CT Rep Ends 2014-15 Season with A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM

Connecticut Repertory Theatre (CRT) will end its 2014-2015 season with the Shakespeare classic A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre between tonight, April 23rd and May 3rd. The comedy of mistaken love and magic is sure to delight audiences. For tickets and information, call 860-486-2113 and visit www.crt.uconn.edu.

The play, written by William Shakespeare in the 1500s, has been performed around the world and across various cultures. With three different plot lines intertwining (the world of Athens, the Fairy world, and the Lover's world) the chaos that ensues inspires laughter and mischief alike. The production is directed by Dale AJ Rose, Associate Artistic Director at CRT and the Director of Performance Studies at UConn.

A comedy of mistaken identity and love, A Midsummer Night's Dream provides a magical exploration of love, lust, and marriage. With fairies, magic spells, and people transforming into animals, Shakespeare takes us through the chaotic twists and turns only to illustrate just how otherworldly love can be.

With the marriage of the Duke of Athens looming, four lovers find themselves escaping the strict rules of Athenian society by running into the forest. Upon arrival, however, the quarrel between the fairy king Oberon and the fairy queen Titania escalates and drags the lovers into the feud, thanks to the mistake of the sprite Puck. All the while. a group of crude Athenian mechanicals, rehearsing a play for the King's wedding feast, also find themselves wrapped into the turmoil. It's comic anarchy in the forest. The only way for anyone to find the love and peace they're all looking for is to untangle from the confusion before it's too late.

Director Dale A.J. Rose said "A Midsummer Night's Dream is Shakespeare's most popular comedy. It is populated by three distinct worlds; The Gentry, The Working Class and the Fairy Kingdom. How these worlds collide and thus transform all the inhabitants of the play is the source of its delight. Working with a terrific design and technical team along with a strong cast of actors, we are in the process of creating a magical evening of theatre. I believe this production will be a wonderful way to close out the 2014-15 CRT Season."

Join CRT for the final show of its season, A Midsummer Night's Dream, at the Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre between April 23rd and May 3rd. For tickets and information, call 860-486-2113 and visit www.crt.uconn.edu.

THE CREATIVE TEAM:

Dale A.J. Rose (Associate Artistic Director and Associate Head for Performance Program) comes to UConn from Tampa, Florida where he served as Director of the School of Theatre and Dance at the University of South Florida. Previously, Dale was the Director of Performance Training at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Under his leadership the program received recognition by U.S. News and World Report as one of the top 20 Graduate Theatre Programs in the country. In the 1980's Dale was the Master Acting Teacher at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Dale has taught professionally in New York City at the Warren Robertson Theatre Workshop, The George Morrison Studio space and The Actors Center. Dale was Artistic Director of the Shakespeare Festival of Dallas where, among others, he directed Earle Hyman in King Lear and Morgan Freeman in Othello. Dale was Artistic Director of the Plaza Theatre where he worked with John Goodman, Mariel Hemmingway and Zakes Mokae. Again in Dallas, Dale was a co-founder of Stage #1. Dale began his professional directing career as founder and Artistic Director of the Alice People Theatre in Tampa. Known for its cutting edge productions, the company was the first to produce the works of playwright David Mamet outside of Chicago. Dale has directed all but seven of Shakespeare's plays. As an American Cultural Specialist for the U.S. Information Agency and later for the State Department, Dale taught in Jerusalem, on the West Bank, in Barcelona and Athens. He also worked with actors from the Palestinian Theatre League on Julius Caesar. Dale feels fortunate to have been taught by some of the greats of the American Theatre including Bill Hickey, Larry Moss, Kristin Linklater, Uta Hagen, Stella Adler and members of the Working, Living and Open Theatres. Dale was co-producer of the feature film 'Animal Behavior' starring Karen Allen and Armand Assante; which you can catch on late-late night cable TV.

The Design Team also includes: Luke Miller (Co-Scenic Design), Abigail Copeland(Co-Scenic Design), Pat Ubaldi (Costume Design), Chris Jones (Lighting Design), Lexi Macchiaroli (Sound Design), Julien W. Tremblay (Stage Manager).

THE CAST:

Michael Patrick Kane (Bottom) is a professional actor, who lives with his wife Kristine in Brooklyn. He is thrilled to be at CRT playing Bottom for the first time. He was most recently in the movie "The Judge" and is playing Little Charles in "August Osage County" at the Arkansas Repertory Theater this June. He has also just written and starred in a three part web series called "Two Guys", an (R) rated black comedy. Learn more about the project at www.facebook.com/twoguyswebseries. Some of his other favorite Shakespearean roles he's played include Fallstaff, Don Jon, Bawd, Holofernes and Dogberry. He holds an MFA in Acting from The Institute for Advanced Theater Training at Harvard University. Kristine and Michael are expecting their first child in August. So if you have any father advice, please pass it on.

The cast also includes BFA Acting students Gabriel Aprea, Juliana Bearse, Mikaila Baca-Dorian, Kent Coleman, Conor Donnally, Kevin Hilversum, Derrick Holmes, John Manning, Chester Alan Martin, Gavin McNicholl, Joon Ho Oh, Scott Redmond, Susannah Resnikoff, Brian Patrick Sullivan, Jenn Spaozhnikov, and Jacob Harris Wright; and MFA Acting students Michael Bobenhausen, Arlene Bozich, Natalia Cuevas, Jeff DeSisto, Sam Kebede, Curtis Longfellow, Emile Saba, and Bryce Wood.

Call 860-486-2113 for tickets or for more information. Weeknight evening performances start at 7:30 p.m. Weekend evening performances start at 8 p.m. Matinee performances start at 2 p.m. Call or visit the box office for specific show dates and times because performance schedules vary and are subject to change. Tickets available online at www.crt.uconn.edu. Ticket prices range from $7 - $30.

Please note that the CRT box office is now housed in the Nafe Katter Theatre, located at 820 Bolton Road. There is short term parking on Bolton Road, in the loading zone directly in front of the theatre. CRT tickets can no longer be purchased at the Jorgensen box office. CRT's box office is open Monday-Friday, noon to 5 p.m., and will also be open one hour prior to show time at the theatre where the performance is taking place.

CRT is the professional producing arm of the Department of Dramatic Arts at the University of Connecticut, Storrs. CRT productions are directed, designed by, and cast with visiting professional artists, including Equity actors, faculty members, and the department's most advanced student artists. The synergy between professional and advanced student artists creates extraordinary theatre and a unique learning environment.

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