A World Premiere Production of
15/16 SEASON Jane Austen’s
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE THE SECRET GARDEN X’S AND O’S AS YOU LIKE IT DETROIT ’67
Jane Austen’s
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE Adapted by Christopher Baker Directed by Hana S. Sharif
Sep 11–Oct 11
The 15/16 Season of Center Stage is dedicated to the memory of
PETER CULMAN Center Stage Managing Director (1966–2000)
For everyone who knew Peter Culman and who worked with him through 33 seasons at Center Stage, there will never be enough accolades to describe all of his many facets and wonderful qualities: a Chinese linguist, a poet, an effective fundraiser, a man of faith, a devoted husband and father, an omnivorous reader, a native New Yorker turned Baltimorean, a world traveler, a professor of homiletics, a mentor, a friend, a true leader, a lifetime learner, and a listener nonpareil. Peter came to Center Stage in 1966, instinctively knowing that artistic achievement requires significant resources; his unswerving devotion to artists and their creative process is legendary. Through 33 seasons, he served side-by-side with five Artistic Directors and marshaled the resources necessary to produce 230 classic and contemporary plays, and to build The Head Theater and our award-winning artist housing. He also successfully completed two endowment and capital campaigns, raising a total of $25 million. During his tenure, the theater’s annual budget increased from $275,000 to $5.4 million. At the time of his retirement in 2000, Center Stage had operated for an unprecedented 22 continuous seasons in the black. His national involvement in theater included two terms as President of the League of Resident Theatres (LORT) as well as service as a board member of Theatre Communications Group (TCG), as treasurer and board member of the American Arts Alliance, and as a member of the National Endowment for the Arts Theater Overview Panel. In 1991, TCG named him the recipient of the Zeisler Award for distinguished service to the nonprofit professional theater. In May 1992, he was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts by the Maryland Institute College of Art. After leaving Center Stage, Peter continued to spread his gospel of institutional stability and art-driven leadership as a consultant. In 2009, TCG awarded him the Theatre Practitioner Award, which recognizes an individual whose work in the American theater has evidenced exemplary achievement over time and who has contributed significantly to the development of the larger field.
“His strength as a manager has made theater a place for artists to dream.” – Peter Zeisler,
Co-founder of the Guthrie Theater, speaking of Peter Culman upon his receipt of the Zeisler Award for distinguished service to nonprofit professional theater in 1991.
CAST
TABLE OF CONTENTS
A World Premiere Production of
JANE AUSTEN’S
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE Adapted by Christopher Baker
THE CAST
Sep 11–Oct 11, 2015
2 Forewords
3 The Setting
4 Adapting Austen
6 Women in Regency England
8
9 Bios: The Cast
12 Bios: The Artistic Team
14 Bios: The Staff
18 Supporter Spotlight
26 Preview: Up Next
27 Audience Services
28 Staff
Meet the Director
(in alphabetical order)
Kate Abbruzzese * Elizabeth Bennet
Julia Brandeberry Mrs. Gardiner
Pride and Prejudice is sponsored by:
Season 2015/16 Sponsor:
Center Stage is also made possible by: Center Stage is funded by an operating grant from the Maryland State Arts Council, an agency dedicated to cultivating a vibrant cultural community where the arts thrive.
Lead Student Matinee Sponsor:
Media Sponsors:
Chris Bolan* Mr. Collins
Maya Brettell Mary Bennet
Ali Rose Dachis* Lydia Bennet
Victoria Frings* Miss Caroline Bingley
Asher Grodman* Mr. Wickham Patricia Hodges*
Lady Catherine de Bourgh
Travis Hudson 1st Soldier
Greg Joubert 2nd Soldier
Carolyn Kashner Young Woman #1
Sarah Rose Kearns Young Woman #2 Ed Klein 3rd Soldier
Hillary Mazer Mrs. Reynolds
Kelly McCrann* Charlotte Lucas
Mary Jo Mecca* Mrs. Bennet
Erin Neufer* Jane Bennet
Anthony Newfield* Mr. Bennet
Josh Salt* Mr. Bingley
David Sedgwick* Mr. Gardiner A.J. Shively* Mr. Darcy
Amber Dickerson* Stage Manager Lindsay Eberly* Assistant Stage Manager Victoria Solorio Stage Management Intern *Member of Actors’ Equity Association
THE ARTISTIC TEAM
Christopher Baker Hana S. Sharif Scott Bradley Ilona Somogyi Colin D. Young Broken Chord Alex Koch Paloma McGregor Faedra Chatard Carpenter Lynn Watson Maya Brettell Pat McCorkle Brandon Rashad Butts
Adaptor Director Scenic Designer Costume Designer Lighting Designer Original Music & Sound Design Projections Designer Choreographer Production Dramaturg Dialects Dance Captain Casting Director Assistant to the Director
This stage adaptation of Pride and Prejudice was originally commissioned by Hartford Stage. Michael Wilson, Artistic Director; Michael Stotts, Managing Director. Support also comes from The Nathan and Suzanne Cohen Foundation for Commissioning and Developing New Plays.
There will be a 15-minute intermission. PLEASE TURN OFF ALL ELECTRONIC DEVICES. IN CASE OF EMERGENCY 410.986.4080 (during performances).
Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice | 1
An Introduction to the World of the Play Why do a production of Pride and Prejudice today? Why do people care? Why do I? As much as the story seems historical, it is not. It is a fictional world created by Jane Austen out of the stuff that she cared about and that made her laugh. For us, the story is a prism, reflecting not only Austen’s society, but our 21st-century selves as well, and all those things we care about or laugh at. Like Shakespeare, her works are Great Works not in spite of each generation’s different interpretations, re-workings and appropriations, but because of them. The central character, Elizabeth Bennet, is surrounded by men who are richer, more educated, and have more opportunities. She, however, is always the smartest and funniest person in the room. We are drawn to her in the same way that Darcy is. She is drawn to him because she thinks he just might be her equal; not in class or wealth, but in all the things an intelligent and independent person prizes in herself and others. She is also strong. Though she is prevented from earning a living and is obliged to marry or else risk impoverishment, she imprudently fights for love and independence. The other women in the story are also strong, each in her own way. Though often seen as foolish, Mrs. Bennet’s unrelenting pursuit of sons-in-law drives the plot, and more than any other character she takes her daughters’ financial futures seriously. The unmarried Austen could earn some money anonymously writing novels, but what about those whose talents lie elsewhere? The threat of hardship was real. Mrs. Bennet may seem foolish, but she is right. It would be silly to equate the social constraints of Elizabeth Bennet’s real-life counterparts with those of a woman in the 21st Century. Yet glass ceilings, pay gaps, sexist work environments, conflicting social expectations, and sexual double standards are today’s reality. What happens when the woman negotiating all of these is the smartest, funniest, and strongest one in the room? What contradictions will we grapple with when the leader of the most powerful country is a woman? Can I tell my teenage daughter that she has the same opportunities, respect, physical safety, and potential income as her male schoolmates? In 2015, why not? Pride and Prejudice contains all that Jane Austen knew, and this adaptation necessarily contains my own tastes, intellectual concerns, experiences as a father of a smart and funny daughter, love of sentimental films, and obsessions. I hope audiences will find some of their own experiences and obsessions in it as well. —Christopher Baker, Adaptor
2
The stakes are high for women in 1797 England. Unable to own property, they are completely dependent on their fathers, until they become completely dependent on their husbands. As the mother of four unmarried daughters, Mrs. Bennet is worried. If anything should happen to Mr. Bennet, all five of them would be destitute. As luck would have it, a bachelor is visiting Netherfield Hall just a short distance from their home. So Mrs. Bennet makes certain that this newcomer, Mr. Bingley—along with his sister and his friend Mr. Darcy—are introduced to the Bennet daughters: her eldest, very beautiful daughter Jane; her second, very smart daughter Elizabeth; and her third daughter, the flirtatious Lydia (along with her youngest daughter, Mary). For young women entering society, assemblies and balls were especially important occasions that could quite literally determine the course of their lives. These gatherings were among few opportunities for women to meet husbands and secure their futures. Thus, if the Bennet daughters remain unmarried, upon their father’s death their home and property pass to their distant cousin, Mr. Collins, and they could very likely be left homeless.
S ET T IN G
TIME AND PLACE
The play begins in about 1797 at Longbourn, the Bennet’s home in Hertfordshire, England. The French Revolution is still scourging while stirrings of the Industrial Revolution are beginning to transform the lives of England’s landed classes. This is not Victorian England—the stereotypes of repression and stuffiness do not apply here. There are many formalities, but the social conventions vary depending on how old-fashioned the people are and how formal the setting. In terms of settings, the action of the play moves through time and place as fluidly as the dancing presented on stage. Although the play begins in the humble Bennet household, it transports us to a number of different estates, public assemblies, and private balls throughout England’s countryside.
Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice | 3
THE ENDLESSLY ADAPTABLE
Pride and Prejudice by Juliette Wells, Associate Professor and Chair of English, Goucher College
I
n addition to the play you’re seeing today, versions of Pride and Prejudice have appeared in every possible medium, from film and television to comic books to a YouTube series. What makes this novel, first published in 1813, so endlessly adaptable? A major reason, certainly, is Jane Austen’s compelling characters. Austen creates characters who think and act in psychologically plausible ways. She has a special gift for sharply observed portraits of women, which continue to appeal to audiences. While Elizabeth Bennet’s outspokenness would have seemed somewhat shocking to Austen’s contemporaries, we welcome her confidence and self-determination.
4
Also crucial to Austen’s adaptability are two qualities that authors rarely balance as well as she does: humor and morality. Combining to form satire, these central elements of Austen’s fictional world speak to audiences across the centuries, even if the specific manners and social conventions she depicts seem distant. Finally, the essential plot of Pride and Prejudice can be transferred successfully into almost any realm. Austen wasn’t the first to create a witty couple whose strong dislike gradually gives way to love: see, for example, Beatrice and Benedick of Much Ado about Nothing. But Austen’s particular take on the sparring pair has been influential on everything from 1940s screwball comedies to today’s romance novels and romcom flicks. Interpretations of Pride and Prejudice by other creators began with the first illustrated edition, published in London by Richard Bentley
in 1833. By the turn of the 20th Century, fully illustrated editions were much in demand and, thanks to changes in printing technology, could be affordably priced. The beautiful “Peacock Edition” illustrated by Hugh Thomson has become an especially sought-after collectible. The first feature-length film based on an Austen novel, MGM’s Pride and Prejudice, established Laurence Olivier as Darcy and Greer Garson as Elizabeth in the popular imagination. This film adaptation grew out of Helen Jerome’s acclaimed stage play Pride and Prejudice, performed in New York and London in 1935–1936, which later inspired a 1959 Broadway musical titled First Impressions. A sharp script by the English novelist Fay Weldon enriched a 1980 television miniseries released by the BBC. But the 1940 MGM film unquestionably retained its cultural dominance until, in 1995, Colin Firth took up the role of Darcy and, indelibly, dived into a pond at Pemberley. An international sensation, not least because of this infamous “wet shirt” scene, the 1995 BBC miniseries launched a wave of Austenmania that has yet to abate. In the bestselling novel Bridget Jones’s Diary (1996), itself later adapted into a popular film, Helen Fielding affectionately mocked Firth fans while suggesting, more seriously, that the restrictions on women in Austen’s world haven’t fully gone away. Fan fiction writers around the world responded enthusiastically to Firth’s Darcy—and, to a lesser extent, to Jennifer Ehle’s portrayal of Elizabeth—producing countless sequels and alternative versions.
