The Colony Theatre Company Opens West Coast Premiere of CELADINE

The Colony Theatre Company presents the fourth production of its 35th anniversary season, the West Coast Premiere of CELADINE, written by Charles Evered and directed by Andrew Barnicle. CELADINE will run from February 6 to March 7.

Celadine, a fiercely intelligent woman, becomes entangled in a lively, lusty tale of espionage and mistaken identity in 17th century London. It's a free-spirited romp involving a king in disguise, a mischievous maidservant, a playwright in mourning, a tailor who can't speak, and a mysterious actor who may be more dangerous than he seems. This bawdy, sexy comedy comes complete with spying, sword-fighting - and crossdressing!

Charles Evered (Playwright) received his undergraduate degree from Rutgers-Newark and an MFA from Yale University, where he studied with the Academy Award-winning director George Roy Hill. He has written screenplays and teleplays for studios such as Universal Pictures, NBC, Dreamworks, and Paramount Pictures. He has received the Berrilla Kerr Award, the Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship, the Chesterfield/Amblin Fellowship, the Edward Albee/William Flanagan Fellowship, the Bert Linder Fellowship, the Lucas Artist Fellowship, and the Crawford Playwriting Award. His published plays include Running Funny (premiere featured Paul Giamatti), The Size of the World (premiere featured Liev Schreiber), The Shoreham (premiere featured Eric Stoltz), Celadine (premiere featured Amy Irving), Wilderness of Mirrors, Teds' Head, Clouds Hill, and Adopt a Sailor (premiere featured Bebe Neuwirth, Sam Waterston, and Eli Wallach, among others). Mr. Evered's film and television credits include the black-and-white double episode of Monk entitled "Mr. Monk and the Leper" for USA Network. He also wrote and directed the feature film Adopt a Sailor, which stars Bebe Neuwirth, Peter Coyote, and Ethan Peck. Adopt a Sailor premiered at The Williamstown Film Festival, then became an Official Selection at the Palm Springs International Film Festival, among many others. More recently, he wrote and directed the short film Visiting, starring James Waterston and Amy Locane. His work has been profiled in The New York Times, BBC World, and on NPR. Mr. Evered is a former Lieutenant in the United States Navy Reserve, where he was attached to the Navy Office of Information. He is currently an Assistant Professor at the University of California-Riverside.

Andrew Barnicle (Director) directed The Colony Theatre productions of Gunmetal Blues and Rounding Third. He has been the artistic director of The Laguna Playhouse since 1991. Since then Andy has produced 120 Playhouse productions and directed forty of them, including many world, U.S., west coast and Southern California premieres. Recent directing projects there include Ron Hutchinson's Moonlight and Magnolias in a co-production with McCoy-Rigby Entertainment at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts, Michael Hollinger's An Empty Plate at the Café du Grand Boeuf and Red Herring, the world premiere of Richard Dresser's The Pursuit of Happiness, and the U.S. premiere of Bernard Farrell's Many Happy Returns. Andrew previously served as Head of Theatre at United States International University's School of Performing and Visual Arts in San Diego, and was the Associate Artistic Director of the North Coast Repertory Theatre in Solana Beach. He has also directed at San Diego's Theatre at Old Town, Michigan's Meadow Brook Theatre, and most recently directed The Foreigner at San Jose Rep.

ABOUT THE CAST AND DESIGN TEAM

WILL BARKER (Jeffrey) first found the passion for his craft from writer/director Lyn Nihart. He is a 2008 graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles. Recent theatre credits include the role of Jake Webb in the Off-Broadway premiere of The Columbine Project in New York and the role of Verges in The Vesper Theatre Company's production of Much Ado about Nothing in LA. He is also starring as teen icon James LeFroy in True Perfection, a mockumentary feature of LA's fashion industry by writer/director Sarah Mohen, scheduled to shoot in March, in addition to several other original projects he is writing and creating. Aside from acting, Will works as the director of grass-roots marketing for a non-profit organization called The Thirst Project, which constructs drinking wells in deprived countries and builds public awareness of the clean water crisis. He also works as the superhero mascot, Hydro, for the company.

