Acting Up Stage Culminates 10th Anniversary Season With ELEGIES: A SONG CYCLE, 3/21-4/13

Acting Up Stage Company, Toronto's premiere not-for-profit musical theatre, culminates their 10th Anniversary Season with a reimagined production of William Finn's Elegies: A Song Cycle. Director Lezlie Wade will remount her 2007 sold-out, smash hit production (which also launched Acting Up Stage as Toronto's go-to company for contemporary musical theatre) alongside an entirely new design team while reuniting most of the performers from this landmark production.

Elegies is a celebration of life and music penned by Tony Award winning composer and lyricist William Finn. This 90 minute song cycle commemorates the lives of people both real and fictional with rousing theatricality and unforgettable songs. From Finn's friends, to his mother, to his dogs, to the victims of the World Trade Centre collapse, these characters and their stories will enchant and enrich your spirit in this stunning masterwork that celebrates the human spirit and life's infinite joys.

³When our production of Elegies premiered in 2007, Acting Up Stage was still an emerging organization, discovering our particular path and niche in the Toronto theatre scene," says Artistic Director Mitchell Marcus. ³The success of Elegies proved that audiences craved thought-provoking musical theatre, performed by great artists and presented in an intimate environment. What better way to celebrate our tenth anniversary than through William Finn's celebration of life in this highly moving ode to his friends and family who have passed on?" Director Lezlie Wade expands the sentiment: ³Even though Finn often reminisces about specific people in his life, he leaves enough room to allow us to insert our own loved ones into the mix. There is something universal about the sentiments of Elegies and those specifics he writes about serve as a way to include us all. I myself recently lost a parent, so the show feels very different to me than it did 7 years ago. Time changes a piece. The craftsmanship in Bill Finn's writing is so good, no matter how many times I hear it, I always find something new. I'm thrilled to be working with these amazing performers again - just about the best combination there is. So, I'm truly excited about us revisiting the piece and breathing new life into it."

Elegies is directed by Lezlie Wade (Dora Award-nominee for Acting Up Stage's A Man of No Importance; Sheridan's Rent) with musical direction by Wayne Gwillim (Acting Up Stage's A New Brain; Mirvish's Les Miserables). This reimagined revival features original cast members Thom Allison (Broadway's Priscilla, Queen of the Desert; Shaw's Ragtime), Barbara Barksy (Dora nominee for Acting Up Stage's A New Brain; Art Club's Gypsy), Steven Gallagher (Acting Up Stage's A New Brain; Drayton's Oliver!), and Eliza-Jane Scott (NAC's Sound of Music; Talk In Free/Birdland's Assassins), and introduces newcomer Joel Gomez (Theatre Aquarius's Sweeney Todd; Sheridan's Rent). Set and costume design by Robin Fisher (Acting Up Stage's A Craigslist Cantata; YPT's Cinderella), lighting design by Siobhan Sleath (Angelwalk's I Love You Because.... Globe's The Last Resort) and piano accompaniment by John A. Hughes

Elegies: A Song Cycle begins on March 21, 2014 and runs through April 13, 2014 at the Daniels Spectrum, Aki Studio Theatre. Previews are on March 21 and 22 at 8 p.m., and March 23 at 2 p.m. Opening is on March 25 at 8 p.m. Performances run Tuesday to Saturday evenings at 8 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m.

Tickets are $30-$50. Students and arts workers recieve $10 off. Tickets can be purchased by phone st 1-800-838-3006 and online at www.actingupstage.com.

Since 2004, Acting Up Stage Company (Mitchell Marcus, Artistic Director) has brought stellar Canadian casts to productions of contemporary and provocative musicals. The company has been heralded with rave reviews, sold-out performances, 32 Dora Award nominations, 6 Dora Awards and 8 Toronto Theatre Critic's Awards for its productions, including Once On This Island, Falsettos, Caroline, or Change, Do You Want What I Have Got?, A Craigslist Cantata, Ride The Cyclone, Parade, The Light In The Piazza and Elegies: A Song Cycle.

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