THE FIRST DEEP BREATH
®® ®
DIRECTOR GIL CATES, JR.
Welcome to the West Coast premiere of The First Deep Breath !
We are proud and honored to have this powerful piece from playwright Lee Edward Colston II lead our lineup in the new year. Lee and director Steve H. Broadnax III have reunited after their world premiere of The First Deep Breath in Chicago in 2019, leading an extraordinary cast of actors and artists for the Geffen Playhouse production. It is a moving family drama that will inspire audiences long after they’ve left the theater.
I would like to take a moment and recognize my dear colleague and Geffen Playhouse Artistic Director Matt Shakman. As of February 2023, Matt has transitioned out his formal Artistic Director role and will remain on our Board of Directors. Since arriving at the Geffen in August of 2017, Matt pushed
the boundaries of what theater could be, and what theater can teach us. I am particularly proud of the work he spearheaded through our Geffen Stayhouse programming lineup, which allowed the Geffen to not only thrive during the pandemic closure, but to create an entirely new and innovative way of connecting people through the power of storytelling.
We are forever grateful to Matt for all of his incredible work and artistic leadership at the Geffen. A search committee has been working on the process of finding our next Artistic Director, and we look forward to what that future holds for our theater.
Thank you and enjoy the show!
Gil Cates, Jr. Executive Director
WELCOME TO
EXECUTIVE
2 PLAYBILL
PHOTO BY JEFF LORCH
SINGLE TICKETS START AT JUST $30! 310.208.2028 • GEFFENPLAYHOUSE.ORG THE ANTS 06.20–07.30.2023 THE LONELY FEW 02.28–04.09.2023 THE MOUNTAINTOP 06.06–07.09.2023 AVA THE SECRET CONVERSATIONS 04.04–05.07.2023 PRESENTING SPONSOR
LEVINSON
Victoria Alonso
Adi Greenberg CHAIR
Victoria Mann Simms
Happy New Year and welcome to our first production of 2023. It is with great pleasure that we present Lee Edward Colston II’s powerful family drama, The First Deep Breath. This is a play that captured the artistic team from page one. It is as surprising as it is soulful, a riveting testament to Lee’s extraordinary talent as both a writer and an actor. In writing this piece, Lee sought to create the kinds of characters he yearned to play. In doing so, he has conceived of and brilliantly rendered a multi-faceted, flawed, and deeply human family.
Joining Lee to bring this epic opus to life is director Steve H. Broadnax III, who we are thrilled to welcome to the Geffen. We have long been eager to work with Steve, and when the opportunity arose for him and Lee to reunite and revisit this play following its 2019 Chicago production, they (and we) jumped at the chance to do so. Steve has assembled an incredible cast and team of designers who together have brought the beautiful and complicated Jones family home to life.
As we enter a new year, I am pleased to say there will be something in the theatrical season for everyone: a world premiere musical, a work of historical fiction, a horror-based social satire, and a glimpse into the life of a Hollywood icon. The First Deep Breath sets the bar for the exciting things to come, and we are so glad you have joined us.
Enjoy the show!
Amy Levinson
Associate Artistic Director
Dr. Gene D. Block
Gil Cates, Jr. Executive Director
Mary Ann Cloyd
Vice Chair
Merle Dandridge
Dr. Brad Edgerton
Bonnie E. Eskenazi
Mark Fleischer
Susan Nahley Fleishman
Patricia L. Glaser
Martha Henderson
Chair Emeritus
Loretta Everett Kaufman
Carla Malden
Brian Mann
Tiffany Mayberry
Mary Osako
Danny Passman
Holly Rice
Linda Bernstein Rubin
Matt Shakman
Richard Sherman
Cynthia P. Stafford
Howard Tenenbaum
Chair Emeritus
Marc Weinstock
FOUNDING TRUSTEES
Harold A. Brown
Kirsten Combs
Robert A. Daly
David Geffen
Herbert M. Gelfand
Chair Emeritus
Quincy Jones
Jeffrey Katzenberg
Glorya Kaufman
Frank G. Mancuso
Chair Emeritus
Ron Meyer
Jerry Moss
Bruce M. Ramer
Founding Chair
Andy Spahn
Steven Spielberg
Steve Tisch
Dr. Charles E. Young Chair Emeritus
IN MEMORIAM
Gilbert Cates Founder
Marcia Israel-Curley
Audrey Skirball Kenis
Charles Kenis
Karl Malden
Ginny Mancini
Jerry Perenchio
Edie Wasserman
Lew Wasserman
LEGAL COUNSEL
Nikki Kerman
Venable LLP
ADVISORY BOARD
John Sonego Chair
Stephanie Carson
Lori Collins
Ellyce R. Cooper
Debra Davis
Giovanna Desselle
Brenda Garcia
Ann Gianopulos
Priscila Giraldo
Eric Heer
Laura Kennedy
John McCrite
Audrey Povar
Eric Rollins
Scott Sandler
Cela Devine Sutton
Uma Swami
Miranda Tollman
Rebecca Vail
Laurie Ziegler
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
ASSOCIATE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR AMY
4 PLAYBILL
PHOTO BY ISAAK BERLINER
ART LIVES HERE
FEATURED WORK #6 Mirror, Mirror
ARTIST
Joan Chéri Peake
ON DISPLAY
Feb. 1 – Apr. 9, 2023
As part of Geffen Playhouse’s Art Lives Here project, four Los Angeles artists have been invited to create original art works to be displayed in our lobby welcoming audiences during our 2022/2023 Season.
We celebrate the diversity in our audiences and our productions, and it is our mission to create, foster, and nourish an environment that is open and welcoming for all. We are a home for the arts, and we believe our physical space should also reflect and be representative of our ongoing commitment to equality, diversity, and inclusion in everything we do and the communities we support.
As theatre is one of the most social of the arts and demands society to examine itself in the mirror, this piece will create the relationship between theatre and oneself. In a society where social media plays a major role in our lives, selfies have become almost a daily ritual around the world throughout the 21st century. This work will allow the theatre community to come together and blend with our current social norm. Over the past decade, selfies have helped people stand out, and helped them prove that they are a part of something important. So, essentially this mirrored artwork will show the audience that they are a part of the theatre culture and that they deserve their flowers while they’re here!
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Joan Chéri Peake is a passionate, expressive, vibrant African American artist. At the young age of 5 she watched her mother create paintings from home, which instantly sparked
her love for art. Naturally, she was drawn to painting; her interest was cultivated during her teenage years and further developed when she decided to take her Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts. Joan also had the desire to fulfill her love for fashion and decided to advance her education in New York City at Parsons New School for Design. Her sensual nature of art is inspired by femininity, pop culture, and her life experiences. Her aesthetic constantly allows her to explore new places, and new techniques.
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS PROJECT VISIT GEFFENPLAYHOUSE.ORG/ARTLIVESHERE
NOW ON DISPLAY IN THE LOBBY
THE FIRST DEEP BREATH
WRITTEN BY LEE EDWARD COLSTON II
DIRECTED BY STEVE H. BROADNAX III
SCENIC DESIGNER MICHAEL CARNAHAN
SOUND DESIGNER CURTIS CRAIG
CHOREOGRAPHER DJ SMART
DIALECT & VOICE COACH TRÉ COTTEN
PRODUCTION STAGE MANAGER ALYSSA ESCALANTE
COSTUME DESIGNER EDUARDO CASTRO
LIGHTING DESIGNER PABLO SANTIAGO
COMPOSER RASHAD MCPHERSON
FIGHT DIRECTOR STEVE RANKIN
INTIMACY DIRECTOR SASHA NICOLLE SMITH
DRAMATURG LINDSAY A. JENKINS
ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER AMBER R. DETTMERS
CASTING DIRECTOR PHYLLIS SCHURINGA, CSA
OPENING NIGHT
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2023
OPENING NIGHT SPONSORS
6 PLAYBILL THE GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE PRODUCTION OF
THE FIRST DEEP BREATH
CAST OF CHARACTERS
(IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER)
AJ (Alexander Michael Jones) OPA ADEYEMO
Abdul-Malik (Albert Melvin Jones IV)
LEE EDWARD COLSTON II
Leslie Carter BRANDON MENDEZ HOMER
Ruth Jones ELLA JOYCE
Pastor Albert Melvin Jones III ................................................... HERB NEWSOME
Pearl Thomas DEANNA REED-FOSTER
Dee-Dee (Denise Jones) CANDACE THOMAS
Tyree Fisher ..................................................................... KEITH A. WALLACE †
UNDERSTUDIES
Tyree Fisher / Leslie Carter
Pastor Albert Melvin Jones III
JALEN GILBERT
CHRISTOPHER GUYTON
Abdul-Malik (Albert Melvin Jones IV) GERARD JOSEPH
Ruth Jones / Pearl Thomas MONICA PARKS
Dee-Dee (Denise Jones) NEDRA SNIPES
AJ (Alexander Michael Jones) DONOVAN WOODS
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.
