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The cast of In Your Arms, 2015. Photo by Carol Rosegg.
The cast of In Your Arms, 2015. Photo by Carol Rosegg.
SAN DIEGO (May 4, 2018; updated on October 9, 2018)—The Old Globe today announced its 2018–2019 Season, a marvelous array of world, American, and West Coast premieres that features hilarious, heartwarming, and provocative works that span eras and continents, genres and cultures, personal experiences and big national themes…and Shakespeare, of course!
“The Old Globe’s 2018–2019 Season showcases the wonders and excitements of American theatre at its very best,” said Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein. “Our slate of shows once again demonstrates why this is one of our country’s preeminent theatres. The season includes powerful and engaging world premieres, musical theatre of the highest caliber, hilarious comedy, and deep feeling, all created by artists of national and international renown. This remarkable body of work continues to demonstrate the Globe’s commitment to programming a diverse lineup, in every sense of that word. There are works in many genres that tell stories through varied theatrical forms. And there are stories that range across history and the full spectrum of the human experience as they model on our stages the pluralistic America in which we live. This is theatre that matters: witty, engaging, fun, tuneful, thoughtful, and provocative. There’s something for every San Diegan in this season, and I am thrilled to bring the bounty of all of these works to our great, loyal, and growing audience.”
The 2018–2019 Season kicks off with the previously announced world premiere of the dynamic and hilarious new musical The Heart of Rock & Roll, an electrifying musical comedy inspired by the songs of one of pop music’s most beloved bands. After trading in his guitar for a stable job “Workin’ for a Livin’” in corporate America, will Bobby take a last shot at rock-and-roll glory with his old band, or risk it all for “The Power of Love”? Rediscover classic songs in this musical inspired by the music of Huey Lewis and the News, featuring a book by Jonathan Abrams and story by Tyler Mitchell and Jonathan Abrams. It will be directed by Gordon Greenberg with choreography by Lorin Latarro and music supervision, arrangements, and orchestrations by Brian Usifer. Presented by special arrangement with Tyler Mitchell and Tamar Climan, The Heart of Rock & Roll will run September 6 – October 21, 2018 on the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage in the Old Globe Theatre, part of the Globe’s Conrad Prebys Theatre Center, opening on September 14.
Expanding the Globe celebration of the holidays for 2018 is a world premiere American musical about family, loyalty, and the magic of Christmas. Looking for Christmas: The New Clint Black Christmas Musical is inspired by the country music legend’s 1995 chart-topping holiday album. As Staff Sergeant Mike Randolf returns home from Afghanistan, his young daughter’s search for the true meaning of Christmas helps him make peace with his past on the battlefield. With music and lyrics by Clint Black, book by James D. Sasser with Black, based on an idea by Sasser and Black, music supervision by Charles Vincent Burwell, and directed by Kent Nicholson, Looking for Christmas will run November 13 – December 16, 2018 in the Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, Conrad Prebys Theatre Center, opening on November 20.
2019 will begin with a funny, warmhearted look at tradition, marriage, and what it means to be an American family, Familiar by Tony Award nominee Danai Gurira (Broadway’s Eclipsed, Black Panther, “The Walking Dead”). The New York Times calls it “an engrossing, fiercely funny comedy–drama that probes with subtlety and smarts.” Familiar will run January 26 – March 3, 2019 on the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage, Old Globe Theatre, Conrad Prebys Theatre Center, opening on January 31.
Making its West Coast premiere is Tiny Beautiful Things, based on the best-selling book by Cheryl Strayed, adapted for the stage by Academy Award nominee Nia Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding). Tiny Beautiful Things follows the relationships between an anonymous advice columnist named Sugar and the many real-life readers who pour out their hearts to her, in an enrapturing and uplifting play that surges with emotion and is called by Variety “a theatrical hug in turbulent times.” Co-conceived by Marshall Heyman, Thomas Kail (Hamilton), and Vardalos and directed by Globe favorite James Vásquez (American Mariachi, The Grinch), Tiny Beautiful Things will run February 9 – March 10, 2019 in the Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, Conrad Prebys Theatre Center, opening onFebruary 14.
Crossing the border for its American premiere is Life After, a rapturously beautiful and stirring new musical withbook, music, and lyrics by Britta Johnson. The Globe’s own Barry Edelstein directs this bittersweet, witty, and life-affirming new musical that explores the mess and beauty of loss and love. The Toronto Star calls its composer “a startlingly talented emerging voice.” BroadwayWorld dubs Life After “musical theatre perfection…exquisite from start to finish.” Life After will run March 22 – April 28, 2019 on the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage, Old Globe Theatre, Conrad Prebys Theatre Center, opening on March 29.
Our first of two world premieres in the season that were developed in the Globe’s Powers New Voices Festival, Laurel Ollstein’s They Promised Her the Moon, wowed 2018 Festival audiences. In vividly theatrical terms, They Promised Her the Moon tells the unknown true story of Jerrie Cobb, an exceptional and unjustly overlooked woman—skilled aviator, world-record-holding pilot, successful business executive—who underwent the same rigorous psychological and physical NASA testing in 1960 as the famed “Mercury Seven,” and the powerful forces that kept her from reaching orbit. Directed by Giovanna Sardelli, They Promised Her the Moon will run April 6 – May 5, 2019 in the Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, Conrad Prebys Theatre Center, opening onApril 11.
“Save me, gods of ancient Greece!” Comic playwright Ken Ludwig, who delighted Globe audiences with Robin Hood! and Baskerville, returns with a knockabout world premiere: Ken Ludwig’s The Gods of Comedy. Presented in association with McCarter Theatre Center, Ken Ludwig’s The Gods of Comedy will run May 11 – June 16, 2019 on the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage, Old Globe Theatre, Conrad Prebys Theatre Center, opening on May 16. The Ivy League will never be the same as a pair of screwball deities encounters the carnal complexity of college coeds, campus capers, and conspicuous consumption.
What You Are is the second of the world premieres developed in the Globe’s Powers New Voices Festival, this one in 2017. The Globe-commissioned new play by JC Lee is a riveting, of-the-moment exploration of the personal struggles that accompany sweeping social change. Feeling adrift in a changing America he no longer recognizes, Don scrapes together a living and struggles to support his family through hard work and good intentions. What You Are will run May 23 – June 23, 2019 in the Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, Conrad Prebys Theatre Center, opening on May 30.
