Modlin Center announces 2009-10 season

The 60-plus events set for the 2009-2010 season of the Modlin Center for the Arts is impressive enough -- especially with Tim Robbins making an appearance.

But this season, which begins Sept. 8, a new venue is also adding to the Modlin cachet.

The Modlin Downtown Series will bring six events to the Carpenter Theatre at Richmond CenterStage, which opens Sept. 12: American Bluegrass Masters, satirical illustrator R. Crumb with Francoise Mouly, Band of the Irish Guards, Monterey Jazz Festival on Tour, Irish fiddler Eileen Ivers' "Beyond the Bog Road" and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.

Those tickets go on sale to the public through Ticketmaster tomorrow.

"Bringing the performing arts into the community is central to our mission as a cultural and education institution," said David Howson, interim executive director at Modlin.

The last Modlin Center performance at the then-Carpenter Center was in November 2004.

Howson said that with the University of Richmond downtown outpost across the street from CenterStage, "it naturally provides many opportunities for collaboration."

One of the highlights of Modlin's 2009-2010 season is its opening presentation Sept. 8-9, "The Trial of the Catonsville 9," presented by The Actors' Gang, the theater company headed by Tim Robbins.

The story revolves around the 1968 trial of nine Catholic activists -- led by two priests -- who are condemned as criminals but lauded as patriots for their act of civil disobedience during the Vietnam War.

Robbins is expected to participate in a "talk-back session" after each performance.

"We're sure the piece will provoke dialogue beyond the curtain call," Howson said.

Tickets to "Catonsville 9" go on sale to the public through the Modlin Center box office Wednesday.

Contact Melissa Ruggieri at (804) 649-6120 or .