“New Beginnings”
Three Riveting and Entertaining Plays and One Exquisite Musical with the Common Theme of “New Beginnings” – Explore Four Different Stories Written by Some of America’s Great Playwrights
DINNER WITH FRIENDS by Donald Margulies
November 6 – November 24, 2019
Directed by Darin Anthony
The complexities of marriage and friendship are examined with wit and intelligence in Dinner with Friends, Donald Margulies’ Pulitzer Prize-winning 1998 play about two married couples who have been friends for many years. As both couples struggle with questions of loyalty, individuality, and commitment in this deliciously funny, sharply observed drama, the ultimate question is posed – If Gabe and Karen didn’t really know Beth and Tom as well as they assumed…do they really know each other? The willingness or unwillingness to engage in this re-evaluation is the heart and spirit of the play.
*WINNER of the 2000 Pulitzer Prize.
“…Margulies writes about relationships with such intelligence and spiky humor that his comedy-drama…becomes something quite wonderful.” – Time Magazine
BALLROOM
Book by Jerome Kass, Music by Billy Goldenberg,
Lyrics by Alan & Marilyn Bergman
January 29 – February 16, 2020
Directed by Ron Celona
Musical Direction by Scott Storr
Choreography by Jose de la Cuesta
A new, re-imagined revival of the 1978 Broadway musical BALLROOM will debut at CVRep. The delightfully humane and moving Broadway production was developed by Tony Award-winning director Michael Bennett, co-creator of A Chorus Line. Based on the CBS television movie The Queen of the Stardust Ballroom which starred Maureen Stapleton as aging widow Bea Asher who, having lost her beloved Morrie, begins life anew at the Stardust Ballroom, an old school Brooklyn dance palace.
Under the guidance of the authors and Concord Theatricals, the licensor and publisher of BALLROOM, CVRep’s revised, twenty-six-character version will include all the musical numbers from the original Broadway production, restore several songs originally written for the show, and three new songs by the Bergman’s and Mr. Goldenberg.
*WINNER of the 1979 Tony and Drama Desk Awards for Choreography
*NOMINEE – 1979 11 Tony Awards (All major categories), 7 Drama Desk Awards
“It brings class to Broadway.” – New York Post
THE CITY OF CONVERSATION by Anthony Giardina
March 11th – 29, 2020
In 1979, Washington D.C. was a place where people actually talked to each other…where adversaries fought it out on the Senate floor and then smoothed it out over drinks and hors d’oeuvres. But it was all about to change. In this play spanning 30 years and six presidential administrations, Hester Ferris throws Georgetown dinner parties that can change the course of Washington’s politics. But when her beloved son suddenly turns up with an ambitious Reaganite girlfriend and a shocking new conservative world view, Hester must choose between preserving her family and defending the causes she’s spent her whole life fighting for.
*NOMINEE – 2015 2 Lucille Lortel Awards
*NOMINEE – 2015 Drama Desk Award, Best Play
*NOMINEE – 2015 Outer Critics Circle Award, Best Off-Broadway Play
“Mr. Giardina’s stimulating play illuminates the emotional toll that living in such a house divided (and a country divided) can take on its inhabitants,” – The New York Times
NATIVE GARDENS by Karen Zacarias
April 22 – May 10, 2020
Pablo, a high-powered lawyer, and doctoral candidate Tania, his very pregnant wife, are realizing the American dream when they purchase a house next door to community stalwarts Virginia and Frank. But a disagreement over a long-standing fence line soon spirals into an all-out war of taste, class, privilege, and entitlement. The hilarious results guarantee no one comes out smelling like a rose.
“A lighthearted comedy with some heavier threads woven through for just the right amount of heft.” – Broadway World
“A comedy planted in difficult, painful issues.” – Chicago Tribune
Individual tickets are on sale now by phone, at the box office or online.
3-Play and 4-Play Subscriptions are also available for sale by phone or at the box office only. 760-296-2966
(Sorry no online subscription sales.)