Bus Stop Program

inge

By William Inge Directed by David Schweizer

Nov 21–Dec 23

2012–13 season An Enemy of the People The Completely Fictional— Utterly True—Final Strange Tale of Edgar Allan Poe Bus Stop The Mountaintop Mud Blue Sky The Raisin Cycle

Clybourne Park Beneatha’s Place

Letter from the

Director

THE ENDURING AMERICAN In the pantheon of the great mid-20th-century American playwrights— Eugene O’Neil, Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams—William Inge is often included, but with a kind of modesty as the “quiet” one, the plainspoken one, known for his tales of the American heartland. There is a premonition of something folksy about to happen. His famous plays—Come Back, Little Sheba; Picnic; Bus Stop—are performed frequently by community theaters, even colleges and high schools. His writing seems to reinforce a nostalgic view of a lost America, of apple pie, and of mom and pop equipped with dreams of a good life. Theater as comfort food. Family fare. If you know his plays at all, isn’t this your perception of him?

REALLY? Doesn't Bus Stop feature a deviant alcoholic, a physically abusive cowboy who kidnaps a young woman to drag her across state lines, a lonely and sex-starved café owner, a brooding sheriff with a shady past, and many others—all thrown together against their will during a terrifying snow storm in a lonely remote Kansas whistle stop?

Does this sound like family fare?

The fact that it actually IS is not a misconception on the part of theater audiences who have savored this play for the last 60 years—since its triumphant 1955 Broadway opening, where it was hailed as charming and delightful. More accurately, Bus Stop defines the enduring appeal of the writing of William Inge, an isolated and unhappy man in his “real life,” whose best plays allowed his essentially lonely and heartsick characters to display a courage and lack of self-pity that compels them to be energetic, resourceful, and often hilarious in the pursuit of their goals. In case you haven’t yet seen this play, I won’t reveal here whether Bo, the rambunctious young cowboy, is able to persuade his love object, Cherie, the saloon singer from the Ozarks, to marry him in the end. (You may remember that Cherie was memorably played by Marilyn Monroe in the famous film version.) But I will say that the interactions of this group of travelers trapped all night in Grace’s Diner in the middle of Kansas are indeed highly entertaining as well as poignant—a combination that Inge masters with such delicacy in his “quiet” way that we are very nearly approaching an American Chekhov here.

Tennessee Williams might unleash his poetic eroticism, Arthur Miller might proclaim his cultural critique. William Inge buries his concerns about the fragility of the human heart deep within his characters as they do everything they can to press on—keep on living and moving forward, feisty, uncomplaining, courageous.

Like the good Americans we hope ourselves to be.

William Inge remains our home town poet.

No frills, just hard-earned wisdom.

Even 60 years later…

It’s a world we have been inspired to live in as we prepared this production for you. And your entire family!

David Schweizer, Director

Bus Stop

By William Inge • Directed by David Schweizer

Nov 21–Dec 23, 2012 Presenting Partner

Season Sponsors

Ellen and Ed Bernard Stephanie and Ashton Carter James and Janet Clauson Lynn and Tony Deering and The Charlesmead Foundation Jane and Larry Droppa Terry H. Morgenthaler and Patrick Kerins Judy and Scott Phares Phil and Lynn Rauch Jay and Sharon Smith Barbara Voss and Charles E. Noell, III

Associate Season Sponsor

Kathleen Hyle Kenneth C. and Elizabeth M. Lundeen

The Cast (in order of appearance)

Virgil Blessing Larry Tobias*

Director David Schweizer

Grace Hoylard Pilar Witherspoon*

Scenic Designer James Noone

Elma Duckworth Kayla Ferguson*

Costume Designer Clint Ramos

Will Masters Michael D. Nichols*

Lighting Designer James F. Ingalls

Cherie Susannah Hoffman*

Original Music & Sound Designer

Dr. Gerald Lyman Patrick Husted* Carl Malachy Cleary* Bo Decker Jack Fellows* Stage Manager Laura Smith* Assistant Stage Manager Captain Kate Murphy*

Season Partners

The Artistic Team

Lindsay Jones

Production Dramaturg Susanna Gellert Voice and Dialect Director Ashley Smith Fight Director Lewis Shaw Casting Director Pat McCorkle Additional Music by Larry Tobias

*Member of Actors’ Equity Association

The Setting

T. Rowe Price Foundation

Time: One snowy night in 1955.

Media Partners

Place: Grace's Diner, in a small town about 30 miles west of Kansas City.

Scene 1: 1 o'clock in the morning.

Scene 2: A few moments later.

Intermission Scene 3: Immediately following.

Scene 4: Dawn, some hours later.

Bus STop is made possible with support from Bus Stop is presented by special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc.

There will be One 15-minute intermission.

CENTERSTAGE 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.

Please turn off or silence all electronic devices.

In case of emergency (during performances only) 410.986.4080

By Kellie Mecleary, Artistic & Dramaturgy Senior Fellow

Something Like a Home “Mebbe I don’t know what love is.

Mebbe I’m expectin’ it t’be somethin’ it ain’t.”

—Bus Stop

“This nice well-bred next-door neighbor, with the accent that belongs to no region except the region of good manners, has begun to uncover a world within a world and it is not the world that his welcome prepared you to meet…”

—Tennessee Williams, “Williams about Inge: The Writing is Honest”

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illiam Inge’s life was not a life he was prepared to live. Known as “Billy” as a kid, he

was born on May 13, 1913 to Luther—a travelling salesman— and Maude Inge, in Independence, Kansas. The youngest of five, Billy was introverted and teased as a ‘mama’s boy’ when young.

At age seven, he recited a poem for his classmates to great acclaim, which sparked a dream that would last into his adult life: to become a famous actor. Kansas, he knew, was not for him.

He felt he had “nothing in common” with Kansas: it was “boring as hell” and he “wanted out,” as he told interviewer Digby Diehl.

So he planned to move to New York—city of bright lights and big dreams.

Delayed by the economic realities of the 1930s, it was not until Inge took a job as a drama critic in St. Louis in 1943 that his career as a dramatist really began to take shape. Here, Inge met Tennessee Williams, and followed the playwright to Chicago one weekend to see the pre-Broadway “break-in run” of The Glass Menagerie. He recalls, “It was so beautiful when I saw it there…it was the finest thing I’d seen in the theatre in years.

I went back to St. Louis and felt, ‘Well, I’ve got to write a play.’”

Inge got to work directly on early drafts of plays that would later become his greatest hits. The first piece to garner the attention of Williams’ agent, Audrey Wood, was Come Back, Little Sheba.

She set the play on the road to Broadway, which propelled Inge to move to New York and begin the successful, glamorous life he had been yearning for.

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In the move East, Inge, now known as Bill, sought to leave his Midwestern past behind, but quickly realized the impossibility of that goal. In fact, it was Inge’s Midwestern upbringing that defined him in New York. As he told Diehl, “It wasn’t until I got to New York that I became a Kansan. Everyone there kept reminding me that they were Jewish or Irish, or whatever, so I kept reminding them that I was Midwestern. Before I knew it, I actually began to brag about being from Kansas! I discovered I had something unique, but it was the nature of New York that forced me to claim my past.” The Midwest was one of the main ingredients for all of Inge’s most successful plays; Sheba, Picnic, Bus Stop, and Dark at the Top of the Stairs were all produced in succession, all hits, and all set in the Midwest.

While writing Bus Stop, Inge was effectively without a place he could call home: he could not go back to Kansas, and New York just wasn’t right. Nor had he found a person with whom he could openly, comfortably spend the rest of his life. But with his friends he was finding a kind of love—not love that looked like Bo and Cherie’s, but love, nonetheless. And perhaps, with that love, a kind of belonging. Love as a kind of home.

Along with stories, Inge brought to New York a Midwestern sensibility and perspective. The picture friends and biographers drew of Bill is that of someone sweet but shy. He opened up to few and spent a good deal of time alone. At parties, he was known to find a quiet corner and pass the evening sipping ginger ale and watching the other guests. There was much that many did not know about Bill. He had secrets, and felt the need to keep them— a habit that was also a product of his background. Inge was an alcoholic and a closeted homosexual, and was deeply ashamed to be so. Upon moving to New York, Inge’s secrets did not disappear— nor did his shame diminish.

Further, the success Inge craved and found proved to be very different from what he thought it would be: the pressure to continue succeeding crippled him at times. And the home he hoped to find in New York proved elusive: the city too cramped, too stressful, too big. A “hostile place,” as he put it. But he could not bring himself to go back to Kansas, even briefly. Twice he planned trips and began the trek west, only to turn back midjourney. It was not until after his father died that he made it back to Kansas, to visit his ailing mother. He stayed for only 24 hours.

Amid all of this, Inge wrote Bus Stop, which opened on March 2, 1955, and ran for 478 performances—his third hit in a row. Bus Stop, a play filled with lonely, wandering souls who find momentary rest and warmth in a congenial Kansas diner, was born out of a short play written in St. Louis called People in the Wind.

For Inge, Bus Stop was an exploration of several different kinds of love. He countered the central romantic storyline of Bo and Cherie with other, less conventional relations between the professor and the young waitress, the bus driver and the diner proprietor, and the two cowboys. “They all kind of play into a pattern…” said Inge.

Around this time, Inge had several close friends. Tennessee Williams was both confidant and competitor—their relationship at times rocky but ultimately enduring. He was also getting to know the actress Barbara Baxley, who described Inge as a “kindred soul.” Finally, there was the intermittent presence of eccentric George Faricy—although little is known about the man and their relationship.

Inge’s life didn’t end well. He met a great deal of criticism and failure in the years that followed his 1950s hits. In 1965, he bought a house in the hills of LA, and as he met more and more rejection and disappointment, became more and more of a recluse— quitting prestigious teaching positions, ignoring friends, and rarely leaving his isolated home. Inge took his own life on June 10, 1973.

But his work lives on. Inge’s most successful plays have been turned into films, are produced regularly in regional and local theaters, and frequently enjoy Broadway and Off-Broadway revivals. They deal, above all, with love and its necessity in life, inviting us to accept and understand the different forms love takes.

An understanding and acceptance Inge could not find for himself, but invites us to witness in a little Kansas diner in the middle of a snowstorm.

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Bus Stop | 3

B: JOPLIN “Anyway, second prize was good enough to get me to Kanz City t’enter the contest there.”

Amateur talent contests (like the one Cherie competed in) had their heyday in post-war America. Amateur Night at the Apollo and Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts were among the most famous, but small towns and cities throughout the country frequently hosted their own competitions. These events did not want for contestants as neighbors lined up for their chance at a big break. That well-known recording artists such Tony Bennett and Rosemary Clooney made it big through such competitions only fueled the fire.

A A: THE OZARKS “I lived there till the floods come, three years ago this spring and washed us all away.”

In July of 1951, a five-day rainstorm inundated Kansas and Missouri, flooding millions upon millions of acres throughout the southern Midwest. Newspapermen found the big story in Kansas City, where stockyards disappeared and rising rivers washed away bridges and the trains they carried. But devastation reigned across the region and people getting by in the low-lying lands were among the hardest hit.

