Kevin Maifeld Named Interim Managing Director of Intiman Theatre;

Greg Kandel of Management Consultant for the Arts to Guide Intiman Board on National Search for Successor to Outgoing Managing Director Laura Penn

SEATTLE— Intiman Theatre announces that Kevin Maifeld, former managing director of Seattle Children’s Theatre and founding director of the Master of Fine Arts in Arts Leadership program at Seattle University , is joining Intiman as its interim managing director. Maifeld will work with the company during its management transition in the spring of 2008. Laura Penn , managing director for the past 14 seasons, will leave Intiman on March 31 to assume her new position as executive director of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers in New York .

Maifeld will work with Intiman part-time effective February 1, overlapping with Penn and then consulting with artistic director Bartlett Sher and the Intiman Board and staff on Theatre’s management, development and fundraising efforts until a permanent successor is named. The national search is being directed by Greg Kandel, founding partner of Management Consultants for the Arts, who guided the Intiman Board in the search process that culminated in the hire of Bartlett Sher. The Intiman Search Committee is chaired by Trustee Cynthia Huffman and vice chaired by past Trustee Joel Bodansky.

Kevin Maifeld is currently senior consultant in the Seattle office of Arts Consulting Group. In addition to his consulting work, he is the founding director and professor of the Master of Fine Arts in Arts Leadership program at Seattle University . He previously served as managing director of the Seattle Children’s Theatre and the Alabama Shakespeare Festival. He has more than 20 years of experience in arts management, financial analysis, development and fundraising, strategic planning, marketing, consulting and teaching.

“Leadership searches are always exciting opportunities, and the Intiman Board is poised to build on its already impressive track record in this area,” says Maifeld. “As a subscriber and an admirer of Intiman, I am pleased to work with them during what promises to be an extremely competitive search.”

“Intiman’s Board and administration have long been admirers of the great work Seattle Children’s Theatre has produced under Linda Hartzell’s artistic leadership and Kevin Maifeld’s management,” states Susan Leavitt, Intiman Board President. “We are planning a very rigorous search process, and it is extremely fortuitous that while Kevin has chosen to go into academia, he is doing some consulting as well and will be working with us during this transition period.”

Intiman received the 2006 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre. It produces classics and world premieres, and serves as an advocate and catalyst for civic dialogue and community building in the Puget Sound region and nationally. Recent world premieres include Kent Gash’s adaptation of Richard Wright’s Native Son, which premiered as part of Intiman’s American Cycle series of classic stories and community programs; Craig Lucas’s Prayer for My Enemy and Singing Forest; The Light in the Piazza by Lucas and Adam Guettel , based on the novel by Elizabeth Spencer; and Joan Holden’s adaptation of Nickel and Dimed, based on the nonfiction book by Barbara Ehrenreich.

Intiman gratefully acknowledges the following for their institutional support: The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, ArtsFund, The Boeing Company, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Intiman Theatre Foundation, Kreielsheimer Remainder Trust, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Microsoft Corporation, Nesholm Family Foundation, The Norcliffe Foundation, PONCHO, Safeco, The Shubert Foundation, The Seattle Foundation, WaMu, and Wells Fargo Bank. Additional funding is received from Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs, City of Seattle ; 4Culture; Metropolitan King County Council and Washington State Arts Commission.

Weekly Update - 1/11/2008

The Broadway Hour
KSUB Seattle
**Listen in to hear Nigel Andrews, Rick Skyler and Jack Jarden**
Sunday from 10-Noon

Seattle Shakespeare
Tickets and Information
Julius Caesar >January 3-27, 2008
Swansong >January 7-23, 2008

Seattle Repertory Theatre
Tickets and Information
The Breech >January 10 - February 9, 2008
By the Waters of Babylon >January 31 - March 2, 2008

Seattle Opera
Tickets and Information
Pagliacci >January 12 - 26, 2008

The 5th Avenue Theatre
Tickets and Information
Jersey Boys >December 5, 2007 - January 12, 2008
Mame >February 9 - March 2, 2008

Dimitrou's Jazz Alley
Tickets and Information

Stream Premier of The Littler Mermaid LIVE!

Tonight, January 10 at 6pm Pacific time!
Stream the world premier of The Little Mermaid LIVE!
http://www.playbillradio.com/

By The Waters of Babylon at The Repertory

Seattle, WA - Seattle Repertory Theatre embarks on a journey of love, gardening and redemption in Pulitzer Prize winner, Robert Schenkkan's By the Waters of Babylon, directed by Richard Seyd. By the Waters of Babylon plays in the Leo K. Theatre from January 31 through March 2, 2008. Previews begin January 31, with opening night set for February 6. Tickets are available through the Seattle Repertory Theatre box office seven days a week at (206) 443-2222, toll-free at (877) 900-9285, as well as online at www.seattlerep.org.

