Cardenas, Rua et al. Lead Old Globe's SOMEWHERE this Fall

Executive Producer Lou Spisto today announced the cast and creative team for the World Premiere of Somewhere, a new play by Old Globe Playwright-in-Residence Matthew Lopez. Lopez's play The Whipping Man was a critical success in New York last season after receiving its West Coast Premiere at the Globe in a production directed by Giovanna Sardelli. Sardelli returns to direct Somewhere, which will run in the Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, part of the Globe's Conrad Prebys Theatre Center, Sept. 24 - Oct. 30. Preview performances run Sept. 24 - Sept. 28. Opening night is Thursday, Sept. 29 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets are currently available by subscription only. Single tickets will go on sale on Sunday, Sept. 4.

Set in 1959, Matthew Lopez's moving and funny new play follows one New York City family's attempt to make its fantasy a reality. Inez Candelaria and her three children dream of a life in show business. When they learn that their home is being torn down to make way for Lincoln Center-and that the filming of West Side Story will take place on the streets of their demolished neighborhood-they must fight for their dreams as their world crumbles around them.

Broadway veteran Priscilla Lopez stars as Inez, the headstrong matriarch of the Candelaria family who struggles to achieve her family's dream of show business success. Lopez was nominated for a Tony Award for the role of Diana in the original Broadway cast of A Chorus Line, introducing the hit song "What I Did for Love" in the landmark musical. She won the Tony Award for her performance in A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine. Her other Broadway credits include In the Heights, Anna in the Tropics, Nine, Lysistrata, Pippin, Company and Henry, Sweet Henry.

The cast of Somewhere also includes Juan Javier Cardenas (Francisco Candelaria), Leo Ash Evens (Jamie MacRae), Benita Robledo (Rebecca Candelaria) and Jon Rua (Alejandro Candelaria).

The creative team includes Campbell Baird (Scenic Design), Charlotte Devaux (Costume Design), Lap Chi Chu (Lighting Design), Jeremy J. Lee (Sound Design), Greg Graham (Choreographer) and Elizabeth Stephens (Stage Manager).

Playwright Matthew Lopez's other plays include Reverberation and Zoey's Perfect Wedding. He currently holds new play commissions from Roundabout Theatre Company and The Old Globe. His play The Whipping Man recently concluded an acclaimed, sold-out New York run in a Manhattan Theatre Club production directed by Doug Hughes and starring Andre Braugher. For this production he was honored with the John Gassner Memorial Playwriting Award from the New York Outer Critics Circle. The play had previously received its World Premiere production at Luna Stage in Montclair, New Jersey followed by its West Coast Premiere at the Globe. He is a contributor to Headlong Theatre's Decade project, currently in production in London. He is a New York Theatre Workshop Playwrighting Fellow and a recent member of the Ars Nova Play Group. Somewhere was initially developed at the Summer Play Festival in New York.

Director Giovanna Sardelli directed the West Coast Premiere of The Whipping Man by Matthew Lopez at the Globe (NAACP Theatre Award nomination for Best Director). She has directed the World Premieres of Rajiv Joseph's plays The North Pool (TheatreWorks), Animals Out of Paper (Joe A. Callaway Award for Outstanding Director) and All This Intimacy (Second Stage Theatre), The Leopard and the Fox (AlterEgo Theatre Company), Huck & Holden (Cherry Lane Theatre), the New York Premiere of Lynn Rosen's Apple Cove (Women's Project) and the World Premieres of James McLindon's Salvation (Hudson Stage Company), Christopher Wall's Dreams of the Washer King (The Playwrights Realm), Lila Rose Kaplan's Wildflower (Second Stage Theatre), Zoe Kazan's Absalom (Actors Theatre of Louisville Humana Festival) and Adriana Sevan's Taking Flight, which was developed at The Sundance Institute Theatre Lab and had its World Premiere at Center Theater Group. She spent two seasons as Director of the Shakespeare Sedona Institute and two seasons as the Artistic Director of Studio Tisch. Sardelli received her M.F.A. in Acting from the Graduate Acting Program at New York University and is a graduate of their Director's Lab. She is on the faculty of the Graduate Acting Program and the Department of Dance at NYU. Her upcoming projects include God of Carnage (Hudson Stage Company) and the world premiere of Dead Accounts by Theresa Rebeck (Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park).

