Uptown Players announces 2016 Season Lineup

DALLAS, August 14, 2015 – Uptown Players, a professional theater group located in the Uptown area of Dallas, has announced its 2016 season at the Kalita Humphreys Theater and Dallas City Performance Hall, which will feature the regional premieres of the 2014 Tony Award nominated play, Mothers and Sons, the 2012 West End hit musical, End of the Rainbow, the 2009 Outer Critics Circle Award for best new musical, The Toxic Avenger, and the hysterical comedy It’s Only a Play, which just completed its successful Broadway run. Uptown Players will also present a concert version of the Musical, Aida, in conjunction with the Turtle Creek Chorale in January at the City Performance Hall, and its annual fundraising performance, this year entitled Broadway Our Way, which will be held in May.

2016 SEASON OVERVIEW

Aida: Concert Version: January 15-17, 2016

Winner of four 2000 TONY Awards, Elton John and Tim Rice’s Aida is an epic tale of love, loyalty and betrayal chronicling the love triangle between Aida, a Nubian princess stolen from her country, Amneris, an Egyptian princess, and Radames, the soldier they both love. An enslaved Nubian princess, Aida, finds her heart entangled with Radames, an Egyptian soldier who is betrothed to the Pharaoh’s daughter, Amneris. As their forbidden love blossoms, Aida is forced to weigh her heart against the responsibility she faces as leader of her people. Aida and Radames’s love for one another becomes a shining example of true devotion that ultimately transcends the vast cultural differences between their warring nations, heralding a time of unprecedented peace and prosperity. This concert version will be presented in conjunction with the Turtle Creek Chorale and will take place at the Dallas City Performance Hall in the arts district downtown from January 15 – 17, 2016.

End of the Rainbow: April 1 – April 17, 2016

Written by Peter Quilter, End of the Rainbow is a musical drama of Judy Garland’s “come-back” concerts during December, 1968. With a six week booking at London’s Talk of the Town, it looks like Judy Garland is set firmly on the comeback trail. The failed marriages, the suicide attempts and the addictions are all behind her. At forty-six and with new flame Mickey Deans at her side, she seems determined to carry it off and recapture her magic. But lasting happiness always eludes some people, and there was never any answer to the question with which Judy ended every show: “If happy little bluebirds fly beyond the rainbow, why, oh, why, can’t I?” End of the Rainbow is a savagely funny drama featuring a glorious ensemble of Judy Garland hits and infused with the glamour and the melancholy of stardom. This production will star Janelle Lutz (The Boy from Oz) as Judy Garland. This regional premiere will take place at the Kalita Humphreys Theater from April 1 – 17, 2016.

Broadway Our Way: May 5 – May 8, 2016

Now in its 14th year, Uptown Players’ annual fundraiser, Broadway Our Way, light-heartedly pits the men against the women to determine who the true Divas of the Dallas stage really are. The evening features selections from your favorite Broadway shows both past and present, done with an Uptown Players twist! It is sure to be a hot ticket with only four performances in May of 2016 at the Kalita Humphreys Theater.

Mothers and Sons: June 3 – June 19, 2016

Uptown Players will present the regional premiere of the 2014 Tony Award nominated play, Mothers and Sons, written by Terrence McNally. At turns funny and powerful, Mothers and Sons portrays a woman who pays an unexpected visit to the New York apartment of her late son’s partner, who is now married to another man and has a young son. Challenged to face how society has changed around her, generations collide as she revisits the past and begins to see the life her son might have led. The production runs June 3 – 19, 2016 at the Kalita Humphreys Theater.

