Forward-Thousand Words

FORWARD THEATER COMPANY presents

A Thousand Words

By Gwendolyn Rice Directed by Jennifer Uphoff Gray Set Designer Nate Stuber

Lighting Designer Jason Fassl

Costume Designer Hyewon Park

Sound Designer Paul Hurley

Properties Designer Charles J. Trieloff II

Stage Manager Jacqueline Singleton*

Assistant Stage Manager Kim Patch

Assistant Director Frank Honts

A Thousand Words is generously sponsored by:

with additional funds from the Wisconsin Arts Board.

Season sponsors:

and the Pleasant Rowland Great Performance Fund for Theater, a component fund of the Madison Community Foundation

*Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers.

The script for A Thousand Words was previously workshopped by The Wisconsin Wrights New Play Development Project, and presented as part of the Montgomery Davis Play Development Series.

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F O R WA R D T H E AT E R C O M PA N Y S TA F F ARTISTIC Artistic Director.......................................................................................... Jennifer Uphoff Gray Artistic Associate.........................................................................................................Frank Honts ADMINISTRATIVE General Manager.........................................................................................................Sarah Marty Communications Director............................................................................... Gwendolyn Rice Director of Audience Development................................................................. Julia Nicholas Interns...........................................................................................Michele Langer & Aliza Feder PRODUCTION Assistant Director........................................................................................................Frank Honts Dramaturg.............................................................................................. Kimberly Megna Yarnall Production Manager..................................................................................................Sarah Marty Stage Manager...........................................................................................Jacqueline Singleton Assistant Stage Manager..............................................................................................Kim Patch MAPC Technical Direction Services.............................................................................Ric Lantz Master Electrician............................................................................................Louis Kreienkamp Carpenter...................................................................................................................Kevin Zimmer Scenic Painter...............................................................................................................Nate Stuber Stage Crew............................................................................................................ Joanne Chaloub Wardrobe......................................................................................................................... Emily Popp This production of A Thousand Words is a collaboration with Milwaukee Chamber Theatre

Founded in 1975, Milwaukee Chamber Theatre produces intimate, high-quality, professional theatrical works of literary merit that engage and challenge the audience, while employing and nurturing principally local theater artists. Under the leadership of Producing Artistic Director C. Michael Wright and Managing Director Kirsten Mulvey, MCT offers five mainstage productions each season at the Broadway Theatre Center in Milwaukee’s Historic Third Ward.

In addition, MCT produces a Young Playwrights Festival and the Montgomery Davis Play Development Series. Each season the play development series features staged readings of two new scripts with Wisconsin connections and A Thousand Words was performed as part of this series in 2008-2009. MCT is now particularly excited to partner with Forward Theater Company on the world premiere. A Thousand Words continues at Milwaukee Chamber Theatre February 16 – March 11, 2012. For tickets or more information, (414) 291-7800 or milwaukeechambertheatre.com A Thousand Words 3

F O R WA R D T H E AT E R C O M PA N Y B OA R D O F D I R E C TO R S Chad Bartell, Springs Window Fashions Donna Beestman, Career Success Strategies, LLC Jane Elder, Jane Elder Strategies Ellen Foley, Foley Media Dr. Charles Ford, UW Division of Otolaryngology Marta Gialamas, The Gialamas Company Gail Kohl, GMK Associates, LLC Erika Monroe-Kane, National Center for Media Engagement Kathie Nichols, First United Methodist Church Joseph Shumow, WHEDA Brent Wagner, Baker Tilly Virchow Krause

F O R WA R D T H E AT E R A DV I S O R Y C O M PA N Y Ann M. Archbold Jim Buske Sarah Day Richard Ganoung Michael Herold Celia Klehr Casey Martin

Karen Moeller Frank Schneeberger Kirk Stantis Sam White Jack Forbes Wilson Kimberly Megna Yarnall

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Each staged reading will be held in the Rotunda Studio at Overture Center. No advance tickets will be sold, but a suggested donation will be collected at the door.

Oatesland

By Sam White May 19th at 7:30pm Wisconsin Wrights New Play Project Selection

When a group of American soldiers stationed in Antarctica begins to give in to the cold and isolation, at least one of them believes he’s seen the ghost of Lawrence Oates, a member of a doomed polar expedition party in 1912.

The Bombing of Sterling Hall March 9th & 10th at 7:30pm By the Wisconsin Story Project

When a bomb exploded just outside Sterling Hall in the early morning hours of August 24, 1970, it was a thunderous event in the history of Wisconsin. While the intended target – the Army Mathematics Research Center was not affected by the blast, many people on both sides of the anti-war movement were. Hear their stories, in their own words.

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F R O M T H E A R T I S T I C D I R E C TO R , J E N N I F E R U P H O F F G R A Y Welcome to Forward Theater! We are so happy you could join us today for the world premiere production of A Thousand Words. I had the pleasure of working with the playwright, Gwen Rice, on a reading of this play back in March 2009 as part of Milwaukee Chamber Theatre’s Montgomery Davis Play Development Series. (In fact, the reading took place just a few days before Forward Theater was founded!) It’s been wonderful to follow the play’s evolution over the past four years and help shape it into the performance you’ll see today.

I think the reason A Thousand Words resonated so deeply with me – and one of the things I like most about the script – is that it brings up some really interesting and relevant questions about how art and artists can be part of the solution in times of national crisis.

As you’ll see, a portion of the play takes place in 1937 – focusing on the work of the Farm Security Administration, which commissioned artists to record the living conditions of the rural poor in the Dust Bowl during the Great Depression.

This effort not only employed Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange, and other famous black-and-white-photographers of the time period, it also used art to publicize, document, and ultimately address the devastating economic and social conditions across the country.

When we first established Forward Theater Company, I was often asked why a group of Madison arts proponents would risk starting a new theater during a recession. The answer was remarkably similar to something Walker Evans’s boss at the Farm Security Administration might have said: “In times of transition, the arts become even more essential in our communities.”

