DECEMBER 2017
OUR 2017-18 SEASON I KNOW WHY THE CAGED BIRD SINGS + HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE + THE MALTESE FALCON THE BRIEF WONDROUS LIFE OF OSCAR WAO + THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY
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As a mot her of a 2-year old son diagno sed wit h leukemia, there was such helplessness as I held him t hro ugh years of blood draws and injections. But thanks to Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center’s groun dbreaki ng development of bone marrow transplants, our son was cured. It is t he finan cial gift s of donors like you t hat made t his possible. Becau se of you, we saw our son launc h himself in t o t he world. Sincerely,
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December 2017 Volume 14, No. 3
WINTER 2017
Paul Heppner Publisher Sara Keats Encore Stages Editor
Contents Dialogue 5
Erin Murray on the Kilroys list, making PNW theatre, and her new podcast, That's WOW!
9
Samie Spring Detzer on Washington Ensemble Theatre's season and living and working in Seattle
Susan Peterson Design & Production Director Ana Alvira, Robin Kessler, Shaun Swick, Stevie VanBronkhorst Production Artists and Graphic Design Mike Hathaway Sales Director Brieanna Bright, Joey Chapman, Ann Manning Seattle Area Account Executives Amelia Heppner, Marilyn Kallins, Terri Reed San Francisco/Bay Area Account Executives Carol Yip Sales Coordinator
NOV 29 - DEC 30
Intermission Brain Transmission 11
CENTER THEATRE AT THE ARMORY
Test yourself with our trivia quiz!
Encore Stages is an Encore Arts Program that features stories about our local arts community side-by-side with information about performances. Encore Arts Programs are publications of Encore Media Group. We also publish City Arts, the monthly arts & culture magazine, and specialty publications, including the Offical Seattle Pride Guide and the SIFF Guide and Catalog. Learn more at encoremediagroup.com
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Dialogue
Encore Stages in conversation
Erin Murray. Photo by Tracey Salazar.
Danielle Mohlman speaks with “femme forward” theatre maker and educator Erin Murray.
4 ENCORE STAGES
Erin Murray is a “femme forward” theatre maker and educator. A native of Washington, Erin grew up in University Place, just outside of Tacoma and describes herself as a PNW woman through and through. She’s a director with affiliations with seemingly every theatre in the area and recently added podcast host to her resume with her show That’s WOW: That’s Womxn of Washington, where she talks to femme culture makers and leaders in the area about their work. We had a chance to talk to her about her passion for plays from the female perspective, her love for the Pacific Northwest, and her dream project.
You went to Northwestern in Chicago to get your MFA in directing, but decided to move back to Seattle and grow your career here. What excites you about directing in Seattle and the Pacific Northwest? What about the region inspires you?
We are a region of pioneers in a great time of change, so I knew this would be the best place for me to continue to grow. The major theatre houses have had changes in artistic leadership in the past three years: John Langs at ACT Theatre, Braden Abraham at The Rep, even Aidan Lang at Seattle Opera, and with Andrew Russell moving on, there will be more. Mat Wright has brought new folks to ArtsWest, Kelly Kitchens and Annie Lareau are shaking up programming as the new
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heads of Seattle Public Theatre, and newer companies like Forward Flux are finding strong root systems. After broadening my skill set at Northwestern, I wanted a city where I could continue to direct a broad range of projects and not be confined to one style – and I’m finding that. I’ve worked and studied all over the northern hemisphere and I can tell you that American theatre is lacking a PNW voice. I would like to see that change, and I want to be that change. We are a weird region surrounded by terrifying beauty. David Lynch understood that when he placed Twin Peaks here. I want to explore our voice in American theatre. I know work by female and non-binary playwrights is very important to you. How do you hope to bring more female playwrights to Seattle stages?
I was awarded a Spark Grant by the Greater Tacoma Foundation this summer, so myself and Ana Maria Campoy will be bringing a semi-staged reading of Tanya Saracho’s bilingual play Fade on a three-venue tour of Tacoma this fall.
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“I can tell you that American theatre is lacking a PNW voice. I would like to see that change, and I want to be that change.” I have also been developing a theatre company dedicated to the work of The Kilroys [an organization that publishes an annual industry-wide list of plays by women and non-binary playwrights] CONTINUED ON PAGE 8 AFTER THE INSERTED PROGRAM
6 ENCORE STAGES
Imagine a better world than the one we live in. Imagine a better future for yourself and your loved ones. Imagine being able to forge stronger connections with your community. Imagination is the first step toward creating a better world, and Book-It’s exciting production of Howl’s Moving Castle challenges us to imagine more fully and beautifully than we normally do in our day-to-day lives. Thank you for joining us on this magical journey to the land of Ingary. Today we ask you to imagine with us by making a gift to support our work. Your support helps us produce large-scale productions like Howl’s Moving Castle. Your support helps us bring touring children’s plays to schools across Washington state, including our current bilingual adaptation of Ada’s Violin: The Story of the Recycled Orchestra of Paraguay. Your support helps us create new education programs like this season’s LISTEN UP!, which trains dozens of local high school students in spoken work performance, empowering them to write their own poetry inspired by the work of Dr. Maya Angelou. If you believe in this mission, please consider making a gift today. Every dollar you give helps us reach more audience members, more students, and more teachers with our core mission: to inspire audiences to read with adaptations of great literature. You can donate today in the lobby, by mail, by phone, or online at www.book-it.org. Or sign up for the Page-Turners monthly giving program – a gift of $10 or $20 a month will go a long way toward making Book-It a healthy and sustainable organization for years to come. On behalf of everyone at Book-It, thank you for being here today, and enjoy the magic of Howl’s Moving Castle! Sally Brunette Director of Development
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MUSICAL NUMBERS ACT I In Ingary................................................................................Fanny, Martha, Lettie, Sophie, Company The Mushroom Bonnet/Poor Jane Farrier .............................Sophie, Fanny, Lettie, Company A Different Person ................................................................Sophie May Day................................................................................Company Cake......................................................................................Martha, Lettie, Sophie The Witch of the Waste ........................................................Sophie, Witch of the Waste Wherever I’m Going .............................................................Sophie, Company Under a Spell ........................................................................Calcifer, Sophie Hyacinths ..............................................................................Howl Lettie Loves Me ....................................................................Michael Skipping Rope.......................................................................Mrs. Fairfax Song .....................................................................................Woman, Company There will be one 15-minute intermission between acts.
ACT II What Is This Place.................................................................Sophie, Michael Song .....................................................................................Lily That Boy Is Going Bad ..........................................................Mrs. Pentstemmon Ordinary Indeed/The Witch of the Waste (Reprise) ..............King, Sophie, Witch of the Waste Everything I Do .....................................................................Howl The Storm .............................................................................Company All Her Life ............................................................................Sophie, Flowers I Was Told To Stay ..................................................................Percival, Lettie Mister Smith .........................................................................Fanny I Talk Life ...............................................................................Sophie, Lily Finale ....................................................................................Company Note: Howl’s Moving Castle is a new musical in development. Song titles are subject to change.
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Books you hate to love, performed live! Monday, January 22, 2018 » DOORS OPEN 7:00 KEXP, 472 First Ave. N » at the Seattle Center
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JANE JONES, Founder & Founding Co-Artistic Director, MYRA PLATT, Founding Co-Artistic Director, KAYTI BARNETT-O’BRIEN, Managing Director
Howl’s Moving Castle By Diana Wynne Jones
Adapted and Directed by Myra Platt • Music and Lyrics by Justin Huertas • Music Direction by Adam Quillian (in alphabetical order)
CAST
Randall Scott Carpenter John Coons Michael Feldman* Rachel Guyer-Mafune Kate Jaeger* Katherine Jett Lamar Legend Opal Peachey Sara Porkalob* Tyler Rogers Sarah Russell
PRODUCTION AND ARTISTIC TEAM
Adam Quillian Olivia D. Hamilton Matthew Tevenan or Joshua Koller
Michael/Ensemble Scarecrow/Ensemble Howl Martha Hatter/Ensemble Witch of the Waste/Mrs. Fairfax Lily Angorian/Ensemble Calcifer/Ensemble Mrs. Fanny Hatter/Ensemble Sophie Hatter Percival/Ensemble Lettie Hatter/Ensemble Conductor/Keyboard Guitar/Bass Cello
Emma Pihl Shane Unger
Stage Manager Assistant Stage Manager
Steven Tran Julia Hayes Welch Margaret Toomey Andrew D. Smith** Erin Bednarz Table Flip Andrea Kovich Katya Landau
Associate Music Director Scenic Designer Costume Designer Lighting Designer Sound Designer Choreography Dramaturg Dialect Coach
Produced by permission of Knight Hall Agency Ltd of Lower Ground Floor, 7 Mallow Street, London, EC1Y 8RQ on behalf of the Estate of Diana Wynne Jones. *Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States ** The scenic, costume, and sound designers of Howls’ Moving Castle are represented by United Scenic Artists, Local USA 829 of the IATSE PRODUCTION AND SEASON PRODUCER: The Sheri & Les Biller Family Foundation EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Holly & Bill Marklyn PRODUCERS: Amy & Matthew Cockburn • Marty Hoiness & Stuart Frank • Anne McDuffie & Tim Wood SEASON SUPPORT
Additional generous support is provided by numerous local businesses, family foundations, and hundreds of individuals. Many thanks to all our supporters
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A-3
INTERVIEW
with Justin Huertas on Adding Music and Lyrics to a Classic Dramaturg Andrea Kovich and musician/ songwriter Justin Huertas discuss the creating the musical world of Howl’s Moving Castle.