The Play: The Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Robert Schenkkan has created a passionate, tender and bittersweet love story. Catherine is beautiful and outspoken-a recluse with a dark and mysterious past. Arturo, the gardener, was a poet in his native Cuba and has come to rescue her neglected garden. The hot Texas day turns hotter as these two exiles share a drink and a dance, and try to banish the ghosts that haunt them both.

The Playwright: Robert Schenkkan is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Kentucky Cycle, which had its world premiere in 1991 at Intiman Theatre. It also won both the PEN Centre West and the LA Drama Critics Circle Awards for Best Play, as well as nominations for Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle awards. His other plays include Lewis and Clark Reach the Euphrates, Heaven On Earth, Final Passages, The Devil and Daniel Webster and The Dream Thief. For television he wrote the miniseries Crazy Horse, Spartacus and The Andromeda Strain He has written films for Sidney Pollack, Oliver Stone, Denzel Washington, Ron Howard, and Kevin Costner among others. He is currently writing a film, The Rules, for Dreamworks, and is a writer/producer for Steven Spielberg/Tom Hanks and HBO's epic miniseries, The Pacific. He is a New Dramatists alumnus and a member of the Ensemble Studio Theatre and the National Theatre Conference. He lives in Seattle with his author wife and his two children.

The Director: From 1992-1995, Richard Seyd served as the associate artistic director of the American Conservatory Theater where he directed The Learned Ladies, Dario Fo's The Pope and The Witch, Pygmalion, Mrs. Warren's Profession, Oleanna, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Othello, The Matchmaker, and A Streetcar Named Desire. In the 1980s he served as associate producing director of the Eureka Theater. He has won Backstage West awards for his productions of Cloud 9, Noises Off (which he staged at Seattle Rep, 2004) A Streetcar Named Desire, and Collected Stories. Some favorite productions include Present Laughter and The Presentment for Pasadena Playhouse, The Lion in Winter for La Mirada Theater, Dinner With Friends for Berkeley Repertory, and Feast Of Fools with Geoff Hoyle at La Jolla Playhouse. He directed a highly successful production in London's West End of A Reckoning with Jonathon Pryce. Mr. Seyd directed the award-winning short film Brass Tacks. He founded Seydways Acting Studios in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Swansong

Swansong
Seattle Shakespeare Company
January 7-23
Tickets: call 206-733-8222 or online

Aside from starring on Broadway as the Grinch, Patrick Page’s creation, Swansong, has made its way onto the stage at Seattle Shakespeare Company, bringing humor, laughter and genius writing into the relationship between William Shakespeare and his friend Ben Johnson. The tension and love that builds between them is only part of the plot, which also focuses on success, pain and what it means to be an artist.

The play opens on a solitary Ben Johnson (Brandon Whitehead), working painstakingly away on an epitaph for the long-deceased Shakespeare. The celebrated poet is lost in reflections on his friend, which then transport himself and the audience back to a time when the Bard was alive and well. The lighting (Tim Wratten) profoundly compliments this shift, transitioning from a stark, jarring spotlight to the warm lighting of a careless time. The lighting and the set are intertwined through the use of images projected onto background screens throughout the play. The rest of the set (Jason Phillips) is simple; successfully invoking audience members to reflect upon the purposeful conversation that accentuates the points of life and friendship as they apply to the human person.

from left: Ian Bell, Tim Gouran, Brandon Whitehead - Photo: John Ulman

The ensemble cast of Ian Bell, Brendan Whitehead, and Tim Gouran, veteran Seattle actors and talented artists, under the direction of Stephanie Shine bring to life this compelling tale and provide the range of emotion and connection the script calls for. Coupling their individual talents with the words of Patrick Page provides portrayals of these characters in a personal light, leaving audience members touched and connected to the show.

Join Seattle Shakespeare Company as they kick off the new year, their 50th production and embark on the revolutionary move of opening their doors seven days a week and implementing a counter-season, which is beginning with Julius Caesar, another show not to be missed (reviewed below). Catch Swansong through January 23rd, and also check this blog for updates on possible cast interviews to be heard on the Broadway Hour, a radio show run by this review team, which can be heard at ksubseattle.org Sundays from 10 AM to noon.

