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4 ACT-SF.ORG SAN FRANCISCO'S THEATER COMPANY

American Conservatory Theater, San Francisco’s Tony Award– A.C.T.’s 50-year-old Conservatory, led by Melissa Smith, is at winning nonprofit theater, nurtures the art of live theater the center of our work. Our three-year, fully accredited Master through dynamic productions, intensive actor training, of Fine Arts Program is at the forefront of America’s actor and ongoing engagement with our community. Under the training programs. Meanwhile, our intensive Summer Training leadership of Artistic Director Carey Perloff and Executive Congress attracts students from around the world, and the San Director Peter Pastreich, we embrace our responsibility to Francisco Semester offers a unique study-abroad opportunity conserve, renew, and reinvent our rich theatrical traditions for undergraduates. Other programs include the world-famous and literatures, while exploring new artistic forms and Young Conservatory for students ages 8 to 19, led by 28-year new communities. Founded by William Ball, a pioneer of veteran Craig Slaight; Studio A.C.T., our expansive course of the regional theater movement, A.C.T. opened its first San theater study for adults; and the Professional Development Francisco season in 1967. We have since performed more than Training Program, which offers actor training for companies 350 productions to a combined audience of more than seven seeking to elevate their employees’ business performance skills. million people. Every year we reach more than 250,000 people Our alumni often grace our mainstage and perform around the through our productions and programs. Bay Area, as well as on stages and screens across the country.

Rising from the wreckage of the earthquake and fire of 1906 A.C.T. also brings the benefits of theater-based arts education and hailed as the “perfect playhouse,” the beautiful, historic to more than 12,000 Bay Area students and educators each Geary Theater has been our home since the beginning. When year. Central to our ACTsmart education programs, run by the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake ripped the roof apart, San Director of Education & Community Programs Elizabeth Franciscans rallied together to raise a record-breaking $30 Brodersen, is the longstanding Student Matinee (SMAT) million to rebuild the theater. The Geary reopened in 1996 with program, which has brought hundreds of thousands of young a production of The Tempest directed by Perloff, who took over people to A.C.T. performances since 1968. We also provide in 1992 after the retirement of A.C.T.’s second artistic director, touring Will on Wheels Shakespeare productions, teaching- gentleman artist Ed Hastings. artist residencies, in-school workshops, and study materials to Bay Area schools and community-based organizations. Perloff’s 24-season tenure has been marked by groundbreaking productions of classical works and new translations creatively With our increased presence in the Central Market neighborhood colliding with exceptional contemporary theater; cross- marked by the renovation of The Strand Theater and the disciplinary performances and international collaborations; opening of The Costume Shop Theater, A.C.T. plays a leadership and theater made by, for, and about the Bay Area. Her fierce role in securing the future of theater for San Francisco and commitment to audience engagement ushered in a new era the nation. of InterACT events and dramaturgical publications, inviting everyone to explore what goes on behind the scenes.

American Conservatory Theater Board of Trustees (As of April 2017) The Board of Directors of the M.F.A. Program Nancy Livingston Ray Apple Carey Perloff Joan Danforth CHAIR Lesley Ann Clement Robina Riccitiello Dagmar Dolby Abby Sadin Schnair Kirke M. Hasson Richard T. Davis-Lowell Dan Rosenbaum William Draper III CHAIR PRESIDENT Jerome L. Dodson Sally Rosenblatt John Goldman Michael G. Dovey Abby Sadin Schnair Kaatri Grigg Sara Barnes Celeste Ford VICE CHAIR Olympia Dukakis Jeff Spears James Haire Carlotta Dathe Sarah M. Earley Robert Tandler Kent Harvey Frannie Fleishhacker Priscilla Geeslin Frannie Fleishhacker Patrick S. Thompson Sue Yung Li Arnie Glassberg VICE CHAIR Ken Fulk Joaquin Torres Christine Mattison Christopher Hollenbeck David Riemer Dianne Hoge Jeff Ubben Joan McGrath Luba Kipnis VICE CHAIR Jo S. Hurley Adriana Lopez Vermut Deedee McMurtry Linda Kurtz Steven L. Swig Jeri Lynn Johnson Susy Wadsworth Mary S. Metz Jennifer Lindsay VICE CHAIR Alan Jones Nola Yee Toni Rembe Toni Miller Linda Jo Fitz James H. Levy Kay Yun Rusty Rueff Toni Rembe TREASURER Heather Stallings Little Cherie Sorokin Sally Rosenblatt Janet V. Lustgarten EMERITUS Alan L. Stein Anne Shonk Daniel E. Cohn SECRETARY Jeffrey S. Minick ADVISORY BOARD Barry Lawson Williams Melissa Smith Michael P. Nguyen Barbara Bass Bakar Carlie Wilmans Alan L. Stein Alan L. Stein Martim Oliveira Rena Bransten Patrick S. Thompson CHAIR EMERITUS Peter Pastreich Jack Cortis

American Conservatory Theater was founded in 1965 by William Ball. Edward Hastings, Artistic Director 1986–92

415.749.2228 5

COURTESY OF T. CHARLES ERICKSON OF T. COURTESY PHOTO OF JOHN DOUGLAS THOMPSON THOMPSON OF JOHN DOUGLAS PHOTO

A.C.T. depends on support from friends like you.

Help us thrive for another 50 years. DONATE TODAY!

Visit act-sf.org/support to give online or call Stephanie Swide at 415.439.2353.

Starting July 1, 2017, many of A.C.T. INVITES YOU our membership levels will TO JOIN OR RENEW YOUR DONOR change, enabling all parts of our organization to continue to thrive. MEMBERSHIP BEFORE OUR BENEFIT LEVELS INCREASE! JOIN OR RENEW BY JUNE 30!

TO LEARN MORE about our benefits, visit act-sf.org/memberships. DON’T JUST SIT THERE . . .

At A.C.T.’s free InterACT events, you can mingle with cast members, join interactive workshops with theater artists, and meet fellow theatergoers at hosted celebrations in our lounges. Join us for A Night with Janis Joplin and InterACT with us!

A NIGHT WITH JANIS JOPLIN AT THE GEARY THEATER

BIKE TO THE THEATER NIGHT June 7, 7 PM Ride your bike to A.C.T. and take advantage of secure bike parking and low-priced tickets at our preshow mixer, presented in partnership with the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition.

KDFC PROLOGUE June 13, 5:30 PM Go deeper with a fascinating preshow discussion with a member of the Night with Janis Joplin artistic team.

Janis Joplin THEATER ON THE COUCH* performing on the June 16, 8 PM television program Take part in a lively conversation in our Music Scene. lower-level lounge with Dr. Mason Turner, chief of psychiatry at Kaiser Permanente WHAT’S INSIDE San Francisco Medical Center. AUDIENCE EXCHANGE* ABOUT THE PLAY INSIDE A.C.T. June 20, 7 PM; June 25 & 28, 2 PM Join us for an exciting Q&A 11 LETTER FROM THE 32 A LASTING LEGACY with the cast following the show. ARTISTIC DIRECTOR Life after the A.C.T. OUT WITH A.C.T.* By Carey Perloff Master of Fine Arts Program June 21, 8 PM By Elspeth Sweatman 14 LIVING IN THE NOW Mix and mingle at this hosted postshow LGBT party. The Life of Janis Joplin 34 RAISING ARTISTS By Shannon Stockwell An Interview with Ida B. Wells High WENTE VINEYARDS WINE SERIES June 27, 7 PM School Student Chassity Gannt 16 “SHE SHOWED ME THE AIR AND Meet fellow theatergoers at TAUGHT ME HOW TO FILL IT” By Stephanie Wilborn this hosted wine-tasting event. The Women Who Influenced Janis Joplin 36 A NATURAL PRINCE PLAYTIME By Allie Moss A Sneak Peek at Shakespeare’s Hamlet July 1, 12:30 PM Get hands-on with theater at this By Elspeth Sweatman 18 THE HEIGHT OF THE HAIGHT interactive preshow workshop. The Counterculture of the 1960s in San Francisco To learn more and order tickets for InterACT events, By Shannon Stockwell visit act-sf.org/interact.

EDITOR CONTRIBUTORS *Events take place immediately SIMON HODGSON ALLIE MOSS following the performance CAREY PERLOFF ASSOCIATE EDITOR ELSPETH SWEATMAN SHANNON STOCKWELL STEPHANIE WILBORN

CONNECT! VOLUNTEER! LISTEN!

A.C.T. volunteers provide an invaluable service Check out A.C.T.’s new podcast, Theaterology, with their time, enthusiasm, and love of theater. and listen to InterACT events online! Opportunities include helping out in our VISIT: performing-arts library and ushering in our theaters. ACT-SF.ORG/PODCASTS FOR MORE INFORMATION: COVER: ARTWORK BY ADAM LARSON ACT-SF.ORG/VOLUNTEER

415.749.2228 7 JOHN DOUGLAS THOMPSON STARS AS THE PRINCE OF DENMARK 17 18 SEASON VITAL, BRAVE, AND IMAGINATIVE STORYTELLING SUBSCRIBE TODAY! VISIT ACT-SF.ORG/JOIN. SEP 20–OCT 15 THE GEARY THEATER

A SASSY, FREEWHEELING ROAD TRIP THE ELECTRIC BROADWAY HIT FROM TONY BACKED BY MOTOWN RHYTHMS AWARD–WINNING PLAYWRIGHT SIMON STEPHENS

HEISEN BERG

FEB 21–APR 22 MAR 14–APR 8 THE STRAND THEATER THE GEARY THEATER A WICKEDLY SHARP NEW COMEDY THE MYSTERIOUS PINTER CLASSIC ABOUT A NOT-SO-SILENT RETREAT FEATURING A.C.T. FAVORITES

THE BIRTHDAY PARTY OCT 11–DEC 10 JAN 10–FEB 4 THE STRAND THEATER THE GEARY THEATER

PULITZER PRIZE WINNER SUZAN-LORI PARKS A WORLD-PREMIERE MUSICAL OF LOVE AND LONGING, CRAFTS AN EPIC AMERICAN ODYSSEY REVOLUTION AND ROCK ’N’ ROLL

APR 25–MAY 20 JUN 5–JUL 1 THE GEARY THEATER THE GEARY THEATER PROFESSIONAL presence DEVELOPMENT TRAINING AT Acting Training for Business Performance

CLIENTS INCLUDE: collaboration innovation

LEARN MORE leadership Visit act-sf.org/growth or contact Program Director Dan Kolodny at [email protected]. PHOTOS BY STEFAN COHEN STEFAN BY PHOTOS

PALLER

Michael Paller joined A.C.T. as resident dramaturg and A five-act play director of humanities in 2005. He also teaches in its M.F.A. A five-act play Program in acting. He began his professional career as DISCOVER THE INSIDE literary manager at Center Repertory Theatre in Cleveland, 50 50 years of A.C.T. and worked as a play reader and script consultant for STORY OF A.C.T.— Manhattan Theatre Club and the National Playwrights The inside story of the acclaimed American Conference at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center. years Conservatory Theater—as dramatic as anything He has been a dramaturg for George Street Playhouse, A AS DRAMATIC AS it has put on stage. Berkshire Theatre Group, Barrington Stage Company, Long Wharf Theatre, Roundabout Theatre Company, of The Tony Award–winning American Conservatory and others. Paller is the author of Gentlemen Callers: ANYTHINGTheater is unique among America’s IT leading HAS PUT Tennessee Williams, Homosexuality, and Mid-Twentieth- theaters in inextricably linking training and Century Drama and Williams in an Hour. Before his arrival performance. Renowned for its rich variety of at A.C.T., he taught at Columbia University and the A.C.T. ON STAGE. five- programming, A.C.T. has for fi fty years presented State University of New York at Purchase. plays it commissioned, new American translations of great dramatic works, and outstanding American theater of all genres. It also off ers a Master of Fine Arts degree in acting and has taught many accomplished actors, including act AAnnette Five-Act Bening, Benjamin Bratt, Play Nicolas Cage,is a behind-the- Darren Criss, Harry Hamlin, Anika Noni Rose, Anna Deavere Smith, and Denzel Washington.

scenesFounded in Pittsburgh look in 1965 by at William this Ball, extraordinary A.C.T. established its reputation as America’s company.most audacious and ambitious Rich regional theaterwith anecdotes 50 years of A.C.T. play when it settled in San Francisco in 1967. That bold tradition and expansion of its vision has continued andunder the illustrated leadership of Edward Hastings with and hundreds of MICHAEL PALLER Carey Perloff . photographs, the book celebrates 50 years of commitment to the highest standards of live storytelling and to the artists of the future.

ORDER YOUR COPY TODAY! A Five-Act Play by Michael Paller is a backstage Jacket photography Kevin Berne and onstage look at this extraordinary company. Jacket design by Public www.act-sf.org/fiveactplayRich with anecdotes and illustrated with hundreds of photographs, the book celebrates fi fty years Manufactured in the United States of America of commitment to the highest standards of live www.chroniclebooks.com/custom $50.00 U.S. storytelling and the artists of the future. FROM THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Dear Friends,

Sometimes in order to move forward, it’s refreshing and of memories and a love of the spoken word. As we wrote on invigorating to look back. This summer is a particularly fertile the story wall, listened to Young Conservatory students sing in moment to do so, as we contemplate 50 years since the Summer The Garret, and watched M.F.A. Program actors perform in the of Love. For so long, the idealism of the Haight-Ashbury heyday hallways, we imagined future generations gathering in the same seemed almost quaint, but now that we find ourselves in a beautiful space to keep storytelling alive. I was reminded of the renewed period of activism, anxiety, and aspiration, the passion fact that the “conserve” in “Conservatory” originally meant the of the summer of 1967 feels immediate and inspiring. We wanted desire to hold on to our great theatrical past at the same time A.C.T. to help spearhead the commemorative celebrations as we reinvented the art form for the present and future. The happening across the city, and what better way to do so than awareness of on whose shoulders we stand gives us momentum with the explosive music of Janis Joplin? A Night with Janis and courage as we forge ahead against all odds. At a time Joplin highlights not only the artist herself but the iconic singers when cultural funding is threatened and government support who inspired her and drove her forward. is eroding, remembering the ambition and idealism of the early regional theater movement is valuable and necessary. So I salute It’s hard to believe that A.C.T.’s history coincides almost exactly all of you who have been part of this great adventure, and I urge with that of Joplin and her fellow musicians of the ’60s, but you to unleash your inner hippie and revel in the music of ’60s when William Ball and his troupe arrived in San Francisco in America as we remember the Summer of Love. May its spirit January 1967, all eyes were on California, watching its citizens infect us in all the right ways! remake social history. In the early days of A.C.T., the effects of the counterculture movement were everywhere, from the That spirit of the ’60s is equally present in A Walk on the Moon, Meditation Room to the mysterious health brew served out of a a world-premiere musical based on a beloved film—one of our closet behind Ball’s office. As we’ve delved into A.C.T.’s history, final two shows announced for the 2017–18 season. In July 1969, we have been struck again and again by the determination of as Neil Armstrong prepares to make his famous moon walk, one our founders to make a difference, free themselves from the family at a Jewish resort in the Catskills is torn between love and bottom line, and create meaning, beauty, and resonance for an longing, duty and adventure. Featuring a glorious guitar score entire community. Company members in the early days stayed by Paul Scott Goodman, this complex character study captures up all night performing, training, and interrogating the art form an America restless for change, in which the biggest dream is to as if there was no tomorrow. Eventually things settled down into pack up the bus and drive to California. a more predictable routine, but the match had been lit and we still feel the flame. And coming to The Geary next spring is the quirky and original Heisenberg (starring the beloved James Carpenter), in which I have found the yearlong celebration of A.C.T.’s 50th anniversary playwright Simon Stephens explores one of the great mysteries to be extremely moving. Theater is such a transient art form, of human life: what draws two people together. Two radically and it is often hard to accept that with every closing night, a different human beings—an anxious and loquacious woman production disappears, we fear, never to be remembered again. from New Jersey and a laconic Irish butcher—circle around each But during the course of our birthday party in March, in which other in a fascinating and intriguing dance. we opened The Geary to all our friends to reminisce with us and contemplate the future, I realized that we were less alone than As I write this, I am deeply immersed in Hamlet, one of the we felt. The work that has happened in this magical building has greatest plays in the English language, as I prepare our opening not been forgotten. Actors returning to The Geary for the first production of the 2017–18 season. It will star the incomparable time in decades encountered audience members who were still classical actor John Douglas Thompson, who will be joined by devoted to their work. As we read Under Milk Wood and listened A.C.T. favorites Carl Lumbly, Domenique Lozano, Anthony Fusco, to Dylan Thomas’s mesmerizing poetry flood the Geary stage and many more in this major exploration of Shakespeare’s just as it had in 1967, we felt connected to one another in a net masterpiece. We look forward to sharing this and many other exciting productions with you next season, and we wish you a splendid summer in the meantime.

