the richard b. fisher center for the performing arts at bard college
rodgers & hammerstein’s
OKLAHOMA! June 25 – July 19, 2015
Welcome
The Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College Chair Jeanne Donovan Fisher President Leon Botstein
Dear Friends, Welcome to SummerScape 2015, eight weeks of music, theater, opera, dance, film, and cabaret celebrating the life and works of the Mexican composer Carlos Chávez. The festival opens with a beloved masterpiece by a contemporary of Chávez, the great American composer Richard Rodgers. This production has been eight years in the making, and has a deep connection with the Fisher Center. Early in 2007, when I was acting artistic director of the American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.), Daniel Fish invited me to Bard to see a performance of Oklahoma! that he had developed with undergraduates. Daniel is one of the most daring and imaginative contemporary American theater directors, and I couldn’t wait to see what he might do with Rodgers and Hammerstein. The production was astounding. I remember vividly being seated in this very same theater at a long, wooden table—similar to the one you may be sitting at as you read this—on which the young performers were preparing corn bread and chili. Actors and audience were all together in one room, taking part in a shared rite that was part dinner theater, part community celebration. Above all I remember the tension and electricity of the event, and the thrill of meeting this stripped-down, unsentimental version of Oklahoma! during which Hammerstein’s blazing, diamond-cut words and Rodgers’s soaring melodies were laid bare for us to discover as if for the first time. After seeing that student version, I hoped to commission Daniel to create a professional production at the A.R.T., but for various reasons it wasn’t then possible. Now at last we are able to realize that dream during SummerScape, thanks in large part to Ted Chapin, president of Rodgers & Hammerstein: An Imagem Company, and his colleague Bruce Pomahac, director of music. Ted and Bruce have been unceasingly helpful and supportive. I am grateful to them for taking a risk on this thoroughly unconventional Oklahoma! and believing that Rodgers and Hammerstein should be reimagined and explored anew by every generation. The cast you will see this evening includes one further link to the student production. Patrick Vaill ’07, then a graduating senior at Bard, played Jud Fry in that first version, and we couldn’t be more pleased that he has returned to reprise the role as a professional actor. A central part of the Fisher Center’s mission is the incubation of ground-breaking performance. The journey of this Oklahoma! is a perfect example of our desire to give artists the time and resources to develop projects they couldn’t create anywhere else through Live Arts Bard, our residency and commissioning program for the performing arts. I hope that today’s performance is as exciting and memorable for you as the first incarnation was for me in 2007. Best wishes,
Gideon Lester, Director of Theater Programs
presents
rodgers & hammerstein’s
Oklahoma! Music by Richard Rodgers Book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II Based on the play Green Grow the Lilacs by Lynn Riggs
Original dances by Agnes de Mille
Directed by Daniel Fish New Musical Arrangements Daniel Kluger New Choreography John Heginbotham Music Direction Nathan Koci Scenic Design Laura Jellinek (based on an original concept by John Conklin) Costume Design Terese Wadden Lighting Design Scott Zielinski Sound Design Drew Levy Projection Design Joshua Thorson MFA ’06 Casting Jack Doulin and Taylor Sharky Williams Director of Theater Programs Gideon Lester Senior Producer Bob Bursey Associate Producer Caleb Hammons
Oklahoma! will be performed with one 20-minute intermission. Post-performance conversation with the artists following the June 28 and July 1 matinees Oklahoma! is presented through special arrangement with R&H Theatricals: www.rnh.com. These performances have been underwritten by the Martin and Toni Sosnoff Foundation. Additional producing support has been generously provided by Rebecca Gold. To support innovative theater at the Fisher Center, contact Development Manager Kieley Michasiow-Levy, at kmichasi@bard.edu or 845-758-7987.
Company
The production wishes to thank Ted Chapin, Bruce Pomahac, and Michelle Yaroshko of R&H Theatricals, Emily Harney and the staff of BRIC, Antonio Irizarry ‘16, and New York Theatre Workshop.
Cord Elam Curly Will Parker Laurey Ali Hakim Gertie Cummings Ado Annie Carnes Andrew Carnes Aunt Eller Jud Fry
John Carlin Damon Daunno* James Patrick Davis* Amber Gray* Benj Mirman* Mallory Portnoy Allison Strong* Mitch Tebo* Mary Testa* Patrick Vaill ’07*
Mandolin Banjo Conductor/Accordion/Percussion Bass Pedal Steel Guitar/Guitar Violin/Viola
Joseph Brent Hilary Hawke Nathan Koci Eleonore Oppenheim Brett Parnell Brian L. Thompson
Production Stage Manager Assistant Stage Manager
Megan Schwarz Dickert* Kelly Hardy*
*Member, Actors’ Equity Association Properties Master Assistant Director Production Assistant Assistant Scenic Designers Assistant Costume Designer Associate Lighting Designer Assistant Sound Designer Music Department Interns
Aubrey Ellis Jordan Fein Abbey Lowenstein You-Shin Chen and Josh Smith Anne Kennedy Thomas Dunn Maria Württele Jacob Kerzner SR ’15 and Ben Kutner
This production rehearsed at BRIC House in Brooklyn, New York Scenic painting by Cobalt Studios Effects by J&M Special Effects Lighting equipment by 4Wall Entertainment Audio equipment by PRG/Production Resource Group
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The director wishes to thank JoAnne Akalaitis, John Conklin, Kaye Voyce, George Gilmore, Charlie Roth, Susanna Gellert, and Alexandra Kuechler-Caffall.
Musical Numbers Act 1 “Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’” “The Surrey with the Fringe on Top” “Kansas City” “I Cain’t Say No!” “Many a New Day” “It’s a Scandal! It’s an Outrage!” “People Will Say We’re in Love” “Pore Jud Is Daid” “Lonely Room” “Out of My Dreams” Act 2 “The Farmer and the Cowman” “All Er Nothin’” “People Will Say We’re in Love” (reprise) “Oklahoma!”
The 2015 Bard SummerScape season is made possible in part through the generous support of Jeanne Donovan Fisher, the Martin and Toni Sosnoff Foundation, the Board of The Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College, the Board of the Bard Music Festival, and the Friends of the Fisher Center, as well as grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.
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Oklahoma! An American Revolution by Ted Chapin
The words and music of Oklahoma! represent a revolution. Not a revolution in the historic, political, or military sense, but an artistic revolution of seismic proportions. And like many revolutions, things were never the same once this one took place. Now those may sound like lofty words, especially for what has often been taken as basically a musical comedy. To those who look at Oklahoma! and see a fairly simple story of farm girls, cowboys, and citizens of the “territory” wondering who will take whom to the box social, it is important to understand why this particular musical play has been heralded as the pivot point in the American musical. In a world of Hamilton, Next to Normal, and Fun Home, the revolution of Oklahoma! 73 years on may need a little explanation. Frankly, today we take for granted what this first Rodgers and Hammerstein collaboration gave us. Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II came together to write Oklahoma! in a somewhat roundabout way. They met at Columbia University, where they were both students, but not at the same time. Hammerstein was seven years older than Rodgers. He lent an alumnus hand to the annual Varsity Show while Rodgers was an undergraduate. Together they wrote three forgettable songs, but at least had an opportunity to collaborate. Rodgers was already working with the person who was to become his exclusive partner for 18 years: lyricist Lorenz Hart. Not too long after graduation, the team of Rodgers and Hart became a staple of Broadway, producing musical comedy after musical comedy. While these were always based on interesting ideas—from a musical dealing with a castrated ruler (Chee Chee) to the story of a nogoodnik (Pal Joey)—the musicals of Rodgers and Hart are known ultimately more for their wonderful individual songs than for the shows themselves. Hammerstein leaned in the direction of operetta, a popular form at the time, as he started out working with a variety of partners. Hammerstein and Jerome Kern created a masterwork in their 1927 epic Show Boat, but beyond that, the work that Hammerstein did in the 1920s and ’30s met with only middling success. While Rodgers and Hart were sailing along, Hammerstein was struggling. In the early 1940s, members of Theatre Guild, one of Broadway’s premiere producing establishments, decided they wanted to create a musical from a play they had produced years before. That play was Green Grow the Lilacs by Oklahoman Lynn Riggs. They brought the idea to Rodgers and Hart. Hart, who was then finding the notion of doing any new work increasingly difficult, expressed little interest in a musical of simple people set mostly outdoors. He had always been more comfortable in the sophisticated, apartment-oriented world of “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered” and “The Lady Is a Tramp.” Rodgers then spoke with Hammerstein, in whom he had earlier confided his concerns about Hart. Hammerstein knew Green Grow the Lilacs, liked the idea of musicalizing it, and felt that his major collaborator Kern would be no more interested in the people of the “territory” than Hart. Hammerstein and Rodgers, with the gracious assent of their partners, agreed to create the musical for which the Guild had asked. 6
They set out to write the show they both felt was the right one. They spoke long and hard about what themes, people, and situations should be retained from the source material, and what should be added. They asked Agnes de Mille to choreograph, partly because they had been impressed with her Western-themed ballet Rodeo, and partly because she was interested in choreographing for the musical theater. Around them they assembled a group of collaborators with whom they had worked individually, but together formed a stable of creative partners for the future, including director Rouben Mamoulian and orchestrator Robert Russell Bennett. Although they may not have been completely aware of what they were achieving, they were taking all the innovations that they and others had been experimenting with through the prior decades, and putting them together in one show. As a result, they created a work that was both a popular success and one that the intelligentsia could recognize as being, for the first time, a work of American musical theater that was completely unified into a whole. As Rodgers explained it, “The costumes looked the way the orchestra sounded.” Dance was an expression of character and situation. Song came seamlessly out of spoken dialogue. Story was told in words, action, music, and dance. The modern musical was born. And that was the revolution. Audiences filled 2,212 performances, making Oklahoma! the longest-running show in Broadway history for more than 15 years. We can’t ever feel the reaction today as viscerally as did those who experienced Oklahoma! in the 1940s. Henry Morgan, a radio and television personality whose zenith was around the time of this show, once explained to me how amazing it was that for the first time he could remember, “you didn’t have someone march downstage to the footlights and belt out a tune and then step back into the stage setting to get back to the plot.” I was in a meeting years ago when Jerome Robbins explained how fresh the whole show was, exemplified by the surprising “blue” note in the first song of the show: “’Oh, what a beautiful morn . . .’ ‘Where did that surprising note come from?’ we all wondered. It really caught our attention and told us this was something very different.” Two great theater artists were at the core of the show: composer Rodgers and librettist/ lyricist Hammerstein. Clearly they saw a unified musical theater, and one that met with great success. That is undoubtedly why they became a team. After Oklahoma! they were here to stay. Over the next 16 years they created another eight musicals for Broadway, one television show, and one movie—and most of those remain popular today. And now, with this modern take on Oklahoma! by Daniel Fish and his collaborators, we will see how some of today’s most adventurous artists view this particular American revolution. Who knows? They may find things in the show that we’ve never seen before. That is the fun of shouldering the responsibility of the Rodgers and Hammerstein canon. They took risks, and so should we. Ted Chapin is president and executive director of Rodgers & Hammerstein: An Imagem Company.
