Download Actors` Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre kicks off the 2015

NEWS RELEASE CONTACT:
Brooke Noble
Public Relations Manager
305-444-9293, ext. 604
[email protected]
Actors’ Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre kicks off the 2015-16 Season
with the Off-Broadway musical hit The Toxic Avenger
CORAL GABLES, Fla. — October 8, 2015 — Actors’ Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre
is excited to kick off the 2015-16 Mainstage Season with the Florida premiere
production of the Off-Broadway musical comedy The Toxic Avenger playing October
14 – November 8, 2015.
Based on Lloyd Kaufman's 1984 cult film of the same name, The Toxic Avenger is a
charming and hysterical love story that has it all – an unlikely hero, his beautiful
girlfriend, a corrupt New Jersey mayor and two guys who play every other character in
the play; including bullies, monsters, old ladies and stiletto-wearing back up singers.
“Toxie” is an unconventional contemporary love story with an environmental twist that
will rock the house and leave audiences laughing out loud.
In this production, which features several new songs and revised book by the Tony
Award-winning creative team of Memphis, Bon Jovi founding member and keyboardist
David Bryan and prolific playwright Joe DiPietro, Carbonell Award Winner Clay
Cartland takes center stage as the righteous superhero in the title role. The cast for
The Toxic Avenger also features Julie Kleiner as Sarah the blind librarian, Toxie's hot
love interest, Laura Hodos in the duel role of the corrupt Mayor Babs Belgoody as well
as Ma Ferd, and Dexter Carr as The Black Dude and Joshua Dobarganes as The
White Dude.
Directed by award-winning Artistic Director David Arisco, The Toxic Avenger will
feature Music Direction by David Nagy, Scenic Design by Gene Seyffer, Set Dressing
and Prop Design by Jodi Dellaventura, Lighting Design by Eric Nelson, Sound Design
by Shaun Mitchell and Costume Coordination by Ellis Tillman. Actors’ Playhouse is
excited to have acquired the Off-Broadway costumes for its production designed by
David C. Woolard, along with original mask and prosthetics designed by Louis
Zakarian.
“The Toxic Avenger is a hysterical, hot new musical that will have the community
buzzing, said Arisco. “This show is traditional Off-Broadway funny and rock-the-house
contemporary, all at the same time.”
Preview performances of The Toxic Avenger will be held Wednesday and Thursday,
October 14 and 15 at 8 p.m. The show will open on Friday, October 16 at 8 p.m. and
play through November 8, 2015. Evening performances will be held Wednesday
through Saturday at 8 p.m., with afternoon matinees on Sunday at 3 p.m. A special
weekday matinee is scheduled on Wednesday, October 21 at 2 p.m.
Preview night tickets on the first Wednesday and Thursday are $35. Tickets for
weeknights and matinees are $45, and on Friday and Saturday evenings $53. The
theatre offers a 10 percent senior discount rate the day of performance and $15 student
rush tickets 15 minutes prior to curtain with identification. Discounts are based on
availability and exclude Saturday and Sunday.
Group discounted rates are offered for 15 or more through our group sales department.
Single tickets may be purchased through the box office at 305-444-9293 or online at
www.actorsplayhouse.org.
This event is made possible with the support of Miami-Dade County Department of
Cultural Affairs, the Cultural Affairs Council, and the Miami Dade County Mayor and
Board of County Commissioners for Major Cultural Institutions, and is sponsored in part
by the State of Florida Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs, and the Florida
Council on Arts & Culture, with support of the City of Coral Gables, and the following
sponsors: Azamara Club Cruises, Bacardi U.S.A., Dolphin Carpet & Tile, NBC 6 South
Florida and WPBT2.
About Actors' Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre
Actors’ Playhouse is the nonprofit resident theatre company and managing agent of the
historic Miracle Theatre on Miracle Mile in Coral Gables. Actors’ Playhouse, which has
brought home 85 regional Carbonell Awards for artistic excellence, is a Florida
Presenting Cultural Organization and one of 13 major cultural institutions in Miami-Dade
County. In addition to its Mainstage season, Actors’ Playhouse offers a year-round
season of Musical Theatre for Young Audiences, a Theatre Conservatory and Summer
Camp Program, as well as educational arts outreach programs for underserved youth,
and has initiated a Young Talent Big Dreams contest for children in partnership with The
Children’s Trust. www.actorsplayhouse.org
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Biographies:
DAVID ARISCO (Director) has been a part of Actors’ Playhouse for 28 years, twenty of
them here at the Miracle Theatre. His diverse career spans over forty years as director,
actor, musical director, stage manager, symphonic conductor and instrumentalist. Stage
acting credits include starring roles in our critically acclaimed productions of Hairspray,
Fiddler on the Roof, A Thousand Clowns, Last of the Red Hot Lovers, Same Time, Next
Year, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Plaza Suite and The Odd
Couple. Film and television credits include "Offbeat", "Tollbooth", "Miami Vice",
"America’s Most Wanted" and "Key West". Mr. Arisco has directed over 130 shows here
at Actors’ Playhouse, including the Carbonell awarded productions of In The Heights
(2013), Les Misérables (2009), AIDA (2005), Floyd Collins (2003), Violet (2001), Joseph
and the Amazing Technicolor® Dreamcoat (2000), I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now
Change (1998), West Side Story (1997) and The Mystery of Edwin Drood (1991), all of
which won for Best Production of a Musical. Mr. Arisco is the recipient of the George
Abbott Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Arts, and was awarded the Richard
G. Fallon Award for Excellence in Professional Theatre from the Florida Professional
Theatre Association.
DAVID NAGY (Music Director) recently completed a successful run of Ragtime at
Actors' Playhouse and Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah at Broward Stage Door Theatre.
