Berkeley Rep: The Matchbox Magic Flute

THE MATCHBOX MAGIC FLUTE

ADAPTED AND DIRECTED BY MARY ZIMMERMAN | BASED ON MOZART’S OPERA

Where passion meets purpose.

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To ensure the best experience for everyone:

While always encouraged , masks are required inside the theatres during Sunday and Tuesday performances for the first three weeks of a show’s run.

Food and drink: Beverages in cans, cartons, or plastic cups with lids are welcome in the theatre during unmasked performances. Food is prohibited in the theatre during all performances.

Courtesy reminder: To avoid disruption to everyone, please turn off your cell phones, beeping watches, and electronic devices, and refrain from unwrapping cellophane wrappers during the performance. For the comfort of all patrons, please avoid wearing strongly scented personal products.

Photos: Photos may be taken in the theatre before and after the performance and during intermission. Photos and videos during the performance are strictly prohibited. Photos posted on social media must credit Berkeley Rep and the show’s designers.

Smoking and vaping: Berkeley Rep’s public spaces are smoke- and vape-free.

One of the joys of live theatre is the collective experience . Audience members respond to the show in many different ways. We invite you to join together and enjoy the show! If there is anything we can do to make your experience more enjoyable, please see a member of the house staff.

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I’m so delighted to welcome Mary Zimmerman back to Berkeley Rep.

The first show of Mary’s that I saw was her inimitable Metamorphoses. Opening night in New York City in October, 2001, less that a month after the attack on the World Trade Center, was one of the most profound moments of collective catharsis I have ever experienced. Those ancient, epic stories, newly envisioned by one of our most vibrantly imaginative contemporary theatre-makers, allowed a way back, through grief, rage, and confusion, to a sense of shared purpose, community, and life force.

Though the tenor (no pun intended!) of Mary’s The Matchbox Magic Flute could not be more different, the exquisitely theatrical delight it bestows confirms that this story is manifested by that same capacious heart and imagination.

And while I confess that I sometimes find opera a bit daunting, Mary’s variation on Mozart’s last composition is actually a love letter to theatre itself, full of ancient references and delightfully witty olde time-y theatrical tricks and techniques. It’s a celebration of these inherently unreal worlds we all create together every time we take our places — whether on- or off-stage — to bring to life the stories that allow us to see ourselves anew, to gather the strength to fight the dragons, to fall in love, to celebrate, to mourn, to sing, as one.

Thank you for joining us.

Warmly,

Johanna Pfaelzer Artistic Director

Welcome to The Matchbox Magic Flute, a shimmering jewel box of a production that reimagines Mozart’s beloved opera through the inventive and playful lens of Mary Zimmerman. We are thrilled to welcome Mary back to Berkeley Rep, where her productions have been beloved by audiences. In this production, the story’s whimsy, wonder, and timeless themes unfold within a miniature, matchbox-like setting, transforming the grand opera into an intimate and personal experience that is accessible to both opera lovers and newcomers alike. This production continues Berkeley Rep’s tradition of producing boundary-pushing theatrical experiences that challenge form and redefine what theatre can be. As the year draws to a close, I hope you will join in sustaining our non-profit mission, productions, education programs, and community engagement initiatives—efforts that truly improve the lives of so many. Your tax-deductible gift, no matter the size, makes a dramatic difference. Thank you in advance for helping to spread the joy of live theatre with your support.

Subscription packages are also still available to enrich your life with creative exploration and meaningful connections. Full of illuminating stories and joyful discoveries that are sure to entertain, challenge, and inspire—including the upcoming world premiere adaptation of the best-selling novel The Thing About Jellyfish—we offer a variety of package options designed to suit your lifestyle and budget. Theatre also makes a wonderful gift, providing the opportunity to share precious time with friends or loved ones. Be sure to explore our gift certificates and specially priced ticket packages this holiday season.

Thank you for coming, and enjoy the show!

Tom Parrish Managing Director

Berkeley Repertory Theatre acknowledges and honors its presence on the unceded ancestral lands of the Chochenyo-speaking Ohlone people, now colonially known as Berkeley. The land from which we benefit continues to be a place of foremost importance to the Ohlone and all descendants of the Verona Band.

Berkeley Rep is committed to actively centering antiracism and living our values by promoting the history and culture of the Ohlone People and sustaining an ongoing relationship which supports the art, resources, and values of indigenous peoples and tribes.

We are grateful to our friends at the Sogorea Te’ Land Trust and the Confederated Villages of Lisjan for their support and guidance as we continue to educate ourselves and our community to uplift and support our indigenous communities

Arts Access for All:

How Berkeley Rep Has Expanded its Programming to Serve More Young People Than Ever

BY ASHLEY LIM

Ask any parent, educator, or mentor you know, and they will all agree on one thing: children are the best storytellers. With unbounded imagination and ravenous curiosity, young people learn about themselves and the world by creating and sharing stories that allow them to express themselves in a way few other mediums can. But as the nation struggles with teacher shortages and accessibility blocks even after the passing of Prop 28, the shrinking number of arts programs across California has become particularly alarming. With only 11% of California schools able to provide arts education as required by the state’s education code in 2023, students are receiving fewer opportunities for artistic enrichment than ever.

This is where Berkeley Rep comes in.

To assist in the growing need for accessible arts programming, the Berkeley Rep School of Theatre has expanded our youth-centric educational services in addition to a robust array of teen programming

(Teen Council, High School Theatre Festival, Summer Intensive). This past year alone, we’ve grown our Story Builders and Change Makers workshops in our In-School Residencies, working in classrooms across the Bay Area and serving over 1,300 students by providing tools for literacy, communication, and advocacy. Over the summer, we launched a sold-out summer day camp for elementary students, who learned all different facets of theatre-making and even got to perform right here on Berkeley Rep’s Roda stage. During the school year, we began providing Saturday morning classes for elementary students using the same Play Creation curriculum introduced over the summer, where students are empowered to create their own play with original characters, sets, and costumes.

In addition to our programs within the classroom and at the Berkeley Rep School of Theatre, this year marks the debut of Berkeley Rep’s Theatre Explorers program. The Theatre Explorers add-on gives families the opportunity to experience Berkeley Rep in a new way: while parents and guardians enjoy Berkeley Rep’s mainstage shows, they can now bring their child (from grades 1-5) next door to the Berkeley Rep School of Theatre, to spend time playing theatre games and engaging in other fun, educational activities with a professional teaching artist.

“In our continued search for ways to eliminate access barriers for audiences to attend live theatre, this new program gives families a unique way to enjoy the theatre experience together,” says Anthony Jackson, Director of the School of Theatre. “Our Berkeley Rep community is always growing, and we’re thrilled to provide artistic enrichment for the next generation of theatre-goers, while their grownups experience the magic of Berkeley Rep right next door.”

Whether your first experience with Berkeley Rep is in the audience, the classroom, or the community beyond, we now have more ways than ever to spread the joy of storytelling. As our programming continues to expand to better serve young people and their families, we invite you to follow along at BerkeleyRep.org/School and give the gift of live theatre to the young person in your life!

BY DREW LICHTENBERG

THE MEANING OF

In 1768, when he was only 12, Mozart had already composed La finta semplice and Bastien und Bastienne. The Austrian Emperor Joseph II commissioned the Italian-style opera buffa . Another patron, the quack doctor and hypnotist Franz Mesmer, commissioned the Singspiel . German for “singing-play,” the form was a popular one. It mixed spoken and sung dialogue and drew upon vernacular sources with an omnivorous appetite. In the 1770s, still a teenager, Mozart would tour Italian courts and try his hand at opera seria. Back in Vienna, he kept writing incidental music for Germanlanguage plays and Singspiele.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, as depicted posthumously by Austrian painter Barbara Krafft, 1819

In the 1780s, Mozart would work with Lorenza da Ponte, a Jewish freethinker and librettist, on a series of masterpieces. They premiered at public theatres in Vienna and Prague. But they featured sublime arias and musical forms drawing on the courtly Italian tradition. The Marriage of Figaro (1785), a “commedia par musica,” entangles and untangles plots across the social spectrum. The play is merry, but Louis XVI detested it, and with good reason. It enacts the tensions that would explode in the French Revolution. Don Giovanni (1788) is a dramma giocoso (“drama with jokes”). It tells the story of the legendary libertine, dragged to hell by a magical statue. But this metaphysical story is larded by the ironic perspective of his companion Leporello — a comic Sancho Panza to his tragic Don Quixote. The opera’s intense, terrifying ending transfigures into a gay opera buffa sextet. This untranslatable musical effect is like experiencing the deliquescence of a soul.

Mozart saved the best for last. The Magic Flute ( Die Zauberflöte, 1791), Mozart’s last completed work before his tragic early death, is such stuff as dreams are made on. It shows his formidable musical technique reaching a vertiginous peak. It also is one of the great arguments for the pleasures to be found in popular theatre.

The piece had humble origins. It was the brainchild of Emanuel Schikaneder, Mozart’s friend and manager of the Theater auf der Wieden, a variety theatre in the Vienna suburbs. At the premiere, Mozart himself conducted. Schikaneder — a former traveling fiddler and member of a Shakespeare troupe — played Papageno. The result was a tremendous success. According to a contemporary account, to get a ticket you had to arrive at the theatre by mid-afternoon and wait for three hours. All the while, you were “bathed in heat and sweat and impregnated by the garlicky fumes of the smoked meats being consumed.”

If Italian opera was the craze of the 1770s, fairy-tale operas were now the thing. In 1789, Schikaneder’s company staged Karl Ludwig Giesecke’s Oberon . (Giesecke, a member of the same masonic lodge as Mozart and Schikaneder, would collaborate and act in The Magic Flute.) That same year, Jacob Liebeskind’s story “Lulu, or the Magic Flute” was published. Before The Magic Flute premiered, so too did another Liebeskind adaptation at a rival theatre: Die Zauberzither or The Magic Bassoon

Mozart’s score weaves these oppositions into an avaunt! Inspired, he uses different musical idioms for each character. The Queen of the Night and her Ladies sing impassioned coloratura straight out of the Italian tradition. Tamino’s music is likewise Italianate and classical in contour. Clowns Papageno and Papagena sing folk tunes straight out of the Singspiel repertory. Pamina sings in a Germanic, romantic register. Sarastro sings in a low bass of clarity and gravity, which some have suggested is Mozart’s attempt to write in a “Masonic Style.” George Bernard Shaw once said it was “the only music that could without fear be put into the mouth of God.”

In the final scene, all the plots and characters come together. The lovers and clowns share the stage. The Queen of the Night sings with Sarastro, the Sun King. For the finale, Mozart combines the Kyrie of the Latin mass with a Lutheran chorale, creating an effect at once Catholic and Protestant. At a time when Europe was split by religious wars, this was a radical gesture. Though it uses church aesthetics, the logic is ultimately a musical one, which is to say aesthetic, humanist, secular. If The Magic Flute is a fairy tale, it is one of the Enlightenment, in which the heightened consciousness approaches the realm of dream. It is also a hugely entertaining and beautiful time in the theatre. That is the meaning of Mozart.

