Diversionary Theatre is proud to kick-off preview performances tonight at 8pm for the innovative launch season of new Executive Artistic Director: Matt M. Morrow. The 30th anniversary for the non-profit will invite beloved audiences to five remarkable San Diego premiere productions. The first piece of this landmark year; Amazons and Their Men, is a West Coast Premiere that will feature Mr. Morrow's San Diego directing debut.
Amazons explores the true story of Leni Riefenstahl (McCue) - one of the most accomplished and infamous filmmakers of the 20th Century whose entire career and legacy was marked by her association with the Nazi Party.
Jordan Harrison's riveting production tells a fictional account of the filmmaker's current project: Penthesilea; a movie adaptation about the Amazon Queen's love for and battle with the Greek hero Achilles. Riefenstahl, known as "The Frau," casts a Jewish man (DeCarlo) as Achilles, assuring him that as long as he acts in her film he will be safe from the war-torn backdrop of the time. However, when she casts a handsome messenger boy (Weinberg) to play Achilles' companion Patroclus, the chemistry between the two men ignites both on and off camera, threatening to unwind The Frau's film and career aspiration.
Special dates around the production:
Specialty low-priced preview performances: September 3rd- September 11th. (Thursdays-Sundays)
Opening Night (Includes pre & post-show receptions): 9/12th @8pm.
Backstage Thursdays Designer Spotlight Reception: 9/17 @6pm
Backstage Thursdays Happy Hour with the Director Reception: 9/24 @6pm
Industry Night: 9/21.
ASL interpreted performance. 9/27 @2pm
Student Matinee: 9/30 (Contact Education Associate Skyler Sullivan).
Backstage Thursdays Next Act!: 10/1 @6pm
The cast features Kerry McCue (The Frau), John DeCarlo (The Man), Jewels Weinberf (The Boy), and Tiffany Tang (The Extra).
The creative team includes
Ron Logan (Set Design), Kevin Anthenill (Sound Design & Composer),
Kate Bishop (Costume Design), Curtis Mueller (Lighting Design), Bonnie Durbin (Prop Design), and Tara Knight (Projection Designer).
Previews will begin September 3rd. The production is scheduled to run through October 4th. Tickets are now available online at
www.diversionary.org, by calling
619-220-0097 or in person by visiting 4545 Park Boulevard San Diego, CA 92116. Single ticket prices ranges from $22-40 (Prices are subject to change).
ABOUT THE COMPANY
Kerry McCue (The Frau) is very happy to be returning to Diversionary Theatre with Amazons and Their Men. Previously for Diversionary: Regrets Only. Elsewhere: Broken Glass and Perfect Wedding (North Coast Rep); Lost in Yonkers (
Arizona Theatre Company); Seminar, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, and Time Stand Still (Actors Theatre); Trainspotting and 4.48 Psychosis (Stray Cat Theatre); Sexual Perversity in Chicago, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, and Metamorphoses (Nearly Naked Theatre); A Midsummer Night's Dream (Sedona Shakespeare).
Jewels Weinberg (The Boy) is thrilled to make his debut at Diversionary Theater with Amazons and Their Men. Elsewhere: A Midsummer Night's Dream (Fruitless Moon Productions and The Garden Theater Festival); Lord of the Flies (New Village Arts); Bye Bye Birdie (North County School of the Arts); The Mousetrap, Rumors, Ash Girl, Legally Blonde, A Midsummers Night's Dream, Super Potato, Honk!, The Mouse That Roared, Of Mice and Men, Mary Poppins (San Dieguito Academy);Tartuffe (Oregon Conservatory of Performing Arts).
John DeCarlo (The Man) is very excited to be returning to Diversionary Theater with Amazons and their Men. John's last show at Diversionary was Beautiful Thing. Elsewhere: Stage Kiss, Off The Ground, Golden Boy, Julius Cesar, Summer and Smoke, Heidi Chronicles, Seven Year Itch, Death of a Salesman, Ah Wilderness, Of Mice and Men, Comedy of Errors, Brilliant Mistake and Buried Child (NVA); Bug, Mauritius and Man from Nebraska (Cygnet).
Tiffany Tang (The Extra). Diversionary debut! New York theatre includes Macbeth, Much Ado About Nothing (The Cry Havoc Company), Far Away (New York Theatre Workshop). Regional theatre includes Cabaret (Scarborough Drama Festival, England), The Life (
Stella Adler Theatre). Local theatre includes Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet (Intrepid Theatre Company); Longview TX, The Vagina Monologues (InnerMission); Derbywise (Circle Circle dot dot); Almost Maine (Carlsbad Playreaders);S.R.O., Lifestages: Reflections (Playwrights Project). Recent film credits include Thane of East County and A Life Lived (Frazzled Man Productions). Tiffany is the author of Creepy Little Death Poems and pretty sure this is the only time she will ever be referred to as an "Amazon." Thanks to guardian angel Anthony, visionary Matt and this uber-talented cast and crew for the daily movie magic. MFA: Actors Studio Drama School. For Presley.
Matt M. Morrow (Director) Prior to joining Diversionary Theatre, Matt was the Associate Artistic Director of
City Theatre Company, a LORT theatre in Pittsburgh dedicated to producing work written in the past five years. With City he directed the Regional Premiere of
Jessica Dickey's Charles Ives Take Me Home, the World Premiere of Tami Dixon's South Side Stories (Pittsburgh Post Gazette & Tribune Review's Top Ten of 2012; "...directed to crystalline point by Morrow." -City Paper),
Kim Rosenstock'sTigers Be Still ("Morrow has struck a balance between the jokey and the serious sides of "Tigers Be Still" so that Ms. Rosenstock's simple message comes through clearly and without preaching." -The Pittsburgh Post Gazette); and workshops of the new musical The Shadow Sparrow by
Anton Dudley,
Keith Gordon and
Charlie Sohne, and Don't You F*cking Say A Word by Andy Bragen for City's Momentum Festival of New Works.
He has developed new work with The Sundance Theatre Institute, The Banff Centre, American Conservatory Theater, Lincoln Center, PlayPenn, and Page 73 Productions in residence at the Yale School of Drama. His work as a director has been seen in NYC at Amas, Playwrights Horizons, Urban Stages, EST, HERE, Dixon Place, Cherry Lane, The York, The Tank, NYC Int'l Fringe, Midtown Int'l Festival, among others. Favorite credits include: SCarrie! The Musical (Bricolage Productions), Only Children (Lincoln Center), the first NYC revivals of The Falsetto Trilogy, The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told, john and jen, and Lisa Kron's 2.5 Minute Ride ("an affecting revival" -The New Yorker, "an exhilarating ride" -The New York Sun). His production of Jennifer Haley's Neighborhood 3: Requisition of Doom with Bricolage Production Company was cited as "breathtaking" by City Paper and in the Top Ten of 2010 by The Pittsburgh Tribune Review. www.mattmorrow.com
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