Every day is opening night.

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Local Contact: Mandee Kuenzle
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, PLEASE

PLAYHOUSE PRODUCTIONS
ANNOUNCES SUMMER 2012 SEASON
FOR NEWLY RENOVATED
“ B U C K S   C O U N T Y   P L A Y H O U S E ”

“A  G R A N D  N I G H T  F O R  S I N G I N G”
“B A R E F O O T  I N  T H E  P A R K”
LAUNCH REOPENING

TICKETS ON SALE TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC FRIDAY, APRIL 27th at 10AM

BUILDING RENOVATIONS CONTINUE ON SCHEDULE

New Hope, PA (4/24/12) –Jed Bernstein, Producing Director of the Bucks County Playhouse (BCP) in New Hope, Pennsylvania, has announced the Summer 2012 Season for the reopening of this legendary and beloved landmark.

The season will launch with A Grand Night for Singing by Rodgers and Hammerstein, directed by Tony® Award nominee and Emmy Award® winning Lonny Price. From “Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’” to “Some Enchanted Evening,” this 1993 Tony® Award-nominated musical revue features over 30 of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s greatest hits. A Grand Night for Singing is “something wonderful” for all lovers of classic musical theater. Performances are Monday, July 2 through Sunday, July 22.

“Bucks County was such an important place in the life of Oscar Hammerstein II,” commented Ted Chapin, President and Executive Director of The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization. “In Highland Farm he had a retreat where he did much of his creative work. The fact that a Rodgers & Hammerstein show – and one that celebrates the whole collaboration – is reopening the legendary Bucks County Playhouse is a thrill to us all. Congratulations!”

The summer continues with Barefoot in the Park by Neil Simon. First seen on the BCP stage nearly 50 years ago prior to its original 1963 Broadway run, this iconic and beloved play about the trials and tribulations of two newlyweds on the top floor of a New York brownstone has been leaving audiences breathless with laughter for generations. Directed by Tony® Award nominee Sheryl Kaller (2010’s Tony® Award-nominated new play, Next Fall) this timeless comedy provides a breath of fresh air for the dog days of summer. Performances are Tuesday, August 7 through Sunday, August 26.

“I am so delighted that the Bucks County Playhouse, such an important place in my creative life, will be up and running again. For it to feature in its renaissance season, one of my own plays is icing on the cake,” commented Neil Simon.

The third production of 2012 will run from Tuesday, December 4 through Sunday, December 30. Full details for this production are forthcoming. Casting for both productions will announced at a later date.

Jed Bernstein commented that, “In planning the 2012 launch, we wanted to accomplish three very important goals:  return live music to our stage, return to the BCP legacy of producing plays, and raise the quality of the performers and performances. These two productions allow us to accomplish that, as does our return to an Actors’ Equity contract.

“We are so delighted that the Bucks County Playhouse has decided that a critical part of its revival will be its return to Actors’ Equity contract status,” added Mary McColl Executive Director of the Actors’ Equity Association. “What a clear example of the advantage of using the most talented actors in the world. We are thrilled for Bucks County and our membership.”

In addition to the summer and holiday productions, Bucks County Playhouse will present a cabaret series Thursday, July 19 – Saturday, July 21 at 11:00 p.m., and Thursday, August 16 – Saturday, August 18 at 11:00 p.m. at Havana Restaurant & Bar (105 South Main Street). December dates will be announced soon.  The series will invite Playhouse cast members, etc. to step outside their traditional roles to perform in a 45 minute cabaret style show.  The July edition will be hosted by award winning playwright Christopher Durang, a long time Bucks County resident.

The Playhouse is also excited to announce that two companies have already signed on as corporate partners for our summer productions. Jones Lang La Salle, the financial and professional services firm specializing in commercial real estate services and investment management, and Princeton Global Asset Management, an investment advisory firm.

Subscription tickets for those in our membership program are on sale now. Members will have an exclusive three-day window to purchase subscriptions, and members will receive discounts on both subscriptions and single tickets along with other Playhouse benefits. For full Membership details, and to purchase tickets, please visit bcptheater.org or call 215-315-7788.