Larry Cedar (Rowley) is thrilled to return for his fifth go round at The Colony Theatre after appearing in their productions of Billy Bishop Goes to War, Around the World in 80 Days, Accomplice, and Stage Struck. Other theatre includes Reprise productions of She Loves Me (Ovation Award Winner, Best Featured Actor in a Musical), Li'l Abner (Ovation Award Nominee), Anything Goes (Ovation Award Nominee), On the Town, Brigadoon, 1776, and They're Playing Our Song. Larry has also appeared in the Mark Taper Forum production of Hoagy, Bix and Wolfgang Beethoven Bunkhaus (as Hoagy Carmichael), It's A Wonderful Life (Laguna Playhouse), Twelve Angry Men (The Complex), Let's Call the Whole Thing Gershwin and Billy Barne's Movie Star (Westwood Playhouse), and Garry Trudeau's Rapmaster Ronnie (Odyssey Theatre). Larry recurred for three seasons as Leon, the opium-addicted card dealer, in the HBO hit series Deadwood and for six seasons on the Children's Television Workshop's Square One TV. Film work includes The Crazies, Towelhead, Hollywoodland, National Treasure 2, Constantine, Feds, Duck, and Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas. Other television includes House, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, The Riches, Without a Trace, Alias, The Closer, Stargate, NCIS, The Shield, Charmed, Enterprise, Frasier, The Gilmore Girls, and Boston Legal. Larry's voiceover work includes the animated series Ben 10, Samurai Jack, Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain, and Freakazoid, along with the video games Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, Underground, Everquest, Gun, Star Wars: Jedi Knight, and Ultimate Spiderman.

HOLLY HAWKINS (Mary) recently had a terrific experience working with Tim Burton in the film Alice in Wonderland, playing a rather unusual lady-in-waiting to Helena Bonham Carter's Red Queen and Johnny Depp's Mad Hatter. Her other film and TV credits include Class, Strong Medicine, Hamlet, Hollywood's Heart, and Joe Egg. Originally from Louisiana, Holly's early pursuit of ballet led her to NYC, where she remained for a number of years doing theatre. Favorite roles there include Viola in Twelfth Night (42nd Street Workshop Theatre), Violet in Man and Superman (Roundabout Theatre), Amanda in Private Lives (Lamb's Theatre), Mrs. Kendal in The Elephant Man, and Sylvia Davies in the NYC premiere of The Man Who Was Peter Pan by Allan Knee (the basis for the screenplay of Finding Neverland). Other NYC productions include Much Ado About Nothing, Tartuffe, The Millionairess, Julius Caesar, Absent Friends, Wild Thing, Rutherford and Son, The White Crow, and Hamlet. Regional theatre includes Blanche in A Streetcar Named Desire (Egner Theatre, OH), Private Lives (Houston Fine Arts Center, Denver), and The King and I (Shreveport Civic Opera). In Los Angeles, she has just appeared in Crime and Punishment with A Noise Within. Holly studied acting in NYC, London (LAMDA), Tulane University, and Centenary College.

MICHAEL A. NEWCOMER (Elliot) Southern California credits include: Crime and Punishment (A Noise Within); The Heiress (South Coast Rep); Macbeth, Titus Andronicus, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Comedy of Errors, Othello, A Winter's Tale (The Old Globe); and The Manchurian Candidate (Chandler Studio Theatre). Regional Theatre credits include The Devils, Flesh & Blood, Antigone, The Seagull, and Merchant of Venice (Portland Center Stage); Romeo and Juliet (ALLIANCE THEATRE); The Glass Menagerie (Virginia Stage); The Importance of Being Earnest (Dallas Theatre Center); Tallgrass Gothic (Actor's Theatre of Louisville Humana Festival); Wintertime (A Contemporary Theatre); Loot (Intiman Theatre); and shows at Theatre in the Square, Actor's Express, and Ford's Theatre. TV and film credits include All My Children, A Father's Revenge, Burning Away, Pants on Fire, In the Flesh, and Unforgivable.

