2017 Main Season
Tenderly, The Rosemary Clooney Musical
By Janet Yates Vogt and Mark Friedman
Directed by Rachel Robinson
Jan. 6 – Feb. 12
An exhilarating and inspiring new musical biography of Rosemary Clooney, America’s favorite girl singer. Her journey starts with her humble Midwest childhood and rise to Hollywood stardom, and continues beyond battles with depression to a triumphant comeback. Through it all, she tops the charts for nearly five decades. Presented through her signature songs, Tenderly offers a remarkably personal and poignant picture of the woman whose unparalleled talent and unbridled personality made her a legend.
Be My Baby
By Ken Ludwig
Directed by Courtney Johnson
Mar. 10 – Apr. 9
This delightful comedy from the author of Lend Me A Tenor and Moon Over Buffalo unites John and Maude, an irascible Scotsman and an uptight Englishwoman whose married wards decide to adopt a baby. When the unwilling in-laws try to bring the newborn safely home to Scotland, they get stranded in San Francisco. As they care for the infant, their mutual loathing turns to a new partnership as they learn some startling lessons about life and love.
The Elephant Man
By Bernard Pomerance
Directed by John Maio
May 12 – June 11
This Tony Award winner tells the spellbinding tale of John Merrick, a man so physically deformed that he became known as “The Elephant Man.” Discovered in a circus sideshow, Merrick moves to the London Hospital, where his unsightly visage makes him the star of the day. Visited and patronized by members of Victorian high society, Merrick strives to live his best life, creating beauty wherever and however he can.
The Savannah Sipping Society
By Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope & Jamie Wooten
Directed by Katina Letheule
Aug. 11 – Sep. 10
In the Bay Area Premiere of this delightful, laugh-a-minute comedy, four unique Southern women are drawn together by Fate – and an impromptu happy hour – and decide it’s high time to reclaim their lives. Over the course of six months filled with laughter, hilarious misadventures, and the occasional liquid refreshment, these middle-aged women successfully bond and find the confidence to jump start their new lives and realize it’s never too late to make new old friends.
Oklahoma!
By Oscar Hammerstein II, Richard Rodgers
Directed by Megan McKinley Beaudreau
Musical Direction by Mark Dietrich
Choreography by Kate McGinty
Sep. 29 – Nov. 5
This Tony Award-winning American classic redefined musical theater. The high-spirited rivalry between cowboys and local farmers in a Western Indian territory in the early 1900s provides the colorful background against which Curly, a handsome cowboy, and Laurey, a winsome farm girl, play out their love story. With these two headstrong romantics holding the reins, love’s journey is as bumpy as a surrey ride down a country road. OKLAHOMA – OK!
2017 Holiday Show
Honky Tonk Angels
By Ted Swindley
Directed by Katina Letheule
Starring Margaret Belton, Julia Etzel & Olivia Chavez
Nov. 24 – Dec. 17
The creator and stars of Always…Patsy Cline come together again in this hilarious story about three gutsy women who abandon their unhappy homes for the bright lights of Nashville and find friendship and stardom singing at the Honky Tonk Heaven. The all-hit song list is chockful of country, gospel and bluegrass standards, including I’ll Fly Away, Stand By Your Man, 9 to 5, Coal Miner’s Daughter, Ode to Billy Joe, and more. Stop by the Honky Tonk Heaven for your holiday treat!
2017 Alternative Altarena
Nonna & The Dressmaker
By Mercedes Cohen
Directed by Russell Kaltschmidt
June 29 – July 9
Set in Rome during World War II, this riveting World Premiere drama based on a true story recounts the story of Belle, a young, pregnant Jewish dressmaker hidden by a Catholic family. The hazards of war and the Nazi occupation of Italy loom as Belle risks her life selling handmade dresses on the Black Market as the Romano family strives for a sense of normalcy.
Castle Happy
By Jeff Dunn and John Freed
Directed by Clay David
July 20 – July 30
Movie stars and intrigue fill this World Premiere musical about love among the famous in the sky palace of Hearst Castle. William Randolph Hearst and Marion Davies throw a Halloween party in 1938, inviting Errol Flynn, Charlie Chaplin, and Bette Davis. Romance is in the air, and the party climaxes when Orson Welles’ War of the Worlds broadcast incites panic. Join us for a joyous romp of glittering music, dance, and bigger-than-life personalities.