Kaufman's '33 Variations' Opens La Jolla Season April 8

The West Coast premiere of the new play 33 Variations, opens La Jolla Playhouse's 2008/2009 season. Written and directed by renowned theatre artist Moisés Kaufman, the play illuminates the past and present using projections of Beethoven's original sheet music and a live on-stage concert pianist. 33 Variations will open April 8 in the Mandel Weiss Theatre at La Jolla Playhouse and continue through May 4, 2008.

"33 Variations revolves around modern-day musicologist Katherine Brandt who sets out to solve a mystery regarding a set of variations composed by Ludwig van Beethoven based on a very trivial waltz. In the play, an over-achieving Brandt travels to Beethoven's archives in Bonn to study the composer's sketches first-hand. Combining true historical accounts and fictional characters, Moisés Kaufman refers to his drama as a 'compositional journey' - A story of a woman who by realizing something about Beethoven, realizes something about herself and her relationship with her daughter," describe press notes.

Moisés Kaufman is one of the most celebrated writers and directors working in theatre today. He directed the Pulitzer and Tony Award-winning play I Am My Own Wife by Doug Wright on Broadway, which began at the Playhouse as a Page To Stage workshop production in 2001 and had its West Coast premiere here in 2005. As a writer/director, his work includes Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde (Lucille Lortel Award, Outer Critics Circle Award, Joe Callaway Award, GLAAD Media Award) and The Laramie Project (Lucille Lortel, Drama Desk nominations, GLAAD Media Award).

33 Variations had its world premiere in August 2007 at Arena Stage in Washington, DC.

The cast will feature: Don Amendolia (Anton Diabelli), Susan Kellerman (Gertie Ladenburger), Laura Odeh (Clara Brandt), Erik Steele (Anton Schindler) and Diane Walsh (Pianist). The creative team includes Derek McLane (sets), Janice Pytel (costumes), David Lander (lighting), Andre Pluess (sound) and Jeffrey Sugg (projections).

Single tickets for 33 Variations go on sale March 9 and prices range from $29 to $62. Performance times are Tuesday and Wednesday, 7:30PM; Thursday through Saturday, 8:00pm and Sundays 7PM. Matinees are held on Saturdays and Sundays at 2:00pm. To purchase, call (858) 550-1010 or online at www.lajollaplayhouse.org.

Moises Kaufman

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