p l ayw se ON STAGE AND OFF
October 17 through November 18, 2012
STARS DAVID OF
Original book by Abigail Pogrebin (Stars of David: Prominent Jews Talk About Being Jewish) Book by Charles Busch Conceived by Aaron Harnick Directed by Gordon Greenberg
What’s Inside: Director’s notes by Gordon Greenberg Yiddish and Jewish Terms of Interest in STARS OF DAVID Compiled by Carrie Chapter, PTC Dramaturg and Iraisa Ann Reilly, Literary Intern The Makings of the Modern American Musical…via STARS OF DAVID by Carrie Chapter, PTC Dramaturg
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Sara Garonzik Producing Artistic Director
Shira Beckerman Managing Director
STARS DAVID OF
Book by
CharLes Busch
Based on the book by
Conceived by
abigail pogrebin
Aaron Harnick
featuring
Nancy balbirer
alex brightman
brad oscar
joanna glushak
donna vivino
Composers
William Finn
Michael Friedman
Sheldon Harnick
Tom Kitt
Duncan Sheik
Amanda Green
Dan Messe
Jule Styne
Marvin Hamlisch
Chris Miller
David Shire
Marc Shaiman
Jeanine Tesori
Lyricists
Will Aronson Michael Friedman
Alan and Marilyn Bergman Amanda Green
abigail pogrebin Steven Sater Set Design Costume Design beowulf boritt alejo vietti
Susan Birkenhead
Sheldon Harnick Nathan Tysen
Richard Maltby, Jr. Marc Shaiman
Projection Design Sound Design Lighting Design howell binkley robert kaplowitz Jason H. THompson
Production & Facilities Manager Production Stage Manager Assistant Stage Manager roy w. backes melanie t. morgan DANielle Commini Technical Director Michael L. Cristaldi
Dramaturg Carrie chapter
Casting tara rubin casting
PTC Casting Director amy dugas brown
Music Director
jeff marder Musical Supervision, Orchestrations and Arrangements by
sam davis
Choreographed by
Josh Rhodes Directed by
gordon greenberg by special arrangement with Harbor Entertainment and Daryl Roth
STARS DAVID OF
Honoray Producers
Philadelphia Theatre Company applauds the following donors for their passion and commitment in supporting PTC’s mission to produce new American theatre and for their invaluable assistance in helping develop Stars of David.
Executive Producers
Edgerton Foundation New American Play Award The Peter Arger and Donald Wilf New Play Fund
Producers
Nancy & David Colman Marcy Gringlas & Joel Greenberg
Associate Producers
Phyllis & Howard Fischer Fran & Leon L. Levy Lynn & Joseph Manko Additional support provided by: Barbara and Mickey Black Mimi and Allan Schneirov
as of 10/5/2012
from the producing artistic director Dear Friends, With eight Barrymore Awards proudly received for our work last season, we eagerly embark upon a new year that once again celebrates much that is smart, unique, and brave about our nation’s playwrights and musical creators. In 2005, Abigail Pogrebin set out on a journey to meet with dozens of highly accomplished Jewish notables to ask them how (or if ) faith impacts their lives. The resulting book of interviews, Stars of David: Prominent Jews Talk about Being Jewish is the source material from which we created this world premiere musical. In a tuneful bit of “meta” theatrical story-telling, the script has a character similar to Abigail, who is also searching for answers of her own. Further, our journey to find the right tone and structure for Stars of David has been yet another search process ---this one led by our intrepid creative team, librettist and adapter Charles Busch and director Gordon Greenberg. The exploration began last winter with a public reading in our PTC@Play new works festival. Through continual revision over the course of summer workshops and our traditional rehearsal process, we have arrived at tonight’s big reveal: the first full production of Stars of David. As we moved the piece through its development, one thing remained constant: the composers and lyricists who wrote the songs that we paired with the interview subjects have given us their very best. These musicalized portraits represent some glorious compositions from Broadway’s finest--- from Sheldon Harnick, Tom Kitt and Amanda Green to Philadelphia’s own Michael Friedman. We are proud to launch our season with this warmhearted and soulful new work that you need not be Jewish to enjoy! In January, we are excited to be introducing Katori Hall, a gifted, rising star in American theater. Her play, The Mountaintop, set on the last night in the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, is anything but a history play. Rather, it is a surprising work of great theatrical imagination which won her London’s Olivier Award in 2010. This probing play will also provide us with the occasion to create a platform for public dialogue as we examine Dr. King’s impact on the last forty-five years of American history. In the second half of our season, two brilliant playwrights with early ties to PTC return to our city. Theresa Rebeck comes back with Seminar, her clever and observant comedy about aspiring young writers under the tutelage of a dissolute famous novelist. Rebeck, fresh out of graduate school, once spent a year with us being mentored by master playwright Arthur Kopit. Since then, her rise in theater and television has been meteoric. Venus in Fur by David Ives is nothing like the world premiere evening of short form comedies, Lives of the Saints, we produced in 1998, but it demonstrates the dazzling originality and limitless interests of the talented Mr. Ives. Venus is a sexy, dangerous tango between an actress and director who never leave the rehearsal room, yet manage to take each other and the audience on a transcendent journey through time and the deepest reaches of erotic entanglement. Fifty shades of drama, to be sure. Looking forward to speaking with you in the lobby!
Sara Garonzik
FROM THE MANAGING DIRECTOR Dear Friends of Philadelphia Theatre Company: Welcome to Autumn at PTC! We are delighted you have joined us for such a special production, and hope you will take good advantage of the wide array of community events and special dialogues we have planned throughout our run of Stars of David. In addition to exceptional productions and performances from the country’s best artists, PTC places an extremely high value on relationships with people and organizations throughout Philadelphia and the Greater Delaware Valley with whom we find fascinating points of connection with our work on stage. These community partners are core to PTC’s mission of creating work which “ignites the intellect and touches the soul.” You may remember last season’s events with WURD-AM, Philadelphia’s Beer Week, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Pennsylvania Innocence Project. PTC is committed to engaging in community dialogue and hearing a variety of perspectives on the issues and themes of our productions. For Stars of David, our post-matinee discussion on November 7 is entitled “Great Old Schtick: Judaism in the World of Entertainment.” For this event, a panel will engage with the history of Yiddish theatre in America coming up through the ages and into television and film, while examining how our production of Stars of David stands as a composite of the great Jewish performance tradition. Moderating the panel is the Gershman Y’s Senior Director of Programming (and former PTC staffer) Warren Hoffman, with guest panelists Mike Cohen, a theatre programmer and researcher, and Early American theatre/vaudeville scholar Travis Stewart. We also look forward to welcoming Ivy Barsky to the PTC stage on November 13 for an in-depth analysis of the interviewees in Stars of David and their role in American history. Ms. Barsky is COO of the National Museum of American Jewish History, with whom PTC creates meaningful programmatic collaborations each year. Our list of community partners for Stars of David also includes the Katz JCC, the Yale Club of Philadelphia (Stars of David author Abigail Pogrebin is a distinguished Yale alumna), the Jewish Exponent, Har Zion Temple, and the Haddassah of Greater Philadelphia. These organizations help bring people to the Suzanne Roberts Theatre to engage in meaningful discussion and debate about pressing social issues of our time. PTC is also honored to have this production so well supported by our community through an award from the Edgerton Foundation for New American Plays, The Peter Arger and Donald Wilf New Play Fund, and Honorary Producers Nancy and David Colman, Marcy Gringlas and Joel Greenberg, Phyllis & Howard Fischer, Fran & Leon L. Levy, and Lynn and Joe Manko. Finally, I am thrilled to welcome (or welcome back) the following PTC supporters to our Designers Circle this season: Linda and Jon Chorney, Lee Ducat, Arthur Kaplan and R. Duane Perry, Bruce and Arlin Kardon, and Sue Rosefsky. With their support, PTC truly continues to thrive. I look forward to seeing you all at the theatre and at all of our special events surrounding our production of Stars of David. Thanks always for your patronage,
Shira Beckerman
FROM THE PTC BOARD PRESIDENT Dear Friends of PTC: Welcome to the beginning of PTC’s 37th season of producing new plays and musicals from America’s best writers. We celebrated a successful summer of new play workshops and a fun film series this past July, and we begin this fall with a wonderful new musical that perfectly embodies PTC’s values of excellence and artistry. As you know, all of PTC’s excellent programs – developing new plays and musicals, education programs in the Philadelphia public school classrooms, and our extensive outreach and community partnerships – are supported through the generosity of our region’s philanthropists at every level. Our work is bolstered by thousands of you who choose to make tax-deductible gifts to PTC every year. As public funding for the arts is ever more reduced, your acknowledgement of PTC as a place of value in your community is essential for our strong survival. To those of you who have already contributed to this year’s Annual Fund, I thank you. To those who have purchased a ticket to tonight’s performance but not made a gift, I simply remind you that the cost of your ticket only covers half of the theater’s expenses in producing this wonderful musical. We wouldn’t want you to see just half a show, and so I ask you to consider giving (or giving again) to complete your support of this special organization. In thanks for your support, we offer an array of exciting benefits which brings the art on our stage up close and personal. Our Patron Enrichment Programs (PEP) are led by PTC’s in-house scholar, Dramaturg, and Literary Manager Carrie Chapter. I hope you will join us throughout the year as Carrie facilitates talk-backs with actors, directors, and playwrights; book club meetings; and especially our Special Topics conversations where we dive deep into a theme of each play and explore relevant ideas with experts in a wide variety of fields. We also offer everything from complimentary wine at our concessions bar to backstage tours and invitations to technical rehearsals when you contribute. Most importantly, your support brings world-class artists to Philadelphia every year, maintaining our place as one of the most vibrant arts and culture communities in the nation. In fact, the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance recently released a report which noted that the arts sector in Philadelphia contributes $3.3 billion to the local economy each year, and we are #1 in the country in creative sector jobs. I hope you will help keep the theatre strong and spirited by making a gift today. See you at the theatre!
