A Noise Within to Hold Sunday Rush Performance of ANNA IN THE TROPICS

A Noise Within (ANW), California's acclaimed classic repertory theatre company, announces the fifth production of its 30th anniversary season, Nilo Cruz's Pulitzer Prize-winning drama, Anna in the Tropics, directed by ANW's Director of Cultural Programming Jonathan Muñoz-Proulx (he/him). The play runs now through April 17, 2022, with a Sunday Rush performance on April 10 at 7:00 p.m. All remaining tickets for the Sunday evening performance are $25. Tickets are available online now for the performance with the code SUNDAYRUSH while selecting seats OR mention "SUNDAY RUSH" after 2 p.m. on the day of the performance at the box office window.

Shimmering with passion and poetry, Anna in the Tropics weaves the tale of a Cuban-American cigar factory in 1929 Florida where cigars are still rolled by hand and "lectors" are employed to transport and inspire the workers as they toil on the factory floor. As a handsome and debonair new lector, Juan Julian, reads the words of Tolstoy's Anna Karenina, the lives of the workers begin to parallel the novel. Old traditions and new ways collide while longing, love, and betrayal spark a volatile flame that signals the end of an era.

Ben Brantley of The New York Times said: "In evoking the lost Cuban-American world of a Florida cigar factory in 1929, Mr. Cruz has created a work as wistful and affectingly ambitious as its characters. Anna in the Tropics reaches for the artistic heavens."

Muñoz-Proulx, who joined ANW's artistic staff in 2018, built ANW's robust Noise Now program, which is designed to celebrate underrepresented populations, communities of color, young people, and all others not equitably represented in the theatre. Anna in the Tropics marks his first time directing a subscription season show on ANW's Redmond Stage, and he's excited to tackle this material, which he finds very relatable in the current moment.

"It depicts a beautiful tension between the old and the new, the past and the future, how these characters have to make a choice to evolve or honor tradition, as their lives play out-all this, not knowing America is on the precipice of the Great Depression," Muñoz-Proulx said.

In his preface to the play, Cruz said: "Literary reveries are related to cigar smoke-both permit one to escape the weight of the world and defy the laws of gravity. Cigar workers were able to escape the monotony of manual labor through literary reveries... Perhaps these imaginary flights don't offer immediate solutions to life's difficulties but to pause over a few lines of a book and share human emotions can bring us sense of consolation and alleviate reality."

Single ticket prices for Anna in the Tropics start at $25 and are available at anoisewithin.org, by phone at 626-356-3121, and at the box office located at 3352 East Foothill Blvd. in Pasadena, Calif.

Anna in the Tropics Cast and Creative Team

The cast includes
Santiago: Leandro Cano (he/him)
Cheché: Gabriel Bonilla (he/him)
Ofelia: Rose Portillo*
Marela: Katie Rodriguez* (she/her)
Conchita: Tania Verafield* (she/her/ella)
Palomo / Eliades: Matias Ponce* (he/him)
Juan Julian: Jason Olazabal* (he/him)

*Member of Actors' Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

Directed by Jonathan Muñoz-Proulx (he/him), scenic design by Tanya Orellana†, costume design by E.B. Brooks, lighting design by Tom Ontiveros, sound design by Jeff Gardner, wig & make-up design by Shelia Dorn, stage manager is Taylor Cullen*, assistant stage manager is Marisela Shogun*, properties designer is Shen Heckel, intimacy director is Carly D. Weckstein (she/her), lightboard operator is Mikayla Bettner, run crew is T Kosek.

Performances
Thursday, Apr. 7 at 7:30 p.m.
Friday, Apr. 8 at 8 p.m. (Post-Show Conversation)
Saturday, Apr. 9 at 2 p.m.
Saturday, Apr. 9 at 8 p.m.
Sunday, Apr. 10 at 2 p.m.
Sunday, Apr. 10 at 7 p.m. (Sunday Rush)
Thursday Apr. 14 at 7:30 p.m.
Friday, Apr. 15 at 8 p.m. (Post-Show Conversation)
Saturday, Apr. 16 at 2 p.m.
Saturday, Apr. 16 at 8 p.m.
Sunday, Apr. 17 at 2 p.m.

Ticket and Price Information

Buy Online: www.anoisewithin.org Buy Via Phone: 626-356-3121

Purchase at Box Office: 3352 E. Foothill Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91107

Regular Prices: Single tickets from $25, Student Rush with ID an hour before performance $20.

Groups (10 or more): Adults from $25 to $50 a ticket, up to 35% off; Students from $18/tickets. Call 626-356-3121 for more information and ask for Subscriber Services Manager Deborah Strang.

Sunday Rush: April 10 at 7 p.m. - all tickets remaining are $25. Buy tickets online beginning the Monday before the performance with the code SUNDAYRUSH while selecting seats OR mention "SUNDAY RUSH" after 2 p.m. on the day of the performance at the box office window.

ANW's 2021-2022, 30th Anniversary Season - THEY SHATTERED THE CHRYSALIS

"The world is in the midst of extraordinary change," said Geoff Elliott and Julia Rodriguez-Elliott, "a year of Covid-19; a time of greater awareness of systemic racism, and of confronting violence against people of color; a more aggressive push for women's and LGBTQ+ rights; and more. The world we once inhabited is shattering. Each of the productions in the 2021-22, 30th Anniversary Season is a passionate examination of seismic shifts in reality and how special individuals summon extraordinary courage to meet these changes head-on."

The anniversary season will continue with Nilo Cruz's Pulitzer Prize-winning Anna in the Tropics (March 20 - April 17, 2022), intertwines ritual, tradition, and raw sensuality in the working community of a Cuban-American cigar factory in 1920s Tampa, Florida. Anna in the Tropics will be directed by Jonathan Muñoz-Proulx (he/him), Director of Cultural Programming at ANW.

Following that, A Noise Within will conclude its triumphant return to the live stage with Mary Zimmerman's Metamorphoses (May 8 - June 5, 2022) directed by Julia Rodriguez-Elliott. Mary Zimmerman (author of ANW's award-winning Argonautika) creates this Tony Award®-nominated masterpiece, based on the myths of Ovid. Be mesmerized with tales of Midas, Orpheus, Aphrodite, and more in a whimsical and heartbreaking meditation on the joys and perils of being human.

Geoff Elliott and Julia Rodriguez-Elliott conclude, "Change can be joyful or heartbreaking. Change is inevitable. Change is necessary. Change is here! Join us as we celebrate protagonists who each 'Shattered the Chrysalis."

About A Noise Within

A Noise Within has been called "an oasis for those who love classic stories" by Los Angeles Times and is a leading regional producer based in Pasadena, Calif. ANW's award-winning resident company is committed to representing the entire community at their state-of-the-art, 324-seat performance space. In addition to producing world-class performances of classic theatre, the organization runs robust education programs with the goal of inspiring diverse audiences of all ages. ANW believes in working hard on our anti-racist practice across the whole organization. By interpreting our mission to fully engage audiences through community and artist-centered work in multiple creative disciplines, ANW is striving to be a theatre that better serves our entire community.

Producing Artistic Directors Julia Rodriguez-Elliott and Geoff Elliott, Managing Director Michael Bateman. www.anoisewithin.org

Pictured: Tania Verafield as Conchita in Anna in the Tropics.

Photo Credits: Daniel Reichert.

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