Cast Announced For Magic Theatre's World Premiere REEL TO REEL

Magic Theatre (Loretta Greco, Artistic Director and Jaimie Mayer, Managing Director) announced today the complete cast of John Kolvenbach's World Premiere REEL TO REEL. Previews begin on Wednesday, January 31, 2018 at Magic Theatre's Fort Mason location, with a press opening on Wednesday, February 7, 2018 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets are on-sale now, and subscriptions to Magic Theatre's 2017-2018 Season are also available.

John Kolvenbach (Sister Play, Mrs. Whitney, Goldfish) returns to Magic to direct the World Premiere of his own REEL TO REEL. Fascinated by the relationship between sound and memory, Kolvenbach has written the story of a fifty-five-year marriage as told through the simple sentiments of recorded conversations, arguments, and household noises. What emerges is a collage of life captured on audio tape. Magic veterans from the 80's: Will Marchetti (Fool for Love premiere) and Carla Spindt (Aunt Dan and Lemon) will play as Walter and Maggie. Their younger counter parts will be played by Magic favorites: Zoë Winters (Mauritius) and Andrew Pastides (Fool for Love, 2017).

In addition to Mr. Kolvenbach, the creative team includes Erik Flatmo (Scenic Design), Sara Huddleston (Sound Design), Meg Neville (Costume Design), and Wen-Ling Liao (Lighting Design). "I have been privileged to work at the Magic for almost a decade," said playwright/director John Kolvenbach. "REEL TO REEL will be my fourth collaboration with Loretta, her staff and her audience. I am thrilled to be back."

"We are thrilled to welcome John back with his beautiful new play," said Loretta Greco, Magic Theatre's Artistic Director. "Over the years, John has become an integral part of our Magic family. I am over the moon to see him trying something wonderfully new in Reel to Reel which explores a long- standing intimate relationship through sound. I know that our audiences will be moved and charmed by this emotionally unique experience."

John Kolvenbach is the author of Goldfish, Mrs. Whitney, Love Song, on an average day, Gizmo Love, Fabuloso, Bank Job, and Marriage Play (or Half 'n Half 'n Half) which premiered in 2012 at Merrimack Repertory. Goldfish premiered at South Coast Repertory in the spring of 2009, directed by Loretta Greco. Goldfish was then produced at the Magic Theatre in San Francisco in the fall of that year. The Magic also premiered Mrs. Whitney in the fall of 2009, under Kolvenbach's direction. Love Song premiered at Steppenwolf in Chicago in the spring of 2006, directed by Austin Pendelton. Love Song went on to the West End, where it was nominated for an Olivier Award, best new comedy.

The London production was directed by John Crowley, with Neve Campbell, Cillian Murphy, Kristen Johnston and Michael McKean. Love Song has been produced in New York, Zurich, Melbourne, Sydney, Wellington, Seoul and Rome. There have been over fifty productions in the US. on an average day premiered at the Comedy Theatre on the West End in 2002, with Woody Harrelson and Kyle MacLachlan, also directed by Mr. Crowley. Average Day has been produced in Tel Aviv, Buenos Aires, and Lisbon among many other places. Fabuloso premiered at the Wellfleet Harbor Actor's Theatre in 2008, directed by Mr. Kolvenbach. Fabuloso was staged in San Juan and Zurich, in Spanish and Swiss German, respectively.

Following REEL TO REEL, Magic Theatre's 2017-2018 Season concludes with the World Premiere of Jessica Hagedorn's THE GANGSTER OR LOVE (April 11 - May 6, 2018). Magic Theatre is located in the Marina District of San Francisco, at the historic Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture (Fort Mason, 2 Marina Blvd., Building D, 3rd Floor, San Francisco, CA 94123). The entrance to Fort Mason is at the intersection of Marina Blvd and Buchanan Street. The performance schedule is Tuesday at 7:00 p.m., Wednesday - Saturday at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday at 2:30 p.m.

Tickets, priced from $35.00 to $80.00, are available online at MagicTheatre.org; by calling Magic Theatre at (415) 441-8822; or visiting Magic Theatre's Box Office, Monday - Friday 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. during non-performance dates. On performance dates, the Box Office is open Tuesday - Saturday from 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. and on Sunday one hour prior to the show. For more information, visit MagicTheatre.org.

Now celebrating its 50th year of continuous operation, Magic is dedicated to creative risk: we cultivate bold new plays and playwrights to produce incendiary and ideologically robust stories that ask substantive questions about our place in humanity. Magic provides a nurturing yet rigorous artistic home where innovative writers can create a body of work. We believe that developing an evolved artistic vocabulary with the playwright at our side greatly improves a playwright's chances to thrive. By adding voices to the canon, we ensure the vibrancy of the American theatre. Magic's impact has resonated throughout the country and beyond since its founding by John Lion in 1967; Lion brought in Sam Shepard and Michael McClure as playwrights-in-residence, establishing Magic as a space for the communion of playwright and audience. From these early plays to the World Premieres of Luis Alfaro's Oedipus el Rey and Taylor Mac's The Lily's Revenge and Hir, Magic continues to produce groundbreaking new work.

Since Artistic Director Loretta Greco assumed leadership of Magic in 2008, the theatre has produced nineteen world premieres, seventeen of which have enjoyed life beyond the Magic stage. Magic plays have received numerous awards including the Pulitzer Prize, ten Obie Awards, the Kennedy Center Award, Bay Area Critics' Circle Awards, and the NAACP Image Award.

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