The Flea Theater has announced the New York premiere of The Theatre @ Boston Court's production of HAPPY DAYS by Samuel Beckett, directed by Andrei Belgrader. After critically acclaimed runs in Boston and LA, The Flea welcomes theater veterans Brooke Adams and Tony Award nominee Tony Shalhoub to Tribeca. Previews begin June 20 with opening night slated for June 29.
Renowned director
Andrei Belgrader re-examines this
Samuel Beckett classic, newly relevant to a generation burdened by climate change and environmental doom. In HAPPY DAYS,
Brooke Adams plays Winnie, a woman buried up to her bosom in a mound of dirt with nothing to pass the time but the ragged contents of her bag, her nimble wit, and her husband Willie, played by
Tony Shalhoub, lurking somewhere behind her. This droll, existential allegory demonstrates the vitality of the human spirit in the face of a deteriorating world.
Creative team members include
Takeshi Kata (Scenic Design),
Tom Ontiveros (Lighting Design), Melanie Watnick (Costume Design), Rob Oriol (Sound Design), Madison Rhoades (Prop Design),
Michal V. Mendelson (Stage Manager), and Alyssa Escalante (Production Consultant).
Performances run June 20 - July 18, Monday - Wednesday at 7pm and Saturday at 3pm. (No performances July 3 & 4). Tickets range from $15 - $70 with $150 VIP tickets. Lowest priced tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Tickets are on sale to the general public on May 19. The
Flea Theater is located at 41 White Street between Church and Broadway, three blocks south of Canal, close to the A/C/E, N/R/Q, 6, J/M/Z and 1 subway lines. Purchase tickets by calling 212-352-3101 or online at
www.theflea.org.
Samuel Beckett (1906-1989) is widely recognized as one of the greatest dramatists of the twentieth century. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1969. Mr. Beckett is most renowned for his play Waiting for Godot, which launched his career in theater. He then went on to write numerous successful full-length plays, including Endgame in 1957, Krapp's Last Tape in 1958, and
Happy Days in 1960. Mr. Beckett received his first commission for radio from the BBC in 1956 for All That Fall. This was followed by a further five plays for radio including Embers, Words and Music, and Cascando. Like no other dramatist before him, Mr. Beckett's works capture the pathos and ironies of modern life yet still maintain his faith in man's capacity for compassion and survival no matter how absurd his environment may have become.
Andrei Belgrader is a theater and television director. He has also been a master teacher at the Yale School of Drama, a professor at UCSD, Head of the Directing Department at Juilliard and he currently teaches at USC School of Dramatic Arts. On television, he has directed numerous episodes of Monk as well as Law & Order: Criminal Intent and the sitcom Coach. He directed extensively at major regional theatres such as the American Repertory Theatre, Yale Repertory, the Goodman and
Seattle Repertory, as well as in New York City. His recent projects in New York: Beckett's Endgame at BAM, with
John Turturro and
Elaine Stritch, and The Cherry Orchard at CSC, with
Dianne Wiest,
John Turturro and
Michael Urie and the 2013 production of
Henrik Ibsen's The Master Builder also with
John Turturro. All three productions were named among the 10 best productions of the year in major publications such as The New York Times and New York magazine and The Cherry Orchard was awarded the
Lucille Lortel Award for Best Revival in 2012.
Brooke Adams: Film/TV credits include: Days of Heaven, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Monk, Law & Order: SVU, Family, Lace, and Moonlighting. Theater credits include: The Old Neighborhood (American Repertory Theatre), Lost in Yonkers (
Ahmanson Theatre), The Heidi Chronicles (Plymouth Theatre), The Cherry Orchard (
Atlantic Theatre Company), Lend Me a Tenor (Music Box Theatre), Key Exchange (Orpheum), and If Memory Serves (The
Pasadena Playhouse). She also produced and performed in the film, Made-Up, written by her sister Lynne Adams, and directed by
Tony Shalhoub.
Tony Shalhoub: Five-time Tony-nominated play Act One at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre on Broadway. Film/TV credits include: Men in Black, Cars, Addams Family Values, Frasier, Too Big to Fail, and Wings. Theater credits include: The Odd Couple (
Ahmanson Theatre), Conversations with my Father (Royale Theatre), The Scene (
Second Stage Theatre), Golden Boy (Belasco Theatre), and Waiting for Godot (
Classic Stage Company Theatre). He has been nominated for 3 Tonys for his work on Broadway and won 3 Emmys, 2 Screen Actors Guild awards, and a Golden Globe for the title role in the television series, Monk.
The Theatre @ Boston Court. Based in Pasadena, CA, The Theatre @ Boston Court produces passionate, artist-driven theatre that challenges both artist and audience, urging its artists to fearlessly and passionately pursue their unique voice and passion. Play selection encompasses a wide variety of genres (classics, musicals and world premieres, with a special emphasis on nurturing playwrights and new play development) which are inherently theatrical, textually rich, and visually arresting. The Theatre @ Boston Court has produced world premieres by playwrights such as
Luis Alfaro,
Sheila Callaghan,
Julia Cho, Dan Dietz,
Jason Grote,
Jordan Harrison, Carlos Murillo, Laura Schellhardt,
Octavio Solis, Deborah Stein,
Jean Claude Van Itallie,
Kathryn Walat,
David Wiener, among others. The Theatre @ Boston Court is supported in part by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, The Shubert Foundation, The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, Founding Director Z. Clark Branson, and the generosity of individual supporters and contributors. The Theatre @ Boston Court is the award-winning resident theatre company at Boston Court Performing Arts Center in Pasadena, CA. Michael Seel, Executive Director;
Jessica Kubzansky and
Michael Michetti, Artistic Directors; Hillary Metcalf Schenk, Managing Director.
The
Flea Theater, under Artistic Director
Jim Simpson and Producing Director
Carol Ostrow, is one of New York's leading off-off-Broadway companies. Winner of a Special Drama Desk Award for outstanding achievement, Obie Awards and an Otto for political theater, The Flea has presented over 100 plays and numerous dance and live music performances since its inception in 1996. Past productions include the premieres by
Steven Banks,
Thomas Bradshaw,
Erin Courtney,
Bathsheba Doran,
Will Eno,
Karen Finley,
Amy Freed, Sean Graney,
A.R. Gurney,
Nick Jones,
Hamish Linklater, Enrique Gutiérrez Ortiz Monasterio,
Itamar Moses,
Anne Nelson,
Qui Nguyen,
Adam Rapp,
Jonathan Reynolds,
Roger Rosenblatt,
Elizabeth Swados, and
Mac Wellman. Recent successes include Drama Desk nominated She Kills Monsters, These Seven Sicknesses and Restoration Comedy, The Mysteries and eight World Premieres by
A.R. Gurney including the WSJ Best New Play of 2013, Family Furniture.
Photo by Jennifer Broski
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