Center Theatre Group has announced the seven productions (including three world premieres) slated for its 10th anniversary season at the Kirk Douglas Theatre.
The Black Suits, a world premiere rock musical with music and lyrics by two-time Drama Desk Award nominee Joe Iconis (Smash) and a book by Joe Iconis and Jonathan Larson Award winner Robert Maddock (Triumphant Baby). Directed by John Simpkins, The Black Suits follows four boys who are preparing for their big musical break in the St. Anne's Battle of the Bands. The production is set to run from October 27-November 24, with an opening scheduled for November 3.
As a holiday offering, The Second City will take over the Kirk Douglas for the month of December with its production of A Christmas Carol: Twist Your Dickens!, a satirical twist on the Charles Dickens classic. The show is a reworked version of Twist Your Dickens!, the world premiere production the company brought to L.A. last year. Written by Peter Gwinn and Bobby Mort and directed by Marc Warzecha, the show will run from December 8-December 29.
Barry McGovern then returns to CTG for a production of the one-man show I'll Go On by Samuel Beckett, set to run from January 10-February 9, 2014. The opening is scheduled for January 12. With direction by Colm Ó Briain, the show is based on three of Beckett's novels: Molloy, Malone Dies, and The Unnamable. Texts from the three novels have been selected by Gerry Duked and McGovern.
Next will be Kimber Lee's new play different words for the same thing, a world premiere directed by CTG Associate Artistic Director Neel Keller. The production will run from May 4-June 1, 2014, with an official opening set for May 11. Set in a small town in southwestern Idaho, the play depicts the daily life of a community and the intersecting lives of its members, much in the style of Thornton Wilder's Our Town.
CTG will also present a series of three DouglasPlus solo performances from September 14-October 6 as part of the Radar L.A. festival. The trio of performances includes St. Jude, written and performed by Luis Alfaro and directed by Robert Egan; Uncle Ho to Uncle Sam, by Trieu Tran and Robert Egan, also directed by Robert Egan; and Rodney King, created and performed by Roger Guenveur Smith.