FROM BROADWAY, WITH SPRINKLES SUPERIOR DONUTS

By Tracy Letts

Directed by Leslie Martinson

Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts

October 6—October 31, 2010

Regional Premiere From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of August: Osage County comes a fresh-baked tale of friendship and redemption in a crumbling donut shop on Chicago’s North Side. Warm, funny, and deeply moving, it introduces an eager new counterman—an African American kid whose bright ideas mask a cloudy past. Setting out to refurbish the place and its long-stale proprietor, he encounters first a wall of resistance then a well of unexpected heart. Contains mature language. “A soulful play, full of humor and humanity.” –Variety

*Visual Voice audio described performances 10/29 8pm, 10/30 8pm, 10/31 2pm

Groups of 8 or more save 15%! Contact Elisa Valentine at 650.463.7126 or at [email protected] for more information or to make a reservation.

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"Exceptionally funny...UPLIFTING...filled with sharp comedy and touching humanity." San Francisco Chronicle

"WICKEDLY WITTY...a splendid night of theater that both tickles the funny bone and warms the heart." The Mercury News

"Superior Donuts is something special, a high mark for theater...TRULY OUTSTANDING." Daily News

"Well written, perfectly performed, immaculately produced…" Palo Alto Weekly

"It POSITIVELY SHINES...funny, moving, and perceptively written." KQED

“Remarkably HEARTWARMING...you don’t have to be from Chicago to enjoy it.” San Jose Metro

"TheatreWorks' SLAM-DUNKIN' Donuts...mightily entertaining." Theater Dogs

"EXQUISITE ACTING...amazingly sensitive direction that elevates this drama into a masterpiece." For All Events "PHENOMENAL SCRIPT...Set designer Tom Langguth brought a whole world together that was as rich in detail as the characters themselves." Stark Insider "As Franco, Lance Gardner is simply outstanding...an AWARD-WORTHY HIGH VOLTAGE PERFORMANCE." San Mateo Daily Journal “SUPERIOR PERFORMANCES…Gardner’s exuberance is infectious.” Kedar K. Adour Reviews

"INTIMATE …Lance Gardner’s performance as Franco ignites the stage with the vitality of youth.” My Cultural Landscape

"Gardner is a revelation…” SF Theatre Blog

"Theatrical Nutrition from Tracy Letts: ‘Superior Donuts’” Daily News

"Swain dunks into sweet ‘Donuts’ role” SF Examiner

"Leslie Martinson a seasoned TheatreWorks star” SFGate

“In ‘Superior Donuts,’ opening at TheatreWorks, playwright Tracy Letts’ script is more funny than harrowing” Mercury News

"Michael J. Asberry talks about his love of acting” Oakland Post Online

Leslie Martinson Helms ‘Superior Donuts’ at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley” Talk2SV

MICHAEL J. ASBERRY

(James) is excited to be making his TheatreWorks debut. He has performed with Lorraine Hansberry Theatre in Waitin’ to End Hell (Larry), which was preceded by roles in Crumbs from the Table of Joy (Godfrey Crump); King Hedley II (Mister); and Seven Guitars(Red Carter). Other favorite roles include All God’s Chillun’ Got Wings (Jim Harris) with The Eugene O’Neill Festival, Danville; Aurora Theatre Company’s Satellites (Reggie); Topdog/Underdog at The 6th Street Playhouse (Linc); The Shotgun Players’ There Will Be No Trojan War (Ulysses), and I’m Not Rappaport(Midge) with the California Conservatory Theatre. His TV and film

appearances include Nash Bridges, Parenthood, Trauma, The Californians, and Where’s My Stuff? Voiceover credits include Paramount Pictures, Pixar Animation, General Motors, The Commonwealth Club and Electronic Arts. JULIA BROTHERS

(Randy) appeared at TheatreWorks in Theophilus North (Mother/Mrs. Cranston), Ambition Facing West (Marija/ Alma), Nickel and Dimed (Gail/Marge), and Be Aggressive(Judy). Recent credits include Show and Tell(Sharon/ Erin) with Symmetry Theatre; The First Grade (Sydney) at Aurora Theatre Company; Evie’s Waltz (Gloria) at Magic Theatre; Magic Forest Farm (Eleanor) at Marin Theatre Company; and as Carla in George Is Dead (written and directed by Elaine May) at Arizona Theatre Company, where she co-starred with Marlo Thomas. Ms. Brothers is a company member of SF Playground and B Street Theatre. She has won numerous Bay Area theatre awards and was named MVP for Theatre in 2006 by the San Francisco Chronicle.