In order to play our essential role in the Madison area, FTC depends on support from hundreds of individuals, corporations, and foundations. Last summer we also established a fund to underwrite the salary for one actress per season as a tribute to Colleen Burns, an original member of Forward Theater Company who brought great joy to Madison audiences. We are pleased to announce that Sarah Day is the first actress to receive this distinction for her role in A Thousand Words. Through this endowment, we look forward to many more creative collaborations in the years to come. For more information, or to make a contribution to this fund, please contact me at jgray@forwardtheater.com.

Sunday Worship 8:00 | 9:30 | 11:00 Come Change Your Life

www.fumc.org | 608-256-9061 | 203 Wisconsin Ave., Madison, WI 53703 A Thousand Words 7

F R O M T H E B OA R D O F D I R E C TO R S , K AT H I E N I C H O L S As the president of the FTC board of directors, let me tell you two things: First, I am extremely excited about our current season. Forward’s stages will be filled with virtuoso performances of some of the most evocative, challenging, humorous, and poignant stories you’ve ever seen. I predict that these characters and the actors who embody them will live in your memory long after the final applause fades.

Second, I am thrilled to serve as president of Forward’s board of directors. I’ve been on the board for most of Forward’s young life, and I cannot tell you how proud I am of this start-up professional theater company in Madison. We have received nothing but positive reviews for our productions to date (thanks in no small part to our incredibly talented artistic director, Jennifer Uphoff Gray).

Our subscriber base has increased by 43% over last year, and 78% of previous subscribers renewed their tickets – figures that are almost unheard of in the performing arts. And I’m even more proud to say we’ve done all of this without having to borrow a cent. We ended our first two seasons “in the black,” and we are budgeting carefully to do the same this season.

Though it’s sometimes hard to believe, as an organization we are still in our infancy. Our accomplishments are profound, especially considering that we are still putting key pieces of infrastructure in place. It has been a lot of work, but it has been a (successful!) labor of love.

Of course, FTC’s amazing work on stage and behind the scenes is only possible because of the commitment of donors and audience members like you. Your support has given us a very strong foundation on which to grow. We look forward to partnering with you – and seeing you at the theater – for many years to come!

8 Forward Theater Company

A Thousand Words 9

provideo comedy and TheaTer series evenT

Photo by George Barcos

starring john mcgivern

sat, jan 28, 8 pm tickets starting at $21.50 capitol theater

TomcaT producTs ouTside The box series evenT

reinventing radio: sat, feb 18, 8 pm An Evening with Ira Glass tickets starting at $25.50 overture Hall

overturecenter.com groups:

608.258.4141 608.258.4159

F R O M T H E A DV I S O R Y C O M PA N Y, J I M B U S K E Forward Theater’s advisory company is made up of theater artists—a body unique to FTC. When we formed the company, we wanted to ensure that the artistic side of the theater would always be in balance with the business side. It’s been three years and we’re still working our way through this new concept, but so far it’s working pretty well.

What are some of the things that the advisory company does? We (along with FTC staff ) read dozens of scripts each year to find plays that are both exceptionally written and interesting to our audience. We also greet patrons like you in the lobby at each performance. This way we can talk to the people who attend our plays and get direct feedback. Each fall the AC hosts a public forum where interested community members are invited to share their questions, concerns, and ideas. By maintaining this dialogue, we hope to build a theater that exceeds expectations.

As you can see, our focus is making sure that Forward Theater responds to its audience. We have many other responsibilities (some involve making pie for backstage meals, some involve moving furniture to the rehearsal space) but none is more important than making sure we stay in contact with you—our patrons, donors, and sponsors. Your support through our first two seasons has been nothing short of amazing. Midway through our third season, be assured that our commitment to you is as strong as your commitment to us!

This world premiere production of

A THOUSAND WORDS by Gwendolyn Rice

continues at Milwaukee Chamber Theatre February 16 - March 11, 2012 MCT’s 2011-12 Season concludes with William Inge’s contemporary classic BUS STOP, April 12-29, 2012

MILWAUKEE CHAMBER THEATRE | BROADWAY THEATRE CENTER

158 N. Broadway | Milwaukee’s Historic Third Ward Tickets 414.291.7800 | milwaukeechambertheatre.com A Thousand Words 11

F R O M T H E D R A M AT U R G , K I M B E R LY M E G N A YA R N A L L Collaboration is something that is easy to define and difficult to do well. The first definition listed in the dictionary for “collaborate” generally says something about working together, as in a joint artistic effort. Interestingly enough, the second definition often mentions treason and cooperating with an enemy nation. Why is collaborating so hard? Most artists will tell you the answer is other people. But if it’s so hard to work together, why do we do it?

Roy Stryker, head of the historical section of the Farm Security Administration (FSA), collaborated with more than a dozen photographers over an eight-year period, to produce 270,000 pictures documenting the state of rural America during the Depression. Writing about this enormous partnership, he said, “I think the work we did can be appreciated only when the collection is considered as a whole. The total volume, and it’s a staggering volume, has a richness and distinction that simply cannot be drawn from the individual pictures themselves.”

A single picture from this collection is arresting. We can all recall seeing an iconic photo from the era in a high school textbook: a father and his two children running for shelter during a dust storm; men in overcoats lined up for bread on an urban street. But when we’re searching for the truth – what it was really like during those very desperate times – we need to flip through dozens of pages of these photos, taken by many photographers, who traveled throughout the country and throughout the decade. By considering all of these points of view we can truly appreciate how successful they were in their task: “We introduced Americans to America.”

Playwright Gwendolyn Rice calls her play, “a conversation in art – a collaboration across decades and thousands of miles.” And indeed, the story told in A Thousand Words explores how the (fictional) writer Shirley Hughes and the famed photographer Walker Evans, shape each other’s point of view as they attempt to capture the lives of tenant farmers in Kansas in 1937. Walker, with his naturalistic photographic style, helps Shirley see how her words can simply describe without romanticizing.

