March 29, 2010 Two Tony® award-winning companies – The Acting Company and Guthrie Theater – join together to present Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet at the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts Society-driven Edwardian era used as backdrop in a new production the New York Times raves will “steal your heart” Performances take place April 20 – 24 in the Zellerbach Theatre (Philadelphia, March 29, 2010) — The Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts’ season of Shakespeare concludes with two of America’s most renowned touring/regional theater companies – The Acting Company and The Guthrie Theater – in six performances of Romeo and Juliet, April 20 – 24, 2010. The Annenberg Center is the final stop on a 26-city tour for the Acting Company and Guthrie Theater that has taken them to college campuses and other performing arts venues across the country since early January. Tickets for the performance are $20-$55. For tickets or for more information, please visit AnnenbergCenter.org or call 215.898.3900. Tickets can also be purchased in person at the Annenberg Center Box Office. Young love has never been so delightful or dangerous as in this stirring new production co- produced by The Acting Company and The Guthrie Theater. While the story remains the same, turn of the century Verona has been chosen as the backdrop, allowing the production to have a more contemporary sensibility. Elizabethan dress is traded in for tuxedos and fashionable Edwardian-era gowns. Romeo and Juliet is directed by Penny Metropulos, former associate artistic director of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. The star-crossed lovers are played by Sonny Valicenti (Romeo), who has performed as part of the Philadelphia Live Arts Festival and recently appeared on TNT’s Raising the Bar and Laura Esposito (Juliet), a graduate of the Yale School of Drama. This is The Acting Company and The Guthrie Theater’s second co-production and national tour. Romeo and Juliet exquisitely embodies the brief joy of youthful passion and ecstasy. Timeless and deeply moving, they love each other passionately as only teenagers can while their families’ mutual disdain and prejudice lead to revenge and an irreversible fate. – more – Page 2 The Acting Company and Guthrie Theater at the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts Cast list Jesse Bonnell – Abraham/Friar John/Watch Raymond L. Chapman – Friar Laurence Laura Esposito – Juliet Hugh Kennedy – Benvolio Jason McDowell-Green – Lord Montague/Capulet Guest Jamie Smithson – Paris/Gregory Elizabeth Stahlmann – Nurse William Studivant – Mercutio/Prince Chris Thorn – Lord Capulet Myxolydia Tyler – Perrin Sonny Valicenti – Romeo Christine Weber – Lady Capulet Isaac Woofter – Tybalt/Apothecary/Watch For complete cast biographies, please email Lauren Saul at [email protected]. The Acting Company The Acting Company promotes theater and literacy by bringing a touring repertory of classical productions, talented young actors and teaching artists into communities across America, particularly those where live performance and theater arts education is limited or non-existent. Kevin Kline, Patti LuPone, Jesse L. Martin, Frances Conroy, David Ogden Stiers, Keith David, Jeffrey Wright and Rainn Wilson are but a handful of actors whose careers have been developed by The Acting Company. Honored by the Tony® Awards for Excellence in Theater, the company has won the Obie, Audelco, Citibank’s Excellence in Education and Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards. Since its founding in 1972 by the legendary John Houseman and Margot Harley, The Acting Company has performed 133 productions touring to 48 states and ten foreign countries. The Guthrie Theater Founded by Sir Tyrone Guthrie in 1963, the Guthrie Theater is one of America’s leading regional theaters and is widely recognized as an American center for theater performance, production and professional training. In addition to plays presented on the Guthrie’s mainstage, the theater provides an additional season of new works by contemporary playwrights such as Arthur Miller, Edward Albee and Warren Leight at the Guthrie Lab. Under the directorship of Joe Dowling, the Guthrie has built one of the finest multistage theater centers of our time including a classic thrust for grand scale classics, a proscenium for more intimate productions and a studio for developing new works. In 1982, the Guthrie received a Tony Award® acknowledging its outstanding contribution to the American Theater. – more – The Acting Company and Guthrie Theater at the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts Page 3 The Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts The University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts has been the region's leading multi-disciplinary performance venue for Theatre, Dance, Jazz, World Music, New Music and children’s programming since its inception in 1971. The Annenberg Center’s curatorial vision emphasizes four primary values: artistic integrity, cultural diversity, curatorial balance and a willingness to take risks. By presenting world renowned and cutting edge artists and companies who express adventuresome perspectives on contemporary issues, timeless ideas and diverse cultures, the Annenberg Center promotes critical thinking and dialogue among its audiences, creating a uniquely rewarding arts experience. The Annenberg Center has achieved national recognition for its outstanding Dance Celebration series (presented in partnership with Philadelphia's Dance Affiliates), touring theatre series, and for its superior offerings for children, including both its Student Discovery Series and the acclaimed 25-year- old Philadelphia International Children’s Festival, the oldest festival of its kind in the United States. Through a generous grant from the Wallace Foundation, the Annenberg Center also showcases its commitment to local artists each year through its By Local series. Throughout its history, the Annenberg Center has presented innovative and critically-acclaimed theatre productions with some of the biggest stars of stage and screen including Liv Ullmann and Sam Waterston in A Doll's House, A Streetcar Named Desire with Glenn Close, Jessica Tandy in Beckett's Not I, and Tennessee Williams' Sweet Bird of Youth with Irene Worth and Christopher Walken. University of Pennsylvania alumnus and noteworthy Broadway producer and director Harold Prince staged many of his plays at the Annenberg Center before taking them to Broadway. As part of the Dance Celebration series, a broad range of world-class and emerging dancers and companies have appeared at the Annenberg Center each season including the Pilobolus Dance Theatre, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, MOMIX, Parsons Dance Company, Martha Graham, Merce Cunningham, Paul Taylor and Alvin Ailey. – more – Page 4 The Acting Company and Guthrie Theater at the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts THE ACTING COMPANY & THE GUTHRIE THEATER Romeo and Juliet Tuesday, April 20 at 7:30 PM Wednesday, April 21 at 7:30 PM Thursday, April 22 at 7:30 PM Friday, April 23 at 8:00 PM Saturday, April 24 at 2:00 PM Saturday, April 24 at 8:00 PM Zellerbach Theatre at the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts Two Tony® award winning companies – the Acting Company and The Guthrie Theater – combine forces in this not-to-be-missed production of the greatest love story of all time. With the perfect combination of lyricism, suspense, drama, and of course, romance, Shakespeare enfolds us in this heartbreaking tale of star-crossed lovers as they plunge heart-first into love from their first shy glances to their last heartrending kiss. Trapped between two worlds as their feuding families destroy their dreams for happiness, a hidden tragedy unfolds as their love races toward a final confrontation with a fate that you will not soon forget! Media support for the Annenberg Center’s 09/10 Theatre series provided by WHYY. Tickets: $20-$55. For more information please call 215.898.3900 or visit www.AnnenbergCenter.org. For further press information or to set up interviews, please contact: Lauren Saul, Marketing and Communications Manager phone: 215.573.8537; email: [email protected] # # # .