Westport Country Playhouse Announces Schedule Changes

Westport Country Playhouse’s incoming artistic director Mark Lamos and managing director Michael Ross have adjusted the schedule for the Connecticut theater’s 2009 season. Around the World in 80 Days, originally announced for a September run, will open the season from April 21 to May 9, replacing To Kill a Mockingbird, which has been cancelled.

The season's second play will be Children, a family drama by A.R. Gurney, running May 26 through June 13, followed by Jonathan Larson’s musical tick, tick…BOOM!, running from June 23 through July 18. Moving to the fourth slot will be Alan Ayckbourn’s classic comedy How the Other Half Loves. A fifth and sixth play, not yet announced, will be finalized soon, one of which will be directed by Lamos. The Greatest Gift, a world premiere by playwright-in-residence David Wiltse, will be the Playhouse's holiday family production.

"I am thrilled that the changes we are making to the season both pay homage to the hard work and dedication of outgoing artistic directors Joanne Woodward and Anne Keefe while allowing Michael Ross and me to plan the final two shows of the 2009 season," Lamos said in a statement. Of the rejiggered first production, he added, “To Kill a Mockingbird is a great piece of literature, and makes for an incredible night of theater. I am delighted Connecticut audiences will have the opportunity to see it at Hartford Stage." Matthew Modine and Hallie Foote will star in an adaptation of the Harper Lee classic in Hartford beginning February 19.