A Novel Approach to Theatre
Adapted by Kevin McKeon Directed by Jane Jones
April
14 May
9
2009 the 08-09 season
EVEN COWGIRLS GET THE BLUES * My ﾃ］tonia * Moby-Dick, or The Whale The Beautiful Things that Heaven Bears * Night Flight
A Novel Approach to Theatre It’s our 20th Anniversary Season Come Help us Celebrate our own Story! Book-It has been telling great stories for 20 years, in that time we have also been weaving our own story. Here is the gist of it: passionate theatre artists form a collective and begin making art in humble but vibrant surroundings in Seattle; collective grows; audiences follow; collective becomes a company with two artistic leaders; larger performance space is found; more ambitious projects are undertaken; partnerships are forged; art matures; company grows; celebrate a milestone not imagined when we began. We all have roles in that story: from founders, to actors, to company members, staff and most importantly, you, our audiences. We are so grateful for your continued interest, involvement and support. And we couldn’t be more proud to share the lineup of great literature that we will bring to our stage in 2009-2010. You’ll note there are just four plays in our lineup for the 2009-10 season. This gives us the flexibility to extend shows that are extra popular, and also makes way in our schedule to produce our first ever Novel Workshop Series—a longdreamed-of program that will nurture future productions. We are thrilled to be able to take this opportunity to continue deepening our relationship with you—our loyal patrons, and to take brave strides in forwarding our mission: To transform great books into great theatre through simple and sensitive production and to inspire our audiences to read.
The 2009-2010
20th Anniversary Season A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole September 16 – October 11, 2009
This cult classic and comic masterpiece of the southern literary canon is filled with a kaleidoscopic cast of Big Easy characters.
Emma by Jane Austen
October 20 – November 22, 2009 Austen’s sparkling comedy of 19th century manners and matchmaking with deliciously droll descriptions and generous happy endings that are Book-It fan favorites. All performances will be held in the Center House Theatre.
Check out page A-11 for
The River Why by David James Duncan February 9 – March 7, 2010
Young Gus leaves his quirky, fishing-obsessed family to search for his own truth. With every cast of his pole, the Zen-like repetition of his angling activities leads him on a journey of self discovery.
The Cider House Rules, Part One: HERE IN ST. CLOUD’S by Peter Parnell, adapted from the novel by John Irving June 1 – 27, 2010
The landmark adaptation that put Book-It on the national theatre map— performed in the Center House Theatre for the first time—is the icing on our 20th Anniversary cake!
open house & subscription
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Not es From the D ir ector
O Among democratic nations, new families are constantly springing up, others are constantly falling away, and all that remain change their condition; the woof of time is every instant broken and the track of generations effaced. Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America
n our first day of rehearsal for The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears, I sat the entire cast, design team and Book-It staff down in a very large circle and asked everyone to go around the room, one by one, and share with the group all the geographic locations they had lived in since birth that were over a year in duration, and at this point in their lives, where they considered “home.” With over 25 participants, the stories were multi-faceted, with some people, myself included, being inherently peripatetic having resided in over 15 towns or cities. The responses of “where” were easily reported, counted off the fingers in chronological order by most everyone. When we came to the question of “home,” there was often a silence, a sigh, a two-part qualified clarification. Some of the group never fully answered the question. We could all sense an emotional tug to answer the question “correctly,” as though the ramifications of our entire lives depended on crediting that place in our hearts with absolute accuracy; almost a fear that if for some reason we named it inaccurately there would be an emotional vacuum to have to contend with. In Dinaw Mengestu’s beautiful story, all of his characters are searching for home. In previous interviews, Dinaw has stated that his novel is neither an African novel nor an African-American novel. To him, the novel is about America with all of its “competing and conflicting identities.” All of his characters experience the loss of family, identity, a country even, and are faced with the challenge to create a new
home. They walk with “the ghosts of their old lives firmly attached to their backs.” They strive to move through the circumstances of their pasts to create a new sense of belonging. And yet all the while, they are struck by the economic, the racial, and the emotional barriers of finding home. In the last many weeks, I have been deeply drawn into this quest myself, often with great loneliness, and then with overwhelming gratitude of belonging to a community such as ours that allows us to take these journeys together. We at Book-It are profoundly grateful to the Seattle Public Library and to the vision Chris Higashi had of steering us towards this debut novel. Without her passion for this book and the library’s Seattle Reads Program we may never have found it. Judith, one of the story’s lead characters, quotes Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America, which seems a fitting thought to embark upon this journey with: “Among democratic nations, new families are constantly springing up, others are constantly falling away, and all that remain change their condition; the woof of time is every instant broken and the track of generations effaced.” May this evening’s experience with Book-It somehow introduce you, too, to a new family.
Jane Jones
Book-It Repertory Theatre Jane Jones & Myra Platt, Founding Co-Artistic Directors * Charlotte M. Tiencken, Managing Director
proudly presents
The Beautiful Things that Heaven Bears by Dinaw Mengestu
Adapted by Kevin McKeon Directed by Jane Jones** CAST
(in alphabetical order)
Earl Alexander Olachi Anamelechi Lori Evans Tracy Michelle Hughes* Reginald AndrĂŠ Jackson* Sylvester Foday Kamara* James Thomas Patrick Myra Platt* Alicia Stamps Devorah Spadone Victoria Thompson
Joseph/Uncle Berhane/Ensemble Naomi Ensemble Mrs. Davis/Mother/Ensemble Kenneth/Ayad/Ensemble Sepha Stephanos Ensemble Judith Ensemble Production Stage Manager Production Assistant
The play takes place between the fall of 1999 and spring of 2000, and in flashbacks.
