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CONTENTS
MARCH–APRIL 2017
7 THE PROGRAM 10 THE CREATIVE WORLD OF PLAYWRIGHT SUZAN LORI PARKS
10
12 DIRECTOR BILLY PORTER ON THE RESONANCE OF TOPDOG/UNDERDOG IN 2017 P LUS:
Playwright Suzan-Lori Parks
4 Backstage by Olivia J. Kiers 35 Emergency Exits 38 Guide to Local Theatre 44 Boston Dining Guide 46 Dining Out: Top of the Hub THEATREBILL STAFF
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HUNTINGTON THEATRE COMPANY
3
BACKSTAGE BEHIND THE SCENES IN LOCAL AND NATIONAL THEATRE BY OLIVIA J. KIERS A New Lease of Life for Colonial Theatre After remaining dark for more than a year, Emerson College’s historic Colonial Theatre no longer faces uncertainty. The college announced plans to reopen it under the operation of Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG) from London, with an inaugural season expected for January 2018. ATG co-produces shows on Broadway, where it operates two theatres—only part of its more than 40 venues around the world. Emerson president Lee Pelton told The Boston Globe, “It’s a game-changer. Bringing ATG to Boston…is the theatre’s version of bringing GE to our city.” ATG will provide internship opportunities for Emerson students, and promises to explore making the space available for local arts organizations such as Boston Lyric Opera. A Reagle Summer
BACK IN THE SPOTLIGHT: The historic Colonial Theatre on Boylston Street looks to re-open in January 2018 thanks to a new deal owner Emerson College recently struck with London-based Ambassador Theatre Group.
Reagle Music Theatre of Greater Boston
recently announced its 49th summer musical season at the Robinson Theatre in Waltham. Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat arrives in June with its family-friendly, rock ’n’ roll-styled tale of a boy in ancient Egypt following his prophetic dreams. In July, Reagle again travels into the past, this time to the Mississippi River—its production of the 1927 classic Show Boat is the latest version, as arranged and premiered by Connecticut’s Goodspeed Opera House in 2011. Finally, the season closes in August with the Tony Award-winning Broadway glamor of 42nd Street, in which aspiring chorus girl Peggy Sawyer gets an unexpected shot at stardom. Refer to reaglemusictheatre.org for more information. 4
TOPDOG/UNDERDOG
A Season of Change at ASP Following the departure of artistic director Allyn Burrows, Actors’ Shakespeare Project (ASP) announced two interim co-artistic directors to take the helm until the post is filled, which the company hopes to do by June. In the mean time, ASP is in good hands. Founding member Paula Plum is a multi-award-winning actress and playwright who has been with Actors’ Shakespeare Project since its inception. She is joined by Maurice Emmanuel Parent, who, like Plum, has been a recipient of both IRNE and Elliot Norton Awards. Parent has performed in five ASP productions, and appears in the title role of Christopher Marlowe’s Edward II, ASP’s production that runs through March 19 at the Charlestown Working Theater. For tickets, visit actorsshakespeareproject.org.
Enlightenment-era astronomers Johannes A Bloody Encore After last year’s sold-out run, Patrick Gabridge’s Kepler and Tycho Brahe; and None but the Best, Blood on the Snow returns to the Old State a musical biography of 19th-century Boston House this June. Presented by the Bostonian publisher Daniel Sharp Ford. For details, visit Society, this drama recreates history where bostonhistory.org/about-the-show. it actually happened. Blood on the Snow takes place during the tense hours following the Boston Massacre on March 5, 1770, when Governor Thomas Hutchinson (Dale Place) and other colonial officials took to the Old State House’s Council Chamber for an emergency meeting to discuss the prevention of further violence. A fixture in Boston’s theatre scene, Gabridge is also no newcomer to taking a pen to history—his full-length historical plays include Fire on Earth, which centers on the creation of the Tyndale Bible in Catholic ENCORE PERFORMANCE: Dale Place reprises his role as England; Reading the Mind of Governor Thomas Hutchinson in Patrick Gabridge’s Blood on the God, which tells the story of Snow, which returns to the Old State House June 1–August 20.
WHAT’S ON STAGE in March
Our picks for the hottest plays and musicals on local stages this month GRAND CONCOURSE SPEAKEASY STAGE COMPANY March 3–April 1 Starring IRNE Awardwinning actress and playwright Melinda Lopez, Heidi Schreck’s drama about religious faith and compassion takes place in a Bronx soup kitchen. Refer to listing, page 40.
SILENT SKY FLAT EARTH THEATRE March 10–25 Lauren Gunderson’s play tells the true story of Massachusetts astronomer Henrietta Leavitt, who made great advances in her field despite not being allowed to use Harvard’s telescope at the turn of the 20th century. Refer to listing, page 42.
MRS. PACKARD BRIDGE REPERTORY THEATER March 12–April 9 Emily Mann’s play about a 19th-century woman committed to an insane asylum for having religious beliefs that differed from her husband’s is based on true events. Refer to listing, page 41. ALTAR BOYZ STONEHAM THEATRE March 23–April 9 This award-winning musical comedy satirizes Christian rock and boy bands as the fictitious Altar Boyz—Matthew, Mark, Luke, Juan and Abraham—sing and dance to uplift burdened souls on their “Raise the Praise” tour. Refer to listing, page 40.
MARCH 23 – APRIL 9, 2017
HUNTINGTON THEATRE COMPANY 5 FLAGSHIP SPONSORS
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BACKSTAGE (continued)
A COLORFUL AND EDGY RE-ENVISIONING OF STRAVINSKY’S OPERA
MAR 12 - 19 | EMERSON/CUTLER MAJESTIC THEATRE
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ET NO ER RM D AR A JE UBO TIS AN IS TIC CA DIR LDE ECT RW M OR OOD I CH MA A NA E L GIN M G D AS IRE O CTO R
UT O F H E TH ND E A RTS
NT ING CO T TO MP HE N AVE AN ATR & S NU Y E O E
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TOPDOG/UNDERDOG by Suzan-Lori Parks Directed by Billy Porter
Scenic & Costume Design
Clint Ramos Casting
Alaine Alldaffer
Lighting Design
Sound Design
Driscoll Otto
Leon Rothenberg
Production Stage Manager
Emily F. McMullen
Stage Manager
Kevin Schlagle
We gratefully acknowledge the Huntington’s 2016–2017 Season Sponsors
Sherryl & Gerard Cohen Carol G. Deane J. David Wimberly and the Production Sponsors of Topdog/Underdog
Jane & Neil Pappalardo Produced on Broadway by Carole Shorenstein Hays, Waxman/Williams Entertainment, Bob Boyett, Freddy De Mann, Susan Dietz, Ina Meibach, Scott Nederlander, Ira Pittelman, Hits Magazine, Kelpie Arts, Rick Steiner/Frederic H. Mayerson, and The Public Theater/New York Shakespeare Festival. Original New York production by The Joseph Papp Public Theater/New York Shakespeare Festival, George C. Wolfe, Producer. Topdog/Underdog is presented by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc., New York.
HUNTINGTON THEATRE COMPANY 7
NEWS ABOUT THE HUNTINGTON AVENUE THEATRE “The Huntington Theatre Company is here to stay, on Huntington Avenue where it belongs.” – BOSTON MAYOR MARTIN J. WALSH
The Huntington Theatre Company has long been an anchor cultural institution of Huntington Avenue, the Avenue of the Arts. Now that our permanent location on Huntington Avenue is secure, we have begun plans to convert our current theatre into a first-rate, modern venue that enlivens this stretch of Huntington Avenue on a year-round basis, contributing to the revitalization of the neighborhood much the way the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA in the South End did in 2004. We plan to renovate our beautiful theatre, expand our public space and our services to patrons, and continue to produce ambitious, large-scale works at this location in a way that enhances our services to audience members, young people, our neighborhood, and the theatre community of Boston.
OUR 2017-2018 SEASON The Huntington’s 2017-2018 season will once again include 4 shows at the Huntington Avenue Theatre and 3 shows at the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA in the South End — with all the variety and artistry you’ve come to expect. We’ll be announcing our full season lineup very soon. PRODUCTION & FACILITY RELOCATION Our production facility, currently on Huntington Avenue next door to the theatre, will relocate by June 2017. We have received a tremendous outpouring of support for our scenic, paint, and prop shop artisans, and are currently designing and preparing a new home for them and will be sharing the location of the new facility with our audiences soon.
The Huntington is extremely grateful for the vocal support and encouragement from our loyal audience members and supporters throughout Greater Boston. For the latest news and information about the Huntington Avenue Theatre, visit the frequently asked questions page of our website at huntingtontheatre.org/FAQ.
CAST Booth..................................................................................Matthew J. Harris Lincoln............................................................... Tyrone Mitchell Henderson
PLACE Here
TIME Now There will be one 10-minute intermission.
NOW EXTENDED BY POPULAR DEMAND!
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massculturalcouncil.org
The Huntington Theatre Company is supported in part by a major contribution from Boston University. Additional support is provided by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency, and by more than 6,000 individual, foundation, and corporate contributors.
