In what has now become an annual tradition, JCC CenterStage Artistic Director Ralph Meranto
held a “virtual
press conference” via YouTube yesterday to announce the organization’s 2017-18
season. From his seat in front of the camera in the pristine Lipson Lounge —
part of the $17 million, 26,000-square-foot renovations the JCC unveiled last
fall — Meranto described the five shows and three
special events coming up next year.
CenterStage’s
41st season will be “a season of firsts,” Meranto
says. Firsts are something he’s particularly passionate about; Meranto has been a key proponent of bringing new works to
Rochester and challenging the status quo of local theatrical offerings.
Season
highlights include “First Date,” a musical that chronicles a blind date in New
York City from beginning to end, as CenterStage’s
non-traditional holiday show and one, Meranto says, “anyone
who has been on a first date will relate to.”
The second half of the season features
Jonathan Tolins’ “Buyer and Cellar”
— a one-man comedy that imagines the life of an underemployed Los Angeles actor
hired to manage the indoor shopping mall in the basement of Barbra Streisand’s
home — and a musical adaptation of “The Bridges of Madison County,” with music
and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown (this is the first time the show will play in
the region).
The full 2017-18 JCC CenterStage
season:
“Cooking with
the Calamari Sisters” (October 5 through October 29)
“First
Date” (December 1 through December 11)
“The Hit Makers …
And The Beat Goes On” (February 3
through February 18)
“Buyer and Cellar” (March 10 through March 25)
“The Bridges of
Madison County” (May 5 through May 20)
Special events include:
“Big Wigs” (December 28 through December 31)
“Upscale” (December 30 and December 31)
“Bring It On: The
Musical” (July 15 through July 23)
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This article appears in Mar 15-21, 2017.
