Nine of our nation's most infamous characters take the stage when Assassins opens October 3. See who's who in our cast in this issue of our newsletter.

For Immediate Release
September 22, 2014


Contacts:
Susan Goes, Executive Director, 541-942-8001
Amanda Ferguson, Artistic Director, 541-409-2522

Sondheim's Assassins opens at Cottage Theatre October 3

Cottage Grove, OR — Imagine a conversation between John Wilkes Booth and Lee Harvey Oswald. Composer Stephen Sondheim and writer John Weidman did just that in their musical Assassins, which opens October 3 for a three-weekend run at Cottage Theatre. The production is the fifth show in the theatre's 2014 season.

Bold, original, disturbing, and alarmingly funny, Assassins is among the most controversial musicals ever written. This quintessentially American show lays bare the lives of nine individuals who assassinated or tried to assassinate the President of the United States, in a historical revue that explores the dark side of the American experience. Writers Sondheim and Weidman bend the rules of time and space, taking us on a nightmarish roller coaster ride in which assassins and would-be assassins from different historical periods meet, interact and inspire each other to harrowing acts in the name of the American Dream.

Cottage Theatre's production of Assassins is directed and designed by Tony Rust, with music direction by Jim Greenwood. Costume design is by Marjorie Steen and lighting design by Amanda Ferguson. The cast features Earl Ruttencutter, Ward Fairbairn, Austin VanderPlaat, George A. Comstock, Marc Siegel, Dale Flynn, Melissa Miller, Tracy Nygard, Kory Weimer, Mark Anderson, Lanny Mitchell, Sophie Blades, Eric Elligott, Kim Fairbairn, and Zachary Martin.

Assassins runs for three weekends at Cottage Theatre from October 3 - 19, 2014. Performances are Friday and Saturday evenings at 8:00 pm and Sunday afternoons at 2:30 pm. There will be one added Thursday performance on October 16 at 8:00 pm. Assassins contains mature themes and language; parental discretion is advised.

Tickets are available online at www.cottagetheatre.org, by phone at 541-942-8001, or in person at the Cottage Theatre Box Office, 700 Village Drive, Cottage Grove. Tickets are $23 for adults and $19 for youth (18 or under). Box Office hours are Wednesday through Friday, 10 am to 2 pm, and one hour before performances. 


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For Immediate Release
September 10, 2014


Contacts:
Susan Goes, Executive Director, 541-942-8001
Amanda Ferguson, Artistic Director, 541-409-2522

Cottage Theatre announces 2015 season

Cottage Grove, OR — On Saturday September 6, before an invited audience of volunteers and supporters, Cottage Theatre announced its 33rd season, which will run from January through December 2015. The line-up consists of three plays and three musicals, including the epic Broadway musical Les Misérables. The six shows selected represent diverse styles and geographic settings, according to the theatre's Executive Director Susan Goes.

The 2015 season will start in Cuba, the setting for a production of Shakespeare's 12th Night. The Bard's quintessential love triangle ("triangulo de amore") gets a 1950s Havana twist in the hands of director Tony Rust. 12th Night will run for 11 performances from January 30 - February 15, 2015.

Next stop in Cottage Theatre's 2015 theatrical world tour is Paris, France, for Les Misérables. Winner of the 1987 Tony Award for Best Musical, this show by Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg is based on the novel by Victor Hugo and has been seen by more than 65 million people worldwide. Cottage Theatre's Les Misérables will be directed by Alan Beck and will run for 15 performances from April 10 - May 3, 2015.

In June, the theatre will present Proof, a story of love, genius and instability set in Chicago. This 4-character play by David Auburn won the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and gained further fame in 2005 via a movie version starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Anthony Hopkins. Alan Beck will direct the Cottage Theatre production which will run for 11 performances from June 12 - 28, 2015.

The theatre's August production is Quilters, by Molly Newman and Barbara Damashek, and directed by Eliza Roaring Springs. Based on true narratives of pioneer women, Quilters dramatizes the strenuous realities of 1800s frontier life. Prairie fires, twisters, starvation and death are interspersed with lively, and often humorous, accounts of cabin construction, courtship and childhood pranks. Music and dance are an integral part of this show which will run for 11 performances from August 14 - 30, 2015.

The soul-stirring rock musical about the Passion of Christ is the 5th show in the theatre's 2015 season. Jesus Christ Superstar, with lyrics by Tim Rice and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, dramatizes Christ's final days in Jerusalem. Tony Rust will direct this production which will run for 15 performances from October 2 - 25, 2015.

Cottage Theatre's 33rd season concludes in December 2015 with The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, dramatized by Joseph Robinette from the story by C.S. Lewis. This stage adaptation faithfully recreates the adventures of four children who wander, quite by accident, from an old wardrobe into the exciting and unusual land of Narnia. Pamela Lehan-Siegel will direct this production which will run for 11 performances from December 4 - 20, 2015.

Season tickets to Cottage Theatre's 2015 season will go on sale to the public November 1, following a month-long renewal period for current subscribers beginning October 1. Tickets to individual shows will go on sale one month prior to each production's opening night.

Cottage Theatre is a volunteer-centered community theatre that draws actors and audiences from throughout Lane County. The theatre's current year season concludes this fall with two musicals: Assassins (October 3 - 19, 2014), and She Loves Me (December 5 - 21, 2014).

All performances take place at Cottage Theatre, 700 Village Drive in Cottage Grove. Ticket information is available at www.cottagetheatre.org or by calling the theatre at 541-942-8001.

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Tickets are now on sale for our October musical, Assassins, by Tony award-winning composer Stephen Sondheim. Read more about this show in the latest issue of our newsletter. You'll also find stories about our bi-annual Spotlight Awards volunteer celebration, EugeneArtTalk.com, and a teaser about our 2015 season. (And if you're not already having our newsletter conveniently delivered to your in-box, do sign up on our home page.)