New Repertory Theatre’s Bill W. and Dr. Bob breaks records and moves to Off-Broadway
March 14, 2006
Contact:
Cory Elizabeth Nelson, Artistic Associate
617.923.7060 x204, corynelson@newrep.org
New Repertory Theatre’s latest production, Bill W. and Dr. Bob, will move to an Off-Broadway theatre this fall. Since opening on March 6, Bill W. and Dr. Bob has been playing to capacity houses, and single-ticket sales have already broken box office records for a non-musical production. Due to an overwhelming demand for tickets, New Rep has added two additional performances: one on Tuesday, March 21 at 7:30 PM, and the second on Sunday, March 26 at 7:30 PM.
The entertainment company AFF/ENT Theatrical, based in Palm Beach, Florida, has managed the efforts to bring Bill W. and Dr. Bob to New York. AFF/ENT has engaged Albert Poland, Broadway general manager, as Executive Producer for the New York venture. Poland’s recent projects include the Tony-Award winning revivals of Glengarry Glen Ross and Long Day’s Journey Into Night, as well as the hit musical The Boy From Oz.
“From the beginning, we hoped to move the production to New York,” explains Rick Lombardo, New Rep’s Producing Artistic Director. “I’m delighted at this opportunity, which not only represents a big step forward for New Rep, but introduces an entirely new audience to this important play.” The entire company has been invited to join the production Off-Broadway, and the critically-acclaimed design will be re-constructed in New York. Specific performance dates and information about a venue are still to be determined; details are pending theatre availability.
Written by Boston-based playwrights Stephen Bergman (also a novelist under the pen name Samuel Shem) and Janet Surrey, Bill W. and Dr. Bob explores the early days of Alcoholics Anonymous by documenting the deeply personal struggle of its two founders – stockbroker Bill Wilson and surgeon Bob Smith – and their families. From the final days of the roaring twenties to the depths of the Great Depression, from the bars of Staten Island to the city hospitals of Akron, Ohio, Bill W. and Dr. Bob provides a compassionate, cathartic, and often humorous rendering of a thoroughly American success story. Presentation of this work does not imply affiliation with nor approval or endorsement from Alcoholics Anonymous World Services Inc.
New Repertory Theatre presents provocative and intelligent works of both established and emerging playwrights in an intimate setting that involves and engages the audience. New Rep has earned a reputation for dynamic productions that honor the writers and feature talented professional actors from the New England theatre community as well as guest artists from around the U.S. New Rep has received Elliot Norton and IRNE Awards for outstanding acting, scenic design, direction, and production. Programming at New Repertory Theatre is supported in part by a grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council.