p l ayw se MOUNTAINTOP ON STAGE AND OFF
THE
January 18 through February 17, 2013
by katori hall Directed by PAtricia Mcgregor
What’s Inside: A Selected timeline: Dr. martin luther king, jr. and the civil rights movement Compiled by Carrie Chapter, PTC Dramaturg the man and the myth: remembering dr. martin luther king, jr. by Carrie Chapter, PTC Dramaturg Q&A with katori hall Excerpted from the interview conducted by Susan Jackson, Editor: Juilliard Journal, 2011
PHIL ADELPHIA THEATRE COMPANY at the
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Sara Garonzik Producing Artistic Director
Shira Beckerman Managing Director
By
Katori Hall featuring
SekOu laidlow Amirah vann Set Design Costume Design mATT SAUNDERS esosa Fight Director RICK SORDELET
Production Manager roy w. backes
Technical Director Michael L. Cristaldi
Sound Design BART FASBENDER
Lighting Design bEN sTANTON
Production Stage Manager KEVIN BERTOLACCI
Dramaturg Carrie chapter
Casting JACK DOULIN
Projection Design JORGE COUSINEAU
Assistant Stage Manager DANielle Commini PTC Casting Director amy dugas brown
Directed by
patricia mcgregor Thank You to our Sponsors
Production Sponsor
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Production Co-Sponsor
Official Beverage Sponsor
The Mountaintop has been generously supported by the Lomax Family Foundation. The Mountaintop is presented by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc., New York.
DATE
LOCATION
at 6:30pm
1200 Market Street Philadelphia, PA 19107
Friday, March 1, 2013
Loews Hotel
Honoring
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and
For table sponsorships, underwriting opportunities, or tickets, please contact:
Featuring
Christine Mickletz Director of Development 215.985.1400, x 115
Julia & Gene Ericksen
Proceeds from the Gala help support PTC’s Education and Community Outreach Initiatives.
Patina Miller
The Tony nominated star of Broadway’s Sister Act and the upcoming revival of Pippin.
PhiladelphiaTheatreCompany.org/Gala PHILA D EL P H I A T H EAT R E CO M PA NY at the
A Letter from our Production Sponsor, PECO PECO is pleased to once again partner with Philadelphia Theatre Company (PTC) to sponsor another timeless, thought-provoking play. This season it’s The Mountaintop by Katori Hall, and directed by Patricia McGregor. Diversity is a core value at PECO. We look for opportunities through our arts and culture grants to celebrate and explore diverse themes and experiences. We have always been pleased with PTC’s selection of multi-cultural plays, the artistic quality of their productions and their efforts to attract student and non-traditional audiences. Through PECO-sponsored programs and events, we help people of all ages and backgrounds enjoy and experience arts and culture throughout our region. At PECO we encourage our employees to participate in one or more of our seven Employee Network Groups: EAARA (Exelon African American Resource Alliance), OLE (Organization of Latino Employees), NEW (Network of Exelon Women), AARG (Asian American Resource Group), Pride (LGBT), EMAC (Exelon Military Actively Connected) and PECO Developing Young Professionals. We view our diversity as a competitive advantage. Thanks for joining us in supporting the arts and helping Philadelphia Theatre Company put cultural diversity in the spotlight. Sincerely,
Craig L. Adams President and CEO, PECO
from the producing artistic director Dear Friends, Over the last fifteen years, some of the most thrilling theatrical moments on American stages have come from the bold imaginations of young, African American women playwrights. Since the 1990s, it has been our great pleasure to produce and support the work of Lynn Nottage, Suzan-Lori Parks, Danai Gurira, Tracey Scott Wilson, Dominique Morisseau, Zakiyyah Alexander and now, Katori Hall. Among these gifted writers, we would be hard pressed to find someone who has enjoyed a quicker ascent to the top of American theater than Katori, having had successful productions of The Mountaintop in London (where it won the Olivier Award for Best New Play) and Broadway where it ran to sold out houses last season. This year, The Mountaintop will be produced in cities across the nation from Washington to Palo Alto. If you gathered theater-makers in a room and asked us why we all chose to produce this new play about Dr. King’s last night on earth, I am fairly certain we would voice the common opinion that Katori Hall is a spirited, almost fearless writer with a great sense of theatricality, who has managed to translate her respect and reverence for Dr. King into a tender, human-scale portrait of the man, rather than the icon. We welcome her to our stage as well as her collaborator, director Patricia McGregor, another formidable young artist who brought Katori’s work to vibrant life last year in Signature Theater’s production of Hurt Village. As we spend the next six weeks examining the legacy and leadership of Martin Luther King, Jr., we are grateful to our Community Partners who are helping us frame the conversation and those who have been inspired to create some conversations of their own, among them: WURD-AM, The Penn Project for Civic Engagement, The Brothers Network and Reginald T. Shuford, Esq. Executive Director of the Pennsylvania ACLU. We hope you will join us for as many of these events as possible which are listed within this Playwise. Immediately following the close of The Mountaintop, we launch into our third annual PTC@Play festival of new work, February 18 - March 3. This year you will hear newly minted plays from Bill Cain, Bruce Graham, Lee Blessing, Carlyle Brown, Julie Marie Myatt, Lucas Hnath, a dazzling group of young Philadelphia writers and the many students in our Drama Contact program who come together each season to create Philly Reality, an action packed drama-slam of original scenes and monologues. All this, plus the announcement of the winner of this year’s Terrence McNally New Play Award! Attendance is free but we urge you to make reservations as soon as possible. Check this Playwise for more details. See you at the theater!
Sara Garonzik
FROM THE MANAGING DIRECTOR Dear Friends of Philadelphia Theatre Company, It is very exciting to welcome you to the Philadelphia premiere of Katori Hall’s fascinating play The Mountaintop. We are ever-grateful to Craig L. Adams, Ramona Riscoe Benson, Mellanie Lassiter, and all of our friends at PECO for their continued support of our work at PTC. We are also thrilled to include the Lomax Family Foundation as a partner again this year, as well as US Airways and Wines Til Sold Out. Our production sponsors and corporate partners are essential to our success, and provide an incredible base for all of our community partnerships throughout each production. Details on PTC’s corporate programs can be found on our website, and I hope those of you who can make a financial contribution to PTC through your company will consider doing so this Spring. Coming up this March, we are thrilled to celebrate our annual Gala, this year honoring PNC Arts Alive, and longtime board member Julia Ericksen and her husband Gene. Both PNC and the Ericksens have provided leadership and support of PTC for many years, and we couldn’t think of more deserving friends of the theater. The PTC Gala will be held on Friday, March 1st at the Loew’s Hotel and will feature an exclusive performance by Broadway star Patina Miller. You may not yet know Patina’s name, but you will soon – she was Tony-nominated for her starring role in Sister Act on Broadway and her talent is extraordinary. Our Gala party and concert are sure to be quite fabulous so I very much hope you will join us, consider making a gift to support our honorees, or review our auction items later this winter. In a continuing effort to keep you up to date on special discounts and events throughout the year, I encourage you to sign up for our email list and be the first to know about everything PTC. See you at the theater!
Shira Beckerman
We put our energy into the arts. Arts and culture organizations have an impact of more than $1 billion on our local economy. Through PECO-sponsored programs we help people of all ages and backgrounds enjoy and experience the arts throughout our region. PECO is proud to sponsor the Philadelphia Theatre Company’s (PTC) production of The Mountaintop. We applaud PTC for its selection of dramatic works, which explore important themes of diversity. Find out more at www.peco.com/community Š PECO Energy Company, 2012
CAST Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr...................................................................................................... Sekou Laidlow Camae..............................................................................................................................................Amirah Vann
Setting April 3, 1968. Room 306. Lorraine Motel. Memphis, Tennessee THE MOUNTAINTOP is performed without an intermission
The video and/or audio recording of this performance by any means whatsoever is strictly prohibited. All electronic devices such as beepers, cell phones, and watch alarms must be turned off prior to the performance.
Rehearsed at Manhattan Theatre Club’s Creative Center. THE ACTORS AND STAGE MANAGERS EMPLOYED IN THIS PRODUCTION ARE MEMBERS OF ACTORS’ EQUITY ASSOCIATION, THE UNION OF PROFESSIONAL ACTORS AND STAGE MANAGERS IN THE UNITED STATES.
THE SCENIC, COSTUME, LIGHTING AND SOUND DESIGNERS IN LORT THEATERS ARE REPRESENTED BY UNITED SCENIC ARTISTS LOCAL USA-829, IASTE. PHILADELPHIA THEATRE COMPANY IS A PROUD MEMBER OF THE LEAGUE OF REGIONAL THEATRES (LORT), A CONSTITUENT MEMBER OF THEATRE COMMUNICATIONS GROUP, INC. (TCG), A MEMBER OF THE GREATER PHILADELPHIA CULTURAL ALLIANCE (GPCA), THEATRE ALLIANCE OF GREATER PHILADELPHIA (TAGP), THE GREATER PHILADELPHIA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE. ONE OPEN CAPTION PERFORMANCE IS PROVIDED FOR EVERY PRODUCTION TO OUR DEAF AND HARD OF HEARING PATRONS. ONE AUDIO DESCRIPTION PERFORMANCE IS PROVIDED FOR OUR BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED PATRONS. LARGE PRINT, AND AUDIO CASSETTE PROGRAMS ARE AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST.
