UPTOWN PLAYERS ANNOUNCES 2009 SEASON

DALLAS, August 8, 2008 – Uptown Players, a professional theatre group located in the Uptown/Oak Lawn area of Dallas, has announced its 2009 season, which will feature the regional premieres of Altar Boyz, The Trials and Tribulations of the Trailer Trash Housewife, The History Boys and Breathe. Uptown Players will also present a special bonus show, the regional premiere of Mommie Queerest at the Rose Room Theatre at Station 4. The performing group will hold its annual fundraising performance – Broadway Our Way: Uptown Divas in January 2009.

Uptown Players kicks off its eighth season with Del Shores latest play, The Trials and Tribulations of the Trailer Trash Housewife, running February 13 – March 15, 2009. From hysterical highs to the depths of tragic lows, Del Shores’ play with music is an explosive journey into the hidden world of domestic abuse. The story explores the hidden emotions, shame and secrecy battered women face, while also offering hope, healing and truth. A delicate blend of frightened humor and pain, it delves right into the heart of abuse. Explosive one-sided arguments erupt and build, until one disastrous night it all goes too far, and the lives of those in the trailer park are never the same.

Running April 3 – May 3, 2009 is the 2006 Tony award winner for best play, The History Boys. The story blends comedy with tragedy as an unruly bunch of bright, funny senior boys in a British boarding school are in pursuit of sex, sports and a place at a good university. In all of their efforts, they are helped, hindered and enlightened by a maverick English teacher who seeks to broaden their horizons, and by a young history teacher who questions the methods of their schooling. In The History Boys, Alan Bennett raises – with gentle wit and pitch-perfect command of character – not only universal questions about the nature of history and how it is taught, but also questions about the purpose of education today.

From May 29 – June 28, 2009 Uptown Players will present a special bonus to the 2009 season from Jamie Morris, the creator of The Facts of Life: The Lost Episode. Mommie Queerest, featuring an all-male cast of four, tells the now-famous story of movie star Joan Crawford and her tumultuous relationship with adopted daughter Christina. This hilarious parody of the film classic “Mommie Dearest” revisits the film's most notorious and beloved scenes, from the infamous wire coat hanger episode to the chilling command, "Tina! Bring me the axe!" It's not just a spoof, though--it's a spoof with a twist as it's Joan who has the last laugh! This special bonus show will be presented at the Rose Room Theatre at Station 4.

Playing August 7 – September 6, 2009 is the regional premiere of Altar Boyz, winner of the 2005 Outer Critic Circle Award for best Off-Broadway musical. Altar Boyz is a foot-stomping, rafter-raising musical comedy about a fictitious Christian boy-band on the last night of their national "Raise
the Praise" tour. The Boyz are five all-singing, all-dancing heartthrobs from Ohio: Matthew, Mark, Luke, Juan and Abraham. With their tight harmonies and spectacular choreography, the Altar Boyz is a spoof on American pop culture, the popular boy bands of the late 1990s and early 2000s, and the successful contemporary Christian music scene.

Uptown Players will close its 2009 season with Breathe, a new musical by Dan Martin and Michael Biello. Hailed by critics for celebrating the human spirit, Breathe is an award-winning collection of seven short musical stories that celebrate gay and lesbian life. However, the show goes beyond sexual orientation to reach into our humanity. Full of a life-loving spirituality, its deeply felt celebration of humanity is a bittersweet antidote to the modern ailment of cynicism. Breathe, which will run October 9 through November 8, has the power to penetrate even the most hardened of hearts.

Uptown Players’ fundraiser, Broadway Our Way: Uptown Divas, light-heartedly pits the men against the women to determine who the true Divas of the Dallas stage really are. The evening features selections from your favorite Broadway shows both past and present, done with an Uptown Players twist! For the past six years, this show has been a complete sell-out and is sure to be a hot ticket for January 2009. The show’s dates are January 9-18, 2009.

Tickets for all shows cost between $22-30 (except Broadway Our Way), and performances start at 8 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays and at 2 p.m. on Sundays for shows at the KD Studio Theatre (2600 Stemmons Freeway; I-35 at Motor Street). Performances of Mommie Queerest will run at 8 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturday evenings and 7 p.m. on Sunday evenings at the Rose Room Theatre at Station 4 (3911 Cedar Springs).  Season ticket flex packages are also available and include great discounts and reserved seats. Individual and season tickets can be purchased online at www.uptownplayers.org or by phone at 214-219-2718.

Uptown Players 2009 Season:

Broadway Our Way – January 9 –18, 2009

Trials and Tribulations of a Trailer Trash Housewife – February 13 – March 15, 2009

The History Boys – April 3 – May 3, 2009

Mommie Queerest – May 29 – June 28, 2009

Altar Boyz – August 7 – September 6, 2009

Breathe – October 9 – November 8, 2009

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Now in its eighth season, Uptown Players has gathered a dedicated following with an annual audience base of nearly 11,000 patrons, including more than 900 season subscribers. The response from the community and critics has been remarkable, including more than 25 Leon Rabin Awards from the Dallas Theatre League, several hundred “The Column” Awards and 18 Theatre Critics Forum Awards in its first seven seasons. Uptown Players has also been named the best theatre company by the Dallas Voice Readers in 2006 and 2007 and by the Dallas Observer in 2004 and 2005. Uptown Players is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization, presenting plays and musicals that challenge audiences artistically, build cultural bridges and strive to create greater positive public awareness and acceptance through the performing arts. There is no other theater group with this unique mission in the Dallas area.