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Home , A Christmas Carol, George (Blackadder), The Imaginary Invalid, V The Final Battle

SEGERSTROM STAGE / NOVEMBER 24 - DECEMBER 24, 2007

David Emmes Martin Benson PRODUCING ARTISTIC DIRECTOR ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

presents the 28th annual production of ’ A CAROL adapted by JERRY PATCH

Thomas Buderwitz Dwight Richard Odle Donna and Tom Ruzika SCENIC DESIGN COSTUME DESIGN LIGHTING DESIGN

Dennis McCarthy Drew Dalzell Dennis Castellano Linda Kostalik MUSIC ARRANGEMENT/COMPOSER SOUND DESIGN VOCAL DIRECTOR CHOREOGRAPHER

Hisa Takakuwa David Leavenworth Erin Nelson* ASSISTANT DIRECTOR PRODUCTION MANAGER STAGE MANAGER

DIRECTED BY JOHN-DAVID KELLER

Julianne and George Argyros HONORARY PRODUCERS

A • SOUTH COAST REPERTORY P1 CAST OF CHARACTERS (In order of appearance)

LENA, a vendor of second-hand goods ...... *Jennifer Chu JOE, a cider salesman and a receiver of stolen goods ...... *Art Koustik TOY LADY ...... *Ann Marie Lee PUPPETEER ...... Bryan Vickery UNDERTAKER ...... *Joe Quintero CHIMNEY SWEEP ...... *Timothy Landfield ELIZABETH SHELLEY ...... Jessie Kim THOMAS SHELLEY, a vendor of second-hand goods ...... Sean Durrie OLIVER SHELLEY ...... Matthew Pancoe, ▲ Jacob Waller EBENEZER , a grasping covetous old man ...... *Hal Landon Jr. RICH WOMAN ...... *Jennifer Parsons GIRL ABOUT TOWN ...... Anita Abdi, ▲ Brenna Barker TEEN GIRL ABOUT TOWN ...... Lauren Speakman, ▲Gracie Gordon CONSTABLE ...... Branden McDonald , clerk to Scrooge ...... *Daniel Blinkoff FRED, nephew to Ebenezer ...... *Nathan Baesel SOLICITORS ...... *Richard Doyle, *Karen Hensel WREATH SELLER ...... Branden McDonald ’S , a spectre of Ebenezer’s former partner in business ..... *Tom Shelton THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS PAST, a phantom showing things past ...... *Richard Doyle EBENEZER AS A BOY ...... Matthew Pancoe, ▲ Jacob Waller FAN, the sister of Ebenezer ...... Jessie Kim MRS. FEZZIWIG ...... *Karen Hensel MR. FEZZIWIG, a kind hearted, jovial old merchant ...... *John-David Keller JACOB MARLEY AS A YOUNG MAN ...... Branden McDonald EBENEZER AS A YOUNG MAN ...... *Joe Quintero BELLE, an old sweetheart of Ebenezer ...... *Jennifer Chu THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS PRESENT, a spirit of a kind, earthy and generous nature ...... *Timothy Landfield “TINY” TIM CRATCHIT ...... Phillip Swanson, ▲ Parker Cohn MRS. CRATCHIT ...... *Jennifer Parsons BELINDA CRATCHIT ...... Karoline Ribak, ▲ Renee Waller PETER CRATCHIT ...... Nickolas Johnston, ▲ Pranav Mutatkar MARTHA CRATCHIT ...... Kamisha Brooks, ▲ Brianna Beach MR. TOPPER, a bachelor ...... Bryan Vickery PURSUED MAIDEN ...... Jessie Kim SALLY, the wife of Fred ...... *Ann Marie Lee THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS YET-TO-COME, an apparition showing the shadows of things which may yet happen ...... *Tom Shelton WANT ...... Anita Abdi, ▲ Brenna Barker IGNORANCE ...... Matthew Pancoe, ▲ Jacob Waller GENTLEMEN ON THE STREET ...... *Richard Doyle, *John-David Keller, *Nathan Baesel THE SCAVENGERS ...... *Karen Hensel, *Ann Marie Lee, *Jennifer Chu BOY ON THE STREET ...... Zachary Diamond, ▲ Jason Risdana POULTERER ...... Branden McDonald

Please Note: Children’s roles are double cast. Actors with ▲ appear Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday at noon. Others appear in balance of performances.

* Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the .

P2 SOUTH COAST REPERTORY • SETTING 19th Century

LENGTH Approximately two hours, including one 15-minute intermission

PRODUCTION STAFF Assistant Stage Manager ...... *Chrissy Church Casting Director ...... Joanne DeNaut Stage Management Intern ...... Krystal Kirk Deck Crew ...... EJ Brown, Jeff Ham, Robert Harrison, Emily Kettler Follow Spot Operators ...... Jenna Link, Jeff Whetstone Child Wrangler ...... Lisa Ackerman Dresser ...... Maya Lash Costume Design Assistant ...... Tiffany Reagan Additional Costume Staff ...... Catherine Esera, Christina Frank, Jennifer Hart Amber Johnson, Peg Oquist, Bich Vu

Cellular phones, beepers and watch alarms should be turned off or set to non-audible mode during the performance. Please refrain from unwrapping candy or making other noises that may disturb surrounding patrons.

The use of cameras and recorders in the theatre is prohibited. Smoking is not permitted anywhere in the theatre.

Media Partner Official Airline Media Partner

A Christmas Carol • SOUTH COAST REPERTORY P3 How We Keep Christmas his year’s revival of Charles Dickens’ A Karen Hensel join the cast as Marley, Fred and Mrs. Fezzi- Christmas Carol is SCR’s 28th staging of wig, respectively. The children change every year, but the play. With each renewal it has become they almost always come from SCR’s Young Conservatory more of a tradition both for this theatre program, which supplies important new generations to and for Orange County. And, as with any our ever-evolving family. tradition, it changes and it stays the same. Cliff Faulkner’s original set design has been rejuve- TSince we began, Hal Landon Jr. has played Ebenezer nated annually, this year by Tom Buderwitz, but the es- Scrooge, and John-David Keller has been our director. sential spirit of it remains. Original costumer Dwight SCR founding members Richard Doyle and Art Koustik Richard Odle oversees the redesigning or enhancement have reprised their parts in virtually every season. of the period clothing each year. Tom and Donna Ruzi- Danny Blinkoff, a remarkably versatile actor who has ka, who did the lighting design for the first production, performed on SCR stages for many a season, is now in his are doing the 28th. Our senior technician, Jon fifth year as the lovable Bob Crachit. John Ellington, who Lagerquist, has done technical direction since 1985. played Crachit for nearly 20 years, is now the Rev. Dr. And though the sound design has changed, ele- John Ellington, pastor of Community Congregational ments of the first one, a glorious collection of music of the season beautifully woven though the production by Stephen Shaffer, re- main. Last season, award-winning composer Dennis McCarthy gave the beloved tunes a fresh polish. While so many of the original contributors and elements have stayed, the show has advanced from our first 1980 production into a gen- uine treasure. The artists involved and their performances have grown as they built distinguished careers in the theatre. Each year they search for a better way, a search enriched by years

