All My Sons

FROM THE ARTISTIC & MANAGING DIRECTORS

Dear Friends of Hartford Stage:

It is a joy to celebrate our 60th anniversary season with you and to do so with this extraordinary play. All My Sons marked Arthur Miller’s breakthrough Broadway success, and the play feels as relevant to our world today as it did at its premiere, filled with questions about our moral responsibilities towards each other, and the need to balance our immediate family’s needs with the community around us. We are thrilled to welcome back the brilliant Marsha Mason and introduce you to the inimitable Michael Gaston, along with the rest of this superb cast, as they bring Miller’s play to life.

We’ve just announced our 2024/2025 season and look forward to you joining us for more great works: from new comedies to a great American play by August Wilson, a suspenseful Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and the great romance of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Do subscribe, for as Arthur Miller once wrote, “The mission of the theatre is to change, to raise the consciousness of people to their human possibilities.”

We are grateful you’ve joined us on this journey to entertain, enlighten, and remind us all we are not alone.

Melia Bensussen Artistic Director

Cynthia Rider Managing Director

MELIA BENSUSSEN

Artistic Director

CYNTHIA RIDER

Managing Director

By Arthur Miller

Directed by Melia Bensussen

Scenic Design

Costume Design

Lighting Design

Original Music & Sound Design

Wig, Hair, & Makeup Design

Fight Director

Voice & Dialect Coach

Casting

Youth Coordinator

Production Stage Manager

Assistant Stage Manager

Associate Artistic Director

Director of Production

General Manager

Riw Rakkulchon

An-lin Dauber

Mary Louise Geiger

Lucas Clopton

J. Jared Janas

Ted Hewlett

Julie Foh

Alaine Alldaffer

Shelby Demke

Nicole Wiegert*

Theresa Stark*

Zoë Golub-Sass

Bryan T. Holcombe

Emily Van Scoy

APRIL 11 – MAY 5, 2024

SEASON SPONSOR EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS

THE CAST & DIRECTOR

Marsha Mason Michael Gaston

Yadira Correa Reece Dos Santos Ben Katz

Malachy Glanovsky

Melia Bensussen Director

Caitlin Zoz

Fiona Robberson Godfrey L. Simmons, Jr. Dan Whelton

THE CHARACTERS (In order of Appearance)

Joe Keller........................................................................Michael Gaston

Dr. Jim Bayliss............................................. Godfrey L. Simmons, Jr.

Frank Lubey ...................................................................... Dan Whelton

Sue Bayliss ........................................................................ Yadira Correa

Lydia Lubey ............................................................................ Caitlin Zoz

Chris Keller..................................................................................Ben Katz

Bert ........................................................................... Malachy Glanovsky

Kate Keller ........................................................................ Marsha Mason

Ann Deever ................................................................ Fiona Robberson

George Deever ....................................................... Reece Dos Santos

TIME & PLACE

August, 1946. The backyard of the Keller home on the outskirts of an American town.

Act I: Early Sunday morning.

Act II: The same evening, as twilight falls.

Act III: Two o’clock the following morning.

THERE WILL BE ONE INTERMISSION.

Assistant Director ................................................ Sophie Greenspan

Assistant Costume Designer.......................................... Kyle Artone

Assistant Lighting Designer .................................... Chris D’Angelo

Assistant Sound Designer ................................................ Jim Busker

Associate Wig, Hair, & Makeup Designer ................ Sarah Levine

Production Assistant ......................................... Austin Washington

Understudies never substitute for listed actors unless a specific announcement is made at the time of the performance. For Joe Keller: Godfrey L. Simmons, Jr.*; for Kate Keller and Sue Bayliss: Annmarie Kelly*; for Ann Deever and Lydia Lubey: Hero Marguerite*; for Dr. Jim Bayliss, George Deever, Chris Keller, and Frank Lubey: Nick Roesler*.

* Members of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

The Scenic, Costume, Lighting and Sound Designers in LORT theatres are represented by United Scenic Artists Local USA-829, IATSE.

The Director is a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, a national theatrical labor union.

FROM THE DIRECTOR: MELIA BENSUSSEN

All My Sons was written in 1945-1946 and premiered in January of 1947 and, as such, some of the play’s references have lost contemporary relevance. For example, what does Joe Keller mean when he references “Labor Day” and “Playland” when he finds Chris and Ann kissing? The answer? There were kissing booths famous on that holiday at Playland sites and country fairs. Or how about Frank Lubey’s reference to how being a “haberdasher” (a dealer of men’s clothing) can be a step to the presidency? Well, Harry S. Truman once owned a haberdashery in Kansas City. There are such references sprinkled throughout the play and if you have more questions about their meaning: don’t hesitate to turn to our website to find a robust glossary of titles, names, and nouns that may have faded from our collective memory since the play’s premiere. The emotional conflicts at the heart of All My Sons, however, remain relevant.

Ben Katz, Marsha Mason, and Michael Gaston in rehearsal. Photo by Molly Flanagan.

As Miller biographer Christopher Bigsby wrote: “This is a play about betrayal, about fathers and sons, about America, about self-deceit, about self-righteousness, about egotism presented as idealism, about a fear of mortality, about guilt, about domestic life as evasion, about the space between appearance and reality, about the suspect nature of language, about denial, about repression, about a kind of despair finessed into hope, about money, about an existence resistant to our needs, about…how innocence kills…” As with all theater, you will decide which of these ideas speaks most directly to you. For now, as we spend time together in the Kellers’ backyard, I hope you’ll consider, as I do, Joe’s question, “Is there something bigger than my own family?” All My Sons points us towards contemplating what we owe each other as a community, and as citizens of this world — and perhaps simply asking these questions of ourselves, and each other, is the key.

Malachy Glanovsky and director Melia Bensussen in rehearsal. Photo by Molly Flanagan.

The Cost of Minding Your Own Business

By Joshua Polster

In present day Odesa, Iryna Olyanska mourns the loss of her son Artem who was shot by the Russian military while fighting on the Ukrainian front lines. Her deep sorrow is combined with layers of anger not just toward the Russian invaders, but to the widespread government and corporate corruption that has plagued Ms. Olyanska’s country since the start of the war. As her nation fights for survival, it also has had to fight grafting and war profiteering. As plainly stated by Daria Kaleniuk, the executive director of the AntiCorruption Action Center in Ukraine, “Corruption can kill” (Kramer). For Ms. Olyanska’s son, this was certainly the case. She was informed by Artem’s commander that his unit, insufficiently equipped, lacked a drone to aid aerial reconnaissance. The Russian military, however, did have such technology, and were able to easily open fire on Artem’s unit with lethal accuracy. Artem could have survived, but the tourniquet applied to his wound was poorly manufactured and broke. He died soon after. “How,” Ms. Olyanska asks, “can we spend millions of hryvnia [Ukrainian currency] on roads when our sons are dying on the front line without proper tourniquets?” (Soguel)

How can a person turn to profit at the expense of those that fight and die for their nation’s liberty? It is a question that speaks as powerfully now as it did in the 1940s when Arthur Miller learned of Senator Harry Truman’s congressional investigation during the Second World War on the Wright Aeronautical Corporation in Ohio. Newspapers throughout the nation reported on how the Truman Committee charged the corporation with selling the government “defective and sub-standard airplane engines by falsifying tests,” and accused army inspectors of approving faulty engines that directly resulted in plane crashes (“Says Wright”).