“A vibrant culture-clash drama simmering with humor.” — ASSOCIATED PRESS
HUNTINGTON THEATRE COMPANY 9
THE CREATIVE WORLD OF PLAYWRIGHT SUZAN-LORI PARKS Playwright Suzan-Lori Parks
“She is an original,” said August Wilson of fellow playwright Suzan-Lori Parks. “[Her] fierce intelligence, and fearless approach to craft, subvert theatrical convention and produce a mature and inimitable art that is as exciting as it is fresh.” Inimitable is an apt word for this boundary-crushing artist whose plays earned her the distinction of being the first African American woman playwright to win a Pulitzer Prize. Parks’ bold revisions of familiar figures, innovations in expressing dialogue on paper, and penchant for exploding theatrical norms have cemented her place as a trailblazer in the field. As Vogue magazine put it, “Parks has burst through every known convention to invent a new theatrical language.” Though her subversive style is often described with words that lend an air of wildness to her work, Parks’ deconstruction is far from reckless. The playwright’s method of transformation stems from a tradition that has a long and rich history in the world of jazz music: repetition and revision. Known for its improvisational structure, jazz music draws on a medley of sources for inspiration including ragtime, blues, West African musical tradition as well as military songs, and blends them together into a single piece of music. Often, jazz will take a familiar tune and riff on it, altering it slightly with each iteration of the melody — holding notes longer than expected, adding trills and musical detours to make it new. As Henry Louis Gates, Jr. summarizes in his seminal book The Signifying Monkey, “when you repeat a prior work of art, you bring it and all its connotations back, so that there are always two dimensions, past and present, repetition and revision, working at 10 TOPDOG/UNDERDOG
the same time.” It is from this rhythmic and explorative aesthetic that Parks developed the process that she has playfully renamed “Rep & Rev.” In an essay entitled “Elements of Style,” Suzan-Lori Parks delineates how she uses Rep & Rev to create a “drama of accumulation,” where the story does not simply move logically from one scene to the next, but rather builds both in tension and in theme. These tools can be used to explore the meaning of a line or phrase within the play, as Parks illustrates when she asks: “What does it mean for characters to say the same thing twice? 3 times? Over and over and over and oh-vah.” Wordplay frequently punctuates Parks’ dialogue — she finds both jokes and bleak ironies by altering a single letter in a repeated word. This process can also be used, as with jazz, to take people and images familiar to the audience and reimagine them within her story. “Rep & Rev are key in examining something larger than one moment,” Parks explains. “Rep & Rev create space for metaphor.” History serves as a fruitful excavation ground for Parks; reinvented and recast figures from the past populate many of her plays. The Rep & Rev process, when applied to history, allows Parks to create life in places where history is silent and to challenge traditional stories. For this reason, many critics view her plays as efforts to reclaim a white-washed American history, or what Parks refers to in her America Play as The Great Hole of History. As the African American voices of the past have so frequently gone unrecorded, and therefore unremembered, endeavors to evoke these voices often necessitate imagination. “One of my tasks as playwright,” Parks notes, “is to… locate the ancestral, burial ground, dig for bones, find bones, hear the bones, [and] write it down.” The originality that critics and fellow playwrights alike have found in Parks writing lies in her power of re-imagination. She mines the English language, American history, the human psyche for that which is familiar and — like a jazz musician — creates in the space around it, until it is something entirely new.
NILE HAWVER
— SARAH SCHNEBLY
Tyrone Mitchell Henderson (Lincoln) and Matthew J. Harris (Booth)
HUNTINGTON THEATRE COMPANY 11
DIRECTOR BILLY PORTER
ON THE RESONANCE OF TOPDOG/UNDERDOG IN 2017 Director Billy Porter
Suzan-Lori Parks is perhaps the most influential writer of her generation and an artist of particular importance to director Billy Porter. Just before rehearsals for Topdog/ Underdog began, dramaturg Charles Haugland spoke with him about the evolution of his relationship to Parks’ most celebrated play. Charles Haugland (Artistic Programs & Dramaturgy): What was your first encounter with Suzan-Lori Parks’ Topdog /Underdog? Billy Porter (Director): I was doing a residency at The Public Theater under George Wolfe (the original director of Topdog) when they were remounting the play for the Royal Court in London. So I got the opportunity to be in the room, around the play, and around Suzan-Lori Parks. CH: What aspect of the play did you gravitate towards initially? BP: The relationship between the two brothers and how fractured it was. The play is about the fracture of family, the separation of family, the systematic breakdown that started with slavery. It captures the psychological effects of slavery that persist for generations and generations and generations. Institutionalized racism is in the DNA of our culture and even in the DNA of ourselves. It takes consciousness to heal that fracture. What is so profound about this play is that the brothers never understand that fracture and therefore never reach the consciousness they need to heal. CH: You played the character of Booth in a 2004 production of Topdog/Underdog at the City Theatre in Pittsburgh. What was your experience of playing that role? BP: I remember my mother coming to the production and weeping when I saw her at the end. I was not like Booth at all growing up. I was a good boy, sort of a goody twoshoes. Seeing me play that person onstage freaked her out. For me, because I was not 12 TOPDOG/UNDERDOG
like the character, playing the part was more about proving to myself and to the world at large that I was an actor and I could take on that character. It never occurred to me, until my mother pointed it out, what I was aspiring to in that role. CH: What is it like to return to this play as a director in 2017? BP: The play will resonate differently. It is even more urgent now than when I did it in 2004. Portraying the complex psyches of these brothers is even more important because now more than ever we have to come together. CH: Why do you think it is important for us to encounter these psychological fractures in art? BP: You can’t heal unless you embrace the truth. No matter how dark it is. I think that’s one of the reasons we are where we are in the country right now. The left thought they won something. They thought the world had changed because slavery is over, because we have marriage equality, and because we had a black president. But taxicabs didn’t stop passing me up on the street after dark just because Obama was president. When you assume that you can sit back and not engage with something because you think it is over — you are forced to confront the truth. You have to get to rock bottom and examine the truth. CH: You chose to work with costume and scenic designer Clint Ramos again for this production after having worked with him on The Colored Museum. Obviously this play has a radically different world. How did you approach the design? BP: Clint and I have a shorthand, so it was easy to say: “This is what we’re talking about, this is what we mean. Go.” What’s interesting to me about the play is it feels like it could be happening at any time. Any time after Abraham Lincoln this story could be told. I wanted to convey that with the set design. To have a space that is familiar but not necessarily specific: a room floating in the middle of the world.
Clint Ramos’ set model for Topdog/Underdog
CH: Audiences and critics have gravitated towards Suzan-Lori Parks’ unique use of language. How do you find your way into that language? BP: It’s musical, and I’m a musician. Early on in my acting career I learned that my musical ability enables me to get inside of complicated texts whether it’s Shakespeare, August Wilson, or Suzan-Lori Parks. The language elevates the story to a status of importance that demands attention. This script does that right from the beginning with the rhythms of the 3-card monte game. When you walk past a 3-card monte dealer on the street, the rhythm of that language cuts through all the other noises of the world and stops you and you are pulled in. That’s what Suzan-Lori Parks does.
