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Whether you attend theater to help process society’s woes or escape them entirely, this fall’s scene has an eclectic variety of options to consider. From mediums and maternity to presidents and princes, here are some trends of the upcoming season.
Playwrights to the front
Known for giving new life to the words of long-dead playwrights such as Sophocles and Chekhov, The Company Theater is expanding their horizons with a world premiere of “The Summer Land” by (the very much alive) Chicago-based playwright Kate Royal, a graduate of SUNY Geneseo. Set in Rochester 1848, the play is about how the famed Fox sisters helped launch the modern Spiritualist movement by trying to communicate with the afterlife. The dead (including Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Frederick Douglass) will come to life onstage November 8-17. thecompanytheatreroc.org
There’s another chance to see work by an upstate New York writer with “The Brownstone” by Laura Thomas, one of Rochester’s most prolific local playwrights. This family drama, set during a weekend birthday celebration in 1970s Harlem, explores mental illness and gentrification. The show was first staged nine years ago and returns to MuCCC from October 17-20. muccc.org
Geva Theatre Center puts one of America’s most influential playwrights of the 20th century front and center with “How I Learned What I Learned,” a one-man biographical show about August Wilson, the mind behind classic plays portraying Black life such as “Fences” and “The Piano Lesson.” Hear his story, in his own words, from October 15-December 1. gevatheatre.org
Can’t escape politics
Given (yet another) unprecedented election season, it’s probably not a coincidence that two major theaters are doing American political system-themed plays, both of which premiered on Broadway within the past five years.
Blackfriars Theatre takes the strictly comedic route with “POTUS: Or Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive” by Selina Fillinger, a non-partisan feminist farce about seven women keeping a male president out of a PR disaster. Directed by Kerry Young — part of the Bushwhacked comedy duo that has become a sold-out staple of the Rochester Fringe Festival — this play runs October 24-November 3. blackfriars.org
JCC CenterStage offers the more pensive “What the Constitution Means To Me,” Heidi Schreck’s 2017 Pulitzer Prize finalist play, from October 9-20. One woman plays both herself in the present and her 15-year-old self who participated in a debate on the Constitution, reflecting on women’s rights, immigration and American history. She then debates a contemporary teenager on what the Constitution means today, with each show’s audience acting as the jury. jccrochester.org/arts-culture/centerstage
…But you can escape the present
Theater often offers romanticized versions of bygone eras, and this season is particularly nostalgic for the 1980s. For those who love a romantic comedy, Out of Pocket, Inc is staging “Nice Girl” by Melissa Ross, an empowering story about a suburban woman taking a hold of her life, set in 1984 amidst leg warmers and Jane Fonda tapes. It plays December 13-21 at MuCCC. outofpocketinc.com
The Rochester Community Players are staging the 1983 musical “Baby” by Richard Maltby, Jr. and David Shire, a relatively obscure songwriter duo that serves as a good benchmark for gauging just how obsessed someone is with musical theater. This show, about three couples navigating becoming parents, includes the banger of a pregnancy anthem “The Story Goes On” and plays November 8-10. rochestercommunityplayers.org
For more mainstream ‘80s-ish hits, RBTL hosts the latest tour of the always popular “Mamma Mia” from November 19-24. The flimsy plot centers on a girl inviting three potential dads to her Greek island wedding, but the outlandish storyline is just an excuse to deliver stage renditions of ABBA’s catchiest bops, including “Dancing Queen,” “Super Trouper,” and the title song. rbtl.org
If you want to go further back in time — like 3,000 years or so — check out “The Prince of Egypt,” a stage adaptation of the 1998 Dreamworks movie featuring a score by Stephen Schwartz (known for writing “Wicked” and many classics). OFC Creation’s “Broadway in Brighton” series stages this biblically inspired show about Moses and Pharoah starring a mix of Broadway veterans and local performers, running December 5-29. ofccreations.com
Katherine Varga is a contributor to CITY.
Playwrights to the front
Known for giving new life to the words of long-dead playwrights such as Sophocles and Chekhov, The Company Theater is expanding their horizons with a world premiere of “The Summer Land” by (the very much alive) Chicago-based playwright Kate Royal, a graduate of SUNY Geneseo. Set in Rochester 1848, the play is about how the famed Fox sisters helped launch the modern Spiritualist movement by trying to communicate with the afterlife. The dead (including Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Frederick Douglass) will come to life onstage November 8-17. thecompanytheatreroc.org
There’s another chance to see work by an upstate New York writer with “The Brownstone” by Laura Thomas, one of Rochester’s most prolific local playwrights. This family drama, set during a weekend birthday celebration in 1970s Harlem, explores mental illness and gentrification. The show was first staged nine years ago and returns to MuCCC from October 17-20. muccc.org
Geva Theatre Center puts one of America’s most influential playwrights of the 20th century front and center with “How I Learned What I Learned,” a one-man biographical show about August Wilson, the mind behind classic plays portraying Black life such as “Fences” and “The Piano Lesson.” Hear his story, in his own words, from October 15-December 1. gevatheatre.org
Can’t escape politics
Given (yet another) unprecedented election season, it’s probably not a coincidence that two major theaters are doing American political system-themed plays, both of which premiered on Broadway within the past five years.
Blackfriars Theatre takes the strictly comedic route with “POTUS: Or Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive” by Selina Fillinger, a non-partisan feminist farce about seven women keeping a male president out of a PR disaster. Directed by Kerry Young — part of the Bushwhacked comedy duo that has become a sold-out staple of the Rochester Fringe Festival — this play runs October 24-November 3. blackfriars.org
JCC CenterStage offers the more pensive “What the Constitution Means To Me,” Heidi Schreck’s 2017 Pulitzer Prize finalist play, from October 9-20. One woman plays both herself in the present and her 15-year-old self who participated in a debate on the Constitution, reflecting on women’s rights, immigration and American history. She then debates a contemporary teenager on what the Constitution means today, with each show’s audience acting as the jury. jccrochester.org/arts-culture/centerstage
…But you can escape the present
Theater often offers romanticized versions of bygone eras, and this season is particularly nostalgic for the 1980s. For those who love a romantic comedy, Out of Pocket, Inc is staging “Nice Girl” by Melissa Ross, an empowering story about a suburban woman taking a hold of her life, set in 1984 amidst leg warmers and Jane Fonda tapes. It plays December 13-21 at MuCCC. outofpocketinc.com
The Rochester Community Players are staging the 1983 musical “Baby” by Richard Maltby, Jr. and David Shire, a relatively obscure songwriter duo that serves as a good benchmark for gauging just how obsessed someone is with musical theater. This show, about three couples navigating becoming parents, includes the banger of a pregnancy anthem “The Story Goes On” and plays November 8-10. rochestercommunityplayers.org
For more mainstream ‘80s-ish hits, RBTL hosts the latest tour of the always popular “Mamma Mia” from November 19-24. The flimsy plot centers on a girl inviting three potential dads to her Greek island wedding, but the outlandish storyline is just an excuse to deliver stage renditions of ABBA’s catchiest bops, including “Dancing Queen,” “Super Trouper,” and the title song. rbtl.org
If you want to go further back in time — like 3,000 years or so — check out “The Prince of Egypt,” a stage adaptation of the 1998 Dreamworks movie featuring a score by Stephen Schwartz (known for writing “Wicked” and many classics). OFC Creation’s “Broadway in Brighton” series stages this biblically inspired show about Moses and Pharoah starring a mix of Broadway veterans and local performers, running December 5-29. ofccreations.com
Katherine Varga is a contributor to CITY.
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