In Bus Stop, Cherie tells the story of how her family split apart when the flood-waters came to her hometown of River Gulch. A fictional place that is simultaneously everywhere and nowhere in the Ozarks, Inge’s imagination made River Gulch a hometown in the soggy river bottom landscape of southern Missouri. It is a rural land of big families and broken dreams. If the flood washed away Cherie’s home, it also gave her the chance to escape to the big city where she just might become a star.

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C: KANSAS CITY “I jest came back from a rodeo where I won ‘ bout ev’ry prize there was.”

In 1899, Kansas City hosted the first nationwide event for the sale and exhibition of livestock. In a city where, as Rodgers and Hammerstein would tell us, “everything’s up to date,” it didn’t take long for this annual livestock fair to outgrow its origins and become the “American Royal,” so named with a nod to England’s Royal Agricultural Society. The fair added a horse show in 1907 and the rodeo arrived in 1949.

To this day, more than 50,000 people gather to trade livestock, discover new agricultural techniques, and participate in competitions ranging from barrel racing to bronco busting.

But the American Royal offered more than just an opportunity to show off.

Throughout the Twentieth Century, farmers and ranchers travelled to the fair where they could indeed get up to date on all the goings on in town.

Making their first journey to Kansas City, Bo and Virgil would have hoped to display their skills, to learn new ones and—of course—to win prizes and admirers. More than that, they would have looked forward to meeting a community larger than the one they had back home.

DINER

D D: TONGANOXIE “This is just a country town.”

We don’t know much about the time Inge spent in Tonganoxie, but we do know that a legend has grown up around his visits to the town. Indeed, the Myers Hotel, at the corner of 3rd and Main, claims that it is that restaurant with a bus stop where Inge met his Grace. We do know that the town has a hotel, a police station, a few churches, a school where a girl like Elma can dream of the day that someone will see past her glasses, and a restaurant like Grace’s where an independent woman can offer coffee and donuts to folks seeking shelter from a storm. A self-described “grass-widow,” Grace wouldn’t have been a total anomaly in the Midwest of the 1950s, but she certainly wouldn’t have been the norm. She lives on her own, happily estranged from her husband, running a business that welcomes strangers to town. In the character of Grace, Inge combined the traditional archetype of the hard-working farmwife with the figure of the independent woman that started to penetrate American culture following the Second World War. Inge would have met women like Grace in Tonganaxie, the town about 30 miles west of Kansas City where he is said to have found inspiration for his play. While teaching at Stephens College, Inge often rode the bus into town. These travels introduced him to many of the characters he later wrote into his play and it brought him to restaurants like Grace’s, where he would have seen firsthand many of the scenarios he created.

s Scenic Travels

By Susanna Gellert, Production Dramaturg

E: TOPEKA

F: WYOMING

“Didn’t you say there was a university in Topeka? ...Washburn University, of course! You know, it just occurs to me that I should stop there to check some references on a piece of research I’m engaged in.”

Growing up in the small town of Independence in the 1930s, William Inge looked forward to the day when he would go to the University of Kansas to study drama. For Inge, as for many looking to move beyond

E small town life of the early Twentieth Century, college provided the bridge to the fulfillment of big ambitions. With his move to New York City and eventual success as a playwright, Inge would ultimately succeed in transforming his college dreams into grown-up reality.

Before arriving in New York, however, he would spend some years fostering the dreams of others at Stephens University, a small women’s college in northern Missouri.

Unlike Dr. Lyman, Inge never thought himself a very good teacher even though he devoted himself to his students. What he and Lyman might have had in common, however, was the notion that their talents were being squandered in these small college towns.

““That’s all I ever get on my bus, drunks and hoodlums.”

During the Second World War, when the government rationed gasoline and manufacturers all but halted car production to supply the combat effort, inter-city bus travel in the USA hit its peak. The largest companies, Greyhound and Trailways, served diverse communities of riders, from troops making their way across the country to

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independent travelers looking for work in growing cities. As the war and rationing ended, and people started buying cars and travelling by plane, buses found themselves an outmoded form of transportation. Riders now were those who couldn’t afford to travel by other means and so-called “oldsters” habituated to long-distance bus rides.

Carl’s bus would have made the journey from Kansas City to Montana on slowmoving state roads and local byways.

Only after the passage of the Federal Highway Act of 1956, when the construction of the Interstate Highway system began, could buses travel on quick-paced roads. With the highways came sleek, new bus stops and futuristic buses whose speedy routes would have bypassed quiet diners like Grace’s.

G: TIMBER HILL, MT “I got a herd a fine Hereford cattle and a dozen horses, and the finest sheep and hogs anywhere in the country.”

Four-lane highways, television reaching from coast to coast, phone lines crisscrossing the land, electric light warming town and country: this was the landscape of modernity in America after the war. In a country that was flying headlong into the future, rural Montana would have looked for all the world like a place caught in time. It wasn’t until the 1970s that telephone service and power lines reached the state’s rural communities.

In Breaking Clean, a memoir of growing up on a big sky ranch in the late ’50s, Judy Blunt looks at a family photograph taken in 1958 and writes that “a stranger guessing the date of the photo would likely place it in the Great Depression rather than some 30 years later.”

G Given what we know about Bo Decker— he’s got $6,000 in the bank and a color TV—we can guess that his ranch on Timber Hill Mountain in Montana would have been somewhat more up to date than the one in that photograph. Young, ambitious, and in charge of his own place since the age of 10, Bo would have put his energy into growing his heard, expanding his acreage, and bolstering his reputation as a prime rancher.

Still, however many tractors he owned and however new his John Deere might be, his life on the ranch would have been a hard and solitary one. With the nearest town over an hour away and a home full of cowboys and ranch hands, a bus trip to Kansas City would have seemed like a journey into a new world and another time.

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Biog r aphies The Cast

Malachy Cleary*— Carl.

CENTERSTAGE: debut.

Broadway—Our Town (w/ Paul Newman), Larry Gelbart’s Mastergate. Off Broadway—Negro Ensemble: The Picture Box; Irish Rep: The Field; Working Theatre: Belmont Ave Social Club; New Georges; Rattlestick Productions; South Street Theater; Columbia U; Manhattan Theater Club. Regional—World’s End Theatre: The Way of the World (Mirabell), The Seagull (Trigorin); Kirby Center/Wilkes Barre: The Molly MaGuires (Fr. O’Connor); Theatreworks Hartford: Albee’s The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?; Syracuse Stage: Born Yesterday (Ed Devery); Virginia Stage; Actor’s Theatre of Louisville; Dallas Theater Center; The Olney; Seattle Rep; Asolo; Player’s Theatre-Columbus; Fleetwood Stage; Long Wharf; American Stage Company; TheaterFest New Jersey. Film/ TV—Taking Woodstock, Whirlygirl, The Day After, Heartbreak Hospital, A Dog Year, 666 Park Ave., Unforgettable, White Collar, Boardwalk Empire (Warren Harding), Onion News Network (David Barrodale), Rescue Me, Cashmere Mafia, PBS’ Novel Reflections: Seize the Day (Tommy Wilhelm), One Life to Live, The Sopranos, Day Zero, Law and Order, numerous commercials.

Susannah Hoffman*— Cherie. CENTERSTAGE:

debut. New York—… But the Next Morning (Celine); Romeo & Juliet (Juliet, Mercutio, Prince). Regional— ART: The Donkey Show, Best of Both Worlds, Sexual Perversity in Chicago (Deb), Paradise Lost (Pearl, u/s); ART Institute: Hamletmachine (Ophelia), Skin of Our Teeth, The Little Tragedies. Film/TV—Lament for the Artist. Education—MFA, ART/MXAT Institute for Advanced Theater Training at Harvard University; BA Psychology, St. Mary’s College of Maryland. Professional—member, Dangerous Ground Productions; member, Empirical Rogue. Extra heaps of love and gratitude to DG, DGP, J&K, and my DP.

Patrick Husted*— Dr. Gerald Lyman.

CENTERSTAGE: Galileo, Blythe Spirit. Off Broadway— The Mint Theater: Dr. Knock; New World Stages: Bill W. and Dr. Bob (Dr.Bob); the Pulitzer Prizewinning play Wit (Dr. Kelekian); Signature Theater: Arthur Miller’s The American Clock.

Regional—over 150 plays in theaters across the country. Film—upcoming roles in Low Life with Marion Cotillard and Joaquin Phoenix, The Place Beyond the Pines with Jack Fellows*—Bo Decker. Bradley Cooper, Gods Behaving Badly with Oliver Plat and Sharon Stone, Clutter with CENTERSTAGE: debut. New Carol Kane; others, including Blow with Ray York—2011 Fringe Festival: Liota, Cradle Will Rock written and directed Dreamplay. Regional— Connecticut: The Last Days of by Tim Robbins. TV—recently in Mildred Piece with Kate Winslet; numerous guest Judas Iscariot, Spring Awakening (Play), Guys and Dolls, Urinetown, star appearances on episodic shows including LA Law, Law and Order, L&O:SVU, Tommy, Comedy of Errors, Galileo, Pericles.

Film—Pentathlon, Threeway. Education: BFA, L&O:CI, Sopranos, Third Watch, Sisters.

University of Connecticut.

Michael D. Nichols*— Kayla Ferguson*— Will Masters. CENTERSTAGE: debut. Broadway— Elma Duckworth.

November (World Premiere CENTERSTAGE: debut. with Nathan Lane), One Flew New York—Radio Theatre Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (Tony, NYC: King Kong (Ann Darrow); The Heights Players: Best Revival; with Gary Sinese). Off Broadway—The Pearl Theatre: Exit the King, The Foreigner (Catherine); Co-Op Theatre Iphigenia at Aulis; New Victory Theatre: Tom East: Twelfth Night (Olivia). Education— Sawyer. Regional— Kansas City Repertory New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, Stella Adler Studio. For my Momma and Daddy. www.kaylaferguson.net

Bus Stop | 7

Biog r aphies The Cast [cont]

Theatre, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Syracuse Stage, Alley Theatre, Pioneer Theatre Company, Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, Goodspeed Opera House, Barrington Stage, Studio, Arena Stage, Orlando Shakespeare Festival, and Round House Theatre. TV—All My Children, Another World, As the World Turns, Days of Our Lives, General Hospital. Mr. Nichols is a Veteran of the U.S. Army and holds an MFA from the Old Globe Theatre.

Larry Tobias*—Virgil Blessing. CENTERSTAGE:

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or 50 years, CENTERSTAGE has served the greater Baltimore area with professional

theater of the highest caliber. The law firm of Kramon & Graham, P.A. recognizes that the

support of the corporate community is crucial to CENTERSTAGE’s continued success. We have, for many years, actively participated in supporting CENTERSTAGE, and look forward to continuing that support.

Law Offices

KRAMON & GRAHAM, P.A. Baltimore, Maryland www.kramonandgraham.com

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debut. New York—York Theatre: Almost Blue; UBU Rep: Alexander; Metropolitan Museum of Art/Cloisters: The Death of Pilate Pilate.

National Tours—Stand By Your Man, Big River, The Unsinkable Molly Brown, The Adventures of Lewis & Clark.

