ROSS VALLEYPLAYERS

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90thSeaSon

Here’s Your opportunity to Subscribe to RVP’s exciting and Innovative 90th Season

Why? Lots of great reasons…Six terrific shows, including a musical from Marin’s own Rita Abrams.

Subscriber only Benefits6 shows for only $138 – a saving of 20%

That’s a little over 1 show FRee!

The MousetrapBy agatha ChristieDirected by adrian elfenbaum

Friday, September 13 through Sunday, october 13, 2019(Preview Thursday, September 12)

Invitation to Private opening night ReceptionsCome early, and join us for wine and hors d’oeuvres on RVP.Reception 6:30-7:30PM on each show’s Opening Night.

First Choice of the Best Theatre Seats in MarinSubscribers are admitted 10 minutes before individual ticket holders to select their places in our new plush and more accessible seats.

You Choose When to attendYour season tickets are good for any performance of each production, so you can attend when you wish. Make it fit your schedule. Note: We have reduced the number of seats to allow you more room, so we must ask our subscribers to call in (415-456-9555) to let us know you are coming and to hold your place.

Free Cookies – of course!With your Season Tickets you will receive our traditional Cookie Coupon bonus voucher for each of the season productions. Select from the variety of delicious cookies, or use the coupon against any other concession item.

Start the season off right with a classic and timeless “whodunit” by the mistress of mystery – Agatha Christie.

A radio broadcast announces a grisly murder, and the perpetrator is at large. Seven (mostly) strangers are trapped in Monkswell Manor guesthouse by a fierce snowstorm, which closed all roads and appears to have cut off telephone service. In this isolated atmosphere, can more murders not follow? Of course they do. Is everyone who they seem to be? Of course not.

The Mousetrap is the show that sets the record for the longest consecutive run of any show anywhere. It is currently running in London, where it opened in October of 1952 – and audiences today are just as intrigued, delighted and amazed as they have been for years. Our matinee on October 6th will celebrate the 67th anniversary of the original opening night.

As has been the case with that production, you are asked not to reveal the ending after you have seen the show. Why spoil a classic?

The Game’s Afoot, 2017

Design: Mark Shepard. Photos: Gregg Le Blanc and Robin Jackson.

Silent Sky By Lauren GundersonDirected by Chloe Bronzan

Based on real people and real events, Silent Sky is the story of some of the first woman astronomers who helped

pave the way to our understanding of both the universe and Earth. Three exceptional women are hired in the early 1900’s at the Harvard University Observatory in jobs called “computers.” Prohibited from actually looking through the giant telescope (that’s for the men), they undertake to discover the answer to “Where do we fit in space?”. Their sources are photographic plates of images gathered by others.

The compelling central characters

proceed with humor and determination toward their goals, while handling the very contemporary challenge of balance between families and potential romance – and their absorbing scientific quest. The triumphant result of their efforts was the discovery of the key to measuring the distance between objects in space, previously unknown.

“Sheer magic with bursts of humor…” S.F. Chronicle

“Luminous and beautiful … an intellectual epic told on an intimate scale.” Atlanta Constitution and Journal

January 17 through February 9, 2020(Preview Thursday, January 16)

These Shing Lives, 2019

Book by Joe MasteroffLyrics by Sheldon Harnick

Music by Jerry BockBased on a play by Miklos Laszlo

november 13 through December 22, 2019

Inspired by the same source material as the classic films The Shop Around The Corner and You’ve Got Mail, this musical

theater treasure is about perfectly ordinary people in a story you may have heard before, but never quite like this. Based on a play by Miklos Laszlo, She Loves Me brings the magic of a soaring score by Sheldon Harnick (Fiddler on the Roof) and Jerry Bock (Fiorello!, Fiddler on the Roof) to a classic story by Joe Masteroff (Cabaret). Hearts will be captivated by the plights of Georg, Amalia, and their co-workers in the Parfumerie. These characters remind us that the most important things in life are not the work or making money, but family, friends and those we truly love.

Join the Ross Valley Players and the Mountain Play this winter for a delightful musical treat. This co-production partners the talents and passion of two of the oldest Marin County community theatre companies to provide a new experience for their audience. The friendship of these companies has long been behind the scenes, but in November 2019, it steps center stage with She Loves Me.

NoTe: Tickets for this special co-production of She Loves Me are available online at www.MountainPlay.org and are not included in the Season Subscription offering.

Ross Valley Players and the Mountain Play association present

Directed by nicole Helfer

The Glass MenagerieBy Tennessee WilliamsDirected by David abrams

The play, The Glass Menagerie is a memory play, narrated by Tom Wingfield about his family, living in reduced circumstances in a St. Louis basement apartment in the late 1930’s. His father has long since abandoned them, leaving his mother, Amanda, and

sister, Laura, with only Tom’s meager salary to support them. Amanda is unwilling to forget her earlier life as a popular Southern belle and tries to re-create that world for her very shy daughter by attracting “gentleman callers” to court Laura.

The Glass Menagerie was Williams’ first successful Broadway play and received the Drama Critics Circle award when it first appeared on Broadway in 1945. It is also Williams’ most autobiographical work, reflecting in heartfelt and poetic language much of his own background. To quote Tom: “I give you truth in the pleasant guise of illusion.” A moving and memorable American classic.

Ross alternative Works ROSS ALTERNATIVE WORKS presents a fully staged production April 23 - May 10, 2020

THe PaCkRaT Gene by Margy Kahn directed by Michael R. CohenLeigh wants her aging mother Esther to move out of her overstuffed apartment. But her mother and daughter Rachel, both ardent packrats, want her to stay. A cross-generational struggle over possessions and end-of-life choices morphs into a much deeper struggle, revealing the toll the past takes on us, whether we choose to hold onto it or not.

