THEATREWORKS PRESENTS THE WEST COAST PREMIERE OF WILD WITH HAPPY By Colman Domingo Directed by Danny Scheie PALO ALTO, CA (24 April, 2013) TheatreWorks, the nationally acclaimed theatre of Silicon Valley, presents the West Coast Premiere of the new comedy WILD WITH HAPPY by awardwinning playwright Colman Domingo. Also an OBIE Award-winning and Tony Awardnominated actor (The Scottsboro Boys, Passing Strange), Domingo stars in this hilarious and moving new play alongside Sharon Washington, who has been nominated for an Outstanding Lead Actress Lucille Lortel Award for her performance as zany Adelaide/Aunt Glo in the show s 2012 Off-Broadway World Premiere. Danny Scheie will direct this uproarious journey, which plays at TheatreWorks at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts June 5 30 (Press opening June 8). For tickets ($23-$73) and information the public may call (650) 463-1960 or visit www.theatreworks.org. Called a delirious caper by the New York Post and praised as leaving audiences with a warm, pleasurable glow by The New York Times, WILD WITH HAPPY stars Colman Domingo as Gil, a struggling black actor whose past and present collide when his mother dies and he decides to have her cremated - despite his Aunt Glo s request for a traditional funeral service and burial. Soon after, with a furious Aunt Glo in hot pursuit, Gil finds himself on an unexpected road trip with his mother s ashes on his way to the place where she was most happy. Both outrageously funny and immensely touching, WILD WITH HAPPY explores the bizarre comedy that lies within death and healing. Colman Domingo and Sharon Washington are joined by actors Duane Boutté and Richard Prioleau, rounding out the stellar cast for TheatreWorks West Coast Premiere. Award-winning actor and playwright Colman Domingo returns to TheatreWorks to star as Gil. Previously seen at TheatreWorks in Fences, Amadeus, and Blues for an Alabama Sky, Domingo was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical for his performance in The Scottsboro Boys, and received great acclaim for his role in the Tony, OBIE, and Drama MEDIA CONTACT: KELSEY JOHNSON - CARLA BEFERA & CO
2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2 Desk Award-winning musical Passing Strange. Other Broadway credits include Chicago (as Billy Flynn) and Well, with Off-Broadway roles in his solo show A Boy & His Soul (Lucille Lortel and GLAAD Media Awards, Drama Desk and Drama League Award nominations), Blood Knot, The Wiz, Wet, Bright Ideas, Henry V, and American Maul. He has performed across the country at the Guthrie Theater, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, California Shakespeare Theater, Indiana Repertory Theatre, American Conservatory Theater, Huntington Theatre Company, and Shakespeare Santa Cruz, among others. His film credits include appearances in the opening scene of the Academy Award-nominated film Lincoln opposite Daniel Day Lewis, and Red Hook Summer directed by Spike Lee, and he is set to appear in upcoming films The Butler (with Forrest Whittaker, Oprah Winfrey, Jane Fonda, Vanessa Redgrave, Robin Williams, James Marsden, Liev Schrieber, and Cuba Gooding Jr.,) and Lucky Dog opposite Paul Giamatti, Paul Rudd, and Sally Hawkins. Sharon Washington makes her TheatreWorks main stage debut as Adelaide/Aunt Glo, a role she originated at TheatreWorks 2011 New Works Festival and in WILD WITH HAPPY s 2012 Off-Broadway World Premiere, which earned her a Lucille Lortel Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress. Lauding her performance, The New York Times said, don t forget to bring the sunscreen. The ferociously funny Ms. Washington blazes so brightly it could come in handy, and Variety called her a treasure. On Broadway she has appeared as The Lady in The Scottsboro Boys, a role she originated Off-Broadway, and in Lost in the Stars. At the New York Shakespeare Festival/Public Theater she played Lady Anne to Denzel Washington s Richard III, Valeria to Christopher Walken s Coriolanus, and Lady Helen in Cymbeline with Joan Cusack. She also played Condoleezza Rice in the Public Theater s critically-acclaimed production of Stuff Happens, and was nominated for an Audelco award for her performance in Fear Itself directed by Joe Morton. Other Off-Broadway credits include The Overwhelming (Roundabout Theatre Company), Alan Ayckbourn s House and Garden, The Radical Mystique, and Seeking the Genesis (Manhattan Theatre Club), String of Pearls (Primary Stages), and Before it Hits Home (Second Stage Theatre). Regionally she has appeared in productions at the Guthrie Theater, Denver Center Theatre Company, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Hartford Stage, Long Wharf Theatre, Center Stage, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Arena Stage, and in the original production of August Wilson s The Piano Lesson at Yale Repertory Theatre directed by Lloyd Richards. Ms. Washington s film and television
