Aurora Theatre Co Opens 18th Season With AWAKE AND SING! 8/21 - 9/27

Aurora Theatre Company opens its 18th season, focusing on "family and fortune," with Clifford Odets' classic Depression-era drama AWAKE AND SING! Bay Area theater veteran Joy Carlin (Jack Goes Boating, Hysteria, The Price), who first directed this play for Berkeley Repertory Theatre 24 years ago, revisits this landmark drama for Aurora, featuring Charles Dean, Ellen Ratner, Ray Reinhardt and Rod Gnapp, along with Victor Talmadge, Anthony Nemirovsky, Rebecca White, and Patrick Russell. AWAKE AND SING! plays at the Aurora Theatre in Berkeley August 21 through September 27. For tickets and information ($28-50) the public can call (510) 843-4822 or visit auroratheatre.org.

First produced in 1935 by The Group Theatre, AWAKE AND SING! covers a year in the life of the Bergers, an extended Jewish family surviving life in the Bronx. Written at the height of the Depression, when economic disorder led to a sudden, urgent questioning of American society, AWAKE AND SING! depicts the too true-to-life economic hardships confronted by working-class families during the 1930s, documenting their dreams and disappointments, hopes, fears, and follies in the face of the American dream. AWAKE AND SING! garnered two Tony Awards for its 2006 Broadway revival, called a "stirring . . . still pungently funny play . . .[that] reminds us, the song of human aspiration is always sweet to hear" by The New York Times, and about which Variety said, "the drama's power creeps up on you. . . the rough-hewn poetry of Odets' idiomatic language . . . remains intoxicating."

Aurora Theatre Company has assembled an extraordinary ensemble for AWAKE AND SING! Charles Dean, one of the Bay Area's most respected actors, returns to Aurora Theatre Company as the Berger family patriarch Myron. Dean previously appeared at Aurora Theatre Company in last season's hit production of The Best Man, in addition to productions of Hysteria, Private Jokes, Public Places, The Price (directed by Joy Carlin), The Entertainer, and The Philanderer. A 20-year company member and associate artist at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Dean has acted in more than 80 productions, and has performed at American Conservatory Theater, Seattle Repertory Theater, Guthrie Theater, Old Globe Theatre, San Jose Repertory Theatre, Marin Theatre Company, and Magic Theatre, among others; he recently made his Broadway debut in Irving Berlin's White Christmas.

Veteran stage and television actress Ellen Ratner makes her Aurora Theatre Company debut as Berger matriarch Bessie. Ratner was most recently seen on the Bay Area stage in A Traveling Jewish Theatre's production of Woody Allen's A Floating Light Bulb, directed by Nancy Carlin. Other regional credits include productions at the Roundabout Theatre, Falcon Theatre, and Odyssey Theater. In addition to the stage, Ratner's numerous television credits include roles on shows including Seinfeld, Everybody Loves Raymond, The Nanny, Frasier, and most recently, Ugly Betty.

Ray Reinhardt, another one of the Bay Area's most respected actors, returns to Aurora Theatre Company as Berger grandfather Jacob in AWAKE AND SING! Reinhardt, who made his Aurora Theatre Company debut in The Price (directed by Joy Carlin), has been a mainstay at American Conservatory Theater since its inception, has starred on Broadway (A Flea in Her Ear, Tiny Alice), and has appeared regionally in productions at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, TheatreWorks, San Jose Repertory Theatre, South Coast Repertory Theatre, and Arena Stage, among others.

Veteran Bay Area actor Rod Gnapp makes his Aurora Theatre Company debut as Berger family friend Moe in AWAKE AND SING! Gnapp's credits include productions at American Conservatory Theater, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, California Shakespeare Theatre, Magic Theatre, TheatreWorks, Seattle Repertory Theater, Marin Theatre Company, SF Playhouse, and Huntington Theatre, among others.

Also featured in AWAKE AND SING! are Victor Talmadge, Anthony Nemirovsky, Rebecca White, and Patrick Russell. Talmadge makes his Aurora debut as Berger uncle Morty; in addition to touring with The Lion King and The King and I, Talmadge has appeared in productions at TheatreWorks, American Conservatory Theater, The Public Theatre, SF Playhouse, Magic Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, and the Tony Award-winning Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. Nemirovsky, who most recently appeared in Aurora Theatre Company's hit production of The Devil's Disciple, returns to The company as Berger son-in-law Sam. Additional regional credits include The Jewbird and The Magic Barrel at Traveling Jewish Theatre, More Stories by Tobias Wolff at Word for Word, and The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby at California Shakespeare Theater. White makes her Aurora debut as the Berger's daughter Hennie; regional credits include Encore Theatre Company's production of T.I.C at the Magic Theater, and workshop productions at Playground and TheatreWorks. Additional credits include the Off-Broadway production of The Exonerated, directed by Bob Balaban, the New York premiere of Talking to Terrorists, and the developmental workshop of The Scarlet Letter with David Strathairn at Culture Project. Russell makes his Aurora Theatre Company debut as the Berger's son Ralph; regional credits include roles at American Conservatory Theater (A Christmas Carol) and Killing My Lobster (Springs Forward, Falls Back).

