- By Hangar Theatre
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November 27, 2007–(ITHACA) Interim artistic director, Robert Moss, announces that next summer, five professional productions—a groundbreaking international drama, two musicals, an Irish classic, and a British farce—will make up the Hangar Theatre’s 2008 Mainstage Season. From June 4 to August 30, the Hangar presents The Overwhelming, Oklahoma!, Rough Crossing, Playboy of the Western World, and Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Moss declares, “I spent the better part of sixteen years making plays at the Hangar. It is only natural, therefore, that when asked to provide interim leadership between Kevin Moriarty's departure and the unknown's arrival, it was the easiest thing in the world to step in. It's a very exciting time and I'm proud and happy to be back in Ithaca.”The season kicks off on June 4, with the regional premiere of The Overwhelming by J.T. Rogers, through June 14. Set in Rwanda in 1994, The Overwhelming tells the chilling tale of an American professor who unwittingly takes his family on a trip to Rwanda in the weeks leading up to the genocide. Intended as a reunion with an old college friend, the visit spirals quickly into chaos, duplicity, and tragedy as Rwanda descends into the maelstrom of a bloody civil war. Dramatic storytelling at its very best, this gripping play will be directed by Robert Moss. “This play is so new, it’s still running in New York in its maiden production,” states Moss. “The Hangar is proud to share a play of this importance with our community.” Time-Out Magazine described The Overwhelming as “smart, complacency-rattling drama.”
From June 19 to July 5, the Hangar presents the classic, Oklahoma! From the team who brought us the beloved musicals Carousel, The King and I, and The Sound of Music comes the first of their Broadway hits – a treasure of the American theatre and the longest running Broadway musical of its time. It’s the Wild West of the Oklahoma territory, where life is ungoverned and unpredictable, and cowboys and farmers are in spirited competition for the land. In this setting we meet two such men, Jud and Curly, and the woman they both love. The hit songs from Oklahoma! are among the most popular of our musical heritage: Oklahoma!, Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’ and People Will Say We’re in Love. “Joe Calarco, who brought his unique vision to the Hangar’s My Fair Lady in 2003, returns to direct this American classic,” says Moss. “The songs are familiar parts of our musical heritage, but Joe will bring imaginative new insights into their staging that will make it seem as if you have never seen Oklahoma! before. The entire family will love this show.”
Beginning July 9, the Hangar rocks the boat with Tom Stoppard’s Rough Crossing, through July 26. Two playwrights, a composer who can’t speak, his girlfriend and her lover must finish a new musical in six days on a trans-Atlantic cruise. Maybe they’ll make it, if the steward can figure out which is port and which is starboard! The play was written by Academy Award-winning British playwright and screenwriter Tom Stoppard, who also brought us such hits as The Real Thing, Arcadia, The Coast of Utopia, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, and the block-buster movie, Shakespeare in Love. Rough Crossing is witty, eccentric, and guaranteed to make you laugh out loud. The farce will be directed by the Hangar’s associate artistic director, Wendy Dann. "In my sixth season at the Hangar, I'm delighted to bring to Ithaca audiences the incredible wit and sheer fun of Tom Stoppard's Rough Crossing,” shares Dann. “Take your seasickness remedies and join us for a night of rollicking laughter!"
The Mainstage Season continues with the Irish classic comedy, Playboy of the Western World, from July 30 to August 9. Set in a remote village in Ireland’s County Mayo, The Playboy of the Western World is a great classic Irish comedy and the most famous play ever produced by the Irish National Theatre. On the run after murdering his father, Christy Mahon seeks refuge in Michael Flaherty’s pub. There he meets and enchants Flaherty’s daughter, Pegeen, much to the dismay of her fiancé. But there is more to Christy’s story than meets the eye and a surprise visitor sets the stage for a hilarious and shocking turn of events. A comedic masterpiece, Playboy of the Western World will be directed by Moss, who declares, “Playboy is the granddaddy of all the great Irish comedies.”
On August 14, the Hangar rocks with Hedwig and the Angry Inch. From the generation of rock musicals that came of age in the time of Rent, Hedwig and the Angry Inch takes us into the down and dirty rock cafes of Berlin following the fall of the Wall. Here we meet Hedwig, whose glittery gender is as ambiguous as the future of the city that bore her. She and her band, The Angry Inch, rock the theatre to its very foundations as Hedwig finally comes to accept that she is—as we all are—male, female, and human. “Hedwig is funny, raucous, touching, and a rousing end to the 2008 season,” says Moss. Hedwig will be directed by Michael Donald Edwards, formerly the associate artistic director at Syracuse Stage, and now the artistic director of the Asolo Theater in Sarasota, Florida. A smash-hit with a two-year run in New York City, the musical will run for three weeks through August 30.
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