Our Town Program

Members of the Company of The Little Mermaid. Photo: Mike Davis.

Born in Budapest, Hungary in 1917, Lillian Slutzker was a survivor. After fleeing Nazi control for England, she met her husband at a USO dance and later returned to his hometown of Rome, New York.

She dedicated her life to bettering her community. The foundation’s purpose is to carry on her incredible legacy and fulfill her passion for Judaism, education, the arts, and enriching the community.

The Slutzker Family Foundation is thrilled to be partnering with Syracuse Stage as a season sponsor, including the show Our Town, which asks us to stop and ponder what truly matters, and to consider that for a great many of us the answers will be the same.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LETTER FROM THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

DEAR FRIENDS,

Thank you for joining us for our production of Our Town. We’re glad you’re here. I’m particularly delighted to have directed this production. Our Town has fascinated me for years. I directed a production of Our Town many years ago in what seems like a now distant past. Approaching it anew for Syracuse Stage opened my eyes to its continued relevance. It is as if the play reinvents itself to reflect the moment we’re in right now.

The first question we have to ask when we tackle what our friends in the marketing department call an American Classic is: why do it now? How can we honor the play’s significant artistic footprint and the very specific instructions we’re given by the playwright (a bare stage, no props) and still approach this 1938 treasure like it’s a brand-new work?

For us, the question is how can Our Town speak to our audience in our city in our hopefully post-pandemic world? To explore that answer we engaged one of the largest nonmusical casts we’ve assembled in several years. Most of these actors live and work here in Central New York. Working with a seasoned and insightful creative team, we’ve aspired to create a space that explores connections; connections within ourselves, connections to each other and to our community.

The pandemic has been isolating. We’ve spent the past few years afraid of the present and uncertain about the future. Our Town asks us to transcend isolation and re-engage. It asks us to live bravely in our uncertainty. It asks us to consider: “Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it?— every, every minute?” Tough question. But worth exploring. That’s what we’re attempting. Welcome to Our Town

With warmest regards,

Robert Hupp Artistic Director

 ROBERT HUPP.

PHOTO: BRENNA MERRITT.

SCENIC DESIGNER

Jason Ardizzone-West

WIG DESIGNER

Bobbie Zlotnik

Robert Hupp

Artistic Director

PRESENTS

WRITTEN BY

Thornton Wilder

DIRECTED BY Robert Hupp

COSTUME DESIGNER

Tracy Dorman

INTIMACY COORDINATOR

Melissa Crespo

LIGHTING DESIGNER

Yael Lubetzky

CHORAL MUSIC COACH

PRODUCTION STAGE MANAGER

Stuart Plymesser*

Jill A. Anderson Managing Director

SEASON SPONSORS

COMPOSER AND SOUND DESIGNER

Michael Keck

Rebecca Karpoff MOVEMENT COACH

Danyon Davis

CASTING

Bass/Valle Casting

Melissa Crespo

Associate Artistic Director

MEDIA SPONSORS

Kyle Bass

Resident Playwright

PAY-WHAT-YOU-WILL SPONSOR

Our Town © 1938, 1957 The Wilder Family LLC

Copyright agent: Alan Brodie Representation Ltd www.alanbrodie.com

This program is made possible by American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding from the City of Syracuse Arts & Culture Recovery Fund Program, a regrant program of the City of Syracuse administered by CNY Arts.

March 29 - April 16, 2023

TAKING PHOTOS IN THE THEATRE

Audience members may take photos in the theatre before and after the performance and during intermission. If you post photos on social media or elsewhere, you must credit the production's designers by including the names below.

Please note: Photos are strictly prohibited during the performance. Photos of the stage are not permitted if an actor is present. Video and audio recording is not permitted at any time in the theatre.

SCENIC DESIGNER

LIGHTING

Jason Ardizzone-West

COMPOSER AND SOUND DESIGNER Michael Keck

DESIGNER Yael Lubetzky

COSTUME DESIGNER Tracy Dorman

WIG DESIGNER

Bobbie Zlotnik

CAST

(in alphabetical order)

Christine Albright*.................................................................................................Mrs. Webb

Aria Elena Ali....................................................................................................Rebecca Gibbs

Michael Stewart Allen*.............................................................................................Dr. Gibbs

Michael Breese Barbour*.....................................Joe Stoddard, Choir Member, Wedding Guest

Alberto Bonilla*.......................................................................................................Mr. Webb

Danyon Davis*...........Prof. Willard, Choir Member, Wedding Guest, Man Among the Dead

Diego Echeverria De Cordova†...........................................................................George Gibbs

Kate Fennessy...................................................................................................Joe Crowell, Jr.

Lilli Komurek......................................................................................................Mrs. Soames

Quentin Ladd.......................................................................................................Wally Webb

Ché Lyons*............................................................................................................Mrs. Gibbs

Robert McDowell.................................................................................................Wally Webb

Jim McMahon†...............Si Crowell, Baseball Player, Wedding Guest, Man Among the Dead

Ricky Pak*.................................................................Sam Craig, Choir Member, Wedding Guest

Whitney Tenney Pak*....Belligerent Man, Woman Among the Dead, Choir Member, Wedding Guest

Derek Emerson Powell.......................Howie Newsome, Choir Member, Mourner, Wedding Guest

Isa Providence†............Lady in a Box, Choir Member, Baseball Player, Wedding Guest, Mourner

Magdaliz Rivera†...................................................................................................Emily Webb

Kaegen Ruddy..................................................................................................Joe Crowell, Jr.

Blake Segal*.....................................................................................................Simon Stimson

Ahmanee Simmons.....................Woman in Balcony, Choir Member, Mourner, Wedding Guest

Donovan Stanfield.......................................Choir Member, Constable Warren, Wedding Guest

Journey Stitt......................................................................................................Rebecca Gibbs

Jim True-Frost*.................................................................................................Stage Manager

*Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States. The Scenic, Costume, Lighting, and Sound Designers in LORT theatres are represented by United Scenic Artists Local USA-829, IATSE. The Director is a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, a national theatrical labor union. Our Town is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature. †Student, Syracuse University Department of Drama.

Play a Role

AT SYRACUSE STAGE!

Join the ensemble with a yearly donation to help us make a difference through live theatre.

Your gift supports educational, artistic, accessibility, and community engagement programming which provides the Syracuse and Central New York Community a platform for connectivity and cohesiveness.

The advancement of diversity, equity, and inclusion is promoted through programs such as Sensory Friendly performances, Young Playwrights Festival, open captioning, Cold Read Festival of New Plays, and much more.

Photo: The 2022 Young Playwright's Festival

Photographer: Candice A Bermudez

UNDERSTUDIES

Understudies never substitute for the listed players unless a specific announcement is made at the time of performance.

For Prof. Willard – Michael Breese Barbour*

For Mrs. Webb – Lilli Komurek

For George, Howie Newsome – Jim McMahon†

For Dr. Gibbs – Ricky Pak*

For Mrs. Gibbs – Whitney Pak*

For Simon Stimson – Derek Emerson Powell

For Emily – Isa Providence†

For Mr. Webb – Blake Segal*

For Mrs. Soames – Ahmanee Simmons

For Stage Manager – Donovan Stanfield

ADDITIONAL CREDITS

Student Assistant Director: Liam Bierley†

Associate Scenic Designer: Laura Valenti

Student Costume Design Assistant: Adeline Santello†

1st Production Assistant: Erin C Brett

2nd Production Assistant: Em Piraino

Stage Management Intern: Emily Kellner

Young Actor Supervisors: AnnaRae Martin, Caitlin Radziewski

Wardrobe & Wig Supervisor: Dylinn Andrew

Wardrobe: Megan Berner

Wardrobe Sub: Elissa Martin

Electrician/Board Op: Connor Beattie

Spotlight Operator: Chris Green

Sound Assistant/Board Op: Shane Wright

Deck Crew: Joseph Carter

Our Town

THE LIFE OF THE STARS

IN A LETTER DATED OCTOber 9, 1939, New Haven, Conn., and addressed to the movie director Sol Lesser, Thornton Wilder cautioned: “ Now, Sol, it’s just you I’m thinking about; will you have as interesting (emphasis Wilder) a picture as you hoped? This treatment seems to me to be in danger of dwindling to the conventional. And for a story that is so generalized that’s a great danger.”

At the time, Lesser was working on the screenplay for the film version of Our Town and he and Wilder corresponded for months sharpening each new draft. Theirs was a cordial and respectful collaboration

(unlike the playwright’s work with the play’s first stage director Jed Harris) in which Lesser tried to nudge the screenplay toward making it more appealing to the “40 millions,” while Wilder pulled back holding to the ideas that made Our Town a revolutionary stage experience. “The play interested because every few minutes there was a new bold effect in presentation methods,” he wrote.

Wilder certainly knew whereof he spoke. In his “Preface to Three Plays: ‘Our Town,’ ‘The Skin of Our Teeth,’ ‘The Matchmaker,’” he expressed, with notable exceptions, his profound “dissatisfaction” with the theatre of the late 1920s.

An archeologist’s eyes combine the view of the telescope with the view of the microscope. He reconstructs the very distant with the help of the very small. – Thornton Wilder

THORNTON WILDER, WRITER AND INSTRUCTOR AT UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO, AS HE ARRIVES IN NEW YORK ON NOVEMBER 14, 1935 ON THE CUNARD LINER BRITANNIC. WILDER WAS ON A SABBATICAL LEAVE IN AUSTRIA AND THE TYROL. PHOTO: THE WILDER FAMILY LLC.

I began to feel that the theatre was not only inadequate, it was evasive; it did not wish to draw upon its deeper potentialities. I found the word for it: it aimed to be soothing (emphasis Wilder). The tragic had no heat; the comic had no bite; the social criticism failed to indict us with responsibility. I began to search for the point where theatre had run off the track, where it had chosen—and been permitted—to become a minor art and inconsequential diversion.

Wilder maintained that in the latter half of the 19th century, theatre had become increasingly stifled by its own conventions. By this, he specifically meant the “box set” with its absolute fidelity to presenting as realistically as possible a specific

place—a drawing room, a dining room, a kitchen. Wilder found these attempts at being “real” childish, and he argued that they undermined theatre’s capacity to present “reality,” or truth, which was much more expansive. The Elizabethans and the writers of the Golden Age of Spain, he noted, used a blank stage with nary a chair in sight save for use by royalty when needed.

Wilder’s attempts “ to capture not verisimilitude but reality” began with three one act plays. In The Happy Journey to Trenton and Camden, he used four chairs to represent a family car on a seventy-mile trip that takes just twenty minutes. Ninety years go by in one meal in The Long Christmas Dinner . And: “ In The Pullman

Car Hiawatha some more plain chairs serve as berths and we hear the very vital statistics of the towns and fields the passengers are traversing; we hear their thoughts; we even hear the planets over their heads.” Wilder offered a more concrete (and subtly poetic) explanation in his own introduction to Our Town, suggesting his approach to playwriting was akin to the work of the archeologists he observed while living for a while in Rome: “An archeologist’s eyes combine the view of the telescope with the view of the microscope. He reconstructs the very distant with the help of the very small.”

In a more recent introduction to Our Town, playwright Donald Margulies expands the consideration of Wilder’s approach by comparing it to Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque’s innovative experiments with cubism, whereby the subject of a painting, a person or an object, can be viewed simultaneously from multiple perspectives. Further comparison might be made between a play like Our Town and Piet Mondrian’s abstract grids, which profoundly challenge the viewer’s perspective. For instance, is the artist’s 1918 Grid #1 a depiction of a landscape or cityscape as viewed from above or on a map, or is it

 THORNTON WILDER ON THE SET OF OUR TOWN AT THE WILBUR THEATRE IN BOSTON, JANUARY 1938.

 PIET MONDRIAN'S 1918 GRID #1. OIL ON CANVAS.

PHOTO: THE WILDER FAMILY LLC.

 CAST PAGE FROM THE BROADWAY PREMIERE OF OUR TOWN PHOTO: THE WILDER FAMILY LLC.

