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2003-2004 Season

2003-2004 Season

Ain’t Misbehavin’
Based on an idea by Murray Horowitz and Richard Maltby, Jr.
with music by Thomas “Fats” Weller
Directed & Choreographed by Marcia Milgrom Dodge
Sept. 12 — Oct. 19, 2003
The Huntington Theatre

The greatest musical revue of them all! Ain’t Misbehavin’ pays joyous tribute to the talents of the legendary Fats Waller. From sassy to sultry, this electrifying celebration of song and dance features such favorites as “The Joint is Jumpin’,” “Honeysuckle Rose,” “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love,” and “T’Aint’t Nobody’s Biz-ness If I Do.” Experience the heart and soul of 20s and 30s Harlem where the onset of swing joined ranks with the rhythms of ragtime and the passions of jazz, creating an explosive musical movement.

Nathan Lane in Butley
by Simon Gray
Directed by Nicholas Martin
Oct. 24 — Nov. 30, 2003
The Huntington Theatre

Three-time Tony Award-winner Nathan Lane, fresh from his triumph in The Producers, will perform the title role in Butley, a dark comedy about the unfortunate life of a literary professor who suffers the loss of his wife and his lover all in one day. When Butley’s estranged wife Anne announces her intention to marry a mutual friend, and his live-in lover and office mate Joey moves out to join another man, Butley is even more out of sorts than usual. Irascible, brilliant, manic, and above all witty, Ben Butley is one of contemporary theatre’s great tragicomic roles.

Bad Dates
by Theresa Rebeck
Directed by John Benjamin Hickey
Featuring Julie White
Jan. 2 — Feb. 1, 2004
The Huntington Theatre

Restaurant manager and shoe connoisseur Hayley Walker, played by Julie White (“Six Feet Under”), is re-entering the dating scene — that bizarre social ritual between men and women that is the basis for the continuation of the human species. But as revealed in Bad Dates, the road to cohabitation is a bumpy one. From the privacy of her bedroom where she prepares for or unwinds from her dates, Hayley relates a series of hilarious tales from her colorful experiences.

What the Butler Saw
by Joe Orton
Directed by Darko Tresnjak
March 5 — April 1, 2004
The Huntington Theatre

In this modern comic classic, Dr. Prentice’s stabs at extramarital seduction are interrupted by the unexpected arrival of his wife, who has just returned from a sexual misadventure of her own. Enter an overly enthusiastic hospital inspector and a dim-witted policeman, and thus begins a hilarious series of twists and turns, as Dr. Prentice tries to hide his lusty behavior and his wife tries to protect her paramour from the police who seek him out. From the wicked wit of Joe Orton comes a dizzying tale of sexual impropriety and accusations of madness, complete with straight jackets, drugs, and lunatic logic.

The Rose Tattoo
by Tennessee Williams
Directed by Nicholas Martin
May 14 — June 13, 2004
The Huntington Theatre

With characteristic comic energy, Tennessee Williams explores the inner workings of the heart. Passion is reignited for a Sicilian seamstress whose love, grief, and anger know no bounds. After the death of her husband, Serafina, played by Tony and Emmy Award-winning Andrea Martin, retreats to the safe haven of memories after the death of her husband. But when these memories are shattered by a horrible truth, the widow finds comfort in a truck driver she describe as having “my husband’s body with the head of a clown.” Living in a small immigrant town on the coast, Serafina must struggle to come to terms with her own awakening desire, as well as that of her 15 year-old daughter, whom she can no longer shelter from the perils of love.