TN Shakespeare Company's TWELFTH NIGHT Notoriously Fabulous at the Dixon

Inspired by both titles of William Shakespeare's popular, musical comedy, Tennessee Shakespeare Company (TSC), the Mid-South's professional classical theatre, continues its seventh season of plays with a turn-of-the-century musical hall production of Twelfth Night, or What You Will.

Coming off the company's record-breaking production of Richard III over Halloween, Twelfth Night will run December 11-21 in the Dixon's Winegardner Auditorium to celebrate all the seasonal holidays during our Winter Solstice.

The production is sponsored by Pat Ernest Kelly.

Directed by TSC founder and producing artistic director Dan McCleary (Richard in Richard III), Twelfth Night features more than the usual cross-dressing, music, and songs in Shakespeare's play. The close-quartered Dixon space invites a celebratory party atmosphere reminiscent of the Moulin Rouge.

The company

Twelfth Night features a professional, Equity ensemble from around the country and Memphis.

Returning to TSC are Carey Urban (Romeo and Juliet) as Viola, Gabriel Vaughan (As You Like It, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Tempest, Hamlet) as Orsino, Johnny Lee Davenport (Othello, Macbeth, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Tempest, Richard III) as Malvolio, Paul Kiernan (The Taming of the Shrew, Richard III) as Sir Toby Belch, Michael Khanlarian (As You Like It, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Othello, Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest) as Curio/Antonio/Fabian, Rachel Brun (Romeo and Juliet, Richard III) as Sebastian, and Crash Buist (Richard III) as Maria/Priest.

New to the company this season are John Leonard Thompson as Andrew Aguecheek, Brad DePlanche as Feste, Tracie Thomason as Olivia, and Oliver Crawford as the Officer.

The design team includes Memphians Janice Benning Lacek (costumes), Brian Ruggaber (scenic and properties), Jeremy Allen Fisher (lighting), Steven DiBlasi (music arranger/live pianist); and Neil Freeman (First Folio). The stage manager is Melissa A. Nathan, with Blakely Saucier and Oliver Crawford.

Twelfth Night, arguably Shakespeare's last comedy, which follows Hamlet in chronology of creation, has been popular since its first recorded staging in 1601. It features a number of familiar dramaturgical devices for Shakespeare, including a shipwreck, separated identical twins, and cross-dressing lovers.

"But here Shakespeare introduces into this familiar and pleasurable terrain at least three unique creations," says McCleary. "His Malvolio, while perhaps modeled on the moralizing playwright Ben Jonson, is a profile we still marvel at today: the puritan espousing a moral certainty for all while secretly exercising his true self in a closet of boas and high heels. Feste the fool, who could well be a mirror of Shakespeare's own regard for life and his comedy-writing, is perhaps the wisest of the lot. And it is a play, while textually clean for us and elegantly structured, that releases itself from reasonable action or drive. It is a fleet-footed celebration of the irrational, irresponsible heart. The characters don't stop to reason their hearts. They love wherever their heart leads them, regardless of gender, status, color, age. It is mature, inspired, and perhaps more realistic than any of us care to admit.

"Twelfth Night is frequently considered a play filled with 'midsummer madness," but it likely is the most emotionally understanding of all of Shakespeare's comedies."

Though the "Twelfth Night" of the title usually refers to the Feast of the Epiphany following our modern Christmas holiday, the title was likely more casually used for Shakespeare's play as were his As You Like It and Much Ado About Nothing. More probable is his desire that the play's second title (What You Will) be used to define his enigmatic comedy, which ranges between his most human to his most mad to most dark to most musical, funny, and witty.

TSC calls on the period of 1880-1910 musical halls of Paris, Spain, and the U.S. to create an overly theatrical space in the Winegardner Auditorium that will invite the audience over the footlights and into the greasepaint. Live music joins the dances and songs. Contributing to the theatricality of the party are costumes of a formal, tight silhouette that, for almost all characters, burst open or into another gender. Most everyone in the ensemble takes joy in cross-dressing - even those who may have a public moral resistance to such displays. Here, the human heart knows no bounds.

The Story of the Play

Orsino, the Duke of a fictionalized lllyria, inland from the Adriatic Sea, is in tragic love with the nearby Countess Olivia. The Countess, however, has recently sworn off the company of men for seven years while she mourns the death of her brother.

Along Illyria's coast, a Sea Captain arrives on shore with a young woman, Viola. Both have survived a shipwreck in a storm at sea. Viola mourns the supposed loss of her identical twin brother and decides to dress as a boy to get work as a page to Duke Orsino.