And Shirley personalizes Walker’s experience – reminding him of the names of the families they photograph.

This exploration of artistic collaboration doesn’t end with photographs. Rice also introduces a group of women who created exceptional quilts – works of textile art infused with the aesthetic of the community in which they were created. These riffs on traditional patterns transcended convention to create something altogether new and startlingly beautiful. Going even further, the play shows the tenuous relationship that modern commercialism plays in supporting art and how sometimes collaboration is born of – or dies at the hands of – fiscal and legal constructs.

The depth of collaboration involved in producing live theater is something of a luxury in today’s fast-paced, bottom-line world. The playwright uses words to create characters, setting, action. But that’s only the beginning. Directors, actors, designers, and crew come in and add their points of view. Actors put a voice to the words and subtext deepens. Where those characters live becomes textured and specific in a set designer’s hands. Every person moving a set piece alters the pace, the urgency, of the action. Finally, each night the house fills with audience members. One night the audience finds the second scene hilarious. Another night, another audience responds to the same scene with silence, or anger. The humanity and artistic merit of the play is enhanced because we change it during the collaboration. Each person adds life to the story and we get closer to the truth.

This world premiere expands that collaboration beyond the walls of this theater. Artists from across the state read A Thousand Words and created multimedia works of art.

Each new piece expresses another opinion. Lectures and discussions are being held throughout this season to add even more voices in this conversation. And in a few weeks the production travels to the Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, where the collaboration continues.

I can think of no greater argument for the importance of live theater than the unique experience it affords us to create art together – to search for shared truth in our experiences – to introduce a community of people to each other.

12 Forward Theater Company

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F R O M T H E P L A Y W R I G H T, G W E N D O LY N R I C E When I read the newspaper article, I was intrigued by the words. But I was captivated by the pictures.

Long-hidden prints reveal the friendship between Walker Evans and Ernest Hemingway KEY WEST ‑ In the spring of 1933, Ernest Hemingway had escaped the Great Depression on a borrowed boat to Cuba, where he fished, drank and gathered material for his next novel, To Have and Have Not. With him for three weeks in the bars and bistros was a young Walker Evans, who would soon become known as one of the great American photographers of the 20th century.

But for decades, the tale of their friendship and influence on each other’s work remained hidden in a storage room of a Key West bar. In boxes and crates, Benjamin “Dink” Bruce discovered 46 original photographs taken by Evans in Havana in 1933.

I remember this moment very clearly: I was eating lunch at my desk at work, with the newspaper spread over my keyboard. I set my sandwich down and typed Evans’s name into a search engine. And the photos I found took my breath away.

Like a lot of people, I had seen these photos before, but I hadn’t associated a name with them. Along with Dorothea Lange, and other artists working with the Farm Security Administration, Evans created stark, arresting, beautiful pictures of Dust Bowl families that awakened the country to the plight of the rural poor. I clicked on one webpage after another, looking for more images and more information about this incredible artist. I learned that he was credited with pioneering a naturalistic photographic style, documenting the world around him instead of manipulating it for his photos. He was considered a master of black and white, and was the first photographer to have a solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

More intriguing details emerged as I read through online biographies and art history commentaries on his work. In Evans’s photos, there is a clear fascination with billboards and marketing messages turned on their heads. He also loved urban scenes, and manmade landscapes. Trying to catch people in unguarded moments – oblivious to the fact that they were being photographed – he hid a camera in his coat and took pictures of people riding the subway in New York.

Looking at the people in these frames, I was enthralled. Intrigued. Embarrassed to be staring so long at dirty faces marked with poverty, or simply caught unaware. It became clear the longer I looked that Evans saw the world in a way that no other photographer had before him. And he captured that world on film. I wanted to talk to him. To know him. To get inside his head. After finishing my lunch I announced to my coworkers that I would write a play about Walker Evans someday.

Playwriting is a solitary process. Sitting alone at a computer, typing late into the night, it is an exercise in introspection – the transcription of conversations between characters who live and speak only in your mind. But art is meant to be shared with readers, with audiences, with other artists, and the play A Thousand Words has benefitted from many, many other collaborators. They include the Wisconsin Wrights New Play Project; the University of Wisconsin, Madison; The Terry Family Foundation/Edenfred Artists Residence; Milwaukee Chamber Theatre; Forward Theater Company; The Montgomery Davis Play Development Series; Jacque Troy; Martine Kei Green-Rogers; Trevin Gay; Michael Wright; Jennifer Uphoff Gray; and all the actors who have participated in readings of the play over the last four years. A sincere thank you to everyone – including today’s audience – who has contributed to the development of this work. This has been an amazing journey.

I hope that the play will encourage artists and audiences alike to think about the nature of authenticity, the process of art creation, and the power of words and images to change the world. I know the pictures of Walker Evans certainly changed mine.

A Thousand Words 15

THE CAST T. Stacy Hicks......................................................... Brian Walters, Roy Stryker, John Connors Sarah Day*......................................................................................................................Sally Quinn Josh Aaron McCabe*................................................................................................Walker Evans Molly Rhode*..........................................................................................................Shirley Hughes Georgina McKee.................................................................................................. Andrea Munroe Libby Amato...................................................................Jessica Shoemacher, Abbie Lehman * member, Actors’ Equity Association

PLEASE NOTE There will be one 15-minute intermission.

The audience is asked to silence cell phones during the performance. The video and/or audio recording of this performance by any means whatsoever is strictly prohibited.

Technical assistance for this production has been provided by the Children’s Theater of Madison and Madison Arts Production Cooperative.

