California Repertory Company Announces 2018-19 Season

California Repertory Company (Cal Rep) announces its 30th Anniversary season which celebrates 3 decades of risk-taking theater by showcasing the work of local artists and bringing a range of World, West Coast and Southern California Premieres to Long Beach.

Artistic Director and Chair of the CSULB Theatre Arts Department Jeff Janisheski begins his 3rd season strengthening partnerships with artists in our community. This season features artists from across the creative spectrum: from founding member of Cornerstone Theater Peter Howard to the Associate Artistic Director of the Bilingual Foundation of the Arts Denise Blasor; from emerging playwrights like Tahirih Moeller (CSULB Alumna) to established ones like Patricia Loughrey (CSULB faculty). Cal Rep's 30th season culminates with a co-production with Long Beach Opera with In The Penal Colony by Philip Glass; this opera will weave in new text inspired by the voices of formerly incarcerated students.

Cal Rep's season runs from September 20th, 2018 to May 5th, 2019 with 8 productions, over 80 performances and numerous opportunities for discussion with fellow audience members, experts, and community members.

"Cal Rep's 30th Anniversary Season is a celebration of what Cal Rep has been over the years: a destination for adventurous, daring theatre," said Janisheski. "We begin our season with Hilary Bettis, a star on the rise, whose play The Ghosts of Lote Bravo was recently featured on the cover of American Theatre magazine and we're proud to present the West Coast premiere of this beautiful and heart-wrenching play. We're partnering with several strong Artistic Directors and theatres in the Long Beach/LA community: such as Gregg Daniels of Lower Depths Theatre Ensemble and Peter Howard of Cornerstone Theater. Our season also features the work of our faculty member Patricia Loughrey with Dear Harvey and our alumna Tahirih Moeller, whose hip-hop-inspired play A Live Mixtape we're premiering this Spring. Closing our season is a co-production with the acclaimed Long Beach Opera with Philip Glass' opera, In the Penal Colony. It's a season that celebrates community: those that are already in our orbit, the new voices we champion and the community partners and artists we want to work with. Come join us!"

The West Coast Premiere of The Ghosts of Lote Bravo is written by Hilary Bettis, a two-time winner of the Lecomte du Nouy Prize from the Lincoln Center, and 2018 Writers Guild Award nominee. The Ghosts of Lote Bravo asks for hope in the face of brutality and desperation that has become everyday life in the corrupt city of Juárez, Mexico. The show is directed by LA-based artist Denise Blasor who is the Associate Artistic Director at Bilingual Foundation of the Arts and founding member of LAAFO, KOAN and East LA Classic Theater.

Activist playwright Patricia Loughrey constructs a mosaic of Harvey Milk and the fight for LGBTQIA+ rights with Dear Harvey. Directed by founding member of Cornerstone Theater's Peter Howard, Dear Harvey will be performed on the CSULB campus and in the community of Long Beach; sections of the play will be performed in Harvey Milk Park as a commemoration of the 40th anniversary of Harvey Milk's assassination.

The World Premiere of CSULB Alumna Tahrih Moeller's A Live Mixtape features the diverse voices of Los Angeles County, beautifully woven together with hip-hop, rap, gospel, and opera. A Live Mixtape won 2nd place in the "Hip Hop Theatre Creator Award" at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival. A Live Mixtape has been in development at Cal Rep since Moeller became Cal Rep's Playwright-in-Residence in 2017.

Cal Rep is proud to co-produce their final show of the 18-19 season with the esteemed Long Beach Opera. This dynamic collaboration weaves together Philip Glass' opera In The Penal Colony - adapted from Franz Kafka's short story - and incorporates devised elements created from interviews with formerly incarcerated students. Professional artists, students, and faculty will explore this urgent issue of capital punishment through workshops hosted by the CSULB Theatre Arts Department.

FALL SEASON

THE GHOSTS OF LOTE BRAVO

by Hilary Bettis

directed by Denise Blasor

West Coast Premiere

Performances: September 20-30, 2018

In Cuidad Juarez, Mexico young girls often disappear. Many turn up murdered. Juanda Cantu's daughter, Raquel, is one of these girls. Through visions offered by La Santa Muerte, the so-called saint of robbers, thieves, and murderers, Juanda is shown Raquel's past only to discover that her daughter had hopes, dreams, and courage Juanda knew nothing about. The Ghosts of Lote Bravo is a play about great hope amid relentless violence, poverty, and grief.

Directed by Denise Blasor the Associate Artistic Director at Bilingual Foundation of the Arts and founding member of LAAFO, KOAN and East LA Classic Theater.

DEAR HARVEY

by Patricia Loughrey

directed by Peter Howard

Opening on National Coming Out Day (October 11)

Special reprisal during 40th Anniversary of Harvey Milk's assassination (Nov. 27th)

Performances: October 11-20, 2018

Extensively researched and beautifully constructed, this documentary-style ensemble play recounts the life and lasting impact of groundbreaking LGBT activist and politician Harvey Milk, as told by the people who knew him best. Spoken word combines with multimedia and music as an ensemble cast moves in and out of the identities of real-world figures whose lives were forever altered by Milk's too-short career. This spirited play by CSULB Theatre Arts faculty member Patricia Loughrey reaffirms Harvey's impact and the continued relevance of his campaign towards equality, four decades after his assassination. In a partnership with the Long Beach Parks Department, Dear Harvey will be performed in Harvey Milk Park as a commemoration of the 40th anniversary of Harvey Milk's assassination.