Church in Los Alamitos. David Whalen replaced Ellington for several seasons, returned east with his family and took up the role of Bob at Hartford Stage Company. Noreen Hennessey, Marilyn Fox, and Devon Ray- mond all spent years in their turns as Mrs. Cratchit. This year Jennifer Parsons, a long-term member of SCR’s cre- ative family, returns for her fourth run in the role. You may notice that some beloved characters have new faces this year — Tom Shelton, Nathan Baesel and

P4 SOUTH COAST REPERTORY • A Christmas Carol Other Voices at Christmas There are several filmed ’s Christ- versions of A Christmas mas Carol ( 1 9 8 8 ) C a r o l — have you seen The Muppet Christmas them all? C a r o l (1992), starring Michael Caine S c r o o g e (1935), starring Sir E b b i e (1995), the first ver- sion to imagine Scrooge A Christmas Carol ( 1 9 3 8 ) , as a woman, starring starring Reginald Owen Susan Lucci A Christmas Carol (1954), a E b e n e z e r (1997), a Canadi- TV movie, starring an, western-themed of craft and invention. It’s a great story we’re telling, Fredric March adaptation, starring Jack one we don’t take lightly. S c r o o g e (1970), a musical P a l a n c e We’ve been a family. We’ve added and sub- film adaptation, starring A Diva’s Christmas Carol tracted from our core — like any family — for 28 Albert Finney and Alec (2000), starring Vanessa years. We gather annually in November to do our G u i n n e s s W i l l i a m s work — better than we’ve ever done it, we hope. A Christmas Carol ( 1 9 7 1 ) , A Sesame Street Christmas New folks are made kin by our veterans; the veter- an Oscar-winning short C a r o l (2006), featuring ans are invigorated by the newcomers. By Decem- film, with Oscar the Grouch, of ber we’ve recreated our clan (and our show) anew. A Christmas Carol (1984), a course, as Scrooge But we’re not complete until joined by our TV movie, starring greater family: our audiences. There are a few peo- George C. Scott Other Dickens Christmas ple who have seen the show every year since 1980. A Christmas Carol (1999), a s t o r i e s : And second-and third-generation offspring of those TV movie, starring first audiences have now taken up the tradition. A Christmas Carol was a SCR’s A Christmas Carol has endured here because bestseller when it was pub- it brings families together. We are reminded to cele- Not quite enough Ebenezer lished in 1843, and it creat- brate the season and to consider together Ebenezer for you? What about these ed an insatiable demand in Scrooge’s redemption, and how, to some degree, a d a p t a t i o n s ? the public for more Christ- each year it should be our own. mas stories. Dickens Human mortality pervades A Christmas Carol. Mister Magoo’s Christmas obliged by writing one The deaths of Marley and Fan, the , and the C a r o l ( 1 9 6 2 ) Christmas novella a year for possible passing of Tiny Tim further darken the suf- Rich Little’s Christmas four years, they were: fering of the poor and the Cratchits’ lean Christmas. Carol ( 1 9 7 8 ) These are the shadows to be dispelled by the light The Stingiest Man in Town of love and the season’s spirit in Dickens’ classic. (1979), animated, with The Cricket on the Hearth The value of love, life and family is heightened the voices of Walter by the fact that they don’t last forever. It is the Matthau and Tom Bosley The Haunted Man equation Scrooge comes to know, and one our fami- An American Christmas ly appreciates again each year. C a r o l (1979), starring If you are interested in Henry Winkler reading any of these works Bugs Bunny’s Christmas or more on Charles Dick- Facing page, (Hal Landon Jr.) Carol ( 1 9 7 9 ) ens, try these websites: surrounded by (clockwise from left) The Spirit of Mickey’s Christmas Carol Christmas Yet to Come, The Spirit of Christmas Past w w w . l i t e r a t u r e . o r g / a u- (Richard Doyle), Marley’s Ghost (Don Took) and the (1983), starring Scrooge Spirit of Christmas Present (Timothy Landfield). M c D u c k t h o r s / d i c k e n s - c h a r l e s / Below, Mr. and Mrs. Fezziwig (John-David Keller and S c r o o g e d (1988), starring w w w . c h a r l e s d i c k e n s p a g e Martha McFarland. Above, Tiny Tim, (Omead Moini) Bill Murray . c o m / asks his father, Bob Cratchit (Blinkoff), to buy him a toy from the Toy Lady (Ann Marie Lee).

A Christmas Carol • SOUTH COAST REPERTORY P5 The Last of the Mythologists Charles Dickens Writes A Christmas Carol

BY KRISTIN FROBERG “Dickens was a mythologist rather than a novelist; he frail, sickly youngest brother was often called “Tiny was the last of the mythologists, and perhaps the great- Fred.” Dickens’ spendthrift father John caused the fami- est.” ly, save 12-year-old Charles, to relocate to debtor’s --G.K. Chesterton prison for a time. Charles worked in a factory during this time, and never forgot the ex- n the late fall of p e r i e n c e . 1843, the 31-year-old Though he must certainly have author of O l i e r hoped for career rejuvenation, T w i s t and N i c h - Dickens could hardly have imag- olas Nickleby ined that the story would be so began writing a beloved by so many. In 1857, Istory to be published during A Christmas Carol b e c a m e the Christmas season of that the first of Dickens’ works year. With four children that he performed publicly, and a wife to provide for, and was, in 1868, the last. flagging sales and decreas- He preferred to act the ing interest in his latest story for the audience, work, Charles Dickens was adapting his presentation in need of a career jump- as he went along. The start. Manchester Examiner re- At this time, some ported that “There is always privileged English families a freshness about what Mr. still celebrated Christmas with Dickens does — one reading feasts, pageants, and revelry. is never anything like a me- But England’s working class — chanical following of a previous about eighty-five percent of the reading.” population — could not. For many In 1867 and 1868, Dickens put people in Dickens’ London, December on a blockbuster Christmas Carol t o u r was a time of hardship, not celebration. the United States, turning a profit of In October of 1843, moved to action by a $140,000 — nearly two million dollars today. Parliamentary report on the plight of children laboring in President Andrew Jackson took his family to every per- mines and factories, Dickens visited a copper mine. Ap- formance in Washington D.C., and theatre-goers camped palled by what he saw there, Dickens began to develop overnight in the streets to purchase tickets the next ideas for his next story — a story that would, in the au- m o r n i n g . thor’s words, “strike a sledge-hammer blow on behalf of A Christmas Carol has been translated for readers the poor man’s child.” He titled the piece The Sledge- all over the world and adapted into dozens of stage pro- h a m m e r; over 150 years later, it’s the story known all ductions, films, and even an . Though he could over the world as A Christmas Carol. not have anticipated, during that fall of 1843, how suc- Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol in just six weeks. cessful his novella would prove to be, Dickens would He told friends that the Cratchits were “ever tugging at surely be very happy that his story of the virtues of good- his coat sleeve, as if impatient for him to get back to his will and generosity continues to reach millions of people desk and continue the story of their lives.” A Christmas every year. C a r o l, like many of Dickens’ other works, has autobio- Engraving of Charles Dickens from A Portrait Gallery of graphical elements woven throughout. Like Peter Eminent Men and Women of Europe and America, with Cratchit, Dickens was the eldest of six children. His own Biographies, by Evert A. Duykinck.

