Lauren Blumenfeld to Star in RICH GIRL at The Old Globe; Full Cast Announced!

The Old Globe today announced the complete cast and creative team for the West Coast premiere of an exciting new American play, Rich Girl, by acclaimed playwright Victoria Stewart, continuing the Globe's 80th Anniversary festivities as part of the Balboa Park Centennial Celebration. Rich Girl will be directed by James Vásquez (Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, Richard O'Brien's The Rocky Horror Show), and will play May 23 - June 21, 2015, in the Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, part of the Globe's Conrad Prebys Theatre Center. Preview performances run May 23 - 27. Opening night is Thursday, May 28 at 8:00 p.m. Single tickets are currently on sale. Tickets 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.

Claudine's mother has it all: she's wealthy, successful, and famous. Claudine is awkward, shy, and forever living in her mother's shadow. When a dashing artist sweeps Claudine off her feet, her mother is convinced that all he's after is her money. A modern retelling of the Henry James novel Washington Square, which became the stage and screen classic The Heiress, Rich Girl is a moving and funny new play about mothers and daughters, love and money, and whether they can ever coexist. The News-Herald called it "beautifully written - a thoroughly delightful entertainment!"

The cast for Rich Girl features Lauren Blumenfeld (Claudine, Broadway's The Assembled Parties, "Unforgettable"), Meg Gibson (Eve, the Public Theatre's Talking About Race and Measure for Measure, "The Americans"), Carolyn Michelle Smith (Maggie, Broadway's Romeo and Juliet, "House of Cards"), and JD Taylor (Henry, The Understudy at McCarter Theatre Center, "Elementary," "The Good Wife").

The creative team for Rich Girl includes Wilson Chin (Scenic Design), Shirley Pierson (Costume Design), Amanda Zieve (Lighting Design), Lindsay Jones (Sound Design), Mark Holmes (Video Design), Paul Peterson (Video Design) ,Caparelliotis Casting (Casting), and Diana Moser (Production Stage Manager). Director Vasquez and designers Chin, Pierson, Zieve, Holmes and Peterson are all local San Diego artists.

"Rich Girl is a terrific new play: smart, fun, and wonderfully fresh, and I am very happy to have it in the Globe's season" said Artistic Director Barry Edelstein. "Victoria Stewart injects vibrant new energy into a classic story, and reinvents its enduring themes so that they speak directly to our contemporary world. A story of mothers and daughters and love and money, it's in many ways a small marvel of playwriting: clever and inventive and moving. And under expert guidance of Globe family member James Vasquez and his expert cast, the play will receive the kind of top-drawer production that Globe audiences expect."

Victoria Stewart (Playwright) graduated from the Playwrights Workshop at The University of Iowa. Since then, she has received the Francesca Primus Award, a McKnight Advancement Grant, the Helen Merrill Award, the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize (finalist), and the Jerome Fellowship as well as residencies at the Sundance Institute Playwright's Retreat at Ucross Foundation, Hedgebrook, Tofte Lake Center, and Donmar Warehouse. Her plays include Rich Girl (Cleveland Play House, George Street Playhouse, The Lyric Stage Company of Boston), Mercy Watson to the Rescue! (Bay Area Children's Theatre/Marin Theatre Company), Hardball (Live Girls! Theater, Summer Play Festival), Fissures (lost and found) (Actors Theatre of Louisville), Clandestino (Mixed Blood Theatre), LIVE GIRLS (Urban Stages, Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater, Stage Left Theatre), Nightwatches (Overlap Productions), 800 Words: The Transmigration of Philip K. Dick (Live Girls! Theater, Workhaus Collective, Caravan Theatre of Pittsburgh), The Last Scene, and an adaptation of Henry James's The Bostonians. She is a member of the Workhaus Collective, The Playwrights Union, at The Playwrights' Center (affiliated writer), and Writers Guild of America, West. Recently, she wrote a screenplay for HBO and is developing several projects for television.

