Darko Tresnjak's Island-Set COMEDY OF ERRORS Begins Tonight at Hartford Stage

Hartford Stage Artistic Director Darko Tresnjak and Managing Director Michael Stotts welcome a lively ensemble of actors, singers, dancers, musicians and acrobats for William Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors, a musical extravaganza directed by Tresnjak and choreographed by Peggy Hickey. The show plays tonight, January 12, to February 12, 2017.

Tresnjak sets The Comedy of Errors on a sun-kissed island off the coast of Greece in 1965. The production will feature both international songs from the era and exotic dance numbers. The Bard's zaniest comedy, in which two sets of twins separated at birth find themselves in the same city on the same day, leads to a string of mistaken identities, over-the-top slapstick and false accusations.

Tresnjak's Hartford Stage credits include the musical Anastasia, due to open on Broadway in April; A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder (winner of four 2014 Tony Awards, including Best Direction of a Musical for Tresnjak), currently in the second year of its national tour; Rear Window; Romeo & Juliet and Hamlet. Other recent credits include The Killer (2014 Obie Award for Direction) at Theatre for a New Audience and The Ghosts of Versailles and Macbeth at LA Opera.

The cast includes Jolly Abraham (Coram Boy on Broadway) as Adriana; Brendan Averett (Kiss Me, Kate at Hartford Stage) as Angelo; Louis Butelli (Sleep No More with Punchdrunk) as Sailor/Balthazar/Old Lady; Paula Leggett Chase (Bye Bye Birdie on Broadway) as Courtesan; Michael Elich (Party People at The Public Theater) as Duke Solinar/ Dr. Pinch; Ryan-James Hatanaka (King Lear for Shakespeare in the Park) as Antipholus of Ephesus; Tara Heal (Saturday Night Fever national tour) as Luce/Fortune Teller; Mahira Kakkar (Clive at The New Group) as Luciana; Matthew Macca (Mouth Open, Eyes Closed at Boston University) as Dromio of Ephesus; Kalob Martinez (Peter and the Starcatcher at CT Repertory) as Officer; JohAnna Morrison (A Christmas Carol-A Ghost Story of Christmas at Hartford Stage) as Aemilia/Abbess; Alan Schmuckler (Nikolai and the Others at Lincoln Center) as Dromio of Syracuse; Noble Shropshire (Macbeth at Hartford Stage) as Aegeon; and Tyler Lansing Weaks (Macbeth at Lincoln Center) as Antipholus of Syracuse.

The ensemble includes the musicians Alexander Sovronsky, also Music Director, (Cyrano de Bergerac on Broadway) and Louis Tucci (Buddy: the Buddy Holly Story on Broadway). The ensemble also consists of Lauren Bricca, JamaAl Fields-Green, Daisy Infantas, Evan McReddie, Monica Owen and Tyler Pisani.

Hickey's credits include A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder (Tony Award nomination), Anastasia, Kiss Me, Kate, all originally at Hartford Stage, and most recently, Wonderful Town at LA Opera.

Also on the creative team: Set Designer Tresnjak (sets for Macbeth, Hamlet and Romeo & Juliet at Hartford Stage); Costume Design by Fabio Toblini (Hamlet and Kiss Me, Kate at Hartford Stage); Lighting Design by Matthew Richards (Romeo & Juliet and Hamlet at Hartford Stage); and Sound Designer Jane Shaw (La Dispute, Macbeth and Romeo & Juliet at Hartford Stage). Tom Watson of the Metropolitan Opera will design the wigs. Fiona Kyle will serve as Dramaturg.

Robyn M. Zalewski (Romeo & Juliet, Private Lives at Hartford Stage) will serve as Production Stage Manager with Maria Tejada as Assistant Stage Manager (A Midsummer Night's Dream at Shakespeare Theatre Company).

For a performance schedule and more information, visit www.hartfordstage.org. Tickets for all shows start at $25. Student tickets: $20. For group discounts (10 or more), contact Theresa MacNaughton at 860-520-7114. For all other tickets, call the Hartford Stage box office at 860-527-5151 or go online.

Special Events:

Sunday Afternoon Discussion, January 22
Enjoy a lecture from artists and scholars connected with the production immediately following the 2 p.m. matinee. Free

AfterWords Discussion
Tuesday, January 24 & Wednesdays, January 25 and February 1
Join members of the cast and our Artistic staff for a free discussion, immediately following select 7:30 p.m. performances on Tuesday or the 2 p.m. Wednesday matinee.

Open Captioned Performances
Sunday, January 29, 2 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.
For patrons who are deaf or have hearing loss - free service with admission

Audio Described Performance
Saturday, February 4, 2 p.m.
For patrons who are blind or have low vision - free service with admission

Now in our 53rd year, Hartford Stage is under the leadership of Artistic Director Darko Tresnjak and Managing Director Michael Stotts. 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 20,000 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.