Pine Box Theater Company presents
The Jammer Written by Rolin Jones Directed by Vincent Teninty* Stage Managed by Andrew C. Donnelly Starring: Bill Bannon* Sara Gorsky Kersten Haile Amy Johnson James Earl Jones II* Miguel Nunez Levenix Riddle Eliza Shin And Pine Box Ensemble Members: Josh Odor Greg Rothman *Denotes member of Actor’s Equity Association, the union
of professional Actors and Stage Managers
CAST Josh Odor+........................................................................................................ JACK LOVINGTON Sara Gorsky.............................................................................................................LINDY BATELLO Bill Bannon*................................................................................................... FATHER KOSCIUSKO James Earl Jones II*............................................................................................... LENNY RINGLE Greg Rothman+....................................................................................................BERT FINEBERG Levenix Riddle.........................................................................................CHARLIE HEARTBREAK Amy Johnson..................................................................................................BETH NUTTERMAN Eliza Shin...................................................................................................................... CINDY GUMS Miguel Nunez................................................................................................. FATHER DOMINGO Kersten Haile........................................................................................................................... NURSE *Denotes Members of Actors Equity Association +Denotes Members of Pine Box Theater Company SETTING Bushwick, Brooklyn and other cities along the Eastern Seaboard. TIME 1958 P R O D U C T I O N S TA F F Director...............................................................................................................Vincent Teninty*+ Playwright.......................................................................................................................Rolin Jones Artistic Director................................................................................................Vincent Teninty*+ Production Manager........................................................................................Catherine Allen+ Stage Manager............................................................................................. Andrew C. Donnelly Set Design..................................................................... Robert Groth and Jenniffer Thusing* Lighting Design..............................................................................Todd Clark and Matt Miller Sound Design.......................................................................................................Harrison Adams Costume Design.................................................................................................. Joshua D. Allard Props Design.................................................................................................... Jenniffer Thusing* Fight/Movement Choreographer...................................................................... Matt Hawkins Fight Captain............................................................................................................Levenix Riddle Publicist................................................................................................................ David Rosenberg Photographer.....................................................................................................Michael Brosilow Original Artwork by....................................................................................................Tom Kyzivat
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D I R E C TO R ’ S N O T E The year was 1992, the popular fad was grunge, and I was determined to fit in with the popular crowd. I wanted their acceptance and approval. I used every last penny of my saved allowance to purchase jeans (later to be ripped), T-shirts with Nirvana, Red Hot Chili Peppers, or the Dead Kennedys printed across the front, and the ever-important flannel that completed the outfit. I showed up for the first day of school ready to find myself among the popular crowd. I was going to be accepted. However, this was not the case. My lunches were still spent with the outcasts of the school; the nerds, band geeks, and wieners were my company. How could this be? I was wearing all the correct clothing. Something was missing. As I kept my eyes glued to the popular crowd, I noticed that all the boys had long, straight, greasy hair that, most of the time, was pulled back into a pony tail. My hair was bouffant. My genetics had failed me. That weekend, I purchased a bottle of hair straightening permanent and combed it through my hair per the instructions. I used my mom’s flat iron, and I made sure that not a hint of poof remained. I was determined. The following week, I returned to school with all the confidence in the world that my days of hanging with losers were over. This was a brand new me, and I was about to have brand new friends. There was nothing more to do, my acceptance was there for the taking. I was less than five feet onto the campus grounds when I heard the first cackle. “Fag...freak...queer...homo” quickly became my entrance music to any class or homeroom. As the lunch period came and went that day, I looked across the quad for a place to hide, wiping away the packets of ketchup and