2010 Season
Altarena Playhouse 2010 Season
January 8 – February 6
BUS STOP
A play by William Inge
Long before “The Breakfast Club”, there was “Bus Stop”. It’s winter on the Great Plains, and a snowstorm near Kansas City has stranded a group of bus passengers at a local diner. During their weather-enforced overnight layover, the diverse group of strangers develop short-lived but revealing relationships as they learn about each other—and about themselves.
February 26 – April 3
MAN OF LA MANCHA
Book by Dale Wasserman
Music by Mitch Leigh
Lyrics by Joe Darion
Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes was sold into slavery, excommunicated from the Church, imprisoned in debtors’ jail, and died poor. Yet his alter ego Don Quixote de la Mancha sees only the best in everyone and pursues the loftiest ideals, “no matter how hopeless, no matter how far.” Initially ridiculed as an idealistic fool, Quixote eventually transforms those around him, helping them see the world “not as it is, but as it ought to be.” The show’s signature song The Impossible Dream, an anthem for anyone on a quest of their own, makes this story as powerful today as it was in Cervantes’ time.
May 14 – June 13
SYLVIA
A play by A. R. Gurney
Long-married empty-nesters Greg and Kate adopt an abandoned street-smart mutt named Sylvia after the kids have grown up and moved out. But will Sylvia be a companion, a rival for affection, a distraction from life’s little dissatisfactions…or just a “bone of contention” between them? Through Sylvia’s eyes, we see how Greg and Kate deal with the hilarious complications and ultimately learn to welcome Sylvia into the family, reminding us that our hearts and families always have room for one more. 1995 Drama Desk Award nominations included Outstanding Play and Outstanding Actress (Sarah Jessica Parker).
July 9 – August 8
STEEL MAGNOLIAS
A play by Robert Harling
Truvy’s beauty salon in small-town Louisiana is the social nucleus for a close-knit circle of women, each reaching for happiness as they negotiate life’s ups and downs. Through the choices they make and the unexpected crises they have to navigate as they face their own mortality, the women’s shared bond makes them graceful yet strong, bending but not breaking, learning to balance trust and gossip, charm and wit, sarcasm and sincerity, humor and heartbreak. The movie adaption was the 1989 People’s Choice for Best Picture and won the Oscar for Best Actress (Julia Roberts).
September 10 – October 16
I LOVE YOU, YOU’RE PERFECT, NOW CHANGE
Book and Lyrics by Joe DiPietro
Music by Jimmy Roberts
The longest-running off-Broadway musical covers “everything you have ever secretly thought about dating, romance, marriage, lovers, husbands, wives and in-laws, but were afraid to admit!” The hilarious series of vignettes about love and relationships has been called “The battle of the heterosexes” and “Seinfeld set to music.” Its situations are so universal — pickup lines, first dates, newborns, in-laws — that it’s been translated into 13 languages and performed all over the world…and now it’s coming to Alameda!
Buy your subscription online now, or call 510-523-1553!
Bus Stop
A play by William Inge
January 8 – February 6
Long before “The Breakfast Club”, there was Bus Stop. It’s winter on the Great Plains, and a snowstorm near Kansas City has stranded a group of bus passengers at a local diner. During their weather-enforced overnight layover, the diverse group of strangers develop short-lived but revealing relationships as they learn about each other—and about themselves.
Man Of La Mancha
Book by Dale Wasserman
Music by Mitch Leigh
Lyrics by Joe Darion
February 26 – April 3
Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes was sold into slavery, excommunicated from the Church, imprisoned in debtors’ jail, and died poor. Yet his alter ego Don Quixote de la Mancha sees only the best in everyone and pursues the loftiest ideals, “no matter how hopeless, no matter how far.” Initially ridiculed as an idealistic fool, Quixote eventually transforms those around him, helping them see the world “not as it is, but as it ought to be.” The show’s signature song The Impossible Dream, an anthem for anyone on a quest of their own, makes this story as powerful today as it was in Cervantes’ time.
Sylvia
A play by A. R. Gurney
May 14 – June 13
Long-married empty-nesters Greg and Kate adopt an abandoned street-smart mutt named Sylvia after the kids have grown up and moved out. But will Sylvia be a companion, a rival for affection, a distraction from life’s little dissatisfactions…or just a “bone of contention” between them? Through Sylvia’s eyes, we see how Greg and Kate deal with the hilarious complications and ultimately learn to welcome Sylvia into the family, reminding us that our hearts and families always have room for one more. 1995 Drama Desk Award nominations included Outstanding Play and Outstanding Actress (Sarah Jessica Parker).
Steel Magnolias
A play by Robert Harling
July 9 – August 8
Truvy’s beauty salon in small-town Louisiana is the social nucleus for a close-knit circle of women, each reaching for happiness as they negotiate life’s ups and downs. Through the choices they make and the unexpected crises they have to navigate as they face their own mortality, the women’s shared bond makes them graceful yet strong, bending but not breaking, learning to balance trust and gossip, charm and wit, sarcasm and sincerity, humor and heartbreak. The movie adaption was the 1989 People’s Choice for Best Picture and won the Oscar for Best Actress (Julia Roberts).
I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change
Book and Lyrics by Joe DiPietro
Music by Jimmy Roberts
September 10 – October 16
The longest-running off-Broadway musical covers “everything you have ever secretly thought about dating, romance, marriage, lovers, husbands, wives and in-laws, but were afraid to admit!” The hilarious series of vignettes about love and relationships has been called “The battle of the heterosexes” and “Seinfeld set to music.” Its situations are so universal — pickup lines, first dates, newborns, in-laws — that it’s been translated into 13 languages and performed all over the world…and now it’s coming to Alameda!
Buy your subscription online now, or call 510-523-1553!
