The ghosts who have taken up residence with The Production Company are a restless lot, filled with a crackling, questing vitality rarely found even among the living. As embodied with disquieting fierceness by Sara Lilly, David Ross Paterson, and Skip Pipo in COPENHAGEN, this endlessly fascinating play by Michael Frayn is directed with surgical exactitude by August Viveirto to a fever pitch. These spectral presences just won't stop haunting one another with their questions and revisions and caveats. Give them the courtesy of your full attention, and you'll find them taking possession of your own imagination as well, probably raising your blood pressure in the process. They prove themselves electrifying companions.
COPENHAGEN, a critical and popular hit when it opened in London at the Royal National Theater in 1998 and on Broadway in 2000, is nominally about a meeting in 1941 between the venerable Danish physicist Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg, his former pupil, during which no one to this day knows exactly what happened. What was said or, equally important, not said takes on increased significance when you consider the possible stakes: the success of a German project led by Heisenberg. That project was the development of atomic weapons, something in which Bohr would later have a hand as a member of the legendary team at Los Alamos for the Allied Forces. There's tension aplenty in this drama, which allows Heisenberg, Bohr and Bohr's wife, Margrethe, to reunite after their deaths to sort out what may or may not have happened on that September evening.
The play opens on Friday, April 23rd, 2010 and runs Fridays and Saturdays at 8 PM and Sundays at 3 PM through May 29th at The
Production Company's home, The Chandler
Studio Theatre, 12443 Chandler Blvd, North Hollywood, CA 91607. Tickets are $25. and may be purchased at
www.theprodco.com or by calling 1-800-838-3006 (no performance Sundays, April 25th or May 2nd).
THE DIRECTOR
AUGUST VIVERITO (Director) is the Artistic Director of The
Production Company for which he has produced 18 plays yielding substantial acclaim for his company. He directed the recent Ovation Recommended production of
Paula Vogel's Pulitzer Prize-winning How I Learned to Drive,
Peter Shaffer's Equus (Winner: Best Revival and Best Actor from the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle, Winner: Best Revival from LA Weekly, as well as Ovation and additional nominations for Best Play and Best Director), Mrs Warren's Profession (Two LA Weekly Award Nominations), Spring Awakening, The Eight: Reindeer Monologues,
John Gay's Diversions & Delights, and the world premiere of Nicholas Nickleby for The
Production Company. Mr. Viverito served as the Artistic Director for the
Attic Theatre Ensemble, was on the Executive Board of The Knightsbridge Theatre, and was founder of The McCormick House Theatre back on the East Coast. He is currently also serving as Communications Manager for West Coast Ensemble. For the Attic, Mr. Viverito directed hit productions of the World Premiere of
Richard Martin Hirsch's Peripheral Vision, Back
Stage West ‘Critic's Pick' The Eight: Reindeer Monologues, and Studz Terkel/
Stephen Schwartz/
Nina Faso's Musical Masterpiece Working. For other stages he has directed productions of The Rainmaker, Beautiful Bodies, Little Women, Godspell, Our Town, Jesus Christ, Superstar and many others including numerous original works. As a stage performer he has appeared in leading roles in many acclaimed productions including Assassins, Blood Brothers, Pippin, Merrily We Roll Along, How to Succeed In Business..., and Sweet Charity.
THE AUTHOR
Michael Frayn (Playwright) is an English playwright and novelist. He is best known as the author of the farce Noises Off and the dramas Copenhagen and Democracy. His novels, such as Towards the End of the Morning, Headlong and Spies, have also been critical and commercial successes, making him one of the handful of writers in the English language to succeed in both drama and prose fiction. His works often raise philosophical questions in a humorous context.
THE STAFF
T L KOLMAN (Assistant Director/Producer) is a critically acclaimed actor, director and producer. Directing credits for The
Production Company include the critically-acclaimed The Diviners, The Twilight of the Golds (StageSceneLA's Outstanding Direction of a Play), Clear As Day, True Blue, and Scrub My Tub. Other directing credits include The Shadow Box (One of the Top Ten Plays of 2004), Agnes of God, and Ordinary People. His producing credits include the world premiere of Nicholas Nickleby, Equus (Multiple Award-winner), Sweeney Todd, M. Butterfly, Wit (Ovation Nomination, Best Play), Spring Awakening, In On It, A Good Smoke, Diversions & Delights, Dancing at Lughnasa, and Working. As an actor he most recently was seen here at the Chandler
Studio Theatre in Mrs. Warren's Profession and The Eight: Reindeer Monologues. Other favorite stage appearances include the world premiere of Buddies at
Celebration Theatre, Sunday in the Park with George at West Coast Ensemble (Ovation Nomination, Best Musical), Insurrection: Holding History, Medea, The Elephant Man, Love! Valour! Compassion! and Nicholas Nickleby. He is best known for his role as the Xyrillian Engineer on Star Trek: Enterprise. Mr. Kolman can be heard as the singing voice of Ratha Sam on the CD recording of Cambodia: The Musical. He has served as Managing Director for the
Attic Theatre & Film Center, and is a current member of West Coast Ensemble, AEA and SAG
KELLY LLOYD (Dramaturg) spent the better-part of a decade touring a one-person show about the life of
Anne Frank and teaching about WWII and the Holocaust throughout the US and Canada. Proud member of AEA.
