Cast, Creatives Announced for Hub's THE HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH

The Hub Theatre celebrates summer with the regional premiere of The Happiest Place on Earth, by Philip Dawkins.

The show is an incisive, heartfelt, one-person pilgrimage to Walt Disney's original Magic Kingdom with all its glory, absurdity and wonder, and all in the seen through the eyes of a unique and quirky family. It will star Hub Company Member Tia Shearer, and will be directed by Associate Artistic Director Matt Bassett. The two are a DC-Theatre power couple, having collaborated together on shows with The Hub, Flying V, and Arts on the Horizon.

Matt Bassett, Hub's Associate Artistic Director at The Hub Theatre tackles his second play by Philip Dawkins. His direction of Dawkin's Failure: A Love Story (2014) garnered him a Helen Hayes Awards Nomination for Outstanding Direction. At The Hub he has also directed in a word (2016) and The Typographer's Dream (2015). Bassett's DC-area directing work includes Arts on the Horizon and Flying V Theatre. He is the Theatre Chair for the Metropolitan School of the Arts and on the teaching faculties of Montgomery College, The National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts, and Imagination Stage.

Tia Shearer is a Hub Company Member, having last appeared in Failure: A Love Story, for which she received a Helen Hayes nomination for Outstanding Ensemble. She is also company member with Arts on the Horizon, where she and her husband have developed two shows for children age 0-4. She has performed locally with many area theaters, including Imagination Stage - The Night Fairy, Bunnicula, Wind in the Willows, Helen Hayes Award-winner Anime Momotaro; The Kennedy Center TYA in Mockingbird, Trixie in two national tours of Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Musical. She has served as Audience Designer for Flying V, crafting interactive experiences for grownups not unlike those that Arts on the Horizon gives the littles. She holds a B.A. from NYU and teaches at the National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts.

Philip Dawkins returns to The Hub with The Happiest Place on Earth. His charming, funny and unique look at Disney is rendered with his signature style of storytelling. Dawkins is a Chicago based playwright and performer whose other recent works include Charm (recently produced at Mosaic Theatre Company of DC) and Miss Marx: or The Involuntary Side Effect of Living (Strawdog Theatre), which won the Joseph Jefferson Award for Best New Work. His other critically-acclaimed plays include The Homosexuals (About Face Theatre) and Failure: A Love Story, both of which also received Joseph Jefferson Nominations for New Work. The Hub Theatre's production of Failure: A Love Story (2014) earned six Helen Hayes Awards Nominations and one Helen Hayes Award. Philip Dawkins is an Artistic Associate with About Face Theatre and and an Ensemble Playwright at Victory Gardens. He teaches playwriting at Northwestern University as well as his alma mater, Loyola University Chicago.

The production team for The Happiest Place on Earth includes Debra Kim Sivigny (Scenic and Costume Design), Johnathan Alexander (Lighting Design), Reid May (Sound Design), Patrick Lord(Projections Design) and the GadgetGrlz, LLC (Props Design). It is Staged Managed by Jennifer Carlson.

IF YOU GO:

THE HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH

By Philip Dawkins

Starring: Tia Shearer

Director: Matt Bassett

Scenic and Costume Design: Debra Kim Sivigny

Lighting Design: Johnathan Alexander

Sound Design: Reid May

Projections Design: Patrick Lord

Props Design: GadgetGrlz, LLC

Stage Management: Jennifer Carlson

Where: The Hub Theatre, in residence at The John Swayze Theatre

Theatre Address: New School of Northern Virginia, 9431 Silver King Court, Fairfax, Virginia 22031

Performance Dates: July 7- 23, 2017

Curtain Times: Fridays: 8:00 pm; Saturdays: 2:00 & 8:00 pm; Sundays: 2:00 & 7:00 pm

Ticket Prices: $22 - $32

Tickets Available: www.thehubtheatre.org

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