DMT Presents LOVE'S LABORS LOST THE MUSICAL

By: Oct. 02, 2015
Enter Your Email to Unlock This Article

Plus, get the best of BroadwayWorld delivered to your inbox, and unlimited access to our editorial content across the globe.




Existing user? Just click login.

On November 6, 2015, the Douglas Morrisson Theatre continues our 2015-2016 Season with the first Northern California production of LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST, a new musical based on the play by William Shakespeare, with songs by Michael Friedman, and book adapted by Alex Timbers. Lisa Tromovitch, Livermore Shakespeare's Artistic Director, brings her BARD expertise to DMT, joined by Music Director Dan Feyer (who has a sideline as a crossword puzzle expert - he's six-time defending champion at the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament!)

www.dmtonline.org

www.haywardrec.org

CALENDAR Information on LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST

WHO: Douglas Morrisson Theatre presents

WHAT: LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST a new musical based on the play by William Shakespeare, with songs by Michael Friedman, and book adapted by Alex Timbers

CAST: Pamela Ballin, Chris Cruz, Kaylyn Dowd, Bruce Kaplan, Jordan Kersten, Nick Louie, Daniel Martin, Rio Martinez, Regina Morones, Lizzie Moss, Martie Muldoon, Heren Patel, Jepoy Ramos, Nick Sears, Shauna Shoptaw, Amber Sommerfeld and Ronnie Tañon

TICKETS: $10 Preview

$32 Opening Night

$29 Wed.- Sat. eves, Sat. & Sun. matinees

Discounts available for H.A.R.D. residents, seniors, students, TBA, KQED members, and groups (10+)

BOX OFFICE: (510) 881-6777; www.dmtonline.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media contact: Susan E. Evans, Bob Miller

Media phone: (510) 881-6733

Email: seva@dmtonline.org; bmil@dmtonline.org

2015-2016 Season: REVELATIONS

DOUGLAS MORRISSON THEATRE 2015-2016 SEASON continues WITH musical adaptation of love's labour's lost

October 2, 2015 - The Douglas Morrisson Theatre 2015-2016 Revelations Season gallops apace with the first Northern California production of Love's Labour's Lost, a new musical based on the play by William Shakespeare, with songs by Michael Friedman, and book adapted by Alex Timbers, creating a giddy mashup of the Bard and Boy Bands.

Love's Labour's Lost will have 15 performances, including one preview, November 5 through November 29, 2015, at the Douglas Morrisson Theatre, 22311 N. Third St. in Hayward, CA. Tickets are $10-$29, and are available through the Box Office at (510) 881-6777 or online at www.dmtonline.org.

DMT's production of Love's Labour's Lost is directed by Lisa Tromovitch and features an outstanding ensemble of Bay Area actor/singers: Pamela Ballin as Jaquenetta, Chris Cruz as Longaville, Kaylyn Dowd as Katherine, Bruce Kaplan as Nathaniel, Jordan Kersten as Maria, Nick Louie as Dumaine, Daniel Martin as Boyet, Rio Martinez as Berowne, Regina Morones as Rosaline, Lizzie Moss as The Princess, Martie Muldoon as Dull, Heren Patel as Mercadé, Jepoy Ramos as Costard, Nick Sears as The King, Shauna Shoptaw as Holofernes, Amber Sommerfeld as Moth and Ronnie Tañon as Don Armado.

"FOUR STARS! ... this gleeful riff on Shakespeare is a tall, fruity drink of intoxicating delight. ... a dual sensation of silliness and heartache" - Time Out New York

Love's Labour's Lost is a musical adaptation by Friedman and Timbers (the Bloody Bloody, Andrew Jackson team) of Shakespeare's loopy comedy that manages to be fresh and contemporary while faithfully adhering to the text. Romance and revelry abound in this tale of the King of Navarre and his college buddies at their five-year college reunion who take an oath to spend the next three years devoted to study and self-improvement, and remove themselves from worldly temptations ... most especially women. Enter onto the scene four girls from the boys' past and all bets are off.

Timbers, who wrote the book for the musical, says, "We had this idea that we wanted to set the show at a five-year college reunion, because I was thinking who are kings and princesses today and they're sort of privileged kids that go to Brown University or Wesleyan, or other schools like that, and to set the show at that moment in your mid-20s when you feel that urge to grow up but sort of feel that sense of you have no idea how to do that, that was something that I wanted to capture. " (For more of this interview, see http://www.interviewmagazine.com/culture/alex-timbers-loves-labours-lost#_).

