Act3 Productions Announces 2015-16 Season Lineup

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Sandy Springs, GA—Act3 Productions has announced its new season, “A Season of Love and Laughter.” Featuring five plays and musicals in the company’s intimate, 100-seat playhouse, the season includes cult favorite Ruthless!; the classic Broadway musical Guys and Dolls; a play by an esteemed Atlanta playwright Alfred Uhry; a comic farce, and a musical by the fresh new Broadway team Pasek and Paul.

“We are so excited about this season!” says Artistic Director Michelle Davis. “Each show is unique, but there is a theme of love throughout each piece. Some of that love is dysfunctional, but that’s where the laughter comes in!”

Act3 Playhouse is located in the heart of Sandy Springs in Sandy Springs Plaza, 6285 Roswell Road (enter through the breezeway next to Five Guys). Ample free parking is available. The area offers many fine restaurants for a pre or post theater meal or beverage.

Act3 opens the season in September with the musical Ruthless! with book and lyrics by Joel Paley and music by Norman Laird. During an off-Broadway run in 1992 the show won the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Off-Broadway Musical and the Drama Desk Award. The show developed a cult following and was revived off-Broadway this summer. Described as “fun for the whole dysfunctional family,” Ruthless! is a spoof on musicals, such as Gypsy and Mame, and classic films like The Bad Seed and All About Eve. Directed by Michelle Davis, Ruthless! is a comic romp through the worlds of Broadway, parenting, child acting, and blind ambition.

In November, the company will present the classic odd-ball romantic comedy, Guys and Dolls. The plot follows gambler Nathan Detroit as he tries to set up the biggest craps game in town with the authorities breathing down his neck. Guys and Dolls, book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows, music and lyrics by Frank Loesser, is based on The Idyll of Sarah Brown and other characters by Damon Runyon. The original run was the winner of the Tony Award for Best Musical. Familiar songs include Luck Be A Lady Tonight and Sit Down, You’re Rocking The Boat. The show will be directed by Johnna B. Mitchell, recent winner of the President’s Award at the Metropolitan Atlanta Theater Awards (MATS), musical director will be Lyn Taylor, winner of multiple MAT Awards for music direction.

The Last Night of Ballyhoo, part of Alfred Uhry’s “Atlanta Trilogy” of plays, which includes Driving Miss Daisy and Parade, comes to the Act3 stage in December. The show is set in Atlanta in 1939. Gone with the Wind is having its world premiere, and Hitler is invading Poland, but Atlanta’s elitist German Jews are much more concerned with who is going to Ballyhoo, the social event of the season. Especially concerned is the Freitag family, who gets pulled apart and mended together with plenty of comedy. The show will be directed by Chris Ikner, winner of multiple MAT Awards.

In February, Act3 will present Dogfight, a musical by the award-winning composing team Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. Their work includes Edges, James and the Giant Peach, and original songs featured on NBC’s hit show Smash. Dogfight, book by Peter Duchan, is based on the 1991 Warner Brothers film of the same name with screenplay by Bob Comfort. The story, set in 1963, follows three young Marines about to be deployed to Southeast Asia. They are out for a final night of fun and debauchery when an awkward, idealistic young waitress changes the rules of the game and teaches one of them about the power of love and compassion. The hauntingly beautiful musical takes the audiences on a breathtaking theatrical journey that will stay with them long after they leave the theater. Dogfight will be directed by Liane LeMaster, Act3’s Director of Improv, and an actor frequently seen on stages throughout Atlanta.

The season will close out in April with Moon Over Buffalo, a madcap comedy farce by Ken Ludwig, author of Lend Me a Tenor. The play centers on a couple of fading stars in 1953 who have a last shot at stardom when director Frank Capra attends one of their performances. Of course, everything that can go wrong does go wrong and hilarity ensues. Moon Over Buffalo will be directed by Robert Adams, acting instructor and Drama Department Coordinator at Cobb County Center for Excellence in Performing Arts at Pebblebrook High School.

Season ticket packages, ranging from $90 to $110, are available on the Act3 website www.act3productions.org. A Flex Pass Card, good for five general admission tickets for main stage shows, are also available. This option allows patrons to create their own personal season package. Group tickets, for groups of 10 or more, are available by calling the box office at 770-241-1905. Single tickets range from $15 to $30 for musicals and $10 to $23 for plays and are available via the website.

2015-16 Calendar:

September 18-October 3: Ruthless!

November 6-21: Guys and Dolls

December 4-19: The Last Night of Ballyhoo

February 5-20: Dogfight

April 15-30: Moon Over Buffalo

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