'A Midsummer Night's Dream' heads up cast of 56th season

By Heather Crabtree

The Entertainer

ALBANY - As Albany Civic Theater closes its 55th season with "Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde" and the musical "Into the Woods," the schedule for their 56th season has been announced.

"Gross Indecency" wraps up at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, July 21 and 22.

"Into the Woods" opens at 8 p.m. Aug. 18. Additional performances for "Into the Woods" are at 8 p.m. Aug. 19, 24, 25 and 26; and Sept. 1, 2, 7, 8 and 9; and at 2:30 p.m. Sundays, Aug. 27 and Sept. 3.

Tickets for "Gross Indecency" are $9 for adults; $6 for seniors over 60 and students under 18; tickets for "Into the Woods" are $11 for adults, and $8 for seniors and under 18.

Beginning with the 56th season opener on Sept. 19, ticket prices for plays will increase to $10 for adults and $7 for seniors and under 18; and for musical productions, $12 for adults and $9 for seniors and under 18. Season tickets are $85 for adults and $60 for seniors and under 18. A season sampler is $47 for adults and $36 for seniors and under 18.

The last price increase was with the 2004-05 season.

"We periodically raise our prices to keep our theater operating in the black," said Miranda Prince, the publicity coordinator for ACT, in an e-mail. "It's expensive to put on plays. Our tickets are still usually a little less expensive than those at other theaters in the area."

Also this season, the theater will present nine plays instead of the typical 10 plays. Instead, they've added a special event, "The Santaland Diaries," which is a comical, one-man show meant for adults.

They've also extended the run time for Shakespeare's "A Mid-Summer Night Dream," because the playreading committee that selects the season schedule though it would be popular, Prince said.

The season schedule is as follows:

• Sept. 19 to Oct. 14: "The Cemetery Club" by Ivan Menchell is a hilarious play about three Jewish widows who meet twice a month for tea and a visit to their husbands' graves. Auditions have past. Directed by Kay Roth.

• Special event, Oct. 28: "The Big Night" is ACT's annual membership gala and awards presentation. (Special events are not included in season tickets.)

• Nov. 3 to 11: "Hedda Gabler," by Henrik Ibsen, is one of Isben's most famous plays. It explores the lengths to which its title character will go to improve her lifestyle and social position. The production coincides with the 100th anniversary of Ibsen's death. Auditions are Aug. 21 to 23. Directed by John Elliott.

• Dec. 1 to 16: "The Homecoming," adapted by Peter Coy from the novel by Earl Hamner Jr., is a heart-warming Christmas play. It was the basis for the well-loved TV series "The Waltons." Auditions are Oct. 2 to 4. Directed by Pat Kight.

• Special event, Dec. 22 and 23: "The Santaland Diaries," by David Sedaris, is a hilarious, one-man short play that tells the story of the narrator's experiences working as an elf in Macy's Santaland. Not for children. Directed by Harriet Nixon. (Special events are not included in season tickets.)

• Jan. 12 to 17, 2007: "Extreme Theater 2" is an evening of uproarious, improvisational comedy performed by ACTeens. Auditions are Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 and 2. Led/coached/emceed by Miranda Prince.

• Feb. 16 to 25 and March 1 to 3, 2007: "Witness for the Prosecution," by Agatha Christie, is a classic mystery about a young man accused of murder. Auditions are Dec. 4 to 6. Directed by Jackie Tasker.

• March 30 and 31 and April 6 to 21, 2007: "You're a Good Man Charlie Brown," by John Gordon and Clark Gesner, is the rollicking musical based on Charles Schulz' immensely popular "Peanuts" comic strips. ACT will present the revised version that was a hit on Broadway a few years ago. Auditions are Jan. 15 to 17, 2007. Directed by Christi Sears.

• May 11 to 31 and June 1 and 2, 2007: "A Midsummer Night's Dream" is one of William Shakespeare's most beloved comedies, depicting four young lovers in a magical, moonlit forest where anything can happen. Auditions are Feb. 19 to 21, 2007. Directed by Robert Leff.

• June 22 to 30 and July 1, 2007: "Going to See the Elephant," by Karen Hensel and Elana Kent, is based on an idea by Patti Johns and set in 1870 Kansas. Four frontier women wrest a living as they cope with wolf attacks and fear of Indians, and talk of "going to see the elephant." Auditions are April 2 to 4, 2007. Directed by Paul Watts.

• July 27 and 28 and Aug. 3 to 18, 2007: "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum," by Burt Shevelove, Larry Gelbart and Stephen Sondheim, is a hilarious musical set in ancient Rome. Auditions are May 14 to 16, 2007. Directed by Barbara Osterholm.