Previews For A Noise Within's Anouilh's Icy Drama Begin 4/11

A Noise Within (ANW), the acclaimed repertory theatre company, concludes its 18th Season with Jean Anouilh's The Rehearsal, which opens Saturday, April 18 and closes Sunday, May 24, 2009 (previews begin Saturday, April 11).  One of the celebrated French playwright's most critically acclaimed plays, it is directed by ANW Co-Founder/Co-Artistic Director Julia Rodriguez-Elliott, and the cast includes Steve Coombs (Villebosse), Susan Angelo (Countess), Robertson Dean (The Count), Jill Hill (Hortensia), Mitchell Edmonds (Damiens), ANW Co-Founder/Co-Artistic Director Geoff Elliott (Hero), Lenne Klingaman (Lucille) and Chris Roessner (Footman).

Anouilh creates a world filled equally with brave affirmation and bitter protest, crackling with sharp wit and icy romanticism.  Idealism and reality collide as the leading character, Count Tiger, disillusioned by a life spent pursuing pleasure, seems to find salvation in the purity of a young visitor to his court.  Members of his jaded, sated court, threatened by disruption of the fragile status quo, are bent on ferreting out and annihilating his innocent savior.

The Rehearsal, set in 1950's France, revolves around a ball where The Players are performing Marivaux's comedy The Double Inconstancy.  The characters spend most of the time in 18th century costumes, creating a dynamic theatrical intersection as they switch back and fourth between the worlds of Marivaux and Anouilh.  'The play is humorous but also emotionally dire and exists in a world of excess,' says Rodriguez-Elliott.  'The characters possess great wit but there is tremendous misery and malignancy underneath the humor.  They've established a way of living where husbands and wives accept outside relationships, lovers, mistresses as part of the culture, but when one character discovers true love for the first time and decides to stray from the pack, the group is threatened and terrified of change.  The rules must be obeyed or the group will destroy anyone who changes the game.'

A Noise Within (ANW) is the only classical repertory company in Southern California and one of only a handful in the entire country dedicated solely to producing classical dramatic literature year-round and working in the repertory tradition of rotating productions using a resident company of professional artists.  ANW is led by Founders/Artistic Directors Julia Rodriguez-Elliott and Geoff Elliott.

Over the last 17 years, ANW has attracted fiercely loyal audiences and high praise from the media for its productions of great works of world drama and also as a leading regional force in arts education.  The company's consistent dedication to quality has been rewarded with 26 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards, Los Angeles' highest recognition for theatrical achievement, and other similarly substantial honors.  Since its founding in 1991, A Noise Within has presented more than 120 plays from the classics of world literature, each season producing a minimum of six plays from authors ranging from Shakespeare and Molière, to Ibsen, O'Neill and Shaw, to Miller and Williams.  The Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle named A Noise Within's production of O'Neill's A Touch of the Poet Best Revival of 2006, and the LA Stage Alliance nominated Jarry's Ubu Roi for six Ovation Awards.  In 2004, the theatre collaborated with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen in a tandem performance of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Hollywood Bowl.

A Noise Within's 2008-09 season is dedicated to the De Pietro family for their unflagging generosity and support for the past 17 years.

Single Tickets are $44 (Friday and Saturday evenings, Sunday matinees); $40 (Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday evenings, Saturday matinees); and $28 (previews).  Groups (10 or more) are $25, or $30 on Saturday evenings and Sunday matinees; School Groups (10 or more) are $15, or $20 on Saturday evenings and Sunday matinees.

A Noise Within is located at 234 South Brand Boulevard, Glendale, CA 91204.  To purchase tickets or for a full season brochure, call 818-240-0910 x1 or visit www.ANoiseWithin.org.

