Cast Features Local Actress and Broadway Veterans
September 16 through October 2
HARTFORD, CT — AUGUST 23, 2016 — Hartford Stage Artistic Director Darko Tresnjak and Managing Director Michael Stotts announced today the cast and creative team for Queens for a Year, written by T.D. Mitchell and featuring local actress Vanessa R Butler.
The first show of Hartford Stage’s 2016-17 Season, Queens for a Year is a world premiere directed by Lucy Tiberghien, whose recent Off-Broadway credits include Don’t Go Gentle and Blind.
“We’re delighted to have Lucie Tiberghien and such a terrific cast joining us for this timely new play exploring the lives of women serving in the military,” said Elizabeth Williamson, Associate Artistic Director.
Butler’s credits include Gross Domestic Product and Jimmy and Lorraine at HartBeat Ensemble; Juliet in Romeo & Juliet at Capitol Classics; and Freedom: In 3 Acts at Bated Breath Theatre Company.
The cast also includes Heidi Armbruster, Time Stands Still on Broadway; Mary Bacon, Arcadia on Broadway; Alice Cannon, James Joyce’s The Dead on Broadway; Sarah Nicole Deaver, Henry V at Rutgers University; Mat Hostetler, the War Horse national tour; Charlotte Maier, God of Carnage on Broadway; and Jamie Rezanour, Romeo & Juliet at the Classical Theatre of Harlem.
In addition to Tiberghien, the creative team includes set design by Daniel Conway (Horton Foote’s Lily Dale Off-Broadway); lighting design by Robert Perry (Love in Afghanistan at Arena Stage); costume design by Beth Goldenberg (Engagements at Second Stage Theatre); sound design by Victoria Toy Deiorio (Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill at Milwaukee Repertory Theatre); and dramaturgy by Elizabeth Williamson (Anastasia, The Body of an American).
Lori M. Doyle (The Visit on Broadway) will serve as production stage manager.
In Queens for a Year, Molly Solinas, a young Marine Corps Officer, unexpectedly returns to her family home in Virginia, bringing with her an even younger female Private. Four generations of women who’ve served their country in the Marines clash during what at first appears to be a post-deployment vacation – but is revealed to be much more.
“I am grateful to Queens for a Year for telling this difficult story and shedding a light on women in the military,” said Kirsten Gillibrand, United States Senator, New York.
Mitchell, best known as a writer on the popular Lifetime series “Army Wives,” has earned accolades for many works, including her plays Beyond the 17th Parallel (National Endowment for the Arts Artistic Excellence Grant, soon to be adapted for film), A Gray Matter, In Dog Years and the upcoming VRTU-L.
Previews begin at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, September 8
Opening Night: 8 p.m. Friday, September 16
Closes: 2 p.m. Sunday, October 2
Tickets & Performances
Tue, Wed, Thu, Sun at 7:30 p.m.—Fri, Sat at 8 p.m.—Sat, Sun at 2 p.m.
Wed matinee at 2 p.m. on September 21 only
Weekly schedules vary. For details, visit www.hartfordstage.org.
Tickets for all shows start at $25. For group discounts (10 or more), contact Theresa MacNaughton at 860-520-7114.
For all other tickets, please call the Hartford Stage box office at 860-527-5151 or visit www.hartfordstage.org.
Special Events
Sunday Afternoon Discussion, September 18
Enjoy a lecture from artists and scholars connected with the production immediately following the 2 p.m. matinee. Free
AfterWords Discussion
Tuesdays, September 20 and 27 & Wednesday, September 21
Join members of the cast and our Artistic staff for a free discussion, immediately following select 7:30 p.m. performances on Tuesday or the 2 p.m. Wednesday matinee.