Performances continue to Aug. 22 in La Jolla, CA. La Jolla artistic director and Tony nominee Ashley (Restoration, Memphis, Xanadu) has gathered a cast led by Tony Award nominee and Obie Award winner Woodard (The Night Watcher, In the Blood, Ain't Misbehavin') as Hippolyta/Titania, Obie winner and Tony nominee Cameron (The Starry Messenger, As Bees in Honey Drown, Our Country's Good) as Helena, Obie winner Martin Moran (The Tricky Part…, Spamalot, Titanic) as Puck, and California classical actor Jonathan McMurtry, whose resume includes roles at the Old Globe, North and South Coast Reps and San Diego Rep, as Egeus.
The cast also feature 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, Matt Cusick and Tatyana Petruk as Fairy-Acrobats and Kyle Anderson, Cate Campbell, Maritxell Carrero, Sarah Garcia, Anne Stella and Bowman Wright as Fairies.
Mark Bennett has composed original music for the production, which will be performed along with parts of Felix Mendelssohn's 1842 score for Midsummer by members and alumni of the San Diego Youth Symphony.
The creative team includes Neil Patel (sets), David C. Woolard (costumes), Howell Binkley (lighting), Leon Rothenberg (sound), Basil Twist (puppet designer), Eric Stern (music director) and Andrew Pacho (choreography).
According to La Jolla notes, the production of Shakespeare's tale of comically mismatched human — and fairy — love "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." The La Jolla Playhouse is located at 2900 La Jolla Village Drive in La Jolla, CA. For tickets, call (858) 550-1010 or visit lajollaplayhouse.org.