Support for Philadelphia Theatre Company’s Accent on Accessibility Program Comes From: Independence Foundation Louis N. Cassett Foundation
Wells Fargo Foundation
who’s who Sekou Laidlow (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.) hails from Baltimore, MD, and is proud to be making his debut at Philadelphia Theatre Company. Some of his theatre credits include Of Mice and Men Pioneer Theater Co. (Dir.: Mary B. Robinson); Runaway Home at Studio Theater D.C. (Reggie Life); Stonewall Country Theatre at Lime Kiln (Jim Connor); My Children! My Africa! (Jonathan Rosenberg); Broke-ology (Kent Gash); Architecture of Loss (Tamara Fisch); All’s Well that Ends Well (Rebecca Guy); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Adrew Borba); The Girl from Maxim’s (Moni Yakim); Golden Boy (Daniel Goldstein); Uncle Vanya (Lisa Benavides-Nelson); The Tempest (Ralph Zito); Talking Pictures (Sarah Grace Wilson); Pericles (Richard Feldman). Some of his TV/Film credits include The Wire Undercover Cop (Agnieszka Holland); Law & Order Emerson Tyler (Richard Dobbs); Law & Order Officer Prial (Jace Alexander); We Are New York Clayton (Luis Argueta) and Pop Foul Bobby (Moon Molson). He is a graduate of The Juilliard School’s Drama Division. Sekou is grateful to God for the opportunity to use his gift of acting to tell stories from every walk of life. Amirah Vann (Camae) Off-Broadway: Instinct (Lion Theater), Blueprint (Kirk Theater), Laughing Pictures (Flea Theater), The Making of Eugenie Doe (Ohio Theater), and Wax Wings (The Wild Project). Regional: Welcome To Arroyo’s (Old Globe Theater), Kingdom (Old Globe Theater), Pericles (Continuum Co., Italy), and Dream a Little Dream based on A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Continuum Co., Italy/ NYC Parks). Readings: The Lady Killer’s Love Story (HERE Arts CenterHip Hop Theater Festival), Little Rock (The Shabazz Center/Playwrights Horizon), Holler If Ya Hear Me (Ballet Hispanico), Paradise Blue (NYTW/Dartmouth/The McCarter), The Arden Project (Old Vic New Voices), and Follow Me To Nellie’s (Eugene O’Neill Theater Center). Film/TV: Girls (HBO), Guiding Light, and Once More with Feeling (Jeff Lipsky, Dir.). Training: MFA, NYU Tisch Graduate Acting Program; BA, Fordham University. Recipient of the Princess Grace Award in Acting. Katori Hall (Playwright) is a playwright/performer from Memphis, TN. Hall’s plays include: The Mountaintop (2010 Olivier Award for Best New Play), which recently ran on Broadway at the Bernard Jacobs Theatre starring Angela Bassett and Samuel L. Jackson, Hurt Village (2011 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, Signature Theatre), Children of Killers (National Theatre, UK and Castillo Theatre, NYC), Hoodoo Love (Cherry Lane Theatre), Remembrance (Women’s Project), Saturday Night/Sunday Morning, WHADDABLOODCLOT!!! (Williamstown Theatre Festival), Our Lady of Kibeho, and Pussy Valley. Her awards include the Lark Play Development Center Playwrights of New York (PONY) Fellowship, the Arena Stage American Voices New Play Residency, the Kate Neal Kinley Fellowship, two Lecomte du Nouy Prizes from Lincoln Center, the Fellowship of Southern Writers Bryan Family Award in Drama, a NYFA Fellowship, the Lorraine Hansberry Playwriting Award, and the Otis Guernsey New Voices Playwriting Award. Hall’s journalism has appeared in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, UK’s The Guardian, Essence, and The Commercial Appeal, including contributing reporting for Newsweek. The Mountaintop and Katori Hall: Plays One are published by Methuen Drama. Hall is an alumna of the Lark Playwrights’ Workshop, where she developed The Mountaintop, and a graduate of Columbia University, the A.R.T. at Harvard University, and the Juilliard School. She is a proud member of the Ron Brown Scholar Program, the Coca-Cola Scholar Program, the Dramatists Guild, and the Fellowship of Southern Writers. She is currently a member of the Residency Five at
who’s who Signature Theatre Company in New York City. Patricia McGregor (Director) is a Harlem based director, writer, and deviser of new work. She recently directed the world premiere of Katori Hall’s Hurt Village at the Signature Theater Company (NYC), Spunk at Cal Shakes, and Holding it Down with Grammy Award Nominee Vijay Iyer and Mike Ladd at Harlem Stage. As Associate Director of Fela! on Broadway, she coached Patti LaBelle in the role of Funmailayo. Other directing credits include: Blues for Mr. Charlie (SMU), Juan and John (CTG/Douglas and Public LAB), Yerma (SMU), Blood Dazzler (Harlem Stage), Burnt Sugar Freaks The James Brown Songbook (The Apollo Theater), Jelly’s Last Jam, Romeo and Juliet, Four Electric Ghosts, Cloud Techtonics, Eleemosynary, The French Play, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill, Sidewalk Opera, Dancing in the Dark, The Covering Skyline, and In the Meantime. She has worked at venues including Broadway, NYSF Shakespeare in the Park, BAM, Second Stage, The Public Theater, The Kitchen, The O’Neill, Lincoln Center Institute, Exit Art, and Nuyorican Poets Cafe. She is currently developing In the Cypher at the Drilling Company. She co-founded Angela’s Pulse with her sister, choreographer Paloma McGregor. Angela’s Pulse creates vital choreoplays and fosters collaboration among artists, educators, organizers, academics, and other diverse communities in order to illuminate under-told stories, infuse meaning into the audience experience, and animate progress through the arts. Patricia attended the Yale School of Drama where she was a Soros Fellow and Artistic Director of the Yale Cabaret. Matt Saunders (Set Designer) is a Barrymore Award Winning performer, scenic designer, and a creator of new performance work proudly based in Philadelphia. Matt is a founding member and Associate Artistic Director of the OBIE Award-Winning, experimental theatre company, New Paradise Laboratories. He has been involved in the creation of all of NPL’s work through both scenic design and performance. This work has included The Fab 4 Reach the Pearly Gates, performed at P.S. 122 in NYC as well as the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis; Prom, a co-production with the Tony Award-Winning Children’s Come to Jet before or after the show. Theatre Company in Minneapolis; and Great food, great wines, BATCH, at the 2007 Humana Festival for great atmosphere. New American Plays at the Actor’s Theatre of Louisville. Matt co-created and designed Fatebook, which was selected for the United States’ professional pavilion at the Prague Quadrennial 2011. Outside of NPL, Matt has designed over eighty shows for such companies as The Walnut St. Theatre, The Acting Company, The Arden Theatre Company, InterAct Theatre Eat. Drink. Enjoy. Company, Theatre Exile, 1812 ProducAll at our global vineyard. tions, Headlong Dance Theatre, Pig Iron Theatre Company, People’s Light and 1525 South Street Theater, Yale Repertory Theatre, Berkeley 215.735.1116 • jetwinebar.com Repertory Theatre and the Wilma Theater.
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who’s who Matt is pleased to be making his Design debut here at PTC. Mr. Saunders holds an MFA in Design from the Yale School of Drama, and is the Assistant Professor of Design in the Department of Theater at Swarthmore College. www.mattsaunders.net ESOSA (Costume Designer) Broadway—Motown (upcoming), Porgy and Bess (Tony nom), Topdog/Underdog. Off Broadway— Second Stage: Water by the Spoonful, By the Way, Meet Vera Stark (Lucille Lortel Award), Trust, Crowns; MCC: Break of Noon (Geffen Playhouse); Delacorte: The Capeman; Public Theater: Juan and John, Father Comes Home from the Wars, Romeo and Juliet; NYTW: The Misanthrope, All That I Will Ever Be. Regional—La Jolla/Center Theatre Group: American Night; Arena Stage: Ruined, Cuttin’ Up, Senor Discretion Himself (Helen Hayes Award nominee); Alliance: Twist; Pasadena Playhouse: Twist (2011 Ovation Award); A.R.T.: Best of Both Worlds; Geva Theatre: Fences; Berkeley Rep: The Blue Door; Bay Street Theatre: Big Maybelle: Queen of the Blues, Turandot:The Rumble for the Ring, Ain’t Misbehavin’; Centerstage: Once on This Island, Gleam; Williamstown Theatre Festival: Whaddabloodclot!!!; Denver Center Theatre Co.: Sense & Sensibility the Musical (upcoming) Website: esosadesign.com Ben Stanton (Lighting Designer) Recent New York Credits—Broadway: An Enemy of the People (Directed by Doug Hughes), Seminar (Directed by Sam Gold). Off Broadway: Into The Woods (The Delacorte Theater, Directed by Timothy Sheader & Liam Steel), Murder Ballad (MTC Stage 2, Directed by Trip Cullman), The Whipping Man (Lortel Award, Drama Desk Nom., MTC Stage 1, Directed by Doug Hughes), Angels In America (Signature Theater, Directed by Michael Grief ), as well as shows at Playwrights Horizons, The Public Theater, New York Theater Workshop, Lincoln Center, Roundabout Theater Co, MCC Theater. Regional Credits: Mark Taper Forum, The Ahmanson Theater, The Goodman Theater, Long Wharf, La Jolla Playhouse, Old Globe, Dallas Theater Center, South Coast Rep, Huntington Theater, Philadelphia Theatre Co., McCarter, Intiman, Paper Mill Playhouse, Hartford Stage, Actors Theater of Louisville, Cincinnati Playhouse, St. Louis Rep., Bay Street Theater, New York Stage and Film, Williamstown Theater Festival. International Concert & Tour Designs for Regina Spektor, Sufjan Stevens, Beirut, St. Vincent, David Byrne. Bart Fasbender (Sound Designer) Previous designs for PTC: Reasons to Be Pretty, The Outgoing Tide, Ruined and Humor Abuse. B’way: Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson. Off B’way: Storefront Church and Port Authority (The Atlantic), Lonely, I’m Not and Mr & Mrs. Fitch (Second Stage), Russian Transport, Burning and Blood From a Stone (The New Group), Invasion, Edgewise and Bad Jazz (The Play Company), Asuncion and The Aliens (Rattlestick), Apple Cove (Women’s Project), Graceland (LCT3), A Body of Water (Primary Stages), Next Fall and Fault Lines (Naked Angels), Humor Abuse (MTC), Be a Good Little Widow (Ars Nova), Three Changes and The Drunken City (Playwrights Horizons), Unconditional and A View From 151st Street (LAByrinth), Boozy, Heddatron and Hellhouse at St Ann’s (Les Freres Corbusier). Regional: Williamstown, NY Stage and Film, Barrington Stage, Two River, Berkshire Theater Festival, TheaterWorks, American Conservatory Theater, Kirk Douglas Theater—CTG, Bay Street. Jorge Cousineau (Projection Designer) is a designer of sets, lights, sound and video for dance and theater productions in Philadelphia and regionally. He is a recipient of two Independence Foundation Fellowship grants and was awarded the F. Otto Haas Award for Emerging Theater Artist. He has received several Barrymore Awards as well as a Lucille Lortel Award for his sound design on the production of Opus in NYC. Jorge is a 2011 recipient of the Pew Fellowship in the Arts.
who’s who Rick Sordelet (Fight Director) Broadway: 55 shows including Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King. Hundreds of Off-Broadway including The Hurt Village with hundreds more regional productions including The Scottsboro Boys at PTC. International: 53 productions including Ben Hur Live, Sam Mendes’ As You Like It. Opera: The Met/ Royal Opera House/La Scala, Cyrano (Milan, starring Placido Domingo); productions with Nicholas Hytner and Francesca Zambello. Film/Television: The Game Plan, Dan in Real Life, Hamlet, “Guiding Light” (stunt coordinator for 12 years). Awards: Edith Oliver Award for Sustained Excellence, Jeff Award. Professional Affiliations: Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey board member. Teaching: Yale School of Drama. Training: MFA, Rutgers University; BFA, University of Wisconsin, Superior. Roy W. Backes (Production & Facilities Manager) is thrilled to be joining PTC. A graduate of Point Park University’s conservatory theater program, he began his career as Prop Master for the late, great Fred Rogers on WQED’s Mister Rogers Neighborhood in his hometown of Pittsburgh. Since then, Roy has spent over three decades in the professional theater, working as a Production Manager, General Manager and Production Stage Manager, both on and off Broadway and at regional theaters throughout the country, including the Pittsburgh Public; Freedom Theatre; Prince Music Theater; Roundabout Theatre Company; Walnut Street Theatre; Wilma Theater; Williamstown Theatre Festival and many more. Thanks to my wife Lisbeth and son Oliver for their love and support. Accept grace. Kevin Bertolacci (Production Stage Manager) PTC Debut! BROADWAY: Caroline, or Change, Curtains, Come Fly Away, A Free Man of Color, Julius Caesar, Tartuffe, The Woman in White, and Scandalous. OFF BROADWAY: MTC, MCC, Playwrights Horizons, Atlantic, and The Public. REGIONAL & TOURS: Paper Mill Playhouse, Dallas Theater Center, Nora Theater, Philadelphia’s Amaryllis Theater Company, and Sam Mendes’ Bridge Project. Proud Member of Actors’ Equity since 2000. Danielle Commini (Assistant Stage Manager) Philadelphia Theatre Company: Assistant Stage Manager; Stars of David, Reasons to Be Pretty, The Outgoing Tide, The Scottsboro Boys, Red, Colin Quinn’s Long Story Short, Ruined, Let Me Down Easy, Race, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Production Stage Manager; Bella: The Color of Love. Opera Company of Philadelphia: Stage Management Intern; Otello. Walnut Street Theatre: Stage Management Apprentice; Fiddler on the Roof, Fallen Angels, The Eclectic Society, Oliver!. Received B.F.A. from University of the Arts, Philadelphia Pa. Much love to Mom and Dad for unending support. Michael Cristaldi (Technical Director) has been with PTC since 2000. He is proud to be a part of the growing and vibrant theatre arts scene here in our wonderful city. Staldi has traveled the country and all over the world as TD for Enchantment Theatre Company, freelanced at almost every theatre in town, and has designed lights for the Walnut Street Theatre’s Studio 3 and for the Philadelphia Live Arts Festival. He also co-produced the 2008 “Unofficial Fringe Late-Night Cabaret.” Staldi credits his success to Allentown College (now DeSales University), his wonderful family, and his incredible wife, Stacey. Carrie Chapter (Literary Manager/ Dramaturg) A graduate of Washington College and Villanova University, her workshop and production credits include the National Music Theatre Conference and the National Playwrights Conference at the O’Neill Theater Center; PlayPenn New Play Development; Geva Theatre Center; Playwrights Horizons; Primary Stages; and Inis Nua Theatre Company. Ms. Chapter also provided
who’s who workshop dramaturgy for Broadway’s The Book of Mormon. Recently, she proudly acted as the facilitator/dramaturg for a seed grant project at Temple University entitled, que[e]ry, a student-written performance piece on the experiences of LGBT youth. Ms. Chapter is a member of the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas (LMDA). Jack Doulin (Casting Director) has been the Casting Director at New York Theatre Workshop since 2000. Productions he has been responsible for there include Peter and the Starcatcher, Aftermath, Tony Kushner’s Homebody/Kabul, Caryl Churchill’s Far Away (Sam Shepard) and A Number, Amy Freed’s The Beard of Avon (directed by Doug Hughes), Ivo von Hove’s productions of Hedda Gabler, The Misanthrope and The Little Foxes, Alan Ball’s All That I Will Ever Be and Paula Vogel’s A Civil War Christmas. For SoHo Rep he has cast Blasted, Elective Affinities, The Ugly One, Uncle Vanya and Jackie Sibblies Drury’s We Are Proud to Present a Presentation About the Hero of Namibia, Formerly Known as South West Africa, From the German Sudwestafrika, Between the Years 18841915. Other credits in New York include The Persians, Andre Gregory’s productions of Uncle Vanya (with Julianne Moore and Wallace Shawn) and The Master Builder, Edgewise, Jack’s Precious Moment, Creature, Beebo Brinker, Dark Yellow, Living Room in Africa, Orange Flower Water. Regional credits include productions at Long Wharf, The Goodman Theatre, Hartford Stage, The American Repertory Theatre, Seattle Rep, The Chautauqua Theatre Company, Pig Iron Theatre and the Wilma Theatre. Film work includes New Orleans, Mon Amour, directed by Michael Almereyda. He was also responsible for the speaking roles in the Metropolitan Opera’s production of Le Fille du Regiement. Jack teaches at HB Studio and in the drama division of the Juilliard School.
