TOUR 63

Presenter Press Book

Dear Presenter of the National Players 63rd Tour:

This is your Press Book, containing complete program copy and information to help you with your Presentation of Tour 63.

Please use these materials or paraphrase as you see fit. Any information that MUST be included in your program is notated as such. The company may be available, when in your area, for interviews. Please call Madeleine Russell, General Manager at 301.924.4485 x116 to make arrangements or if you have any questions.

The following division of the Press Book should enable you to find what you might need:

The Taming of the Shrew by

Cast List and Credits Director’s Notes Of Mice and Men by

Cast List and Credits Director’s Notes National Players Information Company Biographies Director and Designer Biographies Olney Theatre Center Staff Listing A History of National Players

On all programs, the following information must appear:

National Players is a program of Olney Theatre Center. Olney Theatre Center is funded by an operating grant from the Maryland State Arts Council, an agency dedicated to cultivating a vibrant cultural community where the arts thrive. Funding for the Maryland State Arts Council is also provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency, which believes that a great nation deserves great art.

2 The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare

Directed by Clay Hopper, Associate Artistic Director

Jim Petosa Amy Marshall Artistic Director Managing Director

Set Design Costume Design Lighting Design Sound Design Meaghan Toohey Ivania Stack Sonya Dowhaluk Christopher Baine

Actor Coach Performance Consultant Halo Wines William H. Graham, Sr.

Assistant Director General Manager Michael R. Kelly Madeleine Russell Cast List Kate Alex Christine Highsmith Lucentio Casey Hoekstra Petruchio Patrick Hogan Vincentio Mat Leonard Bianca Eryn O'Sullivan Tranio Michael Pettey Gremio Sam Rabinovitz Baptista Marcus Salley Biondello/Widow/Curtis Spenser Smith Grumio Chad Tallon Hortensio Brian Vaughn

There will be one 15-minute intermission.

3 A Note on the Play - The Taming of the Shrew

The world of The Taming of the Shrew is one rife with classic comic situations: servants disguised as their masters, masters disguised as servants, young lovers deceiving their fathers, and joyful triple marriages. In this early comedy of his, Shakespeare masterfully draws inspiration from the Italian Renaissance theatrical tradition of commedia dell’arte, or “comedy of craft”, to provide his characters, situations, and settings for his play. Where the style of commedia was more of an improvisational tool for Italian actors to expand upon in performance, its characters were often two-dimensional in terms of emotional depth and personal discovery. Shakespeare takes these roughly drawn suggestions of archetypal characters and places them together into a fully cohesive play. However, what makes Shakespeare’s take on commedia truly original is the love story between two of the wittiest and fully realized characters of his early period: Petruchio and Kate. Their romance glows with dimension and detail, tucked neatly inside the commedia structure. Kate and Petruchio clash intellectually, spar physically and grow psychologically, revealing depth and humanity amidst the wacky and manic world that is The Taming of the Shrew.

Michael Kelly, Assistant Director and Dramaturg

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Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

Directed by Jason King Jones Jim Petosa Amy Marshall Artistic Director Managing Director

Set Design Costume Design Lighting Design Sound Design Meaghan Toohey Ivania Stack Sonya Dowhaluk Christopher Baine

Actor Coach Performance Consultant Associate Artistic Director Halo Wines William H. Graham, Sr. Clay Hopper Assistant Director General Manager Michael R. Kelly Madeleine Russell Cast List Curley’s Wife Alex Christine Highsmith The Boss Casey Hoekstra Carlson Patrick Hogan Lennie Mat Leonard Curley’s Wife Eryn O'Sullivan George Michael Pettey Curley Sam Rabinovitz Crooks Marcus Salley Whit Spenser Smith Candy Chad Tallon Slim Brian Vaughn There will one 15 minute intermission.

Original harmonica music by Eryn O’Sullivan.