Harris feared that theatre goers would be put off by a play with no scenery in which props were mimed and characters spoke directly to the audience about the play they were seeing.

something very small blown up to the size of the painting, or something in between? Can one painting provide a perspective of everything, everywhere, all at once (why does that sound familiar?), or to use the playwright’s own well-known words, is it tantamount to viewing “the life of the village against the life of the stars?”

While Wilder’s innovations may have lagged behind those of his visual art contemporaries by 20 or more years, his vision was no less revolutionary for theatre of the day, even worryingly so for some. Wilder and Our Town producer-director Jed Harris clashed over changes to the text with the play -

wright criticizing Harris’s “tasteless alterations” and attempts to sweeten the play and worrying that Our Town was turning into a lugubrious folksy tale. For his part, Harris feared that theatre goers would be put off by a play with no scenery in which props were mimed and characters spoke directly to the audience about the play they were seeing. Tryouts at Princeton’s McCarter Theatre went well, but the critical and audience response in Boston confirmed Harris’s fears. Martha Scott, who played Emily in the original stage production and in the film, recalled the response in Boston: “It wasn’t a big draw. There wasn’t much of an audience. And when people did

come, they were confused. They’d get up and start to leave because the stage was empty. They thought there was a strike.” Eleanor Roosevelt said she was “ moved and depressed beyond words” by the play.

Harris was so spooked by the response in Boston that he considered closing the show and canceling the New York run. In desperation, he persuaded the influential New York critics Brooks Atkinson and Alexander Woollcott to see the play in Boston. Both

agreed it was a masterpiece and urged Harris to end the Boston run early and open in New York as soon as possible, guaranteeing that their reviews would reflect their favorable opinions. True to his word, Atkinson called the play “ one of the finest achievements of the current stage” and “ a hauntingly beautiful play.” Not everyone shared Atkinson’s enthusiasm, but audiences certainly found the play moving. Martha Scott described a common reaction quite different than her Boston experience:

“Does this play have scenery?”

Helen E.Hokinson (1/1/1938)

 HELEN E. HOKINSON, JANUARY 1, 1938. THE NEW YORKER.

“It is an attempt to find value above all price for the smallest events in our daily life. I have made the claim as preposterous as possible, for I have set the village against the largest dimensions of time and place.” – Thornton

Wilder

“

When the Stage Manager closed the curtain at the end of the play and said, ‘Well, you can all go home now,’ nobody budged. They just sat there, bowled over.”

In that Preface to Three Plays, Wilder wrote: “ Our Town is not offered as a picture of life in a New Hampshire village; or as a speculation about the conditions of life after death (that element I merely took from

Dante’s Purgatory). It is an attempt to find value above all price for the smallest events in our daily life. I have made the claim as preposterous as possible, for I have set the village against the largest dimensions of time and place.”

What would, one wonders, Wilder make of a telescope the likes of the James Webb, whose images of deep space have exploded the minds of even the steeliest of scientists bringing into view dimensions of time and place almost beyond comprehension, images that reveal a universe at once beautiful and fascinating yet terrifyingly inhospitable. Infinitesimally miniscule creatures that we are, clinging to our speck of a blue planet, whirling about in the slimmest sliver of a very select number of known hospitable zones, what are we to do? How do we reckon with the absolute significance of our undeniable insignificance?

–Joseph Whelan

 IN BERKELEY, CA 1909. (L-R) AMOS, ISABEL, MOTHER ISABELLA, CHARLOTTE, AND THORNTON WILDER (AGE 12). PHOTO: THE WILDER FAMILY LLC.

THORNTON NIVEN WILDER CHRONOLOGY

1897 Born in Madison, Wisconsin (April 17)

1906 Moves to Hong Kong in May and to Berkeley, California in October

1906-10 Emerson Public School in Berkeley

1910-11 China Inland Mission School, Chefoo, China (one year)

1912-13 Thacher School, Ojai, California (one year). First play known to be produced: The Russian Princess

1915 Graduates from Berkeley High School; active in school dramatics

1915-17 Oberlin College; published regularly

1920 B.A. Yale College (3-month service in 1918 with U.S. Army in 1918); many publications

1920-21 American Academy in Rome (8-month residency)

1920s French teacher at Lawrenceville School, Lawrenceville, New Jersey (’21-’25 & ’27-’28)

1924 First visit to the MacDowell Colony, Peterborough, New Hampshire

1926 M.A. in French literature, Princeton University. The Trumpet Shall Sound produced off-Broadway (American Laboratory Theatre). The Cabala (first novel)

1927 The Bridge of San Luis Rey (novel, Pulitzer Prize)

1928 The Angel That Troubled The Waters (first published collection of drama—playlets)

1930s Part-time faculty, University of Chicago (comparative literature and composition); lectures across the country; first Hollywood screen-writing assignment (1934); extensive foreign travel

1930 The Woman of Andros (novel). Completion of home for his family and himself in Hamden, Connecticut

1931 The Long Christmas Dinner and Other Plays (six one-act plays)

1932 Lucrece opens on Broadway staring Katharine Cornell (translation of André Obey’s Le Viol de Lucrèce)

1935 Heaven’s My Destination (novel)

1937 A Doll’s House (adaptation/translation) opens on Broadway with Ruth Gordon

1938 Our Town (Pulitzer Prize) and The Merchant of Yonkers open on Broadway

1942 The Skin of Our Teeth opens on Broadway (Pulitzer Prize). Screenplay for Alfred Hitchcock’s The Shadow of a Doubt

1942-45 Service with Army Air Force in North Africa and Italy (Lieut. Col. at discharge–Bronze Star and O.B.E.)

1948 The Ides of March (novel); performing in his plays in summer stock in this period. The Victors opens off-Broadway (translation of Sartre’s Morts sans sépulture)

1949 Major role in Goethe Convocation in Aspen; lectures widely

1951-52 Charles Eliot Norton Professor of Poetry at Harvard

1952 Gold Medal for Fiction, American Academy of Arts and Letters

1953 Cover of Time Magazine (January 12)

1955 The Matchmaker opens on Broadway staring Ruth Gordon. The Alcestiad produced at Edinburgh Festival with Irene Worth (as A Life in the Sun)

1957 German Peace Prize

1961 Libretto for The Long Christmas Dinner (music by Paul Hindemith—premieres in Mannheim, West Germany)

1962 “Plays for Bleecker Street” (Someone from Assisi, Infancy, and Childhood) premiere at NYC’s Circle in the Square. Libretto for The Alcestiad (music by Louise Talma—premieres in Frankfurt, West Germany)

1963 Presidential Medal of Freedom

1964 Hello, Dolly! starring Carol Channing opens on Broadway

1965 National Book Committee’s Medal for Literature

1967 The Eighth Day (National Book Award for Fiction)

1973 Theophilus North (novel)

1975 Dies in sleep in Hamden, Connecticut on December 7. Buried at Mt. Carmel Cemetery, Hamden, Connecticut

For more information, please visit: www.thorntonwilder.com www.thorntonwildersociety.org

Christine Albright (Mrs. Webb) is thrilled to be working with Syracuse Stage again. For the last 20 years, she has worked as an actor, director, and educator across the country. Previously for Stage, she appeared a reading of War Words and understudied salt/city/blues. Favorite roles include: Judith in Equivocation at Oregon Shakespeare Festival/Arena Stage/ Seattle Rep, Mother in Sarah Ruhl’s Oldest Boy (Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award for Best Actress) at Marin Theatre Company; Sylvia in Tribes at Berkeley Rep. She has been a company member at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) since 2006, where she played such roles as Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, Celia in As You Like It , and Lady Percy in Henry IV Parts 1 and 2. She is currently an assistant professor of acting at Syracuse University. M.F.A.: University of CaliforniaSan Diego. Special love to John and Henry, Mom and Dad, and all her wonderful students at the Department of Drama!

Aria Elena Ali ( Rebecca Gibbs) is thrilled to be making her Syracuse Stage debut! Credits include: charging the stage at 18 months to perform an interpretive dance during A Dickens of a Christmas for Salt City Center for the Performing Arts; many cameo appearances in the Leading Men Don’t Dance franchise singing

“I Don’t Need Anything But You” from Annie and “Think Of Me” from Phantom of the Opera for Opening Night Productions; as a Shepherdess and the Baby Lion’s hind quarters in Open Hand Theater’s Amahl and the Night Visitors; and as a Student in The Rev’s The Show Must Go Online! Much love and thanks to the Syracuse Stage team, Bob Hupp, her teachers, her family (especially the Balducci side for her musical genes), and her village for helping her realize her dreams!

Michael Stewart Allen (Dr. Gibbs) is delighted to return to Syracuse Stage after having appeared in Twelve Angry Men in 2019. Some recent credits include: Rogers in And Then There Were None at Florida Rep, Dogberry in Much Ado About Nothing, and Tydur in A Child’s Christmas in Wales at The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, Tommy in Ironbound at Shaker Bridge Theater, Macbeth in Macbeth at Oklahoma Shakespeare, and The Duke of Cornwall in King Lear at New York Classical Theatre. Other credits include: the first National and International Broadway tour of War Horse with The National Theatre of Great Britain playing all across America, Canada, and Japan. The past 20 seasons and multiple shows as a company member at The Shakespeare Theater of New Jersey. Two seasons as a company member at the Old Globe: King Lear, Madness of King George, Taming of the Shrew, The Tempest, Amadeus,

and Much Ado About Nothing. He has performed in theatres all across the country including The Kennedy Center, The Old Globe, The Acting Company, Indiana Rep., Oklahoma Shakespeare, Arkansas Rep, Delaware Rep, The Folger Theatre, Playmakers Rep, Florida Studio Theatre, Palm Beach Dramaworks, and the Illinois, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina Shakespeare Festivals. TV and film credits include work on Billions, The Blacklist, Admiral Rickover, and Cold Mountain (www.michaelstewartallen.com)

Michael Breese Barbour (Joe Stoddard, Choir Member, Wedding Guest, u/s Prof. Willard) is delighted to return to Syracuse Stage, where previous roles include Fish (understudy) in salt/city/blues , Maurice in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, and Kappellemeister Bonno in Amadeus. New York City credits include Eddie Marx in The Inn at Lake Devine and Narrator in Lovers. Regional credits include Lear in King Lear, Andy in Lovers, Mike in Rounding Third, Jeffrey in A Naked Girl on the Appian Way, Falstaff in Henry 5 by 7, Orson Wells in Orson Wells/Shylock, Baron Van Swieten in Amadeus, Captain William Farnsworth Cook (Grandfather) in Fever 1793, Hosiah Ward in Mother Hicks , Utterson in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde , and Van Helsing in Dracula . Favorite roles as an Equity Guest Artist include Prospero in The Tempest, Major General Stanley in The Pirates of Penzance, Hugh in Trans-

lations, John Graunt in The Living, Leonato in Much Ado about Nothing, and Charles Darwin in Darwin in Malibu. Some favorite summer stock credits include Henry Albertson in The Fantastiks, and Marcus Lycus in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum . Television and film include Sherriff Dell in The Mental State , Mr. Briggs in Neon Lights (HBO), Chessplayer in The Blacklist, Merlin in The IllMade Knight, Robert Morrison in Unsolved Mysteries, and Father Time. Michael earned his M.F.A. at The Catholic University of America and is a proud member of Actors Equity.

