Board of Directors Honorary Board David Bass Ed Asner Susan Hayden Judi Barker Eddie Jauregui Fred Deni Christine Kaplan Patricia Dougherty Dylan McDermott Eve Ensler Carole Middleton Rita Franciosa John Ruskin Robert Myers Barbara Schroeder In Memorium Howard Spector Wendy Brenninkmeijer Linda Sullivan Anthony Franciosa JR Wurster Karen Landry Artistic Director Managing Director Barbara Tarbuck John Ruskin Michael R. Myers The Joy Wheel WRITTEN BY IAN McRAE DIRECTED BY JASON ALEXANDER PRODUCERS JOHN RUSKIN & MICHAEL R. MYERS STAGE MANAGER ASSISTANT DIRECTOR LAURA NICOLE MILLAR McRAE SCENIC DESIGN ASST. STAGE MANAGER JOHN IACOVELLI HAMILTON MATTHEWS PROPS MASTER ASST. SCENIC DESIGN DAVID SAEWERT DAVID D'OLIMPIO COSTUME DESIGN LIGHT & SOUND DESIGN SARAH FIGOTEN EDWARD SALAS GRAPHIC DESIGN CASTING AMELIA MULKEY ANDERSON PAUL RUDDY SOCIAL MEDIA VIDEOGRAPHER AUSTIN HIGHSMITH GARCES NINA BRISSEY PUBLICITY STAGE HANDS JUDITH BORNE KEVIN ALAIN & BRANDON GOJCAJ CAST in order of appearance Frank Conlin.............................................. Dann Florek Stella Conlin................................................ Gina Hecht Margie.................................................. Lee Garlington Stew.......................................................Maury Sterling ACT I Scene 1 - Day 1 .....................................................................House Scene 2 - Day 1.............................................Retirement Party & House Scene 3 - Day 2.....................................................................Bunker ACT II Scene 1 - One week later..............................................House & Theatre Scene 2 - Following day........................................................... Bunker Scene 3 - 8 months later...................................................Night Outside Pool IAN MCRAE (PLAYWRIGHT) Ian's plays have been produced in in New York and Los Angeles. Last year, The Ruskin Theatre produced his play The Alamo; The Last Great American Bar, where it ran for four months. It will open in Chicago in April. He would like to thank The Ruskin Theatre, cast, crew, and especially Jason Alexander for bringing this play to life. JASON ALEXANDER*** (DIRECTOR) Jason has directed the feature films, For Better Or Worse and Just Looking. He won a Country Music Award for his direction of Brad Paisley’s “Online” video. TV direct- ing credits include: Seinfeld, Criminal Minds, Everybody Hates Chris and Mike and Molly. Jason directed The God of Hell(Geffen), Native Gardens(Pasadena), Broadway Bound(Odyssey) and the world premiere of Windfall at Arkansas Rep. Jason served as the artistic director of Reprise where he also directed Damn Yankees, Fantasticks and Sunday in the Park. When not directing, he has occasionally tried acting. Some say he shows promise. JOHN RUSKIN (ARTISTIC DIRECTOR/ PRODUCER) After graduating from the University of Colorado in Boulder, John continued his studies with the Yale School of Drama and the British American Drama Academy in Oxford, England. John then attended the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre and studied with Sanford Meisner and Richard Pinter. John then joined the acting faculty of the Neighborhood Playhouse at the request of Sanford Meisner and became his apprentice. Years later, John moved to Los Angeles where he founded his school of acting to continue to teach Meisner’s work. John founded the Ruskin Group Theatre Company with the goal of developing and producing great original works, powerful revivals, and to support and en- courage a creative artistic community. RGT is proud to provide outreach pro- grams to children in need with the “Healing Through the Arts" program. Recent- ly, we took our actors into Mattel Children’s Hospital UCLA to work with and entertain the children. Past programs involved working with at risk youth , foster children, people in prison, and the elderly. John wants to thank everyone who volunteers, comes to support this theatre, and keeps the dream of small theatre alive. John is honored to work each day with every one of the amazing artists at the school and theatre. He is most grateful to his wife Amy and their sons Bodhi & Cooper for their constant love and support. MICHAEL R. MYERS (MANAGING DIRECTOR / PRODUCER) Michael has produced more than 70 projects since 2002. He recently directed and developed the World Premiere of “Sneaky Ole Time the music of Paul Over- street” other World Premieres include, “Rainbow Bridge”, “Digging up Dad” and more. Mike produced and developed the world premiere production of Rex Pickett's "Sideways the Play". Since its world premiere at the Ruskin, “Sideways” has been produced at the La Jolla Playhouse under the direction of Des McAnuff and recently had its West End Premiere at the St. James Theatre. In 2008, the Santa Monica City Council appointed Mike to the Santa Monica Arts Commission and he has served as chair since 2010. CAST *denonotes membership to DANN FLOREK* (FRANK CONLIN) The Joy Wheel marks Dann’s debut with the Ruskin. He appeared in Jack O’briens production of The Front