Connecticut Repertory Theatre Opens Shakespeare in Love

STORRS, CT - The Connecticut Repertory Theatre (CRT) continues its 2019-20 season with Tom Stoppard’s Shakespeare in Love, adapted for the stage by Lee Hall and Marc Norman. Vincent Tycer will direct. Performances will be held in the Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre from November 21st through November 23rd, and December 4th through December 8th, 2019. For tickets and information please visit crt.uconn.edu or call (860) 486-2113.

In this exciting adaptation of the Academy Award-winning film, a young, pre-fame Will Shakespeare is struggling with writer’s block. The deadline for his next play is approaching all too quickly! Sparks fly when he meets Viola, a merchant’s daughter with secret theatrical ambitions of her own. Their forbidden love affair just might give Will the inspiration he needs to write a masterpiece. Shakespeare in Love is an epic Elizabethan extravaganza filled with mistaken identities, backstage chaos and the power of love – and theatre.

CRT Artistic Director Michael Bradford says that Shakespeare in Love “follows the popular film pretty closely, however the music in the theatrical production makes this adaptation its' own event. The play is a romp, and if you can keep up with it and not be out of breath, I’ll be amazed. Love, intrigue, politics, art, quite a combination. Its going to be a lot of fun!”

Vincent Tycer has worked as an actor/director/teacher in the UK, Europe and in the US. As a director, he staged the first full production of Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus at the Rose Theatre/Bankside since the time of Marlowe and Shakespeare. He has directed a number of Shakespeare’s plays including Titus Andronicus at the Camden Fringe Festival in London, Hamlet, Much Ado About Nothing and the Taming of the Shrew for East Bay Shakespeare Company. Vince has performed internationally at London’s Leicester Square Theatre, Southwark Playhouse, Rose Theatre/Bankside, Bournemouth Pavilion, Vienna English Theatre, Romanian National Theatre Festival and the Wroclaw Puppet Theatre in Poland. Recent acting roles in the States include Berowne in Love’s Labour’s Lost for Saratoga Shakespeare Company, and Richard Hannay in The 39 Steps for New Century Theatre and he played Ted Kennedy’s Chief of Staff David Burke in the feature film Chappaquiddick. He previously worked as the Director of Two Year Studies at Drama Studio London's acting conservatory and is the Director of MFA Acting at UCONN.

Tycer says, “Like many people who will be coming to see this production, my first encounter of Shakespeare in Love was with the film. It was a glorious production filled with unforgettable characters, a fast moving romance, and some of Shakespeare’s most beautiful verse. The play keeps much of the witty dialogue from Tom Stoppard’s screenplay. All of the main characters from the film find their way into the show. The joy of the original flows through the stage version in its own unique way, but this version is definitely Theatre. Magical theatricality keeps the play moving at a quick pace. Music coming from a lively Elizabethan score, written by Paddy Cunneen, gives the show another layer of verisimilitude with Shakespeare’s own theatrical times. Dances, sword fights along with pomp and circumstance give the audience’s eyes a veritable feast of variety.”

Anthony Cochrane, who plays Henslowe, is an actor/composer from the north of Scotland. Broadway: The Audience with Helen Mirren. War Horse, the TONY winning trilogy, The Coast of Utopia by Tom Stoppard and Cymbeline at Lincoln Center Theater; Off Broadway: PlayOn Shakespeare Festival(CSC) Nikolai And The Others, (LCT), Cato, (The Flea), Othello, Cyrano de Bergerac, Much Ado About Nothing, Julius Caesar, King Lear, Twelfth Night, The Iliad, The Man Who Would Be King, The Invisible Man and Romeo and Juliet (Aquila Theatre Company), Dense Terrain (BAM - Doug Varone). Regional: Yale Rep, Old Globe, Folger Shakespeare Theatre, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Repertory Theatre Of St. Louis, Shakespeare Theater Of New Jersey, Syracuse Stage. UK: credits include The Wives Excuse, Coriolanus, Julius Caesar and The Broken Heart (Royal Shakespeare Company), Royal Lyceum (Edinburgh), Lyric Theatre (Belfast). He has composed scores for more than 30 theatrical productions, amongst them Kenneth Cavender’s Timon Of Athens for ASF/CSC. Film scores include Alex Webb’s Pizza, The Girl From 2C, Hove (The Wind) and To The Flame, and Robert Richmond’s Dreadful Sorry.

Guiesseppe Jones joins the cast as Tilney/Sir Robert De Lesseps. His regional theater roles include Henry in Race at C.A.T.F, Sam in Master Harold and the Boys at The Weston Playhouse, Serge in ART at The Clarence Brown Theater, and Othello in Othello at N.C.S.F. NYC performances includePublic Enemy at The Pearl Theater Company, Widows at 59East59th St., Bullrusher at Urban Stages, and The Basement for The Drama League’s Directorfest. Television credits include The Black List, Blue Bloods, House of Cards, Person of Interest, Fringe, and Rescue Me. Guiesseppe is a graduate of A.C.T.

The creative team includes: Vincent Tycer (Director), Chris Coffey (Music Director), Morgan Shea (Scenic Design), Samuel Biondolillo (Lighting Design), Brittny Mahan (Costume Design), Katie Salerno (Sound Design), and Nicole Weigert (Stage Manager).
The cast includes: Anthony Cochrane* (Henslowe), Guiesseppe Jones* (De Lesseps/Tilney), Erin Cessna* (Viola), Matthew Antoci (Fennyman), Neil Callahan (Lambert & Ensemble), Jack Dillon (Will), Thalia Eddyblouin (M. Quickly/Kate & Ensemble), Anthony Giovino (Burbage), Angela Hunt (Queen), Justin Jager (Wessex), Jim Jiang (Peter & Ensemble), Colin Kinnick (Sam), Alex Kosciusek (Robin & Ensemble), Nick Luberto (Ralph & Ensemble), Angus MacLennan (Ned), Mauricio Miranda (Marlowe), Bryan Mittelstadt (Boatman/Countertenor/Asst. Music Director), Hunter Monroe (Nol/Frees/Catling & Ensemble), Sean Redahan (Adam & Ensemble), Leone Rodriguez (Webster), Adrianna Simmons (Nurse/Molly), and Cole Wood (Wabash).
*Denotes members of Actor’s Equity Association.

PERFORMANCE AND TICKET INFORMATION
Evening performances start at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and at 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Opening night – Nov 22 is an 8:30pm curtain. Select matinee performances start at 2 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. Single tickets are available now. Single tickets range from $10 to $33. All student tickets are only $10.

Pay-What-You-Can will be available for the Saturday, November 23rd, 8 PM performance. Tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Ticket price is $1 plus a gently used-winter clothing item (coats/boots/hats/etc) item. 1 ticket per clothing item. Tickets are only available 1 hour prior to the performance in person at the box office. Not valid on prior sales.
*The Saturday, December 7th performance at 2pm will be ASL interpreted.

Children must be at least 4 years old to attend CRT productions. For additional ticket information or to charge tickets by phone, call 860.486.2113. All sales are final; no refunds. Play selections and performance dates are subject to change.

Please call the box office at 860.486.2113 for tickets and additional information or visit www.crt.uconn.edu for specific show dates and times because performance schedules vary and are subject to change.

The Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre is located on the campus of the University of Connecticut in Storrs, CT.