LORINDA LISITZA STARS IN HAPPY END AT THEATER TEN TEN
THEATER TEN TEN (1010 Park Avenue, NYC - 212-288-3246, Ext. 3 -
http://www.theater1010.com/
) announces its final mainstage production of the 2006-07 season,
the Brecht/Weill musical Happy End, adapted by Michael Feingold, directed
by David Fuller, with music direction by Michael Harren, running now
through May 27th. Performances are Fridays, Saturdays and Mondays
at 8:00 pm and Sundays at 3:00 pm, with Thursday shows scheduled for
May 17th & 24th at 7:00 pm. This will be the second Kurt Weill musical
produced at Theater Ten Ten by Producing Artistic Director Judith
Jarosz. In the 1999-2000 season, Theater Ten Ten produced the first
New York City revival of From Berlin to Broadway, the Music of Kurt
Weill which won an OOBR award and then was extended in an Off Broadway
run.
Lorinda Lisitza, a recipient of The 2007 Nightlife
Award for Outstanding Cabaret Musical: Comedy Performance plays
Hallelujah Lil. Ms. Lisitza is a noted performer, cabaret artist
and a Weill specialist who is a recipient of both the Mac and Bistro
Awards for her show Songs in the Style of Weill. She was a member
of the cast of Theater Ten Ten's From Berlin to Broadway, the Music
of Kurt Weill both at Ten Ten and at its subsequent Off Broadway
venue. This will be the third Brecht collaboration with Mr. Fuller:
in addition to her critcally acclaimed portrayal of the title role
in Mother Courage, she received rave press as Jenny in The Threepenny
Opera.
Joey Piscopo plays Bill Cracker. This winter he received
raves for his performance in Billboard at 59E59 Theater. Last summer
he performed his one man show, Joe Piscopo's Son at Theater Ten
Ten, under the direction of Mr. Fuller. He also portrayed Tiger
Brown and Filch in Fuller's The Threepenny Opera.
Written on the heels of the phenomenally successful
Threepenny Opera, Happy End, which premiered in Berlin in 1929,
again takes to task the disparity between the "Haves" versus the
"Have-nots." In the underworld of Chicago, 1919, a Salvation Army
Lieutenant, Lillian Holiday, a/k/a Hallelujah Lil, tries to reform
a gangster, Bill Cracker, whose mob is led by the mysterious Lady
in Grey (also known as "The Fly"). During the course of the salvation,
they fall in love, a robbery gets bungled, murder is attempted,
there's a surprise reuniting and a "happy" ending. Along the way
we are treated to some of Weill's best songs, including "The Bilbao
Song," "The Sailor's Tango," "Song of the Big Shot," "The Mandalay
Song" and "Surabaya Johnny."
Veteran Director David Fuller, who has helmed many
hits including The Threepenny Opera at the Jean Cocteau Repertory,
and Theater Ten Ten's spring 2006, five time Innovative Theater
Award nominated production of The Singapore Mikado, directs this
exciting piece. Mr. Fuller staged Brecht's Mother Courage in the
2005-2006 season at Jean Cocteau Repertory, in a world premiere
of the translation by Marc Blitzstein.
2006 Innovative Theatre Best Leading Male Actor Award
Winner Greg Horton (Koko in Theater Ten Ten's Singapore Mikado)
plays Dr. Nakamura (a/k/a The Governor). Also in the cast are two
Innovative Theatre Award Best Actor Nominees (Singapore Mikado):
David Tillistrand as Sam "Mammy" Wurlitzer and Cristiane Young as
Major Stone. Tim McDonough, who won acclaim as Gayly Gay in Brecht's
A Man's a Man at last year's NY International Fringe Festival, and
who played Holey Cheese in Mr. Fuller's Mother Courage, plays the
gangster Baby Face. Also in the cast, Judith Jarosz (The Fly), Tim
Morton (The Professor), David Arthur Bachrach (The Reverend), Allen
Hale (Brother Ben), Aaron Diehl (The Cop), Michael C. O'Day (Brother
Hannibal), Sandy York (Sister Jane), Megan Loomis (Sister Mary),
Elizabeth Fye (Miriam).
Giles Hogya has designed both sets and lights for
the production. Mr. Hogya is Professor of Theatre and Dean of the
College of Fine Arts, University of Victoria, British Columbia.
An international director and designer, whose work spans two hemispheres
and over four decades, this will be his fourth collaboration with
Mr. Fuller, including the aforementioned Threepenny Opera and Mother
Courage. The costumes will be designed by Viviane Galloway, who
collaborated with Fuller and Hogya on Mother Courage and who designed
the costumes for Singapore Mikado.
One of New York City's most innovative theater companies,
and the longest continuously operating Equity Company, Off Broadway,
the multi-award winning Theater Ten Ten is known for its high standards
and entertaining conceptualizations. Its mission emphasizes non-traditional
casting and it has gained a reputation for performing classics and
contemporary pieces that are well cast and fast-paced.
All tickets are $20 (cash only at the door).
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