Westport Country Playhouse Hosts A Conversation With Scott Schwartz 6/28

Westport Country Playhouse will present a Sunday Symposium, "A Conversation with Director Scott Schwartz," following the Sunday, June 28, 3 p.m. matinee performance of the musical, "tick, tick...BOOM!, which Schwartz directs. He also helmed the original off-Broadway production of "tick, tick... BOOM!," winner of the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Musical.

Written by Jonathan Larson, who created the smash hit, "Rent," "tick, tick...BOOM!" is a captivating American musical about a young artist on the verge in New York City.

The Playhouse Sunday Symposium program, free and open to the public, provides the audience with guest speakers' in-depth insights and observations about the production, followed by an interactive dialogue. David Kennedy, Westport Country Playhouse associate artistic director, will moderate the Sunday Symposium. It is open to all, including those who attend a performance of "tick, tick...BOOM!" at another time. The Sunday Symposium is supported, in part, by the White Barn Program of the Lucille Lortel Foundation.

"I'm excited to host this conversation between our audience and Scott Schwartz, and to benefit from his unique insight into this material" said Kennedy. "Scott led the creative team that assembled the definitive version from the many manuscripts Jonathan Larson left behind. And his passion for this musical is unrivaled. I can't think of a better resource on the subject of "tick, tick...BOOM!'"

Scott Schwartz directed the original off-Broadway production of "tick, tick... BOOM!," as well as the national tour, London and Los Angeles productions. On Broadway, he directed "Golda's Balcony" and "Jane Eyre" (co-directed with John Caird). Off-Broadway, he helmed "Bat Boy: The Musical," "Rooms - a rock romance," "The Foreigner" starring Matthew Broderick for Roundabout Theatre, "Kafka's The Castle" and "No Way to Treat a Lady." Recent credits include "Othello" and "Much Ado About Nothing" at the Alley Theatre and "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" at Paper Mill Playhouse and North Shore Music Theatre. For radio, he directed the Grammy-nominated recording of "The Prisoner of Second Avenue," starring Richard Dreyfuss and Marsha Mason. He is Associate Artist at the Alley Theatre and a graduate of Harvard University. He was raised in Ridgefield, Connecticut.

The cast of "tick, tick...BOOM!" includes Wilson Cruz ("Rent," "My So-called Life," "He's Just Not That into You"), Colin Hanlon ("Rent," "Pirates of Penzance") and Pearl Sun ("Happiness," "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!," "Walmartopia").

The full schedule for "tick, tick...BOOM!" will run from June 23 - July 18, with performances Tuesday at 8 p.m., Wednesday at 2 and 8 p.m., Thursday and Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 4 and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m.

Westport Country Playhouse, a not-for-profit theater, serves as a treasured home for the performing arts and is a cultural landmark for Connecticut. Under the artistic direction of Mark Lamos and management direction of Michael Ross, The Playhouse creates quality productions of new and classic plays that enlighten, enrich and engage a diverse community of theater lovers, artists and students. The Playhouse's rich history dates back to 1931, when New York theatre producer Lawrence Langner created a Broadway-quality stage within an 1830s tannery. The Playhouse quickly became an established stop on the New England "straw hat circuit" of summer stock theatres. Now celebrating its 79th season, Westport Country Playhouse has produced more than 700 plays, 36 of which later transferred to Broadway, most recently the world premiere of "Thurgood" and a revival of Thornton Wilder's "Our Town" with Paul Newman, and in earlier years "Come Back, Little Sheba" with Shirley Booth, "The Trip to Bountiful" with Lillian Gish, and "Butterflies Are Free" with Keir Dullea and Blythe Danner. For its artistic excellence, The Playhouse received a 2005 Governor's Arts Award and a 2000 "Connecticut Treasure" recognition. It was also designated as an Official Project of Save America's Treasures by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and is entered on the Connecticut State Register of Historic Places. Following a multi-million dollar renovation completed in 2005, The Playhouse transformed into a year-round, state-of-the-art producing theater, which has preserved its original charm and character. In addition to a full season of theatrical productions, The Playhouse serves as a community resource, presenting educational programming and workshops; a children's theater series; symposiums; music; films; and readings.

For more information or ticket purchases, call the box office at (203) 227-4177, or toll-free at 1-888-927-7529, or visit 25 Powers Court, off Route 1, Westport. Tickets may be purchased online at www.westportplayhouse.org.