JON DELINE

(Kiril) is excited to make his debut at TheatreWorks. He recently finished the show Slices for All (Strongman) with Pi: The Physical Comedy Troupe in the Berkshire Fringe Festival. He also performed in the San Francisco Fringe Festival with Pi: The Physical Comedy Troupe and they won Best Clown Ensemble for their show Afterparty(Strongman). He co-produces The Clown Cabaret in San Francisco with Climate Theater which has performances the first Monday of every month. Before performing professionally he studied at the Clown Conservatory of San Francisco with Jeff Raz and obtained his BA in theater arts from the University of California Santa Cruz.

ELIAS ESCOBEDO

(Kevin) returns to TheatreWorks where he was last seen in Shakespeare in Hollywood and understudied in The Sisters Rosensweig. Recent credits include Lt. Kaffee in A Few Good Men at Hapgood Theatre, Todd in Afterlife of the Mind at Virago Theatre, and Alvaro in Lydia at Marin Theatre Company. A San Francisco native, Mr. Escobedo has also worked with California Shakespeare Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, SF Playhouse, Marin Shakespeare Company, Livermore Shakespeare Festival, and Brava Theatre among others. Commercial and industrial credits include Oracle, Adobe, Seagate, Transmetrics, Sutter Health, Kaiser Permanente, SaveMart, Longs Drugs, and Romelli Bail Bonds. Mr. Escobedo earned his BA in Dramatic Arts from the University of California, Davis. www.EliasEscobedo.com

LANCE GARDNER

(Franco) is pleased to return to TheatreWorks, where he appeared in Auctioning the Ainsleys, and understudied Intimate Apparel and Anna in the Tropics, and has performed multiple staged readings for the Young Playwright’s Project. He has appeared on stage in Yellowjackets at Berkeley Repertory Theatre; Equivocation, A Streetcar Named Desire, Lovers & Executioners, and A Brief History of Nearly Everything at Marin Theatre Company; A Midsummer Night’s Dream at California Shakespeare Theatre; Rust at Magic Theatre; T.I.C. with Encore Theatre; Skin at Climate Theatre; Angels in America parts I & II at City Lights Theatre Company, and more. He is a member of San Jose Repertory Theatre’s social outreach and education division, Red Ladder Theatre Company. Mr. Gardner also performs regularly as the drummer for the San Jose based rock band Vie Victus.

JOAN MANKIN

(Lady) has credits at TheatreWorks including Penny in You Can’t Take it With You and understudying Golda Meir in Golda’s Balcony.Most recent credits include Barbara in Boom at Marin Theater Company, Mrs. Gottlieb in Dead Man’s Cell Phone, and Bell in The Fantasticks at SF Playhouse; Miss Prism in The Importance of Being Earnest at Marin Shakespeare Company; Snug and Philostrate in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at California Shakespeare Theater; Henny in Bosoms and Neglect at the Aurora Theatre Company; Bobchinsky in Government Inspector at American Conservatory Theater; and The Mother in Black Rider at the Ahmanson Theater in Los Angeles. She was a clown with the Pickle Family Circus, and is on the faculty of the SF Circus Center, which sent her to China in 2008 to teach clowning to professional acrobats.

GABRIEL MARIN

(Luther) is delighted to make his TheatreWorks debut. His recent credits include A Number(Bernard) and Noises Off (Garry) at Center REPertory Company, The Creature (Victor) with Black Box Theatre, Jack Goes Boating (Clyde) and The Devil’s Disciple (Richard) at Aurora Theatre Company, Landscape of the Body(Durwood, Raulito) and the regional premiere of Tracy Letts’ Bug (Peter) at SF Playhouse. Locally he has appeared at American Conservatory Theater, Aurora Theatre Company, Bay Area Playwrights Foundation, Center REP, Central Works, Magic Theatre, Marin Theatre Company, PlayGround, San Francisco Playhouse, The Jewish Theatre, Thick Description, Word for Word, and Z Space. Mr. Marin was recently named Best Actor by East Bay Express in their Best of The East Bay 2010. He has performed on NBC, CBS, PBS, and the BBC.

SØREN OLIVER

(Max) has spent the majority of his career acting in the San Francisco Bay Area. Nationally he has appeared at such theatres as The Denver Center Theatre Company, The Huntington Theatre Company, The McCarter Theatre Company, and The Shakespeare Theatre Company in DC Locally he has worked at Magic Theatre, California Shakespeare Theatre, San Jose Repertory Theatre, Marin Theatre Company, Aurora Theatre Company and in 2007 he was seen playing the role of Hercules in Mary at Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Mr. Oliver’s most recent television credit was the recurring role of Baliel the demon, on the WB’s Charmed. He can also be seen as Pastor Paul in the independent film Nominated, due to be released in 2011.