Everyone’s favorite Green Meanie is back to celebrate the holidays as Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas! returns to the Globe for its 21st incredible year, featuring the songs “Santa for a Day,” “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch,” and “Welcome, Christmas (Fah Who Doraze),” the delightful carol from the popular animated version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas! James Vásquez once again directs this wonderful, whimsical holiday musical, based upon the classic Dr. Seuss book, November 3 – December 29, 2018, opening November 8 on the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage, Old Globe Theatre, Conrad Prebys Theatre Center. Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas! has a book and lyrics by Timothy Mason, music by Mel Marvin, original production conceived and directed by Jack O’Brien, and original choreography by John DeLuca. As in years past, The Grinch will be performed on Saturday, December 1 for children on the autism spectrum and their families, as well as families with special needs that appreciate the welcoming and supportive environment this performance provides.
“Lord, what fools these mortals be!” No Globe season would be complete without William Shakespeare! The fifth annual Globe for All Tour will bring a free professional production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, directed by Patricia McGregor (Globe for All’s Measure for Measure, Hamlet at The Public Theater),to diverse, multigenerational audiences who may not have regular access to the performing arts. Fall under the spell of Shakespeare’s most uproarious and popular comedy. Filled with magic, humor, music, and magnificent poetry, this dream unfolds in an enchanted forest where fairies play tricks on unsuspecting lovers, and bumbling actors are transformed beyond their wildest imaginings. Add to this a secret potion that grants love at first sight, and anything can—and does—happen! This year’s 20-stop tour, which will culminate in two low-cost performances at The Old Globe, will run October 30 – November 18, 2018.
Globe for All is the centerpiece of The Old Globe’s commitment to creating public value by making theatre matter to more people. The tour, along with workshops and talkbacks, reaches thousands of people across San Diego County twice a year. Over the past four years, the Globe for All Tour has performed in military bases, homeless shelters, centers for the elderly, correctional facilities, recreation centers, libraries, and other community-based venues for more than 4,800 audience members, many seeing theatre for the first time.
“Cowards die many times before their deaths / The valiant never taste of death but once.” The illustrious The Old Globe and University of San Diego Shiley Graduate Theatre Program will present Shakespeare’s classic Julius Caesar. The Globe’s intimate arena stage will give you an up-close seat for Shakespeare’s masterful tale of cunning diplomacy, fast-shifting alliances, and the unpredictable consequences of betrayal. The classical actors of tomorrow will expertly perform one of the world’s great plays. Julius Caesar will run October 20 – 28, 2018 in the Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, Conrad Prebys Theatre Center.
A joint venture of the Globe and USD, the Shiley Graduate Theatre Program nationally recruits seven students each year to participate in an intensive two-year course of graduate study in classical theatre. Private funding for the Master of Fine Arts in Theatre program has been contributed through a generous endowment established by Donald and Darlene Shiley. Additional support for the program is provided by the Dorothy Brown Endowment Fund and the Louis Yager Cantwell Foundation.
For full show descriptions and bios of creative teams, please see the listings following.
SEASON SUBSCRIPTIONS offer substantial savings with special subscriber benefits. Subscription packages can be purchased online at www.TheOldGlobe.org, by phone at (619) 23-GLOBE [234-5623], or by visiting the Box Office at 1363 Old Globe Way in Balboa Park. Subscriptions to the Globe’s 2018–2019 Season range from $112 to $717. Single tickets for most shows begin at $30. Discounts are available for full-time students, patrons 29 years of age and under, seniors, military members, and groups of 10 or more.
LOCATION and PARKING INFORMATION: The Old Globe is located in San Diego’s Balboa Park at 1363 Old Globe Way. Through a special arrangement with the San Diego Zoo, Old Globe evening ticket-holders have the opportunity to pre-purchase valet parking in the Zoo’s employee parking structure. With a drop-off point just a short walk to the Globe, theatregoers may purchase fast, easy, convenient valet parking for just $14 per vehicle per evening. Pre-paid only, available only by phone through the Old Globe Box Office. Call (619) 234-5623 or visit www.theoldglobe.org/plan-your-visit/directions--parking/valet-parking. The Balboa Park valet is also available during weekend performances, located in front of the Japanese Friendship Garden. For additional parking information visit www.BalboaPark.org.
There are numerous free parking lots available throughout the park. Guests may also be dropped off in front of the Mingei International Museum. There is a 10-minute zone at The Old Globe, used only for daytime deliveries, ticket purchases, and handicapped access dropoff. For directions and up-to-date information, please visit www.theoldglobe.org/plan-your-visit/directions--parking/detailed-directions.
PLEASE NOTE: To look up online or GPS directions to The Old Globe, please do not use the Delivery Address above. For GPS users, please click here for the map coordinates, and here for written directions to The Old Globe and nearby parking in Balboa Park.
CALENDAR: The Wanderers (4/6–5/6), A Thousand Splendid Suns (5/12–6/17), AXIS: By the Community, For the Community (5/12), Native Gardens (5/26–6/24), AXIS: Kids’ Dance Party, Featuring Dance To EvOLve (6/12), The Tempest (6/17–7/22), AXIS: Make Music San Diego (6/21); Dr. Seuss’s The Lorax (7/2–8/12), AXIS: Fourth District Senior Center’s Globe Takeover, Featuring the Seasoned Line Dancers (7/10), Barefoot in the Park (7/28–8/26), Much Ado About Nothing (8/12–9/16), AXIS: LV’s Island Flair, Featuring Dance Lessons with Elvina Addams (8/21), The Heart of Rock & Roll (9/6–10/21), AXIS: Mexican Independence Day Celebration, Featuring Las Colibrí in Concert (9/15), 2018 Globe Gala featuring Andra Day (9/22), M.F.A.: Julius Caesar (10/20–10/28), AXIS: Day of the Dead Celebration (10/28), Globe for All Tour: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (10/30–11/18), Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (11/3–12/29), Looking for Christmas: The New Clint Black Christmas Musical (11/13–12/16), Familiar (1/26–3/3/2019), Tiny Beautiful Things (2/9–3/10), Life After (3/22–4/28), They Promised Her the Moon (4/6–5/5), Ken Ludwig’s The Gods of Comedy (5/11–6/16), What You Are (5/23–6/23).