It’s Only a Play: July 15 – July 31, 2016

Uptown Players continues its season with the regional premiere of another Terrence McNally recent Broadway smash, It’s Only A Play. It’s the opening night of The Golden Egg on Broadway, and the wealthy producer is throwing a lavish party in her lavish Manhattan townhouse. Downstairs the celebrities are pouring in, but the real action is upstairs where a group of insiders have staked themselves out in the producer’s bedroom, waiting for the reviews to come in. The good natured bonhomie with which the evening begins grows steadily bitchier—and funnier—as the reviews come in, and those assembled seek desperately to pin the blame on each other. But, as euphoria slides into despair, the narcissism, ambition, childishness and just plain irrationality that infuse the theatre and its denizens take over, and as the curtain falls plans are eagerly afoot for their next venture—this one sure to be the hit they have all been hoping for. The show stars B. J. Cleveland as James Wicker (recently played by Nathan Lane on Broadway) and runs July 15 through July 31, 2016.

The Toxic Avenger: August 26 – September 11, 2016

To close its fifteenth season, Uptown Players will present the regional premiere of the 2009 Outer Critics Circle Award winner for Best Off-Broadway Musical, The Toxic Avenger. With book and lyrics by Joe DiPietro and music and lyrics by David Bryan, The Toxic Avenger is a charming love story and laugh-out-loud musical that has it all. Melvin Ferd the Third wants to clean up Tromaville, the most polluted town in New Jersey. Foiled by the mayor’s bullies, Melvin is dumped into a vat of radioactive toxic waste, only to reemerge as The Toxic Avenger, New Jersey’s first superhero. Affectionately known as Toxie, our new hero is a seven-foot mutant freak with superhuman strength and a heart as big as Newark. He’s out to save New Jersey, end global warming, and woo the blind librarian in town. The production runs August 16 through September 11.

Ticket prices for all shows range from $25 to $45. Performances at the Kalita Humphreys Theater, 3636 Turtle Creek Blvd at Blackburn, will run at 8 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings and 2 p.m. on Sundays. Performances at City Performance Hall, 2520 Flora Street are at 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. on Sunday. Four, five, or six show season ticket flex packages are available and include great discounts on both premium and regular seating. Individual and season tickets can be purchased online beginning Tuesday, August 18th at www.uptownplayers.org or by phone at 214-219-2718.

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About Uptown Players:
Uptown Players is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization, presenting plays and musicals that challenge audiences artistically and create greater positive public awareness and acceptance through the performing arts. Now concluding its fourteenth season and sixth season at the Kalita Humphreys Theater, Uptown Players has gathered a dedicated following and is providing an opportunity for a wide diversity of gender styles to come together and explore life choices through great theatre themes such as relationships, family, prejudice, and values. The response from the community and critics has been remarkable, including over 25 Leon Rabin Awards from the Dallas Theatre League, and over 25 Theater Critics Forum Awards. Uptown Players has also been named the best theatre company by the Dallas Voice Readers and by the Dallas Observer and was also featured in D Magazine and on WFAA’s Daybreak and Good Morning Texas programs.

Uptown Players has presented world premieres, including Redesigning Women (2013), Crazy Just Like Me (2011) and the stage adaptation of The Valley of the Dolls (2007), along with the United States premieres of the West End hit musical Soho Cinders (2014), and the Pet Shop Boys Musical Closer to Heaven (2010). Uptown Players was the first regional theater in the United States to present the Tony Award winner The Boy from Oz and the Pulitzer Prize winning musical Next To Normal, following the closing of the Broadway productions. In recent years, Sam Harris and Dan Savage have presented their one-man shows on the Uptown stage. Each season, Uptown Players presents several regional premieres, including recent productions of The Nance, The Lyons, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Hello Again (featured in a Broadway World article about the upcoming movie) and The Producers.

Uptown Players 2016 Season:

Aida: January 15 – 17, 2016

End of the Rainbow: April 1 – 17, 2016

Broadway Our Way: May 5 – 8, 2016

Mothers and Sons: June 3 – 19, 2016

It’s Only a Play: July 15 – 31, 2016

The Toxic Avenger: August 26 – September 11, 2016

Media Contact: Nina Koch
nina@coopersmithagency.com, (214) 329-9191