Tonye Patano to Star in Dominique Morisseau's SKELETON CREW at The Old Globe; Cast Announced!

The Old Globe today announced the complete cast and creative team of Skeleton Crew by Dominique Morisseau. The Globe is the first regional theatre in the country to mount the play, which was presented here as a reading in the 2014 Powers New Voices Festival before an acclaimed Off Broadway run. San Diego director Delicia Turner Sonnenberg makes her Globe debut to helm the award-winning drama, which is presented in association with San Diego's MOXIE Theatre, where Turner Sonnenberg is Founding Artistic Director.

Skeleton Crew runs April 8 - May 7, 2017 in the Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, part of the Conrad Prebys Theatre Center. Opening night is Thursday, April 13 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets start at $29, on sale now, and 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.

Times are tough in 2008 Detroit, but there's still one working auto plant. The long hours and demanding shifts have turned the line workers into a family. The firm, compassionate Faye holds them together, and she's only months away from retiring with her full pension. But when she discovers that management has a new plan, she's torn between self-preservation and allegiance to her coworkers.

The cast is led by Tonye Patano (Globe's The Last Goodbye, Craig Noel Award winner for La Jolla Playhouse's Ruined, "Weeds") as Faye and also includes Amari Cheatom (On the Levee at Lincoln Center Theater, Django Unchained) as Dez, Brian Marable (Morisseau's Detroit '67 at Baltimore Center Stage and Detroit Public Theatre) as Reggie, and Rachel Nicks (The Good Negro at The Public Theater, War at LCT3, "Nurse Jackie") as Shanita.

The creative team includes Tim Mackabee (Scenic Design), Jennifer Brawn Gittings (Costume Design), Sherrice Mojgani (Lighting Design), Lindsay Jones (Sound Design), Caparelliotis Casting (Casting), and Peter Van Dyke (Production Stage Manager).

"Skeleton Crew knocked me out when I heard it in our reading festival in 2014, and I knew our audience needed the chance to see a full production," said Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein. "Dominique Morisseau's play is a remarkable achievement. Rich with complex moral questions and full of joy and vibrancy, it celebrates working Americans even as it brings enormous compassion to the struggles they face in a changed economy. It could not be more timely, and in the inventive and highly imaginative hands of Delicia Turner Sonnenberg, it is sure to be a highlight of the Globe's season."

Dominique Morisseau (Playwright) is the author of The Detroit Project (A 3-Play Cycle), which includes the plays Skeleton Crew (Atlantic Theater Company), Paradise Blue (Williamstown Theatre Festival), and Detroit '67 (The Public Theater, Classical Theatre of Harlem, and National Black Theatre). Her additional plays include Sunset Baby (LAByrinth Theater Company), Blood at the Root (National Black Theatre), and Follow Me to Nellie's (Premiere Stages). She is an alumna of The Public Theater Emerging Writers Group, Women's Project Theater's Playwrights Lab, and Lark Playwrights' Workshop, and she has developed work at Sundance Institute Theatre Lab and Eugene O'Neill Theater Center's National Playwrights Conference. Her work has been commissioned by the Hip-Hop Theater Festival, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Women's Project Theater, South Coast Repertory, People's Light & Theatre Company, and Oregon Shakespeare Festival/Penumbra Theatre. She currently serves as Executive Story Editor on the Showtime series "Shameless." Ms. Morisseau has received the Stavis Playwriting Award, NAACP Image Award, Spirit of Detroit Award, L. Arnold Weissberger Award, PoNY Fellowship, Sky Cooper New American Play Prize, TEER Spirit Trailblazer Award, Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award, Edward M. Kennedy Prize for Drama (for Detroit '67), and Obie Award (for Skeleton Crew).

