COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO.: The Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center (FAC) has announced its 2017-18 season, which will include such productions as Fun Home, Annie, and Intimate Apparel.
The season begins with the regional premiere of Ken Ludwig’s comedic take on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic The Hound of the Baskervilles (Oct. 5-29).
For the holiday season, the classic family musical Annie (Dec. 7-Jan. 7, 2018), with music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Martin Charnin, and book by Thomas Meehan, will be onstage.
After that will be the area premiere of Intimate Apparel (Feb. 8-25), by Lynn Nottage, the personal story of an African-American seamstress in 1905 New York City.
Up next will be Fun Home (March 29-April 22), another regional premiere, based on the autobiographical graphic novel by Alison Bechdel and written by Lisa Kron (book and lyrics) and Jeanine Tesori (music). Moving between past and present, Fun Home relives Bechdel’s childhood playing at the family’s funeral home, her growing understanding of her own sexuality, and the looming, unanswerable questions about her father.
Following will be the regional premiere of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (May 24-June 17), with book by Jeffrey Lane and music and lyrics by David Yazbeck. Based on the MGM film, the musical comedy follows two con artists who take a beautiful woman and the elite of the French Riviera for a ride.
The upcoming season will also feature several shows in the FAC’s Studio and Family series.
The Studio Series will kick off with Parallel Lives (Sept. 8-Oct. 1), by Kathy Najimy and Mo Gaffnet, in which two Supreme Beings plan the beginning of the world with the relish of two slightly sadistic suburban wives decorating a living room. The Studio Series continues with Fully Committed (April 27-May 20, 2018), the regional premiere of Becky Mode’s play about a day in the life of an out-of-work actor who mans the red-hot reservation line at Manhattan’s No. 1 restaurant. Wrapping up the series is Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind (June 29-July 22), an ensemble experiment that presents 30 new plays in 60 minutes at every performance. Each 2-minute play is performed in random order with an interactive audience.
The Family Series will include Bunnicula (Oct. 13-Nov. 12), based on the children’s book about an extraordinary rabbit by James and Deborah Howe, and Androcles and the Lion (March 2-April 1), Aurand Harris’s zany comedy based on Aesop’s fable.
The FAC, built in 1936, is a privately funded, nonprofit art museum, professional theatre company, and arts education center.
