Ether Dome - Know Before You Go

KNOW BEFORE YOU GO

BY

Elizabeth Egloff MICHAEL WILSON

DIRECTED BY

Co-production with Alley Theatre, Hartford Stage and Huntington Theatre Company

July 13 – August 10

Production Co-Sponsors

Weston Anson & Susan Bailey • Paula Marie Black • Uma & Vinit Bodas • Jeffrey & Kimberly Goldman • Tim & Emily Scott Ether Dome is funded in part by The Ensemble Studio Theatre/Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Science & Technology Project

BEFORE YOU GO

KNOW

We look forward to seeing you at La Jolla Playhouse at your upcoming performance of Ether Dome. Below is some additional information about the production and the venue to enhance your theater-going experience.

Parking Parking is free for all subscribers. For all others parking is $2 (subject to change), Mon-Fri. Upon arrival to campus, please purchase your parking permit from one of the automated pay stations located next to the information kiosk. Simply park, note your space number, and pay $2 at the pay station. Pay stations accept Visa, MasterCard, American Express or cash ($1 and $5), and do not give change. You will not need to return to your car. Parking is free on the weekends.

Audience Engagement Events The Playhouse offers unique opportunities for audience members to delve deeper into the play with these special performance series options: Foodie Fridays: Buy a ticket to Ether Dome and enjoy San Diego’s finest food trucks, plus a complimentary microbrew tasting from Stone Brewing Company.

- Friday, July 18 starting at 6:00 pm

- Friday, July 25 starting at 6:00 pm

- Friday, August 1 starting at 6:00 pm Talkback Tuesdays: Participate in a lively discussion with actors and Playhouse staff members after the performance.

- Tuesday, July 22 following the 7:30 pm performance

- Tuesday, July 29 following the 7:30 pm performance Discovery Sunday: Explore the themes of the production with special guest speakers.

- Sunday, August 3 following the 2:00 pm performance Insider Events: Join Playhouse staff for a special pre-performance presentation that gives an insider’s view of the play.

- Wednesday, August 6 at 6:30 pm

- Saturday, August 9 at 1:00 pm

ACCESS PERFORMANCES Open Captioned Performance:

- Sunday, July 20 at 2:00 pm ACCESS Performance: During this performance, La Jolla Playhouse provides American Sign Language interpretation and audio description.

- Saturday, July 26 at 2:00 pm Additional ASL Interpreted Performance:

- Friday, August 1 at 8:00 pm. Foodie Friday starts at 6:00pm!

Accessibility A golf cart is available to assist patrons with accessibility issues to and from the parking lot. Please notify the Box Office prior to your performance if you are in need of this service; additionally, you may pull into the five minute parking in front of the theatre, and a friendly La Jolla Playhouse greeter will assist you.

Dining La Jolla Playhouse is pleased to announce that James’ Place will be the Theatre District’s new on-site restaurant, beginning service soon!

Developed by renowned Sushi Master James Holder, the menu will include his signature sushi, as well as delectable dishes created with Prime and Angus cuts of beef, locally and sustainably harvested seafood, along with seasonal dishes. A lighter fare menu will also be served at the newly-redesigned sushi/cocktail bar, featuring craft beer and California wines.

Please contact La Jolla Playhouse Patron Services at (858) 550-1010 for more information.

Until James’ Place opens, we also recommend the following nearby restaurants: Dolce Pane e Vino 16081 San Dieguito Road Rancho Santa Fe, CA 92067 dolcepaneevino.com

Pamplemousse Grille 514 Via de la Valle, Suite 100 Solana Beach, CA 92075 pgrille.com

Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar 8970 University Center Lane San Diego, CA 92122 flemingssteakhouse.com

Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery 8980 Villa La Jolla Drive La Jolla, CA 92037 rockbottom.com

Giuseppe Restaurants & Fine Catering 700 Prospect Street San Diego, CA 92037 giuseppecatering.com

Roppongi Restaurant & Sushi Bar 875 Prospect Street La Jolla, CA 92037 roppongiusa.com

MISSION: La Jolla Playhouse advances theatre as an art form and as a vital social, moral and political platform by providing unfettered creative opportunities for the leading artists of today and tomorrow. With our youthful spirit and eclectic, artist-driven approach, we will continue to cultivate a local and national following with an insatiable appetite for audacious and diverse work. In the future, San Diego’s La Jolla Playhouse will be considered singularly indispensable to the worldwide theatre landscape, as we become a permanent safe harbor for the unsafe and surprising. The day will come when it will be essential to enter the La Jolla Playhouse village in order to get a glimpse of what is about to happen in American theatre.

La Jolla Playhouse has received La Jolla Playhouse has received the the highest rating from Charity highest rating from Charity Navigator, Navigator, the nation’s premier the nation’s premier charity evaluator. charity evaluator.

P4 PERFORMANCES MAGAZINe

CHRISTOPHER ASHLEY ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

OUR MISSION

A MESSAGE FROM THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR I’m never happier than when there are multiple theatrical events happening simultaneously on the grounds of La Jolla Playhouse. There is a vitality and warmth that emerges when different sets of actors, writers, directors, designers and, most importantly, audiences congregate on our theatre campus.