P6 SOUTH COAST REPERTORY • A Christmas Carol The Ghost of London’s Past rime Minister Lord Melbourne (1779-1848) of Dickens’ stories. did not care for Charles Dickens (1812- Melbourne’s efforts were successful, at least to a 1870). By the mid 1800s, Dickens had point. At first the Queen turned a seemingly blind eye to achieved widespread fame with the publi- the rampant pollution, severe sanitation problems and in- cations of , Oliver surmountable poverty that plagued her urban subjects. T w i s t and The Life and Adventures of Tuberculosis, typhoid fever, and finally, the dreaded PNicholas Nickleby. Lord Melbourne advised cholera epidemic would ravage the streets of against reading the work of the destitute and the opulent alike. Al- Her Majesty’s famous subject, due to though Queen Victoria would continue the fact that Dickens’ books were to have her sights set on trade and full of “unpleasant subjects” such commerce and Lord Melbourne as prostitutes, pickpockets, mur- would resign his duties twice, derers and houses of ill repute. the workers of London at- Dickens’ vivid London was a tempted to solve the greatest place from which the good issue of their day. Toward Prime Minister wished to the end of the 1850’s En- shield his Queen. glish engineers finally Imagine yourself in brought forth a water filter- London in Charles Dickens’ ing system that would end time. Nearly two million the cholera epidemic. Al- Londoners, rich and poor though the extreme indi- alike, spill into the city gence of London’s common streets among the manure man would continue for left by literally thousands of years, even after Queen Victo- horse-drawn carriages. Smoke ria’s death, the age would be swarms out of chimney pots and remembered as a time of soot coats all that it falls upon. In progress. parts of the city, raw sewage pours The Victorian Age was in many from the gutters into the Thames — ways a time of profound sadness and your main water supply. If you were a com- deprivation for ordinary people. But it was mon laborer, your average weekly wage was 3 also a time of discovery and expectation. It was shillings, 9 pence — that’s approximately four dollars. a time that infuriated and inspired its people. While royal- With a loaf of bread costing about 2 pence a day and rent ty guarded trade agreements and sought to expand their for the year costing 25 pounds (about $47 USD), you are empires, everyday Londoners were searching for everyday still extraordinarily poor, however, this was a luckier exis- chances and small kindnesses. That was Charles Dickens’ tence than the very destitute who would receive aid in the London. form of employment in a workhouse. Dickens made sure the voices of the unfortunate From this dank and vile reality came countless Ro- were heard in his work, along with huge doses of good mantic literary offerings, including Dickens’ A Christmas humor and myriad evocations of the joys of home and Carol. His account of mean old Ebenezer Scrooge chang- hearth. He continues to do the same for us today. In all ing his ways became essential reading during Christmas of his stories, we remember that there are those less for- time in London, and indeed, throughout the world. Ro- tunate than ourselves. We remember that there are those manticism revolted against aristocratic, social, and politi- willing to change. Most importantly, we remember that cal norms, stressing in their place the awe experienced in there is hope. After all, Dickens observed that “It is a fair, nature. Dickens’ work denounced the moving forward of even-handed, noble adjustment of things, that while there industry and lauded those unfortunate souls who fell vic- is infection in disease and sorrow, there is nothing in the tims to it. Those ‘unpleasant subjects’ that Prime Minister world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good-hu- Melbourne was so quick to cover up became the heroes mour.”

A Christmas Carol • SOUTH COAST REPERTORY P7 A rtist Biographies

NAT H A N BA E S E L * JE N N I F E R CH U * Fred/Gentleman L e n a / B e l l e / S c a v e n g e r

appeared at SCR most recently in is delighted to return for a second Princess Marjorie and previously year to SCR’s annual production of in On the Mountain and The Last A Christmas Carol. Other SCR ap- Night of Ballyhoo. He starred in pearances include Life Is A Dream, the critically acclaimed film Behind The Stinky Cheese Man and Other the Mask, and has guest starred Fairly Stupid Tales, the TYA op- most recently on “Journeyman,” “Numb3rs,” “Women’s eretta The Only Child and the NewSCRipts reading of Murder Club” and “Without A Trace.” A graduate of The Happy Valley. Other theatre credits include the world Juilliard School, he has his BA in Theatre from UCLA premiere of Nuevo California (San Diego Repertory), and began his college career at Fullerton College. He is The Triumph of Isabella (Geffen Playhouse), Rashomon a proud husband, father and member of Group 31. (Sierra Repertory Theatre), M e d e a (Theatre @ Boston Court), Gretty Good Time (Falcon Theatre), Model Citi- DA N I E L BL I N K O F F * z e n (National Repertory Theatre), The Merchant of Bob Cratchit V e n i c e (LAWS @ the Ivy Substation), The Conquest of the South Pole (Odyssey Theatre Ensemble - LA Weekly is happy to be returning to SCR as nomination) and A Little Night Music (Edison Theatre). Bob Cratchit for his fifth consecu- Film and television credits include “Heartland,” “E- tive year. He has previously ap- Ring,” “Six Feet Under,” “The Late, Late Show with Craig peared at SCR in Nothing Sacred, Kilbourn,” The Astronaut Farmer, The Terminal, The The Intelligent Design of Jenny S h i f t (Cannes, LA Film Festival), Beyond the Ring a n d Chow, Major Barbara, The School The Gene Generation. Originally from Boston, she re- for Wives, Nostalgia and Pinocchio. Other Los Angeles ceived her MFA in acting from UCLA and is currently theatre credits include Pera Palas at The Theatre @ working on her first full-length play. Wishing everyone Boston Court, A Distant Shore at the Kirk Douglas The- a wonderful holiday season! atre and Road at Yale Cabaret Blue. Regionally he has appeared in The Imaginary Invalid and A Kiss for Cin- RI C H A R D DO Y L E * derella at The Cleveland Play House, Are We There Yet? Solicitor/Spirit of Christmas Past/ and The Seagull at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, G e n t l e m a n Stepping Out with Mr. Markham at The Ensemble Stu- dio Theatre, The Summer in Gossensass at Theatre Row is an SCR Founding Artist. He ap- (directed by Maria Irene Fornes), Dinosaur Dreams peared last season in , My and The Last 60 of 99 at New York Stage and Film, The Wandering Boy, Life is a Dream, Beaux Strategem and at Yale Repertory Nothing Sacred and A Christmas Theatre, Leander Stillwell at Stage Left Theatre (Joseph C a r o l; the previous season in Th e Jefferson Citation) and Flesh and Blood at Chicago’s Adventures of Pør Quinly, Born Yesterday and The Cau- Bailiwick Repertory Theatre (Joseph Jefferson nomina- casian Chalk Circle; and previously in Habeas Corpus, tion-Best Actor). His film and television credits include as Eddie in A View from the Bridge, Intimate Exchanges Rockabye, With Honors, Crossing the Bridge, Dande- ( 1 9 9 3 ), The Last Night of Ballyhoo and the world pre- l i o n, “Close to Home” (recurring), “Charmed,” “NYPD mieres of The Beard of Avon, On the Jump, But Not for Blue,” “Law & Order” and “Missing Persons.” Mr. Me, BAFO, The Interrogation of Nathan Hale, She Stoops Blinkoff is a member of The Antaeus Company in L.A. as to Folly, Wit, Hospitality Suite and Highest Standard of well as The Actors Center in New York. Mr. Blinkoff re- L i v i n g. Other credits include Relatively Speaking, Proof, ceived his MFA from the Yale School of Drama. Major Barbara, Much Ado about Nothing, A Delicate

