Contact:
Eric Sloss
412-268-5765

For immediate release:
October 25, 2006

Carnegie Mellon's School of Drama Presents Production of "Side Show"

Family, Fame and Freaks Combine To Create Fantastic Broadway Show

PITTSBURGH—Carnegie Mellon University's School of Drama will present a production of "Side Show," a musical that brings to light the freak hiding behind our so-called normal facades, Nov. 30-Dec. 2 and Dec. 5-9 at Carnegie Mellon's Philip Chosky Theater. Based loosely on the life of Vaudeville stars Daisy and Violet Hilton, conjoined twins linked at the hip, "Side Show" takes audiences through a circus world of freaks, fame and unbreakable family ties. Rajendra Ramoon Maharaj, one of New York's rising young directors, will direct the musical.

Ramoom Maharaj, founder of the Rebel Theatre Company and resident at the New York Shakespeare Festival, holds four awards and 10 nominations for excellence in off-Broadway black theater. He received the Woodie King Jr. Award for Outstanding Direction for his revival of "Damn Yankees" with an all African-American cast set in the Negro baseball leagues in the 1950s. Trained as a dancer with the Alvin Ailey Company and a published playwright, Ramoom Maharaj is a uniquely exciting artist.

Like their fictionalized characters in "Side Show," the historical Daisy and Violet lived out their colorful but turbulent lives on the Depression-era Vaudeville stage. In this musical, which debuted to critical acclaim on Broadway in 1997, the sisters must negotiate the pitfalls of fame and romantic entanglements while attempting to lead two very different lives in one body. One sister longs for fame and fortune, while the other desires nothing more than the domestic comfort of a husband and family. Yet their independent desires can never be realized — physically or emotionally.

"'Side Show' is a beautifully structured musical that explores unusual territory. Demonstrating compassion for difference through an accomplished score and a gallery of unforgettable characters, 'Side Show' offers a remarkable theatrical journey," said Elizabeth Bradley, head of the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama.

"Side Show" combines an enchanting score by "DreamGirls" composer Henry Krieger and poignant, emotionally wrought lyrics by Bill Russell to make for brilliant and empathetic storytelling. The opera-like show will amaze audiences not just with its music, but also with its design and staging. New York Times theater critic Ben Brantley calls it "tremendously moving" and "daring, enthralling ... [with] passion, empathy and directness." Brantley points to the show's ability to reach the core of human nature. "The very presence in 'Side Show' of two women who are so glaringly abnormal in appearance yet so commonplace in their desires sets off chains of reverberation that bring depth as well as novelty to old questions: about identity, aloneness, ambivalence and the distorting, isolating powers of fame," he writes.

Show times are 8 p.m., Tuesday-Friday, and 2 and 8 p.m. on Saturday. Tickets are $24 for Tuesday-Thursday and Saturday matinee performances ($12 for students, $14.50 for seniors, and $19.25 for faculty and staff); $27 for Friday night ($13.50 for students, $16.25 for seniors, and $21.50 for faculty and staff); and $27 for Saturday night ($21.50 for faculty and staff).

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. Tickets can be purchased online at www.cmu.edu/cfa/drama. 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.

# # #