VIGIL Closes Center Theatre Group/Mark Taper Forum

Closing the Center Theatre Group/Mark Taper Forum 2011 season will be the wickedly funny "Vigil," a dark comedy written and directed by Morris Panych and featuring Marco Barricelli and Academy Award-winner Olympia Dukakis, November 2 through December 18. The opening is set for November 6.

In "Vigil," a self-involved, middle-aged man hurries to the bedside of an aunt he hasn't seen in 30 years after she writes to him that she is dying. With less than humanitarian motives, he becomes impatient when she continues to live. As his brief visit stretches through days, months and seasons, her condition and their relationship evolve in unexpected ways.

The scenic and costume design is by Ken MacDonald, lighting design by Alan Brodie and Robert Hahn, original music and sound design by Alessandro Juliani and Meg Roe, with sound design by Cricket S. Myers. The production stage manager is David S. Franklin and stage manager is Michelle Blair.

Robert Hurwitt of the San Francisco Chronicle said of this production, which was presented at A.C.T. in San Francisco in March 2010, that it is ". . . outrageously funny and oddly heartwarming . . . [Panych] stages it all with perfect comic timing . . . Dukakis and Barricelli volley like tennis masters.. . . ."

Morris Panych is a Canadian playwright, actor and director. He has directed over 80 productions and written two dozen plays that have been seen across Canada, Britain and in the United States. "Vigil" was first presented in 1995 in Canada.

Marco Barricelli is the Artistic Director of Shakespeare Santa Cruz. His acting credits include "Tamara" on Broadway and "Agamemnon" off-Broadway. Other plays include "Les Liaisons Dangereuses," "American Buffalo," "The Real Thing," "Glengarry Glen Ross," "The Invention of Love," "A Streetcar Named Desire" and "The Rose Tattoo," among others. He was an Associate Artist at A.C.T. for eight years.

Olympia Dukakis has appeared in more than 200 productions on and off-Broadway and in regional theatres. She has received two Obie Awards for Brecht's "A Man's a Man" and Christopher Durang's "The Marriage of Bette and Boo." Her many film credits include "Moonstruck" (Academy Award and Golden Globe Award), "Mr. Holland's Opus" and "Steel Magnolias," among others. Television credits include several for which she received Emmy Award nominations - "The Tales of the City" trilogy and "Lucky Day."

Tickets and information are available at CenterTheatreGroup.org, the Center Theatre Group box office located at the Ahmanson Theatre, or by calling 213-628-2772.

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