KC Rep Closes Season With A FLEA IN HER EAR, Gary Griffin Directs

Intrigue, innuendo and mistaken identities are stock and trade for French farce. Georges Feydeau's comic romp A Flea in Her Ear at Kansas City Repertory Theatre, May 15-June 7, brims with satire, hilarity and mischievous schemes, thanks to Tony-nominated director Gary Griffin and a new adaptation by David Ives that brings a fresh edge to the classic comedy.

A Flea in Her Ear is the final play of the Rep's 2008-09 season, Eric Rosen's first year as artistic director.

Feydeau, an indisputable master of the French bedroom farce, wrote A Flea in Her Ear in 1907 at the height of the French Belle Époque (1890-1914). Its classic farcical set up presents a witty series of misunderstandings, clandestine assignations and misplaced jealousies between husbands, wives and lovers that are played out with precision and breathtaking speed.

Griffin is one of American theatre's foremost directors. He has worked in New York, London and Chicago, where he is associate artistic director of Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, which last year won a Tony Award for outstanding regional theatre. Griffin has received eight Chicago Joseph Jefferson Awards for directing; his Broadway staging of The Color Purple earned 11 Tony nominations, including one for best musical; and his London staging of Stephen Sondheim's Pacific Overtures received the Olivier Award for outstanding musical production and a nomination for best director. The Olivier is the British version of the American Tony Award.

Ives is a contemporary American playwright who recently had the distinction of having two shows produced simultaneously in New York; his comedy Is He Dead? was produced on Broadway while his drama New Jerusalem was appearing off-Broadway. Ives also has adapted 22 American musicals for New York City Center's Encores Series and also adapted South Pacific with Reba McEntire and Jubilee at Carnegie Hall and My Fair Lady for the New York Philharmonic.

The 14-actor cast of A Flea in Her Ear includes New York and Chicago actors: Carol Halstead (Raymonde Chandebise), Anne L. Nathan (Lucienne), John Pasha (Romain Tournel), Jonathan Root (Camille Chandebise) and John Scherer (Victor Chandebise). The Remaining actors are from Kansas City: Allan Boardman (Baptiste), Martin S. Buchanan (Etienne), Scott Cordes (Ferraillon), Katie Kalahurka (Antoinette), Lauren Lubow (Eugenie), Michelangelo Milano (Rugby), Mark Robbins (Finache) and Cheryl Weaver (Olympia).

The design team includes costume designer Mara Blumenfeld (The Arabian Nights and the 2004 production of Metamorphoses), set designer Jack Magaw (Winesburg, Ohio), lighting designer Jason Lyons (Clay) and sound designer John Story (Radio Golf, The Drawer Boy, To Kill a Mockingbird, A Raisin in the Sun, A Christmas Carol and many other Rep shows).

Special Events for A Flea in Her Ear include:

Sunday, May 17 Meet the Creative Team following the 7 pm performance

Friday, May 22 Opening Night, 8 pm

Sunday, May 24 Pre-show Talk at 6 pm for 7 pm performance

Sunday, May 30 Signed performance at 2 pm

Scholars' Forum following matinee with guest Philip Hadlock, professor of French at UMKC

Sunday, May 31 Actors' Forum following 2 pm matinee

Tuesday, June 2 Actors' Forum following 7 pm show

All performances and events for A Flea in Her Ear will take place at Spencer Theatre in the James C. Olson Performing Arts Center on the UMKC campus where Kansas City Rep is the professional theatre in residence. Tickets for A Flea in Her Ear cost $15-$50 and youth tickets (18 years and younger and students with valid school ID) are $15. For information about performance times and ticket options, call the Rep Box Office at 816-235-2700 or visit www.kcrep.org.

Now in its 44th year, Kansas City Repertory Theatre is one of the nation's leading professional theatres and a member of the national League of Resident Theatres. The Rep produces plays and events each season at Spencer Theatre on the UMKC campus and at Copaken Stage downtown. Its diverse repertoire includes new works, musicals and classics of literature. The theatre serves approximately 100,000 patrons annually and employs more than 250 professional artists, technicians and administrators. This year, more than 8,500 students from 150 schools in the two-state region will attend 21 special matinee performances, and more than 1,200 students will experience our classroom programming and workshops.