Tony Winning Best Play RED Opens At Florida Rep

Tony-Winning Best Play, RED, Opens at Florida Rep

Florida Repertory Theatre announced the opening of Red, 2010's electrifying and Tony-Winning BEST PLAY from the Oscar-nominated author of The Aviator, Gladiator and Hugo. Red is a provocative portrait of an angry and briliant man, expressionist painter, Mark Rothko. Playing March 6-25 with three nearly sold-out discounted previews on Mar. 6, 7 & 8.

"This play is one of the hottest titles in America right now, and for good reason," said Producing Artistic Director and the play's director, Robert Cacioppo, "it is one of the most powerfully written character studies I have ever seen. It is a delicate and dangerous portrait of a very complex man, and we see him in crisis. Furthermore, our production features a powerhouse of an actor as Rothko, William McNulty, and one of the brightest new talents I've come across in David McElwee. This play is just electric to watch, and these two actors are thoroughbreds."

Red offers a powerful look at the brilliant painter, Mark Rothko in the two years he spent working feverishly to paint the Seagram Murals. In 1958 Rothko received the most important and lucrative commission in the history of modern art from the Seagram Corporation to paint murals that were set to hang in the Four Seasons Restaurant. Red is an electrifying and tantalizing fictional account of the two years Rothko took to paint those murals - locked alone in his New York studio with his young protégé. Their relationship grows, changes and turns dangerous as Rothko realizes that his crowning achievement may lead to his undoing.

Red stars William McNulty and David McElwee. Mr. McNulty is a veteran regional theatre actor, director, playwright and resident artist at Actors Theatre of Louisville who is making his Florida Rep debut as Mark Rothko. During his thirty-six-year tenure with that company, Mr. Mcnulty has played over 150 roles including Jamie in Moon for the Misbegotten, Roy Cohn in Angels in America, and Norman in The Norman Conquests. David McElwee is also making his Florida Rep debut, and is a New York based actor with Florida roots. Mr. McElwee is a 2010 graduate of Florida State University and a native of Melbourne, Florida. His recent work Off-Broadway includes work with the New York Classical Theatre, The Calliope Theatre Company, and as a guest artist with Manhattan Theatre Club. In addition to working in New York, David has also participated in workshops of the new plays Returns: A Meditation In Post Traumatic Stress at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin and Pilgrimage at the Blank Theatre in Los Angeles.

Producing Artistic Director, Robert Cacioppo (August: Osage County), directs the production, and is joined by an expert team of designers, including set designer Richard Crowell (Its a Wonderful Life; Trying), lighting designer Todd O. Wren (God of Carnage), Florida Rep's resident costumer Roberta Malcolm (God of Carnage; It's a Wonderful Life), resident sound designer Kate Smith (The Year of Magical Thinking), and production stage manager, Janine Wochna (King o' the Moon).

John Logan's Red plays March 6-25, with previews on Mar. 6 at 8pm, Mar. 7 at 2pm and Mar. 8 at 8pm. Tickets are going fast for the preview performances. Regular performances are Tues. - Sat. at 8pm, with matinees on Wed., Sun., and selected Saturdays at 2pm with a 7pm twilight performance on Sun., Mar. 11.

Single tickets are now on sale through the box office at 239-332-4488, online at floridarep.org, and are $45/$40 and $25/$20 for discounted previews. Subscriptions for the 2011-2012 Season offer the best savings, and packages start as low as $111 for 3 shows.

Florida Repertory Theatre performs in the Historic Arcade Theatre on Bay St. between Jackson & Hendry with ample free parking in the Fort Myers River District.

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