Wisconsin union

Jazz series

Village Vanguard Jazz Orchestra

THEaTEr

Gaelic Storm Friday, February 17, 2012 , 8pm

Opening: UW-Madison Jazz Orchestra saturday,

2011- 2012 great history Bright Future

David Finckel, BEla Fleck Wu Han, & & The Philip Setzer Flecktones piano trio Fan Taylor Memorial Concert

thursday, March 1, 2012 , 8pm

Friday, February 24, 2012 , 7:30pm Family savings EvEnt!

February 4, 2012 , 8pm Family savings EvEnt!

This theater season is supported in part by a grant from the Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the State of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts. The Wisconsin Union Theater Season is programmed by the Wisconsin Union Directorate student Performing Arts Committee.

608.265.arTS : : Memorial Union : : 800 langdon St.

www.uniontheater.wisc.edu 16 Forward Theater Company

A WiSCoNSiN UNioN DirECTorATE ExPEriENCE

the power of community It’s working together and helping each other that makes our community a great place to live.

We’re proud to support the Forward Theater Company.

GS1133 09/22/2011

ARTIST BIOGR APHIES Libby Amato (Jessica Shoemacher, Abbie Lehman) is very pleased to return to Forward Theater after performing in Forward’s inaugural production of All About Eve. Other credits include productions with Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, First Stage Children’s Theater, In Tandem Theatre, Alchemist Theatre, Windfall Theatre, Bunny Gumbo Theatre, and the former New Court Theatre. She also keeps busy with a variety of on-camera work, including commercials and print ads. Libby is a graduate of Carroll University with a BFA in theater performance, and now resides in Milwaukee. Raised just outside of Madison, Libby is grateful for this opportunity to come “home” and sends a special thank you to her amazing family and friends for the their constant love and support.

Sarah Day (Sally Quinn) is a founding member of Forward Theater, and serves on its advisory company. She has appeared in Forward’s productions of All About Eve, and Why Torture is Wrong, and the People Who Love Them, as well as directing a monologue in last season’s festival of new work, The Love That Changed My Life. Sarah has been a member of the acting company at American Players Theatre in Spring Green since 1986.

T. Stacy Hicks (Brian Walters, Roy Stryker, John Connors) is a familiar face to Milwaukee theater patrons. Most recently he appeared as Algernon in The Importance of Being Earnest with Southwest Shakespeare and Patrick in Pink Champagne with Uprooted 18 Forward Theater Company

Theatre. He has performed with Chicago, Milwaukee, and Southwest Shakespeare Companies as well as Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, Renaissance Theaterworks, In Tandem Theatre, Optimist Theatre, Uprooted Theatre, and Youngblood Theatre companies. Stacy recently served as the movement coach for the world premiere of The Edwin Booth Company Presents at the University of Wisconsin, Whitewater, where he also choreographed The Provok’d Wife. A native North Carolina Tarheel, Stacy studied at the North Carolina School of the Arts. Future roles include Southbridge with Uprooted Theatre and Veronica’s Position with In Tandem Theatre.

Josh Aaron McCabe (Walker Evans) is thrilled to return to Madison, where he received his MFA in acting from the University of Wisconsin in 2006.

He is currently a company member with Shakespeare & Company in the Berkshires, where he has performed the title role in a New England tour of Macbeth, Camillo in The Winter’s Tale, Oliver in As You Like It, Catesby in Richard III, the Host in Merry Wives of Windsor, Valmont in Dangerous Liaisons, multiple roles in The Mystery of Irma Vep, Birdboot in The Real Inspector Hound, and Pierson in War of the Worlds.

Josh was especially proud to perform Sherlock Holmes (plus six other characters!) in the critically acclaimed American premiere of The Hound of the Baskervilles. He has performed OffBroadway and in principal roles in national commercials, as well as various daytime serials and Saturday Night Live.

Regional credits include Madison Repertory Theatre, Milwaukee’s Chamber Theatre, Renaissance Theaterworks, and Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati. Josh is a proud member of AEA, AFTRA, and SAG.

A R T I S T B I O G R A P H I E S ( c o n t .)

Georgina McKee (Andrea Munroe) is delighted to be making her Forward Theater debut! Raised in Madison, she couldn’t be happier to be working in her hometown with such a great company.

Georgina now lives in Milwaukee where her recent credits include; Sylvia in Sylvia and Mary in Mary’s Wedding (Next Act Theatre), Meg in Crimes of the Heart (Milwaukee Chamber Theatre), Viola in Twelfth Night (Optimist Theatre), Carly in Reasons To Be Pretty (Renaissance Theaterworks), Eve/Barbara/Ella in The Apple Tree, Lori in Romantic Fools (In Tandem), and ensemble in A Christmas Carol (Milwaukee Rep). Some of her regional credits include; Connie Boylen in Annie (Fireside Dinner Theatre), Mariana in Measure for Measure, Lady Montague in Romeo and Juliet and the Cook in The Matchmaker (American Players Theatre), Envy and the Old Woman in The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus, and Teresa in Napoli Milionaria (The Oregon Shakespeare Festival).

Georgina attended Southern Oregon University in Ashland and holds a BFA from their acting program. She would like to thank her friends and family for all their love and support. She also sends out a special thank you to the people of Madison for supporting this company and keeping theater alive and well. Let’s spread the word!

Molly Rhode (Shirley Hughes) had the distinction of playing the title role in Forward Theater’s very first production – she played Eve Harrington in FTC’s All About Eve. As an actress, she has performed onstage with all of Milwaukee’s professional theaters as well as appearing at American Players Theatre, the Utah Shakespeare Festival, Door Shakespeare, and the last several summers at American Folklore Theatre.

Molly also enjoys working as a director, choreographer, and theater educator.

Recent directing credits include MainTravelled Roads at Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, Miss Nelson is Missing at First Stage Children’s Theater, and An American Girls Revue at the Children’s Theater of Madison. Molly holds a BFA in theater studies from Southern Methodist University. She is extremely proud to make her entire artistic living right here in Wisconsin, and she is a proud union member.