Such selfish actions must have seemed jarring and incongruous, in particular, to veterans like the All My Sons character Chris Keller who, during the war, were willing to sacrifice their lives for others and a greater common goal. In Situation Normal…, Miller’s 1944 book of reportage based on army camp interviews, he describes how the returning soldier’s feelings of love, solidarity and identity with his fellow servicemen and units “is alone and misfitted

here… because America offers him no great social goal […] He must begin again the stale and deadly competition with his fellow men for rewards that now seem colorless” (33). The soldier must learn to be a civilian again and, in doing so, rejoin the individualistic and cannibalistic tournament of capitalism.

In a later interview, Miller remarked on how the findings of the Truman committee were not unique and were, in fact, common to all sectors of U.S. society: “[At the time…] a lot of illicit fortunes were being made, a lot of junk was being sold to the armed services, we all knew that. The average person was violating rationing. All the rules were being violated every day, but you wanted not to mention it” (Bigsby 83). When All My Sons was first produced on Broadway at the Coronet Theatre in 1947, it helped to break this silence and serve as a warning siren – not just to the WWII profiteers – but to every person then and during the postwar economic boom who had quickly forgotten the hard lessons of The Great Depression when U.S. capitalism was on its knees, reeling, and demonstrating its vast

Curtiss-Wright plant in Buffalo, NY (1941)

All My Sons is more and more frequently and widely produced […] I have had to wonder whether this is partly due to the number of investigations of official malfeasance in the papers all the time, and the spectacle of men of stature and social influence being brought down practically every week by revelations excavated from the hidden past. From the heights of Wall Street, the Pentagon, the White House, big business, the same lessons seem to fly out at us.

Arthur Miller (“Ibsen”)

ability to be blind to human need. The play served as a beacon that shined a penetrating light not just on the perpetrators of corruption, but also on their many accomplices that enabled acts against humanity by remaining silent, inactive, and fearful.

Above all, Miller’s timeless drama pleads with us to see past individualism and division towards a more expansive civic responsibility. It asks us to reconsider how we govern our lives for personal gain and, instead, work for a greater good. It urgently implores as much as it questions us – in the United States, the Ukraine, and throughout the world: “The Goddamn business? Is that as far as your mind can see, the business? […] Don’t you have a country? Don’t you live in the world? […] You can be better! Once and for all you can know there is a universe of people outside and you’re responsible to it” (Eight Plays 77, 90).

Above: Scenic design by Riw Rakkulchon. Photo by Molly Flanagan. R (p. 13): Arthur Miller in the workshop he built at his home in New Milford, CT (1956)

WORKS CITED

Kramer, Andrew. “‘Where is the Money?’ Military Graft Becomes a Headache for Ukraine.” The New York Times 4 Sept 2023, www.nytimes.com/2023/09/04/ world/europe/ukraine-military-spending-corruption.html. Accessed 26 Feb. 2024.

Miller, Arthur. Eight Plays. Nelson Doubleday. Garden City, New York: 1981.

Miller, Arthur. “Ibsen and the Drama of Today.” Arthur Miller: Collected Essays. Penguin Books, New York, 2016. Pg. 123.

Miller, Arthur. Situation Normal… Reynal & Hitchcock. New York, 1944.

“Says Wright Plane Co. Sold Defective Engines.” The Gazette and Daily, 12 July 1943, www.newspapers.com/ article/the-gazette-and-daily-truman-committee/3251678/. Accessed 26 Feb. 2024.

Soguel, Dominique. “As Corruption Costs Lives on Battlefield, Ukrainians Demand Change.” The Christian Science Monitor. 25 Oct. 2023, www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2023/1025/as-corruption-costs-lives-onbattlefield-Ukrainians-demand-change. Accessed 26 Feb. 2024.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

MARSHA MASON

Kate Keller

Marsha Mason is a four-time Academy Award nominee for her starring roles in The Goodbye Girl, Chapter Two, Only When I Laugh, and Cinderella Liberty. Mason returns to Hartford Stage after co-directing and starring in the 2022 production of Neil Simon’s Lost in Yonkers. Mason has received two Golden Globe awards for her film roles and an Emmy Award nomination for her role on Frasier. Her other TV credits include: Grace and Frankie, The Middle, The Good Wife, Madam Secretary Broadway roles include: Impressionism (with Jeremy Irons), Steel Magnolias, The Night of the Iguana, King Richard III, and Cactus Flower. Her regional directorial credits include: Chapter Two, Act of God, and Steel Magnolias. She received an Outer Critics Circle Award for her performance in the off-Broadway play Little Gem at the Irish Repertory Theatre. Marsha was also the Associate Director for Jack O’Brien for the 2019 production Broadway production of All My Sons at the Roundabout Theatre.

MICHAEL GASTON

Joe Keller

Hartford Stage: Debut. Broadway: Lucky Guy, A Day in the Death of Joe Egg. Off-Broadway: Coal Country, The Taming of the Shrew, Othello, Henry V, Cripple of Inishmaan (The Public Theatre); I Was Most Alive with You, Somewhere in the Pacific (Playwrights Horizons). Film: A Mouthful of Air, Spenser Confidential, Togo, The Land of Steady Habits, First Reformed, Bridge of Spies, Big Miracle, W, Inception, Body of Lies, Sugar, Double Jeopardy, Hackers, High Crimes, Stay, The Notorious Betty Page, Far from Heaven, Copland, Thirteen Days, The Crucible, The Wedding Banquet. TV: Five Days at Memorial, Fleishman is in Trouble, Mayor of Kingstown, Chicago PD. Series regular: The Man in the High Castle, The Leftovers, Unforgettable, Jericho, Blind Justice. Recurring roles: The Good Lord Bird, The Expecting, For Life, Blindspot, Power, Strange Angel, Jack Ryan, Madam Secretary, The Good Wife, Murder in the First, Turn, The Mentalist, Terriers, Rubicon, 24, Damages, Fringe, Prison Break.

YADIRA CORREA

Sue Bayliss

Hartford Stage: Debut. Off-Broadway: Truckers (INTAR); My Broken Language (understudy, Signature Theatre); La Conducta de la Vida (Repertorio Español). Regional: 2666 (Goodman Theatre); MALA (in Spanish), The Tempest, The Winter’s Tale, As You Like It (Old Globe); Comedy of Errors (Oregon Shakespeare Festival); Water by the Spoonful (Court Theatre). TV: Tiny Tim Travel (PBS Kids), Chicago P.D., Blindspot, The Punisher, New Amsterdam. Education/Training: The Old Globe and University of San Diego Shiley Graduate Program MFA in Acting.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

REECE DOS SANTOS

George Deever

Hartford Stage: Debut. Regional: Flowers of Hawaii (Chautauqua Theater Co.); A Welcome Guest (CATF); Measure for Measure, Sofonisba (Theater at Monmouth). TV: New Amsterdam (NBC); American Rust (Showtime); The Equalizer (CBS). Education/Training: MFA: NYU Graduate Acting (Class of 2023). Recipient of the Felicia Montealegre Bernstein Scholarship. Select Productions: Harry Clarke, The Shadow of a Gunman, Airline Highway.