mustard that had been splattered onto my head. I wanted to bury my face in the ground, but then I heard a voice call, “Vince!” I saw a hand slowly rise from the table of outcasts, waving at me to join them. I sat down and my friend Dwayne passed me his hat and simply said, “Dude! Where have you been? We’ve been waiting for you.” Thirty four years prior to life at Fontana High School, the characters we meet in The Jammer are vulnerable and madly searching for acceptance. Looked upon by society as outsiders, they come together and discover a world where their status is ignored, and their eccentricities are embraced. A world that provides emotional safety--though maybe not physical safety. That’s not really a concern. After all, it is Roller Derby. BIOGR APHIES Josh Odor (Jack Lovington) is grateful to be back working with Pine Box where he performed in Hot’n Throbbing, The Most Liquid Currency, NEED/Hedges3 and A Girl With Sun In Her Eyes (u/s). He just closed LiveWire’s Oohrah as part of Steppenwolf’s Garage Rep and can be seen later this summer in Steep’s Moment. Josh has worked in Chicago with the Goodman, Writer’s Theatre, The Artistic Home, Griffin, Collaboraction, Teatro Vista, The New Colony, Buffalo
Ensemble, The Den, Prop Theatre, Circle Theatre, as well as worked regionally at the Long Wharf in New Haven, CT, and the New York Fringe Festival. His film credits include: The Express, Janie Jones, The Drunk and The River Within. Josh has also appeared in the television series Boss. Thanks Mom. Sara Gorsky (Lindy Batello) is thrilled to be working with Pine Box for the first time! Recent credits include Devil’s Don’t Forget (Mammals), A The Jammer 3
B I O G R A P H I E S ( c o n t .) Midsummer Night’s Dream, Macbeth (Lakeside Shakespeare), Carmilla (Wildclaw), Spring Awakening (Promethean Theatre Ensemble) and League of Awesome (Factory Theater). She recently co-adapted and developed All-Girl Moby Dick with the Mammals. Later this summer she will be performing in Hamlet and Much Ado About Nothing with Lakeside Shakespeare. She is also a proud company member of Lakeside Shakespeare and Promethean Theatre Ensemble. Bill Bannon (Father Kosciusko) has been working in the Chicago theatre community for over twenty-five years, during which time he has performed on the stages of the Goodman (Race, Red, Moonlight and Magnolias), Chicago Shakespeare (Hamlet, A Flea In Her Ear, Much Ado About Nothing, Hecuba, Marionette Macbeth), Court (Old Times), and Steppenwolf (World Set Free), among many others. A few productions of note include TimeLine Theatre’s This Happy Breed (Jeff Citations – Best Ensemble & Best Production) and Hauptmann (Jeff Citation – Best Production); Eclipse Theatre’s Lost In Yonkers (Jeff Citation nomination for Best Supporting Actor); Stage Left’s Leander Stillwell (Jeff Citation - Best Ensemble); Strawdog Theatre’s Three Sisters (After Dark Award - Best Ensemble); and Shattered Globe’s highly acclaimed staging of Requiem for a Heavyweight. He also co-starred with Steppenwolf’s Bob Breuler in the world premier production of The Brother at Stage 773. Regionally he has performed at Peninsula Players in Fish Creek, WI, Stormfield Theatre in Lansing, MI, and The Krannert Center at the University of Illinois, Champaign. His film work includes The Shadow, Sweet 16, and Stephen Cone’s recently completed Black Box.
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James Earl Jones II (Lenny Ringle) is making his Pine Box debut! James’s role of the Lion in The Wiz (Theater at the Center), earned him a Jeff nomination. He also played the role of Crown & later, Porgy, in Court Theatre’s production of Porgy & Bess. His work has garnered Black Theatre Alliance Awards & African American Arts Alliance Awards. Other credits include: Mr. Rickey Calls a Meeting (Lookingglass), Aida, The Midwest Premiere of Spamalot, Ragtime (Drury Lane Oakbrook), A Civil War Christmas (Northlight), Annie Get Your Gun (Ravinia), Porgy & Bess (Lyric Opera of Chicago & San Francisco Opera), 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Broadway in Chicago & Mason Street Warehouse), Full Monty (Marriott), Black Nativity (Goodman/Congo Square), Dessa Rose (Appletree), Aspects of Love, I Pagliacci, On the Town, The Gondoliers, Patience, H.M.S. Pinafore & Pirates of Penzance. You can hear his voice on various radio & TV commercials! Thanks to Vince for this opportunity! For Semaje… Greg Rothman (Bert Fineberg) is happy to be playing with such a wonderful and talented group of actors. A very big thank you to everyone involved. He is a founding member of Pine Box Theater and on the board of Next Theatre, Trapdoor Theatre, and JCUA. He was last seen this past winter over at Steep Theatre in the role of Duncan in Love and Money. Eat MORE cupcakes. Gregory is unhappy writing bios. Levenix Riddle (Charlie Heartbreak) Levenix Riddle is very excited to be returning to skate the boards with Pine Box. He was previously seen in
B I O G R A P H I E S ( c o n t .) Pine Box’s production of A Girl With Sun In Her Eyes. Levenix was born and raised in Chicago and studied Engineering until attending The Theatre School at DePaul University to study Acting. Past Theatre School credits include A Raisin In The Sun, A View From The Bridge, Puss In Boots, and The Underpants, among others. He most recently appeared in Chicago Shakespeare Company’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Other Chicago credits include A Behanding in Spokane (Profiles Theatre) as well as several play festivals. Levenix also loves jazz and the blues and is currently learning to play piano.
