ISSUE thIrty september 2010 1 SHE LOVES ME: On Stage Table of ConTenTs “When a day brings petty aggravations Dear Friends ................................................................................................ 3 and my poor frayed nerves are all askeW, on Stage: She Loves Me ............................................................................................. 4 i forget these The Perfection of Bock and Harnick ....................................... 6 From Hungary to Hanks ................................................................. 10 unimportant matters Why Here, Why Now .......................................................................... 12 A Minister's Wife Heads to New York ................................ 14 baCksTage: 2010 WordPlay Gala ......................................................................... 17 pouring out A Streetcar Named Desire Opening Night ......................... 20 Go In Depth with Writers' Theatre ......................................... 22 my hopes and dreams Sponsor Salute ...................................................................................... 24 From Page to Stage ............................................................................ 26 Introducing The Making Of... Series ...................................... 28 Performance Calendar ..................................................................... 29 to you.” - georg, she loves me 2 SHE LOVES ME: On Stage SHE Loves ME: On Stage 1 Michael Halberstam THE BRIEF CHRONICLE Artistic Director the official newsMagazIne of writers’ theaTre kathryn M. lipuma Executive Director Issue THIrTY SEPTEMBER 2010 Michael Halberstam kathryn M. lipuma Artistic Director Executive Director eDITor eleanor berman Director of Marketing & Communications THe brIef CHronICle TeaM Dear Friends: amber bel'cher Jon faris Development Manager General Manager Welcome to the first production of the 2010/11 Season! We are thrilled to have Ian belknap nicole gilman so many of you back for another exciting year and to see so many new faces join Development Manager Director of Education our family of Subscribers and Members. The upcoming season promises to be Jaron bernstein bobby kennedy everything you’ve come to expect from Writers' Theatre, and there is no better way Development Assistant Producing Assistant/Literary Associate to inaugurate the year than with our very first major American musical, She Loves stuart Carden sara M. Poorman Me. Be sure to take a look at the line up for our sixth annual installment of From Associate Artistic Director Marketing Manager Page To Stage. We have partnered again with North Shore libraries to bring you a Carol Dawley Director of Institutional Advancement smashing series of special events to enrich your experience of She Loves Me. DesIgn In this issue of The Brief Chronicle we’ll take an in-depth look at the prolific careers of composer Jerry Bock and lyricist Sheldon Harnick, and how their LOWERCASE, INC. combined efforts created some of the American musical theatre’s most beloved works. We also delve into the source material of She Loves Me, exploring the THe wrITers’ THeaTre boarD of TrusTees many versions of this unique love story. Officers elaine Tinberg, President It’s been a busy spring and summer leading up to this production. Our calendar has gillian goodman, Vice President been filled with events, opening nights and education programs. The WordPlay 2010 David Mcgranahan, Vice President barbara Melcher, Vice President Gala was our most successful to date and we celebrated the opening of David Tom Hodges, Treasurer Cromer’s transformative staging of A Streetcar Named Desire, all of which would not Joseph g. Dillon, Secretary have been possible without the support of our generous donors and sponsors. Trustees Writers' Theatre is pleased to bring you another remarkable year of productions. lawrence M. adelman Christopher n. knight As we kick off our 19th Season, we look forward to sharing these carefully arthur anderson, Jr. beth l. kronfeld Janice beck nelson levy, Ph.D, M.D. selected works, truly demonstrating the power of the word and the artist. susan belgrad kathryn lipuma lorry borowitz Jennifer litowitz amy Pope brock Thomas Mann Deborah Cogan lorel McMillan Yours Sincerely, sara Cohan Pam Phillips Howard Conant, Jr. Christine Pompizzi Michael Halberstam Mary Pat studdert linda Havlin Yelena Vayner avril klaff Michael Kate 2 SHE LOVES ME: On Stage SHE Loves ME: On Stage 3 She Loves Me Book by JOE MASTEROFF Music by JERRY BOCk Lyrics by sHELDON HARNICk Musical Direction by BEN JoHNSON Directed by Artistic Director MICHAEL HALBERSTaM September 14 – November 21, 2010 | Performed at 325 Tudor Court Often considered the “perfect” musical by aficionados, She Loves Me delights audiences and critics