Cortland Repertory Theatre Announces Summer Season Productions For 2012

Cortland Repertory Theatre, one of New York State’s longest running professional summer theatres, is announcing their 2012 summer season line-up. “CRT is known for offering a wide variety of shows to appeal to a lot of different tastes,” Producing Artistic Director Kerby Thompson says. “We again have a great mix for this coming year, and I’m so excited about the selections that we’re bringing to our stage.” Five out of the six shows are making their CRT debuts, with the final show having last been produced at CRT in 1989.

Gift Certificate and subscription or flex pass purchasers are reminded that the CRT Box Office is still located at 37 Franklin Street in Cortland. The future “CRT Downtown” location at 24 Port Watson Street is under construction, and will be for some time to come. The CRT website at www.cortlandrep.org has complete information on ticket prices and hours of business. Subscriptions orders and sales for groups of 10 or more are being taken at this time, and order forms for gift certificates and subscriptions are also available online. For more information, call 800-427-6160.

From June 6 – 16, the summer starts with big belly laughs when the theatre presents The Ladies Man, a new farce written by Charles Morey, who “freely translated and adapted” it from the French play Tailleur Pour Dames by Georges Feydeau. This infectiously charming and zany farce takes place in Paris, where middle aged and recently married Dr. Hercule Molineaux tells “one tiny, little, hardly noticeable lie” to his beautiful young wife in order to hide an embarrassing male “incompetence”. The craziness begins when his ogre of a mother-in-law gets involved, not to mention an outrageously aggressive female patient, her overly jealous Prussian husband, a confused patient with an unfortunate speech impediment and two overly nosey servants, all running in and out of more slamming doors than realistic architecture should ever accommodate.

Next up is the CRT debut of one of the world’s most popular musicals – Grease!, the classic 1950s rock ‘n roll musical with book, music and lyrics by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. This production will have three weeks of performances from June 20 – July 7. In this high energy show, we meet Rydell High School’s Class of 1959: the hot-rodding Burger Palace Boys and their gum-snapping Pink Ladies in bobby sox and pedal pushers. Head greaser Danny Zuko and new good girl Sandy Dumbrowski try to relive the high romance of their Summer Nights as the rest of the gang sing and dance their way through the hit songs Greased Lightnin’, You’re the One That I Want, It’s Raining on Prom Night, The Hand Jive, and many more!

The third show will also be another blockbuster musical, running for three weeks from July 11 – 28. However due to royalty restrictions, CRT can’t announce what this show will be until early in 2012. Thompson says “While we can’t announce the show title, we can hint that it was a Broadway record-breaker and an international sensation. It’s the perfect family musical follow-up to last summer’s hit ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat’ by Andrew Lloyd Weber.” The musical is also the winner of numerous Tony Awards, including Best Musical. Thompson says that details will be listed on CRT’s website as soon as possible.

Next up, CRT audience’s favorite playwright returns for another premiere mystery with the presentation of Agatha Christie’s thriller The Hollow from August 1 – 11. A romantic game of “Follow-The-Leader” explodes into murder during a party weekend at The Hollow, a quiet English mansion. A philandering doctor gets himself in hot water when his wife, mistress and former mistress all visit at the same time. Tempers flare until one hapless soul is used for target practice. Motives abound and it’s up to the local police sergeant – and the audience – to figure out “Who-Dun-It”.

Next from August 15 – 25 is the multiple award winning comedy/drama The Drawer Boy by Canadian playwright Michael Healey. Set in 1972, this surprisingly funny, tender but tough play tells the story of two aging Canadian dairy farmers, both WWII veterans, who have their quiet lives disturbed when a young actor appears on their farm, asking to study the rituals and chores of the world of farming. Unwittingly, the young man reveals the truth behind one of the farmer’s memory loss and learns how storytelling can interpret reality and transform lives. Since its premiere, this play has won countless awards, including Canada’s Governor General’s Literary Award and The Helen Hayes Award. It also made Time Magazine’s top ten list as “a new classic” and in 2004 became the most produced play in American regional theatres.

Closing the season from August 29 – September 8 will be the return of one CRT’s most successful productions The Mystery of Irma Vep which is a comedy, farce, thriller and mystery all rolled into one, written by Charles Ludlam. Called “a wild funhouse adventure”, the play features comic performances by two actors playing multiple characters, lightning-fast quick changes and hair-raising suspense. Seductive vampires, mysterious ghosts, a sympathetic werewolf and somebody’s mummy all wreck havoc in this raucous parody of Victorian morals and Hollywood horror. From England’s mysterious moors to the depths of an Egyptian tomb, this two-man “tour de farce” takes on everyone from Emily Brontë to Mel Brooks!

Also, the “CRT KIDS” program will present a stage production of Aladdin as a participation play, created by Moses Goldberg. A traveling group of actors (in reality, CRT’s Performing Intern Company) stumble upon the stage at the Little York Pavilion and decide to perform the magical Arabian Nights story of Aladdin the peasant boy. With the help of children and adults alike, the story of the kind-hearted little thief comes to life before your very eyes! Children help Aladdin discover the Genie of the Lamp and Ring, win the heart of the Princess, and defeat the evil Sultan. The play promises lots of laughs, stage participation and a valuable lesson about friendship. Performances are planned for July 12, 14, 20 and 21st at 10:00 AM.

Gift Certificates are available for single tickets, subscriptions, flex passes or a monetary value, and are available now. Individual tickets for all of CRT’s summer shows will go on sale starting May 21, 2012.