The new season for Second Thought Theatre—its eighth—has been announced. It's the 2011-12 season, although everything happens in 2012.
Second Thought rebounded big-time in 2011, with the company being revamped and original founder Steven Walters coming back into the fold. All five of STT's 2011 shows (in its seventh season) could easily make a Top 20 list of the year's best (including the two that were festival entries).
The big change for 2012 is that the theater is moving into a new space. It will leave the Studio Theatre at the Addison Theatre Centre and take up residence in Bryant Hall, a rehearsal space/black box theater in the Kalita Humphries Theater complex. It's like coming full circle considering that STT started out in the upstairs Frank's Place at the Kalita.
The three mainstage shows for 2012 include plays by Walters and Texas Theatre co-owner Eric Steele (who penned the excellent one-man show that STT produced for this year's Festival of Independent Theatres), as well as a hip-hop musical take on Willy Shakes' The Comedy of Errors.
The artistic team for the 2011-2012 season includes Chris LaBove, Drew Wall, Steven Walters, Matt Gray and Lee Trull in addition to others.
Here's the season breakdown (descriptions come from the STT news release):
Pluck the Day by Steven Walters
Feb. 3-26, 2012
The season begins with Pluck the Day by Steven Walters. Straight off its New York premiere at the Araca Group, this revamped version of Pluck the Day will feature live music by local Dallas musician Greg Schroeder. Matt Gray will direct the comedy, which stars Clay Yocum, STT Co-Artistic Director Chris LaBove and STT Co-Founder Mike Schraeder, who appeared in an earlier version of the play at Second Thought Theatre in 2003 in Frank's Place in the Kalita. The Story: Duck's drunk, Fred's been eating peyote again and Bill's not as gay as they originally thought he was. On a sun drenched, emotionally challenged parcel of the West, Texas landscape, three friends are held captive by addiction, fear and apathy as they wait for salvation.
The Midwest Trilogy by Eric Steele
March 15-April 8, 2012
STT will partner with the Texas Theatre to present this exciting event that will include short films and live performances of Mr. Steele's trilogy. Dallas Theater Center's Lee Trull will direct. The Story: Conceived and written by the Texas Theatre's own Eric Steele, The Midwest Trilogy centers around three separate but indirectly linked stories that take place in the heartland of Corporate America.
Bomb-itty of Errors by Jordan Allen-Dutton, Jason Catalano, GQ and Erik Weiner, music by J.A.Q
June 22-July 15, 2012
This musical adaptation of William Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors uses the timeless words of the Bard, a fresh perspective from today, and hip-hop music to tell the story of Shakespeare's famous comedy.
For more info on Second Thought Theatre, tickets and the season, visit the company's new website www.2tt.co (under construction right now), which redirects from the old one, www.secondthoughttheatre.com.
Also, here's a video of the Bomb-tty of Errors prologue from the original production in New York:
