North Coast Rep Extends 2 Pianos 4 Hands Thru 2/13

2 Pianos 4 Hands is the riotous tale of two boys in Canada, Ted and Richard, sharing the same goal: concert pianist stardom. They work fervently towards their dream amidst pushy parents, eccentric teachers, hours of repetitive practice, stage fright, the agony of competitions and the

dream of greatness.
Two actors, two pianos and many, many characters grace the stage as fifteen years of learning the art of piano playing unfolds. From classical to pops to jazz, the play provides the chance for two performers to give their all in a 120-minute virtuoso performance. Along the journey the actors/pianists portray a dazzling range of characters embellished with a show of piano wizardry featuring the music of Bach, Beethoven and Jerry Lee Lewis.
As they mature, Ted and Richard become more aware of the gap between the very good and the great, and come to the humbling realization that greatness may be out of reach. And there lies the universal plight of all those with an ounce of training and talent and the will to "be" a professional musician, or athlete, or actor, or dancer.
2 Pianos, 4 Hands captures the humor that comes with learning to play the piano, and the sense of loss of eventually learning to let go of the dream.

2 Pianos 4 Hands was originally produced in April 1996 by Tarragon Theatre (Toronto, Canada), in association with Talking Fingers Inc.,
and Produced Off-Broadway, in London and throughout North America by
Mirvish Productions, Toronto.

2 Pianos 4 Handsis produced by permission of Marquis Entertainment Inc.

(www.marquisent.ca).

NOW EXTENDED THROUGH
FEBRUARY 13, 2011

In 1994, Ted and Richard formed Talking Fingers, and under this company name first workshopped

2 Pianos 4 Hands at the Tarragon Theatre, with generous support from the Ontario Arts Council. Tarragon Theatre subsequently programmed the show as part of its 1995-1996 season, where it garnered rave reviews, played a sold-out run, received the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding Production (Toronto's theatre awards) and the prestigious Chalmers Award (Canada's top playwriting award). Tarragon Theatre then toured the production nationally from May 1996 to September 1997.

In the fall of 1997, 2 Pianos 4 Hands was presented Off Broadway at The Promenade Theatre by a team of producers: David and Ed Mirvish, Ben Sprecher and William P. Miller. The production was widely acclaimed, and ran for six months before transferring to the Kennedy Centre in Washington (both productions featured Dykstra and Greenblatt). 2 Pianos 4 Hands has since played to sold-out houses at the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto and at the Comedy Theatre in the West End of London.

In the fall of 2003, Ted and Richard reunited to perform in the greatly anticipated Toronto revival at the majestic Elgin Theatre, again playing to sold-out houses and spectacular reviews. And in the spring of 2004, Ted and Richard toured to Tokyo, Japan where they played for three weeks at prestigious Le Theatre Ginza, presented by Japan's largest theatre company, Shochiku.

In 2006, Marquis Entertainment's production of 2 Pianos 4 Hands, featuring Richard Carsey and Tom Frey, was awarded the 2006 Connecticut Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Touring Production (winning over Broadway touring productions of The Lion King and Wicked).

Since its humble Toronto premiere, 2 Pianos 4 Hands has had 5000+ performances at more 150 different theatres throughout North America, Europe, Asia (Japan and Hong Kong), Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa playing to more than 2 million people worldwide.

For more information about 2 Pianos 4 Hands, please visit the official website: www.2pianos4hands.com

