FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRESS CONTACT: David Elzer
(818) 508-1754
THE COLONY THEATRE COMPANY PRESENTS
THE FIFTH PRODUCTION
OF ITS 37th EXTRAORDINARY SEASON OF SHOWS!
The Pulitzer Prize
Nominated...
OLD WICKED SONGSWritten by Jon Marans
Directed by Stephanie Vlahos
Limited Engagement opens Saturday,
February 4 at The Colony Theatre in Burbank!
"A
deeply satisfying new play. The dramatic rhythms are remarkably sure throughout.
A winner!" - New York Times
January 9, 2012...Burbank...The
Colony Theatre is thrilled to present the fifth production of its 37th season of
shows, the Pulitzer Prize nominee,
OLD WICKED SONGS, written by
Jon Marans and directed by Stephanie Vlahos
. OLD WICKED SONGS
will preview on Wednesday, February 1; Thursday, February 2; and Friday,
February 3 at 8:00pm and will open on Saturday, February 4 at 8:00pm and
continue through Sunday, March 4 at The Colony Theatre, 555 North Third Street
(at Cypress) adjacent to the Burbank Town Center. Stephen is a young,
brilliant American pianist who has come to Vienna with the hope of regaining his
shattered confidence. His teacher is a lonely, eccentric, elderly professor with
a shadowy past. As the glorious music of Robert Schumann floods the professor's
studio, the past collides with the present, deep secrets are revealed, and the
men slowly discover they have more in common than just the music they love.
Nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama,
Old Wicked Songs travels an
emotional journey that weaves together profound sorrow, boundless joy, and
soaring inspiration.
The award-winning Colony Theatre was founded in 1975 as a 99-seat
Equity-waiver theatre in Silver Lake. Over the years the company was so
successful artistically, and built such a large subscriber base, that in 2000 it
was able to move into a 270-seat theatre created for it by the City of Burbank,
becoming one of only 5 mid-size professional theatres in the LA area that
produces a year-round season of plays and musicals, and that employs actors
under contract with Actors' Equity Association. Since the move to Burbank, The
Colony was named one of "25 Notable U.S. Theatre Companies" by the Encyclopedia
Britannica Almanac for 8 years in a row and voted "Best Live Theatre in LA" in
The Daily News Readers' Choice poll. The company's audience is so loyal that in
an era when subscription is declining dramatically, and when the industry-wide
"gold standard" renewal rate of 80% is considered unattainable, for the past two
seasons The Colony has achieved a subscription renewal rate over 90%. This
season, at a time when many theatres are shortening their seasons and canceling
performances, The Colony is expanding, for the first time in its history
presenting six shows instead of the usual five.
ABOUT THE CREATIVE TEAM
JON MARANS (Playwright) was a 1996 Pulitzer Prize Finalist for
Drama for
Old Wicked Songs, which won the New York Drama League Award,
the L.A. Drama-Logue Award, and was included in
Otis Guernsey's Best Plays of
1996-97. Old Wicked Songs has been produced throughout the United States and
translated and produced in a dozen countries around the world. Mr. Marans' other
works include the plays
The Temperamentals,
A Strange and Separate
People,
Jumping For Joy,
Child Child (Preston Jones Award
winner), and
Opportunity Knocks (Backdoor Theater Award), as well as the
musicals
Legacy of the Dragonslayers (based on Studs Terkel's
Coming
of Age) and
Irrationals. In the film industry, Mr. Marans worked as a
story editor and script doctor for Stonebridge, Michael Douglas's production
company at Columbia Pictures. In television, he was a staff writer / lyricist
for the 1991
New Carol Burnett Show on CBS and wrote for
Cookin' in
Brooklyn, a "comedy-reality" show on the Discovery Channel. Mr. Marans is a
graduate of Duke University in mathematics and music and also studied at both
the BMI & ASCAP Musical Theater workshops.
STEPHANIE VLAHOS (Director) comes to The
Colony Theatre and the directing profession with the experience of a former
career as a professional singer. A graduate of Yale University and the Juilliard
School, Stephanie has worked in solo performance in diverging musical arenas
with such luminaries as Pierre Boulez, Andre Previn, Van Dyke Parks, John Adams,
Ry Cooder, Sir Peter Hall, and Gordon Davidson. A recipient of the Chanel Diva
Award, she is best known in Los Angeles for her work as an opera singer with
L.A. Opera in roles such as Nicklausse in
Tales of Hoffmann and Hermia in
A Midsummer Night's Dream. She has also sung internationally in a number
of critically-acclaimed performances of operas and concerts. Stephanie is
currently Artistic Director for OPERA POSSE, and she recently directed the
company's critically-acclaimed production of
Amahl and the Night Visitors
at the Pasadena Playhouse. She is also a theatre coach / stage director for
the Domingo-Thornton Young Artists Program at L.A. Opera as well as
Director-In-Residence at the Cole Conservatory Opera Institute at Cal State Long
Beach. In 2007, Stephanie was among 30 artists nationwide to be nominated for
the prestigious United States Artists Grant in directing, and she was recently
honored with a request to sit on the USC Thornton School of Music Board of
Councilors.