The two shows currently running at the Playhouse, The Orphan of Zhao and Ether Dome, seem on the surface to have little in common with each other. One has its origins in China more than two millennia ago, the other is a new play written by a contemporary American playwright; the tone, style and genre of each are a far cry from those of the other.

Yet these two works – in addition to being an example of the eclectic programming we offer – share quite a few commonalities. Both shows are audacious, painting their stories on an exceptionally large canvas, and both tackle enormous ideas that resonate deeply in the now. The Orphan of Zhao asks us to contemplate the nature of sacrifice and loyalty in our own lives, while Ether Dome examines the thorny intersection between the human desire to alleviate suffering and the very real pain that results from our selfish motivations.

One other thing that both plays share is that they are co-productions with fantastic regional theatres across America.

The Orphan of Zhao started at American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco – and was directed by their fearless Artistic Director, Carey Perloff – while Ether Dome premiered at Houston’s Alley Theatre in 2011, and will continue from here to stops at Hartford Stage (where director Michael Wilson initially commissioned the work during his tenure as Artistic Director) and Boston’s Huntington Theatre Company. Theatre is an inherently ephemeral art form, and co-productions allow deserving works such as these to continue their lives in front of new audiences.

Thanks to this happy collision of shows, I feel like the Playhouse is fostering the exact kinds of conversations that we aspire to have: engaging, provocative and entertaining. As always, thank you for joining us in these dialogues.

UP NEXT

KINGDOM CITY

SEPTEMBER 4 - OCTOBER 6 A 20th CENTURY CLASSIC INCITES A 21st CENTURY SHOWDOWN When displaced New York director Miriam finds herself in Kingdom City, Missouri, she reluctantly agrees to direct a high school production of The Crucible. The play unlocks the students’ unspoken desires, creating a firestorm in this small Christian town.

BY Sheri

Wilner

DIRECTED BY Jackson

Gay

LA JOLLA PLAYHOUSE presents Michael S. Rosenberg Managing Director

Christopher Ashley Artistic Director

BY

Elizabeth Egloff Directed BY

Michael Wilson A Co-Production with Alley Theatre, Hartford Stage and Huntington Theatre Company Featuring

Michael Bakkensen*, Gregory Balla, Sam Breen, Ken Cheeseman*, Benjamin Cole, Kevin Hafso-Koppman, Walker Hare‡, Richmond Hoxie*, Bill Kux*, Linda Libby*, Tom Patterson*, Amelia Pedlow*, Lee Sellars*, Hannah Tamminen‡, Liba Vaynberg*, William Youmans* Scenic/projection Design Costume Design Lighting Design Original Music Sound Design Dramaturg Dialect Coach Fight Director Casting Local Casting Stage Manager Assistant Stage Manager Associate Producer Production Manager

James Youmans David C. Woolard David Lander John Gromada John Gromada & Alex Neumann Shirley Fishman Eva Barnes George Yé Alaine Alldaffer, CSA Teresa Sapien Lori Lundquist* Marie Jahelka* Gabriel Greene Linda S. Cooper

Ether Dome was originally commissioned by Hartford Stage Alley Theatre Produced the World Premiere of Ether Dome in 2011; Gregory Boyd, Artistic Director; Dean R. Gladden, Managing Director Ether Dome is Funded in part by The Ensemble Studio Theatre/Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Science & Technology Project

THE CAST In Hartford, Conn.: Dr. Horace Wells, dentist.................................................................................... Michael Bakkensen Elizabeth Wells, his wife.............................................................................................Amelia Pedlow William Morton, his partner & former student............................................................ Tom Patterson Mrs. Wadsworth, a patient................................................................................................Linda Libby Dr. Colton, a pharmacist........................................................................................................Lee Sellars Young Woman in White.......................................................................................Hannah Tamminen “Lizzie” Whitman Morton, William’s wife................................................................ Liba Vaynberg In Boston, Mass.: Dr. John Collins Warren,...................................................................................................Richmond Hoxie Founder & Head of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Professor of Anatomy & Surgery Dr. Charles Jackson, a chemist & Warren’s former student................................. William Youmans Dr. Henry Bigelow, surgeon........................................................................................... Gregory Balla Dr. Augustus Gould, former surgeon, now a conchologist......................................Ken Cheeseman Dr. George Hayward, House surgeon...................................................................................... Bill Kux Inman, a medical student...................................................................................................Benjamin Cole George Livingston, a medical student...............................................................................Sam Breen Tenney, a reporter..............................................................................................................Benjamin Cole Gilbert Abbot, a patient.......................................................................................................Lee Sellars Alice Mohan, a patient.............................................................................................Hannah Tamminen R.H. Eddy, Esq., a lawyer...................................................................................................Benjamin Cole Phineas Cook, a merchant.....................................................................................................Lee Sellars Nurse...........................................................................................................................Hannah Tamminen In Paris, France: Paul, a dentist............................................................................................................................................Sam Breen Gustav, nephew to the Emperor of France..........................................................................................Lee Sellars In New York, New York: Prostitute...............................................................................................................................Hannah Tamminen Prostitute’s Maid.............................................................................................................................Linda Libby Medical Students, Citizens of Hartford and Boston: Kevin Hafso-Koppman, Walker Hare and the Company Ether Dome is performed in two acts with a 15-minute intermission.

