Hal Brooks To Direct THE BALD SOPRANO

THE Pearl Theatre Company (J.R. Sullivan, Artistic Director; Shira Beckerman, Managing Director) announced today that director Hal Brooks will helm the absurdist tour de force, THE BALD SOPRANO. The first production in The Pearl's 2011-2012 season, it will begin its limited engagement at New York City Center Stage II on September 13. Single tickets will be on sale beginning August 15.

Director Hal Brooks is currently represented as director off-Broadway with the return engagement of the Obie winning NO CHILD... Recent New York credits include URGE FOR GOING at The Public Theater (director), Colin Quinn's LONG STORY SHORT (creative consultant), directed by Jerry Seinfeld, and the off-Broadway production of Will Eno's Pulitzer Prize finalist THOM PAIN (director). Regional credits include work at McCarter Theatre, Berkeley Rep, American Conservatory Theater, Humana Festival, and Dallas Theater Center. He is Associate Artistic Director of the Ojai Playwrights Conference and was the Artistic Director of the Rude Mechanicals Theater Company along with being a member of the Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab, a 2003 Drama League Fellow, and a recipient of the 2007-09 NEA/TCG Career Development Program. This will be Mr. Brooks' debut directing for The Pearl.

"The Pearl is very pleased that Hal Brooks will direct this modern classic," according to J. R. Sullivan, artistic director of the company. "Hal's great skills with comedy and his dedication to ensemble playing make him ideal for this brilliant play."

Having been in permanent performance in Paris since 1957, Eugène Ionesco's bizarre and brilliant THE BALD SOPRANO is one of the longest continuously running productions in the world. Praised as a modern classic and the first major work of the Theatre of the Absurd, the play is renowned for its comic caricatures and gleefully disturbing view of the world. No casting has been announced at this time.

The Pearl Theatre Company plays a vital role in the cultural life of New York City and its surrounding region by creating productions that explore and illuminate the human condition. Dedicated to bringing the classics of world theatre to broad audiences, The Pearl is an artistic home for a diverse company of theatre professionals, especially a core company of resident actors. The Pearl provides engagement opportunities that both educate and enrich the experiences of artists, students, and audiences.

Following the run of THE BALD SOPRANO, Pearl will produce Shakespeare's RICHARD II, THE PHILANDERER by Bernard Shaw, and A MOON FOR THE MISBEGOTTEN by Eugene O'Neill.

The Pearl is currently offering subscription packages for the season. For subscription tickets and information, please visit www.pearltheatre.org or contact 212-598-9802.

Single tickets will be on sale through NYCityCenter.org and CityTix® at 212-598-1212 beginning August 15, 2011. Tickets will be available at the New York City Center box office after September 6, 2011.

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