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PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Friday, October 5, 2012 CONTACT: Patrick Finlon, Marketing Director

315-443-2636 or pjfinlon@syr.edu

Grand Adventure in Moby Dick, a Play with Music, Opening Syracuse Stage’s 40th Season

Running October 10—November 4

(Syracuse, NY)—Alive with a soundscape of 18 authentic sea chanteys and performed by an ensemble of nine, this highly physical adaption cuts to the core of Melville's searing narrative and plays with the fury of a Nantucket sleigh ride. A young man seeks adventure on a whaling vessel and finds himself a pawn in an obsessive pursuit of vengeance that threatens death and destruction for all. Adapted for the stage by Julian Rad from the book by Herman Melville, with lyrics adapted from the traditional, Moby Dick is directed by Peter Amster, whose previous Syracuse Stage credits include Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps, This Wonderful Life and The Fantasticks. Moby Dick runs October 10—November 4 in the

Archbold Theatre at Syracuse Stage, 820 East Genesee Street. Tickets range $30-$51 for adults and $18 for age 18 and under. Tickets are available at the Syracuse Stage Box Office, 315-443-3275 or www.SyracuseStage.org. Sponsors for Moby Dick are Lockheed Martin, Pomco Group and Alliance Bank. The media sponsors are WAER and WCNY. Syracuse Stage season sponsors are The Post-Standard and Time Warner Cable. Julian Rad’s adaptation of Moby Dick premiered in New York City in 2003. The work received critical acclaim, praised for its spare yet faithful treatment of Melville’s 1851 novel. Rad’s Moby Dick was the first Off-Off Broadway play ever to be nominated for a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play, an award typically reserved only for Broadway and Off-Broadway shows. A “play with music,” the adaptation includes 18 authentic sea chanteys sung mostly a capella. “The show’s songs sound glorious,” noted TheatreMania.com. “They range from stirring to heartbreaking and they have a unique, muscular beauty. Best of all, they are woven throughout the play in the most natural ways.” The sea chanteys mentioned throughout Melville’s book “became something I grabbed onto and gravitated towards,” said Rad. “Music is such a wonderfully creative device, especially in the theatre, where it gives us an opportunity to build the action.”

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Director Peter Amster believes it is the music—along with lighting, sound, and movement— that will help to convey “the incomprehensibly huge scale of the events of this story.” Amster notes, “There is also the task of trying to give an audience a visceral sense of the strenuous activity that is necessary to operate a whaling vessel—hauling, managing sails, raising anchors, climbing rope ladders, to name a few—without the real equipment and rigging needed to carry out these gestures. So a theatrically heightened language of movement has to be developed, one that gives the audience a sort of behavioral metaphor for the effort, the struggle, the physical cost of performing those tasks.” Amster hopes these large theatrical gestures will trigger the audience’s imagination to “see” the events as they unfold and feel what that experience might have felt like for those who lived them. In the play, as in the novel, a sailor called Ishmael learns of Captain Ahab’s desire to seek revenge upon a white sperm whale named Moby Dick, which destroyed the Captain’s boat and bit off his leg in a previous encounter. Captain Ahab is relentless in his pursuit, even at the expense of the sailors’ safety, threatening destruction for everyone onboard. The Captain’s First Mate, Starbuck, is alone in questioning the Captain’s motives. In the Syracuse Stage production, the role of Starbuck will be played by Ithaca, NY resident David Studwell, who appeared previously at Syracuse Stage as Professor Fritz Bhaer in Little Women and El Gallo in The Fantasticks. The role of Captain Ahab will be played by Chicago-based actor Kurt Ehrmann, who has worked with Steppenwolf Theatre and Goodman Theatre Company. Erik Hellman, who will perform as Ishmael, is also a Chicago-based actor and has appeared with Steppenwolf Theatre and Lookingglass Theatre Company. In creating this adaptation, Julian Rad found Starbuck’s character arc to be the most compelling and the one that resonates most with the audience, so he started building the narrative around that, using Ishmael as the narrator and having a third person perspective on it. Said Rad, “Moby Dick always spoke to me in a deep and personal way—the struggle of many of the elements, the struggle that Starbuck goes through trying to be a moral man surrounded by all sorts of immorality, the ideas of man versus nature, man versus God, man versus himself.” In writing, Rad remained true to the kernel of Melville’s story, making sure the story he wrote was adapted truthfully on the stage. Said Director Peter Amster: “Julian Rad’s script is a miracle of compression. It moves with almost Sophoclean swiftness to its tragic end.” LOBBY EXHIBIT – ONONDAGA HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION “Discovering Hidden Stories of Syracuse…Tied to American Whaling” In words and historical images, “Discovering Hidden Stories of Syracuse . . .Tied to American Whaling,” created by Onondaga County Historical Association, depicts Syracuse in the early 1850s, at the time Herman Melville’s whaling novel, Moby Dick, was first published. The exhibit covers the history of the use of whale oil in 19th century Syracuse homes and industry, the story of fugitive slave Enoch Reed with ties to Syracuse, the historic “Jerry Rescue” and

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Moby Dick author Herman Melville, and the tragic tale of Burr Burton, a young whaler from Syracuse. http://www.cnyhistory.org/ SPECIAL EVENTS Prologue (Ongoing) Join us for a free, intimate, insightful and entertaining

pre-show talk led by a member of the cast. One hour prior to curtain, all performances with the exception of the Wednesday matinee and Opening Night on Oct 12. Please note: starting with White Christmas, Prologue will only be available before select performances for the remainder of the season, dates TBA.