All my best,

Carey Perloff Artistic Director 11 MUSICAL NUMBERS

ACT ONE COMBINATION OF THE TWO JOPLINAIRES AND THE BAND TELL MAMA JANIS JOPLIN, ETTA JAMES, AND THE JOPLINAIRES MY BABY JANIS JOPLIN AND THE BAND MAYBE THE CHANTELS SUMMERTIME BLUES WOMAN SUMMERTIME JANIS JOPLIN TURTLE BLUES JANIS JOPLIN DOWN ON ME ODETTA DOWN ON ME JANIS JOPLIN PIECE OF MY HEART JANIS JOPLIN AND THE JOPLINAIRES TODAY I SING THE BLUES BLUES SINGER NOBODY KNOWS YOU WHEN YOU’RE DOWN AND OUT BESSIE SMITH SPIRIT IN THE DARK ARETHA FRANKLIN, JANIS JOPLIN, AND THE JOPLINAIRES

ACT TWO ENTR’ACTE/RAISE YOUR HAND THE BAND TRY (JUST A LITTLE BIT HARDER) JANIS JOPLIN AND THE BAND MAYBE JANIS JOPLIN AND THE BAND LITTLE GIRL BLUE NINA SIMONE AND JANIS JOPLIN CRY BABY JANIS JOPLIN KOZMIC BLUES/I SHALL BE RELEASED BLUES SINGER, NINA SIMONE, BESSIE SMITH, AND ETTA JAMES ME AND BOBBY MCGEE JANIS JOPLIN I’M GONNA ROCK MY WAY TO HEAVEN JANIS JOPLIN AND THE BAND BALL AND CHAIN JANIS JOPLIN KOZMIC BLUES JANIS JOPLIN STAY WITH ME JANIS JOPLIN AND THE JOPLINAIRES I’M GONNA ROCK MY WAY TO HEAVEN JANIS JOPLIN, THE JOPLINAIRES, AND THE BAND MERCEDES BENZ JANIS JOPLIN

THE BAND TODD OLSON KEYBOARDS MICHAEL LENT GUITAR 1 MIKE SMITH GUITAR 2 AIDEN MOORE BASS DAVID ROKEACH DRUMS ALEX MURZYN SAXOPHONE JOHN TROMBETTA TRUMPET DEREK JAMES TROMBONE KEVIN PORTER MUSIC CONTRACTOR

12 ACT-SF.ORG CAREY PERLOFF, Artistic Director PETER PASTREICH, Executive Director PRESENTS

CREATED, WRITTEN, AND DIRECTED BY RANDY JOHNSON

A NIGHT WITH JANIS JOPLIN IS PRESENTED IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE ESTATE OF JANIS JOPLIN AND JEFFREY JAMPOL OF JAM, INC.

CREATIVE TEAM CAST CHOREOGRAPHER PATRICIA WILCOX JANIS JOPLIN KACEE CLANTON ORCHESTRATIONS LEN RHODES JOPLINAIRE, SHARON MUSIC DIRECTOR TODD OLSON BLUES SINGER, CHANTEL CATHERINE BROWN SCENIC DESIGNER ROB BISSINGER JOPLINAIRE, ARETHA COSTUME DESIGNER AMY CLARK FRANKLIN, NINA SIMONE, BLUES WOMAN, CHANTEL ASHLEY TÁMAR DAVIS LIGHTING DESIGNERS MIKE BALDASSARI AND GERTJAN HOUBEN JOPLINAIRE, SOUND DESIGNER BEN SELKE ETTA JAMES, CHANTEL TAWNY DOLLEY PROJECTION DESIGNER DARREL MALONEY JOPLINAIRE, ODETTA, WIG DESIGNER LEAH LOUKAS BESSIE SMITH, CHANTEL SYLVIA MACCALLA ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR TYLER RHODES JANIS JOPLIN ALTERNATE KELLY MCINTYRE DANCE SUPERVISOR JONATHAN WARREN MATINEE: JUNE 10, 17, 18, 21, 24, 28; JULY 1. EVENING: JUN 8, 15, 22, 29

STAGE MANAGEMENT STAGE MANAGER HETHYR (RED) VERHOEF THIS PRODUCTION MADE POSSIBLE BY ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER ELISA GUTHERTZ EXECUTIVE PRODUCER STAGE MANAGEMENT NOLA YEE FELLOW JOELLE HAGEN PRODUCER MERRILL RANDOL SHERWIN

ORIGINAL BROADWAY PRODUCERS ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS Daniel Chilewich/Todd Gershwin/Michael Cohl, Jeffrey Jampol, BARB AND GARY ERICKSON Red Tail Entertainment, Stephen Tenenbaum, Michael J. Moritz Jr./ CHRISTINE AND STAN MATTISON HELEN M. MARCUS AND DAVID J. WILLIAMSON Brunish & Trinchero, Richard Winkler, Ginger Productions, Bill Hamm, MILTON MOSK AND THOMAS FOUTCH Claudio Loureiro, Keith Mardak, Ragovoy Entertainment, TIM MOTT AND PEGAN BROOKE Rob & Laurie Wolfe/Neil Kahanovitz, Jerry Rosenberg/Al Michaels, ROBINA RICCITIELLO Mike Stoller & Corky Hale Stoller, Darren P. DeVerna, Susan DuBow, RICK AND CINDY SIMONS LEE AND CAROLYN SNOWBERG Tanya Grubich, Jeremiah H. Harris, and Herb Spivak.

Produced in 2012 by Cleveland Play House, SPONSORED BY Michael Bloom, Artistic Director/Kevin Moore, Managing Director Produced in 2012 by Arena Stage, Molly Smith, Artistic Director/Edgar Dobie, Executive Director All actors and stage managers employed in this production are The 2011 world premiere of One Night with Janis Joplin was members of Actors’ Equity Association, the union of professional produced and performed at Portland Center Stage, OR. actors and stage managers in the United States

415.749.2228 13 ABOUT THE PLAY PHOTO COURTESY OF ALBERT B. GROSSMAN MANAGEMENT

LIVING IN THE NOW THE LIFE OF JANIS JOPLIN BY SHANNON STOCKWELL

14 ACT-SF.ORG Janis Joplin was born in 1943 and grew up in Port Arthur, Big Brother’s unique fusion of psychedelic rock with the blues Texas. The eldest of three children, she had a relatively happy formed a major part of the soundtrack to the Summer of Love in childhood; she was bright and energetic but had a stubborn 1967. Hippies loved Joplin’s raw, earthy sound and her energetic streak. By high school, it was clear that Joplin wasn’t like the performances in which she seemed to sing with her whole pretty, popular girls. She had terrible acne, was overweight, and body. Her wildness onstage worked well with Haight-Ashbury’s hit puberty late. This troubled her, but then she started painting mission to be free of inhibitions. By the time Big Brother sets for a theater club at her school (always an artist, she was performed at the Monterey International Pop Festival in June then more interested in visual art than in performance). The 1967, she was a household name in the Haight. After the festival, members of the theater club became Joplin’s friends, and they she was famous nationwide. introduced her to beat literature—works by authors such as Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac about authenticity, personal Throughout her career with Big Brother and the Holding freedom, and the rejection of cultural norms. Beatnik culture Company, people kept telling Joplin that she was better than gave Joplin the strength to reject mainstream ideals of beauty the rest of the band, and she should create her own group that and embrace her differences. would truly suit her voice and style. In late 1968, she took their advice and left the band. After high school, Joplin was in and out of colleges until she wound up at the University of Texas at Austin. During her years Joplin’s new act, the Kozmic Blues Band, didn’t receive rave at UT Austin, her personality became well-known on campus, reviews at first, but her performance at the Woodstock Music & and with good reason. She used the word “fuck” liberally, a Arts Fair in 1969 was a massive success. Despite her fame, she word anathema to most women at the time. She had a unique was still battling an addiction to heroin. She managed to detox sense of fashion, wearing oversized men’s button-down shirts from the drug while on vacation in early 1970 and stayed clean and an inside-out World War II bomber jacket. And when people throughout a nationwide tour that summer. But when she catcalled her, she yelled back. But despite the bravado, she returned to the recording studio in Los Angeles she started harbored deep insecurities. In a college contest for the using again. On the evening of October 4, 1970, she was found “Ugliest Man on Campus,” two frat boys jokingly nominated dead of a drug overdose in her Hollywood hotel room. her. Whether she won is unclear, but the whole ordeal was very hurtful to Joplin. Today, Joplin is remembered partly as a cautionary tale about the dangers of the rock and roll lifestyle, but her legacy is so Joplin entered UT Austin intending to study painting, but much more than that. She paved the way for female singers instead she fell in love with the adrenaline-inducing performing to break down barriers of sexism. She was an example of how arts. With its vibrant music scene, Austin was the perfect place music could be a full-body performance. During her life, she was for her to start performing. Her guttural, full-bodied vocal style warned by many people that she needed to slow down lest her was influenced by the African American blues singers she habits take a toll on her health, but she was undaunted. “Maybe listened to growing up. She learned guitar so she wouldn’t have I won’t last as long as other singers,” she said, “but I think you to split her earnings with an accompanist. can destroy your now worrying about tomorrow.”

In 1962, a San Francisco music promoter named Chet Helms passed through Austin. He heard Joplin perform and encouraged her to come to California. The pair hitchhiked their way and arrived in San Francisco 50 hours later. The two formed a close friendship that would later make her career.

In San Francisco, Joplin played music in the many cafés in North Beach, her favorite being the Coffee Gallery, located on Grant Avenue. Slowly, she started to gain fans—one apartment- owning couple liked her music so much that they let her stay in Want to know more about A Night their basement rent-free. However, after spending a year in San with Janis Joplin? Words on Plays Francisco, she developed an addiction to methamphetamines. is full of original essays and interviews that give you a When she finally kicked the habit in 1965, she returned home to behind-the-scenes look at A Night with Janis Joplin— Port Arthur. But she couldn’t stay away from music for long, and perfect for reading before the play, during intermission, at Helms’s suggestion, she went back to San Francisco in early or when you get home! Proceeds from sales of Words on 1966 to join a band called Big Brother and the Holding Company. Plays benefit A.C.T.’s education programs.

AVAILABLE IN THE BOX OFFICE AND LOBBY, AT THE BARS, AND ONLINE AT ACT-SF.ORG/WORDSONPLAYS.

415.749.2228 15 ABOUT THE PLAY

“SHE SHOWED ME THE AIR AND TAUGHT ME HOW TO FILL IT” THE WOMEN WHO INFLUENCED JANIS JOPLIN BY ALLIE MOSS PHOTO BY CARL VECHTEN VAN

By the end of the 1960s, Janis Joplin BESSIE SMITH (1894–1937) was one of the hottest artists in As a teenager in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Smith sang for nickels on street America, a headliner at festivals corners. Her talent earned her a spot as a dancer and singer with Moses from Monterey on the West Coast to Stokes’s Traveling Show, where she was mentored by blues legend Ma Rainey. In Woodstock in the East. But though 1923, she moved to Philadelphia and signed with Columbia Records, releasing she blazed her own trail, her path the hit “Downhearted Blues.” Touring extensively, she worked with legends to rock and roll success was laid by including saxophonist Sidney Bechet and trumpeter Louis Armstrong. By 1930, several remarkable female artists. A she was America’s highest paid black performer, nicknamed the Empress of Night with Janis Joplin celebrates the Blues. But amid the challenges of the Great Depression in 1929, Smith’s the five iconic singers whose artistry, marriage broke down, and she left Columbia Records in 1931. She was killed in heart, and soul inspired a legend. a car crash in 1937. Her throaty voice, knack for improvisation, and unexpected rhythms influenced singers like Billie Holiday and Aretha Franklin. Another admirer, Janis Joplin, later paid for a headstone for Smith’s unmarked grave.

ODETTA (1930–2008) At Odetta Holmes’s elementary school in Los Angeles, a teacher recognized the potential in her deep, rich voice, and encouraged her parents to enroll her in singing lessons. Even after Odetta got a job as a maid, she took classes in classical music at Los Angeles City College. Winning a spot with a touring production of Finian’s Rainbow in 1949, she discovered folk music in San Francisco, started performing in clubs, and gained a following. In the 1950s, her career took off: she signed a deal with Fantasy Records, appeared on Harry Belafonte’s television special, and released the albums Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues in 1956 and At the Gate of Horn in 1957. In the ’60s, her work took on a tone of political protest; she marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and cut tracks including “I’m On My Way” and “Oh, Freedom.” Although her folk-based musical style fell out of fashion, she continued to use music

PHOTO BY JAC DE NIJS for activism and campaigned for presidential candidate Barack Obama in 2008.

16 ACT-SF.ORG PHOTO BY RON KROON RON BY PHOTO PHOTO RECORDINGS LEGACY PHOTO RECORDS ATLANTIC

NINA SIMONE (1933–2003) ETTA JAMES (1938–2012) ARETHA FRANKLIN (BORN 1942) Born in Tryon, North Carolina, Eunice Born in Los Angeles and raised in San Raised by her pastor/gospel singer Waymon began playing the piano at age Francisco, James was a rebellious teen father, Franklin grew up in Detroit, three—her mother hoped she’d become who caught a break when her after- where she started recording as a the first world-renowned black classical school trio auditioned for bandleader teenager. At the age of 14, she went pianist. In search of this dream, she Johnny Otis. After forging her mother’s on tour with her father and rubbed enrolled in Juilliard in 1950, but she was signature on a document alleging she elbows with gospel luminaries Clara forced to make ends meet by playing in was 18, the 16-year-old James headed Ward, James Cleveland, and Sam Cooke. New York jazz clubs. She never intended to LA and the recording studio with In 1960, she moved to New York and to sing professionally, but the bars that Otis. The resulting single, “Wallflower,” signed her first contract with Columbia employed her insisted that she couldn’t rose to the number one spot on the Records. Franklin was prolific, releasing just play piano. By 1954, she was R & B charts almost immediately. ten albums in the first six years of making a living under the name Nina Afterwards, James went on tour with her professional career. But it wasn’t Simone (so that her mother wouldn’t Ike and Tina Turner, Otis, and Little until she switched labels to Atlantic find out). Five years later, Simone was Richard, all of whom encouraged not Records that she struck gold with hits a star, booking gigs at top-tier concert only her artistry but also her drinking such as “Respect,” “Chain of Fools,” venues, the Newport Festival, and The and drug use. Despite her rough and “Since You’ve Been Gone.” With a Ed Sullivan Show. She was not afraid speaking voice, James sang with a fresh sound that blended gospel, pop, to challenge audiences, both with her rich, brassy tone that ranged from R & B, and soul, Franklin became one voice (spanning rasping high notes to delicate high notes to thundering low of the country’s best-selling artists, gravelly low tones) and her civil rights– ones. Her distinctive vocals would winning eight consecutive Grammy inspired material; her song “Mississippi influence Tina Turner, Gladys Knight, Awards and earning the nickname the Goddam” was written in reaction to the and Janis Joplin. Despite struggling Queen of Soul. Building on her father’s 1963 murder of Medgar Evers and the with drug addiction for five decades, friendship with Dr. Martin Luther 16th Street Baptist Church bombing James continued to be successful King Jr., she was deeply involved in later that year. professionally, winning six Grammy the civil rights movement, and went Awards, earning induction into the on to sing at the inauguration of Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and releasing President Barack Obama in 2009. her last album, The Dreamer, in 2011.

415.749.2228 17 ABOUT THE PLAY PHOTO BY GENE ANTHONY BY PHOTO

white male artists and writers who rejected conformity, instead embracing authenticity and personal freedom. They congregated THE HEIGHT OF in North Beach in San Francisco.

The beats were only a small part of the broader ’50s culture, THE HAIGHT however. For most children growing up in that decade, fitting THE COUNTERCULTURE OF THE in and obeying authority were the major goals. After all, their 1960S IN SAN FRANCISCO parents had fought wars for them and, in doing so, tacitly promised them peace and justice. The children were expected BY SHANNON STOCKWELL to repay their elders with respect.

San Francisco has long had a reputation as a city that embraces But as the ’50s became the ’60s, these children grew into young radicals and mavericks, a characterization that dates all the way adults, and the world they saw on television was not a world of back to 1849 and the California gold rush. By the end of World peace. Instead, there were race riots and civil rights protests. War II, it was a thriving creative hotspot, home to a literary The president was assassinated. American combat troops were revolution that grew into the beat movement of the 1950s. sent to fight a war in the jungles of Vietnam. The youth of the nation decided that their parents had not kept their promises. The beat counterculture emerged from a dissatisfaction with Authority could no longer be trusted. It was time, they felt, for mainstream ’50s society. The beats were largely middle-class a revolution.

18 ACT-SF.ORG GOLDEN GATE PARK PALACE OF FINE ARTS AVALON BALLROOM Popular hang-out spot for The site of the famous picture of Big Brother and the hippies and the site of the Janis Joplin with her tie-dyed Porsche. Holding Company was 1967 Human Be-In. the house band here. THE FILLMORE AUDITORIUM HAIGHT-ASHBURY The other big concert venue in San THE GEARY THEATER Hippie central in the late ’60s. Francisco, aside from the Avalon. Became the home of A.C.T. in 1967. NORTH BEACH A beatnik hot spot in the ’50s and early ’60s. LAGUNITAS Rural Marin County town where Big Brother and the Holding Company lived for a time in the late ’60s. UC BERKELEY The Free Speech Movement began here in 1964. MONTEREY This town was the location of the Monterey International Pop Festival in 1967.

ABOVE A map of hippie hot spots in the Bay Area. OPPOSITE Crowd with flag at the Human Be-In, 1967. Collection of the California Historical Society. Featured in On the Road to the Summer of Love, on view at the California Historical Society through September 10, 2017.

