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2008-2009 Season

2008-2009 Season

How Shakespeare Won the West
by Richard Nelson
Directed by Jonathan Moscone
Sep. 5 — Dec. 5, 2008
The Huntington Theatre

A ragtag troupe of actors heads West during the Gold Rush, seeking fortune and fame performing Shakespeare for enthusiastic ’49ers. But with stiff competition, romantic entanglements, and an Indian Chief who seems himself in King Lear, their ambitious cross-country adventure is complicated by the teeming challenges and glories of the new American frontier.

Embracing the greatest elements of Shakespearean comedy and American vaudeville, this jubilant celebration of the human spirit is by Olivier and Tony Award-winner Richard Nelson (James Joyce’s The Dead and Two Shakespearean Actors).

Wishful Drinking
Created and performed by Carrie Fisher
Directed by Tony Taccone
Oct. 10 — Oct. 26, 2008
The Huntington Theatre

Don’t miss Hollywood legend Carrie Fisher‘s recounting of a true and intoxicating tale, told with the same wry wit she poured into bestsellers like Postcards from the Edge. Born to celebrity parents Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher, this Tinseltown toddler lands among the stars when she’s cast in a little movie called Star Wars. But it isn’t all sweetness and light sabers: as a single mom, she also battles addiction, depression, mental institutions, and that awful hyperspace hairdo. Fisher’s tale is a tabloid vivant The Los Angeles Times calls a “Beverly Hills yard sale of juicy anecdotes.” Carrie Fisher’s Wishful Drinking is an uproarious look at a Hollywood hangover and a chance to get “Carried” away!

Boleros for the Disenchanted
by José Rivera
Directed by Chay Yew
Oct. 10 — Nov. 15, 2008
The Huntington Calderwood/BCA

The youthful, whirlwind romance of Flora and Eusebio in their native Puerto Rico is tested and strengthened over four decades of marriage, from their homeland to the U.S., where they continue to share a passionate love and fierce commitment to each other.

Rock ‘N’ Roll
by Tom Stoppard
Directed by Carey Perloff
Nov. 7 — Dec. 13, 2008
The Huntington Theatre

It’s August 1968, and Russian tanks are rolling into Prague. By 1990, the tanks are rolling out, and the Stones are rolling in. A sweeping drama spanning two countries, three generations, and 22 turbulent years, at the end of which all that remains is love — and rock ‘n’ roll.

Upstairs at the Calderwood
The Huntington Calderwood/BCA
Dec. 11, 2008 — Jan. 31, 2009

Come in from the cold, have a drink, and warm up with music! UPSTAIRS at the Calderwood features student talent from the renowned Berklee College of Music, considered to be one of the country’s leading training grounds of contemporary musicians, as well as acclaimed jazz performer Lea Delaria, in an intimate cabaret setting in Deane Hall at the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA / South End.

Judy Gold is Mommy Queerest
by Judy Gold
Directed by Damon W. Arrington
Dec. 26 — Dec. 31, 2008
The Huntington Calderwood/BCA

Emmy Award-winning comedian Judy Gold returns to the Huntington with her outrageous stand-up comedy after last year’s triumphant 25 Questions for a Jewish Mother. Bold, brass, and clocking in at 6’3”, Judy is ready to divulge all the comic highs and lows of being a Jewish, lesbian, working mom raising two boys in New York City. Judy’s electric humor and outlandish opinions are enough to keep anyone rolling in the aisle all night long.

The Corn is Green
by Emlyn Williams
Directed by Nicholas Martin
Jan. 9 — Feb. 8, 2009
The Huntington Theatre

Idealistic and hardnosed schoolteacher Miss Moffat (played by Kate Burton) creates the first school in a Welsh coal-mining town, and helps an illiterate teenager (play by Ms. Burton’s son, Morgan Ritchie) transform from bully to brilliant student. Nicholas Martin returns to direct this heartwarming classic with his quintessential warmth and humor.

Two Men of Florence
by Richard N. Goodwin
Directed by Ed Hall
Scenic & Costume Design by Francis O’Connor
March 6 — April 5, 2009
The Huntington Theatre

Two men: Friends. Intellectual powerhouses. Giants in their respective fields. Galileo Galilei and Pope Urban VIII face off in a battle for the soul of the world.

A fiercely intelligent, epic drama from celebrated historian and JFK speechwriter Richard N. Goodwin, directed by Edward Hall, associate director of London’s National Theatre and one of England’s most gifted directors.

The Miracle at Naples
by David Grimm
Directed by Peter DuBois
April 3 — May 9, 2009
The Huntington Calderwood/BCA

A band of traveling commedia players in Renaissance Italy ignites the passions of the locals when they arrive to perform at the Feast of San Gennaro. A series of lovers romp through the town piazza seeking pleasure and finding love in this outrageously smart and bawdy comedy from David Grimm (Measure for Pleasure and Kit Marlowe).

irates! (Or, Gilbert and Sullivan Plunder’d)
by Gilbert and Sullivan
Adapted by Nell Benjamin
Directed by Gordon Greenberg
May 15 — June 14, 2009
The Huntington Theatre

Set sail for the Caribbean with this raucous and rowdy update of a musical comedy classic, complete with swordfights, sex appeal, Gilbert’s glorious music, and Sullivan’s trademark wit. This young, brilliant creative team has adapted the book in a way that promises it won’t be your grandmother’s Gilbert and Sullivan!