MALACHY GLANOVSKY

Bert

Hartford Stage: Debut. Community Theater: Survival on the Enchanted Isle, Something Strange About Jane (Newington Children’s Theatre Company). Education: 4th grade. Other: Spends his time coding, drawing, and playing saxophone.

BEN KATZ

Chris Keller

Hartford Stage: Debut. Off-Broadway: The Commons (59E59). Regional: Private (Mosaic Theatre); Wicked Child (Zoetic Stage). TV: Evil (Paramount+). Education/ Training: MFA from NYU Graduate Acting (Class of 2019) where he performed the title role in Mark Wing-Davey’s Hamlet. Professional Positions: Voice and Speech Faculty at UC Santa Barbara.

FIONA ROBBERSON

Ann Deever

Hartford Stage: Debut. Off-Broadway: Confederates (Signature Theatre); Big Hunk O’ Burnin’ Love (Roundabout Theatre Company); Three Texas Women (Teatro Latea); The Bacchae (La MaMa). Regional: A Midwinter Night’s Dream, Much Ado About Nothing, A Child’s Christmas in Wales, Titus Andronicus (Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey); Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare Dallas); Easter (Undermain Theatre); A Christmas Carol (Dallas Theater Center). Film: Plano (dir. Danya Taymor). Education/Training: The Juilliard School MFA Acting (Group 50), NYU Tisch BFA Acting. University productions include: Dogville (dir. Robert O’Hara), Twelfth Night (dir. Peter Francis James), F***ing A, The Effect, The Cherry Orchard.

GODFREY L. SIMMONS, JR.

Dr. Jim Bayliss | Understudy: Joe Keller

Hartford Stage: It’s a Wonderful Life. Off-Broadway: The Old Settler (Primary Stages); Betty’s Summer Vacation (Playwrights Horizon); Free Market (Working Theatre); Leader of the People (New Georges); Ice Island (Melting Pot Theatre); Dispatches From (A)mended America (co-writer), The Winning Side, Macbeth, Einstein’s Gift, A Hard Heart, Richard III, A More Perfect Union, Widowers’ Houses (co-adapter), and Passion Play (Epic Theatre Ensemble). Regional: Possessing Harriet (Hartbeat Ensemble); My Children! My Africa! (HartBeat Ensemble, Civic Ensemble); The Old Settler (TheaterWorks Hartford); Two Trains Running, A Raisin

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

in the Sun, Blues For An Alabama Sky (Syracuse Stage); Home, Elektra (Round House Theatre); Romeo and Juliet, Peter Pan (People’s Light); Spunk (Barrington Stage); Fast Blood, The Trump Card (Civic Ensemble); Romeo and Juliet (Charlotte Rep); Prelude To A Kiss (Olney Theatre); Pygmalion (Arena Stage); The Shoe, Cherry Timedive (The Cherry). Film: The Lost Children; Raw Intensity; The Appointment; Crazy Man Crazy; Run of the House. TV: Law and Order, NYPD Blue, Third Watch, As The World Turns Education/Training: BA, College of William and Mary. Professional Positions: Artistic Director of HartBeat Ensemble; former Artistic Director and co-founder of Civic Ensemble; former Producing Artist of Epic Theatre Ensemble. Lifetime member of Ensemble Studio Theatre; Associate Artist for Epic Theatre Ensemble. Awards: Audelco Award, Best Supporting Actor in a Play; 2012 TCG/Fox Fellow; Participant in TCG/SPARK Leadership Program.

DAN WHELTON

Frank Lubey

Hartford Stage: The Learned Ladies of Park Avenue, A Christmas Carol Regional: The Play That Goes Wrong, Anna Christie, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, One Man, Two Guv’nors (Lyric Stage Company of Boston); Take Me Out (TheaterWorks Hartford); The History Boys (SpeakEasy Stage); The Buddy Holly Story, Million Dollar Quartet, Long Day’s Journey Into Night, Crimes of the Heart (The Majestic Theater); Operation: Epsilon, Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Central Square Theatre); I Capture the Castle (Greater Boston Stage Company); I Hate Hamlet (Playhouse on Park); As Bees in Honey Drown (Worcester Foothills); Brighton Beach Memoirs, Arsenic and Old Lace (Ivoryton Playhouse); Romeo and Juliet (The Colonial Theatre); As You Like It (Bridgeport Free Shakespeare); Guys and Dolls (Long Wharf Theatre). Film: Patriots Day, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past TV: The Mystery of Matter Education/ Training: BA Theatre, Eastern Connecticut State University, Michael Chekhov Acting Studio Boston. Awards: IRNE Best Supporting Actor (Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf).

CAITLIN ZOZ

Lydia Lubey

Hartford Stage: Debut. Off-Broadway: Dance Dance Revolution (Ohio Theater); The Witch of St. Elmora Street (Access Theatre); Broken City (PopUP Theatrics); Pretty Theft (COW Theater). Regional: The Wolves (TheaterWorks Hartford); Our Town (Long Wharf Theater); The Seven Year Itch (Ivoryton Playhouse); Riding the Turnpike, GDP (Hartbeat Ensemble). Film: How to Rob, Come Home. TV: Silo. Education/Training: BFA from the Experimental Theatre Wing at NYU. Awards: Connecticut Critics Circle Award Best Ensemble (The Wolves).

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

ANNMARIE KELLY

Understudy: Kate Keller / Sue Bayliss

Hartford Stage: Motherhood, Out Loud!; A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas; Cat On a Hot Tin Roof. Readings: Welcome to Jesus, Laramie Project: 10 Years Later. Broadway National Tour: Wicked Regional: All The King’s Men (Swine Palace); A Flea In Her Ear, Oliver (Walnut Street Theatre); Kiss Me Kate, Top Girls, Man of La Mancha. Soloist: “A Concert for Julie Harris” and “No More.” Film: Deranged (horror). TV: One Life to Live (ABC) and Evangeline (LPB premiere). Commercials: Dentyne and Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Hospital. Voiceover: featured EQUINOX 21st w/p recording. Podcast: Braindead. Professional Positions: Licensed Professional Counselor.

HERO MARGUERITE

Understudy: Ann Deever / Lydia Lubey

Hartford Stage: A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas Regional: The Trip to Bountiful (Westport Country Playhouse, staged reading); Big Big Sky (Chester Theatre Company, upcoming); Circle Mirror Transformation (Chester Theatre Company, Berkshire Theatre Awards Nominee); RE/Emergence (RE/Emergence Collective); Sweeney Todd (Pan Opera); Hope I Die Before I Get Old (CitySpace); Amahl and the Night Visitors (Hartford Opera Theater); Port of Entry (WAM Theatre, staged reading); Iodine (Berkshire Voices, workshop). Film: Cordelia Lear (Independent); Making Learning Stick Series (Wesleyan University Psychology Department); Backwater (Independent). Education/Training: Smith College (Denton Snyder Prize); LAMDA classical semester program.

NICK ROESLER

Understudy: Dr. Jim Bayliss / George Deever / Chris Keller / Frank Lubey

Hartford Stage: Debut. Theatre: Clybourne Park (Music Theatre of Connecticut); Heaven Can Wait (Saybrook Stage); As You Like It (Capital Classics Theatre); Our Few and Evil Days (Inis Nua Theatre). Education/Training: MFA from Northern Illinois University. Professional Positions: Adjunct professor in Acting at Central Connecticut State University.

