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Ar t ist i c D i re ct o r CHA R L E S N E W E L L
E xe cu t iv e D ir ec t or S T E PH EN J . A LB ER T
Dear Court Theatre family, Warmed by the success of Porgy and Bess, and with Porgy’s cry, “I’m on my way!” still ringing in our ears, we are delighted to welcome our audiences back to Court Theatre for our 57th season. It promises to be an equally ambitious collection of productions. Our new season boasts a major revival of Tony Kushner’s Angels in America, a oneman adaptation of Homer’s Iliad, and the world premiere of the first adaptation of Ralph Ellison’s novel Invisible Man, all led by the first show in our season, Spunk. In 1989, George C. Wolfe was enjoying the success of his play, The Colored Museum, in both New York and Los Angeles. As he considered his next project, he focused on three stories by Zora Neale Hurston, a gifted black writer who had fallen into obscurity following her death. Wolfe paired her stories with the spirit of blues music and introduced Hurston to a new generation of audience members. Spunk became an important bridge for Wolfe’s career; after its premiere, he went on to become artistic leader of The Public Theater and a successful Broadway director. For Court Theatre’s production of Spunk, we’re particularly honored to be hosting its talented director Seret Scott. Seret has directed at theatres from coast to coast including the Old Globe, Arena Stage, Long Wharf Theatre, Hartford Stage, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, McCarter Theatre Center, Alliance Theatre, and countless others. We’re pleased to now join that illustrious list of leading theatres by producing the Chicago premiere of Seret Scott’s directorial work. After Spunk, our stage will feature two more literary adaptations: Homer’s Iliad and then, for the first time ever, Ellison’s Invisible Man. It is a range of work that few other theatres would attempt. Even fewer would have an audience like Court’s that would allow them to take these chances. We thank you for your support and willingness to take these flights with us. Thank you for joining us. Sincerely,
Charles Newell, Artistic Director
Stephen J. Albert, Executive Director
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nal Professio
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Ar t is t i c D i re ct o r CHA R L E S N E WE L L
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Three Tales by Zora Neale Hurston Adapted by George C. Wolfe Music by Chic Street Man Directed by Seret Scott Sept 8 – Oct 9, 2011 Kelvyn Bell Tom Burch Janice Pytel Marc Stubblefield Joshua Horvath
Music Director Scenic Design Costume Design Lighting Design Sound Design
Chris Boykin Drew Dir Sara Gammage Amber Johnson
Fight Choreographer Resident Dramaturg Production Stage Manager Stage Manager
Originally Developed at the Mark Taper Forum, Los Angeles, California Orignially Produced at Crossroads Theatre Company, New Brunswick, New Jersey Original New York Production by New York Shakespeare Festival, Joseph Papp, Producer Spunk is presented by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc., New York. The Designers and Scenic Artists are members of United Scenic Artists, I.A.T.S.E. Local USA829, AFL-CIO, CLC. The Stage Managers are members of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.
Sponsored by
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Professional Theatre at
CAST Blues Speak Woman.............................................Alexis J. Rogers* Guitar Man..................................................................... Kelvyn Bell The Folk...................................................................... Chris Boykin+ Kenn E. Head*
Patrese D. McClain* Michael Pogue
Understudies: Whitney White, Nicholas Harper, Terry Francois *Denotes a member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States. + Fight Captain
SETTING Place: “O, way down nearby” Time: “Round about long ‘go” There will be one 15-minute intermission.
Cover art for Court Theatre’s production of Spunk by Lauren Nassef. Court Theatre performs in the intimate Abelson Auditorium, made possible through a gift from Hope and Lester Abelson. The use of cameras, videotape recorders, or audio recorders by the audience during this performance is strictly prohibited. Please turn off all phones, pagers, and chiming watches. Court Theatre operates under an agreement between the League of Resident Theatres and Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States. Productions are made possible, in part, by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency; a City Arts grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events; and the Cultural Outreach Program of the City of Chicago. Court Theatre is a constituent of Theatre Communications Group, the national organization for the American Theatre; the League of Resident Theatres; the Illinois Humanities Council; Arts Alliance Illinois; and the League of Chicago Theatres.
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PLAY NOTES
Zora Neale Hurston
by Evan Garrett and Drew Dir
George C. Wolfe’s Spunk is an adaptation of three short stories by Zora Neale Hurston: “Sweat,” “Story in Harlem Slang,” and “The Guilded Six-Bits.” All three were written around the time of the so-called Harlem Renaissance, an explosion of black art and culture during the 1920s and 1930s that saw Harlem take its place as the cultural capital of black America. While the Harlem Renaissance (sometimes known as the New Negro Movement) was largely an urban phenomenon, Hurston’s writing often focused on the lives of blacks in the rural South, especially in her bestknown novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God. The dialect of her characters was gleaned from her upbringing in Florida, an attribute of her fiction that sometimes put her at odds with the contemporary agenda to represent more sophisticated, urbane African Americans. Hurston died in relative obscurity, and for many years her books languished out of print; in the 1970s, Alice Walker (The Color Purple) helped bring Hurston’s writing back to popular attention. Today, she is regarded as one of the greatest writers of the twentieth-century, having inspired an entire generation of young writers, particularly women of color. Zora Neale Hurston was born in 1891 in Alabama. When she was three, her father moved the family to Eatonville, Florida, one of the first exclusively black neighborhoods run by black citizens in America. Eatonville had a profound influence on Hurston for the rest of her life. Not only did it shape her world view, it provided a wellspring of inspiration for her fiction. The first and third stories of Spunk are deeply rooted in the culture of Eatonville, including the old men who sit on Joe Clarke’s porch, to whom Hurston would return years later to collect folk stories. Hurston’s mother died when Zora was only thirteen, and she left home after relations with her father and new stepmother began to deteriorate. Little is known about the next ten years of Hurston’s life. She drifted through Dixieland, living intermittently with her siblings. Finally, at the close of this difficult ten-year stint, Hurston landed a job in a traveling Gilbert & Sullivan troupe as the lead singer’s assistant. This was her first experience in the theater, her first experience traveling North, and her first experience immersed in an all-white community—an experience which she claimed led to her “approach to racial understanding.” At the suggestion of the lead singer, Hurston started to attend night school in Baltimore. In order to be accepted into the high school program, Hurston claimed to be 16, instead of 26—a lie that would follow her through most of her life. After graduating in 1918, she moved to Washington D.C. where she attended Howard University. continued Court Theatre 5
PLAY NOTES Hurston’s first nationally published story, “Drenched in Light,” was published in 1924 in Opportunity: A Journal of Negro Life. Its publication inspired her to move to New York City, where she soon won two second-place awards for the same magazine’s literary contest: one for her play Color Struck, another for her short story “Spunk” (which is not one of the three stories adapted for this play, though Wolfe borrowed its title). At the same time, she enrolled in Barnard College where she was the only black student and where she worked with anthropologists Margaret Mead and Franz Boas. With Boas, Zora helped measure skull proportions to help disprove eugenic theories. Being in Harlem in the 1920s, Hurston found herself a key social and artistic player of the Harlem Renaissance. In New York, Hurston quickly made an impression with her larger than life personality, her wit, and her storytelling abilities. Within minutes of entering any party, the girl from Eatonville could captivate a small audience of artists, intellectuals, and trendsetters. She grew to be good friends with Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, and Carl Van Vechten of the Renaissance. With Hughes, she worked on a short-lived black artist magazine entitled Fire!! before receiving a large research grant from the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History to collect folklore in the South. After a few months, she returned to New York to meet Charlotte “Godmother” Mason, an elderly white woman who would fund Zora (and other Court Theatre 6
