ORDINARY DAYS Makes West Coast Debut, 1/3 - 1/24

Ordinary Days, Adam Gwon's charming musical ode to New York, will kick off the new year at South Coast Repertory. Fresh from a successful run at the Roundabout Theatre Company, Ordinary Days will make its West Coast debut Jan. 3-24 on the Julianne Argyros Stage.

During this 80-minute musical, four young New Yorkers experience anything but ordinary days as each tries to build a life in the big city. They are:

Warren (Nick Gabriel), a would-be artist trying desperately to get someone to notice him - and his art. Deb (Deborah S. Craig), an over-achieving but directionless grad student in a panic because she has lost her thesis notes. Jason (David Burnham), a man who planned to spend just one year in New York, until he fell in love with a girl with commitment issues. Claire (Nancy Anderson), the girl with the commitment issues. She has walled off her heart for a reason, and she panics when she realizes Jason is on the verge of proposing.

"In addition to the four 20- and 30-something-year-olds whose stories we tell, New York City is really a character in this piece," says director Ethan McSweeny, who directed SCR's Mr. Marmalade in 2004. "Each of the characters is in a relationship with New York. They're falling in and out of love with the city."

"There's something about New York - when you are alone in New York, it's the loneliest city you've ever been in, and when you are not alone in New York, or when you are in love in New York City, it's the most exciting place you've ever been in your life."

Three of the four Ordinary Days cast members have extensive New York credits: Burnham just finished a stint on Broadway as Fiyero in Wicked, and he also appeared in the original production of The Light in the Piazza; Anderson appeared in Broadway's Wonderful Town and A Class Act; and Craig originated the role of Marcy Park in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at Circle in the Square. The fourth cast member, Gabriel, is an exciting newcomer who just completed his M.F.A. at American Conservatory Theater.

Ordinary Days' creative team includes Dennis Castellano (Musical Director), Fred Kinney (set design), Angela Balogh Calin (costume design), Lonnie Rafael Alcaraz (lighting design), Kimberly Egan (sound design), Jason Thompson (projection design), John Glore (dramaturg) and Kathryn Davies (stage manager).

Pam and Jim Muzzy are the Honorary Producers.

Tickets can be purchased online at www.scr.org, by phone at (714) 708-5555 or by visiting the box office at 655 Town Center Drive in Costa Mesa. Performances begin on Jan. 3 and continue through Jan. 24. Ticket prices range from $20 to $65. Low-priced preview performances are available Jan. 3-7. Opening night is Friday, Jan. 8, and press night is Saturday, Jan. 9, at 7:45 p.m.

Previews are Sunday, Jan. 3, at 2 p.m., and Tuesday through Thursday, Jan. 4-7, at 7:45 p.m. Regular performances are Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings at 7:45 p.m., with Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. Discounts are available for full-time students, patrons 25 years of age and under, educators, seniors and groups of 15 or more. There will be a "Pay-What-You-Will" performance on Saturday, Jan. 9, at 2 p.m. ($10 minimum) and an ASL-interpreted performance on Saturday, Jan. 23, at 2 p.m.

Friday and Sunday nights following opening night are "Pay Your Age" nights, with $10 tickets for teens, $20 tickets for 20-somethings and $30 for 30-somethings. The bar will remain open an hour after the performance ends on those nights for post-show mingling.

Post show discussions will take place Tuesday, Jan. 12 & Wednesday, Jan. 13. Discuss the play with members of the Ordinary Days cast during free post-show discussions led by South Coast Repertory's literary team.

Inside the Season takes place Saturday, Jan. 16, 10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. $12. This event is a series of interactive classes that provide a comprehensive inside look at the theatrical production process. Each two-hour class features creative personnel from South Coast Repertory's current production. Inside the Season is offered on select Saturday mornings from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Tickets are $12 each and can be purchased by calling the Box Office at (714) 708-5555. (Tickets to Ordinary Days are sold separately.)

South Coast Repertory is located at 655 Town Center Drive in Costa Mesa, at the Bristol Street/Avenue of the Arts exit off the San Diego (405) Freeway in the Folino Theater Center, part of the Segerstrom Center for the Arts. Parking is available off Anton Blvd. on Park Center Drive.

Upcoming events include Fences (Jan. 22 - Feb. 21), A Wrinkle in Time (Feb. 5 - 21), In a Garden (March 7 - 28).

The Tony Award-winning South Coast Repertory, under the artistic direction of David Emmes and Martin Benson, is widely recognized as one of the leading professional theaters in the United States. Founded in 1964, SCR is committed to theater that illuminates the compelling personal and social issues of our time, not only on its stages but through its education and outreach programs. While its productions represent a balance of classic and modern theater, SCR is renowned for its extensive new play development program, including the Pacific Playwrights Festival. Of SCR's more than 435 productions, 112 have been world premieres with subsequent stagings achieving enormous success across America and around the world. SCR-developed works have garnered eight Pulitzer Prize nominations with Margaret Edson's Wit winning the prize in 1999 and David Lindsay-Abaire's Rabbit Hole in 2007. Located in Costa Mesa, California, in 2002 SCR opened the Folino Theater Center, an expanded three-theater complex that includes the 507-seat Segerstrom Stage, the 336-seat Julianne Argyros Stage and the 94-seat Nicholas Studio.

