For Immediate Release
Contact: Theresa M. MacNaughton, tmacnaughton@hartfordstage.org
Office: 860-520-7114

Hartford Stage extends run for the world premiere musical The Flamingo Kid through Saturday, June 15

HARTFORD, CT — May 29, 2019 — Due to high ticket demand, Hartford Stage announced today that it is extending the run of the world premiere musical The Flamingo Kid, directed by Darko Tresnjak. The musical will now close on Saturday, June 15.

The added performances are Thursday, June 13, at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, June 14, at 8:00 p.m.; and Saturday, June 15, at 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.

The Hartford Courant raves “The Flamingo Kid has heart and soul. Acclaimed director Darko Tresnjak, who’s stepping down from his post as artistic director in June after eight seasons, has chosen to leave with a lavish, lively, nostalgic coming-of-age tale.”

“We are so happy that audiences of all ages are responding to our tuneful, sun-kissed evocation of the summer of 1963, and we are thrilled to extend our run for another week,” Tresnjak said.

The Flamingo Kid, inspired by the 1984 Garry Marshall coming-of-age film starring Matt Dillon, reunites Tresnjak with A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder’s Tony Award-winning book writer and lyricist Robert L. Freedman. They are collaborating for the first time with Tony Award-nominated composer Scott Frankel (Grey Gardens, War Paint) and Tony Award-nominated choreographer Denis Jones (Tootsie; Holiday Inn, the New Irving Berlin Musical).

The summer of ’63 provides the colorful, nostalgic backdrop for The Flamingo Kid. Newcomer Jimmy Brewer (Motherfreakinghood at Playwrights Horizons) stars as Brooklyn teenager Jeffrey Winnick, who leaves behind his blue-collar roots against the wishes of his father (Broadway veteran Adam Heller) for an exciting job working as a cabana boy at the posh El Flamingo – a private beach club on Long Island. There, Jeffrey meets Karla (Samantha Massell, Fiddler on the Roof on Broadway), a forward-thinking young woman from California. The music, the romance, and the beach are magical — until tensions grow between father and son when a slick club member (three-time Tony nominee Marc Kudisch) takes Jeffrey under his wing.

The Flamingo Kid is produced by special arrangement with Robert Israel, Larry Hirschhorn, Cody Lassen and Broadway & Vine.

Tickets start at $35 for the added performances. Student tickets are $18. For group discounts (10 or more), email groupsales@hartfordstage.org or call 860-527-5151. For all other tickets, call the Hartford Stage box office at 860-527-5151 or visit www.hartfordstage.org.

HARTFORD STAGE

Now in our 55th season, Hartford Stage is currently under the leadership of Artistic Director Darko Tresnjak. In January 2019, Melia Bensussen was named the sixth Artistic Director of Hartford Stage and will assume the role in June. One of the nation’s leading resident theatres, Hartford Stage is known for producing innovative revivals of classics and provocative new plays and musicals, including 73 world and American premieres, as well as offering a distinguished education program, which reaches close to 21,000 students annually.

Since Tresnjak’s appointment in 2011 the theatre has presented the world premieres of A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder on Broadway, winner of four 2014 Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Direction of a Musical by Tresnjak; Rear Window with Kevin Bacon; the new musical Anastasia by Terrence McNally, Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens; Quiara Alegría Hudes’ Water by the Spoonful, winner of the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Drama; Breath & Imagination by Daniel Beaty; Big Dance Theatre’s Man in a Case with Mikhail Baryshnikov; and Reverberation by Matthew Lopez.

Hartford Stage has earned many of the nation’s most prestigious awards, including the 1989 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre. Other national honors include Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk, OBIE, and New York Critics Circle awards. Hartford Stage has produced nationally renowned titles, including the New York transfers of Enchanted April; The Orphans' Home Cycle; Resurrection (later retitled Through the Night); The Carpetbagger's Children; and Tea at Five.

The leading provider of theatre education programs in Connecticut, Hartford Stage’s offerings include student matinees, in-school theatre residencies, teen performance opportunities, theatre classes for students (ages 3-18) and adults, afterschool programs and professional development courses.    

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