OLEANNA Opens Bristol Riverside Theatre's Season Tonight, 9/25

Bristol Riverside Theatre opens its 2012-2013 mainstage season with Oleanna by Pulitzer Prize winner David Mamet tonight, September 25-October 14, 2012.  Directed by BRT's Artistic Director Keith Baker, the play features actors Blair Baker and David Barlow.

Previews begin tonight, September 25 with opening night on Thursday, September 27.  Performances run Tuesday through Sunday until October 14.  Tickets start at $30, with discounts for students and groups.  Tickets are available by visiting brtstage.org or calling the BRT Box Office at 215-785-0100.  Bristol Riverside Theatre is located at 120 Radcliffe Street in Bristol, PA.

Oleanna is a riveting drama in which academic power and sexual politics collide. When Carol, a struggling college student, meets privately with her professor, he consoles her with a pat on the back and a promise that her grade will improve if she continues to meet with him regularly. But his world begins to unravel when she reports his behavior and accuses him of sexual harassment. He desperately tries to convince her that she has misinterpreted his intent. Or has she?

Keith Baker (director) has directed more than 40 productions for BRT including Gypsy starring Tovah Feldshuh, Chicago(nominated for six Barrymore Awards), The Balkan Women (winner of a Barrymore Award for Outstanding New Play), The Dresser(nominated for a Barrymore Award for Best Director of a Play) and Dear World (nominated for three Barrymore Awards).  As an actor heopened BRT's 25^th Anniversary season with Barrymore and A Raw Space and also appeared in productions of Old Wicked Songs,Defiance, Proof, Hamlet, A Little Night Music, Arsenic and Old Lace, and A Moon for the Misbegotten.   Baker has been nominated eleven times for the prestigious Carbonell Awards, for which he was twice the recipient for Best Actor.  Prior to coming to BRT, Baker was Artistic Director for the Kentucky Shakespeare Festival and the Florida Repertory Theatre.

Blair Baker (Carol) recreates the role she performed in the Broadway and Mark Taper Forum productions of Oleanna.  She returns to Philadelphia where she appeared last year in a sold out run of the one-woman show Big Star California in the Live Arts/Philly Fringe Festival.  Other regional credits include productions at Kansas City Rep, New York Classical Theatre, and The Flea Theater.  She has trained with Atlantic Theater Company, as well as the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.

David Barlow (John) makes his BRT debut, having previously appeared locally at Philadelphia Theatre Company in This is Our Youth.  He has also performed at Arena Stage in On The Jump, Hartford Stage in both The Crucible and The Tempest, Actors Theater of Louisville in The Hour of Feeling, Kansas City Rep in King Lear, and Olney Theater in The Importance of Being Earnest.  His Off-Broadway credits include productions at Atlantic Stage 2, Primary Stages, and BAM.

Oleanna brings together a creative team of set designer Julia C. Lee, costume designer Linda Bee Stockton, and lighting designer Charles S. Reece.

The BRT mainstage season continues with the musical Oh What A Glorious Feeling based on behind the scenes in the making of the classic movie musical Singin' in the Rain, with a book by Jay Berkow (October 30-November 18); the murder mystery dramaDeathtrap by Ira Levin (January 29-February 17); ever-popular Gilbert and Sullivan operetta The Pirates of Penzance (March 19-April 28), and the classical drama Inherit the Wind by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee (May 21-June 9).

Since 1986, BRT has brought consistently acclaimed professional theatre to Bucks County and maintained a long-term commitment to finding and developing new plays. The theatre is the recipient of over 66 Barrymore Award nominations for Excellence in Theatre, given annually by the Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia. In addition to its mainstage productions, the theatre serves as a cultural hub for the community, with such programs as children's theatre, community concerts and exhibitions of local visual arts. Currently under the direction of Artistic Director Keith Baker, Founding Director Susan D. Atkinson, and Managing Director, Amy Kaissar, BRT begins its 26th season.  For information, visit www.brtstage.org.

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