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Download CARMEN: AN AFROCUBAN JAZZ MUSICAL, A World Premiere
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Heather Andrews Marketing and PR Manager Olney Theatre Center Phone: (301) 9244485 x105 EMail: [email protected] Wednesday, February 10, 2016 CARMEN: AN AFROCUBAN JAZZ MUSICAL, A World Premiere CoProduction with Tectonic Theater Project, Begins Performances Tonight Olney, MD – February 10, 2016 – Olney Theatre Center, a MidAtlantic destination for extraordinary theater performance and education, in coproduction with New York’s Tectonic Theater Project, welcomes legendary director and Tectonic Artistic Director Moisés Kaufman , Grammywinner Arturo O’Farrill, and Broadway phenomenon Sergio Trujillo for the world premiere of Carmen: An AfroCuban Jazz Musical. The production begins preview performances tonight and runs through March 6 on the Mainstage. Directed and cowritten by Tony® Awardnominee Moisés Kaufman ( 33 Variations, Gross Indecency, The Laramie Project Cycle), with heralded CubanAmerican playwright Eduardo Machado , and music adapted from Bizet’s opera by twotime Grammy Awardwinner Arturo O’Farrill , this Carmen brings the action of one of the most sensual stories of all time to Cuba on the verge of revolution in 1958. The starstudded creative team, along with Kaufman at the helm as director and Broadway’s Sergio Trujillo as choreographer ( Jersey Boys , Memphis , On Your Feet ), turns Bizet’s passionfueled opera into a sexy, swinging AfroCuban Jazz musical. Kaufman’s Carmen is a gunrunner for the rebels, who falls fiercely in love with José, a Batista loyalist. When Cuba’s boxing legend Camilo returns to Havana, Carmen and José’s love falls tragically apart. “When Moisés called me about his dream of bringing Carmen to 1950s Cuba, I jumped at the idea, which was so prescient and fascinating,” said Olney Theatre Center Artistic Director Jason Loewith . “Little did I know he’d be working with Grammywinner Arturo O’Farrill, whose AfroLatin jazzinfused score has completely reimagined Bizet’s famous opera with everything from meringue and salsa to Cuban bebop, traditional Cuban son, and the driving percussion of congas and bongos, and Sergio Trujillo, one of Broadway’s busiest choreographers, whose recent smash On Your Feet is taking New York by storm. These are some true theater geniuses at work.” Broadway's Christina Sajous ( American Idiot , Baby It's You!, SpiderMan Turn off the Dark) leads the cast as Carmen, and is joined by Broadway leading men Caesar Samayoa as Camilo ( Sister Act , The PeeWee Herman Show ) and Brandon Andrus (Side Show ) as José. Rounding out the cast are George Akram, Sumayya Ali, Michelle Alves, Skizzo Arnedillo, Moses Bernal, Ronald Bruce, Tiffany Byrd, Briana CarlsonGoodman, Karla Choko, Nick Duckart, Nurney, Alejandra Matos, Calvin McCullough, Jose Ozuna, and KaraTameika Watkins. (continued) The creative team also includes Christopher Youstra (Music Director), Narelle Sissons (Scenic Designer), David Lander (Lighting Designer), Clint Ramos (Costume Designer), Robert Kaplowitz (Sound Designer), Jason Loewith (Dramaturg), and Josiane M. Lemieux (Production Stage Manager). Carmen: An AfroCuban Jazz Musical was commissioned, developed, and coproduced by Tectonic Theater Project, with support from The National Endowment for the Arts . This production is sponsored in part by Eugene B. Casey Foundation and production sponsors Mita Schaffer and Tina Martin . CARMEN: AN AFROCUBAN JAZZ MUSICAL Book by Moisés Kaufman and Eduardo Machado Lyrics by Moisés Kaufman Music Adapted by Arturo O’Farrill Additional Lyrics by Jason Loewith and Christopher Youstra Based on the opera by Georges Bizet Music Direction/Additional Arrangements by Christopher Youstra Choreography Sergio Trujillo Directed by Moisés Kaufman February 10 – March 6 Press Opening: Saturday, February 13, 2016 at 8pm Performances are WednesdaySaturday at 8pm; matinees on Sunday at 2pm; Saturday matinees at 2pm on February 20 and 27, and March 5. Wednesday matinees at 2pm on February 17, and March 2. Tickets are $38$75. Discounts available for groups, seniors, military, and students. SPECIAL PERFORMANCES: ● ● ● A Conversation with Moisés Kaufman : From the groundbreaking The