Connecticut Repertory Theatre Opens Nutmeg Summer Series With RENT 5/27-6/6

Connecticut Repertory Theatre (CRT), the professional producing arm of the Department of Dramatic Arts at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, will open its Nutmeg Summer Series with the rock musical, Rent, running May 27 through June 6 in the Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre (Lower Jorgensen). This will be CRT's first full summer season since 2002.

The Nutmeg Summer Series continues through July 4, 2010 with All in the Timing, a comedic collection of six sketches, running June 10 through June 20 in the Nafe Katter Theatre (also located on the Storrs campus); Smokey Joe's Café playing June 24 through July 4 in the Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre; and Endurance, a world premiere play presented by movement theatre artists, Split Knuckle Theatre, from June 24 through June 27 in the Nafe Katter Theatre.

Tickets are now available for each of the productions by calling the Jorgensen Box Office at 860-486-4226 or visiting www.crt.uconn.edu. Rent, All in the Timing and Smokey Joe's Café can also be purchased as a subscription, with Endurance available as an "add on" to the subscription package.Rent

Book, Music and Lyrics by Jonathan Larson

May 27 - June 6

Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre

Its unforgettable songs, including "Seasons of Love," "No Day but Today" and "One Song Glory," propelled Rent to become one of the ten longest running shows on Broadway! Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and four Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Rent's rock opera is the story of struggling young artists - based on Puccini's La Boheme but set in modern-day New York City.

Caption for image provided with press release: CRT's production of RENT - set rendering by scenic designer Michael Anania.

PERFORMANCE AND TICKET INFORMATION
Evening performances start at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, and at 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Matinee performances start at 2 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. Single ticket prices for Rent range from $15 to $37. Subscription package options range from $36 to $84. The Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre and the Nafe Katter Theatre are located on the campus of the University of Connecticut in Storrs. Both venues offer air-conditioned comfort and convenient free parking. Subscribers also have the option of pre-purchasing dinner at the Nathan Hale Inn and ice cream dessert at the UConn Dairy Bar with their subscription packages. Please call the box office at 860.486.4226 or visit www.crt.uconn.edu for specific show dates and times because performance schedules vary and are subject to change. CRT's Community Partners for the Nutmeg Summer Series include Hamilton Sundstrand, Leyland Alliance, Mansfield Community Center, Nathan Hale Inn, UConn Dairy Bar and Willimantic Chronicle.

THE CREATIVE TEAM
Art Manke (Director) is a five-time winner of the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award. His recent credits include a sold-out run of Noises Off and the West Coast premiere of Bach at Leipzig for South Coast Repertory, The Miracle Worker for the Denver Center Theatre Company, and The Constant Wife, Private Lives and the American premiere of Noel Coward's Star Quality for Pasadena Playhouse. Art is a co-founder and former artistic director of A Noise Within, L.A.'s acclaimed classical theatre company. Other credits include Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Laguna Playhouse, Magic Theatre, Mark Taper Forum, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, American Players Theatre and Shakespeare Santa Cruz. His television credits include multiple episodes of Eve, One on One and Hannah Montana. He holds an M.F.A. from The American Conservatory Theatre.

Michael Anania (Scenic Designer) has Broadway credits that include Laughing Room Only starring Jackie Mason, A Change in the Heir, Run for Your Wife, Canterbury Tales, The View From Here, and The Gathering starring Hal Linden. He also designed New York City Opera productions of H.M.S. Pinafore, The Merry Widow, La Boheme, A Little Night Music, and The Desert Song (all 'Live from Lincoln Center'), as well as Wonderful Town, 110 in the Shade, The Most Happy FeIIa, Pajama Game, and The New Moon. Michael has worked on national tours of Applause, Heartstrings and The Wizard of Oz (star ring Mickey Rooney). He was nominated for Australia's Tony Award, the 2002 Helpmann Award for Singin' in the Rain and Dallas Theater League's Leon Rabin Award for My Fair Lady.

LUCY BROWN (Costume Designer) is a recent graduate from the MFA Costume Design program at UConn. She has been a Costume Designer for CRT on Hair, A Man For All Seasons, Pentecost and Macbeth. Lucy exhibited at USITT's Young Designer's Forum 2006, as well as at Ming Cho Lee's Clambake 2010 at Lincoln Center. Her work was published in the summer 2008 edition of TD&T Magazine. Other costume design credits include a new adaptation of A Doll's House in NYC, The Buddy Holly Story at The Merry-Go-Round Playhouse, The Oresteia at Oddfellows Playhouse, and Endurance with Split Knuckle Theatre Company.