James Vásquez (Director) has recreated the original musical staging of Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! since 2003. At the Globe, he directed Richard O'Brien's The Rocky Horror Show, served as Associate Director of Jane Austen's Emma - A Musical Romantic Comedy, and provided musical staging for Boeing-Boeing and the 2013 Shakespeare Festival production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. He received San Diego Theatre Critics Circle Award nominations for Outstanding Direction of a Musical for the world premiere of Harmony, Kansas and the West Coast premiere of [title of show] (Diversionary Theatre) and won the award in 2010 for Sweeney Todd (Cygnet Theatre Company). His other recent directing/choreography credits include the workshop of Harmony, Kansas (Goodspeed Musicals), Cats (San Diego Musical Theatre), Marry Me a Little, Birds of a Feather, Pippin, and Next Fall (Diversionary), Hedwig and the Angry Inch and Little Shop of Horrors (Cygnet) and Into the Woods (New Village Arts). In 2004, Vásquez founded Daisy 3 Pictures with Mark Holmes and Carrie Preston. Their first two feature films, 29th and Gay (TLA Releasing, Here TV) and Ready? OK! (Wolfe Video, LOGO), have played national and international film festivals, with Ready? OK! winning Best Feature Film awards in Seattle, North Carolina and San Diego. Their latest feature film, That's What She Said, starring Anne Heche, made its world premiere at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. As an actor, Vásquez has appeared on film, television, Off Broadway, and regional and local stages.

Tickets to Rich Girl may 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. Single tickets on sale now, starting at $29. Performances begin on May 23 and continue through June 21. Performance times: Previews: Saturday, May 23 at 8:00 p.m., Sunday, May 24 at 7:00 p.m., Tuesday, May 26 at 7:00 p.m., and Wednesday, May 27 at 7:00 p.m. Opening night is Thursday, May 28 at 8:00 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 will a Wednesday matinee performance on June 10 at 2:00 p.m. and no matinee performance on Saturday, June 13. Discounts are available for full-time students, patrons 29 years of age and under, seniors, and groups of 10 or more.

Additional events taking place during the run of Rich Girl include:

INSIGHTS SEMINAR: Tuesday, May 26 at 6:00 p.m.

The seminar series features a panel selected from the current show. Reception at 5:30 p.m. FREE

POST-SHOW FORUMS: Tuesdays, June 2 and 9, and Wednesday, June 17

Discuss the play with members of the cast and crew following the performance. FREE

SUBJECT MATTERS: Saturday, June 20

Following the 2:00 p.m. performance, explore the ideas and issues raised by the production through brief, illuminating post-show discussions with local experts. FREE

The Old Globe is located in San Diego's Balboa Park at 1363 Old Globe Way. There are numerous free parking lots available throughout the park. Guests may also be dropped off in front of the Mingei International Museum. The Balboa Park valet is also available during performances ($12), located in front of the Japanese Friendship Garden. For additional parking information visit www.BalboaPark.org. For directions and up-to-date information, please visit www.TheOldGlobe.org/Directions.

To look up online or GPS directions to The Old Globe, please do not use the Delivery Address above. There is only a 10-minute zone at that physical address. For GPS users, click here for the map coordinates, and here for written directions to The Old Globe and nearby parking in Balboa Park.

The Tony Award-winning Old Globe is one of the country's leading professional regional theatres and has stood as San Diego's flagship arts institution for over 75 years. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Barry Edelstein and Managing Director Michael G. Murphy, The Old Globe produces a year-round season of 14 productions of classic, contemporary, and new works on its three Balboa Park stages: the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage in the 600-seat Old Globe Theatre and the 250-seat Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, 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 theatre's education and community programs. Numerous world premieres such as 2014 Tony Award winner for Best Musical, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, 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 theatres across the country.

CAST & CREATIVE TEAM BIOGRAPHIES:

Lauren Blumenfeld (Claudine) is thrilled to be making her Globe debut. She has played an eclectic array of characters, ranging from Olive Oyl to Jesus to Barack Obama. Ms. Blumenfeld appeared on Broadway in Manhattan Theatre Club's The Assembled Parties by Richard Greenberg. Her Off Broadway credits include Soho Repertory Theater's We Are Proud to Present... by Jackie Sibblies Drury, Exit Carolyn (New York Innovative Theatre Award nomination), and Sailor Man (Fringe Excellence Award); at Ars Nova, she co-conceived and performed two one-woman shows: We Are Not Birds (Enjoy Your Flight!) by Bekah Brunstetter and Let Me Collect Myself by Nikole Beckwith. Ms. Blumenfeld's regional credits include Six Degrees of Separation, After the Revolution, Egg-Layers, Chopin's Preludes, and A Midsummer Night's Dream (Williamstown Theatre Festival), Circle Mirror Transformation (Pittsburgh Public Theater), and Tigers Be Still (TheatreSquared in Arkansas). Her television and film credits include "Deadbeat" (Hulu), "Unforgettable" (CBS), Black Dog Red Dog, The Rebound, and A Little Princess. She is a proud volunteer and smart partner at The 52nd Street Project. Laurenblumenfeld.com

Meg Gibson (Eve) was last seen at the Globe in 1985 in A Midsummer's Night Dream (directed by Jack O'Brien), and Painting Churches. Her New York credits include, for The Public Theater: Talking About Race (Public Forum, The Aspen Institute), Measure for Measure (Mobile Shakespeare Unit), King Lear, The Ride Down Mt. Morgan, Casanova, Fen, and Temptation. Other Off Broadway credits are Human Error (Atlantic Theater Company), Slipping (Rattlestick Playwrights Theater), Roman Fever (The Ensemble Studio Theatre), Lapis Blue, Blood Red (HERE Arts Center), From Above (Playwrights Horizons), Messiah (Manhattan Theatre Club), The Games (BAM Next Wave Festival); and she was an Artist-in-Residence at Mabou Mines. Her regional work includes Mark Taper Forum, American Repertory Theater, Yale Repertory Theatre, Long Wharf Theatre, Hartford Stage, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Huntington Theatre Company, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Westport Country Playhouse, National Playwrights Conference at The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, and Sundance Institute Film and Theatre Lab. For television she has appeared in "Treme," "The Americans," "Rubicon," "Zero Hour," "Blue Bloods," "Sex and the City," and all versions of "Law & Order." Gibson's film credits include Che, Dust, Amira and Sam, The Night Listener, Picture Perfect, and Dottie.

Carolyn Michelle Smith (Maggie) recently appeared on Broadway in Romeo and Juliet directed by David Leveaux. Her other New York credits include Hit the Wall by Ike Holter and Soldier X (Off Broadway). Her regional credits include WHADDABLOODCLOT!!! by Katori Hall at Williamstown Theatre Festival and productions at Actors Theatre of Louisville, Seattle Shakespeare Company, and Princeton Rep Shakespeare Festival. Her television credits include "Codes of Conduct," directed by Steve McQueen (HBO) and "House of Cards" (Netflix), playing the role of Willa, Chief of Staff to Claire Underwood. Her film credits include Full-Windsor, directed by Faraday Okoro, Portraits in Dramatic Time by David Michalek, and He's Way More Famous Than You, directed by Michael Urie. Ms. Smith trained at Fordham University at Lincoln Center (where she received a B.A.), British American Drama Academy's Midsummer in Oxford, and The Juilliard School.

JD Taylor (Henry) is making his Globe debut. His recent theatre credits include The Understudy by Theresa Rebeck (McCarter Theatre Center), Ed in the world premiere of Ed, Downloaded (Denver Center Theatre Company), Leslye Headland's Bachelorette (The Studio Theatre), Red (Asolo Repertory Theatre, Maltz Jupiter Theatre), She Stoops to Conquer (Williamstown Theatre Festival), Missed Connection (Samuel French Off Off Broadway Short Play Festival winner), Ground UP Production's world premieres of Rubber Ducks and Sunsets (Gene Frankel Theatre) and Letter from Algeria (Abingdon Theatre Company), and many development workshops and readings with The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center's National Playwrights Conference, Sundance Institute Theatre Lab, Classic Stage Company, Ars Nova, Soho Repertory Theater, Lark Play Development Center's Playwrights' Workshop, and Theatreworks USA. Taylor's television and film credits include "Elementary," "The Good Wife," The Mend (SXSW Grand Jury Award nomination for Narrative Feature), Therefore I Am, Welcome to New York, and Lewis Black Drama Queen. He received his M.F.A. from New York University's Graduate Acting program.