Annmarie Kelly

Hero Marguerite

Nick Roesler

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

MELIA BENSUSSEN Director

Melia is the sixth artistic director, and the first woman, to lead Hartford Stage. She began her tenure in Hartford in July of 2019, after serving as Chair of Performing Arts at Emerson College in Boston. An Obie-award-winning director and artistic leader, she has directed extensively at leading theatres throughout the country, including productions at the Huntington Theatre Company, Sleeping Weazel, Shakespeare & Company, Actors’ Shakespeare Project, La Jolla Playhouse, Baltimore Center Stage, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the New York Shakespeare Festival, Manhattan Class Company, Primary Stages, Long Wharf Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Merrimack Repertory Theatre, People’s Light and Theatre Company, Bay Street Theatre, and Playwrights Horizons, among others. Raised in Mexico City, Melia is fluent in Spanish and has translated and adapted a variety of texts, including her edition of the Langston Hughes translation of Federico García Lorca’s Blood Wedding published by TCG. A graduate of Brown University, she is the recipient of a Drama League Directing Fellowship, and a Princess Grace Directing Fellowship, as well as their top honor, the Statue Award. Melia serves on the Arts Advisory Council for the Princess Grace Foundation and as Secretary on the Executive Board of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC).

RIW RAKKULCHON

Scenic Design

Hartford Stage: The Mousetrap. Theater: Riw (pronounced Ree-you) is a Set & Costume Designer, Animator, and Chef from Bangkok, Thailand. He/They has worked at Yale Repertory Theatre, Syracuse Stage, The Old Globe, Drury Lane Theatre, Asolo Rep, The Acting Company, 59E59, Kansas City Rep, Edinburgh Fringe, Primary Stages, The Public Theatre, Brooklyn Academy of Music amongst others. Broadway Associate Set Design: Pass Over, & Juliet, Parade Board Member: WithAll, a non-profit organization on a fight to end eating disorders. Education/ Training: B.F.A. Ithaca College, M.F.A Yale School of Drama (Donald & Zorca Oenslager Fellowship Award in Design Recipient). Awards: Connecticut Critics Circle Award: Best Set Design, 2023. Member of United Scenic Artist 829. IG: @riwrdesign

AN-LIN DAUBER

Costume Design

Hartford Stage: Lost in Yonkers, It’s A Wonderful Life. New York: Paul Swan is Dead and Gone, What You Are Now (The Civilians); Letters That You Will Not Get (American Opera Project); H*tler’s Tasters, Great Novel (New Light Theater); Salesman 之死; June is the First Fall (Yangtze Repertory Company); Bulrusher, Passage (Juilliard). Regional: Metamorphoses, Little Women, Public Works: The Tempest (Seattle Rep); Blood Wedding, Marisol, Champagne & Sodomy: The Life and Crimes of Oscar Wilde (The Feast); Common Ground Revisited (Huntington Theater); A Christmas Carol: The Live Radio Play (Alliance Theater); The Thanksgiving Play (Virginia Stage Company); The Kind Ones (Magic Theater).

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Professional Positions: Assistant Professor of Costume Design at the University of Washington, Company Member of The Feast. Education/Training: MFA Yale School of Drama. Anlindauber.com.

MARY LOUISE GEIGER

Lighting Design

Hartford Stage: Debut. Broadway: The Constant Wife (Roundabout Theatre Company, American Airlines Theatre). Off-Broadway: Spiritus: Vigil’s Dance (Rattlestick Theatre); Partnership, Becomes a Woman (Mint Theatre); Halfway Bitched Go Straight to Heaven, Good Television, The New York Idea (Atlantic Theatre Company); Kindness, Blue Door, The Busy World is Hushed (Playwrights Horizons); Finn, Mabou Mines’ Dollhouse, Red Beads (Mabou Mines). Regional: At the Wedding (Studio Theatre, DC); Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill (Syracuse Stage); Last Night and the Night Before (Steppenwolf). ACT Theatre, Alley Theatre, Actor’s Theatre of Louisville, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Center Theatre Group, Cincinnati Playhouse In The Park, Geva Theatre Center, Guthrie Theatre, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Portland Center Stage, Portland Stage Company, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Pioneer Theatre, Playmakers

Repertory Compan. Education/Training: Yale School of Drama. Professional Positions: Faculty, NYU/Tisch. www.mlgeiger.com

LUCAS CLOPTON

Original Music & Sound Design

Hartford Stage: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Video Design), The Mousetrap (Assistant Sound Design), Pride & Prejudice (Associate Sound Design), Simona’s Search (Sound Design & Original Music). Regional: Relativity (TheaterWorks Hartford); One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Kill Move Paradise (Playhouse On Park); Love Stories (Milwaukee Chamber Theater); Lucky Numbers (Renaissance Theaterworks); Anatole, Stargirl, Luchadora (First Stage); Talk Radio (Blue Barn); The Who’s Tommy, Godspell, Altar Boyz (Lake Dillon Theater Company); Julius Caesar (Brigid St. Brigit); Annie, The Fantasticks (Ozark Actor’s Theater). Film: All is Calm, All Alone. TV: Bloomberg Report, Ultimate Fighting Championship Professional Positions: Hartford Stage (Audio/Video Manager). Awards: Connecticut Critics Circle Award (Video Design nomination), Omaha Entertainment Awards (Sound Design nomination), Theatre Arts Guild (Sound Design nomination).

J. JARED JANAS

Wig, Hair, & Makeup Design

Hartford Stage: It’s a Wonderful Life, Ah, Wilderness! Broadway: Mary Jane, Prayer for the French Republic, Purlie Victorious, Good Night, Oscar, Sweeney Todd…, Ohio State Murders, & Juliet, Kimberly Akimbo, Topdog/Underdog, How I Learned to Drive, American Buffalo, Jagged Little Pill, Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune, Gettin’ the Band Back Together, Bandstand, Indecent, Sunset Boulevard, The Visit, The Real Thing, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill, Motown, Peter and the Starcatcher, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess, All About Me. Recent Off-Broadway: I Can Get It for You Wholesale, Sabbath’s Theater, The Refuge Plays, My Broken

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Language, Between the Lines, The Tap Dance Kid Recent TV: And Just Like That, The Gilded Age.

TED HEWLETT

Fight Director

Hartford Stage: The Winter’s Tale; The Art of Burning; The Mousetrap; Ah, Wilderness!; Quixote Nuevo. Broadway: Shōgun. Off-Broadway: Bill W. and Dr. Bob. New York: Pan Asian Repertory Theatre, Mettawee River Theatre, and Lincoln Center Institute. Boston: Huntington Theatre, SITI Company/ArtsEmerson, Merrimack Rep, SpeakEasy Stage, Lyric Stage, Actors’ Shakespeare Project, New Rep, Gloucester Stage, Boston Ballet, and Boston Lyric Opera. Regional: Shakespeare & Company, Shakespeare Theatre (D.C.), Kennedy Center, Syracuse Stage, Birmingham Theatre, and Berkshire Theatre Festival. Film/Television: Hook, Army of Darkness, Brush Up Your Shakespeare. Education/Training: MFA in Acting, Brandeis University. Professional Positions: Faculty at Emerson College, Shakespeare & Company.

