Pam Dougherty, Cliff Stephens Lead WaterTower's AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY

WaterTower Theatre today announced the cast for August: Osage County, running March 30 – April 22, 2012 at the Addison Theatre Centre. The cast includes Pam Dougherty as Violet Weston; Cliff Stephens as Beverly Weston; Sherry Jo Ward as Barbara Fordham; James Crawford as Bill Fordham; Ruby Westfall as Jean Fordham; Kristin McCollum as Ivy Weston; Jessica Cavanagh as Karen Weston; Nancy A. Sherrard as Mattie Fae Aiken; Tom Lenaghen as Charlie Aiken; Clay Yocum as Little Charles Aiken; Sasha Truman-McGonnell as Johnna Monevata; Chris Hury as Steve Heidebrecht and Stan Graner as Sheriff Deon Gilbeau.

Making their WaterTower Theatre stage debuts in August: Osage County are Sherry Jo Ward, Tom Lenaghen, Sasha Truman-McGonnell and Chris Hury.

The creative team for August: Osage County is led by Director René Moreno. Rodney Dobbs is Set Designer, Barbara Cox is Costume Designer, Jason S. Foster is Lighting Designer, Georgana Jinks is Props Designer and Heidi Shen is the Stage Manager.

August: Osage County previews Friday, March 30 and Saturday, March 31; Pay What You Can performance is Sunday, April 1; and opens Monday, April 2, running through Sunday, April 22, 2012. Press/Media night is Monday, April 2 at 7:30 pm.

August: Osage County is a gripping play that tells the story of the Westons, a large extended clan that comes together at their rural Oklahoma homestead when the alcoholic patriarch disappears. Forced to confront unspoken truths and astonishing secrets, the family must also contend with matriarch Violet, a pill-popping, deeply unsettled woman at the center of this storm. A darkly funny tale, the play won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play the same year.

August: Osage County

Written by Tracy Letts
Directed by René Moreno

Performance Schedule:

Show Run Dates: Monday, April 2 – Sunday, April 22, 2012

Preview Dates: Friday, March 30 and Saturday, March 31 at 8pm

Pay What You Can: Sunday, April 1 at 7:30pm

Opening Night: Monday, April 2 at 7:30pm

Performances:

Wednesdays & Thursdays: 7:30pm

Fridays: 8pm

Saturdays: 2pm (April 21 only) & 8pm

Sundays: 2pm

Ticket Prices:

Single Tickets: $20 – $40

Preview Tickets: $20 (Note: Sunday, April 1 is "Pay What You Can")

How/Where to Buy Tickets:

www.watertowertheatre.org or 972-450-6232 or in person at WaterTower Theatre Box Office (Tuesday – Friday, 12pm to 6pm)

Addison Theatre Centre
15650 Addison Road
Addison, Texas 75001

About René Moreno (Director)

Actor and director René Moreno was born in Dallas, Texas. He studied music at Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, and theater and dance at Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University.

He has appeared in the Broadway productions of the Tony Award-winning play Amadeus, where he performed the role of Mozart/Understudy directed by Sir Peter Hall, opposite Frank Langella and Mary Elizabeth Mastrontonio (also the First National Tour opposite John Wood); and played Romeo in Joseph Papp's Shakespeare On Broadway opposite ReGina Taylor directed by Estelle Parsons with F. Murray Abraham, Delroy Lindo and Keith David.

In New York City, he has also appeared at the New York Shakespeare Festival/The Public Theater, NYSF/Festival Latino, The Writer's Theatre, The Ensemble Studio Theater, Pan Asian Repertory Theatre, INTAR Theatre, Lakota Theatre Company, New Dramatists, and The Drama League among others.

At The Public Theater, he was a founding member of the New York Shakespeare Festival Players, produced by Joseph Papp and directed by Estelle Parsons: an international, multi-cultural acting troupe that brought free out-door Shakespeare to NYC borough parks, and workshops and Broadway performances to NYC high school students and their families.

He has appeared in plays by Shakespeare, Lorca, Brecht, Shaw and Chekov at prestigious regional theaters across the country including Arena Stage (D.C.), Baltimore Centerstage, ALLIANCE THEATRE (Atlanta), The Old Globe (San Diego), Hartford Stage, Philadelphia Drama Guild, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, A Contemporary Theatre (Seattle), Pioneer Theatre Company (Salt Lake City), and the Peterborough Players (New Hampshire). In Dallas-Ft. Worth, he has performed at the Dallas Theater Center, Shakespeare Dallas, Theatre Three, WaterTower Theatre, WingSpan Theatre Company, Echo Theatre, New Arts Theatre, Arts and Letters Live at the Dallas Museum of Art (including Alley Theatre, Houston performance), Meadows School of the Arts, Project X and Kitchen Dog Theater, where he played the title role in King Richard III.

