The Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival Newsletter • Spring 2008 Musical and Magical ������������ Twelfth Night, or What You Will � By Lisa Higgins Shakespeare’s use of the word “fancy” ������������������� can have dual meanings—like many of his Down by the seaside. Shakespeare words. “Fancy, a peculiarly places his romantic comedy Shakespearean word that Twelfth Night, or What You means sometimes Love, Will atat thisthis mostmost romanticromantic ������������ sometimes Imagination, and location, where the land often yokes both together, ���������������������� meets the sea, and he is... the special attribute endows this magical place of Twelfth Night.” 2 Love with the mellifluous name, and imagination, doubly Illyria. One of the most enchanting, may also reflect �������� musical of Shakespeare’s that Twelfth Night, or What plays, Twelfth Night opensopens ���������������������� You Will, is Shakespeare’sShakespeare’s with the lilting line, “If only play to receive a double music be the food of love, title. The Twelfth Night title play on!” Orsino, duke of Main Stage June 18 - July 6 refers to the twelfth night the seaside land Illyria, thus �������� of Christmas, when the play announces his love for love was presumably premiered, while “what you itself, and eventually for the ��������������� will” suggests the fantastical and even “any- beautiful Countess Olivia thing goes.” ��������������� (who wants nothing to do with him). Heard it in a love song ���������������� “There is a special dispensation being ����������������������������� at the shore,” says James J. Christy, who is Ultimately, it is music that “guides directing PSF’s production. “The atmosphere the play’s moods and rhythms,” accord- is lovely, relaxed. [The setting] will feel like a ing to The Essential Shakespeare Handbook. Mediterranean seaside resort, “though not in a The songs make the play unique among ����� realistic or literal way.” Shakespeare’s works, Christy says. “The lyr- ics to the songs are extremely beautiful and ����������� “The setting of Twelfth Night isis espe-espe- lend an autumnal mood. There is a sense of cially important to the play’s romantic the passing nature of joy,” he says, adding, by Edmund Rostand atmosphere,” according to Michael Best, “Rob Maggio (composer) has created beau- Translated and Adapted by writing in Internet Shakespeare Editions. tiful and evocative music for the songs that “‘Illyria’ refers to a place on the east coast bring this language to life.” Anthony Burgess of the Adriatic Sea (between what is now Greece and Albania), but in Shakespeare’s One of Shakespeare’s most familiar com- time the name may not have suggested a edies, Twelfth Night employsemploys a popular come-come- real country. Illyria may have been as fantas- dic plot device: twins separated by misfortune �������������� tical a place as Camelot.”1 (a shipwreck). Viola arrives on the shore, ����������������� thinking her brother has perished in the ���������������������� Inspired in part by a month-long visit storm. “But here the twins are brother and to Barcelona last fall, Christy was particu- sister, requiring the audience to accept the ������������������ larly enchanted by the turn-of-the-century improbable premise that Viola and Sebastian ����������������� architecture of Atoni Gaudi. “I fell in love could be mistaken for one another.” 3 with the creative exuberance of the shapes [of Gaudi’s buildings]; the style was extremely There is no mistaking Christy’s affection fantastical. It reminded me of the line in the for the characters and the play. Connected to ������������ Duke’s opening verse: ‘So full of shapes is the play as a performer and as a director— fancy that it alone is high fantastical.’” ����������������� continued on page 4 Notes from the 2008 Season Sponsor: Producing Artistic AmaranthAmaranth Foundation’sFoundation’s JoanJoan MoranMoran Director As poetic as though Shakespeare him- Moran. “It’s one thing to read Shakespeare, self wrote it, the dictionary defines ama- which is all I ever did as a student. It’s “It’s universal.” The ranth as “a flower that never fades.” The quite another to see a production. Both appeal of Shakespeare. description could just as easily describe the are important. People think they don’t like A cliché perhaps, so it’s work of the Amaranth Foundation and its Shakespeare, but once they see it on stage, worth exploring more trustee, Joan Moran. the characters make it believable; the stories deeply. When I analyze become clearer for the audience.” a Shakespeare play in A Lehigh Valley native and lifelong arts preparation for directing enthusiast, Moran sparkles when