Alberto Bonilla ( Mr. Webb). Selected film credits: Jimmy & Carolyn (2023), The God Committee, The Sunlit Night, Youth in Oregon, Sleep Walk with Me, Cop Out, Pride and Glory, and My Best Friend’s Girl. Selected television credits: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Wu-Tang an American Saga, FBI, Russian Doll, Iron Fist, Gotham, Blue Bloods, Person of Interest, The Sopranos, and Law & Order: Criminal Intent. Alberto made his Broadway debut understudying Dr. Wally and Bob for Roundabout Theatre’s production of Marvin’s Room . Other NYC theatre credits include: The Diorama, Much Ado About Nothing, Twelfth Night, The Cherry Orchard, The Laramie Project, and Raft of the Medusa. Selected regional credits: Living on Love, My Favorite Husband, and The Blameless This is Alberto’s first show at Syracuse

Stage. M.F.A.: Rutgers University (William Esper / Maggie Flanigan / Lenard Petit). He is also a published playwright and director. Member of AEA, SAG-AFTRA, SDC (Associate), Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors. www.albertobonilla.com

Danyon Davis ( Prof. Willard, Choir Member, Wedding Guest, Man Among the Dead, Movement Coach) is delighted to be making his Syracuse Stage debut, and to have recently joined the Syracuse University Department of Drama faculty as an assistant professor specializing in movement. As an actor, Danyon has most recently performed in A Fiddler’s Tale with St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. New York City credits include: Sense of an Ending (59E59 Theaters); Brother, Brother (Abrons Art Center); Of Rivers, Of Days (IRT Theater); and The Taming of the Shrew , Well (u/s), and Henry V (Public Theater). Regional credits include: Six Degrees of Separation, Twelfth Night, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Guthrie Theater); Edward II , Tamburlaine , and Hamlet (Shakespeare Theater Company); King Lear (Classical Theater of Harlem/Folger Theater); and The Bungler (Long Wharf Theatre). He appeared from 2001 - 2007 in bobrauschenbergamerica with the SITI Company (original cast), which toured across the U.S. and Europe. Danyon has served as head of movement at Stella Adler

Studio and American Conservatory Theater. Credits as movement coach on A.C.T.’s mainstage include: Gloria ; Wakey, Wakey ; Seascape ; The Great Leap ; Testmatch ; Her Portmanteau; Men on Boats; and the late Frank Galati’s extraordinary production of Ionesco’s Rhinoceros.

Diego Echeverria De Cordova (George Gibbs) is a junior actor-singer major from Caracas, Venezuela, and raised in the suburbs of Boston, MA. Diego is elated and honored to be making his professional debut at Syracuse Stage. Previous Department of Drama credits include Posthumus in PlayOn’s Cymbeline (mainstage) and Raul in In Love And Warcraft (mainstage). Diego deeply thanks his hermosa familia, amigos viejos y nuevos, professors, and the cast/crew for helping him be the artist/human he is today and for their unconditional love. Diego le dedica su actuación a Papácha y a Don Enrique @diegs.alejandro

Kate Fennessy (Joe Crowell, Jr.) is ecstatic to be performing with Syracuse Stage. She is thirteen and this is her fourteenth show, her first professional show, and her first straight play. Earlier this year she played Zazu in The Lion King Jr. with Thanasis Theater Company and Maurice in Beauty and the Beast at Auburn Junior High School. Over this past holiday season, she played

Scrooge in The Rev Theater Youth Company’s brand new adaptation of A Christmas Carol. You can see her again playing Anybodys in West Side Story at Syracuse Shakespeare in the Park this August. Many thanks to her family, friends, and teachers for helping her grow into the performer she is today, and a special shoutout to Mom, Dad, and Grandma for driving her to Syracuse all the time.

Lilli Komurek ( Mrs. Soames, u/s Mrs. Webb) is thrilled to join this beautiful production with the same theatre that introduced her to Our Town as a young girl. She has previously performed in Syracuse Stage Cold Read Festivals, curated by Kyle Bass, including Constance Wilde in The Picture of Oscar Wilde and Charles Martin’s adaptation of Medea. New York: Love is Love is Love: The Musical ( Feinstein ’s/54 Below & Original Cast Album). Regional: Sandra in Big Fish, Mother Superior in Sister Act, The Secret Garden, Almost, Maine (BroadwayWorld Award), Into The Woods (Redhouse Arts Center); The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Footloose, State Fair, Grand Hotel (The Rev); The Honky Tonk Angels, Footloose (Cortland Repertory Theatre); The Skin of Our Teeth (Hangar Theatre). Lilli is also an award-winning director and homeschooling mama to two of the coolest humans she knows. www.lillikomurek.com

Quentin Ladd (Wally Webb) is thrilled to be making his theatre debut as Wally Webb in Our Town. He is a fifth grader from Baldwinsville, NY. He studies piano and plays percussion in his school band. Quentin enjoys soccer, art, reading, and drama club at school. He hopes to become a successful actor one day. Quentin gives a special thanks to his family and all of his teachers, especially Bernadette, for their love and support.

Ché Lyons (Mrs. Gibbs) is thrilled to be making her Syracuse Stage debut. Some favorite roles, selected NYC and Regional Theatre: Doubt (Mrs. Muller), Stranger in My Body (Eden), Joe Turner’s Come and Gone (Mattie Campbell), Seven Gutars (Ruby), Gibson Girl (Win), The Exonerated (Georgia Hayes), Wonder of the World (Louis). Ché has performed throughout the U.S. in theatre, film, and television. M.F.A.: George Washington University/Shakespeare Theatre Company. In complete gratitude for my husband, parents, and my furry babies.

Robert McDowell (Wally Webb) is thrilled to make his Syracuse Stage debut. He is eleven years old and has performed in various school and community recitals and theatre productions. He would like to thank all of his family for their love and support. Many thanks also to his teachers and friends for their encouragement.

Jim McMahon (Si Crowell, Baseball Player, Wedding Guest, Man Among he Dead, u/s George, u/s Howie Newsome ) is a junior acting major at Syracuse University. He is very excited for you to see Our Town. Jim, his castmates, and crew hope you enjoy the immense work that has been dedicated to Grover’s Corners. This is Jim’s first professional show as an actor and first time understudying a role. He would like to thank the cast and crew, his wonderful family, friends, and girlfriend for the support that was crucial for this show to become what it could be: “The life of a village against the life of the stars.”

-Thornton Wilder

Ricky Pak (Sam Craig, Choir Member, Wedding Guest, u/s Dr. Gibbs) is an assistant professor of acting at Syracuse University’s Department of Drama and a teaching artist with the Tectonic Theater Project in New York City. Recent directing credits: Home for the Holidays- Syracuse Stage, Danny, King of the BasementSyracuse Stage Bank of America Children’s Tour. Recent acting credits: Regional Theatre: Yoga Play (Syracuse Stage and Geva Theatre Center) Here Comes the Sun (New York Pops Up/The REV Theater Company), Saving the Country from Itself (Su Teatro, Denver, CO.), Valley of the Heart (el Teatro Campesino/Center Theatre Group, Los Angeles, CA.). Film: I Love My Dad (Hulu), The

Ultimate Playlist of Noise (Hulu). He is currently the co-director for the SALTLAND Theatre Festival, which will be a walkable festival of theatre located in downtown Syracuse from April 27th-May 7th at a variety of different venues. He is excited to be returning to Syracuse Stage to perform alongside fellow Drama faculty, students, and most importantly, his wife Whitney. Thank you to Bob Hupp and the whole team at Syracuse Stage for their hard work and support! www.TheRickyPak.com

Whitney Tenney Pak (Belligerent Man, Woman Among the Dead, Choir Member, Wedding Guest, u/s Mrs. Gibbs) is an actor, director, and teaching artist based in Syracuse, NY, by way of Los Angeles, CA. She is associate artistic director of Circle Squared Collective, a theatre company creating new and devised work. Most recent projects include the virtual production, This Land, an exploration of the 2020 election created bi-coastally using interviews from voters all over the country. In 2014, she trained with Tectonic Theatre Project (The Laramie Project) in their system of devising, Moment Work, and has collaborated to produce multiple shows using this method of creating new work in the years since. Recent work in CNY includes The High Cost of Heating (The 2022 Cold Read Festival at Syracuse Stage), Home for The Holidays (Syracuse Stage), Shakespeare in Love (Central New York Playhouse), and This Land (Circle

Squared Collective). She is thrilled to be a part of this wonderful team bringing Our Town to life and honored to share the stage with dear friends and colleagues. She is especially overjoyed to share the stage once again with her very talented husband Ricky Pak.

Derek Emerson Powell (Howie Newsome, Choir Member, Mourner, Wedding Guest, u/s Simon Stimson) is honored to return to Syracuse Stage and celebrate his hometown. Regional: Maxmillian/Peter in By The Way, Meet Vera Stark (Redhouse Arts Center), Reverend Hopkins in The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (Millbrook Playhouse), Hyde/Lanyon in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Chenango River Theatre), First Man in Kiss Me, Kate (Cortland Repertory Theatre), Max/Jonathon (u/s) in The Play That Goes Wrong (Syracuse Stage), Zeus in An Odyssey (Hangar Theatre), Baron Del Cedro in The Fan (The Cherry Arts). He originated the role of Alex in Love is Love is Love: The Musical at Feinstein’s/54 Below last year. Derek is a core member of the Building Company Theater ensemble, which devises new productions each year and facilitates Forum Theatre workshops for the Syracuse community. He dedicates this performance to his family for all the love and support they provide.

@derekemersonpowell

Isa Providence ( Lady in a Box, Choir Member, Baseball Player, Wedding Guest, Mourner, Emily) is beyond excited for her professional debut in Syracuse Stage’s production of Our Town! She is a junior acting major in the Department of Drama at Syracuse University from Westchester, NY. Isa would like to thank her family for being extremely supportive of all of her work, her friends for always being there for her, her teachers for pushing her to be her best, and the entire Our Town team for believing in her throughout the process.

Magdaliz Rivera (she/ her) (Emily Webb) is a sophomore acting major from the suburbs of Chicago, IL. Magdaliz is ecstatic to be making her professional debut with Syracuse Stage! Some previous credits include The Wizard of Oz (Batavia Fine Arts Center) and most recently the Department of Drama’s Failure: A Love Story (mainstage). She would like to thank Bob Hupp and the entire cast and crew for including her in the magical journey of this show. She sends all her love and support to her incredible friends and family– you make me realize life while I live it.

Kaegen Ruddy (Joe Crowell, Jr.) is eleven years old and a sixth grader at Pulaski Academy and Central Schools. He has been acting since early elementary school, landing roles as

the First Mate in Pirates Past Noon, Baloo the Bear in The Jungle Book, Young Shrek and Baby Bear in Shrek the Musical, and Harold Hill in The Music Man. Kaegen is delighted to make his debut with Syracuse Stage in their production of Our Town.

Blake Segal ( Simon Stimson, u/s Mr. Webb) is thrilled to return to Syracuse Stage after appearing in The Play That Goes Wrong, Noises Off, Amadeus, and Matilda. National Tour: Mary Poppins. Regional: Williamstown, The Old Globe, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Yale Rep, Paper Mill Playhouse, PlayMakers Rep, Connecticut Rep, Chautauqua Theater Company, Adirondack Theater Festival, Tantrum Theater, The Public Theatre, Virginia Theater Festival. NYC: Noor Theatre, The Araca Project, NYMF, Fault Line Theatre, Three Day Hangover. TV: Blue Bloods Awards: Barrymore Award nominee. Training: University of Virginia (B.A.) and Yale School of Drama (M.F.A.). Faculty: Syracuse University Department of Drama. Thank you to the artistic team, Bass/Valle casting, and The Mine. Please visit www.blakesegal.com for more.

Ahmanee Simmons (Woman in Balcony, Choir Member, Mourner, Wedding Guest, u/s Mrs. Soames), a graduate of SUNY Oswego, received her B.A in theatre with a concentration in acting/directing. Some of

her credits include Macbeth (Lennox), Dead Man’s Cell Phone (director), The Good Doctor (assistant director), Clybourne Park (Francine/Lena), Not Someone Like Me (Nancy), and most recently in Macbeth (Witch/King Duncan/Murder). Ahmanee was nominated at the KCACTF for her role in Clybourne Park (2017) and her direction of Dead Man’s Cell Phone (2019). She is also recognized as 2019’s Honorary Member of Alpha Psi Omega.