ABOUT THE CAST AND DESIGN TEAM TAVIS DANZ
(Stephen Hoffman) has performed on Los Angeles stages in everything from
musical to classical theatre. He played Tom of Warwick in the National Tour of
Camelot appearing alongside Michael York and Lou Diamond Phillips, and
locally he has been seen in productions at The Geffen Playhouse, The Ahmanson,
and The Getty Center with the National Theater of Greece, as well as in
productions at The Pacific Resident Theater and Universal Studios Hollywood. A
graduate of UCLA's Department of Theater, Film and Television, he has also
appeared in co-starring roles on "NCIS," "Numb3rs," and "Greek."
JOHN
TOWEY (Professor Josef Mashkan) has made his living as a professional
actor for the past forty years and has acted and sung on Broadway, Off-Broadway,
and in many theatres across the country. He was a member of the acting companies
for three seasons each at The Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., The Guthrie
Theatre in Minneapolis, and The Public Theatre in New York. He has also performed in two
productions at The Pasadena Playhouse, five at The Mark Taper Forum, and five at
The John Anson Ford Theatre. Under the direction of Sir Peter Hall, he was seen
in three Shakespeare productions and a revival of
Amadeus at The Ahmanson
Theatre which had a five-month run on Broadway in 2000. He has also
guest-starred in over 40 television shows and films including "Murphy Brown,"
"Empty Nest," "The X-Files," and "Crossing Jordan."
OLD WICKED SONGS
has assembled an award-winning design team. The Scenic Design is by
Stephen Gifford (LA WEEKLY Award -
Lady). The Lighting Design is by Jared
A. Sayeg (Ovation Award Nomination –
Trying). The Costume Design is by
Kate Bergh (Reprise! –
Cabaret). The Sound Design is by Drew Dalzell
(Ovation Award –
Songs For A New World). Props design and set dressing is
by Colony Theatre resident designers MacAndMe.
ABOUT THE SCHEDULE AND
PRICING OLD WICKED SONGS will open on Saturday, February 4 at
8:00pm and continue through Sunday, March 4. Performances for OLD WICKED
SONGS are Thursdays & Fridays at 8:00pm; Saturdays at 3:00pm &
8:00pm; and Sundays at 2:00pm. Ticket prices range from $20.00 - $42.00
(student, senior and group discounts are available)
. OLD WICKED
SONGS will preview on Wednesday, February 1; Thursday, February 2; and
Friday, February 3 at 8:00pm at The Colony Theatre, 555 North Third Street (at
Cypress) adjacent to the Burbank Town Center. Opening night performance
with reception - all tickets $50.00. There are question-and-answer talkbacks
after the performances on Friday, February 10 and Thursday, February 23.
For tickets, call the Colony Theatre Box Office at 818/558-7000 ext. 15 or
online at www.ColonyTheatre.Org.
For
more
information, press interviews, photos or for press comps,
please contact David Elzer/DEMAND PR at 818/508-1754 or at
ELZERD@aol.com or
visit
www.demandpr.com.
The
Colony
Theatre Company is a 37-year old organization dedicated
to bringing the finest-quality theatrical productions to Los
Angeles.
The theatre is located at 555 North Third Street, at the
corner of
Cypress, in the heart of Downtown Burbank. For further
information,
call (818) 558-7000. Fax: (818) 558-7110. E-mail:
colonytheatre@colonytheatre.org. Or visit our website at www.colonytheatre.org
The award-winning Colony Theatre is Burbank's premiere
professional theatre. It was voted "Best Live Theatre in
L.A." in The Daily News 2006 Readers' Choice poll, and has
been named one of "25 Notable U.S. Theatre Companies" by
Encyclopedia Britannica Almanac for 8 years in a row. The
theatre is located at 555 North Third Street, at the
corner of Cypress, in the heart of Downtown Burbank. For
further information, call (818) 558-7000. Fax: (818)
558-7110. E-mail: colonytheatre@colonytheatre.org. Or
visit our website at www.colonytheatre.ORG.