Ted Dykstra and Richard Greenblatt. Courtesy Lydia Pawelka.
Ted Dykstra (Co-Writer) Ted has performed 2P4H over 750 times in 11 Canadian cities (including 4 Toronto runs) as well as New York, Washington, DC, London's West End and Tokyo. He has directed productions of 2P4H across the US, in Australia and Hong Kong. He has received Dora Mavor Moore Award (Canada's Tony) nominations as an actor, director, writer, producer and composer, and was awarded Doras for Fire (Acting + Musical Direction) and 2P4H (Producing) as well as a Chalmers Award for writing 2P4H. As an actor, he has played leading roles on every major stage in Canada. Some of his favourite memories are title roles in Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Hamlet and Amadeus, Cousin Kevin in The Who's Tommy (Dora nomination), Daffyd Llewellen in A Chorus of Disapproval (Dora Nomination), Bottom in Midsummer Night's Dream, and Ariel in The Tempest. He has acted in dozens of movies and TV shows, and received a Gemini Award for his performance in Shattered City: The Halifax Explosion. Ted is a founding member of Toronto's Soulpepper Theatre, where he has directed many shows, including Jitters, Billy Bishop Goes To War, Leaving Home (Dora nomination), Under Milkwood, Salt Water Moon, and Fool for Love. He has directed numerous other productions including Frost/Nixon (Canadian Stage), Tuesdays with Morrie (Harold Green Jewish Theatre Company), Cinderella (Elgin Theatre), The Rocky Horror Show (Canadian Stage/MTC), Aladdin (National Tour/Elgin Theatre, Toronto Dora nomination) and To Kill a Mockingbird (Neptune Theatre, Halifax). Upcoming; he will reprise his acclaimed performance of his one man adaptation of Tolstoy's The Kreutzer Sonata, and will direct The Glass Menagerie, both for Soulpepper Theatre.

Richard Greenblatt (Co-Writer) Richard Greenblatt trained as an actor at RADA in London, and has acted, directed, and written for theatres across Canada and abroad, as well as in radio, television and feature films. He has directed well over 100 productions, the vast majority being original Canadian plays, as well as many classical texts, including several plays of Shakespeare, The Cherry Orchard, and Mother Courage, amongst many others. He has also directed numerous award-winning plays for young audiences, including Danny, King of the Basement, Wrecked, Mirror Game, and The Incredible Speediness of Jamie Cavanaugh. As an actor, he has played leading roles across Canada and in Toronto, including Creon in Anouilh's Antigone, the Father in Enda Walsh's bedbound, and the tile role in Spinoza, amongst many others.He has been a co-writer of the award winning plays i.d., 2 Pianos 4 Hands, Letters from Lehrer, Care, and Sibs (which was also filmed for CBC Television). He performed 2 Pianos... a staggering 750 times, including four runs in Toronto, an extensive Canadian tour, The Promenade Theatre in New York, The Comedy Theatre in the West End of London, The Kennedy Centre in Washington, D.C. and Theatre Ginza in Tokyo, Japan. Richard has been Resident Director at Young People's Theatre, Deputy Artistic Director at Canadian Stage, and Artistic Director of The Hour Company. He has taught acting, directing and play creation at most of the theatre training institutions in Canada. He has won four Dora Mavor Moore Awards, two Chalmers Playwriting Awards, and received numerous other nominations. He lives in Toronto with his partner Tanya Greve and their one year old daughter, Amelia.

Bruce Sevy (Director) Associate Artistic Director and Director of New Play Development
Denver Center Theatre Company
Bruce has directed such memorable Denver Center productions as Mariela in the Desert, The Voysey Inheritance, A Prayer for Owen Meany, Doubt, All My Sons, Master Class, Mrs. Warren's Profession, A Christmas Carol, Cat On a Hot Tin Roof, The Little Foxes, Molly Sweeney, Amy's View, Valley Song, Pierre, Dinner With Friends, and The Cripple of Inishmaan.
As Director of New Play Development, he oversees both the artistic and practical components of DCTC's successful Colorado New Play Summit, including commissions from outstanding American Playwrights.
He has directed for Arizona Theatre Company, Cleveland Play House, Lark Play Development Center, Kansas City Repertory Theatre, Virginia Stage Company, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Northlight Theatre, San Jose Repertory Theatre, Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, Pioneer Theatre Company, A Contemporary Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Empty Space and Intiman Theatre in Seattle, the Kimo Theatre in Albuquerque, and Utah Shakespearean Festival. His popular production of 2 Pianos, 4 Hands has been seen at more than twenty theatres nationally, including DCTC's successful 2003 production.

