NCR Kicks Off 30th Anniversary Season with LEND ME A TENOR

North Coast Repertory Theatre Presents The Premiere Show of NCR's Thirtieth Anniversary Season LEND ME A TENOR by Ken Ludwig and directed by Matthew Wiener

Winner of 3 Tony Awards and 4
Drama Desk Awards LEND ME A TENOR combines a

chain-reaction of mistaken identity, plot twists, double entendres and the constant slamming of many doors to create one of the funniest farces to grace the American stage in the last 30 years. A sensation on Broadway and in London's West End, LEND ME A TENOR pays homage to the madcap screwball comedies of the 1930's, guaranteed to leave audiences howling hysterically with laughter and walking out the door with a warm smile.

Previews: September 7 - 9, 2011
Regular Shows: September 10 - October 2, 2011

Ken Ludwig (Playwright)
Ken Ludwig is an internationally acclaimed playwright whose many hits on Broadway, in London's West End and throughout the world have made his name synonymous with modern comedy. He has won the Laurence Olivier Award, England's highest theatre honor, as well as three Tony Award nominations and two Helen Hayes Awards. His work has been commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company and has been performed in at least thirty countries in over twenty languages. His musical Crazy For You ran for over four years on Broadway and in London. Lend Me A Tenor, originally produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber and recently revived on Broadway, was called "one of the two great farces by a living writer" by The New York Times. Other plays and musicals include Moon Over Buffalo (Broadway & London's Old Vic, starring Carol Burnett, Lynn Redgrave, Joan Collins & Frank Langella); Twentieth Century (Broadway, starring Alec Baldwin & Anne Heche); The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Broadway); Treasure Island(London, Theatre Royal, Haymarket; 2009 AATE Distinguished Play Award for Best Adaptation); Shakespeare in Hollywood (commissioned by The Royal Shakespeare Company, Helen Hayes Award as Best Play); Leading Ladies; Be My Baby (starring HAl Holbrook and Dixie Carter); The Beaux' Stratagem (adaptation with Thornton Wilder at the request of the Wilder Estate); The Three Musketeers (Bristol Old Vic); An American in Paris; Sullivan & Gilbert; The Fox on the Fairway; The Game's Afoot. His children's play'Twas the Night Before Christmas will premiere this November at The Adventure Theatre. His work has appeared in The Yale Review, and he is writing a book for Crown Publishing entitled How To Teach Your Children Shakespeare. He studied music at Harvard with Leonard Bernstein and theatre history at Cambridge University in England. For more information, please visit www.kenludwig.com.

Matthew Wiener (Director)
This is Matthew's sixteenth season as Producing Artistic Director of Actors Theatre. Since 1993 he has directed over 30 productions for Actors Theatre including: Secret Order, Shipwrecked!, Doubt, a Parable,The Lieutenant of Inishmore, The Pillowman, The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow, Benefactors,Blue/Orange, Sight Unseen, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Angels in America, Spinning Into Butter, Something in the Air, The Archbishop's Ceiling, Hedda Gabler, The Essential Henry V, Below The Belt, and of course, A Christmas Carol. This season he will be helming the swan song of his co-authored adaptation of A Christmas Carol. During his tenure, Actors Theatre has received numerous local awards including Outstanding Arts Organization from Business Volunteers for the Arts, and Outstanding Producing Theatre from the Arizona Theatre Alliance. This year, Matthew received the AriZoni Award for Outstanding Contribution. Matthew came to Actors Theatre from Arizona Theatre Company where he was the Associate Artistic Director for four years. He has also directed and worked at: Phoenix Theatre, Childsplay, Arizona Jewish Theatre Company, North Coast Repertory, The Children's Theatre Company, The Cleveland Playhouse, American Conservatory Theatre, The Whole Theatre, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Berkshire Theatre Festival, The Cider Mill Playhouse, and Yale Repertory Theatre. He has served on the Maricopa Regional Arts and Culture Task Force. He was a founding board member of Arizona Theatre Alliance. He has been a guest lecturer at Arizona State University, University of Arizona, Pima Community College, and Scottsdale Community College. Matthew holds an MFA from the Yale School of Drama, where he was the Artistic Director of the Yale Cabaret. Matthew resides in Phoenix with his wife Marion, and their twin daughters Jordan and Claire.

Ted Barton (Saunders)
Ted Barton is pleased to make his North Coast debut. Immeadiately prior to Lend Me a Tenor he appeared at the Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum as both Orgon in "Tartuffe" and Master Ford in The Merry Wives of Windsor. Earlier this year he was an Equity Guest Artist at the University of Alabama, playing Ahab in a new adaptation of Moby Dick. He has also worked at Mark Taper Forum, Colorado Shakespeare Festival, California Shakespeare Festival, Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival, Shakespeare Sedona, Foothill Theatre Company, TheatreWorks, Sierra Repertory Theatre, International City Theatre, Warehouse Repertory Theatre, Berkeley Playhouse, and on a national tour of On Golden Pond.

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