Orsino, despite Olivia's mourning promise, sends his new page Cesario (Viola in disguise) to woo Olivia on his behalf. Viola goes unwillingly as she has already fallen in love at first sight with Orsino. Olivia is attracted by the 'boy,' and she sends her reverential steward, Malvolio, after him with a ring.

Olivia's uncle, Sir Toby Belch, her servant Maria, and Sir Toby's friend, Sir Andrew Aguecheek, who is also hoping to woo Olivia and is being led on by Sir Toby who is trying to fleece him of his money, all plot to expose the self-love of Malvolio. By means of a false letter, they trick him into thinking that Olivia loves him. Malvolio appears cross-dressed in yellow stockings, smiling as he has been instructed to do so in the letter. Unaware of the trick, Olivia is horrified and Malvolio is imprisoned as a madman.

Meanwhile, Viola's twin brother, Sebastian, who has in fact survived the shipwreck, comes to Illyria, too. His mariner friend, Antonio, is a wanted man for piracy against Orsino. The resemblance between Cesario and Sebastian leads the jealous Sir Andrew to challenge Cesario to a duel. Antonio intervenes to defend Cesario, whom he thinks is his friend Sebastian, and is arrested. Olivia has, in the meantime, met and become betrothed to Sebastian.

Cesario is accused of deserting both Antonio and Olivia when the real Sebastian arrives to apologize for fighting Sir Toby. Seeing both twins together, all is revealed to Olivia. Orsino's fool, Feste, brings a letter from Malvolio, and on his release the conspirators confess to having written the false letter. Malvolio departs promising revenge while Maria and Sir Toby have married in celebration of the success of their device against him.

Orsino then welcomes Olivia and Sebastian and, admitting to his own attraction to Cesario, he promises that once she is dressed as a woman again they, too, will be married.

Performance Schedule at Dixon Gallery & Gardens

Thursday, December 11 at 7:00 pm Preview; Free Will Kids' Night

Friday, December 12 at 7:00 pm Opening; Post-show party

Saturday, December 13 at 7:00 pm

Sunday, December 14 at 3:00 pm

Thursday, December 18 at 7:00 pm Free Will Kids' Night

Friday, December 19 at 7:00 pm

Saturday, December 20 at 7:00 pm

Sunday, December 21 at 3:00 pm Closing

Ticket Information

All performances are general admission; first come/first seated. All tickets are $33 and are on sale now.

Both Thursday night performances (December 11 and 18) are Free Will Kids' Nights: Children 17 years and younger are admitted FREE when accompanied by a paying/attending guardian.

All Seniors and college students receive discounts with valid I.D. All Dixon members receive a 20% discount off each performance's full-price ticket.

Purchase tickets in person Monday - Friday, 9:00 am - 5:00 pm at TSC's office located at 3092 Village Shops Drive in Germantown, or by calling 901-759-0604, or by going on-line to www.tnshakespeare.org. The TSC Box Office inside the Winegardner Auditorium will begin selling tickets one hour prior to each performance on-site. Free parking. No refunds. Cast and schedule are subject to change.

Artist Bios

Crash Buist (Maria and the Priest; TSC Journeyman) is in his first season with Tennessee Shakespeare Company, having just performed Richmond/Rivers in TSC's Richard III. This past summer, he appeared as Valentine in The Two Gentlemen of Verona (Houston Shakespeare Festival) and as Berowne in Love's Labor's Lost (Charlotte Shakespeare Company). Other credits: Silvius/Charles in As You Like It, Menas/Diomedes in Antony and Cleopatra, Ross/Ketch in Our Country's Good, the Bridegroom in Blood Wedding, Constantine in Big Love, Kent in reasons to be pretty, and the Doctors in Next to Normal. Crash has a BFA from Texas Tech University, and he recently completed his graduate training, receiving an MFA from the University of Houston Professional Actor Training Program.

Johnny Lee Davenport* (Malvolio) appeared in TSC's Richard III (Hastings/Tyrel/Norfolk), The Tempest (Prospero), Macbeth (Duncan), Othello (title role), and A Midsummer Night's Dream (Oberon/Theseus). He has been a member of Shakespeare & Company for 25 years and has performed in 26 of the 37 plays in Shakespeare's canon. Johnny has performed for the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Canada, for the Second Age Theatre Company in Dublin, Ireland on four separate occasions (three as Othello and once as Iago), and for more than 50 regional theatres across the U.S., including Boston's Huntington; Seattle's ACT; Chicago's Steppenwolf, Goodman, Shakespeare Repertory, and Court Theatres; Orlando Shakespeare; Yale Rep; and The Shakespeare Theatre in D.C. Johnny received a 2014 IRNE Award for Best Actor in Driving Miss Daisy in Boston; Washington D.C.'s 2013 Helen Hayes Award for Best Ensemble in Invisible Man; and Boston's 2011 Elliot Norton Award for Best Actor in Broke-ology.