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Who’s Who Rodgers & Hammerstein After long and highly distinguished careers with other collaborators, Richard Rodgers (composer, 1902–79) and Oscar Hammerstein II (librettist/lyricist, 1895–1960) joined forces in 1943 to create the most consistently fruitful and successful partnership in the American musical theater. Oklahoma!, the first Rodgers & Hammerstein musical, was also the first of a new genre—the musical play, blending Rodgers’s sophisticated style of musical comedy (which he had perfected in a 25-year partnership with lyricist Lorenz Hart) with Hammerstein’s innovations in operetta (conceived in collaboration with such composers as Sigmund Romberg, Vincent Youmans, Rudolf Friml, and Jerome Kern). Oklahoma! was followed by Carousel (1945), Allegro (1947), South Pacific (1949), The King and I (1951), Me and Juliet (1953), Pipe Dream (1955), Flower Drum Song (1958) and The Sound of Music (1959). The team also wrote one movie musical, State Fair (1945; adapted for the stage, 1995), and one for television, Cinderella (1957). Collectively, their musicals have garnered dozens of awards, including Pulitzer Prizes; Tonys, Oscars, Emmys, and Grammys; and Drama Desk, Drama Critics Circle, Outer Critics Circle, Laurence Olivier, and Evening Standard Awards. Daniel Fish (Director) Daniel Fish is a New York–based director who works across the boundaries of theater, video, and opera. He draws on a broad range of forms and subject matter, including classical plays, film scripts, contemporary fiction, essays, and found audio. Recent work includes the acclaimed production of The Source by Ted Hearne for BAM’s Next Wave Festival and Eternal for Montreal’s Festival Transamériques. His work has been seen at theaters and festivals throughout the United States and Europe, including The Public Theater’s Under the Radar Festival, Noorderzon Performing Arts Festival Groningen, The Chocolate Factory Theater, Opera Philadelphia/Curtis Opera Theatre, American Repertory Theater, Yale Repertory Theatre, McCarter Theatre Center, Signature Theatre Company, Shakespeare Theatre Company, The Juilliard School, Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus, Staatstheater Braunschweig, and Royal Shakespeare Company. He returns to Bard SummerScape, for which he previously directed Clifford Odets’s Rocket to the Moon and The Elliott Smith Project. Residencies and commissions include The MacDowell Colony, Baryshnikov Arts Center, The Chocolate Factory Theater, LMCC/Governors Island, and The Bushwick Starr. He has taught at The Juilliard School, Yale School of Drama, Bard College, and Princeton University. He received his B.S. in performance studies from Northwestern University. Daniel Kluger (New Musical Arrangements) Daniel Kluger is a New York–based composer, sound designer, and music director. His recent work includes The Mystery of Love & Sex (Lincoln Center Theater), I’m Gonna Pray For You So Hard (Atlantic Theater Company), You Got Older (Page 73), The Village Bike (MCC Theater), and Your Mother’s Copy of the Kama Sutra (Playwrights Horizons). Other 8
credits include Nikolai and the Others (Lincoln Center Theater), Somewhere Fun and The North Pool (Vineyard Theatre), Tribes and Hit the Wall (Barrow Street Theatre), House For Sale (Transport Group), A (radically condensed and expanded) Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again . . . After David Foster Wallace (directed by Daniel Fish), The Common Pursuit (Roundabout Theatre Company), A Map of Virtue (13P), Lidless (Page 73), and The Temperamentals (Daryl Roth). His regional credits include Mark Taper Forum, La Jolla Playhouse, Pig Iron Theatre Company, Arden Theatre Company, Two River Theater Company, People’s Light, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, and American Players Theatre. John Heginbotham (Choreographer) Originally from Anchorage, Alaska, John Heginbotham graduated from The Juilliard School in 1993, and was a member of the Mark Morris Dance Group from 1998 to 2012. In 2011 he founded Dance Heginbotham (DH), which has performed at prestigious institutions, including BAM, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, among others. The U.S. State Department and BAM recently announced that DH will travel to Indonesia, Laos, and the Philippines as part of the 2015–16 DanceMotion USASM program. His recent independent projects include a new work for the Atlanta Ballet (Angels’ Share, 2014), The Magic Flute at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis (2014), and Peter & the Wolf with Isaac Mizrahi for Works & Process at the Guggenheim (2013). Heginbotham is the recipient of the 2014 Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award. Nathan Koci (Music Director/Conductor) Nathan Koci is a Brooklyn-based musician originally from Charleston, South Carolina. He enjoys a diverse career as a music director, composer, and multi-instrumentalist both on and off the stage. Called a “new-music maven” by Time Out New York, he is an advocate for music by living composers, having premiered pieces by Timo Andres, Anthony Braxton, Jacob Cooper, and Ted Hearne, and working with Ensemble Signal, Alarm Will Sound, Ensemble Modern, Bang on a Can, Tri-Centric Orchestra, and Wordless Music. Koci is also active as a folk musician, recording and performing with the duo Shovels & Rope, as well as his own chamber folk trio The Opposite of a Train. Past musical direction: The Source (BAM’s Next Wave Festival), Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare in the Park), and Mother Courage and Her Children (Arena Stage). Other stage credits: War Horse (Song Man, first national tour). Laura Jellinek (Scenic Designer) Laura Jellinek is an opera and theater designer based in Brooklyn. Her projects with Daniel Fish include House For Sale (Transport Group), A Radically Condensed . . . (Under the Radar Festival and The Chocolate Factory Theater), Buried Child (The Juilliard School), and Owen Wingrave (Opera Philadelphia). Previously at Bard SummerScape she designed The Imaginary Invalid with director Erica Schmidt in 2012. Some other recent theater projects include Buzzer (The Public Theater), The Nether and The Village Bike (MCC Theater), Small Mouth Sounds (Ars Nova), Your Mother’s Copy of the Kama Sutra (Playwrights Horizons), 9
and What Rhymes With America (Atlantic Theater Company), as well as multiple projects with The Debate Society and The Mad Ones. Recent opera designs include Don Giovanni (Boston Lyric Opera), Dialogues of the Carmelites (Opera Philadelphia), The Cunning Little Vixen (Juilliard), Handel’s Messiah (Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra), and Orlando Paladino (Manhattan School of Music). She has upcoming projects at Gotham Chamber Opera and Playwrights Horizons. She received a 2013 Obie for Sustained Excellence in Set Design and earned an M.F.A. from NYU, where she is an adjunct faculty member.
