Magic Theatre to Present EVIE'S WALTZ Starting 11/8

Loretta Greco has chosen Evie’s Waltz to make her directorial debut as Artistic Director of the Magic Theatre. Evie’s Waltz, written by Carter W. Lewis, marks the second play of Magic Theatre’s 2008/09.

Gloria and Clay are living every parent’s nightmare: their son has been suspended for carrying a gun to school.  As they wrestle with their predicament, an unexpected visit from their son’s girlfriend turns their backyard barbecue into a high-stakes game of cat and mouse. “Evie’s Waltz is an unflinching play about the difficulties of parenting – and being – a teenager.” Artistic Director Loretta Greco says. “There is no handbook for this.  Every American family will relate to this piece which poses more questions than answers.  It is sure to promote many vibrant discussions.” Evie’s Waltz performs November 8 – December 7, 2008 at Magic’s Southside Theatre (Bldg D, Fort Mason Center, San Francisco, CA – parking lot entrance at Marina Blvd. and Buchanan St.). Tickets are $20-$45 (with student rates at $15) and are available at (415) 441-8822 or www.magictheatre.org.

Evie’s Waltz is sure to incite lively dialogue between generations. Young and old are invited to attend one of two special matinees scheduled for November 19 and December 3 (both at 2:30pm).  A stimulating conversation, facilitated by a member of Magic Theatre’s artistic staff, will follow each of these performances.

Evie’s Waltz stars Bay Area favorites Darren Bridgett (Drifting Elegant, Blue Surge) and Julia Brothers ('Bot, The Hopper Collection, The Long Christmas Ride Home). Marielle Heller will be making her Magic Theatre debut in the title role. Playwright Carter W. Lewis, founder of the Upstart Theatre Company in Berkeley, makes his long awaited return to the Bay Area.

The production team for Evie’s Waltz features set designer Erik Flatmo (Octopus, The Crowd You’re In With), light designer York Kennedy (A Reckoning), costume designer Fumiko Bielefeld (Territories, Dr. Faustus) and Magic’s resident sound designer Sara Huddleston (The K of D, Octopus).

 
BIOGRAPHIES

Carter W. Lewis (Playwright) is currently serving as Playwright-in-Residence at Washington University where he teaches Playwriting and Dramaturgy. Prior to that, he was Literary Manager & Playwright-in-Residence for The Geva Theatre Center in New York. Carter was also co-founder and Resident Playwright for Upstart Stage in Berkeley, California. He is the winner of several national playwriting awards including: The Julie Harris Playwriting Award, The State Theatre Best New American Play, The Cincinnati Playhouse Rosenthal New Play Prize (1996 & 2001), New Dramatist Arnold Weissberger Playwriting Award, Playwright’s Center Jerome Residency, The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation Award, (2003) and he is a two time nominee for the American Theatre Critics Award. A sample of theaters that have produced his work include; The Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, The Source Theatre, Florida Stage, B Street Theatre, The Sacramento Theatre Company, The Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati, Florida Repertory Theatre, The Geva Theatre Center, New Jersey Repertory Company, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, The Falcon Theatre, The Berkshire Theatre Festival, San Diego Repertory Theatre and The Royal Court Theatre in London. His published works include, Art Control, A Geometric Digression of the Species, Soft Click Of A Switch, An Asian Jockey In Our Midst and The One-Eyed Man Is King. Other plays by Carter W. Lewis include; Golf With Alan Shepard, Picasso Does My Maps, Longevity Abbreviated For Those Who Don’t Have Time, Women Who Steal, Men on the Take, American Storm by Integrity Out of Molly Brown, Kid Peculiar, Ordinary Nation, and Civil Disobedience. For his play, While We Were Bowling Carter was the recipient of a 2004 NEA/TCG ResidenCy Grant for Playwriting, and The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation Award for best new play of 2004.

Loretta Greco (Director/ Magic Artistic Director) comes to Magic with an acclaimed directing career in New York and throughout the country.  Her New York directing credits include the premieres of: Tracey Scott Wilson’s The Story, Ruben Santiago Hudson’s Obie Award-Winning Lackawanna Blues and Nilo Cruz’s Two Sisters and a Piano at the Joseph Papp Public Theater; Kate Walat’s Victoria Martin Math Team Queen, Rinne Groff’s Inky, Toni Press Coffman’s Touch, Karen Hartman’s Gum at Women’s Project; Emily Mann’s Meshugah at Naked Angels; Laura Cahill’s Mercy at the Vineyard; and Nilo Cruz’s Park In Our House at New York Theater Workshop.  She also directed the national tour of Emily Mann’s Having Our Say and the play’s international premiere at the Market Theatre in Johannesburg, South Africa.  Ms. Greco’s Bay Area credits include productions of Speed-the-Plow, Blackbird, and Lackawanna Blues at ACT and Courtney Baron’s Morbidity & Mortality her at Magic.  Regional credits include:  Romeo and Juliet and Stop Kiss for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and productions at Long Wharf, South Coast Repertory Theatre, McCarter Theater, Intiman, Williamstown Theater Festival, La Jolla Playhouse, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Repertory Theatre of St Louis, Coconut Grove Playhouse, Playmakers Repertory Company, and the Cleveland Play House.  She has worked extensively in new play development at Sundance, O’Neill, New York Stage and Film, Cape Cod Theater Project, South Coast Repertory, and the Public.  Her celebrated producing experience spans over thirty productions.  As the Producing Artistic Director of the Women’s Project in NYC and as Associate Director of McCarter Theater in Princeton, New Jersey Ms. Greco supported the work of notable artists including:  Diane Paulus, Lynn Nottage, Leigh Silverman, Annie Dorsen, Athol Fugard, Anna Deveare Smith, Joyce Carol Oates, Stephen Wadsworth, Deb Margolin, Luis Alfaro, Jon Robin Baitz and BD Wong.  Ms. Greco received her MFA from Catholic University.  She is the recipient of two Drama League Fellowships and a Princess Grace Award.