AL CRAWFORD (Lighting Designer) is Founder and President of Arc3design and has worked extensively in dance, theater, opera, corporate and social events, and themed entertainment. He was recently appointed to the adjunct faculty at UConn's School of Fine Arts, and is enjoying his twelfth season as the Lighting Director for the Alvin Ailey® American Dance Theater. Arc3design has created high profile works such as Judith Jamison's Love Stories with Rennie Harris and Robert Battle, Double Exposure for the Lincoln Center Festival and HERE...NOW , a work commissioned by the Salt Lake City Olympic Winter Games. Al is a graduate of the North Carolina School of the Arts and a member of United Scenic Artists Local 829 and the International Alliance for Theatrical Employees Local 635.

THE CAST
Corey Bradley (Benny) most recently appeared in the Broadway revival of Ragtime. His Broadway National Tour credits include Mamma Mia!, Chicago, Fosse, and West Side Story (International). Las Vegas credits include We Will Rock You, and In Time starring Hugh Jackman and directed by George C. Wolfe. His favorite regional credits are Hot Mikado (Westchester Broadway Theatre), Showboat (North Shore Music Theatre), La Cage aux Folles (North Carolina Theatre), Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Downtown Cabaret Theatre) and Ragtime (Kennedy Center). His film/TV work includes Disney's Enchanted (principal dancer), Sex and the City, Nickelodeon, and Spike Lee's He Got Game. Corey holds a BFA in Music Theatre/Dance from Elon University.

Kaitlin Monte (Mimi) is a native of Rochester, NY, and currently resides in New York City. She has performed in over 50 productions, including The Seagull (Nina), High School Musical 2 (Gabriella), Rent (Mimi), The Hole (Nadia), Little Women (Jo March). Kaitlin graduated the University of Tampa at age 19 with a B.A. in Performing Arts with secondary studies in Public Relations and Visual Analysis. She worked at Busch Gardens Tampa as part of the original cast of the Animal Planet featured show Critter Castaways as a vocalist and trainer. Most recently, she co-hosted New Year's Eve in Times Square for the international webcast. Kaitlin is a former Miss Tampa and currently tours with the USO Liberty Bells performing for our men and women in uniform.

Lauretta Pope (Joanne) graduated in 2008 from UConn's Professional Actor Training Program (where audiences will most likely remember her as Sally Bowles in Cabaret). Lauretta has appeared in six productions and obtained her equity card for Kiss Me Kate (Lilly Vanessi), Closer Than Ever (Ensemble), Seussical (Gertrude), The Witches, Speech and Debate (in the role of Diwata, which won her a Pitch Magazine's Best of Kansas City Award for Best Comedienne) and My First Time.

RACHEL ROSADO (Maureen) is a senior BFA Acting major. Previous credits include Tommy, The Comedy of Errors, Abraham Lincoln's Big Gay Dance Party, Hair, The Skin of Our Teeth, The Three Penny Opera and Thin Air: Tales from a Revolution at CRT; The Lost Colony at Historic Waterside Theatre in Manteo, NC; Doubt: A Parable, Sarah Plain and Tall and Kiss Me Kate at Hope Summer Repertory Theatre in Holland, MI; and Wider Than the Sky at UConn in collaboration with the Lark Theatre Development Project of NYC. Rachel can also be seen as Brenda in Smokey Joe's Café in the Nutmeg Summer Series.

JOHN SHULER QUERTERMOUS (Angel) has appeared in Little Women and A Thousand Cranes at Syracuse Stage and Oklahoma! with SU Drama. His other favorite credits include Big River, A Year With Frog and Toad and Fiddler on the Roof. A Kentucky native, John is a proud graduate of Syracuse University and Interlochen Arts Academy. This fall, he is moving to Sydney, Australia for a year to work with the producing group, NewTheatricals.

Kyle Szen (Roger) is pursuing his Bachelor's degree in Music Theater at Baldwin-Wallace College, where he is also on the Volleyball team. His favorite credits include The Wedding Singer, Chess, Brooklyn, The Wild Party, and Grease.

JOSHUA WRIGHT (Mark) is a Texas native and worked professionally with the Houston Shakespeare Festival, Houston Children's Theatre Festival, T.U.T.S., Theatre LaB Houston, Main Street Theater, The (late) Great Caruso, Masquerade Theatre, Lyric Stage, Flower Mound Performing Arts Theatre, and Garland Summer Musicals. His New York credits include Periwinkle National Theatre's production of Halfway There, York Theatre's 4@15 and NYU productions of Down in the Valley/Coffee Cantata, Hotel for Criminals, Fiorello!, Fiddler on the Roof, and Love's Fire. He received his B.A. in Theatre from the University of Houston and is a current graduate student at New York University/Steinhardt. Josh is proud to be an Actors' Equity member candidate.