Alliance Theatre, The Chinese Lady, September-October 2024
SEP 18–OCT 13, 2024
THE CHINESE LADY
The great playwrights invite you to see the world differently, to discover something new about your world, yourself, and your neighbors. Lloyd Suh is unassailably one of the greats, as he makes that generous invitation with every word he writes. We’re honored to bring his work back to the Alliance Theatre and to share his celebrated play, The Chinese Lady, with all of you.
Inspired by what little has been recorded of Afong Moy, ostensibly the first Chinese woman to set foot in the United States, this play asks us to listen to a story that’s never been told, to see someone who was routinely looked at but never fully seen. To truly see someone in their full humanity remains one of life’s greatest rewards. It requires persistent curiosity and humility but yields the depth of connection that every one of us craves. The flip side is also true. To not see the other, or to not be seen, is one of life’s great tragedies and contributes greatly to the loneliness and bitterness that plagues our country.
That Afong Moy was exoticized and paraded throughout the country is a shameful part of our history. That we’re finally seeing her story is not just a testament to the brilliance of Lloyd’s writing, but an invitation to move from exploitation to understanding, from callousness to compassion, and from looking to seeing.
Chris Moses
Jennings Hertz Artistic Director
Tinashe Kajese-Bolden
Jennings Hertz Artistic
Director
It’s an honor to be directing The Chinese Lady, both at the Alliance and here in Atlanta.
In 2021, the murders of Daoyou Feng, Hyun Jung Grant, Suncha Kim, Soon Chung Park, Emily Xiaojie Tan, Yong Ae Yue, Delaina Ashley Yaun González, and Paul Andre Michels at three local spas put all eyes on the city of Atlanta. Asian and Asian American women everywhere grieved them — their lives, families, their hopes, their dreams. And we surrendered to our worst fears: That the stereotypes perpetuated about Asian women have made the world unsafe for us. That the story out there is stronger than anything we can say or do. And that a lurid, hateful story always wins.
Afong Moy was brought to America by Nathaniel and Frederick Carnes, two white merchant brothers who clocked the white American middle class’s growing appetite for Chinoiserie and made their move. They staged her sitting on Chinese furniture and sipping tea, dressed in traditional Chinese clothes. It was a wellconstructed picture: Charming, foreign, and for sale. They made their money, got out when the market took a dip, and sold Afong and the “show” to P.T. Barnum.
And they told her she was there to represent her country, and to promote cultural sharing between China and America.
The Chinese Lady exposes the theatre of advertising. It knows that stoking the American consumer’s appetite for novelty and fantasy can end up fanning the flames of racism and sexism, and how the meeting of appetite and advertising makes it all too easy to disregard the human being in the costume.
Working on this play has made me ask: When and why do we believe the story and discard the human? Maybe it’s what we’ve been told, or the images we’ve seen, or what our parents or teachers or coworkers say. Maybe it’s easier and faster to deal with the idea of a person rather than the person herself. What I know is that questioning the story that’s out there — unflattening the well-constructed picture so you can actually see the person — takes work. And care. And time.
To Asian women everywhere, but especially to the Asian women and the Asian community of Atlanta: This show is for everyone but it is our love letter to you.
Sincerely,
Jess McLeod Director, The Chinese Lady
KNOWING THE UNKNOWABLE
Playwright Lloyd Suh on Afong Moy, Writing, and Personal Transformation
STORY BY Ashley Elliott
The challenge of writing a play based on a historical figure is already quite a feat, but this challenge increases exponentially when the figure has very little historical record.
When playwright Lloyd Suh first heard of Afong Moy, her story haunted him.
“I did a deep dive of trying to find out as much as I could about her,” Suh says, “not because I wanted to write a play but simply because I needed to understand her story even just on a personal level. But you can only go so far in a deep dive — not only does the historical record completely ignore her after a point, but there is absolutely nothing on record that comes from her point of view.”
He did as much research as possible, given the circumstances, but had to put the writing process on hold for a while to focus on writing other plays.
Suh was a “pretty intense reader” when he was young, so he learned early on that he was interested in writing, specifically novels. This became clearer in high school, so he majored in English with a concentration in writing creative fiction.
“Theater came later,” he says. “I had a bunch of friends who were actors or theater majors, and they always seemed to be having so much fun. So I started spending more and more time at the theater department, and the vibe in that building was something I was really craving.”
Suh has written many plays, but Atlanta audiences may be familiar with his work Bina’s Six Apples , a part of the Alliance’s 2021/22 Season and a coproduction with Children’s Theatre Company.
“Bina’s Six Apples ,” he says, “was a play for young audiences, has a larger cast, wildly different setting — but is also similar [to The Chinese Lady] in that it’s deeply rooted in history and is concerned with a young person navigating the tumult of history towards a sense of self-actualization. I’ve written about history a lot over the past several years, and while the plays are all very different in terms of form and content, they are definitely in conversation with each other.”
When Suh eventually returned to Afong and the play he was crafting around her, he realized that he didn’t want to start deviating too much from her actual life.
“I was, of course, deeply reverent of [Afong] and her history,” Suh says, “so I knew I didn’t want to just start making things up. So I put the play away. I didn’t think I could finish. But I couldn’t stop thinking about it, and the more I thought about it the more I realized that the only way forward was to make the second half of the play about that mystery — it was about the absence of her, and what it means for us to understand that absence.”
“The real Afong Moy is completely unknowable. The Afong Moy of this play therefore differs from the historical Afong Moy entirely, except that she is similarly unknowable.”
Crafting a story takes on an entirely different level of skill when a playwright wants to stay as true to the original history as possible while still filling in the blanks with supposals of what might have been. For Suh, filling the blanks with supposals is “partially an exercise in aspiration.” Instead of focusing on the characters or the historical aspect or the writing itself, Suh thought of the actors and framed it as “a conjuring.”
“I could never have done any of this if I had carried the weight of history and the obligation of trying to accurately represent her legacy through just text,” says Suh. “There is an aspect of Afong Moy’s story that resonates in a very specific and personal way
Playwright Lloyd Suh
with actors — this became very clear to me the second I put any of these words in front of actors in a room. So I started there. I thought about the text as a map or a blueprint, to allow actors to conjure an aspirational Afong Moy within their own personal experience, commune with that history, and contemplate what her absence means for how we honor the past, not just in the present but in the future.”
There’s a moment part of the way through the play where Afong has a shift. The ability for actors to conjure their own version of her from within their own personal experience, sadly, may not be that far of a reach.
“It’s happened to all of us,” says Suh, “sometimes often, in various intensities. ... Moments in a conversation, or a friendship, or a relationship, or a job or anywhere, where you suddenly realize that you’re being perceived not as yourself but as an ornament of assumptions that come purely out of how you present to the world. It’s a moment of fear and shock and can be deeply dehumanizing, but I’m also interested in how it can be a moment of profound growth.”
Suh has been able to see several very different audiences respond to his play in very different ways. He says that because The Chinese Lady speaks directly to today’s theatrical audiences, “it’s a play that allows — even requires — an audience to respond personally.”
“The cultural moment in which the play was written was very different than the cultural moment now,” he says. “Very different than it was during the pandemic, in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd and our national reckoning around history and race, after the Atlanta spa shootings. ... I hope [audiences] respond personally, and with all of these moments in contemporary history as a part of their accounting of what it means in synthesis. ... I want everyone to have a personal reaction, and it’s especially meaningful if it comes fully out of their own personal history, their social location, their relationship with all of what came before and especially what is happening in the world on the particular day they might experience it. I know this means some people may just be deeply resistant, bored, or annoyed. But that’s worth it to me if it means the next person has a greater chance of being transformed.”
CULTURE CODING THE CHINESE LADY
WRITTEN BY
Hahnji Jang, Costume Designer and Cultural Consultant for The Chinese Lady
One of my favorite aspects of costuming is the chance to give depth and meaning to a figure in history we know very little about but is significant to a community. For The Chinese Lady, I was excited to explore who “Afong Moy” could be since we know very little beyond her function of highlighting the use of Chinese merchandise for the Carney Brothers and later as an “act” for the Barnum Circus. Similarly, “Atung” was an even larger mystery to me than Afong Moy whose origin was better recorded in the advertisements for her “show.” After exhausting this documentation of Afong Moy and Atung, I decided to explore the characters’ backstories further by questioning their path to this room.
