Contact:
Eric Sloss
412-268-5765

For immediate release:
October 6, 2006

Carnegie Mellon's School of Drama Presents Guare's "House of Blue Leaves"

Dark Comedy Still Rings True Today

PITTSBURGH—Carnegie Mellon University's School of Drama will present the stage production of John Guare's "House of Blue Leaves," a dark comedy about a wacky and woeful Central Park zookeeper named Artie. Directed by Karen Carpenter, "House of Blue Leaves," which won the 1971 New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best American Play, will run Oct. 5-7 and Oct. 10-14 at Carnegie Mellon's Helen Wayne Rauh Studio Theatre.

Audiences will follow Artie, a Queens native, through New York City as he tries to make it big writing songs that no one will listen to. All the while, he must care for his loony wife, Bananas; try to please his manic mistress, Bunny; and find his psychotic son, Ronnie, who is missing amid his preparations to assassinate the Pope. Guare's zany storyline is played out against the backdrop of a country involved in a questionable war in Vietnam.

Though it debuted more than 30 years ago, "House of Blue Leaves" still resonates today, stirring deep feelings of controversy over love, religion and politics. "It is timely to turn our attention to this remarkable play," said Elizabeth Bradley, head of Carnegie Mellon's School of Drama. "Guare's insights seem so contemporary and his humor so incisive that we laugh through the sting."

Hilariously poignant, this surreal, entrancing comedy brings to light the lengths people will go to for their 15 minutes of fame. Frank Rich of the New York Times similarly views Guare's work, saying, "The playwright sees his characters sympathetically, as helpless victims of a society in which movie stars and the Pope are indistinguishable media gods, in which television is a shrine, in which assassins are glorified in headlines. In such an icon-ridden landscape, the best hope is the pathetic one stated by the brash Bunny: 'When famous people go to sleep at night,' she wistfully posits, 'it's us they dream of.'"

Carpenter earned her bachelor's degree in directing and theater production at the Boston University School of Fine Arts. She worked as a box office assistant manager and stage manager in the Boston area for five years before becoming chair of Yale University's Stage Management program. After six years at Yale, she left for Broadway, where she was the stage manager for productions such as "Les Misérables," "The Lion King" and "Tommy."

Carpenter soon realized her passion rested more on the creative side of theater, especially in developing and directing works by new writers. She followed her passion to San Diego, where she became associate artistic director for The Globe Theater. After five years there, she returned to New York to pursue the creation of new plays.

Performance times for "House of Blue Leaves" are 8 p.m., Tuesday-Friday; and 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., Saturday. Tickets are $22 for the Tuesday-Thursday and Saturday matinee performances ($11 for students, $13.25 for senior citizens, and $17.50 for faculty and staff), and $25 for Friday and Saturday night shows ($12.50 for students, $15 for senior citizens, and $20 for faculty and staff).

The School of Drama is one of the nation's most distinguished degree-granting theatre programs. It is one of five schools within Carnegie Mellon's College of Fine Arts, a community of nationally and internationally recognized artists and professionals organized into architecture, art, design, drama and music, and their associated centers and programs.

For additional information about the upcoming season or ticket purchases, contact the School of Drama box office at 412-268-2407 between noon and 5 p.m., Monday-Friday. For more information on the School of Drama or the College of Fine Arts, visit www.cmu.edu/cfa or contact Eric Sloss at 412-268-5765 or ecs@andrew.cmu.edu.

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