The Globe's DIVINE RIVALRY Begins 7/7; Sean Lyons Replaces Jeffrey Carlson

The Old Globe today announced that Sean Lyons will play the role of Niccolò Machiavelli in the West Coast Premiere of Divine Rivalry. Jeffrey Carlson, who was previously announced for the role, has withdrawn from the production. Based on a real-life event, the drama about two of history’s most famous artists—and one of history’s most infamous statesmen—is written by Michael Kramer with D. S. Moynihan. Directed by Michael Wilson, Divine Rivalry will run July 7 – Aug. 5 on the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage in the Old Globe Theatre, part of the Globe’s Conrad Prebys Theatre Center. Preview performances run July 7 – July 11. Opening night is Thursday, July 12 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online at www.TheOldGlobe.org, by phone at (619) 23-GLOBE or by visiting the Box Office at 1363 Old Globe Way in Balboa Park.

Divine Rivalry transports audiences to 16th-century Florence, where two of the world’s greatest artists, Michelangelo Buonarroti and Leonardo da Vinci, face off in a painting competition orchestrated by political mastermind Niccolò Machiavelli (The Prince). The fascinating contest forms the backdrop for an even greater battle as the leading minds of the Renaissance clash over political gain, personal riches and the immortality of art.

Shakespeare Festival favorite Miles Anderson returns to the Globe to play the legendary Leonardo da Vinci. Anderson was last seen in the 2011 Shakespeare Festival as Prospero in The Tempest and Antonio Salieri in Amadeus. His 2010 appearance in the title role of The Madness of George III won him the San Diego Theatre Critics Circle Craig Noel Award.

Sean Lyons will play Niccolò Machiavelli. Lyons recently appeared in the world premiere of Ether Dome at Alley Theatre and was featured for three years at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Moby Dick Revisited, The Grapes of Wrath and The Good Doctor.

Euan Morton will appear as Michelangelo Buonarroti. Morton was nominated for a Tony Award for playing Boy George in Taboo and has also appeared on Broadway in Cyrano de Bergerac and Sondheim on Sondheim.

David Selby will play Piero Soderini. Selby’s Broadway credits include The Heiress, The Eccentricities of a Nightingale and I Won’t Dance and has originated roles on the television series “Dark Shadows” and “Falcon Crest.”

The creative team includes Jeff Cowie (Scenic Design), David C. Woolard (Costume Design), Robert Wierzel (Lighting Design), John Gromada (Original Music and Sound Design), Peter Nigrini (Projection Design), Telsey + Company (Casting) and Marisa Levy (Stage Manager).

Michael Kramer (Playwright) is an award-winning journalist. As New York Magazine’s political columnist in the 1970s and 1980s, he covered local and national politics. For a decade beginning in the late ‘80s, he was TIME Magazine’s political columnist, covering national and foreign affairs. He was also chief political correspondent for U.S. News & World Report and managing editor of the New York Daily News. He was the editor and publisher of More, the media magazine, and editor of Content, a short-lived magazine about the news business. He is the coauthor of The Ethnic Factor, a book about minority voting patterns that became a standard text on the subject. He also coauthored I Never Wanted to be Vice President of Anything, a political biography of Nelson Rockefeller that was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.

D. S. Moynihan (Playwright) began her career in the press/marketing departments of New York’s Circle Repertory Company and Ensemble Studio Theatre. She then became Literary Manager of the latter, where she worked closely with writers on the creation and development of new plays. She received her M.A. and Ph.D. in Drama from New York University and taught theater at Sarah Lawrence College for five years. She currently serves as Vice President—Creative Projects for The Shubert Organization.

Michael Wilson (Director) returns to the Globe where he directed Horton Foote’s Dividing the Estate this past winter. He is currently represented on Broadway by the Tony-nominated revival of Gore Vidal’s The Best Man. He received Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for his direction of Foote’s three-part, nine-hour The Orphans’ Home Cycle in 2010. On Broadway, he has directed Dividing the Estate (Tony nomination, Best Play), Matthew Barber’s Enchanted April (Tony nomination, Best Play) and John Van Druten’s Old Acquaintance (Roundabout Theatre Company). His Off Broadway credits include the premieres of Eve Ensler’s Necessary Targets, Foote’s The Carpetbagger’s Children (Lincoln Center Theater), Tina Howe’s Chasing Manet (Primary Stages) and Christopher Shinn’s Picked (Vineyard Theatre) and What Didn’t Happen (Playwrights Horizons), as well as the New York premieres of Jane Anderson’s Defying Gravity, Tennessee Williams’ The Red Devil Battery Sign and the Roundabout revival of The Milk Train Doesn’t Stop Here Anymore. His resident theater work includes plays and musicals at Alley Theatre, American Repertory Theater, Goodman Theatre, Guthrie Theater and Long Wharf Theatre as well as Hartford Stage, where he was Artistic Director from 1998 to 2011, when Divine Rivalry had its world premiere there, and where he commissioned and developed Quiara Alegría Hudes’s 2012 Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Water by the Spoonful. A recipient of the 2001 Princess Grace Statue Award, he is a Morehead Scholar graduate of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His next project is the American premiere of Christopher Shinn’s Now or Later for Huntington Theatre Company.

TICKETS to Divine Rivalry can be purchased online at www.TheOldGlobe.org, by phone at (619) 23-GLOBE or by visiting the Box Office at 1363 Old Globe Way in Balboa Park. Performances begin on July 7 and continue through Aug. 5. Ticket prices start at $29. Performance times: Previews: Saturday, July 7 at 8:00 p.m., Sunday, July 8 at 7:00 p.m., Tuesday, July 10 at 7:00 p.m. and Wednesday, July 11 at 7:00 p.m. Regular Performances: Tuesday and Wednesday evenings at 7:00 p.m., Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings at 8:00 p.m., Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2:00 p.m. and Sunday evenings at 7:00 p.m. There is a 2:00 p.m. matinee on Wednesday, Aug. 1 and no matinee performance on Saturday, Aug. 4. Discounts are available for full-time students, patrons 29 years of age and under, seniors and groups of 10 or more.

Associated events taking place during the run of Divine Rivalry include:

INSIGHTS SEMINAR: Divine Rivalry
Monday, July 9 at 7:00 p.m. FREE
Insight Seminars are informal presentations of ideas and insights to enhance the theater-going experience. The seminars feature a panel selected from the artistic company of each production and take place in the theater where the production is performed. Reception, 6:30 p.m. Seminar, 7:00 p.m. Admission is free and reservations are not required.

POST-SHOW FORUMS: Divine Rivalry
Tuesdays, July 17 and 24 and Wednesday, Aug. 1. FREE
Discuss the play with members of the Divine Rivalry cast and crew at post-show discussions led by the Globe’s creative staff after the performances.

THANK GLOBE IT’S FRIDAY: Friday, Aug. 3 at 6:30 p.m. $20
Kick off the weekend with the Globe’s Friday pre-show bash. TGIF includes a hosted wine and martini bar, appetizers and desserts. $20 per person. RSVP at (619) 23-GLOBE. (Tickets to Divine Rivalry are sold separately.)

LOCATION: The Old Globe is located in San Diego’s Balboa Park at 1363 Old Globe Way. There are numerous free parking lots available throughout the park. Valet parking is also available ($10). For additional parking information visit www.BalboaPark.org.

CALENDAR: Richard III (6/3-9/29), As You Like It (6/10-9/30), Inherit the Wind (6/17-9/25), Divine Rivalry (7/7-8/5), God of Carnage (7/27-9/2), Allegiance – A New American Musical (9/7-10/21), Good People (9/29-10/28).