Every day is opening night.

Contact: Rick Miramontez / Molly Barnett / Elizabeth Wagner rick@oandmco.com /  molly@oandmco.com /  elizabeth@oandmco.com 212-695-7400   Local Contact: Mandee Kuenzle
Mandee@bcptheater.org
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, PLEASE

THE BUCKS COUNTY PLAYHOUSE
WELCOMES PLAYWRIGHT AND BUCKS COUNTY RESIDENT
C H R I S T O P H E R  D U R A N G
AS HOST OF THE JULY 2012 CABARET SERIES
AT HAVANA RESTAURANT AND BAR

SERIES WILL FEATURE SELECTIONS FROM DURANG’S HIT VARIETY ACT
“CHRIS DURANG AND DAWNE”, PERFORMERS FROM “A GRAND NIGHT FOR SINGING” AND OTHER SPECIAL GUESTS

TICKETS ON SALE NOW!

New Hope, PA (7/10/12) –Bucks County Playhouse (BCP) (Jed Bernstein, Producing Director) has announced that Christopher Durang, award winning playwright and long time Bucks County resident, will host the Playhouse’s  first summer cabaret series from Thursday, July 19 – Saturday, July 21 at 11:00 p.m., at Havana Restaurant & Bar (105 South Main Street).

The cabaret series will invite Playhouse cast members and other special guests to step outside their traditional roles to perform in a 45 minute cabaret style show.

In addition to hosting, Durang will be joined by actors Sherry Anderson and John Augustine to perform selections from his hit variety act, “Chris Durang and Dawne”. “Chris Durang and Dawne” was a 10:30 p.m. show at the Criterion Center Nightclub in New York City in 1989 and became a surprise hit, extending several times. It was featured as part of “Varieties,” a weekly variety show at the Rainbow Room in 1990.  In 1991 it was performed at the Bay Street Theatre and the Williamstown Theatre Festival Cabaret.  In 1994 the act hosted its own variety show at Caroline’s Comedy Club.  Among the guests were Sigourney Weaver, Al Franken Jr., Julie Hagerty, Savion Glover, Reno, and Julie Halston. And in 1995 an updated version of the act was presented at the Triad Club in Manhattan, winning a Bistro Award shared by all three performers. Their most recent performance was on January 30, 2012 at Town Hall when they received a Special Nightlife Award for their “legendary nightclub act.”  The Nightlife Awards honor the best in cabaret, comedy and jazz, and differs from other award shows in that it features no acceptance speeches. Instead of speeches, the winners perform.

Advanced tickets are $25 for members and $30 for non members. Tickets at the door are $30 for members and $35 for non-members. To purchase tickets, visit bcptheater.org, call 215-862-2121 or visit the Playhouse box office.  Host of the August series, Thursday, August 16 – Saturday, August 18 at 11:00 p.m., and dates of the December series will be announced shortly.

The first production of the Bucks County Playhouse 2012 summer season, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s A Grand Night for Singing, is currently in performances and has been extended  through Sunday, July 29th (70 South Main Street).

Directed by Tony® Award nominee and Emmy Award® winner Lonny Price, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s A Grand Night for Singing features over 30 of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s greatest hits, from “Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’” to “Some Enchanted Evening.” This 1994 Tony® Award-nominated musical revue is “something wonderful” for all lovers of classic musical theater.

The cast features a line-up of some of Broadway’s most seasoned performers including Courtney Balan (Broadway: [title of show], Cry-Baby), Ron Bohmer (Broadway: Phantom of the Opera, Ragtime), Greg Bosworth (Atlanta: Xanadu, Clyde and Bonnie: A Folktale), Erin Davie (Broadway: A Little Night Music, Grey Gardens), and Kenita R. Miller (Broadway: Xanadu, The Color Purple). These top Broadway performers have appeared in critically acclaimed New York productions and have collectively played over 4,000 Broadway performances, underlining the Playhouse’s commitment to featuring the best performers available.

A little over one week after what would have been Oscar Hammerstein II’s 117th birthday, on Sunday, July 22nd , the Playhouse will present “Sing-a-Long-a Sound of Music”, a full-screen Technicolor showing of the classic Julie Andrews film, based on the beloved Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, that comes complete with subtitles so that the whole audience can sing along. After more than 10,000 performances in 9 countries, the fun-filled show finally comes to Bucks County.  “Bucks County was such an important place in the life of Oscar Hammerstein II, and at Highland Farm he had a retreat where he did much of his creative work,” commented Ted Chapin, President and Executive Director of The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization. 