talking In advance of seeing a production of a it, I explore in layers. about literature in general, and Shakespeare Shakespeare play, Moran and her husband, Patrick Mulcahy in particular. “How could one person put all Bill Fenza, a retired lawyer, retired Lehigh First, the surface those words together to create so many dif- Valley theatre director, and sometime music layer. The plot, the events, the charac- ferent plays?” she marvels. Even after com- critic, listen to a recording. “We have a com- ters’ behaviors, and what they hint at pleting scholarly expeditions in English liter- plete set of recordings, and we’ll get out the underneath. ature as an undergraduate at Mount Holyoke text and follow along. We find we get more Then I ask myself about the “under- and receiving a masters degree from Lehigh out of the production that way.” neath,” the psychology at work that leads University, her joyful appreciation continues She’s read all of Shakespeare’s plays (and to these behaviors. How are these per- to blossom unabated. the sonnets, too.) While her favorite plays sonalities structured? How do they come “With computers, Blackberries, the include and , Moran together in relationships? How are they Romeo and Juliet Hamlet internet, there is so much in our society that is particularly looking forward to PSF’s pro- distinctive individually? In The Winter’s isn’t real. Shakespeare is real: it’s genuine and duction of King Lear, in part because it is the Tale, few of the characters behaved in authentic. There’s music in the language. first time the Festival will produce it. conventional, expected ways. They sur- prised us. That made them interesting. “People should know about Shakespeare. Although she can’t recall exactly when He’s the greatest dramatist and poet of all she started attending PSF, she readily cites But beneath that, I sense a third layer, time,” she says. “And that’s why the Festival Greg Wood, Christopher Patrick Mullen, the primal stuff: fundamental human needs is so important. Nobody else in the Valley is Jim Helsinger, and Grace Gonglewski as like belonging, safety, power, freedom. Not producing Shakespeare on a regular basis, and four of her favorite PSF actors. Favorite what makes us unique as individuals but it’s important for people to be able to see it.” PSF productions include what we all share. I think this is why we The Winter’s Tale last season, Helsinger’s direction of say Shakespeare is universal. His explora- The The transformative impact of seeing in tion of this third layer is so intuitive, so Compleat Wrks of Wllm Shkspr (Abridged) Shakespeare performed live is essential to 1999 and inin 2001.2001. SheShe creditscredits insightful, and connects with us before we Charley’s Aunt Fr. Gerard Schubert, OSFS, PSF’s founder, are even aware. Because he is telling our for launching the Festival and Patrick story, the human story, the mirror reflects Mulcahy, producing artistic director, for his our natures, where the collective and the artistic leadership. individual meet. And so he pushes our but- tons with those incredible words, probing “Joan’s panoramic appreciation of those tender places we’ve tucked away. Shakespeare combined with her profound belief in the value of live performance make I think there is also a fourth layer, the her an ideal board member,” Mulcahy says. atomic layer, perhaps, beyond “the matrix.” Moran has served as a member of PSF’s At this level, I felt Henry IV, Part 1 was board of directors for six years and is cur- about order and chaos. The Winter’s Tale? rently the board’s secretary. “We are blessed About healing separation, but beyond that to have her support.” third layer need for belonging, more about healing the separation started perhaps by PSF is one of a number of Lehigh the Big Bang. Hamlet? LifeLife andand death.death. Valley arts organizations and environ- For me, this fourth layer derives from a mental groups Moran supports through fundamental question: what basic forces of the Amaranth Foundation, including form and existence does this play illumi- the Allentown Symphony Association, nate, reflect, or reveal indirectly? The truly Allentown Art Museum, Bach Choir of universal, as in the forces of the universe Bethlehem, Community Music School, the filtering up through our every action. Da Vinci Science Center, and the Wildlands Conservancy. How Shakespeare was able to do all that I will never understand. But why Joan Moran and her dog Canio, named for a Truly, her generosity to the Lehigh Valley else would we still be at it, 400 years on? character in the opera, Pagliacci. community is a bouquet that never fades. ■ Because it’s universal. ■

