World Premiere At Fortune Theatre A Vacation

World Premiere At The Fortune Theatre A Vacation From Reality!

Geraldine Brophy's new comedy, The Paradise Package opens at the Fortune Theatre on March 24, with a season which promises sun, sand and long walks on moonlit beaches…albeit in a converted Victorian church in a Dunedin summer!

White sand, palm trees, and the gentle lapping of the ocean on the shore. A pina colada in hand and the warm sun kissing your skin…holiday brochure perfection in paradise…except, in this case, there’s a rather large snag…your lover is planning a surprise vow renewal ceremony, all your nearest and dearest are flying in as we speak and there is a really important little something you should have told him. Audiences are invited to pack their best bikini and take off for an island paradise to meet the strangest wedding planner since Jennifer Lopez.

Geraldine Brophy is perhaps best known to many New Zealanders as receptionist Moira Crombie on Shortland Street. Other television appearances include Seven Periods with Mr Gormsby, Serial Killers and Spin Doctors. In the cinema she has been seen in the hit films King Kong and In My Father's Den. Her career as a dramatist began with The Viagra Monologues (2003) and continued with Mary's Gospel (2004), Confessions of a Chocoholic (2004, Fortune 2005) and Real Estate (2005). Geraldine returns to Dunedin to direct the world premiere of The Paradise Package, with a cast of extremely talented actors.

Dunedinite Alistair Browning has acted professionally since 1976 when he debuted in the Australian television drama, The Sullivans. His later television work includes Riding High, Duggan, Hercules, Xena and Shortland Street (as Felix Bentley). Film appearances include Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence, The End of the Golden Weather, Rain (for which he was named Best Supporting Actor) and Fracture. He has acted in theatres throughout the country and was last seen at the Fortune in John Russell Brown's 1989 production of Burn This.

Judith Gibson has acted professionally for more than three decades, appearing with Auckland's Theatre Corporate and Tantrum companies and at Wellington's Downstage Theatre. The Paradise Package will mark a memorable Fortune debut for her.

Stephen Ray previously appeared at the Fortune in 1975 when it was still housed in the Athenaeum in the lower Octagon, acting there in The First Night of Pygmalion. He has subsequently acted in community theatres throughout the country.

Making his Dunedin debut will be Greg Johnson, one of this country's most recognised voice-over announcers. Winner of the 1998 Best Supporting Actor award at the NZ Film and Television Awards for his role in City Life, his other television appearances include Street Legal, Mercy Peak (as Mike Malloy), Shortland Street (as Dean Cochrane), Letter to Blanchy and Hercules. His film work has included the current hit The World's Fastest Indian, Spooked, Broken English, Alex, The Piano and The End of the Golden Weather. His Auckland Theatre Company appearances have been in Up for Grabs, Middle Age Spread and Take a Chance on Me.

Narelle Ahrens is a Wellington based actor who has recently returned to this country after a period of advanced training at the famous Neighbourhood Playhouse in New York working with Stanford Meisner. A Victoria University Theatre and Film Studies graduate, she has appeared at Circa and Bats theatres in Wellington, in The Lord of the Rings and a number of short films, and on television in The Insiders' Guide to Happiness (as Pip), Mercy Peak, Love Bites, Shortland Street (as Stacey Clarke) and Duggan.

Making his Fortune debut is Dunedin actor, Marisiale Tunoka, who has returned to the city after appearing in the recent Auckland Theatre Company world premiere of Disgrace.

The set for the Fortune Theatre world premiere production of The Paradise Package will be designed by the company's Head of Design, Peter King, with costumes designed by Wardrobe Mistress, Maryanne Wright-Smyth, and lighting and sound will be designed by Ulli Briese.

Bookings are now open at the Fortune Theatre box office or via the company's website ( http://www.fortunetheatre.co.nz/) for a season which commences on March 24 and concludes on April 13.

ENDS

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