Point Park University's The REP Sets 2016-17 Season

The 2016-2017 season of The REP, Point Park University's professional theatre company, will include regional premieres and shows written by some of the best contemporary playwrights.

The season runs Sept. 9, 2016 through February 19, 2017, at the Pittsburgh Playhouse, 222 Craft Ave.

The 2016-2017 season opens with Tomé Cousin directing the regional premiere of Wig Out!, a vibrant new play written by MacArthur Genius Award-winner, Tarell Alvin McCraney. The REP will next present I'm Gonna Pray For You So Hard by Halley Feiffer which has been chosen as Time Out New York's "Critics' Pick" and close the season with Woody's Order, actress/playwright, Ann Talman's one-woman show directed by John Shepard.

The REP 2016-2017 season subscriptions, which save patrons more than 35 percent off single ticket prices, are available now and can be purchased for $64-$72. Single tickets, ranging from $24-$29, will go on sale at 10 a.m., Monday, Aug. 8. Those who purchase three subscriptions get the fourth free. To order a season subscription, contact the Pittsburgh Playhouse box office at 412.392.8000. For single tickets, when they become available, or more information about the Pittsburgh Playhouse, visit www.pittsburghplayhouse.com.

The REP's 2016-2017 season:

Wig Out!

By Tarell Alvin McCraney

Directed by Tomé Cousin

Sept. 9 - 25, 2016; preview Sept. 8

Rauh Theatre

The House of Light must bring it on at the upcoming ball. The drag houses must battle it out at the ball in order to see who will be the fiercest. In an early time of HIV in the homosexual/drag scene, this show explores the drag culture and the stereotypes that come along with gender identity. The Fates 3 guides the audience through the story of Eric, a gay man who is falling in love with a cross-dressing man, Wilson/Ms. Nina, who introduces him to drag and to The House of Light. These lively characters take us into their world where they define what constitutes a home, love, family and sexual identity and how sometimes a house is not truly a home until it's shared with true family.

DISCLAIMER: This show has graphic and sexual language.

Point Park University graduate Tomé Cousin is an internationally recognized director, choreographer, educator, performer and creator of musical theater works, ballets, films, new opera, song cycles and art installations, as well as a published author. Cousin has appeared on Broadway in Contact, A Free Man of Color, and Dreamgirls, national tours of Dreamgirls, My One and Only, and A Chorus Line, and internationally in Bob Fosse's Sweet Charity (Switzerland), The Who's Tommy, La Cage aux Folles, Starlight Express, and Tabaluga und Lilli (Germany). He serves as the directing supervisor for original director/choreographer Susan Stroman's Tony Award-winning musical Contact, having staged 15 companies worldwide including premieres in Hungary, Korea and Poland. Also for Stroman Productions: The Producers, and Thou Shalt Not. In 2015, he directed The Luigi Tribute at Symphony Space NYC, The American Dance Machine 21 at The Joyce and the Chinese premiere of the musical, Grand Hotel. He directed By the Way, Meet Vera Stark, Souvenir, and Choir Boy for The REP.

I'm Gonna Pray For You So Hard

By Halley Feiffer

Directed Robert Turano

Sept. 30 - Oct. 16, 2016; preview Sept. 29

Studio Theatre

Described by Adam Feldman of Time Out New York as "Viciously funny! Brutally effective," I'm Gonna Pray For You So Hard broke box office records at the Atlantic Theater Company's Stage 2 Space.

Ella is a competitive, young actress who admires her once famous, playwright father, David, more than anything. Her sole goal in life is to make him proud. In a night of drugs and booze, the two argue whether or not to read her debut reviews in an unraveling evening. The show examines the ever so complicated ups and downs of a father-daughter relationship and the struggles with the unrelenting desire to make each other proud. Nancy Churnin of The Dallas Morning News says that "[Feiffer] brings an insightful, witty voice to the table with the courage to eschew sentimentality in favor of tough truths," when describing the complicated relationship between Ella and David.

Robert Turano played Louis in the Tony Award winning Broadway revival of A View From The Bridge with Scarlett Johansson and Liev Schreiber. TV credits include recurring roles on Law & Order, Rescue Me and The Guiding Light as well as guest starring roles on Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, The Mysteries Of Laura, Blue Bloods, Elementary, Person Of Interest, Law & Order SVU, Unforgettable and more. Recent film credits include the award winning film, Theresa Is A Mother as well as The Drop with James Gandolfini and Tom Hardy. Other starring film roles include Federal Hill, Outside Providence, Brooklyn Rules, The Tavern and One Way Out. He was the artistic director of the Fine Line Theatre Company which produced many plays over 5 years in the early 80's on the corner of Fifth and Craft in Oakland where Carlow College now stands. He directed and introduced David Mamet's American Buffalo to Pittsburgh as well as The Water Engine, Sly Fox, Hold Me, Modigliani, Play By Play, True West, Cops, Justice, Bullshot Crummond, Spratt, Lone Star, PVT. Wars, Yanks 3 Detroit 0 Top Of The Seventh and many more.

Woody's Order

By Ann Talman

Directed by John Shepard

Feb.3 - 19, 2017; preview Feb. 2

Studio Theatre

Keeping theme with family, Woody's Order is the story of a very unique sibling relationship. Ann is an actress who is stuck between choosing her Broadway career or being a caregiver for her brother, Woody who has cerebral palsy. This one-woman show follows Ann's very close relationship with Woody from when she is a little girl through her teenage and college years, all the way through adulthood. No matter how many ways her life changes with chapters beginning and ending or people coming and going, Ann's special relationship with Woody always remains.

John Shepard is an actor, director, and teacher. He is a professor at Point Park University's Conservatory of Performing Arts, where he teaches acting and directing. John is the author of Auditioning and Acting for the Camera, published by Smith and Kraus. His book is featured on Backstage.com in the article "11 Amazing Books for the On-Camera Actor". As a director, credits include: Quantum Theatre's Tamara (2014 "Production of the Year," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette). John was also named 2014 "Director of the Year," by the Post-Gazette for his directorial work on Tamara, Off the Wall's Or and The REP's Heads. Other credits at The REP include: August: Osage County (2012 "Best Production," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, "Top 10 Productions of the Year," Pittsburgh Tribune-Review), Buried Child, The Chicken Snake, Mother Courage, The Visit, and One Flea Spare. Regional Theatre: Commonweal Theatre, Vacationland Theatre, Krannert's Summerfest at UIUC, among others. Pittsburgh acting theatre credits include various roles for The REP, including Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman (2008 "Performer of the Year," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette), Quantum Theatre, City Theatre, Pittsburgh Public Theatre, and Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theatre.

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