September
PARADE a musical
Music and Lyrics by Jason Robert Brown
Co-Conceived and Directed on Broadway by Harold Prince
Based on the true story of the trial and lynching of Leo Franklin
The tragic, true story of the trial and lynching of a man wrongly accused of murder is brought to theatrical life. Amid religious intolerance, political injustice and racial tension, the stirring TONY Award winning Parade explores the endurance of love and hope against all the odds. In 1913, Leo Frank, a Brooklyn-raised Jew living in Georgia, is put on trial for the murder of 13-year-old Mary Phagan, a factory worker under his employ. Already guilty in the eyes of everyone around him, a sensationalist publisher and a janitor’s false testimony seal Leo’s fate. His only defenders are a governor with a conscience, and, eventually, his assimilated Southern wife who finds the strength and love to become his greatest champion.
November
THE COUNTRY HOUSE a comedy/drama
By David Margulies
A brood of famous and longing-to-be-famous creative artists have gathered at their summer home during the Williamstown Theatre Festival. When the weekend takes an unexpected turn, everyone is forced to improvise, inciting a series of simmering jealousies, romantic outbursts, and passionate soul-searching. Both witty and compelling, THE COUNTRY HOUSE provides a piercing look at a family of performers coming to terms with the roles they play in each other’s lives.
March
THE IRISH CURSE a comedy
By Martin Casella
What “The Irish Curse” is – and how it manifests itself – is the raw centerpiece of this wicked, rollicking and very funny new play. From its blistering language to its brutally honest look at sex and body image, The Irish Curse is a revealing portrait of how men, and society, define masculinity. In doing so, it dares to pose the fundamental question that has been on the minds of men since the beginning of time: “Do I measure up to the next guy?” Size matters to a small group of Irish-American men (all professionally successful New Yorkers) who meet every Wednesday night, in a Catholic church basement, at a self-help group for men with less than average “equipment.” **Production contains adult language and themes**
April
WORKING a musical
Book by Stephen Schwartz and Nina Faso
Music by Stephen Schwartz, Craig Carnelia, Micki Grant, Mary Rodgers, Lin-Manuel Miranda and James Taylor
Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, Craig Carnelia, Micki Grant, James Taylor, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Susan Birkenhead
Based on Studs Terkel’s best-selling book of interviews with American Workers, Working paints a vivid portrait of the men and women the world so often takes for granted: the schoolteacher, the phone operator, the waitress, the millworker, the mason, and the housewife. This new 2012 version of Working is a musical exploration of 26 people from all walks of life. The key is how people’s relationships to their work ultimately reveal key aspects of their humanity, regardless of the trappings of the job itself. The show, still set in contemporary America, contains timeless truths.
May/June
OVER THE TAVERN a comedy
By Tom Dudzick
In that most idealized period of 20th-century America, the Eisenhower years of the 1950s, the Pazinski family has a lot going on in their cramped Buffalo apartment. The youngest of the bunch, 12-year-old Rudy, is a smart, wise-cracking kid who’s starting to question family values and the Roman Catholic Church. When Rudy goes up against the ruler-wielding Sister Clarissa and announces that instead of being confirmed he’d rather shop around for a more “fun” religion, all hell breaks loose. A warm and hilarious look at family, growing up, and God.
PARADE
Behind the Curtain Cincinnati 