Tickets to Somewhere can be purchased online at www.TheOldGlobe.org, by phone at (619) 23-GLOBE or by visiting the Box Office at 1363 Old Globe Way in Balboa Park. Tickets are currently available by subscription only. Single tickets will go on sale on Sunday, Sept. 4. Performances at the Old Globe Theatre begin on Sept. 24 and continue through Oct. 30. Ticket prices start at $29. Performance times: Previews: Saturday, Sept. 24 at 8:00 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 25 at 7:00 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 27 at 7:00 p.m. and Wednesday, Sept. 28 at 7:00 p.m. Regular Performances: Tuesday and Wednesday evenings at 7:00 p.m., Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings at 8:00 p.m., Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2:00 p.m. and Sunday evenings at 7:00 p.m. There is a 2:00 p.m. matinee on Wednesday, Oct. 19 and no matinee performance on Saturday, Oct. 22. Discounts are available for full-time students, patrons 29 years of age and under, seniors and groups of 10 or more.

Associated events taking place during the run of Somewhere include:

INSIGHTS SEMINAR: Somewhere
Monday, Sept. 26 at 7:00 p.m. FREE
Insight Seminars are informal presentations of ideas and insights to enhance the theater-going experience. The seminars feature a panel selected from the artistic company of each production and take place in the theater where the production is performed. Reception, 6:30 p.m. Seminar, 7:00 p.m. Admission is free and reservations are not required.

POST-SHOW FORUMS: Somewhere
Tuesdays, Oct. 11 and Oct. 18 and Wednesday, Oct. 26. FREE
Discuss the play with members of the Somewhere cast and crew at post-show discussions led by the Globe's creative staff after the performances.

OUT AT THE GLOBE: Thursday, Oct. 6 at 6:30 p.m. $20
An evening for gay and lesbian theater lovers and the whole LGBT community, Out at the Globe includes a hosted wine and martini bar, appetizers and door prizes. $20 per person. RSVP at (619) 23-GLOBE. (Tickets to Somewhere are sold separately.)

THANK GLOBE IT'S FRIDAY: Friday, Oct. 7 at 6:30 p.m. $20
Kick off the weekend with the Globe's Friday pre-show bash. TGIF includes a hosted wine and martini bar, appetizers and desserts. $20 per person. RSVP at (619) 23-GLOBE. (Tickets to Somewhere are sold separately.)

CALENDAR: Much Ado About Nothing (5/29-9/24), The Tempest (6/5-9/25), Amadeus (6/12-9/22), Engaging Shaw (7/29-9/4), Odyssey (9/30-10/2), Richard O'Brien's The Rocky Horror Show (9/15-11/6), Somewhere (9/24-10/30), Twelfth Night (11/6-11/13), Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (11/19-12/31), Some Lovers (11/26-12/31).

The Tony Award-winning Old Globe is one of the country's leading professional regional theaters and has stood as San Diego's flagship arts institution for 75 years. Under the direction of Executive Producer Louis G. Spisto, The Old Globe produces a year-round season of 15 productions of classic, contemporary and new works on its three Balboa Park stages: the 600-seat Old Globe Theatre and the 250-seat Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, which are both part of The Old Globe's Conrad Prebys Theatre Center, and the 605-seat outdoor Lowell Davies Festival Theatre, home of its internationally renowned Shakespeare Festival. More than 250,000 people attend Globe productions annually and participate in the theater's education and community programs. Numerous world premieres such as The Full Monty, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, A Catered Affair, and the annual holiday musical, Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, have been developed at The Old Globe and have gone on to enjoy highly successful runs on Broadway and at regional theaters across the country.

For more information, visit www.theoldglobe.org.

