December 2010

Dear Subscriber: 

We had an amazing fall with the world premiere of High and the regional premiere of Next Fall. Both productions were fascinating explorations of complex themes, and as expected, both shows generated a lot of conversation and some controversy. It certainly made for exciting theatre-going in St. Louis. While we won’t know for certain for a little while, all indications are that High will be on Broadway this coming March. Things can change quickly in the commercial theatre world, and nothing is fully set at this point, but we think it will happen. No matter what, you all were part of the journey of the play. Your reactions to it were appreciated by the creative team on the show. It will be interesting to see what changes will now be incorporated into the production as it moves forward.

Before you visit us for our next Mainstage production, I want to give you a reminder about the parking situation at The Rep. We sent out information about this previously, but some people may not have seen it. Last month, Webster University broke ground for a new business school building just east of the Music School and the Loretto-Hilton Center. This construction has taken a large parking lot out of service and this has changed parking procedures for us as well as anyone who parks on campus. While we are doing everything we can to make parking as convenient as possible, we know that challenges exist and may change from day to day.

Beginning with Over The Tavern, we will be restricting the parking lots closest to the theatre (the lots designated 1 & 2 on our parking map) for subscribers and Backers only. Parking for non-subscribers will only be available in the pre-paid lot on the south side of Garden Avenue and in the parking garage on Garden Avenue. This new procedure will make more parking available for our subscribers; however, these subscriber parking lots still may fill up as it gets closer to performance time, so we suggest that you arrive early in order to ensure that you find a space in these parking lots.

Also, please remember that private lots, such as the one across the street from the theatre at Emmanuel Episcopal Church or the parking lot behind Nerinx Hall High School, are not available to Rep patrons. Likewise, parking in undesignated spaces or on the grass will result in tickets issued by Public Safety and we have no authority to waive any fines incurred. Also, please be patient with our parking attendants as they work to assist you. Everyone here is very aware of the importance of convenient parking and is working hard to make your experience as pleasant as possible. If you have any questions, please visit www.repstl.org for our parking map, and do not hesitate to call our Marketing Department at (314) 968-4288.

Laugh-out-loud comedy for the entire family is on the Mainstage for the month of December with Tom Dudzick’s Over The Tavern. The hilarious and heartwarming Pazinski family brings back a time in the late 1950s when a slightly less complicated world can make for wonderful comic situations. When you throw together four mischievous children, two frazzled parents and a ruler-wielding, no-nonsense nun, fun is bound to follow. Using his own family as a model, Dudzick has created a loving, humorous and emotional version of his adventures as a youngster. He remembers:
We lived in an apartment over my father’s tavern in Buffalo, New York in the 1950s. The image of Chet (the father) being in a bad mood a lot of the time is very much my father. So much of our childhood was spent waiting for our father to come upstairs to dinner each night and wondering what kind of mood he was going to be in…I spent eight years in parochial schools being taught by nuns, even going on to Catholic high school. There really was a Sister Clarissa, though I escaped having her for a teacher. She was the strictest of all the nuns, though I had some that were very close…Mostly, I just remember feeling very special, having something that no one else in the neighborhood had. No one else lived above a store—they all had houses.

Dudzick dipped into these childhood memories and the adventures of the Pazinskis came to life in Over The Tavern. It is an amusing view of childhood as seen through the eyes of an enormously entertaining and clever 12-year-old, Rudy Pazinski. In many ways, Rudy is just another kid—he fights with his siblings, is bored at school, dreams of being on TV and talks back to his mother. His desire to perfect his imitation of Ed Sullivan takes precedence over his learning his catechism. He is also, however, perceptive beyond his years and brave enough to question not only the oddities of life but the very basis of his family’s existence. His interactions with the conservative and traditional Sister Clarissa are clever and simply funny but at the same time are also thought-provoking. Set in 1959, a time of seeming innocence and tranquility before the construction of the Berlin Wall, Vatican II, JFK and the Civil Rights movement turned the focus of our country, the issues of the Pazinski family are not about global politics, but are about growing up, family and honesty. They are everyday, working people, and the universality of the play is just as much a part of its appeal as the laughter you will carry home.

Michael Evan Haney returns to direct after helming Sleuth last season on the Mainstage. He has assembled a creative team of talented Rep veterans including Paul Shortt (Sleuth) to create the Pazinski household, Dorothy Marshall Englis (Amadeus, The Fantasticks) to dress the family, and Dennis Parichy and Rusty Wandall to set the mood with lights and sound, respectively. Darrie Lawrence (The Retreat from Moscow) is back as Sister Clarissa, and our own Pazinski family includes Kevin Cutts and Celeste Ciulla (The Heidi Chronicles) as over-worked and under-appreciated parents, Chet and Ellen. Their children are Eric Nelsen as Eddie and Katie McClellan as Annie, as well as St. Louisans Braden Phillips as Georgie and Spencer Davis Milford as resident troublemaker, Rudy.

Also this month, our Imaginary Theatre Company will be presenting three special days of their holiday hit, The Nutcracker, at Nerinx Hall’s Heagney Theatre. This family show brings E.T.A. Hoffmann’s novella and Tchaikovsky’s brilliant music to life in a whole new way. Join us December 18, 20 or 21, and come early for treats and activities presented by our Backers Volunteer Board.

You will have a great time laughing at the antics in Over The Tavern. It is a show you’ll want to share with family and friends. The joy of the holiday season will be evident with all the smiles you will have as you leave the theatre. Have a brilliant holiday season full of peace, happiness and some really fabulous presents.

See you at the theatre,

Steven Woolf 
Artistic Director

NY Report: The Merchant of Venice starring Al Pacino and Lily Rabe is quite a clear and powerful production of this controversial play. The Scottsboro Boys is an inventive and clever retelling of a painful episode in the country’s history about a trial in the 1930s. It is the last show that Kander and Ebb wrote together. Susan Stroman’s direction and choreography are simply brilliant and the performances are unforgettable. It is set as a minstrel show, which provides its own kind of tension. It’s a show you won’t soon forget. And one of our West End favorites, War Horse, is coming to Lincoln Center in March and it is sure to be very popular, so it’d probably be worth getting advance tickets now if you have a New York trip planned.

P.S. As we open our production of The Fall of Heaven, we will be joined by playwright and author Walter Mosley who will be in the lobby to sell and sign copies of The Tempest Tales. Mark your calendar for Thursday, January 6 from 5:00-7:00 p.m. We will also be taking pre-orders for his upcoming book, When the Thrill is Gone. More details to follow in our next newsletter.

P.S.S. During the run of Over The Tavern, Café at The Rep will be serving a brunch buffet on Sundays. The brunch buffet includes an assortment of: sliced fresh fruit, smoked salmon, bagels, cream cheeses, capers, caesar salad, cheesy scrambled eggs, eggs benedict, bacon, sausage links, breakfast potatoes, biscuits and gravy, chicken marsala, lemon herb couscous, and roasted fresh vegetables. Each table will be served a basket of warm berry muffins and butter. Brunch will include one champagne mimosa and choice of coffee, tea, juice or soft drink. Brunch price is $20 for adults and $15 for children 12 and under. Tax and gratuity not included. To make reservations, simply call (314) 968-7340 and press *302. Order by 6 p.m. the day prior to your show.