PHOTO EDITORS: Digital images of The Old Globe’s productions are available at www.theoldglobe.org/press-room.
The Tony Award-winning Old Globe is one of the country’s leading professional regional theatres and has stood as San Diego’s flagship arts institution for over 80 years. Under the leadership of Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein and Managing Director Timothy J. Shields, The Old Globe produces a year-round season of 15 productions of classic, contemporary, and new works on its three Balboa Park stages: the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage in the 600-seat Old Globe Theatre and the 250-seat Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, both part of The Old Globe’s Conrad Prebys Theatre Center, and the 605-seat outdoor Lowell Davies Festival Theatre, home of its internationally renowned Shakespeare Festival. More than 250,000 people attend Globe productions annually and participate in the theatre’s artistic and arts engagement programs. Numerous world premieres such as the 2014 Tony Award winner for Best Musical, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, Meteor Shower, Bright Star, Allegiance, The Full Monty, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,and the annual holiday musical Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas! have been developed at The Old Globe and have gone on to enjoy highly successful runs on Broadway and at regional theatres across the country.
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THE OLD GLOBE’S 2018–2019 SEASON
Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage, Old Globe Theatre, Conrad Prebys Theatre Center
September 6 – October 21, 2018 (Opening night: Friday, September 14)
World premiere
The Heart of Rock & Roll
Inspired by the songs of Huey Lewis and the News
Book by Jonathan Abrams
Story by Tyler Mitchell and Jonathan Abrams
Directed by Gordon Greenberg
Choreography by Lorin Latarro
Music supervision, arrangements, and orchestrations by Brian Usifer
Presented by special arrangement with Tyler Mitchell and Tamar Climan
An electrifying world premiere musical comedy inspired by the songs of one of pop music’s most beloved bands. Mainstays on the Chicago dive bar circuit, Bobby and his band are hustling for their big break. But after their latest rejection, Bobby decides it’s “Hip to Be Square,” trades in his guitar, and starts “Workin’ for a Livin’” in corporate America. Now instead of hunting record deals, Bobby’s closing business deals and searching for the girl of his dreams. But when his bandmates reach out to play one last gig, will Bobby take a last crack at rock-and-roll glory, or risk it all for “The Power of Love”? Celebrate the classic songs of Huey Lewis and the News in this hilarious musical.
Huey Lewis is the iconic front man of the multi-Platinum, Grammy Award–winning, and Academy Award–nominated rock-and-roll band Huey Lewis and the News. Formed from two rival Bay Area bands in 1979, Huey Lewis and the News has sold over 30 million albums that produced nineteen Top 10 and three No. 1 hits, including the global smash “The Power of Love,” which was nominated for an Academy Award. Their landmark 1983 album Sports sold over 10 million copies in the U.S. alone and features four Billboard Top 100 hits: “If This Is It,” “Heart and Soul,” “I Want a New Drug,” and “The Heart of Rock & Roll.” Their follow-up album, Fore!, reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Top 200 with five singles on Billboard’s Top 10 singles chart, two of which were No. 1 hits: “Stuck with You” and “Jacob’s Ladder.” All five albums released by the band between 1982 and 1991 have been certified either Gold, Platinum, or Multi-Platinum. The band continues to tour the globe and thrill audiences worldwide.
Jonathan Abrams (Book, Story, The Heart of Rock & Roll) is a film and television writer and producer. He most recently wrote an original pilot, “Bishop,” for A&E Network and has developed dramas for FOX, ABC, NBC, and The CW. In feature films, he most recently wrote his original idea Diplomats for 20th Century Fox with Chernin Entertainment producing. He has sold or optioned numerous screenplays, including Relativity Media’s romantic comedy The Wedding Doctor, with Nicole Kidman attached to star.He was also a credited producer on Summit Entertainment’s Escape Plan franchise. He is a graduate of University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts.
Tyler Mitchell (Story, The Heart of Rock & Roll) has over two decades of experience in film and television as a producer, writer, and executive. His producing credits include The Incredible Burt Wonderstone starring Steve Carell and Jim Carrey; Lucky Number Slevin starring Josh Hartnett, Bruce Willis, Ben Kingsley, and Morgan Freeman; The Angriest Man in Brooklyn starring Robin Williams and Mila Kunis; and most recently the critically acclaimed film Maudie starring Sally Hawkins and Ethan Hawke. Mr. Mitchell’s television credits include NBC’s “Kidnapped” and “My Own Worst Enemy,” both of which he produced and wrote. As a production executive, Mr. Mitchell has overseen the development, production, and financing of many films, including The Butterfly Effect starring Ashton Kutcher and Amy Smart and The Rum Diary starring Johnny Depp and Aaron Eckhart. Mr. Mitchell is currently Senior Vice President of Imagine Entertainment, an award-winning film and television production company.
Gordon Greenberg (Director, The Heart of Rock & Roll) returns to The Old Globe, where he directed and wrote additional material for Working (co-adapted with Stephen Schwartz and Lin-Manuel Miranda), which went on to an extended run at Broadway in Chicago and later at 59E59 Theaters in New York (Drama Desk Award). His other directing and writing work includes this season’s London revival of Barnum (Menier Chocolate Factory), co-writing and directing the Broadway stage adaptation of The Secret of My Success (Universal Stage Productions), directing The Angel and Sparrow (Segal Centre in Montreal), writing the new book for Meet Me in St. Louis (The Muny’s 100th anniversary), directing and co-writing Mystic Pizza (MGM/The Araca Group), and co-writing Dracula! The Remix and Ebenezer Scrooge’s Big [your town here] Christmas Show! (Bucks County Playhouse). Mr. Greenberg co-wrote and directed last season’s Broadway stage adaptation of Irving Berlin’s Holiday Inn (Roundabout Theatre Company/Universal Stage Productions, PBS’s “Great Performances”) and directed the acclaimed West End revival of Guys and Dolls, which starred Rebel Wilson and received six Olivier Award nominations (West End, Chichester Festival Theatre). He also directed Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris (Drama Desk, Drama League, and Outer Critics Circle Award nominations) and the stage adaptation of Disney’s Tangled; co-wrote original movie musicals for Disney Channel and Nickelodeon; and directed regional work at Williamstown Theatre Festival, Paper Mill Playhouse, Goodspeed Musicals, Huntington Theatre Company, Signature Theatre Company, New York Stage and Film, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Capital Repertory Theatre, and more. He attended Stanford University and New York University and is a member of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, Writers Guild of America, and The Dramatists Guild of America.
