“Shakespeare in Vegas” Available On-Line Everywhere in July

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Tony Award winning TheatreWorks Silicon Valley to Partner with Vegas Theatre Company for an On-line Benefit

6 pm (PT), Thursday, July 23, 2020 until 6 pm (PT), Monday, July 27, 2020

The title has me hooked – – Shakespeare in Vegas. This I gotta see. The promotional material says, “This comedy sparkles as it shines a spotlight on an unlikely pairing—Shakespeare and The Las Vegas Strip—as a wise guy producer with a dream and a despondent New York actress attempt to bring them together. Will showgirls outshine the Bard? Will an old Italian curse threaten to ruin the entire enterprise? Find out what happens in Vegas.”

Tony Award winner Karen Ziemba (Broadway’s Contact, Curtains, Prince of Broadway and many more) and Tony Award nominee Patrick Paghttp://patrickpageonline.com/e (Hades in Broadway’s Hadestown) lead the cast of TheatreWorks Silicon Valleys benefit online reading of Shakespeare in Vegas, by Suzanne Bradbeer which begins on Thursday, July 23, 2020.

Presented by TheatreWorks’ New Works from Home program in partnership with Vegas Theatre Company Shakespeare in Vegas will be the first show streamed for TheatreWorks Silicon Valley’s New Works from Home program.

The production is helmed by Las Vegas native and TheatreWorks’s Artistic Associate and Director of New Works Giovanna Sardelli. Sardelli, who originally had planned to direct the production for Vegas Theatre Company at The Art Square Theatre, worked with TW and VTC’s Artistic Director, Daz Weller, to create this online event.

This reading is made possible by concessions from the Performers’ Unions including Actors Equity Association, American Guild of Musical Artists, American Guild of Variety Artists, and SAG-AFTRA through Theatre Authority, Inc., to whom TheatreWorks offers its appreciation for permitting the artists to appear.

A link to stream the show will be available at TheatreWorks.org for no charge, although donations are encouraged to support the Regional Theatre Tony-winning TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, and Vegas Theatre Company, which like theaters across America have been forced to cancel in-theatre performances to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Shakespeare in Vegas will be offered via video streaming from 6 pm (PT), Thursday, July 23, 2020 until 6 pm (PT), Monday, July 27, 2020. See it on line at TheatreWorks.org For information, visit TheatreWorks.org (650) 463-1960) or www.theatre.vegas (725) 222-9661)

ABOUT THEATREWORKS

Tim Bond

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley is the recipient of the 2019 Regional Theatre Tony Award. Led by Artistic Director Tim Bond and Executive Director Phil Santora, the Palo Alto-based theatre company serves more than 100,000 patrons per year and has captured a national reputation for artistic innovation and integrity, often presenting Bay Area theatre goers with their first look at acclaimed musicals, comedies, and dramas, directed by award-winning local and guest directors, and performed by professional actors cast locally and from across the country.

ABOUT VEGAS THEATRE COMPANY

Vegas Theatre Company (VTC) is Nevada’s home for compelling theatrical productions that illuminate our shared human experience, and awaken our sensibilities about our world. VTC (formerly Cockroach Theatre) is one of Las Vegas’ most distinguished and beloved theatre companies. Since 2002, when a group of five UNLV theatre graduates came together to make theatre for their city, VTC has been at the forefront of Las Vegas’ storytelling for the stage, regularly receiving “Best of the City” and Valley Theatre Awards in recognition of their work.

Each year the company presents a season of shows from its home inside Art Square Theatre in downtown Las Vegas as well as numerous co-productions and one-off events. New work and new stories sit at the center of VTC’s programming, alongside a mix of classics and international writing. We tell stories that bring people together.

ABOUT THE CAST

PATRICK PAGE (Tony) Broadway: Hadestown (Tony nom.,Grammy Award), SaintJoan, Casa Valentina  A Time to Kill, Cyrano De Bergerac, Spider-Man, Man for All Seasons, The Grinch, Julius Caesar, Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Kentucky Cycle. Regional: Associate Artist of the Old Globe, and The Shakespeare Theater of DC: roles include Malvolio, Cyrano, Iago, Macbeth, Coriolanus, Prospero, etc. Originated the roles of Frollo in Hunchback of Notre Dame (La Jolla Playhouse) and Apis in Rajiv Joseph’s Archduke (Mark Taper Forum). TV includes Evil, Elementary, NCIS New Orleans, Chicago PD, Madame Secretary, The Blacklist, Law and Order SVU and Flesh and Bone. Follow on Twitter and Instagram at @pagepatrick. patrickpageonline.com.