Donovan Stanfield (Choir Member, Constable Warren, Wedding Guest, u/s Stage Manager) is a Syracuse based actor who’s been active in the community for the past 10 years. Mr. Stanfield’s recent credits include The Beckett Project (Building Company Theatre), By the Way, Meet Vera Stark (RedHouse Arts Center), and A Raisin in the Sun (Syracuse Stage). Donovan is thrilled to return to Syracuse Stage to help bring to life this production of Our Town, and he hopes that y’all enjoy the show! Thank you! (@Donovanormous_s on Instagram)

Journey Stitt (Rebecca Gibbs) is very excited to take on the role of Rebecca Gibbs in her Syracuse Stage debut. Journey is an aspiring actress who loves exploring new ways to tell stories on stage. She is a 6th grader at Wellwood Middle School in Manlius, NY, where she is also a part of the drama club. She played a Munchkin in the spring 2022 production of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and is

currently part of the Cheer Team in the spring 2023 production of Dear Edwina, Jr. Journey has also been an active student with Syracuse Children’s Theater for the past four years, playing a variety of ensemble roles in fun musical Jr. productions that include Frozen, Moana, Aladdin, Mary Poppins, and the upcoming Beauty and the Beast (May 2023). When she is not acting, Journey enjoys playing the cello, working on her tennis serve, and spending time with her friends. She would like to give a special shoutout to all her teachers who have helped her in her acting journey and to her family for their continuous love, support, and encouragement.

Jim True-Frost ( Stage Manager) last appeared at Syracuse Stage over 20 years ago in Art, The Beauty Queen of Leenane, Inherit the Wind, and A Christmas Carol. He is best

known for playing Prez on the HBO series The Wire. He was also a regular on American Odyssey; he recurred on Manifest, American Rust, Boardwalk Empire, and others. TV guest appearances include The Blacklist, Yellowstone, Madam Secretary, Blindspot, Elementary, The Good Wife, Blue Bloods, Fringe, Medium, Law & Order: SVU and Criminal Intent. Film credits include Saint Frances, Affliction, Singles, The Hudsucker Proxy, Off the Map, and Normal Life. He is a member of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company of Chicago where he has appeared in many plays including I Just Stopped By to See the Man, David Copperfield, Side Man, The Pillowman, The Playboy of the Western World, The Homecoming, and Killers. On Broadway and other New York stages, he has been seen in Linda Vista, The Rivals, Buried Child, Philadelphia, Here I Come!, and The Grapes of Wrath.

ARTISTIC STAFF

Jason Ardizzone-West (Scenic Designer) is an Emmy award winning set and production designer whose work spans the genres of live theatre, dance, tv/film, concert design, and architecture. Recent, upcoming, and notable projects include Florence + The Machine, The Bluest Eye, Monsoon Wedding, Elyria, Phish New Year’s Eve, Jesus Christ Superstar Live (NBC), Wedding Band, Blue Man Group , Party People , K-I-S-S-I-NG, Shadow/Land, Pentatonix, Grace,

and Bliss . Jason has collaborated with creative teams and theatres across the country including: The Public Theater, Actor’s Theatre of Louisville, The Atlantic, St Ann’s Warehouse, The Geffen, The Old Globe, Miami City Ballet, The 5th Avenue Theatre, Ford’s Theatre, The Huntington, Berkeley Rep, Cincinnati Playhouse, Cleveland Play House, The Vineyard Theatre, and more. Instagram: @jasonardizzonewest Web: www.ardizzonwest.com

ARTISTIC STAFF

Tracy Dorman (Costume Designer) has designed over a dozen productions at Syracuse Stage over the past two decades, most recently Amadeus in 2020. She has designed at regional theatre and opera companies around the country, including Asolo Repertory Theatre, Maltz-Jupiter, Gulfshore Playhouse, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, The Cleveland Play House, Geva, Milwaukee Rep, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Drury Lane (Chicago), Kansas City Rep, Manhattan School of Music, Virginia Opera, Kentucky Opera, Opera Omaha, Chicago Opera Theatre, Glimmerglass, and New York City Opera. From 2005-2008 she was an associate costume designer on the CBS daytime drama As the World Turns, for which she won a 2007 Emmy Award for Costume Design. Tracy continues to work in TV along with her theatre and opera work; most recently she has worked on Law & Order: SVU (NBC), West World (HBO), and The Equalizer (CBS). Please visit www.tracydorman.com for a more extensive listing of production credits.

Yael Lubetzky (Lighting Designer) returns to Syracuse Stage having previously designed The Three Musketeers. New York designs include the Broadway production of Russell Simmons’s Def Poetry Jam , which won a Tony award for Best Special Theatrical Event. Her Off-Broadway productions include designs with The New Group, The Public Theater, Playwrights Horizons, WP

Theatre, York Theatre Company, The Joyce, Theatre 555, Saint Clements Theatre, and National Theatre Folksbiene. Regional design credits include productions at The 5th Avenue Theatre, American Conservatory Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Paramount Theatre, The Drury Lane, Trinity Repertory Company, Riverside Theatre, Arkansas Rep, Children’s Theatre Company, and Clarence Brown Theatre. Most recent designs include Once (Writer’s Theatre, IL); A Midsummer Night’s Dream at The National Building Museum in Washington D.C. presented by the Folger Theatre; Evita (The Drury Lane Theatre, IL); Carousel (Riverside Theatre, FL). Yael is a recipient of the NEA/TCG development grant for designers.

Michael Keck (Composer and Sound Designer ) Syracuse Stage: August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson, Two Trains Running and Fences, The Christians, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, The Glass Menagerie, The Brothers Size, Gem of the Ocean, The Whipping Man. Other theatres: Cyrano, Sense and Sensibility, A Christmas Carol, As You Like It, Looking Over the Presidents Shoulder, Searching for Eden, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Rabbit Hole (Indiana Repertory Theater); SWEAT (Dallas Theatre Center); The Children (Seattle Rep); MLIMA’S TALE (Westport Country Playhouse); CASSIUS (Seattle Children’s Theatre); Skeleton Crew (Bristol Riverside Theatre); The Bacchae (Portland Center Stage); Death of a Salesman, A View

ARTISTIC STAFF

from the Bridge, The Great White Hope, Derek Walcott’s: The Odyssey, Community Carol, I AM A MAN (Arena Stage); August Wilson’s Jitney, Escape from Happiness, Criminal Genius, The Norman Conquest, Copenhagen, Intimate Apparel (Milwaukee Rep.), Othello (Idaho Shakespeare Festival and Great Lakes Theatre Festival); It Ain’t Nothing But The Blues (Prince Music Theater – Barrymore Nomination); Doubt, Young Lady from Rwanda (Peoples Light And Theatre Co- Barrymore Nomination); An Ideal Husband (Idaho Shakespeare Festival and Great Lakes Theatre Festival); Topdog/Underdog, August Wilson’s Gem Of The Ocean and Fences, Death and the King’s Horseman, Measure for Measure, Henry IV pt1,, Intimate Apparel (Oregon Shakespeare Festival); Intimate Apparel (Guthrie Theatre).

Bobbie Zlotnik (Wig Designer). OffBroadway: Emojiland (Drama Desk nomination), Fairycakes , Mornings At Seven, The Book of Merman, Drop Dead Perfect, Disenchanted, Forbidden Broadway, Bed Bugs!!!. National Tours: On Your Feet, Emojiland, Cocomelon LIVE. PCPA: Pride and Prejudice, Hairspray, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, My Fairytale, Caroline, or Change. The Lex: Disney’s The Little Mermaid, Newsies, Music Man. Park Playhouse: Matilda the Musical, Ain’t Misbehavin’. Penguin Rep: The Virtuous Life of Joseph Andrews, Souvenir. Tuacahn: Wonderland. Bucks

County Playhouse: Evita. PCLO: Godspell. Hangar Theatre: Kinky Boots. Theatre By The Sea: Love and

Other Fables. Film/TV: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, The Gilded Age, A Spectacular Christmas, Halston, Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness.

Rebecca Karpoff (Choral Music Coach) has been featured soprano soloist with the Syracuse and Baltimore Symphony Orchestras, the Rochester Philharmonic, and the Rochester Oratorio Society in works of Szymanowski, Mozart, Handel, Bach, Schubert, Haydn, and Strauss. Operatic roles include the Countess, Fiordiligi, Rosina, Suor Angelica, Dorabella, and Zerlina. As recitalist and chamber musician, Karpoff has been heard at the Ravinia, Aspen, and Skaneateles Festivals and Merkin Hall in New York City. She has sung world premieres by Augusta Read Thomas and Samuel Adler as well as large works by Schoenberg, Boulez, Harbison, Varèse, and Ginastera. Currently serving as Associate Chair of the Syracuse University Drama Department, she is a Teaching Professor of Voice and has worked on numerous productions as vocal coach, director, or music director.

Stuart Plymesser (Production Stage Manager ) is in his 26th season at Syracuse Stage where he has stage managed over 100 plays, musicals, and special events, working with such talents as Jason Alexander, Olympia Dukakis, Frank Langella, Elizabeth Franz, and Phylicia Rashad. Stuart has worked at numerous regional theatres around the country and in Cape Town, South Africa, and has toured nationally. Locally, he has also stage managed

ARTISTIC STAFF

events for Syracuse Fashion Week. In addition, Stuart is adjunct faculty for Syracuse University ’ s Department of Drama and has been a guest speaker/lecturer for Ithaca College, Wells College, SUNY Oswego, SUNY Fredonia, and the Zabalaza Festival in Cape Town. Outside of theatre, Stuart holds the rank of Nidan (second degree black belt) in Aikido and the title of Fukoshidoin (assistant instructor) at Aikido of Central New York. Stuart is a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers.

Bass/Valle Casting (Casting) formerly Harriet Bass Casting, is a leading NYC boutique casting office. To know more about their upcoming projects and casting philosophy please visit www.bassvallecasting.com. Harriet Bass has cast for ABC/TV, Fox Television Studios, The Public Theatre: NEW WORK NOW, The Minetta Lane Theatre, The Women’s Project, La MaMa E.T.C., New York Women in Film and Television, and The Jewish Repertory Theatre. She has cast the last three of the late August Wilson’s ten part play series: the original Radio Golf, Broadway Gem of the Ocean, and Off-Broadway Jitney. Harriet is also a leading educator in audition tech-

nique, side and monologue coaching, and the business of acting. She has taught at the nation’s top universities and professional training programs. Gama Valle is a director, playwright, screenwriter, children’s book author, and casting director. His casting credits include: The American Tradition, The Great Novel, Split Second, I Wanna Fuck Like Romeo and Juliet, among others. He is a proud member of New Light Theatre Ensemble and the recipient of the Van Lier Directing Fellowship at Repertorio Español. Gama received the First Prize in playwriting from Puerto Rico’s Institute of Culture for his play Queishd&Dilit . Their regional casting credits include: Mark Taper Forum, Hartford Stage, Arena Stage, Trinity Rep, San Jose Rep, Geva, Syracuse Stage, Pittsburgh Public, Merrimack Rep, Longwharf Theatre, Alliance Theatre, The Goodman Theatre, Kansas City Rep, Baltimore Center Stage, Huntington Theatre Company, Virginia Stage Company, Dallas Theatre Company, Berkeley Rep, Portland Center Stage, and Actors Theatre of Louisville. Feature films credits include: Pushing Hands directed by Ang Lee, Underheat, starring Lee Grant, First We Take Manhattan , produced by Golden Harvest Inc., and Graves End, directed by Sal Stabile.