For Afong, we knew that she was one of many daughters sold by her parents to American merchants to demonstrate the new Chinese fine goods being sold in the USA. My question was always, why her? For a possible backstory I turned to one of my favorite resources, “Making Queer History” (MQH). MQH publishes articles about queer figures and events from around the globe, organizing them by country with the goal of highlighting the queer culture that existed pre-western colonization and continues to exist despite attempts to eradicate it in the pursuit of global capitalization. I read an article about the Golden Orchid Society, a society of women in China who rejected heterosexual arranged marriages in favor of entering into marriages with other women, which their families now had to accept due to the silk industry boom raising a woman’s potential earnings. I was drawn to this fact as the same silk granting independence to these women is the same silk that Afong is in America to demonstrate for the crowds that come to see her. This silk trade ultimately became so popular that today, almost a century later, we are able to use secondhand silk remnants available to create the Afong Moy costume.
1800s Cigarette Card From the NYPL Picture Collection
The Golden Orchid Society wasn’t only for same-gender marriage but also included women who “married themselves” in ceremonies, referred to as “selfcombing women.” A middle part in the hair signified an unmarried status in this period, only to be combed back once married. This rare visible inclusion of the asexual/aromantic community also intrigued me as I wanted to ensure that Afong Moy was not sexualized as an Asian Woman and seemingly instead married to her purpose to expand the American understanding of the Chinese woman beyond stereotypes.
In intensifying the contrast of the moment she is being the most objectified in the play, her costume reflects depictions of Chinese women from western cigarette cards. This look removes her autonomy as it covers her hands and features a large elaborate wig, hair ornaments, and makeup — weighing her down unlike the possibilities a “self-combing” woman could have. As one of our few appearance aspects we can alter by choice, hair is often deeply personal and full of cultural coding options. This carries into Atung’s costume design as well.
As I researched how Atung could possibly have reached this room, I found historical notes of Yung Wing and other Chinese young men brought back by Christian missionaries to attend universities.
Naturally I began to imagine Atung as one of these students, strengthening his passable English at an American University. I loved that the renderings available of Yung Wing featured longer hair, possibly hinting at a streak of rebellion (as hair often holds for queer folks), with further subtle commentary against the traditionally enforced Chinese long braided queue, or maybe it was against Western standards and the missionaries who had cut his hair short. Either way it was one of two main ways I was able to understand and queer code Atung with the other being the symbol of the bitten peach.
There is also a story in ancient Chinese literature, Han Feizi, centered on the peach — 餘桃啗君 (feeding emperor with the bitten peach). In the Zhou dynasty (771–256 BC), Mizi Xia was famous for his impeccable beauty and was the favourite same-sex courtesan of the state-ruler, Duke Ling of Wei. One day, when they wandered through the garden together, Xia picked a peach and took a small bite. As soon as he realized how particularly sweet the peach was, he handed the remainder of the bitten peach to the Duke. The behaviour could have been seen as a significant disrespect to the royal ruler. However, Ling of Wei took the bitten peach and instead praised Xia’s sincere love. The symbol of the bitten peach ( 餘桃 ) is still a coded phrase for romantic relationships between men in China.
Asian Arts and Culture Trust
Inspired by this story I chose to highlight the bitten peach through a peach shaped pocketwatch. This time piece is a key way Atung interacts with the show and has become his own small subtle way of claiming both his Chinese culture and his queerness in front of the audiences that come to see Afong Moy.
THE ORIGINS, IMPACT, AND LEGACY OF THE CHINESE EXCLUSION ACT
WRITTEN BY Abrianna Belvedere
Special thanks to Tom Zhang, Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Kansas, theater-maker, actor, and one third of the Atlanta Theater Collective You Should Feel Bad for their consultation on this article. Tom is dedicated to creating performances that use humor to explore race relations and American identity. You can learn more about their work at thetomzhang.com.
In the early to mid-19th century, gold was discovered in California, the railroad industry was booming, and Great Britain’s illegal exportation of opium into China soon led to the Opium Wars. These conflicts, famine, and destabilization severely impacted China’s economy, particularly in the Guangdong region, where Afong Moy was born. Many Chinese laborers left their home to find work in the burgeoning industries of the American West. American companies, prohibited from using enslaved labor in the Free territories, exploited Chinese immigrants by offering low wages and imposing long work days.
Chinese immigrants faced pervasive xenophobia, racist articles, and propaganda depicting Chinese immigrant communities as unclean, drugaddicted, or otherwise threats to American values. In 1854, the California Supreme Court case People v. Hall ruled that testimony from Chinese people against the White people was inadmissible. The ruling held that Chinese people were “a race of people whom nature has marked as inferior.” This decision effectively legalized violence against Chinese Americans, resulting in a surge of under-legislated hate crimes.
Racism and xenophobia exploded into the LA Chinatown Massacre of 1871, triggered when a police officer was wounded and a saloon owner died during a shootout between two rival Chinese criminal organizations. During the massacre, a mostly White mob lynched nearly 10% of the Chinese American population in Los Angeles. All convictions brought against the mob were overturned on technicalities. A few years later, The Page Act banned the importation of forced laborers and sex workers from any nation in Asia; its enforcement relied on the sexualization and fetishization of Asian women. The Page Act was enforced in a way that aligned all Chinese women with sex work, and immigration officials were given full authority to bar Chinese women from entering the United States. In 1877, the Workingmen’s Party of California, a racist labor organization, was founded with the goal of eradicating Chinese laborers from America, espousing the slogan, “the Chinese must go.”
In 1882, the United States passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, the first immigration bill to explicitly ban a specific race or nationality. This act banned all Chinese people from entering America with few exceptions.
During the Exclusion era, the nearly 110,000 Chinese Americans who immigrated before 1882 were denied naturalization, barred from owning land, and prohibited from interracial relationships.
In 1885, a White mob razed the Chinatown in Rock Springs, Wyoming, forcing over 600 Chinese residents to flee and killing at least 28, though the actual number of deaths may have been higher. The 1887 Hell’s Canyon Massacre resulted in the deaths of 34 Chinese gold miners. The site was renamed “Chinese Massacre Cove,” and the memorial sign reads: “No one was held accountable.”
An act to execute certain treaty stipulations relating to the Chinese, May 6, 1882; Enrolled Acts and Resolutions of Congress, 1789-1996; General Records of the United States Government; Record Group 11; National Archives
The Chinese Exclusion Act was not repealed until 1943; even then, only 105 visas per year were given to Chinese immigrants. It wasn’t until 1965 that the quota was increased to 20,000. The legacy of Exclusion-era policies and racist rhetoric continues to affect Chinese Americans today. Hate crimes against Asian Americans increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, fueled by the same stereotypes that led to the Chinese Exclusion Act. In 2021, the Atlanta Spa Shootings were a targeted attack against Asian women, the tragedy connected to the dehumanization and sexualization of Asian women that resulted in the Page Act of 1875.
Right now. Right here. In 2024, it is our responsibility to listen to the voices of Asian Americans, amplifying them over the harmful narratives and tropes that originated in the Exclusion era and undoing the legacy of harm caused by the enactment of the Chinese Exclusion Act.
ALLIANCE THEATRE
TINASHE KAJESE-BOLDEN
Jennings Hertz Artistic Director
MIKE
CHRISTOPHER MOSES
Jennings Hertz Artistic Director
SCHLEIFER Managing Director
present
SUH
SCENIC DESIGN SE HYUN OH COSTUME DESIGN/CULTURAL CONSULTANT HAHNJI JANG
Co-world premiere presented at Barrington Stage (Julianne Boyd, Artistic Director; Branden Huldeen, Artistic Producer), Pittsfield, MA, July 2018
Commissioned by and co-world premiere presented by Ma-Yi Theater Company (Ralph B. Peña, Artistic Director) in New York City
Developed with support of the Roe Green Award at Cleveland Play House. "The Chinese Lady" is presented by special arrangement with Broadway Licensing, LLC, servicing the Dramatists Play Service imprint. (www.dramatists.com)
*KEIKO AGENA
CAST
Afong Moy
REX LEE Atung
UNDERSTUDIES
AKASHA GRACE
Afong Moy
TERENCE LEE Atung
STAGE MANAGERS
*XIAONAN (CHLOE) LIU.
