2016-17 Season

Kill the Darlings

Call it celebrity culture or just old-fashioned idolatry, but when we lavish more attention on characters and avatars than flesh-and-blood human beings, something essential is lost.

A twisted political satire. Princesses with incredible pipes sing away the stereotypes. And inspiration taken from the idiosyncrasies of the real life Barbra Streisand. Three comedic plays confronting the idols of politics, mythology, and pop in hopes of rediscovering our shared humanity.

  • The Totalitarians

    By Peter Sinn Nachtrieb, Directed by Justin Ness

    Charismatic former roller derby champion, Penny, has been gaffing her way through a half-baked campaign for state office when a nonsensically awe-inspiring speech catapults her into the spotlight. For Penny’s speechwriter and campaign mastermind, Francine, a victory would resurrect her stalled career. For Francine’s physician husband, Jeffrey, it would thwart his own campaign to have sex and start a family already. As whispers of murder, conspiracy, and revolution begin to swirl, this sometimes-farcical, sometimes-satirical dark comedy threatens to spin out of control. With savage hilarity and scathing timeliness, THE TOTALITARIANS is an arrow to America’s corrupt political heart that grazes the funny bone along the way.

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  • Disenchanted!

    Music & Lyrics by Dennis T. Giacino, Directed by Buffie Main & Weston Wells Olson, Music Director Thomas Newby

    When women are still girls, we tell them about Beauty and her beast, Snow White and her poisoned apple, and the unlucky Princess who had to kiss an amphibian. Through these animated royal role models, The Princess Complex is born: propping up lovesick soprano songbirds with pencil-thin waists at the expense of representing the diversity and vibrancy of real women. Fortunately, Alley Repertory Theater prescribes the cure. This Holiday Season, the princesses themselves will gather at Visual Arts Collective to dismantle The Princess Complex once and for all. In DISENCHANTED!, ten charmingly flawed heroines from the tales of Grimm, Perrault, and history reclaim their identities from their ditzy Disney counterparts through comedy and song. Brassy, bawdy, and painfully funny, this hit off-Broadway musical invites us to poke fun at the foibles of fairy tales and celebrate ourselves for who we really are. After all, it is Christmas.

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  • Buyer & Cellar

    By Jonathan Tolins, Directed by Buffie Main

    In the real-life book My Passion for Design, Barbra Streisand describes the recreations of early 19th Century shops that occupy a quaint indoor mall in her basement. That’s right, a cobblestoned street underlies the Funny Lady’s three-acre Malibu estate, filled with antiques, costumes, and china, but entirely devoid of People. This is where BUYER & CELLAR departs from reality. Ex-Disneyland Cast Member Alex More is hired work the shops in Babs’s basement. Alex, who considers all things Streisand to be part of his “gay birthright,” quickly finds himself spending more and more time with the persnickety prima donna. When Alex’s boyfriend accuses him of being deluded by a starlet who is equally out-of-touch and Nuts, Alex is forced to decide What Matters Most, being Partners or Simply Streisand. Bold, bright, and only a bit batty, BUYER & CELLAR has charmed audiences and critics since its off-Broadway premiere in 2013.

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