FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Cindy Moran, Public Relations Director, 414-224-1761 February 10, 2006 A REMARKABLE PLAY WHICH FINDS POETRY AND Stiemke Theater Watch as one woman discovers what it means to follow her heart in the wonderful, award-winning play INTIMATE APPAREL. Written by Lynn Nottage, this exquisite tale explores what it means to be truly loved by those in your life and how even setbacks can propel us forward. Tickets can be purchased in person at The Rep Ticket Office at 108 East Wells Street, or by telephone at 414-224-9490. Tickets can also be purchased online 24/7 at milwaukeerep.com. The Rep . . . See it LIVE! Ester Mills is a middle-aged African-American seamstress living in 1905 Lower Manhattan. She makes her living by sewing intimate apparel for women but dreams of one day owning a beauty parlor of her own. Kind and generous, she shares her talents with not only her clients, but her friends as well. Despite the satisfaction she gets from sewing beautiful things, Esther is aware that the refined fabrics which surround her cannot take away her sense of hopelessness. In an effort to change her life, she turns to the company of a mysterious pen pal. Quickly swept up in a misconception of love, Esther struggles to separate her illusions from reality and to become the strong, capable woman that lives inside of her heart. Lynn Nottage is a playwright from Brooklyn, New York who graduated from Brown University and the Yale School of Drama. INTIMATE APPAREL, which premiered in 2003 at Center Stage and South Coast Repertory was inspired by Nottage’s great grandmother, Ethel Boyce who arrived in New York City in 1902. Nottage’s great grandmother worked as a seamstress who specialized in women’s intimate apparel. This play has earned Nottage the AT&T OnStage Award, American Theater Critics Association’s Francesca Primus and the New York Drama Critics’ Award. In addition, it has received the Outer Critics Circle Award, the Steinberg Award and the John Gassner Award for Best Play. Some of Nottage’s other plays include A WALK THROUGH TIME (a children’s musical), POR’ KNOCKERS and FABULATION. Nottage has been awarded Playwriting Fellowships from the Manhattan Theatre Club, New Dramatists and New York Foundation for the Arts. In 1999 she received a grant for a year long theater residency at Freedom Theatre in Philadelphia from the National Education Association and Theatre Communications Group. “I am drawn to the interplay of voices on a stage . . . I love the collaborative aspect of theater. A play begins with a solitary act, a few words and ideas . . . those words then get interpreted by a director, by actors, by designers, and finally, by an audience. It then becomes something more complicated and layered,” Nottage said in a recent interview. Risa Brainin returns to Milwaukee Repertory Theater after directing THE UNDERPANTS last season. She graduated from the Carnegie Mellon University Drama Program and has directed for theaters across the United States. From 2001 to 2003 she served as Artistic Director of Shakespeare Santa Cruz. While there she directed THE SEA GULL, HAMLET and THE EMPEROR’S NEW CLOTHES. Previously, Ms. Brainin has worked as the Associate Artistic Director for Missouri Repertory Theatre in Kansas City (2000/02) and Indiana Repertory Theatre in Indianapolis (1997 – 2000). She also worked at the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis (1987 – 1997) as Resident Director, Associate Company Director and Acting Instructor. Some other directorial credits of Ms. Brainin include THE MERCHANT OF VENICE, THE HERBAL BED, BLITHE SPIRIT, NOISES OFF, MORNING STAR, INDIAN INK and UNCLE VANYA. Ms. Brainin was a finalist for the 1996 Alan Schneider Director Award. Performers in this Milwaukee Rep production include Velma Austin as Esther. She reprises the role of Esther from her recent Steppenwolf production of INTIMATE APPAREL. Also included are Tyla Abercrumbie (Mayme), Carl Cofield (George), Olivia D. Dawson (Mrs. Dickson), Kevin McKillip (Mr. Marks) and Heather Prete (Mrs. Van Buren). (To learn more about our Resident Acting Company, Guest Actors or our Intern Company, please visit milwaukeerep.com.) The production/design tea m f or INTIMATE APPAREL includes Nayna Ramey (Scenic Designer), Devon Painter (Costume Designer), Michael Klaers (Lighting Designer), Michael Keck (Sound Designer), Cecilie O’Reilly (Dialect Coach), Claire Simon (Casting Director), Paul Kosidowski (Production Dramaturg), Richelle Harrington-Calin (Stage Manager), Amanda Weener (Stage Management Associate) and Lauren Shepard (Assistant Director). Tickets to INTIMATE APPAREL are $20.00, $30.00 and $40.00. Students and senior citizens may purchase half-price RUSH TICKETS with proper identification 30 minutes before curtain time for all Stiemke Theater performances at The Rep Ticket Office. For more info rmation or to charge tickets, call 414-224-9490. Tickets can be purchased online 24/7 at milwaukeerep.com. For group sales of 20 or more, call The Rep Ticket Office at 414-224-9490. Special Events for INTIMATE APPAREL
For more information about The Rep’s Access Services, please contact The Rep’s Ticket Office at 414-224-9490. A REMARKABLE PLAY WHICH FINDS POETRY AND FACT SHEET THEATER: Stiemke Theater DESCRIPTION: Esther, a plain African-American seamstress in New York , stitches together a life making exquisite lingerie for the high and low classes of turn-of-the-century New York City . When she strikes up a correspondence with a man from across the world, her hopes for fulfilling companionship seem finally within reach. This remarkable play, the winner of five national critic’s prizes, finds poetry and touching delicacy in the simplest of lives. PERFORMANCES: Tuesday 2/28/ 06 7:30 p.m. Tuesday 3/14/ 06 7:30 p.m. Tuesday 3/21/ 06 6:30 p.m. Early Bird Wednesday 3/22/ 06 7:30 p.m. TICKET PRICES: NEW TICKET OFFICE HOURS: TICKET OFFICE LOCATION: ### Open to the public before and after all evening performances, Milwaukee Repertory Theater’s Stackner Cabaret, located on the second floor of the Milwaukee Center, is our own full-service bar and restaurant. Featuring delicious dinners, as well as late night cocktails, coffee, and desserts, the Cabaret is the ideal meeting place for patrons attending Rep performances. For dinner reservations, call 414-224-9490. Milwaukee Repertory Theater is a nationally recognized theater company that presents a critically-acclaimed selection of compelling dramas, powerful classics, award-winning contemporary works and lively Cabaret shows on three stages from September through May. The Rep also produces an annual production of A CHRISTMAS CAROL. The Rep’s home, the Patty and Jay Baker Theater Complex, accommodates the Quadracci Powerhouse Theater, the Stiemke Theater and the Stackner Cabaret. The Rep is also “home” to a Resident Acting Company of 11 actors who perform with The Rep throughout the season. The Rep is proud to be a member of the United Performing Arts Fund (UPAF), which provides major annual financial support. The Rep is a member of the League of Resident Theatres (LORT), a management association of some of the nation’s largest non-profit professional theaters that collectively bargains with the unions that represent the actors, directors and designers that work at The Rep; a constituent of Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for the nonprofit professional theater; and a member of Theatre Wisconsin, the statewide association of non-profit professional theaters. This theater operates under an agreement between the League of Resident Theatres and Actors' Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States. The set, costume and lighting designers are members of United Scenic Artists, a national labor union. This theater is an equal opportunity employer. Except in plays where race itself is an issue, casting is decided based on ability, not race. Milwaukee Repertory Theater |
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