Theater Latté Da Launches its 20th Anniversary Season!
/For Immediate Release May 1, 2017 Contact: Emilee Elofson emilee@latteda.org 612-225-1246 office
Theater Latté Da Launches its 20th Anniversary Season
The Company Continues its Rigorous Exploration of Musical Storytelling, including a Reimagined Classic, a Rarely-Produced Sondheim Musical, and a World Premiere
Season subscriptions are on sale now and can be purchased at latteda.org/subscribe or by calling 612-339-3003.
(Minneapolis, St. Paul) In September, Theater Latté Da will launch its 20th Anniversary Season at their new home, the Ritz Theater in Northeast Minneapolis. The highly celebrated company will launch a season that boldly reimagines work from the canon, continues its passion for Stephen Sondheim’s work, infuses a globally successful play with live music, premieres a new musical set in the Civil War, and continues its robust commitment to the development of new musicals and plays with music.
Founding Artistic Director Peter Rothstein states, "I am truly grateful for the generosity and support of this community. We simply could not do the work we do without an adventurous audience, generous donors, and a state that truly values the arts. With our 20th Anniversary Season we continue to stretch the boundaries of musical theater, telling stories that resonate with our contemporary world."
The season opens September 13 with Man of La Mancha by Dale Wasserman with lyrics by Joe Darion and music by Mitch Leigh. One of the most honored musicals of the American Theater, Man of La Mancha was inspired by Miguel de Cervantes' 17th Century masterpiece Don Quixote. It received five Tony Awards, including one for best musical play, as well as the Drama Critics Circle Award for best musical. Rothstein states, "Man of La Mancha celebrates the perseverance of one man who refuses to relinquish his ideals, who is determined to 'see life not as it is, but as it ought to be.'"
The Theater Latté Da production will reimagine the musical drama in a contemporary context, and will feature a multi-lingual cast. The production will feature Twin Cities newcomer Jon-Michael Reese as The Padre and Rodolfo Nieto as Dr. Carasco, both making their Latté Da debuts.
The Company's holiday hit, A Christmas Carole Petersen, returns for its eleventh holiday season. Tod Petersen’s (Gypsy, Our Town, A Man of No Importance) hilarious ode to his mother Carole and her overly enthusiastic love of all things Christmas is one of the most requested shows in Latté Da's history.
Latté Da continues its celebrated commitment to the work of Stephen Sondheim having produced Sunday in the Park with George, Company, Into the Woods, Gypsy, and their hugely successful production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. The rarely produced Assassins will begin performances February 7, 2018. A multiple Tony Award-winning theatrical tour-de-force, Assassins combines Sondheim's signature blend of intelligent lyrics and stunning music with a panoramic story of our nation's culture of celebrity and the violent means some will use to obtain it. John Weidman's book is bold, original, disturbing, and alarmingly funny. Rothstein states, "The musical provides a theatrical glimpse into the psychology of America's four successful and five would-be presidential assassins, and has earned its place as one of the most controversial musicals ever written."
Latté Da's production will feature Dieter Bierbraurer (Oliver!, Company, Floyd Collins) in the role of John Wilkes Booth, Tyler Michaels (Peter and the Starcatcher, Sweeney Todd, Cabaret) in the role of Lee Harvey Oswald, and Sara Ochs (A Christmas Carole Petersen, Sweeney Todd, Company). in the role of Sara Jane Moore. The Ritz Theater will be converted into a sinister fairground and will open an hour prior to each performance. The audience will be encouraged to join the cast on stage for concessions, libations, and carnival games.
Beginning performances on April 4, 2018 will be the world premiere of Five Points, with a book by Harrison David Rivers, music by Ethan D. Pakchar and Douglas Lyons, and lyrics by Douglas Lyons. Set in New York City in 1853, amidst the tumult of the Civil War, Five Points chronicles the journeys of two men, Willie Lane, a young black performer at the famed Almack’s Dance Hall, and John Diamond, an Irish immigrant and former jig champion, as they risk everything in pursuit of the American Dream. Inspired by real events, this world premiere musical is about what happens when worlds collide -- both the chaos and the possibility.
