International City Theatre Announces 2009 Season

International City Theatre has announced the five plays that will make up its 2009 season.

The season will begin with The Threepenny Opera by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill, February 17-March 22. The trail-blazing musical features dashing thieves, saucy prostitutes, and lingering melodies.

Next up will be the newly discovered comedy by the master of American humor, Mark Twain, Is He Dead?, adapted by David Ives, April 28-May 24. In the piece, a struggling artist stages his own death to drive up the price of his paintings.

Facing East, by Carol Lynn Pearson, will follow June 9-July 23. In this multifaceted play, Ruth and Alex McCormick are an upstanding Mormon couple reeling from the suicide of their excommunicated homosexual son — and then they meet their dead son’s partner for the first time.

Bright Ideas, by Eric Coble, will play August 25-September 20. In this L.A. area premiere, Genevra and Joshua Bradley are convinced that placement in the correct preschool will ensure their soon-to-be four-year old son’s future success in life. What ensues is a Macbeth-like tale with dire and downright Shakespearean results.

The season will end with Songs for a New World, by Jason Robert Brown, October 13-November 8. Soaring melodies and irresistible rhythms mark this collection of story-songs.

For more information, visit www.ictlongbeach.org.