Thanks to you, we’re now celebrating our tenth season of adventurous theater in Astoria.

This season our mainstage productions explore the idea of ‘home’ from a uniquely American perspective:

MilkMilkLemonade by Joshua Conkel and Galt MacDermot’s (HAIR) musical, The Human Comedy.

First up MilkMilkLemonade…

Last year’s buzz-worthy production of MilkMilkLemonade saw many eager ticket buyers turned away from sold-out performances at UNDER St. Marks in New York.

Produced by The Management and Horse Trade Theater Group, that production, directed by Isaac Butler, was nominated for four NY Innovative Theatre Awards, was voted Best Off-Off Broadway Show for 2009 by New York Press and received four stars from Time Out New York.

Unfortunately we were among the many who couldn’t get in to see it. So we’ve decided to bring the show to Astoria. With the original critically-acclaimed cast!

Due to scheduling conflicts, Butler was unable to take the director position.

But MilkMilkLemonade comes to life again beginning October 28th, under the direction of Jose Zayas (House of Spirits, Southern Promises) and runs through November 13th. We’re excited to have a talented director like Zayas put his mark on this production.

Artistic Director Tom Wojtunik explains the significance of MilkMilkLemonade as the opening show of the season: “For ten years APAC has been almost exclusively devoted to producing revivals. Our ten year anniversary is the perfect time to bring new work to the Astoria community. APAC is honored to offer audiences a new look at the critically-acclaimed play.”

From new work to a musical based on a classic novel

In May, APAC mounts the musical The Human Comedy, with music by Galt MacDermot (the composer of HAIR), libretto by William Dumaresq, from the story by William Saroyan. Wojtunik directs, reuniting the IT Awards nominated team from Children Of Eden: Christine O’Grady as choreographer and Michael P. Kramer as set designer.

An ode to “home,” The Human Comedy is one of the most enjoyable and moving musicals to have fallen into relative obscurity.

Beyond the mainstage

See how new works are developed with The 15/20s: Staged Readings of New Works.

This year the series continues with new works from:

• Wendy Macleod (The House of Yes) - The Groaning Board
• Nastaran Ahmadi - Doctoring
• Sarah Overman - Afterglow (A Comedie of Bad Manners)
• Alex Goldberg - It Is Done

Wojtunik remarks, “I wouldn’t be surprised if one or more of these plays are a mainstage production in an upcoming season.”

Rounding out the season with Astoria community programming

Executive Director Taryn Drongowski says, “As excited as I am about APAC’s artistic achievements, I am also proud of the unique friendship we’ve developed with the Astoria community. It’s a credit to everyone who has supported us, and certainly to everyone who has ever worked with us.”

As always, we thank you for your continued support. We look forward to seeing you at the theater.

Be sure to mark your calendar for MilkMilkLemonade on October 28th, 2010. You can also buy tickets here.