Priscilla Luce
CAST Nancy......................................................................................................................................... Nancy Balbirer* Man1..........................................................................................................................................Alex Brightman* Woman 2..................................................................................................................................Joanna Glushak* Man 2..................................................................................................................................................Brad Oscar* Woman 1......................................................................................................................................Donna Vivino* *Member of Actors Equity Association
STARS OF DAVID is performed without an intermission
musical numbers Songs
Compsers/Lyricists
“Who The Hell Am I? “.................................................................................Jule Styne /Susan Birkenhead “Lenny The Great”(Leonard Nimoy)........................................................Daniel Messe /Nathan Tysen “Smart People”(Aaron Sorkin)....................................................................David Shire /Richard Maltby “As If I Weren’t There”(Ruth Bader Ginsburg)...........................................Tom Kitt /Abigail Pogebrin “Edgar Bronfman” (Edgar Bronfman)..........................................................Chris Miller /Nathan Tysen “Through the Darkening Blue” (Kenneth Cole)....................................Duncan Sheik /Steven Sater “The Book of Norman” (Norman Lear)...........................................................................Sheldon Harnick “Millionaire Matchmaker” (Andy Cohen)..........................................................................Marc Shaiman “Just Be Who You Are “ (Fran Drescher)............................................................................Amanda Green “Horrible Seders” (Tony Kushner).................................................................................Michael Friedman “The Jews Take Care of Everything” (Joan Rivers)...................................Will Aronson/William Finn “Broken Pieces” (Alan & Marilyn Bergman)..............Marvin Hamlisch /Alan & Marilyn Bergman “The Women Who Had No Names” (Gloria Steinem)...............Jeanine Tesori/Susan Birkenhead “This Is Who I Am” ........................................................................................Jule Styne/Susan Birkenhead
Orchestra Jeff Marder...............................................................................................................................Conductor/Piano Mike Cemprola.................................................................................................................................Woodwinds Emma Kummrow.........................................................................................................................................Violin Tony Pirolla......................................................................................................................................................Cello Evan Solot.................................................................................................Contractor/Orchestra Supervisor
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 the New 42nd Street Studios. 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
Special thanks to Vadim Feichner and Ed Goldschneider.
who’s who Nancy Balbirer (Narrator) is the author and star of the critically
acclaimed solo-show I Slept With Jack Kerouac and Other Stories and co-created the downtown cult-hit reading series Cause Celeb!, which played for over four years at Fez, Joe’s Pub and The Cutting Room. She co-starred on several episodes of Seinfeld and played a rotating bevy of roles on MTV’s Remote Control, for which she also wrote her own characters. Nancy is also an author: her first book, Take Your Shirt Off and Cry: A Memoir of Near-Fame Experiences, was published by Bloomsbury in April 2009 and was optioned for television.
Alex Brightman (Man 1) was most recently seen in the World Premiere
of Nobody Loves You at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego. Other credits include Boq in Wicked on Broadway and a recurring role on Important Things w/ Demetri Martin on Comedy Central. His new musical; Make Me Bad, which he co-wrote with composer-lyricist Drew Gasparini, is currently in development. Look for it in 2013. Thanks to all involved with Stars of David and to my Stewart Stalwarts. This one is for the Morontourage, my friends, my family and my beautiful Prump. Want to know more about Alex? Ask him. @abrightmonster
who’s who Joanna Glushak (Woman 2) BROADWAY: Leading roles in Sunday in
the Park With George, Les Miserables, Urintown, Rags, Welcome to the Club, Conversations With My Father, The Sweet Smell of Success, Hairspray. NEW YORK CITY OPERA: A Little Night Music, The Most Happy Fella. NATIONAL TOURS: Frau Blucher in Young Frankenstein The Musical, Xanadu, The Musical, Evita, Fiddler On The Roof. Joanna has done countless roles in regional theater as well as TV and film. Yale Drama School graduate.
Brad Oscar (Man 2) received a Tony nomination as Franz Liebkind in
The Producers and later went on to play the role of Max Bialystock over 1400 times on Broadway, on tour, in Las Vegas and in London’s West End. Other BDWY: The Addams Family, Spamalot, Jekyll & Hyde, Aspects of Love. NAT’L TOUR: Young Frankenstein, Jekyll &Hyde. OFF-BDWY: Forbidden Broadway, The Body Beautiful, Encores! , Bells Are Ringing, and Do Re Mi, directed and performed in Broadway by the Year 1931 and 1968 at Town Hall. REGIONAL: Fiddler on the Roof (Barrington Stage), Barnum (Asolo Rep/ Maltz Jupiter-Carbonell Award, Best Actor in a Musical), The Mystery of Irma Vep, Cabaret and Damn Yankees (Arena Stage), The First Wives Club (Old Globe), Moonlight and Magnolias (Cape Playhouse), Annie (TOTS, Atlanta). FILM: Ghost Town, The Producers TV: Smash, The Good Wife, and three Law & Orders.
Donna Vivino (Woman 1) joins Stars of David directly from the Broadway company of Wicked where she performs the role of Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West. Previous Broadway credits include: Fame Becomes Me w/ Martin Short, Hairspray, Saturday Night Fever and the original cast of Les Miserables (Young Cosette). Film/TV credits include: A Gifted Man (ABC), The Sopranos (HBO), Everyday People (HBO), Hometown (CBS) Married To It (Lucy Rothenberg) and All My Children (Young Erica Kane). Donna is a proud graduate of Barnard College. For more info, follow her on Twitter @donnavivino Charles Busch (Book) is the author and star of such plays as The
Divine Sister, Vampire Lesbians of Sodom, and The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife, which ran for nearly two years on Broadway and received a Tony nomination for Best Play. He wrote and starred in the film versions of his plays, Psycho Beach Party and Die Mommie Die, the latter of which won him the Best Performance Award at the Sundance Film Festival. In 2003, Mr. Busch received a special Drama Desk Award for career achievement as both performer and playwright. He is also the subject of the acclaimed documentary film The Lady in Question is Charles Busch. Charlesbusch.com
Abigail Pogrebin (Original Book, Lyricist, “As if I Weren’t There”) a former 60 Minutes producer for Mike Wallace, is the author of “Stars of
David: Prominent Jews Talk About Being Jewish” and “One and the Same: My Life as an Identical Twin and What I’ve Learned About Everyone’s Struggle to be Singular” – both Doubleday publications. Her bestselling Amazon Kindle Single, “Showstopper,” chronicled her teenage adventures in the original Broadway cast of Stephen Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along. She writes for numerous publications including Newsweek, New York Magazine, The Daily Beast, and Huffington Post, and she moderates the interview series, “What Everyone’s Talking About” at The JCC in Manhattan.
who’s who Will Aronson (Lyricist ,“The Jews Take Care of Everything”) recently composed the scores for Bungee Jump (currently running in Seoul, Korea), The Trouble With Doug (Theatreworks; NAMT 2010, dir. Victoria Clark), Mormons, Mothers, and Monsters (Barrington Stage; Boston Globe Critics’ Pick), and My Scary Girl (Best Musical, NYMF 2009). Other work includes the vocal arrangements for the William Finn/James Lapine musical, Little Miss Sunshine (La Jolla Playhouse). Alan and Marilyn Bergman (Lyricists, “Broken Pieces”)
Two of the most respected names in the Great American Songbook are lyricists, Alan and Marilyn Bergman. For over 50 years their collaboration has produced 3 Academy Awards, 2 Golden Globes, 3 Grammys and 4 Emmys. In 1980 they were inducted into the Songwriters’ Hall of Fame and in 2012 they were inducted into The Great American Songbook Hall of Fame. Their most important songs include: “The Way We Were”, “The Windmills of Your Mind”, “Papa, Can You Hear Me?”, “What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?”, “How Do You Keep the Music Playing?”, “Nice ‘n’ Easy”, “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers”, “Where Do You Start?”
