Napa’s Lucky Penny Productions have annnounced their 2022-2023 season of plays and musicals. The company’s 14th season is expected to be their first full season since 2018-19 and will launch in September 2022 at the Lucky Penny Community Arts Center. The following productions are currently scheduled:
VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE
September 9-25, 2022
Middle-aged siblings Vanya and Sonia share a home in Bucks County, PA, where they bicker and complain about the circumstances of their lives. Suddenly, their movie-star sister, Masha, swoops in with her new boy toy, Spike. Old resentments flare up, eventually leading to threats to sell the house. Also on the scene are sassy maid Cassandra, who can predict the future, and a lovely young aspiring actress named Nina, whose prettiness somewhat worries the imperious Masha. The 2013 Tony Award for Best Play went to this black comedy by Christopher Durang.
SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET
October 21-November 6, 2022
Originally scheduled to open one week after the 2020 pandemic-initiated shutdown, Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler’s Tony Award-winning musical about an unjustly exiled and imprisoned barber who returns to 19th century London seeking vengeance against the lecherous judge who framed him and ravaged his young wife will finally take the stage in Napa.
A NAPA VALLEY CHRISTMAS CAROL
December 2-18, 2022
This modern adaptation of the Dickens classic – written by Lucky Penny co-founder Barry Martin with original music and lyrics by Rob Broadhurst – premiered during the 2021 holiday season and will return for another holiday run. Winery owner Alexander Yuge is a financial success but his heartless attitude earns him few friends. Even his loyal nephew Joe Patchett wonders what’s gone wrong. But a familiar yet mysterious group of Christmas Eve visitors help Yuge remember what really matters.
SAVING SANTA
December 3-18, 2022
What happens when Santa’s sleigh crash lands on Mt. St. Helena on Christmas Eve? Can a frantic elf get help from the people of Napa Valley to save Santa and save Christmas? Another original holiday creation with a local flair and featuring new original songs by Rob Broadhurst, this show for kids will run with different curtain times during the same weekends as A Napa Valley Christmas Carol.
DISNEY’S DESCENDANTS: THE MUSICAL A Young Actors Production
January 27-February 12, 2023
It is present-day, and in the kingdom of Auradon, all of Disney’s beloved heroes and royalty are living happily ever after, safe from the terrifying villains and troublesome sidekicks they have banished to the magic-free Isle of the Lost. That is until Ben, the benevolent teenage son of Belle and King Adam (The Beast), offers a chance of redemption for the troublemaking offspring of the evilest villains. The children of Maleficent, the Evil Queen, Cruella De Vil, and Jafar – are welcomed to Auradon Prep to attend school with the children of their parents’ sworn enemies. Will they follow in their parents’ wicked footsteps or learn to be good? Based on the popular Disney Channel Original Movies, it’s a brand-new musical comedy featuring the characters and songs from the films.
AND THE WORLD GOES ‘ROUND
March 10-26, 2023
This musical showcases the songs of John Kander and Fred Ebb, Broadway legends who brought the world the music of Cabaret, Chicago, and Kiss of the Spider Woman, and collaborated on classics including “New York, New York” and “My Coloring Book.”
SILENT SKY
April 21-May 7, 2023
When Henrietta Leavitt began work at the Harvard Observatory in the early 1900s, she wasn’t allowed to touch a telescope or express an original idea. Instead, she joined a group of female “computers,” charting the stars for a renowned astronomer who calculated projects in “girl hours” and had no time for the women’s probing theories. As Henrietta, in her free time, attempted to measure the light and distance of stars, she also took measure of her life on Earth, trying to balance her dedication to science with family obligations and the possibility of love. This true story of 19th-century astronomer Henrietta Leavitt was written by the Bay Area’s Lauren Gunderson. It explores a woman’s place in society during a time of immense scientific discoveries, when women’s ideas were dismissed until men claimed credit for them.
THE GREAT AMERICAN TRAILER PARK MUSICAL 10TH Anniversary Revival
June 2-18, 2023
In 2012, Lucky Penny brought this musical to the Napa Valley Playhouse in Napa. This tenth anniversary revival will star much of the original cast. Break out your best Trailer Trash attire and get ready for the show the creators David Nehls and Betsy Kelso call “an all-American musical odyssey through agoraphobia, adultery, hysterical pregnancy, strippers, huffing, electric chairs, flan, roadkill, toll collecting, spray cheese, guns, and disco.”
Learn more about Lucky Penny at www.luckypennynapa.com.
North Bay Stage and Screen 