PLAY NOTES black writers) both formally and informally for many years. This funding allowed her to travel around Florida, Louisiana, and the Bahamas to collect stories for her manuscripts. In her forties, Zora wrote and produced many musical reviews and published many small essays in New York while working on larger novels. She collaborated with Eatonville natives on a musical show entitled From Sun to Sun. It was her hope for much of her adult life to create a black theater and a conservatory for “Negro expression” (she would later create this school at Bethune-Cookman College). In 1934, both Jonah’s Gourd Vine and Mules and Men were published. Two years later, Their Eyes Were Watching God was published. That same year she was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship, which allowed her to collect ethnographies on voodoo ritual in Jamaica and Haiti. In 1938 she published Moses, Man of the Mountain. While writing “Moses,” she also worked for the Federal Writer’s Project— an organization funded by The New Deal—to collect histories about Florida. In 1942, Hurston’s autobiography Dust Tracks on a Road was published. She spent much of the following years either on houseboats in Florida, an apartment in New York to aid political campaigns, or in Honduras to complete her book, Seraph on the Suwanee. In 1948, two New York boys falsely accused Hurston of sexually abusing them, though these accusations were eventually dropped. Two years after the scandal, multiple funding opportunities fell through or were cut back, and in order to sustain herself, Hurston briefly accepted a job as a maid in a rich Miami neighborhood. Around this time she published some of her more political (and controversial) essays, including “I Saw Negro Votes Peddled” and her condemnation of 1954’s Brown v. Board of Education. After moving to Eau Gallie, Florida, she continued to write (mostly stories that would never be formally published) and work in her garden. Her health declined steadily while she worked as both a library technician and a substitute teacher. On January 28th, 1960, Hurston died from “hypertensive heart disease” in a welfare home after months of living off of food vouchers, welfare stipends, and unemployment checks. She was buried in an unmarked grave in Fort Pierce, Florida. Thirteen years later, Alice Walker arranged for a more fitting granite marker to be placed near her grave. It reads: ZORA NEALE HURSTON “A GENIUS OF THE SOUTH” NOVELIST, FOLKLORIST, ANTHROPOLOGIST
Left: African Americans (including Zora Neale Hurston) in Belle Glade, Fla., 1935 (Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Lomax Collection, LC-DIG-ppmsc- 00622) Court Theatre 7
PLAY NOTES In Conversation with
director
Seret Scott
Seret Scott is one of the most prolific and accomplished directors working in American theatre today. A much sought-after artist who works on the East Coast, the West Coast, and everywhere in between, Seret took a break from rehearsing Spunk to chat about her life, her career, and staging the stories of Zora Neale Hurston. Seret, you’ve had a robust career as an award-winning actress—in fact, you originated one of the roles in For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf. How did the transition to directing happen? Directing came out of the blue, frankly, and I wasn’t quite sure why it happened that way. A couple people I met on the street in New York said, “Oh, you’re Seret Scott,” and “do you want to direct a showcase?” I said—“wha—?” and they said, “yeah, well, the play’s about incest of a young black girl and we would really like a black woman to direct it, we just don’t know any black women directors.” At that time there were black women directing, but I understand how it would have been difficult to find them. I said, “You call the playwright and tell him I’ve never directed before. If he wants me to direct his show, I’ll do it.” In any case, I did. I sent a flyer to one of my playwright friends about the show, and she happened to have a play under consideration at a major regional theater, the Long Wharf Theatre. So she took the flyer into the theater and said, “I’d like you to consider Seret as the director of my play.” It was a huge step. I did a couple of showcases and before I knew it I was at one of the major theaters on the East Coast. Although I was grateful, it took me a few years to recognize that I was going to be directing primarily. I’d always been an actor. How do you begin rehearsing with a cast of actors you’re working with for the first time? I work in various parts of the country at regional theaters, so I often work with actors I’ve never worked with before. It’s always a feelingout process. I love theater because there is so much interaction— personal communication among actors; you talk to each other and bring up honest emotions every day. It gives everybody in the room permission to feel, and when you get on stage it gives the audience permission to feel, too. Court Theatre 8
PLAY NOTES
Describe the arc of Zora Neale Hurston’s career. Zora Neale Hurston was born in 1891 in Eatonville, Florida, one of the first all-black communities in America. She started writing short stories based on folktales and stories she collected from people in rural areas. She wrote mostly in dialect, something African Americans at the time would have been trying to get away from. Later she came to New York and was a part of the Harlem Renaissance, although she was never fully accepted because her characters were too rural and uneducated. Langston Hughes and Zora both had a white woman—Charlotte Mason— who was their patron. At that time black artists often had a wealthy white person who would say, “I’ll pay your rent, I’ll pay living expenses, and all you have to do is write, but what you write belongs to me.” Zora fell into obscurity kind of early considering how much work she had. In later years she worked as a maid, and died without anyone knowing who she was. She was rediscovered by Alice Walker. You can see in Alice’s work how much she pays tribute to Zora Neale’s work. How did George C. Wolfe adapt Hurston’s stories for Spunk? George C. Wolfe took three of Hurston’s short stories (she has many) and edited a bit of the narration, then he used her characters as the narrators within the story. With that he added the blues, and with the blues you have a story—with the blues it just works. What is it about Zora Neale Hurston that you think still connects with readers and audiences? Audiences connect with the raw emotional content of Zora’s work that is not sugar-coated, not pretty, not something that allows you to sit back. Her stories are painful, but the pain is because the spirit is open to what’s being expressed. The 20/20 vision in her stories makes you want to look away it’s so painful, but the spirit is so uplifting that you laugh, you cry, you sing. Zora’s people, stories, and ideas haven’t been whitewashed. They are black in their fullness, in their pain, and in their joy. For the extended interview, purchase a copy of Court’s Season Preview Magazine, The Center for Classic Theatre Review, in the lobby, or visit our website at www.CourtTheatre.org. Court Theatre 9
PLAY NOTES
Zora the Anthropologist
An Interview with D. Soyini Madison by Drew Dir
D. Soyini Madison is professor of Performance Studies at Northwestern University. During the first week of rehearsal for Spunk, Resident Dramaturg Drew Dir sat down with Professor Madison at her Hyde Park home to discuss the anthropological work Zora Neale Hurston performed in her hometown of Eatonville, Florida and other black Southern communities, and how it influenced her writing. Few people seem to know about Zora Neale Hurston’s side career as an anthropologist under Franz Boas. What exactly was the nature of the work she was doing? D. Soyini Madison: She came to know Franz Boas at Barnard College, which was an affiliate of Columbia University. She had already written “Spunk” and several other short stories and fiction that were inspired by the folk culture of Eatonville and the oral traditions of the American South. This is important to understand before we step into Boas; Hurston had already written a great deal about southern folk culture and tradition and had received awards for her work honoring the uniqueness of black dialect—its rhythmic patterns, songs, gestures, and movements—in short, all of the embodied, enlivening performatives of communication that these stories constituted. [Under Boas,] her first assignment was to go into Harlem and measure the heads of Harlemites to prove that black people were not inferior to whites. Hurston was able to do such an assignment with a level of social finesse and convivial rapport that people would otherwise think insulting and taboo. But with her gregarious personality and being a gifted raconteur, she was able to reach out and engage strangers with extraordinary skill. Boas was very impressed with that, as well as Hurston’s intellect, so they began to build this relationship. Early on, Boas recognized her brilliance—because of her intellectual abilities and because she was already very involved in folk culture, this was the perfect blend for she and Boas. So when Zora Neale Hurston went down to Eatonville and other parts of the South to do field work, what was her approach to meeting these people and collecting their stories? How was it different from how other ethnographers were working the field—even, perhaps, Boas himself? Madison: On Hurston’s first trip, Boas was not very happy with her work. Critics have stated that Hurston was more post-modern and avant-garde than the time and space of her life. This is true, but Boas was also concerned because he wanted her work to be based more on facts, details, and in-depth evidence. On her first trip, she found herself distanced from her interlocutors. She wasn’t the engaged and enlivened participant. She was more the distanced recorder. On her second trip she was determined to embrace the subjectivities of black southern speech, gesture, and culture,