Regional— Flat Rock Playhouse: Smoke on the Mountain Homecoming; Charlotte Rep: All My Sons; Thalian Association: Cat On A Hot Tin Roof (w/ Pat Hingle); Studio Tenn: Our Town; GMT Regional Tour: Julius Caesar; Richmond Shakespeare Festival: The Tempest, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Macbeth; Cape Fear Regional Theater: Twelfth Night, Hamlet; Mountain Playhouse: Keep On The Sunny Side, Boeing Boeing, The Foreigner, Greater Tuna; Fireside Theater: Ring of Fire; Tennessee Rep: Big River; Virginia Musical Theater: Pump Boys and Dinettes; Theatre at Lime Kiln: Smoke on the Mountain.

Film/TV: The Angel Doll, Ball of Wax, Ding-A-Ling-Less, Donnie Brasco, Private Parts, Duncan’s World, A Gift of Love, NY Undercover, America’s Most Wanted.

Pilar Witherspoon*— Grace Hoylard.

CENTERSTAGE—debut.

International/Touring— Rezo Gabriadze’s acclaimed production of The Doctor and the Patient, opposite Mikhail Baryshnikov. New York—credits include Lincoln Center, Clubbed Thumb, Cherry Lane Theatre, The Drama League, New Dramatists, the Mint Theater Company, Playwrights Horizons, Roundabout Theatre, Second Stage Theatre. Regional—Guthrie Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Sundance Theatre Lab, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Barrington Stage Company, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Idaho Shakespeare Festival, St. Louis Shakespeare Festival, among many others. Film/TV—The Big C, Law and Order, L&O: SVU, Third Watch, Ten Stories Tall, The Taking of Beslan.

Other Professional—narrator for Recorded Books in New York City.

Awards—Fox Fellowship recipient.

Training—The Juilliard School. *Member of Actors’ Equity Association

Bus Stop | 9

CENTERSTAGE

Bus Stop

Standing ovation.

As we mark our 75th year in Baltimore, we join CENTERSTAGE in celebrating its own milestone anniversary—50 years of artistic excellence provided through thought-provoking theater for this great community.

That’s no small act.

We’re proud to be a long-time supporter of this remarkable cultural institution, which enriches our city’s quality of life.

As loyal fans, we say, Bravo!

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Biog r aphies The Artistic Team David Schweizer—Director.

CENTERSTAGE: The Rivals; Snow Falling on Cedars; Cyrano; Caroline, or Change; These Shining Lives; The Boys From Syracuse; Crumbs from the Table of Joy; Permanent Collection; The Miser; And God Created Great Whales. Broadway— Lincoln Center: Troilus and Cressida. Off Broadway—Horizon, Getting Home, Los Big Names, Songs from an Unmade Bed, White Chocolate, Wintertime, Cologne, And God Created Great Whales (Obie), It’s a Man’s World, Bad Sex with Bud Kemp, All for You, The Waiting Room, Booth, You Could Be Home Now, Kingfish, The Investigation of the Murder in El Salvador, Gogol, Earthworms, The Last Days of British Honduras, My Price Point. International Tours/Residencies—Warsaw; Prague; Lisbon; Hamburg; London; Stockholm; Oslo; Toga Village, Japan. Regional—La Jolla Playhouse; Kansas City Rep; McCarter; Seattle Rep; Arena Stage; Mark Taper; LATC; Pasadena Playhouse; Williamstown; Yale Rep; Trinity Rep; Geffen Playhouse. Opera— NYCO: The Mines of Sulfur; Glimmerglass: The Greater Good (world premiere); Boston Lyric Opera: The Emperor of Atlantis, Macbeth; Gotham Chamber Opera: Albert Herring; Long Beach: La Indian Queen, Elegy for Young Lovers, Powder Her Face, La Perichole, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat; Houston Grand Opera: Abduction from the Seraglio; Washington Arts Society: Nytrate Hymnal. Education—Yale School of Drama. Upcoming—Winter’s Journey, a new opera by Doug Cuomo.

James Noone—Scenic Designer.

CENTERSTAGE: Ah, Wilderness; Crumbs from the Table of Joy. Broadway—Match; Urban Cowboy; Jekyll & Hyde; A Class Act; Judgment at Nuremberg; The Rainmaker; Night Must Fall; The Sunshine Boys; The Gin Game; Inherit the Wind; Getting and Spending. Off Broadway—Fully Committed; Full Gallop; Three Tall Women; The Boys in the Band; Cowgirls; Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune; Breaking Legs; Lincoln Center; Playwrights Horizons; Second Stage; Vineyard. Regional—Guthrie; Shakespeare (DC); Chicago Shakespeare; Pittsburgh

Public; Huntington; Old Globe; Long Wharf; Goodspeed; Ravinia. Opera—HGO; NYCO; LA; Washington National; Portland; Canadian Opera Company. Awards— American Theatre Wing; Drama Desk; Helen Hayes.

Clint Ramos— Costume Designer.

CENTERSTAGE—Ah! Wilderness, And God Created Whales. Recent sets and/ or costumes—Public Theater: Wild With Happy, The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide…; CalShakes: Hamlet; Oregon Shakespeare Festival: Party People; Roundabout Theater: The Common Pursuit; Williamstown: The Elephant Man w/ Bradley Cooper; Playwrights Horizons: After The Revolution; Signature: Angels in America 1&2, Hurt Village. Other New York—Lincoln Center Theater, Second Stage, New York Theater Workshop, Culture Project, Foundry, Ma-Yi, Women’s Project, New Georges, Naatco, Clubbed Thumb, others. Regional—Alley, A.R.T, Asolo, Alliance, Dallas, Guthrie, Kansas City Rep, La Jolla Playhouse, Berkeley Rep, Huntington, Denver Center, Cleveland Playhouse, Cincinnati Playhouse, Long Wharf, Opera Boston, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, and others. International— Barbican, Thalia, Rijksteatern, O’Reilly, Kanon, Teatro Pilipino, and others. Honors/ Awards—2010 Lucille Lortel award, 2009 TDF Irene Sharaff award, 2007 & 2009 ATW Henry Hewes award, 2008 & 2010 Drama Desk nominations.

James F. Ingalls—Lighting Designer.

CENTERSTAGE: The Voysey Inheritance, Mary Stuart, Les Blancs, The Taming of the Shrew, Happy End, Ghosts, The Baltimore Waltz, Police Boys, The Broken Pitcher, Fool for Love, Buried Child, Who They Are and How It Is With Them, Native Speech, On the Verge or the Geography of Yearning, Execution of Justice, Our Town. Regional— Steppenwolf: Kafka on the Shore (dir. Frank Galati). Tours: Kafka Fragments (dir. Peter Sellars, w/ Dawn Upshaw and Geoff Nutall) at Lincoln Center, LA Philharmonic, Cal Performances/Berkeley; La Passion de Simone at Lincoln Center, Helsinki Festival, New Crowned Hope, Vienna. Opera—Paris

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Biog r aphies

The Artistic Team [cont]

support 50 Years of world-class theater CENTERSTAGE has reached a significant milestone—and we’re so glad you’ve chosen to be a part of the celebration.

This holiday season, please consider making a special gift to CENTERSTAGE in honor of our 50th Anniversary Season. Your support will

directly impact our ability to continue to serve thousands of Maryland residents each year through artistic, education, and community outreach programming. And the best part is, you will help ensure that CENTERSTAGE’s future is bright for the next 50 years.

Please visit www.centerstage.org/donate.

thank you for your support!

Opera/Bastille: Tristan und Isolde; Santa Fe Opera: Adriana Mater; Festival D’Aixen-Provence: Zaide. Dance—Mark Morris Dance Group: Romeo and Juliet: On Motifs of Shakespeare, Mozart Dances, King Arthur, The Hard Nut; Merce Cunningham Dance Company: Split Sides, Fluid Canvas.

He often collaborates with Saint Joseph Ballet, Santa Ana, CA.

Lindsay Jones— Original Music & Sound Designer. CENTERSTAGE:

Let There Be Love, Intimate Apparel.

Off Broadway—Public Theatre: Wild With Happy, The Brother/Sister Plays; Playwrights Horizons: The Burnt Part Boys; Primary Stages: Rx; New York Theatre Workshop: Top Secret; many others. Regional—McCarter; South Coast Repertory; Arena Stage; Goodman; Old Globe; Steppenwolf; Actors Theatre of Louisville; Guthrie; Hartford Stage; Chicago Shakespeare; Lookingglass Theatre Company; Yale Repertory; many others. International—Austria, Royal Shakespeare Company (England), Stratford Shakespeare Festival (Canada), and productions in Zimbabwe, South Africa, Scotland, and Austria. Film/TV scoring work—The Brass Teapot for Magnolia Pictures; A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin (2006 Academy Award Winner, Best Documentary Short Subject) for HBO Films. Awards—Six Joseph Jefferson Awards and 16 nominations; two Ovation Awards and three nominations; LA and SD Drama Critics Circle Award; two ASCAP Plus Awards; nominations for Drama Desk, Barrymore, Henry Hewes Design, and AUDELCO Awards; and was the first sound designer to win the Michael Maggio Emerging Designer Award.

Laura Smith*—Stage Manager.

$50-1 Hour Studio or Outdoor Photo Session and 20% off Your Order.

Mention Centerstage when booking your appointment.

Maureen (240-676-2837) & tracey (301-437-9388) mobilemomsphoto@live.com || Mobilemomsphoto.com 12 |

CENTERSTAGE

CENTERSTAGE: Resident Stage Manager; Stage Manager: An Enemy of the People; The Whipping Man, Gleam; The Rivals; Snow Falling on Cedars; Cyrano; Working it Out; Fabulation or, The Re-Education of Undine; Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?; Joe Turner’s Come and Gone. Regional—

Everyman: Pygmalion, Shipwrecked, The Exonerated, Rabbit Hole, Doubt, Gem of the Ocean, And a Nightingale Sang, The School for Scandal, A Number, Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me, Yellowman; Woolly Mammoth: Gruesome Playground Injuries, House of Gold, The Unmentionables, Vigils, After Ashley; Folger: Measure for Measure, The Comedy of Errors (ASM); Olney Theatre: Stuff Happens; Theater Alliance: Headsman’s Holiday, Pangea, [sic]; Catalyst: Cloud 9; Longacre Lea: Man with Bags.

Captain Kate Murphy*—Assistant Stage Manager. CENTERSTAGE: Resident

Stage Manager; Stage Manager for The Completely Fictional…Edgar Allan Poe, A Skull in Connemara, American Buffalo, Crime & Punishment, Let There Be Love, The Santaland Diaries; Assistant Stage Manager for An Enemy of the People, The Importance of Being Earnest, Things of Dry Hours, Trouble in Mind, Three Sisters, Radio Golf, The Murder of Isaac, Once on this Island, King Lear, Assistant Production Manager 2008–09. Regional—Trinity Rep: Boeing-Boeing; Actors Theatre of Louisville: All Hail Hurricane Gordo*, The Clean House, Moot the Messenger*, Dracula, The Ruby Sunrise*, Tall Grass Gothic*, The Drawer Boy, Amadeus, As You Like It (*premieres at the Humana Festival of New American Plays); Contemporary American Theater Festival: The Overwhelming, Pig Farm; Totem Pole Playhouse: Over 70 productions through 12 summer stock seasons. Film/TV—Route 30, Route 30 Too!, Next Food Network Star.

