VENUS by DAVID IVES PRINTER’S AD PRINTER’S AD LEARNING & EDUCATION Using theatre as a catalyst to inspire creativity. “ATC’S EDUCATION DEPARTMENT HAS EACH SEASON, OVER BEEN NOTHING SHORT OF A MIRACLE.” -Cheryl Falvo, Crossroads English Chair/ Service Learning Coordinator Theatre skills help support critical thinking, decision- across making, team work and improvisation. It can bridge the gap from imagination to reality. We inspire students to feel that anything is possible. in ARE INTRODUCED TO PROFESSIONAL THEATRE through our EDUCATION PROGRAMS FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT OUR LEARNING & EDUCATION PROGRAMS, VISIT EDUCATION.ARIZONATHEATRE.ORG IN THIS ISSUE April 2014 Title Page . 6 Cast List . 8 DON’T WE GO About the Play . .12 TO PLAYS FOR ATC Leadership . .18 The Cast . 20 THE PASSIONS The Creative Team . 24 WE DON’T Board of Trustees . 27 GET IN LIFE? ATC 2013-14 Season Artists . 30 – Thomas, Corporate and Foundation Donors . 36 Venus in Fur Individual Donors . 41 Staff . 48 Theatre Information . 49 3 SUMMER on STAGE Theatre Program for High School Students Come & Play! WHAT IS SUMMER ON STAGE? Summer on Stage is a five-week intensive training program that culminates in fully realized productions performed on the main stage at the Temple of Music and Art. Arizona Theatre Company staff and professional teaching artists selected by ATC lead students through a variety of theatre classes that contribute to an experience that prepares young people for a creative and engaged life in the arts or in any field! “IF YOU WANT TO DO ANYTHING WITH THEATRE IN YOUR LIFE, SOS IS VITAL. IT IS THE BEST WAY TO WORK WITH A PROFESSIONAL COMPANY; THE BEST WAY TO GAIN THOSE REAL-WORLD THEATRE SKILLS.” -Jeremy, Summer on Stage participant 2011-2013 “SUMMER ON STAGE HAS BEEN ONE OF WANT TO KNOW MORE? THE BEST EXPERIENCES I’VE HAD IN MY April Jackson LIFE THUS FAR.” Learning & Education Manager, Tucson -Jalon, Summer on Stage participant 520-884-8210 x7513 2012-2013 [email protected] SUBSCRIBE TODAY For the best seats & savings. 520-622-2823 | ARIZONATHEATRE.ORG VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE by Christopher Durang SEPTEMBER 13 – OCTOBER 4, 2014 The hilarious winner of the 2013 Tony Award for Best Play on Broadway! “The theater erupts in booming gusts of laughter that practically shake the seats.” – The New York Times WAIT UNTIL DARK by Frederick Knott, adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher OCTOBER 18 – NOVEMBER 8, 2014 The classic thriller about a young woman in a dangerous game that threatens all she holds dear. “…a roller-coaster ride that leaves the audience giddy from terror.” – TheatreMania MURDER FOR TWO Book & Music by Joe Kinosian, Book & Lyrics by Kellen Blair, directed by Scott Schwartz NOVEMBER 29 – DECEMBER 20, 2014 Two performers play all the roles – not to mention the piano – in a witty old-fashioned murder mystery. “Ingenious! A snazzy double-act that spins out a comic mystery animated by funny, deftly turned songs.” – The New York Times FIVE PRESIDENTS by Rick Cleveland JANUARY 10 – JANUARY 31, 2015 An eagerly anticipated world premiere by the Emmy Award-winning writer of The West Wing, Six Feet Under, Mad Men and House of Cards about April 27, 1994, the day that Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush and Clinton met alone. ROMEO AND JULIET by William Shakespeare FEBRUARY 28 – MARCH 21, 2015 ATC’s first ever production of the beloved and poetic masterpiece brings new life to the warring world of the Capulets and Montagues. A WEEKEND WITH PABLO PICASSO by Herbert Siguenza, based on the writings of Pablo Picasso APRIL 4 – APRIL 26, 2015 A tour-de-force that explodes with the passion, complexity and youthful vigor of a genius responsible for some of history’s most original paintings. “An utterly engaging portrait of an artist at work. Don’t miss it!” – SDGLN David Ira Goldstein Jessica L. Andrews ARTISTIC DIRECTOR MANAGING DIRECTOR Presents a co-production with Seattle Repertory Theatre Jerry Manning, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR Benjamin Moore, MANAGING DIRECTOR VENUS by DAVID IVES Shana Cooper . .DIRECTOR Sibyl Wikersheimer . .SCENIC DESIGNER Harmony Arnold . .COSTUME DESIGNER Geoff Korf . LIGHTING DESIGNER T. Greg Squires . LIGHTING DESIGNER Robertson Witmer . SOUND DESIGNER/COMPOSER Gin Hammond . DIALECT COACH Erin Kraft . .CASTING Glenn Bruner* . .PRODUCTION STAGE MANAGER Timothy Toothman* . ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER On this original Arizona Theatre Company and Seattle Repertory Theatre co-production, the ATC and SRT Production Staffs are responsible for scenic construction, costume construction, lighting, projections, sound, props, furniture, wigs, scene painting and special effects. VENUS IN FUR is presented by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc., New York. Originally produced by Classic Stage Company (Brian Kulick, Artistic Director; Jessica R. Jenen, Executive Director). Originally produced on Broadway by the Manhattan Theatre Club (Lynne Meadow, Artistic Director; Barry Grove, Executive Producer) by special arrangement with Jon B. Platt, Scott Landis and Classic Stage Company, at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre on October 13, 2011. COVER ART BY: The Oberlander Group 2013-2014 SEASON SPONSORS I. Michael and Beth Kasser 6 PRINTER’S AD CAST (in order of appearance) Michael Tisdale* ................................................................................. THOMAS Gillian Williams* ...................................................................................VANDA *Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States. Time: THE PRESENT. Place: AN ACTING STUDIO. THERE WILL BE NO INTERMISSION. ADDITIONAL STAFF Ashley Simon ...............................................................ASSISTANT TO THE STAGE MANAGER Natasha Smith ...................................................................ASSISTANT TO THE DIRECTOR 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 Venus in Fur, please visit the Education page on our website at arizonatheatre.org for a comprehensive free Play Guide. The Play Guide contains a biography of David Ives, information on the novel by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, and more. Play Guides are also available in The Temple Lounge for a nominal charge to cover printing. Please take a moment to silence your cell phone or pager. 8 PRINTER’S AD PRINTER’S AD PRINTER’S AD ABOUT THE PLAY Venus is the Roman goddess of love, beauty, sex, fertility and prosperity, her name derived from the Latin noun meaning sexual love and desire. The Roman counterpart to the Greek goddess of love, Aphrodite, Venus also came to represent enticement, seduction, the persuasiveness of female charm, victory, and prostitution. In Roman mythology, Venus was born from the sea foam after Uranus’ blood fell into the water when he was castrated by his son, Saturn. As the goddess of love and sex her mythology is fi lled with lovers, both divine and mortal, though her marriage to Vulcan, the god of fi re, is noted as barren and loveless. The symbol of Venus, and of her Greek counterpart, Aphrodite, consists of a circle above a small cross. It is used today to represent the female sex, the planet Venus, and the alchemical element of copper. A cast of the VENUS DE’ MEDICI OR MEDICI VENUS, one of the most-copied sculptures of all time. Leopold von Sacher-Masoch was an Austrian writer, from whose name comes the contemporary term “masochism,” which was coined by an Austrian psychiatrist in 1886 in reference to Sacher-Masoch’s inclusion of what was then considered a “sexual anomaly” in his writings. Years later in 1906, details of Sacher-Masoch’s private life were published in the memoirs of his fi rst wife, Aurora von Rümelin, under the pseudonym Wanda v. Dunajew – the name of the main character in Sacher-Masoch’s 1870 novel, Venus in Furs. In her memoir, Rümelin recounts her former husband’s desire that she act out the sadomasochistic events of his novel, against her own desires. The two eventually divorced. It is suggested that Leopold von Sacher-Masoch based his main character, Wanda, on his real-life mistress Fanny Pistor, with whom he signed a contract to become her slave for a period of six months, during which time she would wear furs as often as LEOPOLD VON SACHER-MASOCH, possible – particularly when she was feeling cruel. 1860s. The characters of Leopold von Sacher-Masoch’s original novel, Venus in Furs, draw the concept of the goddess Venus draped in fur from the famous Titian painting Venus with a Mirror. The original painting, created around 1555, is said to be both a celebration of the female form and a simultaneous critique of vanity. The pose adopted by the goddess, with one hand to her breast and the other on her lap, is thought to be based on the famous Hellenistic statue of Venus de’ Medici in Florence. Titian made a number of paintings depicting Venus, but Venus with a Mirror is thought to be the only one entirely in his own hand, done without the contribution of any assistants, and which hung in Titian’s home until his death in 1576. The red cloak under Venus’ arm has been revealed through X-ray technology to be the cloak of one of two fi gures in an underlying portrait, which Titian abandoned and painted over. Venus with a Mirror is on display at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. TITIAN’S VENUS WITH A MIRROR, c. 1555. Oil on canvas. By Katherine Monberg, ATC Literary Associate 12 GET CONNECTED TO ATC! LIKE US ON FACEBOOK facebook.com/arizonatheatrecompany FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @arizonatheatre WATCH US ON YOUTUBE youtube.com/arizonatheatreco JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST email.arizonatheatre.org Jessica Skerritt & Company in Xanadu. Anneliese van der Pol & Loren Dunn in Photo by Mark Kitaoka and Tracy Martin.