SETTING
Mother Bethel Baptist Church & The Jones Residence, Germantown, (Philly).
RUNNING TIME
3 hours and 45 minutes
Including two intermissions.
PLEASE NOTE
There is no photography or filming of any kind allowed during the performance. Please turn off all electronic devices, including cell phones. Thank you!
GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE 7
†Fight Captain
OPA ADEYEMO
AJ (Alexander Michael Jones)
Opa Adeyemo is a recent graduate from The Juilliard School with a B.F.A. in Drama. He starred in ALIEN/NATION at the Williamstown Theatre Festival under Michael Arden’s direction. Select credits while at Juilliard include “Joe LeVay” in Stick Fly, “Bertram” in All’s Well That Ends Well, and “Gint” in Gint. He also shot a supporting role on one of the final episodes of The Good Fight, as well as the short film The Extenders, written by Eboni Booth.
LEE EDWARD COLSTON II
(he/him)
Playwright, as Abdul-Malik (Albert Melvin Jones IV)
Philly native Lee Edward
Colston II is a Black, Queer, former prison guard and MMA
Fighter turned actor, writer, director, teacher, and author. He was a finalist for the 2017 IAMA Theatre Company’s
Shonda Rhimes Unsung Voices
Playwriting Commission and a recipient of the National Black
Theatre’s I AM SOUL Playwrights Residency. The First Deep Breath received critical acclaim as “…one of the best Chicago plays of the decade…” after its world premiere at Victory Gardens Theater in Chicago, earning Colston a 2020 Jeff Award for Best New Work as well as a 2020 Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award given by the American Theatre Critics Association. Past winners include Lynn Nottage, August Wilson, and Horton Foote. Some of Colston’s other plays include: Roost, For Which It Stands, Solitary, Holla, and Birthday Cake. Colston previously wrote on Fargo (FX) starring Chris Rock. His episode “East/West” was named one of the top TV Episodes of 2020 by The Hollywood Reporter. Colston has developed television projects at HBO with Academy Award winners Laura Dern, Eric Roth, and Alex Gibney. He has also developed with Emmy Award winners Joe Fields and Joel Weisberg at FX. Most recently, Lee is a co-producer on Ryan Murphy’s American Sports Story: Gladiator and is developing a new series with Emmy Award–winning The Handmaid’s Tale producer Warren Littlefield. Colston earned his M.F.A. in Acting at The Juilliard School and is repped by Range Media Partners and CAA.
BRANDON MENDEZ HOMER (he/him)
Leslie Carter
Geffen Playhouse debut. Brandon is a former banker turned multi-hyphenate artist; actor, writer, director, teacher; awarded the Juilliard Career Advancement Fellowship which “recognizes an artist with tremendous talent, innovation, entrepreneurial mindset and potential to make a significant impact on the performing arts.” Drawing on multi-ethnic roots within the Black diaspora, he is the creator of Mirthamerica, an epic historical fantasy IP built on blockchain technology; integrates NFTs, DAOs, audio, digital, theatrical and comic-book-driven storytelling (9/10 Premise, Blacklist Evaluation). Faculty: IDSA LA; teaches movement through the “Homer Pedagogy,” researched and developed at Juilliard, hedge funds, tech companies, law offices, and high schools around the world. The Good Fight (Paramount+), Blue Bloods (CBS), Uncle Vanya (Pasadena Playhouse), Wolf Play (critically acclaimed sold-out Soho Rep production), On That Day in Amsterdam (Ted Snowdon/ Primary Stages), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Shakespeare on the Sound). Workshops: The
PRODUCTION BIOGRAPHIES 8 PLAYBILL
Public Theater Emerging Writers Group, Roundabout Theatre Company, Almeida Theatre UK.
Juilliard: Othello (Producer/ Director/Adaption). Short: Souvenir Drunk (Producer). The Juilliard School, Michael Chekhov Actors Studio Boston.
@zhomerbrand
My Wife and Kids, The Jamie Foxx Show, Seinfeld, Eve, Being Mary Jane, Tyler Perry’s Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor, Preacher’s Kid, Lucky Girl, Bubba Ho-Tep, Set It Off, Selma, Lord, Selma, Nina, Catfish Christmas, Holiday Hideaway, Haus of Vicious, BET’s Story Porch, and the MTV Video Music Award–winning music video for TLC’s “Waterfalls.” www.ellajoyce.com
a hip-hop musical based on Shakespeare’s Hamlet, has been produced in eight cities across the country as well as the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown, South Africa. He holds an M.F.A. from Penn State. herbnewsome.com
Regional theatre credits include: Having Our Say (Goodman Theatre), August Wilson’s King Hedley II (as “Ruby” at The Matrix Theatre, and in the world premiere as “Tonya” alongside Tony Todd at Pittsburgh’s O’Reilly Theater), Two Trains Running (Yale Repertory Theatre), Crumbs from the Table of Joy (Second Stage Theater, South Coast Repertory, and Goodman Theatre), Bossa Nova (Sundance Institute Theatre Lab and at Yale Repertory Theatre), Checkmates (Bermuda Festival of the Performing Arts), and Fences (alongside Tony Todd at the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival). She is an original founding member of the National Black Theatre Festival in Winston-Salem, NC. Ella is also known for her role of “Eleanor” in the sitcom Roc, which earned her an NAACP Image Award nomination. Other TV and film roles include:
HERB NEWSOME (he/him)
Pastor
Herb Newsome is an actor/ writer from NYC. Selected theater credits include Paradise Blue (Geffen Playhouse), A Raisin in the Sun (Fresno City Theater), Macbeth and Richard III (Colorado Shakespeare Festival), A Fox on the Fairway (Lyric Rep), Revenge of a King (National Black Theater Festival), Take Me Out (Foothills Theatre Company), Re:Definition (La MaMa E.T.C.), and five August Wilson plays—Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Kuntu Rep), Jitney (Elmwood Playhouse), The Piano Lesson and Radio Golf (Penn State Centre Stage), and Fences (Lyric Rep). He has written and performed in three solo shows: In Devil’s Heaven, Break It Down, and FreeMan in Paris. His fulllength play Revenge of a King,
Pearl Thomas
Deanna Reed-Foster is thrilled to be making her Geffen Playhouse debut and to be reprising the role of “Pearl.” Deanna is an Emmy Award–winning actor and ensemble member of Shattered Globe Theatre. Her SGT credits include: Rasheeda Speaking, Mill Fire, and Marvin’s Room. Other credits include: The First Deep Breath (Victory Gardens Theater), Nina Simone: Four Women (Northlight Theatre), HeLa (Sideshow Theatre Company), The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 (Chicago Children’s Theatre), Barbecue (Strawdog Theatre Company), and Even Longer and Farther Away (The New Colony). Regional credits include: A Raisin in the Sun (American Players Theatre), Nina Simone: Four Women (Merrimack Repertory Theatre), and Fences (Judy Bayley Theatre/UNLV). Deanna can also be seen in many
ELLA JOYCE
Ruth Jones
Albert Melvin Jones III
DEANNA REED-FOSTER (she/her)
PRODUCTION BIOGRAPHIES GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE 9
films and television shows. She is a proud member of AEA and SAG-AFTRA. She is represented by DDO Artists Agency.
KEITH A. WALLACE
Tyree Fisher
CANDACE THOMAS (she/her)
Dee-Dee (Denise Jones)
Candace is proud to be making her Geffen Playhouse debut!
Theatre credits include Arizona Theater Company (Nina Simone: Four Women), Forward Theater (Feeding Beatrice: A Gothic Tale), Milwaukee Repertory Theater (Nunsense; Man of La Mancha; A Christmas Carol), The Wallis and Black Rebirth Collective virtual co-production of UNMASKED: A Theatrical Celebration of Black Women’s Liberation (Jezelle the Gazelle; G.O.A.T.). Television credits include NBC (Chicago Fire), Netflix (Easy), and Lifetime (MOW). She has an M.F.A. in Acting from the University of South Carolina. @candi_reign on Instagram.
