(TAMPA, FL) – Stageworks Theatre, Tampa’s longest running professional theatre company, raises the curtain on its 40th season with one of its most ambitious seasons ever.
The 2022 – 2023 season features a mix of award-winning dramas, musicals, audience favorites, and a world premiere. The six-show season includes “The Color Purple”, “Christmas Contigo”, “The Smell of the Kill”, “When the Righteous Triumph”, “Talking With…” and “The Great American Trailer Park Musical.”
“As we celebrate this important milestone, we wanted to honor Stageworks’ history but also look to the future,” said Karla Hartley, producing artistic director. “We’re extremely excited to bring our audiences plays that have a deeper meaning for our times, but are also fun to watch. Live performance should inspire, motivate and open our minds, and I think we achieve that with this season of shows.”
The 2022 – 2023 season kicks off on September 9th with “The Color Purple.” With an award-winning musical score of jazz, gospel, ragtime and blues, “The Color Purple” is an unforgettable and intensely moving musical based on Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel and the Oscar®-nominated film. The largest musical Stageworks has ever performed, “The Color Purple” is a stirring family chronicle about a young woman’s epic journey through joy, despair, anguish and hope that leaves its mark on the soul.
Beginning December 2nd, get ready for the holidays Cuban-style with the East Coast premiere of “Christmas Contigo.” It’ll be a Noche Buena for the ages as Iris Delgado Piñeira heads home to Hialeah to introduce her soon-to-be fiancé to her parents and her aging Abuela. As the lechon is roasting, the yucca bubbles and the flan is steaming, the family falls in love, reconnects and rediscovers their beloved traditions in this heartwarming holiday play. “Christmas Contigo” will offer select performances in Spanish as part of Stageworks’ Hispanic Initiative, which highlights the work of Latin artists and Hispanic culture.
To start the new year, take three delicious, malicious wives, add three miserable, unloving husbands—and chill. That’s the recipe of Michele Lowe’s tantalizing dark comedy, “The Smell of the Kill.” Described as a “deft little anti-love story” by New York’s Newsday, this comedy kicks off on February 10th.
The world premiere of “When the Righteous Triumph” takes stage beginning March 17. Step back in time to relive Tampa’s civil rights lunch counter protests with this play written by Tampa playwright Mark E. Lieb and commissioned by Stageworks. This play highlights Stageworks’ ongoing commitment to supporting and performing work by local artists.
Stageworks founder, the late Anna Brennen, directed “Talking With…” three times during her tenure with the theatre. To honor and celebrate her unwavering vision and accomplishments, the theatre company will perform these 11 monologues featuring a baton twirler, a fundamentalist snake handler, an ex-rodeo rider and an actress willing to go to any length to get a job. These idiosyncratic characters amuse, move and frighten, but always speak from the depths of their souls. “Talking With…” takes the stage starting on April 28th.
“The Great American Trailer Park Musical” caps off Stageworks’ incredible 40th season. This show about Armadillo Acres newest tenant will have audience members laughing out loud. At Florida’s most exclusive trailer park, Pippi, the stripper on the run, comes between the Dr. Phil-loving Jeannie and her toll both collector husband. That’s when the storms begin to brew. This toe-tapping musical starts June 9th.
Tickets and season pass options are available for purchase online at www.stageworkstheatre.org. This year, ticketholders can select several new options: A First Look Pass allows ticketholders to pick from any Saturday or Sunday performance on the first weekend of a play or musical, Gold Flex Pass ticketholders receive six tickets to use any way they wish during the season, and Silver Flex Pass ticketholders allow for six flexible tickets for matinee performances.
Additionally, monthly subscriptions are also being offered for the first time. For $15 a month, students, senior citizens, or active military personnel can attend any Friday or Saturday evening Stageworks performance and receive a 50% ticket discount on shows that Stageworks co-produces with theatre companies such as Tampa Repertory and Think Tank Theatre. A $20-a-month option entitles the passholder to see any show at any time and receive a $75 ticket discount on co-produced shows. Additional subscription packages will be announced soon. Monthly subscriptions require a 12-month commitment.
Stageworks invites the entire Tampa Bay community to come out to enjoy the magic of live theater, the enormous talent of local performers and celebrate the theatre company’s 40 years of igniting the human spirit.
STAGEWORKS THEATRE 40th ANNIVERSARY SEASON AT A GLANCE:
Stageworks shows are performed on Friday and Saturday nights at 8 p.m. with matinees on Saturday and Sunday afternoons at 3 p.m.
The Color Purple September 9 – 25, 2022
Christmas Contigo December 2 – 18, 2022
The Smell of the Kill February 10 – 26, 2023
When the Righteous Triumph March 17 – April 2, 2023
Talking With… April 28 – May 14, 2023
The Great American Trailer Park Musical June 9 – 25, 2023
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