AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS
Adapted by Mark Brown from the novel by Jules Verne
February 23- March 14, 2010
The classic Jules Verne adventure story has been adapted for the stage and is a wild, wacky, unbelievably creative, 90-miles-an-hour, hilarious journey. Phineas Fogg embarks on a frenetic race that will ultimately change his life. Can he truly achieve his outrageous gamble to go around the world in 80 days? This award-winning stage adaptation where five actors portray thirty-nine characters is an exciting family adventure.
BILLY BISHOP GOES TO WAR
Written and composed by John Gray in collaboration with Eric Peterson
January 19-February 7, 2010
An unlikely champion, Billy Bishop stumbled his way into the Royal Canadian Flying Corps and unexpectedly became its most decorated officer. Credited with more air victories than any British or American pilot, Bishop was a hero, an icon and an enigma. A tour de force of story and song, Billy Bishop takes you from edge-of-your-seat aerial battles to the lunacy, laughter and loss behind the lines.
“A high flying ace of a show capturing the humor, the hellfire and the derring-do of an extraordinary career.”
–The New York Times
A CHRISTMAS CAROL - Season Extra!
Charles Dickens
December 4- December 24, 2009
The holiday classic is back and better than ever! Dickens' timeless story of Ebenezer Scrooge and his encounters with the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future has entertained and enlightened thousands of our patrons, teaching us the true meaning of the holiday season.
//romeo&juliet/
William Shakespeare
October 20-November 8, 2009
In this bold new staging, the social revolution takes over the Wells Theatre as Shakespeare’s text is brought to life with the innovative use of technology and digital media. Through the hate of warring factions, in defiance of their families and in secrecy from their closest friends, a young couple risks all they have to be together. One of Shakespeare’s most popular plays is made electric again for a new generation.
Exciting News! Romeo Montague, Juliet Capulet, and Ben Volio all have Facebook accounts! Usernames for a quick search: romeovsc and julietvsc.
ALIVE AND WELL
Kenny Finkle
September 15-October 4, 2009
In this funny new play by VSC favorite Kenny Finkle, our country's continuing struggle between the North and South is on full display as a heartbroken Civil War re-enactor and an emotionally desperate New York journalist search for the oldest living Civil War veteran. Trekking through the heart of Virginia, they find more than they bargained for in this irreverent take on modern America. This is the second play in VSC's American Soil series, a new play project exploring the cultural and historical foundations of Hampton Roads.
Ella
Book by Jeffrey Hatcher, Conceived by Rob Ruggiero and Dyke Garrison, Musical Supervision and Arrangements by Danny Holgate, Directed by Rob Ruggiero
March 31 – April 19, 2009
She was the First Lady of Jazz known the world over, but yet she hailed from right here in Tidewater. The powerful voice and rich life of Ella Fitzgerald are told in an exhilarating new musical that re-imagines her 1967 landmark concert in Nice, France. At times heartbreaking - but always uplifting - Ella features 14 of her greatest hits - including “That Old Black Magic,” and “A-Tisket, A-Tasket” – all performed by her onstage band and that unforgettable voice.
Line in the Sand
A new play about Massive Resistance and Norfolk School Desegregation, By Chris Hanna
February 24 – March 15, 2009
One of the most significant battles to be fought on American soil happened here in Hampton Roads just fifty years ago. When Norfolk citizens struggled to reopen public schools that had been shut in defiance to racial integration, Virginia’s infamous policy of Massive Resistance made national headlines. To the eyes of many today, our community is still recovering from that fight. VSC Artistic Director Chris Hanna will weave excerpts from original media coverage, court documents, and recorded personal accounts with imagined scenes and characters he creates to examine the legacy Massive Resistance provides our region today.
A Moon for the Misbegotten
By Eugene O’Neill
January 20 – February 8, 2009
A dilapidated Connecticut farm-house provides the backdrop for family intrigue in one of Eugene O’Neill’s best plays. Old Phil Hogan and his fiery daughter fear eviction from their landlord and devise a scheme to keep their home. But as emotions run deep, plans begin to unravel. All that remains are two “misbegotten” people, under the moonlight, facing their own loneliness. A Moon for the Misbegotten is one of the great American classics and can’t be missed.
A Christmas Carol
By Charles Dickens
December 3 – December 23, 2008
The holiday classic is back and better than ever! Dickens’ timeless story of Ebenezer Scrooge and his encounters with the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future has entertained and enlightened thousands of our patrons, teaching us the true meaning of the holiday season.
