MAGAZINE
the break of noon
From the Producing Director
WELCOME TO THE GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE Years ago, when we began our working relationship with Neil LaBute, we were unsure how audiences would react to his stark and often dark portrayals of humankind. It turned out that his voice was exactly what our audiences had been seeking. Fat Pig extended to sold-out audiences and we began one of the most rewarding relationships with an artist that we have had to date. Although he examines some of the more horrific aspects of people’s proclivities toward nastiness, he does so with an honesty and humor that is inevitably engrossing. In addition to Fat Pig we have seen this with Some Girl(s), Wrecks and now with this world premiere, The Break of Noon. This play is a labor of love for many reasons. First, we are thrilled to have Jo Bonney back at the Geffen after her exemplary direction of Fat Pig. In addition, we are pleased to be co-producing The Break of Noon with LaBute’s East Coast theater home, MCC. For us, the idea of being able to participate in the process of a new play by producing it in direct succession has become a major component of our new play development. In this way, the playwright and director are able to go back to work on a new play after seeing it grow as they only can in production. The lessons learned in the first staging of a new play are invaluable tools to the further growth of a piece. It must be said that Bonney and LaBute have once again assembled a stellar cast and design team. The ensemble includes Kevin Anderson, Tracee Chimo, Catherine Dent and John Earl Jelks. This complicated and emotional piece requires each of these actors to exercise the breadth of their talent and they have done so in spades. Add to this the environment created by Neil Patel (set designer), Emilio Sosa (costume designer), David Weiner (lighting designer), Darron L West (sound designer) and Justin Ellington (composer) for a production that hovers somewhere between our coldest realities and our most ethereal ideals. I have often said that one of our primary missions here at the Geffen is to create a home for artists. Neil LaBute and Jo Bonney have happily made the Geffen just that, and we are so pleased to welcome them back. See you at the theater,
Gilbert Cates Producing Director
PErFORMANCEs MAGAZINE P1
FROM THE CHAIRMAN FRANK G. MANCUSO
Happy New Year and welcome to Neil LaBute’s The Break of Noon, our first play of the new year. Mr. LaBute is a dear friend of the Geffen Playhouse and it is my pleasure to welcome him back. As we begin 2011, I’d like to take a moment to talk about our work in the community and the incredible growth in our education and outreach programs. We continue to work with low-income and underserved students, and thanks to the leadership of our Board member, Susan Mallory, we recently began working with veterans through a new partnership with New Directions, a non-profit organization that provides comprehensive services and support to thousands of veterans across Los Angeles County. Through our CREATE program, these veterans have been encouraged and inspired by the work on our stage and by the connections they’ve made with our staff and with one another. In addition to our work with veterans, we have teamed up with Urban Possibilities to create a special outreach program. Our alliance affords us the rare opportunity to expose at-risk men and women to world-class performances as part of the Geffen family – an opportunity most would never receive. Thank you for your continued support in helping us to provide hope and inspiration to those who need it most. One of the ways you can help fund these and other education and outreach programs is by supporting our annual Backstage at the Geffen gala. Please save the date - May 2, 2011 for this wonderful evening celebrating our art and supporting our education and outreach programs. This year we’re honoring Julie Andrews and CAA, and it’s sure to be a wonderful evening. It’s truly my favorite event of the year and I will look forward to seeing you there. For more information on this event and how to support these programs, please call Regina Miller at (310) 208-6500 ext. 112. On behalf of the entire Geffen Playhouse staff we wish you a very happy new year. Now sit back, relax and enjoy The Break of Noon.
Respectfully yours,
Frank G. Mancuso Chairman, Geffen Playhouse
BOARD OF DIRECTORS Frank G. Mancuso Chairman Gilbert Cates President Randall Arney Donald Berghoff Gene Block Harold A. Brown Suzanne Deal Booth † Mary Ann Cloyd Kirsten Combs Robert A. Daly † Dennis Doty John Ebey P2 PERFORMANCES MAGAZINe
Mark Fleischer David Geffen † Herbert M. Gelfand
Chairman Emeritus
Patricia L. Glaser Adi Greenberg Arthur Greenberg Martha Henderson Pamela Robinson Hollander Quincy Jones † Joan Kaloustian Jeffrey Katzenberg † Glorya Kaufman Michael B. Kong Dr. Gerald S. Levey carla malden
Karl Malden †* Susan Mallory Ginny Mancini Susanna Midnight Ron Meyer † Leslie Moonves † Jerry Moss † Ken Novice Steven A. Olsen Jerry Perenchio Bruce M. Ramer †
Richard Sherman Victoria Mann Simms † Andy Spahn Fred Specktor Steven Spielberg † Cynthia P. Stafford Howard Tenenbaum Steve Tisch † Dr. Charles E. Young
Founding Chairman
David Goldberg
Lawrence Ramer Loren Rothschild Linda Bernstein Rubin Teri Schwartz
LEGAL COUNSEL, LATHAM & WATKINS LLP
† Trustee * in memoriam
Chairman Emeritus
SATURDAY SCENE THEATER FOR KIDS OF ALL AGES
THE GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE PRESENTS
SATURDAY SCENE THEATER FOr families
On select Saturday mornings enjoy an interactive journey into the world of plays, music, puppetry and storytelling! Saturday mornings at 11am. Ages 3-103! story pirates
February 5, 2011
Story Pirates: Create-A-Show
Don’t just watch a play – write one! February 12, 2011
Romeo and Juliet
See this timeless classic abridged, kid-friendly and with your valentine! ROMEO AND JULIET
February 19, 2011
Funky Punks Circus Spectacular
The Troubies bring their own brand of mayhem to the Saturday Scene!
five more events through june!
More family-friendly shows and information: geffenplayhouse.com/family
FUNKY PUNKS CIRCUS SPECTACULAR
$10 tickets for kids! PErFORMANCEs MAGAZINE P3
Putting ‘faith’ into new plays BY AMY LEVINSON
Photo by Michael Lamont
Rick Cleveland’s My Buddy Bill
“The whole idea of faith is interesting to me, and I know I’ll write a play about faith sometime.” — Neil LaBute in interview for February 2008 production of Some Girl(s) in the Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater
The Geffen has faith in new
work as witnessed this passed year with the announcement of nine premieres (five world and four West Coast). But more than faith is required for new play development; additional time, space and resources must be part of the process. Enter the Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater. The Geffen Playhouse’s 2005 renovation launched with a series of questions posed to the theater’s stakeholders. What if you could dream big and have anything you wanted — a larger fly gallery, expanded wing space, acoustic excellence . . . the list goes on and on. On the top of everyone’s list was a second theater: a space for new play development where scripts could be workshopped for future productions. There would be P4 PERFORMANCES MAGAZINe
a focus on the experimental, giving the theater room to explore other forms and styles of theater. From this part of the collective dream, the Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater was born. Here are some facts that you may not know about the stunning space right next door. The floor, with removable pallets throughout, is a perfect footprint of the Gil Cates Theater stage. The concept allows for rehearsals in a space identical (at least in dimensions) to the stage space in the larger theater. The theater’s elegant design was based on the famous Piccolo Teatro in Italy, an idea spearheaded by Geffen Playhouse Production Manager Dan Ionazzi. Further, the theater was envisioned as a set designer’s dream with complete
flexibility in audience configuration that has already lead to performances in thrust, proscenium and tennis court seating with audience on opposite sides of the playing area. These are the so-called ‘nuts and bolts’ of the design, but what would this theater represent in relation to its larger counterpart? Now, five years into its renovated home, there has been extraordinary work emanating from within the Audrey, as it’s affectionately called. Rick Cleveland’s My Buddy Bill was the inaugural show, followed by works that included three Neil LaBute plays, a commissioned world premiere by Jane Anderson, the acclaimed musical Louis and Keely, and most recently Nora Ephron and Delia Ephron’s Love, Loss, and What I Wore. As with the Gil Cates Theater, the plays have run the gamut in terms of theme and scope. Some cabaret, such as Alan Cumming’s I Bought A Blue Car Today, and some far more interior and intimate such as Wrecks, which featured a very up-close Ed Harris. This is a place where diverse artists can find a creative home. Artistic needs and processes vary greatly from writer to writer; often, their creative needs are as different as the plays they write. In the case of Donald Margulies, it often means that he will close himself up in his office and write until he has material that he needs to hear read by actors. Often times the initial ‘draft’ that Margulies delivers is nothing more than a series of non-sequential scenes that he needs to break open. Jane Anderson, a twice Geffencommissioned writer, prefers to have a dramaturg or director read an early version and hammer things out prior to a first reading. After this initial meeting, she will go back into the room (where ultimately all writers must return) and write a new draft. Our esteemed playwright of the evening, Neil LaBute, shows up with a finished play ready to
the break of noon
like the first peals of laughter from a crowd. These invaluable reactions are the tools that artists need to hone their craft, and so when the Geffen speaks of a home base for writers, the patrons are an essential part of that home — the family who tells it like it is, as it were. The Geffen Playhouse’s mission includes a dedication to expanding the canon of dramatic literature. Apart from being a fundamental part of the Geffen’s artistic mission though, it is one of the greatest joys of working in professional theater. To choose a writer to commission a play from an idea that doesn’t exist yet and then to invest in that play time, money, and faith is incredibly rewarding. Thus far, the Geffen Playhouse has helped bring to fruition Donald Margulies’ Tony Award nominated Time Stands Still, Jane Anderson’s acclaimed The Quality of Life and is currently in process on Jane Anderson’s The Escort (which opens in April of this year). As we delve into 2011, there is no doubt this space is already serving one of its primary purposes. The announced season in the Audrey included the West Coast premiere of Love, Loss, and What I Wore, the world premiere of Dick Van Dyke — Step in Time! — A
Musical Memoir, the world premiere of David Wiener’s Extraordinary Chambers and the second production of the new play, In Mother Words. Although Step In Time was unable to open due to an injury suffered by Mr. Van Dyke, it is a testament to the space that this is where he felt at home enough to share his story. With In Mother Words, originally read by a small group of actors in the spring of 2009, the Audrey is giving life to a whole new set of stories – personal yet universal tales about motherhood. In the spring, the Audrey will give Extraordinary Chambers the opportunity to envelop audiences with a beautiful tale of how two couples cope with the consequences of the past and the opportunities of the future. Giving voices to these stories – and ultimately the artists who create them – is precisely why the Audrey was built. While it’s likely that Neil LaBute will want to return to the Audrey, a space he loves to work in, we are thrilled to finally have a play of his on the Gil Cates stage. Subscriptions to and more information on Audrey shows are available at geffenplayhouse.com/Audrey
Ed Harris in Neil LaBute’s Wrecks
Photo by Michael Lamont
go into production. He then rewrites like mad during the rehearsal process, as do Anderson and Margulies, but his most aggressive rewrites seem to occur inside the production calendar. In fact, the work you are seeing tonight is undoubtedly different than the version of this play that our co-producers, MCC Theater, did in New York less than two months ago. With that said, Neil can also ruminate on an idea for years. When he directed his play Some Girl(s) in the Audrey he discussed his relationship to faith — a relationship that would serve as one of the central ideas in The Break of Noon. He said in an interview, “The whole idea of faith is interesting to me, and I know I’ll write a play about it sometime. You can’t put your finger on it, it’s such a crazy notion that we rest so much of our lives on something we can’t tangibly touch. But we so want to, we want some evidence, show me a sign. And you’ll wait for years for that sign, and when it doesn’t come, can you still have faith?” Sometimes the seeds are planted for these plays when writers least expect it. As you can glean, no two writers are the same, no two processes are the same and, thankfully, no two plays are the same. The Audrey was created with these artistic idiosyncrasies in mind. The space requires intimacy for readings but capacity and grandeur for full-scale production. Just as theaters put faith into new playwrights, we must also put faith in the audience. A living, breathing artistic endeavor cannot be created in a vacuum. Plays require an audience in order to become theater. What can be learned from those watching a play is invaluable to the writing process. Nothing speaks volumes like the rustling of audience members to indicate boredom, or the profound silences suggesting rapt attention. After weeks of rehearsal and tech, nothing buoys tired actors and nervous playwrights
PErFORMANCEs MAGAZINE P5
Gilbert Cates PRODUCING DIRECTOR
Randall Arney ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Ken Novice MANAGING DIRECTOR
THE GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE and
mcc theater Robert LuPone and Bernard Telsey Artistic Directors • William Cantler ASSOCIATE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR Blake West Executive director
present
Written by
Neil LaBute Scenic Design
Sound Design
Stephen Gabis and Paul Wagar Production Stage Manager
Christina Lowe
David Weiner
ESosa
Darron L West Dialect Coaches
Lighting Design
Costumes by
Neil Patel
Original Music
Special Effects
Justin Ellington
Matthew Holtzclaw
Fight Choreographer
Wig Design
Bo Foxworth
Assistant Stage Manager
Jennifer Brienen
J. Jared Janas and Rob Greene Casting
Telsey + Company
Directed by
Jo Bonney Recipient of an “Edgerton Foundation New American Plays” Award Presenting Sponsor
Opening Night: February 2, 2011 O P ENING NIGHT S P ON S ORED B Y :
P6 PERFORMANCES MAGAZINe
Los Angeles Casting
Phyllis Schuringa
the break of noon
cast of characters John Smith.................................................................................................................. Kevin Anderson Jenny/Gigi.................................................................................................................. Tracee Chimo Ginger/Jesse............................................................................................................. Catherine Dent Lawyer/Detective.................................................................................................... John Earl Jelks
Time Now
Setting
In and around a big city
Running Time
Approximately 90 minutes There will be no intermission
The Geffen Playhouse gratefully acknowledges the following media sponsors for their generous support of The Break of Noon.
