THE HANGAR’S 48TH SEASON INCLUDES 3 REGIONAL PREMIERES AND 4 MUSICAL THEATRE EXPERIENCES. PRODUCTIONS WILL BE PRESENTED ON THE INDOOR NIEDERKORN STAGE AND OUTDOORS ON A REIMAGINED CANOPIED STAGE AND SEATING AREA.
The Hangar Theatre is thrilled to announce its full 2022 Summer Season lineup. Artistic Director Shirley Serotsky (she/her) and Managing Director R.J. Lavine (they/she) are working with the Hangar staff to produce a roster of Mainstage theatrical experiences that include an unprecedented four musical theatre offerings, three regional premieres, and a diverse and exciting range of stories, that will take audiences around the world. Hangar patrons will travel from 1980s Ghana, Africa; to pre-WWII Berlin; to Imperial Russia; then to post-Mao Beijing, China; before touching back down in New York, NY for two brand new musicals.
Ithaca draws people from all over the globe, for many different reasons. Over the course of this season the Hangar aims to celebrate the crossroads of our community. While our opportunities for travel have been limited over the last two years of pandemic life, theatre is powerful: it brings stories from around the world that enrich, entertain, and enlighten, right here to Tompkins County.
“It was incredible witnessing the joy and delight that audiences experienced last summer, when we were finally back in person,” shares Artistic Director Shirley Serotsky. “We aim to continue inspiring those ebullient feelings, while also touching on some big questions about humanity. There’s an interesting throughline to this set of titles, nearly all of them take place in the moment before the moment when everything changes. And of course–we only know that with the retrospect of history. I’ve been thinking about those “moment before” times; could we be in one now? And are we doing all we can to create change for a positive way forward? Or are we looking away? The characters in these remarkable plays and musicals do both.”
The Hangar is excited to tell these stories on the Niederkorn Stage inside the theater and on a newly designed outdoor stage with a canopied seating area. Producing a summer of regional premieres in two dynamic settings during a time of great change for gathering together to experience art is a joyful experience for the Hangar and our audiences.
“When we built the outdoor performance space last year, we knew that was the only way to bring live theatre safely back in 2021.” Managing Director R.J. Lavine reflects, “What we didn’t realize at the time was that simply taking theatre outside could make people feel welcome and at ease in a way that’s harder to achieve in the indoor space. Parents of young children and brand new patrons told us that the open air venue helped them to fully enjoy the theatrical experience. We also heard an outpouring of gratitude from people who thought they’d never be able to step inside a theater again for the health risks that would pose. We are carrying forward those lessons in 2022 as we attempt to bring the best of what the indoor and outdoor performance spaces offer audiences.” Planned upgrades to the 2022 outdoor venue include heightened and re-graded ground to improve drainage and accessibility, a 30-foot high pole tent that covers the stage and audience area and protects both from the elements, and brand new comfortable seating.
The summer season takes flight in June with Jocelyn Bioh’s School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play, a hilarious comedy that references the Tina Fey film in its subtitle,depicting the adolescent social structures and cafeteria gossip of a clique of boarding school girls in Ghana, Africa. The play reflects universal high school questions about friendship and identity while investigating specific themes of colorism and the impact of Western beauty standards.
Later in June, the stylish musical Cabaret, with music by John Kander (Chicago, Kiss of the Spider Woman), lyrics by Fred Ebb (Chicago, Kiss of the Spider Woman), and book by Joe Masteroff (She Loves Me) will transform the indoor Niederkorn stage to a swinging nightclub in Berlin, Germany during the Wiemer Republic. The memorable Emcee declares that, “Here, life is beautiful!” until, of course, it isn’t. Notable for such memorable songs as “Willkommen”, “Don’t Tell Mama”, and the eponymous “Cabaret”, this dance-filled musical will dazzle and stun audiences while asking the resonant questions: how does an individual recognize the course of history veering towards persecution and oppression? What can we do to change it?
Come July, audiences can share in a unique musical theatre experience with Dave Malloy’s Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812. A breakout hit from 2012, the musical takes a fresh look at a 70-page section of Tolstoy’s War and Peace, depicting forbidden love affairs, dramatic duels, and the search for the meaning of life. A score that combines Russian folk music, traditional musical theatre, techno dance music, and electropop will have audiences on their feet under the new outdoor stage canopy.
August brings The Great Leap, by Lauren Yee (Cambodian Rock Band), a story that combines the personal with the political, and a passion for the sport of basketball. In a riveting story that bounces between the US, where the sport originated, and China, where the game exceeds all others in popularity, a Chinese coach and his American counterpart explore what it means to represent your team, your country, and your own legacy.
The season will wrap up with a brand new performance series, Hangar Flight Test. This mini-festival of new work gives Hangar audiences the opportunity to experience concert stagings of two brand new musicals in development.
