Shattered Globe Theatre Presents Tennessee Williams’ THE ROSE TATTOO Directed by Greg Vinkler January 15 – February 28, 2015
Shattered Globe Theatre is pleased to continue its 24th season with Tennessee Williams’ Tony Award-winning comedy/drama THE ROSE TATTOO directed by Greg Vinkler, playing January 15 – February 28, 2015 at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave. in Chicago. Tickets go on sale Saturday, November 1, 2014 at www.theaterwit.org, in person at the Theater Wit Box Office or by calling (773) 975-8150. The press performance is Sunday, January 18 at 3 pm.
THE ROSE TATTOO will feature Shattered Globe Ensemble Members Eileen Niccolai, Christina Gorman, Doug McDade, Kelsey Melvin, Drew Schad and Megan Skord with Daniella Colucci, Nic Grelli, Daria Harper, Debra Rodkin, Noah Simon and Rachel Sledd. Additional casting to be announced.
THE ROSE TATTOO is unique in Williams’ work – a special blend of comedy, emotional depth and lyricism. Set in an Italian-American community on Louisiana’s Gulf Coast, a passionate overprotective Sicilian widow, Serafina Delle Rose, controls the life of her daughter, Rosa. The volatile Serafina also hides herself in the hazy memory of the husband she idealized who was killed smuggling illegal goods on the highway. The earthy eroticism of the play is unleashed as an unknown truck driver pulls into town and disturbs this simple seamstress’ life. These two equally matched and impulsive characters develop an almost operatic relationship and, serenaded by exuberant townspeople, Serafina is finally delivered from her past memories and grief.
THE ROSE TATTOO premiered in Chicago in 1950 prior to opening on Broadway on February 3, 1951, where it received four Tony Awards, including Best Play. It was adapted into a film in 1955, which was nominated for eight Academy Awards, receiving three.
“Some of Shattered Globe’s most dynamic and applauded ensemble work has been in four of Tennessee Williams’ plays: A Streetcar Named Desire, Suddenly Last Summer, The Glass Menagerie and Orpheus Descending,” comments Producing Artistic Director Sandy Shinner. “That tradition continues this winter with The Rose Tattoo – set in a steamy, romantic village on the Gulf Coast. Filled with passionate joy, The Rose Tattoo is seldom produced because of its large cast. The play is unique in the canon of the playwright’s work: optimistic and operatic. It is a valentine which Williams himself called ‘my love-play to the world.’”
“What about The Rose Tattoo spoke to me? Why did I want to direct it?” adds director Greg Vinkler. “After experiencing loss in my own life, it has become important for me to express the notion of hope to myself and to others in this world. The Rose Tattoo does that. It is a play in praise of life. It embraces the birth of love at the same time that it embraces its loss. And for those who have suffered loss, as many of us have, the play punches us with the very affirming possibilities and joys of rebirth and reconcilement with life. It is passionate, primal and funny. It is about life bursting at the seams.”
The production team for THE ROSE TATTOO includes: Sarah Ross (scenic designer), Sarah Jo White (costume designer), Charlie Cooper (lighting designer), Christoper Kriz (sound designer), Vivian Knouse (props designer), Judy Anderson (production manager), Amanda Rozmiarek (technical director) and Jeffrey Clark Stokes (stage manager).
PRODUCTION DETAILS:
Title: THE ROSE TATTOO
Playwright: Tennesee Williams
Director: Greg Vinkler
Cast: Shattered Globe Ensemble Members Eileen Niccolai (Serafina), Drew Schad (Jack), Doug McDade (Father DeLeo), Christina Gorman (Flora), Kelsey Melvin (Guiseppina) and Megan Skord (Bessie) with Daniella Colucci (Rosa), Nic Grelli (Alvaro), Daria Harper (Strega/Mariella), Debra Rodkin (Assunta), Noah Simon (Doctor/Salesman) and Rachel Sledd (Estelle). Additional casting to be announced.
Location: Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave, Chicago
Dates: Previews: Thursday, January 15 at 8 pm, Friday, January 16 at 8 pm and Saturday, January 17 at 8 pm
Press performances/Opening: Sunday, January 18 at 3 pm
Regular run: January 22 – February 28, 2015
Curtain Times: Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm; Sundays at 3 pm. Please note: the peformance on Sunday, February 1 will begin at 5 pm; there will be an added matinee performance on Saturday, February 28 at 3 pm;
Tickets: Previews: $20. Regular Run: $33. Discounts: “Under 30” $20, students $15, seniors $25 and industry $15 on Thursdays. Tickets go on sale Saturday, November 1, 2014 at www.theaterwit.org, in person at the Theater Wit Box Office or by calling (773) 975-8150.
About the Director:
Greg Vinkler is the Artistic Director of Penninsula Players where he has directed 26 productions (including Chicago and Lombardi) and acted in 44 shows over the theater’s 26-year history. For his work with the Players, he was honored with the inaugural Door County Artist of the Year Award. Greg has performed extensively in Chicago, appearing at Chicago Shakespeare (35 productions), Goodman, Steppenwolf, Court, Writers’ Theater, Northlight, Marriott Lincolnshire and Victory Gardens. He received three Joseph Jefferson Awards and twelve nominations, two Artisan Awards and one After Dark Award. Greg appeared on Broadway in the Tony-award winning revival of West Side Story, and also at the Royal Shakespeare Company at Stratford on Avon, the Barbican Theatre in London, Vienna’s English Theatre and Singapore Rep.
Shattered Globe Theatre (Sandy Shinner, Producing Artistic Director; Doug McDade, Managing Director) was born in a storefront space on Halsted Street in 1991. Since then, SGT has produced more than 60 plays, including nine American and world premieres, and garnered an impressive 42 Jeff Awards and 97 Jeff Award nominations, as well as the acclaim of critics and audiences alike. Shattered Globe is an ensemble driven theater whose mission is to create an intimate, visceral theater experience that challenges the perspective of audience and artist alike through passionate storytelling. Shattered Globe is inspired by the diversity of our city and committed to making the theater available to all audiences. Through initiatives such as the Protégé Program, Shattered Globe creates a space which allows emerging artists to grow and share in the ensemble experience
Shattered Globe Theatre is partially supported and funded by generous grants from The Gaylord & Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, The MacArthur Fund for Arts & Culture at The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, The Illinois Arts Council, The Field Foundation of Illinois, The Blum-Kovler Family Foundation, The Robert J. & Loretta W. Cooney Family Foundation, the Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation, the Shulman-Rochambeau Charitable Foundation, and Arts Work Fund.
For more information on Shattered Globe Theatre, please visit www.shatteredglobe.org.