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ABOUT THE COMPANY Matthew J. Harris* (Booth) recently appeared in Kirsten Greenidge’s Milk Like Sugar at the Huntington. He has regional credits that include In the Heights (Walnut Street Theatre), A Comedy of Errors (Theater at Monmouth), and Twelfth Night (Shakesperience Productions, Inc.). Some of his New York credits include A Midsummer Night’s Dream (The Classical Theatre of Harlem), Macbeth (Pulse Ensemble Theatre), She Calls Me Firefly (New Perspectives Theatre), and Trouble (New York Musical Theatre Festival). His television credits include “Blindspot” and “Person of Interest.” He can be heard and seen in commercials for Coke Zero, Verizon, Zaxby’s, Footlocker, Bounty, and more. Mr. Harris is also a hiphop dancer, teacher, and choreographer at Man in Motion. maninmotionnyc.com. matthewjharris.net. Tyrone Mitchell Henderson* (Lincoln) previously appeared in Blues for an Alabama Sky at the Huntington. He also appeared in Bring in ‘da Noise, Bring in ‘da Funk on Broadway. His Off Broadway credits include Rancho Viejo (Playwrights Horizons), The America Play, Two Noble Kinsmen, and The Tempest (The Public Theater/NYSF), The Piano Lesson (Signature Theatre), and The Public Sings (New York City Center). His regional credits include Aubergine and Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide… (Berkeley Repertory Theatre), War, The Winter’s Tale, and The Piano Lesson (Yale Repertory Theatre), Jitney (Actors Theatre of Louisville), Radio Golf (Milwaukee Repertory Theater), Romeo & Juliet, Antony and Cleopatra, and Julius Caesar (Shakespeare Theatre Company), and Angels in America (Alliance Theatre and Dallas Theatre Center). His television credits include “Elementary,” “House of Cards,” “Orange is the New Black,” “Unforgettable,” “Boardwalk Empire,” “The Following,” “Suits,” and “Law & Order.” He is the recipient of the Dallas Theater Critics Award (Leon Rabin) for Featured Actor in Angels in America. Mr. Henderson is the founder of Quick Silver Theater Company. QuickSilverTheater.com. tyronemitchellhenderson.com. Suzan-Lori Parks (Playwright) is one of the most acclaimed playwrights in American drama today. She is the first African American woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Drama (for Topdog/Underdog in 2002), is a MacArthur “Genius” Award recipient, was awarded the prestigious Gish Prize for Excellence in the Arts, and was named one of Time magazine’s “100 Innovators for the Next Wave.” Her project 365 Days/365 Plays (where she wrote a play a day for an entire year) was produced in over 700 theatres worldwide, creating one of the largest grassroots collaborations in theatre history. Her other plays include The Book of Grace, Unchain My Heart: The Ray Charles Musical, In the Blood (2000 Pulitzer Prize finalist), Venus (1996 Obie Award), The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World, Imperceptible Mutabilities in the Third Kingdom (1990 Obie Award, Best New American Play), The America Play, and Fucking A. Her adaptation of The Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess won the 2012 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical. Her newest play, Father Comes Home from the Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3) – set during the Civil War – was awarded the Horton Foote Prize, the Edward M. Kennedy Prize for Drama, and was a 2015 Pulitzer Prize finalist. Ms. Parks has written numerous
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ABOUT THE COMPANY
TOPDOG/UNDERDOG
screenplays including Girl 6 for Spike Lee, and she adapted Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God for ABC Television’s “Oprah Winfrey Presents.” She is currently developing an original Boston University and the series for Amazon. Her first novel, Huntington Theatre Company Getting Mother’s Body (Random have partnered to train the House, 2003), is a novel with songs next generation of artists. and is set in the West Texas of her Topdog/Underdog features the following youth. Ms. Parks recently performed BU alumni and students: Watch Me Work, a free, weekly, MARCELLA BARBEAU live-streamed, writing workshop, (Assistant to the Lighting Designer) open to artists of all disciplines. MFA, Lighting Design, 2019 Her plays are published by Theatre AUBREY DUBE Communications Group (TCG), (Assistant to the Sound Designer) Samuel French, and Dramatists Play MFA, Sound Design, 2018 Service. She is also at work on a KEVIN SCHLAGLE stage-musical adaptation of the film (Stage Manager) The Harder They Come, and a new BFA, Stage Management, 2012 musical project in collaboration with Timbaland and Harmony Samuels. She is a Residency One playwright at Signature Theatre for their 2016-2017 Season and her band, Sula and the Noise, is also in residence. Ms. Parks teaches at New York University, and serves at The Public Theater as its Master Writer Chair. She is an alumna of New Dramatists and of Mount Holyoke College. Billy Porter* (Director) returns to the Huntington having previously directed The Colored Museum. He is the 2013 Tony, Grammy, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Award winner for Best Actor in a Musical for his portrayal of Lola in the Tony Award-winning Best Musical Kinky Boots. He was recently seen on Broadway in Shuffle Along, or, the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed. Mr. Porter’s one-man show Ghetto Superstar (2005 GLAAD Media Award nomination, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Performer of the Year 2003–2004) debuted at The Public Theater in conjunction with City Theatre of Pittsburgh. His other directing credits include Company; HAM: A Musical Memoir with Sam Harris; The Wiz; Being Alive; Twilight in Manchego; Once on This Island (NAACP Theatre Award winner for Best Direction); The Soul of Rodgers; Five Guys Named Moe; Altar Boyz; Rent (Associate Director, Off Broadway revival); Patina Miller Live at The Delfonte Room (London); and Signed, Sealed, Delivered: The Music of Stevie Wonder (starring Chaka Khan). His Broadway album, Billy’s Back on Broadway (Concord Records) was released in 2014. His single Edelweiss: #blessourhomeland was released on January 20 and the full album, Billy Porter Presents the Soul of Rodgers will be released in April. Some of his film and television credits include The Broken Hearts Club, The Humbling, Billy Porter:
* Members of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.
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ABOUT THE COMPANY Broadway & Soul (PBS), “Law & Order,” and “The Get Down.” As a playwright, Mr. Porter was represented Off Broadway in 2014 with the premiere of While I Yet Live starring S. Epatha Merkerson (Primary Stages). A Pittsburgh native, he received his BFA in drama from Carnegie Mellon University. He is also a graduate of UCLA’s professional program in screenwriting. Clint Ramos (Scenic & Costume Design) previously designed sets and/or costumes for after all the terrible things I do, The Colored Museum, A Raisin in the Sun, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, and Ruined at the Huntington. Recent set and/or costume credits include the Broadway productions of Sunday in the Park with George, In Transit, Eclipsed, The Elephant Man (also West End), and Violet. Off Broadway design credits include St. Joan and Here Lies Love (The Public Theater/NYSF and London). He has over 100 regional and international design credits. His honors include the 2016 Tony Award, the 2013 Obie Award for Sustained Excellence in Design, three Lucille Lortel Awards, two IRNE Awards, the TDF Irene Sharif Young Master Award, two American Theatre Wing Henry Hewes Design Awards, and a Helen Hayes Award. His upcoming work includes Six Degrees of Separation on Broadway and the West Coast tour of Here Lies Love. clintramos.com. Driscoll Otto (Lighting Design) previously designed lights for The Colored Museum at the Huntington. His Off Broadway credits include Under My Skin and Solving the Riddle. His other New York credits include La Donna del Lago (The Metropolitan Opera) and work with Ars Nova, Mint Theater Company, New Ohio Theatre, La MaMa, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and Gotham Chamber Opera. Mr. Otto’s work is seen frequently in regional opera and theatre. Recently he designed The Barber of Seville at Virginia Opera, Jersey Boys in the Philippines, and Blast: The Music of Disney for KTI in Japan. His credits with regional companies include North Carolina Opera, Opera Delaware, Opera Omaha, Virginia Opera, The Dallas Opera, Dallas Theater Center, Houston Shakespeare Festival, Trinity Repertory Company, Hangar Theatre, Flat Rock Playhouse, and Utah Festival Opera. He has also designed productions of Legally Blonde and Rock of Ages for Norwegian Cruise Lines. This summer he will be designing the projections for The Golden Cockerel at Santa Fe Opera. He received his MFA from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Leon Rothenberg (Sound Design) returns to the Huntington having previously designed Choice. His Broadway credits include Violet, The Realistic Joneses, The Nance (Tony Award), The Heiress, and Joe Turner’s Come and Gone (Tony Award nomination). His New York and Off Broadway credits include performances at The New Group, Playwrights Horizons, Second Stage Theatre, New York City Center, Manhattan Theatre Club, Primary Stages, Tectonic Theater Project, Women’s Project Theater, and The Public Theater/NYSF. His regional credits include performances at American Conservatory Theatre, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, Merrimack Repertory Theatre, Delaware Theatre Company, Portland Center Stage, Arena Stage, Seattle Repertory Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, The Old Globe, New York Stage and Film, Two River Theater, Long Wharf Theatre, McCarter Theatre, North Shore Music Theatre, and Theatre by the Sea. Internationally he has worked with Cirque du
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ABOUT THE COMPANY Soleil, National Theatre of Cyprus, and Dijon Festival. klaxson.net. Alaine Alldaffer (Casting) is also the casting director for Playwrights Horizons, where her credits include Grey Gardens (also for Broadway), Clybourne Park (also for Broadway), Circle Mirror Transformation (Drama Desk and Obie Awards for Best Ensemble and an Artios Award for casting), and The Flick (Playwright Horizons and The Barrow Street Theater). Television credits include “The Knights of Prosperity” (aka “Let’s Rob Mick Jagger”) for ABC. Associate credits include “Ed” for NBC and “Monk” for USA. Ms. Alldaffer has also cast productions for Arena Stage, Williamstown Theatre Festival, and the Humana Festival of New American Plays at Actors Theatre of Louisville, among others. She credits Lisa Donadio as her associate casting director. Emily F. McMullen* (Production Stage Manager) has previously worked on A Doll’s House, Bedroom Farce, Sunday in the Park with George, I Was Most Alive with You, Can You Forgive Her?, Disgraced, A Confederacy of Dunces, A Little Night Music, after all the terrible things I do, The Colored Museum, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Awake and Sing!, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, Smart People, The Seagull, Venus in Fur, and The Cocktail Hour for the Huntington. Ms. McMullen was recently the production stage manager for the Lexington Theatre Company’s production of Disney’s Mary Poppins. She spent nine seasons as production stage manager at Merrimack Repertory Theatre in Lowell and 15 summers as production stage manager of Music
* Members of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.