Check, Please!, she guested twice for the restaurants Silver Seafood and Pops For Champagne. On-camera, voiceover and print commercial credits include Motorola, Aleve and Blockbuster. Everlasting thanks to all who support and participate in Chicago’s vibrant artistic playground.
Amy Johnson (Beth Nutterman) has been a Chicago actor for the past 11 years and could not be more excited to be a part of this fantastic ensemble with Pine Box Theatre Co. A few favorite past roles are Amelia Earhart with Historical Perspectives for Children, Dianne in People We Know with the side project, Rosalind in As You Like It with Theatre-Hikes, and Solange in The Maids with Orion’s Left Foot. She is also thrilled to be making her first TV appearance this summer in Final Witness on ABC.
Miguel Nunez (Father Domingo) is thrilled to be making his debut with Pine Box Theater. Miguel was last seen in The Ghost is Here (Vitalist Theatre). Some other Chicago credits include Seven Snakes (The Mammals), The Blue Shadow (Lifeline Theatre), Lorca In a Green Dress, Heads (Halcyon Theatre). He has also worked as an actor with The Gift Theatre, Redmoon Theatre, Teatro Luna, Salsation!, Chicago Fusion Theatre, and Bailiwick Chicago. He majored in Acting at the National Theater University in Caracas, Venezuela. Some of his work in Venezuela includes The Bourgeois Gentleman, Bufonerias (Teatro Septimo Piso) and Apocalipse 1,11 (with Brazilian company Teatro da Vertigem) as part of the Caracas International Theater Festival. He has also extensively trained at Black Box Acting Studio.
Eliza Shin (Cindy Gums) thinks it’s just too fun to make her Pine Box debut with The Jammer. Chicago theater credits include MuChang/China Mom in Jade Heart (Chicago Dramatists), Model in The Ghost is Here (Vitalist Theatre), Hannah in Family Devotions (Halcyon Theatre), and William Wordsworth in The Patriots (NeoFuturists). Her soprano skills were featured in Sketchbook 2008 (Collaboraction) and Voyaging (Walkabout Theatre/Lucky Plush Dance). Voted an All-Star for WTTW’s
Kersten Haile (Nurse) is honored that she was asked to join the cast of The Jammer. She moved to Chicago recently after graduating with a BFA in Acting from Millikin University and working with Nebraska Shakespeare. Previous roles include KatiaMemory House, Hero/Dogberry- Much Ado About Nothing, Juliet- Romeo and Juliet, Puck- Midsummer Night’s Dream, Maria (understudy Rosaline)- Love’s Labour’s Lost, Laurie- Brighton Beach Memoirs, and Mona (then)- Come Back to the Five and Dime... Unending The Jammer 5
B I O G R A P H I E S ( c o n t .) gratitude to her family, friends, teachers, Michigan University. Vincent’s television and Ryan for the support, smiles, hugs, credits include The Beast (A&E), and and wisdom. most recently BOSS (Starz Network). Rolin Jones (Playwright) received a Fringe First Award for Best New Writing at 2004’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival for The Jammer. It was later produced at the 2004 New York International Fringe Festival. Jones’s play, The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow was a finalist for the 2006 Pulitzer Prize in Drama and received the 2006 Obie Award for Excellence in Playwriting. He has written several short plays for the Actors Theater of Louisville’s Humana Festival, including Sovereignty, Ron Robby Had Too Big A Heart, The Mercury and the Magic, Extremely, and Chronicles Simpkins Will Cut Your Ass. Jones has also worked extensively in television, serving as a producer and writer on the series Weeds, Friday Night Light and The United States of Tara. He currently serves as a co-executive producer on the television series Smash. Vincent Teninty (Director) is excited for his directorial debut with Pine Box Theater Company where he is the current Artistic Director. Vincent has been an actor in the city of Chicago since 1999, and has worked with several different theatre companies including: The Goodman Theatre – Talking Pictures, The Good Negro and Dartmoor Prison; Steppenwolf - Mother Courage and her Children and A Lesson Before Dying; Appletree Theatre – To Kill a Mockingbird; Timeline – A Cry of Players; Strawdog – Julius Caesar; Steep Theatre – The Resistable Rise of Arturo Ui and Insignificance; The Hypocrites – Desire Under the Elms, and last but not least, Pine Box Theater Company – Life and Limb, The Most Liquid Currency in the World, Hot ‘N’ Throbbing and last summer’s hit A Girl With Sun In Her Eyes. He was also nominated for a Jeff Award in 2003 for his role as “Dexter” in Trivial Pursuits (Visions & Voices), and is a graduate of the School at Steppenwolf class of 2004. He has studied at the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, and Western 6 Pine Box Theater Company
