Marla Schaffel and Tina Chen to Headline Mirror Rep's 2014 Season

The Mirror Repertory Company, along with The Greensboro Arts Alliance and Residency (GAAR), presents Tony-nominee Marla Schaffel (Jane Eyre) in THE MIRACLE WORKER as part of its 2014 summer season in Greensboro, Vermont. With special events beginning over the 4th of July weekend, GAAR's 2014 summer season will also include a limited engagement of Rodgers + Hammerstein's CAROUSEL.

Held on the Greensboro Town Green (81 Lauredon Ave Greensboro, VT), and performed in repertory, the summer festival begins its main stage performances of CAROUSEL on Thursday, July 24th. THE MIRACLE WORKER follows with its premiere performance on Friday, July 25th, 2014.

Presently performing in the open-air Town Square in Greensboro, Mirror Rep and the Greensboro Arts Alliance and Residency have undertaken plans to design a new state of the art Elizabethan Theater in Greensboro in the years ahead. To be named The Mirror -- in the tradition of The Globe, The Swan and The Rose -- the theater's advisory board recently added Tony Award-winner Mark Rylance, director Nicholas Hytner and Cordelia Monsey of the Royal Shakespeare Company to its ranks. H3, Hugh Hardy and Associates -- designer of Theater for a New Audience's Polansky Theater in Brooklyn -- will design the new theater in Greensoboro.

Marla Schaffel, who earned a Tony nomination for her starring role in Jane Eyre, returns for the third summer in a row having previously starred in The Sound of Music (2012) and last year's production of THE MUSIC MAN. This summer, she'll star alongside 11-year-old Vermont-native Macy Molluer in THE MIRACLE WORKER.

William Gibson's thrilling and dramatic masterpiece tells the miraculous story of teacher Annie Sullivan and her stormy, yet ultimately triumphant, relationship with her deafblind student Helen Keller. A truly moving piece of exciting theater, the teamwork of Mrs. Schaffel and Molluer, under the direction of GAAR Artistic Director Sabra Jones, is something you won't want to miss.

THE MIRACLE WORKER runs July 25th, August 1st, August 8th, August 10th and August 15th with special matinees scheduled for July 27th, August 3rd and August 17th.

Beginning performances on July 24th, Rodgers + Hammerstein's CAROUSEL tells the story of the tragic romance between carousel barker Billy Bigelow and mill worker Julie Jordan. Based on Frederic Molnar's 1909 play Liliom, Time Magazine has lauded CAROUSEL as the greatest musical of the 20th Century by Time Magazine. The Tony Award-winning musical features such famous numbers as, "If I Loved You," "June is Bustin' Out All Over," and "You'll Never Walk Alone." CAROUSEL is directed by Charles McAteer, MRC's Associate Artistic Director whose credits also include having been in the original cast of TITANIC on Broadway and as producer of Tracy Letts' SUPERIOR DONUTS on Broadway.

GAAR's Associate Artistic Director Charles McAteer will direct this special production, which will also feature New York actors Kelly Pekar, Nina Riley and Jacey Powers, as well as Vermont actors John Marshall, Elye Alexander, Brian Kilday, Krissie Ohlrogge and Ed Donlon among many others. This production will also feature the brilliant ballerina Bethany Lange in the Act II pas de deux ballet. GAAR Music Director Justin Jacobs returns as well, with assistance from Mark Violette, Musical Director for QNEK's SUDS.

CAROUSEL runs July 24th, July 26th, July 31st, August 2nd, August 7th, August 9th, August 14th and August 16th, with special matinee's scheduled for July 26th, August 2nd, August 9th and August 16th.

Additional one-night engagements of The Silent Clowns, Tina Chen: Legacy of My Chinese Family, Get Thee to the Funnery: A Youth Shakespeare Show and the Fourth of July Square Dance are also included throughout the summer season.

On August 13, the celebrated stage, film and TV actress Tina Chen will perform her charming solo show LEGACY OF MY CHINESE FAMILY, which follows the extraordinary history of her family: her grandfather was Premier of China before the revolution and her childhood house guests were Madame Chiang Kai-Shek and Chao en Lai. The play follows the journey of her family from China and Japan to the United States. The performance will conclude with original songs composed by Ms. Chen and performed by the chorus from CAROUSEL.

Marla Schaffel earned a Tony nomination and a Drama Desk Award, Drama League Award and an Outer Critics Circle Award for her starring role in Jane Eyre. Ms. Schaffel's other Broadway credits includeTitanic and Les Miserables, as well as starring in the national tours of Evita, My Fair Lady, White Christmas, and The Sound of Music. Marla created the leading roles off-Broadway in Enter Laughing, Christina Alberta's Father, Enter the Guardsman, Fanny Hill, Tall Grass, and A Broadway Diva Christmas. Her regional credits include Jane Eyre, Let Me Sing, They All Laughed, Lucky in the Rain, Glimmerglass, West Side Story, A Little Night Music, Fool for Love, and Top Girls, among others. Last summer, Ms. Schaffel appeared as Maria in The Sound of Music to great acclaim.

The Mirror Repertory Company is a division of the Mirror Theater, a New York-based arts organization that strives to provide year-round cultural, economic and artistic opportunities to the residents of New York City and its surrounding areas. Through the Mirror Repertory Company and other programs, the Mirror Theater is proud to have produced over 100 plays both within New York (Broadway and off-Broadway) as well as in London, regionally and on television. The Mirror Repertory's work has been nominated for a Tony, as well as numerous awards, including Best Overall Excellence and Best Acting Ensemble (Outer Critics), and features an award-winning Arts & Education program (Brown and Williamson Award), which has been a recipient of multi-year funding from the Department of Cultural Affairs. The Mirror Theater is proud to have collaborated with thousands of talented artists from Eve Arden and Richard Burton to Nathan Lane.

Mirror Repertory Company is preparing for its 30th anniversary season, which will include a controversial new play about Albert Einstein, set in Princeton in 1941, along with a new translation of HEIMAT/MAGDA, a play by Herman Sudermann that was a staple in the repertoires of both Sarah Bernhardt and Eleonora Dusa. The late Geraldin Page -- MRC's Founding Artist in Residence -- suggested the play to the company.

Mirror Repertory Company is under the leadership of Artistic Director Sabra Jones, Associate Artistic Director Charles McAteer and Executive Director Marilyn S. Miller.

Tickets to the 2014 SUMMER SEASON; CELEBRATING THEATER ON THE GREEN: CAROUSEL & THE MIRACLE WORKER ARE $30 (Adults); $20 (Seniors/Students/Veterans); $15 (Kids) and half-price for every matinee. For additional tickets and a complete schedule, call (802) 533-7487. For additional information visit, www.greensboroartsalliance.com or www.mirrorrepertory.com.

Photo Credit: Genevieve Rafter-Keddy