Larry Rodriguez Curtis Taylor Christine Meyers Andrew D. Smith Jason Gorgen Elena Hartwell Gin Hammond Ashley Marshall
ARTISTIC & PRODUCTION STAFF Technical Director & Laura Hendrichsen Production Manager Jeff Ringer Scenic Designer Janessa Jayne Styck Costume Designer Christina Collins Lighting Designer Alison Loerke Sound Designer Richard Bresnahan Properties Designer Ilvs Strauss Dialect Coach Assistant Director & Dramaturg
Master Carpenter Scenic Artist Costume Shop Manager Costume Assistant African Music Consultant Master Electrician Sound Board Operator & Lighting Assistant
*Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States ** Member of Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers, Inc., an independant national labor union Season Support provided by: ArtsFund/John Brooks Williams andJohn H. Bauer Endowment for Theatre Production Support provided by:
Seattle Office of
Media Sponsor:
m e e t t he a uthor
D I don’t think most writers ever decide to write. For me, it was something that I did because I had to. It’s been my way of managing and making sense of the world I live in. –Dinaw Mengestu
inaw Mengestu was born in 1978 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. At the age of two, he immigrated to the United States with mother and sister to join his father who had fled the revolution in Ethiopia two years earlier. Mengestu was raised in the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois, where he attended an all-white Catholic high school. “I wanted an identity so badly,” he says. “I was never going to be black enough.” So he started to read about Ethiopia “doing just weird research into the country on my own… to carve and create” something for himself. He developed an attachment to his home country that he deepened over the course of the next ten years. Mengestu received his B.A. in English from Georgetown University and, while a senior there, he began to conduct interviews with his family members, pressing them to talk about their experiences in Ethiopia. His father’s older brother, Shibrew Stephanos, had been killed during the so-called Red Terror of the 1970s. His father and other relatives were “really moved” to talk about what had happened: “I think most of them hadn’t spoken about it in years.” He was originally thinking of writing a nonfiction account, perhaps something splicing his interviews together with newspaper articles and historical artifacts into
something that he describes as a “crazy postmodern narrative.” After earning an M.F.A in fiction from Columbia University, and receiving the 2006 Fellowship in Fiction from the New York Foundation for the Arts, he instead turned his research into his first novel, The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears, published in 2007. Praised by the New York Times Book Review as a “great African novel, a great Washington novel and a great American novel,” The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears is the winner of many awards including the Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction (LA Times), the Guardian’s First Book Award, and the Prix du Premier Rom. It has been named a New York Times Notable Book, and was the Seattle Reads selection for 2008. Mengestu has recently published a firsthand account of the situation in Darfur for Rolling Stone, and has written for Harper’s and Jane Magazines. His second novel, How to Read Air, is forthcoming. Quotes from Dinaw Mengestu are from an interview with Bob Thompson, published in the Washington Post March 1, 2007.
About t h e T it le o f t h e Bo o k The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears, draws its title from the last few lines of Dante’s Inferno, when Dante, having traveled out of hell, is offered a glimpse of heaven before he is sent to Purgatory. “Through a round aperture I saw appear, some of the beautiful things that Heaven bears, where we came forth and once more saw the stars.” At left: Divine Comedy, Paradiso Canto 31, Lithograph by Gustave Dore (18321883). Dante and Beatrice gaze upon the highest Heaven (The Empyrean).
Liter at ure w it h in lit era t ure Dinaw Mengestu weaves other works of literature into his story that figure significantly: Sepha and Naomi read The Brothers Karamozov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky as they get to know one another; and Judith, a professor of American history, references Ralph Waldo Emerson (New England minister, essayist and philosopher) and quotes Alexis de Toqueville’s Democracy in America, assuming Sepha has read it. “Among democratic nations new families are constantly springing up, others are constantly falling away, and all that remain change their condition; the woof of time is every instant broken and the track of generations effaced.” The following pages contain more quotes that help to illustrate coming to and being in America from a newcomer’s perspective.
S e ph a’ s H omelan d Ethiopia is Africa’s oldest independent country and, apart from a five-year occupation by Mussolini’s Italy, it has never been colonized. But the nation is better known for its periodic droughts and famines, its long civil conflict and a border war with Eritrea. In the early 20th century, British troops helped evict the Italians in 1941 and put Emperor Haile Selassie back on his throne. British influence gave way to that of the U.S., which in turn was supplanted by the Soviet Union. Largely free from the coups that have plagued other African countries, Ethiopia’s drought, famine, war and ill-conceived policies have been no less devastating. In 1974 this helped topple Haile Selassie whose regime was replaced by a junta led by Mengistu Haile Mariam under which many thousands of opponents were purged or killed, property was confiscated and defense spending spiraled. The overthrow of the junta in 1991 returned stability. Ethiopia is one of Africa’s poorest states with over 60% of its people illiterate. The largely agricultural economy relies on uncertain rainfall, and many Ethiopians depend on food aid from abroad. The country is one of Africa’s leading coffee producers. In 2004 the government began a drive to move more than two million people away from the arid eastern highlands in an attempt to provide a lasting solution to food shortages.
• Full name: Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia • Population: 85.2 million (UN, 2008) • Capital: Addis Ababa • Area: 1.13 million sq km (437,794 sq miles) • Major languages: Amharic, Oromo, Tigrinya, Somali • Major religions: Christianity, Islam • Life expectancy: 52 years (men), 54 years (women) (UN) • Monetary unit: 1 Birr = 100 cents • Main exports: Coffee, hides, oilseeds, beeswax, sugarcane • GNI per capita: US $220 (World Bank, 2007)
Excerpted from a BBC News profile, June 2008.
Joseph: How is America today, Stephanos? Kenneth: He hates it. Joseph: Th
The American Dream
that has lured tens of millions of all nations to our shores in the past century has not been a dream of material plenty, though that has doubtlessly counted heavily. It has been a dream of being able to grow to fullest development as a man and woman, unhampered by the barriers which had slowly been erected in the older civilizations, unrepressed by social orders which had developed for the benefit of classes rather than for the simple human being of any and every class. —James Truslow Adams, who coined the phrase “American Dream” in his 1931 book Epic of America
What is that prom
of our own lives what we will, but th spect … That’s the promise of Amer or fall as one nation; the fundamen
We in America understand the many imperfections of democracy and the malignant disease corroding its very heart. We must be united in the
…to every man his chance …to every man the right to live, to work, to be himself, and …this, seeker, is the promise of Ameri
effort to make an America in which our people can find happiness. It is a great wrong that anyone in America, whether he be brown or white, should be illiterate or hungry or miserable.
