Rey Lucas, Robert Eli & More to Star in The Old Globe's WATER BY THE SPOONFUL, 4/12-5/11

The Old Globe today announced the complete cast and creative team for the California premiere of Quiara Alegría Hudes' Water by the Spoonful, winner of the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Directed by Edward Torres, Water by the Spoonful will run April 12 - May 11, 2014 in the Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, part of the Globe's Conrad Prebys Theatre Center. Preview performances run April 12 - April 16. Opening night is Thursday, April 17 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online at www.TheOldGlobe.org, by phone at (619) 23-GLOBE, or by visiting the Box Office at 1363 Old Globe Way in Balboa Park. In conjunction with local organizations Combat Arts and So Say We All, The Globe will also host an ongoing exhibit of art by returning veterans, and an evening of local veterans performing stories they have written about their service.

Water by the Spoonful is an exciting new play from the playwright behind the Tony Award-winning musical In the Heights. Elliot Ortiz is back in the States after serving in Iraq, reconnecting with family and starting a new life. At the same time, four strangers in an internet chat room seek support to face demons of their own, and soon the real world and the virtual one start to intersect in unexpected ways. The Hartford Courant calls Water by the Spoonful "funny, warm, and uplifting, with characters that stay with you long after the play is over!"

Water by the Spoonful is the second play in Hudes' Elliot Cycle, three stand-alone plays written over an eight-year period. Each play uses a different kind of music-Bach, Coltrane, and Puerto Rican folk music-to trace the coming of age of a bright but haunted young Puerto Rican man. The first in the trilogy, Elliot, A Soldier's Fugue, which follows the title character as he returns to Philadelphia from serving in Iraq, debuted with Page 73 Productions and Culture Project and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 2007. Water by the Spoonful made its world premiere at Hartford Stage and played Off Broadway at Second Stage Theatre, winning the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The final play, The Happiest Song Plays Last, which opened Off Broadway in February 2014 at Second Stage Theatre, explores Elliot's journey towards peace and purpose as a lucky break in film and a cousin a half a world away put the realities of life into sharp focus.

"All of us at the Globe are looking forward to sharing this remarkable play with San Diego audiences," said Artistic Director Barry Edelstein. "The gifted director Edward Torres has gathered a very strong and talented cast, and together with a top-notch design team, they are sure to bring to vivid life the extraordinary and moving humanity of one of the best American plays of the past decade."

He continued, "As excited as I am by the production, I'm also delighted that the Globe is partnering for the first time with two local organizations we very much respect, Combat Arts and So Say We All. Their innovative approaches to helping veterans express themselves through the visual and narrative arts are very much a complement to what we do. The Globe believes, as they do, that art is a powerful force for civic good, and we know that our audiences will gain as much from engaging with their work as they as they do from watching this Pulitzer-winning play."

Rey Lucas makes his Old Globe debut as Elliot Ortiz. He appeared on Broadway in Roundabout Theatre Company's revival of The Rainmaker and has extensive New York and regional credits, including The Public Theater, Playwrights Horizons, Goodman Theatre, Yale Repertory Theatre, and Williamstown Theatre Festival, where he appeared in The Taming of the Shrew directed by Roger Rees, Camino Real directed by Nicholas Martin, and Christmas in Naples directed by Dylan Baker. He also has extensive television credits, including NBC's newest drama, "Believe," and acclaimed series "The Blacklist," "The Following," "Person of Interest," "Weeds," and "Army Wives."

The cast of Water by the Spoonful also features Robert Eli (Fountainhead aka John; Tartuffe on Broadway), Sarah Nina Hayon (Yazmin Ortiz; A Bright New Boise), San Diego local M. Keala Milles, Jr. (Ghost, Professor Aman, Policeman; The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity at ion theatre company), Ruibo Qian (Orangutan; Henry IV, Miss Julie), Keith Randolph Smith (Chutes&Ladders, a San Diego resident; Broadway's Fences with Denzel Washington and Salome with Al Pacino), and Marilyn Torres (Odessa Ortiz aka Haikumom; The Agony & the Agony).

The creative team includes Old Globe Associate Artist Ralph Funicello (Scenic Design), David Israel Reynoso (Costume Design), Jesse Klug (Lighting Design), Mikhail Fiksel (Sound Design), Caparelliotis Casting (Casting), and Jess Slocum (Stage Manager).

Water by the Spoonful is supported in part through gifts from Elaine Lipinsky Family Foundation, The Prado at Balboa Park, and Gen7 Wines.

Photo by Jim Cox