Wilson Chin (Scenic Design) returns to The Old Globe after designing Othello, The Winter's Tale, Anna Christie (Craig Noel Award nomination), Engaging Shaw, and The American Plan. His New York credits include Next Fall (Broadway, Naked Angels), By the Water (Manhattan Theatre Club), Too Much, Too Much, Too Many (Roundabout Theatre Company), Pericles, Prince of Tyre and Macbeth (The Public Theater), The Jammer (Atlantic Theater Company), Len, Asleep in Vinyl (Second Stage Theatre), Dark Matters (Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre), and Boom (Ars Nova). His opera designs include Lucia di Lammermoor (Lyric Opera of Chicago), Eine Florentinische Tragodie and Gianni Schicchi (Canadian Opera Company, Dora Award), I Am Harvey Milk (Avery Fisher Hall), and The Ghosts of Versailles (Wolf Trap Opera). Regionally, he has designed at American Conservatory Theater, Barrington Stage Company, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Geffen Playhouse, Guthrie Theater, Hartford Stage, The Shakespeare Theatre Company, Signature Theatre Company, Westport Country Playhouse, and Yale Repertory Theatre..

Shirley Pierson (Costume Design), a San Diego-based, award-winning costume designer, marks her Globe design debut with Rich Girl. Her work has been featured on stages throughout San Diego County, such as Cygnet Theatre Company, Diversionary Theatre, and New Village Arts. Among her show credits are Parade (2012 Craig Noel Award for Outstanding Costume Design), Spring Awakening, The Importance of Being Earnest (2013 Craig Noel Award nomination), Assassins, The Glass Menagerie, Little Shop of Horrors, Cabaret, Sweeney Todd, Private Lives, History Boys, Pippin, Harmony, Kansas, Next Fall, Sea Scape, and the Old Globe/USD M.F.A. production of Richard III. Pierson has also designed costumes and puppets for Kaiser Permanente's Educational Theatre Program, which tours schools throughout Southern California and focuses on issues of literacy, nutrition, and conflict management. Her credits include assistant designer as well, aiding Linda Cho, Robert Morgan, and Charlotte Devaux on several past productions at The Old Globe. Prior to entering the world of costume design, Pierson had a successful career as a buyer for several major department stores, as well as a textile merchandiser for several major sportswear manufacturers in the fashion industry. She is a faculty member of the Performing Arts Department at Palomar College and received her M.F.A. in Theatre Design from San Diego State University.

Amanda Zieve (Lighting Design) is making her design debut for The Old Globe. Her recent San Diego credits include Designer for West Side Story (San Diego Musical Theatre), Associate Lighting Designer for Bright Star and Allegiance - A New American Musical (The Old Globe), and The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Chasing the Song (La Jolla Playhouse). She will be taking part in her 12th Broadway production soon as Assistant Lighting Designer for Hamilton.

Lindsay Jones (Sound Design) previously worked on the Globe productions of Buyer & Cellar, Richard III, As You Like It, Inherit the Wind, The Recommendation, Groundswell, Opus, The Glass Menagerie, In This Corner, Oscar and the Pink Lady, Lincolnesque, Sky Girls, and Beyond Therapy, among others. He designed and composed for the Broadway productions of Bronx Bombers and A Time to Kill. His Off Broadway credits include Bootycandy (Playwrights Horizons), Mr. Joy (LCT3), Wild with Happy (The Public Theater), Top Secret (New York Theatre Workshop), Rx (Primary Stages), and many others. His regional credits include Guthrie Theater, Hartford Stage, Alliance Theatre, Goodman Theatre, American Conservatory Theater, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, La Jolla Playhouse, Arena Stage, and many others. His international work includes Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Canada and Royal Shakespeare Company in England, as well as productions in Austria, Zimbabwe, South Africa, and Scotland. Jones has received seven Joseph Jefferson Awards and 21 nominations, two Ovation Awards and three nominations, and a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award, as well as three Drama Desk Award nominations, two Helen Hayes Award nominations, and nominations for the Barrymore Awards, Henry Hewes Design Awards, and many others. His film scoring credits include Magnolia Pictures' The Brass Teapot and HBO Films' A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin (2006 Academy Award for Best Documentary, Short Subjects).

