MainStage Irving-Las Colinas continues its 2015-16 Light the Lights! season with a new American play infused with classical drama, 33 VARIATIONS (by Moisés Kaufman). The production will open on January 15 and run through the 30 at the Irving Arts Center’s Dupree Theater (3333 N. MacArthur Blvd., Irving, TX 75062). All evening performances are at 7:30 p.m., with Sunday matinees at 2:30 p.m. Tickets range from $19-28 and are on sale now at the Irving Arts Center Box Office (972.252.2787/ www.irvingartscenter.com). Ticket discounts are available for seniors and students.
A mother coming to terms with her daughter. A composer coming to terms with his genius. And, even though they’re separated by 200 years, these two people share an obsession that might, even just for a moment, make time stand still. Using Beethoven’s 33 VARIATIONS as a canvas, this emotionally compelling story combines drama, memory and music to transport you from present-day New York to nineteenth-century Austria. This is an extraordinary new American play about passion, parenthood and the moments of beauty that can transform a life. Parallel lives intertwine amidst an evolution of endless notes.
Director Jill Stephens says, “33 VARIATIONS is a play about how a passion will drive you through the physical obstacles of life until it becomes an obsession.”
33 VARIATIONS stars Dana Harrison (Dr. Katherine Brandt), Rhonda Durant (Clara Brandt), Nina Wright (Dr. Gertrude Ladenburger), Rodney Dunn (Ludwig Van Beethoven), Clayton Cunningham (Anton Schindler), Michael Speck (Anton Diabelli), and Fernando Hernandez (Mike Clark). The pianist featured in this production is Miyoun Jang.
33 VARIATIONS production team includes Director Jill Stephens, Stage Manager Robin Stephens, Producers Evelyn Hall and Dane Tuttle, Lighting Designer Scott Davis, Scenic Designer Dane Tuttle, Sound Designer Jeff Mizener, Costume Designer Dallas Costume Shoppe, and Properties JoAnne Hull.
Written by Moisés Kaufman (author of The Laramie Project), 33 VARIATIONS investigates Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations through the eyes of musicologist Katherine Brandt. Using inventive parallel staging, the audience is transported between Beethoven’s time and the present to watch the discovery of both characters’ passage through a creative storm, relationships and their own illnesses.
Tickets to 33 VARIATIONS are available now by calling the Irving Arts Center’s Box Office at 972.252.2787 or by ordering tickets online at www.irvingartscenter.com.
