Seven Guitars extends

MARIN THEATRE COMPANY EXTENDS SEVEN GUITARS BY AUGUST WILSON

Extended through September 11, 2011

MILL VALLEY, CA—Marin Theatre Company announces today that, due to extraordinary ticket demand, it will extend Seven Guitars by eight performances. Bay Area audiences now have the opportunity to experience the critically acclaimed revival of August Wilson’s award-winning play through Sunday, September 11.

“The lyrical cadences of Wilson’s blues-driven words soar and thrill as delivered by – yes, seven pitch-perfect actors, masterfully orchestrated by director Kent Gash,” wrote San Francisco Chronicle theater critic Robert Hurwitt. Like Hurwitt, many reviewers highlighted the strong cast, including Theater Dogs blog author Chad Jones: “Gash’s ensemble is fantastic… Each actor has at least one moment of transcendence, and that fact alone makes this show worth seeing.” Marin IJ theater critic Sam Hurwitt raved, “A knockout.”

L. Peter Callender, artistic director of San Francisco’s African-American Shakespeare Company, returns to MTC in his first role since starring in the critically acclaimed audience-favorite My Children! My Africa! (January 2009). He is joined by two other Bay area veterans making their debuts on MTC’s stage: Margo Hall, the Glickman Award-winning playwright and founding member of Campo Santo, and Charles Branklyn, who has performed in nine different productions of Wilson’s ten-play Pittsburgh Cycle. Also making their debuts at MTC are New York actor Marc Damon Johnson, who has appeared in the Bay Area at Berkeley Rep, and three recent A.C.T. MFA graduates: Omoze Idehenre, who is now a core company member at A.C.T., Tobie Windham and Shinelle Azoroh.

MTC’s production of Wilson’s 1940’s entry into his Pittsburgh or Century Cycle, a decade-by-decade exploration of the African-American experience in the 20th century, carries the distinct vision of guest director Kent Gash. A former A.C.T. company member, Gash is currently the director of the New Studio on Broadway, a professional theater-training program specializing in musical theater and acting at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. He brought on Linda Tillery, “the Queen of San Francisco Rock” and artistic director of the Cultural Heritage Choir, an African-American roots music group, to help with music direction.

 

CALENDAR INFORMATION

WHAT
Marin Theatre Company presents SEVEN GUITARS

WHO
By August Wilson | Directed by Kent Gash
Featuring Shinelle Azoroh,* Charles Branklyn,* L. Peter Callender,* Margo Hall,* Omoze Idehenre,* Marc Damon Johnson,* Tobie L. Windham*
* Member, Actor’s Equity Association

WHEN
August 11 – September 11, 2011

Performance Days
Tue, Thu, Fri & Sat 8:00 pm
Wed 7:30 pm
Sun 7:00 pm
Matinees: Thu 8/25, 1:00 pm | Sat 9/3 & 10, 2:00 pm | Every Sun 2:00 pm
Check marintheatre.org or call the box office at (415) 388-5208 for exact performance dates and times.

WHERE
Marin Theatre Company | 397 Miller Avenue, Mill Valley, CA 94941

ABOUT
Prepare to be bewitched by August Wilson’s lyrical 1940s entry into his Pittsburgh Cycle, a remarkable decade-by-decade exploration of the African-American experience in the 20th century. Kent Gash, director of the musical theatre and acting studio at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, directs this moving epic that finds abundant spirit in the everyday and overflows with music, mystery and humor.

Released from the workhouse, Floyd “Schoolboy” Barton returns to the Hill District to discover that he has a hit record! Even though the bluesman does not have two nickels to rub together, nothing is going to stop him from taking advantage of this opportunity… until he is found dead. Schoolboy’s story becomes the bass line to the many melodies – lively, menacing, brooding – that rise from this vibrant community.

TICKETS
$34–$55, details below (discounts available for Seniors and Under 30)

Ticket Prices
Sat Evenings: $50 side | $55 center
Tues: $34 | $38
Wed, Thu, Sun Evenings & Matinees: $39 | $44
Fri: $45 | $50

Discounts available:
RUSH tickets: $15, available one hour prior to show, based on availability
Under 30: $20, all performances
Senior discounts: varies by performance, please call
For group sales, contact Julie Knight, (415) 388-5200, ext. 3302

ENGAGE
“MTC Engaged” invites patrons to join MTC’s artistic staff, designers and casts in conversation. A member of MTC’s artistic staff (often with one or more members of the cast) hosts a Q&A talk-back after every performance, except on Saturday evenings, Opening or Closing Nights.

MTC Engaged Special Events:
Perspectives – pre-show topical lecture: Thu 8/25, 12:00 p.m.

ACCESS
“MTC All Access” strives to make theater accessible to all audiences. For seeing impaired patrons, Large Print playbills are available at the box office at all performances, Digital playbills that are compatible with screen reader software are available online starting one week before the first performance of a production, and Braille playbills are available with two-weeks advance notice through partnership with LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired. To request a Braille playbill, call MTC’s Box Office, (415) 388-5208, or use the California Telecommunications Relay Service by dialing “711.” For hearing impaired patrons, amplified sound Listening Devices are available.

CONTACT
www.marintheatre.org | (415) 388-5208 | boxoffice@marintheatre.org

 

ABOUT MTC
Marin Theatre Company is the Bay Area’s premiere mid-sized theater and the leading professional theater in the North Bay. We produce a five- to six-show season of provocative plays by passionate playwrights from the 20th century and today in two intimate theaters—a 231-seat proscenium and a 99-seat thrust. We are committed to the development and production of new plays by American playwrights, with a comprehensive New Play Program that includes at least one world premiere each season, two nationally recognized annual playwriting awards, numerous new play readings and workshops by the nation’s best emerging playwrights, and a leadership position in the National New Play Network. Our numerous educational programs serve more than 6,000 students each year.

 

PRESS CONTACT
Sasha Hnatkovich, Communications Director
(415) 388-5200, ext. 3313 | email

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