Westport Country Playhouse Announces 2022 Season, “The season will make you feel, think, and spark conversation”

Westport Country Playhouse announces its upcoming 92nd Season, from April to November 2022, featuring five productions, staged before a live audience, under the artistic direction of Mark Lamos. “The season will make you feel, think, and spark conversation,” said Lamos.

“Some amazing artists have been assembled to deliver great theater experiences,” said Lamos. “Choreographer Camille A. Brown and a thrilling design team will create a brand new production of ‘Ain’t Misbehavin’’ that will feature the music of Fats Waller, a large cast, and lots of dancing; Marcos Santana, who directed and choreographed ‘In the Heights’ in 2019, will give us a blazing interpretation of the groundbreaking musical, ‘Next to Normal.’”

Lamos continued, “And our other three shows are knock-outs. David Kennedy, Playhouse associate artistic director, will helm Amy Herzog's beautiful, insightful play about generational divide, ‘4000 Miles’; I'll be exploring Young Jean Lee's exuberant and extraordinary ‘Straight White Men’; and our season will conclude with a moving, joyful celebration of spirit-- Endesha Ida Mae Holland's thrilling ‘From the Mississippi Delta.’ 

“The season invites us to experience lives like--and unlike--our own,” Lamos added.

2022 season package renewals are underway for current subscribers and may be renewed by mail at 25 Powers Court, Westport CT 06880; in person at the Playhouse box office Tuesdays through Fridays between 12 and 6 p.m.; by phone at 203-227-4177; or online at the Playhouse’s ticketing portal (if no changes are needed) at:  tickets.westportplayhouse.org/packages/renewals

For new season ticket buyers, packages will go on sale Tuesday, November 9, offering savings, priority seating, restaurant discounts, $10 off extra tickets, and patron flexibility, including a choice of five-play or four-play options.  

Single tickets for 2022 productions will be available early next year.  

Last year, the global pandemic shut down the Playhouse’s 2020 Season. During 2021, the Playhouse has produced online, outdoors, and on the radio, This November, in-person theatrical productions will resume with a live staging of John Patrick Shanley’s Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning drama, “Doubt: A Parable,” playing November 2 - 20. In addition, the play will be filmed before a live audience for on-demand streaming at home. Playhouse management continues to be guided by science and listening to its audience, with safety as the highest priority.

Opening the 2022 season from April 5 through April 23 will be the musical, “Next to Normal,” with music by Tom Kitt, book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey, and directed by Marcos Santana.  “Next to Normal,” a 2009 Tony Award®-winning musical and winner of the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, gives an unconventional look at a family in crisis, while pushing the boundaries of contemporary musical theater.

“Straight White Men,” written by Young Jean Lee and directed by Mark Lamos, will play from May 24 through June 11. It’s Christmas Eve, and Ed has invited his three grown sons back to their family home for Chinese takeout, pranks, and gossip. But when an impossible question threatens the cheery festivities, they’re forced to face their own identities.

A dance-filled, reimagined, sassy, and sultry “Ain’t Misbehavin’” will run from July 5 through July 23. The 1978 Tony Award® winner for Best Musical celebrates the legendary jazz great Fats Waller. The show as you’ve never seen it before will be directed and choreographed by Camille A. Brown, 2019 Tony® nominee for Best Choreography for “Choir Boy.” The musical is conceived by Richard Maltby Jr. and Murray Horwitz. Barrington Stage Company in Pittsfield, MA, will co-produce.

“4000 Miles,” written by Amy Herzog and directed by David Kennedy, Playhouse associate artistic director, will be staged from August 23 through September 10. After suffering a major loss while on a cross-country bike trip, 21-year-old Leo seeks solace from his feisty 91-year-old grandmother in her Greenwich Village apartment. Over the course of a single month, these unlikely roommates infuriate, bewilder, and ultimately find each other. “4000 Miles” was a finalist for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and winner of the 2012 Obie Award for Best New Play.

The 2022 Season will culminate with “From the Mississippi Delta” by Endesha Ida Mae Holland, from October 18 through November 5. The journey begins in Greenwood, Mississippi--the Delta--where Phelia works in the cotton fields. Her experiences inspire her to dream, sweeping her into the momentum of the civil rights movement and attending college in the north. The play won a Los Angeles Drama-Logue Award and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. 

All titles, artists, dates, times, and formats are subject to change.

The performance schedule is Tuesday at 7 p.m., Wednesday at 2 and 8 p.m., Thursday and Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 3 and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m.  (No Wed. or Sat. matinees during preview week). Special series include LGBT Night, Opening Night, Sunday Symposium, Backstage Pass, and others.

For updates on Covid-19 health and safety protocols at the Playhouse, visit https://www.westportplayhouse.org/visit/covid19safety/

For more information on season tickets packages, visit www.westportplayhouse.org, or call the box office Tues., through Fri., 12 to 6 p.m., at (203) 227-4177, or visit Westport Country Playhouse, 25 Powers Court, off Route 1, Westport. Stay connected to the Playhouse on Facebook (Westport Country Playhouse), follow on Twitter (@WCPlayhouse), and on YouTube (WestportPlayhouse).