[IMC] Illinois Theatre Announces Daniel Sullivan Directed New Auburn Play for 2014

[Lee-Calfas, Bridget]

NEW AUBURN PLAY TO BOW AT ILLINOIS THEATRE

Tony Award-winner Daniel Sullivan Directs February Production

Rehearsals Begin Next Week



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: BRIDGET LEE-CALFAS (bklee at illinois.edu<mailto:bklee at illinois.edu>; 217-766-2820)



URBANA, Ill. — Illinois Theatre, the producing entity of the Department of Theatre at the University of Illinois, Urbana–Champaign, announced the beginning of rehearsals for a production of David Auburn’s new play, Lost Lake, the inaugural offering of The Sullivan Project. Rehearsals start Tuesday, January 7, at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. Lost Lake will play for seven performances beginning February 5.

Curated by the Tony Award-winning director Daniel Sullivan, holder of an endowed Swanlund chair and a theatre professorship at the University of Illinois, Urbana–Champaign, The Sullivan Project aims to provide leading playwrights with a fully realized production of a new play early in the work’s development.

“We’re honored and very excited to have Dave Auburn take a first look at his play in production here at Illinois Theatre,” Professor Sullivan said. “I would love to see the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign become a destination for the best writers in the country—and Dave is certainly at the top of my list.”

The latest work from the author of Proof, which received both the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and Broadway’s Tony Award, Lost Lake was developed by the author in a residency funded by Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s National Playwrights Conference in the summer of 2013 (Preston Whiteway, Executive Director; Wendy C. Goldberg, Artistic Director).

In Lost Lake, Veronica, who lives in New York City, finds herself at a crossroads in life and decides to offer her children a respite from city life in a ramshackle cabin far from the distractions of her urban milieu. When she leases a vacation home, she meets Hogan, the property owner who is facing challenges of his own—challenges that will have an impact on Veronica’s chances of time away from it all.

Prof. Sullivan, who directed Auburn’s Proof off and on Broadway, has chosen Jake Weber, the well-known film, theatre, and television actor, to play Hogan. The superb Opal Alladin, whose work also spans stage and screen, will perform the role of Veronica.

Illinois Theatre producer Jeffrey Eric Jenkins said, “This production creates a confluence of the finest theatrical talent in reuniting David Auburn and Daniel Sullivan. Adding extraordinary actors such as Jake Weber and Opal Alladin—both of whom are well-known professionals—has created a real sense of possibility for this project, and for its future. Illinois Theatre nurtures creative work at the highest level, and we provide our students with tangible access to the professional process of new-play production.”

The creative team includes scenic designer J. Michael Griggs, costume designer James Berton Harris, lighting designer Robert Perry, and sound designer Bradford Chapin.

The Sullivan Project is funded by the Swanlund Endowment, the Anda Fund, the Dasha Epstein New Production Fund, and Friends of Illinois Theatre.                                        #####

Bridget Lee-Calfas
Advertising and Publicity Director
Krannert Center for the Performing Arts
500 South Goodwin Ave, Urbana, IL 61801
bklee at illinois.edu<mailto:bklee at illinois.edu>
217/333-6282







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