Announcing our upcoming 2020-2021 88th Season lineup:
Chess (London Version)
This highly acclaimed, international blockbuster musical weaves the ancient game of chess into a metaphor for romantic rivalries and East-West political intrigue. Music by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus of the pop group ABBA, lyrics by Ulvaeus and Tim Rice, and book by Rice, the story involves a politically driven chess tournament between two grandmasters, one American and the other Russian. In danger of becoming pawns in a politically charged competition, their lives are thrown into further confusion by a Hungarian refugee, a remarkable woman who becomes the center of their emotional triangle. Thrilling and timely, Chess includes several international hits, including “One Night in Bangkok” and “I Know Him So Well.”
Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Fallen Soufflé
by David MacGregor
Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Fallen Soufflé is the sequel to David MacGregor’s hit play, Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Elusive Ear, presented at the Toledo Rep in October 2019. It’s the day before Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee and her son, the playboy Prince of Wales, arrives at 221B Baker Street pursued by anarchist assassins. Coincidentally, the greatest chef in the world, Auguste Escoffier, also arrives at 221B, his career about to be shattered by blackmail and scandal. Can Holmes, Watson, and Irene Adler save the life of the heir to the British crown and the reputation of the master chef? And can they unmask the criminal genius behind both of these sinister conspiracies? This action-filled tale of royal debauchery, priceless gems, and gourmet food will provide Dr. Watson with the material for Sherlock Holmes’ most bizarre and tastiest case. Contains adult content.
A Christmas Carol
adapted from the novella by Charles Dickens
A Toledo Rep tradition for more than 30 years, this timeless tale of redemption follows Ebenezer Scrooge as he is transformed by the spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Future from a miserly old curmudgeon into a man who embodies the true meaning of Christmas. With lavish costumes, spectacular sets and a musical score rich with carols of the era, the Rep’s annual holiday gift to Toledo is a production you will not want to miss!
The Legend of Georgia McBride
by Mathew Lopez
He’s young, he’s broke, his landlord’s knocking at the door, and he’s just found out his wife is going to have a baby. To make matters even more desperate, Casey is fired from his gig as an Elvis impersonator in a run-down, small-town Florida bar. When the bar owner brings in a B-level drag show to replace his act, Casey finds that he has a whole lot to learn about show business—and himself. Crowd-pleasing and side-splittingly funny, The Legend of Georgia McBride is a gender-bending, feel good tribute to the art of drag.
Our Town/Middletown
Performed in rep!
The Toledo Rep and Actors Collaborative Toledo join together to present their first ever repertory productions with the staging of Our Town by Thorton Wilder and Middletown by Will Eno. Audiences will have several opportunities to see both performances offered during the run on alternating dates.
Our Town, Thorton Wilder’s timeless classic and quintessential masterpiece of the American stage tells the story of life in Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire at the turn of the 20th century. Here it is paired with Will Eno’s Middletown, a deeply moving and funny play that explores the universe of a small American town at the beginning of the 21st century. From opposite ends of a tumultuous one hundred years, two powerful, touching and sometimes funny plays look at our American life, how we see ourselves today and how we look back on the values that have shaped who we are. In Our Town, we see two young people, George Gibbs and Emily Webb, as their lives entwine and intersect with other denizens of their small town.
In Middletown, a friendship between longtime resident, John Dodge, and a new arrival, Mary Swanson, intersects with the inhabitants of Middletown in strange and poignant ways. From the Middletown local library to outer space and points between, or from Rebecca Gibbs window in Grover’s Corners as she marvels at the universe and the mind of God, Our Town/Middletown is a journey to places you won’t forget.
Something Rotten
Two brothers set out to write the world’s first musical in this hilarious mash-up of sixteenth-century Shakespeare and twenty-first-century Broadway.
Welcome to the Renaissance and the outrageous, crowd-pleasing musical farce, Something Rotten. Created by Grammy Award-winning songwriter Wayne Kirkpatrick, and successful screenwriters Karey Kirkpatrick and John O’Farrell, Something Rotten is lauded by audience members and critics alike. It received several Best Musical nominations, a Tony and hailed by Time Out New York as “the funniest musical comedy in at least 400 years.”
Set in the 1590s, brothers Nick and Nigel Bottom are desperate to write a hit play but are stuck in the shadow of that Renaissance rock star known as “The Bard.” When a local soothsayer foretells that the future of theatre involves singing, dancing and acting at the same time, Nick and Nigel set out to write the world’s very first musical. But amidst the scandalous excitement of opening night, the Bottom Brothers realize that reaching the top means being true to thine own self, and all that jazz.
Tickets will become available in late February at www.toledorep.org or by calling the Box Office at (419) 243-9277.