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The mystery of Irma Vep CHARLES LUDLAM JONATHAN MOSCONE AUG 12–SEP 6 BRUNS AMPHITHEATER, ORINDA 510.548.9666 www.calshakes.org “ City National helps keep my financial life in tune.” So much of my life is always shifting; a different city, a different piece of music, a different ensemble. I need people who I can count on to help keep my financial life on course so I can focus on creating and sharing the “adventures” of classical music. City National shares my passion and is instrumental in helping me bring classical music to audiences all over the world. They enjoy being a part of what I do and love. That is the essence of a successful relationship. City National is The way up® for me. Michael Tilson Thomas Conductor, Educator and Composer Find your way up.SM To learn more about how we can help keep your financial life in tune, visit FindYourWayUp. com/Tuned2SF or call (866) 618-5244 to speak with a personal banker. 15 City National Bank 15 City National ©20 City National Personal Banking CNB MEMBER FDIC Untitled-25 1 7/6/15 4:15 PM Dear Friends, Of all the deadlines I have missed in getting this letter to our intrepid marketing team, over the many years of writing to you, this is the latest I’ve ever been. There is a reason: It is unbearable for me to leave this community of audiences. I am spending time with board, staff, and artists to work through my feelings of loss and letting go, but since I don’t see everyone in the audience on a frequent and consistent basis, I am quite thrown off my game in writing something akin to a goodbye letter. I can’t say goodbye. This theater is in my blood. I will always care for it, and for the culture that we all have created; one that brings so many different people together to experience theater made by so many different people. Putting Shakespeare and the classics in the hands of people who differ in aesthetics and aspirations, and in front of people as diverse, and as committed to this work, is the key to Cal Shakes’ success. We don’t believe in one way of making theater, or one way of experiencing it. The fantastic joy of living in the Bay Area is that we walk the walk of the best parts of our country’s essential democratic foundation. Everyone has a say in what Shakespeare and the classics can be; more so, what theater can be. And even more, what culture can be. And that, beyond all else, is my legacy—if I can be so bold to claim one. It’s the torch I pass on to the next Artistic Director. She, or he, will come in and know that we have a culture of deep humanity, where individual voice is championed over prescribed thinking. Shakespeare, the classics, and all theater (I contend) will live, thrive, and grow if we keep it in the hands of the people. At Cal Shakes, the artists and audiences have always been equal. Our many subscribers have a special place in my heart, because you make our work happen—beyond any one show, beyond the superficial “thumbs up/ thumbs down,” becoming a subscriber means more than liking us. It means you believe in our mission and you are essential to the culture that has been created; the culture we call California Shakespeare Theater. This isn’t a pitch for more subscribers, because I love the new people who come to see our shows as well. They keep us on our toes and remind us how many more people we can, and need, to reach in order to spread this culture of progressiveness, rigor, diversity, and delight that makes theater worth making, and life worth living. I am not going to say goodbye, but I will say thank you—from the depth of my heart. Jonathan 2pub-BBB_CALSHAKES_070315.pdf 1 6/29/15 8:12 PM August 2015 Volume 24, No. 3 Paul Heppner Publisher Susan Peterson Design & Production Director Ana Alvira, Robin Kessler, Kim Love Design and Production Artists Mike Hathaway Bay Area Sales Director Marilyn Kallins, Terri Reed, Tim Schuyler Hayman San Francisco/Bay Area Account Executives Marty Griswold Seattle Sales Director Brieanna Bright, Joey Chapman, Gwendolyn Fairbanks, Ann Manning, Seattle Area Account Executives C Carol Yip M Sales Coordinator Y Jonathan Shipley Ad Services Coordinator CM www.encoreartssf.com MY CY CMY K Paul Heppner President Mike Hathaway Vice President Genay Genereux Accounting Corporate Office 425 North 85th Street Seattle, WA 98103 p 206.443.0445 f 206.443.1246 [email protected] 800.308.2898 x105 www.encoremediagroup.com Encore Arts Programs is published monthly by Encore Media Group to serve musical and theatrical events in the Puget Sound and San Francisco Bay Areas. All rights reserved. ©2015 Encore Media Group. Reproduction without written permission is prohibited. 