Lorin Latarro (Choreography, The Heart of Rock & Roll) recently choreographed Broadway’s Waitress, Les Liaisons Dangereuse with Janet McTeer and Liev Schreiber, and Waiting for Godot with Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart, and she is the Associate Choreographer of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and American Idiot. Her additional choreography includes Chess (The Kennedy Center), Lin-Manuel Miranda’s 21 Chump Street for “This American Life” (Brooklyn Academy of Music), The Public Theater’s Twelfth Night and The Odyssey (Delacorte Theater), Queen of the Night (Diamond Horseshoe), Assassins, God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, and Fanny (City Center Encores!), Between the Lines (Kansas City Repertory Theatre), Beaches (Drury Lane Theatre), and A Christmas Carol (McCarter Theatre Center). Ms. Latarro is a Bucks County Playhouse Artistic Associate and a Juilliard School graduate. Her upcoming work includes La Traviata at The Metropolitan Opera. lorinlatrarro.com.
Brian Usifer (Music Supervision, Arrangements, and Orchestrations, The Heart of Rock & Roll) is a New York City–based music director, pianist, orchestrator, arranger, producer, and composer. He is currently the Music Director of Disney’s Frozen, which made its world premiere in Denver in summer 2017 before its opening on Broadway this season. He is also currently the Associate Music Supervisor of The Book of Mormon on Broadway and on tour, which won nine Tony Awards including Best Musical. Previously, Mr. Usifer was the Music Director of Kinky Boots on Broadway, which won six Tony Awards including Best Musical and Best Original Score; the cast recording won the 2014 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. He was also the show’s Associate Music Supervisor for the national tour and the productions in Toronto and on the West End, where it won the Olivier Award for Best New Musical. brianusifer.com.
November 3 – December 29, 2018 (Opening night: Thursday, November 8)
Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
Book and lyrics by Timothy Mason
Music by Mel Marvin
Original production conceived and directed by Jack O’Brien
Original choreography by John DeLuca
Directed by James Vásquez
Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas! is a wonderful, whimsical musical based upon the classic Dr. Seuss book. Back for its 21st incredible year, the family favorite features the songs “Santa for a Day,” “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch,” and “Welcome, Christmas (Fah Who Doraze),” the delightful carol from the popular animated version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas! Celebrate the holidays as the Old Globe Theatre is once again transformed into the snow-covered Whoville, right down to the last can of Who-hash.
As in years past, The Grinch will be performed on Saturday, December 1 at 10:30 a.m. for children on the autism spectrum and their families, as well as other families with special needs that may appreciate the welcoming and supportive environment this performance provides.
James Vásquez (Director, Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas!)previously directed The Old Globe’s American Mariachi, Rich Girl, Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas!,and Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show; and provided musical staging for the Globe’s The Comedy of Errors directed by Scott Ellis, Boeing-Boeing,and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. He will next associate direct Dr. Seuss’s The Lorax. With The Old Globe and University of San Diego Shiley Graduate Theatre Program, he has directed Clybourne Park and the world premiere of Keith Reddin’s Acquainted with the Night. He received two Craig Noel Awards for Outstanding Direction of a Musical: in 2018 for In the Heights (Moonlight Stage Productions) and in 2010 for Sweeney Todd (Cygnet Theatre Company); as well as nominations for the world premiere of Harmony, Kansas and the West Coast premiere of [title of show] (Diversionary Theatre). His other recent directing/choreography credits include American Mariachi (Denver Center for the Performing Arts Theatre Company), The Addams Family (Moonlight), West Side Story and Cats (San Diego Musical Theatre), Tell Me on a Sunday (Vista’s Broadway Theater), Pippin, the West Coast premiere of Birds of a Feather and Next Fall (Diversionary), and Hedwig and the Angry Inch and Pageant (Cygnet), as well as developmental workshops at La Jolla Playhouse and Goodspeed Musicals. Mr. Vásquez is co-founder of Daisy 3 Pictures. Their latest feature film, That’s What She Said, made its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. Mr. Vásquez is a graduate of The Juilliard School.
January 26 – March 3, 2019 (Opening night: Thursday, January 31)
Familiar
By Danai Gurira
Donald and his wife Marvelous have been living the American Dream since emigrating from Zimbabwe nearly three decades ago. They have a beautiful house and impressive careers, and now one of their daughters is getting married! But when the bride insists on a traditional African wedding ceremony, tensions start to rise. Throw in an eccentric aunt from the old country and a bewildered bridegroom, and soon it’s not certain the couple will ever make it down the aisle. Familiar, from Tony Award nominee Danai Gurira (Black Panther, “The Walking Dead”), takes a funny, warmhearted look at tradition, marriage, and what it means to be an American family. The New York Times calls it “an engrossing, fiercely funny comedy–drama that probes with subtlety and smarts.” Contains strong language.
Danai Gurira (Playwright, Familiar) is an award-winning playwright and actress. As a playwright, her works include In the Continuum (Obie Award, Outer Critics Circle Award, Helen Hayes Award), Eclipsed (Tony Award nomination for Best Play, NAACP Theatre Award, Helen Hayes Award for Best New Play, Connecticut Critics Circle Award: Outstanding Production – Play), and The Convert (six Ovation Awards, Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award). Her newest play, Familiar, received its world premiere at Yale Repertory Theatre in 2015 and premiered in New York at Playwrights Horizons in February 2016. She is the recipient of the Sam Norkin Award at the 2016 Drama Desk Awards, a Whiting Award, and a Hodder Fellowship, and she has been commissioned by Yale Repertory Theatre, Center Theatre Group, Playwrights Horizons, and Royal Court Theatre. As an actor, she currently co-stars in Marvel’s blockbuster phenomenon Black Panther as Okoye, opposite Michael B. Jordan, Chadwick Boseman, and Lupita Nyong’o; in Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War in that same role; and as Michonne on AMC’s “The Walking Dead” (NAACP Image Award nomination). Recently she also starred as Afeni Shakur in the Tupac Shakur biopic All Eyez on Me. Her other select acting credits include the films The Visitor and Mother of George, as well as playing Isabella in Shakespeare in the Park’s Measure for Measure (Joe A. Callaway Award). Born in the U.S. to Zimbabwean parents and raised in Zimbabwe, she holds an M.F.A. from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and serves as an ambassador for Bono’s ONE campaign. She is also the founder of LOGpledge.org, an awareness-building campaign focused on the plights of women and girls around the globe, and the co-founder of Almasi Arts, which works to give access and opportunity to the African dramatic artist. almasiartsalliance.org,@danaigurira on Twitter and Instagram, @DanaiGuriraOfficial on Facebook.
