Announcing American Conservatory Theater's 2008-09 Season
Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Highlights include West Coast Premiere of Tom Stoppard's Rock 'n' Roll and Edward Albee's Peter and Jerry.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, March 26, 2008—American Conservatory Theater today announced the lineup of the company's 42nd subscription season. Running from September 2008 to July 2009, the season brings new plays, the nation's finest writers, fresh directors, and renowned performers to San Francisco, while presenting a carefully calibrated range of decades, aesthetics, and perspectives, ranging from dark comedy to serious drama, from movement-theater fusion to music-filled celebration.

"I'm thrilled about the season we've been able to assemble," says A.C.T. Artistic Director Carey Perloff. "This season is filled with juicy, edgy, and contemporary pieces from playwrights we have an affinity for—such as Tom Stoppard, John Guare, and Edward Albee—as well as exciting performers like Judy Kaye who are at the absolute pinnacle of their profession. And we're always proud to present work that is irreducibly theatrical, work like War Music that makes the most of language, music, and movement and that couldn't be replicated in any other medium."

A.C.T.'s 42nd season opens in September with the West Coast premiere of Tom Stoppard's latest and most personal work, Rock 'n' Roll, which recently finished hugely successful runs in London and on Broadway. "Tom's latest play is very sexy and very personal," says longtime Stoppard collaborator and friend Carey Perloff, who will direct the production. "Rock 'n' Roll draws us into the lives of individuals who are trying to carve out a little place for themselves amid the bureaucracy and horror of Soviet-dominated Czechoslovakia. This play testifies powerfully to the fact that art can change a culture and change history." This new production will transfer to Boston's prestigious Huntington Theatre Company directly after the conclusion of its run at A.C.T.
The season continues with Emmy Award winner Jane Anderson's earnest and quirky drama The Quality of Life. The show's star-studded cast features Dennis Boutsikaris alongside Laurie Metcalf and JoBeth Williams, who play cousins confronting loss and survival in the face of explosive circumstances in the aftermath of the fires in the Oakland hills. The Quality of Life comes to A.C.T. in a newly revised version following its world premiere production at Los Angeles' Geffen Playhouse. The Quality of Life is produced in association with the Geffen Theatre and Jonathan Reinis Productions.

A.C.T. ushers in the new year with a toast to raucous laughter, producing the first major revival of legendary playwright John Guare's Rich and Famous, a "wacky funhouse ride" through the disturbed unconscious of an ambitious playwright as he struggles against hilarious odds to make his 844th play a success. Guare will be making revisions expressly for this A.C.T. production. "I'm a huge fan of John's work," says Perloff, "and I'm tremendously happy that he'll be working with us to update this wildly funny text."

The momentum gathers with the season's next offering, Souvenir,showcasing Broadway star Judy Kaye (A.C.T.'s Sweeney Todd) in a role that earned her a 2006 Tony Award nomination and a new generation of die-hard fans. A heartfelt portrait of Florence Foster Jenkins as told by her accompanist, played by Donald Corren, Steven Temperley'shit play depicts a wealthy socialite with all the ambition and means to succeed as a classical soprano—except a voice. "This piece—which is based on historical fact—about a woman's indomitable will to be an artist, even when she's not, both amuses and rings true. We're especially happy to welcome Judy Kaye back to A.C.T., a performer with incredible brass and vulnerability, and who is a terrific model for all of our students."

As spring comes around, A.C.T. turns its gaze simultaneously to the past and the future, re-enlivening our classical heritage while putting Homer's timeless tale of the conquest of Troy in an exciting new theatrical form. War Music, in a world premiere production commissioned by A.C.T., is the union of renowned poet Christopher Logue's modern take on the Iliad with star director and adaptor Lillian Groag's famously irrepressible theatricality, recently seen in A.C.T.'s The Rivals. Aligned with A.C.T.'s commitment to fusing movement, music, and language in new theatrical forms, Groag has turned Logue's adaptation of Homer into a groundbreaking work of interdisciplinary art. "Lillian has created a wonderful work that is in keeping with the sense of the theater of war," says Perloff, "populated by characters that range from soldiers in the trenches and generals at their council tables to gods on Olympus. War Music is a pungent meeting of the ancient Greek and modern worlds."

