New Jersey's Kelsey Theatre Presents 33 VARIATIONS Beginning Next Week

Pierrot Productions will present "33 Variations" Nov. 19 through Dec. 4 at Mercer County Community College's (MCCC's) Kelsey Theatre located at 1200 Old Trenton Road in West Windsor Township.

Written by Moisés Kaufman (of "The Laramie Project" fame), "33 Variations" is a fascinating story inspired by one of classical music's most enduring riddles: Why did Beethoven, during his final years, write 33 different variations of a seemingly insignificant waltz by a minor composer?

Kaufman's play, which made its Broadway debut in 2009, cleverly toggles between contemporary times in New York and early 19th century Vienna. The story begins when modern-day music scholar, Katherine Brandt, is driven to explore the rationale behind Ludwig van Beethoven's preoccupation with creating nearly three dozen variations of a humble waltz by a composer named Anton Diabelli. Beethoven's obsession fuels Brandt's obsession as their two worlds coexist on stage. Both characters face afflictions and are running out of time. Brandt suffers with ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease) and a broken mother-daughter relationship while Beethoven, entering the final years of his life, struggles with severe hearing loss.

The play, directed by Kat Ross Kline of Marlton, is accented and uplifted by a live pianist (Susan Green Hoffman of Florence). An essential component of the play, the pianist "mirrors the variation form of Beethoven's great work with a fugue of interwoven themes and a graceful minuet finale" as described in an Oxford University Press blog by William Kinderman, a professor of musicology at the University of Illinois, whom the playwright had visited when shaping the play.

The cast includes: Melissa Connell of Marlton as Dr. Katherine Brandt, Katy Widmer of Hamilton as Clara Brandt, Thom Boyer of Hamilton as Mike Clark, Peter de Mets of Newtown, Pa. as Ludwig van Beethoven, Mark Applegate of Washington Crossing as Anton Diabelli, Susan Blair of Philadelphia, Pa. as Dr. Gertrude Ladenburger, Mort Paterson of Philadelphia, Pa. as Anton Schindler, Bill Rose of Princeton Junction as Nurse/Passenger and Gail Rose of Princeton Junction as Nurse/Passenger. Susan Green Hoffman of Florence plays a key role in the production as the live pianist.

The production team includes: Associate Producer, Kyla Donnelly of Levittown, Pa; Stage Manager, Hannah Knight of Bordentown; Sound Manager, Evan Paine of Lawrence; and Costumes, Ruth Schanbacher of Yardley, Pa.

Tickets are $18 for children, students and senior citizens, and $20 for adults. To purchase tickets visit kelseytheatre.org, call the Box Office at 609-570-3333 or order directly at https://ci.ovationtix.com/35232. Private performances and group rates are available to ALS support and music appreciation groups upon request.

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