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who’s who Amy Dugas Brown (PTC Casting Director) is a casting director, director, audition coach, senior lecturer at University of the Arts, and project director for the Actors’ Project at University of Pennsylvania’s Brain Behavior Laboratory. She spent ten seasons as Associate Artistic Director at Arden Theatre Company and is a graduate of Barnard College, Columbia University. She is married to Philadelphia actor Ben Dibble and together they have three children. Sara Garonzik (Producing Artistic Director) has directed and produced for Philadelphia Theatre Company since 1982, and introduced more than 140 world or regional premieres of major new American plays and musicals to Philadelphia including new work by Terrence McNally, Bill Irwin, Jeffrey Hatcher, Christopher Durang, John Henry Redwood, Tracey Scott Wilson, Naomi Wallace and Bruce Graham, among others. In 1991 she was named to the Philadelphia Theatre Company Board of Directors. Other service includes: Board Member of ArtReach and the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance (GPCA); theater panels for the Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Ohio State Councils on the Arts; theater panels for The Philadelphia Theatre Initiative, the McKnight Foundation Advancement Awards for Playwriting, and the O’Neill Playwrights Conference; and as a judge for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. She is listed in “Who’s Who of American Women” and was named one of Business Philadelphia’s and Philadelphia Magazine’s “People to Watch.” She has received the Award of Honor from the Alumnae Association of the Philadelphia High School for Girls and the President’s Award from the Philadelphia Young Playwrights. In 2007, she received the Achievement Award from the American Association of University Women, an honor she proudly shared with Dawn Staley and Terry D’Alessandro. In June 2008, she received the first Arts Pioneer Award created by Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown. She currently serves as an advisory Board Member of the Arts & Business Council of Greater Philadelphia, as Vice President of the Board of the Philadelphia Cultural Fund (after serving 3 years as President), and on the advisory boards of PlayPenn, a new play development organization, and Artreach. Shira Beckerman (Managing Director) joined PTC in August 2011 to partner with longtime Producing Artistic Director Sara Garonzik as the Company’s co-executives. Previous to Philadelphia, Ms. Beckerman served as Managing Director of the 2011 Drama Desk Award recipient Pearl Theatre Company, producing over 25 of the best works from the classical canon, and overseeing coordination of the company’s significant growth and transition in leadership, programming, and performance venues. Shira originally joined The Pearl in 2006 as General Manager and has also served as a producer at SoHo Think Tank’s Ice Factory Festival; Associate Director of Marketing and Assistant Director of Development at Yale Repertory Theatre; and Management Fellow and National Conference Assistant for Theatre Communications Group (TCG). She has held other leadership and administrative positions at: Ensemble Company for Performing Arts, Boston Symphony Orchestra, The Boston Conservatory, Brandeis/New Rep ON TOUR, and North Shore Music Theater. Shira has enjoyed the opportunity to mentor and advise students at Temple University, New York University, Brooklyn College, Columbia University, and Yale University. Ms. Beckerman holds a B.A with highest honors from Brandeis University and an M.F.A in Theater Management from Yale School of Drama.
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director’s noteS | patricia MCgregor In my mind, Martin Luther King is 6'5". He is 50 years old and also as old as time. He is always standing- usually behind a pulpit or microphone shouting for justice, preaching love. He is never fearful or exhausted. He does not get hungry or cranky. He never uses the bathroom. He floats in the pantheon of icons more supernaturally wise than I could ever dream of. This image of King makes me admire and even idolize him, but does not make me understand or feel close to him. Katori Hall's King is penned with deep love, not for the hero we canonize, but the flesh and blood human who was heroic despite the real world challenges he faced. In truth he was much younger (39) and shorter (5'6") than I imagined. He engulfed in as much anger and fear as he was baptized in confidence and calm. The Mountaintop presents a peacemaker instead of The Prince of Peace. It shows King as a man of equal parts conviction and crisis. A man with smelly traveling shoes who is missing his daughter and his toothbrush. This depiction does not diminish King for me. The humanization makes me feel closer to him. Despite the exhaustion and doubts, temptations and terrors, he kept his public head high and dedicated his life to the fight for equality and human rights. Knowing that his impact and magnitude was due to the size his heart, strength of his conviction and love for his people rather than his stature or infallibility inspires me to want to fight the good fight despite my short comings. It is a radical political thought to believe that change makers are not super heroes, but rather ordinary men and women moved to take extraordinary actions in order to push for progress. It makes me feel like I can be a change maker rather than waiting for change to be made. In this political climate full of adversity and opportunity, igniting change maker in each of us is a brave and powerful act. It honors the legacy of Dr. King and other amazing leaders not by eulogizing them, but by activating their spirit in us. Clearly this spirit lives on in Katori Hall. May it shine in all of us.
In rehearsal for THE MOUNTAINTOP From left to right, Danielle Commini (Assistant Stage Manager), Amirah Vann (Camae), Rick Sordelet (Fight Director), Sekou Laidlow (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.), Patricia McGregor (Director), and Molly Murphy (Assistant Director)
A Selected Timeline Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement compiled by carrie Chapter, PTC Dramaturg
King moves to Montgomery, AL, to preach at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. Brown vs. Board of Education: U.S. Supreme Court bans segregation in public schools.
1954
After coursework at New England colleges, King finishes his Ph.D. in systematic theology. Bus boycott launched in Montgomery, AL, after an AfricanAmerican woman, Rosa Parks, is arrested December 1 for refusing to give up her seat to a white person.
1955
King is arrested for driving 30 mph in a 25 mph zone. King’s house is bombed. After more than a year of boycotting the buses and a legal fight, the Montgomery buses desegregate.
1956
1957
Black ministers form what became known as the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. King is named first president one month later. In this year, King traveled 780,000 miles and made 208 speeches. At previously all-white Central High in Little Rock, Ark., 1,000 paratroopers are called by President Eisenhower to restore order and escort nine black students.
1960
King leaves for Atlanta to pastor his father’s church, Ebenezer Baptist Church. The sit-in protest movement begins in February at a Woolworth’s lunch counter in Greensboro, N.C. and spreads across the nation.
1961
Freedom rides begin from Washington, D.C.: Groups of black and white people ride buses together through the South to challenge segregation.
1962
King meets with President John F. Kennedy to urge support for civil rights. Two killed, many injured in riots as James Meredith is enrolled as the first black student at the University of Mississippi.
1963
King leads protests in Birmingham for desegregated department store facilities, and fair hiring. Arrested after demonstrating in defiance of a court order, King writes “Letter From Birmingham Jail.” This eloquent letter, later widely circulated, became a classic of the civil-rights movement. 250,000 civil-rights supporters attended the March on Washington. At the Lincoln Memorial, King delivers the famous “I Have a Dream” speech. Police arrest King and other ministers demonstrating in Birmingham, AL, then turn fire hoses and police dogs on the marchers. Medgar Evers, NAACP leader, is murdered June 12 as he enters his home in Jackson, MS. Four girls killed Sept. 15 in bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, AL.
1964
King’s book “Why We Can’t Wait” published. King wins Nobel Peace Prize. Three civil-rights workers are murdered in Mississippi. President Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
*Information courtesy of The Seattle Times Archive and the King Center.
King successfully registers to vote at the Hotel Albert in Selma, Ala. and is assaulted by James George Robinson of Birmingham. King continues to protest discrimination in voter registration, is arrested and jailed. Meets with President Lyndon B. Johnson and other American leaders about voting rights for African Americans. King and 3,200 people march from Selma to Montgomery. Malcolm X is murdered Feb. 21, 1965. Three men are convicted of his murder. President Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The act, which King sought, authorized federal examiners to register qualified voters and suspended devices such as literacy tests that aimed to prevent African Americans from voting. Watts riots leave 34 dead in Los Angeles.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated in Memphis, Tenn., unleashing violence in more than 100 cities.
The bill to make Dr. King’s birthday a national holiday is passed by President Ronald Reagan.
1965
1968
1983
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The Man and The Remembering Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Carrie Chapter
PTC Dramaturg
A
few months ago in Washington D.C., the Interior Department announced the removal of the inscription on the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial, which was unveiled in 2011. Its erasure marked the end of an ongoing controversy. The inscription, “I was a drum major for justice, peace and righteousness,” was grossly paraphrased in a condescending tone according to Dr. King’s friends like poet Maya Angelou, who recalled King’s actual quotation from a 1968 sermon as “Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter.”
This misstep serves as only a recent example how Martin Luther King, Jr. is remembered, or rather, misremembered, for his service to our country and to our national identity. With time the man and the myth have merged, creating a divine leader indistinguishable from his mortal trials. After thirty arrests and over twelve years of selfless activism, how do you best honor the complex memory of one man? “I would even go by the way that the man for whom I’m named had his habitat, and I would watch Martin Luther as he tacks his ninety-five theses on the door at the church of Wittenberg. But I wouldn’t stop there.” - MLK, Jr.
