The Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival Newsletter • Spring 2011 th The Camaraderie of their Company: Season A Panoramic Pageant

By Geoff Gehman spiced up their spying scene, especially when they accidentally bumped heads under a For 19 seasons PSF has been a feast of basin. Hamlet enlightening entertainment. It’s been a place by William Shakespeare for daring performances, magnetic sets, and July 20 - August 7 The Shakespearean sitcom is one of lobby photographs so magnetic and daring, the Festival’s calling cards. Jim Helsinger’s they make you want the see the show you’ve first Malvolio, in a 1993 Twelfth Night, was just seen. It’s been a place, to quote founder a phlegmatic peacock who used his arms as Pride and Prejudice Fr. Gerard J. Schubert, OSFS, “to shed wor- Adapted by Jon Jory calipers to measure himself as a heroic statue. ries, to forget the world, to remember what from the novel by Jane Austen Brad DePlanche’s Pseudolus (A Funny Thing the world can be.” , 2010) July 19 - August 7 Happened on the Way to the Forum was a four-alarm fire and a five-ring circus. One of the Festival’s early attrac- And who can forget Suzanne O’Donnell’s tions was watching soap opera stars earn Mistress Ford and Grace Gonglewski’s their Shakespearean stripes. In 1994 Mark Mistress Page making mincemeat out of John The Comedy of Errors LaMura, who played the drug-addicted by William Shakespeare Ahlin’s Falstaff as he struggled mightily to musician Mark Dalton on All My , imitate a painted portrait in last year’s very June 22 - July 17 jumped to Oberon, the gymnastic fairy king merry The Merry Wives of Windsor? That was in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. He was farce straight out of or aggressively agile and charmingly cunning, I Love Lucy Three’s —although it’s more historically even when he hung upside down like a bat. Company South Pacific accurate to note that I Love Lucy and Three’s Book by Oscar Hammerstein II One of the Festival’s serial pleasures Company are straight out of The Merry Wives and Joshua Logan is the soap opera of married couples play- of Windsor. Music by Richard Rodgers ing married couples. In a 1995 Much Ado This year the Festival is offering a Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II About Nothing, LaMura’s Benedick battled 20th-anniversary gift of repertory, with June 15 - July 3 wits with a Beatrice performed by Elizabeth MacLellan, his real-life wife. Their intimacy continues on page 12 The Two Noble Kinsmen Majestic Vision • The Photography of Lee Butz by William Shakespeare A spectacular collection of PSF photography by Lee Butz in an exquisite hardbound book July 27 - August 7 The nature of theatre, like much of human enter- prise, is fleeting. The actors, directors, and designers Sleeping Beauty work for months to prepare for an audience. At the final by Michele L. Vacca dress rehearsal at PSF, Lee Butz arrives with his camera. Within 24 hours, his photos of the production will grace June 3 - August 6 the lobby, just as the first audience filters into the theatre.

