MEDIA CONTACTS: Polly Burks
561-297-2595, pburks@fau.edu or
Stacia Smith
561-297-2971, ssmith@fau.edu
FAU Expands Summer Festival Repertory Theatre
Lineup Includes Popular Broadway Show, Classic Mystery and Musical Revue
BOCA RATON (May 16, 2005) - Florida Atlantic University's School of the Arts has announced the summer productions in its 2005 Festival Repertory Theatre. This year's line up includes the musical West Side Story, Agatha Christie's mystery The Hollow and a musical revue entitled A Celebration of Rodgers and Hammerstein. The series, which opens Friday, June 24 and closes Sunday, July 31, takes place in the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters on FAU's Boca Raton campus, 777 Glades Road. Ticket prices are $20 for one show and $50 for all three shows. Children 12 and under may receive entry for $10, and FAU faculty, staff, students and alumni may purchase tickets for $16 with ID. Group rates are available for 10 or more.
There will also be a VIP reception on Saturday, July 2 at 6 p.m. The cost for the reception and the performance of West Side Story that night is $45. Further information on the reception is available at 561-297-3606.
"We are pleased to expand Festival Rep with a musical revue this year," said Richard Gamble, artistic director for this year's Repertory, and chair of FAU's department of theatre. "We will have all the familiar favorites."
West Side Story, which will take place in FAU's University Theatre, is a Broadway musical that sets Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, a timeless story of two lovers caught in the middle of a family feud, in the gang-ridden streets of New York City in the late 1950s. It tells the tale of Maria, whose relatives are part of a Puerto Rican gang, and Tony, a member of another local gang of many nationalities. The teens overcome racism and fall in love, but their romance turns to tragedy when the 'Sharks' and the 'Jets' go to war. Songs like "America," "Maria" and "Somewhere" make this a memorable classic. The play will be directed by Clarence Brooks, FAU's dance instructor.
Agatha Christie's The Hollow, which will be running concurrently in FAU's Studio One Theatre, tells the story of an eclectic group of guests invited to a British country estate expecting a pleasant country weekend. The party changes drastically, however, when one of the guests is found lying in a pool of blood. Inspector Colquhoun of Scotland Yard is summoned to the estate and finds himself in the middle of one his toughest cases. No guest is left off the suspect list and all had the motives and the opportunity to kill.
"As the Brits would say, this is a 'cracking good whodunit,'" said Jean-Louis Baldet, director of the play and professor in FAU's department of theatre.
A new addition to the summer lineup is a musical revue - A Celebration of Rodgers and Hammerstein. Music lovers won't want to miss this staged presentation of the best of Rodgers and Hammerstein classics including "Oklahoma," "Carousel" and "South Pacific."
FAU's Festival Repertory Theatre features the talent of FAU graduate and undergraduate actors, complemented by the acting of two professional actors. This year's Equity actors are Peter Haig and Steve Geyer. Haig is a Carbonell Award winner and has been twice named "Best Actor" by New Times. He appeared on Broadway in Dr. Cook's Garden and off-Broadway in Mod-Donna and Othello. Haig has also appeared in several South Florida theatres, in television and film. Geyer has appeared on Broadway in Grease and CATS. He has also toured nationally and in Europe in My Fair Lady, Grease and A Christmas Carol and has appeared in several South Florida theatres and on television.
Festival Rep 2005 is presented by Marta and Jim Batmasian, Madelyn Savarick and Bank of America, with additional support from WXEL.
Tickets may be obtained by calling FAU's School of the Arts box office at 561-297-2977 or by emailing artstickets@fau.edu. For more information about the shows, call FAU's department of theatre at 561-297-3810 or visit www.fau.edu/festivalrep.
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