Olney Theatre Center announces 2024/25 season

OLNEY THEATRE CENTER 2024/25 SEASON

The New Los Angeles Repertory Company production of
Eisenhower: This Piece of Ground
by Richard Hellesen
Directed by Peter Ellenstein
September 27 – October 20, 2024
The Mulitz-Gudelsky Theatre Lab

Tony Award winner John Rubinstein (Pippin, Children of a Lesser God) stars as President Dwight D. Eisenhower in this candid and fascinating fictional eavesdropping on the 34th President at his Gettysburg, Pennsylvania farm. It is 1962 and The New York Times Magazine has published its first list ranking the American Presidents in order of greatness, and poor Ike is ranked 22nd of 31. Enraged at being called “mediocre,” he mounts a defense of his life and career – his Kansas upbringing, his decorated Army career, his victories in World War II, and his two terms as President – contemplating the qualities and adversities that make an American President great. Eisenhower: This Piece of Ground is adapted from a vast array of General Eisenhower’s memoirs, speeches, and letters animated by a bravura performance by one of our great actors.

“A perfectly cast John Rubinstein brings our 34th president back to life.” – L.A. Times

Disney’s Frozen
The Broadway Musical
Book by Jennifer Lee
Originally directed on Broadway by Michael Grandage
Based on the Disney film written by Jennifer Lee and directed by Chris Buck & Jennifer Lee
Originally produced on Broadway by Disney Theatrical Productions
Music Directed by Christopher Youstra
Choreography by Kelly Crandall d’Amboise
Directed by Alan Muraoka
October 24, 2024 – January 5, 2025
Roberts Mainstage

Starring Awa Sal Secka as Elsa and Alex De Bard as Anna

Disney has asked a select few regional theaters to take a shot at their own productions of this animated classic, and it’s no surprise that Olney Theatre Center got the call! Just as we’ve done with other Disney favorites like Mary Poppins and Beauty and the Beast, Olney’s production will deliver everything families love about the adventures of Elsa, Anna, Kristoff, and Olaf, along with a unique production you won’t experience anywhere else. Sesame Street’s Alan Muraoka (proprietor of Hooper’s Store and director of Olney Theatre’s South Pacific and Once On This Island) directs Olney’s biggest musical ever. So get your tickets early; this promises to be a show so epic you won’t want to “Let It Go.”

“The film’s original creative team — composers Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez and writer Jennifer Lee — aren’t reinventing the snowman, but they’ve certainly built a better Frozen.” – Entertainment Weekly

Waitress
Book by Jessie Nelson
Music and Lyrics by Sara Bareilles
Based upon the motion picture written by Adrienne Shelly
Music Directed by Christopher Youstra
Directed and Choreographed by Marcia Milgrom Dodge
February 13, 2025 – March 30, 2025
Roberts Mainstage

The beloved musical by Grammy Award-winner Sara Bareilles (“Brave,” “Lovesong”) is yet another Olney Theatre Center Regional Premiere. Tony-nominated director Marcia Milgrom Dodge returns to the Roberts Mainstage (Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, Once) for a new serving of one of the most mouthwatering American musicals of the century. Jenna is stuck in a lousy marriage and dreaming of an escape while she bakes pies and waits tables at her small town’s local diner. But it “Only Takes a Taste” of something different to spark some drastic changes – but are they for better or worse? With the help of her fellow waitresses and a cast of colorful characters, Jenna learns the winning recipe’s been hers from the start.

“Bareilles’s enduring wonder of a score… skillfully melds a pop melodicism rooted in the 1970s with the narrative demands of musical theater.” – The New York Times

AMERICAN PREMIERE
Sleepova
By Matilda Feyiṣayọ Ibini
Directed by Paige Hernandez
March 26 – April 27, 2025
Mulitz-Gudelsky Theatre Lab

Nominated for an Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Affiliate Theatre and Winner of the Critics’ Circle Award for Most Promising Playwright

This fringe hit from London makes its U.S. Premiere in the Mulitz-Gudelsky Theatre Lab! Whether or not sleepover parties with friends were part of your upbringing, you’re invited to join Elle, Shan, Funmi, and Rey at theirs. These four Black British teenagers are growing up fast, each coping with their unique challenges of disability, sexuality, religion, and family. Their sleepover parties are a complex dance of adolescent bluster and aspirational performance, interspersed with moments of intimate honesty that seem to take them all by surprise. Most of all, Sleepova is a testament to the joys of friendship, centering a quartet of young women tentatively making their way in the world.

“All the clumsiness and wide-eyed excitability of the best coming-of-age dramas… an exhilarating tableau of imperfect young friendship and you leave wanting an invite to their next party.” – The Guardian

“I know a good time when I see one, and ‘Sleepova’ surely is that.” – Time Out London

“You can’t help but fall in love with this joyous, exuberant show” – The Evening Standard

WORLD PREMIERE MUSICAL
Little Miss Perfect
Book, Music, and Lyrics by Joriah Kwamé
Directed by Zhailon Levingston
May 15 – June 22, 2025
Roberts Mainstage
In association with Straighten Your Crown

Joriah Kwamé became a viral TikTok star with his song “Little Miss Perfect,” which garnered over ten million views and launched this new musical with Broadway aspirations. High school kids today are under a lot of stress. Just ask Noelle, the daughter of a prominent local deacon who has lived up to local expectations of social and academic excellence all her life. But now it’s senior year, and she’s barely holding on. Her GPA is in the dumps, college applications are looming, and now an exchange student from the Philippines living under her roof has her questioning her sexuality. Can Noelle make it to graduation, achieve her dreams, and still stay true to herself? Can anyone? Little Miss Perfect distills her experience with earworms aplenty and genuine warmth for even its most calculating characters.  Along with the title song, Joriah’s hit, “Ordinary,” figures in the show, and his newest songs – like “Black Girl Magic,” “Built For You,” and “Something Big” are sure to go just as big.

