Colony Theatre to Present THE ROAD TO APPOMATTOX, Begin. 2/11

The Colony Theatre will present the fourth production of its historic 40th Anniversary season, the West Coast Premiere of THE ROAD TO APPOMATTOX by Catherine Bush, directed by Brian Shnipper. THE ROAD TO APPOMATTOX will preview on Wednesday, February 11; Thursday, February 12; and Friday, February 13 at 8:00pm. It will open on Saturday, February 14 at 8:00pm and continue through Sunday, March 15.

When Confederate troops are no longer able to hold, General Robert E. Lee has no choice but to order the evacuation of the capital at Richmond. The Army of Northern Virginia swings west, beginning a march that is now known as Lee's Final Retreat. It is this "retreat trail" - the Road to Appomattox - that present-day Beau Weeks and his wife Jenny are following, retracing the steps of Lee's army in order for Beau to investigate his family's place in the annals of history. As General Lee is faced with the disintegration of his army, Beau and Jenny confront a past that threatens to destroy their marriage. As Past and Present begin to collide, both must decide for themselves what it means to surrender... and what price they're willing to pay for Union. A WEST COAST PREMIERE.

CATHERINE BUSH (Playwright) is the Playwright-in-Residence at Barter Theatre in the beautiful mountains of southwest Virginia. Produced plays include: The Other Side of the Mountain, The Quiltmaker, Comin' Up A Storm,Wooden Snowflakes, Tradin' Paint, Where Trouble Sleeps, Walking Across Egypt, I'll Never Be Hungry Again (book & lyrics), The Frankenstein Summer, unhINGEd, The Executioner's Sons, The Controversial Rescue of Fatty the Pig, andJust a Kiss, which was a finalist for the 2007 Steinberg Award presented by the American Theatre Critics Association. Plays for Young Audiences: Cry Wolf!, Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel, The Scarlet Letter, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth, My Imaginary Pirate, The Call of the Wild, The Princess and the Pea, Aesop's Fables, The Red Badge of Courage. Frosty, Rudolph, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Mother Goose: The Musical, 'Twas the Night Before Christmas and Jingle All the Way. www.catherinebushplays.com

BRIAN SHNIPPER (Director) is happy to be returning to the Colony after directing last season's Miracle on South Division Street. He conceived and directed the world premiere of Standing on Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays(Los Angeles Drama Critics Award) at the Coronet Theatre where it was hailed in the Los Angeles Times as "a burgeoning phenomenon" and a "vital achievement." It has since been performed in over 70 theatres across the world including the Minetta Lane Theatre in New York, ACT in San Francisco, La Jolla Playhouse, Trinity Rep, and Syracuse Stage. Off Broadway: Standing on Ceremony (New York Theatre Workshop), Family Commitment (EST), the world premiere of Will Scheffer's Alien Boy (OOBR Award), and Lubna. Regional credits include the U.S. premiere of Daniel MacIvor's The Best Brothers, Red, Bell, Book and Candle, and Opus (Ensemble Theatre Company), A View of the Mountains (Pasadena Playhouse), Voice of Good Hope, about the life of Barbara Jordan starring Frankie Faison (Luna Stage - Star Ledger's pick for the Year's 10 Best). The world premiere of Wendy MacLeod's Undescended, Say You Love Satan, and All the Rage (Attic Theatre). He served as Artistic Director for 12 Miles West Theatre Company in New Jersey where his credits include the world premieres of Joyce Carol Oates' Separated and Nagle Jackson'sBarney Downsized. Other 12MW credits: Bluff, Private Eyes, All the Rage, Three Viewings, The Notebook of Trigorin, A Hotel on Marvin Gardens, The Water Children, The Misanthrope, Brutality of Fact, The Complete History of America (abridged), and Hitting for the Cycle. Brian returned to his alma mater, Montclair State University, to direct Lanford Wilson's Balm in Gilead, which was a regional finalist for the Kennedy Center's American College Theatre Festival.

SHAUN ANTHONY (Colonel Walter Taylor) is excited to be making his Colony debut in The Road to Appomattox as General Lee's right-hand man. His Los Angeles credits include Reasons to be Pretty at the Geffen Playhouse, Red at Ensemble Theatre Company, King Lear, Comedy of Errors, Julius Caesar, Much Ado About Nothing at Shakespeare OC, Noises Off, Richard III, Oliver Twist at A Noise Within, and The Distance From Here at the Santa Monica Playhouse. Regionally he spent a year at the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre performing and understudying in a variety of shows, and was also seen onstage at the Dallas Shakespeare Festival. Film/TV work includes Clint Eastwood'sAmerican Sniper with Bradley Cooper, and as a series regular on the web series Top Decking. Shaun holds a BFA from Southern Methodist University and has also studied at the British American Drama Academy in Oxford, England, IO West, and UCB. He briefly contemplated getting his MFA and was invited to New York for the final round of callbacks at Juilliard in the previous year. Shaun is a proud member of Actor's Equity Association.

BRIDGET FLANERY (Dr. Jenny Weeks) is an Iowa native, and received her MFA from the Yale School of Drama. She has performed at theatres all over the country. Some favorite stage roles include: Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing, Lizzie in The Rainmaker, Blanche Dubois in A Streetcar Named Desire, Beppi in Farmyard, Isabella inMeasure for Measure, Wendla in Spring Awakening, Kate in The Taming of the Shrew, Viola in Twelfth Night, and Hermione in A Winter's Tale. Bridget has appeared in many television shows and films, including: Hart of Dixie, Desperate Housewives, Two and a Half Men, Will and Grace, Without a Trace, General Hospital, Out of Practice, 7th Heaven, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, All My Children, The Guiding Light, Babylon 5, and Something Blue, to name a few. As a writer, Bridget has won awards for her screenplays on the festival circuits.