continued Court Theatre 10
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PLAY NOTES as well as her own literary imagination. She became what Dwight Conquergood called a “performative witness.” The performative part of this is that in her work in New Orleans, in Florida, and later in Haiti and Jamaica, she performed the performances of her interlocutors up close and with profound trust. She lived with them. She did the things they did. They told stories, she told stories. She went to the parties, they went to the parties. She became involved with voudon (voodoo) and took part in those rituals, went through trance, and danced the dances. So she was performatively engaged not only in documenting the rituals, but in putting her body on the line by performing rituals, being a student of her subjects, not only to observe them and write about what they did, but to learn from them and to do what they did. When we talk about this notion of “performative witnessing,” there is a level at which you embody the very thing you are there to witness, study, interpret, and report. Where do we draw the line between Zora the anthropologist and Zora the fiction writer? Madison: We talk about Zora the field worker, the anthropologist, and we talk about Zora the fiction writer. What’s really important is that Zora Neale Hurston was a theater artist. That’s what’s been missing in the Zora Neale Hurston legacy. Zora Neale Hurston said herself that in order for folks to understand what she was documenting and experiencing in the field, it had to be performed on stage. It was at the point at which she staged her performances, I think, that we could see how she was actually understanding what she accomplished even more in her fiction. She was one of the first to conduct field work looking at indigenous performance as a means of understanding what constitutes that culture—how we locate and identify the values, politics, and social arrangements of a people by the way they tell stories, remember and desire, create and use objects, adorn and move their bodies. The sociology and politics of a people are manifested through their folkways. So she witnessed and embodied these performatives in the field and then staged them. Hurston even said that she wasn’t so interested in conventional drama—that is, the realistic narrative play—as much as she was in dramatizing her field data, adapting black culture to the stage. She was a self-proclaimed dramatist; words on a page, as enthralled as she was with writing, were not enough when it came to illuminating her fieldwork on the stage before an audience. So she continually, up until the end, was adapting her fieldwork to the stage. I think had there been an academic home for her, like the field of Performance Studies—where she could be the anthropologist and the creative writer, where she was free to combine the social scientist and the literary artist on stage, before a public audience—it would have been a beautiful thing. Read our extended interview with D. Soyini Madison in The Center for Classic Theatre Review, on sale now in the lobby, or visit centerforclassictheatre.org. Court Theatre 12
Portrait of Zora Neale Hurston by Carl Van Vechten (Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Carl Van Vechten Collection, LC-DIG-van-5a52142) Court Theatre 13
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UP NEXT Actor Timothy Edward Kane and Director Charles Newell take on
AN ILIAD
The quiet charm of a sleepy Evanston office building is interrupted by a series of ferocious, punctuated cries. “IMPALED! WHIPPED! STABBED! CHOPPED! SNAPPED! HEWED! SMASHED! HACKED!” The man in the third floor window screaming bloody murder is actor Timothy Edward Kane, reading out loud from the script for An Iliad, an adaptation of Homer’s ancient war poem written for one actor. Kane is surrounded by director Charlie Newell and his production team: Todd Rosenthal (scenic designer), Rachel Healy (costumes), and Keith Parham (lights). They’ve convened at Rosenthal’s Evanston studio months before the official start of rehearsal to hear Kane read. It’s extremely rare for an actor to be involved this early in a production process, but An Iliad is a special case. Since there’s only one actor, Newell has stressed to his designers that every technical element of the production—set, lights, costume, sound—must emerge organically from his performance. In order to facilitate this, Newell has brought the designers together to hear Tim read aloud before a single drawing has been sketched out. “THE WHOLE EARTH RAN HOT WITH BLOOD, BLOOD, BLOOD!” Kane cries, sitting in street clothes with a water bottle nearby. He’s reached the violent apex of the play, and he’s growling at the top of his lungs, really digging his heels into it. “AND RED DEATH! AND IT FEELS GOOD!!!!!” Suddenly, someone pounds on the wall next door, apparently fed up with Kane’s yelling. (Rosenthal’s studio sits right next to a therapist’s office.) “Oh god. I’m sorry,” says Kane, which happens to be the next line in the script. “This is why I don’t do this.” The play refers to Kane’s character as “The Poet.” The Poet occasionally acts out the parts of other characters—Achilles, Hector, Agamemnon—but mostly he narrates in modern colloquial speech, peppered here and there with some of Homer’s original ancient Greek. “It’s as much the story of the Trojan War as it is the story of this poet,” says director Newell. “He’s told this story so many times that he brings a lot of baggage with him; certain parts of the story don’t interest him anymore, while others keep yielding new conclusions, new discoveries.” The adaptors—director Lisa Peterson and actor Denis O’Hare—named the play “an” Iliad because they view it as only one version of Homer’s ancient story. After Kane finishes, the designers reflect on the play. Everyone acknowledges that An Iliad could be performed anywhere—even an office building in Evanston—and still produce a powerful effect. But what will the set look like? What does Kane’s poet even wear? “Not a toga,” so far, is the prevailing consensus. —Drew Dir Court Theatre 15
PROFILES KELVYN BELL (Music Director, Guitar Man) is a guitarist/composer, the creator of the avant-funk band Kelvynator, and a contributing innovator to The Association for the Advancement of Creative Music, Black Artist Group, m-Base, The Harlem School of the Arts, The St. Louis Jazz Hall of Fame, and The Black Rock Coalition, of which he is a founding member. Kelvyn has toured internationally and recorded with Arthur Blythe, Lester Bowie, Steve Coleman, James Carter, Maceo Parker, Living Colour, and Joseph Bowie & Defunkt, of which he is a founding member. He has been the Resident Composer for The Classical Theatre of Harlem since 2002. His theater credits include Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Black Nativity, Trojan Women, Macbeth, King Lear, Hamlet, Ruined, and Archbishop Supreme Tartuffe, for which he won the 2009 Audelco Award for Best Musical Direction. Please visit www.kelvynator.com. CHRIS BOYKIN (Slang Talk Man, Joe, Ensemble), born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, has been working on camera and on stage for over seven years and is happy to be making his professional Chicago theater debut at Court! He recently graduated from The Theatre School at DePaul University with an Master of Fine Arts in Acting and is currently represented by Paonessa Talent Agency. KENN E. HEAD (Sykes, Sweet Back, Ensemble) is proud to be making his Court Theatre debut. A veteran actor, he is a familiar face on many Chicago stages, having appeared in Romeo and Juliet (Chicago Shakespeare), The Lost Boys of Sudan (Victory Gardens), The Overwhelming (Next Theatre), Seven Guitars (Congo Square – Jeff Awards for Best Ensemble and Best Play), as well as productions at Steppenwolf, Goodman Theatre, American Theater Company, and Yale Repertory Theatre. His television credits include ER, Early Edition, and various commercials. PATRESE D. MCCLAIN (Delia, Girl, Missie May, Ensemble) is honored to be making her Court Theatre debut. She was last seen in Ruined (St. Louis Black Repertory Company) and ABC’s Detroit 1-8-7. Chicago credits include Goodman Theatre, Lookingglass Theatre Company, and CollaborAction Theatre, where she is a proud member. Regional credits include Two Trains Running (Geva Theatre Center, Rochester, NY) and a Kevin Kline-nominated performance in Crumbs from the Table of Joy (Mustard Seed Theatre, St. Louis). She received her B.F.A. from Howard University and her M.F.A. from Pennsylvania State University. Patrese is also the Executive Director of Pure ART, a non-profit organization that offers arts education outreach to inner city youth and produces events to showcase local artists. She would like to thank Seret Scott, Charles Newell, and the Court Theatre family for this wonderful opportunity. She thanks the Creator—He who gives the creativity—along with her mother, family, and friends for their continued support! MICHAEL POGUE (Jelly, Boy, Ensemble) is elated to make his Court Theatre debut. His credits include Venus and Carter’s Way (Steppenwolf Theatre), Radio Golf (Raven Theatre), Lobby Hero (Redtwist Theatre), Night and Day (Remy Bumppo Theatre), and Six Degrees of Separation (Eclipse Theatre). He deeply thanks his family, dear friends, colleagues, and Chicago Blues folks for their support. Later this season, he will return to Court and appear in Angels in America.
