Coachella Valley Repertory Theatre presents Albee's THE GOAT, OR WHO IS SYLVIA?

CVThe Coachella Valley Repertory Theatre (CVRep) has announced it will present three-time Pulitzer Prize-winner Edward Albee's highly provocative award-winning play, The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?. Exemplifying this season's CVRep theme of "Romance, Real or Imagined", The Goat, or Who is Sylvia? touches on relationships and betrayal in true Albee style. Well known for pushing the envelope, Mr. Albee, uses sexuality and humor to deflect where the real problems are based.

The Goat, or Who is Sylvia? tells the story of Martin, a successful middle-aged architect who leads an ostensibly ideal life with his loving wife Stevie and gay teenage son, Billy. However, when Martin confides to his best friend that he is also in love with a goat (named Sylvia), he sets in motion events that will destroy his family and tear his life in shreds.

"I wanted to present The Goat, or Who is Sylvia? at CVRep not only because it truly personifies this year's creative theme of Romance, Real or Imagined, but because the play also focuses on the limits of our seemingly liberal society," says CVRep Artistic Director, Ron Celona. "By revealing this family's crisis, we, the audience, are asked to question our own moral judgement of social taboos."

Directed by Joanne Gordon, (who helmed last season's acclaimed production of Disgraced) CVRep's The Goat, or Who is Sylvia? runs approximately one hundred minutes and will be presented without an intermission. The four-character play will feature Arthur Hanket, Sharon Sharth, Sean Smith and Ian M. White.

The Goat, or Who is Sylvia? premiered on Broadway March 10, 2002. Described by numerous critics as Edward Albee's most provocative, daring, and controversial play since Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? - The Goat... won all the major awards for best new play of the year including the Tony, New York Drama Critics Circle, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle awards.

"...as challenging-and...as outrageously funny as theater gets." -?New York Post

The Goat, or Who is Sylvia? will enjoy a four-week run from Wednesday, March 7, through Sunday, April 1, 2018 at Coachella Valley Repertory. The theatre is located in The Atrium, 69-930 Highway 111 in Rancho Mirage. Performances are Tuesday through Saturday at 7:30pm, with 2pm matinees on Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are $48 (Previews), $63 (Opening Night), and $53 for all other performances. For more information, call 760-296-2966 or visit the website at cvrep.org.

THE COACHELLA VALLEY REPERTORY THEATRE is a non-profit, professional regional theatre. It is the only theatre in the Coachella Valley that has Small Professional Theatre (SPT) status with Actor's Equity.

CVREP MISSION STATEMENT: The Coachella Valley Repertory Theatre is an educational, dramatic and musical theater organization that presents thought-provoking, innovative theatre of substance and youth outreach programs designed to enrich the quality of life for Coachella Valley residents and visitors. For more information, call 760-296-2966 or visit www.cvrep.org

BIOGRAPHIES

Sean Smith Theatre Credits include: The original production of Jersey Boys at La Jolla Playhouse where he created the role of Norm Waxman along with numerous others. He was also an original cast member of the first Los Angeles Production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom Of The Opera (Ahmanson Theatre) for its entire four and a half year run. Other Los Angeles Premieres include Chess (Blank Theatre) for which he received both Ovation and Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards; Sondheim's Assassins (LA REP), Harvey Fierstein's Casa Valentina (Pasadena Playhouse), the Yeston/Kopit version of Phantom (Music Theatre of Southern California), Breaking The Code (Blank Theatre) and, most recently, the World Premiere of London Calling, a musical based on the works of the seminal Punk Rock band, The Clash. Other stage appearances include Candide (Ahmanson Theatre), ART (Pasadena Playhouse), The Threepenny Opera, The Most Happy Fella, Carousel, and Sunday In The Park With George (Reprise Theatre). Also, Phantom, Chess, and Les Miserables (Moonlight Amphitheatre). His Concert appearances include: My Fair Lady w/ Jonathan Pryce (Santa Barbara Symphony) and Dear World w/ Tyne Daly (VPAC). Film credits include: Something's Gotta Give, The Bourne Supremacy, Spanglish, and Not Another Teen Movie. Television credits include: Modern Family, House, CSI, Desperate Housewives, Gilmore Girls, 24, iCarly, The West Wing, Frasier, and Mad About You.

Sharon Sharth has starred on and off-Broadway, as well as in leading roles in film and television. She was member and principal actress with the renowned Circle Repertory Company in New York City, where she worked on new plays, and she originated leading roles for playwrights Lanford Wilson, Aaron Sorkin, Shirley Lauro, John Pielmeier, and ten others. A lifetime member of Actor's Studio, she has performed at Circle Rep, Manhattan Theatre Club, Broadway's Cort Theatre, Promenade Theatre, Geffen Playhouse, Mark Taper Forum, Old Globe Theatre, Rubicon Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville Humana Festival, Yale Rep, the Eugene O'Neill Playwright's Conference, and she has toured internationally, most notably in Japan in Sam Shepard's Fool for Love. Recent stage work includes Waiting for Grace, written by and starring Sharth, Woman in Mind (Aykbourn), A Perfect Ganesh (McNally - at CVRep), The Snake Can (Graf), Switzerland (Murray-Smith), See Rock City (Hutton), Gulf View Drive (Hutton). She has been nominated for Broadway World's Best Leading Actress in a Play Award, twice for the Ovation Award for Best Featured Actress, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama by Desert Theatre League, and she won two Scenie Awards for Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role. Film and television work includes multiple roles in the BBC Production of Ray Bradbury's Short Stories, "Deader than a Doorman", "Murder Between Friends", "A Taste for Justice", "Eat and Run", "Age isn't Everything", "In the Forest", "The Nick Kroll Show" on Comedy Central, "ER", and others. She has worked opposite George Clooney, Bradley Whitford, Will Patton, Stephen Lang, Mark Harelik, Louis Gossett, Jr., Ron Silver, Margaret Cho, Jane Kaczmarek, and the great George Carlin.

Arthur Hanket In recent years, Arthur was seen in Two Gentlemen of Verona (San Diego Old Globe Dir: Mark Lamos); Klub (Actors' Gang - LA Weekly Award 2008); Present Laughter (Theatre Group Santa Barbara - Independent Award 2013 Best Actor), and just last year as Harry Roat in Wait Until Dark at both the Great Lakes Theater and Idaho Shakespeare Festival. An MFA graduate of FSU's Asolo Conservatory, he has performed with: NY Public Theater, NY Theater Workshop, Hudson Guild, Playwrights Horizon, LA Ahmanson, .AMDA's Los Angeles campus for more than three years now. He is quite mad for the Virgos in his life, Stephanie and Grey.

Ian M. White Ian M White is an actor and producer based out of Los Angeles. A recent graduate of New York University's acting program, Ian also attended Atlantic Acting School in New York - founded by David Mamet and William H Macy. He recently was in the World Premiere of Steve Yockey's newest play, MERCURY, in which he played the role of Brian and had the joy of being birthed from the carcass of a dead bear every night. Next up, Ian will be producing and acting in a short film titled PERFIDY that explores the gay community's modern relationship to HIV/AIDS amidst navigating new relationships and communication. He would like to thank Joanne, Ron, and the rest of the CVRep team for letting him perform one of his dream roles! He would also like to thank his family for their love and support as well as his fiancé Sam for being the greatest future husband a boy could ask for!

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