Photo Flash: First Look at Coeurage Theatre Company's THE SECRET IN THE WINGS

Coeurage Theatre Company, LA's Pay What You Want theatre company, has announced the final production of its eighth season, The Secret in the Wings by Mary Zimmerman. Directed by Coeurage Associate Artistic Director Joseph V. Calarco, opening is set for Saturday, November 11 at 8pm. The Secret in the Wings will play through December 16 at the Historic Lankershim Arts Center in North Hollywood.

The cast will feature (in alphabetical order) Eduardo Fernandez-Bauman, Audrey Flegel, Margaret Katch, Leslie Murphy, Katie Pelensky, Leon Russom, Sean Spann, Randy Thompson, and Eddie Vona. Scenic design is by JR Bruce, lighting design is by Brandon Baruch, costume design is by Kumie Annabelle Asai, sound design is by Joseph V. Calarco, choreography is by Tasheena Medina, fight choreography is by TJ Marchbank, and video design is by Marc Hampson. Original music is by Surrija, the music director is Jane Lui, and the stage manager is Eryn Bollin.

The Secret in the Wings is a witty, magical, and darkly mysterious collage of lesser-known fairy tales that explores simple parables in the context of a surreal, tempestuous dream.

Mary Zimmerman is the 1998 recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, the 2002 Tony Award for Best Director of a Play, and 10 Joseph Jefferson Awards. She is a member of the Lookingglass Theatre Company of Chicago, an artistic associate of both The Goodman Theatre and Seattle Repertory Theatre, and a Professor of Performance Studies at Northwestern University. Works which she has adapted and directed include The Jungle Book, White Snake, Argonautika, Candide, Mirror of the Invisible World, The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci, The Odyssey, Arabian Nights,, Journey To The West, Metamorphoses, The Secret in the Wings, S/M, Eleven Rooms of Proust, and a new opera with Philip Glass, Galileo Galilei. Zimmerman made her Metropolitan Opera directorial debut with Lucia di Lammermoor in the fall of 2007. Zimmerman's subsequent MET productions include Armida and La Sonnambula.

Joseph V. Calarco is a founding member, Resident Sound Designer and Associate Artistic Director of Coeurage Theatre Company. Previous directorial efforts include the West Coast premieres of The Sparrow and The 4th Graders Present an Unnamed Love-Suicide, as well as the critically acclaimed production of The Yellow Boat . He is also a frequent actor with the company. Past performances include Failure: A Love Story, The Pitchfork Disney, Balm in Gilead, No. Saints Lane, LA Lights Fire, and The Rocky Horror Show. Past sound designs include The Woodsman, Andronicus, A Bright Room Called Day, Translations, Balm in Gilead, Is He Dead?, Double Falsehood, No. Saints Lane, bash latterday plays, Head Over Heels, LA Lights Fire, Hats, Nudes & Immortality, and Brief Interviews with Hideous Men.

Coeurage Theatre Company exists to make impassioned theatre accessible for all audiences through Pay What You Want admission and fresh, challenging productions. The company's name is inspired by a re-imagining of the word courage - coeur is French for heart, and rage, meaning fervor; on fire. Together, Coeurage (pronounced "courage") is a heart enflamed with passion, which the company strives to bring to every production.

The Secret in the Wings opens on Saturday, November 11 at 8pm. The regular running schedule is Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 8pm through December 16. There will be an added performance on Wednesday, November 22 at 8pm and no performance on Thanksgiving Day, November 23. All seats are available on a Pay What You Want basis and may be reserved online at www.coeurage.org/sitw or by calling (323) 944-2165.

The Historic Lankershim Arts Center is located at 5108 Lankershim Boulevard in North Hollywood, 91601.

Photo Credit: John Klopping

Audrey Flegel, Margaret Katch, Leslie Murphy, Katie Pelensky

Audrey Flegel, Leslie Murphy, Katie Pelensky

Leon Russom, Margaret Katch

Leon Russom, Randy Thompson

Front row, L to R â€" Randy Thompson, Katie Pelensky, Sean Spann , Eddie Vona. Back row, L to R â€" Leon Russom, Margaret Katch, Leslie Murphy, Audrey Flegel, Eduardo Fernandez-Bauman