Stage Notes

Lisa Peterson Directs Ensemble Cast Including Tony Winner Randy Graff, Oscar Nominee Amy Irving, James Lecesne, and April Yvette Thompson Interpreting Work of More Than a Dozen American Writers

February 8, 2010/Hartford, CT . . . A tantalizing compilation of stories from some of today’s most respected playwrights and authors come together to create Motherhood Out Loud at Hartford Stage.  A loose chronological journey of motherhood, with stylistic similarities to Love Letters and The Vagina Monologues, Motherhood Out Loud celebrates the very personal, diverse, funny, exciting, touching, and altogether extraordinary experiences that boldly expose the unabashed truths that unite us all.  The production features Tony Award winner Randy Graff, Academy Award nominee Amy Irving, and Hartford Stage favorites James Lecesne (The Mystery of Irma Vep, I Am My Own Wife) and April Yvette Thompson (A Raisin in the Sun). Motherhood Out Loud is co-conceived by Susan R. Rose and Joan Stein; Lisa Peterson (Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, A Midsummer Night’s Dream) directs.  The production runs at Hartford Stage February 24 – March 21.

Mom.  Mama.  Mommy – everyone has one.  Whether you are a mom, a son, a daughter or even a husband, now is the time to celebrate motherhood.  From stepmoms to single moms, immigrant moms to grandmothers, new moms to empty nesters, this touching portrayal of motherhood, written by an unprecedented collaboration of American writers from theatre, television, fiction and non-fiction, is a not-to-be-missed theatrical event that reveals with illuminating insight (and humor), the raw emotions and rocky roads we travel in life.  Support for Hartford Stage productions is provided by The Greater Hartford Arts Council and The Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism.

The run of Motherhood Out Loud is being supported by a number of community outreach programs and special events.  They include:

• “Mom’s Night Out” on March 2 and 9, featuring a special pre-show reception
• Hartford Stage will donate proceeds from the first preview performance of Motherhood Out Loud to two charities providing disaster relief in Haiti.  The Reach Foundation and SOS Children’s Villages will receive all funds from ticket sales for the Wednesday, February 24 7:30 performance.  All tickets for the benefit performance are $25.
• Pre-show “Baby Shower” on Saturday, March 13.  Vendors will line our upper lobby during a reception prior to the 8:00 p.m. performance offering an assortment of products for the new mom.
• Girl Scout mother/daughter events.  Girl Scout leaders will be in our lower lobby with their troops on March 18 and 20 with Girl Scout registration information and cookies for sale!  Our Education Department will offer special activities for the girls while their moms attend the show.
• Poster Mom Day on Wednesday, March 3, where our local “Real Moms of Hartford,” winners of our Motherhood Out Loud poster contest, will attend the 7:30 performance

The cast of Motherhood Out Loud includes four talented actors.  Tony Award winner Randy Graff has previously appeared at Hartford Stage in Edgardo Mine.  She won her Tony Award for City of Angels and was Tony-nominated for A Class Act.  Other Broadway credits include Fiddler on the Roof, Moon over Buffalo, Laughter on the 23rd Floor, and the original company of Les Miserables.  Amy Irving is making her Hartford Stage debut.  She was Oscar-nominated for Yentl; her other films include Carrie, Deconstructing Harry, The Competition, and Crossing Delancey.  Her Broadway credits include The Coast of Utopia, The Three Sisters, Broken Glass, Heartbreak House, and Amadeus.  Hartford Stage favorite James Lecesne has been seen here in The Mystery of Irma Vep and I Am My Own Wife.  His one-man play Word of Mouth was presented Off-Broadway by Mike Nichols & Elaine May and directed by Eve Ensler (NY Drama Desk Award and the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Solo Performance).  Other New York credits include Cloud 9, Extraordinary Measures, and the 30th anniversary production of Boys in the Band.  April Yvette Thompson previously appeared at Hartford Stage in A Raisin in the Sun.  Her Off-Broadway credits include The Exonerated, The Antigone Project Light Raise the Roof, Medea, Macbeth, King Lear, and The Blacks.

Contributing to Motherhood Out Loud are a number of today’s most respected playwrights and authors.  Leslie Ayvazian, David Cale, Jessica Goldberg, Beth Henley, Lameece Issaq, Lisa Loomer, Michele Lowe, Brett Paesel, Marco Pennette, Theresa Rebeck, Luanne Rice, Adriana Trigiani, Annie Weisman, and Cheryl West have all written pieces that come together to form the theatrical journey of this unique piece.