In celebration of Lee’s photography and the Festival’s 20th anniversary, Majestic Vision: The Shakespeare for Kids Photography of Lee Butz at the Pennsylvania by Erin Hurley Shakespeare Festival has been published in a limited run July 27 - August 6 and is now available. in the making, the book contains hundreds of photographs that capture the ephemeral: 610.282.WILL the defining moment of a character, of a performance, of a play. This collector’s book can be purchased at pashakespeare.org pashakespeare.org or in the lobby this summer. Notes from the Producing Shakespeare Untamed Hamlet: When Thinking Makes It So The Two Noble Kinsmen • Schubert Theatre • July 27 – August 7 Artistic Director By Patrick Mulcahy Hamlet’s initially unintended quest for the More to the point, the play sits well for outer limits of insight, understanding, and me in that period because that century saw Directing Hamlet comes at a price. An extraordinary the scope of his own consciousness turns such an astonishing range of human and Expectations run high, especially mine, season requires an By Nicole Murray, PSF intern out to be more interesting to him and more social development: romanticism gave way THE CAST when approaching one of the supreme extraordinary effort. The important than revenge, which, by Act V, to realism, agrarian gave way to industrial. In Elizabethan England, actors in works of art in western culture. What’s a planning cycle for one of Ian becomes a by-product of his larger quest, but This was the age of Darwin, Marx, Lincoln Shakespeare’s company routinely performed 10 play to do, when, of all the written works our summer seasons is Bedford, only after the readiness is all. and the survival of the American Republic to 12 different plays during a two-week period— Theseus. The in history, it has had arguably the great- typically 12-15 months. “experiment,” Napoleon, etc.—all reflecting a stark contrast to modern schedules when the Duke of Athens, est influence on human thought, save the I don’t think Hamlet is passive, mel- For this season, we have he delays his mar- humankind’s quest for the outer boundar- same play is performed consecutively for weeks, Bible? The play has become so organic to been dreaming, plan- riage to Hippolyta to ancholy, or brooding. He’s not crazy; his ies of what we can know, understand, and Patrick Mulcahy even months. Shakespeare’s actors were expected our language, that one student, after seeing ning, and envisioning for attack Thebes, where psyche ultimately withstands the slings become. It aligns with the energy of the play. to perform new plays with no more than several a performance, said, “It’s so full of clichés.” three years. he captures Palamon and arrows, where Ophelia’s buckles. He The play is not romantic, but the thirst for days’ notice. Often, a play would not be repeated and Arcite. He orders a is heartbroken in the beginning, but he The play is about one of the greatest understanding parallels the romantic quest. In fall 2007, Lee Butz, Dennis Razze, for weeks. This rigorous performance schedule duel to resolve their dispute over Emilia. doesn’t stay in one place for long. questions of all: the nature and purpose of Also, the ghost story in the play reflects the and I began meeting to explore publishing left little time for the extended rehearsal process He spends most of the play in a life and death and the ache for a recon- Victorian interest in the preternatural. And, a high quality coffee table book of Lee’s that theatres employ today. wrestling match with himself, ciled and authentic relationship with of course, the costumes will look fabulous. magnificent photographs, taken at dress absent a more worthy adver- This summer, PSF is trying its hand at the Andrew Kane, Pirithous. both. “To be or not to be” rehearsals of every play PSF produced since Theseus’s closest friend For the scenic design, Elizabethan rehearsal method, bringing patrons refers, I think, less to suicide its inception in 1992. Questions of “if ” and and an Athenian general. we considered many options. one step closer to the excitement and spontane- or to sustaining life and more “how” evolved into “when,” and we began (We won’t give it away here.) ity an audience member may have experienced in to two complex alternatives. the process of reviewing more than 40,000 Common to all of the considered Shakespeare’s time. Hamlet explores the options images to select a few hundred for inclusion. design options was the notion As I write this, the book is on press. I can of either an evolving, growing PSF typically rehearses each production six of a universe, that has a “here” think of no better timing than the launch (if troubled) consciousness that days a week for three and a half weeks. After Thomas Kelley, Palamon. (where people live) and a “there” of our 20th season to release this beautiful benefits from some combina- about one week, actors are expected to be “off A prince of Thebes, cousin (the undiscovered country); a book, titled . tion of providence and inten- Majestic Vision book,” with their lines learned. to Arcite. He falls in love universe suitably mysterious that with Emilia, when he tional self-direction, which The title is derived from . Hamlet can and must engage The Tempest We believe Elizabethan actors memorized catches a glimpse of her comes with life, or an unpre- Ferdinand says, “This is a most majestic from his prison cell. in seeking to know its workings their lines and prepared their characters before dictable post-death eternity in vision,” in response to a singing trio of god- while those around him (lesser the first rehearsal, and then rehearsed any fights, which an intolerable experi- desses conjured by the magician Prospero. minds) seek to somehow fill this dances, and songs only days before the first per- ence of consciousness, beyond The book’s title reflects the magic revealed universe with their own defining formance. Thus, Shakespearean audiences prob- control but ever present, may in the pages within. It also signals the Spencer Plachy, Arcite. influence. ably experienced performances that felt as impro- be his sentence. “What dreams beginning rather than the culmination of a A price of Thebes and vised as rehearsed, likely to be brimming with cousin to Palamon. He also may come…” So the endgame Also a given: elemental and majestic vision for PSF. uncalculated mishaps and irrepressible merriment. falls in love with Emilia. of consciousness is the ques- essential furniture will come tion, and consciousness itself is Two years ago, I initiated a process with and go quickly and easily so This season, PSF is taking a similar approach the landscape. JULY 20 - AUGUST 7 our Board and stakeholders to develop the that “now I am alone” can be with The Two Noble Kinsmen. Inspired by next five-year strategic plan and a longer MAIN STAGE literal—a void—and that other Chaucer’s “The Knight’s Tale,” this play is one of If it’s true that all great term vision for the direction in which that themes and motifs will be illu- three believed to have been co-written by William written works spin against plan should take us. An article on page 10 minated in striking ways via the Shakespeare and his successor as lead playwright the way they drive, then the provides more detail on Vision 2030, which Lauren Lovett, Hippolyta. use of these elements. At least that’s the aim. for the King’s Men, John Fletcher. Queen of the Amazons drive in Hamlet is the through-line of action sary, demanding of himself that he become sees the Festival producing a quality of work and Theseus’s bride-to-be. toward revenge. Spinning against that drive himself, fully. He is an essentially good man I do Shakespeare because profound that cannot be surpassed at any other theatre, “The actors will arrive with their lines is Hamlet’s insatiable hunger to match his who says and does, at times, astonishingly insights translate into complex human anywhere—our definition of world-class. learned, rehearse for a few days, wear what they knowledge and understanding with all that is brutal things, actions beyond our compre- behavior, which translates into poignant and can find, and open in less than a week,” explains knowable and understandable, which mirrors hension and understanding—some of them Incomparable vision led to the Festival’s powerful experiences for audiences. Patrick Mulcahy, producing artistic director. “No our own similar hunger. He seeks to actual- when we least expect them. He is a prince founding 20 years ago. The innovation of Eleanor Handley, Emilia. director—the position didn’t exist in 1613—no ize himself in relation to the way of things, who would have been a great king and Pound for pound, the language in this play our 20th season reflects the majestic vision Hippolyta’s younger sister. designers. Just great actors, an exciting play, and with revenge as the engine. a man who could drink hot blood at the is the most powerful substance I know. It’s the of our plans for the next 20 years. This She has sworn off men pure adrenaline and spontaneity.” but her resistance soft- witching time of night. Enigmatic, like no code that carries an incredible range of social summer, enjoy productions playing in rep, ens and she struggles to In an early meeting with designers, I character before or since. Or perhaps, sim- energy. Its origin in genius makes it attractive a third Shakespeare play rehearsed the way One element that does not change despite decide between her suit- said that the central action of the play is ply more dimensional. to me. Its astonishing insight makes it intoxi- Shakespeare’s company would have done the modest rehearsal time: the actors rely on ors, Palamon and Arcite. “to set it right,” borrowing from Hamlet’s cating. Returning to this play again, now as a it, a new outdoor experience—On the Shakespeare’s timeless and inspired language expression of regret that bringing this cor- We’ve chosen to set this production in director, after having acted in it twice, staged Green—as part of our Shakespeare Café, and characters—and then open their arms to the rupt and “rotten” world back into balance the 19th century. With Pride and Prejudice, fights for it, and taught it for years, is such a and great artists doing great plays. Bring unpredictable. Ultimately, in true Kinsmen fash- Lauren Orkus, the Jailer’s falls to him. Setting it right is true to a point. its repertory counterpart this summer, set pointed reminder of just how awe-inspiring, your family and friends, and come celebrate ion, Fate will step in and anything can happen! Daughter. She falls in love squarely in the Regency, the notion of under- even impossible it is that it exists at all. this landmark season with us. with Palamon while he is Like so much in this play, its oppo- scoring the contrast between these two plays The Two Noble Kinsmen is truly a hidden gem in her father’s jail cell, and site is also true: e.g. “to self-actualize at all and productions—one light and white, one I’ll never understand how Shakespeare in the Shakespearean repertoire, a story filled with eventually goes mad for costs.” Inner conflict results as he is torn n his unrequited love. darker and black—became interesting. did it. But I’m glad he did. danger and romance as two best friends try to between his external and internal obligations. resolve a timeless dilemma: who gets the girl? n