Delicia Turner Sonnenberg (Director) is making her Old Globe debut. She is the founding Artistic Director of MOXIE Theatre, where she has directed many acclaimed productions. Her other local directing credits include San Diego Repertory Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, Cygnet Theatre Company, Mo`olelo Performing Arts Company, New Village Arts, Diversionary Theatre, ion theatre company, and Playwrights Project. Her honors include the San Diego Theatre Critics Circle 2015 Director of the Year Award, Theatre Communications Group's New Generations Program fellowship, San Diego Theatre Critics Circle Awards, a Women's International Center Living Legacy Award, Van Lier Fund fellowship (Second Stage Theatre), and the New York Drama League's Directors Project.

Additional events taking place during the run of Skeleton Crew include:

· INSIGHTS SEMINAR: Tuesday, April 11, 2017 at 5:30 p.m.
An opportunity to closely connect with productions both onstage and backstage. A panel selected from the artistic company of each show (playwrights, actors, directors, designers, and/or technicians) engages patrons in an informal and illuminating presentation of ideas and insights to enhance the theatregoing experience. Reception at 5:00 p.m. FREE.

· SUBJECT MATTERS: Saturday, April 15, 2017 following the 2:00 p.m. matinee.
Explore the ideas and issues raised by a production through brief, illuminating post-show discussions with local experts, such as scientists, artists, historians, and scholars. Subject Matters will ignite discussion, bring the play's concerns into sharp focus, and encourage you to think beyond the stage! FREE.

· POST-SHOW FORUMS: Tuesday, April 18; Sunday, April 23 (matinee); Tuesday, April 25; and Wednesday, May 3, 2017.
Join us after the show for an informal and enlightening question-and-answer session with cast, crew, and/or Globe staff members. Get the inside story on creating a character and putting together a professional production. FREE.

Single tickets to Skeleton Crew start at $29 and are on sale now. Tickets can be purchased online at www.TheOldGlobe.org, by phone at (619) 23-GLOBE [234-5623], or by visiting the Box Office at 1363 Old Globe Way in Balboa Park. Discounts are available for full-time students, patrons 29 years of age and under, seniors, military members, and groups of 10 or more. Performances begin on April 8 and continue through May 7, 2017. Performance times: Previews: Saturday, April 8 at 8:00 p.m.; Sunday, April 9 at 7:00 p.m.; Tuesday, April 11 at 7:00 p.m.; and Wednesday, April 12 at 7:00 p.m. Opening night is Thursday, April 13 at 8:00 p.m. Regular Performances: Tuesday and Wednesday at 7:00 p.m., Thursday and Friday at 8:00 p.m., Saturday at 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., and Sunday at 2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. There will be an additional matinee performance on Wednesday, April 26 at 2:00 p.m. and no matinee performance on Saturday, April 29.

ABOUT THE CAST AND CREATIVE TEAM:

Amari Cheatom (Dez) is making his Old Globe debut. He has appeared in The Temple Bombing (ALLIANCE THEATRE), Dutch Masters (LAByrinth Theater Company), On the Levee (Lincoln Center Theater), The Book of Grace (The Public Theater), Zooman and the Sign (Signature Theatre Company), The Lower Ninth, A Ballad of Sad Young Men, Origin Story, and When January Feels like Summer (Sundance Institute Theatre Lab), The Toilet (New Federal Theatre), and Age of Grace. He also appeared in the Sundance workshop of Skeleton Crew. Mr. Cheatom's film credits include The Untitled Colin Warner Project, Love Under New Management: The Miki Howard Story, The Alchemist Cookbook, Django Unchained, Newlyweeds, Night Catches Us, and Knucklehead, and his television credits include "Numb3rs," "Chase," "Detroit 1-8-7," and Georgetown.

Brian Marable (Reggie) has been seen regionally as Sly in Detroit '67 (Baltimore Center Stage and Detroit Public Theatre), Martin Luther King Jr. in The Mountaintop and Boy Willie in The Piano Lesson (Performance Network Theatre), and Franco in Superior Donuts (The Purple Rose Theatre Company). His television and film credits include Have a Little Faith (Hallmark), The Citizen (Monterey Media Inc.), and Standing in The Shadows of Motown as James Jamerson. Mr. Marable is currently working with his group Chip and a Crate to produce original work at their space, The Clubhouse Theater in Detroit.

