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South Coast Repertory (Artistic Director David Ivers and Managing Director Paula Tomei) announced that it will make programming and schedule changes to the current 2022-23 season. Prelude to a Kiss, The Musical, which was to have its world premiere this spring has been postponed until spring 2024. Its replacement is the new play avaaz by queer Iranian American writer Michael Shayan, with performances beginning three weeks later than the original schedule. Also, La Havana Madrid by Sandra Delgado has been selected as the Outside SCR offering this summer at Mission San Juan Capistrano.
Postponement
Prelude to a Kiss, the musical adaptation of the Tony Award-winning play that first premiered at SCR in 1988, will move into the spring of 2024, where it will serve as one of the anchor productions of the Pacific Playwrights Festival. The postponement became necessary when three crucial developmental workshops had to be cancelled due to COVID.
“When producing a new musical, it’s vitally important to launch it correctly, and we want to do everything possible to ensure the success and future life of this important world premiere,” Ivers said. “Additionally, the opportunity for a co-production of Prelude to a Kiss with another theatre company has presented itself, and we are exploring that possibility. A co-production would extend the life of the musical beyond South Coast Repertory—and we’re excited to pursue that.”
avaaz
avaaz, which replaces Prelude to a Kiss in the season lineup, will make its world premiere April 29-May 27, 2023 on the Segerstrom Stage, which is three weeks later than the Prelude to a Kiss schedule. Directed by Tony Award nominee Moritz von Stuelpnagel (Hand to God), avaaz is one of the anchor productions of SCR’s 25th annual Pacific Playwrights Festival, the nationally renowned showcase of new plays, and one of the key initiatives in SCR’s play development program, The Lab@SCR.
Written and performed by Shayan—one of the country’s most promising emerging writers—avaaz is a funny and deeply personal tribute to the playwright’s mother, who he also portrays. avaaz brings great humor and heart to universal questions and themes which are especially urgent given the ongoing woman-led revolution happening right now in Iran.
It’s Nowruz, the Iranian New Year, and Roya is sharing the story of her great American journey from Tehran to “Tehran-geles,” California. Traditions, humor and passionate storytelling transform this tale of family bonds into an unforgettable theatrical event, with a set by Tony Award winner Beowulf Boritt (Act I) and costumes by Emmy Award winner Joshua “Domino” Schwartz (“We’re Here”). avaaz was one of the hits in the 2022 Pacific Playwrights Festival, where it was featured as a reading.
Shayan, a graduate of Harvard with a Masters of Fine Arts in Playwriting from Brooklyn College, was a consulting producer for the Discovery+ series “The Book of Queer” and worked on the Emmy Award-winning HBO Max show “We’re Here.” avaaz received development grants from Sundance Institute and Theatre Aspen. Shayan was a Lambda Literary Playwriting Fellow and is developing original works for Audible and Geffen Playhouse, among others. At age 13, he was the youngest performer in the history of Hollywood’s Magic Castle.
“avaaz is hilarious, warm and wonderfully touching. Michael is the perfect artist to bring his mother’s life story to the stage and SCR audiences are in for an incredible treat. We get to experience Michael wearing two hats: playwright and performer,” Ivers said.
“We are grateful for the support of our audiences who have so gracefully adapted to all the changes of the past few years and their willingness to take this journey with us,” Tomei said. “If, for any reason, the new schedule change does not work for a subscriber or ticket holder, we’re happy to find a ticketing solution that does.”
Subscribers currently holding tickets for Prelude to a Kiss will be rescheduled into a comparable performance of avaazand mailed their new tickets in early February, along with information about ticket exchange options. Regular ticket buyers will be contacted by the SCR Ticket Services Office in the next few days to inform them of their options.
Tickets for avaaz go on sale Wednesday, Feb. 1 at 10 a.m. and range in price from $27-$98. Tickets may be purchased through SCR’s Ticket Services Office either online at www.scr.org or by phone at (714) 708-5555.
La Havana Madrid/Outside SCR at Mission San Juan Capistrano
Outside SCR returns for a third summer at Mission San Juan Capistrano with La Havana Madrid by Sandra Delgado, directed by Cheryl Lynn Bruce, running July 15-Aug. 4, 2023.
La Havana Madrid takes audiences back to the 1960s and the legendary Chicago nightclub where newly arrived Latino immigrants dined, danced and found community. As the rhythms of mambo and salsa transform the heartbeat of an ever-changing city, audiences learn the stories of Cubans, Puerto Ricans and Colombians seeking refuge in a strange new place, discovering their destinies and falling in love.
Time Out Magazine placed La Havana Madrid in its Top Ten Best New Plays of 2017 and the readers of that publication gave it the Audience Award for Best New Work. It enjoyed highly successful runs at both Chicago’s Goodman Theatre and Steppenwolf Theatre Company.
A Colombian American writer, actor, singer and producer, Delgado is one of Chicago’s most celebrated artists. She played the title role in La Havana Madrid in Chicago and will reprise her role for South Coast Repertory.
Most tickets for La Havana Madrid go on sale today and range in price from $30 to $50. Exclusive table seating near the front of the stage goes on sale to the general public on Mar. 1. Tables of four will be available at $500 per table. Tickets may be purchased online at www.scr.org or by phone at (714) 708-5555.