2 • The Quill, Spring 2008 610.282.will King Lear: “Not for an Age, But for all Time”

By Patrick Mulcahy about the ne’er-do-well son of a leader “See better, Lear!” says Lear’s faithful Producing Artistic Director who had to break with his partying past servant and friend Kent. The need for lucidi- I bumped into Chris Mullen in our to step into the authority he inherited had ty in our view of the world, and its impact on parking lot the other day and he said: “You some topical resonance. But that passing our decisions, never changes. We know from know, I haven’t done King Lear before,”before,” interest was the end of the influence on our own lives that real tragedies bring with (he will play Edgar in our production) “but the production, because the play was about them unprecedented clarity. We see things so as I work through it, I am reminded with matters of much greater consequence, like much more clearly and wonder how we could every turn of the page of why it is such a honor, authenticity, fathers and sons, the have blinded ourselves to what has suddenly magnificent play.” relationship between chaos and order in become so achingly apparent. That’s one aim the universe, and how leaders endeavor to of tragedy on the stage: through the descent So many of you have stopped me in manage it. comes a level of awareness that blows away the lobby to ask, “when are you going to do what we thought was so important. In the King Lear?” The loss, we finally time is now for “see better” and PSF and this appreciate fully great play. This that which had is the 22nd of been but a blur Shakespeare’s in our periph- plays PSF will eral vision. The produce, but the consequences last indisputable of our choices masterwork for teach us how us to tackle for truly powerful the first time. It we are, through is one of the most our actions, to be profound plays agents for beauty ever written, or destruction. with insights Lear comes to into humanity this knowledge so astonishingly of himself and penetrating the devastation and clear that his actions have the anguish wrought become and the beauty all too clear to are exquisitely him. inseparable. Along the There is way, some char- never a good acters in the play nor bad time to commit unspeak- do King Lear. able wrongs, and That’s the beauty Cordelia comforting her father, King Lear, in prison, 1886 (oil on canvas). Leeds Museums and Galleries (The Bridgeman Art Library) U.K. Photographer: George William Joy/Getty Images. others demon- of works of art strate astonish- whose appeal is ingly selfless universal and timeless. Sometimes the topical Some may find parallels between the devotion to King and Kingdom, despite makes a particular play seem more salient. political world in King Lear and our ownown at Lear’s calamitous failings. My personal opin- When the Eliot Spitzer scandal broke, my present. But, again, the play doesn’t depend ion: in its comprehensive exploration of the first thought (after concern for his wife and on the parallels for its resonance. Stories human condition, King Lear is rivaledrivaled in the daughters) was of Angelo in Measure for about parents and children, husbands and canon only by Hamlet. Measure, and how well Shakespeare under- wives, lifelong friends, what they will and stood human complexity and frailty. But won’t do for each other, and how those I couldn’t be happier with the team we the play didn’t need the Governor’s help. actions meet, exceed, or fail to meet deeply have assembled for this project. I couldn’t Shakespeare’s plays resonate with us beyond personal expectations, now that’s the stuff of be happier with the play. And I can’t wait to hear from you in the lobby about the next the commonalities between his plots and the life, and will be in any age. King Lear is as outward events of our lives. full of this primal energy as one could want Shakespeare play you are aching to see PSF ■ in any play. produce. For example, when I directed Henry IV, Part 1 in 2005, I was aware that a story

www.pashakespeare.org The Quill, Spring 2008 • 3 Twelfth Night, continued fromfrom pagepage 1

