The work of Pulitzer, Nobel and Tony Award-winning playwrights will be featured at Aurora Theatre in Lawrenceville during its 2012-2013 season. So will infidelity, duplicity, faith in the human race and a couple of married couples in key roles.
Aurora also continues to make a name for itself with world premiere musicals (the recent Clyde ‘n Bonnie: A Folktale) and edgier work on its second stage. The company, led by Producing Artistic Director Anthony Rodriguez and Associate Producer Ann-Carol Pence, often takes on some of the most exciting work in the metro area. The lineup:
Sweet Charity. Aug. 2-Sept. 2. A cast of nine handles all the roles in this fast-paced version of the Neil Simon-Cy Coleman classic about a dance-hall girl named Charity Hope Valentine with heart of gold. Musical numbers include “Big Spender,” “If My Friends Could See Me Now” and “I’m a Brass Band.” Sean Daniels, a co-founder and former artistic director at Dad’s Garage, brings his off-center sensibility to the piece as director. It will feature real-life husband and wife Rebecca Simon and Trent Blanton. Blanton was an Atlanta theater regular until he was cast as Javert in a national tour of Les Miserables.
Betrayal. Oct. 4-28. Tess Malis Kincaid and Mark Kincaid (last season’s A Body of Water) return in this puzzle piece by influential British dramatist Harold Pinter, a Nobel Prize winner. Pinter exposes the pain a seven-year infidelity causes a married couple and a close friend. The drama uses reverse chronology, with the first scene taking place after the affair has ended and the final scene showing the tender beginnings of a relationship. Directing is Freddie Ashley, artistic director of Atlanta’s Actor’s Express.
Christmas Canteen. Nov. 23-Dec. 23. The nostalgic musical revue returns for a 17th season.
BOB. Jan. 17-Feb. 10, 2013. A Georgia premiere by Peter Sinn Nachtrieb. BOB was a darling of the 2011 Humana Festival of New American Plays at Actors Theatre of Louisville. Nachtrieb will continue to develop the work, described as “a side-splitting social satire that roasts the American dream, and celebrates its detritus.” Daniels again directs. The cast features Andrew Benator, Veronika Duerr, Doyle Reynolds, Wendy Melkonian and Scott Warren.
Musical TBA. March 14-April 7, 2013. Something exciting brought to you through Aurora’s New Musical Initiative.
Don’t Dress for Dinner. May-2-26. Marc Camoletti’s comedy is the sequel to Boeing-Boeing, a hit at Aurora in 2010. It’s a sex farce of hidden identities and outrageous infidelities.
Season tickets ($154.40-$218) are on sale now. Single tickets go on sale in July. Details at www.auroratheatre.com.