Rachel Nicks (Shanita) has appeared Off Broadway in War (LCT3), And I and Silence (Signature Theatre Company), and The Good Negro (The Public Theater). Her television appearances include "The Affair," "Nurse Jackie," "Grey's Anatomy," and "Crossing Jordan." She was also in the film Ball Don't Lie and Life Support on HBO.

Tonye Patano (Faye) last appeared at the Globe in The Last Goodbye. She has garnered multiple accolades on both stage and screen, notably as Heylia James on Showtime's "Weeds." She was recognized by the San Diego Theatre Critics Circle for Outstanding Lead Performance in a Play for the La Jolla Playhouse tour of Ruined and was nominated for an Ovation Award for her work at Center Theatre Group in Father Comes Home From the Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3), which she also performed Off Broadway at The Public Theater and regionally at American Repertory Theater. Ms. Patano's film credits include Roxanne Roxanne, Jack of the Red Hearts, Time Out of Mind, Every Secret Thing, Diving Normal, The Hurricane, The Savages, Little Manhattan, The Great New Wonderful, The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, and the upcoming A Vigilante. Her television credits include "Sneaky Pete," "Elementary," "The Blacklist," "The Americans," "One Life to Live," "Monk," "Sex and the City," "Third Watch," "Law & Order," "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," and the pilots "County," "Bennie's," and "Brooklyn Animal Control." Ms. Patano recently appeared in Circle Mirror Transformation at Actors Theatre of Louisville and has performed in many Off Broadway and regional theatre productions, as well as the national tour of Legends! and 45 Seconds from Broadway on Broadway.

Tim Mackabee (Scenic Design) recently designed the Globe's production of The Last Match. His Broadway credits include The Elephant Man starring Bradley Cooper (also West End) and Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth directed by Spike Lee. His Off Broadway credits include Guards at the Taj (2016 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Scenic Design) and Our New Girl (Atlantic Theater Company), Vietgone and Important Hats of the Twentieth Century (Manhattan Theatre Club), Heathers: The Musical (New World Stages), Luce (Lincoln Center Theater), Gigantic (Vineyard Theatre), and Much Ado About Nothing (The Public Theater). Regionally Mr. Mackabee has designed for Geffen Playhouse, American Conservatory Theater, Ford's Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Baltimore Center Stage, Denver Center Theatre Company, Portland Center Stage, Cleveland Play House, Dallas Theater Center, Geva Theatre, Yale Repertory Theatre, Syracuse Stage, South Coast Repertory, Victory Gardens Theater, Bay Street Theater, Asolo Repertory Theatre, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Arden Theatre Company, The Studio Theatre, The Muny, and Williamstown Theatre Festival. His dance credits include Doug Varone and Dancers and Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet. His television credits include Amy Schumer: Live at the Apollo, "Gotham," "Smash," and "The Today Show."

Jennifer Brawn Gittings (Costume Design) is thrilled to be back at The Old Globe, having previously designed Knowing Cairo. Her selected local credits include The Grift and El Henry (La Jolla Playhouse), Manifest Destinitis, The Oldest Boy, Oedipus El Rey, Venus in Fur, In the Next Room (or the vibrator play), The Who's Tommy, The Threepenny Opera, Don Quixote, and Intimate Apparel (San Diego Repertory Theatre), and Richard O'Brien's The Rocky Horror Show and Dirty Blonde (Cygnet Theatre Company). Her other San Diego credits include designs for North Coast Repertory Theatre, New Village Arts, Diversionary Theatre, ion theatre company, and MOXIE Theatre (where she is resident costume designer and design ambassador). Regionally, Ms. Gittings has designed for A Noise Within, Crossroads Theatre Company, The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, and The Western Stage, among others. Her accolades include the 2015 FringeNYC Award for Overall Excellence in Costume Design, four Craig Noel Awards, a Patté Award, and the NAACP Theatre Award. In 2014, her work was selected to appear in the traveling curated museum exhibit Bewitching. In addition to her theatrical work, Ms. Gittings teaches fashion illustration at the San Diego Art Institute and creates custom costumes and couture for private clients, themed events, parties, and red carpet galas through her company LEO DUO.