If Don Giovanni is a dark night of the soul touched by unexpected grace, The Magic Flute is its polar opposite. At first glance, it is a simple-seeming morality tale. It presents clear oppositions between good and evil: a dashing Prince, a kidnapped Princess, a sympathetic Fairy Queen, and the forbidding tyrant Sarastro. Upon further inspection, the play deepens into an examination of what the Germans call Sein und Schein , or appearance and reality. The Queen of the Night’s astonishing aria in Act 2 — one of the operatic repertory’s most challenging set pieces — is shrouded in menace. Sarastro — whose name suggests Zoroaster, the ancient Persian god of wisdom — similarly conjoins opposite aspects. Though gentle and kind, he forces Tamino and Pamina to undergo tests of mental and physical fortitude. Instead of operatic forebears, in fact, Mozart’s Queen and King suggest characters from Shakespeare. Like Oberon and Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, they are the presiding sources of magic and authority, by turns beneficent and foreboding, placed in mutual opposition but forming an eventual concord.

MARY

MARY ZIMMERMAN ON BRINGING NEW LIFE TO MOZART'S FINAL OPERA

On WHY The Matchbox Magic Flute :

I think asking how or why I got the idea to adapt [Mozart’s] The Magic Flute is sometimes the wrong question. It’s like asking why you chose to fall in love with someone — it wasn’t a choice. The Magic Flute is a piece I’ve always loved. It has everything: dragons, adventure, villains, and an astonishing range of beautiful music (from extremely high arias to low, quartets, quintets, and trios). There are spoken scenes; it’s funny, and it signals that humor early on with the three ladies. They were funny hundreds of years ago, and they’re still funny today. Most of the work I’ve done has an epic quality to it and The Matchbox Magic Flute is no exception. There’s travel, danger, and adventure.

On Adaptation:

What keeps The Matchbox Magic Flute still The Magic Flute is Mozart’s music. Although the instrumentation is radically reduced, there are big cuts, and the style of singing is more musichall than opera, the tunes are the same: The melodies and harmonies are intact, and that’s the heart of it. You can't abandon that. What’s new, is how I've lightened the tone of the libretto and taken out some of the heavier quasi-religious elements. I hope that through restructuring the second act and clarifying parts of the libretto, the story makes more sense. The way you adapt a text inevitably reflects your own tastes. In this case, I’ve removed the emphasis on the fraternal order. In the original, there’s a lot about not listening to women and bonding with men

Opposite: Mary Zimmerman in the house of The Matchbox Magic Flute, Goodman Theatre, Chicago.

as the highest calling. That said, I think the misogyny in Mozart’s The Magic Flute is often overstated. The flute itself, the symbol of music and enchantment, with its power to create harmony and peace, is crafted by the Queen of the Night — supposedly the villain of the story. She made the flute at midnight, with only the moon for company — and that’s why we have music. So, there's a balance to this darker portrayal of women that often gets overlooked.

On the intersection of Theatre and Opera:

A key difference between opera and other forms, in terms of genre or structure, is that in opera, the music is the text. It’s both the text and the subtext. The lyrics make thought explicit, but the true voice, the dominating intelligence, is the music. When you’re directing a play, the main task — when working with actors — is negotiating how each line is delivered: the pitch, pace, volume, accent, and rhythm. We don’t reduce the process to such blunt terms, but that is how meaning is created. How a line is said — its rhythm, speed, and all those dynamics — are what shape the performance. In opera, all of those dynamics are pre-determined by the score. You can’t adjust the pitch, rhythm, or meter because they’re all fixed in the music. So, in the rehearsal room, the work is different. Your job as a director isn’t to shape the delivery in the same way you would in a play.

This is a theatrical adaptation of Mozart’s The Magic Flute , a hybrid, so I wanted to find the ways to bring the two worlds together. The Matchbox Magic Flute is so much about the theatre — it constantly quotes the theatre, not just in its archetypal story, but in its painted scenery, red velvet curtains, fake box seats, the

shell footlights, trompe-l'œil painting. It is old-timey, I hope, in the best way. We use periaktoi for quick rotating scenic elements — an ancient Greek theatrical device. There’s an openness in how the actors double in roles, which you never see in opera. Yet, we have little chandeliers which rise at the top of the show, which is a nod to the chandeliers at The Met that rise as the lights dim. At the very beginning of the show, our Spirit strikes a cane on the floor three times, which is an old French tradition of calling the audience to attention (it was originally a signal to the rigging crew backstage). The production is full of these ancient theatre traditions, and its very artificiality is part of the spectacle.

(continued next page)

On the “Matchbox” of The Matchbox Magic Flute I wanted to take something grand and compress it into something small while preserving as much detail, richness, and specificity as possible. I wanted it to feel as if you’re in a small 1700s theatre. I was inspired by the little private theatres you sometimes find in chateaux and palaces in Europe. They are extravagantly decorated, but only seat a few dozen people, with room for a tiny orchestra. They’re like toy theatres, but real performances would take place in them. I wanted to create that sense of overabundance—something grand but accessible—something that gives the audience a huge experience for the price of a theatre ticket. An opera scholar I deeply admire saw an early preview and told me, ‘I’m quite sure this is what it felt like when it first premiered’ and that made me very happy.

There’s a story about Bellini, who wrote the opera Norma. When it was a big hit, it moved to a larger theatre, and he wrote to a friend, starting his letter with ‘Fiasco! Fiasco! the theatre is too large — 600 seats!’ That’s so telling, considering that most opera houses today seat in the thousands. That enlarged scale demands a particular kind of singer and excludes many of the kinds of voices that Mozart originally worked with. There are many beautiful voices out there that will never sing opera simply because they don’t have the size for those massive spaces. Opera didn’t start out as the huge production it’s become. Back then, it was the popular music of its time, which is hard to convince people of today.

On returning to Berkeley Rep

When we were first rehearsing the show, putting it together, I was in a state of near constant ecstasy, like nothing I’ve ever experienced. I would drive home but keep driving past my house for an hour, up along the lake, even during tech rehearsals. I was just so high from the craftiness and cunning of the artists around me, steeped in this theatricality, and from the music, which never left my head for a second. I find that as we prepare to come to Berkeley – my theatrical home away from home – that excitement is rising in me again. And the tunes are haunting me.

This page: Scenic designer Todd Rosenthal’s maquette of the false proscenium and boxes in The Matchbox Magic Flute

PHOTO COURTESY MARY ZIMMERMAN

Opposite: Reese Parish in The Matchbox Magic Flute

PHOTO: LIZ LAUREN

SYNOPSIS

The action of The Matchbox Magic Flute takes place in various parts of a forest and in the Castle of Sarastro nearby.

The Matchbox Magic Flute is a variation on Mozart’s final opera, The Magic Flute, which premiered in 1791. It tells an archetypal story of the search for love and wisdom. As the tale begins, Prince Tamino finds himself lost in a strange wood, pursued by a dragon. He encounters three woodland Ladies, a lovelorn halfbird named Papageno, and the Queen of the Night. The Queen charges him with the rescue of her daughter Pamina, who has been abducted by Sarastro. What ensues is that quest, with surprising turns and revelations. Like its great predecessor, our miniature version is almost entirely sung through, with a smattering of little scenes.

BERKELEY REPERTORY THEATRE

JOHANNA PFAELZER, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR | TOM PARRISH, MANAGING DIRECTOR

presents

The Goodman Theatre Production of

THE MATCHBOX MAGIC FLUTE

ADAPTED AND DIRECTED BY MARY ZIMMERMAN

BASED ON THE OPERA BY MOZART

SCENIC DESIGN TODD ROSENTHAL

COSTUME DESIGN ANA KUZMANIĆ

MUSIC ADAPTED AND ARRANGED BY AMANDA DEHNERT & ANDRÉ PLUESS

LIGHTING DESIGN T. J. GERCKENS

SOUND DESIGN ANDRÉ PLUESS

MUSIC DIRECTOR AMANDA DEHNERT WIG & HAIR DESIGN CHARLES G. LAPOINTE

STAGE MANAGER MARNE ANDERSON *

DIRECTOR OF MARKETING AND AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT VOLEINE AMILCAR

DIRECTOR OF PRODUCTION AUDREY HOO

ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER SOFIE MILLER *

ASSOCIATE PRODUCER - NEW WORK victor cervantes jr.

DIRECTOR OF THE SCHOOL OF THEATRE ANTHONY JACKSON

DIRECTOR OF HUMAN RESOURCES AND DIVERSITY MODESTA TAMAYO

GENERAL MANAGER SARA DANIELSEN

DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT ARI LIPSKY

FINANCE DIRECTOR JARED HAMMOND

ASSOCIATE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR DAVID MENDIZÁBAL

DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS AMANDA WILLIAMS O’STEEN

The Matchbox Magic Flute received its World Premiere at Goodman Theatre, Chicago, Illinois on February 10, 2024 Susan V. Booth, Artistic Director Roche Schulfer, Executive Director/CEO

SEASON PRESENTING SPONSORS

Anonymous

Stephen & Susan Chamberlin

Yogen & Peggy Dalal

Bruce Golden & Michelle Mercer

Jonathan Logan & John Piane

SEASON SPONSORS

Frances Hellman & Warren BreslauWayne Jordan & Quinn Delaney

Gisele & Kenneth F. Miller

SPONSORS

Sudha Pennathur & Edward Messerly

ASSOCIATE SPONSORS

Lynne Carmichael

Pat & Merrill Shanks

The Strauch Kulhanjian Family

Gail & Arne Wagner

Jack & Betty Schafer

CAST

(in alphabetical order)

Ann Delaney* Lady 2 (from Nov 12)

Marlene Fernandez* Pamina

Russell Mernagh* Monostatos / Armored Guard #1

Lauren Molina* Papagena / Lady 1

Tina Muñoz Pandya Lady 3

Reese Parish The Spirit

Shawn Pfautsch* Papageno

Emily Rohm* Queen of the Night

Billy Rude* Tamino

Monica West* Lady 2 (through Nov 10)

Fernando Watts Sarastro / Armored Guard #2

UNDERSTUDIES

(in alphabetical order)

Alicia Berneche Queen of the Night / Lady 2

Daryn Whitney Harrell* Lady 3 / The Spirit

Josh Houghton* Papageno

Nathan Karnik Sarastro

Elliott Litherland* Tamino / Monostatos

Emma Rosenthal* Pamina / Papagena / Lady 1

MUSICIANS

Sheela Ramesh Associate Music Director, Conductor & Piano, Keyboard Glockenspiel

Ellie Falaris Ganelin Flute / Piccolo

Brietta Greger Percussion

Joshua Mikus-Mahoney Cello

Christina Walton Violin

Understudies never substitute for listed performers unless a specific announcement or notice is made at the time of appearance. Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

Musicians in this production are members of Musicians United Local 6, American Federation of Musicians.

This theatre operates under agreement with the League of Resident Theaters, Actors’ Equity Association (the union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States), the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, and United Scenic Artists.

Please turn off your cell phones, beeping watches, and electronic devices, and refrain from unwrapping cellophane wrappers during the performance. The videotaping or making of electronic or other audio and/or visual recordings of this production and distributing recordings or streams in any medium, including the internet, is strictly prohibited, a violation of the author(s)’s rights, and actionable under United States copyright law.

