The Hipp unplugged:
A Staged Reading Series
The Walmart Book of the Dead by Lucy Biederman Adapted and Directed by Laura Shatkus Dec. 9 - 10 at 7:30 p.m.
Produced by special arrangement with Playscripts, Inc. (www.playscripts.com)
The Hipp unplugged:
A Staged Reading Series
The Walmart Book of the Dead by Lucy Biederman
Adapted and Directed by Laura Shatkus Nicole Mooradian--------Stage Manager/Deviser Julia Schack----------------Stage Manager/Deviser Bryan Mercer^-----------Deviser Stephanie Parks--------------Deviser ^ Member of the Hippodrome Theatre’s company of actors.
Actors’ Equity Association Actors’ Equity Association (“Equity”), founded in 1913, is the U.S. labor union that represents more than 50,000 actors and stage managers. Equity seeks to foster the art of live theatre as an essential component of society and advances the careers of its members by negotiating wages, working conditions and providing a wide range of benefits, including health and pension plans. Actors’ Equity is a member of the AFL-CIO and is affiliated with FIA, an international organization of performing arts unions. #EquityWorks
Hippodrome programs are sponsored in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Florida Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Council on Arts & Culture; Visit Gainesville Alachua County, and by the City of Gainesville, Dept. of Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Affairs. Please do not use the entrances and exits during the performance. The videotaping or other video or audio recording of this production is strictly prohibited.
The Walmart Book of the Dead by Lucy Biederman
Adapted and Directed by Laura Shatkus
Performed By: Chris Hecke Nicole Mooradian Jahnathan Nixon Katie Pankow E. Stanley Richardson Nyq Smith Maddy Smyth Joel Stigliano
Production duration is approximately 90 minutes. There will be no Intermission.
WHO’S WHO AT THE HIPP Stephanie Lynge (Artistic Director) is an accomplished
actor, director, producer, teacher and coach. Stephanie has enjoyed a career of more than 27 years in professional theater and education. Since 2013 she has worked on more than 40 productions at the Hippodrome either as an actor, director, choreographer, or dramaturg. She was seen on stage this season in The Wolves and Let The Right One In. Her other acting credits include performances in New York City on Broadway and Off Broadway at Lincoln Center, BAM, Jean Cocteau Rep, and the York Theater Workshop. Regional theaters include Freefall, Goodspeed Opera House, Sacramento Music Circus, Pasadena Playhouse, Rep Theater of St. Louis, Flat Rock Playhouse, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Seaside Music Theater, as well as several National Tours. Directing credits include the Hippodrome’s Every Christmas Story Ever Told, The Legend of Georgia McBride, and The Ultimate Christmas Show as well as plays at the 45th Street Theater (NYC), New York Musical Theater Festival, and the University of Florida. Stephanie has served as a Visiting professor at Indiana University, and an Adjunct professor at New Jersey City University and University of Florida. After receiving her BA in Musical Theater from Indiana University, Stephanie lived and worked as an actor in New York City for over 20 years. Stephanie holds a Master of Fine Arts in acting from University of Florida and is a proud member of Actors Equity Association since 1996.
Nicole Daenzer (Managing Director) is excited to be leading the Hippodrome’s administrative team, after spending six years as the director of finance and operations. Prior to her time at the Hippodrome, she lived in San Francisco, where she worked in financial planning and earned her degree in classical languages and literatures. aut inveniam viam aut faciam.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Lucy Biederman (Author) is the author of The Walmart Book of the Dead, which won the 2017 Vine Leaves Press Vignette Award and was a Finalist for the Foreword Book of the Year in the Fantasy category. She has written four chapbooks of poetry, and her short stories, essays, and poems have appeared in POETRY, Ploughshares, AGNI, wigleaf, and Pleiades. She is an assistant professor of creative writing at Heidelberg University in Tiffin, Ohio.
The Hipp unplugged: A Staged Reading Series
Want more Unplugged? Now you can get a FLEX PASS good for any or all of the shows in our spring season.
3 tickets for $25 OR 6 tickets for $50 Available online at thehipp.org or through the box office at 352-375-4477.