Firth and Ehle’s influence was still going strong ten years later when Focus Features released a very different Pride & Prejudice feature film, one with roots more in 1980s teen comedies than in so-called “heritage” adaptations. Keira Knightley’s spirited Elizabeth in the 2005 film appealed especially to younger viewers, while Matthew Macfadyen’s portrayal of an awkward, deeply introverted Darcy resonated with those for whom the autistism spectrum and Asperger’s had become familiar concepts. Altogether, the decade of the 2000s demonstrated, often thrillingly, just how far you could go with Pride and Prejudice. Director Gurinder Chadha updated the story in a global context with her 2004 Bollywood-influenced film Bride & Prejudice, reinventing Darcy as an arrogant American hotel magnate and Elizabeth as Lalita Bakshi of Amritsar, India. What happens when a passionate Austen fan magically enters the world of Pride and Prejudice was the premise of Lost in Austen (2008), a smart and gleefully metafictional miniseries in which familiar characters don’t behave at all how you’d expect. An invented connection between Pride and Prejudice and Austen’s own love life anchored the 2007 biopic Becoming Jane, starring Anne Hathaway. And, of course, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2009) became an unlikely bestseller by, yes, just adding zombies to Austen’s world. To the joy of those who share an omnivorous love of Austen, creative takes on Pride and Prejudice for different audiences continue to
proliferate. For the social media generation: the Emmy Award-winning YouTube series
The Lizzie Bennet Diaries (2012–2013). For devotees of P. D. James’s magnificent
detective fiction: Death Comes to Pemberley, that author’s late-life homage to Austen
(2011; TV miniseries version, 2013). For lovers of literary fiction: Jo Baker’s Longbourn
(2013), a wholly new approach through the
point of view of the servants whom Austen barely mentioned.
Keep your eyes peeled for more. Longbourn
is en route to becoming a film, as is
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Yet to
be released is Eligible, a novel by Curtis
Sittenfeld (author of Prep and American
Wife). And Nora Ephron, before she died,
adapted Lost in Austen into a feature film. Cynics may remark that there’s no end to
the ways people will try to make money off
of Jane Austen—and, indeed, there probably isn’t. Her work is in the public domain, and her name is a very recognizable brand.
And it’s certainly true that adaptations
beget more adaptations, in Hollywood as
in the culture at large. But many people today who love Austen’s novels came
to them first through an adaptation, or
credit an adaptation with renewing their
appreciation for her writing. How could you better honor an author than by inspiring
a reader? Bring on every new adaptation, I
say! Let’s be spoiled for choice. And then I hope you’ll join me in going home and
opening up Pride and Prejudice.
Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice | 5
Of Patriarchal Pride and Gendered Prejudice:
A Woman’s Place in Regency England by Faedra Chatard Carpenter, Production Dramaturg; Associate Professor, The University of Maryland, College Park
The original title page of Jane Austen’s 1811 debut novel, Sense and Sensibility, makes no mention of the author’s name, noting only that it was written “By a Lady.” Likewise, Pride and Prejudice merely credited authorship to “the Author of Sense and Sensibility.” Though critical commendations paved the way for further publications, the truth of Austen’s authorship remained veiled until her brother posthumously published her final two books. Only then, in 1817, was Jane Austen fully revealed as the acclaimed writer of her six notable novels.
6
So, why did Austen choose to remain
Prior to marriage, a young lady was
anonymous, especially in light of her works’
dependent upon her father (or the male
and friends actively supported her literary
a woman’s husband was granted control
as 1797, her father contacted a London
marrying, any property or wealth
positive reception? Certainly, her family
head of household), and after marriage
talents and efforts to publish. As early
of her life and legal agency. Thus, upon
publisher, asking him to consider one of
possessed—or gained thereafter—became
Austen’s initial efforts, First Impressions. And
the property of her husband. Even the
while his letter of inquiry was sent back
custodial rights of a couple’s children were
with the terse response, “Declined by Return
granted to the father. While this alone
manuscript until its successful publication
money or property, the legal procedure of
of Post,” Austen continued to revise the
encumbered a woman’s ability to inherit
16 years later—as Pride and Prejudice.
entailment further crippled her potential for
fiscal freedom.
Despite consistent familial encouragement,
Austen elected to keep her authorial
identity relatively secret. We can safely
assume that being of “the fairer sex” was
likely a major factor. After all, Austen wrote
at a time in which gendered inequalities
were fundamental to the social, economic,
and political fabric; Regency England placed high expectations and severe
limitations on gentlewomen and their
lives. Identifying oneself as an author was
almost inconceivable for a respectable unmarried woman.
Common at the time (and familiar to (i.e., needlework, dancing, and music);
primary academic skills (such as spelling,
basic arithmetic, and geography); as well as lessons in proper etiquette, social conduct,
and moral behavior.
Once primed and readied, young ladies
and balls) served as the major conduits
Woman. Despite such refutations, fields
also gave conscientious parents the chance
routinely considered beyond a woman’s
inclinations could lead to beneficial financial
subjects such as philosophy, Greek, or Latin.
matrimony was on the rise, at the turn of
women for what was then deemed to be
was still very much a business venture.
Moreover, serious study failed to prepare their highest calling: to serve men and
society as wives, mothers, and hostesses. In order to fulfill these vocations effectively, women were limited to a special type of
elder brother), a woman could be lucky
to make sure that their children’s amorous
relative or family friend. Or a single woman
transactions. While romance-inspired
secure a position as a governess, teacher,
the 19th Century the institution of marriage
For women, marriage was vital. With few
alternatives, a profitable union was usually the only way a woman could guarantee
her livelihood. Restricted pathways to
allowed to learn and do in the work force.
governesses, or boarding schools. Their
women could own and control even when
curriculum generally focused on artistic
highly effective means of hindering female
autonomy.
opportunity to meet and socialize, but they
could learn what they needed to master
skills known as “accomplishments”
and property among the landed gentry and
And if one did not marry? Like Austen (who
economic security were due, in part, to
through the tutelage of their mothers,
on the whole entailing proved to be a
window shop for potential spouses. These
education. There were no public schools or
universities open to them, but young ladies
and loopholes exploited within this practice,
the elite classes—just as it proved to be a
Mary Wollstonecraft vigorously countered
grasp, along with poetic—yet rigorous—
when “close” meant relatively distant).
While there were some exceptions made
gatherings at formal dances (assemblies
the so-called “marriage market,” social
dances not only granted young people the
such as mathematics and science were
inherited by the closest male heir (even
successful way to preserve familial wealth
for eligible young men and women to
in her 1792 Vindication of the Rights of
mandated that estates and property were
were presented to society. For those on
In general, women were believed to be
intellectually inferior to men, an idea that
viewers of Downton Abbey), entailments
the limits placed upon what women were
However, limits were also placed on what
it came to their immediate homes, families,
or possessions.
benefited from the patronage of a wealthy
enough to be supported by a generous
trained in accomplishments could try to
or “lady’s companion”—if she could find the work. However, for women without family ties, kindly patronage, or any learned skill, the situation was much more dire—with
abject poverty or prostitution lurking as fateful ends.
Accordingly, the stakes for young women in the world of Jane Austen were very
real and very high. The risks and rewards that arise from something as seemingly
innocuous as “a country dance” are
palpable and pressing, serving as stark reminders of a society well versed in
patriarchal pride and gendered prejudice. Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice | 7
M EET
THE AUTHOR AND THE DIRECTOR
Jane Austen was born in 1775, the second youngest of eight children in a cultured family in the south of England. Her clergyman father, unusually for the time, encouraged her to read widely, and she gave herself a thorough literary education. Although Austen began composing fiction while in her early teens, her ambition to publish was realized only with the release of Sense and Sensibility in 1811. She was delighted by the appreciative reviews and respectable sales of this novel and of its successor, Pride and Prejudice (1813). Astonishingly productive before her untimely death in July 1817, she completed Mansfield Park (1814), Emma (1815), and two additional novels, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion. The posthumous publication of these final titles in December 1817 included the first public identification of Austen as the author of her works. Courtship—that is, how women negotiate their futures given stringent social constraints on their behavior and opportunities—is the central subject of Austen’s psychologically astute, realistic novels. Unconventionally, she herself chose not to marry. Austen’s fame built gradually through the 19th Century and was confirmed in the 20th. She is the rare author who enjoys both the highest esteem of literary scholars and the love of devoted readers. —Juliette Wells 8
Hana S. Sharif, Director and Center Stage Associate Artistic Director, discusses the Pride and Prejudice set at the first rehearsal.
On Hana S. Sharif’s first day at Center Stage in August 2014, she didn’t even have a chance to set up her email before she was pulled into a meeting about then-to-beannounced show Marley, the world premiere Bob Marley musical that would become the most successful show in Center Stage’s history. “It was an incredible experience, and is certainly one of the highlights of my career,” Sharif said. “It was a crazy first year.” What could follow up this epic first season? Directing the opening show of her second season with a new adaptation of a beloved classic. “I’m incredibly moved by the opportunity to open the season. I love Pride and Prejudice and I love this adaptation,” she said. “I’m really proud this show is my debut as a director in this city.” Sharif’s mainstage directorial debut at Hartford Stage, where she honed her professional theater skills from 2003 to 2012, Gee’s Bend, won the 2009 Connecticut Critics Circle Best Ensemble Award and a Best Director nomination. “The interdependent nature of what we do in ensemble work is spiritually liberating and gratifying to me,” Sharif said. The 37-year-old wife, mother, and Spelman College graduate grew up in Texas with three brothers, a sister, and former Black Nationalist parents who valued education, intellectual rigor, spiritual curiosity, and service to humanity. “I don’t remember a time when I wasn’t deconstructing who I am in the world,” Sharif said. “I was encouraged to challenge what it meant to be Black, Muslim, and woman in this society.” “My father taught me to understand I was just as smart and talented as my brothers. Being pretty and cute was fine, but I didn’t get rewarded for that. I was rewarded for ideas and asking questions.” With Pride and Prejudice Sharif is delving into the options—or lack thereof—of Jane Austen’s female characters in the Regency era. “I believe everything in life is a choice, and I hope that all of us who experience Pride and Prejudice in 2015 appreciate that we get to redefine our choices, that we can choose and choose again, and that was not always the case. Pride and Prejudice is an incredible piece of literature that highlights the stakes of every decision made in a society that doesn’t offer you the rights and the freedom to choose independence.”
BIOS THE CAST
Left to Right: First rehearsal with cast members Josh Salt and Victoria Frings; A.J. Shively and Anthony Newfield.