OPENING NIGHT: OCTOBER 23, 2024

RODA THEATRE

RUN TIME IS 2 HOURS INCLUDING ONE 15-MINUTE INTERMISSION

FOR THIS PRODUCTION

Assistant Director Xiaoyu (Mary) Liu (Peter F. Sloss Artistic Fellow)

Associate Scenic Designer ................................................................. Sotirios Livaditis

Associate Lighting Designer........................................................ David Goodman-Edberg

Assistant Lighting Designer ....................... Ryan Osborn, Renata Taylor-Smith (Lighting Fellow)

Associate Sound Designer Brandon Reed, Nick Canepa

Assistant Sound Designer Kaileykielle Hoga (Harry Weininger Sound Fellow)

Dragon Puppet & Animal Head ..................................................... Chicago Puppet Studio

Production Assistant ...................................... Trinity Wicklund (Stage Management Fellow) Deck Crew Siobhan Slater, Oxford Muir Lewis Wardrobe Caz Hiro (Interim Wardorbe Supervisor), Emily Mills

Lighting Programmer / Production Electrician .............................................. Kenneth Cote Sound & Video Show Crew ....................................... Akari Izumi (A1), Camille Rassweiler (A2)

Scenery, Costumes & Properties fabricated by The Goodman Theatre

Scenery Load In Crew .............. Carl Martin, Maggie Wentworth, Isaac Jacobs, Cameron Edwards, Caleb Knopp, Cassidy Carlson (Scenic Construction Fellow)

Additional Scenic Artists E Wayman, Kenzie Bradley, Caitlyn Brown (Scenic Art Fellow)

Additional Props Artisans Brittany Watkins, Jason Joo (Props Fellow)

Additional Costume Shop Crew ........................... Chris Weiland, Breanna Bayba, Moose Gavin, Amanda Geyer (Costumes Fellow)

Lighting Services provided by Berkeley Repertory Theatre Lighting Department

Additional Lighting Technicians: ......... Amy Abad, Angelina Costa, Brittany Cobb, C. Swan-Streepy, Charlie Mejia, A. Chris Hartzell, Emma Buechner, Frankie Aranguren, Hannah Linaweaver, Jack Grable, Jacob Hill, Margaret Linn, Matthew Sykes, Nori-Hayden Quist, Riley Richardson, Shy Baniani, Taylor Rivers

Sound Services provided by Berkeley Repertory Theatre Sound and Video Department

Additional Sound Technicians C. Swan-Streepy, Camille Rassweiler, Courtney Jean, Olivia Vazquez Production Manager ................................................................................. Kali Grau

Assistant Production Manager .......................... Rhea Mehta (Production Management Fellow)

Interim Company Manager Ryan Duncan-Ayala

Assistant Company Manager Katie Anthony (Company Management Fellow)

Associate Casting Director ........................................................................ Karina Fox Contractor .................................................................................... David Möschler

Original Casting by Lauren Port, CSA

Medical Consultation for Berkeley Rep provided by Agi E. Ban DC, John Carrigg MD, Cindy J. Chang MD, Christina Corey MD, Neil Claveria PT, Patricia I. Commer DPT, Kathy Fang MD PhD, Steven Fugaro MD, Olivia Lang MD, Allen Ling PT, Liz Nguyen DPT, Christina S. Wilmer OD, and Katherine C. Yung MD

ARTISTIC

BERKELEY REP STAFF

Johanna Pfaelzer ........................................ Artistic Director

David Mendizábal Associate Artistic Director/Director of In Dialogue

victor cervantes jr

Associate Producer/New Work

Karina Fox Associate Casting Director & Artistic Associate Rebs Chan In Dialogue Coordinator

Todd Almond, Rafael Casal, Daveed Diggs, Dipika Guha, Richard Montoya, Nico Muhly, Lisa Peterson, Sarah Ruhl, Tori Sampson, Jack Thorne, Joe Waechter ................. Artists Under Commission

GENERAL MANAGEMENT AND COMPANY MANAGEMENT

Sara Danielsen .......................................... General Manager

Peter Orkiszewski Company Manager

Ryan Duncan-Ayala Interim Company Manager

PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT

Audrey Hoo Director of Production

Kali Grau ............................................. Production Manager

COSTUMES

Maggi Yule ........................................ Costume Shop Director

Kiara Montgomery .......................... Resident Design Associate

Star Rabinowitz .................................................... Draper

Barbara Blair ....................................... Wardrobe Supervisor

ELECTRICS

Frederick C. Geffken

Lighting Supervisor

Sarina Renteria Associate Lighting Supervisor

Kenneth Coté Senior Production Electrician

Desiree Alcocer Production Electrician

PROPERTIES

Jillian A Green ..................................... Properties Supervisor

Amelia Burke-Holt .................... Associate Properties Supervisor

SCENE SHOP

Matt Rohner, Jim Smith ......................... Co-Technical Directors

Read Tuddenham ................ Assistant Technical Director — Shop

Grant Vocks Assistant Technical Director — Engineering

August Lewallen, Zach Wziontka Scenic Carpenters

SCENIC ART

Lisa Lázár Charge Scenic Artist

STAGE OPERATIONS

Julia Englehorn Stage Supervisor

Gabriel Holman .............................Associate Stage Supervisor

James McGregor ................................. Head Stage Technician

SOUND/ VIDEO

Lane Elms ................................... Sound and Video Supervisor

Angela Don ....................................... Senior Sound Engineer

Akari Izumi ............................................... Sound Engineer

BERKELEY REP SCHOOL OF THEATRE

Anthony Jackson Director of the School of Theatre

Dylan Russell Associate Director of the School of Theatre

MaryBeth Cavanaugh ..Director of Classes and Summer Programming

Ashley Lim ...................... Marketing and Registrations Manager

AeJay Antonis Marquis Mitchell ...... Education Programs Associate

Euan Ashley ......... In-School Residency and Curriculum Supervisor

Bobby August Jr, Jessica Bettencourt, Diana Brown, Erica Blue, Rebecca Castelli, Iu-Hui Chua, Jiwon Chung, Lauren Brody-Clarke, Jim Edgar, Deb Eubanks, Rachel Garlin, Nancy Gold, Gary Graves, Lore Gonzales, Marvin Greene, Susan Jane Harrison, Wayne Harris, Gendell Hing-Hernandez, William Thomas Hodgson, Paul Jennings, Jennifer LeBlanc, Carolyn McCandlish, Jonathan Moscone, Joel Ochoa, Joe Orrach, Robert Parsons, Hans Probst, Dylan Russell, Teresa Salas, Pamela Rickard, M Graham Smith, Hayley Sherwood, Joyful Simpson, Brennan Pickman-Thoon, Samuel Tomfohr, Elizabeth Woolford Teaching Artists

Matty Bloom, Joy Lancaster, Selma Meyerowitz Docent Chairs

Ted Bagaman, Michelle Barbour, Beth Cohen, Michelle Cordero, Miles Drawdy, Charles Evans, Alice Galoob, Kimberly Gilles, Randi Helly, Muriel Kaplan, Sue Kaplan, Ellen Kaufman, Jim Krampf, Richard Lingua, Mark Liss, Virginia McCarthy, Elaine Miller, Judith O’Rourke, Gigi Singer, Thomas Sponsler, Susan Wansewicz, Linda Williams Docents

ADMINISTRATION

Tom Parrish ........................................... Managing Director

Jared Hammond Finance Director

Katie Riemann Associate Finance Director

Jennifer Light Payroll Administrator

Alanna McFall Bookkeeper

Kate Horton ..........................................Executive Assistant

Modesta Tamayo ........ Director of Human Resources and Diversity

Kira Findling .............................................. HR Coordinator

DEVELOPMENT

Ari Lipsky ....................................... Director of Development

Laura Fichtenberg Associate Director of Development

Kelsey Scott Senior Institutional Giving Manager

Andrew Maguire Philanthropy Officer

Harper Brown ..................................... Annual Fund Manager

Isabella Chayet ...................... Corporate Partnerships Manager

Elaina Guyett ........................Stewardship and Events Manager

Emily Betts ............................. Donor Stewardship Coordinator

Cassidy Milano Development Operations Coordinator

OPERATIONS

Amanda Williams O’Steen Director of Operations

Peter Orkiszewski Associate Director of Operations

Adam Johnson Facilities Manager

Thomas Tran ........................................... Building Engineer

Jesus Rodriguez ..................................... Building Technician

Theresa Drumgoole, Wendi Lau, Sophie Li, Darrel De La Rosa ....................... Facilities Assistants

Destiny Askin CRM Project Manager

Christina Cone Web and Database Specialist

Nicole Peña Medak & Rentals Manager

MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS

Voleine Amilcar Director of Marketing and Audience Development

Heather Orth ...........................Associate Director of Marketing

DC Scarpelli ............................................. Creative Director

Kevin Kopjak –

Prismatic Communications .............. Public Relations Consultant

Lindsey Abbott Audience Development Manager

Sarah Doherty Digital Content Manager

Calvin Ngu Video and Multimedia Content Creator

Beatriz Hernandez ................................. Marketing Associate

PATRON SERVICES

Derik Cowan.

.Director of Ticketing and Sales

pan ellington, Matthew Hayden, Olga Khitarishvili, Jack Melcher, Em Parker, Dom Refuerzo ............ Box Office Agents

Kelly Kelley ...................................... Front of House Director

Maddi Gjovik, Nina Gorham Patron Services Supervisors

Emma Allen-Landwehr, Alicia Battle, Megan Bedig, Steven Cole, Matthew Hayden, Latasha Hayes, Armando Herrera, Jeremy Johnson, Caitlyn Lee, Jennifer Light, Ana-is Lino, Kalani Murray, Maura Oliverira, Kathleen Parsons, Angela Phung, Nicolas Puorro, Tuesday Ray, Anna Riggin, Melissa Scheulin, Alana Scott, Debra Selman, Sloane Sim, Anna Vorobyeva, Linda Wu, Kailani Zabala Patron Experience Representatives

2024/25 BERKELEY REP FELLOWSHIPS

Katie Anthony ........................... Company Management Fellow

Caitlyn Brown ........................................... Scenic Art Fellow

Cassidy Carlson ............................ Scenic Construction Fellow

Amanda Geyer .......................................... Costumes Fellow

Kaileykielle Hoga Harry Weininger Sound Fellow

Mondara Ixchel Education Fellow

Jason Joo Properties Fellow

Xiaoyu (Mary) Liu .......................... Peter F Sloss Artistic Fellow

Manon McCollum ........................... Bret C Harte Artistic Fellow

Rhea Mehta ............................ Production Management Fellow

Renata Taylor-Smith ..................................... Electrics Fellow

Zach Terrillion

Marketing and Development Fellow

Trinity Wicklund Stage Management Fellow

Ann Delaney Lady 2 (from Nov 12) is thrilled to be making her Berkley Rep debut! Regional: Matchbox Magic Flute (Goodman Theatre); It Came From Outer Space (Chicago Shakespeare Theater); The Full Monty, Little Shop of Horrors, Into The Woods, and Newsies (Paramount Theatre); A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder (Porchlight Music Theatre); Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story (American Blues); All Our Tragic (The Hypocrites); Cabaret, Big Fish (Theatre At The Center); Hairspray (Skylight Music Theatre). TV: Chicago Fire (NBC) and The 4400 (The CW).