HOWARD SWAIN

(Arthur) returns to TheatreWorks where he performed in To Kill a Mockingbird, Yellow Face, and On Golden Pond. He recently worked in Oakland at TheatreFIRST, in Laguna Beach at the Laguna Playhouse, and off-Broadway at The New York Theatre Workshop. Bay Area credits include American Conservatory Theater, Berkeley and San Jose Repertory Theatres, Magic Theatre, Marines Memorial Theatre, Eureka Theatre, Theatre-On-The-Square, San Jose Stage Company, Word For Word, SF Playhouse, Center REPertory Company, and Marin Theatre Company as well as Oregon, Berkeley, Santa Cruz, Marin, and California Shakespeare Festivals. Television and film credits include Nash Bridges, Midnight Caller, Partners In Crime, Kiss Shot, Bed of Lies, Hill St. Blues, Cherry 2000, Miracle Mile, Golden Gate, Just One Night, Teknolust, Frameup, Night of the Scarecrow, and Valley of the Heart’s Delight.

TRACY LETTS

(Playwright) received the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for August: Osage County, which played on Broadway, as well as a sold-out run at London’s National Theatre and a US National Tour. It also received five Tony Awards (including Best Play), an Olivier Award and six Jeff Awards (including Best Play). Mr. Letts also wrote Superior Donuts (Steppenwolf 2008, Broadway 2009); Man from Nebraska, a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize; Killer Joe; and Bug. His acting appearances include Steppenwolf’s Betrayal, The Pillowman, The Dresser, Homebody/Kabul, Glengarry Glen Ross (also Dublin and Toronto), and Picasso at the Lapin Agile, and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? at Alliance Theatre. His television and film roles include The District, Profiler, Prison Break, The Drew Carey Show, Seinfeld, Home Improvement, Guinevere, U.S. Marshals, and Chicago Cab.

LESLIE MARTINSON

(Director/ Casting Director) is TheatreWorks’ Associate Artist and Casting Director. For TheatreWorks, she has directed Theophilus North, If We Are Women, Brilliant Traces, The Boys Next Door, Interpreters, Stepping Out, and The Voice of the Prairie among others. A graduate of Occidental College, she was a Watson Fellow, a member of Lincoln Center Directors’ Lab, and a member of the LaMaMa International Directing Symposium. She has served on Theatre Bay Area’s Theatre Services Committee since 2002. In 2009, she was awarded the Individual Artist Fellowship in Stage Direction from the Arts Council of Silicon Valley for artistic achievement and community impact. She leads master classes, workshops and coachings for Bay Area universities and theatre companies.

TOM LANGGUTH

(Set Designer) has designed 25 TheatreWorks productions including Tinyard Hill, Doubt, Harold & Maude: An Intimate Musical, Sunday in the Park with George (Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle and Backstage West Awards), Proof, On Golden Pond, Side Show, Kiss Of The Spider Woman, The Grapes Of Wrath, Two Trains Running, and A Little Night Music (BATCC Award). Other designs include Marin Theatre Company (Emma’s Child, The Lay of the Land), Sacramento Theatre Company (Arms And The Man, Educating Rita), and Center REPertory Company (Talley’s Folly, Of Mice And Men, The Countess, Road To Mecca). He has been a scenic artist at American Musical Theatre of San Jose, The Old Globe, and San Francisco and California Shakespeare Festivals, and the Charge Artist at TheatreWorks for 17 years. He is a member of United Scenic Artists Local 829.

JAMIE D. MANN

(Stage Manager) recently stage managed the developmental production of Fly By Night in TheatreWorks’ New Works Festival. He also stage managed the World Premiere of Mrs Whitney (Magic Theatre), 2 X Malamud—The Jewbirdand The Magic Barrel (Word for Word/The Jewish Theatre), The Last Yiddish Poet (The Jewish Theatre), and Sunrise at Campobello (Willows Theatre Company). He was Production Manager for six seasons at San Jose Stage Company, and stage managed Dirty Blonde, Rock ’N’ Roll, The Great American Trailer Park Musical, Always…Patsy Cline, Altar Boyz, Blade To The Heat (with Thick Description), The Diary Of Anne Frank and Beehive, The Musical. He graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz, with a degree in Theatre Arts.

STEVEN B. MANNSHARDT

(Lighting Designer) has been the lighting designer for over 55 productions at TheatreWorks, having won numerous Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Awards and Dean Goodman Choice Awards for his work. His regional design credits include Long Wharf Theatre, New Haven; A Contemporary Theatre, Seattle; American Repertory Theater, Cambridge; Studio Arena Theatre, Buffalo; Magic Theatre; Pasadena Playhouse; The Weston Playhouse Theatre Company, Vermont; Vancouver Playhouse Theatre Company; Centaur Theatre Company, Montreal; The du Maurier Theater, Toronto; and Olympia Theatre, Dublin, Ireland. Mr. Mannshardt taught lighting design at Santa Rosa Junior College for 14 years and continues to be a guest lecturer at various local colleges. Formerly the production manager at TheatreWorks, Mr. Mannshardt now runs an organization dedicated to improving the education system for both children and adults in Nepal. www.nepal.wwep.org JEFF MOCKUS

