The New Victory Theater, New York's Theater for Kids and Families, Announces 2009-10 Season. Season Launches with Scottish Theater Festival. Followed by a Holiday Reunion for The Flaming Idiots, An Anglo-glam Opera, "Under The Radar" Theater, And Much, Much More! September 18, 2009 through May 23, 2010.
Fasten your kilts! The New Victory Theater opens 2009-10 with the New Victory Scottish Festival from September 18 to November 1, 2009, introducing New York audiences to Scotland's most evocative, engaging and imaginative theater for young people.
The New Victory Theater -- New York's first and only theater for kids and families -- scours the globe to find sophisticated, thought-provoking professional productions that not only entertain and challenge young people, but adults as well. Given this programming philosophy, the New Vic is the perfect venue for this seven-week Scottish celebration.
A Festival highlight is Hansel and Gretel by Catherine Wheels Theatre Company, which brought the award-winning productions Martha (1999) and Lifeboat (2007) to the New Victory. In Hansel and Gretel --the first production of its kind at the New Victory -- audiences of 100 at a time take an eerie "promenade" through a New Vic that is transformed from basement to balcony into a haunted forest and other surprising destinations. Last year, Hansel and Gretel was featured as the holiday show at the Barbican in London. Described as "a world of dark absurdity that Tim Burton would be proud of" (Edinburghguide.com), Hansel and Gretel is based on an original work by the National Theatre of Scotland (Black Watch).
Following the Scottish Festival is an eclectic season filled with award-winning and critically-acclaimed theater, puppetry, circus, opera, music and dance from around the world. Below are just a few highlights:
For its highly anticipated holiday show, the New Vic welcomes back long-time favorites The Flaming Idiots in the aptly titled Chestnuts Roasting on The Flaming Idiots. This engagement represents a happy and long-awaited reunion for these madcap comedians.
London's The Opera Group, ROH2 at the Royal Opera House and the Young Vic bring a co-production entitled The Enchanted Pig. An off-beat, funny and free-spirited opera with Anglo-glam edge, The Enchanted Pig toured the UK with enormous critical success in 2007 and represents the first co-production among these three esteemed British companies.
The multi-award winning Once and For All We're Gonna Tell You Who We Are So Shut Up and Listen by Belgium's Ontroerend Goed and Kopergietery is an eye-opening look at adolescence from the teen perspective. Once and For All... will also be presented as part of the 2010 Under The Radar Festival.
Prokofiev's beloved masterpiece Peter and the Wolf takes a fresh turn in this new production (and U.S. premiere). Starring British film and stage actor Brian Blessed, it boasts a brand new prequel, which is followed by the original 1936 composition.
Elephant, a poignant theatrical work and a visual feast of African song and exultant tribal dance, is a co-production between Dodgy Clutch of the UK and Johannesburg's Market Theatre of Sarafina fame. The Market Theatre presented Sarafina in 1987 before it went on to be nominated for a Tony® Award for Best Musical in 1988.
The nonprofit New Victory Theater is supported, in part, with public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts; New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency; and from the New York city Department of Cultural Affairs. The New Vic Council, Friends of The New Victory and the theater's dedicated patrons, corporate and foundation donors also provide essential contributions, helping to make possible programming of the highest quality. The New Victory Scottish Festival is made possible through funding from the Scottish Government's Edinburgh Festivals Expo Fund and the Bank of Scotland Imaginate Festival.
Theater-goers who buy tickets for three or more New Vic shows qualify for free Membership benefits, including 30-percent savings with tickets as low as $8.75. Tickets for new Members are available online starting June 24, 2009, or by telephone starting August 3. To purchase tickets online, visit NewVictory.org, and to purchase by phone, call 646-223-3010.
Full-price tickets for individual productions, as low as $12.50 each, will also be available from August 12, 2009, either online or by phone. Beginning September 8, The New Victory Theater box office (209 West 42nd Street) will be open Sunday and Monday from 11am-5pm and Tuesday through Saturday from 12 noon-7pm.
The New Victory Theater, a project of The New 42nd Street and New York City's first and only full-time performing arts theater for kids and their families and classmates, presents a range of professional productions at affordable ticket prices (regular season prices range from $12.50-$35 and Member tickets are only $8.75-$24.50). In addition, it also offers daytime school performances ($2 per student), family workshops and jobs to high school and college students. Interactive Lobby Activities, FYIs (performance-related exhibits) and Talk-backs with the artists are offered in conjunction with select performances throughout the season. The theater's website, NewVictory.org, provides video clips and more information about each production in the season, as well as show-related activities.