Boyhood & Schooling The second child born to Pastor Michael King and his wife, Alberta, Dr. King came into the world on January 15, 1929 as Michael King, Jr. Following a trip to the World Baptist Alliance in Berlin, though, Pastor King, Sr. changed his name and the name of his son to Martin Luther King, in honor of the German Protestant reformer, Martin Luther. Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, GA stood as the trunk to the King family tree: In addition to being his grandfather and his father’s church, his
Myth
parents were married there, and Dr. King himself would go on to preach there as well. Community engagement and church doctrine ran in the King family bloodline. Both his father and grandfather were key organizers in the NAACP Atlanta branch as well as being model leaders of the African American social gospel tradition. Growing up, though, Dr. King struggled with some tenets of the Baptist Church, and through his interest in public welfare and politics, imagined a career in law or medicine. In his schooling, he was picked out as a prodigy, accelerating past the second half of high school, and graduating from Morehouse College when he was 19 years old. By this point he found a mentor in Dr. Benjamin Mays, and pursued a life in the ministry at Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, PA until 1951. He would later cite both his mother and father along with Dr. Mays as his earliest influences. “Strangely enough, I would turn to the Almighty and say, “If you allow me to live just a few years in the second half of the twentieth century, I will be happy.” - MLK, Jr.
Husband & Father While at Boston University studying for his doctoral degree, Dr. King met Coretta Scott, a Music major. After about a year of dating, they married at Coretta’s family home in Marion, AL in 1953. In addition to being a loyal wife and mother to four children, Scott King traveled with her husband and participated in several campaigns, marches, and lectures throughout the time of the Civil Rights Movement. All of the King children were born and raised in a context inseparable from
their father’s reform efforts. Their eldest, Yolanda, was born in November 1955, not long before the start of the Montgomery Bus Boycott. She was also in the house with Coretta when the King family home was bombed in January 1956. Her father would feature his daughter’s sadness/ confusion at racial discrimination in his letter from Birmingham jail. His first son, Martin Luther King, III, became so influenced by his father’s ideas he became the president of Dr. King’s own Southern Christian Leadership Conference from 1997 to 2003, emphasizing gun buy-back programs. Dexter Scott King, their third child, accompanied his father on speaking tours at an early age, and later stated in 1997 that after meeting with James Earl Ray in prison, he did not believe Ray murdered his father. The youngest child, Bernice, followed in her father’s footsteps by entering the ministry at age seventeen. She is said to be the most like Dr. King not only in her pursuits, but in her overall bearing and mannerisms.
A Man of God Becomes A Leader of Men
It was at Crozer Seminary, while listening to a sermon on Gandhi’s teachings at the Fellowship House of Philadelphia, that Dr. King was first inspired by the philosophy of nonviolent resistance. King would later travel to India in 1959 with Coretta, which proved to be a transcendent experience for his ministry. However, even with the influence of Gandhi, Dr. King never strived to become a political pioneer or leader. His roles as a pastor, teacher, and father remained the crucial parts of his life plan. His rise as an activist began locally, when African American leaders selected Dr. King to represent the Montgomery Bus Boycott, a grueling but effective campaign that would last for 385 days.
After the success of the boycott, Dr. King established the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in 1957, which would rally support from black churches in the South to organize local protest and reform campaigns in an effort to change segregation laws, fight discrimination, and promote equality. In its rejection of rampant injustice, the SCLC proclaimed the “Negro problem” was not only a social problem, but also a “spiritual” one. With the cooperation of other advocacy groups, one of Dr. King’s first crusades was a call for fairness in voter registration, which spawned multiple demonstrations from 1957 through the early 1960s. By 1963, the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom would find a principal speaker in Dr. King, who roused the over 200,000 – strong crowd with his famous (yet somewhat improvisational) “I Have a Dream” speech. Both of those efforts influenced President Johnson in passing the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. In 1964, he would be the youngest man to ever receive Nobel Peace Prize at the age of 35. However, with every march, every sitin, every speech, Dr. King encountered constant threats. Aside from the numerous death threats, the bombing of his home, and physically assaulted, Dr. King almost died when a mentally ill woman stabbed him at a 1958 book signing. The wound was positioned so closely to his aorta that if, as Dr. King recounted in 1968, he even sneezed, it would have ended his life. He grew increasingly aware of what he symbolized to those who feared any change to American society. Portentously, following the March on Washington, he remarked to his SCLC colleagues how any mistake he would make – no matter how small – would be
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a big mistake, because he belonged to history now. “For when people get caught up with that which is right and they are willing to sacrifice for it, there is no stopping point short of victory.” - MLK, Jr.
The Last Years: Poverty and Vietnam By 1966, Dr. King’s focus expanded - or according to some critics, shifted - to economic inequality and anti-Vietnam protests. In 1967, he announced at a SCLC staff retreat his wish to implement the Poor People’s Campaign, which would put racial inequality into a larger social context by addressing the problem from an economic plane. In his mind, it would create an even greater impact than the 1963 march. Another mission, Operation Breadbasket, an idea inspired by a program from Philadelphian Leon Sullivan, worked as a companion project to the Poor People’s Campaign, in which King and Rev. Jesse Jackson would look at business discrimination in impoverished neighborhoods. Though King had advocated peace and nonviolence when asked about Vietnam before in 1965, he vehemently denounced the war in a speech made in 1967 at Riverside Church, strengthening his anti-war stance – much to the chagrin of his former supporter, President Johnson. With regard to African American rights, the SCLC and Dr. King wanted to broaden their agenda beyond the South, to reach communities in Chicago and Los Angeles. The Chicago Freedom Movement, which was set into motion by 1966, failed to capture the same thrall and cooperation seen in the South. Many in the city’s neighborhoods
had become disenchanted with King’s nonviolent resistance as a means of change, opting instead for the militant draw of men like Stokely Carmichael and the Black Power Movement.
The Mission in Memphis In 1968, Dr. King interrupted his plans for the Poor People’s Campaign to answer a call for help in Memphis, TN. In February of that year, two sanitation workers were crushed to death by a garbage truck. The city government’s neglect of the accident highlighted a larger, intrinsic problem in the treatment of African American workers. The men of the Memphis Department of Public Works went on strike, seeking recognition of their union, in addition to improvements in safety regulations and fair wages. The strike, a nonviolent demonstration, was met with police brutality and retaliation. Dr. King and the SCLC saw the injustice as a perfect illustration of what they would attempt to face nationally in the Poor People’s Campaign. Dr. King spoke to an indoor rally of 25,000 people on behalf of the striking workers in March, to encourage a halting of all sanitation work to be followed by a protest he himself would lead. He left the next day, vowing to return, but snowy weather forced him to reschedule his next Memphis visit. When Dr. King arrived to lead the march, the result was mass chaos, as the planned demonstration turned violent and prompted intervention by the National Guard. Once he went home to Atlanta, King condemned the violent outbreak, but decided to return to Memphis to complete the mission. The workers had carried on another march with signage that read, “I Am a Man.” On April 3rd, though he was battling a fever and sore throat, Dr. King braved the crowd of
sanitation workers and gave his “I’ve Seen the Promised Land” speech, which rang out as his final testimony. “Like anybody, I would like to live a long life–longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will.” - MLK, Jr.
The Assassination On the evening of April 4th, Dr. King stood on the balcony of the black-owned Lorraine Motel with Ralph Abernathy and other SCLC colleagues, awaiting a car that would take them to dinner at Rev. Billy Kyles’s house. While in mid-conversation, Dr. King was fatally shot by an assassin’s rifle positioned at the nearby South Main Street roominghouse. The investigation led the FBI to a 40-year-old escaped convict named James Earl Ray, who confessed and was sentenced to 99 years in jail. Robert Kennedy, an ardent King supporter, heard the news while on the campaign trail for the presidency, and announced it to the predominantly African American rally who responded with cries of horror. He would be assassinated two months later. As the nation learned of King’s death, riots and fires broke out in over 100 cities across the United States, causing more than 40 deaths and widespread property damage. Meanwhile, the King family carried out funeral services the next day in Atlanta at Ebenezer Baptist Church; King’s own mentor, Dr. Benjamin Mays, eulogized the fallen leader in front of throngs of political and civil rights figures. His coffin, beset by 100,000 mourners, was pulled through the Atlanta streets, before moving to another ceremony held at Morehouse College. He now rests next to Ebenezer Church, in a tomb located at the King Center.
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Soon after his confession, though, PUB: James Earl RayExponent recanted, which led to conspiracy Issue:theories surrounding King’s death. SIZE:One insists Ray had coconspirators, and another proposes a FBI COLOR: vendetta to eliminate Dr. King. J. Edgar Hoover Version: infamously1despised King and SALES: TMhim of Communist his politics, accusing sympathies and12/6/12/12 wire-tapping him after Date: the March on Washington. Even though ARTIST: sp the assassination case was re-opened, COLOR CHECK: there was no evidence found of any other criminal involvement. In 1998, ACTIONS: James Earl Ray died in prison.
A Legacy is Born
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Still, those left behind worked to honor and keep Dr. King’s memory alive in the minds of the American people. In 1979, Coretta Scott King advocated the passing of a bill to make King’s birthday a national holiday, a campaign which was met with much resistance from the House because they felt it would be too expensive. President Ronald Reagan finally signed the legislation in 1983, and it was first officially celebrated in 1986. Yet, not all fifty states observed the holiday. Surprisingly, it took 17 years until every state celebrated Dr. King’s birthday, a day also honored in Toronto, Canada, and Hiroshima, Japan.
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Determined to complete her late husband’s work, Coretta Scott King led a silent march of 42,000 people in Memphis just four days after the assassination, pushing union reform for the sanitation workers. On April 16, a deal was made. Ralph Abernathy succeeded King as the SCLC president, but the movement never fully regained its strength in the years to follow.
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Dr. King’s birthday marks just one annual reminder. His name also graces nearly 700 streets, and countless public institutions, buildings, and schools. His
widow established The Martin Luther King, Jr., Center for Nonviolent Social Change, Inc., now called the King Center, in 1968 in Atlanta next to Ebenezer Baptist Church. In addition to being King’s burial site, its programming focuses on community service using the ideology of nonviolence. In 1985, the King Papers Project created an accessible archive of King’s writings, histories, and other teaching materials. The Lorraine Motel is now the National Civil Rights Museum, and the National Parks Service created the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Committee, the organization responsible for his somewhat maligned “Drum Major” Memorial in D.C. Hauntingly, Dr. King delivered his “Drum Major Instinct” sermon on February 4, 1968 – exactly two months before his death. In the speech, King referenced how he would like to remembered at his funeral. He wished to be a man who ‘‘tried to give his life serving others,” without lingering on what he achieved. But, in a country that loves its heroes for their stories, History has defined him principally in terms of his iconic landmark events. In a way, King is the closest America has come to a canonization of a public figure. His sacrifices as a leader, devoting his life to total service and shifting the winds of change, merits a position of martyrdom. But, we often overlook the mortal load he bore as a man doing his best: having the heart of a 60-year-old when he died at the age of 39, encountering blackmail for extramarital affairs, struggling against the disgruntled FBI, being booed by a African American crowd towards the end of his campaign in the North and missing the formative years of his children. Still, our forgetfulness serves a purpose. The way in which we recall his life keep his dreams alive for each new generation. His legacy remains incomplete, but the road to the
Promised Land is well trod by those who continue to believe. Information courtesy of the King Papers Project and the Associated Press. Quotations excerpted from King’s “I’ve Seen the Promised Land” speech on April 3, 1968. Photo: Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C. [Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., President of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and Mathew Ahmann, Executive Director of the National Catholic Conference for Interrracial Justice, in a crowd. August 28, 1963.