Also join us for four readings of intriguing new works by Bay Area playwrights:

September 22, 2019

La SIRena by Eteya Trinidad directed by Anna SmithJust a “regular” tale of magic realism, queer characters, and what “women” face today.La Sirena survives, she swims and she thrives.

April 30, 2020

PoTaToeS anD VoDka by L.H. GrantIt is the Russian Revolution and tensions are high as a small goup of revolutionaries plot to overthrow the Tzar, but things are not as they seem. Could the real revolution be taking place in the present and on stage?

THe SaLMon RUn by Richard Friedlander93-year-young Sarah is on the lam from Assisted Living. Where is she bound? Home, of course, three hundred miles away.

May 7, 2020

TIMe anD aGaIn by Madeline Daly PuccioniSeven inter-related short plays asking what if we lead many lives, play many roles, strut and fret many hours upon many different stages throughout that endless dance, that construct we call “time”?

All readings are PWYW with a suggested donation at the door of $15. See the website for more details about our mission and how you can get involved.

March 6 through april 5, 2020(Preview Thursday, March 5)

The Clean House, 2015

The Government Inspector By nikolai Gogol, adapted by Jeffrey HatcherDirected by Lisa Morse

June 5 through June 28, 2020(Preview Thursday, June 4)

Gogol’s classic 19th Century comedy of errors and mistaken identity has been updated for today’s audiences by Jeffrey Hatcher, not unlike a Marx Brothers comedy. When local officials in a small Russian town learn that an undercover government official

is coming, the whole village is sent into a world of panic, hasty cover ups and greed. A low-level clerk from St. Petersburg, with his own larcenous bent, is misidentified as the inspector.

Fearing the visit will uncover the town’s well-established pattern of corruption, local officials from the Mayor down set off in a flurry of activity to cover up their various histories of public misdeeds. The result is a frantic and hilarious merry-go-round of corruption, lust and certifiable self-delusion. An evening of pure fun.

Pride & Prejudice The Musicaladapted from Jane austen by Josie BrownMusic and lyrics by Rita abramsDirected by Phoebe Moyer

Elizabeth Bennet and her four sisters sing! Mr. Darcy dances! And so do most of the others you may know. Jane Austen’s colorful Regency period romance comes to the stage in all its glory in this wonderful musical that will please newcomers to the tale

as well as those steeped (like good cup of tea) in the classic tale of great romance. The Bennets have five daughters, and Mrs. Bennet wishes to marry them off to suitors

of appropriate social status. A tangle of suitors do appear – including the somewhat dodgy George Wickham and somewhat ingenuous Mr. Bingley – and the very intriguing Fitzwilliam Darcy. The ensuing romances and complications have delighted readers and audiences in book, plays and movies for centuries.

The script by Josie Brown and music and lyrics by Marin’s own Rita Abrams is “Close to perfect… a musical treatment of a famous literary milestone that, although modern in form, carefully preserves the vision of the original.” Charles Brousse, Pacific Sun.

July 24-august 23, 2020(Preview July 23)Arms and the Man, 2014

Persuasion, 2014

noW IS THe TIMe To GeT YoUR SeaSon SUBSCRIPTIon!Your subscription includes six productions, including our Summer musical Pride & Prejudice.*

Sign up now and nail down all the Subscriber benefits – immediate discount on your purchase, early admission for the best seats, invitation to Subscriber Receptions, come when you want option, and of course, cookies.

Questions? Call us at 415-456-9555, ext 3 and we’ll be glad to answer, of course.

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Please allow 3-4 weeks for processing. Dates for each production are subject to change should circumstances require. Subscribers will be notified if needed. *Membership subscription does not include She Loves Me. Tickets for that show available at www.MountainPlay.org

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HoW To oRDeRIt’s easy…

onLIneGo to: rossvalleyplayers.com/subscribe

BY MaILFill out the form on the next page and mail with your payment to

Ross Valley PlayersP.O. Box 886Ross, CA 94957

Your tickets will be mailed to you starting in late July.

PLeaSe ConSIDeR aDDInG a DonaTIonRoss Valley Players is a 501c3 not-for-profit organization, so your contribution is fully tax deductible – and will be deeply appreciated. You will be acknowledged as a donor in show programs throughout the 2019/2020 season, with our gratitude.

We wish to insure that each production reaches its full potential to provide the finest possible audience experience, and this requires

a major investment to make this happen. Season subscriptions and individual ticket sales at the box office cover less than half of the investment needed. Your added donation here will help assure RVP can continue to present award-winning, high-quality theatre this season, and for the next 90 years.We thank you for your ongoing support.

Non-Profit.OrgU.S. Postage

PaidSan Rafael, Ca

MSi LiTHOP.O. BOX 886

ROSS, CA 94957

Pride & Prejudice the Musicaladapted by Josie Brown Music and lyrics by Rita abrams Directed by Phoebe Moyer

July 24 – august 23, 2020

RaW Spring FestivalThe Packrat Gene by Margy kahn

Directed by Michael R. Cohen

april 23 – May 10, 2020

The Mousetrap by agatha Christie Directed by adrian elfenbaum

September 13 – october 13, 2019

november 13 – December 22, 2019

She Loves MeDirected by

nicole HelferBook by Joe

Masterhoff, Music and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick & Jerry Bock

Special co-production with The Mountain Play association

The Glass Menagerieby Tennessee WilliamsDirected by David abrams

March 6 – april 5, 2020

The Government Inspector by nikolai Gogol adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher Directed by Lisa Morse

June 5 – June 28, 2020

Silent Skyby Laura GundersonDirected by Chloe Bronzan

January 17 – February 9, 2020