PLAYWRIGHT

Born in Madison, Wisconsin, and educated at Oberlin, Yale (B.A. 1920) and Princeton (M.A. 1925),

Thornton Wilder was an accomplished novelist and playwright whose works, exploring the connection between the commonplace and

Thornton Niven Wilder (1897-1975).

the cosmic dimensions of human experience, continue to be read and produced around the world. Wilder is the only writer to win Pulitzer Prizes for both fiction and drama— for his novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1927) and two plays, Our Town (1938) and The Skin of Our Teeth (1942). His other novels include The Cabala, The Woman of Andros, Heaven’s My Destination, The Ides of March, The Eighth Day and Theophilus North. His other major dramas include The Matchmaker (adapted as the musical Hello, Dolly!) and The Alcestiad. The Happy Journey to Trenton and Camden, The Long Christmas Dinner and Pullman Car Hiawatha are among his celebrated shorter plays. Wilder also enjoyed success as an essayist, translator, research scholar, teacher, lecturer, actor, librettist and screenwriter. His screenplay for Alfred Hitchcock’s Shadow of a Doubt

(1943) remains a classic psychothriller to this day. Wilder’s many honors include the Gold Medal for Fiction from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the National Book Committee’s Medal for Literature, The Order of Merit (Peru), and the Goethe-Plakette (Germany). In 1930, with royalties received from The Bridge of San Luis Rey, Wilder built a home for himself and his family in Hamden, CT. Although often away from it for as many as 250 days a year, restlessly seeking quiet places in which to write, Thornton Wilder always returned to “The House The Bridge Built.” He died here on December 7th, 1975. More information on Thornton Wilder and his family is available in Penelope Niven’s definitive biography, Thornton Wilder: A Life (2013) as well as on the Wilder Family website, www.thorntonwilder.com

DIRECTOR/ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Robert Hupp is in his seventh season as artistic director of Syracuse Stage. He recently directed The Play That Goes Wrong , Eureka Day, Annapurna, Talley’s Folly , Amadeus , Noises Off , Next to Normal, and The Three Musketeers for Stage. Prior to coming to central New York, Robert spent seventeen seasons as the producing artistic director of Arkansas Repertory Theatre in Little Rock. He directed over 30 productions for Arkansas Rep ranging from Hamlet

to Les Miserables to The Grapes of Wrath . In New York City, Robert directed the American premieres of Glyn Maxwell’s The Lifeblood and Wolfpit for the Phoenix Theatre Ensemble. He also served for nine seasons as the artistic director of the Obie Award-winning Jean Cocteau Repertory. At the Cocteau, Robert’s directing credits include works by Buchner, Wilder, Cocteau, Shaw, Wedekind and the premieres of the Bentley/Milhaud version of Brecht’s Mother Courage and Her Children, Seamus Heaney’s

DIRECTOR/ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

The Cure at Troy, and Eduardo de Filippo’s Napoli Millionaria. He has held faculty positions at Pennsylvania’s Dickinson College and, in Arkansas, at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and Hendrix College. Robert served as vice president of the Board of Directors of the Theatre Communications Group and has served on funding panels for the New York State Council on the Arts, National Endowment for the

Arts, the Theatre Communications Group, the New Jersey State Council of the Arts, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. While in Arkansas, Robert was named both Non-Profit Executive of the Year by the Arkansas Business Publishing Group, and Individual Artist of the Year by the Arkansas Arts Council. He and his wife Clea ride herd over a blended family of five children, one dog, and two cats.

MANAGING DIRECTOR

Jill A. Anderson has served as managing director of Syracuse Stage since 2016. Jill is responsible for Stage’s $8 million operating budget and has oversight of fundraising, marketing, and operational matters within the organization. Prior to joining Stage, Jill spent a decade as general manager at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center in Waterford, CT. During her tenure, the O’Neill completed a $7 million capital campaign and campus expansion, doubled its operating budget, and was honored with the National Medal of Arts and a Regional Theatre Tony Award. Under the O’Neill’s aegis, Jill also developed the Baltic Playwrights Conference, an annual international new play

development retreat held in Hiiumaa, Estonia. Previously, Jill spent five years in the production office at Washington, D.C.’s Arena Stage, after working as a stage manager in Minnesota, New Mexico, and Massachusetts. In addition to her work at Stage, Jill is an instructor in the theater management program of the Syracuse University Department of Drama, building on her work with high school and college students elsewhere, including at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival. Jill has been recognized as part of the Central NY Business Journal’s “40 Under Forty” and serves on numerous municipal and non-profit boards. Jill is delighted to call Central New York home, but will always be a proud cheesehead, originally hailing from Marshfield, Wisconsin.

Melissa Crespo . OffBroadway credits include Bees & Honey (MCC, upcoming); ¡Figaro!

(90210) (Duke on 42nd Street). Regional: Sheepdog (Contemporary American Theater Festival); Yoga Play (Syracuse Stage and Geva Theatre Center); Native Gardens (Syracuse Stage, Geva Theatre Center, and Portland Center Stage) and Selena Maria Sings (Childsplay).

Melissa is the co-writer of Egress (Amphibian Stage and Salt Lake Acting Company). Professional positions include associate artistic director, Syracuse Stage, and founding editor, 3Views on Theater. Awards include NYWF Director Award (The Lillys), and Roe Green Award for Outstanding Achievement in Playwrighting (Cleveland Playhouse). Education: M.F.A. in Directing, The New School for Drama.

RESIDENT PLAYWRIGHT

Kyle Bass is the author of Possessing Harriet , which premiered at Syracuse Stage, was subsequently produced at Franklin Stage Company, at the East Lynne Theater Company, and is published by Standing Stone Books. Salt City Blues was produced at Syracuse Stage in the 21/22 season, and Citizen James, or The Young Man Without a Country , about a young James Baldwin, was commissioned by Syracuse Stage and has streamed nationally since 2021 and has been optioned for an international featurelength film. Tender Rain premieres at Syracuse Stage later this season. Toliver & Wakeman was commissioned by Franklin Stage Company where it premieres later this year. His libretto for Libba Cotten: Here This Day, an opera based on the life of American folk music legend Libba Cotten, was commissioned by The Society for New Music. With National Medal

of Arts recipient Ping Chong, Kyle is the co-author of Cry for Peace: Voices from the Congo, which premiered at Syracuse Stage and was subsequently produced at La MaMa Experimental Theatre in New York. His other fulllength plays include Baldwin vs. Buckley: The Faith of Our Fathers , which has been presented at Cornell University, Colgate University, the University of Delaware, and Syracuse University, and Separated , a documentary theatre piece about student military veterans at Syracuse University, which was presented at Syracuse Stage and the Paley Center in New York, and Leeboe & Sons . He has also been commissioned by Theatre Nohgaku and is the coauthor of the original screenplay for the film Day of Days (Broad Green Pictures, 2017). Kyle is a threetime recipient of the New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship (fiction in 1998, playwriting in 2010, screenwriting in 2022), a finalist for the Princess Grace Playwriting Award,

INTIMACY COORDINATOR/ASSOCIATE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

RESIDENT PLAYWRIGHT

and a Pushcart Prize nominee. As dramaturg, he has collaborated with acclaimed visual artist and MacArthur “Genius” Fellow Carrie Mae Weems and was the script consultant on Thoughts of a Colored Man , which premiered at Syracuse Stage in 2019 and opened on Broadway in 2021 and he has appeared with Symphoria, the symphony orchestra of Central New York. His plays, screenplays, and other writings have appeared in the journals Callaloo and Stone Canoe, among others, and in the anthology Alchemy of the Word: Writers Talk about Writing. Kyle is an assistant professor in the Department of Theater at Colgate University, where he was previously the 2019 Burke Endowed Chair for Regional Studies. Previously, he

was faculty in the M.F.A. creative writing program at Goddard College, taught in the Departments of Drama and African American Studies at Syracuse University, and the Theatre Department at Hobart & William Smith Colleges. Kyle was the Susan P. Stroman Visiting Playwright at the University of Delaware and the Flournoy Visiting Playwright at Washington & Lee University. He holds an M.F.A. in playwriting from Goddard College, is a proud member of the Dramatists Guild of America and is represented by the Barbara Hogenson Agency. A descendant of African people enslaved in New England and the American South, Kyle resides and writes in upstate New York where his family has lived freed and owned land for nearly 225 years.

WHO WE ARE

Syracuse Stage is the non-profit, professional theatre company in residence at Syracuse University. We are nationally recognized for creating stimulating theatrical work that engages Central New York, and for our significant contribution to the artistic life of Syracuse University, where we are a vital partner in achieving the educational mission of the University’s Department of Drama.

OUR MISSION

Syracuse Stage tells stories that engage, entertain, and inspire us to see life beyond our own experience.

OUR VISION

Reimagining what's possible for regional theatre–through active inclusion, innovative outreach, and bold productions–Syracuse Stage shapes the culture and social vitality of Central New York, enriches the Syracuse University student experience, and fosters change in ourselves, our communities, and our world.

OUR CORE VALUES

People - Actively including diverse individuals, communities, ideas, and perspectives. Passion - Commitment to integrity, excellence, and enthusiasm in our work. Curiosity - Fostering an innovative and adaptive environment that elicits wonder.

ANTI-RACISM PLEDGE

Syracuse Stage stands firmly against racism and discrimination. We pledge to stand with under-represented and oppressed communities and to advance antiracism in all aspects of our work, including the outward facing, public dimension of our creative endeavors and the less visible internal practices of the organization.

LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Syracuse Stage respectfully acknowledges the Onondaga Nation, Firekeepers of the Haudenosaunee, the Indigenous people on whose ancestral lands we now stand.

IN THE COMMUNITY

Stage has collaborated with a myriad of institutions in the Syracuse area. Community partners include 100 Black Men of Syracuse, AccessCNY, ARC of Onondaga, ARISE, ArtRage, CNY Reads, Interfaith Works of Central New York, La Casita, McMahon/Ryan Child Advocacy Center, Onondaga Historical Association, Rosamond Gifford Zoo at Burnet Park, SUNY Upstate Medical University, the VA Medical Center, and Vera House. Additionally, the educational department collaborates with many CNY schools.

ABOUT SYRACUSE STAGE

Originally constructed as the Regent Movie House in 1914, the physical space of Syracuse Stage has seen many films, musicians, actors, and artists pass through its doors over the course of the past century. The Syracuse Stage that exists today is a nonfor-profit professional theatre company founded in 1974, and a longstanding League of Resident Theatres (LORT) member. Since its inception, Stage has produced over 300 shows, both plays and musicals, within its walls. Now, Stage produces six to seven shows per season, while also offering educational programs to students, various pre- and post-show events, and fundraising events each year. Stage is Central New York’s only LORT theatre and one of the largest performing arts organizations in the area. Stage has a strong commitment to giving the community access to a range of high-quality productions; it is equally committed to bringing in actors, designers, and directors who are among the leading theatre professionals, both locally and across the nation.

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is

 SYRACUSE STAGE GALA. PHOTO: JERRY KLINEBERG.

Annual Gala! SYRACUSE STAGE

TOGETHER AGAIN AT SPRINGSIDE FARM

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS

PLATINUM

Jacki & Michael Goldberg

Syracuse University

The Dorothy and Marshall M. Reisman Foundation

Bousquet Holstein PLLC

National Grid

The Hayner Hoyt Corporation

GOLD Bank of America

Ashley McGraw Architects, D. P. C.

The Gifford Foundation

Ernst & Young, LLP

Sharon Sullivan & Paul Phillips

SILVER

Mangano Law Office, PLLC

Edward S. Green & Associates, LLC

Bond, Schoeneck & King Attorneys

Cathedral Candle Company

Peterson Guadagnolo Consulting Engineers PC

BRONZE

George S. Bain

Dan & Ann Lent

HUNT Mortgage

Klepper, Hahn, & Hyatt

Rick & Margaret Shirtz

Dick & Therese Driscoll

SYRACUSE STAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

CHAIR

Rocco Mangano Partner Mangano Law Office, PLLC

PRESIDENT

Herman R. Frazier*

Senior Deputy Athletics Director Syracuse University

PAST CHAIR/VICE CHAIR

Nancy Green

Managing Member

Edward S. Green & Associates

TREASURER

Brett Padgett*

Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Syracuse University

SECRETARY

Sharon Sullivan Community Volunteer

AT-LARGE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEMBER

Phil Turner Pastor Bethany Baptist Church

Jill A. Anderson** Managing Director Syracuse Stage

Janet Audunson Assistant General Counsel National Grid

George S. Bain Freelance Editor and Writer

Barbara Beckos Retired - Syracuse Stage

Nancy Byrne Community Volunteer

Dr. Ruth Chen* Professor of Practice Syracuse University College of Engineering and Computer Science

Robin Curtis NYS Lic. RE Asso. Broker Hunt Real Estate ERA

Zellar Homes Rep.

Richard Driscoll

Sr. Commercial Banking Relationship Manager Commercial Banking Division NBT Bank

Denise Dyce

Associate Vice President of Labor and Employee Relations

Syracuse University

Helene Gold Private Voice & Piano Instructor

Jacki Goldberg Community Volunteer

Bea González

Retired - Vice President for Community Engagement Syracuse University

Larry Harris EVP and CFO Saab, Inc.

