Curtain rising in September on new Theatre Albany season

ALBANY — Next month’s “Ring of Fire” will launch a six-show Theatre Albany season that will include the world premiere performance of a comedy-drama in October.

It also will mark a new flex plan for season-ticket holders.

“I think it’s going to be an exciting season, and I think everybody will enjoy these shows,” Theatre Albany Artistic Director Mark Costello said last week before opening auditions for “Ring of Fire,” a musical based on the songbook of country music legend Johnny Cash.

After that seven-performance show in mid-September, Theatre Albany will premiere in late October a comedy-mystery by Roanoke, Va., playwright Ed Sala titled “The Disturbing Disappearance of the Blue Monkey.” Costello said the theater previously performed Sala’s play “Bloody Murder.”

The theater was one of the first 10 to perform “Bloody Murder,” and Sala came to Albany to see his play performed.

“He came down and had a great time and we had a great time with him, and we had a great time doing his show,” Costello said. “This will be the premiere of it (‘Blue Monkey’). He’ll be coming down to join us for the premiere.”

Sala, who does TV, film and stage work, was “very pleased with our production of ‘Bloody Murder,’” Costello said, adding the play has been picked up by a major play publication company and has been performed in at least 70 productions since the Albany one. “We’re very flattered that he asked us to (debut ‘Blue Monkey’).”

The season will start, however, on Sept. 16 with “Ring of Fire.”

“I think we have a terrific season coming up,” Costello said. “‘Ring of Fire’ is one I saw at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival. I liked it a lot, and I thought it’d be a fine show for our area, especially to open the season.”

One thing about “Ring of Fire” that Costello has tried to stress is no one will be playing Johnny Cash or June Carter Cash. Instead, Cash’s life is gleaned from his songs that are performed in the musical.

“This is not a biography,” he said. “This is strictly an evening of his music. He’s not a character in it, and June’s not a character.”

After “Blue Monkey,” Theatre Albany will perform its annual Christmas season show, which this year is “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.” The premise involves some “rotten” kids who get corralled into a Christmas pageant. That show will start Dec. 9.

“That’s a nice family production for the holidays,” Costello said, adding, “it’s always hard to find a new Christmas show.”

After the new year is rung in, Theatre Albany will begin the second half of the schedule with “Ain’t Misbehavin’,” described as a “sassy, sultry revue” of the life and talent of jazz great Fats Waller. “Ain’t Misbehavin’” opens Feb. 10.

“It’s the music of Fats Waller,” Costello said. “It’s a terrific, high-energy show with some classic songs by one of America’s greatest songwriters. One song is ‘The Joint’s a Jumpin’,’ and it is with that show.”

On March 24, the theater will follow the Waller play with a drama titled “Other Desert Cities,” which Costello says is one of the most highly acclaimed plays in the past decade.

“It’s very interesting and won a couple of awards in New York,” he said. Performed in Broadway a few years ago, he said, “It takes place out West. It’s a story about a family that’s come together.”

Near Christmas, a daughter visiting for Christmas “drops a bombshell on the rest of the family,” he said. “She’s written a book about something that’s happened in the family with one of the brothers. It sort of sets up the family to be exposed.”

The season will turn to music and humor to wrap up the season on May 12 when Theatre Albany performs “The Addams Family,” complete with the familiar characters, including disembodied hand Thing, created in the New Yorker by cartoonist Charles Addams and later portrayed on TV and the big screen.

“In this one,” Costello said, “(Addams family daughter) Wednesday has grown up. She’s in love and wants to get married to a normal young man. The young man’s family is coming to visit the Addams Family to see what’s going on.”

There are some unusual extras, even for a family as creepy and spooky as the Addamses.

“The chorus,” Costello said, “is made up of Addams family ancestors who come up out of the graveyard.”

Meanwhile, the theater has extended its early-bird discounted season subscription drive through Aug. 15. This year, the theater is offering new flexibility with the six-ticket season package. Instead of each ticket tied to a specific show, the ticket-holder can use each for any combination of shows.

“It’s a real flex pass,” Costello said. “They can use one for each of the shows, or if you miss a show, you can use one and let a friend use one for the next show. If you really like a show, you can use one of the tickets to see it again. We’ve gotten a very positive response with it.”

The early-bird price for the six-ticket package is $90, a cost that will increase Aug. 16.

Costello said selling the season-ticket packages is important to the theater, which, like many arts organizations, has run into funding challenges. While the theater has conducted fundraising events and gets sponsorships to help underwrite individual shows, most of its income comes from those season-ticket sales, which also enhance its cash flow as the season progresses.

“The key to buying a season ticket is you’re getting a discount price per show,” he said. “Subscriptions also afford us our largest income source to support the theater throughout the year.

“If we can get a good nest egg with the subscription drive, it goes a long way toward supporting us throughout the year.”

Last season, Theatre Albany moved up curtain time 30 minutes on it shows, and that earlier schedule will be continued this season. Evening shows will open at 7:30 p.m., with Sunday matinees set for 2 p.m.

“I think people really do enjoy it (the earlier curtain time), especially people who attend from around the area,” Costello said. “We’ve got a surprising number of people from these other towns who come to see our shows.”

And like other performance arts organizations, Theatre Albany officials are hoping to attract more patrons from the region.

“We’re trying to find ways to go around and get those folks from other cities to come,” Costello said.

In addition to season ticket sales, Theatre Albany has several support levels — ranging from Patron at $150 to Producer at $1,000 or more — that are partly tax deductible. Contact (229) 439-7193 for information, or visit www.theatrealbany.org. The theater is located at 514 Pine Ave.