A Thousand Words 19

TECHNICAL ARTISTS Jason Fassl (Lighting Designer) has designed lighting for more than 200 theatrical productions in Milwaukee in the last ten seasons, as well as more than 100 other projects across the state.

His work brings illumination solutions to plays, musicals, operas, ballet, and corporate settings. In addition to his work in Wisconsin, Jason served as head sound and lighting technician onboard Royal Caribbean International Cruise lines and has toured the globe with the magician David Copperfield as a programmer and electrician. He is an artistic associate for First Stage Children’s Theater and the resident designer for the Fireside Dinner Theatre. Jason’s designs have graced the stages of The Milwaukee Ballet, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Skylight Opera Theatre, American Players Theatre, Peninsula Players, Renaissance Theaterworks, Next Act Theatre, Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, the former Madison Repertory Theatre, and Youngblood Theatre Company, among many others. Jason graduated from the University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point, with a BFA in theatre design/ technology and is a member of United Scenic Artists Local 829.

premiere of the musical Suburb. Jen grew up in the Madison area and is now raising her family on the near west side with her husband Peter.

Frank Honts (Assistant Director) is happy to be working with Forward for a second season, this year as an artistic associate. In this role he participates in play evaluation and casting for upcoming seasons, oversees the management of a literary database, and assists with outreach and educational programs. Frank has worked with Madison Opera, Wisconsin Wrights, the Utah Shakespeare Festival, and the Children’s Theater of Madison.

Paul Hurley (Sound Designer) is an actor and sound designer, and is thrilled to be working with Forward Theater for the first time. Previously he has designed sound for Renaissance Theaterworks (Gorgons, Reasons to be Pretty, The Smell of the Kill, and The Shape of Things), Chamber Theatre (Picnic), and American Players Theatre (The Syringa Tree).

Ric Lantz (MAPC Technical Direction Services) received a BA in theater from Colorado State University. He then worked as a scenic craftsman Jennifer Uphoff Gray (Director/FTC at Pittsburgh Public Theater. His Artistic Director) directed Forward Theater’s productions of The Farnsworth freelance projects include PBS’s This Land is Your Land and the motion Invention, Moonlight and Magnolias, In picture Wonderboys. Ric earned an the Next Room or the vibrator play, All MFA in production technology and About Eve, and Why Torture is Wrong, management from Carnegie Mellon and the People Who Love Them. Before University in 2002. Upon graduation helping to found Forward Theater, he served as the technical director she directed a staged reading of for Madison Repertory Theatre until A Thousand Words for Milwaukee it closed in 2009. In addition to his Chamber Theatre, Love’s Labour’s Lost current role as technical director at the for Milwaukee Shakespeare (“Best of Children’s Theater of Madison, Ric is 2008”) and The Diary of Anne Frank also a co-founder of The Bricks Theatre. for Madison Repertory Theatre (“Best of 2008”). She also produced (and Hyewon Park (Costume Designer) was directed for) the Madison Rep’s 2007 born and educated in South Korea. She New Play Festival. Other credits include; started her career with the television the national tour of Copenhagen, drama Ilwol in Seoul. In the late 1990s associate director of Copenhagen, she moved to the United States to Cabaret, The Blue Room (starring Nicole pursue an MFA in costume design Kidman) and The Life on Broadway. from the University of Wisconsin, Off-Broadway, she directed the world 20 Forward Theater Company

T E C H N I C A L A R T I S T S ( c o n t .)

Madison. As a designer/guest artist, she has worked with Strollers Theatre, the Regent Drama Club, the University of Wisconsin, Madison’s Department of Theatre and Drama, the Seattle Opera, Miller Brewing Company, De Maurier (Australia), Lucky Duck Productions (New York), Wild Hawk Entertainment (Texas), University of Arizona, Marquette University, and Clarke University. She is currently the resident designer for the University of Wisconsin, Madison’s Opera Department, where she has designed La Bohème, Don Giovanni, Maria Stuarda, Thaïs, Alcina, Merry Widow, Pelléas Et Mélisande, Marriage Of Figaro, Don Giovanni, Orpheus In The Underworld, Xerxes, and the world premiere of Maura Bosch’s opera Art and Desire.

Kim Patch (Assistant Stage Manager) received her BFA in stage management from the University of Southern California. This is her fifth production with Forward Theater Company, and she recently completed her second season at American Players Theatre as an assistant stage manager. In Los Angeles she stage managed the world premiere of Oliver Mayer’s Laws of Sympathy for Playwrights’ Arena. She also assisted the production manager for the USC School of Theatre.

Gwendolyn Rice (Playwright) holds a Bachelor’s degree in English and theater from the University of Iowa, and a Master’s degree in literature, history, and criticism of the theater from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Gwen has won awards for short fiction as well as playwriting, and has had plays produced in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Iowa. She is also the author of the book, The Coronado Theatre: Rockford’s Crown Jewel. Professionally, Gwen has worked in marketing and fundraising for a variety of performing arts organizations, including First Stage Milwaukee, the Friends of the Coronado Theatre, and the Rockford Symphony Orchestra. She currently works as the communications director for Forward

Theater Company in Madison. Gwen would like to extend special thanks to Jen Gray, Kimberly Yarnall, Jacque Troy, Michael Wright, and the entire Forward Theater advisory company for giving her this tremendous opportunity. She also sends her love to Joe, Charlie, and Ethan for inspiring her and making her laugh every day.

Jacqueline Singleton (Stage Manager) is happy to be returning to Forward Theater after stage managing The Farnsworth Invention, Going to St. Ives, In the Next Room or the vibrator play, and Why Torture is Wrong, and the People Who Love Them. Her Wisconsin credits include ten seasons with American Players Theatre and seven seasons with the Madison Repertory Theatre.

