Rep Does Musical Based on Judy Garland in January
Peter Quilter’s play End of the Rainbow, a new play with music directed by Artistic Director Mark Clements, opens at The Rep on Friday, January 10
December 12, 2013 – [Milwaukee] – Milwaukee Repertory Theater continues its 2013/14 Season with a celebrated production of Peter Quilter’s End of the Rainbow, a new play with music. The recipient of rave reviews in London, Broadway and L.A. including four Olivier Award nominations and three Tony Award nominations, End of the Rainbow stars 12-time Jeff Award-winning Chicago actress Hollis Resnik as Judy Garland. Resnik will be the first American-born actress to play the role. Joining her are Thomas J. Cox (Anthony), Nicholas Harazin (Mickey) and Rep Associate Artist Jonathan Gillard Daly (Various). Directed by Rep Artistic Director Mark Clements, End of the Rainbow was featured in Time Magazine’s “Top Ten” List and called “electrifying” by The New York Times.
End of the Rainbow is set in December 1968, and Judy Garland is about to make her comeback . . . again. In a London hotel room preparing for a series of concerts, with both her new young fiancé and her adoring accompanist, Garland struggles to get “beyond the rainbow” with her signature cocktail of talent, tenacity and razor-sharp wit. This savagely funny drama offers unique insight into the inner conflict that inspired and consumed one of the most beloved figures in American popular culture.
The production features Garland’s most memorable songs including “The Man That Got Away,” “Come Rain Or Come Shine,” “The Trolley Song” and, of course, “Somewhere Over The Rainbow.” End of the Rainbow runs in The Rep’s Quadracci Powerhouse from January 7 – February 9 and opens Friday, January 10.
“A pre-eminent singer and movie star, Judy Garland is a seminal figure in American entertainment and a cultural icon, who still makes a huge impact across generations, even over forty years after her death,” says Artistic Director Mark Clements. “Rainbow – not a musical, but a play with some classic songs – offers the opportunity for a truly tour-de-force performance that explores the joy and the heartbreak that sum up Judy’s life so well.”
Milwaukee Rep will host a series of special events and programs around End of the Rainbow:
- Rep In Depth – get an insider’s look at the production from Rep Associate Artist Jonathan Gillard Daly with a discussion that begins 45 minutes prior to every performance.
- TalkBacks – Thursday, January 9 with playwright Peter Quilter, Sunday, January 12, 19 and 26 and February 2 and 9 – 2:00 pm – join members of the cast after the show for a Q & A moderated by a member of The Rep Artistic Staff.
- Powerhouse PowerHour Thursday, January 9, 6pm – young professionals join together to enjoy complimentary appetizers and free beer provided by Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery with live music by Pete and the Hot Mess. Sponsored in part by 88Nine. Tickets to the show and social hour are just $20. For more information go to: www.Milwaukeerep.com/powerhour/.
- Lunch Matinee, January 29 11:45pm – enjoy lunch and a conversation about End of the Rainbow at the InterContinental Milwaukee. The cost is $15 per person and reservations are required. Please RSVP to jenniferbloomer@intercontinentalmilwaukee.com or 414-291-4790.
Milwaukee Rep offers the following Access Services for End of the Rainbow
- Audio-Description Performance, Tuesday, January 14, 6:30pm – the production will be Audio-Described for patrons who are blind or have low vision.
- American Sign Language Interpreted Performance, Thursday, January 30, 7:30pm – the production will be signed for patrons who are deaf or have low hearing.
- Captioned Theater Performance, Sunday, February 2, 2pm – the production will include captions.
End of the Rainbow Tickets
Tickets for Noises Off begin at $20.00. (Prices are subject to change.) Single Tickets for all of Milwaukee Repertory Theater’s 2013/14 productions are now on sale and can be purchased online 24/7 at www.MilwaukeeRep.com, through The Rep’s Ticket Office by calling 414-224-9490 or in person at 108 E. Wells Street. Group tickets are also available for purchase by calling: 414-290-5340.
To learn more about The Rep or its productions, please visit www.MilwaukeeRep.com.
