The Adrienne Arsht Center presents The Donkey Show
Fri Jul 13, 2012, 7:30pm – Sun Aug 12, 2012, 5pm
Ziff Ballet Opera House Stage
Adrienne Arsht Center
1300 Biscayne Boulevard
Miami, FL 33132

Dance floor tickets are priced at $45 on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays; $60 on Fridays and Saturdays. Tickets in the VIP seating area are priced at $60 on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays; $75 on Fridays and Saturdays. A $10 discount will be given to those who purchase tickets to the first five preview performances (July 13-15). Note: Disco fever is highly contagious. Protect your kids – leave them at home!
Buy Tickets Online

Opens July 13, 2012
Tickets Start at $45
Ziff Ballet Opera House
Patrons must be over 18 to enter; 21 to drink. Enjoy $10 off the first five preview performances (July 13-15)!
Showtimes:
Wednesday – Thursdays: 7:30 p.m.
Fridays and Saturdays: 7:30 p.m. and 10:30 pm..
Sundays: 5:00 p.m.

The Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County proudly announces the arrival of the renowned smash hit – The Donkey Show – a spectacular phenomenon that blends a crazy circus of disco music hits, go-go dancers, roller skaters, feathered divas and a full active bar becoming the ultimate party extravaganza! The show, inspired by William Shakespeare’s classic comedy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, will open on July 13 for a limited engagement on the Arsht Center’s Ziff Ballet Opera House stage, which will be transformed into a mirror ball dance floor for guests to live their own fabulous disco fantasy.

Dance floor tickets are priced at $45 on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays; $60 on Fridays and Saturdays. Tickets in the VIP seating area are priced at $60 on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays; $75 on Fridays and Saturdays. Patrons must be over the age of 18 to enter; 21 to drink. A $10 discount will be given to those who purchase tickets to the first five preview performances (July 13-15). Tickets to The Donkey Show go on sale to Arsht Center members on April 9 and to the general public on April 16. Tickets may be purchased through the Arsht Center box office by calling (305) 949-6722, or online at www.arshtcenter.org.

Created by Tony Award-Winning Director Diane Paulus and Randy Weiner, THE DONKEY SHOW experience encourages the audience to become part of a glittering nirvana where inhibitions don’t exist and everyone dances and sings along to the greatest hits of the ‘70s such as “We Are Family,” “Last Dance,” “I Love the Nightlife,” and “Car Wash” – it’s an opportunity to relive the hedonistic days of the dazzling Studio 54 era. The two-hour spectacle begins the moment guests arrive at the velvet ropes of Miami’s hottest pop-up disco and find themselves interacting with several of the show’s wild characters. Once inside, the fun continues with unexpected theatrical twists and surprises, all culminating at an ever-fabulous post-show event. This self-curated show will allow patrons to become as emerged in the story and in the production as they wish. It’s the ultimate night fever—a crazy fun house enchanted by an ever-so-light sprinkling of Shakespearean magic.

“The Adrienne Arsht Center always strives to bring unique performances with world-wide appeal to the community,” said Executive Vice President, Scott Shiller. “Miami’s version of ‘The Donkey Show’ will mark the show’s largest production yet—complete with alluring aerial stunts and a cast of 20 of South Florida’s best actors and dancers.”

20 Of Miami’s Actors, Dancers, Singers and Acrobats Star in The Donkey Show
Merging local star power with nationally-recognized artists, the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County announced today the creative team collaborating on this summer’s blockbuster – The Donkey Show. Twenty accomplished local performers (dancers, actors, singers, acrobats, roller skaters and more) have been cast to work with internationally-acclaimed artists, including the show’s creator and Tony Award nominee Diane Paulus, to construct a disco extravaganza that promises to transport Miami audiences to the glittery heydays of Studio 54.

“The Arsht Center made a promise six years ago when it first opened its doors,” said Scott Shiller, Executive Vice President. “We made a commitment to the community to bring internationally recognized artists to the city, to support our brilliant and innovative artistic community and to showcase local talent on our stage. With The Donkey Show, we continue to honor that pledge as we prove that world-class and community-based artistry is not mutually exclusive.”

The following are some of the very talented local performers cast for The Donkey Show:
· Stephanie Chisholm plays Tytania, Oberon’s disco diva girlfriend and will captivate the crowd with thrilling displays of aerial art. Born and raised in Miami, Stephanie grew up studying gymnastics, dance, musical theater and aerial arts. She has performed with Rainbow Circus and CircX, toured with The Caravan Stage Company, Cirque le Masque and most recently participated as an aerialist in Festival Internacional de Circ in Figueres, Spain.

· Leah Verier-Dunn, a graduate of New World School of the Arts, stars as the infatuated lover Helen, deeply enamored with Dimitri. A member of Rosie Herrera Dance Theatre, she was seen at the Arsht Center in 2012 in Dining Alone. Leah founded Moving Ethos Dance Company in 2007 and has performed with Keigiwn & Company, Adele Myers and Dancers, Michael Foley, Karl Rogers and others.

