ART of WNY to Present HELLO AGAIN, 9/11-10/4

Coming off a historic 2013-14 seventh season, in which the company lead the Buffalo theater community with four Artie Awards for Theatrical Excellence and won its very first award for Best Musical Production, American Repertory Theater of WNY is proud to kick-off the 2014-15 season with a production of Michael John LaChiusa's HELLO AGAIN on September 11th and will run until October 4th. All performances will be at the ART in the Box, 16 Linwood Avenue, Buffalo NY 14219. Showtimes are 7:30 pm, Thursday through Saturday performances. Ticket prices are $25 general/$20 online general; $18 Student/$15 Student online. For more ticket information visit www.artofwny.org or call 716-634-1102.

Making the work's regional debut and directed by two-time Artie Award winning director, Jeffrey Coyle (FLOYD COLLINS; BBAJ) under music direction of Brett Ruygen, this musical adaptation based on Arthur Schnitzler's LA RONDE weaves several lives throughout ten scenes of hope, love, passion and, in one form or another, sex.

First premiered at Lincoln Center Theater in 1994 at the Mitzi Newhouse, under the directorial eye of the legendary Graciela Daniele, the production featured some of Broadway leading talent including Donna Murphy, Malcolm Gets, Carolee Carmello and John Cameron Mitchell. Describing HELLO AGAIN, LCT's musical director Ira Weitzman, in the liner notes of the original cast recording of the musical, wrote:

"HELLO AGAIN uses the famous circular structure of Schnitzler's play; a series of ten dialogs leading to sexual encounters, each scene linked by a character from a previous one until the first and last characters meet at the end. Where Schnitzler focuses on the social satire of his own 1890's Vienna, HELLO AGAIN encompasses America throughout the 21st Century. Though each scene is set in a different decade, the ten characters are on a universal journey. The longing that leads to sex masks their desire for an elusive emotional connection. Through these private moments come some of more the soul-searching songs in contemporary musical theater."

This WNY debut will feature an amazing ensemble of talent opening with Steve Brachmann as The Soldier engaging under a streetlamp with The Whore, portrayed by Katy Miner, and in turn finds himself in 1944 with The Nurse, played by Carolyn Lansom. The Nurse turns to 1960 were she is hired to "care" for The College Student played by Marc Sacco. Their scene leads to a movie house meeting between The College Student and The Young Wife, voted "Most Likely to Succeed", portrayed by Candice Kogut. After becoming "morally bankrupt", The Young Wife finds herself in 1954 with The Husband, played by Thomas LaChiusa, in a beautiful yet abstract scene where the mirror reflects who she is inside. On board the Titanic in 1912 finds the Husband having champagne and chocolates with The Young Thing portrayed by Michael Wachowiak. After being seduced aboard a sinking ship, The Young Thing escapes to a discotheque in the late 70's into the arms of The Writer, played by Matthew Mooney, who sets the next scene in the making of a 1920's silent movie featuring the "overpowering will" of The Actress portrayed by Shayna Raichilson-Zadok. The Actress then finds herself in 1980 attempting to seduce The Senator played by Robert Ernie Insana. In the final scene, The Senator phones his passion into The Whore and reaches across time to embrace her as all say "hello again" in the end.

Director Jeffrey Coyle explained the differences between the previous two musicals he directed for ART/WNY and HELLO AGAIN in that "all three shows are newer works, written within the past few decades, but they reflect very different styles of modern musical theater. FLOYD COLLINS was a blending of classical operatic vocals stylings with traditional, country-folk rhythms and cadence. BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON is a part of the pop-rock invasion of modern Broadway. The songs are more radio hook than character/plot propelling storytelling device. The music serves as an accent to the feel, attitude, and mood of the show. HELLO AGAIN is on a level altogether different." On the music premise of HELLO AGAIN, Coyle continues, "LaChiusa's music permeates the entire story. All scenes are underscored, often injected with sung lines between spoken dialogue. The music is conversational, meaning that, for the most part, it resists repetition, refrain, and melody in favor of stream-of-conscious character speech, with all the ups and down of vocal patterns built into the score."

HELLO AGAIN opens on September 11th as part of the Curtain Up! celebration signifying the beginning of the 2014-15 theater season in Buffalo, NY. For more information on the production or to catch a Q & A with director Jeffrey Coyle please visit www.artofwny.org. To make ticket reservations please call the ART/WNY box office at 716-634-1102 (9 am to 4:30 pm, Mon-Sat).

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