P8 SOUTH COAST REPERTORY • A Christmas Carol Balance and Intimate Exchanges (2004), for which he its entire 28-year history. He has directed SCR’s Educa- earned a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle (LADCC) tional Touring Productions for 32 years, and this year Award nomination. He won an LADCC Award for his will direct You’re Getting Warmer, which begins touring role in Sally Nemeth’s Holy Days and was nominated for in January 2008. Among his other SCR directing credits his role as Reverend Hale in The Crucible. He was a are Godspell, Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living guest artist at The Pasadena Playhouse this past summer in Paris, In Fashion, The Real Inspector Hound (SCR’s in the world premiere of Matter of Honor playing Gen. first Equity show), Peg O’ My Heart and Tomfoolery. He John M. Schofield. “Cheers” fans will remember him as has also acted in over 100 plays at SCR. He has been the Woody’s snooty father-in-law Walter Gaines. He has concert host for the fifth grade concerts for the Orange many other film and television credits. As a voice-actor, County Philharmonic Society for 19 years. He has per- Mr. Doyle has become a familiar voice in commercial ad- formed with the National Symphony Orchestra and the vertisements, CD-ROM games (i.e. MGS-4), documen- Sydney Philharmonic. He was part of the Sundance taries and animated series. Listen for Mr. Doyle as Sena- Playwrights Festival for ten years. tor Kelly on “Wolverine,” the new X-Men series. If you visit the new Lincoln Library in Springfield, IL, Mr. Doyle ART KO U S T I K * is your holographic host in the Union Theatre. Joe/Ensemble

KA R E N HE N S E L * is an SCR Founding Artist who has Mrs. Fezziwig/Solicitor appeared in scores of productions, including Much Ado about Noth- has been associated with SCR since ing, The Hollow Lands, Of Mice her debut in S p o k e s o n g in 1979. and Men, T a r t u f f e and Ah, Wilder- Her performances at SCR have in- n e s s ! He also appeared in B A F O, cluded Bosoms and Neglect ( w i t h Six Degrees of Separation, She Stoops to Folly, The Tam- Richard Doyle), Unsuitable for ing of the S h r e w, , A Streetcar Named A d u l t s (with Richard Doyle) and D e s i r e, Loot, Lettice & Lovage, The Man Who Came to Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune (with Richard D i n n e r, The , S h a d o w l a n d s and Hospitality Suite. Doyle, her favorite leading man), a production that was His other appearances include Twelfth Night, H a r d presented at the Singapore Theatre Festival. She also T i m e s, The Crucible, Prelude to a Kiss, Glengarry Glen appeared in Cloud Nine, Our Country’s Good, Hay R o s s, G a l i l e o, The Foreigner, Rum and Coke, The Show- F e v e r and, memorably, Caryl Churchill’s Top Girls, O f f , Saint Joan, Playboy of the Western World, C o m i n g which was also presented by SCR at the Westwood Play- A t t r a c t i o n s, American Buffalo, The Elephant Man, T i m e house and for which she was awarded the Los Angeles W a s, The Time of Your Life, C o m e d i a n s, R u b b e r s, T h a t Drama Critics Circle Award. She has also performed at Championship Season, and most annual productions of Mark Taper Forum, Pasadena Playhouse and ACT in San A Christmas Carol. Outside SCR, he has been in A n y- Francisco. One of the Broadway cast of Zoot Suit, she thing Goes, Chapter Two, Guys and Dolls, B r i g a d o o n, might be recognized by television viewers as Doris on numerous commercials, and film and television such as “The Young and the Restless” (12 years), or for her La Bamba, “Valerie,” “Hill Street Blues,” “Moonlighting,” many guest spots on nighttime dramas. She is currently “The Golden Girls,” “Dallas” and “The Young and the the Director of the Adult Program and the Professional Restless.” “With my wife Peggy, I am at last a happy man. Intensive Program at SCR. As the years go by I am more aware how important faith, family and friends are. ‘God bless us, everyone.’” JO H N DAV I D KE L L E R * Mr. Fezziwig/Gentleman TI M O T H Y LA N D F I E L D * Spirit of Christmas Present is a member of SCR’s resident act- ing company. He has been with is delighted to return to SCR, the company since 1973 working where he was previously seen in as both an actor and director. He Bach at Leipzig, Pinocchio, The directed SCR’s Theatre for Young Clean House, The Norman Con- Audiences productions of The Ad- quests: Round and Round the ventures of Pør Quinly, P i n o c c h i o and The Emperor’s Garden and Hay Fever. He re- New Clothes and acted in Bach at Leipzig and The Wind cently appeared in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the in the Willows. He has directed A Christmas Carol for Hollywood Bowl with the L.A. Philharmonic,

