The Gift Theatre Company Proudly Presents A WORLD PREMIERE PRODUCTION Written for The Gift Theatre Company
NORTHWEST HIGHWAY WRITTEN BY William Nedved DIRECTED BY Si Osborne SCENIC DESIGNER Adam Lucas Veness LIGHTING DESIGNER Scott Pillsbury
COSTUME DESIGNER PROPERTIES COORDINATOR Morgan McCabe PROPERTIES MASTER Rita Thornton
STAGE MANAGER * Taree Chadwick TECHNICAL DIRECTOR David Preis
SOUND DESIGNER Eric Williams III The Gift Theatre Company’s 2011 season is made possible, in part, by generous contributions from The Alphawood Foundation, The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, and The Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation.
The Gift Theatre Company 4802 N. Milwaukee Avenue Chicago, IL 60630 (773) 283-7071 www.thegifttheatre.org “Come Closer.” August 18 – September 25, 2011 Northwest Highway opened on May 26th and ran through July 17th, 2011. Thanks to you, our audience, we’ve hit the pavement again with a remount of the original production! * Courtesy of Actors’ Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers The Gift Theatre Company 1
CAST (in
alphabetical order)
August 18 – September 11, 2011 Rayna Grotowski...............................................................................................................Brittany Burch Terry Donnelly.......................................................................................................+James D. Farruggio Colin Daly.........................................................................................................................Gabriel Franken John Patrick Moore............................................................................................................. *Boyd Harris Joyce Brooks...............................................................................................................*+Alexandra Main Understudies: *+Paul D’Addario for John Patrick Moore; +Ed Flynn for Terry Donnelly; Donna McGough for Joyce Brooks. September 15 – September 25, 2011 Rayna Grotowski...............................................................................................................Brittany Burch John Patrick Moore....................................................................................................*+Paul D’Addario Terry Donnelly........................................................................................................................... +Ed Flynn Colin Daly.........................................................................................................................Gabriel Franken Joyce Brooks.................................................................................................................Donna McGough Understudies do not substitute for listed players unless an announcement is made at the time of the performance. * Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers + Indicates Gift ensemble member
PLACE & TIME April through July of the present. The backyard of a small, single-family house in the Jefferson Park neighborhood of Chicago. The play runs approximately 1 hour 20 minutes without intermission. As a courtesy to the actors and fellow audience members, please turn off your cell phone! The use of recording devices is strictly prohibited.
AC K N O W L E D G E M E N T S & E X T R A S P E C I A L T H A N K S ! We’d like to thank the following individuals and groups for their kind and generous contributions to The Gift’s Production of Northwest Highway. Diane Mair for originating the role of Rayna Grotowski Jesse & Lily Osborne for their Scooter! Billy and Georgene Cole Jia Mei Raymond Shoemaker Whole Foods Market for the Gluten-Free Vegan Cake Slices!