How would you describe your process in writing music for musical theatre? Is it different than writing something like a pop song?
Myra Platt, Justin Huertas, photo by John Ulman
The author, Diana Wynne Jones, had a fascinating creative process that has got me thinking about how artists create the world of their artwork. How do you use music to create a magical fantasy world? JH: I have a very specific relationship to music that’s influenced by pop, rock, and musical theatre. When I’m trying to evoke an emotion musically, it’s always a very specific sound to me. The fun challenge has been finding the balance between a magical, almost-storybook world and my contemporary pop-rock sound. And sometimes that balance leans more toward the storybook world, but more often than not, we allow this magical world to be filled with that contemporary feel. It’s been awesome playing with that. How do you determine where songs fit into the structure, or find the “song posts” within the story? What is it that makes some moments demand a song? JH: I usually mark song moments based on overall arcs. What do A-4 BOOK-IT REPERTORY THEATRE
we need step-by-step to support the overall trajectory of the story? Sophie’s first solo “A Different Person” started as a sentence in the book: “Interesting things seem to happen, but always to somebody else.” This to me felt like a huge moment for Sophie as well as a hilarious and sneaky foreshadowing of her journey to come, so I built this sentence into a two-and-a-halfminute ballad. I try to build these moments as opportunities to invest more deeply in these characters. How do you write music that expresses a character’s personality—their individual “voice”? JH: For the characters’ individual voices, I rely on my acting background. One of my favorite things about writing musical theatre is getting into the heads of all of these characters and understanding how I relate to their wants and needs. In a sense, I approach all of these individual character voices as different facets my own voice. Because I’m a narcissist – er, I mean actor.
JH: I tend to approach musical theatre and pop music in the same way. My hope is always to create a piece in which no word is superfluous. There’s always movement, whether it’s movement toward a new step in a character’s journey or movement toward the punchline of a joke. And while I can be inspired by noodling on a guitar, I tend to start with streamof-consciousness writing from a character’s point of view to get key phrases I can musicalize. The awesome thing about this process is, that work is mostly provided for me in Diana Wynne Jones’ words. During this process, are you finding any surprising connections between fantasy and music? Any special challenges? JH: I think the thing I’m most surprised by is that my contemporary style doesn’t need to change into something different for a fantasy story. There’s an emotional core to all of my writing and my hope is that that emotional core resonates in any world – whether it be fantasy, reality, or comic book super heroes.
NOTES FROM
THE DIRECTOR
It is thanks to my 18-year-old step-daughter, Ruby Ellis, that Howl’s Moving Castle found its way to Book-It. I knew about the movie by Hayao Miyazaki, the one that Ruby and her older brothers had talked about incessantly. I had no idea it had originated from a 1986 novel by a female British fantasy writer until I saw it sitting on Ruby’s bookshelf. I asked her if she thought it would work on stage and her response was an immediate yes. I asked her about the book versus the movie and she claimed both are true classics. She said the book is very different from the movie and talked about the reasons why there are so many fans of the film and the book. Ruby’s admiration for the characters, particularly Sophie Hatter and her sisters, was infectious. Strong female characters in a classic fantasy novel providing a new platform for young girls growing up in a world that is dominated by men? Yes. Adapting literature has been my theatrical playground for over 30 years. I have worked on some challenging stories, but this one takes the cake! My female literary heroes include Dr. Maya Angelou, Isabella Allende, and Ann Patchett, to name a few. I am adding Diana Wynne Jones to this list. She was an individualist, dissenter, rebel–a female maverick. Her sense of humor is sharp. And she dared to write a story about an old woman who saves the day, in a world of reckless, selfish, fear-mongering, power-hungry entities. Jones’ shifting points of view are so compelling. In the beginning, Sophie is afraid of herself in the world and yet content with her lot in life. Once she’s under a spell, she embraces the transformation and moves freely throughout the world. Without needing to live up to others’ expectations, Sophie is able to access her own power, albeit unwittingly. This adaptation needed to happen now. And it needed to be a musical. In January, I approached Justin Huertas to be the composer. He fell on the floor with such a happy yell of pure delight shouting “I love this story!” And like magic, this show happened. Thanks to Justin, and a huge team of talented, creative artists in possession of a great sense of humor and boundless joy.
Now in its third year of collaborating, Book-It’s Director of Education Annie DiMartino will once again enter the classroom at Rainier Beach High School to provide students in Rachel Street’s drama classes with some Book-It Practicum. This year’s theme is Identity and the students will be using Dr. Maya Angelou’s poem Caged Bird to explore what their own personal cages are and how they can collectively be set free. This devised and experiential work will be featured at their all school assembly in January.
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Welcome to the land of Ingary. - Myra Platt
HOWL’S SPECIAL THANKS The Hi-Liners Musical Theatre Cornish College of the Arts University of Washington School of Drama Seattle Repertory Theatre Ruby Ellis
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Creatin A note from the dram
As a dramaturg, the forces and elements that shape a work’s creation fascinate me. Like the geological forces that have shaped the earth’s landscape and topography, there’s a story behind every story. Even with a work of fantasy fiction, where an imaginary world of magic is conjured up, there’s still the underlying influence of reality. Having grown up in England during World War II, Diana Wynne Jones felt the heavy impact of reality. In articles and interviews, she stated: “I think I write the kind of books I do because the world suddenly went mad when I was five years old.” As the eldest of three girls that were often ignored by their distracted parents, she dutifully cared for her two younger sisters when the family was suddenly transplanted from familiar surroundings several times. From this peculiar childhood, she developed a lively imagination and a delightful sense of humor. Photo of young Diana in 1938.
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When it came time to go to university, Jones studied at Oxford during the first half of the 1950s, where she attended lectures by C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. Despite the fact that writing fantasy fiction was frowned upon by The Jones sisters during the 1940s the serious academic institution, she managed to learn a great deal from the two men. Their influence on her work is not obvious, however, as she developed a thoroughly unique style. Inspired to write children’s books during motherhood, her primary aim was to write books that her own children would enjoy. She saw that her children preferred fantasy stories, but complained that most contemporary children’s books were boring, so she determined to write books that were entertaining and not overly didactic. As she observed: “[i]t is a fact that all children’s books that endure are fantasies of some kind. They seem to strike the deepest note.” However, at the beginning of her career in the early 1970s, it wasn’t considered respectable for a woman to write fantasy books for children. This
ng Magic aturg about the author
gradually changed and the impact of feminism on fiction can be seen during the 1980s, as a female protagonist began to become more acceptable. Despite this, Jones was regularly faced with the casual dismissal of male reviewers and often asked: “why don’t you write Real Books?” Rich with the implication
“Imagination doesn’t mean just making things up.” that “real” or worthwhile literature must be concerned with serious modern issues, like racism or immigration, this question would not have been asked of her male colleagues. Her books don’t engage in serious discussions of current problems because Jones believed a good book should not be a reproduction of ordinary life, but instead should provide a marvelous experience. She understood the value of examining a problem from a distance created by magic and wanted to give readers a chance to use their imagination. As she explained it: “Imagination doesn’t mean just making things up. It means thinking things through, solving them, or hoping to do so, and being just distant enough to be able to laugh
at things that are normally painful.” In addition to the imaginative aspects of her work, she wrote complex, multilayered plots with strong intellectual underpinnings, including the timeless principles found in mythology. In a career shaped by life experiences and spanning over four decades, Diana Wynne Jones wrote over forty books for young children, older children, and adults. She died in 2011 after a two-year battle with lung cancer. Highly regarded by both fans and fellow authors, including her good friend Neil Gaiman, Jones is treasured for her singular style and astonishing imagination. Following the Harry Potter phenomenon of the late 1990s, a resurgence in the popularity of her work occurred, as her novels were found to have a similar appeal. While she never attained the commercial success or widespread fame of J.K. Rowling, her work helped to pave the way for female fantasy authors.
A sampling of Jones’ novels, including books from her Chrestomanci series and Dalemark quartet.
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ENGLISH FANTASY WRITERS Diana Wynne Jones bridges the gap in children’s literature—and what later came to be known as young adult literature—between writers like C.S. Lewis and contemporary writers like J.K. Rowling. She has an important place among the English continuum of authors of fantasy fiction. This timeline provides an idea of her place among notable English authors in the same genre, along with approximate writing career dates and famous works.
E. Nesbit
Phillip Pullman
1880s through 1920s
1970s through present
Bastable series, Psammead series, and House of Arden series
His Dark Materials series (includes The Golden Compass)
C.S. Lewis 1930s through 1950s The Chronicles of Narnia
Susan Cooper 1970s through the present The Dark is Rising series
Diana Wynne Jones 1970 through 2010 Chrestomanci series, Dalemark Quartet, Howl’s Moving Castle
J.R.R. Tolkien
Neil Gaiman
1930s through 1960s
1990s through present
The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings
Stardust, American Gods, and The Graveyard Book
Alan Garner
J.K. Rowling
mid-1950s through present; The Weirdstone of Brisingamen and The Owl Service
1990s through present Harry Potter series
The progression of the cover art, from the first edition published in 1986 (far left) to the 2008 HarperCollins edition (far right).
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MEET THE
CAST
Randall Scott Carpenter Michael/Ensemble
Randall is excited to make his Book-It debut. Other credits include Squatch! The Musical (Original Cast-Centerstage Theatre), American Buffalo, Romeo + Juliet, Listening Glass (Seattle Immersive Theatre), Bonnie & Clyde (Studio 18), and the 2013-2014 National Touring Production of Stuart Little (Dallas Children’s Theatre).
