Madison Lyric Stage Announces 2020 Season; Subscriptions Now On-Sale

Madison Lyric Stage, a professional theater company serving the Connecticut Shoreline, has announced its 2020 mainstage season: a double bill of Puccini's Suor Angelica and Schoenberg's Erwartung in April; the landmark Mart Crowley play The Boys in the Band in July; and, for Halloween, the Stephen Sondheim/Hugh Wheeler musical masterpiece Sweeney Todd. All three productions will be directed by Marc Deaton.

In 2020, Madison Lyric Stage will continue its partnership with the Deacon John Grave House in the Madison historic district, and will present its entire season inside the historic home. All productions will be presented in an intimate and immersive fashion, with a limited audience per performance.

"As we enter our ninth season, we wanted to present some favorites like Sweeney Todd and Suor Angelica, along with works that may be lesser-known to our audiences like The Boys in the Band and Erwartung," said Marc Deaton, Artistic Director of Madison Lyric Stage. "And, being inside the Grave House allows us to do what we do best - create innovative theatrical experiences, of sometimes lesser-known works, in an up-close and personal way."

Madison Lyric Stage is offering money-saving subscriptions for its three mainstage shows: Suor Angelica and Erwartung, The Boys in the Band and Sweeney Todd. While individual tickets, which will go on sale at a later date, will be priced at $50, season ticket bundles for three performances are currently available for a limited time for $120 (a savings of $30 over the individual ticket price) at madisonlyricstage.org or by calling 203-215-6329. Subscription purchasers will need to select their dates in advance, but will be able to change them.

Suor Angelica and Erwartung: March 26 - April 5 (8 Performances)

Puccini's beloved one-act opera Suor Angelica contains moments of harrowing drama and unequaled redemptive beauty. Sister Angelica, a Florentine noblewoman, has been compelled by her family to take the veil after giving birth to a child, and for seven years has in vain been waiting for tidings from her family or friends. Finally, Angelica's aunt, the Princess, comes to visit her to reveal the fate of the child she was forced to give away, and to cruelly ask her to sign away her rights to her inheritance. Schoenberg's Erwartung ("Expectation") is a one-act monodrama that follows a lone individual through the forest in search of a lost lover. Suor Angelica will be performed in Italian with English subtitles; Erwartung will be performed in English.

The Boys in the Band: July 16-26 (10 Performances)

Before Stonewall, before AIDS, before Marriage Equality - there was Mart Crowley's landmark play The Boys in the Band. The play premiered Off-Broadway in 1968 and was turned into a film the next year by the director William Friedkin. In 2018, it premiered on Broadway for its 50th anniversary, and will be a Netflix film in 2020. The play revolves around a group of gay men who gather for a birthday party in New York City, and was groundbreaking for its humorous and poignant portrayal of gay life. The play has been called "a true theatrical game-changer, helping spark a revolution by putting gay men's lives onstage - unapologetically and without judgment - in a world that was not yet willing to fully accept them." John Johmann leads an inclusive and diverse cast.

Sweeney Todd: October 15-25 (12 Performances)

One of Stephen Sondheim's most celebrated musicals, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barker of Fleet Street, a musical thriller, tells the story of a Victorian-era barber who returns home to London after 15 years of exile to take revenge on the corrupt judge who ruined his life. When revenge eludes him, Sweeney swears vengeance on the entire human race, murdering as many people as he can, while his business associate Mrs. Lovett bakes the bodies into meat pies and sells them to the unsuspecting public. Sweeney Todd is lush, operatic, and full of soaring beauty, pitch-black comedy and stunning terror. Marc Deaton and Lindsay Ryan star as Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett.

Madison Lyric Stage is supported in part by generous gifts from Guilford Savings Bank and the Maureen E. and Peter F. Dalton Fund of The Madison Foundation, with support from the Connecticut Office of the Arts, which also receives funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.

Madison Lyric Stage is an award-winning, non-profit arts collective serving the Connecticut shoreline. Its mission is to expand participation in the arts by presenting accessible, inclusive and affordable professional-quality opera, musical theater and drama. Past productions include: A Little Night Music, Agnes of God, Blithe Spirit, Company, Evita, Godspell, Hansel and Gretel, Into the Woods, Jesus Christ Superstar, Macbeth, Of Mice and Men, Peter Grimes, Salome, The Glass Menagerie, The Turn of the Screw, and many others.

For more information about Madison Lyric Stage, visit madisonlyricstage.org.