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Event
The House of Blue Leaves
After a winter hiatus American Repertory Theater of WNY resume the 2015-16 season with a presentation of the 1966 pioneering work by John Guare, The House of Blue Leaves. Under the directorial eye of ART/WNY alumni Drew McCabe, the story focuses on one mans desire for success as a big-time songwriter conflicting with what is expected from him in a 9 to 5 world. Robert Ernie Insana will return to the ART/WNY stage as the befuddled Artie Shaughnessy in this compelling piece. The House of Blue Leaves opens on March 10th and runs until April 2nd in ART/WNYs new location, 330 Amherst Street, Buffalo (next to the Sportsman Tavern). All show-times are 8 pm, Thursday through Saturday.
The production will also feature Dianne DiBernardo Blenk, who made her ART/WNY debut in Picasso at Lapin Agile, as 'Bananas Shaughnessy', ART/WNY alumni Robert Ernie Insana (Little Robert; Hello Again) as the anti-hero, 'Artie Shaughnessy', Maura Nolan as 'Corrinna Stroller', Scot Kaitanowski as 'Billy Einhorn', Virginia Brannon with Erica Lorenzetti portraying nuns, Mara Morris as 'Bunny Flingus' and making their ART/WNY debut Rick Lattimer 'Ronny Shaughnessy', and completing the trio of nuns, Lisa Sember.
Widely more recognized with his work Six Degrees of Separation, the use of dark-comedy and tongue-in-cheek farce within the context of social dysfunction commentary rendered into a dramatic format made The House of Blue Leaves writer John Guare a playwriting pioneer whos approach to subject matter was seen in the likes of contemporary writers Sam Shepard and Tracy Letts.
In The House of Blue Leaves, Guare paints the story of struggling singer/songwriter Artie Shaugnessy and his attempts to rise above the mundane world around him. By night he performs in smoky city lounges and dive piano bars but pays his bills with a daytime job as a zoo-keeper. His life is further complicated by his wife Bananas, who suffers from mental illness, and his downstairs mistress/fiancée, Bunny Flingus, who will put out but wont put a dish on the kitchen table until Artie agrees to drop the hot-mess wife and marry her. In the background of this dysfunctional arrangement, is the historical 1964 visit of Pope Paul VI and the individuals who come out to see His Holiness including three beer-drinking nuns and Arties AWOL son, Ronnie, who has an explosive surprise for the Pope. Arties dreams of escaping this existence is propped up by his connection to longtime friend now big-time Hollywood producer, Billy Einhorn, who also arrives in NYC with his starlet, and landmine affected, girlfriend, Corrinna Stroller. Fragmenting, like a home-made bomb and pieces of a movie star and two nuns in an elevator, Artie dreams become harder to hold together as, according to publishers Samuel French, the promise of glory evaporate amid the chaos of ordinary lives.
The House of Blues Leaves opens on March 10th and runs until April 2nd at American Repertory Theater of WNYs new performance space, The 330 located in the heart of Buffalos historical Black Rock district. The production will mark one of the first productions in the new space neighboring the Americana music club, The Sportsman Tavern. All Thursday through Saturday performances with showtimes at 8:00 pm.
Tickets are $25 General Admission/$20 Online, $18 for Student and Military Veteran/$15 Online. Visit www.artofwny.org to order tickets online or for more information on the production, parking or directions to the 330 Amherst Street location.
The House of Blue Leave
By John Guare
Directed by Drew McCabe
Showdates
March 10th, 11th, 12th
March 17th, 18th, 19th
March 24th, 25th, 26th
March 31st, April 1st, 2nd
All Showtimes 8:00 pm
Tickets
$25 GA/$20 Online GA
$18 Students & Military Veterans/$15 Online
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LocationThe 330 Theater (View)
330 Amherst Street
Buffalo , NY 14207
United States
Categories
| Minimum Age: 13 |
| Kid Friendly: No |
| Dog Friendly: No |
| Non-Smoking: Yes! |
| Wheelchair Accessible: Yes! |
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