Syracuse Stage Resumes Live Performance This Fall for 2021/2022 Season

Syracuse Stage has announced plans to resume live and in-person performance in the 2021/2022 season. Starting in October, the theater will present a six-show subscription season and offer a full schedule of educational, family and community-related programming, including the continuation of the Cold Read Festival of New Plays.

Six-play subscriptions will be on sale in July. Single tickets will go on sale closer to the opening of the season.

Artistic director Robert Hupp says, “This is more than a return to ‘normal.’ Over the past year, we’ve engaged in a field-wide conversation about the work we create and produce. We’ve looked at how the work is created, who creates the work and who the work is created for. We emerge from the pandemic with a renewed passion for our craft and a new commitment to making a positive and sustained contribution to the cultural and civic life of Central New York.”

In reopening, the theater management pledges strict adherence to the most up-to-date COVID-19 safety protocols in order to protect patrons, artists and staff.

The scheduled season offers a variety of theatrical experiences with a world premiere by Syracuse Stage associate artistic director Kyle Bass, a new musical by Brian Quijada, a celebrated family holiday musical and three contemporary comedies. From backstage hijinks to events unfolding literally down the street from Syracuse Stage to the trials and triumphs of a very remarkable little girl, the season celebrates reuniting to enjoy engaging stories, fascinating characters, exciting performances and great entertainment.

The season includes: “Eureka Day” (Oct. 13-31, 2021), “Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical” (Nov. 19, 2021-Jan. 2, 2022), “Yoga Play” (Jan. 19-Feb. 6, 2022), “Somewhere Over the Border” (Feb. 23-March 13, 2022), “The Play that Goes Wrong” (April 13-May 1, 2022) and “salt/city/blues” (June 8-26, 2022).

“Our new season is uplifting. We wanted to craft a season that celebrated our return to live performance,” Hupp says. “We also wanted to explore the world as it emerges from this unprecedented time. We do so with humor and with music. We also celebrate new voices on our stage—voices that we believe have relevance for right here and right now. We’re creating new ways to connect with Syracuse Stage and we invite everyone to share this journey with us.”

Hupp is slated to direct two plays in the season including the season opener “Eureka Day.” A private day school in Berkeley, California, becomes a microcosm of our larger society as Jonathon Spector’s comedy plunges headlong into the knotty issues of vaccines and how we measure private preference against public health and how we decide who gets to decide. Though written pre-COVID, “Eureka Day” could not be more timely or more needed as Spector mines laughter from our foibles while eliciting empathy for our sometimes valiant and sometimes valiantly misguided efforts. Spector clearly has sympathy for our struggles.

Later in the season, Hupp takes on a comic cautionary tale of what can happen to a theatre company’s best laid plans with “The Play That Goes Wrong.” In this award-winning comedy, the Cornley Drama Society attempts to mount a 1920s murder mystery and falls prey to a variation of the old adage: everything that can go wrong will go wrong and in the most humorous way. Laughter for the sake of laughter and theater just for the fun of it.

“Personally, I can’t wait to get back in the rehearsal room,” Hupp says. “I’ve enjoyed directing online, and I’ve learned a lot in this process. But nothing can replace the joy of making a production with actors and a creative team that will be experienced by a live audience in a shared space. This shared experience is something we all need—it’s something we crave. I don’t think we’ll realize how much we’ve missed it until we’re back together again in the Archbold Theatre.”

The return to live and in-person performance also signals the return of a holiday tradition at Syracuse Stage: the big family musical coproduced with the Syracuse University Department of Drama. For 2021/2022 Hupp has selected “Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical,” and entrusted it to the same director, Donna Drake, and musical director, Brian Cimmet, as previous holiday shows “The Wizard of Oz,” “Elf The Musical” and “Disney’s Beauty and the Beast.” This season Drake and Cimmet will be joined by choreographer Andrea Leigh-Smith.