Director Joy Carlin, a graduate of the Yale School of Drama and an original member of Chicago's Playwrights' Theatre, has been a leading actress, director, and teacher in the Bay Area since 1969. She served as the Associate Artistic Director of the American Conservatory Theater from 1987-1992, was an actor and resident director at Berkeley Repertory Theatre from 1981-1984, and served as its Interim Artistic Director from 1983-1984. For Aurora Theatre Company, Carlin most recently directed Bob Glaudini's Off Broadway hit Jack Goes Boating, Terry Johnson's Hysteria, and John Guare's Bosoms and Neglect, as well as productions of Arthur Miller's The Price, Conor McPherson's Dublin Carol, David Mamet's The Old Neighborhood, and Michael Frayn's Benefactors. In addition to starring in Aurora Theatre Company's productions of The Belle of Amherst and Thérèse Raquin, she has appeared in multiple stage roles at American Conservatory Theater, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, and San Jose Repertory Theatre. She is the recipient of 17 Bay Area Critics Circle Awards and Dramalogue Awards for both acting and directing.

Playwright Clifford Odets was born in 1906 in Philadelphia to Jewish immigrant parents. At the age of 17, he dropped out of high school to pursue acting, working in small repertory companies throughout the 1920s before becoming one of the original members of the New York City-based, avant-garde, left-wing ensemble Group Theatre, founded by Harold Clurman, Cheryl Crawford, and Lee Strasberg. Considered the most influential American theater troupe, The Group Theatre was committed to radical revolutions in theater, focusing on pressing social issues; after briefly trying acting, Odets decided to become The Group Theatre's first original playwright. In 1935, he penned his first play, AWAKE AND SING!, often considered his masterpiece, but the piece was not produced right away; Odets' first play to be produced by The Group Theatre was the one-act Waiting for Lefty. The wild success of this play brought Odets unexpected fame and fortune; he soon moved to Hollywood and began writing for the screen as well as the stage. Other works for the stage include: Till the Day I Die (1935), Paradise Lost (1935), Golden Boy (1937), Rocket to the Moon (1938), Night Music (1940), Clash by Night (1941) The Big Knife (1949), The Country Girl (1950), and The Flowering Peach (1954).

Odets' dramatic style is distinguished by his way of dropping the audience right into conflict with little or no introduction; Odets asserted that all of his plays dealt with the human spirit persevering in the face of all opponents, whether they be the capitalist class or not. In later years, his plays became more reflective and autobiographical, although class-consciousness was always in the background. In 1952, Odets was called before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). He disavowed his communist affiliations and cooperated by "naming names;" as a result, he did not share the fate of many of his colleagues who were blacklisted. Clifford Odets died of colon cancer at the age of 57 in 1963.

Following AWAKE AND SING!, Aurora Theatre Company continues its 18th season in October with FAT PIG, Neil LaBute's exploration of body image in contemporary America, directed by Tony-nominated director Barbara Damashek. The jingle bells will rock again this December with a new edition of THE COVERLETTES COVER CHRISTMAS. Aurora Theatre Company Artistic Director Tom Ross helms the World Premiere of Joel Drake Johnson's THE FIRST GRADE in conjunction with this year's GAP new works festival in January, and Aurora Theatre Company founding Artistic Director Barbara Oliver returns to direct Henrik Ibsen's masterwork John Gabriel BORKMAN in April. Closing the season in June is the Bay Area Premiere of Stephen Karem's innovative comedy SPEECH & DEBATE directed by Robin Stanton.

Aurora Theatre Company continues to offer challenging, literate, intelligent stage works to the Bay Area, each year increasing its reputation for top-notch theatre. Located in the heart of the Downtown Berkeley Arts District, Aurora Theatre Company has been called "one of the most important regional theaters in the area" by the San Francisco Chronicle, while The Wall Street Journal has "nothing but praise for the Aurora." The Contra Costa Times stated, "perfection is probably an unattainable ideal in a medium as fluid as live performance, but the Aurora Theatre comes luminously close," while the San Jose Mercury News affirmed "[Aurora Theatre Company] lives up to its reputation as a theater that feeds the mind," and the Oakland Tribune declared "it's all about choices, and if you value good theater, choose the Aurora."