THE CAST
Thomas J. Cox, (Anthony), is making his Milwaukee Rep debut with End of the Rainbow. Cox is a founding ensemble member of Lookingglass Theatre Company in Chicago, with whom he has performed for over 25 years, including (among many) Winston Smith in 1984, Quilp in Old Curiosity Shop, Algren in Nelson Algren: For Keeps and a Single Day, Hook in Peter Pan (a play) and most recently in Big Lake, Big City. Other Chicago theater includes: Fraulein Else, A Raisin In the Sun, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and Orlando (Court Theatre); Pride and Prejudice, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and The Outgoing Tide with John Mahoney and Rondi Reed (also at the Galway Arts Festival) at Northlight Theatre; The Elephant Man at Steppenwolf Theatre Company; Someone Who’ll Watch over Me at Victory Gardens and Rock ‘N’ Roll at the Goodman Theatre. Film/television: Since You’ve Been Gone (Miramax) and Brotherhood (Showtime).
Jonathan Gillard Daly, (Radio Interviewer/Porter), a Rep Associate Artist, was just seen performing the role of Selsdon Mowbray in The Rep’s production of Noises Off and Grandfather in Ragtime. Other credits include Sense and Sensibility, The Diary of Anne Frank, Assassins, To Kill a Mockingbird, Death of a Salesman and Cabaret. Daly is also a founding member of the Great River Shakespeare Festival in Winona, MN and is a 30-year veteran of regional theaters throughout the U.S. Daly is also a published playwright. His plays The Daly News and To the Promised Land have enjoyed local and national productions.
Nicholas Harazin, (Mickey Deans), returns to Milwaukee Rep after appearing in Ten Chimneys (2011/12 Season). His Chicago credits include: Short Shakes! versions of Romeo and Juliet, Taming of the Shrew and Macbeth (Chicago Shakespeare Theater); Rabbit (Stage Left Theatre) and I Am Going to Change the World (Chicago Dramatists). Regional credits include: The Subject was Roses, Sweetest Swing in Baseball and Sum of Us (Milwaukee Chamber Theatre); The Persians (Renaissance Theaterworks) and Henry V, Comedy of Errors and As You Like It (American Players Theatre). He is a proud member of the Back Room Shakespeare Project and a recent graduate of The School at Steppenwolf.
Hollis Resnik, (Judy Garland), was last seen at Milwaukee Rep in Love’s Labor’s Lost (1993/94), The Norman Conquests (1993/94) and Arcadia (1996/97). Most recently she was on the national tour of Sister Act performing the role of Mother Superior. Other national tours include Les Misérables, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Thoroughly Modern Millie. Recent credits include: Angels in America (Court Theatre); Follies (Chicago Shakespeare Theater); Candide (Goodman Theatre and The Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C.); The Light in the Piazza (Arena Stage); A Streetcar Named Desire (Cleveland Play House) and Grey Gardens (Northlight Theatre and Philadelphia Theatre Company). Resnik is a 12-time Jeff Award winner and 17-time nominee. She is also a 2011 recipient of the Helen Hayes Award for Candide performed at The Shakespeare Theatre Company. Other awards include three After Dark Awards and two Sarah Siddons Awards. TV/film credits include: Playboy Club, Little Big Top, Backdraft, Cupid and The Untouchables. Resnik was also a recipient of the 2012 Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship.
CREATIVE TEAM
The creative team for End of the Rainbow includes: Mark Clements (Director); Dan Kazemi (Music Director); Dan Conway (Scenic Designer); Holly Payne (Costume Designer); Jesse Klug (Lighting Designer); John Tanner (Sound Designer); Jill Walmsley Zager (Dialect Coach); Jamie Cheatham (Fight Choreographer), Richelle Harrington Calin (Stage Manager); Jennifer Anderson (Assistant Stage Manager) and Emily Penick (Assistant Director).