JULIE FOH

Voice & Dialect Coach

Hartford Stage: The Winter’s Tale Off-Broadway: Belfast Girls (Irish Rep). Regional: A View from the Bridge (Long Wharf Theatre); Escaped Alone; the ripple, the wave that carried me home (Yale Rep); A Man for All Seasons, And a Nightingale Sang, The Caretaker (Shakespeare Theatre of NJ); Ride the Cyclone: The Musical, Sleuth (McCarter Theatre); Mlima’s Tale (Repertory Theatre of St. Louis & Westport Country Playhouse). Podcasts: Wolverine: The Lost Trail (Marvel); Othello, Love’s Labour’s Lost, The Tempest, The Winter’s Tale, Measure for Measure, Henry V, Twelfth Night, Coriolanus (Next Chapter Podcasts). Television: Cobra Kai. Education/Training: MFA, American Repertory Theater; BA Duke University. Professional Positions: Associate Professor at the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale.

ALAINE ALLDAFFER Casting

Hartford Stage: The Hot Wing King, Simona’s Search, A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas, Pride and Prejudice, Trouble in Mind, The Art of Burning, The Mousetrap; It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play; Ah, Wilderness!; Quixote Nuevo; Ether Dome. Theatre: Credits include Grey Gardens (for Playwrights Horizons and Broadway); Clybourne Park (Playwrights Horizons and Broadway); Circle Mirror Transformation (Drama Desk and Obie Awards for Best Ensemble and an Artios Award for casting); and The Flick (Playwrights Horizons and The Barrow Street Theater). Regional: Theaters include The Huntington Theatre in Boston, Studio Theater in DC, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Seattle Rep, ACT, Berkeley Rep, People’s Theatre in Philly among others. TV: Credits include The Knights of Prosperity (aka Let’s Rob Mick Jagger) for ABC. Associate credits include Ed for NBC and Monk for USA.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

NICOLE WIEGERT

Production Stage Manager

Hartford Stage: Simona’s Search, The Winter’s Tale, Ah, Wilderness!, Pike St., Detroit ‘67, Henry IV, A Lesson from Aloes, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Regional: Goodspeed Opera House, TheaterWorks Hartford, Long Wharf Theatre, CT Rep, Kansas City Rep, Mountain Playhouse, Ivoryton Playhouse, Theater by the Sea, First Stage Milwaukee, Renaissance Theatreworks, Milwaukee Ballet, Milwaukee Public Theater, Milwaukee Chamber Theater. TV: House Hunters, Extreme Cheapskates, Biggest Loser. Love to LC, WW, CW & DC.

THERESA STARK

Assistant Stage Manager

Hartford Stage: Pride & Prejudice, The Winter’s Tale, Trouble in Mind, It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play, Dishwasher Dreams, An Opening in Time, Twelfth Night, A Midsummer’s Night Dream (with Hartford Symphony Orchestra). Broadway: The Scarlet Pimpernel New York: 2nd Stage, Primary Stages/Iowa Boy Productions, 78th Street Theatre Lab, New Georges. Regional: Westchester Broadway Theatre, TheaterWorks Hartford, Long Wharf Theatre, The Ivoryton Playhouse, The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, HartBeat Ensemble, Westport Country Playhouse, Goodspeed Musicals, Stamford Theatre Works, Summer Theatre of New Canaan, Elm Shakespeare Company, Barrington Stage, Hangar Theatre, and Yale Opera. Workshops: The Last Survivor, Queens for a Year, Oakdale, Somewhere, Seder, George Dandin. Youth Director: A Christmas Carol (2013). Professional Positions: Theresa also works as a dog handler for William Berloni Theatrical Animals, Inc. and is a member of the Milford Road Runners.

SHELBY DEMKE

Youth Coordinator

Hartford Stage: A Christmas Carol, The Piano Lesson, Jane Eyre, Lost in Yonkers Off-Broadway: Beneath the Gavel! (59E59 Theaters). Educational: Erismena (Yale Baroque Opera Project); The Little Mermaid, Once Upon A Mattress, Mary Poppins (Academy of International Studies 6-12); Pippin, Mary Poppins, Jr., The Addams Family, Beauty and the Beast, Jr., Matilda, Jr., Legally Blonde, The Little Mermaid Jr., The SpongeBob Musical (Education @ Hartford Stage). Education/Training: Muhlenberg College.

Evil has many faces.

DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE

OCTOBER 10 – NOVEMBER 3, 2024

Adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher

Change is coming.

August Wilson’s TWO TRAINS RUNNING

A comedy in English.

LAUGHS

IN SPANISH HARTFORD STAGE 2024/2025 SEASON

From the novella The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

Directed by Melia Bensussen

When the well-respected Dr. Jekyll investigates the mayhem being wrought on the streets of London, he becomes suspicious of the mysterious Mr. Hyde. In pursuing this shady figure, Jekyll’s life begins to unravel. A witty and suspenseful adaptation of the Robert Louis Stevenson classic, this psychological thriller asks: to what lengths will we go to hide our true selves?

JANUARY 23 – FEBRUARY 16, 2025

Directed by Gilbert McCauley

Set against the economic turbulence of Pittsburgh’s Hill District in 1969, diner-owner Memphis Lee finds himself at a juncture: maintain his much-beloved neighborhood spot or sell it – changing the lives of its big-hearted regulars. With the finely tuned rhythms and complex characters that define the August Wilson canon, Two Trains Running explores the beauty in resilience.

MARCH 6 – MARCH 30, 2025

By Alexis Scheer

Directed by Lisa Portes

Ay, dios mío! It’s the eve of Art Basel in Miami and gallery director Mari is freaking out. The art has vanished, the phones are ringing off the hook, and her assistant Caro is acting suspicious. When things are looking truly terrible, her once-famous, often-absent mother Estella arrives in town… baggage in tow. Stylish and hilarious, Laughs in Spanish is a vibrant collage of chaos, cultura, and connection.

A love that cannot be held back.

ROMEO & JULIET

There’s a big butch storm coming.

HURRICANE DIANE

Hartford’s beloved holiday tradition.

APRIL 17 – MAY 18, 2025

By William Shakespeare

Directed by Melia Bensussen

An intoxicating blend of tragedy and hope. The spark of young love is ignited between Romeo and Juliet, but as quickly as this romance begins, it spirals out of control amidst the chaos of rivalry, familial duty, death, and impossible choices. Artistic Director Melia Bensussen brings this Shakespeare classic to life in a romantic production rife with desire (and, of course, sword fighting!).

JUNE 5 – JUNE 29, 2025

By Madeleine George

Directed by Zoë Golub-Sass

Diane has a landscaping business, thousands of years of experience under her work belt, and a mythical knack for turning worlds upside down. The cosmic clock is ticking and at the eleventh hour, Diane discovers the fate of humanity is buried in a New Jersey suburb and that – oh, gods! – only the housewives can save us. Hurricane Diane is a provocative comedy about letting things get a little wild in the name of the greater good.

