Connecticut Repertory Theatre Begins 2011-2012 Season

The Connecticut Repertory Theatre (CRT) celebrates 50 years of the School of Fine Arts at the University of Connecticut with an exciting 2011-2012 Season commemorating the human journey and coming home. For detailed information and tickets call the box office at 860-486-4226 or visit www.crt.uconn.edu.

Artistic Director Vincent J. Cardinal said, "No matter how far we journey we carry an essential part of home with us. Conversely, those who stay home must still take life's journey. This season we explore the human journey, both far away and close to home."

CRT opens the Main Stage Series in October with Thornton Wilder's timeless Our Town in the Nafe Katter Theater. This profound American classic will star Obie Award-winning actor David PatRick Kelly. His Broadway credits include Feste in Twelfth Night , Ilya Ilyich Telegin in Uncle Vanya, and Osip in The Government Inspector. MR. Kelly has appeared at Hartford Stage in Woyzeck, Tartuffe, Othello and Tooth of Crime. In 1998, he received an Obie Award for Sustained Excellence. MR. Kelly recently received a Lucille Lortel Award nomination (Outstanding Featured Actor) for his role in When I Come to Die. MR. Kelly appeared as Luther in the 1970's film classic The Warriors. Other film credits include 48 Hrs., Malcolm X, Crooklyn and Flags of Our Fathers. David Lynch created the role Jerry Horne on Twin Peaks for MR. Kelly and his many television guest appearances include Miami Vice, Moonlighting, Spenser: For Hire, Ghostwriter, Third Watch, Hack, Kidnapped, Law & Order, Gossip Girl, and Louie.

In December, laughter will abound in the Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre with the world premiere of I'm Connecticut, a new play about our Connecticut identity by Mike Reiss. Mr. Reiss is a Peabody award-winner and four-time Emmy award-winning writer (and Connecticut native) who has been bringing laughter into our homes for two decades writing for some of the funniest shows on television including The Simpsons and The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.

Playwright Stephen Svoboda will join CRT in February to direct his own work, Odysseus D.O.A., in its regional premiere at the Nafe Katter Theatre. Mr. Cardinal said Odysseus D.O.A. is "life affirming, poetic, inventive, and unpredictably humorous. This is a story that you'll take home in your heart."

The Main Stage Series season will close with the Broadway musical Spring Awakening, an "exhilarating, expectation skewing, roller coaster ride through the jagged joy and rarified anarchy of adolescence." The musical will play in April at the Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre. Mr. Cardinal said, "This intoxicating coming of age rock musical intends to drop kick traditional conventions of theatre while telling the stories of a group of teens who are taking their first thrilling, terrifying, hopeful steps on the human journey."

All CRT Main Stage Series productions feature professional actors performing side-by-side with some of the Department of Dramatic Arts' most advanced student artists.

The Studio Works Series will open with The Miser, a timely production of Moliere's 340-year-old comedy directed by Drama Professor Karen Ryker. The production will open in October in the Studio Theatre.

Cardinal said, "With our global economy in tatters and all of us finding new ways to pinch pennies, this farce about a man whose love for money supersedes his love for his children and the home he has created couldn't be more hysterically resonate or shockingly funny."

CRT Associate Artistic Director Dale AJ Rose will direct an intimate production of William Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale, in March in the Studio Theatre. "This epic story explores the full range of human emotion, it's a story of love, betrayal, deceit and - most important of all - reconciliation. A unique blend of tragedy, farce, fairy tale, and romance, it is the story of King Leontes who must journey from the winter of his Jealousy into the miraculous spring of forgiveness and reunion," Mr. Cardinal said.

Substantial discounts are available by purchasing season subscriptions. Four and six play packages are available. CRT subscribers receive the best discounts and privileges including free, unlimited ticket exchanges and priority seating. For more information on subscribing call the box office at 860-486-4226.

THE MAIN STAGE SERIES

Our Town Oct. 6 - 16, 2011
By Thornton Wilder Nafe Katter Theatre
Starring David PatRick Kelly as the Stage Manager

Directed by Robert Ross Parker

The most produced play of the 20th century, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Our Town by Thornton Wilder meets one of the most innovative young directors of the 21st century, Robert Ross Parker of the Obie Award-winning Vampire Cowboys. The show will feature Obie Award-winning stage, film and television actor David PatRick Kelly in the unique and captivating role of the Stage Manager. Set in New England at the beginning of the 20th century, it is the allegorical story of "our growing up and our marrying, our living and our dying. Still riveting, relevant, and resonate, the enduring success of this play has been in the magic and beauty of its sheer simplicity and its urgent life-affirming message. Come on home to Our Town.

