Midtown Direct Rep to Present HELEN OF TROY at SOPAC in January

MIDTOWN DIRECT REP (MDR), the company that brought New Jersey the award-winning Rated P for Parenthood and Listen to Your Mother: North Jersey, returns to the South Orange Performing Arts Center (SOPAC) with a Theatre in the Loft reading of a new musical based on The Iliad by Homer. Helen of Troy, with music and lyrics by Douglas J. Cohen (The Gig, No Way to Treat a Lady), book and lyrics by Zoe Samuel (Jihad! The Musical), will be directed by MDR company member Bradley Dean, with musical direction by MDR company member Meg Zervoulis. Helen of Troy premieres on Sunday, January 25 at 7:30 pm at SOPAC (One Sopac Way, South Orange, NJ, 07079). Casting will be announced soon.

The reading is $15 and open to the public. Tickets can be purchased online http://www.sopacnow.org/506/mdr or by calling 973-313-ARTS (2787). Same day student tickets are available for $10 at the Box Office only (subject to availability, one ticket per ID, two-hours prior to curtain).

Helen of Troyis a fresh take on the ancient story of a beautiful but spoiled princess, a tale that has previously been narrated for thousands of years by an extremely biased Greek Chorus. When Helen runs away from an arranged marriage, her brother-in-law Agamemnon launches a thousand ships to bring her back. Helen finds herself trapped between a self-obsessed Trojan prince, Greek soldiers thirsting for plunder, and meddlesome deities. If she is to undo the mess she has created, Helen will have to become more than just a pretty face.

As the Chorus sees Helen's story unfold one more time, they come to understand that they have been telling an outdated version of the tale that glamorizes the brutality of Agamemnon over unsung acts of heroism performed by Helen and friends. The Chorus learn that while they cannot change what has happened, they can tell a new, fairer version of the story more suited to today's audience.

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