I am not li
—Carlos Bulosan, America is in the Heart
out a home, r, With But a f Far, g not n i l We’v m a o w it i n D d l ’ i s e e been trave Ame —N h r ica
out a
star… Got
a dream to take them
the re
boss? y m Kill
Do I dare live o ut th e
Ho me
—The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears
?—
rS im pso n
? : That’s because he doesn’t understand it.
m Am erican Drea
There are those who will say that the liberation of humanity, the freedom of man and mind is nothing but a dream. They are right. It is the American Dream. —Archibald MacLeish, three-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author
omise? It’s a promise that says each of us has the freedom to make
ut that we also have the obligation to treat each other with dignity and remerica—the idea that we are responsible for ourselves, but that we also rise mental belief that I am my brother’s keeper; I am my sister’s keeper. —Barack Obama at the 2008 Democratic National Convention
man, regardless of his birth, his shining, golden opportunity …to every man nd to become whatever his manhood and his vision can combine to make him merica. —Thomas Wolfe (1900-1938), American novelist
ot living the American Dream, I’m living the American fantasy. —Frank McCourt, author of Angela’s Ashes
o ng t g to America, Got a dream they’ve c i n i m m o o ome to share, T h ey’re c h ey’re c he re, T
. a.. c i er Am
Wh o’ s Who - T he Cast Earl Alexander Joseph/Uncle Berhane/Ensemble
Earl returns to the Book-It stage after spending a year and a half checking out the Albuquerque film scene. Earl was last seen at Book-It as Bud in Bud, Not Buddy, adapted by Reginald A. Jackson. Other Book-It credits include Owen Meany’s Christmas Pageant, In a Shallow Grave, I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, Cowboys Are My Weakness, If I Die in a Combat Zone, Box Me Up and Ship Me Home, and Travels with Charlie. Earl is pleased to grace Book-It’s stage again with this production of The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears. Earl’s voice may be heard in the popular new video game “Left 4 Dead” and this fall he will lend his voice to the video game “SAW”. Earl holds a BFA from Cornish College of the Arts. Arigato AsukaSan.
Olachi Anamelechi Naomi
Olachi Anamelechi is an 8th-grade student at the Northwest School in Seattle and a graduate of the 14-month academic phase of the Rainier Scholars program. She is actively involved in the advanced theater group and recently participated in the NW production of Oklahoma!. Olachi originated the role of Naomi last year in readings of the 2008 Seattle Reads Book The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears at area libraries—a joint project of Book-It and the Seattle Public Library’s Washington Center for the Book. She enjoys playing the saxophone, listening to music and watching movies.
Lori Evans Ensemble
Lori is delighted to be making her first appearance on the Book-It stage. She has participated in numerous independent films Vital Force and Butterfly Dreaming, and directed children’s theater in the Seattle area, Summer Fun!, while pursuing her degree from the University of Washington School of Drama. Seen most recently in The Book of Liz at UW, she has acted in many community performances including, The Crucible and Pride and Prejudice while raising three extraordinary girls. She looks forward to completing her BA in Drama in June and engaging in acting full time.
Tracy Michelle Hughes* Mrs. Davis/Mother/ Ensemble
Tracy is pleased to appear in The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears with Book-It. Most recently, she has appeared at Taproot Theater as Nella in Gee’s Bend. Tracy’s other credits include Charlayne Woodard’s onewoman show Pretty Fire, Rock and Roll Twelfth Night, Flight, Mojo for the Sayso, Stuff Happens, The New Orleans Monologues, Godspell, Big River, Till We Have Faces, Tintypes, Lady Day, Little Shop of Horrors, Glass Menagerie, Lucky Stiff, Sweeny Todd, Antigone, 1940s Radio Hour, and How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Her other media include commercials, film, industrials, educational videos, television and voice-overs.
Reginald André Jackson* Kenneth/Ayad/ Ensemble
Eleven years ago, a young Mr. Jackson first had the pleasure of sharing the stage with Myra Platt in a show directed by Jane Jones: The Cider House Rules. Soon after, he found himself again under Jones’ direction sharing the stage with Earl Alexander in In A Shallow Grave. Both Reggie and Earl were later directed by Myra Platt in a brilliant production of I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings. This was followed by a turn in Platt’s Cry, The Beloved Country, where he appeared with Sylvester Kamara. For Book-It All Over, Reggie has adapted both The Elephant’s Child, (with Andy Jensen) and The Tale of the Armadillos. He later adapted the main stage production of Bud, not Buddy. After a four-year hiatus, he is over the moon to be returning to Book-It in a show starring Sylvester, Myra, and Earl, directed again by Jane Jones.
Sylvester Foday Kamara* Sepha Stephanos
Sly is a member of Freehold Theater’s Engaged theater program. His most recent appearance on stage was in the title role in Freehold’s production of Othello. The Beautiful Things that Heaven Bears marks his second production with Book-It; Cry, the Beloved Country was his first. He is honored to be working again with this amazing company. * Member Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.
James Thomas Patrick Ensemble
This is Jim’s debut with Book-It Repertory Theater. He has appeared at Tacoma Little Theater in the roles of Algernon Gladstone in Dear Santa, Don John in Much Ado About Nothing and Dr. Bradman in Blithe Spirit; at Lakewood Playhouse as Master Page in The Merry Wives of Windsor and Guiseppe Bonno in Amadeus; at Auburn Regional Theater as Gonzalo in The Tempest; and with Theater Artists Olympia as Selsdon Mowbray in Noises Off, Walt Barnes in Book of Days, and Duncan in Macbeth.
Myra Platt* Judith, Founding CoArtistic Director
Myra is the founding co-artistic director of Book-It Repertory Theatre, with Jane Jones. As actor, director, adaptor and composer, she has helped Book-It produce over 55 world-premiere stage adaptations. As an actress, Myra has performed in numerous productions over the years. Seattle productions include: The Awakening (2000 Honorable Mention Backstage West Los Angeles Garland Awards), Howards End, Winesburg Ohio, Eudora, What We Talk About When We Talk About Love, I Am of Ireland, and A Telephone Call with BookIt; The Dying Gaul, and The Chairs with INTIMAN; The Cider House Rules Parts One and Two with Seattle Repertory Theatre and the Mark Taper Forum; King Lear with New City Theatre; and The Tempest, The Birthday Party, The Time of Your Life, and All Powers Necessary and Convenient with Freehold Theatre. She is the proud mother of Wilson.
