Photo Flash: Priscilla Lopez and More Star in TheatreWorks' SOMEWHERE, Opening Tonight

TheatreWorks, the nationally acclaimed theatre of Silicon Valley, presents the regional premiere of SOMEWHERE, a captivating new play told in exuberant dance as well as drama by playwright Matthew Lopez (The Whipping Man), and featuring Tony Award winner Priscilla Lopez (Broadway's A Chorus Line). This compelling tale of a 1960s Puerto Rican family dreaming and dancing its way toward show business will be helmed by director Giovanna Sardelli. SOMEWHERE plays tonight, January 16 - February 10, 2013 (press opening January 19) at TheatreWorks at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the production in the photos below!

The Candelarias are dancers, actors, singers, storytellers, and above all, dreamers. With her husband in Puerto Rico and her children reaching adulthood, matriarch Inez Candelaria believes in her dreams for her family so fiercely, it seems she can make them come true through sheer will. Her son Alejandro, the most talented dancer in the family, is not so sure - after giving up dancing following a childhood role on Broadway, he argues there is no point in getting up hopes only to be disappointed. Their home is demolished to make way for the building of New York's Lincoln Center - but the filming of the movie version of West Side Story gives the Candelaria children their big chance at stardom as dancing extras. Do they possess the courage - or foolishness - to believe in their dreams as much as their mother does? This poignant family drama explores both the elation and disappointment that can come with striving for one's ultimate dreams.

For this quick-stepping family drama, TheatreWorks welcomes Tony Award-winning actress Priscilla Lopez as the irrepressible "Inez Candelaria," which she created for the 2011 world premiere of Somewhere at The Old Globe. Lopez's Broadway credits include A Chorus Line (OBIE Award), A Day in Hollywood, A Night in the Ukraine (Tony Award, Best Featured Actress), Nine, In the Heights, and Pippin, among others. Her film credits include Tony and Tina's Wedding, Maid in Manhattan, and Center Stage. TheatreWorks also welcomes Michael Rosen as "Alejandro." Rosen was featured as "Chino" in the 2009 Broadway Revival of West Side Story, and performed with New York City Ballet in Peter Martin's The Sleeping Beauty, George Balanchine's Harlequinade, and the Jerome Robbins Celebration.

Three talented actors will also be making their TheatreWorks debuts as siblings "Francisco Candelaria" and "Rebecca Candelaria," and longtime family friend "Jamie MacRea." A graduate of NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Eddie Gutierrez ("Francisco Candelaria") has appeared in productions at Ars Nova, the Berkshire Theatre Festival, and Theatre for the New City, and is a company member of De Funes Dance Company and MarInspired. Appearing as "Rebecca Candelaria," Michelle Cabinian has played roles at 42nd Street Moon, Broadway by the Bay, San Diego Repertory Theatre, and The Old Globe. Leo Ash Evens will reprise the role of "Jamie MacRae," which he created in the world premiere of Somewhere at The Old Globe. Other credits include "Riff" in the West End revival and the 50th Anniversary Tour of West Side Story, "Tulsa" in Ravinia Festival's Gypsy with Patti LuPone, and "Emcee" in Houston Theatre Under the Stars' production of Cabaret, for which he won a Houston Excellence Award for Best Actor.

The TheatreWorks production of SOMEWHERE includes choreography by Greg Graham, scenic design by Andrea Bechert, costume design by Cathleen Edwards, and lighting design by Steven B. Mannshardt.

Playwright Matthew Lopez's The Whipping Man premiered off-Broadway in 2011 at Manhattan Theatre Club, for which Matthew was awarded the Outer Critics Circle John Gassner Playwriting Award. Prior to New York, the play was presented at Luna Stage, Penumbra Theatre Company, Barrington Stage Company, and The Old Globe in San Diego, where he is currently Artist-in-Residence. Somewhere received its world premiere production last autumn at The Old Globe, directed by Giovanna Sardelli. Lopez's other plays include Reverberation, Zoey's Perfect Wedding, and The Legend of Georgia McBride. His short play The Sentinels was included in Headlong Theatre Company's Decade project, a collection of plays about 9/11, which ran in London in conjunction with the tenth anniversary of the attacks. In addition to his residency at The Old Globe, he is commissioned by Roundabout Theatre Company, is a New York Theatre Workshop Usual Suspect, and is a recent member of the Ars Nova Play Group. He is currently a writer for HBO's hit series The Newsroom, which will debut its second season in June 2013.

Giovanna Sardelli returns to TheatreWorks to helm this regional premiere. Also the director of Somewhere's 2011 world premiere and TheatreWorks' world premiere of Rajiv Joseph's The North Pool, Sardelli has directed Rajiv Joseph's plays Animals Out of Paper and All This Intimacy (Second Stage), Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo (The Lark), Huck & Holden (Cherry Lane), and The Leopard and the Fox for Alter Ego Theatre Company. She has also worked on numerous productions of playwright/performer Adriana Sevan's one-woman show, Taking Flight, directing her for the Sundance Theatre Lab, Center Theater Group's Kirk Douglas Theatre, San Diego Repertory Theatre, and Goodman Theatre. Sardelli is an Artistic Associate at the Lark Play Development Center where she has directed several Barebones productions. Other New York credits include Two Thirds Home for Broken Watch, The Seagull, The Three Sisters, Basking in the Neon (a self-created work about growing up in Las Vegas), and A Celebration of the Arts for The Great Hall at Cooper Union, which she both created and directed. Sardelli has directed numerous productions and presentations for various NYU-Tisch School of the Arts departments. She received her MFA in Acting from NYU and worked as a professional actress for a decade in television and theater before returning to train in the department's Director's Lab.

With some 100,000 patrons per year, TheatreWorks has captured a national reputation for artistic innovation and integrity, often presenting Bay Area theatregoers with their first look at acclaimed musicals, comedies, and dramas, directed by award-winning local and guest directors, and performed by professional actors cast locally and from across the country. A home for artists developing new works, it was at TheatreWorks that Memphis, the 2010 Tony Award-winning musical that played on Broadway for three years before embarking on its current national tour, was first workshopped and received its world premiere.

For tickets ($23-$73) and information the public may call (650) 463-1960 or visit www.theatreworks.org.

Photo Credit: Tracy Martin

Alejandro (Michael Rosen) dances with his mother Inez (Priscilla Lopez)

Childhood friends Jamie (Leo Ash Evens) and Alejandro (Michael Rosen) have a dance-off

Childhood friends Jamie (Leo Ash Evens) and Alejandro (Michael Rosen) have a dance-off.

ebecca (Michelle Cabinian) dances with her brother Alejandro (Michael Rosen) as their brother Francisco (Eddie Gutierrez) and mother Inez (Priscilla Lopez) look on.

Leo Ash Evens, Eddie Gutierrez, Michelle Cabinian, Priscilla Lopez, and Michael Rosen

Tony Winner Priscilla Lopez stars as 'Inez Candelaria', the irrepressible matriarch holding her family together.

Tony Winner Priscilla Lopez stars as 'Inez Candelaria'