Dollar Bill Productions In Association With Theatre of NOTE presents
By Lyle Kessler
Directed by Bill Voorhees
Stage Managed by Kelly Egan
Produced by Rebecca Light, Sigi Gradwohl and Bill Voorhees
Orphans is presented by special arrangement with SAMUEL FRENCH, INC.
Production Team
Lighting Design Matt Richter Costume Design Lauren Thomas Prop Design Richard Werner Graphic Design Bill Voorhees
Crew
Board Operator: Kelly Egan Front of House: Maggie Blake, Suzanne Voss and Alysha Brady AMC Liaison: Garett Maggart Program Design: Dan Wingard
Cast (in alphabetical order)
Phillip ...... Kjai Block Harold ...... Darrett Sanders+ Treat ...... Bill Voorhees +Member of SAG-AFTRA
The action takes place in an old row house in North Philadelphia in the mid-80’s.
ACT I A spring day
ACT II Two weeks later
Orphans is performed with a 15-minute intermission. The restroom will not be available during the performance. Please turn off all electronic devices. Texting, tweeting, flash photography or any other use of these devices is prohibited during the performance. The video and/or audio recording of this performance by any means whatsoever are strictly prohibited.
AFTER THE SHOW, FOLLOW US
Twitter: @OrphansPlay
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Special Thanks The Asylum Paul Bales David Latt David Rimawi Dan Wingard John Money LA Stage Alliance Theatre of NOTE Scotty Mullen David Wilcox Blaire Chandler Will McMichael Annette Werner The Green Dragon Lillian
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Kjai Block (Phillip) Kjai is over the moon to be involved with such great artists. You may have last seen him at NOTE in Bill Robens’ Entropy and David Bucci’s Possum Carcass. Much love to Bill and all the love to the Father, Mother, Brother, and that girl I know.
Darrett Sanders (Harold) – Sir Darrett started acting when he was two months old. He played the cave baby in One Million Years B.C. with Raquel Welch. The scene was cut from the film but Darrett has the footage in a safety deposit box. His family hindered his passion for acting by sending him away to a secret military academy in the Ural mountains. At this time he was taught how to survive and kill with great efficiency by a sect of specialized monks. Darrett was recently knighted by the Queen of England in a secret ceremony for his work with children of the Sudan. He taught them how to create their own puppet theatre shows. The revenue from the traveling shows was used to build a large sustainable fort in Babanusa. He is excited for this chance to once again do theatre in the United States. Much of his life has revolved around secrecy and disquietude. Please do not approach him from the rear. Continual eye contact is your best bet. Bill Voorhees (Treat) has worked regionally in Sacramento, San Jose, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. As an actor, some of his past roles include Treat in Orphans, The Peach in Cobb, Dr. Treves in The Elephant Man, John Proctor in The Crucible, Junior in the West Coast premiere of Brian C. Petti’s Banshee and the title roles in Amadeus and An Evening With John Wilkes Booth. He also played Abbie Hoffman in the River Stage production of The Chicago Conspiracy Trial, Lash LaRue in Gunfighter: A Gulf War Chronicle and James Leeds in Children of a Lesser God. Bill has also been cast in five separate productions of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged). Film work includes roles in Have You Seen Me?, Bright Day, Attila, 13/13/13, Megashark vs. Giant Octopus, San Andreas Quake, and one of the lead roles in Ardennes Fury. And look for Bill’s Television debut this fall on the SyFy hit show, Z Nation. As a director, some favorites include The Miracle Worker, The Boys Next Door, Dog Logic, Extremities, Beirut and the world premieres of Skeleton Stories by Delondra Williams, Potential Space by Criminal Minds star Kirsten Vangsness and comedienne Debbie Jhoon’s one-woman show, College. He has also directed two music videos for the band Pie for the songs “For a Reason” and “Yo Se.” Bill thanks his amazing production team and cast for everything they have done to make Orphans happen. It has been an honor and a pleasure to work in the company of such good people. Except for Darrett. He’s kind of a jerk. Production Team Biographies Lyle Kessler (Playwright) began his career as an actor. His first professional appearance was in the Philadelphia premiere of Waiting for Godot, appearing opposite Bruce Dern. He has subsequently appeared in several films, including James Dean (portraying Lee Strasberg). Kessler studied acting