Alicia Stamps Ensemble
This is Alicia’s first performance with Book-It. She is a senior at Cornish College of the Arts and will graduate in May 2009. She has appeared in Marisol, The Tempest and most recently in Intimate Apparel as Esther Mills. She was born and raised in San Francisco, California where she appeared in Oediphus Rex, Lysistrata and The Laramie Project.
**The Director is a member of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers, Inc., an independant national labor union.
A R T I ST I C & PRODUCTION S T A FF JANE JONES** Founding Co-Artistic Director, Director
Jane is the founder of Book-It and founding co-artistic director of Book-It Repertory Theatre, with Myra Platt. In her 23 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, Ernest Hemingway, Colette, Amy Bloom, John Irving, John Steinbeck, Daphne du Maurier, and Jane Austen. A veteran actress of 30 years, she has played leading roles in many of America’s most prominent regional theatres including The Guthrie, American Conservatory Theater, The McCarter and Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Locally, she has been seen at Seattle Rep, ACT Theatre, The Empty Space, Seattle Children’s Theatre, Tacoma Actors Guild, and INTIMAN. Film and TV credits include The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, Singles, Homeward Bound, “Twin Peaks,” and Rose Red. She co-directed with Tom Hulce at the Seattle Rep, Peter Parnell’s adaptation of John Irving’s The Cider House Rules, which enjoyed successful runs here in Seattle, at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles (Backstage West Award, best director) and in New York (Drama Desk Nomination, best director). Jane recently directed Pride and Prejudice and Twelfth Night at Portland Center Stage which won the 2008 Drammy award for Best Direction and Production. For Book-It, she has directed 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, and A Tale of Two Cities. Book-It performances include roles in Ethan Frome, Silver Water, Cowboys Are My Weakness, Breathing Lessons, and Rhoda: A Life in Stories. In 2008 Book-It and its co-artistic directors, Jane Jones and Myra Platt, 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 also a recipient of the 2009 Women’s University Club of Seattle Brava Award.
Myra Platt Founding Co-Artistic Director, Judith
Myra is the founding co-artistic director of Book-It Repertory Theatre, with Jane Jones. She studied literature and theater at Northwestern University (BS Analysis and Performance of Literature) and Circle in the Square (NYC). As actor, director, adaptor and composer, she has helped Book-It produce over 55 world-premiere stage adaptations. Most recently, Myra directed the world-premiere production of Persuasion by Jane Austen. She has adapted and directed The House of the Spirits, Giant, Red Ranger Came Calling, I Know Why the
Caged Bird Sings, Cowboys Are My Weakness, Roman Fever, A Little Cloud, A Telephone Call, and A Child’s Christmas in Wales. She directed Plainsong, Cry, the Beloved Country, and Sweet Thursday. She co-adapted Owen Meany’s Christmas Pageant with Jane Jones and composed music for Red Ranger Came Calling (with Edd Key), Ethan Frome, Owen Meany’s Christmas Pageant, A Child’s Christmas in Wales, The Awakening, the first workshop production of The Cider House Rules, A Telephone Call, and I Am of Ireland. In 2008 Book-It and its co-artistic directors, Jane Jones and Myra Platt, 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.
CHARLOTTE M. TIENCKEN Managing Director
Charlotte is an arts administrator, director, producer and educator who has been working in the producing and presenting fields for 20 years. Before moving back to the Seattle area in September 2003, she was general manager at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in Massachusetts for four seasons. Currently, she is president of Scarlet Productions, her own consulting firm, and is an adjunct faculty member at Lesley University in Cambridge, MA. Most recently she was executive director of Tacoma Actors Guild. Charlotte is a member of the Association of Performing Arts Presenters, the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers and is past president of the Board of Arts Northwest, the presenting service organization for Washington, Idaho and Oregon. She has served on the board of the Pat Graney Dance Company and sat on granting panels for the Washington State Arts Commission. She recently completed her term on the Board of Theatre Puget Sound, a regional service organization for theatres in the Puget Sound area.
Kevin McKeon Adapter
Kevin has had the great pleasure of working with Book-It in several capacities: as adapter, director, and actor. As an actor he has ridden the rapids in Cowboys Are My Weakness, beat up Cannery Row bums in Sweet Thursday, and cut open his son’s horse in Plainsong. Other roles include Ethan in Ethan Frome and the effete Sir Walter in Persuasion. His production work includes Breathing Lessons (Adapter/Director), A Tale of Two Cities (Co-Adapter with Jane Jones), and Plainsong (Adapter). His 2007 production of David Guterson’s Snow Falling on Cedars was the recipient of two Seattle Times Footlight Awards and was also a nominee for that year’s ATCA/Steinberg Best New Play Award. The adaptation will be produced as part of the upcoming 2009-10 season at Portland Center Stage.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’S
NIGHT
fLIGHT June 4 to 14
at the MOORE theatre 1932 2nd Ave, downtown
A New Operetta
by Myra Platt Music by Joshua Kohl Night Flight is a look at the all-French pioneers of early aviation and airmail. Stationed in 1930s Buenos Aires amidst the sultry tango night-life, Rivière, the sole chief, watches over his crew of pilots who valiantly dare to sail the dark skies. Come fly with Book-It as this lyrical novella is brought to life with the cast singing a soaring original score.
206.216.0833 www.book-it.org
A RT I S T I C & P ROD UCTION ST A FF Devorah Spadone Production Stage Manager
Devorah is proud to be the production stage manager at Book-it Repertory Theatre, where The Beautiful Things that Heaven Bears will be her 18th production. She just finished stage managing this season’s MobyDick, or The Whale and My Ántonia. Last season, she worked on The Highest Tide, Persuasion, and Peter Pan, in addition to working with The Ethereal Mutt Limited on Saving Tania’s Privates by Tania Katan at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and Strawberry Theatre Workshop’s production of Leni here in Seattle. She has also worked for Seattle Children’s Theatre, Seattle Shakespeare Company, Bumbershoot, Folklife, UW, 14/48 and the Seattle International Children’s Festival.