More and more young people turned to the beats for direction. migrated from North Beach, where the rent was rising, to the For years now, these artists had been battling against authority, more affordable Haight-Ashbury. In 1965, the San Francisco and they seemed to have the right idea. So, asked the young Examiner published a series of articles about the burgeoning people, what was to be done? Haight-Ashbury community in which these young people were called “hippies” for the first time. The name stuck. By the mid-’60s, the beats had been turned on to a new drug: lysergic acid diethylamide (known as LSD or acid), which causes Haight-Ashbury entered the media spotlight in early 1967, users to experience intense feelings of love and connection, as largely because of January’s Human Be-In, a gathering that well as powerful hallucinations. The drug was legal then and attracted between 10,000 and 30,000 hippies to Golden Gate freely available. After tripping on acid, the beats confirmed that Park in a celebration of love and peace. The nation waited to yes, society was broken, but now their eyes had been opened to see what the hippies would do next. Knowing they had to top a different solution: the only way to fix it was through love the Be-In, community organizers announced a season-long and peace. event they called the Summer of Love and invited the youth of the nation to come to Haight-Ashbury after school let out. With acid in its system, the counterculture changed. The all- Neighborhood residents prepared to house and feed the sudden black beatnik clothing gave way to technicolor outfits, because influx of guests. they were more fun to look at while on LSD. Rock and roll was now a multimedia experience meant to mimic, reflect, and The summer kicked off with the Monterey International Pop complement the experience of an acid trip. Love and peace Festival. The rest of the season was one long celebration filled were the guiding principles of every action. This new culture with impromptu concerts, protests, and public performances.

415.749.2228 19 MAY 1960 || In the Bay Area, students protest JUNE 1967 || Big Brother and the Holding the execution of Caryl Chessman, who claimed he Company play at the Monterey International Pop was innocent of the kidnapping and rape charges Festival to great acclaim. of which he was convicted. A protest against the House Un-American Activities Committee turns into a riot as police turn fire hoses on demonstrators. SUMMER 1967 || The Summer of Love draws an estimated 100,000 young people to Haight-Ashbury. AUGUST 1963 || Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his “I Have a Dream” speech to crowds in Washington, DC, in support of civil rights and APRIL 1968 || Martin Luther King Jr. racial equality. is assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee.

NOVEMBER 1963 || President John F. Kennedy AUGUST 1968 || Cheap Thrills, Big Brother is assassinated in Dallas, Texas. and the Holding Company’s first complete album featuring Joplin as the lead singer, is released.

JULY 1964 || The Civil Rights Act is signed. NOVEMBER 1968 || Richard Nixon wins the presidency. OCTOBER 1964 || The Free Speech Movement forms at UC Berkeley against new rules banning distribution of political literature DECEMBER 1968 || Joplin leaves Big Brother on campus. and the Holding Company to form her own band.

MARCH 1965 || American combat troops arrive JULY 1969 || Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin in Vietnam. become the first people to walk on the moon.

JUNE 1966 || Janis Joplin joins Big Brother and AUGUST 1969 || The Woodstock Music & Arts the Holding Company as its lead singer. Fair draws almost 500,000 people to upstate New York in a celebration of hippie music and culture. Joplin performs. JANUARY 1967 || The Human Be-In takes place in Golden Gate Park. OCTOBER 1970 || Joplin is found dead in a hotel room in Hollywood, California.

New arrivals showed up all summer long, lured by the feeling The Summer of Love may have ended, but there was no that a revolution was underway and wanting desperately to be a stopping the cultural revolution from continuing elsewhere. The part of it. For a few months in 1967, notions of a free society events of 1967 in Haight-Ashbury brought hippiedom into the that may once have been dismissed as idealistic or romantic mainstream, leading to sexual liberation, increased awareness of seemed attainable. When the San Francisco City government environmental issues, and the abolishment of the military draft, declined to help manage the sudden population increase, the among many other things. Now, 50 years later, A.C.T. celebrates Haight-Ashbury community created its own social services, such and remembers that summer with the story of the woman as housing aid, legal assistance, and a free medical clinic that whose music formed the soundtrack to it all: Janis Joplin. remains in operation today.

By the end of the summer, however, the good feelings had soured. Curious people arrived who were interested in experimenting with drugs and sex but not in the hippies’ underlying message of love and peace. Cops cracked down on drug possession. Tourists rode buses through the neighborhood to gawk at the citizens as though they were animals in the zoo. The revolution was far from over, but it was time to move on from Haight-Ashbury.

20 ACT-SF.ORG PHOTO BY ALESSANDRA MELLO ALESSANDRA BY PHOTO

CARRIE BRANDEN AND BOBBY CONTE THORNTON, STARRING IN THE YOUNG CONSERVATORY’S 2011 PRODUCTION OF HOMEFRONT. BLACK BUTTERFLIES HOMEFRONT A COLLABORATIVE YOUTH ARTS PROJECT Book by Craig Slaight by Darren Canady Music and Lyrics by Creighton Irons Directed by Tyrone Davis Directed by Domenique Lozano

JUL 25–AUG 5 AUG 8–19

The Rueff at A.C.T.’s Strand Theater A.C.T.’s Strand Theater In 1917, three teenage immigrants escape World and Destiny Arts Theater, Oakland When you’re a young girl of color caught War I Germany to make a new home in Illinois. in a stifling web of educational neglect, They may have evaded the battlefield’s dangers, calcified courts, and an overwhelmed but as America joins the Allies in the war, the incarceration system, orange ain’t the new trio must now confront brutal anti-German black—it’s a trap. This exploration of the hostility in this compelling musical with powerful unique effects of what we problematically contemporary resonance. call “the school-to-prison pipeline” on girls To purchase tickets, act-sf.org/ycshows of color will reveal the community-wide or call 415.749.2228. collusion of parents, educators, and litigants that has led us here . . . and what it may Summer Session take to get us out. YC Summer Classes: JUNE 12–AUGUST 18 FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT ACT-SF.ORG/YC. WHO’S WHO IN A NIGHT WITH JANIS JOPLIN KACEE Georgina in Hallelujah, Baby!; sang the TAWNY CLANTON hits of Whitney Houston in Heart & Soul: DOLLEY (Janis Joplin) The Music of Whitney Houston, Dionne (Joplinaire, Etta appears for the first Warwick & Diana Ross; played Velma in James, Chantel) has time at A.C.T. On Regina Taylor’s Crowns; and was a entertained Broadway, she has featured lead in Smokey Joe’s Cafe. On audiences around performed in A Broadway, Brown has played Effie in the globe, sharing Night with Janis Dreamgirls, the Narrator in Joseph and the stage with Joplin (Lyceum Theatre). Regionally, she the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, musical artists Estelle, John Legend, has performed in Breaking Through and the “Seasons of Love” soloist in Solange, Rachel Platten, and legendary (The Pasadena Playhouse), A Night with Rent with Neil Patrick Harris (La Jolla band Vintage Trouble. She’s performed Janis Joplin (Alley Theatre, The 5th Playhouse). She was the first African background vocals on The Ellen Avenue Theatre, The Pasadena American to star as Lucy in Frank DeGeneres Show, The Late Late Show, Playhouse, ZACH Theatre, and San Jose Wildhorn’s Jekyll & Hyde. Brown played The Talk, The Late Show, and The Tonight Repertory Theatre), Love, Janis (San Etta Jones in HBO’s Introducing Dorothy Show. Dolley played Etta James in the Diego Repertory Theatre, Kansas City Dandridge with Halle Berry, and first national tour of A Night with Janis Repertory Theatre, and Downstairs appeared in the film Sister Act 2: Back in Joplin with Tony Award nominee Mary Cabaret Theatre), and Your Town Follies: the Habit with Whoopi Goldberg. On Bridget Davies and again at the Alley A Cirque Comique (El Portal Theatre). television, Brown has starred as Angela Theatre in Houston. Other theatrical Clanton has also gone on tour with Joe on A Different World, and made credits include Dreamgirls, Once on This Cocker, Luis Miguel, and Big Brother and appearances on Dr. Oz, The Ellen Island, Smokey Joe’s Cafe, Parade, Both, the Holding Company. Film and DeGeneres Show, The Meredith Vieira Fame, Big River, and For the Record: television appearances include Franklin Show, and Home & Family. She is also Tarantino. Dolley also stars in Vegas! The Fogerty: Kid Detective, Mobsters, The the host of the fashion/lifestyle web Show at Saxe Theater in Las Vegas and Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Live! With series The Love It! Show. tours with her band Vaud and The Regis and Kelly, Parkinson (UK), and Villains, where she is known as Trouble Soap Talk. Soundtrack credits include ASHLEY St. Clair. The Tooth Fairy, Kinsey, Brothers and TÁMAR DAVIS Sisters, Fox Sports, Cribs, Open House (Joplinaire/Aretha SYLVIA New York, 18 to Life, The Guiding Light, Franklin/Nina MACCALLA Star Search, Thirtysomething, Teen Simone/Blues (Joplinaire, Odetta, Digital, and The Saboteur. Voice-over Woman/Chantel), Bessie Smith, work includes “ZEN Foods,” “Tide,” known as the muse Chantel) is reprising “XL-3 Cold,” “HFC Beneficial,” “HSBC,” and protégé of the roles of Bessie “Tinypay.me,” “Big Blue World,” “Teen Prince, gained notoriety for co-writing Smith and Odetta in Digital,” and “Heavy Gear.” She is also a their Grammy Award–nominated duet, A Night With Janis private vocal and performance coach. “Beautiful, Loved and Blessed.” Joplin. Her other career highlights She was a teacher at Los Angeles A graduate of University of Southern include the Broadway hits Rent College of Music from 2008 to 2015. California’s Thornton School of Music, (Joanne), Hairspray (Motormouth Davis recently starred as Sarah Maybelle), the award-winning Ray SHARON Vaughan in Sarah Sings a Love Story Charles Live! (Raelett), Beehive, and CATHERINE (Crossroads Theatre Company). She Princess and the Black-Eyed Pea, to BROWN appeared on NBC’s The Voice, debuted name a few. She has shared the stage (Joplinaire, Blues in the first national tour of Motown: with such greats as Reba McEntire and Singer, Chantel) is a The Musical, and has performed in Brian Stokes Mitchell in South Pacific at New York City numerous Tyler Perry/Lionsgate the Hollywood Bowl, and Jason native. She is productions. A Houston native, Davis Alexander and Stephanie J. Block in reprising her role as has commercially released two They’re Playing Our Song. MacCalla has the Blues Singer in A Night with Janis independent albums, I Am the Storm backed up music industry stars such as Joplin, which she also played at The and My Name Is Tamar, via her Smokey Robinson, Brian McKnight, Pasadena Playhouse. She starred as company, Syren Music Group. Debbie Gibson, Wynonna Judd, Queen

All actors and stage managers employed in this production are members of Actors’ Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States

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FAMSF_SOL_ACT_4-21-17.indd 1 4/27/17 2:26 PM EAP full-page template.indd 1 5/5/17 4:21 PM Latifah, and Smash Mouth. MacCalla’s PATRICIA WILCOX television and film credits include The (Choreographer) choreographed Wayne Brady Show, The Ellen DeGeneres Motown the Musical (Astaire Award Show, The Tonight Show, Scrubs, and the and NAACP Image Award) and A Night TOP film Rent. She is an accomplished with Janis Joplin. For off Broadway/ songwriter, writing in all genres of music, national tours, she choreographed BILLING from country to jazz. Her recording group Little Shop of Horrors (Encores! with AT THE MORTIMER Livin Out Loud has enjoyed international New York City Center, starring Jake success for the past 13 years. Gyllenhaal), Children’s Letters to God, Come before or after your Bowfire (and the PBS television special), A.C.T. show and enjoy KELLY Blues in the Night (NAACP Image hand crafted cocktails and MCINTYRE Award nomination), and Seussical. Her delicious bites! (Janis Joplin selected regional credits include The Alternate) first joined Secret Garden (Denver Center for the A Night with Janis Performing Arts Theatre Company), A Show your Joplin for the first Swell Party (John F. Kennedy Center Show ticket and receive a national tour in 2016. for the Performing Arts), Bye Bye complimentary She went on to Birdie (Goodspeed Opera House), Peter headline two more productions of Janis and the Starcatcher (Pioneer Theatre CHEF’S at Capital Repertory Theatre and Barter Company), The Pirates of Penzance APPETIZER Theatre. Other credits include For Tonight (Kansas City Repertory Theatre), (Goodspeed Musicals Festival of New Smokey Joe’s Cafe and Aida (North with the purchase Musicals), Into the Sun (New York Musical Shore Music Theatre), Jesus Christ of one beverage. Theatre Festival), and Days of Rage and Superstar and Cabaret (Sacramento Ruth Maier (New York Theatre Barn). Music Circus), Hair and My Fair Lady McIntyre has sung in concerts and (Arizona Theatre Company), and readings all over New York in venues Guys and Dolls (Paper Mill Playhouse). such as Feinstein’s/54 Below, Joe’s Pub, Wilcox has created original works The Cutting Room, and Don’t Tell Mama. for the Houston Symphony, the Minneapolis Pops Orchestra, and RANDY JOHNSON (Creator, Writer, Phoenix Symphony; ice-skating gold at Hotel Adagio and Director) is a Broadway director medalists Viktor Petrenko, Ilia Kulik, 550 Geary Street, SF 94102 and published playwright. His work Ekaterina Gordeeva, and Miki Ando; 415-775-5000 includes the critically acclaimed and and ice-dancing teams for the 2006, 2014 Tony Award–nominated production 2010, and 2014 Winter Olympics. hoteladagiosf.com of A Night with Janis Joplin at the ONE BLOCK FROM THE GEARY THEATER Lyceum Theatre in New York. He was TODD OLSON (Music Director) also the original producer of Always first began entertaining at a young . . . Patsy Cline and the coproducer and age by holding concerts in the living assistant director for the West Coast room, garage, and backyard. Born into premiere of Larry Kramer’s The Normal a musical family, his parents recognized Heart, starring Academy Award winners his passion for music and the arts and Richard Dreyfuss and Kathy Bates. He nurtured it. Olson followed this dream co-authored and directed Mike Tyson: to New York City and received a BFA Undisputed Truth, as well as Elvis the from New York University’s Tisch School Concert at Radio City Music Hall. In his of the Arts. He has since performed on 30-year career, Johnson has worked countless stages across the country, with Carly Simon, Barbra Streisand, Liza most of which were significantly bigger Minnelli, Melissa Manchester, Audrey than the backyard. He has served as Hepburn, and Katharine Hepburn. His the music director for the national latest musical, Shout Sister Shout!, will tours of A Christmas Carol, produced have its world premiere in the summer by the Nebraska Theatre Caravan, and of 2017 at The Pasadena Playhouse. the 20th-anniversary tour of Smokey Joe’s Cafe, featuring The Coasters and

All actors and stage managers employed in this production are members of Actors’ Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States 24 ACT-SF.ORG In a complex market, there is no substitute for experience.