Andrew C. Donnelly (Stage Manager) is very excited to be working his first show with Pine Box with such a great cast! He is also Mary-Arrchie’s newest company member and stage manager where his work includes Riff Raff and most recently Superior Donuts. Past credits include work with the Santa Fe Opera, Nebraska Repertory Theatre, and his alma mater West Texas A&M University. Catherine Allen (Production Manager) became an ensemble member of Pine Box Theater Company in the summer of 2011 after she served as production manager during their comeback production, A Girl With Sun In Her Eyes. Catherine is a graduate of the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, where she received a BFA in Acting. Past credits include serving as Casting Associate on the feature film I Heart Shakey 3D, producing the live storytelling event, 3 Guys 4 Stories 5 Songs at Messner’s Wrigleyville, and assistant directing Oblivion, part of Steppenwolf’s 2011 First Look Series. Catherine currently works at Innovative Artists Chicago. Robert Groth (Co-Set Designer) is excited to be part of The Jammer team and to be working with Pine Box Theater again. Past designs with Jenniffer Thusing include Superior Donuts for Mary Arrchie, Aiming for Sainthood for Chicago Dramatists at the Pritzker Pavilion and The Weir with Seanachai Theatre Company. Robert is also co-owner of Crosstown Scenic LLC. Recent projects for Crosstown Scenic include The Second City’s 100th Revue: Who Do We Think We Are?, the set for the new Upstage space at Second City, Gypsy and the upcoming 39 Steps at Drury Lane Oakbrook, The Houdini Box for Chicago Children’s Theatre and Snow White for Emerald City Theatre Company. Robert would like to thank Jenniffer for her talent, energy and support as a partner
B I O G R A P H I E S ( c o n t .) in design, as well as in life. For more about Robert and Crosstown Scenic, go to www.crosstownscenic.com. Jenniffer Thusing (Co-Set Designer/ Props Designer) is thrilled to be working on The Jammer with Pine Box. Jenniffer’s work with her partner Robert Groth was nominated for a 2011 Equity Wing Jeff Award for Seanachi’s The Weir. They also designed Superior Donuts for Mary Arrchie Theatere, which will be remounted at The Metropolis this July. Robert and Jenniffer also recently produced and designed jenniffer! presents Karaoke Kingpins at Chicago Dramatists. Jenniffer spends a great deal of her time at Chicago Dramatists, serving as their Stage Manager since 2009 and this year becoming an artistic associate. Jenniffer is also a teaching artist, working mostly through the Beverly Art Center Outreach program. Jenniffer is a proud member of Actors Equity. www. jennifferjthusing.com Joshua D. Allard (Costume Designer/ Stylist) has designed over 80 productions with over 20 companies in Chicago since 2003, including Piccolo Theatre, Lookingglass Theatre, Pine Box Theater, Eclipse Theatre, Chicago Tap Theatre, and Chicago Opera Vanguard. He has also served as a choreographer and movement practitioner. Joshua toured for five months in 2008 as the Wardrobe/Props ATD for an Equity TYA production from the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Joshua is an artistic associate and resident costume designer with Piccolo Theatre in Evanston, IL. Harrison Adams (Sound Designer) is a Chicago sound designer whose recent designs include Enfrascada (16th Street Theater), Rise of the Numberless, (Bailiwick/New Colony), The Cherry Orchard (Piccolo Theatre), Death and Harry Houdini and this year’s Nutcracker (House Theatre), Caesura: A Butchery (Plagiarists), Powerless (Society of Young Superheroes), Hamlet (Oracle Productions), Sketchbook 11 (Collaboraction), Trogg (Hell in a Handbag),