4 CALIFORNIA SHAKESPEARE THEATER WWW.CALSHAKES.ORG STARTS AUG 28 PHOTO BY CHESHIRE ISAACS A NEW MUSICAL Amélie, A New Musical book by Craig Lucas music by Daniel Messé lyrics by Nathan Tysen and Daniel Messé musical direction by Kimberly Grigsby musical staging and choreographed by Sam Pinkleton SPONSOR directed by Pam MacKinnon Mechanics Bank Wealth Management DISCOVER THE Frances McDormand in Macbeth, Mary Zimmerman’s Treasure Island, the Pulitzer Prize–winning Disgraced, a fantastical 2 15–16 Pirates of Penzance, and more—your adventure awaits! SEASON TICKET PACKAGES ON SALE NOW Frances McDormand SEASON SPONSORS Call 510 647-2949 Click berkeleyrep.org Untitled-8 1 7/27/15 9:13 AM A 56-Year HONOR LoveAffair THE PAST, ENSURE THE FUTURE WITH CAL SHAKES LEGACY CIRCLE. MOSCONE PERMANENT ENDOWMENT LEAD DONORS Ellen & Joffa Dale Legacy Circle Donor Profile: Barclay & Sharon Simpson Call 510.548.9666 or visit www.calshakes.org/tickets Mary Jo & Bruce Byson LEGACY CIRCLE CHARTER MEMBERS By Philippa Kelly, Resident Dramaturg Mary Jo & Bruce Byson Mary Jo and Bruce Byson believe themselves to be very ordinary people, and their Phil & Chris Chernin concern in approaching this interview was that there might be nothing to say about Debbie Chinn them! High school English teachers from 1958 until 1989, they inherited some stock Ellen & Joffa Dale in the late 1990s that inspired them to give $70,000 each to three performance Peter Fisher organizations, one of which was Cal Shakes at the start of Jonathan Moscone’s tenure. Douglas Hill Xanthe & Jim Hopp Their donation allowed Cal Shakes to reach a major milestone in contributed funding David Ray Johnson that year. The Bysons also have Cal Shakes in a trust, and the company will receive a Mark Jordan percentage of their remaining assets after both of them pass away. Debby & Bruce Lieberman Tina Morgado About their initial gift, I asked, “Did you ever think twice about giving so much away Richard Norris at a relatively early part of your lives?” Bruce replied, “Yes, we did think twice, but we Shelly Osborne knew what our priorities were.” He followed with a part of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 60, James & Nita Roethe Laura & Robert Sehr which he recites every night before sleep: Barclay & Sharon Simpson Like as the waves make towards the pebbl’d shore, Jean Simpson Valerie Sopher So do our minutes hasten to their end; Kate Stechschulte & David Cost, in memory of Each changing place with that which goes before, Margaret Cost In sequent toil all forwards do contend… M.J. Stephens & Bernard Tagholm Janis Turner “No one knows how long he or she will live,” Mary Jo added. “We’re all a part of the Carol Jackson Upshaw rhythm of the universe, the water, the sand, and the pebbled shore. It was a gift in Arthur Weil Jay Yamada itself to take what had come to us and pass it on to the theater where we’ve most Monique Young joyfully celebrated our 56-year love affair.” For more useful glossary terms visit www.calshakes.org/blog On the following pages Cal Shakes actors, board members, and INTERESTED IN JOINING other colleagues pay tribute to Jonathan Moscone with their THE CIRCLE? CONTACT [email protected] reflections on the effect he’s had on their lives and Cal Shakes. FOR MORE INFORMATION. 6 CALIFORNIA SHAKESPEARE THEATER WWW.CALSHAKES.ORG COMING NEXT SAVE THE DATES! Meet the artists, save money on tickets, and sample local food and drink during the runs of The Mystery Directed by Amanda Dehnert of Irma Vep and King Lear September 16–October 11 WITH Nationally-renowned director Amanda Dehnert, who thrilled Oregon Shakespeare Festival THE MYSTERY EVENTS KING LEAR CAL SHAKES audiences with radically inventive productions of My Fair Lady in 2013 and Into the Woods OF IRMA VEP LEGACY CIRCLE. King Lear last year, will close our season with the much-anticipated , in which an aging ruler Inside Scoop selfishly divides up his kingdom and, in the process, tears his family, and his country, apart. These special events provide an insider’s Joining the ranks of legendary Lears like Laurence Olivier, John Gielgud, Anthony Hopkins, view of an upcoming N/A 8/31 and Ian McKellen, will be the remarkable Obie Award-winning and Tony Award-nominated production, featuring The Elephant Man directors, cast, and Anthony Heald—fresh off his stint in on Broadway—in his Cal Shakes debut. artists up close. Often called “the Everest” of tragedies because of the scale of emotions to which it soars and Lower-priced descends, King Lear speaks directly today to a society afraid of the complications, conflicts, previews Be part of the process 8/12, 9/16, and needs that come with aging, while reminding audiences of the resiliency of love.