Keith A. Wallace is an actor/ writer/director and proud North Philly native “all day, everyday.” His acclaimed solo play, The Bitter Game, directly confronts racialized police violence and has toured extensively throughout the US and UK, garnering the Princess Grace Theater Award, the United Solo Festival Avant Garde Award and a San Diego Critics Award nomination for Outstanding Solo Performance. Select regional credits: La Jolla Playhouse (Junk world premiere, directed by Doug Hughes), The Public Theater, Wallis Annenberg Center for the Arts, The Kennedy Center, ART. He has been a commissioned playwright at the La Jolla Playhouse and The Old Globe as well as a finalist for the Sundance Theater Lab, the Eugene O’Neill Playwrights Conference and the New Dramatist Van Lier New Voices Fellowship. He was also the Associate Director of Model Land with The Tyra Banks Company. Keith has been a featured panelist at SXSW, TEDx, The Kennedy Center and the U.S. Embassy in Dublin for his work in police reform and social justice. Training: M.F.A. UC San Diego and Morehouse College. www.thebittergame.com
Thoughts of a Colored Man (Broadway), Suzan-Lori Parks Sally & Tom at the Guthrie Theater (world premiere), Katori Hall’s 2021 Pulitzer Prize world premiere The Hot Wing King at the Signature Theatre, Lee Edward Colston II’s The First Deep Breath at Chicago’s Victory Gardens Theater (world premiere and winner of the Jeff Award for Best New Work), Dominique Morisseau’s Blood at the Root at the National Black Theatre (winner of Kennedy Center’s Hip Hop Theater Creator Award), and William Jackson Harper’s world premiere Travisville at Ensemble Studio Theatre in NYC. Ensemble Studio Theatre member and serves as the Associate Artistic Director at People’s Light Theatre and a Professor of Theatre at Penn State University; Co-Head of M.F.A. Directing.
Recent Broadway: Skeleton Crew (Tony nomination), Lackawanna Blues. Off-Broadway: The Hot Wing King (Signature Theatre, Pulitzer Prize for Drama); Skeleton Crew (Atlantic Theater Company); I and You (59E59 Theaters);
STEVE H. BROADNAX III (he/him) Director
MICHAEL CARNAHAN Scenic Designer
PRODUCTION BIOGRAPHIES 10 PLAYBILL
The Happiest Song Plays Last (Second Stage Theater); The Piano Lesson and The First Breeze of Summer (Signature Theatre). International: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Billy Elliot the Musical (Atelier de Cultura, Sao Paulo, Brazil).
Tours: Cheers Live on Stage, A Christmas Story: The Musical. Regional: Apollo Theater, Arena Stage, American Conservatory Theater, The Kennedy Center, Mark Taper Forum, Alliance Theatre, McCarter Theatre Center, Goodspeed Musicals, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Baltimore Center Stage, Cleveland Play House, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Pasadena Playhouse, Two River Theater. www.michaelcarnahandesign.com
IG: carnypics Twitter: @mike_carnahan
EDUARDO CASTRO
Costume Designer
Eduardo’s costume design career spans over 40 years, beginning with an apprenticeship at Western Costume Company in Hollywood, assisting costume designers Ann Roth, Theadora Van Runkle, and Julie Weiss, among others. After working on the series Fame, famed designer Milena Canonero asked Eduardo to collaborate on the fourth season of the iconic series Miami Vice. Further collaborations with Milena Canonero include Warren Beatty’s Bulworth and Steven Soderbergh’s Solaris. Eduardo is the recipient of seven Emmy Award nominations, five Costume Designers Guild Awards, and the 2013
Career Achievement Award; his first Emmy nomination was for Also Starring Pancho Villa as Himself, followed by nominations for the CBS Television film Elvis, Ugly Betty, and Once Upon a Time. Film and television credits include: Bird on a Wire, Sugar Hill, The Perez Family, Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love, What’s Cooking?, Bride and Prejudice, The Wedding, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Pepper Dennis, Eastwick, and The Call of the Wild. Theater credits include: Theatre West, The Group Rep, Kresge Theatre in Pittsburgh, and various small theaters around Los Angeles. M.F.A in Costume Design from Carnegie Mellon University.
PABLO SANTIAGO (he/him)
Lighting Designer
Pablo Santiago is a Mexican American lighting designer. Born in Chiapas, Mexico, Pablo moved to the United States as a teenager and studied filmmaking at University of California, San Diego. After spending fifteen years working on major motion pictures, Pablo returned to school to earn his M.F.A. in Theatrical Lighting Design from UCLA. He is the winner of the Richard E. Sherwood Award and Stage Raw Award. His most recent work was seen at LA Opera on the West Coast premiere of Omar. Pablo is proud to have long standing collaborations with many great artists incuding James Darrah (Breaking the Waves), Ellen Reid (Pulitzer Prize winner p r i s m), José Luis Valenzuela (Destiny
of Desire and Macbeth), Missy Mazzoli (Proving Up), Bill Rauch (Mother Road), Patricia McGregor (Skeleton Crew, Place, and Good Grief), Ted Hearne (Place), Adam Rigg (The Lord of Cries), and Yuval Sharon (War of the Worlds and Die Walküre). Pablo has designed for companies such as Santa Fe Opera, Geffen Playhouse, and Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Some of the amazing venues he has worked at include Theatro Municipal São Paulo, Kennedy Center, BAM Harvey Theater, Goodman Theatre, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, and Arena Stage in DC.
CURTIS CRAIG (he/him)
Sound Designer
NYC: winner of the 2022 Audelco Viv Award for sound design for Confederates at Signature Theatre, The Classical Theatre of Harlem, Apollo Theater, New York International Fringe Festival. Regional: Guthrie Theater, People’s Light, Lantern Theater Company, Cleveland Play House, Philadelphia Theater Company, Syracuse Stage, Denver Center Theater Company, Baltimore Center Stage, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Seattle Rep, Detroit Public Theatre, Clarence Brown Theatre, Chautauqua Theater Company, Dallas Theater Center. World Premieres: Suzan Lori-Parks’ Sally & Tom (Guthrie Theater); Dominique Morisseau’s Confederates (Signature Theater) and Mud Row (People’s Light); and Lauren Yee’s The Great Leap (Denver Center for the Performing Arts). In 2022
PRODUCTION BIOGRAPHIES GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE 11
his composition and sound design for the American premiere of Frankenstein won the Gold Medal at the World Stage Design exhibition in Calgary. www.soniclandscape.net
RASHAD M c PHERSON Composer
Rashad McPherson is a performer, musician, composer, and arranger living in New York. Rashad studied music formally as a piano principle and Music Business major at Berklee College of Music (Boston, MA). Rashad’s recent solo record Forward features collaborations with Kymberli Joye (The Voice), Shelby Sykes (The Color Purple tour), Jonny Fung, Kevin Powell, and more. Rashad made his theatrical music directorial debut with the world premiere of Bayard Rustin: Inside Ashland, written and directed by Steve H. Broadnax III (People’s Light). He composed and co-arranged the score alongside Jason Michael Webb. Rashad is a seminary-trained and ordained minister. He graduated from Boston University School of Theology and Union Theological Seminary in New York in 2015 and 2017, respectively. Currently, Rashad serves as an Associate Minister at Marble Collegiate Church (New York, NY). There, in additional to his pastoral responsibilities, he is the lead contributor for racial justice programming.
DJ SMART Choreographer
DJ Smart has been described as innovative, quintessential
and arguably one of the most versatile and gifted performers of his generation. Mr. Smart is a graduate with honors from the University of the Arts, the recipient of the Stella Moore Prize and the Outstanding in All Styles Award. He has received rave reviews by over 15 major magazines and an endless number of accolades including: 2006 NAACP ACT-SO National Dance Gold Medalist, 2007 YoungArts National Winner in Jazz Dance, Eleone Dance Theatre Icon Award, and 2013 Edge Magazine Person of the Week. He has been fortunate to perform, teach and choreograph all over the USA and in over 30 countries. His credits include: Apple, Samsung, The Jacksons, Twenty One Pilots, Cher, Tinashe, Dancing with the Stars, America’s Got Talent, Billboard Music Awards, and more. Most notably, he was a special guest performer on Fox’s So You Think You Can Dance and So You Think You Can Dance Ukraine.
STEVE RANKIN
Fight Director
Most recently at Geffen Playhouse: King Liz, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Paradise Blue, Key Largo, Witch, Big Sky. Broadway: Carousel (Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Fight Choreography), Ain’t Too Proud, All My Sons, Summer, Memphis, Jersey Boys, Henry IV, Twelfth Night, The Who’s Tommy, Anna Christie, The Real Inspector Hound, Macbeth, The Farnsworth Invention, Guys and Dolls, Dracula, Doctor Zhivago,
Bonnie and Clyde, Getting Away With Murder, Two Shakespearean Actors. Off-Broadway: Pig Farm, The Third Story, The Night Hank Williams Died, Below the Belt. Public Theater: CORIOLANUS. Shakespeare Los Angeles: Henry IV (with Tom Hanks).
Stratford Shakespeare Festival: Romeo and Juliet, Caesar and Cleopatra, The Who’s Tommy, Macbeth, Henry V. Metropolitan Opera: Faust, Rodelinda, Boris Godunov, Iphegenie at Tauride Regional: The Kennedy Center, Mark Taper Forum, Ahmanson Theatre, The Old Globe (Associate Artist), La Jolla Playhouse, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Actors Theater of Louisville, et al. Mr. Rankin also plays mandolin and guitar with The Susie Glaze New Folk Ensemble. Steve is a proud member of SDC.
