BRECHT ON BRECHT to Celebrate the Legendary Dramatist at New Repertory Theatre

New Repertory Theatre presents Brecht on Brecht, February 4-March 5, 2017 in the Black Box Theater at the Mosesian Center for the Arts, 321 Arsenal Street, Watertown, MA. The press opening will be on Monday, February 6 at 7:30pm.

Tickets are $19-$42 and may be purchased by calling the New Rep Box Office at 617-923-8487 or visiting newrep.org. Student, senior, and group discounts are available. Subscription packages that include Brecht on Brecht are also available.

"Bertolt Brecht continues to inspire generations due to the potent combination of political and social activism in his work," says Artistic Director Jim Petosa. "Brecht left a powerful legacy not only in the texts of his plays but also in the many songs he collaborated on with his partners Kurt Weill and Hanns Eisler. Brecht on Brecht is a stunning musical collage celebrating the works of one of the 20th century's greatest dramatists, one which we hope will transport and inspire anew."

"We are once again pleased to celebrate the special relationship between New Repertory Theatre and Boston Center for America Performance in this fascinating study of the works of Bertolt Brecht," says Managing Director Harriet Sheets. "His works are as vital now as they have ever been due to his effective outspokenness on issues concerning politics, class, race, gender, and society. We hope audiences will join us for this rewarding and entertaining production."

Brecht on Brecht celebrates one of the 20th century's greatest dramatists in a stunning revue of his life's work. Featuring songs and scenes from Kurt Weill, Hanns Eisler, and Bertolt Brecht's most famous collaborations, and first-hand accounts from Brecht himself, Brecht on Brecht explores the political and social issues he faced as an artist fleeing Nazism and his eventual exile in America.

New Repertory Theatre is the award-winning, professional theatre company in residence at the Mosesian Center for the Arts in Watertown, MA. For over 30 years, New Rep has been a leader of self-produced theatre in greater Boston, producing contemporary and classic dramas, comedies, and musicals in both the 340-seat Mainstage Theater and the 90-seat Black Box Theater. Annually, New Rep serves over 40,000 patrons, including 2,000 season subscribers. In addition to its mainstage productions, New Rep produces Next Voices, a program dedicated to developing new plays through staged readings and world premiere productions. Under its Lifelong Enrichment Arts Programs (LEAP), New Rep also produces its Classic Repertory Company, Page To Stage, Insider Experiences, and Spotlight Symposium Series.

New Repertory Theatre produces plays that speak powerfully to the vital ideas of our time. Through the passion and electricity of live theater performed to the highest standards of excellence, New Rep seeks to spark community conversations on crucial contemporary issues. Our work expands and challenges the human spirit of both artists and audiences. We present world premieres, contemporary plays and classic works in several intimate settings. Our productions are designed to be accessible to all. We are committed to education and enrichment for learners of all ages, with a special dedication to the creation of innovative in-school programming and outreach to underserved audiences. We embrace theater as the basis for enduring connections with our community and as a springboard for meaningful civic engagement. New Rep is an active advocate for the arts and a major voice in the national dialogue defining the role of theater in our culture.

Boston Center for American Performance serves as the professional production extension of the Boston University College of Fine Arts School of Theatre. Expanding the definition of the College as an "artistic home," BCAP is designed to foster significant interaction between members of the professional performing arts world and the College. BCAP employs professional artists to collaborate directly with student artists in a way that encourages intergenerational learning not only through the forging of strong teacher/student relationships, but through the creation of artistic collaborations between artists of differing levels of experience. It is the College's conviction that such collaborations will have a profound impact on the College's educational mission, become a significant source of inspiration for the creation of new work and/or new approaches to existing work, and provide the College with a professional extension of its expanding and diverse aesthetic.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

CHRISTINE HAMEL* (Mature Woman) returns to New Repertory Theatre after performing in Broken Glass, On the Verge, Ragtime, and Sweeney Todd, directing God Box, and dialect/voice coaching many productions, including most recently Tongue of a Bird, Camelot, The Elephant Man, Amadeus, Holiday Memories, and The Kite Runner. Other area credits include A Disappearing Number (Underground Railway Theater); The Penelopiad (Boston University School of Theatre); Season's Greetings and Our Town (Wellesley Repertory Theatre); and The Glass Menagerie (Boston Center for American Performance). Regionally, she performed the role of Emma Darwin in Trumpery (Olney Theatre Center). Ms. Hamel is an Assistant Professor of Voice/Speech and Acting at Boston University, where she is the director of the Femina Shakes, a laboratory of intentional experimentation with sex and gender in Shakespeare's plays. She is a Designated Linklater Voice teacher, and holds a Teaching Certificate in the Michael Chekhov acting technique. She currently resides in Arlington.