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SFA087 - ACT.indd 1 5/11/2017 3:46:03 PM EAP full-page template.indd 1 5/12/17 10:14 AM directed by Chet Walker. Alongside the entertainment industry and been Ted Sperling, Olson orchestrated seen live in more than 25 countries. Everything’s Coming Up Ethel: The Ethel Broadway highlights include Cabaret Merman Songbook for the 92nd Street Y (1998/2014), First Date, and Holler If Ya concert series. He previously performed Hear Me. He has designed more than A Night with Janis Joplin at Capital a dozen US national tours. Credits in Repertory Theatre and Barter Theatre. Europe include Beauty and the Beast in seven languages. Some of his many film ROB BISSINGER (Scenic Designer) designs include Ghostbusters (2016), has been designing for the theater and Nine, Rock of Ages, Joyful Noise, Sex live events for more than 20 years. His and the City 2, and Neil Young Trunk designs have been seen by millions of Show. Television highlights include The people worldwide, and he has received (RED) Concert/Broadcast from Times an Emmy Award nomination for his Square with U2 and Bruce Springsteen, work. He is a cofounder of ARDA Studio, U2’s Top of the Rock performance for Inc., which provides production design The Tonight Show, Documentary Now!, for large-scale international spectacles, pre-tapes for Saturday Night Live, and along with countless theatrical Late Night with Seth Meyers. He has presentations of all sizes, throughout also designed comedy specials for Dana the United States and abroad. Carvey, John Mulaney, and Bridget Everett. Televised concert highlights AMY CLARK (Costume Designer) include Mary J. Blige, Tim McGraw, Sam has designed for the Broadway Smith, and Garth Brooks in Central Park. productions of A Night with Janis Joplin and Chaplin (Drama Desk and Outer GERTJAN HOUBEN (Lighting Critics Circle award nominations). Off Designer) is a lighting designer whose Broadway, she has designed for Himself work has been seen all around the and Nora, Stupid Fucking Bird, Heathers: world. He grew up in the Netherlands, The Musical, Cagney, Unlock’d, Animals but his passion for lighting led him to Out of Paper, All This Intimacy, Jayson New York City. Other projects with with a Y, Dreams of the Washer King, Mike Baldassari include The Secret Apple Cove, and Dramatis Personae. Garden at The 5th Avenue Theatre in Other selected designs include Romy Seattle, the European tour of Beauty and Michele’s High School Reunion: The and the Beast, and the CBS Upfront Musical, Vocalosity, Ringling Bros. and Presentation. Besides working with Barnum & Bailey Circus presents Circus big-name designers, Houben can often XTREME (2015) and Legends (2014), and be found designing his own work in the On Your Toes at New York City Center theaters of New York and at Muhlenberg Encores! Clark has also worked at Geva College in Pennsylvania. Recent New Theatre Center, Cleveland Play House, York City credits include Crackskull Goodman Theatre, Alley Theatre, Alliance Row (Irish Repertory Theatre), Ideation Theatre, Hartford Stage Company, Asolo (San Francisco Playhouse at 59E59 Repertory Theatre, Paper Mill Playhouse, Theaters), In Bed with Roy Cohn Four floors Pittsburgh Public Theater, Bay Street (Theatre Row), and Stoopdreamer of fabulous fabrics Theater, Goodspeed Musicals, The Muny, (The Cell Theatre). Houben has a Actors Theatre of Louisville, Hartford’s BA from the Amsterdam Theater since 1952. TheaterWorks, Barrington Stage School and a MFA from New York Company, and Portland Stage Company. University’s Tisch School of the Arts She was awarded the 2012 Theatre Hall of department of Design for Stage & Film. Fame Emerging Artists fellowship. Clark has an MFA from New York University. BEN SELKE (Sound Designer) has been involved in theater productions MIKE BALDASSARI (Lighting in the UK and around the world. After Designer) is a Tony and two-time Emmy growing up in Hull, England, he now Award nominated lighting designer calls New York his home. Sound whose work has spanned much of design credits include A Night with

26 ACT-SF.ORG B:8.625” T:8.375” S:7.375” B:11.125” T:10.875” S:9.875”

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Job info Approvals Fonts & Images Job 40714 Art Director Fonts Client Sutter Health Copywriter Helvetica Neue LT Std (75 Bold, 45 Light), Media Type Magazine Account Mgr Helvetica Neue (Bold) Live 7.375” x 9.875” Studio Artist Trim 8.375” x 10.875” Proofreader Images Bleed 8.625” x 11.125” Pubs SF Ballet Notes Inks SF Encore Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black None Janis Joplin (The Pasadena Playhouse, in the Park series), and Heathers: The US tour), Let’s Kill Grandma This Musical, Bare: The Musical, Carrie: The Proud to Christmas (off Broadway), All Her Musical, Tribes, and Our Lady of Kibeho Faces: A Portrait of Dusty Springfield (Signature Theatre). Loukas has a BFA (off Broadway), Rock of Ages in theater design and production with Support (Norwegian Cruise Line), and Daniel a focus in makeup and wig design A.C.T. Tiger’s Neighborhood Live! (US tour). from the University of Cincinnati. DARREL MALONEY (Projection LEN RHODES (Original Music Design) has designed for broadcast, Arrangements) received diplomas concerts, film, and theater. In addition from the Royal Academy of Music to A Night with Janis Joplin, Broadway and London College of Music, with Personal attention credits include American Idiot, On continuing studies in composition at the Your Feet!, Allegiance, Everyday University of London. He is a fellow of thoughtful litigation Rapture, and The Illusionists. Off- the Incorporated Society of Musicians final resolution Broadway credits include Found (UK). Rhodes is artistic director of and

Our goal is to preserve our LAW FAMILY (Atlantic Theater Company; Drama artist-in-residence with Summit Music client’s dignity and humanity. Desk Award nomination), Checkers and Arts in Colorado. Compositions, (Vineyard Theatre, Drama Desk Award arrangements, and commissions nomination), Tappin’ Thru Life (Drama include work for BBC Radio, Trinity Desk Award nomination), Joan of Arc: College London, the John F. Kennedy FA M I LYLAW G R OUP, P. C . Into the Fire (The Public Theater), Pretty Center for the Performing Arts, and Filthy (The Civilians), Kung Fu, Golden the Virginia Shakespeare Festival. His 575 Market Street, Suite 4000 Child (Signature Theatre), The Village recent piano quintet arrangement San Francisco, CA 94105 415.834.1120 Bike, The Submission (Manhattan of “MacArthur Park” is available www.sflg.com Theatre Club), Bikeman: A 9/11 Play, worldwide through Music Sales Ltd. Kansas City Choir Boy (PROTOTYPE, and Hal Leonard Corporation. Rhodes American Repertory Theatre, Kirk is currently signed as a recording Douglas Theatre/Center Theatre artist with Burning Girl Records (UK). Group), and Karen O’s Stop the Virgens (St. Ann’s Warehouse, Sydney Opera HETHYR (RED) VERHOEF House). Other credits include designs (Stage Manager) brings A Night with for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Janis Joplin to A.C.T. after having toured and Surf (Planet Hollywood, Las Vegas). with the show regionally and nationally. His designs have also been seen at The Verhoef has worked as a stage manager Old Globe, the Ahmanson Theatre/ and flyman over the years and continues Center Theatre Group, Minnesota to be deeply invested in theater, art, and Opera, La Jolla Playhouse, the A.R.T., all the elements it takes to create it. Kansas City Repertory Theatre, and the 5th Avenue Theater. Maloney is ELISA GUTHERTZ (Assistant also the founder of the 13th Studios, Stage Manager) most recently worked a design and production company. on A Thousand Splendid Suns at A.C.T. and Theatre Calgary. Her numerous The Strand Theater, located on LEAH LOUKAS (Wig Designer) has other productions for A.C.T. include 7th and Market in San Francisco, designed for Sweat; Natasha, Pierre King Charles III, Chester Bailey, The offers a dynamic, versatile, and & the Great Comet of 1812; The Heidi Realistic Joneses, Monstress, Love intimate complex, including a 283- Chronicles; On the Town; A Night with and Information, Testament, Major seat theater, a 120-seat event and Janis Joplin; Vanya and Sonia and Barbara, Underneath the Lintel, Arcadia, performance space, a welcoming Masha and Spike; American Idiot; and The Normal Heart, The Scottsboro lobby, and a cafe that is open Irena’s Vow on Broadway. Off Broadway, Boys, Endgame and Play, Scorched, during the day. she has designed for Barbecue and Clybourne Park, The Caucasian Chalk Fortress of Solitude (The Public Circle, The Rainmaker, A Number, and Theater), Love’s Labour’s Lost and Into Eve Ensler’s The Good Body, among For more information, contact the Woods (The Public’s Shakespeare others. She has also stage-managed Amy Hand at [email protected] or call 415.439.2415. All actors and stage managers employed in this production are members of Actors’ Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States 28 ACT-SF.ORG Untitled-1 1 3/10/17 4:03 PM The Mystery of Irma Vep; Suddenly, written by Curtis Reginald Lewis. and Alvertis Isbell. Published by Last Summer; Rhinoceros; Big Love; Published by Bess Music (ASCAP). Used Cotillion Music Inc. (BMI) and Irving Civil Sex; Collected Stories; and Cloud with permission. “Combination of the Music (BMI). Used with permission. “Just Tectonics at Berkeley Repertory Two,” written by Sam Andrew. Published Try a Little Bit Harder,” written by Jerry Theatre. Other productions include by Cheap Thrills Music (ASCAP). Used Ragovoy and Chip Taylor. Published The Good Body at the Booth Theatre with permission. “I Shall Be Released,” by Unichappell Inc. (BMI). Used with on Broadway, Big Love at Brooklyn written by Bob Dylan. Published by permission. “Stay with Me,” written Academy of Music, and The Vagina Dwarf Music (ASCAP). Used with by Jerry Ragovoy and George David Monologues at the Alcazar Theatre. permission. “Tell Mama,” by Clarence Weiss. Published by Chappell & Co George Carter, Marcus Lewis Daniel, (ASCAP). Used with permission. “A JANIS JOPLIN That voice—high, and Wilbur Terrell. Published by EMI- Woman Left Lonely,” written by Spooner husky, earthy, explosive—remains Screen Gems Music (BMI). Used with Oldham and Dan Penn Music (BMI). among the most distinctive and permission. “Maybe,” by Richard Barrett. “Cry Baby,” written by Jerry Ragovoy galvanizing in pop history. But Janis Published by EMI Longitude Music (BMI). (aka Norman Meade) and Bert Berns. Joplin didn’t merely possess a great Used with permission. “Me and Bobby Published by Sloopy II Inc. (ASCAP), instrument; she threw herself into every McGee,” written by Fred L. Foster and EMI Music-Publishers (ASCAP), and syllable, testifying from the very core Kris Kristofferson. Published by Combine Sony/ATV Music Publishers (ASCAP). of her being. She claimed the blues, Music Corp (BMI) administered by EMI Used with permission. “Piece of My soul, gospel, country, and rock with Music Publishers. Used with permission. Heart,” written by Bert Berns and Jerry unquestionable authority and verve, “Little Girl Blue,” music by Richard Ragovoy, published by Sloopy II Inc. fearlessly inhabiting psychedelic guitar Rogers, lyrics by Lorenz Hart. This (ASCAP), Sony/ATV Music Publishers jams, back-porch roots, and everything section is used by special arrangement (ASCAP), and Warner/Chappell Music in between. Her volcanic performances with Rodgers & Hammerstein: an Publishers (ASCAP). “Spirit in the left audiences stunned and speechless, Imagem Company www.rnh.com. All Dark,” by Aretha Franklin. Published by while her sexual magnetism, world- rights reserved. “Kozmic Blues,” written Music (ASCAP). Used with permission. wise demeanor, and flamboyant by Janis Joplin and Gabriel Mekler. style shattered every stereotype Published by Strong Arm Music (ASCAP) NOLA YEE (Executive Producer) about female artists—and essentially and Universal Music Publishers (ASCAP). is a member of A.C.T.’s Board of invented the “rock mama” paradigm. Used with permission. All rights reserved. Trustees and was recently an executive But California drew her back into its “Turtle Blues,” written by Janis Joplin. producer for The Unfortunates, Love and glittering embrace in 1966, when she Published by Strong Arm Music (ASCAP). Information, and The Orphan of Zhao. joined the Haight-based psychedelic Used with permission. All rights reserved. Raised in Honolulu, Yee remembers rock band Big Brother and the Holding “Mercedes Benz,” written by Janis her first A.C.T. experience from the mid Company. Her adoption of a wild Joplin, Michael McClure, and Robert 1970s, when the company would tour sartorial style—with granny glasses, Neuwirth. Published by Strong Arm Hawaii in the summer. She holds a BA frizzed-out hair, and extravagant Music (ASCAP). Used with permission. in psychology and an MS in information attire that winked, hippie-style, at All rights reserved. “Summertime,” from management and systems from UC the burlesque era—further spiked her Porgy and Bess, words and music by Berkeley. She is currently a partner at burgeoning reputation. And from there, George Gershwin, DuBose, Dorothy NVC Holdings and is cofounder of the the rest is history. In the years since her Heyward, and Ira Gershwin. Copyright Pikake Foundation. She is a former passing, Janis Joplin’s recordings and 1935 (renewed), Nokawi Music (ASCAP)/ board member of many nonprofit filmed performances have cemented George Gershwin Music (ASCAP)/ organizations, including Hospice by the her status as an icon, inspiring countless Ira Gershwin Music (ASCAP)/Dubose Bay, Hospice of Marin, the Center for imitators and musical devotees. Myriad and Dorothy Heyward Memorial Fund Women and Religion of The Graduate hit collections, live anthologies, various (ASCAP). Raleigh Music Publishing, LLC. Theological Union in Berkeley, and the commercials, and a hit Broadway Administered in the US by Music Sales San Francisco Aloha Festival, as well as show have kept her legend alive. Corp. Used with permission. “I’m Going a current board member of NextCourse. to Rock My Way to Heaven,” written SPECIAL THANKS by Jerry Ragovoy and Jenny Dean. 4Wall Entertainment, Sound Associates Published by the Tune Room (ASCAP). Used with permission. “Nobody Knows MUSIC CREDITS “Ball and Chain,” You When You’re Down and Out,” by written by Willie Mae Thornton. James Cox. Published by Universal Published by Bro ’n Sis, Inc. (ASCAP) Music Publishers (ASCAP). Used with c/o Carlin America, Inc. Used with permission. “Raise Your Hand,” written permission. “Today I Sing the Blues,” by Stephen Lee Cropper, Eddie Floyd,

30 ACT-SF.ORG An evening at the theater is an inspiration. Living in San Francisco is a dream.

Let Frank Nolan’s knowledge of the market work for you. Let him inspire you in this magical city.

AMONG THE TOP 10 REALTORS IN SAN FRANCISCO FRANK NOLAN | 415.377.3726 [email protected] BRE#01300017

EAP full-page template.indd 1 4/27/17 9:25 AM INSIDE A.C.T. REBEKAH BROCKMAN (class of 2013) HAL BROOKS (class of 1993) is the PETER FRIEDRICH (class of 1994) has played Thomasina in A.C.T.’s 2013 artistic director of The Pearl Theatre performed in various tours and regional production of Arcadia. Since graduating, Company and the Cape Cod Theatre theater productions, including Lincoln she has performed with Actors Theatre Project, as well as the associate artistic Center Theater’s The Sisters Rosensweig of Louisville, California Shakespeare director of the Ojai Playwrights Conference. and San Diego Repertory Theatre’s A LASTING LEGACY Theater, and Kingsmen Shakespeare He has directed productions at some of Death of a Salesman. Since 2011, he LIFE AFTER THE A.C.T. MASTER OF FINE ARTS PROGRAM Company. Recently, she performed in the nation’s leading regional theaters, has taught for the Los Angeles Unified the world premiere of Mrs. Miller Does including The Public Theater, Second School District, the American University BY ELSPETH SWEATMAN Her Thing at Signature Theatre. Her film Stage Theater, Denver Center for the in Iraq, Stanford University, and New and television credits include Bridge of Performing Arts Theatre Company, and York University. He is a theater professor FOR NINE MONTHS of every year, A.C.T.’s offices at 30 Grant Avenue are abuzz with Master of Fine Arts Program actors. Their Spies, The Mysteries of Laura, Jessica Marin Theatre Company. He will direct at Millsaps College in Mississippi. energy flows into every corner; they can be heard drilling dance routines upstairs or memorizing lines in the lunchroom. But now, Jones, The Knick, and Divorce. Heisenberg in A.C.T.’s 2017–18 season. as spring moves into summer, the hallways and studios grow quiet. Another year of discovery is completed. Another class of artists “The professors at A.C.T. knew how to is launched into the world. As we say goodbye to the class of 2017, we caught up with some M.F.A. Program alumni who have gone on “The best part of having a theater “The A.C.T. M.F.A. Program took me to get you to trust yourself completely. to rewarding careers both on and off the stage. company attached to the A.C.T. M.F.A. a much deeper place as an artist than When we were rehearsing for Awake Program was the opportunity to sit in I thought possible. I had always loved and Sing, director Frances Lee McCain on rehearsals for the mainstage and acting, but the training at A.C.T. made set up a family dinner. We were all in see some spectacular artists at work. me realize that a life in the theater character, yammering at each other until Watching the process and not just the was not only possible, but important— an hour after school, when we realized product was one of my favorite parts.” almost crucial.” that Frances had slipped out. She had stepped aside to let us discover.”

STEFANÉE MARTIN (class of 2015) PATRICK RUSSELL (class of 2009) is MFONISO UDOFIA (class of 2009) is a recently appeared as Yolanda Kipling an actor in the Bay Area, performing in Nigerian American storyteller, actress, in the Netflix seriesThe Get Down. She productions at San Francisco Playhouse, and educator. Her plays include The also recently completed filming for Aurora Theatre Company, Magic Theatre, Grove, Sojourners, runboyrun, and the movie Skin in the Game. She was Marin Shakespeare Company, Shotgun Lilyvine. Her work has been developed nominated in 2014 for a Theatre Bay Players, and A.C.T. He was most recently by Playwrights Realm, Magic Theatre, Area Award for her performance in seen on the Geary stage in King Charles National Black Theater, and Sundance REBEKAH BROCKMAN HAL BROOKS PETER FRIEDRICH Sweet Maladies (Brava Theater Center). III. He also teaches acting, movement, Theatre Lab. In 2015, she was a finalist and clowning for Studio A.C.T. and the for the Playwrights of New York Prize “To have the opportunity of seeing the Summer Training Congress. Russell and was chosen as The Playwrights reality of an actor’s life while living in just accepted a yearlong position at Realm Page One Playwright. Her latest an educational bubble was unique and Southern Oregon University in Ashland. play, Her Portmanteau, opened at New eye-opening. I just soaked it all up. The York Theatre Workshop last month. M.F.A. Program showed me the sheer “It was incredible to be taught by stamina needed to be ‘on,’ to be present, instructors who are themselves current “My time at A.C.T. proved instrumental to be creative while always being a practitioners of acting. To be immersed to my career as a working artist. team player. That was a huge gift A.C.T. in a training environment where your The Conservatory was rigorous; we gave me that has prepared me for my teachers are speaking not just from were working 13-hour days, taking first TV job onThe Get Down.” experience but are living the life of an classes, studying lines, and in and out of actor is invaluable.” rehearsals. That was great preparation for the time demands of the theater.”