Tickets will go on sale to the general public on Friday, April 27 @ 10AM. Subscription prices will range from $55 to $153. Regular single ticket prices range from $29 to $54. Groups of 10 or more will range from $21 to $41.  To purchase tickets visit bcptheater.org or call 215-315-7788.

Week one of A Grand Night for Singing will play Monday at 8:00 p.m., Tuesday at 8:00 p.m., Thursday at 4:00 and 8:30 pm ( Opening Night Gala) Friday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 4:00 and 8:30 p.m., and Sunday at 2:00 p.m. The regular performance schedule for the rest of the summer will be: Tuesdays at 8:00 p.m., Wednesdays at 8:00 p.m., Thursdays at 4:00 and 8:30 p.m., Fridays at 7:30 p.m., Saturdays at 4:00 and 8:30 p.m., and Sundays at 2:00 p.m.

Renovations for the Playhouse have been ongoing since February and are on track for the Playhouse’s grand opening on July 2.  “Our restoration team continues to meet the daily challenges head on and we recognize the efforts of everyone that is contributing to this achievement. The success of this restoration is dependent on a community effort and the dedication we have seen to date is incomparable,” says Bridge Street Foundation president Tanya Cooper.

For more information about employment, internships or auditions at the Bucks County Playhouse please contact us at bcptheaterinfo@gmail.com

Located 90 minutes from New York City, the Bucks County Playhouse opened in 1939 on the site of a grist mill dating from the late eighteenth century. Ironically, the structure was at that time in danger of demolition; however playwright Moss Hart and the local community rallied to save the building and re-opened it as a theatrical venue, which quickly became one of the country’s most famous regional theaters. In continuous operation until December 2010, a veritable who’s who of American theatrical royalty has trod its boards, including Kim Hunter, Helen Hayes, Kitty Carlisle, Colleen Dewhurst, Shirley Booth, Lillian Gish, June Lockhart, Grace Kelly, Robert Redford, Bert Lahr, Leslie Nielsen and Walter Matthau. 

Bios_______________________________________________________________

Lonny Price ( Director, A Grand Night for Singing) most recently directed the stage and film version of the New York Philharmonic’s all star production of Stephen Sondheim’s Company (starring Neil Patrick Harris, Stephen Colbert, Jon Cryer, Christina Hendricks, Martha Plimpton, Patti Lupone, etc.), which played in over seven hundred movie theaters across the country. He also directed the stage and filmed versions of his tribute to Stephen Sondheim, Sondheim: The Birthday Concert! in March of 2010, for which he just received a 2011  Emmy Award for his direction. His other Philharmonic collaborations include the Live From Lincoln Center broadcast of Camelot, starring Gabriel Byrne; Candide, starring Kristin Chenoweth,  (broadcast on Great Performances), and Sweeney Todd, starring Ms. LuPone and George Hearn for which he won an Emmy. Mr. Price directed the Emmy Award–winning production of Sondheim’s Passion, starring Ms. LuPone, Audra McDonald, and Michael Cerveris. On Broadway he directed Audra McDonald in 110 in the Shade, Danny Glover in Athol Fugard’s ‘Master Harold’ … and the Boys; Joan Rivers in Sally Marr and Her Escorts (which he co- wrote with Ms. Rivers and Erin Sanders); Jenn Colella in Urban Cowboy; and himself in A Class Act, for which he also co-wrote the book (with Linda Kline) and was nominated for a Tony Award. Lonny Price’s Off-Broadway directorial work includes Visiting Mr. Green, starring Eli Wallach; Jules Feiffer’s Grown Ups; and Mary Pat Gleason’s Stopping Traffic, for the Vineyard Theatre. He made his opera directing debut at the Houston Grand Opera directing Audra McDonald in Poulenc’s La Voix Humaine and Michael John LaChiusa’s Send. He recently finished shooting his first feature film, ‘Master Harold’ … and the Boys, (starring Freddie Highmore and Ving Rhames), and has directed several episodes of ABC’s “Desperate Housewives”. As an actor, he appeared on and Off-Broadway in a variety of plays and musicals, including Athol Fugard’s ‘Master Harold’… and the Boys, Stephen Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along, and Lanford Wilson’s Burn This. On film he is best remembered for playing Neil Kellerman, the hotel owner’s grandson in Dirty Dancing. For his acting work, he has received Obie, Theatre World, Drama League, and Drama League awards

