FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Gulfshore Playhouse presents David Mamet play “Oleanna”
starring Alan Campbell
(August 9, 2006, Estero, Florida) Tony Nominee Alan
Campbell, best known to Broadway audiences for his
lengthy stint as the ill-fated Joe Gillis in Andrew
Lloyd Webber's Sunset Boulevard, as well as his leading
role in the National Tour of Contact, will star in
Gulfshore Playhouse’s production of David Mamet's
Oleanna, slated for The Lab Theatre at FGCU, October
16 and 17, and the Norris Center in downtown Naples,
October 19-22.
Written by the Pulitzer Prize winning Mamet, (author
of plays such as Glengarry Glen Ross and films such
as Wag the Dog and Hoffa), Oleanna is an edge-of-your-seat
drama covering the themes of power, manipulation,
spin and human perception. By the end of the piece,
the audience is fully engaged in this riveting psychological
“everyman” story, completely aware that
life, and our good-standing in it, sits precariously
on a fence and could, at any moment, be jostled from
its perch. Spectators notoriously find themselves
siding with one character or the other in this two-person
drama which begins when a struggling student visits
the office of her college professor for help. The
seemingly harmless encounter quickly turns sour. Crackling
dialogue combined with breathtaking realism make this
unique play an unforgettable warning to us all. How
are our words and actions truly perceived? Is what
we said, really what we meant? And was that what was
heard? Oleanna is more than just an examination of
political correctness; it guarantees to elicit emotional
debate.
This production was originally staged in Raleigh,
NC, by the “Hot Summer Nights at the Kennedy”
Theatre Series, with Gulfshore Playhouse Producing
Artistic Director Kristen Coury directing, garnering
great reviews. (Click
here to read the review). Coury states, “I
am delighted to bring this production to Southwest
Florida to share with local audiences. Most of the
production elements and team will remain the same,
and we are delighted that Alan Campbell will be once
again headlining.” Aurora Nessly has been cast
as “Carol”.
Gulfshore Playhouse is about to launch a Capital Campaign
to build their new state-of-the-art Professional Regional
Theatre. This space will be located in an urban-style
“village” named Estero on the River, which
will be situated on the Northeast corner of U.S. 41
and Corkscrew Road. Coury adds, “We are delighted
that the community has embraced our dream to build
a Professional Regional Theatre presenting a full
season of new works, classics, musicals and dramas,
as well as after-school programs and family fare serving
Southern Lee and Collier Counties.” The Playhouse
Mission is to provide high-quality professional theatre
and in-school arts education for Southwest Florida.
Oleanna runs October 16th and 17th at The Lab Theatre
at FGCU. Call 566-8394 for FGCU tickets. October 19-22
at the Norris Center in Naples. For Norris tickets,
please call 239-213-3058. Tickets are $35, $25 for
senior citizens over the age of 70 and $20 for student.s
Sponsored by WZJZ 107.1FM, North Naples Journal, Roy’s,
The Inn on Fifth and The Bella Sera Hotel.
Made possible in part through the generosity of the
Tourist Development Council and the SWFL Community
Foundation.
Broadway: He received a
1995 Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in a Musical
for his performance as Joe Gillis in Sunset Boulevard
opposite Glenn Close, Betty Buckley and Elaine Paige.
He also received the Drama-Logue Award for his performance
in Sunset Boulevard's American Premiere in Los Angeles.
Alan starred in Susan Stroman's 2000 Tony Award winning
musical, Contact at Lincoln Center, which ended it's
three year run with a "Live from Lincoln Center"
broadcast on PBS.
Off-Broadway: Lanford Wilson's Book Of Days at the
Signature Theater and in the regional premiere of
Book Of Days at the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis
and the Hartford Stage. He also starred Off-Broadway
in AVOW, by Bill C. Davis. Other theatrical credits
include Beauty And The Beast, the Kennedy Center's
revival of Bell's Are Ringing, Gershwin's Of Thee
I Sing at Chicago's Symphony Space, the Ford's Theatre
production of On Shiloh Hill, Boogie Woogie Rumble
of a Dream Deferred at the Urban Arts Corps in New
York, Breakfast At Tiffany's at the St Louis MUNI
and productions of I Love My Wife and Larry Shue's
The Nerd.
Feature films include Weekend Warriors; Bump in the
Night; Tom, Dick and Harry, and Universal's Simple
Wish with Martin Short and Kathleen Turner.
On television he co-starred for 5 seasons with Bill
Conrad and Joe Penny on CBS's Jake and the Fatman.
He also co-starred with John Ritter as surfer "E.Z.
Taylor", on ABC's Three's a Crowd, "Evan
Grant" on NBC's Another World and "Dr. Ellis
Marshall" on All My Children. Alan has guest
starred on numerous television shows including, Law
and Order, Homicide; Life on the Streets, Facts of
Life, Throb, and Matlock.
His recordings include Sunset Boulevard and The Best
of Andrew Lloyd Webber on Polygram. Alan is an originating
member of the Broadway Tenors with Brent Barrett and
Brian d'Arcy James. He has sung at the White House
and performed for three U.S Presidents. Alan is a
founding member of H.O.L.A. (Heart of Los Angeles)
Youth Theatre, providing an artistic outlet and guidance
to inner-city children. Alan is most proud of his
collaboration with his wife, actress Lauren Kennedy,
their daughter Riley Rose.
Aurora just returned from playing Viola in Illyria,
Virginia Shakespeare Festival’s musical rendition
of Twelfth Night. Off-Broadway: Iphigenia at Aulis
(Symphony Space), Regional: A Christmas Carol (Arts
Center of Coastal Carolina) and Don’t Dress
for Dinner (Cortland Repertory Theater). Aurora is
a graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.
She has also studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic
Art. After this she will be performing in “Desk
Set” at the Montgomery Theater in Pennsylvania.
