Elliot, A Soldier’s Fugue at Kirk Douglas Theater January 27 Through February 25, 2018
Los Angeles, CA — Rehearsals have begun for Center Theatre Group’s production of Elliot, A Soldier’s Fugue by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Quiara Alegría Hudes. Directed by Shishir Kurup, the production will begin previews January 27, open February 3 and continue through February 25, 2018, at the Kirk Douglas Theatre.
Elliot, A Soldier’s Fugue “Elliot, A Soldier’s Fugue” includes, in alphabetical order, Rubén Garfias, Peter Mendoza, Jason Manuel Olazábal and Caro Zeller. The creative team includes set design by Sibyl Wickersheimer, costume design by Raquel Barreto, lighting design by Geoff Korf and sound design by John Nobori. The production stage manager is Maggie Swing.
A soldier, like his father and his father’s father, 19-year-old Elliot is back from Iraq with a Purple Heart. As he recovers from his injuries and decides whether to return to Iraq, he yearns for a truer connection with his father and considers his own limited options outside the military.
Phoebe Hoban of The New York Times said “Elliot, A Soldier’s Fugue is that rare and rewarding thing: a theater work that succeeds on every level, while creating something new. The playwright, Quiara Alegría Hudes, who has degrees in music (a bachelor’s from Yale) and playwriting (a master’s from Brown), combines a lyrical ear with a sophisticated sense of structure to trace the legacy of war through three generations of a Puerto Rican family.”
Elliot, A Soldier’s Fugue, the first in a trilogy of plays, is being produced at the Douglas at the same time as Center Theatre Group is presenting the second play in that trilogy, Hudes’ Pulitzer-winning Water by the Spoonful at the Mark Taper Forum. The Latino Theater Company will present the final installment of the trilogy with their production of The Happiest Song Plays Last at the Los Angeles Theatre Center (LATC). Presented all together, the full trilogy gives Los Angeles theatre audiences a rare opportunity to immerse themselves in this exciting playwright’s work.
Quiara Alegría Hudes is a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright. Her playElliot, A Soldier’s Fugue premiered Off-Off-Broadway by Page 73 Productions and was a finalist for the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Water by the Spoonful premiered at Hartford Stage Company and won
the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The Happiest Song Plays Last premiered at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago in 2013. Hudes wrote the book for the Broadway musical In the Heights, which received the 2008 Tony Award for Best Musical, a Tony nomination for Best Book of a Musical and was a 2009 Pulitzer Prize finalist. Other works include the plays 26 Miles and Yemaya’s Belly and the children’s musical Barrio Grrrl! Hudes grew up in West Philadelphia
where she studied music with Don Rappaport, Dolly Kranzapolski and Linda Hudes. She was later mentored by playwright Paula Vogel at Brown University. Hudes is an alumna of New Dramatists and sits on the board of Philadelphia Young Playwrights, which produced her first play in the 10th grade.
Center Theatre Group, one of the nation’s preeminent arts and cultural organizations, is
Los Angeles’ leading nonprofit theatre company, which, under Artistic Director Michael Ritchie.
Tickets for Elliot, A Soldier’s Fugue are available by calling (213) 628-2772, online at
www.CenterTheatreGroup.org, at the Center Theatre Group Box Office at the Ahmanson
Theatre or at the Kirk Douglas Theatre Box Office two hours prior to performance. Tickets range
from $25 – $70 (ticket prices are subject to change). The Kirk Douglas Theatre is located at
9820 Washington Blvd. in Culver City, CA 90232. Ample free parking and restaurants are
adjacent.
Photos: All Uses © 2018 Craig Schwartz
