PIPPIN, DEATH OF A SALESMAN Et Al. Included in Kansas City Repertory Theatre's 2012-2013 Season

Eric Rosen has announced his selections for Kansas City Repertory Theatre's 2012-13 season, his fifth year as the theatre's artistic director.

"This season, we return to our roots with productions that feature more artists who live and work in our town than any other theatre in the region," said Rosen. "Fully four productions are devoted to Kansas City artists, including Gary Neal Johnson, Merle Moores, Mark Robbins and Ron MeGee, who is making his Rep debut."

All titles and dates are subject to change at the discretion of Kansas City Repertory Theatre.

PIPPIN
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz / Book by Roger O. Hirson
Directed by Eric Rosen
September 14 to October 7, 2012
Press Night: Friday, September 21
Spencer Theatre

Building upon the Rep's productions of INTO THE WOODS and CABARET, Eric Rosen directs Stephen Schwartz's iconic musical PIPPIN, the story of Prince Pippin's quest to find personal significance. Pippin traverses through the trials of war, love and politics before discovering himself amongst the peasants, isolated from the wealth and privilege of his previous royal life. Originally directed and choreographed by Bob Fosse, Rosen's staging will offer new visual and musical twists to a musical theatre classic.

Pippin premiered in October 1972 in New York where it ran for 1,944 performances and won five Tony Awards. The following year, it ran for 85 performances in London's West End.

At the Rep, Rosen has also directed Metamorphoses and The Trip to Bountiful prior to his appointment as artistic director, and Clay; Winesburg, Ohio; A Christmas Story, The Musical!; Cabaret and August: Osage County. His production of Venice had its world premiere at the Rep in 2010, and was named "Year's Best Musical" by Richard Zoglin of TIME Magazine.

THE MYSTERY OF IRMA VEP
Written by Charles Ludlam
Directed by Tom Aulino
October 19 to November 18, 2012
Press Night: Friday, October 26
Copaken Stage

With an array of lightning-fast transformations and costume changes, two of Kansas City's actors, Mark Robbins and Ron MeGee in his KC Rep debut, portray multiple men, women and monsters in THE MYSTERY OF IRMA VEP. Charles Ludlam's farcical thriller/comedy is a gender-bending tour-de-force that both celebrates and satirizes horror movies, classic literature and the conventions of theatre itself. Set on a "dark and stormy night," Lady Enid arrives at an estate with her new husband, who is under the spell of his deceased first wife. Freely quoting from a range of literary, cinematic and pop culture sources, THE MYSTERY OF IRMA VEP is a madcap romp with a nod to Shakespeare, Ibsen and Poe; werewolves, vampires and mummies.

Aulino is a busy Chicago and New York actor who is making his Kansas City Rep directing debut with Irma Vep. He appeared at the Rep in 2011 in Circle Mirror Transformation, with Mark Robbins.

A CHRISTMAS CAROL
Written by Charles Dickens
Directed by Kyle Hatley
November 16 to December 26, 2012
Press Night: Saturday, November 24
Spencer Theatre

The Ghost of Christmas Present with his famed Christmas Cheer in hand, returns to the Rep for the 32nd annual production of Kansas City's favorite holiday tradition. A CHRISTMAS CAROL is a telling of the classic story of Ebenezer Scrooge, the curmudgeonly businessman who requires the intervention of a few spectral guides to understand the true meaning of Christmas and life. Complete with musical numbers, costuming, and stagecraft, Dickens' tale of hope and redemption continues to remind us what's really worth celebrating - at the holidays, or any time.

Hatley, who is also Kansas City Rep's associate artistic director, restaged A CHRISTMAS CAROL in 2009 for its 30th anniversary production and has directed the show since. His other Rep directing credits include The Borderland, Broke-ology, Circle Mirror Transformation, and he served as associate director of August: Osage County. In 2011, he was honored by the Charlotte Street Foundation as a Generative Artist Fellow.

DEATH OF A SALESMAN
Written by Arthur Miller
Directed by Eric Rosen
January 18 to February 10, 2013
Press Night: Friday, January 25
Spencer Theatre

Winner of a Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize for best play, Arthur Miller's classic story of a down-on-his-luck salesman searching hopelessly for his American dream remains one of the most profound dramas in American theatre. Directed by Rosen, DEATH OF A SALESMAN draws on the exceptional talents of Kansas City's own Gary Neal Johnson and Merle Moores as the Willy and Linda Loman. Working from Miller's timeless, resonant themes of family, dreams deferred and lives unfulfilled, the Rep's production of Death of a Salesman will be nothing short of unforgettable.