Rothstein states, "I believe in telling big stories and important stories; Five Points is both. Harrison David Rivers' book provides an insightful look at the complicated relationship between the African American community and the recent European immigrants who converged on New York's Lower East Side, specifically with regard to the recruitment of soldiers into the Union Army. The score by Douglas Lyons and Ethan Pakchar is one of the most exciting new scores I've ever heard. It is a sophisticated fusion of Gospel, Celtic, Broadway, and contemporary pop."
The final show of the 20th Anniversary Season will be Underneath the Lintel by Glen Berger with original music by Frank London. The production stars Sally Wingert (Six Degrees of Separation, Sweeney Todd, Cabaret) as a Dutch librarian who embarks on a quest to find out who anonymously returned a library book; a travel guide which is 113 years overdue. A clue scribbled in the margin of the book and an unclaimed dry-cleaning ticket take her on a mysterious adventure that spans the globe and the ages. The librarian, who has never left her native town of Hoofdrop, grows ever-determined to track down the offender. As she travels around the world on her obsessive search, she finds herself on a journey that not only unlocks ancient mysteries, but moves her to new revelations about her own place in the universe.
Glen Berger's celebrated play has been performed around the world and has been translated into numerous languages, but Latté Da's production will be the first time the play is performed with live music. Rothstein has been collaborating with playwright Glen Berger, composer Frank London (bandleader of the New York-based Klezmatics), and musician Dan Chouinard to explore how live music might elevate Berger's funny, whimsical, and poignant play.
Theater Latté Da continues its robust commitment to new work with their NEXT Festival. The summer festival showcases three new works that stretch the boundaries of musical storytelling, where audience members are invited into the ground floor of the creative process.
Season tickets are currently on sale; packages start at $105. Call the box office at 612-339-3003, or visit LatteDa.org
Theater Latté Da On The Road
Theater Latté Da's powerful reimagining of Ragtime, that opened the company's 19th season, will be remounted at Seattle's 5th Avenue Theatre in the fall of 2017 and at Asolo Repertory Theatre in Sarasota, Florida in the spring of 2018
All Is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914, by Peter Rothstein with musical arrangements by Erick Lichte and Timothy C. Takach, will not play in the Twin Cities this year but will tour to California, Texas, Florida, New Jersey, Iowa, Wisconsin, and five communities in Minnesota.
20th ANNIVERSARY SEASON AT A GLANCE
MAN OF LA MANCHA
Written by Dale Wasserman
Lyrics by Joe Darion
Music by Mitch Leigh
Directed by Peter Rothstein
Music Direction by Denise Prosek
Featuring Rodolfo Nieto and Jon-Michael Reese
September 13, 2017 - October 22, 2017
A CHRISTMAS CAROLE PETERSEN
Written by Tod Petersen and Peter Rothstein
Directed by Peter Rothstein
Music Direction by Denise Prosek
Starring Tod Petersen
November 29, 2017 - December 30, 2017
ASSASSINS
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Book by John Weidman
Directed by Peter Rothstein
Music Direction by Jason Hansen
Featuring Deiter Bierbrauer, Tyler Michaels, and Sara Ochs
February 7, 2018 - March 18, 2018
FIVE POINTS (World Premiere)
Book by Harrison David Rivers
Music by Ethan D. Pakchar & Douglas Lyons
Lyrics by Douglas Lyons
April 4, 2018 - May 6, 2018
UNDERNEATH THE LINTEL
By Glen Berger
Music by Frank London
Directed by Peter Rothstein
Music Direction by Dan Chouinard
Starring Sally Wingert
May 30, 2018 - July 1, 2018
NEXT FESTIVAL
Summer 2018
Venues and show titles to be announced
All performances are at the Ritz Theater, 345 13th Avenue NE, Minneapolis.
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