Download sleeping beauty wakes

2910 La Jolla Village Drive La Jolla, CA 92037
lajollaplayhouse.org
For Release: March 27, 2011
Contact: Becky Biegelsen: [email protected] / (858) 228-3092
LA JOLLA PLAYHOUSE ANNOUNCES NEW MUSICAL:
SLEEPING BEAUTY WAKES
THRILLING NEW WORK BY RACHEL SHEINKIN (BOOK) AND GROOVELILY’S
BRENDAN MILBURN AND VALERIE VIGODA (SCORE) COMPLETES PLAYHOUSE’S
2011/12 SEASON, FEATURING THREE WORLD PREMIERES
DATES ANNOUNCED FOR COMPLETE 2011/12 SEASON
La Jolla, CA – La Jolla Playhouse announces the sixth and final production in its 2011/12 season:
a new adaptation of Sleeping Beauty Wakes, book by Rachel Sheinkin (The 25th Annual
Putnam County Spelling Bee), with a score by composer Brendan Milburn and lyricist Valerie
Vigoda, both of the acclaimed trio GrooveLily (Striking 12, Long Story Short), directed by
Rebecca Taichman, who will also direct the Playhouse’s 2011/12 world premiere of Milk Like
Sugar. A co-production with Princeton’s McCarter Theatre Sleeping Beauty Wakes will run July
19 – August 21, 2011 in the Mandell Weiss Theatre.
“We are thrilled to partner with the McCarter Theatre on this exuberant musical,” said Playhouse
Artistic Director Christopher Ashley. “We’ve been fans of Rachel Sheinkin and GrooveLily for years
and Sleeping Beauty Wakes is a perfect fit for our season.”
In Sleeping Beauty Wakes, a young beauty is brought to a sleep disorder clinic, and soon all the
patients find themselves sharing a familiar dream. The show reunites two members of the
acclaimed rock trio GrooveLily – Brendan Milburn and Valerie Vigoda – with Tony Award-winning
librettist Rachel Sheinkin, who last collaborated on the inventive holiday tale Striking 12. With
beguiling characters, hypnotic lyrics, and a rocking score, Sleeping Beauty Wakes delves into the
magical space between dreaming and waking in a delightful twist on a classic tale.
The complete 2011/12 Playhouse season includes: the world-premiere of A Dram of Drummhicit,
by Arthur Kopit and Anton Dudley, directed by Christopher Ashley, running May 17 – June 12 in
the Mandell Weiss Theatre; Peer Gynt, by Henrik Ibsen, adapted and directed by David
Schweizer, running June 28 – July 24 in the Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre; Sleeping Beauty
Wakes, book by Rachel Sheinkin, music by Brendan Milburn, lyrics by Valerie Vigoda, directed by
Rachel Taichman, running July 19 – August 21, 2011 in the Mandell Weiss Theatre; the world
premiere of Milk Like Sugar, a co-commission with Theater Masters, by Kirsten Greenidge,
directed by Rebecca Taichman, running August 30 – September 25 in the Sheila and Hughes
Potiker Theatre; the world-premiere musical Finding Neverland, book by Allan Knee, music by
Scott Frankel, lyrics by Michael Korie, directed and choreographed by Rob Ashford, running
November 8 – December 11 in the Mandell Weiss Theatre; and American Night: The Ballad of
Juan José, written by Richard Montoya for Culture Clash, developed by Culture Clash and Jo
Bonney, directed by Jo Bonney, running January 27 – February 26, 2012 in the Sheila and
Hughes Potiker Theatre.
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Tickets to Sleeping Beauty Wakes and the rest of Playhouse’s 2011/12 season are currently only
available through subscription by calling (858) 550-1010 or by visiting lajollaplayhouse.org.
Sleeping Beauty Wakes is sponsored by U.S. Bank. The Playhouse’s 2011/12 season is
supported by the City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture and Qualcomm
Incorporated.
The nationally acclaimed, Tony Award-winning La Jolla Playhouse is known for its tradition of
creating the most exciting and adventurous new work in regional theatre. Founded in 1947 by
Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire and Mel Ferrer, The Playhouse is considered one of the most
well-respected not-for-profit theatres in the country. Numerous Playhouse productions have moved
to Broadway, including Big River, The Who’s Tommy, How to Succeed in Business Without Really
Trying, A Walk in the Woods, Billy Crystal’s 700 Sundays, the Pulitzer Prize-winning I Am My Own
Wife, Jersey Boys, Thoroughly Modern Millie, The Farnsworth Invention, 33 Variations and the
2010 Tony Award-winning musical Memphis. Located on the UC San Diego campus, La Jolla
Playhouse is made up of three primary performance spaces: the Mandell Weiss Theatre, the
Mandell Weiss Forum Theatre, and the Joan and Irwin Jacobs Center for La Jolla Playhouse, a
state-of-the-art theatre complex which features the Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre. La Jolla
Playhouse is led by Artistic Director Christopher Ashley and Managing Director Michael S.
Rosenberg.
