Southern Rep Theatre Announces Their Seven Upcoming Productions For 2009-2010 Season

Artistic Director Aimée Hayes has announced the seven productions that make up Southern Rep Theatre's provocative new 2009/2010 Season - a mix of bold story-telling and innovative musical works, and the return of Southern Rep's new play festival, reborn as the SOUTHERN REP NEW PLAY BACCHANAL. As the Gulf Coast South's premiere professional theatre, Southern Rep's 23rd season includes two world premieres and five regional premieres. Following the critically acclaimed 2008/2009 season, it will focus on community partnerships with fellow arts organizations to embrace NOLA's own performing arts community.

"Southern Rep promises one of the most entertaining, challenging, and provocative seasons in its history!" says Hayes. "In planning for next year, I recalled the Theatre Communications Group's annual conference which brought together opera companies, symphonies, dance organizations, and the National Theatre gang. What jazzed us most were partnerships and how to re-engage in our own communities. If Southern Rep doesn't reach out to its fellow New Orleans artists, then how we are we truly part of the community? From that thought came a bounty of collaborative ideas for this season." Chief among these partnerships is the season-long alliance with the local African-American artistic powerhouse Junebug Productions and their new educational initiative, the Free Southern Theatre Project (FSTI). Both esteemed long-time members of the New Orleans arts community, the theatres are collaborating to strengthen the diverse communities in which both are based.

This season, Southern Rep is proud to present the World Premiere of The NOLA Project actor and playwright Peter McElligott's WITH A BANG, a co-production with that young, fresh and ferocious theatre company, as well as the regional premiere of OPUS by Michael Hollinger. A co-presentation with JuneBug Productions, Ashé Cultural Arts Center, and Tulane University, Southern Rep is thrilled to bring the dynamic theatre group Universes' new project AMERIVILLE to New Orleans. Other regional debuts include Doug Wright's I AM MY OWN WIFE co-produced with All Kinds of Theatre and THE PIANO TEACHER by Julia Cho. THE PIANO TEACHER will open with the winner of Southern Rep's 10 Minute Play Riot, a part of SOUTHERN REP'S NEW PLAY BACCHANAL, a new amped-up version of the former SRT Fest of New Plays. Finishing out the season will be the regional premiere of the Tony winning musical, GREY GARDENS, in a co-production with Le Petit Théâtre du Vieux Carré on Le Petit's stage.

SRT opens its season in September with the "taut, smart, thoroughly entertaining drama" (Newsday) Off-Broadway triumph OPUS by violinist-turned-playwright Michael Hollinger, helmed by Mark Routhier, director of Southern Rep's 2008 smash hit THE SEAFARER. OPUS paints a witty and telling portrait of the high-caliber yet high-strung world of string quartets. Exploring power and glory, loyalty and madness, Hollinger's deft writing tackles the comedic and chaotic happenings when a woman enters the male-dominated world of string musicians. Routhier's "dynamic, invisible direction" (Times-Picayune) is sure to complement playwright Michael Hollinger's "absorbing new play" (New York Times). Look for SRT to collaborate with some of NOLA's finest musical organizations to bring patrons music, lively discussions and the insider's view to performing and living classical music.

November will bring the regional premiere of Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winner I AM MY OWN WIFE by Doug Wright, a co-production with All Kinds of Theatre (AKT). AKT Artistic Director Carl Walker will direct this hauntingly complex, true tale of Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, a German transvestite, as she successfully outwits the Nazis, Communists, and tight-fisted antiques dealers. New Orleans' director Carl Walker returns after his much-lauded direction of DOUBT, the memorable regional premiere AKT co-produced with Southern Rep. Committed to the production of important contemporary plays and musicals, AKT has also been encouraging the development of new works by New Orleans writers since 1988.

This winter, SRT's long-running New Play Festival will be reborn as the SOUTHERN REP NEW PLAY BACCHANAL, three weeks of exhilarating workshops, readings, and theatrical explorations. The Bacchanal will now include the new 10 Minute Play Riot, featuring the work of Southern writers. One winner of this demanding competition will be produced as the curtain-raiser for the final production of Southern Rep's season, THE PIANO TEACHER. Another will enjoy a special broadcast on new play-partner WWNO/KTLN Radio, New Orleans' local NPR affiliate this year.

Springtime will feature the co-presentation of the evocative AMERIVILLE by the multi-ethnic theatre Universes, brought to town by Southern Rep, JuneBug Productions, Ashé Cultural Arts Center, and the Tulane Department of Theatre and Dance. AMERIVILLE fuses poetry, jazz, hip-hop, politics, down home blues and smoldering Spanish melodies, to explore what it means to be an American in this post-9/11 world. JuneBug Productions is a professional African-American arts organization dedicated to creating, producing, and presenting high quality theater, dance and music that inspire and support people who work for justice in the African-American community. Ashé Cultural Arts Center is a gathering place for emerging and established African-American artists to present, create and collaborate in giving life to their art. Tulane Department of Music and Dance is also proud to be a partner in this project that fuses music and dance so powerfully and theatrically.