HUNTINGTON THEATRE COMPANY 17
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ABOUT THE COMPANY Theatre of Wichita. Other credits include work with Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, South Coast Repertory, North Shore Music Theatre, and Capital Repertory Theatre, among others. She holds a BA from Emory University. Kevin Schlagle* (Stage Manager) returns to the Huntington after previously working on Bedroom Farce; Sunday in the Park with George; Can You Forgive Her?; Milk Like Sugar; A Confederacy of Dunces; A Little Night Music; after all the terrible things I do; Come Back, Little Sheba; Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike; Smart People; Venus in Fur; Our Town; God of Carnage; Ruined; and Prelude to a Kiss. Other theatre credits include American Repertory Theater, New Repertory Theatre, Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, and Williamstown Theatre Festival. His opera credits include Boston Lyric Opera, Boston Baroque, Boston Opera Collaborative, Guerilla Opera, New England Conservatory, Boston University’s Opera Institute, and Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras. He holds a BFA in stage management from Boston University. Peter DuBois (Artistic Director) is in his ninth season as Artistic Director at the Huntington where his directing credits include Stephen Sondheim’s Sunday in the Park with George and A Little Night Music; the world premieres of Gina Gionfriddo’s Can You Forgive Her?, Lydia R. Diamond’s Smart People, Evan M. Wiener’s Captors, Stephen Karam’s Sons of the Prophet (2012 Pulitzer Prize finalist), Bob Glaudini’s Vengeance is the Lord’s, and David Grimm’s The Miracle at Naples; the regional premieres of A. Rey Pamatmat’s after all the terrible the things I do, Stephen Belber’s The Power of Duff, and Gina Gionfriddo’s Becky Shaw and Rapture, Blister, Burn; and Craig Lucas’ Prelude to a Kiss. His West End/ London credits include Sex with Strangers and Rapture, Blister, Burn (Hampstead Theatre), All New People with Zach Braff (Duke of York’s Theatre), and Becky Shaw (Almeida Theatre). His New York credits include The Power of Duff with Greg Kinnear (New York Stage and Film/Powerhouse Theater); the premiere of Rapture, Blister, Burn (Playwrights Horizons, 2013 Pulitzer Prize finalist); Sons of the Prophet (Roundabout Theatre Company, 2012 Pulitzer Prize finalist); Modern Terrorism, Becky Shaw, Trust with Sutton Foster, All New People, and Lips Together, Teeth Apart (Second Stage Theatre); Measure for Pleasure, Richard III with Peter Dinklage, Mom, How Did You Meet the Beatles?, and Biro (The Public Theater/NYSF); Jack Goes Boating with Philip Seymour Hoffman and The View From 151st Street (LAByrinth Theater Company/The Public Theater), and the upcoming Can You Forgive Her? at the Vineyard Theatre. Regional US and UK credits include productions at American Conservatory Theater, Trinity Repertory Company, Humana Festival of New Plays, Manchester Opera House, and King’s Theater Glasgow. Before arriving at the Huntington, he served for five years as associate producer and resident director at The Public Theater, preceded by five years as artistic director of the Perseverance Theatre in Juneau, Alaska. Prior to his work at Perseverance, Mr. DuBois lived and worked in the Czech Republic where he co-founded Asylum, a multi-national squat theatre in Prague. His productions have been on the annual top ten lists of The New York Times, Time Out, New York
* Members of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.
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ABOUT THE COMPANY Magazine, The New Yorker, Newsday, Variety, Entertainment Weekly, The Evening Standard, The Boston Globe, and Improper Bostonian, and he received an Honorable Mention for 2013 Bostonian of the Year by The Boston Globe Magazine.
ARTIST DIRECTORY
CLIMATE CHANGE ART
AUCTIONS
THE ARTS ARMY
VERMONT
Art New England Contemporary art
March/April 2017 • Vol. 38 issue 2
Art New England
Michael Maso (Managing Director) has led the Huntington’s administrative and financial operations since 1982, producing more than 200 plays in partnership with three artistic directors and leading the Huntington’s ten-year drive to build the Stanford Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, which opened in September 2004. In recognition of these efforts, Boston Herald honored him as 2004’s Theatre Man of the Year. From 1997 to 2005 Mr. Maso served as the president of the League of Resident Theatres (LORT), an association of 70 of the country’s major not-for-profit professional theatres. In 2005, he was named as one of a dozen members of the inaugural class of the Barr Fellows Program. He currently serves on the Boston Cultural Planning Steering Committee and previously served as a member of the board of directors of ArtsBoston; as a board member for Theatre Communications Group (TCG); as a site visitor, panelist, and panel chairman for the National Endowment for the Arts; as a member of Mayor Menino’s Advisory Task Force for Cultural Planning; as a trustee of the Massachusetts Advocates for the Arts, Sciences, and Humanities (MAASH); as a board member of StageSource; and as a member of the Boston Foundation’s Cultural Task Force. He is the recipient of the
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ABOUT THE COMPANY
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2016 Massachusetts Nonprofit Network’s Lifetime Achievement Award, TCG’s 2012 Theatre Practitioner Award, the Huntington’s 2012 Wimberly Award, StageSource’s 2010 Theatre Hero Award, the 2005 Commonwealth Award (the state’s highest arts honor) in the category of Catalyst, and the 2000 Norton Prize for Sustained Excellence from the Boston Theatre Critics Association. He has also served as the managing director of Alabama Shakespeare Festival, general manager of New York’s Roundabout Theatre Company, business manager for PAF Playhouse on Long Island, and as an independent arts management consultant based in Taos, New Mexico. Mr. Maso is an associate professor of theatre at Boston University.
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Christopher Wigle (Producing Director) is in his 17th season at the Huntington where he has produced over eighty productions. He has worked on Broadway, Off Broadway, and regionally for Lincoln Center Theater, Playwrights Horizons, the Bay Street Theatre, and the Royal National Theatre. Working primarily as a stage manager, his credits include the original productions or New York premieres of Six Degrees of Separation (John Guare), subUrbia (Eric Bogosian), The Designated Mourner (Wallace Shawn), Some Americans Abroad (Richard Nelson), Desdemona (Paula Vogel), Racing Demon (David Hare), Sex and Longing (Christopher Durang), The Last Night of Ballyhoo (Alfred Urhy), and Sophistry (Jonathan Marc Sherman). Additional credits include the awardwinning Broadway revivals of The Heiress and The Most Happy Fella, as well as two seasons as workshop director for the Williamstown Theatre Festival.
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HONORING Mayor Martin J. Walsh and Tony Award winner Billy Porter with the Wimberly Award
HUNTINGTON THEATRE COMPANY 21
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ABOUT THE HUNTINGTON THEATRE COMPANY Celebrating its 35th season, the Huntington Theatre Company is Boston’s leading professional theatre and one of the region’s premier cultural assets since its founding in 1982. The Huntington is the recipient of the 2013 Regional Theatre Tony Award and was named Best of Boston 2013 and 2014 by Boston magazine. Under the direction of Artistic Director Peter DuBois and Managing Director Michael Maso and in residence at Boston University, the Huntington brings world-class theatre artists from Boston, Broadway, and beyond together with the most promising new talent to create eclectic seasons of exciting new works and classics made current. By also mentoring local playwrights in the Huntington Playwriting Fellows program, educating young people in theatre, and serving as a catalyst for the growth of dozens of Boston’s emerging performing arts organizations by providing discounted access to facilities and audience services, the Huntington cultivates, celebrates, and champions theatre as an art form. A national leader in the development of new plays, the Huntington has produced more than 120 world, American, and New England premieres to date. It supports local writers through a playwright residency and the Huntington Playwriting Fellows program, the cornerstone of its new work activities. Through a diverse and impactful range of nationally renowned education and community programs, the Huntington serves 35,000 young people and underserved audience members each year. The Huntington built the Stanford Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts in 2004 as a home for its new works activities and to provide a much-needed resource for the local theatre community. At the Calderwood Pavilion, the Huntington provides first-class facilities and audience services at significantly subsidized rates to dozens of organizations each year, including some of Boston’s most exciting small and mid-sized theatre companies. The Huntington was founded in 1982 by Boston University due to the vision and leadership of President John Silber and Vice President Gerald Gross and was separately incorporated as an independent non-profit in 1986. Its two prior artistic leaders were Peter Altman (1982 – 2000) and Nicholas Martin (2000 – 2008). In the past 34 years, the Huntington has played to an audience of 3.5 million, presented over 200 plays (16 of which went on to Broadway or Off Broadway), and served over 450,000 students, community members, and organizations. WE THANK THE FOLLOWING HUNTINGTON FRIENDS FOR THEIR GENEROUS SUPPORT OF