MYAH HARPER
Stage Manager
Stage Management Production Assistant
PRODUCTION AND DESIGN ASSISTANCE
HAYLEE SCOTT Production Management Lead
HAHNJI JANG Cultural Consultant
ELISA CARLSON Dialect Coach
FOR THIS PRODUCTION
NEIL ANDERSON LX Programmer & Board Op
ADIRAH ROBINSON
EMMA MOULEDOUX
MONICA SPEAKER
YIJUN YANG
SPECIAL THANKS
East by Southeast Gyun Hur
Nicole Kang Ahn
Stagehand
Sound Engineer
Dresser
Associate Scenic Designer
Kerry Lee, Atlanta Chinese Dance Company
Samantha Ma
*Denotes a member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States
The Alliance Theatre operates under an agreement between the League of Resident Theatres (LORT) and Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States, and the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers, an independent national labor union. The Alliance Theatre at the Woodruff is a member of Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for the American theatre, and is a member of the League of Resident Theatres (LORT), the International Association of Theatre for Children and Young Audiences (ASSITEJ/USA), The Atlanta Coalition of Theatres, the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau, and the Midtown Alliance.
Photos may be taken in the theater before the performance, and following the performance. If you share your photos, please credit the designers.
Photos, videotaping or other video or audio recording of this production is strictly prohibited, is a violation of United States Copyright Law, and is an actionable Federal Offense.
This production is approximately an hour and a half long and has no intermission.
KEIKO AGENA (Afong Moy) [she/her] is thrilled to join the cast of The Chinese Lady at the Alliance Theatre! Keiko is best known for her series regular roles on the shows Prodigal Son, where she played Dr. Edrisa Tanaka and Gilmore Girls, where she played Lane Kim for seven seasons and reprised the role in the Netflix Gilmore Girls revival. In between, Agena has been a series regular on HULU’s The First and recurring on Better Call Saul, Dirty John, Doom Patrol, and 13 Reasons Why. As a guest star, she has appeared on such shows as Shameless, Scandal, and NCIS Los Angeles, to name a few. Keiko has also published an Artist Workbook titled No Mistakes through Penguin/Random house and as an improviser she’s performed shows at UCB, IO WEST, and recently at The Elysian Theater. Her “fun facts” are that she got married in a helicopter and has forgotten what milk tastes like. Find her on social media: @KeikoAgena
AKASHA GRACE (u/s Afong Moy) [they/she]
Atlanta credits: Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 and Kim’s Convenience (Horizon Theatre), A Christmas Carol (Alliance Theatre), and Christmas Canteen (Aurora Theatre). Other favorite credits include: Esmeralda in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Younts Center), #14 in The Wolves (Warehouse Theatre), and Caroline in I and You (Clemson University). She originally hails from South Carolina and holds an MS in Applied Psychology from Clemson University. Most recently, she completed the Summer Drama Intensive at the Juilliard School in New York City. Up next, she’ll be playing Ariel in The Little Mermaid at Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center. IG: @xoakasha
REX LEE (Atung) [he/ him] TV: Entourage (HBO), Suburgatory (ABC), Young & Hungry (Freeform), Fresh Off The Boat (ABC), Glee (FOX), Castle (ABC) Film: Feel The Beat (Netflix), Advantageous (Sundance Film Festival Special Jury Prize), Entourage (Warner Brothers).
TERENCE LEE (u/s Atung) [he/him] is an Atlanta-based actor originally from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Recent credits include The Electric State, Out of Bounds, and several regional and national commercials. Terence holds an MFA in Acting and enjoys chasing his wonderful schnoodle, Emmy, all over the place. Terence is currently an instructor at Thrive Acting Hive. Terence would like to thank his friends, family, and mentors for always supporting and guiding him. Find him on social media: @terencelee.jpg
JESS MCLEOD (Director) [she/her] is a New York-based director and social justice advocate specializing in risky new work about America. NYCLU Artist-InResidence (Creatives Rebuild) and BOLD Resident Director (Woolly Mammoth). She has directed and developed new plays, musicals, and opera at theatres across the country and served as Resident Director of Hamilton Chicago, Co-Chair (with Michael Korie) of the Dramatists Guild Foundation’s Musical Theatre Fellows Program, and Refocus Project Lead Curator at Roundabout Theatre Company. Working frequently at the intersection of arts and activism, Jess has also created operas with community groups (Lyric Opera of Chicago), musicals with incarcerated teen Chicagoans (Storycatchers Theatre), the #STOPASIANHATE video campaign for NY Rep. Grace Meng’s 3/26 Day of Action & Healing (co-creator), and curated Broadway Advocacy Coalition’s inaugural Arts In Action Festival. Recent/upcoming work includes The Thanksgiving Play (Steppenwolf); The Family Album, a new musical commission for La Jolla Playhouse; and On the Evolutionary Function of Shame at Second Stage. MFA: Northwestern. 1st Gen Korean-Filipina-Scottish American. www.jess-mcleod.com | @mcjessmc
LLOYD SUH (Playwright) is the author of plays including The Far Country (2023 Pulitzer Prize finalist), The Heart Sellers, American Hwangap, Franklinland, and Bina’s Six Apples, which premiered at Alliance Theatre in
2022 (co-production with Children’s Theater Company). His work has been produced across the country, including The Public, Atlantic Theatre Company, Huntington, Berkeley Rep, and with Ma-Yi Theatre Company and Ensemble Studio Theatre. This summer, he collaborated with Atlanta-based artist and illustrator Nicole Kang Ahn on Bina’s Harvest, a book for young readers as part of the Mayor’s Summer Reading Club. Awards include the Steinberg Playwright Award, the Horton Foote Prize, the Herb Alpert Award in the Arts, and the Guggenheim Fellowship. He was elected in 2016 to the Dramatists Guild Council, and serves as a Professor of the Practice at Princeton University.
SE HYUN OH (Scenic Design) is a South Korean set designer based in NYC. Off-Broadway credits: Once Upon A Korean Time (Ma-Yi Theatre/ La Mama Theatre); The Unbelieving (The Civilians/ 59E59 Theatres); Mister Miss America (AFO Theatre/ Rattlestick Theatre). Selected regional credits: Clyde’s, The Chinese Lady, Rooted (Cincinnati Playhouse); Man of God (Williamstown Theatre Festival, Geffen Playhouse); Underneath the Lintel (Geffen Playhouse); Tiger Style!, A Doll’s House Part 2, Cambodian Rock Band, Yoga Play, Office Hour (South Coast Rep); Hold These Truths (People’s Light Theatre); Silent Sky (Perseverance Theatre). He graduated from Northwestern University with an MFA in Theatre Design. Member of USA Local 829. www.sehyunoh.com
HAHNJI JANG 장한지 (Costume Design/Cultural Consultant) [they/ them/형] uses their passion for fabric art & traditional printing techniques to upcycle garments and offer affordable styling outside the limiting gender and size binaries imposed by capitalism. They are on a continual journey to rematriate the closets of the individuals and institutions around them and last year created the Transcendent Punk Costume Closet to redistribute costume resources in an effort to make the costume industry more sustainable and accessible to the Queer community. To support follow @transpunkcloset or find out more at Hahnji.com
LEE FISKNESS (Lighting Design) is a Chicago based Designer and making his debut at the Alliance Theatre. Credits: Off Broadway: Manhattan
Theatre Club. Regional: The Old Globe, Steppenwolf, Goodman, Chicago Shakespeare, Kennedy Center, Mark Taper Forum, Cincinnati Playhouse, Emerson Colonial Theatre, Actor’s Theatre, Milwaukee Rep, Drury Lane, The Contemporary Theatre of Ohio. Opera: Chicago Lyric, San Jose, Dallas, Colorado, Portland, Kentucky, Florentine Opera. International: The Jurassic World Exhibition (China), Marriage of Figaro (Japan), Movement Stories (Abu Dhabi). Lee has worked on lighting teams for “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” “The Rosie Show,” “The Steve Harvey Show,” Fox Sports, NBC, Big Ten Network, and Chicago Bears. He is the local lighting designer for the holiday light show Lightscape at the Chicago Botanical Gardens. Lee was the Lighting Director at The Santa Fe Opera and worked with the company for 18 seasons. www.leefiskness.com
MEGUMI KATAYAMA (Sound Design) is thrilled to make her Alliance Theatre debut with The Chinese Lady! Favorite design credits include Off-Broadway/ NYC: Titanic, Jelly’s Last Jam, The Light in the Piazza, co-design for The Life (NYCC Encores!), Alex Newell and the Gospel of a Diva (Minetta Lane), Regretfully, So the Birds Are (Playwrights Horizons/WP), The Nosebleed (LCT3), for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf (The Public), Romeo and Juliet (NAATCO), New Victory, Rattlestick, Little Island, NYTW Gala. Regional: Cambodian Rock Band (tour), English (The Old Globe), Rubicon (Denver Center for Performing Arts), 72 Miles to Go… (Alley Theatre), Sister Act (Geva Theatre Center), PROM (Zach), Legally Blonde (Theatre Aspen), POTUS (Trinity Rep), Arena Stage, Two River, Long Wharf, Yale Rep, Studio Theatre, Everyman Theater, Woolly Mammoth, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, KC Rep, Virginia Stage Company, Opera House Arts, Skylight Music Theater, OKC Rep, Chautauqua Theater Company, Dorset Theater Festival, and more. Originally from Japan, Megumi holds an MFA in Sound Design from Yale School of Drama. Megumikatayama.com