John Coons
Scarecrow/Ensemble John Coons is thrilled to make his Book-It debut. He has performed locally with The 5th Avenue Theatre, Village Theatre, ACT Theatre, ArtsWest, ReAct Theatre, Showtunes Theatre Company, and The 14/48 Projects, with highlights including Oswald in Ghosts (ArtsWest), Zangara in Assassins (ACT/ The 5th Avenue Theatre), and Pirelli in Sweeney Todd (Eugene Opera). As a soloist, Coons has performed with the Seattle Opera, Seattle Symphony, Boston Symphony POPS, Pittsburgh Symphony, Atlanta Symphony and sang the national anthem for the Red Sox. In addition to singing with popular artists Ben Folds, Amanda Palmer, and Foreigner, his original one-man musical Six Months for Six Weeks toured on both coasts and was released as a web series, dubbed “funny and audacious” by City Arts Magazine. www.johncoonsmusic.com.
Michael Feldman* Howl
This is Michael’s Book-It debut. Around Seattle Michael has been acquainted with theaters such as Village Theatre, Seattle Children’s Theatre, Seattle Shakespeare Company, and Seattle Repertory Theatre. Up next is String with Village Theatre in the role of Zeus. See you on the other side.
Rachel Guyer-Mafune Martha Hatter/Ensemble
Rachel is thrilled to be working with Book-It Repertory Theatre again after previously touring Washington with the play El Deafo, a piece fully bilingual in American Sign Language and spoken English, as part of their Arts & Education Program. She is a Seattle native and graduated from Cornish College of the Arts in 2016, receiving her BFA in theatre. Recent credits include Teh Internet is Serious Business (Washington Ensemble Theatre), Pilgrims (Forward Flux Productions), The Winter’s Tale (Seattle Shakespeare Company), Puny Humans, and The Lost Girls (Annex Theatre).
Kate Jaeger*
Witch of the Waste Kate Jaeger is an awardwinning actor, educator, and improviser. After years of performing with Book-It’s Arts and Education tours, Kate is most pleased to be making her mainstage debut. Favorite roles include Mary in Persuasion: A New Musical (Taproot Theatre Company); Yente in Fiddler on the Roof (Arizona Theatre Company); Madame Thénardier in Les Misérables (Village Theatre); Ursula in The Little Mermaid (Coeur d’Alene Summer Theatre); Darzee in The Garden of Rikki Tikki Tavi (Seattle Children’s Theatre); Pennywise in Urinetown, Karen in August: Osage County and Lucy the Slut in Avenue Q (Balagan Theatre); Audrey in As You Like (Wooden O/Seattle Shakespeare Company); Ethel Merman in Judy’s Scary Little Christmas and Annie in Evil Dead: the Musical (ArtsWest).
Katherine Jett Lily Angorian/ Ensemble
Katherine makes her Book-It debut with Howl’s Moving Castle. She was last seen on Seattle stages in the all-female Shakespeare adaptation Coriolanus: Fight Like a Bitch (Rebel Kat Productions). Other Seattle credits include Stella in When Love Speaks (Thalia’s Umbrella), Juliet in Romeo and Juliet
(Seattle Immersive Theatre), Imogen in Cymbeline and Rosaline in Love’s Labour’s Lost (Greenstage), Mairi in For All That and the Wicked Fairy in Sleeping Beauty (Centerstage). Also a playwright, her original musical about Bigfoot (in collaboration with composer Adam Quillian), Squatch! The Musical, received its inaugural production at Centerstage Theatre earlier this year. Katherine is a proud artistic associate of the DUENDE ensemble. www. duende-ensemble.com
Lamar Legend Calcifer/Ensemble
Lamar Legend is originally from New York City where he began his training at the LaGuardia High School for the Performing Arts (LAG Arts/The “Fame” School) and the Alvin Ailey Dance School. Recent credits include Father in I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings (Book-It), James T. in Barbecue (Intiman Theatre), Franco Wicks in Superior Donuts (Valley Center Stage), Horatio and Ophelia in Hamlet (Plimoth Players, MA); Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Teatro Franco Parenti, Milan, Italy); Legba in The Brother/Sister Plays (Steppenwolf Theatre, Chicago); and Peter Simple in The Merry Wives of Windsor (Chicago Shakespeare Theater). He was honored with The Rising Star Award by The League of American Theaters & Producers.
Opal Peachey Mrs. Fanny Hatter/ Ensemble
Opal Peachey is proud to return to Book-It for this imaginative new musical. She is a founding company member of the immersive dinner theater Café Nordo and has originated 10 roles since 2009. She was last seen at Book-It as Lisette in A Moveable Feast and you may remember her as Rosa in the epic The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay. You can also find Ms. Peachey gracing the stage of The Triple Door this January in her cabaret musical Bohemia created with Mark Siano.
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Sara Porkalob* Sophie Hatter
Sara Porkalob is an award-winning performer, playwright, director, and arts activist recently recognized on City Art Magazine’s 2017 Future List and just finished her term as Intiman Theatre’s 2017 co-curator. Previous Book-It credits include Emma and Flora and Ulysses (Arts & Education Tour). This winter, she is directing Straight White Men at Washington Ensemble Theatre and Peerless at ArtsWest. In spring 2018, her one-woman musical DRAGON LADY will be touring to Boston’s American Repertory Theater and she will be in String, a new musical at Village Theatre. She is a co-founder of DeConstruct, an online journal of performance critique. An Asian-Pacific Islander and fervent intersectional feminist, she is committed to cultural place-making in her community and the destruction of white supremacy in America. www.saraporkalob.com
Tyler Rogers
Percival/Ensemble Tyler Rogers is a fall graduate this year at Cornish College of the Arts. His recent credits include Village Theatre’s Festival of New Musicals and Hanschen in Spring Awakening at Basement Theatrics.
Sarah Russell Lettie Hatter
Sarah Russell is excited to be making her Book-It debut in this magical production. She is a Seattle native, having worked in theater for the past eight years. Favorite past credits include The Odyssey (Seattle Repertory Theatre), Dreamgirls (Village Theatre), Big Fish (Taproot Theatre), and GREASE (The 5th Avenue Theatre). When not performing she is a teaching artist, superhero barista, professional napper, and performs with the ‘90s R&B cover band DivaTech. Up next, catch her as Hattie in The 5th Avenue Theatre’s production of Kiss Me Kate this April.
* This theater operates under an agreement within AEA, the union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States. A-10 BOOK-IT REPERTORY THEATRE
MEET THE
MEET THE
MUSICIANS ARTISTIC STAFF Adam Quillian Conductor/Keyboard
Adam Quillian is a local composer, music director, doggy daddy, and Amazonian who eagerly makes his Book-It Repertory Theatre debut with Howl’s Moving Castle. Splitting his time between the fast-paced office life of Amazon and the exciting rehearsal-room-life of the theater, Adam enjoys spending his “free” time composing, helping local performers prepare for auditions, and taking care of his three-legged furball, Jake. Recent productions include The Little Mermaid (The Hi-Liners Musical Theatre), Annie, Jr. (St. Francis of Assisi School), Suessical, Jr. (Olympic View Elementary), SQUATCH! The Musical (CenterStage Theatre), and Sincerely, Yours with the Village Theatre KIDSTAGE’s Original Works Program, for which he is the composition mentor.
Olivia D. Hamilton Guitar/Bass Olivia Hamilton is a Seattle-based professional bassist and vocalist. In addition to keeping a teaching studio, she is an active recording artist, plays for local theatres, and performs with various orchestras, jazz ensembles, and house bands. Recently Olivia has had the pleasure of playing Avenue Q, Next to Normal, Carrie: The Musical, and Urinetown (Balagan Theatre); In the Heights, Billy Elliott, Into the Woods (Village Theatre), as well as being featured there on stage as Eddie in Pump Boys and Dinettes. Some other favorites include Wild Party, Shrek, Rocky Horror, and Hairspray. When she isn’t playing music she is out in nature. Or dancing. Or dancing out in nature. Anything to keep the inner hippie happy.
Myra Platt
Adapter and Director (see bio on page a-12)
Adam Quillian Music Director (see bio to the left)
Justin Huertas Composer/Lyricist
Justin Huertas is an award-winning actor, writer, composer, and lyricist from Seattle. His original musical Lizard Boy premiered at Seattle Repertory Theatre (Gregory Award for Outstanding New Play) and had its second production at San Diego’s Diversionary Theatre (Craig Noel Nomination for Outstanding Musical). He also composed an original score for Romeo and Juliet at Seattle Shakespeare Company (Gregory Nomination). Justin’s latest musical Lydia and the Troll recently received a reading as part of Seattle Repertory Theatre’s Other Season. His acting credits include Welcome to Braggsville (Book-It Repertory Theatre); Public Works Seattle’s The Odyssey and Lizard Boy (Seattle Repertory Theatre); In the Heights (Village Theatre); and American Idiot (ArtsWest).
Steven Tran
Associate Music Director
Matthew Tevenan thrilled to be participating in this fabulous production! Recent credits include Persuasion: A New Musical (and cast album) at Taproot Theatre; Anne of Green Gables, Spring Awakening, and The Last 5 Years at SecondStory Repertory; Violet and American Idiot at ArtsWest, and Hairspray and Company with Twelfth Night Productions.
Steven Tran is a pianist, composer, theatermaker, and teaching artist, and is excited to be working on his first show at Book-It. Steven has been on the music team for productions with Off-Road Shakespeare, Village Theatre’s KIDSTAGE, ArtsWest, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Seattle Children’s Theatre, and The 5th Avenue Theatre, and is a resident teaching artist with Seattle Theatre Group at Hawthorne Elementary and The 5th Avenue Theatre at Rainier Beach High School. Outside of theater, Steven works in computer science education.