(Ventidius); The Taming Of The Shrew (Curtis); (Bielke); Signature Theatre: Beaches (Teen Firehall: Romeo and Juliet (Tybalt). Film/ Bertie); Olney Theatre Center: Carousel TV—Ice: Beyond Cool (CBC); Winter Kill (CBC); (Louise); Woolly Mammoth Theatre: Stage: debut. Off Broadway— The Unprofessionals (Comedy Network); Appropriate (Cassie); Studio Theatre: The Big Scotty (Ann Weis); My Favorite Beyond Human Limits (Discovery); Naked Meal (Girl); Synetic Theatre: Macbeth Character Was the Talking Frailties (Showcase). Chris is currently in (MacDuff’s daughter); Toby’s: Annie (Annie); Vase (Carl Linnaeus). production directing his first documentary Lean & Hungry: Alice In Wonderland (Alice); Regional—Chautauqua Theatre Company: feature film, with Beech Hill Films and is a Compass Rose Theater: Eleemosynary (Echo); The Tempest (Miranda), Dairyland (Allie); Jerome Foundation recipient. Education— ATMTC: Good Night Moon (Mouse, Dish); Shakespeare & Co: Julius Caesar (Portia, MFA, NYU. Love to Megan and Jackson. Little House Christmas (Mary); Big, the Casca), Hamlet (title role), Parasite Drag Musical. Film—Museum of Tolerance: Anne (Susie); Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival: Julia Brandeberry—Mrs. (Anne Frank). Training—NASL, Pace The Winter’s Tale (Perdita); Florida Studio Gardiner. Center Stage: University Summer Scholars/Musical Theatre Theatre: Sylvia (title role); Tennessee debut. Regional—Everyman Major. Upcoming—Woolly Mammoth: The Shakespeare Festival: Othello (Desdemona). Theatre: Blithe Spirit (Edith), Nether (Iris). mayabrettell.com. Education—BA in drama and psychology The Beaux Stratagem (The from Vassar College, MFA in NYU Graduate Country Girl/The Fat Lady), Ali Rose Dachis—Lydia Acting (Class of 2015). Awards—Recipient of Our Town (Mrs. Soames); Shakespeare Bennet. Center Stage: debut. the Molly Thatcher Kazan Memorial Award Theatre Company: Henry IV Part 1 and 2 (Lady Broadway—Fish in the Dark and the Olympia Dukakis Scholarship. Northumberland/Ensemble); Taffety Punk: (Natalie/Jessica). OffPericles (Dionyza), Romeo and Juliet (Paris); Broadway—The Awesome Chris Bolan*—Mr. Collins. Profile Theatre: A Lesson From Aloes (Gladys); 80s Prom (Missy); New Center Stage: debut. Source Theatre: Extremes (Celeste); Here York—Slant Theater: The Classroom (Daria); Broadway/Nat’l Tour— Theatre: Stars of the Sweet Decline (Starla); Sanguine Theatre: Exit 27 (The Outsider). Mamma Mia! (Sky). NYC Stark Raving Theatre: Pizza Man (Julie); Regional—The Guthrie: The Edge of our Theater—The Public Lab: The Theatre Vertigo: Lion in The Streets Bodies (Bernadette), Circle Mirror Tempest (Prospero); New (Christine/Sherry); Impulsive Theatre: Much Transformation (Lauren), Vanya and Sonia World Stages: Oh Hell No! (Soloist); The Ado About Nothing (Ursula). International— and Masha and Spike (Nina), A Christmas Skirball Center: Shakespeare in Progress: Carol (Deidre/ Sally), A Midsummer Night’s Queen Margaret (Henry VI); The Lark: Oneida International Theatre Vienna: Children of Lesser God (Sarah). Film/TV—Leverage (TNT); Dream (Hermia u/s); Cincinnati Playhouse: (Frank); Metropolitan Playhouse: A Room in Unsolved Mysteries (Fox TV); Anoosh of the Leveling Up (Originated the role of Jeannie); the Middle (Daniel Shays); The PIT: Jester’s Airways (Front Pocket Films). Southwest Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet Dead (Slider/Cougar); The Shubert: Dear (Juliet); Arizona Theatre Co.: Vanya and Sonia Penthouse (Tom). Regional Theater— Maya Brettell—Mary and Masha and Spike (Nina). Film/TV—Fatal Engeman Theater: Other Desert Cities (Trip Bennet. Center Stage: debut. Encounters (Discovery Channel). Training— Wyeth); St. Louis Rep: Macbeth (Lennox); Regional—New York Musical University of Minnesota/Guthrie Actor Mountain Playhouse: Joseph...Dreamcoat Theatre Festival (NYMF): Training Program. Ali is a proud member of (Joseph); Carousel Theater: My Game (Jeff); Coming of Age (Girl); Arena Artists Striving to End Poverty. For Ken. Bard on the Beach: Antony & Cleopatra Stage: Fiddler on the Roof
Kate Abbruzzese*— Elizabeth Bennet. Center
Pride and Prejudice | 9
BIOS THE CAST
Victoria Frings*—Caroline Bingley. Center Stage: debut.
Broadway—An Enemy of the People. Off-Broadway—Tales from Red Vienna (Manhattan Theatre Club). Select Regional—The Kennedy Center, Wilma Theater, Arden Theatre, People’s Light and Theatre. Film/New Media—Sleeping with Other People, Lucy 4:57 PM, After Ever After The Web Series. Frings is the proud founder of To-By-For Productions, which just spear-headed the world premiere of Stitches at TheaterLab in NYC. This fall she will also direct her screenwriting debut short, An Out. Education—Frings is an alumni of the Public Theater’s Shakespeare Lab, ACT’s Summer Training Congress and the University of Pennsylvania. victoriafrings.com.
Asher Grodman*—Mr. Wickham. Center Stage:
debut. Off-Broadway—Daryl Roth 2 Theater/Theater for a New City: Art***kers; NYC Fringe: The Disappearance of Jonah. Regional—American Conservatory Theater: A Christmas Carol, Napoli; Santa Rosa Rep Theater: Stones in His Pockets, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Shrek the Musical. Film/ TV—Law and Order (NBC); As the World Turns (CBS); Handsome Harry (Worldview Entertainment); Mo (Dendron Motion Pictures); BuzzKill (Indican Pictures). Asher Grodman is the writer/director/producer of The Train, starring Academy Award Winner Eli Wallach. The Train is playing in film festivals this year: trainshortfilm.com, @ trainshortfilm. Education—Asher holds a BA in Film and English from Columbia University in New York and an MFA in Acting from The American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. Thank you to my wonderful family, friends, agents and manager for your support. ashergrodman.com, @ashergrodman.
NYSF/Public: The Normal Heart (Emma). Nat’l Tour—Carousel (Mrs. Mullins). Regional—Guthrie/ACT: The Night of the Iguana (Maxine); Dallas: The Seagull (Arkadina); Indiana Rep: The Cherry Orchard, Much Ado About Nothing, The House That Jack Built; Alliance: Betrayal, Mrs. Warren’s Profession; Syracuse Stage: Blithe Spirit (Madame Arcati). Film/TV—Odd Mom Out, Royal Pains, Law & Order, Another World.
Travis Hudson—1st Soldier.
Sarah Rose Kearns—Young Woman #2. Center Stage:
debut. Off-Broadway (readings)—Gingold Theatrical Group: Widowers’ Houses; The Pearl: Bread and Butter. Other New York—Chez Bushwick: Lady from the Sea; Hunter College: Picnic. Regional—The Long Wharf: Our Town. Education—Rose is a recent graduate of the creative writing program at Columbia University. She has studied acting with Austin Pendleton, Dan Daily, Ragnar Freidank and others. sarahrosekearns.com.
Center Stage: debut. Regional—Chesapeake Shakespeare: The Importance of Being Earnest (Jack), A Ed Klein—3rd Soldier. Midsummer Night’s Dream Center Stage: debut. Ed’s (Lysander), Romeo & Juliet (Balthasar), A credits include, Compass Christmas Carol (Topper); Rep Stage: The Rose: Look Homeward Angel Goat or, Who is Sylvia? (Billy), The (Will Pentland); Capital Fringe Butterfingers Angel… (Angel); Baltimore Festival: Tent of Dreams Theatre Project: Fortune’s Child (Brian). Film/ (Homeless guy); Jewish Theatre Workshop: TV—The Night Watchmen (Contender Films); Last Night of Ballyhoo (Adolph) Ambassador Ping Pong Summer (Compass Theatre: The Trap (Dr. Friedenthal). Thanks to Entertainment). Education—BFA Acting, The Karen for all of your support. University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
Greg Joubert—2nd Soldier.
Center Stage: debut. Regional—Orlando Shakespeare: Titus Andronicus (Chiron), Sense and Sensibility (John Dashwood), Othello (Ensemble, Iago Understudy); Virginia Rep: Legacy of Light (St. Lambert Understudy). Thanks to Megan and my mother, Sara, for their support!
Carolyn Kashner—Young Woman #1. Center Stage:
Hillary Mazer—Mrs. Reynolds. Center Stage:
Amadeus (Salieri’s Cook/ Ensemble), An Enemy of the People (Ensemble). Regional— Spotlighters Theatre: On Golden Pond (Ethel), The Hot l Baltimore (Millie), London Suite (Mrs. Semple); Bowie Players: The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife (Frieda—WATCH nominated for best supporting Comedic Actress); Laurel Mill Playhouse: I Never Sang for My Father (Alice). Film/TV—House of Cards (Netflix, season 4); Ghosting (Third Child Productions); The Rosens (Steve Yeager Productions); Diary of an Ex-Child Star (First Star Media Productions). Education—BA Dramatic Art, University of Maryland, College Park. Many thanks to all my family and friends for their continued belief and support. Feeling like the poster child for “never giving up on your dreams…please, always follow your dreams… never, ever give up! xoxo
debut. NYC Fringe—Exiles from the Sun (Jill); The Fall of the House of Usher (Annabel Lee). Regional—Olney Theatre Center: Witness for the Prosecution (Greta/ Stenographer); Signature Theatre: Kid Victory (Mom/Gail/Emily u/s); The Hub Theatre: Failure: A Love Story (Gerty, 2015 Helen Hayes Nomination), Leto Legend (Nike/Hera); Theatre Alliance: The Wonderful World of Dissocia (Britney); The Keegan Theatre: Patricia Hodges*—Lady Kelly McCrann*— National Pastime (Carla), Man of La Mancha Catherine de Bourgh. Charlotte. Center Stage: Center Stage: The Lover, Three (Antonia); 1st Stage: The Last 5 Years (Cathy); After the Revolution (Jess). Off Tall Women. Broadway—Born Scena Theatre: The Plague (Radio Newscaster), Broadway—Classic Stage The Balcony (The Slave). Education—Carolyn Yesterday; A Man for All Company: Twelfth Night (dir. Seasons; Dancing at Lughnasa; is a graduate of the University of Mary Tony Speciale), Much Ado Washington’s Department of Theatre and Six Degrees of Separation. Off-Broadway— About Nothing (Open Rehearsal w/ Mandy Dance and Studio Theatre’s Professional MTC: Rose’s Dilemma (Rose); Variety: Patinkin, Laila Robins, Brian Kulick); New York Acting Conservatory. Communicating Doors (Ruella); John Classical Theater: The Rover (dir. Karin Houseman Theatre: On the Verge (Fanny); Coonrod). Regional—P.S. 122: The Blind Date
10
Project (dir. Scott Rodgers); Dixon Place: Look Back In (dir. Kathryn Hamilton); East 13th Street Rep: Henry VI Part III (dir. Adam Marple); HomeStretch; Woodstock Arts Festival (Actor/Co-Creator); Columbia Stages: Phoenician Women (dir. Karin Coonrod). Film/TV—Louie (opposite Louis C.K.); St. James Place (Steven Spielberg); The Deal (James Berry). Education—Columbia, Shubert Scholarship; UNC Chapel Hill; Andy Griffith Scholarship. Special thanks and love to my Home Team!
Ivanov with Ethan Hawke and Joely Richardson (Classic Stage Company), The Explorers Club (Manhattan Theatre Club), Susan and God (Mint). Regional—An Enemy of the People, To Kill a Mockingbird, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Arcadia, The Play About the Baby, Bent (Carbonell Award), Orson’s Shadow, Antony and Cleopatra, A Woman of No Importance, The Father, Gross Indecency, Charley’s Aunt. Theaters: Manhattan Theatre Club, Roundabout, Yale Rep, Shakespeare Theatre Company (D.C.), Alliance, Huntington, Coconut Grove, others. Mary Jo Mecca*—Mrs. International—Ireland: The Normal Heart Bennet. Center Stage: debut. (The Machine/Project Art Centre), Tom and New York—Active Theatre: Viv (Rough Magic), Peer Gynt (Gate); Russia: Body Language, Bridgeboy; The Grapes of Wrath (Moscow Art Studio Tess (NYMF); Jonathan Theatre). TV/Film—includes I Melt with You, Larson’s Blocks (Westbeth). Diminished Chords, Miss Bertram’s Regional—Portland Stage: Brighton Beach Awakening, All My Children, One Life to Live, Memoirs; Geva Theatre: Superior Donuts; Diagnosis Murder. Other—Solo: Beowulf, Westport Playhouse: A Christmas Carol; Steinbeck and the Land. Poetry for Peace: Seven Angels: Last of the Red Hot Lovers; Gilgamesh, The Iliad. Education—Carnegie Guthrie Theatre: Little House on the Prairie; Mellon, MFA. Goodspeed: Amour; Alley Theatre: Jekyll & Hyde; Alabama Shakespeare: Man of La Josh Salt*—Mr. Bingley. Mancha; Syracuse Stage: White Christmas; Center Stage: debut. Connecticut Rep: Into the Woods; Music Broadway—The Cripple of Circus: Mary Poppins, My Fair Lady, Big River; Inishmaan (U/S to Daniel Casa Manana: Sweeney Todd; UMT: Funny Radcliffe. U/S Billy/Bartley). Girl. LA—Interact Theatre: Death of a Regional—Northlight: 4000 Salesman, Sganarelle, The Jealous Husband, Miles (Leo); Writers: Yellow Moon (Stag Lee); As Bees in Honey Drown; Odyssey Theatre: Goodman: Teddy Ferrara (Tim); Steep: Stand-up Shakespeare; Pasadena Playhouse: Making Noise Quietly (Eric); Redtwist: The Jerry Herman’s Showtune. Film/TV—Holes, Cripple of Inishmaan (Billy); Griffin: Spring Law & Order, L&O: Trial by Jury, Frasier, Awakening (Melchior). Film/TV—Person of Guiding Light, Oh Baby. Recordings—Easter Interest (CBS); Chicago Fire (NBC/Universal). Mysteries, Mr. Confidential. Education—Holds a BA in Theatre from Columbia College Chicago. Co-Founder of Erin Neufer*—Jane Bennet. Stag Entertainment Company Center Stage: debut. stagentertainment.co. He is represented by Regional—The Guthrie: Pulse, Gray Talent Group. Thanks to Mom and Dad, Peteborough Players: The Grandma and Grandpa, Emily, Georgia, Seagull, Laughing Stock (NH Teddy, Charlie, and every single one of my Theatre Award, Best incredible friends. Supporting Actress); Pioneer Theatre: The Diary of Anne Frank; Indiana Repertory: The David Sedgwick*—Mr. Diary of Anne Frank; NYU: Plenty, The Three Gardiner. Center Stage: Sisters, Describe the Night (Rajiv Joseph world debut. Off-Broadway— Pearl premier), Mrs. Warrens Profession, Landscape Theatre: Hamlet (Voltemand; of the Body. Awards—2007 Irene Ryan u/s Claudius). Other New Award Winner, Laura Pels Scholarship Award York—Seeing Place: Three Winner. Education—MFA: NYU Grad Acting. Sisters (Vershinin), Twelfth Night (Orsino); Retro Productions: Dear Ruth (Harry Wilkins); Anthony Newfield*—Mr. Gallery Players: What the Butler Saw (Dr. Bennet. Center Stage: debut. Prentice); New York Classical Theatre: Broadway—The Winslow Boy, Misalliance (Percival). International— New The Columnist, The Royal National Theatre, Tokyo: Macbeth (Macduff); Family, Waiting for Godot, Tokyo International Players: Arcadia (Bernard), Tartuffe. Off-Broadway—
A Doll’s House (Torvald). Regional— Shakespeare & Company: The Beauty Queen of Leenane (Pato Dooley); Luna Stage: A Moon for the Misbegotten (Jim Tyrone); Shadow Lawn Stage: Shining City (Ian); 12 Miles West: Darkness to Light (originated lead role of Beethoven); Stageworks/Hudson: A Wedding Story (Robin). Film/TV—The Knick (Cinemax); Orange is the New Black (Netflix); The Blacklist (NBC); One Life to Live, All My Children (ABC); As the World Turns (CBS). The Way of Justice; Gertrude Stein’s ‘Brewsie and Willie’. BFA, Theatre Nepean, Sydney. All my love to Jennifer and Astrid. davidsedgwick.com.