Christy played Sir Andrew Aguecheek, one of Olivia’s suitors, for the Philadelphia Theatre Adventure, Beauty, and Culture Company in 1975 and directed it at Villanova University where he retired in 2006 as a pro- Abound in The Jungle Book fessor of theatre—Christy plans to emphasize Transformed into a jungle of the imagi- jungle-gym of scenic possibilities that the love and fantasy in PSF’s production. “As nation and gilded with the beauty and culture actors and I will be able to play with during someone who has experienced the play at of India, the Schubert Theatre will illuminate the rehearsal process,” Mullen says. “Amy different times in my life, I can retain what I Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book. Complete Lobmeyer, our costume designer, visited the liked, while asking myself if there’s a different with music, dance, costume, and puppetry, Sari Palace in Queens, New York to research direction I’d like to go. This time, I want to The Jungle Book emphasizesemphasizes thethe importanceimportance the vibrantly embroidered jewel-toned fabrics pursue the fantasy world, and explore the idea of respect and understanding of “all creatures” of India that we will be using in our produc- of the whimsicality of its topsy-turvy world.” in a way audiences of all ages can enjoy. tion.” Liz Zernechel’s lighting will range Twin peaks of opposite poles are found from the mystical village in the moonlight to “Last summer, Jim Helsinger told me in the characters of Sir Toby Belch, Olivia’s the jumping fun of the jungle at sunrise and about this fabulous musical adaptation of drunken uncle, and Malvolio, Olivia’s prud- back again. “The whole artistic team at PSF Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book that his ish guardian—“one raucous and bawdy, and is very excited about The Jungle Book.” theatre, The Orlando Shakespeare Theatre, one moralistic and humorless,” Christy says. had developed,” says Erin Mullen, PSF’s Keep an eye out in the local papers for “Malvolio is not allowed to enjoy anything, or education director and director of the musi- a PSF coloring contest and the chance to even to appear to enjoy anything.” Malvolio cal. “As soon as I began to read the script, win a Family Adventure pack of tickets, becomes the butt of Sir Toby’s jokes. Playwright April-Dawn Gladu’s characters which includes four tickets to Twelfth Night As for the play’s heroine, Viola finds jumped off the page for me. Coupled with and four tickets to The Jungle Book. After herself washed up on the shores of Illyria, and catchy music and lyrics by Daniel Levy, I the show, be sure to stop by the Labuda recalling that her father praised its unmarried knew our audiences would love it.” lobby for photos with the cast of monkeys, ruler, Duke Orsino, decides to seek him out. and tigers, and bears…oh my! ■ At press time, design meetings are To protect herself, she disguises herself as a well underway. “Bob Phillips is creating a boy, the page Cesario. Orsino soon employs the boy “to unfold the passion of my love” to Olivia. She promises to try, though she has already fallen in love with Orsino. Thus the magical, musical merriment begins! “In Twelfth Night, there is a deep, rich ensemble cast, a beautiful blend of dis- tinctive characters: four lovers, Sir Andrew, Feste (the clown), Toby, Maria, Malvolio, and Antonio.” says Christy. “The characters are wonderfully drawn.” Look forward to Carl Wallnau as Malvolio, Anthony Lawton as Feste, Erin Clare Hurley as Viola, and John Ahlin (Falstaff in 2005) as the raucous knight Sir Toby Belch. ■ 1. “Shakespeare’s Life and Times,” Internet Shakespeare Editions, University of Victoria, BC, 2001-2005. 2. Nicholas Hytner, The New York Times, July 12, 1998. 