FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Tammy Cunningham
April 13, 2017
MAN IN LOVE
Runs April 29-May 28, 2017 at Copaken Stage
Cast & Creative Team Overview
JUSTIN BARRON (Leigh) KCRep: Debut. Local: How to Use a Knife, The Ghosts of Lote Bravo (Unicorn Theatre); The Tempest, Hamlet (Heart of America Shakespeare Festival); Guys and Dolls, South Pacific (Musical Theater Heritage); Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (The Coterie); The King and I (Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre). Regional: Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Our Town, Guys and Dolls, Reading! and Other Superpowers, Bodyguard! Protector of the Anatomy (Creede Repertory Theatre). Education: BFA, University of Central Missouri. AEA Membership Candidate
RUFUS BURNS (Paul Pare, Jr.) KCRep: A Raisin in the Sun, A Christmas Carol. Local: The African Company Presents Richard III (Black Repertory Theatre Kansas City); An Octoroon, The Motherf*cker with the Hat, Ruined, The Salvation of Iggy Scrooge (Unicorn Theatre); The Wrestling Season, The Greek Mythology Olym-piaganza (The Coterie); Richard III, Macbeth, Twelfth Night (Heart of America Shakespeare Festi-val); Titus Andronicus (The Living Room Theatre). Education: MFA in Acting & Directing from UMKC. AEA Member
BIANCA LEIGH (Bernice) KCRep: debut. New York: Trans Scripts (Tatiana, American Repertory Theater); Taylor Mac’s The Lily’s Revenge (Time/Wind, Here Arts Center); Busted: the Musical (writer and actor, Laurie Beechman Theatre). Regional: Tales of the City: The Musical (Frannie Halcyon in workshops, New York and San Francisco). TV & Film: Transamerica, Hurricane Bianca; “Law & Order: SVU”. Education: BFA, Rutgers University Mason Gross School of the Arts. Miss Leigh was profiled this year in Cranes New York for her work with students at NYU Medical School, and was the commencement speaker at Rutgers University’s Lavender Graduation in 2014.
MICHAEL R. PAULEY (Walker) KCRep: Romeo and Juliet, Death of a Salesman. Local: Clybourne Park (Unicorn Theatre). Regional: Fly (Florida Studio Theatre); Satchel Paige and the Kansas City Swing (Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse); Les Liaisons Dangereuses, The Comedy of Errors (Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey), 1776, Royal Hunt of the Sun, Twelfth Night (Texas Shakespeare Festival). International: A Life in the Theatre (Teatro Canovas Spain); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Teatro Franco Parenti Milan). TV & Film: Pee Wee’s Big Holiday, The Understudy, “Saturday Night Live”, “All My Children”. Education: MFA, UMKC; BFA, University of Arizona. AEA Member www.michaelpauley.info
EMILY SHACKELFORD (Hazel) KCRep: A Christmas Carol, Evita, The Fantasticks, Stillwater, Hair: Retrospection, The Foreigner, Cabaret. Off Broadway: Lucky Duck (New Victory Theatre) Regional: Nunsense II, Quality Street, Secret Garden (Okoboji Summer Theatre). Local: By The Way Meet Vera Stark (Unicorn Theatre); A Year with Frog and Toad, Afflicted: Daughters of Salem, School House Rock Live, Seussical, Spring Awakening, The Wiz (The Coterie); Kiss Me Kate, 1776 (Musical Theater Heritage); Aladdin (Starlight at the Kauffman Center); Bingo! The Winning Musical (American Heartland Theatre); Pride and Prejudice (Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre); Death of Cupid (Written and Directed by Kyle Hatley, The Living Room Theatre) Education: BFA in Theatre Arts, Stephens College. Ms. Shackelford is a cast member of the Chicago sketch comedy group “Bevvy”. Instagram: @emilyareti. AEA Member
DIANNE YVETTE (Darlynn) KCRep: A Christmas Carol 2015, 2016. Local: Eclipsed, By the Way, Meet Vera Stark (Unicorn Theatre); The Nine Who Dared, The Miracle Worker, Freedom Sisters: Stamping, Shouting, and Singing Home (The Coterie); Eurydice (The Living Room); Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (Kansas City Actors Theatre); Good People (Unicorn Theatre/Kansas City Actors Theatre co-production); The Penis Monologues (The Fishtank/KC Fringe Festival); Goat Song (Westport Center for the Arts). Regional: The Victor Continental Show (7 years, Card Table Theatre); Dead Man’s Cell Phone (Lawrence Arts Center); The Fantasticks (Kansas University Theatre); A Raisin in the Sun (English Alternative Theatre). Education: BS in Theatre Performance and Film, University of Kansas.