For more information about the A.C.T. Master of Fine Arts Program, visit act-sf.org/mfa. STEFANÉE MARTIN PATRICK RUSSELL MFONISO UDOFIA

32 ACT-SF.ORG 415.749.2228 33 REBEKAH BROCKMAN (class of 2013) HAL BROOKS (class of 1993) is the PETER FRIEDRICH (class of 1994) has played Thomasina in A.C.T.’s 2013 artistic director of The Pearl Theatre performed in various tours and regional production of Arcadia. Since graduating, Company and the Cape Cod Theatre theater productions, including Lincoln she has performed with Actors Theatre Project, as well as the associate artistic Center Theater’s The Sisters Rosensweig of Louisville, California Shakespeare director of the Ojai Playwrights Conference. and San Diego Repertory Theatre’s Theater, and Kingsmen Shakespeare He has directed productions at some of Death of a Salesman. Since 2011, he Company. Recently, she performed in the nation’s leading regional theaters, has taught for the Los Angeles Unified the world premiere of Mrs. Miller Does including The Public Theater, Second School District, the American University Her Thing at Signature Theatre. Her film Stage Theater, Denver Center for the in Iraq, Stanford University, and New and television credits include Bridge of Performing Arts Theatre Company, and York University. He is a theater professor Spies, The Mysteries of Laura, Jessica Marin Theatre Company. He will direct at Millsaps College in Mississippi. Jones, The Knick, and Divorce. Heisenberg in A.C.T.’s 2017–18 season. “The professors at A.C.T. knew how to “The best part of having a theater “The A.C.T. M.F.A. Program took me to get you to trust yourself completely. company attached to the A.C.T. M.F.A. a much deeper place as an artist than When we were rehearsing for Awake Program was the opportunity to sit in I thought possible. I had always loved and Sing, director Frances Lee McCain on rehearsals for the mainstage and acting, but the training at A.C.T. made set up a family dinner. We were all in see some spectacular artists at work. me realize that a life in the theater character, yammering at each other until Watching the process and not just the was not only possible, but important— an hour after school, when we realized product was one of my favorite parts.” almost crucial.” that Frances had slipped out. She had stepped aside to let us discover.”

STEFANÉE MARTIN (class of 2015) PATRICK RUSSELL (class of 2009) is MFONISO UDOFIA (class of 2009) is a recently appeared as Yolanda Kipling an actor in the Bay Area, performing in Nigerian American storyteller, actress, in the Netflix seriesThe Get Down. She productions at San Francisco Playhouse, and educator. Her plays include The also recently completed filming for Aurora Theatre Company, Magic Theatre, Grove, Sojourners, runboyrun, and the movie Skin in the Game. She was Marin Shakespeare Company, Shotgun Lilyvine. Her work has been developed nominated in 2014 for a Theatre Bay Players, and A.C.T. He was most recently by Playwrights Realm, Magic Theatre, Area Award for her performance in seen on the Geary stage in King Charles National Black Theater, and Sundance Sweet Maladies (Brava Theater Center). III. He also teaches acting, movement, Theatre Lab. In 2015, she was a finalist and clowning for Studio A.C.T. and the for the Playwrights of New York Prize “To have the opportunity of seeing the Summer Training Congress. Russell and was chosen as The Playwrights reality of an actor’s life while living in just accepted a yearlong position at Realm Page One Playwright. Her latest an educational bubble was unique and Southern Oregon University in Ashland. play, Her Portmanteau, opened at New eye-opening. I just soaked it all up. The York Theatre Workshop last month. M.F.A. Program showed me the sheer “It was incredible to be taught by stamina needed to be ‘on,’ to be present, instructors who are themselves current “My time at A.C.T. proved instrumental to be creative while always being a practitioners of acting. To be immersed to my career as a working artist. team player. That was a huge gift A.C.T. in a training environment where your The Conservatory was rigorous; we gave me that has prepared me for my teachers are speaking not just from were working 13-hour days, taking first TV job onThe Get Down.” experience but are living the life of an classes, studying lines, and in and out of actor is invaluable.” rehearsals. That was great preparation for the time demands of the theater.”

For more information about the A.C.T. Master of Fine Arts Program, visit act-sf.org/mfa.

415.749.2228 33 INSIDE A.C.T. PHOTO BY TYRONE DAVIS BY PHOTO

34 ACT-SF.ORG RAISING ARTISTS AN INTERVIEW WITH IDA B. WELLS HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT CHASSITY GANNT BY STEPHANIE WILBORN

Chassity Gannt, a 17-year-old senior at Ida B. Wells High School, What has your experience been with this class? joined A.C.T.’s Theater as a Tool for Change class last fall. The When I first came I was really shy, but once I got the feel for the class is an in-school residency run by A.C.T.’s Education & class it was really fun. In the beginning I wouldn’t do the improv Community Programs department; hundreds of students across games or the trust exercises. But as time progressed, I realized San Francisco participate in similar A.C.T. projects at Downtown I could trust the class, and I was actually having fun in a safe High School, Hilltop Special Services Center, AccessSFUSD: space. I started getting out of my comfort zone and started The Arc, and Mission High School. In these intensive, yearlong pushing myself. residencies, A.C.T. teaching artists work with students to help them discover their theatrical voices and talents. Has there been anything in class that you have incorporated into your personal life? In September 2016, the academic year had just started—in Yes, I’m not as afraid to put my emotions out there. Because I those first few weeks, Gannt was quiet and shy, struggling to am a closed-off person, people make assumptions about me. I open up to her peers and find her own voice. But once Gannt don’t share my feelings or experiences with anyone. I put it all started writing in class, her shyness started to dissipate. As in my writing—my poetry is my world, my outlet, my life. My she worked on personal monologues and poetry assigned by emotions are like my poetry book. But this class has helped me A.C.T. Community Artistic Director Tyrone Davis and me, the open up to my family and express myself in new ways, and I’ve Education & Community Programs Fellow, she began to reveal noticed things in my life started to change. My life choices and her skill to her peers, and her confidence grew. She prepared my relationships started changing, my grades started improving. for a new challenge over the winter: performing her own work in front of an audience. During last December’s exhibition at Ida How would you describe yourself in four words? B. Wells, Gannt performed her piece “My Life Is a Nightmare,” Intelligent. Unpredictable. Weird. Full of life. which describes her experiences with gun violence and police brutality. Deeply moved, the members of the audience praised What was performing “My Life Is a Nightmare” at the her work as a writer and a performer. That poem went on to exhibition like for you? win the #FIYAH Award at the 2017 SFUSD Literary Arts Awards. It was difficult because it was in front of a hundred people. Gannt has now become a leader in class, quick to speak up, When I wrote that piece, I didn’t think of performing it or that eager to participate, and encouraging of others to contribute. anyone was going to hear it. Saying it out loud was a release for After she graduates, she hopes to go to college and become a me. I felt a different type of energy onstage. Even though it was writer or go into fashion design. my first time onstage, I felt good doing it for the audience.

When did you start writing? What has been your favorite part of the class? I started writing around nine or ten years old. My therapist gave The writing and the stories I’m allowed to tell. I’m always me a book and told me to write whatever I feel or what comes encouraged to be my true self without being censored. You to mind. I remember being confused about what I would write have created a safe space for me to be that. about. But it all came out of me and I couldn’t stop writing, about anything and everything. I was bullied a lot when I was younger, and writing became my outlet and source of happiness. It has shaped me in so many ways.

What do writing and acting mean for you? For more information about A.C.T.’s Education & For me, writing and acting is telling the story. My challenge Community Programs, visit act-sf.org/education. is telling my stories for others, because I lived them. But I’m realizing that my story needs to be told and can only be told through my acting and writing. For others, acting may seem fake, but for me, it’s my real emotions and my real experiences that I’m sharing. OPPOSITE Ida B. Wells High School student Chassity Gannt

415.749.2228 35 INSIDE A.C.T.

A NATURAL PRINCE A SNEAK PEEK AT SHAKESPEARE’S HAMLET BY ELSPETH SWEATMAN

36 ACT-SF.ORG PHOTO BY SHANNON STOCKWELL BY PHOTO

OPPOSITE John Douglas Thompson.

ABOVE, CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT John Douglas Thompson with actors from the A.C.T. Master of Fine Arts Program at a Conservatory Hour; Thompson in Satchmo at the Waldorf. PHOTO BY KEVIN BERNE BY PHOTO

Imagine waking up one day to find that your world has been upended. Your closest friends are now unworthy of trust. Your life has become unrecognizable. No, this isn’t the plot of the latest contemporary play hot from Broadway, but the premise of one written more than 400 years ago: William Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

“Hamlet is like a sponge,” says Polish theater critic Jan Kott in his groundbreaking book Shakespeare: Our Contemporary. “It immediately absorbs all the problems of our time.” The play is at once a tragedy about wars of aggression, a study of the ever- changing nature of reality, and a psychological examination of a dysfunctional family. Its protagonist is both a scholar and an athlete, an actor and a revolutionary.

It is this sponge-like quality that drew A.C.T. Artistic Director Carey Perloff to this classic tale of revenge, contemplation, and upheaval. Looking at a society in which political tensions are books, and produced works,” says Thompson. “For a play like higher than ever, Perloff sees Hamlet as an exploration of justice, Hamlet, which is so all-encompassing, I wanted a mind that is terror, and democracy. Renaissance-driven, that has a little bit of everything and can put it all together. Carey’s attitude fits the nature and size of The This will be the first time in 21 years that Shakespeare’s Geary from the intimate to the large.” unmistakable verse and timeless storytelling will grace the Geary stage. Uttering the Bard’s enduring words will be one of “The first time I sat in a studio and listened to John readHamlet , America’s greatest classical actors, John Douglas Thompson. I was completely overwhelmed,” says Perloff. “He has an ease “John is an actor of fierce intelligence and uncommon charisma, and instinct with the language that makes every word seem a natural prince,” says Perloff, “but he is also able to access a newly coined, and he allowed me to hear the play as if for the level of vulnerability and a complex inner life that makes him first time. I can’t wait to get into rehearsal with him and see what riveting to watch onstage.” we discover.”

Thompson has wanted to play Hamlet for years, but he wanted Sep 20–Oct 15 at The Geary Theater to find the right collaborator with whom to explore this world of spying, betrayal, family, identity, and truth. When he performed Guarantee your seats by becoming an Satchmo at the Waldorf at A.C.T. in 2016, he found an intellectual A.C.T. subscriber online at act-sf.org/join and creative soulmate in Perloff. “Carey has not only directed or call 415.749.2250. theater, but she has also run a company, written plays and

415.749.2228 37 FRANNIE FLEISHHACKER, CO-CHAIR • ROBINA RICCITIELLO, CO-CHAIR Producers Circle members make annual contributions of $12,000 or more to A.C.T. We are privileged to recognize these members’ generosity during the April 1, 2016, to April 1, 2017, period. For information about Producers Circle membership, please contact Tiffany Redmon at 415.439.2482 or [email protected].

*Member of A.C.T. Next Stage Crew

SEASON PRESENTERS EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS Aaron Vermut and Rodman and Ann Marymor ($100,000+) ($25,000–$49,999) Adriana Lopez Vermut Don and Judy McCubbin Barbara and Stephan Vermut Mr. and Mrs. J. A. McQuown Frannie Fleishhacker Valli Benesch and Bob Tandler Nola Yee Mary and Gene Metz Priscilla and Keith Geeslin Lesley Ann Clement and Tim Mott and Pegan Brooke Fred M. Levin and Nancy Livingston, Karl Lukaszewicz PRODUCERS Paula and John Murphy The Shenson Foundation Jerome L. and Thao N. Dodson ($12,000–$24,999) Rich Rava and Elisa Neipp Burt and Deedee McMurtry Michael G. Dovey Leroy Ortopan Arthur Rock and Toni Rembe Bill and Phyllis Draper Anonymous Elsa and Neil Pering Mary and Steven Swig Sarah and Tony Earley Paul Asente and Ron Jenks Mr. and Mrs. Tom Perkins Jeff and Laurie Ubben Kevin and Celeste Ford Clay Foundation — West Mr. and Mrs. Gordon P. Getty Lloyd and Janet Cluff* Merrill Randol Sherwin Jo S. Hurley Daniel E. Cohn and Lynn Brinton David and Carla Riemer COMPANY SPONSORS Christopher and Leslie Johnson Carlotta and Robert Dathe Sally and Toby Rosenblatt ($50,000–$99,999) John Little and Heather Stallings Little Dr. Caroline Emmett and Anne and Michelle Shonk Ray and Dagmar Dolby Family Fund Janet V. Lustgarten Dr. Russell Rydel Cherie Sorokin Jeri Lynn and Jeffrey W. Johnson Nion McEvoy and Leslie Berriman Concepción and Irwin Federman Jeff and Maria Spears Barbara Ravizza and John S. Osterweis* Donald J. and Toni Ratner Miller Linda Jo Fitz Mr. David G. Steele Robina Riccitiello Kenneth and Gisele Miller Rose Hagan and Mark Lemley Ruth and Alan L. Stein Patti and Rusty Rueff Abby and Gene Schnair Kirke and Nancy Sawyer Hasson Doug Tilden Jack and Susy Wadsworth Kathleen Scutchfield* Dianne and Ron Hoge Kay Yun and Andre Neumann-Loreck* Susan A. Van Wagner Luba Kipnis and David Russel

DIANNE HOGE, CO-CHAIR • NOLA YEE, CO-CHAIR Directors Circle members make annual contributions of $2,000 to $11,999 to A.C.T. We are privileged to recognize these members’ generosity during the April 1, 2016, to April 1, 2017, period. For information about Directors Circle membership, please contact Tiffany Redmon at 415.439.2482 or [email protected].

*Member of A.C.T. Next Stage Crew

ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS Paola and Richard Kulp Katherine Welch Bannus & Cecily Hudson ($6,000–$11,999) Linda Kurtz* Minott and Ashley Wessinger Becky and Lorin Kaplan & Family Paul Angelo Jennifer Langan Mr. and Mrs. Bruce White Joseph D. Keegan, Ph.D. Mr. and Mrs. Gerson Bakar Marcia and Jim Levy Beverly and Loring Wyllie Amanda and John Kirkwood Kathleen Bennett and Tom Malloy Jennifer S. Lindsay Patrick Machado Kenneth Berryman Helen M. Marcus and PLAYWRIGHTS Melanie and Peter Maier —John Dr. Barbara L. Bessey David J. Williamson* ($4,000–$5,999) Brockway Huntington Foundation Ben and Noel Bouck Drs. Michael and Jane Marmor Anonymous Mr. Daniel Murphy Linda Joanne Brown Christine and Stan Mattison Ray and Jackie Apple Barbara O’Connor Gayle and Steve Brugler Mr. and Mrs. Robert McGrath Mr. Eugene Barcone Mr. Don O’Neal Drs. Devron Char and Mr. Byron R. Meyer Sara and Wm. Anderson Barnes Fund Denise Orwin Valerie Charlton-Char Milton Mosk and Thomas Foutch* Roger and Helen Bohl Peter Pastreich and Jamie Whittington Mrs. Robyn Coles and Dr. Tony Coles The New Ark Fund Ms. Donna Bohling and Mr. Adam Pederson Mr. and Mrs. David Crane Terry and Jan Opdendyk Mr. Douglas Kalish Mr. and Mrs. William Pitcher James and Julia Davidson Norman and Janet Pease Christopher and Debora Booth* Joseph E. and Julie Ratner Joan Dea Ms. Carey Perloff and Mr. Anthony Giles Leslie and Buzz Burlock Jeff and Karen Richardson* Carol Dollinger Marjorie Perloff Madeline and Myrkle Deaton Gary and Joyce Rifkind Mr. Joseph W. Donner, III Ms. Saga Perry and Mr. Frederick Perry Richard DeNatale and Craig Latker Gary Rubenstein and Nancy Matthews Barb and Gary Erickson Jon and Barbara Phillips Anne and Gerald Down Lori Schryer Nancy and Jerry Falk Lisa and John Pritzker Emerald Gate Charitable Trust Thomas Schumacher Mr. Rodney Ferguson and John Riccitiello Philip and Judy Erdberg Dr. F. Stanley Seifried Ms. Kathleen Egan Rick and Anne Riley Jacqueline and Christian Erdman* Lee and Carolyn Snowberg Vicki and David Fleishhacker Dr. James Robinson and Sue and Ed Fish* The Somekh Family Foundation Myrna and Tom Frankel Ms. Kathy Kohrman Mr. and Mrs. Patrick F. Flannery* Mr. Richard Spaete Mr. and Mrs. Thomas A. Gallagher Matt and Yvonne Rogers Dr. and Mrs. Fred N. Fritsch* Diana L. Starcher Dr. and Mrs. Richard E. Geist Susan Roos Mrs. Susan Fuller Roselyne C. Swig Arnie and Shelly Glassberg Paul and Julie Seipp Sameer Gandhi and Monica Lopez Pasha and Laney Thornton Dr. Allan P. Gold and Mr. Alan C. Ferrara Rick and Cindy Simons Glasser Family Fund The Tournesol Project Marcia and John Goldman Mr. Laurence L. Spitters Jason Goldman Jane and Bernard von Bothmer Marcia and Geoffrey Green Emmett and Marion Stanton Dr. A. Goldschlager Joy and Ellis Wallenberg, Betty Hoener Vera and Harold Stein Barbara Grasseschi and Tony Crabb Milton Meyer Foundation Chris and Holly Hollenbeck Dr. Martin and Elizabeth Terplan* Mark and Renee Greenstein* Ms. Allie Weissman Alan and Cricket Jones John and Sandra Thompson Mr. Bill Gregory Barbara and Chris Westover Mr. Joel Krauska and Ms. Patricia Fox Patrick S. Thompson Mr. and Mrs. Henry Paul Hensley* Dr. and Mrs. Andrew Wiesenthal