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In Memory of Kenneth S. Kaiserman The Board and Staff of Philadelphia Theatre Company were deeply sorrowed by the recent passing of our dear friend and board colleague, Kenneth Kaiserman. During 38 years as a member of the PTC Board, Ken served in numerous leadership roles, including President, Chairman of the Capital Campaign, and Chairman of the Development and Governance Committees. His deep love of the Company and his passion for the art of theater was reflected both in his unwavering commitment to PTC’s artistic goals and his extraordinary philanthropy. His generosity to PTC, sustained over nearly four decades, helped make possible PTC’s dream of building and moving into the Suzanne Roberts Theatre in 2007. His discerning taste in the performing arts as well as his astute business sense were highly valued by many, while his kindness and humility forever endeared him to successive generations of PTC staff and volunteers. Ken holds a lasting place in PTC’s institutional memory and in the minds and hearts of all who knew him. He will be deeply missed. Donations made in memory of Kenneth S. Kaiserman Ms. Sally Baldus Robert and Diane Bass Hon. and Mrs. Michael M. Baylson Deanne L. Bennett Carol Blank and Dr. Horace Barsh Bourse Merchants Association Robert and Harriet Blum Nick Cinalli Cupersmith, Wilensky, Steiger, Stempler & Company, LLP Fran and Neal Cupersmith Joseph A. Damico Jr. Donna and Barry Feinberg Stephen and Mary Feldman Mr. and Mrs. Arthur W. Forte Firstrust Bank Toni Alperin Goldberg Judy and Joel Golden Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Gorenstein Richard and Wendy Glazer
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Excerpted from the interview conducted by Juilliard Journal Editor, Susan Jackson, before the Broadway premiere of The Mountaintop in September 2011.
Q&A with
Katori Hall When did you start writing The Mountaintop? Because the story was told to me so many times in my life, in a weird way, I’ve been writing it my whole life. I’m a story collector: I hear a story, and I keep it in my arsenal. It will work on itself in me until it needs to leap out onto the page. Early 2007 was when I decided that I was going to put this story to paper. I wrote the first eight pages then and didn’t touch it ’til fall.
What triggered your writing of it? It was partly that the 40-year marker of Dr. King’s assassination was coming up. And also that this man Obama was interested in becoming president. At that moment in my life and America’s history, I was putting a lot of things together and questioning how far we had come as a nation since King’s death—and how much we still needed to do. The moment [of the anniversary] prompted me to finally sit down at the computer and really write that story.
How do you hope they (the audience) will be changed by it? I wanted to depict not only Dr. King’s triumphs but also his struggles. He
achieves such great things, but he is grounded in a very human existence. My hope is the audience will be inspired by his greatness, but that they’ll also realize that he is for regular people. I want the audience to come out saying, “I can be a King, too. We all can be Kings.”
How have you been changed by it? I’ve learned so much more about Dr. King and the history of civil rights and came out so inspired. I didn’t know he spoke out against Vietnam. I didn’t know he was speaking out about poor people and militarism and foreign policy. It was way more complicated than just the “I Have a Dream” King in our textbooks.
How has this experience changed your playwriting? I’ve gotten more fearless in terms of how I write and what I write about. To many people, [The Mountaintop] is almost blasphemous: How dare you take King off a pedestal? I say, How dare I not? I’m a dramatist. I’m supposed to put human beings on stage. People are people. People bleed. People die. People are afraid. My purpose is to tell stories that wouldn’t necessarily be told.
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Capital Campaign Contributors Philadelphia Theatre Company applauds these major donors for their generous support of the campaign to help bring Philadelphia Theatre Company and the Suzanne Roberts Theatre to the Avenue of the Arts.
LEAD DONORS
Aileen K. and Brian L. Roberts
The Arcadia Foundation
Diane and Douglas A. Roberts
THE CORNERSTONE SOCIETY PATRONS
Marilyn and J. Robert Birnhak
Sue Perel Rosefsky
Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz
City of Philadelphia
Lisa S. Roberts and David Seltzer
Tracy and Rick Burke
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Anita and Terry Steen
Citibank
Shel and Karen Thompson
Michael M. Coleman
U.S. Airways Community Foundation
David and Nancy Colman
The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation The Kaiserman Family Independence Foundation Marguerite and Gerry Lenfest
Harriet and Larry Weiss Alan and Janet Widra
Dorothy J. del Bueno Roberta and Carl Dranoff Ernst & Young
Suzanne F. and Ralph J. Roberts
THE CORNERSTONE SOCIETY BENEFACTORS
Weight Watchers of Philadelphia, Inc.
Ken and Edna Adelberg
Debbie and Bob Fleischman
Valla Amsterdam
Matt and Marie Garfield
Beatrice Fox Auerbach Foundation Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving
Teresa Gavigan and Larry Besnoff
Beneficia Foundation
Independence Blue Cross
Blank Rome LLP
Eleanor M. and Herbert D. Katz Family Foundation
June and Steve Wolfson The William Penn Foundation
THE FOUNDERS CLUB Catherine Roberts Clifton and Anthony A. Clifton The Comcast Family
Connelly Foundation
Cozen O’Connor
Will and Lucille Daniel
The Dietrich Foundation
Sir David Bruce Duncan and Lady Deana Pitcairn Duncan
Linda and David Glickstein Daniel B. and Florence E. Green Family Foundation Phoebe W. Haas Charitable Trust A at the recommendation of Carole Haas Gravagno Mr. and Mrs. Jon Harmelin KieranTimberlake Associates
Samuel S. Fels Fund Otto Haas Charitable Trust #2 at the recommendation of Leonard C. Haas Sally Lyn Katz The Lida Foundation Jerry and Cookie Riesenbach
Donna and Barry Feinberg
Hamilton Family Foundation
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas J. Maher Richard and Alice Norman Mandel Frank and Barbara Osinki PNC Don and Lynne Rosenblit Kenneth M. Rutherford Neal and Sheila Schneider Shire Pharmaceuticals James T. Smith and Debra I. Klebanoff
Monika Krug
Carol Saline and Paul Rathblott
Richard and Dale Levy
Bryna and Andrew Scott
Kim and Rob Roberts The Fulcrum Foundation
Ruth W. and A. Morris Williams, Jr.
Tracey B. Weiss and William I. Goldberg
Leslie MIller and Richard Worley
Special thanks to our many other donors.
Lincoln Financial Foundation Susan and James Meyer
Laura and Richard Steel
I always get into town early so I can stop by Starbucks to pick up my Mocha frapPCHINO
Here’s a shot of one of our specialty topic classes!
A great day always starts with a great warm-up. This one WAS absolutely hilarious we love grabbing lunch at a new spot each day!
Our ensemble totally rocked!! was super nervous, but had Saying bye to my new BFFS. Cya Next summer!! SO MUCH fun!! I wish I could do it all over again!
P HIL AD E LPH I A THEATRE COMPANY at the
ActOut Summer Camp 2013
ONE WEEK OPTIONS
TWO-WEEK INTENSIVE
Come for one week, or come for both. Spend each day warming up with theater games, cycling through classes in acting, directing, playwriting and design, and afternoons working with your ensemble to solve that weeks’ performance challenge. Perform the work you’ve written, staged and designed each week at our Friday Theater Lab.
A more focused experience for teens with some theatrical background who are interested in the fun and challenge of creating a full one-act play through an ensemble process. Camp culminates in a ‘world-premiere’ of the students’ work on our stage at the Suzanne Roberts Theatre.
Week One: July 15-19 Week Two: July 22-26
July 29- August 9 Two week intensive: $685
One week: $325 | Both weeks: $600
For more information visit PhiladelphiaTheatreCompany.org/Camp
ANNUAL FUND 2012-2013 Philadelphia Theatre Company is deeply grateful for the support it receives from the many generous individuals, corporations, foundations and government partners who contribute to the Annual Fund. For more information about how to support PTC’s artists, productions, and programs, please call the Development Office at 215-985-1400 ext. 117. This list acknowledges donors as of December 31, 2012.
The Artists Circle
Where great theatre and great theatre friends meet Executive Producers Circle ($25,000+)
Julia & Eugene Ericksen Victor Keen and Jeanne Ruddy Alan & Janet Widra Producers Circle ($10,000 - $24,999)
Marilyn & Robert Birnhak Alice L. George Glenn Gundersen & Susan Manix Susan & Kenneth Kaiserman Susan & James Meyer Suzanne & Ralph Roberts Kristen Phillips & Matt Schreck James T. Smith & Debra Klebanoff Harriet & Larry Weiss Directors Circle ($5,000-$9,999)
Anonymous Lynda Barness Tracy & Rick Burke Lani & John Carrow David & Nancy Colman Ms. Lee Ducat Dorothy & Frank Giordano Carole Haas Gravagno and Emilio Gravagno Joal Greenberg & Marcy Gringlas Mr. and Mrs. Bruce E. Kardon Monika Krug Dale Penneys Levy & Richard Levy Priscilla M. Luce Jerry & Cookie Riesenbach Carol Saline & Paul Rathblott Neal & Sheila Schneider Bryna & Andrew Scott Laura & Richard Steel Shel & Karen Thompson Stephen & Rosalyn Weinstein
Designers Circle ($2,500-$4,999)
Anonymous Dr. Peter H. Arger Linda & Jonathan Chorney Michael & Ellen Singer Coleman Steven J. Engelmyer, Esq. & Lisa Wershaw in support of Drama Contact Phyllis & Howard Fischer Flaster Greenberg Sally Walker & Thomas Gilmore Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Goldblum Christine Kanter Arthur M. Kaplan & R. Duane Perry Madeleine & Steve Kessler David Lerman & Shelley Wallock Don & Lynne Rosenblit Elliot & Carol Schwartz June & Stephen Wolfson Playwrights Circle ($1,000-$2,499)