2 • The Quill, Spring 2011 610.282.will www.pashakespeare.org The Quill, Spring 2011 • 3 Season Sponsors Kathleen Kund Nolan ’79 and Timothy Nolan ’77 2011 Sponsors Through the Years DeSales Alumni Take Center Stage as 2011 Season Sponsors By Jeanne B. Shook they first served in 1997. They are Season Sponsors Kathleen Kund Nolan & Even in Shakespeare’s time, benefactors offered mon- also the first alumni to support the Timothy Nolan etary support to help launch theatrical productions. As the Inspired by performances of some of the Festival in this manner. region’s leading professional theatre company, PSF relies most legendary stage actresses of the day, on contributions to help bring the Festival to life as a mag- Kathleen Kund Nolan arrived at DeSales Why are they season sponsors in nificent cultural resource for our community and beyond; a University in 1975 to major in theatre. To say 2011? The opportunity to celebrate gathering place for young and old alike to share the beauty Associate this was a life-altering experience would be a their decades-long connection with Season Sponsors and majesty of the world’s greatest playwright and other dramatic understatement. PSF and the University—and to pay classic texts in a true festival setting. homage to Fr. Schubert in PSF’s 20th Kathleen had one idea of what her life anniversary—made it a “natural” deci- Each season, before a single line is memorized, designs in the theatre would be. But the chair of the sion for them. As a founding PSF finalized, or a swordfight choreographed, Season Sponsors theatre department, Fr. Gerard Schubert, trustee, Kathleen was directly involved commit their support to the Pennsylvania Shakespeare OSFS, had a different idea—he saw her with in creating the by-laws that launched Festival. We are honored to recognize their generous lead- a leading role behind the footlights, not in the Festival in 1991. In 2009, she ership gifts here: front of them. returned to the PSF Board, now serv- Director Sponsors Linda Lapos & Paul Wirth 1992 Alvin H. Butz, Inc. Kathleen credits Fr. Schubert, her for- ing as its secretary. mer teacher, mentor—and now cherished 1993 Roger W. Mullin, Jr. Kathleen and Tim have two lifelong friend—for guiding her to a fulfill- 1994 Breslin Ridyard Fadero Architects daughters, Colleen and Maura, both ing career in senior management roles at 1995 Fred and Maria Schubert of whom, not surprisingly, have Steve & Jane Auvil some of the leading professional theatres gained an appreciation for the per- 1996 J. Michael and Patricia Landrum around the country, including Boston, forming arts. Some of Kathleen’s 1997 Kathleen Kund Nolan & Timothy Nolan Cleveland, and most recently, Philadelphia, Production most memorable theatre experiences 1998 The Rider-Pool Foundation where she serves as interim managing Sponsors have occurred while observing their director of Philadelphia Theatre Company. 1999 The Quigley Corporation reactions to live theatre. Her first Before that, Kathleen spent 20 years at the Kathleen Kund Nolan and Timothy Nolan, PSF season Dr. & Mrs. Frank J. Szarko 2000 AEtna US Healthcare such PSF experience took place with McCarter Theatre in Princeton, N.J., serv- sponsors. Photo by Nate Bridge. 2001 Joe and Peggy Schubert Maura (then 4 years old) in 1996, ing as general manager, interim managing 2002 Beall and Marlene “Linny” Fowler during a performance of Snow White, director, and currently as a trustee and vice the Festival. She is excited about the pos- Wills Hall Oblate Community 2003 Beall and Marlene “Linny” Fowler then again with Colleen last summer dur- president for development. sibilities for the future, growing the Festival 2004 Harry C. Trexler Trust ing PSF’s production of The Playboy of the DeSales is “near and dear to my heart,” Western World. In each instance, it was a thrill as “a destination like Stratford,” and a plan Lee & Dolly Butz 2005 Priscilla Payne Hurd that will, ultimately, place PSF among the Actor Sponsors says Kathleen, because it’s where her life’s for her, “watching them watch live theatre Keenan-Nagle Advertising, Inc. 2006 The Rider-Pool Foundation journey—personal and professional—began. and seeing it resonate in their eyes…seeing premier professional theatres in the nation. 2007 Linda Lapos and Paul Wirth It’s where lifelong friendships were formed, the light bulb go off in their heads as they Looking ahead with anticipation has given Air Products 2008 Amaranth Foundation and where she met Tim Nolan, her husband were, literally, turned on to the power and Kathleen a great sense of pride for what’s Keenan-Nagle Advertising, Inc. 2009 Dr. and Mrs. Frank J. Szarko of 29 years. beauty of theatre.” been accomplished. Lutron Electronics Company, Inc. 2010 Pennsylvania Council on the Arts PSF proudly recognizes Kathleen and Orlando Diefenderfer Electrical After graduating from DeSales in The journey that began for Kathleen 2011 Kathleen Kund Nolan & Timothy Nolan Tim as season sponsors in this most pivotal Production Contractors, Inc. 1977, Tim went on to a successful manage- more than three decades ago has come full year. We are profoundly grateful to them for Co-Sponsors The Century Fund ment career in the healthcare industry and circle. As a PSF Board member, she finds their continued generosity, friendship, leader- The Rider-Pool Foundation currently serves as president and CEO of herself once again playing a role in shaping ship, and support. n 2011 • 20thDr. & Mrs.Anniversary Frank J. Szarko Season HealthAmerica. A member of the DSU PSF’s destiny—she is actively engaged in Board of Trustees since 1997, he became a 20-year strategic plan that will transform WDIY 88.1 FM Lehigh Valley Community Public RadioHamlet the first graduate in University history to be July 20 – August 7 elected as chairman of the board, which he considers “an honor.” Pride & Prejudice a PSF Partnership Official Hotel July 19 – August Bethlehem, 7 Pa. An avid supporter of the DeSales the- atre program and PSF, Tim thinks that The Comedy of Errors “the level of talent PSF is able to procure— June 22– July 17 Official actors who have been on TV, in films, or Photographer Lee A. Butz PENNS Y LVA NI A on Broadway who come here to be a part of South Pacific JUNE 4, 2011 Advanced Training and Drama Camps for Students S H A K E S P E A R E it—is a great testimony to the quality of the June 15 – July 3 High school & college program an Evening of Elegance and Radiance theatre.” FESTIVAL GALA Junior program: Grades 4 through 8 Festival Host The Two Noble Kinsmen This year is the second time Kathleen July 27 – August 7 Call 610.282.1100, ext. 1320 and Tim have served as season sponsors— E-mail: [email protected] • visit: www.desales.edu/sti Sleeping Beauty June 3 – August 6 for information, call 4 • The Quill, Spring 2011 Shakespeare for Kids 610.282.will, ext. 6 www.pashakespeare.org The Quill, Spring 2011 • 5 July 27 – August 6

The Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival • Located on the campus of DeSales University 2755 Station Avenue • Center Valley, PA 18034 610.282.WILL • www.pashakespeare.org Invitation design and production by Keenan-Nagle Advertising, Inc. Printing Sponsored by Nacci Printing, Inc. Q&A on the Nature of “Rep” The World of Pride & Prejudice: With Producing Artistic Director Patrick Mulcahy On the Matter and Manners of Romance “Repertory” has a variety of meanings in Shakespeare’s company, we believe, neither the casts nor the primary audiences By Lisa Higgins the theatre world. How do you define it had dozens of plays in repertory at a time are the same. for PSF? and could alternate between them on short long with the plays of William Shakespeare and the works of Charles Dickens, Yes, repertory can mean the plays or notice. We’ve been doing a touch of rep for This year, we will offer productions in true rep for the first time, alternating two Jane Austen’s novels are among the most beloved books of Western literature.” types of plays you do, but doing plays in years: our children’s play takes place in the With one economical sentence, the opening line of a 2010 annotated edition of rep means offering multiple productions in Schubert Theatre, the same space as two plays with the same cast in the same the- A 1 the same theatre, alternating performances other productions each year. We use the atre—our main stage—so you can see Hamlet Pride and Prejudice places Austen in the company of the greatest playwright of all time. between them daily rather than offering same scenic designer so the changeover can one day and Pride and Prejudice the next day. The sets for these two productions will be “Austen illuminates ordinary life in [But] his manners are arrogant and he can be the novel. With adap- them sequentially: e.g. Hamlet in June and be a smooth one, as there is usually a 10:00 designed to rep, so the look and functioning ways that are both intimately familiar and dismissed as ‘proud,’” writes Patricia Meyers tations often you’ll hear, ‘but the book was Pride and Prejudice in July. a.m. children’s show followed by a 2:00 completely enchanting,” says Director Spacks,1 adding that “the central activity of so much better.’ My sense is those re-tellings p.m. or 8:00 p.m. main production. But of each will be quite different even though they are using the same space. Erin Hurley. “She explores the rich terrain the characters in Pride and Prejudice [is to] have neglected the reader’s essential joy: of romance with wit and wisdom—and a constantly assess one another.” imagination.” delightful use of language.” The Actors in “Rep” Why is repertory a part of PSF’s program- “Elizabeth and Darcy are so rigid and “Through the course of the play, the ming this year, and what about the future First written when Austen was 19 and structured in their thinking,” says Hurley. audience will escort Elizabeth to Regency of rep at PSF? Actors in “rep” at PSF this summer members of the Rep company, he will revised before first publishing in 1813, Pride “Each is her or his own obstacle to . balls, traipse through the mud to Netherfield, include familiar faces, recent newcomers, appear in only one play. Rep is essential if PSF will become a and Prejudice was Austen’s first novel and has Everything in their world, including feelings, visit her sister Jane in London, holiday and first timers. Greg Wood and his real- destination theatre over time so patrons vis- inspired multiple adaptations for film and is ordered and refined, like the landscape and with her beloved aunt, Mrs. Gardiner, to life wife, Susan Riley Stevens, return as a Several newcomers in last year’s com- iting from some distance can see multiple stage. Jon Jory—a world-renowned director the architecture. Pemberley, and return to Longbourn. pany of R&J return as well: Justin Adams, productions in a single visit. Our long-range who founded the Humana Festival of New All this will be made material with the smart married stage couple in Hamlet, Claudius “Darcy has pride in his social position, and Gertrude, following their turn as the who played Mercutio, takes on the famous vision is for PSF to become a destination, American plays—“has shaped the book into sparkle of Austen’s account, and the turn of Dane and the equivocal Wickham. David his intelligence, and his scrupulous behavior,” Capulets in last season’s Romeo and Juliet. (It and we wanted to begin exploring this mode a swift-moving script that gives directors a chair.” Kenner, PSF’s Romeo, will play Hamlet’s of production. plenty of room to maneuver,” according to she says. “Elizabeth is prejudiced against Mr. should also be noted that Greg played the Darcy’s higher class, and she has pride in In addition to the unique qualities of the friend Horatio and the courtly Mr. Bingley. Terry Teachout of The Wall Street Journal. title role in PSF’s first production of Hamlet Another driver: both actors and audi- her own judgment. They’re very much like adaptation itself, the production will be per- in 1995—and the rep roles mark his 24th And Jo Twiss, Juliet’s nurse, returns as the Player Queen and Mrs. Bennet. ences love rep. Actors love the richness of the “Jon Jory’s adaptation of the novel is Beatrice and Benedick in Much Ado About formed in repertory with Hamlet—with the and 25th productions at PSF.) challenge­—alternating roles each day—and a mastery of synthesis with Austen’s ironic Nothing. We ache for them to just get over same cast. (See story page 6.) Wayne S. Turney—who kept search- Newcomer Mairin Lee will play two audiences love to see them do it. sense of humor fully intact,” themselves and be together; we wish for the of the most well known female characters wrote critic Judith Egerton. characters to discover the synergy and “An enjoyable aspect of the rep is get- ing for his children as Erronius in A Funny It also helps PSF address another issue: in literature who are chemistry we can so plainly see. ting to tag-team rehearsals with Patrick Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum last average house size. Our previous model was Initially titled “First (Mulcahy, directing Hamlet),” she says, “and summer—will play the verbose Polonius, the also a model in contrast: Therein lies the fun of the play.” Ophelia and Elizabeth fairly uniform with respect to the number Impressions,” Pride and collaborate on casting, with an eye to how wily Gravedigger, and a man of few words, of performances per production, which did Prejudice tells the story Jory’s adaptation uses these productions will complement and Mr. Bennet. Bennet. And Michael Lin Brusasco makes his not reflect the varying power of each play to of the middle-class the convention of a highlight the varied talents of each actor.” n Christopher Coucill, whose PSF credits PSF debut as the duel- attract an audience of a certain size. Empty English household of the narrative style similar seats impact both the actors’ and the audi- Bennets. With five mar- to Shakespeare’s—the 1. Jane Austen Pride and Prejudice, An Annotated include the title roles in King Lear and Man ing Laertes and enig- Edition. Patricia Meyer Spacks, Editor. Harvard of La Mancha, returns to play the Ghost matic Mr. Darcy. ences’ experiences; the more full the house the riageable daughters—“all characters often speak Justin Adams better the experience for all involved. In the University Press, 2010. and the Player King in Hamlet. Like several Hamlet/Wickham out husband-hunting at directly to the audience. “The old model, some of our productions would once”—romance runs the thing that draws me to the Jory sell out and some would play to less than gamut from the obvious to adaptation is that it uses the- Austen illuminates ordinary full houses. Our ability to predict attendance the oblique. atricality to its benefit. It isn’t “ life in a way that is both has been good, but our ability to match the Masterpiece Theater,” Hurley performance run to the attendance has been “Darcy is judged adds. “The production calls intimately familiar and limited. In rep, we can assign one production handsome and thrillingly on the audience’s imagination, completely enchanting. more performances than another to maintain a attractive, with his annual which brings us to the soul of ” higher average house size. income of £10,000. Michael Lin Brusasco Christopher Coucill Mairin Lee, Ophelia/ Jo Twiss, Player Laertes/Mr. Darcy Ghost & Player King Elizabeth Bennet Queen/Mrs. Bennet The future? We anticipate continuing - Erin Hurley, director rep in future seasons. We expect to learn more about the opportunities and challenges this year.

Do you have any personal experience working in rep as an actor or director? Very few theatres do rep. In the begin- Susan Riley Stevens David Kenner Wayne Turney Greg Wood ning of the regional theatre movement in this Gertrude/Lady Horatio/Mr. Bingley Polonius/Mr. Bennet Claudius/Mr. Gardiner Catherine De Bourgh continues on page 14 JULY 19 - AUGUST 7 • MAIN STAGE

6 • The Quill, Spring 2011 610.282.will www.pashakespeare.org The Quill, Spring 2011 • 7 YEARS OF PSF!

Thank you to all the actors, directors, designers, and audience members for 20 years of stellar memories. And special thanks to Lee A. Butz, official PSF photographer and friend. Photos clockwise from top left; left to right within each photo: Lauren Lovett, Erin Clare Hurley, and Chelsea Anne Carle; Greg Wood and Grace Gonglewski; Greg Wood; Jim Helsinger; Michael Tylo; Steve Burns; John Ahlin; Jim Helsinger; Cristin M. Boyle; Vanessa Ballam and David Alan Anderson; Spencer Plachy, Richard Pruitt, and Richard B. Watson; Christopher Patrick Mullen; Greg Wood. Photos by Lee A. Butz. Vision 2030: A World-Class PSF

