FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jo Ann Lloyd
(805) 756-1511
Cal Poly Theatre and Dance Department to Stage
‘Glass Menagerie’ May 13-15, May 20-22
SAN LUIS OBISPO -- Cal Poly’s Theatre and Dance Department will
stage
Tennessee Williams’ “The Glass Menagerie” Thursday-Saturday,
May 13-15
and May 20- 22, as the last main-stage production of its 2003-04 season.
All shows will be at 8 p.m. in the Cal Poly Theatre.
Originally produced on Broadway in l945, “The Glass Menagerie”
was
Williams’ first commercial and artistic success. The play remains
the
most distinctly autobiographical of his plays, which include such
classics as “A Streetcar Named Desire” and “The Night
of the Iguana,”
according to Theatre and Dance Department Associate Chair Pamela Malkin.
“Set in St. Louis during the Depression, ‘The Glass Menagerie’
chronicles the struggles of Tom, Amanda and Laura Wingfield to escape
the stifling realities of their lives,” explained Malkin, who is
directing the play. “The play has been hailed as both a realistic
masterpiece and a hauntingly poetic memory play.”
Malkin has directed a variety of productions at Cal Poly, including last
year’s musical, “Guys and Dolls.” Theatre and Dance
Professor Al Schnupp
is the scenic and properties designer. He has directed many productions
at Cal Poly, such as “A Wrinkle in Time.” He has also designed
several
Theatre and Dance Department productions, including “Into the Woods.”
The guest costume designer for “The Glass Menagerie” is Teresa
Shea, a
Los Angeles-based artist with extensive film, television and stage
credits. She recently designed costumes for the feature film “Jekyll,”
as well as productions at the Actor’s Gang and Ensemble Theatre
companies in Los Angeles.
Les Solomon, of the Foothill Theatre Company in Nevada City, is the
show’s guest lighting designer. Solomon also designed lights for
the
Theatre and Dance Department productions “All My Sons” and
“Guys and
Dolls.”
Howard Gee of the Theatre and Dance Department is the show’s technical
director. Cleo Bare, a sophomore theatre arts major from Santa Cruz, is
the stage manager. Assistant stage manager is Krista Schnoenbaum, a
freshman theatre arts major from Culver City.
Andrew Halberstadt, a senior social science major from Anaheim, will
portray the central character, Tom Wingfield, as well as the show’s
narrator. Halberstadt played Theramene in the university’s fall
2003
production of “Phedre.”
Amanda Wingfield, Tom’s complex and demanding mother, will be portrayed
by Mariam Jabr. Last seen in the Theatre and Dance Department
production of “Ellemosynary,” Jabr is a senior theatre arts
major from
Morgan Hill.
Sarah Claspell, a senior majoring in business and theatre arts, plays
the reclusive Laura Wingfield. Claspell, from Gilroy, has appeared in
the Theatre and Dance productions of “Guys and Dolls,” “The
Miser” and
“Phedre.”
Jim O’Connor, Laura’s gentleman caller, will be portrayed
by Matt
Wechter, a senior biology major from Santa Ana. Wechter has appeared in
a variety of community theater musicals in Orange County. “The Glass
Menagerie” is his first Theatre and Dance Department main-stage
production.
Tickets to the performance are $10 to $12 and can be purchased at the
Performing Arts Ticket Office from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and 10
a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays. To order by phone, call SLO-ARTS (756-2787).
For more information on the production, call Cal Poly’s Theatre
and
Dance Department at 756-1465.
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