OOH, LA, LA! BERKELEY REP PRESENTS THE WORLD PREMIERE OF FÊTES DE LA NUIT BY CHARLES L. MEE BERKELEY CA, DECEMBER 20, 2004 This February, Berkeley Repertory Theatre presents the world premiere of Fêtes de la Nuit, the latest provocative play from OBIE-winning playwright Charles L. Mee. A Parisian rendezvous, the production reunites Mee with Berkeley Rep’s Associate Artistic Director Les Waters—who has directed two previous world premieres by Mee, including the popular Big Love which came to Berkeley Rep in 2001. An $80,000 grant from AT&T:OnStage® supports the show, a record fifth time that Berkeley Rep has earned this prestigious grant administered by Theatre Communications Group. As its name suggests, Fêtes de la Nuit is a sensual celebration, a racy—and at times erotic—escape to contemporary Paris. A collage of scenes, songs and dance, the play examines French attempts to reconcile their traditions with the multiculturalism of today. This naughty valentine contains strong language, adult themes, explicit sexuality and full nudity. Singles, couples and amorous groups will revel in its timely tribute to love and romance. Staged in Berkeley Rep’s Roda Theatre, the show begins previews on January 28, opens on February 2 and closes February 27, 2005. The production is supported by Season Sponsor BART, Production Sponsors AT&T, the San Francisco Chronicle and SF Gate and Executive Producers Joan Sarnat & David Hoffman and the Strauch Kulhanjian Family. “I love Paris,” Mee says. “I love it for its annoyances and idiosyncrasies and pretensions and arrogance as well as, above all, for the sense that the French know how to enjoy the present moment, how to devote a lot of time to ensuring that the simplest events of daily life are filled with pleasure…Doing a piece about Paris was a little like keeping a diary or a photograph album so that I won’t forget the pleasures of my own life.” “Berkeley Rep feels like home to me,” he continues. “Working with Les at Berkeley Rep, alongside Artistic Director Tony Taccone, means the project will be situated among the best co-workers to be found anywhere.” “At a time when most people are pondering retirement, Chuck Mee has blossomed into America’s most prolific playwright,” comments Taccone. “Mee was one of this country’s foremost historians for over 20 years. Blessed with an acute sense of history and an irrepressible, irascible, mischievous theatrical imagination, his work has become a prime example of post-modern entertainment. I am extremely excited that Mr. Waters and Mr. Mee are working together again.” This new script employs Mee’s trademark technique of theatrical collage. “There is no such thing as an original play,” he declares. “The Greek plays were all based on earlier plays or poems or myths. And Shakespeare’s plays are all taken from earlier work, too…. When I look at my own plays on stage, I can see what came from the inside of my head and what came from the world, from MTV and Soap Opera Digest and the Op-Ed page of the Times…. I like to put these plays out into the world and invite others to do what I’ve done: to steal them, to rip chunks of text out of my plays and make their own plays and put their own names to them.” This unusual approach aligns nicely with AT&T’s commitment to new works and its emphasis on innovation and diversity in the arts. No theatre company has won more AT&T:OnStage awards than Berkeley Rep. Four of its productions have been so honored in the past: Each Day Dies with Sleep (1990), Dream of a Common Language (1992), The Woman Warrior (1994) and Ballad of Yachiyo (1995). The telecommunications firm has been a longtime supporter of Berkeley Rep, serving as lead sponsor of its 30th anniversary season and making a substantial gift to support the 2001 capital campaign and The Oresteia, the first production in the new Roda Theatre. “We salute Berkeley Rep for its creativity in becoming a five-time winner,” remarked Paige Bischoff, AT&T’s vice president of public relations for the Pacific region. “AT&T created the AT&T:OnStage program in 1985 as a way of making a commitment to the arts in general and to new plays and musicals in specific. Since that time, we are delighted that 97 new works have been supported through this flagship program.” Charles L. Mee‘s work was last seen at Berkeley Rep in 2001 with the successful run of Big Love. He has written bobrauschenburgamerica, Wintertime, Summertime, Belle Epoque, Vienna: Lusthaus, Snow in June, A Perfect Wedding, Limonade tous les Jours and a number of other plays, including many works inspired by Greek plays: Big Love, True Love, Orestes 2.0, Trojan Women A Love Story and others. His plays have been performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, American Repertory Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop, the Public Theater, Lincoln Center, the Humana Festival, Steppenwolf Theatre and other places in the United States, as well as in Berlin, Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels, Vienna, Istanbul and elsewhere. His work is made possible by the support of Jeanne Donovan Fisher and Richard B. Fisher. His complete works are available to the public at www.charlesmee.org. Les Waters directed the world premiere of Mee’s Big Love at the Humana Festival and its subsequent runs at Berkeley Rep, Goodman Theatre, Long Wharf Theater and the Brooklyn Academy of Music. He workshopped Mee’s Wintertime at Sundance Theatre Lab, going on to direct its world premiere at La Jolla Playhouse and a later production at the Long Wharf. Since becoming the company’s associate artistic director in 2003, Waters has staged Eurydice, The Mystery of Irma Vep and Yellowman for Berkeley Rep. He recently directed Naomi Iizuka’s At the Vanishing Point for the Humana Festival. Waters’ work has been seen at theatres across the United Kingdom and the United States, including American Conservatory Theater, the