Blackfriars Theatre | 2011-2012 Season

The original comedy about motherhood rips away the gauzy mask of parenthood to reveal what all mothers know, but don't always talk about: it's overwhelming and exhausting, but also very, very funny. From the joys of infertility, through reading the same books over and over, to finally seeing your baby get on that school bus, this play mines the laughs and tears of the early years of motherhood.

This Pulitzer prize winning musical returns to Blackfriars after 25 seasons, in a radically interpreted new production. Our artistic Director John Halpoupis re-visits Sondheim's masterpiece in brand new production designed for our new thrust theatre, about the creation of French impressionist painter Georges Seurat's A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte [1884].

This definitive spoof of Gothic melodramas is a quick change marathon in which two actors play all the roles. A sympathetic werewolf, a vampire and an Egyptian princess brought to life when her tomb is opened, make this a comedy that has everything.

"As Hepburn, local actress Jill Rittinger offer viewers one of the best portrayals I've ever seen in this region's community theaters."
- Jack Garner, Democrat and Chronical

Jill Rittinger returns as the fiery spirit of Katharine Hepburn in a one-woman show that recounts her journey from a well-heeled Yankee childhood to winner of four Oscars. The play reflects her past dizzying heights and the emotional lows of her adventures in show business and her heartbreaking romance with Spencer Tracy.

In concerts, television appearances and a series of now classic recordings, the Harvard educated math professor delighted millions of fans during the 1950s and 60s with his dry, cynical but good-natured attacks on topics like the A-bomb, racism, pollution, pornography, the military, the Boy Scouts, and of course, mathematics.

David Jason Kyle returns for his third straight year as everyone's favorite cranky Christmas elf, Crumpet - taking out his frustrations on the children and parents during Macy's holiday crunch.

"Kyle gives a very natural, and confident performance, and perfectly channels Sedaris' wry, self-deprecating wit."
- City Newspaper

In this dramatic adaptation of her award-winning and best-selling memoir, Joan Didion transforms the story of the sudden and unexpected loss of her husband and their only daughter into a stunning and powerful theatrical experience.

"This happened on December 30, 2003. That may seem a while ago but it won't when it happens to you..."

"Devastatingly funny, with dizzy, irresistable writing that brings down the house."
- NY Times

This recent Broadway hit follows the adventures of young Hollywood heartthrob Michael Green who could hit it big if it weren't for one teensy-weensy problem: his agent, Diane, who can't seem to keep him in the closet.

The hilarious and heartbreaking story of Big Edie and Little Edie Bouvier Beale, the eccentric aunt and cousin of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis - once bright names on the social register who became East Hampton's most notorious recluses.

"Best musical of the year... Broadway's most daring new musical... Grade A!"
- Entertainment Weekly