John Huhtala Relationship Manager Middle Market Commercial Banking Chase

Robert Hupp** Artistic Director Syracuse Stage

Cydney Johnson* Vice President for Community Engagement and Government Relations Syracuse University

Rebecca Karpoff* Professor of Practice, Musical Theater/Coordinator of Vocal Instruction, Musical Theater Syracuse University Department of Drama

Kathy Kelly Retired - Health Educator, PNP

Larry Leatherman Retired - Bristol-Myers Squibb, MOST

Dan Lent Vice President Citizens Bank

Anthony Malavenda Retired - Duke’s Root Control

Julia Martin Partner Bousquet Holstein

Kevin R. McAuliffe Partner Barclay Damon

Suzanne McAuliffe Retired - Educator

Rod McDonald Bond, Schoeneck & King

Molly Mulvihill

Sr. Relationship Manager Global Commercial Banking Bank of America

Fran Nichols

Retired - Mower, Inc.

Mona Paradis Stadium International Trucks

Virginia Parker Retired - Educator

Molly Ryan Partner, Goldberg Segalla LLP

Robert Sarason

Retired - Lawyer, Organizer, Fundraiser

L. John Steigerwald IV Marketing and Sales Representative Cathedral Candle Company

Melvin T. Stith Dean Emeritus, Whitman School of Management

Syracuse University

Cora Thomas Radio Host and Office Manager, WAER

Michael S. Tick* Dean, College of Visual and Performing Arts Syracuse University

Dr. Amy Tucker Chief Medical Officer SUNY Upstate Medical University

Ralph Zito** Chair

Syracuse University Department of Drama

Michael Zoanetti VP Senior Wealth Advisor Tompkins Financial Advisors

*University Trustee **Ex-Officio

SYRACUSE STAGE EMERITUS CIRCLE

We are grateful to the following individuals who have served as Members of the Stage Board of Trustees and continue to support Syracuse Stage at the Circle level.

Jim Breuer

Mary Beth Carmen Joan Green

Elizabeth Hartnett

Margaret Martin Eric Mower

Judy Mower

Michael Shende

Jack Webb

SYRACUSE STAGE EDUCATION ADVOCACY BOARD

Sara Bambino

CICERO-NORTH SYRACUSE HIGH SCHOOL

Todd Benware

CHRISTIAN BROTHERS ACADEMY

Jordan Berger

JAMESVILLE-DEWITT HIGH SCHOOL

Rhiannon Berry LIVERPOOL HIGH SCHOOL

Elizabeth Defurio NOTTINGHAM HIGH SCHOOL

David Fisselbrand

AUBURN HIGH SCHOOL

Melissa Morgan BAKER HIGH SCHOOL

Matthew Phillips JAMESVILLE-DEWITT HIGH SCHOOL

Linda Ponza SOLVAY HIGH SCHOOL

Jennifer Sabatino

CATO-MERIDIAN MIDDLE SCHOOL

YOUNG ADULT COUNCIL

Christian Almeida DURGEE JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL

Emily Ball

CHRISTIAN BROTHERS ACADEMY

Lily Beckman

EAST SYRACUSE MINOA CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL

Paige Blair

CAZENOVIA HIGH SCHOOL

Sadie Broderick

EAST SYRACUSE MINOA CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL

Ella Culligan

LIVERPOOL HIGH SCHOOL

Graziella Cullipher

CHARLES W. BAKER HIGH SCHOOL

Erin DeGraw

UNION SPRINGS HIGH SCHOOL

Luke DeLorenzo

CHRISTIAN BROTHERS ACADEMY

Yahye Farah

SYRACUSE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

Luiza Gripp

EAST SYRACUSE MINOA CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL

Gracie Henning

LIVERPOOL HIGH SCHOOL

Kennedy Hilton

FAYETTEVILLE MANLIUS HIGH SCHOOL

Stephanie Kelly

CHRISTIAN BROTHERS ACADEMY

Margot Klein

CHARLES W. BAKER HIGH SCHOOL

Tessa Komar

FAYETTEVILLE MANLIUS HIGH SCHOOL

Joey Lake

LIVERPOOL HIGH SCHOOL

Madison Macomber

EAST SYRACUSE MINOA CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL

Zoie Markowski

SOLVAY HIGH SCHOOL

Zinat Mohammadi

EAST SYRACUSE MINOA CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL

Stella Nesci

EAST SYRACUSE MINOA CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL

Will Radford

CHRISTIAN BROTHERS ACADEMY

Mabel Roane

MARCELLUS HIGH SCHOOL

Sylus Roane MARCELLUS HIGH SCHOOL

Ava Schneider

LIVERPOOL HIGH SCHOOL

Syd Shaw

EAST SYRACUSE MINOA CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL

Francesca Smith

BISHOP GRIMES JR./SR. HIGH SCHOOL

Caleb Smith

MANLIUS PEBBLE HILL SCHOOL

Abbie Sundet

PAUL V. MOORE HIGH SCHOOL

Rebecca Wheeler HOMESCHOOL

SYRACUSE STAGE ANNUAL GIFTS

Syracuse Stage depends on the generosity of contributions from individuals, corporations, businesses, foundations, and government agencies. It is with much gratitude that we recognize the following donors to our annual campaign. For information regarding levels of contribution and benefits of each please contact the Development office at 315-443-3931 or visit syracusestage.org.

CORPORATE, FOUNDATION, AND GOVERNMENT SPONSORS

Richard Mather Fund

CORPORATE, FOUNDATION, AND GOVERNMENT SPONSORS

Contributions listed above are current as of March 1, 2023 and reflect operating support of $5,000+ and in-kind donations of $10,000+.

SPONSORS

The Dorothy and Marshall M. Reisman Foundation is proud to be a sponsor of the arts in Central New York. We recognize the deep importance live theatre plays in shaping the cultural and social vitality of our community. In these challenging times, theatre brings us together to be inspired and celebrate the richness of the human experience. We are delighted to continue to support Syracuse Stage and this very special production of Our Town.

INDIVIDUAL, CORPORATE, FOUNDATION, & GOVERNMENT GIFTS

New and increased gifts this season will be matched by The Richard Mather Fund.

$100,000+

Nancy & William Byrne

Slutzker Family Foundation

Syracuse University

The Dorothy & Marshall M. Reisman Foundation

$50,000 - $99,999

Advance Media New York

CNY Arts, Inc.

Steven & Marianne Mills

NYSCA

Onondaga County

City of Syracuse Arts & Culture Recovery Fund Program

The Shubert Foundation

$20,000 - $49,999

George Bain

iHeart Radio

M&T Bank

Richard Mather Fund

National Endowment for the Arts

$10,000 - $19,999

Bank of America

Cathedral Candle Company

Central New York

Community Foundation

Jacki & Michael Goldberg

Elizabeth Hartnett

JKW Foundation

JP Morgan Chase

NBT Bancorp Inc.

News Channel 9

Sharon Sullivan & Paul Phillips

The John Ben Snow Foundation & Memorial Trust

WRVO

$5,000 - $9,999

Jim & Juli Boeheim Foundation

Richard Bunce

Dr. Ruth Chen & Chancellor Kent Syverud

Cumulus Radio

Peggy & Dana Dudarchik

Neil & Helene Gold

Jacki & Michael Goldberg

Nancy Green & Tony

Marschall

Larry & Ann Harris

J.M. McDonald Foundation

Larry & Mary Leatherman

Lockheed Martin

Employees' Federated Fund

Tony Malavenda & Martine Burat

Rocco & Roberta Mangano

Kevin & Suzanne McAuliffe

Eric & Judy Mower

Sally Lou & Fran Nichols

Virginia Parker

Joel Potash & Sandra Hurd

Raymour & Flanigan

Furniture

Theatre Development Fund

Tompkins Trust Company

Urban CNY

Vanguard Charitable

WAER

Wegmans

$3,500 - $4,999

The Benz Family

Kathleen Bice

Sandra Brown

Pete & Mary Beth

Carmen

Kathy Kelly & Len Weiner

Roger & Naomi DeMuth

Julia & Lee Martin

Selma Radin

Melvin & Patricia Stith

Syracuse Children's Chorus

$1,800 - $3,499

Janet Audunson & David

Youlen

Barbara Beckos & Art

McDonald

Constance Bull

Craig & Kathy Byrum

James Clark & Sharon

Gordon

The Estate of William

Clark Jr.

CNY Latino

Bob & Bobbie Constable

Robin Curtis

Barbara Davis

Edward & Susan Downing

Dick & Therese Driscoll

Excellus BlueCross

BlueShield

Michael & Barbara

Flintrop

Herman Frazier & Caroline Beal

Deborah & Samuel

Haines

David & Sally Hootnick

John & Kimberly Huhtala

Robert & Clea Hupp

Randy & Elizabeth Kalish

Leslie Kohman & Jeffrey

Smith

Daniel & Ann Lent

Melvin & Mildred Eggers

Family Charitable Foundation

Walter & Elizabeth

Merriam

Anne Morford

Molly & Kevin Mulvihill

Claire Myers-Usiatynski

Mona & John Paradis

Peterson Guadagnolo

Consulting Engineers

Rosemary Pooler

Michael & Rissa Ratner

Molly Ryan & Tim Byrnes

Robert Sarason & Jane

Burkhead

Richard & Margaret Shirtz

Sharye Skinner

Sam & Carolyn Spalding

David & Deirdre Stam

Raymond & Linda Straub

Cynthia Sutton

Theatre Communications Group

Michael & Cathy Tick

Dr. Amy Tucker

Joshua & Andrea

Waldman

$1,200 - $1,799

James & Nancy Asher

Debbie & Candido

Bermudez

As of March 1, 2023. Donor list reflects gifts made over the past 12 months.

Donald Blair & Nancy

Dock

Francine Boutet

Jim & Cathy Breuer

Ana Díaz-Diez & Javier

Maymi-Perez

Frank and Frances Revoir

Foundation

Fox 68

Bea Gonzalez & Michael Leonard

Dorothy & Lawrence Gordon

Dennis & Judi Hebert

Cydney Johnson & Jeff Comanici

Kevin & Jessica Kopko

Rod & Jana McDonald

David Rankert

James Shults

John Steigerwald IV

John & Jamie Sutphen

Jack & Linda Webb

Larry & Glenda Wetzel

Michael & Laurie Zoanetti

$600 - $1,199

Marlene Blumin

Thomas & Susan Brett

Angel & Walter Broadnax

Kevin & Jackie Bryans

Amy & Tom Clark

Mark Cywilko & Marianne Moosbrugger

Lewis & Elaine Dubroff

Allen & Anita Frank

David Heisig & Donna

Mahar

Heritage Masonry Restoration, Inc.

Joyce Day Homan

ImpactAssets Donor Advised Fund

Richard & Margaret Ingraham

Steven & Elaine Jacobs

Richard Jaeger

Charles Martin & Johanna

Keller

John & Maren King

Douglas Kinnetz & Laura

Livingston

Bob & Pat Lebel

James MacKillop

Albert Marshall

Susan Martineau

John & Elizabeth McKinnell

John & Joan Nicholson

Sally O'Herin

David & Janice Panasci

Kathy & Dan Rabuzzi

Edward & Lois Schroeder

Gracia Sears

Joe Silberlicht & Sandra Fenske

Cora Thomas

Angela Winfield & Lance Lyons

John & Mitzi Wolf

$300 - $599

David & Cheryl Abrams

Timothy Atseff & Margaret Ogden

Andrew & Margot Baxter

Jackie Bays

Carrie Berse & Chris Skeval

William & Beatrice Blake

Ted Brown

Gary & Kathleen Bruno

Jovita Casanova

Craig & Susan Cobb

Paul & Linda Cohen

Robert & Joan Conine

Molly & Travis Corley

Jerilyn Costich

Anita Cottrell

Sharon & James Crosier

George Curry

Linda Czerkies

Clay & Dora Elliott

Richard Ernst

Linda Fabian & Dennis

Goodrich

Carole Farfaglia

Maggie & Jake Feldmeier

Jeffrey & Teresa Freedman

Kenneth & Kathleen Freer

Elijah Gebers

Karen Goldman

Golub Foundation

Baird & Sarah Hansen

David & Ellen Hardy

Daniel & Julia Harris

Joseph & Paula Himmelsbach

Peter & Mary Huntington

Peter & Diana Johnson

Rowena Jones

Marjorie T. Julian

Allan & Rita Kanter

Jeffrey Knox & Susan

Maxwell

Liz Kolodney

In Honor of

Contributions have been made to Syracuse Stage to honor someone, celebrate a special occasion, or offer an expression of sympathy in memory of a loved one.