Proud Actors Equity and ASCAP Member.

Susanna Gellert—Production Dramaturg/Artistic Producer—joined

CENTERSTAGE in January 2012. Prior to joining CENTERSTAGE, she received a Masters from the subcommittee on Theater Studies at the English Department of Columbia University. Recent directing projects include Bar Joke by Sam Allingham (Old American Can Factory), Open the Dark Door by David Nugent (New York Music Theater Festival), Visiting Day by Andy Bragen (Sewanee Writers’ Conference), Fugue States (PS 122), You Can’t Take It With

You (University of Rochester), The Boss in the Satin Kimono (New York International Fringe Festival), The Duchess of Malfi (FSU/ Asolo Conservatory), and Marat/Sade (The Fisher Center for Performing Arts at Bard College). Additional New York directing credits include The Lacy Project (Soho Think Tank’s Ice Factory ’07, the Ohio Theater), adaptations of Tamburlaine the Great and Valkyrie (Target Margin Theater’s Laboratory), Match and L’Interieur (American Living Room), as well as workshops at the Lark, EST, and NYU. Susanna has taught at the University of Rochester, Bard College, Columbia University, and NYU. Susanna was the founding Artistic Director of Chicago’s I-80 Drama Co. and an associate artist at Target Margin Theater. Currently, she is a member of Wingspace Theatrical Design Group and the Women’s Project Directors’ Lab. A recipient of SDCF’s Sir John Gielgud Fellowship and the Julian Milton Kaufman Memorial Prize, Susanna is a graduate of Yale School of Drama and The University of Chicago.

Ashley Smith—Voice and Dialect Director. CENTERSTAGE: The Rivals.

Regional, voice and text—Studio Theatre: Sucker Punch; Victory Gardens Theatre: My Children! My Africa!; American Players Theatre: Exits and Entrances, The Circle; Dallas Theater Center: The Good Negro, Pride and Prejudice, Cat on A Hot Tin Roof, My Fair Lady. Regional, acting—Shakespeare Theatre Company: Much Ado About Nothing, All’s Well That Ends Well; Great Lakes Theatre Festival: Arms and the Man; Utah Shakespeare Festival: Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Our Town; Idaho Shakespeare Festival: Macbeth, Much Ado About Nothing; Dallas Theater Center: Pride and Prejudice, The Misanthrope, The Glass Menagerie. Education—University of Delaware. Professional—Assistant Professor of Voice and Acting, University of Maryland: School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies.

Lewis Shaw—Fight Director.

I want nothing better, more flexible, or more complete than the sonata form.

Hear Victor Danchenko and Soovin Kim perform Prokofiev’s Sonata in C major for Two Violins on Tuesday, Jan. 29, at 8:00 pm in Miriam A. Friedberg Hall To purchase tickets, call the Peabody Box Office at 410-234-4800 Visit www.peabody.jhu.edu/events for Audio Program Notes and the complete 2012-2013 Peabody Concert Calendar

AUDIO PROGRAM

Budding playwrights!

Maryland Students in grades K–12 are encouraged to submit their original plays to the 2013 Young Playwrights Festival.

Visit us at centerstage.org/ education.

Deadline: Fri, Feb 8, 2013

2013

CENTERSTAGE: Gleam, Crime & Punishment, Snow Falling on Cedars. Fight Direction— Bus Stop | 13

Donations being accepted nOW

Wednesday, February 6–Monday, February 25, 2013 Since its inception, the auction has raised close to $5 million for CENTERSTAGE programs and activities.

ONLINE ITEM PREVIEW: Wednesday, February 6–Saturday, February 9 ONLINE BIDDING: Sunday, February 10–Monday, February 25

To donate, contact Sydney Wilner, Auction Coordinator, at 410.986.4025, or swilner@centerstage.org.

Supported by:

Biog r aphies

The Artistic Team [cont] Everyman Theatre: Private Lives, All My Sons, Mystery of Irma Vep, Filthy Rich, Much Ado About Nothing; Baltimore Opera: Romeo et Juliette, Otello, Elektra, Aida; Studio Theatre: Frozen, Mojo; Rep Stage: Bach at Leipzig, Lonesome West, Swan; Globe Theatre, London (Workshop Season); Shakespeare Theatre: Taming of the Shrew; over 40 episodes of America’s Most Wanted. Other Professional— Weapons and Specialty Prop Design, Broadway: Addams Family, Life in Theatre, Shrek, Pirate Queen, Aida, Scarlet Pimpernel, Tarzan; West End: Royal Family.

Regional: Ben-Hur Live, Metropolitan Opera, Baltimore Opera, Washington Opera, Folger Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre. Film/TV: Killer Joe, Death Games.

Teaching—Certified Teacher with the Society of American Fight Directors and on faculty for the Opera Studio at University of Maryland, College Park.

Pat McCorkle— Casting Director.

A place where Edgar Allan Poe and Baltimore are celebrated on a daily basis. reservations suggested 601 South Clinton Street, Baltimore, MD 21224 410.522.2929 | www.annabelleetavern.com

CENTERSTAGE: Gleam. Pat McCorkle (C.S.A.) and associate, Joe Lopick, cast the critically acclaimed Tribes and Our Town for Barrrow Street Theatre in New York. Memorable Broadway casts include End of the Rainbow, The Lieutenant Of Inishmore, The Glass Menagerie, Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, The Ride Down Mt. Morgan, Amadeus, She Loves Me, Blood Brothers, A Few Good Men, among many others.

Notable Off Broadway projects include Almost Maine, Ears on a Beatle, Down the Garden Paths, Killer Joe, Mrs. Klein, Driving Miss Daisy. A partial list of feature film projects include Premium Rush, Ghost Town, Secret Window, Basic, Tony and Tina’s Wedding, The Thomas Crown Affair, The 13th Warrior, Madeline, Die Hard with a Vengeance, School Ties, etc, and for television, humans for Sesame Street, Californication (Emmy nomination), Hack, Strangers with Candy, Barbershop, Chapelle’s Show, among several others. *Member of Actors’ Equity Association

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CENTERSTAGE

Biog r aphies

FYI

The Staff

Artistic Director Kwame Kwei-Armah OBE,

an award-winning British playwright, director, actor, and broadcaster, is in his second season as Artistic Director. At CENTERSTAGE he has directed An Enemy of the People, last season’s The Whipping Man, and previously Naomi Wallace’s Things of Dry Hours. Among his works as playwright are Elmina’s Kitchen and Let There Be Love—which had their American debuts at CENTERSTAGE—as well as A Bitter Herb, Statement of Regret, and Seize the Day. Kwame has served on the boards of The National Theatre and The Tricycle Theatre, both in London.

He served as Artistic Director for the World Arts Festival in Senegal, a monthlong World Festival of Black Arts and Culture, which featured more than two thousand artists from 52 countries participating in 16 different arts disciplines.

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,

a leader on the national arts scene for more than 30 years, joined CENTERSTAGE in January 2012. Stephen comes most recently from a position as Vice President, External Relations, for the new National Children’s Museum. Previously, he served 18 years as Executive Director of Arena Stage, where he planned and managed the theater’s $125 million capital campaign for the Mead Center for American Theater.

Also a professor of Arts Management at Georgetown University, he has 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, League of Resident Theatres, and Theatre Communications Group. twitter: @sjrcenterstage

Audience Services Associate Artistic Director/Director of Dramaturgy Gavin Witt came to CENTERSTAGE

in 2003 as Resident Dramaturg, having served in that role previously at several Chicago theaters. As a dramaturg, he has worked on well over 60 plays, from classics to new commissions—including play development workshops and freelance dramaturgy for TCG, The Playwrights Center, The New Harmony Project, The Old Globe, Bay Area Playwrights Festival, CATF, The Kennedy Center, and others. A graduate of Yale and the University of Chicago, he was active in Chicago theater for more than a decade as an actor, director, dramaturg, translator, and teacher, not to mention co-founder of greasy joan & co. theater, while serving as a regional Vice President of LMDA, the national association of dramaturgs. He has been on the faculty of the University of Chicago and DePaul University, and locally at Towson University.

Pre-Show Dining Visit Sascha’s Express, our preperformance dinner service located just up the lobby stairs in our Mezzanine Café. Featuring delicious prix fixe dining, service begins two hours before each performance. You’ll find the current menu at www.centerstage.org/saschas.

Accessibility Programs Wheelchair-accessible seating is available for every performance.

For patrons who are hearing impaired, we offer assistive listening devices at no charge. An Open Captioned performance is available for one Sunday performance of each Classic Series production for deaf and hearing impaired patrons. Several performances also feature Audio Description, and Braille programs or magnifying glasses are available upon request.

On-Stage Smoking When a play requires on-stage smoking, we use tobacco-free herbal imitations and do everything possible to minimize the amount of smoke that drifts into the audience. If you’re smoke-sensitive, be sure to let our Box Office know.

Photography & Recording Prohibited Because of copyright and union regulations, photography or recording of performances—both audio and video—is strictly forbidden.

Be Courteous Please silence your cell phone, pager, or other electronic devices both before the show starts and after intermission.

And, while you’re welcome to take beverages with lids to your seat, eating is never allowed inside the theater.

Anything else we can do?

CENTERSTAGE wants every patron to have an enjoyable, stress-free experience. Your feedback and suggestions are always welcomed: info@centerstage.org.

Bus Stop | 15

16 |

CENTERSTAGE

Focu s

From YPF to My America

By Kiirstn Pagan, Marketing and Public Relations Fellow

The Young Playwrights Festival is one of CENTERSTAGE’s oldest educational programs.

In 1985, CENTERSTAGE recognized that a new generation of playwrights should be cultivated to continue the growth of original work and complement its professional new play development. Now entering its 27 th year, the 2013 Festival will accept submissions through February 2013, encouraging the involvement of up-and-coming theater makers throughout the state. Each spring CENTERSTAGE presents a selection of the plays at a staged performance—complete with sets, costumes, and lights.

Juliana Avery first became involved with CENTERSTAGE as a participant in the 2002 Young Playwrights Festival. Her play, In the Bag, was selected as a finalist when she was in 11th grade at Magruder High School in Montgomery County. The play follows two men, one younger and one older, who meet outside of a department store while holding their wives’ purses, patiently waiting as the unseen women shop inside. As they wait, the men talk about life, love, and the privileges of partnership.

In April 2012, at CENTERSTAGE’s Annual Gala, In the Bag was brought back to Calvert Street, performed alongside honorees from that year and other scripts from the Festival’s past. Avery says that she was nervous to see her piece remounted: “It’s not something I get to go back to a lot…

But it went better than I expected it would; I was thrilled to see it again.”

While at the Gala, Avery (and 500 other guests) was introduced to CENTERSTAGE’s newest artistic initiative, My America. In January 2012, the theater’s artistic team asked 50 American playwrights to answer the question “What is my America?” with a three-minute monologue. The writers jumped at the chance, and the result was more than 50 brand new works. At the Gala, actor Delroy Lindo performed one of

Top: Juliana Avery (photo by Richard Anderson).