Page on Broadway. Other theatre credits include numer- ous productions with the WPA, Playwrights Horizons, Manhattan Theatre Club, The Acting Company, La Jolla Playhouse, The Old Globe, and Yale Rep. Film highlights include Sweet Liberty, Hard Rain, The Flintstone’s and Angel Heart. Television work includes L.A. Law, From the Earth to the Moon, Roseanne, The Pentagon Wars, NYPD Blue, and 18 years as Captain Donald Cragen on Law & Order and Law & Order SVU. GINA HECHT* (STELLA CONLIN) Gina's stage credits include starring in two productions of Neil Simon’s Broadway Bound (La Mirada and the Odyssey - the latter directed by Jason Alexander). Gina also had the pleasure of playing another Neil Simon lead- ing lady in Prisoner of Second Avenue, starring opposite Jason Alexander (this will be a recurring theme). Pro- ductions that did not involve Jason, were the award-win- ning Circle of Will, originally directed by Glenn Casale, for which her performance was honored with an LA Weekly Award. She received Drama-Logue Awards for the Los Angeles premieres of Night Owls and another for Wrestlers, directed by Glenn Casale, and where she was fortunate enough to share the stage with Mark Harmon, George Clooney and Bryan Cranston. Gina has appeared in more than a dozen films, the first being Night Shift as Henry Winkler’s neurotic fiancée, and her television career spans four decades with re- curring roles on Mork and Mindy, Glee, Heartbeat, Everything’s Relative (where she co-starred with Jason Alexander), Life Goes On, The District, Any Day Now, Hung, and Seinfeld (Jason again). Gina would like to thank her husband, writer/ producer/director Brian Herskowitz, and their two AHHH-mazing daughters, Maggie and Bailey, for all their love and support. LEE GARLINGTON* (MARGIE) Lee won an Ovation Award for Best Supporting Ac- tress in “Risk Everything” at the Zephyr Theatre in 1999, and was "Pot Mom" in the long running hit at the CAST Theater. Other L.A. plays include the west coast premiere of John Ford Noonan's "Music From Down The Hill" at the Odyssey Theatre, the 1982-1984 multi-award winning "Last Summer at Bluefish Cove", the world premiere of “Placement” at the Black Dahlia. Nominated for an Emmy last year for her role in the short form series “Broken”, she has appeared in over 200 television shows and 60 films including: Sum of All Fears, Sneakers, Field of Dreams, Cobra, The Babysitter, Lovely and Amazing, One Hour Photo, The Angriest Man In Brooklyn. Lee also moderates numerous panels for both the Los Angles SAG-AFTRA Conservatory & the SAG-AFTRA Foundation. Still madly in love with her husband of 28 years, Howard Nugent, they are both the proud parents of Cashay Wallace. www.leegarlingtontheac- tress.com MAURY STERLING (STEW) Maury was born and raised in Mill Valley California. He is a founding member of the award winning Buffalo Nights Theatre Co. Theatre credits include Crazy Drunk, J.B., The Madman and the Nun, Firebugs, Modigliani, Out at Sea, Incident at Vichy, Meat, all performed with Buffalo Nights. He has also appeared in Measure for Measure at A Noise Within, Love and Understanding at the Lilian, Fedunn at the Odyssey, and Judgement at Nuremberg at ICT. Shows at the Ruskin Theater include, All My Sons, The Amazing Harold, Mutiny at Port Chicago, and his solo performance in A Gam- bler’s Guide to Dying. Most recently he was seen on stage in Murray Med- nick’s Mayakovsky & Stalin at the Lounge Theater. Maury’s Film credits include Veronica Mars, Coherence, Kung Fu Panda 2, A-Team, Smokin Aces Assassins Ball, Smokin’ Aces, Beverly Hills Chihuahua, The Frolic, Frankie and Johnny Get Married, The Illusion, Hart’s War, Impostor, Bulletproof, and Outbreak. TV credits include Homeland, Girlfriend’s Guide to Divorce, Master’s of Sex, Ex- tant, the ABC Pilot Gilded Lily’s, In Plain Sight, Longmire, Private Practice, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Lie to Me, Dollhouse, Cold, Case, Close to Home, 24, ER, and numerous others. Maury is proud to be married to the beautiful Alexis Boozer Sterling and is grateful for her unending support. CHRISTINE KAPLAN (MARGIE UNDERSTUDY) Christine graduated from Santa Clara University as a Theatre Major. She went on to work in Television Pro- duction in Los Angeles as a Writer’s Assistant and Script Supervisor on such shows as Beauty and the Beast, The Larry Sanders Show, and Seinfeld. She stopped working in order to raise 3 beautiful children. Later, in retro- spect, she realized she’d much rather be the person in the show rather than watching the show. So she studied the Sanford Meisner Technique at the Ruskin Group Theatre in Santa Monica. She is thrilled to have the opportunity to understudy under Lee Garlington and work with Jason Alexander and the rest of the cast and crew. She is beyond grateful to John Ruskin and Mikey Myers for all their support. JIM STAPLETON (FRANK CONLIN UNDER- STUDY) Jim is thrilled to be making his debut with the Ruskin Group Theatre. A native of New York City Jim’s early training included Freddy Kareman, David LeGrant, Julie Bovasso and Margot Moser.