Tucson: The Rogue Theatre Presents A DELICATE BALANCE

 

From: The Rogue Theatre [mailto:rogue@theroguetheatre.org]
Sent: Tuesday, October 13, 2009 1:46 PM
Subject: The Rogue Theatre Presents A DELICATE BALANCE

 

 

PRESS RELEASE

October 13, 2009

            For Immediate Release

Contact: Cynthia Meier,
520-250-9608
www.TheRogueTheatre.org

 

 

 

 

The Rogue Theatre
presents Edward Albee's masterpiece
A Delicate Balance

 

A Delicate Balance is considered by Edward Albee to be one of his two perfect plays.  A masterful blend of wit and irony, it is a searing look at modern life and the big question of "why are we here?"  Set among the country club set who are living out the American dream, Albee introduces us to the seemingly perfect couple beset by some not-so-uncommon woes.  They pride themselves on bearing up under the simple pressures of day-to-day life.  When their best friends arrive on their doorstep and announce their intention to move in, the equilibrium of their carefully constructed lives is destroyed.  Alternately funny and tragic, A Delicate Balance is a profound look at family, friendship, loss and life.

"The brilliance of Albee is his ability to jump between the comic, the absurd and the deeply serious.  His characters are intelligent, witty and deeply flawed all at the same time.  These multi-faceted people become a mirror for us, the audience, as we see ourselves flash by in their ever-changing moods," said Director David Morden. "Albee is also a master of language as music.  He creates a mood and an effect by the very specific rhythms of his characters' speech.  In that way, he is almost Shakespearean."

• A Delicate Balance previews on Thursday, November 5, 2009 at 7:30 P.M.
• Opening Night is on Saturday, November 7, 2009.
• Regular performances of A Delicate Balance will continue on Sunday, November 7th at 2:00 P.M. through Sunday, November 29th.
• Please note that there are no performances on Friday, November 6th and Thursday, November 26th.
• Curtain times are Thursday through Saturday at 7:30 P.M. and Sundays at 2:00 P.M.
• Tickets are $24 and can be purchased online at TheRogueTheatre.org or by calling our box office at 520-551-2053.
• Thursday, November 12th and November 19th are pay-what-you-will performances.  Reservations are encouraged.

The production sponsor for A Delicate Balance is Pam Shack.
 
A Delicate Balance will be directed by Artistic Associate David Morden, who will also be playing the role of 'Harry.'  David has directed The Rogue Theatre's productions of The Goat (2008 Mac Award for Best Director and Best Play) and Six Characters in Search of an Author. He has appeared with The Rogue Theatre in the ensembles of Animal Farm and Orlando, as Madame Pace in Six Characters in Search of an Author, The Pope in Red Noses, Yephikhov in The Cherry Orchard, The Man in the Silver Dress in the preshow to The Maids and Glaucus in Endymion. He has performed locally in the chorus of Arizona Opera, as well as with Arizona Onstage Productions, Arizona Theatre Company, Actors Theatre of Phoenix and Green Thursday Theatre Project, of which he was a co-founder. David has directed productions with Green Thursday, Oasis Chamber Opera, DreamerGirl Productions and Arts For All.
 
The cast of A Delicate Balance includes:

