PRESS CONTACT: Trisha Mead
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CHAIM POTOK’S MASTERPIECE COMING-OF-AGE STORY COMES TO PCS
Portland Center Stage explores the rewards of friendship and the pressures of tradition in
The Chosen, playing through May 2nd on the Main Stage.
March 17, 2010 – PORTLAND, OR. A silent father, an ancient tradition and an unexpectedly important game
of baseball forge bonds of lifelong friendship between two Jewish boys from “five blocks and a world apart” in
Aaron Posner’s award-winning adaptation of Chaim Potok’s award-winning novel, The Chosen, coming to
Portland Center Stage this spring. The Chosen previews on Tuesday April 6, opens on Friday, April 9 and runs
through May 2, 2010. Tickets start at $32.00, with student and under 30 discounts available. Rush tickets for
The Chosen are $20. Show times are 7:30 pm Tuesday through Saturday, with a 2:00 pm Sunday matinee and
alternating Saturday 2:00 pm and Sunday 7:30 pm performances. See the show calendar
http://tickets.pcs.org/buytickets/calendar.asp for the complete performance schedule.
Two worlds collide beneath the shadow of an ancient tradition
when a young Hasidic boy knocks a ball right into the eye of his
Orthodox rival at a baseball game between their two yeshivas. The
batter is Danny Saunders, the brilliant hereditary heir apparent to
his father Reb Saunders, the leader of an ultra-Orthodox Hasidic
sect. The pitcher is Reuven Malter, son of David, a modern
Orthodox humanist professor whose writings are hated by Reb
Saunders. Danny’s line drive puts Reuven in the hospital, but guilt
draws him to visit, and the most unlikely of friendships develop.
Over time, Danny’s intellectual curiosity about the secular world draws him
towards the Malter family, where he finds the warmth that his father (who
refuses to speak to Danny except when studying the Talmud) has denied. Then
World War II ends, bringing the possibility of a Jewish state. A heated
disagreement between the fathers about the nascent state of Israel results in Reb
Saunders forbidding Danny to speak to Reuven. The silence between them
strains (and ultimately transforms) their relationships to their families, their
faiths and each other. As they each walk the careful line between their own
dreams for the future and the paths their fathers have chosen for them, both
boys discover that sometimes the most critical choice you can make is the
choice…of a friend.
Novelist Chaim Potok was a writer and Orthodox Rabbi. From 1964 to 1975, Potok edited Conservative
Judaism and also served as editor, from 1965-1974, of the Jewish Publication Society. In 1965, Potok was
awarded a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. Potok edited the p’shat (plain meaning) commentary of
the Rabbinical Assembly’s groundbreaking 2000 edition of the chumash, Etz Hayim. His major works include
The Chosen, The Promise, My Name is Asher Lev, Davita’s Harp, I Am the Clay, The Gift of Asher Lev, Zebra
(continued)
and Other Stories, and Old Men at Midnight. Potok has been awarded The Edward Lewis Wallant Award (The
Chosen), The Athenaeum Prize (The Promise), The National Jewish Book Award for Fiction (The Gift of Asher
Lev), Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters (La Sierra University, 1997) and the Jewish Cultural Achievement
Award (1997). Dr. Potok died of brain cancer in Merion, Pennsylvania, on July 23, 2002.
Adaptor Aaron Posner is a director and playwright. He wrote and directed Portland Center Stage’s 2008 world
premiere production of Sometimes a Great Notion. He was the founding artistic director of Philadelphia’s Arden
Theatre Company, and the former artistic director of Two River Theater in Red Bank, New Jersey. Aaron has
directed more than 100 professional productions at major theaters across the country, including Seattle Rep,
Arizona Theatre Company, the Alliance Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville, the Folger Shakespeare Theatre
and many more. His adaptation of The Chosen with Chaim Potok was originally presented by the Arden and
City Theatre and won the 1999 Barrymore Award for Best New Play. Other adaptations include another Chaim
Potok novel, My Name Is Asher Lev and So It Goes, from short stories by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. Aaron is an
Eisenhower Fellow, holds a B.S. in performance studies from Northwestern University, and is originally from
Eugene, Oregon.
The Chosen is directed by Portland Center Stage Artistic Director Chris Coleman.
In a production of fathers and sons, you may find the fathers in this production eerily familiar. David Margulies
(playing tzaddik Reb Saunders) is most recognizable for a stint playing Tony Soprano’s lawyer on The
Sopranos. Veteran character actor John Rothman (playing Orthodox Rabbi David Malter) has scores of TV
credits and some memorable turns in The Devil Wears Prada, Gettysburg and Ghostbusters. Playing the sons are
Seattle-based actor Matthew Boston as Older Reuven, Carter Hudson as Young Reuven and Jonathan David
Martin as Danny Saunders.
Recreating the world of 1940s Williamsburg will be scenic designer Michael Olich and lighting designer
Kimberly Scott. Portland Center Stage’s assistant costume shop manager, Lindsay Kleinman, will be taking
lead as costume designer for this show (her first PCS design credit). Resident sound designer Casi Pacilio will
create the soundscape of a Brooklyn neighborhood.
Additional support for this production has been provided by Madeline Nelson & Jim Lafky. Media support has
been provided by Kink.fm.
Portland Center Stage's 2009/10 season is funded in part by the Regional Arts & Culture Council and Work
for Art; the Oregon Arts Commission; the Paul G.Allen Family Foundation; Joanne Lilley; Helen & Jerry
Stern and Tim & Mary Boyle.
PORTLAND CENTER STAGE inspires our community by bringing stories to life in unexpected ways. Established
in 1988 as an off shoot of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, PCS became an independent theater in 1994 and has
been under the leadership of Artistic Director Chris Coleman since May 2000. The company presents a blend of
classic, contemporary and original productions in a conscious effort to appeal to the eclectic palate of
theatergoers in Portland. PCS also offers a variety of education and outreach programs for curious minds from
six to 106, including discussions, classes, workshops and partnerships with organizations throughout the
Portland metro area.
THE GERDING THEATER AT THE ARMORY houses a 599-seat Main Stage and the 200-seat black box
Ellyn Bye Studio. It was the first building on the National Register of Historic Places, and the first performing
arts venue, to achieve a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum certification. The
Gerding Theater at the Armory opened to the public on Oct. 1, 2006. The capital campaign to fund the
renovation of this hub for community artistic activity continues.
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