· Inger Hanna plays Pepper, a girl-next-door type living her ultimate disco fantasy as hostess of Club Oberon. Inger is a recording artist of national prominence, who recently received three Stellar Awards nominations for her debut album, He’s My Everything. She has shared the stage with artists such as Kirk Franklin, Joe, Betty Wright, Marvin Sapp and Yolanda Adams, to name a few. In addition to her former role as co-host on WEDR/99 Jamz Sunday Morning Inspirationally Yours, she has worked as an actress in the following theatrical productions: Real Men Pray, What is This World Coming To and Mr. Wrong.

· Rudi Goblen will get the Club Oberon crowd off their feet as Rudolph “Rudy” Valentino, the DJ at Club Oberon. Rudi, an acclaimed B-Boy, writer, dancer, DJ and actor, has worked with DV8 Physical Theater, Cirque Du Soleil and is a member of Teo Castellanos’ D-Projects, Octavio Campos’ Camposition Hybrid Theater Works and Rosie Herrera Dance Theatre. Most recently, he was on tour with his two one-man shows, Insanity Isn’t and Fair Welling – which was commissioned by the Arsht Center and Miami Light Project for the Miami Made Festival. Rudy appeared at the Arsht Center in Various Stages of Drowning: A Cabaret in 2009 and 2010 and is a frequent guest performer at the Center’s free Family Fest outdoor events. An accomplished DJ, Rudy hosted the Arsht Center’s B-Boy Battle on the Thomson Plaza for the Arts featuring the cast of Rennie Harris’ RHAW.

· Derick Pierson plays Starshine, one of Tytania’s high-flying fairies. An expert aerial pole artist, Derick began training at age 18 with the South Florida Circus Arts School in Miami in contortion, trapeze, silks, lyra, and aerial cube. Derick has received the highest accolades possible from the National Aerial Pole Art Championship – Male National Aerial Pole Art Champion and Best Technique (2012) and Male American Pole Fitness Champion (2011). He placed second in the International Pole Championship, a competition organized annually by International Pole Dance Fitness Association, and also competed in the pro division for Pole Dancing Universe. Derick was recently voted best new artist, best pole flexibility and best overall male performer in in Pole Dance International Magazine.

· Jimmy Alexander Arguello is Cobweb, another fun-loving fairy in Oberon. Trained in jazz, tap, hip-hop, ballet and lyrical dance, Jimmy was named one of the top ten male dancers on “So You Think You Can Dance” (2007). He has performed on various internationally televised award shows, including the Latin Grammys, the Latin Billboard Awards and Premio Lo Nuestro. He was assistant choreographer on the film Rock of Ages with Mia Michaels, working with Tom Cruise, Russell Brand, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Julianne Hough, and Mary J. Blige. Jimmy was a principal dancer in the feature film Dance Flick, principal dancer with blue 13 Dance Company, the country’s premier contemporary Bollywood dance ensemble, and toured around the world as Dance Captain with A.R Rahman, the Grammy, Golden Globe and Academy Award-winning creator of the score for Slumdog Millionaire.

A full cast list can be found by visiting the Center’s website at arshtcenter.org/donkeyshow.

The Donkey Show has previously performed on a world tour in major cities including London and Seoul, maintained a successful six-year run in New York and is currently playing in Boston. Hailed by Variety magazine as “…an infectious, celebratory and titillating event that starts off with giddy good fun;” this Shakespeare classic turned pop-up nightclub is sure to take Miami audiences by storm!

Diane Paulus is the Artistic Director at the A.R.T. At the A.R.T. her recent work includes The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess, a new production adapted by Pulitzer prize-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks, and OBIE-winning composer Diedre Murray, Prometheus Bound, a new musical inspired by Aeschylus’s ancient Greek tragedy, written by Tony and Grammy Award-winner Steven Sater (Spring Awakening) with music composed by Grammy Award-winning System of a Down lead singer Serj Tankian; Death and The Powers: The Robots’ Opera a new opera by Tod Machover, in collaboration with MIT Media Lab and Chicago Opera Theater; The Donkey Show a disco adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which ran for six years Off-Broadway and toured internationally; Best of Both Worlds, and Johnny Baseball. Her other recent theater credits include The Public Theater’s Tony-Award winning revival of HAIR on Broadway, and London’s West End. Other recent work includes Kiss Me, Kate (Glimmerglass Opera) and Lost Highway (ENO co-production with the Young Vic.) As an opera director, her credits include The Magic Flute (Canadian Opera Company), Il mondo della luna at the Hayden Planetarium in New York; Don Giovanni, Le nozze di Figaro, Turn Of The Screw, Cosi fan tutte, and the Monteverdi trilogy Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria, L’incoronazione di Poppea, and Orfeo at the Chicago Opera Theater. Diane is a Professor of the Practice of Theater in Harvard University’s English Department and was recently named one of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Boston by Boston Magazine and is a recipient of an Honorary Doctorate from Boston Conservatory.

Randy Weiner is the creator and co-director of The Donkey Show. Weiner, Diane Paulus’ husband, is a playwright, theater producer and nightclub/restaurant owner. He also serves as the president of the Weiner Entertainment Group, a leading New York-based production company whose most recent projects include the entertainment for the 2008 White House Press Correspondents’ Association Dinner. Weiner has also created and produced events for American Express, Tribeca Film Festival, CBS Radio and The Grammys. New York Magazine calls him “the master of the club spectacle.”