The Harlem Renaissance provoked the emotionally charged music of Fats Waller in the multiple Tony Award®-winner AIN’T MISBEHAVIN’: The Fats Waller Musical Show, which will open the Season; followed by REP favorites The Reduced Shakespeare Company® responding to the Good Book through the lens of 21st century American pop culture with THE BIBLE: THE COMPLETE WORD OF GOD (abridged). Up next, following its popular REP workshop production last fall, is San Diego native Rick Najera’s SWEET 15 (Quinceañera), which brings everyone’s best and worst family memories to the fore, as a long-lost Latino dad seeks to host a party in the hope of reuniting his estranged family. The women of the world then represent, beginning with a new play workshop based on American writer Sherri Mandell’s book THE BLESSING OF A BROKEN HEART. Adapted and directed by REP Associate Artistic Director Todd Salovey, the play tells of her move to the mountains of Israel seeking greater meaning and purpose in her life – and its repercussions - and had a first reading at last season’s Lipinsky Family San Diego Jewish Arts Festival.  The season will close with MacArthur Genius Award winner Sarah Ruhl’s

THE CLEAN HOUSE, which tells the extraordinary story of four women who discover a new definition of spiritual friendship - one that includes the search for the funniest joke in the world. 

Hit your stride with AIN’T MISBEHAVIN’: The Fats Waller Musical Show – the sassy, sexy musical that won 3 Tony Awards® and a New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award; with music by Thomas “Fats” Waller; conceived and originally directed by Richard Maltby, Jr. and based on an idea by Murray Horowitz and Richard Maltby, Jr.  It will be directed and choreographed by Patdro Harris, who last did those honors with 2004’s critically-acclaimed REP hit Crowns. Performances begin Saturday, September 15; With Opening Night on Friday, September 21 at 8PM; playing through October 14, 2007.

The Harlem Renaissance was one of the most astonishing explosions of creativity in modern American history. Musical genius was onstage most every night at venues like the Cotton Club and the Savoy Ballroom. Clubs on Lennox Avenue were ablaze with stride piano players stunning the world with the new beat of “swing.” And Fats Waller was the King of the Street ~ and king of the stride piano players. Thirty unforgettable songs, including “The Joint is Jumpin’,” “T Ain’t Nobody’s Biz-ness If I Do,” “Honeysuckle Rose,” “I’ve Got a Feeling I’m Falling,” “When the Nylons Bloom Again,” “Your Feets Too Big,” “Two Sleepy People” and “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love” make this sassy and sexy dance and song hit parade one of the most entertaining musicals of our time!

Thomas “Fats” Waller was born in Harlem in 1904, began playing piano at six, and went on to play the organ at the Abyssinian Baptist Church and sing in the choir. Fats was incredibly prolific, writing dozens of songs and three Broadway shows, including Hot Chocolates , which starred Louis Armstrong and introduced the song “Ain’t Misbehavin’.” His unique style pioneered the use of pipe organ and Hammond organ in jazz; his 1929 solo recording “Handful Of Keys” embodied the ultimate in stride piano technique.  George Gershwin was a fan. His dazzling keyboard artistry, larger-than-life personality and tossed-off humorous asides won a lifelong Victor Recordings contract for Fats and his sextet Rhythm; he appeared in films (notably Stormy Weather opposite Lena Horne and Cab Calloway) and toured nightclubs throughout the US and Europe. At 39, he caught pneumonia on an arduous West Coast tour and died on the train back to NY. His Harlem funeral, attended by more than 4200 people, was conducted by Dr. Adam Clayton Powell who remarked, “Fats always did play to packed houses.”

Patdro Harris’ work was last seen at the REP as director and choreographer of Crowns in 2004, preceded by his choreographing SLAM, and he has served as director, choreographer and artistic consultant at Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Kennedy Center (Helen Hayes Award/Outstanding Choreography ’96, Best Supporting Actor nomination); Alliance Theatre, Studio Theatre, City Theatre/Pittsburgh, Tribeca Performing Arts Center, Minneapolis Mixed Blood Theatre, Theatrical Outfit, Jomandi Productions, Liberty Theatre, Nat’l Black Theatre Festival, and Nat’l Black Arts Festival. He was a principal male dancer for major dance companies; instructor with American Dance Festival; artistic director/Atlanta Metro Cathedral dance ministry; lead dancer/choreographer for Stevie Wonder, Technotronic, SOS Band, TC Carson and Daryl Coley. TV credits include TNN, BET, MTV, “Soul Train,” PBS’ “Dance Black America” and Time Warner's pay-per-view special "Nitro Girls."