The Geffen Playhouse is supported, in part, by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Arts Commission. This project was also funded in part by the Department of Cultural Affairs, City of Los Angeles. The Geffen Playhouse, a non-profit theater company, is proudly affiliated with the University of California at Los Angeles.
PErFORMANCEs  MAGAZINE P7
WHO’S WHO IN THE CAST ABOUT THE PLAYERS
KEVIN ANDERSON (John Smith) Kevin Anderson just returned from London’s West End and Dublin as Andy Dufresne in the new stage adaptation of The Shawshank Redemption. An ensemble member since 1984, other plays at Steppenwolf include the recent Detroit, I Never Sang for My Father, Our Town, Three Sisters, Earthly Possessions and Orphans, which took him to New York (Theatre World Award), London’s West End and eventually the movie with Albert Finney. Other Chicago credits include A Guide for the Perplexed (Victory Gardens); Pal Joey and Death of a Salesman (The Goodman); among others. Broadway and offBroadway include Come Back Little Sheba (Outer Critics nomination), Death of a Salesman (Outer Critics and Drama Desk awards, Tony® nomination), the musical Brooklyn, Orpheus Descending, Moonchildren, Brilliant Traces, The Red Address, Speaking in Tongues and Summer and Smoke. Other London theatre credits include the original Joe Gillis in Sunset Boulevard and Dinner with Friends. Some of his films include Charlotte’s Web, Miles from Home, In Country, Sleeping with the Enemy, Liebestraum, Hoffa, The Night We Never Met, Rising Sun, Firelight, A Thousand Acres, Eye of God, Doe Boy and the new Al Pacino docu-drama Wilde Salome. Cable films include Orpheus Descending, The Wrong Man, Hunt for the Unicorn Killer, Ruby’s Bucket of Blood, Monday Night Mayhem and Power and Beauty. He starred in the TV series Nothing Sacred, which earned him a Golden Globe nomination.
P8 PERFORMANCES MAGAZINe
TRACEE CHIMO (Jenny/Gigi) Tracee Chimo was last seen at Second Stage as Regan in Bachelorette. Broadway: Irena’s Vow. Off-Broadway: Circle Mirror Transformation (Lucille Lortel nom. for Outstanding Featured Actress, Obie and Drama Desk awards for Outstanding Ensemble Performance). Regional: Sundance ’08, Humana Festival/Actors Theatre of Louisville, Cleveland Play House and Philadelphia Theatre Company. TV: Guest star in the FX series Louie and Guiding Light. Film: Evening, What Would Jesus Do?, Daughters of Liberty and Wasted Time. Last year Tracee was honored by actress Marian Seldes and The O’Neill Studio, where she studied, with the Eugene O’Neill Award for her work in Irena’s Vow.
CATHERINE DENT (Ginger/Jesse) Catherine Dent made her film debut as Paul Newman’s daughter-in-law in Nobody’s Fool. Other feature film roles include Auto Focus, The Majestic, The Replicant, Someone Like You, 21 Grams and the upcoming Carjacked. Best known for the seven seasons she played Officer Danny Sofer on the award-winning FX series The Shield, she also starred in the award-winning Spielberg miniseries Taken. Numerous other television credits include The Sopranos, Law & Order: SVU, Frasier, CSI, The X-Files, Grey’s Anatomy, Lie to Me and most recently Law & Order: LA, The Closer and NCIS to name only a few. Broadway: Uncle Vanya. Regional Theatre: The Country, The Street of the Sun, Bang the Drum Slowly, Baby Doll and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Ms. Dent, a native of Louisiana, graduated from the North Carolina School of the Performing Arts.
JOHN EARL JELKS (Lawyer/Dectective) John Earl Jelks was nominated for a Tony Award for his performance as Sterling in August Wilson’s Radio Golf, which he also toured to the McCarter, Goodman, Center Stage, Seattle Rep., Mark Taper and Yale Rep. Jelks also appeared with Phylicia Rashad on Broadway in August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean as Citizen (after runs at the Goodman, Huntington and Mark Taper, where he won an NAACP Theatre Award and an Ovation Award). In 2008, Jelks won an AUDELCO Award for his work in the Off-Broadway revival of The First Breeze of Summer. Regional theatre: Fetch Clay, Make Man at the McCarter Theatre; the world stage premiere of The Shawshank Redemption at the Gaiety Theatre in Ireland; Magnolia at the Goodman Theatre; Joe Turner’s Come and Gone at Penumbra Theatre Company and Missouri Repertory Theatre. Recently, Jelks appeared as Detective Dillard in Spike Lee’s film Miracle at St. Anna. NEIL LaBUTE (Playwright) Neil LaBute received his Master of Fine Arts degree in dramatic writing from New York University and was the recipient of a literary fellowship to study at the Royal Court Theatre, London and also attended the Sundance Institute’s Playwrights Lab. His films include In the Company of Men (New York Critics’ Circle Award for Best First Feature and the Filmmaker Trophy at the Sundance Film Festival), Your Friends and Neighbors, Nurse Betty, Possession, The Shape of Things (a film adaptation of his play by the same title), The Wicker Man, Lakeview Terrace and Death at a Funeral. LaBute’s plays include bash: latterday plays, The Shape of Things, The Mercy Seat, The Distance From Here, Autobahn, Fat Pig (Olivier nomination for Best Comedy), Some Girl(s), This Is How It Goes, Wrecks, Filthy Talk for Troubled Times, In a Dark Dark House and reasons to be pretty (Tony Award nomination for Best Play). LaBute is also the author of Seconds of Pleasure, a collection of short fiction which was published by Grove Atlantic. His new play, In a Forest Dark and Deep, will open on London’s West End in 2011.
JO BONNEY (Director) Neil LaBute’s Fat Pig (MCC/Geffen Playhouse) and Some Girl(s) (MCC); Culture Clash’s American Night (Oregon Shakespeare Festival); Darci Picoult’s Lil’s 90th (Long Wharf Theatre); Suzan-Lori Parks’ Father Comes Home from the Wars (Public LAB); Naomi Wallace’s The Hard Weather Boating Party (Humana Festival) and The Fever Chart (Public Theater); Michael Weller’s Beast (New York Theatre Workshop); Alan Ball’s All That I Will Ever Be (NYTW); Eric Bogosian’s subUrbia, Charles Fuller’s A Soldier’s Play and Lisa Loomer’s Living Out (Second Stage); Will Power’s The Seven (NYTW & La Jolla Playhouse; Lortel Award, Best Musical); Christopher Shinn’s On the Mountain (Playwrights Horizons); Universes’ Slanguage (NYTW/Mark Taper Forum); Lanford Wilson’s Fifth of July (Signature Theatre; Lortel Award, Best Revival); José Rivera’s References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot (The Public Theater); Diana Son’s Stop Kiss (The Public Theater); Jessica Goldberg’s Good Thing (The New Group); John Osborne’s Look Back in Anger (CSC); Danny Hoch’s Some People and Jails, Hospitals & Hip-Hop (USA/Britain); numerous solos by Eric Bogosian (USA/Britain). Recipient of a 1998 Obie Award for Sustained Excellence of Direction and editor of Extreme Exposure: An Anthology of Solo Performance Texts from the Twentieth Century (TCG). Upcoming: Lynn Nottage’s By the Way, Meet Vera Stark (Second Stage). NEIL PATEL (Set Designer) MCC: 50 Words, Some Girl(s), The Mercy Seat, The Grey Zone. Broadway: Wonderland; Oleanna; [title of show]; Ring of Fire; Side Man; ’night, Mother. West End: Side Man, Underneath the Lintel. Off-Broadway: Dinner With Friends (Variety Arts Theatre), New York Theatre Workshop, The Public Theater, BAM, Manhattan Theatre Club, Roundabout, Playwrights Horizons, etc. Regional: Kennedy Center, Arena, Guthrie, Steppenwolf, CTG, ACT, A.R.T., Center Stage, etc. Opera: Opéra de Montréal, Vancouver Opera, New York City Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Minnesota Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Nikikai Opera Tokyo. International: RSC, Parco Tokyo, Theater Archa Prague, Hebbel Theater Berlin. Television/film: In Treatment(HBO), Alone. Dance: Shadowland (Pilobolus). 2000 EDDY Award; 1996, 2000, 2003, 2009 Drama Desk nominations; 1996 and 2001 Obies for sustained excellence, 2008 Helen Hayes Award.