Larry Rodriguez Technical Director & Production Manager
Larry hails from the Philippines and has been passionate about the theater since 1994. He was technical director and lighting designer for the Philippines’ pioneer theater company – The Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA). He also studied Lighting Design and Sound Engineering in Tokyo, Japan. Larry was a theater manager for three years with The Far Eastern University, which houses the Philippines’ first cultural center where early theater and vaudeville shows started during the 1940s; he was behind its ambitious 1998 renovation and refurbishing of the entire facility. He has also worked as director of photography for companies that produced television commercials and music videos. Before leaving the Philippines he was involved in over 50 productions from stage, television, and film, and represented the country in International theatre festivals. He moved to Seattle in 2005 and joined Book-It Repertory Theatre. This is his fourth season and is continually grateful for having the opportunity to work among great talents. Larry was recently brought on as the resident lighting designer of Next Stage, a newlyformed Seattle theatre company.
Curtis Taylor Scenic Designer
Curtis is honored to be designing his third production for Book-It, he previously designed The Highest Tide and and Tale of Two Cities. When not designing for the theater he makes film, including his Bachianas No.5, which premiered at the 2008 SXSW Film Festival in Austin, Texas. In 1996 he founded Vodvil, an underground storefront theater in Seattle that produced murder-ballad magic shows such as abstract change pleasure, ROME, O Liberty Eden, Shades of Parkland, and Her Phantom Limb.
Christine Meyers Costume Designer
Christine Meyers has spent the last 13 years designing costumes and couture garments for theatre and individuals in the United States and Europe. Past productions include opera, dance and theatre, and a multitude of wedding gowns. Christine moved to Seattle in 2007, and since then has designed costumes for The Highest Tide and Peter Pan at Book-It, as well as Julius Caesar for Seattle Shakespeare Company. In addition, she designed three films for Juicebox Productions including the short titled Lethal Cotillion which was screened at the Cannes Film Festival in France in May 2008.
Andrew D. Smith Lighting Designer
Andrew last collaborated with Book-It on Even Cowgirls Get the Blues earlier this season. Recent credits include Three Hotels with Our American Theater, I Am My Own Wife with ArtsWest, and Of Mice & Men, and Three Days of Rain with Seattle Public Theater. His designs have been seen in NYC for I, Kreon and The Private Life of the Master Race with Roust Theater Company; Taikoza Drum with Symphony Space; a week of the Suzan-Lori Parks’ 365 Days/365 Plays with Classical Theatre of Harlem and the Public Theatre; Treasure Island, Oliver!, Amadeus, and O Lovely Glowworm with Cardinal Stage Company; Julius Caesar and Macbeth with Cincinnati Shakespeare Company; Early Sunday Morning with On The Boards’ NWNWF; Brink with Acorn Dance at Velocity; Hallelujah Street Blues with Horizon Theatre. Andrew holds a BA from Duke University and an MFA from the University of Washington, where he is currently on faculty in the design department.
Jason Gorgen Sound Designer
Jason is happy to be back sound designing for Book-It. He is a graduate of Cornish College of the Arts, and his most recent projects include Great Music for Great Cathedrals at St. James Cathedral, Love Person at Live Girls! Theatre, and Adventures in Mating at Theater Schmeater.
Elena Hartwell Properties Designer
Elena returns to Book-It after designing Properties for Moby-Dick, or The Whale. Elena wears many hats in the theater including playwright, director, educator, and technician. Her work has been seen across the US and the UK. Recent projects include: In Our Name (writer/performer) produced in New York, Eugene, and Seattle and published in Plays and Playwrights 2008, and Goldilocks and the Three Bears (director) with StoryBook Theater. She is co-founder of Iron Pig, company member of Live Girls! Theater, Literary Manager for Northwest Playwrights Alliance, and holds a Ph.D. from the University of Georgia.
Gin Hammond Dialect Coach
Gin Hammond is very pleased to be working with Book-It again. Shows recently coached include Book-It’s Persuasion and Peter Pan, as well as Gee’s Bend at Taproot Theatre Company. Ms. Hammond teaches privately and at Freehold Studios, and has performed in Germany, Russia, Ireland, England and Scotland, and nationally at The Guthrie, The Long Wharf, Pasadena Playhouse, ACT Theatre, and others. www.ginhammond.com
Ashley Marshall Assistant Director & Dramaturg
Ashley is excited to be working with Book-It for the first time. She is currently a senior at Cornish College of the Arts where she will receive her B.F.A in Theatre this May. At Cornish her favorite roles include the Jester’s Wife in Arabian Nights and Agatha in The Children’s Hour. Most recently her play Mia Baby was selected to be part of the Cornish New Works Festival.
Victoria Thompson Production Assistant
Victoria is thrilled to be working with Book-It again, after completing Moby-Dick, or The Whale. She is new to Seattle having graduated last spring from Trinity Western University in Vancouver, BC with a BA in Theatre. She loves being involved with theater in any way she can. Recently she was the stage manager for The Little Death at the Eclectic Theater Company here in Seattle. Some of her favorite productions to work on have been Pride and Prejudice, Holy Mo and Spew Boy, The Taming of the Shrew, and Fixing Christmas.
A ffilia t io n s ACTORS’ EQUITY ASSOCIATION
(AEA), founded in 1913, represents
more than 45,000 actors and stage managers in the United States. Equity seeks to advance, promote and foster the art of live theatre as an essential component of our society. Equity negotiates wages and working conditions, providing a wide range of benefits, including heath and pension plans. AEA is a member of the AFL-CIO, and is affiliated with FIA, an international organization of performing arts unions. The Equity emblem is our mark.
The Director is a member of the Society of Stage
Directors and Choreographers, Inc., an independant national labor union.