Centennial Casting
By Gino DiIorio and Nancy Bleemer
October 21 – November 9, 2008
For Vincent Didonato, the family’s metal casting shop that he runs would hardly seem the perfect place to meet Ms. Right. But that is exactly what happens when a bunch of resumes from several comely New York actresses start pouring into his “Casting” office. Finding one young waitress too irresistible to let slip away; he sets up an “audition” for a fictitious film. Mistaken identity and hilarity soon follow as show business and sheet metal collide. A mad-cap new comedy that proves sometimes it’s alright to let sparks fly. Contains Adult Language.
My Fair Lady
Based upon George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion
September 16 – October 5, 2008
A distinguished phonetics professor from London’s upper crust places a friendly wager that a common flower girl from the streets can be transformed into a lady, simply by teaching her to speak properly. Little does he know that she may have something of her own to teach. This recently discovered, two-piano adaptation of Lerner and Loewe’s sparkling score includes “I Could Have Danced All Night,” “Get Me To The Church On Time” and “On the Street Where You Live.” My Fair Lady is one of the greatest stories of the stage and a musical masterpiece for the whole family.
Lost in the Stars
By Kurt Weill and Maxwell Anderson
April 25-27 2008
Weill’s final Broadway score is a passionate voice to this powerful, uncompromising social indictment of apartheid South Africa. Based on Alan Paton’s novel, Cry, the Beloved Country, the stirring story is of two aging men – a black, country parson and a white, British planter – drawn into friendship by shared grief.
Hank Williams: Lost Highway
By Randal Myler & Mark Harelik
April 1 – 20, 2008
The original country music outlaw, Hank Williams’ meteoric rise and fall are the stuff of music legend. His contributions to popular music in the twentieth century cannot be measured. Follow Williams’ from his humble roots singing gospel music on the Louisiana Hayride, to the storied Grand Ole Opry, and to his eventual self-destruction at age twenty-nine. Full of foot stompin’, barn burnin’ classics like “Move It on Over”, “Jambalaya,” “Your Cheatin’ Heart” and “Hey, Good Lookin’”, played by Hank and his band onstage, Hank Williams: Lost Highway will have you cheering for more!
The Poetry of Pizza
By Deborah Brevoort
February 26 – March 16, 2008
A teaching job in Copenhagen for an American university professor skids hilariously off-course when she unexpectedly falls for a charming Kurdish pizza-maker who speaks his heart to her through his culinary creations. In this comic and touching new play, the unlikely courtship of two romantics from very different cultures arouses the passions of everyone around them. A comedy of errors of the culinary kind.
The Piano Lesson
By August Wilson
January 15 – February 3, 2008
The late August Wilson was one of the premier dramatists of the American stage and The Piano Lesson is the most beautiful and richly drawn of all his plays. A Pulitzer Prize winner, it is the highlight of Wilson’s ten-play cycle chronicling the African-American experience in the twentieth century. With the Great Depression for a backdrop, a brother and sister struggle over a precious family heirloom, a piano with images of their African ancestors carved by their enslaved grandfather.
A Christmas Carol
By Charles Dickens
December 5-22, 2007
The holiday classic is back by popular demand! Dickens’ timeless story of Ebenezer Scrooge and his encounters with the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future has entertained and enlightened thousands of our patrons, teaching us the true meaning of the holiday season.
Man of La Mancha
By Dale Wasserman, Mitch Lee, and Joe Darion
October 23 – November 11, 2007
In a dank dungeon at the height of the Inquisition, the great Spanish novelist Miguel de Cervantes anxiously awaits his trial. With only his imagination to protect him, he weaves a tale of the world’s greatest hero, Don Quixote, who comes galloping out of the darkness fighting windmills, wooing women, and standing against all adversity. Adapted from the world’s most popular novel of all time and featuring a breathtaking score that includes “The Impossible Dream”, Man of La Mancha is a testament to the human spirit and the potential in us all.
Doubt
By John Patrick Shanley
September 18 – October 7, 2007
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the Tony Award for best new play of 2005, Doubt is a gripping examination of paranoia in the Catholic Church. When accusations of a priest’s wrongdoing come to light, a Bronx parochial school must wrestle with concepts of faith and justice. Sister Aloysius, a traditionalist nun and the school’s principal, has to decide whether to openly accuse Father Flynn of alleged indiscretions or bury her suspicions and forever live with her doubts. The final showdown is a riveting power struggle that calls into question our most basic beliefs and makes Doubt an electrifying night of theater.