A.J. Shively*—Mr. Darcy.
Center Stage: A Civil War Christmas. Broadway—La Cage Aux Folles; Brigadoon (Benefit concert). OffBroadway/New York— February House (The Public Theater); Little Airplanes Of The Heart (Ensemble Studio Theatre); A Contemporary American’s Guide to a Successful Marriage (Cherry Lane); Unlock’d (Prospect Theater Co.); ReWrite (Urban Stages). National Tour—The Sound of Music. Regional—Bright Star (The Old Globe); First Date (Houston TUTS); February House (Long Wharf Theatre); Marry Me A Little (TheatreWorks Silicon Valley); The Nutcracker and I (George Street Playhouse); The Importance Of Being Earnest (Gulfshore Playhouse); Merrily We Roll Along (Sharon Playhouse); Junk (Reading, NY Stage and Film); Fortress of Solitude (Workshop, Center Theatre Group). Film/TV—HairBrained; Syrup; Nobody Walks In LA (upcoming); No One Asked Me (upcoming); The Daily Show w/ Jon Stewart. Education—The University of Michigan; The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. *Member of Actors’ Equity Association
Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice | 11
BIOS
THE ARTISTIC TEAM
Left to Right: First rehearsal with Scenic Designer Scott Bradley; Costume Designer Ilona Somogyi.
Christopher Baker—Adaptor. Center
Stage: debut. Plays include Calliope Jam and Lincoln: An American Vaudeville (upcoming). He has been a dramaturg on over 80 productions, including The Milk Train Doesn’t Stop Here Anymore and The Orphans’ Home Cycle Off-Broadway and productions at Hartford Stage, The Shakespeare Theatre, PlayMakers and the Alley Theatre. For 14 years at Hartford Stage he served in various capacities, including Associate Artistic Director and Associate Producer. He has directed productions at the Alley Theater, PlayMakers, and Hartford Opera Theater. Currently an Assistant Professor at the University of Massachusetts, he has also taught at the University of North Carolina, the Hartt School, and the Moscow Art Theatre School. Author of the books Shakespeare in an Hour and Molière in an Hour, he is also a contributor to The Production Notebooks, African American Connecticut Explored and The Lively ART. Education—Northwestern University, A.R.T Institute for Advanced Theatre Training at Harvard/Moscow Art Theatre School.
Hana S. Sharif—Director. (see page 14) Scott Bradley—Scenic Designer. Center
Stage: The Rainmaker, Picnic. Broadway— premieres of August Wilson’s Seven Guitars (Tony Nom. and Drama Desk Award for best set design), Joe Turner’s Come and Gone (Drama Desk Award for best Set Design). Recent openings—Seattle Rep: A View from the Bridge; Cleveland Playhouse: The Crucible; Long Wharf Theater: Brownsville Song; Oregon Shakespeare Festival: 12
Much Ado About Nothing; Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park: Chapatti. Currently designing—Alan Ackbourne’s new play Things We Do For Love at Delaware Rep. Notable productions—Seattle Rep: Samuel D. Hunter’s A Great Wilderness (world premiere); Second Stage: Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl and The Notebooks Of Leonardo Da Vinci by Mary Zimmerman (both Lucille Lortel noms.). TV—Late Night with David Letterman at NBC. Film—Production designer for Ang Lee’s Pushing Hands. Education—Graduate of The Yale School of Drama 1986.
Ilona Somogyi—Costume Designer.
Center Stage: Macbeth. Broadway— Clybourne Park. Off-Broadway/New York—Grey Gardens (Bay Street Theater) Gloria, Satchmo at the Waldorf, Dinner With Friends, My Name is Asher Lev; The World is Round (Ripe Time), A Soldier’s Tale (Zankel Hall), The Seagull (Culture Project), The Lying Lesson, Almost an Evening, Scarcity (Atlantic), Maple and Vine, A Small Fire (Playwrights Horizons), Jerry Springer: The Opera (Carnegie Hall), Wit. Regional—King Hedley II, Smokey Joe’s Café (Arena), Richard III (OSF,) Vanya, Sonia, Masha & Spike, Nice Fish, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Guthrie,) 4000 Miles (Long Wharf), Julius Caesar (Chicago Shakespeare), Good People (Huntington), The Crucible, Gem of the Ocean, Midsummer Night’s Dream (Hartford Stage) Three Sisters, We Have Always Lived in the Castle and Passion Play (Yale Rep) Tartuffe, Suddenly Last Summer (Westport Country Playhouse.) Novelties—Disney on Ice: Princess Wishes, Norwegian National Ballet, and a Dutch
production of Saturday Night Fever. Training & Faculty—Yale School of Drama.
Colin D. Young—Lighting Designer.
Center Stage: One Night in Miami…. Off Broadway—Public Theatre/NBT: Detroit ’67; Signature: Fragments by Edward Albee, Talking Pictures; Primary Stages/ Perry Street: In the Continuum; Classical Theatre of Harlem: Native Son, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, The Blacks: A Clown Show, Crazy Locomotive, Henry V, Seed; 59E59 Theatres: The Jazz Age, Havana Bourgeois, Rearviewmirror, Widows; Reverie Productions: Fatboy, Mephisto, Beowulf; New Victory/World Science Festival: Spooky Action; Regional—Yale Rep, Woolly Mammoth, Kirk Douglas Theatre, Goodman, Philadelphia Theatre Co. and Cincinnati Playhouse. Awards—4 Audelco noms., 2003 Audelco Award for Crazy Locomotive. Education—Yale School of Drama. Professional/Other—Senior Design Partner for LDNY; Co-founder & Artistic Director: Reverie Productions; Founding Festival Tech Director: New York International Fringe Festival; Playwright/Translator: Beowulf.
Broken Chord—Original Music & Sound Design. Center Stage: American
Buffalo. New York—Atlantic Theater: The Jammer, The Lying Lesson; The Incubator Arts Project: OZET; Labyrinth Theater: The Insurgents; Manhattan Theatre Club: Spirit Control, When We Were Young and Unafraid; Primary Stages: A Lifetime Burning, Harrison TX, Informed Consent; The Public Theater: The Good Negro; Rattlestick: Stay, Massacre; Second Stage Theatre: The
Other Thing; Signature Theatre: The Dance and the Railroad, Appropriate; Women’s Project: Lascivious Something, Row After Row. Regional—Actors Theatre of Louisville: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer; Berkeley Rep: Party People; Dallas Theater Center: The Tempest, King Lear, The Odd Couple; Hartford Stage: Whipping Man, Snow Falling on Cedars; Huntington Theatre: Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, A Raisin in the Sun; La Jolla Playhouse: Ruined; Oregon Shakespeare Festival: Ruined, Party People; People’s Light: End Days; Shakespeare Theatre Company: Romeo and Juliet; Trinity Rep: Steel Magnolias, The Glass Menagerie; Yale Rep: Eclipsed, These Paper Bullets!. brokenchordcollective.com.
Alex Koch—Projection Designer. Center
Stage: Marley, One Night in Miami…, The Mountaintop, ReEntry (also Round House, Actors Theater of Louisville). Broadway— Walter Kerr: Irena’s Vow. Off Broadway & other New York—Signature Theatre: The Liquid Plain; Waterwell: Goodbar (Under the Radar 2012); TerraNOVA Collective: Feeder; Repertorio Español: En el Tiempo de las Mariposas, La Casa de los Espiritus; Urban Stages: ReEntry, The Oxford Roof Climber’s Rebellion; Ensemble Studio Theatre: Lenin’s Embalmers. International—Mori Theater, Chile: La Casa de los Espiritus. Regional— Court Theatre in Chicago: The Invisible Man (also Studio Theater in Washington, DC); Director’s Company, Theater MITU, Electric Pear, Shalimar, SummerStage, Little Opera Theater, The New Ensemble. Professional— Technical design for New Georges at 3LD and Big Art Group’s Dead Set II & III. alexkochprojects.com.
Paloma McGregor—Choreographer.
Center Stage: Marley, Amadeus, A Civil War Christmas. Other recent choreography credits include Brownsville Song (LCT3), The House that Will Not Stand (Berkeley Repertory and Yale Repertory), A Winter’s Tale and Spunk (California Shakespeare Theatre), Four Electric Ghosts (The Kitchen), Children of Killers (Castillo Theater), Indomitable: James Brown (SummerStage), For a Barbarian Woman (Fordham University) and Blood Dazzler (Harlem Stage). A Harlem-based artist, she is director of Angela’s Pulse, which creates and produces collaborative performance work dedicated to building community and telling bold, new stories. Paloma’s current performance project Building a Better Fishtrap, is rooted
in her 89-year-old father’s vanishing fishing tradition; the project examines what we take with us, leave behind and return to reclaim. Paloma toured internationally for six years with Urban Bush Women and has danced with Liz Lerman/Dance Exchange.
Faedra Chatard Carpenter—Production Dramaturg. Center Stage: Twelfth Night,
The Whipping Man, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Fabulation, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone. Regional—Kennedy Center: The Wings of Ikarus Jackson, Locomotion, New Voices/New Visions; African Continuum: The Amen Corner, Fresh Flavas New Play Development program; TheatreWorks: Fences; Crossroads: Former Resident Dramaturg/Literary Manager, Crumbs from the Table of Joy, Spirit North (world premiere); Arena Stage: Holiday Heart, Long Day’s Journey Into Night, The Odyssey (American premiere). Professional— Associate Professor of Theatre and Performance Studies, University of Maryland, College Park; member of the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas (LMDA); member of the American Society for Theatre Research (ASTR), and Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE). Education—BA, Spelman College; MA, Washington University; PhD, Stanford.