38 ACT-SF.ORG Carlie Wilmans Ms. Marsha Cohen* Ron and Mary Loar Mr. Earl G. Singer Mr. and Mrs. Roger Wu Jacques Fortier Ms. Evelyn Lockton Raven Sisco The Arthur and Charlotte Zitrin Mr. and Mrs. Richard Fowler Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Long Richard and Jerry Smallwood Foundation Elizabeth and Paul Fraley Ms. Gayla Lorthridge* Ms. Judith O. Smith Bonnie Frank and Michele Bear Dr. Thane Kreiner and Mr. and Mrs. Edward H. Snow DIRECTORS Lynda Fu Dr. Steven Lovejoy* Kristine Soorian and Bryce Ikeda ($2,000–$3,999) Ms. Kathleen Gallivan Stephanie and Jim Marver Mr. and Mrs. Robert S. Spears Anonymous (2) Mr. Jon Garber and Ms. Bonnie Fought Ms. Jill Matichak Handelsman Steven and Chris Spencer* Martha and Michael Adler William Garland and Michael Mooney* John B. McCallister Mr. Paul Spiegel Bruce and Betty Alberts Mr. Michael R. Genesereth John G. McGehee Lillis and Max Stern Lynn Altshuler and Stanley D. Herzstein Susan and Dennis Gilardi Kathleen McIlwain Rick Stern and Nancy Ginsburg Stern Mr. and Mrs. Harold P. Anderson Ms. Ann M. Griffiths Casey and Charlie McKibben* Vibeke Strand, MD and Jack Loftis, PhD Sharon L. Anderson* Douglas W. and Kaatri Grigg Elisabeth and Daniel McKinnon Richard and Michele Stratton Whitney and Phillip Arnautou Raymond and Gale L. Grinsell Ms. Nancy Michel* Mr. Jay Streets Ms. Kay Auciello* Nadine Guffanti and Ed Medford J. Sanford Miller and Vinie Zhang Miller J. Dietrich and Dawna Stroeh Jeanne and William Barulich Naren and Vinita Gupta Mr. and Mrs. Michael J. Mouat Susan Terris Nancy and Joachim Bechtle James Haire and Timothy Cole Jeanne Newman Dr. Eric Test and Dr. Odelia Braun* David V. Beery and Norman Abramson Mr. and Mrs. Richard Halliday Mr. and Mrs. Merrill E. Newman Nancy Thompson and Andy Kerr Donna L. Beres and Terry Dahl Vera and David Hartford Ms. Mary D. Niemiller Ian and Olga Thomson Barbara Berkeley and Wendy Storch Mr. Greg Hartman* Ms. Lisa Nolan Mr. and Mrs. John R. Upton Jr. Jane Bernstein and Robert Ellis Ms. Kendra Hartnett Mrs. Margaret O’Drain* Arnie and Gail Wagner Fred and Nancy Bjork Mr. Stephen Heiman Ms. Mary Jo O’Drain Mr. and Mrs. James Wagstaffe David and Rosalind Bloom Mrs. Deirdre Henderson Emilie and Douglas Ogden Mrs. Katherine G. Wallin and Larry and Lisbeth Blum Richard N. Hill and Nancy Lundeen Margo and Roy Ogus Mr. Homer Wallin John Boland and James Carroll Mr. and Mrs. Jerre Hitz Meredith Orthwein* Ms. Margaret Warton and Mr. Mitchell Bolen and Ms. Marcia Hooper Janet and Clyde Ostler Mr. Steve Benting Mr. John Christner Rob Hulteng Janine Paver and Eric Brown Louise Wattrus Carol and Shelby Bonnie Robert Humphrey & Diane Amend Mark Pigott Ms. Carol Watts Brenda and Roger Borovoy Judy and Bob Huret Ms. M. N. Plant Ms. Patricia Tomlinson and Romana D. Bracco Sarah and Jordan Hymowitz Victoria and Dan Prendergast Mr. Bennet Weintraub Benjamin Bratt and Talisa Soto Robert and Riki Intner Kenneth Preston Ms. Beth Weissman Marilyn and George Bray Harold and Lyn Isbell Gordon Radley Irv Weissman and Family Tom and Carol Burkhart Franklin Jackson & Maloos Anvarian* Sandi and Mark Randall Marie and Daniel Welch Mrs. Libi Cape Stephanie and Owen Jensen Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Ratinoff Diane B. Wilsey Ms. Sally Carlson and Mr. Karl Keesling Russell and Mary Johnson Shirley and Robert Raymer Kenneth and Sharon Wilson Denis Carrade and Jeanne Fadelli Kathy and Joe Jolson Mr. and Mrs. John A. Reitan Mr. David S. Wood and Steven and Karin Chase Barbara and Ron Kaufman Albert and Roxanne Richards Fund Ms. Kathleen Garrison Irmgard Chu Sy Kaufman* Victoria and Daniel Rivas Mr. and Mrs. Roy B. Woolsey Kent and Nancy Clancy Ed and Peggy Kavounas Mr. Orrin W. Robinson, III* Harold L. Wyman Foundation Mr. Byde Clawson and Ms. Pamela L. Kershner Mrs. Marianne B. Robison Dr. Patricia Conolly Miss Angèle Khachadour Barbara G. Rosenblum Susan and Ralph G. Coan, Jr. Ms. Nancy L. Kittle Susan Rosin and Brian Bock Rebecca Coleman Mr. R. Samuel Klatchko* Ms. Irene Rothschild Mr. and Mrs. Ricky J. Curotto Mr. Brian Kliment Marieke Rothschild Tiffanie DeBartolo and Scott Schumaker Stephanie Hencir Lamey and Ms. Diane Rudden Robert and Judith DeFranco Patrick Lamey Ms. Dace Rutland Ingrid M. Deiwiks Thomas and Barbara Lasinski Scott and Janis Sachtjen Reid and Peggy Dennis Harriet Lawrie Ms. Monica Salusky and Mrs. Julie D. Dickson Ms. Pamela D Lee Mr. John Sutherland Art and JoAnne Dlott Mr. Richard Lee and Betty and Jack Schafer Bonnie and Rick Dlott Ms. Patricia Taylor Lee Ms. Jean Schulz Robert Eklund Dr. Lois Levine Mundie* Russ Selinger Charles and Susan Fadley* Mr. Michael Levy & Mr. Michael Golden Mr. and Mrs. John Shankel Mr. Alexander L. Fetter and Ms. Helen S. Lewis Mr. James Shay and Mr. Steven Correll Ms. Lynn Bunim Sue Yung Li and Dale K. Ikeda Michelle Shonk Mr. Robert Feyer and Herbert and Claire Lindenberger Ms. Ruth A. Short

415.749.2228 39 ALAN JONES, CHAIR Friends of A.C.T. make annual contributions of $125–$1,999 in support of A.C.T.’s operations and programs. We are privileged to recognize these members’ generosity during the April 1, 2016, to April 1, 2017, period. Space limitations prevent us from listing all those who have generously supported the Annual Fund. For information about Friends of A.C.T. membership, please contact Stephanie Swide at 415.439.2353 or [email protected].

*Member of A.C.T. Next Stage Crew

PATRONS Ms. Pamela Barnes Mr. and Mrs. William Manheim CONTRIBUTOR LEVEL ($1,200–$1,999) Robert H. Beadle* Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Marks NEXT STAGE CREW Anonymous (2) Mr. Daniel R. Bedford Robert McCleskey ($500–$749) Kat and Dave Anderson* Mr. Ari Benbasat Karin and Gregory McClune* Dr. Seth D. Ammerman* Mr. David N. Barnard Mr. and Mrs. Paul Berg Mr. and Mrs. Jason McDonell David and Michele Benjamin* Dorothy and Ervin Behrin Stuart and Helen Bessler Karen and John McGuinn Richard and Katherine Berman* Mr. Thomas Benet Mr. Igor R. Blake* Dr. Margaret R. McLean* Mrs. Katie Budge* Lauren Berman Mr. John Blankenship and Mr. and Mrs. Casey McManemin Ms. Cecily Cassel* Peter Blume Ms. Linda Carter Jeffrey and Elizabeth Minick Ms. Buffy Cereske* Mr. Nicholas Brathwaite Mr. Noel Blos Thomas and Lydia Moran Craig E. Claussen* Stan and Stephanie Casper Martin and Geri Brownstein Sharon and Jeffrey Morris Mr. Edward Conger* Ms. Linda R. Clem Mr. and Mrs. Bernard Butcher Dorotea C. Nathan Lisa Conte* Paul and Deborah Cleveland Jaime Caban and Rob Mitchell Adam Neeley Fine Art Jewelry SF LLC Kristen and Charles Correll* Jean and Mike Couch Martha Conte Jane and Bill Neilson Mr. Gregory Curatolo* Ms. Karen T. Crommie Ms. Shirley Cookston Nancy and Bill Newmeyer Alan Entine* Gregory Davis Mr. Copley E. Crosby Ms. Nancy F. Noe Dr. Marcus Feldman and Ira and Jerry Dearing* James Cuthbertson Alicia Nogales and Greg Little Mrs. S. Shirley Feldman* William Dewey Yogen and Peggy Dalal Ms. Joanna Officier and Mr. Ralph Tiegel Andrew Ferguson and Kay Wu* Ms. Kathleen Dumas Ms. Roberta Denning Pamela Orloff Karen and Stuart Gansky* Mr. Timothy C. Duran Kelly and Olive DePonte Mr. James O’Toole Bill and Nancy Grove* Leif and Sharon Erickson Richard and Sheryl Donaldson Barbara Paschke and Ms. Marlyne L. Hadley* Ms. Susan Free Ms. Joanne Dunn David Volpendesta Mr. Mark Hall* Kathleen and Paul Goldman Marilynne Elverson Mr. David J. Pasta Adrienne Hirt and Jeffrey Rodman* Ms. Margaret J. Grover Mr. James Feuille and Richard and Donna Perkins* Jeff and Sue Mulvihill* Mr. David C. Hale Ms. Nancy J. Murray Ms. Danielle Rebischung Mr. Lester Olmstead-Rose* Kathy Hart* M. Daniel and Carla Flamm Maryalice Reinmuller Jillian C. Robinson* Mr. John F. Heil Darla and Patrick Flanagan Mr. Philip Rich Meline and Jirayr Roubinian* James and Helen Hobbs Mrs. Dorothy A. Flanagan Mr. and Mrs. Charles Rino Mr. Robert Scheid and Mr. Todd Charles* Dr. and Mrs. Richard W. Horrigan Mr. Gregory Fung Ms. Allison Rock and Mr. Christopher Jill Stanfield* Ms. Carolyn Jayne Mr. John Garfinkle Wuthmann Kay Sternberger* Michael Kalkstein and Susan English Frederick and Leslie Gaylord Mr. and Mrs. Richard Rogers The Toland-Yeh Family* Jeffrey and Loretta Kaskey David and Marcia Glassel Marguerite Romanello Mr. and Mrs. Ron Vitt* George and Janet King Matthew G. Gloss Dan Rosenbaum and Suzanne L. Klein Ms. Rosemary Welde* Tori and David Kistler Marlys T. Green Ms. Mary Ellen Rossi Christy Wise and Bob Axelrod* Hal and Leslie Kruth Kelly and Mike Halper Paul Sack Ms. Nicole Zayac* Eileen Landauer and Mark Michael Julia Hardin Hansen Mrs. H. Harrison Sadler Mark Zielazinski* Julia Lobel Mr. Kim Harris and Bennet Marks Sonja Schmid Mr. and Mrs. Robert W. Logan David Hawkanson Mr. Paul Schmidt Jeff and Susanne Lyons Mr. and Mrs. R. S. Heinrichs Dr. and Mrs. Stephen M. Schoen Mr. E. Craig Moody The Brian and Patricia A. Herman Fund Mr. James J. Scillian John and Betsy Munz at Community Foundation Santa Mr. Jim Sciuto Joseph C. Najpaver and Deana Logan Cruz County Ms. Karen Scussel and Mr. Curt Riffle Cindy Nicola* Ms. Dixie Hersh Mr. Robert J. Sehr Ms. Susan O’Brien Leni and Doug Herst Mr. Jon Shantz Robert and Marcia Popper Dr. James and Suzette Hessler Ms. Patricia Sims Ms. Diane Raile Mr. and Mrs. Donald M. Hill Mr. Herbert Steierman Barbara and Saul Rockman* Edward L. Howes, MD Jeffrey Stern, M.D. Peter and Janice Scattini* Richard and Cheryl Jacobs Mr. and Mrs. Monroe Strickberger David Schnur Anne and Ed Jamieson Mr. Jason Surles Andrew and Marva Seidl Allan and Rebecca Jergesen Marilyn E. Taghon Dr. Gary Stein and Jana Stein Mr. and Mrs. Norman L. Johnson Marvin Tanigawa Ms. Jacqueline Stewart Mrs. Zeeva Kardos Maggie Thompson Ian E. Stockdale and Ruth Leibig* Louise Karr Ms. Leslie Tyler Dr. and Mrs. G. Cook Story Mr. Dennis Kaump Leon Van Steen Mrs. Helena Wasp Troy Jascha Kaykas-Wolff Mr. and Mrs. Ronald G. VandenBerghe Larry Vales Ms. Josephine Kennedy Marsha Veit Melissa and Jonathan Weinberg Michael Kim Mr. Douglass J. Warner Karla Kirkegaard Mr. William R. Weir SUSTAINERS Mr. and Mrs. Kevin Klotter Mr. Richard West ($750–$1,199) Michael Kossman Mr. Robert Weston Ms. Hamila Kownacki Mr. Keith Wetmore Anonymous (4) Edward and Miriam Landesman Tim M. Whalen Mr. Howard J. Adams Mrs. Judith T. Leahy Marilyn and Irvin Yalom Susan Adamson and George Westfall Mrs. Gary Letson Elysa Yanowitz* Dr. and Mrs. Douglas Anderson Barry and Ellen Levine Jacqueline Young Ms. Patricia Wilde Anderson Ms. Elise S. Liddle Mr. and Mrs. Philip Zimbardo Mr. Paul Anderson Ms. Linda Lonay Dick Barker Christiana and Sandy Macfarlane Mr. William Barnard

40 ACT-SF.ORG JO S. HURLEY, CHAIR A.C.T. gratefully acknowledges the Prospero Society members listed below, who have made an investment in the future of A.C.T. by providing for the theater in their estate plans.

**Deceased

Providing a Legacy for A.C.T.

