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FEEL THE MOMENT 2015/2016 SEASON IN THIS ISSUE MARCH 2016 Title Page 2 Cast 3 About the Play 4 The Cast 6 The Creative Team 10 ATC Artistic Director 15 About Arizona Theatre Company 17 ATC Board of Trustees 18 Corporate and Foundation Donors 19 Individual Donors 20 ATC Staff 28 Theatre Information 31 The historic Temple of Music and Art, Arizona Theatre Company’s home in downtown Tucson Cover art by: ESSER DESIGN 1 David Ira Goldstein Artistic Director Presents a Co-Production with Milwaukee Repertory Theater Mark Clements Artistic Director; Chad Bauman Managing Director OF MICE AND MEN BY JOHN STEINBECK Mark Clements Director Todd Edward Ivins Scenic Designer Rachel Laritz Costume Designer Jesse Klug. Lighting Designer Joe Cerqua Sound Design and Original Composition Jamie Cheatham Fight Director Leda Hoffmann Associate Director Nabrashaa Nelson Assistant Director JC Clementz Casting Director Glenn Bruner*. Production Stage Manager Timothy Toothman* Assistant Stage Manager On this original Arizona Theatre Company and Milwaukee Repertory Theater co-production, the ATC and MRT Production Staffs are responsible for scenic construction, costume construction, lighting, projections, sound, props, furniture, wigs, scene painting and special effects Of Mice and Men is presented by special arrangement with SAMUEL FRENCH, INC 2015/2016 SEASON SPONSORS: I. MICHAEL AND BETH KASSER 2 FEEL THE MOMENT 2015/2016 SEASON CAST (IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE) Jonathan Wainwright* George Scott Greer* Lennie James Pickering* Candy Jonathan Gillard Daly* Boss Bernard Balbot* Curley James Farruggio* Slim Kelley Faulkner* Curley’s Wife Sean Patrick Fawcett* Carlson Riley O’Toole Whit Chike Johnson* Crooks *Members of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States. TIME: 1930s PLACE: Salinas Valley of northern California THERE WILL BE ONE FIFTEEN-MINUTE INTERMISSION. ADDITIONAL STAFF Emma DeVore Assistant to the Stage Manager Domino Mannheim Assistant Lighting Designer Arizona Theatre Company operates under agreements between the League of Resident Theatres (LORT) and Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States; Stage Directors and Choreographers, an independent national labor union; and United Scenic Artists Local USA-829, IATSE To learn more about Of Mice and Men please visit the Education page on our website at arizonatheatre org for a comprehensive free Play Guide The Play Guide contains a biography of John Steinbeck, historical context, and more Play Guides are also available in The Temple Lounge for a nominal charge to cover printing Cell phones and other devices that make a noise can greatly disturb your fellow audience members and the performers. PLEASE TURN THEM OFF before the performance and again after intermission. 3 FEEL THE MOMENT 2015/2016 SEASON ABOUT THE PLAY DIRECTOR’S NOTE Like many of us, I first encountered John Steinbeck’sOf Mice and Men at school. I was 13 years old, and on reflection, it was probably the first adult book I had ever read that truly resonated with me on a deeper and more emotional level. Coming from a respectable, British, middle class family I was at that time absolutely way too young, sheltered and naive to fully appreciate the vast context or central mechanism of this beloved and iconic American novel. I had very few plans, they Mark Clements weren’t best laid, and none of them had gone too badly awry thus far. So, at that particular time, I was clearly compelled, pre-occupied and absorbed by the unusual, amusing and often moving friendship of Lennie and George; two men, through sheer necessity, against the socio-political backdrop of the Great Depression, thrown together, yet so bound to each other in a relationship of co-dependency, that the whole universe of the story always had the potential to implode at any moment they might be pulled apart. As an only child, and a somewhat shy one at that, I identified with, and was intrigued by this extraordinary and unique friendship, and definitely had just enough insight in that respect to appreciate and be affected by Steinbeck’s elegiac depiction of abject loneliness, longing, and isolation amongst his protagonists. In 2006, I was grateful to be invited by my close friend, Bernard Havard, the Artistic Director, of the Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia, to fulfill a long desired professional aspiration to direct a production of the play. We had a sensational cast, that included my good friend and terrific and beloved Philly based actor, Scott Greer, who reprises the role of Lenny here at ATC, along with long term collaborator, scenic designer, Todd Ivins, who also recreates his beautiful Jonathan Wainwright, Jonathan Gillard Daly, and Scott Greer in ATC’s production of Of Mice and Men Photo by Michael Brosilow 4 FEEL THE MOMENT 2015/2016 SEASON ABOUT THE PLAY work for this co-production between Arizona Theatre Company and the Milwaukee Rep, where I currently