A Christmas Carol • SOUTH COAST REPERTORY P9 at A Noise Within and in the Broadway revivals of C o m- in, where her roles have included Rosalind (As Yo u p a n y and The Sound of Music. He appeared on Broad- Like It), Anne (Man and Superm a n ), Va r ya (T h e way in Rumors, Arsenic and Old Lace, Wild Honey, The C h e r ry Orchard), Laura (The Glass Menagerie), Es- Crucifer of Blood and . Off-Broadway, he was in tella () and Arundel (H a y the original production of Sister Mary Ignatius Explains Fe v e r). National tours include Peter Pa n and D o It All for You and The Actor’s Nightmare, as well as the Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up?, among oth- musical Charlotte Sweet. He has played major roles in ers. Off Broadway and regional credits include regional theatres across the country including Phileas “Sondheim: A Celebration At Carnegie Hall,” A Mid- Fogg in 80 Days at La Jolla Playhouse. Television and summer Night’s Dream with the Los Angeles Philhar- film credits include “Bones,” “Six Feet Under,” “Without monic at the Hollywood Bowl, the West Coast pre- a Trace,” “Monk,” “Frasier,” “Boston Public,” “CSI,” miere of And the Winner Is at Laguna Playhouse and “Family Law,” “Law & Order” and The Cooler w i t h recently The Constant Wi f e at the Pasadena Play- William H. Macy and Alec Baldwin. He is on the faculty house. Film and television includes “The Nine” (re- at The American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Holly- c u r ring), “Nip/Tuck,” “7th Heaven,” “Law & Order: wood. While in Africa filming Disney’s C h e e t a h , Mr. Criminal Intent,” “ER,” “Providence,” “Titus,” HBO’s Landfield met his wife, actress Breon Gorman. They Breast Men, “Any Day Now,” “Pi c ket Fences” and “L.A. have two angels, Miranda and Bianca. L a w ” (recurring). Radio plays include H o l l y w o o d Theatre of the Ear and NPR’s Beyond 2000. Au d i o HA L LA N D O N JR.* books narrator: Books-O n -Tape, Blackstone, and Ebenezer Scrooge L a keshore Learning. BA in Drama, Catholic Universi- t y, Washington, D.C.; Pe r f o r mance/ Teaching Fu l - is an SCR Founding Artist who re- bright in American Drama to Poland. cently appeared in Hamlet, Noth- ing Sacred, Man from Nebraska, JE N N I F E R PA R S O N S * Born Yesterday, The Caucasian Mrs. Cratchit Chalk Circle, A View from the Bridge, Habeas Corpus, Cyrano de r e t u r ns for a fourth year in A Bergerac, Safe in Hell, Antigone, The Drawer Boy ( L o s Christmas Carol. She most re- Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award nomination), Major cently appeared at SCR in Th e Barbara and . Other credits in- BFG (Big Friendly Giant). She clude A r c a d i a, Our Town, Sidney Bechet Killed a Man, also appeared in James and the B A F O, Six Degrees of Separation, An Ideal Husband, A Giant Peach, The Only Child, Mess of Plays by Chris Durang, Play Strindberg, F a i t h Bunnicula, Cyrano de Bergerac, Getting Fr a n k i e H e a l e r, Ghost in the Machine, Green Icebergs, Morn- M a rried—and Aft e r w a rds, Our Town, She Stoops to ing’s at Seven, The Miser, O u r Country’s Good and W a i t- Fo l l y, The Importance of Being Earnest and B u r i e d ing for Godot. He created the role of Ebenezer Scrooge C h i l d. Other stage credits include How I Le a r ned to in SCR’s A Christmas Carol, and has performed it in all D r i v e at San Diego Repert o ry and Talley’s Fo l l y at In- 27 annual productions. He appeared in Leander Still- t e r national City Theatre in Long Beach. In New Yo r k w e l l at Mark Taper Forum and in Henry V at The Old she appeared on Broadway and Off-Broadway in Q u i l- Globe in San Diego. Other resident theatre roles in- ters, Steel Magnolias, Smoke on the Mountain, Na- clude Salieri in A m a d e u s, Malvolio in Twelfth Night a n d tive Speech and Unchanging Lo v e . Other regional Gordon Miller in R o o m S e r v i c e. Among his film credits theatre credits span from the Mark Taper Fo r u m , are T r e s p a s s, Pacific Heights, Almost an Angel, Bill and Denver Center, Kennedy Center, Chicago’s Royal Ted’s Excellent Adventure and Playing by Heart. George to The Abbey (Ireland). As a company mem- ber at Theatre 40 she has perf o r med leading roles in AN N MA R I E LE E * Holy Days, Heartbreak House, Little Murders, A Mid- Toy Lady/Sally/Scavenger summer Night’s Dream, The Yiddish Trojan Wo m e n , Chapter 2 and many others. Among her most curr e n t appeared at SCR earlier this year television appearances are guest star roles on “Boston in A Little Night Music and last Legal,” “The OC,” “Judging Amy,” “JAG,” “The We s t season in A Christmas Carol a n d Wing,” “For the People,” “Philly” (recurring), “NYPD the Theatre for Young Au d i e n c e s Blue,” “The X- F iles” and “The Jersey” (recurr i n g ) . production of Pi n o c c h i o. She is Film credits include D r a g o n f l y, Never Been Kissed, a resident artist at A Noise Wi t h - B o x B o a rders! and Self Medicated.

P1 0 SOUTH COAST REPERTORY • A Christmas Carol JO E QU I N T E R O * eth Century at ICT and All My Sons at La Mirada. In Undertaker/Young Ebenezer New York he appeared in The Man Who Shot The Man Who Shot Jesse James and The Member of The made his first SCR appearance We d d i n g , among others. Mr. Shelton is a teacher, this summer in the Pacific Play- musical director and voice-over artist (notably En- wrights Festival reading of glish versions of Japanese Anime). He has written Boleros for the Disenchanted. music and lyrics for a number of pieces for children, Theatre credits include E a r t h - including an award winning adaptation of C a d d i e quake Chica at Borderlands The- Wo o d l a w n, plus The Boy Who Ruled The Moon and atre, Hopped the A Train at L.A. Theatre Works S u n for San Diego Opera’s outreach program. He and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival (Fringe First has co-authored a number of musical comedy mur- Award), Rocio: In Spite of it All at King King nightclub, der mysteries for The Gourmet Detective in Irv i n e , Dias y Flores at Black Dahlia Theatre, F a l l at Actors’ including the current Darling, You Slay Me. Gang Theatre, Featherless Angels at Connecticut Repertory Theatre, In Walks Ed at Long Wharf Theatre Playwright, Director and Designers and Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, A Park in Our House at McCarter Theatre Center and New York The- JE R R Y PAT C H (Ad a p t e r ) was affiliated with South atre Workshop, C l e a n at Hartford Stage Company, T h e Coast Repert o r y from 1967-2005. He served as Merchant of Venice at The Goodman Theatre, S p r e a d dramaturg on nearly 150 new plays seen and E a g l e at WPA Theatre, And Now Miguel at Lincoln developed at SC R , including the world premieres of Center Institute, Washington Squares Moves at Prima- Abundance, Freedomland, Golden Child, Intimate ry Stages and The Boiler Room at Puerto Rican Travel- Apparel, Search and Destroy and Wit. His dramatic ing Theatre. Film credits include Cuco Gomez-Gomez writing has been produced at SCR and other is Dead, Shaft, Exiles in NY, The Absolution of Antho- theatres, and on television. He was project director ny, I Like it Like That, Sax and Violins and J a c o b ’ s of SC R’s Pacific Playwrights Festival from its inception Ladder. On television he has appeared on “Numb3rs,” in 1998 through 2005, and for seven years was “NYPD Blue,” “Guiding Light,” “As the World Turns,” A r tistic Director of the theatre program of Sundance “Law & Order,” “Peter Sellers‚ Merchant of Venice,” Institute. He was Professor of Theatre and Film at “The Eddie Matos Story,” “Sesame Street” and “The Long Beach City College and taught at UCI, UCS D , Equalizer.” Mr. Quintero has performed his one-man CSULB and other institutions. He is consulting show, First Voice, at The Public Theater and P i l g r i m- dramaturg for the Roundabout Theatre Company in a g e at Highways Performance Space. New York, and now serves as Resident Art i s t i c Director of The Old Globe in San Diego. TO M SH E LT O N* Marley/Spirit of Christmas Yet-to- JO H N - D AV I D KE L L E R * (D i r e c t o r) See biography on Come page P9.

is delightfully astonished to be TH O M A S BU D E R W I T Z (Scenic Design) previously back in A Christmas Carol at SC R designed Doubt, a parable, Pig Fa r m, Bach at a f ter his previous appearance as Leipzig, Proof, A Delicate Balance, A Christmas Topper in the inaugural produc- Carol, But Not for Me and the 2007 Gala “Affair in tion 27 years ago. Other SCR ap- Shanghai” for SC R . He recently designed the world pearances include Hotel Pa r a d i s o , G a l i l e o and T h e premiere of Eric Whitacre’s Paradise Lo s t for Theatre Merchant Of Ve n i c e. More recently, he appeared in @ Boston Court and David Rambo’s The Ice Breaker the Theater For Young Audiences productions of T h e for the Laguna Playhouse. Buderwitz’ set design for Wind In The Wi l l o w s , The Hoboken Chicken Emer- Equinox (Odyssey Theatre) received the 2006 Los g e n c y, Pi n o c c h i o and The Adventures of Pør Quinly Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award. His design for (both directed by John-David Keller), James and the Pera Palas (Theatre @ Boston Court/The Antaeus Giant Pe a c h and The Only Child. At Laguna Play- Company) received the 2005 LADCC, Los Angeles house he has appeared in What The Butler Saw, Stage Alliance Ovation Award, LA We e k l y Award and Travels With My Aunt and The Woman In Black, Back Stage West Garland Award. Regional and L.A. among many others. He toured the nation in that designs include productions for the Pa s a d e n a t h e a t e r ’s production of C o p e n h a g e n . Other South- Playhouse, Geffen Playhouse, PCPA Theaterf e s t , e r n California appearances include Lo o t and Tw e n t i - Denver Center Theatre Company, Arizona Theatre