MARISSA WOLF (Director) In her first year as Director of New Works/Associate Artist at Kansas City Rep, Marissa launched OriginKC, a program that supports the creation, development, and production of new work from a diverse body of major national playwrights. Following the world premiere of Fire in Dreamland by Rinne Groff (co-commissioned by The Public Theater and Berkeley Rep) as part of the 2016 OriginKC new works festival, Marissa will direct Man in Love by Christina Anderson for the 2017 OriginKC new works festival. Additional directing credits at KC Rep includes The Diary of Anne Frank and A Raisin in the Sun. Marissa previously served as the Artistic Director of Crowded Fire Theater in San Francisco for six season, where she developed and produced work by a vanguard of top emerging playwrights including Christina Anderson, Lauren Gunderson, Young Jean Lee, Christopher Chen, Aditi Brennan Kapil, Caridad Svich, Thomas Bradshaw, and Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig. Other directing credits include Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Marin Theatre Company, SF Playhouse, Shotgun Players, Cutting Ball Theatre, The Magic Theatre, and Berkeley Playhouse. Marissa was nominated Best Director by Broadway World San Francisco and the Bay Area Critics Circle Award. Marissa previously held the Bret C. Harte Directing Internship at Berkeley Repertory Theatre for two years. Marissa has her degree in drama from Vassar College, and received additional training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.
CHRISTINA ANDERSON (Playwright) Christina Anderson’s plays include: The Ashes Under Gait City, Good Goods, Blacktop Sky, Hollow Roots, How to Catch Creation and Drip. Her work has appeared at The Contemporary American Theater Festival, Penumbra, Yale Rep, A.C.T., The Public Theater, Crowded Fire and other theaters all over the country. American Theater Magazine selected her as one of the 15 up-and-coming artists ‘whose work will be transforming America’s stages for decades to come.’ For two consecutive years, her plays have appeared as one of the top recommendations on The Kilroy’s List, an annual industry survey of excellent new works by female playwrights. Born and raised in Kansas City, Kansas, Anderson obtained her B.A. from Brown University and an M.F.A from the Yale School of Drama’s playwriting program.
The design and production team includes: RACHEL M. DYER (Production Stage Manager), ANTJE ELLERMANN (Scenic Design), CAROLINE ALLENDER (Costume Design), JEFFREY CADY (Lighting Design), CLIFF CARUTHERS (Sound Design) and LILY RIDER (Research Assistant).
Man in Love begins April 29 at Copaken Stage and runs through May 28 in repertory with What Would Crazy Horse Do? For tickets and information contact the KCRep Box Office at 816.235.2700 or http://kcrep.org/new-works-2016
About Kansas City Repertory Theatre
Kansas City Repertory Theatre, one of the nation's oldest and most respected regional theaters, is the center of a great theatre town. KCRep produces theatrical excellence, creating and sharing stories at the center of our nation’s creative crossroads. KCRep’s mission is to advance the art form while cultivating passionate audiences, artists, and advocates to invest in our region’s creative future. We build community by connecting people through productions and outreach that educate, entertain, challenge and inspire. Lauded by The Wall Street Journal, TIME magazine, Variety and The Toronto Sun, KCRep produces mainstage plays and special events at Spencer Theatre, where it serves as the professional theatre in residence at the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC), and Copaken Stage located in downtown Kansas City. KCRep employs more than 250 professional artists, technicians and administrators, and serves more than 100,000 patrons and 12,000 school children annually. Kansas City Repertory Theatre is led by Artistic Director Eric Rosen and Executive Director Angela Lee Gieras.
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Please direct all media inquiries to: Tammy Cunningham
For further information, please visit our website at www.kcrep.org.
For Tickets: 816.235.2700 or www.kcrep.org.