Some favorite shows include Macbeth, The Winter’s Tale, Timon of Athens, The Merchant of Venice, Hay Fever, Lobby Hero, Topdog/Underdog, I Am My Own Wife, and Anna Christie. Originally from Chicago, she worked for the Goodman Theatre, Writers’ Theatre, Lifeline Theatre, Next Theatre Company, and Stage Left Theatre, among many others.

She now lives in Spring Green (with A. Bulldog), and is the head chef at The Kitchen at Arcadia Books.

Nate Stuber (Set Designer) is an artist, carpenter, and introvert who resides and works in Spring Green, Wisconsin.

This is his first show with Forward.

Past designs at other theaters that he acknowledges include Burn This, Timon of Athens, Waiting for Godot, The Syringa Tree, We Won’t Pay-We Won’t Pay, The Jammer, and Never the Sinner.

Charles J. Trieloff II (Properties Designer) received his MFA in set design from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. For Forward Theater Charles previously designed The Farnsworth Invention and Going to St. Ives. For University Theatre he has designed Antigone, The Passion of Dracula, A Little Night Music, Man of La Mancha, The Water Station, Smash, Steel Magnolias, True West, and Stop A Thousand Words 21

T E C H N I C A L A R T I S T S ( c o n t .)

Kiss. For Children’s Theater of Madison he designed the recent productions of Little Women, Narnia, Goodnight Moon, and A Wonderful Life. Charles is also the designer for Madison Opera’s Opera in the Park events. As a visiting artist at the University of Wisconsin,Whitewater, he designed A Lie of the Mind, Hay Fever, Guys and Dolls, and Antigone. In Madison he was the prop master at Madison Repertory Theatre for nine years, and is currently the prop master at American Players Theatre. He has also designed props for Forward Theater, CTM, Madison Ballet, and Madison Opera. Outside of the theater world Charles designed the themed reception areas for the Old Sauk location of Children’s Dental Health.

Kimberly Megna Yarnall (Dramaturg) has been a member of Forward Theater’s advisory company since 2009.

She helped create last season’s The Love That Changed My Life monologue festival, and had two original pieces in the program, including audience favorite, “The Nuts That Changed My Life.” In Madison she worked as dramaturg on FTC’s staged reading of Kiritsis by David Schanker, and with the Madison Repertory Theatre on the 2007 New Play Festival’s The Journey to Sakhalin, and The Diary of Anne Frank, directed by Jen Uphoff Gray. Kimberly was the literary assistant for the Blue Heron Theatre in New York City (20012004) where she worked with many playwrights including New York Times Notable Author, John Dufresne on his first play, Trailerville. She curated the Juggernaut Theatre’s First 100 Years reading series. Kimberly was also an assistant writer on Broadway’s Tony nominated A Class Act. A published and produced playwright, Kimberly holds a Bachelor’s degree in English and theater from the University of Notre Dame and was a member of the Actors Theatre of Louisville apprentice company.

22 Forward Theater Company

proud sponsor of the

Forward Theater Company Bill White Michael Best & Friedrich LLP One South Pinckney Street, Suite 700 Madison, WI • 53703 • 608.257.3501

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Best wishes for a successful season.

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DONORS Your gift plays an important role in the success of Forward Theater Company. Ticket revenue covers only 40% of the full cost of presenting live theater. Annual fund donors bridge the gap and enable Forward Theater to fulfill its mission ‑ to provide exceptional theater experiences for area audiences and give professional actors, designers, writers, and directors an artistic home.

The following list reflects donations received by December 15, 2011. To make a taxdeductible donation to Forward Theater or learn about donor benefits, please visit our website at forwardtheater.com.

Season Sponsors ($10,000+) John and Carolyn Peterson Charitable Foundation, Inc. The Pleasant Rowland Great Performance Fund for Theater, a component fund of the Madison Community Foundation Premium Sponsors ($5,000-$9,999) Dane County Cultural Affairs Commission Foley & Lardner, LLP W. Jerome Frautschi & Pleasant Rowland Group Health Cooperative of South Central Wisconsin David & Paula Kraemer Marguerite Casey Foundation MGE Foundation Associate Sponsors ($2,500-$4,999) American Family Insurance Beth Bovis & David Feldstein CUNA Mutual Group Custer Financial Services Evjue Foundation J.H. Findorff & Son, Inc. Madison Arts Commission Michael Best & Friedrich LLP Kathie Nichols & Bill White Terry & Jean Prahl Qual Line Fence Wegner CPAs & Consultants New Play Series/Student and Educator Night Sponsors ($1,000+) Alliant Energy Foundation Boardman, Suhr, Curry & Field LLP Park Bank Steve Brown Apartments

Platinum Founders ($1,000-$2,499) Nancy & Dean Baumgardner Anthony & Mardell Blaschka Electronic Theatre Controls, Inc. Aris & Marta Gialamas Walter & Betty Gray Susan Horwitz Eric & Sara Schwartz Tim Size Founders Circle ($500-$999) Donna & George Beestman Daniel & Joyce Bromley Nancy Ciezki & Diane Kostecke Al Goldstein & Phyllis Lefcowitz Terry L. Haller Esther Kaplan Jonathan & Susan Lipp Kathleen McElroy & David Newby Lynn & Gary Mecklenburg John Peterson James & Carol Ruhly Tim & Ann Salutz Kristy Schuster Dorothy Steele Benefactors ($250-$499) Anonymous Simon Anderson & Ledell Zellers Janneke & Richard Baske Charles Bauer & Charles Beckwith Philip Blake Peggy & Christopher Bugg Jim & Stephanie Buske Kent Carnell & Barbara McFarland Shobhina Chheda & Robert Griffen Jane Coleman Dan & Pat Cornwell Michael Danoff Dr. Frederick Davis Marty Densch William & Lynne Eich