NOVEMBER 23 – DECEMBER 29, 2024

By Charles Dickens

Adapted and originally directed by Michael Wilson

Directed by Zoë Golub-Sass

On a bleak and snowy Christmas Eve, Ebenezer Scrooge wants nothing more than to collect his debts. But when he is visited by a ghostly old friend, Scrooge must confront his own selfish ways and discover the true meaning of Christmas. Join Scrooge and the spirits of Christmas Past, Present, and Future on this journey of redemption in a mesmerizing display of theatrical magic and wonder.

ABOUT HARTFORD STAGE

Hartford Stage has been led by Artistic Director Melia Bensussen and Managing Director Cynthia Rider since the summer of 2019. The theater’s mission is to enlighten, entertain, and educate by creating programming of the highest caliber that has a transformative impact on audiences, the community, and its field. Under Bensussen’s artistic vision, the theater has reimagined classics including Eugene O’Neill’s Ah, Wilderness! which reopened the theater to great acclaim following the pandemic and brought more work celebrating the Latiné heritages in the region, including Quixote Nuevo, the virtual American Voices New Play Festival, Kiss My Aztec!, Espejos: Clean, and Simona’s Search. Hartford Stage has presented various world premieres including the Broadway successes Anastasia and A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder (winner of four 2014 Tony Awards), and Quiara Alegría Hudes’ Water by the Spoonful (winner of the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Drama). Hartford Stage’s vast education programs engage students of all ages from across the state through student matinee performances, in-school programs, theatre classes, and youth productions. HartfordStage.org

L-R:

Andrea Syglowski, Marsha Mason, Jeff Skowron, Hayden Bercy, and Gabriel Amoroso in Lost in Yonkers (2021) co-directed by Marsha Mason and Rachel Alderman. Photo by T. Charles Erickson.

Saturday, May 11, 2024

A one-night only event featuring a musical performance by the legendary Tony, Grammy, and Emmy award-winning ANDRÉ DE SHIELDS TICKETS ON SALE NOW!

EDUCATION @ HARTFORD STAGE

Our award-winning education programs provide students of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds with innovative opportunities that challenge and inspire. Using theater techniques, we build community and citizenship, promote a passion for literacy and creative expression, and encourage lifelong learning.

ADULT & YOUTH CLASSES

Throughout the year, we have classes for youth and adults looking to improve their acting skills.

STUDENT MATINEES

Middle and high school students are invited to join us for special performances throughout the year. They’ll get to see the show, plus participate in a talkback with the cast. Add-on workshop with a teaching artist available! Tickets start at $20, with discounts available for Title 1 schools.

CONNECTIONS

Connections is an in-school program that brings teaching artists into classrooms to explore a book through drama, strengthening reading comprehension skills and building excitement about reading.

AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAMS

Bring a Hartford Stage teaching artist to your afterschool program! Programs range from drama classes to full productions and are designed based on the needs of each individual school.

Learn more at HartfordStage.org/Education

ABOUT HARTFORD STAGE

EQUITY & ANTI-RACISM COMMITMENTS

We are working toward greater anti-racism, equity, justice, inclusion, and belonging for all at our theatre. We invite you to join us on this journey.

CREATING A CULTURE OF BELONGING & INCLUSION

We strive to create a place where all people feel a sense of belonging across the organization. We strive to create a culture where everyone sees themselves, their styles, their culture, and their humanity reflected and appreciated in all the work we do.

CONTINUED LEARNING & SKILLSET BUILDING

We strive to equip our staff, volunteers, and board with opportunities to strengthen their personal and collective understanding of the inequities and injustices within and outside our organization and build skillsets that bring greater consciousness into every aspect of our work.

EQUITABLE & SUSTAINABLE OPERATIONS & PRACTICES

We strive to build an organization that recognizes the humanity of every member of our staff, board, volunteer, audience, and community and the needs and necessities to live and thrive in the 21st century.

Words matter. Actions speak louder.

Learn more at HartfordStage.org

A THANK YOU TO THE PEOPLE WHO FIRST LIVED ON AND CARED FOR THESE LANDS

We recognize that our theatre is built on land that was once and still is peopled by indigenous tribes, specifically territory of the Mohegan, Mashantucket Pequot, Eastern Pequot, Golden Hill Paugussett, and Schaghticoke peoples and their ancestors of these lands: the Wangunk, the Podunk, and the Tunxis.

ANNUAL CONTRIBUTORS

Thank you to our donors. We are grateful for the generosity throughout our entire community and recognize all of our supporters on our website at HartfordStage.org/recognition. We are happy to acknowledge here those with leadership contributions in the past 12 months, March 25, 2023 –March 25, 2024.

ANNUAL FUND

DIRECTOR CIRCLE • $50,000+

Anonymous

Rick & Beth Costello

Estate of Nafe E. Katter

Karl Krapek

Jack & Donna Sennott

PRODUCER CIRCLE • $25,000+

Jill Adams & Bill Knight

Don & Marilyn Allan

The Cheryl Chase & Stuart Bear Family Foundation

Sue Ann Collins

Wes & Chloe Horton

David & Janice Klein

Sally Speer

Judith & William Thompson

OVATION SOCIETY • $10,000+

Sheryl & Doug Adkins

Anonymous

Arnold Greenberg

Francine & Robert Goldfarb

Dianne & Walter Harrison

George & Helen Ingram

Jane & Roger Loeb

The Pryor Family Foundation

Chrissie & Ezra Ripple

Elizabeth Schiro & Stephen Bayer

ENCORE SOCIETY

• $5,000+

Andra Asars

Sara & David Carson

Jamie & Isaac Cohen

Alana & Matthew Curren

Devon & Thomas Francis

Grunberg Family Foundation

Barbara & Matthew Hennessy

Jackie & Drew Iacovazzi

Konover Coppa Family Fund

Katherine J. Lambert

Tom & Margah Lips

Amy & Neal Mandell

Barri Marks

Harry E. Meyer

Judith Meyers & Richard Hersh

Michael & Colleen Nicastro

Douglas H. Robbins

Rosalie B. Roth

Suzanne B. Ruffee

ANNUAL CONTRIBUTORS

Donald & Linda Silpe

Nelson & Helen Sly

Deborah & Jeffrey Steinberg

Sally & Allan Taylor

Elizabeth & Gerard Vecchio

Maggie & Sherwood Willard

Mark & Patty Willis

Elease & Dana Wright

The Zachs Family Foundation

PATRON SOCIETY • $3,500+

Paul & Joanne Bourdeau

Marla & John Byrnes

Robert L. & Susan G. Fisher

Barnaby W. Horton & Hannah

Granfield-Horton

Ruth Fitzgerald & Dave Sageman

Marilda Gandara & Scott O’Keefe

Doris & Ray Guenter

Carrie & Jonathan Hammond

Annie Hildreth & Ted Potters

Adlyn & Theodore Lowenthal

Ed & Kelly Lyman

Duff Ashmead & Eric Ort

Bob & Joan Penney

Kristen Phillips & Matthew Schreck

Rhonda Tobin & Jeffrey Smith

Nicole Vitrano & Art Wallace

Jacqueline Werner

HONORARY GIFTS

IN HONOR OF MELIA BENSUSSEN

Tracy King

William V. & Patrick M.