FAN ZHANG (Composer)’s recent Off-Broadway design and original music credits include: Jordans (Public); Good Bones (Public); Far Country (Atlantic); What Became of Us (Atlantic); At the Wedding (Lincoln Center Theatre); Snow in Midsummer
(Classic Stage); Paris (Atlantic Theatre); the Golden Age (59E59); On That Day In Amsterdam (59E59); A Kid Like Rishi (Origin Theatre); Our Dear Dead Drug Lord (Second Stage & Women’s Project); Pumpgirl (Irish Rep); Suicide Forest (Ma-Yi & A.R.T); Molly Sweeney (Keen Company); Round Table (59E59); Behind the Sheet (Ensemble Studio Theatre); The Trail of the Catonsville Nine (Transport Group); Scissoring (INTAR); Three Girls Never Learnt the Way Home (Cherry Lane Theatre); Tania In the Gateway Van (The Flea). Regional: Shakespeare Theatre Company, Berkeley Rep, Arena Stage, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Milwaukee Rep, Capital Rep, Artists Repertory Theatre, Long Wharf, Pittsburgh City Theatre, Portland Center Stage, Studio Theatre D.C., Two River Theater, Williamstown Theatre Festival, and Yale Rep. Member of Local 829 and TSDCA. Professor at Purdue University. Education: MFA, Yale School of Drama. www.fanzhangsound.com
JODY FELDMAN (Producer & Casting Director) began her theater career as an actress in Atlanta before moving into administration as the Assistant General Manager at Frank Wittow’s Academy Theatre. It was at the Academy that Jody realized the importance of theatre to a city’s cultural values and identity. Feldman started her career at the Alliance as casting director in 1991 and added producer to her title and responsibilities in 2001. She has cast and produced more than 250 productions at the Alliance, encompassing a range of world premieres that include The Last Night of Ballyhoo by Alfred Uhry, Blues for An Alabama Sky by Pearl Cleage, The Geller Girls by Janece Shaffer, In the Red and Brown Water by Tarell Alvin McCraney, more than 20 years of Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Competitionwinning plays, such world and regional premiere musicals as Aida; The Color Purple; Sister Act: The Musical; Bring It On: The Musical; Tuck Everlasting; Ghost Brothers of Darkland County; Harmony, A New Musical; The Prom; Trading Places, and exciting new plays developed specifically for children and families, which is integral to the expansion of audience and mission for the Alliance. Jody is most proud of the thriving Alliance community engagement and partnerships that recognize theatrical work as a catalyst for civic conversation and connection.
XIAONAN (CHLOE) LIU (Stage Manager) is the Stage Management Fellow at the Alliance Theatre, originally from China. She recently completed her first production, Pearl Cleage’s Something Moving: A Meditation on Maynard, at the Alliance which she is so proud of. Chloe graduated from the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale where her credits include Next to Normal, Green Suga Bloos, The Cherry Orchard, The Alley, and Twelfth Night, as well as Choir Boy and Escaped Alone at Yale Rep. She holds a B.A. from Shanghai Theatre Academy. Her working experience in China included Beauty and The Beast, The Lion King, Man of La Mancha, and The Sound of Music national tour.
MYAH HARPER (Stage Management Production Assistant) [she/her] is ecstatic to be a team member of The Chinese Lady! Her previous credits include: The Preacher’s Wife, Fat Ham, A Tale of Two Cities, Roob and Noob, Into the Burrow: A Peter Rabbit Tale, and Oodles of Doodles (Alliance Theatre). Myah has also been a Teaching Artist with Alliance Theatre Education since the Summer of 2023. She is a Mississippi native and attended The University of Mississippi, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting along with specialized classes in Theatrical Design and Production. Myah would like to thank her family and friends for their never-ending love and support.
TINASHE KAJESE-BOLDEN (Jennings Hertz Artistic Director) began her tenure at the Alliance in 2016 as the BOLD Associate Artistic Director, assuming her current role in 2023. Originally from Zimbabwe, KajeseBolden combines her commitment to great art, deep education and community empowerment with an agile enthusiasm and unflappable, calm energy to inspire new possibilities. Kajese-Bolden honed her directing and producing skills as a freelance director working in regional houses across the country and on set. As a director and actor, she fosters deep ongoing collaborations with playwrights and has mounted innovative and critically acclaimed productions that merge elegant, theatrical designs with complicated human stories. A Princess Grace Award 2019 Winner for Directing, and Map Fund Award recipient as a director and actor, she has worked on and Off-Broadway as well as recurring roles in the Marvel universe
“Guardians of the Galaxy: Holiday Special,” Suicide Squad, “Hawkeye,” and CW’s “Valor,” “Dynasty,” HBO’s “Henrietta Lacks,” Ava Duverney’s “Cherish the Day,” among others. Up next, she is developing a new Opera, Forsythe is Flooding: The Joy of Lake Lanier, and proudly serves on the ARTS-ATL Artist Advisory Council. “My mission is the pursuit of what connects our different communities and how we create art that liberates us to imagine a more inclusive future.”
CHRISTOPHER MOSES
(Jennings Hertz Artistic Director) has been working in professional theatre for twenty years and in 2022 was given the Governor’s Award for Arts in Humanities for his body of work. In January of 2011, Chris took on the position of Director of Education at the Alliance Theatre, overseeing the Alliance Theatre Institute (twice recognized as an Arts Model by the Federal Department of Education), Theatre for Youth & Families, and the Acting Program. Since taking over this position, Chris has expanded the reach and impact by making the Alliance Theatre Education department a vital resource for advancing the civic agenda of Atlanta. This work is accomplished through deep and sustained partnerships with social service organizations throughout the city. Under his leadership, the Alliance launched its Kathy & Ken Bernhardt Theatre for the Very Young program, which provides fully interactive professional theater experiences for children of all abilities from ages newborn through five years old; the Alliance Teen Ensemble, which performs world premiere plays commissioned for and about teens; the Palefsky Collision Project, where teens produce a new work after colliding with a classic text; expanded the Alliance’s summer camp program to include over 3,000 children in multiple locations across Atlanta; and Alliance@work, a professional development program designed for the business sector — the latest offering of which uses theatre practice to create a culture of civility in the workplace. In 2014, Chris added the title Associate Artistic Director, and has continued to expand the Alliance’s education offerings. During his tenure in this position, the Alliance has produced over a dozen world premiere plays for young audiences, including Pancakes, Pancakes! by Ken Lin, The Dancing Granny by Jireh Breon Holder, Max Makes a Million by Liz Diamond, and The Incredible Book Eating Boy by
Madhuri Shekar. Currently, the Alliance serves over 100,000 students pre-k—12 each season, as well as over 4,000 adults through its extensive education offerings. In 2023, he was named Artistic Director of the Alliance Theatre.
MIKE SCHLEIFER (Managing Director) joined the Alliance Theatre in 2014 as the General Manager and in 2016, assumed the role of Managing Director. During his time at the Alliance, Mike has led the administrative and producing team on over 100 productions including bringing Tuck Everlasting and The Prom to Broadway. He was one of the architects of the “On the Road” season while a multi-million dollar renovation of the Coca-Cola Stage was underway. Mike is excited to have started the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee at the Alliance and to serve on the board of the League of Resident Theatres and True Colors Theatre Company. Prior to Atlanta, he spent 13 years at Baltimore’s Center Stage working in several roles including Associate Producer, Production Manager and Resident Stage Manager. While in Baltimore, Mike was an adjunct faculty member at Towson University and has guest-lectured all over the country. Mike began as a Stage Manager and has dozens of stage management credits between his time in New York and working regionally. Mike is married to theater director and educator Laura Hackman and the proud father of two boys, Jack and Ben.
ACTORS’ EQUITY ASSOCIATION
(AEA) Founded in 1913, AEA is the U.S. labor union that represents more than 51,000 professional Actors and Stage Managers. Equity fosters the art of live theatre as an essential component of society and advances the careers of its members by negotiating wages, improving working conditions and providing a wide range of benefits, including health and pension plans. Actors’ Equity is a member of the AFL-CIO and is affiliated with FIA, an international organization of performing arts unions. www.actorsequity.org
Alliance Theatre Sets Wonder Free.