SASHA NICOLLE SMITH (she/her)
Intimacy Director
Sasha is thrilled to be working with Geffen Playhouse for the first time! Other theater credits include: The Notebook (Chicago Shakespeare Theater), Ms. Blakk For President (Steppenwolf Theatre), Familiar (Steppenwolf Theatre), How To Catch Creation (Goodman Theatre), A Raisin in the Sun (Guthrie Theater), The Bluest Eye (Virginia Stage Company), Toni Stone (Milwaukee Rep), Trading Places (Alliance Theater), Smart People (Writers Theater). Film/Television: Tiny Beautiful Things (Hulu), Daisy Jones & The Six (Amazon), Your Place or Mine (Netflix), That ‘90s Show (Netflix), How I Met Your
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Father (Hulu), Random Acts of Flyness (HBO), The Rookie: Feds (ABC), The Chi (Showtime), Lizzo’s Watch Out For The Big Grrrls (Amazon), Truth Be Told (Apple TV+).
TRÉ COTTEN (he/him)
Dialect & Voice Coach
Tré Cotten is a published and award-winning creator and educator. Based on the Kwakwaka’wakw Territory of North Vancouver Island, BC., Mr. Cotten has been featured in The New York Times and Los Angeles Times for his work as Dialect Coach on Regina King’s One Night in Miami… A Juilliard Teaching Fellowship Finalist (2021) and the keynote speaker for the Voice and Speech Trainers Association (VASTA) Conference in 2021. Film/TV credits: Dialect Coach on the CBC & BET’s Emmy-nominated period drama The Porter, and on Amazon’s newly released The Peripheral. He is currently in production as Acting & Dialect Coach on the new franchise film The Exorcist. He has an M.F.A. in Acting from the University of Washington School of Drama. Raised in North Carolina, he is of proud Black and Indigenous descent. IG: @tre_cotten
LINDSAY A. JENKINS (she/her)
Dramaturg
Lindsay A. Jenkins is a cultural consultant, dramaturg, and producer based in Los Angeles by way of Dallas, TX. She is the Founder of Maroon Arts and Culture, an organization committed to the empowerment of
the global majority through the curation of safe spaces where artists and audiences celebrate, collaborate, and create. She is a passionate artistic researcher, supporting projects across mediums. Her specific area of research is Black Performance Heritage, connecting past performances to contemporary experiences. She has been teaching yoga for 10 years and employs embodied practices in her Afrocentric approaches to research and development. In addition to working oneon-one with clients, she has had the pleasure of working with organizations of various sizes including Center Theatre Group, Critical Mass Performance Group, and August Wilson House. L.J. is currently serving as Guest Lecturer at Pomona College.
ALYSSA ESCALANTE (she/her) Production Stage Manager
Alyssa is a Los Angeles-based stage manager and graduate of Occidental College. Previous Geffen credits include: A Wicked Soul in Cherry Hill. Other credits include What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank (The Old Globe); Spamilton (Musical Theatre West); All’s Well That Ends Well (A Noise Within); Lizastrata (Troubadour Theatre Company); Hamilton (Eliza Tour at the Pantages); The Bacchae (SITI Company at Guthrie Theater); Hold These Truths (San Diego Repertory Theatre); Fireflies, M. Butterfly, Photograph 51, Culture Clash (Still) in America
(South Coast Repertory); A Streetcar Named Desire, Mojada: A Medea in Los Angeles, Happy Days (Boston Court Pasadena); Criers for Hire (East West Players). Thanks to Mom, Dad & Minerva!
AMBER R. DETTMERS (she/her) Assistant Stage Manager
Amber R. Dettmers has been working in Southern California for the past five years. Before coming to the West Coast, she stage managed for nearly a decade in Chicago after receiving her B.A. in Theatre from Loyola University Chicago. Previous Geffen projects: the un’admiring (The Writers’ Room reading). Selected previous credits include: Cirque Dreams Holidaze (Cirque du Soleil/ VStar Entertainment, SM); The Great Jheri Curl Debate (East West Players, SM); HI, SOLO (MOCA, SM); All’s Well That Ends Well (A Noise Within, ASM); Noel Noel (San Diego Symphony, SM); Fly (La Jolla Playhouse, SM Resident); A Number and Scenes From an Execution (Runcible Theatre Company, SM); Seminar, A Walk in the Woods, Jake’s Women, and A Bright Room Called Day (Spartan Theatre, PSM); and Ghost Gardens (Pegasus Theatre, PSM). Amber has also served as Production Manager on various shows at MOCA (LA), Runcible Theatre, and The Poor Theatre (Chicago). Amber holds an M.F.A. in Stage Management from UC San Diego.
PRODUCTION BIOGRAPHIES GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE 13
PHYLLIS SCHURINGA, CSA (she/her)
Casting Director
Phyllis is an Artistic Associate and the Casting Director for Geffen Playhouse. Recent casting includes The Inheritance: Part 1 & Part 2 and TRAYF. She has received 8 Artios nominations: Power of Sail, Man of God, Witch, Significant Other, Actually, Barbecue, Barcelona, and The Country House. Before joining the Geffen, she was the Casting Director for Steppenwolf Theater Company in Chicago where 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). Broadway transfers include One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (Tony Award for Best Revival), The Song of Jacob Zulu, and The Rise and Fall of Little Voice. She is a member of the Casting Society of America.
GIL CATES, JR.
Executive Director
Gil Cates, Jr. is Executive Director of Geffen Playhouse. In this role, he is responsible
for managing the Geffen’s dayto-day operations; developing new, ongoing theater partnerships and leading its mission to inform, entertain and inspire diverse audiences with live theater of the highest caliber. Prior to being named Executive Director in 2015, Cates served as Geffen Playhouse Board Vice Chairman since 2012 and served as a producer and director in theater, film and television. His theater credits include the award-winning Names (Matrix Theatre Company) and Three Sisters and David Mamet’s A Life in the Theatre (both at Syracuse Stage). Cates’ film credits include The Surface (starring Sean Astin and Geffen Playhouse alumnus Chris Mulkey), Jobs (starring Ashton Kutcher, Josh Gad, Dermot Mulroney, as well as Geffen Playhouse alumni Matthew Modine and Ron Eldard) and the 2011 feature film Lucky (starring Colin Hanks, Ari Graynor and Ann-Margret). In addition, Cates co-produced and co-directed the critically acclaimed Life After Tomorrow, featuring Sarah Jessica Parker, which premiered on Showtime. His other films include Deal (starring Burt Reynolds, Bret Harrison and Charles Durning) and The Mesmerist (starring Jessica Capshaw and Geffen Playhouse alumnus Neil Patrick Harris). Cates’ television directorial debut was an episode of the NBC comedy Joey, starring Emmy winner Matt LeBlanc. He is currently directing a documentary short chronicling the journey of one of the first
refugee families to flee Ukraine and arrive in the U.S. after escaping the Russian invasion, set for release in 2023. He studied at the National Theatre Institute in Waterford, Connecticut, and holds a B.F.A. in Drama from Syracuse University.
During her tenure at the Geffen, Amy has spearheaded numerous programs for commissioning and developing new plays and has shepherded more than 150 plays into production. Dramaturgy credits include the commissions and world premieres of Donald Margulies’ Time Stands Still and Coney Island Christmas, Jane Anderson’s The Quality of Life and The Escort, Amanda Peet’s Our Very Own Carlin McCullough, and Michael Mitnick’s Mysterious Circumstances. Other dramaturgy credits include Actually, Invisible Tango, Extraordinary Chambers, Build, Equivocation, Joan Rivers: A Work in Progress by a Life in Progress, Guards at the Taj, and Geffen Stayhouse virtual shows including Helder Guimarães’ The Present and The Future, and David Kwong’s Inside the Box. She holds an M.F.A. in Dramaturgy from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
AMY LEVINSON (she/her) Associate Artistic Director
PRODUCTION BIOGRAPHIES 14 PLAYBILL
BEHNAZ ATAEE
Chief
Financial
Officer
Behnaz “Nazy” Ataee is Chief Financial Officer of Geffen Playhouse. In this role, she has oversight responsibility
for accounting functions of the theater, including operating and capital budgets. In addition, she supports all IT and HR activities. Behnaz was named Chief Financial Officer in 2015 after serving as General Manager since 2002. She first joined Geffen Playhouse in 1999. Previously, Ataee worked as a senior financial analyst for Ultratech Inc., an international semiconductor company based in San Jose. Prior to Ultratech, she was an auditor for Van Sloten
CPA, after holding the position of Director of Accounting at FABS Management, where she was responsible for overseeing the finances of more than 25 non-profit organizations. As a financial professional with more than 30 years’ experience in for-profit and non-profit financial management and auditing, Ataee began her career in the Bay Area as a partner in a small tech startup. She holds a master’s degree from Pepperdine University.
THE NEW PLAY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
Supporting artists is central to the mission of the Geffen Playhouse, and play commissions are a cornerstone of that support. To commission a playwright to write a play means making a commitment to their voice, craft and vision, with the hope of sharing the fruits of their work on our stage.