Jim & Evey Fleming Michael Fumelle Kathleen Harker John & Karen Icke Stanley Inhorn Efrat Livny Arthur & Susan Lloyd William Marten Molly Rhode Gary & Kathy Sandefur Joseph D. Shumow Jeanne & Joe Silverberg David Stratton SVA Mike & Suzanne Swift Thomas & Jane Taves Scott Thornton Lee & Mary Waldhart Theodora Zehner Patrons ($100-$249) Anonymous Michael & Rima Apple Allen Arntsen Paul & Kristine Ashe Ruth & Richard Backer Harvey & Trudy Barash Shannon Barry & Bill Bolz Kleo Baruth Kritz & Thomas Hurst Rebecca Baumbach Larry Bechler & Patricia Struck Michael Bemis Norlin Benevenga Stephen & Trudy Bernsten Norman Bervin Linda Bochert & Dave Hanson Carl & Judith Bowser Joann Brabstine & Jude Shavlik Ann Brickson Nancy Bruch Suzanne Buchko Cathy Buege & Jerate Stewart John Chosey Lau & Bea Christensen Richard & Nancy Christiansen Keith & Linda Clifford A Thousand Words 25

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D O N O R S ( c o n t .)

Lee Cullen Corkey & Betty Custer John & Colleen Dangola Elizabeth Davis Sude Dentinger & Mark Hill Walter & Londa Dewey Jennifer Donnelly & David Helbach Dennis & Katherine Dorn Nancy & Robert Dott Maxine Ducey John & Deidre Dunn Frederick & Ivy Edelman Dr. Edward & Rosanne Ehrlich Dave Eide & Ann Thering Jean Elvekrog Justin Fehrman Sandra Fernandez Stephen Fleischman & Barbara Katz Ellen & Thomas Foley Byron & Janet Frenz Laurie Frost & Jeff Henriques Brandi M. Funk John & Brenda Furlow Jac & Edye Garner Norris Glick Constance Grogan JoAnn Gruber-Hagen Matthew & Katie Hargrove Jeffrey Henriques Nona Hill & Clark Johnson Gilbert Hillman Cynthia Hiteman John & Valerie Hoch Virigina Hoke & Mona Johnson Henry Huemmer & Kathy Kuntz Marnie Hulan & Charles Thomas Bruce & Diana Hulbregtse Jane Ilgen Monica Jaehnig Rebecca Jallings Barbara Johnson Milton Johnson & Eileen Kennedy Miriam Kerndt Judith Klehr Benjamin & Shannon Kleiber Gail & Tim Kohl Marie Kohler & Brian Mani Brad Kose & Jessica Lanius Fritz & Kathy Kruger John & Virginia Kruse Joan E. Larson David Lawver Kathryn Lederhause & Daryl Sherman Peter & Patricia Lipton

Ellen Louise & Howard Schwartz Eileen & Mary Maher Robert & Ruth Martin Dan & Mari McCarty Donald McCarty Shawn & Colleen McGuire David & Allison McKee Joe & LuAnn Meyers Jack & Bonnie Mitchell Daniel & Joyce Muxfeld Marilyn C. Nelson Mary & John Neumann Joy Newman Tom & Julia Nicholas Erik & Gail Nordheim James Obrien Kathryn Padorr & Raymond Roberts Debi Peters Franklynn Peterson & Judi Turkel Reynold Peterson Jeffery & Megan Pierce Joan Pulver Dr. Arthur & Ursula Rathburn Laurel Rice Ann Rifenberg Susan Rogers Bruce Rosen & Diane Seder Paul & Ann Rutecki Betty Schlein Paul & Christine Schmidt James Schneider Diane Schuck Marnie Schulenberg Nicholas & Wendy Seay David Sharpe Kjerstin Shefchik Matthew & Jessica Smith Karin Smylie Elliott & Norma Sober Guridndar & Marilyn Sohl Thomas Spear Jayne Squirrell Kirk Stantis Gerald & Vicki Stewart Karl Stoll David & Suad Stratton Michael Thom Ardith J. Thomas Michael Verveer Sarah Jane Volchick Kim Voss & Karen HartmannVoss Roland Richard Wagner Brent Wagner Peter & Alice Waldron Catherine & Ellis Waller Gary Wankerl William Wartmann Tosha Wetternecl Julie White

Paul White Judith Wilcox Deirdre Wilson Garton Jennifer Winiger Nicole Wyrembeck Todd & Katherine Young Janet Zimmerman Friends ($25-$99) Anonymous Robert Alt Fernando & Carla Alvarado Mary Ambrosavage Jill Andersen & Neils Walter John Anderson Hugh & Eric Anderson, & Jennifer Hirsch Kristine Andrews Christoper Babiarz Jean Bae & Gregg Kissel M.R. Barroilhet Anita Been Nirval & Carolyn Bernhardt Rabbis Jonathan Biatch & Bonnie Margulis Frances Bicknell Barbara Bolan Malcolm & Penny Brett Carol Cohen Ross & Julie Cowing Allen Cross & Mary Klehr Jamie Custer John & Mary Dammann Gene Dewey Carla & Michael DiIorio Susan Dopp Susan & Joe Drennan Angie Drye Vicki Duhr Paul Eastwood Jane Elder Gay Eliason Avis Elson Michael Esch Gordon Ewy Eugene Farley Bob Fenchel & Mary Vernon Jacqueline Ferris Edith First Susan Fischer Evelyn Fox Gary & Judith Fox Clayton & Belle Frink Peter Gargano Daniel & Margaret Geisler Dr. & Mrs. Thomas Gobel Karen Godshall Jeffrey Golden Michael Graf Peter Gray & Jen Uphoff Gray Jane Grogan Kristine Guderyon Goetz Dr. Alan & Geraldine Gurman A Thousand Words 27

Thank you for the transformation,

MARIE GRABER

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D O N O R S ( c o n t .)