Reviewed by: Natasha Rae & Rick Skyler

SEATTLE – Everybody’s favorite Auntie MAME rings in the New Year in The 5th Avenue Theatre’s lavish new production. Producing Artistic Director David Armstrong directs this quintessential Broadway musical, starring three-time Tony nominee Dee Hoty (Footloose, Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public, Will Rogers Follies) in the iconic title role and 5th Avenue favorite Richard White (Kopit and Yeston’s Phantom, The Desert Song, voice of Gaston in the Disney film Beauty and the Beast) as her suitor, Beauregard. They lead a vast ensemble of 39 who “coax the blues right out of the horn” in more than 275 extravagant costumes, designed by 2006 Tony Award-winner Gregg Barnes (Drowsy Chaperone, Legally Blonde, Flower Drum Song). An impossibly tall, sleek staircase curves through the set, which is transformed as the trendsetting Mame revels through a parade of decades, from the art deco glamour of the 1920s to the ultra-modern chic of the 1950s.

MAME tells the hilarious story of an eccentric socialite who finds her madcap Manhattan lifestyle turned upside down when she is appointed guardian of her orphaned nephew. Auntie Mame takes him on one whirlwind adventure after another, proving that “life is a banquet.” With a rogue’s gallery of memorable characters, MAME has touched the hearts and tickled the funnybones of audiences everywhere. The irresistible score by Jerry Herman (Hello, Dolly!, La Cage aux Folles) includes the title song, “If He Walked Into My Life” and “We Need A Little Christmas.”

The original source material, Patrick Dennis’ novel Auntie Mame, was the surprise literary sensation of 1955. After being rejected by a dozen publishers, Mame’s madcap adventures as a free-thinking heiress spent 112 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, selling more than two million copies in five languages. Once Mame was introduced to a fascinated public, no one medium was big enough to hold her. She moved triumphantly from page to stage to screen, then – in musical form – back to stage and again to screen. In 1958, Rosalind Russell brought Mame to life on stage and on film in Auntie Mame. The stage musical MAME opened on Broadway in 1966 to great acclaim, giving star Angela Lansbury (who won a Tony for the role) a new career as a Broadway diva. In 1974, Lucille Ball took on the role in a movie musical version of the classic story.

The 5th Avenue Theatre’s cast features another of Broadway’s great leading ladies, Dee Hoty, as Mame Dennis alongside Richard White as her Southern gentleman Beauregard Jackson Pickett Burnside. Carol Swarbrick ( 5th Ave : Sweeney Todd, White Christmas) stars as Mame’s theatrical sidekick, Vera Charles. Twelve-year-old Nick Robinson (Intiman’s To Kill A Mockingbird) has been cast as young Patrick Dennis. Also featured are Kat Ramsburg as Agnes Gooch, Ben Gonio as Ito, Seán G. Griffin as Dwight Babcock, Laura Kenny as Mother Burnside, Michael Winters as Mr. Upson, Taryn Darr as Gloria Upson, Matt Owen as older Patrick Dennis, Timothy McCuen Piggee as Lindsay Woolsey and Karen Skrinde as Sally Cato. The ensemble includes David Alewine, Jeffrey Alewine, Greg McCormick Allen, Nicholas Beach, Gabe Corey, Michael Ericson, Meaghan Foy, Kristin Gaetz, Krista Gibbon, Timothy Gleason, Bryce Henry, Diana Huey, Brittany Jamieson, Anders Ledell, Nikki Long, Lauralyn McClelland, Cheryl Massey-Peters, Trina Mills, Kasey Nusbickel, Lindsay Powers, Heather Roberts, John David Scott, Jenny Singer, Pamela Turpen, Luke Vroman and Thaddeus Wilson.

Julius Caesar - Seattle Shakespeare Company

Julius Caesar
Seattle Shakespeare Company
Tickets and Information
January 3 - 27, 2008

Set in a cross between Ancient Rome, the present and feudal Japan, Seattle Shakespeare Company’s Chamber Julius Caesar delivers an amazing interpretation of a classic piece. Caesar is one of Shakespeare’s most well-known plays. It is taught as early as elementary of middle school and has been made into countless adaptation for film, stage and beyond. This particular production, however, brings to life something very unique – an overwhelming sense of sympathy for those commonly known as the villains.

Directed by Gregg Loughridge, the production begins with audience participation within the immediate world of the play. The crowd is instantaneously drawn inside the world and not released until the curtain falls, so to speak. Simultaneously, the audience is bombarded with Roma Victor sentiments and feudal Japanese tradition. As one who has studied Japanese martial arts and, thus, some of the culture as well, it was very relaxing to see that no detail had gone amiss and that no detail would. Aiding this world is the set by scenic designer Jason Phillips. The set is consistent throughout the entire show except for a few incredibly minimal pieces. This world becomes indoors, outdoors, the battlefield and the bedroom. Similarly, Tim Wratten’s lighting design accents the heightened adrenaline pumping through the veins of the characters and into the audience.

