Thoughts From the Director......

When Parker asked me to direct The Normal Heart, I thought - why me and why The Normal Heart – another production - now? And then I considered how much of what is at the core of this play: where the personal and political intersect. Where the marginalized and the mainstream face of. I agreed to take it on, and I mean the play, the politics, the anger, and the rights of all people. I lived in New York City during the late 70’s until the early 90’s. I’m an actor. AIDS devastated the show business community. I lost some dear friends, one of them being a vocal activist who managed to keep his writing career going strong, but was acutely aware of the much bigger and threatening picture. He worked tirelessly. Sadly, he succumbed to AIDS, but his artistry and activism have always inspired me. Although AIDS initially afected the gay white male community, it quickly moved across gender and ethnicity lines and into the heterosexual population. HIV/AIDS is still a serious issue, but there are cocktails of drugs that manage it. As the older generation, I’m watching the younger one becoming complacent about the reality of these diseases and conditions. Why is history ignored? We are standing on the shoulders of the ones who preceded us. Have we learned nothing?

“It's a good time for people—any people, gay, straight, or whatever the kids are identifying as these days—to think about the utter horror of a nameless, sourceless killer sweeping in and chewing through an already disenfranchised community. It's a good time to think about what it would be like if you spent your entire life hating yourself and being hated and then hating yourself more as a result of being hated only to find a group of people that accepted you and made love a possibility...and then started to drop dead, one by one. It's a good time to think about the strength of gay men, who have been wishfully regarded as weak by the ignorant, and how time and time again, they have saved themselves.” Why We Need The Normal Heart” by Rich Juzwiak.

These are confusing and disturbing times that we are navigating. We can either keep complaining or we can get angry and do something. As artists, we are being told to not be political, just entertain. If ever there was a segment of society that is political, it’s the artists. We reflect the times, we hold up a mirror to the good, the bad and the ugly. Larry Kramer did just that through his books and plays. The Normal Heart will continue to be relevant as long as there are segments of society that are not being accepted and supported by people who can make a di erence ! . So, put away your digital devices and be present here and now with your fellow audience members. Watch and learn with an open heart. And then go out into the world and make a di erence Do something ! . !

EMMA: “Health is a political issue. Everyone’s entitled to get good medical care. If you’re not getting it, you’ve got to fight for it.”

Marilyn McIntyre Director of Larry Kramer”s ’The Normal Heart” Larry Kramer’s The Normal Heart with Ray Barnhart, Eric Bunton, Cameron Cowperthwaite, Alan Lennick, Jeffrey Masters, Parker Mills, Peter Schiavelli, Dan Via, Carole Weyers

Set Design Lighting Design David Mauer Brandon Baruch

Sound Design Costume Design Chris Moscatiello Liz Schroeder

Props Video Editing Michael Skolnick Brandon Hearnsberger

Original Music Original Artwork Jake Moses Edward Vyeda

Lighting Assistant Stage Manager Scott Marshall Amy Koch

Press Representative Ken Werther Publicity

Directed By Marilyn McIntyre

Associate Director Sarah Burkhardt

Produced by Sarah Burkhardt & Parker Mills

Produced by special arrangement with Samuel French Inc. Original New York Production byNew York Shakespeare Festival Produced by Joseph Papp Cast (in order of appearance)

CRAIG DONNER..……………………………….. Cameron Cowperthwaite MICKEY MARCUS…………………………… Ray Barnhart NED WEEKS………………………………….. Parker Mills DAVID…………………………………………. Eric Bunton Dr. EMMA BROOKNER……………………….Carole Weyers FELIX TURNER………………………………..Peter Schiavelli BEN WEEKS……………………………………Dan Via BRUCE NILES………………………………….Alan Lennick TOMMY BOATWRIGHT………………………Jeffrey Masters HIRAM KEEBLER…………….……………….Eric Bunton GRADY…………………………………………Cameron Cowperthwaite EXAMINING DOCTOR……………………..…Eric Bunton

TIME Actions take place between July 1981 & May 1984 in New York City

(There will be one 15-minute intermission)

