TheatreWorks New Milford Proudly Announces Its 2009 Season

Thank you, thank you, and thank you! We’re taking a bow before you, our beloved audience members, because your love of the arts, highly polished staged productions, and TheatreWorks itself, made 2008 our most highly attended season in our 41-year history! But actions speak louder than words. And as such, we felt it only proper to offer you the finest selection of shows for our 42nd season, chosen after months of meticulous deliberation.

Please note that 2009 Season Tickets are already are on sale as are individual tickets. Remember, you can opt to purchase a Flex Ticket for the season, which admits you to one comedy, one drama, and our musical…so you choose the shows you want to see for less.

TheatreWorks President, Richard Pettibone, said of our upcoming season, “While the current economic environment remains precarious, it’s a fact that our audience members can take in one of our 2009 shows ― which includes classics like Kiss Me, Kate to searing dramas like Doubt ­― for about one-sixth of the cost it takes to see a show in New York, including parking and travel. Our upcoming season is simply a great alternative to get away from the everyday doldrums and enjoy a great night of live performance. Please spread the word: Broadway-Caliber theater exists right here in New Milford, Connecticut.”

The Season kicks off in February with David Lindsay-Abaire’s, Rabbit Hole, under the direction of Susan Pettibone. Winner of the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Rabbit Hole charts the journey of Becca and Howie Corbett, a typical, suburban couple from Westchester County whose world is turned upside down in the wake of a life-shattering accident. Without sentimentality or mawkishness, Lindsay-Abaire weaves a simple and honest tale of loss filled with brilliant dialogue, all-too-familiar characters, unexpected laughter, and an overriding sense of hope for Becca and Howie’s uncertain future.

In May comes the comedy The Fourth Wall by “Sylvia”playwright A.R. Gurney, under the direction of Sonnie Osborne. Peggy, an idyllic upper-middle-class housewife who usually possesses exquisite taste, is overcome by a mysterious impulse to redecorate her living room as if it were a stage set. All who enter begin to behave as if they were acting in a play, or even a musical when someone feels the urge to sing a Cole Porter song. Unable to cope any further, Peggy’s confused husband Roger summons an old friend and an aloof theatre professor who Roger hopes can “Doctor” Peggy’s play and bring it to a close, so Roger and Peggy can get on with their so-called “normal” lives.

In July, Doubt: A Parable, the popular and riveting drama by John Patrick Shanley, will open at TheatreWorks with director Alicia Dempster at the helm. Doubt is set in a Bronx Catholic school in 1964 and concerns Father Flynn, an amiable new priest who believes the clergy should be thought of “as members of the family” to its congregation. His forward-thinking views immediately clash with those of Sister Aloysius ― the authoritarian principal who favors discipline over compassion. The conflict mounts towards an explosive climax when Aloysius accuses Flynn of “interfering” with a student based on unproven evidence. This captivating drama captured both the Tony Award for Best Play and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2005.

September will see the opening of the classic Broadway musical, Kiss Me, Kate, with William Shakespeare’s classic “The Taming of the Shrew” as its foundation and Music & Lyrics by the immortal Cole Porter. The team of director Bradford Blake and musical director Charles Smith will lead this audience favorite. Big-time actors Lilli Vanessi and Fred Graham are formerly-married, constantly battling, and now forced to reunite for a new musical version of…what else? “The Taming of the Shrew”! Their onstage tussles as Shakespeare’s Katherine and Petruchio are nothing compared to their offstage affairs, backstage brawls, and hilarious misunderstandings. The enduring Tony Award-winning score includes hits such as “Another Op'nin, Another Show,” “Why Can't You Behave?”, and “Brush Up Your Shakespeare.”

Finally, in December, Alan Ayckbourn’s (a.k.a. “The British Neil Simon”) tale of Holiday dysfunctionality, Season’s Greetings rounds out the season under the direction of Glenn R. Couture. It’s just a typical English Christmas at Belinda and Neville’s quaint country home. Uncle Harvey is glued to the TV watching a non-stop marathon of action films. Neville’s friend Eddie and his wife Patti are practically at each others throats. Dr. Bernard is involved in an unintentionally hysterical rehearsal of a sixteen-scene puppet show of “The Three Little Pigs,”while his wife Phyllis slowly gets sloshed on the cooking wine. Yes, it all sounds pretty normal until Belinda’s sister Rachel invites Clive to the home — a writer friend no one knows — and then things really go awry.

We hope you’ll be able to make 2009 even better than 2008. Either way, we can’t wait to see you at the show!

Current Production December 5, 12, 13, 19, 20, 21, 31* Fri & Sat - 8:00 PM / Sun - 2:00 PM Where: TheatreWorks $20.00 / *New Year's Eve Gala: $50.00 / $30.00 Subscribers Reserved Seating Click Here for details on NYE gala.

2009 Season Shows

February 20 - March 14

May 1 - 23

July 10 - August 1

September 25 - October 24

December 4 - 31