Press Contact: Canary Promotion Rose Mineo, [email protected] Office: (215) 690-4065 High-resolution photos available upon request and online at: www.canarypromo.com/mauckingbird Official Website: www.mauckingbird.org FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 24, 2012 Mauckingbird Theatre Company presents The Temperamentals By Jon Marans Directed by Peter Reynolds and Brandon McShaffrey April 11–29, 2012, in the Skybox at The Adrienne Theatre PHILADELPHIA — Mauckingbird Theatre Company opens its fifth season presenting professional gay- themed theater in Philadelphia with the Philly premiere of Jon Marans’ 2009 play The Temperamentals, directed by Mauckingbird Artistic Director Peter Reynolds and Producing Director Brandon McShaffrey. The Temperamentals, so named for the code word gay men used to refer to themselves, reveals the courageous men of the Mattachine Society, the first viable gay rights organization in the United States. The New York Times hailed the play “informative and evocative. … The Temperamentals succeeds at conveying an era when only a few brave men dared announce their sexual identity before a society that vilified them.” This production features cast members Mike Dees, Carl Granieri, Doug Greene, John Jarboe and Matt Tallman. The Temperamentals begins previews April 8 and runs April 11–29, 2012 (opening night is Wednesday, April 11, at 7 p.m.), at the Skybox at The Adrienne Theatre, located at 2030 Sansom St. in Philadelphia. Tickets are $25 for adults, $20 for seniors and $15 for students and are available by calling the Mauckingbird Theatre Company box office at (215) 923-8909 or online at www.mauckingbird.org. Set against a backdrop of intolerance at the height of early-1950s McCarthyism, The Temperamentals tells of a secret love story that unfolds between communist Harry Hay (Matt Tallman) and Viennese refugee and designer Rudi Gernreich (John Jarboe). Harry and Rudi are part of a brotherhood caught between who they are and who they appear to be. The play was nominated by the Outer Critics Circle for the John Gassner Award for Playwriting and Outstanding Off-Broadway Play in 2009-2010, and won a 2012 Stonewall Book Award. "We are excited to share this story that brings to light an important, yet too rarely discussed, moment in the history of our country," says Reynolds. "Mauckingbird endeavors to tell good stories that serve our diverse audience." Managing Director Lindsay Mauck adds a favorite quote from Philadelphia Magazine, “Gay or not Gay, this is simply good theater.” The Temperamentals – Page 1 of 4 On Sunday, April 15, Mauckingbird will also host the second annual Mr. Mauckingbird Pageant, benefiting the company’s mission to bring professional gay-themed theater to Philadelphia. The evening begins with a cocktail hour at 6:30 followed by the irreverent, all male pageant, hosted by multiple Barrymore Award winner Jennie Eisenhower and moderated by a panel of Philadelphia celebrity judges. Tickets for the event are $50 and can be purchased at www.mauckingbird.org or by calling (215) 923-8909. ABOUT THE CAST Matt Tallman (Harry Hay) has worked professionally throughout the country, including performances with Philadelphia’s Azuka Theatre, the Utah Shakespeare Festival, Dallas Theater Center, American Players Theatre, and others. John Jarboe (Rudi Gernreich) is currently a Philadelphia-based theatre artist recently seen in Applied Mechanics’ Vainglorious (Josephine) and Brat Productions’ 24-Hour Bald Soprano (Mr. Smith/Martin). Other Philadelphia credits include productions with Philadelphia Shakespeare Theater, Walnut Street Theatre and The Wilma Theater. Performing in multiple-character roles are actors Mike Dees, Doug Greene and Carl Granieri. Mike Dees (Man #1), a 2002 Barrymore Award-winner for Supporting Actor in a Musical (Chicago, Villanova Theater), has worked with The Wilma Theater, 1812 Productions, Lantern Theater Company, Azuka Theatre and Inis Nua Theatre, with whom he performed Off-Broadway in 2011. Doug Greene has been part of two Barrymore Award-nominated ensembles (Spring Awakening, EgoPo Classic Theater and Vagabond Acting Troupe’s The Art of War) and is making his Mauckingbird debut as Man #2. Other performances have been with Philadelphia Shakespeare Theatre, The Philadelphia Artists' Collective, Iris Theatre Company, Theatre Ariel and more. Carl Granieri (Man #3) is an actor, dramaturg and educator currently working at the Arden Theatre as a special consultant in New Play Development and has taught acting, theatre history and rhetoric/discourse at Temple University. His work on Beautiful Confusion Productions’ Necropolis was named among the 10 best of the international Prague Fringe festival. He recently appeared in the inaugural seasons of the professional Temple Repertory company, and worked behind the scenes as the