Nevermore Opens January 14

His Darkest Story Was His Own…

Now in performances in the heart of Broadway at New World Stages!

Following Sold Out Runs at London’s Barbican Center
and The New Victory Theatre

Previews Begin Wednesday, January 14, 2015
Opening Night Set for Sunday, January 25, 2015

November 19, 2014 (New York, NY) – NEVERMORE – The Imaginary Life and Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe, a unique theatrical experience combining haunting music, poetic storytelling, and stunning stagecraft to tell the fascinating and moving life story of iconic American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849), will begin performances at New World Stages (340 West 50th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues) on Wednesday, January 14, 2015, with an official opening night scheduled for Sunday, January 25, 2015.

Beautiful and bizarre, playful and perverse, NEVERMORE- The Imaginary Life and Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe is a whimsical and chilling musical play about the enigmatic writer who has fascinated the world for more than a century. A literary rock star in his day, Poe struggled with tragedy and addiction, poverty and loss, yet produced some of the world’s most original, visionary and enduring literature before dying in mysterious circumstances at the age of 40. At once gorgeous and grotesque, NEVERMORE blurs the line between fact and fiction, exploring the events that shaped Poe’s character and career and giving powerful expression to Poe’s words “all that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream.”

NEVERMORE is written, composed, and directed by Catalyst Theatre’s (Edmonton, Canada) Artistic Director, Jonathan Christenson. The physical world of NEVERMORE – including sets, costumes, and lighting – is designed by Bretta Gerecke. The production features choreography by Laura Krewski and sound design is by Wade Staples.

Originally produced by Catalyst Theatre of Edmonton, Canada in 2009 to commemorate the bicentennial of Poe’s birth (January 19, 1809), NEVERMORE has toured extensively, including sold out limited engagements at London’s Barbican Center and New York’s New Victory Theatre in 2010. NEVERMORE has been expanded since its first New York appearance in 2010, with several new songs added and structural revisions made to the original script.

Six of the seven original NEVERMORE cast members will return for this engagement – Gaelan Beatty, Shannon Blanchett, Beth Graham, Ryan Parker, Garett Ross, and Scott Shpeley. Casting for the seventh and final role will be announced in the coming weeks.

NEVERMORE is produced by Radio Mouse Entertainment (M. Kilburg Reedy and Jason E. Grossman), Martin Hummel, Caiola Productions, Terry Schnuck, Susan Jaffe Tane, and Hernreich-Horvath Productions in association with Catalyst Theatre. The associate producers include Fireboat Productions, Carol L. Bixler, and Deepa Desai.

NEVERMORE – The Imaginary Life and Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe will be performed on the following schedule at New World Stages (340 West 50th street, between 8th and 9th avenues): Monday at 7:00pm, Wednesday at 8:00pm, Thursday at 2:30pm and 8:00pm, Friday at 8:00pm, Saturday at 2:30pm and 8:00pm, and Sunday at 3:00pm.

Tickets, priced $75 – $95, can be purchased at Telecharge.com or by calling 212-239-6200. A limited number of $30 rush tickets for each performance will be available for purchase by audience members under 30 years old (valid ID required at box office) two hours prior to each performance while supplies last.

CREATIVE TEAM BIOGRAPHIES

JONATHAN CHRISTENSON — Writer/ Composer/ Lyricist/ Director – Jonathan is a director, playwright and composer and the artistic director of Canada’s Catalyst Theatre. His plays – Vigilante, The Soul Collector, Nevermore – The Imaginary Life & Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe, The Blue Orphan, and The House of Pootsie Plunket, to name a few – have appeared at theatres throughout England, Scotland, Wales, Australia, the U.S. and Canada and at such festivals as the London International Festival of Theatre, Luminato, Le Carrefour, The High Performance Rodeo, The PuSh Festival, and Magnetic North. His work as a writer, director and composer has been honoured by Canada’s Sterling, Betty Mitchell and SAT Awards, Scotland’s Fringe First and Herald Angel Awards, and the City of Edmonton’s Salute to Excellence Awards. He has also received multiple nominations for the UK’s Stage Awards, the Dora Awards, and the Alberta Book Awards. In 2011, Venture Magazine named him one of “Alberta’s Fifty Most Influential People” and Alberta Playwrights Network chose him as one of Alberta’s one hundred most significant theatre artists of the past one hundred years. His plays have been published by Playwrights Canada Press and Newest Press and his work has been featured in American Theatre, Canadian Theatre Review, PRISM International, Canada World View and All Stages Magazine. Last year Bayeux Arts published his first children’s book, Maximilian’s Mistake.