NICAN ROBINSON (Mike/Nelson) Regional theatrical credits include Berkeley Repertory Theatre’s Last Tiger in Haiti (Joseph u/s), Artist Repertory Theatre’s Cuba Libre (Yuorquis/Ensemble), Sundance Theater Lab’s The Black Lady Authority (Greenleaf) and The Greatest (LaDuke), Kansas City Repertory’s Brother Toad (Chris).

His local theater credits include Crowded Fire Theater’s The Shipment (DD Desmond/Desmond) and SF Playground’s Abominable (Fate). His Film and TV credits include 13 Reasons Why, The Filth, and Thunder Road.

MELISSA WOLFKLAIN (Colette) is excited to return to TheatreWorks after playing Mary Bennet in the world premiere musical, Pride & The Prejudice.

Previously, she was seen in many New Works Festivals and the world premiere of Tinyard Hill. Some of her favorite Bay Area appearances: Joan – Dames at Sea (TBA Award), Phoebe – A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, Fanny Brice – Funny Girl (TBA nomination) and Kathy Selden – Singing in the Rain (SFBATCC Award) Instagram – @melissawolfklain www.melissawolfklain.com 

ADRIENNE KAORI WALTERS (Merrie Jo) was seen as Emma in The Language Archive. Past credits: Molly Aster in Peter and the Starcatcher (TheatreWorks), Blasted (Shotgun Players), Our Practical Heaven (Aurora Theatre), Spring Awakening (Center REP).

She has a BA in Anthropology, a minor in Classics, and practices archaeology abroad. More info at www.adriennewalters.com

KAREN ZIEMBA (Margot) has appeared in 11 Broadway shows. She received the Tony,Drama Desk and Outer Critic Circle Award for her performance in Contact at Lincoln Center Theatre. Also, on Broadway and beyond, she’s garnered three Tony nominations, The DramaDesk, Outer Critics Circle, Bay Area Theatre Critics, and Joseph Jefferson Award for her performances. TV: Madam Secretary, The Good Wife, Elementary, Law and Order SVU and CI,Scrubs, The Kennedy Center Honors, and PBS’s Great Performances.

KATHERINE HAMILTON (Stage Directions) is an actress and director most recently seen as Emmy in A Doll’s House Part 2 at Palo Alto Players.

Recent directing credits include UCSB’s Zoom Festival Alone Together and Murder On The Orient Express at Indiana Repertory Theatre, directed by Risa Brainin, of which she was assistant director. Katherine will be assistant directing Ragtime in TheatreWorks’ 20/21 season.

SUZANNE BRADBEER (Playwright) Plays include: Confederates (TheatreWorks Silicon Valley – seven Bay Area Critics Circle nominations including Best Production, Kilroy’s Honorable Mention); Naked Influence (Capital Rep); The God Game (Pulitzer nomination, over a dozen productions); and Full Bloom (Barrington Stage, Hudson Stage, etc.). Publishers: Samuel French, Playscripts, Applause Books, How I Round, many anthologies by Smith & Kraus.

A personal highlight for Ms. Bradbeer was her work as a dramaturg for Arthur Miller and Jim Houghton on Signature Theatre Company’s production of The American Clock.

GIOVANNA SARDELLI (TheatreWorks Artistic Associate and Director of New Works) was born and raised in Las Vegas. Before moving to NYC to attend New York University’s Graduate Acting Program, she attended University of Nevada, Las Vegas and was to be inducted into their Hall of Fame. Sardelli’s many directing credits at TheatreWorks include the March 2020 Northern California Premiere of They Promised Her the Moon, as well as Pulitzer Prize finalist Rajiv Joseph’s Archduke (2019), FINKS (2018), 

The Velocity of Autumn and Crimes of the Heart (2016), Joseph’s The Lake Effect (2015), Somewhere by Matthew Lopez (2013), and the World Premiere of Joseph’s The North Pool (2011).

She is an award-winning director who has worked on numerous plays by Rajiv Joseph including the world premiere of Archduke (Mark Taper Forum) and Guards at the Taj (Geffen Playhouse; 2016Ovation Award for Best Production of a Play) and the World Premiere of the Obie Award Winning play Describe The Night (Alley Theatre, Atlantic Theater Company in NYC).

She has directed world premieres of plays by Theresa Rebeck, Lynn Rosen, Joe Gilford, Jeff Augustine, Lauren Yee, Zayd Dohrn, Melissa Ross, Lila Rose Kaplan, Matthew Lopez, and Zoe Kazan among others. Sardelli is set to direct TheatreWorks’ upcoming World Premiere.

Photos courtesy TheatreWorks’ Silicon Valley

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