Mark Anders (Ted) Mark Anders is delighted to be at North Coast Rep for the first time. He has been playing Mr. Sevy's production of 2 Pianos 4 Hands with Mr. Danielsen since 2001, off and on - which is to say, long enough off between gigs for him to forget all his lines, so now that it's on again, please be kind. He has devoted much of the last few years to performing a revue he co-devised with Mr. Danielsen, A Marvelous Party, in order to spread Noël Coward's wit in a century that badly needs it. Without Mr. Danielsen, but like him, Mark has appeared in several incarnations of the Florence Foster Jenkins tribute, Souvenir. In his home town of Seattle, he just finished a production of The Scarlet Letter at Intiman Theatre, where he also has appeared in Irma Vep, Hay Fever, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Rivals, and Gross Indecency. Other favorite Seattle shows include Dirty Blonde, Old Wicked Songs and The Woman in Black at ACT; Murderers at the Seattle Repertory Theatre; a couple of Hardy Boys adventures and Sideways Stories from Wayside School at the Seattle Children's Theatre; and Jeffrey Hatcher's unjustly under-produced play Hanging Lord Haw-Haw at the Empty Space. Mark writes plays and lyrics, when left to his own devices, which is not very often, alas. His beautiful and talented daughter Gemma can no longer be considered his production, if she ever could - she's a work of art all her own.

Carl Danielsen (Richard) NYC: Enter Laughing, York; The Big Voice: God or Merman?; Edgar, King Lear, Hudson Guild. Regional: A Marvelous Party; Northlight (Jeff Award); Cole!, San Jose Rep, LACLO, (Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle award, Dramalogue award); 2 Pianos, 4 Hands, 20 cities; Homer, Morning's At Seven, Caldwell; World Goes 'Round, TheatreWorks (BATCC award); Taming of Shrew, Oh, Kay!, SF Shakespeare (BATTC award); Oedipus Rex, Denver Center Theatre Company; Room Service, Barrington Stage; John Adams, 1776, Barnum, Barnum, Cat/Hat, Seussical, Cosmo, Singin' in the Rain, Woodminster Amphitheatre; Don, Singing in Rain, Bobby, Crazy for You Shenandoah Summer Musical Theatre; I Love You, YPNC, Flordia Studio Theatre. Law and Order, 'Quit Claim'. Webber Douglas Drama School, UK. BMI workshop, Harrington Award. Hear compositions at myspace.com/carldanielsen

MUSIC FEATURED IN 2 PIANOS 4 HANDS

ACT I
Concerto in D minor, 1st Movement (J.S. Bach)
Heart and Soul (Hoagy Carmichael)
The Birch Canoe (Lelia Fletcher)
By the Stream (Richard Greenblatt)
Our Band Goes to Town (arrangement J. B. Duvernoy)
Sonatina No. 6 in F Major (Beethoven)
Sonata Facile in C Major, 1st Movement (Mozart)
Sonata for One Piano, Four Hands in D Major, 1st Movement (Mozart)
In der Halle des Bergkonigs, Peer Gynt Suite 1 (Edward Grieg)
Concerto in D minor, 1st Movement (J.S. Bach)

ACT II
Prelude in D flat Major (Chopin)
Leyenda (I. Albeniz)
Rondo for Two Pianos, Four Hands in C Major (Chopin)
Fantasiestucke No. 2 (Schumann)
Pathetique Sonata No. 8 in C minor, 1st and 2nd Movements (Beethoven)
Ballade No. 2 in F Major (Chopin)
Mephisto Waltz No. 1 (Franz Liszt)
A Medley of Pop Tunes
Impromptu in A flat (Schubert)
My Funny Valentine (Richard Rogers / Lorenz Hart)
Piano Man (Billy Joel)
Horowitz Recording (Mephisto Waltz)
Concerto in D minor, 1st Movement (J.S. Bach)

MUSIC CREDITS

"HEART AND SOUL"
Music by Hoagy Carmichael and Lyrics by Frank Loesser
BMG MUSIC PUBLISHING CANADA INC.
© 1938 BY FAMOUS MUSIC CORP.
Copyright Renewed 1965 by FAMOUS MUSIC CORP. (ASCAP).

THE BIRCH CANOE
Music by LEILA FLETCHER
MAYFAIR MONTGOMERY PUBLISHING
All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission.

