AWAKE & SING! Comes To Young Center For The Performing Arts 6/6-7/31

Albert Schultz, Founding Artistic Director of Soulpepper Theatre Company, today announced Clifford Odets' turbulent comedy-drama Awake and Sing!, running June 6 to July 31 at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts.

Written with unflinching honesty, Clifford Odets' finest play offers a glimpse into three generations of a Jewish family struggling to survive in Depression-era New York. A stirring ode to dreams, disappointments, and the desire for escape, Awake and Sing! is an American masterpiece.

Awake and Sing! was first produced by the pioneering New York City collective The Group Theatre. The show premiered on Broadway at the Belasco Theater, to popular acclaim. The production was revived in 2006, at its original venue, by Lincoln Center Theater on Broadway. The show starred Ben Gazzara, Zoë Wanamaker and Mark Ruffalo, and won the Tony and Drama Desk Awards for Best Play Revival.

Miles Potter directs this revival with Derek Boyes as Myron, Ari Cohen as Moe, Oliver Dennis as Schlosser, Matthew Edison as Sam, Jonathan Gould as Ralph, Founding Member Michael Hanrahan as Morty, Founding Member Nancy Palk as Bessie, Founding Member William Webster as Jacob, and Soulpepper Academy graduate Sarah Wilson as Hennie.

Previewing June 6, 2009, Awake and Sing! opens June 16 and runs until July 31 at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts, located at 55 Mill Street, Building 49, in the Distillery Historic District. Tickets range from $28 - $68 and are available by calling the Young Centre box office at 416.866.8666 or by visiting www.soulpepper.ca . $20 tickets are available for 21-30 year-olds at www.stageplay.ca .

This production is sponsored by Herzig Eye Institute. 2009 Soulpepper Lead Sponsors are: Sun Life Financial, Scotiabank Group and TELUS. Soulpepper gratefully acknowledges annual operating support from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, and the Toronto Arts Council.

Soulpepper Theatre Company is an artist-founded, classical repertory theatre company with a three-tiered mandate: to present the world's greatest stories in vital Canadian interpretations; to train a new generation of theatre artists; and to inspire and enrich youth through mentorship and access programs.