Southern Rep Kicks Off 2013-14 Season with 33 VARIATIONS Tonight

Southern Rep Theatre announces new venues and new dates for its 2013-14 Mainstage Season. Realizing the many significant and strategic rewards of working in a variety of theater environments, Southern Rep will present each Mainstage Season play on a different stage in New Orleans.

"Touring the city's venues will give us a greater opportunity to explore and innovate. We will have the ability to engage with audiences from within their own neighborhoods, and most importantly, we will be able to ensure that every Southern Rep play is a uniquely dynamic event experience for our supporters! From Uptown to the Marigny, Mid-City and beyond, Southern Rep is taking a trip, and all of New Orleans is invited along for the ride!" - Producing Artistic Director Aimée Hayes

The 2013-14 Mainstage Season begins tonight, September 11- 29 at the Contemporary Arts Center, when Southern Rep, in partnership with MESA Production Company, will present 33 VARIATIONS, written by Moisés Kaufman, starring Maggie Eldred and Phil Karnell, and directed by Michael Cooper. November 13 - 24, Southern Rep will travel to the brand new Ursuline Academy to celebrate the 200th anniversary of PRIDE & PREJUDICE with Jon Jory's dynamic stage adaptation of the Jane Austen classic. The production will be co-directed by Jeffrey Gunshol and Southern Rep Producing Artistic Director Aimée Hayes. January 26 - February 23, Southern Rep will utilize Mid-City Theater's multiple stages to present the world-premiere production of the hilarious political satire, THE TOTALITARIANS, written by Peter Sinn Nachtrieb. Originally commissioned by the National New Play Network in partnership with Full Stage USA at New Dramatists, the program (made possible by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation) will be directed by Kenneth Prestininzi and star Drama Desk Award-nominee Judith Hawking. For the final Mainstage Season production, Southern Rep will temporarily transform Michalopoulos Studio from March 12 - April 6 into the infamous Costa Verde Hotel and present the Tennessee Williams' classic, THE NIGHT OF THE IGUANA, directed by Phil Karnell and staring Mike Harkins at Aimée Hayes for the first time on stage together since the award-winning A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE.

Priority Patrons get all four plays in our mainstage season --- 33 VARIATIONS - PRIDE & PREJUDICE - THE TOTALITARIANS - THE NIGHT OF THE IGUANA - for just $125. Become a Southern Rep Priority Patron by buying a Mainstage Season subscription and enjoy these exceptional perks of membership:

- Up to 30% off of regularly-priced Mainstage Season tickets

- A special "Friends and Family" discount on up to two MORE tickets for every Mainstage Season show

- Flexible exchange and cancellation policies

- Priority access to special seating for every show

Only $125 for the entire Mainstage Season, and if you are a senior, student, member of the military, theatre professional or CAC member*, you'll save an extra 20% off the regular subscription price. To subscribe online, visit www.SouthernRep.com or call the Box Office at (504) 522 - 6545 and buy your subscription today.

2013-2014 MAINSTAGE SEASON:

33 VARIATIONS

Location: The Contemporary Arts Center, 900 Camp St.

September 11 - September 29

By Moisés Kaufman

Directed by Michael Cooper

Featuring: Maggie Eldred & Phil Karnell with Liann Pattison, Mike Harkins, Jessie Terrebonne Thompson, Silas Cooper and Randy Maggiore

Southern Rep, in partnership with MESA Production Company, presents 33 VARIATIONS by Moisés Kaufman, an elegant waltz between past and present, fact and speculation, a mother and daughter, and art and life.

Two hundred years after Ludwig van Beethoven wrote the Diabelli Variations, a modern-day music scholar is driven to figure out why, even as her own health and relationship with her daughter crumble. The result is an extraordinary American play about passion, parenthood, and the moments of beauty that can transform a life. Accompanied throughout by a concert pianist performing one of the greatest sets of piano variations ever written.

33 VARIATIONS is presented as an Educational & Awareness Campaign for The ALS Association of LA-MS Chapter and Team Gleason. Help create a world without ALS!

PRIDE & PREJUDICE

Location: Ursuline Academy, 2635 State St.

LIMITED ENGAGEMENT: November 13 - November 24

Adapted by Jon Jory

Co-Directed by Jeffrey Gunshol and Aimée Hayes

Starring Ashley Ricord Santos and Michael Stone

PRIDE & PREJUDICE will be presented for a two-week only engagement in the beautiful Ursuline Academy Theater, a space that reflects the beauty and refinement of Jane Austen's era.

In celebration of the 200th Anniversary of the Jane Austen novel of the same name, Southern Rep is thrilled to bring a new life to PRIDE & PREJUDICE, the beloved story of Elizabeth, a strong-willed, independent woman and Mr. Darcy, a handsome man with a past that is more than meets the eye. Gossip, intrigue, and society snobbery are skewered in this fresh spin on a classic tale. Through wit, dance and music, PRIDE & PREJUDICE is a playful romp about romance, morality, and the realization that sometimes, the only thing in the way of one's happiness is oneself.

WORLD PREMIERE COMEDY

THE TOTALITARIANS

Location: Mid-City Theatre, 3540 Toulouse St.

January 26 - February 23

By Peter Sinn Nachtrieb

Directed by Kenneth Prestininzi

THE TOTALITARIANS will be performed in multiple spaces around Mid-City Theatre, delivering a uniquely participatory audience experience that will reflect the play's dynamic, thematic exploration of campaign politics. Originally commissioned by the National New Play Network in partnership with Full Stage USA at New Dramatists, and made possible by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

In a world of dishonesty, spin and deliberate manipulation, what does it mean to take control of the political process? How can two people believe completely different truths about the same thing? No one is safe in the world premiere production of this ambitious, darkly satirical play that explores the prevalence of lying in our contemporary culture and finds the funny on the both sides of the aisle.

THE NIGHT OF THE IGUANA

Location: Michalopoulos Studio, 527 Elysian Fields Ave.

March 12 - April 6

By Tennessee Williams

Directed by: Phil Karnell

Starring Mike Harkins and Aimée Hayes

THE NIGHT OF THE IGUANA will be presented at Michalopolous Studio, in a space temporarily transformed into the play's Costa Verde Hotel, providing a fully immersive audience experience that will include providing attendees the same chilled rum coconut cocktails featured throughout the play.

A disgraced Reverend seeking refuge in alcohol and carnality. A woman of extraordinary grace who nonetheless feels forlorn and abandoned. In THE NIGHT OF THE IGUANA, troubled souls navigate faith, sex and sin in an attempt to save one another before they reach the end of their rope. On stage together for the first time since the award-winning A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, Mike Harkins and Aimée Hayes star in the famous confession drama considered to be Tennessee Williams' last great play.

ABOUT SOUTHERN REP: Southern Rep Theatre enters its 27th Season as the regions premiere professional theatre, producing bold world and regional premieres under the leadership of Producing Artistic Director, Aimée Hayes. In addition to Southern Rep's ongoing commitment to new play development with exciting Lagniappe programs like DEBAUCHERY!, 6X6 and 3X3 Playlabs and Pints and Plays, the company's Mainstage Season work includes the best of Broadway, off-Broadway and classic plays. The company has also instituted The Ruby Prize, a new play award named in honor of civil rights veteran Ruby Bridges that is awarded every year to one women of color playwright at Southern Rep's THE NEW PLAY BACCHANAL. The Mainstage Season includes 33 VARIATIONS, PRIDE & PREJUDICE, the National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere of THE TOTALITARIANS, and THE NIGHT OF THE IGUANA.

*CAC Member discount available for tickets to 33 VARIATIONS only.

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