By 2030, the following statements will be true: opening a Shakespeare Café, and building a such as additional staff and new revenue. third performance venue to help make it all possible. PSF is in pursuit of an exhilarating The Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival is a world- The Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival enriches and inspiring vision. We are blessed with class Shakespeare festival, celebrated regionally the human community through the revelation Achieving this vision requires a corre- a terrific staff, tremendous support from and recognized nationally for a level of artistry of beauty and the illumination of fundamental sponding foundation of support, which in turn DeSales University and the many constitu- consistent with leading regional theatres. truths of human experience. requires innovation, insightful planning, and encies committed to the Festival, and the focused execution. The next crucial task was ever-deepening good will and gratitude of a detailed, measurable, objective-driven five- our patrons. wo years before the 20th anniver- al theatres, and the retired head of global the form of a major concrete goal, often year plan aimed at a major step change for the sary season, the leadership at PSF, strategy for a Fortune 500 company in our called a BHAG—big, hairy, audacious Festival in the direction of the vision. The achievement of these goals is not Tled by Producing Artistic Director area. The Festival engaged a consultant from goal. The PSF 2030 BHAG includes an only possible but is the natural manifestation Patrick Mulcahy, recognized the impor- the top arts management consulting compa- expanded summer festival—doubling the PSF’s five-year plan initiates many of of both the inspiration and the “perspiration” tance of assessing the Festival’s founding ny nationally to facilitate a retreat in the fall current duration and running mid-May the elements of the larger vision. We start employed at the Festival’s founding, magni- and developing years and looking ahead to of 2009, and the results were…visionary. through late August, doubling atten- strong this season with productions in rep, a fied over these past two decades by all those The Festival’s core values: a point on the horizon 20 years from now. dance by becoming a destination theatre third Shakespeare play, a transition from the who gave of themselves to infuse the work At the retreat, Mulcahy read an inspi- Quality – the revelation of beauty through PSF needed a vision for what the Festival as well as a regional attraction, featuring outdoor Greenshow to a more atmospheric with their talent. transformative artistry would become and a strategic plan to bring rational description of a patron’s experience six major productions, three of which are pre-show experience called On the Green (our Today, as we lay the footings for the next that potential to fruition. visiting PSF in the year 2030 (available at Shakespeare plays, running in repertory so first step towards the Shakespeare Café), and Shakespeare – producing plays of the greatest major stage in the Festival’s development, playwright in the English language www.pashakespeare.org) that set the tone that destination travelers can see five or six steps to continue strengthening the Festival’s A committee was formed, including the for the development of a bold vision state- inspiration continues as our most precious plays in a single visit, hiring an industry- financial footing. Each objective requires Education – illuminating Shakespeare, the resource, the raw material we will fashion leadership of the Festival, the founder, board ment. (See above). leading actor or two each season, featur- resources to accomplish. Some resources are power of language, and the professional theatre into the transformative work at the heart of members, a Broadway producer, a managing ing productions that would start here and already present, including ingenuity and deter- director of one of the nation’s leading region- The next step in the process identi- the Festival’s future. n Relationships – cultivating and mobilizing fied what that vision would look like in have a future life on tour or on Broadway, mination, some are anticipated in the plan, enduring collaborative alliances How We Got Here The Festival pro- Greg Wood plays Hamlet, and the Festival Lee Butz is honored with the Will Shakespeare Broadway fight director Sordelet duces its inaugural adds a fourth production, The Glass Award at the annual gala, and for the award, returns to PSF to direct Romeo season and opens Menagerie, its first non-Shakespeare he is presented with a rare actual page from and Juliet—and stages spectacu- 1995 For the first time, three Shakespeare plays with The Taming of world classic, in the Arena Theatre. The Festival adds a fifth Shakespeare’s First Folio. lar fights. Jim Helsinger returns to are produced in one season. The next 2006 the Shrew, direct- annual production, with the stage as an actor and director occurrence: the 20th season this summer. 2002

ed by founder Fr. PSF is declared “The Official Complete Works. 2010 of The Merry Wives of Windsor. Gerard J. Schubert, Shakespeare Festival of the 1999 The Festival produces two OSFS. Romeo and Juliet is Commonwealth of Pennsylvania” The annual fall Linny Fowler WillPower PSF produces its first musical, colossal works simultane- directed by Russell Treyz and by the state senate, and Wood Tour is launched with a production of Man of La Mancha (directed ously—Cyrano de Bergerac features fight choreography performs the “To Be or Not to Romeo and Juliet for middle schools by Razze) and posts a 33% on the main stage featuring by Rick Sordelet. Including Be” speech on the steps of the and high schools. More than 100,000 gain in attendance over the Greg Wood, and King Lear the children’s play, Pinocchio, capitol. Jim Helsinger stars in The students have experienced the power previous season. (See Casey in the Schubert Theatre fea- attendance exceeds 10,000. School for Wives. turing Christopher Coucill. 2000 2004 2008 1992 1996 of Shakespeare through this program. Gallagher, page 12)

In the fall, François McGilli- The Taming of the Shrew, Founding Producing On the Main Stage, 33,017 attend the Introduction of a sixth pro- cuddy joins the Festival directed by Dennis Razze, is Artistic Director Mulcahy directs Henry IV, Festival, surpassing the duction, two main stage pro- as managing director, the attended by an audience of Schubert retires at Part 1, featuring Michael previous record, 29,998 ductions in repertory, Hamlet 1994 Festival’s first full-time, 1998 nearly 9,000, setting a record 2001 the end of the sum- 2005 Tylo and John Ahlin. 2009 set in 2000. Antony & 2011 and Pride & Prejudice, and a year-round employee. for the highest attendance of a mer, and Jack Young Cleopatra is the 23rd Shakespeare play rehearsed non-children’s production. The is hired as the new of Shakespeare’s 38 in an Elizabethan rehearsal record still stands. artistic director. plays produced at PSF. mode. James Kiberd from All My Children performs the title role in Macbeth. Sold-out crowds set an attendance record at 93% capacity PSF is honored by the Allentown Arts Commission In the fall, Patrick Mulcahy is named Steve Burns returns to PSF in the title role of Mozart in Amadeus. The fall WillPower 1993 that was not broken until 1999 when The with the award for Outstanding Achievement in new producing artistic director and tour of Macbeth is awarded a grant from Shakespeare in American Communities: Complete Works of William Shakespeare the Performing Arts. PSF produces its first Shaw Dennis Razze the new associate Shakespeare for a New Generation, a program sponsored by the National Endowment 2007 (Abridged) played to 98% capacity. play and is featured on the Bravo network. 2003 for the Arts in cooperation with Arts Midwest.

1997 artistic director.