A.C.T.'s embrace of powerful new writing closes with new works by two of America's most important contemporary playwrights. On the heels of A.C.T.'s hugely successful world premiere of José Rivera's Brainpeople, the theater is proud to host Rivera's newest play, Boleros for the Disenchanted, a decades-spanning, ravishing tale of two generations of Puerto Ricans. Rivera explains that, "Boleros for the Disenchanted is about the commitments that men and women make to each other. The play examines the life cycle of a marriage—its beginnings and its end— and embraces the comedy and tragedy in between."

A.C.T. closes out its season with a bang, presenting the West Coast premiere of master playwright Edward Albee's Peter and Jerry. A work that dares to reimagine and reframe The Zoo Story, an unquestionable American classic, Peter and Jerry rocked Broadway last season, and it is sure to make an indelible impression on Bay Area audiences. "In this revealing, smart, and disturbing look at a marriage, Albee has managed to make us understand what drives Peter to that infamous park bench," says Perloff. "In doing so, he has revivified one of the great classics of the 20th century."

The nonsubscription presentation of Carey Perloff and Paul Walsh's adaptation of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol returns during the holiday season, featuring new revisions and actor James Carpenter reprising his role as Ebenezer Scrooge.

Season subscriptions are now available via the A.C.T. subscriptions office. For a season brochure, please call A.C.T. Ticket Services at 415.749.2250 or log on to www.act-sf.org. Subscriptions for all seven plays start at $101, for five plays at $85, and for four plays at $70. Educators and administrators are eligible for half-price subscriptions. Subcriptions to A.C.T. include convenient ticket exchanges, guaranteed best seats, ticket insurance, easy prepaid parking, and—new this year—seat upgrades.

Single tickets for all of A.C.T.'s productions in the 200809 season will be available beginning late August.

A.C.T. is supported in part by Grants for the Arts/San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund, the Next Generation Campaign, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

The American Conservatory Theater 200809 Subscription Season
(ALL TITLES AND DATES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
415 Geary Street
San Francisco, CA 94102

WEST COAST PREMIERE
Rock 'n' Roll
by Tom Stoppard
Directed by Carey Perloff
September 11October 12
Press Night: Wednesday, September 17

"Triumphant . . . Stoppard's finest play"
—The New York Times

A rapturous, decades-spanning tale of Prague's rock revolution, Tom Stoppard's Rock 'n' Roll follows the passions and politics of a wily Marxist professor in Cambridge and his Rolling Stonesobsessed Czech protégé fighting for freedom in Soviet-dominated Prague. In arguably Stoppard's best and most personal work, Rock 'n' Roll is a powerfully lucid contemplation of sixties radicalism, the fall of communism, and the human craving for love and free expression—all to the beat of the Stones, Pink Floyd, and Syd Barrett, Floyd's disturbed genius, whose reclusive life becomes a haunting motif of the play. Direct from record-breaking runs on Broadway and in London, the play will feature several A.C.T. core acting company members. Official casting will be released soon.

The Quality of Life
Written and directed by Jane Anderson
Featuring JoBeth Williams and Laurie Metcalf
Produced in association with the Geffen Theatre and Jonathan Reinis Productions
October 24November 23
Press Night: Wednesday, October 29

Emmy Awardwinning playwright-director Jane Anderson dares to explore hot-button issues of life and death in her riveting tour de force The Quality of Life. When Bill and Dinah (JoBeth Williams), a religious Midwestern couple, visit free-spirited cousin Jeannette (Laurie Metcalf) and her husband, Neil, in Northern California, both couples confront loss and survival in the face of an explosive circumstance. An unforgettable, brave new work of heart and humor, The Quality of Life is nominated for four 2007 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards.

SPECIAL NONSUBSCRIPTION EVENT
A Christmas Carol
by Charles Dickens
Adapted by Carey Perloff and Paul Walsh
Music by Karl Lundeberg
Choreography by Val Caniparoli
Directed by Domenique Lozano
Based on original direction by Carey Perloff
Featuring James Carpenter as Scrooge
December 4December 27
Press Night: Sunday, December 7

"The best Christmas Carol ever! A terrific and imaginative production. Highest rating!"
—Jan Wahl, KRON-TV

"This is a Carol built to banish 'bah humbugs' for years to come!"
—Chad Jones, Oakland Tribune (2005)

Scrooge is back, and he's meaner than ever in A.C.T's A Christmas Carol, the Bay Area's favorite holiday tradition. Featuring adorable Tiny Tim, those spooky Christmas ghosts, and a multigenerational cast of dozens, A Christmas Carol is a sparkling, music-infused celebration of goodwill that your family will never forget.