A Christmas Carol • SOUTH COAST REPERTORY P1 1 C o m p a n y, San Diego Repert o r y Theatre, Po r t l a n d design clients include Disney Resorts, Universal R e p e r t o r y Theatre, The Acting Company of Studios, Princess Cruise Lines, two World’s Fa i r s , Riverside (FL), Rubicon Theatre Company, and theme parks in Seoul and Barcelona. Mr. Odle I n t e r national City Theatre, West Coast Ensemble, spent six years as resident designer for Robert The Colony Theatre, A Noise Within, Fa l c o n Redford’s Sundance Theatre in Utah and served as Theatre, Ricardo Montalban Theatre, 24th Street a r t director for the late Pope John Paul’s 1987 Mass Theatre, Ensemble Theatre, LA Philharm o n i c / in Dodger Stadium. He holds a MFA degree from Disney Concert Hall, Civic Light Opera of South Bay, the Yale University School of Drama and has been a C o u r t Theatre, Coast Playhouse, InterAct Theatre, professor of design at Stanford University, Californ i a Pacific Resident Theatre, Music Theatre of Santa State University, Fu l l e r ton and UC Irvine. In 2006, Barbara, McCoy-Rigby/La Mirada Theatre, Apollo M r. Odle received the distinguished Cultural Legacy Theater (Chicago), Queens Playhouse and the Award from Arts Orange County and has been Center in New York. In 2005, he honored for a Lifetime Achievement in Scenic received the LADCC Career Achievement Award for Design by the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle. Scenic Design. His television designs include A M C ’s “Sunday Morning Shootout”; National DO N N A A N D TO M RU Z I K A (Lighting Design) Geographic’s “Fight Science”; “Mr. Show,” “Def celebrate their 28th year of illuminating A Christmas Comedy Jam,” “HBO Comedy Hour” and “Ske t c h Carol and 35 years of marriage. They have Pad” for HBO; “Battlebots” for Comedy Central; and collaborated on a number of SCR productions specials and series for ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, MTV, including Beyond the Fr i n g e and C o m i n g ESPN, Fox, Disney, USA, UPN, VH1, PAX, A&E and At t r a c t i o n s . Ms. Ruzika has designed many D i s c o v e r y. productions for SC R’s Young Conserv a t o r y Players and several productions on SC R’s Second Stage. DW I G H T RI C H A R D OD L E (Costume Design) has She has designed for Utah Shakespearean Fe s t i v a l , dressed SC R’ s A Christmas Carol annually since Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Laguna Playhouse, 1980. Over 21 seasons with SC R , in both scenery Fu l l e r ton Civic Light Opera, Pasadena Playhouse and costumes, he designed nearly 90 productions. and Long Beach’s International City Theatre. Her Following this with eleven seasons as the Laguna award-winning work has also been seen in Bogota, Playhouse resident scenic and costume designer, he Colombia and Barcelona, Spain. Ms. Ruzika is g a r nered over 100 additional production credits Production Manager and lecturer for the Po m o n a staging three World, six American and a dozen We s t College Department of Theatre & Dance and is on Coast premieres. Mr. Odle has also designed for the Board of Directors for the United States San Jose Repert o r y, the Geffen and Pa s a d e n a Institute of Theatre Technology (USITT). In his 34 Playhouses, Coronet and Colony Theatres, Ballet seasons with SC R , Mr. Ruzika has created award- Pacifica, 12 productions for McCoy- R i g b y winning lighting designs for over 85 productions. E n t e r tainment and seven musicals for the Fu l l e r t o n His lighting designs have been seen on Broadway, in Civic Light Opera; most recently Jekyll and Hyde. national tours, at major regional theatres, and for Last January for FCLO, he created the first live stage many national and international dance and opera production of the blockbuster Disney Channel companies. His entertainment lighting can be seen movie, High School Musical. His 20-year at theme parks in six different countries and his association with the Orange County Pe r f o r ming Art s architectural lighting can be seen in prestigious Center is as a producer/ designer/lecturer. Other hotels, casinos, restaurants, retail centers and

P1 2 SOUTH COAST REPERTORY • A Christmas Carol ENSEMBLE

SE A N DU R R I E colepsy, Sowing Circle, Real Love, “General Dairy,” “Lov- Thomas Shelley ing Class” and “Fun Saturday.”

made his SCR debut in the 2003 pro- BR A N D E N MCDO N A L D duction of A Christmas Carol. The- Constable/Wreath Seller/Young atre credits include the SCR produc- Jacob Marley/Poulterer tion of Cyrano de Bergerac; the world premiere of The Formula a t recently made his SCR debut in A the Next Stage Theater; Stonewall Country at Theatre at Little Night Music after having com- Lime Kiln; Dark Rapture, Family Circles, Once a pleted SCR’s Professional Intensive Catholic, Hot L Baltimore, Waiting for Lefty and A Mid- Program. Theatre credits include summer Night’s Dream at the AADA Studio Theatre. Godspell, And Miss Reardon Drinks a Little, Holy Film credits include the lead role in the feature M.O.G. Ghosts, How the Other Half Loves and The Dining (Winner: Best Picture-Queens International Film Festival Room at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and 2006); Snakes on a Train, Halloween Night, This is En- Romeo and Juliet and 1902: Century Project at Cuesta cino, P.S. I Know You Love Me and Night of the Living College. Dead 3-D, as well as the television show “Why Can’t I Be You?” He is also the Artistic Director of the 3 of a Kind BRYA N VI C K E RY Theater Company in Los Angeles. Puppeteer/Mr. Topper

JE S S I E KI M is pleased to be making his SCR Elizabeth Shelley/Fan/Pursued debut. Theatre credits include T h e Maiden Stephen Schwartz Songbook, a musi- cal revue celebrating the works of is making her SCR debut after having Stephen Schwartz, The Pirates of recently completed SCR’s Profession- Penzance at Musical Theatre West and The Crucible at al Intensive Program. Theatre credits Rude Guerrilla Theatre Company. He is a graduate of include The King and I at GCT and The American Musical and Dramatic Academy in Los An- Make Believe, Pirates of Penzance, A Midsummer geles and has just completed SCR’s Professional Inten- Night’s Dream, Oklahoma! and Our Town at Glendale sive Program. He is very grateful to work with such an Harlequins. Film and television credits include N a r - incredibly talented cast. Enjoy the show!