WHO’S WHO IN THE WALMART BOOK OF THE DEAD Chris Hecke (Performer/Deviser) is a regional actor based out of Atlanta, GA and relishing the opportunity to create with Laura Shatkus and the Hippodrome crew. Favorite Theatre credits include: The Atlanta Shakespeare Tavern, Aurora Theatre, Theatre Squared, The Warehouse Theatre, Synchronicity Theatre, & Block St. Theatre Co. He holds an MFA from the University of Arkansas, and is a proud immigrant from Sao Paulo, Brazil. Nicole Mooradian (Performer/Deviser) is so excited to be creating theatre with such an incredible group of artists. Thank you to the Hippodrome for promoting the exploration of new pieces such as this one. Enjoy!
Jahnathan Nixon (Performer/Deviser) is a freshman BA Theatre major at the University of Florida. Jahnathan has also performed at other venues here in Gainesville, such as the Gainesville Community Playhouse (Peter and the Starcatcher, You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown) and the Acrosstown Repertory Theatre (Measure for Measure, Macbeth). He will also be directing 13: The Musical at Star Center Theatre this spring. Jahnathan would like to thank Stephanie, Jesse, and Laura for granting him this opportunity, Virginia for always pushing him to his fullest potential, Trinaty for being there for him always, and his friends and family for believing in him.
WHO’S WHO IN THE WALMART BOOK OF THE DEAD Katie Pankow (Performer/Deviser) is delighted to be making her Hipp Unplugged debut! Currently, she’s haunting Scrooge as Christmas Past on the mainstage in A Christmas Carol. A few credits: Grounded (Theatre Conspiracy/ BIG ARTS Strauss Theatre), Noises Off (BIG ARTS Strauss Theatre), Don’t Dress for Dinner (Broadway Palm). She has also recently shopped at Wal-Mart. MFA:University of Florida, 2013. Big love to Mom, Dad, Nate, Beef, and especially to Joel. www.katiepankow.com E. Stanley Richardson (Performer/Deviser) is an American actor, poet and author. He is delighted to return again to The Hippodrome Theatre. Favorite credits include Actors’ Warehouse: Satchmo At The Waldorf (Louis Armstrong), (Joe Glaser), (Miles Davis) The Ritz Winter Haven: Satchmo At The Waldorf. The Acrosstown Repertory Theatre: In Splendid Error (Frederick Douglass) University of Florida Center for Arts in Medicine: From Colored To Black, Theatrical / Film (Stan The Poetry Man). DonkeySaddle Projects New Mexico: There Is A Field, Theatrical / Film (Hassan) The Hippodrome Theatre: The ROYALE (Wynton) Actors’ Warehouse: Cat On A Hot Tin Roof (Big Daddy) Actors’ Warehouse: Fences (Troy). In addition E. Stanley Richardson is the founder/director of ARTSPEAKSgnv: “Bringing Poetry & People Together” artspeaksgnv.org Nyq Smith (Performer/Deviser) is an entirely normal BFA Acting student at UF with an entirely normal biography in a program. There is nothing else to see here. Move along.