TUES, Oct 9 at 7:30 p.m. M&T Bank Pay-What-You-Can Dress Rehearsal

$9 suggested donation to watch the final dress rehearsal. Tickets available at the Syracuse Stage Box Office on day of show starting at 10 a.m. For info, call 315-443-3275.

FRI, Oct 12 LIVE in the Sutton Series

A post-show party in the Sutton Pavilion following the 8 p.m. opening night performance featuring live music by the Melissa Gardiner Trio.

THUR, Oct 18 at 6:00 p.m. Happy Hour Half-price drinks and complimentary snacks from 6—7:15

p.m. Plus—get a taste of our feature drink special: High Seas (vodka, Blue Curacoa, cranberry juice, and lime juice).

SAT, Oct 20 at 3 p.m. Sign Interpreted Performance Series WED, Oct 24 at 1 p.m. Wednesday @ 1 Lecture Series

A 1 p.m. lecture, located in the Sutton Pavilion, before the 2 p.m. performance with Dr. Ann Ryan, Chair, Professor of English, Le Moyne College.

WED, Oct 24 at 2 p.m. Open Captioned Series

Open captioned 2 p.m. performance. SAT, Oct 27 at 3 p.m. Audio Described Series

Patrons who are blind or visually impaired may pick up an infrared audio receiver upon arriving at the theatre, and during the performance a live narrator will verbalize visual details about the actors and scenic elements. Due to limited availability, audio receivers must be reserved in advance at our Box Office, 315-443-3275.

SUN, Oct 28 at 2 p.m. Open Captioned Series

Open captioned 2 p.m. performance.

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SUN, Oct 28 Actor Talkback Series Meet the actors after the 7:00 p.m. performance.

ABOUT SYRACUSE STAGE Syracuse Stage is Central New York’s premier professional theatre. Founded in 1974, Stage has produced more than 241 plays in 39 seasons including a number of world, American, and East Coast premieres. Each season 90,000 patrons enjoy an adventurous mix of new plays and bold interpretations of classics and musicals featuring the finest theatre artists. In addition, Stage maintains a vital educational outreach program that annually serves over 30,000 students from 24 counties. A solid core of subscribers and supporters helps keep Syracuse Stage a vibrant artistic presence in Central New York. Additional support comes from the government, foundations, corporations and Syracuse University. Syracuse Stage is a constituent of the Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for the American theatre, and a member of the Arts and Cultural Leadership Alliance (ACLA), the University Hill Corporation and the East Genesee Regent Association. Syracuse Stage is a member of The League of Resident Theatres (LORT), the largest professional theatre association in the country.

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Info Sheet BASIC INFO

Moby Dick Adapted for the stage by Julian Rad from the book by Herman Melville Lyrics adapted from the traditional by Julian Rad Directed by Peter Amster October 10 - November 4, 2012 Archbold Theatre at Syracuse Stage 820 East Genesee Street

SPONSORS Season Sponsors: The Post-Standard Time Warner Cable Show Sponsors: Lockheed Martin Pomco Group Alliance Bank

Media Sponsors: WAER WCNY

TICKETS Adults: $30-$51 18 & Under: $18 40 & Under: $30 *Senior discounts available all performances except Friday and Saturday evenings.

*Rush tickets day of performance only: $20-$25 general public and $18 with valid student ID, subject to availability.

Online: www.SyracuseStage.org Call: 315-443-3275 In person: 820 East Genesee Street Groups (10 or more): 315-443-9844 CAST

Bob Amaral (Captain Boomer & Perth) Alan Ball (Peleg & Flask) Kurt Ehrmann (Captain Ahab) Erik Hellman (Ishmael) Rob Johansen (Elijah) Craig MacDonald (Landlord & Carpenter)

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Roderick Peeples (Captain Gardiner & Stubb) David Studwell (Starbuck) Antoine Pierre Whitfield (Queequeg)

DESIGNERS Linda Buchanan (Scenic Designer)

Tracy Dorman (Costume Designer) Thomas C. Hase (Lighting Designer) Victoria (toy) Deiorio (Original Music and Sound Design)

STAGE MANAGEMENT Laura Jane Collins (Stage Manager) DIRECTION

Peter Amster (Director) Dianne Adams McDowell (Vocal Director) Malcolm Ingram (Dialect Coach) Felix Ivanov (Fight Choreographer)

SHOW CALENDAR (October/November):

SUN MON TUES WED THURS FRI SAT

9

7:30 PWYC

10

7:30 P

11

7:30 P

12

8:00 O

13

3:00 8:00

14

2:00

15 16

17

7:30

18

7:30 H

19

8:00

20

3:00 S 8:00

21

2:00

22

23

24

2:00 OC

25

7:30

26

8:00

27

3:00 AD 8:00

28

2:00 OC 7:00 AD

29

30

7:30

31

7:30

1

2

8:00

3

3:00 8:00

7

4

2:00

PWYC=Pay What You Can Night (Final Dress Rehearsal)

P=Preview O=Press Opening, LIVE in the Sutton H=Happy Hour S=Sign Interpreted AD=Audio Described OC = Open Captioned

D=Actor Talkback W=Wednesday @ 1 Lecture

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Syracuse Stage I Producing Artistic Director: Timothy Bond I Managing Director: Jeffrey Woodward 820 E. Genesee St. I Main: 315-443-4008 I Box Office: 315-443-3275 I www.SyracuseStage.org