Joan Didion's THE YEAR OF MAGICAL THINKING at Florida Rep's Studio Theatre

By: Beau Higgins Jan. 04, 2012

Adaptation of Joan Didion Best-Seller Opens in Florida Rep's Studio Theatre

Florida Repertory Theatre announced the opening of The Year of Magical Thinking, a breathtaking portrait of a wife and mother's redemptive journey through love and loss.

Adapted from Joan Didion's best-selling memoir and starring Florida Rep regular, Sara Morsey, The Year of Magical Thinking, plays in Florida Rep's intimate 90-seat Studio Theatre Jan. 11 to Feb. 4.

"This is a very beautiful and powerful portrait of one woman's real-life struggle with loss, and I know it will really resonate with anyone who has ever loved a husband, wife or child," said Producing Artistic Director, Robert Cacioppo. "Florida Rep is committed to providing this community with a wide variety of work, and producing this subtle and delicate play just weeks after closing David Sedaris' hilarious satire, The Santaland Diaries, illustrates that commitment perfectly. We pride ourselves on making 180-degree turns like this every season, and for giving our audiences an opportunity to see such daring work as this."

Published as a memoir in 2005, The Year of Magical Thinking became an instant best-seller and won the National Book Award for nonfiction. Didion adapted her memoir for the stage in 2007. The play chronicles the year she spent coping with her daughter's grave illness and the sudden loss of her husband of forty years. Starring Vanessa Redgrave, the play was an instant Broadway sensation and ran for over 100 performances.

Florida Rep's production stars Sara Morsey, seen most recently as the acid-tongued, pill-addicted matriarch, Violet Weston, in last season's electrifying August: Osage County. Morsey's other Florida Rep appearances include Carol in The Last Romance and as the iconic Amanda Wingfield in The Glass Menagerie, as well as appearances all over the country with theatres like Actor's Theatre of Louisville, American Stage, Playhouse on the Square and the American Shakespeare Center.

Director, Maureen Heffernan, is another regular guest artist with Florida Rep whose work with the company includes All my Sons, Master Class, Art, Rabbit Hole, Doubt, Opus, and Florida Rep's recent nationally acclaimed productions of Sylvia in 2011 and Dancing at Lughnasa in 2009. A New Jersey resident, Heffernan is an award-winning director who's worked extensively in the Northeast with some of America's top regional companies.

"I cannot imagine a better team than Sara Morsey and Maureen Heffernan working on this play," Cacioppo said, "they are both artists of the highest caliber and will treat this very delicate subject matter with the utmost care and respect. This really is a dream team, and Southwest Florida Rep audiences are are in good hands."

Morsey and Heffernan are joined by an expert creative team including set designer, Christopher T. Simpson (The Santaland Diaries), lighting and sound designer, Kate Smith (It's a Wonderful Life), production stage manager, Julie A Richardson (King o' the Moon), and making her Florida Rep design debut is costume designer, Judith Skyles, who is in her second season with Florida Rep as assistant to the costume designer.

The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion plays in Florida Rep's Studio Theatre Jan. 11 - Feb. 4 with discounted previews Jan. 11 and 12. Regular tickets are priced at $40; previews are $20. Tickets are available online at www.floridarep.org and through the box office at 239-332-4488. begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 239-332-4488 end_of_the_skype_highlighting begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 239-332-4488 end_of_the_skype_highlighting Seating in the Studio Theatre is limited, so call or click today.

The Year of Magical Thinking is sponsored by Nu Image Cleaners, and Florida Rep's Studio Theatre Series is sponsored by the Southwest Florida Reading Festival.

Performances are Tuesday - Saturday at 8:00pm. Wednesdays, Sundays and selected Saturdays at 2:00pm. The run also features a special 7:00pm Twilight Performance on Sunday, Jan. 15.

Florida Repertory Theatre performs in the Historic Arcade Theatre on Bay Street between Jackson & Hendry with convenient free parking in the Fort Myers River District, and the The Florida Rep Studio is down the hall.

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