Mark Clements, (Artistic Director/Director), began his tenure as The Rep’s Artistic Director with the 2010/11 Season. An award-winning international director whose work has appeared in over 100 major theaters throughout Europe and the U.S., recent directing projects at The Rep include: Ragtime, Clybourne Park, Assassins, Othello, Next to Normal, Death of a Salesman, Bombshells and Cabaret. Other credits include: Oliver!, Born Yesterday, Great Expectations, Les Misérables and Of Mice and Men for Walnut Street Theatre, Philadelphia; The Milliner (Off-Broadway, World Premiere), CSC, New York; My Fair Lady, Copenhagen; The Browning Version at Derby Playhouse and Blunt Speaking at Chichester Festival Theatre U.K./Lucille Lortel Theatre, New York; Speaking in Tongues at Roundabout Theatre Company; Speaking in Tongues at Hampstead Theatre, London and Creator/Director of Soul Train, West End, among others. Clements was an Associate Artistic Director for Moving Theatre Company and Associate Director for New End Theatre and New Players Theatre, both in London, Royal Theatre in Northampton and Torch Theatre in Wales and as Artistic Director of Derby Playhouse in the U.K. from 1992 to 2002. He serves on the National Advisory Board for the Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship Program at Ten Chimneys. For The Rep’s 2013/14 60th Anniversary Season in addition to directing Ragtime and End of the Rainbow, Clements will also direct The History of Invulnerability in the Quadracci Powerhouse.
Dan Kazemi, (Music Director), a Rep Associate Artist, is a composer, actor, music director and educator. He returns to The Rep after having been the Musical Director for recent productions of Ragtime, Blues in the Night, Assassins, Always . . . Patsy Cline, Next to Normal and Cabaret and Vocal Coach for A Christmas Carol. Kazemi recently orchestrated and musically directed the world premiere musical Tulipomania at the Arden Theatre Company. He has also musically directed Tick, Tick . . . Boom!, Austentations, The PhillyRocks! Concert, The World Goes Round (Barrymore nomination), Reefer Madness, Little Shop of Horrors, Rooms and The Great American Trailer Park Musical for 11th Hour Theatre Company. Kazemi is also the composer of a new musical, The Tapioca Miracle.
Dan Conway, (Scenic Designer), returns to The Rep after recently designing the set for Noises Off and last season’s production of The Diary of Anne Frank. Other credits include: the premiere of Ken Ludwig’s new play, The Games Afoot (Cleveland Play House); the American premiere of Sucker Punch and The Secret of Sweet (Studio Theatre); Company, Hairspray, Chess and Sunset Boulevard (Signature Theatre); Sabrina Fair (Ford’s Theatre); Cyrano (Folger Theatre); The Merry Wives of Windsor (The Shakespeare Theatre Company) and August Osage County (Arden Theatre Company). Nominated for the Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Set Design 12 times, he received the award in 2000 and most recently in 2009 for Stunning, for Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company.
Holly Payne, (Costume Designer), previously The Rep’s Costume Director, is currently teaching costume design and technology at the University of North Carolina – Pembroke. She graduated with an MFA in costume design and technology from the University of Arkansas. Her favorite Rep credits include Lombardi, The Bomb-itty of Errors and Speaking in Tongues. Regional credits include Skylight Music Theatre, Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, Renaissance Theaterworks, Milwaukee Shakespeare, University of Tulsa, American Players Theatre, Florentine Opera, Delaware Theatre Company, First Stage Children’s Theater, 11th Hour Theatre Company in Philadelphia and Theatre Squared in Fayetteville, AK. Payne has an MFA in costume design and technology from the University of Arkansas.
Jesse Klug, (Lighting Designer), his Milwaukee Rep credits include: Clybourne Park, To Kill a Mockingbird and My Name is Asher Lev. He did lighting design for the national tour of The Screwtape Letters. Off-Broadway credits include: The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity (Second Stage, Hewes Nomination); The Screwtape Letters (Westside Arts); Hunchback Variations (59E59); Romulus (Guggenheim Museum) and The Hourglass (NYMTF). Regional: Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Goodman Theatre, Court Theatre, Victory Gardens, Lookingglass Theatre Company, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Geffen Theatre, Asolo Rep, The Shakespeare Theatre Company, Virginia Stage Company and Writers’ Theatre, among others. Jeff Award and After Dark award winner.