Kim’s Convenience
By Ins Choi
Directed by Aria Velz
June 25 – July 27, 2025
Mulitz-Gudelsky Theatre Lab

The inspiration for the hit Netflix series of the same name, Ins Choi’s award-winning comedy, introduces us to the Kims, a Korean immigrant family whose foibles belie serious tensions between assimilated daughter Janet and her parents. Located in Toronto’s rapidly gentrifying Roger’s Park, Appa has been offered a lucrative buy-out for his store. With Janet more invested in her photography career and his son Jung long-estranged, it may be his only option. Choi leavens the clash of old ways and new opportunities with a heavy dose of humor as Appa, Umma, Jung, and Janet attempt to heal old wounds.

“The biggest single laugh I’ve had in a theatre in ages.” – National Post of Canada

“Appa’s sacrifices… seem like something quite real, not just a comic premise. The actors were crying. I cried, too.” – The New York Times

Olney Theatre Center Presents
The Synetic Theater production of
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
By William Shakespeare
Adapted by Ben Cunis and Paata Tsikurishvili
Directed by Paata Tsikurishvili
Choreographed by Irina Tsikurishvili
July 17 – August 10, 2025
Roberts Mainstage

For over twenty years, in-the-know DC audiences have thrilled to the magic of wordless Shakespeare from Synetic Theatre, called by the Washington Post “the region’s premier troupe for physical theater.” Now, Olney Theatre Center introduces Maryland audiences to Synetic’s thrilling, kinetic performances with one of their most acclaimed, groundbreaking productions! Love-drunk teens stumble upon a troupe of wannabe actors and find themselves caught in a war between the Fairy King and Queen…and that’s before one wily sprite intent on mischief-making sprinkles a little fairy dust. What could possibly go wrong?! This playful adaptation of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream features Synetic’s trademark wordless storytelling and is the winner of two Helen Hayes Awards for Outstanding Resident Play and Outstanding Ensemble.

“Synetic reimagines one of Shakespeare’s most popular plays with wordless elegance. A decade after first attempting that delicate dance, this Midsummer still knows how to cast a spell.” – The Washington Post

SPECIAL EVENTS IN OLNEY AND AROUND THE COUNTRY

A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas
By Charles Dickens
Adapted and Performed by Paul Morella
November 29 – December 29
Mulitz-Gudelsky Theatre Lab

Every year since 2009, before the Thanksgiving dishes are even dry, audiences have flocked to Olney Theatre Center to see award-winner Paul Morella in his bravura one-person performance of A Christmas Carol.  What separates Paul Morella’s version from all others is its faith in Dickens’ singular genius, by sticking to his original text for 99% of this acclaimed solo performance. That’s why audiences have made this Ghost Story of Christmas an Olney tradition now in its 15th year.

National Tour of Avaaz
Written and Performed by Michael Shayan
Directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel
Denver Center for the Performing Arts Theatre Company: Oct. 4 – Nov. 17, 2024
Chicago Venue TBA

After receiving universally glowing reviews, Olney is sending Emmy nominee Michael Shayan’s solo show about his mother’s journey from Tehran to Tehran-geles on the road! More dates are being added and will be shared as they become available.

ABOUT OLNEY THEATRE CENTER

Mission

Olney Theatre Center for the Arts produces and curates theatrical performance for the diverse audiences in its community, and educates, learns from, supports, and inspires a more inclusive generation of theater-makers.

Vision

Olney Theatre Center strives to become an arts and culture powerhouse, redefining the American regional theater movement by cultivating and sharing the creativity of its community.

History

Once a summer stock retreat in rural Maryland, Olney Theatre Center is now an award-winning, year-round regional theater surrounded in a 15-mile radius by 1.6 million people representing three of the most ethnically diverse counties in America. Since Olney’s founding in 1938, some of the biggest names in theatre have appeared on its stages: from “Golden Era” stars like Helen Hayes and Tallulah Bankhead to contemporary artists like Sir Ian McKellen, Robin De Jesús, and many others. OTC welcomed Artistic Director Jason Loewith and Managing Director Debbie Ellinghaus in 2013 and 2014, respectively, who established a new artistic strategy to broaden programming with the goal of nurturing a diversity of voices and audiences. Olney Theatre Center now produces musicals and plays under the three rubrics of Classic, Contemporary, and Family programming. Since 2013 Olney Theatre Center has twice won the Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Musical Production, the Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding New Play and presented six world premieres. Complementing this work, OTC fulfills its mission as a teaching theater with educational programs like the Our Play program in local 5th grade classrooms, a summer camp and a year-round professional apprentice program. National Players, now in its 72nd season, is the hallmark outreach program of OTC, a unique ensemble touring innovative theater to communities large and small across the United States.