Director Julia Rodriguez-Elliot, co-founder and co-artistic director of A Noise Within along with her husband Geoff Elliott, has co-produced close to 100 productions and has directed/co-directed more than 40 including the critically acclaimed 2008-09 season production of Neil Bartlett's adaptation of Oliver Twist and the 2004 performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Hollywood Bowl with the Los Angeles Philharmonic conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen.  Other directorial credits include The Winter's Tale, Othello, The Tempest, Coriolanus, Macbeth, Ubu Roi, Loot, A Flea in Her Ear, Mourning Becomes Electra, Great Expectations, Buried Child, Another Part of the Forest, Life is A Dream, Master Builder and The Price.  For four consecutive years, Rodriguez-Elliott has conducted a workshop for the National Endowment for the Arts Journalism Institute in Theatre and Musical Theatre at the University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication.  Rodriguez-Elliott has extensive experience teaching theatre arts to students from middle school to college and regularly conducts student workshops as part of A Noise Within's educational programming.  She has served on theatre panels for organizations such as the National Endowment for the Arts, Los Angeles County Arts Commission and the LA Stage Alliance.  In addition, she regularly conducts lectures for CalArts, the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and schools throughout the California State and University of California school systems, to name a few.  Rodriguez-Elliott holds a BFA from the University of Florida and an MFA from The American Conservatory Theatre.

Making her ANW debut, Susan Angelo (The Countess) has extensive film and television credits that include Medium, Law & Order: CI, CSI: Miami, ER, Jag, King of Queens, The Truman Show, Apollo 11, and Fatal Instinct as well as a recurring role on Days of Our Lives.  Also noted for her numerous theatrical appearances, she has played Inez in LifeX3 at Pittsburgh Public; Regan in King Lear at Indiana Rep & Syracuse Stage; Candida in Candida, Elmire in Tartuffe at American Players Theatre; Princess in Love's Labour's Lost at The Shakespeare Theatre; Christina in Ghost Mall, Angel in Daughters of Genius at William Inge Theatre; and at Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum as Lady MacBeth in MacBeth, Lady Sneerwell in School for Scandal, Goneril in King Lear, Mistress Page in Merry Wives of Windsor, Portia in Merchant of Venice, Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing, and Titania in Midsummer Night's Dream.  Angelo holds an MFA from George Washington University and a BFA from California Institute of the Arts.

Robertson Dean (The Count), who played Vladimir in Waiting for Godot and Ensemble in Oliver Twist this season, has appeared in numerous other ANW productions including King Henry IV in Henry IV, Part 1, Theramenes in Phaedra, Jaques, Lord to Duke Senior in As You Like It, Prospero in The Tempest, Arnolphe in The School For Wives, Sir Toby Belch in Twelfth Night, Walter Franz in The Price, Macbeth in Macbeth, Leonid Gayev in The Cherry Orchard, Don Adriano de Armado in Love's Labour's Lost, Pericles in Pericles, Richard Greatham in Hayfever, Astolfo in Life is a Dream, Iachimo in Cymbeline, Gooper in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew, Horace in The Little Foxes, and Oedipus in Oedipus the King, among others.  Dean is also noted for recording dozens of books on tape; Audiofile stated, 'What distinguishes his work is a judicious use of understatement and careful pacing.'  Trained at Yale Drama School, Dean has appeared in Broadway productions of Pygmalion and The Circle.  Off Broadway he performed in The Common Pursuit, The Fairy Garden, Crossfire and Fanshen.  In addition, he has appeared with Yale Rep., American Repertory, Hartford Stage, Cincinnati Playhouse, Arizona Theatre Company, GeVA, Long Wharf, Baltimore Center Stage, Buffalo Studio Arena, Actor's Theatre of Louisville, Pasadena Playhouse, International Theater Company, Shakespeare Santa Cruz and the Magic Theater in San Francisco.  Dean has played a recurring role on the television series 24, and has appeared on Enterprise, Frasier, Sabrina, Cybill, Star Trek, Working, All American Girl, Dream On, Larroquette, The Bold and the Beautiful, Ugly Betty and enjoyed a seven-year run as Ned on The Young and The Restless.  His film credits include Parole, Here Come The Munsters, Disney's The Red Coat, and the features Money Talks, Bombshell, Vanilla Sky, Star Trek: Nemesis, and Forgiving the Franklins (Sundance Film Festival).  He also records many voiceovers, narrations, radio dramas, and CD Rom games.

