Public's GATZ Begins Previews 9/26

The Public Theater (Artistic Director Oskar Eustis; Executive Director Andrew D. Hamingson) will begin previews Sunday, September 26 for GATZ, the critically acclaimed theatrical adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. Created by Elevator Repair Service and directed by John Collins, GATZ will continue through Sunday, November 28, with an official press opening on Wednesday, October 6. Tickets are on-sale now.

One morning in the office of a mysterious small business, an employee finds a copy of The Great Gatsby in the clutter of his desk. He starts to read it out loud, and doesn't stop. At first his coworkers hardly notice. But after a series of strange coincidences, it's no longer clear whether he's reading the book or the book is transforming him. GATZ is a theatrical and literary tour de force, not a retelling of the Gatsby story but an enactment of the novel itself. Over the course of a single 6 1/2 hour production, Fitzgerald's American masterpiece is delivered word for word, startlingly brought to life by a low-rent office staff in the midst of their inscrutable business operations.

GATZ was created and developed by its ensemble, under the direction of John Collins (Director) and Steve Bodow (Associate Director). The ensemble includes Laurena Allan (Myrtle), Jim Fletcher (Jim), Ross Fletcher (Henry C. Gatz), Mike Iveson (Ewing), Vin Knight (Chester), Aaron Landsman (George), Annie McNamara (Catherine), Kate Scelsa (Lucille), Scott Shepherd (Nick), Susie Sokol (Jordan), Victoria Vazquez (Daisy), Ben Williams (Michaelis), and Gary Wilmes (Tom).

GATZ features scenic design by Louisa Thompson, costume design by Colleen Werthmann, lighting design by Mark Barton, and sound design by Ben Williams.

John Collins (Director) founded Elevator Repair Service (ERS) in 1991 at Nada on Ludlow Street with his first New York production, Mr. Antipyrine, Fire Extinguisher. In the 19 years since, he has directed or co-directed all of the company's shows. John is the recipient of a 2010 Guggenheim Fellowship in Drama and Performance Art and recently received The Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding Director for Gatz at The American Repertory Theater. Recent ERS credits include The Sound and the Fury at New York Theatre Workshop, The Sun Also Rises (The Select) at The Edinburgh International Festival and The Philadelphia Live Arts Festival and No Great Society at P.S. 122. From 1993 to 2006, John worked as a sound designer for The Wooster Group where he created sound for To You The Birde, The Hairy Ape, House/Lights and several other productions. John was born in North Carolina and raised in Vidalia, Georgia. He holds a B.A. in English and Theater Studies from Yale.

Steve Bodow (Associate Director) is an ERS co-founder. Along with John Collins, Steve was Artistic Director of the company from 1996 - 2004, co-directing pieces including Cab Legs, Total Fictional Lie, Language Instruction, Highway to Tomorrow, and Room Tone. Since 2002, Steve has been on staff at The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, where he is currently Head Writer and Supervising Producer, and recently won his seventh Emmy. He is also a principal writer and editor of TDS's just-released Earth (The Book).

Laurena Allan (Myrtle). US and European tours: Gatz (with ERS) and House (writer/director Richard Maxwell). Off-Broadway: Hello School (Lower East Side Tenement Museum); The Fabulous Johnny Cash Show, Bicker and Gravel's Spine (Ontological); Laguna Beach (HERE); Vincent 1979 (Ensemble Studio Theatre); Pericles (Workhouse Theatre); Laurena's Pancake Party (creator and performer). Film: Silent Love of the Fish. Executive Producer: Whereabouts Unknown by Mojo Nixon.

Jim Fletcher (Jim) has worked with Richard Maxwell and the New York City Players for more than ten years (most recently in Das Maedchen (Bonn) and People Without History (NYC)). This year he has also worked with Tim Etchells of Forced Entertainment (Sight is the Sense That a Dying Person Tends to Lose First) and appears in the feature film Bass Ackwards, directed by Linas Phillips, which premiered at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival.

Ross Fletcher (Henry C. Gatz). Dr. Ross Fletcher is the Chief of Staff of Washington DC's VA Medical Center. He has played the role of Henry C. Gatz for the last five years with ERS.

