THE LOVE SONG OF J. ROBERT OPPENHEIMER Runs 3/27-4/25

The Love Song of J. Robert Oppenheimer
The Bay Area Premiere of Carson Kreitzer's Award-Winning Play
Artistic Director Brian Katz directs; Second Wind's Ian Walker stars as Oppenheimer

DESCRIPTION:

"Do I dare disturb the universe?" Kreitzer's award-winning play shows J. Robert Oppenheimer's rise and fall erupt in this kaleidoscopic drama exploring questions of faith, conscience, and the consequences of the never-ending pursuit of knowledge.

J. Robert Oppenheimer, the UC Berkeley Professor who led the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos, is certainly one of the most controversial scientific figures of the 20th century. A true Renaissance man who read Sanskrit, quoted the Bhagavad-Gita, and was both responsible for the atomic bomb and then the movement against further development of it after the defeat of Japan, has been the subject of hundreds of books, films and parables about the role of scientist in modern society. His motives have been questioned, his relationships subject to gossip, and he is both praised and reviled for the hell unleashed on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

In the Rosenthal New Play Prize-winning drama, Carson Kreitzer has put Oppenheimer in a post-modern, fantastic and thought-provoking piece of magical realism, wrapped in biography. From his first moment on the stage, appearing before the board that will revoke his security clearance for Communist ties, Oppenheimer is haunted by the biblical demon, Lilith, herself cast out to wander the universe when she refused to "lie down" to the powers that be.

The Love Song of J. Robert Oppenheimer is a play that refuses to be categorized. It is at time vaudeville, at times verse, at times highly realistic with dialogue ripped from the historical record. It is always thought-provoking, as Kreitzer examines Jewish myth, the atomic age, the Red Scare, Ethel Rosenberg, J. Edgar Hoover and the monomanic Edward Teller (inventor of the Hydrogen Bomb, and the inspiration for Dr. Strangelove) through Oppie's mind's-eye. In the end, The Love Song of J. Robert Oppenheimer is a beautiful, thoughtful new play that announces Kreitzer as a fresh, new voice that demands to be seen by San Francisco audiences.

THE CAST

Starring as "Oppie" is Second Wind Artistic Director, Ian Walker. Mr. Walker's career as a professional playwright, director, designer, and actor has spanned more than 20 years. He is the winner of the 2006 International Larry Corse International Prize and the 2000 John Golden Prize in playwriting; a 2006 Bay One Act Festival Award for Best Play (The History of Stone); and three Best of the San Francisco Fringe Festival awards for design, direction, and acting. Mr. Walker is a recipient of a CASH Grant from Theatre Bay Area, and widely acknowledged as one of the San Francisco foremost emerging playwrights. Featured on the February 2006 cover of Theatre Bay Area Magazine as "One of Five Hot African-American Artists," Mr. Walker has been called "a fierce champion of the San Francisco theater scene" by the San Francisco Examiner, and "one of the Bay Area's most promising emerging playwrights" by both the Oakland Tribune and The San Francisco Weekly. Acting credits include productions by TheatreWorks, SF Playhouse, Second Wind Productions, and others, most recently in the roles of Lincoln in Top Dog/Underdog and Denby in Flag Day (Second Wind), and as Flip in Our Lady of 121st Street (with the SF Playhouse)

Also starring in Love Song are company members Richard Wenzel (Edward Teller) and Gabriel A. Ross (Strauss) and Jessica Rudholm (Lilith). Mr. Wenzel was last seen on the Custom Stage in Woody Allen's Central Park West and perhaps even more memorably as Mr. Bungie, the demonic, singing frog in William Finn's A New Brain. Mr. Ross was recently seen as the title in Brian Katz's Fringe Festival adaptation of Voltaire's Candide and as Allen in Equus. Ms. Rudholm was most recently in Orchards and Beckett in Winter III. Joining the cast as well are returning players Catz Forsman (Rabi, Col. Lansdale) and Lisa-Marie Newton (Kitty Oppenheimer) and Charles Evans (General Groves, J. Edgar Hoover). Catz was most recently brilliant as psychopath Fred Savage in Woody Allen's Riverside Drive, Ms. Newton was stunning as The Homeless Woman in A New Brain and Mr. Evans was frightening as the Proprietor in Assassins. Joining Custom Made for the first time is Natalie Palan, who portrays Oppenheimer's doomed Communist mistress, Jean Tarlock.

DIRECTOR

Directing is Artistic Director, Brian Katz has directed over thirty professional productions, including the noted Bye-Bye, bin Laden! (top ten shows- SFBG), Assassins (SFBG, Talkin' Broadway best-of) and A New Brian (Talkin' Broadway). Other favorite projects include Doctor Faustus Lights the Lights, Temptation and Albee's Finding the Sun. Brian is the co-founder of Custom Made. Set design is by designer/engineer Cianan Duncan, lights by Marci Ring, costumes by Maria Graham, and Love Song will feature an orginal score by award-winning composer, Rona Siddiqui.

WHERE:
The Custom Made Theatre Co. 965 Mission St (between 5th and 6th) San Francisco.
DATES / TIMES / TICKET INFO:
Previews begin Friday, March 27 at 8PM. Opens Thursday, April 2nd, 8pm. Plays Wed-Sat until April 25th.
Closes Saturday, April 25th at 8PM. Ticket Price Range: $15-$25
TICKET INFORMATION:
For more information go to CustomMade.org or call 1-800-838-3006
PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE: (Custom Stage @ Off-Market)

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