THE MUSIC LESSON–plot and cast list

In spite of winter weather, our production of Tammy Ryan’s The Music Lesson is right on schedule.  This is a piece which has been on our “short list” for a couple of years, just waiting for the perfect time to produce it. Another area premiere, The Music Lesson is a powerful story which presents a number of unique challenges to our cast and production team.

What is the story about?  Here is our press release synopsis:

Irena Batonovic is troubled. She has escaped the horror of civil war in Sarajevo, but she can’t run away from the memories which fill her mind and prevent her from starting a new life with her husband, Ivan, in Pittsburgh, PA.

Meanwhile, Ivan meets the Johnson family in a grocery store, and invites them home. Mrs. Johnson wants violin lessons for Eddie (10) and piano lessons for Kat (15). Eddie and Kat have experienced their own form of civil war–their parents’ ugly divorce. But while Eddie is enthusiastic about resuming violin, sullen Kat wants nothing to do with the piano. Irena can’t help comparing this unhappy girl to her cheerful protégé, Maja, whom she left behind in Bosnia. What hope is there for any relationship between a teacher who can’t bear to teach and a student who refuses to learn?

Memory and reality collide in this powerful new drama about our human needs for beauty, purpose and love.

Our talented cast includes:

TERESA BOWER  as Irena

TIMOTHY JOHNSON  as Ivan

REBEKAH FODREY  as Kat

SHANNON LIVENGOOD  as Maja

LORRAINE KNOX  as Mrs. Johnson

MICAH GILLIOM  as Eddie