John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men opens at 8 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 8, in the Judy Bayley Theatre at UNLV. Bob Brewer directs this joint production of the Nevada Conservatory Theatre (NCT) and UNLV's University Theatre, featuring both a professional and student company.
Of Mice and Men was selected for the 2001-2002 Theatre Season, in part, to celebrate the centennial of Steinbeck's birth. (He was born Feb. 27, 1902.) His play-novelette, set in the Great Depression, is a classic about friendship and the search for home.
George and Lennie are drifters with dreams of living off the "fat of the land." They arrive at a ranch to work for enough money to buy their own farm. Lennie is a man-child, a little boy in the body of a dangerously powerful man. It is Lennie's obsession with things soft and cuddly that make George cautious about with whom Lennie associates. George often promises to allow Lennie to "tend to the rabbits" as a means of keeping him calm amidst distractions. When the ranch boss' wife is found dead in the barn, George is faced with a moral question: How to deal with Lennie and the situation before the ranchers find him and take matters into their own hands.
Steinbeck's stories about common people surviving uncommon tragedy and fate have captivated generations of readers around the world. George and Lennie will be etched in your memory forever.
Professional actor, Erik Fredricksen, plays George and Jeffrey P. Koep, Dean of the College of Fine Arts, plays the man-child Lennie. Others in the cast include Don Mercier as Candy, Taylor Hanes as the boss, Ernie Curcio as Curley with Zura Young as his wife. Slim, Carlson, White and Crooks are played by Adam Kilbourn, Jonathan Schultz, Bryan Gaston and Tywayne Wheatt respectively.
Guest artist Fredricksen's work has been seen as an actor and choreographer in many major regional theatres including the prestigious Guthrie Theatre, the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Bucks County Playhouse, Indiana Repertory, The Long Wharf, Seattle ACT, the Folger , Seattle Rep and the Manitobe Theatre Centre of Canada. His work has also been seen at the New York Shakespeare, Colorado Shakespeare and Dallas Shakespeare Festivals and the Stratford Festivals in Canada and Connecticut.
Koep, who came to UNLV in 1989, has worked as an actor and director at both regional and stock theatres including The Alley in Houston, Barter in Virginia, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Crickett in Minnesota, Straw Hat Players, Huron Playhouse, Hope Repertory Theatre and EHP in Indiana.
Before coming to UNLV, Koep played the lead in the New York production of Raymond Carver's Ain't Nobody Loves You Like a Momma But Your Momma. His direction of George Fischoff's musical Promised Land played off Broadway for five years. Koep has been twice awarded the ennedy Center Gold Medallion for Service to the Theatre.
The set is by Jeff Fiala with costumes by Reyna Martinez and lighting by Brackley Frayer. Leon Fred has composed an original music score.
Performances are February 8, 9, 14, 15 and 16 at 8 p.m. with matinees at 2 p.m. on February 10 and 17. Tickets are $20 and on sale at the Performing Arts Center Box Office located in the southeast corner of the new parking garage off Cottage Grove. The Box Office is opened Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and can be reached by calling 895-ARTS (2787).