“Totally charged, hair-raising numbers…heartstopping.”
– New York Times

“As strong a piece of musical theater as there is, the equivalent of a great soliloquy by Shakespeare.”
– Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

THE BIBLE: THE COMPLETE WORD OF GOD (abridged), written by Adam Long, Reed Martin and Austin Tichenor; performed by The Reduced Shakespeare Company®. The comic wizards’ works include The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) – now London’s longest running comedy; The Complete History of America (abridged) - both were presented at UCSD; and The Bible: The Complete Word of God (abridged) - when All the Great Books (abridged) opened in 2003, the RSC had more shows in the West End than Andrew Lloyd Webber; and it was seen at the REP in 2003 as well. Performances begin Wednesday, October 17; With Opening Night on Sunday, October 21 at 7PM; playing through November 11, 2007.

From the comic geniuses who created the acclaimed reduced versions of The Complete Works of Shakespeare (abridged), and All the Great Books (abridged), comes “The Greatest Story Ever Accepted as Fact!” Posing the question “Does God have a sense of humor?” - they prove that he undoubtedly has. Adam, Eve, Moses, Noah, Mary, Joseph, Jesus and the Easter Bunny star in this affectionate and hilarious comedy filled with music, wordplay, physical humor, sight gags, audience participation and lots of vaudevillian comedy. From fig leaves to Final Judgment, from “In the Beginning Blues” to “Revelations: The Musical” this show is a laugh a minute…..at LEAST. Whether you are Catholic or Atheist, Muslim or Jew, Protestant or Purple People Eater, you will be tickled by the RSC's romp through old time religion.

“The RSC put the ‘fun’ back in fundamentalism.”
– Baltimore Sun

“One of the funniest evenings I’ve spent in the theatre!”
– Boston Phoenix

SWEET 15 (QUINCEAÑERA), written by and starring Broadway’s Rick Najera, will be directed by Sam Woodhouse . Commissioned by the REP as part of the 10^th Anniversary of The Calafia Initiative,

Najera’s new interactive comedy had a popular workshop production last Season. Performances begin Saturday, November 17; With Opening Night on Wednesday, November 28 at 7PM; playing through – December 16, 2007

Are you ready to party? The Valderama family of National City invites you to celebrate their daughter’s quinceañera (sweet fifteen coming-of-age party). Patriarch Eduardo has returned home from Mexico with unexplained riches after a ten year absence that began the day his daughter Sonora turned 15. He vows to put his family back on their feet, on one condition: 25 year old Sonora must agree to star in the quinceañera party that dad bailed out on ten years ago! Sweet15 pits father against daughter, wife and grandmother in the midst of superstar singers and dancers in a very funny and very interactive comedy.

Najera is an award-winning writer-director-producer and actor, with writing credits on hit comedy shows such as “MAD TV” and “In Living Color.” He performed on Broadway in New York City at the legendary Helen Hayes Theatre with his award winning comedy, Latinologues. Previous stage plays commissioned by San Diego REP include Najera’s A Quiet Love, Latins Anonymous and Latinologues. A native San Diegan, Najera graduated from American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco and was accepted into the prestigious Warner Bros. Comedy Writing Program. With more than fifty productions of his work produced at venues across the country, Najera is one of the most-produced Latino playwrights in the country. He received two Writers Guild Award nominations for his writing on “MAD TV” and was named “One of the Most Influential Latinos in America” twice by Hispanic Business Magazine. Currently Najera has his own show on CBS.com called “BBQ Bill,” which he stars in, writes and executive produces. He will also direct CBS' enormously popular Multicultural Sketch Comedy Talent Showcase this January. Recommended for mature audiences, adult situations, and language.

A Workshop production of THE BLESSING OF A BROKEN HEART, adapted and directed by REP Associate Artistic Director Todd Salovey, is up next. Based on the award-winning book by Sherri Mandell, it was presented in a staged reading in last season’s Lipinsky Family San Diego Jewish Arts Festival. Performances begin Saturday, January 4; playing through January 20, 2008

This world-premiere drama is the stunning story of a young American mother who moves her family from Maryland to the rural outskirts of Jerusalem in search of meaning and adventure – only to be immersed in the storm of a 3000 year old struggle. When a shocking tragedy hits the heart of her family, she embarks on a profound journey of discovery, growing faith and spiritual transcendence that becomes an inspiring story of healing and rebirth.