10 • The Quill, Spring 2011 610.282.will www.pashakespeare.org The Quill, Spring 2011 • 11 motley costumes for Love’s Labour’s Lost 10 of Behind the Scenes: (2003); Robert A. Mond’s sculpted, haunted the lights for Hamlet (2002); Jerold R. Forsyth’s 9 Fun Facts About Comedy or Errors Casey Wm. Gallagher, Managing Director painterly, fairy-tale lights for Twelfth Night (2008), and Sordelet’s mighty, balletic sword By Lisa Higgins the fun. But while The Comedy of Errors is “fable land.” “Instead of drawing on a specific In the theatre world, the work of the artists takes the spot- one of Shakespeare’s wackiest comedies, it time and place, we’re using inspiration from a fights for Cyrano, his tribute to Errol Flynn’s 1. The Comedy of Errors is Shakespeare’s ear- light. Which is as it should be. But there are people who make is enriched by its more somber beginning: a wide variety of sources to create our own spe- swashbuckling, dashing Robin Hood. liest comedy and, at 1,786 lines, the shortest sure there’s a spotlight to turn on, that there’s a budget for the woeful tale complete with the threat of death. cial classic storybook world,” says Treyz. of all his surviving plays. PSF first produced spotlight, and that there’s an audience to see what the spotlight is This zesty adventure has also animated “Shakespeare—as well as a vast number of the play in 1997, directed by Russell Treyz, illuminating. One person at PSF manages all of the departments the children’s and green shows. Kids have other authors—often serves up a mixture of 9. The from Syracuse, adapted from who returns to direct it again this season. that make that light shine: Casey William Gallagher. yelled at the Sordelet-choreographed sword both the happy and the sad,” says Treyz. “It’s The Comedy of Errors, is the first musical “It’s always interesting, fun, and a challenge battles in Robin Hood, clapped at Jack climb- one of the many things that keeps us fasci- based on a play by Shakespeare. It opened Casey’s history with the Festival traces back to the early days to revisit a play—especially by Shakespeare,” ing a 22-foot beanstalk, gasped at the fall- nated by his work. We are never quite sure on Broadway in 1938, directed by George when he was a DeSales student with a double major in theatre and Casey Wm. Gallagher he says. “Each time I get a chance, I not only ing chandelier that announced the arrival of of what’s going to happen and what shape Abbot, an American theatre legend who also math. He helped build the theatre department’s first computerized data base in the early rediscover the work, but also discover new Snow White’s evil queen. Green Show adults the play will ultimately take. It also gives the wrote the libretto. Richard Rodgers, who ’90s—and since 2004 he has overseen all box office, marketing, and production functions. aspects of the play. Somehow the chemistry have become kids by acting in a spoof of A opportunity to the director, actors, and pro- later wrote the music for South Pacific, com- In addition to his 13 years at PSF, he has worked at The People’s Light and Theatre of a changed company of actors and a shift Midsummer Night’s Dream, singing along duction team to have a great deal of choice.” posed the music. Company in Malvern, Pa., the Philadelphia Live Arts & Philly Fringe Festivals, and as a of concept and production team opens up with sonnets, boxing along with a Punch- 10. Indeed, Steve Burns will play Dromio judge for the Barrymore Awards for excellence in theatre in the Philadelphia area. and-Judy show. new ideas and regenerates afresh the vision 5. The basic plot is this: Accompanied by of the play.” his servant Dromio, Antipholus of Syracuse of Syracuse, as Brad DePlanche became Increasing and expanding programming is looking for his long-lost twin brother. unavailable due to conviction for imper- 2. Shakespeare’s source for the plot was has been a hallmark of the eight-year reign Antipholus of Syracuse has been searching sonating a sibling. Chris Faith could not be the Latin Menaechmi, a comedy about Panoramic Pageant, continued from page 1 Mullen is one of many regular actors of Patrick Mulcahy, the Festival’s produc- for seven years, and his father, Egeon, is now reached for comment. (Have you ever seen mistaken identity involving a set of twins, familiar enough to be family members. ing artistic director, and Razze, the associ- searching for him. They arrive separately in them in the same place at the same time? by the Roman playwright Plautus (c. 254- actors doubling in Hamlet and Pride and Festival spectators have come to count on ate artistic director. Razze has become the Ephesus, where the other Antipholus and Hmmm.) We anticipate that Brad will be 184 BC)—the very same playwright who Prejudice day to day and, sometimes, in the Wood’s elegantly earthy kings, Gonglewski’s Festival’s Swiss Army knife: actor; designer; Dromio just happen to live. back in 2012, same day. Unofficial repertory, however, has earthily elegant queens, O’Donnell’s plucky director of main-stage comedies and musi- inspired A Funny Thing Happened on the Way assuming time always been a gift. In 1998, for example, heroines, Ahlin’s mugging clowns, Jim cals; composer for ten productions. to the Forum. 6. The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare off for good reports that: “According to an eyewitness behavior. NEWSFLASH: Gonglewski and Greg Wood played the sor- Helsinger’s outrageous fools, Anthony 3. Plautus’ plays were “familiar to most Mulcahy has advanced from fight account, ‘ … was played by rowful hellions Josie and Jamie in A Moon for Lawton’s Puckish comics, H. Michael Walls’ Elizabethan grammar-school boys,” accord- comedy of errors director (Julius Caesar, 1997) to director the players’ during the Christmas revels at Steve Burns Revealed the Misbegotten. In 2007 they paired up again befuddled lords, Carl N. Wallnau’s sneaky ing to The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare. (The Tempest, 1999) to visionary supervi- Gray’s Inn on 28 December 1594…and it is as Authentic Twin to as the vaudevillian hellions Petruchio and imperialists, Ian Merrill Peakes’ noble con- “Shakespeare complicates this plot by adding sor. On his watch, the Festival has added unlikely that the lawyers and students would Chris Faith—DePlanche Seeks Kate in The Taming of the Shrew. The good spirators, Anne Lewis’ prickly lionesses, and long-separated twin servants (the Dromios) productions in repertory, musicals, pre-show have hired actors to appear at a grand festive Brotherhood friends have been onstage spouses a half- Ian Bedford’s soldierly pro wrestlers. for the twin masters (the Antipholi), drawing dozen times in Center Valley, which makes Prologues, child-proof Shakespeares, a occasion with anything but a new, or at least Elsewhere Directors have treated the Festival as on another Plautus play, Amphitruo.” them theatrical common-law mates. Shakespeare competition for high schools, current, play.” a reality laboratory. In Russell Treyz’s deft, balanced budgets, an attendance record, 4. By introducing a second 7. Shakespeare set the action in a single loca- In fact, rep has roamed all around the profound Twelfth Night (1993), Olivia’s and a new season model. This year’s treats pair of identical twins— tion over a single day; the only play apart Festival. In 1995 Wood performed Hamlet’s refusal to be loved was summarized as a include a rare production of The Two Noble separated at birth with from that follows this classical half-dozen personalities; in 2008 he was rose snipped from a stem. Jack Young, the Kinsmen, an adaptation of Chaucer’s “The their respective masters— The Tempest convention. an equally mercurial Cyrano de Bergerac. Festival’s former artistic director, turned Knight’s Tale” by, allegedly, John Fletcher Shakespeare In 2004 Christopher Coucill was a rag- a 2002 Henry V into a 20th-century boot and Shakespeare. The show will be directed, more than 8. While Treyz’ production will take place ing, touching Don Quixote; four years later camp, with 12 actors playing nearly 40 designed and quickly opened by actors—the doubles over the course of a single day—all the time he was a raging, touching King Lear. And roles. Robert Moss placed part of a 2005 Shakespearean way. that Egeon is allowed to find the ransom he Lauren Lovett played two of Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice in a futuristic stock needs to save his life—the play will be set in best AC/DC characters in two years. She exchange with the spookiness of a mauso- This panoramic pageant has been was a spunky, whip-smart Portia/Balthazar leum. Dennis Razze, the Festival’s resident chronicled in lobby photographs taken by in a 2005 Merchant of Venice; in a 2006 comedy master, used gag encores to make Lee Butz, the Festival’s visual historian and As You Like It she interpreted Rosalind/ the 2010 Forum a tidal wave of laughs. promotional poet. Shooting only during final Ganymede as a sassy, cocky Katharine And Rick Sordelet jolted last year’s Romeo dress rehearsals, he’s portrayed Cyrano as a Hepburn. and Juliet by changing a masked ball to a Rembrandt-esque painting, King Lear as a disco where R & J dance their first dance to wounding ballet, The Little Mermaid as a Christopher Patrick Mullen has been a Prince’s funky “Kiss.” healing ballet. A builder by trade (his family rep company all by himself. He’s brought his firm erected the Festival’s home, the Labuda high-wire electricity to Mercutio, Touchstone, Designers have treated the Festival Center for the Performing Arts), he’s built a Dracula, Lord Fancourt Babberly, and a crab- as a gymnasium for the imagination. The splendid sense of company camaraderie. His by sea captain’s alter-ego parrot, one of his 21 Center Valley hall of fame includes Bob pictures illustrate what the artists and audi- characters in Around the World in 80 Days. His Phillips’ sea-green checkerboard set for The ences share—joy and sorrow, wisdom and dangerously devilish Hamlet (2002) empha- Winter’s Tale (2007); Will Neuert’s sweep- wit, the timeliness of timelessness. n sized the emptiness of the “Words, words, ingly romantic night set for Cyrano de words!” speech by lying on his back, tucking Bergerac (2008); Lisa L. Zinni’s beautifully Geoff Gehman covered the first 17 festivals as an arts writer for The Morning Call in Allentown, Pa. his arms under his legs and pretending to read mossy costumes for A Midsummer Night’s a book with his rear end. Dream (1994); Janus Stefanowicz’s exquisitely JUNE 22 - JULY 17 • SCHUBERT THEATRE 12 • The Quill, Spring 2011 610.282.will www.pashakespeare.org The Quill, Spring 2011 • 13 On Stage for Children and Families: PSF STAFF Tales of the South Pacific: “A Show of