BRETTA GERECKE – Production Designer (Costumes, Lighting, Set) – graduated from the University of Manitoba with a Bachelor of Interior Design and from the University of Alberta with a Master of Fine Arts in Theatre Design. She is the resident designer at Catalyst Theatre, where she has designed world premieres that have toured internationally to Great Britain, Australia, and the U.S. and across Canada. Bretta also works at The Citadel Theatre, Canadian Stage, Edmonton Opera, Calgary Opera, Theatre Calgary, The Globe Theatre, The Stratford Festival and Cirque du Soleil. She is the recipient of over twenty Elizabeth Sterling Haynes Awards, Jessie Richardson Awards, Betty Mitchell Awards and SAT Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Set, Lighting and Costume Design; The Enbridge Award for Best Emerging Artist; The Global Women of Vision Award; Edmonton’s Top 40 Under 40. She designed a summer home on Devil’s Lake, Alberta, is a marathon runner and continues her work as an Archaeological Illustrator.
LAURA KREWSKI – Choreographer – has choreographed original musicals Frankenstein, Hunchback and Vigilante for Catalyst Theatre. She recently choreographed Enron (National Arts Centre), Spamalot (Citadel Theatre), Next to Normal (Citadel Theatre/Theatre Calgary), Chicago and Footloose (The Mayfield), The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Belfry Theatre and Vancouver Arts Club), Pirates of Penzance and HMS Pinafore (Edmonton Opera), The Forbidden Phoenix and As You Like It (Citadel Theatre), and new musicals RICH and Rapa Nui (Manitoba Theatre for Young People). Laura also produced and choreographed FreeFall and Jazz Playground and is currently developing a new work as an independent artist. She is involved with Orchesis Dance Group at the University of Alberta, the Citadel/Banff Professional Theatre Program and the Canadian College of Performing Arts. Laura has received the YWCA Woman of Distinction Award in Arts and Culture, three Elizabeth Sterling Haynes Awards and a Betty Mitchell Award for Outstanding Choreography.
RADIO MOUSE ENTERTAINMENT – Lead Producer – Founded by M. Kilburg Reedy and Jason E. Grossman, Radio Mouse Entertainment’s theater credits include the Broadway production of Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike (winner of the 2013 Tony, Drama Desk, NY Drama Critics, Drama League, and Outer Critics Circle Awards for Best Play), the Broadway and National Tour productions of Peter and the Starcatcher (nominated for 9 Tony Awards; winner of 5 Tony Awards) and The Pee-wee Herman Show on Broadway. In London, Jason and Kilburg co-produced the Olivier Award nominated West End production of Lend Me A Tenor, The Musical.