March 22 – April 28, 2019 (Opening night: Friday, March 29)
American premiere
Life After
Book, music, and lyrics by Britta Johnson
Directed by Barry Edelstein
Grieving the recent loss of her famous father, 16-year-old Alice begins to question the events surrounding his death and sets out to uncover what really happened on the night that changed her family forever. Britta Johnson’s Life After is a bittersweet, witty, and life-affirming new musical that explores the mess and beauty of loss and love. Through the vivid imagination of a young woman looking for the facts, we find a more complicated truth instead. The Old Globe’s Barry Edelstein directs the American premiere of this rapturously beautiful and stirring new musical from a composer the Toronto Star calls “a startlingly talented emerging voice.” BroadwayWorld dubs Life After “musical theatre perfection…exquisite from start to finish.”
Britta Johnson (Book, Music, and Lyrics, Life After) is a Toronto-based composer, lyricist, and writer. Her credits include Life After (Canadian Stage/The Musical Stage Company/Yonge Street Theatricals), Big Box Story (Stratford Festival), and Alligator Tears (Blyth Festival Theatre). Her credits with her sister Anika Johnson include Brantwood (Theatre Sheridan; Dora Mavor Moore Award for Audience Choice), Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang (Young People’s Theatre; Dora Award nominee Outstanding New Musical), Trap Door with book by Morris Panych (Theatre Sheridan), and the upcoming Dr. Silver: A Celebration of Life (The Musical Stage Company/Outside the March). Ms. Johnson also created Reframed with Sara Farb (Acting Up Stage Company/Art Gallery of Ontario; Dora Award nominee for Outstanding New Musical) and Stupidhead! with Katherine Cullen (Theatre Passe Muraille; Dora Award nominee Outstanding New Play). Last spring, she was librettist for choreographer Robert Binet’s adaptation of Kreutzer Sonata with Ballet Moscow. She is the Crescendo Artist-in-Residence with The Musical Stage Company in Toronto, which includes a commitment to produce three of her shows in three years.
Barry Edelstein (Director, Life After) is a stage director, producer, author, and educator. He has directed nearly half of the Bard’s plays. His Globe directing credits include the world premiere of The Wanderers, The Winter’s Tale, Othello, The Twenty-seventh Man, the world premiere of Rain, Picasso at the Lapin Agile, Hamlet, and the world premiere of The Wanderers. He also directed All’s Well That Ends Well as the inaugural production of the Globe for All community tour. As Director of the Shakespeare Initiative at The Public Theater (2008–2012), Mr. Edelstein oversaw all of the company’s Shakespearean productions as well as its educational, community outreach, and artist-training programs. At The Public, he staged the world premiere of The Twenty-seventh Man, Julius Caesar, The Merchant of Venice, Timon of Athens, and Steve Martin’s WASP and Other Plays. He was also Associate Producer of The Public’s Broadway production of The Merchant of Venice starring Al Pacino. From 1998 to 2003 he was Artistic Director of Classic Stage Company. His book Thinking Shakespeare is the standard text on American Shakespearean acting. He is also the author of Bardisms: Shakespeare for All Occasions. He is a graduate of Tufts University and the University of Oxford, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar.
May 11 – June 16, 2019 (Opening night: Thursday, May 16)
World premiere
Ken Ludwig’s The Gods of Comedy
By Ken Ludwig
In association with McCarter Theatre Center
Daphne and Ralph are young classics professors who have just made a discovery that’s sure to turn them into academic superstars: an ancient Greek manuscript of incalculable value. But clumsy Daphne has managed to misplace it, and if she doesn’t find it soon, her career hopes will come crashing down. Despairing, she cries out, “Save me, gods of ancient Greece!”…and the gods actually appear! The Ivy League will never be the same as a pair of screwball deities encounters the carnal complexity of college coeds, campus capers, and conspicuous consumption. Comic playwright Ken Ludwig, who delighted Globe audiences with Robin Hood! and Baskerville, returns with a knockabout world premiere.
Ken Ludwig (Playwright, Ken Ludwig’s The Gods of Comedy) is a Tony and Olivier Award–winning playwright who has written over 25 plays and musicals, including six shows on Broadway and seven in London’s West End. His first Broadway play, Lend Me a Tenor, won two Tony Awards and was called “one of the classic comedies of the 20th century” by The Washington Post. His additional awards include the Helen Hayes Award, the 2017 Samuel French Award for Sustained Excellence in American Theatre, the Edgar Award for Best Play, and the Edwin Forrest Award for Significant Contribution to American Theatre. His book How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare, published by Penguin/Random House, won the Falstaff Award for Best Book, Publication, or Recording of 2014, and his essays are published by The Yale Review. Mr. Ludwig’s best-known works include Crazy for You (five years on Broadway, Tony and Olivier Awards for Best Musical), Lend Me a Tenor, Moon Over Buffalo, Baskerville, Sherwood: The Adventures of Robin Hood, and a stage version of Murder on the Orient Express, written at the request of the Agatha Christie Estate. His work has been performed in over 30 countries in more than 20 languages and is produced somewhere in the United States and abroad every night of the year.
McCarter Theatre Center (Co-Producer, Ken Ludwig’s The Gods of Comedy), led by Artistic Director and Resident Playwright Emily Mann and Managing Director Michael S. Rosenberg, is one of America’s leading regional theatres and is one of the few organizations in the U.S. producing professional theatre while simultaneously presenting major performing artists. The theatre’s world premiere stage highlights include Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike (2013 Tony Award), The Brother/Sister Plays, Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters’ First 100 Years, and The Understudy. Its Broadway credits include Translations, Anna in the Tropics (Pulitzer Prize), and Electra. Curated by Special Programming Director William W. Lockwood, the company’s presented engagements include such artists as Lang Lang, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Wynton Marsalis, and David Sedaris. Its community efforts include in-school residencies, adult education classes, and student matinees. McCarter is supported by Princeton University, the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, and numerous corporations, foundations, and individuals. mccarter.org.
Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, Conrad Prebys Theatre Center
November 13 – December 16, 2018 (Opening night: Tuesday, November 20)
World premiere
Looking for Christmas
The New Clint Black Christmas Musical
Music and lyrics by Clint Black
Book by James D. Sasser with Clint Black
Based on an idea by James D. Sasser and Clint Black
Music supervision by Charles Vincent Burwell
Directed by Kent Nicholson
A world premiere American musical about family, loyalty, and the magic of Christmas from country music legend Clint Black, inspired by his 1995 chart-topping holiday album. Amid the commotion of the holidays, Staff Sergeant Mike Randolf returns from Afghanistan and home to his family. But before Mike can open his heart to the joy and spirit of the season, he must make peace with the past and let go the ghosts of the battlefield. While Mike’s wife helps him readjust to civilian life, it’s their precocious young daughter’s sweet search for the true meaning of Christmas that leads the family toward healing. This heartwarming musical is sure to become an enduring holiday classic.
Clint Black (Music and Lyrics, Book, Original Idea, Looking for Christmas) has one of the most storied careers in modern music. He surged to superstardom as part of the fabled “Class of ’89,” reaching No. 1 with five consecutive singles from his triple-Platinum debut, Killin’ Time. He followed that with the triple-Platinum Put Yourself in My Shoes, and then a string of Platinum and Gold albums throughout the ’90s. Perhaps most impressively, Mr. Black wrote or co-wrote every one of his more than three dozen chart hits, including “A Better Man,” “Where Are You Now,” “When My Ship Comes In,” “A Good Run of Bad Luck,” “Summer’s Comin’,” “Like the Rain,” and “Nothin’ But the Taillights,” part of a catalog that produced 22 No. 1 singles and made him one of the most successful singer/songwriters of the modern era. Along the way, Mr. Black has sold over 20 million records; earned more than a dozen Gold and Platinum awards in the U.S. and Canada; landed nearly two dozen major awards and nominations, including more than a dozen Grammy Award nominations; and earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
James D. Sasser (Book, Original Idea, Looking for Christmas) has had a performance career spanning Broadway and Off Broadway, to opera and concert stages around the world, and he has been involved for two decades in the development of dozens of new musical works on both sides of the table as an actor, writer, and producer. He has worked with organizations ranging from Riverdance to Sundance, Jesus Christ Superstar to Forbidden Broadway, and theatre outfits including Ars Nova, Manhattan Theatre Club, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, New Dramatists, Vineyard Theatre, Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, Playwrights Horizons, and many more. With writing partner Charles Vincent Burwell, their musicals include CUBAMOR, Bottle Shock (based on the hit cult wine film), and the forthcoming Black Count. CUBAMOR had its developmental premiere at Village Theatre’s Beta Series and was an official selection of the National Alliance for Musical Theatre Festival and TheatreWorks Silicon Valley’s New Works Festival. Bottle Shock has been presented at the Napa Valley Film Festival, Ars Nova, and Z Space, and it is gearing up for its premiere in the Bay Area. Mr. Sasser and Mr. Burwell’s songs have been heard at Lincoln Center, 54 Below, Joe’s Pub at The Public Theater, Ars Nova, A Little New Music in L.A., Feinstein’s at the Nikko in San Francisco, and other venues on both coasts.
Charles Vincent Burwell (Music Supervision, Looking for Christmas) is an award-winning performing multi-instrumentalist and composer in both the theatrical and dance worlds. Organizations he has worked with include the Lincoln Center Institute, New York City Center, Institute for Dunham Technique Certification, Trenton Education Dance Institute, National Dance Institute, Urban Bush Women, Festival del Caribe in Cuba, Ilê Aiyê in Brazil, Bates Dance Festival, and Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival. Mr. Burwell has composed music for Cairo Opera House Ballet and Modern Dance Theatre Company, and National Dance Institute under the artistic direction of Jacques d’Amboise in China, and he has sung at Carnegie Hall. He has served as musician and teaching artist for National Dance Institute, associate musical director for the Trenton Education Dance Institute, and longtime member of the faculty and music staff at Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. His music was featured in the HBO documentary Jacques D’Amboise in China: The Other Side of the World directed by Anthony Avildsen. Mr. Burwell is a proud member of The Dramatists Guild of America and Local 802 AFM, a charter member of the Omicron Gamma Chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Professional Music Fraternity, and a graduate of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts Graduate Musical Theatre Writing program.
Kent Nicholson (Director, Looking for Christmas) has had a hand in nearly three decades of new-work development on both coasts with pioneering organizations such as Playwrights Horizons and TheatreWorks Silicon Valley. His New York directing credits include 9 Circles (Sheen Center), Long Story Short (Prospect Theater Company), Five Flights (Rattlestick Playwrights Theater), Wet (Summer Play Festival), and Marry Harry (New York Musical Theatre Festival, American Theater Group). Mr. Nicholson’s regional credits include Once, Amadeus, and The Light in the Piazza (South Coast Repertory), How to Write a New Book for the Bible (South Coast Repertory, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre), CUBAMOR (Village Theatre), Lizzie (Theatre Under The Stars, Village Theatre), Grey Gardens, Vincent in Brixton, Ambition Facing West, and All My Sons (TheatreWorks Silicon Valley), Saint Ex (Weston Playhouse), 9 Circles, The Good German, and Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris (Marin Theatre Company), and Small Tragedy and Satellites (Aurora Theatre Company). He created the New Works Initiative at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley and the Uncharted writers group at Ars Nova, and he has served on the boards of the Playwrights Foundation and the National Alliance for Musical Theatre. Mr. Nicholson currently serves as the Director of Musical Theater at Playwrights Horizons in New York.
February 9 – March 10, 2019 (Opening night: Thursday, February 14)
West Coast premiere
Tiny Beautiful Things
Based on the book by Cheryl Strayed
Adapted for the stage by Nia Vardalos
Co-conceived by Marshall Heyman, Thomas Kail, and Nia Vardalos
Directed by James Vásquez
Based on the best-selling book by Cheryl Strayed, Tiny Beautiful Things follows the relationships between an anonymous advice columnist named Sugar and the many real-life readers who pour out their hearts to her. Academy Award nominee Nia Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding) adapts Strayed’s book into an enrapturing and uplifting play that surges with emotion and is called by Variety “a theatrical hug in turbulent times.” Tiny Beautiful Things is about reaching when you’re stuck, recovering when you’re broken, and finding the courage to ask the questions that are hardest to answer. Tissues recommended. Contains strong language and adult content.
