ROUND HOUSE THEATRE ANNOUNCES 40 TH ANNIVERSARY SEASON

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1 PRESS CONTACTS: Bryan Joseph Lee, Sarah Randall, ROUND HOUSE THEATRE ANNOUNCES 40 TH ANNIVERSARY SEASON SEASON INCLUDES A MUSICAL BY TONY, EMMY AND GRAMMY AWARD-WINNER LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA, STARRING TWO-TIME TONY NOMINEE ROBIN DE JESÚS ALSO FEATURING WORLD PREMIERE ROCK & ROLL COMEDY DIRECTED BY BROADWAY S RACHEL CHAVKIN, AND THE AMERICAN PREMIERE OF AN OLIVIER AWARD-WINNING WEST END COMEDY HIT Bethesda, Md. (March 7, 2017) Round House Theatre s Artistic Director Ryan Rilette and Managing Director Ed Zakreski are thrilled to announce the company s 40 th Anniversary Season. The Season includes a musical by Tony, Emmy and Grammy Award-winner Lin-Manuel Miranda, starring two-time Tony Award nominee Robin de Jesús; a world premiere rock & roll comedy directed by Broadway s Rachel Chavkin; and the American premiere of a West End comedy hit. Please see below for complete program details and subscription information. Round House begins its Season with the four-time Tony Award-winning musical In The Heights (Sept. 6 Oct. 8, 2017), featuring music & lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda (Broadway s Hamilton), book by Quiara Alegría Hudes, direction and choreography by Marcos Santana, and starring two-time Tony Award nominee Robin de Jesús (Sonny in the original Broadway production). In The Heights is presented as a co-production with Olney Theatre Center, and will be performed at Olney Theatre Center in Olney, MD. The season continues in Bethesda with Sarah Gancher s highenergy rock & roll comedy I ll Get You Back Again (Oct. 4 29, 2017), directed by Rachel Chavkin (Broadway s Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812) and the regional premiere of the hilarious and heartfelt The Book of Will (Nov. 29 Dec. 24, 2017) by Lauren Gunderson. Next, Round House presents the American premiere of Handbagged by Moira Buffini (Jan. 31 Feb. 25, 2018), and Drama Desk Award-winning Master Harold and the boys by Athol Fugard (Apr. 11 May 6, 2018). The season ends with the regional premiere of The Legend of Georgia McBride by Matthew Lopez (June 6 July 1, 2018). Hailed as one of the most important outposts in the region for provocative, high-end drama by The Washington Post, Round House Theatre celebrates 40 years with the landmark Season. For our 40 th anniversary, we ve invited some of the world s leading theater artists to create new plays with the incredible community of local artists we have here in the D.C. area, says Artistic Director Ryan Rilette. It s a season filled with socially relevant works that are packed with music and laughter. 1

2 Managing Director Ed Zakreski adds, What an exciting time for Round House! After a record-breaking Season, we look forward to continuing our mission to produce stories that inspire compassion, evoke emotion and demand conversation. In partnership with Olney Theatre Center, Round House continues a two-year commitment to coproduce outstanding repertory plays in Montgomery County. The 2016 co-production of Angels In America by Tony Kushner was met with critical acclaim and box office success. Round House Theatre Artistic Director Ryan Rilette says, [Olney Theatre Center Artistic Director] Jason Loewith and I are excited to continue our great partnership with In The Heights. We couldn t be happier to share these stories and grow our audiences together. Round House will also present two special events in the Season. In the summer of 2017, Happenstance Theater will return to Round House to present the newly devised Bon Voyage (July 14 30, 2017). From March 16-18, 2018, the Round House Teen Performance Company will present the 16th Annual Sarah Metzger Memorial Play, Sloppy Firsts by Megan McCafferty CALENDAR INFORMATION Sept. 6 Oct. 8, 2017 IN THE HEIGHTS Music & Lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda Book by Quiara Alegría Hudes Directed & Choreographed by Marcos Santana Co-Produced with Olney Theatre Center WINNER of 4 Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Original Score From the creator of the global hit sensation Hamilton comes Lin-Manuel Miranda s first Broadway musical, In The Heights, starring two-time Tony Award nominee Robin de Jesús (Sonny in the original Broadway production). Usnavi, the local proprietor of the corner bodega, is our guide through Washington Heights, a vibrant New York neighborhood full of striving immigrants and young lovers. When a winning lottery ticket is sold, fortunes shift, romance blooms and hope springs eternal. Infused with hip-hop beats, salsa and Latin soul, Round House Theatre and Olney Theatre Center present In The Heights the musical event of the fall! All performances of In The Heights will be performed at Olney Theatre Center. Oct. 4 29, 2017 I LL GET YOU BACK AGAIN By Sarah Gancher Directed by Rachel Chavkin WORLD PREMIERE "Rachel Chavkin [is] one of the most gifted [directors] working today!" The New York Times Chloe is a struggling stand-up comedian - until she decides to sit in for her dead father as the bassist for his seminal psychedelic rock band. While the band plays on and old tensions rise, Chloe must navigate memory, history, and the lessons we ve learned from the Sixties. Written by Sarah Gancher 2

