MTC MainStage's 2015-16 Season to Open with EVITA

Music Theatre of Connecticut MainStage, Fairfield County's award-winning professional theatre company, opens its 2015/2016 season with Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Evita." Performances are October 16-November 1, Fridays at 8pm, Saturdays at 4pm and 8pm, Sundays at 2pm, at Music Theatre of Connecticut, 509 Westport Avenue (behind Nine West) in Norwalk, CT. Tickets range from $35-$55 and are available by calling 203.454.3883 or visiting www.musictheatreofct.com

"We could not be more excited about opening our 29th season than with a newly reimagined production of the Andrew Lloyd Webber/Tim Rice blockbuster 'Evita,'" says Kevin Connors, co-founder and Executive Artistic Director of MTC and director of "Evita." The musical began as a rock opera concept album released in 1976. Its success led to productions in London's West End in 1978, winning the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Musical, and on Broadway a year later, where it was the first British musical to receive the Tony Award for Best Musical-one of eight Tonys the show would receive that year.

"Although the story of Eva Duarte Peron's rise from peasant girl to the most powerful female figure in Latin America is epic, it is, at its heart, a story about two primary relationships - Eva and husband President Juan Peron, and Eva and the Argentine people," says Connors. "Many elevated her to sainthood as the champion of the working class; others loathed her as an ambitious, self-centered gold-digger whose political and public influence contributed heavily to the near financial collapse of a tumultuous postwar Argentina. She was literally idolized by millions but hated and feared by many as well. Simply put, she remains an enigmatic legend. You will see her story from an intimate, up-close and personal perspective-her motives, her powerful charisma, her shrewd penchant for manipulation, and her meteoric rise to prominence on the world stage. Saint or sinner; you be the judge. I have been so thrilled to direct this stellar cast in a show that literally changed my life and helped to set my own career trajectory after I first saw it in the pre-Broadway run at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles in 1979."

MTC's professional Equity cast includes Katerina Papacostas as Eva Duarte Perón, who was recently seen in the national tour of "Evita" as Eva. Other recent credits include "Ever After" directed by Kathleen Marshall, "The Great American Mousical" directed by Julie Andrews, "Next to Normal in Concert" and "White Christmas." Daniel C. Levine (Che) has appeared on Broadway and national tours of "Little Shop of Horrors," "The Rocky Horror Show," "Mamma Mia!," "Jesus Christ Superstar" and "Les Miserables. Donald E. Birely (Juan Perón) has appeared in national tours of "Beauty and the Beast," "Carousel," and "Annie," and appeared in the NY premier of Yeston/Kopit "Phantom" and its cast album. Christopher DeRosa (Magaldi & Others) appeared in MTC's "I Left My Heart.... A Tribute to Tony Bennett." Other roles include Fabrizio in "The Light in the Piazza," Captain Walker in "The Who's Tommy" and Joseph in "Joseph... Dreamcoat (CT Critics Circle Award nomination). Carissa Massaro plays (The Mistress & Others) was nominated for a CT Critics Circle Award as Luisa in MTC's "The Fantasticks."She also appeared on Broadway as the title role in "Jane Eyre". The ensemble includes Corrine C. Broadbent, who has appeared as The Narrator in "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" at STONC, as well as "Camelot," "Gypsy," "Legally Blonde" and "Nunsense." Matt Greenberg returns to MTC, where he was a student at the School of Performing Arts.Professional regional credits include the Utah Festival Opera, Surflight Theatre and Ithaca Shakespeare Company. Tyler Keller has appeared in "She Loves Me" (Georg), "Sweeney Todd" (Tobias) and "A Chorus Line" (Paul). Rachel MacIsaac has appeared in the national tour of "Mamma Mia!" and in NYC in "Strike Up the Band.", as well as "A Chorus Line," "West Side Story" and "Les Miserables." Christopher Hudson Myers, recently completed a 6-year run on Broadway and in "Mamma Mia!" Regional credits include "Les Miserables," "West Side Story," "The Wedding Singer" and "Altar Boyz."

The cast also features six young students from MTC's School of Performing Arts -- Ariana Brodows, Jonah Frimmer, Cessa Lewis, Rica Monaghan, Raquel Paige, Hannah Pressman, Jolie Shey and Madeleine Tansley.

"Evita" is directed by MTC co-founder and Executive Artistic Director Kevin Connors. The design team includes set design by David Huevelman, lighting by Joshua Scherr, costumes by Diane Vanderkroef, choreography by Becky Timms and musical direction by Thomas Martin Conroy. The production is stage managed by Jim Schilling.

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