Associate Director.............................................................Rachel Alderman Assistant Costume Designer ............................................................. Bich Vu Assistant Lighting Designer .......................................Rebecca Bonebrake Scenic Design Assistant......................................................Lily Bartenstein‡ Sound Design Assistant ..........................................Jeffery “Splash” Yang‡

Production Assistant........................................................... Megan Sprowls Stage Management Assistant......................................... Rachael D. Albert ‡ Directing Intern................................................................... Samantha Blank Stage Management Intern..................................................... Laura Stenger Dramaturg Assistants................................Jamie Gillcrist, Jessica Ordon

Acknowledgements Special thanks to Dean Gladden, Ten Eyck Swackhamer and Gregory Boyd at the Alley Theatre • Gary Flores, M.D., Anesthesiology Consultant In Memorium: John Bunker, M.D., Professor Emeritus of Anesthesiology at Stanford Medical School, Anesthesiology Consultant Dr. Stephen L. Wheeler, DDS • Dr. Sabine Purps, DDS • Grace Jun, Movement Consultant • Sharp Business Systems * Members of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage

Managers in the United States. The theatre operates under an agreement between the League of Resident Theatres and Actors’ Equity Association.

This theatre operates under an agreement between the League of Resident Theatres and the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, an independent national labor union.

This theatre operates under an agreement between the League of Resident Theatres and United Scenic Artists, Local USA-829 of the IATSE. La Jolla Playhouse is a member of the League of Resident Theatres (LORT) and a constituent of Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national service organization for the nonprofit professional theatre.

‡ UC San Diego M.F.A. Candidates in residence at La Jolla Playhouse.

THE COMPANY: ETHER DOME Michael Bakkensen, Horace Wells La Jolla Playhouse: Light Up the Sky. Broadway: Noises Off, Festen and The Man Who Came to Dinner. Off-Broadway: Rx (Primary Stages); Out of Iceland (Culture Project); The Secret of Mme. Bonnard’s Bath (Kirk); The Paris Letter (Roundabout); Tales of Doomed Love (West End); Waxing West (Lark); Alarms (Here). Regional: Jamie in Long Day’s Journey into Night (ATL); also Guthrie, Alley, Arena, Mark Taper, Shakespeare Theater Company, Hartford, Center Stage, ACT, Alliance, Alabama & NJ Shakespeare, Hangar. Film: Victoriana and Memoria Mortalis. Television: Unforgettable, Elementary, Deception, The Good Wife, Royal Pains, Law & Order, Law & Order: CI, Stage on Screen and Mental Issues. Album: Lionize on iTunes. M.F.A. from UC San Diego.

Gregory Balla, Dr. Bigelow La Jolla Playhouse: Debut. Off-Broadway: Blue Man Group (New York, Boston, Chicago and internationally aboard Norwegian Epic). Other credits include: Into the Woods, By the Way, Meet Vera Stark (Lyric Stage Co. of Boston); Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me (Bad Habit Productions) and Ragtime (Fiddlehead Theatre Co.). Mr. Balla holds a B.A. in Theatre Performance from Fordham University.

Sam Breen, Paul/Medical Student La Jolla Playhouse: Debut. Regional: Mother Courage and Her Children (American Repertory Theater); Flesh Eating Tiger (Edinburgh Fringe Festival and Highways) and Macbeth (The Antaeus Company). Education: M.F.A. in Acting from CalArts.

Ken Cheeseman, Dr. Gould La Jolla Playhouse: Debut. Off-Broadway: The Master Builder (BAM); NYSF: Measure for Measure, A Midsummer Night’s Dream; La MaMa E.T.C.: King Lear; Classic Stage Company: Amphitryon, Scapin and The Cherry Orchard. Regional: The Misanthrope (Long Wharf); Scapin (Yale Rep); Travels with My Aunt, The Cherry Orchard (Baltimore Center Stage); Prelude to a Kiss, All My Sons, Civil War Christmas (Huntington Theatre). Feature film roles include Shutter Island, Mystic River, Leaves of Grass, Malice and Next Stop Wonderland. TV guest appearances on Monk, Law & Order and the upcoming HBO miniseries, Olive Kitteridge. Mr. Cheeseman is a Senior Artist in Residence at Emerson College.

Benjamin Cole, Medical Student La Jolla Playhouse: Debut. Mr. Cole is currently the Artistic Associate for North Coast Repertory Theatre. San Diego credits: Faded Glory, Who Am I This Time? (North Coast Repertory Theatre); The Foreigner (Lamb’s Players Theatre); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Intrepid Shakespeare); Punk Rock (ion theatre); Coming Attractions (Moxie Theatre). Regional: Macbeth (Orlando Shakespeare Theater); Henry IV Parts 1 & 2 (Oklahoma Shakespearean Festival); The Tempest (Illinois Shakespeare Festival).

