Stage 9 Announces 2017 Season Schedule

Hutchinson, Kan. – After a tumultuous election season and with the hopeful promise of a new year, Stage 9 is proud to announce its exciting 2017 Season.  From a Pulitzer Prize winning American classic to a ground-breaking musical, Stage 9’s 2017 Season teems with depth and variety.

On January 21 and 22, 2017, Stage 9 peers in on the residents of Grover’s Corners  in a special, staged reading production of Pulitzer Prize winning American play, Our Town.  This masterpiece is framed around Emily Webb and George Gibbs whose romance blossoms among a town of colorful characters.  Stage 9 revisits this classic for another look at its timeless themes which touch the human spirit as no other play can.

Following closely, on February 23 – 26 and March 2 -5, comes Time Stands Still, a 2010 Tony-nominee for Best Play of the Year. In this stunning drama, Sarah and James – a photographer and a journalist – devote their lives to telling the toughest stories from across the globe. After Sarah is injured in a bomb blast in war-torn Iraq, she returns home to James and the safety of New York. As her physical injuries heal, James and Sarah attempt to salvage what’s left of a relationship that is exposed to the worst that war can bring.

Welcome to Putnam County and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee!  This quirky, hysterical one-act musical is an interactive performance and you might well get the opportunity to test your spelling skills among an eclectic group of six mid-pubescents played in comic fun by adults. Premiering on Broadway in 2005, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee lightens the mood in April. Putnam County will run from April 27 – May 7.

Stage 9 presents this twentieth century comedy with a twist, The Odd Couple (Female Version) June 22-25 and June 29-July 2.  Slovenly, easy-going Olive Madison is pitted against her roommate, the neat, uptight Florence Unger in this hilarious revival of Neil Simon’s comic classic. 

In 1998, Matthew Shepard was brutally murdered in Laramie, Wyoming.  His only crime was who he loved. This tragic, yet crystallizing event is explored in the docudrama, The Laramie Project, by Moises Kaufman and the members of the Tectonic Theater Project.  Stage 9 continues its commitment to inclusion with a special staged reading in August. Parents and Friends of Gays and Lesbians of South Central Kansas sponsors this production which is sure to be a life-changing theatrical experience.  Stage presents this production August 3-August 6, 2017.

Another classic arrives at Stage 9 towards the end of September with the ground-breaking musical Godspell. Updated in a new production that premiered on Broadway in 2012, Stage 9 is pleased to be one of the first theatres in the area to revisit this classic musical with a fresh look.  A loose retelling of the Gospel story, Godspell is infused with Jesus' messages of kindness, tolerance and love.  Godspell comes to Stage 9 September 21-October 1, 2017.

Residents of Eastside Cemetery come alive in this Hutchinson fall favorite, Talking Tombstones.  Join us for a special one evening event where audience and characters meet in their sacred resting place. Featured in the Kansas! Travel magazine in 2016, this haunting event combines history with theatre in a mesmerizing look at the past.

Stage 9 warmly wraps up its 2017 year by welcoming theatre-goers to Almost, Maine, a town that’s so far north, it’s almost not in the United States—it’s almost in Canada. One cold, clear Friday night in the middle of winter, while the northern lights hover in the sky, Almost’s residents find themselves falling in and out of love in the strangest ways.  And life for the people of Almost, Maine will never be the same.  Almost, Maine:  It’s love. But not quite.  Almost, Maine will run from November 16 – December 3, 2017.

Performances for main productions are held Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7:30 pm.  Sunday curtain times are 2:00 pm.  Ticket prices for plays are $12 for adults, $10 for seniors, and $8 for children ages 8 – 14.  Tickets for musicals cost $15 for adults, $12 for seniors and $10 for children ages 8 – 14. The ticket price for special events is $20. Children under 8 are not permitted.  All seating is general admission.  Stage 9 seats 85 people and seats are available on a first come, first served basis. To check performance availability, please contact Stage 9 by email at info@stage9hutch.com or by phone at 316-350-PLAY (7529).   

Memberships for the 2017 season are now available for patrons wishing to contribute to the ongoing success of Stage 9. Memberships may be purchased online at www.stage9hutch.com or by contacting Producing Artistic Director Charles A. Johnston at charles@stage9hutch.com or 646-628-4353. 

For more information about Stage 9’s 2017 season schedule, performances or to schedule interviews, contact Charles Johnston at 646-628-4353 or charles@stage9hutch.com.  You may also contact Johnston for information about program advertising or sponsorship for Stage 9’s 2017 Season.

Stage 9’s mission is to excite minds, move hearts, and change lives through theatrical performance, arts education, and live entertainment in Hutchinson, Reno County, and south central Kansas.  A 501(c)3 organization, Stage 9 strives to produce quality entertainment and provide opportunities for artistic expression, specifically focused on ages 18 and up.  At home at 9 S. Main in downtown Hutchinson, Stage 9’s 2017 Season features Our Town, by Thornton Wilder, the hard-hitting modern drama Time Stands Still by Donald Margulies, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee by Rebecca Feldman, a musical comedy about an eclectic group of pubescent spellers, Neil Simon’s classic comedy The Odd Couple (Female Version) pitting polar opposite roommates, a staged reading of The Laramie Project by Moises Kaufman that examines the tragedy of the murder of Matthew Shepard, the groundbreaking musical Godspell by John-Michael Tebelak and Stephen Schwartz, a loose retelling of the Gospel story,  Stage 9’s haunting annual fundraiser Talking Tombstones, and the romantic tales of John Cariani’s Almost, Maine.