Casting Announced for ANIMAL FARM and BLACK PEARL SINGS! at Milwaukee Rep

Milwaukee Repertory Theater has announced the cast of George Orwell's Animal Farm and Frank Higgins' Black Pearl Sings!

Leading the cast of Animal Farm will be Milwaukee Rep Associate Artists Jonathan Gillard Daly (Man of La Mancha and Mousetrap) as Benjamin/Pilkington and Deborah Staples (A Christmas Carol and Harvey) as Clover. Rounding out the cast are Melvin Abston (Broadway's Sister Act) as Napoleon, Tiffany Rachelle Stewart (Public Theater's Pericles) as Squealer/Mollie, Brendan Titley (Penguin Rep Theatre's Trayf) as Snowball/Minimus and Stephanie Weeks(Tennessee Shakespeare Company's A Midsummer Night's Dream) as Boxer/Major.

Animal Farm is directed by Associate Artistic Director May Adrales (The Who & The What), scenic design by Andrew Boyce (An Illiad), costume design by Izumi Inaba (The Who & The What), lighting design byNoele Stollmack (Grounded), and original composition and sound design by Charles Coe and Nathan A. Roberts (Contemporary American Theater Festival's Wedding Gift).

Black Pearl Sings! stars Lynette DuPree (Film -Their Eyes Were Watching God) as Pearl, an African-American woman with a soulful voice and steely spirit who wants to leave prison and find her daughter. Dupree's co-star is Colleen Madden (longtime American Players Theatre company member) as Susannah Mulally, an ambitious song collector for the Library of Congress who is searching for something of her own.

Black Pearl Sings! is directed by Leda Hoffmann (Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill) and music directed by Abdul Hamid Royal (Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill). Scenic design by Courtney O'Neill (Center Stage's Twisted Melodies), costumes design by Lauren T. Roark (Utah Shakespeare Festival's As You Like It), lighting design by Aimee Hanyzewski (I Love A Piano) and sound design by Milwaukee Rep's Sound Director, Erin Paige.

Animal Farm begins performances January 9 and runs through February 11 in the Quadracci Powerhouse. Black Pearl Sings! begins performances January 19 through March 18 in the Stackner Cabaret. Tickets for both of these thought-provoking plays are now on sale and can be purchased online at www.MilwaukeeRep.com, by phone at 414-224-9490 or in person at the Ticket Office (108 E. Wells Street).

Associate Producers for Animal Farm are James E. and Mary K. Braza. Executive Producer for Black Pearl Sings! is Katherine Gehl. The Rep is sponsored in part by The United Performing Arts Fund.

Rep is a nationally-recognized company that presents compelling dramas, powerful classics, award-winning contemporary works and full-scale musicals housed in its three unique performance venues - the Quadracci Powerhouse, Stiemke Studio and Stackner Cabaret. The Rep also produces an annual A Christmas Carol at the historic Pabst Theater. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Mark Clements and Managing Director Chad Bauman, Repertory Theater ignites positive change in the cultural, social, and economic vitality of its community by creating world-class theater experiences that entertain, provoke, and inspire meaningful dialogue among an audience representative of Milwaukee's rich diversity.

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