Lynn Watson—Dialect Coach. Center Stage: debut. She has worked extensively as a voice, speech, and dialects specialist. Regional—Arena Stage: Moon for the Misbegotten, The Misanthrope, M. Butterfly, A Time to Kill, many others; Kennedy Center: The Glass Menagerie, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof; Ford’s Theatre; Signature Theatre. Other credits include critically acclaimed productions of A Streetcar Named Desire at A.C.T.-San Francisco and Skylight at the Mark Taper Forum in LA, and four seasons with South Coast Rep. In 2009, she founded a project to revive public domain plays by women. The first production was a podcast of Susanna Centlivre’s Restoration play, The Basset Table. Directing—also includes Tina Howe’s short play Milk and Water (world premiere). Professional—Professor of Theatre at UMBC. Pat McCorkle—Casting Director. Center Stage: Marley, One Night in Miami…, Amadeus, Wild with Happy, Twelfth Night, A Civil War Christmas, Animal Crackers, The Mountaintop, Bus Stop, Gleam. Broadway—54 Productions including: Amazing Grace, On The Town, End of the
Rainbow, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, The Glass Menagerie, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Amadeus, She Loves Me, Blood Brothers, A Few Good Men. Off Broadway—59 Productions including: Clever Little Lies, Dr. Ruth, Stalking the Bogeyman, Freud’s Last Session, Tribes, Our Town, Almost Maine, Driving Miss Daisy. Film—over 60 projects including: Year by the Sea, Junction, Premium Rush, Ghost Town, Secret Window, Basic, Tony and Tina’s Wedding, The Thomas Crown Affair, The 13th Warrior, Madeline, Die Hard III, School Ties. TV—45 shows including: Saint George, Twisted, humans for Sesame Street, Californication (Emmy nom.), Max Bickford (CBS), Hack (CBS), Strangers with Candy, Barbershop, Chapelle’s Show. mccorklecasting.com
Amber Dickerson*—Stage Manager.
Center Stage: debut. Broadway—Motown, the Musical. National Tour—Dreamgirls. Regional—Arena Stage: Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Pullman Porter Blues (premiere), The Normal Heart, Trouble in Mind, Looped, Crowns, The Mystery of Irma Vep, The Women of Brewster Place (premiere), Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill, Passion Play, a cycle (premiere), Piano Lesson and others over 13 seasons. Other—Hartford Stage, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Syracuse Stage and Ogunquit Playhouse. Thanks to God and her family for their love and support!
Lindsay Eberly*—Assistant Stage Manager. Center Stage: 4000 Miles,
After the Revolution, It’s a Wonderful Life, Amadeus, Twelfth Night, A Civil War Christmas, Animal Crackers, Beneatha’s Place, Clybourne Park, The Mountaintop, The Completely Fictional...Final Strange Tale of E.A. Poe. Regional—CATF: The Full Catastrophe, WE ARE PUSSY RIOT, Dead & Breathing, The Ashes Under Gait City, Modern Terrorism, Scott & Hem in the Garden of Allah, The Insurgents, Ages of the Moon, Inana, and The Eelwax Jesus 3-D Pop Music Show; Berkshire Theater Festival: A Thousand Clowns, Homestead Crossing; Huntington: Circle Mirror Transformation; Royal Court: Haunted Child. Love to Mom & Dad, thanks for everything.
*Member of Actors’ Equity Association Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice | 13
BIOS THE STAFF
Artistic Director Kwame Kwei-Armah OBE is an
award-winning British playwright, director, actor, and broadcaster. At Center Stage he has directed Marley, One Night in Miami..., Amadeus, dance of the holy ghosts (City Paper Top Ten Productions, 2013), The Mountaintop, An Enemy of the People, The Whipping Man, (named Best Director), and Naomi Wallace’s Things of Dry Hours. In 2014, Kwame was named Best Director in City Paper’s Best of Baltimore, and he was a finalist for SDC's Zelda Fichandler Award for Best Theater Director. Among his works as playwright are Elmina’s Kitchen, Let There Be Love, A Bitter Herb, Statement of Regret, and Seize the Day. Beneatha’s Place debuted at Center Stage in 2013 as part of The Raisin Cycle. Other directorial credits include Wallace’s The Liquid Plain at Signature Theatre, Dominique Morisseau’s Skeleton Crew at the Lark Play Development Center, New York’s Public Theater’s production of Much Ado About Nothing, the World Premiere of Detroit ’67 (Best Director nom.) at New York’s Public Theater, and the World Premiere of The Liquid Plain at Oregon Shakespeare Festival. He has served on the boards of The National Theatre and The Tricycle Theatre, both in London, and as Artistic Director for the World Arts Festival in Senegal. He was named the Chancellor of the University of the Arts London, and in 2012 was named an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.
Managing Director Stephen Richard has
worked in ballet, museums, and theater, with his longest tenure at Arena Stage in Washington, DC. As Arena’s Executive Director, he planned and managed the theater’s capital campaign for the Mead Center for American Theater. He has taught arts management at Georgetown University and George Mason University, among others. He has also served on the boards and committees of some of the nation’s most prestigious arts organizations, including the National Endowment for the Arts, American Arts Alliance, the League of Resident Theatres, and the Theatre Communications Group. He currently serves on the board of directors of the Maryland Citizens for the Arts.
Associate Artistic Director Hana S. Sharif is a director,
playwright, and producer. She served as Associate Artistic Director, Director of New Play Development, and Artistic Producer at Hartford Stage; recently as Program Manager of the ArtsEmerson Ambassador Program; and as Developmental Producer/Tour Manager of Progress Theatre’s musical The Burnin’. Hana also served as co-founder and Artistic Director of Nasir Productions, which brings theater to underserved communities. Directing credits include The Whipping Man, Gem of the Ocean (six CCC nominations), Gee’s Bend (CCC Award Best Ensemble, two nominations), Next Stop Africa, Cassie, The
Drum, and IFdentity. Hana has directed numerous developmental workshops, including Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder’s The Chat and Chew Supper Club. Her plays include All the Women I Used to Be, The Rise and Fall of Day, and The Sprott Cycle Trilogy. Hana is the recipient of the 2009–10 Aetna New Voices Fellowship and the Theatre Communications Group (TCG) New Generations Fellowship.
Stage in 2003, after nearly 15 years in Chicago as an actor, director, dramaturg, translator, and teacher—and co-founder of the classically based greasy joan & co theater. In addition to working as a dramaturg on scores of productions, readings, and workshops at Center Stage, he has helped develop new work around the country. Before making his Center Stage mainstage directorial debut with Twelfth Night, Gavin directed more than a dozen Young Playwrights Festival entries, as many new play readings, and the 50th Anniversary Decade Plays for Center Stage. A graduate of Yale and the University of Chicago, he has taught at the University of Chicago, DePaul, and locally at Towson and Peabody Conservatory; served on the advisory boards of several theaters; and spent more than a decade as a regional vice president of the national association of dramaturgs, LMDA.
CENTER STAGE ADVISORY BOARD
James Bundy, Artistic Director at Yale Repertory Theatre
a group of Artistic Directors from theaters
James Nicola, Artistic Director at New York Theatre Workshop
experienced professionals who are on
Neil Pepe, Artistic Director at Atlantic Theater Company
The Center Stage Advisory Board is
Susan Booth, Artistic Director at Alliance Theatre
Marc Masterson, Artistic Director at South Coast Repertory
across the country. We thank these
Diane Paulus, Artistic Director at the American Repertory Theater
hand to provide guidance and advice to
Carey Perloff, Artistic Director at the American Conservatory Theater
Center Stage leaders, board, and staff.
Bill Rauch, Artistic Director at Oregon Shakespeare Festival
Michael Ritchie, Artistic Director at Center Theatre Group
Tim Sanford, Artistic Director at Playwrights Horizons 14
Associate Director/Director of Dramaturgy Gavin Witt came to Center
When the arts succeed, we all succeed. At M&T Bank, we know how important it is to support artists of all kinds. They enhance the quality of life in our communities. That’s why we offer both our time and resources and encourage others to do the same.
M&T Bank is proud to support Center Stage.
mtb.com ©2015 M&T Bank. Member FDIC. Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice | 15
Thank You Baltimore for banking with us over the last 20 years!
1st Mariner Bank is committed to our community. Stop by your local branch today and find out how we can help you.
For more information, call
410-558-3343 or 1-866-362-4500.
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We look forward to your next brilliant performance. KPMG LLP is proud to support CenterStage. kpmg.com
© 2015 KPMG LLP, a Delaware limited liability partnership and the U.S. member firm of the KPMG network of independent member firms affiliated with KPMG International Cooperative (“KPMG International”), a Swiss entity. All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A. The KPMG name, logo and “cutting through complexity” are registered trademarks or trademarks of KPMG International. NDPPS 402148
Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice | 17
SUPPORTER SPOTLIGHT
Center Stage Board President Terry Morgenthaler
Left: Jay Smith, Terry Morgenthaler, Kwame Kwei-Armah, and Stephen Richard at the final board meeting of the 2014/15 Season, honoring Jay’s tenure as board president. Bottom: Terry Morgenthaler, Board President.
The Center Stage Board of Trustees
has seen the theater through 53 seasons, and we are profoundly grateful for all of their generosity and wise counsel. We are fortunate to have had so many stalwart advocates over the years, and want to take this opportunity to thank all of our former Board members, most especially the Immediate Past President Jay Smith. His seven-year tenure as President ended June 30, but he will continue to serve as a Board member.
It is with great pleasure and pride that the theater announces the election of a new Board President, Terry Morgenthaler. Terry began her affiliation with Center Stage as the Associate Development Director in 1985. Moving from staff to Trustee in 1996, Terry has served on every committee, many times as Chair. A graduate of the Boston Conservatory of Music, she served as Managing Director of Dance Collective, a modern dance company based in Boston. Since her move to Baltimore, she has served on a variety of boards including the Child Abuse Prevention Center of Maryland (now called the Family Tree) where she was President, the Baltimore Museum of Art, the Baltimore Choral Arts Society, and the Peabody Institute National Council. She also sits on the Council of the Juilliard School. In addition to her dedication and service to the community, Terry coaches high school girls’ badminton at Friends School, a position she has held for a long time and for which she has great affection and pride. Joining Terry are five new board members: Amy Elias (Profiles, Inc.), Wendy Jachman (Community Volunteer and Fiber Artist), Meredith Borden (CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield), Bjoern Leyser (McCormick & Co, Inc), and Kenneth Thompson (Venable LLP). Thank you very much, Terry, for your leadership and dedication to Center Stage! We are a better institution as a result! 18
It is with great pleasure and pride that the theater announces the election of a new Board President, Terry Morgenthaler.
SU PPORT CENTER STAGE The following list includes gifts of $250 or more made Center Stage between August 12, 2014 and August 12, 2015. Although space limitations make it impossible for us to list everyone who helps fund our artistic, education, and community programs, we are enormously grateful to each person who contributes to Center Stage. We couldn’t do it without you!