BRAD DANIEL PELOQUIN* (Mature Man) returns to New Repertory Theatre after performing in Assassins, Marry Me a Little, and Moby Dick: An American Opera. Other area credits include Guys and Dolls (Reagle Music Theatre, IRNE Nomination); Die Fledermaus (New England Light Opera); A Christmas Carol (Hanover Theatre); Follies (Overture Productions); and The Mikado (Huntington Theatre Company/North Shore Music Theatre). Regional appearances include Closer than Ever (Bristol VAlley Theatre); Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra (Pops); and Big River, Chess, and Lies & Legends (Blackfriars Theatre). International appearances include a recital tour in Nagasaki, Japan; featured soloist at the Britten-Pears Festival in Snape, England; and soloist with the Orchestra of St. Andrews and John in Montreal, Canada. He has recorded music with Telarc International (earning three Grammy Award nominations), Musica Omnia, and Harmonia. Mr. Peloquin earned his MM at the College of Fine Arts at Boston University and his EdD at the School of Education at Boston University. Originally from Wisconsin, he currently resides in Watertown.

CarlA Martinez* (Young Woman) makes her New Repertory Theatre debut. New England credits include Company and My Fair Lady (Lyric Stage Company); The Wild Party (Moonbox Productions); Far From Heaven (SpeakEasy Stage); Mary Poppins, Shrek, Hairspray, It's a Wonderful Life, and Oliver (Wheelock Family Theatre); The Wiz, The Full Monty, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and Dreamgirls (Interlakes Summer Theatre). Ms. Martinez is a performer, teacher, and choreographer currently residing in Boston and a graduate of Berklee College of Music. Upcoming projects include Barnum (Moonbox Productions). carla-martinez.com

JAKE MURPHY* (Young Man) makes his New Repertory Theatre debut. Off-Broadway credits include a staged reading of The Crowded Hour (Manhattan Theater Club). Regional credits include Romeo and Juliet (Marin Shakespeare); Noises Off and Sherlock Holmes (Sacramento Theatre); and Boner Problem and Missed Connections (Brunch Theatre). Film credits include Can Hitler Happen Here?, Prom King 2010, We Can Do It, and Ghost Light. Television credits include A Crime to Remember. Jake received a BFA in Theatre Arts from Boston University and is originally from Northern California. jake-murphy.com.

Jim Petosa (Director/Artistic Director) joined New Repertory Theatre as an award-winning theatre artist, educator, and leader in 2012. He has served as Director of the School of Theatre, College of Fine Arts, at Boston University since 2002, and Artistic Director of Maryland's Olney Theatre Center for the Arts and its National Players educational touring company (1994-2012). While at Boston University, he established the Boston Center for American Performance (BCAP), the professional production extension of the Boston University School of Theatre, in 2008. Throughout the Northeast, Mr. Petosa has directed for numerous institutions, including Good, Freud's Last Session, The Testament of Mary, Broken Glass, Assassins, On the Verge, The Elephant Man (IRNE Nomination), Amadeus, Three Viewings, The Last Five Years, and Opus at New Rep. In Boston, his work was nominated for two IRNE awards for A Question of Mercy (BCAP). He has served as one of three artistic leaders for the Potomac Theatre Project (PTP/NYC) since 1987. In Maryland, his work earned over 25 Helen Hayes Award nominations as well as the award for outstanding direction of a musical for Jacques Brel is Alive and Well... His production of Look! We Have Come Through! was nominated for the Charles MacArthur Award for outstanding new play, and he earned the Montgomery County Executive's Excellence in the Arts and Humanities Award for Outstanding Artist/Scholar. A member of Actors' Equity Association, Mr. Petosa has served on the executive board of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, and currently serves on the Board of Directors for StageSource. Originally from New Jersey, he was educated at The Catholic University of America and resides in Quincy.

MATTHEW STERN (Music Director) returns to New Repertory Theatre after music directing Assassins. Recent credits include Mame and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (Stoneham Theatre); The Scottsboro Boys, Violet, and Big Fish (SpeakEasy Stage); Shrek and Hairspray (Wheelock Family Theatre); Ragtime (Fiddlehead Theatre); Parade, The Human Comedy, Pacific Overtures, Assassins, and Merrily We Roll Along (Boston University); and many productions at French Woods Festival. Mr. Stern teaches musical theatre at The Boston Conservatory at Berklee, Boston University, and Emerson College, and holds an MFA in Theatre Education from Boston University. Upcoming projects include Altar Boyz (Stoneham Theatre); and The Bridges of Madison County (SpeakEasy Stage). mattsternmusic.com

Bertolt Brecht (Playwright) was a playwright, poet, and director born in Augsburg, Germany in February 1898. He established himself as a playwright during the 1920s and early 1930s with plays such as Baal, Man is Man, The Threepenny Opera, and The Mother. In 1933, as Hitler came to power in Germany, Mr. Brecht fled to Scandinavia before eventually settling in the USA where he remained until 1947. During the war years, he wrote many of his best known plays, including, The Life of Galileo, The Caucasian Chalk Circle, Mother Courage and Her Children, and The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui. He returned to Europe in 1947 and shortly after his arrival formed the Berliner Ensemble. He died in Berlin on August 14th, 1956 but remains a hugely influential theatre practitioner.

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