Cheryl Strayed (Original Book, Tiny Beautiful Things) is the author of Tiny Beautiful Things, Torch, Brave Enough, and the No. 1 New York Times best seller Wild. Her books have been translated into more than 40 languages around the world. The Academy Award–nominated film adaptation of Wild was released in 2014. Ms. Strayed’s essays and stories have appeared in The Best American Essays, Vogue, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and elsewhere. She is the co-host of The New York Times “Dear Sugar Radio” podcast, which originated with her popular “Dear Sugar” column.
Nia Vardalos (Adaptor, Co-Conceiver, Tiny Beautiful Things) is an alumna of Chicago’s The Second City and a Joseph Jefferson Award winner whose most recent theatre credits include Sugar in Tiny Beautiful Things directed by Thomas Kail two consecutive seasons (The Public Theater) and Jennie in Company directed by Gary Griffin (Theatre 20). Her writing/acting credits for film include My Big Fat Greek Wedding and its sequel(Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations, Independent Spirit and People’s Choice Awards), Connie and Carla, and I Hate Valentine’s Day. Her film and television acting credits include My Life in Ruins; For a Good Time, Call…; “Graves”; and “Jane the Virgin.” Ms. Vardalos’s memoir Instant Mom is a New York Times best seller, and all proceeds are donated to adoption groups.
Marshall Heyman (Co-Conceiver, Tiny Beautiful Things) has written for The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Vogue, InStyle, W, Harper’s Bazaar, New York, and many others. He is currently writing for the new AMC show “Dietland.”
Thomas Kail (Co-Conceiver, Director, Tiny Beautiful Things) directed the Broadway productions of Hamilton (Tony Award), In the Heights (Tony nomination), Lombardi,and Magic/Bird. His selected credits include the world premieres of Hamilton, Dry Powder, Tiny Beautiful Things,and Kings (The Public Theater), the world premiere of In the Heights, Broke-ology, and the world premiere of When I Come to Die (Lincoln Center Theater), and the world premiere of Daphne’s Dive (Signature Theatre Company). He is the co-creator and director of the hip-hop improv group Freestyle Love Supreme. Mr. Kail’s television credits include Grease Live! for Fox (Emmy Award),“2 Broke Girls,”and The Oprah Winfrey Oscar Special for ABC.
James Vásquez (Director, Tiny Beautiful Things)previously directed The Old Globe’s American Mariachi, Rich Girl, Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas!,and Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show; and provided musical staging for the Globe’s The Comedy of Errors directed by Scott Ellis, Boeing-Boeing,and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. He will next associate direct Dr. Seuss’s The Lorax. With The Old Globe and University of San Diego Shiley Graduate Theatre Program, he has directed Clybourne Park and the world premiere of Keith Reddin’s Acquainted with the Night. He received two Craig Noel Awards for Outstanding Direction of a Musical: in 2018 for In the Heights (Moonlight Stage Productions) and in 2010 for Sweeney Todd (Cygnet Theatre Company); as well as nominations for the world premiere of Harmony, Kansas and the West Coast premiere of [title of show] (Diversionary Theatre). His other recent directing/choreography credits include American Mariachi (Denver Center for the Performing Arts Theatre Company), The Addams Family (Moonlight), West Side Story and Cats (San Diego Musical Theatre), Tell Me on a Sunday (Vista’s Broadway Theater), Pippin, the West Coast premiere of Birds of a Feather and Next Fall (Diversionary), and Hedwig and the Angry Inch and Pageant (Cygnet), as well as developmental workshops at La Jolla Playhouse and Goodspeed Musicals. Mr. Vásquez is co-founder of Daisy 3 Pictures. Their latest feature film, That’s What She Said, made its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. Mr. Vásquez is a graduate of The Juilliard School.
April 6 – May 5, 2019 (Opening night: Thursday, April 11)
World premiere
They Promised Her the Moon
By Laurel Ollstein
Directed by Giovanna Sardelli
In 1960 the famed “Mercury Seven” trained at NASA to become the first American astronauts. But they weren’t alone. Thirteen women also underwent the same rigorous psychological and physical testing. The first woman to be tested, Jerrie Cobb, even out-performed her male counterparts. But while Alan Shepard and John Glenn went on to become household names, Ms. Cobb never got that chance. In vividly theatrical terms, the world premiere of They Promised Her the Moon tells the unknown true story of this exceptional and unjustly overlooked woman—skilled aviator, world-record-holding pilot, successful business executive—and the powerful forces that kept her from reaching orbit. Contains strong language.
Laurel Ollstein (Playwright, They Promised Her the Moon) is an award-winning playwright/director based in Los Angeles. In 2018 Ms. Ollstein’s They Promised Her the Moon was part of the Powers New Voices Festival at The Old Globe. In 2017 Moon had a showcase production Off Broadway at Theatre at St. Clement’s, produced by Miranda Theatre Company. She began her career as an actress before becoming a writer. Her one-woman show Laughter, Hope and a Sock in the Eye, about Dorothy Parker, was performed across the country, winning critics’ choice awards along the way. Ms. Ollstein was a founding member of Tim Robbins’s The Actors’ Gang, where her plays Cheese, Pot Roast, and Insomniac were produced. Her other plays include Storage Room, OPA! The Musical, Dorothy Parker Is in the Bath, Blackwell’s Corner, Esther’s Moustache, The Dark Ages, Bias Cut, and Unhappily Married in Valencia. She also directs playwriting programs serving mature adults and teens, provides writing and arts education in schools, and creates plays on social justice themes. One result of this work is Showing Our Age, a play with music about aging produced at [Inside] The Ford, for which she received an NEA grant. Ms. Ollstein also writes essays, memoirs, screenplays, and television and holds an M.F.A. in Playwriting from UCLA.