INDIVIDUALS & FOUNDATIONS
The Center Stage Society represents donors who, with their annual contributions of $1,500 or more, provide special opportunities for our artists and audiences. Society members are actively involved through special events, theater-related travel, and behind-the-scenes conversations with theater artists. SEASON SPONSOR
The Fascitelli Family Foundation
Kwame and Michelle Kwei-Armah
John and Susan Nehra
The Annie E. Casey Foundation
Genine and Josh Fidler, in honor of Ellen and Ed Bernard
Robert E. Meyerhoff and Rheda Becker
The Pearlstone Family Fund
($50,000+)
Ellen and Ed Bernard The Charlesmead Foundation Lynn and Tony Deering The Edgerton Foundation New American Play Awards Chales E. Noell, III Judy and Scott Phares Lynn and Philip Rauch The Shubert Foundation, Inc. Sharon and Jay Smith The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust
Daniel P. Gahagan
Jeannie Murphy
John Gerdy and E. Follin Smith
Stephen Richard and Mame Hunt
Baroness G.D. Godenne M.D. +
The Jim and Patty Rouse Charitable Foundation
The Goldsmith Family Foundation The Laverna Hahn Charitable Trust Francie and John Keenan Townsend and Bob Kent Keith Lee Kenneth C. and Elizabeth M. Lundeen The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
Ms. Katherine Vaughns +
Joseph & Harvey Meyerhoff Family Charitable Funds
PRODUCERS’ CIRCLE
Mr. and Mrs. George M. Sherman
($25,000-$49,999)
The Miriam Jay Wurtz Andrus Trust William G. Baker, Jr. Memorial fund, creator of the Baker Artist Awards Penny Bank James and Janet Clauson Jane and Larry Droppa EMC Arts JI Foundation Kathleen Hyle Marilyn Meyerhoff Terry H. Morgenthaler and Patrick Kerins Mr. J. William Murray Multi Arts Production Fund ARTISTS’ CIRCLE
($10,000- $24,999)
Anonymous The William L. and Victorine Q. Adams Foundation and The Rodgers Family Fund Peter and Milicent Bain The Bunting Family Foundation Stephanie and Ashton Carter The Helen P. Denit Charitable Trust Ms. Nancy Dorman and Mr. Stanley Mazaroff
Mr. Louis B. Thalheimer and Ms. Juliet A. Eurich Department of VSA and Accessibility at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts PLAYWRIGHTS’ CIRCLE
($5,000- $9,999)
James T. and Francine G. Brady Mary Catherine Bunting August and Melissa Chiasera The Nathan & Suzanne Cohen Foundation Mr. G. Brian Comes and Mr. Raymond Mitchener, in honor of Terry Morgenthaler
Charles and Leslie Schwabe Barbara and Sig Shapiro Mr. and Mrs. J.W. Thompson Webb Donald and Mariana Thoms Loren and Judy Western Ms. Linda Woolf DIRECTORS’ CIRCLE
($2,500- $4,999)
Anonymous The Lois and Irving Blum Foundation Drs. Joanna and Harry Brandt Sylvia and Eddie Brown The Mary and Dan Dent Fund of the Baltimore Community Foundation Mr. Jed Dietz and Dr. Julia McMillan
Dr. and Mrs. Lawrence C. Pakula Nathan and Michelle Robertson Mr. and Mrs. Todd Schubert Mr. and Mrs. Scott Smith Scott and Mimi Somerville Scot T. Spencer Mr. Michael Styer Mr. and Mrs. Harry Thomasian Kathryn and Mark Vaselkiv Ted and Mary Jo Wiese Cheryl Hudgins Williams and Alonza Williams Mr. Todd M. Wilson and Mr. Edward Delaplaine Drs. Nadia and Elias Zerhouni DESIGNERS’
($1,500- $2,499)
Ms. Taunya Banks Mrs. Meredith Borden Meredith and Joseph Callanan The Campbell Foundation, Inc. Mr. and Mrs. Roland Campbell, Jr.
The Harry L. Gladding Foundation/ Winnie and Neal Borden
The Caplan Family Foundation, Inc.
Carole and Neil Goldberg
Ann K. Clapp
Robert and Cheryl Guth
Gene DeJackome and Kim Gingras
F. Barton Harvey, III and Janet Marie Smith
Ms. Suzan Garabedian
The Hecht-Levi Foundation, Inc. David and Elizabeth JH Hurwitz
The Jane and Worth B. Daniels, Jr. Fund of the Baltimore Community Foundation
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph M. Jennings
The Delaplaine Foundation, Inc. Mr. and Mrs. Walter B. Doggett, III
Mr. and Mrs. Earl Linehan/Linehan Family Foundation
Brian and Denise Eakes
The Macht Philanthropic Fund
Ms. Amy Elias and Mr. Richard Pearlstone
Mrs. Diane Markman
Mr. and Mrs. Mark Joseph, in honor of Lynn Deering
Mr. and Mrs. Jon Carnell
Dr. and Dr. Matthew Freedman Sandra Levi Gerstung Len and Betsy Homer The A. C. and Penney Hubbard Foundation Francine and Allan Krumholz Jill and Darren Pratt Susan and Brian Sullam Dr. Edgar and Mrs. Betty Sweren, in honor of Cindi Monahan
Beth and Michael Falcone
The McCrickard Family Fund for Charitable Giving
Dick and Maria Gamper
John and Mary Messmore
Steve and Susan Immelt
Jim and Mary Miller
Nanny and Jack Warren, in honor of Lynn Deering
Murray Kappelman
Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Mohler, Jr.
Sydney and Ron Wilner
United Way of Central Maryland Campaign
Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice | 19
SU PPO RT COMPANY
($750-$1,499)
Anonymous Mr. Calvin Baker Charles and Patti Baum Steve and Teri Bennett Mr. and Mrs. Marc Blum John and Carolyn Boitnott Jan Boyce Ms. Susan Bridges Sandra and Thomas Brushart Ms. Cheryl Casciani The Constantinides Family Foundation Jane Cooper and Philip Angell The Richard and Rosalee C. Davidson Foundation Albert F. DeLoskey and Lawrie Deering The Honorable and Mrs. E. Stephen Derby The Eliasberg Family Foundation Sue and Buddy Emerson, in appreciation of Ken and Elizabeth Lundeen Amy and Scott Frew José and Ginger Galvez Pamela and Jonathan Genn, in honor of Beth Falcone Ms. Hannah B. Gould Fredye and Adam Gross Stuart and Linda Grossman Bill and Scootsie Hatter Rebecca Henry and Harry Gruner Sandra and Thomas Hess Ralph and Claire Hruban Mr. and Mrs. Theodore Imes Joseph J. Jaffa Ms. Shirley Kaufman The H.R. LaBar Family Foundation of the Greater Cincinnati Foundation The Herschel and Judith Langenthal Philanthropic Fund Dr. and Mrs. George Lentz, Jr. Maryland Charity Campaign Robert and Susan Mathias James and Kathy Mathias Mary L. McGeady Joseph and Jane Meyer Mr. and Mrs. John Michel Tom and Cindi Monahan Roger F. Nordquist, in memory of Joyce C. Ward Mr. and Mrs. Lee Ogburn Dr. Bodil Ottensen Linda Hambleton Panitz Robin and Allene Pierson, in honor of Terry Morgenthaler Bonnie L. Pitt Dave and Chris Powell The James and Gail Riepe Family Foundation, in honor of Lynn Deering Mr. and Mrs. Harold Rojas Mrs. Bette Rothman Bayinnah Shabazz, M.D. The Earle and Annette Shawe Family Foundation Barbara P. Shelton The Sinksy-Kresser-Racusin Memorial Foundation Dana and Matthew Slater, in honor of Terry Morgenthaler Mr. and Mrs. Robert Smelkinson Mr. and Mrs. Robert Smith George and Holly Stone Dr. and Mrs. John Strahan
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Mr. and Mrs. Dan Verbic Dr. and Mrs. Frank R. Witter Patricia Yevics-Eisenberg and Stewart Eisenberg Dr. Laurie S. Zabin
ADVOCATES ($250-$749)
Anonymous Rita and Walter Abel Ms. Diane Abeloff, in memory of Martin Abeloff Mrs. Madeline R. Abramson Bradley and Lindsay Alger Denise and Philip Andrews Mrs. Alexander Armstrong The Alsop Family Foundation Deborah and Stephen Awalt Mr. and Mrs. Robert Bair Mike Baker Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Bank Family Fund of the Baltimore Community Foundation Amy and Bruce Barnett The Jaye and Dr. Ted Bayless Fund of the Baltimore Community Foundation Melissa A. Behm Ms. Lorinda Belzberg, in honor of Lynn and Tony Deering Scott and Katherine Bissett Bob and Maureen Black Ms. Katherine C. Blakeslee Rachel and Steve Bloom, in honor of Beth Falcone Harriet and Bruce Blum Moira Bogrov ChiChi and Peter Bosworth Jason and Mindy Brandt Mr. and Mrs. Charles Bryan Mr. Paul Burclaff Cindy Candelori Ms. Deborah W. Callard The Jim and Anne Cantler Memorial Fund of the Baltimore Community Foundation Mr. and Mrs. Louis J. Carr Mr. and Mrs. David Carter Mr. and Mrs. James Case Ms. Amina Chaudhry Ms. Sue Lin Chong Mr. and Mrs. Carl F. Christ William and Bonnie Clarke Brenda M. Cley, M.D. Ms. Clare Cochran Joan Develin Coley and Lee Rice Mr. and Mrs. Stanton Collins Combined Charity Campaign David and Sara Cooke B.J and Bill Cowie Ms. Barbara Crain and Mr. Michael Borowitz Gwen Davidson Robert and Janice Davis Richard and Lynda Davis James DeGraffenreidt and Mychelle Farmer David and Emily Demsky Ina and Ed Dreiband Mr. and Mrs. Edward K. Dunn, III, in honor of Peter and Millicent Bain Lynn Durbin and John-Francis Mergen Linda Eberhart Mr. James Engler Deborah and Philip English Mr. and Mrs. Donald M. Engvall Ms. Rhea Feikin, in memory of
Colgate Salsbury Faith and Edgar Feingold, in memory of Sally W. Feingold Sandra and John Ferriter Bob and Susie Fetter Andrea and Samuel Fine Mr. and Mrs. Ross P. Flax Dr. and Mrs. Robert P. Fleishman Dennis Flynn Donna Flynn John G. Ford John and David Forester Elborg and Robert Forster Mary Louise Foster Ms. Nancy Freyman Dr. Neal M. Friedlander and Dr. Virginia K. Adams Mark and Patti Gillen Megan M. Gillick Hal and Pat Gilreath Terry L. Gladden Mr. Bruce Goldman Dr. Larry Goldstein and Dr. Diane Pappas Mary and Richard Gorman Thomas and Barbara Guarnieri Louise Hager Betsy and George Hess Sue Hess Mrs. James J. Hill, Jr., in memory of James J. Hill Jr. Barbara and Sam Himmelrich, in honor of Monica Sagner Drs. Dahlia Hirsch and Barry Wohl James and Rosemary Hormuth Ms. Irene Hornick Sarah and John Issacs Ms. Wendy Jachman James and Hillary Aidus Jacobs A.H. Janoski, M.D., in honor of Jane Stewart Janoski Mr. and Mrs. James Johnstone Max Jordan Ann H. Kahan Mr. John Kane Richard and Judith Katz Dr. and Mrs. Myron Kellner Ms. Deborah Kielty Alane and George Kimes Roland King and Judith Phair King Deborah King-Young and Daniel Young Donald Knox and Mary Towery, in memory of Carolyn Knox and Gene Towery Thomas and Lara Kopf Gina Kotowski Mr. Barry Kropf Mr. and Mrs. L. Lambert Joseph M. and Judy K. Langmead Kevin Larrawe and Lucy Robins Dr. and Mrs. Yuan C. Lee Mr. Raymond Lenhard, Jr. Dr. and Mrs. Ronald Lesser Marilyn Leuthold Marty Lidston and Jill Leukhardt Dr. and Mrs. John Lion Kenneth and Christine Lobo The Ethel M. Looram Foundation, Inc. Nancy Magnuson and Jay Harrell, in honor of Betty and Edgar Sweren The Dr. Frank C. Marino Foundation, Inc. Jeanne E. Marsh Don Martin
Mr. and Mrs. Steve McCurdy Jean and Chris Mellott Mary and Barry Menne Mr. and Mrs. Timothy E. Meredith Stephanie F. Miller, in honor of The Lee S. Miller, Jr. Family Tracy Miller and Paul Arnest, in honor of Stephanie Miller Jeston I. Miller Faith and Ted Millspaugh The Montag Family Fund of The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, in honor of Beth Falcone James W. and Shirley A. Moore Dr. and Mrs. C.L. Moravec The Honorable Diana and Fred Motz, in memory of Nancy Roche George Murnaghan Stephen and Terry Needel Claire D. O’Neill Ms. Jo-Ann Mayer Orlinksy Fronda Cohen Ottenheimer and Richard Ottenheimer The P.R.F.B. Charitable Foundation, in memory of Shirley Feinstein Blum Michael and Phyllis Panopoulos Justine and Ken Parezo Fred and Grazina Pearson Linda and Gordon Peltz Dr. and Mrs. James M. Pepple Mr. William Phillips Ronald and Patricia Pilling Leslie and Gary Plotnick Janet Plum, in memory of Jeffrey J. Plum Dr. and Mrs. Jeffrey Posner Ms. Dorothy Powe, in memory of Ethel J. Holliday Robert E. Prince Mr. and Mrs. Richard Radmer Cyndy Renoff and George Taler Dr. Michael Repka and Dr. Mary Anne Facciolo Phoebe Reynolds Natasha and Keenan Rice Mrs. Peggy L. Rice Alison and Arnold Richman Ida and Jack Roadhouse Bill and Syrena Robinson Jane and Stanley Rodbell and James R. Shapiro Mr. Paul Roeger, in memory of Gloria Roeger Susan Rosebery and Barbara Blom Wendy Rosen and Richard Weisman Dorothy L. and Henry A. Rosenberg, Jr. Michael Ross, in memory of Katherine Vaughns and Joan Kappelman Kevin and Judy Rossiter Mr. and Mrs. Louis Rusk Mr. Al Russell Robert and Lelia Russell Sheila and Steve Sachs Steven and Lee Sachs Monica and Arnold Sagner Ms. Gloria Savadow, in honor of the Encounter Program The Eugene and Alice Schreiber Philanthropic Fund Gail B. Schulhoff Clair Zamoiski Segal, in honor of Judy Witt Phares Dr. and Mrs. Edward M.M. Sills Reverend Sharon Smith
Susan Somerville-Hawes, in honor of the Encounter Program Ms. Jill Stempler Clare H. Stewart, in honor of Bill Geenen Brenda and Dan Stone Mr. William J. Sweet Cindy and Fred Thompson Ms. Cathy Tipper Mr. and Mrs. Philip F. Toohey, in honor of Beth Falcone Susan Treff Laura and Neil Tucker, in honor of Beth Falcone Sharon and David Tufaro Dr. and Mrs. Henry Tyrangiel Mr. and Mrs. James Ulmer, III Mr. Eli Velder Mr. and Mrs. David Warshawsky Robin Weiss and Timothy Doran Mr. John Wessner Ms. Camille Wheeler and Mr. William Marshall Mrs. Edith Wolpoff-Davis, in memory of Alvin S. Wolpoff Dr. Richard H. Worsham Eric and Pam Young
SPECIAL GRANTS & GIFTS:
The Leading National Theatres Program, a joint initiative of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
GOVERNMENT GRANTS
Center Stage is funded by an operating grant from the Maryland State Arts Council, an agency dedicated to cultivating a vibrant cultural community where the arts thrive. Funding for the Maryland State Arts Council is also provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.
