Artists Repertory Theatre Presents A CIVIL WAR CHRISTMAS: AN AMERICAN MUSICAL CELEBRATION

Artists Repertory Theatre, in collaboration with Staged!, presents A CIVIL WAR CHRISTMAS: AN AMERICAN MUSICAL CELEBRATION for the holidays. A CIVIL WAR CHRISTMAS, by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Paula Vogel, music by Daryl Waters, features original arrangements of Civil War era songs by luminary Portland musicians: Darrell Grant, Holcombe Waller, Mark and LaRhonda Steele, Okaidja, Edna Vásquez, Brian Adrian Koch and James Beaton. Runs through December 23 on the Alder Stage.

Set during a time when the country is divided by conflicting ideologies and convictions following a contentious presidential election, Vogel's sweeping, music-rich story plays out one frigid Christmas Eve on the banks of the Potomac River. Amid the hubbub of holiday preparations, an array of abolitionists and assassins, slaves and freemen, Union and Confederate soldiers, along with President Lincoln and Mary Todd, all pursue their paths to liberation. Propelled by traditional American songs, marches and spirituals - all revitalized for this production by a diverse range of Portland musicians - A CIVIL WAR CHRISTMAS is a lively reminder for people of all beliefs about humanity's potential for compassion, reconciliation and hope.

"Though the word "Christmas" is in the title, Vogel's timely play arrives post-election and celebrates our shared humanity" said Artists Rep Artistic Director Dámaso Rodriguez. "The play is rife with metaphor, beauty and healing moments that echo our modern, polarized national conversation."

A unique seasonal excursion, this play offers an unconventional storytelling of a time in history that resembles today's political tenor and features known historical figures like President Lincoln, Mary Todd Lincoln, Elizabeth Keckley, John Wilkes Booth and Walt Whitman as characters in the story. The fictional story is woven with musical pieces arranged in a variety of styles by Portland musicians, to tell the tale of one night when people came together in Washington, D.C. mid-Civil War.

MUSIC. Artists Rep's production of A CIVIL WAR CHRISTMAS pioneers new arrangements of the period songs in the play's original composition by Portland musicians with special permission from the playwright, Paula Vogel. The company has commissioned seven local musicians from various musical and cultural backgrounds to re-arrange the original score's songs (holiday, hymns, marches and spirituals) by composer Daryl Waters. The result is a new score that merges their work with Daryl Waters'. Each musician has arranged multiple songs throughout the play. The production includes stylistically diverse arrangements by Darrell Grant, Holcombe Waller, Mark and LaRhonda Steele, Okaidja, Edna Vásquez, James Beaton and Brian Adrian Koch of Blitzen Trapper. Familiar song titles include: What Child is This? (arr. Waller), The Yellow Rose of Texas (arr. Vásquez), Balm in Gilead (arr. Steele), Children Go Where I Send Thee (arr. Okaidja), I'm A-Gone Away to Shiloh (arr. Koch), God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (arr. Beaton), Follow The Drinking Gourd (arr. Grant).

CAST. The large, ensemble cast of Artists Rep's production is among the most diverse casts ever assembled by the theatre and is pointedly reflective of America today. This ensemble of actors will generate all of the live music for the production and play their own instruments. They will be costumed in contemporary clothing, with simple suggestions of the 19th century period, to further blur the time period and connect the play to modern times. Unconventionally, Director Paul Angelo has intentionally cast the roles without regard to gender, ethnicity or age.

ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT
Paula Vogel has written HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE (Pulitzer Prize, New York Drama Critics Award, Obie Award, Lucille Lortel, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and many more.) Other plays include A CIVIL WAR CHRISTMAS, THE LONG CHRISTMAS RIDE HOME, THE MINEOLA TWINS, HOT 'N' THROBBIN, THE BALTIMORE WALTZ, DESDEMONA, AND BABY MAKES SEVEN, and THE OLDEST PROFESSION. Her plays have been produced by Second Stage, New York Theatre Workshop, the Vineyard Theatre, Roundabout and Circle Repertory Company. Her plays have been produced regionally all over the country at the Center Stage, Intiman, Trinity Repertory, Woolly Mammoth, Huntington Theatre, Magic Theatre, The Goodman Theatre, American Repertory Theatre, Dallas Theatre Berkeley Repertory, and Alley Theatres to name a few. HarroGate Theatre and the Donmar Theatre have produced her work in England. Her plays have been produced in Canada, Great Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand as well as translated and produced in Italy, Germany, Taiwan, South Africa, Australia, Romania, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Poland Slovenia, Canada, Portugal, France, Greece, Japanese, Norway, Finland, Iceland, Peru, Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Brazil and other countries. John Simon once remarked that Paula Vogel had more awards than a "black sofa collects lint." Some of these include Induction into the Theatre Hall of Fame, Thornton Wilder Award, Lifetime Achievement from the Dramatists Guild, the William Inge Award, the Elliott Norton Award, two Obies, a Susan Smith Blackburn Award, the PEN/Laura Pels Award, a TCG residency award, a Guggenheim, a Pew Charitable Trust Award, and fellowships and residencies at Sundance Theatre Lab, Hedgebrook, The Rockefeller Center's Bellagio Center, Yaddo, MacDowell, and the Bunting. But she is particularly proud of her Thirtini Award from 13P, and honored by three Awards in her name: the Paula Vogel Award for playwrights given by The Vineyard Theatre, the Paula Vogel Award from the American College Theatre Festival, and the Paula Vogel mentorship program, curated by Quiara Hudes and Young Playwrights of Philadelphia.

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR

Paul Angelo makes his Artists Rep debut as a director with A CIVIL WAR CHRISTMAS. As an actor, he has been seen here previously in ITHAKA by Andrea Stolowitz. He serves as the associate artistic director of Staged! musical theatre and as a director in residence with defunkt theatre. A resident of Portland since 2005, he has directed five musicals for Staged!. LES MISERABLES, which received two Portland Area Musical Theatre Awards (PAMTA) including Outstanding Ensemble; BIG RIVER, also awarded two PAMTAs; the Portland Premiere of Jason Robert Brown's '13,' which earned four PAMTA nominations including Outstanding Direction. Also, Jason Robert Brown's PARADE, nominated for five PAMTAs, including Outstanding Direction and awarded Outstanding Ensemble, and DOGFIGHT by Pasek and Paul, four PAMTA nominations including Outstanding Direction. Other Portland directing credits include THE HOMECOMING by Harold Pinter, LET A HUNDRED FLOWERS BLOOM by David Zellnik, BLASTED by Sarah Kane (defunkt theatre), HAMLET by William Shakespeare, EQUIVOCATION by Bill Cain and COYOTE ON FENCE by Bruce Graham (Post5 Theatre), ROMEO AND JULIET (Portland Actors Conservatory) and RUTHLESS! THE MUSICAL (Stumptown Stages). Paul will direct THAT PRETTY, PRETTY OR THE RAPE PLAY by Sheila Callaghan for defunkt theatre in Spring 2017. Paul is a proud member of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC). Training: BFA: Musical Theatre, SUNY Fredonia. MFA: performance, Alabama Shakespeare Festival.

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