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Director’s Note “Well what are you waiting for, a comet?!” posits Meg Snider, the young woman listlessly living out her days in the late 1950s in rural Pennsylvania in Ken Ludwig’s farce. How many of us carry out our days shyly in the wings, awaiting Lady Fortune to crash upon us and awake a richer existence? Is it cosmic interjection we are waiting on? Well, how do we respond when that metaphorical comet comes crashing thru our front door? Featuring aspects of Noises Off, The Importance of Being Earnest, The Mystery of Irma Vep, and all the tricks of plot from Shakespeare’s comedies, this farcical wonderride, filled with both heart and lunacy, challenges and ultimately upturns the characters’ lives, while treating the audience to an uproarious journey of mistaken identity and misunderstandings galore. Romance runs riot in this witty, zesty farce which champions leaping at opportunities and living life to the fullest. Hold on to your seats and prepare to belly-laugh aplenty! Michael Bolinski Director
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A special one-night only event
Wednesday, September 30th at 8:00pm
Tickets are FREE but reservations are requested Get tickets at theatreworks.us
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presents
Leading Ladies
by Ken Ludwig
Directed by Michael Bolinski
The Cast Leo Clark Meg Snider Jack Gable Rev. Duncan Woolery Doctor Meyers Florence Butch Myers Audrey
Hal Chernoff Carey Van Hollen Rob Pawlikowski Daniel Basiletti Ron Dukenski Mary Wilson Edwin Arce II Victoria Calamito
Time and Place
York, Pennsylvania, 1958. Orginally produced by The Cleveland Play House Alley Theatre and Michael Bloom, Artistic Director Gregory Boyd, Artistic Director Dean Gladden, Managing Director Terry Dwyer, Managing Director on September 7th, 2004 on October 15th, 2004
Presented by special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc.
Production Staff
Director...............................................................................Michael Bolinski Stage Manager........................................................................... Beth Plotkin Assistant Stage Manager..............................Michele Ingram, Jaclyn Bonom Costume Design .......................................................................... Susan Aziz Set Design................................................................................. Judy Tringali Builders..........................Richard Pettibone, Scott Wyshynski, Jay Novicky, ...................... Glenn R. Couture, Joe Russo, John Bolster, Sonnie Osborne Set Dressing, Props & Painting..........................................Glenn R. Couture Lighting Design....................................Richard Pettibone, Scott Wyshynski Stage Combat.....................................................................Rob Pawlikowski Choreographer........................................................................ Peggy Terhune Running Crew.............................. Dan Knowlton, John Bolster, Kyle Lewis Sound Design.......................................................................... Tom Libonate House Managers............................ Mary Kimball, Christine Daley, Jill Pace Publicist...................................................................................Tom Libonate Photography............................................................ Ghostlight Photography Web Site.....................................................................printplusdesignllc.com Producer............................................................................ Glenn R. Couture Special Thanks • FM97.3 WZBG Backstage with Johnny O • • Norwalk High School • Suzi Pettibone • Executive Cuisine •
WHO’S WHO IN THE CAST EDWIN ARCE II (Butch) is making his first appearance with TheatreWorks as Butch in Leading Ladies, in his first return to the stage in over six years. Born and raised in NYC, he flew the coop after graduation and since found himself at various and sundry corners of the world, falling into a hodgepodge of strange and amusing performances. He is even more handsome in person. He would like to thank the wonderful cast and crew -- you’ve been a delight to work with and have made the long drives to rehearsal worth every minute! DANIEL BASILETTI (Duncan) starting acting as a teenager in Prince Edward Island, Canada, and has enjoyed exploring the wonders of theater ever since. Favorite roles include Arlecchino in the Commedia dell’Arte play The Three Cuckolds, Charlie in Eat Your Heart Out, Paul Bratter in Barefoot in the Park, Ronald, theatreworks.us