Rare Enchantment” By Dennis Razze, PSF associate artistic director PATRICK MULCAHY the chapter called “Our Heroine.” And for the Metropolitan Opera singing star signed and director of South Pacific 4 Producing Artistic Director comic relief they brought in Luther Billis’ to play Emile de Becque. JUNE 3 – AUGUST 6 • SCHUBERT THEATRE character from “A Boar’s Tooth.” ike many baby boomers, I am in a The original stage production opened DENNIS RAZZE way a product of World War II. My The friendly fairies—Moonbeam, Rose Petal, and Twinkletoes—outsmart the Associate Artistic Director Hammerstein had the task of combining on April 7, 1949, and won 10 Tony Awards, wicked fairy so Sleeping Beauty can awake and live happily ever after. father served in the Army during the all of the stories into a unified whole as well including Best Musical, Best Score, Best CASEY WILLIAM GALLAGHER L war, most of the time in the States, although Managing Director as writing all of the lyrics. Not a war veteran Libretto, Best Director, and all four acting With an inspired set design by five-time Emmy-winner Bob Phillips recently I discovered some old papers in himself, Hammerstein asked Logan to co- awards. It had previewed in New Haven and (Sesame Street), this Sleeping Beauty will delight families with kids from Director of Development JEANNE B. SHOOK his files that show he served as an airplane author the book because of his experience in in Boston, and playwright/director George ages three to tween. Meet the cast after every performance for pictures Education Director ERIN HURLEY mechanic for about six months in the South the war. However, Hammerstein was quick S. Kauffman facetiously complained that and autographs. Director of Marketing & Public Relations Pacific. Why he never spoke of it, I don’t to point out, “Of course, it goes without say- the people of Boston were so excited about LISA HIGGINS PECHTER know. I do know he fell in love with my ing that you won’t get anything whatsoever the show that they shoved money under the Box Office Manager DAEL L. JACKSON mother just before he left for the war and of the author’s royalties.” 2 doors of the Shubert Theater. “They don’t Business Manager JANICE S. HEIN that he wrote to her constantly. He returned actually want anything,” he joked. “They just Production Manager MATTHEW GIVEN to marry her at the war’s end, a story so Michener’s book certainly deals with want to push money under the doors.” 3 JULY 27 – AUGUST 6 • MAIN STAGE Management Associate TIMOTHY T. WALLING common yet still poignant. the dilemmas brought on by romantic entanglements between different races and South Pacific ran for 1,925 performances A high-energy one-hour production, S4K is designed for FR. GERARD J. SCHUBERT, OSFS Although I was only five or six years old, the American service man’s discomfort in New York, the fifth longest running show children ages 4 to 10 to actively experience Shakespeare’s Founder I have surprisingly clear memories of see- returning home with a wife of a different in Broadway history. “South Pacific is as lively, vibrant language and characters. ing the 1958 film of South Pacific with Mitzi The Quill is published up to three times a year race. In the novel, de Becque had lived with warm, fresh, and beautiful as we had all hoped Gaynor and Rosanno Brazzi. (Although This time around, Team Shakespeare hams it up with Prince by the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, a at least three other women and had eight it would be,” New York Times critic Brooks I didn’t realize that someone else sang for Hamlet. Swordfights, sock puppets—and the return of professional company in residence at DeSales daughters before he met Nellie. Also in Atkinson wrote in his review. Fifty years later, him.1) I recall the colorful cinematography— the helpful S4K robot, Shobot—guarantee that Hamlet University. the novel, Nellie Forbush from Oltolusa, Ted Chapin, president of the Rodgers & the incredible sunsets, the beautiful shots of discovers “what piece of work is a man.” EDITOR Lisa Higgins Ark., is not so much bothered by the fact Hammerstein Organization, observed: “The DESIGN Laura Zielinski the islands—but most of all I remember the that Emile has Tonkinese and Javanese genius of South Pacific is this: it turns out to be music and the story that spoke directly to the CONTRIBUTORS: Geoff Gehman and Nicole Murray children—it is his Polynesian children a musical which was both deeply rooted in its heart. I couldn’t know it then, but seeing that who have darker skin that challenge her time and feels timeless today.” n film was the beginning of my love affair with upbringing and stir her deeply ingrained musicals and movies. racist tendencies. 1. Metropolitan Opera star Giorgio Tozzi provided What is Rep, continued from page 6 mostly women, so how can the same cast do tion of Pride and Prejudice is bright and ener- the singing voice for the role of Emile de Becque both plays? Because many of the women in getic and has been very successful across the I encountered South Pacific again when Wisely, I think, Hammerstein and in the 1958 film. country, 50 or 60 years ago, many of the first P&P are young and can be played well by country. It has an ideal cast size to make the I played a Seabee in a version put on by Logan altered de Becque’s story such that he our terrific acting interns, and most of the rep practical. Salesianum High School in Wilmington, 2. Bloom, Ken and Frank Vlastnik. Broadway regional theatres hired a company of actors only has two children from a marriage with a Musicals: The 101 Greatest Shows of all Time, for the season and some did productions in principal roles match up well, it works better Del., which had a terrific theatre program Other pairings? Perhaps Much Ado About deceased Polynesian woman. Still, the musi- pp. 300-03. Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, rep. Now, most theatres hire actors by the than one might expect. led by Fr. John Spragg, OSFS. New York, 2004. Nothing and sometime cal confronts the issue of racism head on, and show and do productions sequentially, often We want to avoid overwhelming the soon. Or Much Ado with The Lion in Winter. As I prepare to direct this musical, I am Cable’s famous tortured song “You’ve Got to 3. Nolan, Frederick. The Sound of Their Music: for financial reasons. costume shop, given that the plays open Thankfully, there are many possibilities, fascinated by the story of the creation of South be Carefully Taught” explores the psychology The Story of Rodgers & Hammerstein. Applause of prejudice. By its conclusion, the musical Rep is more complex. Destination the- at the same time, and we need to choose which is good because we have many years Pacific. It was stage director Joshua Logan, Theatre & Cinema Books, New York, 2002. South Pacific dramatizes radically different atres tend to rep, but there are very few of plays that can work scenographically in a ahead of us. himself a World War II veteran, who had 4. Rodgers, Richard. outcomes to these dilemmas of heart, mind, them. Most of my work in the field has been rep model with a changeover that won’t last the idea to adapt James Michener’s Pulitzer Musical Stages: An and learned values. in the sequential model. Other than when I much longer than an hour. We all have to Is there anything you would like to add Prize-winning novel of 1946, Tales of the South Autobiography. Da Capo Press, earned my Equity card as an actor on a school keep in mind that the matinee of one play for our readers? Pacific, into a musical. The novel was a col- Richard Rodgers knew that he wanted comes down at 5:00 p.m. and another play lection of true stories about the war in the 2000. tour that alternated Hamlet, R&J, and Julius For a patron, the richest encounter with Mary Martin to play Nellie Forbush in starts at 8:00 p.m., several days a week. South Pacific. The plan at first was to adapt Caesar, and our rep mode with the children’s the Festival is to see most or all of the pro- the original stage production. He had seen only one of the stories, “Fo’ dolla.” Set on the shows, this is my first experience with true rep. ductions each season, to get the widest and her wearing a gingham dress in One Touch Directors have to stretch out the enchanting island of Bali Hai, the story cen- most dimensional aesthetic experience. Rep of Venus, and he knew she was perfect for rehearsal process, alternating rehearsal slots tered on a mysterious and opportunistic What kinds of challenges and opportuni- adds yet another dimension, to see terrific the part, which he tailored to her talents. similar to the performances, and each direc- native woman, Bloody Mary, and her ties does rep offer an actor? A director? actors stretch themselves even further and Martin was not convinced at first, but after tor knows that actors cannot focus the daughter, Liat, who falls in love An audience? continue to grow. That’s pretty exciting. Rodgers auditioned “Cockeyed Optimist” entirety of their attention on that one role. with the Princeton-educated Challenges include, for example, find- But, on balance, everyone wins here, mostly and “Some Enchanted Evening” for her, she Part of the magic of live theatre is Lieutenant Joe Cable. 3 ing an actress who will be equally wonderful the audience. was hooked. watching the transformation of the actor as Elizabeth and Ophelia. (We did: Mairin On its own, the team into the character before our very eyes—here Emile’s casting was also circumstantial. Lee.) Those two roles require very differ- of creators felt this story How did you choose to pair Hamlet and and now, in the room with us. In rep, we get Rodgers had received a call from a friend ent characteristics, so you need actors with was too tragic and pos- Pride and Prejudice? What other pairings to come back and see the same actor make who had contracted Ezio Pinza to play a range—rep is a great opportunity for actors sibly too much like Madame would you like to do? yet another transformation, but one made musical role with the Los Angeles Civic to show their range to an audience that has a Butterfly, so they added the romantic story We started with Hamlet and The Light Opera. When the musical fell through, recent point of reference of their work. in a unique creative process unavailable JUNE 15 - JULY 3 , but the feeling was that the of Nellie Forbush and Emile de Becque from Pinza still had to be paid. So Rodgers had Cherry Orchard except in very special places; places like the MAIN STAGE Also, at a glance, one would say that combined weight, despite the buoyancy of Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival. n Hamlet is mostly men and Pride and Prejudice Chekhov, might be too much. This adapta-

