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July 9, 2007
Signature Theatre Company
Announces
Cast Change for Charles Mee's
IPHIGENIA 2.0
Kate Mulgrew To Replace Victoria Clark
In This New York Premiere
Box Office Opens For Single Ticket Sales on Monday, July 16 at 1 PM
All Seats, For All Performances, For All Four Seasons
Will Be $20 As Part of Signature's Ticket Initiative
Made Possible by the Lead Sponsorship of Time Warner
Signature Theatre Company (James Houghton, Founding Artistic Director; Erika Mallin, Executive Director) announced today that Kate Mulgrew (Our Leading Lady/Tea at Five) would replace the previously announced Victoria Clark in Charles Mee's Iphigenia 2.0, directed by Tina Landau. Victoria Clark had to bow out of the play because of a schedule conflict. Mulgrew will play Clytemnestra in this New York premiere running August 7 through September 30 at Signature Theatre Company's Peter Norton Space (555 W. 42nd St.). Single tickets go on sale on Monday, July 16 at 1 PM.
To make great theatre accessible to the broadest possible audience, Signature Theatre Company will offer a special $20 ticket (regularly $65) for all seats, for the next four years through their 20th Anniversary season, beginning with all performances of the originally scheduled run of Iphigenia 2.0 (August 7-September 30). The Signature Ticket Initiative is made possible by the lead sponsorship of Time Warner, Inc. Generous support for The Signature Ticket Initiative is provided by Margot Adams, in memory of Mason Adams.
Iphigenia 2.0 is about a great imperial power that decides to go to war, taking an action so wrong that it sets the empire on the road to complete self-destruction. Agamemnon, the leader of the Greek army, must prove to his uncertain troops that the dangerous battle they are about to undertake is righteous and worthy by making the ultimate sacrifice himself. A radical reinvention of the classic play by Euripides that examines the costs of war and loss of innocence.
The cast for Iphigenia 2.0 will feature Jimonn Cole (Soldier), Will Fowler (Soldier), J.D. Goldblatt (Soldier), Chasten Harmon (Bridesmaid), Jesse Hooker (Soldier), Emily Kinney (Bridesmaid), Louisa Krause (Iphigenia), Kate Mulgrew (Clytemnestra), Tom Nelis (Agamemnon), Angelo Niakas (Old Greek Man), Seth Numrich (Achilles), and Rocco Sisto (Menelaus).
The design team will feature sets by Blythe R.D. Quinlan; costumes by Anita Yavich; lights by Scott Zielinski; and sound by Jill BC DuBoff.
CHARLES MEE (2007-2008 Playwright-in-Residence) has written Big Love, True Love, First Love, bobrauschenbergamerica, Hotel Cassiopeia, Orestes 2.0, Trojan Women 2.0, Summertime and Wintertime among other plays - all of them available on the internet at www.charlesmee.org. His plays have been performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, American Repertory Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop, the Public Theatre, Lincoln Center, the Humana Festival, Steppenwolf, and many other places in the United States as well as in Berlin, Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels, Vienna, Istanbul. Among other awards, he is the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award in drama from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His work is made possible by the support of Jeanne Donovan Fisher and Richard B. Fisher.
TINA LANDAU (Director) has collaborated extensively with Chuck Mee since 1989, directing such plays as Orestes (A.R.T, En Garde Arts), Trojan Women (UW, En Garde), Time to Burn and Berlin Circle (both at Steppenwolf Theater.) Tina is a writer/director whose original works include Beauty (La Jolla), Space (Steppenwolf, NYSF/Public Theater, Mark Taper Forum), Theatrical Essays (Steppenwolf), Stonewall (En Garde), 1969 (ATL), as well as the musicals Floyd Collins with composer Adam Guettel (Playwrights, Prince, Old Globe, Goodman) and Dream True with composer Ricky Ian Gordon (Vineyard Theater). Tina is an ensemble member at Steppenwolf in Chicago, where she has also directed The Diary of Anne Frank, The Cherry Orchard, The Time of Your Life (also Seattle Rep, A.C.T.), Maria Arndt, and The Ballad of Little Jo. Other local productions include Mary Rose (Vineyard), A Midsummer Night's Dream (McCarter/Papermill), Bells are Ringing (Broadway), Miracle Brothers (Vineyard), and Saturn Returns (Public). Tina teaches regularly and wrote, with Anne Bogart, The Viewpoints Book.