Students in South Coast Repertory’s Young Conserva- GO R D O N , RE N É E WA L L E R , JA S O N RI S A D A N A a n d PA R K E R tory provide all the young characters in A Christmas CO H N. Appearing in the balance of performances are, C a r o l. Two teams alternate performances. Appear- above, clockwise from left KA M I S H A BR O O K S, MA T T H E W ing Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday evening and Sunday PA N C O E , NI C K O L A S JO H N S T O N , LA U R E N SP E A K M A N , matinee are clockwise from left BR I A N N A BE A C H , BR E N- ZA C H A R Y DI A M O N D , AN I T A AB D I , KA R O L I N E RI B A K a n d N A BA R K E R , JA C O B WA L L E R , PR A N A V MU T A T K E R , GR A C I E PH I L L I P SW A N S O N .

A Christmas Carol • SOUTH COAST REPERTORY P1 3 p e r f o r ming arts centers across the nation and in DR E W DA L Z E L L (Sound Design) is happy to be back Europe and Asia. Mr. Ruzika has received at SCR having previously designed A Little Night numerous awards for his contributions to the art Music, A Christmas Carol, Bunnicula, The and craft of lighting design. He is a member of the Hoboken Chicken Emerg e n c y, Intimate Exchanges Drama faculty in the graduate lighting design and Sideways Stories from Wayside School. His program at the University of California, Irv i n e . recent design work includes The Laramie Project a t Laguna Playhouse; Los Illegals with the Corn e r s t o n e DE N N I S MCCA R T H Y (Musical Arr a n g e m e n t / Theater Company; Fe n (Garland Award), T h e C o m p o s e r ) returns to SCR where he previously Mound Builders, The Cosmonaut’s Last Message to composed music for Dumb Show, Getting Fr a n k i e a Woman He Once Loved in the Fo r mer Soviet M a r ried—and Aft e r w a r ds, The Beard of Avon, U n i o n and As I Lay Dying (Ovation nomination) at Much Ado about Nothing and Of Mice and Men. He Open Fist; A Time for Love, Songs for a New Wo r l d has been writing music for television for more than (Ovation Award) and Tick, Ti c k . . . B o o m at Rubicon 20 years. His career began as a conductor/ arranger Theatre; and Side Show (Ovation nomination), B i l l y for Glen Campbell, whose concert tours took him to Bishop Goes to Wa r (Ovation Nomination), G r a n d every state in the nation and overseas. Once based Hotel, The Laramie Project, Fuddy Meers, Around back in Los Angeles, he worked as musical director the World in 80 Days and The Grand To u r with The on several television variety productions such as Colony Theatre Company. The Lee Strasberg “The Barbara Mandrell Show.” He worked with Theatre, Shakespeare Fe s t i v a l / L A, The Sacred Fo o l s Nelson Riddle and Marty Paich and then became an T h e a t e r, Evidence Room and The Echo Theater orchestrator for film composer Alex North and Company are just a few of the many other theatres began composing for film and television. Over the where his designs have been heard. His work has years he has written music for over 2,000 films, TV also been heard at theme parks owned by Disney, movies and series episodes including “V,” the long- Universal Studios and Paramount. He won the 1998 running “MacGyver,” “Parker Lewis Can’t Lose,” “Star U S I T T Clear Com Sound Achievement Award and Trek: The Next Generation,” “Star Trek: Deep Space holds an MFA in Sound Design from CCM at the Nine,” “Star Trek: Vo y a g e r,” “Star Trek: Enterprise,” University of Cincinnati. “The Twilight Zone,” “Dynasty,” “The Love Boat,” “The Colbys,” “Hotel,” “Birdland” and “Houston DE N N I S CA S T E L L A N O (Vocal Director) has musically Knights.” Mr. McCarthy has also written music for directed the SCR productions of A Little Night “Project Greenlight,” “Dawson’s Creek,” “Related” Music, A Christmas Carol, Happy End, Sunday in and the television movies D a d d y, Kaleidoscope, the Park with George and A Chorus of Disapproval. Care and Handling of Roses, V: The Final Battle, Recent credits include Annie Get Your Gun and T h e Hidden in Silence, Armed and Innocent, Overkill, A Best Little Whorehouse In Texas for Civic Light Texas Tr a g e d y and Having Our Say. He has won Opera of South Bay Cities; Me and My Girl and A two Emmy Awards for his work on “Star Trek” and C h o r us Line for The Music Theatre of Wichita; M y composed the music for the series’ first feature, Fair La d y , T h e Unsinkable Molly Brown, Guys and G e n e r a t i o n s . He is a 12-time winner of ASC A P ’ s Dolls and Annie Get Your Gun for McCoy Rigby Most Performed Composer Award. He is a Southern E n t e r tainment; The King and I, A Funny Thing C a l i f o r nia native, the father of three and proud Happened On the Way To the Fo r um a n d grandfather of eight beautiful grandchildren. Thoroughly Modern Millie for Musical Theatre

P1 4 SOUTH COAST REPERTORY • A Christmas Carol West; Li’l Abner for the Musical Theatre Guild; and Crazy For You, Ragtime, Jesus Christ Superstar a n d JU L I A N N E A N D GE O R G E AR G Y R O S (H o n o r a r y C a r o u s e l, to name a few, for the Sacramento Music P r o d u c e r s) have been significant supporters of Circus where he has conducted for the past 20 South Coast Repert o r y since the theatre’s early seasons. Mr. Castellano serves as the of the days. The couple’s $5 million donation to the Music Theatre Program at UCI and is very proud of Next Stage Campaign named the Julianne his many students perf o r ming in New York and Argyros Stage, and in September they around the country. announced an additional gift of $10 million to the Legacy Campaign. This strong support is LI N D A KO S TA L I K (C h o r e o g r a p h e r ) is a retired indicative of their commitment to South Coast Professor from the Theatre Arts and Dance R e p e r t o r y and the arts in Orange County. “SC R D e p a rtm ent at Cal State Los Angeles. Her career as has brought exceptional theatre to our d a n c e r, choreographer, and educator has spanned community through its productions, and with 44 years. She has choreographed numerous each passing season the theatre’s work has productions for professional theatres such as SC R , broadened and gained relevance,” Julianne said. Playwrights Horizons, The Goodman Theatre, “I grew up aware of the wonderful role theatre I n t e r national City Theatre, Steve Allen and others. can play in a child’s life and believe it’s Ms. Kostalik will be directing Grammy nominee i m p o r tant that we never lose that sense of Bobby Rodriguez in A Latin Jazz Christmas Show magic.” The Argyros family keeps the magic alive and has recently worked on the musical review T h e as Honorary Producers of A Christmas Carol. Tr i b u t e with Crissy Guerrero and Dave Fo l e y. She continues to explore creative work in videography and design. As always, she is pleased to be back and an MFA from the California Institute of the with the SCR family. Happy Holidays! A r ts.