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PROFILES ALEXIS J. ROGERS (Blues Speak Woman) returns to Court Theatre after just closing a nationally acclaimed Porgy and Bess as ‘Bess.’ Other Chicago credits include The Wiz (Theatre at the Center), The Old Settler (Writers’ Theatre), The Piano Lesson (Court Theatre), Seven Guitars and Black Nativity (Congo Square Theatre Company), If All the World Were Paper (Chicago Children’s Theatre), Ain’t Misbehavin’ (Goodman Theatre), and Ragtime (Porchlight Theatre Company). Regional credits include Black Nativity (Kennedy Center, DC), Merchant of Venice (The Shakespeare Theatre Company, DC), and Civil War and Big River (Barn Theatre, MI). Alexis is a proud member of Congo Square Theatre Company, AEA, and AFTRA. SERET SCOTT (Director) is making her Court Theatre debut. Directing credits: Denver Center Theatre Company, Old Globe Theatre (San Diego–Associate Artist), New Victory Theatre and Second Stage Theatre (Off-Broadway), Philadelphia Theatre Company, Arena Stage, Ford’s Theatre, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, and Studio Theatre (DC), American Conservatory Theatre (San Francisco), South Coast Repertory and L.A. Theatreworks (CA), Long Wharf Theatre and Yale Repertory Theatre (New Haven), Two River Theatre Company (NJ), Geva Theatre Center (Rochester, NY), Indiana Repertory Theatre, Pan Asian Repertory Theatre and National Black Theatre (NYC), Alliance Theatre (Atlanta), Alley Theatre (Houston), Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Virginia Stage Company, New Mexico Repertory, and Playmakers Repertory Company (NC). Member of the executive board of Stage Directors and Choreographer’s Society. Recipient of a TCG/PEW Residency Grant (Long Wharf Theatre) and Drama Desk Award in acting (My Sister, My Sister). Ms. Scott’s play Second Line was produced by Passage Theatre (NJ) and Tribute Productions (DC). TOM BURCH (Scenic Design) is thrilled to return to Court following last year’s The Comedy of Errors. Other Chicago credits include Talking Pictures and Gas for Less (Goodman Theatre); Souvenir and Civil War Christmas (Northlight Theatre); No Exit, Frankenstein, and Hairy Ape (The Hypocrites); as well as shows for Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Next Theatre, Lifeline Theatre, and many others. Regional credits include Mistakes Were Made (off-Broadway, Barrow St. Theatre), Sense and Sensibility (Actors Theatre Louisville), and shows at Cleveland Play House, Arizona Theatre Company, Peninsula Players, and others. He’s the recipient of four Jeff nominations (one win), and three After Dark Awards. Upcoming projects include shows for Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Hypocrites, and Northlight. His work can be seen online at www. tomburch.com. JOSHUA HORVATH (Sound Design) Court: Porgy and Bess, The Illusion, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Wait Until Dark, Caroline, or Change, First Breeze of Summer, Carousel, Titus Andronicus, Arcadia, Flyin’ West, Raisin, Lettice and Lovage, Fences, Man of La Mancha, and Endgame. Chicago credits: Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Northlight Theatre, Next Theater, TimeLine Theatre Company, The House Theatre of Chicago, Eclipse Theatre Company Chicago, Lifeline Theatre, and Shattered Globe Theatre. Regional: Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, Hartford Stage, Long Wharf Theatre (New Haven), Baltimore Center Stage, Kansas City Repertory Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, First Stage Children’s Theater (Milwaukee), Milwaukee Shakespeare, Madison Repertory Theatre (WI), Illinois Shakespeare Festival, Great River Shakespeare Festival (MN), California Shakespeare Theater (Berkeley), and Center Theatre Group (LA). Mr. Horvath is a four-time Jeff award-winner and eleven-time nominee. He teaches sound design for theatre and film at Northwestern University, and is an artistic associate at Lookingglass Theatre Company. Current and upcoming shows: The Pitmen Players (TimeLine), The Great Fire, Mr. Ricky Calls a Meeting, and Eastland (Lookingglass), Follies (Chicago Shakespeare), The Invisible Man and Angels in America (Court Theatre). Court Theatre 18
PROFILES JANICE PYTEL (Costume Design) returns to Court Theatre where she designed costumes for Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Recent design credits include The Detective’s Wife (Writers’ Theatre); Middletown, Last of the Boys, The Pain and the Itch, Tennessee Williams’ One Arm (a co-production with About Face Theatre and Tectonic Theater Project), Our Lady of 121st Street, The Drawer Boy, The Ordinary Yearning of Miriam Buddwing, The Infidel, Goodbye, Stranger, and The Designated Mourner (Steppenwolf Theatre Company); Rembrandt’s Gift and Topdog/ Underdog (Madison Repertory Theatre); Take Me Out, Winesburg Ohio, and Pulp (About Face Theatre); Suburban Motel, Speaking in Tongues, Great Society, and The Ciderhouse Rules Parts 1 and 2 (Famous Door Theatre); as well as Northlight Theatre, Next Theatre, Piven Theatre Workshop, L’Opera Piccola, Apple Tree Theatre, and Indiana Repertory Theatre, among others. Janice also designed costumes for the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning I Am My Own Wife. For more information, please visit her website, www.janicepytel.com. MARC STUBBLEFIELD (Lighting Design) is currently in his 11th year as Court’s Director of Production. Spunk is his seventh design for Court, having previously worked with Artistic Director Charlie Newell on Glass Menagerie, Arcadia, and Three Tall Women, and Ron OJ Parson on Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, The Piano Lesson, and The First Breeze of Summer. He also teaches Lighting Design at the University of Chicago. He has worked at the Geffen Playhouse, the Berkshire Theatre Festival, and the Alley Theatre among others. He received a dual MFA in Production Management and Scenic Design from UCLA’s school of Theatre, Film and Television, and his BA in Technical Theatre from Rice University. DREW DIR (Residnet Dramaturg) is in his third season as the resident dramaturg of Court Theatre and a lecturer of Theater and Performance Studies at the University of Chicago. In the past, Drew has worked as a playwright, dramaturg, director, and puppeteer in Chicago and London. His writing has been called “daring” by the Chicago Tribune and “ballsy” by Time Out Chicago. His short play The Lurker Radio Hour was recently remounted at Chicago’s Sketchbook Reverb. He also creates and performs shadow puppetry for his company, Manual Cinema. Drew holds a master’s degree in Text and Performance Studies from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. SARA GAMMAGE (Production Stage Manager) is delighted to return to Court Theatre. Previous Court Theatre credits include Flyin’ West, What the Butler Saw, The First Breeze of Summer, Wait Until Dark, The Mystery of Irma Vep, The Illusion, Sizwe Banzi is Dead, Home, Orlando, and Porgy and Bess. Other Chicago credits include productions with Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Greenhouse Theater, Theatre at the Center, Marriot Theatre, Apple Tree Theatre, and Redmoon Theater. She spent several seasons at Peninsula Players Theatre in Door Country, WI; credits there include A Little Night Music, Comic Potential, Wait Until Dark, Is He Dead?, Rumors, and The Lady’s Not for Burning. Sara is a proud graduate of Northwestern University. AMBER JOHNSON (Stage Manager) is very excited to be back at Court after working on The Comedy of Errors and Three Tall Women last season. Other Chicago stage management credits include: A Girl with Sun in Her Eyes (Pine Box Theatre), The Colored Museum (Congo Square Theatre Company), The MLK Project (Writers’ Theatre), It’s a Wonderful Life: Live at the Biograph! (American Blues Theatre), Jersey Boys (SM Sub, Broadway in Chicago), Dreamlandia and La Posada Magica (Teatro Vista), I Do! I Do! and A View from the Bridge (American Theatre Company), Three Sisters (Strawdog Theatre Company), As Much As You Can and Clouds (Dog & Pony Theatre Company), and Orange Flower Water (Steppenwolf Theatre Company). Regional credits include: Williamstown Theatre Festival, Michigan Shakespeare Festival, and Antelope Valley Ballet. Amber graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a BFA in Theatre with Stage Management emphasis. As always, Boomer Sooner! Zora Neale Hurston Court Theatre 19
