JUNE 1, 2005 - Today SF Playhouse announced plans for its 3rd season, which will feature the powerful mix of work that garnered them multiple awards and nominations in their first seasons. Scripts selected for the 2005/06 Season include a fresh interpretation of a timeless classic, a delightful holiday heart warmer featuring a local comic legend and three exciting, West Coast Premieres from the hottest of rising New York talents will kick off the new year followed by a summer surprise, to be announced

Multi-Award-winning theatre to present Arthur Miller's The Crucible Joe Bellan & Lauren English in Craig Lucas's Prelude to a Kiss West Coast Premieres from Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, The Mystery Plays Stephen Adly Giurgis Our Lady of 121st Street directed by Amy Glazer and Paul Weitz, Roulette Summer TBA

"I'm now in my third year as founder and artistic director," remarked English, "and I feel that SF Playhouse is poised to really take off. We have just signed on Jim Reber, the founder of San Jose Rep, to lead the charge in building our audience, and have just celebrated the multiple awards & nominations received for our first 2 seasons. Our intent is to remain intimate as we dedicate our season to the Power of Theatre!

The season kicks off with The Crucible, A masterpiece from the sure hand of the late Arthur Miller, one of America's greatest playwrights, The Crucible sets the story of one couples love, betrayal and renewal against a town seized by the hysteria of the Salem Witch trials of 1692. Arthur Miller's allegory cuts to the heart with its revelations about the destructive power of fear, and the courage it takes to make a stand.

We'll be celebrating with Champagne, Music, Dancing, Food and a Balloon Drop at midnight, all that PLUS the final performance of the charming & hilarious story of love...Prelude to a Kiss. Ticket prices are $60 per person for the evening. We hope you'll join us! Get tickets on ticketweb.com or by calling our box office at 415-677-9596.

An old man; A young bride; A kiss. Snuggle up for the holidays with this charming, modern fairy tale that explores the enduring power of love. A Broadway hit about a storybook wedding gone awry, Prelude to a Kiss was made into a film starring Meg Ryan, Alec Baldwin and Sidney Walker, and can now be seen live, on stage starring bay area comic veteran, Joe Bellan at the SF Playhouse!

Don't miss the West Coast premiere of this "spine-tingling" (New York Times) thriller from the up-and-coming writer of the Fantastic Four comic book, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa. Borrowing from Hitchcock and H.P. Lovecraft, The Mystery Plays intertwines two seemingly random events-a Northeast train wreck and a terrifying expedition to solve an Oregon crime-sending two friends on different paths of self-discovery to find the power of forgiveness.

At last this provocative play from one of the hottest new playwright in New York, Stephen Adly Guirgis, receives a West Coast Premiere! Discovered by Philip Seymour Hoffman, who directed the breathtaking debut at the Public Theatre, Guirgis' world is gritty, yet familiar. A memorial for the beloved teacher, Sister Rose brings together former schoolmates who unearth memories, seek forgiveness and re-forge splintering relationships. With trademark intensity, Guirgis brings a unique, urban style to this moving and hilarious story about the power of responsibility

The New York Times proclaims Roulette a sure bet! "A sharp-tongued, broken-hearted and seriously funny new play." In the West Coast premiere of this hilarious play, a suburban father decides to spice up his humdrum life by playing Russian roulette, loosening his family's handle on reality in the process. Roulette is the latest silver bullet from the mind of Paul Weitz, the hot Hollywood screenwriter renowned for blockbusters like About A Boy, Antz and the American Pie trilogy. Now his genius comes to our stage with a bang!

The SF Playhouse has announced that its summer show, Putting It Together by Stephen Sondheim, will open its new theatre at 533 Sutter (across the street from its current location, which is undergoing a retrofit.)

Putting It Together is a revue with a difference. A revue that tells a story. A show that covers one night and forty years and showcases over 30 of Sondheim's most memorable songs from such Tony Award-winning classics as Company, Follies and A Little Night Music. Originally produced by Cameron Mackintosh and first performed on January 27, 1992, at the Old Fire Station Theatre in Oxford it starred Diana Rigg. Later, and after edits and re-writes, it came to Manhattan in 1993, starring Julie Andrews. There was a subsequent 1998 Los Angeles production starring Carol Burnett, which went to Broadway in 1999. On Broadway, Kathie Lee Gifford replaced Carol Burnett at some performances.

Putting It Together is set at an all-night, black-tie party, where battling spouses flirt with infidelity, singing of their bittersweet loves.

Founded by Susi Damilano and Bill English in 2003, the SF Playhouse is Union Square's newest professional theatre. Using Equity actors and world class design, the SF Playhouse, about which the San Francisco Chronicle raved, "San Francisco's newest theatre isn't just another tiny stage carved out of a storefront . . . its an enticing introduction to a new company," has become an intimate theatre alternative to the traditional Union Square theatre fare, garnering 20 Bay Area Theatre Critic nominations in its first year. Providing a creative home and inspiring environment where actors, directors, writers, designers, and theatre lovers converge, SF Playhouse, hailed as a "small delicacy" by SF Weekly and "eclectic" by the San Francsico Bay Guardian, strives to create works that celebrate the human spirit.

TICKETS Tickets can by purchased at TicketWeb.com, TIX box office on Union Square or at the Theatre's box office. Senior, group and TBA discounts available. For reservations, call the Playhouse at (415) 677-9596 or e-mail reservations@sfplayhouse.org.

LOCATION The SF Playhouse is located one block off of Union Square at 533 Sutter Street, San Francisco between Powell & Mason Streets. Easiest parking is at the Sutter/Stockton garage, and closest BART is Powell Street Station.