South Coast Repertory Presents MISALLIANCE, 9/10-10/10

All the wrong men chase all the wrong women in Misalliance, an exuberant comedy from George Bernard Shaw that opens South Coast Repertory's 47th season. This witty classic, helmed by SCR Artistic Director Martin Benson, runs Sept. 10 through Oct. 10 on the Segerstrom Stage.
 
Stage and screen veteran Dakin Matthews, who appeared in SCR's production of Shaw's Major Barbara and more recently portrayed Polonious in Hamlet, plays the pivotal role of John Tarleton, underwear magnate and armchair philosopher.
 
Melanie Lora (Collected Stories) takes on the part of his spoiled daughter, Hypatia, a young woman bored with life and her fiancé, Bentley (Wyatt Fenner). Then a plane drops from the sky into the Tarleton greenhouse, bringing with it a dashing pilot (Peter Katona) and a lady acrobat (Kirsten Potter). Soon afterwards, a man with a gun and a grudge (JD Cullum) turns up in their Turkish bath. Suddenly, the rules of courtship are turned upside-down as the Tarletons and their friends attempt to woo the new guests.
 
Rounding out the cast are Amelia White (The Heiress) as Mrs. Tarleton, SCR newcomer Daniel Bess as John Tarleton, Jr., and SCR Founding Artist Richard Doyle as Lord Summerhays.
 
Shaw, best known for such works as Pygmalion, Arms and the Man, St. Joan and Mrs. Warren's Profession, is the only person to win both an Oscar and the Nobel Prize for literature. Director Martin Benson has a long and lauded history with the playwright's works; he has won the L.A. Drama Critics Circle's directing prize three times for his Shaw productions.
 "Some people hear the name 'Shaw' and think 'intellectual,'" said Benson. "But he is so funny and human. I defy anyone to read Misalliance and not think, Number One, that it's funny, and Number Two, that the characters are very real in their wants and desires."
 
The Misalliance creative team includes Ralph Funicello (set design), Maggie Morgan (costume design), Tom Ruzika (lighting design), Michael Roth (original music), Oanh Nguyen (associate director), Jamie A. Tucker (stage manager) and Chrissy Church (assistant stage manager).
 
Mary Beth Adderley and Elizabeth and Ryan Williams are the Honorary Producers, and U.S. Bank is the Corporate Honorary Producer. The Segerstrom Stage season media partner is KOCE-TV and the media partners for Misalliance are Orange Coast Magazine and 89.3 KPCC.
 
TICKETS: Can be purchased online at www.scr.org, by phone at (714) 708-5555 or by visiting the box office at 655 Town Center Drive in Costa Mesa.  Performances begin Sept. 10 and continue through Oct. 10.  Ticket prices range from $20 to $66.  Low-priced preview performances are available Sept. 10 - 16. Opening night is Friday, Sept. 17, and press night is Saturday, Sept. 18, at 8 p.m.
 
TIMES: Previews are Friday and Saturday, Sept. 10 - 11, at 8 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 12, at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday and Wednesday, Sept. 14 - 15, at 7:30 p.m., and Thursday, Sept. 16, at 8 p.m.  Regular performances are Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings at 7:30 p.m., and Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings at 8 p.m., with Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2:30 p.m. Discounts are available for full-time students, patrons 25 years of age and under, educators, seniors and groups of 10 or more.  There will be an ASL-interpreted performance on Saturday, October 9, at 2:30 p.m.
 
POST-SHOW DISCUSSIONS:  Wednesday, Sept. 22, & Tuesday, Sept. 28
Discuss the play with members of the Misalliance cast during free post-show discussions led by South Coast Repertory's literary team.
 
INSIDE THE SEASON:  Saturday, Sept. 25, 10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.  $12
Inside the Season is a series of interactive classes that provides a comprehensive inside look at the theatrical production process.  Each two-hour class features creative personnel from South Coast Repertory's current production.  Inside the Season is offered on select Saturday mornings from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.  Tickets are $12 each and can be purchased online at www.scr.org, by phone at (714) 708-5555 or at the Box Office.  (Tickets to Misalliance are sold separately.)
 
LOCATION:  South Coast Repertory is located at 655 Town Center Drive in Costa Mesa, at the Bristol Street/Avenue of the Arts exit off the San Diego (405) Freeway in the Folino Theater Center, part of the Segerstrom Center for the Arts.  Parking is available off Anton Blvd. on Park Center Drive.
 
COMING UP: In the Next Room or the vibrator play (Sept. 26 - Oct. 17), Becky Shaw (Oct. 22 - Nov. 21), Sideways Stories from Wayside School (Nov. 5 - 21). 
 
ABOUT SCR: Tony Award-winning South Coast Repertory, under the artistic direction of David Emmes and Martin Benson, is widely recognized as one of the leading professional theaters in the United States.  Founded in 1964, SCR is committed to theater that illuminates the compelling personal and social issues of our time, not only on its stages but through its education and outreach programs.  While its productions represent a balance of classic and modern theater, SCR is renowned for its extensive new play development program, including the Pacific Playwrights Festival.  Of SCR's more than 445 productions, 117 have been world premieres with subsequent stagings achieving enormous success across America and around the world.  SCR-developed works have garnered eight Pulitzer Prize nominations, with Margaret Edson's Wit winning the prize in 1999 and David Lindsay-Abaire's Rabbit Hole in 2007.  Located in Costa Mesa, California, in 2002 SCR opened the Folino Theater Center, an expanded three-theater complex that includes the 507-seat Segerstrom Stage, the 336-seat Julianne Argyros Stage and the 94-seat Nicholas Studio