Cincinnati Shakespeare opens their 20thAnniversary season by welcoming Michael Evan Haney back to direct this Charles Dickens classic at their Race Street theatre
Jeremy Dubin as Fagin, Ethan Verderber as Oliver Twist & Sara Clark as the Artful Dodger. Photo by Jeanna Vella.
CINCINNATI, August 9, 2013 — Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, Cincinnati’s stage for the classics, is thrilled to kick off their 20th Anniversary Season with the Charles’ Dickens classic “Oliver Twist” adapted by Neil Bartlett, playing September 6-29, 2013. This production is directed by Michael Evan Haney and features CSC Resident Ensemble members Jeremy Dubin, Sara Clark and Jim Hopkins. Oliver Twist is played by Ethan Verderber in his CSC debut. The production is generously sponsored by BKD and the ensemble is sponsored by Taft.
Audiences will re-experience the harrowing adventures of the orphan boy who dared to ask for “some more”. The regional premiere of this riveting new stage adaptation uses a large cast to create the sights, sounds, songs and spirit of Dickens’ London, as well as a rogue’s gallery of literature’s most infamous ne’er-do-wells: the devious Fagin (Jeremy Dubin), the crafty Artful Dodger (Sara Clark), and the murderous Bill Sikes (Jim Hopkins). CSC kicks off its Twentieth Anniversary Season with this unforgettable journey through the seamy side of Victorian England, seen through the eyes of a child.
Cincinnati Shakespeare Company is thrilled to welcome back director Michael Evan Haney to the director’s chair to helm this regional premiere of “Oliver Twist”. Mr. Haney recently directed two sold-out runs of “The Hound of the Baskervilles” at Cincinnati Shakespeare Company in July 2012 and June 2103. No stranger to the work of Charles Dickens, Mr. Haney has directed the Charles Dickens’ classic “A Christmas Carol” for the past 20 years at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park to great critical and audience acclaim. In was in a recent production of “A Christmas Carol” that Mr. Haney worked with the young actor Ethan Verderber who portrayed “Boy Scrooge”. Ethan has been cast as Oliver Twist and will be making his CSC stage debut in this production.
Performances of “Oliver Twist” are scheduled from September 6-29, 2013 on Thursday, Friday & Saturday evenings at 7:30pm and Sundays at 2pm. Preview performances are on Tuesday Sep. 4 and Wednesday Sep. 5 at 7:30pm and tickets are $20. No performance on Sunday Sep. 7. The theater is located at 719 Race Street, downtown Cincinnati, two blocks west of the Aronoff Center. Single ticket prices range from $22-$31 on Thursdays and Sundays and from $26-$35 on Fridays and Saturdays. If available, $14 student rush tickets may be purchased 30 minutes before a show with a valid student ID. Visa, Discover, MasterCard, and American Express are accepted. Ticketing fees may apply. Discounts are available for students, seniors and groups as well as Enjoy the Arts and AAA members. To purchase tickets or for more information, call the CSC Box Office at 513.381.BARD (2273) ext. 1, or go online at www.cincyshakes.com.
For additional information on “Oliver Twist”, including photography or press passes, or for interviews with any member of the cast or company, please contact Jeanna Vella by email jeanna.vella@cincyshakes.com or by phone 513.381.2273 x. 3202 or visit http://www.cincyshakes.com.
Performance Schedule
- Wednesday September 4th at 7:30 pm (Preview)
- Thursday September 5th at 7:30 pm (Preview)
- Friday September 6th at 7:30 pm (Opening)
- Saturday September 7th at 7:30 pm
- Thursday September 12th at 7:30 pm
- Friday September 13th at 7:30 pm
- Saturday September 14th at 7:30 pm
- Sunday September 15th at 2:00 pm
- Thursday September 19th at 7:30 pm
- Friday September 20th at 7:30 pm
- Saturday September 21st at 7:30 pm
- Sunday September 22nd at 2:00 pm
- Thursday September 26th at 7:30 pm
- Friday September 27th at 7:30 pm
- Saturday September 28th at 7:30 pm
- Sunday September 29th at 2:00 pm (Closing)
About the Director
MICHAEL EVAN HANEY* (Director, Second Season) is celebrating his 40th year in the professional theatre. He is an Associate Artist at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. For CSC, he has directed “The Hound of the Baskervilles” and the upcoming “Oliver Twist”. For the Playhouse he has directed “Double Indemnity”, “Speaking in Tongues”, “The Syringa Tree”, “Crime & Punishment”, “The Understudy”, “The History of Invulnerability”, “Blackbird”, “Bad Dates”, “Hiding Behind Comets”, and “A Christmas Carol” productions from 1993-2012. Off-Broadway, he directed “Around the World in 80 Days” for the Irish Repertory Theatre. For Ensemble Theatre he directed “Freud’s Last Session”, “Time Stands Still” and “Souvenir”. He has also directed for Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Vienna’s English Theatre, St. Louis Rep. and Actor’s Theatre of Louisville among many others. He is married to actress Amy Warner.
About the 20th Anniversary Season:
The 20th Anniversary is generously sponsored by The Otto M. Budig Family Foundation. Cincinnati Shakespeare Company receives operating support from The Ohio Arts Council, the Shubert Foundation and is supported, in part, by the generosity of thousands of individuals and businesses that give annually to ArtsWave. The season design sponsor is Mark & Sue Ann Painter. Production dates and information on the 20th Anniversary are available online at www.cincyshakes.com. The Ohio Arts Council helped fund this program/organization with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans.
About Cincinnati Shakespeare Company:
Cincinnati Shakespeare Company is a professional theatre company dedicated to bringing Shakespeare and the classics to life for audiences of all ages. Located in the heart of downtown Cincinnati, CSC produces a dozen mainstage productions each season. CSC employs a resident company of actors and artists who live and work in Cincinnati year-round, and performs on a Small Professional Theatre contract with Actors’ Equity Association. Cincinnati Shakespeare is a member of the Theater Communications Group and the Shakespeare Theater Association. Cincinnati Shakespeare Company’s Education and Outreach Programs reached nearly 30,000 young people and underserved community members last season by taking Shakespeare into schools, parks, community centers and by hosting educational matinees of mainstage productions at its home on Race Street. This season, CSC is proud to become one of only five theaters in the United States to “Complete the Canon” by producing all 38 plays by William Shakespeare. CSC is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization and all donations are tax deductible.
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