Susan Birkenhead (Lyricist, “Who the Hell Am I?” “The Women Who Had No Names,” “This is Who I Am”) received a Tony Nomina-
Johnson.
tion and a Drama Desk Award for her lyrics for Jelly’s Last Jam. She was nominated for a Drama Desk for Triumph of Love. She was nominated for a Tony Award for Working, and won an Outer Critics Circle award for What About Luv? She won an L.A. Drama Critics Award for Minsky’s, and she is currently working on Betty Boop, with David Foster and Terry
William Finn (Composer, “The Jews Take Care of Everything”)
Mr. Finn is the writer and composer of Falsettos, for which he received two Tony Awards, Best Book of a Musical (with James Lapine) and Best Original Score. He has also written and composed In Trousers, March of the Falsettos and Falsettoland (Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Musical, two Los Angeles Drama Critic’s Awards, two Drama Desk Awards, the Lucille Lortel Award, and Guggenheim Fellowship in Musical Composition). Mr. Finn wrote the lyrics to Graciela Daniele’s Tango Apasionado (music by the great Astor Piazzolla) and, with Michael Starobin, the music to Lapine’s version of The Winter’s Tale. His musical, Romance in Hard Times, was presented at the Public Theater. Recently, he wrote Painting You for Love’s Fire, a piece commissioned and performed by the Acting Company, based on Shakepeare’s sonnets. For television, Mr. Finn provided the music and lyrics for the Ace Award-winning HBO cartoon Ira Sleeps Over, Tom Thumb and Thumbelina, Pokey Little Puppy’s First Christmas, and, with Ellen Fitzhugh, two Brave Little Toaster cartoons. Mr. Finn has written for Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, and The New Yorker. A graduate of Williams College where he was awarded the Hutchinson Fellowship for Musical Composition, Finn now teaches a weekly master class at the NYU Tisch Graduate Program in Musical Theatre Writing. His most recent projects include Elegies, A Song Cycle (Lincoln Center) and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee which ran on Broadway and has been produced nationally and internationally, and the upcoming musical adaptation of the film Little Miss Sunshine.
who’s who Michael Friedman (Composer/Lyricist, “Horrible Seders”) wrote
the music and lyrics to Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, which recently played at The Public Theater and on Broadway. As an Associate Artist with the acclaimed theater company The Civilians, he has written music and lyrics for Canard Canard Goose, Gone Missing, Nobody’s Lunch, This Beautiful City, In the Footprint, and The Great Immensity, and co-created the group’s 2012 TED Talk. Other works include Saved and The Brand New Kid. With Steve Cosson, he is the co-author of Paris Commune (BAM Next Wave Festival 2012). He was the dramaturg for the recent Broadway revival of A Raisin in the Sun, and has been a MacDowell Fellow, a Princeton Hodder Fellow, a Meet The Composer Fellow, and a Visiting Professor at the Princeton Environmental Institute. He received an OBIE Award for sustained achievement.
Amanda Green (Composer/Lyricist, “Just Be Who You Are”) will
have two shows on Broadway this season: Bring It On (co-lyricist) currently on Broadway after its Nat’l Tour, and Hands On A Hardbody (lyricist, co-composer) opening March 21; it premiered at the La Jolla Playhouse May 2012. High Fidelity (lyrics, Broadway, 2006); Hallelujah Baby! (Addt’l lyrics; Arena Stage, dir. by Arthur Laurents). Her Hands collaborator Trey Anastasio has performed their songs with his bands Phish and TAB around the country.
Sheldon Harnick (Composer/Lyricist, “The Book of Norman”) is best known for his collaborations with Jerry Bock, including Fiorello, She Loves Me, The Apple Tree, Fiddler on the Roof and The Rothschilds. Other collaborations: Rex (Richard Rodgers), A Wonderful Life (Joe Raposo), A Christmas Carol, Michel Legrand) and The Pantom Tollbooth (Arnold Black). Tom Kitt (Composer, “As if I Weren’t There”) received the 2010
Pulitzer Prize for Drama as well as two Tony Awards for Best Score and Best Orchestrations for Next to Normal. Other composing/arranging credits include: Green Day’s American Idiot on Broadway; High Fidelity; Bring it On The Musical; The Winter’s Tale and All’s Well That Ends Well (The Public’s NYSF); Everyday Rapture, and Pitch Perfect (Feature Film).
Dan Messe (Composer, “Lenny the Great”) Daniel Messé is the founder and principal songwriter of the band Hem, whose seventh studio album, Departure and Farewell, will be released this coming January on Waveland Records. His music was featured in The Public Theater’s 2009 production of Twelfth Night for Shakespeare in the Park. Dan is currently working with Craig Lucas and Nathan Tysen on a musical adaptation of Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s film Amélie for Harbor Entertainment. Richard Maltby, Jr. (Lyricists, “Smart People”) Broadway: Conceived/directed: Ain’t Misbehavin’ (1978: Tony, N.Y. Drama Critics, Outer Critics, Drama Desk Awards; Tony Award: Best Director); Fosse (1999: Tony, Outer Critics, Drama Desk Awards); Ring of Fire, (2006). Director/ lyricist: BABY, (7 Tony nominations); lyricist: BIG, (1996, Tony nomination); lyricist: Take Flight (2010); co-lyricist: Miss Saigon (1991); The Pirate Queen (2007). Director, The Story of My Life (2009). Director/co-lyricist: Song &
who’s who Dance. OFF-BROADWAY: director/lyricist: Starting Here, Starting Now, (1977, Grammy nomination); Closer Than Ever, (1989, Outer Critics: Best Musical, Best Score). FILM: Screenplay, Miss Potter, (2007).
Chris Miller (Composer, “Edgar Bronfman”) & Nathan Tysen (Lyricist, “Lenny the Great,” “Edgar Bronfman”) have written The Burnt
Part Boys (2010 Lucille Lortel Nomination, Best Musical) and Fugitive Songs (2008 Drama Desk Award Nomination, Outstanding Revue), both of which have cast albums available on Yellow Sound Label. Other work includes an adaptation of Chris Van Allsburg’s picture book, The Mysteries of Harris Burdick (Boston Globe Top Ten Pick of 2008). Current projects include the Broadway-bound adaptation of the popular novel Tuck Everlasting (Direction by Casey Nicholaw, Book by Claudia Shear), and two new commissions from Lincoln Center Theater and Playwrights Horizons/ Theatreworks Silicon Valley. Television work includes songs for Sesame Street and The Electric Company. Chris and Nathan apply for many awards and grants, and sometimes even win (Thank you Jonathan Larson, Richard Rodgers, Daryl Roth, Kitty Carlisle Hart, ASCAP, and the NEA). They began their collaboration together at NYU where they received their MFA’s in musical theatre writing. www.MillerAndTysen.com
Steven Sater (lyrics and text, “Through the Darkening Blue”) won two Tonys, a Grammy, and the 2010 Olivier Award for his book and lyrics of Spring Awakening. Other plays: Carbondale Dreams, Umbrage (Steppenwolf New Play Prize), The Tempest (Lyric Hammersmith), A Footnote to the Iliad (NY Stage and Film), Prometheus Bound (A.R.T), Some Lovers (Old Globe), The Nightingale (La Jolla Playhouse) and Alice By Heart (National Theatre of London: Connections). Marc Shaiman (with Scott Wittman )(Composers/Lyricists, “Millionaire Matchmaker”) is currently writing original songs for the
television show SMASH and preparing their original musical of Charlie & The Chocolate Factory - to be directed by Sam Mendes - for The West End. Broadway credits include: Hairspray (Tony and Grammy Awards) Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me and Catch Me If You Can. His five Oscar nominations were for Sleepless in Seattle, The First Wives Clubs, The American President, Patch Adams and South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut. Other film credits include When Harry Met Sally, Beaches, Misery, City Slickers, The Addams Family, A Few Good Men, Sister Act and The Bucket List. Television credits include Billy Crystal’s Oscar medleys (Emmy Award) and Bette Midler’s fairwell to Johnny Carson. His arrangements for Harry Connick, Jr. were Grammy nominated. On the Internet, you can view Marc’s Webbie Award-winning Prop 8 - The Musical.
Duncan Sheik (Composer, “Through the Darkening Blue”) Duncan Sheik is a Grammy Award and two-time Tony Award-winning singer songwriter and composer. As a solo artist, Duncan’s ubiquitous hit “Barely Breathing” spent 55 weeks on the Billboard’s Hot 100 Chart and propelled the sales of his Atlantic Records debut to 750,000 copies. As a composer, Sheik again found success with his musical, Spring Awakening which earned 8 Tony Awards, including “Best Musical” and garnered accolades and A+ reviews. Spring Awakening proved influential on Broadway and the New York Times predicted “Broadway, with its often puerile sophistication and its sterile roman-
who’s who ticism, may never be the same.” Sheik is currently working on stage productions of Bret Easton Ellis’ American Psycho and Hans Christian Andersen’s The Nightingale.
Jule Styne (Composer, “Who the Hell Am I?”, “This Is Who I Am”)
With Broadway musicals including Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Peter Pan, Bells Are Ringing, Gypsy and Funny Girl to his credit, composer Jule Styne is one of the undisputed architects of the American musical theater. With lyricist Sammy Cahn in the ‘40s, he created a string of Hit Parade songs including the Oscar-winning Three Coins In The Fountain. Styne’s Broadway collaborators include Betty Comden and Adolph Green, Stephen Sondheim, Bob Merrill, Leo Robin and E.Y. Harburg, and their work produced such showstoppers as The Party’s Over, Everything’s Coming Up Roses, Don’t Rain On My Parade and Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend. Jule Styne was elected to the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1972, the Theatre Hall of Fame in 1981, and was a Kennedy Center Honoree in 1990.
David Shire (Composer, “Smart People”) An Oscar winner, two-time
Grammy winner, two-time Tony nominee and six-time Emmy nominee, Shire has composed prolifically for theater (Baby, Big, Starting Here, Starting Now, Closer Than Ever); films (Norma Rae, The Conversation, All the President’s Men, The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3, Zodiac); television; and recordings (Streisand, McGovern, Manchester, Warnes, Preston & Syreeta).
Jeanine Tesori (Composer, “The Women Who Had No Names”)
has written four Tony-nominated scores for Broadway: Twelfth Night (Lincoln Center); Thoroughly Modern Millie (lyrics, Dick Scanlan); Caroline, or Change (lyrics, Tony Kushner); and Shrek The Musical (lyrics, David Lindsay-Abaire). The production of Caroline, or Change at the National Theater in London received the Olivier Award for Best New Musical. Her first musical, Violet, written with Brian Crawley, received the New York Drama Critics Circle Award in 1997. She has been the recipient of many other honors including Drama Desk and Obie Awards, and was cited by ASCAP as the first woman composer to have two new musicals running concurrently on Broadway. She composed the music for the New York Shakespeare Festival’s Mother Courage, directed by George C. Wolfe, starring Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline. Additional credits include the opera, A Blizzard On Marblehead Neck, and the music for A Free Man of Color by John Guare. She has written songs for the movie Shrek The Third. Her film scores include Nights in Rodanthe, Winds of Change, Show Business, Wrestling With Angels, and Every Day. She composed songs for the Disney DVD releases Mulan II, Lilo and Stitch II and The Little Mermaid III. She has produced the original cast albums for Twelfth Night, Violet and Caroline, or Change. Ms. Tesori is a Barnard graduate. Her next project is Fun Home based on the graphic novel by Alison Bechdel, with book by playwright Lisa Kron.