Education: M.F.A. in Acting from WIU, B.F.A. in Acting/Directing from CMU, Ireland study abroad from NYU. Benjoelcole.com

Kevin Hafso-Koppman, Medical Student La Jolla Playhouse: His Girl Friday and Accomplice: San Diego. Local credits: The Foreigner, The Winslow Boy (Lamb’s Players Theatre); Zoot Suit (San Diego REP); A Nice Indian Boy (Old Globe reading); Henry IV Part I, King o’ the Moon, The Drawer Boy, Becky’s New Car (North Coast Repertory Theatre); Birds of a Feather, Speech and Debate (Diversionary Theatre); The Sunshine Boys, Deathtrap (SRT); Doubt, Into the Woods (SDSU Theatre); The History Boys (Cygnet Theatre). Education: B.A. in Theatre Arts (SDSU) and British American Drama Academy at Oxford University.

Walker Hare, Medical Student La Jolla Playhouse: Cornerstone (WoW Festival). London: You’re Invited (The Old Vic, with the OVNV). Off-Broadway: All Dolled Up (Acorn Theater); Flanagan’s Wake (SoHo Playhouse); Much Ado About Nothing (New World Stages).

Readings: Fuente Ovejuna with Daphne Rubin-Vega and One Arm with Michael Stuhlbarg (LAByrinth); In Ways Both Frivolous and Deep with Jessica Hecht (59E59 Theater). A number of film, TV and commercials as well. Education: Circle in the Square, M.F.A. from UC San Diego in 2015. walkerhare.com Richmond Hoxie, Dr. Warren La Jolla Playhouse: Light Up the Sky. Broadway: I’m Not Rappaport. National Tour: Butley and I’m Not Rappaport.

Off-Broadway: The Film Society, Lenin’s Embalmers, The Dining Room, Vienna Lusthaus: Revisited, Landscape with Waitress, Justice, Louis Slotin Sonata, Waiting for Godot and Angel Street. Regional: The Crucible (Hartford Stage); Amadeus, Twelve Angry Men, Secret Order (Repertory Theatre of St. Louis); Travels with My Aunt (Seattle Rep); Inspecting Carol (Bay Street Theater); Loot, Council of Thirty (George Street Playhouse); You Never Can Tell (Yale Rep). Film: J.F.K., Still of the Night, For Love or Money and My Own Love Song. TV: Boardwalk Empire, China Beach, Law & Order (SVU and CI), Christine Cromwell, L.A. Law, Cosby, etc.

Bill Kux, Dr. Hayward La Jolla Playhouse: Debut. Broadway: Gore Vidal’s The Best Man, The Trip to Bountiful and Ain’t Broadway Grand. Off-Broadway: Endpapers, Loose Ends, Baby with the Bathwater, The Philanthropist and Summer of ’42.

National Tour: Death of a Salesman (with Hal Holbrook).

Regional: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Noises Off, Summer and Smoke, A Christmas Carol (Hartford Stage); Travels with My Aunt (Seattle Rep); Dimly Perceived Threats to the System (Arena Stage); The Film Society (Baltimore Center Stage); The Dresser, Sherlock Holmes (Monomoy).

Graduate of the Yale School of Drama.

Linda Libby, Mrs. Wadsworth La Jolla Playhouse: Debut. Craig Noel San Diego Critics Circle Actor of the Year 2013. Regional: Milvotchkee, Visconsin (Mo’olelo); The Importance of Being Earnest, Company, Cabaret (Cygnet); Grey Gardens, Body Awareness, Gypsy, Request Programme (Ion); Exit Interview, The Good Body, The Women (directed by Anne Bogart), King Lear, Merchant of Venice, 6 Women with Brain Death (San Diego Rep). Film: Box of Moonlight. Ms. Libby is a founder of the San Diego Actors Alliance. lindalibby.wix.com/lindalibby.

THE COMPANY: ETHER DOME Tom Patterson, William Morton La Jolla Playhouse: Sideways and Cornerstone (WoW Festival). New York: Sick (by Greg Ayers, Coyote Rep); Streamers (440 Studios). Regional: Schooled (New Helvetia); Bedroom Farce, Murder on the Nile (Barnstormers); Shotgun (Florida Studio Theatre); Arms and the Man (Electric Theatre Company); Of Mice and Men (Northern Stage). National Tour: The Color of Justice (Theatreworks/USA). AEA. Training: M.F.A. from UC San Diego.

He is originally from South Bend, Indiana.

Amelia Pedlow, Elizabeth Wells La Jolla Playhouse: Debut. Off-Broadway: The Heir Apparent (Classic Stage Company); You Never Can Tell (Pearl Theatre Company). Regional: Hamlet and The Liar (Denver Center); Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Merchant of Venice (The Shakespeare Theatre); Legacy of Light (Cleveland Playhouse); The Diary of Anne Frank and The Tempest (Virginia Stage Company); The Glass Menagerie, Death of a Salesman and Sick (Chautauqua Theatre Company). TV: The Good Wife and Blue Bloods. Education: B.F.A. The Juilliard School.

