Café Variations | Press Releases | Fairfield University

SITI Company
8 p.m., Friday, March 1, 2013
Fairfield University's Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts
Tickets: $40, $35, $30

SITI Company presents a celebration of café culture and vignettes with "Café Variations" at 8 p.m., Friday, March 1, 2013, at Fairfield University's Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts. The program is made possible in part by the generous support of Whole Food Markets. Funding is also provided in part by the New England Foundation for the Arts' National Theater Pilot, with lead funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Tickets: $40, $35, $30.

"Café Variations" is a production taken from Charles Mee's "Café Plays" and combined with Gershwin's music from the American songbook. Incorporating dialogue, music, and dance, members of SITI Company create an iPod-like shuffle of scenes and songs, featuring the romantic vignettes and philosophical characters ubiquitous to the lively world of the café.

Winner of seven Obie Awards, SITI Company is one of the country's leading theatre ensembles. It is an ensemble-based theater company whose three ongoing components are the creation of new work, the training of young theater artists, and a commitment to international collaboration. SITI was founded in 1992 by Anne Bogart and Tadashi Suzuki to redefine and revitalize contemporary theater in the United States through an emphasis on international cultural exchange and collaboration. SITI Company is now recognized as one of theatre's most important artistic collectives, creating groundbreaking work while training artists from all over the world. SITI Company's mission is to provide a gymnasium-for-the-soul, where the interaction of art, artists, audiences and ideas inspire the possibility for change, optimism and hope.

"SITI Company has created a strong alternative approach to the traditional Stanislavski Method Acting School of Training in the United States and abroad. As an artistic collective that trains together, SITI has helped change the United States theater community's thinking about the relationship between artists and institutions," Molly Smith, Artistic Director, Arena Stage.

At 7:15 p.m., Dr. Orin Grossman, Fairfield University professor emeritus, will give a pre-performance lecture focusing on the use of Gershwin's music in Café Variations. Dr. Martha S. LoMonaco, Fairfield University Professor of Theatre, will lead a post-performance discussion onstage with members of the cast.

Tickets and subscriptions are available through the Quick Center Box Office: (203) 254-4010, or toll-free 1-877-ARTS-396 (1-877-278-7396). Tickets can also be purchased online at www.quickcenter.com .

The Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts is located on the campus of Fairfield University at 1073 North Benson Road in Fairfield, Connecticut. Entrance to the Quick Center is through the Barlow Road gate at 200 Barlow Road. Free, secure parking is available. Access for people with disabilities is available throughout the Quick Center for audience members and performers. Hearing amplification devices are available upon request at the Box Office. Fairfield University is located off exit 22 of Interstate-95. For further information and directions, call (203) 254-4010 or 1-877-278-7396, or visit www.quickcenter.com .