THE UNDERSTUDY Makes West Coast Premiere at Whidbey Island, 2/11-26

Whidbey Island Center for the Arts, under the leadership of Executive Director Stacie Burgua, is proud to present the West Coast Premiere of Theresa Rebeck' s The Understudy at WICA, 565 Camano Avenue, Langley, WA February 11 - 26, 2011.

Franz Kafka's undiscovered masterpiece in its Broadway premiere is the hilarious and apropos setting for Theresa Rebeck's exploration of the existential vagaries of show business and life.

Charged with running the understudy rehearsal for the production, Roxanne finds her professional and personal life colliding when Harry, a journeyman actor and her ex-fiancé, is cast as the understudy to Jake, a mid-tier action star yearning for legitimacy. As Harry and Jake find their common ground, Roxanne tries to navigate the rehearsal with a stoned lightboard operator, an omnipresent intercom system, the producers threatening to shutter the show and her own careening feelings about both actors and her past. Will the show go on? The Understudy is a compelling and hilarious look at people trying to do what they love in the face of obstacles that mount until all anyone can do is dance.

The Understudy is directed by Vito Zingarelli. The cast includes Deana A. Duncan as Roxanne, Michael Morgen as Jake, and Eric Mulholland as Harry.

The Creative Team includes David Gignac (Scenic Design), Dorit Zingarelli (Costume Design), Patty Mathieu (Lighting Design), David B. Malony (Sound Design), and Julie O'Brien (Stage Manager).

Tickets range in price from $12 to $16, with discounts available for seniors, military, youth and groups, and are available from www.WICAonline.com or 360.221.8268 - 800/638.7631.

"(The Understudy)...delivers a clever indictment of Contemporary Theatre while making the characters' personal circumstances ever more Kafkaesque: They are no more in control of the forces of celebrity, art, money, and Broadway than they are of their own fates." -- The New Yorker.