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Director’s Notes – Of Mice and Men

“It is one of the paradoxes of Truth that we gain by giving up; we lose by greedily grasping. Every gain in virtue necessitates some loss in vice; every accession of holiness means some selfish pleasure yielded up; and every forward step on the path to Truth demands the forfeit of some self-assertive error. He who would be clothed in new garments must first cast away the old, and he who would find the True must sacrifice the false. The gardener digs in the weeds in order that they may feed, with their decay, the plants which are good for food; and the Tree of Wisdom can only flourish on the compost of uprooted follies. Growth/gain necessitates sacrifice/loss.” - James Allen

“It is this Compassion alone which is the real basis of all voluntary justice and all genuine loving-kindness. Only so far as an action springs therefrom, has it moral value; and all conduct that proceeds from any other motive whatever has none. When once compassion is stirred within me, by another's pain, then his weal and woe go straight to my heart, exactly in the same way, if not always to the same degree, as otherwise I feel only my own. Consequently the difference between myself and him is no longer an absolute one. No doubt this operation is astonishing, indeed hardly comprehensible. It is, in fact, the great mystery of Ethics.” - Arthur Schopenhauer

“It has always seemed strange to me... the things we admire in men, kindness and generosity, openness, honesty, understanding and feeling, are the concomitants of failure in our system. And those traits we detest, sharpness, greed, acquisitiveness, meanness, egotism and self-interest, are the traits of success. And while men admire the quality of the first they love the produce of the second.” - John Steinbeck

Jason King Jones

6 UNDER THE LIGHTS

Alex Christine Highsmith (Kate/Curley’s Wife) is thrilled to be embarking on her first journey with the National Players! A native to Utah, Alex recently graduated with a BFA in Acting from Boston University’s College of Fine Arts where some of her favorite roles included Viola in , Maggie Mundy in Dancing at Lughnasa and Hedda in Hedda Gabler.

Casey Hoekstra (Lucentio/The Boss) is very excited to be joining the National Players in their 63rd season! Regionally, Casey has appeared on the stage at Georgia Shakespeare, as Ferdinand (), Eros (Antony and Cleoparta), Dull (Love's Labour's Lost), Burgundy (King Lear), Demetrius (Titus Andronicus), and Biondello (Shrew: the Muscial!). He also had the pleasure of joining GA Shakespeare's Will on Wheels Tour, playing Romeo (Romeo and Juliet.) Casey recently graduated from the University of Minnesota with a BFA in Acting, through the Guthrie Theater Actor Training Program.

Patrick Hogan (Petruchio/Carlson) is thrilled to be a part of the 63rd tour of the National players! He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2009 with a BA in Drama. While at UNC some of his favorite credits include Benedick in Much Ado about Nothing, Dennis in This is Our Youth, and Sgt Carlino in Wait until Dark. Recently he performed the role of Chris in Becky’s New Car at The Actor’s Theatre of Charlotte, and last summer he performed in The Lost Colony in Manteo, NC. He would like to thank his friends and family for their constant love and support.

Mat Leonard (Vincentio/Lennie) is thrilled to be a part of The National Players 63rd tour. Recent roles include Meathead in Fallujah (Kennedy Center/ACTF), Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire, Joe Pitt in Angels in America: Millennium Approaches, and St. Peter in The Last Days of Judas Iscariot. Mat recently graduated from Boston University with a B.A. in Psychology.

Eryn O'Sullivan (Bianca/Curley’s Wife) is a 2011 graduate of Boston University with a BFA in Acting. Being involved in this 63rd tour of The National Players is a real honor, and she is delighted to bring theatre all over the country. Some of her favorite roles include Agnetha in Frozen, the title role in , Paulina from The Winter's Tale, and Aunt Lila in Spring Storm, and Madame in The Maids.

Michael Pettey (Tranio/George) is thrilled to be returning to the National Players after appearing in as Dogberry in Much ado About Nothing for tour 61. Recently, he played Agate in Waiting for Lefty at the 45th St. Theatre in New York City. Favorite credits include Katurian in The Pillowman, the Emcee in Cabaret and Dorsey in Parade. A Florida Arts Scholar Award winner, Michael received a B.F.A. in Acting from the University of Central Florida.

Sam Rabinovitz (Gremio/Curley) is very excited to be returning to the National Players after completing Tour 62 where he played both Demetrius and Flute in A Midsummer Night’s Dream as well as Bellingham in The Scarlet Letter. This past summer he made his Capital Fringe Fest debut with the Grain of Sand Theatre Company playing Hamlet in their production of Hamlet: Reframed. Sam recently completed the American Shakespeare Center’s Professional Training

7 Program and is a graduate of the University of Virginia where he studied both Drama and Economics.

Marcus Salley (Baptista/Crooks) is proud to be touring with the National Players. He recently graduated from Anderson University in Anderson, SC with a BA in Theatre and is excited to reach a new level in his acting career. His favorite credits include in Macbeth, Shylock in The Merchant of Venice, Creon in Antigone, Lord Buckingham in Richard III, Joe Keller in All My Sons, and William Barfee in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Faulkland in The Rivals, Horatio in Hamlet, and Grumio in Taming of the Shrew. He is also the co-founder of two comedic improvisation troupes known as Shenanigans, Inc. and Far Sketched and co-founder to one blossoming Shakespearean Acting Company.