Mike Iveson (Ewing). Off-Broadway: The Sound and The Fury (April 7, 1928), (ERS/New York Theater Workshop); Crime Or Emergency (Soho Rep, P.S. 122); Dot (Clubbed Thumb/Ohio Theatre). Regional/National tours: The Sun Also Rises (The Select), (ERS/Edinburgh International Festival); plus tours with Sarah Michelson, New York City Players, Dancenoise and many others. B.A. in theater from Oberlin College.

Vin Knight (Chester) is a member of Elevator Repair Service and has appeared in the U.S. and internationally in its productions of The Sun Also Rises, The Sound and the Fury, No Great Society and Gatz. Other NY credits include The Temperamentals, over two dozen productions with the adobe theater company and performances at Clubbed Thumb, Andhow!; Soho Rep, HERE, New Georges and Theatreworks/USA. Films include Robot Stories, Love God and Dumped! The Musical. Graduate of Yale University.

Aaron Landsman (George). With ERS: The Sound and The Fury (April Seventh, 1928), NYTW, Adelaide Festival (Australia); RedCat (LA); Gatz (European and US tours). Off-Broadway: American Treasure (13P); Florida Project (P.S.122); Cowboys & Indians (Soho Rep). Original works created: Appointment (Oslo and NYU); Open House (Foundry Theatre); What You've Done (DiverseWorks, Houston); Love Story (FuseBox Festival, Austin); Desk (Chashama, HERE). Current Artist-in-Residence, HERE Art Center.

Annie McNamara (Catherine). Off-Broadway: That Pretty Pretty (Rattlestick); The Sound and The Fury (April Seventh, 1928), (NYTW); God's Ear (New Georges); A Perfect Couple (DR2); Port Authority Throw Down; Girl Blog (Culture Project); Novel (SPF); Waterborn (EST); Clubbed Thumb Affiliated Artist: Crumble (Lay Me Down, Justin Timberlake); Design Your Kitchen and U.S. Drag. Regional and tours: Gatz (ERS); Proof (WHAT); The Hot_L Baltimore (SFGT); Off the Page (HBO's USCAF). Education: Brown, M.A.; Maggie Flanigan.

Kate Scelsa (Lucille) has been a member of ERS since 2002. Credits with ERS: The Sun Also Rises (The Select), The Sound and the Fury (April Seventh, 1928), Gatz, Show of Shows. Regional credits: Kick the Can, Macbeth, Waiting for Godot, Behind the Scenes at the Museum (Luna Stage, Montclair). Kate also writes fiction for young adult and teen readers.

Scott Shepherd (Nick). The Public: Hamlet. Elevator Repair Service: McGurk: A Cautionary Tale, Shut Up I Tell You (I Said Shut Up I Tell You), Cab Legs, Total Fictional Lie, No Great Society. The Wooster Group: The Hairy Ape; North Atlantic; To You, The Birdie!; Brace Up!; Poor Theater (Bessie & Obie awards); The Emperor Jones; La Didone; Vieux Carré.

Susie Sokol (Jordan) is a second-grade teacher at St. Ann's School in Brooklyn where she has taught for fourteen years. Susie began performing with ERS in 1992. Since then, she has appeared in all ERS productions. She has also worked with theater artists Katherine Profeta and Sibyl Kempson.

Victoria Vazquez (Daisy). Off-Broadway: The Sound and the Fury (April 7, 1928), (NYTW). Additional credits with Elevator Repair Service: Cab Legs, Total Fictional Lie (PS122). Other credits include Das Maedchen (Theater Bonn), People Without History (dir. Brian Mendes, The Performing Garage) and Caveman (Soho Rep) with Richard Maxwell and the NYC Players; Pullman, WA (Young Jean Lee, P.S. 122); The Voices (Forced Entertainment/Riverside Studios); Wrench (Phil Soltanoff, WTF). Film & TV: Nuovomundo, "Late Night with Conan O'Brien."

Ben Williams (Michaelis) has worked for ERS as an actor, sound designer, technical director and production manager since 2004. Credits with ERS: The Sun Also Rises (The Select); The Sound and the Fury (April Seventh, 1928) and No Great Society. Recent projects include: Vieux Carre with The Wooster Group, Walse-Fantasie with Mikhail Baryshnikov, Chain City, a video installation by Elizabeth Diller for the Venice Biennale; American Treasure by Julia Jarcho for 13P; Crime or Emergency with Sibyl Kempson.