Emergence-SEE!, Dutchman, and The Mistakes Madeline Made. Regional: Williamstown Theatre Festival, 5th Avenue Theatre, The Old Globe, Arena Stage, Westport Country Playhouse, Two River Theater, McCarter Theatre Center, Huntington Theatre Company, and Long Wharf Theatre. Associate credits: Pippin, A Raisin in the Sun, Betrayal, Lucky Guy, Ghost, One Man, Two Guvnors (Tony nomination), Rock of Ages, That Championship Season, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Everyday Rapture (Drama Desk nomination), The 39 Steps (Tony Award), South Pacific, and the Metropolitan Opera’s 125th Anniversary Gala.
Terese Wadden (Costume Designer) Terese Wadden’s previous work with Daniel Fish includes The Source (BAM’s Next Wave Festival), Eternal (Incubator Arts Project and touring), and House For Sale (Transport Group). She has recently designed Arthur Miller’s The Price (Mark Taper Forum) and Kat’a Kabanova (Spoleto Festival USA). Some of her past projects are Alcina (Whitebox Art Center), Lizzie Borden (Boston Lyric Opera and Tanglewood), and Dialogues of the Carmelites (Curtis Institute of Music/Opera Philadelphia). She has designed costumes for As You Like It (The Acting Company), A Florentine Tragedy/Gianni Schicchi (Canadian Opera Company), Cosi fan tutte (New York City Opera), Don Giovanni (NYCO and Portland Opera), La Clemenza di Tito (Canadian Opera Company and Chicago Opera Theater), and Elliott Carter’s only opera, What Next? (Miller Theatre). She has also collaborated with the interdisciplinary design studio Diller Scofidio + Renfro on the exhibit How Wine Became Modern at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Wadden is a graduate of the Motley Theatre Design Course in London and Vassar College.
Joshua Thorson MFA ’06 (Projection Designer) Joshua Thorson is an artist and writer who lives and works in New York City and Rochester, New York. His video work has been exhibited at Rencontres Internationales Paris/Berlin/Madrid, Museum of Modern Art, and International Film Festival Rotterdam, among others. He has collaborated on theater productions with Daniel Fish and Kyle deCamp, and is currently developing an Internet opera with composer Nick Hallett. He has previously designed projections at Bard College for Kock Fight Club (2008) and Moby Dick— Rehearsed (2013). He recently completed his Ph.D. at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Scott Zielinski (Lighting Designer) Scott Zielinski has created designs for more than 300 productions of theater, dance, and opera throughout the world. He has worked extensively in New York and at most regional theaters throughout the United States, including Ambassador Theater (Topdog/Underdog), Arena Stage, Goodman Theatre, Guthrie Theater, Lincoln Center Festival, Mark Taper Forum, New York Theatre Workshop, The Public Theater, and Steppenwolf Theatre Company. Internationally he has designed in such places as Adelaide (Australia), Amsterdam, Berlin, Bregenz (Austria), Edinburgh, Gennevilliers (France), Hamburg, Hong Kong, Istanbul, London, Melbourne, Orléans (France), Oslo, Ottawa, Paris, Reykjavik, Rouen (France), Singapore, Stockholm, Stuttgart, Tokyo, and Zurich. Dance and opera highlights include American Ballet Theatre, Bregenzer Festspiele, Boston Ballet, BAM, Canadian Opera Company, CND Paris, English National Opera, Houston Ballet, Houston Grand Opera, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre, National Ballet of Canada, De Nederlandse Opera, New York City Opera, Royal Opera House, San Francisco Ballet, San Francisco Opera, and Spoleto Festival. scottzielinski.com Drew Levy (Sound Designer) Drew Levy’s Broadway work includes Honeymoon in Vegas (Drama Desk nomination), Chaplin (Drama Desk Award), The Winslow Boy, The Importance of Being Earnest, and Present Laughter. Off-Broadway includes ONE DAY: The Musical, The Weir, Why Torture Is Wrong . . . ,
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Jack Doulin + Sharky Casting Jack Doulin has been the casting director at New York Theatre Workshop (NYTW) since 2000. Productions include: Love and Information, Peter and the Starcatcher, Homebody/ Kabul, Far Away, A Number, Hedda Gabler, The Misanthrope, and The Little Foxes. Other New York City highlights include two productions of Uncle Vanya: Andre Gregory’s production with Julianne Moore and Wallace Shawn (filmed by Louis Malle as Vanya on 42nd Street), and Annie Baker’s adaptation with Reed Birney, Maria Dizzia, and Michael Shannon, directed by Sam Gold. For Soho Rep.: Blasted, A Public Reading of an Unproduced Screenplay About the Death of Walt Disney, and Marie Antoinette. Film: New Orleans, Mon Amour, directed by Michael Almereyda, and Jonathan Demme’s A Master Builder. Sharky, also known as Taylor Williams, serves as the casting associate at New York Theatre Workshop. Together they recently cast: Scenes from a Marriage (NYTW), You Got Older (Page 73), Beth Henley’s Laugh (Studio Theatre), An Octoroon (Soho Rep. and Theatre for a New Audience), and generations (Soho Rep.). John Carlin (Cord Elam) John Carlin has recently returned to the theater after an extended hiatus as a professional musician, children’s performer/educator, and single parent in New York City. A former RCA recording artist and acclaimed independent singer-songwriter (“one of NYC’s better-kept secrets”—Time Out New York), his recent work includes Time Stands Still (Hampton Theatre Company), Uncle Vanya (The Pearl Theatre Company), Turn Me Loose with Joe Morton (New York Stage and Film), Hadestown (New York Theatre Workshop summer residency), and the short film see you around (funnyordie.com). He is also a proud member of Reverend Billy & The Stop Shopping Choir.
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Damon Daunno (Curly McLain) Damon Daunno is an actor/musician from New Jersey and a graduate of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. He is thrilled to join this talented cast and crew. Some credits include: Kneehigh’s Brief Encounter (Broadway and world tour); Tristan & Yseult (U.S. tour); and The Wild Bride (U.S. tour); Fly By Night (Dallas Theater Center); and The Last Goodbye (Williamstown Theatre Festival). Film and TV credits include The Following (FOX). He is a composer and multi-instrumentalist. He has scored short and feature-length films, and his original music can be found on iTunes. He loves you very much. Thanks to Abrams and Authentic. James Patrick Davis (Will Parker) James Patrick Davis’s Broadway work includes The House of Blue Leaves (directed by David Cromer). His recent theater credits includes We Are Proud to Present . . . (Soho Rep., directed by Eric Ting), Richard II in Richard II and As You Like It (Quintessence Theatre Group, directed by Alexander Burns), Clybourne Park (Long Wharf Theatre, directed by Eric Ting), Juliet in Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare Theatre Company, directed by David Muse), American Buffalo (Studio Theatre, directed by Joy Zinoman), Hamlet (The Pearl Theatre Company, directed by Shepard Sobel), The More Loving One (FringeNYC, directed by Craig Baldwin), The Two Gentlemen of Verona (Poor Tom Productions, directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel), What Happened When (HERE Arts Center, directed by Brian Roff), The Greeks, Part One: The War (The Juilliard School, directed by Brian Mertes), Shakespeare’s R&J (Juilliard, directed by Erica Schmidt), and Pretty Theft (Juilliard, directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel). His film work includes Muckland (directed by Charlie Polinger). Amber Gray (Laurey Williams) Amber Gray’s recent theater credits include An Octoroon (Theatre for a New Audience, Soho Rep. and PS 122); Taylor Mac’s A 24 Decade History of Popular Music: 1900’s–1950’s (New York Live Arts with Under the Radar); Natasha, Pierre and The Great Comet of 1812 (Kazino and Ars Nova); The TEAM’s Mission Drift (London’s National Theatre, Hong Kong, Perth, NYC COIL, Williams College, Salzburg, Edinburgh’s Traverse Theatre, Coimbra, Lisbon, and ArtsEmerson); The World is Round (Ripe Time); We Play for the Gods (Women’s Project); All Hands (Hoi Polloi); Eager to Lose (Ars Nova); and Banished Children of Eve (Irish Rep). She can always be found around New York City and abroad with Reverend Billy and The Church of Stop Shopping. Her TV/Film work includes The Burg; Law and Order: SVU; Roger, The Chicken; Herkimer Dufrayne; Sissypants; The Weekend; and What Would Jesus Buy? She holds an M.F.A. from New York University’s Graduate Acting Program. Benj Mirman (Ali Hakim) Benj Mirman is extraordinarily excited to be a part of this production. Some past credits include Mara Wilson’s Sheeple and Clermus and Stein Present! He holds a B.F.A. from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Thanks to friends, family, Mom and Dad, G & G, and Bones.