Laramie Project Cycle to the Pulitzerwinning I Am My Own Wife , Tony® Awardnominee Moisés Kaufman has brought seminal questions about sexuality and genderidentity to the forefront in American theater through three tempestuous decades. Join Kaufman and Artistic Director Jason Loewith for a wideranging discussion about his life, his passion for theater that advances cultural conversation, and the artistic path that brought him to adapt Bizet’s famed opera Carmen as an AfroCuban Jazz musical. Free for Olney Theatre Center Members; $5 for Theater Professionals; $10 for General Public. Saturday, February 13 at 5pm. Audio described performance for the blind and vision impaired: Wednesday, February 25 at 8pm. Provided by the Metropolitan Washington Ear. Postshow discussions: AfterWords : Saturday, February 20 after the 2pm performance; Saturday, March 5 after the 2pm performance. ABOUT OLNEY THEATRE CENTER Olney Theatre Center is an awardwinning, nonprofit, Equity theatre. Our mission is to produce and present extraordinary theatre and performance from our fourtheatre campus for an evermore diverse set of audiences in our community, and to educate the next generation of theatremakers to follow in our footsteps. We strive every day to unleash the creative potential (continued) of our artist and audiences, and in so doing, become Maryland’s premier center for theatre performance and education. In the past two years, Olney Theatre has had six world or regional premieres, including Andrew Hinderaker’s Colossal (2015 Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding New Play or Musical), and Jennifer HoppeHouse’s Bad Dog. (2015 Steinberg Award nominee). Olney’s shows and educational activities are accessible, affordable, provide a thoughtprovoking and enjoyable theatrical experience, inspiring people to exchange ideas and enriches the community. Located just north of Washington, D.C. in artsrich Montgomery County, Maryland, Olney Theatre Center offers a diverse array of over 300 professional productions yearround. It is situated on 14 wooded acres in the heart of the beautiful WashingtonBaltimoreFrederick "triangle," within easy access to all three cities, and is also home to National Players, America's longestrunning touring company. Olney Theatre Center is led by Artistic Director Jason Loewith and Managing Director Debbie Ellinghaus. For more information, please visit www.olneytheatre.org . Follow Olney Theatre Center on Twitter @olneytheatre and on Facebook at facebook.com/olneytheatre . ABOUT TECTONIC THEATER PROJECT Tectonic Theater Project is dedicated to developing innovative works that explore theatrical language and form, and fostering an artistic dialogue with audiences on the social, political and human issues that affect us all. Our goal is to develop and present new work that brings together a broadly diverse spectrum of artists and audiences to explore and embrace theater together, as both an entertaining art form and a personal resource. Founded in 1991 by Moisés Kaufman and Jeffrey LaHoste, Tectonic is an awardwinning company whose plays have been seen by millions of people around the world. The company is behind such plays as The Laramie Project (2002 Humanitas Prize, 4 Emmy nominations, GLAAD Media Award, HBO film); Laramie Project: Ten Years Later ; Gross Indecency: The Three Trials Of Oscar Wilde (Lucille Lortel Award, Outer Critics Circle); I Am My Own Wife (Pulitzer Prize, Tony AwardBest Play, Obie Award, Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle Award); El Gatos Con Botas (Puss in Boots), an opera based on the classic fairy tale by Charles Perrault and featuring innovative Bunrakustyle puppetry by London’s Blind Summit Theatre; 33 Variations, starring Jane Fonda (Tony Nom.Best Play); and, The Tallest Tree In the Forest, which recently had its NYC premiere at BAM. Artistic Director Moisés Kaufman and members of Tectonic travel to schools and communities nationwide teaching the company's unique method of theatermaking – Moment Work – giving artists the tools to integrate Moment Work’s vocabulary into their own creations, to achieve works of power with lasting resonance. Our first manual on Moment Work will be published by Random House in 2016. Visit us at www.tectonictheaterproject.org . ###