“Musicals are such an essential and beloved part of Hangar Theatre programming, and always have been–since Man of La Mancha opened the Hangar space in 1975,” shares Serotsky, “but it’s also a field in which Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPoC) writers and female, trans, and non-binary writers have historically been under-represented. Developing a musical requires a significant investment of time and resources, so we decided the best way to give back to the field would be to invest those resources into musical theatre works that include the voices of BIPoC writers and writers of underrepresented genders on their creative teams.”
The series will also give local audiences the chance to be a part of the development process through talkbacks with the artists and feedback Q/As. The two additional Hangar Flight Test titles will be announced in February.
We are thrilled to welcome patrons to both of the Hangar Theatre’s indoor and outdoor performance spaces. Our community’s health and well being is our top priority. To ensure the safest and most enjoyable experience during your visit, we have established a comprehensive set of policies, regularly reviewed and updated by The Hangar a COVID-19 Safety Task Force of local health and medical professionals. To access the Hangar’s most up-to-date COVID-19 Safety Plan.
Hangar Theatre Summer 2022 Mainstage Productions
School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play by Jocelyn Bioh June 15-June 25, 2022 The Hangar Outdoor Stage
Queen Bee Paulina is intent on representing her school in the Miss Ghana 1986 pageant. Her dedicated clique at the Aburi Girls Boarding School is rooting for her until newcomer Ericka enters the competition. This playful and charming REGIONAL PREMIERE of the AWARD-WINNING HIT COMEDY sold out extended Off-Broadway runs.
Appropriate for ages 11 and up (adult language, discussions of racism).
Cabaret by John Kander (music), Fred Ebb (lyrics), Joe Masteroff (book) June 30-July 16, 2022 The Niederkorn Indoor Stage
Willkommen to a late-1920s Berlin nightclub filled with entertaining songs, wry commentary, and stylish dancing. This production of the four-time Tony award-winning INTIMATE 1998 REVIVAL of the MEMORABLE HIT MUSICAL explores the underground life of Bohemian Berlin as the Third Reich overtakes Germany.
Appropriate for ages 13 and up (adult language and situations, references to anti-semitism, discrimination).
Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 by Dave Malloy July 21-July 31, 2022 The Hangar Outdoor Stage
Transport yourself to Imperial Russia, during the time of the Napoleonic Wars. Hopeful and impulsive, Natasha Rostova risks everything when she falls for the dashing Anatole. This REGIONAL PREMIERE of the STUNNING and GROUNDBREAKING NEW MUSICAL, inspired by Tolstoy’s War and Peace, captures the intoxicating highs and devastating lows of love and infatuation. Winner of two Tony Awards, The Great Comet is vibrant and thrilling, with a memorable score that includes rock, pop, soul, folk and electronic dance music.
Appropriate for ages 12 and up (adult themes and mature language).
The Great Leap by Lauren Yee
August 10-August 21, 2022
The Niederkorn Indoor Stage
When an American college basketball team travels to Beijing for a “friendship” game in the post-Cultural Revolution 1980s, both countries try to tease out the politics behind the popular sport. This ATHLETIC and QUICK-WITTED TIMELY POLITICAL DRAMA combines the personal with the historical, in a story inspired by the short-lived basketball career of award-winning playwright Lauren Yee’s own father.
Appropriate for ages 12 and up (adult language).
Hangar Flight Test Series
August 19-August 28, 2022
The Hangar Outdoor Stage and The Niederkorn Indoor Stage
Be a part of the process of developing new musical theatre for the American stage: join us for these two workshop productions, and be among the first audiences to experience these scripts and songs in their current drafts. Writers and artistic teams will spend development time at the Hangar to explore and prepare these exciting scripts and scores for production–your feedback helps them along in their journeys!
Titles to be announced soon.
About the Hangar Theatre Company
The Hangar Theatre, located at 801 Taughannock Blvd, produced its first fully realized performances in summer 1975 in a newly renovated theatre space converted from a WPA-era airplane hangar--once an essential training ground for WWII pilots--on the shores of beautiful Cayuga Lake. The project was community driven from the start, led by Ithaca-area theatre-lovers aspiring to create a vibrant central arts campus for regional audiences and tourists alike. Now a year-round venue approaching its 48th season, the Hangar Theatre Company offers professional theatrical productions during an expansive and diverse summer season (June-August) and hosts local and national musical acts, community arts groups and events, and education programs off-season (September to May).
Hangar Mission
The Hangar Theatre creates and presents performances of exceptional quality in New York’s Finger Lakes region while training the next generation of theatre artists. We inspire our community with work and classes that enrich, entertain, and enlighten. We believe in the power of theatre to transform lives.
Sponsorship
The 2022 Hangar Theatre season and programming is made possible in part by generous support from Cornell University, CFCU Community Credit Union, Tompkins County Tourism, New York State Council on the Arts, The Park Foundation and The Shubert Foundation.