WITH A BANG, a wildly entertaining new play by Peter McElligott, will make its world premiere in March, directed by Southern Rep Artistic Director Aimée Hayes. It's another co-production with The NOLA Project, a "youthful, live-wire theater company" (The Times-Picayune) of actors and artists dedicated to New Orleans' artistic renaissance. In WITH A BANG, young heroine Margaret finds out that her father has died...again. When she is confronted by one very awkward messenger who vehemently denies being an angel, Margaret realizes she must take on her father's mission - to save the world. Playwright McElligott, a NOLA Project member, was most recently seen playing twins in SRT's DYING CITY after winning a Gambit Weekly Big Easy Award for his portrayal of Mad Padraic in the Southern Rep/NOLA Project 2008 production of THE LIEUTENANT OF INISHMORE.

A scandalously entertaining musical continues Southern Rep's season in a co-production with Le Petit Théâtre du Vieux Carré. GREY GARDENS will make its regional premiere on Le Petit's stage, featuring a witty and gorgeous "riches to rags" epic about Jackie O's most infamous relatives, Big Edie and her "fashion forward" daughter, Little Edie. A Tony Award winner, a land-mark documentary, and now a film, it's a survivor story of two giddily eccentric women who started as American aristocrats and ended up secluded in their genteel decaying mansion. Aimée Hayes returns to direct this "darkly thrilling, quirky, and heartbreaking musical" (New York 1 News.)

Southern Rep's will close the 2009/2010 Season with the regional premiere of the Off-Broadway hit THE PIANO TEACHER, by Julia Cho, opened by the world premiere of the winning entry to the SOUTHERN REP NEW PLAY BACCHANAL'S 10 Minute Play Riot. THE PIANO TEACHER is a "shattering new play" about sweet, cookie-loving piano teacher Mrs. K. When she reaches out to old students, Mrs. K unleashes a creepily dark mystery she can't quiet keep hidden in her piano bench. Featuring a dazzling tour de force role for Mrs. K, this riveting new play is described by the New York Times as "an effective chiller! Julia Cho has constructed her play with a keen sense of suspense." Southern Rep Managing Director Julie Hamberg, director of this past season's DYING CITY, directs.

Theatre lovers can reserve premium seats at the lowest prices by subscribing to Southern Rep without sacrificing flexibility. Southern Rep offers three separate packages to suit any playgoer's schedule and wallet. The Whole Shebang package includes date-changeable tickets to all seven productions. It's also possible to Pick your Own subscription: not only do patrons get to choose which three or five shows to experience, they can select which performances to attend. In fact, the best seats in the house are reserved for subscribers until two weeks before each show's first preview performance. Subscriptions begin as low as $75 - subscribers save up to 20%, plus special discounts for students, seniors, K-12 teachers, active military, and theatre professionals (with ID). Subscriptions are now available. Individual tickets go on sale August 15 and will range from $19 - $35.

Southern Rep's theatre is located on the third floor of The Shops at Canal Place, a world-class shopping center on The Edge of the historic French Quarter. Parking is easy in the attached Canal Place garage, and costs patrons just two dollars with validation. SRT's website at www.southernrep.com is a great place to find out more or purchase tickets. Or call the Box Office at (504) 522-6545 for details on subscribing to the 2009/10 Season.

With this new Season, Southern Rep enjoys its 23rd triumphant year of developing and producing new plays, providing SRT's audience with professional theatre of the highest artistic quality and achievement, and establishing a creative working environment that nurtures theatre professionals. As New Orleans' premiere professional theatre, Southern Rep strives to use the artistry of theatre to enlighten, educate, and entertain audiences, and aims to extend that service through educational and outreach programs.

Southern Rep could not bring these professional productions and arts education programs to New Orleans without the vital support of our donors which this Season to date include the generous Board of Directors and loyal SRT theatre-goers, the official airline of Southern Rep: American Airlines, AT&T, Entergy Corp., Event Producers, Freeport McMoRan, Juliet Home Furnishings, Martin Wine Cellar, National New Play Network, One Canal Place, Symmetry Jewelers & Designers, Whole Foods Market, the National Endowment for the Arts, the City of New Orleans and Arts Council of New Orleans, Louisiana Division for the Arts, Badine Land/The Ducote Family, Baton Rouge Area Foundation, Joe W. & Dorothy Dorsett Brown Foundation, Gambit Foundation for Entertainment Development & Education, Keller Family Foundation, Lupin Foundation, and Morris G. & Paula L. Maher Foundation.

The Southern Rep Theatre Diary follows with exact dates.

Southern Rep 2009/2010 Theatre Diary

OPUS, By Michael Hollinger
Director: Mark Routhier . Regional Premiere
September 16 - October 11, 2009
PRESS OPENING: Saturday, September 19 . PREVIEWS: September 16, 17, 18

Violinist turned playwright, Michael Hollinger, creates a witty and telling portrait of a high-caliber yet high-strung string quartet. OPUS explores power and glory, loyalty and madness...and what a girl's gotta do to play with the big boys. Mark Routhier, director of the SRT's 2008 sell-out hit THE SEAFARER, will helm this masterful piece.