Jim & Kim Balaschak Carol Blank & Dr. Horace Barsch Barbara & Mickey Black Arthur & Janice Block Louis Bluver Beverly & Berny Brownstein John & Priscilla Clement Diane Cribbs & Arthur M. Mann Fran & Neal Cupersmith Dr. James F. Dougherty Mr. and Mrs. Brian H. Effron Donna & Barry Feinberg Esther Flaster Marjorie & Sidney Gable Matt & Marie Garfield Teresa Gavigan & Larry Besnoff Henry & Sheila Gladstone Rosalie Burns Goldberg & Herbert I. Goldberg Mignon Groch John & Meredith Hanamirian Lynn & Don Haskin
Tom & Wendy Hibberd Harvey & Virginia Kimmel Mary Ann B. & Joel I. Lawson William L. Leonard Fran & Leon L. Levy Charisse R. Lillie Michael Loughran & Jim Leach Lynn & Joe Manko Seymour Millstein Robin Palley Maureen E. Pugh Barbara Rice & Tina Phipps Noel Rosales & Vic Spain Sue Perel Rosefsky Jeannette & Dick Rosen Dr. Martin Rubel & Mrs. Suzanne Goldstein-Rubel Mr. and Mrs. Mark E. Rubenstein Andrew & Melinda Rudolph Vesna & Howard Sacks Patricia Saddier Michael Sanyour & Laurada Byers Sherrie Savett Dr. Nathan & Dolly Beechman Schnall Mr. and Mrs. Richard Sheerr Marjorie & Howard Silverman Gayle & David Smith Kathleen Stephenson, Esq. Barbara & Robert Tiffany Dr. Bettyruth Walter Connie & Sankey Williams Jeanne P. Wrobleski, Esq. The Zeldin Family Foundation
PTC Performers Impresarios ($500-$999)
Dr. Ronald Abraham Charlotte & Dirk Ave Kellye L. Walker & Werten Bellamy Harriet and Bob Blum Alexandra Carides Jane & Peter Cohen Mark & Linda S. Conley Mr. and Mrs. Arthur W. Forte Mr. and Mrs. Richard Glazer Cheryl & Jonathan Green Marjorie & Jeffrey Honickman Marc & Susan Howard Ellen Milgrim and Adrew Keiser Sheila H. Kessler Dr. Rosalie Matzkin Mr. Steve Poses Dr. and Mrs. Harald Wulff Mr. and Mrs. Stuart Young Mr. and Mrs. Thomas E. Zemaitis Mr. and Dr. David Zwillenberg STAR PERFORMERS ($250-$499)
Anonymous (2) Barbara Abrahams Dr. William F. Barr Mr. and Mrs. Robert S. Bass Dr. Gail Ciociola Mr. and Mrs. Howard A. Cutler Esq. Dr. Mark Delowery John H. Erickson & Harry I. Zaleznik Mr. and Mrs. H. Robert Fiebach Elizabeth H. Gemmill Esq. Kenneth L. George Mr. & Mrs. Jay Goldstein Paul D. Green Drs. Selina Luger & Michel Hoessly Fred & Beth Jacoby Rachelle & Ron Kaiserman Mr. Thomas Kleinman George F. Koch, Jr. & Santo A. DiDonato
Jim & Nina Korsh Mr. Daniel T. Lee Mr. Paul R. Levy Jim McCaffery Bruce McKittrick & Wendy E. Wilson Mr. Jerome Napson Eugenia & Philip Paul Mary Jo Reilly Lorraine & Marvin Riesenbach Barbara & Dan Rottenberg James L. Smith Dr. Stanton & Sara Kay Smullens Jeff & Marie Taylor Bernie & Marilyn Weidenaar Tracey Weiss & Bill Goldberg Mr. and Mrs. Harold B. Wells Jr. Ensemble Performers ($100-$249)
Anonymous (3) Dr. and Mrs. Paul Alessi Ms. Mary D. Allen Ms. Janet M. Andereck Robert & Betty Anderson Mrs. Liesel Baker Margaret G. McLaughlin & Dr. Donald Bakove Rochelle & Herb Bass Robert & Sandy Clay Bauer Myrtle Anne Baumann Carroll W. Baylson Ms. Sok Be Dr. and Mrs. Charles Benjamin Ms. Deanne L. Bennett Drs. Alice Hausman & Jesse Berlin Ruth & David Bernhardt Ann & Tom Blackburn Hugh N. Blair David & Michele Blask Dr. and Mrs. Newman & Lily Bortnick Mr. Charles Brennan David & Ann Brownlee Ms. Carol Buettger Janet B. Cantor Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Carozza
Mr. Keith Case Debbie & Alan Casnoff John & Teresa Cavenagh Scott & Nelly Childress Saul & Sandra Clair Matt & Barbara Cohen Dr. and Mrs. Alan Cohler Natalie & Herbert Cohn Dr. and Dr. Robert W. Colman Mr. Charles Conwell Darlene & John Cooke James D. Crawford & Judith Dean PTC Production Crew PTC Front of House Staff Peggy & Mark Curchack Mr. Joseph A. Damico Jr. Mr. William Davis Alberta De Martini Don & Nancy Donaghy Ellen Dooneief Alfred Dorsey Lois & John Durso Andrea & Alexander Ehrlich Stewart & Sally Eisenberg Debbie & Jerry Epstein Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Evans Drs. Jay Federman & Sylvia Beck Judy & Leonard Feldman Sandy & Len Feldman Mr. and Mrs. Stephen M. Feldman Ms. Marjorie S. Fiterman Amie & Mark Frankel Janice & Leonard Freed Ms. Barbara Freedman David Furniss Bernardo Garcia Edwin & Judy Gerber Emilia DeMarco & James F. Giblin Dave & Sandy Gift Gloria Gilman Dr. and Ms. Alex Glijansky Peggy Glover Joan Gmitter Dr. and Mrs. Allan Gold Mr. and Mrs. James P. Golden Esq. Judy & Joel Golden Ms. Brenda Goode Ms. Sandra S. Gordon
Gottlieb Family Foundation David Grande Marsha Gross Dr. and Mrs. Paul Gutterman Judge Marvin R. & Marcia O. Halbert Murray & Jeanne Halfond Elaine Hamilton Marcy Hammerschlag Raezelle Zinman & Brian Hanna Ralph & Sharon Harris Karen & Bruce Harrison Adrienne & Eric Hart Mr. Richard Hausch Bob Hedley & Harriet Power Dr. Nancy Aronson & Mr. Mark Herring Morgan Y. Himelstein Ms. Miriam Hirsch Mrs. Rochelle Hirsh Mr. and Mrs. Millage Holloway Jr. Joe Holman Ms. Linda E. Howard Dr. and Mrs. Marc R. Inver Annabelle & Miles Jellinek Mr. and Mrs. Victor J. Johnson Sandy & Richard Josephs Tudy & Hy Kahn Mary & Donald Kane Robert S. Kane & Paula Ko Ms. Jan Kanoff Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Katz Ms. Sylvia Kauders Doug & Ruth Keating Rhena & Steven Kelsen Christine Killough Mr. and Mrs. David H. Kilmer Richard & Marcia Klafter Mary & Justin Klein Dr. & Mrs. David Koch Mr. Steve Koche Leonard & Pearl Kornit Mr. and Mrs. Don Kramer Bernard & Harriet Krant Robert Kravitz, DDS Selma & Goncer Krestal Mrs. Sandra B. Kuby Carol LaBelle Pamela D. Laws & Robert I. Whitelaw Magdalyn Y. Lawton
Victoria McNeil Le Vine Mr. Todd Lehmacher Harvey & Joan Levitan Janet Levitt Natalie Levkovich Barbara & Alan Levy Mrs. Judith T. Lieb Sylvia & Norman Lieberman Dr. & Mrs. Thomas W. London Diane Rurode & James Lord Dr. Edward Lundy & Debbie Reiff Ms. Loretta Lynch Dr. and Mrs. Paul T. Makler Mr. Brett Mandel Terri Loring & Robert Margolies Mr. and Mrs. Charles E. Mather Lynne Maxwell Edythe & Robert Mazer Mr. Michael K. McClure Ms. Cynthia McGovern David S. Miller Judith & Martin Miller Dr. and Mrs. Manley Mincer Mark & Laura Moffa Jill & Al Montagna Mrs. Rebecca Montrone Mr. Gregory Moore Jeff & Maxine Morgan Marianne Morris Hershel & Charlotte Muchnick Ms. Susan Muller Mr. James R. Murray Jr. Margaret Goodman & Jack Nachamkin Ms. Marleen Nadu Earnestine P. Neal Dr. and Mrs. Andrew Newman K.T. & Jon Newton Eliot & Bonnie Nierman Etta & Chuck Nissman Paul Nutaitis & Robert Clark Linda L. Osler Richard J. Pariseau Joan M. Paskow Mr. John Pcsolar & Dr. Alan Sandman Ms. Margaret E. Phillips David A. Pierson Marsha & Nathan Pincus Claudia Pine-Simon John & Jo Anne Pinto Ronald E. Powers
Barbara Z. Presseisen Mr. and Mrs. David B. Pudlin Mr. and Mrs. George Purvis Mr. and Mrs. Alfred W. Putnam Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Michael Rathmill Robert & Wanda M. Rauch Sherri & Abe Reich Janet Riser Dulcie Romm Tony & Barbara Rooklin Mr. and Mrs. Edward H. Rosen Joan & Joel Rosenbloom Mr. and Mrs. Simon Rosenblum J. Randall Rosensteel Sally & Edwin Rosenthol Bernard & Harriet Rothman Mr. and Mrs. Joel Rubin Mr. and Mrs. Stuart Rubin Lisette & Jerry Ruderman Mr. and Mrs. James Santangelo Arlene D. Schaller Carl & Mary Ellen Schneider Mrs. Miriam Schneirov Kate & Stanley Schreiner Mr. and Mrs. Robert H. Schwab M.D. Dr. Louis & Linda Schwartz Mr. and Mrs. David Scott Ms. Suzanne Scott Marilyn & Jerome Segal Bubbles Seidenberg Antoinette Seymour Mr. and Mrs. Phillip Sherman Keith Shively & Thomas Williams Marilyn Z. Kutler & Ira Silberman Milton & Sylva Silver Gladys Simon Anne C. Singer Mr. Israel Skolnick Dr. Harris Slavick Marjorie McCann & Carole Smith Mrs. Constance Smukler Jay Snyderman Dr. Robert & Mrs. Ronnie Somers Mr. Jonathan J. Spadaford and Ms. Joy A. Toritto
Mr. and Mrs. Robert E. Spallone Debbie & Gary Stahl Lucille B. Stein Bette Steinberg Philip & Doris Steinberg Richard & Diane Steinbrink Ethan A. Stenger Mary Ellen Weber & Robert Stern Barbara Barnett-Stewart & Robert Stewart Michael & Marianna Sullivan Mr. and Ms. Jim Sumerson Nina E. Tafel Robert Taglieri & Timothy Moir Dr. and Mrs. John Taylor Mr. Blair Thompson Mr. and Mrs. Bruce E. Toll Tom & Joan Tropp Dr. Rosalind H. Troupin Mr. and Mrs. Norman A. Trudel Ellen Ufberg Krista Reichard John R. Urofsky Deborah McColloch & Charles Valentine Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Vogel Norman K. Walker Eileen Weinberg Ms. Joan Weiner Mr. and Mrs. David Weinstein George H. Weiss, M.D. Dr. and Mrs. Roger Weiss Ms. Carolyn L. Whitaker Evelyn Wiener Sherry Shamansky & Wallace Wing Lauren Wiseley Kuna & Sam Yankell Roger & Lillian Youman Arnold & Barbara L. Zenker Margo K. Zitin & Mimsye Katz Mr. and Mrs. Theodore Zutz Gifts in Memory In Memory of Ray Duval
Nicolina DiSciascio Sharon Kling PTC Production and Front of House Staff
In Memory of Laurie Beechman from Dr. Nathan & Dolly Beechman Schnall In Memory of Carol Schwartz from Bryna & Andrew Scott In Memory of Annie Richardson from Jerome Napson In Memory of Donald S. Wilf and in Honor Dr. Peter Arger from Elaine W. Baer and Gloria A. Moskowitz Gifts in honor
Neal Cupersmith from Fran and Leon Levy Alice George from Mr. and Mrs. Howard Jacobs Jerry Riesenbach from Lee Ducat Priscilla M. Luce from Ira Silberman Andrew Scott from Phyllis & Howard Fischer In Honor of Suzanne and Ralph Roberts 70th Wedding Anniversary
Carole Haas Gravagno and Emilio Gravagno Mrs. Judith T. Lieb Marjorie $ Jeffrey Honickman Mr. and Mrs. Victor L. Johnson Ms. Suzanne Scott
Increase the impact of your support. Ask your company about its matching gift program or contact the Development team for more information. 215.985.1400 x117
Major GiftS Philadelphia Theatre Company is grateful to the following major donors for their foresight in helping us in achieving a bright future. It is because of their commitment, goodwill and continued generosity that PTC has grown to become one of the finest theatres in the region. Thank you!
