Playing May 8 – June 14, with Preview Performances Beginning May 2
April 9, 2015 – PORTLAND, OR. After smash-hit runs in New York and London, writer and performer Benjamin Scheuer brings his award-winning new solo show The Lion to Portland Center Stage’s Ellyn Bye Studio. The Lion is Scheuer’s true story of love, loss, loyalty and the redemptive power of music. Sean Daniels, who worked closely with Scheuer to develop the show and directed the debuts in New York and London, will direct the PCS production. Following the Portland engagement, The Lion is slated for its first North American tour.
Preview performances for The Lion begin May 2; it opens May 8 and runs through June 14, 2015 at the Gerding Theater at the Armory. Regular tickets start at $40. Preview performance tickets are $35. Rush tickets are $20. Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays (excluding May 9, 16, 31 and June 2, 9, 14); 2 p.m. matinees on select Saturdays and Sundays; and matinees at noon on select Thursdays. Tickets can be purchased at pcs.org or 503.445.3700. A complete schedule can be found at http://www.pcs.org/lion/.
ABOUT THE SHOW
One man, six guitars, and a true story of love, loss, family loyalty, and the redemptive power of music. Writer and performer Benjamin Scheuer’s gripping coming-of-age tale told through music has been hailed as “the best new musical” by The Huffington Post and “absolutely the best original musical of the year” by The Stage in London. The New York Times noted that “Mr. Scheuer seems to have found a measure of redemption by exposing his own heart, with a directness and good humor that only the hardest-hearted could resist,” and Time Out London said “it’s hard to take your eyes off Scheuer, with his unassuming intensity and messy wave of a quiff, as he makes his guitars whisper, laugh or roar alongside the ebbing roll of his singing. The effect is spellbinding.” TalkinBroadway.com hailed it as “a genuine knock-’em-dead show, The Lion … far and away the best new musical in town.”
The Lion was first performed as The Bridge in an award-winning run at Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2013. After further script development, Scheuer performed the American premiere of The Lion Off-Broadway at Manhattan Theatre Club in June 2014 to great acclaim. The show was then produced in London’s West End at St. James Theatre, and returned to New York City in February 2015 for the first commercial run Off-Broadway at The Lynn Redgrave Theater. In March of 2015, the North American tour of The Lion was announced. Portland Center Stage secured the rights to The Lion following the 2013 Edinburgh Festival Fringe performance while the show was still in development. Scheuer’s song “The Lion” was featured in an animated video directed by Peter Baynton. The video won the Public Choice for Best Music Video at the 2014 British Animation Awards, the Special Jury Award for Best Commissioned Film at the 2013 Annecy Film Festival in France, and the Best Music Video, Best Animated Video at the 2013 Crystal Palace International Film Festival.
WRITER AND PERFORMER: BENJAMIN SCHEUER
Benjamin Scheuer is the recipient of the 2014 Off-West End Award for Best Musical, the 2013 ASCAP Foundation Cole Porter Award for
songwriting, and the 2013 Musical Theatre Network Award for Best Lyrics. He was recently named as a nominee for the 2015 Lucille Lortel
Award for Best Solo Performance. With his band Escapist Papers, Scheuer has released two albums: Escapist Papers and The Bridge
(produced by Geoff Kraly). He is currently recording the album Songs from THE LION. He has toured with Mary Chapin Carpenter, has been a writer-in-residence at the Goodspeed Opera House and the Weston Playhouse, and is an alumnus of the Johnny Mercer Songwriters’ Project. With photographer Riya Lerner, Scheuer is the co-creator of the book Between Two Spaces. He lives in New York City. Find out more at www.BenjaminScheuer.com.
DIRECTOR: SEAN DANIELS
Sean Daniels has directed at Manhattan Theatre Club, Culture Project (N.Y.C.), The Kennedy Center, St. James Theatre (West End, London), Actors Theatre of Louisville, Geva Theatre Center, PlayMakers Repertory Company, Cleveland Play House, Alliance Theatre, California Shakespeare Theater, Southern Rep Theatre, Swine Palace,Neo-Futurists, Aurora Theatre, Crowded Fire Theater, and at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. He is the artistic director of Merrimack Repertory Theatre, having just finished up as the artist-at-large for Geva Theatre Center, after several years at the Tony Award-winning Actors Theatre of Louisville as the theater’s associate artistic director. Mr. Daniels is also the former associate artistic director/resident director of California Shakespeare Theater and before that spent a decade as the artistic director and co-founder of Dad’s Garage Theatre Company in Atlanta.
THE CREATIVE TEAM
The designers from the U.S. premiere of The Lion will join forces once again for the Portland engagement: Scenic Designer Neil Patel, Lighting Designer Ben Stanton, Sound Designer Leon Rothenberg and Costume Consultant Jennifer Caprio. These artists will recreate the visual elements that New York audiences enjoyed at Manhattan Theatre Club and The Lynn Redgrave Theater. PCS regular Kelsey Daye Lutz will join them as stage manager.
THE LION | TICKET AND PERFORMANCE INFORMATION
May 2* – June 14, 2015
*Opening Night is Friday, May 8 at 7:30 p.m.
Preview Performances: May 2, 3, 5, 6 and 7 at 7:30 p.m.
7:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays (excluding May 9, 16, 31 and June 2, 9, 14); 2 p.m. matinees on select Saturdays and Sundays; and matinees at noon on select Thursdays.
In the Ellyn Bye Studio at the Gerding Theater at the Armory, 128 NW Eleventh Ave., Portland.
http://www.pcs.org/lion/
Regular tickets range from $40-55. Preview tickets are $35. Rush tickets are $20. Discounts for students, those 25 or younger, and groups. Prices subject to change.
Online: By Phone: In Person:
http://www.pcs.org/
503.445.3700, 12–6 p.m.
PCS’s box office is at 128 NW Eleventh Avenue 12 p.m.–curtain on performance days
12–6 p.m. on non-performance days

Groups: Discounts available for groups of 10+ by calling 503.445.3794.
Please Note: The Lion is recommended for ages 13+; contains mature language.
Accessibility: PCS is committed to making our performances and facilities accessible to all of our patrons. Learn more at http://www.pcs.org/access/.
Portland Center Stage inspires our community by bringing stories to life in unexpected ways. Founded in 1988, PCS is the city’s leading professional theater and one of the top 20 largest regional theater companies in the U.S. PCS attracts more than 150,000 theatergoers annually with its blend of classical, contemporary and premiere works, along with its summer playwrights festival, JAW. PCS also offers a variety of education and community programs tailored for patrons of all ages.
The Gerding Theater at the Armory houses the 590-seat U.S. Bank Main Stage and the 190-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.
Portland Center Stage’s 2014-2015 season is funded in part by Season Superstars Tim and Mary Boyle and Lead Corporate Champion Umpqua Bank; Season Sponsors the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, Oregon Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts, the Regional Arts and Culture Council, Work for Art, Oregonian Media Group and Season Supporting Sponsor KINK FM. The Mark Spencer Hotel is the official hotel partner for Portland Center Stage. Portland Center Stage is a participant in the Audience (R)Evolution Program, funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and administered by Theatre Communications Group, the national organization for the professional not-for-profit American theater.
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