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P R O D U C T I O N , A R T I S T I C , A N D A D M I N I S T R AT I V E S TA FF Artistic Director...................................................................................... *+Michael Patrick Thornton Managing Director / Properties Master ....................................................................Rita Thornton Technical Director / Set Construction............................................................................. David Preis Associate Artistic Director.......................................................................................*+Paul D’Addario Casting Director........................................................................................................ *+Hillary Clemens Publicist......................................................................................................................+Maggie Andersen Box Office Administration.......................................................................................+Kenny Mihlfried Box Office Coordinator.......................................................................................... *+Alexandra Main Graphic Designer................................................................................................................Aemilia Scott Production Assistant ....................................................................................................Frank Thornton giftED Director.........................................................................................................Lindsey Ann Barlag giftED Consultant......................................................................................................... +Lynda Newton giftFILM Co-Directors........................................................ Tom Blandford and +William Nedved giftLATENIGHT Director.......................................................................................................... +Ed Flynn New Play Development Co-Directors....................+Maggie Andersen and +Jenny Connell * Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers + Indicates Gift ensemble member
THE GIFT ENSEMBLE Danny Ahlfeld, Maggie Andersen, *Hillary Clemens, Jenny Connell, John Kelly Connolly, *Paul D’Addario, *Brendan Donaldson, James D. Farruggio, Ed Flynn, Mary Fons, *John Gawlik, Andrew Hinderaker ,*Alexandra Main, Kenny Mihlfried, Benjamin Montague, William Nedved, Lynda Newton, Sheldon Patinkin, Maureen Payne-Hahner, *Michael Patrick Thornton, and Jay Worthington * Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers
B OA R D O F D I R E C TO R S Paul Botts, John Brahm, George Karzas, William Patrick Nedved, Carrie Schloss, Michael Patrick Thornton, Rita Thornton, Michael Valenti, Shannon Wallace
“Acting is a particularly thankless art. It dies with the actor. Nothing survives him but the reviews, which do not usually do him justice anyway, whether he is good or bad. So the only source of satisfaction left to him is the audience’s reactions . . . The actor, in this special process of discipline and self-sacrifice, selfpenetration and molding, is not afraid to go beyond all normally acceptable limits . . . The actor makes a total gift of himself.” Jerzy Grotowski, Towards A Poor Theatre
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BIOGR APHIES Brittany Burch (Rayna Grotowski: August 18 – September 25) is very excited to be back at The Gift where she was last seen as Girleen in Lonesome West. Other local credits include Midsummer Night’s Dream and Macbeth with Lakeside Shakespeare Theatre and Carmilla with WildClaw Theatre. Brittany is a graduate of the School at Steppenwolf and has a BA in acting from Willamette University. She would like to thank her family for their continual love and support. Paul D’Addario (John Patrick Moore: September 15 – 25) is a member and Associate Artistic Director of The Gift Theatre. He was last seen at The Gift in Night and Her Stars. Favorite roles with The Gift include McMurphy in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest; Satan in The Last Days of Judas Iscariot; Eddie in Hurlyburly (Jeff Award for Actor in a Leading Role) directed by Michael Patrick Thornton; and Seth in Language of Angels. He was directed twice by Jonathan Berry for the Griffin Theatre in Dead End and On the Shore of the Wide World. He was George in Steppenwolf Young Audience’s production of Of Mice and Men. In the fall he will be in Next Theatre’s Maple and Vine. He is a graduate of the School at Steppenwolf 2001 and continues to study with Mary Ann Thebus. James D Farruggio (Terry Donnelly: September 15 – 25) Chicago acting credits include: Ethan Frome (Lookingglass Theatre); To Kill a Mockingbird (Steppenwolf ); Suicide, Incorporated (The Gift Theatre); Streamers (The Gift Theatre); Dead Man’s Cell Phone (Steppenwolf ); 7 Blow Jobs (MaryArrchie); Sketchbook 7 (Collaboraction); Tureblinka (Collaboraction); The Kentucky Cycle (Infamous Commonwealth); Last Supper (Infusion Theatre); and Leaving Iowa (Leaving Iowa Productions). TV and Film credits include Prison Break and Batman: Dark Knight.