I'm Connecticut Dec. 1 - 10, 2011

Written by Mike Reiss H.S. Jorgensen Theatre

Directed by Vince J. Cardinal

World Premiere

If you're from Connecticut - the joke is on you! Mike Reiss is a Peabody Award-winner, and four-time Emmy award-winning writer for The Simpsons. He's also a Connecticut native and this time he's turned his sharp, satirical comic genius on his home state - and yours. I'm

Connecticut is a love story about a young man who grew up in Simsbury now living in New York

City and searching for love. Amid the anxieties of dating he begins to ask himself what a Nutmegger really is? If you've ever wondered about the identity of The Land of Steady Habits, be prepared for a hysterical surprise.

Odysseus D.O.A Feb. 23 - Mar. 4, 2012
Written and Directed by Steven Svoboda Nafe Katter Theatre

Regional Premiere

Experience the Odyssey re-imagined: a magical place where the blind see, the sick love, & drag queens become goddesses. As the final stages of his disease bend his vivid imagination, Elliot becomes the legendary hero Odysseus determined to bring his crew--his fellow patients on the AIDS ward- home despite all the obstacles the gods throw in his way. This wise, heartfelt drama charts one man's heroic quest for Cleos - Glory, to live a life worthy of being remembered. Playwright Stephen Svoboda will direct his work in its regional premiere. Critic Martin Denton calls this a "majestic play... poetic, surreal and wonderfully humorous."

Spring Awakening Apr 12 - 15, 25 - 28, 2012

Book & Lyrics by Steven Sater H.S. Jorgensen Theatre

Music by Duncan Sheik

Based on the Play by Frank Wedekind

Spring Awakening was the first play penned by Frank Wedekind, the late 19th century German playwright whose work generated considerable scandal and jail time for the writer. It is fitting that this cutting edge work of the 19th century should be re-imagined by rockers Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater through "the most gorgeous Broadway score this decade" -- Entertainment Weekly. Join this group of late 19th century German students as they navigate teenage self-discovery.

THE STUDIO WORKS SERIES

The Miser Oct. 27 - Nov. 6, 2011
By Moliere Studio Theatre

Adapted by Miles Malleson

Directed by Karen Ryker

Molière's unique blend of neurosis and knockabout is never more hysterically evident than in his comic masterpiece, The Miser. Old Harpagon is a penny-pinching miser who loves his hidden fortune more than his own children. When he gets in his mind that there is a penny to be made by marrying off his son and his daughter, both son and daughter foil their father's plan by falling head over heels for suitors of their own. A timely and horrifyingly funny look at the dark side of thrift at home.

The Winter's Tale Mar 22 - Apr 1, 2012
By William Shakespeare Studio Theatre

Directed by Dale Rose

Jealousy, rage, intrigue, love, revenge and comic mishaps abound in one of Shakespeare's most intriguingly plotted plays. The king of Sicily suspects his best friend of having an illicit love affair with his wife, the queen. In a fit of jealous revenge, the king orders his wife to prison and sends his infant daughter far from home into exile in Bohemia. Covering a span of 16 years and culminating with one of the most stunning and surprising

endings in all of Shakespeare, The Winter's Tale - with its unique blend of tragedy, farce, fairy tale, and romance - is ultimately the Bard's timeless affirmation of the power of forgiveness, love and redemption.

SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION

Current CRT subscribers have been sent a subscription renewal form. New subscriptions are on sale now. Please call 860-486-4226 for information on subscribing and general ticket information.

Performances are usually Wednesdays through Sundays. Wed. & Thu. evening performances start at 7:30 p.m., Fri. and Sat. evening performances start at 8 p.m., Sat. and Sun. matinee performances start at 2 p.m. There are occasional Tues. evening performances at 7:30 p.m.

Ticket prices range from $6 to $35, and subscribers receive a discount of up to 21 percent off regular ticket prices.

Student Passes are available for current UConn students with a valid UConn ID. Call the box office for more information on Student Passes.

All plays, dates and times are subject to change.

Connecticut Repertory Theatre

CRT is the professional producing arm of the Department of Dramatic Arts at the University of Connecticut, Storrs. CRT productions are directed, designed by and cast with visiting professional artists, including Equity actors, faculty members, and the department's most advanced student artists. The synergy between professional and advanced student artists creates extraordinary theatre and a unique learning environment.