Adam Richins for Sister School images— @adamrichinsphoto, www.adamrichins.com
Moonbox’s twelfth season to kick-off in September.
BOSTON, MA – Moonbox Productions, winner of numerous IRNE and Elliot Norton Awards, is thrilled to announce its theatrical line up for the 2022-2023 season. In September, Moonbox is excited to kick-off its season with two original works performed in repertory, The Good Deli by Kevin Cirone and Jonathan by Mary ElizaBeth Peters. The season continues in December with Harvey Fierstein’s Tony-Award-winning play, Torch Song and in April Moonbox will showcase its own take on one of the greatest musicals of all time, the Tony-Award-winning favorite Guys and Dolls. Moonbox will close out its season in the summer of 2023 with its 2nd Annual Boston New Works Festival.
As in previous seasons, Moonbox continues its commitment to bring new works to the stage with the debut of two original plays by two local playwrights and Moonbox Alumni: The Good Deli by Kevin Cirone, directed by Allison Olivia Choat, and Jonathan by Mary ElizaBeth Peters, directed by Brad Reinking. Performed in repertory, the plays will open at the Boston Center for the Arts Plaza Theatre on September 15th and run through October 2nd.
The Good Deli
September 15 — October 2
The Good Deli centers on Julia, an up-and-coming Boston comedian whose career is building even as her life is falling apart. It’s a night like any other until Julia’s stepmom calls in a panic – her estranged father is on his deathbed. Julia rushes to his side, only to find him seemingly the same wise-ass curmudgeon he always was – only now he’s obsessed with the Italian deli the family visited when Julia was a child. With moral support from an unlikely group of allies, including a former priest, an exotic dancer, and her nerdy brother Max, Julia sets out to find the mythical deli and give their father the sandwich of his dreams… only now her entire family is tagging along and they’re hitting every red light from Maine to Boston, all while trying to reconnect to a deli – and a past – that may be lost forever.
Jonathan
September 15 — October 2
In Jonathan, Jonathan is a young man with autism working at a big-box store the week before Christmas. But as the holiday season heats up, his personal aspirations are at odds with the reality of how he is treated. Will Jonathan push to keep his job, or give up? Will his employer help him succeed, or get rid of him? Jonathan will ask audiences to consider what we really believe in America: about adults with disabilities, about employment, and about the creature comforts of a retail economy.
Torch Song
December 2 – December 23
In December, Moonbox Productions will continue the season with the Harvey Fierstein’s Tony-Award-winning play Torch Song, directed by Allison Olivia Choat. Torch Song opens December 2nd and runs through December 23rd at the Boston Center for the Arts Roberts Theater.
Hilarious and heart wrenching, Torch Song follows Arnold Beckoff on his odyssey to find happiness in New York. All he wants is a husband, a child and a pair of bunny slippers that fit, but a visit from his overbearing mother reminds him that he needs one thing more: respect. Join Arnold on this all-too-human journey about the families we’re born into, the families we choose, and the battles to bring them all home. Starring Moonbox alum and Elliot Norton Award nominee Peter Mill as Arnold Beckoff.
The House of Ramon Iglesia
April 14 – April 30
The House of Ramon Iglesia opens April 14th and runs through April 30th at the Mosesian Center for the Arts. The House of Ramon Iglesia is a play about a bright, Americanised son’s tortured efforts to break away from his tradition-bound parents. A break that can’t be made until he learns to accept the ethnic heritage he has spent his life trying to suppress. This probing drama by a very talented new Hispanic playwright was a co-winner of a very prestigious national playwrighting contest sponsored by CBS, and was produced successfully in NYC by the excellent Ensemble Studio Theatre.
2nd Annual Boston New Works Festival
June 2023
To wrap up its season, Moonbox looks forward to bringing its 2nd Annual Boston New Works Festival to the Calderwood Pavilion and the Boston Center for the Arts during the summer of 2023.
“In addition to holding our SECOND New Works Festival next summer, we will, for the first time, be presenting two brand new theatrical pieces by local playwrights as part of our mainstage season,” said Producer Sharman Altshuler.
“That feels amazing as we come out of our very first New Works Festival this past June, and it really puts a cherry on the top of our bustling new works initiative! Torch Song will bring warmth and hilarious humor to the chilly months, and Guys and Dolls is an all-time favorite of mine and many of us on the Moonbox team, so wrapping up the regular season with this incredible musical is a dream come true! It’s going to be a great season and we can’t wait to share it with our amazing community,” said Altshuler.
Throughout the 2022-2023 season, Moonbox will also continue its support of local non-profits by partnering with a different non-profit organization for each show, giving them greater visibility and helping them to increase the reach and impact of their work.