3. The Essential Shakespeare Handbook, DK Publishing, Inc., New York, New York. 2004 Win a Trip for Two! TUSCANY Raffle tickets ~ $100 each Only 300 will be sold CostumeCostume DDesigneresigner AAmymy LLobmeyer,obmeyer, wwhoho ccreatedreated tthehe rrender-ender- 610.282.9455, ext. 6 or in the lobby ings shown here, researched vibrantly embroidered jewel- toned fabrics of India at the Sari Palace in Queens, New York. 4 • The Quill, Spring 2008 610.282.will CYRANO DE BERGERAC, BIG, BOLD, AND BEAUTIFUL By Catherine Pressimone Beckowski ’06 screen include José Ferrer, Derek Jacobi, Christopher Plummer, Kevin Kline, Gérard Everything about Cyrano de Bergerac is Depardieu—even Placido Domingo has big: big cast, big story, big hero, big demands given it an operatic interpretation. This on director and designers. And then there’s summer, long-time company member Greg the nose. Wood will star in PSF’s production. The original script calls for more than 50 Poetic passion marks the play as the actors who represent a vibrant cross-section of defining example of neo-Romanticism and 17th century life in France. The story traverses a unique achievement in its own time, some a vast landscape, from urban Parisian hotspots years past Romanticism’s apex. Surprisingly, to country dwellings to a battlefront, and Romanticism is not about the love story. spans 15 years in its five acts. Most impor- After the French and American Revolutions, tantly, it tells the story of a man who rejects playwrights and novelists, among other artists, compromise and hypocrisy and strives against strove to reach beyond the rational, embrac- colossal odds for justice in an imperfect world. ing the power of the imagination and explor- PSF’s Associate Artistic Director Dennis ing powerful emotion as a source of aesthetic Razze embarks on this glorious journey as experience. Combining and contrasting both the production’s director. As a veteran of the sublime and the exotic was a key to the 1 dozens of mainstage productions at PSF, Romantics’ theatrical approach. The charac- including directing impressive musicals such ter of Cyrano demonstrates this contrast—an as My Fair Lady and Man of La Mancha, he ideal hero—humanized by his imperfect revels in the challenge of bringing Cyrano to appearance—fights valiantly for his ideals. the Festival stage. The goal was to depict humanity unceasingly striving towards spiritual perfection. Razze’s connection to Cyrano goes back to when he read it as a college student. “I was Also telling—this play gave a new word immediately entranced by both the character to the English language: panache! And this of Cyrano and the story,” he says. “It struck production of Cyrano de Bergerac promisespromises a chord. I had always liked swashbuckling to deliver. ■ Errol Flynn movies that had lots of wit, Catherine Pressimone Beckowski is a DeSales romance, and intrigue. University graduate working toward her “Then I read the play and it was all there, master’s degree in Dramaturgy at the State University of New York, Stony Brook. along with some of the most gorgeous poetry and language I had read since Shakespeare. I 1. Brockett, Oscar G., and Franklin G. Hildy. thought: someday, I have to direct this.” History of the Theatre, 9th Ed. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2003. p. 305 By undertaking Cyrano de Bergerac in its 17th season, PSF is scaling new heights, and Razze is eager for the opportunity. “It speaks of the maturity of the Shakespeare Festival that we’re ready to present this engaging masterpiece of the modern theatre,” he says. Written by French playwright Edmund Rostand in 1897, the title character is loosely based on a real person: a playwright and soldier known for his wit and bravery. But Rostand expanded resplendently on the facts. The results: the play remains one of the most successful of all time, and the title character ONCE AND FUTURE CYRANOS world renowned. “Cyrano comes in a long Frank Langella (top), from the Williamstown line of romantic heroes,” says Razze. “But Theatre Festival archives, 1971. Derek Jacobi (above) from the Royal Shakespeare he’s probably the most famous because of the Company’s 1983 production. Photo from pain of his unrequited love for Roxane and Joe Cocks Studio Collection © Shakespeare his selfless and generous response to it.” Birthplace Trust. Greg Wood (left), pictured as Petruchio, returns to play Cyrano. Photo A list of venerable actors have tackled by Lee A. Butz. the role: great Cyranos of the stage and www.pashakespeare.org The Quill, Spring 2008 • 5 PSF Thanks Education News

