Will Perform Tony Award®-Winning Musical 'Urinetown'
Elizabeth Bradley, head of Carnegie Mellon's School of Drama, has announced the 2005-2006 season for the Purnell Center for the Arts’ Philip Chosky Theater, Helen Wayne Rauh Studio Theater and the John Wells Video Studio.
"The plays included in the 2005-2006 season all celebrate differences of perspective and the compelling voices of those marginalized by their society—in whatever time. The capacity to embrace and reconcile differing, even opposing points of view, is the measure of a civilized society," Bradley says.
"From the women in 'Lysistrata' who rise up against a macho-militaristic social order to the disenfranchised homeless in 'Urinetown' who forge their own kind of rebellion and to the plea for tolerance among cultures and religions in 'Nathan the Wise,' the School of Drama season challenges the audiences to respond with empathy to the convictions of those formed by an experience different from their own.
“Even the universal characters in Shakespeare's most mysterious comedy 'As You Like It,' make a plea for us to value their eccentric humanity. We hope audiences will discover the complementary threads of this compelling suite of plays with enjoyment and engagement,” Bradley added.
'Lysistrata' by Aristophanes, directed by Jed Allen Harris
Preview: October 6, 2005
Opening: October 8, 2005
Closing: October 16, 2005
A favorite of antiwar activists throughout world history, this play is one of Aristophanes' greatest surviving works. The play focuses on a campaign waged in the Battle of the Sexes during which Lysistrata and her female comrades take control of the Athenian Acropolis. Outraged by the ongoing war between the men of Athens and Sparta, Lysistrata, her comrades and the women from Sparta join forces to declare a nationwide moratorium on all sexual congress until the men end the war. This play and the original, "Make Love, Not War," comment on the foibles of men and women when their desires are unfulfilled and the power of organized protest against the folly of war and those leaders who take us there.
'Urinetown' by Greg Kotis, directed by John Carrafa
Preview: December 1, 2005
Opening: December 2, 2005
Closing: December 10, 2005
"Urinetown" is the winner of three Tony Awards, three Outer Circle Critics' Awards, two Lucille Lortel Awards, and two Obie Awards. Based on the book and lyrics by Greg Kotis and music and lyrics by Mark Hollmann, "Urinetown" is the politically incorrect saga of a Pay-Per-Pee toilet entrepreneur who has become rich by taking people's money during a terrible drought. The entrepreneur's business is threatened when the wicked robber baron's daughter, Hope, falls in love with the hero, Bobby Strong, who happens to be the leader of a free wee-wee revolution. Richard Zoglin from Time Magazine said the play "aims for comic heights and keeps the audience soaring!"
Carrafa, guest director at the School of Drama, was part of the original creative team on "Urinetown" and was nominated for a Tony for his choreography. He said that he is interested in coming to the School of Drama because of "the high standard of performing talent that I see when I encounter Carnegie Mellon drama students in auditions."
The Carnegie Mellon School of Drama is the first theatre group in Pennsylvania given the license to perform "Urinetown."
'Nathan the Wise' by G.E. Lessing, directed by Mladen Kiselov
Preview: February 23, 2006
Opening: February 24, 2006
Closing: March 4, 2006
Written by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, this play takes place in Jerusalem during the height of the Crusades. Under the rule of Sultan Sladin, three religions—Islam, Judaism and Christianity—enjoy a rare interlude of peace in the Holy Land. Nathan, a well-respected Jewish merchant and one of Saladin's subjects, returns home to discover that his daughter Rebecca has been rescued from a deadly fire. The rescuer is a Christian Knight Templar, the Sultan's prisoner who was mysteriously spared from execution. After dark secrets emerge about the deep hatred between the religious communities, Nathan confronts Saladin and relates the Parable of the Three Rings and thus forms his friendship with the ruler. Enlightenment Harmony reconciles the ignorance and suspicion that almost tears Nathan's family apart. As one of the finest 18th-century writings of G.E. Lessing, the father of German classical drama, this play reminds people of human reconciliation and communion as answers to religious persecution and violence.
'As You Like It' by William Shakespeare, guest director to be announced
Preview: April 27, 2006
Opening: April 28, 2006
Closing: May 6, 2006
Shakespeare sets this play in the Forest of Arden, which is protected from explorers and untarnished by cartographers. "As You Like It" follows the merry adventures of Rosalind, a beloved optimist, and her quest for true love amid the schemes of two warring brothers. Rosalind travels across the lines between town and country, youth and age, the romantic and the realistic, laughter and sorrow, fortune and fate, and virtue and vice.
For additional information about the upcoming season or ticket purchases, contact the School of Drama box office at 412-268-2407.
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