La Jolla Playhouse Presents SLEEPING BEAUTY WAKES July 19- Aug 21

La Jolla Playhouse presents a new adaptation of Sleeping Beauty Wakes, book by Tony Award-winning librettist Rachel Sheinkin (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee), with a score by composer Brendan Milburn and lyricist Valerie Vigoda, both of the acclaimed trio GrooveLily (Striking 12, Long Story Short), and directed by Rebecca Taichman, who will also direct The Playhouse's 2011/12 world premiere of Milk Like Sugar. A co-production with Princeton's McCarter Theatre Center, Sleeping Beauty Wakes runs July 19 - August 21 in the Mandell Weiss Theatre. Tickets are available at www.LaJollaPlayhouse.org or by calling the box office at (858) 550-1010. Sleeping Beauty Wakes is sponsored by U.S. Bank and ResMed Inc.

In Sleeping Beauty Wakes, a young woman is brought to a sleep disorder clinic, and soon all the patients find themselves sharing a familiar dream. The show reunites two members of the acclaimed rock trio GrooveLily - Brendan Milburn and Valerie Vigoda - with Tony Award-winning librettist Rachel Sheinkin, who last collaborated on the inventive holiday tale Striking 12. With beguiling characters, hypnotic lyrics, and a rocking score, Sleeping Beauty Wakes delves into the magical space between dreaming and waking in a delightful twist on a classic tale.

Sleeping Beauty Wakes has been hailed by critics: "Visually, musically, dramatically - this production offers a wealth of pleasures," wrote Town Topics. The New Jersey Star Ledger raved, "No matter how long or tiring a day you've had, here's a musical that will keep your eyes wide open," while The New York Times praised the show's "skillful pop-rock score."

The cast features Aspen Vincent ("Beauty"), who grew up in San Diego, performing with Starlight Musical Theater, Christian Youth Theater and Christian Community Theater. A veteran of both the stage and recording studio, Ms. Vincent has played arenas across the globe as Meat Loaf's duet partner on several world tours. Her stage credits include Broadway's American Idiot, the First National Tour of Dirty Dancing as well as regional productions of West Side Story (Maria), Grease (Sandy), Once Upon A Mattress (Winifred) and Little Women (Jo March).

The full cast includes Adinah Alexander (Broadway's Wicked, The Wedding Singer) as "Restless Leg Syndrome," Jimmy Ray Bennett (Off-Broadway's The Nuclear Family; Sundance Film Channel's The Extended Family) as "Apnea," Steve Judkins (West End's Notre Dame De Paris and The Full Monty) as "Sleepwalker," Kecia Lewis-Evans (Broadway's Chicago, The Drowsy Chaperone, Ain't Misbehavin', Dreamgirls) as "Doctor," Carrie Manolakos as "Night Terrors," Bryce Ryness (Broadway revival of HAIR - Drama Desk Award nomination) as "Orderly" and Tony Award nominee Bob Stillman (Broadway's Grey Gardens, Dirty Blonde) as "King."

The creative team includes: Rachel Sheinkin, book; Brendan Milburn, music; Valerie Vigoda, lyrics; Rebecca Taichman, director; James Sampliner, music director/orchestrations; Doug Varone, choreographer; Riccardo Hernandez (Playhouse's The Miser, Beauty, Cloud Tectonics) set designer; Miranda Hoffman, costume designer; Christopher Akerlind (Playhouse's Herringbone, Carmen, The Country), lighting designer; Leon Rothenberg (Playhouse's Herringbone) sound designer, Peter Nigrini (Playhouse's Notes from Underground), projection designer.
The nationally acclaimed, Tony Award-winning La Jolla Playhouse is known for its tradition of creating the most exciting and adventurous new work in regional theatre. The Playhouse was founded in 1947 by Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire and Mel Ferrer, and is considered one of the most well-respected not-for-profit theatres in the country. Numerous Playhouse productions have moved to Broadway, including the currently running, Tony Award-winning musicals Memphis and Jersey Boys, as well as Big River, The Who's Tommy, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, A Walk in the Woods, Billy Crystal's 700 Sundays, the Pulitzer Prize-winning I Am My Own Wife, Thoroughly Modern Millie, The Farnsworth Invention and 33 Variations. Located on the UC San Diego campus, La Jolla Playhouse is made up of three primary performance spaces: the Mandell Weiss Theatre, the Mandell Weiss Forum Theatre and the Joan and Irwin Jacobs Center for La Jolla Playhouse, a state-of-the-Art Theatre complex which features the Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre. La Jolla Playhouse is led by Artistic Director Christopher Ashley and Managing Director Michael S. Rosenberg.

