The New Play Workshop Signature Staged Readings: Dark Radio by Colin McKenna and Transit by Kait Kerrigan

Playwright Molly Smith Metzler receives 2013/14 Commission

(Chautauqua, NY)  Chautauqua Theater Company (CTC), under the leadership of Vivienne Benesch Artistic Director and Sarah Clare Corporandy Managing Director, is proud to announce casting for its 30th Anniversary season featuring Tennessee Williams’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (June 28-July 7), the Pulitzer and Tony-winning Clybourne Park (July 19-28), Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors (August 9-16) all on the Bratton Theater Mainstage, in addition to The Romeo & Juliet Project (July 27) in the renowned 5,000-seat Chautauqua Amphitheater.
 
Founded in 1983 by Michael Kahn as the resident theater company and conservatory on the grounds of the historic Chautauqua Institution; Chautauqua Theatre Company’s 2013 season runs over eight weeks from June 28 through August 16.
 
Directed by Lisa Rothe (CTC’s Ah! Wilderness, Off-Broadway’s Hold These Truths) Cat on a Hot Tin Roof features Broadway’s Harris Yulin (The Price, Hedda Gabler) as Big Daddy and Candy Buckley (Scandalous; Ring Round the Moon) as Big Momma in their CTC debuts.  Conservatory actors Carly Zien (Yale School of Drama) and Peter Mark Kendall (recent graduate of Trinity Rep/Brown MFA program) are featured as Maggie and Brick, along with Matt Raich (Gooper), Mallory Portnoy (Mae), Anthony Goes (Dr. Baugh), and David Vegh (Rev. Tooker).  The raw emotions and crackling dialogue of Tennessee Williams’ 1955 Pulitzer Prize winning play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof rumble like a thunderstorm in this masterwork of family guilt, frustration and greed.
 
Winner of the 2011 Pulitzer Prize and 2012 Tony Award, Clybourne Park (July 19-28) is directed by Davis McCallum (CTC’s Arcadia) returning to CTC after his recent successes at the helm of 2012 Pulitzer Prize winning Water by the Spoonful (at Hartford Stage and Second Stage Theatre) and Playwrights Horizons’ The Whale.  The cast features CTC alums Marin Hinkle (TV’s “Two and A Half Men” and Broadway’s Electra) as Bev/Kathy, Andy Weems (Broadway: Born Yesterday, Inherit the Wind) as Russ/Dan, and in their CTC debuts Sean Dugan (TV’s “Smash” and Broadway’s Next Fall) as Karl/Steve and Conservatory members  Tangela Large (Francine/Lena), Stephen Spencer (Jim, Tom, Kenneth), Mary Wiseman (Betsy/Lindsay) and Landon Woodson (Albert/Kevin).  Inspired by A Raisin in the Sun, Clybourne Park is a wickedly funny and fiercely provocative new play about race, real estate and the volatile values of each.
 
CTC Associate Artistic Director Andrew Borba directs The Comedy of Errors (August 9-16) which features the talents of CTC’s exceptional Conservatory.  Returning guest artist John Seidman  (CTC’s Thehe Philadelphia Story; Broadway’s Alice in Wonderland) has been cast as Egeon.  The play, Shakespeare’s shortest and silliest comedy is perfect fare for the whole family and promises to feature a circus of surprises.   Not one, but two sets of identical twins, separated at birth, find themselves in the same city, on the same fast-paced, bewildering day in Shakespeare’s riotous farce of wild misadventures and mistaken identities.
 
Continuing to build on the enormous success of new play development at CHQ CTC’s innovative New Play Workshop will present two exciting signature staged readings: Dark Radio by Colin McKenna (July 11-13) and Transit by Kait Kerrigan (August 1-3).  Be a vital part of the process: participate in post-show discussions and other related events with playwrights, actors and the creative teams.
 
And in a signature CHQ event two years in the making, The Romeo & Juliet Project will re-interpret this classic tale of star-crossed lovers in a ground-breaking multi-disciplinary reimagining July 27 on the celebrated 5000-seat Ampitheater stage.  Conceived and directed by CTC Artistic Director Vivienne Benesch.  Chautauqua Institution’s production of The Romeo & Juliet Project is an original retelling of Shakespeare’s timeless love story and the first in a three-year series of projects featuring the collaborative efforts both off and onstage of CHQ’s signature arts programs, including Chautauqua Opera Company, Chautauqua Theater Company, Chautauqua Dance, Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, and the Chautauqua Music Festival.
 
The Romeo & Juliet Project stars CTC alums Peter Francis James (OBIE winner Stuff Happens) as Capulet, Karl Kenzler (Broadway’s Mary Poppins, Twelve Angry Men) as Friar Laurence, Rebecca Guy (CTC’s Artistic Director from 1987-2004) as the Nurse, Chris Corporandy as Tybalt, Peter Mark Kendall as Mercutio, and making their CTC debuts are Conservatory members Brian Smolin (UCSD) as Romeo and Arielle Goldman ( NYU’s Graduate Acting Program) as Juliet, along with a company of 75 actors, singers and dancers.
 
After a hugely successful inaugural commission resulting in the world premiere of Kate Fodor’s Fifty Ways, CTC is pleased to announce that Molly Smith Metzler is the recipient of the 2013-14 Chautauqua Play Commission granted in conjunction with the Chautauqua Writer’s Center.  Audiences will remember Metzler’s two previous NPW outings with CTC, Close Up Space (2010) and Carve (2011).   
 
Single tickets and group packages are on sale now.  Tickets to Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Clybourne Park and The Comedy of Errors are $30; tickets to the New Play Workshop are $15.  Ticket packages range from $65 – $150.  Tickets for The Romeo & Juliet Project are $40. Order by phone at (716) 357-6250, M-F 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. or order online at www.ciweb.org.
 
Chautauqua Institution is a community on the shores of Chautauqua Lake in southwestern New York State that comes alive each summer with a unique mix of fine and performing arts, lectures, and recreational activities. Over the course of nine weeks, more than 100,000 visitors will stay at Chautauqua and participate in programs, classes and community events for all ages—all within the beautiful setting of a historic lakeside village.
 
About Chautauqua Theater Company
Celebrating its 30th Anniversary Season in 2013, the Chautauqua Theater Company is the resident professional theater and Conservatory of the Chautauqua Institution. Internationally known actors, directors, designers and writers join 20 emerging artists drawn from the nation’s top training programs to form a unique company that produces a vibrant summer of work in the historic Bratton Theater.  Dedicated to the next generation of theater artists, the development of new work, first rate productions of modern and contemporary classics, and fresh insight into Shakespeare’s cannon, this “full service” company provides the best a year-round regional theater has to offer in the period of an eight week summer season.