The presentation at the Bucks County Playhouse will be preceded by a special outdoor BBQ Style dinner hosted by Hamilton’s Grill Room. Other local establishments including, The Logan Inn, Giant, Pineville Tavern, and Walker’s Wine & Spirits will also be supporting the festivities. The show will start with a vocal warm-up led by the evening’s host, who will also take the audience through their complimentary ‘magic moments pack’, containing various props to be used at strategic points throughout the film. Then of course there is the famous fancy-dress competition in which everyone who has come in costume is invited onto the stage to show off their fantastic tailoring skills.

Tickets are on sale now. Tickets to the event (movie and dinner) are $30 for adults and $15 for children under 12 years of age. To purchase tickets, visit bcptheater.org or call 215-862-2121. The BBQ dinner will begin at 5pm and the film screening will commence at 6:30pm.

The summer will continue 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 7th through Sunday, August 26th.

The third production of 2012 will open in December. Full details for this production are forthcoming.

Tickets are on sale now! Regular single ticket prices range from $29 to $54, subscription prices range from $55 to $153, and groups of 10 or more range from $21 to $41. Members will receive discounts on both subscriptions and single tickets along with other benefits. For full details, and to purchase tickets, please visit bcptheater.org or call 215-862-2121.

A Grand Night for Singing plays the following schedule: 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. Barefoot in the Park will play on Fridays at 8:00p.m.

A Grand Night for Singing has music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. Musical arrangements are by Fred Wells with orchestrations by Michael Gibson and Jonathan Tunick. It was originally produced at Roundabout Theatre Company, New York City in 1993 and conceived by Walter Bobbie.

Barefoot in the Park is presented by special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc.

The Bucks County Playhouse 2012 Season is generously supported by Flemington Car and Truck Country, Princeton Automobile Company and Vincent DiBianca & Patty Oceanak. A Grand Night for Singing is graciously sponsored in part by Jones Lang LaSalle and Princeton Global Asset Management.

For more information about employment, internships or auditions at the Bucks County Playhouse please contact us at info@bcptheater.org

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_______________________________________________________________

Christopher Durang has had plays on and off-Broadway including  A History of the American Film (Tony nomination), Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You (Obie award), Beyond Therapy, Baby with the Bathwater, The Marriage of Bette and Boo (Obie award), Laughing Wild, Betty’s Summer Vacation (Obie award), Miss Witherspoon (2005 Pulitzer finalist), Adrift in Macao (at the Philadelphia Theatre Company; book/lyrics Durang, music by Peter Melnick), and Why Torture is Wrong, and the People Who Love Them, which premiered at the Public Theater in 2009.  This fall Durang has a new play premiering at both the McCarter Theater in September and at Lincoln Center Theatre in November; it is called Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, and will feature Sigourney Weaver, David Hyde Pierce, and Kristine Nielsen.  In recent years, Durang won the Harvard Arts Medal; the Madge Evans and Sidney Kingsley Playwriting Award, and was the 2008 honoree at the William Inge Festival. His crackpot cabaret act “Chris Durang and Dawne” played in the late 80s and 90s in various NYC clubs, winning a Bistro Award for him and his cohorts John Augustine and Sherry Anderson.  With Marsha Norman, he’s been co-chair of the Playwriting Program at Juilliard since 1994.  He’s a member of the Dramatists Guild Council.  www.christopherdurang.com

Sherry Anderson has appeared on Broadway in Beauty and the Beast as Madame de la Grande Bouche; she also was in the national tour.  Off-Broadway she originated several  roles in plays by John Augustine: the self-help-obsessed Siobhan inTemporary People, the suicidal woman in PeopleSpeak, and the eccentric mother in Scab Wrties a Song.  She also originated the role of Naomi in Chris Durang’s play Naomi in the Living Room, appearing both at HOME Theatre and Ensemble Studio Theatre.  She has appeared on Law and Order several times.  She is married to actor Jeff Brooks, and has two sons.

John Augustine has acted Off-Broadway, and originated several roles in plays by Susan Cinoman, Heather McCutcheon, Bill Russell, Mac Wellman, Chris Durang, and his own work.  He took over for Keith Reddin in Manhattan Theatre Club’s Durang/Durang.  He was recently in the Indie film, All Me All The Time, opposite Keir Dullea and Sachi Parker.  Also a writer, his play Kent, CT premiered at the Zipper Theatre.  Temporary People was at HOME.  An evening of his one acts called Generation X was presented at HERE Theater in New York; a revised version called Quick Takes was produced in Bucks County at the New Hope Performing Arts Theatre at the Solebury School in 1997.  His plays have been included in the Best Short Plays of 1993-94, Take Ten and the recent Shorter, Faster, Funnier.  Many of his plays are published by Playscripts, Inc.  With Willy Conley, he co-wrote Oh, Figaro! For the National Theatre of the Deaf, directed by Sheryl Kaller.  He as also written for television as a staff writer for Encore! Encore for NBC and Titus for Fox.  For the last three years he has had one act plays in the Summer Shorts Festival at 59E59 Theatre.

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