And what delights during performances ignites a brighter future. You can invest in better tomorrows by supporting access for youth to experience world-class theatre on a stage that’s all their own. Now is the time.
Introducing The Goizueta Stage For Youth And Families,
a transformative new space designed to inspire young audiences year-round. Research shows that early access to live theater can significantly combat critical issues like low literacy rates and the urgent youth mental health crisis. To fulfill this promise, the Alliance Theatre is launching a $10 million Imagine Endowment to expand our capacity to serve more young people and sustain these enriching experiences in perpetuity. With this endowment, the Goizueta Stage will be a beacon of accessibility, welcoming children from all backgrounds and removing economic, geographic, and physical barriers to ensure that every child can engage with the magic of theatre for generations to come.
Support The Imagine Endowment
For more information about the Alliance’s Imagine Campaign or to make an endowment contribution, please contact: Trent Anderson, Director of Development trent.anderson@alliancetheatre.org (404) 733-4710
Scan here to learn more, contribute, or view our full donor listing alliancetheatre.org/imagine
Much like Afong Moy, the protagonist in Lloyd Suh’s The Chinese Lady, I am a Chinese (American) lady. As a dancer and now Co-Artistic Director of Atlanta Chinese Dance Company, I’ve spent much of my life performing my Chinese heritage for curious Americans across the country.
Chinese American history is rarely taught in schools or media, so perhaps it’s not a surprise that most people have never heard of Afong Moy. I only learned of her story a few years ago by chance from a book and was viscerally horrified to discover that the first Chinese lady to ever step foot in our country was brought over to be displayed like an exotic zoo animal. No wonder the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community is still fighting demeaning stereotypes like “China doll” and “Dragon Lady,” which have continued to endanger our lives (case in point: 2021 Atlanta spa shootings #StopAAPIHate).
In the play Afong reflects, “If only I could have shown you how we are so alike in many beautiful ways. And how we are so different in beautiful ways as well.” This is at the crux of the mission of the Atlanta Chinese Dance Company and how our work builds on what Afong set out to do almost two centuries ago. When we present a Chinese dance performance or lecture-demonstration in a theater, school, or museum, we hope you’re mesmerized by the uniqueness of our dazzling costumes and athletic artistry — just as Afong’s visitors were mesmerized by her by tiny bound feet and use of chopsticks. But more importantly, we hope you see yourself in the universality of our human experiences. Though the culture we share may originate from a faraway time and place, at its heart and soul is something we all share — love, family, friendship, joy, sorrow, a fight for justice, a hope for a better future.
Chinese American stories are American stories. Founded by Hwee-Eng Lee in 1991, Atlanta Chinese Dance Company has been collaborating with Atlanta artists across genres to create and present original Chinese dance choreography by and about the Chinese American experience. We’re so honored to partner with the Alliance Theatre on The Chinese Lady to share a rarely told Chinese American story with Atlanta audiences of diverse backgrounds. To learn more about Chinese and Chinese American dance, history, and culture, visit us at www.atlantachinesedance.org.
Kerry Lee Co-Artistic Director Atlanta Chinese Dance Company
SYNOPSIS
Inspired by the true story of Afong Moy, The Chinese Lady is a darkly poetic yet whimsical portrait of our collective past seen through the eyes of a young Chinese woman. Afong is only 14 years old when she’s brought to the United States in 1834 and displayed as “The Chinese Lady” — the first to step foot on U.S. soil. Decade after decade, she performs as a living exhibit, showing curious white visitors how she eats and what she wears as merchants sell tea and Chinoiserie in the lobby. As time wears on, the lines between her performance and her identity begin to blur.
GET SOCIAL
Connect with us and other audience members on your Alliance Theatre experience. Share your comments and photos on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok with hashtags #TheChineseLady and #AllianceTheatre. Plus, search your social media platforms with those hashtags for fun, behind-the-scenes content from our cast, crew, and creative team.
www.alliancetheatre.org
By CHARLES DICKENS
Adapted by DAVID H. BELL
Directed by CAITLIN HARGRAVES Original Direction by LEORA MORRIS
ABOUT THE ALLIANCE THEATRE
Founded in 1968, the Alliance Theatre is the leading producing theatre in the Southeast, reaching more than 165,000 patrons annually. The Alliance is led by Jennings Hertz Artistic Directors Tinashe Kajese-Bolden and Christopher Moses, and Managing Director Mike Schleifer. The Alliance is a recipient of the Regional Theatre Tony Award® for sustained excellence in programming, education, and community engagement. In January 2019, the Alliance opened its new, stateof-the-art performance space, The Coca-Cola Stage at Alliance Theatre. Known for its high artistic standards and national role in creating significant theatrical works, the Alliance has premiered more than 135 productions including eleven that have transferred to Broadway. The Alliance education department reaches 90,000 students annually through performances, classes, camps, and in-school initiatives designed to support teachers and enhance student learning. The Alliance Theatre values community, curiosity, collaboration, and excellence, and is dedicated to representing Atlanta’s diverse community with the stories we tell, the artists, staff, and leadership we employ, and audiences we serve.
OUR MISSION
To expand hearts and minds onstage and off.
OUR
VISION
Making Atlanta more connected, curious, and compassionate through theatre and arts education.
LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT
In the sincerest efforts to gain further understanding of the history that has brought us to reside on this land and to accept the knowledge that colonialism is a current and ongoing process under which we need to build our mindfulness of our present participation, we hereby acknowledge this native land of the Muscogee Creek Nation.
| boardofdirectors
OFFICERS
Chair
E. Kendrick Smith
Vice Chair
Allison O’Kelly
Immediate Past Chair
Jocelyn Hunter
Treasurer
Glenn Weiss
Ex-Officio
Hala Moddelmog
LIFETIME DIRECTORS
Rita Anderson
Ken Bernhardt
Frank Chew
Ann Cramer
Linda Davidson
Laura Hardman
Hays Mershon
Richard S. Myrick
Helen Smith Price
Bob Reiser
Jane Shivers
H. Bronson Smith
Ben White
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Kristin Adams
Norman Adkins
Kimberly Ajy
James Anderson
Farideh Azadi
Marc Balizer
Deisha Barnett
Alba Baylin
Maggie Blake Bailey
Bridget Blake
Kenny Blank
Terri Bonoff
Jennifer Boutté
Kristen Burke
Jeff Cashdan
Madeline Chadwick
Miles Cook
LeighAnn Costley
Joe Crowley
Katie Fahs
Reade Fahs
Howard Feinsand
Rick Gestring
Richard Goerss
Claire Gotham
Lila Hertz
Jocelyn Hunter
Malvika Jhangiani
Alexander Johnson
Jane Jordan Casavant
Anne Kaiser
John Keller
Matthew Kent
Andjela Kessler
Jim Kilberg
Jesse Killings
Carrie Kurlander
Allegra Lawrence-Hardy
Robert Masucci
Jean Ann McCarthy
Alan McKeon
Dori Miller
Jeffrey Miller
Hala Moddelmog
Phil Moïse
Allison O’Kelly
Victoria Palefsky
Jackie Parker
Paul Pendergrass
Anne Rambaud Herren
Stephanie Ray
Patty Reid
Margaret Reiser
Matthew Richburg
Robyn Roberts
Maurice Rosenbaum
Steve Selig
Kim Sewell
Mital Shah
Bill Sleeper
E. Kendrick Smith
Chandra Stephens-Albright
Charlita Stephens
Mark Swinton
Julie Teer
Richard Valladares
Benny Varzi
Rebekah Wasserman
Glenn Weiss
Wai Wong
Todd Zeldin
ADVISORY BOARD
Advisory Board Co-Chair
Laura Hardman
Advisory Board Co-Chair
Phil H. Moïse
Joe Alterman
Luis Andino
Johanna Brookner
Merry Hunter Caudle
Elizabeth Cooper
Mamie Dayan-Vogel
Candice Dixon
Malaika Dowdell
Everett Flanigan
Brandon Fleming
Mary Beth Flournoy
Les Flynn
Natalia Garzón Martínez
Lydia Glaize
Emmanuel Glaze
Meghan Gordon
Tevin Goss
Jeff Graham
Dr. Eve Graves, Ph.D.
