Best Play Tony Nominee has its area premiere at Park Square

October 10 November 2

Karen Landry and Edwin Strout are geniuses whose time is running out

Saint Paul, Minn., Sept 15, 2014 Park Square continues its 2014-2015 season next month with Moisés Kaufmans 33 VARIATIONS. The acclaimed author of Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde and The Laramie Project explores genius, obsession and the ability to connect against all odds. Edwin Strout and Karen Landry* play Ludwig van Beethoven and Dr. Katherine Brandt, separated by a continent and a century, but little else. Entertainment Weekly hailed 33 VARIATIONS as a convincing case for the genius of emotional variation in each of us, whether were Beethoven or not.

The play delves into our human desire for an orderly existence within the ever changing course of nature, says director James Rocco**. It casts a spell while remaining completely truthful and compelling. Im mesmerized by its beauty and sweet depth. I cant wait to see this remarkable cast in this show.

In defiance of her recent diagnosis with ALS, world-renowned musicologist Katherine Brandt scours Beethovens manuscripts to unlock the secret of his obsession with the Diabelli Variations. As she works to solve the mystery, we see Beethoven two hundred years earlier, struggling to compose while losing his hearing. Separated by two centuries, the obsessions that guide these two passionate geniuses might, for a moment, make time stand stilland bring healing to their lives.

On stage, present-day New York and nineteenth-century Austria co-exist, brilliantly bridged by memory, tenacity and live music. Katherine and Beethoven deny love and friendships, even as they suffer debilitating ailments. But as they strive for perfection, they might share just enough to make time (and our hearts) stand still.

In 1819, the Viennese composer Anton Diabelli had an idea to publish a volume of variations built around a simple waltz he had composed, and he invited the most famous composers of the day to contribute. It should have been a quick and easy task for Beethoven, who was already regarded as a master composer in the ranks of Mozart and Haydn. But even as he was going completely deaf, Beethoven couldnt stop, transforming the waltz into a fugue, a minuet, a sonata. The resulting 33 Variations on a Waltz by Diabelli is now considered to be among the greatest of its kind. This odd chapter in music history captivates the musicologist Katherine Brandt, who puts her life, family and health on hold to take off for Vienna, where both she and Ludwig get more than they have ever bargained for.

Jennifer Maren (Clara Brandt), Nathan Cheeseman (Mike Clark), Peter Simmons (Anton Diabelli), Michelle Meyers* (Dr. Gertrude Ladenburger) and Robert-Bruce Brake* (Anton Schindler) round out the top-notch cast.

The 33 VARIATIONS production team includes Andrea M. Gross (Costume Designer), Rob Jensen (Set Designer) Sadie Ward (Properties Designer), and Mike P. Kittel (Lighting Designer); Anita Kelling (Sound Designer). Charles Fraser* is stage manager and Laura Topham, assistant stage manager.

Later this month, Park Square will inaugurate the brand new Andy Boss Thrust Stage with Amy Ludwigs adaptation of The House on Mango Street (October 24 November 9), Sandra Cisneross adored novella that brings to life the trials, tribulations and joys of growing up in the Chicago barrio.

Performance Schedule: Previews begin Friday, October 10 and run through October 16. October 17 is Opening Night, and the run continues through November 2. Performance times are 7:30 p.m. except for Sunday performances, which begin at 2 p.m. All performances are in the companys 348-seat proscenium stage in Saint Pauls historic Hamm Building, 20 W. Seventh Place.

Ticket prices: Previews: $25 and $35. Regular Run: $38 and $58. A $2 facility fee will be added to each ticket to help maintain Park Squares two stages. Discounts are available for seniors, those under age 30, and groups. Tickets are on sale at the Park Square box office, 20 W. Seventh Place, or by phone: 651.291.7005, (12 noon to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday), or online at www.parksquaretheatre.org.

*Member, Actors Equity Association

**Member, Stage Directors and Choreographers Society

CALENDAR INFORMATION

Previews: October 10-16

Regular Run: October 17 November 2

Tickets: Previews: $25/$35; 99¢ Night on Sept. 14; Regular Run: $38/$58

PARK SQUARE THEATRE, 20 W. Seventh Place, Saint Paul

Box office: 651.291.7005 or www.parksquaretheatre.org

The HOUSE ON MANGO STREET

Previews: October 24-30

Opening Night: October 31

Regular Run: November 1-9

By Sandra Cisneros

Adapted by Amy Ludwig

Directed by Dipankar Mukherjee

You can always go home again. Esperanza Cordero dreams of a big world far away from her tiny rundown home. Among the dangers of the Chicago barrio, Esperanza clings to the hope her name implies. Based on the celebrated novel, The House on Mango Street is a touching and humorous coming-of-age story about the homes that make us who we are. a cascade of memoryone of the finest books penned about finding, understanding, keeping, leaving and (eventually) returning to your place. Chicago Tribune

PARK SQUARE THEATRE. 20 W. Seventh Place, Saint Paul. Box office: 651.291.7005. www.parksquaretheatre.org