Contact:
Ryan Jimenez, Press Director
(310) 208-6500 x126
(323) 204-8800 cell
(323) 662-5050 after hours
ryan@geffenplayhouse.com
Second Production of Season Unveils
Newly Renovated Geffen Playhouse,
Reopening to Public After 18 Month, $17
Million Renovation
David MametÕs Boston
Marriage and Sam ShepardÕs The God
of Hell
LOS ANGELES (September 8, 2005 )— Geffen Playhouse
Producing Director Gilbert Cates announces updates to the GeffenÕs 10th
anniversary season, a much anticipated year inaugurating the newly renovated
Geffen Playhouse, culminating an 18-month, $17 million renovation to the
historic theater, including the addition of the new 117-seat Audrey Skirball
Kenis Theater at the Geffen Playhouse. The 2005-2006 season marks the second
year in the GeffenÕs decade-long Festival of American Originals, a celebration
of American theater, offering works that examine and define the American
experience. The Geffen holds an
opening celebration event for the new playhouse on October 17, with the
inaugural opening night red carpet gala performance of Tennessee WilliamsÕ CAT
ON A HOT TIN ROOF on November 16, 2005.
The Geffen PlayhouseÕs 2005-2006 season begins with the West Coast
premiere of NINE PARTS OF DESIRE, written and
performed by Heather Raffo, the last production presented at
the Brentwood Theater—the GeffenÕs temporary home—before the
companyÕs move back to its renovated playhouse in Westwood. The second play of
the season, Tennessee WilliamsÕ Pulitzer Prize-winning CAT ON A HOT TIN
ROOF, directed by Geffen Playhouse Producing Director Gil Cates, inaugurates
the renovated theater and features Jeremy Davidson, Academy
Award-winning actress Brenda Fricker (with the permission of ActorsÕ Equity Association
pursuant to an exchange program between American Equity and UK Equity), and Emmy-nominated
John Goodman, all in their Geffen
Playhouse debuts. Cates also announces the world premiere of MY BUDDY
BILL, written and performed by Emmy
Award-winner Rick Cleveland, which unveils
the new Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater at the Geffen Playhouse. The west Coast
premiere of David MametÕs BOSTON
MARRIAGE continues the season,
followed by Arthur MillerÕs ALL MY SONS, directed by Geffen Artistic Director Randall Arney. Sam
ShepardÕs THE God of Hell also receives its West Coast premiere, and concluding the
2005/2006 season.
ÒThis is a
momentous time for the Geffen Playhouse, exemplified by the rich works and
gifted artists involved in our 10th anniversary season,Ó said Cates. ÒWeÕre
delighted to be working with the talented Jeremy Davidson, Brenda Fricker, John Goodman, Heather Raffo, and Rick Cleveland, and we welcome David Mamet and Sam Shepard back to our theater. Our 2005-2006 season
presents Los Angeles theatergoers with yet another wonderfully diverse year of
classic and contemporary works.Ó
ÒThe new addition of the beautiful
Audrey Kenis Skirball Theater at the Geffen Playhouse adds another dynamic
performance space to the theater,Ó says Randall Arney, Artistic Director for
the Geffen Playhouse. ÒThis new stage will serve as a flexible rehearsal space
and laboratory for developing new works by emerging artists. We consider it an ÔactorÕs theaterÕ
where we can stage intimate readings and eclectic programming for our
audiences.Ó
____________________________________________________
West Coast Premiere of NINE PARTS OF DESIRE
Written and performed by Heather Raffo
Directed by Joanna Settle
September 6—October 16, 2005
Opening Night September 14, 2005
The Geffen PlayhouseÕs 10th anniversary season
begins with the West Coast premiere of Heather RaffoÕs riveting NINE
PARTS OF DESIRE,
which
opened in October 2004 at New YorkÕs Manhattan Ensemble Theater to critical
raves, including the New YorkerÕs description of the one-woman show as Òan
example of how art can remake the world.Ó
The play, which features the original acclaimed New York actor/director
team of Heather Raffo and Joanna Settle, provides a glimpse into the lives of
women in war-torn Iraq.
The New York Times hailed NINE PARTS
OF DESIRE
as
Òpowerful,Ó Òimpassioned,Ó and Òmemorable,Ó adding that Raffo Òinhabits her
characters with such compelling vibrancy that they do not entirely disappear
when she moves from one to the next.Ó
The Wall Street Journal said, Òeach character is wholly
believableÉbecause Ms. Raffo inhabits each one so fully, both as actor and as
author, and because we never feel, not even for a moment, that she is making
them tell us what we – or she – want to hear.Ó
The Geffen Playhouse production of NINE PARTS
OF DESIRE
begins in previews at the Brentwood Theatre on September 6, 2005 and runs
through October 16, 2005, with an official press opening on September 14.