Joshua Koller Cello
Julia Hayes Welch
Matthew Tevenan Cello
Joshua Koller is excited for his first show with Book-It. Some of his most recent shows in Seattle include Bridges of Madison County, Spring Awakening, Sweeney Todd and Little Women, to name a few.
Scenic Designer
Julia Hayes Welch is a Seattle-based freelance designer. Selected credits include Coriolanus: Fight Like a Bitch (Rebel Kat Productions); The Government
Inspector (Seattle Shakespeare Company), Alex & Aris, Bad Apples (ACT Theatre); An American Dream (Seattle Opera); Grounded (Seattle Public Theater); Barbecue, Bootycandy (Intiman Theatre); The Things Are Against Us (Washington Ensemble Theatre – Footlight Award, Gypsy Rose Lee Award); Peter and the Starcatcher, Really Really (ArtsWest); Free Boy (The 5th Avenue Theatre Educational Tour); Twister Beach (Café Nordo); The Noteworthy Life of Howard Barnes (Village Theatre); The Trojan Women (Civic Rep); Pride and Prejudice (Theatreworks UCCS); Land of the Sweets (House of Verlaine); Julius Caesar, Vitriol (Handwritten Productions). Welch holds an MFA from the University of Washington. Much love to W. www.jhwelchdesigns.com
Andrew D. Smith Lighting Designer
Andrew returns for his 13th design with Book-It. Andrew’s work has been seen at Seattle Repertory Theatre, ACT Theatre, Seattle Children’s Theatre, New Century Theatre Company, Washington Ensemble Theatre, Seattle Shakespeare Company, Azeotrope, Strawberry Theatre Workshop, Seattle Public Theater, Theater Off Jackson, ArtsWest, On The Boards, Velocity Dance Center, and Broadway Performance Hall. National work includes Cornerstone Theatre Company, Flint Youth Theatre, Horizon Theater Company, Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, Roust Theater, and Cardinal Stage Company. Andrew holds a BA from Duke University and an MFA from the University of Washington, where he currently teaches.
Margaret Toomey Costume Designer
Margaret Toomey works nationally as a scenic and costume designer. Her most recent Seattle-area designs include scenery for Burn This (Theatre22) and Hoodoo Love (Sound Theatre Company). Recent costume designs include Why We Have a Body (Strawberry Theatre Workshop), Downstairs (Theatre22), Big Fish (Bainbridge Performing Arts), and The Last Days of Judas Iscariot (Sound Theatre Company). Margaret’s work has also been seen at Triad Stage (North Carolina), WaterTower Theatre (Texas), Portland Stage (Maine), and Hillbarn Theatre and Broadway By the Bay (California). Margaret is the chair of Sound Theatre Company’s Social Justice League and a co-founder of With Interesting People. Margaret received her MFA in Scenography from UNC Greensboro and BA in Theatre from Grinnell College in Iowa.
Erin Bednarz Sound Designer
Erin Bednarz is an interdisciplinary artist originally from Minnesota who has spent the last 10 years making art of all types in Seattle, having worked with 25+ companies in several capacities. She is a founding member of Umbrella Project, former member of RAW Artist award winning band Hearts Are Thugs, and company member at Annex Theatre and Live Girls! Theater. This winter she’ll appear as Dirty Girl in Peerless at ArtsWest and in March she’ll travel to American Repertory Theater for Sara Porkalob’s DRAGON LADY.
Emma Pihl
Stage Manager Emma is happy to return to Book-It after stage managing their recent productions of A Moveable Feast with Café Nordo and Treasure Island. Emma’s other credits with Book-It include Pride and Prejudice, I Am Of Ireland, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, Truth Like the Sun, and Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus, among others. Emma has also recently worked with Seattle Shakespeare Company (Julius Caesar, The Winter’s Tale, Titus Andronicus, and Wooden O’s Much Ado About Nothing and As You Like It), Seattle Repertory Theatre (Here Lies Love), ACT Theatre and The 5th Avenue Theatre (Assassins), Seattle Children’s Theatre (Elephant and Piggie’s “We Are in a Play!”), Village Theatre (Cabaret), and New Century Theatre Company (The Flick).
Shane Unger
Assistant Stage Manager Shane Unger is happy to be back at Book-It after previously working on Treasure Island, Jane Austen’s Emma, Little Bee, and Slaughterhouse-Five. He has worked with various companies around Seattle including The 5th Avenue Theatre, ACT Theatre, Intiman Theatre, Seattle Shakespeare Company, Seattle Public Theater, Taproot Theatre Company, and Wooden-O. Shane received his BFA in stage management from Syracuse University.
Andrea Kovich Dramaturg
Andrea Kovich is delighted to be making her freelance dramaturg debut with BookIt, after having been an artistic intern and dramaturg with the company in 2014 on Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. She has a Masters of Arts in Theatre Arts (with an emphasis in dramaturgy) from San Diego State University, and has completed internships at San Diego Repertory Theatre and La Jolla Playhouse. Recently, she was
dramaturg intern with Taproot Theatre Company on the new musical, Persuasion. Member of LMDA (Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas), her next project will be working with Sound Theatre Company.
Katya Landau Dialect Coach
Katya Landau is a Summa Cum Laude graduate of Cornish College of the Arts. She most recently worked with Strawberry Theatre Workshop as Mary in Why We Have a Body and as the Spanish language and accent coach for Lydia. She was the mentee of Alyssa Keene at Café Nordo, Cornish College of the Arts, and the Seattle Repertory Theatre. She is also an avid foodie and you can follow all of her adventures @ stages_and_plates on Instagram.
Eddie DeHais
Choreography, Table Flip Eddie DeHais is a local director, writer, choreographer, performer, and designer. See their next project (Re)Shape this February at The Slate Theater. www.eddiedehais.com
Alyza DelPan-Monley Choreography, Table Flip
Alyza craves and believes in the expressive power that exists in the body through movement. She loves working with Table Flip to create worlds that are physicalized in the body. Her choreography has been performed at Seattle International Dance Festival, Evoke Productions, Annex Theatre (Terra Incognita, Scary Mary and the Nightmares Nine), and Strawberry Theatre Workshop (Rhinoceros) and Washington Ensemble Theatre (Teh Internet is Serious Business, Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again.) She co-directed and co-choreographed DangerSwitch’s most recent show Into the Deeps. She performs for Jody Kuehner/Cherdonna Shinatra (Kissing Like Babies), DangerSwitch (Big Bad), Alice Gosti (Bodies of Water, Invisible Womxn, MDICAC) and Tim Smith-Stewart & Jeffrey Azevedo (Awaiting Oblivion).
Ryan Higgins
Choreography, Table Flip Mr. Higgins has been a part of the Seattle theatre scene since 2005 working as an actor, director, fight choreographer, and producer. He has been awarded two Gregory Awards including Outstanding Performance by a Lead Actor (2012) and Outstanding Choreography (2016). He has been the artistic director of Balagan Theatre and The Collision Project, and is a founder of Table Flip, Seattle’s premier movement direction company. Cheers. encoremediagroup.com/programs A-11
Jane Jones
Myra Platt
Jane is the founder of Book-It and founding co-artistic director of Book-It Repertory Theatre, with Myra Platt. In her 28 years of staging literature, she has performed, adapted, and directed works by such literary giants as Charles Dickens, Eudora Welty, Edith Wharton, Kurt Vonnegut Jr., Pam Houston, Raymond Carver, Frank O’Connor, Jim Lynch, Ernest Hemingway, Colette, Amy Bloom, John Irving, John Steinbeck, Daphne du Maurier, and Jane Austen. A veteran actress of 35 years, she has played leading roles in many of America’s most prominent regional theatres. Film and TV credits include “Twin Peaks,”The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, Singles, and Homeward Bound. She co-directed with Tom Hulce at Seattle Repertory Theatre, Peter Parnell’s adaptation of John Irving’s The Cider House Rules, Parts I and II, which enjoyed successful runs here in Seattle, at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles (Ovation Award, best director) and in New York (Drama Desk Nomination, best director). Recently Jane directed Book-It’s Great Expectations at Portland Center Stage, where her credits also include Pride and Prejudice, Cyrano and Twelfth Night (2008 Drammy award for Best Direction and Production). For Book-It, she has directed A Moveable Feast, What We Talk About When We Talk About Love, The Dog of the South, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Uncensored, Truth Like the Sun, The House of Mirth, The Highest Tide, Travels with Charley, Pride and Prejudice, Howard’s End, In a Shallow Grave, The Awakening, Owen Meany’s Christmas Pageant, A Tale of Two Cities, and The Cider House Rules, Parts I and II, winner of the 2010 and 2011 Gregory Awards for Outstanding Production. In 2008 she, Myra Platt, and Book-It were honored to be named by The Seattle Times among seven Unsung Heroes and Uncommon Genius for their 20-year contribution to life in the Puget Sound region. She is a recipient of the 2009 Women’s University Club of Seattle Brava Award, a 2010 Women of Influence award from Puget Sound Business Journal, and the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation’s 20th Anniversary Founders Grant, and was a finalist for the American Union for Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation’s 2012 Zelda Fichandler Award.