Center Stage’s catalog of Education Programs has been selected by the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities as a 2011 National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award Finalist.
Baltimore County Executive, County Council, & Commission on Arts and Sciences
Carroll County Government
Howard County Arts Council through a grant from Howard County Government
Center Stage has been funded by Mayor Stephanie RawlingsBlake and the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts.
GIFTS IN-KIND
The Afro American Akbar Restaurant Atwater’s The Baltimore Sun Berger’s Cookies Blimpie The Brewer’s Art Cakes by Pamela G Casa di Pasta The Classic Catering People The Charles Theater Chipotle The City Paper Dooby’s Eddie’s on Saint Paul Edible Arrangements Eggspectations Express Vending Fisherman’s Friend/ Pez Candy, Inc.
The Fractured Prune Gertrude’s Restaurant Gianni’s Italian Bistro Greg’s Bagels GT Pizza HoneyBaked Ham Co. The Helmand Hotel Monaco Iggie’s The Jewish Times Mamott Mars Super Markets Maryland Office Interiors Maryland Public Television Michele’s Granola Mitchell Kurtz Architect, PC Mount Vernon Stable and Saloon New System Bakery Oriole’s Pizza and Sub Pizza Boli’s Pizza Hut Planit Agency PromoWorks Republic National Distributing Company Sabatino’s Shugoll Research The Signman Style Magazine Subway Urbanite Utz Quality Foods Village Square Café A Vintner’s Selection Wawa Wegman’s Whitmore Print & Imaging WYPR Radio www.thecheckshop.us
CORPORATIONS
THE 2015/16 SEASON IS MADE POSSIBLE BY
PRESIDENTS’ CIRCLE
Anonymous The Baltimore Life Companies Cho Benn Holback + Associates Environmental Reclamation Company
T. Rowe Price Foundation, Inc. PRODUCERS’ CIRCLE
+ Deceased We make every effort to provide accurate acknowledgement of our contributors, and we appreciate your patience and assistance in keeping our lists current. To advise us of corrections, please call 410.986.4026.
Ernst & Young Funk & Bolton, P.A. Goodell, DeVries, Leech & Dann Howard Bank McGuireWoods, LLP PricewaterhouseCoopers Saul Ewing, LLP Venable, LLP Whiting-Turner Contracting Co. DIRECTORS’ CIRCLE American Trading & Production Corporation
MATCHING GIFT COMPANIES
The Abell Foundation, Inc. Bank of America BGE Becton Dickinson & Company The Black & Decker Corporation Brown Capital Management, Inc. The Annie E. Casey Foundation Constellation Energy The Deering Family Foundation E-Bay Foundation Exxon Corporation GE Foundation Illinois Tool Works Foundation Kraft Foods MASCO Corporation McCormick Foundation Norfolk Southern Foundation PNC Bank SunTrust Bank T. Rowe Price Foundation UBS Wealth Management
PLAYWRIGHTS’ CIRCLE
Baxter, Baker, Sidle, Conn & Jones, P.A. Charcoalblue Keast & Hood Marriott Maryland Transit Administration
ARTISTS’ CIRCLE
Pessin Katz Law P.A. Schoenfeld Insurance Associates Wright, Constable, & Skeen, LLP
DESIGNERS Chapel Valley Landscape Company Chesapeake Plywood, LLC Froehling & Robertson
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Terry H. Morgenthaler, President Edward C. Bernard, Vice President August J. Chiasera, Vice President Beth W. Falcone, Vice President Brian Eakes, Treasurer J.W. Thompson Webb, Secretary Penny Bank Katharine C. Blakeslee* Meredith Borden James T. Brady C. Sylvia Brown* Stephanie Carter Lynn Deering Jed Dietz Walter B. Doggett, III Jane W.I. Droppa Amy Elias Juliet A. Eurich Jennifer Foster Daniel Gahagan C. Richard Gamper, Jr. Suzan Garabedian Adam Gross Cheryl O’Donnell Guth Martha Head* Elizabeth J. Himelfarb Hurwitz Kathleen W. Hyle Ted E. Imes Wendy Jachman Joe Jennings Murray M. Kappelman, MD* John J. Keenan E. Robert Kent, Jr. Joseph M. Langmead* Bjoern Leyser Kenneth C. Lundeen* John McCardell Marilyn Meyerhoff* Hugh W. Mohler Jr. J. William Murray Charles E. Noell Judy M. Phares Esther Pearlstone* Philip J. Rauch Harold Rojas Monica Sagner* Renee C. Samuels Rosenfeld Todd Schubert Charles Schwabe George M. Sherman* Robert W. Smith Scott Somerville Scot T. Spencer Michael B. Styer Harry Thomasian Kenneth Thompson Donald Thoms Krissie Verbic Linda S. Woolf * Trustee Emeriti + Deceased Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice | 21
C
g n i t a r eleb
50 GLORIOUS YEARS
The French Connection
Sunday, November 1, 2015 at 3 pm Kraushaar Auditorium at Goucher College
Tom Hall leads the Chorus and Orchestra in the Requiems of Fauré and Duruflé.
Christmas with Choral Arts
Tuesday, December 1, 2015 at 7:30 pm The Baltimore Basilica, 409 Cathedral Street
Celebrate the holiday season with this annual tradition, performed in the historic Baltimore Basilica.
Sing-Along Messiah
Friday, December 18, 2015 at 7:30 pm Kraushaar Auditorium at Goucher College
Join in singing the choruses of Handel’s Messiah, or just enjoy the surround-sound!
Christmas for Kids
Saturday, December 19, 2015 at 11 am Kraushaar Auditorium at Goucher College
Holiday fun for the entire family, featuring Pepito the Clown and a visit from Santa!
Hallelujah: Celebrating 50 Years Sunday, March 20, 2016 at 3 pm Kraushaar Auditorium at Goucher College
Tom Hall leads the Chorus and Orchestra in a retrospective of Choral Arts’ 50 years, from Mozart’s Requiem, to founding Music Director Theodore Morrison conducting, and a rousing Hallelujah Chorus featuring chorus members past and present. Call 410-523-7070 or visit BCAsings.org Baltimore Choral Arts is also grateful for the support of The William G. Baker, Jr. Memorial Fund, creator of the Baker Artist Awards, www.bakerartistawards.org.
Tom Hall, Music Director
STEP INTO NEW WORLDS DLA Piper proudly supports Center Stage and your production of Pride and Prejudice. We salute your commitment to artistic excellence in Baltimore.
www.dlapiper.com
Jay Smith, The Marbury Building, 6225 Smith Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21209
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| DLA Piper LLP (US)
| Attorney Advertising
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Smart energy. It’s the belief that when we work in our community, our community works better. Through charitable contributions, outreach and volunteer projects focused on education, arts and culture, the environment and community development—BGE and its more than 3,400
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MAKING ENERGY SMARTER employees work together with our customers to help make central Maryland a better place to live and work. Now that’s smart energy. To learn more, visit BGE.COM/Giving.
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Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice | 23
The Baltimore Community Foundation has been helping people who love Baltimore for generations.
FRIENDS... FAMILY... BALTIMORE
You’d be surprised at the variety of creative ideas people have come up with, and the range of charitable plans we’ve helped them design and bring to life.
What will your gift to Baltimore be? Explore the possibilities at www.bcf.org/sharethelove
2 East Read Street, 9th Floor, Baltimore, MD 21202 | 410.332.4171 | WWW.BCF.ORG
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SPECIAL LIMITED ENGAGEMENT! For one weekend only, the world-renowned Isango Ensemble returns with two original adaptations:
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
uCARMEN
October 15
October 16 & 17
This operatic version is completely faithful to the spirit of the original work and must be counted as one of the most successful adaptations of a Shakespeare play—a work with spellbinding atmosphere that inhibits a truly unique, dreamlike world.
An opera based in a modern South Africa, uCarmen combines composer Georges Bizet’s score with traditional South African music. A bawdy, passionate, vibrant tale with enormous warmth and heat, this hugely popular opera includes some of the greatest tunes ever written.
centerstage.org/isango | 410.332.0033
Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice | 25
PREV IEW Visit Sascha’s Express on the Center Stage Mezzanine!
Still Getting Rave Reviews Proudly Serving Center Stage and its Patrons Since 1978 527 N. Charles Street Across from the Walters Art Museum 527 Cafe: 410.539.8880 Mon–Thurs 5:30pm–10pm Fri–Sat 5:30pm–11pm www.saschas.com
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UP NEXT
THE SECRET GARDEN Book and Lyrics by Marsha Norman Music by Lucy Simon Based on the novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Oct 30–Nov 29
An Enchanting Musical for the Entire Family
“GORGEOUS SCORE… LOVELY AND EMOTIONAL.” –The Chicago Tribune Orphaned in a cholera epidemic, 10-yearold Mary Lennox travels from India to her new home in England where she is taken in by her distant and detached uncle, Archibald Craven, who is still grieving from the loss of his wife a decade earlier.
Secrets of the past haunt the corners of the Craven manor, and soon Mary can only find refuge in a mysteriously locked garden that becomes her kingdom and her oasis. A lush, Tony-nominated musical based on the classic novel of the same name, The Secret Garden is an enchanting story about the pains and joys of growing up, and the beauty that often grows in the places we least expect.
Center Stage TAG SALE A rare event for this theater, Center Stage is cleaning house in preparation for our buildingwide renovation. Explore nearly 50 seasons of stuff—much of which has graced our stages: • Vintage and contemporary clothing items • Menswear and dresses • Accessories
AU DIEN CE SERVICES
Dining Sascha’s Express, our pre-performance dinner service, is located up the lobby stairs in our Mezzanine café. Service begins two hours before each performance.
Drinks
• Shoes
You are welcome to take beverages with lids to your seats! But please, no food.
• Fabric
Phones
• Antique furniture • Set pieces • and many other treasures
Most items range from $1–$100, plus a few select, high-end costumes and antique garments.
ATTENTION ART STUDENTS: Need Inspiration for your Art Project? As the Props Shop cleans off their shelves and takes stock of their goods, they’re uncovering many buried treasures, perfect for inspiring new and creative ideas: tea cups, rotary phones, paper collars, boxes of socks, a plethora of pants, coral feathers, and more multitudes every day. Stop by to find fantastic materials for your next creation.
