Highlights include the Tony Award-winning musicals RAGTIME and ONCE ON THIS ISLAND. The classic Tennessee Williams’ drama A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE joins the lineup.
Philadelphia playwright Lorene Cary’s MY GENERAL TUBMAN will also have its world premiere.
Nia Vardalos’ (“My Big Fat Greek Wedding”) TINY BEAUTIFUL THINGS, based on the book by Cheryl Strayed, comes to the Arcadia Stage.
At the Bob & Selma Horan Studio Theatre: Philadelphia theatre artist Mary Tuomanen will star in AN ILIAD, plus Nilaja Sun’s NO CHILD…arrives during the Spring.
The Arden Theatre Company is excited to announce its full 2019-20 subscription season. The lineup includes the previously announced musicals RAGTIME and ONCE ON THIS ISLAND, Tennessee Williams’ A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, plus the world premiere Philadelphia playwright Lorene Cary’s MY GENERAL TUBMAN. The seven-show season includes a work by MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING star Nia Vardalos based on a book by Cheryl Strayed, plus two productions in the intimate Bob & Selma Horan Studio Theatre.
“The Arden Theatre Company is pleased to announce its 2019-20 subscription season – seven productions that we will bring to life for audiences here in Philadelphia,” said Artistic Director Terry Nolen. “We will open and close the season with two musicals written by the brilliant team of Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, and produce the world premiere of Lorene Carey’s MY GENERAL TUBMAN, directed by James Ijames. We are incredibly excited by the extraordinary range of stories that we will be producing on our three stages next season.”
The season begins with Ahrens, Flaherty, and McNally’s sweeping musical RAGTIME, running from September 19 through October 20, 2019 at the F. Otto Haas stage. This award-winning tale follows the intersections of cultures, classes, and nationalities – all fighting for their American dream in New York City at the turn of the 20th century – reimagined for today’s audience by director Terry Nolen.
TINY BEAUTIFUL THINGS is up next. Based on the book by Cheryl Strayed, the play explores Strayed’s time as the anonymous advice columnist, Dear Sugar. While navigating her readers’ questions and pleas for advice, Strayed weaves together her own personal experiences and finds the courage to create a column full of light, laughter, and humanity. The work is adapted by Nia Vardalos (MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING) and will play the Arcadia Stage from October 24 through December 8.
Next, the infinite beauty of storytelling consumes AN ILIAD, a provocative adaptation of Homer’s classic directed by Rebecca Wright. The Trojan War is placed beside our modern day, presenting the allure of wartime heroism and the inevitable cost of battle that overshadows all history. Mary Tuomanen returns to the Arden and will bring this epic event to the Bob & Selma Horan Studio Theatre from November 14 through December 15.
In the new year, world premiere of acclaimed Philadelphia playwright Lorene Cary’s MY GENERAL TUBMAN comes to the Arden’s Arcadia Stage from January 16 through March 1. The play, directed by James Ijames, is a beautiful and exciting story about the complex journey of Harriet Tubman and the impact she continues to have today.
The classic Tennessee Williams masterpiece A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE comes to the F. Otto Haas stage from March 12 through April 12, 2020. The Arden will transform into the sweltering streets of New Orleans’ French Quarter to tell the classic drama of love, lust, and the memories we leave behind. This unique take on the tale will be directed by Terry Nolen.
Diving into the overlooked world of a teaching artist, NO CHILD… follows playwright Nilaja Sun as she struggles to lead a class in a city public school. This one-person, award-winning show holds nothing back, as Sun challenges the American education system and defends the need for enhanced arts programming for young people. The production will run at the Bob & Selma Horan Studio Theatre from April 23 to May 24.
From May 21 to June 21, 2020, the Ahrens and Flaherty musical ONCE ON THIS ISLAND will take to the F. Otto Haas stage. The musical, which won the 2018 Tony Award for Best Revival of the Musical, travels to the Caribbean and embraces the folklore of a nation while illustrating the beauty of storytelling and the hardships of forbidden love. This new production will be directed by Malika Oyetimein.
Subscriptions are currently on sale by visiting https://ardentheatre.org/tickets/1920subscriptions/.
Children’s Theatre titles will be announced at a later date.
DETAILS:
Arden Theatre Company announces
The 2019-20 Season
40 N. 2nd Street, Philadelphia, PA
Ragtime
Book by Terrence McNally
Music by Lynn Ahrens
Lyrics by Stephen Flaherty
Based on the novel by E.L. Doctorow
Directed by Terry Nolen
September 19 – October 20, 2019
F. Otto Haas Stage
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
October 24 – December 8, 2019
Arcadia Stage
An Iliad
By Lisa Peterson and Denis O’Hare
Based on Homer’s Iliad, Translated by Robert Fagles
Directed by Rebecca Wright
November 14- December 15, 2019
Bob & Selma Horan Studio Theatre
My General Tubman
A World Premiere
By Lorene Cary
Directed by James Ijames
January 16 – March 1, 2020
Arcadia Stage
A Streetcar Named Desire
By Tennessee Williams
Directed by Terry Nolen
March 12 – April 12, 2020
F. Otto Haas Stage
No Child…
By Nilaja Sun
April 23 – May 24, 2020
Bob & Selma Horan Studio Theatre
Once On This Island
Book and Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens
Music by Stephen Flaherty
Based on the novel My Love, My Love by Rosa Guy
Directed by Malika Oyetimein
May 21 – June 21, 2020
F. Otto Haas Stage
Philly Life & Culture 