KC Rep Announces Upcoming Season, Including Daniel Beaty World Premiere and More

Paul Robeson, Romeo, Juliet, and Ebenezer are just a few of the names - real and fictional - of the dynamic characters audiences will see at Kansas City Repertory Theatre during its 2013-14 season.

"During my six years at the Rep's artistic helm, we've taken on a variety of challenging issues from civil rights to wars to global warming, and we've balanced those demanding topics with comedies, musicals and family fare," said Eric Rosen, Kansas City Repertory Theatre's Artistic Director. "I'm proud to say that next season we will continue to examine some of life's most challenging issues: social injustice, love, family dynamics, and soul-searching redemption. All tempered with riotous fun, holiday surprises and the promise of two musical experiences that we can't release the names of at this time. And, we are adding a holiday bonus, in addition to our perennial production of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol."

2013-14 SEASON

All titles and dates are subject to change at the discretion of Kansas City Repertory Theatre.

THE TALLEST TREE IN THE FOREST - World Premiere Production
Written and Performed by Daniel Beaty Directed by Moisés Kaufman
Spencer Theatre

August 30-September 28, 2013

As an internationally-renowned vocalist and star of stage and screen, Paul Robeson was one of the world's best-known African American artists in the early 20th century. Through his singing and acting talent, he became enormously popular and wealthy; but as a champion for human rights, he became despised by his people and his country. Featuring excerpts from some of Robeson's signature songs, including "Ol' Man River" and "Steal Away", The Tallest Tree in the Forest showcases award-winning playwright and performer Daniel Beaty in a stunning production that explores the bold choices that defined Robeson's remarkable life.

Beaty is an award-winning actor, singer, writer and composer whose acclaimed solo play Through the Night had an extended run Off-Broadway (2011 Lucille Lortel, Drama Desk, Drama League and Outer Critics Circle Award nominations).

Kaufman, artistic director of Tectonic Theater Project in New York, directed Kansas City Rep's 2009 hit musical Into the Woods. He has also directed the recent Broadway productions The Heiress starring Jessica Chastain (Academy Award nominee for Zero Dark Thirty) and Dan Stevens (Matthew Crawley on "Downton Abbey"); 33 Variations starring Jane Fonda; and the Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning I Am My Own Wife. Kaufman's plays Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde and The Laramie
Project have been among the most performed plays in America over the last decade.

The Tallest Tree in the Forest is a co-production with La Jolla Playhouse, produced in association Tectonic Theater Project.

TO BE ANNOUNCED
Copaken Stage
September 20-November 3, 2013

ROMEO AND JULIET

Written by William Shakespeare Directed by Eric Rosen

Spencer Theatre

January 17-February 9, 2014

In the midst of a bloody feud, fragile love unfolds. Defying their warring families and their closest friends, two young lovers risk everything to be together. Shakespeare's most thrilling and romantic play is a masterpiece of poetry and emotion, with stunning visuals and daring swordplay. This production will inspire audiences of all ages.

Rosen is a writer, director and producer who has been Kansas City Rep's artistic director since 2007. His directing projects at the Rep include Mary Zimmerman's Metamorphoses; The Trip to Bountiful; Clay; Winesburg, Ohio; the world premiere of A Christmas Story, The Musical!, which was a 2012 holiday hit
on Broadway; Venice, proclaimed by TIME magazine as the Best Musical of 2010; Cabaret; August: Osage County; The Whipping Man, Pippin and Death of a Salesman. Rosen will direct the New York premiere of his musical Venice, co-written with Matt Sax, at The Public Theater (May 28-June 23).

Romeo and Juliet is produced in partnership with UMKC Theatre and with the generous support of the Hall Family Foundation.

WHEN I COME TO DIE

Written by Nathan Louis Jackson Directed by Kyle Hatley

Copaken Theatre

February 14-March 16, 2014

From the Rep's Andrew W. Mellon Foundation playwright-in-residence Nathan Louis Jackson (Broke-ology) comes When I Come to Die, a provocative and inspiring story about the power one action can have over a life, and the depths from which meaning and redemption can be attained. After surviving a lethal injection in prison, death row inmate Damon Robinson searches for faith and struggles to understand why his life has been spared.

