San Jose Rep Delays NEXT FALL to Secure Danny Scheie as Lead, Oct 2013

San Jose Rep will be postponing its scheduled production of Next Fall until October, 2013. San Jose Rep is thrilled to announce that they were able to secure actor Danny Scheie to play the lead role in the thoughtful, moving story written by Geoffrey Nauffts, but his availability for the project required San Jose Rep to push the production to a later date.

"Next Fall is a very important production for our community," says Rick Lombardo, San Jose Rep's Artistic Director. "We wanted to produce this insightful, emotional story in the best way possible and couldn't be happier that our first choice actor, Danny Scheie, will be taking on the lead role."

Danny Scheie is a Bay Area theatre veteran with undeniable talent who began working in Bay Area theater in 1983. In his more than three decades here, he has built a reputation as a reliably adventurous director, an artistic director, a teacher, and as an actor. Regarded as one of the best in Northern California, Scheie has performed in a multitude of theatre productions from Santa Cruz to San Francisco, and is excited to embody his role in Next Fall.

"Perhaps one of the allures of acting for everyone, professional and amateur and child alike, is the adventure of becoming someone wildly different than one's self," Scheie explains. "The chance to play a gay middle-aged urban neurotic, frankly down-the-line severe casting-to-type, is in my career uncharacteristically exotic. I am thrilled and honored at being invited by Kirsten Brandt and San Jose Rep to take this ride within."

San Jose Rep will fill Next Fall's original dates in April with the The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus, the best known work of English Renaissance playwright Christopher Marlowe. The play is based on the story of Faust, a protagonist of German legend, who sold his soul to the devil for unlimited knowledge and worldly pleasures. This production will pair a dramatic 17th century script with innovative high-tech stagecraft designed by director Kirsten Brandt.

"I have always wanted to direct Doctor Faustus," Brandt reveals. "Besides being intellectually stimulating, the story is funny and tragic, and like a good classic, completely relevant to contemporary issues."

Brandt has been praised for her cutting edge techniques, taking the art of theatre to new technological heights. In March of 2012 at UCSC, she wrote and directed The Thinning Veil, a production that took place in two theatres simultaneously with live video from each theatre being broadcast into the other. The Santa Cruz Sentinel called the production "something completely different" and referred to it as "an original telematic play for the 21st century."

For the The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus, Brandt plans to blend traditional stagecraft with the modern media. "Too often, media design is relegated to scenery. I'm interested in how the live performer interacts with projected media - how the two interface," says Brandt. "Doctor Faustus is filled with magic and non-human characters and with a cast of four actors, playing over 30 characters, the need for innovation is a must."

Next Fall tickets daTed May 9 - June 2, 2012 will honored for the same date and performance time for The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus.

THE TRAGICAL HISTORY OF DOCTOR FAUSTUS
MAY 9 - JUNE 2, 2013
by Christopher Marlowe
Adapted and directed by Kirsten Brandt

NEXT FALL
OCT 17 - NOV 10, 2013
by Geoffrey Nauffts
directed by Kirsten Brandt

San Jose Rep is the flagship theatre of San Jose and the only fully professional, non-profit theatre company in the South Bay, presenting seven main-stage productions each year. Now in its 32nd year as a major contributor to the South Bay's cultural community, San Jose Rep's mission is to engage, entertain, and inspire people. San Jose Rep produces innovative theatrical performances that offer fresh perspectives into the human condition, educational programs that promote lifelong learning, and outreach initiatives that benefit our diverse community. For more information, visit www.SJRep.com.

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