From: Christopher Johnson [mailto:rumspringaandcoke@gmail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, February 22, 2012 5:17 PM
Subject: [SPAM] Opening Thursday: WIT by Margaret Edson
Don't miss Etcetera's opening night performance of Margaret Edson's Pulitzer Prize-winning play, WIT.
Thursday, February 23 at 7:30 PM. All other shows play Fridays & Saturdays at 10:30 PM.
Contact: Christopher Johnson
Artistic Director of Etcetera,
the late-night arm of Live Theatre Workshop
(520) 425-4163 | RumspringaAndCoke@gmail.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Etcetera, the late-night arm of Live Theatre Workshop, proudly presents
Wit
by Margaret Edson
Directed by Christopher Johnson
Assistant Direction by Dawn C. Sellers
Featuring Ryan Butler, Paul Cerepanya, Glen Coffman, Casi Omick, Toni Press-Coffman, Carley Preston and Robbie Sanchez
February 23 - March 10, 2012
Opening Night Performance: Thursday, February 23 at 7:30 PM
All other performances play Friday and Saturday Nights at 10:30 PM
All tickets are $10 at the Box Office | To make your reservation call (520) 327-4242
Approx. running time: One hour and forty minutes with no intermission
For more information go to www.EtceteraLateNight.com
LIVE THEATRE WORKSHOP - 5317 E. Speedway | Tucson, AZ 85712
Located on the North side of Speedway between Rosemont and Craycroft
Produced by Special Arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc.
THIS PRODUCTION CONTAINS ADULT LANGUAGE AND NUDITY.
NO ONE UNDER 16 ADMITTED.
Vivian Bearing, Ph.D., a renowned professor of English who has spent years studying and teaching the brilliant and difficult metaphysical sonnets of John Donne, has been diagnosed with terminal ovarian cancer. Her approach to the study of Donne: aggressively probing, intensely rational. But during the course of her illness—and her stint as a prize patient in an experimental chemotherapy program at a major teaching hospital—Vivian comes to reassess her life and her work with a profundity and humor that are transformative both for her and the audience.
“...a brutally human and beautifully layered new play…you feel both enlightened and, in a strange way, enormously comforted.”
-The New York Times
“A dazzling and humane new play that you will remember till your dying day.”
-New York Magazine
ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT
Margaret Edson is an American playwright. She graduated with a B.A. in Renaissance History from Smith College, and received a master's in English literature from Georgetown University. Her jobs have included being a bicycle shop sales clerk and a volunteer ESL teacher. Edson's first play was Wit, first produced in 1995 at South Coast Repertory in California, about a John Donne scholar who is hospitalized for and dying of ovarian cancer. Edson did use her work experience in a hospital as part of the background in writing the play. At the time of its first New York production in late 1998, Edson was a kindergarten teacher at Centennial Place Elementary School (Atlanta, Georgia). The play won her the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The award brought her a large amount of publicity, including an interview on The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer on PBS. Edson has written a second play, SATISFIED, whose subject is "country-gospel radio in Kentucky" --still unproduced. She currently teaches 6th grade social studies at Inman Middle School in Atlanta, Georgia.
ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES
RYAN BUTLER - Jason Posner - has appeared in productions of THE FOREIGNER (Ellard), WORDS, WORDS, WORDS (Milton), A CHRISTMAS CAROL (Bob Cratchit), WEST SIDE STORY (Diesel), ALL MY SONS (Frank) and most recently with Etcetera as Morse Code (ROBOTS VS. FAKE ROBOTS), Jack (SAY YOU LOVE SATAN), Ensemble (THE BOOK OF LIZ), Mark (JAILBAIT) and as himself in THE WIZARDS HAVE LANDED. Ryan’s directing credits include An American Millionaire and An Evening at Fleet Street: Highlights from Sweeney Todd. Ryan graduated from Northern Arizona University in 2009 with a M.A. in English Literature and from the University of Arizona in 2005 with a B.A. in Classics and Theatre.
GLEN COFFMAN - Dr. Kelekian - is a founding member of Winding Road Theater Ensemble. His Tucson directing credits include MIXED MESSAGES for Borderlands Theatre, OF MICE AND MEN for Beowulf Alley, and HOLY SPIRIT ON GRAND AVENUE, LEMON SKY, PICNIC and ALL MY SONS for Live Theatre Workshop. Independent productions include THAT SLUT! and NEW HOUSE NEW DOG. At the University of Arizona he directed productions of TRACERS and TROJAN WOMEN. For Winding Road he directed the inaugural production DOROTHY PARKER’S LAST CALL as well as THE LION IN WINTER, FIFTH OF JULY and A HUMAN EQUATION. As an actor he has performed locally in LOVE! VALOR! COMPASSION!, THE LARAMIE PROJECT, WHITE PEOPLE and Winding Road Theater Ensemble’s production of ARMOR.
