Centerstage artistic director Irene Lewis announced the upcoming season April 15.

The new season at the Maryland venue will kick off with Thornton Wilder's romantic classic, The Matchmaker, playing Sept. 10-Oct. 5 in the Pearlstone Theater. Irene Lewis will direct the play that was the source material for Jerry Herman's Tony-winning musical Hello, Dolly!

Edward Albee's tale of marital dysfunction, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, will follow, playing Oct. 22-Nov. 16 in the Pearlstone.

The aforementioned Caroline, or Change — about the struggles and aspirations of an African-American maid during the turbulent 1960s — will be presented in the Pearlstone Dec. 10, 2008-Jan. 11, 2009. Associate artist E. Faye Butler will star in the title role that was created on Broadway by Tony winner Tonya Pinkins.

The new year will continue with Lynn Nottage's Fabulation, or The Re-education of Undine, playing Jan. 28-March 8, 2009, in the Head Theatre. The work "traces upwardly mobile Undine's fall from grace and material wealth as she learns to accept herself and her weaknesses after moving back in with her family in the projects." Artistic director Lewis will also helm the staging of John Ford's 'Tis Pity She's a Whore, which will be seen in the Pearlstone March 11-April 5, 2009. "This 17th-century revenge tragedy," Centerstage notes, "features a plot redolent of Romeo & Juliet, with a twist of extra-forbidden love—the star-crossed lovers are brother and sister."

The season will conclude with Theresa Rebeck's The Understudy, which will play the Head Theatre April 22-May 31, 2009. The comedy — penned by the author of Mauritius — "takes an incisive look at one of theatre's most underrated roles."

For ticket information call (410) 332-0033 or visit members.centerstage.org.