WELCOME FROM BILL RAUCH, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR OF CORNERSTONE THEATER COMPANY It's my great privilege to welcome you tonight to A Long Bridge Over Deep Waters, the culminating Bridge Show of our four-and-a-half-year Faith-Based Cycle. In January of 2001 we began with a central question: How does faith unite and divide us? Faith affiliation is often invisible to those around us. The monologues, scenes, testimonials, prayers, defiances and embraces that have followed, through a 21-play festival of short plays and seven full-length collaborations with different communities of faith, have brought home to me in a new way the unifying power and painful divisiveness of faith, its ability to bring us together and to drive us apart. Faith can put center stage our power to hurt one another, as well as our power to work together and to celebrate the beauty of every individual human life. Through his three-year odyssey of writing A Long Bridge Over Deep Waters, James Still has wrestled with how to help voice the play's communities, and he has done it with an integrity and courage that move and inspire me. In pursuing our mission of inclusion, we at Cornerstone often talk about making ourselves vulnerable, getting outside of ourselves to practice deep listening, and engaging in our work as a labor of love. James has taught me new depths of meaning behind these clichés. Cornerstone is always a collective effort. I am especially proud to have worked on this show alongside my brilliant Ensemble colleagues, our guest artists and our dedicated community collaborators. As some of you know, this represents my last community-based effort as Cornerstone's artistic director; my successor will come on board in the winter of 2006. Tonight's show captures so many of the hopes and dreams I had for the company when we first ventured to far-flung rural corners of the United States almost 20 years ago. It also gives me so many new hopes and dreams for our company's future. My warmest welcome to you as you get ready to set foot on A Long Bridge Over Deep Waters. THIS PRODUCTION OF A LONG BRIDGE OVER DEEP WATERS IS DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF QUENTIN DREW. s 3 ’ 0 e Quentin Drew passed away from renal carcinoma on April 20, 2005, just two weeks shy of 0 n o 2 t s r © his 42nd birthday. We met Quentin in Watts when we were doing Sid Arthur. He became our e z n t r r o a de-facto Ambassador to Watts and also played the lead in the play. He was a beautiful man C w h n c i t S whose smile would brighten an entire room and whose integrity and presence would inspire an n g a i a G r entire community. Quentin embodied the mission of Cornerstone completely in that he was both e C g r y o b e a representative of the community he lived in as well as a gifted artist and activist. He did many o t G o h h t i more shows with Cornerstone, went on to co-found the Watts Village Theater Company, received P w . s ) t p h e the Bridge Award from Cornerstone for his continuing activism on behalf of the people of Watts t g i S r y n and made an indelible impact on everyone who came in contact with him. His dream was to bring o M ( r e w d an end to violence in the neighborhoods and schools in which he was raised and taught, and also to utilize the arts to allow the expression e r r O D n i that often was stifled for that very same constituency. He lived three lifetimes in his short 41 years. All of us who knew him are so much the t n e u better for it and only hope to aspire to the kind of goodness that he brought to this world. Q Rest in peace, dear friend. We at Cornerstone love you and will dearly miss you. Your bright light may have left this earth but your spirit will continue to illuminate our hearts. Special thanks to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors for their continuing support of the John Anson Ford Theatres, a County Regional Park operated by the Los Angeles County Arts Commission. This production is made possible in part by funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department, Los Angeles County Arts Commission, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Ford Foundation, The Hearst Foundation, The Kenneth T. and Eileen L. Norris Foundation, Liberty Hill Foundation, The Nathan Cummings Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, The Shubert Foundation, Theatre Communications Group/Met Life Foundation Extended Collaboration Grant and The Wallace Foundation. 