$1,000,000+
$20,000 to $49,999
Suzanne F. and Ralph J. Roberts
$50,000 to $99,999
Tracy and Rick Burke David and Nancy Colman Alice L. George Estate of Ellis K. Ginsberg Sally Lyn Katz The Eleanor M. and Herbert D. Katz Family Foundation Monika Krug Susan & James Meyer Carol Saline and Paul Rathblott Bryna and Andrew Scott
Dorothy J. del Bueno Priscilla M. Luce Sue Perel Rosefsky** Harriet & Larry Weiss Alan and Janet Widra
*The Peter Arger and Donald Wilf New Play Fund ** Kenneth S. Kaiserman Fund for Artistic Excellence
$100,000 to $999,999 Dr. Peter H. Arger* Julia & Eugene Ericksen The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation The Kaiserman Family Kaiserman Company, Inc. H.F. and Marguerite Lenfest
A legacy of theatre The aspirations of Philadelphia Theatre Company have always been fueled by the generosity of theatre enthusiasts from the region. The Visionary Society, named after the theatre’s founders, was formed to pay tribute to the special group of visionary supporters who have remembered Philadelphia Theatre Company in their wills or in other gift plans. When you join the Society you reach past your own lifetime to ensure that PTC’s rich tradition of artistic excellence will be preserved for generations to come. If you have included us in your plans, we hope you will let us know. Or, if you are interested in learning how simple it is to do so, please call our office: Christine Mickletz | Director of Development | 215-985-1400, x115 cmickletz@philadelphiatheatrecompany.org
THE ORIGINAL COOL
SM
SINCE 1926.
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Matching Gifts
Alliance Bernstein Bank of New York Mellon GE Foundation Matching Gifts Program GlaxoSmithKline Foundation Matching Gifts Program Merck Partnership for Giving Lincoln Financial Foundation Matching Gift Program UBS Employee Giving Program FOUNDATION SUPPORT
The Albert M. Greenfield Foundation The Barra Foundation, Inc. Beatrice Fox Auerbach Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving The Caroline J. Sanders Trust The Civic Foundation, Inc. The Charlotte Cushman Foundation Connelly Foundation Dolfinger-McMahon Foundation Dramatists Guild Fund Edgerton Foundation New American Plays Award Linda & David Glickstein Fund of The Philadelphia Foundation The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation Haley Foundation The Hamilton Family Foundation Independence Foundation Virginia and Harvey Kimmel Arts-Education Fund Knight Arts Challenge of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Foundation Lomax Family Foundation Philadelphia Theatre Initiative Fund for Children of The Philadelphia Foundation The Shubert Foundation, Inc. The Suzanne F. and Ralph J. Roberts Foundation The Victory Foundation Virginia Brown Martin Fund of The Philadelphia Foundation
Archie D. & Bertha H. Walker Foundation The William Penn Foundation June and Steve Wolfson Family Foundation The Wyncote Foundation Government SUPPORT
Philadelphia Theatre Company receives State arts funding support through a grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a State agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. Philadelphia Theatre Company is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts. Philadelphia Theatre Company gratefully acknowledges the support of the Philadelphia Cultural Fund.
This list acknowledges donors as of December 31, 2012. PTC strives for accuracy in its donor listings. If there is a misprint or your name has been inadvertently omitted, please call 215.985.1400 x117 Make a donation through your workplace United Way Program. Our Donor Choice Number: 4273 Contributions made through the United Way support our educational programs with at-risk youth in Philadelphia and the region.
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Philadelphia Theatre Company Productions Key Code
All productions are Philadelphia premieres unless otherwise note v
World Premiere
l
Co-Production
n
East Coast, Professional or American Premiere
m
Production moved on to NY or other regional theater.
the Suzanne Roberts Theatre
(2007 - Present)
2012 - 13 vSTARS OF DAVID book by Charles Busch original book by Abigail Pogrebin 2011 - 12 red by John Logan The Scottsboro boys music and Lyrics by John Kander and Fred Ebb book by David Thompson nthe outgoing tide by Bruce Graham reasons to by pretty by Neil LaBute 2010 - 11 the 25th annual putnam county spelling bee book by Rachel Sheinkin music and lyrics by William Finn RACE by David Mamet LET ME DOWN EASY by Anna Deavere Smith vBella: the color of love by Theresa Tova and Mary Kerr RUINED by Lynn Nottage Colin Quinn: Long Story short 2009 - 10 Humor Abuse by Lorenzo Pisoni and Erica Schmidt The Light in the Piazza by Craig Lucas and Adam Guettel vGolden Age by Terrence McNally vRed Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins by Margaret Engel & Allison Engel Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom by August Wilson Chicago’s the second city 50th anniversary tour 2008 - 09
vUnusual Acts of Devotion by Terrence McNally 25 Questions for a Jewish Mother
by Kate Moira Ryan & Judy Gold Resurrection by Daniel Beaty At Home at the Zoo by Edward Albee Grey Gardens book by Doug Wright, Music by Scott Frankel, Lyrics by Michael Korie vthe city of nutterly love co production with Chicago’s The Second City
Fully Committed by Becky Mode King Hedley II by August Wilson The Last Five Years by Jason Robert Brown vmA Picasso by Jeffrey Hatcher 2001 - 02 Dinner With Friends by Donald Margulies nThe Infidel by Bruce Norris The Play About the Baby by Edward Albee Barbra’s Wedding by Daniel Stern
2007 - 08
2000 - 01 mCompleat Female Stage Beauty by Jeffrey Hatcher vmNo Niggers, No Jews, No Dogs by John Henry Redwood This Is Our Youth by Kenneth Lonergan The Laramie Project by Moisés Kaufman and Members of the Tectonic Theater Project
vBeing Alive music & lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, conceived and directed by Billy Porter M. Butterfly by David Henry Hwang Third by Wendy Wasserstein vThe Happiness Lecture by Bill Irwin
plays & Players theater
(1982 - 2007)
2006 - 07 nMurderers by Jeffrey Hatcher The Frog Bride by David Gonzalez vNerds://A Musical Software Satire by Jordan Allen-Dutton, Erik Weiner, music by Hal Goldberg lIn The Continuum by Danai Gurira & Nikkole Salter Orson’s Shadow by Austin Pendleton 2005 - 06 vmAdrift in Macao book & lyrics by Christopher Durang, music by Melnick Ben Franklin: Unplugged by Josh Kornbluth in collaboration with David Dower After Ashley by Gina Gionfriddo Intimate Apparel by Lynn Nottage vmSome Men by Terrence McNally 2004 - 05 Trumbo by Christopher Trumbo with Bill Irwin The Story by Tracey Scott Wilson Elegies: A Song Cycle by William Finn Take Me Out by Richard Greenberg 2003 - 04 Topdog/Underdog by Suzan-Lori Parks Nickel and Dimed by Joan Holden vAccording to Goldman by Bruce Graham The Goat Or, Who Is Sylvia? by Edward Albee 2002 - 03
1999 - 00
lDinah Was: The Dinah Washington Musical by Oliver Goldstick
vWhite People by J.T. Rogers Wit by Margaret Edson Side Man by Warren Leight 1998 - 99 How I Learned to Drive by Paula Vogel vmLives of the Saints by David Ives Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde by Moisés Kaufman The Beauty Queen of Leenane by Martin McDonagh 1997 - 98 Full Gallop by Mark Hampton and Mary Louise Wilson Minutes from the Blue Route by Tom Donaghy A Question of Mercy by David Rabe nmBirdy by William Wharton, adapted by Naomi Wallace 1996 - 97 vmBunny Bunny by Alan Zweibel Molly Sweeney by Brian Friel lSylvia by A.R. Gurney Seven Guitars by August Wilson 1995 - 96 Three Viewings by Jeffrey Hatcher I Am A Man by Oyamo Broken Glass by Arthur Miller Love! Valour! Compassion!
by Terrence McNally 1994 - 95 All in the Timing by David Ives Keely and Du by Jane Martin The Woods by David Mamet vmMaster Class by Terrence McNally 1993 - 94 Sight Unseen by Donald Margulies The World Goes ‘Round by John Kander and Fred Ebb n“2” by Romulus Linney Night Sky by Susan Yankowitz 1992 - 93 Prelude to a Kiss by Craig Lucas Mountain by Douglas Scott with Len Cariou vTiny Tim is Dead by Barbara Lebow Lips Together, Teeth Apart by Terrence McNally 1991 - 92 National Anthems by Dennis McIntyre Miss Evers’ Boys by David Feldshuh nLady-Like by Laura Shamas vmNagasaki Dust by W. Colin McKay 1990 - 91 Speed-the-Plow by David Mamet The Cocktail Hour by A.R. Gurney with Celeste Holm nPill Hill by Samuel Kelley 1989 The Middle of Nowhere songs by Randy Newman and Tracy Friedman 1988 - 89 Elaine’s Daughter by Mayo Simon The Voice of the Prairie by John Olive Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune by Terrence McNally Glengarry Glen Ross by David Mamet Hannah Senesh by Lori Wilner and David Schechter adapt: of Senesh diaries Avner the Eccentric with Avner Eisenberg 1987 - 88 vlStauf by Eric Saltzman and Michael Sahl co-produced with the American Music Theater Festival Orphans by Lyle Kessler nSouthern Exposure: Sister and Miss Lexie by Eudora Welty, adapt. by Brenda Curran; and From The Mississippi Delta by Endesha
Ida Mae Holland
vmHospitality by Allan Havis Out! by Lawrence Kelly First fully-mounted production 1986 - 87 Williams & Walker by Vincent D. Smith vlCitizen Tom Paine by Howard Fast with Richard Thomas, co-produced with The Kennedy Center Days and Nights Within by Ellen McLaughlin As Is by William M. Hoffman 1985 - 86 Painting Churches by Tina Howe lSplit Second by Dennis McIntyre. Co-produced with Freedom Theatre. Original commissioned from Grover Washington, Jr. Great American Sideshow: One Acts by Romulus Linney, Alan Zweibel and Robert Pine Extremities by William Mastrosimone 1984 - 85 Terra Nova by Ted Tally Geniuses by Jonathan Reynolds To Gillian On Her 37th Birthday by Michael Brady Fool for Love by Sam Shepard 1983 - 84 Getting Out by Marsha Norman True West by Sam Shepard Strange Snow by Steve Metcalfe Fifth of July by Lanford Wilson 1982 - 83 Wings by Arthur Kopit Lone Star/Laundry & Bourbon by James McLure Final Passages by Robert Schenkkan Dylan Thomas by Jack Aranson with Jack Aranson
company developed by Lewis Carroll Hooters by Ted Tally Jesse and the Bandit Queen by David Freeman Getting Out by Marsha Norman 1979 - 80 Streamers by David Rabe vThe Insanity of Mary Girard by Lainie Robertson The Emperor Jones by Eugene O’Neill vDementia 80 by Don Steele 1979 Ashes by David Rudkin vThe Exhibition by Thomas Gibbons vSome of My Best Friends are Women by Don Steele and Edward Earle 1978 The Seagull by Anton Chekhov The Transfiguration of Benno Blimpie by Albert Innaurato vThe Persecution of Eugene Waterman by Louis Lippa vThe Final Concert Tour of Mickey Colossus by Peter Mattaliano A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare vCenter City Soap by Dorothy Louise 1976 - 77
vThe Lion and the Lamb by Joseph Orazi vFuture Tense by John Sevcik vThe Keeper by Karolyn Nelke 27 Wagons Full of Cotton by Tennessee Williams vMars by Clay Goss She Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith (Theatre in the Court) Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare (Theatre in the Court) 1976
vMarlowe by John Yinger
(1975 - 1981)
Rain by W. Somerset Maugham, adapted by Colton and Randolph vThe Crossing/As I Lay Dying A Victim of Spring by David Rabe & Leslie Lee vThe Three Daughters of M. Dupont by E. Brieux, translation by Pauline Jones Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare (NewMarket)
1980 - 81 The Rimers of Eldritch by Lanford Wilson Alice Through The Looking Glass
1975 The Adding Machine by Elmer Rice Sargeant Musgrave’s Dance by John Arden
1981 - 82 When You Comin’ Back, Red Ryder by Mark Medoff The Vietnamization of New Jersey by Christopher Durang Nuts by Tom Topor
various theatres
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Call Carol Flannery, Sales Manager, at 215.985.0420 x104
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PNC ARTS ALIVE KEEPING THE ARTS THRIVING We know what art can do, how it changes perspectives, even changes lives. That’s why the PNC Foundation has doubled its commitment to the arts with PNC Arts Alive, a five-year, $5-million initiative to support the visual and performing arts in the Greater Philadelphia and South Jersey region. From classical music and film to dance and theater, we’re committed to keeping the arts alive.