Marlene Fernandez Pamina (she/her) is thrilled to make her Berkeley Repdebut returning to this magical production. She previously appeared in the show’s engagements at the Goodman Theatre and Shakespeare Theatre Company. Regional: In the Heights (The Muny/STAGES St. Louis). Commercial: Defining Legacy. BFA Musical Theatre from Penn State University. @shmarlene @shmakeupbyshmarlene

Russell Mernagh Monostatos / Armored Guard #1 is thrilled to bring The Matchbox Magic Flute to the Bay! Recent credits include previous Flutes at Shakespeare Theatre Company and the Goodman Theatre. Off-Broadway: The Play That Goes Wrong. Chicago: Broadway in Chicago, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Goodman Theatre, Drury Lane, Marriott Theatre, and the Paramount. Big thanks and gratitude to my castmates who have made the year of the Flute a great one. Love y’all. Russell is repped by Stewart Talent. IG: @Astheworldmerns

Lauren Molina Papagena / Lady 1 Broadway: Sweeney Todd; Rock of Ages. Off-Broadway: Plays for the Plague Year;Goldie, Max & Milk; Desperate Measures (Lucille Lortel, Outer Critics Circle Award nomination); Marry Me a Little; Nobody Loves You. She is the co-creator of the acclaimed comedy-pop band The Skivvies. Regional: The Matchbox Magic Flute (Shakespeare Theatre Company, Goodman); You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown (Cincinnati Playhouse); Candide (Helen Hayes Award; Huntington, Goodman, Shakespeare Theatre); Little Shop ofHorrors (Cleveland Play House);

Assassins (Yale Rep); A Little Night Music (Huntington); The Rocky Horror Show (Bucks County Playhouse). Laurenmolina.com, Insta: @lomo212

Tina Muñoz Pandya Lady 3

(she/her)

is an actor, musician, and teaching artist based in Chicago, where her credits include: The Matchbox Magic Flute (Goodman Theatre); London Road and The Tall Girls (Shattered Globe Theatre); The Secretaries (First Floor Theater); Mr. Burns (Theater Wit); The Mousetrap (Court Theatre); and Octagon (Jackalope Theatre). Regional credits include: The Matchbox Magic Flute (Shakespeare Theatre Company); As You Like It and The Old Man and the Old Moon (Door Shakespeare); Matt and Ben (Penobscot Theatre); House of Joy (St. Louis Rep); and The Hypocrites’ Gilbert and Sullivan Rep. Audio dramas: The Vanishing Act and Fawx and Stallion. Tina is a proud graduate of the University of Michigan and is represented by Gray Talent Group.

Reese Parish The Spirit who graduated this June from DePaul University with her BFA, is thrilled to be making her Berkeley Rep debut with the 3rd run of The Matchbox Magic Flute! Other theatre credits include The Matchbox Magic Flute (Goodman Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre Company); Southern Gothic (Windy City Playhouse); West Side Story, Everybody, and Lost Girl (Milwaukee Repertory Theater); Annie Jump, Bliss: or Emily Post is dead (Renaissance Theaterworks); The Wiz, Midnight Cry (First Stage Children’s Theater); Spring Awakening, The Seagull (DePaul University). TV/Film: Emperors of Ocean Park (MGM+). Reese is proudly repped by Paonessa Talent.

Shawn Pfautsch

Papageno (he/him)

Berkeley Rep credits: The Hypocrites’ Pirates of Penzance (Pirate King). Regional/Chicago credits: The Matchbox Magic Flute (Goodman Theatre); Theatrical Essays (Steppenwolf); Phantom Folktales (Pigpen Theatre/Virgin Voyages); Hamlet, Henry IV, The Seagull, A Flea in Her Ear (Michigan Shakespeare Festival); The Hypocrites’ Gilbert & Sullivan Rep (Skirball Center (NYC), Olney Theatre, Pasadena Playhouse, American Repertory Theater (Boston), Actors Theatre of Louisville). TV: Chicago Med (NBC); The Mob Doctor (Fox/Sony). Training: Southern Methodist University, BFA in Theatre Studies. Instagram: @shawnpfautsch

Emily Rohm Queen of the Night

Berkeley Rep debut! Regional highlights: Brigadoon (Goodman); Nell Gwynn, Ride the Cyclone, Beauty and the Beast (Chicago Shakespeare Theater); Carousel (Lyric Opera); Mary Poppins, The Music Man, Sweeney Todd, Fun Home (Paramount Theatre); Les Misérables, An American in Paris (Drury Lane); Jim Henson’s Emmett Otter’s Jug Band Christmas (Studebaker). Off-Broadway: Ride the Cyclone (Lucille Lortel Award Nominee). TV: Chicago Fire (NBC); Somebody Somewhere (HBO). She is featured on the Ride the Cyclone cast album, and you can hear her solo album Traveling Show on all streaming platforms. Follow @emilyrohm on TikTok/ Instagram

Billy Rude Tamino is proud to return with his Goodman cast here at Berkeley Rep. Touring credits include Million Dollar Quartet (Gershwin Entertainment). Regional credits include Sunset Boulevard (Porchlight Music Theatre); Grease (Drury Lane Oakbrook); Murder for Two (Marriott Theatre); Blue Heaven (Black Ensemble Theatre); Million Dollar Quartet (Laguna Playhouse); South Pacific (Billings Symphony). TV/Film: Chicago PD (NBC). Billy was the recipient of the 2023 Berkshire Theatre Critic’s Award (Outstanding Lead Actor in a Musical).

Fernando Watts

Sarastro / Armored Guard #2 is so excited to be making his Berkeley Rep debut as Sarastro. He has just graduated from the Manhattan School of Music with his Master of Music degree and will be taking on The Magic Flute for the third time in his early career. His performance credits include Sarastro in The Magic Flute (Manhattan School of Music); Il Commendatore in Don Giovanni (Chautauqua Institute); Harasta in The Cunning Little Vixen (Chautauqua Institute); The Chair & The Tree in L’enfant et Les Sortilèges (Manhattan School of Music); Sarastro & Sprecher in The Magic Flute (Lyric Opera of Weimar Germany); and The LoudSpeaker in Der Kaiser von Atlantis (Manhattan School of Music). Instagram: @100_Wattz

Monica West Lady 2 (through Nov 10) (she/her)

Berkeley Rep debut. Chicago: The Matchbox Magic Flute, The Music Man (Goodman Theatre); Eastland, Moby Dick (Lookingglass Theatre Company); Hand to God (Paramount Theatre). Off-Broadway: The Glass Menagerie (Roundabout Theatre Company); Red Light Winter (Barrow Street Theatre); Germans in Paris (59E59); A Contemporary American’s Guide to Marriage, 1959 (Cherry Lane Theatre). Toronto: Dirty Dancing (Royal Alexandra Theatre). Regional highlights: Guthrie Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Westport Country Playhouse. TV: Chicago Med, Chicago Fire, Law & Order, and Underemployed. Ms. West is an MFA candidate in writing at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. monica-west.com

Alicia Berneche u/s Queen of the Night / Lady 2 (she/her)

has starred on stages around the globe, including as Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby, Helen Niles in Mourning Becomes Elektra, Second Niece in the celebrated Peter Grimes, and Susanna understudy/bridesmaid for the dream cast Le Nozze Di Figaro. She has originated roles in world premiere operas, including Philip Glass’ and Mary Zimmerman’s Galileo, Galilei at the Goodman Theatre. Recent performances include Letitia Primrose in On The Twentieth Century with Blank Theatre Company, and Martha Watson in White Christmas, Agnes Gooch in Mame, and Nettie Fowler in Carousel with Music Theater Works.

Daryn Whitney Harrell u/s Lady 3 / The Spirit Berkeley Repertory Theatre debut! Recently seen in the World Premiere of Midnight in The Garden of Good and Evil (Goodman Theatre). Other Chicago credits: Beautiful, The Carole King Musical (Marriott Theatre); Louise in Gypsy (Porchlight Music Theatre); She the People (Second City) and Queenie Pie (Chicago Opera Theater). National tour credits: The Play That Goes Wrong, The Book of Mormon, and Jovie in Elf The Musical. TV/Film Credits: Chicago Med, Justified: City Primeval, Utopia, and Empire. Harrell was named in the 2019 Chicago Tribune’s Class of Hot New Faces. Represented by Gray Talent Group. Philippians 4:13. @DarynWHarrell

Josh Houghton

u/s Papageno

Regional theatre: The Merry Wives of Windsor (Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival/Idaho Shakespeare Festival/Great Lakes Theatre); ELF (Arvada Center); Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (Mercury Theater Chicago); Personality: the Lloyd Price Musical (Studebaker Theatre); The Sound of Music (Paramount Theatre); How the Grinch Stole Christmas (National Tour/Grand Ole Opry); HAIR, Tommy, Spamalot (Short North Stage). TV: Chicago P.D. (NBC). Education: BFA, The New School. Thank you to Mary, Amanda, Andre, and Gray Talent Group. josh-houghton.com

Nathan Karnik

u/s Sarastro (he/him)

is so excited to be making his Berkeley Rep debut! Chicago: The Matchbox Magic Flute (Goodman Theatre); Peter and the Starcatcher (Paramount Theatre); Beauty and the Beast (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre); The Little Mermaid (Music Theatre Works); Drood (Blank Theatre Company). New York: Ghost Girls (MTC). Regional: Sweeney Todd (Hangar Theatre); The Matchbox Magic Flute (Shakespeare Theatre Company); A Christmas Carol (IRT). Film: Same Love. Training: Northwestern University (Musical Theatre, Performance Studies, Economics). IG: @naykay13 nathankarnik.com. Thanks to my friends and family for always supporting me!

Elliott Litherland u/s Tamino / Monostatos (he/him)

Change is good. Concerts: Opera North, Gainesville Orchestra, Transcendence. Theatre: Walnut Street, Westchester Broadway, Arrow Rock Lyceum, The Argyle, AMT, Palm Beach Dramaworks, Mason Street Warehouse. Thanks to Mary, Russell, and the whole team for welcoming me into this company. Many thanks to Mikey at the collective. Thank you to my wife, Becca, my family, and Richie. Most of all thank you for being here and supporting live theatre. elliottlitherland.com @elliottlitherland

Emma Rosenthal

u/s Pamina / Papagena / Lady 1

Chicago: The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk (Northlight); Fiddler on the Roof, Peter and the Starcatcher, Beauty and the Beast (Drury Lane Oakbrook); Big Fish, Hello, Dolly! (Marriott Lincolnshire); Athena (Writers Theatre); The Fantasticks (Porchlight); The Tempest (Steppenwolf); Brigadoon, Candide (Goodman). Off Broadway: The Threepenny Opera (Marvell Rep, Drama Desk Nomination: Best Musical); Liberty (Theatre80). Regional: Indiana Repertory Theatre, Peninsula Players, Weston Playhouse, Cardinal Stage, Williamstown Theatre Festival. A graduate of Northwestern University, Emma is also a competitive powerlifter and pastry chef (you may have seen her on Fox’s Crime Scene Kitchen). Endless thanks to Mary and the entire Matchbox Magic Flute crew, to Gray Talent Group, and to Mom, Aaron, and Phil.