He has appeared in the Emmy Award-winning television programs Wishbone and the acclaimed documentary U.S.-Mexican War: 1846-48, as well as in Another World, As The World Turns, and Candid Camera. He has also appeared in the films Late Bloomers and Learning Curve, and was a true-to-life subject of an interactive documentary called Journey To Health: Mind, Body, Spirit.

He has directed numerous plays, including classic works and those of modern and emerging writers in productions that have garnered critical acclaim and award recognition. As a director, his varied work has been seen at the Milwaukee Repertory Theater (2 Pianos, 4 Hands); Skylight Opera Theatre, Milwaukee (Cabaret); Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, Urbana (Metamorphoses); and Oklahoma City Repertory Theatre (August: Osage County). He has also served as Assistant Director on several productions at the Guthrie Theater/Guthrie Lab, Milwaukee Rep, and Oregon Shakespeare Festival (Ashland). As well, in Dallas-Ft. Worth, he has directed at the Dallas Theater Center, Shakespeare Dallas (Hamlet), Contemporary Theatre of Dallas (The Trip to Bountiful), Stage West, Amphibian Stage Productions (No Child …), WaterTower Theatre, Kitchen Dog Theater, Upstart Productions, Dallas Children's Theater, Echo Theatre, Classical Acting Company, Plano Repertory Theatre, WingSpan Theatre Company, Circle Theatre, Martice Enterprises, Collin Theatre Center, Echo Theatre, Second Thought Theatre, Meadows School of the Arts, Broken Gear's Project Theatre (Creditors), Booker T. Washington High School of the Performing and Visual Arts, and Theatre Three among others.

He was a founder and producing partner of De Facto Theatre Group, where he co-produced and directed Sarah Kane's Crave and produced and directed the one-man play And Crown Thy Good: A True Story of 9/11 written and performed by Mark Oristano.

He has taught directing at Southern Methodist University and has been guest lecturer at the University of Illinois-Urbana/Champaign, University of Central Oklahoma, University of Dallas, University of North Texas, University of Texas/Dallas, University of Texas/Arlington, Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, Collin College and The Episcopal School of Dallas. He currently teaches acting at KD College Conservatory of Film and Dramatic Arts.

He is a member of AEA (Actors' Equity Association), AFTRA (American Federation of Radio and Television Artists), and SDC (Stage Directors and Choreographers Society).

He holds an MFA in Directing and a BFA in Theatre and Dance from the Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University. In New York City he studied acting with Herbert Berghof, Estelle Parsons, Michael Howard, Clyde Vinson, and Shakespeare with Robert Langdon Lloyd. He studied directing with Mesrop Kesdekian and Melia Bensussen.

He is an Artistic Associate with Shakespeare Dallas and with Contemporary Theatre of Dallas. He also serves on the Advisory Boards of Upstart Productions, Second Thought Theatre, and KD College Conservatory of Film and Dramatic Arts.

About Tracy Letts (Playwright)

Tracy Letts has been a Steppenwolf Theatre Company ensemble member since 2002. He was awarded the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for August: Osage County, which played on Broadway for over a year, following a run at Steppenwolf in 2007. August also played at London's National Theatre and a U.S. National Tour in summer 2009. Other accolades include five Tony Awards (including Best Play), an Olivier Award and six Jeff Awards (including Best Play). Letts is also the author of Superior Donuts, which had its world premiere at Steppenwolf in 2008 and opened on Broadway in 2009; Man from Nebraska, which was produced at Steppenwolf in 2003 and was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize; Killer Joe, which has been produced in Chicago, London and New York; and Bug, which has played in New York, Chicago and London.

About Terry Martin (Producing Artistic Director)

Multi-award winning Director Terry Martin is in his 12th season as Producing Artistic Director of WaterTower Theatre where he has overseen more than 70 productions.

Some of his 42 directing credits at WTT include Spring Awakening, Rockin' Christmas Party, 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.

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

Now in its 16th season, WaterTower Theatre began life in 1996 with 136 brave subscribers. 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.

WaterTower Theatre has produced 5 world premiere productions and 16 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 Theatre gratefully acknowledges the support of:

The Town of Addison, TACA, Texas Commission on the Arts, the 500, Inc., The Dallas Foundation & the National Endowment for the Arts.

WaterTower Theatre gratefully acknowledges the generosity of the following season sponsors:

Ackley Financial Group, Addison Business Association, Atmos Energy, Barbara and Bob Bigham, Don and Barbara Daseke, AT&T Yellow Pages, Frost Bank, Liberty Capital Bank, RoBert Mayer, Jr., The Shubert Foundation, Target Corporation, Women of WaterTower Theatre, and the WaterTower Theatre Board of Directors.

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