the break of noon
WHO’S WHO IN THE CAST ABOUT THE PLAYERS ESOSA (Costume Designer) Broadway: Topdog/ Underdog (also London and regional theatres). OffBroadway: Juan and John, Father Comes Home from the Wars, Romeo and Juliet, The Story, Radiant Baby (all The Public Theater); Oroonoko and Ohio State Murders (Theatre for a New Audience); The Misanthrope, All That I Will Ever Be, The Seven and Eyewitness Blues (New York Theatre Workshop); and Trust, Crowns, Birdie Blue and Living Out (Second Stage Theatre). Regional: Twist (Alliance); American Night (OSF); Best of Both Worlds (A.R.T.); Fences (Geva Theatre); Adoration of the Old Woman and The Seven (La Jolla Playhouse); Turandot: The Rumble for the Ring, Ain’t Misbehavin’, Pippin and Once on this Island (Bay Street Theatre). 2003 AUDELCO Award. 2006 TDF/Irene Sharaff Young Master Award. Project Runway Season 7 Finalist. Upcoming projects include The Brothers Size at Seattle Rep; Ruined at Arena Stage; and By the Way, Meet Vera Stark at Second Stage. DAVID WEINER (Lighting Designer) The Break of Noon marks David’s ninth collaboration with director Jo Bonney and fourth with playwright Neil LaBute. Geffen Playhouse: Franny’s Way. MCC: reasons to be pretty (Broadway and Off-Broadway productions), Still Life, The Third Story and Some Girl(s). Broadway: Butley, Dinner at Eight (Lincoln Center Theater); Betrayal (Roundabout), The Real Thing. Recently, Venice (Center Theatre Group), Trust (Second Stage), American Night (Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Culture Clash), Equivocation (Manhattan Theatre Club), Ethan Coen’s Offices (Atlantic), Die Vogel (L.A. Opera). Other New York: Playwrights Horizons, The Public, Vineyard, New York Theatre Workshop, Theatre for a New Audience, Culture Project. Opera: Los Angeles Opera, Bard Summerscape. Regional: Center Theatre Group, The Guthrie, La Jolla Playhouse, Baltimore Center Stage, The Alley, McCarter Theatre, Huntington Theatre Company, American Repertory Theatre, Pasadena Playhouse, Williamstown, Cincinnati Playhouse, A.C.T. Seattle, New York Stage & Film, Berkeley Repertory Theatre. www.DavidWeinerDesign.com JUSTIN ELLINGTON (Composer) Justin Ellington is thrilled to work with the Geffen Playhouse, director Jo Bonney and an amazing team on Neil LaBute’s The Break of Noon. Mr. Ellington’s theatre credits include The Pride (MCC); Shakespeare’s As You Like It (Stratford Shakespeare
Festival); Fetch Clay, Make Man (McCarter Theatre); Jitney (Kenny Leon’s True Colors Theatre); The Seven (New York Theatre Workshop); Five Fingers of Funk (Children’s Theatre Company); Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night or What You Will (Bristol Riverside Theatre); Black Nativity (Goodman Theatre/Congo Square); Conversations With Ice (Cosmic Theater Amsterdam); Soweto! Soweto! A Township is Calling (Freddie Hendricks); Topdog/Underdog (Alliance Theatre); King Hedley II, Shakespeare’s R&J and Ferdinand the Bull (Alliance Theatre); Class of 3000 Live! (Alliance Theatre/Cartoon Network). DARRON L WEST (Sound Designer) His work has been heard in over 400 Broadway, Off-Broadway, national and international productions. Currently represented on Broadway by Time Stands Still. His accolades include the Lortel and AUDELCO Awards, the Princess Grace, the Obie Award, the Entertainment Design magazine EDDY Award and a two-time winner of the Henry Hewes Design Award. Former Resident Sound Designer for Actors Theatre of Louisville and the Williamstown Theatre Festival. His directing credits include Kid Simple for the 2004 Humana New Play Festival, Big Love for Austin’s Rude Mechs (Austin Critics Table Award Best Director) and SITI’s War of the Worlds The Radio Play and Radio Macbeth. Founding Member of Anne Bogart’s SITI Company.
Roll, Coram Boy, Journey’s End, The Woman in White, Wicked, Noises Off, Art. Off-Broadway: The Pride (MCC); Mother Courage, Hamlet, The Book of Grace, Why Torture Is Wrong…, The Singing Forest, The Good Negro (The Public Theater); Bernarda Alba, Dessa Rose, Belle Epoque, A Man of No Importance (Lincoln Center); Ruined (MTC); Beast (NY Theatre Workshop); Homebody/Kabul (BAM). Thank you Seth and Gersh. B.D. WHITE (Production Manager) MCC: The Break of Noon, The Pride, Still Life, Coraline, The Third Story, Fifty Words, A Very Common Procedure, Nixon’s Nixon, Some Girl(s), Frozen, Fat Pig, Runt of the Litter, A Letter From Ethel Kennedy, The Mercy Seat, Scattergood, Intrigue With Faye, Bright Ideas, The Distance From Here, The Wooden Breeks, In a Dark Dark House, Grace and reasons to be pretty. Other Off-Broadway credits include The Milliner, Temporary Help, Cheat, Hard Feelings, Aloha Las Vegas, Birth of the Boom, The Strange Case of Mary Todd Lincoln, Bitter Lemon, Nuyorican Stories, Night of the Assassins, St. Lucy’s Eyes, Leaving Queens, Underneath the Lintel, Sophie Tottie and Bell, Songs of Paradise, Buicks, Monsieur Ibrahim andhe Flowers of the Koran and several productions at Theatreworks USA. Brian has also toured with Jam on the Groove, the Hip-Hop Dance Musical and the Elevator Repair Service production of Gatz.
MATTHEW HOLTZCLAW (Special Effects) Matthew Holtzclaw has been recognized as one of the top performers and technicians in the world of magic and special effects. Currently he is working on the OffBroadway premiere of Play Dead directed by Teller, and his own magic show, Strange Things. Broadway: Finian’s Rainbow. Other credits include Penn & Teller Live at the Rio (Las Vegas), Macbeth (dir. Teller; Two River Theater Company/Folger Theatre, D.C.), Dracula (Illinois State University), Pippin (Illinois Wesleyan University), Julius Caesar (Bushwick Shakespeare Rep), Haunted Poe (The Brat, Philadelphia). TV: Law & Order: Criminal Intent. As playwright/ producer: Red Head (New York International Fringe Festival 2003), Cane’s Bayou (New York International Fringe Festival 2004).
CHRISTINA LOWE (Production Stage Manager) Off-Broadway: MCC: The Break of Noon; Classic Stage Company: Venus in Fur directed by Walter Bobbie, An Oresteia, and The Tempest with Mandy Patinkin. Public Theater: Father Comes Home From the Wars (Parts 1 & 8) written by Suzan-Lori Parks, directed by Jo Bonney, The Fever Chart by Naomi Wallace directed by Jo Bonney, The Bacchae (Workshop), Durango by Julia Cho directed by Chay Yew (ASM). Lincoln Center Theater: Open Stages’ Production of Macbeth, LCT Directors Lab 2008 & 2009; NY International Fringe Festival: The Hurricane Katrina Comedy Festival, Kaddish (or the Key in the Window) Directed by Kim Weild. Rattlestick Playwrights Theater; Rag and Bone & Stay. Regional: ART, Hartford Stage Company, Paper Mill Playhouse & Trinity Repertory Company.
THOMAS SCHALL (Fight Director) Broadway: over 30 productions including A Free Man of Color, The Merchant of Venice, A View From the Bridge, Time Stands Still, After Miss Julie, Mary Stuart, Waiting for Godot, The Seafarer, Rock ‘N’
Jennifer Brienen (Assistant Stage Manager) Geffen Playhouse: Third, Atlanta, Joan Rivers: A Work in Progress by a Life in Progress, The Seafarer, Farragut North, Matthew Modine Saves The Alpacas, The Female of the Species, Nightmare Alley, Thurgood,
Ruined. The Kennedy Center: Thurgood. Center Theatre Group: Dead End (Ahmanson Theatre); Water & Power, 13, Yellow Face, Pippin (Mark Taper Forum); Sleeping Beauty Wakes, Two Unrelated Plays by David Mamet, Of Equal Measure, This Beautiful City (Kirk Douglas Theatre). Other Los Angeles: Once On This Island (Reprise Theatre Company); Nine Circles (Ojai Playwrights Conference); Stephen Sondheim’s 75th: The Concert (Hollywood Bowl); Rapture (Hysterica Dance Company); Paheliyan – The Story of Alice (blue13 Dance Company at the Ford Amphitheatre). Education: BFA, University of Southern California. TELSEY + COMPANY (Casting – New York) Broadway/tours: Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, The Addams Family, Race, Memphis, Superior Donuts, Next to Normal, Rock of Ages, South Pacific, In the Heights, Wicked, Rent, Legally Blonde, The Color Purple. Peep Show and Bette Midler in Vegas. OffBroadway: Atlantic, Signature. Film: Jonah Hex, Main Street, 17 Photos of Isabel, I Love You Phillip Morris, Rachel Getting Married, Sex and the City, Dan in Real Life, Then She Found Me, Across the Universe, Ira & Abby, Rent, Pieces of April, Camp, The Grey Zone, Finding Forrester, The Bone Collector. TV: Ugly Betty(pilot), Whoopi, HBO’s Undefeated, commercials. MCC THEATER (Producer) The MCC Theater was founded in 1986 by Artistic Directors Robert LuPone and Bernard Telsey with the mission of bringing new theatrical voices to New York audiences. Along with Associate Artistic Director William Cantler and Executive Director Blake West, MCC Theater accomplishes this through three interrelated programs: a three-play Off-Broadway season committed to New York, American and world premieres; a Literary Department that nurtures new and emerging writers; and an Education & Outreach Department which brings theater to nearly 1,200 NYC high school students each year. This mission is rooted in the belief that every artist — whether a student in the MCC Theater Youth Company or an experienced playwright in the Mainstage season — has a voice that is waiting to be heard. As a not-forprofit theater, MCC Theater is able to take risks on tough, engrossing plays that investigate the issues and morality of our times, such as Bryony Lavery’s Frozen (four Tony Award nominations including Best Play, Award for Best Featured Actor), Tim Blake Nelson’s The Grey Zone (four Obie Awards), Margaret Edson’s Wit (1999 Pulitzer Prize), Rebecca Gilman’s The Glory of Living PErFORMANCEs MAGAZINE P9
WHO’S WHO IN THE CAST ABOUT THE PLAYERS (2002 Pulitzer Prize finalist) and Neil LaBute’s reasons to be pretty (three 2009 Tony Award nominations including Best Play), Some Girl(s), Fat Pig and The Mercy Seat. To facilitate this work, MCC Theater envisions itself as a home where artists are empowered to do their best by giving them artistic freedom, a strong sense of community and full institutional support. With each season, the impressive list of artists who work at MCC Theater continues to grow, and many of the plays first produced by MCC Theater continue to be performed around the world. www.mcctheater.org Phyllis Schuringa (Casting Director – Los Angeles) Phyllis is in her seventh season as Casting Director at the Geffen Playhouse. Recent plays include: Equivocation, Matthew Modine Saves the Alpacas, Farragut North, The Seafarer, Time Stands Still, By the Waters of Babylon, The Quality of Life and Third. Prior to the Geffen, Phyllis served as casting director for the Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago. Her favorites include Frank Galati’s adaptation of The Grapes of Wrath (also La Jolla Playhouse, National Theatre in London, and Broadway, where it received the Tony Award for Best Play), the original production of Steve Martin’s Picasso at the Lapin Agile (and subsequent productions including Westwood Playhouse and Briar Street Theater in Chicago), Austin Pendleton’s Orson’s Shadow and Charles L. Mee’s Time to Burn. Broadway transfers include One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (Tony for Best Revival) and The Song of Jacob Zulu. She teaches auditioning at Steppenwolf West. AMY LEVINSON (Dramaturg) Amy Levinson is the Literary Manager and Dramaturg of the Geffen Playhouse. Her dramaturgy credits at the Geffen Playhouse include The Weir, Looking for Normal, Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks, Under The Blue Sky, Rose and Walsh, Boy Gets Girl, I Just Stopped By To See The Man, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Third, The Quality of Life and Equivocation among others. Also a translator of Yiddish drama, she holds an MFA in Dramaturgy from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, where she taught until 1997. She has worked in literary offices at Hartford Stage and The Mark Taper Forum.