David Quicksall and Hana Lass. Photo Credit Erik Stuhaug

The character Julius Caesar is one whom everyone knows. However, Andrew McGinn brings to the table a refreshingly level-headed Caesar. While Caesar is written as a rather calm character, McGinn embodies that collectedness in order to fully use it to his advantage. Meanwhile, there must be betrayers and none disappoint. Hana Lass playing Cassius and David Quicksall playing Brutus explode from the stage. Lass’s performance and intensity is an incredible force to be reckoned with. Meanwhile Quicksall’s Brutus really gets inside the character to let the audience in on his turmoil. Also standing out with one of Shakespeare’s most famous speeches is David S. Hogan as Antony. The moment he begins to speak each word is a moment of rapture. He guides the audience through his plans and speeches with ease and grace.

One must remember, however, that this production is Chamber Julius Caesar and therefore could not survive without an unbelievably strong ensemble. There are so many characters in the world of this play and each is as strong as the next. While some of the more modern detail choices have a tendency to pull the audience briefly out of the world of the play, every moment on stage pulls the audience back in. If you’ve never seen Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar or have seen it countless times and want something fresh with a Kurosawa edge, then this is the production to see.

Review by Nigel Andrews

Weekly Update - 1/4/2008

The Broadway Hour
KSUB Seattle
**Listen in to hear Nigel Andrews, Rick Skyler and Jack Jarden**
Sunday from 10-Noon

Seattle Shakespeare
Tickets and Information
Julius Caesar >January 3-27, 2008
Swansong >January 7-23, 2008

Seattle Repertory Theatre
Tickets and Information
The Breech >January 10 - February 9, 2008

Seattle Opera
Tickets and Information
Pagliacci >January 12 - 26, 2008

The 5th Avenue Theatre
Tickets and Information
Jersey Boys >December 5, 2007 - January 12, 2008

Dimitrou's Jazz Alley
Tickets and Information

Seattle Repertory Theatre Teams with Local High Schools for TeenSpeak: The Playwriting Project

Roosevelt High School Students - Friday, January 18 at 7:30 p.m. Woodinville High School Students - Tuesday, January 22 at 7:30 p.m. Leo K. Theatre at Seattle Rep

Seattle, WA - Seattle Repertory Theatre's Teenspeak: Playwriting Project, in collaboration with Roosevelt and Woodinville High Schools, presents two evenings of staged readings featuring nine ten minute plays written and performed by Roosevelt and Woodinville High School students and directed and produced by Seattle Rep staff and Teaching Artists. Tickets are free, however, reservations are necessary. Please call Seattle Rep's box office to reserve seats at 206-443-2222. Each year, Seattle Rep's Education Department works with high school students to develop short plays, which Seattle Rep staff and Teaching Artists direct. This highly successful program has generated more than 50 plays in the past four years. This year's program will add nine more plays to the roster. The general theme of the Roosevelt performances are "Peril," in particular, women in peril, and how they rescue themselves from such dangerous antagonists as flesh eating aliens and their younger sisters. Woodinville's general theme is "Morals," where at least one character must make a decision that puts their morals into question. The names of Roosevelt's plays this year are Pigeon Platter, The 17th Floor, Death and the American Family, Flight of the Generation T-Bird: Episode 52 "Attack of the Glarbons." Woodinville plays this year are Some Kind of Joke, Good Reasoning, How Does That Make you Feel?, Medicated, and The Other Side of the Fence. Seattle Repertory Theatre creates extraordinary productions and programs that excite, entertain and engage our community and nourish a lifelong passion for theater. As an essential part of the organization's mission, Seattle Rep's education programs nurture the artist within young people and support teachers in bringing theatre into their classrooms. The Theatre builds and sustains relationships with teachers and schools, and serves as a resource for arts integration and theatre-based curriculum. The theatre believes strongly that theatre can be accessible and engaging to all students if connections with their individual voices are made. To this end, the theatre respects all students as artists and promotes theatre as an alternative educational method. ____________________________________________________________________ Seattle Repertory Theatre's Education sponsors are The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation*, William Randolph Hearst Endowment for Education Programs*, The Peter Donnelly Fund*, National Endowment for the Arts, WaMu, Washington State Arts Commission, Islands Fund, The Chisholm Foundation, KeyBank, PONCHO, U.S. Bancorp Foundation, ArtsFund/WaMu Cultural Education Teacher Training Excellence Fund, ArtsFund/Wells Fargo Cultural Education Enhancement Fund, Target, Organic to Go, Green Diamond Resource Company, QFC, McKinstry Company, Compton Lumber & Hardware, and Stuhlbergs, Inc. (*denotes endowment funding). Seattle Repertory Theatre, founded in 1963, is led by Artistic Director David Esbjornson and Managing Director Benjamin Moore. One of America's premier nonprofit resident theatres, Seattle Repertory Theatre has achieved international renown for its consistently high production and artistic standards, and was awarded the 1990 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre. With an emphasis on entertaining plays of true dramatic and literary worth, Seattle Rep produces a subscription season of plays along with educational programs, new play workshops and special presentations.