The Geffen Playhouse’s New Play Development Program is made possible, in large part, through the leadership and generosity of donations from: The Edgerton Foundation, The Harold & Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, Fay & Frank Mancuso, Sandra Krause & William Fitzgerald, Hilary & Jack Angelo and Mary Bianco, The MOCA Foundation.
We are proud to have the following artists under commission:
LUIS ALFARO
RACHEL BONDS
COLMAN DOMINGO
MICHAEL GOLAMCO
MEGHAN KENNEDY
MATTHEW LÓPEZ
MARTYNA MAJOK
CHELSEA MARCANTEL
QUI NGUYEN
STACY OSEI-KUFFOUR
JIEHAE PARK
JOHN POLLONO
ZOE SARNAK
ROBERT SCHENKKAN
JEN SILVERMAN
DAVID WIENER
CRAIG WRIGHT
LAUREN YEE
For more information on this program, please visit geffenplayhouse.org/newplays.
THE WRITERS’ ROOM
A group for Los Angeles-based playwrights, The Writers’ Room is a product of the Geffen’s deep commitment to supporting new plays and specifically to fostering bold, relevant work by the vibrant artistic community of this city. During this one-year residency, playwright members gather monthly at the Geffen to share their work and receive feedback from their peers and the Geffen’s artistic staff, culminating in a play reading series.
Submissions for the 2023/2024 cycle of The Writers’ Room will open in early 2023. For more information, please visit geffenplayhouse.org/thewritersroom.
PRODUCTION BIOGRAPHIES
GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE 15
The Writers’ Room is made possible through the generous support of the William Randolph Hearst Foundation and Jerry and Terri Kohl.
GEFFEN AT A GLANCE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
PRODUCTION STAFF FOR THE FIRST DEEP BREATH
Assistant Scenic Designer
Anna Grigo
Assistant Costume Designer
Jenny Deck
Assistant Lighting Designer
Edgar Alamo
Assistant Fight Directors
Jason Tate & Bobby C. King
Choreographer Assistant
Will B. Bell
Wig Designer
Shaunte Williams
Production Assistant
Juliet Park
Automation Operator
Skye Mahaffie
Deck Crew
Chris Cowan, Lila Schmitz
Wardrobe Supervisor
Michayla Van Treeck
Hair & Makeup
Meghan Gottschalk
Dresser
Vivi Le
Wardrobe Swing
Kassidy Klinesmith
Lighting Programmer
Nicole Jaja
Light Board Operators
Justin Kelly-Cahill, Erica Ammerman
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Scenery Built & Painted By
F&D Scene Changes
Automation & Show Control Featuring Creative Conners, Inc.
Lighting Equipment Provided By Kinetic Lighting
Sound Equipment Provided By Jon Sound Inc., DnB Design, Launch
SPECIAL THANKS
A1
Bob Gilmartin
A2
Jacenta Yu
A1 Swing
Ilana Elroi
A2 Swing
Stephanie Lynn Yackovetsky
Lead Carpenter
Philip Rossi
Carpenters
Austin Bosley, Oliver Brink, James Chew, Chris Cowan, Ryan Fischer, David Foubert, Enrique Garcia, Rob Hille, Shadow LaValley, Skye Mahaffie, Claudia Peterson, Lila Schmitz, James Stanley, Eiden Weissblum
Properties Artisans & Carpenters
Christopher R. Baab, Sigourney Chin, Danny Dolan, Mikayla Bettner
Stitcher
Kiko Cheyenne
Electricians
Erica Ammerman, Shannon Barondeau, Ezra Fisher, Miri Henerson, Justin Kelley-Cahill, Juan Lozano, Ezra Muthiah, Christiana Saldibar, James Tatsch
Scenic Painters
Tyler Brogla, Chandish Nester
Production Photographer
Jeff Lorch
Media Filming
Ramon Garcia
Design + Art Direction
Base Design Photography
Justin Bettman
UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television Scene, Prop, Sound, and Costume Shops; London Cleaners
CONTACT
Geffen Playhouse
10886 Le Conte Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90024
ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICES
310.208.6500
Monday – Friday, 10:00am – 6:00pm
AUDIENCE SERVICES
310.208.2028
Tuesday – Sunday, 12:00pm – 6:00pm
Please visit geffenplayhouse.org for hours, parking and more information.
BOX OFFICE WINDOW
Tuesday – Sunday, 12:00pm – 6:00pm, as well as on performance days up until 15 minutes after curtain.
Please note: the box office window is unable to process exchanges or future sales one hour prior to curtain time on performance days.
ACCESSIBILTY
Geffen Playhouse is fully committed to providing access to patrons with mobility, visual and hearing impairments. Parking spaces directly outside the theater are zoned for drop off and pick up, as well as disabled parking spots for patrons with appropriate placards and plates. For more information, visit geffenplayhouse.org/access or call Audience Services.
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. Some productions or circumstances may not allow for late or return seating. To minimize disturbances to other patrons, you may be seated in the first available location by the house staff even if it is different from your assigned seat.
NO PHOTOGRAPHY
There is no photography or filming of any kind allowed during the performance. Please turn off all electronic devices, including cell phones.
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 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.
This theater operates under agreement between the League of Resident Theaters and Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, an independent national labor union.
The Director, Choreographer, and Fight Director are Members of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, a national theatrical labor union.
The scenic, costume, lighting and sound designers in LORT theaters are represented by United Scenic Artists Local USA-829, IATSE.
UCLA SCHOOL OF THEATER, FILM AND TELEVISION
Geffen Playhouse is affiliated with the University of California at Los Angeles, specifically the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. 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 in areas of directing, playwriting, acting, design, dramaturgy, management and production.
Geffen Playhouse also draws upon the distinguished experts in the university to enhance the theater’s programs and research.
16 PLAYBILL
THEATER IN EDUCATION HAS THE POWER TO IGNITE CHANGE
Geffen Playhouse is deeply committed to creating powerful and impactful arts education and engagement experiences that amplify, inspire, and encompass our diverse Los Angeles community. Our programs provide unique, in-depth access to theater and the arts for determined and ambitious youth and adults coming from historically excluded communities. We invite all Angelenos to come home here. When you support our education and community engagement programs, you create a world of greater understanding, increased expression, and deeper compassion while enjoying your home away from home at this historic playhouse.
EDUCATION & COMMUNITY
LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR PROGRAMS GEFFENPLAYHOUSE.ORG/EDUCATION
PHOTO BY JEFF LORCH
LET ’ S TAKE A BREATH
BY LINDSAY A. JENKINS, DRAMATURG FOR THE FIRST DEEP BREATH
We’ll begin with gratitude. Take a moment to honor those who continue to breathe life into our communities, our work, our imaginations. In this moment I am grateful for Dr. Barbara Ann Teer, James Baldwin, and my grandfather, Jaye Joyce.
Now survey the body. Are your shoulders high, near your ears? Is your jaw tense? Is your brow furrowed? Relax your body and notice the breath. You are breathing, but are you breathing deeply? Deep breathing can be hindered by both internal and external factors. Complicated relationships, expectations from others, fickle moral standards, and deferred dreams, for example. Perhaps the abbreviated breath is an inherited one, born out of circumstances beyond your control, passed down through your very DNA. These issues and more may result in shallow breath. However, the beauty of breath is that it can also be used as a tool to push through.
In I Can Breathe: Transforming the Mind, Body, and Spirit of Black Males, Rana Walker describes several benefits to deep breathing including: slowing the heart rate, encouraging clear thoughts, inducing calmness, relieving pain, and encouraging proactive instead of reactive behavior. She offers a breathing exercise called Box Breathing:
• Close your eyes.
• Inhale for a count of four, hold for a count of four, exhale for a count of four, hold for a count of four.
• Repeat this for a minimum of five breath cycles.
It is easy to take the work of the body for granted. I encourage you to notice the breath throughout this performance and in your day-to-day lives.
Thank you for being present, open-minded, and compassionate.
Scan QR code to dig deeper into the themes and topics of The First Deep Breath and learn about Po’ Mourner, giggle at pop culture references, and nerd-out on scholarly articles.
18 PLAYBILL
THEMES & TOPICS
I’ve been working tirelessly to raise awareness about diabetes and its contributions to kidney disease, heart disease and more. It’s plagued my family for generations.
I am thrilled that UCLA Health is partnering with the Geffen because there is nothing like the arts to help address situations that need our attention, like health and wellness. The performing arts, like dance and theater, are transformative. I applaud UCLA Health and the Geffen Playhouse for coming together to help people.
—DEBBIE ALLEN
actress, dancer, choreographer, director, producer, and Geffen Playhouse alum
“ ”
THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSOR
Award-winning
ANNUAL DONORS
Geffen Playhouse recognizes the following individuals and organizations for their generous support of our Annual Fund and Backstage at the Geffen. Donors are listed at the Partner’s Circle level and higher for gifts made between November 1, 2021, and December 15, 2022.