(Sound Design) makes his Theatre Works debut with Superior Donuts. His recent credits include the world premieres of Tracy’s Tiger for Oregon Shakespeare Festival and Lend Me A Tenor: The Musical for the Utah Shakespearean Festival, as well as American Conservatory Theater’s War Music and Berkeley Repertory Theatre’s Menocchio. Most recently his work was heard in California Shakespeare Theatre’s Mrs. Warren’s Profession and Center REPertory Company’s A Marvelous Party. Mr. Mockus served as San Jose Repertory’s Resident Sound Designer for over 70 productions including The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, This Wonderful Life, A Christmas Story, and The Haunting of Winchester, while earning Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Awards for Old Wicked Songs and Mary's Wedding, and Dean Goodman Choice Awards for By The Bog of Cats, ART, and Major Barbara. B. MODERN

(Costume Designer) is delighted to return to TheatreWorks where she designed The Chosen and Third. Regional theatre design credits include productions for Oregon Shakespeare Festival; The Globe Theatres, San Diego; American Players Theatre, Wisconsin; Shakespeare Santa Cruz; San Jose Repertory Theatre; Asolo Repertory Theatre, Florida; Geva Theatre Center, New York; Indiana Repertory Theatre; The Magic Theatre; The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis; Berkeley Repertory Theatre; Georgia Shakespeare Festival; Idaho Shakespeare Festival; Center REPertory Company; and Syracuse Stage. Her opera credits include productions at Opera Theatre of St. Louis and Opera San José. She has received four Drama-Logue Awards, three Dean Goodman Choice Awards, and a Bay Area Theater Critics’ Circle Award. Ms. Modern is honored to be an Associate Artist at Shakespeare Santa Cruz, and Geva Theatre, New York. JENNY PATELL

(Assistant Stage Manager) is excited to return to TheatreWorks after interning on Bat Boy: The Musical in 2003. Other credits include Mr. Marmalade with Renegade Theatre Experiment, Route 99: Orange Star Dinner Theater with Orphean Circus, and Much Ado About Nothing with San Francisco Shakespeare Company. Ms. Patell attended Whitman College in Walla Walla, WA. LISA ANNE PORTER

(Dialect Consultant) most recently worked on TheatreWorks production of Grey Gardens. She coached dialect for the world premiere of The Kite Runner at Arizona Theatre Company and San Jose Repertory Theatre. She has coached for voice and dialect for over forty productions at Syracuse Stage, Boston Theatreworks, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, San Jose Repertory Theatre, and Center REPertory Company. She has performed with numerous repertory companies and Shakespeare festivals throughout the country. She has served on the faculties of the American Conservatory Theater, Syracuse University, University of California Davis, Stanford University, Berkeley Repertory School of Theatre, Shakespeare and Company, Naropa University, California Shakespeare Theatre, San Francisco State University, and the Academy of Art University. She has Linklater voice designation, a BA from Wesleyan University and an MFA from American Conservatory Theater. JONATHAN RIDER

(Fight Director) has been choreographing fights regionally, nationally, and internationally for twenty years, though this marks his first show with TheatreWorks as Fight Director. For the past ten years Mr. Rider has been the Resident Fight Director for the San Francisco Opera. Recently, in addition to his work with San Francisco Opera, Mr. Rider has directed fights for Gran Teatro Del Liceu in Barcelona, Spain (Tristan and Isolde), Lyric Opera of Kansas City (Antony and Cleopatra), The Crucible in Oakland (Dracul Prince of Fire, Firebird, The Fire Odyssey, and Romeo and Juliet), Berkeley Opera (Legend of the Ring), and is scheduled to choreograph at Teatro Massimo in Palermo, Italy (Fanciulla Del West), this winter. Mr. Rider holds a BA from Santa Clara University. VICKIE ROZELL

(Dramaturg) has been TheatreWorks’ resident dramaturg for nine years, working on over sixty productions, including as co-director of Doubt, Arcadia,and Wrong for Each Other, associate director/dramaturg on Yellow Face; Caroline, or Change; Emma; M Butterfly; Into the Woods; Dolly West’s Kitchen; Jane Eyre; Ragtime; Pacific Overtures; and Side Show; and dramaturg on Baby Taj, Vincent in Brixton, Violet, Memphis, and many others. She has directed Picasso at the Lapin Agile, Picnic (Palo Alto Players), W;t (Bus Barn Stage Company), The Vagina Monologues (The California Theatre) and Proof(City Lights Theatre Company), taught at Ohlone and Foothill Colleges, and is a member of the West Coast Directors Lab. Ms. Rozell has BAs in English and Psychology from Stanford University and her MFA in directing from the University of California.