WHO’S WHO IN THE WALMART BOOK OF THE DEAD Maddy Smyth (Performer/Deviser) No stranger to the Gainesville Art/Theatrical scene, Madeline first set foot on the Phillips Center Mainstage at the age of 7 as a Lost Boy in Peter Pan and hasn’t looked back. Now at the tender age of 14 she has numerous theatrical and vocal credits to her name. Maddie can often be seen performing around town, singing at local events and taking part in theatrical productions. Some favorite shows have included Whatever happened to Baby Jane? (Young Baby Jane/The Hippodrome), A Christmas Carol (Belinda and/ or Martha Cratchit/The Hippodrome) The Little Mermaid (Ariel/The Actor’s Warehouse), and Ruthless (Tina Denmark/Actor’s warehouse). Currently in rehearsals for Anne and Emmett, Madeline is always excited to see where life’s journey takes her next. Joel Stigliano (Performer/Deviser) is thrilled to be to be working on The Walmart Book of the Dead with these fine folk. Currently in A Christmas Carol at here at the Hipp! Selected Credits: National Tour: Elf the Musical. Regional: Peter Pan, Hello Dolly, Unnecessary Farce, Crucible, The Full Monty. Film/TV: Brain Games, Zarafa, Jess Archer Vs., Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin. Thanks to Stephanie and Laura for the opportunity and to Mom, the Bros., and Katie for the rest. MFA Ohio University. joelstigliano.com
DIRECTORS BIO Laura Shatkus (Director/Adapter/Deviser) is from Chicago, Illinois and most recently codevised and associate directed 10,000 Balconies by Kholoud Sawaf as part of a 3-year Building Bridges Grant from the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art. As the Artistic and Producing Director of ArkansasStaged, Laura has produced, directed, and performed in over 20 readings and devised performances, raising funds and awareness through art for organizations like Moms Demand Action and Planned Parenthood. Other recent directing credits include: Hansel and Gretel at The University of Arkansas Opera Theatre, Oliver Caplan’s Symposium and Tom Cipullo’s Lucy for Opera Fayetteville, Shakespeare in Love at the University of Arkansas, A Confederate Widow In Hell with Breaker/ Fixer Productions, and a series of new plays for the William Inge Theatre Festival. As an actor, Laura has worked and performed at a variety of companies in Chicago and regionally and is proud to call The Hippodrome Theatre, where she was last seen cooking a bowling ball in Miracle on South Division Street, a home away from home. Laura is currently based in Northwest Arkansas, home to the international world headquarters of Walmart.
WALMART INC. A Little about Walmart‌according to Wikipedia... Walmart Inc. is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets, discount department stores, and grocery stores, headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas. The company was founded by Sam Walton in 1962 and incorporated on October 31, 1969. It also owns and operates Sam's Club retail warehouses. As of October 31, 2019, Walmart has 11,438 stores and clubs in 27 countries, operating under 55 different names. Walmart is the world's largest company by revenue, with $514.405 billion, according to the Fortune Global 500 list in 2019. It is also the largest private employer in the world with 2.2 million employees. It is a publicly traded family-owned business, as the company is controlled by the Walton family. Sam Walton's heirs own over 50 percent of Walmart through their holding company, Walton Enterprises, and through their individual holdings. Walmart was the largest U.S. grocery retailer in 2019, and 65 percent of Walmart's US$510.329 billion sales came from U.S. operations. In September of 2019, after 22 people were killed in a mass shooting at a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas, Walmart announced that it would stop selling all handgun ammunition and certain short-barreled rifle ammunition. The company also announced that it would stop selling handguns in Alaska, the only state where the company still sold handguns. Walmart also stated that was "respectfully requesting" that customers not openly carry weapons in Walmart stores, except for authorized law enforcement officers. Walmart has been criticized by groups and individuals, including labor unions and small-town advocates protesting against Walmart policies and business practices and their effects. Criticisms include charges of racial and gender discrimination, foreign product sourcing, treatment of product suppliers, environmental practices, the use of public subsidies, and the company's spying on its employees. Walmart denies any wrongdoing and says that low prices are the result of efficiency. The Walton family’s collective fortune makes them the richest family in the United States of America and the richest non-royal family in the world. The three most prominent living members (Jim, Rob, and Alice) have consistently been in the top twenty of the Forbes 400 since 2001, as were John (d. 2005) and Helen (d. 2007) prior to their deaths. Christy Walton took her husband John's place in that ranking after his death. In October 2019, the annual Sunday Times Rich List indicated the Walton family's wealth is at $US201.4 billion.
THE HIPP THEATRE
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by Ricky Graham, Jeffery Roberson, Yvette Hargis & Jefferson Turner directed by Clint Thorton Nov. 22 - Dec. 22; previews Nov. 20 - 21
a christmas carol
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lone star spirits
by Josh Tobiessen directed by Stephanie Lynge Jan. 24 - Feb. 16: previews Jan. 22-23
Marie and Rosetta
by George Brant directed by Eric Davis Feb. 28 - March 22 ; previews Feb. 26 - 27
native gardens
by Karen ZacarĂ?as April 24 - May 17; previews April 22 - 23
rock of ages
by Chris D’Arienzo Opens June 5
Photo featuring Lauren Nordvig