Gordon Greenberg (Director) Studs Terkel’s Working (59 E 59, Broadway In Chicago, Old Globe, Asolo), Yentl (score by Jill Sobule, Asolo Rep.), the new national tour of Guys & Dolls, the Off-Broadway revival of Jacques Brel … (Drama Desk, Drama League, Outer Critics Award noms), Band Geeks! (also co-writer – recipient of NEA and NAMT grants for production at Goodspeed), Disney’s Believe (Disney Creative Entertainment), Pirates! Or Gilbert and Sullivan Plunder’d (Huntington, Goodspeed, Paper Mill, MUNY), We The People (Lortel Award Nom.), 33 Variations (Capital Rep), Floyd Collins (Signature), Citizens Band (Spie-
who’s who geltent), Happy Days (First National Tour, Boyett Theatricals; Paper Milll, Goodspeed), 1776 (Paper Mill), The Baker’s Wife (Goodspeed, Paper Mill). Currently writing Scramble Band!, an original movie musical for the Disney Channel and the new musical The Single Girls Guide (Goodspeed, Capital Rep) Education: Stanford University, NYU Film School, RADA, and the Lincoln Center Directors Lab. He is Co-director of Broadway Teaching Group, www.broadwayteachinggroup.com, www.gordongreenberg.com
Josh Rhodes (Choreographer) Josh’s choreography credits include the film version of Company with the New York Philharmonic (starring Neil Patrick Harris); Sondheim: The Birthday Concert (PBS); 2011 Tony Awards (CBS); Broadway: Three Generations (Kennedy Center); Bernstein’s On The Town ( LA Phil) Working (Old Globe, Chicago’s Broadway Playhouse); Annie Get Your Gun (starring Patti LuPone, Ravinia); They’re Playing Our Song (starring Jason Alexander, L.A.’s Reprise Theatre); Barnum (Asolo Rep, Sarasota Theatre Award); Tintypes (Maltz Jupiter Theatre); 1776 (Paper Mill Playhouse); Breaking Up Is Hard To Do (Ogunquit Playhouse); Chess, The Full Monty, Dreamgirls (North Carolina Theatre); Beautiful Girls (Manhattan School of Music). Look for Josh’s choreography in a new production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella opening on Broadway in January 2013. Sam Davis (Musical Supervisor, Orchestrations and Arrangements) Broadway credits as arranger and/or conductor include: Drood, Scandalous, Curtains, The Apple Tree, and Cabaret. Other credits include musical supervisor for Dreamgirls at the Apollo (also national tour), plus orchestrator for The Trumpet of the Swan at the Kennedy Center. As composer: Bunnicula with playwright Charles Busch (Daryl Roth Theater), Love and Real Estate (59 E 59 Street), The Scottish Musical (Penn State). Recordings include his debut album as songwriter Love on a Summer Afternoon (P.S. Classics). Winner of the Jonathan Larson Award for composition and a graduate of the University of Michigan. For more information visit www. samdavismusic.com Jeff Marder (Music Director/Pianist) Broadway (conducting, playing, and/or synthesizer
programming): Newsies, Leap of Faith, Priscilla, Wicked, Book of Mormon, Guys and Dolls (2009 revival), Beauty and the Beast, among others. Other theatre: Disney’s Aladdin, Cirque du Soleil’s “O”, and The Radio City Christmas Spectacular. Discography: Broadway cast recordings of Newsies, Leap of Faith, and Priscilla. As composer: Verizon Fios, Down the Barrel (ESPN2), and the Everland Theme Park (South Korea). Original Jewish liturgical compositions performed in synagogues, conventions, and festivals throughout the United States. Piano concerto debut at age twelve with the Philadelphia Orchestra. www.mardermusic.com
Beowulf Boritt (Set Designer) Philadelphia Theatre Co: The Scottsboro Boys; Delaware
Theatre Co: Art (Barrymore Awd.) Tally’s Folly (Barrymore Nom.), Mary’s Wedding, No Child, Ten Months, The Glass Menagerie. Broadway: The Scottsboro Boys (Tony Nomination), Chaplin, Rock Of Ages, Sondheim On Sondheim, …Spelling Bee , LoveMusik, The Two And Only. Off- Broadway: More than 50 shows including The Last Five Years, Toxic Avenger, Miss Julie, Public, Roundabout, MTC, 2nd Stage, Vineyard, MCC, New Group, Pearl, American Place, Keen Company. Other Designs: The Seven Deadly Sins (New York City Ballet) Paradise Found (London), Reel to Real (Beijing) and 2 editions of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus. He received a 2007 OBIE Award.
who’s who Alejo Vietti (Costume Designer) PTC: Red, Spelling Bee and Nerds. New York: NYC Opera Séance on a Wet Afternoon; Nightingale, Manipulation, Grace, Make Me a Song, Tryst, Roulette, The Last Sunday in June, 16 Wounded, 2 X Tennessee, Servicemen, Waiting for Godot, Five Flights and Othello, among others. Selected Regional: Alley Theatre, Arena Stage, Hartford Stage, Longwharf, Colorado Ballet, Pasadena Playhouse, Cleveland Playhouse, Cincinnati Playhouse, Goodspeed, Guthrie, Ford’s Theatre DC, Signature Theatre, New York Stage and Film, Pittsburgh Public, Saint Louis Repertory, Arizona Theatre Company, Goodspeed Musicals, Paper Mill Playhouse. Others: Donetsk Opera Ukraine, Edinburgh Festival Fringe; Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey, Radio City Rockettes. TDF Young Master Award. Howell Binkley (Lighting Designer) Recent B’way: Jesus Christ Superstar, How To Succeed… starring Daniel Radcliffe (2011 Tony nomination), Memphis, Lombardi, West Side Story (2009 Tony nomination), Gypsy with Patti LuPone, In The Heights (2008 Tony nomination), Jersey Boys, Avenue Q, The Full Monty, Parade, How To Succeed... starring Matthew Broderick and Kiss of The Spider Woman. Proud co-founder of and lighting designer for Parsons Dance. 1993 Olivier Award and Canadian Dora Award for Kiss of The Spider Woman. 2006 Tony Award, Henry Hewes Design Award and Outer Critics Circle Award for Jersey Boys. Robert Kaplowitz (Sound Design) has had the privilege to create sound designs for
hundreds of works for the stage, and has been honored with an OBIE award for Sustained Excellence in Sound Design and a Tony Award for Fela! Locally, he’s designed for PlayPenn, Arden, Interact, PLTC, Elastic Theatre, Lucidity Suitcase and Act II; other credits include Lincoln Center, England’s National Theatre, The Public, MTC, and Sundance; he’s married to a former John Deere Catalog Model whom he loves, along with his son Niall, more than any work he’s ever done.
Jason H. Thompson (Projection Designer) Broadway: Baby It’s You! Off-Broadway: Remember Me (Parsons Dance Company, Joyce Theatre/ National Tour), This Beautiful City (Vineyard Theatre). Recent: Tales from Hollywood (Guthrie Theatre), Cage Songbooks (SF Symphony, Carnegie Hall), Crescent City Opera (The Industry, LA), Wheelhouse (TheatreWorks), The Great Immensity (Kansas City Rep, TED Conference), No Good Deed (Furious Theatre Company, LA), Re:Union (Vancouver, Jessie Award Nomination), Venice (Kirk Douglas Theatre, KC Rep, LA Ovation Award), No Good Deed (Furious Theatre Company), Ordinary Days (South Coast Rep), The Night is a Child (Pasadena Playhouse), Distracted (Theatreworks). He also designs content for Stars on Ice 2006-2012 USA and Canadian Tours, has worked internationally in Taiwan, Singapore, England, Canada, and has taught as an adjunct professor at UCLA. Jason is a member of USA 829. www.jasonhthompsondesign.com Roy W. Backes (Production & Facilities Manager) Roy 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 home town 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.
who’s who Melanie T. Morgan (Production Stage Manager) Broadway: ONCE, HIGH, Looped,
The Story of My Life, Curtains, Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me, The Light in the Piazza, Little Women- The Musical, Jumpers. Off-Broadway: Love, Loss. and What I Wore, King David, Having It Almost, George M. Cohan, Tonight!, The Fear Project, She Stoops To Conquer, Last Easter, Berkshire Village Idiot. Tours: Wishful Drinking, Little Women- The Musical (1st NT), Reefer Madness (Edinburgh Festival Fringe) Film/TV: Handel’s Messiah Rocks with the Boston Pops for PBS. Other: NAMT, NYMF, FringeNYC, HB Playwrights, Williamstown, Kennedy Center, Westport Country Playhouse, The Atlanta Symphony. Love and thanks to my family and God. Proud Equity Member.
Danielle Commini (Assistant Stage Manager) Philadelphia Theatre Company: Assistant Stage Manager; 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) is the Literary Manager and Dramaturg
at Philadelphia Theatre Company. 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 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).