 Darren Bridgett’s (Clay) credits include: Magic Theatre (Drifting Elegant, Blue Surge), Aurora Theatre (Satellites), Marin Theatre Company (Love Song, The Good German, The Last Schwartz), Marin Shakespeare Festival (Much Ado About Nothing, King Lear, Romeo and Juliet, She Stoops to Conquer,  Complete Works of William Shakespeare Abridged),  TheatreWorks (Twelfth Night, Learned Ladies of Park Avenue, Book of Days, Nickel and Dimed, Ah Wilderness!), Laguna Playhouse (Far East), Orlando Shakespeare Festival (Arms and the Man), Center REP (Midsummer Night’s Dream, How the Other Half Loves, Summer and Smoke, Vikings). Mr. Bridgett’s work has also been seen at ACT, California Shakespeare, San Jose Stage, TheatreFIRST, and Central Works.  His film credits include: Warner Brother’s Black August (in a co-starring role with Gary Dourdan), Read You Like a Book, Stephanie’s Image, Coastal, Ruby’s Tuesday, Death and Taxes, Fifth Form, and is currently shooting on The Prankster.  He is the recipient of various Bay Area Theatre Critic awards, 10 Drama-Logue awards and Dean Goodman Choice acknowledgements for outstanding principal and ensemble performance.

 Julia Brothers (Gloria) recently returned from the East Coast, where she appeared in Elaine May's Roger Is Dead with Marlo Thomas at the George Street Playhouse, and a one woman show based on Virginia Woolf's A Room Of One's Own at Liberty Free Theatre.  Julia has appeared at The Magic in Moving Right Along, 'Bot, The Hopper Collection, The Long Christmas Ride Home and Triptych. Other Bay credits include appearances at Marin Theatre Company in Love Song, The Subject Tonight Is Love and Fortune; Brava in Guatanamo, and Nickel and Dimed; TheatreWorks in Theophilus North, Ambition Facing West, and Be Aggressive; Pacific Repertory Theatre in Medea; San Jose Stage Wit and Beauty Queen of Leenane; and While We Were Bowling, Women Who Steal, Communicating Doors and Criminal Hearts at The B Street Theatre.  Julia is a company member of SF Playground and B Street.

Marielle Heller (Evie) will be making her Magic Theater debut with Evie's Waltz. Her New York credits include the American premiere of Jon Fosse's Sa Ka La directed by Sarah Cameron Sunde and appearances at the Peninsula Soho Rep, Local Story Access Theater, The Chocolate Factory, 365 New Georges and The Public. Mariella has been involved in new play development at New Georges, EST, Cherry Lane and Naked Angels. Her regional credits include the premiere of Continental Divide by David Edgar (Berkeley Rep), (The Barbican) (La Jolla) King Lear (San Diego Rep) and The Real Thing ACT (stand-by).  Marielle’s TV/Film include Spin City and Michael Eisner's web-series The All-For-Nots

Founded in 1967, Magic Theatre is one of the most preeminent theatres in the nation solely dedicated to development and production of new plays. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Loretta Greco and Managing Director David Jobin, Magic Theatre operates with a budget of $1.9 million in San Francisco’s historic Fort Mason Center.  Magic Theatre’s plays and playwrights have won numerous awards, including Pulitzer Prizes, Kennedy Center Award, NAACP Image Award, Obie Awards, Pen-West Awards, Bay Area Critics’ Circle Awards, and Los Angeles Drama-Logue Awards. The list of playwrights whose works have premiered at the Magic reads like a “Who’s Who of American Theatre”: David Mamet, Sam Shepard, Paula Vogel, Nilo Cruz, Charles Mee, Anne Bogart, and Rebecca Gilman amongst many others.  Magic Theatre is instrumental in the development of works throughout the Bay Area, with its Commonwealth Club Reading Series, Magic/Z Space New Works Initiative, Martha Heasley Cox Raw Play Series and its education program Young California Writers Project amongst others. For more information, visit the Magic Theatre website at www.magictheatre.org.