Dan Gustafson Jay & Kim Handy Jr. Eileen Hanneman & Larry Sromovsky Donald & Karen Hester Diane Highsmith Lynne Hill Stuart Hipke Leslie & Susan Hoffman Frank Honts James Hudson Hickory Hurie Irene Ilgen Margaret Jankowski Dick & Joanne Johnson Janice & LeRoy Johnson Lois Karn Don Katz Robert & Phyllis Kauffman Nicholas & Susan Kiernan Constance Kilmark Robert Kimbrough Jim & Ruth Knutson Debra Kondrasuk Ken & Carol Koscik Jennifer Kraemer James & Joan Krikelas Kal & Bobbie Kunin Ann Lacy Robert & Joanne Larsen James Larson Stacy Ledington Leon & Beatrice Lindberg Willis Long Judith Lyons Jose Madera & Kim Santiago Ernest & Helen Madsen Karin Mahony Richard Mason S. & Maureen McGilliganBentin Ben & Chan McKelvey Donald Metz Sigurd Midelfort Sue Milch & Wilton Sanders N.J. Miles & S.P. Schneider Brenda Miller Robert Mitchell & Marianne Morton Karen Moeller & Tony Trout Lynn Montgomery John & Anne Murphy Christian Neuhaus Patrick O’Brien Pamela Oliver Reid & Gabriela Olson Walter & Andrea O’Neill Alison O’Reilly Elayne Orr Michael & Karen Ostrov

Susan Paddock Barbara Parisi Sarah Perry Myra Pfaffenbach Judy Pierotti Tad & Hannah Pinkerton Janet Piraino Sharon Poniewaz Jack & Lori Poulson Cathy Prescott Teresa Radamacher Tim Radelet Nancy Ragland Fred & Sherry Reames Anne Rhyme Tom & Joanna Rice Evan Richards Diane Roang Laila & Zachary Robbins Lynne Roberts & Dave Siegfried Ellen Roberts Michael Rosenberg Jules Rosenthal Andrew & Katie Rustleund Lennie Saffian Norma Saldivar Timothy Sauers Michael Schall Amanda Schmehil Micklos Melanie Schmidt Myron & Denise Schmidt Margaret Scholtes Alisa Schroeder March & Nick Schweitzer Claire Shaffer John Sheski Karen Sielaff Adam & Elizabeth Simcock Gary & Suzannah Sisler Kathryn Smith Anita Sprenger Lisa Stefanik Julia Stein-Barnes Ellen Stephenson Joe & Phyllis Stertz Prudence Stewart Martha Sullivan James Taylor Andrew Tesch Wendy Tupper Tom & Sue Ullsvik Daniel & Selma Van Eyck Robert & Marjorie Van Handel Teresa Venker Greg & Peggy Walters William & Lorette Wambach Patricia Watkins Jody Whelden

Patricia Wherley Carlyle & Judith Whipple Alex & Susan White Elizabeth Whitesel Josh & Kelly Wimmer Feast Forward Donors and Sponsors Bonfyre American Grille Francesca’s al Lago Fromagination Madison Concourse Hotel/ Dayton St. Grille Madison Magazine Metcalfe’s Market Opus Lounge Orange Tree Imports Quivey’s Grove Restaurant Muramoto/43 North Sardine Wonder Bar Steakhouse Gifts in Memory of Louise Uphoff Ann Rifenberg Bill White & Kathie Nichols Gifts in Memory of Colleen Burns Marty Densch Irene Ilgen Richard Mason John & Anne Murphy Jim & Carol Ruhly Lynda Sharpe Gifts in Memory of David Shanker Stacy Ledington Matching Gifts Alliant Energy Foundation Macy’s Foundation In-Kind Donors American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry American Players Theatre American Printing Children’s Theater of Madison Distillery Marketing The Gialamas Company, Inc. Isthmus Celia Klehr & Sam White The Madison Concourse Hotel Wisconsin Public Radio Janet Zimmerman

If we have inadvertently listed your name incorrectly or made any other error in donor acknowledgement please contact Gwen Rice immediately (grice@forwardtheater.com).

We apologize for the error and will endeavor to correct it.

A Thousand Words 29

presents...

The Music of Irving Berlin Friday, March 2 at 7:30 pm Saturday, March 3 at 7:30 pm Sunday, March 4 at 2 :00 pm

The Playhouse Theater in the Overture Center

Visit www. fourseasonstheatre.com

SPECIAL THANKS The faculty and staff of the University of Wisconsin, Madison’s Department of Theatre and Drama/University Theatres, First United Methodist Church, the Wisconsin Historical Society, Eric Ferguson Photography, Jessica Lanius, Courtney Neckar, Archil Pitimashvili, the Overture Center staff, Four Seasons Theatre, John Frautschy, Scott Thornton, Erin Wenzel, Karen Saunders, Evelyn Link, Rebecca Baumbach, Zane Williams, Paul Simon Heckel, David Wells, The Terry Family Foundation, The Center for Photography in Madison, The Madison Contemporary Fiber Artists, Stitcher’s Crossing, the Mad City Quilt Guild, Nick Berard, Peter Gray, and Joe Rice.

Thanks to our Friends of Forward Theater volunteers!

Becky Baumbach Lindsay Bradish Nina Cheney Maxine Ducey Jane Elder Jackie Ferris Zuodian Hu Gail Kohl Evan Kohl Ann Kohl-Re Kathy Lederhause Rex Owens Lynda Sharpe Daryl Sherman Dick & Nancy Schultz Myrna Williamson Volunteers help Forward Theater by staffing events, papering the town with posters and postcards, making food for our hungry cast and production staff, helping with mailings, and other office support. If you’d like more information, please visit our website at forwardtheater.com or call Julia Nicholas at 608-2345001 *1 for Audience Services.

Forward Theater Company is a member of the Madison Arts Production Center (MAPC), which provides high quality, functional, affordable production space, equipment, and theatrical inventory for Madison area artists and arts organizations. For information on rentals and membership options go to ctmtheater.org or contact Mike Lawler at 255-2080.

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A Thousand Words 31

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