TheatreWorks Presents West Coast Premiere of A CIVIL WAR CHRISTMAS Tonight, 12/2

TheatreWorks, the nationally acclaimed theatre of Silicon Valley presents a festive holiday offering, the West Coast premiere of A CIVIL WAR CHRISTMAS: AN AMERICAN MUSICAL CELEBRATION, by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Paula Vogel. This glorious tapestry of the American experience weaves fact and fiction, old-time carols, and traditional tunes into a whimsical saga of a nation longing for hope. Featuring TheatreWorks favorites Diana Torres Koss, C. Kelly Wright, and Gary Martinez, Broadway and film actor Michael A. Shepperd, regional veteran Robert Parsons, and local favorite Kit Wilder, with Founding Artistic Director Robert Kelley at the helm, A CIVIL WAR CHRISTMAS plays December 2-27 (press opening December 5) at Lucie Stern Theatre. For tickets and information, the public may call 650-463-1960 or visit www.theatreworks.org.

Set on a snowy Christmas Eve in Washington, 1864, A CIVIL WAR CHRISTMAS imagines celebrated figures from Abe Lincoln to Walt Whitman rubbing elbows with colorful characters from every stratum of society. This heartwarming holiday feast finds Mary Todd Lincoln rushing to complete her Christmas shopping, Clara Barton tending wounded soldiers in a local hospital, a run-away slave girl separated from her mother in the bitter cold, and two generals on opposite sides of the Potomac, caught in limbo between victory and defeat. 19th Century folk songs, hymns and spirituals, as well as beloved Christmas carols including "O Christmas Tree" and "Silent Night," among many others, entwine these characters in a poignant and moving portrait of America at a crossroads in history. Called "the best play of the year" by the Hartford Courant, A CIVIL WAR CHRISTMAS premiered in November 2008 at the Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven.

Paula Vogel first came to prominence with her Obie Award-winning black comedy The Baltimore Waltz (1992), Vogel's surreal tribute to her brother, who died of AIDS in 1988, for which she received a nomination for the Pulitzer Prize. She is best known for her Pulitzer Prize-wining play How I Learned to Drive (1997), a production that garnered much attention for its portrayal of a young woman looking back on her sexual relationship with her uncle in suburban Maryland. Other notable plays include Desdemona, A Play About A Handkerchief (1979); The Oldest Profession (1981); And Baby Makes Seven (1984); Hot 'N Throbbing (1994); and The Mineola Twins (1996). Vogel, a renowned teacher of playwriting, counts among her former students Susan Smith Blackburn Prize-winner Bridget Carpenter, Obie Award-winner Adam Bock, MacArthur Fellow Sarah Ruhl, and Pulitzer Prize-winners Nilo Cruz and Lynn Nottage. During her two decades leading the graduate playwriting program and new play festival at Brown University, Vogel helped developed a nationally-recognized center for educational theatre, culminating in the creation of the Brown/Trinity Repertory Company Consortium with Oskar Eustis, then Trinity's artistic director, in 2002. She left Brown in 2008 to assume her current post as the Chair of the playwriting department at Yale School of Drama, and the Playwright-in-Residence at Yale Repertory Theatre.

TheatreWorks has assembled an outstanding cast for A CIVIL WAR CHRISTMAS, with regional veteran Robert Parsons making his TheaterWorks debut in the role of Abraham Lincoln. Parsons has played roles at A.C.T. including Young Kuno in The Black Rider, Bradley in Buried Child, and Oscar Hubbard in The Little Foxes. He also appeared as Morris Townsend in The Heiress at Berkeley Repertory Theatre and A.C.T. Other regional credits include the Ahmanson Theatre, the Alley Theatre, S.F. Shakespeare Festival, and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland. Diana Torres Koss plays Mary Todd Lincoln. Torres Koss has appeared many times at TheatreWorks in roles including Mrs. Fairfax in Jane Eyre, Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd, and Sara in the world premiere of Heartland. She has also been seen on Bay Area stages including American Musical Theatre of San Jose, Marin Theatre Company, and Foothill Music Theatre.

Michael A. Shepperd plays Decatur Bronson in his TheatreWorks debut. Shepperd was recently heard as the voice of the man-eating plant, Audrey II in the Broadway production of Little Shop of Horrors, and seen in Intimate Apparel at San Diego Repertory Theatre and Caroline, or Change at the Ahmanson Theatre. Other regional credits include Steppenwolf, Northlight Theatre, Court Theatre, and City Lit Theatre. He has also been seen in episodes of Ally McBeal, Monk, N.C.I.S., E.R., and Fraiser. C. Kelley Wright joins the cast as Elizabeth Keckley. Wright has been seen most recently at TheatreWorks in productions of It Ain't Nothin' but the Blues and the highly acclaimed Caroline, or Change. She has also been seen in TheatreWorks productions of Crowns, A Little Princess, and Memphis, now a Broadway show. Other credits include roles at San Jose Repertory Theatre, Marin Theatre Company, Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, and American Musical Theatre of San Jose.

Gary Martinez joins the cast as General Ulysses S. Grant. Previous TheatreWorks roles include The Mysterious Man in Into the Woods and Spettigue in Charley's Aunt. Other Bay Area credits include San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, California Shakespeare Festival, and Broadway By the Bay. Kit Wilder plays the villainous John Wilkes Booth in his TheatreWorks debut. Bay Area credits include Foothill Music Theatre, City Lights Theatre, Broadway By the Bay, and 42nd Street Moon. Returning to the TheatreWorks stage are Jayne Deely, Ian Leonard, Cyril Jamal Cooper, accompanied by TheatreWorks newcomers Tracy Camp, Elizabeth Palmer, Daveed Daniele Diggs, Jonathan Shue, Tiana Travis, and Myha'la Herrold.

TheatreWorks founding Artistic Director Robert Kelley, who helmed the company's acclaimed production of Caroline, or Change and multi record-breaking World Premiere musical Emma, directs A CIVIL WAR CHRISTMAS. Kelley has earned Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Awards for TheatreWorks' productions of Caroline, or Change, Ragtime, Rags, Another Midsummer Night, the West Coast Premiere of Jane Eyre, and the Sondheim classics Sunday in the Park with George, Pacific Overtures, Into the Woods, and Sweeney Todd. Additionally, he is the recipient of Bay Area Drama-Logue Awards for his direction of Pacific Overtures, Ah, Wilderness!, and Once in a Lifetime, and Back Stage West Garland Awards for his direction of Side Show and Sunday in the Park with George. Since founding TheatreWorks in 1970, Kelley has directed over 150 productions for the company.

TheatreWorks is currently celebrating its 40th anniversary, with its most recent production, THE CHOSEN, enjoying record-breaking attendance and an extended run. At the same time, a production of MEMPHIS, a musical originally developed at TheatreWorks, made its debut on Broadway October 19, where the Associated Press called the show "emotionally affecting... as ambitious as it is entertaining." With approximately 9,000 subscribers and 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 from across the country.

Previews begin Wednesday, December 2, Opening Night: Saturday, December 5, Closes: Sunday, December 27

Previews: 8pm (December 2, 3, 4), Tuesdays and Wednesdays: 7:30pm, Thursdays and Fridays: 8pm, Saturdays: 2pm, 8pm, Sundays: 2pm, 7pm

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