Becky Mode's FULLY COMMITTED Plays New Rep, 12/19-30

New Repertory Theatre proudly announces Becky Mode's wry comedy, FULLY COMMITTED, December 19 through 30, 2012, performing in the Black Box Theater, Arsenal Center for the Arts, 321 Arsenal Street, Watertown, MA. Tickets are $36 and may be purchased by calling 617.923.8487 or by visiting www.newrep.org. The press performance is Thursday, December 20, at 7:30pm.

"We're proud to present FULLY COMMITTED," says Managing Director Harriet Sheets. "this holiday season, as surely audiences will enjoy some laughs during this busy time of year."

"We couldn't be more happy," says Artistic Director Jim Petosa, "to have Gabe Kuttner during the holidays to perform these thirty-plus characters. It's no small feat performing a one-man play like this hilarious one by Becky Mode."

FULLY COMMITTED features Gabriel Kuttner as Sam and is directed by Bridget Kathleen O'Leary.

This wry, witty comedy follows Sam, an actor-slash-reservation clerk at a 4-star Manhattan restaurant who is just trying to get home to the Midwest for the holidays. While simultaneously being badgered by the snitty chef, he "handles" uppity demanding New Yorkers including Dianne Sawyer, Naomi Campbell's assistant, Sherry Lansing's secretary at Paramount Pictures, East Side socialites, and suspected members of the mafia. Sam turns the tables of rejection and resorts to accepting bribes in order to "give good table." One of Time Magazine's top-ten plays of 2000, Fully Committed features award-winning actor Gabriel Kuttner.

New Repertory Theatre produces plays that speak powerfully to the essential ideas of our time. Through the passion and electricity of live theater performed to the highest standards of excellence, New Rep expands and challenges the human spirit of both artists and audience. New Rep presents world premieres, contemporary and classic works in several intimate settings. We are committed to education and outreach, including special dedication to the creation of innovative in-school programming and providing access to underserved audiences. New Rep is an active advocate for the arts and a major voice in the national dialogue defining the role of theater in our culture.

ARTISTIC BIOGRAPHIES

Gabriel Kuttner (Sam) returns to New Repertory Theatre after performing in Dollhouse and Speed- the-Plow (IRNE Award, Best Supporting Actor). Other regional roles include The Merry Wives of Windsor (Actors Shakespeare Project); Walking the Volcano (Boston Playwrights' Theater); and On An Average Day (self-produced). Love Song, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare Abridged (Elliot Norton Award, Best Production), and Look Back In Anger (Elliot Norton Award, Best Production, Orfeo Group); The Real Inspector Hound, Faith Healer, Travesties, Romeo and Juliet, Misalliance, Copenhagen, the Beard of Avon, and Design for Living (Publick Theatre). Other regional credits include Pugilist Specialist and Bug (Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater); Talking to Terrorists (Súgán Theatre Company); and Permanent Whole Life (Boston Playwrights Theatre). London credits include Greek (Riverside Studios); In the Boom-Boom Room (Courtyard Theatre); Rents (Courtyard Theatre); Shaved Splits (Edinburgh Fringe/Riverside Studios); and Death of a Salesman (The English Theatre, Frankfurt). In 2010 he produced Fully Committed at Herter Park, earning an IRNE Award for Best Solo Performance. Mr. Kuttner, a graduate of The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, lives on the North Shore.

Becky Mode (Playwright) is an American playwright, actress and television producer based in New York. Raised in Washington DC, she studied Theater and American History at Wesleyan University. She developed Fully Committed with Mark Setlock, which achieved listing in Time Magazine's Top Ten Plays of 2000. Ms. Mode, a former actress, waitress, and coat check girl, is now a writer with credits including A Little Curious (HBO); Out of the Box, PB & J Otter (Disney); Little Bill (Nickelodeon), and Born in Brooklyn (ABC). She was a staff writer on Cosby (CBS) and co-wrote a remake of Cactus Flower (Columbia Pictures).

Bridget Kathleen O'Leary (Director) is in her fifth season at New Repertory Theatre where she serves as Associate Artistic Director. Previous New Rep directing credits include Collected Stories, DollHouse, boom, A Christmas Carol, and Fool for Love as well as New Rep On Tour's productions of Tales of Poe and The Scarlet Letter. Other area credits include Recent Tragic Events and Aunt Dan and Lemon (Whistler in the Dark Theatre); Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (Summer Theater Festival); Boys of Winter (BKS Productions); and The Devil's Teacup (Boston Playwrights Theatre). She earned her MFA in Directing from Boston University. Originally from Manchester, NH, she lives in Watertown. In February, Ms. O'Leary will direct New Rep's production of Duncan Macmillan's Lungs.

Deb Sullivan (Scenic and Lighting Designer) returns to New Repertory Theatre after designing for Chesapeake, Collected Stories, The World Goes 'Round, Boston Marriage, Eurydice, The Clean House, and The Misanthrope. Off-Broadway credits include The Ruby Sunrise and The Human Scale (The Public Theatre/NYSF); Or (The Women's Project); and Play It Cool (Mary's Hideaway Prods/Theatre Row). Regional credits include work at Trinity Repertory Company, The ALLIANCE THEATRE, The Cleveland Playhouse, Actors' Theatre of Louisville, City Theatre Company, and Berkshire Theatre Festival. Other credits include Two Rivers Theatre Company, Gloucester Stage Company, Perishable Theatre, Boston Theatre Works, SpeakEasy Stage Company, and Festival Ballet Providence among others.

Adrienne Carlile (Costume Designer) returns to New Repertory Theatre having recently designed costumes for The Kite Runner and Chesapeake. Boston credits include La Boheme (Boston Opera Collaborative); Monster (Boston Center for American Performance); and Die Zauberflote (Opera Del West). She also served as scenic designer for Die Fledermanus (New England Conservatory). In New York she designed costumes for Monster (Potomac Theater Project) and Our Lady (New York Fringe Festival). Ms. Carlile earned her BFA in Costume and Scenic Design at Boston University and is resident costume designer at Cambridge Historical Tours. Originally from Fort Collins, Colorado, she resides in Roxbury Crossing.

Bill Barclay (Sound Designer) is a composer, actor, director, and teacher, currently heading the Music Department at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London. Recent area credits include Peter and the Wolf (Symphony Hall); Two Gentlemen of Verona (Actors Shakespeare Project); and Hotel Nepenthe (The Huntington Theatre, IRNE Nomination); Red (SpeakEasy Stage Company, Elliot Norton Award Nomination); and Breaking the Code (Central Square Theatre). He has worked with Shakespeare & Company, Actors' Shakespeare Project; and Tanglewood Music Center; and is a member of The Acting Company at The Mercury Theatre in Colchester, England. Television credits include Brotherhood (Showtime) and film credits include Ocean Boulevard and The Time Machine (Dreamworks). He is recipient of the Fox Foundation Resident Actor Fellowship, the Boston Globe Monologue Scholarship Competition, and is a two-time Elliot Norton Award nominee for sound design. Originally from Westin, Mr. Barclay attended Vassar Collage and The National Theatre Institute, and earned his MFA at Boston University's School of Theatre.

Ian Thorsell (Properties Designer) joins New Repertory Theatre after serving as properties designer for Macbeth (Actors Shakespeare Project). He is a regular props artisan at The Huntington Theatre Company, most recently working on Betrayal, Candide, The Luck Of the Irish, and others. He studied Computer Animation and Industrial Design at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh and was a founding member of Jamestown's improv comedy troupe, The Unexpected Guests, with whom he performed for over five years. Originally from Jamestown, New York, he resides in Dorchester.