Reduced Shakespeare Company
April 25 - 29, 2007
America's best-loved comedy troupe returns to Hampton Roads to present a ninety-minute roller-coaster ride through the glorious quagmire that is American History. From Washington to Watergate, yea verily from the Bering Straits to Baghdad, from New World to New World Order, the RSC tackles such controversial questions as: Who really discovered America? Why did Abe Lincoln free the slaves? and How Many Democrats does it take to screw in a light bulb?
King Lear: The Storm at Home
adapted by Chris Hanna - based on William Shakespeare's King Lear
April 3 - 22, 2007
Drawn from interviews with Hampton Roads' elders, families and eldercare professionals, King Lear - The Storm at Home weaves these stories with the classic King Lear text by a troupe of actors whose performance dramatizes how families are facing the emotional, legal and ethical challenges of caring for our aging parents.
To Kill A Mockingbird
by Harper Lee
February 27 - March 18, 2007
The American classic comes to life through the eyes of Scout, the spunky and curious daughter of lawyer Atticus Finch. When her father agrees to defend an unjustly accused young black man in a racially divided 1930's Alabama town, Scout finds out that justice and truth aren't necessarily one in the same. This Pulitzer Prize winning story is a powerful examination of integrity, fairness and
quiet courage.
Indoor/Outdoor
by Kenny Finkle
January 16 - February 4, 2007
This new comedy explores the humorous side of a man's relationship with his feline housemate. With the help of a novice pet psychologist, who may be flying on her own version of catnip, Indoor/Outdoor seeks to answer the age-old question "is the grass always greener?" It's a funny romantic comedy for anyone who's ever been in a relationship…human or otherwise!
A Christmas Carol
December 6 - 23, 2006
A holiday classic back by popular demand! Dickens' timeless story of Ebenezer Scrooge and his encounters with the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future has entertained and enlightened thousands of our patrons, teaching us the true meaning of the holiday season.
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The Spirited Soiree
An Enchanted Evening among the Ghosts at the Wells Theatre
Saturday, May 2, 2009
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The Elephant Man
by Bernard Pomerance
October 24 - November 12, 2006
Based on the true story of John Merrick, the grotesquely deformed
19th century Englishman, The Elephant Man is an epic story about
human dignity in the face of unspeakable pain. Although
frightening to look at and hard to understand, Merrick was
sensitive and bright, unlike his keepers. Winner of every major drama award including three Tony Awards, Pomerance's masterpiece elegantly examines the notion of true beauty.
Crowns
by Regina Taylor
September 19 - October 8, 2006
You'll dance in the aisles during this theatrical sensation about a cherished custom that fuses faith and fashion. Crowns is a joyous celebration of African-American women and their fabulous church hats. Based on the best-selling book by Michael Cunningham and Craig Marberry, Crowns is a stand-up-and-testify musical, it's
brimming with "hattitude," riveting stories, dance, jazz, blues and
glorious gospel music. It's an infectious theatrical experience with
universal appeal, no matter your gender, race or fashion sense!
Reduced Shakespeare Company
April 26-30, 2006
All the Great Books (abridged). Co-presented with the Virginia Arts Festival.
Contact
by Susan Stroman and John Weidman
April 4 - April 23, 2006
Winner of 4 Tony Awards including Best Musical, this theater-dance hybrid work created by Susan Stroman and John Weidman tells sensual tales of people in the wild pursuit of love. Three thematically-linked short stories are told by characters who share the need to make human contact -- dance is both the medium and the method. Set to the music of Rodgers and Hart, Tchaikovsky, Benny Goodman, The Beach Boys and The Squirrel Nut Zippers just to name a few, Contact is "a sustained endorphin rush of an evening" according to the New York Times.
Of Mice and Men
by John Steinbeck
February 28 - March 19, 2006
John Steinbeck's classic tale of two friends who discover the underside of the American Dream. Set against the backdrop of America's Great Depression, two itinerant laborers form a deep friendship and dream of owning a piece of land to call their own. But after they come to work on a ranch in California, their hopes, like "the best laid schemes o'mice an' men" begin to go awry.
Intimate Apparel
by Lynn Nottage
January 15 - February 5, 2006
Intimate Apparel is a loving and evocative portrait of an African-American woman in New York at the turn of the 20th century who earns her living sewing "intimate apparel" for uptown wealthy socialites and downtown women of ill repute. She finds warmth with a man she cannot touch, and is courted by another who lives thousands
of miles away.