P10 PERFORMANCES MAGAZINe
GILBERT CATES (Producing Director) Gilbert Cates is recognized as a leader in television, film and theater. Currently presiding as the Producing Director of the Geffen Playhouse, he is dedicated to enriching the Los Angeles theatrical spectrum by presenting the finest in contemporary and classical theater. In November 1996, Cates was the recipient of the Jimmy Dolittle Award for Outstanding Contribution to Los Angeles Theater. He received the 1999 Ovation Award for best play for Collected Stories, starring Linda Lavin and Samantha Mathis, which he directed at the Geffen. The accolades for Cates expand into other areas of the entertainment industry. He produced and directed the 1970 film version of the Broadway hit I Never Sang for My Father, starring Melvyn Douglas, Gene Hackman and Estelle Parsons. The movie earned three Academy Award nominations. Cates also directed Joanne Woodward and Sylvia Sidney in the 1973 film Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams, which received two Oscar nominations. Other film directing credits include: The Promise, One Summer Love, The Last Married Couple in America, Oh! God Book II and Backfire. He further distinguished himself as director and/or producer of a number of television dramatic specials. These include NBC’s 1972 Emmy Awardwinning To all My Friends on Shore, starring Bill Cosby, ABC’s 1974 The Affair starring Natalie Wood and Robert Wagner, NBC’s 1975 After the Fall starring Faye Dunaway and Christopher Plummer. Other credits include: Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye, The Kid from Nowhere, County Gold, Faerie Tale Theater’s Rapunzel and Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Hobson’s Choice, Burning Rage, Consenting Adults, Fatal Judgment, Do You Know the Muffin Man, Call Me Anna, Absolute Strangers, In My Daughter’s Name, and Tom Clancy’s Netforce (Cates directed James Agee’s A Death in the Family for Masterpiece Theater’s American Collection of PBS and Donald Margulies’ Collected Stories for PBS Hollywood Presents). In September 2002, he directed David Eldridge’s Under the Blue Sky for The Geffen
Playhouse and directed Cat on a Hot Tin Roof in 2005, the inaugural production in the newly-renovated Geffen Playhouse. In February 2007 he directed Jeffrey Hatcher’s A Picasso in the Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater. He served two terms as President of the Directors Guild of America from 1983 to 1987. In 1989, he received the Guild’s Robert B. Aldrich Award for extraordinary service and, in 1991, he received the DGA’s Honorary Life Membership. He also served as Dean of the UCLA School of Theater Film and Television (which he founded) from 1990—1998. In 2008, Cates produced the 80 th Annual Academy Awards show for ABC, his 14th occasion producing the Awards, for which he has already garnered 84 nominations and 17 Emmy Awards. Mr Cates was born in New York City and attended Syracuse University. Married to Dr. Judith Reichman, he has four children, two stepchildren and six grandchildren.
RANDALL ARNEY (Artistic Director) Randall begins his eleventh season as Artistic Director at the Geffen where he has directed The Female of the Species, The Seafarer, Atlanta, David Mamet’s Speed-The-Plow, Arthur Miller’s All My Sons, Richard Greenberg’s Take Me Out, Stephen Jeffreys’ I Just Stopped by to See the Man, Rebecca Gilman’s Boy Gets Girl, David Rambo’s God’s Man in Texas and Conor McPherson’s The Weir. An ensemble member of Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre Company in 1984, Arney also acted as the company’s artistic director from 1987 to 1995. Broadway transfers under his leadership include The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, The Song of Jacob Zulu (six Tony Award nominations) and The Grapes of Wrath (Tony Award winner). Arney’s acting credits with Steppenwolf include Born Yesterday, Ghost in the Machine, The Homecoming, Frank’s Wild Years, You Can’t Take It With You, Fool for Love, Coyote Ugly, True West and Balm in Gilead. Film/TV credits include Normal, Weapons of Mass Distraction (both for HBO), Grey’s Anatomy (ABC) and Judging Amy (CBS).
KEN NOVICE (Managing Director) Prior to joining Geffen Playhouse Novice served as Managing Director and Director of External Affairs at Pasadena Playhouse. Prior to that he was Director of Marketing and Public Relations for San Diego’s Tony Award-winning Old Globe Theatre developing marketing and public relations programs for Jack O’Brien’s revival of Damn Yankees, the Tony Award-nominated musical The Full Monty, Henry IV starring John Goodman as well as the Tonynominated hit Play On! among many others. Novice’s credits also include marketing and public relations with the Tony Award-winning Denver Center Theater Company and New York’s Circle Repertory Company. As Director of Programming for YouthStream Media Networks he developed national marketing and public relations programs for major motion pictures from Columbia Pictures, DreamWorks S. K. G. , Buena Vista Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Fox Broadcasting, 20th Century Fox, MGM, New Line Cinema and Warner Brothers Pictures. He also managed Ken Novice Entertainment Marketing, working with such clients as The Salvation Army, Sephra Fountains LLC, and promotional partners including Warner Brothers, American Express and Gelson’s among others. Novice served as Head of Theatre Management for the California State University Long Beach theatre management M. F. A. /M. B. A. degree program and has been a guest lecturer at San Diego State University and the University of California, San Diego. He holds a B. A. from the Pennsylvania State University and an M. B. A. from San Diego State University.
the break of noon
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS PRODUCTION STAFF FOR THE BREAK OF NOON Deck Supervisor Dwayne Barnes Master Electrician darren rezowalli Sound Master james grabowski Wardrobe Supervisor leah a. lewis Production Assistant leia crawford Stage Crew brad ashten Assistant Lighting Designer David Sexton Associate Sound Designer M. Florian Staab Assistant Master Electrician Ryan Tirrell ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Lighting Equipment provided by Entertainment Lighting Services Sound Equipment provided by Jon Sound Inc. SPECIAL THANKS UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television Scene, Prop, Sound and Costume Shops, London Cleaners, peet’s coffee and tea UCLA SCHOOL OF THEATER, FILM AND TELEVISION The Geffen Playhouse is affiliated with the University of California at Los Angeles, specifically the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. The Geffen Playhouse values its role as an important educational resource by providing students with master classes, workshops and internships. Students are also able to work and learn from distinguished visiting Geffen artists such as Donald Margulies, Annette Bening, Terrence McNally, Alan Ayckbourn, David Mamet, David Ives and Jon Robin Baitz in areas of directing, playwriting, acting, design, dramaturgy, management and production. The Geffen Playhouse also draws upon the distinguished experts in the university to enhance the theater’s programs and research. The Actors and Stage Managers employed in this production are members of Actors’ Equity Association; The Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States. The Director is a member of the society of Stage Directors and Choreographers, Inc., an independent national labor union.
PErFORMANCEs MAGAZINE P11
SUBSCRIBE HE NOW FOR T ! TS A BEST SE SAVE OVER 10%!
proudly provocative
february 15 — may 1
in mother words On stage at
THE AUDREY SKIRBALL KENIS THEATER conceived by
susan rose & joan stein directed by
lisa peterson A mother of a good time!
world premiere
world premiere
march 29 — may 8
may 24 — july 3
may 31 — july 10
the escort
extraordinary chambers
superior donuts
an explicit play for discriminating people written by
jane anderson directed by
lisa peterson “My most dangerous work.” — Jane Anderson
On stage at
written by
THE AUDREY SKIRBALL KENIS THEATER
tracy letts
written by
randall arney
david wiener directed by
pam MacKinnon The ethics of survival for one American couple in present day Cambodia.
directed by
“Tremendously entertaining ... characteristically irreverent.” — USA Today
the break of noon
EXPANDING ON EDUCATION The Geffen Playhouse recently diversified and expanded its education and outreach programs. Knowing that exposure to the arts significantly improves the learning experience of all students across educational disciplines, the Geffen increased vital programming to serve more than 19,000 students, seniors and veterans last year. At a time when public and nonprofit arts education budgets are shrinking, this work becomes even more important. In the coming months, a series of articles and photographs in the Geffen Playhouse programs will highlight this work. The series begins with a look at one of these efforts: the Geffen Playhouse Story Pirates.
story pirates
An unsuspecting author’s story is announced.
The Geffen Playhouse Story Pirates
The Geffen Playhouse Story Pirates program was formally launched in the 2010/2011 season but has roots going back several years. Looking for ways to expand its in-school initiatives, the Geffen partnered in 2009 with the Story Pirates, a nationally recognized arts and literacy organization founded in New York in 2003. The program engages students in under-resourced public schools by showing them that their ideas, words and stories are important. The Geffen Playhouse Story Pirates program now visits over 20 Title One Los Angeles public schools each year in addition to performing for the general public as part of the Geffen Playhouse’s Saturday Scene program. This unprecedented educational effort proved so successful that it required additional space to organize the nearly daily in-school efforts. The Geffen Playhouse Kinross Annex was unveiled on November 5, 2010 in the heart of Westwood Village. The Annex serves as headquarters for the Geffen Playhouse Story Pirates to rehearse their in-school creative writing and drama programs. The Annex is also home to a variety of classes, performances written by local school children and workshops that are open to the community.
JOIN THE FUN!
Any child under twelve years old may submit a story to the Geffen Playhouse Story Pirates! Information on submitting new stories can be found at geffenplayhouse.com/story. “The Geffen Playhouse Story Pirates Program is an experience our students will never forget. They were captivated by the Story Pirates’ ability to bring the students’ ideas and stories to life on stage... many of these youngsters will use the inspiration they found from your programs to inspire them to attend college.” — Dennis Hagen-Smith, 5th grade teacher, Toluca Lake Elementary
“Our students loved this program! After completing the Geffen Playhouse Story Pirates workshops, their attitudes and skills in creative writing, reading, using their imaginations and expressing themselves improved A LOT.” — Michael Popovac, 3rd grade teacher, Braddock Drive Elementary
“Our school children never have the opportunity to see their creativity their own stories - transformed into a live performance. This greatly inspired and motivated them. For them, the Geffen Playhouse Story Pirates created an authentic purpose for writing. The program increased their vocabulary, writing skills, and exposed them to totally new experiences and thinking.” — Elizabeth Martinez, 3rd grade teacher, Lorena Street Elementary
PErFORMANCEs MAGAZINE P13
SIGNATURE SERIES SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT
Nestled deep in Malibu’s Santa Monica Mountains is the sprawling 1,000acre Saddlerock Ranch, home to Malibu Family Wines. Visitors may recognize the vineyard and unusual rock formations from over 100 movies, commercials and television shows filmed here. The estate is also home to dozens of horses and exotic animals and a popular weekend setting for weddings and special events. Today, the vineyards consist of approximately 60,000 vines on 65 acres, with expansion plans to reach 100,000 vines. With the high altitude and separation from the coast, along with an ideal blend of weather conditions and rich, rocky soil, it’s the perfect environment for growing premium wine grapes. We graciously thank Malibu Family Wines for their continued support of numerous Geffen Playhouse special events including Opening Nights, Girls Night Out at the Geffen and Wine Down Sundays. From our family to yours, we raise our glass and say THANK YOU !
