Kayla Carlyle, Molly Franco Lead WaterTower's SPRING AWAKENING 9/30-10/23

WaterTower Theatre today announced the cast for Spring Awakening, running September 30 to October 23, 2011 at the Addison Theatre Centre. The ensemble cast includes Kayla Carlyle as Ilse; Molly Franco as Thea; Adam Garst as Moritz; Jonathan Gilland as Melchior; Joshua Gonzales as Ernst; Simone Gundy as Martha; Erica Harte as Wendla; Steven Pounders as Adult Male; Sam Swenson as Otto; Matt Tolbert as Hanschen; Lulu Ward as Adult Female; Molly Welch as Anna and Clay Wheeler as Georg. The ensemble features Gregory Brown, Jason Moody, Juliette Talley, and Ruby Westfall.

Making their WaterTower Theatre stage debuts in Spring Awakening will be Molly Franco, Adam Garst, Jonathan Gilland, Joshua Gonzales, Simone Gundy, Erica Harte, Sam Swenson, Lulu Ward, Molly Welch, and Clay Wheeler.

The creative team for Spring Awakening is led by Director Terry Martin. Mark Mullino is Music Director and John De Los Santos is Choreographer. Christopher Pickart is the Set Designer, Leann Burns is Lighting Designer, Curtis Craig is Sound Designer, Michael A. Robinson is Costume Designer, Georgana Jinks is Props Designer and Heidi Shen is the Stage Manager.

Spring Awakening previews September 30 and October 1 and opens on Monday, October 3 running through Sunday, October 23. Press/Media night is Monday, October 3 at 7:30 pm.

Single tickets for Spring Awakening go on sale to the general public Tuesday, September 6, 2011 at 12 noon.

Spring Awakening is underwritten, in part, by the WaterTower Theatre Board of Directors.

Spring Awakening

Music by Duncan Sheik
Book and Lyrics Steven Sater
Based on the play by Frank Wedekind
Directed by Terry Martin

This rock musical adaptation of an 1891 German play is set against the backdrop of a progressive and provincial late 19th century Germany. Spring Awakening tells the timeless story of teenage self-discovery and budding sexuality through the eyes of three teenagers. Haunting and provocative, Spring Awakening celebrates an unforgettable journey from youth to adulthood. The musical won multiple Tony Awards (8 awards including Best Musical).

German playwright Frank Wedekind's 1891 play of the same name was so shocking for its era that when it opened in New York 26 years later, it took a Supreme Court injunction to allow the show to go on, and only then for a single performance before closing.

Spring Awakening has been called "the best musical of a generation" (NY Observer). Adapted from Wedekind's play, with a score by Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater, book by Steven Sater, the musical depicts how a dozen young people make their way through the thrilling, complicated, confusing and mysterious time of their sexual awakening.

The musical includes mature themes and adult language.

Performance Schedule:

September 30 - October 23, 2011
Previews: September 30, October 1
Opening night: Monday, October 3 at 7:30 pm
Performances: September 30, October 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23.
Pay What You Can Performance: Sunday, October 2 at 7:30 pm

Performance Times:
7:30 PM Monday, Wednesday & Thursday
8:00 PM Friday & Saturday
2:00 PM Sunday
2:00 PM Saturday on October 22
Individual tickets range in price from $20 - $50.

How/Where to buy tickets:
www.watertowertheatre.org or 972-450-6232 or in person at
WaterTower Theatre Box Office (Tuesday - Friday, 12 pm to 6 pm)
Addison Theatre Centre
15650 Addison Road
Addison, Texas 75001

About Steven Sater (Book & Lyrics):