Bottom: John Ramsey and Michael Micalizzi in Avery’s In the Bag at the 2012 Gala for CENTERSTAGE.

and [only one of my four grandparents went to college]. Now here we are a couple of generations later and things are very different. I was thinking about that experience and the evolving idea of the American Dream. There’s an opportunity, but also a responsibility, when you’ve had a lot of good fortune to really push the barriers and live your dreams and that can be very complicated and frustrating.”

the first monologues submitted, written by playwright Lynn Nottage. A few months later, in August 2012, Avery was asked to write her own monologue to contribute to the project.

“CENTERSTAGE Associate Artistic Director, Gavin Witt, actually contacted me and said, ‘Would you be willing to give it a shot as someone who did YPF? We’d love to hear what you think.’ He compared it to a 24-hour film festival: I had three days, three nights.”

Avery set to writing the monologue, starting where Lynn Nottage had: looking at big, overarching political ideals. While she recognized these as important, she says her initial ideas felt too preachy, and so she decided to look at her own life and family.

“I’m a middle class girl from the suburbs of DC, but that’s part of the American experience as well. I think every family has their struggles. My grandmother grew up in a household that spoke primarily German

After a whirlwind three days, Avery penned The Dream. The monologue is delivered by a young woman at a job interview who speaks of Abraham Maslow’s Pyramid of Happiness, relating her family’s experiences in America since arriving in the mid-19th century, and the expectations that success has place on her: It’s not enough to be…content.

You’ve got to be someone. … I’m the culmination of generations of work and I can’t just let that go to waste by being nobody. I’ve got to live my goddamned dream...

The Dream was one of five un-filmed monologues in the My America series (50 were filmed by Hal Hartley and Possible Films for release online), but was performed live at the My America premiere event in September 2012. Says Avery, “When you do something so short and fast, you’re not sure how it’s going to turn out, but I was pleased with it. It was a very positive experience.”

Avery continues to pursue a career in theater.

She holds a degree in playwriting from NYU’s dramatic writing program and is a part of Playwrights Gymnasium, a writer’s group located in Washington, DC, alongside fellow My America playwright Rich Espey.

“I’m still with it, still working on it, it’s still a work in progress. But it’s definitely still the dream.” ö The Young Playwrights Festival is supported by:

My America is supported by: Lynn and Tony Deering and The Charlesmead Foundation Bus Stop | 17

Next Up

3 P a c k Memberships Three plays, Your Way! It’s not too late to become a Member! For a limited time only, select any three shows remaining in our 2012–13 Season and save up to 37% off the full price!

$79 Previews $99 Weekdays $129 Weekends

Buy yOurS TODAy— in person, call, or go online!

Dr. martin Luther King receives a mysterious visitor on his final night at the Lorraine Hotel.

Jan 9–Feb 24

410.332.0033 • centerstage.org

By Katori Hall Directed by Kwame Kwei-Armah

for stealing the show.

Inspiring. Thought Provoking. PNC is proud to sponsor CENTERSTAGE. Because we appreciate all that goes into your work.

pnc.com

©2012 The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. All rights reserved. PNC Bank, National Association. Member FDIC

18 |

CENTERSTAGE

co nversat io n s

with Kwame and Stephen

Can you share a favorite or vivid holiday memory from your childhood?

Stephen Richard • I remember my dog, Poquito, who we discovered on the table, having eaten the Christmas dinner. That is the most vivid memory I have, sad but true.

Kwame Kwei-Armah • My most vivid memory was when I was about 15 and the family went to Grenada for Christmas. My uncle, who was a farmer, says, “What do you want for Christmas dinner tomorrow?

Should it be beef, should it be turkey, should it be chicken…?” And we all thought, oh, it would be nice to have beef. And he went and killed the cow that was literally in front of us. [Both laughing] They lived real lives!

SR • Said the vegetarian!

KKA • My sister became a vegetarian from that day—as we sat, looking at what had been Betsy on the Christmas dinner table.

My sister never ate meat again, and I’ve never had beef again. I just eat chicken.

Each program this season will include a short conversation between CENTERSTAGE’s fearless leaders.

Could you share a favorite holiday tradition that you had growing up that you still practice, or a new tradition you started with your families?

KKA • In my immediate family, as in my nuclear family, we don’t really celebrate Christmas, we celebrate Kwanzaa. We started doing that about 20 years ago.

What I love about the holiday season is that my children can go to their grandparents’ house, and enjoy the tradition of getting presents from there. Then coming home, we do the wonderful thing that I love about Kwanzaa, which is talking about how one serves the community. I enjoy reading with my children, and them writing essays and presenting to the rest of the family what they intend to do for themselves and for their family and for the community— that’s a real high point of the holiday season for me.

SR • The one tradition that we started in my grown-up family, with my son and my former wife, was we would take in theater orphans for Christmas. We would take in actors or sometimes interns, people who were working in such a way that they could not get to family and were going to have their Christmas dinner at McDonalds or something. It was always such a nice tradition. Perhaps it’s time to restart that.

Is there a holiday celebration that occurs in Baltimore, or in the region, that you enjoy, or are hoping to try this year?

KKA • I did the monument lighting [in Mount Vernon] last year with the family, and it was great fun. We’ll do that one again this year without a shadow of a doubt.

SR • I’m very curious about the Hampden parade. I will definitely do that this year.

A number of times in the past we were lucky enough to be invited to the lighting of the National Christmas Tree at the White House, and that’s a pretty cool celebration.

KKA • Can you get me one of those, sir?

SR • That depends on—well, I guess we know who will be the President this year….

Do either of you have a holiday travel horror story?

SR • I was presenting a ballet company in Savannah, Georgia, with my wife— this was 20-plus years ago. We thought, surely we won’t have any trouble finding a Thanksgiving meal somewhere. A few hours later—after hours of driving—we ended up having our Thanksgiving meal at a truck stop outside of Savannah. Not a horror story, I guess. In fact, it’s kind of wonderful, in a perverse way.

We encourage you to join the conversation!

You can find us on Facebook, Twitter, or just email hjackson@centerstage.org with your questions for Kwame and Stephen. centerstagemd

@centerstage_md Bus Stop | 19

Holiday Shopping Made Easy!

Looking for just the perfect present for your child’s teacher, a coworker, or maybe even yourself? Give the gift of theater tickets. From now until December 31 you can purchase our Holiday Gift Pack, which entitles the recipient(s) to four tickets, good for any performance, any night*, and any seat for only $100.

Detach gift certificate below Robert Dorfman; Justin Scott Brown and Dana Steingold; Gretchen Hall and Avery Brooks; Bruce Randolph Nelson.

Photos by Richard Anderson.

Call the Box Office at 410.332.0033 or visit us online at www.centerstage.org/GiftPack to set up this Gift Pack for yourself or a loved one.

OR Detach the Gift Pack Certificate included here and fill it out with the information the Box Office gives you.

[If you need more than one, we’ll be happy to send additional certificates.] *Opening Nights are excluded. Gift Packs redeemable for four tickets each.

Additional tickets [in multiples of four] may be purchased at retail price.

This Gift Pack Certificate

is a gift from ______________________ and entitles the bearer ____________________ to four tickets to use for any performance* remaining in the 2012–13 50 th Anniversary Season at CENTERSTAGE. Simply call the Box Office to redeem at 410.332.0033 and refer to Order Number _________. *Opening Nights are excluded.

20 |

CENTERSTAGE

50 th An ni versary

The Third Decade: Growth & New Voices

As we move through our landmark anniversary season, we invite you to help us celebrate our past. For videos, audio interviews, and memories of our history, visit www.centerstage.org/anniversary.

1975–199 1 Between 1975 and 1991 Stan Wojewodski, Jr. served as Artistic Director. Throughout his tenure, Wojewodski personally directed over 40 productions, challenging audiences with an artistically adventurous, intellectually rigorous repertoire and furthering the theater’s reputation as a bold leader at the vanguard of the national regional theater movement.

Under Wojewodski’s leadership, and financed by a National Endowment of the Arts Challenge Grant, First Stage was launched in 1979, allowing for the development of new works by commissioning new playwrights.

First Stage also enabled directors and writers to workshop new plays before an audience. Over the course of the project, several plays would return to CENTERSTAGE as full productions.

In this period, CENTERSTAGE grew to be a bedrock of the regional theater community. Actors such as John Goodman, Patricia Gage, Kyra Sedgwick, Terry O’Quinn, and Samuel L. Jackson took a turn on the theater’s boards before becoming household names through television or film. Debut works by the likes of playwright Eric Overmyer and such directors as Hal Prince also marked CENTERSTAGE's role in the greater theater world.

In March of 1978, the Maryland General Assembly officially honored CENTERSTAGE as the State Theater of Maryland, formally recognizing the leading role the theater continued to demonstrate within the Baltimore cultural community and beyond. In April of the same year, WBAL-AM and CENTERSTAGE began an unusual and exciting partnership, as the radio station aired the first of what would

be 33 years of on-air radio auctions for the theater. The annual auction (now held online) became a well-loved event and a major fundraiser for the theater’s educational and artistic endeavors.

In 1985, the Young Playwrights Festival celebrated its debut. This award-winning educational program still thrives today, receiving hundreds of original scripts each year from student playwrights throughout Maryland. Plays by selected honorees receive staged public productions featuring professional actors at the annual festival.

To accommodate the theater’s growing audience and broad artistic ambitions, the Calvert Street building’s facilities soon expanded as well. In October of 1990, CENTERSTAGE dedicated the downstairs theater in honor of benefactors Peggy, Richard, and Esther Pearlstone. Not long afterward, in February of 1991, an innovative, flexible new performance space was added on the fourth floor as part of a major building renovation. The Head Theater, named for longtime trustee Howard Head and his wife Martha, opened with the world premiere of Overmyer's The Heliotrope Bouquet By Scott Joplin & Louis Chauvin. As Managing Director Peter Culman observed at the time, “The imagination of the production complemented the imagination of The Head Theater.”

At the end of the 1990–91 Season, Stan Wojewodski stepped down after 16 years at the helm to accept the position of Dean of the Yale School of Drama. Irene Lewis would soon take the reins as Artistic Director, propelling CENTERSTAGE into a new period of innovation and outreach.

Visit www.centerstage.org/anniversary for a more in-depth look at our history— and keep an eye on the programs throughout the season as we chronicle each era of CENTERSTAGE’s growth in the Baltimore community.

Top to bottom: Stan Wojewodski, Jr.; cleaning out the fourth floor in what would become The Head Theater; Opening of The Head Theater.

Bus Stop | 21

To celebrate its 50th Anniversary, CENTERSTAGE asked 50 American playwrights to answer a simple question: What is my America?

The responses, captured in 50 new monologues filmed by awardwinning director Hal Hartley and Possible Films, range from the political to the personal, and form a snapshot of our nation through the eyes of its playwrights.