Spenser Smith (Biondello/Widow/Curtis/Whit) is so excited to be joining the National Players for their 63rd tour! Regional credits include: Chi Fu in Mulan with the Cincinnati Children's Theatre and Victor in She Loves Me with the Commonwealth Theatre Company. He graduated in May with a BFA in Acting from Northern Kentucky University where he played such roles as J Bruce Ismay in Titanic The Musical, the Herald in Cinderella and Inspector Truscott in Loot, for which he won a Cincinnati Acclaim Award for Best Leading Actor in a Play. Please visit spensersmith.webs.com for more information!

Chad Tallon (Grumio/Pedant/Candy) is beyond excited to be a part of Tour 63 with the National Players! Some of his regional credits include Dave in The Full Monty and Dad in Hanzel and Gretel. He graduated with his MFA in Acting from Western Illinois University in May where some of his credits included William Barfee in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Chris Keller in All My Sons and Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors.

Brian Vaughan (Hortensio/Slim) is extremely excited to be joining the National Players for their 63rd annual tour! Originally from Hamden, CT, he graduated in 2011 with a BFA in Acting from Boston University. University credits include Walking the Volcano (McCann, Peter, Jack Flash, Nathan) Spring Storm (Dick Miles), Twelfth Night (Malvolio), and (Marc Antony), as well as the Huntington Theatre Company’s production of The Corn is Green (Will Hughes).

8 BEHIND THE SCENES

Clay Hopper (Associate Artistic Director; Director, The Taming of the Shrew) Mr. Hopper has been directing for National Players and Summer Shakespeare Festival since 2003. Credits include Two Gentlemen of Verona, Twelfth Night, The Tempest, , The Taming of the Shrew, Much Ado About Nothing, Midsummer Night's Dream, Romeo and Juliet and Amadeus. He also directed Triumph of Love on Olney Theatre Center’s Main Stage and Call of the Wild, a musical adaptation of Jack London’s novel by Jon Lipsky, first as a workshop at Boston University, then as a touring production for The National Players on tour 59, culminating in the World Premier on Olney Theatre Center’s Main Stage in 2009. Other recent credits include On the Verge or The Geography of Yearning at Contemporary America Theatre Festival Actor’s Lab. In 2002 he founded and produced a new play series called New Works/After Hours at Lincoln Center Institute's Clarke Studio Theatre. Off-off- Broadway: A Home Without by Robert Westfield, Different Zen by Clay Hopper with Third Eye Rep, Earthworms by Albert Innaurato with The Working Group, Triage by Chris Shiea with Miranda Theatre, and The Interrogation by Murphy Guyer with The Miranda Theatre. He has taught acting at Boston University, Woolly Mammoth’s Theatre School, and College of Wooster, where he directed King Lear and was visiting assistant professor in 2006. As assistant director he has worked at The Old Globe Theatre in San Diego, Manhattan Theatre Club, Roundabout Theatre Company, Williamstown Theatre Festival and Woolly Mammoth Theater Company. Clay received his BFA from North Carolina School of the Arts and his MFA from Boston University's College of Fine Arts.

Jason King Jones (Director, Of Mice and Men) Jason is honored to be directing his first production with the National Players. Currently in his third year of graduate studies in Directing at Boston University, Jason has previously spent twelve seasons with the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, directing on both of their main stages, as well as adapting and directing numerous classical works for multi-state tours. For two years Jason was the Staff Repertory Director for The Acting Company's national tours of Richard III, Murder by Poe and Jane Eyre. Other regional directing credits include Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles, New Jersey Repertory Company, Vital Theatre, Michael Chekhov Theatre Company, and 12 Miles West, among others. At Boston University Jason has directed new works as well as plays by Aeschylus, Moliére, Ionesco, Williams and (this winter) Ibsen.