Erica Greenblatt
Shauna Grovell
Della Guidry
Campbell Hastings
Elizabeth Hollister
Zenith Houston
Mallika Kallingal
Jodi Kalson
Jennifer Lee
JoJasmin Lopez
Theo Lowe
Carlton Mackey
Nelly Mauta
Tre’Von McKay
Monica McLary
Juan Meija
Caroline Moore
Laura Murvartian
Zach Nikonovich Kahn
Amy Norton King
Susan Sim Oh
Kathy Palumbo
Aixa Pascual
Kisan Patel
Marion Phillips
Alexis Rainey
Daniel Regenstein
Michelle Robinson
Wendy Schmitt
Dr. Shenara Sexton
Beverly Brown Shaw
Brian Stoltz
Maria Storts
Alicia Thompson
Ana Urrego
Emily Washburn
Melinda Weekes-Laidlaw
Angie Weiss
Stuart Wilkinson
Joni Williams
VOLUNTEER LEADERSHIP
President, STARS
Andjela Kessler
Chairman, Theater Advocates
Patricia Walsh
Chairman, Theater Ushers
Edwina Sellan
Chairman, Hospitality
Susan Stiefel
ALLIANCE SPONSORS
Alliance Sponsors are businesses, corporations, and institutions that have supported the work of the Alliance Theatre. We thank them for their generosity and support.
$500,000+
Chick-fil-A Foundation |
Rhonda & Dan Cathy
Delta Air Lines, Inc.
Lettie Pate Evans Foundation
Robert W. Woodruff Foundation
$250,000+
Anonymous
The Coca-Cola Company
Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning
Shubert Foundation
WestRock
$100,000+
Accenture
Helen Gurley Brown Foundation
Georgia Power
The Home Depot Foundation
Invesco QQQ
John H. and Wilhelmina D. Harland Charitable Fund
King & Spalding
Norfolk Southern
PNC
The Rich’s Foundation
Warner Bros. Discovery
Zeist Foundation
$50,000+
AT&T Foundation
Bank of America
Cadence Bank
City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs
Edgerton Foundation
Georgia Council for the Arts
Georgia Natural Gas
Google
Jones Day
Kendeda Fund
Liz Blake Giving Fund
Molly Blank Fund of the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation
National Endowment for the Arts
National Vision
Wellstar Foundation
$25,000+
Black Leadership AIDS Crisis Coalition, powered by AIDS Healthcare Foundation
Comcast
Fulton County Board of Commissioners
Graphic Packaging
The Imlay Foundation, Inc.
Johnny Mercer Foundation
Kaiser Permanente
Northside Hospital
Peach State Health Plan
Southwire
$10,000+
AEC Trust
Alexander Babbage
Alston & Bird
Do a Good Day Foundation
Eversheds Sutherland
George M. Brown Trust of Atlanta
Georgia-Pacific
John & Mary Franklin Foundation
SCANA Energy
South Arts
The Harold & Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust
$5,000+
Anonymous
Frances Wood Wilson Foundation
Osiason Educational Foundation
Perkins&Will
Publix Super Market Charities
By attending our theater, you have made a powerful statement about how important the arts are to you. Make another statement of support louder than any standing ovation. Visit alliancetheatre.org and click on Donate.
Hertz Series Sponsor
Official Hotel Official Research Partner
Major funding for this organization is provided by the Fulton County Board of Commissioners
This program is supported in part by the Georgia Council for the Arts through the appropriations of the Georgia General Assembly. GCA also receives support from its partner agencythe National Endowment for the Arts. by the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs.
Individual, foundation, and corporate donors contribute more than $10 million to the Alliance Theatre so that we are able to present exceptional theater and educational programming to our community. We are deeply grateful for your support. To find out more about the benefits of giving or to make your gift, visit us at alliancetheatre.org/waystogive or call 404-733-5157.
Listed below are pledges and gifts to the Alliance Theatre Annual Fund.
PREMIERE SUPPORT
Spotlight $100,000+
Mr. James E. Gay*
Dan & Garnet Reardon
The SKK Foundation
Artistic Director’s Circle
$50,000+
Ms. Stephanie Blank
Starr Moore & the James Starr Moore Memorial Foundation
Chairman’s Circle
$25,000+
The Antinori Foundation
Around the Table Foundation
Ann & Jeff Cramer
Heidi & David Geller
David & Carolyn Gould
Jocelyn J. Hunter
Mr. & Mrs. Douglas Ivester
Jesse Killings
Daniel Marks & Keri Powell
Rosemarie & David Thurston
Leadership Circle
$15,000+
Ali & Farideh Azadi
Maggie Blake Bailey & Andrew Bailey
Brian & Jennifer Boutté
Jane Jordan Casavant
Roxanne & Jeffrey Cashdan
Barbara & Steve Chaddick
Katie & Reade Fahs
Ellen & Howard Feinsand
Doris & Matthew Geller
Anne & Scott Herren
Kristie L. Madara
Mr. & Mrs. Barry McCarthy
Phil & Caroline Moïse
Allison & Shane O’Kelly
Victoria & Howard Palefsky
Patty & Doug Reid
Bob & Margaret Reiser
Patricia & Maurice
Rosenbaum
Linda & Steve Selig
Ms. Mital Shah
William & Margarita Sleeper
Dr. & Mrs. Dennis Lee
Spangler
Mark Swinton
Tim & Maria Tassopoulos
Benny & Roxanne Varzi
Mr. & Mrs. Art Waldrop
Amy & Todd Zeldin
Director’s Circle
$10,000+
Ms. Kristin Adams
Mr. & Mrs. Norman Adkins
Mr. & Mrs. George Ajy
James Anderson
Deborah L. Bannworth & Joy Lynn Fields
Deisha Barnett
Alba C. Baylin
Terri Bonoff & Matthew Knopf
Judge JoAnn Bowens
Martha & Toby Brooks
Madeline Chadwick
Mr. & Mrs. Thomas C. Chubb III
Ezra Cohen Charitable Fund
Miles & Nicole Cook
LeighAnn & Chad Costley
Joe Crowley & Phil Mack
Rick Gestring
Marsha & Richard Goerss
Claire Gotham
Doug & Lila Hertz
Malvika Jhangiani
Alexander Johnson & Susan
Somersille Johnson
Anne & Mark Kaiser
John C. Keller
Mr. Matthew D. Kent & Mr. Joseph C. Miller
Mr. James Kieffer
James & Lori Kilberg
Timothy Hardy & Allegra Lawrence-Hardy
Ms. Evelyn Ashley & Mr. Alan B. McKeon
Dori & Jack Miller
Jeffrey Miller
Paul Pendergrass & Margaret Baldwin
Diane & Mark Perlberg
Wade Rakes & Nicholas
Miller
Matt Richburg
Robyn Roberts & Kevin Greiner
Mr. George Russell, Jr. & Mrs.
Faye Sampson-Russell
Dean DuBose & Bronson
Smith
Mr. & Mrs. E. Kendrick Smith
Lynne & Steve Steindel
Carol & Ramon Tomé Family Fund
Richard & Melissa Valladares
Waffle House
Ms. Kathy Waller & Mr.