alike. Set in a 1930’s European perfumery, we meet shop clerks Amalia and Georg, who more often than not don’t see eye to eye. After both respond to a “lonely hearts” advertisement in the newspaper, they now live for the love letters they exchange, but have no idea they’re actually writing to each other! Discover with Amalia and Georg the identity of their true loves and all the twists and turns along the way. She Loves Me is appropriate for ages 12 and up. The Cast: bernarD balboT, anDrew goetten, kevin guDaHl, StephanIe HerMan, Heidi kettenrIng, ross lehman, JessIe Mueller, JaMes rank, Jeremy Rill, NickY Schuenke, bethanY THoMas and roD THoMas Scenic Design: JaCk Magaw Lighting Design: keith ParHaM Costume Design: nan zabrIskIe SOund Design: raY narDellI property design: nick HeggesTaD Stage Management: David CasTellanos Turn to page 26 for the entire line up of special events! Individual Production Sponsor Corporate Production Sponsor This program is partially supported by a grant MARY PAT from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency. STUDDERT 4 SHE LOVES ME: On Stage SHE Loves ME: On Stage 5 the perfeCtion of boCk & harniCk BY bobbY kennedy, Producing Assistant/Literary Associate The creative minds of composer Jerry ing songs to the revue Catch a Star, Bock and lyricist Sheldon Harnick composer Jule Styne picked Bock and produced some of the American musi- Holofcener to write the music and cal theatre’s most enduring works and lyrics for Mr. Wonderful, a vehicle for they remain beloved legends of this Sammy Davis, Jr., which spawned two classic genre. standards: “Mr. Wonderful” and “Too Close for Comfort.” Jerrold Lewis Bock was born on November 23, 1928 in New Haven, Connecticut. While studying music at composer Jerry the university of Wisconsin-Madison, Bock and lyricist he composed his first musicals with fellow student Larry Holofcener writing Sheldon Harnick lyrics. The two moved to New York Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick pictured reMaIn beloVeD after college and wrote songs for Your here collaborating on their hit musical, Show of Shows, starring Sid Caesar legenDs of this Fiddler on the Roof. Image courtesy Lebrecht Music & Arts. and Imogene Coca. After contribut- Classic genre. 6 SHE LOVES ME: On Stage SHE Loves ME: On Stage 7 Sheldon Harnick was born on April 30, of only eight musicals to ever win that the ten Tony Awards for which it was Fiddler on the 1924 in Chicago and later attended coveted prize. Their next collaboration nominated, including Best Musical, Northwestern university School of Mu- was the musical Tenderloin, based on Composer/Lyricist, Book, Lead Actor, Roof is widely sic. His focus at school was the violin a novel by Samuel Hopkins Adams Featured Actress, Producer, Director but he also wrote comedy sketches, and set in the red-light district of and Choreographer. considered songs and parody lyrics. After 1890’s Manhattan. The show ran for the endpoInT graduating in 1949, he moved to New 216 performances, far fewer than its Fiddler on the Roof is widely consid- York to pursue a career as a lyricist. predecessor. ered the endpoint of the Golden Age of the golDen His songs appeared in a number of of American Musical Theatre, which age of American revues and musicals throughout the She Loves Me, the next Bock and began in 1942 with Rodgers and early 1950’s, as he often contributed Harnick effort, opened on Broadway Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!. Broadway Musical Theatre lyrics to troubled productions in need in April 1963, starring Barbara Cook enjoyed 22 years of popular music of new material. as Amalia and was directed by Harold dominance with show tunes consis- Prince (the first production he both tently crossing over to mainstream Jewish family in late 18th century She Loves ME directed and produced). Although the success, but that dominance was Europe, ran for 505 performances and show ran for 354 performances, it ended by the advent of rock and roll. is set in 1930’S also picked up multiple Tony Award ultimately closed as a financial failure. Fiddler was the last mega-hit before nominations and two acting wins. Hungary and Has This was partly due to the musical’s The Beatles and other British Inva- wonDerfullY setting and structure and the smaller sion bands permanently redirected After 15 years of collaboration, The size of the Eugene O’Neill Theatre the country’s musical tastes in 1964. Rothschilds marked the end of Bock InTricaTe where it was performed. Most musi- unfortunately, Broadway was unchar- and Harnick’s partnership. Jerry Bock anD IntimaTe cals of the time had American settings acteristically slow to respond to the retired and has not had another musi- and characters, with big song and change in trends—having quickly sTorytellIng. cal