Anonymous, In memory of Cat Hennessy.

Anonymous, In memory of Cat Hennessy.

Anonymous, In loving memory of Cat Hennessy, may we all remember her joy.

Anonymous, In memory of Cat Hennessy.

George Bain, In memory of Cat Hennessy.

Debbie & Candido

Bermudez, In memory of my mother Mary Tolassi Watson.

Chris Carbone, In memory of Cat Hennessy.

Chris Chin, In loving memory of Cat Hennessy.

James Clark & Sharon Gordon, In loving memory of Cat Hennessy.

Sharon & James Crosier, In memory of our talented cousin Cathy "Cat" Hennessy.

Ana Díaz-Diez & Javier Maymi-Perez, Dedicated to the memory of Pedro Díaz-Molina.

Carole Farfaglia, In memory of Edward Farfaglia.

William & Sarah Fergerson, In memory of Terry Wheat.

Claudia Kosty

Mark & Jeannette

Levinsohn

Rashonda Lewis

Brian & Susan Lison

George & Roseann

Lorefice

Scott & Marlene

Macfarlane

John & Candace Marsellus

Mary Ellen McDonald

Michael & Patricia McGrath

Metis Consulting Group

Don Milmore

Marty & Millie Newshan

Doren Norfleet

Margaret O'Brien

David & Susan Palen

Robert & Teresa Parke

Mickey & Pat Piscitelli

Jennifer Roberts

Anne Russ

Nancy & Robert

Russoniello

Lowell Seifter & Sharon

McAuliffe

Jon Selzer & Thelma

Trotty-Selzer

Robert & Cheryl Shallish

Beth & Tobias Sienel

Joseph & Carolyn Smith

H. Paul Steiner

John & Anne Sveen

Ann Tussing

Joseph & Carole Valesky

Peter Vanable & Anne Jamison

Laurence Volan & Sara Warner

Nancy Wadopian

Steven Wall & Wendy

Burton

Lynda Wheat

Women's Project Theatre

$150 - $299

Ellen Agnew

James Aiello

Robert & Jeanne Anderson

Dianne Apter

Al & Jane Arras

Marina Artuso

James Atkinson

Aminy Audi

Frank Badagnani

Holmes & Sarah M Bailey

Rosemary Baker & Stuart

Spiegel

Nancy Barnum

Benevity Community

Impact Fund

Edward & Angela Bernat

Sylvia Betcher

William A Billingham

Melody Blake

Eric & Carol Boyer

Mary Brady

Dennis & Mary Anne

Brady

Carmelita Britton & Richard Probert

Ellen Butler

William & Mary Butler

Andrea Calarco

Joseph & Patricia Cambareri

Ronald Capone

Pamela Caraccioli

Lexi Carlson & Sebastian Karcher

Delores Carney

Dannielle Carr

Judith Carr

Joseph Cerroni & Linda Tassa

Maureen Clark

Raymond Colton

Shelley Conture

Elizabeth Cowan

Peter Cronin

Richard Cross & Kathryn Davis

Joyce Crossley

Raymond W. Cummings, Jr.

Judith Dannible

Peter & Margaret Darby

Christine Dascher

Matthew & Elizabeth

Daurio

Bill & Terry Delavan

Rossybell Diaz

Linda & Alan Dolmatch

Amy Doyle

Elizabeth Drew & Joe

Marusa

Charley & Kim Driscoll

David & Robin Drucker

Denise Dyce

Karen & Eddie Eagan

Forrest & Sara Earl

Wynn Egginton

Ron Ehrenreich & Sondra

Roth

In Honor of

Adam Ganderson, In memory of Catherine Mary "Cat" Hennessy.

Margaret Gelfuso, In memory of Peter Scheibe.

Erica Giroud, In memory of Catherine "Cat" Hennessy

Carmen Giunta, In memory of Cat Hennessy

Erin Horner, In memory of Catherine Hennessy.

Donald Hughes, In memory Cat Hennessy.

Marjorie T. Julian, In honor of Ed Farfaglia.

Liz Kolodney, In memory of Peggy Marshall.

Shane & Cheryl Kurowski, In memory of Cat Hennessy.

Marcia Locke, In memory of Cat Hennessy.

Leonard Lu, In memory of Catherine "Cat" Hennessy.

Mark & Megan Morettini, In honor of Francis O'Connor and Peter Ceravolo. In memory of Drs. Lawrence & Betty Jane Myers from their family.

Rose Ann & Gerlad Napierski, In memory of Cat Hennessy.

Judy Oplinger, In memory of Tim Rice.

Patty Pack, In memory of Cat Hennessy.

Virginia Potter, In memory of Catherine "Cat" Hennessy.

Marilyn Shelleman, In memory of Ron Shelleman.

William & Elizabeth

Elkins

Greg & Linda Ellstrom

Stanley & Penny Emerick

Elizabeth Etoll

William & Sarah

Fergerson

Marcia Finch

Molly Carole Fitzpatrick

Gerard Flynn

Leonard Fonte

Kurt Frazier

Elinor Freeman

Dan Gaffney

Allen & Nirelle Galson

Margaret Gelfuso

Neil Gold

Andrea Graham

Rosanna Grassi

Roger & Vicki Greenberg

Thomas Greenwood

William & Ann Griffith

John & Patty Grossmann

Harold Hackney & Janine

Bernard

Gregory & Elaine Hallett

Beth Hansen

Mary Haven & John Zasada

Pamela & James Helmer

Christopher Henke & Carolyn Hsu

Donna & Joseph Hipius

Victor Jenkins

Emily Johnson & Vijay Ramachandran

Gwenn Judge

Philip & Judith Kaplan

James & Jan Kaplan

Pieter & Sandra Keese

David & Noel Keith

Mary Kelly

Amy Kemp

Tim & Susan Kennedy

John & Gloria Kennedy

Diane King

Russell & Joan King

Earl & Trudy Kletsky

Barry & Kathy Kogut

Robert & Lauren Lalley

Eric & Susan Lambert

Andrea Latchem

Bruce & Marilyn Laubacher

Victor & Linda Lebedovych

Bonnie Levy

David & Cindy Lewis

James Light

John Limbeson

Edward & Carol Lipson

Martha Holly Loew

Mary Lombardo

Linda Loomis

John & Marian Loosmann

Dan & Linda Lowengard

Donald & Patricia MacLaughlin

John & Janet Mallan

Robert & Nancy Mandry

Julie March

Frederick & Virginia

Marty

Elizabeth Mascia

Douglas & Randi Matousek

John McAllister & Laurel

Moranz

John & Mary McCulley

Andreas & Margaret Meier

Clifford & Marjorie

Mellor

Lois Meyer

David Michel & Peggy Liuzzi

Dr. Merrill L. Miller

Daniel & Terry Miller

David & Beth Mitchell

Julian & Jennifer Modesti

Janet Moore

Joseph Moorman & Catherine Gerard

Susan Moskal

Nancy Mudrick

David & Janet Muir

James & Kathleen

Muldoon

Charles & Judith Muniak

Alan & Rosalind Napier

Richard Natoli

William & Jane Neer

Aaron & Cosmina Nolan

Loraine Odonnell

Jane Ondich

Marjorie Ostrander

Mary & Richard Owen

Joan & Lawrence Page

Cathy Palm

Richard & Ann Pearson

Sam & Cynthia

Pendergrast

James Perry

Michael & Susan

Petrosillo

Jane Pickett

Hugh & Jane Pinchin

Eileen Ponto

In Honor of (Continued)

Kristina Starowitz, In memory of Cat Hennessy.

H. Paul Steiner, In honor and memory of Fritz Parker.

Philip Syphrit, In memory of Cat Hennessy.

Hon. Karen M. Uplinger, In memory of John P. Copanas.

Orelí Uzdavinis & Juan De Leon, In honor of Ana Díaz.

John Przepiora

Elizabeth Quilter

John & Dorothy Reiffenstein

Steve Reiter & Annegret Schubert

Jacqueline Rich

Terry & Monica Richmond

Maryann Roefaro & Tom Carranti

Diana Biro & Eric Rogers

Elaine Rubenstein

Anita Schmidt-Kyanka

George & Sharon Schmit

William Schuyler

Vito & Janet Sciscioli

Ruth Seaman

Richard & Elizabeth Severance

Katherine Sgarlata

Roger & Nancy Sharp

Marilyn Shelleman

Martha Sichta

Dr Craig A Simmons

Judith Smith

Jeffrey Sneider & Gwen

Kay

George & Helene Starr

Karl Crossman & John

Steinburg

Philip Syphrit

Saul & Roselyn Teukolsky

Victor & Diane Tice

James & Deborah Tifft

Charles Tremper

Hon. Karen M. Uplinger

Celesia Ventura

Anthony & Martha

Viglietta

TJ & Meghan Vitale

Robert & Anita Wagner

Judith Waite

Marc & Marcy Waldauer

Diane & Kathleen Waldon

JoAnn Wallace

Francis & Elaine Walter

Donald & Martha

Washburn

Mark Watkins & Brenda Silverman

Diane D Webb

David & Daryll Wheeler

George & Mrs Whitton

Christopher & Renee Wiles

Tina Winter

Tom & Carol Wolff

Deborah Wood

Loretta Zolkowski

$100 - $149

Jerrold & Harriet

Abraham

Kirill Abramov

Sarah Alden

Eric Allyn & Meg O'Connell

Kristi Andersen

Beatrice Angus

Maxine & Keyhan Arjomand

Chris Arnold

Mary Roberts Bailey

F David & Sally Bailey

Rosanne Barbaglia

Paul Barron & Leah Weinberg

Jean Beers

Peter & Kathy Belyea

Ronald & Susan Berger

Peter & Elizabeth Bilinski

Nicolina Bisson

Susan Boettger

Jeffrey & Kris Bogart

Leslee Boissy-Weatherup

Jon & Patricia Booth

Carl & Alice Borning

John & Lynn Branagan

Bernard & Ona Cohn Bregman

James & Joyce Bresnahan

Robert & Helene Brophy

Paul Brown & Susan

Loevenguth

Bob & Kathy Brown

Donna L. Johnson Brown

Sheera Buckley

Lia & Dean Burrows

Patricia Bush

Nancy Virgil-Call

John & Cynthia

Cambareri

Larry & Fran Campbell

Chris Carbone

Susan Carney

Emanuel & Cynthia Carter

Gary & Alexa Carter

Christina Casella

Susan Chappuis

Charles Schwab

Chris Chin

Karen Clarke

Barbara Clary

Martha Cole

Donna Coloton

William & Julia Consroe

Pamela A Cook

Tim & Margaret Creamer

Tracy Cromp

Stephanie Cross

James Cusack

Cathy Darrow

Lynette & Ethan Davis

Peter Deblois

Carol Decker

Lance Denno

Eileen Deuell

Patrick & Rebecca Devendorf

Kate DiDonato

Margrit Diehl

Dario DiMare

Patricia Arcana & Thomas Dorr

Philip Dunham

Nathaniel & Karen Dunn

Dupli Graphics Corp.