Two premieres and the continuation of the Cold Read Festival of New Plays keep vibrant new work at the forefront of Syracuse Stage’s artistic programming. In 2018, Bass scored a hit with his mainstage debut production “Possessing Harriet,” a play rooted in a chapter of local history. With “salt/city/blues,’” he turns his gaze just down the block to consider how the construction of an elevated highway adversely impacted a once vibrant neighborhood while specifically focusing on the strains experienced by one family closely connected to the project. Resemblances to Syracuse’s 15th ward and I-81 are intentional, if not literal. Gilbert McCauley, who directed the 2020/2021 closer “’Master Harold’…and the Boys,” returns for the world premiere of “salt/city/blues.”

“The heart of ‘salt/city/blues’ beats with the character, spirit, challenges, history and hopes of the city which has inspired me in its writing,” says Bass. “I’m thrilled that its world premiere at my artistic home is part of Syracuse Stage’s season of enriched focus on our communities and the meanings of home.”

In the new musical “Somewhere Over the Border,” drawing creative inspiration from a beloved Central New York story, Brian Quijada recounts the journey his mother made from El Salvador to the United States in the 1970s. With fantastical elements suggested by L. Frank Baum’s “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” Quijada transforms his mother’s 2,700 mile journey into a musical adventure using songs in a range of musical styles including American rock, hip-hop and Mariachi. Part fable and part family history, “Somewhere Over the Border” is a testament to a mother’s determination and love.

Rounding out the season is the wry comedy “Yoga Play” by Dipika Guha, a piece that ponders such questions as: is there room for authenticity in a $10 billion industry, or can lavender scented yoga pants enhance spiritual well-being? Melissa Crespo who directed this past season’s “I and You” and the 2019 hit “Native Gardens” will be back at Syracuse Stage for this comedic gem.

Ongoing through the season there will be many opportunities to engage in conversations important to the community and to enjoy family oriented programming.

Los Angeles based artists and activists Mark-n-Sparks (Mark Valdez and ashley sparks) bring their innovative devised performance piece “The Most Beautiful Home…Maybe” to Syracuse Stage as part of their four-city initiative to examine housing insecurity across the country. Free performances of “The Faith of Our Fathers,” adapted by Bass from the 1965 televised debate between James Baldwin and William F. Buckley, will be offered when the theater reopens in the fall. These special presentations augment the regularly scheduled talkbacks, prologues and lectures that accompany each mainstage production.

In addition, writer, interdisciplinary artist and Grammy Award-winner Ty Defoe joins the Cold Read Festival of New Plays in March 2022. Defoe is from the Oneida and Ojibwe nations and has written plays, poetry and lyrics. A full schedule of Cold Read events will be announced at a later date.

The season promises an array of theater experiences for families and students. In the fall the Bank of America Children’s tour production of “The Girl Who Swallowed a Cactus” will perform outdoors at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo. Two Backstory productions, “Commanding Space” and “Citizen James,” resume live performances after the new year, and in the spring the sensational Doodle Pop from South Korea arrives for four performances in the Archbold Theatre. Continuing in 2021/2022 are theatre for the very young and the ever popular Young Playwrights Festival.

“After more than a year of creating innovative online work, we are thrilled to return to producing live theatre this fall,” Hupp says. “While many theaters across our country were forced to shut down during the pandemic, Syracuse Stage was fortunate to stay artistically active. The knowledge and experience we gained puts us in a strong position to hit the ground running with a season of dynamic and meaningful theatrical experiences.”

SHOW DETAILS

“Eureka Day”
By Jonathan Spector
Directed by Robert Hupp
Oct. 13-31, 2021

With a mumps outbreak, a private school in Berkeley, California, called Eureka Day, becomes a microcosm of our larger society as Jonathan Spector’s comedy plunges headlong into the knotty issues of vaccines and how we measure private preference against public health and how we decide who gets to decide. Though written pre-COVID, “Eureka Day” could hardly be more timely or more needed as Spector mines laughter from our foibles while eliciting empathy for our sometimes valiant and sometimes valiantly misguided efforts.

