MARQUETTE UNIVERSITY’S J. WILLIAM AND MARY DIEDERICH COLLEGE OF COMMUNICATION PERFORMING AND MEDIA ARTS THEATRE ARTS PROGRAM DEBRA KRAJEC, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR PRESENTS
By Jane Anderson February 16 – 26, 2012 Directed by Phylis Ravel Scenic Design by Carissa Saia, ‘13 Costume Design by Debra Krajec Lighting Design by Kenneth Martin Sound Design by Nic Trapani, ‘14 Choreography by Kelsey Lauren, ‘12 Produced by special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc. New York City The Theatre Arts Program is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Theatre (NAST).
Defying Gravity 1
CAST LIST Elizabeth.................................................................................................................................... Grace O’Brien Teacher..................................................................................................................................... Molly Edwards Monet...............................................................................................................................Mohammad ElBsat Donna........................................................................................................................................Brittany Green C.B........................................................................................................................................ Terrence Morris, Jr. Betty............................................................................................................................................Kelsey Lauren Ed........................................................................................................................................................Tyler Frost Ground Crew...................................................................................................... Ciara Collins, Kelly Dillon, Hannah Klapperich-Mueller, Madelyn Yee The videotaping or other video or audio recording of this production is strictly prohibited.
D I R E C TO R ’ S N O T E S Jane Anderson’s Defying Gravity takes us on three journeys. The first: What may have happened. Deliberate or human error? The second: The many who remain. Filled with guilt, despair, anger, fear. The final journey: The journey of choice Hold to the sadness, nightmares, and regrets Or let go Go beyond – Beyond guilt, despair, anger, fear. Into peace Peace that passes all understanding. Phylis Ravel
CAST BIOS Ciara Collins (Ground Crew) This is Ciara’s first show at Marquette University; she is very excited to be a part of the Ground Crew. Ciara is a freshman in the College of Communication studying Theatre and Public Relations. Past show credits include Twelve Angry Jurors, The Wizard of Oz, Rumors, And Then There Were None, and Fiddler on the Roof. She would like to thank Phylis Ravel for giving her this opportunity, as well as the cast, crew, and all of those involved in making the show possible. She would also like to thank her parents for their constant support. Kelly Dillon (Ground Crew) Kelly is thrilled to be performing as a Ground Crew member for the Marquette University Theatre Arts Program’s production of Defying Gravity. You may have recently seen Kelly on the Marquette stage as Mouse in If You Take a Mouse to School. Kelly would like to thank PR, Andrea, and Adriana for their endless work and support with this great show. She would also like to 2 Marquette University
thank all of her friends and family, especially her Mom, Dad, and two sisters for their love and support. She hopes you enjoy the show and wishes broken legs all around to the cast and crew of Defying Gravity! Molly Edwards (Teacher) Welcome to Defying Gravity! A sophomore here at Marquette, Molly is thrilled to be part of this wonderful production. Previous performances have included the part of Theresa in Boy Gets Girl, Grace in Annie, and Ada in Ask Any Girl. No production would be complete without a long list of people to thank, and Molly would like to thank the incredible directors and wonderful cast and crew involved in Defying Gravity. An endless thank you to her parents, Mike and Mo, friends Emily and Mary, boyfriend Andy, and siblings Danny and Nick for putting up with endless line running and late night freak outs. Thanks to the audience for their support in this beautiful story, and enjoy the show!
C A S T B I O S ( c o n t .) Mohammad ElBsat (Monet) Mohammad is a Phd student in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Marquette University. He is from Lebanon and moved to Milwaukee in 2006 for graduate school. Mohammad is very excited to be in one more mainstage production at the Helfaer theatre before he graduates in May. Mohammad is even more excited that he had the chance to work with Phylis Ravel, and he would like to thank her for this opportunity and for her admirable direction and the cast and crew for making rehearsals something to look forward to. Milwaukee credits include: Omnium Gatherum (Windfall Theatre) and The Big Friendly Giant, The Beaux’ Stratagem, The Spitfire Grill, and The Cherry Orchard (Helfaer Theatre, Marquette University). He would also like to thank his family and friends for their support and wishes his parents were here to see him perform. “What is impossible at one point will be possible at another. Be the one to pave the way towards possibility.” Tyler Frost (Ed) Tyler is a sophomore Theater Arts and English Literature major. He is excited to be back on the Helfaer stage! He would like to thank the cast, crew, and PR as well as his friends and family for their support and above all love. Enjoy the show! God Bless! Brittany Green (Donna) Brittany is a junior studying Theatre Arts and History. She has previously been seen in Little Shop of Horrors as Crystal, The Laramie Project as Shadow, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. She wants to thank God for the opportunity and all her family and friends for their support. Enjoy the show!