By Erin Mullen, Education Director duration. Michael Bahr, the education director at 2008 Festival Willpower USF who developed the Thanks to a $25,000 grant from the model for the competi- SponsoFESTIVAL HOST National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), tion, was a big help in WillPower 2007 was the largest, most far- guiding me through the logistics and the reaching, and most successful tour in its scoring process. “I am so thrilled that PSF is eight-year history. After the 3,500-mile jour- launching a Shakespeare Competition,” Bahr ney, the 2007 Linny Fowler WillPower tour wrote to me in one of his supportive e-mails. of Macbeth reached 27 of Pennsylvania’s 67 Grounded in direct engagement with counties. Shakespeare’s text, the PSF Shakespeare SEASON SPONSOR A record 14,200 students participated, Competition provides multiple performance nearly doubling the previous year’s reach. opportunities, direct evaluation of each Amaranth Consistent with PSF’s commitment to performance by working theatre profession- Foundation provide access to the arts, roughly half the als, and observation of peer and university schools were considered “geographically dis- performances. This sets it apart as a valuable tool for learning. ASSOCIATE SEASON SPONSORS advantaged” in this regard, for example, liv- ing several hours from a metro area. The Morning Call The first PSF Shakespeare Competition Service Electric Cable TV & “We are such a small town and never was held on March 1, 2008, at DeSales Communications get the opportunity to see performances as University, with 25 students participating great as this. I felt like we were there, expe- from 7 regional high schools. We awarded PRODUCTION SPONSORS riencing everything Macbeth was. Thank $15,000 in scholarships that are renewable Steve & Jane Auvil you so much,” wrote one student. for the four years that the student would Breslin Ridyard Fadero Architects attend DeSales as a theatre major. Alvin H. Butz, Inc. “I want to go home and start reading it Linda Lapos & Paul Wirth so I can make connections in my mind and Eric Hersh, director of production at Lutron Electronics Company, Inc. make it my own,” said another. the Lehigh Valley Charter School for the Dr. & Mrs. Frank J. Szarko Performing Arts, said, “I think the pro- Booking information will be available Viamedia cess our students went through was a very soon on our website for the 2008 WillPower Wills Hall Oblate Community positive experience and I hope to participate tour of Much Ado About Nothing. again next year.” PRODUCTION CO-SPONSORS Shakespeare Competition When I wrote to share our success with Air Products Bahr and thank him for his support, he Capital BlueCross This past fall I traveled to the Utah replied with a jubilant congratulations from Keenan-Nagle Advertising, Inc. Shakespearean Festival (USF) to serve as the whole team at USF. He closed his senti- Kathleen Kund Nolan & an adjudicator for their competition and ments with a quote from The Tempest that Timothy Nolan in preparation for our own event. USF’s speaks to all of our emerging educational Orlando Diefenderfer Electrical Shakespeare Competition is 31 years strong, programs at PSF, ‘O brave new world.’ ■ Contractors draws students from 6 states, and is 3 days in The Rider-Pool Foundation

