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Brittain Ashford, Dave Malloy, Brent Arnold, and Gelsey Bell perform "Ghost Quartet" at Maria Hernandez Park in Bushwick. (Photo by Sue Kessler and Daniel Kent)

Firehouse Theatre 2017-18 Season to Feature Dave Malloy

The Virginia theatre will present ‘Preludes’ and ‘Ghost Quartet’ next season.

RICHMOND, VA.: The Firehouse Theatre has announced its 2017-18 season, its 24th. The lineup will include two works by Dave Malloy, a new opera from Walter Braxton, and a new play by Bo Wilson.

The season will open with Heathers: The Musical by Laurence O’Keefe and Kevin Murphy (June 2017). Based on the 1988 film, the musical takes place in a high school, where the most popular girls in school are all named Heather, and follows the misfit who infiltrates the clique. Debra Clinton will direct the production, which is in partnership with TheatreLAB.

Next will be the world premiere of Bo Wilson’s Food, Clothing, and Shelter (September 2017). Firehouse producing artistic director Joel Bassin will direct.

Then Firehouse will present Desire Under the Elms by Eugene O’Neill (October 2017). Josh Chenard will direct.

For the new year, Firehouse will present, in partnership with Capital Opera Richmond, To Damascus, a world premiere opera with Walter Braxton (January 2018).

Next will be An Oak Tree by Tim Crouch (March 2018). The two hander is about a father who faces the man who accidentally killed his daughter. Mark Lerman will direct.

After that will be The Extremists by C.J. Hopkins (Spring/Summer 2018). The play is a satire mocking the modern punditry culture. Todd Labelle will direct.

The season will wrap up with Ghost Quartet and Preludes, two musicals by Dave Malloy (Spring/Summer 2018). Ghost Quartet is described as “a song cycle about love, death, and whiskey.” Preludes is about composer Sergei Rachmaninoff’s attempt to overcome writer’s block through hypnosis.

In addition to its mainstage programming, Firehouse also produces experimental works as part of Firehouse Fringe productions, and in-progress works in its Firehouse Studio projects. Highlights from these series include:

  • Dream Logic and A Life With No Limits from Aura Curiatlas Physical Theatre (June 2017)
  • Alice, a contemporary new musical based on Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, directed by Adam B. Ferguson, in partnership with TheatreLAB (August 2017)
  • Firehouse Radio Players bimonthly productions, including the 3rd annual performance of War of the Worlds (October 2017)

Firehouse, founded in 1993, produces new plays, incubates new work, and welcomes artists from multiple disciplines to create cutting-edge performance.

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