Last year, he served as Music Director at Actors’ for both Spamalot and End of the
Rainbow. Other favorite shows he has music directed at Actors’ include Urinetown,
Footloose, The Big Bang, 1776, Violet and Annie, as well as the long-running I Love
You, You're Perfect, Now Change. This past spring, The Shop on Main Street, a
musical he wrote with the late Bernard Spiro, was produced in Bratislava, Slovakia.
CLAY CARTLAND (Melvin Ferd the Third/The Toxic Avenger) is so happy to be
back with his Actors' Playhouse family! Recently seen at Palm Beach Dramaworks as
Jimmy in 110 in the Shade, Clay is a South Florida native and winner of both a
Carbonell and two Silver Palm Awards. Other recent credits include First Date and
Miracle on South Division Street (Actors’ Playhouse), 25th... Spelling Bee (Alhambra
Theatre and Dining), Good People (GableStage), Assassins and Clark Gable Slept
Here (Zoetic Stage), The Wedding Singer and Next to Normal (Slow Burn Theatre), and
The Trouble with Doug (Arts Garage). Clay is also an improv comedy teacher and
works as a voice-over talent at Universal Labs.
JULIE KLEINER (Sarah) is happy to be home at Actors’ Playhouse. Actors’ Playhouse
has played an important role in both her theatrical and personal life. First there was
White Christmas - a show that brought Julie back to South Florida and sparked her
relationship with her husband. She not only won a Carbonell for the role of Penny in
Hairspray here, but she finally became pregnant with her first child whilst in rehearsals.
From Footloose to Spelling Bee to smaller shows like Rated P…, Julie has enjoyed
working with some of the finest actors, musicians, techies, and many she can now call
good friends.
LAURA HODOS (Mayor Babs Belgoody/ Ma Ferd/ Nun) is ecstatic to be rejoining
Actors’ Playhouse for The Toxic Avenger, where she did First Date and Bombshells!
Laura spent her summer in NC, performing in The Love List and Killing Time. Laura was
recently in Into the Woods at the Arsht Center, as Stepmother or Witch (depending on
the day!), and tearfully returned from playing Fantine in Les Misérables (BroadwayWorld
San Francisco nomination). Other favorites: The Light in the Piazza, Sweeney
Todd (Mad Cow Theatre); Always…Patsy Cline, Honky Tonk Angels (Penobscot
Theatre); Working, She Loves Me, Into the Woods, Follies (Caldwell); Company, Zorbá,
The Most Happy Fella (Palm Beach Dramaworks); Jolson at the Winter Garden, Love Is
Love (Maltz Jupiter Theatre); Bonnie & Clyde (Asolo Rep with Jeremy Jordan and Laura
Osnes); Ellis Island, Bernstein & Sondheim (Sarasota Orchestra); The Music Man
(Orlando Philharmonic and Jacksonville Symphony); Sweeney Todd (Orlando
Philharmonic with Davis Gaines and Faith Prince). Laura has eight solo cabarets, three
Carbonell Award nominations, and is a member of Actors’
Equity. www.LauraHodos.com
DEXTER CARR (Black Dude) Dexter has had the chance to work professionally with
JLo, Katy Perry, Kelly Rowland and Beyoncé. He also got to experience the Broadway
community by being a part of the Original cast of Bring It On: The Musical (National
Tour and Broadway) and later, In The Heights. Dexter also worked on a Puma National
commercial and Discovery Channel Spot. Since Dexter left Broadway he has worked
with Aloe Blacc, Danity Kane, Missy Elliot, and many other amazing artists. Dexter has
had amazing experiences at Actors’ Playhouse, appearing in In The Heights and
Ragtime, and is overjoyed to appear in his first principle role at the Miracle Theatre.
JOSHUA DOBARGANES (White Dude) worked his magic as Houdini in Actors’
Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre’s critically acclaimed production of Ragtime last
season. Other AP credits include Monty Python’s SPAMALOT and many Musical
Theatre for Young Audiences productions over the past ten years. Other regional
credits include: Rock Odyssey (Arsht Center), Snoopy (Area Stage Company), Reefer
Madness, Tommy, The Underpants, A Midsummer Night's Dream (FIU/ Wertheim
Performing Arts Center) and A Christmas Carol, The Musical (Broward Center for the
Performing Arts). This summer, Joshua made his Off-Broadway debut as a puppeteer
and stage hand in the New York Musial Theatre Festival premiere of Real Men, A
Musical For Guys, And The Women Who Put Up With Them. He received his BA in
Theatre from Florida International University, and is a proud member of the Actors'
Equity Association.
DAVID WOOLARD (Costume Designer) Broadway: Dames at Sea, First Date,
Lysistrata Jones, West Side Story, Jane Fonda’s clothing for 33 Variations, Dividing the
Estate, The Farnsworth Invention, Old Acquaintance, All Shook Up, The Rocky Horror
Show (2001 Tony nomination), The Who’s Tommy (1993 Tony and Olivier Award
nominations), Bells are Ringing, Wait Until Dark, The Young Man From Atlanta, Damn
Yankees, A Few Good Men. Additional credits include the world premiere of Cold
Mountain for Santa Fe Opera. The Toxic Avenger, Bare, The Orphans' Cycle (Hewes
Award), The Donkey Show at A.R.T.
LOUIS ZAKARIAN (Mask and Prosthetics Designer) Four-time Emmy winner; Head of
makeup department for Saturday Night Live for the past 20 years. Makeup and makeup
effects artist in many films including upcoming “The Magnificent Seven”, and “Southpaw”
(makeup artist for Jake Gyllenhaal).