TheaterWorks Premieres CHRISTMAS ON THE ROCKS, Now thru 12/22

TheaterWorks will present the holiday World Premiere Christmas on the Rocks -- an offbeat collection of twisted holiday tales by multiple nationally known playwrights. These darkly humorous stories run tonight, December 3 through 22, 2013.

CHRISTMAS ON THE ROCKS is written by John Cariani, Jeffrey Hatcher, Jacques Lamarre, Matthew Lombardo, Theresa Rebeck, Edwin Sanchez and Jonathan Tolins.

Just in time for the holidays, something fresh, funny, smart and surprisingly touching. Remember watching holiday specials as a kid? Fast-forward to this Christmas Eve. In a rundown local bar, unexpectedly, chance brings us face to face with a parade of beloved characters from favorite Christmas tales - only now they have all grown up! Tiny Tim, Charlie Brown, Cindy Lou Who and a host of other favorites pour out their Christmas woes. Inspired by our collective holiday memories, CHRISTMAS ON THE ROCKSis sure to become a new holiday tradition.

Conceived and directed by TheaterWorks' Producing Artistic Director, Rob Ruggiero, this exciting new production features 7 nationally known playwrights each adding their own spin to the canon of holiday traditions past.

Rob is also thrilled to welcome a tremendously talented cast to TheaterWorks. Audiences will remember Harry Bouvy (the man) from Snakebit, Chesapeake and Fully Committed. Christine Pedi (the woman) most recently seen in Broadway's hilariousNEWSical The Musical, makes her TheaterWorks' debut as does Broadway veteran, Ronn Carroll (Goodspeed's Carousel) as the bartender.

Rob said "I couldn't be more excited about collaborating with this amazing group of playwrights and actors. What began as a fun idea for a new and very 'TheaterWorks' holiday event is quickly taking form. I look forward to sharing it with our audiences. I think they are in for a real treat."

CHRISTMAS ON THE ROCKS runs tonight, December 3 through December 22, 2013.

The production design team includes Michael Schweikardt(Sets), Alejo Vieti (Costumes), Mary Jo Dondlinger (Lights) andMichael Miceli (Sound).Production Manager is Michael Lenaghan.

The show runs tonight, December 3 through 22, 2013, playing Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 pm; Friday at 8:00 pm; Saturday at 2:30 pm and 6:30 pm; and Sunday at 4:00 pm and 8:00 pm. PRESS / OPENING Night is Friday, December 6 at 8:00 pm. The lobby and the gallery sponsored by The Hartford Financial Services Group, opens 90 minutes prior to curtain; seating starts 60 minutes prior. TheaterWorks at City Arts on Pearl - 233 Pearl Street in Downtown Hartford. For seats call 860.527.7838. For more information, visit www.theaterworkshartford.org.

BIOS

Harry Bouvy (the man) returns to TheaterWorks, having played here in Snakebit, Chesapeake and Fully Committed. Harry most recently played Vanya in Christopher Durang'sVanya & Sonia & Masha & Spike at City Theatre in Pittsburgh, and Nathan Detroit in Guys & Dolls at Great Lakes Theatre in Cleveland. Favorite roles include Hannibal Lecter in the off-Broadway hit Silence! The Musical, Sir Robin in the Vegas company of Spamalot, and Louis inAngels in America at Syracuse Stage. Other credits include Carmen Ghia in the national tour of The Producers; Stones In His Pockets and I Am My Own Wife at the Hangar Theatre; and This Wonderful Life at Cincinnati Playhouse. Film: The Producers. TV: The Good Wife, 666 Park Avenue, Law & Order, Guiding Light, Sex & The City. www.harrybouvy.com

Ronn Carroll (the bartender) is delighted to make his TheaterWorks debut. Recent New York appearances: Trevor Nunn's revival of Oklahoma! and the Lincoln Center premier of A Man Of No Importance. Among his 20 Broadway credits:How to Succeed In Business Without Really Trying, Gypsy, The Rink, Bad Habits, On Golden Pond, Steel Pier, Man of La Mancha, Crazy For You, Peter Pan, Promises Promises!(London & New York) Carousel, Wonderful Town, Front Page,and Annie Get Your Gun, (Ethel Merman in '66 and Bernadette Peters '99.) Off Broadway: Love's Labors Lost, The Knife andGreater Tuna. Film: The Producers (musical), 84 Charing Cross Road, numerous television films and some 500 commercials. He began his career in Washington DC at the famed Arena Stage. Ronn has appeared as a soloist with the National Symphony and The New York Philharmonic. Among his regional productions areKing Lear, Front Page, 1776, Camelot, Dark Of The Moon.