Kenny Goggins
Mark & Rebekah Wasserman
Ms. Cathy Weil
Ramona & Ben White
Suzy Wilner
R. Wai Wong
BENEFACTORS
$5,000+
Anonymous
Mr. & Mrs. Hugh S. Asher
Mr. & Mrs. Roland L. Bates
Natalie & Matthew Bernstein
Franklin & Dorothy Chandler
Ann & Jim Curry
Diane Durgin
Kathy & Jason Evans
Dr. Cynthia J. Fordyce & Sharon Hulette
Dr. & Mrs. Marvin Goldstein
Tad & Janin Hutcheson
Jason & Laurie Jeffay
Dr. & Mrs. John Lee
Burrelle Meeks
Alan & Cyndy* Schreihofer
Mr. David C. Shih
Charlita Stephens & Delores
Stephens
Susan & Alan* Stiefel
Russ & Cam Still
Maria-Ruth Storts
Chuck Taylor & Lisa CannonTaylor
Marjan & Navid Yavari
$2,500+
Ms. Mallie Abdsharafat
Dr. & Mrs. Raymond Allen
Anonymous (2)
Mr. Andrew Benator
Ms. Raluca Bighiu
Ron & Lisa Brill Charitable Trust
Mr. & Mrs. W. Kent Canipe
Candace Carson
Melodie H. Clayton
Rita & Ralph Connell
Linda & Gene* Davidson
Marcia & John Donnell
Eve Joy Eckardt
Mr. Fredric M. Ehlers & Mr. David Lile
Mrs. Anuja Gagoomal & Dr. John Stites
The Robert S. Elster Foundation
Karen & Andrew Ghertner
Mr. David F. Golden
Dr. & Mrs. John B. Hardman
Ariana Hargrave
Henry & Etta Raye Hirsch Heritage Foundation
Mr. & Mrs. J. Michael Hostinsky
Linda & Richard Hubert
Mr. & Mrs. Wyatt T. Johnson
Judith Lyon & Ron Bloom
Lloyd & Mary* McCreary
Hala & Steve Moddelmog
Clair & Thomas Muller
Joan Netzel & John Gronwall
John & Helen Parker
Sam & Barbara Pettway
Ali & Layla Rahimi, ALYKA Health
Don & Rosalinda Ratajczak
Ms. Kristin L. Ray
Dana Rice
Mr. & Mrs. Mark Rosenberg
Jane & Rein Saral
Ms. Donna Schwartz
Kashi Sehgal
Mr. & Mrs. S. Albert Sherrod
Brian Shively & Jim Jinhong
Henry N. & Margaret P. Staats
Julie Teer
Dana Weeks Ugwonali
Mr. & Mrs. Glenn Weiss
Bryan & Carrie Williams
$1,500+
Judge Gregory A. Adams & Wanda C. Adams
Anonymous (2)
Mr. E. Scott Arnold
Ellen Arnovitz
Marie & Brad Foster
Aubrey & Carol Bush
Susan & Edward Croft
Gail Crowder & Claude Wegscheider
Tim & Tina Eyerly
Mr. & Mrs. Paul A. Flexner
Sandeep Goyal & Taylor
England
Della & Theo Guidry
Warren M. Gump
Mrs. Elaine L. Hentschel
Ashley & Elton James
Boland & Andrea Lea Jones
Mark Keiser
Andjela & Michael Kessler
David Long & Starane
Shepherd
Greg & Gillian Matteson
Fabienne Moore
Dennis & Debra Murphy
Denis Ng & Mary Jane
Panzeri
Mr. & Mrs. Armond Perkins
Peg Petersen
Dr. Denise Raynor
Dr. & Mrs. Fredric Rosenberg
Ms. Tiffany Rosetti
Ms. Amy Speas
Chandra Stephens-Albright & Warren Albright
Dr. & Mrs. Harry Strothers
Judith & Mark Taylor
Valerie & Anthony Thomas
Stan & Velma Tilley
Mr. & Mrs. Carlos Vazquez
Ms. Avril Vignos
Mamie Dayan-Vogel & Steven Vogel
John T. & Patricia Walsh
Kim Boldthen & Carolyn Wheeler
Adrienne Whitehead
William & Nancy Yang
Noam Zelman & Susan Hirsch
PATRONS
$1,000+
Mr. Reza Abree Anonymous
Mr. George T. Baker
David Cofrin & Christine
Tryba-Cofrin
Richard & Grecia Cox
Celeste Davis-Lane
Drs. Bryan & Norma Edwards
Howard & Ellen Eisenberg
Dr. Azy Esfandiari, City Springs Dental Studio
Dr. Marla Franks & Rev.
Susan Zoller
Louise S. Gunn
Drs. Cathie & Hugh Hudson
Ms. Floria Izadi
Amy & Jeremy King
Christina Kramer
Mr. & Mrs. Asghar Memarzadeh
Anna & Hays Mershon
Mr. Kasra Naderi & Mrs. Arezoo Akhavan
Debbie & Lon Neese
Deborah W. Royer
Jane E. Shivers
Nossi Taheri & Hope Vaziri
Mr. & Mrs. Alex Taylor
Dr. & Mrs. Kenneth G. Taylor
Mr. & Mrs. Brent Yamaato
ALLIANCE THEATRE MONTHLY SUSTAINER SOCIETY
We would like to thank our donors who have committed to giving us a recurring monthly donation to the Alliance Theatre Annual Fund. Join today: www.alliancetheatre.org/sustainer
Dr. & Mrs. Marshall Abes
Mr. Faraz Ahmed
Mr. E. Scott Arnold
Dr. Evelyn Babey
Dr. Deloris Bryant-Booker
Dean Jordan & Lee Burson
Mr. Brandon Bush
Karen & Harold Carney
Mr. Quentin David Cashman
Elizabeth Corrie
Mr. & Mrs. Lawrence Cowart*
Christopher Cox & Draco Bohannon
Gray & Marge Crouse
Nash Ditmetaroj
Malaika Dowdell
Les Flynn
Christine & Andrew Fry
Emmanuel Glaze
Caroline Gold
Erica Greenblatt
Bryant Gresham & Alexander Bossert
Ms. Jo Ann Haden-Miller & Mr. William Miller
Lindsey E. Hardegree
Ms. Linda Hare & Mr.
Gerald Barth
Dr. & Mrs. David M. Hill
Ms. Becca Hogue
Karen Jones
Kelley J. Jordan-Monné
Amy & Jeremy King
Mr. & Mrs. Andrew Kraft
Dr. Andrea W. Lawrence
Joyce Lewis
Ms. Lauren Linder & Mr. Jonathan Grunberg
Christian & JoJasmin Lopez
Stephen Lynch
Ms. Alison Main
Heather & Jim Michael
Lori & Jonathan Peterson
Ms. Kendrick Phillips
Marion Phillips
Marc & Jean Pickard
Mr. Howard Rowe
Barbara Schreiber
Tom Slovak & Jeffery Jones
Charles Thompson
Ms. Stephanie Van Parys & Mr. Robert A. Cleveland
Mamie Dayan-Vogel & Steven Vogel
Ben Warshaw
Caitlin Way
Mr. & Mrs. Napoleon A. Williams
| matchinggifts&legacysociety 34
MATCHING GIFT COMPANIES
Many companies offer a matching gifts program for employees and retirees. You can double, or even triple, your gift at no additional cost to you simply by asking your employer! Think of how much further your donation can go.
We would like to thank the following companies who have matched contributions to the Alliance Theatre Annual Fund. To find out more about matching gifts, contact Emma Seif at emma.seif@alliancetheatre.org.
AIG Corporation
American Express
Aon Risk Solutions
The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation
AT&T
Bank of America/Merrill
BlackRock
Bryan Cave-Powell
Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.
Chubb Charitable Foundation
The Coca-Cola Company
Deloitte
Equifax Inc. Foundation
John and Mary Franklin Foundation
GE Energy
LEGACY SOCIETY
Georgia Power
Goldman Sachs Matching Gift
Goldstein
Google
Hearst Foundations
Home Depot Foundation
Honda Motor Co.
IAC, Inc
IBM
JPMorgan Chase
Kimberly-Clark
Lynch
Macy’s Foundation
McDonald’s Corporation
McMaster-Carr Supply
Microsoft Corporation
Norfolk Southern Corporation
Principal Financial Group Foundation
Prudential Financial
Publix Super Markets
Salesforce.com, Inc.
Sprint
SunTrust Foundation
Thrivent Financial for Lutherns
Veritiv Corporation
Verizon Corporation
The Walt Disney Company
Wells Fargo Yahoo!
Celebrating our supporters who have made a legacy gift to the Alliance Theatre.
The Legacy Society celebrates individuals who have made a planned gift to the Alliance Theatre. Making a planned gift is a wonderful way to show your support and appreciation for the Alliance Theatre and its mission, while accommodating your financial, estate planning and philanthropic goals. With smart planning, you may increase the size of your estate and/or reduce the tax burden on your heirs. Just as important, you will know that you have made a meaningful and lasting contribution to the Alliance Theatre.
To learn more about the Legacy Society, please contact Lindsay Ridgeway-Baierl at lindsay.ridgeway-baierl@alliancetheatre.org.