dramaturg for Sam Shepard’s Buried Child. ABOUT THE PRODUCTION TEAM The Temperamentals production team includes dramaturg Joan Saltzman, set designer Andrew Laine, lighting designer Matthew Miller, sound designer Ryan Walsh, and costume designer Marie Anne Chiment. This is Andrew’s first production with Mauckingbird, having been a fan of their work through several seasons, and Marie has worked as the Resident Designer for the company since 2008’s The Misanthrope. Matthew Miller returns to Mauckingbird after lighting the TRU/Baldwin Winter Repertory, and The Temperamentals marks Ryan Walsh’s first production with the company. Brandon McShaffrey is the Producing Director of Mauckingbird Theatre Company, where he directed their world premier of James Ijames’ THE THRESHING FLOOR. He is currently finishing his MFA in Directing at Temple University following his thesis production of RICHARD III. In Philadelphia, he has worked at Act II Playhouse, Hedgerow Theatre, Theatre Exile, Philadelphia Young Playwrights, Villanova Theatre and Drexel University. He is originally from Chicago where he worked as a Choreographer and directs and choreographs regularly at Maples Repertory Theatre. Peter Reynolds is the Artistic Director of Mauckingbird Theatre Company. He currently serves as the Head of Musical Theater for the Department of Theater at Temple University. In Philadelphia, he has worked at Media Theatre, Act II Playhouse, Walnut Street Theatre, Hedgerow Theatre, Villanova Theatre, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Philadelphia Young Playwrights and the Lenape Regional Performing Arts Center in New Jersey. Reynolds spent six years as Artistic Director of the award-winning HealthWorks Theatre in Chicago and has also worked at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Theatre Building Chicago, Apollo Theatre Chicago, St. Louis’ HotCity Theatre, Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre and Maples Repertory. The Temperamentals – Page 2 of 4 ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT Jon Marans’ plays include: A Strange and Separate People, The Temperamentals, Old Wicked Songs (Pulitzer Prize Finalist for Drama, included in Otis Guernsey's Best Plays of 1996-97), Jumping For Joy, Legacy of the Dragonslayers (book by Jon Marans, lyrics by Ronnie Gilbert) and Irrationals (book and lyrics by Jon Marans, music by Edward Thomas). In television, Marans was a writer/lyricist for the 1991 Carol Burnett Show. In film, Marans and Yuri Sivo were hired by Universal/Tribeca productions to write a political/war screenplay based on Roy Rowan’s acclaimed book Chasing the Dragon. Marans is a graduate of Duke University in mathematics with a minor in music who has directed his play Old Wicked Songs three times, including at the Bristol Riverside Theater, where it was the winner of the BroadwayWorld Philadelphia Awards for best production, director and actor (Keith Baker). He also recently directed the play Barrymore at Bristol Riverside Theater. ABOUT MAUCKINGBIRD THEATRE COMPANY Founded by Artistic Director Peter Reynolds and Managing Director Lindsay Mauck, Mauckingbird Theatre Company is committed to producing professional gay-themed theatre, while also exploring classic literature and musical genres and providing affordable productions of infrequently produced works. Past productions include the critically acclaimed all-male versions of The Misanthrope (2008) and Shakespeare's R & J (2008); the lesbian adaptation of Hedda Gabler (2009); the dark crime drama Never the Sinner: The Leopold and Loeb Story (2009); TRU and The Threshing Floor (2010), a repertory of two one-man shows about influential gay writers Truman Capote and James Baldwin; an original modern interpretation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2010) and the regional premiere of Jeff Bowen and Hunter Bell’s musical [title of show] (2011). Mauckingbird Theatre Company is a proud member of the Off-Broad Street Consortium of Independent Theatres. The Temperamentals – Page 3 of 4 The Temperamentals FACTS Performances: Dates: April 11–29, 2012 Previews: April 8 and 10 Sun., 4/8 7:00 p.m. *Opening night is Wednesday, April 11, 7 p.m. Tue., 4/10 7:00 p.m. Presented by: Mauckingbird Theatre Company Wed., 4/11* 7:00 p.m. Thu., 4/12 7:00 p.m. Location: Skybox at The Adrienne Theatre, Fri., 4/13 8:00 p.m. 2030 Sansom St., Philadelphia, PA 19103 Sat., 4/14 8:00 p.m. Sun., 4/15** 2:00 p.m. Prices: $25 Adults, $20 Seniors, $15 Students Thu., 4/19 7:00 p.m. Mauckingbird Box Office: (215) 923-8909 Fri., 4/20 8:00 p.m. Sat., 4/21 8:00 p.m. *Please do not publish the phone number for The Sun., 4/22 2:00 p.m. Adrienne Theatre. All ticket reservations and Sun., 4/22 7:00 p.m. questions about Mauckingbird must be directed to (215) 923-8909.* Thu., 4/26 7:00 p.m. Fri., 4/27 8:00 p.m. Web: www.mauckingbird.org