The Laguna Playhouse is pleased to announce its 2012-2013 season - a season filled with award-winning writers, directors and acting ensembles. The 2012-2013 season begins July 3 with the world premiere of Roger Bean's The Marvelous Wonderettes: Caps & Gowns, as we join the ladies of Springfield High for graduation and a few more special occasions wrapped in musical magic. Other sensational shows on the season schedule include Alfred Hitchcock's award-winning The 39 Steps, and seasonal favorite with four-part harmony troupe "The Plaids" in Plaid Tidings, A Special Holiday Edition of Forever Plaid. 2013 is welcomed by former Artistic Director Andrew Barnicle, directing Neil Simon's Chapter Two, followed by the new hit musical Having It All, produced in association with local Laguna Beach resident and theatre impresario David Elzer, with original cast and score. Steel Magnolia's completes the season in true classic southern style as Laguna Playhouse Artistic Director Ann E. Wareham custom crafts this flagship production with award-winning director Jenny Sullivan at the helm. The ladies of Chinquapin Parish are prepared to take Laguna by storm and Ann has some casting surprises in store for this production.
"Our six play subscription season promises to be a delight and we hope all will join us again this year," offers Executive Director Karen Wood. "Plus we have the Youth theatre productions, the wonderful community collaborations with Laguna Beach Live, Laguna Dance Festival and Laguna Concert Band, and three special events to round out our year. It's a baker's dozen; art and entertainment at its' finest in your back yard!"
Plan early to attend playhouse special engagements of Rita Rudner: Act 3 (August 24, 25 & 26, 2012), The Lonesome Travelers in Concert (August 28 - September 2, 2012), and Late Night Catechism Las Vegas: Sister Rolls the Dice! (June 4 - June 23, 2013).
Artistic Director, Ann E. Wareham offers "I'm excited about our upcoming season. We're mounting and producing most of them, and we've got something for everyone: Fantastic singing; music, familiar and brand new; heartfelt comedy; poignant drama that delivers laughter as well and some clever, clever antics. When you add to this our community partnerships, I feel confident that we are offering a well-rounded theatergoing experience for the 2012-13 season."
The Laguna Playhouse 2012 / 2013 Season:
Marvelous Wonderettes: Caps & Gowns
July 3 - 29, 2012
Created & Directed by Roger Bean
The Marvelous Wonderettes - Caps & Gowns takes you to the Springfield High School graduation where we reunite with the Wonderettes, four girls with hopes and dreams as big as their crinoline skirts! As we learn about their lives and loves, we are treated to the girls performing classic '50s and '60s songs such as "River Deep, Mountain High", "Dedicated To The One I Love", "Rockin' Robin" and over 20 other classic hits! You will never forget The Marvelous Wonderettes-a must-take musical trip down memory lane!
Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps
September 25 - October 21, 2012
Adapted by Patrick Barlow
Directed by Kevin Bigger
Winner of two Tony and Drama Desk Awards and London's Oliver Award for Best New Comedy, The 39 Steps is packed with laughs, thrills and over 150 unique characters! Alfred Hitchcock's award-winning The 39 Steps is Broadway's longest-running comedy thriller. Performed by a cast of four, The 39 Steps follows a man with a boring life as he meets a woman with a thick accent who says she's a spy. When he takes her home, she is murdered. Soon after, a mysterious organization called "The 39 Steps" is hot on the man's trail in an action-packed nationwide manhunt.
Plaid Tidings - A Special Holiday Edition of Forever Plaid
November 27 - December 23, 2012
Written by Stuart Ross
The hilarious, heavenly quartet is returning to The Laguna Playhouse to croon their tight swingin' harmonic renditions of musical hits from the '50s and '60s. This nostalgic holiday extravaganza is the very best of Forever Plaid wrapped up in a nifty package with a big bow on top! Stuffed with such "Plaid-erized" Christmas standards as "Mr. Santa," "Let It Snow" and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," in four part harmony as only the Plaids can do, Plaid Tidings is one holiday treat that is truly heaven sent.
Chapter Two
January 8 - February 3, 2013
Written by Neil Simon
Directed by Andrew Barnicle
Finding his way through life changes in the pre Match.com era, Chapter Two is Neil Simon's semi-autobiographical comedy about George, a middle-aged writer who is trying to deal with life after his wife's untimely death. His brother Leo, a born matchmaker, is determined to help George get out of his emotional tailspin by setting him up on unwanted and unsuccessful dates. Eventually, Leo comes up with Jennie Malone, and she actually turns out to be a winner. Be a front row witness to George's witty and all too recognizable journey of contradictory impulses between embracing a new and exciting future with Jennie or remaining faithful to the loving memory of his past.
Having It All
March 5 - 31, 2013
Music by John Kavanaugh
Lyrics by David Goldsmith
Book by David Goldsmith & Wendy Perelman
Conceived by Wendy Perelman
Directed by Richard Israel
Can't take flight? Neither can these five women trapped together in a boarding area at JFK airport, each with their own hopes, secrets, and desires. This original musical comes to life when this unexpected airport delay forces them to get to know each other in more ways than one. As they share their stories and dreams, they ultimately change one another's destinations for the better, while discovering that they may in fact, already be "having it all".
Steel Magnolias
April 30 - May 26, 2013
Written by Robert Harling
Directed by Jenny Sullvian
This heartwarming true story follows a group of friends who gather each week at a salon in Chinquapin Parish, Louisiana. Truvy dispenses shampoo and advice to Ouiser, the town curmudgeon ("I'm not crazy; I've just been in a bad mood for forty years"). Miss Clairee, an eccentric millionaire with a sweet tooth, and M'Lynn, whose daughter Shelby is about to get married. Tough as steel and fragile as the blossoms of magnolia trees, these hilarious characters gossip, tease, laugh, fight, cajole, and comfort each other as they go through life's big joys and challenges.