Lee Sellars, Dr. Colton La Jolla Playhouse: Debut. Broadway: A Time to Kill, West Side Story and Talk Radio. New York Theatre: A Small Melodramatic Story (LAByrinth); The Alchemist (Classic Stage). Regional: Tales from Hollywood (Guthrie); A Few Good Men, The Hollow (The Alley); I Am a Man, Black Starline, All’s Well That Ends Well (Goodman); The Pavilion, Private Eyes, Gun-Shy (Actors Theatre of Louisville); The Eelwax Jesus 3D Pop Music Show, Flag Day, God of Hell, Rounding Third (CATF); Twelve Angry Men, The Pillowman, The Subject Was Roses (George Street Playhouse); Inventing Van Gogh (Pittsburgh City Theatre); Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (The Arden).

Hannah Tamminen, Young Woman in White La Jolla Playhouse: Cornerstone (WoW Festival). UC San Diego acting credits: She Stoops to Conquer, Titus Andronicus, Drums in the Night, Elizabeth I, The Panda Play and Casagemas. NY: The Flea, The Barrow Group, Milk Can Theatre Company, Theater for the New City, among others. Film: The Birch Grove, The Starlight and Persuasion. TV: Stalked (Discovery ID). Williamstown Theatre Festival Apprentice 2010. B.A. Skidmore College. Hannah is entering her final year with the UC San Diego M.F.A. Acting Program.

Liba Vaynberg, Lizzie Morton La Jolla Playhouse: Debut. New York: Golem of Havana (La MaMa E.T.C.); Black Milk and Macbeth (CSC); Novaya Zemlya (HERE); Uncle Vanya (Columbia Stages). Regional: Camp Monster (Williamstown Theatre Festival), Company and Cradle Will Rock (Yale). Education: Columbia & Yale.

William Youmans, Dr. Jackson is extremely grateful to return to his favorite theatre in the world, La Jolla Playhouse, for his eighth show. Other shows at LJP: Hands on a Hardbody, Limelight, Dracula, Sweet Bird of Youth, Twelfth Night, The Cherry Orchard and Shout Up a Morning. He has worked at lesser theatres, such as those on Broadway, as well as in the movies and on television, but the credits at the Playhouse are manifestly his most important. He is also known as the brother of designer James Youmans.

Elizabeth Egloff, Playwright has worked with Michael Wilson on several projects, the latest of which is Ether Dome. Her other plays include The Swan, which has been given numerous productions across the country and abroad, including during the Playhouse’s 1992 season. Other works include The Devils (recipient of the Weissberger Prize and directed by Michael Wilson at the Kennedy Center in 1996), Wolf-Man, The Lover (her first project with Michael Wilson) and Phaedra. In television, her screenplay for The Reagans (starring Judy Davis and James Brolin) was nominated for an Emmy. Future project: Sand, the story of the 1921 partitioning of Iraq. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Helen Merrill Award, Lila Wallace Foundation Writer’s Award, Oppenheimer Award and Kesselring Prize. Ms. Egloff is a member of New Dramatists, Dramatists Guild and a graduate of Yale Drama School.

She is married to set designer James Youmans.

Michael Wilson, Director directed the Tony Award-winning revival of The Trip to Bountiful (Paula Marie Black, producer), which opens in September at the Ahmanson in Los Angeles. His television movie adaptation of the Horton Foote classic premiered on Lifetime this winter, receiving three Critics Choice Award nominations, including Best Movie. Also on Broadway, he directed Gore Vidal’s The Best Man, Dividing the Estate (Lincoln Center Theatre), Enchanted April and Old Acquaintance (Roundabout Theater Company).

Off-Broadway, he has directed numerous plays, including the three-part, nine-hour epic The Orphans’ Home Cycle for which he received the 2010 Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards. Internationally, he directed both parts of Tony Kushner’s Angels in America for the Venice Biennale.

He has directed at our nation’s major theatres, including the Alley Theatre (where Elizabeth Egloff’s Ether Dome premiered in 2011), Huntington Theatre Company (Christopher Shinn’s Now or Later) and Hartford Stage, where as Artistic Director from 1998 to 2011 he commissioned, among others, The Orphans’ Home Cycle, Ether Dome and Quiara Alegría Hudes’ 2012 Pulitzer Prize-winning play Water by the Spoonful.

