THE ORPHANS' HOME CYCLE, PART 1: THE STORY OF A CHILDHOOD, the first part of the world premiere, three part theatrical event by the Pulitzer Prize and Academy Award-winning playwright Horton Foote, opens tonight, Thursday, November 19 at Signature Theatre Company at the Peter Norton Space, 555 West 42nd Street, between 10th and 11th Avenues. THE ORPHANS' HOME CYCLE was recently extended by popular demand for an additional three weeks through Sunday, March 28. Tickets are on sale now through www.signaturetheatre.org and at the Signature box office.
The world premiere production of THE ORPHANS' HOME CYCLE is being co produced by Signature Theatre Company (James Houghton, Founding Artistic Director; Erika Mallin, Executive Director) and Hartford Stage (Michael Wilson, Artistic Director; Michael Stotts, Managing Director). Wilson directs a 22-member company in the historic, sweeping work.
THE ORPHANS' HOME CYCLE plays through March 28, 2010 at Signature Theatre Company. PART 2: THE STORY OF A MARRIAGE begins performances on December 3 and opens December 13, with PART 3: THE STORY OF A FAMILY beginning previews January 7 in advance of a January 24 opening.
Set in Foote's fictitious town of Harrison, Texas and based partly on the childhood of Foote's father and the courtship and marriage of his parents, THE ORPHANS' HOME CYCLE is a wide-ranging, intricate work that spans the lives of three families over three decades. All actors in the production play multiple roles and several track their characters through time in the various plays which comprise the Cycle.
THE ORPHANS' HOME CYCLE begins with a father's death in a small Texas town at the turn of the century, a loss that sends his son, Horace Robedaux, on an odyssey through the darkest corners of the heart as he learns to become a husband, father and patriarch. PART 1: THE STORY OF A CHILDHOOD includes the plays Roots in a Parched Ground, Convicts and Lily Dale.
The playwright's daughter, Hallie Foote (2009 Tony Award nominee, Dividing the Estate), plays Elizabeth's mother, Mary Vaughn and James DeMarse (Dividing the Estate, The Trip to Bountiful) will play Henry Vaughn.
The ensemble includes Devon Abner, Mike Boland, Pat Bowie, Leon Addison Brown, James DeMarse, Hallie Foote, Justin Fuller, Jasmine Amii Harrison, Bill Heck, Henry Hodges, Georgi James, Annalee Jefferies, Virginia Kull, Maggie Lacey, Gilbert Owour, Jenny Dare Paulin, Pamela Payton-Wright, Bryce Pinkham, Stephen Plunkett, Lucas Caleb Rooney, Dylan Riley Snyder and Charles Turner.
The design team for THE ORPHANS' HOME CYCLE includes Jeff Cowie and David M. Barber (Set Design), David C. Woolard (Costume Design), Rui Rita (Lighting Design), John Gromada (Original Music and Sound Design), Peter Pucci (Choreography), Ralph Zito (Voice/Dialect Coach), Mark Olsen (Fight Director), Jan Hartley (Projection Design) and Mark Adam Rampmeyer (Wig and Hair Design).
Each part of the three part cycle will be staged individually as well as in repertory and one-day marathons. Audiences may choose to see the individual parts or the entire trilogy.
