Oregon Stage Works is best known for challenging plays such as Michael Frayn's "Copenhagen" and Martin McDonagh's "Beauty Queen of Leeane." But on Thursday, Jan. 25, it will open its production of Ernest Thompson's "On Golden Pond," one of the most-produced plays in the world, in its theater in Ashland's A Street Market Place. Bruce Wallace Hostetler is directing.
"On Golden Pond" will play at 8 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays, Jan. 25 through Feb. 25, with $10 previews at 8 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, Jan. 23-24.
Through an arrangement with Jefferson Public Radio, Oregon Stage Works will take the play to the Cascade Theatre in Redding, Calif., for a special run March 1-4.
"On Golden Pond" is the story of a long-married couple, Norman and Ethel, who return to their family cottage in Maine for what may be their last summer together. When their daughter, Chelsea, arrives unexpectedly with her new boyfriend's young son in tow, the visit stirs up both old resentments and new opportunities for love. The play was made into a 1981 Oscar-winning film with Katharine Hepburn and Henry and Jane Fonda.
"On Golden Pond" is a play about an imperfect people loving one another across various distances that divide them, and it's also about aging.
Advertisement | |
Alzado says with families more spread out than ever, the play is particularly timely.
"It would be nice to think that in families there is nothing irreparable," he says, "that there's a way for families to find a way back to one another."
Doug Rowe will play Norman Thayer Jr., and Brandy Carson will play Ethel Thayer. Daughter Chelsea will be played by Wendy Spurgeon. Joel Handley is cast as Charlie Martin, Sam King as Bill Ray.
Rowe is a Broadway veteran who served for 20 years as the artistic and executive director of the Laguna Playhouse in Laguna Beach, Calif., and has acted in many movies and television shows.
Carson worked in television, commercials and live theater in Los Angeles before moving to Ashland. She has appeared at Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Rogue Music Theatre and Oregon Cabaret Theatre and was last seen at Oregon Stage Works in "The Beauty Queen of Leenane."
Spurgeon played in OSW's "The Memory of Water" and "The Crucible" and directed the world premiere of "Ebenezer Who?"
Hostetler has directed opera, musicals, and theater productions from New York to Santa Cruz, including productions for OSW, the Sun Valley Shakespeare Festival, the OSF and its Daedalus Project. He is also working on the latest production in Rogue Opera's acclaimed series of children's touring shows.
Ham designed and directed more than 150 productions for Playhouse West, the San Francisco Opera and other theaters in the Bay Area before coming to Ashland. He is the house scenic designer and technical director for Ashland High School.
Alzado says the idea of teaming up with JPR to present a play in Redding dates back to talks he had with JPR's Paul Westhelle a year ago.
"We both felt the ideal project would be an American classic," he says.
The Cascade is an old, 1,300-seat art deco theater re-opened by JPR in 2004 after a $5.6 million restoration.
"It's a big stage and a beautiful theater," Alzado says. "Doug Ham designed the set with the understanding it would need to move and fill a much larger theater. Brian Wallace constructed it with that in mind."
Tickets are $17 general admission, $10 for students at Grocery Outlet, Medford; Music Coop, Ashland; or by calling 482-2334.