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Mallory Portnoy (Gertie Cummings) Mallory Portnoy is a recent graduate of The Juilliard School. Juilliard credits include As You Like It (Rosalind); Angels in America: Millennium Approaches (Rabbi/Hannah/Henry/ Ethel); The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? (Stevie); God’s Ear (Lenora); and A Little Night Music (Desiree). New York City and regional credits include A Midsummer Night’s Dream (The Public Theater/Shakespeare in the Park), Eager to Lose (Ars Nova), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and The Comedy of Errors (Chautauqua Theatre Company), Camp Monster and Our Town (Williamstown Theatre Festival). Portnoy can also be seen in Roger, The Chicken, a series she cocreated that screened at the Los Angeles Comedy Festival, Friars Club Comedy Film Festival in New York City, and Houston Film Festival. Allison Strong (Ado Annie Carnes) Allison Strong most recently appeared Off-Broadway in Under My Skin, penned by The Nanny cocreators Robert Sternin and Prudence Fraser. Broadway: Bye Bye Birdie and Mamma Mia! Other New York: Volleygirls (The New York Musical Theatre Festival), Carmen, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (The Metropolitan Opera). Television: NBC Diversity Showcase 2014. An alumna of the Johnny Mercer Songwriters Project and a two-time winner at the Hoboken Music Awards, Strong’s debut album March Towards the Sun was released in 2014. As a bilingual voice actor, she has contributed speaking and singing voices to Nickelodeon’s Dora the Explorer spin-off Dora and Friends. She has a B.F.A. in musical theatre from Montclair State University and is represented by Don Buchwald & Associates. Mary Testa (Aunt Eller) Mary Testa’s stage work includes, on Broadway: Wicked, Xanadu, Guys and Dolls, Chicago, 42nd Street, Marie Christine, On the Town, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and The Rink; Off-Broadway: The Caucasian Chalk Circle, Measure for Measure, Regrets Only, First Lady Suite, String of Pearls, See What I Wanna See, Tartuffe, From Above, Lucky Stiff, A New Brain, In Trousers; and Anna Nicole for BAM and NYC Opera. She has appeared in film and television in Two Broke Girls; Deadbeat; Smash; Eat, Pray, Love; The Bounty Hunter; Four Single Fathers; Stay; The Out-of-Towners; White Collar; Nurse Jackie; Sex and the City; and a recurring role on Whoopi. Testa was honored in 2012 with a special Drama Desk Award for her performance in Off-Broadway’s Queen of the Mist and three decades of outstanding work on the New York stage. Her many other honors include two Tony nominations, two Obies, and recognition from the Drama Desk, Drama League, and Lucille Lortel Awards. Her album with Michael Starobin, Have Faith, was recently released by Ghostlight Records. Mitch Tebo (Andrew Carnes) Mitch Tebo most recently portrayed LBJ at New Stage Theatre (Jackson, Mississippi) in the first regional production of All the Way following its Tony Award–winning run on Broadway. New York City credits include Prospero in The Tempest (Inwood Shakespeare Festival) and Moses in Moses, the Author (New York International Fringe Festival), as well as Fix Me Jesus (Abingdon Theatre Company), Passion of Dracula (Cherry Lane Theatre), 13
The Revenger’s Tragedy (CSC Repertory), Big Bad Burlesque (Orpheum Theatre), King Lear (Inwood), Moby Dick–Rehearsed (Brave New World Repertory Theatre), Richard III (HB Ensemble), and The Detour (Metropolitan Playhouse). Among his regional credits are Henry V (Arkansas Repertory Theatre), Windy City (Paper Mill Playhouse), Brigadoon (The Marriott Theatre), The Importance of Being Earnest (George Street Playhouse), and Private Lives and Loot (Nebraska Repertory Theatre). In the early 1980s he was a principal in restoring the Orpheum Theater on Second Avenue in New York as a premier OffBroadway house. A founding member of the classical production company The New Rude Mechanicals, he performed in The Misanthrope, The Winter’s Tale, Bloody Poetry, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Macbeth, and Measure for Measure. Patrick Vaill ’07 (Jud Fry) Patrick Vaill’s Broadway credits include Macbeth (Lincoln Center Theater). Off-Broadway he has appeared in Edward the Second, Don’t Fuck With Love (Red Bull Theater), and When in Disgrace (Examined Man Theatre); also Theater for the New City, FringeNYC and FringeNYC Encore Series, The Brick, and others. Regional work includes Henry IV Parts 1 & 2, Henry V, Richard II, As You Like It, Mrs. Warren’s Profession (Shakespeare Theatre Company), Dexter & Lewellyn (Studio Tisch), and Hamlet (Capital Repertory Theatre). His Web work includes My Life In Sourdough. He also has an M.F.A. from New York University’s Graduate Acting Program. He returns to Bard having previously played Jud in Daniel Fish’s Oklahoma! as an undergraduate. Joseph Brent (Mandolin) “One of the truly exceptional musicians of his generation” (David McGee of The Bluegrass Special), Joe Brent studied mandolin in Italy and at Berklee College of Music. He has soloed with the San Francisco, Chicago, Boston, and New World symphonies as well as Speculum Musicae, International Contemporary Ensemble, and The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. Simultaneously, he has maintained a career in popular and improvising music, performing and recording with Regina Spektor, Woody Allen, Kishi Bashi, and his own chamber jazz ensemble 9 horses. He has published two books of mandolin pedagogy and released several albums in classical as well as improvisational idioms. He is on faculty at Mannes College The New School for Music, and is the first mandolin instructor to hold such a position at a major American conservatory. “There has probably never been a mandolin player with better technical skills, and he matches that with an enthusiasm for every imaginable role a mandolin can fulfill.” — Don von Schrilz, music journalist. Hilary Hawke (Banjo) Hilary Hawke is a Brooklyn-based multi-instrumentalist/singer/banjoist known for her performing and teaching as well as being a prolific writer of songs and music. She cofounded Brooklyn’s first folk school of music for youth, Jalopy Junior Folk School— which won New York magazine’s “Best of New York” award for 2015—while also teaching adult banjo classes. In 2014 her neotraditional band Dubl Handi was voted Best Bluegrass Band in New York City by the Village Voice. The band toured the United 14
Kingdom in April with a brand new CD of bluegrass and reimagined old folk tunes that stay true to the passion and spirit of American music. Hawke is currently working on two banjo instruction manuals for adults, making a lot of music from the heart, and is very excited to be playing banjo for Oklahoma! www.hilaryhawkemusic.com Eleonore Oppenheim (Bass) “Quietly virtuosic” (Allan Kozinn, New York Times) double bassist and electric bassist Eleonore Oppenheim is quickly gaining a reputation as both a valued ensemble player and an engaging soloist. Her “subtle expressivity” and “particular eloquence” (Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle) have made her a muse for composers of her generation, and she has built a rich repertoire of solo pieces, some of which are featured on her debut album Home (Innova Recordings). Oppenheim has appeared nationally and internationally at festivals and venues including Carnegie Hall, BAM, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the Barbican Centre, and the Sydney Opera House with a variety of different artists and groups, among them the Philip Glass Ensemble, Tyondai Braxton, Bang on a Can, Wordless Music Orchestra, Meredith Monk, My Brightest Diamond, Ensemble Signal, Steve Reich, Jonny Greenwood, and the “all-star, all-female quintet” Victoire, of which she is a member. www.eleonoreoppenheim.com Brett Parnell (Pedal Steel Guitar/Guitar) Brett Parnell’s guitar work has been called “outstanding” by Guitar Player magazine. With influences from Chet Atkins to Glenn Gould to Jonny Greenwood, Parnell enjoys performing in an array of styles. He tours extensively with his country band Runaway Dorothy as well as the instrumental group Threefifty, which has been described by John Schaefer of WNYC as “expansive, yet delicate.” Parnell’s playing has taken him on tour all over the United States and around Europe, with highlights being performances at Crossing Brooklyn Ferry at BAM, Dom Armije in Sarajevo, South by Southwest (SXSW), and TEDxCMU. When not performing, Parnell works as a recording engineer and produces albums for people crazy enough to listen to him. He also makes some mean fried chicken and the second best macaroni and cheese in the world. Brian L. Thompson (Violin/Viola) Brian L. Thompson is a graduate of Cornell University and the Conservatory of Music at Brooklyn College, earning an M.M. in viola performance. He serves as principal violist for Light Opera of New York, String Orchestra of Brooklyn, and Blue Hill Troupe, Ltd., and plays in a variety of ensembles ranging from Anthony Braxton’s Tri-Centric Orchestra to the Hudson Valley Philharmonic. With a rich and eclectic breadth of ensemble and theatrical experience, his work spans classical and operatic, rock, and pop. He has premiered solo, chamber, and orchestral works by Eric Roth, Alon Nechushtan, and Whitney George, and collaborated with dance companies such as Sleepdance and Jax Dance, performing regularly at Triskelion Arts and Studio A.I.R.’s experimental works showcase. Off-Broadway performances include Unlimited, Camp Wanatachi, and Beowulf. TV appearances include the Amazon Prime series Mozart in the Jungle. When not performing, he shares his love of music, teaching both violin 15
and viola, serving on the faculty of the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music and InterSchool Orchestras of New York. He is excited to be a part of this new and exciting production of Oklahoma! Megan Schwarz Dickert (Production Stage Manager) Megan Schwarz Dickert is a freelance stage manager based in New York City. She specializes in new plays, but is also interested in unique interpretations of existing work. New York credits include Lincoln Center Theater, New York Theatre Workshop, The Public Theater, Vineyard Theatre, Page 73, Playwrights Realm, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, The Foundry Theatre, Working Theater, 13P, The Civilians, The Flea Theater, Clubbed Thumb (where she is an affiliated artist), The Builders Association, and New Georges. Regionally, she has worked at Hartford Stage, Williamstown Theatre Festival, New York Stage and Film, Long Wharf Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Trinity Repertory Company, Adirondack Theatre Festival; and the Idaho, North Carolina, Utah, and Nebraska Shakespeare festivals. She has been the production stage manager for two Pulitzer Prize winners: Disgraced at Lincoln Center Theater and Water by the Spoonful at Hartford Stage. Her next project is Kill Floor at LCT3/Lincoln Center Theater. She is an advanced open water scuba diver and has run five marathons (Amsterdam 2006, New York City 2008 and 2010, Wineglass 2013, and Quebec 2014). www.megandickert.com Kelly Hardy (Assistant Stage Manager) Kelly Hardy has worked on Broadway in The Real Thing (directed by Sam Gold and starring Ewan McGregor, Maggie Gyllenhaal); in New York City at The Public, Theatre for a New Audience, Working Theatre, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, The Actors Company Theatre; and regionally at Hartford Stage, Long Wharf Theatre, Trinity Repertory Company, La Jolla Playhouse, Bucks County Playhouse, and Repertory East Playhouse. Internationally she has appeared at London’s Royal College of Music and Shakespeare’s Globe. She was educated at UC San Diego. Actors’ Equity Association Actors’ Equity Association (AEA), founded in 1913, represents more than 49,000 actors and stage managers in the United States. Equity seeks to advance, promote and foster the art of live theatre as an essential component of our society. Equity negotiates wages and working conditions, providing a wide range of benefits, including health and pension plans. AEA is a member of the AFL-CIO, and is affiliated with FIA, an international organization of performing arts unions. The Equity emblem is our mark of excellence. www.actorsequity.org The director of this production is a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, a theatrical labor union. The designers of this production are members of United Scenic Artists, Local USA 829 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), a theatrical labor union.
