SIERRA MADRE PLAYHOUSE Presents Deathtrap By Ira Levin Directed by Christian Lebano Deathtrap is produced by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc., New York CAST (in order of appearance) Sidney Bruhl .............. Christopher Cappiello* Myra Bruhl .............................. Shaw Purnell* Clifford Anderson ..................... David Tolemy Helga ten Dorp .................Karesa McElheny* Porter Milgrim ............................ Don Savage *Member Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Actors and Stage Managers in the United States Setting: Westport, Connecticut – October 1978 Any taping, filming, recording or broadcast of this play (musical or otherwise) is strictly prohibited. No food or beverages (other than water) are permitted in the seating areas. Please turn off all electronic devices. FROM THE MANAGING DIRECTOR Happy 2016 to our friends familiar and new at the Playhouse! What a year 2015 was for us: two Ovation Recommended shows (A Walk in the Woods and Always…Patsy Cline); the incredible demand for tickets for Patsy that had us extend the show three times; our first ever Ovation nominations; the launch of our Advisory Council; the expansion of our Board with many new members joining us; our biggest donation ever from a private Foundation; the success of our Fall Fundraising Appeal for matching donations which will allow us to install air-conditioning in the lobby; and our wonderful collaboration with the Volunteer Center of San Gabriel Valley led by our friend Penny Arroyo. And to top it all off we ended this remarkable year at SMP with the sold-out production of A Christmas Memory. (We are so happy that our Christmas offerings have become a traditional part of the holiday for so many of you. Look for the revival of 2014’s A Little House Christmas next holiday.) We have so much planned for you in 2016. Our mission to present American stories will lead us to some beautiful offerings to end our season this year including one of the greatest musicals ever written (look for an announcement soon), one of the greatest plays - The Glass Menagerie, and our third annual Field Trip Series presentation of E.B. White’s beloved Charlotte’s Web. 2,500 elementary students from seven school districts and SGV private schools will attend weekday matinees. Through the generosity of the Gilb Family Foundation nearly 50% of the expenses are covered but we continue to raise funds to help us underwrite low-cost tickets for the financially-strapped public schools. SMP is at a cross-roads. The time and costs associated with our expanded mission are so much greater than even three years ago, add to that the increased expectations of the digital world and we find ourselves needing a small army to accomplish all we want to achieve. We know we have to shift from an all-volunteer organization to a non-profit with some paid staff to do the extensive work of running and maintaining the Playhouse. The Board will meet in January to craft a strategic plan for the next few years. We will be turning to you, our loyal friends for help to make our plans reality. Promise me you will stop me in the lobby next time you are here so we can get to know each other by name and we can begin an ongoing conversation. There are so many ways SMP is working to enrich your creative journeys. See you in the lobby! Estelle Campbell PRODUCTION TEAM Director ................................................................................... Christian Lebano Producers .................... Estelle Campbell, Christian Lebano, Alexandra Wright Asst. Producer ......................................................................... Jackson Kendall Stage Manager ........................................................................... Kristin Bolinski Assistant Stage Manager / Wardrobe Mistress .......................... Emily Hopfauf Set Designer ................................................................................ John Vertrees Asst. Set Designer / Properties Designer / Production Manager .... Erin Walley Costume Designer ......................................................................... Vicki Conrad Lighting Designer....................................................................... Pablo Santiago Sound Effects Designer .............................................................. Barry Schwam Composer ...................................................................................... Sean Paxton Fight Choreographer ...................................................................... Ken Merckx Dialect Coach ............................................................... Deborah Ross Sullivan Lobby Curator ................................................................................ Diane Siegel Set Builder ....................................................................................... Brad Bentz Carpenters ............................................................ Corey Biggs, Brian Johnson Jody St. Michael, Stewart White, Jr. Electricians .............................................................. Vicky Aguilar, John Dimitri Scenic Painter ...................................................................... Orlando de la Paz Poster Design .................................................................................... Kiff Scholl Production Photography .................................................................... Gina Long Publicity Photography ............................................................... John Dlugolecki Website Designer ...................................................................... Daniel Pelletier Publicist ...................................................................................... Philip Sokoloff Program .................................................................................. Christian Lebano FOR THE SIERRA MADRE PLAYHOUSE Artistic Director ....................................................................... Christian Lebano Managing Director .................................................................. Estelle Campbell Operations Director .................................................................... Ward Calaway Box Office Manager ........................................................................ Mary Baville Volunteer Guild Coordinator ................................................Alison Eliel Kalmus Exhibits and Special Events Curator ............................................. Diane Siegel Reading Series Curator ..................................................................... DJ Harner Social Media Manager ................................................................... David Crane Website Manager ...................................................................... Daniel Pelletier eBlast Coordinator .......................................................................... Deb Snyder Board Members .................................................... Paul Van Dorpe (President) Louise Calaway, Ward Calaway, Estelle Campbell, James Harnagel, Joe Langer, Christian Lebano, Joan Riback, Randy Ruppart, Serge Varela, Frank Zgonc Advisory Council .............. Michael Albright, David Gordon, Suzanna Guzman, Robert Lebano, Ann Scott- Putney, John Sparks, Manuela Markarian A NOTE FROM THE DIRECTOR For those of you who are long-time patrons, you’ll remember the days when SMP produced a lot of thrillers. It has been several years since we last did one and I’m thrilled to be directing one of the best ones ever written - Ira Levin’s Deathtrap! This show was originally slated to open on October 2 but because of the extensions of Always…Patsy Cline we moved it to a January opening. It is my great good fortune that the cast and designers all stayed with me through the various postponements. This is a dynamite cast and we have had a ball figuring out how to murder each other (in the show!) and just how much blood we’ll use! Acting is pretending. All of us in the theater were probably once those kids with hyper-active imaginations who jumped at the chance to play cops & robbers, or prince & princesses, or superheroes! So to get to work on a show where part of the consideration is how to hold a dagger so it looks most menacing, or how to believably die on the hearth rug, or exactly when to scare the audience is just so much fun. And for me it is such a pleasure (and relief) to be back in the rehearsal room. It’s been a year since I last directed and I’ve really missed it. Thrillers are tricky. In many ways they are melodramas – making sure that the plot elements are clear is so important. That makes the direction much more technical than usual. Part of my job is to be the surrogate for the audience – to make sure that they catch everything that they are supposed to. So if actor A says something that causes actor B to react and that reaction is critical to the forward movement of the play – then actor B has to wait a beat for the audience to see the reaction. If they react too soon the audience will miss it. This is a different way of thinking about acting than many actors are used to. Lucky for me that I have had this wonderful cast to work with on this show. I am also indebted to the entire design team and crew who put in countless hours to make sure that we give you an evening of thrills and chills and surprises! Let me know if you enjoyed the return of thrillers to SMP – I have another ingenious one in my hip pocket that I would love to do for you. Christian Lebano ABOUT THE AUTHOR Ira Levin (1929-2007) was twenty-two