CENTERSTAGE would like to thank Lynn and Tony Deering and The Charlesmead Foundation for sponsoring this project, and all of those who commissioned individual monologues: The William L. and Victorine Q. Adams Foundation and The Rodgers Family Fund

Denise and Philip Andrews Peter and Millicent Bain Penny Bank

Ellen and Ed Bernard

Sylvia and Eddie Brown Stephanie and Ashton Carter

Mame Hunt Kathi Hyle

The Staff at CENTERSTAGE

Bob and Townsend Kent

Jim and Lynn Strott

Murray and Joan Kappelman Patrick Kerins

John Laporte

Kenneth C. and Elizabeth M. Lundeen

Michelle McKenna-Doyle

John and Mary Messmore

Brian Comes and Ray Mitchener

Tom and Cindi Monahan

Jane and Larry Droppa

Mr. and Mrs. J. William Murray

Scott and Kim David

John Gerdy and E. Follin Smith

Carole and Neil Goldberg

Adam and Fredye Gross Bob and Cheryl Guth

Richard and Margaret Himelfarb

Cheryl Hudgins Williams and Alonza Williams

Scott and Mimi Somerville

Terry Morgenthaler

Tommy and Sally O’Brien Lee and Marilyn Ogburn

Judy and Scott Phares

Mr. and Mrs. Philip Rauch

Stephen Richard

Matthew and Dana Slater

Hank Stewart and Joyce Ulrich

Louis B. Thalheimer and Juliet A. Eurich Donald and Mariana Thoms

Transamerica Financial Solutions Group Katherine L. Vaughns

The Dedicated Volunteers at CENTERSTAGE Barbara Voss and Charles E. Noell, III

Ellen Remsen Webb and J.W. Thompson Webb

Patricia Yevics-Eisenberg and Stewart Eisenberg

Steven Ziger and James Snead

Jay Smith

Sharon Smith

Go online to www.centerstage.org/myamerica to view all of the videos, or stop by the Media Wall in the lobby.

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CENTERSTAGE

Pr e v ie w:

The Mountaintop

By Katori Hall • Directed by Kwame Kwei-Armah • Jan 9–Feb 24, 2013

By Gavin Witt, Associate Artistic Director

Katori Hall

“The truth ain’t gotsta to be fair.

It’s the truth.”

The Lorraine Hotel. April, 1968. In room 306, Dr. King unwinds and prepares. A visit from a hotel maid offers welcome diversion and a challenging new perspective—but also raises profound and surprising questions. Already an international sensation— winner of London’s Olivier Award in its West End debut and recently hailed in a star-studded Broadway production—Katori Hall’s dynamic new play gets its first showing for Baltimore audiences at CENTERSTAGE starting January 9, 2013.

As much as Hall’s play offers a fantasia on the final hours of one of history’s monumental men, she also uses The Mountaintop to explore a more personal story, uniting three generations of the women in her family. Memphis natives, Hall’s mother and grandmother were looking forward to hearing Dr. King speak during his 1968 visit in support of the sanitation workers strike.

But when word spread, all-too-plausibly, of a planned bombing at the Mason Temple, they stayed home; Hall’s mother, Carrie Mae, then only 15, was left pleading in vain with “Big Momma” to let her go.

Instead, missing the speech became a lifelong regret. Now, in Hall’s hands, Carrie Mae becomes Camae, the hotel maid who spends a few of those fateful final hours with King. There in his room at the Lorraine Motel, he is not just a figure of legend; he is also a husband, father, leader, colleague, and man, who could inspire many and yet doubt himself. He is the myth, and the

human behind the myth. And the seemingly innocuous, nearly anonymous maid more than holds her own with the icon and the man. Partly based on Carrie Mae’s missed opportunity, Hall has said that Camae also bears traces of her mother in other ways, and she provides a distinctive contrast to the Reverend. This outspoken working woman offers Dr. King a chance to unburden, but also finds a way to have her say. And what a say she turns out to have.

The speech that Dr. King gave in Carrie Mae’s absence, with its prophetic gaze into the future and equally prophetic foreboding of the next night’s assassination, has become one of the more famous among a long list of King’s noted orations. In it, King imagines himself gazing like Moses into a Promised Land he may never reach, but peaceful and happy to have led the way there. When he was killed the following evening, the prophetic seemed prescient. In The Mountaintop, Katori Hall goes back in time to give her mother the chance encounter she never got; but she also offers a fantastical, imaginative reflection on all those prophetic overtones that shroud the Memphis visit. Her play offers a panoramic view that goes well beyond the events of 1968—and invites us to consider roads travelled and still untrodden. After all, as Hall so powerfully envisions in her theatrical duologue, we are all at once witnesses to history and participants in it. Come play your part. Œ

“Well, as you can tell...I ain’t yo’ ordinary ole maid.”

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S u ppo rt in g the Annual Fund @ CENTERSTAGE July 1, 2011– October 17, 2012

The following list includes gifts of $250 or more—individual, corporate,

foundation, and government contributions—made to the CENTERSTAGE Annual

Fund between July 1, 2011 and October 17, 2012. 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 CENTERSTAGE.

We couldn’t do it without you!

50 th Anniversary Season Presenting Sponsor

Corporate Sponsors

Media Partners

Season Sponsors

Ellen and Ed Bernard Stephanie and Ashton Carter James and Janet Clauson Lynn and Tony Deering and The Charlesmead Foundation Jane and Larry Droppa Terry H. Morgenthaler and Patrick Kerins Judy and Scott Phares Phil and Lynn Rauch Jay and Sharon Smith Barbara Voss and Charles E. Noell, III

T. Rowe Price Foundation

Associate Season Sponsors Kathleen Hyle

Kenneth C. and Elizabeth M. Lundeen

INDIVIDUALS & FOUNDATIONS The CENTERSTAGE Society represents donors who, with their annual contributions of $2,500 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.

Artists Circle ($25,000+)

The William L. and Victorine Q. Adams Foundation and The Rodgers Family Fund The Miriam and Jay Wurtz Andrus Trust Ellen and Ed Bernard Stephanie and Ashton Carter The Annie E. Casey Foundation The Charlesmead Foundation James and Janet Clauson Lynn and Tony Deering Edgerton Foundation New American Play Awards Kathleen Hyle Kenneth C. and Elizabeth M. Lundeen Marilyn Meyerhoff Terry H. Morgenthaler and Patrick Kerins Judy and Scott Phares Mr. and Mrs. Philip Rauch George Roche Mr. and Mrs. George M. Sherman The Shubert Foundation, Inc. Mr. and Mrs. Robert W. Smith, Jr. Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust Ms. Barbara Voss and Charles E. Noell, III

Producers Circle ($10,000–$24,999)

Peter and Millicent Bain The William G. Baker, Jr. Memorial Fund Penny Bank The Jacob and Hilda Blaustein Foundation, Inc.

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CENTERSTAGE

The Bunting Family Foundation Mr. and Mrs. George L. Bunting The Helen P. Denit Charitable Trust Ms. Nancy Dorman and Mr. Stanley Mazaroff Mr. and Mrs. Larry D. Droppa John Gerdy and E. Follin Smith The Goldsmith Family Foundation The Laverna Hahn Charitable Trust Martha Head J.I. Foundation Mr. and Mrs. E. Robert Kent, Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Samuel G. Macfarlane Mr. and Mrs. J. William Murray Mr. Louis B. Thalheimer and Ms. Juliet A. Eurich Ms. Katherine L. Vaughns

Playwrights Circle ($5,000–$9,999)

Anonymous Ms. Katharine C. Blakeslee Henry and Ruth Blaustein Rosenberg Foundation James T. and Francine G. Brady Sylvia and Eddie Brown The Nathan & Suzanne Cohen Foundation The Cordish Family The Jane and Worth B. Daniels, Jr. Fund of the Baltimore Community Foundation Brian and Denise Eakes Fascitelli Family Foundation Dr. and Mrs. Neil D. Goldberg

Donald and Sybil Hebb Mr. and Mrs. Martin Hill Murray and Joan Kappelman Francie and John Keenan Kwame and Michelle Kwei-Armah The John J. Leidy Foundation, Inc. The Macht Philanthropic Fund Robert E. Meyerhoff and Rheda Becker John and Susan Nehra Stephen Richard and Mame Hunt The Jim & Patty Rouse Charitable Foundation Dr. Edgar and Betty Sweren, in honor of Kwame Kwei-Armah and his OBE Award Recognition Mr. and Mrs. J.W. Thompson Webb Ms. Linda Woolf

directors Circle ($2,500–$4,999)

Anonymous The Lois and Irving Blum Foundation, Inc. Drs. Joanna and Harry Brandt Mary Catherine Bunting August and Melissa Chiasera The Mary & Dan Dent Fund of the Baltimore Community Foundation Mr. and Mrs. Walter B. Doggett, III Mr. and Mrs. Michael Falcone Dick and Maria Gamper Ms. Suzan Garabedian The Harry L. Gladding Foundation/ Winnie and Neal Borden Goldseker Foundation/Ana Goldseker

Fredye and Adam Gross Robert and Cheryl Guth F. Barton Harvey, III and Janet Marie Smith, in honor of Peter Culman The Hecht-Levi Foundation, Inc. Dr. and Mrs. J. Woodford Howard The Harley W. Howell Charitable Foundation Ms. Sherrilyn A. Ifill Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Immelt Mr. and Mrs. Herschel L. Langenthal Jonna and Fred Lazarus Mrs. Diane Markman Linda and John McCleary Mr. and Mrs. John L. Messmore Jim and Mary Miller Jeannie Murphy Dr. and Mrs. Lawrence C. Pakula Marjorie Rodgers Cheshire and Mark Cheshire Monica and Arnold Sagner Scot T. Spencer Mr. Michael Styer Mr. and Mrs. Donald and Mariana Thoms Trexler Foundation, Inc. - Jeff Abarbanel and David Goldner Kathryn and Mark Vaselkiv Mr. and Mrs. Loren and Judy Western Scott and Mary Wieler Ted and Mary Jo Wiese Cheryl Hudgins Williams and Alonza Williams Sydney and Ron Wilner