Sheela Ramesh

Associate Music Director, Conductor & Piano, Keyboard Glockenspiel is a music director and composer, and was recently named a “Woman to Watch on Broadway” by the Broadway Women’s Fund. Professional highlights: Broadway (SIX, Almost Famous, Once Upon a One More Time, Merrily We Roll Along, Hells Kitchen); Off-Broadway (Lincoln Center Theater, New York Theatre Workshop, The York, Theatre Row); TV (NBC’s Annie Live!); development (The Karate Kid, Bliss, A Transparent Musical, The Lunchbox, Diamond Alice, Jeannette, and more). Sheela received undergraduate and graduate degrees in music at Carnegie Mellon University and the Royal College of Music. She also holds degrees in psychology/cognitive science (BS, Carnegie Mellon; MSc, University College London) and law (JD, Yale Law School).

Joshua Mikus-Mahoney

Cello (he/him)

Joshua is delighted to return to Berkeley Rep, having previously originated the Cello chair for the world premiere musicals Galileo and Swept Away. Other recent credits include the world premiere of the opera Bulrusher by Eisa Davis & Nathaniel Stookey (West Edge Opera) and Henry Purcell’s Dido & Aeneas (Festival Opera). Joshua can be heard on the debut single “Even After” by Charlie Mitchell and the Broadway By the Bay holiday albums Home For The Holidays & All Is Bright. He holds a MM in Cello Performance from the University of Washington, and a BM in Cello Performance from Chapman University.

Christina Walton Violin

(she/her)

is a violinist and actor based in the SF Bay Area. She serves as concertmaster for the Oakland Civic Orchestra and leader of The Dynamic Miss Faye Carol’s string quartet. Favorite stage roles combine acting and violin, such as Park Ranger in Jessica Kahkoska’s Wildfire (Z Space) and Ex-Girlfriend in Once (42nd Street Moon). She previously performed at Berkeley Rep as a musician for Ain’t Too Proud and Paradise Square. Christina studied the violin in her hometown of Greenville, SC, and holds a BFA in Musical Theater from Brenau University and an MFA in Acting from ACT.

Ellie Falaris Ganelin

Flute / Piccolo

(she/her)

is a flutist and music director who is classically trained and welcomes other traditions into the fold, including jazz, Latin, Balkan and klezmer music. She is active as a performer of chamber and orchestral music in the San Francisco Bay Area and as a touring artist around the U.S. She is committed to making classical music inviting and accessible for all as an ambassador and performer for the Awesöme Orchestra Collective. For the past decade, she has been the director of the Kombos Collective, which aims to inspire, educate and challenge audiences through innovative programming that celebrates the Hellenic world. Ellie received her B.A. in Music from the University of Maryland, where she also holds a B.A. in Journalism and a Minor in French.

Brietta Greger

Percussionist

is a Bay Area percussionist with a Master of Fine Arts degree from CalArts. She specializes in avant-garde chamber music, musical theatre, and hand drums, including tabla, riq, congas, and pandeiro. A composer, improviser, recording artist, and teacher, Brietta can be found performing with Monterey County Pops, Nueva Big Band, Will Rees Band, and in musical theatres throughout the Bay Area. She teaches at Monticello Academy, Davis Intermediate School, and The Rhythm Academy, and coaches percussion for the Blue Devils Wind Symphony.

Mary Zimmerman

Adaptor and Director

Mary Zimmerman is a playwright and director of theatre and opera based in Chicago. She is the 1998 recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, the 2002 Tony Award and Obie for Best Director (for her play Metamorphoses), and many

Chicago Joseph Jefferson Awards, including Best Production and Best Director. She is a member of Lookingglass Theatre Company in Chicago, an Artistic Associate of the Goodman Theatre, and The Jaharis Family Foundation Endowed Chair of Performance Studies at Northwestern University.

She specializes in the adaptation of classical texts for the stage. Works that she has adapted and directed include The Steadfast Tin Soldier (Lookingglass), Treasure Island (Lookingglass and Berkeley Rep), The Jungle Book (Goodman, Huntington Theatre Company), The White Snake (Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Berkeley Rep, Goodman and McCarter Theatres and the Wuzhen Theatre Festival in China), Argonautika (Lookingglass, Berkeley Rep, The Shakespeare Theatre Company, McCarter Theatre Center), Candide (Goodman, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Huntington), Mirror of the Invisible World (Goodman), The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (Goodman, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Seattle Rep, Second Stage Theater), The Odyssey (Lookingglass, Goodman, McCarter, Seattle Rep, and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival), Arabian Nights (Lookingglass, Manhattan Theatre Club, BAM, Berkeley Rep, Kansas City Repertory Theatre, Arena Stage), Journey to the West (Goodman, Huntington, Berkeley Rep), Metamorphoses (Lookingglass, Seattle Rep, Berkeley Rep, Mark Taper Forum, Second Stage, and on Broadway at Circle in the Square), The Secret in the Wings (Lookingglass, Berkeley Rep, McCarter, Seattle Rep), Eleven Rooms of Proust (Lookingglass, About Face Theatre), and a new opera with Philip Glass called Galileo, Galilei (Goodman, Barbican in London, BAM). Her plays – particularly Metamorphoses, The Secret in the Wings (based on fairy tales) and The Odyssey – are produced over 100 times each year around the world in universities, high schools, and other amateur and professional venues. For the Metropolitan Opera, she has directed Lucia di Lammermoor (also at La Scala, Milan), Armida, La Sonnambula, Rusalka, Eurydice, and Florencia en el Amazonas, all of which have been broadcast live worldwide.

Amanda Dehnert

Music Director, Music Adapter and Arranger Chicago: The Steadfast Tin Soldier, Lucy & Charlie’s Honeymoon, Eastland: A New Musical, Peter Pan - a Play (Lookingglass Theatre Co); Iphegenia In Aulis (Court Theatre), Shining Lives: A Musical (Northlight Theatre). Off-Broadway: Kate Hamill’s Pride and Prejudice (Cherry Lane). Regional: Love’s Labor’s Lost, Timon of Athens (Oregon Shakespeare Festival); The Verona Project (California Shakespeare Theatre); The Cider House Rules, As You Like It (Trinity Repertory Co); A Christmas Carol (Cutler Majestic Boston)

Todd Rosenthal Set Design

Select Broadway: August Osage County (Tony Award), The Motherfucker with the Hat (Tony nomination), Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Of Mice and Men, This is Our Youth, Straight White Men, Linda Vista, and the upcoming Purpose and Eureka Day. International: August Osage County (London, Australia); Nice Fish, Downstate (London); Madama Butterfly, The Beauty Queen of Leenane (Ireland), Life After (Toronto). Exhibitions: Mythbusters: The Explosive Exhibition; International Exhibition of Sherlock Holmes, Victoria: T-Rex. Rosenthal also designs in Chicago and at many regional theatres around the country. Awards: USITT Distinguished Achievement, Olivier, Helen Hayes, Ovation, Joseph Jefferson, Michael Merritt. Professor, Northwestern. Graduate, Yale Drama.

Ana Kuzmanić

Costume Design

is a Yugoslav-born designer for theatre and opera. She returns to Berkeley Rep where she most recently designed costumes for Treasure Island. Kuzmanić’s design work was seen on Broadway (including August: Osage County), Off-Broadway, and in numerous opera houses across the US, including Florencia En El Amazonas at the Metropolitan Opera last season. Ana’s costume design work has been exhibited in Mexico, People’s Republic of China, Russian Federation, as well as many other countries across Asia, Europe, and North America. Kuzmanić is a Professor of Costume Design at Northwestern University. anakuzmanic.com

T.J. Gerckens

Lighting Design

Berkeley Rep: Metamorphoses, Treasure Island, Secret in the Wings, Arabian Nights, The Notebooks of Leonardo DaVinci, White Snake, and Journey to the West. Recent designs include Swan Lake (Australian Ballet; Sydney Opera House, Melbourne, Brisbane Adelaide). Other designs include Metamorphoses (on and off Broadway, regional) Florencia en el Amazonas, Eurydice, Rusalka, La Sonnambula, and Lucia di Lammermoor (Metropolitan Opera). His awards include the Drama Desk, Lortel, Jefferson, Bay Area Critic’s Circle. He has designed at theatres such as the LaScala Opera House, Goodman, La Jolla, Guthrie, Arena Stage, Mark Taper Forum, Barbican (London), Delacorte, and Lookingglass. T.J. teaches at Otterbein University.

André Pluess

Music Adapter and Arranger

Broadway credits include Good Night, Oscar (Belasco), The Minutes (Studio 54); 33 Variations (Eugene O’Neill Theatre); I Am My Own Wife (Lyceum Theatre) and Metamorphoses (Circle

in the Square). Off-Broadway credits include The Clean House (Lincoln Center); Milk Like Sugar and BFE (Playwrights Horizons). Regional credits include multiple productions with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, McCarter Theatre, Center Theatre Group, Arena Stage, Steppenwolf, Chicago Shakespeare, Williamstown Theater Festival, La Jolla Playhouse, The Huntington, and South Coast Repertory. Based in Chicago, he is an ensemble member of Lookingglass Theatre Company.

Charles G. LaPointe

Hair and Wig Design

Berkeley Rep: Ain’t Too Proud. Award winning designer who maintains a highly successful career on stages throughout the US and abroad. Numerous Broadway, touring, international, and West End productions including: Hamilton (Make-Up Artists / Hair Stylist Guild Award); MJ; Tommy; SIX; Suffs; The Wiz; Ain’t Too Proud; Beetlejuice; The Cher Show (Drama Desk Award); SpongeBob SquarePants (Drama Desk Award); Anastasia; The Band’s Visit; A Gentleman’s Guide…; Newsies; In the Heights Television: The Wiz Live! (Emmy Award nomination); Hairspray Live!; Jesus Christ Superstar Live! (Emmy Award nomination and Make-Up Artists & Hair Stylist Guild Award).

Chicago Puppet Studio

Puppet Design

is the design and fabrication wing of the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival and is co-directed by Blair Thomas and Tom Lee. They are thrilled to collaborate with Mary Zimmerman once again. The studio has designed and created puppetry for The Metropolitan Opera in NYC, Alliance Theatre, Goodman Theatre, Ma-Yi Theater Company, Out of the Box Theatrics, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Kennedy Center, Lookingglass Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre Co DC, House Theatre Chicago, Joffrey Ballet, Whitesnake Productions, and many more. The studio offers professional level training and classes at their workshop in the Fine Arts Building Chicago. chicagopuppetfest.org

Marne Anderson Stage Manager (she/her)

Regional: Swept Away, American Prophet, Seven Guitars, A Thousand Splendid Suns, Newsies, Jubilee, Indecent, Dave, Two Trains Running, The Great Society, A Raisin in the Sun, Moby Dick, All the Way, King Hedley II, Metamorphoses, Arabian Nights, Sophisticated Ladies (Arena Stage); Midsummer’s Night Dream, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (Folger Theatre); The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (The Old Globe); The Matchbox Magic Flute, Here There Are Blueberries, King Lear, Jane

Anger, The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (Shakespeare Theatre Company). Tour: Young Frankenstein. Training: University of North Carolina School of the Arts.

