McDaniel College to Present PICASSO AT THE LAPINE AGILE, 3/2-5

McDaniel College theatre arts students perform in actor and comedian Steve Martin's long-running absurdist comedy "Picasso at the Lapin Agile." Performances are Wednesday, March 2 - Saturday, March 5, 7:30 p.m., in WMC Alumni Hall at McDaniel College, 2 College Hill, Westminster, Md. (Note: the show contains some mature language and themes and is suitable for ages 12 and over.)

Tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for students, seniors (over 60), active military members and veterans, as well as those with a McDaniel College ID. For ticket information, call 410-857-2448.

Visiting theatre arts professor Gené Fouché directs the production, which is Steve Martin's first comedy for the stage and winner of the 1996 Outer Critics Circle Award for Best-Off Broadway Play. In it, Albert Einstein and Pablo Picasso are in a Parisian café in 1904, just before the renowned scientist transformed physics with his theory of relativity and the celebrated painter set the art world afire with cubism. Bystanders introduce additional flourishes of humor and the final surprise patron to join the merriment at the Lapin Agile is a charismatic dark-haired singer time warped in from a later era.

Fouché said that she has loved this play since it was first published in the late '90s.

"Although it's set in a bar in Paris, it has a very American sensibility about it, having been written by one of our great American comedians," she added. "Steve Martin's humor permeates the piece, and it has been quite a treat introducing him to our student actors. Older and younger audiences alike will appreciate the silly yet provocative play that takes the premise, 'Picasso and Einstein meet in a bar.'"

Andrew Frascella, sophomore from Rockville, Md., plays Picasso, while sophomore Bryan Bowen of North Beach, Md., is Einstein. Joshua Harding, senior from Federalsburg, Md., is Freddy and Brandi Weyers, freshman from Northfield, Mass., is Germaine.

The cast also includes seniors Samantha Arana of Silver Spring, Md., Jennifer Litzinger of West Windsor, N.J., and John Wontrop of Glen Arm, Md.; juniors Nia Gipson of Owings Mills, Md., and Antoinette Martin of Cape Coral, Fla.; sophomores Torreke Evans of Atlanta, Ga., Ben Kahn of Selinsgrove, Pa., and Brandon Richards of Huntingtown, Md., and freshman Christopher Shatzer of Taneytown, Md.

Visit www.mcdaniel.edu/theatre for more information about McDaniel College and the theatre arts department.

Pictured: Andrew Frascella, sophomore from Rockville, Md., as Picasso; Joshua Harding, senior from Federalsburg, Md., as Freddy; Bryan Bowen, sophomore from North Beach, Md., as Einstein; and Brandi Weyers, freshman from Northfield, Mass., as Germaine.

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