GIFTS DESIGNATED TO Michele Garside Burt and Deedee McMurtry GIFTS RECEIVED BY AMERICAN CONSERVATORY Dr. Allan P. Gold and Dr. Mary S. and F. Eugene Metz AMERICAN CONSERVATORY THEATER Mr. Alan C. Ferrara J. Sanford Miller and THEATER Anonymous (8) Arnold and Nina Goldschlager Vinie Zhang Miller The Estate of Barbara Beard Anthony J. Alfidi Carol Goodman and Anthony Gane Milton Mosk and Tom Foutch The Estate of John Bissinger Judith and David Anderson JeNeal Granieri and Bill** and Pennie Needham The Estate of Ronald Casassa Kay Auciello Alfred F. McDonnell Walter A. Nelson-Rees and The Estate of Rosemary Cozzo Ms. Nancy Axelrod William Gregory James Coran The Estate of Nancy Croley M. L. Baird, in memory of James Haire and Timothy Cole Michael Peter Nguyen The Estate of Leonie Darwin Travis and Marion Baird Richard and Lois Halliday Dante Noto The Estate of Mary Jane Detwiler Therese L. Baker-Degler Terilyn Hanko Sheldeen Osborne The Estate of Olga Diora Ms. Teveia Rose Barnes and Mr. Richard H. Harding Elsa and Neil Pering The Estate of Mortimer Fleishhacker Mr. Alan Sankin Kent Harvey Marcia and Robert Popper The Estate of Mary Gamburg Eugene Barcone Betty Hoener Kellie Yvonne Raines The Estate of Phillip E. Goddard Robert H. Beadle R. W. and T. M. Horrigan Anne and Bertram Raphael The Estate of Mrs. Lester G. Hamilton Susan B. Beer Jo S. Hurley Jacob and Maria Elena Ratinoff The Estate of Sue Hamister David Beery and Norman Abramson Barry Lee Johnson Mary L. Renner The Estate of Howard R. Hollinger J. Michael and Leon Berry-Lawhorn Paul and Carol Kameny Ellen Richard The Estate of William S. Howe, Jr. Dr. Barbara L. Bessey and Dr. and Mrs. Stewart Karlinsky Jillian C. Robinson The Estate of Thomas H. Maryanski Dr. Kevin J. Gilmartin** Nelda Kilguss Susan Roos The Estate of Michael L. Mellor Lucia Brandon Ms. Heather M. Kitchen Andrea Rouah The Estate of Bruce Tyson Mitchell Mr. Arthur H. Bredenbeck and Mr. Jonathan Kitchen and David Rovno, MD The Estate of Gail Oakley Mr. Michael Kilpatrick Ms. Nina Hatvany Paul and Renae Sandberg The Estate of Dennis Edward Parker Linda K. Brewer John and Karen Kopac Reis Harold Segelstad The Estate of Rose Penn Martin and Geraldine Brownstein Catherine Kuss and Danilo Purlia F. Stanley Seifried The Estate of Shepard P. Pollack Gayle and Steve Brugler Mr. Patrick Lamey Ruth Short The Estate of Margaret Purvine Bruce Carlton and Richard McCall** Philip C. Lang Dr. Eliot and Mrs. Kathy Shubin The Estate of Gerald B. Rosenstein Florence Cepeda and Earl Frick Mindy Lechman Andrew Smith and Brian Savard The Estate of Charles Sassoon Paula Champagne and David Watson Marcia Lowell Leonhardt Cherie Sorokin The Estate of Olivia Thebus Mr. and Mrs. Steven B. Chase Marcia and Jim Levy Alan L. and Ruth Stein The Estate of Ayn and Brian Thorne Lesley Ann Clement Ines R. Lewandowitz Mr. and Mrs. Bert Steinberg The Estate of Sylvia Coe Tolk Lloyd and Janet Cluff Jennifer Lindsay Jane and Jay Taber The Estate of Elizabeth Wallace Patricia Corrigan Nancy Livingston and Fred M. Levin Mr. Marvin Tanigawa The Estate of Frances Webb Susan and Jack Cortis Dot Lofstrom and Robin C. Johnson Martin Tannenbaum and Alex Ingersoll The Estate of William Zoller Ms. Joan Danforth Ms. Paulette Long Nancy Thompson and Andy Kerr Richard T. Davis-Lowell Dr. Steve Lovejoy and Michael E. Tully Sharon Dickson Dr. Thane Kreiner Ms. Nadine Walas Jerome L. and Thao N. Dodson Jim and Anne Magill Marla Meridoyne Walcott Drs. Peter and Ludmila Eggleton Melanie and Peter Maier Katherine G. Wallin Linda Jo Fitz Jasmine Stirling Malaga and David Weber and Ruth Goldstine Frannie Fleishhacker Michael William Malaga Paul D. Weintraub and Kevin and Celeste Ford Mr. Jeffrey Malloy Raymond J. Szczesny Mr. and Mrs. Richard L. Fowler Michael and Sharon Marron Beth Weissman Alan and Susan Fritz Mr. John B. McCallister Tim M. Whalen Marilee K. Gardner John McGehee Mr. Barry Lawson Williams

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT PROSPERO SOCIETY MEMBERSHIP

HELEN RIGBY, DIRECTOR OF LEGACY GIVING 415.439.2469 | [email protected]

415.749.2228 41 Memorial & Tribute Gifts

The following members of the A.C.T. community made gifts in memory and in honor of friends, colleagues, and family members of $100 or more during the March 1, 2016, to March 1, 2017, period.

Mr. and Mrs. David M. Hartley In Honor of Linda Fitz Ms. Jamie Ney In Memory of Ann Adams Sandi and Mark Randall In Honor of Frannie Fleischhacker Anonymous In Memory of Ruth Asawa Vicki and Stephen Hoffman In Honor of Skylar Goldberg Michael Kim In Memory of Youngmee Baik Robert and Riki Intner In Honor of Ruth Keith Romana D. Bracco In Memory of John Bracco Elizabeth Mason In Honor of Luba Kipnis Mr. David J. Pasta In Memory of Gloria Guth Laurie Hernandez In Honor of Alan Littlehales Susan Stevenson In Memory of Meribeth Meacham Anne and Ed Jamieson In Honor of Nancy Livingston Gregory Davis In Memory of Orlando, Florida Lisa Fung In Honor of Anna Neumann-Loreck Ms. Carey Perloff and Mr. Anthony Giles In Memory of Liz Perle Anonymous In Honor of Abby Pañares Richard and Victoria Larson In Memory of Dennis Powers Katherine E. Akos and Harry L. Jacobs In Honor of Peter Pastreich, Ms. Elizabeth Greenberg In Memory of Eva Ramos and Virginia Ingham Tiffany Redmon, and Nancy Mims Ms. Peggy Kivel In Memory of Eva Ramos Priscilla and Keith Geeslin In Honor of Luz Perez and Amber Jo Manuel Roselyne C. Swig In Honor of Carey Perloff Susan Medak and Gregory S. Murphy In Honor of Ellen Richard Cheryl Brandon In Honor of Craig Slaight Helene Roos In Honor of Craig Slaight Jon and Betsy Nakamura In Honor of Craig Slaight Bonnie Frank and Michele Bear In Honor of Craig Slaight Lisa Conte In Honor of Craig Slaight Mr. and Mrs. Casey McManemin In Honor of Maria Spears Ms. Libby Tracy In Honor of Maria and Jeff Spears Ms. Eve Niquette In Honor of Kay Yun

Corporate Partners Circle

The Corporate Partners Circle comprises businesses that support the artistic mission of A.C.T., including A.C.T.’s investment in the next generation of theater artists and audiences, and its vibrant educational and community outreach programs. Corporate Partners Circle members receive extraordinary entertainment and networking opportunities, unique access to renowned actors and artists, premium complimentary tickets, and targeted brand recognition. For information about how to become a Corporate Partner, please contact Bethany Herron at 415.439.2434 or [email protected].

LEAD EDUCATION PRESENTING PARTNERS PERFORMANCE STAGE PARTNERS OFFICIAL HOTEL 50TH ANNIVERSARY SPONSOR ($25,000–$49,999) PARTNERS ($5,000–$9,999) SPONSOR AIRLINE SPONSOR Bank of America Foundation ($10,000–$24,999) Burr Pilger Mayer, Inc. Hotel G United Airlines Theatre Forward BNY Mellon Wealth S&P Global U.S. Bank/Ascent Management Schoenberg Family Bank of the West Law Group Deloitte LLP Farella Braun + Martel SEASON SPONSOR Perkins Coie LLP Mozilla Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP

Foundations and Government Agencies

The following foundations and government agencies provide vital support for A.C.T. For more information, please contact Bethany Herron at 415.439.2434 or [email protected].

$100,000 AND ABOVE $50,000–$99,999 $25,000–$49,999 $10,000–$24,999 $5,000–$9,999 Doris Duke Charitable Department of Children, Anonymous The Kenneth Rainin Leonard and Sophie Foundation Youth & Their Families Walter and Elise Haas Fund Foundation Davis Fund San Francisco Grants The Edgerton Foundation The Kimball Foundation Laird Norton Family Edna M. Reichmuth for the Arts National Endowment for Koret Foundation Foundation Educational Fund of The William and Flora the Arts The Harold and Mimi San Francisco Neighborhood The San Francisco Hewlett Foundation The Bernard Osher Steinberg Trust Arts Collaborative Foundation Jewels of Charity, Inc. Foundation MAP Fund The Sato Foundation Saint Francis Foundation The Stanley S. Langendorf San Francisco’s Office of Foundation Economic and Workforce The Valentine Foundation Development Wallis Foundation The Virginia B. Toulmin The Zellerbach Family Foundation Foundation 42 ACT-SF.ORG Theatre Forward Current Funders List as of January 2017

Theatre Forward advances American theater and its communities by providing funding and other resources to the country’s leading nonprofit theaters. Theatre Forward and its theaters are most grateful to the following funders:

THEATRE EXECUTIVES PACESETTERS DONORS Kevin & Anne Driscoll *Theatre Forward Fund for ($50,000+) ($15,000‑$24,999) ($10,000‑$14,999) John R. Dutt*▴ New American Theatre AT&T▴ American Express* Paula A. Dominick*▴ Bruce R. and Tracey Ewing*▴ †Includes in-kind support ▴ Bank of America* Bloomberg Dorsey & Whitney Foundation Jessica Farr* ▴Educating through Theatre Support James S. & Lynne Turley*▴ Cisco Systems, Inc.* Epiq Systems* Mason & Kim Granger*▴ The Schloss Family The Estée Lauder Karen A. & Kevin W. Kennedy Brian J. Harkins*▴ Theatre Forward supporters are former Foundation▴ Companies Inc. Foundation Gregory S. Hurst*▴ supporters of National Corporate Theatre Fund and Impact Creativity. ▴ Howard and Janet Kagan▴ EY* Lisa Orberg For a complete list of funders, visit ▴ BENEFACTORS Alan & Jennifer Freedman*▴ Presidio* Joseph F. Kirk* theatreforward.org. ($25,000-$49,999) Frank & Bonnie Orlowski*▴ Thomas C. Quick* Mary Kitchen and Jon Orszag Buford Alexander and Marsh & McLennan RBC Wealth Management▴ Anthony and Diane Lembke, Pamela Farr*▴ Companies, Inc. Daniel A. Simkowitz*▴ in honor of Brian J Harkins, BNY Mellon National Endowment for S&P Global board member Steven & Joy Bunson*▴ the Arts▴ TD Charitable Foundation▴ John R. Mathena*▴ Citi Pfizer, Inc. Isabelle Winkles*▴ Jonathan Maurer and DeWitt Stern* Southwest Airlines▴† Gretchen Shugart*▴ Goldman, Sachs & Co. Theatermania/Gretchen SUPPORTERS Dina Merrill & Ted Hartley* MetLife Shugart*▴ ($2,500‑$9,999) Newmark Holdings* Morgan Stanley George S. Smith, Jr.*▴ Mitchell J. Auslander*▴ Sills Cummis & Gross P.C.* Wells Fargo*▴ UBS Sue Ann Collins John Thomopoulos*▴ Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP* Disney/ABC Television Group* Evelyn Mack Truitt* Dorfman and Kaish Family Leslie C. & Regina Quick Foundation, Inc.▴ Charitable Trust Dramatists Play Service, Inc.*

Gifts in Kind

A.C.T. thanks the following donors for their generous contributions of goods and services.

4imprint Krista Coupar Adrienne Miller The Marker Hotel Blackbird Vineyards Moleskine Chateau St. Jean Piedmont Piano Company Chris and Holly Hollenbeck Premium Port Wines, Inc. Clift Hotel Recchiuti Confections CyberTools for Libraries diptyque Emergency BBQ Company First Crush Restaurant and Wine Bar Joe Tally and Dan Strauss Just Water

Corporations Matching Annual Fund Gifts

As A.C.T. is both a cultural and an educational institution, many employers will match individual employee contributions to the theater. The following corporate matching gift programs honor their employees’ support of A.C.T., multiplying the impact of those contributions.

Acxiom Corporation BlackRock GE Foundation Macy’s, Inc. The Clorox Company Adobe Systems Inc. Charles Schwab Google Merrill Lynch & Co. Foundation Apple, Inc. Chevron Hewlett-Packard Foundation, Inc. The James Irvine Foundation Applied Materials Chubb & Son IBM International Foundation Northwestern Mutual The Morrison & Foerster AT&T Foundation Dell Direct Giving Campaign JPMorgan Chase Foundation Foundation Bank of America Dodge & Cox Johnson & Johnson Family Pacific Gas and Electric TPG Capital, L.P. Bank of America Foundation Ericsson, Inc. of Companies Arthur Rock Verizon Bank of New York Mellon Federated Department Stores Levi Strauss Foundation Salesforce Visa International Community Partnership The Gap Lockheed Martin Corporation State Farm Companies John Wiley and Sons, Inc. Foundation

415.749.2228 43 A.C.T. STAFF

CAREY PERLOFF PETER PASTREICH MELISSA SMITH DON-SCOTT COOPER Artistic Director Executive Director Conservatory Director General Manager

