seven venues

Chris Hanna, Artistic Director and Keith Stava, Managing Director are pleased to announce Virginia Stage Company’s
2008-09 season, the 30th at the Wells Theatre. To celebrate this milestone, VSC will be producing an ambitious slate of plays and musicals - some old, some new and one brand new play by Chris Hanna.

The 2008-09 season line-up is as follows:

My Fair Lady
September 16 – October 5, 2008
Book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner, Music by Frederick Loewe, Adapted from George Bernard Shaw’s play and
Gabriel Pascal’s motion picture Pygmalion
A recently discovered, two-piano adaptation of Lerner and Loewe’s brilliant musical. One of the
greatest stories of the stage, My Fair Lady is a musical masterpiece for the whole family.

Centennial Casting
October 21 – November 9, 2008
By Gino DiIorio and Nancy Bleemer
Mistaken identity and an unexpected romance are the result as show business and sheet metal collide in this madcap new comedy that proves sometimes it’s alright to let sparks fly.

A Moon for the Misbegotten
January 20 – February 8, 2009
By Eugene O’Neill
A dilapidated Connecticut farmhouse provides the backdrop for doomed romance and family intrigue in one of Eugene O’Neill’s best plays. An American classic that should not be missed.

A New Play About Massive Resistance
February 24 – March 15, 2009
World Premiere by Chris Hanna
VSC Artistic Director Chris Hanna will weave excerpts from original media coverage, court documents, and recorded personal accounts with imagined scenes and characters to examine the legacy Massive Resistance provides our region today.

Ella
March 31 – April 19, 2009
Book by Jeffrey Hatcher, Conceived by Rob Ruggiero and Dyke Garrison, Based on an original play by Dyke Garrison,
Musical Arrangements by Danny Holgate, Directed by Rob Ruggiero
The powerful voice and rich life of Ella Fitzgerald are told in an exhilarating new musical that
re-imagines her landmark 1967 concert in Nice, France - performed with Ella and her band live on stage.

Holiday Extra
A Christmas Carol
December 3 – 23, 2008
By Charles Dickens
Dickens’ timeless story of Ebenezer Scrooge and his encounters with the ghosts of Christmas Past,
Present, and Future has entertained and enlightened thousands of our patrons, teaching us the true meaning of the holiday season.

“The very different productions making up our 30th Anniversary Season at VSC all introduce us to characters that are in conflict with others,” said Artistic Director Chris Hanna. “They use words—giggled, shouted, sniffled, or sung—to resolve those differences. Our characters next season will grow together, laugh together, fall in love together, and even forge a new city together—all through words. The texture and gleam of those words will create the most compelling language and lyrics ever to resonate across the Wells stage.”