SIGNATURE THEATRE COMPANY'S 2007-2008 PROGRAMMING
IPHIGENIA 2.0 by Charles Mee (New York Premiere)
August 7-September 30, 2007, Opens August 23, 2007
Directed by Tina Landau
A great imperial power decides to go to war, taking an action so wrong that it sets the empire on the road to complete self-destruction. Agamemnon, the leader of the Greek army, must prove to his uncertain troops that the dangerous battle they are about to undertake is righteous and worthy by making the ultimate sacrifice himself. A radical reinvention of the classic play by Euripides that examines the costs of war and loss of innocence.
QUEENS BOULEVARD (the musical) by Charles Mee (World Premiere)
November 6-December 30, 2007, Opens December 2, 2007
Directed by Davis McCallum
On his wedding day, a new husband is determined to find the perfect gift for his bride. While she waits at home, he searches for the mythical Flower of Heaven and is thrown into a series of colorful adventures on the streets of his neighborhood in Queens, New York. Inspired by a classical Indian dance drama, Queens Boulevard (the musical) celebrates love, community, and life.
PARADISE PARK by Charles Mee (World Premiere)
February 12-April 6, 2008, Opens March 2, 2008
Directed by Daniel Fish
Welcome to Paradise Park, an amusement park that opens up into all of America and beyond. Meet the inhabitants of this bizarre carnival of life, including a ventriloquist, his dummy, and a teenage girl on the run. From Futureworld to Londonland, the Grand Canyon to Fred's Polynesian Dive Shop, step right up to this wild ride of fruit cake tosses, underwater ballets, square dances, and star gazing, too.
EDWARD ALBEE'S OCCUPANT
by 1993-94 Playwright-in-Residence Edward Albee
May 6-June 29, 2008, Opens May 29, 2008
Signature caps off its 2007-2008 season with a Legacy Production as part of its Signature Series, in which former Playwrights-in-Residence return to revisit their landmark works. Originally produced at Signature in 2002, in a limited engagement, Edward Albee's Occupant is a portrait of acclaimed sculptor Louise Nevelson-a quest to capture a charismatic and complex artist and persona. What is the relationship between creator and creation? Who was Louise Nevelson? Only she knew.
Signature's 2008-2009 Season will be an examination of a body of work from The Negro Ensemble Company's collective of writers, whose contributions have helped shape America's theatrical heritage. Ruben Santiago-Hudson will be the Associate Artist for the season.
Pulitzer Prize-winner Suzan-Lori Parks (Venus, Topdog/Underdog), who turns American history on its head with her bold and lyrical riffs on race, literature and politics, will be Signature's Playwright-in-Residence for the 2009-2010 Season.
Signature's 20th Anniversary season (2010-2011) will conclude with Pulitzer Prize winner Tony Kushner (Angels in America; Caroline, or Change), one of the most celebrated and renowned contemporary writers of his generation.
SIGNATURE THEATRE COMPANY was founded in 1991 by Artistic Director James Houghton and remains dedicated to its mission of honoring and celebrating the playwright by presenting exciting, thought-provoking productions that engage the writer in every step of the creative process. The company's first nine seasons presented the works of Romulus Linney, Lee Blessing, Edward Albee, Horton Foote, Adrienne Kennedy, Sam Shepard, Arthur Miller, John Guare and Maria Irene Fornes. The 10th Anniversary of Signature Theatre Company -- its 2000-02 All-Premiere Celebration -- featured new works from a selection of the theatre's distinguished past Playwrights-in-Residence. The 2002-03 Season was dedicated to Lanford Wilson, the 2003-04 Season to Bill Irwin, and the 2004-05 Season to Paula Vogel. The first half of the 15th Anniversary (2005-2006) featured The Trip to Bountiful by Horton Foote, Landscape of the Body by John Guare, as well as a workshop and public staged reading of Adrienne Kennedy's adaptation of Madame Bovary. The second half of the Anniversary Celebration featured three works by the late August Wilson, who was to be Signature's thirteenth Playwright-in-Residence. As a direct result of the company's work, Signature, its productions and its resident writers have been recognized with the Pulitzer Prize, Lucille Lortel Awards, OBIE Awards and Drama Desk Awards, among many other distinctions.
SIGNATURE THEATRE COMPANY's Peter Norton Space is located at 555 W. 42nd Street (between 10th and 11th Avenues). All tickets for Iphigenia 2.0 are $20 for performances August 7 to September 30. The box office opens for single ticket sales on July 16. Subscriptions are currently on sale for $80, plus a service fee. For subscription and ticket information, please call 212-244-PLAY (7529) or visit Signature Theatre Company's website at www.signaturetheatre.org.
Contact:
Candi Adams (212) 315-2120, cadams@publicityoffice.com
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