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We honor the late Richard B. Fisher for his generosity and leadership in building and supporting this superb center that bears his name by offering outstanding arts experiences. We recognize and thank the following individuals, corporations, and foundations that share Dick’s and our belief in presenting and creating art for the enrichment of society. Ticket sales cover less than 15 percent of our programming. Help us sustain the Fisher Center and ensure that the performing arts are a part of our lives. We encourage and need you to join our growing list of donors. Donors to the Fisher Center Leadership Support Anonymous Carolyn Marks Blackwood Emily H. Fisher and John Alexander Jeanne Donovan Fisher Murray Liebowitz* The Marks Family Foundation Martin and Toni Sosnoff Foundation Millbrook Tribute Garden, Inc. New England Foundation for the Arts New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) Rockefeller Brothers Fund Martin T. and Toni Sosnoff Felicitas S. Thorne Golden Circle Arthur F. and Alice E. Adams Foundation Estate of Richard B. Fisher
Benefactor Helen and Roger Alcaly Dr. Miriam Roskin Berger ’56 Sandra and Dr. A. John Blair III Bob Bursey and Leah Cox Gwenn Evitts Cohen Beverly Fanger and Dr. Herbert S. Chase Jr. Florence & Robert Rosen Family Foundation Carlos Gonzalez and Katherine Stewart Prof. Eban Goodstein Florence and Robert A. Rosen Denise S. Simon and Paulo Vieiradacunha Darcy Stephens Allan and Ronnie Streichler Aida and Albert Wilder Wilder Consolidated Enterprises Inc.
Producer Kay Brover and Arthur Bennett Bonnie Loopesko and Daniel Shapiro
Sustainer Dr. Wolfgang Aulitzky and Katharine Eltz-Aulitzky Prof. Jonathan and Jessica K. Becker Ward C. Belcher Elizabeth A. R. Brown and Ralph S. Brown Jr. Alfred Buff and Lenore Nemeth Roy and Patricia Carlin Joan and Robert Costa Blythe Danner ’65 Amy K. and David Dubin Dr. Judy Gold Bruce Gordon John and Mary Kelly Max Kenner ’01 Kevin Klose Prof. Laura Kuhn Dr. Nancy Leonard and Dr. Lawrence Kramer Barbara L. and Arthur Michaels Andrea and Kenneth L. Miron Joanne and Richard Mrstik Debra R. Pemstein and Dean Vallas David E. Schwab II ’52 and Ruth Schwartz Schwab ’52 Margo and Anthony Viscusi
Patron Jamie Albright and Stephen Hart Household Sylvie and Leon Bressler Felice C. Frankel Thomas and Bryanne Hamill The Harkness Foundation for Dance, Inc. Susan Hendrickson Dr. Harriette Kaley Joseph La Piana Amala and Eric Levine Stephen Mazoh and Martin Kline New Music USA, Inc. Quality Printing Company, Inc. Ted Ruthizer and Jane Denkensohn David A. Schulz Sarah and Howard Solomon Illiana van Meeteren Peter van Schaick
Sponsor Melva Bucksbaum and Raymond J. Learsy Eileen and Michael Cohen Gordon Douglas Patricia Falk Arnold and Milly Feinsilber Nancy Felcetto Matthias and Victoria H. Gohl Nan and David Greenwood Neil Isabelle Rose and Josh Koplovitz Richard Kortright and Claudia Rosti Helena Lee Andrew McCabe Branca M. and Bruce L. Pachkowski Sky Pape and Alan C. Houghton Barbara A. and Joseph Schoenberg Ann Stack
Director Fiona Angelini and Jamie Welch Anna-Maria & Stephen Kellen Foundation, Inc. Anne Donovan Bodnar and James L. Bodnar Alicia Davis and Steve Ellis Steven M. Dawson Michael J. Del Giudice and Jaynne Keyes Stefano Ferrari and Lilo Zinglersen Britton Fisher Catherine C. Fisher and Gregory A. Murphy Amy and Ronald Guttman Doris J. Lockhart The Maurer Family Foundation, Inc. McGue Millhiser Family Trust Mr. and Mrs. James H. Ottaway Jr. Stephen Simcock Terra Nova Foundation Thendara Foundation
Mark W. Sutton Drs. Katherine and Richard Tobey Mrs. Beverley D. Zabriskie Supporter Kathryn M. Adorney Nina Aronzon and Karl Rizzo John J. Austrian ’91 and Laura M. Austrian Dr. Alvin and Arlene Becker Lawrence Bell Susan Bienkowski Marge and Ed Blaine Charles R. Blyth Mr. David Brangaitis David J. Brown Jeffrey and Ellyn Burstein Harold Bush Mary L. Byrne and Glenn W. Mai Michael Caola Susan Chadick and Robert Weiss Douglas and Jack Charney Daniel Chu and Lenore Schiff Tom Cole Susan Connors Jane R. Cottrell Dr. Margaret M. Coughlin Paul A. Cruser Prof. Matthew Deady Mr. and Mrs. Timothy Delaney C. Douglas and Leslie Dienel Pat Doudna David Ebony and Bruce Mundt Hal and Valery Einhorn Joan and John Ensminger Arthur and Janet Eschenlauer Bridget L. Fraser Edward Friedman and Arline Lederman Tracee J. Fultz Frances A. and Rao Gaddipati Maxine and Marvin Gilbert Nicole Gill Stanley and Anne Gordon Paul Graebener Marjorie Grinnell David A. Harris John Haworth Dorothy and Leo Hellerman Kenneth P. Hodges Elizabeth Jane Hoffman Michael Holzhueter Arnold N. Iovinella Marcia Kaplan-Mann Demetrios and Susan Karayannides Paul R. Knight Edward Nicholas Krapels Dr. Roy and Amy Kulick Robert James Kurilla John E. Lee Wendy and John Livingston Melissa R. Marrero Herbert Mayo Dr. Naomi Mendelsohn Dan Meyer Linda Michaels Douglas Milford Karen E. Moeller and Charles H. Talleur 17
Irene Mungiu Mechelle Nobiletti Elizabeth J. and Sevgin Oktay Mr. and Mrs. Robert B. Opatrny Marilyn and Peter Oswald Margrit and Albrecht Pichler David S. Pollack Joan Quigley Maarten Reilingh, Real Estate Broker Christopher Nelson Rowley Franz Safford Myrna B. Sameth Drs. Brigitte I. and Herman J. Servatius Elisabeth A. Simon Joseph Sobota Gabriella Sperry Dr. Raymond F. Stainback Campbell Steward Randy J. Tryon Robert E. Tully Beth Uffner James Warnes Dr. Dietmar B. Westphal Stanley Wiegand Dr. Lawrence A. Wills and D. J. Martin Mike and Kathy Zdeb Irene Zedlacher Friend Dr. and Mrs. Morton Alterman Anonymous (2) Sybil Baldwin Derek J. Balling William G. Barrett Rev. Winston L. Bath Eva Thal Belefant ’49 Howard and Mary Bell James P. Booth Bert Boyson Joe and Meg Cairo Darrah L. Cloud Dr. Stephen R. Cohen Richard A. Costello Patricia Curthoys Frank J. Cutolo Curtis DeVito Gary DiMauro and Kathryn Windley Richard A. Donovan Abby H. and John B. Dux Amy J. Engel Christian Fekete Sydney Heller Finkel Floyd and Phyllis Glinert Foundation of the FCGF Raimond Flynn Ronald C. Geuther Mr. and Mrs. Floyd Glinert Fayal Greene and David J. Sharpe Sheryl Griffith Veronica Halverson Amy and David Harter Delmar D. Hendricks Shawn Holzmann Renee J. Jaworski and Mark J. Melvin Dr. Eleanor C. Kane Linda L. Kaumeyer Marilyn and William L. Kirchner Ulrike Klopfer Ted Krawczyk Maurice Dupont Lee Ronald Leibler Peter J. and Susan B. Levangia Richard T. Levien Larry Lowenthal Joan Mack Mr. Peter J. Mancuso Marilyn J. Marinaccio
