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ImageThe 2009 season will continue the Hangar Theatre’s commitment to groundbreaking theatre that surprises, celebrates, and enlightens audiences. The Mainstage season includes a joyful family musical, a political farce, a passionate drama, a rock musical straight from Broadway, and a fun-filled comedy,

Opening the season is the regional premiere of Dirty Blonde, a jubilant, warm-hearted comedy by Claudia Shear.  This complex and often surprising love story explores the life story of the glamorous Hollywood icon Mae West through the eyes of the fans that made her.  Tony nominated actress Emily Skinner will perform the role of the sexy and audacious Mae West.

Claudia Shear starred in the Broadway run of Dirty Blonde in 2000 and both the play and she were nominated for a Tony and Drama Desk Award.  Ms. Shear was also presented with a Special Citation from the OBIE Award for her one woman show, Blown Sideways Through Life.

Directing the play is Peter Flynn, the Hangar Theatre’s new Artistic Director. “It’s a really hip and funny play – I’m always surprised by how clever and vulnerable these characters are.  Mae West was the first provocative female comedian in the 20th century and was as smart as she was risqué.” Flynn also added how the audience participates in the theatricality of the evening. “There are only three people in the show and yet they play two dozen roles among them; that for me is the magic of theatre.”

Flynn is new to the Ithaca community.  Coming from New York City, he previously directed the Broadway concerts of Funny Girl with Whoopi Goldberg and Idina Menzel, and Chess with Josh Groban and Julia Murney, as well as created three nationally-acclaimed musicals for TheatreworksUSA.  Flynn will also direct the Hangar’s political farce November (July 8-18) and will teach in the Hangar Theatre’s Next Generation School.

Dirty Blonde’s cast includes Skinner, nominated for a Tony Award for her performance in Side Show,  Joe Kinosian and Kevin Carolan. Kinosian just finished a long off-Broadway run in Dear Edwina and previously performed in the upcoming Broadway musical The Hudsucker Proxy.  Carolan understudied and performed Dirty Blonde on Broadway as well as appearing on Broadway in The Ritz and the tenth anniversary production of Chicago. All three performers will be making their Hangar stage debut.

The artistic team of Dirty Blonde will feature artists well known to Hangar audiences.  Set design by Kent Goetz, Professor of scenic design at Cornell University (Disney’s Beauty and the Beast and The Overwhelming), lighting design by Deborah Constantine (Rough Magic and To Kill A Mockingbird), costume design by Greg Robbins (Hair, Rough Magic, Indoor/Outdoor, Josh Keenan Comes Ot to the World and The Sound of Music), and sound design by Eric Watkins (Doubt, All the Great Books [abridged], and The Playboy of the Western World).

The Kiddstuff season at the Hangar Theatre includes plays and musicals that will spark children’s imaginations and the Wedge season will feature four brand new plays and four reinvented classics performed by emerging artists.

Dirty Blonde Performance Dates:

Wednesday, June 3 - 7:30pm (Preview)
Thursday, June 4 - 7:30pm (Preview)
Friday, June 5 - 8:00pm (Opening Night)
Saturday, June 6 - 3:00pm
Saturday, June 6 - 8:00pm
Sunday, June 7 - 7:30pm
Tuesday, June 9 - 7:30pm (Tuesday Talkback)
Wednesday, June 10 - 7:30pm (Pay-What-You-Can)
Thursday, June 11 - 7:30pm
Friday, June 12 - 8:00pm
Saturday, June 13 - 3:00pm
Saturday, June 13 - 8:00pm

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