‘Safe Space,’ ‘Annie Get Your Gun’ Announced For Bay Street Theater’s 2019 Mainstage Season

Bay Street Theater has announced two of the three shows coming in 2019 for its Mainstage season: a world-premiere play and a reenvisioned musical.

“Safe Space” from playwright Alan Fox will be directed by three-time Tony Award winner Jack O’Brien and will run from May 28 to June 16. “Annie Get Your Gun,” with music and lyrics by Irving Berlin and book by Dorothy and Herbert Fields, will run from July 30 to August 25. Sarna Lapine, who directed “Frost/Nixon” at Bay Street this year, will return to the director’s chair.

“With the world premiere of a searing new play directed by one of America’s leading theater artists, and a visionary revival of a classic musical directed by a rising star, Bay Street will again offer our audiences productions that I know will be the talk of the East End all summer long,” Bay Street Theater Artistic Director Scott Schwartz in a statement. “Bay Street is a center for new work and bold revivals of classics, and 2019 promises to be one of our most exciting seasons yet!”

“Safe Space,” set at an elite university, explores political correctness and the reaction to triggers on campus in America today, according to Bay Street. When a star African-American professor faces accusations of racism from a student, the head of the college must intervene, setting off an explosive chain of events where each of them must navigate an ever-changing minefield of identity politics, ethics, and core beliefs. Film producer Amy Pascal is now producing Mr. Fox’s feature adaptation of the play.

“Annie Get Your Gun,” one of the most beloved musicals of Broadway’s Golden Age, tells the story of sharpshooter Annie Oakley, who starred in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, and her tempestuous romance with fellow sharpshooter Frank Butler. According to Bay Street, Ms. Lapine will bring “a fresh, modern approach to the story, incorporating elements from Dorothy Fields’s original book to create the strongest and most revolutionary Annie Oakley you’ve ever seen.” Among the widely recognizable songs included in the musical are “There’s No Business Like Show Business,” “Anything You Can Do,” and “I Got Sun in the Morning,” which will be performed by a country-western bluegrass band.