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Breaking Casting News

Straight from the recent Broadway produc- Emmy Nominee Marnie Schulenburg returns tion of South Pacific at Lincoln Center, to play opposite Michals as Ensign Nellie William Michals will reprise his leading role Forbush, a naive U.S. Navy nurse from Little as Emile de Beque in PSF’s production. He Rock, Ark. Schulenburg made her daytime TV made his Broadway debut as The Beast in debut on The Young and the Restless then moved Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, later returning to As the World Turns as Alison Stewart, where to play Gaston. she earned a Daytime Emmy nomination for “Outstanding Younger Actress” last year. She William Michals Marnie Schulenburg Variety wrote that he has “a voice that knows last performed at PSF as Celia in the 2006 pro- no boundaries.” Critics around the country have lauded his perfor- duction of As You Like It. Young audience members might remember mances in such roles as Javert in , Billy Flynn in , Les Misérables her from the title role in The Little Mermaid (2005) when she was an Don Quixote in Man of La Mancha, and the title role in Phantom. A acting intern. recipient of the prestigious Anselmo Award, he also earned recognition by Chicago’s “Jeff ” and the National STAR awards for his portrayal of Indie- and alt-rocker Steve Burns, forever Chauvelin in the national tour of The Scarlet Pimpernel. known as the original host of Nickelodeon’s smash hit Blue’s Clues, pairs up as a twin Dromio Plus William Michals • Broadway in Concert in PSF’s The Comedy of Errors. “When Brad Sunday, June 26, 7:30 p.m. • One Night Only! DePlanche became unavailable to play one of the Dromios, we needed a terrific comic actor who An Astounding Voice ...the richest baritone I’ve ever had the privilege to hear. would be a good match for the other twin, Chris –San Diego Playbill Faith,” says Patrick Mulcahy, producing artistic director. “Steve came instantly to mind.” Burns Steve Burns ...leaves the audience breathless. –Talkin’ Broadway last performed at PSF in the 2007 production of Amadeus in the title role. ...resonates with emotion. –Chicago Sun-Times Before that he was an acting intern at PSF and a DSU theatre student in ...all dark-voiced, dark-browed glamour. –Variety the early 90s.

On the Green Win a Trip to Hawaii Back by Popular Demand: The Great Divorce A new pre-show experience— Win the trip of a lifetime to Hawaii and help support PSF’s educa- On the Green—debuts at tion programming. The 4th annual raffle features a limited number of Based on the novel by C.S. Lewis PSF this summer. Featuring tickets—300—for a prize package valued at $6,000, featuring: Adapted and performed by live harp, lute, and vocal Anthony Lawton music, On the Green offers • 4 nights on Maui, deluxe accom- One Night Only: August 1, 7:30 p.m. modations on Kaanapali Beach an inviting atmosphere in the Lauded by The Philadelphia glow of the setting sun. New • 4 nights on Oahu at one of Waikiki’s finest hotels Inquirer in this “master- landscaping replaces the for- ful solo show,” actor mer Green Show stage. Bring • $3,500 cash for airfare, car rent- al, and spending money Anthony Lawton deliv- a picnic and a bottle of cheer ers “a wondrous ride filled to share with friends at the Raffle tickets cost $100 and may be with dazzling insight and open-air tables. ordered online at pashakespeare.org language.” An allegorical or by calling 610.282.9455, ext. 6. journey, The Great Divorce blends philo- sophical imagination and theatrical magic.

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