Park Square to Launch 2016 with World Premiere Adaptation of GREAT EXPECTATIONS

Park Square begins 2016 with a world premiere adaptation of Charles Dickens's GREAT EXPECTATIONS.

Following his critically acclaimed adaptation of Oliver Twist, director Joel Sass brings his dynamic, visionary style to the bright and dark sides of ambition, class, and love in his own brand new adaptation. A boy's love "against reason, against promise, against peace, against hope, against happiness, against all discouragement that could be" is only the beginning of a roller-coaster life that takes him from the barren marsh country to the heights of London society.

"I've been paring away to reveal Dickens's vivid dialogue, piercing observations, and inimitable characters," says Joel Sass. "A diverse cast will sing and play instruments to tell this marvelous tale for a new generation."

The cast features Ryan Colbert (Pip), Hope Cervantes* (Estella/Biddy), Barbra Berlovitz (Miss Havisham), Adam Qualls (Herbert Pocket/Bentley Drummle), Patrick Bailey* (Mr. Wopsle/Compeyson), Ansa Akyea* (Joe Gargery/Mr. Jaggers), EJ Subkoviak* (Abel Magwitch/Mr. Pumblechook), and Cheryl Willis* (Mrs. Joe/Mrs. Pocket).

As a boy, Pip meets an escaped convict, a reclusive widow, and a feisty orphan, and the encounters will change his life in ways he can't imagine. When he comes into unexpected riches, Pip begins the gentleman's life he has always dreamed of, and soon realizes the price of his aspirations. This brand new adaptation is a thrilling combination of sound, music, and imagery that offer piercing observations of Dickens' inimitable characters. GREAT EXPECTATIONS is produced with special support from Ron and Marghe Tabar and Deluxe Corporation.

Charles Dickens became famous in his own time as a crusader for the middle and lower classes and a critic of upper-class greed -- in the form of Ebenezer Scrooge, most famously. Dickens's own orphaned boyhood in sooty Victorian London, which he spent in a workhouse that became the inspiration for the drudgery and abuse in Oliver Twist, awakened young Charles to the plight of the suffering masses. His probing insights into the difficulties of getting and staying ahead may have never been more timely, and his greatest contribution may lie in his depictions of people who have been, in the words of one character, "bent and broken, but into a better shape."

The production team for GREAT EXPECTATIONS includes Dan Dukich (composer), C. Andrew Mayer (Sound Designer), Sonya Berlovitz (Costume Designer), Michael P. Kittel (Lighting Designer), Rick Polenek (Scenic Designer), and Abbee Warmboe (Properties Designer). Maxwell Collyard is the Assistant Director.

Park Square will continue its 41st season with Romeo & Juliet (February 12-3) and another world premiere, Nina Simone: Four Women, on the Andy Boss Thrust Stage (March 8-26).

GREAT EXPECTATIONS Performance Schedule: Previews begin Friday, January 15, and continue through Thursday, January 21. January 22 is Opening Night, and the run continues through February 7. Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. except for Saturday and Sunday matinees, which begin at 2 p.m. All performances are in the company's Proscenium Stage in Saint Paul's historic Hamm Building, 20 W. Seventh Place.

Ticket prices: Previews: $27 and $37. Regular Run: $40 and $60. Discounts are available for seniors, those under age 30, and groups. Tickets are on sale at the Park Square ticket office, 20 W. 7th Place, or by phone: 651.291.7005, (12 noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday), or online at www.parksquaretheatre.org.

*Member, Actors Equity Association

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