FEBRUARY 23-25, 2024 CFA 105 855 COMMONWEALTH AVE BOSTON, MA Originally produced in New York by Circle Repertory Company, directed by Marshall W. Mason.
BOSTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF THEATRE PRESENTS
Written by
LANFORD WILSON Directed by
GRANT SORENSON FEBRUARY 23-25, 2024 CFA 105 855 COMMONWEALTH AVE BOSTON, MA BOSTON UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF FINE ARTS
Setting The Lobby of The Hotel Baltimore Time Memorial Day, 1973 Runtime: 1 hour and 45 minutes, with no intermission Caution: This show contains the use of strong language, mentions of sexual violence, partial nudity, culturally insensitive humor/dialogue
CAST JAMIE
Edward Bergham
MR. KATZ/CAB DRIVER
Jacob Bergman
MRS. BELLOTTI
Emma Cahoon
MR. MORSE/SUZY’S JOHN SUZY BILL LEWIS
Leo Flora Annika Helgeson Jojo
MRS. OXENHAM
Rachel Kanter
MILLIE
Janie McRae
PAUL GRANGER III
Kendall McShane
APRIL GREEN
Claire Mitchell
GIRL
Trev Turnbow
JACKIE
Tommy Vines
PRODUCTION TEAM DIRECTOR GRAD COLLAB TEAM
Grant Sorenson Hope Brown Joice Caldeira Simao Jessie Chen Hope Debelius Rachael Harned Liv King Sara Mathew Si Shen Taylor Stark Cu Ye
PRODUCTION CREW PRODUCTION ASSISTANTS Merrik Giesen Paul Zenas SOUND BOARD OP./SOUND CREW Jasper Bartkovich
DIRECTOR Grant Sorenson (Director) Grant Sorenson is a first year MFA Directing student at Boston University and thrilled to be opening his first BU production, The Hot L Baltimore! Originally from Minneapolis, MN, his directing credits include the world premiere musical The Great Work (Guthrie Theater), the 2nd U.S. production of Vincent River (Crane Theater), Boston Marriage staged immersively at Maison Bodega, and an original adaptation of Miss Julie, developed and performed at Everwood Farmstead. Other recent credits include Little Shop of Horrors (Open Eye Theater); Hamlet, Significant Other, The Winter’s Tale, My Fair Lady, Romeo & Juliet, Crimes of the Heart (Wayzata Theatre); Cabaret, Aida (Theater Latte Da.) His work as an actor has been seen at the Guthrie, Theater Latte Da, The Playwright’s Center, Yellow Tree Theater, New Epic Theater, and more. www.grantsorenson.com
PLAYWRIGHT Lanford Wilson (Playwright) Lanford Wilson is the author of 17 full length and over 30 short plays. As a pioneer in the Off-Off-Broadway movement in New York, Lanford Wilson slowly but surely established himself as a young playwright to watch in the early 1960’s. From 1963 to 1967, his plays were regularly produced at the Caffe Cino and La Mama Experimental Theatre Company. In 1969, he became one of the founders of The Circle Repertory Theatre Company, where he remained until 1995 as Resident Playwright. His plays include: Balm in Gilead, Burn This, The Fifth of July, The Hot L Baltimore, Lemon Sky, The Mound Builders, Talley’s Folly and Redwood Curtain. He has received numerous awards including the Brandeis Creative Arts Award, The Institute of Arts and Letters Award, three Obies, two New York Drama Critic's Circle Awards, the Edith Oliver Award for Sustained Excellence and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Most recently, he was the saluted playwright at the William Inge Theatre Festival in 2001. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild Council and has made his home in Sag Harbor since 1970.
DIRECTOR’S NOTE Welcome to Lanford Wilson’s seminal work, The Hot L Baltimore, and the first production of Boston University School of Theatre’s spring season! A striking, gritty portrayal of urban life in 1970s America, The Hot L Baltimore ruminates on some of life’s greatest questions. In the almost 51 years since the play premiered Off-Broadway, the play has only become more prescient, more relevant, and more human. It’s easy to sum up just about any play as being about humanity; it’s a bit of a “duh” statement. Same goes with “identity.” Characters searching for their true identity run the gamut from ancient Greek drama to plays being written as we sit here. In some ways, all plays are about humanity and our search for identity. And as such, most plays live in the head or the heart; to me, Hot L Baltimore lives in the eyes. This play is about seeing or not seeing, being seen or unseen, observing, watching, perceiving – it’s a play about what we choose to look at, and what we choose to look away from. The characters we meet are mostly people society tends to overlook – poor people, old people, sex workers, vagrants, migrants; Wilson says to his audience, don’t look away. See these people, see their struggle, see their humanity. And over the course of the play, all of the characters make decisions about what they want or don’t want to look at, literally and figuratively. Their willingness (or lack thereof) to see themselves, each other, and their reality defines this play; all of its conflict, humor, tension, irony, and pathos derive from this theme. Wilson’s unflinching yet empathetic handling of these characters and their world allows for nuanced and poignant magic in this play, and gives depth to the humanity and identity so integral to all pieces of theater. It’s easy to let plays about people and times that aren’t our own feel distant, feel out of touch, and often feel unimportant. As we have studied the play and the time period it is set in further, we have found the parallels between 1973 and 2024 to be alarming. In our modern world of constant distractions and disillusionment, it’s easy to look away, to not connect. I hope this production can be a reminder of the importance of community, the danger of false assumptions, and our enduring ability to survive, even in the direst of circumstances.
-Grant Sorenson (Director)
ABOUT BOSTON UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF FINE ARTS SCHOOL OF THEATRE The School of Theatre at Boston University College of Fine Arts offers conservatory-style education for the study of acting, management, design, production, and all aspects of the theatre profession within the setting of a major research university. The School of Theatre seeks to provide students with opportunities for artistic growth through rigorous curriculum, professional connections, and an emphasis on collaboration and new work. Learn more about the current BU School of Theatre production season at bu.edu/cfa/theatre/season. Learn more at bu.edu/cfa/theatre And find us on social media @buarts, @bu_schooloftheatre