Brad DePlanche* (Feste) is thrilled to make his TSC debut and to reunite with dear friends Dan McCleary, Stephanie Shine, Paul Kiernan, and Melissa Nathan. New York theatre credits include Classic Stage Company, Theatre at St. Clements, and the world premiere of China: the Whole Enchilada for the NY International Fringe Festival with Ms. Nathan. Regional work includes Actors Theatre of Louisville, American Conservatory Theater, South Coast Repertory, Syracuse Stage, Clarence Brown Theatre, Utah Shakespearean Festival, Orlando Shakespeare Theater, Seattle Shakespeare Company, American Stage Theatre Company, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, People's Light and Theatre Company, Florida Repertory Theatre, Florida Studio Theatre, and Actor's Playhouse in Coral Gables. This spring/summer, Brad will perform in Henry V at Orlando Shakespeare, and Around the World in Eighty Days and Pericles at Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival. He holds an MFA from A.C.T. in San Francisco.

Steven DiBlasi (Music Arranger/Pianist) is thrilled to be returning to work with TSC again this year. Having moved to Memphis for his doctorate work four years ago, he is excited to have found a way to remain in the community since its completion this past May. Steven worked with Iren Zombor in TSC's production of Hamlet two years ago and returned last year to perform alongside the cast of The Taming of the Shrew. Outside of TSC, he also maintains an active performance calendar in and around Memphis, teaches at St. Mary's Episcopal School, Lausanne Collegiate School, and runs a private studio. Steven owes much to the tutelage of Dr. Victor Asuncion, Dr. Wendy Freeland, and Dr. Kevin Richmond.

Jeremy Allen Fisher (Lighting Designer) TSC: Richard III, Unto the Breach, It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play, and Hamlet. He is the Resident Lighting Designer for Theatre Memphis. Jeremy also has worked with Ballet Memphis, Busch Gardens, Oklahoma Shakespeare in the Park, The University of Memphis, Northern Oklahoma College, Collage Dance, and The Santa Fe Opera. Awards include seven Ostrander nominations for his Lighting Designs, first place in lighting design at SW-USITT (2011), and first runner-up for the National Barbizon Lighting Award (2011). He is a graduate of Oklahoma City University with a BFA in Lighting Design.

Neil Freeman (Text Consultant) is a teacher, director, text coach, and actor. He is the man behind the acclaimed First Folio editions published by Applause and utilized across the globe. Currently Associate Professor Emeritus (of Theatre) at the University of British Columbia in Canada, he is also a Master Teacher with Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, and Text Consultant to several other U.S. and Canadian theatres. His range of teaching, coaching, and directing ranges from the fifteen-year-olds in youth companies to high school teachers, through university level students (undergraduate and graduate in both liberal arts and the top-ranked professional training schools) to professional theatre companies and individual actors.

Michael Khanlarian (Fabian/Curio/Antonio/Sea Captain) is a founding company member of TSC, returning after having lived in Los Angeles for the last few years. His TSC credits include Roderigo in Othello, Capulet in Romeo and Juliet, Starveling in A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Gonzalo in The Tempest. Other credits include Prospero/Trinculo in The Tempest (self-produced), Iago in Othello (Theatre Memphis,) and working' with one of his mentors Gloria Baxtor as an ensemble member of the touring production Wild Legacy (Voices of the South). Michael received his BFA at the University of Memphis in performance, and trained in commedia at the Accadamia Del Arte in Arezzo, Italy.

Paul Kiernan* (Sir Toby Belch) TSC: Richard III (Clarence/Stanley), The Taming of the Shrew (Petruchio). Regional theatre: Hamlet, 12 Angry Men, Is He Dead, Pride and Prejudice, Our Town, The Tempest at Pioneer Theatre; Freedomland, Skin in Flames, The Beard of Avon, Six Years, End Days at Salt Lake Acting Company; Julius Caesar, Henry IV at Salt Lake Shakespeare; Romeo and Juliet at Pennsylvania Shakespeare Company; Cyrano de Bergerac (title role) at Hangar Theatre; Macbeth, As You Like It, The Tempest, The Taming of the Shrew at St. Louis Shakespeare; The Merry Wives of Windsor, You Can't Take it With You, Amadeus at Great Lakes Shakespeare; Twelfth Night, Much Ado About Nothing, Richard III, As You Like It at Orlando Shakespeare Theater. Film/TV: HBO series From the Earth to the Moon, Luck of the Irish, Go Figure, The Cell 2. M.F.A. in Acting from Brandeis University.