Hannah Klapperich-Mueller (Ground Crew) Hannah feels very fortunate for this wonderful opportunity to be a part of the Defying Gravity team. She recently played the Boy in Marquette University’s production of If You Take a Mouse to School. She would like to thank PR, Andrea, Adriana, her parents, and the amazing members of the cast for all the fun and the great learning experience. Kelsey Lauren (Betty/Choreographer) Kelsey is honored to be a part of Defying Gravity. She was last seen in Marquette’s mainstage performances of If You Take A Mouse to School as Millie/Mom, The Beaux’ Stratagem as Mrs. Sullen, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee as Rona, and Censored on Final Approach as Elizabeth. She would especially like to thank PR, Andrea, Adriana, and the cast for sharing their unbelievable talents and wonderful rehearsal memories with her. Also, it has been her pleasure to work with the talented Kelly, Hannah, Ciara, and Maddy… you ladies are just wonderful. Finally, so much love to her dear family and friends especially the “Six Pack”, Allie, Tim, and Ashlea and Kevin for constantly supporting and guiding her. Mom, this one is for you! Terrence Morris (C.B.) Terrence is a freshman Theater major at Marquette University. He worked costume crew for the last semester hit play Little Shop of Horrors. This is his first on-stage play at Marquette University. He began acting at age 13, performed in high school plays (West Side Story – Snowboy; and RENT – Benny) at King College Prep in Chicago,
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C A S T B I O S ( c o n t .) IL. Terrence is very excited about this and future productions at Marquette University. “I really hope to discover my character even further with each performance and if I’m lucky, a little something about myself.” Grace O’Brien (Elizabeth) Grace O’Brien is a junior at Marquette University studying Psychology and Theatre Arts. She hopes to pursue a career in drama therapy. This is her first mainstage performance, but she has been involved in student theatre productions for the past three years. She would like to thank the cast and crew for their hard work and dedication to the show. Also she’d like to extend thanks to her family, friends, and loved ones for their support. Please enjoy the show!
Madelyn Yee (Ground Crew) Madelyn is a sophomore double majoring in Theatre Arts and Spanish. Her previous mainstage credits include If You Take a Mouse to School, stage manager; Holy Days, co-costume design; Little Shop of Horrors, assistant scenic design; The Beaux’ Stratagem and The Laramie Project, assistant stage manager; A Year with Frog and Toad, follow spot operator. She would like thank PR, Andrea, and Adriana, for such a wonderful experience throughout this whole process; and Kelsey for being such an amazing choreographer. Much love to the Six Pack, the family, and Joe.