James Youmans, Scenic Designer La Jolla Playhouse: Randy Newman’s Faust. Broadway: West Side Story, Come Fly Away (Twyla Tharp), Patti LuPone’s Gypsy!, Swinging On a Star. OffBroadway: Gypsy! (City Center Encores), Hedwig and The Angry Inch (original production scenery and projections), Almost, Maine, Elizabeth Egloff’s The Swan, Summer of ’42, Zombie Prom, Jeffrey and The Country Club. Regional: The Guthrie Theater, South Coast Rep, The Old Globe, George Street Playhouse, Seattle Rep, McCarter Theatre, Hartford Stage, Goodspeed Opera House and Long Wharf Theatre. Mr. Youmans also works with Clickspring Design, which creates award winning designs for broadcast television. Among their many clients are CNN, Fox Sports, MSNBC, The Weather Channel and others. Awards: Drama Desk Award nomination, Drama-Logue Award, Independent Reviewers of New England Award, Connecticut Critics Circle Award nomination, and two Telly Awards for Broadcast Design. He is also married to the Ether Dome creator Elizabeth Egloff. Among their other collaborations are their 2 children William and Timur.

David C. Woolard, Costume Designer Broadway credits include Bronx Bombers, A Time to Kill, First Date, Lysistrata Jones, West Side Story, Jane Fonda’s clothing for 33 Variations, Dividing the Estate, The Farnsworth Invention, Old Acquaintances, Ring of Fire, All Shook Up, 700 Sundays, The Rocky Horror Show (2001 Tony Award nomination), Voices in the Dark, The Who’s Tommy (1993 Tony and Olivier Award nominations), Bells Are Ringing, Marlene, Wait Until Dark, Horton Foote’s The Young Man from Atlanta, Damn Yankees and A Few Good Men. Other credits include Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Encores); The Old Friends and Orphans Home Cycle (Signature Theatre; Drama Desk, Hewes Award); Heir Apparent (CSC); Toxic Avenger (OffBroadway and Alley Theatre); The Donkey Show (A.R.T.); Death and the Powers (Opera De Monte Carlo); Oscar (Santa Fe Opera) and many shows at La Jolla Playhouse. He is currently designing Piece of My Heart at Signature Theatre in NYC.

THE COMPANY: ETHER DOME David Lander, Lighting Designer La Jolla Playhouse: The Tallest Tree in the Forest, His Girl Friday, Glengarry Glen Ross, The Nightingale, 33 Variations, Restoration and I Am My Own Wife. Broadway: The Heiress with Jessica Chastain and Dan Stevens, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo with Robin Williams (Drama Desk Award; Tony and Outer Critics nominations), 33 Variations with Jane Fonda (Tony and Outer Critics nominations), I Am My Own Wife (Drama Desk and Outer Critics nominations), all directed by Moisés Kaufman; The Winslow Boy with Roger Rees, The Lyons with Linda Lavin, Master Class with Tyne Daly, A Man for All Seasons, Dirty Blonde (Drama Desk nomination) and Golden Child. Off-Broadway: Too Much Sun with Linda Lavin, Fran’s Bed with Mia Farrow, King Lear with Kevin Kline, Rose with Olympia Dukakis, Macbeth with Liev Schreiber and Jennifer Ehle, Modern Orthodox with Molly Ringwald and Jason Biggs, among others. Regional: Ahmanson Theatre, Arena Stage, Huntington Theatre, Kennedy Center, Mark Taper Forum and the Old Globe, among others.

John Gromada, Sound Designer/Composer La Jolla Playhouse: A Dram of Drummhicit, Surf Report, Unusual Acts of Devotion, Sheridan and Marisol/The Swan. Broadway: original scores for Next Fall, Proof, Dividing the Estate, Prelude to a Kiss, A Bronx Tale, Old Acquaintance, Heartbreak House, Well, Rabbit Hole, A Streetcar Named Desire, Twelve Angry Men, Sight Unseen, Retreat from Moscow, Enchanted April, Summer and Smoke, Holiday and A Few Good Men. Other NY: The Orphans’ Home Cycle, Clybourne Park, Shipwrecked!..., Streamers, Small Tragedy, and many others. The Public Theater: The Singing Forest, Henry V, Julius Caesar, Tartuffe, Skriker, Machinal and others. Regional: more than 200 productions. TV: The Interrogators.

Awards: Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel, Obie, Eddy, Drama-Logue, NEA Opera Music Theatre Fellowship, Connecticut Critics Circle. For more info and music, visit www.johngromada.com.

Alex Neumann, Sound Designer La Jolla Playhouse: Debut. Broadway (assistant/associate): A Raisin in the Sun, Machinal, Betrayal, The Trip to Bountiful, The Columnist, The Best Man, Seminar, Driving Miss Daisy and Next Fall. Regional: Bus Stop, The Atheist (Huntington Theatre Company); Ether Dome (Alley Theatre); 39 Steps (Olney Theatre Center); The Atheist, It’s Judy’s Show, The Torchbearers, Knickerbocker, Hapgood (Williamstown Theatre Festival). Tour: Nollaig, An Irish Christmas. Off-Broadway/ Off-Off Broadway: Daddy, The Atheist, Act Without Words and Kiki Baby. Educational: Ragtime (SUNY Potsdam); O Beautiful (PTTP).

Education: B.A. in Music from SUNY Potsdam, M.F.A. in Theatrical Sound Design from Boston University.

