|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||
Please Contact:
TAPIT/new works, Inc.
(608) 244-2938 - phone
(608) 244-9114 - fax
info@tapitnewworks.org
"Help Wanted" Premieres - January 25, 2010
“Help Wanted: A Comedy about the Search for Security, True Love or at Least a Decent Part-Time Job,” premieres Friday March 5, at 8 pm at the TAPIT/new works Studio Theater.
And it’s not a documentary, although workers and the un- and under- employed of all ages will find plenty to relate to in the latest production from TAPIT/new works Ensemble Theater.
With this premiere production, TAPIT/new works Ensemble Theater celebrates its 25th season of work, which makes it Madison’s oldest professional theater company.
“Help Wanted” is a play about lay-offs,
larceny and love – in that order. The action begins as employees at Assiste
Corporation find out their company is going bankrupt and their jobs are in
jeopardy. Next the audience learns that two second-rate con artists plan
to bilk these jittery staffers and, eventually, two Assiste employees discover
each other.
Along the way, everyone has to confront – or actively avoid – his or her issues with asking for, giving and receiving help. This includes the independent young career woman with a timely flat tire, the young Help Desk staffer whose iPhone keeps telling him he’s in different places, another Help Desk staffer beset by philosophical concerns and the office manager who gets way too serious about her inner warrior.
“Help Wanted,” written by award-winning playwright Danielle Dresden, is directed by Peggy Rosin and features an original score by Dave Adler. Since it worked in the last Depression, this production also includes entre act tap numbers by award-winning choreographer Donna Peckett. The cast includes Matt Schrader and Kelly Maxwell, as well as Peckett and Dresden, the producing artistic directors of TAPIT/new works Ensemble Theater. Graphics and sets by Michael Duffy, lighting by Patricia Micetic and costumes by Donna Breslin complete the production elements. Gabe Reiss and Tyler Falco Schott are the production’s technicians.
“Help Wanted” performances are set for Fridays and Saturdays, at 8 pm, with Saturday matinees at 4 pm, at the TAPIT/new works Studio Theater at 1957 Winnebago St., March 5th through 20th. Then, to strengthen relationships between arts groups and audiences across Dane County, the Company will present “Help Wanted,” for one weekend only, Friday and Saturday, at 7 pm March 26th and 27th, at the Stoughton Village Players Theater on Main Street in Stoughton.
Outreach is a big part of all TAPIT/new works projects, and it even contributed to the development of “Help Wanted.” Dresden gathered material and conducted workshops on the theme of help with students in the Edgewood College Theater Department, West High School’s Forensics Club and the Chadbourne Residential College at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. When “Help Wanted” is ready to open, the Company will return to these groups, perform excerpts of the play and continue the conversation.
Tickets for the Madison performances are $17 and will be available through www.brownpapertickets.com. Contact TAPIT/new works at 608.244.2938 or info@tapitnewworks.org for information and reservations. Tickets for Stoughton performances are $12. For information about the Stoughton shows, please call 608.244.2938 or email info@tapitnewworks.org.
TAPIT/new works Ensemble Theater is a 25 year-old arts organization based in Madison, Wisconsin and touring throughout the United States and abroad, pursuing its twin goals of artistic innovation and community connection.
“Help Wanted” is supported, in part, by the Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the State of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts and the Dane County Cultural Affairs Commission, with additional supportfrom the American Girl’s Fund for Children, the Overture Foundation and the Pleasant T. Rowland Foundation; Welcomed by 89.9 WORT-FM.
###
Copyright 2002-10 • TAPIT/new
works • 1957 Winnebago Street • Madison, WI 53704
608.244.2938 • info@tapitnewworks.org
Site design and maintenance by Toad Hall Productions