WHO’S WHO IN THE CAST Skunk, and Mike Stabinski in As Bees in Honey Drown, Jeff Mitchell in The Sum of Us, Eugene Morris Jerome in Biloxi Blues, and George Gibbs in Our Town. He is delighted to appear in his first production with TheaterWorks, and his first Ken Ludwig play. Thanks to Michael for allowing him to be a part of this wonderful production, to his talented fellow cast members for all the fun, and to his wife and kids for putting up with the shenanigans. To quote Duncan in Leading Ladies: “You know, the church has never looked very kindly upon play-going as a phenomenon…” VICTORIA CALAMITO (Audrey) is thrilled to be making her TheatreWorks debut! She studied theater locally at Mount Saint Mary College in Newburgh, NY. Recent theater credits include The Wizard of Oz (Dorothy swing), Repo: the Genetic Opera (Shilo), Moon Over Buffalo (Roz), When Shakespeare’s Ladies Meet (Ophelia). In addition to her experience onstage, Victoria has been working with Once Upon a Tea Party as a Disney princess. Victoria is honored to have had the opportunity to work with such an amazing cast and, as always, sends all her love to her own leading lady: Rosaria. HAL CHERNOFF (Leo/Maxine) is pleased to be making his first appearance with TheatreWorks. Hal’s recent credits include King Triton in Landmark Community Theatre’s production of Disney’s The Little Mermaid, Exit 7 Players’ production of A Chorus Line (Don), Panache Productions’ Dearly Departed (RayBud), Death and the Maiden (Gerardo) and The Shadow Box (Joe), and Farmington Valley Stage Company’s Laughter on the 23rd Floor (Kenny). Favorite roles include Ernst in Cabaret, Harker in Dracula, Lord Augustus in Lady Windermere’s Fan, Sir Despard in Ruddigore, the Pirate King in The Pirates of Penzance, Pvt. Willis in Iolanthe and the Mikado in The Mikado. Hal wishes to thank the director and production staff of TheatreWorks for this opportunity. RON DUKENSKI (Dr. Meyers) is “thrilled” (for what else do theater folk ever claim to be in their bios?) to return to NMTW, having last appeared a few years back in wonderful productions of A Little Night Music and Kiss Me, Kate. Favorite roles include Bellomy in The Fantastiks and Sanders in Lend Me A Tenor for Goshen Players, along with Jensen in Love, Sex and the IRS for theatreworks.us
WHO’S WHO IN THE CAST the Warner in Torrington. Ron has lived most of his performance life singing in choral groups of various kinds. He is currently a member and composer-in-residence for the Connecticut Choral Society. His current work, The Solstice Moment, will be premiered at CCS’s holiday concerts in December. As a relative late-comer to the stage, he enjoys playing roles for “men of a certain age”. Ron thanks Michael, an incredible ensemble cast and his old/new friends at NMTW for the pleasure of their company. CAREY VAN HOLLEN (Meg) is happy to be working on the TheatreWorks stage once again in this most ridiculous play by Mr. Ludwig. She last appeared at TheatreWorks in Avenue Q, as Lucy T. Slut and a myriad of other characters. A graduate of The American Musical & Dramatic Academy, other favorite performances include Woman in I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, Kate in Kiss Me Kate, Laurey in Oklahoma!, Nettie in Carousel, and you can catch Carey singing Victorian Carols with the Yuletide Carolers come the holidays. Other interests include playing the piano, honing her puppetry skills, natural health & animal welfare.” MARY WILSON (Florence) is delighted to again be involved in a production at TheatreWorks, this time as a crusty old woman. Last year she portrayed the rather vague, dithering Martha in The Game’s Afoot or Holmes for the Holidays, and more recently, the elderly Abby Brewster, cheerfully poisoning lonely old men in Arsenic & Old Lace at the Thomaston Opera House. According to husband, Ed, these are all appropriate roles. Many thanks to director Michael Bolinski for pulling together such a wonderful cast for this great, funny show, and a Happy 3rd Birthday to grandson Shane who keeps me forever young. ROB PAWLIKOWSKI (Jack/Stephanie) is making his debut at TheatreWorks as Jack Gable in Leading Ladies. Celebrating over twenty years as actor, Rob frequently appears at the Town Players in Newtown. He last appeared there as David Bliss in Hay Fever. Favorite roles include the swashbuckling ghost of John Barrymore in I Hate Hamlet; Pablo Picasso in A Picasso, Mr. Hardcastle in She Stoops to Conquer; Master Merrythought in The Night of the Burning Pestle; Ganesha in A Perfect Ganesh; Finbar in theatreworks.us