• Amy Almquist (Claire) has worked professionally in film, stage and commercials for over 25 years.  She studied acting at the Goodman School of Drama in Chicago and received her MFA in Directing from the University of Montana.  Amy worked with Montana Repertory Theatre, Missoula Children's Theatre, Seattle's Annex Theatre, and has performed locally and/or directed with Arizona Opera, Beowulf Alley Theatre, Live Theatre Workshop and Invisible Theatre as well as The Rogue.  A few of her local productions include: Letters to Sala, Spinning into Butter, The Threepenny Opera, Criminal Hearts, A Coupla White Chicks Sitting Around Talking, The Dining Room, Kindertransport and The Rogue's The Dead, as well as directing the acclaimed production of DOUBT.  Amy currently teaches theatre-based presentation skills and communication strategy to prosecutors with the County Attorney's Office and state-wide.  She is a member of the Screen Actor's Guild and proud to be a cast member of LaughingStock Comedy Company.
• Maxine Gillespie (Edna) appeared as Desdemona in last season's Immortal Longings at The Rogue.  She earned her BA in Theatre from Williams College. After an internship with the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, DC, she appeared in their production of The Merchant of Venice with Kelly McGillis and Marcia Cross. She has twice traveled to the United Kingdom to study Shakespeare-attending the Midsummer in Oxford program, co-administered by Yale University. In New York City, Maxine trained at the Circle in the Square Theatre and upstate at the Powerhouse Theatre at Vassar College during its inaugural summer season. She has performed in professional and community theatre productions in Virginia and North Carolina, as well as in Tucson. Maxine's latest ventures include serving as actor and executive producer on a Los Angeles-based campy-comic horror film, Crustacean - coming soon to a theatre (or cable channel) near you!
• Avis Judd (Julia) has previously performed with The Rogue Theatre in Animal Farm, The Good Woman of Setzuan, as Dunyasha in The Cherry Orchard, as Sasha in Orlando and Beatrice in Immortal Longings. Avis received her theatre degree from Northwestern University. Favorite roles include Olga in The Three Sisters, Fury in the English language premiere of Héléne Cixious' The Perjured City, or the Awakening of the Furies; Faith in Invisible Theatre's production of Kindertransport, Emilia in Othello; and the title role in a one-woman show, which she adapted and directed, about Bahá'í heroine Martha Root.
• Joseph McGrath (Tobias) is the Artistic Director for The Rogue Theatre where he has performed in Animal Farm, The Fever, The Dead, Endymion, The Good Woman of Setzuan, The Cherry Orchard, The Goat, Happy Days, Red Noses, Six Characters in Search of an Author and Orlando, and has directed Immortal Longings, The Balcony, Endymion, The Maids (winner of the Arizona Daily Star 2007 Mac Award for Best Play) and Red Noses. Joe is a graduate of the Juilliard School of Drama. He has toured with John Houseman's Acting Company and performed with the Utah Shakespearean Festival. In Tucson, he is a frequent performer with Ballet Tucson. He has also performed with Arizona Theatre Company, Arizona Opera, Tucson Art Theatre, Arizona OnStage, Green Thursday Theatre Project, Damesrocket Theatre and Old Pueblo Playwrights.
• Cynthia Meier (Agnes) is the Managing and Associate Artistic Director of The Rogue Theatre.  She directed Animal Farm, Orlando, Happy Days, The Cherry Orchard, The Good Woman of Setzuan, The Dead and The Fever for The Rogue Theatre and The Seagull (featuring Ken Ruta) for Tucson Art Theatre. For Chamber Music Plus Southwest, she has directed Talia Shire in Sister Mendelssohn and Edward Herrmann in Beloved Brahms. Cynthia performed in Immortal Longings, Six Characters in Search of an Author, Red Noses, The Goat (Best Actress, Arizona Daily Star 2008 Mac Award), The Maids, Endymion and The Balcony (The Rogue Theatre), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Arizona Repertory Theatre), A Streetcar Named Desire (Arizona Theatre Company), Romeo & Juliet and Chicago Milagro (Borderlands Theatre), Top Girls (Damesrocket Theatre), A Namib Spring (by Patrick Baliani, winner of the 1999 National Play Award), and A Maid's Tragedy (directed by Domini Blythe). She is a faculty member in Speech at Pima Community College and holds a Ph.D. in Performance Studies from the University of Arizona.  In 2000, Cynthia was awarded the Tucson YWCA Woman on the Move Award.

Casey Hanners (Stage Manager) is graduating from the UofA this semester with a degree in stage management.  In addition to her work here and her class load, she is a Company Management Intern with Arizona Theatre Company. In the past 4 years at the University she has had the privilege to work on many amazing shows, the most recent being The Music Man and Rum and Coke.  Last fall, Casey had the opportunity to follow her dream and work as a Production Assistant Intern with Walt Disney Entertainment at Walt Disney World in Florida.  She had the time of her life being able to combine her skills as a stage manager with her love of Disney.  She hopes that she will be able to return to WDE at some point after graduation.

 

 

The Rogue Theatre's mission is to create the highest quality theatre possible;
challenging, stretching, and invigorating our community.

We emphasize

LANGUAGE by placing primary value on quality language and literature;
ENSEMBLE by developing performers who seek continuous improvement and creating an academy for training ourselves and emerging theatre artists;
CHALLENGING IDEAS by presenting plays which offer complex and provocative points of view
related to important social, political, and personal issues.

 

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