INDIVIDUALS & FOUNDATIONS Associates

($1,000–$2,499) Anonymous Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Bank Family Fund of the Baltimore Community Foundation Ms. Taunya Banks Donald Bartling Mr. and Mrs. Marc Blum John and Carolyn Boitnott Dr. and Mrs. Donald D. Brown Sandra and Thomas Brushart Maureen and Kevin Byrnes Meredith and Joseph Callanan The Campbell Foundation, Inc. Caplan Family Foundation, Inc. Sally and Jerry Casey John Chester Ann K. Clapp Dr. Joan Develin Coley and Mr. Lee Rice Constantinides Family Foundation Robert and Janice Davis The Richard & Rosalee C. Davison Foundation Mr. James H. DeGraffenreidt, Jr. and Dr. Mychelle Y. Farmer Albert F. DeLoskey and Lawrie Deering Rosetta and Matt DeVito Mr. Jed Dietz and Dr. Julia McMillan Mr. and Mrs. Eric Dott Ms. Lynne Durbin and JohnFrancis Mergen Jack and Nancy Dwyer Patricia Yevics-Eisenberg and Stewart Eisenberg Buddy and Sue Emerson, in appreciation of Ken and Elizabeth Lundeen Mr. and Mrs. Matthew Freedman Frank and Jane Gabor Jose and Ginger Galvez Jonathan and Pamela Genn, in honor of Cindi Monahan and Beth Falcone Ms. Sandra Levi Gerstung Janet and John Gilbert Annie Groeber, in honor of Dr. John E. Adams Stuart and Linda Grossman H.R. LaBar Family Foundation Fund of The Greater Cincinnati Foundation Bill and Scootsie Hatter Sandra and Thomas Hess Drs. Dahlia Hirsch and Barry Wohl, in honor of Carole Goldberg Mr. and Mrs. Leonard Homer Mr. and Mrs. James Hormuth The A. C. and Penney Hubbard Foundation Mr. and Mrs. Theodore Imes Joseph J. Jaffa Mr. and Mrs. Mark Joseph Francine and Allan Krumholz Mr. and Mrs. Mark and Sandra Laken Joseph M. and Judy K. Langmead Dr. and Mrs. George Lentz, Jr. Marty Lidston and Jill Leukhardt Mr. and Mrs. Earl & Darielle Linehan/Linehan Family Foundation Maryland Charity Campaign Michelle McKenna-Doyle Joseph and Jane Meyer Tom and Cindi Monahan

Ms. Stacey Morrison and Mr. Brian Morales Mr. and Mrs. Lee Ogburn Ms. Jo-Ann Mayer Orlinsky Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Panitz Fund of the Baltimore Community Foundation, in honor of Peter Culman Ms. Beth Perlman Ronald and Carol Reckling Ms. Kathleen C. Ridder, in honor of Peter Culman The James and Gail Riepe Family Foundation Nathan and Michelle Robertson Dr. David A. Robinson Mr. Grant Roch The Rollins-Luetkemeyer Foundation Mr. and Mrs. Todd Schubert Mrs. Gail Schulhoff Charles and Leslie Schwabe The Tim and Barbara Schweizer Foundation, Inc. Bayinnah Shabazz, M.D. Barbara and Sig Shapiro The Ida & Joseph Shapiro Foundation The Earle & Annette Shawe Family Foundation Dr. Barbara Shelton Dana and Matthew Slater Mr. and Mrs. Robert N. Smelkinson Judith R. and Turner B. Smith Mr. and Mrs. Scott Smith Scott and Mimi Somerville Mr. Gilbert H. Stewart and Ms. Joyce Ulrich Dr. and Mrs. John Strahan Susan and Brian Sullam Mr. and Mrs. Ronald W. Taylor Sanford and Karen Teplitzky John A. Ulatowski United Way of Central Maryland Campaign Mr. and Mrs. George and Beth Van Dyke Carolyn and Robert Wallace Nanny and Jack Warren, in honor of Lynn Deering Janna P. Wehrle Ann Wolfe and Dick Mead John W. Wood Dr. Laurie S. Zabin Mr. Calman Zamoiski, Jr., in honor of Terry Morgenthaler Drs. Nadia and Elias Zerhouni Ziger/Snead Architects Mr. E. Zuspan

Colleagues

($500–$999) Anonymous Lindsay and Bradley Alger The Alsop Family Foundation Mrs. Alexander Armstrong Art Seminar Group Mr. Robert and Dorothy Bair Mayer and Will Baker, in honor of Terry Morgenthaler Amy and Bruce Barnett Mr. and Mrs. Charles C. and Patti Baum Ms. Jane Baum Rodbell Jaye and Dr. Ted Bayless Fund Mr. and Mrs. S. Woods and Catherine L. Bennett Mr. and Mrs. Bruce Blum, in memory of Shirley Feinstein Blum Rose Carpenter Mr. and Mrs. Carl F. Christ

(continued) Combined Charity Campaign The Deering Family Foundation Gene DeJackome and Kim Gingras The Honorable and Mrs. E. Stephen Derby Dave and Joyce Edington Patricia Egan and Peter Hegeman, in honor of Peter Culman The Eliasberg Family Foundation, Inc. Donald and Margaret Engvall Mr. and Mrs. Edgar and Faith Feingold, in memory of Sally W. Feingold Sandra and John Ferriter Andrea and Samuel Fine Dennis and Patty Flynn Ms. Nancy Freyman Dr. Joseph Gall and Dr. Diane Dwyer Hal & Pat Gilreath Mary and Richard Gorman Louise A. Hager Terry Halle and Wendy McAllister Melanie and Donald Heacock Lee M. Hendler, in honor of Peter Culman Rebecca Henry and Harry Gruner Betsy and George Hess Mrs. Heidi Hoffman Mr. Edward Hunt Ms. Harriet F. Iglehart Richard Jacobs and Patricia Lasher Ms. Mary Claire Jeske BJ and Candy Jones Max Jordan Dr. and Mrs. Juan M. Juanteguy Peter and Kay Kaplan Ms. Shirley Kaufman Mr. and Mrs. Padraic Kennedy, in honor of Ken Lundeen Roland and Judy Phair King Stewart Koehler Mr. John Lanasa, in honor of Peter Culman Mr. Claus Leitherer and Mrs. Irina Fedorova Dr. and Mrs. Ronald Lesser Marilyn Leuthold Dr. and Mrs. John Lion Kenneth and Christine Lobo The Dr. Frank C. Marino Foundation, Inc. Dr. Carole Miller Mr. Jeston I. Miller Stephanie F. Miller, in honor of The Lee S. Miller Jr. Family The Montag Family Fund of The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, in honor of Beth Falcone Ms. Karen Malloy George and Beth Murnaghan Lettie Myers Judith Needham and Warren Kilmer Roger F. Nordquist and Joyce Ward Mr. and Mrs. James and Mimi Piper Fund of the Baltimore Community Foundation Bonnie Pitt Mr. Mike Plaisted and Ms. Maggie Webbert Dave and Chris Powell Jill Pratt Robert E. and Anne L. Prince Mr. and Mrs. Richard Radmer Mrs. Peggy L. Rice

Mr. and Mrs. Harold Rojas Dorothy L. and Henry A. Rosenberg, Jr. Kevin and Judy Rossiter Mrs. Bette Rothman Mr. Al Russell Sheila and Steve Sachs Ms. Renee C. Samuels Ms. Sherry Schnepfe Mr. and Mrs. Eugene H. Schreiber Scott Sherman and Julie Rothman The Sinksy-Kresser-Racusin Memorial Foundation Susan Somerville-Hawes, in honor of Encounter Georgia and George Stamas Mr. Ben Stone Robert and Patricia Tarola Diana and Ken Trout Sharon and David Tufaro In memory of Sally Wessner Mr. Michael T. Wharton Dr. and Mrs. Frank R. Witter Eric and Pam Young

Advocates

($250–$499) Anonymous Mr. Alan M. Arrowsmith, II Mr. and Mrs. Jon Baker, in honor of Terry Morgenthaler Michael Baker Drs. Lewis and Diane Becker Judge Robert Bell Rachel and Steven Bloom, in honor of Beth Falcone Mr. Chad Bolton, in honor of Peter Culman Perry and Aurelia Bolton ChiChi and Peter Bosworth Betty Jo Bowman Jan Boyce Beth and Dale Brady Mr. and Mrs. Charles Bryan Mr. David Bundy Ms. Deborah W. Callard Cindy Candelori The Jim and Anne Cantler Memorial Fund of the Baltimore Community Foundation Mr. and Mrs. David Carter Mr. Andrew J. Cary Mr. and Mrs. James Case Donna and Tony Clare Stanton Collins David and Sara Cooke Mr. and Mrs. Richard D. Crafton Ms. Barbara Crain Mr. Thomas Crusse and Mr. David Imre, in honor of Stephanie and Ash Carter Richard and Lynda Davis Sally Digges and James Arnold Mr. and Mrs. Ivor Edmonds Deborah and Philip English Mr. Dennis Epps Ms. Rhea Feikin Ms. Jeannette E. Festa Bob and Susie Fetter Dr. and Mrs. Robert P. Fleishman Mr. and Mrs. George Flickinger Joan and David Forester Dr. Neal M. Friedlander and Dr. Virginia K. Adams Constance A. Getzov Mark and Patti Gillen Herbert and Harriet Goldman Mr. Bruce Goldman

Board of Trustees Robert W. Smith, Jr., President Edward C. Bernard, Vice President Juliet Eurich, Vice President Terry H. Morgenthaler, Vice President E. Follin Smith, Treasurer Katherine L. Vaughns, Secretary Katharine C. Blakeslee+ James T. Brady+ C. Sylvia Brown+ Stephanie Carter August J. Chiasera Marjorie Rodgers Cheshire Janet Clauson Lynn Deering Jed Dietz Walter B. Doggett, III Jane W.I. Droppa Brian Eakes Beth W. Falcone C. Richard Gamper, Jr. Suzan Garabedian Carole Goldberg Ana Goldseker Adam Gross Cheryl O’Donnell Guth Martha Head Kathleen W. Hyle Ted E. Imes Murray M. Kappelman, MD+ John J. Keenan E. Robert Kent, Jr. Joseph M. Langmead+ Jonna Gane Lazarus Kenneth C. Lundeen Michelle McKenna-Doyle Marilyn Meyerhoff+ J. William Murray Charles E. Noell Esther Pearlstone+ Judy M. Phares Jill Pratt Philip J. Rauch Harold Rojas Monica Sagner+ Renee C. Samuels Todd Schubert George M. Sherman+ Scott Somerville Scot T. Spencer Michael B. Styer Ronald W. Taylor Donald Thoms J.W. Thompson Webb Ronald M. Wilner Cheryl Hudgins Williams Linda S. Woolf + Trustees Emeriti

Bus Stop | 25

Advocates continued Mr. Howard Gradet Ron and Andrea Griesmar Thomas and Barbara Guarnieri Ms. Doris M. Gugel Mr. David Guy Jane Halpern and James Pettit Ms. Paulette Hammond Dr. and Dr. James and Vicki Handa Mr. and Mrs. Richard Hawes In Memory of Eric R. Head Sue Hess Mr. Donald H. Hooker, Jr. Mr. Jonathan Hornbeck Ms. Irene Hornick Mr. and Mrs. Martin Horowitz Ms. Sarah Issacs Mr. William Jacob Mr. and Mrs. James S. and Hillary Aidus Jacobs A.H. Janoski, M.D., in honor of Jane Janoski James and Julie Johnstone Richard and Judith Katz B. Keller Dr. and Mrs. Myron Kellner Mr. and Mrs. Stephen J. Kelly Donald Knox and Mary Towery, in memory of Carolyn Knox and Gene Towery David and Ann Koch Dr. and Mrs. Randi L. Kohn Gina Kotowski Mr. and Mrs. Robert A. Lagas Drs. Don and Pat Langenberg Mr. Richard M. Lansburgh Mr. and Mrs. William Larson Drs. Ronald and Mary Leach Sara W. Levi Terry Lorch and Tom Liebel Paul and Anne Madden Nancy Magnuson and Jay Harrell, in honor of Betty and Edgar Sweren Mr. Elvis Marks Don Martin Ms. Michael McMullan Mary and Barry Menne Carolyn and Michael Meredith Peniel and Julia S. Moed Mr. and Mrs. James and Shirley Moore The Honorable Diana and Fred Motz, in memory of Nancy Roche Mr. and Mrs. William H. Mullin Dr. Patrick Murphy and Dr. Genevieve A. Losonsky Stephen and Terry Needel In memory of Nelson Neuman Ms. Nina Noble Ms. Irene Norton and Heather Millar 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 Chris and Deborah Pennington Mr. William Phillips Ronald and Patricia Pilling Mrs. Kathy Piven Leslie and Gary Plotnick Dr. Albert J. Polito and Dr. Redonda G. Miller Connie and Roger Pumphrey Cyndy Renoff and George Taler Dr. Michael Repka and Dr. Mary Anne Facciolo Natasha and Keenan Rice Alison and Arnold Richman Richard and Sheila Riggs

