The Wilma's 2012/2013 Season

Subscribe by July 2 to lock in this year’s pricing and secure FREE PARKING for all 4 shows!

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PLUS: All new subscribers can add on tickets to Angels in America, Part One (running May 23 – July 1, 2012) for just $25 with no handling fees!  This incredible discount lets you experience the full effect of Tony Kushner’s exhilarating masterpiece in both parts.  Directed by the Wilma’s Artistic Director, Blanka Zizka, the epic kicks off the upcoming season with the 20th Anniversary of Part Two, Perestroika and promises to be the theatrical event of the season!

ANGELS IN AMERICA, PART TWO: PERESTROIKA
by Tony Kushner
directed by Blanka Zizka
September 12 – October 21, 2012

“Hypnotically moving...takes your breath away!” –The New York Times

From the wreckage of an Angel’s dramatic descent from heaven, which concludes Part One: Millennium Approaches, Angels in America forges ahead in Part Two: Perestroika.  Everything in our world is changing.  The AIDS epidemic is escalating, the ozone layer is under attack, and God has abandoned all of mankind.  Amid this chaos, Tony Kushner creates a cosmic-scale portrait of America through legendary characters: ancient rabbis, Mormon housewives, neoconservatives, blind revolutionaries, closeted gay men, imaginary travel agents.  Together, their lives intersect and get blown apart with both profound symbolism and brilliant comedy.

Celebrating the 20th Anniversary of Perestroika, the Wilma presents the Tony® Award-winning masterpiece which countless award-winning actors have starred in, from Meryl Streep to Al Pacino.  Exploring social, political, and sexual revelations, the play is as relevant today as when it was written, particularly in an election year heightened by identity politics.

ASSISTANCE
by Leslye Headland
directed by David Kennedy
January 2 – February 3, 2013

“Ferociously funny! A theatrical equivalent of a triple-shot espresso, bristling with propulsive nerviness and high style!” –Los Angeles Times

What do Harvey Weinstein, Donald Trump, and Anna Wintour have in common?  They all need assistance!  Enter the world of Nick and Nora, 20-somethings working in a tyrannical tycoon’s downtown Manhattan headquarters, juggling phone calls and jumping through hoops with marathon endurance – all for the privilege of being mocked and insulted by their velociraptor of a boss.  Fireworks explode in this office full of ambitious ladder-climbers, shooting some to the top and leaving others burnt and scarred.  But these young and eager assistants are hooked, blinded by the dream of success.

An Off-Broadway hit comedy in 2012, Assistance is the second offering in playwright Leslye Headland’s “Seven Deadly Sins” series, this time treating greed and coming on the heels of Bachelorette, another hit and also a feature film release.  The Wilma is thrilled to announce the return of director David Kennedy, who previously directed the Wilma’s 2011 success, The Understudy.

UNDER THE WHALEBACK
by Richard Bean
directed by Blanka Zizka
North American Premiere
March 6 – April 7, 2013

“I can’t recommend this thrilling, savagely funny, and deeply affecting play too highly!” –London’s Daily Telegraph

The year is 1965.  Aboard the Kingston Jet docked in Hull, England, a new teenage sailor, Daz, receives shocking information about his lineage from a legendary deckhand.  Flash forward to 1972.  A violent storm off the Icelandic coast thrashes the James Joyce and its crew of merchant fishermen, including Daz, with fatal consequences.  Flash forward again to 2002.  Daz is now 54, a father and curator of the Arctic Kestrel museum ship.  A mysterious stranger unexpectedly enters after hours, bringing furious accusations and playing a dangerous game.  Connecting three riveting snapshots of time through stunning twists, Under the Whaleback depicts one of the most dangerous occupations in the world with maritime theatricality, larger-than-life heroics, and unrestrained dark comedy.

American audiences were recently introduced to British playwright Richard Bean when his West End comic phenomenon, One Man, Two Guvnors, moved to Broadway.  The Wilma’s North American Premiere of Under the Whaleback - reminiscent of Eugene O’Neill’s great sea plays - exemplifies more of his wide-ranging talent, quickly becoming internationally recognized.

BOOTYCANDY
written and directed by Robert O’Hara
May 15 – June 16, 2013

“Unexpectedly uproarious!  Funny, smutty, and enticingly subversive!” –The Washington Post

Behind a tall church pulpit, a fire-and-brimstone preacher delivers a shocking sermon to his congregation.  On the tropical sands of a deserted island, two lesbians come together.  And at the home of a young boy, Sutter, a mother scolds her son for reading Jackie Collins romance novels.  This is just a taste of playwright Robert O’Hara’s wildly imaginative anthology of sassy lessons in sex ed, a kaleidoscope of sketches that interconnect to portray growing up gay and African-American.  With variety-show vivacity, outrageous humor, and real heart and soul, it tests how we talk about human desire and racial stereotypes at home, in church, and on the corner.  Shantay!  Sashay!

Writer/director Robert O’Hara (Antebellum) has been honored in recent years with an Obie Award, Helen Hayes Award, and the NAACP Best Director Award.  The Wilma is thrilled to produce his original work first to Philadelphia audiences with Bootycandy.

CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE!

Or download the 2012/2013 order form below and submit to the Box Office one of these ways:

• EMAIL: tickets@wilmatheater.org
• MAIL OR IN PERSON: The Wilma Theater, 265 S Broad St, Philadelphia, PA 19107
• FAX: 215.893.0895
• OR CALL the Box Office at 215.546.7824

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