Steven Sater's plays include the long-running Carbondale Dreams, Perfect for You, Doll (Rosenthal Prize, Cincinnati Playhouse), Umbrage (Steppenwolf New Play Prize), A Footnote to the Iliad, Asylum, Murder at the Gates (commissioned by Eye of the Storm), In Search of Lost Wings and a reconceived version of Shakespeare's The Tempest, with music by Laurie Anderson, which played London's Lyric Hammersmith and toured internationally. In addition to Spring Awakening, Sater has collaborated with alt-rocker Duncan Sheik on the NY premiere of Umbrage, Nero: Another Golden Rome, and The Nightingale (commissioned by Martin McCallum, work-shopped both at the O'Neill Musical Theatre Conference and La Jolla Playhouse, forthcoming in La Jolla's 2007 season). He is the lyricist for Sheik's critically-acclaimed album Phantom Moon (Nonesuch), and together the two wrote the songs for Michael Mayer's feature film A Home at the End of the World (Warner Classics) as well as the independent feature Brother's Shadow. Steven is co-creator and Executive Producer, with Paul Reiser, of recent pilots for both NBC and Sony/FX, and has developed two projects for HBO, and a pilot for Showtime (with Reiser). He is also at work, with Jessie Nelson, on a feature film for New Line. Together they have recently completed a rewrite of the Warner Bros animated feature, C Horse. In addition, Steven continues to work as a lyricist with a variety of composers in the pop/rock world.

About Duncan Sheik (Music):

In addition to writing the music for Spring Awakening, which received a critically acclaimed Lincoln Center American Songbook Concert staging last season, Grammy award nominated singer-songwriter Duncan Sheik collaborated with Playwright Steven Sater on The Nightingale, a musical based on the Hans Christian Andersen classic which premiered during the 26th annual O'Neill Music Theater Conference at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center. Sheik has composed original music for The Public Theatre's Shakespeare in the Park production of Twelfth Night and for The Golden Rooms of Nero, which recently debuted at Cornell University and opened at the Magic Theater in San Francisco earlier this year. His self-titled debut album, which was an enormous popular and critical success, introduced the hit singles "Barely Breathing" and "She Runs Away," and spent 30 weeks on the Billboard 200. Other albums include Humming, Daylight, Phantom Moon with lyrics by Steven Sater and his latest, White Limousine, which was released in January of 2006. Film Soundtracks: Great Expectations, The Saint, Teaching Mrs. Tingle, Three to Tango, What a Girl Wants, Transamerica and A Body Goes Down. Sheik recently composed and produced the original score for the feature film A Home at the End of the World, directed by Michael Mayer and starring Colin Farrell.

About Frank Wedekind (Author):

Frank Wedekind (1864-1918) was born in Hanover, Germany. His first major play was Spring Awakening (1891). The "Lulu" plays, Earth Spirit (1895) and Pandora's Box (1904), are probably his best-known pieces. During Wedekind's lifetime, his plays were repeatedly banned and only performed in censored versions. They were considered scandalous, for he dared to deal with issues of sexual freedom and release, problems of puberty, moments of ecstasy between the sexes and moments of misunderstanding and violence. His work broke through all the clichés of the theatre of his time, and today he is considered one of the founders of modern drama and a pioneer of expressionism in the theatre.

About Terry Martin (Director):

Multi-award winning Director Terry Martin is in his 14th season as Producing Artistic Director of WaterTower Theatre where he has overseen more than 68 productions.

Some of his 42 directing credits at WTT include Our Town, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, Black Pearl Sings!, The Full Monty, As You Like It, Almost, Maine, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Man of La Mancha, Humble Boy, The Crucible, Take Me Out, A Country Life (which he adapted from Chekhov's Uncle Vanya and won the 2005 Rabin Award - Best New Play), Cabaret, It Ain't Nothin' But The Blues, Company, An Inspector Calls, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, The Laramie Project, You Can't Take It With You, Book of Days, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (2002 Rabin Award - Director of a Play), Sweeney Todd (2002 Rabin Award Nomination - Director of a Musical), Desire Under the Elms, Ravenscroft, Rockin' Christmas Party (2000, 2001), Enter the Guardsman (2001 Rabin Award Nomination - Director of a Musical), Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill and Little Shop of Horrors (2000 Rabin Award Nomination - Director of a Musical) among others. For Plano Repertory Theatre, he has directed Journey's End (2000 Rabin Award - Director of a Play), Dracula, La Bête, Little Shop of Horrors and Pump Boys and Dinettes. Terry was named "Best Theater Director" in the Dallas Observer's "Best of Dallas 2002."

