{"id":279615,"date":"2011-05-19T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-05-19T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/whats-in-store-this-season-at-the-playhouse\/"},"modified":"2011-05-19T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2011-05-19T07:00:00","slug":"whats-in-store-this-season-at-the-playhouse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/whats-in-store-this-season-at-the-playhouse\/","title":{"rendered":"What’s in store this season at the Playhouse?"},"content":{"rendered":"

On May 4, La Jolla Playhouse gathered its board members, friends and Inner Circle members, whom the theater management wishes to “bring closer to the art” by giving them a clearer idea how a season is made and what it takes to make art possible, or as Managing Director Michael S. Rosenberg put it, “how the sausage is made.” Rosenberg introduced Artistic Director Christopher Ashley and the two discussed collaborations and the forthcoming season. The current and unprecedented collaboration is Anna Deavere Smith\u2019s “Let Me Down Easy,” which was performed by the award-winning author through May 15 at the Lyceum Theatre in association with San Diego Repertory Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse and Vantage Theatre. The 2011-12 Playhouse season opened May 17 with the world premiere of Arthur Kopit and Anton Dudley\u2019s “A Dram of Drummhicit,” of which the marketing department says, “You don\u2019t need to say it, you just need to see it.” Kopit, author of “Indians,” “Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mama\u2019s Hung You in the Closet and I\u2019m Feelin\u2019 So Sad,” “Wings” and the musicals “Nine” and “Phantom” (both with Maury Yeston), was present at the soir\u00e9e. Invited to share a few words about “Dram of Drummhicit,” Kopit launched into a witty and inspiring speech about the seminal idea for his new work and ultimately about where plays come from. Around five years ago while visiting London and seeking an idea for a new play, Kopit read an article in the London Times about bulldozers in a small town in Scotland that had been halted by fairies. The developer planned to move a large rock in order to level the land. His efforts were halted by local villagers who believe that fairies live under the rock. “Speaking in \u2018fairy\u2019 is not what I had imagined when I arrived for rehearsals a month ago,” said Kopit, who along with Dudley and director Ashley, devised the new language, briefly used. Meanwhile, the Playhouse shop is building bog bodies, which Kopit explained are Iron Age people who sank into the bog. Kopit, who rewrites almost daily, terms his rehearsal time at the Playhouse “extraordinary \u2014 the props, the sets, the shops, not just a convenience but the spirit of this place. The atmosphere,” he said, “comes from Chris. It just doesn\u2019t get better than this for a playwright.” Kopit said playwriting is a strange, intuitive process. “You have to be willing to write something that doesn\u2019t work, to allow the characters to tell you what\u2019s happening.” Performed in the Mandell Weiss Theatre through June 12, “A Dram of Drummhicit,” takes place on an island in Scotland, where an American entrepreneur intends to build a golf course. When bog bodies are unearthed, the true nature of the island emerges, providing a show that\u2019s called “supernaturally comic.” The rest of the season is as follows: David Schweizer\u2019s five-actor adaptation of Henrik Ibsen\u2019s immortal saga, “Peer Gynt,” which Schweizer stages June 28-July 24 in the Potiker Theatre; Rachel Sheinkin, Brendan Milburn and Valerie Vigoda\u2019s “Sleeping Beauty Wakes,” a new musical presented in collaboration with McCarter Theatre Company, staged in the Weiss Theatre July 19-Aug. 21; the world premiere of Kirsten Greenidge\u2019s “Milk Like Sugar,” produced in the Potiker Aug. 30-Sept. 25; Allen Knee, Scott Frankel and Michael Korie\u2019s world premiere musical “Finding Neverland,” based on the 2004 film about the creation of Peter Pan, performed Nov. 8-Dec. 11 in the Weiss Theatre; and Richard Montoya\u2019s “American Night: The Ballad of Don Jose,” written for Culture Clash and performed in the Potiker Theatre Jan. 27-Feb. 26. \u2018Sleeping Beauty Wakes\u2019 added to 2011-12 season<\/b> La Jolla Playhouse recently announced its sixth and final addition to the season that began last week: “Sleeping Beauty Wakes,” a book by Rachel Sheinkin (author of “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee”). In the production, a young beauty is brought to a sleep disorder clinic, and soon all the patients find themselves sharing a familiar dream. The show reunites two members of the rock trio (piano, violin and drums) GrooveLily \u2013 Brendan Milburn and Valerie Vigoda \u2013 with Sheinkin, a Tony Award-winning librettist who last collaborated on the holiday tale “Striking 12.” “We are thrilled to partner with the McCarter Theatre on this exuberant musical,” said Playhouse Artistic Director Christopher Ashley in a recent statement. “We\u2019ve been fans of Rachel Sheinkin and GrooveLily for years and \u2018Sleeping Beauty Wakes\u2019 is a perfect fit for our season.” \u2014 Claire Harlin<\/i>