Sunday 19 May 2019

Segal Centre celebrates diversity, inspiration and storytelling as it unveils its 2019-2020 season line-up



On the heels of recently capping off its 2018-2019 season on a triumphant note with the brilliant documentary-style musical production of “Indecent” – which chronicles the evolution of Sholem Asch’s controversial play “God of Vengeance” from Poland to Broadway – the Segal Centre for Performing Arts officially unveiled its complete line-up for their 2019-2020 season.

Segal Centre Artistic and Executive Director Lisa Rubin (pictured below) unveiled the impressive line-up of upcoming shows at a special gathering of media, subscribers and local theatergoers, that will at the very least, cater to the eclectic in you.

For their flagship series of six plays, the season begins with “The Pianist of Willesden Lane” (September 8-29), a musical memoir that tells the true story of Jewish musical prodigy Lisa Jura, who manages to escape Nazi-occupied Vienna for the safe haven of London, as its endures the worst of the Blitz. The story is told through the point-of-view – and musical performances – of Jura’s daughter Mona Golabek, who is herself a Grammy-nominated piano virtuoso. “Mythic” (October 27-November 17) gives a modern twist to a part of ancient Greek mythology – the story of the goddess Persephone – with the rest of those mythic gods appearing in the form of popular rock music stars, power-hungry politicians and professional socialites.

The 2020 portion of the season starts with “Small Mouth Sounds” (February 9 – March 11) at the centre’s Studio Theatre. It literally deals with the sounds of silence, as six unlikely characters flee the city for a silent retreat, and find out the hard way how really difficult it is to keep their mouths shut. Louise Pitre (who is remembered for her show-stopping performance as Edith Piaf in the Segal Centre’s presentation of “The Angel and the Sparrow”) teams up with W. Joseph Matheson to bring you “The Times They Are A Changin’” (March 1 – 22), a lively musical salute to the Jewish musicians and singers – such as Bob Dylan, Mama Cass, Simon and Garfunkel, Leonard Cohen and Carole King -- whose legendary songs provided the soundtrack for the 1960s. “Oslo” (April 19 – May 10) is the Tony-winning dark dramedy that recalls all the back-channel negotiations, unlikely friendships and quiet heroics that eventually led to the historic 1993 Oslo Accords between the Israelis and the Palestinians. The season concludes with the world premiere of Paul Van Dyck’s “Siberian Summer” (May 31 – June 21), a road trip comedy that involves three women “of a certain age” and one of their sons as they go on a lengthy road trip aboard the Trans-Siberian Railway from St. Petersburg to Beijing, which quickly becomes a journey of self-discovery.

As well, the Segal Centre will be offering its many fans and supporters throughout the new season a variety of productions that will be presented on its stages by such guest theatre companies as the Teesri Dunya Theatre, the Tableau D’Hote Theatre, Porte Parole and the Black Theatre Workshop, which will be conducting the final presentations of its Artist Mentorship Program.

The mainstay Dora Wasserman Yiddish Theatre troupe will present a trio of productions this season: a production of “The Sages of Chelm”, a live play reading of the Yiddish-language version of Neil Simon’s hit comedy “The Sunshine Boys” and their annual “Lyrics and Latkes” Chanukah sing-along show.

Add to that the return of Sunday @ The Segal pre-show lectures, the Monday Night Talkbacks, the Broadway Café live karaoke nights, and the Big Broadway Sing-Along with Nick Burgess, then 2019-2020 will be a season to remember and enjoy at the Segal Centre.

For more information, or to purchase individual tickets starting July 29, call 514-739-7944, or go to www.segalcentre.org.


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