December 22, 2018: The Keegan Theatre announces the cast and creative team of Paula Vogel’s award-winning dramatic farce THE BALTIMORE WALTZ, opening on January 19, 2019. Directed by Keegan Theatre Artistic Director Susan Marie Rhea, THE BALTIMORE WALTZ features Helen Hayes Award-winning actor Michael Innocenti (Carl), Brianna Letourneau (Anna) and Ray Ficca (The Third Man).
Brianna Letourneau (Anna) most recently appeared at Keegan in the world premiere play, Other Life Forms. Other Keegan credits include What We’re Up Against, An American Daughter, The Magic Tree, Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, A Few Good Men, All My Sons, Laughter on the 23rd Floor, Steel Magnolias, Noises Off, and Dancing at Lughnasa. She holds a BA in Drama from The Catholic University of America and is the Director of Education and Community Engagement at Everyman Theatre in Baltimore.
Michael Innocenti (Carl) has performed in over 30 productions for Keegan, most recently in this season’s opener, Lincolnesque. Other Keegan acting credits include Chicago, Parade (Helen Hayes Award – Outstanding Leading Actor in a Musical), What We’re Up Against, An American Daughter, Picasso at the Lapine Agile, Things You Shouldn’t Say Past Midnight (BroadwayWorld Award – Best Actor in a Play), A Few Good Men, The Full Monty (Helen Hayes Nomination – Outstanding Ensemble in a Musical), All My Sons, August: Osage County (Helen Hayes Nomination – Outstanding Ensemble in a Play), Laughter on the 23rd Floor, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Noises Off!, and Mojo/Mickybo. Keegan directorial credits include Dogfight, Cabaret (four Helen Hayes nominations, including Outstanding Musical) and The Sunshine Boys.
Ray Ficca (The Third Man) most recently directed Keegan’s production of Unnecessary Farce. Keegan acting credits include Six Degrees of Separation and Laughter on the 23rd Floor. Other DC acting credits include Olney Theatre: Anything Goes, 1st Stage: Proof, Round House Theatre: How to Write a New Book for the Bible, Nextstop Theatre: Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol, and Metro Stage: Rough Crossing. He also served as Artistic Director and Resident Director of Totem Pole Playhouse from 2008 – 2013 and is the President of the National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts in Washington, DC.
About the show: Paula Vogel’s fantastical farce traces the European odyssey of sister and brother, Anna and Carl, in search of romance and a cure for her terminal illness, the fictitious ATD (Acquired Toilet Disease). The 1992 Obie Award Winner for Best New American Play, THE BALTIMORE WALTZ was critically acclaimed by the New York Times as “a crazy-quilt patchwork of hyperventilating language, erotic jokes, movie kitsch that spins before the audience in Viennese waltz time, replete with a dizzying fall.”
“Vogel’s uproarious, searching and finally devastating creation adds up to the very best of theater.” — Hartford Courant
“A rare and magnificent work” — The Baltimore Sun
“Directing THE BALTIMORE WALTZ has long been a dream of mine,” says director Susan Marie Rhea. “Vogel’s investigation of the human condition, the language and metaphor she so deftly employs to talk about grief, and her insistence that we laugh even while we ache — all of these elements add up to a tremendous and transformative piece of theater. I believe our audiences will cherish the experience of THE BALTIMORE WALTZ, and that they’ll leave Keegan entertained, uplifted, and deeply moved.”
THE BALTIMORE WALTZ production team includes Nikki Hoffpauir (Assistant Director), Alexis Graves (Production Stage Manager), Matthew J. Keenan (Scenic Designer), G. Ryan Smith (Lighting Designer), Niusha Nawab (Sound Designer), Alison Samantha Johnson (Costume Designer), Lisa Nathans (Dialect Coach), Clarke Whitehead (Dramaturg), and Cindy Landrum Jacobs (Properties and Set Dressing Designer).
THE BALTIMORE WALTZ runs January 19 through February 9, 2019, at the Andrew Keegan Theatre in Washington, DC. The press opening is January 22, 2019. This is Keegan Theatre’s 22nd season performing in Washington, DC.
