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S N O I T A L L E T S N O C CONSTELLATIONS August 2017 About TheatreWorks Silicon Valley Volume 49, No. 2 Welcome to TheatreWorks Silicon Valley and our 48th season of award-winning theatre! Led by Founding Artistic Director Robert Kelley and Managing Director Phil Santora, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley presents a wide range of productions and programming throughout the region. Founded in 1970, we continue to celebrate the human spirit and the diversity of our community, presenting contemporary plays and musicals, revitalizing Paul Heppner Publisher great works of the past, championing arts education, and nurturing new works for the American theatre. TheatreWorks has produced 66 world premieres Susan Peterson and over 160 US and regional premieres. In the 2017/18 season, we add the Design & Production Director world premieres of The Four Immigrants: An American Musical Manga and Ana Alvira, Robin Kessler, The Prince of Egypt and four more regional premieres to our résumé. Shaun Swick, Stevie VanBronkhorst Production Artists and Graphic Design TheatreWorks’ 2016/17 season included the world premiere of Confederates, as well as regional premieres of The Life of the Party, Calligraphy, and Hershey Mike Hathaway Felder, Beethoven, which broke all our box office records, becoming the high- Sales Director est-grossing show in TheatreWorks’ history. In the course of the year, shows Amelia Heppner, Marilyn Kallins, that debuted here were produced at theatres around the world. Terri Reed San Francisco/Bay Area Account Executives With an annual operating budget of $8 million, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley produces eight mainstage productions at the Lucie Stern Theatre in Palo Alto Brieanna Bright, Joey Chapman, Ann Manning and the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, and a special add-on Seattle Area Account Executives holiday production at the Lohman Theatre on the campus of Foothill College in Los Altos. Seventeen years ago, we launched the New Works Initiative, Carol Yip Sales Coordinator dedicating ourselves to the development of new plays and musicals. The ENCORE Initiative has since supported over 160 new works through retreats, workshops, staged readings, developmental productions, and the annual New Works Festival, inspiring The Mercury News to call us “a premiere breeding ground for new musicals, which has put the company on the national map.” TheatreWorks Silicon Valley believes in making theatre accessible to the entire Silicon Valley community. Our Education Department reaches on average 25,000 students from 70 schools in 7 counties annually. It sponsors outreach Paul Heppner programs that include the Children’s Healing Project at Lucile Packard President Young Playwrights Project Children’s Hospital, the , specially-priced student Mike Hathaway matinees, extensive school tours, post-show discussions, and theatre camps, Vice President and programs for youth. Genay Genereux For more information on our 2017/18 season, New Works Festival, and Accounting & Office Manager Education programs, please visit theatreworks.org or call 650.463.1960. Sara Keats Marketing Manager AFFILIATIONS—TheatreWorks Silicon Valley is a member of the League of Resident Theatres (LORT) and operates under agreement between LORT and Actors’ Equity Association (AEA), the union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States. TheatreWorks is a constituent member of Theatre Communications Group, Inc., the national organization for the nonprofit professional theatre. TheatreWorks is a member of the National Alliance for Musical Theatre, a national service organization for musical theatre. In addition, E N TheatreWorks is a member of Theatre Bay Area, the Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce, and the Mountain View R E B Chamber of Commerce. TheatreWorks’ 2017/18 Season is presented in cooperation with the City of Mountain N I View and the City of Palo Alto, Community Services Department, Division V of Arts and Sciences. E Corporate Office K O th The director is a member of the Society T 425 North 85 Street Seattle, WA 98103 O of Stage Directors and Choreographers, H P p 206.443.0445 f 206.443.1246 / Inc., an independent national labor union. T The lighting, scenic, and sound designers R [email protected] E B are members of United Scenic Artists. This L I G 800.308.2898 x105 season is supported in part by an award T from the National Endowment for the Arts. R E www.encoremediagroup.com B O R TheatreWorks Silicon Valley is a proud & home company of the Mountain View A Center for the Performing Arts. W A K E I R Garden Court is the official J. Lohr is the official wine A C Encore Arts Programs is published monthly by Encore Media hotel of TheatreWorks. of TheatreWorks. R E V Group to serve musical and theatrical events in the Puget The Mercury News is TheatreWorks’ O C 2017/18 Season Media Sponsor. Hengehold Trucks is the official trucking provider of TheatreWorks. Sound and San Francisco Bay Areas. All rights reserved. T N O ©2017 Encore Media Group. Reproduction R F without written permission is prohibited. 