Sherrice Mojgani (Lighting Design) recently designed The Dybbuk for Hannah and Sam's Wedding, Outside Mullingar, My Mañana Comes, Steal Heaven, Honky, The Mountaintop, and Clybourne Park (San Diego Repertory Theatre), Blue Door, Ruthless! The Musical, Trouble in Mind, Jade Heart, Mud Blue Sky, Skinless, and Freedom of Speech (MOXIE Theatre), God of Carnage, Golda's Balcony, The Nutcracker, and To Kill a Mockingbird (New Village Arts), Bright Half Life (Diversionary Theatre), and Art (Intrepid Theatre Company).

Lindsay Jones (Sound Design) previously designed the Globe productions of Picasso at the Lapin Agile, Rich Girl, 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 Privacy, Dry Powder, and Wild with Happy (The Public Theater), Bootycandy (Playwrights Horizons), Mr. Joy (LCT3), 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. Mr. Jones has received seven Joseph Jefferson Awards and 24 nominations, two Ovation Awards and three nominations, a Craig Noel Award and two nominations, and a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award, as well as three Drama Desk Award nominations, two Helen Hayes Award nominations, two Barrymore Award nominations, and many others. His film scoring credits include The Brass Teapot (Magnolia Pictures) and A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin (HBO Films; 2006 Academy Award for Best Documentary, Short Subjects).

Caparelliotis Casting (Casting) has cast the Globe productions of Picasso at the Lapin Agile, The Blameless, Meteor Shower, tokyo fish story, Constellations, The Last Match, Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, Ken Ludwig's Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery, Rich Girl, Arms and the Man, Buyer & Cellar, The White Snake, The Twenty-seventh Man, 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 The Front Page, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, The Glass Menagerie (upcoming), Jitney (upcoming), The Little Foxes (upcoming), The Father, Blackbird, An Act of God, Airline Highway, Fish in the Dark, It's Only a Play, Disgraced, The Country House, 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, Atlantic Theater Company, LCT3, Ars Nova, Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, McCarter Theatre Center, Arena Stage, Second Stage Theatre (seven seasons), and Williamstown Theatre Festival (three seasons). Their recent film and television credits include HairBrained with Brendan Fraser, "American Odyssey" (NBC), "How to Get Away with Murder" (ABC pilot), "Ironside" (NBC), and Steel Magnolias (Sony for Lifetime).

Peter Van Dyke (Production Stage Manager) has been a stage manager for over 50 productions at The Old Globe, beginning with Foxfire in the former Cassius Carter Centre Stage in 1984 and most recently Sense and Sensibility. Some of his other notable shows include Waiting for Godot, Falsettos, Forever Plaid, Blues in the Night, Pride's Crossing, Cowgirls, and nine Shakespeare plays, including Jack O'Brien's monumental Henry IV. Born in Chicago and raised on a dairy farm in Wisconsin, Mr. Van Dyke has been a San Diegan since 1989. He has stage managed at Denver Center Theatre Company, Arizona Theatre Company, Pasadena Playhouse, Geffen Playhouse, La Jolla Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, Kansas City Repertory Theatre, and Mark Taper Forum. He has been the production stage manager of The Phantom of the Opera, Les Misérables, Wicked, Million Dollar Quartet, and Kinky Boots on tour, playing over 100 cities in 36 states and five provinces of Canada, as well as Seoul and Shanghai.

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 80 years. Under the leadership of Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein, The Old Globe produces a year-round season of 15 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 artistic and arts engagement programs. Numerous world premieres such as the 2014 Tony Award winner for Best Musical, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, Bright Star, Allegiance, The Full Monty, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, 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.

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