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For More Info: www.seattlerep.org

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TeenSpeak: The Playwriting Project Fact Sheet WHAT: Seattle Repertory Theatre teams with local high school, Roosevelt High School and Woodinville High School to present its annual program: TeenSpeak: The Playwriting Project WHEN: Roosevelt: January 18, 2008 at 7:30pm Woodinville: January 22, 2008 at 7:30pm WHO: Roosevelt Playwrights: Mandi Bossard Death and the All American Family Arman Mohazzabfar Flight of the T-Bird: Episode # 54 "Attack of the Glarbons" Alice Roth Pigeon Platter Emma Staake The 17th Floor Roosevelt Directors: Chris Dewar, Scott Koh, Michaela Murphy, Amber Wolfe Woodinville Playwrights: Austin Bridges: Some Kind of Joke Alex Honjiyo: Good Reasoning Alyssa Powell: How Does that Make you Feel? Rin Romao: Medicated Christina Weidner: The Other Side of the Fence Woodinville Directors: Michael Cruz, Chris Dewar, Michaela Murphy, Jess Smith, Beverly Ann Thompson WHERE: Seattle Repertory Theatre is located in the Seattle Center at the corner of Second Ave. and Mercer St., Seattle, Washington. TICKETS: Tickets for TeenSpeak: The Playwriting Project are free, however reservations are required. For ticket reservations, call the box office at (206) 443-2222. PR: Jacquelyn Gallagher, Communication Intern, Seattle Rep. (206) 443-2210, ext: 1109 or jacqueg@seattlerep.org. (This phone number and e-dress are not for publication.)

Seattle Repertory Theatre To Provide Opportunities for Public Debate Surrounding Performances of The Breach

January 10 - February 9, 2008 (Opening Night: Wednesday, January 16)

Seattle, WA - Seattle Repertory Theatre will provide numerous opportunities for public debate and discussion using performances of The Breach as a catalyst for dialogue. The phenomenon of a natural calamity like Hurricane Katrina creates chaos, pain and confusion on a mythic scale. In The Breach, playwrights Catherine Filloux, Tarrell McCraney and Joe Sutton weave together three unique and separate stories of those who survived the storm. In its exploration of the impacts of Katrina, this powerful and surreal play taps the conspiracy theories, loss and nascent hope of this devastated American region. The Breach had its world premiere in New Orleans at Southern Rep. Now as it arrives at Seattle Repertory Theatre, which hopes to provide a variety of opportunities for public debate on the broader issues of poverty, patriotism and the responsibility we have to one another. Most importantly, in connection with the playwright's initial impulse, Seattle Rep seeks to "keep the light on New Orleans" by reinvigorating conversations about the devastation, our nation's response, and the long road to recovery that still lies ahead. Unique programs include an appearance by Chris Rose, the Times-Picayune journalist and author of 1 Dead in Attic on January 10 at 6:00 p.m., a reading with Chris Rose and the playwrights of The Breach at Elliott Bay Book Company on January 13 at 2:00 p.m., a discussion with the playwrights about their unique creation of the script on January 15 at 6:00 p.m., Seattle Rep's program entitled Breaking the Fourth Wall, a pre-show interactive workshop on this unique playwriting process will be held on January 26 at 12:00 p.m., post play discussions will take place after the performances on January 27 at 2:00 p.m., January 31 at 7:30 p.m., February 3 at 2:00 p.m., Seattle Rep's program entitled Humanities Forum will be held on February 9, following the 2:00 p.m. performance and will include a panel discussion around making art in response to political and current events, two student matinees will be held, Seattle Rep will be selling artwork before each performance and during intermission from New Orleans artists and proceeds will directly benefit artists and photos by Chris Jordon from In Katrina's Wake: Portraits of Loss from an Unnatural Disaster will be on display in the lobby.