Madison-McDonald

IN HONOR OF TODD BRANDT

DarrylLee VanOudenhove

IN HONOR OF ANNIE HILDRETH

Diane Hildreth

IN HONOR OF DAVID & KATHLEEN JIMENEZ

Marla & John Byrnes

Sue Ann Collins

IN HONOR OF KATHERINE LAMBERT

Janet Faude

IN HONOR OF AMY & NEAL MANDELL

Debi & Peter Miller

IN HONOR OF CYNTHIA RIDER

Sandy Grampsas

Anne Rider & Rob Hinrichs

IN HONOR OF ROSALIE ROTH

Karl Krapek Jr.

IN HONOR OF HANS WALSER & CAROL SCOVILLE

Karen Kleine

IN HONOR OF PATTY WILLIS

The Burkehaven Family Foundation

IN HONOR OF THE CONTINUATION OF NON-COMMERCIAL THEATRE

James F. Ingalls

MEMORIAL GIFTS

IN MEMORY OF PETER BLUM

Donald & Linda Silpe

IN MEMORY OF GALINA FAYNGERSH

Diana Lee

IN MEMORY OF BEVERLY GREENBERG Anonymous

IN MEMORY OF ANNEMARIE HAENDIGES

Brian Haendiges

IN MEMORY OF MARGARET MACDONNELL

William MacDonnell

IN MEMORY OF BERNICE POKSAY AND KIM O’NEAL Anonymous

IN MEMORY OF JOHN SENNOTT

Audrey Mulholland

ANNUAL CONTRIBUTORS INSTITUTIONAL GIVING

$200,000+

Connecticut Department of Economic & Community Development

Raytheon Technologies*

The Shubert Foundation

Stanley Black & Decker*

United States Treasury

$100,000+

The Richard P. Garmany Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving

The Edward C. & Ann T. Roberts Foundation

$75,000+

Burry Fredrik Foundation

$50,000+

Connecticut Judicial Branch

The John and Kelly Hartman Foundation

The Katherine K. McLane & Henry R. McLane Charitable Trust

The Scripps Family Fund for Education and the Arts

Travelers*

$25,000+

City of Hartford

Connecticut Humanities

The Elizabeth M. Landon & Harriette M.

Landon Charitable Foundation

Ensworth Charitable Foundation

Hartford Foundation for Public Giving

Laurents/Hatcher Foundation

Robinson & Cole LLP

SBM Charitable Foundation, Inc

$15,000+

Lucille Lortel Foundation

The MorningStar Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving

Talcott Resolution*

$10,000+

Cummings & Lockwood*

Greater Hartford Arts Council

The J. Walton Bissell Foundation, Inc.

Liberty Bank*

The William & Alice Mortensen Foundation

$5,000+

William H. & Rosanna T. Andrulat Charitable Foundation

Allan S. Goodman, Inc.

The BFA Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving

Bradley, Foster & Sargent, Inc.

The Burton & Phyllis Hoffman Foundation

The Charles Nelson Robinson Fund

Jana Foundation

McDonald Family Trust

PeoplesBank*

The University of Saint Joseph*

$2,500+

Enterprise Rent a Car Foundation

Fiducient Advisors*

The George A. & Grace L. Long Foundation

$1,000+

Alexander M. & Catherine Maus Wright Charitable Foundation

The Foulds Family Foundation

NewAlliance Foundation

$500+

Watkinson School

* BUSINESS PARTNERS

Become a Hartford Stage BUSINESS PARTNER!

JOIN OUR GROWING CLASS OF 2023/2024 PARTNERS!

Conning • Cummings & Lockwood • Fiducient Advisors •

Grunberg Realty • Liberty Bank • PeoplesBank •

Talcott Resolution • Travelers • University of Saint Joseph

Becoming a Business Partner is an easy, customizeable way to support Hartford stage. Entertain clients, engage vendors, or reward employees!

Your charitable or in-kind contribution will support the artistic, educational, and community programming at Hartford Stage. Select benefits that align best with your priorities, and receive prominent recognition all season-long.

All partnerships will be fully customized to meet your needs!

Benefit options include:

Complimentary Show Tickets

Complimentary Gala Tickets

Recognition Opportunities

Unique Private Event Spaces

Fully Catered Events

Conversations with Artists

Invitations to Special Events

DISCUSS YOUR UNIQUE PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT TODAY!

Contact Jennifer Levine at jlevine@hartfordstage.org or 860-520-7249.

What is an Endowment Fund?

An Endowment Fund is an investment account for a non-profit organization. The goal of an endowment fund is to exist into perpetuity; to provide support to the organization not only in the present time, but in the future as well. Our Endowment Fund offers a dependable and reliable source of income, which allows us to balance out the unpredictable revenue from ticket sales and charitable contributions.

How does Hartford Stage use its Endowment Fund?

Hartford Stage uses an annual draw up to 5% from our endowment to support our artistic programming, our summer education camp, and maintenance to our theater facility.

Why should I donate to the endowment?

A gift to the endowment is a gift to the future of Hartford Stage. The larger the endowment, the larger the annual draw, providing much needed stability in our income stream. This ensures that Hartford Stage can continue to entertain, educate, and enlighten audiences for years to come.

How can I donate to Hartford Stage’s Endowment?

Make a direct gift through:

Cash Donations • Stock Donations

Contributions from your IRA or Donor-Advised Funds Joining our Shakespeare Society

To learn more about the Hartford Stage endowment, Shakespeare Society, or to contribute, contact Jennifer Levine at jlevine@hartfordstage.org or 860-520-7249.

Nathan Darrow, Jotham Burrello, Omar Robinson, and Jamie Ann Romero in The Winter’s Tale (2023).

Photo by T. Charles Erickson.

SHAKESPEARE SOCIETY

The Shakespeare Society comprises individuals who have provided for the future of Hartford Stage in their estate plans. Hartford Stage is deeply grateful for their generosity and foresight. The members of this group help to ensure the legacy of Hartford Stage. Have you included Hartford Stage in your estate plans? Tell us about it! Call Individual Giving Manager Evan Kudish at 860-520-7241 to share your plans and allow us to thank you.

Thank you to all members of our Shakespeare Society:

Anonymous (15)

Mr. & Mrs. Paul Bourdeau

Mrs. Joan Brown

Kimberley & Christopher Byrd

Marla & John Byrnes

Mario R. Cavallo

Sue Ann Collins

Richard G. Costello

Ms. Linda Diana DeConti

Mr. Reginald Gregory DeConti

Robert L. & Susan G. Fisher

Kathy Frederick & Eugene Leach

Victoria E. Gallo

Carrie & Jonathan Hammond

Walter & Diane Harrison

George & Helen Ingram

David & Janice Klein

Joel M. & Naomi Baline Kleinman

Katherine J. Lambert

Christopher Larsen

Tom & Margah Lips

Mark & Liisa Livingston

Elaine T. Lowengard

Judith Meyers & Richard Hersh

Ki Miller

Arthur & Merle Nacht

Judge Jon O. Newman

Belle K. Ribicoff

Ezra & Chrissie Ripple

Prudence P. Robertson

Barbara Rubin

Carol W. Scoville

Donald & Linda Silpe

Jennifer Smith Turner & Eric Turner

Elsa Suisman

Michael Wilson & Jeff Cowie

Michael & Ellen Zenke

IN MEMORIAM

Hartford Stage fondly remembers these late members of the Shakespeare Society.