2011/12 Season Dates
A Dram of Drumchhicit
By Arthur Kopit and Anton Dudley
Directed by Christopher Ashley
Mandell Weiss Theatre
May 17 – June 12, 2011
World Premiere
Milk Like Sugar
By Kirsten Greenidge
Directed by Rebecca Taichman
Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre
August 30 – September 25, 2011
World Premiere Co-Commission with Theater Masters
Peer Gynt
By Henrik Ibsen
Adapted and directed by David Schweizer
Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre
June 28 – July 24, 2011
Co-Production with Kansas City Rep
Re-Imagined Classic
Finding Neverland
Book by Allan Knee
Music by Scott Frankel
Lyrics by Michael Korie
Directed and choreographed by Rob Ashford
Mandell Weiss Theatre
November 8 – December 11, 2011
World Premiere Musical
Sleeping Beauty Wakes
Book by Rachel Sheinkin
Music by Brendan Milburn
Lyrics by Valerie Vigoda
Directed by Rebecca Taichman
Mandell Weiss Theatre
July 19 – August 21, 2011
American Night: The Ballad of Juan José
Written by Richard Montoya for Culture Clash
Developed by Culture Clash and Jo Bonney
Directed by Jo Bonney
Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre
January 27 – February 26, 2012
West Coast Premiere
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BIOGRAPHIES
Brendan Milburn (music) and Valerie Vigoda (lyrics) have been writing songs together for
seventeen years, first for their band GrooveLily, and more recently for musical theatre and film.
Their work includes two musicals written with librettist Rachel Sheinkin: Striking 12 (Off-Broadway
and regional productions, directed by Ted Sperling) and Sleeping Beauty Wakes (Center Theatre
Group, Deaf West, McCarter Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse). Other work includes: Wheelhouse
(TheatreWorks), Toy Story: The Musical (Disney), Long Story Short (Pittsburgh City Theatre,
TheatreWorks, San Diego Rep) and Tina Landau's A Midsummer Night’s Dream (McCarter/Paper
Mill Playhouse). They have also written songs for four films about Tinker Bell (Disney). Awards:
Jonathan Larson Award (2006 and 2008), ASCAP Foundation Richard Rodgers New Horizons
Award (2009). Their proudest production is their five-year old son, Mose. www.GrooveLily.com
Rachel Sheinkin (librettist) received the Tony and Drama Desk Awards for best book of a musical
for her work on The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Other work includes Little House on
the Prairie and Striking 12 (with GrooveLily; Lucille Lortel Award nomination). Blood Drive, her NYU
one-act, with music by Joel Derfner, was produced by Bridewell Theater London, and an expanded
form workshopped at the O’Neill National Music Theater Conference. Ms. Sheinkin studied
playwriting with Paula Vogel at Brown University, and at Yale School of Drama. Fellowships and
commissions include Manhattan Theater Club, MacDowell Colony, and Playwrights Horizons. A
member of Dramatists Guild, she teaches at Tisch’s Graduate Program in Musical Theatre Writing
and at Yale School of Drama.
Rebecca Taichman (director: Sleeping Beauty Wakes and Milk Like Sugar) directed and cocreated the Barrymore Award-winning musical Green Violin, by Elise Thoron, at The Prince Music
Theater in 2005. She also directed and co-created the Obie award-winning Menopausal
Gentleman. Ms. Taichman directed Iphigeneia at Aulis at Yale Rep, The Diary of Anne Frank at
Roundhouse Theater (3 Helen Hayes Awards), Arthur Kopit’s Discovery of America at NY Stage &
Film, Anna Deavere Smith’s Piano at the Institute of the Arts and Civic Dialogue, Oklahoma City at
the Theater Offensive, and Cascarones at The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center Playwright’s
Conference. She graduated from the Yale School of Drama, where she wrote and directed People
vs. God of Vengeance. Ms. Taichman is a Usual Suspect at NYTW and a recipient of a Drama
League Directing Fellowship. She recently joined Woolly Mammoth Theater as an Associate
Artistic Director.
Under the leadership of artistic director Emily Mann and managing director Timothy J. Shields,
along with producing director Mara Isaacs, McCarter Theatre Center is recognized as one of the
nation’s premier theatre companies and performing arts centers. Renowned for major contributions
to the theatrical canon, McCarter premieres have included Tarell Alvin McCraney’s trilogy The
Brother/Sister Plays; Will Power’s Fetch Clay, Make Man; Edward Albee’s Me, Myself & I; Emily
Mann’s Mrs. Packard; Beth Henley’s Ridiculous Fraud; Christopher Durang’s Miss Witherspoon;
Regina Taylor’s Crowns; Dael Orlandersmith’s Yellowman; Emily Mann’s Having Our Say; Athol
Fugard’s Valley Song; and Stephen Wadsworth’s Marivaux trilogy. McCarter has also produced
major new productions of Brian Friel’s Translations, directed by Garry Hynes; Nilo Cruz’s Anna in
the Tropics; Edward Albee’s All Over (2 Obie Awards), directed by Emily Mann; and Electra,
directed by David Leveaux. The 2011-2012 season will include world premieres by Marina Carr,
Danai Gurira and John Guare. McCarter is supported by Princeton University, the New Jersey
State Council on the Arts, and over 3,000 individuals, corporations and foundations.
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