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Phyllis Marsteller James McLafferty Ray Michaels Kieley Michasiow-Levy and Matt Levy Dr. David T. Mintz Bonni Nechemias Celina R. Pipman and Sergio A. Spodek Steven Pollak and Robin Tanenbaum Melanie B. Powers and Frederic B. Presbrey David Pozorski and Anna Romanski Faye Rafferty Yael Ravin and Howard Sachar George and Gail Hunt Reeke Catherine K. Reinis Drs. M. Susan and Irwin Richman Michael Roomberg Paul Rosenberg Martin Jay Rosenblum Irwin H. Rosenthal Amy Rothstein and Peter Salerno Amanda J. Rubin Heinz and Klara Sauer Barbara and Dick Schreiber John and Aija Sedlak Susan Sprachman Marcia Sprules David and Sarah Stack Glenn and Agnes Statile Mavis and Harold Stevens Cathy Stone Dr. Elisabeth F. Turnauer-Derow Alison M. and James A. von Klemperer Gerald and Grace Wapner Lois Weber David and Meliza E. Woolner Robert and Lynda Youmans
Friends of the Bard Music Festival Leadership Support Helen and Roger Alcaly The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Bettina Baruch Foundation Jeanne Donovan Fisher Jane W. Nuhn Charitable Trust Dr. Barbara Kenner Mr. and Mrs. James H. Ottaway Jr. Denise S. Simon and Paulo Vieiradacunha Felicitas S. Thorne Millie and Robert Wise The Wise Family Charitable Foundation Golden Circle Dr. Thomas Hesse Susan and Roger Kennedy Edna and Gary Lachmund Martin L. and Lucy Miller Murray National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Director The Ann & Gordon Getty Foundation Bessemer National Gift Fund Dr. Leon Botstein and Barbara Haskell Michelle R. Clayman Joan K. Davidson Carlos Gonzalez and Katherine Stewart Matthew M. Guerreiro and Christina Mohr The Jewish Community Alliance of Northeastern Pennsylvania The J. M. Kaplan Fund, Inc. Amy and Thomas O. Maggs Marstrand Foundation Jim and Talila O’Higgins
Drs. M. Susan and Irwin Richman Sarah and Howard Solomon Dr. Sanford B. Sternlieb Margo and Anthony Viscusi Dr. Siri von Reis Producer Mary I. Backlund and Virginia Corsi Lydia Chapin and David Soeiro Eliot D. and Paula K. Hawkins Anne E. Impellizzeri Alfred J. Law and Glenda A. Fowler Law Alison L. and John C. Lankenau Stewart's Shops Allan and Ronnie Streichler Coralie Toevs Dr. Elisabeth F. Turnauer-Derow Merida Welles and Chip Holman Irene Zedlacher Patron Kathleen Augustine Belinda and Stephen Kaye MetLife Foundation Alexandra Ottaway Barbara B. Reis David E. Schwab II ’52 and Ruth Schwartz Schwab ’52 Andrew Solomon and John Habich Solomon Edwin Steinberg Olivia van Melle Kamp Bill Zifchak and Maggie Evans Benefactor Dr. Miriam Roskin Berger ’56 Sarah Botstein and Bryan Doerries Melva Bucksbaum and Raymond J. Learsy Thomas M. Burger and Andree Robert Amy K. and David Dubin Robert C. Edmonds ’68 Elizabeth W. Ely ’65 and Jonathan K. Greenburg Marieluise Hessel and Edwin L. Artzt Elena and Fred Howard Dr. Harriette Kaley Mona and Fred Payton Claire and John Reid Schwab Charitable Fund Elizabeth Farran Tozer and W. James Tozer Jr. Rosemary and Noel Werrett Sustainer Anonymous (2) Alexander and Margaret Bancroft Robert and Isobel Clark Ana and J. Roberto De Azevedo Willem F. De Vogel Emily H. Fisher and John Alexander John Geller Diva Goodfriend-Koven David and Nancy Hathaway Rachel and Dr. Shalom Kalnicki Helene L. and Mark N. Kaplan Fernanda Kellogg and Kirk Henckels Beth Ledy Carolyn Makinson Claire and Chris Mann Dr. and Mrs. Arthur Menken Andrea and Kenneth L. Miron Mary Moeller Joanne and Richard Mrstik Art and Jeannette Taylor Barbara and Donald Tober Prof. Marina van Zuylen
Maureen A. Whiteman and Lawrence J. Zlatkin Richard and Dee Wilson Sponsor Jamie Albright and Stephen Hart Household Saida and Sherwood Baxt David Cuming Mr. and Mrs. Gonzalo de Las Heras Donald C. Fresne Dr. Judy Gold Mr. and Mrs. Harrison J. Goldin Richard E. Hahn E. Noel Harwerth and Seth Melhado Martin Holub and Sandra Sanders Soohyung Kim and Anna Carolina Gunnarson Dr. Seymour and Harriet Koenig Cynthia Hirsch Levy ’65 Susan Lorence Margrit and Albrecht Pichler Supporter Barbara J. Agren Anonymous Elizabeth Phillips Bellin ’00 and Marco M.S. Bellin Shirley Benson Khurshed Bhumgara Beth and Jerry Bierbaum Harriet Bloch and Evan Sakellarios John C. D. and Nancy Bruno Philip and Mimi Carroll Sarah Gates Colley Joan and Robert Costa Ellen C. Curtis James R. Devanney Rt. Rev. Herbert A. and Mary Donovan Gordon Douglas Seth Dubin Abby H. and John B. Dux Cornelia Z. and Timothy Eland Patricia Ellis Jim and Laurie Niles Erwin Harold Farberman Laura Flax Karl Fleischmann Luisa E. Flynn John and Patricia A. Forelle Emily Rutgers Fuller Emma Gaudio ’09 and Alex Gaudio ’10 Maxine and Marvin Gilbert Samuel L. Gordon Jr. Alison Granucci James Hayden Susan Hendrickson Denise Kahn Demetrios and Susan Karayannides Mr. and Mrs. Thomas W. Keesee III Mr. and Mrs. George A. Kellner Erica Kiesewetter Prof. Camille C. King John R. and Karen Klopp Chloe A. Kramer Elissa Kramer and Jay H. Newman Debra I. and Jonathan Lanman Steven and Deborah Lanser Victoria and Douglas Larson E. Deane and Judith S. Leonard Rosemary Levai Edward R. and Karen Levene Martin S. Lippman Linda Lopez Catherine and Jacques Luiggi Lynn Favrot Nolan Family Fund John P. MacKenzie
Terrence Mahon Charles S. Maier Dr. Naomi Mendelsohn Mr. and Mrs. William T. Nolan Fernando and Marta E. Nottebohm Elizabeth J. and Sevgin Oktay David B. and Jane L. Parshall Lucas Pipes ’08 and Sarah Elizabeth Coe Paden ’09 Irving L. Sablosky Dagni and Martin Senzel Eric and Karin Shrubsole Theodore Somerville Chris and Mila Tewell Timothy and Cornelia Eland Fund of the Fidelity CGF Robert and Melanie Whaley Serita Winthrop Friend Anonymous Antonia Bakker-Salvato Dr. Howard Bellin Christina Bevilacqua ’81 Clara Botstein Leslie Chen Richard D. Cohen Jane R. Cottrell Joan and Wolcott Dunham Mr. and Mrs. Arthur L. Fenaroli David and Tracy Finn Samantha R. J. Free C. Robert Friedman and Vernon Mosheim Leslie and Richard J. Gershon Maxwell H. and Victoria Goodwin Danielle Greenberg Maureen W. Gregory David Grundy Frederick Fisher Hammond Fritz and Nancy Henze Derek B. Hernandez ’10 Juliet Heyer Robert E. Kaus Suzanne H. Keusch Diana Niles King Mr. and Mrs. Michael Levin Ms. Alexandra R. Marshall Stephen Mazoh and Martin Kline Anna Neverova ’07 Barbara B. Peelor D. Miles Price Susan Price John Royall Molly Schaefer and Dan Slott Frederick W. Schwerin Jr. John and Aija Sedlak Elizabeth K. and James Shequine Jessica and Peter Tcherepnine Pamela A. Tucker Arete B.S. Warren Peter and Maria Wirth Marianne Wurlitzer Dr. Herbert M. and Audrey S. Wyman * deceased List current as of May 6, 2015
