Arkansas Repertory Theatre celebrates its 40th anniversary season with the unveiling of six productions for the 2015-2016 Mainstage season.
The icing on the theater's 40th anniversary cake?
Hosting the world premiere production of Windfall, a comedy directed by film, theater, and TV actor Jason Alexander, best known for his long-running role on the sitcom Seinfeld in which he portrayed comedian Jerry Seinfeld's friend George Costanza from 1989 through 1998.
In 1989, he won a Tony Award for Best Performance as a Leading Actor in a Musical for Jerome Robbins' Broadway. In 2003, he starred in a Los Angeles production of the musical The Producers.
Windfall, written by Scooter Pietsch and produced by John Yonover, is set to close the Rep's season, running June 10 through June 26, 2016.
Bob Hupp, producing artistic director at the theater, explained Monday how the play and Alexander landed in Little Rock for the world premiere.
"At the beginning of this season, we did a production of Memphis," Hupp told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. "And one of the producers of the Broadway production of that show was Remmel Dickinson, who is from Little Rock." The Tony Award-winning producer "invited several of his producer friends -- including Yonover of Chicago -- to come down and see it here."
Yonover has invested in more than 30 productions on Broadway, in Chicago and in London's West End.
"He [Yonover] did and loved the Rep and loved Little Rock and we started talking about bringing one of his projects here as a world premiere," Hupp said. "He gave me a bunch of scripts to look at and after several months of talks and negotiations, we landed on this project by Scooter Pietsch, a writer in Los Angeles, which already had Jason Alexander attached to it."
Pietsch, who in addition to being a playwright, is also an Emmy-nominated composer and TV producer whose music is featured in episodes of such televisions shows as Sex and the City, Burn Notice, Pretty Little Liars and American Idol, and in movies such as Van Wilder.
"After we settled on this play, we discussed whether Jason Alexander would be interested in directing it here in Little Rock and after some more discussion and negotiation, we were told that he would be delighted to do so," said Hupp, who described the show as a "dark, delicious comedy."
"I laughed out loud when I read it, I can't wait to see it come to life on our stage," said Hupp. "And we're honored to welcome Jason Alexander to our theater, and to our state."
The premise of the comedy? Four co-workers at a small data processing business in Ohio who work for a nightmare of a boss, betting everything they have on the lottery in search of a way out. But the possibility of sharing the $300 million jackpot brings out the very worst in these best friends.
"I am thrilled and grateful that Arkansas Repertory Theatre is giving us the chance to bring this fascinating and funny play to their audience," Alexander stated in a news release released by the theater Monday. "Within this play is what many would consider an American Dream and it becomes an American nightmare. To be able to make our world premiere in this beautiful theater and for this appreciative audience is a real gift and I am looking forward to it immensely."
The Rep, the state's largest nonprofit professional theatre, opens its 2015-2016 season with William Shakespeare's Macbeth running Sept. 11 through Sept. 27, followed by The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee on stage Oct. 16 through Nov. 8. Disney's The Little Mermaid will run Dec. 4, 2015, through Jan. 3, 2016, while Peter and the Starcatcher is scheduled for Jan. 15 through Feb. 7, 2016, followed by The Bridges of Madison County from April 8 through May 1, 2016.
In addition to the MainStage productions, special projects and educational program on the theatre's 2015-2016 calendar include a 2016 Summer Musical Theatre Intensive young artist program, titled Broken Wings and set for March 1 through March 12, 2016, and The Second City comedy improv troupe appearing in Hooking Up with the Second City from May 3 through May 15, 2016.
Metro on 03/03/2015