The windiest militant trash Important Persons Shout Is not so crude as our wish; What mad Nijinsky wrote About Diaghilev Is true of the normal heart; For the error bred in the bone Of each woman an each man Craves what it cannot have, Not universal love But to be Loved alone. All I have is a voice To undo the folded lie, The romantic lie in the brain Of the sensual man-in-the street And the lie of Authority Whose Buildings grope the sky: There is no such things as the State Ans no one exists alone; Hunger allows no choice To the citizen or the police;We must love one another or die -W.H. Auden from “September 1,1939” Mickey Marcus David/Hiram/Doctor Craig/Grady Ray Barnhart Eric Bunton Cameron Cowperthwaite

Bruce Niles Tommy Boatwright Ned Weeks Alan Lennick Jeffrey Masters Parker Mills

Felix Turner Ben Weeks Dr Emma Brookner Peter Schiavelli Dan Via Carole Weyers Ray Barnhart (Mickey) Ray hails from Independence, Kansas, hometown of playwright William Inge. His stage credits include Lions, Contempt, Slow Burn, Wham! The Boys Behind the Shorts and the LA, SF and Miami productions of Party. Film credits include Jesus the Driver, The Kite Man and The Seminarian. Also, he was once on a game show called The Rich List where he won a lot of money all of which he spent long ago. And yes, he has a blog, easilycrestfallen.com. Eric Bunton (Hiram)Eric was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, but you may not think that when you first meet him. In his later years, he obtained a BS in Marketing from Clemson University and an MBA from The George Washington University. Eventually he packed up his Acura and drove Route 66 to LA to pursue a career in acting, and never looked back. TV credits include The Young and the Restless, The Newsroom, Days of Our Lives, Conan, and The Queen Latifah Show. Film credits include UR IN Analysis, Go Four Broke, Tarot: A Documentary Love Story, Bad Ass, and Bloodstream. LA theater credits; Hellcab, Love Bites XI, Kidnapped by Craigslist, Infinite Black Suitcase, The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told, La Ronde, The Mad Woman of Chaillot and The Eccentricities of a Nightingale. Cameron Cowperthwaite (Craig/Grady) Cameron moved to Los Angeles two years ago, and is excited to be making his theatrical debut in this production of The Normal Heart. Film: Pledge, Blood Brothers. TV: FX’s Feud, Netflix’s Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, HBO’s The Deuce, and CBS’ Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders. Education: Howard Fine Acting Studio Los Angeles. Also, co-wrote a feature length film, A Theory for Tangled Wires, with attached actors, such as Alec Baldwin (in development). Alan Lennick (Bruce) Alan’s favorite Credits include the European premier of National Anthems (Edinburgh Fringe Festival), Star Wars Trilogy in 30 Minutes (Coronet Theatre, LA), Wreckage (Theatre 70, NYC), Exit the King (Pearl Theatre Co, NYC). Alan executive produced and co-starred in the award-winning independent feature film, Bahamian Son. Alan graduated from the USC School of Dramatic Arts, where he received the Ava Greenwald Award, for outstanding graduating actor and more importantly met Parker Mills, Marilyn McIntyre and his wife, Sari Lennick. Jeffrey Masters (Tommy) TV/Film: Rescuing Rachel, Top Flight Security, Water. Theatre: A Bright Room Called Day (Coeurage Theatre), Dog Sees God (Linden Bay), The Importance of Being Earnest (Queer Classics). Jeffrey is also a host at AfterBuzz TV and hosts the podcast, LGBTQ&A, where he interviews different members of the LGBTQ community. Follow him on Twitter. It'll change your life: @jeffmasters1 Parker Mills (Ned) Parker is "pleased as punch" to be doing this show...working with this amazing group of people has been an incredible experience! Stage credits include: Breeders, Take Me Out, the Chicago Premiere of Born Guilty, Ray's Cafe, Orphans, the American Premiere of The Architect, Little Shop of Horrors, Working, The Sweatbreaker: ALIVE, and Death of a Salesman. TV/ Film credits include: Lunarcy, The Drama Queen, Filthy, Les is More, Validation, a recurring role on Malcolm in the Middle, and The King of the Galaxy (naturally) on the Syfy animated series Outer Space Astronauts. He is a longtime master student at The Howard Fine Acting Studio, where he is also on faculty, teaching Solo Performance. He is also a proud member of Rogue Machine Theatre Company. Thanks to Howard Fine for pushing him beyond "Nebbish", and Marilyn for 20+ years of belief and guidance. Peter Schiavelli (Felix) Despite being born and raised in Los Angeles, Peter didn't make his way to acting until after he had returned from college. Having spent four years exploring the rainier side of the state while earning his English degree from Stanford, he came back home and soon enrolled in the Howard Fine Acting Studio. Although it may have taken him some time, he is delighted to have found it when he did. He made his stage debut as Ricky in Big Al and can be seen in projects including the short film Tick-Tock and the webseries IRL. He is beyond grateful to have the opportunity to delve into a play of this magnitude and vision (especially in times like these), and to work with a group of cast and crew as generous, supportive, and talented as this one. Dan Via (Ben) Dan is a proud member of LA’s Son of Semele Ensemble, having performed in the company’s Our Class, Love and Information, The City, Civilization (all you can eat) and The Life and Sort of Death of Eric Argyle. A former resident of Washington, DC, he appeared with many of that city’s leading theaters and was a member of critically praised upstart Catalyst Theater Company. Dan wrote and costars in the feature DADDY — now streaming on iTunes, Amazon and Google Play — which is based