March 2006

Dear Subscriber:

IT IS HARD TO BELIEVE, but we are about to open our final shows of this season. August 2005 and first rehearsals seem like just yesterday—though the temperature was certainly warmer!  In this season we have produced 6 Mainstage productions, 3 Studio Theatre shows, 3 plays in our new Off-Ramp series and 3 shows for young audiences with our Imaginary Theatre Company. That’s 15 projects, not including our WiseWrite program (celebrating its 10th anniversary) and numerous other educational offerings. Next fall will mark our 40th anniversary as an active part of this community, and we thank you for your role in being part of the Rep family. Your support and interest in the work of this institution inspire us to do our best. We’re going to have a great time during the 40th, and soon you’ll see the exciting and varied seasons we have planned in all of our venues. I do hope you’ll be joining us for the celebration and encouraging your friends to do the same.

WE LEAVE THE 11TH-CENTURY court of Henry IV (or the 2006 court—depending on your view) for the more traditional Old Bailey of 1950s London. Agatha Christie’s Witness for the Prosecution is a wonderful play which she adapted from a 1933 four-person short story into a dramatic piece filled with twists and turns. To be sure, this is a case of “just when you think the play is over”...well, why spoil a good surprise? And if you are a mystery devotee and know the outcome, please keep it a secret from those who are new to the story. What fun this will all be.

Dame Agatha has filled her play with colorful characters from Sir Wilfrid, the defense lawyer, to Leonard Vole, the amiable young man who is caught in this murder trial, to Janet MacKenzie, a ferociously dedicated housekeeper. Adding an aura of mystery and continental flair to the proceedings is Romaine (renamed Christine in the 1957 Billy Wilder film) Vole, Leonard’s German-born wife. However, you don’t get to vote on whodunit in this production! All will be revealed during the course of the trial.

THE PLAY WAS A MAJOR SUCCESS in London in 1953 and on Broadway in 1954, winning the Drama Critics’ Circle citation as Best Foreign Play. As a result, several film studios were scrambling to secure rights to make the movie, but the enterprising producer of the play acquired the rights for $400,000—a huge amount of money at the time for this kind of enterprise—and sold the rights at a profit to a Hollywood producer. Billy Wilder was hired as the director and tinkered with the structure of the play to make it translate to film. Those of you who know the original film will be surprised to find that there is no Nurse Plimsoll who caters to Sir Wilfrid’s heart condition. She was an invention of Wilder which allowed Charles Laughton, who played Wilfrid, to have scenes with his wife Elsa Lanchester. Wilder also was aware when he cast Marlene Dietrich in the role of Christine that audiences would have certain expectations of her performance. Consequently, he built in flashbacks of her singing in clubs in Berlin, allowing fans to hear her voice and to see her famous legs. All of this worked in service of the story, but is original to the film, not the stage version of the story. As with most Christie plays, the plotting and clues are impeccable. She points the way to the conclusion subtly so that only when you actually read the play do you see how cleverly she has been laying out the clues during the action. The great fun of this play is figuring out just who to believe as the trial unfolds because just as you think you’ve got things solved—it all unravels again. So be prepared for surprises and twists and turns. And be ready for a good time—just don’t give away the ending please. After all, in the film version, viewers were admonished both before and after the feature not to reveal any secrets and even the Royal Family was sworn to silence before a private showing.

MICHAEL EVAN HANEY directs the show, which features Joneal Joplin as Sir Wilfrid; Deanne Lorette (A Flea in Her Ear) as Romaine; Dale Hodges (The Crucible) as Janet MacKenzie; Richert Easley (Major Barbara) as Carter; and Tarah Flanagan (Lobby Hero) as Greta, with new friends Christopher Kelly as Leonard; Julian Gamble as the prosecutor, Myers; Robert Langdon Lloyd as Vole’s solicitor, Mayhew; Michael Rothhaar as Judge Wainwright and Mark Leydorf as Inspector Hearne. Also making appearances are St. Louis actors Erin Anderson, Christopher Harris, Charles Heuvelman, Chuck Lavazzi, Dan McGee, Alain Pierre, Whit Reichert and Kelsey Scarbrough. Paul Shortt designs the elegant set, with period costumes from Liz Covey and atmospheric lighting from Phil Monat.

OUR FINAL STUDIO THEATRE production is Charlotte Jones’s award-winning play Humble Boy. Set in the English countryside around the Cotswolds, the play has a comic sense that may remind you of Alan Ayckbourn and employs a clever use of language that suggests Tom Stoppard. It is best described as a very clever and moving comedy. The story centers around Felix Humble, a theoretical physicist in his mid-30s who has returned home from university to deal with his father’s death. He finds that his mother, Flora, has emptied his father’s bee hive and turned her attention to the next door neighbor, George. Adding to this wildly funny and highly combustible mixture of people is Mercy, a slightly-addled nearby neighbor and Rosie, George’s daughter and Felix’s old fling.

YOU MAY HAVE SENSED some similarities between this plot and that of Hamlet. Indeed, you may recognize that Flora and George are Gertrude and Claudius, Rosie is a life-affirming Ophelia, Mercy is Polonius and Felix, of course, is Hamlet. Now this is all very loosely done, but it is fun to hear that echo in your head. While mourning for his father, Felix also is trying to solve the riddles of string theory—which leads to some of his speeches that echo some of Hamlet’s musing on the nature of the universe and life itself. It is a very clever, very spirited script, and yet we see moments of strong emotion in which the characters’ search for connections becomes very moving even as the use of language is riotously funny.

JOHN EZELL HAS CREATED a backyard garden as a set that will make you believe you can smell the roses. Liz Covey designed the very British costumes and Mary Jo Dondlinger will light the show, making the garden come alive. I’m pleased to be directing this play and a wonderful cast featuring new friends Patricia Hodges as Flora and Rachel Fowler as Rosie. Also in the cast are our returning friends Chris Hietikko, Dane Knell, Anderson Matthews and Carolyn Swift.

OUR FINAL TWO shows of the season will give you enjoyment, lots of fun and also fulfillment. Have a wonderful spring and summer and we look forward to seeing you in the fall.

See you at the theatre,

Steven Woolf
Artistic Director

NEW YORK REPORT:  I saw the magnificent, stupid fun of Spamalot again just to watch Sir Simon Russell Beale, one of the world’s greatest classical actors, singing and dancing with glee as the king. The Little Dog Laughed is a wicked comedy with brilliant performances at Second Stage. Though it may have closed by the time you get this, watch for its return on Broadway soon. Rabbit Hole is a moving play about a family dealing with the death of a young child but isn’t morbid at all. Cynthia Nixon is doing amazing work in her lead role, along with Tyne Daly.

P.S. The first Kevin Kline Awards event will be held on Monday, March 20th at the Roberts Orpheum Theatre. It promises to be an exciting night and tickets are on sale now through Ticketmaster or online at www.kevinklineawards.org. The Rep is presenting Valerie Harper in Golda’s Balcony at the Fox April 21-23. This is a powerful piece of theatre and tells a story that is fascinating and brings a backstage look at historic events that you won’t forget. Tickets are available through MetroTix.

Subscription renewals mail Friday, March 10—watch your mailbox and renew early!