Doyle returns to the Playhouse, having premiered the 2006 actor-musician revival of Stephen Sondheim's Company there prior to its Tony-winning Broadway transfer. The staging of Three Sisters marks the first non-musical production Doyle has directed for American audiences.
Presented in the Marx Theatre, the creative team will feature past Doyle collaborators: Tony-winning costume designer Ann Hould-Ward (Company, Road Show), lighting designer Jane Cox (Road Show) and Tony-winning scenic designer Scott Pask (Coast of Utopia).
Ruhl, who will make her Broadway debut this fall with the Lincoln Center Theater production of In the Next Room or the vibrator play, has adapted the Chekhov classic about longing and unfulfilled dreams. Three Sisters will run Oct. 24-Nov. 21, with an opening night scheduled for Oct. 29.
Launching the Marx Theatre season will be Anthony Shaffer's Tony-winning stage thriller Sleuth, running Sept. 5-Oct. 3 (opening Sept. 10). The season will also include the world premiere of Walter Mosley's The Fall of Heaven, running Jan. 23-Feb. 20, 2010 (opening Jan. 28). Based on Mosley's novel "The Tempest Tales," the work follows "a street-wise young man living in Harlem, who unexpectedly finds himself at the Pearly Gates."
Tony-nominated composer Paul Gordon, who opened the 2008 Playhouse season with his musical Emma, will return with his new musical comedy Daddy Long Legs, which runs March 13-April 10, 2010 (opening March 18). Tony-winning director John Caird (Les Miserables) stages the production, which arrives in Cincinnati following its world premiere at TheatreWorks in Palo Alto. The new turn-of-the-century musical tells the story of a young orphan girl whose education is supported by an anonymous benefactor, whom she dubs "Daddy Long Legs." Tony-nominated scenic designer David Farley (2008 Sunday in the Park with George) will serve on the creative team.
The final Marx Theatre offering will be a production of the Fats Waller revue Ain't Misbehavin', running May 1-29, 2010 (opening May 6).
The Thompson Shelterhouse Season commences with the world premiere of Michele Lowe's Victoria Musica, running Sept. 26-Oct. 25 (opening Oct. 1). "This fast-moving story of suspense begins when a world-famous cellist dies, and a music critic begins to suspect that her legacy of extraordinary recordings are all frauds."
The holidays feature the Playhouse revival of Sanders Family Christmas: More Smoke on the Mountain, running Nov. 7-Dec. 31 (opening Nov. 12); while National Public Radio humorist Kevin Kling will present his humorous and heartfelt personal story How? How? Why? Why? Why? Feb. 13-March 14, 2010 (opening Feb. 18).
David Bar Katz's play The History of Invulnerability, which explores the personal life of Superman creator Jerry Siegel, will run April 3-May 2, 2010 (opening April 8); and Edward Stern will stage The Fantasticks, running May 15-June 20, 2010 (opening May 20).
The holidays will also welcome the annual return of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, running Dec. 3-30 in the Marx Theatre under the direction of Michael Evan Haney.
For season subscriptions phone (513) 421-3888 or visit cincyplay.com. Single tickets will begin sale Aug. 17.