Mark Holmes (Video Design), along with James Vásquez and Carrie Preston, is the co-founder of Daisy 3 Pictures. He served as executive producer on 29th and Gay (TLA Releasing), Ready? OK! (Wolfe Releasing), and their latest film, That's What She Said (Phase 4 Films). He also provides technical, editorial, and production consultation on most Daisy 3 Pictures work. In San Diego, he has provided video and film work for Cygnet Theatre Company, Diversionary Theatre, the Theatre Arts School of San Diego, San Diego Musical Theatre, and other clients. He is making his debut at The Old Globe.

Paul Peterson (Video Design) has designed over 100 productions at The Old Globe, including Other Desert Cities, The Brothers Size, God of Carnage, Nobody Loves You, Odyssey, Engaging Shaw, Life of Riley, Plaid Tidings - A Special Holiday Edition of Forever Plaid, Welcome to Arroyo's, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Broadway Bound, The Last Romance, Lost in Yonkers, I Do! I Do!, The Mystery of Irma Vep, Kingdom, Six Degrees of Separation, The Women, Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, Bell, Book and Candle, Two Trains Running, Hold Please, Restoration Comedy, Pig Farm, Moonlight and Magnolias, Vincent in Brixton, Lucky Duck, The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow, Blue/Orange, Time Flies, Pentecost, Compleat Female Stage Beauty, The Boswell Sisters, Crumbs from the Table of Joy, and many more. His regional credits include designs for Milwaukee Repertory Theater, San Jose Repertory Theatre, Center Stage, La Jolla Playhouse, Sledgehammer Theatre (Associate Artist), Mo'olelo Performing Arts Company, San Diego Repertory Theatre, North Coast Repertory Theatre, Diversionary Theatre, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, Malashock Dance, University of San Diego, San Diego State University, and UCLA. Peterson received his B.F.A. in Drama with an emphasis in Technical Design from San Diego State University.

Caparelliotis Casting (Casting) recently cast the Globe productions of Arms and the Man, Buyer & Cellar, The White Snake, The Twenty-seventh Man, Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, The Royale, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Water by the Spoonful, Time and the Conways, Bethany, The Winter's Tale, The Few, Double Indemnity, The Rainmaker, Other Desert Cities, Be a Good Little Widow, A Doll's House, The Brothers Size, Pygmalion, and Good People. Their Broadway casting credits include Fish in the Dark, It's Only a Play, Disgraced, Holler If Ya Hear Me, Casa Valentina, The Snow Geese, Lyle Kessler's Orphans, The Trip to Bountiful, Grace, Dead Accounts, The Other Place, Seminar, The Columnist, Stick Fly, Good People, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, The House of Blue Leaves, Fences, Lend Me a Tenor, and The Royal Family. They also cast for Manhattan Theatre Club, Second Stage Theatre, Atlantic Theater Company, LCT3, Ars Nova, Goodman Theatre, Arena Stage, Ford's Theatre, and three seasons with Williamstown Theatre Festival. Their recent film and television credits include HairBrained with Brendan Fraser, "Odyssey" (upcoming, NBC series), "How to Get Away with Murder" (ABC pilot), "Ironside" (NBC), and Steel Magnolias (Sony for Lifetime).

Diana Moser (Stage Manager) recently stage managed the Globe productions of Time and the Conways and All's Well That Ends Well, the inaugural touring production of Globe for All. Since 2004 she has worked on over 25 shows at the Globe including Other Desert Cities, The Brothers Size, August: Osage County, The Recommendation, Brighton Beach Memoirs and Broadway Bound, The Whipping Man, I Do! I Do!, Opus, Six Degrees of Separation, The Pleasure of His Company, In This Corner, the 2007 Summer Shakespeare Festival, Restoration Comedy, and The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow. Ms. Moser's regional credits include La Jolla Playhouse, San Diego Repertory Theatre, Arena Stage, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, New York Theatre Workshop, Berkshire Theatre Festival, Children's Theatre Company of Minneapolis, and Arizona Theatre Company. Ms. Moser received her B.A. from Bard College and her M.F.A. in directing from Purdue. She lives in Nova Scotia, Canada with her husband, photographer Paul H. Williams. Ms. Moser is a proud member of Actors' Equity. HaresignPhotoWorks.com.

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