San Diego Rep Presents A WEEKEND WITH PABLO PICASSO by Herbert Siguenza, 3/26-4/11

Art that revolutionized the 20th Century comes to life at THE LYCEUM THEATRE as distinguished actor/writer Herbert Siguenza performs and paints on stage during SAN DIEGO REPERTORY THEATRE's workshop production of A WEEKEND WITH PABLO PICASSO. Though he is best known for his comedic work with the Latino performance troupe, Culture Clash, Siguenza was first a visual artist. His new one-man tour-de-force allows him to demonstrate his unparalleled writing, acting and visual art skills, as he takes on the role of legendary artist Pablo Picasso. A WEEKEND WITH PABLO PICASSO invites audiences into Picasso's private studio for an intimate and revealing weekend, as he prepares to deliver six new works of art to a buyer on Monday morning.

Directed by REP Associate Artistic Director TODD SALOVEY, A WEEKEND WITH PABLO PICASSO features a set designed by GIULIO PERRONE, with original music by BRUNO LOUCHOUARN and a visual landscape of Picasso's paintings with projections by Victoria Petrovich.

This unforgettable workshop production begins in previews on March 21, 2010, with an Opening Night on March 26, 2010 and continues through April 11, 2010.

A WEEKEND WITH PABLO PICASSO
March 21 - April 11, 2010
The Lyceum Space
Opening Night: Friday, March 26, 2010 at 8pm
*A Weekend With Pablo Picasso is a workshop production and will not be available for review*
Previews Schedule: Sun 7pm, Tue 7pm, Wed 7pm and Thu 8pm
Regular Performance Schedule:
Wednesday, 7pm
Wednesday, 10am (on April 7, 2010 only)
Thursday, 8pm (on April 8, 2010 only)
Friday, 8pm
Saturday, 2pm (on April 3, 2010 only)
Saturday, 8pm
Sunday, 2pm (on March 28 and April 11, 2010 only)
Sunday, 7pm
Ticket Prices: $29-40 (Student Discount $18)
Lyceum Box Office (619) 544-1000

The Story
Picasso was the first rock star artist. His wild creations gripped the public imagination and forever changed 20th century art. He enraged and engaged the intelligentsia with his flamboyant and controversial opinions. As a young boy, Herbert Siguenza was given a photo album of Pablo Picasso at work in his studio. Stunned by the playfulness and creative freedom of the 77-year old artist, he told his mother: "When I grow old I want to live like this man." His one-man show A WEEKEND WITH PABLO PICASSO will reveal the artist's proclamations about children, war, creativity, ambition, destruction, cubism, God, love, hate, beauty, friendship, patriotism, eternity, and art as an agent of social change.

Picasso once said, "Everything you can imagine is real." Aiming to capture onstage the mercurial soul and contradictory creations of Picasso, Siguenza will sing, clown, paint, dance, draw, sculpt, impersonate mythical creatures and lead the audience through Picasso's revealing critique of modern art.

Because Picasso said that his art was his autobiography, this new workshop production will include live and projected images of art from Picasso and his contemporaries. A WEEKEND WITH PABLO PICASSO puts audiences inside Picasso's "Le Californie" art studio on the coast of France and inside the creative mind and work of one of the most inspiring artists of modern history.

BIOS
Herbert Siguenza (Pablo Picasso, Playwright) is a founding member of Culture Clash, the country's most prominent Chicano/Latino performance troupe. The group's work has been produced by the nation's leading regional theaters including the Mark Taper Forum, Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center and The Goodman Theatre in Chicago, among others. Along with partners Montoya and Salinas, Siguenza has performed and or co-written: The Mission, A Bowl of Beings, S.O.S.-Comedy for These Urgent Times, Unplugged, Capra Clash, Radio Mambo: Culture Clash Invades Miami, Bordertown, The Birds, Nuyorican Stories, Anthology, Mission Magic Mystery Tour, Anthems: Culture Clash in the District, Chavez Ravine, Senor Discretion Himself, Culture Clash in AmeriCCa, Zorro in Hell, Water & Power, Peace and Palestine New Mexico. In 2003, Siguenza wrote and starred in Cantinflas!, a tribute to Mexico's greatest comedic film star considered one of the greatest comics of the 20th Century. Siguenza has a BFA in printmaking from CCAC. He is currently teaching and directing at UC Irvine and is a mayor appointed Commissioner for the city of Los Angeles.