Giselle Wolf (Celadine) was born in New York and studied with the Ballet Etudes Repertory Company in Connecticut and at NYU School of the Arts. When she was 19, while working Off-Broadway, she was accepted at The Drama Studio London and moved to the U.K. to pursue her love of British theatre. Her first role was in the West End musical Bar Mitzvah Boy by Jack Rosenthal and Julie Styne at Her Majesty's Theatre. Since then, Giselle has continued to play leading and principle roles in television and theatre including Leah in The Dybbuk, Bianca in Women Beware Women, Nancy Astor, 2 Point 4 Children, and Too Much Sun (all for the BBC), and Gabrielle in the series Bognor for Thames Television. Leading theatre roles include Jean Cocteau's The Human Voice (Thorndike Theatre), Anatol (Cambridge Theatre Company), A Cuckoo in the Nest (Redgrave Theatre), Company (Plymouth), Gypsy (Worthing), Oh, What a Lovely War (Bristol Old Vic), Going On (Yvonne Arnaud Theatre & Latchmere), The Angel (Arts Ed), One Touch of Venus (The King's Head), her one-woman show Voices from the Heart, and the title role in Molly by Simon Gray at Burbank's Victory Theatre. Her cabaret appearances include performing at the prestigious Pizza on the Park (London), Langan's Brasserie (London), The Player's Theatre (London), American Embassy (Stockholm), The Gardenia (LA), and several times as a guest with Ron Abel at Birdland (NYC). In 2008, Giselle performed her cabaret at The Rubicon InterNational Theatre Festival, and this past year she performed at The California InterNational Theatre Festival in Calabasas.

CELADINE has assembled an award-winning design team. The Scenic Design is by Stephen Gifford (Anita Bryant Died for Your Sins, Big: The Musical). The Lighting Design is by Luke Moyer (Dracula, Life Could Be A Dream). The Costume Design is by A. Jeffrey Schoenberg (City of Angels, Side Show, The Laramie Project, The Grand Tour). The Sound Design is by Cricket S. Myers (Mary's Wedding, Educating Rita, Voice of the Prairie). Wig and Hair Design is by Joni Rudesill. Prop Design is by Colony Theatre resident designers MacAndME.

CELADINE will open on Saturday, February 6 and perform through Sunday, March 7, 2010. Performances for CELADINE are Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00pm, and Sundays at 2:00pm and 7:00pm. There will be additional performances on Saturdays, February 13 and February 20 at 3pm & Thursdays, February 25 and March 4 at 8pm. (No 7 pm performance on February 7 or March 7).

Ticket prices range from $37.00 - $42.00 (student, senior and group discounts are available). CELADINE will preview on Wednesday, February 3; Thursday, February 4 and Friday, February 5 at 8:00pm. Preview Tickets are $20.00 - $25.00. Opening night performance with reception - all tickets $50.00. There are question-and-answer talkbacks after the performances on Friday, February 12, and Thursday, February 25. For tickets, call the Colony Theatre Box Office at 818/558-7000 ext. 15 or online at www.colonytheatre.org.

The award-winning Colony Theatre Company is Burbank's premiere professional theatre. It was voted "Best Live Theatre in L.A." in The Daily News 2006 Readers' Choice poll, and has been named one of "25 Notable U.S. Theatre Companies" by Encyclopedia Britannica Almanac for 6 years in a row.

The Colony Theatre Company is a 35-year old organization dedicated to bringing the finest-quality theatrical productions to Los Angeles. The theatre is located at 555 North Third Street, at the corner of Cypress, in the heart of Downtown Burbank. For further information, call (818) 558-7000. Fax: (818) 558-7110. E-mail: colonytheatre@colonytheatre.org. Or visit our website at www.colonytheatre.ORG.