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Ed Flynn (Terry Donnelly: September 15 – 25) appeared in The Gift’s critically acclaimed Suicide, Incorporated and Mitch as a performing understudy in Writers’ Theatre’s A Streetcar Named Desire. Ed is also the Artistic Director of giftLateNight, which develops sketch comedy and improvisation at The Gift. Ed is a graduate of the School at Steppenwolf and The Second City. He is not a graduate of Ohio State. Gabriel Franken (Colin Daly: May 26 – September 25) is thrilled to return to The Gift. He was last seen as part of The American Chorus in Night and Her Stars. Before that he was a performing understudy for Griffin’s Port. Gabe moved from Seattle last June to attend The School at Steppenwolf. Favorite Seattle credits include Oedipus, Fiction, Taproot Improv Comedy and Trofimov in The Cherry Orchard. Boyd Harris (John Patrick Moore: May 26 – September 11) makes his Gift Theatre debut. He was last seen as Bo Decker in Austin Pendleton’s production of Bus Stop at the Olney Theatre outside of DC. Chicago credits include Hal in Picnic (Writers’ Theatre), Hollow Lands (Steep Theatre), Flat Danny (Rhino Fest 2007) and Zombies from the Beyond (Backstage Theatre). He is a graduate of DePaul University and the School at Steppenwolf. Boyd is rep’d by Gray Talent and likes to go fishing. Alexandra Main (Joyce Brooks: May 26 – September 11) is a proud ensemble member of The Gift Theatre Company. She has the distinct honor of having been seen in all three of William Nedved’s world premiere productions at The Gift: A Young Man in Pieces, 6, and County Fair. She most recently appeared as Nurse Ratched in The Gift’s production of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Other Gift productions include The Ruby Sunrise, Stop Kiss, W;t (Jeff Awards Equity Wing Nomination for Outstanding Ac-
B I O G R A P H I E S ( c o n t. ) tress in a Principal Role), Blithe Spirit, Long Day’s Journey Into Night, The Clearing, and The Countess. She holds an MA in performance studies from Northwestern University. She currently studies with Mary Ann Thebus. Special thanks to Si, Will and Michael and all The Gifters, to Rita and Frank, to best friends, and most especially to David. Diane Mair (Joyce Brooks: May 26 – July 17) is thrilled to be making her Gift debut. Recent credits include Lucy Steele in Sense and Sensibility (Northlight Theatre) and Virginia Poe in The Madness of Edgar Allan Poe (First Folio Shakespeare Festival). She has worked locally with Victory Gardens, Remy Bumppo, Apple Tree, Dog & Pony, Redmoon, Light Opera Works and Night Blue Theatre and is a proud member of TASK Theatre and the Madame Barker Dames. She has worked regionally with The Long Wharf, Michigan Opera Theatre and the New York Fringe Festival, and internationally at the Festival Theatre d’Avignon, France. Her film credits include Shock, The Clockmaker’s Revelation and The Race. She is a graduate of Northwestern University, where she teaches Acting for Film for the NHSI Summer Program. Donna McGough (Joyce Brooks: September 15 – 25) is excited to have the opportunity to work with The Gift Theatre, conveniently located in her own backyard. Other Chicago credits include The Time of Your Life (Steppenwolf Theatre); Death of a Salesman, Happy Days, Angels in America, and The Glass Menagerie (The Hypocrites); The Rimers of Eldritch and Frame 312 (Eclipse Theatre); The Seagull (TimeLine Theatre); Six Degrees of Separation; An Enemy of the People, and The Time of Your Life (Raven Theatre); and The Freedom of the City (MaryArrchie Theatre). Donna is a three-time Joseph Jefferson recipient for Actress in a Principal Role. William Nedved (Playwright) is the co-founder of The Gift Theatre Company, where he proudly premiered his plays County Fair, 6, and A Young Man in Pieces. This summer he will perform in his own work Fact & Fiction at the Elephant Theatre as part of the Hollywood Fringe Festival. His short play Kid was awarded “Best Produc-