PROFILES ZORA NEALE HURSTON (Author) was born on January 7, 1891, in Eatonville, Florida. Her hometown and her experiences there provided inspiration for several of her novels, including the autobiographical “Dust Tracks on the Road.” Hurston attended Morgan Academy (now Morgan State University) in Baltimore. After completing the high school requirements there, she studied at Howard University in Washington, DC. In 1925, she submitted a story, “Spunk,” and a play, Color Struck, to Opportunity Magazine’s literary contest, and won second-place awards. From 1925 through 1927 she attended Barnard College, studying anthropology with Dr. Franz Boas. She subsequently did field research recording the folklore and ways of African Americans, first in Harlem, then throughout the rural South. Her work played a large role in preserving the folk traditions and cultural heritage of African Americans. She expressed her genius by combining her field notes with some autobiography and a vivid imagination to create some of the most exciting, authentic literature of the twentieth century. Hurston was ahead of her time. Her literary activities were influential in bridging the gap between what came to be known as the first and second phases of the Harlem Renaissance. She began writing short stories in the 1920s, but her major achievements were generally between 1931 and 1943, when she wrote scholarly works on folklore and published six major novels. She was on the vanguard of the modern literary movement. Several of her books won recognition and her stories were published in the leading literary magazines of the times. Her most notable novel was Their Eyes Were Watching God, a classic in American literature. Tragically, Hurston’s life ended in relative obscurity. She worked as a maid but was still writing. Her short story “Conscious of the Court” was published in the Saturday Evening Post during that time. She died alone, in a nursing home in Florida in 1960. GEORGE C. WOLFE (Adaptor) is the author of The Colored Museum (Crossroads Theatre, NYSF, Royal Court Theatre, Mark Taper Forum, Center Stage, etc.), for which he received the Foundation of the Dramatists Guild/CBS New Play Award, the Hull-Warriner Award, the Oppenheimer/Newsday Playwriting Award, the Audelco Theatre Award, and the HBO/Theatre Communications Group Award. He is also the recipient of seven Los Angeles-area theatre awards for writing and directing. He has written the libretto for Mr. Jelly Lord and Hunger Chic, a teleplay for the PBS comedy anthology “Trying Times.” He has received grants from the Rockefeller Foundation, American Institute of Music Theatre, and the National Endowment of the Arts and is on the Executive Council of the Dramatists Guild. CHARLES “CHIC” STREET MAN (Composer) was born in Augusta, Georgia, but moved to Boston at a young age. Chic is a graduate of UC Santa Cruz with a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology. He recorded his first album as a singer and songwriter, “Growing Up,” in Paris, France, in 1975. He toured throughout France and later landed in Santa Barbara, where he founded Chic Street Man’s School of Performing Arts. In 1987 he released his second album, “Make It Thru the Night.” Chic has an extensive history in theatre, ranging from the Zora Neale Hurston-inspired Broadway hit Spunk to the Hank Williams story Lost Highway. He continues to make music and facilitate his youth center. CHARLES NEWELL (Artistic Director) has been Artistic Director of Court Theatre since 1994, where he has directed over 40 productions. He made his Chicago directorial debut in 1993 with The Triumph of Love, which won the Joseph Jefferson Award for Best Production. Directorial highlights at Court include Porgy & Bess, Three Tall Women, The Year of Magical Thinking, The Wild Duck, Caroline, Or Change, Titus Andronicus, Arcadia, Man of La Mancha, Uncle Vanya, Raisin, The Glass Menagerie, Travesties, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Hamlet, The Invention of Love, The Little Foxes, Nora, and The Misanthrope. Charlie has also directed at the Goodman Theatre (Rock ‘n’ Roll), the Guthrie Theater (Resident Director: The History Cycle, Cymbeline), Arena Stage, John Houseman’s The Acting Company (Staff Repertory Director), the California and Alabama Shakespeare Festivals, Juilliard, and New York University. He is the recipient of the 1992 TCG Alan Court Theatre 20
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PROFILES Schneider Director Award and has served on the Board of Theatre Communications Group, as well as on several panels for the National Endowment for the Arts. Opera directing credits include Marc Blitzstein’s Regina at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, and Rigoletto at Opera Theatre of St. Louis. Charlie is a multiple Joseph Jefferson Award (Chicago’s highest theatrical honor) nominee and recipient. His production of Caroline, or Change at Court was the recipient of 4 Joseph Jefferson Awards, including Best Production and Best Director. This October, he directs a one-man stage adaptation of Homer’s Iliad followed by both parts of Tony Kushner’s Angels in America this spring. STEPHEN J. ALBERT (Executive Director) is a founding Partner in Albert Hall & Associates, LLC, a leading arts consulting firm. Prior to forming the consulting practice, Albert was recognized as a leading arts manager. He has led some of America’s most prestigious theatres, including the Mark Taper Forum/Center Theatre Group, Alley Theatre, and Hartford Stage Company. Albert began his career with the Mark Taper Forum/Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles where he worked in senior management positions for over a decade, rising to Managing Director. He went on to become Executive Director of Houston’s Alley Theatre where he led a turnaround that stabilized the organization, enabling the Alley to return to national standing and drove a capital campaign that secured the organization’s future. At Hartford Stage, his partnership with Mark Lamos resulted in some of the theatre’s most successful seasons and reinforced Hartford Stage’s position at the forefront of the regional theatre movement. During his tenure in Hartford, Mr. Albert led the initiative to create a 25,000 square foot, state-of-the-art production center, securing the donation of the facility and the funding for its renovation. Albert has served as both President and Vice President of the League of Resident Theatres (LORT) and as a board member of Theatre Communications Group (TCG). He has also written and produced a variety of productions for television, is an ACE award nominee, and has been an associate producer of numerous acclaimed Broadway productions. He is a Senior Fellow with the American Leadership Forum, a graduate of the University of Southern California, and holds an MBA from the UCLA Graduate School of Management.
