New Musical The Blue Flower & Revival of How I Learned to Drive Set for Second Stage's 2011-2012 Season

Second Stage Theatre will produce a new musical, a world premiere play and a revival of Paula Vogel’s Pulitzer Prize-winner How I Learned to Drive as part of its 2011-2012 season, with a fourth show to be announced at a later date. All productions will be staged at the company’s off-Broadway theater; no casting has been announced.

The season will begin with The Blue Flower, a musical by Jim Bauer and Ruth Bauer, directed by Will Pomerantz. Previews will begin in October, with an opening night scheduled for early November. Spanning two continents and half a century, the musical explores the romantic and tumultuous relationships between four young friends—three artists and a scientist—as they create a world of art, revolution, and passion amidst the turbulence and destruction of the World Wars.

Although Second Stage is billing its production as the New York premiere, The Blue Flower was produced at Prospect Theater Company in 2008 with a cast that included Robert Petkoff, Nancy Anderson and Jamie LaVerdiere. A December 2010 production at American Repertory Theatre in Boston starred Teal Wicks, Daniel Jenkins and Lucas Kavner.

Next up will be the world premiere of Lonely, I’m Not by Paul Weitz (Trust), which will begin previews in early 2012. The play is described as a comic journey that follows one man as he tries to put the many pieces of his life back together. At an age when most people are discovering what they want to do with their lives, Porter has been married and divorced, earned seven figures as a corporate “ninja” and had a nervous breakdown. It’s been four years since he’s had a job or a date, and he’s decided to give life another shot. No director is yet attached to the piece.

Rounding out the season will be Paula Vogel’s Pulitzer-Prize winning How I Learned to Drive, returning to New York City for the first time since its world premiere 15 years ago in a Vineyard Theatre production that starred David Morse and Mary-Louise Parker. How I Learned to Drive explores the complex relationship between Li’l Bit and her Uncle Peck, as a series of driving lessons progresses from innocence to something much darker. The play will begin previews in 2012; dates and a director have yet to be announced.