WHO’S WHO IN THE CAST The Weir; Perkins in The Amorous Ambassador; John Falstaff in The Merry Wives of Windsor and Toby Belch in Twelfth Night. Rob has also appeared in Westport Community Theater productions, including the character Ivan Curry in The Seafarer and Lord Angelo in Measure for Measure. At Hartford Stage, Rob made his professional debut in Our Town and also appeared in To Kill a Mockingbird. At the Ridgefield Playhouse, Rob was featured in their Standup Comedy Showcase. Rob appeared in the independent film Doing Agatha. In addition to acting, Rob was a co-director in David Ives collections of one act plays All In The Timing and Mere Mortals in Newtown, and The Front Page at Westport. Rob has provided lighting and sound design for dozens of shows for local community theaters. For more info, visit https://www.backstage.com/RobPawlikowski SUSAN AZIZ (Costumer) is thrilled to be costuming her third show at TheatreWorks. Following Earnest or What’s in a Name and The Game’s Afoot, a littler Shakespearean-1950’s- cross-dressing show sounded like quite a bit of fun! Susan works in the theater department at Taft School in Watertown, and makes puppets, dolls and costumes in her Litchfield studio. BETH PLOTKIN (Stage Manager) is happy to be returning to TheatreWorks. Previous productions Beth has been a part of are The Games Afoot, Souvenir and Time Stands Still as part of the running stage crew. “I am enjoying the chance to learn a new aspect of the Theatre. TheatreWorks has given me a means to explore the Theatre and all of its nuts and bolts. I thank Glenn for being so patient with me, Michael for his outstanding direction, Michele & Jaclyn for their support and a great cast that has made this play come to life. Sit back and enjoy the show!!!” JACLYN BONOMO (Assistant Stage Manager) is super duper excited to be assisting Leading Ladies! This is her second time working stage for a TheatreWorks production, and her most recent time here was Stage Managing the TW Kids production of Shrek Junior. She is an actress at NMHS, and has been seen in various productions. She would like to thank her dad, Beth, Michael, Glenn, Susan, Peggy, Michele, and the entire cast for welcoming her so warmly. She hopes you enjoy the show! MICHELE INGRAM (Assistant Stage Manager) spent many years enjoying both local and Broadway productions as an audience member before embracing the backstage madness. Her first foray into theatre was running lights and sound for the recent TheatreWorks production theatreworks.us
WHO’S WHO IN THE CAST of Games Afoot. She is excited to be back working with new friends on the production of Leading Ladies. She thanks her friend Kristi Peterson Schoonover for introducing her to TheatreWorks. MICHAEL BOLINSKI (Director) is a Connecticut native who has interned and worked at the Long Wharf Theater and recently received his MFA in Theatre Direction at the University of Memphis. Directing credits include: Steel Magnolias, Becky’s New Car, The Play About The Baby, The Government Inspector, Arcadia (Ostrander Award – Best Direction), Striptease, Boston Marriage, Rabbit Hole, Endgame, The Dumbwaiter, Cymbeline, The Importance of Being Earnest, Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Much Ado About Nothing. KEN LUDWIG (Playwright) is an internationally acclaimed playwright who has had six shows on Broadway and six in the West End. He has received two Laurence Olivier Awards (England’s highest theatre honor), three Tony Award nominations, two Helen Hayes Awards, and his work has been commissioned by The Royal Shakespeare Company. The Game’s Afoot won the Edgar Alan Poe Award for Best Mystery of 2012. Crazy For You won the Olivier and Tony Awards as Best Musical and Lend Me A Tenor (two Tony Awards and the Olivier nomination for Comedy of the Year), was called “one of the two great farces by a living writer” by The New York Times. Other Broadway and West End shows include Twentieth Century, Moon Over Buffalo, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer , and Treasure Island (Theatre Royal, Haymarket; AATE Distinguished Play Award). Shakespeare in Hollywood was commissioned by The Royal Shakespeare Company and won the Helen Hayes Award as Best Play. Other plays and musicals include Leading Ladies, Be My Baby, The Beaux’ Stratagem (adaptation with Thornton Wilder at the request of the Wilder Estate), The Three Musketeers (Bristol Old Vic), An American in Paris, The Fox on the Fairway, Midsummer/ Jersey, ’Twas the Night Before Christmas and Baskerville. He was given the 2013 Distinguished Career Award by the Southeastern Theatre Conference, the largest gathering of theatre professionals, faculty, and students in America. For more information visit www.kenludwig.com.
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