Shirley Fishman, Dramaturg Now in her 12th season at the Playhouse, Ms. Fishman most recently served as Dramaturg on Chasing the Song, Side Show, Sideways, Glengarry Glen Ross, An Iliad, Hands on a Hardbody, American Night and other projects in development. Other shows include Ruined, Surf Report, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Bonnie & Clyde, Creditors, Herringbone, Unusual Acts of Devotion, the Playhouse’s production of Xanadu and UC San Diego’s The Revenger’s Tragedy, directed by Christopher Ashley. At the Joseph Papp Public Theater she dramaturged such projects as Jessica Hagedorn’s Dogeaters, Two Sisters and a Piano

by Nilo Cruz, Tina Landau’s Space, The Ride Down Mt. Morgan by Athur Miller, among others, and was co-curator of the New Work Now! annual new play festival. She serves as a Playwright’s Dramaturg for UC San Diego’s Wagner New Play Festival and has been a Dramaturg at the Sundance Theatre Lab, Magic Theatre, Native Voices at the Autry and Playwrights Project, among others. She is an M.F.A. graduate of Columbia University’s Theatre Theory/Criticism/Dramaturgy program.

Eva Barnes, Dialect Coach La Jolla Playhouse: Chasing the Song, Sideways, His Girl Friday, A Dram of Drummhicit, Jersey Boys, Xanadu, Carmen, Restoration, Zhivago, Palm Beach, The Third Story, The Scottish Play, The Love of Three Oranges, Tartuffe, The Adoration of the Old Woman, The Model Apartment and Our Town. Other theatres: Mark Taper, Ahmanson Theatre (Romeo and Juliet, directed by Sir Peter Hall), Arena Stage, Shakespeare Theatre, D.C., McCarter Theatre, Public Theater and San Diego Rep. She also coached Anna Deavere Smith’s House Arrest and Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 (Broadway and PBS film). Film: Big Night. Ms. Barnes is on the Acting Faculty at UC San Diego. Staged readings of her play, Smoking Men & Other Activities, are planned in San Diego and Los Angeles this fall.

Alaine Alldaffer, Casting La Jolla Playhouse: Ruined. As Casting Director for Playwrights Horizons, credits include: Clybourne Park (also Broadway), Grey Gardens (also Broadway), Circle Mirror Transformation (Artios Award). Present Laughter (Artios Award) with Victor Garber (Huntington Theatre and Roundabout NYC). TV credits include: Knights of Prosperity aka Let’s Rob Mick Jagger for ABC. Assoc. credits include ED (NBC) and Monk (USA). Theatres include Berkeley Rep and A.C.T. in San Francisco, The Arena in D.C. and The Alley Theatre in Houston. Festivals include Williamstown and Humana. Lisa Donadio is the Associate Casting Director.

Lori Lundquist, Production Stage Manager La Jolla Playhouse: Debut. Broadway: Gore Vidal’s The Best Man, Fosse and Holiday. National Tours: Fosse, Spelling Bee, Will Roger’s Follies.

Off-Broadway: Theater for a New Audience, Julie Taymor’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, as well as productions at Roundabout Theatre Company, New York Theatre Workshop, Playwrights Horizons, The Public Theater/ NYSF in Central Park, Second Stage/The Minetta Lane. Over 30 productions at other regional theaters including: Hartford Stage, The Ordway, Long Wharf Theatre, Trinity Repertory Company, The Alley Theatre, Kansas City Repertory Theatre and American Repertory Theater.

Opera: New York City Opera, Minnesota Opera, Indianapolis Opera.

Education: Bemidji Stage University. Ms. Lundquist is proud to be a member of AEA. Marie Jahelka, Assistant Stage Manager La Jolla Playhouse: The Tall Girls. Regional: Somewhere, The Last Romance, The Whipping Man, Romeo y Julieta, Back Back Back, Opus, The American Plan, In This Corner, Oscar and The Pink Lady, How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, 2006 Shakespeare Festival, Hayfever (The Old Globe Theatre); Spring Awakening, Company, Shakespeare’s R&J, Assassins, Mistakes Were Made, Parade, Cabaret, Love Song (Cygnet Theatre); Mixtape (Lamb’s Players Theatre); The Amish Project (Mo`olelo Performing Arts Company); The Humbug Holiday Spectacular (North Coast Repertory Theatre). Education: B.A. in Theatre Arts from University of San Diego.

Alley Theatre The Alley Theatre is a nationally recognized theatre company based in Houston and one of the few American companies with a commitment to resident artists. Under the direction of Artistic Director Gregory Boyd and Managing Director Dean R. Gladden, the Alley creates a wide-ranging repertoire and innovative productions of classics, neglected modern plays and new plays. The Alley has brought its productions to Broadway, Off-Broadway, London and major European festivals. As a recipient of the Special Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre, the Alley has premiered plays and created recent collaborations with Edward Albee, Rajiv Joseph, Kenneth Lin, Eve Ensler, Horton Foote and Robert Wilson.