Sherri Mandell was born in New York and graduated from Colorado State University, where she received her M.A. in creative writing. She taught writing at the University of Maryland and at Penn State. She is the author of Writers of the Holocaust, (Facts on File, 2000) and has written for numerous magazines and journals, including The Washington Post, Denver Post and 4he Jerusalem Post. She moved to Israel in 1996, where she lives in Tekoa with her family, and is now director of The Koby Mandell Foundation Women's Healing Retreats for Bereaved Mothers and Widows.

 “Of all the spiritual memoirs written about the healing power of love, this is one of the best and most relevant for our times” – Amazon.com

“It's a very moving book - it will accompany you for a long time.” - Aharon Appelfeld

"Sherri Mandell's wrenching, soulful and beautiful book is more than an act of remembrance. It is an act of grace."
- John Podhoretz

"A spiritual journey of faith, hope and redemption. Each page is mystical and beautiful, written with profound emotion and deep sincerity. From the depths of darkness comes this uplifting poem of life. It is a must read for everyone."
- Faye Kellerman

THE CLEAN HOUSE, a wildly funny new comedy by a thrilling new voice in the American theatre, 2006 MacArthur Genius Award winner Sarah Ruhl, directed by REP Artistic Director Sam Woodhouse, will close the Season. Winner of the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for Best Play by a Female Playwright & 2005 Pulitzer Prize Finalist. Performances begin Saturday, February 23, 2008; with Opening Night on Friday, February 29; playing through March 22.

Sarah Ruhl’s play is a fantastical, visionary and poignant story about the true nature of love. It features three vivid and complex women over 50; Matilde the maid, an aspiring comedian from Brazil who hates cleaning houses; and “the husband” Charles who falls in love with an older woman.  The Clean House tells the story of a housekeeper who can't manage to fake enthusiasm for her domestic duties - her employers' home is as disorderly as their personal lives. Setting out in pursuit of the perfect joke, she ignores household dirt and instead becomes swept away by affairs of the heart. A life-affirming story that explores the humor and sadness of one household, reminding audiences of the unexpected beauty in life.

Ruhl‘s plays include Eurydice, Passion Play; a cycle, Melancholy Play; Orlando and Late, A Cowboy Song. Recent projects include Eurydice at Yale Repertory and Passion Play at Arena Stage. The Clean House was supported in its earliest stages by the McCarter Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre, the Piven Theatre Workshop, the Lark and the Underwood Theater.

"The Clean House is not, by any means, a traditional boy-meets-girl story... This comedy is romantic, deeply so, but in the more arcane sense of the word: visionary, tinged with fantasy, extravagant in feeling, maybe a little nuts. This compassionate comedy with layers of surprising insights, emotional richness and theatrical audacity argues that the best things in life are infinitely worth waiting for.”
- New York Times

 “A rich work about big themes from a young playwright with an original and audacious voice. Just the fact that three leading characters here are vivid, complex women over 50 is unusual enough. This funny, tender play has screwy poetry and penetrating wisdom, oddball humor, deadpan soap-operatic arias, fantasy, spirituality and a soaring sense of romance. Most of all, it has tremendous compassion.”
- Variety

Recommended for mature audiences, adult situations, and language.

The 15th Annual Kuumba Fest will take place February 1-3; and the 15th Annual Lipinsky Family San Diego Jewish Arts Festival will arrive in late spring, dates TBD.

Performance schedule, in previews: Wednesday evenings at 7PM (note new time!); Thursday thru Saturday evenings at 8PM and Sundays at 7PM; Tuesday at 7PM (during previews only); after opening, add Sunday matinees at 2PM; one Saturday 2PM matinee. Sam’s Salon moves to the first Thursday after Opening Night at 7PM. There will also be post-show forums with each cast.

Subscriptions run $98-$264. The REP offers subscribers an extensive package of benefits, including the lowest prices available; free ticket exchange privileges; discounts on individual tickets; discounts at area restaurants and other retailers; and the opportunity to upgrade to a Premier Patron Package. Premier Patron seating also offers an additional voucher for a friend, free drink vouchers for the season and a personal backstage tour, in addition to all of the other benefits of being a subscriber to the REP. Add it up. You get the best seats at the best price for the best live entertainment in downtown San Diego for one great low price.

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committed to developing audiences and programming that serve the cultural diversity of the region; because bringing people together and building bridges across cultures and disciplines is an act of citizenship that promotes a wiser and more tolerant, progressive and inclusive community.