Tara Rubin Casting (Casting Director) Broadway: The Heiress (upcoming), Scandalous: The Life and Trials of Aimee Semple McPherson (upcoming), Ghost, One Man, Two Guvnors (US Casting), Jesus Christ Superstar (US Casting), Hugh Jackman: Back on Broadway, How to Succeed.., Promises, Promises, A Little Night Music, Billy Elliot, Shrek, Guys and Dolls, The Country Girl, RockN’Roll, The Farnsworth Invention, …Young Frankenstein, The Little Mermaid, Mary Poppins, My Fair Lady, Pirate Queen, Les Misérables, Spamalot, Jersey Boys, …Spelling Bee, The Producers, Mamma Mia!, Phantom of the Opera, Contact. Off-Broadway: Love, Loss, and What I Wore. Regional: La Jolla Playhouse, Dallas Theatre Center, Westport Country Playhouse. Film: Lucky Stiff, The Producers
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 adivisory 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. Aaron Harnick (Conceiver) produced Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune (Broadway) and Debbie Does Dallas (Off Broadway). Aaron has also written for several television comedies including The Drew Carey Show and was a 2003 Sundance Writing Fellow for his screenplay, The First X-Rated Kiss, as well as the writer and director of the feature film 30 Days.
who’s who Harbor Entertainment David Broser and Aaron Harnick are the principals of Harbor
Entertainment. Broadway: Night, Mother, Fiddler on the Roof, Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me. Regional: Breaking Up is Hard to Do. Film: Black Dynamite.
Daryl Roth holds the singular distinction of producing seven Pulitzer Prize-winning plays:
Anna in the Tropics; August: Osage County (2008 Tony Award); Clybourne Park (2012 Tony Award); How I Learned to Drive; Proof (2001 Tony Award); Edward Albee’s Three Tall Women; and Wit. She has produced over 75 award winning productions, including most recently: Love, Loss, and What I Wore; One Man, Two Guvnors; War Horse (2011 Tony Award); The Normal Heart (2011 Tony Award); Annie; and the new musical, Kinky Boots book by Harvey Feirstein, music and lyrics by Cyndi Lauper. Her upcoming projects include John Grisham’s A Time To Kill, and It Shoulda Been You. Love to Steven, my wonderful family, and Lucy & Leo ever in my heart. For more information, please visit www.DarylRothProductions.com.
director’s noteS | Gordon greenberg I first picked up Abby Pogrebin’s book, ‘Stars of David,’ two years ago at the urging of my friends and collaborators, Aaron Harnick and Daryl Roth. I was in the midst of revising Working, the musical based on Studs Terkel’s legendary book of interviews, and I was struck by the similarities. Like Terkel, Pogrebin had managed to tap into something rich, human and amazingly current; one of the last remaining sensitive issues in our crazy culture of over-sharing. Bypassing the cliché rites of passage, the book was a conduit to a better understanding of how these people navigated a spiritually tricky world – and some really good stories. It deserved to be on stage. Adapting the book was a group effort. They say making a musical is not unlike trying to herd cats. Well, they say a lot worse things, but suffice it to say that there are a good number of elements that need to be precisely in sync for a musical to work. It can be a challenge. Your average musical has three writers - one book writer, one lyricist and one composer. We have 24. Our creative team is more of a community. But it’s a diverse and fascinating one. From the extraordinary Charles Busch to the always vigorous William Finn to the late, lovely Marvin Hamlisch, our writers add many more levels to the spectrum of ideas put forward in the book. It took some time to coordinate efforts and figure out the puzzle of how to make all the pieces fit. But isn’t that the perfect metaphor for our cultural identity? It won’t be reduced to a single idea. And ultimately, it won’t go away. This show, like the book from which it derives, is a celebration of the diversity of experiences that comprise who we are – the many ways they ground us, and the ways they lift us up.
Yiddish and Jewish Terms of Interest in Stars of David Ta’amin – The musical accents/notes in the cantillation. D’geshim – The letter doublings or gemination marks in the cantillation. Torah - The law of God as revealed to Moses and recorded in the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures. Compiled by Carrie Chapter and Literary Intern, Iraisa Ann Reilly Seder - A Jewish ritual service and ceremonial dinner for the first night or first two nights of Passover. Bat Mitzvah - A religious initiation ceremony for a Jewish girl aged twelve years and one day, regarded as the age of religious maturity. Farbisn – Bitter; sullen. Goy – A non-Jew, an outsider. Goyeh is the feminine. Goyim is the plural. Minyan – A group of at least ten bar mitzvot (Jewish men over the age of 13) gathered to pray. Kaddish – The traditional mourner’s prayer. Yis’Ga’Dal V’Yis’Kadash Sh’May Ra’bbo – First line in the Kaddish, transliterated as “May the great Name of God be exalted and sanctified, throughout the world…”. Cantillation Trope - The traditional notation representing the various traditional Jewish melodies to which scriptural passages are chanted.
Talmud - The body of Jewish civil and ceremonial law and legend comprising the Mishnah (text) and the Gemara (commentary). Shikseh/ Shiksa – A non-Jewish girl or woman; hence, a seductress. Mishpokhe – Family; kin. Schmaltz/Shmaltz – Chicken fat, lard, corn; hence, pathos or mawkishness. Gefilte fish - A mixture of several chopped fishes that is formed into balls and cooked in fish stock. Bris – B’rit Milah, when an 8-day old boy sits on the knees of his sandek (godfather) and gets circumcised. Kosher - (of food, or premises in which food is sold, cooked, or eaten) satisfying the requirements of Jewish law. Tucchas – Buttocks; rear-end. Yiddishkeit – Jewishness; flavor of Jewish traditions or customs; something that evokes Jewish heritage. Schmendrick – A wimp; spineless, feeble man.
Bimah/Bime – A platform in a Synagogue where the Torah is read. (To) “Nosh” – To snack, noshen, nibble. Dayenu – Transliterated as “it would have been enough for us,” it’s a recited song/poem that is part of the Passover Haggadah (the text recited at the Seder on the first two nights of the Jewish Passover, which includes a narrative of the Exodus). Bubbe – Grandmother. Mishegoss - Craziness; senseless behavior or activity. Yeshiva/Yeshiva Bokher – A Jewish school for higher Talmudic learning; Bokher indicates student. Shabbas/Shabes – Sabbath; Saturday. *All terms courtesy of the Yiddish Dictionary Online and the Merriam-Webster Dictionary Online. Image courtesy of Yiddish-translation.com
2012/2013 Season Packages start as low as $99! From COMEDY to MUSICALS, BROADWAY hits to historically reimagined DRAMA – there’s something for everyone in our exciting 2012/2013 season at PTC!
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The Second Intifada - The second Palestinian uprising, which brought about a period of intensified Palestinian–Israeli violence. It began in late September 2000 and ended around 2005. The death toll, including both military and civilian, is estimated to be 5,500 Palestinians and over 1,100 Israelis, as well as 64 foreigners.
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Gripping Broadway hit confronts the destiny and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on the eve of his assassination.
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A new comedy triumph from the multi award-winning playwright and creator of the runaway TV hit SMASH.
sTARTING MAY 24
VENUS in fur by David Ives
A sexy and stylish new play – this 2012 Tony Award winner is a seriously smart and intensely funny study of the erotics of power.
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In Memory of Kenneth S. Kaiserman The Philadelphia Theatre Company is deeply sorrowed at the 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 Deanne L. Bennett Carol Blank and Dr. Horace Barsch Nick Cinalli Cupersmith, Wilensky, Steiger, Stempler & Company, LLP Fran and Neal Cupersmith Joseph A. Damico Jr. Donna and Barry Feinberg Stephen and Mary Feldman Toni Alperin Goldberg Judy and Joel Golden Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Gorenstein Richard and Wendy Glazer Lee and Judy Jolles
Bruce and Arlin Kardon Jim and Nina Korsh Monika Krug and George Edel David Lerman and Shelley Wallock Dale Penneys Levy & Richard Levy Priscilla M. Luce Paul and Hope Makler Brett Mandel Lynn and Joe Manko Mr. and Mrs. Charles E. Mather James and Susan Meyer Elma J. Mirto O’Donnell & Naccarato, Inc. Barbara Presseisen
David and Helen Pudlin Alfred and Kathleen Putnam Sue Perel Rosefsky Don and Lynne Rosenblit Bernard and Harriet Rothman Mark and Barbara Rubenstein Bryna and Andrew Scott Jonathan J. Spadaford and Joy A. Toritto Judith Spiller Spring Garden Construction Company Herb and Mimi Stein Bruce and Robbi Toll Harriet and Larry Weiss
T h e M a k i n g o f STARS OF DAV I D by Carrie Chapter, PTC Dramaturg
In the Beginning…Lights Up!
The Source Material
Rome was not built in a day – neither was the American musical.
It all started with an idea. Abigail Pogrebin’s book, Stars of David: Prominent Jews Talk About Being Jewish, was published in 2005 and contained essays reflecting Pogrebin’s series of interviews with Jewish public figures. Praise poured out plentifully for the book. Publishers Weekly hailed it as “consistently engaging” while People magazine marveled at how “the responses [were] as varied as fingerprints.” Pogrebin’s aim for writing the book mirrored its reception, as she noted: “For a long time, I’d looked at famous Jews and wondered where something so private as religious identity fits into a public life so, I wondered if being Jewish mattered at all to these Jews, whether they felt proud of their heritage or burdened by it, whether they felt a special obligation – as a public figure – to wear their Jewishness more vocally, or whether it was something they felt the need to play down so they’d have a more “universal” appeal in their particular profession. I wanted to sit down with people I’d long watched --and for the most part admired --to see how honest they would be about something all of us wrestle with on some level.”