MISSION & VISION Mission: The mission of Court Theatre is to create innovative eatre at ional Th s s fe o r P productions of classic plays that are thought provoking, characterdriven, and thematically enduring. Through main stage productions, audience enrichment programs, and collaborations with the University of Chicago, we re-examine, re-envision, and renew classic texts that pose enduring and provocative questions that define the human experience. go of Chica niversity U e th Vision: Court Theatre’s vision, embraced by its Board of Trustees, is to expand the scope and range of its programming in order to establish a Center for Classic Theatre at the University of Chicago. To achieve our vision will require Court to substantially increase the size of its endowment and expand its annual budget while focusing its artistic efforts on creating and producing large-scale cross-discipline theatrical experiences. By establishing a Center for Classic Theatre, Court will be able fully access the resources of the University of Chicago in order to educate and entertain patrons both on and off the stage; attract and feature artists of extraordinary talent; add to the theatrical canon new adaptations and translations of classic works; interface directly with students and scholars in order to stimulate scholarship and pedagogy; and connect Court Theatre fully to audiences throughout the Chicagoland area, especially on Chicago’s diverse South Side. Court Theatre 22
BOARD OF TRUSTEES Chair Vice Chairs Secretary Treasurer Trustees Honorary Trustee Ex-Officio
Virginia Gerst Barbara E. Franke Margaret Maxwell Zagel Mary Anton Roland Baker David Bevington Leigh Breslau Jonathan Bunge James Chandler James E. Clark Martha Clinton Joan Coppleson Joan Feitler Lorna C. Ferguson Karen Frank Mary Louise Gorno Philip Gossett Jack Halpern Kevin Hochberg Thomas Kallen Dana Levinson Michael Lowenthal Linda Patton Jerrold Ruskin Karla Scherer Marilyn Fatt Vitale Leon I. Walker Stanley Freehling Stephen J. Albert Charles Newell Larry Norman Nicholas Rudall
PRODUCTION STAFF Assistant Director Associate Sound Designer Floor Manager Production Intern Movement Scenic Artists Carpenters Asst. to the Costume Designer Stitchers Wardrobe Supervisor Sound Engineer Master Electrician/Light Board Op Assistant Lighting Designer Assistant Master Electrician
Jesse Roth Christian Gero Joshua Kaiser Izzy Olive Michael Pogue Scott Gerwitz*, Julie Ruscitti* Kevin Decker, Jack Birdwell, Erik Tylkowski, Skylar Moran Ricky Lurie, Bridget Gavlin Alexia Rutherford, Emily Waecker, Erin Gallagher Samantha Holmes Sarah Ramos Marc Chevalier Claire Chrzan Brenton Wright *Denotes a member of the United Scenic Artists union (USA).
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STAFF
Artistic Director Charles Newell Executive Director Stephen J. Albert
Resident Artist Resident Dramaturg Dramaturgy Interns Casting Director and Artists-in-the-Schools Director Teaching Artists Casting/Education Assistants
Director of Production Assistant Production Manager and Company Manager Technical Director Properties Manager Costume Shop Manager Master Electrician Sound Engineer
Director of Advancement Advancement Consultant Assistant Director of Development for Institutional Relations Assistant Director of Development for Individual Giving Assistant Director of Development for Special Events Kemper Grant Writing Fellow Kemper Development Fellow
Ron OJ Parson Drew Dir Izzy Olive, Evan Garrett Cree Rankin Tracey N. Bonner, Melanie Brezill, John Byrnes, Kevin Douglas, Kam Hobbs, Tony Lawry, Patrese McClain, Mechelle Moe Izzy Olive, Richard Zaleski Marc Stubblefield Laura Dieli Ray Vlcek Lara Musard Erica Friesen Marc Chevalier Sarah Ramos Christopher Schram Elaine Wackerly Jennifer Foughner Melissa Aburano-Meister Rebecca Silverman Claire Wilson Alexis Chaney
General Manager Heidi Thompson Saunders Business Manager Zachary Davis Management Assistant Brea Hayes
Director of Marketing and Communications Associate Director of Marketing and Communications Assistant Director of Marketing for Group Sales and Community Relations Kemper Marketing Fellow Public Relations
Adam Thurman
Diane Osolin
Box Office Manager Associate Box Office Manager and Database Admininstrator Customer Relations Manager Box Office Assistants House Manager Concessionaires Volunteer Ushers
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Traci Brant Kate Vangeloff Michelle Lee Cathy Taylor Public Relations, Inc.
Heather Dumdei Milan Pejnovich Jenna Blackburn, Kareem Mohammad Matthew Sitz Alex Colborn, Calen Cole, Bobby Morales Courtesy of The Saints
PRODUCERS CIRCLE The following individuals and institutions have made major gifts to the Producers Circle, Court’s premier giving society, and we are deeply grateful for the generosity of these donors. The list reflects gifts received through August 16, 2011. If you have a correction or would prefer to remain anonymous, please call (773) 834-5293.
Crown Society ($100,000 and above) Virginia and Gary Gerst University of Chicago
Royal Court ($50,000-$99,999) Barbara and Richard Franke Hyde Park Bank+ Joyce Foundation The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Polk Bros. Foundation+ Shubert Foundation
Distinguished Patrons ($25,000-$49,999) Allstate Insurance Company Alphawood Foundation+ Mr. and Mrs. Robert Feitler Mr. and Mrs. James S. Frank The Julius Frankel Foundation Mr. Robert Rechnitz Karla Scherer Mr. and Mrs. David J. Vitale+
Grand Patrons ($15,000-$24,999) Helen N. and Roland C. Baker The Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation The Chicago Community Trust Cultural Outreach Program, City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs Martha and Bruce Clinton Lorna Ferguson and Terry Clark Grant Thornton LLP Kevin Hochberg and James McDaniel Illinois Arts Council The James S. Kemper Foundation+ Prince Charitable Trusts Lawrence E. Strickling and Sydney L. Hans Margaret Maxwell Zagel
Directors ($10,000-$14,999) Joyce Chelberg James E. Clark and Christina Labate Harper Court Arts Council Tom and Esta Kallen Kirkland & Ellis LLP Nuveen Investments Stephen and Linda Patton
Mr. and Mrs. James Reynolds Sidley Austin LLP Mr. and Mrs. Stuart Townsend Sarita I. Warshawsky+ Winston & Strawn LLP
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PRODUCERS CIRCLE Benefactors ($5,000-$9,999)
Stephen and Terri Albert Mary Anton and Paul Barron Michael D. and Jolynn Blair Family Foundation+ Richard and Ann Carr Martha and Bruce Clinton, in memory of Zylpha Kilbride Clinton Joan and Warwick Coppleson Paula and Oscar D’Angelo Shawn Donnelley Mr. and Mrs. Paul Finnegan Ms. Mary Louise Gorno
Patrons ($2,500-$4,999)
Judith Barnard and Michael Fain Jonathan and Jennifer Bunge Stan and Elin Christianson CityArts IV, City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Cruise Sylvia Fergus and David Cooper Dr. and Mrs. Willard A. Fry Mr. and Mrs. Richard Gray Jack and Helen Halpern Dr. and Mrs. Peter T. Heydemann Mrs. Leonard J. Horwich Illinois Humanities Council
The Irving Harris Foundation Mr. and Mrs. Robert Helman Gayle H. Jensen Mr. and Mrs. Jack Karp, in honor of Karen Frank Mr. and Mrs. Robert Kopecky Anne Kutak Ms. Ann Marie Lipinski Earl and Brenda Shapiro Foundation Al Stonitsch and Helen Witt
Bill and Jan Jentes Michael Lowenthal and Amy Osler William and Kate Morrison James Noonan and Dana Levinson Irma Parker The Rhoades Foundation Joan and James Shapiro Elaine and Richard Tinberg Anne and William Tobey Mr. and Mrs. James Tonsgard Fidelis and Bonnie Umeh Leon and Rian Walker Thomas and Barbara Weil
*Special gifts made to support the Barbara E. Franke Commissioning Program for New Classics. + Includes gifts designated for Court’s Student Education Program.