Anonymous (6)

Margaret Atwood

Cynthia Kellogg Barrington

Maxwell & Sally Belding

Susan R. Block

Clifford S. Burdge

Edward C. Cape

Ruth Cape

Anna & David Clark

James H. Eacott, Jr.

Yummy Graulty

Dieter & Siegelind Johannes

Hugh M. Joseloff & Helen J. Joseloff

Nafe E. Katter

Janet M. Larsen

Joe Marfuggi

Mr. & Mrs. Henry R. McLane

Mary & Freeman Meyer

Tuck Miller

Ann & George Richards

Dr. Russell Robertson

Robert K. Schrepf

Talcott Stanley

Janet S. & Michael Suisman

Helen S. Willis

Louise W. Willson

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

OFFICERS

Jack Sennott, President

Elease Wright, Vice President

Devon Francis, Treasurer

Michael Nicastro, Secretary

GOVERNING DIRECTORS

Douglas Adkins

Don Allan

Patti Broad

Marla J. Byrnes

Shari Cantor

Julio Concepción

Mark G. Contreras

Richard G. Costello

Alana Curren

Anne D’Alleva

John Doran

Marilda Lara Gándara

Rev. Darrell L. Goodwin

Annie Hildreth

Nancy P. Hoffman

Very Rev. Miguelina Howell

Jackie B. Iacovazzi

Katherine Lambert

Kelly M. Lyman

Sibongile Magubane

Barri Marks

Marge Morrissey

Mark Overmyer-Velázquez

Andy Pace

Esther A. Pryor

Tom Richards

Rosalie Roth

Allan B. Taylor

William J. Thompson

Rhonda J. Tobin

Gerard Vecchio

Nicole Vitrano

Patty Willis

STAGE ONE

Young Professional Board Directors

Cordelia Brady

Kentavis Brice

Brennden D. Colbert

Jarrett Eamiello

Emily Harrington

Brittnee Johnson-Colbert

Kaitlyn Keeler

Oliver Kochol

Kaitlin Librizzi

Greidy Miralles

TJ Noel-Sullivan

Janixia Reyes

Kristy Sanandres

Claire Stermer

Nathan Sykes

Alia Walwyn-James

LIFE DIRECTORS

George L. Estes III

Arnold C. Greenberg

Walter Harrison

Jeffrey S. Hoffman

George A. Ingram

David M. Klein

Roger S. Loeb

Belle K. Ribicoff

Christina B. Ripple

Anne Rudder

Linda Fisher Silpe

Sherwood Willard

HONORARY DIRECTORS

David Carson

Michael Grunberg

Carrie Hammond

Barbara Hennessy

Amy Leppo Mandell

Robert A. Penney

Bruce Simons

Judith E. Thompson

EMERITUS DIRECTORS

Margaret B. Amstutz

R. Kelley Bonn

Sara Marcy Cole

Susan J. Copeland

Susan G. Fisher

Judith C. Meyers

PAST PRESIDENTS

Jill Adams

Joel B. Alvord

Paul L. Bourdeau

David W. Clark Jr.+

Sue Ann Collins

Ellsworth Davis+

Elliot F. Gerson

Thomas J. Groark Jr.+

John W. Huntington+

Walter Harrison

David R. Jimenez

David M. Klein

Edward Lane-Reticker+

Janet Larsen+

Thomas D. Lips

Scott McAlister+

Tuck Miller+

Christina B. Ripple

Deanna Sue Sucsy

Jennifer Smith Turner

Peter R. Wilde+

EX OFFICIO DIRECTORS

John B. Larson

US Representative, First Congressional District of Connecticut

Arunan Arulampalam

Mayor City of Hartford

Melia Bensussen

Artistic Director

Hartford Stage

Cynthia Rider

Managing Director

Hartford Stage

ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF

LEADERSHIP

Melia Bensussen, Artistic Director

Position endowed by Janet S. Suisman

Cynthia Rider, Managing Director

ADMINISTRATION

Emily Van Scoy, General Manager

Sara Walnum, Business Manager

Scott Bartelson, Director of Internal Communications & Organizational Strategy

ARTISTIC

Zoë Golub-Sass, Richard P. Garmany Associate Artistic Director

DEVELOPMENT

Jennifer Levine, Director of Development

Evan Kudish, Individual Giving Manager

Sierra Vazquez, Annual Fund Manager

Shannon Kennedy, Development & Marketing Associate

EDUCATION

Jennifer Roberts, Director of Education

Nina Pinchin, Associate Director of Education

Emely Larson, Studio Manager

2023/2024 Teaching Artists

Marie Altenor, Isaiah Artis, Thomas Beebe, Jha’Neal

Blue, Caitlin Collazo, Brandon Couloute, Eddie

Cruz, Shelby Demke, Caroline Frederick, Malena

Gordo, Katrina Guzman, Erica LuBonta, Greg

Ludovici, Jan Mason, Jessica MacLean, Tori

Mooney, Justin Pesce, Erin Rose, Kevin Scott, Heidi Jean Weinrich

MARKETING

Todd Brandt, Director of Marketing

Molly Flanagan, Marketing Associate

House Management

Scott McEver, Audience Experience and Front of House Manager

Lindsay Abrams, Events Coordinator/ Assistant House Manager

Aarron Schuelke, Assistant House Manager

Bartenders:

Tanya Bermudez, Lexi Blinder, Sam Chiasson, Karen Kudish, Loren Milledge, Kimberly Quinn, Nefris Quiterio, Erica Santa Lucia, Kerry Yerkes

Gift Shop Attendants/Event Bartenders:

Art Arpin, Paulette Caldwell, John Harbison

Patron Services

Lindsey Hoffman, Box Office Manager

Corey Welden, Box Office Supervisor

Box Office Representatives:

Jha’Neal Blue, Julie Borsotti, Eddie Cruz, Lindsey Taft

PRODUCTION

Bryan T. Holcombe, Director of Production

Wesley Schroeder, Assistant Production Manager

Leland Ensminger, Facilities Manager

Austin Washington, Production Assistant

Set Construction & Scenic Art

Aaron D. Bleck, Technical Director

Jared Wolf, Assistant Technical Director

Ian Sweeney, Lead Carpenter

Audra Giuliano, Scenic Carpenter

Nathalie Schlosser, Charge Scenic Artist

Costumes & Wardrobe

Alex Meadows, Costume Shop Director

Melissa Thurn, Assistant Costume Director

Joshua Richardson, Wardrobe Supervisor

James Weeden, Draper

Jack Trainor, First Hand Props

Joe Dotts, Props Manager

Alex Ferdman, Assistant Props Manager

Lighting

Jackie Costabile, Lighting Manager

Ethan Sepa, ALDM, Programmer

Sound

Lucas Clopton, Audio/Video Manager

Jim Busker, Assistant Audio/Video Manager

Company Management

Christopher Rowe, Company Manager

FOR THIS PRODUCTION

Michele L. Sanson, Crafts Artisan/Milliner/Stitcher

Ariana Harris, Deck Crew

Krizzia Cruz, Prompter

Lauren Marina, Props Artisan

Scenic Painters:

Teresa Crabtree, Kathleen Kenan, Erin Sagnelli

Stitchers:

Allison Nishimura, Joe O’Brien, Christine Regina

Hanna Zammarieh, Wardrobe/Wig Crew

Julius Cruz, Substitute Youth Coordinator