A Classic Theatre to kick off new season

“Lullaby of Broadway,” a celebration of Broadway musicals, will be the season opener for A Classic Theatre as the company returns to the stage following a COVID-forced disruption in 2020.

The musical revue will feature an ensemble of performers singing memorable songs by Stephen Sondheim, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Lowe, John Kander and Fred Ebb and others.

Performers include David Abraham, Nancy Grote, Haley Kirk, Trudye Lutton, Dirk Gavin McCoy, Susan Nowell, Catherine Swann and Jason Whitfield. Cliff Parrish directs.

Performances will be 7:30 p.m. Oct. 9 and 2 p.m. Oct. 10 at the Lincolnville Museum and Cultural Center, 102 ML King Ave., St. Augustine. Tickets are $26.50 for adults, $16.50 for students. They can be purchased at the box office on performance dates or online at aclassictheatre.org/tickets.

A Classic Theatre made its debut in May 2005 with a staged reading, followed the next year by three productions – including “Working” by Studs Turkel – directed by founder Jean Rahner. Since then, the nonprofit theater company has produced full productions with large and small casts. It has staged “Inherit the Wind,” an adaptation of “A Christmas Carol” and a live broadcast of “It’s A Wonderful Life” and “War of the Worlds.”

In addition to well-established plays, A Classic Theatre stages original works by local playwrights. Some examples have been: “Darwin’s Babies” by Bob Feldheim, “The Women Rebel” by Dee Lovell, “Henry Flagler Remembers” by Thomas Rahner, “The Imperative” by Roger Rueff, “My Friend Zelma: Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings on Trial” by Dr. Michael Gannon and “Cross Roads: Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings and Norton S. Baskin in Unguarded Moments” by Deborah B. Dickey.

Filling out the 2021-22 season, the company will present:

• “The Dining Room” by A.R. Gurney. A humorous and touching look at changes in American society through the lens of the dining room and how it has declined in importance. Directed by Harolyn Sharpe. Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. Oct. 29 and 30 and Nov. 5 and 6; 2 p.m. Oct. 31 and Nov. 7. Admission: $22 adults, $12 students.
• “The Sisters O’Toole” by Amy Lauer Goldin. A story about growing up in a complicated Irish Catholic family presented with dark Irish humor. January 2022.
• “No Exit” by Jean Paul Sartre. A dark comedy that follows three strangers locked in a room for eternity and their realizations about hell. March 2022.
• “The Immigrant” by Mark Harelik. This is a true story about the author’s grandfather and his life after arriving in America in the early 1900s.

“We’re back, we’re ready and we’re excited with productions, plans for readings and workshops and a commitment to engage our audiences with entertaining, thought-provoking and relevant theatre for a new age,” said Cindy Alexander, artistic director for A Classic Theatre.

For further information about the 2021-22 season, go to aclassictheatre.org.