ACTOR BIOGRAPHIES

GAELAN BEATTY first encountered Catalyst Theatre through Nevermore several years ago and was immediately struck with a desire to join the team. A graduate of Studio 58 in Vancouver, he has toured the country from Whitehorse to Montreal and performed in musicals and Shakespearian plays as well as on TV and in commercials. He’s worked with Bard on the Beach, Electric Company Theatre, Arts Club Theatre, Gateway Theatre, Globe Theatre, Carousel Theatre, and Green Thumb Theatre, and appeared in Man of La Mancha at the Globe Theatre (directed by Max Rieme), among others.
SHANNON BLANCHET – A graduate of the University of Alberta’s BFA Acting program, select credits include: Whiplash Weekend (Teatro la Quindicina), A Picasso (Chorus Productions), Shatter (The Maggie Tree), Love’s Labour’s Lost (Freewill Shakespeare Festival), PopTart (Pony Productions), and Von Mitterbrink’s Second (ACME Theatre). She is a two-time Sterling Award winner for her performances on Edmonton stages and was named one of 2014’s Top 40 under 40 by Avenue Magazine. She is an Artistic Associate with Teatro La Quincidina and a member of the Canadian Comedy award-winning improv troupe, Die Nasty.
BETH GRAHAM – Catalyst credits: Nevermore (UK Lift Festival, Luminato, Magnetic North, New Victory Theatre, Vertigo Theatre, and Persephone Theatre), Hunchback (Vancouver Playhouse), The Blue Orphan, Twelve, Fusion: Let There Be Light and Sticky Shoes. Other selected theatre credits include: The Penelopiad, The Drowning Girls, Death of a Salesman, A Christmas Carol (Citadel Theatre), The Wizard of Oz, Strawberries In January (Globe Theatre), Victor and Victoria’s Terrifying Tale of Terrible Things (Kill Your Television), Cause and Effect (Teatro la Quindicina). Beth is a graduate from the University of Alberta’s BFA acting program. She is the co-creator of several plays including: The Drowning Girls (national tour) and Mules. Her most recent play, The Gravitational Pull of Bernice Trimble, has been produced in Edmonton (Theatre Network) and Toronto (Factory Theatre).
RYAN PARKER – Ryan is a graduate of the Grant MacEwan Theatre Arts Program and has a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Drama from the University of Alberta. Selected credits include Three Sisters (Broken Toys Theatre), Eros and The Itchy Ant, East of My Usual Brain (Teatro La Quindicina), Mesa (Globe Theatre), Buddy, …Spelling Bee (The Mayfield Theatre), Hamlet, Taming of the Shrew (Free Will Players), and What the Butler Saw (Studio Theatre). Ryan is a co-creator/member of the ukulele comedy band The Be Arthurs and a Gemini/Canadian Screen Award nominated writer for the sketch comedy television series Caution: May Contain Nuts. Most recently he’s been seen in Barefoot in the Park for Teatro La Quindicina, The Craze/Musical Direction in One Man, Two Guvnors for Citadel Theatre.
GARETT ROSS – Garett is a graduate of the Grant MacEwan Theatre Arts Program and has a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Drama from the University of Alberta. Garett has been with the Nevermore company since the show began six years ago. He has also worked with Catalyst Theatre on Soul Collector and Vigilante. Some of the other shows in which he’s performed include Liberation Days (Theatre Calgary), Jack Goes Boating (Sage Theatre/Shadow Theatre), Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet (The Citadel Theatre), Hairspray, Shear Madness, Chicago, The Wizard of Oz (Mayfield Dinner Theatre), A Year in Winter, That Darn Plot, Beginning of August (Shadow Theatre), Uncle Van, and The Old Curiosity Shop (TheatRepublic/ Poorman’s classic Co-op). Garett has been nominated for Sterling Awards for his work in Jack Goes Boating (Sage Theatre), That Darn Plot (Shadow Theatre), The Old Curiosity Shop (Poor Man’s Classic Co-op), and The Raven and the Writing Desk (Acme Theatre).
SCOTT SHPELEY – Scott is an actor, singer, and multi-instrumentalist with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in acting from the University of Alberta. He has been with Nevermore since 2008, and has performed with the show across Canada and in London. Scott was part of the first two Canadian productions of One Man, Two Guvnors as the drummer/washboard player in Calgary, Alberta, and the bassist in Edmonton, Alberta. Other credits include You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown (Alberta Theatre Projects); Sweeney Todd and Rope (Vertigo Theatre); Peril in Paris (Lunchbox Theatre). Scott is the lead singer and bassist in the electro-dance band The Play Plays.

For more information, please visit WWW.NEVERMORESHOW.COM