Janice Benning Lacek (Costume Designer) TSC: Makeup design for A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Tempest. National credits since 1987 include La Jolla Playhouse, A.C.T., Syracuse Stage, San Diego Rep, the American University of Cairo, Egypt, and the Oregon, Utah, and Colorado Shakespeare Festivals. CSF's Richard II was included by invitation in the U.S. entry at the 1999 Prague Quadrennial. The former resident designer with Denver's Curious Theatre Company (1999-2003), Janice has taught costume design at the University of Colorado at Boulder and Kenyon College. Local audiences have seen her work since 2007 at Opera Memphis, Theatre Memphis, and the University of Memphis, where she is Associate Professor of Costume Design & Technology.

Dan McCleary+ (Director) is the Founder and Producing Artistic Director of Tennessee Shakespeare Company. For TSC he most recently played the title role in the record-breaking Richard III and directed the spring production of the acclaimed Taming of the Shrew.

Melissa A. Nathan* (Production Stage Manager) returns to TSC, where she previously stage managed Richard III and The Taming of the Shrew. Other credits include: What the Butler Saw and As You Like It (Theater at Monmouth), RED (Triad Stage), Deathtrap (Centenary Stage), Educating Rita (Florida Rep), August: Osage County (WPPAC), The Mound Builders (Kaliyuga Arts), Lost in Yonkers (Atlantic Stage), The Diary of Anne Frank (Chenango River Theatre), Bonnie & Clyde (Asolo Rep), China: The Whole Enchilada (FringeNYC), and The Imaginary Invalid (Orlando Shakespeare). She has her BA in Technical Theatre from Florida Atlantic University, and was recently an adjunct professor at the University of Memphis. Melissa is co-secretary of the Stage Managers' Association.

Brian Ruggaber (Scenic Designer) is a recent transplant to Memphis and recently designed TSC's Richard III. He is an award-winning scenic designer currently heading the Scenic Design Program at the University of Memphis. He has designed scenery for over 120 productions including opera, drama, musical theatre, and dance. Prior to joining the University's faculty, he was an Assistant Professor of Scenic Design at University of Cincinnati's College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) and an Associate Professor of Design at The University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He is a proud member of United Scenic Artists Local 829 and has an MFA from UMass and BFA from VCU.

Blakely Saucier (Assistant Stage Manager) returns to TSC having just worked Richard III as the assistant stage manager. She has previously worked as a stage manager for Theatre Memphis, the Orlando Repertory Theatre, the Sands Theater Company, and PCPA Theaterfest. Some of her favorite stage management credits include The Addams Family, Freckleface Strawberry, Shrek: The Musical, The Rivals, Hairspray, and The Phantom of the Opera. Blakely received her BFA in Theatre Design and Technical Production from the University of Memphis.

Tracie Thomason (Olivia) is thrilled to be making her TSC debut. Regional: Rosalind in As You Like It, Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, Helena in All's Well That Ends Well, Portia in The Merchant of Venice, Margery Pinchwife in The Country Wife, Alais in The Lion in Winter, Julia in The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Zenocia in The Custom of the Country, Blanche in King John, Anne Bullen in Henry VIII (American Shakespeare Center); Gabriella in Boeing, Boeing, Mariana in Measure for Measure (Utah Shakespeare Festival); Catherine Givings in In the Next Room or the vibrator play (Stages Repertory Theatre); Yelena in Uncle Vanya (Classical Theatre Company); Kate in The Taming of the Shrew, Desdemona in Othello (Houston Shakespeare Festival); Grace in Opus(American Stage Theatre Company); Mina in Dracula (Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre). Website: www.traciethomason.com. Professional Actor Training Program and BA in Theatre, University of Houston.