Motherhood Out Loud is directed by Lisa Peterson.  Peterson returns to Hartford Stage, where she has previously directed A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Breakfast Lunch & Dinner, Reckless, and Sueño.  Her recent credits include Mother Courage at the La Jolla Playhouse, Water and Power and Electricidad at the Mark Taper Forum, Ridiculous Fraud and Candida at the McCarter Theatre, The Rainmaker at the Arena Stage, Tight Embrace at INTAR, and Carol Mulroney at the Huntington Theatre Company. Peterson was the Resident Director at the Mark Taper Forum for ten years.  She has directed world premieres by major American writers including Tony Kushner, Beth Henley, Donald Margulies, Jose Rivera, Ellen McLaughlin, Mac Wellman, Polly Pen, Stephen Belber, Naomi Wallace, David Henry Huang, Luis Alfaro, Chay Yew, Bridget Carpenter, Annie Weisman, Alice Tuan, and many others.  Peterson is a graduate of Yale College and is a member of the Ensemble Studio Theatre and the Drama Department.

Susan R. Rose and Joan Stein are the co-conceivers of Motherhood Out Load.  Ms Rose produced the Broadway productions of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Tony Award nomination, Best Musical), HurlyBurly (Tony Award nomination, Best Play), Bloodknot (Tony Award nomination, Best Revival of a Play), and The Nerd. Off Broadway, she produced the Drama Desk Award-winning musical The Last Five Years.  She has produced a number of movies for television including the Emmy-nominated Cooler Climate and the Emmy Award-winning Jack.   Ms. Stein has produced more than 80 plays — from Table Settings to The Elephant Man – and her productions have won 6 Tony nominations, 7 Drama Desk Awards, 3 Outer Critics Circle Awards, 2 Obies and 2 Ovation Awards.  She won the Tony Award for Best Play in 1999 for her production of Side Man.  Stein served as Managing Director of the historic Berkshire Theatre Festival from 1981-1986.  From 1990-2000 she operated the Canon Theatre in Beverly Hills and became the leading commercial theatre producer in Los Angeles, where she presented a dozen shows including the internationally acclaimed production of Love Letters.  Currently, she is producing a Broadway musical based on the award winning documentary Mad Hot Ballroom, and was recently represented on Broadway by the musical, 9 To 5.

Motherhood Out Loud features scenic design by Rachel Hauck (Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, A Midsummer Night’s Dream), costumes by David C. Woolard (The Orphans’ Home Cycle), lighting by Peter Kaczorowski, sound design by Jill BC DuBoff, projection design by Jan Hartley (The Orphans’ Home Cycle), and animation design by Emily Hubley.

Tickets for Motherhood Out Loud are $23 to $66.  A limited number of $10 “Ten Spot” tickets are also available for all performances, making Hartford Stage among the most affordable entertainment options in Connecticut.  Discounts are available for groups of ten or more by calling 860-520-7244.  What a Rush! half-price tickets to Motherhood Out Loud may be purchased, subject to availability, beginning two hours before each performance in person at the box office only.  Patrons must request What a Rush! tickets at the time of purchase to receive this discount.  Tickets for children and students are $10 off the full price when purchased in advance.  Students of Capital Community College may purchase one $10 ticket to Motherhood Out Loud upon presentation of their student ID at the Hartford Stage box office.  All discount programs are subject to availability and cannot combined with other offers.  Hartford Stage has wheelchair accessible seating, assistive listening devices and other amenities.  For more information, please call the Hartford Stage box office.  Hartford Stage is located at 50 Church Street in downtown Hartford with parking located in the MAT Garage, directly adjacent to the theatre. The theatre is accessible from I-84 and I-91.

Key Dates and Information

• Tickets for Motherhood Out Loud are on sale now and can be purchased by calling 860-527-5151 or by visiting hartfordstage.org.
• Low-priced preview performances, featuring $25 tickets, begin February 24 and run through March 3.
• Ticket proceeds from the February 24 preview performance will benefit disaster relief in Haiti.  All tickets for the evening are $25, with proceeds going to The Reach Foundation (supporting the Red Cross) and SOS Children’s Villages.
• Press opening for Motherhood Out Loud is Wednesday, March 3 at 7:30 p.m.
• The production runs through March 21.  Evening performances are weeknights (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday) at 7:30 p.m. and weekends (Friday and Saturday) at 8:00 p.m.  Matinee performances are Sundays and selected Wednesdays and Saturdays at 2:00 p.m.  For a more specific schedule of performances, call the Hartford Stage box office at 860-527-5151 or visit hartfordstage.org.
• The Lunchtime FreeView for Motherhood Out Loud, a brief scene from the play followed by and informative and lively discussion with members of the cast and artistic staff, will be held at noon on Thursday, March 4.
• The Pay What You CanSaturday matinee performance of Motherhood Out Loud will be Saturday, March 6 at 2:00 p.m.  Pay What You Cantickets are available two hours before the performance in person at the box office only.
• Open Captioned performances of Motherhood Out Loud will take place on Sunday, March 14 at 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
• The Audio Described performance of Motherhood Out Loud will be Sunday, March 20 at 2:00 p.m.
• The Splendid Evening for Motherhood Out Loud, featuring a pre-show reception, will be Friday, February 26 in conjunction with the 8:00 performance

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