A graduate of Kansas State University and The Juilliard School, Jackson's works include When I Come to Die (Lincoln Center Theater-2011) and Broke-ology, (Lincoln Center Theater, Kansas City Rep-2010, directed by Hatley. Jackson has received commissions from Lincoln Center, participated in the Kennedy Center Summer Playwriting Intensive and attended The Sundance Institute Playwright's Retreat. He is a two-time winner of the Lorraine Hansberry Playwriting Award, a recipient of the Mark Twain Comedy Playwriting Award and has been awarded the Kennedy Center's Gold Medallion.

Hatley is an actor, director and playwright, and serves as the Rep's Associate Artistic Director. His

Rep directing credits include Carousel (and the 2011 production at The Living Room), Little Shop of Horrors, Broke-ology, Circle Mirror Transformation, The Borderland and A Christmas Carol since 2010. He has also acted at the Rep in The Glass Menagerie and The Whipping Man.

When I Come to Die was commissioned by LCT3, Lincoln Center Theater's programming initiative devoted to producing the work of new artists and building new audiences.

THE FOREIGNER

Written by Larry Shue Directed by Jerry Genochio

Spencer Theatre

March 14-April 6, 2014

Charlie Baker needs to get away, and his friend Froggy knows just the place-his favorite fishing lodge in rural Georgia. To give Charlie much-needed peace and quiet, Froggy convinces the locals Charlie doesn't understand English. But the plan backfires when the lodge's inhabitants reveal deep secrets and diabolical plans in front of their quiet, foreign guest. Misunderstandings and nonstop hilarity ensue, building to an outrageously funny climax.

The Foreigner opened in 1984 at New York City's Astor Place Theatre where it ran for 686 performances, earning two Obie Awards and two Outer Critics Circle Awards as Best New American Play and Best Off-Broadway Production. Playwright Larry Shue died in a plane crash in 1985, not living to see the continued popularity of The Foreigner. In 2004, Roundabout Theatre Company's revival of the show starring Matthew Broderick ran Off-Broadway for ten-weeks.

Genochio has served as the Rep's Producing Director since 2008. He also is directing The Foreigner during the 2013-14 season, and last year directed David Mamet's American Buffalo.

TO BE ANNOUNCED

Copaken Theatre

April 11-May 11, 2014

SPECIAL 2013 HOLIDAY EVENTS

A CHRISTMAS CAROL

Written by Charles Dickens Directed by Kyle Hatley

Spencer Theatre

November 22-December 26, 2013

Gather your family and friends for the legendary spiritual journey of Ebenezer Scrooge when Kansas City's favorite holiday tradition returns for its 33rd season. Experience compassion for Ebenezer as a boy, delight with him as a merry young man, and possibly see a little of yourself in Ebenezer, the miser - but don't dismay, hope and redemption await.

Hatley also directs the Rep's 2014 production of Jackson's When I Come to Die.

THE SANTALAND DIARIES

Written by David Sedaris Directed by Jerry Genochio

Copaken Theatre

November 29-December 22, 2013

David Sedaris' hysterically irreverent tale of elfin' woe is a one-man send-up of his brief, misguided career as a Macy's elf. The show skewers our sentimental love of all things Christmas - the happy children, the spritely elves, the gifts, and the good cheer. The Santaland Diaries shows us the other side of what it's like to work at Santaland; the result is merrily subversive, but always fun.

Sedaris first read the essay The Santaland Diaries on National Public Radio's "Morning Edition" in
1992 and later published it in the collections Barrel Fever (1994) and Holidays on Ice (1997). A much longer version of the piece aired on the Public Radio International program "This American Life" on December 20, 1996. That same year, it was adapted for stage as a one-man, one-act play and debuted at the Atlantic Theater Company.

Genochio also directs the Rep's 2013 production of The Foreigner.

2013-14 TICKET INFORMATION

For subscription and ticket information for Kansas City Repertory Theatre, please contact the Box Office at 816-235-2700 or visit www.KCRep.org.