If you have strolled down 42nd Street in the last ten or so years, you have probably seen a distinct pattern of marquees – the movie-musical, the jukebox musical, or the latest British import musical, perhaps. However, these new subgenres exist more as the products of our time than descendants of a hallowed lineage. After all, the musical only developed its American identity following nearly a century of imported ballad operas and burlesques until the era of vaudeville when George M. Cohan laid the foundation for the musical comedy standard. Then, finally, we entered the age of the songwriter/librettist dynamic with the music of Rodgers & Hart, Jerome Kern, the Gershwins, and auspiciously soared onward for years to come. The American musical, in its past, present and future, remains a valuable (and enviable) commodity. But, how does one build such an art form? Do the lyrics come first, or does the music make the muse? And, what about a libretto - how do you write a cogent storyline to support a musical? Realistically, how long does it take to put the whole show together? – The latter question is possibly most varied; one classic work, GYPSY, is rumored to have taken less than a year to write, complete, and produce while most musicals today take approximately 3-5 years or more. Of course, the timeline often relies on the type of musical being created. Our world premiere musical, STARS OF DAVID, represents a special case, and its process speaks to its unique, peerless position in our contemporary canon.
“At first, explaining what I was thinking was not easy.” – Aaron Harnick, Conceiver
Watering the Musical Seed Her passion behind the book attracted the attention of an old family friend, producer Aaron Harnick, who would become the conceiver of STARS OF DAVID, the musical.
“She was my older sister’s best friend,” recalled Harnick, “ For big occasions, she would take existing songs and make up these terribly funny, sophisticated lyrics to fit the occasion – with three part harmonies, etc. - everyone would look forward to them and be blown away. Once I started producing I was always on the lookout for great lyricists and I told Abby that when the time was right and she wanted to try to write a song from scratch to let me know.” The proposition to write a musical had been made, but the notion of musicalizing a series of interviews presented an unorthodox challenge. Documentary theatre, the “docu-drama,” had tackled the interview structure, but it was remote territory for a prospective musical. As Pogrebin remembered: “I was a little wary at first because I would never want these interviews to feel trivialized in song and dance, but Aaron convinced me that they’d be handled truthfully in all their complexity – while still trying to capture both the ambivalence people feel, their pathos and humor at the same time.” Harnick and Pogrebin decided to take the form for a test drive first before moving forward. “I told her [Pogrebin] to pick a chapter and I would get her someone to write the music,” says Harnick, “- she picked the Ruth Bader Ginsburg chapter - I picked Tom Kitt and they wrote that song. We sent it to Justice Ginsburg who wrote back that she loved it and gave permission to use it in a show - she did have a line change, which she wrote on Supreme Court stationary. I knew we had a show then.” From that point on, this is how each song would be created; it was actually composer Tom Kitt who, in conversation with Harnick, suggested that different composers and lyricists “adopt” each interview subject because such diverse personalities should be outfitted with
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equally distinctive musical voices, especially since many songwriters had natural connections with the interview subjects, like Marvin Hamlisch’s relationship with Alan & Marilyn Bergman.
“This show is unlike any other musical I’ve ever seen, let alone worked on. It’s both a musical revue but also a non-musical play.” – Charles Busch, Librettist Forming a Musical Team A multitude of famous folks were plucked from the page to be paired with a roster of talented composers and lyricists. Throughout the extensive workshop process, some subjects were added, rewritten, or simply (politely) omitted from the rehearsal draft. Like Pogrebin and Kitt’s work with Ruth Bader Ginsburg, permission had to be given by each interview subject for each musical “rendering,” which was a painstaking process in its own right. Soon, director Gordon Greenberg jumped on board; Greenberg’s expert management and vision for intricately woven musicals, like Studs Terkel’s WORKING, solidified his role in this project. Once the “stars” aligned musically, the question of the libretto loomed large. Who could provide the story to go with the songs? Harnick knew exactly what he wanted in a librettist: “We knew we wanted it to be short, fast, and funny and that’s why Charles Busch was the perfect choice… the last thing I wanted to create was a boring Jewish lecture.” Busch recollected when Greenberg approached him about the project: “I was totally unfamiliar with Abby’s book or
Abby[…] All he [Greenberg] needed was for me to write a few short monologues in the voice of the agitated Jewish lady I had written about in plays like THE TALE OF THE ALLERGIST’S WIFE. Sounded simple enough. Never believe any sentence starting with ‘All you need to do is…’. This show is unlike any other musical I’ve ever seen, let alone worked on. It’s both a musical revue but also a non-musical play.”
Marrying Text with Music As Busch soon realized, the storyline was not the material of an ordinary song cycle musical. Rather, the songs required a connection point, a home base, in order to build an arc, as well as a sense of purpose, to each musical and book moment. Busch, though, did bring up a salient point as to why STARS OF DAVID stands out in its creative process: “Usually, the librettist works with the composer and lyricist and the songs come out of his play. In this case, many composers and lyricists were asked to musicalize various interviews from Abby’s book, [separately]. Since it took a long time for all the songs to be gathered, it seemed best for me to wait until then and somehow build a structure to contain them.” The time had come to wed the words to the music. Luckily, music arranger Sam Davis gave each tune a flexible body - allowing the music to move with the text.
Waiting in the Wings After a workshop process, STARS OF DAVID migrated to the center ring of the rehearsal space. However, the rehearsals did not exactly follow the standard schedule because, as a workin-development, the script is still changing. Its shape-shifting quality was due to revisions in both the book and music; the dramatic structure of the musical fluctuated as new songs were integrated into the story, and the
sequence of the songs were re-evaluated and sorted. Harnick posed this visual for how this musical differed in its level of involvement: “Don’t forget, this is like producing 30 musicals at one time.” Though, by the time rehearsal started, there were some composer-lyricist teams who have “adopted” more than one interview subject, making a grand total 21 composers and lyricists contributing to the work – an unparalleled level of participation in any musical venture. For her role in the rehearsal process, author/lyricist Abigail Pogrebin viewed her time as a learning experience: “It’s an education to watch how something moves from the page to the stage – to learn what the demands of a theatrical piece require and to watch ‘the experts’ at work -- meaning director Gordon Greenberg and writer Charles Busch. I also have been awed by the songwriters’ talents and reminded of how powerfully music captures an emotion -- even more effectively sometimes than when the same story is read.”
Appreciating the Life of a New Work The depth and extent of this particular creative process made it a rare and vigorous musical endeavor. In terms of the range of its collaboration, it rose as a monolithic theatrical event. Pogrebin especially carried a personal connection (and a childhood love rekindled): “My not-so-secret secret is that I was obsessed with musicals as a kid. I knew the lyrics to almost any show you can name, my twin sister and I – when we were 8, 9, 10 years old - used to choreograph and perform little ‘musical acts’ in front of anyone who had the misfortune of wandering into our apartment – we were just compulsive little performers, and then I had the great fortune of being cast -- at age 16-- in the original Sondheim musical MERRILY
WE ROLL ALONG on Broadway. So, the fact that I ultimately abandoned my pursuit of theater for journalism, only to have it come full-circle with my first book becoming a musical – and thereby returning me to the world I adored so much – is honestly profound and deeply moving for me.” While the musical reminded Pogrebin of her lifelong zeal for the theatre, Harnick saw STARS OF DAVID as an innovation, a glimpse at the future of musical theatre: “I wanted to be involved with a show I would want to see – and that would be a short, moving, funny show with the best original music around – simple, right?” Simplicity had eluded the musical’s path so far, but its arduous nature made the fruits of its labor all the more savory. Busch illuminated what every creative process entails: “Over this year of many workshops and readings, we’ve created various structures and torn them down. Then started from scratch. We’ve discovered what works and what doesn’t. We’re still learning. This has not been easy. It helps that we laugh a lot.”
A busy, music-making workstation during rehearsals for STARS OF DAVID
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
Welcome to the ptc team ROY W. Backes, Production & Facilities Manager Roy is thrilled to be joining Philadelphia Theatre Company’s senior management team. After graduating with top honors from Point Park University’s conservatory theater program in his hometown of Pittsburgh, he began his career as the Prop Master for the late, great Fred Rogers on Public Television’s “Mister Rogers Neighborhood,” caring for Fred’s beloved fish tank, trolley and puppets. 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 Pittsburgh’s Odd Chair Playhouse; the Pittsburgh Public; Hartmann Theater; Roundabout Theatre Company; Philadelphia Drama Guild; Prince Music Theater; Wilma Theater; Freedom Theatre; Walnut Street Theatre; Bay Street Theatre; Williamstown Theatre Festival and many more. Roy is a proud member of Actors Equity and the Production Managers Forum. He and his wife, Lisbeth Bartlett, an acting coach, writer and award-winning stage and screen actor, just celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary. Their son Oliver, who recently graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Pennsylvania, works in the Russia and Eurasia Diplomacy Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a foreign policy think tank in Washington D.C. Roy thanks both Lisbeth and Oliver for their love and undying support. In his spare time, Roy pursues painting, writing poetry and practicing yoga. Namaste. Greenfield teaching ARtist fellows Philadelphia Theatre Company welcomes their first group of Albert M. Greenfield Fellows. Through the generosity of the Albert M. Greenfield Foundation, these five fellows will spend the year paired with a master teaching artist as a mentor. They will observe, collaborate and engage in discussion surrounding the pedagogy and best practices in the teaching artistry field. Throughout the second year, Clockwise from top left: Teaching fellows Christina Binder, David Pershica, Adriana Lopez, Jessica fellows will work as teaching artists for PhiladelWallace, and Justine Brannon. phia Theatre Company as well as other regional theatres throughout the city. With the help of the Albert M. Greenfield Foundation, Philadelphia Theatre Company is excited to develop young teaching artists in an effort to improve the quality of arts education locally and nationally.