Shouldn’t Life Be More Play-Full?
Attend one of our Signature Series and enjoy the FREE festivities with your ticket purchase. Event details at geffenplayhouse.com/signatureseries
P14 PERFORMANCES MAGAZINe
Where Sunset Boulevard meets the 405.
WEST boasts a stylish setting high atop the Hotel Angeleno with panoramic views of Los Angeles through floor-to-ceiling windows. A California fresh Italian steakhouse with menus featuring prime dry aged steaks, chops and roasts with traditional pastas and small plates. The innovative wine program has a varied selection of Italian and California wines for the perfect pairing for every dish. The bar and lounge offers specialty cocktails and live entertainment to enjoy in this cool relaxed space. Inspired by the love of Italian cooking, tradition and wine, the menu at WEST invites the natural essence of the ingredients to come through with California’s fresh farmer’s market produce and Italian influences. We graciously thank WEST at Hotel Angeleno for their continued support of numerous Geffen Playhouse special events including Girls Night Out at the Geffen and Lounge Fridays. We are thrilled that WEST will be our exclusive restaurant partner for all Lounge Fridays events for the remainder of the 2010/11 season! We welcome you to join us at these events at the Geffen to experience the unique and delicious menus that the WEST team will provide. From our family to yours, we say THANK YOU!
Unwind and enjoy delicious culinary delights courtesy of WEST at Hotel Angeleno served pre-show with complimentary champagne. The Break of Noon
The Escort
Superior Donuts
February 18
April 22
June 24
February 25
April 29
July 1
and
and
and
Event details at geffenplayhouse.com/signatureseries PErFORMANCEs MAGAZINE P15
SCENE AT THE GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE Opening Night of Maestro: The Art of Leonard Bernstein Sponsored by Los Angeles magazine
Artistic Director Randy Arney, Julian Sands, Board member Pamela Robinson Hollander and Robert Hollander
Geffen Playhouse supporter Dora Kadisha with her sisters, Daphna Salimpour and Dalia Sassouni
Monty Hall, Hershey Felder, Marilyn Hall and Chairman of the Board Frank Mancuso
Board member Joan Kaloustian, Heather Robinson and Ellen Catania, Director of Corporate and Foundation Partnerships
Geffen Playhouse supporters Curtis Grisham and Charles Black P16 PERFORMANCES MAGAZINe
Board member Glorya Kaufman and Richard Chernick
Board member Dean Teri Schwartz and Debra Smalley
the break of noon
donor spotlight
VIDAL & RONNIE SASSOON Vidal and Ronnie Sassoon are two extraordinary individuals who have been generous annual supporters of the Geffen Playhouse’s Education and Outreach Programs for over 12 years. We are honored by their outstanding long-time support, and honored to have this opportunity to share a little bit about their incredible lives and philanthropy. As a very young boy, Vidal Sassoon spent seven years in a Jewish orphanage in London after his father abandoned the family. “I remember being hungry much of the time, and of course, I longed to see my mother, who was only allowed to visit once a month and never permitted to take us out. I ran away once, when I was 10, to my Auntie Polly’s. She promptly called my father, the man I had been longing to see for years. But when he arrived he did not show me any kindness or love and just took me straight back to the orphanage.” When his mother remarried in 1940, she picked up Vidal from the orphanage. “My mother promptly sat me down and told me of her ambitions for me. She wanted me to train as a hairdresser. She’d had a dream about it and told me not to argue with her premonition. Though I vigorously protested, she had none of my nonsense. I started work as an apprentice with a man called Adolph Cohen, in the Jewish Ghetto of London. It was wartime and London was being bombed almost every night.” In 1948, Vidal left Britain to fight in the Israeli War of Independence. He would have liked to have stayed in the new country, attended university and become an architect, but his family’s East End poverty forced him back to London. “I thought if I had to do hairdressing I’d try and be the best I could at it,” reflects Sassoon. He worked under Mr. Teasy-Weasy (aka Raymond Bessone) who was the most famous celebrity hairstylist of the 1950s. When Vidal started his own salon, it soon spawned the trendiest looks of the 1960s. Vidal invented the “bob” in 1963, and pioneered geometric hairdos in 1966. He was paid $5,000 to fly across the Atlantic to create Mia Farrow’s crewcut for Rosemary’s Baby. The rest is history. “Now, when I think back on my career, and how I have cut the hair and listened to the secrets of some of the most beautiful women in the world, I
remember that it is all because of one great lady and her belief in me, Mum.” Vidal married his beautiful wife, Ronnie, in the 1990s. They met while she was designing a product for his “If you don’t look good, we don’t look good” line, and has trusted her design eye ever since. She has a passion for design and recently took on the complete restoration of Richard Neutra’s 1959 Singleton house, a major project to say the least, that they have made their home. Vidal just recently completed his autobiography as well as a documentary entitled, “Vidal Sassoon The Movie” with the innovative Michael Gordon, founder of Bumble and bumble that premiered at the Tribecca Film Festival. Ronnie and Vidal fund dozens of organizations around the world including Habitat for Humanity, the Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism in Jerusalem, and are ardent supporters of the arts and major museums. They brought the hair industry together to help rebuild New Orleans after the hurricane. We are honored to welcome this very special couple to the Geffen Playhouse throughout the year when they see plays and attend our Opening Nights, and we are equally honored by their many years of outstanding support of our Education and Outreach Programs. PErFORMANCEs MAGAZINE P17
Don’t miss what has been voted one of the TOP TEN “BEST EVENTS IN LOS ANGELES”!
YOU NEVER KNOW WHO WILL SHOW UP ON THIS AMAZING NIGHT! Past Geffen Playhouse artists and friends who came out to support and perform include:
Christina Applegate
Alan Cumming
Helen Mirren
Hank Azaria
Dana Delany
Matthew Morrison
Annette Bening
Brendan Fraser
Ray Romano
Carol Burnett
Tom Hanks
Martin Short
Sarah Chang
Jane Lynch
Dick Van Dyke
Kristin Chenoweth
Rita Wilson
be part of the show For more information on tickets and sponsorships, please contact Development at 310.208.6500x128 P18 PERFORMANCES MAGAZINe
the break of noon
annual donors The Geffen Playhouse recognizes the following individuals and organizations for their generous support of our Annual Fund. Donors are listed at the Associate level and higher for gifts made between November 1, 2009 and December 15, 2010.
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER $25,000+
Anonymous (2) Audi of America, Inc City National Bank Disney Worldwide Services, Inc Edgerton Foundation Herbert M. and Beverly J. Gelfand Adi and Jerry Greenberg The Dan Hartman Arts and Music Foundation Bora Bora Nui Hilton Resort and Spa Marcia Israel Foundation, Inc. Keyes Automotive Group Latham and Watkins The Lear Family Foundation Legendary Pictures Lincy Foundation Los Angeles County Arts Commission Los Angeles Magazine Mona and Karl* Malden Ginny Mancini Fay and Frank Mancuso Ron and Kelly Meyer Susanna Midnight and Charlie Midnight Moss Foundation Napa Valley Grille Northern Trust, NA Ralph M. Parsons Foundation PricewaterhouseCoopers Qantas Airways Lynda and Stewart Resnick Ronen Levy Events Cheryl and Haim Saban, Saban Family Foundation The Edward A. and Ai O Shay Family Foundation Shubert Foundation Skirball Foundation Kate Capshaw Spielberg and Steven Spielberg Cynthia P. Stafford Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust Shel and Cynthia Stone S. Mark Taper Foundation Jodi and Howard Tenenbaum Warner Bros. Entertainment
PRODUCER
$10,000 - $24,999 Anonymous Agua Caliente Casino Resort and Spa Bacara Resort and Spa Don and Vicki Berghoff Bioque Technologies, Inc. Charles A. Black, Jr. Evelyn and Stephen Block Annette Blum Suzanne Deal Booth and David Booth Brotman Foundation of California Eileen and Harold Brown Graham Burke Mark Burnett and Roma Downey Capital Group Companies Stephanie and Jonathan Carson CBS Corporation City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs Mary Ann Cloyd Carole Bayer Sager and Robert A. Daly Joseph Drown Foundation Susan and John Ebey Susan and Mark Fleischer Fox Entertainment Group Gang, Tyre, Ramer and Brown, Inc. Patty Glaser and Sam Mudie Greater Los Angeles New Car Dealers Association Audrey* and Arthur Greenberg C. Curtis Grisham Leo S. Guthman Fund In Memory of Morrie Hazan HBO Eric and Samantha Heer Martha Henderson Marilyn and Jeffrey Katzenberg Glorya Kaufman
Michael Kong and Anastasia Twilley Susan and Peter Mallory Nancy and Michael McClelland Sandra E. Milken National Endowment for the Arts Occidental Petroleum Corp Richard D. Parsons Madeline and Bruce Ramer Lee and Lawrence J. Ramer Pamela Robinson Hollander Loren Rothschild and Hon. Frances Rothschild Linda Bernstein Rubin and Tony Rubin The Simms/Mann Family Foundation Fred Specktor and Nancy Heller DeeAnna Staats Judith and Bruce Stern Heather Thomas and Skip Brittenham The Vidal Sassoon Foundation Rita Wilson and Tom Hanks
DIRECTOR
