The Amateurs by JORDAN HARRISON FORWARD THEATER COMPANY Presents the AMATEURS by Jordan Harrison
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
the amateurs BY JORDAN HARRISON FORWARD THEATER COMPANY presents THE AMATEURS by Jordan Harrison Directed by Jen Uphoff Gray Scenic Designer Lighting Designer Nathan Stuber Marisa Abbott Costume Designer Composer & Sound Designer Monica Kilkus Joe Cerqua** Props Master Stage Manager Pamela Miles Sarah Deming-Henes* Dramaturg Mike Fischer The Amateurs is generously sponsored by: This play was supported in part by a grant from the Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the State of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts, and The Evjue Foundation, Inc., the charitable arm of The Capital Times. Season Sponsors: The Shubert Foundation, The Evjue Foundation, Inc., Distillery Design, The Madison Concourse Hotel, Wisconsin Arts Board, Wisconsin Public Radio, Wisconsin Public Television * Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the union of ** Member of United Scenic Artists Local 829 professional actors and stage managers. THE AMATEURS was produced by the VINEYARD THEATRE, Douglas Aibel, Artistic Director; Sara Stern, Artistic Director; Suzanne Appel, Managing Director; New York City, 2018 Originally commissioned by South Coast Repertory The Amateurs is produced by special arrangement with United Talent Agency THE AMATEURS 1 FORWARD THEATER COMPANY STAFF ARTISTIC Artistic Director ........................................................................................................ Jennifer Uphoff Gray Artistic Associate ...................................................................................................................Karen Moeller ADMINISTRATIVE Managing Director ............................................................................................................... Julie Swenson Director of Development.................................................................................................... Julia Nicholas Director of Marketing .............................................................................................................Scott Haden Company Manager .................................................................................................................Celia A. Klehr Business Manager ...................................................................................................................Alex Moskoff Audience & Donor Relations Manager ........................................................................ Samara Safarik PRODUCTION Stage Manager ......................................................................................................Sarah Deming-Henes* Technical Director .................................................................................................................Kevin Zimmer Assistant Stage Manager ............................................................................................................ Enya Nett Wardrobe Supervisor ........................................................................................................... Megan Dickel Costume Assistants ................................................................Shannon Heibler, Antonia Gunnarson Master Electrician ........................................................................................................... Brad Toberman** Scenic Charge ...........................................................................................................................Pamela Miles Scenic Artist .....................................................................................................................................Carri Dahl Sound Technician/Board Op......................................................................................Benjamin Krueger Carpenter ........................................................................................................................... Jordan Rockman Master Electrician/Light Board Op ........................................................................... Brad Toberman** * Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States. ** Forward Theater is proud to work with the members of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) 2 Forward Theater Company THE AMATEURS 3 FORWARD THEATER COMPANY BOARD OF DIRECTORS Rozan Anderson, UW Hillel Foundation DVOŘÁK REQUIEM Dr. Charles Ford, UW Division of Otolaryngology Marci Henderson, Girl Scouts of Wisconsin, Badgerland Roth Judd, Government Integrity Advisor Hallie Kuenning, WPS Health Solutions Gregory Monday, Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren s.c. Jolen Neumann, Janus Galleries Kathie Nichols, Sort Sol Group Susan Pigorsch, Pigorsch Media Design DVOŘÁK REQUIEM Carol “Orange” Schroeder, Orange Tree