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 September 19, 2012.
The Artists Circle
Where great theatre and great theatre friends meet Executive Producers Circle ($25,000 - $49,999)
Victor Keen and Jeanne Ruddy Producers Circle ($10,000 - $24,999)
Marilyn & Robert Birnhak Julia & Eugene Ericksen Alice L. George Susan & Kenneth Kaiserman Dale Penneys Levy & Richard Levy Suzanne & Ralph Roberts Kristen Phillips and Matt Schreck Harriet & Larry Weiss Directors Circle ($5,000-$9,999)
Anonymous Lynda Barness Judy & Alvin Block Tracy & Rick Burke Lani & John Carrow David & Nancy Colman Fran & Neal Cupersmith Ms. Lee Ducat Mr. and Mrs. Alan S. Fellheimer Dorothy & Frank Giordano Marcy Gringlas & Joel Greenberg Glenn Gundersen & Susan Manix Sally Lyn Katz Monika Krug Priscilla M. Luce Susan & James Meyer Jerry & Cookie Riesenbach Neal & Sheila Schneider Bryna & Andrew Scott Laura & Richard Steel, in support of the TMNPA Shel & Karen Thompson Stephen & Rosalyn Weinstein Alan & Janet Widra
Designers Circle ($2,500-$4,999)
Anonymous Peter Arger Linda & Jonathan Chorney Michael & Ellen Singer Coleman Steven J. Engelmyer, Esq. & Lisa Wershaw in support of Drama Contact Sally Walker & Thomas Gilmore Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Goldblum Christine Kanter Susan Kaiserman Arthur Kaplan and R. Duane Perry David Lerman & Shelley Wallock Don & Lynne Rosenblit Carol Saline & Paul Rathblott Elliot & Carol Schwartz James T. Smith & Debra Klebanoff June & Stephen Wolfson Playwrights Circle ($1,000-$2,499)
Jim & Kim Balaschak Carol Blank & Dr. Horace Barsch Sally Berlin Barbara & Mickey Black Arthur & Janice Block Louis Bluver Beverly & Berny Brownstein John & Priscilla Clement Diane Cribbs & Arthur M. Mann Dr. James F. Dougherty Mr. and Mrs. Brian H. Effron Donna & Barry Feinberg Phyllis & Howard Fischer Esther Flaster Marjorie & Sidney Gable Matt and 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 Madeleine & Steve Kessler Harvey & Virginia Kimmel Mary Ann B. & Joel I. Lawson William L. Leonard Fran & Leon L. Levy Charisse R. Lillie Michael Loughran & Jim Leach Belle & Thomas J. Maher Lynn & Joe Manko Seymour Millstein Nancy & Dean Nance Robin Palley Maureen E. Pugh Barbara Rice & Tina Phipps Sue Perel Rosefsky Lila Roisman Noel Rosales & Vic Spain Jeannette & Dick Rosen Dr. Martin Rubel & Mrs. Suzanne Goldstein-Rubel Mark and Barbara Rubenstein Andrew & Melinda Rudolph Vesna & Howard Sacks Michael Sanyour & Laurada Byers Sherrie Savett Dr. Nathan & Dolly Beechman Schnall Eric & Robin Settle Mr. and Mrs. Richard Sheerr Marjorie & Howard Silverman Gayle & David Smith Kathleen Stephenson, Esq. Barbara & Robert Tiffany Dr. Bettyruth Walter & Donald J. Goldberg Connie & Sankey Williams Jeanne P. Wrobleski, Esq. The Zeldin Family Foundation
PTC Performers Impresarios ($500-$999)
Anonymous Dr. Ronald Abraham Kellye L. Walker & Werten Bellamy Sally Berlin Ruth E. Brown Alexandra Carides Jane & Peter Cohen Mark & Linda S. Conley Mr. and Mrs. Arthur W. Forte Mr. Mark Garvin Cheryl & Jonathan Green Marc & Susan Howard Sheila H. Kessler Dr. Rosalie Matzkin Steven Poses and Christina Sterner Dr. Patricia Saddier Harald and Birgit Wulff Mr. and Mrs. Thomas E. Zemaitis Mr. and Dr. David Zwillenberg STAR PERFORMERS ($250-$499)
Anonymous Barbara Abrahams Charlotte & Dirk Ave Dr. William F. Barr Barry & Marilyn Bevacqua Dr. Mark Delowery Drs. Jay Federman & Sylvia Beck Mr. and Mrs. H. Robert Fiebach Kenneth L. George Mr. & Mrs. Jay Goldstein Drs. Selina Luger & Michel Hoessly Fred & Beth Jacoby Tudy & Hy Kahn George F. Koch, Jr. & Santo A. DiDonato Jim & Nina Korsh Pamela D. Laws & Robert I. Whitelaw Mr. Daniel T. Lee Paul R. Levy Mr. and Mrs. Howard H. Lewis
Dr. Edward Lundy & Debbie Reiff 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 Tracey Weiss & Bill Goldberg 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 Mr. Stanley D. Baurys Carroll W. Baylson Dr. and Mrs. Charles Benjamin 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 Patricia M. Burland Maureen Callahan Janet B. Cantor Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Carozza Mr. Keith Case Debbie & Alan Casnoff John & Teresa Cavenagh
Scott & Nelly Childress Dr. Gail Ciociola Saul & Sandra Clair Matt & Barbara Cohen Natalie & Herbert Cohn Darlene & John Cooke James D. Crawford & Judith Dean Peggy & Mark Curchack Mr. Joseph A. Damico Jr. 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 Judy & Leonard Feldman Sandy & Len Feldman Stephen and Mary Feldman Ms. Marjorie S. Fiterman Janice & Leonard Freed Ms. Barbara Freedman David Furniss Bernardo C. Garcia, Ph.D. 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 James and Deborah Golden Judy & Joel Golden Ms. Brenda Goode Ms. Sandra S. Gordon Bernie and Carole Gottlieb David Grande Paul D. Green Marsha Gross Judge Marvin R. & Marcia O. Halbert Murray & Jeanne Halfond Elaine Hamilton Marcy Hammerschlag Raezelle Zinman & Brian Hanna Ralph & Sharon Harris
Karen & Bruce Harrison Eric and Adrienne Hart Mr. Richard Hausch Bob Hedley & Harriet Power Dr. Nancy Aronson & Mr. Mark Herring Morgan Y. Himelstein Mrs. Rochelle Hirsh Diane & Millage Holloway, Jr. Joe Holman John E. Holohan Ms. Linda E. Howard Dr. and Mrs. Marc R. Inver Annabelle & Miles Jellinek Sandy & Richard Josephs Mary & Donald Kane Robert S. Kane & Paula Ko 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 Steve Koche Leonard & Pearl Kornit Mr. and Mrs. Don Kramer Robert Kravitz, DDS Selma & Goncer Krestal Sandra Kuby Carol LaBelle Magdalyn Y. Lawton Victoria McNeil Le Vine Harvey & Joan Levitan Janet Levitt Natalie Levkovich Barbara & Alan Levy Sylvia & Norman Lieberman Dr. & Mrs. Thomas W. London Diane Rurode & James Lord Ms. Loretta Lynch Paul and Hope Makler Mr. Brett Mandel Ronnie & Larry Margel Terri Loring & Robert Margolies Jim & Cheryl Marple Mr. and Mrs. Charles E. Mather Lynne Maxwell Edythe & Robert Mazer
James F. McCaffery Mr. Michael K. McClure Ms. Cynthia McGovern David S. Miller Judith & Martin Miller Mark & Laura Moffa Jill & Al Montagna Mrs. Rebecca Montrone Mr. Gregory Moore Jeff & Maxine Morgan 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 Kathleen & Tim Nolan 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 David and Helen Pudlin Mr. and Mrs. George Purvis Alfred and Kathleen Putnam 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 Kate & Stanley Schreiner Mr. and Mrs. Robert H. Schwab M.D. Dr. Louis & Linda Schwartz Mr. and Mrs. David 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 Jay Snyderman Dr. Robert & Mrs. Ronnie Somers Jonathan Spadaford and Joy Toritto Mr. and Mrs. Robert E. Spallone Debbie & Gary Stahl Lucille B. Stein Bette Steinberg Philip & Doris Steinberg Richard and 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 Bruce and Robbi 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. Vincent Van Laar Norman K. Walker Eileen Weinberg Ms. Joan Weiner Mr. and Mrs. David Weinstein George H. Weiss, M.D. Mr. and Mrs. Harold B. Wells Jr. Ms. Carolyn L. Whitaker Evelyn Wiener Sherry Shamansky & Wallace Wing Lauren Wiseley Richard Woosnam Kuna & Sam Yankell Roger & Lillian Youman Mr. Arnold Zenker Margo K. Zitin & Mimsye Katz Mr. and Mrs. Theodore Zutz
Gifts in honor
Sally Ginsberg for Michael Coleman Ira Silberman and Marilyn Kutler for Priscilla M. Luce Howard and Jane Jacobs for Alice George Lee Ducat for Jerry Riesenbach
In Memory of
Dr. Nathan & Dolly Beechman Schnall for Laurie Beechman Jerome Napson for Annie Richardson
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
Anonymous Tracy and Rick Burke David and Nancy Colman Estate of Ellis K. Ginsberg Sally Lyn Katz The Eleanor M. and Herbert D. Katz Family Foundation Monika Krug and George Edel Susan & James Meyer Carol Saline and Paul Rathblott Bryna and Andrew Scott
$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 $50,000 to $99,999 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
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.