† Geffen Playhouse Board of Directors ^ Geffen Playhouse Founding Trustees
§ Geffen Playhouse Advisory Board * Backstage at the Geffen Supporters
In appreciation, Annual Fund donors enjoy a host of special benefits including house seats, complimentary drinks, receptions, and much more.
For more information, please call Tracy Reich at 310.208.6500 ext. 113.
PREMIERE CIRCLE
$100,000+
Anonymous
Jana Bezdek*
Kevin† & Claudia Bright*
California Arts Council
City National Bank*
Mary Ann Cloyd†
Edgerton Foundation
Louise & Dr. Brad Edgerton†*
David Geffen^ Foundation
The Adi† & Jerry Greenberg Foundation*
Martha Henderson†
Marilyn & Jeffrey Katzenberg^
Marilyn & Jeffrey Katzenberg Fund for Arts Education at the Geffen Playhouse
Loretta Everett Kaufman† & Victor Kaufman*
Elizabeth & David Kerman
Linda Bernstein Rubin† & Tony Rubin*
Shubert Foundation
Kate Capshaw & Steven Spielberg^
Jodi & Howard Tenenbaum†*
UCLA
UCLA Health*
William Randolph Hearst Foundation
INNOVATOR CIRCLE
$50,000 – $99,999
Carol & Paul Frimmer
Samantha & Eric§ Heer*
John McCrite§ & Juan Lopez
Kenneth T. and Eileen L. Norris Foundation
The Ralph M. Parsons Foundation
Holly Rice† & Vince Gilligan*
Matt Shakman† & Maggie Malone*
The Elaine P. Wynn & Family Foundation*
ARTISTIC CIRCLE
$25,000 – $49,999
Anonymous
Victoria Alonso†*
Merle Dandridge†*
The Walt Disney Company*
Joyce Eisenberg-Keefer & Melvin Keefer
Susan & Mark Fleischer†*
The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation
Patty Glaser† & Sam Mudie*
Cindy & Alan Horn*
Marcia Israel-Curley Foundation
Erich and Della Koenig Foundation
Carla Malden† & Norman Beil*
Donna McKenna & Flynn Chernos
Paramount Pictures*
PRODUCER’S CIRCLE
$10,000 – $24,999
Anonymous
Eva Aaronson
In Memory of Bucky Hazan*
Katie McGrath & J.J. Abrams*
Pat & Sandy Adams
Cathy & Shel Bachrach*
Beth Behrs & Michael Gladis
The Berlanti Family Foundation*
The Sheri and Les Biller Family Foundation
Mrs. Carol K. Block & Chancellor Gene D. Block†*
Eileen & Harold Brown^
Glenn & Lynn Cardoso
Marcy Carsey*
City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs
Ms. Carole B. Sager & Mr. Robert A. Daly^
Dr. & Mrs. Paul Eisenberg*
Bonnie E. Eskenazi†*
Eric Flamholtz & Yvonne Randle
Susan Nahley Fleishman†*
Steve Freedman & Helen Sideris
Gang, Tyre, Ramer, Brown & Passman, Inc.
Manuela & James Goren*
Marcy & Edgar Gross*
In Memory of Morris A. Hazan
Nancy Heller & Fred Specktor
Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation
Stanley Iezman & Nancy Stark
Peggy Jones & Parise Livanos*
Mannon Kaplan
Glorya Kaufman^
Julie & David Kavner
Laura Kennedy§*
Lyn & Norman Lear*
Fay & Frank Mancuso^
Brian† & Renee Mann
Tiffany Mayberry†
Ron Meyer^
Tina & Jerry Moss^ / The Moss Foundation*
Mary Osako†
Carol & Bill Ouchi
Soundis & Danny Passman†
Madeline & Bruce Ramer^
Judith Reichman, M.D.
Thomas L. Safran
Carol ‘Jackie’ & Charles Schwartz
Jessica & Jerry Seinfeld*
Richard & Barbara Sherman†*
Marcia & Robert Shuwarger
The Simms/Mann Family Foundation^
Sitrick Group, LLC
Sony Pictures Entertainment*
Cynthia P. Stafford†
Deborah Tavlin
William & Karen Timberlake
Steve Tisch^*
Miranda§ & Brett Tollman*
U.S. Bank Foundation
Joanne & Ken Weinman*
Aurora & Marc Weinstock†
Ken Willner & Jim Stine
Kevyn Wynn
PLAYWRIGHT’S CIRCLE
$5,000 – $9,999
Anonymous
Jehan F. Agrama & Dwora Fried
Mellody Hobson / Ariel Investments, LLC*
Audi of America*
Aversa Foundation
David Bartman*
Judith & Thomas Beckmen
Madelyn Bennett & Eric Gibson
Mara W. Breech Foundation
Robert Brook & Jacqueline Kosecoff
Comcast NBCUniversal*
Ellyce R. Cooper§ & Barry Cohen / Sidley Austin LLP*
In Loving Memory of Ed Cypert*
Mary Jo & Caleb Deschanel
Susan & Jonathan Dolgen*
Lauren Shuler Donner*
GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE 21
Robyn Field & Anthony O’Carroll
Mimi & Marvin Freedman
Sonia & Robert Freedman and Family
Bob & Diana Friedman
Larry Gagosian*
Herbert M.^ & Beverly J. Gelfand*
Ann§ & Jim Gianopulos*
Gil Schwartz Foundation
Kiki & David Gindler
Sue & Steve Glusker*
MaryAnn & Irwin Gold*
In Honor of Richard Sherman / From Ken & Lori Goldman
Noble & Jacquelynn Hansen
Mellody Hobson*
Sir Elton John & David Furnish*
David & Martha Kadue
Barbara & Ronnie Kahn
Kathleen Kennedy & Frank Marshall*
Willette & Manny Klausner*
Marla & Daniel Klein*
Kling Family Foundation / Allen & Jessica Kling
Wendy Kurtzman*
David Kwong*
Sherry Lansing Foundation*
Cathleen Fitzpatrick Linder
Karen & Walter Loewenstern
Laurie MacDonald & Walter Parkes*
Jane & Rand Marlis
Stewart Mayeda
Merle & Jerry Measer
Benedicta & Geoffry Oblath
Olympus Theatricals*
Shana & Don Passman*
Cheryl Petersen & Roger Lustberg
Jane Rissman & Richard Sondheimer
Stephen Sass & Steven Hochstadt
The Michael Schwab Family*
Gussie Paster Sitkin
Snyder Family Foundation
Heather Thomas & Skip Brittenham*
Town & Country Event Rentals*
Gayle & Barry Tyerman
Marjorie Walsh*
Michael E. Walsh*
The Waterman Family Foundation
Julie & Peter Weil
Susan & Dan White
Rita Wilson & Tom Hanks*
Karen & Rick Wolfen
Karen Zoller, M.D. & David Tillman, M.D.
DIRECTOR’S CIRCLE
$3,000 – $4,999
Anonymous
Robert E. & Maria H. Barron
Shelly & Libby Bergen
Susan Bloch-Kay & Stephen Kay
Philip Blumenshine
VJ Boyd
Noora Raj Brown
Lexy & John Carroll
Marissa Caudill & David Merrill
Adam & Lin Cheyer
Don Dorsey
Anne Dougherty*
Jacki & Murray Drechsler
In Honor of Virginia Field
Lawrence N. Field
Lynn T. Franklin
Karney Guren Family Foundation
Deidre Hall
Michael Hayden Gallery*
Alan & Michelle Heilpern
ICM Partners
Jerry Katell*
Katherine Kleindienst & Marc Goldsmith
Nancy Koven
Renee & Meyer Luskin
Martha Messineo
Robin Mitchel & Kathleen Marshall
Ron Myrick
Michael R. Oppenheim
Carol & Alan Ostroff
Carolyn A. Poer & John M. Poer
Zackery Alexzander Stephens
Eric Strom & Eileen Goodis
Susan & Peter Van Haften
Peter & Denise Walsh
Leslie White & Al Limon
In Loving Memory of Herman Ziegler*
CREATOR’S CIRCLE
$1,500 – $2,999
Anonymous (3)
Miriam Aguiar
Dr. & Mrs. Bruce Allen
AnonyMoose Foundation
Edward Avedis*
Basch Family Foundation
Patricia & Mark Benjamin
Paula & Bruce Bennett
Yvette Bergeron & Dean Bailey
Susan J. Booth & Christopher Wadden
Dr. Wallace P. Brithinee
Janet & Mark Brown
Katherine Brown & Rene Mendoza
Diana Buckhantz and the Vladimir and Araxia Buckhantz Foundation
Jay Butterfield & Susan Ewert
Stephanie§ & Jonathan Carson
Steven Cerasale & Mary Katherine Cocharo
Caroline Choi*
The Christal Family
Cindy Clark
Larry Coben
Linda & John Coleman
Lori§ & Jerry Collins*
Honorable Candace Cooper
Tim Curtis & Shandon Youngclaus
J. Jason Daunter
Debra Davis§
Phil Davis
Pam Dawber & Mark Harmon
Dr. Joan Denson & Dr. Victoria Berck
Giovanna Desselle§
Dr. & Mrs. William M. Duxler
David & Joyce Evans
Lisa Field, Field Family Foundation
Anita Dann Friedman & Harvey Friedman
G2 Graphic Service, Inc.
