The 40th Season of Geva Theatre Center Celebrated with its Artistic Director, Mark Cuddy, at 11:00 AM

Join Host Robert Hammond as he talks in studio with Mark Cuddy, artistic director of Geva Theatre Center, about its upcoming 40th season, and the final show of this season, Stephen Sondheim’s musical, Company, May 9th  through June 10th.

Geva’s 40th season begins with You Can’t Take It With You in September.  A screwball comedy that pits the eccentric Sycamore family – prone to spontaneous eruptions of music, dance, poetry and fireworks – against the buttoned-up bigwigs of Wall Street and the IRS. When Alice Sycamore agrees to marry the son of ultra-conservative parents, will true love win out? A Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway classic the whole family will enjoy!

The 40th season concludes in May 2013 with Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night‘s Dream.  A quartet of mismatched lovers and a band of bumbling rustics cross paths with the feuding fairy king and queen in a magical moonlit forest on a midsummer night. Weaving three stories of love, magic and perception, Shakespeare’s most popular comedy has been an audience favorite for centuries. An enchanting celebration of love, innocence and imagination for the entire family!

Geva will celebrate Charles Dickens’ 200th Birthday with a Rochester holiday tradition, A CHRISTMAS CAROL (November 23-December 23).

Another highlight during the 40th season is the musical Next to Normal (January 8-February 10).  Featuring an electrifying contemporary score of more than 30 songs, this groundbreaking, Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical is an emotional powerhouse. Captivating and ultimately hopeful, Next to Normal aims right for the heart with its story of a suburban family coming to terms with its past and bravely facing its future. The New York Times raves “It is much more than a feel-good musical; it is a feel-everything musical.”

Geva Theatre Center

Geva Theatre Center, Rochester’s leading professional theatre, has been at the cultural heart of the Genesee Valley for 39 years. Offering the very best in live theatre, from fresh looks at classics and musicals, to lively comedies and powerful, thought-provoking dramas, Geva has something for everyone.

Founded in 1972, Geva attracts over 180,000 patrons annually, including more than 20,000 students. The 552-seat Elaine P. Wilson Mainstage offers a wide variety of shows, from musicals to reinvigorated American and world classics. The Ron & Donna Fielding Nextstage, Geva's engaging 180-seat second stage, features fresh contemporary theatre and is also home to Geva's new play developement programs, the Hornets' Nest series and Geva Comedy Improv.

Geva draws upon the talent of the actors, directors, designers and writers from around the country who are shaping the American theatre scene. Geva Theatre Center also offers a wide variety of educational, community and literary programs designed to:

• enrich and deepen the theatre-going experience for their current audience
• provide access and affordable theatre to the Rochester community, including thousands of area students
• develop new plays and playwrights
• nurture the audiences and artists of the next generation

From the Mainstage to The Nextstage to the classroom and beyond, Geva Theatre Center is an active member of the Rochester community, offering a multitude of opportunities for its audience to get into the act.

MARK CUDDY

Mark Cuddy is in his 17th season as Artistic Director of Geva Theatre Center. He has led Geva through a renaissance of artistic and institutional growth with a diverse repertory, topflight artists, wide-reaching educational programs and a commitment to new play development. As a director, Mr. Cuddy is known for his productions of musicals, contemporary comedies and premieres. This Spring he will stage Superior Donuts and Company. Recent Geva productions include his own adaptation of A Christmas Carol with music and lyrics by Gregg Coffin, The Music Man, Sweeney Todd, Fences, Five Course Love, A Christmas Story, and Pride and Prejudice (co-adaptor). Among his many other Geva credits are the world premieres of Convenience (musical) by Gregg Coffin, Theophilus North by Matthew Burnett from Thornton Wilder (also at Arena Stage), Splitting Infinity by Jamie Pachino, Famous Orpheus by Oyamo (choreography by Garth Fagan), House and Garden by Alan Ayckbourn (East Coast premiere), and That Was Then (American premiere). Mr. Cuddy has also served as Artistic Director of Sacramento Theatre Company, Producing Director of the Idaho Shakespeare Festival and on the directing staff of the Denver Center Theatre Company. He proudly serves on the board of directors of the national service organizations for non-profit theatres, Theatre Communications Group, and has served on the review panels for the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York State Council on the Arts. He received his B.A. in Theatre/Honors from the University of Massachusetts where he was a Commonwealth Scholar. He resides in Rochester with his wife, artist Christina Selian, who teaches crafts to children in their Highland Park home. Their older son, Maximilian, recently returned from South Africa where he taught English on a Fulbright Scholarship. Their younger son, Augustus, is in the 11th grade at the Rochester School of the Arts with a creative writing emphasis, as well as acting in school plays.