DO YOU WANT WHAT I HAVE GOT?, FALSETTOS, et al. Set for Acting Up Stage Company's in 2012-2013

Acting Up Stage Company – Toronto's premiere not-for-profit musical theatre – announced its ninth season today. The season includes the new musical DO YOU WANT WHAT I HAVE GOT? A CRAIGSLIST CANTATA, FALSETTOS and more.

Since 2005, Acting Up Stage Company has played a leading role in producing, developing and advancing modern musical theatre in Toronto. In 2011-2012, the company's productions of Ride The Cyclone and Caroline, or Change both enjoyed critical acclaim and sold-out houses.

In its 2012-2013 season, the company will build upon, and enhance, its three primary areas of focus: modern musical productions, youth education & outreach, and new musical development.

First, Acting Up Stage Company is proud to partner with Factory Theatre for the Toronto premiere of DO YOU WANT WHAT I HAVE GOT? A CRAIGSLIST CANTATA. Having sold-out its extended run at Vancouver's PuSh Festival in January 2012, this original musical by Veda Hille and Bill Richardson sets actual Craigslist postings to music in a 90 minute song-cycle. Both hilarious and surprisingly poignant, DO YOU WANT WHAT I HAVE GOT? A CRAIGSLIST CANTATA explores contemporary humanity through the lens of Craigslist – an online classified site with over 50 million ads posted each month.

The musical is the brainchild of two of Vancouver's most beloved cultural icons: Bill Richardson is an award-winning writer and well-known CBC radio broadcaster and composer Veda Hille is one of Canada's foremost indie singer-songwriters. Amiel Gladstone – a Jessie Award-winning director and playwright – directs. Do You Want What I Have Got? A Craigslist Cantata runs from February 2 to March 3, 2013 at Factory Studio Theatre.

Next is the first major Toronto revival in eighteen years of William Finn and James Lapine's FALSETTOS, produced in association with the Harold Green Jewish Theatre Company. Consisting of two one-act plays, written nearly 10 years apart, FALSETTOS tells the story of Marvin, a married father who – in 1979 – leaves his wife and son for another man and hopes that they can all live as a 'tight-knit' family. Act 1 (March of the Falsettos) explores the destruction of his dreams for a nuclear family while Act 2 (Falsettoland) depicts this unusual family unit coming together in light of the emergence of AIDS.

Featuring a sung-through score and a highly unusual method of storytelling using rapidfire vignettes, FALSETTOS has a sharp wit and deep humanity. A Tony and Drama Desk award-winning musical, FALSETTOS looks at a community during a time of significant change, and, filtered through a contemporary perspective, offers a platform to discuss how far society has or has not progressed in redefining the traditional family.

FALSETTOS runs April 23 to May 12, 2013 at the Regent Park Arts & Cultural Centre.

Additionally, Acting Up Stage Company will produce its annual concert, exploring the music of a non-theatre artist, and re-envisioning an iconic musical catalogue through a storytelling lens. This year's concert will feature the music of Carole King and James Taylor. TAPESTRIES will play at the Jane Mallet Theatre on November 17 and 18, 2012.

After launching the NoteWorthy program in May 2011, our 2012-2013 season will see the development of our first musical commission. ALEXANDRIA – with book and lyrics by Andrew Kushnir (The Middle Place, Foto) and music by Reza Jacobs (composer of Shakuntala, Plastic!) – tells the story of two casualties of the Information Age – a librarian who is being forced into early retirement due to her school's new emphasis on "digital literacy", and a young man who has become consumed by a disquieting and potentially fatal online forum. Using the rhythms of the Dewey Decimal System as inspiration for its musical voice, and an innovative theatricality to represent its real and virtual worlds, ALEXANDRIA will receive a reading in Summer 2012 and a workshop in Fall 2012.

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