As an original founding member of Book-It, Myra has helped produce over 125 world-premiere mainstage productions and over 30 education touring productions. Most recently she directed and adapted the two-part epic of David James Duncan’s novel The Brothers K and directed The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay (2014 Gregory Award for Outstanding Production, The Seattle Times Footlight Award). She was nominated for Outstanding Director 2012 (Financial Lives of the Poets) and 2014 (Kavalier & Clay). Directing credits include Little Bee, The Financial Lives of the Poets, The River Why, Persuasion, Night Flight: An Operetta, Red Ranger Came Calling, The House of the Spirits, Plainsong, Cry, the Beloved Country, Sweet Thursday, Giant, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Cowboys Are My Weakness, Roman Fever, and A Child’s Christmas in Wales. Adapting credits include Little Bee, The Financial Lives of the Poets, The River Why, Night Flight: An Operetta, Red Ranger Came Calling, The House of the Spirits, Giant, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Cowboys Are My Weakness, Roman Fever, A Child’s Christmas in Wales, The Art of Racing in the Rain, and co-adapted Owen Meany’s Christmas Pageant with Jane Jones. Composing credits include Prairie Nocturne, Night Flight: An Operetta (with Joshua Kohl), Red Ranger Came Calling: A Musical (with Edd Key), The Awakening, Ethan Frome, Owen Meany’s Christmas Pageant, A Child’s Christmas in Wales, and I Am of Ireland. Acting credits include Seattle Repertory Theatre, Intiman Theatre, New City Theatre, the Mark Taper Forum, Prairie Nocturne, The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears, The Awakening (West Los Angeles Garland Award), and Howards End. She originated the role of Candy Kendall in The Cider House Rules, Parts I and II directed by Jane Jones and Tom Hulce. Myra is the recipient, with Jane Jones, of a Paul G. Allen Family Foundation Anniversary grant, the 2008 Women of Influence from Puget Sound Business Journal, and was named by The Seattle Times a 2010 Unsung Hero and Uncommon Genius for their 20-year contribution to life in the Puget Sound region.
Founder, Founding Co-Artistic Director
Founding Co-Artistic Director
PRODUCTION
STAFF Dan Schuy
Production Manager
Benjamin Radin Technical Director
Jocelyne Fowler
Costume Shop Manager
Carmen Rodriguez Scenic Charge Artist
Shelby Choo
Master Carpenter
Adrian Delahunt, Charlie Minshall Scenic Carpenters
Joe Shlichta, Montana Tippett Scenic Painters
Emily Sershon
Properties Master and Designer
Adam Quillian, Steven Tran Vocal Arrangements
Adam Quillian, Steven Tran Orchestrations
Rheanna Atendido, Adam Quillian, Logan Skirm, Steven Tran Score Preparation
Sam Harrison
Wigs and Crafts Designer
Corinne Magin Assistant Costume Designer
AJ Heinen
Production Assistant
Levi Plumb
Master Electrician/Board Operator
Jessica Jones
Sound Engineer/Board Operator
Anna Bowen
Dresser/Wardrobe AFFILIATIONS
Actors Equity Association This theater operates under an agreement within AEA, the union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States. Actors Equity Association (AEA) founded in 1913, represents more than 49,000 actors and stage managers in the United States.
A-12 BOOK-IT REPERTORY THEATRE
Theatre Puget Sound
Theatre Communications Group
ENCORE
DONORS
List reflects gifts received October 1, 2016 – September 30, 2017
LITERARY LEGENDS CIRCLE - $75,000+ Sage Foundation
LITERARY CHAMPIONS CIRCLE - $25,000+ ArtsFund Grousemont Foundation The Sheri & Les Biller Family Foundation Shirley & Dave Urdal
LITERARY HEROES CIRCLE - $10,000+ 4Culture BMGI The Boeing Company Sonya & Tom Campion Jane & Bob Cremin Gretl Galgon Lucy Helm Ellen & John Hill Stellman Keehnel Margaret Kineke & Dennis West Stephen & Ellen Lutz Holly & Bill Marklyn Anne McDuffie & Tim Wood The Morgan Fund National Endowment for the Arts Nesholm Family Foundation The Norcliffe Foundation Mary Pigott Michell & Larry Pihl Seattle Office of Arts & Culture Anonymous
PARTNERS CIRCLE - $5,000+ John Aldaya & Tom DeFelice Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Matching Gifts Program Diana Carey Emily Davis Estate of Caroline Feiss Stuart Frank & Marty Hoiness Lydig Construction Ellen Maxson N. Elizabeth McCaw & Yahn W. Bernier Nordstrom Lynne & Nick Reynolds Shirley Roberson Robert Chinn Foundation Charyl Kay & Earl Sedlik True-Brown Foundation U.S. Bank Foundation Anonymous
LEADERSHIP CIRCLE - $2,500+ Monica Alquist Jim & Marilyn Barnett Clipper Seafoods, LTD. Amy & Matthew Cockburn Carolyn & George Cox Anne Fisher Laura & Erik Hanson
Many thanks to the supporters whose gifts made Howl’s Moving Castle possible: EXECUTIVE PRODUCER Holly & Bill Marklyn PRODUCERS Amy & Matthew Cockburn Marty Hoiness & Stuart Frank Anne McDuffie & Tim Wood BECOME A PRODUCER Learn how to help Book-It create vibrant theatre by contacting us at development@book-it.org Jay Hereford & Margaret Winsor Peter & Kelly Maunsell Mary Metastasio Glenna Olson & Conrad Wouters Kate & Stephen Robinson Rachel Sage & Carlos White Steve Schwartzman & Daniel Karches Martha Sidlo Nancy & Warren Smith Kris & Mike Villiott Williams Miller Family Foundation Anonymous
NOBEL PRIZE CIRCLE - $1,000+ Emily Anthony & David Maymudes Cinnimin Avena Donna & Anthony Barnett Stephen & Salli Bauer Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Luther Black & Christina Wright Janet Boguch & Kelby Fletcher Penny Bradley Karen Brandvick-Baker & Ross Baker Mary Anne Braund & Steve Pellegrin Patricia Britton Sally Brunette Steve Bull & Christiane Pein Pablo Butler Karen & Tom Challinor Donna Cochener Carol & Bill Collins Laura & Greg Colman Gordon B. Davidson D.A. Davidson & Co. Nora & Allan Davis Christina & Mark Dawson Mark Dexter & Deborah Cowley Earl B. Gilmore Foundation Elizabeth & Paul Fleming Merck Foundation Jayn & Hugh Foy Mary Frances & Harold Hill Tina Ganguly & Tim Whitwell Jean Gorecki & Dick Dobyns Margaret Griffiths
Clay Gustaves Melissa Huther Dave Thompson & Judy Jesiolowski Brent Johnson Jamie & Jeremy Joseph Karr Tuttle Campbell Debbie Killinger Marianna & Agastya Kohli Dan Kuhn Susan Leavitt & Bill Block Eleni Ledesma & Eric Rose Leslie Fund, Inc. Darcy & Lee MacLaren Melissa & Don Manning Doug & Kimberly McKenna Terry & Frank Michiels Shyla Miller Marcia Nagae Lisbet Nilson & Mark Ashida Deborah & Jeff Parsons Myra Platt & Dave Ellis Point B SEI Giving Fund Colleen & Brad Stangeland Christine & Josh Stepherson Gail Tanaka Cassandra Tate & Glenn Drosendahl Jennifer Teunon & Adam Smith Katherine & James Tune Elizabeth Warman Judith Whetzel Williams Companies Matching Gifts Carol & Bryan Willison The Wolf-McWhirk Fund Wyman Youth Trust Anonymous
PULITZER PRIZE CIRCLE - $500+ Connie Anderson • Lenore & Dick Bensinger • Bob Blazek & Monique Kleinhans • Judy Brandon & H. Randall Webb • Joann Byrd • Cory Carlson • Paul Stucki & Christina Chang • Elizabeth Choy & James Lobsenz • Gaylee & Jim Duncan • Titia & Bill Ellis • Sara Elward • Constance Euerle • Polly & Eric Feigl • Richard Moore & Suzanne Fry • Shannon & Graham Gardner • R. Brooks Gekler • Jane & David Graham • Craig & Darcy Greene • Mark Hamburg • Lenore Hanauer • Ellen Hastings Lake & Company Real Estate • Lisa & William Holderman • Mary & Eric Horvitz • Robert Hovden & Ron DeChene • Heather Howard • Winifred Hussey • Russell Janney • Catherine & Dave Johnson • Jane Jones & Kevin McKeon • Jeffrey M. Kadet • Mariko Kita & Mark Wellington • Mary Klubben • Mr. & Mrs. Gareld John Kneepkens • Tami & Rob Kowal • Emily Krebill • Eric Pokorny & Jessica Kurtz Pokorny • Richard LeBlanc • Nancy Lomneth & Mark Boyd • Craig Lorch • Medina Foundation • Microsoft Matching Gifts Program • Eleanor & Charles Pollnow • Whitney & Jerry Neufeld-Kaiser • Jane Noland & Tom Zilly • Cheryl & Tom Oliver • Olivia Pi-Sonyer & Andrew DeVore • Ann encoremediagroup.com/programs A-13
Ramsay-Jenkins • Charles K. & Doris D. Ray • Shawn & Mike Rediger • Priscilla Rice • Jo Ann & Jim Roberts • Mig Schaaf & Stuart Dunwoody • Lauren & George Schuchart • Gail & John Sehlhorst • Michael & Jo Shapiro • Jenness & John Starks • Janice Strand • Deborah Swets • Sara Thompson & Richard Gelinas • Wendy & Rhea Thompson • Ruth Valine & Ed McNerney • Vanguard Charitable • Ruth & Jerry Verhoff • Audrey Watson • Gregory Wetzel • Leora & Robert Wheeler • Anonymous (2)
