Berkeley Rep Extends Avett Brothers Musical SWEPT AWAY

Due to overwhelming demand from enthusiastic theatregoers in 42 states, Berkeley Rep has announced that the world premiere musical Swept Away will extend for an additional two weeks. Previews begin on Sunday, January 9 with the show originally scheduled to close on February 13. The musical will now run through Sunday, February 27.

Starting today, tickets for the added sixteen performances can be purchased online at berkeleyrep.org and by phone at 510 647-2949.

"This is such encouraging news as we prepare to welcome audience members back to the Theatre," affirmed Artistic Director Johanna Pfaelzer. "It's a testimony to people's appetite for live theatre, and the shared experience it provides, and an optimistic sign for us as well as our colleagues in the Bay Area. We are delighted and proud to be able to share Swept Away with additional audiences."

"We are honored that our new musical Swept Away is part of the return of live theatre and are thankful for everyone who will be traveling to Berkeley from around the U.S. and abroad to see it," said Seth Avett. "This project has been years in the making and we can't wait to share it with you all."

Tony Award-winning director Michael Mayer (Spring Awakening, Hedwig and the Angry Inch) blew the roof off Berkeley Rep in 2009 with Green Day's American Idiot. Now he returns with a captivating world premiere musical, this time featuring a book by Tony Award-winning stage and screen writer John Logan (Red, Broadway's Moulin Rouge!, Skyfall, Gladiator), and music and lyrics by "America's biggest roots band" (Rolling Stone) and multiple Grammy Award nominee The Avett Brothers. Choreography is by David Neumann (Hadestown).

Swept Away is set in 1888, off the coast of New Bedford, MA. When a violent storm sinks their whaling ship, the four surviving souls - a young man in search of adventure, his older brother who has sworn to protect him, a captain at the end of a long career at sea, and a worldly first mate who has fallen from grace - each face a reckoning: How far will I go to stay alive? And can I live with the consequences?

Swept Away is produced by special arrangement with Matthew Masten, Sean Hudock, and Madison Wells Live.

Cast members include Wayne Duvall, Adrian Blake Enscoe, John Gallagher, Jr., and

Stark Sands. Members of the ensemble include Taurean Everett, Cameron Johnson, Ben Toomer, Vishal Vaidya, and Jacob Keith Watson.

The creative team includes Chris Miller and Brian Usifer (music arrangement and orchestrations), Julie Wolf (music direction), Rachel Hauck (scenic design), Susan Hilferty (costume design), Kevin Adams (lighting design), and Kai Harada (sound design).

For the 2021/22 season, Berkeley Rep recognizes the generous support of BART and Peet's Coffee, Berkeley Rep's official season sponsors. Berkeley Rep is also delighted to recognize the support at the season sponsor level of Bruce Golden and Michelle Mercer, Frances Hellman and Warren Breslau, Wayne Jordan and Quinn Delaney, Gisele and Kenneth F. Miller, and The Strauch Kulhanjian Family. Swept Away is made possible by executive sponsors Lauren Edgerton, Jean and Michael Strunsky, and The Ira and Leonore S. Gershwin Philanthropic Fund, and the Mosse Artistic Development Fund. Swept Away is a recipient of an Edgerton Foundation New Play Award.