatre, Ghosts of Treasure Island, in which they, the band, played several roles.

[porkchop]

Speech & Debate sounds very interesting, doubt I'll find myself in the area come show time, but if our paths happen to cross durring the run I'll have to go see it.

[Van]

Interestingly enough it's set in Salem, Oregon which is 30 minutes to the south of us. Although I didn't get to see it when it was running in New York, our associate artistic director, Jon Kretzu, did. The original broadway production was apparently a smash hit, and the venue only sat something like 65 people, so getting tickets was nigh near impossible. It looks to be a really fun project as we are hoping to stage it in one of our rehersal halls or very large offic commons areas, we have several of those, to give a real classroom feel.

[icewolf08]

Originally Posted by gafftaper

Interesting that there are so many new shows in the list. Do you typically not do a lot of "safe standards"... like a certain theater in Salt Lake City?

It actually was a big decision to do a season of "standards" but is has a lot to do with the competition in SLC next year and the tour a certain show that tends to defy gravity. Our goal is to hold onto season ticket holders, and these are the shows they like to see (as opposed to the current season with a bunch of newer or less known shows that no one came to).

[Van]

Originally Posted by icewolf08

It actually was a big decision to do a season of "standards" but is has a lot to do with the competition in SLC next year and the tour a certain show that tends to defy gravity. Our goal is to hold onto season ticket holders, and these are the shows they like to see (as opposed to the current season with a bunch of newer or less known shows that no one came to).

For Regional theatres it's always a difficult tightrope walk balancing between, "give the people what they want, musiclas and comedies." or "give the people what is good and they don't yet know that they want"
I think it's one of the hardest jobs in the theatre, coordinating between Artistic, Marketing, and Customer service. It take a major collaboration to figure out how to layout a season, I know our directors labor over the decision for months.