ACT Theatre Opens 41st Season With Bach at Leipzig on May 5 - A Crafty Comedy of Baroque Proportions

ACT Theatre opens its 41st season with Bach at Leipzig, a hilarious comedy by the new young playwright Itamar Moses. The first of 30 performances opens on May 5 and runs through May 29. Set in the seventeenth century, this timeless story revolves around ruthlessness in the workplace, a Baroque parallel to the popular TV reality series, Survivor.

(PRWEB) April 9, 2005 -- When the highly coveted position of church organist becomes available in the cosmopolitan city of Leipzig, a grueling but farcical competition ensues to win the spot.

Artistic Director, Kurt Beattie directs this West Coast premiere.

Bach at Leipzig is intellectual comedy at its best,"says Beattie, a grand farce with the energy and giddiness of the Marx Brothers. At the same time it has something very real to say about ambition and the outrageous, ridiculous things people will do in an effort to control their own destiny and achieve success--and how that pettiness and silliness is exposed when real genius walks into the room. Music lovers will also get a kick out of the way Moses translates the musical structure of a fugue--multiple voices exploring the same thematic subject--into a theatrical context."

The silliness will be played out in the hands of some of Seattles favorite actors-- Laurence Ballard, Todd J. Bjurstrom, Max Moore, David Pichette, John Procaccino, Daniel Rappaport, and R. Hamilton Wright. Beattie added, Bach at Leipzig is the perfect comedy to kick-off the 2005 season, designed foremost to entertain."

Also in the 2005 season are performances by Mike Daisey dealing out his brand of irreverent humor in The Ugly American; Garson Kanins great American comedy, Born Yesterday, directed by Warner Shook, the classic masterpiece by Tennessee Williams, The Night of the Iguana, directed by Jon Jory; the fascinating Vincent in Brixton by Nicholas Wright; and the brilliant storytelling of Flight, by playwright Charlayne Woodard.

The true story of Bach at Leipzig
Although the action and characterizations of Bach at Leipzig are entirely fictional, the play is inspired by an actual event. In 1722 the organist and musical director at Leipzig Thomaskirche, Johann Kuhnau, really did pass away, and organists and composers from all over Germany came to Leipzig to compete for the coveted and prestigious post left vacant by his death. The six organists in the play were all real musicians considered for the job--Johann Fasch and Christoph Graupner were in fact very well-known composers of the period and much of their work survives, though its overshadowed now by the giant figures of J.S. Bach and Georg Philip Telemann.

About the playwright-Itamar Moses
Itamar Moses work for the stage includes the full-length plays Outrage, Celebrity Row, The Four of Us and the book for the musical, The Chromium Hook. His work has been produced and performed in workshops at prominent regional theatres across the United States. Awards for his writing include the Reva Shiner New Play Award, a Portland Critics Circle Drammy Award, an NEA Residency Grant, The SWTA National New Play Award, the Plays for the 21st Century Award and the Dramarama Long Play Award. He holds an M.F.A. in Dramatic Writing from NYU, has taught playwriting at Yale and NYU, and is a New York Theatre Workshop Usual Suspect. He was born in 1977 in Berkeley, CA. He now lives in Brooklyn, NY.

ACT Ticket Information: Bach at Leipzig Tickets: $10 to $54

Subscription tickets for the 2005 season are available online at www.acttheatre.org, or by calling the ticket office at (206) 292-7676, or by visiting ACT Theatre at 700 Union Street. ACT Theatres ticket office is open daily from 12:00 noon until 7:00 p.m. Subscription packages range in price from $113 to $250. Single ticket prices for all 2005 mainstage productions range from $10 - $54. Many discounts are available including seniors, under 25, students and day of show rush. Call or go online for details.

Photos available at www.acttheatre.org
Schedule and prices subject to change.

ACT also offers a wide variety of special programs and events - such as pre and post- play discussions, Happy Hour, ACTs Beer Tasting Club and ACT-Out Nights - designed to add value to the theatre-going experience.

Continental Airlines is the Official Airline of ACT Theatre. ACT Theatre gratefully acknowledges the following for their generous support: The Boeing Company, Getty Images, ArtsFund; Seattle Mayors Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs, PONCHO, 4Culture King County Lodging Tax, Washington State Arts Commission, The National Endowment for the Arts, The Nesholm Family Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, Inc. and Paul G. Allen Family Foundation.

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