COSTUME DESIGN CONCEPT Unlike all of our current students at Marquette who were born after, I remember the day in 1986 the Challenger space shuttle seemed to explode, and fell into the ocean soon a few seconds after liftoff. I had been teaching here at Marquette for two years at that time. As a nation we were stunned to learn of this horrible tragedy, and that Christa McAuliffe, the first teacher astronaut whom we had gotten to know through her appearances in television, was gone. The clothing of that time period seems not very far out of date to me, thought it has been 26 years this month. So I had a starting point from my own personal life, as well as vast photograph references on Christa, with which to conceive the costume design for Defying Gravity. The costumes for this production, while not visibly complicated, were designed to subtly represent three different periods in history: Teacher, Betty & Ed, and Donna are all 1980’s styles appropriate to the time the Challenger space shuttle was launched in 1986, Monet is shown in his middle ages about 1900, and Elizabeth’s clothing, as Teacher’s now grown daughter remembering her mom, is from the mid 2000’s. The Teacher and the Ground Crew all wear NASA flight suits, and C.B. wears a ground crew uniform based on what was worn at NASA in 1986. All the clothes are meant to look real and lived in. However I have tried to insert a few subtextual nuances related to the use of color: all the colors were chosen from the real color palettes of the nebulae mentioned in the play, I tried to show a slight color relationship between Elizabeth and her mother, and Monet, a character that is a fantasy character of sorts in this play, appears in a lighter color than anyone else to help him stand out. The costumes are not meant to attract your attention in any way other than to suit the character’s personality and activities, but I hope knowing a bit about what my color and fashion history goals were helps you to enjoy the show. Debra Krajec
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SCENIC DESIGN CONCEPT
Defying Gravity, by Jane Anderson is a play that looks back at the 1986 Challenger disaster. Parallels between art and science are shown through past and present characters to convey the meaning that people need to be able to communicate with each other more clearly. Through working with the director and the other designers, I developed two main aspects to my design: the free spaces and the constricted spaces. The free forms of nebulas are created to show how life can be relaxing and free and the constricted spaces are constructed by truss work that can be seen on the shuttle platform. The more extreme spaces are higher up and the less extreme spaces are closer to the ground. These design choices contradict the teacher’s thoughts of going up into space. She thought that when she would get to space she would be free and that on earth she is constrained to material objects and life. In reality, on the ground is where her life was free and safe and once she started getting higher up and closer to take off, she became more and more unsafe and her life was no longer in her control. I also played with different surfaces like the front of the stage is on a rake because that makes the ground feel unsteady which messes with gravity and the projection screen is an abstract shape that represents the shuttle itself. The colors on the stage were pulled from realistic images of space, nebulas, the challenger, and the shuttle platform. Thanks again to PR and Stephen Hudson-Mairet for working with me on my first scenic design here at Marquette. I hope you enjoy the show.
BIOGR APHIES Alex Coddington (Assistant Stage Manager) Alex is a freshman Theatre Arts (directing emphasis) and English double major. This is his second show on the MU mainstage. He would like to thank PR for her insight and leadership, Adriana for her guidance, Andrea for her wisdom, the cast and designers for their brilliance, and especially his parents for their love and support. Raquel Garces (Assistant Lighting Designer) Raquel is currently a junior striving to be a Theatre major. This is her second appearance in the design field for a main stage, previously working as a co-set designer for the production of Holy Days. She also has been an assistant stage manager for three main stage productions. She would like to thank her dad for always managing to make it to shows, and
the rest of her family for joining him as well. Stephen Hudson-Mairet (Chair) 2011-12 marks Stephen’s twelfth season at Marquette. Thank you to our loyal patrons for supporting this program and making our students’ important work possible. Stephen has completed numerous scenic or lighting designs on the Helfaer stage. Most recently Stephen completed the scenic design for Little Shop of Horrors. Stephen lives quite happily in a very old house in Wauwatosa with his wife Heidi, and daughters Emma and Grace. Debra Krajec (Costume Designer/Artistic Director) It is Deb’s pleasure to be designing costumes for this play that she has loved for a long time, and to work again with the amazing Phylis Ravel. Deb has served as a director as well as a costume designer on MU’s mainstage for the past twenty-eight years. She Defying Gravity 5
