SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, March 22, 2021 (Gephardt Daily) — Pioneer Theatre Company has announced its next season, saying it “welcomes back professional actors, designers, directors, musicians, and stage crew eager for the 2021-2022 season.”
The announcement follows the unplanned shut down in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’re calling this season A Ticket to Feel … Good!” PTC artistic director Karen Azenberg said in a prepared statement. “Salt Lake City has an enormous affection for theater. Theater has the power to elicit every human emotion including humor, sadness, anger, inspiration, hope, or fear, but this year, well, we all just want to feel good.”
Season subscriptions go on sale at 10 a.m. Tuesday. For package information, click here. Individual tickets will go on sale at a later date.
Christopher Massimine, the company’s managing director, also shared thoughts about the season:
“We’ve missed being on stage, and while we chart the path forward, one of the opportunities has been being able to look at how we do theater, audit our processes and practices, and address inequities and social deficits in light of last summer’s community unrest,” he said.
“Theater is healing, and we need to ensure our organizational composition and what we put on the stage depicts not just our local community, but extends to our broader, national community, too. Professional theater needs the community’s support more than ever this year as we journey back to ‘normal’ and we’ve constructed a season to reward that support.”
Here’s the lineup:
- “Ain’t Misbehavin,” Sept. 10-25, 2021. Presented as a concert musical, potentially with a smaller audience. “It’s the celebration of Thomas ‘Fats’ Waller, the stride pianist and composer who became a Harlem legend in the 1920’s and 30’s. Bringing together jazz and Tin Pan Alley, rowdy and fun, and is our joyous celebration of the return of theater,” the PTC statement says.
- “Ass,” Oct. 22-Nov. 6. This comedy about complicated family relationships is by Ellen Simon, and began its life as a Play-By-Play reading in 2018. The production is a world premiere.
- “Elf: The Musical” Dec. 3-18. PTC will revisit one of its most popular Christmas productions of all time. Buddy the Elf takes NYC by storm in this holiday tale about the search for his “real dad.”
- “The Messenger,” Jan. 14-29, 2022. Inspired by the Ibsen classic “An Enemy of the People,” is by Jeff Talbott. It presents the consequences of speaking out about a public health threat that threatens the local economy.
- “Something Rotten!,” Feb. 25-March 12. “Something Rotten!” is an “over-the-top take on Shakespeare” (New York Times) and provides an uproarious dose of pure Broadway fun, the PTC statement says, adding “Wallowing in puns, double-entendres and bad taste, theater buffs will enjoy the ‘Easter egg’ references to popular musicals laced throughout this comedy.”
- The title for a play to run April 1-16 will be announced at a later date.
- “Hello, Dolly!” closes the season May 13-28. “Featuring the boisterous and charming Dolly Gallagher Levi, as she looks for love after a lifetime of matchmaking for others, Hello, Dolly! is considered to have one of the richest starring roles for a woman ever written for musical theater.” the statement says.
Pioneer Theatre Company will follow all safety guidelines established in response to the pandemic by the State of Utah, Salt Lake County, and the University of Utah, as well as by the professional unions with whom we contract. This may include socially-distant seating to limit the size of the audience, mandatory mask wearing, or even canceling performances, if necessary.
