ARRABAL Begins Performances Today at the Panasonic Theatre

David Mirvish and Base Entertainment will present the World Premiere of ARRABAL from Toronto-based Sergio Trujillo. ARRABAL is an explosive story told entirely through dance and the music of multiple Academy Award winner Gustavo Santaolalla (Brokeback Mountain, Babel) and his band Bajofondo.

ARRABAL begins performances tonight, February 4 and plays through April 20 at the Panasonic Theatre. Media night is February 13. ARRABAL is part of the 2013/2014 Mirvish Subscription Season.

Using a modern tango dance vocabulary never seen before, director Sergio Trujillo (Jersey Boys, Memphis), and choreographer Julio Zurita, create a dramatic vision that is emotional, sexual and powerful. With a book written by Tony Award nominee John Weidman (Contact), follow Arrabal, our heroine, in this coming of age story as she enters the underground world of Buenos Aires' tango clubs and discovers the violent history that took her father and disrupted a nation. ARRABAL is based on the true story of the political violence that threatened to destroy Argentina in the 1970's. With a live band and performers direct from Buenos Aires, experience the sensual beauty and political intrigue that is ARRABAL.

Direct from Argentina, the cast starring in principal dance roles are (alphabetical order) Veronica Alvarenga as Berta, Soledad Buss as Nicole, Juan Cupini as Juan, Marianella as Abuela, Carlos Rivarola as El Puma, Mario Rizzo as El Duende, Micaela Spina as Arrabal and Julio Zurita as Rodolfo. Rounding out the cast are Mauro Caiazza, Valeria Celurso, Nicolas Cobos, Paola Jean Jean, Analia Morales, Leonardo Pankow, Cesar Peral, Gabriel Ponce and Marcela Vespasiano.

The music produced by Bajofondo defies easy description. Winner of three Latin Grammy Awards, the band delivers a sound entirely its own, an organic synthesis of musical traditions found on both sides of the Rio de la Plata, the river which both separates and unites Argentina and Uruguay. Tango, rock, milonga, electronica, folklore, hip hop, jazz and classical, Bajofondo absorbs all of these musical genres and blends them seamlessly into a sound like no one else's. In order to share what Bajofondo creates with the widest possible audience, Gustavo Santaolalla has adopted a small group of musicians who understand the unique sound of Bajofondo and can deliver it with the energy, excitement and the passion that's the trademark of the band itself. This is Orquesta Bajofonderos.

ARRABAL features music by Bajofondo and Gustavo Santaolalla, book by John Weidman, choreography by Julio Zurita and Sergio Trujillo, direction by Sergio Trujillo, set design by

Riccardo Hernandez, projection design by Peter Nigrini, lighting design by Vincent Colbert, sound design by Peter McBoyle, costume design by Javier and Alejo Estebecorena, video content direction by Pix Talarico and music supervision by Alejandro Kauderer.

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