Alley Theatre Artistic Director Gregory Boyd announces the cast and creative team for the Alley Theatre’s production of the 2010 Best Play Tony Award Winner, Red. The cast features two returning actors, Tony-nominated Scott Wentworth as Rothko and Jay Sullivan, who was last seen as Peter Pan, as Rothko’s assistant Ken.
In John Logan’s Red, master abstract expressionist Mark Rothko has just landed the biggest commission in the history of modern art, a series of murals for New York’s famed Four Seasons restaurant. In the two fascinating years that follow, Rothko works feverishly with his young assistant, Ken, in his studio on the Bowery. But when Ken gains the confidence to challenge him, Rothko faces the agonizing possibility that his crowning achievement could also become his undoing. Red is a searing portrait of an artist's ambition and vulnerability as he tries to create a definitive work for an extraordinary setting. Explicit language, adult situations.
“We are pleased and privileged,” said Artistic Director Gregory Boyd, “to offer our production of Red in a place that is home to so much of Rothko’s work. The compelling paintings here in Houston offer an encounter with a spiritual power that approaches the transcendent, and that can, in Dominique de Menil’s words, ‘bring us to the threshold of the divine.’ The play has its own unique power, a purely theatrical potency.”
Playwright John Logan received the Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critic Circle and Drama League awards for his play Red. He recently received an Academy nomination for best adapted screenplay for Hugo. His two upcoming projects include Skyfall, the 23rd James Bond film, and the movie adaptation of Jersey Boys.
Jackson Gay returns to the Alley, following her triumphant production of August: Osage County last season, to direct this raw, provocative and powerful new play. Red, by John Logan and directed by Jackson Gay, begins previews Friday March 2, opens Wednesday March 7 and runs through Sunday, March 24, 2012 on the Hubbard Stage.
Red will feature scenic design by Takeshi Kata and costume design by Jessica Ford. Lighting design is by Paul Whitaker and sound design is by Matt Tierney.
ABOUT THE CAST
Scott Wentworth (Rothko) has starred on Broadway in Lost In Yonkers, Anna Karenina, Getting Married, and Welcome To The Club, for which he was nominated for a Tony Award. He has performed across the United States and Canada in such theatres as the New York Shakespeare Festival, Hartford Stage, the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, Centerstage, Arena Stage, Playmakers Rep, Chicago Shakespeare, the Indiana Repertory Theatre, Seattle Rep, A.C.T. in San Francisco, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, the Manitoba Theatre Centre, the London Grand, Montreal’s Centaur Theatre, Toronto’s Cannon Theatre and the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. Mr. Wentworth was a leading member of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival’s Acting Company for seventeen seasons, playing such roles as Iago in Othello, Mark Antony in Julius Caesar, Bosola in The Duchess of Malfi, and the title role in Macbeth. His directing credits include both parts of Henry IV for Stratford, Othello for the Indiana Repertory Theatre, Richard III for Bard On The Beach, The Winter’s Tale for the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey and Love’s Labour’s Lost for Shakespeare Santa Cruz. He has written the book for two musicals; Gunmetal Blues and Enter The Guardsman, with music and lyrics by Craig Bohmler and Marion Adler. Enter The Guardsman received its world premiere at London’s Donmar Warehouse and was nominated for two Olivier Awards, including Best New Musical. His adaptation of The Man In The Iron Mask will be produced at Shakespeare Santa Cruz this summer. Mr. Wentworth is delighted to return to the Alley where he last appeared in 1981 as Romeo.