Miller (1915-2005) is considered one of the leading playwrights of his generation. His prolific work for theatre includes The Crucible, A View from the Bridge, All My Sons and After the Fall.

WAITING FOR YOU ON THE CORNER OF (13TH AND WALNUT)
A new work commissioned by Kansas City Repertory Theatre
Created in partnership with Sojourn Theatre Company (Portland, OR)
and The TEAM (New York, NY)
Directed by Michael Rohd
February 15 to March 17, 2013
Press Night: February 22
Copaken Stage

The Rep partners with two award-winning theatre companies to premiere an original play about characters doing their best to talk, to listen and to survive in a country where the distance between two people is less than a shout but more than a handshake. Set in Kansas City, this fictional narrative follows a group of lonely individuals trying to forge connections in an increasingly fragmented and polarized world. A one-of-a-kind poetic theatrical event that combines movement, music, comedy and drama, WAITING FOR YOU ON THE CORNER OF (13TH AND WALNUT) examines how we listen to one another, find shared values, and seek consensus and communion as individuals and citizens today. Commissioned by Kansas City Repertory Theatre,WAITING FOR YOU ON THE CORNER OF (13TH AND WALNUT) continues our commitment to new theatre and investment in the stories of our community.

Led by Rohd and based in Portland, Oregon, Sojourn Theatre makes new theatre around the country that blends metaphor with public reality to bring strangers together amidst experiences where the ethical possibilities of imagination are placed alongside the communal muscle of responsibility.

The TEAM, the Theatre of the Emerging American Moment, is a New York City-based theatre company dedicated to dissecting and celebrating the experience of living in America today. Rachel Chavkin is the founding artistic director of The TEAM.

CAROUSEL
Music by Richard Rodgers / Book and Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II
Kansas City Rep presents The Living Room's production of Carousel
Directed by Kyle Hatley
March 15 to April 7, 2013
Press Night: Friday, March 22
Spencer Theatre

This is the musical theatre event that last year sparked delight in hearts of audience members and critics alike. The Rep's Associate Artistic Director Kyle Hatley and The Living Room, one of Kansas City's most imaginative small theatre companies, are bringing their re-envisioned, stripped-down CAROUSEL to Spencer Theatre for a second production, complete with "in-the round" seating. CAROUSEL tells a universal story of love, longing and doing our utmost for the people we care about, even if it leads to the ultimate sacrifice.

The Living Room is a non-traditional theatre space in the Crossroads Arts District of Kansas City, MO. Rusty Sneary is artistic director and co-owner, along with Shawnna Journagan.

AMERICAN BUFFALO
Written by David Mamet
Directed by Jerry Genochio
April 19 to May 19, 2013
Press Night: Friday, April 26
Copaken Stage

Winner of an Obie Award and New York Drama Critic's Best Play Award, AMERICAN BUFFALO tells the story of three small-time crooks and their struggle to get ahead. Centering on a scheme to recover a buffalo nickel, the three discover realities about business, leadership and ethics while in pursuit of the American Dream. An almost unintentional companion piece to DEATH OF A SALESMAN, AMERICAN BUFFALO takes a modern look at the underbelly of American capitalism in which every exchange, including friendship, has "business" written on it.

This is Genochio's directing debut at the Rep, where he is producing director and has been part of the artistic team since 2005.

Mamet is a Pulitzer Prize-winning America playwright, screenwriter and film director whose work also includes Sexual Perversity in Chicago, Speed the Plow and Glengarry Glen Ross. His screenplays include the Oscar-nominated films The Verdict (1982) and Wag the Dog (1997). He is a founding member of the Atlantic Theater Company.

For subscription and ticket information, please contact the Rep Box Office at 816-235-2700 or visit www.KCRep.org.

Now beginning its 48th season, Kansas City Repertory Theatre is its region's only member of the League of Resident Theatres (LORT) and serves as the professional theatre in residence at the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC). Lauded by The Wall Street Journal, TIME magazine, Variety and the Toronto Sun, the Rep produces mainstage plays and special events at Spencer Theatre on the UMKC campus and Copaken Stage located in downtown Kansas City. Kansas City Rep employs more than 250 professional artists, technicians and administrators, and serves more than 100,000 patrons and 10,000 school children annually. Kansas City Repertory Theatre is led by Artistic Director Eric Rosen, Managing Director Cynthia Rider and Producing Director Jerry Genochio.

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