THE COMPANY: ETHER DOME Hartford Stage Launching its 51st season this fall, Hartford Stage is one of the nation’s leading resident theatres, known for producing innovative revivals of classics and provocative new plays and musicals, including 70 world and American premieres, as well as offering a distinguished education program, which reaches 21,000 students annually. Hartford Stage has earned many of the nation’s most prestigious awards, including a Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre and four 2014 Tony Awards for the world premiere of A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, including Best Musical and Best Director for Artistic Director Darko Tresnjak. The world premiere of Quiara Alegría Hudes’ Water by the Spoonful won the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Huntington Theatre Company Recipient of the 2013 Regional Theatre Tony Award, the Huntington Theatre Company has developed into Boston’s leading professional theatre and one of the region’s premiere cultural assets since its founding in 1982. Under the direction of Artistic Director Peter DuBois and Managing Director Michael Maso and in residence at Boston University, the Huntington cultivates, celebrates, and champions theatre as an art form. Bringing together superb local and national talent, the Huntington produces a mix of groundbreaking new works and classics made current to create award-winning productions, supports local writers through its playwright-in-residency and Huntington Playwriting Fellows program, and runs nationally renowned education and community programs that serve 33,000 young people and underserved audiences each year. huntingtontheatre.org.

LA JOLLA PLAYHOUSE LEADERSHIP Christopher Ashley, Artistic Director has served as La Jolla Playhouse’s Artistic Director since October, 2007. During his tenure, he has helmed the Playhouse’s productions of Chasing the Song, His Girl Friday, Glengarry Glen Ross, A Dram of Drummhicit, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Restoration and the acclaimed musicals Xanadu and Memphis, which won four 2010 Tony Awards including Best Musical.

He also spearheaded the Playhouse’s Without Walls (WoW) series, the DNA New Work Series and the Resident Theatre program. Prior to joining the Playhouse, he directed the Broadway productions of Xanadu (Drama Desk nomination), All Shook Up and The Rocky Horror Show (Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Award nominations), as well as the Kennedy Center Sondheim Celebration productions of Sweeney Todd and Merrily We Roll Along. Other New York credits include: Blown Sideways Through Life, Jeffrey (Lucille Lortel and Obie Awards), The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told, Valhalla, Regrets Only, Wonder of the World, Communicating Doors, Bunny Bunny, The Night Hank Williams Died, Fires in the Mirror (Lucille Lortel Award), among others. Mr. Ashley also directed the feature film Jeffrey and the American Playhouse production of Blown Sideways Through Life for PBS. Mr. Ashley is the recipient of the Princess Grace Award, the Drama League Director Fellowship and an NEA/TCG Director Fellowship.

Debby Buchholz, General Manager has served as general manager of La Jolla Playhouse since 2002. She is a member of the Executive Committee and of the League of Resident Theaters (LORT). In 2009, she received a San Diego Women Who Mean Business Award from The San Diego Business Journal. Previously she served as Counsel to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C. She was a faculty member of the Smithsonian Institution’s program on Legal Problems of Museum Administration. Prior to the Kennedy Center, she served as a corporate attorney in New York City and Washington, D.C. She is a graduate of UC San Diego and Harvard Law School. Ms. Buchholz and her husband, noted author and White House economic policy advisor Todd Buchholz, live in Solana Beach and are the proud parents of Victoria, Katherine and Alexia.

Michael S. Rosenberg, Managing Director has served as Managing Director of La Jolla Playhouse since April, 2009. During his five years at the Playhouse, he has worked in partnership with Artistic Director Christopher Ashley to produce 16 world premieres, 10 Playhouse commissions and the hit musicals Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Hands on a Hardbody and Little Miss Sunshine. He was also instrumental in bringing the Page To Stage workshop of John Leguizamo’s Diary of a Madman to the Playhouse, which transferred to Broadway. Additionally, he fostered the growth of the Playhouse’s award-winning Performance Outreach Program (POP) tour, achieving the most performances at local schools in Playhouse history. Previously, Mr. Rosenberg was Co-Founder and Executive Director of Drama Dept., a New York non-profit theatre company, where he produced new works by the likes of Douglas Carter Beane, Warren Leight, Isaac Mizrahi, Paul Rudnick and David and Amy Sedaris. He has been a part of the producing teams for the Broadway productions of Grey Gardens and American Buffalo and the national tour of Little House on the Prairie. He serves on the boards of La Jolla Country Day School and the Theatre Communications Group.

Des McAnuff, Director Emeritus served as La Jolla Playhouse’s Artistic Director from 1983 through 1994, and from 2001 through April, 2007. Under his leadership, the Playhouse garnered more than 300 awards, including the Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre. Playhouse to Broadway credits: Jersey Boys (four Tony Awards), Billy Crystal’s 700 Sundays (Tony Award), How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (five Tony nominations), director and co-author with Pete Townshend on The Who’s Tommy (Tony and Olivier Awards for Best Director) and Big River (seven Tony Awards), among others. Film credits: Quills, The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle, The Iron Giant (9 Animation Society awards) and Cousin Bette. Recipient of the Drama League’s 2006 Julia Hansen Award, Mr. McAnuff served as Artistic Director at Canada’s Stratford Festival from 2007 through 2012. He recently directed the hit productions of Sideways, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots and Jesus Christ Superstar at the Playhouse.