Sheryl Kaller (Director, Barefoot in the Park) was nominated for a 2010 Tony Award as best director for Geoffrey Nauffts’ award-winning play, Next Fall. She has directed at many theaters including the New Group, Primary Stages, Williamstown Theatre Festival, A.C.T., New York Stage and Film (9 seasons), The Geffen, Philadelphia Theater Company, American Music Theater Project, the York, EST, Rubicon, National Theater of the Deaf and Naked Angels. She co-founded Two Island Productions (Artistic Director- 6 seasons), a New York and Bermuda-based theater company devoted to developing and producing original plays, playwright retreats/workshops, screenplays, concerts and youth arts and education programs. She has directed and developed a plethora of new plays and musicals with writers including Christopher Durang, Geoffrey Nauffts, Peter Melnick, Regina Taylor, Dick Beebe, Theresa Rebeck, Richard Dresser and Alan Menken.

Lorin Lataro (Choreographer, A Grand Night Singing) choreographed Encore’s Fanny at City Center, Live From Lincoln Center’s Hansel and Gretel (Sendak) for PBS, Cy Coleman’s The Best Is Yet To Come for David Zippel (Ovation Award) at The Rubicon and 59E59th Street Theater, Saving Aimee at Seattle’s 5th Avenue Theater, pieces for Momix, the upcoming City Club at Minetta Lane, Apassionata’s international tour and currently Broadway’s American Idiot (Associate). TV includes Greenday’s Grammy’s performance and staging for numerous TV appearances, NBC’s Grease reality TV show and NBC’s Clash of the Choirs (associate) and a dance commercial for Savion Glover and Twix.  Lorin co-wrote the musical The Cosmopolitan (award winner at NAMT) and as a performer has performed in 14 Broadway shows including lead roles in Movin Out, Guys and Dolls, A Chorus Line, Fossen, Swing!, Kiss Me Kate, and Spamalot. She was an Associate Choreographer on many Broadway shows throughout her performing career and has worked with numerous award winning directors and choreographers.

Phil Reno (Music Director) Broadway: Promises, Promises, Elf!,  The Drowsy Chaperone,  The Producers,  Thou Shalt Not, Dame Edna: The Royal Tour  and Back With a Vengeance,  Cats.  Off-Broadway: The Diva Is Dismissed (Public), A New Brain (Lincoln Center). National Tours: Joseph…. (with Donny Osmond), original company Music of the Night,  Starlight Express,  Bob Fosse’s Sweet Charity.  Television: Music Director/Conductor Broadway Under the Stars, CBS 2002-2006; CBS Tree Lighting in Bryant Park 2006-2011.  Film: The Producers. Grammy nominee (co-producer) of  The Drowsy Chaperone cast album.   

Kirk Bookman (Lighting Designer) has designed the lighting for numerous New York productions, including Charles Busch's The Divine Sister, What Then at the Ohio Theater, The Cook at Intar Theatre 53, Recent Tragic Events at Playwrights Horizons (starring Heather Graham), and Shanghai Moon at Drama Department (starring Charles Busch). For the National Actors Theatre on Broadway: The Sunshine Boys (Jack Klugman and Tony Randall), The Gin Game (Julie Harris and Charles Durning), Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and Right You Are. For the Irish Repertory Company in New York, his presentations include Bedbound, Playboy of the Western World, Eclipsed, The Importance of Being Earnest and Major Barbara. Other New York productions include Mondo Drama, Havana is Waiting, Force Continuum, My One Good Nerve (starring Ruby Dee), The Green Heart at Manhattan Theatre Club, The Shawl, Rude Entertainment, The Book of Liz (David and Amy Sedaris), Les MIZrahi (Isaac Mizrahi), Hope is the Thing with Feathers, As Thousands Cheer and June Moon. Regionally, Mr. Bookman has designed at such notable theaters as Goodspeed Opera House (East Haddam, Connecticut), Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, and Pittsburgh Public Theater. Ballet credits include the English National Ballet, Santiago Ballet, the Cincinnati Ballet and the Kansas City Ballet. Projects with the San Francisco Symphony include The Thomashefskys, Of Thee I Sing, Oedipus Rex, The Nightingale and A Flowering Tree directed by Peter Sellars. Upcoming: the full length ballet Tom Sawyer (music by Maury Yeston).