The Alchemist (Nothing Special Prod.), Romeo and Juliet (Babes with Blades), and The Darkest Pit (Prop Thtr). Harrison is a recent grad of the University of Chicago. He loves all things sonic and musical, DJ’s when he gets the chance as DJ aNooYoo, and also produces a recurring live sound and video installation, Passenger. Todd Clark (Co-Lighting Designer) is a freelance Production Stage Manager and Lighting Designer for the corporate and theatrical industries. Recent projects include Director of Production for the Chicago Dancing Festival; lighting design for Twyla Tharp’s Scarlatti; production design for a new PBS television special featuring Under the Streetlight; lighting design for the operas La Boheme, Dead Man Walking and Midsummer’s Night Dream directed by William Shomos; and Production Management for DanceWorks Chicago. He has won three “EMMY” Awards for Lighting the PBS dance documentaries River North Rising, Every Dancer Has a Story, and Getting There. He graduated from the North Carolina School of the Arts a long time ago. www.tlclight.com Matt Miller (Co-Lighting Designer) is a Chicago-based Lighting Designer who’s work has taken him to such organizations as the Chicago Dancing Festival, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Dance for Life, Chicago Takes Off, The Plagiarists Theatre Co., and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago where he currently serves as the Lighting Director and resident designer for Hubbard Street 2. Matt’s past design work includes: Untitled Landscape (HSDC) Thrice (HSDC) Recall (HSDC) Facets of the Same (HSDC) Harold and the Purple Crayon: A Dance Adventure (HS2) The Fantastic Escape of the Little Buffalo (HS2) Bonobo (HS2) and The Promiscuous Stories (Plagiarists.) Matt holds a BFA in Lighting Design from the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film in the Hixon-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts at the University of Nebraska Lincoln. The Jammer 7
B I O G R A P H I E S ( c o n t .) Matt Hawkins (Fight/Movement Choreographer) has been a director/ actor/fight choreographer in Chicago for the past ten years. Favorite directing credits include Cabaret (The Hypocrites); Red Noses (Strawdog); CYRANO, Hatfield and McCoy (The House). Other favorite projects include playing Stanley Kowalski in A Street Car Named Desire (Writers’ Theatre) and serving as the Movement Director for Peter Pan (Lookingglass). Matt is a founding member of The House, an Artistic Associate and Resident Director with Strawdog, an Artistic Associate with 500 Clown and the recipient of four NonEquity Jeff Awards. This upcoming year he will direct Sherlock’s Last Case for Iowa Summer Rep, Blood From A Stone for Profiles Theatre and Big Love at Strawdog. He is married to Stacy Stoltz.
Rebecca Levy (Assistant Stage Manager) is currently an undergraduate student studying Stage Management at Western Michigan University. This is her first professional show and she is very excited and thankful to be working on The Jammer with Pine Box Theater this summer. Her Western Michigan University Theatre credits include: Hairspray (Assistant Stage Manager), August: Osage County (Assistant Stage Manager), Blackbird (Rehearsal Stage Manager), and The Tender Land (Light Board Operator and Electrician). Becca would like to thank her friends and family, especially her Dad and Patrick, for all of the love and support throughout this show and every show as she continues learning and growing with each experience every day.
T H A N K YO U The Athenaeum Theatre. Jeff DeLong. Creative Studio Space. Crosstown Scenic. Martyrs’. Dana Black. Matt Miller. More Cupcakes. Piccolo Theatre Company of Evanston. Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. Teatro Vista. Eddie Torres. Mierka Gerten. Koval Whiskey. Brew Camp. The Douglas Dawson Gallery. Hearty Restaurant. Leonas. Andy and Eric. The Special 20s. Eva Brenamen. Lather Salon. Timeline Theatre Company. Christina Noel Photography. Chicago Outfit. The Goodman Theatre. Mary Hollis. Brian King. Edit Salon. Ian McLaren. Yusho. Chicago Athletic Club. Michelle Fire. Tweet Restaurant. The Dollop. Kick Stand Coffee. Karen Aldridge. Susan E. Bowen. Audrey Francis. Sasha Gioppo. Laura Hooper. Linsey Page Morton. Steve Pickering. Joshua Rollins. B E N E FAC TO R S Our deepest gratitude is owed to the following people for making Pine Box Theater Company possible. Without their generous donations, we would not be where we are today. The Rothman Foundation Michael and Linda Kreiger Carol Bartell Jordan and Rookie Shifrin
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