TODD SALOVEY (Director) is in his 20th season as the REP's Associate Artistic Director. Mr. Salovey has directed many acclaimed REP shows including Doubt, The Blessing of a Broken Heart, which he also adapted, Brooklyn Boy, the world premiere of Yehuda Hyman's The Mad Dancers, Hamlet starring Jefferson Mays, Uncle Vanya and Death of a Salesman starring Michael Genovese, Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, King Lear, The Illusion, Uncle Vanya, The Dybbuk, The Imaginary Invalid, Three Hotels, and A Christmas Carol. He is on the acting faculty at the University of California, San Diego, where he has directed Six Characters in Search of an Author, and Stage Door. Mr. Salovey is the artistic director of the Lipinsky Family San Diego Jewish Arts Festival which commissions new work exploring Jewish traditions in contemporary artistic forms. He produces many REP surround events, including Talkin' Theatre with Todd

Events Surrounding A WEEKEND WITH PABLO PICASSO
Join us in the Lyceum Lobby before or after a performance for a one-of-a-kind experience. Grab a beverage and discover the insights of extraordinary scholars, artists and unforgettable personalities.

Picasso & Einstein
Sunday, March 21 @ 6pm (prior to the 7pm show)
It's not all relative when a nationally recognized physicist discusses two game changing geniuses of the 20th century. Join Dr. Brian Keating, who last wowed REP audiences with his provocative discussion of the birth of the universe, as he describes connections between Pablo Picasso and Albert Einstein, not the least of which was Picasso's attempt to represent multiple (spatial) dimensions in only two dimensions of the canvas-a highly mathematical endeavor! Dr. Keating received the PresidentiAl White House Science Award.

Picasso & Film
Tuesday, March 23 @ 8:30pm (after the 7pm show)
Pablo Picasso's influence on film is the subject of this stimulating postshow
show and tell. Allan Havis, provost at UCSD, award-winning playwright, and the author of Cult Films: Taboo and Transgression has taught theatre and film for over three decades at UCSD. Enjoy clips of such films as "Surviving Picasso" starring Anthony Hopkins, Clouzot's "The Mystery of Picasso," and "Romancero du Picador." Films about Picasso and films under the spell of Picasso's visual world take center stage for this stimulating event.

The Business of Art
Wednesday, March 24 @ 8:30pm (after the 7pm show)
Art expert Adam Lindeman said the first lesson every art collector must learn is that one can't be
taught collecting. Even so, for those in the market for million dollar works of art, there are experienced and knowledgeable people who can help. Join some of the experts in field for a fascinating discussion about buying and selling art. Panelists include Pierrette B. Van Cleve, a highly regarded specialist in the transfer of money and artwork between private collectors and the founder and president of the Art Cellar Exchange, the first fine art business and first woman owned business on the internet; Scott White, owner of Scott White Contemporary Art; and fine art appraiser Lydia Thompson, Ph.D., co-owner of the respected firm Thompson & Martinez and specialist in the art and photography of America and Asia.

Talkin' Theatre with Todd: Herbert Siguenza & Bruno Louchouarn
Thursday, March 25 @ 9:30pm (after the 8pm show)
REP audiences have marveled at Herbert Siguenza's talent as an incredibly versatile, charismatic, hilarious, and impassioned actor in such hit shows as Water and Power, Culture Clash in AmeriCCa, and Radio Mambo. In A Weekend With Pablo Picasso, Herbert not only writes and acts, he also PAINTS! This gifted gem of the American theatre will share his thoughts about the play, his process, and his longstanding fascination with the genius of Picasso. Joining Associate Artistic Director Todd Salovey, who also directed the show, will be gifted composer Bruno Louchouarn. Louchouarn was born in France, raised in Mexico City and moved to America to work in film music. He studied Artificial Intelligence in Paris and obtained a Ph.D. in music composition at UCLA. He teaches music, multimedia, and cognitive science at Occidental College. Premieres of his new music have been performed at venues including UCLA's Royce Hall, Disney Hall, the Getty Center, and Juilliard.

Meet the Artists
Wednesday, March 31 @ 8:30pm (after the 7pm show)
and Friday, April 2 @ 9:30pm (after the 8pm show)
Stick around after the performance for a revealing and unpredictable conversation with the artists who worked on A Weekend with Pablo Picasso.