Sofie Miller

Assistant Stage Manager (she/her)

is delighted to return for another season with Berkeley Rep. Favorite productions include Angels in America, Kiss My Aztec, Imaginary Comforts, Latin History for Morons, Roe, Party People, and The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures Sofie has also worked regionally with Aurora Theatre Company, American Conservatory Theater, Magic Theatre, Presidio Theatre, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, and California Shakespeare Theater, and has stage managed concerts in NYC at Joe’s Pub and Urban Stages. Sofie holds a BA in Theater Arts and Post-Graduate Certificate in Theater Management from University of California, Santa Cruz.

The

Goodman Theatre

Chicago’s theatre since 1925, Goodman Theatre (Artistic Director Susan V. Booth and Executive Director/CEO John Collins) is a notfor-profit arts and community organization in the heart of the Loop, distinguished by the excellence and scope of its artistic programming and community engagement. The theatre’s artistic priorities include new play development (more than 150 world or American premieres), large scale musical theatre works, and reimagined classics. Artists and productions have earned two Pulitzer Prizes, 22 Tony Awards, and more than 160 Jeff Awards, among other accolades. The Goodman is the first theatre in the world to produce all 10 plays in August Wilson’s American Century Cycle. Its longtime annual holiday tradition A Christmas Carol, now in its fifth decade, has created a new generation of theatregoers in Chicago. The Goodman also frequently serves as a production and program partner with national and international companies and Chicago’s Off-Loop theatres.

Johanna

Pfaelzer Artistic Director (she/her)

Johanna joined Berkeley Rep in 2019 as its fourth artistic director, following 12 years as artistic director of New York Stage and Film (NYSAF), a New York City-based developer of new works for theatre, film, and television. Johanna is proud to have developed work by notable established and early career writers like Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda; Goddess by Saheem Ali, Michael Thurber, and Jocelyn Bioh; The Humans by Stephen

Karam; Hadestown by Anaïs Mitchell; The Wolves by Sarah DeLappe; The Invisible Hand by Ayad Akhtar; A 24-Decade History of Popular Music by Taylor Mac; The Homecoming Queen by Ngozi Anyanwu; The Great Leap by Lauren Yee; Doubt by John Patrick Shanley; The Fortress of Solitude by Michael Friedman and Itamar Moses; The Jacksonian by Beth Henley; and Green Day’s American Idiot. Johanna previously served as associate artistic director of American Conservatory Theater and is a graduate of Wesleyan University and the Actors Theatre of Louisville Apprentice Program. She lives in Berkeley with her husband, Russell Champa, and their son, Jasper.

Tom Parrish

Managing Director (he/him)

Tom has served as a theatre leader and arts administrator for over 20 years, with experience in organizations ranging from multi-venue performing arts centers to major Tony Award-winning theatre companies. Prior to Berkeley Rep, he served as executive director of Trinity Repertory Company, Geva Theatre Center, and Merrimack Repertory Theatre and as associate managing director/ general manager of San Diego Repertory Theatre. His work has been recognized with a NAACP Theatre Award for Best Producer and “Forty Under 40” recognition in Providence, Rochester, the Merrimack Valley, and San Diego. He received his MBA/MA in Arts Administration from Southern Methodist University; BA in Theater Arts and Economics from Case Western Reserve University; attended the Commercial Theater Institute, National Theater Institute, and Harvard Business School’s Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management; and is certified in Leading Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion by Northwestern University. He and his husband live in Berkeley.

THANK YOU to our supporters!

We thank the many organizations and individuals who enrich our community by championing Berkeley Rep’s artistic, education, and community engagement programs.

Institutional Funders

FOUNDATION

Anonymous (3)

The Sheri and Les Biller Family Foundation Civic Foundation, Inc.

Davis/Dauray Family Fund

The William H. Donner Foundation, Inc.

The Ira and Leonore S. Gershwin Philanthropic Fund

Eva Gunther Foundation

The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation

JEC Foundation

Koret Foundation

Laurents/Hatcher Foundation

Jonathan Logan Family Foundation

The Maurer Family Foundation

Miranda Lux Foundation

Morris Stulsaft Foundation

The Bernard Osher Foundation

The Shubert Foundation

The Harold and Mimi Steinberg

Charitable Trust

Taube Philanthropies

Westridge Foundation

Woodlawn Foundation

Corporate & Hospitality Sponsors

SEASON PRESENTING SPONSOR

CORPORATE PARTNERS

Armanino LLP

Aurora Catering Bank of Marin

SEASON SPONSOR

EXECUTIVE SPONSORS

SPONSORS

The Resilience Campaign

Comal

Covenant Wines

Hammerling Wines

The Morrison & Foerster Foundation

Pinx Catering

PERFORMANCE SPONSORS

Andrea Gordon Real Estate

BluesCruise.com

Perfusion Vineyard

Smile City Photo Booth

PUBLIC FUNDING

Berkeley Civic Arts Program and Commission

National Endowment for the Arts

BENEFACTOR SPONSORS

Broc Cellars

City Baking Co.

Eureka!

Family Laundry

Gallagher Risk Management Services

Heroic Italian

Jazz Café

Kermit Lynch

Lucia’s Berkeley

Picante

TheatreWorks

Berkeley Repertory Theatre gratefully recognizes the following contributors for their transformational contributions to The Resilience Campaign that support the Theatre’s future.

Anonymous California Wellness Foundation

Stephen & Susan Chamberlin

Yogen & Peggy Dalal

Robin & Rich Edwards

David & Vicki Fleishhacker

Kerry Francis & John Jimerson

Jill & Steve Fugaro

Karen Galatz & Jon Wellinghoff

Bruce Golden & Michelle Mercer

Marcia Grand

Frances Hellman & Warren Breslau

Dugan & Philippe Lamoise

The Jonathan Logan Family Foundation

Sandra & Ross McCandless

Gisele & Kenneth F. Miller

Sudha Pennathur & Edward Messerly

Jack & Betty Schafer

Pat & Merrill Shanks

Michael & Sue Steinberg

The Strauch Kulhanjian Family

Kelli & Steffan Tomlinson

Gail & Arne Wagner

Linda & Steve Wolan

We thank the many individuals in our community who help Berkeley Rep produce adventurous, thought-provoking, and thrilling theatre and bring arts education to thousands of people every year. We gratefully recognize our donors at the Champion level and above, who made their gifts between January 1, 2023 and September 4, 2024. We also express our deep gratitude to all of the Friends of Berkeley Rep that we are unable to recognize here due to space limitations.

Sponsors Circle

SEASON PRESENTING SPONSORS

Anonymous

Stephen & Susan Chamberlin

Yogen & Peggy Dalal

Bruce Golden & Michelle Mercer

Jonathan Logan & John Piane

The Strauch Kulhanjian Family

Gail & Arne Wagner

SEASON SPONSORS

Frances Hellman & Warren Breslau

Wayne Jordan & Quinn Delaney

Gisele & Kenneth F. Miller

Jack & Betty Schafer

Kelli & Steffan Tomlinson

LEAD SPONSORS

Anonymous

Barbara Bass Bakar

Jill & Steve Fugaro

Mary Ruth Quinn & Scott Shenker

EXECUTIVE SPONSORS

Anonymous (2)

Christina Crowley

Anne & Anuj Dhanda

Christopher Doane & Neal Shorstein, MD

Robin & Rich Edwards

Bill Falik & Diana Cohen

Kerry Francis & John Jimerson

Dr. Daniel F. Goodman

Marcia Grand

Melinda Haag & Chuck Fanning

Scott & Sherry Haber

Fred Levin

Melanie Maier

Sandra & Ross McCandless

Sudha Pennathur & Edward Messerly

Leonard X & Arlene B. Rosenberg

Pat & Merrill Shanks

Michael & Sue Steinberg

Steven & Linda Wolan

SPONSORS

Anonymous

Shelley & Jonathan Bagg

Walter Brown

David & Vicki Cox

William T. Espey & Margaret Hart Edwards

Paul Friedman & Diane Manley

Karen Galatz & Jon Wellinghoff

Paul Haahr & Susan Karp

Rick Hoskins & Lynne Frame

Steven Goldin

Rosalind & Sung-Hou Kim

Jack Klingelhofer

Suzanne LaFetra Collier

Susan & Moses Libitzky

Erin McCune

Artistic Directors Circle

PARTNER

Anonymous (3)

Edward D. Baker

Valerie Barth

Jeffrey & Karen Breslow

John Brennan & Stephanie McKown

Linda Brown

Byers Family

Italo & Susan Calpestri

Jennifer Chaiken & Sam Hamilton

John Dains

Richard DeNatale & Craig Latker

Thomas W. Edwards & Rebecca Parlette-Edwards

Merle & Michael Fajans

Linda Jo Fitz

Lisa Franzel & Rod Mickels

Rico & Maya Green

Karen Grove & Julian Cortella

Earl & Bonnie Hamlin

Lisa Herrinton

Elaine Hitchcock

Lynda & Dr. J. Pearce Hurley

The Jackson Family Foundation

Teresa Kersten

Duke & Daisy Kiehn

Randy Laroche & David Laudon

Joel Linzner & Teresa Picchi

Rosa Luevano & Charles Marston

Elsie Mallonee

Mona Marbach

Marymor Family Fund

Judy Minor

Sandi & Dick Pantages

Lauri Paul & Mark Hamilton

Peter Pervere & Georgia Cassel

Pure Dana Fund

Jaimie Sanford & Ted Storey

Emily Shanks

Ama Torrance & David Davies

Elizabeth Werter & Henry Trevor

Sheila Wishek

BENEFACTOR

Anonymous (4)

Norman Abramson, in memory of David Beery

Eric Allman & Kirk McKusick

Philip Arca & Sherry Smith

George & Marcia Argyris

Linda & Mike Baker

Michelle L. Barbour

Ashvini Bhave & Kishore Bopardikar

Becky & Jeff Bleich

Ronnie Caplane

Constance Crawford

Ed Cullen & Ann O’Connor

Lisa Conte

Dr. Jim Cuthbertson

Barbara & Tim Daniels

Richard & Anita Davis

Ilana DeBare & Sam Schuchat

Bill DeHart

Corinne & Mike Doyle

Linda Drucker

Sandra & Ken Eggers

William & Susan Epstein

Jerry Falk

Paul Feigenbaum & Judy Kemeny

The Flatows

Dean Francis

Pam & Mitch Nichter

Jack & Valerie Rowe

Todd Rubin

Chris & Mike Rupp, Descendant Cellars

Patricia Sakai & Richard Shapiro

Joan Sarnat & David Hoffman

Sargina & Marc Silvani

Jean Strunsky, in memory of Michael Strunsky

Barbara Tomber

Felicia Woytak & Steven Rasmussen

ASSOCIATE SPONSORS

Anonymous (3)