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JANE & NEIL PAPPALARDO PRODUCTION SPONSORS
LINDA & BILL McQUILLAN OPENING NIGHT SPONSORS
DENISE & WILLIAM FINARD DIRECTOR’S SPONSORS
NEAL BALKOWITSCH & DONALD NELSON SET SPONSORS
HUNTINGTON THEATRE COMPANY 23
HUNTINGTON THEATRE COMPANY TRUSTEES & OVERSEERS BOARD OF TRUSTEES David R. Epstein Chairman Sharon Malt President Carol B. Langer Treasurer Sherryl Cohen Clerk Carole Alkins David Altshuler Neal Balkowitsch Michael Brown John Cini Gerard H. Cohen John Cohen Carol G. Deane
James J. Dillon Betsy Banks Epstein Peter Fiedler William Finard David Firestone John Frishkopf Ann T. Hall Thomas Hamilton III Cassandra Hyland Henderson Arthur C. Hodges Frederick Jamieson Nada Despotovich Kane Michelle Karol David Leathers William P. McQuillan Ann Merrifield Sandra Moose Anne M. Morgan Cokie Perry
James Petosa Bryan Rafanelli Mitchell J. Roberts Joseph V. Roller II Robert H. Scott John D. Spooner Wendell Taylor Linda H. Thomas Linda Waintrup J. David Wimberly Veronica Wiseman Mary Wolfson Fancy Zilberfarb Warren R. Radtke Trustee Emeritus
COUNCIL OF OVERSEERS John Cohen Tania Phillips Co-Chairs Nancy S. Adams Kitty Ames Nancy Brickley Jim Burns Suzanne Chapman J. William Codinha Bette Cohen Tenney Cover Elizabeth Cregger Catherine Creighton JoAnne W. Dickinson Susan Ellerin Deborah First Anne H. Fitzpatrick Maria Farley Gerrity Paul Greenfield
Eilene Davidson Grayken Janice Hunt Alan S. Johnson Katherine Jones Linda Kanner Christopher Kimball Victoria Knox Loren Kovalcik Sherry Lang Joie Lemaitre Debbie Lewis Tracie Longman Nancy Lukitsh Rumena Manolova-Senchak Charles Marz Noel McCoy Thalia Meehan Daniel A. Mullin Gail Roberts Stephen Trehu
Juliet Schnell Turner Tracey A. West Caleb White John Taylor Williams Bertie Woeltz Christopher R. Yens Linda Zug
as of February 17, 2017
HUNTINGTON THEATRE COMPANY 25
THE HUNTINGTON CIRCLE The Huntington Circle recognizes our leadership donors to the Huntington Annual Fund and offers members a range of special benefits. We are grateful to the members of the Huntington Circle and the other donors listed below whose generous Annual Fund gifts support our artistic programs, as well as our award-winning youth, education, and community initiatives. For information or to become a Huntington Circle member, please call Meg White, Director of Major Gifts, at 617 273 1596. Lead Producers Circle ($100,000+) Sherryl and Gerard Cohen Carol G. Deane Betsy and David Epstein Eilene Davidson Grayken Albert W. Merck 1997 Family Trust Nancy and Edward Roberts Mr. J. David Wimberly Executive Producers Circle ($50,000-$99,999) Dr. John and Bette Cohen Gardner C. Hendrie and Karen Johansen Carol B. Langer Sharon and Brad Malt Jane and Neil Pappalardo Mitchell and Jill Roberts Linda and Daniel Waintrup 1 anonymous gift Artistic Producers Circle ($25,000-$49,999) Arthur C. and Eloise W. Hodges Barbara and Amos Hostetter Jane and Fred Jamieson Susan and David Leathers Wayne Davis and Ann Merrifield John D. Spooner Faith and Joseph Tiberio Charitable Foundation Howard and Veronica Wiseman Linda and Brooks Zug Anonymous, celebrating the Huntington’s President Sharon Malt and Chairman David Epstein Associate Producers Circle ($15,000-$24,999) Stephen Chapman Denise and William Finard Nicki Nichols Gamble Tom and Nancy Hamilton Cassandra Hyland Henderson Rita J. and Stanley H. Kaplan Family Foundation, Inc./ Susan B. Kaplan and Nancy and Mark Belsky Adrienne Kimball Bill and Linda McQuillan Sandra Moose and Eric Birch Ms. Anne M. Morgan Cokie and Lee Perry Dr. Paul S. Russell Mary Wolfson 26 TOPDOG/UNDERDOG
Directors Circle ($10,000-$14,999) Neal Balkowitsch and Donald Nelson Dr. and Mrs. Reinier Beeuwkes Fay Chandler‡ Mr. and Mrs. Lewis W. Counts Jim Dillon and Stone Wiske Linda L. D’Onofrio Karen and David Firestone John Frishkopf Karen and Gary Gregg Julie and Jordan Hitch Joyce Huber and Randall Ellis Elizabeth and Woody Ives Nada Despotovich Kane Marjie and Robert Kargman Loren B. Kovalcik/ IntePros Consulting Joie Lemaitre Alan and Harriet Lewis Mr. and Mrs. David Long Tracie L. Longman and Chaitanya Kanojia Paula and Bill O’Keeffe Jeffrey Dover and Tania Phillips Jan and Joe Roller Robert M. Rosenberg, in honor of Mary Wolfson Estate of Marie Rotti‡ Mr. and Mrs. Patrick J. Sullivan Linda H. Thomas 1 anonymous gift Playwrights Circle ($5,000-$9,999) Nancy Adams and John Burgess Charles and Kathleen Ames Marianne Baldwin and Eva Marie Mancuso Camilla Bennett Carolyn Birmingham Amy and Joshua Boger Susan and Michael Brown Jim Burns Katie and Paul Buttenwieser Suzanne Chapman Brant Cheikes and Janine Papesh John Cini and Star Lancaster J. William Codinha and Carolyn Thayer Ross Betsy and David Cregger Laura and Neil Cronin Amey A. Defriez Margaret Eagle and Eliezer Rappaport
Jennifer Eckert and Richard D’Amore Robert Fine and Matthew Fine Mr. and Mrs. William Fink Debbie and Bob First, in memory of Susan Spooner Donald Fulton Ann and John Hall Scottie Held Ned Murphy and Ann-Ellen Hornidge Alan Johnson Seth and Mary Kaufman Vicki and Northrup Knox Christine Kondoleon and Frederic Wittmann David A. Kronman Cecile and Fraser Lemley John and Jean Lippincott Nancy Lukitsh The Mancuso Family Marion Martin, in memory of Travis John Martin Sharon Miller Daniel A. Mullin Dr. and Mrs. John William Poduska, Sr. Mr. and Mrs. Peter E. Rawson Sally C. Reid and John D. Sigel Gail Roberts Darin S. Samaraweera Marilyn and Jay Sarles Coralie Berg and Steve Schwartz M.H. Sirvetz Ellie Svenson and Mark Klempner Wendell Taylor Jean C. Tempel John Travis Drs. Beth and Stephen Trehu Juliet Schnell Turner Roberta and Stephen R. Weiner Elizabeth and Caleb White Justin and Genevieve Wyner Christopher R. Yens and Temple Gill Dr. and Mrs. Jeffrey L. Zilberfarb 1 anonymous gift Designers Circle ($2,500-$4,999) Bruce and Denise Bauman Patricia Bellinger and Richard Balzer Nancy and Richard Brickley Kevin and Virginia Byrne
THE HUNTINGTON CIRCLE (continued) Betsy Cabot Suzanne and Bert Capone Nancy Ciaranello McLane and Tenney Cover Catherine and Peter Creighton Charles and JoAnne Dickinson Ellen and Kevin Donoghue Virginia Drachman and Douglas Jones Susan Ellerin Winifred Ewing Anne H. Fitzpatrick Newell Flather Maria and Daniel Gerrity Thomas and Joanne Gill Mark E. Glasser and Frank G. McWeeny Paul Greenfield and Sandy Steele Betsy and David Harris Mr. and Mrs. Stephen T. Hibbard, in honor of David Wimberly Estate of Carmela M. Hilbert‡ Prof. and Mrs. Morton Z. Hoffman Linda and Steven Kanner Mary S. and Duncan Kennedy Richard and Dorothy Koerner Susan and David Kohen Alvin and Barbara Krakow Ted and Ann Kurland Sherry Lang Drs. Lynne and Sidney Levitsky Deborah Lewis and Robert Grinberg Joseph Machera Charles Marz Jack Fabiano and Noel McCoy Thalia Meehan and Rev. Gretchen Grimshaw Amy Merrill Charles Merrill and Julie Boudreaux Jonette Nagai and Stephen O’Brien Jerry Nelson Coleen and David Pantalone Jackie and Bob Pascucci Mr. and Mrs. J. Daniel Powell Deborah and S. Caesar Raboy Victoria and John Rizzi Mr. and Mrs. Owen W. Robbins Rumena and Alexander Senchak Vivian and Lionel Spiro Bruce and Emily Stangle Estate of Demetre J. Steffon‡ Helen and Jack Stewart Beth and Michael Stonebraker Joanna and Nigel Travis Mr. and Mrs. Steve Tritman Pamela Tucker and George Pettee Mindee Wasserman
Norman Weeks Ike Williams Bertie and Anthony Woeltz Sally and RichardZeckhauser Actors Circle ($1,500-$2,499) Alice and Walter Abrams James Alexander and Thomas Stocker Carole and Leonard Alkins Dr. Ronald Arky Liliana and Hillel Bachrach Deborah L. Benson and Frederic J. Marx Jeff and Jody Black Joseph L. Bower and Elizabeth Potter Kenneth Brown Dominic Cioffoletti and Christopher Scinto Rosalie Florence Cohen Ken and Ginny Colburn Dennis Condon and Robert Cummings David Dalena and Brian Patton Lynn and Bruce Dayton Dean K. Denniston, Jr. Tim and Linda Diering Richard Donoho Jonathan Dyer and Thomas Foran Stephen Elman and Joanne D’Alcomo Jerome and Vivien Facher Barbara and Larry Farrer Sharon and Irving Gates Norman and Madeleine Gaut Eric P. Geller and Cathy Thorn Drs. Laura Green and David Golan Mary Beth and Chris Gordon Peter and Jacqueline Gordon Phil Gormley and Erica Bisguier Katherine Haltom Jay and Donna Hanflig H. Patricia Hanna Mr. and Mrs. James L. Hartmann Barbara Hirshfield and Cary Coen, in honor of Sherry and Gerry Cohen Bob Hiss and Mary Riffe Hiss Janice and Roger Hunt Margaret Jackson and Peter Harrington Leonard W. Johnson, in memory of Virginia Wimberly Holly and Bruce Johnstone Jill and Stephen Karp Paul and Elizabeth Kastner John and Marilyn Keane Susan Kirk Paul and Tracy Klein
Louise Kwan Barrie Landry Jon Levy Ann D. Macomber Stuart and Yvonne Madnick Mahmood Malihi Shelley and Brad Marcus Mike and Mary McConnell Louise and Sandy McGinnes Sarah M. McGinty Neal and Lynne Miller Mr. and Mrs. William Mitchell, in memory of Virginia Wimberly Bill and Ginny Mullin Bob and Alison Murchison Joy Pak and David Deutsch Susan Pak Dr. Susan E. Bennett and Dr. Gerald Pier Meredith and Bob Pitts Steven J. Ralston and William Robert Hair Christine and David Root Diane Rosenberg Susan and Geoffrey Rowley Irvine and Louise Rusk Richard Powers and Stephen Schram Jane E. Shattuck The Spector Family John H. Straus and Liza Ketchum Lise and Myles Striar Lisbeth Tarlow and Stephen Kay Ben and Kate Taylor Kenneth R. Traub and Pamela K. Cohen P.T. Withington Jerold and Abbe Beth Young 3 anonymous gifts s Member of The Hunt, the Huntington’s young donor program ‡ Deceased This list reflects gifts received during the 14 months prior to February 17, 2017.
