DC's TACT to Feature 'Elms,' Hellzapoppin, Etc. in '06-'07

The American Century Theater, dedicated to producing worthy but neglected 20th century stage works, has announced its 2006-07 season.
 
The season begins September 8, when TACT premieres a rare revival of Barbara Garson's legendary Viet Nam Era satire MacBird! (1965), in which a troubled and profane Lyndon Baines Johnson is cast as MacBeth.  Ellen Dempsey (It Had to Be You) directs. It runs Sept 8-October 7.
 
Next is Eugene O'Neill's Desire Under the Elms (1924), one of the great tragedian's greatest tragedies, and like most of his plays, under-produced." It is a show that is grand tragedy American style.  It is a play that reaches into the gut," state press notes. William Aitken, a TACT regular (The Autumn Garden; Moby Dick Rehearsed; Tea and Sympathy, among others) will direct the classic. January 5-February 3, 2007 are the show's dates.
 
February will bring a new "Reflections" entry for TACT. Working with Lillian Hellman biographer Deborah Martinsen, TACT Associate Artistic Director Steven Mazzola (The Autumn Garden, Tea and Sympathy, The Second Man) has assembled an evening of short plays written during Prohibition by some America's most brilliant writers; some celebrated, some forgotten, all female. The famous include Dorothy Parker, Gertrude Stein, Susan Glaspell and Sophie Treadwell; the less well-known include Eulalie Spence, Mary Carolyn Davis, Rita Wellman and Althea Thurston. The collection entitled Drama Under the Influence is from distinct voices, all exploring the tensions and social stresses of a changing society. It runs February 23-March 24.
 
In April, TACT Artistic Associate Ed Bishop (The Emperor Jones) will direct Jason Miller's Pulitzer Prize-winning drama, That Championship Season (1972). A" reunion of a high school championship basketball team rips open old wounds, exposes dashed dreams and unleashes unexpected emotions, in an evening that moves at a break-neck pace. This is a play that reminds audiences of the important role theater has in defining the social tensions in America."  The exact dates will be announced.
 
Artistic director Jack Marshall will direct TACT's season ending show, a revival of the Olsen and Johnson musical revue Hellzapoppin (1936), "renowned as the zenith of craziness and chaos on Broadway. Audiences were literally under assault during the original run, the victims of practical jokes, running gags, malfunctions and crazed intruders. Hellzapoppin, for many years the longest-running production in Broadway history, is today remembered as the inspiration for the '60's TV hit 'Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In,' the comedy show 'Hee-Haw!' and Off-Broadway's The Mad Show, which spawned 'Saturday Night Live.'" Tom Fuller will be the musical director. It runs July 13-August 18.
 
The theater also announced that its short-run "Rescues" production will be the Edna Ferber/George S. Kauffman back-stage pot-boiler Stage Door.  "Rescues" is TACT's staged reading series "bringing to audiences the delights of great shows that have become nearly impossible to produce because of their cast size and technical requirements."

The American Century Theater is a 501(c) (3) professional nonprofit theater company dedicated to producing, great, important, and neglected 20th Century American plays and playwrights. TACT is funded in part by the Arlington County Cultural Affairs Division of the Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Services, the Virginia Commission for the Arts, numerous foundations and many generous donors.

The American Century Theater performs at Theater II, Gunston Arts Center, 2700 S. Lang Street, Arlington, Virginia 22206. Subscription season packages are available. Friday or Saturday evening ticket subscriptions are $118 (20% off the box office price). Wednesday-Thursday evening, or weekend matinee subscriptions are $104 value, also a 20% discount. Visit www.americancentury.org or call 703-553-8782 for information.

Children under 18 are admitted free with reservations and a paying adult; active duty military members with ID are admitted free with reservations and as seats are available.