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MILWAUKEE REPERTORY THEATER Presents the World Premiere Antonio’s Song / I Was Dreaming of a Son By Dael Orlandersmith and Antonio Edwards Suarez In the Stiemke Studio March 24 – April 5, 2020

March 4, 2020 [Milwaukee, WI] - Milwaukee Rep presents the world premiere Antonio’s Song / I Was Dreaming of a Son by Pulitzer Prize finalist Dael Orlandersmith and Antonio Edwards Suarez for a limited two week run in the Stiemke Studio March 24 – April 5, 2020. Antonio’s Song / I Was Dreaming Of A Son features Antonio Edwards Suarez (The Night is a Child, Milwaukee Rep) in a personal solo/movement drama that explores the sins of our fathers and mothers as well as the gifts they bestow upon us in a poetic journey that will question/challenge the legacy of stereotypes.

Antonio’s Song / I Was Dreaming of a Son is a co-production with Contemporary American Theater Festival where it premiered in the summer of 2019 to rave reviews. Called “Moving…vibrantly performed by Suarez” by The Washington Post and a “riveting, contemporary experience, deftly directed by Mark Clements” by Community Digital News, Antonio’s Song / I Was Dreaming of a Son is “bare knuckle intense” and a “masterful collaboration between two distinguished artists.”(DC Theater Scene).

Antonio Edwards Suarez, performer and co-playwright, is an acclaimed New York actor appearing on Broadway in American Buffalo directed by Robert Falls and Chaucer in Rome directed by Nicholas Martin with other New York and regional credits at La Mama, National Black Theatre, Lions Theatre, Phoenix Theatre Ensemble, New York Theater Musical Theater Festival, Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, American Repertory Theater, Repertory Theater of St. Louis and Milwaukee Rep.

Dael Orlandersmith is a Pulitzer Prize finalist and Drama Desk Award nominee for Outstanding Play and Outstanding Actress in a Play for Yellowman. Yellowman was seen at Milwaukee Rep most recently in the 2011/12 Season. Orlandersmith wrote and performed Until the Flood, commissioned by the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis and then produced at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater in New York, the Goodman Theatre, ACT Seattle and Milwaukee Rep in the 2017/18 Season. Other plays include The Blue Album, Stoop Stories Bones, Black N’ Blue Boys/Broken Men and Forever. Orlandersmith has toured extensively with the Nuyorican Poets Café (Real Live Poetry) throughout the United States, Europe and Australia. Orlandersmith attended Sundance Institute Theatre Lab for four summers and is the recipient of a New York Foundation for the Arts Grant, the Helen Merrill Award for Emerging Playwrights, a Guggenheim and the 2005 PEN/Laura Pels Foundation Award for a playwright in mid-career. She is the recipient of a Lucille Lortel Foundation Playwrights Fellowship and an Obie Award for Beauty’s Daughter.

Antonio’s Song / I Was Dreaming of a Son is directed by Artistic Director Mark Clements (Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Milwaukee Rep) with set design by Luciana Stecconi (Chester Bailey, Contemporary American Theater Festival), lighting design by John Ambrosone (The Old Neighborhood, Booth Theatre), sound design by Andre J. Pluess (The Chinese Lady, Milwaukee Rep), choreography by Alexandra Beller (Sense and Sensibility, Bedlam Theater Co), projection design by Jared Mezzochi (Junk, Milwaukee Rep), stage managed by Kira Neighbors and assistant directed by Jonathan Hetler.

Antonio’s Song / I Was Dreaming of a Son is a John (Jack) D. Lewis New Play Development Production and a co-production with Contemporary American Theater Festival. The Stiemke Studio Season is presented by Ed Seaberg and Patrick Smith. Milwaukee Rep is sponsored in part by the United Performing Arts Fund (UPAF).

Antonio’s Song / I Was Dreaming of a Son runs March 24 – April 5, 2020. Opening night is set for Friday, March 27, 2020. Purchase tickets at www.MilwaukeeRep.com, by calling the Ticket Office at 414-224-9490 or in person at 108 E. Wells Street in downtown Milwaukee.

For more information, please visit www.MilwaukeeRep.com.

Antonio’s Song / I Was Dreaming of a Son March 24 – April 5, 2020 (Opening Night Friday, March 27 at 8pm) in the Stiemke Studio By Dael Orlandersmith and Antonio Edwards Suarez Directed by Mark Clements Featuring Antonio Edwards Suarez

Information Tickets: www.MilwaukeeRep.com, by phone at 414-224-9490, or Ticket Office at 108 E Wells Street, Milwaukee. Hours: 12noon – 6pm; on performance days the Ticket Office remains open until 15 minutes past curtain. Student Discounts: Students 18 and under can purchase $20 tickets for select seating areas. 35 & Under: Select $20 tickets available for patrons 35 & Under. (Select 35 & Under price at checkout online) Group Sales: Discounted tickets for parties of 10+. Call 414-290-5340.

About Milwaukee Repertory Theater Milwaukee Rep is the largest performing arts organization in Wisconsin welcoming nearly 300,000 people at 700 performances of 15 productions a season in the Patty & Jay Baker Theater Complex featuring three unique performance venues– the Quadracci Powerhouse, Stiemke Studio and Stackner Cabaret. For over six decades, Milwaukee Rep has been a centerpiece of Milwaukee’s vibrant arts and cultural scene with productions ranging from Broadway musicals to Shakespeare to American Classics and New Works that are entertaining, inclusive and impactful. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Mark Clements and Executive Director Chad Bauman, Milwaukee Repertory Theater ignites positive change in the cultural, social, and economic vitality of its community by creating world-class theater experiences that entertain, provoke, and inspire meaningful dialogue among an audience representative of Milwaukee’s rich diversity.

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