MOLIÈRE'S "TARTUFFE" OPENS FEBRUARY 21 AT BOSTON COURT
PASADENA, Calif., January 26, 2009 – The Theatre @ Boston Court presents "Tartuffe," a re-envisioned classic of Molière's most famous play opening February 21 on the Main Stage at Boston Court Performing Arts Center, 70 North Mentor Avenue.
Directed by Josh Chambers and translated by Donald M. Frame, pop art and industrial music lift Molière's delicious rhymes and indictment of hypocrisy and drops them in our own back yard, the San Fernando Valley. Suburbia becomes the battleground for a spiritual and cultural civil war between art and commerce, charlatan and saint. This "Tartuffe" upends the expectations of a Comedy of Manners in the pastel washes and smog-stained environs of "The Other Hollywood."
"Tartuffe" features Tim Cummings playing the role of Orgon. Cummings' recent stage shows include "Frankie & Johnny in the Clair de Lune" starring Edie Falco & Stanley Tucci, "The Pursuit of Happiness" at Laguna Playhouse, "The Last Schwartz," and "Burn This."
The cast also features Antonio Anagaran, Jaime Andrews, Teressa Byrne, Matt Foyer, Adam Harrington, Megan Heyn, Judith Scarpone and Blake Silver.
Production staff includes John Eckert, lighting designer, Jason Gomez, sound mixer, Ken McKenzie, set/props designer, Leah Piehl, costume designer, Nathan Ruyle, sound designer, Virginia Parron, stage manager, Michael Donovan, casting director, and Jessie Bonnell, assistant director.
Chambers is the artistic director and resident composer of Fovea Floods Theater. Directing credits include Erik Ehn's "Book of Tink" (CalArts), "Medusachrist" (REDCAT)," "Mount Weather" (DC Arts Center, Washington, DC), "The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui" (Ontological-Hysteric Theatre, NYC), and "Bull Spears" (CSV, NYC). This past spring, he directed and composed his own adaptation of "Miss Julie" at Sledgehammer Theatre in San Diego, as well as "Gold Star For Robot Boy" for acclaimed rock band Guided by Voices in NYC.
Molière, whose real name was Jean Baptiste Poquelin, was a French playwright and actor who is considered one of the greatest masters of comedy in Western literature. He composed 12 of the most durable and penetratingly satirical full-length comedies of all time, some in rhyming verse, some in prose, as well as six shorter farces and comedies. He was also the leading French comic actor, stage director, and dramatic theoretician of the 17th century.
"Tartuffe" previews for six performances beginning February 12, opens February 21 and runs Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. through March 22. Preview tickets are priced at $17 and regular performances at $32. Senior and student discounts are also available. Tickets can be purchased online at bostoncourt.org or by calling (626) 683-6883. Boston Court Performing Arts Center is located one block north of Colorado at the corner of Mentor Ave. and Boston Ct.
"Tartuffe" is supported in part by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, Founding Director Z. Clark Branson, and the generous contributions of The Theatre @ Boston Court patrons. "Tartuffe" contains adult language and nudity.
-30-
For reservations to Press Night, Saturday, February 21, 8 pm, contact: sandy@aldrichpr.com
CALENDAR
The Theatre @ Boston Court presents "Tartuffe," a Molière classic comedy set in the modern-day San Fernando Valley, the battleground for a spiritual and cultural civil war between art and commerce, charlatan and saint. Previews Feb 12 - 20, opens Feb. 21 at 8 p.m. and runs Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., and Sundays at 2 p.m. through Mar. 22 at Boston Court Performing Arts Center, 70 North Mentor, Pasadena. Tickets: $17 previews, $32 regular, available online at bostoncourt.org or the box office at 626-683-6883. "Tartuffe" contains adult language and nudity.