Exterior of Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater. Photo by Nic Lehoux, courtesy of Bing Thom Architects

By Southwester Staff 

Arena Stage announced a lineup of new productions for the company’s 73rd season, scheduled to kick off in July. The season will be Artistic Director Molly Smith’s 25th in the role, and will feature musicals, comedies and dramas to showcase the broad range of American theater.

“Reflective of our shared experience, our 2022/23 Season is one of surviving and thriving,” said Smith in a news release. “It’s an affirmation of community bonds and identities, which keep us going, not just every day, but during the most complex of times.”

Beginning July 15, the first show of the season is the world premiere of the musical American Prophet, which centers on the words of famed abolitionist and DC resident Fredrick Douglass. The script and score were created by Charles Randolph-Wright, a veteran of Arena Stage as well as Broadway’s Motown the Musical, along with Grammy Award winner Marcus Hummon and Cornelius Smith, Jr., known for work on Scandal and All My Children

The fall will feature additional performances, including the classic romantic comedy Holiday, depicted in a 1938 film starring Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn. The drama  Sanctuary City takes on the issue of immigration in contemporary America, while The High Ground revisits Tulsa, Oklahoma’s 1921 race massacre with a focus on the importance of bearing witness. 

The remainder of the season also includes stories of teenage Canadian choir singers and a quirky workplace comedy. Beginning in March 2023, Arena Stage will present Tony Kushner’s Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning epic Angels in America, Part One: Millennium Approaches

For more information, please visit www.arenastage.org.

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