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C A M B R I D G E , MA $1,595,000
gail@gailroberts.com / gailroberts.com / 617 245-4044
Building Community One Home at a Time Supporting: Huntington Theatre Company, US Fund for UNICEF, The Mt. Auburn Hospital, and The Guidance Center
FRIENDS OF THE HUNTINGTON Leading Role ($750-$1499) John and Rose Ashby, in honor of Ann T. Hall • Carol Baker • George and Katharine Baker • Michael Barza and Judith Robinson • Kate and Gordon Baty • Calvin J. Beckett • Susana and Clark Bernard • Leonard and Jane Bernstein • Linda Cabot Black Foundation • Margaret Blackwell, in honor of David Wimberly • Edward Boesel • Lori Bornstein and Alan Rothman • Geri and Bill Brehm • Jane BrockWilson, in honor of Carol and Disque Deane • Paul Buddenhagen • Rick and Nonnie Burnes • A. William and Carol Caporizzo • Cara and Anthony Casendino • Ronni‡ and Ronald Casty • Peggy and Anton Chernoff • George and Mary Chin • Beverley Cooper-Wiele • Joan Dolamore • Peggy Engel • Martha A. Erickson • Dave and Kelly Frederickson • Mr. and Mrs. Nathaniel Gardiner • Mr. and Mrs. Richard C. Garrison • Lori and Michael Gilman • Mr. K. Frank Gravitt • Garth and Lindsay Greimann • Dr. and Mrs. George Hatsopoulos • Bucky and Clifton Helman • Kathleen Henry and Kim Maarkand • Mr. and Mrs. Thomas High • Richard and Priscilla Hunt • Susan M. Hunziker • Terence Janericco • Andronike E. Janus • Rev. Dr. Katherine Kallis • Cathie and Clarke Keenan • John T. Kittredge • Jeanne and Allen Krieger • Katherine Lewandowski and Adam Gurens • Anthony Lucas • Barbara A. Manzolillo • Bronwyn Martin, in memory of Travis Martin • Joan and John McArdle • Kathy McGirr and Keith Carlson • Jack and Susan McNamara • Marianne and Richard Moscicki • Eric and Elizabeth Nordgren • Patricia Patricelli • Kevin Powers and John Wolfarth • Jessica and David Reed • Ellen Remmer • Michelle and Aaron Rhodess • Michael and Jane Roberts • Sarah Rothermel • David and Anne Salant • Mr. and Mrs. William R. Sapers • Susan Schiro and Peter Manus, in honor of Carol Deane • Mr. and Mrs. Ross Sherbrooke • Hope and Adam Suttin • Jared Tausig, in honor of David Wimberly • David Parker and Janet Tiampo • Mary Verhage • Sumer and Kiran Verma • Kenneth Virgile and Helene Mayer • Robert C. Volante • Norman Weeks • Dr. Ronald Weinger • Wendling Charitable Fund • Dr. Elaine Woo • 4 anonymous gifts Featured Role ($500-$749) Elizabeth Aragaos • Molly and John Beard • Richard R. Beaty • Kathleen Beckman • Danielle Belanger and Robert Sparkes • Jonas Berman • William Bloor • Stephen and Traudy Bradley • Frank B. Mead • Jeremiah J. Bresnahan • Pam and Lee Bromberg • Mrs. Barbara Buntrock-Schuerch • Thomas Burger and Andree Robert • Diane Burns • Robert Capliss • Carol Chandler • John Clippinger • Connie Coburn and James Houghton • Herbert Stuart Cohen • Alison Conant and Richard Frank • Stephen Conner • Beth and Linzee Coolidge • Anne Crowley • Lloyd and Gene Dahmen • Dammann Boston Fund • Josh and Jennifer Davis • Marguerite Davoren • Terry O. Decima • Judy DeFilippo • Richard J. Diamond, in honor of David Wimberly • Peter and Jan Eschauzier • Sara and James Feldman • Pierre Fleurant • Hilary and Chris Gabrieli • Edward Glazer • Rimma Gluzman • Deborah Goddard • Irene and Stephen Grolnic • Steven and Barbara Grossman and David Grossman • Gail and Jan Hardenbergh • Eunice Harps • Terry Rockefeller and William Harris • John and Holliday Heine • Dr. Galen Henderson and Dr. Vanessa Britto • Rosalind and Herbert Hill • Andrew Himmelblau • Sherry Jacobs • Ernest and Madeline Jacquet • Peter Jenney • Molly Johnston • Julia Karols • Nancy R. Karp • Jane Katims and Daniel Perlman • Michael and Dona Kemp • Jill Kneerim • John and Sharon Koch • Yuriko Kuwabara and Walter Dzik • Anne LaCourt • Stewart and Rhonda Lassner • Jenny and Jay Leopold • Mark H. Lippolt • Babette and Peter Loring • Priscilla Krey Loring • James D. Maupin • Mary McFadden • Daniel and Annette McIntyre • Joseph Misdraji • Harry and Ruth Montague • Mark Nelke • Mary Owens • Constance Page • Marianne Pasts • Mr. and Mrs. Murray Preisler • Suzanne Priebatsch • Mr. and Mrs. Martin Quitt • Edith Rea • Katharine and William Reardon • Charles Reed and Ann Jacobs • Lynn and John Reichenbach • Sharon and Howard Rich • Margaret Ridge • Lily and Gerald Riffelmacher • Jean and Richard Roberts • Sue Robinson • Mr. and Mrs. Michael Rotenberg • Robert and Pauline Rothenberg • Dr. Glenn S. Rothfeld and Magi McKinnies • Kathleen and William Rousseau • Rohini Sakhuja • Susan Pioli and Martin Samuels • Diane and Richard Schmalensee • William Schutten • Gilda Slifka • Mark Smith and John O’Keefe • Renai Stalzle • Nancy and Edward Stavis • Lee Steele • Bob and Dorothy Stuart • Darline Lewis and Marshall Sugarman • Dr. and Mrs. Raymond Walther • Scott and Brenda Warner • Mrs. Lewis R. Weintraub • Constance V. R. White • Karolye White • Clark Wright and Lisa Goldthwait Wright • 9 anonymous gifts
HUNTINGTON THEATRE COMPANY 29
FRIENDS OF THE HUNTINGTON (continued) Supporting Role ($250-$499) Marilyn and Bill Adams • Robert Allen • Nancy Ammerman • Michael Ansara • Tammy Arcuri • Tom Austin • Jeannine M. Ayotte • Robert Banker • Michelle Barbera, in honor of Theodore Barbera • Barbershop Deluxe • Emily Barclay and John Hawes • Robin Barnes and David Bor • Beth Barrett • Elizabeth Barrett • David Barry • Auli and Ken Batts • Caitlin Bearce • Martin S. Berman and Mary Ann Jasienowski • Jerry M. Bernhard • Christina and Ky Bertolis • Gregory Bialecki and Mary Herlihy • Robert Bienkowski • Clinton Blackburns • Donald and Ellen Bloch • Drs. Brian and Rachel Bloom • Scott Chisholm and Afshan Bokhari • Sandy Bornstein • Richard and Dorothy Botnick • Payne/Bouchier Inc. • Jonathan Golding and Sally Bradley-Golding • Eric and Sandra Brenman • S. Britt • Barry Brown and Ellen Shapiro • Teresa Brown • Ruth Budd and John Ehrenfeld • Allan and Rhea Bufferd • Mr. and Mrs. Daniel C. Burnes • Eric Butlers • Bismarck and Ingrid Cadet • Missage Cadet, M.D. • Judith Carmany • Charles R. Carr • Carrig Kitchens LLC • Elyse D. Cherry • Mr. and Mrs. Charles S. Cheston, Jr. • Mary E. Chin • Maria Church • Andrea and Jon Clardy • Grace D. Clark • Valerie Cloutier • Priscilla Cogan • Arlene Cohen • Steven Coleman and Christine Tunstall • Sarah Columbia • Janet L. Comey • Jaden Crawford • German Crisostomo • Don and Sandy Crocker • Julie Crockford and Sheridan Haines • James F. Crowley • Zoltan and Cristina Csimma • Paul Curtis • Sue Dahlie • Marla Daniels • Fred Davis • Karen Davis and Randy Block • Bill and Kay DeFord • Ray and Debra De Rise • Charlotte Delaney and Steve Pattyson • Sara Delano • David Delany • Suzanne DelVecchio • Jane and Stephen Deutsch • George Dhionis • Reed Dickinson • Beatrice and William Dole • Soroor Dowlati • Mr. and Mrs. Walter L. Downey • Owen Doyle • David and Eleanor Drachman • Mary Ann Driscoll • Grace Durrani • Dunch Arts, LLC • Harriett M. Eckstein • Mr. Glenn Edelson • Gordon Edes • Dr. Rachela Elias and Gedalia Pasternak • Diane F. Engel • Andrew Eschtruth and Elana Varon • Jose Estabil • Maggi Farrell • Fidler Family • Dr. Charles Fine • Gail Flatto • Dr. and Mrs. Richard Floyd • Mr. and Mrs. Martin Flusberg • Judy Foster • Patricia A. Fraser, M.D., in memory of Ivy Markes Fraser • Michael and Leslie Gaffin • Tony and Melissa Gallo • Kathryn M. Gallucci • Judith L. Ganz • Gisele Garraway • Clifford Garnett • William Gault • Vincent Genest • Jack and Maureen Ghublikian • Ronald Goldstein • Michael and Sophie Gordon • David Govonlus • Amelia and William Graham • Mr. and Mrs. Herbert P. Gray • Suzanne Greenberg • Theodore and Sally Hansen • Patricia Hardyman and Charles H. Jones • Judith Harris • Alice H. Haveles • Alfio Hernandez • Erin Higgins • Jim Hoben • Wanda Holland Greene, in honor of Ken Berman • Mark and Cindy Holthouse • Ken Horn • Bruce Howlett • Maggie Huff-Rousselle • Mrs. Donald Hunsicker • Amal Hussein • Robert Hutchison, Jr. • Mr. and Mrs. Howard Israel • Maggie