University Communications
Emory University
Atlanta, GA 30322

Release date: Oct. 21, 1999
Contact: Deb Hammacher, Assistant Director, 404-727-0644, or dhammac@emory.edu

Theater Emory 1999-2000 Season of "Fools" and the End of the Black Rose

Theater Emory announces its 1999-2000 season that kicks off on a light note with "The Last Laugh: A Fools Fest to Usher in the New Millennium," a 10-day festival featuring some of America's best "new vaudeville" artists, and ends on a bittersweet note as the theater community bids farewell to the Black Rose, Emory's replica Elizabethan playhouse. The season brings another conclusion as the production of "The Master Builder" brings Theater Emory's five-year investigation of Henrik Ibsen full circle.

"Theater Emory's 1999-2000 season seems a perfect match for this significant year. We are ending work pursued over the last several years and shifting our focus to launch new investigations for the new millennium," says Pat Miller, managing director of Theater Emory. "As we complete the Ibsen Project and our exploration of Elizabethan theater space, we move to the work of George Bernard Shaw and to new commitments to writers through the Playwriting Center of Theater Emory. This is a season both of harvesting and planting."

"The Last Laugh," Sept. 24-Oct. 2, is co-produced by Atlanta native Kenny Raskin, known to theater audiences for creating the role of Le Fou in "Beauty and the Beast" on Broadway and touring extensively as the principal clown, Monsieur Everyman, for Cirque du Soleil. He will be joined by "new vaudeville" artists Tim Settimi, Hilary Chaplain, Dick Monday, Waldo and Woodhead, The Lenny DeLuxe Trio, Enzo the clown and Avner the Eccentric. Avner is well-known through his acclaimed one-man show on Broadway and his role as the Jewel in the movie "The Jewel of the Nile."

"The Master Builder" is a premiere of a new adaptation of the Ibsen classic by playwright Steve Murray with Michael Evenden, commissioned by the Playwriting Center of Theater Emory. The production, Oct. 14-30, features Tim McDonough, Elisa Hurt, Jim Peck, Kristen Sandberg and Jennifer Hohensee under the direction of Vincent Murphy, producing artistic director of Theater Emory.

An international conference Nov. 11-13 on the Nobel Prize-winning writer Samuel Beckett sets the stage for several of his works in "justplay.[s]," a number of selections from Beckett directed by Brenda Bynum. The stagings, which will include "A Piece of Monologue," "Act Without Words I," "Act Without Words II," "Come and Go," "Ohio Impromptu," "What Where" and "That Time," will complete the performance of the entire Beckett canon in Atlanta during the last several years.

The Playwriting Center of Theater Emory will showcase a number of works in development by playwrights from around the country, and Theater Emory will shift the focus of its theatrical investigations from Ibsen to George Bernard Shaw. "A George Bernard Shaw Sampler" Feb. 2-5, 2000 will feature readings from the author's writing in consideration for full productions of his work in future seasons.

Following a successful three-year stint as ground-central for an exploration of Renaissance theater conventions and the role of a theater's physical space on the performance of dramatic work, the Black Rose will host its final production and will be dismantled. The playhouse, patterned after the Rose and Blackfriars theaters in Shakespeare's London, has received international attention plus audience and actor acclaim. Shakespeare's romantic comedy, "As You Like It," featuring two of his great female characters, Rosalind and Celia, will be the final production in the Black Rose Feb. 18-March 4, 2000.

The 1999-2000 season will conclude with a workshop of "The Miracle Worker," directed by John Ammerman, associate professor of theater studies at Emory. As a movement specialist, Ammerman is interested in the limitations offered to actors by the numerous plays whose physical action is violent, so he will use the story of Annie Sullivan and Helen Keller-one in which the actions is intimate, yet gentle-to explore the use of non-violent movement in theater.

Tickets and information about all Theater Emory events are available through the Arts at Emory box office at 404-727-5050, online at www.emory.edu/ARTS, or via e-mail at boxoffice@emory.edu. Performances are in the Mary Gray Munroe Theater, in the Dobbs University Center, 605 Asbury Circle, Emory unless otherwise noted.

Sept. 24-Oct. 2: "The Last Laugh: A Fools' Fest to Usher in the New Millennium." A 10-day series of events featuring the country's best vaudeville artists. Co-produced by Kenny Raskin who created the role of Le Fou in Beauty and the Beast on Broadway and toured as the principal clown, Monsieur Everyman, for Cirque du Soleil.

Sept. 24-25: "A Night on the Clowns" featuring Kenny Raskin, Tim Settimi, Hilary Chaplain, Dick Monday, and Waldo and Woodhead with The Lenny DeLuxe Trio. 8 p.m. $16 general admission; $12 students, seniors, and Emory faculty and staff; $6 Emory students.

Sept. 26: "Humor and Healing" symposium. 2 p.m.

Oct. 1: Kenny Raskin lecture and demonstration. 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 2: Avner the Eccentric. Solo performance by the star of "The Jewel of the Nile" and his own Broadway show. 8 p.m. $16 general admission; $12 students, seniors, and Emory faculty and staff; $6 Emory students.

Oct. 14-30: "The Master Builder" by Henrik Ibsen. Adapted by Steve Murray with Michael Evenden. Directed by Vincent Murphy. Featuring Tim McDonough, Elisa Hurt, Jim Peck, Kristen Sandberg and Jennifer Hohensee. This production marks the completion of a five-year investigation into the works of Ibsen by Theater Emory. $14 general admission; $12 students, seniors, and Emory faculty and staff; $6 Emory students.

7:30 p.m. Oct. 14

8 p.m. Oct. 15, 16, 21-23, 28-30

3 p.m. Oct. 24 and 30

Nov. 11-13

"justplay.[s]" by Samuel Beckett. Directed by Brenda Bynum. Each evening will have a different selection of pieces by the Nobel Prize-winning writer. Pieces will include "A Piece of Monologue," "Act Without Words I," "Act Without Words II," "Come and Go," "Ohio Impromptu," "What Where," and "That Time." The production completes the performance of the Beckett canon in Atlanta and coincides with an international conference and exhibition on Beckett at Emory.

7:30 p.m. Nov. 11

4 & 9 p.m. Nov. 12

3 & 8 p.m. Nov. 13

Jan. 28-30

The Playwriting Center of Theater Emory readings of new works. 7:30 p.m. Free. Location TBA.

Feb. 2-5

A George Bernard Shaw Sampler. Theater Emory shifts the focus of its investigations from Ibsen to Shaw with staged readings from the author's writings in consideration for full productions of his work in future seasons.

7:30 p.m. Free. 117 Burlington Road Building, 1804 N. Decatur Rd., Emory.

Feb. 18-March 4

"As You Like It" by William Shakespeare. This marks the final full production in the Black Rose, Emory's replica Elizabethan playhouse. The romantic comedy features two of Shakespeare's great female roles, Rosalind and Celia. $14 general admission; $12 students, seniors, and Emory faculty and staff; $6 Emory students.

7:30 p.m. Feb. 18

p.m. Feb. 19, 24 (pay-what-you-can performance), 25, 26 and March 1-4

3 p.m. Feb. 20, 27 and March 4

Feb. 22-23

The Black Rose Swan Song. Two evenings to revisit the last three years in the Black Rose with scenes and memories before its removal. 7:30 p.m. Free.

April 6-8

A workshop of "The Miracle Worker" by William Gibson. Director John Ammerman will explore acting and stylistic choices in this play about Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan. 7:30 p.m. Free. 117 Burlington Road Building, 1804 N. Decatur Rd., Emory.

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