B I O G R A P H I E S ( c o n t .) received her MFA from Texas Christian University, and has worked professionally as a costume designer, a director, and an actress. In Milwaukee, Deb has designed costumes for Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, and Next Act Theatre and directed for In Tandem Productions and Playwrights’ Studio of Milwaukee. She is very active in the United States Institute for Theatre Technology, where she is a Fellow of the Institute. Deb is a member of Actors Equity Association. Chester Loeffler-Bell (Technical Director) Chester has served as lighting designer, technical director, and scene shop supervisor since joining the department in the fall of 2001. Professor Loeffler-Bell manages the scene shop, supervises and advises student lighting designers. Chester has been an active professional lighting designer for the past 20 years, having designed for In Tandem Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Theatre X, Cape Fear Shakespeare Festival, and Carroll College. His recent artistic work includes the lighting design for Little Shop of Horrors and The Lion in Winter for Marquette University, Girl in the Frame for In Tandem Theatre, Poor Tom for Marquette University in collaboration with the Gaiety School of Acting in Dublin, Ireland, and McGuire at Hofstra University. Chester lives in Mukwonago with his wife Susan and sons Harry, Sam, and Joe. Kenneth Martin (Lighting Designer) Kenneth is a scenic and lighting designer and Chair of the Department of Theatre at Coastal Carolina University. Ken has worked in the professional theatre for over 25 years. As a member of United Scenic Artists, his design work has been seen at many theatres across the country including The Sacramento Theatre Company, Surflight Theatre in New Jersey, Theatre by the Sea in Rhode Island, The Florida Rep, and The Ensemble Theatre in Cleveland. In the academic arena, Ken has served in a variety of capacities for the United States Institute for Theatre Technology and the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival. Ken has been teaching for 16 years while keeping active in regional professional theatre. Connie Petersen (Costume Shop Manager) Connie is pleased to return after a semester of maternity leave. She received her B.S. degree in theatre from Northwest Missouri State University and M.F.A. degree in Costume and Scenic Design from Southern 6 Marquette University
Illinois University in Carbondale, IL. She has worked professionally for Central City Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, Denver Center Theatre Company, and Playmakers Repertory Company at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Her recent designs at Marquette include The Laramie Project, A Year with Frog and Toad, 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Nickel and Dimed, Heidi Chronicles, Tartuffe, J.B., Bye, Bye Birdie and Fifth of July. Connie, Heath and big sis, Emma are pleased to announce their newest addition to the family, Olivia Joy. Phylis Ravel (Director) Phylis Ravel is honored to be working with such a talented and creative team on such a beautifully written play. Ms. Ravel is a director, performer, playwright, and educator. Her career spans stage, film and television. Professional theatres include New York’s Roundabout Theatre, Signature Theatre Company, Working Theatre, Impossible Ragtime Theatre, and Direct Theatre. She was featured in the Emmy nominated CBS special The Party Shop. Her drama Censored on Final Approach was published by Original Works Publishing. As an educator she has taught at California Institute of the Arts, Princeton University, Hofstra University, and for the last 14 years at Marquette University. Her interest in Art, Faith, and Social Justice has been a strong influence in her work here at Marquette. Adriana Saia (Stage Manager) Adriana is a junior Theater Arts major with a minor in Public Relations at Marquette University. This is her second time stage managing for Marquette, and she is excited to be a part of such a cool show. Working on this show has been a great experience for her. She has previously stage managed The Laramie Project at Marquette University, assistant stage managed The Lion in Winter at Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, prop designed Little Shop of Horrors and If You Take A Mouse to School at Marquette, costume designed Holy Days at Marquette, and was a production intern last summer at American Folklore Theatre in Door County. She would like to thank her family and friends for their love and support, PR for giving her this opportunity, her wonderful ASM, and the cast and crew for making this a great show. She would also like to make a shout out to the Six Pack for being such great friends. Carissa Saia (Scenic Designer) Carissa is a junior Theatre Arts major with an emphasis in Scenic Design and Manage-
B I O G R A P H I E S ( c o n t .) ment and a minor in Advertising. She is very excited to be the scenic designer for this show. Recently, she was on the scenic design team for Holy Days and was the assistant scenic designer for The Lion in Winter under Stephen Hudson-Mairet. She would like to thank Stephen and PR for all of their help and support during the design process of this show. She would also like to thank her family, friends, the Six Pack, and her wonderful boyfriend for all of their encouragement and love. Andrea Schoening (Assistant Director) Andrea is a Theatre major in her last semester at Marquette. She will be graduating in May with a degree in Technical Theatre. She is extremely glad to be working as PR’s as-
sistant on this show and to be working with a cast with such dedication and talent. Thank you all for coming! Enjoy the show. Nic Trapani (Sound Designer) Nic is a sophomore Theatre Arts major with an emphasis in Lighting Design. This year he has sound engineered Little Shop of Horrors and If You Take a Mouse to School. Also, he was the lighting designer for Holy Days. The Holy Days design was taken to the American College Theatre Festival and went to the final round in the region. For this show as sound designer, he had a great time working with PR and the other designers. He also wants to thank the Six Pack as well as friends, family, and Carissa for their support with his endeavors.