CHRISTOPHER JOHNSON - Direction - is proudly in his fifth season as the Artistic Director of Etcetera, the late-night arm of Live Theatre Workshop, where he has directed PERSEPHONE OR SLOW TIME, THE BOOK OF LIZ, THE WIZARDS HAVE LANDED, MY NAME IS RACHEL CORRIE, SAY YOU LOVE SATAN, ROBOTS VS. FAKE ROBOTS (2010 MAC Award nomination - Best Director, comedy), KILLER JOE (2010 MAC Award nomination - Best Director, comedy), Richard O’Brien’s THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW (2010 MAC Award nomination - Best Director, musical), DANNY AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA, THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST, I WROTE THIS PLAY TO MAKE YOU LOVE ME, THE PENIS MONOLOGUES, SAVAGE IN LIMBO, BUG, A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM and TITUS ANDRONICUS. Since 2004, Christopher has acted in 29 Etcetera productions. He has performed elsewhere with The Rogue Theatre, Winding Road Theater Ensemble, Fairbanks Shakespeare Theatre, Borderlands Theatre, Invisible Theatre, Brachiate Theatre Project, 1984 Theatre, Old Pueblo Playwrights and Tucson’s Shakespeare Under The Stars. He was recently nominated for the 2011 Buffalo Exchange Arts Award for Emerging Performance Artists in Arizona.
CASI OMICK - Ensemble - is thrilled to be a part of this production of WIT. She was most recently seen at Live Theater Workshop in the All Together Theatre production of THE THREE MUSKETEERS, and has previously performed with the late-night troupe in PERSEPHONE OR SLOW TIME. Also a fixture behind the scenes, Casi recently served as production stage manager for the Etcetera production of JAILBAIT.
LUCILLE PETTY - Production Stage Manager - is honored to be a part of the Etcetera ensemble, where she was last seen in JAILBAIT (Claire), THE BOOK OF LIZ (Cecily), ROBOTS VS. FAKE ROBOTS (Neck Brace), MR. MARMALADE (Lucy) and in Richard O’Brien’s THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW (Rasputina). Lucille has previously served as production stage manager for KIMBERLY AKIMBO, MY NAME IS RACHEL CORRIE, THE EATING DISORDER TALENT SHOW, DANNY AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA, THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST and KITTY KITTY KITTY. Other acting credits include PICNIC (Millie), ARMOR (Cynthia) and FIFTH OF JULY (Shirley). Lucy is the in-house videographer for Etcetera and can be found on YouTube as ‘ALucyInABucket.’
TONI PRESS-COFFMAN - Vivian Bearing - has performed in Tucson as Isabella Bird (TOP GIRLS), Katherine (A PERFECT GANESH), Bo (LAST NIGHT OF BALLYHOO), Dorothy (INSPECTING CAROL), Fanny (ON THE VERGE or THE GEOGRAPHY OF YEARNING), Katerina (ANTON IN SHOW BUSINESS), Flo (PICNIC) and Aunt Sally (FIFTH OF JULY). Toni is a founding member of Winding Road Theatre Ensemble, which recently produced a developmental workshop of her new play UNITED. Toni was last seen with Etcetera as Garlic Press in ROBOTS VS. FAKE ROBOTS and directed the late-night ensemble’s production of WHITE PEOPLE. Later this season, Etcetera will produce Toni’s play TOUCH.
CARLEY PRESTON - Susie Monahan - has been seen with Etcetera as Debra (KIMBERLY AKIMBO), The Bouncer (SAY YOU LOVE SATAN), Carol (OLEANNA), Magenta (Richard O’Brien’s THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW) and Mrs. Person (KITTY KITTY KITTY). She has also served as Assistant Director for the Etcetera productions of ROBOTS VS. FAKE ROBOTS and KILLER JOE. Other Tucson credits include performances with Arizona Onstage (ASSASSINS and THE MEMBER OF THE WEDDING). Miss Preston graduated with a BFA in Theatre Production from the University of Arizona where you may have caught her in THE CIDER HOUSE RULES, DANCING AT LUGHNASA, CAROUSEL and MIDWIVES.
ROBBIE SANCHEZ - Ensemble - has appeared in several roles at Pima Community College including Billy Bones (TREASURE ISLAND), Elisha J. Whitney (ANYTHING GOES), Joe (THE TIME OF YOUR LIFE), The Intruder (SEE HOW THEY RUN), Quince (A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM) and John Arable (CHARLOTTE’S WEB) in addition to ensemble roles in 1000 CRANES, CINDERELLA and RAMONA QUIMBY. He has an Associate of Fine Arts in Theatre from Pima Community College and recently performed in the Winding Road Theater Ensemble workshop production of UNITED by Toni Press-Coffman. This is his first appearance with Etcetera, save a recent stint as an audience plant in THOM PAIN (BASED ON NOTHING).
DAWN C. SELLERS - Assistant Direction - has been music director for The Rogue Theatre’s productions of Pinter’s OLD TIMES, Ibsen’s GHOSTS and Shakespeare’s THE TEMPEST, Shaw’s MAJOR BARBARA, Margulies’ SHIPWRECKED!, Walsh’s THE NEW ELECTRIC BALLROOM, as well as assistant director for their productions of Karnad’s NAGA MANDALA, and Ibsen’s GHOSTS. Her monologue, ‘The Red Wagon,’ was produced as part of Etcetera’s THE PENIS MONOLOGUES and her play, FROZEN HEART, was produced by Etcetera in 2010.
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