with Mr. Strasberg and was accepted into the Director’s Unit of the Actors Studio where he wrote and directed his first one-act play, The Viewing, which he subsequently directed at the Lucille Lortel Theater in New York. Kessler’s most well-known plays include his first full-length work, The Watering Place (written in 1969), and Orphans. The Watering Place premiered on Broadway starring Shirley Knight and William Devane. Orphans (1983) was directed by Gary Sinise and opened at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre before starting its successful Off- Broadway run. Albert Finney won the Olivier Award for his performance in the London West End production. Kessler’s other plays include: Robbers (1987) which has been performed at the Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, Connecticut and which starred Judd Hirsch, Possession (1976) which was premiered by the Ensemble Studio Theatre and which was directed by James Hammerstein and Unlisted which was performed at the Tiffany Theatre in Los Angeles starring Charles Robinson. Kessler was awarded a Rockefeller Foundation Playwriting Grant for his play The Watering Place and won the New York State Council of the Arts Playwriting Award for his play Burning Bright. Kelly Egan (Stage Manager) – After her brief stay at the Litchfield Women’s Prison for trafficking rubber ducks and plastic palm trees, Kelly is happy to be working on Orphans. When not working in theatre, which is pretty much never, Kelly enjoys piña coladas and getting caught in the rain. She is not into yoga... Much thanks to Bill, Darrett, and Kjai for being super fun to work with. Also a big thank- you to the usual suspects for being in her life and making it all worth it. Rebecca Sigl (Producer) most recently produced the West Coast premiere of Brian C. Petti’s Banshee, and the World Premiere of Cody Henderson’s Wonderlust, both at Theatre of NOTE. She is also an actor, children’s book writer, crafter, runner, and small business owner (WhimsyDo.co). Favorite acting credits include Wanda in The Baby Dance (Lounge Theatre), Mary Warren in The Crucible (The Lillian Theatre), Sophie in He Asked for It (Theatre of NOTE), and Hannah in Arcadia (Boston University). She is a graduate of Boston University’s School of Theatre, and currently serves as the Program Administrator for The Unusual Suspects Theatre Company. It’s always a pleasure to team up with her lifelong friend, Bill Voorhees. Richard Werner (Prop Designer) is delighted to be working with Bill and the cast of Orphans! Proud NOTE member for over two decades! Got your Hellman’s right here!
Sigi Gradwohl (Producer) – is a bicoastal Israeli-Swiss-American triple citizen. TV: Girl Meets World, Jessie (Disney), The Middle (ABC), Chelsea Handler’s After Lately (E!). Film: James Franco’s Killing Animals, Little Loopers, Spare Parts (premiered at Outfest Film Festival this July). Sigi co-created the online series Bad Nannies and stars in the viral YouTube hit Girls are Assholes. Favorite theater credits are The Diary of Anne Frank (Anne) and Askance, for which Sigi won a Scenie Award. Additional theater credits include A Devil Inside, Bridge to Terabithia, Finding the Sun. Sigi is a proud new member of Theatre of NOTE and thrilled to be here. Special thanks to Bill for asking her to be a part of his passion project within 10 minutes of her joining the company. Lauren Thomas (Costume Designer) studied apparel design at the University of North Carolina and abroad in London where she developed a fascination with costume design and theater. Since graduating, Lauren has worked with a wide variety of theatrical and independent film productions. She designed costumes for Skeleton Stories for Theatre of NOTE in 2010. She continues to do freelance design work and costumes for film and theatre. Lauren would like to thank her family back in North Carolina for their unending support. Matt Richter (Lighting Designer) – is an award-winning Los Angeles-based designer. Recent designs include Astro Boy and the God of Comics for Sacred Fools, Enron for The Production Company, A Small Fire/Row After Row for the Echo Theatre Company, and Stanley Ann for the LA LGBT Center, where he also works full time as designer-in-residence and tech and event coordinator. He is also a company member of Sacred Fools, and is active in the Los Angeles 99-seat theatre community. He also serves as half of the experimental ambient folk duo Lanfair Field. For more information, please visit lanfairfield.com or mattrichter.net. Thanks to Ma and Pa.
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