Book-It Repertory Theatre is a proud member of
THEATRE PUGET SOUND
Meet the
Our
20th Anniversary Celebration Kicks Off May 2, 2009 with our
$50,000 Tea Pot
Annual Open House! Join us for a
preview of next season’s novels
lively conversation with our Co-Artistic Directors, delicious refreshments, and special discounts offered only at the May 2 open house. This event is the first opportunity to renew your subscription for our 20th Anniversary Season!
As our anniversary gift to you, Book-It ticket prices will not go up for the 2009-2010 season. In fact, current subscribers who renew* at the open house, will get an additional 5% off the already-discounted subscription prices. Yep. You’ll receive a full 15% off the single ticket purchase price. Renewing subscribers also are first in line for the best available seats. Not a subscriber yet? If you subscribe at the open house your order will be processed ahead of the general public and you will receive the best available seats before they go on sale June 16.
Where: The Center House Theatre When: 4:45 – 6:00 p.m. Between performances of The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears
Who: You and your literary friends!
*same-package, same-seat renewals only are eligible for the extra discount.
Managing Director Charlotte Tienken & her new accessory.
During our production of My Ántonia last November and December, I introduced you to our trusty Blue Tea Kettle—the one Book-It has used for 19 years, first to collect donations for an evening’s performance and now used as part of our end-of-year campaign. (I am happy to report that, with the exception of the snow days in December, we made our tea kettle goal—thank you to all who contributed.) Our more dazzling tea pot can never replace our beloved blue kettle, but as we move to the fourth quarter of our fundraising year, it has a big responsibility: to give us a head start on our formal Spring campaign and overall goal of $50,000. Hence the highrolling name. Over the run of The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears, about 3,900 people will sit in these theatre seats. If each patron found it in their hearts to make a $5 donation, well, do the math. It doesn’t come to $50,000, but it will jump start our Spring giving campaign. We rely on the kindness, generosity and loyalty of our Book-It family to help us reach our individual giving goal for this fiscal year, which ends June 30. We hope you will help us inaugurate our new tea pot after tonight’s performance.
Charlotte Tiencken Call 206.216.0833 for more information
Managing Director
H onoring Book-It Cont r i b ut o r s Book-It would like to express our gratitude to the following for their generosity in supporting our 2008-09 season:
LITERARY LEGENDS $50,000+
The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation Matthew N. Clapp, Jr. The William Randolph Hearst Foundation
LITERARY champion $25,000+ Anonymous • ArtsFund
LITERARY HEROES $10,000+ 4Culture • The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation • The Boeing Company** • Harvest Foundation • Gladys & Sam Rubinstein • Safeco Insurance Foundation • Polly Schlitz • The Seattle Foundation
Literary Classics $5,000+ The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Tom & Sonya Campion City of Seattle Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs Humanities Washington Stellman Keehnel Beth McCaw & Yahn Bernier The Norcliffe Foundation Qwest Foundation Shirley & David Urdal Washington State Arts Commission Leadership Circle $2,500+ Monica Alquist ArtsFund/Wells Fargo Cultural Education Enhancement Fund ArtsFund/John Brooks Williams and John H. Bauer Endowment for Theatre The Baker Foundation Avery Brooke Jeff Cain Canonicus Fund Mary Anne Christy & Mark Klebanoff Enterprise Rent-A-Car* Fales Foundation Trust Melissa & Donald Manning Mary Metastasio PONCHO Lynne & Nick Reynolds ** Russell Investments Deborah Swets
Leadership Circle $2,500+ cont. Kris & Mike Villiott Thomas & Lucy Flynn Zuccotti Nobel Award Society $1000+ Cheryl Boudreau Steve Bull & Christiane Pein Emily Anthony & David Maymudes Amy & Matthew Cockburn Cande & Tom Grogan Audrey & Robert Hancock Harold Hill Anne & Steve Lipner Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas Holly & Bill Marklyn/Marklyn Family Foundation Whitney & Jerry Neufeld-Kaiser Ann Ramsay-Jenkins Sage Foundation SB Schaar & PK Whelpton Foundation Martha Sidlo Jerry & Margaret Svec Patricia & John Torode Kathy & Jim Tune U.S. Bank Judith Whetzel April J. & Brian Williamson Pulitzer Award Society $500+ Sheena Aebig & Eric Taylor Rosa Ayer
Pulitzer Award Society $500+ Cont. Babeland, Inc.** Luther Black & Christina Wright Judy Brandon & H. Randall Webb Zimmie Caner Linda & Peter Capell The Carey Family Foundation Jayn & Hugh Foy Marni Gittinger Jean Gorecki Linda & Gordon Griesbach Lloyd Herman Bonny Hill Toni Hoffman Jeffrey M. Kadet Jacqueline Kiser Marcia & Stephen Larson Alexander Lindsey & Lynn Manley Stephen Lovell Anne McDuffie & Tim Wood Darcy & Lee MacLaren Larry & Michell Pihl Roberta Reaber & Leo Butzel H. Stewart Ross Pamela Searle Margaret Silver Sara Thompson & Richard Gelinas Judith & Morton Weisman Richard P. Wilson National Book Award Society $250+ Nancy & Craig Abramson Christina Amante Laurie & Steve Arnold Boeing Gift Matching Program Trudy Baltz & Christopher Motley Jim Greenfield & Susan Barley Roger Tucker & Becky Barnett Pam & Ollie Cobb Emily Davis Dottie Delaney Joe Delaney Tony & Nancy Dirksen Beth Dubey Rob Entrop Deborah Fialkow Liz Fitzhugh Marcia Greenberg Helen & Max Gurvich Susan Hoffman Mary & Eric Horvitz Robert Hovden & Ron DeChene Diane Hostetler & Ross Johnson Laura Hull Melissa Huther
H o nori ng Book- It Con t ribu t o rs Nat’l Book Award Soc. $250+ Cont. Eva Jackson Clare Kapitan & Keith Schreiber Fay Krokower Frank Lawler & Anne McCurdy Nancy Lawton & Steve Fury Marcie & John McHale Louise McNerney & Jan Sobieralski Susan Moseley Christopher Motley Cindy O’Brien Colette Ogle Thomas & Cheryl Oliver Kristan Parks Shawn & Mike Rediger Don & Marty Sands Jake Sedlock & Heidi Sherman Bill Smith Deborah Talley Laura Thomas Kerry Thompson Roger Tucker & Becky Barnett Robert & Leora Wheeler Sally S. & David Wright Anonymous (1)
Pen/Faulkner Award Circle $100+ Doug Adams Georgina Alquist Bill & Helen Wattley Ames Christine & Perry Atkins Ruth Bacharach Suzanne Ball JoAnn Bardeen Lindsay Bealko Andrew Bell Julia Bent Deb & Bill Bigelow Alice Birnbaum Lindsay & Tony Blackner Page Pless & Mark Blatter Janet Boguch Barbara Boivin Jean Boler & John Dienhart Barry Boone Anne Bostwick Cheryl Boudreau John Bradshaw Mary Anne Braund & Steve Pellegrin Patricia Britton Kelly Brown Donna I. & James S. Brudvik Marcia Bruno
Laury & Bill Bryant Jean Burch Falls Joann Byrd Christina Chang & Paul J. Stucki Joyce Chase Lynne & David Chelimer Children Count Foundation Julie Shapiro & Shelly F. Cohen Clayton Cook Kerry J. Coughlin Terry Coyne David & Pam Dack Gale & Michael Davis Roy Davis Nancy Deane Dan and Melinda Deane-Wheetman Sandra & Paul Dehmer Paula Lozano Drachman & Jonathan G. Drachman Lorna Dykes Titia & Bill Ellis Sara Elward Marilyn Endriss Joyce Erickson Constance Euerle Stephanie Farrell Elizabeth & Paul Fleming
It’s Campy, It’s Trampy, It’s...