John Tanner, (Sound Designer), is a composer, sound designer and Milwaukee Rep Associate Artist who recently designed sound for The Rep’s production of Ragtime and Forever Plaid. His experience covers a broad range of work in scoring, arranging and music composition for television, documentaries, radio, industrial video and theater. Tanner’s music has won numerous awards including: Golden Reel Awards, Telly Awards, Silver Microphone awards and RAC awards for retail advertising. He has also garnered both Gold and Platinum sales certification for his album engineering.
Jill Walmsley Zager, (Dialect Coach), returns to The Rep after coaching Ragtime, Venus in Fur, Noises Off and A Christmas Carol this season. Other Milwaukee Rep credits include: A Raisin In the Sun, Clybourne Park, Sense and Sensibility, The Diary of Anne Frank, The Mountaintop, Assassins, To Kill a Mockingbird, Lombardi, Yellowman, Ten Chimneys, The 39 Steps, My Name Is Asher Lev, Laurel and Hardy and Cabaret. Regionally, she has worked at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire, Drury Lane Water Tower, Apple Tree Theatre, Drury Lane Theatre and Conference Center, Utah Shakespeare Festival and Milwaukee Chamber Theatre.
Jamie Cheatham, (Fight Choreographer), is the Artistic Director and head of the acting program at UW-Parkside. He relocated to the Midwest from the East Coast where his professional experience includes acting, directing and stage combat/choreography. His collective resume includes such theaters as New York Shakespeare Festival, Actors Theatre of Louisville, the Alley Theatre, City Opera, Shakespeare Theatre, Illinois Shakespeare Festival, Milwaukee Shakespeare and the Kennedy Center. He is a fight director and certified teacher with the Society of American Fight Directors.
Richelle Harrington Calin, (Stage Manager), has been with Milwaukee Rep since 2004. Milwaukee Rep credits include: Bach at Leipzig, The Clean House, Intimate Apparel, Gem of the Ocean, A Christmas Carol, They Voysey Inheritance, Life Could Be a Dream, Glengarry Glen Ross, The Night is a Child, I Am My Own Wife, Greater Tuna, Pride and Prejudice, Shear Madness, The Lady with All the Answers, Yankee Tavern, Route 66, Cabaret, Bombshells, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Yellowman, Othello, The Mountaintop, How the World Began and Venus in Fur. The upcoming production of Ain’t Misbehavin’ will be the 150th production of her professional career.
Jennifer Anderson, (Assistant Stage Manager), returns to The Rep after just assistant directing Noises Off. Other Rep credits include From My Hometown (2011/12 Season). Previous credits include the Guthrie Theater, Skylight Music Theatre, Tuacahn Center for the Arts and Milwaukee Chamber Theatre.
Emily Penick, (Assistant Director), a Rep Artistic Intern Ensemble Member, was Assistant Director on Ragtime, Forever Plaid and A Christmas Carol. Favorite directing credits include The Rose Tattoo, The Servant of Two Masters, Spike Heels, The Secret Rapture and The Lover. Emily recently assistant directed The Little Foxes at The Florida Repertory Theatre, and earned her MFA in Directing from Ohio University.
KEY BIOGRAPHIES
Peter Quilter, (Playwright), has work that has been produced in major theaters throughout the world, playing in 38 countries and translated into 27 languages. He has had three shows in London’s West End and has twice been nominated for the Olivier Award: Best Comedy 2006 and Best Play 2011. End of the Rainbow premiered at Sydney Opera House in Australia, followed by hit productions in Amsterdam, Madrid, Hamburg, Rio de Janeiro and London. The play opened at the Belasco Theatre on Broadway in April 2012, where it played for 176 performances and received three Tony Award nominations. Quilter’s comedy Glorious! (the true story of Florence Foster Jenkins, the worst singer in the world) has also enjoyed considerable international success, playing to over a million people in theaters across five continents. His other plays include The Morning After, Let It Snow, Duets and his latest comedy, The Actress. Official website: www.peterquilter.net.
