Diversionary Theatre Set for HARMONY, KANSAS, PIPPIN, THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF HEDDA GABBLER & More for 2012-13 Season

Diversionary Theatre announced the company's 2012-2013 productions and presentations at an event this past Saturday. The season will include the previously announced world-premiere of Harmony, Kansas, a new musical; an imaginative staging of Pippin; the first full-scale production of the new play, when last we flew; a comedy about family, Birds of a Feather; and, the hilarious farce, The Further Adventures of Hedda Gabbler.

"We are thrilled to have such an entertaining season created by some of our favorite artists from San Diego and beyond," said Diversionary Theatre Executive Director, John E. Alexander. "I'm particularly thrilled to continue Diversionary's evolution as a company that nurtures plays and musicals and the growing community who make San Diego their artistic home. With two new shows and some very smart, poignant and funny theatre, I know our audiences are in for an amazing ride."

Two new shows debuting on the Diversionary stage. Harmony, Kansas, a new musical with book and lyrics by Bill Nelson and music by Anna K. Jacobs will have its first full production at Diversionary. Harrison David Rivers' when last we flew, winner of a 2010 GLAAD Media Award for a 2010 developmental presentation at New York Fringe 2010, will have it's first full production this fall.

Marc Acito (A Room With a View) adds a "P" to the standard LGBT focused fare with the Helen Hayes Award-winning Birds of a Feather, which tells the mostly true story of two male penguins who want to raise a family in the Central Park Zoo. And, Matt McGrath (Next Fall and The Globe's The Rocky Horror Show) returns to Diversionary to direct the rollicking and irreverent farce, The Further Adventures of Hedda Gabbler, from the brilliant mind of Jeff Whitty (book writer for Broadway's Avenue Q and Bring it On!).

The season also includes James Vasquez's fresh and raw telling of the Stephen Schwartz's classic musical, Pippin.

Between main stage productions, the Diversionary Cabaret series will offer a full slate of concerts, stand-up and sketch comedy throughout the year. Artists and dates to be announced soon.

HARMONY, KANSAS World Premiere New Musical
June 14 – July 22, 2012
Book & Lyrics by Bill Nelson
Music By Anna K. Jacobs
Directed by James Vasquez
Orchestrations & Music Directions by Adam Wachter
With: Jacob Caltrider, Dylan Hoffinger, Tony Houck, Anthony Methvin, Bill Nolte, John Whitley and Tom Zohar

With a lively, soulful score, Harmony, Kansas tells the story of Heath, a gay farmer making his way in a rural community where homogeneity rules. When his city-born partner, Julian, talks him into joining a spirited group of gay guys who meet once a week to sing, Heath discovers a love for making music and a kinship he didn't expect. But his world is turned upside down when the group considers performing in public, threatening everything that matters to him, including the life he's made with the man he loves.

Diversionary's world premiere production is made possible by the generous support of
California Institute for Contemporary Arts, the National Fund for New Musicals (a program of the National Alliance for Musical Theatre with funding from the ASCAP Foundation Irving Caesar Fund), Witt Matheny Fund and Gay and Lesbian Fund for San Diego.

Performances of Harmony, Kansas begin June 14 and run through July 22, 2012.

PIPPIN
September 6 –October 14, 2012
Music & Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz
Book by Roger O. Hirson
Directed by James Vasquez