To learn more, go to pncartsalive.com.
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about our THEATRE The Suzanne Roberts Theatre, designed by Kieran Timberlake Associates, is owned and operated by Philadelphia Theatre Company and is the Company’s first permanent home. PTC is proud that the creation and development of its home, in partnership with Symphony House developer Carl Dranoff, has become a model for civic redevelopment; one that capitalizes on the ability of the arts to reinvigorate districts for residential and commercial revival. The space is contemporary, elegant and urbane, and features a 160’ double height glass facade on the Avenue of the Arts. The interior is defined by a uniquely warm and sculptural 365 seat main stage auditorium with a proscenium arch of interlocking leather tiles, a spacious and contemporary mezzanine, and a planned 100 seat flexible second stage for new play development, intimate performances, and educational programming. Our stage house significantly enhances our ability to respond to the most imaginative visions of our creative teams with its spacious wings, soaring fly gallery, and trapped stage. The Theatre offers a full range of public amenities with an on-site box office, ample public restrooms, a concession stand, and lobbies designed for patron comfort and engagement with the City visible through large expanses of glass. The grand staircase leads from the main floor to the double height mezzanine lobby. The Theatre’s contemporary universal design makes it one of the country’s most accessible performing arts venues and supports one of PTC’s core values ensuring that our artistry is accessible to everyone in our community.
about suzanne Roberts Philadelphia Theatre Company is honored to name its home after Suzanne Roberts--actress, playwright, director, educator, producer and philanthropist. For more than 40 years, Suzanne has been a leading champion of the Philadelphia theater community. An actress by training, Suzanne has engaged as an artist in meaningful public service with projects as diverse as performing in dramas to inspire the purchase of war bonds during World War II to national appearances in plays discouraging racism and alcoholism. Demonstrating the breadth of her artistry, Suzanne has performed on many stages throughout our region in plays from Shakespeare to A.R. Gurney. She has also performed in a variety of media including radio and television and is well known to audiences as the creator and host of the Emmy Award winning “Seeking Solutions with Suzanne.” One of Suzanne’s lifelong passions has been using theater to improve the lives of young people. Through the Suzanne Roberts Cultural Development Fund, she has supported the outreach work of theater and dance companies in sharing their creativity with school children and young adults. Portrait of Suzanne Roberts by Alan Kole. Photo of Mainstage of Suzanne Roberts Theatre, home of Philadelphia Theatre Company, by Mark Garvin
for your information Box Office Hours:
During Productions Tuesday - Sunday: 12:00pm to showtime Monday: Closed Between Productions Monday – Friday: 10:30am to 5:30pm Saturday & Sunday: Closed
Open Caption Performance: 2/9/13 at 2pm
For audience members who are hearing impaired. A large LED captioning screen, positioned beside the stage, scrolls text of the lyrics/dialogue in tandem with the lyrics/dialogue of the performance.
Assisted Listening Devices:
State-of-the-Art assisted listening headsets that use an infrared signal to wirelessly deliver all dialogue, music and sound from the show at a personally adjustable volume are available for free at every PTC performance through the House Manager or concessionaire. Please ask about Tcoil device options that are compatible with your hearing aid.
Audio Description Performance & Sensory Workshop 2/2/13 at 2pm
For audience members who are blind or low vision. Assistive listening devices are provided, through which a trained audio describer fills in the visual details and action on stage, live while it is being performed. A sensory workshop is provided before the show in which teaching artists provide in depth explanations of the visual aspects of the show, with patrons often invited on stage to touch and experience the set and costumes. Large Print programs available upon special request. Contact the box office to make a reservation for this workshop and/or performance. PTC’s accessibility programming is sponsored by the Lincoln Financial Foundation and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts’ Accessibility to the Arts in Pennsylvania for Individuals with Disabilities Program. Accessibility technology in the Suzanne Roberts Theatre was made possible by a grant from the Lincoln Financial Foundation.
Photography
The use of photographic or recording devices is strictly prohibited. Please note: The audience may be photographed by PTC staff for archival and publicity purposes. If you prefer that your likeness not appear in PTC materials, please notify the House Manager.
Group Ticketing & Events
Contact PTC’s Sales Manager, Carol Flannery at 215.985.0420 x104
Student Matinees, In-School Workshops, and Summer Camp
Contact PTC’s Education Department at 215.985.1400 x111
Facility Rentals
Contact events@philadelphiatheatrecompany.org
Volunteer Opportunities
Contact PTC’s Patron Services Manager, Meg Morris at 215.985.0420 x105
Advertising Opportunities
Contact Carol Flannery at 215.985.0420 x104 or cflannery@philadelphiatheatrecompany.org
Parking and Public Transportation
The Theatre is easily accessible by the Walnut/Locust and Lombard/South SEPTA Broad Street Subway stations, 15th/16th PATCO station, Route “C” bus, or taxi. On-site parking is available at the InterPark lot, as well as nearby garages along Broad Street. PTC Subscribers can pick up $2-off parking vouchers for the Interpark at the Box Office.
Restrooms, Elevator, Water Fountains
LADIES’ & MEN’S ROOMS are located on the orchestra level of the Theatre. All restrooms are ADA compliant. The ELEVATOR is located to the left of the concession stand which may be used to reach the mezzanine level. WATER FOUNTAINS are located outside the restrooms.
Lost & Found
If you have lost or found an item, please see the Box Office or House Manager. PTC is not responsible for loss or theft of personal belongings.
Lobby Video Installation
The klip//collective is dedicated to creating high-end, large-scale and unique video installations. klip//collective transforms architectural spaces into immersive visual experiences. For more information visit www.klip.tv/about.html.
PEP Events Our FREE Patron Enrichment Programming gives the audience a chance to see behind-the-scenes of each production and discuss the ideas and issues raised by each show. Book Club
Backstage Tour
January 24 @ 6:30PM Grab a signature drink from our PTC Happy Hour, and join us upstairs to discuss Martin Luther King, Jr.’s The Trumpet of Conscience.
February 2 post-matinee Visit and tour the behind-the-scenes magic of The Mountaintop.
Meet-the-Artists (MTA) January 24 & 29, February 7 Stay around right after the show for a talk back and audience Q&A with the cast of The Mountaintop.
American Playwrights in Context (APIC) January 20 post-matinee Delve into the world of the playwright with an exclusive on stage interview.
Special Topics February 6 post-matinee "Descending the Mountaintop: civic action and nonviolence in our past, present, and future." Guest moderator, Reginald T. Shuford, Esq., Executive Director of the Pennsylvania ACLU.
HAPPY HOUR Thursdays and Fridays from January 24 through February 15, 6:30pm - curtain Mix, mingle, and enjoy great drink specials.
Community insights & outreach Additional details available online.
January 19 The Brothers Network Gala Fundraiser to support the Henry “Box” Brown Festival. February 10 "Black Power Babies" Special post-matinee panel discussion hosted by 900AM-WURD talk radio.
February 4 “The Mountaintop: Looking at Leadership and Legacy” 6:30pm - 8:30pm Conversations led by the Penn Project for Civic Engagement and WHYY.
P h i l a d e l p h i aT h e a t r e C o m p a n y. o r g / p e p
2012/13 BOARD OF DIRECTORS Priscilla M. Luce, President E. Gerald Riesenbach, Esq., Chairman David L. Colman, AIA, Vice President Julia Ericksen, Ph.D., Vice President Glenn Gundersen, Vice President Neal Cupersmith, Treasurer Brigitte Daniel, Secretary Shira Beckerman Marilyn Birnhak Sara Garonzik Alice L. George Sally Lyn Katz Victor Keen Monika Krug Dale Penneys Levy James M. Meyer, CFA Salvatore J. Patti Kristen Phillips Donald Rosenblit, Chairman Emeritus Carol Saline Elliot Schwartz Bryna Silver Scott, Esq. James T. Smith, Esq. Harriet Weiss Alan Widra
Greenfield Teaching Artist Fellows
administrative staff Interim Business Manager Assistant to the Producing Artistic & Managing Directors Director of Development Development Associate Grant Writer Director of Marketing & Communications Marketing Manager Sales Director Patron Services Manager Box Office Manager Publicist Box Office Associates
Members Emeritus
Former board presidents
PTC INTERNS Samuel Chattin, Kizzy Cunningham, Katelin Del Rosario, A’laisha Evans, Sophie Hirsch, Rebecca Kaplan, Rebecca Khalil, Jarrett McCreary, Brad Ogden, Iraisa Ann Reilly, Ryan Schrader, Liam Velez
artistic/ programming staff Literary Manager and Dramaturg Director of Education Assistant Director of Education Education Coordinator Master Teaching Artists Teaching Artists
Joanne Harmelin Sheldon L. Thompson Bettyruth Walter, Ph.D. Tracey Weiss, Ph.D. Kenneth Kaiserman Robert Greenfield Thomas M.S. Wheelock Lewis C. Ross Carole Phillips John Friedman Donald Rosenblit William F. O’Donnell Monika Krug Cheryl Green Bernard A. Weidenaar Sheldon L. Thompson E. Gerald Riesenbach, Esq. Michael M. Coleman
PHILADELPHIA THEATRE COMPANY STAFF LEADERSHIP Producing Artistic Director Sara Garonzik Managing Director Shira Beckerman
House Manager
Production staff Production & Facilities Manager Company Manager Technical Director Facilities Supervisor Assistant Director Assistant Costume Designer Assistant Video Designer Dialect Coach Casting Associate Casting Intern Props Master Props Assistant Sound Supervisor Wardrobe Supervisor Lighting Supervisor Lighting Programmer Flyman Deck Crew Video Tech ELAC Intern
Carrie Chapter Maureen Sweeney Will Dennis Rashanda Freeman Krista Apple, Jan Michener, David O’Connor Heather Cole, Donja Love, Kathryn Moroney Brandi Burgess Christina Binder, Justine Brannon, Adriana Lopez, David Perschica, Jessica Wallace Patricia Lustig Sharon Kling Christine Mickletz Jessie Pasquariello Michelle Hitz Amy Lebo Rose Schnall Carol Flannery Meg Morris Sarah Blask Deborah Fleischman Lesley Berkowitz Soneyet Muhammad Chelsea Sanz Eric Thomas Ron Hunter Roy W. Backes Bridget A. Cook Michael L. Cristaldi Chris Butterfield Molly Murphy Ashley Farra Charles Dabezies Evamarii Johnson Ashley Brooke Monroe Caroline Gart Melissa Cristaldi Little Annie Heath Daniel A. Little Maxine Johnson Alyssandra Docherty Matt Lewandowski Stuart Bartlett Josue Carazo Jacob Lyon Goddard Melissa Mann Uel Bergey Joe Flores
PH ILADEL PHIA THEATRE CO MPANY
P H ILA DEL PHI at theA THEATR E COMPANY at the
by directed by
Theresa Rebeck Scott Schwartz
“Sexy, savvy and uproarious!” – The New York Times MARCH 15 through APRIL 14, 2013 A NEW COMEDY FROM THE CREATOR OF THE TV HIT SMASH! Fast, funny, and keenly observant – this new comedy from Pulitzer Prize nominee Rebeck, is set in Manhattan’s Upper West Side, where a literary giant critiques the work of four aspiring young novelists in a series of weekly and unorthodox seminars. Insults fly, alliances are made, lines are drawn, and sympathies shift as this award-winning play unfolds. There’s only one thing harder than writing your first novel – letting your professor read it! Theresa Rebeck
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