Jill Hill (Hortensia) is a long-time resident artist with A Noise Within.  Her numerous roles with the company include Nancy/Ensemble in Neil Bartlett's adaptation of Oliver Twist during the 2008-09 season, Mistress Quickly in Henry IV, Part 1, Hannah Jelkes in The Night of the Iguana, Hermione in The Winter's Tale, Mrs. Purdie in Dear Brutus, Fay in Loot, Deborah in A Touch of the Poet, Queen Rosumund/Anna Stanislas in Ubu Roi, Aline Solness in The Master Builder, Emilia in Othello, Lucienne in A Flea in Her Ear, Mrs. Molloy in The Matchmaker, Virgilia in Coriolanus, Clarice/Smeraldina in The King Stag, First Witch/Lady Macduff in Macbeth, Princess of France in Love's Labour's Lost, Imogen Parrott in Trelawny of the Wells, Estrella in Life is a Dream, Sabina in The Skin of Our Teeth, Mae in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Belle/Charwoman in A Christmas Carol, Bianca in Taming of the Shrew, Geraldine in What the Butler Saw, Teiresias in Oedipus the King, Molly/Mrs. Joe in Great Expectations, Birdie in The Little Foxes and Another Part of the Forest, among others.  She has also appeared in productions with American Conservatory Theatre, Nassau Repertory, Kenyon Festival Theatre, The Westbank (NYC), and The Matrix Theatre (LA).  Television viewers will recognize her from various soap operas and television guest star roles, and her distinct voice can be heard on such audio books as Gapcreek and The Truest Pleasure by Robert Morgan, produced by John Runnette.  She studied at the English Speaking Theatre in Copenhagen and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London, earned a BFA from Denison University in Granville, Ohio, and is a graduate and company member of The American Conservatory Theatre.

Mitchell Edmonds (Damiens), celebrating his 17th season as a resident member of A Noise Within, is also currently appearing this season as Pedant in The Taming of the Shrew and most recently as Pozzo in Waiting for Godot.  The Tennessee native began performing as a youngster in his church's drama club and with the University of Tennessee's Carousel Children's Theatre.  At 15, he joined The Bishop's Company, a repertory touring company and continued touring through his teens with a children's theater company and a marionette company.  He also participated in summer stock at the Wagon Wheel Playhouse in Indiana and the Wingspread summer Theatre in Michigan.  Edmonds served in the U.S. Air Force in the early '60's and was stationed at a base near Tokyo.  There he performed with a base theatre club as well as with the Tokyo Armature Dramatic Club.  He also dubbEd English into Japanese films.  Edmonds subsequently acted at the Provincetown Playhouse in New York City as part of its repertory company.  He also performed extensively at such regional theatres as Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, New Orleans Rep, South Coast Rep, A Contemporary Theatre in Seattle, the Performing Arts Foundation on Long Island, San Diego Rep, The ALLIANCE THEATRE in Atlanta, Alaska Rep in Anchorage, the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego, Cortland Rep in upper New York.  In addition, Edmonds co-founded a marionette company based in Atlanta and was the founder and director for three years of the Studio Company in Atlanta.  He has performed at Broadway's Court Theatre in Red, White and Maddox in 1969 and Two Shakespearian Actors in 1992.  At A Noise Within, Edmonds has appeared in more than 40 plays, including Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Skin of Our Teeth, Romeo and Juliet, Heartbreak House, Waiting for Godot, Great Expectations, Henry IV, Part One and Tartuffe.  Among his television credits are True Blood, The West Wing, Days of Our Lives, Frazier and Numb3rs.

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