Ivania Stack (Costume Designer) Ivania is delighted to be designing her 2nd National Players Tour. Her design credits include: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Farragut North for Olney Theatre Center; Full Circle, Bright New Boise and Boom for Woolly Mammoth, Adding Machine, Pop! and F***ing A at Studio Theatre; The Four of Us, The Odd Couple, Photograph 51 and In Darfur for Theatre J; Angels in America at Forum Theatre (co- design); Lucido and True History of Coca Cola in Mexico at Gala Hispanic Theatre; Mother Courage for Dog & Pony DC; Heroes and The Real Inspector Hound for MetroStage; Way out West for the Berkshire Theatre Festival; and Lidless and Breadcrumbs for the Contemporary American Theatre Festival; amongst others. She has a MFA from the University of Maryland.

Christopher Baine (Associate Sound Designer) Recent design work includes Gruesome Playground Injuries with Woolly Mammoth Theater; Scorched with Forum Theater; and All My Sons with Everyman Theatre. He has also designed with Children’s Theater Charlotte, Olney Theater Company, Theater J, Adventure Theatre, Synetic Theater, Bay Theater, Journeyman

9 Theatre, Rorschach Theatre, Kennedy Center TYA, American Century Theatre, Constellation Theatre Company, Theatre Alliance, Source Theatre Festival, American College Theatre Festival, Young Playwrights Theatre, University of Maryland, Catholic University, American University, Actors Theatre of Charlotte, and National Players.

Sonya Dowhaluk (Lighting Designer) Sonya is excited to be part of the National Players team this year. Her credits include: Olney Theatre: Grease (co-lighting design) A Christmas Carol (lighting design), Annie, Call of The Wild, Is He Dead? (assistant lighting design) The Shakespeare Theatre: Henry V, Richard II, Design For Living (assistant lighting design) The Santa Fe Opera: Falstaff, The Marriage of Figaro, Billy Budd (lighting supervisor). Sonya has a BA from The University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and an MFA from The University of Maryland.

Meaghan Toohey (Set Designer) Meaghan is pleased to join the team as set designer for her first National Players tour. She recently worked as assistant set designer for Olney Theatre’s Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Other set designs have included Miss Nelson is Missing! at Imagination Stage’s Lerner Theatre, ‘Art,’ Crimes of the Heart, and Betrayal at The Bay Theatre Company, They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? at American University’s Greenberg Theatre, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, A Village Fable, and Carousel, at Imagination Stage’s Reeve Studio Theatre. Meaghan has a BA in Drama from The Catholic University of America. She is also the Scenic Charge at Olney Theatre.

Halo Wines (Actor Coach) Halo Wines serves as Associate Artistic Director for Olney Theatre and National Players. Her most recent appearances at Olney include Melanie Fine in Brooklyn Boy, Lavinia Penniman in The Heiress, Esty in Morning’s at Seven, Aunt Ev in The Miracle Worker, Madame Arcati in Blithe Spirit, Azra in Necessary Targets, Daisy Werthan in Driving Miss Daisy, Madame Spritzer in T13 Rue de L’Amour, and Ruth Steiner in Collected Stories (a reprise of her 2001 performance at Theatre J as part of Olney’s Potomac Theatre Festival). Her directing credits include Olney’s Da, Is He Dead?, Hedda Gabler, Omnium Gatherum, Having Our Say, The Miser, The Rivals, Tartuffe, Summer Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, National Players Tour 54 production of , Catalyst Theater’s Cloud Nine and Catholic University’s The Mad Woman of Chaillot. She has been honored with five Helen Hayes Award nominations and received the award for her triple performance in Cloud Nine Tat Arena Stage, where she spent 25 years as a resident company member.

Michael Kelly (Assistant Director and Dramaturge) Michael joins Olney Theatre Center this year as the Education Associate and is a recent graduate of American University with a double major in Theatre Arts and History; he also trained at the Midsummer in Oxford program through the British American Drama Academy. Michael has served as dramaturge on Company, Doctor Faustus, The Hot L Baltimore, and for The Folger Shakespeare Theatre, where he worked as a Dramaturgy intern. He was nominated for the 2011 LMDA/KCACTF Student Dramaturgy Award for his work on Company. He is especially proud of his work on See Something, Say Something (AU 2011 Senior Theatre Capstone) in which he served as co-playwright, dramaturge, and actor. He is a member of Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas.

