Magic Opens its 2009-2010 Season With GOLDFISH and MRS. WHITNEY

Magic Theatre, San Francisco's premiere home for new plays, kicks off its 2009-2010 Season with Goldfish and the world premiere of Mrs. Whitney - two plays by John Kolvenbach playing in rep this fall. Goldfish, directed by Loretta Greco, opens October 14th, 2009. Its sequel, the world premiere of Mrs. Whitney, directed by John Kolvenbach, opens October 27th, 2009. Goldfish, a heartbreaking comedy, and Mrs. Whitney, a comedy about heartbreak, may be seen back to back during special Kolvenbach Marathon evenings or as two separate events during the course of the run.

How do we become who we are? In Goldfish a young man raises his father and then leaves home. He meets a young woman who undoes him. She has her own story (including a mother who is a force of nature). We raise our children to leave us, but what happens when they do?

What happens when a cynic by trade takes to the road in the hopes of reuniting with her one true (albeit messy) love? When her most prized possession leaves the nest, Margaret Whitney reluctantly chooses to follow her heart. In Mrs. Whitney, a wonderfully wicked and hilarious sequel to Goldfish, a woman of a certain age drops her armor long enough to reveal her true romantic core.

John Kolvenbach is one of America's freshest and finest theatrical voices. His "writing is crisp, tough, undogmatic, menacingly funny. Strongly recommended, especially to those not afraid of the freedom of fantasy" - London Sunday Times. With Kolvenbach's rich gift of language and raw heart, Goldfish and Mrs. Whitney reveal singular characters at personal crossroads - bravely and ridiculously stepping outside of themselves - in search of possibility.

Loretta Greco, Artistic Director and Director of Goldfish finds "Kolvenbach's work revelatory - not in its cutting edge or reinvented structure or physical gymnastics, but in the simple fact that he still believes in profound stories of the heart that are indeed so authentically heartbreaking you think you might not survive, and so funny they make your sides ache. His love of language, his love of The Common man and woman and the audacious/ridiculous/pathetic things we must do to transcend our plight as hapless creatures, as well as his ultimate love and respect of the audience make him truly unique." Asked why Magic is producing two of Kolvenbach's plays in rep, Greco replied "Two plays back to back. It is rare to have a mid career artist celebrated in this way. Traditionally you have to be dead, turning 75, or Tony Kushner (who deserves every party he's ever been thrown). My hope is we will begin a trend. Celebrate artists in their mid career and let audiences invest in their growth in the very same way we are. Why wait?"

Goldfish and Mrs. Whitney star Bay Area favorites Rod Gnapp (Mauritius), Anna Bullard (The Hopper Collection), Arwen Anderson (Mauritius), Charles Dean, and Patrick Alparone (Octopus). Albert Pastides and Patricia Hodges join us from NYC making their Magic Theatre debuts. Patricia Hodges plays the title role of Margaret Whitney in both Mrs. Whitney and Goldfish.

The production team for Goldfish and Mrs. Whitney features set designer Michael Locher, light designer York Kennedy, costume designer Alex Jaeger, and Magic's resident sound designer Sara Huddleston.

BIOGRAPHIES

John Kolvenbach (Playwright/Director Mrs. Whitney) is the author of Mrs. Whitney, Goldfish, Love Song, on an average day, Gizmo Love, and Fabuloso. Goldfish premiered at South Coast Repertory in 2009, directed by Loretta Greco. Love Song premiered at the Steppenwolf Theatre Company 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 for Best New Comedy. The London production was directed by John Crowley. on an average day ran at the Comedy Theatre on the West End in 2002, with Woody Harrelson and Kyle MacLachlan, also directed by Mr. Crowley. Gizmo Love premiered at WHAT in 2004. Kolvenbach directed the premiere of Fabuloso last summer at the Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theatre. He also directed many productions of his early plays, including The Gravity of Means at the Greenwich Street Theatre in New York, a production that moved on to the Village Theatre and then the Belmont Playhouse.

Loretta Greco (Director Goldfish/Magic Artistic Director) just began her second season helming Magic Theatre where she most recently directed Theresa Rebeck's Mauritius. Her Bay Area credits include the critically acclaimed revival of David Mamet's Speed-the-Plow and the West Coast premiere of David Harrower's Blackbird for ACT. Ms Greco's selected New York premieres include: Tracey Scott Wilson's The Story (Public Theater /Kesselring Prize/AUDELCO Nom); the Obie Award Winning Lackawanna Blues by Ruben Santiago Hudson (Public Theater); Katherine Walat's Victoria Martin: Math Team Queen (Women's Project); Two Sisters and a Piano by Pulitzer Prize Winner, Nilo Cruz (Public Theater/Kesselring Prize); Emily Mann's Meshugah (Naked Angels); Laura Cahill's Mercy (Vineyard); Karen Hartman's Gum (Women's Project); A Park in our House by Nilo Cruz (New York Theatre Workshop); and Toni Press Coffman's Touch (Women's Project). Ms Greco directed the national tour of Emily Mann's Having Our Say as well as the play's international premiere at the Market Theatre in Johannesburg, South Africa. Regional credits include: Romeo and Juliet and Stop Kiss (Oregon Shakespeare Festival) as well as productions at South Coast Repertory Theatre, LaJolla Playhouse, McCarter, Long Wharf, Intiman, Williamstown Theater Festival, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Repertory Theatre of St Louis, Coconut Grove Playhouse, Playmakers Repertory Company, and the Cleveland Play House. As a Producer, Ms. Greco has developed and produced the work of a variety of distinguished contemporary writers including Athol Fugard, Joyce Carol Oates, Emily Mann, Nilo Cruz, Lynn Nottage, Neena Beeber, Diane Paulus, Rinne Groff, and Lisa D'Amour. Greco received her MFA from Catholic University and is the recipient of two Drama League Fellowships and a Princess Grace Award.

Patricia Hodges (Margaret Goldfish/Mrs. Whitney) makes her Magic Theatre debut as Margaret in Goldfish and Mrs. Whitney. She has appeared most recently on Broadway in A Man for All Seasons, and in the Tony award winning Dancing at Lughnasa and Six Degrees of Separation. Off-Broadway credits include Rose's Dilemna (Manhattan Theatre Club), Communicating Doors, On the Verge and The Normal Heart (New York Shakespeare Festival). Regionally she has played leading roles in Night of the Iguana (Guthrie), Lettice and Lovage (After Dark Award), Mrs. Warren's Profession, The Seagull, The Cherry Orchard, Woman in Mind, Betrayal, Three Tall Women, The Clean House, Hayfever, and Much Ado About Nothing. The most recent TV credits are Royal Pains, Another World, and a repeat offender on Law & Order.

Rod Gnapp (Leo/Goldfish, Tom/Mrs. Whitney) is a graduate of The American Conservatory Theatre, and a veteran of bay area stages. Last seen at Magic Theatre in Mauritius by Theresa Rebeck, he has also performed in Magic's productions of The Late Henry Moss, Territories, xx Love Act, and Hunger to name a few. Rod performed last season in ACT's productions of The Government Inspector, Curse of the Starving Class, Tis Pity She's a Whore, and Rock and Roll. He was also seen in Marin Theatre Company's production of Frankie and Johnny. Rod's film work includes a featured roll in Pixar's live action short, Calender Confloption, as the main bad guy in the local independent feature, Valley of the Heart's Delight, and another bad guy, being mean to Ed Harris, in the Miller Brothers film Touching Home.

Tickets
415-441-8822 or www.magictheatre.org.

 

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