James Haire Costume Shop Gillian Eichenberger, Head Clerk Mark Jackson, Devised Theater Producing Director Emeritus Jessie Amoroso, Costume Director Anthony Miller, Group Sales W. D. Keith, On-Camera Acting Callie Floor, Rentals Manager Scott Tignor, Stephanie Arora, Subscriptions Philip Charles MacKenzie, On-Camera Acting Coordinators Heidi Marshall, On-Camera Acting ARTISTIC Keely Weiman, Build Manager/Draper Jef Valentine, Inventory Manager Andy Alabran, Hillary Bray, Peter Davey, Seana McKenna, Acting Andy Donald, Associate Artistic Director Elizabeth Halperin, Alex Mechanic, Maria Montoya, Head Stitcher Corrine Nagata, Dance Michael Paller, Dramaturg Johnny Moreno, Katharine Torres, Kelly Koehn, Accessories & Crafts Artisan Caymichael Patten, Audition Janet Foster, Director of Casting and Treasurers Chanterelle Grover, First Hand Jeanna Parham, Stage Makeup Artistic Associate Megan LaFleur, Costume Administrator Carey Perloff, Arts Leadership Allie Moss, Artistic Administrator Front of House Victoria Mortimer, Alexandra Shier Perry, Kari Prindl, Alexander Technique Ken Savage, Assistant Producer David Whitman, House Manager Costume Fellows Stacey Printz, Dance Jessica Katz, Artistic Fellow Cara Chrisman, Assistant House Manager Helen Rigby, Fundraising Wig Shop Leontyne Mbele-Mbong, Genevieve Pabon, Resident Artists Tuesday Ray, Associate House Managers Megan Q. Sada, Theater Professionalism Lindsay Saier, Wig Master Ken Savage, Director Anthony Fusco, Nick Gabriel, Kevin Hoskins, Lead Bartender Melissa Kallstrom, Wig Supervisor Domenique Lozano Oliver Sutton, Security Elyse Shafarman, Alexander Technique Susan Allen, Rodney Anderson, Branden Liz Tenuto, Dance Associate Artists STAGE STAFF Bowman, Serena Broussard, Danica Burt, Lisa Townsend, Director, Choreographer Marco Barricelli, Olympia Dukakis, The Geary: Miguel Ongpin, Head Carpenter Margaret Cahill, Jose Camello, Barbara Becca Wolff, Director Giles Havergal, Bill Irwin, Steven Suzanna Bailey, Head Sound Casey, Wendy Chang, Niyjale Cummings, Studio A.C.T. Anthony Jones, Andrew Polk, Mark Pugh, Head Properties Kathy Dere, John Doll, Larry Emms, Tom Stoppard, Gregory Wallace, Timberlake Doris Flamm, Ashley Gennarelli, Claire Daniel Swalec, Head Electrician Liz Anderson, Filmmaking Wertenbaker Gerndt, Blue Kesler, Ryszard Koprowski, Colin Wade, Flyman Heidi Carlsen, Voice Sharon Lee, Emili Lewis, Sadie Li, Julia Matt Chapman, Movement Playwrights Mary Montijo, Wardrobe Supervisor Ludwig, Joe MacDonald, Val Mason, Sam Julie Douglas, Mask, Clown, and Movement Annie Baker; Mike Bartlett; Jean-Claude Diane Cornelius, Assistant Wardrobe Mesinger, Eileen Murphy, Megan Murray, Lauren English, Acting and Audition Technique Carriére, Peter Brook, and Marie-Hélène Supervisor Kathy Napoleone, Lily Narbonne, Brandie Francie Epsen-Devlin, Musical Theater Estienne; Randy Johnson; Robert Lepage; Joe Nelson, Stage Door Monitor Pilapil, Joseph Reyes, Mark Saladino, Carey Perloff and Paul Walsh; Ursula Rani The Strand: Patsy McCormack, Strand Master Steve Salzman, Walter Schoonmaker, Paul Finocchiaro, Acting Sarma; Tom Stoppard Technician Marlena Schwartz, Stephanie Somersille, Nick Gabriel, Acting Sarah Jacquez, Strand Sound Engineer Michael Sousa, Melissa Stern, Elspeth W. D. Keith, On-Camera Acting Directors John Abele, Strand Head Carpenter Sweatman, Madelene Tetsch, Marcella Drew Khalouf, Speech and Diction Peter Brook and Marie-Hélène Estienne; Toronto, Claire Tremblay, Dale Whitmill, Jessica Kitchens, Acting Lorraine Williams, Ushers Randy Johnson; Robert Lepage; Domenique Kari Prindl, Alexander Technique ADMINISTRATION Ramsey Abouremeleh, Shannon Amitin, Lozano; David Muse; Carey Perloff; Ken Rus Mark Rafael, Acting Schmoll Denys Baker, Administrative Project Manager Kimberly Anthony, Nic Candito, Forrest Coralyn Bond, Executive Assistant and Board Choy, Bernadette Fons, Jake Freeman, Patrick Russell, Acting, Movement, Choreographers Liaison Kadeem Harris, Anthony Hernandez, and Clown Rebecca Struch, Acting Val Caniparoli, Patricia Wilcox Kevin Hoskins, Caleb Lewis, Susan Human Resources Monson, Haley Nielsen, Trever Pearson, Laura Wayth, Acting Composers/Orchestrators David Jackson, Human Resources Director Pete Pickens, Jeremy Rice, Atarah Richmond, Miki Richmond, Travis Nancy Mims, Human Resources Consultant Mark Bennett; David Coulter; Karl Rowland, Tracey Sylvester, Leonard YOUNG CONSERVATORY Lundeberg, Nick Perloff-Giles and Andy Alabran, Acting General Management Thomas, Cevie Toure, Robyn Williams, Brendan Aanes Bartenders Cristina Anselmo, Acting Amy Hand, Associate General Manager Pierce Brandt, Musical Theater Music Directors Amy Dalba, Company Manager Strand Cafe Nancy Gold, Physical Character, Acting Daniel Feyer, Todd Olson Joseph Reyes, General/Company Management Rafael Monge, Cafe Manager Dan Griffith, Movement Fellow Designers LaRina Hazel, Raj Paul Pannu, Baristas Emily Hanna, Acting John Arnone, Rob Bissinger, Andrew Boyce, Finance W. D. Keith, Director Marsha Ginsberg, Ken MacDonald, Daniel Sharon Boyce, Matt Jones, Finance EDUCATION & COMMUNITY Domenique Lozano, Director, Acting Ostling, Scenic Associates PROGRAMS Christine Mattison, Dance, Choreographer Jessie Amoroso, Beaver Bauer, Linda Cho, Elizabeth Brodersen, Director of Education & Vivian Sam, Musical Theater, Dance Amy Clark, Alex Jaeger, Jennifer Moeller, Information Technology Community Programs Dan Seda, Musical Theater Costumes Thomas Morgan, Director Tyrone Davis, Community Artistic Director Trish Tillman, Acting Mike Baldassari, Gertjan Houben, Lap Chi Joone Pajar, Network Administrator Jasmin Hoo, Curriculum & Training Specialist Valerie Weak, Acting Chu, Russell H. Champa, Robert Hand, Krista Wigle, Musical Theater Operations Vincent Amelio, School & Community Nancy Schertler, Robert Wierzel, Lighting Programs Coordinator Jamie McGraw, Associate Manager, Facilities Brendan Aanes, Mark Bennett, Stephanie Wilborn, Education & Community Conservatory Accompanists Operation and Security Jake Rodriguez, Ben Selke, Sound Programs Fellow Thaddeus Pinkston, Naomi Sanchez, Jeffrey Warren, Assistant Facilities Manager Darrel Maloney, Video Elizabeth Halperin, Student Matinees Lynden James Bair, Daniel Feyer Leah Loukas, Wigs Luke Bybee, Facilities Crew Joseph Givens, David McKneely, Raven Curtis Carr, Jr., Victor Newman, Sisco, Apprentices Library Staff Coaches Jesse Nightchase, Security Joseph Tally, Head Librarian Nancy Benjamin, Lisa Anne Porter, Jaime Morales, Geary Cleaning Foreman CONSERVATORY G. David Anderson, Laurie Bernstein, Voice, Text & Dialect Jamal Alsaidi, Jeaneth Alvarado, Stephen Buescher, Movement Lidia Godinez, Geary Cleaning Crew Nick Gabriel, Director of Studio A.C.T. Helen Jean Bowie, Bruce Carlton, Barbara Cohrssen, James Daniel, Jonathan Rider, Danielle O’Dea, Fights Christopher Herold, Director of Summer Development Training Congress William Goldstein, Pat Hunter, Connie Daniel Feyer, Music Ikert, Martha Kessler, Nelda Kilguss, Caitlin Quinn, Director of Development Jack Sharrar, PhD, Director of Academic Affairs Barbara Kornstein, Analise Leiva, Ines PRODUCTION Luz Perez, Director of Special Events Lewandowitz, Richard Maggi, Patricia Helen Rigby, Director of Legacy Giving Jerry Lopez, Director of Financial Aid Audrey Hoo, Production Manager O’Connell, Roy Ortopan, Maida Paxton, Bethany Herron, Associate Director of Dan Kolodny, Manager, Conservatory Connie Pelkey, Christine Peterson, Dana Robert Hand, Associate Production Manager Operations & Professional Development Training Development, Institutional Partnerships Rees, Peter Schmid, Roger Silver, Jane Chris Lundahl, Design and Tiffany Redmon, Associate Director of Emily Hanna, Conservatory Associate, Young Taber, Susan Torres, Jean Wilcox, Marie Production Associate Conservatory & Studio A.C.T. Development, Individual Giving Wood, Library Volunteers Michelle Symons, Assistant Rose Oser, Grant Writer Matt Jones, Bursar/Payroll Administrator Production Manager Renée Gholikely, Special Events Assistant Vanessa Flores, Conservatory Associate, A.C.T. thanks the physicians and staff of Walter Ryon, Conservatory Academic Programs Sarah Armstrong, Major Gifts and the Centers for Sports Medicine, Saint Production Manager Corporate Associate Francis Memorial Hospital, for their care of Maeve Morgan, Conservatory Design and M.F.A. Program Core Faculty Peter Macfarlane, Development Associate the A.C.T. company: Dr. Victor Prieto, Dr. Production Coordinator Nancy Benjamin, Co-Head of Voice and Stephanie Swide, Individual Hoylond Hong, Dr. Susan Lewis, Haley Miller, Conservatory Design and Dialects, Director Giving Associate Don Kemp, P.A., and Chris Corpus, Production Coordinator Stephen Buescher, Head of Julia Ludwig, Special Events Fellow Clinic Supervisor. Marlena Schwartz, Production Fellow Movement, Director Madelene Tetsch, Development Fellow Domenique Lozano, Acting, Director Stage Management Accreditation Marketing & Public Relations Michael Paller, Director of Humanities Elisa Guthertz, Head Stage Manager Lisa Anne Porter, Co-Head of Voice A.C.T. is accredited by the Accrediting Christine Miller, Associate Director of Elisa Guthertz, Deirdre Rose Holland, Megan and Dialects Commission for Senior Colleges and Marketing Universities of the Western Association of Q. Sada, Karen Szpaller, Hethyr (Red) Jack Sharrar, PhD, Theater History Brad Amorosino, Senior Graphic Designer Schools and Colleges (WASC), 985 Atlantic Verhoef, Stage Managers Melissa Smith, Head of Acting, Director Christina Larson, Megan McClintock, Simon Hodgson, Publications Manager Avenue, Suite 100, Alameda, CA 94501, Leslie M. Radin, Assistant Stage Managers Simone Finney, Digital Content Manager M.F.A. Program Adjunct Faculty 510.748.9001, an institutional accrediting Hal Day, Production Assistant Kevin Kopjak/Charles Zukow Associates, Milissa Carey, Singing, Director body recognized by the Council on Public Relations Counsel Postsecondary Accreditation and the U.S. Danielle Bae, Joelle Hagen, Charlotte Tyrone Davis, Citizen Artistry Ashley Gennarelli, Marketing Associate Department of Education. Morrill, Stage Management Fellows Andy Donald, Arts Leadership Thomas Moore, Visual Designer Julie Douglas, Improv Prop Shop Sara Morales, Graphic Designer Daniel Feyer, Music Director, Accompanist Ryan L. Parham, Supervisor Karen Loccisano, Graphic Design Fellow Janet Foster, Audition, Showcase Abo Greenwald, Assistant Elspeth Sweatman, Publications Fellow Anthony Fusco, Acting Ticket Services Nick Gabriel, Acting, Director Ian Fullmer, Box Office Manager Giles Havergal, Director Mark C. Peters, Subscriptions Manager Gregory Hoffman, Combat David Engelmann, Head Treasurer Jasmin Hoo, Citizen Artistry

44 ACT-SF.ORG A.C.T. PROFILES

CAREY PERLOFF (Artistic Director) Mary Stuart, ’Tis Pity She’s a Whore, The Tosca Café, The is celebrating her 25th season as artistic Voysey Inheritance, Scorched, and Underneath the Lintel. director of A.C.T., where she has Perloff is also an award-winning playwright. Her recent overseen a huge growth in the quality play Kinship premiered at the Théâtre de Paris in 2014; and scope of A.C.T.’s work, helped to Higher won the 2011 Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation rebuild the earthquake-damaged Geary Theatre Visions Fund Award; and Luminescence Dating Theater and the new Strand Theater in premiered in New York at The Ensemble Studio Theatre. Central Market, and has forged Perloff’s book, Beautiful Chaos: A Life in the Theater collaborations between A.C.T. and theaters across the United (City Lights Press), was selected as San Francisco States and Canada. Known for innovative productions of Public Library’s One City One Book read for 2016. classics and championing new writing and new forms of Before joining A.C.T., Perloff was artistic director of theater, Perloff has directed classical plays from around the Classic Stage Company in New York, where she directed the world, 10 plays by Tom Stoppard (including the American premiere of Ezra Pound’s Elektra, the American premiere premieres of The Invention of Love and Indian Ink, also at of Pinter’s Mountain Language, and many classic works. Roundabout Theatre Company, and two productions of Named a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by Arcadia), and many productions by favorite contemporary the French government, Perloff received a BA Phi Beta writers such as Samuel Beckett, Harold Pinter, José Rivera, Kappa in classics and comparative literature from Stanford and Philip Kan Gotanda. Favorite productions include Hecuba, University and was a Fulbright Fellow at Oxford.

PETER PASTREICH (Executive six years as managing director of the Mississippi River Director) joins A.C.T. after a 50-year Festival. In addition, Pastreich has done management career in arts management. He spent 21 consulting for the Berlin Philharmonic, Southbank Centre in years as executive director of the San London, Detroit Symphony, Louisville Orchestra, Milwaukee Francisco Symphony, a period that Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, and Sydney Symphony included the tenures of music directors Orchestra in Australia. He has also served as mediator in Edo De Waart, Herbert Blomstedt, and orchestra and opera union negotiations in Detroit, Louisville, Michael Tilson Thomas, and during which Milwaukee, Phoenix, Sacramento, Seattle, and San Antonio. the orchestra increased its endowment from $12 million to $120 Born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1938, Pastreich received million. Pastreich was the chief administrator responsible for a BA in English literature from Yale University in 1959. In the construction of Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco, 1999, he was made a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des and for its acoustical renovation. Lettres by the French government and was named an Before coming to San Francisco, he spent 12 years as honorary member of the International Alliance of Theatrical executive director of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra and Stage Employees by Local 16 of the Stagehands Union.

MELISSA SMITH (Conservatory the Bay Area. Prior to assuming leadership of the Director, Head of Acting) has served as Conservatory, Smith was the director of the Program in Conservatory director and head of acting Theater and Dance at Princeton University, where she also in the Master of Fine Arts Program at taught introductory, intermediate, and advanced acting. She A.C.T. since 1995. During that time, she has taught acting classes to students of all ages in various has overseen the expansion of the M.F.A. colleges, high schools, and studios around the continental Program from a two- to a three-year United States, at the Mid-Pacific Institute in Hawaii, New York course of study and the further University’s La Pietra campus in Florence, and the Teatro di integration of the M.F.A. Program faculty and student body Pisa in San Miniato, Italy. She is featured in Acting Teachers of with A.C.T.’s artistic wing, while also teaching and directing in America: A Vital Tradition. Also a professional actor, she has the M.F.A. Program, Summer Training Congress, and Studio performed regionally at the Hangar Theatre, A.C.T., the A.C.T. She also successfully launched the San Francisco California Shakespeare Festival, Berkeley Repertory Theatre; Semester, a semester-long intensive designed to deepen in New York at Primary Stages and Soho Rep.; and in England students’ well of acting experience, broaden their knowledge at the Barbican Centre in London and Birmingham Repertory of dramatic literature, and sharpen their technical skills—all Theatre. Smith holds a BA from Yale College and an MFA while immersing them in the multifaceted cultural landscape of in acting from Yale School of Drama.

415.749.2228 45 F.Y. I .

ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICES REFRESHMENTS Full bar service, sweets, and savory items are AFFILIATIONS A.C.T.’s administrative and conservatory available one hour before the performance in offices are located at 30 Grant Avenue, San A.C.T. is a constituent of Theatre Fred’s Columbia Room on the lower level and Francisco, CA 94108, 415.834.3200. On the Communications Group, the national the Sky Bar on the third level. You can avoid web: act-sf.org. organization for the nonprofit professional the long lines at intermission by preordering theater. A.C.T. is a member of Theatre Bay food and beverages in the lower- and third- Area, the Union Square Association, the San BOX OFFICE INFORMATION level bars. Bar drinks are now permitted in the Francisco Chamber of Commerce, and the theater. San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau. A.C.T. BOX OFFICE Visit us at 405 Geary Street at Mason, next to CELL PHONES the theater, one block west of Union Square; If you carry a pager, beeper, cell phone, or A.C.T. operates under an agreement or at 1127 Market Street at 7th Street, watch with an alarm, please make sure that between the League of Resident Theatres across from the UN Plaza. Walk-up hours it is set to the “off” position while you are and Actors’ Equity Association, the union of are Tuesday–Sunday (noon–curtain) on in the theater. Text messaging during the professional actors and stage managers in performance days, and Monday–Friday performance is very disruptive and not allowed. the United States. (noon–6 p.m.) and Saturday–Sunday The Director is a member of the STAGE (noon–4 p.m.) on nonperformance days. PERFUMES DIRECTORS AND CHOREOGRAPHERS (For Strand Box Office walk-up hours, please The chemicals found in perfumes, colognes, SOCIETY, a national theatrical labor union. visit act-sf.org.) Phone hours are Tuesday– and scented aftershave lotions, even in Sunday (10 a.m.–curtain) on performance small amounts, can cause severe physical The scenic, costume, lighting, and days, and Monday–Friday (10 a.m.–6 p.m.) reactions in some individuals. As a courtesy to sound designers in LORT theaters are and Saturday–Sunday (10 a.m.–4 p.m.) on fellow patrons, please avoid the use of these represented by United Scenic Artists, Local nonperformance days. Call 415.749.2228 and products when you attend the theater. USA-829 of the IATSE. use American Express, Visa, or MasterCard; or fax your ticket request with credit card EMERGENCY TELEPHONE The scenic shop, prop shop, and stage information to 415.749.2291. Tickets are also Leave your seat location with those who crew are represented by Local 16 of the available 24 hours a day on our website at may need to reach you and have them call IATSE. act-sf.org. All sales are final, and there are no 415.439.2317 in an emergency. refunds. Only current ticket subscribers and A.C.T. is supported in part by a grant from LATECOMERS those who purchase ticket insurance enjoy San Francisco Grants for the Arts. Performances begin promptly, and late ticket exchange privileges. Packages are seating is at the house manager’s discretion. available by calling 415.749.2250. A.C.T. gift Latecomers may have to watch the certificates can be purchased in any amount performance on a video monitor in the lobby online, by phone or fax, or in person. until intermission. Latecomers and those who GEARY THEATER EXITS SPECIAL SUBSCRIPTION DISCOUNTS leave the theater during the performance may Full-time students, educators, and be seated in alternate seats (especially if they administrators save up to 50% off season were in the first few rows) and can take their subscriptions with valid ID. Visit act-sf.org/ assigned seats at intermission. educate for details. Seniors (65+) save $40 on LISTENING SYSTEMS 8 plays, $35 on 7 plays, $30 on 6 plays, $25 Headsets designed to provide clear, amplified ORCHESTRA on 5 plays, and $20 on 4 plays. sound anywhere in the auditorium are SINGLE TICKET DISCOUNTS available free of charge in the lobby before Joining our eClub is the best—and sometimes performances. Please turn off your hearing aid only—way to find out about special ticket when using an A.C.T. headset, as it will react to offers. Visit act-sf.org/eclub for details. Find the sound system and make a disruptive noise. us on Facebook and Twitter for other great PHOTOGRAPHS AND RECORDINGS of A.C.T. deals. Beginning two hours before curtain, performances are strictly forbidden. a limited number of discounted tickets are available to seniors (65+), educators, RESTROOMS are located in Fred’s Columbia administrators, and full-time students. For Room on the lower lobby level, the Balcony matinee performances, all seats are just $20 Lobby, and the Garret on the uppermost for seniors (65+). Valid ID required—limit lobby level. one ticket per ID. Not valid for Premiere Wheelchair Seating is located MEZZANINE Orchestra seating. All rush tickets are subject in Fred’s Columbia Room on the to availability. lower lobby level, the Balcony Lobby, and the Garret on the GROUP DISCOUNTS uppermost lobby level. Groups of 15 or more save up to 35%! For more information visit www.act-sf.org/groups. A.C.T. is pleased to announce that an Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) is now available AT THE THEATER in the house management closet in the lobby A.C.T.’s Geary Theater is located at 415 Geary of The Geary. Street. The lobby opens one hour before curtain. Bar service and refreshments are LOST AND FOUND available one hour before curtain. The theater If you’ve misplaced an item while you’re opens 30 minutes before curtain. still at the theater, please look for it at our merchandise stand in the lobby. Any items ABOUT OUR PLAYS found by ushers or other patrons will be taken Copies of Words on Plays, A.C.T.’s in-depth there. If you’ve already left the theater, please BALCONY performance guide, are on sale in the main call 415.439.2471 and we’ll be happy to check lobby, at the theater bars, at the box office, our lost and found for you. Please be prepared and online at act-sf.org/wordsonplays. with the date you attended the performance and your seat location.

46 ACT-SF.ORG A NEW MUSICAL FROM ACCLAIMED DIRECTOR MIRA NAIR

Book by Sabrina Dhawan Music by Vishal Bhardwaj Lyrics by Susan Birkenhead Directed by Mira Nair NOW PLAYING RODA THEATRE

“This decade’s most eloquent theatrical statement on race in America today” —New York Times

BY Branden Jacobs-Jenkins DIRECTED BY Eric Ting STARTS JUN 23 PEET’S THEATRE

Call 510 647-2949 · Click berkeleyrep.org SEASON SPONSORS

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