"BENNIE AND THE JETS"
Words and Music by Elton John & Bernie Taupin
All rights owned and administered by
UNIVERSAL/DICK JAMES MUSIC LIMITED, ADMINISTERED BY UNIVERSAL-SONGS OF POLYGRAM INTERNATIONAL, INC./BMI

"IMAGINE"
Written by John Lennon
Courtesyof LENNON MUSIC, SONY/ATV MUSIC PUBLISHING, L.I.C.
All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission.

"LINUS AND LUCY"
Written by VINCE GURALDI
COURTESY OF Lee Mendelson FILM PRODUCTIONS, INC. /
THE Harry Fox AGENCY, INC.

"NADIA'S THEME"
Written by BARRY DEVORZON & PERRY BOTKIN, JR.
Courtesy of SCREEN GEMS EMI MUSIC, INC.
All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission.

"CHARIOTS OF FIRE"
Written by VANGELIS
CourtesyEMI ENTERTAINMENT WORLD, INC.
All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission.

"GREAT BALLS OF FIRE"
Words and Music by Otis Blackwell & Jack Hammer
© 1957 (Renewed ©1975) UNICHAPPELL MUSIC INC. (BMI), MIJAC MUSIC (BMI), CHAPPELL & CO. (ASCAP) & MYSTICAL LIGHT MUSIC (ASCAP).
UNICHAPPELL MUSIC INC. (BMI) administers all Rights on behalf of itself and MIJAC MUSIC (BMI).
CHAPPELL & CO. (ASCAP) administers all Rights on behalf of itself and MYSTICAL LIGHT MUSIC (ASCAP).
All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission.

"MY FUNNY VALENTINE"
Music by Richard Rodgers and Lyrics by Lorenz Hart
© 1937 Chappell & Co. (ASCAP) & Williamson Music, Inc. (ASCAP)
All rights owned and administered by
WARNER/CHAPPELL MUSIC, INC. (ASCAP)
All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission.

"PIANO MAN"
Written by Billy Joel
© 1973 JOELSONGS
All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission.

"THE MEPHISTO WALTZ"
Performed by VLADIMIR HOROWITZ
Used by Permission. COURTESY OF RCA RED SEAL/BMG CLASSICS.

FACT SHEET:
The writers of 2 Pianos 4 Hands are:
Ted Dykstra & Richard Greenblatt

The Director of 2 Pianos 4 Hands is:
Bruce Sevy
(Director)

The cast of 2 Pianos 4 Hands includes:
Carl Danielsen* (Richard)
Mark Anders* (Ted)

The Design Team for 2 Pianos 4 Hands includes:
Marty Burnett
(Scenic Design)

Don Darnutzer
(Lighting Design)

Chris Luessmann
(Sound Design/Projection)

Annie Bornhurst
(Props and Set Dressing)

The Crew for 2 Pianos 4 Hands includes:
Caren Heintzelman*
(Stage Manager)

John Finkbiner
(Scenic Artist)

Aaron Rumley
(Production Manager)

*Member of Actors' Equity Association

TICKET PRICES: $30 - $47

HOW TO BUY TICKETS: Tickets for 2 Pianos 4 Hands are available onlyat North Coast Repertory Theatre in Solana Beach at 987 Lomas Santa Fe Drive, Suite D, 92075. For ticket information or reservations call (858)-481-1055 or visit www.northcoastrep.org. Box Office hours are Noon to 4pm daily and Noon to Curtain day of shows.
Preview tickets are $30.00, Opening Night tickets are $47, Saturday evening and Sunday Matinee tickets are $41.00 and Wednesday - Friday evening and Saturday Matinees are $37.00. Student/Seniors and Military save $3.00 and Subscriber single tickets are $5.00 off.

SHOWTIMES: Show times are select Previews at 8:00pm, and select Saturday matinees at 2:00pm. Regular show times are Wednesdays at 7:00pm, Thursday - Saturday at 8:00pm with a matinee Saturday at 2:00pm and Sundays show times are at 2:00pm and 7:00pm.

 

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