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VIRGINIA WOOLF tickets go on sale today at the Vandivort... save up to $6 with a Flex Pass
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Our Box Office is open this week Tuesday-Friday 12-4 PM. The theatre and box office is located at 305 E. Walnut Street, 4th floor, in downtown Springfield MO. Call 417-831-8001 (out of town 888-452-0930) for tickets or more information. Tickets may be purchased over the phone, using a credit card or in person, at our box office.
Volunteer ushers are needed for most performances. Call to sign up and receive complementary seating for that performance. Ushers need to report to the theatre 40 minutes before each performance.
Tickets now on sale for Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is directed by Robert Bradley, Featuring Julie Bloodworth, Terry Bloodworth, Nicole Boldt and David Lee. The relationships of two married couples are changed forever after a long night of the game, "Get the Guest." Edward Albee's most famous Tony® Award winning play is still as excoriating now as it was when it opened on Broadway in 1962. The greatest American play of the last 50 years. This play contains mature language and subjects.
September 5-6, 11-13, 18-20 at 7:30 PM September 14 at 2:00 PM
Vandivort Center Theatre, 305 E Walnut St. Reserved Seat Tickets: Opening weekend, Sept. 5 & 6, all seats $12. Thursday & Sunday: $16 Adult, $14 Senior (55 and over) & Student. Friday & Saturday: $18 Adult, $16 Senior & Student. Group Rates Available for 12 or more. Student Rush Tickets $10 (if seats are available) 30 minutes before each performance, with I.D. All prices include 7.1% sales tax. A $2 handling charge is added to all mail orders.
Excerpt from director Robert Bradley’s playbill notes:
In 1962 Edward Albee created a sensation with Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?, his first full-length play and first Broadway production. John Chapman of the Daily News was perhaps the most vehement response. His Sunday News article following the opening headlined: For Dirty Minded Females Only. He wrote: “while I cringed and shuttered at the most soiled and fruitiest language I have yet heard on a stage, the house was echoing with the shrieks and guffaws of the ‘ladies.’… Who’s Afraid is merely sensational. Ladies, you may have it. Whoop, holler, squeal, yip, shriek and gasp deliciously to the content of your dear little hearts. Albee, I fear you are a goner.” Many critics praised the play for its power but found its plotting weak. What was the story, and what was this missing kid? Michael Smith in his review in the Village Voice was one of the few critics who recognized that Albee was challenging the basics of Ibsenite playwriting: “Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? is subtly but critically, a new kind of play, in that it presents an apparently naturalistic scenario while deviating significantly from naturalistic convention.” It won the Broadway Tony in 1963 for Best Play but was denied the Pulitizer Prize for Drama. The Drama Advisory Panel recommended it for the prize, but the Trustees of Columbia University, the final arbiters, reversed the decision and gave no award for that year. John Gassner and John Mason Brown of the Drama Panel resigned in protest.
In 1966 the screen version with Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor was released. It made Albee a household name throughout America. He was overall pleased with the film but had a number of reservations concerning the toning down of the language, much more than the Broadway version had; the cutting of many of the speeches; and the lack of finding the humor in the play.
For various productions since then Albee has made small revisions to the script. In 2004 for the new Broadway production with Kathleen Turner and Bill Irwin, he made his most extensive changes. Dramatists Play Service has now replaced the original acting edition from 1962 with a new one called “Definitive Edition.”
The “Definitive Edition” is the script that is being used for this production.
Want to save up to $6 per ticket this season? We can not give you a gas credit card...but we can save you money on your night at the theatre! Now is the time to purchase a Vandivort Flex Pass for the 2008-2009 Season. Good at both the Vandivort Center Theatre and the Vandivort 2nd Stage.
Auditions coming up for ANNIE and FUDDY MEERS Go to our audition web pages for complete information.