Christine Pedi (the woman) is making her TheaterWorks debut. She currently can be seen in NEWSical The Musical in NYC and can be heard daily hosting SiriusXM Radio's On Broadway channel. Off Broadway, Christine was the lead in Miss Abigails Guide To Dating Mating & Marriageand received a Drama Desk nomination for her work inForbidden Roadway. On Broadway: Talk Radio with Liev Schrieber and Little Me with Martin Short. She's appeared in many of the 24 Hour Plays, A Train Plays and Project Shawevents in NYC. Fans of The Sopranos may recognize her as Mrs. Bobby Baccala. (4 scenes, 5 lines ... dead. BUT he loved her so much he couldn't defrost her ziti!) Her multi award winning cabaret act Great Dames has played New York, London, South Africa and beyond. Christine has many popular comic videos on YouTube that feature her vast array of celebrity impressions. www.christinepedi.com

John Cariani (Playwright) is an actor and a playwright. He has appeared on and off Broadway, at regional theaters across the country, and in several films and television shows. His plays include Almost, Maine (which will be revived Off Broadway in January), Last Gas (which will be opening at Geva Theatre Center in Rochester in January) and Love/Sick (which will be opening at TheaterWorks in May of 2014). John noted "It's quite an honor to be a part of Christmas on the Rocks, and to be featured alongside such an amazing group of playwrights".

Jeffrey Hatcher (Playwright) Broadway: Never Gonna Dance (book). Off-Broadway / Regional: Three Viewings, A Picasso, Scotland Road, Turn of the Screw, Tuesdays with Morrie (with Mitch Albom), Murder by Poe, Neddy, Ten Chimneys, Compleat Female Stage Beauty, Mrs. Mannerly, Murderers, Ella, Korczak's Children, Cousin Bette and others at TheaterWorks, Manhattan Theatre Club, Guthrie, Old Globe, Yale Rep, Geffen, Seattle Rep, Cincinnati Playhouse and dozens more in the U.S. and abroad. Film/ TV: Stage Beauty, Casanova, The Duchess, episodes of Columbo, and the upcoming Slight Trick of the Mind starring Ian McKellan. Grants/Awards: NEA, TCG, 2013 IVEY Lifetime Achievement Award, Rosenthal New Play Prize, Charles MacArthur Fellowship Award, Barrymore Award Best New Play (A Picasso), and L.A. Critics Circle Award Best Adaptation (Cousin Bette).

JACQUES LAMARRE (Playwright)is the playwright behind TheaterWorks' 2012 production of I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti, which will be revived in 2013 at George Street Playhouse and Asolo Repertory Theatre. His most recent play,Born Fat, has received readings at Cheney Hall, the Unitarian Society of Hartford and HartBeat Ensemble. His play Gray Matters was produced by the Emerson Theatre Collaborative for the Midtown International Theatre Festival and four one-acts were produced by Hole in the Wall Theatre under the titleJacques Lamarre Has Gone Too Far. He has written ten shows for drag performer Varla Jean Merman including such favorites as Twice Upon a Mattress, The Book of Merman and Varla Jean and the Mushroomheads.

Matthew Lombardo (Playwright) Broadway: HIGH with Kathleen Turner at the Booth Theatre and Looped starring Valerie Harper in a Tony nominated performance at The Lyceum Theatre (both productions directed by Rob Ruggiero). Off-Broadway: Tea at Five (w/ Kate Mulgrew) at the Promenade Theatre; Mother and Child (w/ Ann Wedgeworth) at Second Stage and Guilty Innocence at The Actors' Playhouse. Most recently he was represented with the National Tour of Looped starring Stefanie Powers. Next month, he will be presenting the Inaugural Season of WinterStage, a multiple play and concert series at the Parker Playhouse in Fort Lauderdale where he resides part-time.

