Deep Dish Theater presents 'The Baltimore Waltz'

Deep Dish Theater Company will present a 20th Anniversary production of Paula Vogel’s acclaimed comedy, The Baltimore Waltz, Feb. 24 through March 17. Directed by Chip Rodgers, the play continues the company’s eleventh season at University Mall.
“We’re very excited to be presenting this ground-breaking play,” said Artistic Director Paul Frellick. “It works on so many different levels, with an effervescent theatrical energy and a raw emotional power. Paula Vogel has had such an influence on American theater, and this piece certainly demonstrates why.”
A sensation when it opened in 1991, The Baltimore Waltz follows a brother and sister (Jesse R. Gephart and Mary Forester) who flee a frightening medical diagnosis by embarking on a fantastical trip across Europe. A third actor (Kit FitzSimons) plays the quirky characters they encounter, including the Little Dutch Boy (at age 50) and Harry Lime, from the classic movie The Third Man. Vogel is the Obie Award-winning writer of such celebrated works as Desdemona, A Play about a Handkerchief and How I Learned to Drive, for which she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize.
Director Chip Rodgers is a Raleigh native currently living in New York City, where he has worked with such theaters as The Wooster Group, St Ann’s Warehouse and The Royal Shakespeare Company. In 2011, his work was featured in Time Out New York for the sound design of the Blueprint Theater Project’s Largo, a dance-theater piece performed in a nightclub. A founding member of United Broadcasting Theater Company, where he devised Arcane Game at Incubator Arts Project, he is currently developing the sci-fi opera The Life and Times of Bruno Tallywacker, premiering in 2013 at The Performing Garage. Later this spring in the Triangle, he will direct Hungry at Stillwater Theater and assistant direct Penelope at PlayMakers Repertory Company.
The production staff for The Baltimore Waltz includes Chris Bernier (set design), David Serxner (costume design), Scott Marlow (lighting design), Brittany Bugge (properties) and Marc Maximov (sound design). Jenny Wales is the vocal coach, Jen Bauer the stage manager and Lisa Keaton the dramaturg.
Performances begin Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m. Deep Dish is located in Chapel Hill's University Mall, on Estes Drive and U.S. 15-501. There will be a pre-show "Meet the Play" talk with the dramaturg on Friday, March 2, at 7 p.m., and post-show discussions on Sunday, March 4, and Thursday, March 8. The Deep Dish Book Selection, A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan, will be discussed on Monday, March 12, at 7 p.m. at Flyleaf Books.
Tickets are $21 for adults and $19 for seniors regularly, with a $2 discount for Wednesday and Thursday shows. Student tickets for all performances are $14. Wednesday, Feb. 29, is "Leap Cheap Dish Night"—all tickets are $10 (no reservations accepted). Call (919) 968-1515 for reservations and visit www.deepdishtheater.org for information.
The Baltimore Waltz replaces the previously announced Terra Nova.
The Deep Dish Theater Company is committed to presenting compelling, human-centered dramatic work that contributes to the cultural richness of the Triangle area and challenge audiences to explore concerns of the community and the world-at-large.