Marvell Rep Announces GOD OF VENGEANCE and SPRING'S AWAKENING Casts

MARVELL REP, which received a Drama Desk Award nomination as Best Revival for its production of THE THREEPENNY OPERA earlier this season, announced casting today for Sholem Asch's GOD OF VENGEANCE (October 2-28) and Frank Wedekind's play SPRING'S AWAKENING (October 8-November 4) presented in rotating repertory at TBG Theatre, 312 West 36th Street. Both plays will be directed by Marvell Rep's Artistic Director Lenny Leibowitz.

Marvell Repertory Theatre is New York's only professional theatre devoted exclusively to producing new and enduring works in rotating repertory.

Sam Tsoutsouvas, who played the title role in PROFESSOR BERNHARDI earlier this season, returns as 'Yankl' in GOD OF VENGEANCE. He has appeared on Broadway as 'Renfield' in DRACULA and as 'Sideways/Collins' in OUR COUNTRY'S GOOD. His many Off-Broadway roles include the NY Shakespeare Festival productions of TIMON OF ATHENS and ANTONY & CLEOPATRA (directed by Vanessa Redgrave).

Joy Franz, who played 'Mrs. Peachum' in Marvell Rep's Drama Desk Award-nominated production of THE THREEPENNY OPERA, will play 'Sore'. She has also appeared in Marvell's productions of BLOOD WEDDING and THE DYBBUK. She appeared in INTO THE WOODS (original, revival, national tour, PBS) and played Meg Boyd in National Tour & London productions of DAMN YANKEES with Jerry Lewis.

The GOD OF VENGEANCE cast will also include: Leanne Agmon, Joel Bernstein who played Winkler in PROFESSOR BERNHARDI and was also in the 1st Broadway revival of BORN YESTERDAY, Elizabeth Stahlmann, Stacey Linnartz who has appeared in TV's GOSSIP GIRL, Jason Emanuel, Rachel Claire who played Leye in Marvell Rep's THE DYBBUK, Molly Stoller, Thomas Benton who appeared in THE FIGHTER and LAW & ORDER, and William Krakauer who has appeared on LOUIE and in the film RING THE BELL.

15 year old Giuseppe Bausilio, who will play 'Melchior Gabor' in SPRING'S AWAKENING, played 'Billy' in Billy Elliot The Musical (Chicago, National Tour, and on Broadway until closing). He placed 2nd at the 2012 YOUTH AMERICA GRAND PRIX world ballet competition. He also appeared in the film DEAD MAN DOWN. Lizzy DeClement, who plays 'Wendla Bergmann', has a recurring role on CBS's NYC 22. Her films include SWING VOTE and HAIRBRAINED.

The cast of SPRING'S AWAKENING also includes: Dalton Harrod who played 'Patrick' in The Radio City Christmas Spectacular and 'Jack' in THE WIDOWING OF MRS. HOLROYD (The Mint Theatre), Bart Shatto whose Broadway credits include DRACULA (Quincey Morris), Les Miserables (Jean Valjean) and THE CIVIL WAR, Geddeth Smith who appeared in Marvell Rep's PROFESSOR BERNHARDI and on Broadway in THE IMAGINARY INVALID, William Metzo appeared in Marvell Rep's THE DYBBUK and on Broadway in CAFÉ CROWN, Anne Newhall appeared in GEMINI on Broadway and in the Roundabout's THE DOCTOR'S DILEMMA, Rosalinda Perron appeared in Marvell Rep's BLOOD WEDDING and THE DYBBUK, Leanne Agmon, Steven Braunstein, Ethan Navarro, Charlotte Astrid, Lauren Lopes, Logan Riley Bruner, Larry Saperstein who has appeared on BOARDWALK EMPIRE, SoLon Carter, Terren Klein, Thomas Benton who appeared in THE FIGHTER and LAW & ORDER, Jill Usdan who appeared in Marvell Rep's PROFESSOR BERNHARDI and THE THREEPENNY OPERA, George Kennedy who appeared in Marvell Rep's THE THREEPENNY OPERA, William Krakauer and Molly Stoller.

LENNY LEIBOWITZ, Marvell Rep's Artistic Director, said: We're so excited to be staging Wedekind's SPRING'S AWAKENING and Asch's GOD OF VENGEANCE in rotating rep. These two theatrical firestorms represent the second half of our "Burned and Banned" season devoted to plays that have been censored, burned, banned, and, in the case of GOD OF VENGEANCE, landed its cast in jail. Both of these plays have had inflammatory histories, but remain radical and potent to this day. They are also gripping, gutsy, heart-quickening works that bristle with humanity, passion, and revolt.

"I love the perverse beauty and taboo-bashing frankness of SPRING'S AWAKENING. The hit Broadway musical made the title very familiar, but many people don't know Frank Wedekind's astonishing play on which the musical is based. The play is even more provocative and subversive than the musical. It depicts honestly the intensity of adolescent sexual stirrings. The kids in the play aren't merely victims of bad parenting and social commodification; they can be cruel amoralists. On its New York premiere in 1917, the courts ordered SPRING'S AWAKENING to be shut down because of its 'pornographic' content, and as recently as 1986 a Toronto audience walked out on the play because of its 'obscenity.' We decided to pair SPRING'S AWAKENING with Sholem Asch's GOD OF VENGEANCE, another play about children rebelling against the codes of their parents. It centers on a Jewish brothel owner who longs to strike a bargain with God to keep his daughter pure. But unbeknownst to him, she has fallen in love with one of his whores. And it features the world's first onstage lesbian kiss, which got the original Broadway cast (1923) thrown in jail on obscenity charges."

Artistic Director Lenny Leibowitz and Managing Director Amy Estes founded Marvell Repertory Theatre in 2010 with the intention of giving New York theatre actors and audiences the kind of full-immersion theatre experience that only rotating rep can provide. While running New Harmony Theatre from 2006 to 2010 they successfully developed an annual repertory project which led them to launch Marvell Repertory Theatre.

Marvell Rep's 2012 season began in January with Arthur Schnitzler's rarely performed PROFESSOR BERNHARDI (translated by G.J. Weinberger). Banned in Europe and rarely performed in the US, Schnitzler was the first German author to confront head-on the anti-Semitism of the time. Sam Tsoutsouvas, who played the title role in PROFESSOR BERNHARDI, will be featured in GOD OF VENGEANCE.

Marvell Rep's second production of the 2012 season, THE THREEPENNY OPERA by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill (English version by Michael Feingold), received a Drama Desk nomination as Best Revival.

Marvell Rep's design team includes Scenic Design by Tijana Bjelajac, Costume Design by Susan Nester (SPRING'S AWAKENING) and Nicole Moody (GOD OF VENGEANCE), and Lighting Design by Nicholas Houfek.

For full performance schedule and to order tickets go to

https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/cal/30515