He has appeared on stage at WTT in Our Town, Blackbird (2008 Dallas Fort Worth Theatre Critics' Forum Award), The Woman in Black, Dinner with Friends, The Guys, Bash: Latterday Plays (2002 Rabin Award Nomination - Actor in a Play) and at PRT in The Only Thing Worse You Could Have Told Me... (1998 Rabin Award - Actor in a Play, 1998 Dallas Theater Critics Forum Award), The Woman in Black (2000 Rabin Award Nomination - Actor in a Play), and Lonely Planet.

After growing up in south Alabama, Terry spent 12 years in New York City working in theatre, television and film. While there, he directed and acted at The Village Theatre Company, Carnegie Hall Studios and Theatre at St. Marks as well as television appearances on ABC's One Life to Live and NBC's To Serve and Protect. He holds a BFA from the University of Alabama and has trained professionally with Sanford Meisner, Fred Kareman, Wynn Handman, Sally Johnson and Lehmann Byck. Terry presently teaches on-going acting classes in the Sanford Meisner Technique at WTT, as well as having served as Adjunct Professor of Acting at the University of Texas at Dallas.

About WaterTower Theatre:

WaterTower Theatre has become a theatrical force of nature through its consistent excellence and sharp programming. Combining Broadway-quality productions with the beauty of an intimate playing space, WaterTower Theatre provides experiences that are powerful and insightful, intense and uplifting. WaterTower Theatre provides the community with an opportunity to examine man's condition from all perspectives and promotes growth through humor and drama.

Now in its 16th season, WaterTower Theatre began life in 1996 with 136 brave subscribers. Today, with over 2000 subscribers and a budget of $1.2 million, it consistently earns rave reviews in The Dallas Morning News, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Dallas Observer, and other local publications. With 104 Dallas Theatre League Leon Rabin Award Nominations and 28 wins to its credit, as well as 17 Dallas Fort Worth Theatre Critics Forum Awards, WaterTower Theatre is home to the finest local talent.

A committed and intrepid producer of new work, the theatre has presented 5 world premiere productions and 13 regional premiere productions to date. WaterTower Theatre's tradition of world premiere programming includes the musicals Song of Motherhood and Blind Lemon: Prince of Country Blues. Dramatic world premieres include Free Fall with Sandy Duncan, Baptized to the Bone by Dave Johnson (which is enjoying healthy post-WaterTower Theatre life) and A Country Life, Producing Artistic Director Terry Martin's southern adaptation of Anton Chekhov's Uncle Vanya. Both Blind Lemon and A Country Life earned WaterTower Theatre a Dallas Theatre League Leon Rabin Award for Best New Work.

WaterTower Theatre is committed to nurturing emerging talent and expanding audiences. The annual Out of the Loop Fringe Festival strives to present new work by local and national writers. A major part of WaterTower Theatre's education program partners professional artists and technicians with students at our Summer Performing Arts Conservatory, where students ages 8 - 18 learn "life skills through theatre skills." In addition, master classes and workshops for professional performers offer an opportunity for continued education at the local level.

WTT is privileged to make its home at the Addison Theatre Centre, an award-winning flexible theatre space that can be reconfigured to accommodate each new production. WaterTower's expanding artistic vision, deepening servIce To the community and growing audiences have led to a unique partnership with the Town of Addison, one aimed at the development of an exciting destination for patrons to experience the best in theatrical and performing arts.

WaterTower Theatre is a Constituent of Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for the American theatre and a member of the Dallas Theatre League.

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