ACTOR SPONSORS Lee & Dolly Butz Richard & Sandy Straube

OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPHER Lee A. Butz

OFFICIAL HOTEL Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites, Bethlehem

The Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival receives state arts funding support through a grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.

6 • The Quill, Spring 2008 610.282.will PSF BOARD: News & Notes

By Sally Reith Lee Butz, proposes qualified individuals successes, including a healthy member- for membership. In addition, the Lehigh ship drive, a strong sponsorship campaign, Despite the cold and dreary winter’s County Board of Commissioners appoints and the purchase and installation of the night, the mood of February’s Board meet- an elected representative to serve on our new ticketing system, Theatre Manager, an ing was upbeat and convivial. Members board; Commissioner Andrew Roman will essential tool for expanding PSF’s market- prepared for a glorious summer at PSF, chat- represent the county for the current term. ing and customer service capabilities. Also, ted with each other and welcomed two new the Linny Fowler WillPower tour grew in recruits: Linda Lapos, M.D., a surgeon who After developing their mission state- 2007 to include 14,200 students and 47 is a member of the Lehigh Valley Health ment, the new Institutional Advancement schools, covering 3,500 miles in the state, Network Board of Trustees and is also presi- and Fundraising committee, chaired by Board and received the NEA Shakespeare in dent of Lehigh Valley Hospital & Health Vice President Greg Honeyman, is currently American Communities/Shakespeare for a Network Medical Staff, and Robert (Bob) focusing on a high-end raffle for a trip to New Generation grant. Cichocki, senior vice president for wealth Tuscany. Look forward to opportunities to management at Citi Smith Barney. PSF purchase chances this summer at the Festival. In concluding the meeting, Mulcahy founder Fr. Gerard J. Schubert, OSFS, set acknowledged the challenges and rewards the mood with a reading on “beauty” written The Gala committee proposed innova- of mounting PSF’s first-ever production tions for this year’s annual fundraising Gala, by poet Gerard Manley Hopkins. of King Lear. Quoting noted actor Brian themed “A Moonlit Night to Remember,” Bedford: “Talking about King Lear is like As spring approaches, every aspect of including the expansion of the “table captain” trying to talk about the ceiling of the Sistine Board activities is permeated with the great model to increase attendance. The Gala is Chapel or a Beethoven Symphony, or a energy and commitment of new President a fundraiser but, just as importantly, it is a Mozart piano concerto. Whatever you say Harry Dimopoulos. Committees continue celebration of the Festival in honor of the doesn’t do it justice.” And so we begin, with to promote PSF through all its activities. magnificent works of William Shakespeare. hard work and the greatest enthusiasm, an In the crucial area of board recruitment, exciting and transformative 2008 season! ■ this committee, chaired by Board President Patrick Mulcahy, producing artistic emeritus and official PSF photographer, director, enumerated the company’s recent

GUILD TIDINGS PSF STAFF By Timothy Walling savory fare for health conscious patrons, and PATRICK MULCAHY for the ghoulish, a special drink that Dracula Producing Artistic Director Like athletes training for a marathon, fans will enjoy. PSF’s volunteer Guild is preparing to make DENNIS RAZZE Associate Artistic Director our patrons’ festival experience the best it Major events are right around the corner can be. for our volunteer guild. First up is the birth- CASEY WILLIAM GALLAGHER day party for the Bard himself, on Saturday General Manager Mary Ann Kelly, “the lady of creative April 19. There is no better way to celebrate finds,” led the souvenir committee to the Director of Development JEANNE L. BITLER his birthday than with good company and annual Philadelphia Gift Show. “After wad- Education Director ERIN MULLEN a couple of slices of pizza. We also plan to ing through a sea of catalogues, seeing real Director of Marketing & Public Relations show one of Shakespeare’s works on film. items is fun and refreshing,” Kelly says. New LISA HIGGINS PECHTER this season: unique hand-crafted jewelry, The Guild will welcome the company of Box Offi ce Manager SOPHIE A. REGNIER Shakespeare afghans, Twelfth Night watches,watches, actors, technicians, directors, and designers Business Manager JANICE S. HEIN jungle animal masks, and more. Some of the at the annual company picnic on Friday, May Offi ce Manager SALLYSALLY A. REITH old favorites, like the Shakespeare playing 30. It is a great way to welcome back old Management Associate TIMOTHY T. WALLING cards and the Shakespeare pens, will be back. friends and make new ones! Associate Box Offi ce Manager DAELDAEL L.L. JACKSONJACKSON And what season would be complete without a witty quote t-shirt? If you’ve ever wondered how to get more Development/Marketing Assistant JULIE J. GREGA involved with the PSF, joining the Guild Refreshments are a significant part is great way to start. Don’t miss any of the FR. GERARD J. SCHUBERT, OSFS of the “Shakesperience” at PSF. Doug action! Join the Guild by calling 610.282.9455, Founder Dykhouse, refreshments chairperson, contin- ext. 8, and talk with me, Tim Walling. uously looks for delectable treats that would The Quill iiss ppublishedublished tthreehree timestimes a yearyear bbyy satisfy any craving. One of the biggest chal- Congratulations to Mary Bongiorno, the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival at lenges that the refreshment committee faces Guild Board president, on her retirement DeSales University. after many years of service at Air Products. is anticipating the types of snacks patron will EDITOR Lisa Higgins enjoy while at the Festival. Sweet and salty Special thanks are in order to Wally DESIGN Laura Charnick options abound. Making a comeback are the and Jean Dolan for coming in and helping CONTRIBUTORS: Catherine Pressimone Beckowski; delicious cookies from Perkins, along with ■ with an important mailing! Orlando Shakespeare Theatre; Williamstown Theatre other festival favorites. What’s new?—light Festival www.pashakespeare.org The Quill, Spring 2008 • 7 PSF Veterans Bring New Life to Dracula: The Journal of Jonathan Harker