Giovanna Sardelli (Director, They Promised Her the Moon) directed in Los Angeles the world premiere of Archduke (Mark Taper Forum) and Guards at the Taj (2016 Ovation Award for Best Production of a Play) and Constellations (Geffen Playhouse). Her select Off Broadway world premieres include Little Children Dream of God (Roundabout Theatre Company), Wildflower, Animals Out of Paper, and All This Intimacy (Second Stage Theatre), Apple Cove (Women’s Project Theater), and Huck and Holden (Cherry Lane Theatre). Her other Off Broadway plays include Describe the Night (Atlantic Theater Company) and Finks (Ensemble Studio Theatre). Her regional credits include Somewhere and The Whipping Man (The Old Globe), the world premiere of An Entomologist’s Love Story (San Francisco Playhouse), the world premiere of Describe the Night (Alley Theatre), Mr. Wolf, All the Way, and The Whipping Man (Cleveland Play House), The Mountaintop and Absalom (Actors Theatre of Louisville), Clybourne Park, Lord of the Flies, Muckrakers, and The North Pool (Barrington Stage Company), and Crimes of the Heart, The Velocity of Autumn, The Lake Effect, Somewhere, and The North Pool (TheatreWorks Silicon Valley). Though based in New York, Ms. Sardelli is the Director of New Works for TheatreWorks Silicon Valley. She received her M.F.A. from New York University’s Graduate Acting program and is a graduate of its Directors Lab.
May 23 – June 23, 2019 (Opening night: Thursday, May 30)
Globe-commissioned world premiere
What You Are
By JC Lee
Feeling adrift in a changing America he no longer recognizes, Don scrapes together a living and struggles to support his family through hard work and good intentions. But everything around him, from his younger co-workers, to the technology in his office job, to even his own opinionated daughter, seems alien to the certainties and stabilities he once knew. When a simple misunderstanding at work escalates into an all-out confrontation, Don hatches a plan to set right all the things he feels have gone wrong. Can the people who love him manage to hold him together? JC Lee’s Globe-commissioned world premiere is a riveting, of-the-moment exploration of the personal struggles that accompany sweeping social change. Contains strong language.
JC Lee (Playwright, What You Are)writes for theatre, film, and television. His play Luce received its world premiere at Lincoln Center Theater (with development supported by The Old Globe) and is currently being turned into a feature film starring Octavia Spencer and Naomi Watts for release later this year. His play Relevance received its world premiere at MCC Theater this past winter. He has received commissions from The Old Globe, South Coast Repertory, Manhattan Theatre Club, Second Stage Theatre, The Playwrights Realm, and New Conservatory Theatre Center in San Francisco, where his play warplay received its world premiere last summer and will subsequently be produced by Azuka Theatre in Philadelphia this fall. His television credits include “How to Get Away with Murder” on ABC and both “Looking” and “Girls” on HBO, where he is developing a pilot based on The Song Machine: Inside the Hit Factory by John Seabrook. He is currently working on the film adaptation of The Nutcracker for Warner Brothers with director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon and a pilot based on the life of Mistress Trinity, a professional dominatrix, for FX. Mr. Lee is a graduate of Bloomsburg University and The Juilliard School. @jclee1230.
Globe for All Tour: Bringing Shakespeare to the San Diego Community
October 30 – November 18, 2018
(Opening night: Thursday, November 1)
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Patricia McGregor
“Lord, what fools these mortals be!”
Fall under the spell of Shakespeare’s most uproarious and popular comedy. Filled with magic, humor, music, and magnificent poetry, this dream unfolds in an enchanted forest where fairies play tricks on unsuspecting lovers, and bumbling actors are transformed beyond their wildest imaginings. Add to this a secret potion that grants love at first sight, and anything can—and does—happen! Globe for All is the centerpiece of The Old Globe’s commitment to creating public value by making theatre matter to more people. It tours free professional Shakespeare to community-based venues throughout San Diego County.
Patricia McGregor (Director, A Midsummer Night’s Dream) made her Old Globe debut in 2016 with the Globe for All Tour production of Measure for Measure. The New York Times has twice profiled her for her direction of world premieres. Her recent directing credits include the world premiere of Lights Out: Nat “King” Cole (also co-author, People’s Light), the world premiere of Good Grief (Center Theatre Group), Skeleton Crew (Geffen Playhouse), The Parchman Hour (Guthrie Theater), Hamlet (The Public Theater), Ugly Lies the Bone (Roundabout Theatre Company), brownsville song (b-side for tray) (Lincoln Center Theater), the world premiere of Stagger Lee (Dallas Theater Center), and the world premiere of Hurt Village (Signature Theatre Company). Her other credits include A Raisin in the Sun, The Winter’s Tale, Spunk, Adoration of the Old Woman, Blood Dazzler, Holding It Down, Four Electric Ghosts, Nothing Personal, and The House That Will Not Stand. She served as Tour Consultant on J. Cole’s world tour and will premiere a new piece at Brooklyn Academy of Music by composer Ted Hearne and poet Saul Williams. For several years she has directed the 24 Hour Plays on Broadway. She is a Usual Suspect at New York Theatre Workshop and a co-founder of Angela’s Pulse with her sister, choreographer Paloma McGregor. She was also a Paul & Daisy Soros Fellow at Yale School of Drama, where she also served as Artistic Director of the Yale Cabaret.
The Old Globe and University of San Diego Shiley Graduate Theatre Program
October 20 – 28, 2018
(Opening night: Saturday, October 20)
Julius Caesar
By William Shakespeare
“Cowards die many times before their deaths;
The valiant never taste of death but once.”
Though Caesar is beloved by the people of Rome, after his latest military triumph, senators Brutus and Cassius sense a dictator in the making. But Brutus is an honorable man, so he faces a wrenching decision: stage a coup for the sake of his country, or stay loyal to his old friend Caesar. The Globe’s intimate arena stage gives you an up-close seat for Shakespeare’s masterful tale of cunning diplomacy, fast-shifting alliances, and the unpredictable consequences of betrayal. The classical actors of tomorrow, now training in The Old Globe and University of San Diego Shiley Graduate Theatre Program, expertly perform one of the world’s great plays.
A joint venture of the Globe and USD, the Shiley Graduate Theatre Program nationally recruits seven students each year to participate in an intensive two-year course of graduate study in classical theatre. Private funding for the Master of Fine Arts in Theatre program has been contributed through a generous endowment established by Donald and Darlene Shiley. Additional support for the program is provided by the Dorothy Brown Endowment Fund and the Louis Yager Cantwell Foundation.
October 30 – November 18, 2018 (Opening night: Thursday, November 1)