NATIONAL BOOK AWARD CIRCLE - $250+ Melissa Albert • Gail Anderson • Virginia Anderson • Amy Arvidson • Heather & Mark Barbieri • Carla & Bradley Berg • Alice Braverman & Patrick Kafer • Hugh & Rebecca Bergeson • Nancy L. Bittner • Inez Noble Black • Bonnie Bowie • Thomas Buford • Linda & Peter Capell • Mary Casey-Goldstein • Sylvia & Craig Chambers • Beth Cooper • Steve Miller & Pamela Cowan • Shelton-de Clercq Family • Robin Dearling & Gary Ackerman • Sandra & Paul Dehmer • Dottie Delaney • Denise Derr • Lynn Dissinger • Ron Dohr • Carol & Kelly Dole • Lynne & Hollie Ellis • Judi & Steve Finney • Liz Fitzhugh & Jim Feldman • Caroline Fox • Marlene Friend • Jean & Mike Gannon • Siobhan Ginnane & Dan Whelan • Vicki & Gerrie Goddard • Carla Granat & Stephen Smith • Diane Grover • Lisa Hanna • Diana & John Hice • Barbara Hieronymus • Ann Hollar & Steve Orser • Cynthia Huffman & Ray Heacox • Angela & Thomas Johnson • Kent Johnson & Cody Blomberg • Tom & Angie Johnson • Pam Kendrick • Steve Kennebeck • Mary Beth & Marty King • Michael Lamb & Adam Grutz • John O’Connell & Joyce Anne Latino • Meredith Lehr & William Severson • Connor & Thomas Lennon & Patricia Keegan • Susan Lerner • Lori Eickelberg & Arni Litt • Brock Loen • Douglas & Sherry Luetjen • Vivienne & Paul Manheim • Thomas Markl • Mary Anne Stusser Martin & Charles Martin • Elaine Mathies • Ruth McCormick • Susan & Bob Mecklenburg • Jen Modjeska • Richard Monroe • Martha Mukhalian • David Shellenbarger & Marsha Ose • Cecilia Paul & Harry Reinert • Julie Paul • Corliss Perdaems & Carl Kassebaum • Sherry Perrault & Michael Harding • Yumi Petersen • Raquel Phillips • Anne & Lee Pipkin • Linda Quirk • Barb & Dan Radin • Nancy Reichley • Maren Richter • Paula Riggert • Rebecca Ripley • Katherine Runyon • Jain Rutherford • Troy & Margot Saharic • Linda Sahlin • Patti & Mark Seklemian • Sharon & Tom Sherrard • Marilyn Sherron • Margaret Silver • Penny & Dan Smith • Veronica Smith & Natalie Hamrick • Constance Standish & David Darby • Julie Stohlman • Linda & Hugh Straley • Liann & Stephen Sundquist • Jen Taylor • Lisa & Manish Tripathi • Karen & Ron Van Genderen • Jorie Wackerman • Susan Ward • Washington State Employee Combined Fund • Juanita & Bob Watt • Bill & Paula Whitham • Shannon Williams • Jill O. Wolcott & Mitchell J. Olejko • Anonymous (6) A-14 BOOK-IT REPERTORY THEATRE
GIFTS IN HONOR & MEMORY In memory of Susan Hirasawa Anonymous In honor of Melinda Deane Andrea Ptak & Aaron Houseknecht In memory of Reuben “Boy” Lopez on Live for Good Day 2017 Colleen & Brad Strangeland In honor of Anne Fisher & Jaxon Ravens’ wedding Deborah Wolf
PEN/FAULKNER AWARD CIRCLE - $100+ Doug Adams & Scott Fitzgerald • Judith Alexander • Katherine Alexander • Cortney Anderson-Sanford • Daemond Arrindell • Deborah Ashin • Brian Atwater • Anne & Roger Baker • Putnam Barber & Valerie Lynch • Jo Ann & Tom Bardeen • Becky Barnett & Roger Tucker • Kayti Barnett-O’Brien • Susan Bean • BECU • Julia Bent • Roger Berger & Eileen Simmons • Beth Berman • Lois Billig • Karl Bischoff & Leslie Phinney • Lindsay & Tony Blackner • Marisa N. Bocci • Philip Brazil • Erin Brindley • Nicole Brodeur • Jeff Youngstrom & Becky Brooks • Kim Brotherton • Angela & Curtis Brown • Don & Karen Brown • Patricia Brunetto • Bryan Burch • Stan & Alice Burgess • Kate Carruthers • Eric Cederwall • Melissa Chase • Susan Chiavelli • Kristy Clay • Catherine Clemens • Kymberli Colbourne • Johanna & Colin Coolbaugh • Mike & Janice Cummings O’Mahony • Don & Marilyn Davidson • Melinda Deane & Danny Wheetman • Anthony J. Derrick • Nelson Dong & Diane Wong • Marcia Donovan • Marcia R. Douglas • Beth L. Dubey • Susan Dyer • Bretnie & Eric Eschenbach • Laura Fine-Morrison • Linda Finn • Shelley Gibson • Lori Gicklhorn • Sylvia Gillett • David Nash & Pat Graves • Laurie Greig • Linda Haas • Alle Hall & Cliff Meyer • Judith Hamilton • Amani Harris • Amy Harris • Phyllis Hatfield • Signy & James Hayden • Linda Heinen • Karyn Henry • Lloyd Herman & Richard Wilson • Patricia Highet • Stephanie M. Hilbert • Jean Hilde • Mariko & John Hirasawa • Erika Holden • Harriet Huber • Jeanne Iannucci & Terry Holme • Annie Jamison • Janof Architecture • Susan Jones • Kris Jorgensen & Margey Rubado • Gil Joynt • Neil Jungemann • Joan Kalhorn • David Kasik & Jan Levine • Anne Kiemle & Kael Sherrard • Owen Kikuta • Arleen Klasky • Alana & Harry Knaster • Karen Koon • Marsha Kremen & Jilly Eddy • Mary Jo Kringas • Alan Kristal & Jason Lamb • Akshay Kulkarni • Stephanie Lakinski • Patricia Lambert • Elizabeth & Robert Lamson • Karin Leslie • Sylvia & Wayne Levy • Linda Lewis • Bonnie Lewman • Christine Livingston • Bill Logan • Mary Frances Lyons • Elizabeth Mathewson • Ann McCurdy & Frank Lawler • Paul & Anna McKee • McVicars Family •
Tami & Joe Micheletti • Vivian Montoya & Jay Livey • Min Moon • Cornelia & Terry Moore • Christopher Mumaw • Helen & Craig Mumaw • Grace Nordhoff & Jonathan Beard • Karen O’Connor • Rosemarie Oliver • Onehope Foundation • Carrie Oshiro • Mona & Kurt Own • Cathy & Jeff Peda • Maggie & Clint Pehrson • Louise Perlman • Robert Pillitteri • Wilson Wyoming Platt • John & Sandra Platt • Susan Porterfield • Evelyn Priestley • Andrea Ptak & Aaron Houseknecht • Lisa Quinn • Laurie Radheshwar • Kim Raymoure • Michelle Rebert & Tom Laughlin • Roberta & Brian Reed • Jane & Jay Reich • Mary Rhyner-Saulnier & George Saulnier • Leslie & Greg Rice • Karen & Eric Richter • Karen Robins • Beth Rollinger • Fernne & Roger Rosenblatt • Jennifer L. Cells Russell • Carol Schapira & Michael Levin • Lee Scheingold • Shannon Schneider • Julie & Jeff Schoenfeld • B. Charlotte Schreiber • Kinza & Philip Schuyler • Lavonne & Josh Searle • Pamela & Nate Searle • Brian & Brenda Shea • Audrey & John Sheffield • Stephen F. Silha • Marcia & Peter Sill • Caren Skube • Marilyn Sloan • Barbara Snyder • Craig & Vicki Sosey • Joy Southworth • Patty Starkovich & Greg Allen • David & Elise Stokes • Ericka Stork • Alexandra Tavares • Sally H. & Robert Telzrow • Anne Terry • Carly Thaler • Richard Thorvilson • Nancy Truitt Pierce • Carolyn & Rick Turnbaugh • Marcellus Turner • Eugene Usui • Marcia Utela • Dana Van Nest & Paul Casey • Pieter & Tjitske Vandermeulen • John VanGilder • Kathleen Vasquez • Mike Vila • Amy Wald • Scott Warrender & John Bianchi • Virginia Sly • Sara White & Robert Jordan • Jean & David White • D.D. Wigley • Hope & • Ken Wiljanen • Louise Wilkinson • Melinda Williams • Rob Williamson • Sarah Wilmot • Patricia Wilson • Michael Winters • Mark McDermott & Diane Zahn • Anonymous (26)
O. HENRY AWARD CIRCLE - $50+ Page Abrahamson • Marilee Amendola • Michael Andersson • Brenda Bennett • Chris Bennion • Ellen Bezona & Shawn Baz • Hilary Bolles • John Bradshaw • Alexander Bransky • Virginia Bullard • Sarah Burdell • Lydia Carr • P. Caswell • Mary Therese Chambers • Carl Chew • Deborah Christensen • Richard O. Coar • Mary & Robert Cooper • Stephanie Costa • Karen Cowgill • Jim Wilder & Margaret Curtin • Three Legged Dog Giving Account • Ruth E. Dickey & Tracy Wiling • Marie Doman • Joan & Frank Ducceschi • Donna Dughi • Mindi Katzman • Nancy Ellingham • Susan Finnegan • Gregory Flood • Kai Fujita • Susan George • Elizabeth Gilchrist • Annalisa Gironi & Kevin McCarthy • Ann Glusker & Peter Hunsberger • Barbara Goldoftas • Cheryl Hadley • Corina Hardin • Barbara Harris • Kathryn Hazzard • Elizabeth Heath • Kate Hemer • Klara Hicks • Kate Hokanson • Lisa Horowitz • Carol Horton • Julie Howe & Dennis Shaw • Alison Inkley • Paul Jensen • Vicki & Jim King • John Kloeck • Jorji & Jason Knickrehm-Rich • Barb & Art Lachman • Joyce Lem • Adam Levin Delson • Au-
drey Lew & John Tilden • Larry Lewin • Cynthia Livak & Peter Davenport • Michelle Locatelli • Robin Macartney • Martha Makosky • Elizabeth Maurer • Dan Mayer • Laurie McCarthy • Susan McCloskey • Mary McHugh • Gaye McNutt • Molly Michal • Peter Miller • Marion & George Mohler • David Moore • Mia Morris • Manette Moses • Susan Mozer • Elisabeth Murata • Kim Namba • Jennifer Nelson • Joan Nichol • Robert Norris • Chris O’Brien • Nancy & Stephen Olsen • Pat O’Rourke • Brenda Osterhaug & Scott March • Pam & Tim O’Sullivan • Sherman Page • Kimberly Pasciuto • Sara Patton • Kathy Paul • Marie Pavish • Elizabeth A. Pearson & Jacyn Stewart • J. Greg Perkins • Karen Perry • Cheryl Peterson • Kit Phillips • Candace Plog • Esther Reese • Jeannette Reynolds • Jennifer Rice • Ginger Rich • Carla Rickerson • Roberta Roberts • Rebecca Sadinsky • Paul Schiavo • Erin Sekulich • Walayn Sharples • Mika & Jenny Sinanan • Charles Sleicher • Julie Smith • Barbara Spear • Jon Stafford • Sarah Stanley • L.K. Stephenson • Ian Stewart & Nathan Wilson • Sheila Striegl • Constance Swank • Lori Taylor • Michele & Alan Tesler • Laura & Emory Thomas • Kathie Titus • T-Mobile • Daniel & Joanna Trefethen • Stephanie A. Twigg • Kim & Kirby Unti • Joan Voorheis • Nancy Ward • Stephany Watson • Laura Weese • Julie Weisbach • Dorothy Wendler • Joella Werlin • Eddie & Marty Westerman • Celeste Williams • Valerie Winslow • Leslie Wisdom • Deborah Wolf • Pamela Wolf • Nancy Wright • Dorothy Wysham • Anonymous (10)
