Zoetic Stage and the Arsht Center present Doug Wright’s Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-Winning Play, I Am My Own Wife – Oct. 4-21

Zoetic Stage and The Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County proudly present Doug Wright’s Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning play I AM MY OWN WIFE, an uplifting drama based on the gripping true story of Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, a German transvestite who triumphed, and against all odds, survived the brutal regimes of the Nazis and Communists in East Berlin. Playing October 4 – 21, 2012 in the intimate Carnival Studio Theater (Ziff Ballet Opera House), I AM MY OWN WIFEmarks Zoetic Stage’s much-anticipated return to the Arsht Center for its third season. This production will also launch the company’s 2012-2013 season as part of the Arsht Center’s highly-acclaimed Theater Up Close series which features artistic collaborations from stellar local theater ensembles and nationally acclaimed theater companies.

 

I AM MY OWN WIFE is also part of the Arsht Center’s LIGHT / THE HOLOCAUST & HUMANITY PROJECT, a three-month community-wide awareness initiative promoting the protection of human rights against bigotry and hate through the arts, education and public dialogue.

 

I AM MY OWN WIFE, directed by Zoetic Stage artistic director Stuart Meltzer, is based on multiple conversations between playwright Doug Wright and Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, a prim and peculiar German transvestite who hid from the Nazis as a woman. Carbonell Award-winning actor Tom Wahl will portray the elegant Charlotte and more than 40 other characters that come across her controversial life. At its core, I AM MY OWN WIFE is a remarkable one-man tour de force – strikingly political and beautifully humane.

 

During her struggle to survive, Charlotte escaped reality by indulging her passion for antique furnishings and managed to collect countless artifacts to place in her private museum. Michael McKeever, Zoetic Stage co-founder and I AM MY OWN WIFE scenic designer, will create an intriguing installation, inspired by Charlotte’s eerie shrine to German craftsmanship, to serve as a visual timeline of her life’s encounters.

 

Artistic Director Stuart Meltzer says, “Zoetic Stage is excited to be opening our third season at the Arsht Center. I AM MY OWN WIFE is a play that promises to touch, educate, and enlighten South Florida audiences and be one of those theater experiences that stays with you for the rest of your life.”

 

“After a successful inaugural Theater Up Close season, the Center is delighted to present and launch its anticipated 2012-2013 season with Zoetic Stage’s I AM MY OWN WIFE,” said Scott Shiller, Executive V.P. of the Adrienne Arsht Center. “Doug Wright’s award-winning play exemplifies the message of courage, perseverance and acceptance that will be highlighted across our community during the three-month  LIGHT / THE HOLOCAUST & HUMANITY PROJECT. I AM MY OWN WIFE’s stirring storyline will captivate and inspire South Florida audiences from all backgrounds and beliefs.”

 

Tickets to I AM MY OWN WIFE are $40 & $45, and may be purchased through the Adrienne Arsht Center box office by calling (305) 949-6722, or online at www.arshtcenter.org.

 

Zoetic Stage was founded in 2010 by South Florida theater artists intent on producing world-class work. In partnership with the Arsht Center, the company co-presents three exciting productions in the 2012-2013 season.  Following its season opener, Zoetic Stage’s series will continue with ALL NEW PEOPLE, January 10-27, 2013, Zach Braff’s contemporary comedy commended by The Huffington Post as “the defining play of a generation”; and Evan Smith’s THE SAVANNAH DISPUTATION, April 11-28, 2013, a heaven-sent comedy drenched in Southern charm.

 

Michael McKeever (Scenic Design) is Southern Florida’s foremost playwright, Zoetic Stage’s co-founder, and the recipient of three Carbonell Awards, four Curtain Up Awards and two Florida Individual Fellowship Scholarships. He returns to the Arsht Center’s intimate Carnival Studio Theater after the world premiere of his play Moscow in March 2011. His work which has been produced Off-Broadway, as well as throughout America, Canada and Europe– includes Melt, Charlie Cox Runs with Scissors, 37 Postcards, Suite Surrender, and South Beach Babylon, which was produced as Zoetic Stage’s inaugural production at the Arsht Center’s Carnival Studio Theater. McKeever is the recipient of the 2011 Silver Palm Award for Outstanding New Works for his plays Stuff and South Beach Babylon. As an actor, he has performed on several stages throughout South Florida. This past summer, he played one of the infamous Collyer Brothers in the world premiere production of his play Stuff at The Caldwell Theatre Company in Boca Raton. Last season, he was named Best Supporting Actor by the Broward-Palm Beach New Times for his performance in Distracted, also at The Caldwell. McKeever creates stories that entertain and enlighten through humor and wit and is undoubtedly South Florida’s most prolific and versatile talent.

 

Stuart Meltzer (Director, Sound Design) is the Artistic Director and a founding member of Zoetic Stage. He returns to the Arsht Center’s Carnival Studio Theater after directing last season’s Zoetic Stage productions of Moscow, The Santaland Diaries, and the world premiere of Captiva, for which Meltzer received a Carbonell Award nomination for Best Director of a Play. In 2010, he directed Zoetic Stage’s critically acclaimed inaugural production of South Beach Babylon. Previously, Meltzer served as Artistic Director of City Theatre in Miami for two years, where he oversaw and expanded the Summer Shorts Festival. His New York credits include Romulus Linney’s Gint, Harold Pinter’s One for the Road, Aristophanes’ Lysistrata, and Ntozake Shange’s For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf, as well as Morzek’s Striptease. Upon returning to his native South Florida, he was Head of Theatre at Gulliver Preparatory and then served on the faculty of New World School of the Arts for two years. Meltzer earned his M.F.A. in Directing from the Actors Studio and his B.F.A. from New World School of the Arts in Miami.

 

Tom Wahl (Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, et al.) is an original member of Zoetic Stage and a member of Actors Equity Association and Screen Actors Guild. Wahl is a recipient of the South Florida Theatre Critics Carbonell award and Curtain Up award. He has graced the stage of the Kennedy Center, The Caldwell Theatre, Florida Stage, Actor’s Playhouse, City Theatre, Red Barn Theatre, and the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center, among others. TV and film credits include New in Town with Renee Zellweger, Plato’s Run with Roy Scheider, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective with Jim Carrey, “Pointman” with Jack Scalia and recurring guest star on ABC’s “Moon Over Miami.”

 

I AM MY OWN WIFE’s creative team also includes lighting design by Carnival Studio Theater resident head electrician Luke Klingberg; costumes by award-winning designer Alberto Arroyo; properties by Jodi Dellaventura; and sound design by Stuart Meltzer.

 

Spread the love!