P R O D U C T I O N S TA F F Technical Director...........................................................................................................Chester Loeffler-Bell Assistant Director...............................................................................................................Andrea Schoening Stage Manager................................................................................................................................ Adriana Saia Assistant Stage Manager.................................................................................................... Alex Coddington Lighting Designer....................................................................................................................Kenneth Martin Assistant Lighting Designer....................................................................................................Raquel Garces Light Board Operator.......................................................................................................................Dylan Elhai Projectionist....................................................................................................................................Jake Daggett Scenic Designer................................................................................................................................Carissa Saia Scene Shop Assistants........................................................................................Tanner Burke, Dylan Elhai, Raquel Garces, Patrick Hasselbeck, Rory Higgins, Kaitlyn Martin, Carissa Saia, Nic Trapani, Chris Whitman, Madelyn Yee Scene Shop Build Crew................................................... Jim Burns, Brittany Green, Kristane Thrower Deck Crew.................................................................................................................Amy Burzak, Doug Soder Props Master....................................................................................................................................Madelyn Yee Costume Designer.........................................................................................................................Debra Krajec Costume Shop Manager...................................................................................................... Connie Petersen Costume Shop Assistants.............................................................................Alexandra Bonesho, Ian Burr, Rachel Chrostowski, Tyler Frost, Alexis Hamburg, Carly Kroll, Joseph Packhem, Bridget Rzymski, Adriana Saia, Andrea Schoening, Doug Soder Costume Shop Build....................................................................................... Lauren Bradley, Kyle Conner, Dylan Elhai, Megan Garfield, Larry Lajewski, Aja Luckett-Smiles, Kaitlyn Martin, Armando Ronconi, Laura Stanten, Jessica Trznadel, Ava Turowski, Oliver Wolf Wardrobe Supervisor.................................................................................................................Katie Callahan Wardrobe Crew..................................................................................Nicole Erdmann, Armando Ronconi Sound Designer.................................................................................................................................Nic Trapani Sound Board Operator..................................................................................................................... Sarah Best Assistant to the Chair................................................................................................................. Kelsey Lauren Assistant to the Artistic Director....................................................................................................Tim Braun Box Office Assistant............................................................................. Kaitlyn Barrett, Thomas Meacham House Manager....................................................................................................Jim Burns, Megan Garfield, Ushers.....................................................................................................................Theatre Appreciation Class
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T H A N K YO U Theatre Arts Program wishes to thank: Craig Fischer • Dr. Robert Bishop, Dean, College of Engineering Tim Braun • Dr. Scott D’Urso, Professor, College of Communication Sally Duback • Jon Lamb • Steve Otten, Executive Director, The Challenger Learning Center • David Ravel • Dan Johnson
M ARQUETTE UNIVERSIT Y College of Communication Lori Bergen, Dean Joyce Wolburg, Associate Dean Erik Ugland, Associate Dean of Graduate Studies & Research Chioma Ugochukwu, Assistant Dean for Student Services Full - Time Faculty Chester Loeffler-Bell Connie Petersen Phylis Ravel Box Office Coordinator Kevin Wleklinski
Performing and Media Arts Stephen Hudson-Mairet, Chairperson Theatre Arts Program Debra Krajec, Artistic Director Part - Time Faculty Amy Brinkman-Sustache Fr. Grant Garinger, S.J. Andrea Johnson Roxanne Kess Maureen Kilmurry John Schneider Mark Weinberg
M ARQUETTE UNIVERSIT Y The Department of Performing Arts wishes to thank the following Donors for their 2011 – 2012 contributions: Theatre Contribution Fund American Transmission Company Thomas Anderson Carole Burns Margaret Callahan Mary A. Cimrmancic Delphine M. Cannon Donald A. Cress Terry & Diane Duffey James & Joan Hagner Bud & Sara Hudson Andrew Kienzle Maureen Kilmurry Jay Kirk Chester Loeffler-Bell Marianna C. Markowetz Paul Milakovich Marquette University Players John E. McArdle James J. McGillis Gary S. Meyer Ken Miller & Margie Blodgett Susan Moutin Terry A. Peterson Sara R. Pforr Michael J. Price
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Vanessa Rawls Roaring Fork, LLC Ronald D. Santilli Rosemary H. Selep Sandra L. Shrock Kathleen M. Smith Mary Beth Tallon Peter G. Toumanoff Mary C. Utschig Kevin & Ashlea Wleklinski Theatre and Social Justice Fund Anthony Bonta Helen Boomsma Rafael Garces Jay Kirk Gary S. Krenz Laura S. Locher Mary K. Marzano John J. Pauly James F. Mitchell Emily A. Schultz Endowed Drama Fund The Hudson-Mairet Family John & Mary Ricci