Printer’s Ad Printer’s Ad LEARNING & EDUCATION USING THEATRE AS A CATALYST TO INSPIRE CREATIVITY “ATC’S EDUCATION DEPARTMENT HAS BEEN NOTHING SHORT OF A MIRACLE.” -Cheryl Falvo, Crossroads English Chaira / Service Learning Coordinator Theatre skills help support critical thinking, decision-making, teamwork and improvisation. It can bridge the gap from imagination to reality. We inspire students to feel that anything is possible. LAST SEASON WE REACHED OVER 11,000 STUDENTS IN 80 SCHOOLS ACROSS 8 AZ COUNTIES For more information about our Learning & Education programs, visit EDUCATION.ARIZONATHEATRE.ORG IN THIS ISSUE October 2014 Title Page ........................................................................... 6 Cast List ............................................................................. 8 About the Play .......................................................................12 ATC Leadership .....................................................................20 The Cast ............................................................................ 28 The Creative Team ...................................................................34 Board of Trustees ...................................................................40 About Arizona Theatre Company ......................................................41 Theatre Information ................................................................. 47 Corporate and Foundation Donors ....................................................49 Individual Donors ...................................................................50 Staff ...............................................................................59 Below: Suzanne Warmanen, Isabell Monk O’Connor and Charles Janasz in Arizona Theatre Company’s production of Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike. Photo by Joan Marcus. FROM THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR DEAR FRIENDS, COMMUNITY is at the heart of the theatre experience. The plays we bring to vibrant life onstage are completed by you, our friends. That is when the gasps, the cheers and the laughs complete the connection and theatre comes alive. In our 48th season of professional theatre in our community, I invite you to settle into the comfortable world of our state-of-the-art theatre and connect with us to make the circle complete. Join with us for a world premiere of a new play from an Emmy Award-winning writer; the regional premiere of an off-Broadway hit musical; the gorgeous vitality of one of Shakespeare’s most loved stories. You’ll always find the work we do world class… but none of it is finished without our connection to you. See you at the theatre, David Ira Goldstein TOP – The cast and crew of The Importance of Being Earnest. Photo by Tim Fuller. RIGHT PAGE – Top Left: Paige Lindsey White in Other Desert Cities. Photo by Tim Fuller. Top Right: Anneliese van der Pol and Loren Dunn in The Importance of Being Earnest. Photo by Tim Fuller. Middle Right: Kyle Sorrell, Mark Anders, Jon Gentry and Bob Sorenson in Around the World in 80 Days. Photo by Tim Fuller. Bottom Left: James T. Alfred in The Mountaintop. Photo by Tim Fuller. Bottom Right: Jessica Skerritt and Company in Xanadu. Photo by Mark Kitaoka. 4 48YEARS OF AWARD-WINNING T H EATRE ARIZONA’S NATIONALLY-RENOWNED PROFESSIONAL THEATRE Special Thanks to I. Michael and Beth Kasser Season Sponsors David Ira Goldstein Matt Lehrman Jessica L. Andrews Artistic Director Interim Managing Director Managing Director Emeritus VANYA and SONIA and MASHA and SPIKE by Christopher Durang Joel Sass ......................................................................Director Todd Rosenthal ........................................................Scenic Designer Ilona Somogyi ........................................................Costume Designer Barry Browning ......................................................Lighting Designer Sean Healey ............................................................Sound Designer Carla Steen .................................................................Dramaturg Lucinda Holshue ...............................................Voice and Speech Coach Marcela Lorca ........................................................ Movement Coach McCorkle Casting, Ltd. ........................................................Casting T. Greg Squires ...............................................Resident Lighting Designer Brian Jerome Peterson . Resident Sound Designer Glenn Bruner* ................................................Production Stage Manager Timothy Toothman* ............................................Assistant Stage Manager *Member of Actors’ Equity Association. On this original Arizona Theatre Company and Guthrie Theater production, the ATC and Guthrie Production staffs are responsible for scenic construction, costume construction, lighting, sound, props, furniture, wigs and scene painting. Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike is presented by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc., New York. Originally produced on Broadway by: Joey Parnes, Larry Hirschhorn, Joan Raffe/Jhett Tolentino, Martin Platt & David Elliott, Pat Flicker Addiss, Catherine Adler, John O’Boyle, Joshua Goodman, Jamie deRoy/Richard Winkler, Cricket Hooper Jiranek/ Michael Palitz, Mark S. Golub & David S. Golub, Radio Mouse Entertainment, Shadowcatcher Entertainment, Mary Cossette/ Barbara Manocherian, Megan Savage/Meredith Lynsey Schade, Hugh Hysell/Richard Jordan, Cheryl Wiesenfeld/Ron Simons, S.D. Wagner, John Johnson in association with McCarter Theatre Center and Lincoln Center Theater. Originally commissioned and produced by McCarter Theatre Center, Princeton, N.J., Emily Mann, Artistic Director; Timothy J. Shields, Managing Director; Mara Isaacs, Producing Director; and produced by Lincoln Center Theater, New York City, under the direction of André Bishop and Bernard Gersten in 2012. “Here Comes the Sun” written by George Harrison, published by Harrisongs, Ltd. (ASCAP). Used with permission. All rights reserved. This production premiered at Guthrie Theater on July 19, 2014. Joe Dowling, Director. COVER ART BY: Esser Design 2014-2015 SEASON SPONSORS: I. MICHAEL AND BETH KASSER 6 Printer’s Ad CAST (listed in order of appearance) Charles Janasz* ............................................................... VANYA Suzanne Warmanen* ...........................................................SONIA Isabell Monk O’Connor* ..................................................CASSANDRA Suzanne Bouchard* ...........................................................MASHA Joshua James Campbell* .......................................................SPIKE Ali Rose Dachis* .................................................................NINA *Member of Actors’ Equity Association. Time: The present. Place: A farmhouse in Bucks County, PA THERE WILL BE ONE 15-MINUTE INTERMISSION. ADDITIONAL STAFF Emma DeVore ............................................Assistant to the Stage Manager Adin Walker ..........................................................Assistant Director Additional casting by ATC Artistic Staff. 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 Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, please visit the Learning & Education page on our website at arizonatheatre.org for a comprehensive free Play Guide. The Play Guide contains information on Christopher Durang, Anton Chekhov and more. Play Guides are also available in The Temple Lounge for a nominal charge to cover printing. Cell phones and other devices that make a noise can greatly disturb your fellow audience members and the performers. PLEASE TURN THEM OFF before the performance and again at intermission. 8 Printer’s Ad Printer’s Ad Printer’s Ad ABOUT THE PLAY CHRISTOPHER DURANG: AN ORIGINAL WITH AN ANARCHIC SPIRIT PLAYWRIGHT CHRISTOPHER DURANG grew up in New Jersey, the only child of charismatic but troubled parents. His interest in theatre was encouraged by his parents, and he attended many performances as a child. He wrote his first play as a second-grader, an adaptation of an I Love Lucy episode. When his mother told his teacher about it, his class at Lady of Peace Catholic School performed the two-page play. Durang attended the Delbarton School from seventh to twelfth grade and, much to his surprise, was accepted at Harvard, which he attended Playwright Christopher hoping to become a well-rounded writer. His college years were Durang. marked by a deep depression that lasted from the end of his freshman year to the summer after his junior year. He was dealing with the divorce of his parents, his father’s alcoholism, the guilt of having to testify against his father in court, his disillusionment with the Catholic Church, and his realization that he was gay. By his senior year, Durang’s depression lifted in part because he was selected to be one of 15 people to attend William Alfred’s playwriting class. Following college, Durang attended Yale School of Drama, where he continued to write and perform. Among his classmates were Sigourney Weaver, Wendy Wasserstein, Meryl Streep and Albert Innaurato. Yale provided an environment in which he thrived, experimenting and taking risks in his writing. Shortly after he graduated, he scored a great coup in having his play The