on his Ovation- recommended play of the same name. Carole Weyers (Emma) Carole is very excited to be part of this incredible cast and tell this essential story. A member of Rogue Machine and Pacific Resident Theatre, you might have seen her previously in Henry V (Ovation Nominee), Unfryable Meatness of Being, My Girlfriend is an Alien by Keith Defacto, The Lion in Winter. TV appearances include Manh(A)ttan, Grey's Anatomy, NCIS, Modern Family... Marilyn McIntyre (Director) has been a professional actor for 40+ years working television, film, on and Off-Broadway, regionally (Arena Stage, South Coast Rep, Alley Theatre, et al) and in Los Angeles, where she has garnered a number of awards and nominations, including Ovations, LADCC, Garlands for her performances with the Matrix, Interact, DeafWest Theatre companies, among others. Her directing credits in LA include Simple Arithmetic by Terri Wagener at the Coronet and The Intersession by Cybele May at Interact Theatre Company where she was a founding member and producer. Training: MFA-Penn State; BFA-UNC School of the Arts. Ms. McIntyre has taught at conservatories and universities including USC, CSUN, LACC Theatre Academy and UNC School of the Arts. She currently teaches at the Howard Fine Acting Studio-LA and HFAStudio-Australia branch in Melbourne where she is the Director of the Acting program. Sarah Burkhardt (Producer/Associate Director) While used to being in front of a camera, Sarah is excited (and slightly terrified) to take on the role of producer. Sarah is a 2003 graduate of The American Academy of Dramatic Arts, NYC and after ten years in LA focusing on film is thrilled to take in the smell and magic of the theater again! Sarah is humbled to work with such amazingly talented artists on this beautiful story. Sarah wants to thank HB, for his love, support and patience as she spent two months in front of and yelling at a computer screen. I Ivan Rivas (Consultant) Ivan Rivas has directed The Merchant of Venice and Much Ado About Nothing at the Downtown Repertory. For the Palm Canyon Theatre, he directed Arsenic & Old Lace and Other Desert Cities. He is a company member at Rogue Machine Theatre and PlayGround L.A.. He has been a Teaching Artist at the Pasadena Playhouse and Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Amy Koch (Stage Manager) Amy graduated from the University of Houston with a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre. She then continued her theatre education in NYC at the William Esper Studio. She has been in Los Angeles for four years and is excited to get back to her theater roots! David Mauer (Set Design) David recently designed the set for Rogue Machine's west coast premiere of Greg Keller’s Dutch Masters. Also at Rogue Machine: Samuel D. Hunter's A Permanent Image (producer/set design), Rajiv Joseph's Gruesome Playground Injuries (producer/set design), set design for the world premieres of John Pollono's Small Engine Repair and Lost Girls, Rob Mersola's Dirty Filthy Love Story, and the west coast premiere of Samuel D. Hunter's A Bright New Boise. Brandon Baruch (Light Design) Design highlights include Urinetown (Lankershim Arts Center); O-Lan Jones and Emmett Tinley's Iceland (Ford Amphitheatre); The Temptation of St. Antony (Four Larks - Ovation Award Nomination, Stage Raw Award Nomination); Squeeze My Cans (Hollywood and Chicago); Queenie Pie (Long Beach Opera and Chicago Opera Theater); Twist Your Dickens (Kirk Douglas Theater); bare - A Rock Musical (The Hayworth Theater); and Spring Awakening (The Arena Stage at Theatre of the Arts - Ovation Award Nomination). Brandon's theatrical design was featured in an episode of Freeform's "The Fosters." Brandon is also a playwright, and his plays Me Love Me and NO HOMO have been staged in LA and New York City. Chris Moscatiello (Sound Design) Recipient of the 2015 Stage Raw award and multiple Ovation nominations for Sound Design, Christopher Moscatiello is also a composer, music editor/mixer and music director for theater, television and film. Recent TV credits include The Walking Dead (AMC), Psych (USA), Eureka (Syfy), Human Target (Fox), The Cape (NBC), Caprica (Syfy), Trauma (NBC), and he has scored full series, specials and promos for HBO, BBC, NBC, National Geographic and others. Other theater credits include The Kennedy Center, Arena Stage, The Folger Shakespeare Theatre, Rogue Machine Theatre, Antaeus Theatre Company, and he served as assistant conductor on the national tour of The Phantom of the Opera. Before residing in LA, Chris was the Associate Artistic Director and Conductor of the Boston Chamber Ensemble, and wrote a ballet commissioned by the Kirov Ballet Academy that had its world premiere in Washington, DC. Liz Schroeder (Costume Design) Liz is an artist, designer, entrepreneur, and Chicago native (Go Hawks!). At an early age she displayed a great aptitude for all things artistic. Greatly fascinated by costume and fashion design, she found her way to Illinois Wesleyan University where she graduated with a BA in Theatre Arts and English Writing. Post-graduation led her to the Chicago theatre scene, working with such companies as Raven Theatre, The Artistic Home, and Griffin Theatre Co with great success. It was ultimately her move to Los Angeles in 2007 that inspired her current body of work, including a string of independent films which have been featured all over the US and abroad. Liz has been fortunate enough to work in LA, New York, Chicago, St. Louis, Oregon, Montana, and Ghana, West Africa- which served to fuel her ever-increasing appetite for world travel. Brandon Hearnsberger (Video Editor) Brandon is a freelance video editor specializing in demo reels, kickassreels.com. Brandon is also an actor and a proud member of Actors' Equity Association.

ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT

In 1981, with five friends, Larry Kramer founded Gay Men’s Health Crisis, still one of the world’s largest provider of services to those with AIDS. In 1987, he founded ACT UP, the AIDS advocacy and protest organization, which has been responsible for the the development and release of almost every life-saving treatment for HIV/AIDS.

He is the author of The Normal Heart, which was selected as one of the100 Greatest Plays of the Twentieth Century by the Royal National Theatre of Great Britain and is the longest running play in the history of the New York Shakespeare Festival’s Public Theater. He is also the author of The Destiny of Me, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and won an Obie and the Lucille Lortel Award for best play. Kramer’s screenplay adaptation of D.H. Lawrence’s Women in Love, a film he also produced, was nominated for an Academy Award. His writing about AIDS is published in Reports from the Holocaust: The Story of an AIDS activist, and The Tragedy of Today’s Gays. His novel, Faggots, is one of the bestselling of all gay novels. He is a recipient of the Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and he was the first openly gay person and the first creative artist to be honored by an award from Common Cause.

The American People, which Kramer has been working on since 1975 and is now some 4000 pages long, will be published by Farrar Straus and Giroux.

A graduate of Yale, Kramer lives in New York and Connecticut with his lover, architect/designer David Webster. SPECIAL THANKS TO…..

Howard Fine Laura Gardner David Coury Susan Leslie Darcy St. Clair Ian Cardoni Sari Lennick James Harper Shaina Rosenthal Ryan Plourde Logan McPeak Brenda Davidson Robert Dodd Khari Christopher William Dennis Hurley David Goryl James Esposito, Lauren Peters and the Chromolume Theatre Steven and Jane Burkhardt Edward Vyeda II Jamie Richmond Spencer Montgomery Elle McGovern Anthony Bravo and Rogue Machine Theatre