Henegar Center for the Arts & Red Carpet Productions Announce Upcoming Theatre Season

2009-2010 Theatre Season brings comedies and musicals to historic downtown Melbourne

Henegar Center, Melbourne, May 28, 2009:  The Henegar Center for the Arts in historic downtown Melbourne proudly announces its 2009-2010 theatre season.  Red Carpet Productions is the resident company at the Henegar Center for the Arts dedicated to creating an entertaining, high-quality theatre experience.  Red Carpet Productions was formed to readily identify the theatre productions that the Henegar Center produces.  After six successful theatre seasons, the staff and board of directors of the Henegar Center for the Arts continues to commit to producing full seasons of Broadway style theatre.  

The Henegar Center offers the opportunity to become a season subscriber.  Season tickets are available for five full-scale productions with guaranteed seating.  Season tickets are $89 for seniors 65+ and $99 for adults.  Season tickets are available beginning June 29, 2009. The 2009-2010 Red Carpet Productions season opens with Treasure Island (August 7 – 30). Based on the masterful adventure novel by Robert Louis Stevenson, adapted by Ken Ludwig, Treasure Island is a stunning yarn of piracy on the tropical seas. An unforgettable tale of treachery and mayhem featuring a host of legendary swashbucklers. At the center of it all are Jim Hawkins, a 14-year-old boy who longs for adventure, and Long John Silver, who is a complex study of good and evil, perhaps the most famous hero-villain of all time. His greedy quest for gold and his gruff affection for Jim, will win the heart of every soul who has ever longed for treasure and adventure! 

Lucky Stiff (October 2 – 25) Harry Witherspoon is an unassuming English shoe salesman living an uneventful life until he learns that his uncle Anthony, a casino manager from Atlantic City has been killed by his blind lover. Harry learns that he stands to inherit six million dollars from his uncle, but only if he agrees to take his uncle’s corpse on a trip to Monte Carlo. Harry sets out to fulfill Anthony’s dying wish, however he meets a host of quirky characters that are also in hot pursuit of his uncle’s money. A razzle-dazzle musical with the zany antics of a Marx Brothers movie by the Tony Award winning creators of Ragtime and Seussical the Musical.

              You Can’t Take it with You  (January 8 – 31) You Can’t Take it With You relates the humorous encounter between a conservative family, the Sycamores, and the crazy household of Grandpa Martin Vanderhof. Critics have admired the witty one-liners of this over the top comedy, but the moral of the story is a serious one: Find in yourself the courage to do with your life what you really want to do. Undeniably escapist theatre, which prompts immediate enjoyment, this play has clearly influenced American Comedy!

The Producers (March 5 –  28) Bialystock and Bloom! Max Bialystock is a washed up Broadway producer who is forced to romance rich old ladies to finance his efforts, and Leo Bloom is a mousey CPA who comes to review Max’s books. When the two meet, their combined expertise points them toward the ultimate Broadway scam. Outrageous, hilarious, a teeny bit offensive, off the wall but never boring – populated with colorful characters and enlivened with witty songs filled with sly cultural references – you will find yourself holding your sides with laughter as Max and Leo sing and dance their way through the greatest show biz scam that there ever was! It is truly a “boffo” hit, winning a record 12 Tony Awards and wowing capacity crowds!

Mark Twain’s Is He Dead? (April 23 – May 16)  Inspired by the posthumous bidding war that broke out between the United States and France over Jean-Francois Millet’s paining “The Angelus”, Is He Dead? is a fast paced comedy about  a group of poor artists who stage the death of their mentor, a young painter of genius, to drive up the price of his paintings. In order for the scheme to succeed, the artists hatch various hilarious plots involving cross-dressing, a full-scale fake funeral, lovers’ deceptions, and much more. Written in 1898 by master American novelist and satirist Mark Twain, Is He Dead? remained unpublished until it was rediscovered in 2002. “An elaborate comedy that reaches especially giddy comic heights!”            

Many of the programs of the Henegar Center for the Arts are sponsored in part by the State of Florida – Division of Cultural Affairs and Brevard County Board of County Commissioners through the Brevard Cultural Alliance, Inc. 

To receive a Season Ticket Package call the Henegar Center Box Office at (321) 723-8698 during regular business hours, Monday through Friday 10 am – 6pm, Saturday 10 am-4pm.  Season tickets are available for $99 for adults and $89 for seniors 65+.  For additional information visit the center’s website at www.henegar.org.