Adam Gwon (Composer/Lyricist) was named one of "50 to Watch" by The Dramatist magazine and won the 2008 Fred Ebb Award for excellence in musical theater songwriting. Gwon's projects include the upcoming The Boy Detective Fails (book: Joe Meno), Bernice Bobs Her Hair (book/lyrics: Julia Jordan) and Ethan Frome (book: Michael Ruby). His work has been seen at Roundabout, Primary Stages, York Theatre, Signature Theatre (Arlington), the Kennedy Center, Ars Nova, New Dramatists, NAMT, NYMF, SPF/Public Theater, Adirondack Theatre Festival, Pennsylvania Centre Stage, Finborough Theatre (London), the ASCAP/Disney workshop, and many others. His other honors include the ASCAP Harold Adamson award, the MAC John Wallowitch award and a MAC Award nomination for best song, as well as commissions from South Coast Rep, Signature Theatre (Arlington), Broadway Across America, and the EST/Sloan Project. Adam has been a fellow at the MacDowell Colony and the Dramatists Guild, an artist-in-residence at Weston Playhouse, and is a graduate of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts.

Ethan McSweeny (Director) made his Off Broadway debut with the 1998 NY premiere of John Logan's Never the Sinner (Drama Desk and NY Outer Critics Circle awards) and his Broadway debut with the 2000 revival of Gore Vidal's The Best Man (Tony Award nomination, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards). He has directed more than 50 productions of new plays, revivals and classics for preeminent companies around the U.S., including the Guthrie, the Globe, the Shakespeare Theatre, the Alley, Center Stage, the Denver Center, George Street Playhouse, Pittsburgh Public, San Jose Rep, South Coast Rep, Westport, Wilma, Playwrights Horizons, Primary Stages and the National Actors Theatre. Recent New York highlights include the New York premieres of Kate Fodor's 100 Saints You Should Know and Jason Grote's 1001, which in a rare double were both named among the Top Ten of 2007 by Time Out and Entertainment Weekly magazines. Other notable work includes the premieres of In This Corner at the Globe (San Diego Critics Circle Award) and A Body of Water at both the Globe and the Guthrie (San Diego Critics Circle Award and Minneapolis Star Tribune Award); the world premiere of Mr. Marmalade at South Coast Rep; revivals of Romeo and Juliet and Six Degrees of Separation at the Guthrie and Every Good Boy Deserves Favor with Michael Emerson and Brian Murray for the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra. Long involved in the leadership of arts institutions, Mr. McSweeny has served as Artistic Director of the Chautauqua Theatre Company since 2005. He currently seves as Treasurer on the Executive Board of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, an independent national labor union. He received the first-ever undergraduate degree in theater and dramatic arts bestowed by Columbia University.

Nancy Anderson (Claire) is making her SCR debut. She appeared on Broadway as Mona in A Class Act and as Helen and Eileen in Wonderful Town. She played Lois/Bianca in the National Tour (Helen Hayes nomination) and the London premiere of Kiss Me Kate (Olivier nomination) filmed for PBS' Great Performances. She can also be seen on PBS in South Pacific in Concert at Carnegie Hall (Reba McIntyre) and heard as the voice of Billie Burke in the documentary Broadway: The American Musical. Off-Broadway, she received Drama Desk nominations for Jolson & Co. and the title role in Fanny Hill. Last year, she was featured in The Women at The Old Globe and this past summer, she appeared in the Broadway-bound White Noise. Appearances at Town Hall in Broadway by the Year inspired her debut album, Ten Cents A Dance.

David Burnham (Jason) just returned from New York, where he played Fiyero in the Broadway production of Wicked, after creating the role in the original Los Angeles workshop productions. He was an original Broadway cast member of the musical The Light In The Piazza, performing both on the 2005 Tony Awards and the PBS telecast "Live From Lincoln Center." He is the 2007 recipient of the Helen Hayes Award for best actor as well as the 2007 best actor Garland Award for his portrayal of Fabrizio in the national tour of The Light In The Piazza. National tours include Joseph in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Drama-Logue Award), and Peter in Jesus Christ Superstar. He was the voice of the Prince in the Warner Bros. animated feature The King & I, and can be heard on the soundtracks to Gepetto, and Home on the Range. His solo debut CD, David Burnham, Is on LML Music.

Deborah S. Craig (Deb) is best known for originating the role of Marcy Park on Broadway in the Tony Award-winning musical The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Based on her own childhood, Marcy Park became the first Korean-American character created on Broadway and earned her critical raves as well as a Drama Desk Award. On television, she was a recurring guest star on JJ Abrams "Six Degrees." She can also be seen in the feature film Ghost Town with Ricky Gervais, the indie comedy 818 and the upcoming film Just Wright with Queen Latifah. She is an alumni of Ma-Yi Theater Company's Writers Lab and an accomplished singer/songwriter, most notably penning the title song for the feature film Purity.

Nick Gabriel (Warren) has played the Emcee in Cabaret at CenterREP, Vincent in Beast on the Moon and Orpheus in Metamorphoses at Capital Repertory Theatre, Austin in I Love You Because at North Coast Repertory Theatre, Sebastian in Twelfth Night with the Saratoga Shakespeare Company, the Charlatan in Petrouchka with the Albany-Berkshire Ballet, Bashmachkin in The Overcoat with the Egress Theatre Company at the Brooklyn Lyceum and Benny in Martha&Me for FringeNYC. He was a principal vocalist with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra in A Celebration of Leonard Bernstein. He received a BFA in musical theatre from the University of Michigan and an MFA in acting from the American Conservatory Theater.

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