3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3 appearances include recurring roles in Royal Pains and Damages as well as roles in White Collar, NYC22, The Bourne Legacy, Taking Chance, Michael Clayton, Freedomland, The School of Rock, Half Nelson, The Long Kiss Goodnight, Malcolm X, Die Hard With A Vengeance, Law & Order, Law & Order: SVU, Law & Order: CI. Duane Boutté, taking the stage as Gil s friend and road trip partner Mo, is best known for his roles in the films Stonewall and Brother to Brother. His stage credits include appearances on Broadway in Parade and Carousel and in numerous leading roles on Off-Broadway and regional stages across the country. Among his most notable performances are as Bayard Rustin in Civil Sex (Public Theater/Berkeley Repertory Theatre), John in The Whipping Man (Penumbra Theatre), Orestes in The Oresteia (Berkeley Repertory Theatre), Mercutio in Romeo & Juliet (Oregon Shakespeare Festival), and roles in premiere productions by Terrence McNally, Eric Overmeyer, Charles Randolph Wright, and Robert O Hara. TheatreWorks also welcomes Richard Prioleau as Terry. A graduate of American Conservatory Theater s Master of Fine Arts Program, Prioleau has been featured in the title role of Marcus; or The Secret of Sweet (American Conservatory Theater mainstage), as Cassio in Othello and Dumaine in Love s Labor s Lost (Shakespeare Santa Cruz), and as Earnest in the National Tour of The Color of Justice (Theatreworks USA). The TheatreWorks production of WILD WITH HAPPY includes scenic design by Erik Flatmo, costume design by Brandin Barón, lighting design by David Lee Cuthbert, and sound design by Brandon Aanes. WILD WITH HAPPY, workshopped as part of TheatreWorks 2011 New Works Festival, is the third work by playwright Colman Domingo, who has been praised as inspired by Variety. He received a Lucille Lortel Award for Best Solo Show Off-Broadway and a GLAAD Media Award for Best Production in New York for his 2010 autobiographical solo show A Boy and His Soul, and his first endeavor, Up Jumped Springtime, was called sassy, hip, genuinely moving, and a breath of fresh air by the San Francisco Chronicle. Award-winning Bay Area actor and director Danny Scheie will reunite with Colman Domingo to helm TheatreWorks West Coast Premiere of WILD WITH HAPPY. Scheie also directed
4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4 Domingo s first play, Up Jumped Springtime (Theatre Rhinoceros). Other directing credits include TheatreWorks As Bees in Honey Drown (Dean Goodman Award, Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle nomination), Comedy of Errors (Shakespeare Santa Cruz), Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name and Fe in the Desert (Campo Santo, Intersection for the Arts), The Plexiglass Slipper (Asolo Repertory Theatre), and Splittin the Raft (Marin Theatre Company). As an actor, he was featured in productions at the Folger Theater, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Aurora Theatre Company, California Shakespeare Theater, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., and the New Conservatory Theatre, among others. Scheie served as Artistic Director of Shakespeare Santa Cruz from 1992-1995, and is a professor of drama at UC Santa Cruz. With some 100,000 patrons per year, TheatreWorks has captured a national reputation for artistic innovation and integrity, often presenting Bay Area theatregoers with their first look at acclaimed musicals, comedies, and dramas, directed by award-winning local and guest directors, and performed by professional actors cast locally and from across the country. A home for artists developing new works, it was at TheatreWorks that Memphis, the 2010 Tony Awardwinning musical that played on Broadway for three years before embarking on its current national tour, was first workshopped and received its world premiere. FOR CALENDAR EDITORS: WHAT: TheatreWorks, the nationally acclaimed theatre of Silicon Valley, presents the West Coast Premiere of the new comedy WILD WITH HAPPY by awardwinning playwright Colman Domingo. Also an OBIE Award-winning and Tony Award-nominated actor (The Scottsboro Boys, Passing Strange), Domingo stars in this hilarious and moving new play alongside Sharon Washington, who has been nominated for an Outstanding Lead Actress Lucille Lortel Award for her performance as zany Adelaide/Aunt Glo in the show s 2012 Off-Broadway World Premiere. WILD WITH HAPPY follows Gil, a struggling black actor whose past and present collide when his mother dies and he decides to have her cremated. He soon finds himself on an unexpected road trip with his mother s ashes, on his way to the place where she was most happy. Both outrageously funny and immensely touching, WILD WITH HAPPY explores the bizarre comedy that lies within death and healing. WHEN: Previews: Wednesday, June 5 to Friday, June 7, 2013 Press Opening: Saturday, June 8, 2013 Closes: Sunday, June 30, 2013
5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5 SHOWS: WHERE: TICKETS: INFO: Previews: 8:00 PM Tuesdays and Wednesdays: 7:30 PM Thursdays and Fridays: 8:00 PM Saturdays: 2:00 PM, 8:00 PM Sundays: 2:00 PM, 7:00 PM Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts 500 Castro St., Mountain View, CA 94041 $23 (student)-$73; savings available for students, educators, and seniors. A $5 convenience fee will be assessed for online and telephone orders. For information or to order tickets call (650) 463-1960 or visit theatreworks.org -30- High res photos are available at: http://www.cb-pr.com/press/wildwithhappy.html