A Christmas Carol
adapted by David McCann
December 7- 23, 2005
Back by popular demand! Dickens’ classic story of Ebenezer Scrooge and his encounters with the ghosts of Christmases Past, Present and Future has entertained and enlightened thousands of our patrons, teaching us the true meaning of the holiday season. Share your family’s holiday celebration with our family this season.
Rounding Third
by Richard Dresser
October 18 - November 6, 2005
Rounding Third takes a funny and heartfelt look at America's favorite pastime and the Little League fathers who fuel the game. If life is like baseball, then wars are played out every day on the Little League field. And it's the adults, not the kids, who are the problem! Full of comedy, it's "guy-speak" at its finest for a witty and touching journey through fatherhood and the frustrations of everyday life. Contains Adult Language.
The Taste Test
by Frank Higgins
September 13 - October 2, 2005
In the mid-1980s, one corporation had more name recognition than "Jesus, Muhammad and Buddha combined": King Cola. After the release of a new formula, sales plummet and three female executives must decide between loyalty or advancement--it's the ultimate taste test. The scene is set for an intriguing look into corporate ethics - if such a thing exists. Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.
Treasure Island
by Robert Louis Stevenson and adapted by Timothy Mason
April 3-April 24, 2005
One of the great adventure novels of all times, Robert Louis Stevenson’s timeless story is brought to life on stage. Jim Hawkins is left with a treasure map, and hires a ship to sail to the island to find the gold. Little does he know that his ship is staffed by pirates, lead by the one-legged cook Long John Silver who plans on killing Jim and stealing the loot. With swash-buckling action on the high seas, this one promises to be a load of fun for the entire family.
Vincent in Brixton
by Nicholas Wright
February 27-March 20, 2005
We all know Van Gogh's sunflowers and starry skies, but what experiences propelled him to his immortality? In this recent Broadway hit, we see Vincent as a young man, living in the London suburb of Brixton as a boarder in the home of a widow, Ursula Loyer. Using this historical fact as his starting point, Wright paints an intimate portrait of a love affair between the young artist and the older woman who inspired his emotional and artistic awakening.
Driving Miss Daisy
by Alfred Uhry
January 16-February 6, 2005
It is 1948 in Atlanta. Boolie tells his very self-sufficient mother that she has
become too old to drive. Driving Miss Daisy chronicles the 25-year relationship between the sharp-tongued Jewish widow and Hoke, her black chauffeur, charting their course from mutual disdain to interdependence and affection.
A Christmas Carol (2004)
by Charles Dickens and adapted by David McCann
December 5- 23, 2004
Back by popular demand! Dickens’ classic story of Ebenezer Scrooge and his encounters with the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future has entertained and enlightened thousands of our patrons, teaching us the true meaning of the holiday season. Share your family’s holiday celebration with our family this season.
Robert Goulet: The Man & His Music
VSC's Fall Fundraiser
November 14, 2004
Don't miss the Grammy, Emmy and Tony Award winning Robert Goulet in "an up close and person" concert at the intimate Wells Theatre. Robert Goulet has been entertaining audiences for decades. He took Broadway by storm and won the Theatre World Award
with his debut as Sir Lancelot in the original Camelot (1960). Since his debut, his career spanned the realms of theater, film, and television. With 26 theater credits to his name (including a Tony Award for Best Actor in The Happy Time), 15 film credits, 114 television credits (including 6 Emmy Awards for Brigadoon and ESPN College Basketball Campaign of 1997), and a discography of 348 songs (including Grammy Awards for Best New Artist and Best on Record), he has become a legend of entertainment.
Underwritten by Ferguson Enterprises.
Yellowman
by Dael Orlandersmith
October 17-November 7, 2004
Can love conquer all? This arresting drama explores the emotional destructiveness of racism in the African-American community. Two childhood friends dream about reinventing themselves, but there are painful lessons to be learned about how skin tone can divide the closest of communities. We quickly find that the racism from within can be almost as destructive as the racism from without.
Private Lives
by Noel Coward
September 12-October 3, 2004
In Noel Coward’s classic comedy of bad manners, the elegant, witty and long-divorced Amanda and Elyot re-kindle their relationship after a chance encounter…..honeymooning with their new spouses!