One of Shakespeare's earlier comedies, Love's Labour's Lost is believed to have been written sometime between 1593 and 1595, shortly after Comedy of Errors and before A Midsummer Night's Dream, and it was published in the first surviving quarto in 1598. Unlike most of Shakespeare's other plays, the plot and theme of Love's Labour's Lost do not appear to be based on any known story but rather appear to be drawn from various contemporary references and topical allusions. In 2013, composer/lyricist Michael Friedman and bookwriter/director Alex Timbers, creators of the Broadway musical, Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson, teamed up again to create Love's Labour's Lost for the Public Theater's Free Shakespeare in the Park program. Love's Labour's Lost played at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park in July/August 2013.

The Douglas Morrisson Theatre creative team for Love's Labour's Lost is comprised of Lisa Tromovitch (Artistic Director of Livermore Shakespeare), music director Daniel Feyer (A.C.T., Off-Broadway and Regional credits), and designers with credits from numerous Bay Area theatres and beyond including Laura E. Ellis (choreography), Martin Flynn (scenic designer), Allen Willner (lighting designer) and Daisy Neske-Dickerson (costume designer).

ABOUT THE CREATIVE TEAM

COMPOSER/LYRICIST Michael Friedman has written music and lyrics for Unknown Soldier (a musical about World War I which just premiered at the Williamstown Theatre Festival); Pretty Filthy (The Civilians); The Fortress of Solitude (Public Theater); Love's Labour's Lost and Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (both with Alex Timbers); Here's Hoover; Saved; The Brand New Kid; The Blue Demon; and, with The Civilians, Canard Canard Goose, Gone Missing, Nobody's Lunch, This Beautiful City, In the Footprint, The Great Immensity and Paris Commune (with Steve Cosson as part of the BAM Next Wave Festival); as well as music for Anne Washburn's Mr. Burns (a post-electric play). Friedman has been a MacDowell Fellow, a Princeton Hodder Fellow, a Meet The Composer Fellow, a Barron Visiting Professor at the Princeton Environmental Institute, and an artist-in-residence at Spring Workshop Hong Kong, and in 2007 he received an OBIE Award for sustained excellence in music. This year he is a research resident at the Stanford Arts Institute, researching the history of American popular music for his new musical American Pop, a commissioned work from the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

BOOKWRITER Alex Timbers is a writer-director and a 2012 Tony Award nominee for his co-direction (with Roger Rees) of Peter and the Starcatcher. Timbers' other Broadway credits include Rocky, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (for which he was also a Tony nominee) and The Pee-wee Herman Show (aired on HBO, nominated for Emmy Award). His off-Broadway credits include The Last Goodbye (a musical adaptation of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet), Love's Labour's Lost, Here Lies Love, A Very Merry Unauthorized Pageant, Gutenberg! The Musical! and Hell House. He is the recipient of numerous honors, including the Lucille Lortel, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards, as well as two OBIE Awards. Alex was president of the Yale Dramatic Association and is the artistic director of the company Les Freres Corbusier. He most recently directed the new Musical Comedy Up Here at La Jolla Playhouse.

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR Lisa Tromovitch is the founder of Shakespeare's Associates/Livermore Shakespeare Festival with over 50 professional directing credits in six states. She began her career at The Old Globe Theater where she assisted directors Jack O'Brien, Tom Moore and the late John Houseman. She is a Backstage West Garland Award and Indy Award winner for her direction of Amadeus at PCPA TheatreFest. Most recently she directed As You Like It, a Sonnet Cafe, Much Ado About Nothing, and Hamlet for SA, and a Transmedia production Condemned, inspired by Tennessee Williams One-Acts at University of the Pacific. Lisa was awarded a 2010 Innovation Award for "Risktakers and Dreammakers" hosted by the Livermore Chamber of Commerce and a 2012 "Arts Leadership Award" from the Alameda County Board of Supervisors. She is President of Shakespeare Theatre Association, the international member organization for Shakespeare producers worldwide.

ABOUT THE MUSIC DIRECTOR Daniel Feyer was most recently Assistant Music Director for A.C.T.'s A Little Night Music. Favorite New York City credits include The Underclassman (2006 Drama Desk Award nomination for orchestrations), Evil Dead: The Musical, Working revival, With Glee, Illyria, Yank!, Honor, and Prospect Theater Company's Musical Theater Lab series. His regional credits include Weston Playhouse (ten seasons since 1999), Meadow Brook Theatre (seven shows since 2010), CenterStage, Willows, Gateway, Barnstormers. Dan is a San Francisco native and Princeton graduate, author of three books of word search puzzles and four New York Times crosswords, and six-time defending champion at the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament.

ABOUT THE DOUGLAS MORRISSON THEATRE

The Douglas Morrisson Theatre is owned and operated by the Hayward Area Recreation and Park District. The DMT is located at 22311 N. Third St. in Hayward, next to the Senior Center and the Japanese Gardens. The Box Office is open Tuesday through Friday, 12:30 to 5:30 and can be reached at (510) 881-6777. Information is also available at www.dmtonline.org.



Videos