5th floor Jay Andrus Rehearsal Hall Sat, Oct 3 | 10 am–6 pm AND Sun, Oct 4 | 12–5 pm (with replenished stock!)
Join us for the 2015 Backstage @ Center Stage Sat, Oct 3 | 10 am–2 pm Our annual FREE, family open house features backstage tours, workshops, and demonstrations throughout the theater, plus it’s your last chance to explore backstage before the building closes for renovations (Dec 2015).
Share Your Story
Let us capture your memories of our building as we celebrate 700 North Calvert Street.
Visit, shop, and explore like never before. centerstage.org/backstage
Please silence all phones and electronic devices before the show and after intermission.
Recording
Photography and both audio and video recording are strictly forbidden.
On-Stage Smoking
We use tobacco-free herbal imitations for on-stage smoking and do everything possible to minimize the impact and amount of smoke that drifts into the audience. Let our Box Office or front of house personnel know if you’re smoke sensitive.
Accessibility
Wheelchair-accessible seating is available for every performance. We offer free assistive listening devices, braille programs, and magnifying glasses upon request. An Open Captioned performance† is available one Sunday performance of each production. Two performances also feature Audio Description†. Parking If you are parking in the Baltimore Sun Garage (diagonally across from the theater at Monument & Calvert) you can pay via credit card at the pay station in the garage lobby or at the in-lane pay station as you exit. If you have a pre-paid voucher, proceed directly to your vehicle and enter your voucher after inserting the parking ticket you received upon entering the garage, in the machine as you leave. We are unable to validate parking tickets.
Feedback
We hope you have an enjoyable, stress-free experience! Your feedback and suggestions are always welcomed: info@centerstage.org. Open Captioning & Audio Description performances of Pride and Prejudice are on Sun, Oct 4. Audio Description at both 2 pm and 7:30 pm. Open Captioning at 7:30 pm.
†
Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice | 27
STAFF Kwame Kwei-Armah OBE–Artistic Director | Stephen Richard–Managing Director Administration
Associate Managing Director–Del W. Risberg Special Assistant to the Managing Directors– Kevin Maroney Executive Assistant–Sarah Curnoles Managing Director’s Intern–AJ Roy Administration Intern–Antonio Eubanks
Artistic & Dramaturgy
Associate Artistic Director–Hana S. Sharif Associate Director/Director of Dramaturgy–Gavin Witt The Judy and Scott Phares Dramaturgy Intern– Lauren Imwold The Lynn and Tony Deering Producing Fellow– Brandon Rashad Butts Digital Media Fellow–Nick Morrison Playwrights Collective–Jennifer Barclay, Jenny Connell Davis, Alvin Eng, Liz Maestri, Lola B. Pierson, Craig S Richie
Audience Relations
Audience Relations & Box Office Manager– Mandy Benedix Assistant Box Office Manager/Subscriptions Manager– Jerrilyn Keene Assistant Patron Services Manager–Laura Baker, Nick Horan Patron Services Associates–Zerica Anderson, Ishai Barnoy, Tiana Bias, David Kanter, Blueberry Emily Keller, Lena Mier, Ryan Nicotra, Sonny Russo, Sarah Tomberlin, Shannon Ziegler Audience Relations Associate–Alec Lawson House Managers–Laura Baker, Lindsey Barr, Mandy Benedix, Nick Horan, Lindsay Jacks, Lena Mier, Faith Savill Audience Relations Intern–Lena Mier Audio Description–Ralph Welsh & Maryland Arts Access
Audio
Supervisor–Amy Wedel Audio Engineer–Daniel Hogan The Jane and Larry Droppa Audio Intern–Eric Glauber
Community Programs & Education
Director–Rosiland Cauthen Education Coordinator–Kristina Szilagyi Community Programs & Education Fellow– Joshua Thomas The Greg and Beth McCrickard Community Programs & Education Fellow–Andrew Stromyer Teaching Artists–Maria Broom, Jerry Miles, Jr., Dustin Morris, CJay Philip, D. Wambui Richardson, Oran Sandel, Susan Stroupe, Ann Turiano, Jacob Zabawa, and The Jokesters: Steve Bauer and Marianne Wittelsberger
Costumes
Costumer–David Burdick Draper–Susan MacCorkle Tailor–Edward Dawson Craftsperson–Wiliam E. Crowther First Hand–Elisabeth Roskos The Terry Morgenthaler and Patrick Kerins Costumes Fellow–Ben Kress
Development
Director–Julia Keller Deputy Director of Individual Giving–Brian Lyles Deputy Director of Institutional Giving– Sabrina S. Thornton Campaign Manager–Paul Wissman Institutional Giving Associate–Amanda Mizeur
The Center Stage Program is published by: Center Stage Associates, Inc. 700 North Calvert Street Baltimore, Maryland 21202 Editor Maggie Beetz Art Direction/Design Bill Geenen Advertising Sales ads@centerstage.org
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Development Assistant–Alyson Jacques Auction Coordinator–Sydney Wilner Auction Assistant–Norma Cohen The Edward and Ellen Bernard Development Fellow– David Kanter Development Fellow–Arrenvy Bilinski
Electrics
Lighting Director–Tamar Geist Master Electrician–Christal Boyd Staff Electrician–Aaron Haag The Mr. Gilbert H. Stewart and Ms. Joyce L. Ulrich Electrics Intern–Tyler Chinn
Finance
Director–Susan Rosebery Business Manager–Kathy Nolan Business Assistant–Kacy Armstrong
Graphics
Art Director–Bill Geenen Production Photographer–Richard Anderson The PricewaterhouseCoopers Graphics Fellow– Katherine Marmion
Information Technologies
Director–Joe Long Systems Administrator–Mark Slaughter
Marketing & Communications
Director–Beth Hauptle Publications Manager–Maggie Beetz Marketing Manager–Sarah Bichsel Public Relations Manager–Cassandra Miller Marketing Associate/Group Sales–Tia Abner Digital Content Associate–Emily Salinas The Jay and Sharon Smith Marketing and Communications Intern–Olivia Hairfield
Multi-Media
Coordinator–Geoff Moore Multimedia Intern–Daniel Berkowitz
Operations
Facilities Manager–Shawn Whitenack Building Engineer–Harry Piasecki Security Supervisor–James Williams Custodial Services Supervisor–Wylie Shaw Housekeepers–Lori Duckworth, Veronica Walker
Production Management
Director of Production–Rick Noble Associate Production Manager–Caitlin Powers Company Manager–Sara Grove Production/Stage Management Interns– Taylor Schwabe, Matt Sykes The Philip and Lynn Rauch Company Management Intern–Celia Rector
Properties
Props Master–Meghan O’Brien Assistant Manager–Nathan Scheifele Artisan–Samantha Kuczynski
Scenery
Technical Director–Tom Rupp Assistant Technical Director–Bradley Shaw Scene Shop Supervisor–Scott Richardson Carpenters– Derek Lundmark, Brian Jamal Marshall, Hunter Montgomery, Nicholas Sines, WM Yarbrough, III The Patricia and Mark Joseph Carpentry Intern– Courtney Joelle Costello
CONTACT INFORMATION
Box Office Phone 410.332.0033 Box Office Fax 410.727.2522 Administration 410.986.4000 centerstage.org info@centerstage.org
Scenic Art
Scenic Artist–Stephanie Nimick The Kenneth and Elizabeth Lundeen Scenic Art Intern– Christa Ladny
Stage Management
Resident Stage Manager–Laura Smith The Peter and Millicent Bain Stage Management Intern– Victoria Solorio
Stage Operations
Stage Carpenter–Eric L. Burton Wardrobe Supervisor–Linda Cavell The following individuals and organizations contributed to this production of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice Assistant Choreographer–Meghan Abadoo Assistant Dramaturg–Brittany Ginder Assistant Dramaturg and Assistant to the Adaptor– Finn Lefevre Assistant Lighting Designer–Marika Kent Assistant Sound Designer–Emily Auciello Audio–Paul Shapanus Carpenters–Bernard Bender, Michael E. Cager, Roberto Castrence, JR Fritsch, Jacob Zabawa Dramaturgy Apprentise–Lauren Hawes Drapers–Christopher Schramm, Barry Stairs Electrics–Stephen Ames, Alison Burris, Jake Epp, Tyler Gahs, Robert Marietta, Erin Simpson, Erin Teachman, Harley Winkler Hair/Wigs–Denise O’Brien Props–Trevor Gohr Sound System Design–Phillip Scott Peglow Stitcher–Mika Eubanks, Sue Holmes Wardrobe– Mika Eubanks, Sarah Lamar, Sarah Satterwhite Special Thanks to Professor Juliette Wells and the Jane Austen Collection of the Julia Rogers Library, Goucher College Center Stage operates under an agreement between LORT and Actors’ Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States.
The Director and Choreographer are members of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers, Inc., an independent national labor union. The scenic, costume, lighting, and sound designers in LORT theaters are represented by United Scenic Artists, Local USA-829 of the IATSE. Musicians engaged by Center Stage perform under the terms of an agreement between Center Stage and Local 40-543, American Federation of Musicians. Center Stage is a constituent of Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for the nonprofit professional theater, and is a member of the League of Resident Theatres (LORT), the national collective bargaining organization of professional regional theaters.
Material in the Center Stage performance program is made available free of charge for legitimate educational and research purposes only. Selective use has been made of previously published information and images whose inclusion here does not constitute license for any further re-use of any kind. All other material is the property of Center Stage, and no copies or reproductions of this material should be made for further distribution, other than for educational purposes, without express permission from the authors and Center Stage.
You don’t need a Ph.D. to understand why Roland Park Place is the right choice. How to keep your imagination racing. Healthy minds make for healthy bodies. And nowhere does it apply more than at Roland Park Place. It’s true, we do have delectable dining, exceptional amenities and well-designed apartment homes and cottages. But it’s the intellectual stimulation that attracts so many residents. Perhaps this is why engaging individuals from all walks of life have chosen to live here. Residents enjoy world-class musicians and lecturers discussing a variety of topics. They also participate in a range of special interest clubs, creative arts, wellness classes, singing groups and more. There are regular outings to local cultural attractions such as Everyman Theater, Centerstage, the Meyerhoff, the Lyric Opera House and Shriver Hall, as well as Kennedy Center ballets. We take excursions as far afield as New York, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C. and Ocean City. In fact, at Roland Park Place the possibilities are as endless as your own imagination.
Why not learn more right now? Call (410) 243-5700 or visit RolandParkPlace.org. 830 W. 40th Street | Baltimore, MD 21211 | (410) 243-5700 rolandparkplace.org RPPJ6372 PhD Ad_7.4375x10_CS.indd 1
The educated choice. 12/16/14 3:57 PM
Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice | 29
Odyssey
FALL 2015
VIEW OF Old haVana
A pre-eminent program of noncredit arts and sciences lectures and mini-courses designed for anyone with a burning curiosity and an undying thirst for learning. Highlights of our fall offerings include: > Talk by Taylor Branch: “The Pivotal Year 1965”: Oct. 7 Three All-Day Odyssey Programs: > An Odyssey Sampler: 6 great lecturers: Oct. 17 > Mini-Academy (in Annapolis): the ISIS Threat: Oct. 28 > Cuba: The Time is Now: Nov. 21 > The Golden Age of Screwball: 5 Classic Hollywood Comedies: Nov. 2–30 > Jonathan Palevsky on the Piano and its Practitioners: Oct. 15 & 22, & performance by HSO with pianist Brian Ganz: Oct. 24
> James Harp on Die Fledermaus: Nov. 7 & 14, & performance by BCO Nov. 22 > Jonathan Palevsky on Handel’s Messiah: Nov. 24 & Dec. 1, & performance by BSO and Concert Artists of Baltimore Symphonic Chorale, at Meyerhoff: Dec. 6 > Picasso’s Sculpture: classes: Nov. 23–Dec. 7, plus Dec. 5 bus trip to MoMA (and the Whitney) > Plus many other courses in humanities, music and theater, current events, science and nature, writing, photography, and languages.
To register call (410) 516-8516
odyssey.jhu.edu 30