2 CORNERSTONE THEATER COMPANY Cornerstone Theater Company presents the world premiere of A LONG BRIDGE OVER DEEP WATERS THE FAITH-BASED BRIDGE SHOW Written by James Still | Directed by Bill Rauch Choreographer Otis Sallid Scenic Design Christopher Acebo Costume Design Lynn Jeffries Lighting Design Geoff Korf Music & Sound Paul James Prendergast Video Director Yule Caise Dramaturg Scott Horstein Stage Managers Michelle Blair* and Anna Belle Gilbert* "All the world is just a narrow bridge. And the most important thing is not to be afraid." – Rebbe Nachman of Breslov Inspired in part by Arthur Schnitzler’s La Ronde. There will be a 15-minute intermission. THE PLACE: LOS ANGELES SCENE THREE: A HEART IS WHERE THE HOME IS SCENE SEVEN: DECLARATION Alan Jeff Sugarman* Storyteller Abdulla Al-Muntheri THE TIME: NOW Regina Adina Porter* Lord Shiva Bennett Schneider Tee Tee JoAnn Charles Smith Bhasmasura Berkeley Sanjay PROLOGUE: THE PILGRIMAGE PLAY Regina's Dad George Gant Vishnu/Mohini Meena Serendib Mrs. Stevenson Loraine Shields Regina's Mom Virdell Twine Foley Artist Piyush Ved Cyril, Dear Friend Andrew Cohen Regina's Sister Diana Elizabeth Jordan Omeed Gezel Remy Amilia, Dear Friend Emily Goulding Regina’s Co-Worker Myron Jackson ShahAb Nathaniel Justiniano Olive, Dear Friend Jennie Hahn Regina's Friend Pierre Chambers Yogananda Naveed Merchant Regina's Neighbor Theodora Hardie SCENE EIGHT: SPANISH 101 Pilgrimage Players The Cast Pastor Andrew Fred Fluker Shama Natasha Atalla Elder Martin Alcala Jayanti Meena Serendib Percussionist/Guitarist Gregory Cruz SCENE FOUR: HOUSTON: WE HAVE A PROBLEM Sangita Geeta Malik Flute Player Manuel Sanchez Anderson Peter Howard* Tameem Ramy Eletreby Redwood Michael Phillip Edwards SCENE ONE: THE LANGUAGE LESSON SCENE NINE: THE SECRET Julia DeLanna Studi* SCENE FIVE: LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION Connie Lisa Robins* Mrs. Stepankova Sally Ben-Tal Diana Page Leong* Tameem Ramy Eletreby Mr. Shammas George “Jiddu” Haddad Ajay Shishir Kurup* Joy Ebonie Hubbard Mr. Diggavi Natch Narasimhan Lisa K.T. Thangavelu Michelle Stephanie Nuñez Mr. Masih Toufiq Tulsiram Oldest Son Sabrinath Touzene Mrs. Nhim Nancy Yee Middle Son Yogananda Touzene SCENE TEN: JESUS OF LOS ANGELES Tevy Leonard Wu Youngest Son Badrinath Touzene Julia DeLanna Studi* The Dog Guinness Jesus Jonathan Del Arco* SCENE TWO: WINTER/SPRING Avrum, the father Mark Strunin SCENE SIX: THERE MUST BE SOME MISTAKE * Members of Actors’ Equity Association Rose, the mother Debra Piver Ajay Shishir Kurup* Miriam, the grandma Michele DeRosa Mother Elham Jazab Sid, the uncle Mark Brust Father Ibrahim Saba David, the little brother Joseph Gorelik Sister-in-Law Olga Gorelik Ruth Dorothy James* Omeed Gezel Remy Ruth as a girl Sofia Azizi ShahAb Nathaniel Justiniano Tevy Leonard Wu Girl Erika Zlatkin Boy Sam Huettinger CORNERSTONE THEATER COMPANY 3 PRODUCTION STAFF Assistant Director Victor Maog Props Coordinator Sean T. Cawelti Technical Director/Master Carpenter Benajah Cobb Additional Choreography Sri Kesava Dialect Coach Joel Goldes Asst. Scenic Designers Grant Cornish, Elna Kordjian, Christopher Rivera Asst. Lighting Designer Jeremy Winchester Asst. Costume Designers Elizabeth Cox, Dori Quan Asst. Prop Coordinator Lindsey Gassaway Dance Captain Anna Belle Gilbert* Production Assistants Grace Kim, Seth Kolarsky, Will MacAdams, Karla Menjivar Production Intern Leah Hyde Publicists Aldrich & Associates Production Photographer Craig Schwartz Documentarian John C. Luker Graphic Design Michelle Matthews/Vagrant Design Program Design Toby Yoo/t42design Communications Asst. Antonia Grace Glenn Group Sales Katrena Jackson CORNERSTONE THEATER COMPANY ENSEMBLE Christopher Acebo | Michelle Blair | Alison Carey, Co-Founder | Juliette Carrillo | Jonathan Del Arco | Paula Donnelly | Peter Howard | Lynn Jeffries | Geoff Korf | Shishir Kurup | Page Leong | Christopher Liam Moore | Debra Piver | Bill Rauch, Co-Founder | Shay Wafer STAFF Assoc. Director, Development Nona Chiang Institute Director Paula Donnelly Institute Assistant Blanca Gutierrez Literary Manager Scott Horstein Community/Audience Engagement Nathaniel Justiniano Communications Director Lee Lawlor Assoc. Director, Development Jennifer Li General Manager Christopher Liam Moore Development Assistant Gregory Pacificar Administrative Assistant Luke Patterson Education Director Debra Piver Artistic Director Bill Rauch Assoc. Director, Education Pesha Rudnick Managing Director Shay Wafer Assoc. Artistic Director Laurie Woolery Altvater Fellow Victor Maog 4 CORNERSTONE THEATER COMPANY COMMUNITY PARTNERS FOR SPECIAL THANKS TO: THE FAITH-BASED CYCLE (2001-2005) INCLUDE: Kamal Al-Marayati Adat Ari El Lucky Altman Animating Democracy Initiative Emily Bowen Ascension Catholic Church Melissa Caldwell from Philadelphia Arts Alliance Aumônerie Catholique Francophone de Los Angeles Arny Cano Artwallah (Indo-American Cultural Center) T. Arthur Cottam Beit Shuva CSUN Theatre Department The Black Aids Institute Elna & Grant Bureau of Jewish Education Paul Gilbert Center for Inquiry-West Elizabeth Gonzalez The Center for Jewish Culture and Creativity Meredith Greenburg Council