tion” at Collaboraction’s Sketchbook 2009. Nedved received a BA in Theatre Arts from the University of Iowa, an MA in Theatre Studies from the University of New South Wales – Sydney, and an MFA in Film and Television Writing from the University of Southern California. Williamnedved.com. Si Osborne (Director) directed the Jeff-Award winning A Prayer For My Daughter at Mary-Arrchie Theater and True West for Redtwist Theater. A Jeff-Award winning actor, Si has appeared on most of Chicago’s stages, including Steppenwolf, Chicago Shakespeare, and Northlight Theater. Ten years ago, he dug graves with Mike Thornton in A Skull in Connemara at Northlight, and they teased each other mercilessly. Adam Lucas Veness (Scenic Designer) Following Night and Her Stars and The Lonesome West, this is Adam’s third production with The Gift, and he is continually proud to be working alongside such a talented group of people. A few of his recent credits include designs for Light Opera Works, Theo Ubique, MidTangent Productions, Metropolis Performing Arts Centre, and Northbrook Theater for Young Audiences. He wishes to thank Emily for her unparalleled support. Scott Pillsbury (Lighting Designer) Since arriving in Chicago in 2000, he’s designed or assisted for several different theaters and dance companies: Albany Park Theater Project, Ballet Chicago, Beverly Theater Guild and Arts Center, BoHo theater, Collaboraction, Five Star Productions, GI Alliance, The Gift Theatre, Neo Futurists, Prevail Dance Company, Pure Renditionz, Shapeshifters, Strange Tree, Theatre of Western Springs, and Theatre Wit. Films: Dead in the Water, Lac Du Flambeau, Something to Eat, and Tapioca. Eric Williams III (Sound Designer) has been performing, writing and producing music in and around Chicago for the past two decades. A Chicago native, Eric began playing professionally at the age of 17, at clubs like the Park West, Metro and Riviera as well as performing at events like the Taste of Chicago. In addition to performing, Eric began also exploring the technical side of the business becoming an accomplished engineer and producer. Eric’s work has been featured in the critically acclaimed feature film Straightman as well as television commercials for the WB network. Currently Eric works in Chicago as a freelance music producer and sound engineer, working with everyone from local music acts to national recording artists and celebrities. He has worked on events for Barack Obama, The Gift Theatre Company 5
B I O G R A P H I E S ( c o n t. ) Oprah Winfrey, Proctor and Gamble and is thrilled to be working with The Gift Theatre. Morgan McCabe (Costume Designer / Properties Coordinator) has been working in regional and international theatres for over 50 years as a performer, director, designer, dramaturg, producer, administrator, consultant, and educator, and also does on-camera and voice-over work. She has worked with various Chicago and regional theatres including: Collaboraction, Lifeline, SITI Company Associates, Chicago Dramatists, Stage Left, Madison Rep, The Gift, Lookingglass, Next, Apple Tree, Court, Victory Gardens, Glass Onion, Absolute Shakespeare and the Vienna English Theatre. Taree Chadwick (Stage Manager) graduated in December with a BFA in Theatre from Columbia College Chicago. Some recent credits as Stage Manager include Floyd Collins, Chicago, and Buried Child all at Columbia. Outside of Columbia, she most recently stage managed Steve Scott’s production of The Professional She is extremely happy for the opportunity to return to The Gift stage after filling in as Stage Manager for two weeks on their extended run of The Lonesome West. A special thanks to all those who support and nurture the arts. David Preis (Technical Director) has contributed his woodworking, general handyman, and all around technical expertise to The Gift since 2002, becoming Technical Director in 2006. He has worked as a luthier for nearly 30 years – making cellos and basses for Englehardt-Link, Inc. based in Elk Grove Village. David studied theatre and design at