About Cortland Repertory Theatre
CRT Announces 2008 Summer Season
Cortland Repertory Theatre’s 2008 summer season is in place. Producing Artistic Director Kerby Thompson notes that selecting the shows for this coming season was a bit tougher than in the past. “It’s surprisingly intimidating to put together a season following such a successful one as we had in 2007,” he says. Last summer, CRT’s attendance record was broken with over 17,000 people attending the six shows. “Even so, I think we’ve put together a terrific selection for next year by taking in to consideration the styles of shows that our audiences have enjoyed in the past but at the same time mixing things up a bit, to offer a nice variety of summer productions”. In recent years, CRT has presented many regional premieres of plays and musicals, including last year’s “Almost, Maine”, “The Great American Trailer Park Musical” and “Almost Heaven”, a tribute to John Denver’s music. For their six productions in 2008, CRT has three regional premieres, two CRT debuts, and one show not seen at CRT since 1987.
The season starts off from June 4 - 14 with a flashback to “The Forgotten Decade” with “8-Track: The Sounds of the 70’s”. This four person musical, conceived by Rick Seeber, is a magical, entertaining and often touching journey through the ground breaking music of this decade. From the social consciousness of the early 70’s to the later good-time disco years, the show boasts over 50 songs from such popular singers as The Carpenters, Barry Manilow, The Bee Gees, Helen Reddy, K.C. and the Sunshine Band and James Taylor as well as hits from the early careers of Elton John and Billy Joel. Daniel Hess, who directed last summer’s John Denver revue will direct and choreograph.
For their second show from June 18 - 28, CRT presents the regional premiere of “Leading Ladies”, a hilarious new comedy by Ken Ludwig, the author of “Lend Me a Tenor” and “Moon Over Buffalo”. Two actors, Jack and Leo, find themselves scraping the bottom of the acting barrel by performing "Scenes from Shakespeare" on the Moose Lodge circuit in the Amish country of Pennsylvania. When they hear that an old lady is about to kick the bucket and leave her fortune to her two long lost English nephews “Max and Steve”, they resolve to con her into believing that they are her beloved relatives and get the cash. The trouble begins when they discover that “Max and Steve” are actually “Maxine and Stephanie”! But by donning dresses, their scam…and their bloomers…are further entangled when they find the old lady far from death’s door and Leo falls head-over-petticoat in love with her vivacious niece! Tony Capone, who directed last summers “Ten Little Indians” directs this season’s farce.
Next up, CRT presents their own production of the longest running play of all time: Agatha Christie’s “The Mousetrap”. This classic murder mystery broke attendance records back in 1958 and it is still going strong in London today, running for nearly 50 years. A group of strangers find themselves stranded in a boarding house during a snow storm. Unexpectedly, a policeman on skis appears, hot on the trail of a murderer who is hiding in the house. Whodunit? Could it be one of the newlyweds, the spinster with a mysterious background or the strange little man who claims his car has overturned in a drift? As the police rattles the guests’ skeletons, the murderer strikes again! This perfectly penned mystery runs from July 2 - 12, and popular CRT director Jim Bumgardner, fresh from last season’s “Fiddler on the Roof”, will direct.
For three weeks, from July 16 - August 2, audiences are invited to grab their cowboys hats, pull on their two-steppin’ boots and pay a visit to “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas”! With the book by Larry L. King and Peter Masterson and music and lyrics by Carol Hall, this high octane musical is based on the true story of a legendary Texas brothel known as the Chicken Ranch, so named because during the depression, customers were allowed to pay with poultry! For years the ladies operated peaceably, visited by locals, politicians, and even champion college football teams. But in 1973 a crusading Houston television commentator smells a place in the spotlight for himself and sets about closing down all that "loveless copulation". Artistic Director Kerby Thompson will direct the CRT debut of this musical and Daniel Hess serves as choreographer and assistant director.
Shifting gears for their fifth show from August 6 - 16, CRT presents their debut of the sizzling courtroom drama “A Few Good Men”. This Broadway hit was written by Syracuse University graduate Aaron Sorkin who is currently represented on Broadway with his new play “The Farnsworth Invention”, but perhaps best known for his riveting scripts of TV’s The West Wing. Two Marines are on trial for complicity in the death of a fellow Marine at Guantanamo Bay. Their lawyer, a young man more interested in softball games than the case, expects a plea bargain and a cover up of what really happened. Prodded by a female member of his defense team, the lawyer eventually makes a valiant effort to defend his clients and, in so doing, puts the military mentality and the Marine code of honor on trial. This powerful and passionate script will be directed by Bill Kincaid, who directed “How the Other Half Loves” and “Almost, Maine” last summer.
CRT closes the season from August 20 -30 by following in the footsteps of last year’s hit “Trailer Park Musical” with another regional premiere musical comedy “Johnny Guitar”, with a book by Nicholas van Hoogstraten, music by Martin Silvestri and lyrics and music by Joel Higgins. This laugh-filled tuner spoofs the legendary Joan Crawford western movie of the same name and features a sensational score of doo-wop and steamy southwestern ballads. When a handsome guitar-toting stranger with a secret past rides into a tough gold rush town, the stage is set for a hilarious showdown between a sultry saloon keeper and her jealous nemesis, the town’s tycoon. The show embraces and sends up fifties-style movie acting, melodramatic romance and rough-and-tumble cowboy action. Bert Bernardi, who handled the reins of last summers “Trailer Park Musical” will direct and choreograph this family friendly musical.
The CRT Kids program offers up the play “Wiley and the Hairy Man” by Susan Zeder for young theatre lovers. Set deep within the mysterious Tombigbee Swamp, the play centers around a young boy, his faithful hound dog and the Hairy Man who haunts Wiley’s dreams. In an exciting duel of wits, Wiley learns to rely upon his own resources and conquers two villains: the Hairy Man and his own fear. The play is about the fun of words and rhymes, and shows how children can rise up and be bigger than their worst fears. Homer resident and SUNY Cortland theatre professor Kim Hubbard will again direct as he has for the past four years.
Also in place are CRT’s annual youth workshop programs: “Showstoppers and Superstars” for grades K5, which will be offered for two weeks in 2008 and “Stars of Tomorrow” for grades 512, again to be offered for four weeks at the Little York Pavilion.
Order forms for gift certificates and subscription are available on line at www.cortlandrep.org. For more information or to order gift certificates, subscriptions or to place orders for groups of 10 or more, call 607-756-2627 or 800-427-6160.