Dine with us after the show! 200 South Broad Street at The Bellevue 215-546-7256 | thepalm.com/Philadelphia Private Dining Rooms Available
Corporate Partners Let Philadelphia Theatre Company put your business in the spotlight. For more information about corporate memberships, sponsorships and in-kind support, please call 215.985.1400 x105 Corporate Sponsors ($25,000+)
Blank Rome LLP HealthAmerica Lincoln Financial Group Foundation PECO US Airways CRW Graphics Corporate Members ($3,000- $24,999)
The ARAMARK Charitable Fund Beneficial Bank Dranoff Properties Firstrust Bank Flaster Greenberg Samuel T. Freeman & Company Sage Financial Group Shamrock Clean Spring Garden Construction Company Team Clean The Haverford Trust Company Wells Fargo Foundation other Corporate gifts
Carrier Corporation DoubleTree by Hilton, Philadelphia Center City Palm Valley Green Bank US Airways WTSO
Official beverage sponsor
Official airline
Matching Gifts
Bank of New York Mellon GE Foundation Matching Gifts Program GlaxoSmithKline Foundation Matching Gifts Program Merck Partnership for Giving UBS Employee Giving Program FOUNDATION SUPPORT
AAYCO Charitable Foundation Beatrice Fox Auerbach Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Foundation Connelly Foundation Dolfinger-McMahon Foundation Fund for Children of The Philadelphia Foundation Haley Foundation Independence Foundation June and Steve Wolfson Family Foundation Knight Arts Challenge of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation Lindback Foundation Lomax Family Foundation Performing Arts Foundation, Inc. Philadelphia Theatre Initiative Rosenlund Family Foundation Sanders J. Charitable Trust The Albert M. Greenfield Foundation The Barra Foundation, Inc. The Charlotte Cushman Foundation The Civic Foundation, Inc. The Hamilton Family Foundation The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation The Shubert Foundation, Inc. The Suzanne F. and Ralph J. Roberts Foundation The Victory Foundation The William Penn Foundation The Wyncote Foundation Viginia Brown Martin Award Virginia and Harvey Kimmel Arts-Education Fund
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 September 19, 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.
Become a Corporate Partner Philadelphia Theatre Company’s annual corporate program provides you with an array of benefits to recognize your dedication and generous support. Aligning your brand with PTC will bring you: • Recognition and visibility • Employee benefits, including tickets • Opportunities for entertaining and networking. Join today to directly connect with engaged consumers who share a commitment to bringing the arts to Philadelphia. PTC offers individualized packages that best meet your company’s needs. To learn more about these opportunities contact Amanda Varone | Manager of Institutional Giving avarone@philadelphiatheatrecompany.org | 215-985-1400 ext 105
ActOut Summer Camp 2013 One Week Sessions: Two Week Intensive: Week 1: July 15 - 19 July 29 – August 2 Week 2: July 22 – 26
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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)
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 Niel 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 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 the city of nutterly love co production with Chicago’s The Second City 2007 - 08
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 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 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 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 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
(1975 - 1981)
1980 - 81 The Rimers of Eldritch by Lanford Wilson Alice Through The Looking Glass 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 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) 1975 The Adding Machine by Elmer Rice Sargeant Musgrave’s Dance by John Arden vBetween Now and Then by Leslie Lee
save the date
P h i l a d e l p h i a T h e a t r e C o mp a n y
Annual Gala March 1, 2013
Friday | March 1, 2013 | 6:30pm Loews Hotel 1200 Market Street Philadelphia, PA 19107
Proceeds from the Gala help support PTC’s education and community outreach initiatives. For table sponsorships, tickets or underwriting opportunities, please contact: Christine Mickletz | 215.985.1400, x 115 cmickletz@philadelphiatheatrecompany.org
P H I L ADELPHIA THEATRE COMPAN Y at the
Wild Blue’s Company Philosophy is quite simple. We are passionate about food, this is our craft. We want you to have the best food, prepared to suit your needs. Wild Blue vows to use only the freshest, top quality products at all times in every dish we serve Call us or visit our website for menu ideas Social - Cocktail Parties, Roaring 20’s Theme Parties Formal Occasions – Weddings and Dinner Parties Casual Occasions – Graduations, Anniversaries, etc. Business Functions – Holiday Parties, Luncheons Www.WildBlueCatering.com
Proud Member Wild Blue Creative Catering, Inc. 380 Crooked Lane, Suite 2 King of Prussia, PA 19406 610-272-7200
Want to reach 50,000 theatergoers through print, social media and email like these businesses do? Arrive in style to the theatre with $20 off your first ride from UBER – your on-demand private car service! Sign up by downloading the app on your iPhone or Android device, or log on to uber.com to sign up. Then, anytime during the 2012/2013 season enjoy $20 off your first ride to or from the Theatre using promo code PHLTheatre. Subscribers check your handbook for an UBER offer just for you!
For information on becoming a PTC Patron Partner, Call Carol at 215.985.0420 x 104.
Groups of 8 or more save on tickets, don’t pay handling fees, receive parking discount coupons, and can now enjoy gourmet lunch delivered to the theatre to enjoy pre-show! Philly’s delicious new spot, The Quick Fixx, designed an exclusive menu just for PTC!
Call Carol Flannery, Sales Manager, at 215.985.0420 x104
GET THE BEST SEAT IN THE HOUSE
OPEN HOUSE: FRI–SUN 12–5PM 267.465.6007
CONDOMINIUMS
A DRANOFF PROPERTY
Broad & Pine Sts., Philadelphia
2-BR from $825,000 SymphonyHouseCondo.com
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: 11/10/12 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 11/3/12 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 All Patron Enrichment Programming (PEP) events are FREE! * Special post-show talk with Philly's own National Museum of American Jewish History. 11/13 Stay tuned for additional special programs & events !
Book Club
Special Topics
10/25 @ 6:30PM Come, sit, eat, sip, discuss! Jonathan Tropper’s This is Where I Leave You.
11/7 post-matinee “Great Old Schtick: Judaism in the World of Entertainment,” an onstage panel discussion
Meet-the-Artists (MTA) 10/25 | 10/30 | 11/1 Stay around right after the show for talkback and audience Q&A with the cast of Stars of David.
American Playwrights in Context (APIC) 10/28 post-matinee Join us for an exclusive onstage interview with our special guests, author Abigail Pogrebin and librettist/adapter Charles Busch with guest interviewer, musical journalist/ scholar, John Kenrick.
The cast of Stars of David.
Backstage Tour 11/3 post-matinee Visit and tour the behindthe-scenes magic of Stars of David.
NEW! HAPPY HOUR 10/25 | 10/26 | 11/1 |11/2 11/8 | 11/9 | 11/15 11/16 Mix, mingle, and enjoy great drink specials at PTC’s pre-show happy hour from 6:30 to curtain.
Abigail Pogrebin, Charles Busch, and Gordon Greenberg.
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
2011/12 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
Assistant Teaching Artists Greenfield Teaching Artist Fellows
administrative staff Company Manager Business Office Associate Assistant to the Producing Artistic & Managing Directors Director of Development Manager of Institutional Giving Development Associate Grant Writer Director of Marketing & Communications Marketing Manager Sales Manager Patron Services Manager Box Office Manager Publicist Box Office Associate House Manager
Members Emeritus
Former board presidents
PTC Interns Anthony Caffie Shante Brown A’laisha Evans Rebecca Khalil Dana Marcus
Jarrett McCreary Brad Ogden Iraisa Ann Reilly Cierra Saunders
artistic/ programming staff Literary Manager and Dramaturg Director of Education Assistant Director of Education Education Coordinator Master Teaching Artists Lead 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
Production staff Production & Facilities Manager Technical Director Facilities Supervisor Assistant Director Associate Set Designer Associate Costume Designer Assistant Lighting Designer Assistant Sound Designer Props Master Sound Supervisor Wardrobe Supervisor Production Electrician Lighting Supervisor Spot Operators Deck Crew A2 Lighting Programmer/Video Tech Dresser Music Intern NY Music Intern Philly
Carrie Chapter Maureen Sweeney Will Dennis Rashanda Freeman Krista Apple, Jan Michener, David O’ Conner Heather Cole, Donja Love, Kathryn Moroney Bridget Reynolds Brandi Burgess Christina Binder, Justine Brannon, Adriana Lopez, David Perschica, Jessica Wallace Bridget A. Cook Jonelle Kelly Sharon Kling Christine Mickletz Amanda Varone Jessie Pasquariello Michelle Hitz Amy Lebo Rose Schnall Carol Flannery Meg Morris Sarah Blask Deborah Fleischman Lesley Berkowitz Ron Hunter Roy W. Backes Michael L. Cristaldi Chris Butterfield Patrick Vassel Randy Parsons Mitchell Travers Andrew Scharwath Patrick Calhoun Melissa A. Cristaldi Daniel A. Little Maxine Johnson Terry Smith Alyssandra Docherty Jacob Lyon Goddard Stuart Bartlett Josue Carazo Melissa Mann Uel Bergey Janet Connors Eric Kang Sarah van Sciver
PH ILADEL PHIA THEATRE CO MPANY at the
THE
MOUNTAINTOP by katori hall Directed by PAtricia Mcgregor
FPO THE MOUNTAINTOP
“Exceeds all expectations!” – Philadelphia Inquirer
JANUARY 18 - FEBRUARY 17, 2013 WINNER - LONDON’S OLIVIER AWARD FOR BEST NEW PLAY!
Katori Hall
Memphis – April 3, 1968. A gripping reimagining of the events taking place the night before the assassination of Civil Rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. After delivering his magnificent and memorable “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech, an exhausted and defeated Dr. King retires to Room 306 at the Lorraine Motel where he encounters a mysterious and spirited stranger as an epic storm rages outside.