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Boards and Administration Bard College Board of Trustees David E. Schwab II ’52, Chair Emeritus Charles P. Stevenson Jr., Chair Emily H. Fisher, Vice Chair George F. Hamel Jr., Vice Chair Elizabeth Ely ’65, Secretary; Life Trustee Stanley A. Reichel ’65, Treasurer Fiona Angelini Roland J. Augustine Leon Botstein+, President of the College Stuart Breslow+ Mark E. Brossman Thomas M. Burger+ James C. Chambers ’81 Marcelle Clements ’69, Alumni/ae Trustee The Rt. Rev. Andrew M. L. Dietsche, Honorary Trustee Asher B. Edelman ’61, Life Trustee Paul S. Efron Robert S. Epstein ’63 Barbara S. Grossman ’73, Alumni/ae Trustee Andrew S. Gundlach Sally Hambrecht Marieluise Hessel Maja Hoffmann Matina S. Horner+ Charles S. Johnson III ’70 Mark N. Kaplan, Life Trustee George A. Kellner Fredric S. Maxik ’86 James H. Ottaway Jr., Life Trustee Martin Peretz, Life Trustee Stewart Resnick, Life Trustee Roger N. Scotland ’93, Alumni/ae Trustee Jonathan Slone ’84 James A. von Klemperer Susan Weber Patricia Ross Weis ’52 Senior Administration Leon Botstein, President Dimitri B. Papadimitriou, Executive Vice President Michèle D. Dominy, Vice President and Dean of the College Mary Backlund, Vice President for Student Affairs and Director of Admission Norton Batkin, Vice President and Dean of Graduate Studies Jonathan Becker, Vice President and Dean for International Affairs and Civic Engagement James Brudvig, Vice President for Administration Susan H. Gillespie, Vice President for Special Global Initiatives Max Kenner ’01, Vice President for Institutional Initiatives Robert Martin, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Director of The Bard College Conservatory of Music Debra Pemstein, Vice President for Development and Alumni/ae Affairs
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The Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts Advisory Board Jeanne Donovan Fisher, Chair Carolyn Marks Blackwood Leon Botstein+ Stefano Ferrari Robert Martin+ Dimitri B. Papadimitriou+ Denise S. Simon Thurmond Smithgall Martin T. Sosnoff Toni Sosnoff Felicitas S. Thorne Live Arts Bard Creative Council Alicia Davis Steve Dawson Jeanne Donovan Fisher Terry Gotthelf Amy Guttman Richard Katzman Doris Lockhart Stephen Simcock Sarah Stack Coram Williams Administration and Programming Debra Pemstein, Vice President for Development and Alumni/ae Affairs Bob Bursey, Senior Producer Gideon Lester, Director of Theater Programs Caleb Hammons, Associate Producer Jeannie Schneider, Business Manager Kieley Michasiow-Levy, Development Manager Zia Affronti Morter ’12, Executive Assistant Production Vincent Roca, Production Manager Stephen Dean, Production Coordinator, Concerts and Lectures Matthew Waldron ’07, Production Coordinator, Dance and Theater Rick Reiser, Technical Director Josh Foreman, Lighting Supervisor Moe Schell, Costume Shop Supervisor Seth Chrisman, Audio/Video Supervisor Hellena Schiavo, Assistant to the Production Manager Communications Mark Primoff, Director of Communications Eleanor Davis, Media and Marketing Manager Publications Mary Smith, Director of Publications Audience Services David Steffen, Audience Services Manager and Communications Coordinator Nicholas Reilingh, Box Office Manager/ Database Administrator Emily Gildea ’11, Assistant Box Office Manager Hellena Schiavo, House Manager Sophie Green ’17, Assistant House Manager Kai Mote ’16, Assistant House Manager Bethany Zulick ’15, Assistant House Manager
Facilities Mark Crittenden, Facilities Manager Ray Stegner, Building Operations Manager Doug Pitcher, Building Operations Coordinator Daniel DeFrancis, Building Operations Assistant Robyn Charter, Fire Panel Monitor Katie O’Hanlon, Environmental Specialist Patricia O’Hanlon, Environmental Specialist Anna Simmons, Environmental Specialist
SummerScape Seasonal Staff
The Bard Music Festival
Company Management Michael Coglan, Company Manager Jensen Clifford, Assistant Company Manager Arianne DeCerb, Assistant Company Manager Mallory Hewell, Assistant Company Manager Christina Ramos, Assistant Company Manager
Board of Directors Denise S. Simon, Chair Roger Alcaly Joshua J. Aronson Leon Botstein+ Michelle R. Clayman David Dubin Robert C. Edmonds ’68 Jeanne Donovan Fisher Christopher H. Gibbs+ Carlos Gonzalez Paula K. Hawkins Thomas Hesse Susan Petersen Kennedy Barbara Kenner Gary Lachmund Thomas O. Maggs Robert Martin+ Kenneth L. Miron Christina A. Mohr James H. Ottaway Jr. Felicitas S. Thorne Siri von Reis Artistic Directors Leon Botstein Christopher H. Gibbs Robert Martin Executive Director Irene Zedlacher Associate Director Raissa St. Pierre ’87 Scholar in Residence 2015 Leonora Saavedra Program Committee 2015 Byron Adams Leon Botstein Walter Clark Christopher H. Gibbs Robert Martin Leonora Saavedra Richard Wilson Irene Zedlacher Director of Choruses James Bagwell Vocal Casting/Producer, Staged Concerts Susana Meyer
+ ex officio
Administration and Programming Susana Meyer, Producer, SummerScape Opera Justin Vivian Bond, Curator and Host, Spiegeltent Richard Suchenski, Curator, SummerScape Film Festival Cara Frisina, Marketing Intern Jessalyn Kilgour, Audience Services Intern Katherine Ritchie, Development/ Administrative
Bard Music Festival Stephen Dean, Stage Manager Emily Cuk ’12, Stage Manager Anna Bikales ’15, Production Assistant Tamzin Elliott ’16, Production Assistant Jesse Goldberg ’15, Production Assistant Kedian Keohan ’16, Production Assistant David Nagy ’13, Production Assistant Spiegeltent Emily Rea, Venue Director Marci Skolnick, Production Stage Manager Evan Spigelman ’09, Spiegeltent Assistant Salome Dewell ’16, Host Captain Aleah Black, Host Naja Nicole Gordon ’15, Host Emma Lutz-Higgins ’16, Host Luke McCrosson ’16, Host Lily Houston Smith ’16, Host Anastasha Moreno, Merchandiser Production Management Morgan Oppenheimer, Production Intern Rachel Spears, Production Intern Carpenters Jacob Bigelow, Assisitant Technical Director, The Wreckers Andrew Persson, Assisitant Technical Director, Oklahoma! Jacob Goldwasser, Carpenter Nicole Madar, Carpenter Jen Medina-Gray, Carpenter Tony Musso, Carpenter Hickory Renadette, Carpenter Sean Spencer, Carpenter Shane Crittenden, Carpentry Intern Mariah Curtis, Carpentry Intern Brynn Gilchrist, Carpentry Intern Caleb Harris, Carpentry Intern Michael Lazarus, Carpentry Intern Derek Pitcher, Carpentry Intern Daisy Rosato, Carpentry Intern Electrics Kara Ramlow, Master Electrician, Oklahoma!, Pam Tanowitz Dance, The Wreckers John Dicarlo, Lighting Programmer, Oklahoma!