John Leonard Thompson* (Sir Andrew Aguecheek) has performed in many plays on Broadway (most recently, Butley) and off-Broadway (Love, Janis, Sin, and shows with the Mint Theatre and the Negro Ensemble Company) and internationally with the national tours of Angels in America and The Graduate, and at many theatres across the United States, including Syracuse Stage, Hartford Stage, Actors Theatre of Louisville (premieres: Jack and Jill, Reverse Transcription, and Neighborhood 3: Requisition of Doom), Seattle Rep, Old Globe, Arena Stage, and Berkeley Rep, where he appeared in the premiere of Sarah Ruhl's In the Next Room, or The Vibrator Play. On film, John's work includes Guarding Tess, Killer, Soho They Call It, Empty Chairs, and Apache Moon. TV: The Good Wife, Elementary, The Blacklist, Zero Hour, All My Children, Law & Order, Law & Order: SVU, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Third Watch, Sesame Street, Summer Switch, The Shady Hill Kidnapping, and A Woman Named Jackie.

Carey Urban* (Viola) is delighted to return to TSC and the Dixon, where she last appeared as Juliet in Romeo & Juliet in 2011. She also has played Juliet for the Sierra Repertory Theatre in CA and The American Globe in NYC. Other favorite credits include Cymbeline with Orlando Shakespeare Theatre, The Taming of the Shrew at Soho Rep, Cabaret with TriARTS, and West Side Story with Media Productions. Based in NYC, she is a 'repeat offender' with The Queen's Company (Twelfth Night, Much Ado, ...Shrew), and has appeared off-Broadway at The Flea Theatre, The Women's Project, The Fools' Theatre, and, most recently, in the world premiere of My Purple Wig on Theatre Row. On-screen credits include independent films Hands of Fate (currently touring festivals), Framed (a winner at the Toronto Film Festival), Chime of Destiny (currently in production), and commercials for Chevy, Jif, Burlington Coat Factory, and others. A native of Waynesboro, PA, Carey has trained and traveled extensively in the U.S. and Europe. Many thanks to Dan, Stephanie, Barbara, her family, the cast and company of TSC!

Gabriel Vaughan* (Orsino) is a founding member of TSC and is very happy to be back working with this remarkable company in this beautiful part of the South. Past TSC productions: As You Like It, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Themes from a Midsummer Night, The Tempest, and Hamlet. New York City theatre credits include: Ross, House of Desires, The Shoemaker's Holiday, Puptent Poets, The Master of Prayer, Members of the Tribe, King John, and The Winter's Tale. Regional theatre credits include: Hamlet (Hamlet) with the American Stage Theatre Company, King John, A Tanglewood Tale and Much Ado About Nothing with Shakespeare & Company, Romeo & Juliet with Princeton Rep, Hamlet, Comedy of Errors, and Charlotte's Web with the Maine Shakespeare Festival, Taming of the Shrew, Macbeth, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, and The Tempest with the Hampshire Shakespeare Company. Film/TV credits include: Ripped!, Alto, Chasing Butterflies, Dear Edward, Master of the Kennel, Mona Lisa Smile, and As the World Turns. Gabriel is also an audiobook narrator. He has a degree in theatre from Sarah Lawrence College and has studied with BADA in London.

+ Member of The Society of Directors and Choreographers, Inc., an independent national labor union.

* Member of Actors' Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

At-a-Glance

"Twelfth Night"

by William Shakespeare

directed by Dan McCleary

sponsored by Pat and Ernest Kelly

performed at Dixon Gallery & Gardens, 4339 Park Avenue, Memphis, TN 38117

December 11-21, 2014

Tickets are $33 for all performances; Thursday, December 11 and Thursday, December 18 are Free Will Kids' Nights: these performances are FREE for children 17 and younger when accompanied by a paying/attending guardian; steep discounts for Seniors and Students; 20% discount for Dixon members.

Box Office is (901) 759-0604 and www.tnshakespeare.org

Description: Tennessee Shakespeare Company presents a turn-of-the-century music hall production of Twelfth Night to celebrate all the holidays of the season. Featuring Shakespeare's most musical play, a shipwreck, identical twins, longing lovers, and cakewalking clowns, Twelfth Night is one of the most popular plays for families over the last 400 years. Join the wild, topsy-turvy party where nothing (and no one) are what they appear to be!

Tennessee Shakespeare Company

Tennessee Shakespeare Company is a professional 501(c)(3) theatre and education organization which performs the plays of William Shakespeare indoors and outdoors seasonally; performs classical and Southern writers seasonally; and provides year-round educational and training programming. Now in its seventh season, Tennessee Shakespeare Company seeks to sustain a Mid-South classical theatre that both nurtures artists and encourages audiences to exaltation, curiosity, and wonderment; be a center for the community dedicated to re-discovering faith in life by increasing awareness of reality and expanding imagination through an emphasis on the performance, education, and training of William Shakespeare's works.

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