Illinois Wesleyan and has worked as the sound engineer for “The Night Crawlers,” a Chicago area blues band. Throughout the years, he has designed, built, and/or coordinated lighting, set, and sound for a number of Chicago area productions including critically acclaimed productions of Tango and Josephine, The Mouse Singer both at Chicago Actors Ensemble, Brick/Walls Open Spaces for Shakti Dance Company, Crying Woolf at Zebra Crossing Theatre, and Light Up the Sky at Gurnee Theatre Company. Michael Patrick Thornton (Artistic Director and Co-Founder of TheGift) Artistic director/ co-founder of The Gift Theatre Company, Michael recently directed John Conroy’s My Kind of Town for Steppenwolf’s First Look Festival as well as Of Mice and Men at Steppenwolf. Directing credits with The Gift: Stop/Kiss; Santa’s Great American Depression
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Holiday Show! America; White People; Three Sisters; Long Day’s Journey Into Night; Hurlyburly; A Young Man In Pieces; Language Of Angels; County Fair; and Orestes 2.0. Other directing: Natural Gas and Best of Second City Directors’ Showcase (Second City), the World Premieres of Sean Graney’s IS N UR B1UDS7REEM…and Mark Harvey Levine’s LA 8AM (Collaboraction Sketchbook) Picasso At The Lapin Agile (Noble Fool), and Julius Caesar (Crew Of Patches). Michael was a very grateful assistant director on Steppenwolf’s Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning August: Osage County. A Jeff Award-winning actor, Michael was most recently honored with a Jeff-Nomination for his performance in Gift’s Suicide, Incorporated. Other acting at The Gift: The Lonesome West, Natural Gas, The Ruby Sunrise, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, The Good Thief (Joseph Jefferson Award— Solo Performance, directed by Gift ensemble member John Gawlik), Gift’s inaugural production of Boys’ Life, (directed by Gift ensemble member Sheldon Patinkin) as well as the title role in Steppenwolf’s The Elephant Man; Cherry Docs (Next, directed by Kate Buckley); A Skull in Connemara (Northlight—After Dark Award: Best Production, directed by B.J. Jones); The Day Maggie Blew Off Her Head (Serendipity); Flanagan’s Wake! (Noble Fool) and a San Antonio tour of Zoo Story. Michael is a graduate of The School at Steppenwolf, The Second City Conservatory, The Second City Directing Program, and has trained at the iO Improv Program and under Mick Napier at Annoyance. Michael teaches at Second City, The School at Steppenwolf, and Columbia College and regularly improvises with Natural Gas and with Susan Messing in Messing With A Friend and Thornton & Messing. Michael’s plays have been workshopped in New York through Young Playwrights, Inc. and in Chicago through Second City. His creative non-fiction has been published in Third Coast Press, The Packingtown Review and he is a frequent contributor to “The Paper Machete.” Awards/distinctions: Chicago Finalist: National Shakespeare Contest (MitziNewhouse Theatre; Lincoln Center); Northlight’s Jack Springer Award for Outstanding Performance; The Tim Meier & Helen Coburn Meier Foundation Achievement Award; The Second City Foundation’s Jim Zulevic Chicago Arts Award; The Joseph Jefferson Award for Solo Performance; and induction into The St. Patrick High School Hall of Fame. Michael plays Dr. Gabriel Fife on ABC’s Private Practice, appears in FOX’s The Chicago Code and will appear onstage at Steppenwolf this summer in Middletown. He lives blissfully in the Jefferson Park with his wife, Lindsey.
