How do you follow up a remarkable season devoted solely to works by female playwrights? Well, you could try one that includes the world premiere of a musical about a female impersonator and a mummy.
Welcome to the 2016-2017 lineup at Rep Stage, the professional theater company based at Howard Community College that recently concluded a season notable for introducing the region to works by women.
"I don't think we were trying to make a statement or have any specific theme for next season," says co-producing artistic director Joseph Ritsch, who helms Rep Stage with co-producing artistic director Suzanne Beal.
"But as Suzanne and I go into our third year of producing, I think you can see that our aesthetic is a commitment to newer work. Two of the four works are regional premieres, and one is a world premiere," Ritsch says.
That premiere is "Dorian's Closet," a musical with book and lyrics by Los Angeles-based playwright Richard Mailman and music by Ryan Haase, artistic director of Stillpointe Theatre in Baltimore. The production, directed by Ritsch, will run April 26 to May 14, 2017.
The musical explores the life and death of Dorian Corey, a female impersonator memorably featured in the acclaimed 1991 documentary "Paris Is Burning," about the drag ball culture in New York.
"It is not a musical version of the documentary," Ritsch says. "This really spans Dorian's life, especially the incident after she passed away from AIDS, when they found a mummified body in her closet, the body of a man who had been dead 15 years. That part is really intriguing. There is a whole bunch of theories trying to explain it. [Mailman] is exploring his fantasies about what really happened and why."
The season also includes the regional premiere of "The Other Place," a drama by Sharr White that had an off-Broadway run in 2011 and another on Broadway in 2013, both starring Laurie Metcalf. This twist-filled play centers on a neurologist convinced she has a brain tumor.
Directed by Ritsch, "The Other Place" will open the season and run Sept. 7-25.
Beal will direct another regional premiere, "American Hero" by Bess Wohl, running Nov. 2 to 20. Seen off-Broadway in 2014, it's "a very funny comedy about a sandwich shop franchise, and it very much addresses the American Dream in our country at the moment," Ritsch says.
Rounding out the season is Jane Martin's "H2O," which had its premiere at the 2013 Contemporary American Theatre Festival in West Virginia. The two-character play is about a self-destructive action-hero movie star who gets a chance to play "Hamlet," and the evangelical Christian woman hoping to be his Ophelia.
The production of "H2O," directed by Kasi Campbell, will run Feb. 15 to March 5, 2017.
For more information on the 2016-2017 Rep Stage season, call 443-518-1500, or go to repstage.org.
Vagabond Players, the community theater that wraps up its centennial with a production of the popular farce "Moon Over Buffalo" starting next week (and running through June 26), has planned a mix of drama, comedy and music for its 101st season.
The 2016-2017 schedule for the Fells Point-based company begins with a classic Arthur Miller tragedy about war, business, family and secrets, "All My Sons," Sept. 9 to Oct. 2, directed by Michael Byrne Zemarel.
"Avenue Q," the puppet-driven satirical musical by Robert ("Book of Mormon") Lopez, Jeff Marx and Jeff Whitty, will be staged Oct. 21 to Nov. 20. Eric C. Stein directs.
Created in 1992 by Reduced Shakespeare Company members Adam Long, Reed Martin and Austin Tichenor, "The Complete History of America (Abridged)" crams several centuries into a kind of 90-minute vaudeville act. Vagabonds will tackle the piece Jan. 6 to Feb. 5, 2017 in a production directed by Howard Berkowitz.
Maternal matters large and small, serious and funny, will be the focus when the company stages "Motherhood Out Loud." Conceived by Susan R. Rose and Joan Stein, the work is made up of contributions from more than a dozen mostly female writers. Rikki Howie Lacewell directs the production, Feb. 24 to March 19, 2017.
Neil Simon's vintage comedy from 1965, "The Odd Couple," is slated for April 7 to May 7, 2017, directed by Steve Goldklang.
An even older comedy, "See How They Run," a 1940s farce by English playwright Phillip King that involves a vicar, a maid, a spy and a whole lot of misunderstandings, will close Vagabond Players' century-plus-one season. The production, directed by Tyrone Chapman, runs May 26 to June 25, 2017.
For more information, call 410-563-9135, or go to vagabondplayers.org.