PAGE-TURNERS Special thanks to the following donors participating in our monthly giving program: the Book-It Page-Turners. Monica Alquist Patricia Britton Laura & Greg Colman Marcia Donovan Beth L. Dubey Anne Fisher & Jaxon Ravens Jack & Vicki Goldstein Seznick Margaret Griffiths Kathryn Hazzard Lloyd Herman & Richard Wilson Kris Jorgensen & Margey Rubado Margaret Kineke & Dennis West Ruth McCormick Marion & George Mohler Deborah & Jeff Parsons Shirley Roberson Karen Robins Margaret Silver Christine & Josh Stepherson Deborah Swets Joella Werlin Book-It makes every attempt to be accurate with our acknowledgments. Please contact Development Associate Ian Stewart at ians@book-it.org or 206.428.6202 with any changes or corrections.
UP NEXT AT BOOK-IT ADA’S VIOLIN: THE STORY OF THE RECYCLED ORCHESTRA OF PARAGUAY December 18, 10:00 a.m. This story by Susan Hood is an extraordinary true tale of the Recycled Orchestra of Paraguay, an orchestra made up of children playing instruments built from recycled trash. The show is performed in English and Spanish and runs 35-40 minutes. After the performance, kids can make their own instruments with Seattle ReCreative. Tickets are $10 and include admission to the performance and workshop. Seating is limited. Recommended for K-6. Children must be accompanied by an adult.
WHOOSH!: LONNIE JOHNSON’S SUPER-SOAKING STREAM OF INVENTIONS January-March Book-It Arts and Education Touring Stories: Lonnie loves rockets, robots, and inventing! With persistence and a passion for problem-solving, Lonnie uses his creative mind to become an engineer and work with NASA. Although he invented many things, the Super Soaker made the biggest splash in popular culture. To book this show for your school or community center call 206.428.6266
THE MALTESE FALCON February 8-April 1 Step into Nordo’s Culinarium in Pioneer Square for a thrilling evening of mystery! Adapted from one of the most popular detective novels ever written, The Maltese Falcon follows Samuel “Sam” Spade, a private detective in San Francisco. While on the case to find the alluring Miss Wonderley’s sister and to recover the jewel-encrusted figurine, Sam finds himself to be both the hunter and the hunted.
THE BRIEF WONDROUS LIFE OF OSCAR WAO April 19-May 6 Book-It presents a Young Audiences New York adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel that chronicles the life of Oscar de Leon, an overweight Dominican boy growing up in Paterson, New Jersey. Oscar is obsessed with science fiction and fantasy novels, falling in love, and the curse that has plagued his family for generations. Performed by artist Elvis Nolasco of “American Crime” fame, this production shows the importance of facing fear with love.
LISTEN UP April 23 A culminating celebration of a year-long series of intergenerational programs and workshops in which Seattle youth and older community members, will research, develop and perform their own spoken word pieces,.
THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY June 6-July 1 When the handsome Dorian Gray sees a portrait a male admirer has made of him, he laments, “how sad it is! I will grow old and horrible and dreadful. But this picture will remain always young … if it were only the other way.”—and a Faustian bargain is struck. Oscar Wilde’s only novel scandalized Victorian England with its open examination of sex, drugs, and even murder, and its ultimate declaration that hiding from one’s true self is the real sin. encoremediagroup.com/programs A-15
Our mission is to transform classic literature into great theatre through simple and sensitive production and to inspire our audiences to read.
BOOK-IT STAFF Jane Jones Founder & Founding Co-Artistic Director
Myra Platt Founding Co-Artistic Director
Kayti Barnett-O’Brien Managing Director
ARTISTIC
MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS
PRODUCTION
Josh Aaseng Associate Artistic Director Shawna Grajek Casting Associate
Glen Miller Director of Marketing & Communications
Dan Schuy Production Manager Benjamin Radin Technical Director
Val Brunetto Communications Manager
Jocelyne Fowler Costume Shop Manager
Annie DiMartino Director of Education
PATRON SERVICES
Shelby Choo Master Carpenter
Dominic Lewis Tour Manager
Sasha Bailey Patron Services Manager
Emily Sershon Properties Master
Tom Dewey Box Office Manager
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Aly Guzman-Dyrseth Box Office Sales & Data Specialist
ADMINISTRATIVE Penny Bradley Bookkeeper
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BOARD OF DIRECTORS OFFICERS Larry Pihl, President
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Stuart Frank, Secretary
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BOARD MEMBERS Monica Alquist
Director of Events and Special Projects, Puget Sound Business Journal
Laura Colman
Healthcare & Human Resources Executive, Retired
Anne Fisher
Senior Associate, Point B
Craig Greene
Vice President of Operations, Lydig Construction
Jane Jones Founding Co-Artistic Director, Book-It Repertory Theatre
Margaret Kineke
Senior Vice President, Financial Consultant, Davidson Companies
Mary Metastasio
Senior Portfolio Manager, Safeco, Retired
CONTACT US
Shyla Miller
Book-It is a vibrant literature-based theater company that transforms great works of classic and contemporary literature into fully staged works for audiences young and old — more than 100 world-premiere adaptations and counting. Book-It’s combined programs ignite the imaginations of more than 80,000 people yearly through the power of live theater. Among the company’s honors: 2010 Mayor’s Arts Award, Paul G. Allen Family Foundation Founder’s Award, 2012 Governor’s Arts Award, and three Gregory Awards for Outstanding Production. www.book-it.org
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and we hope to have a production in Seattle for summer 2018. Besides pitching and producing Kilroys' works on my own, I have also developed curriculum for a Kilroys analysis and scene study class that I piloted this summer at Youth Theatre Northwest. The Kilroys work catalogs the most current voices of American theatre. I would love to educate more students, actors, and theatre goers to maximize their appreciation for this new class of daring playwrights. I’m also being more upfront about calling out material I am offered that does not contain complex roles for womxn.
“Seattle is growing, so I would want to bring people both new and native together around our most exciting storytellers.” Who’s your favorite playwright working today? Where can we see their work?
Benjamin Benne writes thrillingly theatrical plays with strong female characters and I’m so proud that he is a Seattle playwright. His newest work, Las Mariposas, was produced by Forward Flux in September. Chicago playwright Philip Dawkins writes crackling, smart dialogue and bold femme characters, so I’m pleased he just opened Charm in New York. Arlitia Jones is an Alaskan playwright who was working with the Seattle Rep playwriting program and I want The Rep to fully produce one of her plays because they are fresh, dark, and ambitious while containing her 8 ENCORE STAGES
fabulous sense of humor. Elizabeth Heffron is another Seattle playwright I am proud to know, and I wish the city would support her with more gusto. I’d love to see Mitzi’s Abortion play again in light of our current administration. Finally, Clare Barron is a Kilroy’s playwright from Wenatchee who just won the Susan Smith Blackburn prize for playwriting, so I’d love to see Dance Nation play in Seattle. What are you most looking forward to seeing in Seattle this season?
Sheila Daniels is directing The Wolves at ACT in the new year and that is going to be fantastic. It’s a deftly written contemporary script with an outstanding director at the helm. I’m also looking forward to Sara Porkalob’s direction of the Kilroys List show Peerless by Jiehae Park in January at ArtsWest. And I’m keeping my ear to the ground for Carol Louise Thompson’s site specific work This Is a Show About Progress, which is expected to be rescheduled after it was thwarted by property developers this summer. If you could direct any play in the world and stage it in Seattle, which play would you chose? What about the play makes it ripe for Seattle audiences?