3 and directed by Rachel Chavkin (Broadway s Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812), I ll Get You Back Again is a high-energy rock & roll comedy with live music that you don t want to miss! Nov. 29 Dec. 24, 2017 THE BOOK OF WILL By Lauren Gunderson Directed by Ryan Rilette REGIONAL PREMIERE "Lauren Gunderson is such a rare theatrical talent. Associated Press What if Shakespeare s works were lost forever? After the death of their friend and mentor, two actors are determined to compile the first Folio and preserve the words that shaped their lives. They ll just have to borrow, beg and band together to get it done. Lauren Gunderson, playwright of last season s runaway hit Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley, weaves a hilarious and heartfelt story inspired by the true story of Shakespeare s First Folio. Jan. 31 Feb. 25, 2018 HANDBAGGED By Moira Buffini Directed by Indhu Rubasingham AMERICAN PREMIERE Part of the 2018 Women s Voices Theater Festival "A very funny portrait of a relationship between monarch and prime minister that clearly wasn't made in heaven." The Guardian Round House is thrilled to present the American premiere of this Oliver Award-winning, West End hit comedy! The Iron Lady. The Queen. Born six months apart, each woman had a destiny that would change the world. But when the stiff upper lip softened and the gloves came off, which one had the upper hand? Helmed by Indhu Rubasingham, Artistic Director of the original Tricycle Theatre and West End productions in London, Handbagged is the wickedly funny new comedy that imagines what the world s most powerful women talk about behind closed palace doors. Handbagged is presented in arrangement with Tricycle Theatre and Eleanor Lloyd Productions. Apr. 11 May 6, 2018 MASTER HAROLD...AND THE BOYS By Athol Fugard Directed by Ryan Rilette "Fugard creates a blistering fusion of the personal and the political." - The New York Times In a small South African tea shop in 1950, two black men and a white boy joke and dance together, defying the brutalities of apartheid through their joyous love. But festering issues of family, race, and power are not so easy to ignore, and a single phone call can trigger catastrophe. Winner of the Drama Desk and London Evening Standard Awards for Best Play, Master Harold reveals the profound personal consequences of oppression. 3

4 June 6 July 1, 2018 THE LEGEND OF GEORGIA MCBRIDE By Matthew Lopez Directed by Tom Story REGIONAL PREMIERE This play is stomp-your-feet, snap-your-fingers, clap-your-hands, singalong joy." The Philadelphia Inquirer He's young, he's broke, and his wife is going to have a baby. To make matters even more desperate, Casey is fired from his gig as an Elvis impersonator in a run-down, small town Florida bar. When the bar owner brings in a drag show to replace his act, Casey finds that he has a whole lot to learn about show business and himself. Featuring a fierce and fabulous cast of queens, The Legend of Georgia McBride celebrates finding your voice and singing your own song. SPECIAL EVENTS July 14 30, 2017 BON VOYAGE Created by Happenstance Theater We welcome back the Helen Hayes Award-winning Happenstance Theater as they present an original piece devised by their six-member ensemble. Bon Voyage is the story of a hilarious collection of 19 th century dreamers who meet on the way to Paris, the obstacles and surprises they encounter, and their comic misadventures at the Moulin Rouge, the Metro, the Catacombs, and the Grand Universal Exposition of March 16-18, 2018 SLOPPY FIRSTS Adapted from her novel of the same name by Megan McCafferty Performed by the Round House Teen Performance Company Sloppy Firsts introduces readers to Jessica Darling, a sixteen-year-old high school student who suffers a major blow when her best friend suddenly moves away. Like a John Hughes character for the twenty-first century, Jessica taps into the inherent humor, drama, love & heartbreak of the teen experience. Sloppy Firsts is a fresh, funny, utterly compelling story about how it feels to drag through the dark days of high school. SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION Subscriptions to Round House Theatre s Season are now available online, via phone or in person at Round House s Box Office in Bethesda, Md. Subscribers get the best seats on their preferred night, as well as free ticket exchanges, no single ticket fees and free unlimited coffee! For more information about subscriptions, visit RoundHouseTheatre.org or call the Round House Box Office at

5 ABOUT ROUND HOUSE THEATRE Round House Theatre is one of the leading professional theaters in the Washington, D.C. area, producing a six-show season of new plays, modern classics and musicals for more than 40,000 patrons each year at our 400-seat theater in Bethesda. Round House has been nominated for more than 150 Helen Hayes Awards and has won over 30, including four Outstanding Resident Play Awards and the Charles MacArthur Award for Original New Play in Round House s lifelong learning and education programs serve over 4,000 students each year at its Education Center in Silver Spring and in schools throughout Montgomery County. Cornerstone programs include Play It Forward, which provides free tickets for high school students, the year-round Teen Performance Company, which culminates in the student-produced Sarah Metzger Memorial Play, Summer Camp for students in grades K-12, and a full slate of classes for Adults & Youth. ### 5