Gary Wilmes (Tom). Off-Broadway: Red Light Winter by Adam Rapp; Brace Up!, with The Wooster Group; More Lies About Jerzy at the Vineyard Theatre; House and Boxing 2000 with Richard Maxwell; Bad Boy Neitzsche and Paradise Hotel with Richard Foreman. National: August: Osage County with Steppenwolf at The Sydney Theatre Company. Film: A Mighty Heart, Afterschool, Salt. TV: "Nurse Jackie," "Mercy," "Num3ers." Awards: Obie award for Red Light Winter, Alvin Goldfarb Award.

Elevator Repair Service, a theater ensemble, was founded by director John Collins and a group of actors in 1991. Since that time, ERS has built a body of highly acclaimed work and has appeared on stages in downtown New York and across the U.S. and Europe. ERS shows are built around a broad range of subject matter including literary, dramatic and cinematic forms. They combine elements of hi-tech and lo-tech design, vaudeville, both literary and found text, found objects and discarded furniture, and the group's own highly developed style of choreography. The company has generated a repertoire that includes 14 original full-length pieces and several short pieces and workshop productions. Their newest piece, The Sun Also Rises (The Select) had its world premiere at the Edinburgh International Festival in August 2010, its US premiere at the Philadelphia Live Arts Festival in September 2010, and will be seen at New York Theatre Workshop next year.

Since its 2006 premiere at the Kunsten Festival des Arts in Brussels, GATZ has been seen on 18 stages, including at the American Repertory Theater (Boston, 2010), Sydney Opera House (2009), Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art (2008), Vienna Festival (2007), The Walker Art Center (Minneapolis, 2006), and The Holland Festival (2006). Awards include Zürcher Theater Spektakel ZKB-Acknowledgement Prize (2006), and Elliot Norton Awards for Outstanding Visiting Production, Outstanding Director - John Collins, and Outstanding Actor - Scott Shepherd (2010).

The Public Theater (Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director; Andrew D. Hamingson, Executive Director) was founded by Joseph Papp in 1954 and is now one of the nation's preeminent cultural institutions, producing new plays, musicals, and productions of classics at its downtown and at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. The Public's mandate to create a theater for all New Yorkers continues to this day onstage and through extensive outreach and education programs. Each year, over 250,000 people attend Public Theater-related productions and events at six downtown stages, including Joe's Pub, and Shakespeare in the Park. The Public has won 42 Tony Awards, 151 Obies, 41 Drama Desk Awards and four Pulitzer Prizes. The Public has brought 54 shows to Broadway, including Sticks and Bones; That Championship Season; A Chorus Line; The Pirates of Penzance; The Tempest; Bring In 'Da Noise, Bring In 'Da Funk; On the Town; The Ride Down Mt. Morgan; Topdog/Underdog; Elaine Stritch at Liberty; Take Me Out; Caroline, or Change; Well; Passing Strange; the Tony Award-winning revival of Hair; and this fall, the rock musical Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson and the 2010 Shakespeare in the Park production of The Merchant of Venice. Visit www.publictheater.org.
TICKET INFORMATION

Marathon performance tickets for GATZ begin at $140. Single tickets for the extension are on sale now to members and will go on sale to the general public on Tuesday, September 21. Tickets can be ordered by calling (212) 967-7555 or in person at The Public Theater box office. GATZ begins performances on Sunday, September 26 and has been extended through Sunday, November 28.

GATZ will be presented as a marathon theatrical event, with two intermissions and a dinner break, four times per week. Performances begin with Acts 1 & 2 (Chapters 1-5) on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 3 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m.; they resume after a dinner break with Acts 3 & 4 (Chapters 6-9) on Wednesday, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 7 p.m.

There is no performance on Wednesday, October 13 and an added performance on Monday, October 11, beginning at 3 p.m. and resuming at 8 p.m.

The Public Theater launched the Anniversary Membership Campaign this year in honor of The Public Theater's 55th Anniversary Season. For an annual tax-deductible donation of $55, patrons can purchase tickets to shows throughout the season for the low member price of $40 or less. GATZ Marathon pricing for Members is $80. Member tickets are on sale now.

The Public Theater is located at 425 Lafayette Street. For more information, visit www.publictheater.org.