$5,000 - $9,999 Jehan F. Agrama and Dwora Fried Jack and Hilary Angelo Bittersweet Butterfly Mara and Jonathan Blum Linda and Jerry Bruckheimer Louis Colen Alexander Conlin Shelley Wike Cranley Creative Artists Agency Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman Diageo Brands Carolyn Dirks Family John Dittmar Fielding Edlow Entertainment Industry Foundation Four Seasons G.E. Foundation Priscila Giraldo Joseph B. Gould Foundation Gloria and Peter Gold Barbara Grenell George Hoag Family Foundation Cindy and Alan Horn Hotel Shangri-La Wendell and Bernice Jeffrey Dora and Neil Kadisha Joan Kaloustian Mannon Kaplan Sally and Dr. Manny J. Karbelnig Katy Sweet and Associates, Inc. Sabrina Kay Charitable Foundation Joyce Eisenberg-Keefer and Melvin Keefer Hope Mineo and Jeffrey Kitchen Sandra Krause and William Fitzgerald Wendy Kurtzman Despina Gianopulos Landers and Jay Landers Carla Liber Garry Marshall Donna McKenna Montage Hotels and Resorts Todd Morgan Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management The Kenneth T. and Eileen L. Norris Foundation Anna K. Nupson Christine Marie Ofiesh Paradigm Talent and Literary Agency Kay and Bob Rehme Jay D. Roth and Sherry E. Grant Charles Roven Richard Ruskell Barry and Nancy Sanders Jody and Arthur Schmid Richard and Barbara Sherman Showtime Networks Gussie Sitkin David Tillman, MD and Karen Zoller, MD Universal Studios Diane Warren John and Marilyn Wells Ellie and Tom Wertheimer Elizabeth and Jim Wiatt Gail Zappa Ruth and Stan Zicklin Candice and Joel Zwick
EDUCATION ADVOCATE $1,000 - $4,999
Anonymous (3) Harry and Gay Abrams/Abrams Artists Agency James Adams Aegon Transamerica Foundation Miriam Aguiar AIG Matching Grants Program Alcon Entertainment, LLC Olga S. Alderson Michael Alexander Debbie and Norman Allen Merryl and David A. Alpert Maurice Amado Foundation Patti and Harlan Amstutz Angell Foundation Margaret and Howard Arvey Russ August and Kabat D.C. and Carol Ann Bakeman The Barron Family Jericho Poppler and Dr. Greg Bartlow Rick and Shelley Bayer Shelly and Libby Bergen Wendy and John Bergquist Moca Foundation Helen Bing Pamela and Bill Bohnert The Bordy and Leibovic Families Greg and Elizabeth Borrud Brenda and Alan Borstein Deanne Bosnak Dr. Wallace P. Brithinee The Eli and Edythe L. Broad Foundation Carolyn and Gerald Bronstein Robert Brook and Jacqueline Kosecoff Wendy and David Brotman Ross G. Brown George and Nadine Buck Dianne Burnett and Joan Minerva Marlene Canter Chancellor Emeritus Albert Carnesale and Mrs. Robin Carnesale Dr. Fanya Carter and Dr. Harold J. Delchamps Laurel and Aaron Clark Kassie Claughton Sandy Climan Linda and John Coleman Nancy A. Cypert Shirley Lu and Norman Davidson Valarie de la Garza and Michael Centeno Nicolina Clark and Robert Dinlocker DreamWorks Studios Gerald and Sally Ducot Dr. and Mrs. Paul Eisenberg Colleen M. Ellis Kevin Watts and Christine Enlow Rabbi Harvey and Sybil Fields Michael Filerman Eric Flamholtz and Yvonne Randle Joan and Charles Fox Steve Freedman Carol S. Frimmer Tom Fuller Kathleen Garfield David Geffen Foundation Paul and Cheri Gienger Harry A. Gilbert Rose Gilbert Kiki and David Gindler Cherna and Dr. Gary Gitnick Dr. and Mrs. Lee B. Gold Barbara Goldenberg Marion Goldenfeld Edith Gould Gwen and Albert Grabb Adrienne Grant and Paul Jennings The Guerin Foundation Madeline Gussman Monty and Marilyn Hall Mr. and Mrs. William Hellman Harriette Henderson Mel and Faith Henkin Jean Himmelstein and David Coleman
James Hliboki and Hildi Snodgrass Dorothy Hoffman Jackie and Dr. Irwin Hoffman Gerald Hundert Troy Hutchinson Terry and Marc J. Jacoby Steve, Alex and Emma Jaffe Maria and Conrad Janis Jewish Community Foundation Sydney Julien Karney Guren Family Foundation Julie and David Kavner Lenny and David Kelton Kent Klavens Patricia Klous and Roman Silberfeld Judy Knapp Leslie and Norman Koplof Thea and Neal Koss Carol Krause Seth Krugliak Helene and Arthur Laub J. Michael Lee and Layne Rainey Barbara Leigh Phyllis Lemberger Drs. Gerald and Barbara Levey Alan S. Levin Ed and Betsy Levine Levitt Pavilions Mae and Hugh Lichtig Steven and Nancy Lippman Judith Locke and Dennis Massie Kalman and Eve Loeb Karen and Frederick Lorig Board of Supervisors County of Los Angeles Marcia E. Williams and Gene Lucero Vincent Lupo Meyer and Renee Luskin Malibu Beach Inn Malibu Family Wines Eric G.C. Mark Steve Markoff Lesia and William Maxwell Karen Mbanefo John McCrite and Juan Lopez Jeanne McDonald-Powers and Travis McDonald-Powers Janis B. McEldowney Sue McHugh Alex Meneses Dianne and Burton Merrill The Miles Family Barbara and Fred Miller Philip Miller Gloria Miller and Susan Sager Andrew and Laura Mintzer Rich and Michele Monosson Garry Morris and Kent Harrison Hayes Joan and Fred Nicholas Albert and Barbara Nichols Mike Nichols and Diane Sawyer Leonard and Susan Nimoy Steve and Judy Orich Laura Ornest Pearl O’Rourke Carol and Bill Ouchi Jason Packham Laurie MacDonald and Walter Parkes Philip and Leslie Paton Pelican Hill Resort Herbert and Marilyn Piken In Memory of Michael Piller Paula, Lauren, Nicole, and Joseph Pinhas Marilyn Pinzur Ruth Popkin Gail and Harold Provizer Edward C. Rainey, Jr. and Scott C. Britain Richard Rasiej and Joan Herman Rob Reiner Felice Prieto Reyes Donald B. and Susan F. Rice Esther and Howard Richmond Linda and Manny Rider Jane Rissman and Richard Sondheimer Carol and Ward Ritter Marlene Rotblatt
PErFORMANCEs MAGAZINE P19
ANNUAL DONORS Brad and Nancy Rosenberg Sue Weiss Rosenwasser and Joseph Sinay J. Nathan and Michele Rubin Thomas L. Safran Richard and Susan Sager Richard and Amber Sakai Daphna Salimpour Jonathan Schwartz George Shapiro Dora R. Sher Diane Sherman-Smith In Memory of Gordon A. Smith Rita and Jose Sigal Dine with Nine Catering and Events Simon Strauss Foundation Snyder Family Foundation Drs. Matthew and Marion Solomon Sony Pictures Entertainment Mitch and Sherry Stein Joannie Stern Aaron Stroud Radoslav and Elaine Sutnar Dr. S. Jerome and Judith D. Tamkin Anne C. Taubman and David Boyle Audri and Stan Tendler The Dillon Fund Jane Thomas William and Karen Timberlake Francine and James Travers UBS Financial Services Shauna and Daniel Valenzuela Alan Van Vliet Josephine R. Walker Jon Alon Walz Sheila Wasserman In Memory of Sylvia and George Weiner Gelena and Seth Weissman Witt Thomas Harris Productions Karen and Rick Wolfen Mimi and Werner F. Wolfen Dr. Charles and Judy Young Ms. Patricia Youngman Ahmet Zappa Fletcher Ozborne Mr. Stanley Zax Ellen and Arnold Zetcher
ARTISTIC ADVOCATE $500 - $999
Anonymous (6) Mr. and Mrs. Norman Abrams Mr. and Mrs. Adamick Dale and Ruth Adams Sharon Hulse and Louis Adler Helen and Herb Allen Laura and Harvey Alpert Jan Altemus Renette Anderson Maria Avila Elizabeth and Marc Axelrod Ayres Films, Inc. Gerald Bagg and Pamela Stevens Charles Barker Janet and Irwin Barnet Patricia Barry Anne Barry Dr. Greg and Sheila Spiro Laurie and Bill Benenson Aviva Bergman Larry and Julie Blivas In Memory of Maxine Handelman Nathalie Blossom Ruth and Donald Blumkin, Pharm D. Judy Boeken Sheila Bouttier Reveta Bowers Kevin Breen Lionel Brown Rebecca Brown Janet and Mark Brown Howard D. Browne Jolene and Robert Burk Marcia Burnam Bruce Carr Lisa, Michael and Rachel Chalfin Janet Regina Chapman Barry Charles Ms. Martha Chase Mark Clymer and Marc Mullendore Coach
P20 PERFORMANCES MAGAZINe
Ken Coelho Donell Cohen Ted Cordes Zoe and Donald Cosgrove Arline Covell Susan Georgine Craig Valerie and Donald Cravitz Creative Brand Diana Davidow and Deborah Constance Shirley Davidson Mrs. Dom DeLuise Jennifer and Jeffrey Denker Dr. Udayakumar Devasker Kevin and Betsy Dill Wil* and Glorya Dixon Richard and Lauren Donner Mr. and Mrs. Paul Dooley Paul Dowling William Duncan Christophe and Liz Dupin De Saint Cyr Tracy Williams Mike Elisofon Rebekah and Howard Farber Steven Rossi and Janette Webb; Marjorie L. Fasman Gloria and Morton Field Susan and Mark Fien Marjorie and Arthur Fine Michael and Lynne Flynn Burt and Nanette Forester J.D. Fox Rhonda Frances Mrs. Lorraine Frankel Dottie Frieband Michael Shaw and Janie Fried L.T. Friesen Douglas C. Frost Mike Gainey Lois and Gerald Gallop Sharlene and Sol Galper Charles Gerber Jeff Gerber Pamela Gerken Fereydoon Ghaffari Karen Berko Gibson Peter and Namhee Gilhuly Benita and Bert Ginsberg William and Charlene Glikbarg Norman B. Goldberg Irene Goldenberg Fred and Gale Goldring Abner and Roz Goldstine Susie and Bruce Goren Simon Graty Ruth and Steve Greenbaum Feris Greenberger and David Dolinko Alan Greenstadt Susan and Michael Gregory Eric Gritzmacher Gary Gross Neelam Gupta Louise Halevy and Kenneth Erlich Marvin Hamlisch Bruce and Martha Hanrahan Julia Hari Sheila Hasday Dr. and Mrs. Samuel Haveson Gary Hecker Murray and Gail Heltzer Neal Hersh and Lynda Klein Jack Hileman and Roxanne Huddleston Rand Hoffman and Charlotte Robinson Kelley M. Hogan Stanley and Gail Hollander Dr. Sharron Holman Marc and Michelle Howard Imhoff and Associates, PC Lonnie Levi Israel Robert and Gail Israel Melissa and Jonathan Jaivin Argentum Photo Lab Jil Sander Laurie Jones Vernon and Sylvia Jones Trudy and Albert Kallis Mr. and Mrs. Bernard Kamine Mr. Stephen Kandel Milton Kaplan Dora Kessler Linda and Michael Keston Nam Kim and Jeff Kateman Ann and Jonathan Kirsch Karen and Joe Knott