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CENTERSTAGE

Ms. Elizabeth Ritter and Mr. Lawrence Koppelman Ida and Jack Roadhouse Mr. and Mrs. Domingo and Karen Rodriguez, in honor of Emma Grace Barnes Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Roesler Richard and Mary Rimkunas Louis and Luanne Rusk Frank and Michelle Sample Ms. Gloria Savadow Frederica and William Saxon, Jr. Mr. Steve Schwartzman Ms. Minnie Shorter Mr. and Mrs. L. Siems Mr. Howard Sigler and Ms. Deborah Hylton Dr. and Mrs. Donald J. Slowinski Rosie and Jim Smith Solomon and Elaine Snyder Joseph Sterne Mrs. Clare H. Stewart, in honor of Peter Culman Brenda and Dan Stone Ms. Joann Strickland Mr. and Mrs. James R.and Gail Swanbeck Ted and Lynda Thilly Fredrick and Cindy Thompson Robin and Harold Tucker Comprehensive Car Care/ Robert Wagner Donald and Darlene Wakefield Ms. Magda Westerhoust Ms. Camille Wheeler and Mr. William Marshall Harold and Joan Young Mr. Norman Youskauskas Mr. Paul Zugates

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 CENTERSTAGE 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.

CENTERSTAGE’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.

CENTERSTAGE participates annually in Free Fall Baltimore, a program of the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts.

Baltimore County Executive, County Council, & Commission on Arts and Sciences Carroll County Government Howard County Arts Council through a grant from Howard County Government

Gifts In-Kind The Afro American Akbar Restaurant Dean Alexander Art Litho Au Bon Pain The Baltimore Sun Blimpie

The Brewer's Art Calvert Wine & Spirits Casa di Pasta Charcoal Grill Cima Model Management The Classic Catering People Chipotle The City Paper Eggspectations Fisherman’s Friend/PEZ Candy, Inc. Gertrude's Restaurant Greg's Bagels GT Pizza Gutierrez Studios Haute Dog Heavenly Ham The Helmand Hotel Monaco Iggie's The Jewish Times Marriott Minato Mitchell Kurtz Architect, PC Mount Vernon Stable and Saloon New System Bakery No Worries Cosmetics Oriole's Pizza and Sub Pazo Pizza Boli's Pizza Hut PromoWorks Republic National Distributing Company Roly Poly Romano’s Macaroni Grill Sabatino's Senovva Shugoll Research The Signman Style Magazine Sunlight LLC, in honor of Kacy Armstrong Urbanite A Vintner's Selection Wawa Wegman's Whitmore Print & Imaging WYPR Radio www.thecheckshop.us

Matching Gift Companies

The Abell Foundation, Inc. Bank of America The Annie E. Casey Foundation Constellation Energy The Deering Family Foundation Exxon Corporation France-Merrick Foundation GE Foundation Goldseker Foundation IBM Corporation McCormick & Co. Inc. Norfolk Southern Foundation Open Society Institute PNC Bank Stanley Black & Decker SunTrust Bank T. Rowe Price Group We make every effort to provide accurate acknowledgement of our contributors. We appreciate your patience and assistance in keeping our lists current.

To advise us of corrections, please call 410.986.4026.

CORPORATIONS Artists Circle

Playwrights Circle

Anonymous Accenture American Trading & Production Corporation The Baltimore Life Companies Baxter, Baker, Sidle, Conn & Jones, P.A. Brown Advisory Environmental Reclamation Company FTI Consulting Howard Bank Lord Baltimore Capital Corporation McGuireWoods LLP PNC Bank Procter & Gamble Stifel Nicolaus Transamerica Financial Solutions Group Venable, LLP Whiteford, Taylor & Preston LLP Whiting-Turner Contracting Co.

Directors Circle

T. Rowe Price Foundation, Inc.

Producers Circle

Alexander Design Studio Bay Imagery E*Trade Financial Corporation Funk & Bolton, P.A. Offit | Kurman, Attorneys at Law Pessin Katz Law P.A. PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP Schoenfeld Insurance Associates Stevenson University The Zolet Lenet Group at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney

Associates

Ayers Saint Gross, Incorporated Chesapeake Plywood, LLC Corporate Office Properties Trust Ernst & Young LLP

Baltimore Community Foundation Web: www.bcf.org

Phone: 410.332.4171

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Sta ff

Kwame Kwei-Armah OBE–Artistic Director Stephen Richard–Managing Director Administration

Associate Managing Director–Del W. Risberg Executive Assistant–Kacy Armstrong The Ellen and Ed Bernard Management Intern– Batya Feldman Yale Fellow–Alyssa Simmons

Artistic

Associate Artistic Director–Gavin Witt Artistic Producer–Susanna Gellert Artistic Senior Fellow–Kellie Mecleary The Lynn and Tony Deering Artistic Intern– Samantha Godfrey

Audience Relations

Box Office Manager–Mandy Benedix Assistant Manager/Subscriptions Manager– Jerrilyn Keene Assistant Manager–Blane Wyche Full-time Assistants–Lindsey Barr, Ashley Fain, Rachel Holmes, Alana Kolb, Christopher Lewis Part-Time Assistant–Froilan Mate Bar Manager–Sean Van Cleve House Manager & Volunteer Coordinator– Bertinarea Crampton Assistant House Managers–Linda Cavell, Faith Savill Audience Relations Intern–Quincy Price Audio Description–Ralph Welsh & Maryland Arts Access

Audio

Supervisor–Amy Wedel Engineer–Eric Lott The Jane and Larry Droppa Audio Intern– Andrew Graves

Community Programs & Education

Director–Julianne Franz Education Coordinator–Rosiland Cauthen Community Programs & Education Intern– Dustin Morris The James and Janet Clauson Education Intern– Kristina Szilagyi Teaching Artists–The 5th L; Oran Bandel; Jerry Miles, Jr.; CJay Philip; Wambui Richardson; Joan Weber

Costumes

Costumer–David Burdick Tailor–Edward Dawson Craftsperson–William E. Crowther Stitcher–Jessica Rietzler The Terry H. Morgenthaler and Patrick Kerins Costumes Intern– Elizabeth Chapman The Judy and Scott Phares Costumes Intern– Anna Tringali

Development

Director–Cindi Monahan Grants Manager–Sean Beattie Annual Fund Manager–Katelyn White Events Coordinator–Brad Norris Development Assistant–Julia Ostroff Assistant–Christopher Lewis Auction Coordinator–Sydney Wilner Auction Assistant–Norma Cohen

The CenterStage Program is published by: Center Stage Associates, Inc. 700 North Calvert Street Baltimore, Maryland 21202 Editor Heather C. Jackson

Assistant Editor Kiirstn Pagan

Art Direction/Design Bill Geenen Design Jason Gembicki

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CENTERSTAGE

Dramaturgy

Director–Gavin Witt Dramaturgy Senior Fellow–Kellie Mecleary Apprentices–Roisin Dowling, Christine Prevas, Kate Ramsdell, Bennett Remsberg, Matthew Buckley Smith, Lucy Walker

Finance

Director–Susan Rosebery Business Manager–Kathy Nolan Associate–Carla Moose

Graphics

Art Director–Bill Geenen Senior Graphic Designer–Jason Gembicki Production Photographer–Richard Anderson Graphics Intern–Michelle Fleming The Stephanie and Ashton Carter Digital Media Intern– Leslie Datsis

Information Technologies

Director–Joe Long Systems Administrator–Mark Slaughter

Lighting

Lighting Director–Lesley Boeckman Master Electrician–Lily Bradford Multimedia Coordinator–Stew Ives Staff Electrician–Bevin Miyake The Barbara Capalbo Electrics Intern–Scot Gianelli

Marketing & Communications

Director–Tony Heaphy Public Relations Manager–Heather C. Jackson Marketing Manager–Timmy Metzner Digital Media Associate–Timothy Gelles Marketing Associate–Tia Abner The Jay and Sharon Smith Marketing and Public Relations Fellow–Kiirstn Pagan Media Services–Planit

Operations

Director–Harry DeLair Operations Assistant–Kali Keeney Housekeeper–Jacqueline Stewart Security Guards–Crown Security

Production Management

Production Manager–Mike Schleifer Assistant Production Manager– Caitlin Powers Company Manager–Sara Grove Production/Stage Management Intern–Ashley Riester The Phil and Lynn Rauch Company Management Intern–Matt Shea

Properties

Manager–Jennifer Stearns Assistant Manager– Nathan Scheifele Artisan–Jeanne-Marie Burdette The Kenneth C. and Elizabeth M. Lundeen Properties Intern–Kimberly Townsend

Scenery

Technical Director–Tom Rupp Assistant Technical Director–Laura P. Merola Shop Supervisor–Trevor Gohr Carpenters–Joey Bromfield, Mike Kulha, Scott Richardson Scene Shop Intern–Ryan Cole

Advertising Sales ads@centerstage.org

CONTACT INFORMATION

Box Office Phone 410.332.0033 Box Office Fax 410.727.2522 Administration 410.986.4000 www.centerstage.org info@centerstage.org

Scenic Art

Scenic Artist–Stephanie Nimick Intern–Lauren Crabtree

Stage Management

Resident Stage Managers–Captain Kate Murphy, Laura Smith The Peter and Millicent Bain Stage Management Intern–Brent Beavers The Barbara Voss and Charles Noell Stage Management Intern–Lindsay Eberly

Stage Operations

Stage Carpenter–Eric Burton The following .designers, artisans, and assistants contributed to this production of

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Assistant to the Director–Ryan Haase Assistant Lighting Designer–Charles Winter Draper–Ginny McKeever Lighting–Cartland Berge, Alison Burris, Jake Epp, Aaron Haag, Michael Sperber Properties–Samantha Kuczynski Run Crew–Meghan Hughes Scenery–Bernard Bender, Mark Eisendrath, Seth Foster, J.R. Fritsch Wigs–Chuck LaPointe

…Edgar Allan Poe— Run Crew–Chris Gummerson

An Enemy of the People— Run Crew–Tenley Pitonzo CENTERSTAGE 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 CENTERSTAGE perform under the terms of an agreement between CENTERSTAGE and Local 40-543, American Federation of Musicians.

CenterStage 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 CENTERSTAGE 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 CENTERSTAGE, 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 CENTERSTAGE.

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