Nicole V. Moody (Costume Designer) Design credits include Love Loss and What I Wore– NYC, Chicago Tour and Also Rep, Sleuth– Olney Theatre Centre, Deepest Play Ever– Collaboration Town, Housewives Cantata– York Theatre, Promise– Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theatre, The Realm- Down Payment Productions, Trumpery– Olney Theatre Center Hungry for Gold– IOC, Children at Play- Collaboration Town, What is the Cause of Thunder– Williamstown Theatre Festival, Therese Raquin– The Potomac Theatre Project, The Glass Menagerie– Olney Theatre Center and Boston Center for American Performance, The Red Headed Man– NYC Fringe Festival and Encore series, Cosi Fan Tutti and Carmen- Boston Midsummer Opera, A Devil’s Teacup– Boston Playwrights, 4:48 Psychosis– Fort Point Theatre Channel, Rocky Horror, Thoroughly Modern Millie– NorthShore Music Theatre, Indian Ink– Small World Big Sky, as well as various productions with Boston University, including Red Noses and Don Giovanni.  Nicole is also credited with Costume Design Assistant for Catherine Zuber on MTC’s Tony winning Royal Family, Lincoln Center Theater’s Tony winning South Pacific, Tony nominated Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, The Whipping Man at MTC, Women on the Verge… Lincoln Center, How to Succeed in Business… at the Hirschfeld, The Bridge Project at BAM, A Man for All Seasons and Mrs. Warren’s Profession at the Roundabout Theatre, Farragut North, at the Atlantic Theatre and Geffen Playhouse, Das Rheingold at San Francisco Opera, Freud’s Magic Powder– film as well as numerous others assistant/ associate credits for Broadway, off Broadway, Regional Theatre as well as the Madonna 2012 World Tour.

James Noone (Scenic Designer) Jim has been a Scenic Designer in NYC since 1983 and a member of USA local 829 since 1986. During this time he has worked for some of NYC’s most prestigious theatre companies including Playwrights Horizons, Manhattan Theatre Club, Lincoln Center Theatre, Roundabout Theatre Company and numerous others. Off Broadway he has designed the original productions of Terrance McNally’s Frankie and Johnny in the Clair De Lune, Edward Albee’s Pulitzer Prize winning play Three Tall Women, the long running solo shows Full Gallp and Fully Committed. Other long running Off-Broadway shows include Cowgirls and Breaking Legs, The original production of A Bronx Tale, the first revival of Boys in the Band and the musical Ruthless. Broadway productions include the long running Jekyll and Hyde, Tony nominated best Musical A Class Act, many productions for Tony Randall’s National Actors Theatre including The Persians, Judgment at Nuremnberg, Night Must Fall, The Sunshine Boys and The Gin Game and the recent revival of A Bronx Tale and Come Back Little Sheba. Outside of NYC he has designed at many of the leading regional Theatres in America as well as many national tours. His work in Opera has been seen at Glimbberglass, NYC Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, La Opera, Washington National Opera, and Canadian Opera Co. For television he designed Sweeny Todd, Candide, Passion, Camelot, and Stephen Sondheim’s 80th Birthday Concert for PBS and Company seen in select movie Theatres. Awards include the Drama Desk (and multiple nominations), American Theatre Wing Design Award, 2 Helen Hayes Awards (DC), the LA Ovation Award, and 2 NAACP Theatre Design Awards.

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