2 THEATREWORKS EAP full-page template.indd 1 7/25/17 9:44 AM In this Issue From the Board Chair Welcome to the second show of this wonderful TheatreWorks season. This is the time of year when we wrap up our initial subscription About TheatreWorks 2 campaign. Since it’s not too late, here are four great reasons to Silicon Valley subscribe to a TheatreWorks season: 6 2017/18 SEASON THE SHOWS. The season lineup this year features productions of great diversity and wide appeal. We have three exceptional musical Playing with Science productions: the thrilling World Premiere of The Prince of Egypt, 8 based on the acclaimed DreamWorks Animation film; the inspiring 9 Director’s Notes experience of Hershey Felder’s Our Great Tchaikovsky; and the soaring romance of The Bridges of Madison County, whose score won a 2014 Tony Award. They are joined 10 About the Play and Playwright by three timely dramas: the Olivier Award-winning Constellations, which you are seeing today; Skeleton Crew, the story of workers under pressure in an American auto plant; and Finks, a Drama Desk Award nominee about the 1950s Senate attack on “subversion” in the arts. Our holiday show this year is Around the World In 80 Days, a hilarious nineteenth-century adventure. THE QUALITY. TheatreWorks continuously receives awards for the quality of our work. We bring you top playwrights, composers, directors, and actors from around the country. That’s why w e earned the title of “The Nationally Acclaimed Theatre of Silicon Valley.” THE CONVENIENCE. Because TheatreWorks is right here, there is no need to drive long distances and struggle with parking. As a subscriber you will be pre-assigned the best available seats, which you can enjoy for the season. If you need to change nights, we make that easy for you too…a simple phone call will do it. THE LIVE THE ATRE EXPERIENCE. There is no substitute for the intimacy and connection of live theatre. Theatre invites us to experience up-close the joy, laughter, pain, and liberation of life’s experiences, and to appreciate the artistic excellence of the acting, singing, costumes, and scenery on our stages. It’s always an enriching experience. Visual representation of string theory So if you haven’t already done so, why not subscribe to TheatreWorks ? And why not do it with your friends? It’s a great night out! 11 On String Theory 12 Coming Next: Mike Kahn THE PRINCE OF EGYPT 13 TheatreWorks Silicon Valley BOARD OF TRUSTEES Mike Kahn, Chair presents CONSTELLATIONS Jayne Booker Charlotte Jacobs Nancy Ginsburg Stern Cabell Chinnis Roy Johnson Debra Summers 14 Who’s Who Bill Coughran Derry Kabcenell Lynn Szekely-Goode Sarah Donaldson Michael Kahn Ewart Thomas 18 Contributors Peggy Woodward Forbes Julie Kaufman Tzipor Ulman Matthew Fuller Robert Kelley Kristina Vetter 21 TWSV Staff Ciro Giammona Ellice Papp Holly Ward Anne Hambly Phil Santora Lisa Webster Naughty or Nice? Judy Heyboer Loren Saxe Jane Weston 22 Larry Horton Barbara Shapiro Gayla Lorthridge Wood 22 TWSV General Information BOARD EMERITUS Nancy Meyer, Founder • William F. Adler • Edward T. Anderson, MD • Doug Barry • Lauren Berman • Chuck Bernstein • Sharon Anthony Bower • Michael Braun • Polly W. Bredt • Bruce C. Cozadd • Continue the conversation online! Jeff Crowe • Peggy Dalal • Yogen Dalal • Jenny Dearborn • Susan Fairbrook • Michael R. Flicker • Peggy Woodford Forbes • Dan Garber • Doug Garland • Aaron Gershenberg • Marcia Goldman • Emeri Handler • Susan M. Huch • Perry A. Irvine • Nancy Lee Jalonen • Lisa Jones • Gina Jorasch • Roberta R. Katz • Tom Kelley • Robin Kennedy • Michael Kwatinetz • Dick Maltzman • Suzanne Martin • Patti McClung • Don McDougall • Bruce McLeod • Cynthia S. Miller • Leslie Murphy- Chutorian • Eileen Nelson • Karen Nierenberg • Carrie Perzow • Carey Pickus • Margot Mailliard @TheatreWorksSV Rawlins • John Reis • Eddie Reynolds • Sandi Risser • Lynn Wilson Roberts • Ray A. Rothrock • Adam #ConstellationsTWSV Samuels • Denise Stanford • Rosina Lo Sun • James Sweeney • Cathie Thermond • Helaina Titus • Robert J. Van der Leest, MD • Mark Vershel • Ronni Watson • Elissa Wellikson 4 THEATREWORKS In this Issue From the Board Chair Welcome to the second show of this wonderful TheatreWorks season. This is the time of year when we wrap up our initial subscription About TheatreWorks 2 campaign. Since it’s not too late, here are four great reasons to Silicon Valley subscribe to a TheatreWorks season: 6 2017/18 SEASON THE SHOWS. The season lineup this year features productions of great diversity and wide appeal. We have three exceptional musical Playing with Science productions: the thrilling World Premiere of The Prince of Egypt, 8 based on the acclaimed DreamWorks Animation film; the inspiring 9 Director’s Notes experience of Hershey Felder’s Our Great Tchaikovsky; and the soaring romance of The Bridges of Madison County, whose score won a 2014 Tony Award.