Jacksons • Roland Jacobson • Ali Jadbabaie and Nikroo Hashemi • Peter and Adrienne Jaffe • Peter K. Jenkins • Norman W. Johnson • Peter Jones • Jess and Aran Kadar • John Quackenbush and Mary Kalamaras • Mr. and Mrs. Nathan Kalowski • Sondra Katz and Jess Klarnet • Amelia and Joshua Katzen • Rob and Mary Keane-Hazzard • Jim Keefe & Family • Paul Kelly • Judy and Dan Kennedy, in honor of Stephen Sondheim • Gail King and Christopher Condon • Nancy F. Korman • Gail and Dr. Marcel Korn • Mrs. Charlotte Krentzel • Joan Kuhn • George Langer • Carol Lazarus • Dr. and Mrs. Lucian Leape • Stacey and David Lee • Naomi Leeper • Richard and Kathleen Leitermann • Timothy Leland and Julie Hatfield • Ms. Susan Lincoln • Virginia Litle • Lida and Francis Lloyd • Jim and Allie Loehlin • Dennis and Nancy Lynch • Peter and Yvette Madany • Amy and Bill Marshall • Kathy Martin • Dr. Rosemary Mazanet • Michael and Barbra Ann McCahill • Kevin McCarthy • Terri-Lynn McCormick • Hope and Shaw McDermott • Lindsay McNair • Lynne Menichetti • Forrest and Sara Milder • Michael Miller • Mrs. Fermo A. Bianchi • Lacie and Michael Milton • Saro and Elizabeth Minassian • Gale Minot • Dorian Mintzer and David Feingold • Paula Monbouquette and Kevin McElroy • Gloria and Deborah Monosson • John W. Moore • Mr. and Mrs. Cornelius Moynihan • The Munzer Family • Eileen Murray • Bob Muti, in memory of James Robinson • Mr. and Mrs. Francis W. Newbury, Jr. • Mary Norato-Indeglia • Tom Norris • Thomas Novak • Richard Belin and Rosanne O’Brien • Kathryn O’Connell • Nancy and Charles Oddleifson • Roy and Kathleen Olesky • James Orleans and Nancy Walker • RADM and Mrs. J. Clarke Orzalli • William Panaros • Edith Parekh, in honor of Anissa Parekh • Robert and Beverly Parke • Marian Pasquale • Ellen C. Perrin • Ted and Josie Petersen • Martha and Joel Pierce • Stephen Pike • Joan Pilsmaker • Russell Pollock • James and Jeanette Post • James Poterba and Nancy Rose • Allison Powersa • Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Proulx • Kathleen Quillard, in honor of Kara Amelia Quillard’s acting career • Helene M. Quinn and Tony Kanopt • Kerry Mulligan Railey • Jodi 30 TOPDOG/UNDERDOG
FRIENDS OF THE HUNTINGTON (continued) Rand • Robert Raymond • Gretchen Reilly • Mary Rench, in honor of David Wimberly • Helen Robertson • Patricia Robinson • Barbara Roby • Daniel P. Romard • Anne Romney • Mathilde and Robert Ross • Susan Rothenberg • Farley Sullivan and Jeff Roy • Phyllis and Sam Rubinovitz • Debra Ruder • Sue and Terry Rushfirth • Vinod and Gaile Sahney • Dr. Lucienne Sanchez • Mr. and Mrs. Michael R. Sandler • Robert and Susan Schechter • Molly Schen • Kim and Eric Schultz • Ivy and Fran Scricco • Irene Sege • Mark Seliber • Jim A. Sersich • Michael Seward • Karen J. Shack • Tom Shapiro and Emily Kline • Elisabeth Shields • James Shields and Gayle Merling • David W Shukra and Clifford S Wunderlich • James Shuman • Omar Siddiqi • David Siegel • Ellen L. Simons • Donald S. Sisson • Peter L. Smith and Donna J. Coletti • Rachel Smith • Edward Sonn • Paula and Joseph Spound • Renai Stalzle • Naomi Stearns, in honor of Bill & Dee Finard • Candace Steingisser • Gail Steketee and Brian McCorkle • Laurin Stoler • Jennifer Stone and Robert Waldinger • Glenn and Katherine Strehle • Dr. and Mrs. Herman D. Suit • David Swartz and Lisa Fitzgerald • Richard A. Sweeney • Jane Talcott • Margaret M. Talcott and L. Scott Scharer • Patrick Tally • Jacob Taylor and Jean Park • Nancy Temple • M.K. Terrell • Janet Testa • Judy Thomson • Patricia Tibbetts • Edwin and Joan Tiffany • Dawn Tucker • Judith Tucker • Mr. and Mrs. Mario Umana • Rosamond B. Vaule • Pat and Steve Vinter • Daniel Wakabayashi • Jennifer Stone and Robert Waldinger • Rabbi and Mrs. Frank Waldorf • Susan Weiler • Scott Weiss • David White • Nancy White • Leslie Wilcox • Richard and Frances Winneg • Pamela Wood and Bruce Kirch • Janis Woodman, in honor of Christopher Woodman • Alfred Woodworth • Amy and Robert Worth • David C. Wright • Mr. and Mrs. John Wyman • Richard Yule, in memory of Helen Yule • Robert E. Zaret • Lorena and Robert Zeller • 15 anonymous gifts s Member of The Hunt, the Huntington’s young donor program
‡ Deceased
This list reflects gifts received during the 14 months prior to February 17, 2017.
HELP US MAKE THE MATCH! Your Annual Fund gift provides critical funding that helps the Huntington create the world-class theatre you love.
PAUL MAROTTA
All new and increased Annual Fund gifts up to $350,000 will be matched by our generous board.
The cast of Sunday in the Park with George
huntingtontheatre.org/donate HUNTINGTON THEATRE COMPANY 31
CORPORATE, FOUNDATION & GOVERNMENT DONORS The Huntington Theatre Company is grateful to receive support from a wide range of corporations, foundations, and government agencies that support the Huntington’s annual operations, as well as our award-winning productions and education and community programs. For more information about sponsorship opportunities, please contact Diana JacobsKomisar, Institutional Giving Manager, at 617 273 1514 or djkomisar@huntingtontheatre.org. Grand Patron Boston University Lead Producers Circle ($100,000+) The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation The Barr Foundation Klarman Family Foundation with the Barr-Klarman Arts Capacity Building Initiative The Shubert Foundation, Inc. Executive Producers Circle ($50,000-$99,999) Bank of America* Mabel Louise Riley Foundation* Massachusetts Cultural Council* Liberty Mutual Insurance* Theatre Communications Group* Artistic Producers Circle ($25,000-$49,999) The Boston Foundation* Hershey Family Foundation National Endowment for the Arts
32 TOPDOG/UNDERDOG
Associate Producers Circle ($15,000-$24,999) BPS Arts Expansion Fund at EdVestors* Kingsbury Road Charitable Foundation* Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust MEDITECH Schrafft Charitable Trust* Directors Circle ($10,000-$14,999) Alfred E. Chase Charitable Foundation* Eaton Vance Investment Counsel Lucy R. Sprague Memorial Fund* The Tiny Tiger Foundation* Playwrights Circle ($5,000-$9,999) Cue Ball Group Goodwin Procter LLP Nutter McLennen & Fish Proskauer Rose LLP Ramsey McCluskey Foundation Richard Rodgers Family Foundation
Ropes & Gray LLP Vertex Pharmaceuticals Worldwide WilmerHale
Designers Circle ($2,500-$4,999) Boston Cultural Council Cambridge Savings Bank* Cambridge Trust Company Jackson and Irene Golden 1989 Charitable Trust Nixon Peabody Danversbank Charitable Foundation and People’s United Bank* Roy A. Hunt Foundation* Wilson Butler Architects TJX* Actors Circle ($1,500-$2,499) AAFCPAs Staples Foundation* Surdna Foundation
* Education and community programs donor ** Includes in-kind support
THE HUNTINGTON LEGACY SOCIETY BUILDING A LEGACY OF GREAT THEATRE — The Huntington Legacy Society recognizes those who play a lasting role in securing the Huntington’s strong, successful future beyond their lifetime by making a bequest or other planned gift. We are grateful to these members of the Huntington Legacy Society:
Neal Balkowitsch and Donald Nelson Howard H. Bengele Suzanne Chapman Brant A. Cheikes Sherryl and Gerard Cohen Carol G. Deane Susan Ellerin Arthur C. and Eloise W. Hodges Jane and Fred Jamieson Mary Ellen Kiddle Carol B. Langer
Joie Lemaitre Sharon and Brad Malt Bill and Linda McQuillan Mary C. O’Donnell Robert C. Volante Linda and Daniel Waintrup Margaret J. White J. David Wimberly Veronica and Howard Wiseman Justin and Genevieve Wyner 1 anonymous
THE HUNTINGTON LEGACY SOCIETY BUILDING A LEGACY OF GREAT THEATRE
“Our participation is not only a legacy we leave for the Huntington, it’s a legacy we leave our family as well. We want them to think about the mark they will leave on society and culture.” — SHARON & BRAD MALT
If you have already included the Huntington as part of your will or estate plans, or if you wish to discuss how you can participate, please contact Celina Valadao, Major Gifts Officer, at 617 273 1536 or cvaladao@huntingtontheatre.org.