reside as Artistic Director. Revisiting this beloved text years later as an adult, I was struck by Steinbeck’s brilliant, but simple observations of human need and desired connectivity, while arguably offering up one of the most elegant and erudite accounts of characters in search of the American Dream with all its innate fragility on full display. It is sadly, but prophetically true from the poem of Robbie Burns, that inspires the title of this play, that the “Best laid schemes O’ Mice and Men’ oft go awry”, and as we mature, we can assuredly feel this in deeper and darker ways as the years roll on. We reach for our dreams and open ourselves up in ways that expose us to the cruel reality of sometimes only realizing them fleetingly, or perhaps not at all. Of Mice And Men, is ultimately a harsh and cruel tale, but also one that can somehow inspire us to value or take consolation in our own pursuit and personal vision of the American Dream, and continue to dare us to dream that compulsive dream. Nine years later, I am most grateful to ATC, Artistic Director, David Ira Goldstein, and the Trustees of Milwaukee Repertory Theater, for affording me another opportunity to direct this iconic piece of American literature with a new and equally terrific group of talented/dedicated actors, and a group of creative artists who have put this production together with much love, care and attention, for which I extend my sincere gratitude. I sincerely hope that you find this performance, at least half as fruitful and satisfying, as we have all done so in making it. Mark Clements Director Scott Greer and Jonathan Wainwright in ATC’s production of Of Mice and Men. Photo by Michael Brosilow 5 FEEL THE MOMENT 2015/2016 SEASON THE CAST Bernard Balbot (Curley) Chicago credits include: You Can’t Take It With You (Northlight Theatre); She Loves Me (Writers Theatre); A Midsummer Night’s Dream in the Parks, Short Shakespeare! Macbeth (Chicago Shakespeare); We Are Proud to Present a Presentation... (Victory Gardens Theater); Rich and Famous (Jackalope Theatre); The Original Grease, Yeast Nation, It’s a Wonderful Life: A Radio Play (American Theater Company) and A Christmas Carol (Drury Lane THeatre). Regional credits include: American Conservatory Theater, Asolo Repertory Theatre, Utah Shakespeare Festival, Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theatre, Hangar Theatre and Milwaukee Repertory Theater. TV/Film: Chicago Fire/Warrior. Mr. Balbot is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama and NTI’s Moscow Art Theatre Program. Up next: Company directed by William Brown at Writers Theatre. Jonathan Gillard Daly (Boss) is a veteran of the regional theatre, having joined Actors’ Equity Association in 1977. He has been a member of resident acting companies at Repertory Theatre of St. Louis (1977-81), Great Lakes Theater Festival (1982-84), PCPA Theaterfest (1984-97), Milwaukee Repertory Theater (1998-2012), and the Great River Shakespeare Festival (2004-13). Some of his favorite classical roles include Prospero in The Tempest, Shylock in The Merchant of Venice, both Malvolio and Feste in Twelfth Night, Falstaff in Henry IV Part One, and King Lear. Musical roles include Herr Schulz in Cabaret, the Proprietor in Assassins, and Edward Bloom in Big Fish. He has appeared over the years in plays at the Utah Shakespeare Festival, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Repertory Theatre of Saint Louis, Actors Theater of Louisville, Clarence Brown Theater, American Players Theater, Shakespeare Theater of New Jersey, and PCPA Theaterfest. He is the author of the musical memoir, The Daly News, and a drama, To the Promised Land. He is currently working on a one-man play, titled An Evening with Carl Sandburg. 6 FEEL THE MOMENT 2015/2016 SEASON THE CAST James Farruggio (Slim) Previous plays include: Of Mice and Men and To Kill a Mockingbird (Steppenwolf for Young Adults); Show Boat (The Lyric Opera of Chicago); Bethany; Streamers; Stop/Kiss; The Ruby Sunrise; Suicide, Incorporated; Northwest Highway; Oh, The Humanity (and other exclamations); Almost Maine, Vigils, and Broadsword as well as Ten.2012, Ten.2013, and Ten.2014 (The Gift Theatre); The Kentucky Cycle (Infamous Commonwealth Theatre); Stage Door (Griffin Theatre). Film and television credits: Batman Dark Knight, The Beast, Prison Break, Crisis, Chicago P.D. and The Playboy Club. Kelley Faulkner (Curley’s Wife) Regional credits include The Mousetrap, Harvey, Noises Off, Ragtime, The Diary of Anne Frank, Cabaret, Always...Patsy Cline, Assassins, A Christmas Carol, and The History of Invulnerability (Milwaukee Repertory Theater); Proof (Theatre-Fest); Oliver! and State Fair (Walnut Street Theatre); All Shook Up (Fireside Theatre). National Tour: Big. She can be seen/ heard in numerous commercials, industrials, and voiceovers, and holds a BFA in Acting from Montclair State University. Ms. Faulkner is a proud member of Actor’s Equity, as well as the Pro99 movement to save intimate theatre in Los Angeles.