 “Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical”
Book by Dennis Kelly
Music and Lyrics by Tim Minchin
Based on the book “Matilda” by Roald Dahl
Directed by Donna Drake
Musical Direction by Brian Cimmet
Choreography by Andrea Leigh-Smith
Nov. 19, 2021-Jan. 2, 2022

Children (and grown-ups) of the world rejoice. “Matilda” is here at last. Inspired by the twisted genius of Roald Dahl, this Tony Award-winning musical is a captivating treat that revels in the anarchy of childhood, the power of imagination and the inspiring story of a girl who dreams of a better life. (There’s also a gloriously vile villain, Miss Trunchbull.) Packed with high-energy dance numbers, catchy songs and featuring an unforgettable little girl with astonishing wit, intelligence and psychokinetic power, “Matilda” is a joyous girl power romp.

“Yoga Play” (East coast premiere)
By Dipika Guha
Directed by Melissa Crespo
Jan. 19-Feb. 6, 2022

Joan has a big problem. Recently named CEO of athletic-wear giant Jojomon—think high-end brand that’s part 60s one-hit wonder and part citrus fruit—she even more recently learned that a BBC investigative team is about to expose her Bangladeshi manufacturer of lavender-scented yoga pants as an exploiter of child labor. Suddenly, Jojomon’s family of customers is all atwitter with accusations of inauthenticity. Only one solution will do—find a reclusive and revered yogi to serve as a spokesman and restore the company’s all-important claim to authenticity. They find him all right. The rest is 90 minutes of side-splitting laughter. A fun-filled new comedy by Dipika Guha, a talent to watch and recipient of a Venturous Playwright Fellowship by The Lark.

“Somewhere Over the Border” (new musical)
By Brian Quijada
Feb. 23-March 13, 2022

Inspired by the real life journey of the author’s mother (Reina Quijada) from El Salvador to the U.S. and by L. Frank Baum’s “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” “Somewhere Over the Border” embraces the factual and the fantastical in its depiction of one young girl’s pursuit of the American dream. As Reina travels north to the Mexican border, she gathers friends, faces down dangers and holds tight to the memory of the little boy she left behind. Set in the 1970s and propelled by cumbia, Mexican mariachi boleros, American rock and hip-hop, this new musical is both fable and family history—and a testament to the determination born of love.

“The Play That Goes Wrong”
By Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields
Directed by Robert Hupp
April 13-May 1, 2022

Winner of London’s Olivier Award for Best Comedy and a New York Times best pick for comedies, “The Play That Goes Wrong” follows in the grand tradition of plays that go farcically awry. As the Cornley Drama Society attempts to perform a 1920s murder mystery, sets malfunction, lines are dropped and corpses won’t stay still. Such fun. Laughter for the sheer joy of laughter.

“salt/city/blues” (world premiere)
By Kyle Bass
Directed by Gilbert McCauley
June 8-26, 2022

How does a fractured family heal when unresolved emotions of the past color the present? Can a city reshape itself if it means tearing open old, still-tender wounds? And where in a diverse but segregated can communities find common ground, mutual dignity and a true sense of home? These questions collide into Yolonda Mourning, an independent consultant on a vast project to take down a span of highway that has long divided Salt City. When she leaves her husband and teenage son and moves to the heart of trendy downtown, a diverse cast of characters forces Yolonda to confront the Salt City’s complicated history around race, class and urban renewal, and to reckon with her role as architect of the broken bridges in her own family. Moving, funny, poignant and current, “salt/city/blues” is a fresh, contemporary new play set in a fictionalized Syracuse and to the music of the blues. A Cold Read world premiere production.

Cold Read Festival of New Plays
March 14 – 20
Events to be announced