Anonymous
Rita M. Anderson
Roland & Linda Bates
Kathy* & Ken Bernhardt
Anne & Jim Breedlove
Ezra Cohen
Ann & Jeff Cramer
Susan & Edward Croft
Sallie Adams Daniel
Linda & Gene Davidson
Terry & Stacy Dietzler
Diane Durgin
Elizabeth Etoll
Ellen & Howard Feinsand
James Edward Gay*
Laura & John Hardman
Nancy & Glen Hesler
P.J. Younglove Hovey
David A. Howell*
Lauren & David Kiefer
David Kuniansky
Virginia Vann* & Ken Large
Edith Love*
Lauren & John McColskey
Anna & Hays Mershon
Caroline & Phil Moïse
Winifred & Richard Myrick
Victoria & Howard Palefsky
Armond & Sharon Perkins
Jam Pomerantz
Helen M. Regenstein*
Margaret & Robert Reiser
Betty Blondeau-Russell*
Tricia & Neal Schachtel
Debbie* & Charles Shelton III
Jane E. Shivers
Roger Smith & Christopher Jones*
Ron* & Kathy Tomajko
Lee Harper & Wayne Vason
Terri & Rick Western
Ramona & Ben White
* deceased
ARTISTIC
Jennings Hertz Artistic Directors Tinashe Kajese-Bolden, Christopher Moses
Producer & Casting Director
Producing & Casting Assistant
Distinguished Artist in Residence
Jody Feldman
Brant Adams
Pearl Cleage
Associate Producer Amanda Watkins
BOLD Producing Associate Abrianna Belvedere
Director of Community Engagement, Partnership, & IDEA
Spelman Leadership Fellows
Daviorr Snipes
Jayla Dyas, Kerrington Griffin
Spelman Leadership Interns Zara Thornton, SaRee Grimes, K’lah Morgan
Reiser Lab Artists Round 10 Emma Yarbrough, Cait Greenamyre, Melissa Word, Dalyla Nicole, K. Parker, Amanda Washington, Vynnie Meli, Jimmica Collins, and Cedwan Hooks
Production Management
Director of Production
Lawrence Bennett
Associate Directors of Production Courtney O’Neill, Haylee Scott
Costume and Wardrobe Director
Costumes
Associate Costume Shop & Wardrobe Director
Design Assistant
Drapers
Crafts Master
1st Hands/Stitchers
Wardrobe Supervisor
Wardrobe
Wig Master
Director of Lighting & Projections
Electrics
Associate Director of Lighting & Projection
Laury Conley
Melanie Green
Summer Barnes
Tonja Petersen, Cindy Lou Who
Diana L. Thomas
Brett Parker
Hauzia Conyers
Monica Speaker
Lindsey Ewing
Rachael N. Blackwell
Steve Jordan
Staff Electricians Joy Diaz, Rochelle Riley, Neil Anderson
Properties
Props Department Director
Suzanne Cooper Morris
Props Artisans Parker Ossmann, Bruce Butkovich
Props Artisan/Buyer
Technical Director
Scenery
Kimberly Townsend
Kyle Longwell
Associate Technical Directors Rigel Powell, Luke Robinson
Shop Supervisor
Lead Welder
Teaching Artists
Abigail Bowers, Abigail Kincheloe, Addison Peacock, Alexandria Walker, Allison Gardner, Andi Stanesic, Andrea Washington, Angel Fabian Rivera, Ann Marie Meeker, Anna McCarthy, Anna Oakley, April Andrew Carswell, Aria Armstead, Audrey Myers, Autumn Stephens, Avery Sharpe, Barry Mann, Brad Raymond, Brandon L. Smith, Brantley Waller, Brie Wolfe, Brittani Minnieweather, Brittany Loffert, Caitlin Slotnick, Caleb Vaughn, Calyria Jyvonne Reynolds, Cara Mantella, Caroline Donica, Casey Navarro, Chanel Davis, Chase Anderson, Chelcy Cutwright, Chelsea Brown, Cece Campbell, Chloe Lomax, Christopher Nastasi, Clayton Landey, Coriana Raynor, Courtney Moors-Hornick, Da’Quan Cooney, Cody Benfield, Dan Triandiflou, Daniel Caffrey, Daniela Santiago, Danielle Montgomery, Davia Weatherill, David DeVries, David Kote, Deja Holmes, Dru Sky Berrian, E Haeberlin, Ebony Golden, Ebony Tucker, Elaina Walton, Ethan Davis, Eugene Russell, Gloria Martin, Hananya Allen, Hannah Chatham, Hannah Church, Harriet Bass, Hayden Weiss, Hollie Rivers, Imani Quinones, Isaac Breiding, Issa Solis, Ja’Siah Young, Jada Gorgor, James Patrick, James Williams, Javaron Conyers, Jeremiah Hobbs, Jessenia Ingram, Jetta Whitehurst, Jimez Alexander, John Doyle, Joseph Quintana, Josh Price, Julia Walters, Julie Woods Robinson, Julissa Sabino, Karen Aguirre, Kate Varner, Katherine Taylor, Katie Causey, Katie Wickline, Kierra Edwards, Kim Baran, Kira Rockwell, Kristian Martinez, Lamar Hardy, Lauren Alexandra, Laurin Dunleavy, Lee Osorio, Lilly Heidari, Lon Bumgarner, Lydia Rice, Maddy Roberts, Madeleine Noe, Madison Junod, Madison VandenOever, Marc Collins, Marcia Faith Harper, Marcia Harvey, Marielle Martinez, Marissa Kovach, Marquelle Young, Mary Claire Page, Mary Michael Patterson, Matt Baum, Matthew Caleb Brown, Maxwell H. Breaux, Maya Lawrence, Megan Cramer, Megan Wartell, Melissa “Mel” Ottaviano, Monteze Sutton, Morayo Otujo, Morgan Rysdon-Moulitsas, Myah Harper, Natalie Brown, Nicole Price, Nicolette Emanuelle, Patricia de la Garza, Patrick McColery, Phillia Prior, Rachel Da Silva, Razaria Denae Copeland, Riley Schatz, Rimothy Miracle Bennett, Robyn Sutton-Fernandez, Rodney Williams, Ryan Dinning, Sarah Mack Price, Sarah Oguntomilade, Sarah Wallis, Sariel Toribio, Shane Simmons, Shaniya Horton, Sharon Foote, Sierra Christensen, Stephen Ruffin, Tafee Patterson, Terence Lee, Theresa Davis, Tiffany Hobbs, Tramaine Jones, Tylia De’Armond, Vallea Woodbury, William Amato, Wynne Kelly, Zuri Petteway
Teen Ensemble Members
Alyssa Carr, Joshua Byrom, Saheim Patrick, Abigail May Watson, Jax Millarker, Caleb Thomas, Coco Perkins, Adiya Stubblefiled, Vanathi Parthiban, Ja’Kyah Jackson, Daniel McCall, Abigail Dougherty, Anshula Phadke, Eliana Leaks, Margaret Elliott, Kennedy O’Neil, Chloe Jarrett, Syrenity Hall, Helena Denton, Malaysia West-Lewis, Ella Dameron, Aja Najib, Taliyaah Muhammad
MANAGEMENT
Managing Director
Company Manager
Patrick Conley
Chris Seifert
Carpenters Kevin Dyson, Parker Ossmann, Marlon Wilson
Charge Scenic Artist
Scenic Artist
Sound Director
Assistant Sound Director
Mike Schleifer
Laura Thruston
Assistant Company Manager Sara Cook
Administration & Finance
Director of Finance
Kat Conley
Amanda Nerby
Sound
Michael Carrico
Aaron Vockley
Sound Engineers Tamir Eplan-Frankel, Emma Mouledoux, Graham Schwartz
Stage Management
Stage Managers
Stage Management Production Assistants
National Vision Stage Management Fellow
Stage Operations
Liz Campbell, R. Lamar Williams, Barbara Gantt O’Haley
Samantha Honeycutt, Madeline Conrad
Xiaonan “Chloe” Liu
Stage Operations Manager
Assistant Stage Operations Manager
Flyman
Automation Stagehand
EDUCATION
Dan Reardon Director of Education
Naserian Foundation Head of Early Childhood Programs
Head of Youth & Family Programs
Head of Secondary Curriculum & Partnerships
Education Accounting Assistant
Scott Bowne
Kate Lucibella
Willie Palmer Parks
John Victor Mouledoux Jr.
Christopher Moses
Hallie Angelella
Olivia Aston Bosworth
Liz Davis
Isabella Aguilar Irias
Administrative & Adult Program Manager Robert Hindsman
Camp Administrative Manager
Head of Strategic Initiatives
Jayson T. Waddell
Aierelle Jacob
Alliance@Work Creative Director J. Noble
Head of Elementary School Programs Rebecca Pogue Fields
Out of School Program Manager
Artist in Residence & Teen Program Manager
Resident Artist & Allyship Program Director
Head of Education Advancement
Education Production Coordinator
Teaching Artist Liaison
Institute Program Coordinator
Robyn A. Rogers
Sam Provenzano
Maya Lawrence
Kristen Silton
Jay Williams
Blake Fountain
Katie Wolff
Valerie Thomas
Controller & Head of Administration Elecia Crowley
Staff Accountant Jasmine Burton
Accounting Coordinator Julie Hall
Accounts Payable Lead Sharette Driver
Associate Director, Data Operations & Strategy Christina Dresser
Management Assistant Joseph Quintana
Development
Director of Development
Associate Director, Corporate Partnerships
Trent Anderson
Natalie Adams
Manager, Board Relations & Special Events Kailan Daugherty