I AM MY OWN WIFE, By Douglas Wright
Director: Carl Walker . Regional Premiere
November 4 - December 6, 2009
PRESS OPENING: November 7 . PREVIEWS: November 4, 5, 6 . NOTE: No performances Thanksgiving Week

Co-Production with All Kinds of Theatre

Pulitzer Prize and Tony winner for Best Play, I AM MY OWN WIFE is the hauntingly complex true tale of Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, a German transvestite who successfully outwitted not only the Nazis and Communists, but could also spot a priceless antique at 100 yards. Local director Carl Walker returns to Southern Rep after his much-lauded direction of DOUBT in the All Kinds of Theatre/Southern Rep co-production two seasons ago.

SOUTHERN REP NEW PLAY BACCHANAL, From the South and Beyond
Directors: Local Talent TBA . New Workshop Each Week
January 14 - 31, 2010
PRESS OPENINGS: Wednesdays, January 14, 21, 28 . NO PREVIEWS

Media Sponsor and Collaborator: WWNO/KTLN Radio

Adventurous theater-goers will gorge on the new, the daring, the theatrical at SOUTHERN REP NEW PLAY BACCHANAL. They'll experience the birth of new work, revel in the voices of the South and feast on workshops, readings and explorations. A highlight of the Bacchanal will be the "Southern Rep 10 Minute Play Riot." One new play will be the curtain-raiser for the final show in our 2009/10 Season and another will be broadcast on local NPR affiliate WWNO/KTLN Radio.

AMERIVILLE, By Universes
Universes' Members: Gamal Abdel Chasten, Mildred Ruiz-Sapp, William Ruiz aka Ninja & Steven Sapp
Director: Chay Yew . Regional Premiere
February 24 - March 7, 2010
PRESS OPENING: Wednesday, February 24 . NO PREVIEWS

Co-Presentation with JuneBug Productions, Ashé Cultural Arts Center & Tulane's Department of Theatre and Dance

SRT and our partners present the amazing theatre collaborative, Universes, performing in their newest work, AMERIVILLE. This young group fuses poetry, jazz, hip-hop, politics, down home blues and smoldering Spanish melodies, creating an unforgettable theatre experience. AMERIVILLE takes on what it means to be an American - with heart, impassioned dance and incandescent harmonies.

WITH A BANG, By Peter McElligott
Director: Aimée Hayes . World Premiere Comedy
March 24 - April 18, 2010
PRESS OPENING: Saturday, March 27 . PREVIEWS: March 24, 25, 26

Co-Production with The NOLA Project

WITH A BANG is a ridiculously absurd, terrifyingly comedic tale penned by NOLA Project member, Peter McElligott. Our young heroine, Margaret, finds out that her father has died...again. When she's confronted by one very awkward messenger who vehemently denies being an angel, Margaret realizes she must take on her father's mission - to save the world. This brand-new piece is sure to be an exhilarating ride, as it features members of the much ballyhooed NOLA Project. Artistic Director Aimée Hayes directs, after winning a Gambit Big Easy Award for Best Direction of a Comedy last year.

GREY GARDENS, By Doug Wright (Book),
Scott Frankel (Music) & Michael Korie (Lyrics)
Director: Aimée Hayes . Regional Premiere Musical
May 11 - 30, 2010 on the Le Petit Stage
PRESS OPENING: Friday, May 14 . PREVIEWS: May 11, 12, 13

Co-Production with Le Petit Théâtre du Vieux Carré

A scandalously entertaining musical continues Southern Rep's Season in a co-production with Le Petit Théâtre du Vieux Carré. Directed by SRT's own Aimée Hayes, GREY GARDENS will make its regional premiere on Le Petit's stage. The Broadway smash musical GREY GARDENS is a witty and gorgeous "riches to rags" epic about Jackie O's most infamous relatives, Big Edie and her "fashion forward" daughter, Little Edie. A Tony Award winner, a land-mark documentary, and now a film, it's a survivor story of two giddily eccentric women who started as American aristocrats and ended up secluded in their genteel decaying mansion.

THE PIANO TEACHER, By Julia Cho
Director: Julie Hamberg . Regional Premiere
and a curtain raiser
THE SOUTHERN REP 10 MINUTE PLAY RIOT WINNER
Director: Julie Hamberg . World Premiere
May 19 - June 13, 2010
PRESS OPENING: Saturday, May 22 . PREVIEWS: May 19, 20, 21

When the sweet, cookie loving Mrs. K, the epitome of the caring grandmotherly piano teacher, reaches out to her old students, she unleashes a creepily dark mystery she can't quite keep in her piano bench. This Off-Broadway hit features a stunning tour de force role for Mrs. K, and will keep audiences guessing until the very end. Paired with this quiet wonder, SRT continues its tradition of championing new work by showcasing the winner of Southern Rep's 10 Minute Play Riot. Director of last season's "stunning" (Times-Picayune) DYING CITY, Julie Hamberg, will direct.

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