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JUAN Javier Cardenas (Francisco Candelaria) has recently appeared as Mickey in Evenings All Afternoon and Paul in AliceGraceAnon (New Georges), Reynaldo in Havana Journal, 2004 (INTAR Theatre), Raul in Back, Back, Back (Dallas Theater Center), Manuelo in Boleros for the Disenchanted (Huntington Theatre Company, IRNE Award nomination) and Alan Strang in Equus and Albert Adam in The Play's the Thing (Asolo Repertory Theatre). He has toured Russia (Lysander in A Midsummer Night's Dream) and Greece (Corin and LeBeau in As You Like It), as well as the southern U.S. (Bazman in the world premiere of Lavender Lizards and Lilac Landmines: Layla's Dream). He has appeared on television in programs such as "Blue Bloods," "Law & Order Special Victims Unit" and "The Good Wife," as well as numerous independent films and commercials.

Leo Ash Evens (Jamie MacRae) has played Riff in West Side Story in London's West End, The 50th Anniversary U.S. Tour, Barrington Stage Company, Theatre Under The Stars and North Carolina Theatre. Evens received critical acclaim as Tulsa in Gypsy directed by Lonny Price and starring Patti LuPone (Ravinia Festival). Recently, Evens won Best Actor in the Houston Excellence Awards for his performance of the Emcee in Cabaret at Theatre Under The Stars and reprised the role at Arvada Center. His Off Broadway credits include P.J. in Wanda's World directed by Lynne Taylor Corbett and But I'm a Cheerleader, Going Down Swingin', The Taxi Cabaret and most recently starring in the new tap musical Fingers and Toes (New York Musical Theatre Festival). His tours include Billy Lawlor in 42nd Street (Moscow), Disney's On the Record and Casper: The Musical with Chita Rivera. His regional credits include Mark in Rent (Weston Playhouse), Will Parker in Oklahoma! (Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera and Casa Mañana) and Jimmy in Thoroughly Modern Millie (Arvada Center).

Priscilla Lopez (Inez Candelaria) was last seen on Broadway in the Tony Award-winning musical In the Heights. She previously appeared in Nilo Cruz's Pulitzer Prize-winning play Anna in the Tropics. She received a Tony Award as Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her portrayal as Harpo Marx in Broadway's A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine. Her performance as the original DiAna Morales in A Chorus Line led to an OBIE Award and a Tony nomination and introduced the songs "Nothing" and "What I Did for Love." Her Broadway credits include The Sisters Rosensweig, Lysistrata, Pippin, Company, Her First Roman, Henry, Sweet Henry and Breakfast at Tiffany's. Her Off Broadway credits include Beauty of the Father, The Oldest Profession, newyorkers, Class Mothers 68 (Drama Desk Award nomination), The Passion of Friday Kahlo, Antigone in New York, Other People's Money, Extremities, Buck and Your Own Thing. She has appeared in Los Angeles and regionally in Irma la Douce, Vanities and Death and the Maiden. Her film credits include Maid in Manhattan as Jennifer Lopez's mother, Center Stage, Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise, Tony n' Tina's Wedding, The Miracle of Spanish Harlem and Musical Chairs.

Benita Robledo (Rebecca Candelaria) has appeared on television as Amalia on The CW's "Gossip Girl," Dreads on NBC's "Kings" and Charlene on Comedy Central's "Michael & Michael Have Issues." Her films include Going the Distance, What Happens in Vegas and Every Day. Her theater credits include Rebecca Candelaria in Tio Pepe at (Summer Play Festival at The Public Theater), Viola in Twelfth Night (The Storm Theatre) and the title role in Linnea.

Jon Rua (Alejandro Candelaria) most recently originated the role of Twig in the world premiere of the new musical Bring It On: The Musical (ALLIANCE THEATRE). His Broadway credits include Sonny in In the Heights. His additional theater credits include The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity (Second Stage Theatre, Pulitzer Prize finalist) and Damn Yankees (Encores!). His workshops include Hands on a Hard Body (La Jolla Playhouse), Sundance Theatre Lab 2011 at The Banff Centre, Pan, Bare, Queen of the Stardust Ballroom and All Fall Down (INTAR Theatre) and Kingdom (The Public Theater). His television credits include "Law and Order." Rua has danced for such artists as Don Omar, Soulja Boy and more. As a choreographer, his work has been seen on NCAA/NBA dance teams, CBS, MTV, Chaos Theory and Broadway Bares. Rua has assisted as a choreographer on such projects as In the Heights, The Wiz (Encores!), Bring It On: The Musical and Insanity.

 

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