Tag Archives: Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati

(Cincinnati, OH) Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati (ETC) closes its 31^st season with a trip to Ireland in the regional premiere of Bloomsday by award-winning playwright Steven Dietz. Set against the backdrop of James Joyce’s groundbreaking modernist novel Ulysses, an American man searches for the Irish woman who first captured his heart 35 years earlier during a Bloomsday walking tour in Dublin. This lyrical, intriguing drama transports audiences into a world of history, humor, and heartache to explore a love affair that might have been. Playing April 4-23, 2017. Directed by Michael Evan Haney.

James Joyce’s mega-novel Ulysses (itself based on The Odyssey) charts the life of an Irish man, Leopold Bloom, on June 16, 1904—a day now celebrated annually as Bloomsday worldwide. Dietz’s play finds Robert, a modern-day, middle-aged American, time-traveling to 1980s Dublin in search of Cait, a Bloomsday tour guide and the woman he once loved. Dancing backwards through time, they relive the unlikely, inevitable events that brought them—if only briefly—together. Not just another what-might-have-been story, this charming, Irish time-travel-love-odyssey is a buoyant, moving appeal for making the most of the present before it is past.

“It’s hard to go wrong when you pick up a Steven Dietz play,” explains Producing Artistic Director D. Lynn Meyers. “There is an honesty in his writing that is unparalleled. Bloomsday gives us the perfect opportunity to get in touch with our younger and present selves.” Guest Director Michael Evan Haney adds “Bloomsday is the kind of story that we conjure up in those foggy moments before we sleep or before we are truly awake. It examines the subject of lost chances and lost love and how we rationalize the decisions we make in our lives. It’s a dream play.” 

About the Cast

Annie Fitzpatrick (Cait) was last seen in Luna Gale at Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati. Her other favorite productions include Hands On A Hardbody, Next Fall, Dead Man’s Cell Phone, Rabbit Hole, String of Pearls (for which she received an Acclaim Award), Wayfarer’s Rest, Intimate Apparel, and Earhart. Additionally, Ms. Fitzpatrick received Cincinnati Entertainment Awards for her performances in Copperheads, Dinner With Friends, and Mauritius. She appeared in A Prayer for Owen Meany, To Kill A Mockingbird, Pride and Prejudice, A Christmas Carol, and Hank Williams: Lost Highway, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park; Richard III, Death Of a Salesman, Little Women, A Man For All Seasons, and Blithe Spirit, Cincinnati Shakespeare Company; and Silent Sky, Pluto, and Collapse, Know Theatre. She has worked regionally at Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Geva Theatre, Florida Stage, Florida Studio, CATCO, Human Race Theatre Co., Porthouse Theatre, and New Edgecliff Theatre. She was a founding member of The New Group in New York and toured internationally with Murder à La Carte. She has appeared in numerous soaps and in local and national commercials. Her TV and film credits include Those Who Kill on A&E, Army Wives, Little Accidents, Fun Size, and Milk Money.

Becca Howell (Caithleen) graduated from Northern Kentucky University with a BFA in Acting and was a member of the 2013-2014 Professional Acting Internship Program at ETC, where she was seen in Around the World in 80 Days. Ms. Howell recently worked on stage in the latest installment of Serials! at Know Theatre of Cincinnati and Prelude to a Kiss at Falcon Theatre. In addition to stage work, she has appeared on film in A Twisted Fate and Curvature. 

Barry Mulholland (Robert) is delighted to return to Ensemble Theatre, having previously appeared in Tribes, Freud’s Last Session, and End Days. Other local appearances include To Kill A Mockingbird, Pride & Prejudice, and Burkie, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park; The Diary of Anne Frank, The Elephant Man, and Much Ado About Nothing, Cincinnati Shakespeare Company; and The Music Man in Concert with the Cincinnati Pops at Music Hall.
Mr. Mulholland appeared Off-Broadway in Ghost Sonata, Danton’s Death, Wild Oats, Balloon (Outer Critics Circle nomination, Best Play), and in the L.A. production of Love Streams starring Gena Rowlands, directed by John Cassavetes. Regional credits include leading roles with such theatres as Long Wharf Theatre, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Capital Repertory Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre, Clarence Brown Theatre, Merrimack Repertory Theatre, Intiman Theatre, and A.C.T. Seattle. His plays Barnes & Noble Conquer the World and Existential Therapy have been featured in new play festivals in New York and Massachusetts. Recent screen credits include A Kind of Murder, Curvature, and Surviving Compton. 

