ArtsWest Playhouse and Gallery Announces Directors to Complete the 13-14 Season

First to be welcomed to ArtsWest is Mathew Wright, as he directs LITTLE WOMEN THE BROADWAY MUSICAL. Mathew comes to ArtsWest most recently from The 5th Avenue Theatre, where he served as the Associate Director on Pirates of Penzance and the Director of the Rising Star Project: The Music Man. Other recent local directing credits include It Happened at the World's Fair (Director, The 5th Avenue Theatre), Wisemen(Director, Rosenstock Productions/ACT Theatre), The Music Man (Assistant Director, The 5th Avenue Theatre) and Titanic: The Concert (Assistant Director, The 5th Avenue Theatre). In describing LITTLE WOMEN, Mathew shares, "Louisa May Alcott comes out of a really beautiful and exciting time in American literature as well as a very volatile time in American history. There's an extraordinary passion and truth to the characters Alcott wrote - and the things they hoped for and dreamt of." In bringing his work to ArtsWest, "I'm excited to bring the story to life in a space as intimate as ArtsWest, which allows the audience such immediate and personal access to the discoveries these characters make about themselves and each other." LITTLE WOMEN THE BROADWAY MUSICAL runs November 29 - December 29.

January at ArtsWest finds Annie Lareau as our Director of Douglas Carter Beane's THE LITTLE DOG LAUGHED. Annie recently left Book-It Repertory Theatre after 9 years to pursue a freelance career as a Director. While at Book-It, Annie directed over 15 productions, the most recent being the Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher and Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet and was responsible for the adaptations of literature for original works for the stage on many of Book-It's most acclaimed productions. Annie shares "I am thrilled to be back at ArtsWest after performing Nadia in The Vertical Hour," a role for which she was honored with a Footlight Award in Acting, "working in a space I love." On Douglas Carter Beane, "I am very excited about directing THE LITTLE DOG LAUGHED. I am a huge fan of Douglas Carter Beane. I think his combination of language and comedy combined with such powerful modern issues always make for the kind of play you can't stop thinking about once you have seen it." THE LITTLE DOG LAUGHED runs January 22 - February 8.

The final production of the 13-14 Season will find David Gassner directing ArtsWest's production of HAIR. David is currently the Producing Director of Seattle's Radial Theater Project, for which he has directed 3 world premiere productions written by local playwrights. Prior to joining Radial Theater Project, David served as the Artistic Director of Theater Schmeater (2007-2009). Other recent local directing credits include the regional premieres of Edith Can Shoot Things and Hit Them (Seattle Public Theater), The Happy Ones (Seattle Public Theater) and Trout Stanley (Balagan Theater). On directing HAIR, David shares "I've loved the story and the music of HAIR since its original production in New York in the 1960's. It's a joyous celebration of youth, and I'm very much looking forward to sharing it with ArtsWest's audience." HAIR runs April 23 - June 7.