Theresa Rebeck (Playwright) New York productions: Dead Accounts, Seminar, The Understudy, Mauritius, The Scene, The Water's Edge, Bad Dates, The Butterfly Collection, Spike Heels, Loose Knit, The Family of Mann, View of the Dome, and Omnium Gatherum (co-written, Pulitzer finalist). Publications: Collected Plays Volumes I, II and III, Free Fire Zone and two novels, Three Girls and Their Brother and Twelve Rooms With a View. Film: Harriet the Spy, Gossip, and the independent features Sunday on the Rocks and Seducing Charlie Barker (adapted from her play The Scene). Awards include the Writer's Guild of America Award for Episodic Drama, a Peabody Award for work on NYPD Blue, the National Theatre Conference Award, the William Inge New Voices Playwriting Award, the PEN/Laura Pels Foundation Award, the Athena Film Festival Award, an Alex Award, a Lilly Award. She is the creator of the NBC drama, Smash.

Edwin Sanchez (Playwright) is the winner of National Latino Playwriting Award for La Bella Familia. Other plays include Trafficking in Broken Hearts, I'll Take Romance, Diosa, Unmerciful Good Fortune, Icarus and Barefoot Boy With Shoes On. His work has been produced regionally throughout the United States as well as in Brazil, Russia and Switzerland. Awards include the Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays (Clean), three New York Foundation for the Arts Playwriting/Screenwriting Fellowships, the Princess Grace Playwriting Fellowship, the Daryl Roth Creative Spirit Award and the AT&T On Stage New Play Award. Edwin lives in upstate New York where he continues to write as well as teach and mentor playwrights.

Jonathan Tolins (Playwright) is the author of the hit off-Broadway playBuyer & Cellar, currently at the Barrow Street Theatre. Other plays include The Twilight of the Golds, If Memory Serves, The Last Sunday in June, and Secrets of the Trade. Film / TV includes The Twilight of the Golds, Martian Child, Queer as Folk, The Academy Awards, The Tony Awards, and Partners. He has written articles for Opera News, Time Magazine, Backstage, and The Huffington Post, and is a panelist on the Metropolitan Opera Radio Quiz. He lives in Fairfield, Connecticut with his husband, the writer and director Robert Cary, and their children, Selina and Henry. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild and the Writers Guild of America.

Rob Ruggiero (Director - Producing Artistic Director) has been associated with TheaterWorks since 1993 where he has directed nearly 50 shows, including recent productions ofTime Stands Still, Venus In Fur, and I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti (Broadway World Award). At TheaterWorks Rob also conceived, developed and directed Ella, which has played major regional theaters nationwide since 2005. On Broadway, Rob directed HIGH(starring Kathleen Turner) andLooped(starring Valerie Harper in a Tony Award nominated performance). He recently launched the national tour of Looped starring Stephanie Powers. Off-Broadway Rob directed All Under Heaven (also starring Ms. Harper), as well as conceiving and directing the original musical revue Make Me a Song: The Music of William Finn (Drama Desk/Outer Critics Circle Nominations). Rob has been recognized nationally for directing both plays and musicals. His work has been seen at major regional theaters around the country, including: Actor's Theater of Louisville, Barrington Stage Company, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Cleveland Playhouse, Guthrie Theater, Hartford Stage, The Pittsburgh Public Theater, and The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis among others. Rob recently directed critically acclaimed revivals of both The Most Happy Fella and Carousel, which earned multiple Broadway World Awards. This was his seventh collaboration with Goodspeed, where he also directed highly successful productions of Annie Get Your Gun, Camelot, Big River, 1776 and a recent revival of Show Boat, which garnered him his fifth Connecticut Critics' Circle Award for best direction. www.robruggiero.com

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