DONORS THANKS FOR GIVING US A HAND IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE! The Gift Theatre Company would like to thank the following individuals and organizations for “giving a gift of themselves” to us. This list reflects gifts received from January 1, 2009 through May 14, 2011. If you have a correction or you would prefer to remain anonymous, please call 773-283-7071. And a HUGE thank you to all of our loyal and generous subscribers and a wholehearted welcome to all of our new 2011 subscribers. We gratefully rely on your continuing support. LOCAL BUSINESS SPONSORS The Gale Street Inn A. Saccone & Sons LEADING BENEFACTORS Frank & Rita Thornton $10,000 - $25,000 The Alphawood Foundation The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation $5,000 - $9,999 The Gaylord & Dorothy Donnelley Foundation Marty Gannon & Gannon Graphics $3,000 - $4,999 Ryan J. Christoi Ronald Greene Memorial Fund Mike & Tina Valenti $1,000 - $2,999 Douglas Brown Chicago City Arts Dr. Gerry & Maureen Gawlik Dawn & Rick Gray George Karzas Illinois Arts Council Brian Wilson
$100 - $999 Anonymous (1) Frank & Sandy Barlag John & Gina Brahm Paul Botts Mike & Diane Christoi Covert Creative Group Ann Dalton Mary Desler Tom & Colleen Doyle Andrew Hinderaker Molly King Guy Massey Dan & Cathy McHugh Patrick & Marietta Mullane Bill Mulliken William Nedved Janis Olausson Norman Patinkin Maureen & Christoph PayneHahner Neal Robinson Carrie Schloss Karen Schneider Carla Scott Christa-Marie Singleton Craig Steadman Arlene Tengel Jerry Thornton Shannon Wallace Terry & Kathy Xaverius Mary Ann Zgaljic & Bill Rowe Shannon Wallace
$1 - $99 Ida Goldberger Matthew Hinderaker Tom Lembo Eileen McNulty Grace Moran Kathleen O’Shea Madelyn Sergel Brendan Steadman Mike Villanueva Mark Walzak Seymour Zitomersky – By Theresa Barker In-Kind Alexis Atwill Billy & Georgene Cole Gabriel Franken Phil Hanes Tony V. Martin Photography Jia Mei David Preis The Gift Ensemble Whole Foods Market Interns Kelly Ahlfeld Chelsea Gulbransen Benjamin Hendren Hannah Rigsby
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TO N A M E A F E W : P R O D U C T I O N S B R O U G H T TO YO U B Y T H E G I F T A Young Man In Pieces
W;t
(World Premiere) By William Nedved Dir. Michael Patrick Thornton May 20—June 27, 2004 National Pastime Theatre
By Margaret Edson Dir. by John Gawlik May 29—July 27, 2008 Joseph Jefferson Award Nominations: Production Play-Midsize; Actress in a Leading Role— Alexandra Main; Lighting Design- Midsize—John Horan
Hurlyburly By David Rabe Dir. Michael Patrick Thornton Jan. 5—Feb. 18, 2006 Joseph Jefferson Citation—Actor in a Leading Role—Paul D’Addario
The Good Thief By Conor McPherson Dir. by John Gawlik May 18—July 1, 2006 Joseph Jefferson Award—Solo Performance— Michael Patrick Thornton
Blithe Spirit By Noel Coward Dir. John Gawlik Jan. 18—Mar. 11, 2007
Talk Radio By Eric Bogosian Dir. M. Payne-Hahner April 2—May 31, 2009 Joseph Jefferson Award Nomination—Scene Designer-Midsize—Courtney O’Neill
The Ruby Sunrise (Chicago Premiere) By Rinne Groff Dir. John Gawlik July 9—Sept. 27, 2009Theatre on the Lake July 2010 Top Ten of 2009 TimeOut Chicago
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
The Beauty Queen of Leenane By Martin McDonagh Dir. Sheldon Patinkin June 14—Aug. 5, 2007 Joseph Jefferson Award Nomination— Actress in a Leading Role—Mary Ann Thebus
White People By J.T. Rogers Dir. Michael Patrick Thornton Jan. 3—Mar. 1, 2008 Joseph Jefferson Award Nomination—Sound Design-Midsize—Miles Polaski
The Last Days of Judas Iscariot By Steven Adly Guirgis Dir. Kevin Christopher Fox Mar. 19—May 18, 2008 & Victory Gardens Greenhouse June 12— July 20, 2008
By Dale Wasserman Dir. John Kelly Connolly Mar. 11—May 9, 2010 Joseph Jefferson Award Nomination—Sound Design—Miles Polaski
Suicide, Incorporated (World Premiere) By Andrew Hinderaker Dir. by Jonathan Berry June 10—Oct. 10, 2010 Joseph Jefferson Award Nominations: Actor in Supporting Role—Michael Patrick Thornton; New Work- Play—Andrew Hinderaker
The Lonesome West By Martin McDonagh Dir. Sheldon Patinkin Oct. 28, 2010—Jan. 30, 2011 Jeff Recommendation
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MOST WEDNESDAY NIGHTS @ 8:00PM ONLY $5.00! AT THE GIFT! ForF oreservations info, please r re s e r v a t i oor n smore or mo re i n f o , p l ecall ase call 7 7 3 - 2 8 3 - 7or 0 7go 1 oto r gwww.thegifttheatre.org o t o w w w. t h e g i f t t h e a t re . o rg 773-283-7071
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