A Streetcar Named Desire
by Tennessee Williams
October 28 — November 18, 2001
"Stella!" Blanche DuBois, one of the most famous characters in American drama, rides a streetcar named Desire into the hot and steamy French Quarter of New Orleans. Visiting her sister Stella, Blanche finds herself confronted by brother-in-law Stanley Kowalski, and the Big Easy heats up, tempers flair and passions ignite. Tennessee Williams is at his best in this setting dripping with atmosphere and dark secrets. Suggested for ages 13 & up.
The Glass Menagerie
by the South's greatest playwright, Tennessee Williams
March 30 - April 20, 2003
The fragility of life.
The power of a kiss.
The haunting story of one family's love.
Looking Over the President's Shoulder
by James Still
February 25 - March 16, 2003
You know what goes on in the West Wing, now step into the living quarters of the
White House with Alonzo Fields, the chief butler to four American presidents. This compelling portrait stars John Henry Redwood as the real-life common man who woke up one day to find himself walking among kings.
Brighton Beach Memoirs
by Neil Simon
September 23 — October 14, 2001
"Welcome back to Brooklyn." Eugene Jerome doesn’t know what he wants to do first, pitch for the Yankees or kiss a girl. In the first comedy from Simon’s Pulitzer Prize-winning trilogy, it’s 1937 Brooklyn, and the Jerome family is struggling with the depression, the invasion of Poland and live-in relatives. The story is pure Americana. The laughs are vintage Simon.
2 Pianos, 4 Hands
by Ted Dykstra and Richard Greenblatt
Two virtuoso pianists share their musical lives in this hilarious opus of kids at their first lesson, the obsessive parents who drive them and the instructors who make them crazy. Brilliantly playing everything from Bach to Billy Joel, these virtuosos pursue the impossible dream and tickle more than the ivories.
Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol (2002)
adapted by David McCann
November 24 - December 23, 2002
Hampton Roads' favorite holiday tradition returns with an all-new cast portraying Dickens' beloved characters. Bring family and friends to celebrate the season at the Wells Theatre and enjoy the inspiring message told by Scrooge, Tiny Tim and three very persuasive ghosts. Sold separately from the season.
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
by Edward Albee
October 20 - November 10, 2002
Albee's Tony Award-winning masterwork is an American classic. George and Martha entertain guests, and each other, like no other married couple. One extraordinary night, a young professor brings his naïve wife over for the most explosive nightcap in town.
Vaudeville
by Laurence Carr
September 15 - October 6, 2002
Celebrate the 90th year of the Wells Theatre by returning to its original Vaudeville roots! It's 1919 and Kit Turner's boarding house is full of rowdy Vaudevillians hoping for that big break. "Hello, My Baby," "I'm a Yiddish Cowboy" and "Shine on, Harvest Moon" are some of the era's great tunes.
Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol (2001)
Adapted by David McCann
November 30 — December 23, 2001
"Hampton Roads favorite holiday tradition!" Audiences loved last year’s entertaining and creative restaging of this Christmas classic. As Tiny Tim would say, "Bless you," for all the complimentary letters and emails. Bring your family and friends to celebrate the season with us, and enjoy Dickens’ inspiring message told by the beloved characters Scrooge, Bob Crachit, Tiny Tim and three very persuasive ghosts.
Rough Crossing
by Tom Stoppard
March 24 — April 21, 2002
Romantic trysts and dramatic twists make for a Rough Crossing of the Atlantic as
two famous writers and their stars embark on the S.S. Italian Castle to rehearse their new Broadway-bound musical comedy. When the composer overhears his fiancée
rekindling her love affair with the leading man, the ship starts to roll with the wildest antics since The Marx Brothers. You'll fall out of your deck chair laughing.
Blues in the Night
a musical conceived by Sheldon Epps
February 17 — March 10, 2002
"Got nothin’ but the blues," in this hot and torchy music revue where three women
tell their stories of love and loss through classic blues. "Blues in the Night," "Taking a Chance on Love," "Willow Weep for Me," "Lover Man," and "Nobody Loves You When You’re Down and Out," are just a few of the great hits you’ll hear. A broken heart never felt so good.
Proof
by David Auburn winner of the 2001 Pulitzer Prize
January 13 — February 3, 2002
"Crazy people don’t wonder if they’re nuts." Catherine’s father was a brilliant, famous mathematician, who went, well …nuts. Catherine fears she may have inherited his insanity, or does she have his genius? Hal, her father’s ambitious protégé, wants to announce his own discovery, but only Catherine knows the secret that lies upstairs in the mad mathematician’s notebooks. She knows the truth, but she doesn’t have proof. You’ll be riveted as you attempt to solve Catherine’s real mystery — the human equation.