SARAH LILLY* (Margrethe Bohr) has performed everything from musicals to experimental. She is very proud to have originated the L.A. premieres of Mrs. Potentate in
Larry Kramer's Just Say No and Kitty in
Charles Busch's The Lady in Question. Last year she was delighted to play Sara Turing in The
Production Company's Breaking the Code here at the Chandler for which she received a Backstage Garland Critic's List Nomination. Most recently onstage she was in Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus as Tamora, the evil Queen of the Goths. She has worked with directors
Garry Marshall, Joe Dante, Allan Arkush,
GorDon Hunt and Kris Tabori among others. Big screen stuff includes Valentine's Day, Georgia Rule, Failure to Launch as well as small screen
Brothers and Sisters.
David Ross PATERSON* (Niels Bohr) was most recently on stage in Mrs Cage directed by Barbara Bain at NoHo Actors Studio following his 2009 Ovation and LA Weekly Award nominated performance in Breaking the Code for The
Production Company at The Chandler
Studio Theatre. Played
Bob King in the US premiere of
David Williamson's Sanctuary at VCPA.Film roles include
Ron Howard's Frost/Nixon and
David Fincher's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and The Red Machine (Winner at 2010 Sedona and Durango Independent Film Festivals). Television includes Lost, The Unit and a recurring role on Aussie soap Neighbours. Has appeared in many film and television projects in Australia and the US. Co-founded Boxing Day Productions mounting numerous stage shows in both countries and winning awards at Melbourne and New York Fringe Festivals. For Boxing Day he co-wrote and produced five-month Australian national tour show Reserved Seating Only performing alongside partner Cecelia Specht. Paterson is proud to be a foundation company member of The Vanguard Repertory & La Canada-Flintridge Shakespeare Festival - www.lcfshakes.com. Known for his work in sketch comedy, he is currently working on new web projects showcasing a number of characters including conflicted pharmacist Howard Crenshaw, guru Aussie acting coach Peter Pakington (revealing the secret behind Australian Hollywood dominance by helping the actor release their inner marsupial), and The making of Dermott O'Herrilly's Waikiki Heat - all soon to be seen on new comedy website CheapFlightsFreePorn.com. A graduate of New York's New Actors Workshop, Paterson studied with
George Morrison,
Paul Sills and
Mike Nichols. He also studied with
Uta Hagen and Carol Rosenfeld at HB Studio.
SKIP PIPO (Werner Heisenberg) was last seen as a number of characters in The
Production Company's How I Learned to Drive. He has also worked with The
Production Company in Mrs. Warren's Profession (LA Weekly Award nominee), the LADCC & LA Weekly award winning Equus, Nicholas Nickleby and serves on the company's board. Other LA stage credits include the critically acclaimed Bug for USVAA, St. Joan for Hollywood Rep, and the premiere of Roar of the Tiger at the Egyptian Arena. Film/TV work includes the show Reasonable Doubt, the new film Poker Run and numerous commercials.
THE COMPANY
THE
Production Company'S 2009-2010 season, which began with critically-acclaimed productions of SWEENEY TODD, HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE, and THE DIVINERS continues with two Tony Award-winning BEST PLAYS:
Michael Frayn's COPENHAGEN (April 2010), and
Peter Shaffer's smash-hit AMADEUS (June 2010).
The
Production Company is the recipient of 2 LA Drama Critics Circle Awards and an LA Weekly Theatre Award for 2009 wit a total of 10 Ovation Award Nominations, 13 LA Weekly Award Nominations, 30 StageSceneLA Commendations, & a 2009 Best Season Commendation from LAStageBlog. It is the resident theatre company at The Chandler
Studio Theatre, and a 501c3 non-profit theatre organization. Our humbling recognition includes numerous ‘Best Play', ‘Best Director', and ‘Best Actor' nominations, many ‘Critic's Pick' designations, and a ‘Best Season' commendation this past year. The Company's mission is to provide our community with highly thought-provoking, extraordinary performing arts experiences through live, Broadway-caliber performances of some of the world's greatest, most engaging and most evocative plays.
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