The Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities Monday announced the lineup of plays and musicals that will make up its 2019-2020 theatre season.  The Arvada Center begins its theatre season in the Main Stage Theatre with the regional premiere of Bright Star – a dramatic story of love, loss and regret set in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina in the 1940s.  Breaking outside of his usual comedic style, Steve Martin, along with Edie Brickell, wrote the story, book and music for this sentimental story told through the sounds of American bluegrass.
The season continues in the Black Box Theatre with a production of Plaza Suite, by Neil Simon. The holiday season heralds the return of a classic to the Arvada Center:  A Christmas Carol – The Musical.  With music by Alan Menken (Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid) and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens (Ragtime, Seussical), the classic Dickens tale comes to life with brilliant music and dance.
For the fourth year, the  Black Box Repertory Company will perform three plays in repertory beginning in 2020.  The repertory season kicks off with a regional premiere adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express.  This vigorous new version by Ken Ludwig of the classic murder mystery promises a fun, fast-paced thrill ride.  The second play to be performed in repertory is an innovative reframing of William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.  Created with a company of eight transformative actors, the tale comes to life with the help of music, magic, and a little mayhem.  The repertory company ends its run with Small Mouth Sounds, by Bess Wohl.  Another regional premiere, the play takes place in a yoga retreat in which the participants have taken a vow of silence.  The heartfelt story unfolds as the characters attempt to connect – without saying a single word.
The Arvada Center theatre ends its season with an irreverent look at Shakespeare through the lens of classic musical comedy:  Something Rotten!  This regional premiere paints Shakespeare as a rock star of his time and follows two brothers attempting to topple him with their own writing.  In order to accomplish their goal, the brothers come up with a solution, a new invention called “a musical.”
Arvada Center 2019-2020 Theatre Season
 
Bright Star
Inspired by a True Story
Music, Book & Story by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell
September 6 – 29, 2019 | Main Stage Theatre
Directed by Rod A. Lansberry
 
Plaza Suite
By Neil Simon
October 4 – November 10, 2019 | Black Box Theatre
Directed by Lynne Collins
 
A Christmas Carol – The Musical
Music by Alan Menken, Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, Book by Lynn Ahrens & Mike Ockrent
Based on the story by Charles Dickens
November 22 – December 22, 2019 | Main Stage Theatre
Directed by Gavin Mayer
Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express
Adapted by Ken Ludwig
January 31 – May 17, 2020 (select dates, performed in repertory) | Black Box Theatre
Directed by Geoffrey Kent
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
By William Shakespeare
February 21 – May 16, 2020 (select dates, performed in repertory) | Black Box Theatre
Directed by Emily Van Fleet
Small Mouth Sounds
By Bess Wohl
March 13 – May 14, 2020 (select dates, performed in repertory) | Black Box Theatre
Directed by Lynne Collins
Something Rotten!
Book by Karey Kirkpatrick and John O’Farrell
Music and Lyrics by Wayne Kirkpatrick and Karey Kirkpatrick
Conceived by Karey Kirkpatrick and Wayne Kirkpatrick
April 10 – May 3, 2020 | Main Stage Theatre
Directed by Rod A. Lansberry