Chess

Music by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus
Lyrics by Tim Rice
Based on an idea by Tim Rice

SUMMARY

Here the ancient game becomes a metaphor for romantic rivalries, competitive gamesmanship, super power politics and international intrigues. Set against the backdrop of the International Chess Championship, from Bangkok to Budapest, the players, lovers, politicians, and spies manipulate and are manipulated to the pulse of a monumental rock score that includes “One Night in Bangkok,” “Pity the Child” and “Heaven Help My Heart.”

Composed by members of the pop group ABBA and the lyricist of Evita and Aida, who fashioned this epic rock opera set during the heart of the Cold War about an international chess match between the Russian champion and a brash American challenger.

Richard III

By William Shakespeare

SUMMARY

At the end of the bloody Wars of the Roses between the rival Houses of Lancaster and York, the victorious Yorkists look forward to a period of peace under the newly-crowned Edward IV. But Edward’s younger brother, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, has other ideas. A deformed and jealous Richard begins by secretly plotting to have his brother George, Duke of Clarence, imprisoned in the tower. With his brother’s ex-wife, Lady Anne Neville, at his side, Richard stops at nothing and nobody on his treacherous path to become king.

Falsettos

Book by William Finn and James Lapine
Music and lyrics by William Finn

SUMMARY

FALSETTOS revolves around the life of a charming, intelligent, neurotic gay man named Marvin, his wife, lover, about-to-be-Bar-Mitzvahed son, their psychiatrist, and the lesbians next door. It’s a hilarious and achingly poignant look at the infinite possibilities that make up a modern family… and a beautiful reminder that love can tell a million stories.

The Laramie Project:
Ten Years Later

By Moises Kaufman, Leigh Fondakowski, Greg Pierotti, Andy Paris, and Stephen Belber

SUMMARY

The hate crime that was the brutal 1998 murder of 21-yearold University Of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard brought playwright Moisés Kaufman and fellow members of New York’s Tectonic Theater Project to the town of Laramie in search of answers. Who could have committed such a barbaric act (and why?) … and how did the residents of Laramie react to Shepard’s murder, and to the attention it focused on their city of 28,000?

The result of Kaufman and his team’s eighteen-month research was The Laramie Project. Ten years after their initial visits, Kaufman and the Tectonics returned to Laramie to find out how much the city and its residents had changed in the ensuing decade, the result of which is The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later.

The Great American Trailer Park Musical

Music and lyrics, David Nehls
Book by Betsy Kelso

SUMMARY

There’s a new tenant at Armadillo Acres—and she’s wreaking havoc all over Florida’s most exclusive trailer park. When Pippi, the stripper on the run, comes between the Dr. Phil–loving, agoraphobic Jeannie and her tollbooth collector husband—the storms begin to brew.

FAKE NEWS! (or “The War of the Worlds” Project)

By Joe Landry

SUMMARY

The sky is falling! Isn’t it? In Fake News!, students from Professor Lincoln’s Media Culture course present a fast-paced adventure through the culture of fear. Destinations include a spin on the most infamous broadcast of all time, Orson Welles’ adaptation of The War of the Worlds, and a climax never before seen on a public stage! Can they pull the rug out from under an audience who feels they can’t be tricked? Don’t touch that dial! The art of fake news is about to be taken to dizzying heights.