Brenda Garcia§
Priscila Giraldo§*
The Glass Family
Ellie Goodman
Jill Grigsby & Rett Bull
Jack Grossbart & Marc Schwartz
Penny Grosz & Eugene Korney
The Guerin Foundation
Harris Family Foundation
Murray & Gail Heltzer
Zvia Hempling
Jackson Henry
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Jean Himmelstein
Rand Hoffman & Charlotte Robinson
Iris Tuesday Productions
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Brenda Marie Izzi
Victoria Jackson & Bill Guthy
Linda & David Kagel
Deborah & Ivan Kallick
Carol Krause
Lydia & Chuck Levy
Hannah Linkenhoker§* & Carter Cohn
Judith & Dennis Locke
The Malins Family Foundation
Norma & Larry Meyers
Cookie Miller
Joan & Phil Miller
Laurie & Chuck Mondrus
Robert Nelson & Marguerite Renner
Conan & Liza O’Brien*
Michael Parks & Judith Hayward
In Memory of Robert & Stephen Paskus
Daniel & Denise Perlstein
Phil & Agnes Peters
Ruth Popkin
Clark & Kathryn Porter
Audrey Povar§
Gary & Gail Rachelefsky
Joyce & Harvey Reichard
Carol Risher
Eric Rollins§
Wil Rosser
Amy & Andy Schwartz
Susan Schwarz & Stuart Berton
Peggy & Robert Shapiro
John Sonego§ & Thomas Faughnan
Tom & Melanie Staggs
Andrew Stearn
Mitch & Sherry Stein
Cela Devine Sutton§
ANNUAL DONORS 22 PLAYBILL
Theodore H. Sweetser & Jane L. Valentine
Catherine & Leonard Unger
Kathryn & Alan Van Vliet
Gelena & Seth Weissman
Westmount Asset Management
John & Connie Weston
Alison Whalen & Steve Marenberg
Judith & Philip Winik
Richard Yaffe
David Young
Alissa & Jordan Zachary
Ellen & Arnold Zetcher
Bobbi & Walter Zifkin
DESIGNER’S CIRCLE
$1,000 – $1,499
Dr. Richard Ackerman & Miriam Shakter
Henry Alpert
Jan & David Altemus
Bonnie R. Arnold
Margaret Campbell Arvey
Don Bacigalupi
Rob Bailis
Karen Bell & Robb Cox*
Lydia & David Bell*
Wendy & John Bergquist
Yvonne Bernard & Henry De Priest & Lookout Entertainment
Marjorie Blatt
Larry & Julie Blivas
In Honor of Phyllis Blivas
Carol J. Bradshaw
Paula Brand
Broadway Wine Club*
Marlene Bronson
Anthony Carbone
Margaret Casey
Elizabeth & Gil Cates, Jr.†*
Jane Cates
Shelby & Lee Chaden
Martha J. Chase
Sachiko T. Cochran M.D. & Joseph T. Araki
Ginger Conrad
Stephen Cook
Jen Crittenden & Bill Wrubel*
In Loving Memory of Ed Cypert*
In Honor of Development*
Jan & Thea Drayer
Ed & Barbara Dreyfus
Terri & David Elston
Elizabeth A. Evans
Lynne & Michael Feldman
Dr. Kimberly Finney
Shari Foos
Burt & Nanette Forester
In Honor of Frank & Betty Fouce
Dennis & Jackie Fox
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Linda & Louis Goldsman
Scott Hartle
Winifred C. Hervey
Robin & Edgar Hirst
Dr. John D. Hofbauer & Dr. Laura E. Fox
William Hoover & Jon Rupp
Drs. Sharon & Lou Ignarro
Gary T. Izumi
Marcie & Marc J. Jacoby
Carrie Johnson
Quincy Jones^
Sally & Dr. Manny J. Karbelnig
Patricia Keating
Trisha Kelley
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King Nutronics Corporation
Dr. Phyllis H. Klein
Barton H. Kogan
Delores Komar & Susan Wolford
Norman Koplof & Leslie Falick
Charles Kristenson
Lena & Mark Labowe
Mindy Lauerlevin & Ed Levin
Rena & Craig Leeds
Gina Maria Leonetti
Carl Levinger
Steven Llanusa
Tania Lotia
In Memory of Effie Lucero & Anne Ettinger
Eric James Lund
Kathy & Jim McCaffery
Anne & Ronald Mellor
James and Ana Miles Family Foundation
Mintz Family Fund
Andrew & Laura Mintzer
Thaine & Elizabeth Morris
Lon Morse & Toni Hollander Morse
John Moschitta, Jr.
Mark & Diane Neubauer
Albert & Barbara Nichols
Michael Nicklin
Deborah & Stacey Olliff
Tal Oren & Liana Morgado-Oren
Janie & Allan Orenstein
Ornest Family Foundation
Richard Rasiej & Joan Herman
Dolores Rogers
Allison & Bennett Rosenthal
Nancy Stephens & Rick Rosenthal and The Rosenthal Family Foundation
Lori & David Rousso
David A. & Karen Richards Sachs
Nancy & Ted Sanborn
Jane & Bill Schopf*
In Memory of Michael Sherman
Rita & Jose Sigal
Ron Silverman & Soraya Ross
Karen & Bill Skinner
Ronald Smith
Jerome & Joan Snyder*
Jill & Scott Spiwak
Lisa Stonich
Melora Sundt & Rob Kadota
Rose Tarlow*
The Tatasciore Family*
Anne C. Taubman
John M. Teeples & Nicolas Martinez, Jr.
Franklin David Tell
Audri & Stan Tendler
David & Cathy Thomas
Marjorie Thomson
Leon & Stephanie Vahn
Daniel & Shauna Valenzuela
Marcia & Charles Wasserman Ph.D
In Honor of Sid & Sheila Weiss
Cherie Wrigley
Lisa Yen & Tom Bajoras
Judy & Chancellor Charles E. Young^
Elena & Drew Zager
Arnold & Tricia Zane
PARTNER’S CIRCLE
$500 – $999
Anonymous (8)
Terry & Richard Abrams
Toshka & Norman Abrams
Allan Africk
Gaby Allen & Rob Greenberg
Laura & Harvey Alpert
Patti Amstutz
Eloise & Mark Appel
Audrey & Martin Appel
Behnaz Ataee*
Elizabeth & Marc Axelrod
The Baek Family
Cindy & Jeff Ballard
In Memory of Patricia Beals
Jeme & Erica Benadon
Pamela & Bill Bohnert
Michael & Susan Bordy
The Bordy & Leibovic Families
Toby Bornstein
Steven Briggs
Howard Brightman
Sean & Martha Carey Family
Sylvie & Peter Cartmell
Sandra Chan & Richard Pezner
Shirley Churgin
James Clark
The Clements Family
Devorah Colker
Heidi Jo Corey
Muriel Dance & Alvin Martin
Zoud Danko
Hedva & Dr. Dudley Danoff
Susan Dashe
Maxwell DeMille*
Brock Dewey
Kristin Diehl
Linda Dozier
Jeff Eckerle & Marilyn Osborn
Colleen M. Ellis
Ronald Eng
Katherine A. Evans
Terry Feuerborn
Geralyn Flood
Carol & John Fox
Kenneth J. Friedman & Marilynn J. Friedman Family Foundation
ANNUAL DONORS GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE 23
Catherine Froloff
Laurelle Frome & Brady Frome
Corinne B. Garson
Gordon Gerson
Jeff Gibson
Bert & Benita Ginsberg
Linda & Tom Givvin
Francine Golden & Marvin Schlossman
Dorit Goldstein
Dina Goldstein
Ellen & Reginald Golla
Roger Gordon
Liz Gottainer & David Sadkin
Howard Gradet
Jana & Randall Greer
Marcy & Edgar Gross*
Vera & Paul Guerin
Eve Haberfield & David N. Johnson
Roberta L. Haft
Keith Hall
In Memory of Jane Hall
Pamela Halle
Lonnie Hamerman & Kenneth Freundlich
Steven & Sylvia Harrison
Mary Hartley
Hella Hershson
Mrs. Dorothy Hoffman
Paul Gordon Hoffman & Sue Caren Hoffman
In Loving Memory of Stan Hollander
Robert & Gail Israel
Lynn Hunt & Margaret Jacob
In Memory of Joseph Jacobs
Linda Kaplan
William & Renee Kendall
Nancy Kenney
Dr. & Mrs. Klausner
Leana Kleinman & Jerald Johnson
Dr. Leonard & Stella S. Kleinrock
Dorothy Klinger
Patricia Klous
Deborah Lacusta & Daniel Castellaneta
Lynne Lainer
John & Sandra Langfitt
Christo & Jeanne Lavagnino
Rhonda K. Lawrence
Julie Leeds
Marla E. Levine
Lawrin & Linda Lewin
Renee Lonner
Daniel & Jennifer Low
Eric & Eva Plaza Mandel
Michael N. Marks
Barbara Marshall
Phillips & Emily Marshall
Deborah Marsten
Douglas McAvoy, Jr.