The extraordinary talents of Christopher Patrick Mullen, Matt Pfeiffer, and Jim Helsinger combine in this thrilling adaptation of the classic horror story. In the Schubert Theatre, June 11 - 29. Watch for a full interview with Chris Mullen and Matt Pfeiffer in our summer issue.

In the 111 years since Bram Stoker If the mention of the Count conjures published his masterpiece Dracula, his sin- images of flying bats and spouting blood, ister, eccentric Count has been manipulated then Helsinger’s play will be a bracing—and into a caricature made suitable for chil- bone-chilling—surprise. dren’s television programs and cereal boxes. Bram Stoker’s Dracula is no cereal-box “The terror in this Dracula springs... vampire. Neither is Jim Helsinger’s. His from the movement of a shadow, the modu- adaptation, starring Christopher Patrick lation of a voice, a sudden flash of light,” Mullen and directed by Matt Pfeiffer, will according to the Orlando Sentinel’s review take the stage in the Schubert Theatre at of the Orlando Shakespeare Theater’s the Labuda Center for the Performing Arts production. The powerful suspense of the June 11-29. original novel incites the imagination with meticulous descriptions of the dark count’s The style of Helsinger’s play echoes misdeeds. And Helsinger chose his words that of Stoker’s novel, a vivid moment-by- wisely and with a director’s sensibility that moment chronicle of Jonathan Harker’s what the imagination creates is far more transformation from a bright, young solici- frightening than what the eyes can see. tor to a man weathered by the nightmare he has endured. Mullen will put his malleable The all-star design team of Bob Phillips self to work, not only portraying Harker but (sets), Eric Haugen (lights), Amy Lobmeyer also tackling Harker’s wife Mina, Dr. Van (costumes), and Matt Given (sound) will cre- ate the world of Harker’s imagination as an Helsing, Quincy Morris, Arthur Holmwood, Christopher Patrick Mullen, pictured here and of course, the infamous Transylvanian attic tranforms in a moment to the dark cor- ■ in the Orlando Shakespeare Theatre’s 2003 Count himself. ners of mind and memory. production, will reprise his multiple, myste- rious roles. Photo by Tony Fiorello.

Kick-Off Cabaret Mark Thy Calendar Twelfth Night Sunday, June 1 • 7:30 p.m. June 18 - July 6 The stars of PSF's acting company GALA 2008 in a cabaret-style performance. Saturday, June 7 One night only!

King Lear Subscribe Today! NONPROFIT ORG July 9 - August 3 U.S. POSTAGE PAID Lehigh Valley, PA Permit No. 68

Dracula: at DeSales University The Journal of 2755 Station Avenue Jonathan Harker Center Valley, PA 18034 June 11 - June 29 610.282.WILL • pashakespeare.org

Cyrano de Bergerac July 16 - August 3

The Jungle Book May 31 - August 2