The Producers Circle, Court Theatre’s premier donor society, is comprised of generous patrons who contribute $2,500 or more annually to the theatre. Members of the Producers Circle receive a host of benefits that offer extraordinary access to Court Theatre’s artists, creative team, and artistic process. Select benefits include:
For more information, visit www.CourtTheatre.org or contact Jenny Foughner at (773) 834-0940 or jfo@uchicago.edu. Court Theatre 26
• Opening Night subscriptions • Private dinners with Court artists • Concierge service for theatre tickets around Chicago • Backstage tours • Group entertainment opportunities ... and so much more.
ANNUAL SUPPORT The following individuals and institutions have made gifts to Court Theatre, and we are deeply grateful for their generosity. This list reflects gifts received through August 16, 2011. If you have a correction or would prefer to remain anonymous, please call (773) 834-5293.
Leaders ($1,000-$2,499) Anonymous Ms. Sandra Chui and Mr. Graham Atkinson Jay R. Franke and Pamela Baker Mrs. Edwin A. Bergman David and Peggy Bevington Mr. and Mrs. Richard Black Leigh S. Breslau and Irene J. Sherr Gloria Callaci Russell and Suzy Campbell Mr. and Mrs. James K. Chandler Ms. Marcia S. Cohn Mr. Charles F. Custer Daisy A. Driss Philip and Phyllis Eaton* Eileen and Richard Epstein Mr. Harve Ferrill Mrs. Zollie S. Frank Timothy G. Goodsell Mr. Jan Grayson Ms. Dawn-Marie Guthrie Ms. Patricia Hunckler Mr. and Mrs. William Landes Mr. and Mrs. Thomas A. Lasinski
Supporters ($500-$999) Brett and Carey August Ms. Catherine Bannister Sharon and Robert Barton Mr. and Mrs. Alvin Bell Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Berry Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Block Phyllis Booth Mr. and Mrs. Kevin Boyd Mary and Carl Boyer Ms. Penny Brown and Mr. Jeff Rappin, in honor of Virginia Gerst Jonathan and Gertude Bunge Ms. Janet V. Burch and Mr. Joel R. Guillory Mr. and Mrs. Michael Corey Henry Crown & Company Nancie and Bruce Dunn Kent S. Dymak and Theodore N. Foss Mr. and Mrs. Scott Epstein Mr. and Mrs. Richard Feitler Mrs. Adrian Foster Mr. and Mrs. Paul E. Freehling Jacqueline and Howard Gilbert Philip and Suzanne Gossett Mrs. Lester Guttman Gene and Nancy Haller Beth and Howard Helsinger
Ms. Nancy A. Lauter and Mr. Alfred L. McDougal Bernard and Averill Leviton Charlene and Gary MacDougal Mr. and Mrs. John W. McCarter, Jr. Robert McDermott and Sarah Jaicks McDermott Brooks and Howard Morgan Navigant Consulting Kathleen Picken Mr. and Mrs. James M. Ratcliffe Thomas Rosenbaum and Katherine Faber Ms. Martha Roth and Mr. Bryon Rosner Lynne F. and Ralph A. Schatz David and Judith L. Sensibar Scott Showalter Bill and Orli Staley Nikki and Fred Stein Mr. James Stone Target Mr. and Mrs. R. Todd Vieregg Elaine and Patrick Wackerly Joan E. Neal and David Weisbach Ms. Gretchen Winter Charles and Sallie Wolf Paul and Mary Yovovich
Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Hill Diane and William Hunckler Ms. Kineret Jaffe Mr. and Mrs. Robert Kallen Ms. Anne Van Wart and Mr. Michael Keable Mr. and Mrs. Martin J. Koldyke Mr. and Mrs. Charles Laff Barry Lesht and Kay Schichtel, in memory of Jack Shannon John and Jill Levi Phoebe R. and John D. Lewis Family Foundation Mr. and Mrs. Robert Lewis Bill Mulliken and Lorna Filippini-Mulliken Mr. and Mrs. William Navin Dr. Larry Norman Ms. Grayce Papp Mr. and Mrs. Denis Rogers Ms. Yolanda Saul Dr. Salvador J. Sedita and Ms. Pamela L. Owens Susan H. and Robert E. Shapiro Mr. and Mrs. Charles Shea Tim Burroughs and Barbara Smith Otto and Elsbeth Thilenius The Ultmann Family, in loving memory of John Mrs. Iris Witkowsky Court Theatre 27
ANNUAL SUPPORT Contributors ($250 - $499) Elizabeth Adkins Mr. and Mrs. Paul F. Anderson Drs. Andrew J. and Iris K. Aronson Eugene L. Balter and Judith R. Phillips Catharine Bell and Robert Weiglein Mr. James Bernal, in honor of Peggy Zagel Ms. Kathleen Betterman Mr. and Mrs. Adrian Beverly Henry and Leigh Bienen Mr. and Mrs. David L. Blumberg Mr. Scott Brickwood Brady and Geraldine Brownlee Mr. Tim Bryant Bob and Peggy Cassey Judy Chernick Barbara Flynn Currie Frederick T. Dearborn Eloise DeYoung Lisa and Rod Dir Mr. and Mrs. Robert Douglas Adam M. Dubin Edie and Ray Fessler B. Ellen Fisher Ms. Virginia Fitzgerald Paul Fong Dr. and Mrs. James L. Franklin Dr. Thomas Gajewski and Dr. Marisa Alegre
Gerry and Stan Glass Ethel and Bill Gofen Mr. and Mrs. Robert B. Hartfield Mary J. Hayes, DDS Richard and Marilyn Helmholz Dr. and Mrs. Andrew Hendrix Mr. and Mrs. Arnold Hirsch Mr. Anthony Hirschel Douglas and Lola Hotchkis Carrie and Gary Huff Robert Kapoun Mr. Brian Cogan and Ms. Robin Keller, in honor of Peggy Zagel Jean A. Klingenstein Ms. Merrillyn Kosier and Mr. James Kinoshita, in honor of Marilyn Vitale Nancy and Richard Kosobud Ms. Carol L. Kutak Richard L. Landau Lemme Insurance Group, in honor of Peggy Zagel Steven and Barbara Lewis Mr. Michael C. Litt Mr. and Mrs. Joe Madden Mr. and Mrs. Richard L. Marcus Mr. and Mrs. Michael Masterson Mr. and Mrs. Frank D. Mayer, Jr. Renee M. Menegaz and Prof. R. D. Bock
SEPTEMBER 29, 2011—JANUARY 22, 2012
smartmuseum.uchicago.edu Located next door to the Court Theatre. Admission is always free.