Patrick Phillips (Robbie) last appeared at ETC as Prince Freddy in Cinderella: After Ever After. He is a graduate of Xavier University with a BA in Theatre. His previous Ensemble credits include Luna Gale, Violet, Love and Information, and Sleeping Beauty. His other regional theatre credits include The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre; Henry VI, Part I, Cincinnati Shakespeare Company; and Saint Joan and Relatively Speaking, Diogenes Theatre Company.

Production team includes Brian c. Mehring (Resident Scenic & Lighting Designer), Jack Murphy (Technical Director), Matthew Hollstegge (Production Manager & Master Electrician), Shannon Rae Lutz (Properties Master & Design Assistant), Matt Callahan (Sound Designer), Stormie Mac (Costume Designer), and Julia Guichard (Dialect Coach). Production Stage Manager is Brandon T. Holmes. Assistant Stage Manager is Elizabeth Freyman. 

Performance Information
Performances run Tuesday through Sunday. Tuesday-Thursday, 7:30 pm; Friday and Saturday, 8:00 pm; Saturday and Sunday, 2:00 pm; and Sunday, 7:00 pm. A complete calendar of performances is available online at www.ensemblecincinnati.org. 

Ticket Prices
Ticket prices start at $28 for adults; student tickets are $25; and children are $18. For the 2016-2017 Season, ETC continues its popular $15 student and half-price rush tickets for all performances, which are available two hours prior to show time and may be purchased by phone or in person at the box office.

Available Discounts
Military, Educator, ArtsWave ArtsPass, AAA, and Enjoy the Arts discounts available; tickets and seating are subject to availability.

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Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati is supported, in part, by the generosity of community contributions to the ArtsWave Campaign.

The Ohio Arts Council helps fund Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans. Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati also receives funding from the Shubert Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.

2016-2017 Season Presenting Sponsor is the Otto M. Budig Family Foundation. 

Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati is a professional theatre dedicated to producing world and regional premieres of works that often explore compelling social issues. We fulfill our mission through our stage productions and educational outreach programs that enlighten, enliven, enrich and inspire our audiences.

February 21 – March 12, 2017

(Cincinnati, OH) Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati (ETC) travels back to the 1970s with WHEN WE WERE YOUNG AND UNAFRAID, an intriguing drama by Sarah Treem, one of the writers behind Netflix’s House of Cards and co-creator of Showtime’s award-winning drama The Affair. In this moving piece, a new arrival’s influence forces the residents of an underground women’s shelter to confront their own secrets. This powerful drama explores the passion of youth, the wisdom of age, and the people who awaken us to new possibilities. Playing February 21-March 12, 2017. Directed by Drew Fracher.

In the early 1970s, before Roe v. Wade, before the Violence Against Women Act, Agnes, a single mother and former nurse, has turned her quiet bed and breakfast into one of the few spots where victims of domestic violence can seek refuge. But to Agnes’s dismay, her latest runaway, Mary Anne, is beginning to influence Agnes’s college-bound daughter Penny. As the drums of a feminist revolution grow louder outside of Agnes’s tiny world, Agnes is forced to confront her own presumptions about the women she’s spent her life trying to help.

“I think we’re doing the right play at the right time,” says ETC’s Producing Artistic Director D. Lynn Meyers. “When I chose [When We Were Young and Unafraid], I had no idea our country would be in the place it is now with women’s rights on the table. I was deeply touched by the honesty of Sarah Treem’s piece. It doesn’t play the melodramatic card or work too hard to make a point, it just simply is.” 