In Loving Memory of Danny Rouzer Janice White and Eugene Krieger Krol Vodka Frumeh Labow Steve Lappin and Andrea Spyros Joan and Christopher Larkin Jill and Michael Lasky Katie Lee and Brian Finck Matt Levin Burton and Anita Levinson Lydia Levy Joanne Lindsay Neil and Ora Macfarlane Sacha and Dori Joshua Malina Alan Mandelberg Elizabeth Marcellino Ruth K. March and Family Richard Marcus Barry and Evie Marlin Stewart Mayeda Anne and Bedford Mcintosh Neil Meron Debra Michel Lawrence Mirisch Carol Moran Bill Morino Simona Morris Lon Morse and Toni Hollander Morse Michael Mothner Wpromote Bill Mullins Fran Neiman Janice B. Nelsen Ms. Sherri Nelson Mark and Diane Neubauer Betsy Newman Andrew H. Newman Shelby Notkin Rick Nyholm Robert and Monica O’Hagan O’Melveny and Myers LLP Mr. and Mrs. Martin Padilla Bob Paris Jo Anne Patterson Naidu and Jane Permaul Lisa Pierozzi Tiffany and John Plunkett Gregory Poirier Peggy and George Polinger Jack and Jane Pollock Lisa and Steven Pompan Nancy Porter Mitchell Quaranta Gary and Gail Rachelefsky Joan Ransohoff Edward B. Rasch Joyce Reed Rosenberg Carlene Ringer Terrence Roberts Dolores Rogers Barbara and David Rognlien Raymond Rogowski Fred and Ronda Rose Ruth and Larry Rosen Alison Rosenthal Kelli Sager and Steven Rosenwasser Dr. Martin and Lorraine Ross Joyce and Deane Ross Samantha Roth Lisa M. Rowley David Russell and Amy Gordon Mark and Sharon Salach Nancy and Ted Sanborn Charlene and Vic Sands Malcolm Schneer and Cathy Liu Susan and Peter Schwab David Schwanke Bob and Susan Schwartz Michele and Peter Serchuk Peggy and Robert Shapiro Roman Silberfeld Ronald I. Silverman Leigh Silverton Marty and Leah Sklar Stacey and Katherine Williams-Sloan Michael Small Melvin Spears Rita Spiegel Charlene and Burt Spurber Scott B. Stokdyk William Stringer Kayser and Renee Sume Keith and Judy Swayne
Mr. and Mrs. David Tann Michael E. Tennenbaum Family Dr. Anita F. Thompson David Tohl Joyce and Josh Trabulus Brigitta B. Troy Jean T. Trueblood Bob Tuttle Kevin Van Belois Vitamin Water Carole Wagner and Peter Vallianos John J. Waller, Jr. Judge Joseph and Mickey Wapner Shirley Wargon Marcia and Dr. Charles Wasserman Sander Weiner and Marcia Gilbert Martin and Gloria Wertlieb Keith West Pat West Sandy and Jon Willen John Willey In Memory of Milton A. Williams, Jr. Linda A. Wilson Winnick Family Foundation Herb Wise Robbie Work Thelma and Sam Yellen Isis and Michelle Youssef Craig Zadan Andrew and Kimberly Zakanych Arnold Zane Mr. and Mrs. Mark Zimmerman Dayle and Abram Zukor
ASSOCIATE $250 - $499
Anonymous (10) Constance Abell and Herbert Ehrmann Jeffrey and Linda Abell Bob and Jan Ackerman Barbara Adams Cathy and Alan Adelman Sara Adler Warren Adler and Bobbi Armbruster Elaine and Michael Agran Tony Albany In Honor of the Birth of Leo Jacob Alexander Robert R. Alford Susan Allison Arthur Alper Robert C. Anderson Irving Anderson Elise Andrews Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Anenberg Eloise Appel Steven D. Arias and Rann D. Lee Barbara and Ethan Aronoff Mr. and Mrs. Bert P. Arons Asahi Donna Ashley Lynne and Lee Babbitt Sarah Backus Janis Baer Madhavan Balachandran Don Banks Lucia Barbaro Billie Baron and Edward Marcinko Randall C. Bassett James W. Baugh Arnold and Susan Becker Michael Bedner and Kathy Eldon Terry and Lionel Bell Millie and Julius Bendat Joanne Benickes Annette Bening and Warren Beatty Carole A. and Charles Bennett Bunny Wasser and Howard Bernstein Beverly Bierer Judith Ann Billings Adrienne and Michael Blackman Ronald and Jamie Blackstone Marjorie Blatt Sandra Blum Barry Boehm Ludmila Bojman Thomas Booth Frances and Les Boxer In Memory of Evan Haight-Boyd Sandra Bradley and Shelagh Moriarty Paula Brand Bernardean Broadous Shelli and Bill Broder
the break of noon
annual donors Aaron and Merav Broder Ronald Brown Susan and Roy Brown Sue and Peter Bunzel Dick and Eleanor Burke Joann Busuttil Laurie J. Butler Michael and Sandy Buttitta Jon Byk Marlene and David Capell Deborah Carabet Anthony Carbone Charles Carr Gift Garden Antiques Leigh Chapman and Peter Wilkinson Judy and Mike Fantasia Robert Cochran Elsbeth M. Collins David Conney, M.D. D. Conte Anthony and Kim Cookson Debra Colletti and Scott Cooper Ira and Marsha Coron Doug Coss Fred and Joyce Cowan Dr. and Mrs. Earle E. Crandall Ely Dahan Stacy Dalgleish Hedva and Dudley Danoff Jeff and Pat Dasteel Pamela Daves Ruth B. Davis and Pearl Schultz Chris and Lindsey Deems Hal and Roberta Delevie Virginia DiBona Dennis and Catherine Dietz Suzanne and Bruce Dodds Carol Jean Doehring Jonathan and Susan Dolgen Marlene Davis and David L. Dorsey Daryl and Paul F. Doucette Susan B. Downey Mr. and Mrs. Ed Dreyfus Valerie Entwell Amnon and Christine Hadani Elizabeth A. Evans Alan and Barbara Faiola Famous Cupcakes Earl I. Feldhorn Gladys Fellman Shawn Ferjanec Larry Field Abby and Malcolm Field Sydney M. Finegold, M.D. Frances and Terry Flanagan Elisabeth Fleischman Sheldon Fogel Diana Gragson and Tom Fogelsanger Charles L. Fonarow Janet Fourticq Glenn and Jane Fowler Darryl Frank Dorothy Frazier Fran Fredella and Scott Rubin Richard Freeman Barbara and Louis Friedman Elaine and Larry Friedman Kenneth J. Friedman and Marilynn J. Friedman Family Foundation Laurelle Frome Yuki Fukumoto Howard Fulfrost and Tim Morneau Peggy N. Furman Yelena Furman Anya Epstein and Daniel Futterman Sandy Gage Karen and Raymond Gallagher Lee Gardenswartz Diane Gardner Eugenia Gates Kim and R.B. Gautier Robert and Esmeralda Gibson Dennis Gimian Rachel and Jack Gindi Diane Glazer Edna Mae Glikmann Richard and Lori Glucksman Linda and Craig Goding Ann M. Goldberg Marilyn and Allen Golden Peter Goldman Louis and Linda Goldsman Elinor Goodman Mrs. Mae Goodson Madeline Goodwin Jeffrey and Diana Gordon
Charles Grace Stanley Graham and Christine Bounce Diana and Ronald Granit Christopher and Lori Grant Gigi and Don Grant Norma and Harvey Greenberg Nancy and Ron Greenberg Brenda Gyllenswan David Johnson and Eve Haberfield Lance Hagenbuch Mary and Alan Halkett Carolyn Hamilton Stanley Handman Tess Harper Arlene Harris Todd Hawkins Alan Heim Penny and Steve Held Ms. Marg Helgenberger Zvia Hempling Gunter Herman Hella Hershson Karen Hill-Scott Marion and Todd Hindin Crystal Hines Cina Hodges John Hofbauer, M.D. and Laura E. Fox, M.D. Adrienne and Elliott Horwitch Joseph Horwitz Gordon Hubbard John Huber Susan Hull Robin Hursh Christopher and Kristin Iannacone Anne Ichiuji and Todd Humphrey Harold and Evelyn Igdaloff Gerald Isenberg Bruce Iwasaki Fred and Nancy Jacobus Nancy and Len Jacoby Michael Jenkins Sherrill Johnson and Albert Moore Grant and Christine Johnson Jewell Jones Kenneth and Roneet Kahan David Kaiser Joyce Kaiserman Ruth and Marvin Kalin David and Cindy Kamm Mr. and Mrs. David Kaplan Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth M. Karmin Allan Kartun and Ronnie Weinstock Owen Kato Mr. and Mrs. William Keast James and Elizabeth Kerswell Shirlee Kessler Irwin Kishner Phyllis Klein Nancy and Howard Klein Phyllis Klein Donna and Jeffrey Klein Laurie and Milton Klorman Ray and Barbara Klostermann Barbara and Stan Krasnoff Suzanne Lake Rodger and Jennifer Landau Dwight and Christine Landis Aleyne Larner Rhoda Lauten Jeanne and Christopher Lavagnino Michele Lavin Rhonda Lawrence and Arthur Rosett Leslie Lawson and Norman Cook Sheelagh Boyd and Larry Layne Joyce Lederer and Family David and Karen Leichenger Betty and Ron Leiter Marsha Levin Eric Levine Marla E. Levine Evelyn and Barry Levitt Jay Levitt Gloria Levy Sheldon and Marion Levy Wendy Lewis In Memory of Wee-Luang Lim Warren and Brenda Lincoln Martha Lindberg Joan and Robert Lippman Bonnie Lisle Mrs. Monte E. Livingston Steven Llanusa and Glenn Miya Leslie and Adam Lobel Karen and Peter Locke Adam Loef Lori and Tom Low
Dianne Lum Loris and Kory Lunsford Teresa L. Maguire Guillaume Maillet Joyce L. Mallean Connie and Leslie Martinson Phyllis and Bert Massing Cecile M. Matzkin Bill McGill and Mary Anne McCarthy Kathleen McCarthy Monique McDavid Patrick W. McDivitt Laura McGaughey Sean McGhee and Carol Fan William E. and Marcela H. McKenna Cathy and John McMullen Dr. and Mrs. King M. Mendelsohn Jean Midgley Natalie Milani Teddie J. Milner Nicole Behrstock-Miner In Memory of Rae Behrstock and Celia Lew Gloria Mitchell Marc Mitchell Jean Miyamoto Laurie and Chuck Mondrus Michael Mooney Janet Moore Sharon and John Morris David Neilan Dena Nelson Patricia Nettleship Sheila Newman Alex Olivares and Susan Nickerson Burt and Bonnie Noveck Dr. Ronald and Iris Onkin Susan Ops The Topol-Ostroff Family Edward Parker Tracy Parsons and Keith Grossman In Memory of Robert and Stephen Paskus Mr. and Mrs. Herman Pass Donald S. Passman Abhilash and Kelly Patel Barbara and Peter Patman John K. Perkins Frank J. Pfizenmayer and Josh Brown Carol F. Phillips Phyllis Piano and Roy Jones Joy and Gerald Picus Jeanne L. Pocras Lily and Rick Pollack Pop Chips Philip Pritchett Mr. and Mrs. Howard Privette Tom Pryor Jennifer and Ron Purisima Charlotte Rae Robert Rechord Mildred Reid Elyse Resch Katie Rhodes Judy L. Richman Lynda Rick Rodney M. Rideau Jill Robinson Nadine and Fred Rosen Jacob and Lilly Rosenberg Lynne W. Rosenberg Linda and Marvin Rosenfeld Beverly and Mel Rosenthal Lawrence Ross and Linda Nussbaum Lori and David Rousso Charles and Barbara Rubin Fred and Veronique Sabl Dr. and Mrs. George and Joyce Sachs Julie and Dennis Saffro Sandor Samuels Karen and Nathan Sandler Susan and Kenneth Sarno Alice Sauls Maxine Savitz Marilyn Sayegh Jay Evan Schoenfeldt Jane and William Schopf Elizabeth and Justin Schwartz Dr. and Mrs. Jack Schwartz Nadya Scott
