As the final show of its sixth season, Zeitgeist Stage Company will present the New England premiere of Paul Rudnick's "Valhalla" from April 13 - May 5 at the Boston Center for the Arts. Rudnick is the author of "Jeffrey," "The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told," "I Hate Hamlet," and, most recently Off-Broadway's "Regrets Only."

"Valhalla" features six actors in 17 roles, including two flamboyantly gay personalities in diverting plot lines in two different times and places while pursuing the same goal -- the search for truth and beauty.

The New Republic called the play Rudnick's "most ambitious" and "strongest work to date." The Advocate added"'Valhalla' uses the biography of King Ludwig II, the 19th century 'Mad King of Bavaria,' to launch a meditation of the gay obsession with beauty. In essence, it asks: which came first, homosexuality or a distaste for brown wallpaper and pink chenille bedspreads?"

Rudnick shifts back and forth between the life of King Ludwig (played by Brian Quint) and the life of Texan James Avery (played by Jon Ferreria). The two stories intersect when Avery and his boyfriend Henry Lee Stafford (Christopher Michael Brophy), as solders in World War II, find themselves on the grounds of Neuschwanstein, Ludwig's storybook castle in Bavaria.

Director David J. Miller comments, "'Valhalla' is one of Paul Rudnick's most heartfelt works, as he lovingly portrays two outcasts who are seemingly alone in their individual searches for truth and beauty in their respective times and cultures."

For information, call 617-933-8600 or visit www.BostonTheatreScene.com.

-- OnStage Boston

04/10/07