Book-It Repertory Theatre’s Annual Gala and Fundraiser Tuesday May 19, 6pm at Teatro ZinZanni 0OF OJHIU B ZFBS XF UVSO PVS NJTTJPO PO FOE BOE USBOTGPSN UIF EFMJDJPVT QVMQ mDUJPO UIBU ZPV TFDSFUMZ MPWF UP SFBE JOUP IJMBSJ PVT BOE IBQIB[BSE UIFBUSF 'FTUJWJUJFT JODMVEF DPDLUBJMT EJOOFS EFTTFSU QFSGPSNBODFT BOE B MJWF BVDUJPO PG ZPVS GBWPSJUF JOEVMHFODFT 4FBUJOH JT -JNJUFE 3FTFSWF ZPVS TFBU OPX CZ DBMMJOH PVS #PY 0GmDF BU PS PSEFSJOH POMJOF XXX CPPL JU PSH
C ont ri b utor s Pen/Faulkner $100+ Cont.
James & Denice Fortier Gail Frasier & John Sehlhorst Julia Geier & Phil Borges Linda Gould Vicki Hadley Lisa Hager Elizabeth Hanna Phyllis Hatfield Sarah & Stephen Hauschka Marcie Headen & Kathie L. White David Hecht Teri Hein Stephanie Hilbert Nancy Holcomb Lawrence Jackson Eric Jensen Sophy Johnston Kris Jorgensen David J. Kasik Jeff Keane & Martha Noerr Pam Kendrick Polly Kenefick Jow Kerkvliet Margaret Kineke & Dennis West Jean Kushleika Teri J. Lazzara Kathryn Lew Jamie & Andrea Lieberman Laura Lindenmayer Julia Little David & Sherrie Littlefield Craig Lorch Sheila Lukehart Ellen & Stephen Lutz Denise & Jim Lynch Kevin Lynch Glenda Maledy Doug & Josie Manuel Mary Ann & Chuck Martin Teresa Mayberg Kathy McCluskey Samuel McCormick Jean McKeon Glenn Morrissey Peggy Metastasio & Dick Stuart Joshua Mitchell Glenn Morrissey David Nash & Pat Graves Leslie Nellermoe Tom Newhof Deanna & Craig Norsen Curtis & Marion Northrop Stephen Ooton & Jeanne Leader Clare & Austin O’Regan Doris Parker S. Edward Parks Will Patton & Joni H. Ostergaard Terry Paugh
Cecilia Paul & Harry Reinert Annie Pearson Corliss Perdaems Ed & Carol Perrin Eleanor Pollnow Esther Reese Eric & Karen Richter Ellen Roth Suzanne Rowen Evelyne Rozner Susan Schaefer William Selig Craig & Meredith Shank Michael & Jo Shapiro Marcia Joslyn Sill & Peter Sill Lola Smith Douglas Spaulding Diane Stevens Helen Stusser Kristine Sweeney LaJuana Swilley Larry Symonds Tammy Talman Gail Tanaka Kimberlee Tempel I. Michael Thomas Brian Thompson Gianni Truzzi Diane & Burt Turnbull Mary Turner Karen & Ron Van Genderen Jorie Wackerman Benjamin Wall Frida Weisman James & Sharon Welch Richard B. Wesley Jane Wiegenstein Mary Ann & Robert Wiley Alison Withey Phyllis Yoshida Kelsey Youmans Jeff Youngstrom & Becky Brooks Robilee & Eric Zocher Mary and Jerry Zyskowski Anonymous (2) O.Henry Award Circle $50+ Diane & Steve Adam • Shawn & Lynne Aebi • Judith Alexander • Susan Anderson • William Anderson • Ben Andrews • Rick & Tammy Bagan • Karl Banse • Tina Baril & Dafydd D. Rhysjones • Yvonne Bates • Shawn Baz • John & Helen Bigelow • Nancy Bittner • Helen Bottcher • Monica Bradley • Patricia Brasel • Lisa V. & Phil Brock • Rachel & David Bukey • Roland & Laura Burns • Carrie & Mark Butler • Martha & Robert Byrne • Mike Cain Adrienne Carns • Geraldine Carroll • Pamela Carter & Roy Hirshkowitz • Mark & Elizabeth Chamberlin • Sylvia & Craig Chambers • Evelyn & Jim Chumbley • Diane Civic • Lisa Clark • Sterling & Sandra Clarren • Dave Conca & Mary Fortman • Susan Connors •
Shelly Corbett • John Corder • Elaine Crane • Margaret Curtin • Nancy Cushwa • Cathy & Phil Davis • Robert & Kathleen Davis • Martha Demar • Mary-Thadia d’Hondt & Michael Taylor • Susan Dyer • Sally Easterbrook • Nancy Ellingham • Kyle Entrop • Barbara & Frank Fanger • Linda & John Findlay • Anne Fox • Margaret Frazier • Eric Froines & Susan Warwick • Mary Bea Gallagher • Ann Glusker • Suzanne Goren • Jane & David Graham • Kay Griesman • Kendall Guthrie • Eileen & Ryder Gwinn • Marilyn HannaMyrick • Joanne Harding • Emma Hasset • Susan Hellwich • Rebecca Herzfeld & Gordon Crawford • Kate Hokanson • Karen Howard • Andrea & Scott Ichikawa • Kristin Ihrig • Alison Inkley • Laura Jacumin • Robert C. Jenkins • Celia Justice • Mary Kabrich • Charyl Kay & Earl Sedlik • Kenmore Ladies Book Club • Patricia Kiyono • Goldy Kleinman • Lillian Koblenz • Barb & Art Lachman • Cheryl Lawrence • Jan Lawrence • D and S. Lindquist • Pat Loftin • Nancy Lomneth & Mark Boyd • Carol Lumb • Gretchen Luxenberg • Marsha & William Madigan • Kim Maedav • Crystal Mazzali • Deirdre & Jay McCrary • Marilyn McGuire & Benjamin Moore • Charline McKenzie • Barbara McPhee • Carol Michel • Donna Miller-Parker • Sara Mockett • Joan Moritz • Susan Mozer • Pam & Don Myers • Susan L. Neff • Betty Ngan • Joann Nicon • The North Family • Nancy O’Brien • Nancy & Steve Olsen • Rosanne Olson • Lorena Palmer • Elizabeth Pelham • Sherry Perrault • Ron Petrie • Debora Petschek • Marjorie Priest • Andre Ptak & Aaron Houseknecht • Barbara & Daniel Radin • Jeannette & Stephen Reynolds • Tom Robbins • Sally Rochelle • Barbara Rollinger • Marian & Peter Rose • Marga Rose Hancock • Donna Marie & Rob Saunders • B. Charlotte Schreiber • Ruth Schroeder • Allen Senear • Mary Beth Shaddy • Audrey & John Sheffield • Bruce Sherman • Nancy Slocum • Kay Smallwood • Diana Smith • George & Susan Smith • Diane Snell • Dana Standish & Noah Seixas • Janet Stillman • Helen T. Strickland • Sheila Striegl • Allison G. Swanberg • Carolyn Swanson • Janice TessinThuline • Awnie Thompson • Christopher Thompson • Molly Thompson & Joe Casalini • Virginia Thompson • Cynthia K. Todd • Cole Tsujikawa • Arnie Tucker • Lorraine Vagner • Ron & Janet Vandenberg • Deborah VanDerhei • Nina Velikin • Ryan Wallace & Maggie Hillding • Cindy Warren • Jerry Watt • Anna Kristina Weber • Julie Weisbach • Linda Wilson • Angela Wong • Judith Yarrow • Valerie Yockey & Bob Winsor • Patricia Yonemura • Anonymous (5) *denotes in-kind donation **denotes in-kind plus monetary support. This list reflects gifts received July 1, 2008 – March 31, 2009. Book-It makes every attempt to be accurate with our acknowledgements. Please email Development Assistant Sophie Lowenstein, sophie@book-it.org, with any changes that may be required.
S p e c i al T han ks Special thanks to the following organizations and individuals for their generous support of The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears: Maria Fe Bernardo, Bill Danner, Chris Higashi, Seattle Wood Design, Adam Smith, and Michael Tufano.
B ook -I t Rep er tory Theat re Bo a rd , St a ff & Co m pa n y BOARD OF DIRECTORS Mary Metastasio President Gail Frasier Vice-President Kristine Villiott Treasurer Lucy Flynn Zuccotti Secretary Monica Alquist Steven Bull Jeff Cain Mary Anne Christy Melissa Manning Lynne Reynolds Deborah Swets
BOOK-IT STAFF Jane Jones & Myra Platt — Founding Co-Artistic Directors Charlotte M. Tiencken — Managing Director Annie Lareau — Education Director Patricia Britton — Marketing & Development Director Zach Adair — Box Office Representative Rachel Alquist — Box Office Manager Brady Brophy-Hilton — Education Associate Kate Godman — Grants Associate Emma Kelley — Marketing Intern Sara Lachman — Education Assistant Alison Loerke — Events & Special Programs Assoc. Sophie Lowenstein — Development Assistant Susanna Pugh — House Manager & Volunteer Coordinator Larry Rodriguez — Technical Dir. & Production Mngr. Devorah Spadone — Production Stage Manager Bill Whitham — Bookkeeper Rachel Wilsey — Marketing Associate
COMPANY MEMBERS James Dean Laura Ferri Gail Frasier Heather Guiles Andy Jensen Jennifer Sue Johnson Jane Jones Daniel Harray Reginald André Jackson David Klein James Lapan Mary Machala Kevin McKeon Myra Platt David Quicksall Stephanie Shine Susanna Wilson
Book-It is a company of professional actors and directors who perform classic and contemporary works of fiction for the stage.
Our mission is to transform great literature into great theatre through simple and sensitive production and to inspire our audiences to read. We strive to return theatre to its roots, to the place where the spoken and the written word intersect and where the story comes alive for the audience. What you see and hear at a Book-It performance is literary prose spoken by the characters of the story as if it were dialogue in a play—often word for word in a short story and, in adaptations of larger works, selected narrative. This is the Book-It Style™. We ask our audiences to use their imaginations, thereby becoming participants in a Book-It performance.
BOOK-IT REPERTORY THEATRE Center House Theatre, Seattle Center
*
Administration Education Box Office Fax
305 Harrison Street
*
Seattle, WA 98109
206.216.0877 206.770.0880 206.216.0833 206.256.9666
info@book-it.org * boxoffice@book-it.org * education@book-it.org * www.book-it.org