Company celebrates 30 seasons of dramatic excellence
 
WILMINGTON, DE - August 8, 2008 - Artistic Director Anne Marie Cammarato has announced Delaware Theatre Company's (DTC) 2008-2009 season, sponsored by JPMorgan Chase.  The upcoming season celebrates the professional theatre company's 30 seasons of dramatic excellence.  From it's earliest days in an old firehouse, to it's pioneering home on Wilmington's Riverfront 24 years ago, DTC has produced more than 150 shows in downtown Wilmington, and brought many of America's finest stage actors, directors and designers to the Delaware region.  Ms. Cammarato says it's a season that will look back on DTC's history and look ahead to its future.  "It's a season of award-winning plays, each chosen to make audiences think, laugh, gasp, consider and celebrate."
 
2008-2009 SEASON
DTC will open its 30th season with a look back on its past when it presents "MASTER HAROLD"... and the boys, by Athol Fugard, which the company produced 20 years ago.  Winner of the New York Drama Desk and the London Critics' Circle Awards for Best Play, "MASTER HAROLD"... and the boys is the story of a white teen (Hally) who has grown up in South Africa in the affectionate company of Sam and Willie, the black servants in his mother's tearoom.  This production of Fugard's masterpiece is an exhilarating drama about coming-of-age in the age of apartheid.  "One of my first jobs in professional theatre was serving as Athol Fugard's assistant," says Ms. Cammarato, "and I have been eager to revisit his powerful dramatic voice here at DTC with one of our audience's favorite plays."  "MASTER HAROLD"...and the boys, directed by Richard Corley, will run October 15 through November 2, 2008. This production is generously sponsored by AstraZeneca.
 
In December, DTC injects comedy into the holiday season with Picasso at the Lapin Agile, by Steve Martin. In a legendary bar in 1904 Paris, a chance encounter between the young Albert Einstein and Pablo Picasso sets sparks and stars flying. Their views on sex, fame and the future collide amidst a colorful constellation of characters. Picasso at the Lapin Agile is actor-comedian-author Steve Martin's first original full-length comedy for the stage, and won best play and playwright honors from the New York Outer Critics Circle. DTC's Artistic Associate David Stradley, who is a semi-finalist for the 2008 F. Otto Haas Award for Emerging Philadelphia Theatre Artist, will direct.  Picasso at the Lapin Agile will run December 3 through 21, 2008. This production is generously sponsored by The Northern Trust Company of Delaware.
 
Following its tradition of bringing original voices to Delaware audiences, DTC will present No Child... by Nilaja Sun, winner of the 2007 Outer Critics Awards for Best New Play.  Distilled from her vivid experience teaching inner city kids in New York, Sun tells a tender, touching and sometimes hilarious tale about a teacher struggling to draw out the talents of her resistant students.  "This play will become the centerpiece of our season," says Ms. Cammarato, "and it will provide a platform for all of our education programming."  No Child..., directed by Ms. Cammarato, will run January 14 through February 1, 2009.
 
A play frequently requested by DTC audiences and Tony Award® Winner for Best Play, Copenhagen, by Michael Frayn, will set heads and hearts ablaze as the season continues.  Why, at the height of World War II, did Hitler's chief atomic scientist, Werner Heisenberg, return to Nazi-occupied Copenhagen to see his mentor, Niels Bohr?  Copenhagen explores what really happened between the two brilliant physicists at that dangerous intersection of friendship, science and war.  Directed by DTC favorite Meredith McDonough, Copenhagen will run February 18 through March 8, 2009.  This production is generously sponsored by Wilmington Trust.
 
The excitement is huge with DTC's much anticipated final show of the season, which will be announced at a special time this fall.  It will be a world premiere of a new American musical or play, or a fresh take on a beloved drama, that looks forward to DTC's next thirty years.  The final show of the season will run April 1 through 19, 2009.
 
FAMILY ENTERTAINMENT
Family entertainment rounds out the 30th season, with DTC's Barrymore Award nominated 20th Annual Delaware Young Playwrights Festival.  Additionally, DTC partners once again with First State Children's Theater to present A Year with Frog and Toad and the fifth annual live radio broadcast of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. 
 
Each year, DTC challenges students to become active participants in the art of theatre by writing their own one-act play on a theme inspired by one of the shows in DTC's season.  The 20th Annual Delaware Young Playwrights Festival theme is inspired by No Child... by Nilaja Sun.  Students will be asked to write a play in which a character or characters have overcome restrictive circumstances to realize their full potential.  The competition, which last year saw the submission of 523 plays from 733 young playwrights, will be narrowed down to eight middle school and six high school semi-finalists. On February 20, 2009, three middle school and three high school finalists will be announced. The Festival, generously sponsored by Boeing, the Delaware Division of the Arts, ING Direct Kids Foundation and Verizon, culminates this spring with staged readings of the three middle school plays on April 23, 2009 and full productions of the three high school plays on April 30 and May 1, 2009.
 
The First State Children's Theater proudly returns to the DTC stage for a third season with the presentation of A Year with Frog and Toad, a toe-tapping musical for all ages.  From the award-winning children's books of Arnold Lobel, A Year with Frog and Toad takes audiences on a journey through four seasons of adventure and amusement with this whimsical and loving tribute to friendship.  A Year with Frog and Toad, with music by Robert Reale and book and lyrics by Willie Reale, will run November 6 though 16, 2008. 
 
Audiences can be a part of the live radio audience when the First State Children's Theater present its fifth annual live radio broadcast production of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol on December 15, 2008.  Live from DTC's stage, this one night only event features professional actors, live music and sound effects broadcast on WVUD 91.3FM.  The whole family is invited to share in this unforgettable holiday tradition.
 
TICKET INFORMATION
2008-2009 season subscriptions, single tickets and group packages are currently available. Subscribers save 10 percent off single ticket prices, and receive free ticket exchanges, restaurant discounts, and one free ticket to introduce a friend to DTC.  The theatre is wheelchair accessible, and assistive listening devices and large format programs are available for all performances.  Please reserve wheelchair seating in advance by calling the DTC Box Office at (302) 594-1100.
 
Subscription packages:  $154 - $215
Single tickets:                $15 - $47
Family Entertainment:   $5 - $12         
Group sales:                  Groups 10 or larger receive discounts up to 40% off single tickets. Call (302) 594-1104, ext. 202 for information on group sales.
Box office:                     Delaware Theatre Company
                                      200 Water Street
                                      Wilmington, DE 19801
                                      (302) 594-1100
Online orders:                www.delawaretheatre.org
Credit cards accepted:  American Express, Visa, Mastercard, Discover 

For more information and to purchase tickets, contact the DTC Box Office
at 302.594.1100 or visit www.delawaretheatre.org.
 
Delaware Theatre Company's 2008-2009 season is sponsored by JPMorgan Chase. Artist housing provided by Pettinaro Relocation. Artist transportation provided by Amtrak. Programs are made possible, in part, by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency committed to promoting and supporting the arts in Delaware.  The Delaware Division of the Arts provides technical and financial assistance to artists and arts programs and serves as a clearinghouse for information on the arts.
 
Delaware Theatre Company, Delaware's premier professional theatre, is located at 200 Water Street, on Wilmington's Riverfront.   Delaware Theatre Company is a member of the League of Resident Theatres, Theatre Communications Group, the Wilmington Arts Coalition, the Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia, the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, the Arts & Business Council of Greater Philadelphia, the New Castle County Chamber of Commerce, the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce and the Wilmington Convention & Visitors Bureau.
 
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