Kathleen Effler

Richard Ellison & Margaret Ksander

Brian G Fay

Daniel & Laura Feldman

Ronald Ferguson

Asa & Catherine Forbes

Lois & Jill Fowler

Virginia Frey

John Friedman & Polly Ann Heavenrich

Judy Friedman

Dave & Kay Frizzell

Mary Gallagher

William & Jean Gamble

Adam Ganderson

Norma Gawlowicz

Claudia Gebhardt

David & Sharon Gerber

Iraina Gerchman

Deborah Gersony

Erica Girouard

Carmen Giunta

Douglas Goldschmidt & David Jacobs

Michael & Wendy

Gordon

Bernice Gottschalk

Paula & Louis Green

Mark & Cynthia Dowd

Greene

Seth & Lisa Greenky

Richard & Mary Greninger

Chip & Kate Grosso

Charlotte Haas & Gary

Quirk

Patricia Haggerty

James Hahn

Marcia Haines

Nancy Hanna

Peggy K Harper

Ann & Richard Harris

David & Elizabeth Hayes

Elizabeth Hebert

Karl & Mary Herba

Mary Hershberger

Kathleen Hinchman

Barbara & Ronald Hoffman

Susan Hoover

David Hopper

Erin Horner

Michael Houseman

Kathleen J. Howard

Judy Huckle

Jacqueline Hudgston

Donald Hughes

Marilyn Husted

Linda Imboden

Matthew & Bridgett Jacob

Roger & June Jesmain

Marie & James Jewson

Nancy FreeboroughKaczmar

Michael & Audrey Kane

Randy Karcher

Mara Kaszubinski

Robert & Christina Keim

Marlene Kelly

Jean Kimber

Sheldon & Karen Kruth

Steven Kulick

Shane & Cheryl Kurowski

Michael Labulis

Lorraine LaDuke

Amanda Lee

James LeGro

Patricia Lehmann

Peter Lindabury

Kristen Link-Logan

Michael & Jean Loftus

Susan & Gerald Lotierzo

Leonard Lu

Jane Macan

Gerald Mager

Jon Maloff

Mimi Mark

Carol Marsella

Michael & Marilyn McCabe

Donyce & Kenneth McCluskey

Wallace & Gayonne McDonald

Philip & Martha McDowell

Linda McKeown

Timothy McLaughlin & Diane Cass

Kathleen McLeod

Sam & Margaret McNaughton

Eckart & Mary Meisterfeld

Marcia Mele

Marie Merrell

Thomas Miller & Mary MacBlane

Diana Milock

Jeffrey Minnerly

Gail Mitchell

Leslie & Barney Molldrem

Robert & Barbara Moore

Mark & Megan Morettini

Bob Moss & Michael Brennan

Wil Murtaugh & Bill Louer

Michael & Maggie O'Connor

Howard McLaughlin & Mary O'Hara

Judy Oplinger

John & Elizabeth O'Sullivan

Nancy Page

Edith Pennington & Lawrence Lardy

Susan Pieczonka

Anita Pisano

Howard & Ann Port

Duane & Karleen Preske

Gordon & Judy Prosser

Charles & Patricia

Prutzman

Steve & Kate Pynn

Tamara Quick

Mary Rose Ranieri

Jim Read

Laura Reeder

Scott Reinhart

Todd Relyea

Nancy Remchuk

Lynn Richer

Marybeth Riscica

William & Gretchen Roberts

Nancy Machles Rothschild

Sally Ruby

Linda & Bob Ryan

John & Judy Sabene

Meara Sabin

Michael & Dawn Sam

Richard & Jill Sargent

Roberta Savage

Jennifer Scalione

Jeffrey & Abby Scheer

S Scott & Linda Tousey

Kraemer

Mike & Marilyn Sees

Geraldine Sheehan

Alberta & Thomas

Shouldice

Michael & Dotty Sills

Gale Smith

William Smith

Carol Solomon

William Stanford

Ross & Janet Stefano

Mark & Beth Steigerwald

Lawrence Stewart & Pamela Sunshine

Arnold & Lucille Stieber

Jill Stratton

Susan Stred & Harold

Husovsky

Jennifer, Bridget & Audrey

Stromer-Galley

Calixto & Joyce Suarez

Martha Sutter & David Ross

Sharon Sutter

Kristin & Steve Swift

Lawrence & Alexandra

Tavlarides

James & Dolores Terzian

Mary Thompson

David & Eileen

Thompson

Andrew & Kathleen

Tompkins

Dennis & Debbie

Trepanier

John & Jean Tromans

Gregory & Carolyn Trombly

Earl & Karen Turner

Bob & Claudia Visalli

Susan Wadley

Howard Weinstein

Susan Williams

Alexander & Lola Winter

Christopher Wratney

Samuel & Robin Young

Leslie Zaborsky

Joyce Zadzilka

Steven & Judith Zdep

PLANNED GIVING

A planned gift is a way to make a significant and lasting gift to Syracuse Stage. By making a bequest to the theatre, you are assuring that Syracuse Stage will continue to inspire, stimulate, and entertain Central New York audiences for generations to come, as well as maintain its high artistic standards that are recognized locally, and nationally. For more information about planned gifts contact: Ana Díaz-Diez, Director of Development 315-443-3931 or ajdiazdi@syr.edu

Mary Louise Dunn Fund

Dr. William J. Clark, Jr. Fund

The Estate of Rosemary Curtis

In Honor and Memory of Sheldon P. Peterfreund and Josephine A Peterfreund

Matching Gift Program

The J. Zimmeister-Yarwood Estate

Many companies will match gifts of their employees, retirees, and spouses with a gift of their own to Syracuse Stage. Ask your personnel office for a matching gift form, send the completed form with your gift – and we’ll do the rest!

SYRACUSE STAGE STAFF

Artistic Director.............................................................................................................Robert Hupp

Managing Director.....................................................................................................Jill A. Anderson

Associate Artistic Director............................................................................................Melissa Crespo

Resident Playwright..............................................................................................................Kyle Bass

PRODUCTION STAFF

Director of Production Operations...........................................................................Don Buschmann

Associate Director of Production Operations..........................................................Dianna Angell

Company Manager and Production Management Associate......................................Brian Crotty

Events Manager and Production Management Assistant......................................Audrey Flynn

Technical Director..................................................................................................Randall Steffen

Assistant Technical Director............................................................................Rebecca Schuetz

Scene Shop Foreman...........................................................................................Michael King

Technical Assistant...................................................................................................Alex Farley

Carpenters...............................................................................John Gamble, Brian McBurney

Student Employee............................................................................................Gray Westbrook

Scenic Charge Artist...................................................................................................Emily Holm

Scenic Artist........................................................................................................Riley Mankin

Scenic Painter....................................................................................................Jessica Culligan

Props Supervisor............................................................................................................Mara Rich

Assistant Prop Supervisor............................................................................Christine Goldman

Craftpersons....................................................................................Alexis Frizzell, Nora Galley

Costume Shop Manager..........................................................................Gretchen Darrow-Crotty

Assistant Costume Shop Manager.....................................................................Amanda Moore

Cutter-Draper...................................................................................................Kathryn Rauch

First Hand.........................................................................................................Victoria Lillich Stitchers.......................................................................................Emily King, Katelyn Yonkers

Craftsperson/Shopper.........................................................................................Sandra Knapp

Wardrobe Supervisor.........................................................................................Dylinn Andrew

Student Assistant...................................................................................................CJ Forestiere

Lighting and Projection Supervisor..................................................................David M. Bowman

Assistant Master Electrician.....................................................................................Jed Daniels

Electricians/Board Operators..................................................Connor Beattie, Brian C. Jordan

Student Employee............................................................................................James Klemmer

Resident Sound Designer/Audio Engineer.....................................................Jacqueline R. Herter

Audio Engineer...............................................................................................Kevin O’Connor

Sound Engineer/Board Operator..........................................................................Shane Wright

Production Stage Manager....................................................................................Stuart Plymesser Stage Manager..............................................................................................Laura Jane Collins

Production Assistants.........................................................................Erin C Brett, Em Piraino

SYRACUSE STAGE STAFF

ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF

General Manager....................................................................................................Michael McCurdy

Comptroller..............................................................................................Mary Kennett Morreale

Associate General Manager/Covid-19 Safety Officer.............................................Jacob G. Ellison

Director of Information Management & Technology...................................Garrett Diaz-Wheeler

Business Office Intern...........................................................................................Liam Bierley

Audience Services Manager.......................................................................................Korrie Taylor

House Managers.............................Pat Condello, Ella Lafontant, Adam Secor, Donna Stuccio

Bartenders................................................................................................................Meg Pusey

Audience Services Interns....................................................................Jack Lin, Maya Royston

Front of House Associates............Hope Allen, Nathan Ayotte, Olivia Busche, Jade Fernandez, Henry Herbert, Sally Jewell, Yaneeka Nichols, Alyssa Otoski-Keim, Sarah Schultz, Kevin Sene, Julia Snoonian, Wesley Tipton, Malaika Wanjiku, Ada Wennstrom, Gracie Whaley, Maya Zepeda

Director of Development.............................................................................................Ana Díaz-Diez

Development Assistant................................................................................Candice Bermudez

Director of Community Engagement and Education.....................................................Joann Yarrow

Associate Director of Education.............................................................................Kate Laissle

Community Engagement and Education Coordinator....................................Theorri London

Community Engagement and Education Interns..........................Erin Keith, Ada Wennstrom

Director of Marketing and Communications.....................................................................Amy Lebo

Associate Director of Marketing and Communications.....................................Joanna Penalva

Audience Development Manager.........................................................................Tracey White

Audience Development Assistant...................................................................Talia Shenandoah

Senior Designer, Creative Content....................................................................Brenna Merritt

Graphic Designer............................................................................................Jonathan Hudak

Box Office Manager.................................................................................Courtney Richardson

Assistant Box Office Manager.....................................................................Ahmanee Simmons Marketing Interns.......................................................................Joyelle Ronan, Wesley Tipton

Patron Services Intern....................................................................................Soumya Tadepalli

Executive Assistant.........................................................................................................Cynthia Reid

Management Office Intern.......................................................................Lauren Kelly Witkowski

Sign Language Interpreters.....................................................................Brenda Brown, Sue Freeman

Open Captioning............................................................................Michael McCurdy, Cynthia Reid

Audio Description...................................................................................Kate Laissle, Joseph Whelan

Community Services Officers.......................................................Stacey Emmons, Joseph O'Connor

Custodians.........................................................................Dave Hall, Tony Rogers, Candace Velario

WORLD PREMIERE MUSICAL

SEPT 21 – OCT 9

HOW TO DANCE IN OHIO

A new musical based on Alexandra Shiva’s documentary film | Book & Lyrics by Rebekah Greer Melocik | Music & Co-Arrangements by Jacob Yandura | Music Direction by Lily Ling

Music Supervision, Co-Arrangements, Orchestration by Matt Gallagher |

Choreographed by Mayte Natalio |

Directed by Sammi Cannold | Produced in association with Ben Holtzman, Sammy Lopez, and Fiona Howe Rudin

A heart-filled new musical, based on the Peabody Award-winning documentary of the same name, that explores what it means to belong, the courage it takes to put yourself out in the world, and the universal need to connect. Follow seven Autistic young adults as they come of age and find their ways in the world.

MAR 29 – APR 16

OUR TOWN

By Thornton Wilder

Directed by Robert Hupp

The American classic that reminds us to cherish every unimportant moment.

OCTOBER 18 -23

NOV 25 – JAN 8

EAST COAST PREMIERE

FEB 15 – MAR 5

ESPEJOS: CLEAN

Music by Alan Menken | Lyrics by Howard Ashman and Glenn Slater Book by Doug Wright | Based on the Hans Christian Andersen story and the Disney film that was produced by Howard Ashman & John Musker and written & directed by John Musker & Ron Clements | Originally Produced by Disney Theatrical Productions

Directed by Melissa Rain Anderson Co-produced with the Syracuse University Department of Drama

Splashy family fun for the holiday season with added thrills courtesy of the high flying 2 Ring Circus.

WORLD PREMIERE

MAY 3 - 21

TENDER RAIN

By

Kyle Bass

Directed by Rodney Hudson

A man must confront the secrets of his past in order to move forward in this world premiere of Kyle Bass’ haunting play.

By Christine Quintana | Spanish translation and adaptation by Paula Zelaya Cervantes

Directed by Melissa Crespo

In this engaging new drama, two women with very different experiences meet by accident and change each other in unexpected ways. Performed in Spanish and English with supertitles.

JUNE 7 - 25

CLUE

Based on the screenplay by Jonathan Lynn | Written by Sandy Rustin

Additional Material by Hunter Foster and Eric Price | Based on the Paramount Pictures Motion Picture

Based on the Hasbro board game CLUE

Original Music by Michael Holland

Directed by Ben Hanna

Famous board game turned popular motion picture turned fabulously fun theatrical experience. Who did it? Where? And with what?

Curated by Melissa Crespo | Free for subscribers, tickets required, available through the Box Office.