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Encore Theatrical Company announces 2010 Mainstage Season
Encore Theatrical Company, the Lakeway Area’s newest performing arts organization located in Morristown, is pleased to announce its fourth season of Mainstage productions for 2010.
Micah-Shane Brewer, Artistic Director of Encore, says that the 2010 season will continue to build upon the work that the company has established in its short three year history. “Our company has worked extremely hard at balancing a season that provides an excellent mixture of musicals and non-musicals, comedies and dramas, and traditional and newer works. It’s really important to Encore that we provide numerous opportunities for artists and audiences with materials that are entertaining as well as challenging."
 Encore will open the season with one of the most profound plays of the 20th century. Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town” has been produced thousands of times all over the world and is the quintessential portrait of community as told through the citizens of Grover’s Corner. Since its debut in 1938, “Our Town” has been embraced as an American classic. The play is simple enough to be studied by middle school students, but meaningful and masterful to move the hearts of all.
Set in the fictional town of Grover’s Corner, the play opens with the Stage Manager setting the stage and story up for the audience, and follows the lives of a small town. The second act deals with the love and eventual marriage of George Gibbs and Emily Webb, two young neighbors in the town. The third act, deals with the death of one of the townspeople, and their ultimate acceptance of their fate. Each character is crafted so beautifully with absolute sincerity and truth that we are pulled into the lives of this simple people, and by the end of the piece, ultimately moved.
“’Our Town’ may seem like a simple choice,” said Brewer. “However, deep in the heart of the piece is a beautiful story that should be retold through fresh eyes. We think of the play as an obligatory reading assignment from school, but many of us have never revisited the work after living as an adult. I think it’s an excellent choice for Encore to produce.”
 “The Music Man” will march into Morristown in the spring as Encore’s second offering of the season. One of the most popular American musicals, Meredith Willson’s masterpiece is the perfect family musical.
“The Music Man” tells the story of a charismatic con man Harold Hill, who galvanizes a stodgy, entertainment-starved Iowa town at the turn of the century. Intending to fleece the town with a false scheme to organize a boy's band, Hill's plans hit a sour note when he falls for Marian, the town librarian. Ultimately she tames his runabout impulses while he teaches her - and the entire town - the joys of emotional risks.
“The Music Man” was the sensation of Broadway when it opened in 1957 and went on to score eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical (beating out “West Side Story”). Grammy winning songs include, “Till There Was You,” “76 Trombones,” and the show-stopping tune “Ya Got Trouble.”
 Get ready for a hot summer sensation with one of the most successful Broadway musicals of the past decade! Encore is pleased to announce that summer 2010 will see Morristown’s first staging of the Tony Award winning musical “Chicago.” Set amidst the razzle-dazzle decadence of the roaring 1920s, “Chicago” is the story of Roxie Hart, a housewife who maliciously murders her lover after he threatens to walk out on her. Desperate to avoid conviction, she dupes the public, the media and her rival cellmate Velma Kelly, by hiring Chicago’s slickest criminal lawyer Billy Flynn to transform her malicious crime into a barrage of sensational headlines, the likes of which might just be easily ripped for today’s tabloids.
“Chicago” is best known for its sensational jazzy style of dance, originally choreographed by Broadway legend Bob Fosse. With music and lyrics by John Kander and Fred Ebb, It first opened in 1975 with stars like Chita Rivera, Gwen Verdon, and Jerry Orbach, but became most popular when it was revived on Broadway in 1996, winning six Tony Awards including Best Musical Revival. An Academy Award winning film version of the musical was released in 2002 starring Catherine Zeta-Jones, Renee Zellweger, and Richard Gere.
"Chicago" is a very hard show to obtain the performance rights,” stated Brewer. “Only a handful of theatres across the country are granted permission to do the musical because of the continuing success of the national tour and Broadway productions. We are extremely excited to get the chance to stage this musical.”
 For the fall, Encore will stage a newer drama that has taken the theatre world by storm. David Lindsay-Abaire’s “Rabbit Hole” was the recipient of the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for drama.
“Rabbit Hole” charts a New York family’s bittersweet search for comfort in the darkest of places. Becca and Howie Corbett have everything a family could want, until a life-shattering accident involving their four year old son turns their world upside down and leaves the couple drifting perilously apart. They are left to pick up the pieces of their past and “Rabbit Hole” charts their bittersweet search for comfort in the difficult times
and for a path that will lead them back into the light of day.
Written by one of America's most important young playwrights, this five-character play is an in-depth look at relationships and how we desperately search to connect and remain connected despite struggles. “This is an ultimate gem of a play,” said Brewer. “The play deals with how we survive the unthinkable. Even though the catalyst of the play deals with a tragedy, it’s about a family finding each other. It’s one of those plays that touches and amuses you while making you think all at once.”
 Finally, Encore is pleased to team up with the Walters State Theatre and Music Departments to present a holiday classic that has taken many years to get to the stage. Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas” will conclude during the holiday season of 2010 with a magical and breathtaking staging of a family favorite.
The song “White Christmas” was originally introduced by Bing Crosby in the 1942 film “Holiday Inn,” a sizable hit that featured numerous other songs by Irving Berlin, and one of two films to pair Crosby with Fred Astaire. "White Christmas" was also reprised as the title theme for the 1954 musical of the same name, starring Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, and Vera-Ellen.
Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas” tells the story of two showbiz buddies putting on a show in a picturesque Vermont inn, owned by their former general in order to save the place from bank foreclosure. In the mix of it all, the two find their perfect girls as well. With songs like “Happy Holidays,” “Blue Skies,” “Sisters,” “How Deep is the Ocean,” “Count Your Blessings,” and the title song, the musical score has been expanded from the original songs in the movie to include more of the most beautiful songs ever written by Irving Berlin.
Season subscriptions for the 2010 Season of “Our Town,” “The Music Man,” “Chicago,” “Rabbit Hole,” and Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas” will go on sale in late October. Specific dates and times will be released soon.
Founded in 2006, Encore Theatrical Company believes in the power of the arts. Through live performances and educational programs, Encore provides quality entertainment by creating opportunities for the artistic minds in our region to exercise, nurture, and grow their talents. By cultivating and promoting the performing arts, Encore will improve the quality of life in the Lakeway Area. For more information, please visit
www.etcplays.org.
Download Season Subscription Form
Here
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