Nick Ligon, Lighting Programmer, Pam Tanowitz Dance, The Wreckers Walter Daniels, Electrician Dale Gibbons, Electrician Matt Griffen, Electrician John King, Electrician Brian Lindsay, Electrician Aaron Weininger, Electrician Matthew Holcombe, Electrician Intern Breit Katz, Electrician Intern Ryan Naso, Electrician Intern Jamie Stokley, Electrician Intern Audio John Chocianowski, Audio Engineer, Spiegeltent Craig Freeman, Audio Engineer, Oklahoma! Noah Firtel, Audio 1, The Wreckers Brandon Roe, Audio 2, Oklahoma! Clara Gallagher, Audio-Visual Intern Emily Hutton, Audio-Visual Intern Christine O’Donovan-Zavada, AudioVisual Intern Matthew Strieder, Audio-Visual Intern Properties Aubrey Ellis, Properties Master, Oklahoma! Justin Titley, Properties Master, The Wreckers Patrice Escandon, Assistant Properties Master, The Wreckers Isabel Bump, Properties Intern Abigail Cain, Properties Intern Nick LaBarbera, Properties Intern Sophia Renee, Properties Intern Wardrobe David Burke, Costume Coordinator, The Wreckers Jimmy Bennett, Wardrobe Supervisor, The Wreckers Thalessa Billups, Wardrobe Supervisor, Oklahoma! Katelyn Barrow, First Hand Joy Havens, Assistant Wardrobe Supervisor Gabrielle LaRoche, Head Stitcher Laurel Walford, Costume Shop Foreman Krista Arena, Wardrobe Cara Barker, Wardrobe Jules Capuco, Wardrobe Sarah Dickerson, Wardrobe Lucy Gwathmey, Wardrobe Michael Hellman, Wardrobe Katharina Koehler, Wardrobe Rossina Lozoya, Wardrobe Casey Morris, Wardrobe Megan Seiler, Wardrobe David Shoemaker, Wardrobe Jaclyn Vela, Wardrobe
Abbey Lowenstein, Production Assistant, Oklahoma! Audience Services Ushers Gouled Ahmed ’16 JaQuan Beachem ’17 Hannah Berger '16 Eric Brodbeck Danielle Comerford Robert Crane '17 Martha Fearnley ’15 Becky Fildes Harrison Forman ’17 Michael Golub Hasani Gunn Natalie Hayes Isabelle LaBarbera Jack Lee Anwen Lewis Bella Mazzetti ’15 Aidan McLaughlin Aubrey Mulvey Morgan Oppenheimer ’16 Emma Patsey Megan Robitaille Charlotte Standefer Matt Strieder Philip Torphy ’16 Evan Torrisi Isabel Vazquez Elizabeth Westermeyer Avis Zane Isaac Betters, Bus Captain Parking Attendants Colin Bemis Ethan Isaac ’18 Liam Jantzen Stasha Moreno ’15 James Mulvey Niall Murphy ’17 Kevin Soto '16 Alex Theisen David Uridia Maggie Zavgren ’18 Box Office Ticket Agents Savannah Bachman ’17 Jackson Blau ’17 Mirabai Bright-Thonney ’16 Sarah Cohen ’18 Ethan Evans ’16 Antonio Irizarry ’16 Lizabeth Malanga ’16 Audrey Rosenblish ’16 Ben Sernau ’17
Hair and Makeup Jared Janas, Hair and Makeup Designer, The Wreckers Brittany Hartman, The Wreckers Kaila Herrera, The Wreckers Earon Nealey, The Wreckers Stage Management Lynn Krynicki, Stage Manager, The Wreckers Megan Schwarz Dickert, Production Stage Manager, Oklahoma! Kelly Hardy, Assistant Stage Manager, Oklahoma!
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About The Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College The Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts, an environment for world-class artistic presentation in the Hudson Valley, was designed by Frank Gehry and opened in 2003. Risk-taking performances and provocative programs take place in the 800-seat Sosnoff Theater, a proscenium-arch space, and in the 220-seat LUMA Theater, which features a flexible seating configuration. The Center is home to Bard College’s Theater & Performance and Dance Programs, and host to two annual summer festivals: SummerScape, which offers opera, dance, theater, operetta, film, and cabaret; and the Bard Music Festival, which celebrated its 25th year last August with “Schubert and His World.” The 2015 festival will be devoted to Carlos Chávez and the music of Mexico and the rest of Latin America. The Center bears the name of the late Richard B. Fisher, former chair of Bard College’s Board of Trustees. This magnificent building is a tribute to his vision and leadership. The outstanding arts events that take place here would not be possible without the
Individual supporters are essential to sustaining the Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts as an extraordinary part of cultural life in the Hudson Valley. Generous gifts from arts supporters like you help make everything at the Fisher Center possible. Our members support world-class performing arts and enjoy a variety of discounts and benefits through our Friends and Patrons programs. Please join us!
contributions made by the Friends of the Fisher Center. We are grateful for their support and welcome all donations.
About Bard College
For more information visit fishercenter.bard.edu/support or call 845-758-2273.
Founded in 1860, Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, is an independent, nonsectarian, residential, coeducational college offering a four-year B.A. program in the liberal arts and sciences and a five-year B.A./B.S. degree in economics and finance. The
BECOME A FRIEND OF THE FISHER CENTER
BECOME A PATRON OF THE FISHER CENTER
Friends of the Fisher Center enjoy a behind-the-scenes look at Fisher Center presentations, invitations to exclusive events, and access to special services throughout the year.
Patrons enjoy all of the benefits of Benefactors of the Fisher Center, plus access to the best seats in the house, personalized ticketing, preferred parking, and exclusive events.
Friend ($75) Benefits include: • Access to tickets before the general public • Invitations to season previews and open house events • 10% discount on Spiegeltent dining • 20% discount on Fisher Center merchandise • Fully tax deductible
Patron ($1,500) All of the Benefactors benefits, plus: • Access to the best seats and personalized ticket handling through the Patron Priority Line • Access to the Bard Music Festival Patron’s Lounge at Olin Hall • Recognition in performance programs • $1,180 tax deductible
Supporter ($150) All of the above, plus: • Waived ticket handling fees (save $4.50 per ticket, $10 per subscription) • Invitation to a behind-the-scenes tour of the Fisher Center • Fully tax deductible
Producer ($2,500) All of the above, plus: • Invitation for two to an exclusive pre-performance dinner at a Hudson Valley home • $2,030 tax deductible Director ($5,000) All of the above, plus: • Reserved VIP parking for all events at the Fisher Center • Invitation for two to an intimate dinner with a world-class performer, creator, or scholar • $4,380 tax deductible
Sponsor ($300) All of the above, plus: • Invitations to opening night parties • SummerScape production poster • $250 tax deductible Sustainer ($500) All of the above, plus: • Bard Music Festival limited edition T-shirt • SummerScape production poster signed by the cast • $415 tax deductible Benefactor ($1,000) All of the above, plus: • Bard Music Festival book (Princeton University Press) • Private, behind-the-scenes tour of the Fisher Center for you and your guests • Invitations to working rehearsals and directors’ presentations • $750 tax deductible
Bard College Conservatory of Music offers a five-year program in which students pursue a dual degree—a B.Music and a B.A. in a field other than music—and offers an M.Music in vocal arts and in conducting. Bard also bestows an M.Music degree at Longy School of Music of Bard College in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Bard and its affiliated institutions also grant the following degrees: A.A. at Bard High School Early College, a public school with campuses in New York City, Cleveland, and Newark, New Jersey; A.A. and B.A. at Bard College at Simon’s Rock: The Early College, in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, and through the Bard Prison Initiative at six correctional institutions in New York State; M.A. in curatorial studies, M.S. in economic theory and policy, and M.S. in environmental policy and in climate science and policy at the Annandale campus; M.F.A. and M.A.T. at multiple campuses; M.B.A. in sustainability in New York City; and M.A., M.Phil., and Ph.D. in the decorative arts, design history, and material culture at the Bard Graduate Center in Manhattan. Internationally, Bard confers dual B.A. degrees at the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences, St. Petersburg State University, Russia (Smolny College); American
Thank You! Please return your donation to: Bard College Office of Development PO Box 5000 Annandale-on-Hudson, NY 12504-5000
Enclosed is my check made payable to Bard College in the amount of $ Please designate my gift toward: n Fisher Center programs n Bard Music Festival Please charge my: n Amex n Discover n MasterCard n Visa in the amount of $
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University of Central Asia in Kyrgyzstan; and Bard College Berlin: A Liberal Arts University; as well as dual B.A. and M.A.T. degrees at Al-Quds University in the West Bank.
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©2015 Bard College. All rights reserved. Cover Amber Gray and Damon Daunno. ©Julieta Cervantes Inside back cover ©Peter Aaron ’68/Esto
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BARDSUMMERSCAPE
THEATER JUNE 25 – JULY 19 Rodgers and Hammerstein’s
OKLAHOMA! SPIEGELTENT JUNE 26 – AUGUST 15
CABARET, MUSIC, FINE DINING, AND MORE DANCE JUNE 27–28
PAM TANOWITZ DANCE & FLUX QUARTET PERFORMANCE/INSTALLATION JULY 9–12
EVERYTHING BY MY SIDE By Fernando Rubio FILM SERIES JULY 11 – AUGUST 2
REINVENTING MEXICO OPERA JULY 24 – AUGUST 2
THE WRECKERS By Ethel Smyth and 26TH SEASON BARD MUSIC FESTIVAL AUGUST 7–9 AND 13–16
CHÁVEZ AND HIS WORLD
845-758-7900 | fishercenter.bard.edu Be the first in line for news of upcoming events, discounts, and special offers. Join the Fisher Center's e-newsletter at fishercenter.bard.edu.