Heather Raffo collected the stories of the many
Iraqi women included in NINE PARTS OF DESIRE through a series of
interviews and experiences. Her father is originally from Iraq, and her mother
is American. She has dedicated NINE PARTS OF DESIRE to the members of her
family still living in Baghdad and to the Iraqi women she interviewed. RaffoÕs
recent acting credits include the role of Sarah Woodruff in the world premiere
of The French LieutenantÕs Woman at the Fulton Opera House, Over The River and
Through the Woods
Off-Broadway, and The Acting CompanyÕs productions of Macbeth (Lady Macbeth), The Merry
Wives of Windsor
(Mistress Page) and The Rivals.
She has appeared at San DiegoÕs The Old Globe Theatre in Othello, directed by Jack
OÕBrien, As You Like It directed by Stephen Wadsworth, Macbeth directed by Nicholas
Martin, and A Comedy of Errors, directed by John Rando.
Joanna Settle was recently in residency at the
New York Public Theater to develop ShakespeareÕs Coriolanus with her company,
Division 13 (D13) Productions. She adapted and directed IonescoÕs final work
Journeys Among The Dead at HERE Arts Center and worked on the production of the
Beckett shorts Act Without Words I, Rockaby, Breath and That Time throughout BrooklynÕs
Old American Can Factory. Settle directed Penthesilea by Von Kleist, Cascando and Waiting for Godot by Beckett, and The
Dumb Waiter
by Pinter at Classic Stage Company, The Trojan Women at Julliard, and D13Õs
workshop of The Genet Project, an original work based on the early life and
writings of Jean Genet. Settle is
a member of the Lincoln Center Directors Lab and is currently a third year
resident artist at HERE Arts Center. In 2000-2002, she received the NEA/TCG
Career Development Grant for Directors.
NINE PARTS OF DESIRE was first performed in
August 2003 at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, then moved to the Bush Theatre
in LondonÕs Off-West End where The Independent hailed it as one of the
five best plays in London. The
show was also performed as a reading at The Public Theater as part of its New
Work Now festival.
Winner, 1955 Pulitzer Prize for Drama
Written by Tennessee Williams
Featuring Jeremy Davidson, Brenda Fricker and John Goodman
Directed by Geffen Producing Director
Gilbert Cates
November 4—December 18, 2005
Opening Night November 16, 2005
Geffen Producing Director Gilbert
Cates directs CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF, the 1955 Pulitzer
Prize-winning play by celebrated American playwright Tennessee Williams. The
Geffen Playhouse production of CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF stars Emmy-nominated
actor John Goodman as the fearsome patriarch Big Daddy, Academy Award-winning
Irish Actress Brenda Fricker as Big Mama, and Jeremy Davidson as Brick.
This powerful, highly charged play tells the
story of Big Daddy Pollitt, an affluent Southerner, and his dysfunctional
family, who have gathered at home for his birthday. Unbeknownst to Big Daddy,
the family is keeping secrets of the present and the past that threaten to
change the hierarchy of this old-fashioned, patriarchal family forever. As in
much of WilliamsÕ work, resentments and demons bubble to the surface, in this
case creating a party Big Daddy will never forget. The Geffen Playhouse
production of CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF inaugurates the newly
renovated Geffen Playhouse main stage, opening in previews on November 4, 2005
and running through December 18, 2005, with an official press opening on
November 16, sponsored by De Beers, the international
diamond retailer.
ÒCAT ON A HOT TIN
ROOF
is in my opinion one of the best plays ever written,Ó said Cates. ÒThis great
American story dealing with honesty and mendacity is evocative and powerful. I
am looking forward to working with Jeremy Davidson, Brenda Fricker, and John
Goodman, as they bring their respective roles to life for LA audiences later
this year.Ó
Playwright, poet, and
fiction writer, Tennessee Williams left a powerful mark on American theater. He is
perhaps best known for his three most popular plays, The Glass Menagerie, A Streetcar Named
Desire
(for which he won his first Pulitzer Prize), and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (for which he won his
second Pulitzer Prize). His twenty-five full-length plays combined lyrical
intensity, haunting loneliness, and hypnotic violence. He is widely considered
the greatest Southern playwright and one of the greatest playwrights in the
history of American drama.
