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Patricia Kelly in "Gene Kelly: The Legacy." (Photo by Amanda Gentile)

Invisible Theatre Season to Bring Bygone Celebs Back to Stage Life

The slate also includes a world premiere by Warren Bodow.

TUCSON, ARIZ.: Invisible Theatre has announced its 2015–16 season, its 45th, featuring six plays and four special events.

“Four decades later, our commitment and passion for creating quality theatre experiences for all facets of the community is even stronger,” said Susan Claassen, Invisible’s managing director, in a statement. “The name Invisible Theatre was chosen because of that invisible energy that flows between performers and an audience that makes the magic of theatre—a magic that’s based on pure imagination.”

First up is Jay Presson Allen and Truman Capote’s TRU (Sept. 1–13), an insider’s look at the life of author Truman Capote set in 1975 New York.

Next is Bakersfield Mist (Oct. 13–25), Stephen Sachs’s play about a woman who thinks she’s found a priceless Jackson Pollock painting in the bins of a local thrift store.

Then comes the Arizona premiere of Patricia Kelly’s one-woman show about her late choreographer husband, Gene Kelly: The Legacy (Jan. 30–31, 2016), which uses film clips, audio recordings, and personal stories to bring the screen icon back to life.

The world premiere of Warren Bodow’s Deelmayker (Feb. 9-21, 2016) follows. It tells the story of a retiree in Palm Springs with a gambling habit who faces off with a rich thirtysomething dotcom entrepreneur.

Next, Tony Award nominee Sharon McNight graces the stage in the Southwest premiere of Mae West “Live” in Las Vegas (March 5–6, 2016), which recreates West’s show from the Sahara Hotel in the early 1950s.

Then comes Neil Simon’s I Ought to Be in Pictures (April 19–May 1, 2016), about a Hollywood screenwriter surprised at the door by his teenage daughter, who’s trekked across the country from Brooklyn.

Invisible Theatre will also host a series of special events. These include the Sizzling Summer Sounds cabaret series (July 8–26); Sanger: One Woman, One Story (Nov. 12–15), a play based on the life of Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger by Pamela Daly; Transcripts–A Verbatim Play (Nov. 19–21), compiled by Paul from 70 interviews about the transgender experience; and Anna Karenina Lives (March 2, 2016) by Germaine Shames. Invisible Theatre will also offer a play reading festival, which will include performances of Let’s Live a Little (March 10–14, 2016) by Kathleen Clark.

Invisible Theatre is dedicated to producing quality theatre and arts education experiences for all facets of the community in an intimate setting that showcases local professional talent and guest artists. Begun in 1971 as an arena for local playwrights, the theatre has expanded its programs to include adaptations of classics and recent Off-Broadway plays and musicals, while continuing to encourage new playwrights through both full productions and staged readings.

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