Edith Barschi & Robert Jackson

Anna Bellomo & Josh Bloom

Marc Blakeman

Lynne Carmichael

Cindy J. Chang, MD & Christopher Hudson

Venus David, in memory of Narsai David

Cynthia A. Farner

David & Vicki Fleishhacker

Shirlen Fund

Laura Graham

Elise Haas

Richard N. Hill & Nancy Lundeen

Sy Kaufman & Kerstin Edgerton

Sharon & Tom Francis

Herb & Marianne Friedman

Dennis & Susan Johann Gilardi

Mio & Jon Good

Mary W Graves

Stan Hoffman

Robert & Judith Greber

Anne & Peter Griffes

Migsy & Jim Hamasaki

Dan & Shawna Hartman Brotsky

Henry L. Hecht

Tamra C. Hege

Ruth Hennigar

Bill Hofmann & Robbie Welling

Paula Hughmanick & Steven Berger

Muriel Kaplan & Bob Sturm

Bill & Lisa Kelly

Dana Kirkland

Stephen F. Kispersky

Peggy Kivel

Michael H. Kossman

Woof Kurtzman & Liz Hertz

Jane & Mike Larkin, in memory of

Lynn & Gerald Ungar

Jay & Eileen Love

Luna Foundation

Susanna & Brad Marshland

Rebecca Martinez

Henning Mathew

Miles & Mary Ellen McKey

Susan Mazzetti

Susie Medak & Greg Murphy

Robin Meezan

Stephanie Mendel

Andy & June Monach

Dugan & Philippe Lamoise

Eileen & Hank Lewis

Ali Long, In Honor of T. Dixon Long

Helen M. Marcus, in memory of

David J. Williamson

Phyra McCandless & Angelos Kottas

Martin & Margi Cellucci McNair

Seth Mickenberg & Alfredo Silva

Julie Moreland

Tom Parrish & Steve Dow

Norman & Janet Pease

Johanna Pfaelzer & Russell Champa

Sue Reinhold & Deborah Newbrun

Audrey & Paul L. Richards, in honor of Barbara Peterson

Gary & Noni Robinson

Arthur & Toni Rembe Rock

David S. H. Rosenthal & Vicky Reich

Dennis Ryan & Rebecca Sutter-Ryan

Barbara Sahm & Steven Winkel

Monica Salusky & John K. Sutherland

Cynthia & William Schaff

Sarah E. Shaver

Audrey & Bob Sockolov

Salomon Strategic Development

Susan West

Wendy Williams

Geri Monheimer

Muriel Mora

Ronald Morrison

Shanna O'Hare & John Davis

Carol J. Ormond

Janet & Clyde Ostler

Judy O’Young, MD & Gregg Hauser

Barbara L. Peterson

Leslie & Mark Ragsdale

Dr. Jason Ravenel & Leann Ravenel

Terri Remillard

Carla & David Riemer

Richard A. Rubin & H. Marcia Smolens

Becky Saeger & Tom Graves

Jeane & Roger Samuelsen

Dan Scharlin & Sara Katz

Jackie Schmidt-Posner & Barry Posner

Jon & NoraLee Sedmak

Shirlen Fund, in memory of Shirley & Philip Schild

Allan & Maria Smith

Ed & Ellen Smith

Henry Spencer & Nicky Cass

Karen Stevenson & Bill McClave

Alison Teeman & Michael Yovino-Young

Henry Timnick

Larry Vales

Deborah & Bob Van Nest

Gerald & Lynda Vurek-Martyn

Brian Watt & Daisy Nguyen

Beth Weissman

Patricia & Jeffrey Williams

Mark Zitter & Jessica Nutik Zitter

CHAMPION

Anonymous (3) • Paul Bendix • Patti Bittenbender • Eric Brink & Gayle Vassar • Stacey Carlo • Dr. Jon Carr • Keith & Maria

Carson • Bart Connally • Karen & David Crommie • Josh Dapice

• Jacqueline Desoer • Carol DiFilippo • Joan M. Dove & Jim Daughn

• Donald and Jeannette Dow • Ben & Mary Feinberg • Donald & Dava Freed • Marjorie Ginsburg & Howard Slyter • Mary Grogan

• Sylvaine Guille • Thomas & Elizabeth Henry • Mr. Robert and Judy Huret • Sudhir Kasanavesi • Susan Kolb • Janet Kornegay & Dan Sykes • Shirley Langlois • Ellen & Barry Levine • Marcia C. Linn • Mark & Roberta Linsky • Lois & Gary Marcus, in memory of Ruth Weiland, Mose & Selma Marcus • Paul Mariano & Suzanne Chapot • Mina Morita • Jane Neilson • Judith & Richard Oken • Juan Oldham & Deborah Morgan • Bob & MaryJane Pauley

• Todd & Susan Ringoen • Maxine Risley, in memory of James Risley • John & Jody Roberts • Mitzi K. Sales • Helen Schulak • Susan Shafton • Laura Shennum • David & Lori Simpson • Amrita

Singhal & Michael Tubach • Suzanne Slyman • Betsy Smith • Cherida Collins Smith • Trevor & Anne-Marie Strohman • Annie

Ulevitch • William van Dyk & Margi Sullivan • Kimberly Webb & Richard Rossi • Jonathan & Kiyo Weiss • Irene Yen

ADVOCATE

Anonymous (15) • David Ahirhima • David Baer • Paula Bakalar • Celia Bakke • Irene Balcar • Richard & Kathi Berman • Brent Blackaby • Mark & Peggy Bley • James Blume & Kathryn Frank • Judy Blumenstein • Thomas Bosserman • Cathy Bristow • Paul Brody • Aimee Brown • Jane V. Buerger • John Bundschuh & Deborah Sorondo • Fran Burgess • Robert & Margaret Cant • Bruce Carlton • Russell Champa • Daren Chan • Steven and Karin Chase • Laura Chenel • Joan & Edward Conger • Cathy Corison and William Martin • Pam & Mike Crane • Rajen Dalal • Harry & Susan Dennis • Joe & Lisa Downes • Tammerlin Drummond • Kevin Eggan • Sue J. Estey • Paul Finkle & Sue DeVinny • Martin & Barbara Fishman • James & Jessica Fleming • Carol & Tony Friscia • Chris R. Frostad • Lisa and Jack Fuchs • Clara Gerdes & Ken Greenberg • Ellen Geringer & Chris Tarp • Judy & Sheldon Greene • Mark Greenstein • Karen Greig & Mike Frank • Don & Becky Grether • Jeannene Hansen • Dennis & Juanita Harte • Paula Hawthorn & Michael Ubell • Donald Hershman • Al Hoffman & David Shepherd • Rachel & John Horsch • Hilary & Tom Hoynes • Maria Inchauspe • Patricia J. Ishiyama • Atsuko Jenks • Barbara & Peter Jensen • May Johnston • Alan Karras & David Schulz • Leslie Karren • Ralph & Tonya Koenker • Andrea & Kenneth Krueger • Lucy Kuntz and Ned Fielden • Wayne Lamprey & Dena Watson-Lamprey • Susan Carol Ledford • Elizabeth Lewis • Jennifer S. Lindsay • Ari Lipsky & David Nahmias • Steve & Judy Lipson • Margo & Josh Lowensohn • Peter Luk • Gerry & Kathy MacClelland • Ingrid Madsen & Victor Rauch • Rob and Diane Master • Don Mathews • M. Mathews & K. Soriano • Kevin McCarty • Amelie Mel de Fontenay • Ellen Meltzer and George Porter • Melinda & Ralph Mendelson • Susan Morris • Ron Nakayama • Sandra Nichols • James O'Toole • Patti Oji Haas • Jeannie Pfaelzer & Peter Panuthos • Malcolm & Ann Plant • Kathleen Quenneville & Diane Allen • Daniel & Barbara Radin • Elizabeth Raffin • Jackie Lynn Ray • Kalpana Reddy • Michael Rocha • William Rogers • Patrick Romani • Shasta Roope • Deborah Dashow Ruth, in memory of Leo P. Ruth • Lisa A. Salomon • Eve Saltman & Skip Roncal, in honor of Kerry Francis & John Jimerson • Dorothy Saxe • Eric & Lauren Schlezinger • Teddy & Bruce Schwab • Deborah Sedberry & Jeff Klingman • Jacob Sevart • Ruchira Shah & David Grunwald • Brenda Buckhold Shank, M.D., Ph.D. • Steve & Susan Shortell • Beryl & Ivor Silver • Robert Sinha • Gary & Jana Stein • Jane & Jay Taber • Margo & Drew Tammen • Kathy Taylor • Ruthann Taylor • Karen Tiedemann & Geoff Piller • Dana Tom & Nancy Kawakita • Dale Underwood & Kirsti Aho • Jill Van Dalen • Leon Van Steen • Benny & Liz Varon • Galen Wilson • Barbara & Mordechai Winter • H. Leabah Winter • Susan Wittenberg • Molly Wood • Moe & Becky Wright • Ned Zlatarev Galen Wilson • Barbara & Mordechai Winter • H. Leabah Winter • Susan Wittenberg • Molly Wood • Moe & Becky Wright • Ned Zlatarev

The Michael Leibert Society

Berkeley Rep gratefully acknowledges the following individuals who have generously provided for the theatre in their estate plans:

Anonymous (9)

Norman Abramson & David Beery*

Sam Ambler

Carl W. Arnoult & Aurora Pan

Ken & Joni Avery

Nancy Axelrod

Edie Barschi

Neil & Gene Barth

Susan & Barry Baskin

Linda Brandenburger

Broitman-Basri Family

Bruce Carlton & Richard G. McCall*

Stephen K. Cassidy

Paula Champagne & David Watson

Terin Christensen

Sofia Close

Ed Cullen & Ann O’Connor

Andrew Daly & Jody Taylor

Narsai* & Venus David

Darren & Sunshine Deffner

M. Laina Dicker

Thalia Dorwick

Robin & Rich Edwards

Thomas W. Edwards

& Rebecca Parlette-Edwards

Bill & Susan Epstein

William Espey

& Margaret Hart Edwards

Bill Falik & Diana Cohen

Dr. Stephen E. Follansbee

& Dr. Richard A. Wolitz

Catherine Fox

Kerry Francis

Dr. Harvey & Deana Freedman

Joseph & Antonia Friedman

Paul T. Friedman

Laura K. Fujii

David Gaskin & Phillip McPherson*

Marjorie Ginsburg & Howard Slyter

Mary & Nicholas* Graves

Elizabeth Greene

Sheldon & Judy Greene

Don & Becky Grether

Barry* & Micheline Handon

Julie & Paul Harkness

Linda & Bob Harris

Fred Hartwick

Ruth Hennigar

Daria Hepps

Douglas J. Hill*

Peter Hobe & Christina Crowley

Hoskins/Frame Family Trust

Lynda & Dr. J. Pearce Hurley

Robin C. Johnson

Janice Kelly & Carlos Kaslow

Bonnie McPherson Killip

Lynn Eve Komaromi

Michael H. Kossman

Woof Kurtzman

Scott & Kathy Law

Dot Lofstrom

Ingrid Madsen & Victor Rauch

Andrew Maguire

Helen M. Marcus

Dale* & Don Marshall

Rebecca Martinez

Sarah McArthur LeValley

Sandra & Ross McCandless

Suzanne & Charles McCulloch

John G. McGehee

Miles & Mary Ellen McKey

Ruth Medak

Susie Medak & Greg Murphy

Stephanie Mendel

Toni Mester

Shirley & Joe Nedham

Jane & Bill Neilson

Theresa Nelson & Bernard Smits

Pam & Mitch Nichter

Wallace Oman

Sharon Ott

Fr. David Pace

Amy Pearl Parodi

Barbara L. Peterson

Regina Phelps

Margaret Phillips

Mark J. Powers & Albert E. Moreno

Marjorie Randolph

Gregg Richardson

Bonnie Ring Living Trust

David Rovno, M.D.