Known for his leading guest roles on favorite
television shows such as Boston Legal, The Practice, Jag, Crossing Jordan, Law
& Order, NYPD Blue, Roswell, Ally McBeal and Strangers with Candy, Jeremy
Davidson
reprises the role of Brick in the Geffen PlayhouseÕs production of Cat on
a Hot Tin Roof,
having previously performed the role in the Kennedy CenterÕs production under
Director Mark Lamos. Davidson has also appeared in numerous films including Little
Chenier,
Deprivation,
and Skeletons in the Closet.
With strong theatrical roots, Brenda Fricker began working in local
theater productions in Ireland, and later appeared on-stage at the National
Theatre in London. She soon appeared with both The Royal Shakespeare Company
and Great Britain's Court Theater Company and garnered an impressive list of
credits with made-for-television features. Fricker garnered international
recognition for her role in the acclaimed 1989 drama My Left Foot, cast as the determined
mother of a talented writer and painter with cerebral palsy. Her performance
earned her an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and placed her high on
the list of A-list actors. She has appeared in subsequent roles in Home
Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992), So I Married an Axe Murderer (1993), and Masterminds
(1997).
John Goodman may be most familiar to
television and movie audiences for his Emmy-nominated role as a different kind
of patriarch, the affable Dan Conner on the Roseanne sitcom, but Goodman got
his first break starring on Broadway in Loose Ends. An accomplished stage
performer, Goodman created the role of the brutish Pap in the 1985 Broadway
smash Big River. His film credits include The Big
Easy, King
Ralph, The
Flintstones, The
Babe,
and Blues Brothers 2000.
Gil Cates, a recipient of the James A. Dolittle
Award for Leadership in Los Angeles Theatre, recently directed the GeffenÕs
world premiere adaptation of Paint Your Wagon. The Geffen Playhouse
production of Collected Stories, also directed by Cates, received the 1999
Ovation Award for Best Play. Cates served two terms as President of the
Directors Guild of America from 1983 to 1987. In 1989, he received the GuildÕs Robert B. Aldrich Award for
extraordinary service, and in 1991 he received the
DGAÕs Honorary Life Membership. In 2001, Cates produced the 73rd
Annual Academy Awards
show for ABC, his 10th occasion producing the Awards, for which he
has already garnered 84 nominations and 17 Emmy Awards.
CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF was first produced in New York in 1955 under the direction of
Elia Kazan. The play was a tremendous commercial success on Broadway,
where it ran for 694 performances.
World
Premiere of MY BUDDY BILL
Audrey
Skirball Kenis Theater at the Geffen Playhouse
Written
and performed by Rick Cleveland
November 18—December
18, 2005
Opening Night November 18, 2005
The new Audrey Skirball-Kenis Theater at the
Geffen Playhouse opens for the first time with the world premiere of MY
BUDDY BILL,
written
and performed by Emmy Award-winning writer Rick Cleveland. In MY BUDDY BILL, Cleveland
spills the dirt on his fantastic friendship with Bill Clinton, in which he
bounces from touring the White House to playing catch with the First Dog Buddy
and flying in the PresidentÕs jet to Amsterdam.
Rick Cleveland is a writer and
executive producer on the HBO series Six Feet Under. He won an Emmy
Award, a Humanitas Award and a WriterÕs Guild Award for his work on The West
Wing for
which he was also a writer and co-producer. He earned his M.F.A. from the
Playwrights Workshop at the University of Iowa. His film credits include Jerry
& Tom
and Runaway Jury. Cleveland
is a founding member of ChicagoÕs American Theater
Company and a commentator for NPRÕs All Things Considered.
MY BUDDY BILL was work-shopped at the
Berkshire Theatre Festival this summer.
West Coast Premiere of BOSTON MARRIAGE
Written and directed by David Mamet
January 31—March 12, 2006
Opening
Night February 8, 2006
Pulitzer
Prize-winning playwright David Mamet directs his own play, BOSTON
MARRIAGE at
the Geffen Playhouse. Described as a startling
modern, wickedly sharp and wildly witty drawing room comedy, BOSTON
MARRIAGE is
the story of two fashionable upper-class women who
are involved in a ÒBoston marriage,Ó a term used to describe a romantic bond
between two unmarried, financially independent women. The New York Post described BOSTON MARRIAGE as Òdeliciously wicked...one of the funniest American comedies in years.Ó Ben
Brantley of The New York Times said, ÒMove aside boys, with your gutter talk and
con games and slovenly ways. ItÕs girlsÕ night out in MametvilleÉthese ladies
are refinedÉAnd believe it or not, they talk as pretty as anyone out of Oscar
Wilde.Ó
In addition to BOSTON MARRIAGE, David Mamet is the
author of The Old Neighborhood, Oleanna, Glengarry Glen Ross (1984 Pulitzer Prize and
New York Drama CriticsÕ Circle Award), American Buffalo, A Life In The
Theater, Speed The Plow, Edmond Lakeboat, The Water Engine, The Woods, Sexual
Perversity In Chicago, Reunion, and The Cryptogram (1995 Obie Award). His translations and adaptations
include Red River
by Pierre Laville, and ChekhovÕs The Cherry Orchard, The Three Sisters, and Uncle Vanya.