About the Cast

Christine Dye (Agnes) last performed at Ensemble Theatre in the Two Weeks with the Queen. She has also appeared onstage in August: Osage County, Riverside, and Sarge, The Clifton Performance Theatre; Dracula, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park; House of Yes, Untethered Theatre; Jeffery, Parallel Lives, Valhalla, Ovation Theatre; Power Failure, Night of the Iguana, and Bus Stop, New Edgecliff Theatre; Groucho: A Life in Revue, Damn Yankee’s, and Don’t Drink the Water, Showboat Majestic; Steel Magnolias, Covedale Center for the Performing Arts; Vagina Monologues, Miss Reardon Drinks a Little, and Shirley Valentine, Middletown Lyric Theatre; Sarge, CincyFringe Festival. Film credits include Carol, A Case of Murder, Mom and Dad, Aftermath, and First Kill. Ms. Dye was awarded a CityBeat Entertainment Award for Best Actress in a Lead Role for Shirley Valentine and also a League of Cincinnati Theatres Award for Best Supporting Actress in Bus Stop. 

Kat McCaulla (Mary Anne) makes her ETC debut with this production. A current member of the ETC Professional Acting Apprenticeship Company, she graduated from Missouri State University with a BFA in Acting and Minor in Screenwriting. Ms. McCaulla previously attended the Conservatory of Theatre and Dance and has worked at Ozark Actors’ Theatre, Tommy O’s Playhouse, and Springfield Little Theatre. A few of her previous roles include Linda in Cucumbers, Tricia in Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead, Violet in It’s A Wonderful Life, Mercy Lewis in The Crucible, and Darlene in The Diviners. Credited assistant directing includes Peter Pan, Into the Woods, Runaways, and Leaving Iowa. She also has directed and written for television and film.

Delaney Ragusa (Penny) was last seen at Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati as Young Violet in Violet. Seen in the Off-Broadway U.S. premiere of A Little Princess, Ms. Ragusa’s other New York performances include two appearances in Lyrics for Life at Symphony Space. Locally, she has played leading roles in Eleemosynary, Ensemble Theatre; A Christmas Carol, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park; You Can’t Take it With You, SCPA. Film credits include singer/dancer in A Christmas Melody, the Hallmark Channel Movie directed by Mariah Carey.

Zak Schneider (Paul), a Cincinnati native, previously worked as an intern at Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati during the 2013-2014 season, performing and understudying in multiple productions that year. He has since been living in New York City and working at various regional theatres across the country.

Tess Talbot (Hannah) was an ETC intern during the 2012-2013 season and appeared at Ensemble in Around the World in 80 Days, Alice in Wonderland, and Swimming in the Shallows. She is a proud ensemble member with the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, where her favorite credits include Henrey VI Part 1 and 2, Julius Ceasar, and Death of a Salesman. Ms. Talbot has also performed in Chase the Dragon with Cincinnati LAB Theatre, and Bus Stop with New Edgecliff Theatre. She holds a BFA from Wright State University.

Production team includes Brian c. Mehring (Resident Scenic & Lighting Designer), Jack Murphy (Technical Director), Matthew Hollstegge (Production Manager & Master Electrician), Shannon Rae Lutz (Properties Master & Design Assistant), Matt Callahan (Sound Designer), and Mary Murphy (Costume Designer). Production Stage Manager is Brandon T. Holmes. Assistant Stage Manager is Elizabeth Freyman.  

Performance Information
Performances run Tuesday through Sunday. Tuesday-Thursday, 7:30 pm; Friday and Saturday, 8:00 pm; Saturday and Sunday, 2:00 pm; and Sunday, 7:00 pm. A complete calendar of performances is available online at www.ensemblecincinnati.org.  

Ticket Prices
Ticket prices start at $28 for adults; student tickets are $25; and children are $18. For the 2016-2017 Season, ETC continues its popular $15 student and half-price rush tickets for all performances, which are available two hours prior to show time and may be purchased by phone or in person at the box office.

Available Discounts
Military, Educator, ArtsWave ArtsPass, AAA, and Enjoy the Arts discounts available; tickets and seating are subject to availability.

###

Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati is supported, in part, by the generosity of community contributions to the ArtsWave Campaign.

The Ohio Arts Council helps fund Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans. Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati also receives funding from the Shubert Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.

2016-2017 Season Presenting Sponsor is the Otto M. Budig Family Foundation. 

Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati is a professional theatre dedicated to producing world and regional premieres of works that often explore compelling social issues. We fulfill our mission through our stage productions and educational outreach programs that enlighten, enliven, enrich and inspire our audiences.