Directed by Peter Howard, founding member of Cornerstone Theater Company and an innovative theater maker who focuses on using performances as a springboard for dialogue on challenging topics ranging from immigration to racial bias.

THE FUNFAIR

by Simon Stephens

Adapted from Ödön von Horváth's Kasimir and Karoline

directed by Will Detlefsen

Performances: November 1-11, 2018

A recession. Unemployment is rife, the economy is flat-lining and people are partying until they drop. Between the rollercoasters and the merry-go-rounds, the freak-shows and the blaring music, the ice-cream stalls and booze, the lives of the newly engaged couple Cash and Caroline spin out of control. Adapted from the 1930s classic by von Horváth, Stephens depicts the isolation and creeping disintegration of a society that is stuck on an endless merry-go-round: a world of brutality and banality; where every emotion is determined by economics; and where people's dreams are completely shaped by consumerism. In such a world, what chance does love have?

Directed by New York theatre maker Will Detlefsen who was awarded the 2013 Drama League Fellowship and has worked recently with Tony Taccone on Angels in America at Berkeley Rep.

THE DRUNKEN CITY

by Adam Bock

Directed by Marya Mazor

Performances: November 29-December 8, 2018

Off on the bar crawl to end all crawls, three twenty-something brides-to-be find their lives going topsy-turvy when one of them begins to question her future after a chance encounter with a recently jilted handsome stranger. The Drunken City is a wildly theatrical take on the mystique of marriage and the ever-shifting nature of love and identity in a city that never sleeps.

Directed by Marya Mazor, an award-winning director who has produced at The Geffen Playhouse, Lower Depth Theatre Ensemble, The Chance, the Road Theatre, Walt Disney Imagineering, and many more.

SPRING SEASON

CABARET

by John Kander and Fred Ebb

directed by Kari Hayter

Performances: February 21 - March 3, 2019

In a Berlin nightclub, as the 1920's draw to a close, a garish Master of Ceremonies welcomes the audience and assures them they will forget all their troubles at the Cabaret. With the Emcee's bawdy songs as wry commentary, Cabaret explores the dark, heady, and tumultuous life of Berlin's natives and expatriates as Germany slowly yields to the emerging Third Reich. Cabaret is a grotesque reflection of life in present-day America: a world built on distraction and bent on destruction. Through raucous choreography and unforgettable songs, this is a piece that is a dark and dazzling mirror to our times.

Directed by Ovation Award-nominee Kari Hayter, who recently directed Parade at the Chance Theatre and Urinetown, The Musical for the Coeurage Theatre Company.

A LIVE MIXTAPE

by Tahirih Moeller

directed by Bruce A. Lemon

World Premiere

Performances: March 14-23, 2019

The rhythms of Los Angeles County come alive in the world premiere of Tahirih Moeller's A Live Mixtape. A high school girl uses the geometry of desire to calculate the distance between love and heartbreak. A college kidfights for his identity in an epic battle between art and commerce. A homeless man raps about the end to the sounds of the streets, in hopes of being heard. And all the while the neighborhood news network keeps us up on the latest. With a new perspective on every track, this exploration of love, friendship, and the American Dream brings us closer to the neighbors we thought we knew.

Directed by Artistic Director of Watts Village Bruce A. Lemon is an actor, director and radio host who works to reimagine his community through his work. A storyteller born and raised in Watts, California, Lemon has worked with numerous theatre companies in LA including LA Opera, Sone of Semele, Company of Angels, Illyrian players and many more.

TBA

directed by Gregg Daniel

Performances: March 28- April 20, 2019

Director and Artistic Catalyst Gregg Daniel joins Cal Rep for the third show of the Spring Season. Daniel is a Founding Member of Lower Depth Theatre Ensemble in Los Angeles and an accomplished director and actor. His immense experience includes appearances on HBO's True blood as Reverend Daniels, a nomination for NAACP's Best Director Award for his production of Elmina's Kitchen and most recently director of the Los Angeles premiere of Honky at Rogue Machine Theatre and Fences at Long Beach's International City Theatre. He has received nominations from Ovation, Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle and StageScene LA.

IN THE PENAL COLONY

An opera by Philip Glass

Libretto by Rudolph Wurlitzer

Based on the Story by Franz Kafka

Co-Production with Long Beach Opera

Part of Cal Rep's Devising Democracy Series

Performances: April 25-May 5, 2019

With two singers, ten actors and a string quintet, this pocket opera explores themes woven into Franz Kafka's dystopian short story, In the Penal Colony - themes of capital punishment, morality and the darkness of the human spirit. This hybrid performance mashes together Glass' opera with a devised theatre piece created from interviews with students who were formerly incarcerated. Despite the brutality of Kaka's images, the piece - like the short story itself - ultimately explore issues of humanism, idealism and personal transformation.

A Devising Democracy Production: The actors will create a devised, verbatim theatre piece connected to the opera which draws upon interviews with members of Rising Scholars and Project Rebound, a CSU groups of students who were formerly incarcerated.