His films include The Postman Always Rings
Twice, The
Verdict,
The Untouchables,
House Of Games
(writer/director), Oleanna (writer/director), and Hoffa. Mamet is also the author of Warm and
Cold, a
book for children with drawings by Donald Sultan; Writing In Restaurants, Some Freaks and Make Believe Town, three volumes of
essays; The Hero Pony, a book of poems; Three ChildrenÕs Plays, On Directing Film, The Cabin, True And False, and the novel The
Village.
BOSTON
MARRIAGE
had its world premiere in 1999 at American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge,
Massachusetts, where it was directed by David Mamet and starred his wife,
Rebecca Pidgeon, as Claire and Felicity Huffman as Anna. In 2000, BOSTON
MARRIAGE
was produced at the Donmar Warehouse and then at the New Ambassadors, both in
London, England. In 2002, BOSTON MARRIAGE was staged at the Public
Theater in New York.
Winner, New York Drama CriticsÕ Circle Award
(1947)
Written by Arthur Miller
Directed by Geffen Artistic Director Randall
Arney
April 11—May 21, 2006
Opening Night April 19, 2006
The GeffenÕs 2005-2006 season continues with
American playwright Arthur MillerÕs classic ALL MY SONS. Directed by Geffen Artistic Director Randall
Arney, ALL MY SONS is a compelling story of love, guilt and the
corrupting power of greed.
ÒWe
are so excited to be able to present this wonderfully warm and meaningful play
by Arthur Miller as the Geffen continues its examination of the American
experience,Ó said Arney. ÒAll My
Sons is as its core a study of denial, guilt and social
responsibility, taking place on the home front during a time of war, making the
play particularly resonant at this time in our own American experience. ThereÕs
also a great love story and a wonderful sense of nostalgia centered in the
volatile cauldron of family. The play is an incredible ensemble piece and
presents the Geffen with a tremendous opportunity for a dynamic group of
actors.Ó
Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Arthur Miller is one of
the most frequently produced playwrights in America. From his first
theatrical success with ALL MY SONS in 1947 to Broken
Glass in
1994, his plays continue to energize the stage, explore the shadowy realm of
human motivations, and probe the conflicts at the bottom of the American dream.
During his supremely influential career, Miller examined social morality and
responsibility through an intensely personal lens, forcing his audiences to
view their own role at home and in the world at large.
ALL MY SONS, which premiered in 1947 and ran
for 328 performances, is widely known as MillerÕs first stage success. The
play established Miller as a dramatist of much promise and won him the Drama
CriticsÕ Circle Award for the best American play of the season. He later won
the Pulitzer Prize for drama and his second Drama CriticsÕ Circle Award for Death
of a Salesman,
which opened on Broadway in 1949.
Randall Arney, who last directed the GeffenÕs
smash hit production of Take Me Out last year, also directed the Geffen
productions of I
Just Stopped By To See The Man, GodÕs Man in
Texas and The Weir. He is an ensemble member and former artistic director of
ChicagoÕs Steppenwolf Theatre (1987-1995), where he directed numerous plays
including The Beauty Queen of Leenane, Death and the Maiden and Curse
of the Starving Class. Arney also directed the world premiere of Picasso at the
Lapin Agile at Steppenwolf, as well as the subsequent Los Angeles,
off-Broadway, San Francisco, Washington, D.C. and Tokyo productions.
Written by Sam Shepard
June 20—July 30,
2006
Opening Night June 28, 2006
Pulitzer-Prize
winning playwright Sam Shepard presents a wild ride through the
contemporary American political landscape with the Los Angeles premiere of The God of Hell. Shepard
takes us to rural Wisconsin where we meet Frank and Emma, a politically
out-of-touch farming couple that are about to have their world rocked out of
complacency. The story unfolds revealing two unwelcome visitors to be part of a
political plot involving military secrets, torture, and mysterious blue sparks.