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ANNUAL SUPPORT Dorism and Glenn E. Merritt Dr. and Mrs. Ernest Mhoon Mr. and Mrs. Robert Moeller Ms. Sara Paretsky Mr. and Mrs. Harvey Plotnick Louise Lee Reid Mr. and Mrs. H. P. Davis Rockwell Bruce Rodman Nuna and Ennio Rossi Ms. Ann M. Rothschild Sharon Salveter and Stephan Meyer Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Scott Ilene W. Shaw Joan and Lynn Small
Associates ($150 - $249) Anonymous Mr. and Mrs. Steven A. Adelman Ms. Roula Alakiotou and Mr. Alvin Burenstine The Amoroso Family Mr. and Mrs. Cal Audrain Ms. Enriqueta Rodriguez and Mr. Ronald G. Bauer Mr. Melvin Belton James Bishop Mr. Nathanial Blackman Mr. Aldridge Bousfield Jim and Sandy Boves Douglas Bragan Ralph and Rona Brown
Mrs. Geraldine S. Smithwick Alvarez Elizabeth and Hugo Sonnenschein Dorie Sternberg Isabel and Donald Stewart George P. Surgeon Edward and Edith Turkington Russell and MarleneTuttle Brady Twiggs Ms. Christy Uchida Daina Variakojis and Ernest Frizke Russell and Sindy Wieman, in honor of Peggy Zagel Nicholas Weingarten and Cynthia Winter Joseph Wolnski and Jane Christino
Olga and John Buenz John and Sally Carton Mr. Richard Clark and Ms. Mary J. Munday Elizabeth Fama and John Cochrane Lydia G. Cochrane David and Suzanne Cooley Mr. and Mrs. David Crabb Katherine and John Culbert Ginger L. Petroff and Kenneth R. Cunningham Susanne and David Cyranoski Bruce Davidson Quinn and Robert Delaney Sidney and Sondra Berman Epstein
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ANNUAL SUPPORT Mr. Stephen Fedo Dale and Marilyn Fitschen Mr. and Mrs. Julian Frazin, in honor of Virginia Gerst Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Friedmann Dr. Sandra Garber Judy and Mickey Gaynor Paul B. Glickman Natalie and Howard Goldberg Mrs. Ethel F. Goldsmith Ken Green and Holly Wathan Ms. Mary Grimm Mr. and Mrs. Steven Gryll Joel and Sarah Handelman Lynn Hauser Carrie L. Hedges Ms. Barbara T. Jones Dorthea Juul Gloria Kearney Dr. Lauren Kern Neil and Diana King Mr. Norman Kohn Ms. Anne Lang, in honor of Peggy Zagel Mr. and Mrs. Emmet Larkin Mr. and Mrs. Donald Larsen Bill and Blair Lawlor Charles and Fran Licht James and Katharine Mann Michelle Maton and Mike Schaeffer Mrs. Ann Maxwell, in honor of Peggy Zagel Stacey and Patrick McCusker David E. McNeel Dr. Alice Melchor Joanne Michalski and Mike Weeda Janet and David Midgley Dean Miller and Martha Swift Mr. and Mrs. Jack Mitchell Ms. Regina Modestas Ms. Donna Moore
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Marianne Nathan and James Hugunin Drs. Donald E. and Mary Ellen Newsom Northern Trust Matching Gift Program Mr. and Mrs. William J. O’Connor Mr. Gary Ossewaarde Irving and Vivian Paley Mr. Doug Peck Mr. Milan Pejnovich Carolyn and Peter Pereira Elizabeth M. Postell Ms. Jane Grady and Mr. Alan J. Pulaski Mr. Michael Raftery Mr. Cree Rankin Dr. Lya Dym Rosenblum and Dr. Louis Rosenblum Cecilia and Joel Roth Drs. Donald A. and Janet Rowley Manfred Ruddat Carolyn O. Rusnak Dr. Jacquelyn Sanders Mr. Kenneth Schug Mr. Steven Schulze Drs. Michele Seidl Roberta and Howard Siegel Mr. John Sowinski Dr. Donna Spaan Dr. and Mrs. Eric Spratford Ms. Jane Stone Gary Strandlund Mrs. Josephine N. Strauss Heidi Thompson Saunders and David Saunders Mr. and Mrs. John Turner Ms. Martha Van Haitsma Ms. Linda Vincent Anna Mary and David Wallace Virginia Wright Wexman and John Huntington Howard S. White Dr. Willard E. White
Join Dramaturg Drew Dir and many other Court artists as they THINK OUT LOUD about all things Court Theatre. www.CourtTheatre.org/blog
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SPECIAL GIFTS Endowment Support and Planned Gifts Court Theatre greatly acknowledges the generous individuals and institutions who have supported Court’s artistic excellence by contributing to our endowment or making a planned gift. Hope and Lester Abelson Family The Michael and Lillian Braude Theatre Fund Joan S. and Stanley M. Freehling Fund for the Arts The Helen and Jack Halpern Fund The William Randolph Hearst Foundation Anne Kutak Marion Lloyd Court Theatre Fund Michael Lowenthal Carroll Mason Russell Fund The Martha Paine Newell Fund for Emerging Artists An endowment established by Timothy, Patricia, and Charles Newell in honor of their mother, Martha “Matt” Newell, will allow Court Theatre to support the work of early-career theatre artists. Court Theatre is grateful to the following donors for their inaugural gifts to The Martha Paine Newell Fund for Emerging Artists. Mrs. Edwin A. Bergman Mrs. Daisy Driss Mr. Daniel E. Efner
Ms. Isabelle P. Middendorf Mr. and Mrs. F. Ward Paine Mr. Ted Walch
For information on how to leave a legacy of support by making a planned gift or contribution to Court ’s endowment, contact Melissa at (773) 834-0941 or maam@uchicago.edu. Facility Support The University of Chicago
High School Performance Festival Sponsor Hyde Park Bank
In-Kind Contributions The following companies and individuals support Court Theatre through the donation of goods or services: Stephen J. Albert Helen N. and Roland C. Baker David Bevington Elizabeth Brackett Leigh Breslau Suzy Campbell James Chandler Chant Chicago q James E. Clark Joan Feitler Lorna Ferguson and Terry Clark Karen and James Frank Virginia Gerst Goodman Theatre Timothy Goodsell and Susan McGee Mary Lou Gorno Harris Theatre Helaine and Peter Heydemann
J. Hilburn Kevin Hochberg and James McDaniel KAP Graphics Tony Kushner Limelight Catering… food illuminated Mary Mastricola and La Petite Folie Brian Meister Daniel Minter Lester Munson David Moes Brooks and Howard Morgan Charles Newell and Kate Collins Northlight Theatre Oregon Shakespeare Festival Park 52 Linda and Steve Patton
Piccolo Mondo Julie Purdum, Prairie Moon Creations Ritz Carlton Chicago Ritz Carlton New York Russian Pointe Dance Boutique The Saints Michael Sheerin Patrick Sheerin Sidley Austin LLP Jason Smith Photography Spoleto Festival Union League Club of Chicago The University of Chicago David and Marilyn Vitale Rian Walker Kenneth Warren Margaret Maxwell Zagel and Judge James Zagel Court Theatre 31
DINING SPONSORS Receive 10% off at Court Theatre’s Hyde Park Dining Sponsors. Only one discount per ticket. Not valid with any other offers.
Asian fusion 1509 E. 53rd St. (773) 324-1999
Casual Italian 1642 E. 56th St. (773) 643-1106
American Bistro 5201 S. Harper Ave. (773) 241-5200
The Pursuit Of
H ASPT A PR T SI N E S S HERE. Sales executive position available in our Chicago market.
• Flexible hours • Work from home • Unique benefits For more information, visit www.footlights.com/employment Email resumé and cover letter to: salesjob@footlights.com
Court Theatre 32