Goodman Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, Manhattan Theatre Club, the Public Theater and Steppenwolf Theatre Company. He is an associate artist of The Civilians, a New York-based theatre group. The design team for the show includes the following artists: Annie Smart (sets), Christal Weatherly (costumes), Alexander V. Nichols (lights) and Jake Rodriguez (sound). Michael Suenkel, Berkeley Rep’s resident production stage manager, will stage manage the production. The cast features Michi Barall, whose stage credits include world premieres by John Guare, Harry Kondoleon and Charles L. Mee (Wintertime, directed by Waters at La Jolla Playhouse); James Carpenter, who has performed in more than 30 shows at Berkeley Rep, most recently as Pastor Manders in Ghosts; Maria Dizzia, the New York actress who recently received rave reviews for her portrayal of the title role in Berkeley Rep’s Eurydice; Lorri Holt, a veteran of Bay Area stages last seen at Berkeley Rep as Blair Lowe in Continental Divide; Joseph Kamal, who has worked with noted theatres such as Lincoln Center Theater, Mabou Mines and the New York Theatre Workshop; Bruce McKenzie, an accomplished actor whose many credits include Waters’ productions of Big Love at Berkeley Rep, the Goodman Theatre and the Brooklyn Academy of Music; Ramiz Monsef, who appeared as the Big Stone in Berkeley Rep’s Eurydice after spending two seasons with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival; Maria Elena Ramirez, who has worked with noted companies such as the Guthrie Theatre, the New York Shakespeare Festival and Seattle Repertory Theatre; Dileep Rao, whose recent work includes the world premiere of Mee’s Perfect Wedding, the inaugural production at the new Kirk Douglas Theater in Los Angeles and Danny Scheie, who has many regional and local credits, including Cloud Nine at Berkeley Rep. Corinne Blum, Sally Clawson, Joe Mandragona and local break-dancer Jeffrey McCann round out the ensemble. There will be five special events associated with this production: Page to Stage, a free moderated discussion with Mee and Waters on Monday, January 24 at 7PM, sponsored by Cody’s Books and Peet’s Coffee and Tea Three post-play discussions moderated by theatre professionals following the performances on Thursday, February 3; Friday, February 11 and Tuesday, February 15 night/OUT, an event for the LGBT community, on Thursday, February 10 Tickets for Fêtes de la Nuit are priced between $10 and $55, depending on the day of the week. Discounts are available for groups of 15 or more, as well as half-price rush tickets for students and seniors. For every weekday performance, 20 half-price HotTix go on sale that day at noon at the Berkeley Rep box office (cash only). Berkeley Rep also offers $20 tickets for anyone under the age of 30 with valid ID; this discount is subject to availability and is not offered for Saturday night performances. Berkeley Rep’s Roda Theatre is located at 2015 Addison Street, one block from Berkeley’s downtown BART station and close to AC Transit bus lines. The theatre is accessible to the handicapped, offering wheelchair seating and special services for those with hearing- or vision-impairment. The box office is next door at 2025 Addison Street. For tickets or information, call 510.647.2949 or toll-free at 888.4.BRT.Tix—or simply visit www.berkeleyrep.org. ABOUT BERKELEY REPERTORY THEATRE Founded in 1968, the Tony Award-winning Berkeley Repertory Theatre has established a national reputation for its ambitious programming and dynamic productions. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Tony Taccone and Managing Director Susan Medak, Berkeley Rep seeks to engage its audience in an ongoing dialogue of ideas. Through its choice of material and bold, vivid style of production, Berkeley Rep reflects a commitment to diversity, excitement and quality. The company is especially well known for its presentations of important new dramatic voices and its fresh adaptations of seldom-seen classics. In December 2001, Berkeley Rep opened The Roda Theatre, a 600-seat proscenium theatre that complements the 400-seat Thrust Stage. In December 2001, the company opened the Nevo Education Center to house the Berkeley Rep School of Theatre. The addition of these two buildings has transformed what was once a single stage into a vital and versatile performing arts complex. FÊTES DA LA NUIT written by Charles L. Mee directed by Les Waters designers: Annie Smart (sets); Christal Weatherly (costumes); Alexander V. Nichols (lights); Jake Rodriguez (sound) featuring: Michi Barall, Corinne Blum, James Carpenter, Sally Clawson, Maria Dizzia, Lorri Holt, Joseph Kamal, Joe Mandragona, Jeffrey McCann, Bruce McKenzie, Ramiz Monsef, Maria Elena Ramirez, Dileep Rao and Danny Scheie SPECIAL EVENTS PAGE TO STAGE: Free talk with Mee and Waters on Monday, January 24, 2005, 7PM OPENING NIGHT: Wednesday, February 2, 2005, 8PM POST-PLAY DISCUSSIONS: Thursday, February 3, 2005; Friday, February 11, 2005; Tuesday, February 15, 2005 night/OUT (LGBT EVENING): Thursday, February 10, 8PM TICKET PRICES DAY & TIME TICKET PRICE Standing room (once sold out) $10.00 Preview Performances (Fri/Sat/Tue 8PM, Sun 7PM) $39.00 Opening Night (Wed 8PM) $50.00 Tuesday and Thursday evenings 8PM $43.00 Wednesday evening 7PM $43.00 Friday evening 8PM $49.00 Saturday evening 8PM $55.00 Sunday evening 7PM $45.00 Saturday matinee 2PM $43.00 Sunday matinee 2PM $45.00 DISCOUNTS 20 half-price HotTix go on sale at noon Tuesday–Friday Student/Senior half-price RUSH tickets sold one-half hour before curtain Groups of 15+ contact 510.647.2918 or groups@berkeleyrep.org $20.00 for anyone Under 30 with valid ID, some restrictions apply TICKET INFO 510.647.2949 or 1.888.4BRTTix (toll free) or www.berkeleyrep.org LOCATION Berkeley Rep’s Roda Theatre / 2015 Addison Street / Berkeley Berkeley Rep Box Office / 2025 Addison Street / Berkeley BACK TO TOP