FACT SHEET
WHAT: End of the Rainbow
WRITTEN BY: Peter Quilter
DIRECTED BY: Mark Clements
THEATER: Quadracci Powerhouse
DATES: January 7, 2013 – February 9, 2013
DESCRIPTION: Explosive acting and classic songs bring down the house in this critically-acclaimed exploration of Judy Garland’s infamous 1968 London comeback. Named in Time Magazine’s “Top Ten” List and called “electrifying” by The New York Times, this savagely funny and emotionally-searing play finds the once-glittering starlet sparring with her new fiancé, her devoted accompanist and her personal demons. Filled with Garland’s legendary tenacity, razor-sharp wit and once-in-a-generation voice, this is a piece of theater truly benefitting the late, great songstress who took us “over the rainbow.”
PERFORMANCES:
Tuesday, 1/7/14 – 7:30pm – Preview/Pay-What-You-Can
Wednesday, 1/8/14 – 7:30pm – Preview/Pay-What-You-Can
Thursday, 1/9/14 – 7:30pm – Preview/Talkback with Playwright Peter Quilter/Powerhouse PowerHour
Friday, 1/10/14 – 8:00pm – Opening
Saturday, 1/11/14 – 4:00pm/8:00pm
Sunday, 1/12/14 – 2:00pm – Talkback/7:00 p.m.
Tuesday, 1/14/14 – 6:30pm – Early Bird/Audio-Described
Wednesday, 1/15/14 – 7:30pm
Thursday, 1/16/14 – 7:30pm
Friday, 1/17/14 – 8:00pm
Saturday, 1/18/14 – 4:00pm/8:00pm
Sunday, 1/19/14 – 2:00pm – Talkback/7:00pm
Wednesday, 1/22/14 – 1:30pm – Bus Matinee/7:30pm
Thursday, 1/23/14 – 7:30pm
Friday, 1/24/14 – 8:00pm
Saturday, 1/25/14 – 4:00pm/8:00pm
Sunday, 1/26/14 – 2:00pm– Talkback/7:00pm
Tuesday, 1/28/14 – 7:30pm
Wednesday, 1/29/14 – 1:30pm – Lunch Matinee/7:30pm
Thursday, 1/30/14 – 7:30pm – American Sign Language
Friday, 1/31/14 – 8:00pm
Saturday, 2/1/14 – 4:00pm/8:00pm
Sunday, 2/2/14 – 2:00pm – Captioned Performance/Talkback/7:00pm
Tuesday, 2/4/14 – 7:30pm
Wednesday, 2/5/14 – 7:30pm
Thursday, 2/6/14 – 7:30pm
Friday, 2/7/14 – 8:00pm
Saturday, 2/8/14 – 4:00pm/8:00pm
Sunday, 2/9/14 – 2:00 pm – Talkback/7:00pm – Closing
TICKET PRICES: Prices begin at $20.00. (Prices subject to change.)
TICKETS/INFORMATION: 414-224-9490 or buy tickets online at www.MilwaukeeRep.com
TICKET OFFICE LOCATION: 108 E. Wells Street in Milwaukee’s Downtown Theater District
TICKET OFFICE HOURS: Monday – Sunday, Noon – 6 pm*
*On days with performances the Ticket Office will stay open until show time.
Please note: The Rep’s Ticket Office will be closed Christmas and New Year’s Day.
Milwaukee Repertory Theater is a nationally-recognized company that presents compelling dramas, powerful classics, award-winning contemporary works, full-scale musicals, housed in its three unique performance venues – the Quadracci Powerhouse, Stiemke Studio and Stackner Cabaret. The Rep also produces an annual production of A Christmas Carol at the beautiful and historic Pabst Theater. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Mark Clements and Managing Director Chad Bauman, The Rep is committed to creating plays that are meaningful and relevant to the society we live in – plays that are challenging, visceral and engage the community through the issues they explore, demonstrating how a theater deeply rooted in its locality can also enjoy a richly influential and resonant national voice.
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.
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