Theatre Three’s 2016-2017 season will feature two premieres by Texas playwrights, including Pulitzer winner and Theatre Three alumna Beth Henley.
It will be the first full season chosen by acting artistic director Bruce Coleman, who took over after founder Jac Alder’s death last year. Coleman also wrote Day Light, a new drama premiering on Nov. 17. Henley, an SMU graduate who cut her teeth at Theatre Three, wrote Laugh, a comedy set in 1920s Hollywood making its Southwest premiere on Jan. 5.
The classic 1940s dramedy Susan and God and three musicals, including an adaptation of Adam Sandler’s The Wedding Singer, round out the seven-show season. The add-on Psycho Beach Party raises the curtain in June.
Here’s a video announcement from Theatre Three, followed by the press release:
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DALLAS, TEXAS: Theatre Three unmasked seven productions, plus a curtain raiser, to be produced as part of the 2016-17 “Season of Masquerade” via video announcement on social media platforms at noon on Monday, March 21. The new season features three musicals, The Wedding Singer, Passing Strange and A Little Night Music; two premieres by Texan playwrights, Day Light and Laugh; and The Novelist, Susan and God, and Psycho Beach Party (special curtain raiser). All Theatre Three productions are performed on the Norma Young Arena Stage at Theatre Three (2800 Routh Street, Ste. #168, Dallas, Texas 75201). Theatre Three will announce their upcoming productions for the intimate downstairs space, Theatre Too, at a later date.
Season ticket packages for all seven shows start at $70. The curtain raiser production can be added to the subscription for only $20. Season tickets are available for purchase April 28 through the Theatre Three Box Office at 214.871.3300, option #1.
Theatre Three Acting Artistic Director Bruce R. Coleman states, “In the thirty years I have been associated with Theatre Three, I have been consistently impressed with the quality of our patrons. They are funny, intelligent, curious, thoughtful, opinionated, adventurous and dedicated. As we navigate our way forward, I kept these good folks in mind. Our patrons are part of the Theatre Three triad – author, artist and audience. I feel that by putting together such a diverse mix of plays and musicals, classics and premieres, comedies and dramas – we have paid tribute to this long relationship between Theatre Three and its audience while continuing to take the theatre into the future.”
About the Shows:
PSYCHO BEACH PARTY | CURTAIN RAISER ADD ON SHOW
A hilarious camp comedy by Charles Busch (JUNE 23 – JULY 10, 2016)
Gidget goes berserk in this hilarious and outrageous mash-up of Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello and the “Three Faces of Eve”! Busch knows how to stuff a wild bikini with psychotic glee! This bawdy romp will feature legendary Dallas illusionist Coy Covington at his Joan Crawford best! Join us for this super-hot, super fun, twist-and-shout in the summer sun!7-SHOW SEASON PACKAGE
THE NOVELIST
A comedy-drama by award winning playwright Theresa Rebeck (AUGUST 4-28, 2016)
THE NOVELIST finds Paul, a Nobel-winning novelist suffering from writer’s block, his elegant but feisty wife, two sons (an actor and an antique dealer) and the actor’s girlfriend all together for the first time in ages. Enter Paul’s new assistant, a talented and passionate writing student. What could possibly go wrong? Bitter and funny chaos ensues.THE WEDDING SINGER
A musical by Matt Sklar, Tim Herlihy and Chad Beguelin (SEPTEMBER 22 – OCTOBER 16, 2016)
Let’s go back to the 1980s, a time when hair was big, greed was good, collars were popped, and a wedding singer might just be the coolest guy in the room. Based on the hit Adam Sandler movie, THE WEDDING SINGER’S score is one of the best in the last ten years! It’s energetic. It’s rowdy. It’s romantically sweet. Altogether, it is hilarious good fun!DAY LIGHT | World Premiere
A new play by Bruce R. Coleman (NOVEMBER 17 – DECEMBER 11, 2016)
DAY LIGHT takes us to Junction Pass, a small ranching town in the Texas panhandle, 1867. As the Poteet family braces itself against a massive blizzard, dark secrets, hidden desires and unbridled emotion boil to the surface, threatening to tear the family apart. DAY LIGHT challenges our ideas of how we get to happiness and how we become the people we are meant to be.LAUGH | Southwest Regional Premiere
A new comedy by Pulitzer Prize winner and Theatre Three alumna Beth Henley (JANUARY 5-29, 2017)
LAUGH focuses on two innocents, Mabel and Roscoe, as they set off for Hollywood circa 1920 seeking fame and fortune. The kaleidoscopic array of characters they meet along the way threaten their quest for happiness on the silver screen. Ms. Henley has created a modern day Odyssey where nothing and no one is exactly as they seem. Written with a glorious ear for dialogue and style to burn, LAUGH is a truly compelling and fascinating fable.PASSING STRANGE
Book and lyrics by Stew with music by Stew and Heidi Rodewald (MARCH 1-26, 2017)
A fresh and exciting Tony Award winner from singer-songwriter and performance artist Stew! PASSING STRANGE takes us on a journey across boundaries of place, identity and theatrical convention. Stew brings us the story of a young bohemian who charts a course for “the real” through sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll. Infectious, exhilarating, deeply spiritual and emotional, you will never forget PASSING STRANGE!SUSAN AND GOD
A classic 1940s comedy-drama by Rachel Crothers (APRIL 20 – MAY 14, 2017)
Susan, a young wealthy New York socialite, lives only for Susan. When she discovers a new religious cult, she dives head first into her latest fad. Eager to spread the word of her transformation, Susan goes straight to her closest friends, who are, as usual, less than enthusiastic about her newest pastime. It’s a sparkling and sophisticated comedy that you’re sure to love.A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC
Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by Hugh Wheeler (JUNE 8 – JULY 2, 2017)
Anne is married to Fredrik. Fredrik loves Desiree. Desiree is sleeping with Carl-Magnus. Carl- Magnus is wed to Charlotte. And Charlotte cannot be bothered with any of it. Couples intertwine, intersect and swap spouses in this sumptuous turn-of-the-century fairy tale for adults! It is mischief set to three-quarter time! Lush, luxurious and hopelessly romantic, A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC is the perfect coda to a fabulous season.