Cynthia Sears Marc M. Seltzer and Christina Snyder Estelle Shane and Arthur Gelber Mary Shane Dr. and Mrs. William Shark John and Lori Shaw Stacey Shieh Ted Shpack and Etiennette Lowen Dan Shuster Yossi Sidikaro Jama and Gary Siegel Robin and Robert Sills Ken and Marinette Simon In Memory of Ross Hunter and Jacque Mapes Ms. Gerry Sinclair Dr. Laura Caghan and Mark, Jonah and Sophia Sklan Kellie Slee Donna Sloan Dr. and Mrs. Sylvain Smadja Donald Smiley Dr. Jerry and Marci Smith Marcia L. and Mark J. Smith Ronald Smith Karen Smits Laura Snoke and Ed Orrett Trudy Sokol Alfred Sommer and Joyce Weiss Debra and Bruce Spector Elizabeth and Sidney Sperling Roberta Spero Alice Cortez and Richard Spitzer Sondra Sprung Carol and Paul Stager Christopher Stasi Arthur Stern Donald and Stacey Sternberg Sally Stevens Arthur Streeter Gloria Stroock-Stern and Leonard Stern William Stuart Brian Studler Robert and Barbara Sugar John and Eva Sutton E. M. Sweeney The Mortimer Levitt Foundation Jesse and Theresa Thorn Pearl and Bernard Tillipman Mr. and Mrs. Art Tompkins Cristobal Tostado Antigoni Tsamparois Pia and Steve Vai Dr. David F. Vargas Anthony Vasek Miriam Vogel Laurie and Ira Waldman Andrew Walker Herb Wallerstein Peter and Denise Walsh Richard Walter Jane Wang Ernest E. Warsaw Julie Waxman Elisa and Brad Wayne Annette Weil Paula Weinstein Roberta Weintraub Josh Weisman Sheila Weisman Ruthie and David Weiss Matthew Weitzman Elayne and Walter Wentz The Whizin Foundation, Bruce Whizin Misty and Milt Widelitz Rae Jeane Williams In Lovng Honor of Miki Lee Rosalie and Jeffrey Wolf Albert Wolsky Karen and Frank Wurtzel Don and Anna Ylvisaker Joanne and Tom Zaccaro Marcie and Howard Zelikow Laurie Ziegler Lynn and Meir Ziv Sandy Zwirn *In Memoriam
Have we made an error? To report a misspelling or omission in these listings, please contact the Development Department at (310) 208-6500 x128 PErFORMANCEs  MAGAZINE P21
february – march at the geffen playhouse audrey skirball kenis theater
gil cates theater
saturday scene 11:00am
SATURDAY SCENE THEATER FOR KIDS OF ALL AGES
MONDAY
TUESDAY
february
SUNDAY
6
7
1
2
3
8:00pm
8
8:00pm
14
15
2:00pm/7:00pm
8:00pm
16
21
8:00pm
THE BREAK OF NOON
17
8:00pm
THE BREAK OF NOON
18
8:00pm
in mother words
in mother words
THE BREAK OF NOON
THE BREAK OF NOON
THE BREAK OF NOON
THE BREAK OF NOON
8:00pm
23 8:00pm
8:00pm
24 8:00pm
8:00pm
25 8:00pm
8:00pm
in mother words
in mother words
in mother words
in mother words
in mother words
THE BREAK OF NOOn
THE BREAK OF NOON
THE BREAK OF NOON
THE BREAK OF NOON
THE BREAK OF NOON
27
8:00pm
28
2:00pm/7:00pm
in mother words
2:00pm/7:00pm
THE BREAK OF NOOn
6
march
2:00pm/7:00pm
7
1
8:00pm
2 8:00pm
8:00pm
3 8:00pm
8:00pm
4 8:00pm
8:00pm
in mother words
in mother words
in mother words
in mother words
THE BREAK OF NOON
THE BREAK OF NOON
THE BREAK OF NOON
THE BREAK OF NOON
8:00pm
8
8:00pm
9
8:00pm
10
8:00pm
11
in mother words
8:00pm
in mother words
THE BREAK OF NOOn
feb 5 2:00pm
KINROSS ANNEX
P22 PERFORMANCES MAGAZINe
8:00pm
in mother words
feb 12 11:00am
story pirates present: create-a-show
8:00pm
in mother words
8:00pm
in mother words
feb 19 11:00am
romeo & juliet
THE BREAK OF NOON
3:00PM/8:00pm
THE BREAK OF NOON
19
3:00PM/8:00pm
in mother words
3:00PM/8:00pm
THE BREAK OF NOON
26
3:00PM/8:00pm
in mother words
3:00PM/8:00pm
THE BREAK OF NOON
5
3:00PM/8:00pm
in mother words
3:00PM/8:00pm
THE BREAK OF NOON
12
2:00pm/7:00pm 2:00pm/7:00pm
3:00PM/8:00pm
12
in mother words
22
2:00pm/7:00pm
11
in mother words
8:00pm
THE BREAK OF NOON
8:00pm
THE BREAK OF NOON
8:00pm
THE BREAK OF NOON
5 8:00pm
THE BREAK OF NOON
8:00pm
8:00pm
SATURDAY
4
10
THE BREAK OF NOON
FRIDAY
8:00pm
THE BREAK OF NOON
9
THE BREAK OF NOON
20
THURSDAY
THE BREAK OF NOON
2:00pm/7:00pm
13
WEDNESDAY
3:00PM/8:00pm
in mother words
mar 5 11:00am
funky punks circus spectacular
11:00am
how raven stole fire and other stories
THE GEFFEN AT A GLANCE ADDRESS
SUPPORT THE GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE
Geffen Playhouse 10886 Le Conte Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90024 Administrative Offices.............310.208.6500 Box Office................................. 310.208.5454 Subscriber Hotline.................. 310.208.2028 geffenplayhouse.com
Become a Geffen Playhouse donor! Please contact Regina Miller: 310.208.6500, ext 112 or reginam@geffenplayhouse.com
TICKET SERVICES Box Office Window When shows are not in performance, the Box Office window is open: 7 Days a Week...............................12 pm— 6 pm During the run of a show, the window will be open until curtain. Please note: The Box Office is unable to process exchanges and future sales one hour prior to curtain time on any performance day. Phone Center....................... 310.208.5454 If you are calling regarding single tickets or general information, the Box Office Phone Center is open: 7 Days a Week...............................12 pm— 6 pm The Box Office window and Phone Center are closed on major holidays. SUBSCRIBER SERVICES Subscriber Hotline............... 310.208.2028 If you are a Geffen subscriber, the Subscriber Hotline is available to assist you Monday through Friday from 10 am until 6 pm.
TICKET DONATIONS If you cannot use your tickets, you may release them to the Geffen prior to the date of your show, in time for resale, and you will receive an acknowledgement for a charitable contribution. Please mail to: Geffen Ticket Services 10886 Le Conte Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90024 or call the Box Office. REFUNDS It is the policy of the Geffen Playhouse not to issue refunds on subscriptions or on any single performance tickets. AT THE THEATER Accessible Accommodation The Geffen Playhouse is fully committed to ensuring a satisfying theater experience for our patrons with special needs or disabilities. The theaters have been designed to provide excellent seating for patrons in wheelchairs. Please call the Box Office to discuss your needs.
Listening Devices Infrared listening devices are available free of charge at all performances. Listening devices can be retrieved at the Theater Concierge Desk in the lobby. Please arrive early to obtain a listening device, they are subject to availability. Signed Performances When appropriate, each play of the season will have a special performance that will be sign-language interpreted for the deaf and hearing impaired. Call the Box Office for more info or email boxoffice@geffenplayhouse.com. Late Seating Should you arrive late to the theater or vacate your seat during the performance, please expect to be held in the lobby until an appropriate pause in the action on-stage. To minimize disturbance to other patrons, you may be sat into the first available location by the house staff even if different from your assigned seat. Be advised that some productions or circumstances may not allow for late seating. To ensure you enjoy the performance in your assigned seat, please arrive at the theater early. PARKING The Geffen Playhouse has negotiated a special $4 flat rate for ticket holders at the following location: Palazzo Parking 1030 Glendon Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90024 Phone...............................................310.208.4549 Open 24 hours • 7 Days a Week Located 1.5 blocks away from the Geffen Playhouse and even closer to many restaurant partners. Validation tickets allowing a $4 flat rate are available upon presentation of your sameday ticket to the box office or concierge. * Please note this facility does not honor Donor Parking Passes. Rates and availability are subject to change.
PErFORMANCEs MAGAZINE P23
geffen playhouse staff Gilbert Cates Producing Director
Randall Arney Artistic Director
Ken Novice Managing Director
ARTISTIC
PRODUCTION
Mary Garrett Artistic Manager Amy Levinson Literary Manager/Dramaturg Shannon Noel Webb Executive Assistant to the Producing Director Phyllis Schuringa Casting Director & Assistant to the Artistic Director Kristina Leach Literary Associate
Daniel Ionazzi Matthew Carleton Jill Barnes Dwayne Barnes James Grabowski Darren Rezowalli Leah A. Lewis
DEVELOPMENT
COMMUNICATIONS
Regina Miller Development Director Ellen Catania Director of Major Gifts & Corporate/Foundation Partnerships Angela LaManna Annual Fund Manager Jessica Brusilow Associate Director of Donor Relations Ava Bogle Development Assistant Jamie Sherman Development and Events Manager
Allison Rawlings Tyler Tangalin
Behnaz Ataee General Manager
Production Manager Technical Director Production Coordinator Assistant Technical Director Sound Master Master Electrician Wardrobe Supervisor
Director of Communications Communications Intern
MARKETING & SALES
Frankie Ocasio Executive Assistant to the Managing Director Maryam Kermani Staff Accountant Janet Huynh Staff Accountant Maureen Lestelle Human Resources/Benefits Manager Marguerite Harris Receptionist
Joseph Yoshitomi Marketing Director Karen Gutierrez Associate Marketing Director Mark San Filippo Ticket Services Director & Database Administrator Ivy Khan Marketing Coordinator Brian Dunning Graphics / Production Artist Stephanie Strand Audience Services & Subscription Manager Paul Millet Group Sales Janice Bernal Associate Box Office Manager Bryan Martin Associate Box Office Manager Janet Huynh Assistant Box Office Manager Korie Benavidez, Audrey Cain, Ariel Goldberg, Scott Kriloff, Richard Martinez, Lilach Mendelovich, Ryan Sandoval, Martin Wurst Box Office Staff Zack Hamra, Rodrigo Perez, Grace Resler, Ben Seay Audience Services
FACILITIES MANAGEMENT
FRONT OF HOUSE
Miguel del Castillo Victor Cueva De Loera Mario Santillan-Perez
Jeni Pearsons Events Coordinator Tyler Tangalin Supervising House Manager Jessica Kummer, Sarah Rosenbloom, Zack Schultz House Managers Abdoulaye N’Gom Head Usher Beth Behrs, Adam Carr, Lindsey Cerny, Tiger Curran, Tommy French, Matt Jones, Sean Jones, Kimberly Legg, Katie Mitchell, Leah Munson, Jonathan Schwartz, Julianne Tveten Ushers
EDUCATION Debra Pasquerette Education Director Louise Hung Resident Teaching Artist & Education Associate Alex Rogals Education Coordinator
ADMINISTRATION
Facility Manager Maintenance Custodial
This theater operates under agreement between the League of Resident Theaters and Actors Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States. The scenic, costume, lighting and sound designers in LORT theaters are represented by United Scenic Artists Local USA-829, IATSE. P24 PERFORMANCES MAGAZINe