FIRST MAJOR REVIVAL
Rich and Famous
by John Guare
January 8February 8
Press Night: Wednesday, January 14

"A bitingly funny satire by one of our theater's most inventive playwrights"
—The New York Times

Playwright Bing Ringling yearns to savor the sweet taste of celebrity, and he's hoping play number 844 will be his lucky break. But on opening night, Bing slips into a nightmarish phantasmagoria that shows him just how wrong things can go. From the devious mind of John Guare—who brought Six Degrees of Separation and The House of Blue Leaves to the American stage—Rich and Famous springs to life with twisted humor, rapid-fire dialogue, and outrageous plot twists. A.C.T. welcomes this newly revised, delicious dark comedy in its first major revival since its 1976 New York debut.

Souvenir: A Fantasia on the Life of Florence Foster Jenkins
by Stephen Temperley
Directed by Vivian Matalon
Starring Judy Kaye in a Tony Awardnominated performance
February 13March 15
Press Night: Wednesday, February 18

"If this performance isn't a theatrical memory to cherish, I don't know what is."
—The Village Voice

A.C.T. welcomes the return of the remarkable Judy Kaye (A.C.T.'s Sweeney Todd) in the daring Broadway role that earned her a 2006 Tony Award nomination. A fresh, original musical adventure, Souvenir imagines the story of real-life Florence Foster Jenkins, a New York socialite and tone-deaf diva who thought she was a great soprano. In truth, she squawked like a deranged rooster. Her brilliant, wry accompanist chronicles Florence's unlikely rise to cult status, which culminated in an infamous sold-out Carnegie Hall performance. A heartfelt, wickedly funny look at the limits of self-perception and the unpredictable nature of friendship.

WORLD PREMIERE
War Music
Adapted and directed by Lillian Groag
Based on the book by Christopher Logue
March 26April 26 Press Night: Wednesday, April 1

Inventively crafted with sardonic humor, lush language, and wild anachronistic flourishes, War Music recounts the timeless tale of the wrath of Greek warrior Achilles against his archrival, Agamemnon—all while devious gods meddle in one of the mightiest conflicts of all time. Renowned writer and director Lillian Groag (A.C.T.'s The Rivals) reignites the landscape of the Iliad in a world premiere adaptation that cuts to the heart of Homer's perfectly etched characters and astonishingly immediate worldview. Adapted from lauded contemporary poet Christopher Logue's ravishing translation that was 45 years in the making, War Music is a theatrical fusion of language, music, and movement as only A.C.T. can create.

Boleros for the Disenchanted
by José Rivera
Directed by Carey Perloff
May 7June 7
Press Night: Wednesday, May 13

Young Flora longs for true love—love that is "blue like infinite sky, red like a volcano's heart, pure like all the water that surrounds Puerto Rico." But her fiancé is the biggest scoundrel in town, her father resolves conflict with a machete, and her cousin says happiness is a one-way ticket to America. A bittersweet tale of the strange powers of love, Boleros for the Disenchanted spans four decades, from Puerto Rico in 1953 to years later in the United States, when a shattered heart must face an astounding test of devotion. The newest work by OBIE Awardwinning José Rivera (A.C.T.'s Brainpeople, Marisol), the Academy Awardnominated screenwriter of The Motorcycle Diaries.

WEST COAST PREMIERE
Peter and Jerry
by Edward Albee
Directed by Rebecca Taichman
June 12July 12
Press Night: Wednesday, June 17

"An essential and heartening experience"
—The New York Times

This sparkling new work pairs Edward Albee's (The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?) The Zoo Story with a freshly penned first act that asks the question, Who was Peter before his explosive encounter on that infamous park bench? Probing the dark corners of a seemingly "normal" marriage, the story opens with a tweedy New York editor, Peter, whose wife tells him she wishes he'd get a little more animalistic in the bedroom. It's the kind of conversation that can drive a husband out for a walk—to Central Park, where Jerry, a desperate outcast, awaits. Meticulously calibrated and dangerously brutal, Peter and Jerry bares its teeth to threaten the delicately balanced world its characters inhabit.

TICKETS:
Full-season subscriptions range from $101 to $570 and are now available. For a season brochure, please call A.C.T. Ticket Services at 415.749.2228 or visit www.act-sf.org. Single tickets for individual productions will be available late August, 2008.

CONTACT:
Janette Gallegos, 415.439.2362 or jgallegos@act-sf.org.
Martin Schwartz, 415.439.2418 or mschwartz@act-sf.org.