Photo Flash: La Jolla Playhouse Presents A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM

La Jolla Playhouse presents its production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, directed by Playhouse Artistic Director Christopher Ashley, playing in the Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre through August 22, 2010 (press opening: July 27 at 7:00 pm).

The cast features Tony Award nominee Charlayne Woodard (The Night Watcher, Pretty Fire) as "Hippolyta/Titania," Obie Award-winners J. Smith-Cameron as "Helena" and Martin Moran as "Puck" and celebrated local Shakespearean actor Jonathan McMurtry as "Egeus."

The full cast includes Amelia Campbell as "Hermia," Maggie Carney as "Peter Quince," Matthew Patrick Davis as "Tom Snout/Wall," Zach Harrison as "Starveling/Moonshine," Tim Hopper as "Lysander," Sean Mahon as "Demetrius," Hugo Medina as "Snug/Lion," Amanda Naughton as "First Fairy," Daniel Oreskes as "Theseus/Oberon," Chris Reed as "Flute/Thisbe," Lucas Caleb Rooney as "Nick Bottom," as well as Ken Berkeley, Matthew Cusick and Tatyana Petruk as Fairy-Acrobats and Kyle Anderson, Cate Campbell, Maritxell Carrero, Sarah Garcia, Anne Stella and Bowman Wright as Fairies.

The creative team includes Christopher Ashley, director; Mark Bennett, composer; Neil Patel, set designer; David C. Woolard, costume designer; Howell Binkley, lighting designer; Leon Rothenberg, sound designer; Eric Stern, music director/conductor; Basil Twist, puppet designer; and Andrew Pacho, choreographer. The production also features original music by Broadway composer Mark Bennett intertwined with Felix Mendelssohn's 1842 music for A Midsummer Night's Dream, performed by current members and alumni of the San Diego Youth Symphony.

La Jolla Playhouse's inventive production of A Midsummer Night's Dream opens in a Victorian drawing room and then takes some fanciful twists as the setting shifts to the forest - suggesting
that falling in love can be like losing one's bearings. Contributing to the fantastical environment
will be Mark Bennett's delightful original score, aerialist fairies, and internationally-renowned
puppeteer Basil Twist's unique brand of whimsical puppetry.

Performance times for A Midsummer Night's Dream are Tuesday and Wednesday at 7:30pm; Thursday through Saturday at 8:00pm; and Sundays at 7:00pm. Matinees are held on
Saturdays and Sundays at 2:00pm. Single tickets range from $31 to $66, and subscriptions to
La Jolla Playhouse's 2010/11 season are available by calling (858) 550-1010 or by visiting
lajollaplayhouse.org.

Photo by Craig Schwartz