Wrote New York Times theater critic Ben Brantley, ÒMr. Shepard has portrayed
the cherished American values of home, family and country as evaporating
chimeras, as intangible as wisps of smoke.Ó
Shepard
has written 45 plays, 11 of which have won Obie Awards, and has appeared as an
actor in 16 films. In 1979 he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Buried
Child, and
in 1984 he gained an Oscar nomination for his performance in The Right
Stuff.
His screenplay for Paris, Texas won the Golden Palm Award at the 1984 Cannes
Film Festival, and he wrote and directed the film Far North in 1988. Other plays by
Shepard include Simpatico, Curse of the Starving Class, True West, Fool for
Love and
A Lie of the Mind.
In 1986 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and in 1992
he received the Gold Medal for Drama from the Academy. He was inducted into the
Theatre Hall of Fame in 1994.
___________________________________
The Geffen Playhouse is
located at 10886 Le Conte Avenue in Westwood. Performances are Tuesdays through Thursdays at 7:30 p.m.;
Fridays at 8:00 p.m.; Saturdays at 4:00 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.; and Sundays at 2:00
and 7:00 p.m. Ticket prices range
from $35 to $69.
Subscriptions
to the 2005-2006 season may be purchased online at GeffenPlayhouse.com , in person at the
Geffen Playhouse Box Office, or by phone at (310) 208-5454. Single tickets may be purchased at the
Geffen Playhouse Box Office, by calling Ticketmaster at 213.480.3232, at all
Ticketmaster outlets (Robinsons May, Tower Records, and Ritmo Latino
locations), or online at GeffenPlayhouse.com. For general information
or to request a brochure, call (310) 208-5454.
_________________________________________
Now in its 10th Anniversary Season, the Geffen Playhouse
is celebrated for its eclectic mix of classic plays, provocative new works,
musicals, and contemporary plays, and continues to present a body of work that
has garnered national recognition. Launched in 1994 as the Westwood Playhouse,
the Geffen Playhouse was named in 1995 in honor of entertainment mogul and
philanthropist David Geffen, who donated $5 million to the organization, one of
the largest gifts ever made to an already-constructed theater. Headed by
Producing Director Gilbert (Gil) Cates, Artistic Director Randall Arney and
Managing Director Stephen Eich, the Geffen has produced eight world premieres,
four Tony, four Pulitzer, and seven Obie-award winning shows in the companyÕs
celebrated 10 seasons and maintains an extensive education and outreach
program, designed to engage young people and the community at large in the
arts. Enjoying its stature as a vital performing arts institution in Los
Angeles with an annual attendance of more than 130,000 patrons, the Geffen
Playhouse prepares for the grand opening of its newly renovated playhouse,
making its debut in November, 2005. For more information, please visit geffenplayhouse.com.
_____________________________________________
GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE 2005-2006 SEASON:
5-PLAY SEASON ON THE MAIN STAGE
|
Play 1 September
6—October 16, 2005 Opening Night September 14, 2005 *This production is the GeffenÕs last performance at the
Brentwood Theater before returning to the newly renovated Geffen Playhouse. |
NINE
PARTS OF DESIRE
(West Coast Premiere) Written
and performed by Heather Raffo Directed
by Joanna Settle |
|
Play 2 November 8—December 18, 2005 Opening Night November 16, 2005 |
CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF
Winner,
1955 Pulitzer Prize for Drama by
Tennessee Williams Directed by Geffen Producing Director Gilbert Cates Featuring
Jeremy Davidson, Brenda Fricker and John Goodman |
|
Play 3 January 31—March
12, 2006 Opening Night February
8, 2006 |
BOSTON MARRIAGE (West Coast Premiere) Written and directed by David Mamet |
|
Play 4 April 11—May
21, 2006 Opening
Night April 19, 2006 |
ALL
MY SONS
Winner, New York Drama CriticsÕ Circle Award by Arthur Miller Directed by Geffen Artistic Director Randall
Arney |
|
Play 5 June 20—July
30, 2006 Opening
Night June 28, 2006 |
THE God of Hell (West Coast Premiere)
Written by Sam Shepard |
GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE 2005-2006 SEASON:
AUDREY SKIRBALL KENIS THEATER AT THE
GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE
|
PLAY 1 November 12—December
18, 2005 Opening Night November 18, 2005 |
MY
BUDDY BILL (World
Premiere) The
Inaugural Performance at the new Audrey
Kenis Skirball Theater at the Geffen Playhouse Written
and performed by Rick Cleveland |
# # #
Press Contact:
Ryan Jimenez, Press Director
(310) 208-6500 x 126
(323) 204-8800 cell
(323) 662-5050 after
hours
ryan@geffenplayhouse.com