Daniel Aukin & Michael Friedman Join Creative Team of Dallas Theatre Center's FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE

Dallas Theater Center announced today the complete creative team of the world premiere new musical The Fortress of Solitude, a co-production with The Public Theater in New York City. The Fortress of Solitude, based on the novel of the same name by Jonathan Lethem, is conceived and directed by Daniel Aukin, with a book by Itamar Moses, and music and lyrics by Michael Friedman. It will premiere at the Wyly Theatre with previews on March 7, 2014 and run through April 6.

Aukin is making his DTC directing debut, having previously directed critically acclaimed productions at New York's Roundabout Theatre Company, Lincoln Center Theater and Manhattan Theatre Club. Moses recently wrote the book for the musical, Nobody Loves You, which premiered off-Broadway this summer to critical raves. Dallas audiences will remember his play Back, Back, Back, which was part of DTC's 2008-2009 season. Friedman is the composer/lyricist of the Broadway musical, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson; in the past several months his premieres have included writing the songs for the new musical, Love's Labour's Lost, at The Public's Shakespeare in the Park in New York and the music for Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play at Playwrights Horizons.

The Fortress of Solitude will mark the return to Dallas of legendary set designer, Eugene Lee, for the first time in more than two decades. The three-time Tony Award-winning designer was DTC's resident designer from 1984-1991. His work at DTC included legendary productions of All the King's Men, Galileo and The Tempest, as well as his design for the Arts District Theater, where DTC produced productions from 1984-2005, when it was torn down for the construction of the AT&T Performing Arts Center. Lee's many national credits include serving as the resident scenic designer for NBC's Saturday Night Live since its inception, and his groundbreaking designs for Broadway musicals, including Wicked, Sweeny Todd, and Candide.

Tyler Micoleau will return to DTC as lighting designer for The Fortress of Solitude. His previous DTC productions have included A Midsummer Night's Dream andThe Who's Tommy, among others. Making her DTC debut is Jessica Pabst as costume designer. Also returning to DTC is Tony Award-winning sound designer Rob Kaplowitz (Fela!), who previously designed DTC's It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman.

Southern Methodist University alumnus Kim Grigsby, who was the Music Supervisor for DTC's It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman, will return to Dallas to be the show's musical director. Grigsby's recent Broadway credits include Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark and Spring Awakening. Rounding out the creative team is Camille A. Brown as choreographeR. Brown is the artistic director and choreographer of the award winning Dance Company, Camille A. Brown & Dancers.

"The Fortress of Solitude is an emotionally moving musical filled with breathtaking songs and beautifully crafted characters," says DTC Artistic Director Kevin Moriarty. "It is an honor to welcome back to Dallas so many long-time friends and collaborators for this production, including Eugene Lee, a man who helped create this organization's artistic identity and whose work has served as a constant source of inspiration for Dallas theatergoers for several decades."

The Fortress of Solitude is a story of 1970s Brooklyn and beyond - of black and white, soul and rap, block parties and blackouts, friendship and betrayal, comic books and 45s. And the story of what would happen if two teenagers obsessed with superheroes believed that maybe, just maybe, they could fly...

Special thanks to Associate Producing Partner American Airlines and to National Alliance for Musical Theatre.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride / WM Photos

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