Kim Zimmer, Guiding Light’s Reva Shayne, Stars in CRT’s Odysseus D.O.A.

Connecticut Repertory Theatre (CRT) will present the regional premiere of Stephen Svoboda's Odysseus D.O.A. starring Kim Zimmer, February 23 – March 4, 2012 in the Nafe Katter Theatre, Storrs. For tickets and information, call 860-486-4226 or visit www.crt.uconn.edu.

Experience The Odyssey re-imagined: a magical place where the blind see, the sick love and 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 Kleos - 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."

Odysseus D.O.A. will feature daytime TV star Kim Zimmer in the role of Elliot's mother, Mrs. Hayes. Kim Zimmer is best known for her years as Reva Shayne on Guiding Light where she earned four Outstanding Lead Actress Emmys.  Most recently, Zimmer reprised her role of Echo DiSavoy on One Life to Live. She started her career in Chicago, appearing in several shows at the Drury Lane and across the city, most notably The Big Knife, Accent of Youth with Ricardo Montalban and Godspell. Her career in daytime TV started in 1979 when she assumed the role of Nola Dancy on The Doctors. Regional theatre highlights includeCurtains, Lost Boy Found In Whole Foods, Blood Brothers, Gypsy, Dirty Blonde, Shirley Valentine and off-Broadway in Two Dogs and a Bone and Love, Loss And What I Wore. Film credits include Body Heat and The Big Bowling Ball. Other television credits include Designing Women, Seinfeld and many more. She also is the best-selling author of I'm Just Sayin! a memoir of her experiences and lessons learned throughout her 30 year career. 

Odysseus D.O.A. tells the story of Elliot Hayes, a 30 year-old man who got AIDS from his first and only love while an undergraduate at Columbia. When he discovered he was ill, Elliot returned home to seclusion with his mother, shutting out the world.  The story begins after 10 years have passed and Mrs. Hayes has admitted Elliot into the hospital because his verbal ability has rapidly deteriorated. Elliot is diagnosed with brain lesions and given just days to live. In his final days at the hospital, Elliot switches between reality and waking dreams in which he becomes the legendary Odysseus and the patients and staff in the AIDS ward become his crew who he strives to lead home from the Trojan War.  In his Homeric delusions he encounters monsters, sorceresses and many other colorful and fantastic characters from The Odyssey as Elliot faces his fate with courage and meaning.

Artistic Director Vincent J. Cardinal says of the work, "It's a play full of vitality and humor about all that makes life worth while. I am thrilled to introduce the region to this exciting playwright and his electrifying play."

Playwright and Director Stephen Svoboda said, "Working with CRT is an unbelievable opportunity to reinvent my play with a first rate design team and a dream cast lead by the incredible Kim Zimmer."