Imports This concert features our wonderful Madison Symphony Chorus and Steve Suleski, CUNA Mutual Group, retired four debut and returning soloists in the epic Dvořák Requiem. This SIMON PAULY Ted Waskowski, Stafford Rosenbaum LLP work has it all, from beautiful solo arias to a thrilling bombastic chorus, PHOTO: Ann Toomey Eric Barry Jennifer Winding, QTI Group all supported by the gorgeous orchestral writing of Antonin Dvořák. Soprano Tenor This is a work of great beauty and also an MSO premiere. Dvořák has Ledell Zellers, Former Madison Alder and WI Investment Board, retired become a favorite composer of mine and I look forward to conducting this Requiem for the first time. I hope all of you join me. – John DeMain John DeMain, Conductor ONI SUTER & TANUA DORENDORF ONI SUTER & TANUA Madison Symphony Chorus, APR CASS DEVON FORWARD THEATER ADVISORY COMPANY PHOTO: T PHOTO: Beverly Taylor, Director Fri. 4/3, 7:30 p.m. PHOTO: Julie Miller Matt Boehler Sat. 4/4, 8:00 p.m. Bass EXCLUSIVE SPONSOR Mezzo-soprano William Bolz Mike Fischer Karen Olivo Sun. 4/5, 2:30 p.m. Rosemarie Blancke, in loving Jim Buske Clare Arena Haden Jake Penner memory of Fred Blancke Jo Chalhoub Shannon Heibler Rána Roman madisonsymphony.org/requiem Sarah Day Michael Herold Susan Sweeney Dennis Dorn Maureen Janson Sam D. White Ann Toomey, Soprano Julie Miller, Mezzo-Soprano Eric Barry, Tenor FORWARD THEATER COMPANY ALUMNI Matt Boehler, Bass Forward Theater would like to thank the former Board and Advisory Company members that contributed to our success: Advisory Company Ann Archbold Casey Martin Kirk Stantis Colleen Burns Georgina McKee Michele Traband John Frautschy Gwen Rice Charles Jennings Trieloff, II Richard Ganoung Scott Rött Jack Forbes Wilson March 14–July 19 Monica Kilkus Frank Schneeberger Kimberly Megna Yarnall Jessica Lanius Free admission • mmoca.org Board of Directors Chad Bartell Tom Frazier Karen Saunders Rebecca Baumbach Jon Furlow Joe Shapiro Carousel Bayrd Marta Gialamas Joseph Shumow Donna Beestman Marcia Kasieta Scott Thornton Tim Crisp Gail Kohl Brent Wagner Am Curet Shana Lewis Sherry Wagner-Henry Burt DeHaven Erika Monroe-Kane Erin Wenzel Christina Ramberg, Gloved, 1974. Jane Elder Dean Richards Lynn Wood Collection of Mark and Judy Bednar. Ellen Foley John Russell 4 Forward Theater Company THE AMATEURS 5 DW-ForwardTheatreAd_Layout 1 2/17/20 2:15 PM Page 1 FROM THE DIRECTOR... JEN UPHOFF GRAY Dear Forward Family: it’s hard for me to describe to you the feeling I had when I first sat down and read the script for Jordan Harrison’s The Amateurs. I knew I had never read anything quite like this before. I laughed and laughed at the antics of these medieval actors, trying against all odds to put together a play that wouldn’t just entertain an audience, but – quite literally – save the actors’ lives. And I was surprised and challenged by playwright Jordan Harrison’s approach to storytelling in this script. Have you ever seen Michael Frayn’s masterful farce Noises Off? It takes place in three acts. In the first we watch a theater troupe in their final dress rehearsal onstage. In the second, the set revolves 180 degrees and we watch that same troupe during a performance, but this time we’re seeing all of their backstage shenanigans. For the third act, the set turns back around to face the front and we are seeing the play for a third go-round. But this time, we all know what’s happening behind the scenes, just out of our sight, and that knowledge is transformative. When you watch The Amateurs, I think you may see why I saw similarities in it to Frayn’s structure. I learned a tremendous amount from working on this play. About our survival instincts. About taking risks. About the ways in which theater exposes what makes us most human. If you’re one of our subscribers, you know that this has been a season of plays with some really difficult storylines. Contemporary playwrights are wrestling – as we all are – with how to make our world better. We chose to share these particular stories because we found each one of them to be focused on how to go on, to transcend, to survive and to thrive. I wish such strength for myself, and for all of you. And I thank you, as always, for Delighted Sponsor of The Amateurs choosing to join us at the theater. DeWitt attorneys see things differently while creating solutions to SUPPORTING meet client needs. At DeWitt, we utilize our creativity to offer proactive and effective legal advice in more than 30 areas of law while serving THE COMMUNITY publicly and privately held companies, individual clients, family-owned IS A businesses, municipalities and more. With attorneys practicing in Wisconsin and Minnesota, our firm handles matters for clients nationwide. When you need a trusted, full-service law firm, please visit our website GROUP at dewittllp.com or email [email protected]