Sam's Salon: Art Pros Talk Picasso
Thursday, April 1 @ 7pm (prior to the 8pm show)
Focusing an exact and true portrait of an artist as prolific, diverse and controversial as Picasso is a mighty task. Who better to answer the call than a trio of San Diego's most respected and knowledgeable visual art curators? Artistic Director Sam WoodHOUSE hosts an insider's look at the work and persona of the most famous modern artist in the history of modern art. Sam's guests are three internationally renown curators: from the San Diego Museum of Art JULIA MARCIARI ALEXANDER , Ph.D., Deputy Director for Curatorial Affairs and JOHN MARCIARI, Ph.D., Curator of European Art and Head of Provenance Research. From Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego Associate Curator Lucia Sanromán, M.A. Find out what the pros know and say about Pablo.

Artists and Their Passions: A Conversation with Lizet Benrey and Larry Caveney
Saturday, April 3 @ 9:30pm (after the 8pm show)
What makes artists paint or sculpt or construct? Where do artists find inspiration? Bernardo
Ferdman, of Alliant International University, puts these and other questions before San Diego artists Lizet Benrey and Larry Caveney in a stimulating conversation about what inspires artists
to create. Born and raised in Mexico City, Benrey-actress, painter, film-maker-is the daughter of painter Shirley Chernitsky. Surrounded by artists, she developed her painting skills in childhood, and has displayed her work in museums, cultural nstitutions, and galleries across the United States, Canada, Mexico, Japan, and Europe. She is now focusing on producing and directing short documentaries. Caveney-painter, sculptor, printmaker-developed his style while simultaneously working in a factory. After some success in the art world, he became disenchanted and traded in fancy art openings for interactive showings of his work to factory workers, school children, and others, eventually collaborating with them. He now pursues art as a form of social interaction and social change.

Live Art Inspired by Picasso
Wednesday, April 7 @ 6pm (prior to the 7pm show)
Local artists will fill the Lyceum Lobby for this one-of-a-kind event. Each artist will create a unique work of art based on a specific Picasso piece, theme, or period and they will do it live, right before your eyes. (There is rare footage of Picasso painting live on YouTube.) The artists may vary in style and medium but all of them have found inspiration in the work of Picasso. All of the artwork created will be on display and available for bidding following the performance. Artists participating include: Catherine Carlton, Tony Cuban, True DeLorenzo, Dani Dodge, Michelle Gonzalez, David Mandel, Kate McCavitt, Nick McPherson, Sam Orozco, Vivien Ressler, Salli Sachse, Wendy Starling, Caroline Taylor, Marjorie Taylor, Rosemary Valente, David Villa, Duke Windsor, Eric Wixon, Jeff Yeomans, and
Jackie Zucker.

Chagall: Images in Music and Dance
Thursday, April 8 @ 9:30pm (after the 8pm show)
Two of San Diego's most celebrated creators and performers, John Malashock and Yale Strom, will share their ideas and provide a sneak preview of a new work they are creating about the artistic work and the loves of Marc Chagall. The colorful art, life and relationships of iconic artist Marc Chagall are perfect subjects for a unique, imagistic, and fantastical portrayal through music and dance. Malashock danced with Twyla Tharp and is the greatly respected founder of Malashock Dance and Company. Strom is a composer, musician, writer, filmmaker and ethnologist whose numerous trips to Eastern Europe have uncovered gems of Jewish and Gypsy life and culture. Chagall said, "In our life there is a single color, as on an artist's palette, which provides the meaning of life and art. It is the color of love." His biographer Jackie Wullschlager noted that "Chagall changed his style every time he changed his woman."

The Lost Generation: Write Out Loud
Friday, April 9 @ 7pm (prior to the 8pm show)
WRITE OUT LOUD, San Diego's own live dramatic short story reading series, presents an
aural collage of passages from Ernest Hemingway's A Movable Feast and other writers who partook of the creative feast that was Paris in the 1920s. Veronica Murphy and Walter Ritter perform.

The REP's box office is open Tuesday through Sunday from 12pm - 6pm on non-performance days and 12pm - curtain on performance days. Groups of 10 or more can purchase tickets at a discounted rate. For more information, please see our website at www.sdrep.org.
Subscriptions run $68-$282. The REP offers subscribers an extensive package of benefits, including the lowest prices available; free ticket exchange privileges; discounts on individual tickets; and the opportunity to upgrade to a Premier Patron Package which features seating in the best 75 seats in each theatre venue. Premier Patron seating also offers an additional voucher for a friend and free drink coupons for the season.

San Diego Repertory Theatre produces intimate, exotic, provocative theatre. We promote a more inclusive community through vivid works that nourish progressive political and social values and celebrate the multiple voices of our region. San Diego Repertory Theatre feeds the curious soul. To learn more about the San Diego Repertory Theatre, visit www.sdrep.org.

 

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