HI S A TA K A K U WA* (Assistant Director) having ER I N NE L S O N * (Stage Manager) is delighted to be appeared as an actor in A Christmas Carol for 14 back for her fourth wonderful year as part of A seasons, now takes on the role of Assistant Christmas Carol. Other SCR credits include D i r e c t o r. After completing her professional Shipwrecked! An Entertainment, System training as an actor, Ms. Ta k a kuwa appeared at SC R Wonderland, Life is a Dream, Bach at Leipzig, The in The Man Who Came to Dinner and 13 Studio, The Caucasian Chalk Circle, A View from Educational Touring Productions including the the Bridge and Theatre for Young Au d i e n c e s original production of Bad Water Blues. Other productions of The Stinky Cheese Man, The Only acting credits include 15 seasons as a resident art i s t Child, The Adventures of Pør Quinly, Bunnicula, with the classical repert o r y company A Noise The Little Prince, The Hoboken Chicken Within, playing such roles as Masha in The Seagull, E m e r g e n c y, The Wind in the Willows, Sideways Maria in Tw e l f th Night and Emily in Our To w n , and Stories from Wayside School and The Emperor’ s work at Indiana Repert o r y Theatre, the Sundance New Clothes. Previous credits include La Jolla Institute’s Children’s Theatre and Playwright’s Lab Playhouse, The Old Globe, Idaho Shake s p e a r e and the Grove Shakespeare Festival. She is also an Festival, National Playwrights Conference and active director, having directed SC R’s Theatre Theatre IV. C o n s e r v a t o r y Players in Crow and We a s e l and T h e Trials of Alice in Wo n d e r l a n d , the Teen Players in CH R I S S Y CH U R C H * (Assistant Stage Manager) is Scouting Re a l i t y and the Summer Players in East of thrilled to be returning for her fourth adventure the Sun and West of the Moon, Snow Angel, and with Scrooge and Company. She would like to Time Again in Oz. Other recent productions thank the ACC Deck Crew for their extraordinary include Tw e l f th Night, Shooting Stars and H e n r y V hard work and dedication, this show would not be at Actors Co-op in Hollywood. She also served as possible without them! Previous credits at SC R Assistant Director to Art Manke on SC R ’ s include the world premieres of My Wandering Boy, production of The Wind in the Wi l l o w s and to Libby M r. Marmalade, Getting Frankie Married — and Appel on A Raisin in the Sun at the Indiana Aft e r w a rds, Making It and N o s t a l g i a , productions R e p e r t o r y Theatre. A passionate educator, Ms. o f Doubt, a parable, The Real Thing, Hitchcock Ta k a kuwa is currently the Director of SC R’s Theatre Blonde, Born Ye s t e r d a y, Pinocchio, The Little C o n s e r v a t o r y. She holds a BA from Smith College Prince, Intimate Exchanges, La Posada Mágica,

A Christmas Carol • SOUTH COAST REPERTORY P1 5 Anna in the Tropics, Proof and the Pa c i f i c Margaret Edson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Wit, w h i c h Playwrights Festival workshop of Tough Ti t t y . he also directed at Seattle Repert o r y Theatre and the Alley Theatre in Houston. He has directed DAV I D EM M E S (Producing Artistic Director) is co- American classics including Ah, Wi l d e r n e s s ! , A founder of SC R . He has received numerous awards Streetcar Named Desire, A Delicate Balance and A for productions he has directed during his SC R View from the Bridge. Benson has received the c a r e e r, including a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle LADCC Distinguished Achievement in Directing Award for the direction of George Bernard Shaw’ s awards an unparalleled seven times for the three The Philanderer. He directed the world premieres Shaw productions, John Millington Synge’s P l a y b o y of Amy Freed’s Safe in Hell, The Beard of Avon a n d of the We s t e r n Wo r l d , Arthur Miller’s The Cru c i b l e , Freedomland, Thomas Babe’s Great Day in the Sally Nemeth’s Holy Days and Wi t . He also M o r n i n g, Keith Reddin’s Rum and Coke a n d B u t directed the film version of Holy Days using the Not for Me and Neal Bell’s Cold Sweat; the original SCR cast. Along with Emmes, he accepted American premieres of Te r ry Johnson’s U n s u i t a b l e SC R’s 1988 Tony Award for Outstanding Resident for Adults and Joe Penhall’s Dumb Show; the We s t Professional Theatre and won the 1995 Theatre LA Coast premieres of C.P. Ta y l o r ’s Good and Harry Ovation Award for Lifetime Achievement. Benson Kondoleon’s Christmas on Mars; and the received his BA in Theatre from San Francisco State Southland premiere of Top Girls (at SCR and the U n i v e r s i t y. Westwood Playhouse). Other productions include the West Coast premieres of Three Viewings b y PA U L A TO M E I (Managing Director) is responsible Jeffrey Hatcher, The Secret Rapture by David Hare for the overall administration of South Coast and New England by Richard Nelson; and A r c a d i a R e p e r t o r y and has been Managing Director since by Tom Stoppard, The Importance of Being 1994. A member of the SCR staff since 1979, she E a r nest by Oscar Wilde, Ay c k b o u r n’s Woman in has served in a number of administrative capacities Mind and You Never Can Tell by George Bern a r d including Subscriptions Manager, Business Manager S h a w, which he restaged for the Singapore Fe s t i v a l and General Manager. She served on the board of of Arts. He has served as a theatre panelist and Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the onsite evaluator for the National Endowment for national service organization for theatre, from the Arts, on the Executive Committee of the 1998-2006, and was its President for four years. League of Resident Theatres, and as a panelist for She has also served as Treasurer of TCG, Vice the California Arts Council. After attending Orange President of the League of Resident Theatres Coast College, he received his BA and MA from San ( L O R T) and has been a member of the LORT Francisco State University, and his PhD in theatre Negotiating Committee for industry-wide union and film from USC. agreements. In addition, she represents SCR at national conferences of TCG and LORT; has been a MA RT I N BE N S O N (A r tistic Director), co-founder of theatre panelist for the National Endowment for SCR with his colleague David Emmes, has directed the Arts (NEA) and the California Arts Council, and nearly one third of the plays produced here. He site visitor for the NEA; served on the Advisory has distinguished himself in the staging of Committee for the Arts Administration Cert i f i c a t e c o n t e m p o r a r y work, including William Nicholson’s Program at the University of California, Irvine; and The Retreat from Moscow, the world premiere of has been a guest lecturer in the graduate school of H o r ton Foote’s Getting Frankie Married — and business at Stanford and the University of Aft e r w a rd s and the critically acclaimed Californ i a C a l i f o r nia, Irvine. She recently joined the board of premiere of Nicholson’s S h a d o w l a n d s . He has A r ts Orange County, the county wide arts council. won accolades for his direction of five major works Ms. Tomei graduated from the University of by George Bernard Shaw, including the Los Angeles C a l i f o r nia, Irvine with a degree in Economics and Drama Critics Circle (LADCC) Aw a r d - w i n n e r s pursued an additional course of study in theatre Major Barbara, Misalliance and H e a r t b r e a k and dance. H o u s e. Among his numerous world premieres is

The Actors and Stage Managers em- The Scenic, Costume, Lighting and The Director is a member of the So- ployed in this production are mem- Sound Designers in LORT theatres ciety of Stage Directors and Chore- bers of Actors’ Equity Association, the are represented by United Scenic ographers, Inc., an independent na- Union of Professional Actors and Artists Local USA-829, IATSE. tional labor union. Stage Managers in the United States.

P1 6 SOUTH COAST REPERTORY • A Christmas Carol