Tracie E. Rowson

Deborah Dashow Ruth

Patricia Sakai & Richard Shapiro

Brenda Buckhold Shank, M.D., Ph.D.

Emily Shanks

Valerie Sopher

Michael & Sue Steinberg

Dr. Douglas & Anne Stewart

Jean Strunsky

Mary, Andrew & Duncan Susskind

Jim Tibbs & Philip Anderson

Henry Timnick

Guy Tiphane

Dana Tom & Nancy Kawakita

Phillip & Melody Trapp

Janis Kate Turner

Gail & Arne Wagner

Barry & Holly Walter

Weil Family Trust - Weil Family

Susan West

Sheila Wishek*

Steven & Linda Wolan

The Woolfson Blumenfeld

Living Trust

Karen & Henry Work

Anders Yang, JD

Martin & Margaret Zankel

* deceased

GIFTS RECEIVED BY BERKELEY REP

Estate of Suzanne Adams

Estate of Pat Angell, in memory of theater architect Gene Angell

Estate of Nina Auerbach

Estate of Helen C. Barber

Estate of Fritzi Benesch

Estate of Carole B. Berg

Estate of Nelly Berteaux

Estate of Jill Bryans

Estate of Paula Carrell

Estate of Victoria Carter

Estate of Nancy Croley

Estate of John & Carol Field

Estate of Ralph Garrow

Estate of Richard & Lois Halliday

Estate of Nancy Kornfield

Estate of Audrey J. Lasson

Estate of Zandra Faye LeDuff

Estate of Ines R. Lewandowitz

Estate of Jim Lillienthal

Estate of John E. & Helen A. Manning

Estate of Richard Markell

Estate of Sumner

& Hermine Marshall

Estate of Margaret D. & Winton McKibben

Estate of Robert S. Newton, in honor of John T. & Jean Knox

Estate of Sheldeen G. Osborne

Estate of Timothy A. Patterson

Estate of Gladys Perez-Mendez

Estate of Margaret Purvine

Estate of Guy T. Roberts, Jr.

Estate of Leigh & Ivy Robinson

Estate of Gretchen Saeger

Estate of Stephen C. Schaefer, in honor of Jean and Jack Knox

Estate of Kevin Shoemaker

Estate of Peter Sloss

Estate of Louis & Bonnie Spiesberger

Estate of Harry Weininger

Estate of Grace Williams

LEAVE YOUR LEGACY

“If you are going to live, leave behind a legacy. Make an impact on the world that can never be erased.”

—Maya Angelou

WEST AFRICAN FUSION

HABIB KOITÉ, ALY KEÏTA, AND LAMINE CISSOKHO

Three standard-bearers of West African musical traditions come together to celebrate Mandé Sila: the way of the Mandingo empire.

FLAMENCO

LAS MIGAS

NYGEL D. ROBINSON IN MEXODUS

When you join the Michael Leibert Society, you help secure the future of Berkeley Rep’s treasured tradition of producing adventurous and thought-provoking theatre. How to join? It’s easy!

Make a bequest: Defer a gift until after your lifetime. Name Berkeley Rep in your will (designate a specific amount, a percentage, or a share of the residue).

Gift of retirement assets: Avoid twofold taxation on your IRA or other retirement plans. Name Berkeley Rep as full or part beneficiary of the remainder of the assets after your lifetime.

To learn more ways to leave your legacy, contact Philanthropy Officer Andrew Maguire at 510-647-2904 or amaguire@berkeleyrep.org.

All-female quartet breaking the codes of traditional flamenco with jazz, classical, bossa and Manouche.

SINGER-SONGWRITER LIVINGSTON TAYLOR & LOUDON WAINWRIGHT III

Thu & Fri, Nov 7 & 8 | 8pm Sun, Nov 24 | 7pm Sat, Dec 7 | 7pm

KLEZMER THE KLEZMATICS

Often called a “Jewish roots band,” The Klezmatics have led a popular revival of this ages-old, nearly forgotten art form.

Tue & Wed, Dec 10 & 11 | 8pm

AMERICAN ROOTS THE DEFORD BAILEY LEGACY FESTIVAL

Three days of concerts and activities honoring the first Black star of the Grand Ole Opry and the rich history of Black Americans in Country Music.

BLUES

TOMMY CASTRO & THE PAINKILLERS FEATURING DEANNA BOGART

Years

Fri-Sun, Dec 13-15 | 7pm Tue, Dec 31 | 9pm

& party favors included!

New

Eve celebration with legendary blues, R&B, and rock guitarist, Tommy Castro and singer/saxophone player, Deanna Bogart. Champagne toast

Two legendary singer-songwriters come together on stage at the Freight for an extraordinary night of music.

CELEBRATING DONOR APPRECIATION MONTH

PHOTOS:

Cast of Galileo

This month, we are celebrating YOU — our extraordinary community of Berkeley Rep donors! You helped produce an incredible season of shows this year, in addition to education programming for Bay Area students, new play creation through The Ground Floor, and community events and partnerships through In Dialogue. Your donation makes the magic possible. Thank you for supporting non-profit theatre in the Bay Area!

Find out more here:

Nygel D. Robinson and Brian Quijada in Mexodus

MAKING THEATRE

MEET THE ARTISANS WHO BUILD OUR SHOWS

BY DC SCARPELLI

Fans of Mary Zimmerman’s work love seeing the fantastical and improbable come to life, and puppetry often comes into play to make that magic happen.

Chicago Puppet Studio has collaborated for many years with Mary Zimmerman, from her work at Lookingglass Theatre to her more recent opera at the Met, Florencia en el Amazonas. Below, Tom Lee, who, with Blair Thomas, co-directs Chicago Puppet Studio, tells us about the process of making puppets for Mary’s theatrical work.

What brief do you work from when creating a puppet design, and how does it inform design choices like scale and material?

The considerations range from artistic ones (What story is the puppet helping to tell? How is it moving in relationship to the dynamic on stage? Is it representational or fantastic?) to practical ones (How many people will operate the puppet? What specific actions does it need to perform? Is the operator trained as a puppeteer or are they an actor puppeteering for the first time?)

Scale and materials go hand in hand with that process. But perhaps the most important considerations are weight and durability. Puppets that are too heavy tax the operator and struggle to stay “alive.”

Puppets are performing objects —they need to be robust and withstand repetitive movement.

What special considerations came into play on The Matchbox Magic Flute ?

Originally, the dragon at the beginning of Flute was to be a massive scenic object whose gigantic head would enter from offstage and threaten Papageno. When that became unfeasible, Mary flipped the prompt; she requested “A ‘jewelbox’ dragon with ruby eyes.”

The dragon’s eyes are modeled after 20-sided dice (an Easter egg nod to Dungeons and Dragons).

When you’re creating a new puppet design, how involved are the director and the actor(s) who’ll be operating it?

It varies. Mary likes to be there for the process. We know that after we show her drawings, she will want to see mockups and imagine how they will work with what she’s cooking on stage. She never wants you to simply drop the finished object off at tech, she wants to see the interim versions: the version drawn on a napkin, the interim version made out of cardboard, the version that’s unpainted…

Evolution of the dragon

1. This page, top: Scenic designer Todd Rosenthal’s original conception of a dragon titanic in scale

2. Opposite, top: Tom Lee’s initial sketch for the dragon puppet

3. This page, center: An initial working model of the dragon puppet without skin or detailing

And she often has notes and questions along the way. We always try to be in rehearsals to train the performers who operate our objects — if the actor has puppetry experience, it can lead to some very interesting discoveries!

4. This page, bottom: The puppet gets skin, texture, and an initial coat of paint

5. Opposite, bottom: actor Russell Mernagh operates the dragon puppet in The Matchbox Magic Flute

NOV 8–DEC 15, 2024

JAJA’S AFRICAN HAIR BRAIDING

BY JOCELYN

BIOH | DIRECTED BY WHITNEY WHITE IN ASSOCIATION WITH MADISON WELLS LIVE & LACHANZE

A CO-PRODUCTION WITH ARENA STAGE AND CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE THEATER WEST COAST PREMIERE | PEET’S THEATRE

Step into the vibrant world of Jaja’s African Hair Braiding, a beloved Harlem hotspot where West African immigrant braiders work their magic on the locals’ locks. Amidst the lively buzz of a scorching summer, love ignites, dreams soar, and secrets unravel. But beneath the surface lies a current of uncertainty, pushing this close-knit community to confront the challenges of being outsiders in their own neighborhood. From the pen of acclaimed Ghanaian American playwright Jocelyn Bioh (Goddess, School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play) and directed by Obie winner Whitney White, Jaja’s African Hair Braiding is “a play that is equally affecting as it is hilarious,” hails Entertainment Weekly. Tickets at

Performances Cal

Disney’s beloved animated feature comes to life in an interactive performance and screening that’s perfect for the whole family. Sing along to the award-winning soundtrack with songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda, played live by Banda de la Casita!

San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus Holiday Spectacular! Disney Concerts Presents Encanto: The Sing-Along Film Concert

In this retrospective production, the pioneering acrobatic dance troupe invites us to step into a realm where imagination knows no limits, the boundaries of gravity and creativity blur, and storytelling takes on new dimensions.

THANKSGIVING WEEKEND

Nov 30–Dec 1

ZELLERBACH HALL, BERKELEY

Celebrate the season with a couple hundred of your most talented neighbors at this beloved annual tradition, complete with holiday carols, satirical sketches, guest dancers, and drag artists. It’s heartfelt, it’s hilarious, and it’s a uniquely Bay Area celebration of community and holiday cheer.

Antonio Sánchez Birdman LIVE

ZELLERBACH HALL, BERKELEY

The Academy Award-winning Best Picture, , screened to a live soundtrack

In this special screening and concert, Antonio Sánchez celebrates the 10th anniversary of Alejandro Iñárritu’s film (starring Michael Keaton) with a riveting live performance of his Grammy-winning solo drum set score.

Jan 18

ZELLERBACH HALL, BERKELEY

Explosive tap dance meets hot jazz rhythms in this acclaimed company’s intoxicating interpretation of the holiday classic, danced to Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn’s joyful take on the iconic Tchaikovsky score.

Dec 14 & 15

ZELLERBACH HALL, BERKELEY

In its latest creation, the famed taiko troupe creates a universe of sound and emotion through thunderous percussion and polished theatricality, the living bearers of a centuries-old Japanese folk tradition.

Jan 25–26

ZELLERBACH HALL, BERKELEY