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OLNEY THEATRE CENTER STAFF LISTING

Artistic/Production Administration

Artistic Director……………………………….….. Jim Petosa Managing Director …………………………….Amy Marshall Producing Director………………………….… Brad Watkins Finance Director ……………………………...Pauline Mendo Associate Artistic Directors ………...John Going, Halo Wines, Finance Office ………………………………...Chyeslan Buso Clay Hopper Nene Keita Resident Musical Director ……………….Christopher Youstra Facilities Manager ………………………Mark Quackenbush Resident Set Designer…………………………. James Kronzer Assistant to Managing Director……………… Maureen Estrin Resident Costume Designer …………..Howard Vincent Kurtz Business Assistant ……………………………...Michael Silard Resident Lighting Designer …………Daniel MacLean Wagner Business Manager/Communications………… Courtney Smith Company Manager…………………………….. Kelsey Phelps Sales Director ……………………………...Weldon C. Brown Public Relations…………………………………. Deb Fiscella Technical Marketing Manager ……………………………Heather Latiri Graphic Designer……………………………….. Laura Myers Technical Director ……………………………….Eric Knauss Social Media & Marketing Associate………… Sam Rabinovitz Assistant Technical Director ………………...Jameson Shroyer Patron Services Manager………………… Michael R. Burgtorf Master Electrician ………………………………...Jesse Sutten Gift Shop & Concessions Manager ……..Catherine Ichniowski Audio Engineer………………………………. GW Rodriguez Rental Coordinator ……………………………Dan Van Why Scenic Charge ………………………………Meaghan Toohey Box Office Manager ………………………Lynda Bruce-Lewis Costume Shop Supervisor ………………………Jeanne Bland Assistant Box Office Manager……………………. David Pratt Assistant Costume Shop Supervisor ……………...Seth Gilbert House Managers ………...Elyse Bennett, Gabe Charles, Cindy Production Associates ………..Michelina Abrahamzon, Peter Collier, Lina Al Dajani, William Fullmer, Seth Ghitelman, Joy Campagna, Mark Carmouze, Kristiana Cowcer, Melissa Hugo, R. Wesley Meekins, Khris-Ann Small Gilbert, Kendall Judy, Kelsey Phelps, Trevor Riley Box Office Associates………… Arash Bahari, Stephanie Boyle, Rachel Spory Harper, Marie Henry, Leah Keilsohn, Barbara Olney Theatre Institute Scanlan, Amanda Spellman

Director …………………………………………Clay Hopper Development General Manager …………………………..Madeleine Russell Education Associate …………………………Michael R. Kelly Director of Development …………………....Valerie Shipman Development Assistant………………………. Maureen Estrin Development Associate ……………..David Frankenberger, Jr.

11 America’s Longest Running Touring Company

Now celebrating its 63rd anniversary season, National Players has earned a distinctive place in American theatre by bringing innovative and accessible productions to audiences across the country. Performed with high-voltage energy, clarity, and wit, National Players introduces audiences to great works of dramatic literature that are rich in exciting stories and characters, and profound in language and themes. Our productions touch hearts and minds, inspire imagination and wonder, spark curiosity about the self, the world, and the creative process, and celebrate what it means to be human. National Players was founded in 1949 by Father Gilbert V. Hartke, O.P., a prominent arts educator and then head of the drama department at Catholic University of America. His mission – to stimulate young people’s higher thinking skills and imaginations by presenting classical plays in surprisingly accessible ways – is as urgent and vital today as it was 63 years ago. Olney Theatre Center is proud to be the artistic home of National Players and continue Father Hartke’s vision and commitment to provide young theatre artists with their first professional opportunities. Players’ alumni include actors, directors, and designers working on dozens of stages across America, as well as in film and television. National Players has performed in the East Wing of the White House, in Europe, , and the Middle East for American military, and throughout more than 40 states. Known for its talent and commitment to excellence, National Players has brought literature to life for more than 2.7 million audience members. National Players offers an exemplary lesson in collaboration and teamwork-in- action: the actors not only play multiple roles onstage, but also serve as managers, teaching artists, and technicians. A self-contained company, National Players carries its own sets, lights, costumes, and sound.

Announcing the 64th National Players Tour (September 2012 – May 2013)

William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet And Animal Farm

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