John McClure
Vickie McCorkendale
Jeanne McDonald-Powers & Travis Powers
Sharon McQueen
Christina Medigovich
Cynthia Melville
Nick & Vaughan Meyer
In Memory of Gregory Millar
Mona D. & Steven J. Miller
Lee & Jeff Milman
Thomas Mitchell
Dr. Paula C. Moseley
Andrea & Patrick Murray
Sabine Oishi
Susan Oka
Louise Olin
Cory & Bill Oppenheim
Sharon Oxborough
Heather M. Porter
Ron Rafay
Lise Ransdell & Eric Augusztiny
Rollin Ransom & Chris Lacroix
Jennifer Redner
Elyse Resch
Marianne Reynolds
Linda & Erin Rice
Lindy Robbins
Edwin Robinson
Julie Rogers
Eric Rolnick
Robert Rosania
Peter Rose
Barry Rosen & Neil Bokal
Douglas Ross
Dr. Martin & Lorraine Ross
Peter & Andrea Roth
Lisa Rowley
Arlene & Peter Sacks
Susan & Wayne San Filippo
Scott Sandler§
Cliff & Linda Schaffer
Mary Lou Schanche
Jo Schiff
Mr. Bernard Schiffer
Gary & Karen Schneider
Joel & Sonia Schneider
Nancy & Steven Schneider
William Schreiber
Lester Schwartz
Linda Schwarz
Marc Scott
John H. Scott
Donna Shapiro & Angel Castillo
Robert M. Shore
Nancy & Bruce Silverman
Marlene Sklar & Joel Moskowitz
Tricia Small
Amy Jo & Jeff Smith
M Leslie Stearns
Bradley Straatsma
Frances & Sy Strasberg
Robert & Kristie Svaleson
Joanne Takahashi
Mr. & Mrs. David Tann
Gloria Tapanes
Barbara & Larry Tenan
Rebecca Vail§
Karen Van Kirk
Julia Wackenheim
Ira & Laurie Waldman
Bradley & Natalie Wallace
Jennifer Weiser
Elizabeth Wheat
Aaron Widera
Kelly Weber Williams
Gia & Michael Wise
Herbert Wolas
Albert Wolsky
CHAIRMAN’S CIRCLE
As we celebrate our 25th Anniversary, the leadership wishes to acknowledge the historical contributions of these individuals to the Geffen Playhouse who have made the original vision of our founder, Gil Cates, possible:
Anonymous
Annenberg Foundation
Mrs. Carol K. Block & Chancellor Gene D. Block†*
City National Bank*
Kirsten^ & Donald Combs
Maria Israel-Curley & Jim Curley
Gang, Tyre, Ramer, Brown & Passman, Inc.
The David Geffen Foundation
Herbert M.^ & Beverly J. Gelfand*
Rabbi Uri D. Herscher & Dr. Myrna Herscher
Audrey & Charles Kenis
Lincy Foundation
Fay & Frank^ Mancuso
Tina & Jerry^ Moss / The Moss Foundation
Perenchio Foundation
The Shubert Foundation
The Simms/Mann Family Foundation
Skirball Foundation
University of California, Los Angeles
Wasserman Foundation
Judy & Chancellor Charles^ E. Young
IN-KIND SPONSORS
Thank you to our year-round in-kind sponsors for their incredible generosity and support of the arts:
Alligator Pear Catering*
Beam Suntory*
Cicada Club
Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea*
Peroni Italia*
Skylight Gardens
Steinway & Sons*
STK | The ONE Group
W Los Angeles — West Beverly Hills
Donors at the $150 level and up are recognized on our website at geffenplayhouse.org/thankyou.
If your name has been misspelled or omitted from the list in error, please contact Tracy Reich, Director of Individual Giving at 310.208.6500 ext. 113.
ANNUAL DONORS 24 PLAYBILL
ARTISTIC
Amy Levinson
Associate Artistic Director
Daniel Ionazzi
Producer
Phyllis Schuringa
Artistic Associate / Casting Director
Bella Luna
Company Manager
Olivia O’Connor
Literary Manager & Dramaturg
Lexy McAvinchey
Artistic Assistant
Colm Summers Director in Residence
PRODUCTION
Renee Duron
Director of Production
Jill Barnes
Artistic & Production Administrator
Melissa Hartman
Interim Technical Director
Patty Squibb
Interim Technical Director
Alexandre Norkus
Automation Supervisor
Rick Gilles
Properties Master
Audrey Lastar
Costume Supervisor
Sarah Lindsley
Costume Shop Supervisor
Spencer Doughtie
Lighting & Projection Supervisor
James Grabowski
House Sound Supervisor
Bob Gilmartin
Resident A1
ADMINISTRATION
Behnaz Ataee
Chief Financial Officer
Erick R. López
General Manager
Berenice Campos
Director of Human Resources
Peter Banachowski
Accounting Manager
Janice Gompers
Payroll Specialist & HR Admin
Youra Kim
Staff Accountant
Clay Dzygun
Office Coordinator
Marguerite Harris
Receptionist
Gil Cates, Jr. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
DEVELOPMENT
Sarah Weinberg
Director of Development
Elizabeth Kegley
Director of Institutional Giving
Tracy Reich
Director of Individual Giving
Mark San Filippo
Director of Donor Stewardship
Christine Drew Benjamin
Director of Donor Engagement
Jessica Brusilow Rollins
Grant Writing Consultant
Allie Reasol
Development Assistant
EDUCATION
Brian Allman
Director of Education & Community Engagement
Paloma Nozicka
Education Associate
Sean Michael Boozer, DeJuan Christopher Conner, Lyssa Deehan, BJ Lange, Tara Ricasa, Kenzo Rice, Maddy Wagner Teaching Artists
Brenden Cates Education Intern
MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS
Patrick Brown
Director of Marketing
Zenon Dmytryk
Director of Communications
Karen Gutierrez
Director of Advertising & Audience Development
Brian Dunning
Director of Content & Creative
Zack Hamra
Associate Director of Audience Services & Ticketing
Kevin O’Brien
Marketing Manager
Isaak Berliner
Social Media & Communications Manager
Janice Bernal
Box Office Manager
Alyssa Tyson
Box Office Manager
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.
Geffen Playhouse, a not-for-profit theater company, is proudly affiliated with the University of California at Los Angeles.
Jacob Feller
Part Time Box Office Manager
Vaneh Assadourian
House Seat Manager
Brianna Barrett, Rachel Jacoby, Sean James, Lauren Machain, Katie Sparks, Sarah Steuer, Sara Turken, Dennis Woullard Box Office Staff
OPERATIONS
Jeni Pearsons
Director of Operations
Mel Yonzon
Front of House Manager
Amy Farkas
Lead Concierge
Rob Mersola
Event Manager
Sarah Chute, Anya Pryjmak, Emir Yonzon
Part Time House Managers
Sigourney Chin, Savanna Chute, Ki Duncan, Elizabeth Fritsch, Tony Jose Garcia, Alia Mahboob, Autumn Oyemade, Adam Simers
Guest Services
Brynn Allen, Lulu Altabbakh, Cristiana Barbatelli, Hannah Battersby, Blaire Battle, Avery Brown, Marlon Campos, Matt Clark, Sofia Constantine, Lauren Curet, Enzo De Cunto, Cecily Dowd, Camille Edwards, Hector Eribez, Sydney Fleischman, Alejandro Hernandez, Aja Hinds, Meredith McClure, Austin Merrill, Ana Nguyen, Elena Scaringe-Peene, Areany Tolentino, Lanae Wilks Ushers
Chloe Shi (Administrative Lead), Cecilia Bonner, Bethany Koulias, Bradley Pierce, Elizabeth Rao
COVID-19 Safety Managers
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Karim Bouzzit
Cloud System Administrator
Dream Warrior Group
System Administrator
FACILITIES MANAGEMENT
Art Guillen
Facilities Manager
Martin Ayala, Felipe Ayala
Building Maintenance
Mario Santillan-Perez
Custodial
Juan Carlos Umaña, Camerina Martinez Cleaning Custodial
GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE 25