If I were given the opportunity to direct any play with full financial support and the city of Seattle as my intended audience, I would find a play that would show off the fantastic range of artists – both emerging and mature – that we have in our city. I have had the privilege of working with many emerging artists since returning to Seattle and I’d love to see them working on the larger stages and becoming familiar faces: Rafael Molina, Jonelle Jordan, and Ayo Tushinde to name a few. Charles Leggett, Amy Thone, Ray Tagavilla, and Kathy Hsieh are just a few established actors I would love to direct. Seattle is growing, so I would want to bring people both new and native together around our most exciting storytellers. Chicago is a city that
warmly supports its playwrights and actors and I’d love for that zeal to flow to Seattle. With this in mind, I would direct Mary Zimmerman’s Arabian Nights. We could do it in big warehouse in Georgetown, and get Amazon to donate 500 pillows for audience members to sit on. And we’d sell Pagliacci by the slice because if you are new to Seattle you should know about Pagliacci and if you’re familiar with Seattle then you should know Pagliacci pizza is the best. However, considering our current political state, I might suggest David Hare’s Stuff Happens, a deftly written seventeen-person play that examines how we entered the Iraq war. We’d take over the Rainier Club. Don’t worry, there would still be Pagliacci. And $2 Rainier tall boys. Do you have any plugs? How can folks find more about you and your work?
I fly to Chicago soon to direct the midwest premiere of a Kilroy’smentioned play, I Saw My Neighbor on the Train and I Didn’t Even Smile by Suzanne Heathcote at Redtwist Theatre which plays November 19 – December 19. Then I come back and start working the professional premiere of Shakespeare’s Other Women at Island Shakespeare Festival. Everyone should come to Whidbey Island and to enjoy some fantastic female-driven Shakespeare fan fiction. Come grab a whiskey with me before the show! After that, I start working on Seattle Shakespeare Company’s statewide tour including a bilingual production of Twelfth Night that I’m creating with Ana Maria Campoy. And of course, this spring at Youth Theatre Northwest, I’m directing your play, Dust – it’s a movement-infused play boasting a cast of twenty-two that features a dark take on the Peter Pan myth for millennial consumption. There are a few other projects in the works and all information can be found on my website: ErinMurrayDirects.com. My podcast That’s WOW is available on iTunes. < DANIELLE MOHLMAN
Dialogue Samie Spring Detzer
Photo courtesy of WET.
Samie Spring Detzer is a true Seattleite. She grew up just north of the city and moved here to attend Cornish College of the Arts where she graduated with a BFA in theatre and original works. She’s the Artistic Director of Washington Ensemble Theatre, but always identifies as an actor first, theatre administrator second. She joined the ensemble of WET six years ago and has performed in at least one show a season ever since. This season, she’ll be directing Monstrosity by Lucy Thurber – a co-production between the University of Washington and WET. We had the pleasure of talking to her about WET’s fourteenth season, being an artist in Seattle, and what makes her “an opinionated, loud-mouthed, head-bitch-in-charge” – in everything she does. You’ve got an incredible season lined up for Washington Ensemble Theatre. What does your season planning process look like?
There’s a saying in the company that “WET is the people in room.” It’s a way to get folks to stay invested and connected to running every aspect of the company. But I also really believe that “WET is the season we produce.” While the dynamic of how the ensemble operates has morphed over the years, the one thing that is always decided as a group is season planning. We read plays all year long and then we go on a winter retreat together to create the season. It’s three days of drinking, reading, and fighting for the plays we want. We aren’t allowed to leave without a season. In the Ensemble, plays must be visually stimulating, thematically complex, and socially conscious. Our season planning weekend is about holding ourselves accountable to that vision and falling in love with the plays we choose. The season feels uniquely Seattle. What drew you to each of these plays?
These plays have all had successful runs elsewhere, but they also are all very
polarizing pieces, and in some ways that can be seen as confrontational. As a company, we have a desire to find plays that wouldn’t be done at any other theater in Seattle. In fact, two of these plays have gone through a few major Seattle theatre companies but never got picked up. One thing I love about WET is that our biggest fans hate about half of what we do. It means we’re making art that is imperfect and complicated, and that’s the goal. The Nether feels especially relevant in Seattle’s booming tech sphere. What are you hoping this will mean for your audiences?
You’re right that this city is dealing with how to engage with the young, tech savvy demographic that has very quickly moved into our bars, apartments, and taken a bit of our community culture. I wouldn’t say we set out to pull in that audience, but WET has the benefit of being a company of millennials – with all the drive, self-importance, fearlessness, and digital literacy that comes with that. I think what we do implicitly draws a young, visionary crowd.
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After the show, stop by Tom Douglas’ newest restaurant, located across the street from the Paramount Theatre. The Carlile Room is a 70’s style lounge focusing on plants, late night snacks and fantastic cocktails. Open til Midnight Daily Happy Hour 4-6pm and 10pm-Midnight Brunch Saturday + Sunday 10:00am-3:00pm TheCarlile.com
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MOZART’S COMEDY ABOUT SEX
così fan tutte jan 13-27, 2018
What excites you most about being an artist in Seattle?
The truth is I’m afraid most of what I love about being a Seattle artist is slowly getting priced out, modified, and gentrified, to the point that much of the city feels different to me. I do love this place and I’d be lying if I didn’t say what excites me most is that I’m holding out until the bubble bursts and we get to be a small-town big-city again. In the meantime, the food is good, the outdoors are beautiful and it’s given me and many other folks a place to be an artist. How do you hope to grow and challenge the theatre community here in Seattle?
I hope that WET will continue to expand Seattle’s notion of “a well-made play.” I find Aristotelian-centric theater tired. I prefer an epic slow burn or a firecracker. Surprise me, challenge me, indict me, but never bore me, please! I also think WET, like a few other companies here, has begun to really embrace using politics, equity and social justice to strengthen the art. More of that, please. Are there any musicians, dancers, or theatre artists that you’re especially excited about this season? Who are you excited to see?
LET THE GAMES BEGIN!
Love has many faces when two buddies don disguises to test the faithfulness of their fiancèes. Will the women fall for their “new” suitors as the opera’s title (“All women do it”) suggests? And if they do, who is really to blame? Blending bawdy humor and keen insight, the charming Così features some of the sweetest and most ravishing music Mozart ever wrote.
10 ENCORE STAGES
Seattle Opera Revival In Italian with English subtitles. Evenings 7:30 PM Sunday 2:00 PM
MCCAW HALL 206.389.7676 SEATTLEOPERA.ORG/COSI PRODUCTION SPONSORS: SEATTLE OPERA FOUNDATION, ANN P. WYCKOFF, ARTSFUND PHOTO © PHILIP NEWTON
There are so many awesome artists working on this season. We have Sara Porkalob, Jennifer Zeyl, and Frank Boyd all working on Young Jean Lee’s Straight White Men. Then we’ll end with ensemble member Bobbin Ramsey directing on The Nether, which will blow your mind. There are so many amazing artists joining us, too many to name. Offering artists opportunities is the best part of my job. How can folks find more about you and your work?
Check out washingtonensemble.org. I’d also suggest you look at the Shout Your Abortion website. I’m on there, but also, it’s just a great organization you should know about! < DANIELLE MOHLMAN
Intermission Brain Transmission
Are you waiting for the curtain to rise? Or, perhaps, you’ve just returned to your seat before the second act and have a few minutes to spare? Treat your brain to this scintillating trivia quiz! Email us the answer to the last question and have a chance to win tickets to a show!
1. Book-It Repertory Theatre’s Howl’s Moving Castle: The Musical is based on a novel by Diana Wynne Jones. Who or what is Howl? a) An accursed wizard b) A dragon trapped in the form of a teenager c) The dean of a magic school d) A town of people who can’t get their castle to stay put 2. A Christmas Carol is enjoying its annual run at ACT Theatre. It is based on the story by Charles Dickens. Which of the following is a real Dickens quote? a) “I can never close my lips where I have opened my heart.” b) “A friend is one to whom one may pour out the contents of one’s heart, chaff and grain together, knowing that gentle hands will take and sift it, keep what is worth keeping, and with a breath of kindness, blow the rest away.” c) “Everything is funny, if you can laugh at it.” d) “Angry people are not always wise.”
Bonus Question What was the last arts performance you attended that you liked best and why? Email your response to production@encoremediagroup.com with "Trivia Quiz" in the subject line.
English author and former child laborer Charles Dickens lived 1812–1870.
3. A Civil War Christmas: An American Musical Celebration is playing at Taproot Theatre. The play is set on Christmas Eve the year before Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. Which year would that be? a) 1860
4. Mannheim Steamroller plays at The Paramount Theatre this season. This prog-rock, new-age classical band has released at least twenty-five Christmas albums. For which other holiday have they made themed albums?
b) 1863
a) Memorial Day
c) 1864
b) Easter
d) 1865
c) Halloween d) Thanksgiving
ANSWERS: 1) A –An accursed wizard. Howl is skillful with magic, but gave his heart to a fire spirit and is being hunted by a powerful witch. 2) A –“I can never close my lips where I have opened my heart,” is the real quote. It comes from Master Humphrey’s Clock, which was published in 1840. 3) C –1864. This was the year Lincoln was reelected, the year after signing the Emancipation Proclamation. 4) C – Halloween. Mannheim Steamroller has released more than twenty-five albums for Christmas and four for Halloween.
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