BRIAN IBSEN (Steve "Beau" Weeks) is thrilled to be back at The Colony Theatre in this production. He debuted at The Colony in Blame it on Beckett as the slick and uncompromising managing director of a non-profit theatre. Last season he played a very different role as the son and brother from Buffalo, NY in Miracle On South Division Street, also directed by Brian Shnipper. He appeared on Broadway in The Lion in Winter with Laurence Fishburne and Stockard Channing, and in The Rainmaker with Woody Harrelson. He has worked with such directors as Scott Ellis, Mark Lamos, and Tony Award winners Jack O'Brien, John Rando, and Michael Mayer. Brian has performed in regional theatre around the country in shows such as Twelfth Night, The Taming of the Shrew, Macbeth, The Glass Menagerie, The Lion in Winter, The Drawer Boy, and originated the role of Dan Jr. in Stephen Metcalfe's World Premiere playLoves and Hours. He holds a BFA in acting from Purchase College, SUNY, and an MFA in acting from The Old Globe Theatres/UCSD.

BJORN JOHNSON (General Robert E. Lee) has performed on Broadway and in 1st National Tours including Cyrano: The Musical, Les Miserables, George White's Scandals, et al, Off-Broadway in Señor Discretion, Pastorale, Hamlet,and Wild Men, and in many of the nation's leading regional theaters including the Guthrie Theater, Alley Theatre, ART, Williamstown Theater Festival, Kennedy Center, and many others. . He is delighted to return to the Colony Theatre where he played Frank in Educating Rita, a role he later re-created at the North Coast Rep. Other area productions include: Summertime at The Boston Court Theater, The Cosmonaut's Last Message..., Sight Unseen, Fernando, Poet's Garden (as Van Gogh), You Shall Give Me Grandsons, All My Sons. Favorite television appearances include: Mad Men, Dexter, Nip/Tuck, Criminal Minds, Chuck, The Sopranos, The Sentinel, the final episode of ER, and like so many actors who have worked in New York City, Law and Order! Film credits include: Beerfest, Hunger, Part-time Fabulous, The Right To Remain Silent, Salami Fight Club, and the upcoming Parallel Chords. Bjørn is a proud member of Actors Equity Association.

TYLER PIERCE (Captain Russell/Chip) was most recently seen on stage in Los Angeles in the Colony production ofHandle With Care and, prior to that, the world premiere of Sheila Callaghan's Everything You Touch at The Theatre @ Boston Court. He has appeared in tours of Legends with Joan Collins and Linda Evans, Barriers, and A Midsummer Night's Dream. Selected regional theatre credits include: How to write a New Book for the Bible, Death of a Salesman,and Death of the Author (South Coast Rep), Hasty Pudding (Ojai Playwrights), Venus in Fur (B Street), I'll be Back Before Midnight and Handle With Care (Colony Theatre); How to Write a New Book for the Bible (Berkeley Rep and Seattle Repertory Theatre); Good People (Geffen Playhouse); Gronholm Method (Falcon Theatre); Death of a Salesman (The Old Globe); A Streetcar Named Desire (Guthrie Theater); The Night Is a Child (Milwaukee Repertory Theater and Pasadena Playhouse); Crime and Punishment (Berkeley Repertory); Dracula, A Christmas Carol (Actors Theatre of Louisville); Macbeth, Pericles, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Lorenzaccio, The Tempest (The Shakespeare Theatre Company); Youth Inc. (McCarter Theatre Center); Fat Pig, The Internationalist (The Studio Theatre). New York theatre includes work at Theatre at St. Clement's, Circle East, New York Classical Theatre, HERE Arts Center, Atlantic Theater Company, Atlantic Theatre Studio, Theatre for a New Audience, Lark Play Development Center, New Dramatists, and New Georges. Tyler is a proud member of Actors' Equity. tylerpierce.wix.com/actorsite.

THE ROAD TO APPOMATTOX features an award-winning design team. The Scenic Design is by David Potts (Emmy Award - HBO's Deadwood). The Costume Design is by Dianne K. Graebner (Ovation nominations - The Brothers Karamazov and Battle Hymn). The Lighting Design is by Jared A. Sayeg (Ovation nominations - Trying and Kiss Me, Kate). The Sound Design is by Dave Mickey (Robert E. Cohen Sound Achievement Award). Props Design and Set Dressing is by Colony Theatre resident propmaster John M. McElveney and Scenic Art is by resident artist Orlando de la Paz.

THE ROAD TO APPOMATTOX will open on Saturday, February 14 at 8:00pm and continue through Sunday, March 15. Performances for THE ROAD TO APPOMATTOX are Thursdays & Fridays at 8:00pm; Saturdays at 3:00pm & 8:00pm; and Sundays at 2:00pm. Ticket prices range from $20.00 - $49.00 (group discounts are available). THE ROAD TO APPOMATTOX will preview on Wednesday, February 11; Thursday, February 12; and Friday, February 13 at 8:00pm at The Colony Theatre, 555 North Third Street (at Cypress) adjacent to the Burbank Town Center Mall.

Opening night performance with reception - all tickets $55.00. There are question-and-answer talkbacks after the performances on Friday, February 20 and Thursday, March 5. For tickets, call the Colony Theatre Box Office at818/558-7000 ext. 15 or online at www.ColonyTheatre.org.

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