BIOGRAPHIES
Brendan Milburn (music) and Valerie Vigoda (lyrics) have been writing songs together for 17 years, first for their band GrooveLily, and more recently for musical theatre and film. Their work includes two musicals written with librettist Rachel Sheinkin: Striking 12 (Off-Broadway and regional productions, directed by Ted Sperling) and Sleeping Beauty Wakes (Center Theatre Group, Deaf West, McCarter Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse). Other work includes: Wheelhouse (TheatreWorks), Toy Story: The Musical (Disney), Long Story Short (Pittsburgh City Theatre, TheatreWorks, San Diego REP) and Tina Landau's A Midsummer Night's Dream (McCarter/Paper Mill Playhouse). They have also written songs for four films about Tinker Bell (Disney). Awards: Jonathan Larson Award (2006 and 2008), ASCAP Foundation Richard Rodgers New Horizons Award (2009). Their proudest production is their five-year old son, Mose. www.GrooveLily.com

Rachel Sheinkin (librettist) received the Tony and Drama Desk Awards for best book of a musical for her work on The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Other work includes Little House on the Prairie and Striking 12 (with GrooveLily; Lucille Lortel Award nomination). Blood Drive, her NYU one-act, with music by Joel Derfner, was produced by Bridewell Theater London, and an expanded form workshopped at the O'Neill National Music Theater Conference. Ms. Sheinkin studied playwriting with Paula Vogel at Brown University, and at Yale School of Drama. Fellowships and commissions include Manhattan Theater Club, MacDowell Colony, and Playwrights Horizons. A member of Dramatists Guild, she teaches at Tisch's Graduate Program in Musical Theatre Writing and at Yale School of Drama.
Rebecca Taichman (director: Sleeping Beauty Wakes and Milk Like Sugar) directed and co-created the Barrymore Award-winning musicAl Green Violin, by Elise Thoron, at The Prince Music Theater in 2005. She also directed and co-created the Obie award-winning Menopausal Gentleman. Ms. Taichman directed Iphigeneia at Aulis at Yale Rep, The Diary of Anne Frank at Roundhouse Theater (3 Helen Hayes Awards), Arthur Kopit's Discovery of America at NY Stage & Film, Anna Deavere Smith's Piano at the Institute of the Arts and Civic Dialogue, Oklahoma City at the Theater Offensive, and Cascarones at The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center Playwright's Conference. She graduated from the Yale School of Drama, where she wrote and directed People vs. God of Vengeance. Ms. Taichman is a Usual Suspect at NYTW and a recipient of a Drama League Directing Fellowship. She recently joined Woolly Mammoth Theater as an Associate Artistic Director.

Under the leadership of artistic director Emily Mann and managing director Timothy J. Shields, along with producing director Mara Isaacs, McCarter Theatre Center is recognized as one of the nation's premier theatre companies and performing arts centers. Renowned for major contributions to the theatrical canon, McCarter premieres have included Tarell Alvin McCraney's trilogy The Brother/Sister Plays; Will Power's Fetch Clay, Make Man; Edward Albee's Me, Myself & I; Emily Mann's Mrs. Packard; Beth Henley's Ridiculous Fraud; Christopher Durang's Miss Witherspoon; ReGina Taylor's Crowns; Dael Orlandersmith's Yellowman; Emily Mann's Having Our Say; Athol Fugard's Valley Song; and Stephen Wadsworth's Marivaux trilogy. McCarter has also produced major new productions of Brian Friel's Translations, directed by Garry Hynes; Nilo Cruz's Anna in the Tropics; Edward Albee's All Over (2 Obie Awards), directed by Emily Mann; and Electra, directed by David Leveaux. The 2011-2012 season will include world premieres by Marina Carr, Danai Gurira and John Guare. McCarter is supported by Princeton University, the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, and over 3,000 individuals, corporations and foundations.

BOX OFFICE: (858) 550-1010; LaJollaPlayhouse.org.

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