HUNTINGTON THEATRE COMPANY 33
BU THEATRE • GENERAL INFORMATION Contact Information for the Huntington Theatre Company The Huntington Theatre Company performs in three beautiful theatres in two dynamic Boston neighborhoods. The 890-seat Boston University Theatre is on the Avenue of the Arts (264 Huntington Avenue), diagonally across from Symphony Hall. The 370-seat Virginia Wimberly Theatre and the flexible 250-seat Nancy & Edward Roberts Studio Theatre are part of the Calderwood Pavilion in the historic South End, on the campus of the Boston Center for the Arts (527 Tremont Street).
Refreshments Snacks, wine, beer, soft drinks, and coffee are available before opening curtain and during intermission in the main lobby. Drinks purchased at concessions are permitted inside the theatre, but food is not.
Babes in Arms Children must have their own seats. Babes in arms are not permitted in the theatre. Children under 6 are not permitted.
Cameras Website: huntingtontheatre.org Box Office: 617 266 0800 Box Office fax: 617 421 9674 Administrative office: 617 266 7900 Administrative office fax: 617 353 8300 B.U. Theatre Lost and Found: 617 266 7900, ext. 1666
The videotaping or other video or audio recording of this production is strictly prohibited.
Box Office Hours
Wheelchair Accessibility
The Box Office is generally open Tuesday-Saturday, noon-curtain (or 6pm); Sunday, noon-curtain (or 4pm). Hours change weekly. For the most up-to-date hours, please visit huntingtontheatre.org or call the Box Office at 617 266 0800.
The BU Theatre is accessible by ramp and can accommodate both wheelchair and companion seating in the orchestra section. Please notify us when you purchase your tickets if wheelchair accommodations will be required and confirm arrangements with the House Manager at 617 266 7900, ext. 1666.
Huntington Group Discounts Groups of 10 or more may receive a discount of up to 20% off full ticket prices and a free ticket for every 20 purchased. Space is available at the theatre for pre- or post-performance receptions. Contact Jon Slater for more information at 617 273 1657 or groups @huntingtontheatre.org.
Public Transportation
Pagers and Cellular Phones Please silence all watches, pagers, and cell phones during the performance.
Hearing Enhancement The BU Theatre is equipped with an FM hearing enhancement system. Wireless headphones are available free of charge at the concessions stand in the main lobby for your use during a performance.
We encourage patrons to use public transportation to the BU Theatre whenever possible. The Theatre is conveniently located near the MBTA Green Line Hynes or Symphony Stations; Orange Line/Commuter Rail Mass Ave. Station; the No. 1 Harvard-Dudley bus via Mass Ave. to Huntington Ave.; and the No. 39 Arborway-Copley bus to Gainsborough Street.
Restrooms
BU Theatre Parking
If You Arrive Late In consideration of our actors and other audience members, latecomers will be seated at the discretion of the management.
Parking is available at many nearby locations. For details, please visit huntingtontheatre.org or call the Box Office at 617 266 0800.
Please note that these parking garages are independently owned and operated and are not affiliated with the Huntington Theatre Company or the BU Theatre. If Your Plans Change We hate to see empty seats. Please consider donating any tickets you can’t use. For more information please call the Box Office at 617 266 0800.
34 TOPDOG/UNDERDOG
Located in the lower-level and balcony lobbies. A wheelchair-accessible restroom is located in the main lobby on the first floor.
Coat Check Located in the lower lobby.
Large Print Programs Large print programs are free of charge and are available in the main lobby.
BOSTON UNIVERSITY THEATRE • EMERGENCY EVACUATION MAP In addition to the lobby exits through which you entered, there are six illuminated emergency exits at the sides of the balcony and mezzanine, and four in the orchestra. = EXIT SIGN
3rd floor (balcony)
= EGRESS
2nd floor (mezzanine, opera boxes, lobby)
1st floor (orchestra, main lobby)
BOSTON’S BEST SIGHTSEEING TOUR For over 30 years, Old Town Trolley Tours has been providing sightseeing tours highlighting the best of Boston. Avoid costly parking and city driving while exploring at your own pace as you hop on and off the trolley. Old Town Trolley Tours is the best way to see the city!
trolleytours.com/boston
HUNTINGTON THEATRE COMPANY 35
STAFF Peter DuBois
Michael Maso
ADMINISTRATION General Manager................................................Sondra R. Katz Associate General Manager.........................Conwell Worthington III Company Manager.......................................................... Jazzmin Bonner Assistant Company Manager.........................................Meagan Garcia Assistant to the Managing Director........................ Gabrielle Jaques Management Assistant..........................................................Annie Walsh
MARKETING Director of Marketing.............................................. Temple Gill Associate Director of Marketing...................... Meredith Mastroianni Communications Manager.................................................Desiree Barry Tessitura Analytics Manager........................................... Derrick Martin Digital Content Manager............................................Carolyn MacLeod Promotions & Community Coordinator.......................... James Boyd Community Membership Coordinator....................................................Candelaria Silva-Collins Creative Services Coordinator.................................................Dan Pecci Marketing Associate................................................................ Katie Iafolla Marketing Apprentice..............................................................Leah Reber Marketing Interns....................................Natalie Gaber, Kaya Williams
Norma Jean Calderwood Artistic Director
Finance Director of Financial Management................. Glenda Fishman Accounting Manager.............................................................. June Zaidan Accounting Coordinator.................................................Laura Casavant Accountants....................................Alexander, Aronson, Finning, CPA Human Resources Director of Human Resources........................ Peggy J. Novello Human Resources Coordinator.................................... Michael Comey Payroll and Reporting Specialist...................................April Swiniuch Administrative Support Assistant................. Kendrick Terrell Evans Information Technology IT Director.....................................................................................Scott Poole Helpdesk Specialist................................................................Jevon Foster ARTISTIC Producing Director.......................................Christopher Wigle Director of New Work.............................................................Lisa Timmel Associate Producer..........................................................M. Bevin O’Gara Artistic Programs & Dramaturgy............................Charles Haugland Assistant to the Artistic Director............................ Stephanie LeBolt Playwright-In-Residence..................................................Melinda Lopez Literary Apprentice...........................................................Sarah Schnebly Producing Apprentice.........................................................Justin Samoy Huntington Playwriting Fellows.......................................... Mia Chung, Thom Dunn, John J King, Sam Marks, Nina Louise Morrison, Deborah Salem Smith BU Graduate Directors................................Zohar Fuller, Kelly Galvin, Adam Kassim, Jeremy Ohringer, Stephen Pick, Jillian Robertson DEVELOPMENT Director of Annual Giving & Development Operations......................................... Joy Pak Director of Major Gifts................................................Margaret J. White Major Gifts Officer..............................................................Celina Valadao Special Events Manager......................................................Kirsten Doyle Institutional Giving Manager...........................Diana Jacobs-Komisar Annual Fund & Research Coordinator........................Annalise Baird Development Database Coordinator...........................Lisa McColgan Development Associate.....................................Elizabeth MacLachlan Development Apprentice.................................................... Sam Buntich Development Intern............................................................... Vicky Huang EDUCATION & COMMUNITY PROGRAMS Director of Education......................................... Donna J. Glick Manager of Education Operations...................................Meg O’Brien Manager of Curriculum & Instruction..................... Alexandra Smith Education Associate..............................................................Marisa Jones Education Interns........................................................ Elizabeth Botelho, Daniella Forero, Liam McParland Teaching Artists........................... Kortney Adams, Pascale Florestal, Naheem Garcia, Lydia Graeff, Keith Mascoll, Allie Meek, Anneke Reich
36 TOPDOG/UNDERDOG
Managing Director
THEATRE OPERATIONS Director of Theatre Operations.............................. Joey Riddle BU Theatre BU Theatre House Manager.............................................. Daniel Morris Assistant House Managers...........................................Meg Ciabotti, Brian Dudley, Annie Walsh Front of House Staff................................................... Julie Cameron, Michael Choueiri, Kendrick Terrell Evans, Ariana Goldsworthy, Robin Goldberg, Dalton Gordon, Sierra Grabowska, Zachary McPheeters, Brianna Randolph, Ivy Ryan, Kathleen Sansone, Geri Spanek, Madeline Wigon Maintenance...................................................................Ronald Belmonte, Kenneth Carter, Gary Santos Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA Associate Calderwood Pavilion Manager..........................Katie Most Calderwood Pavilion House Manager...............................Katrina Alix Calderwood Pavilion Management Assistant..................Gabe Hughes House Electrician.........................................Mercedes Roman-Manson House Sound Operator.................................................. Jesse McKenzie House Carpenter.........................................................................Mike Hamer Wardrobe Run................................................................Barbara Crowther Calderwood Pavilion Apprentice............................Dalton Zogleman Assistant House Managers..........................Matt Feldman, Paul Fox, Ksenia Lanin, Maura Neff Front of House Staff..............................................Natasha Bonfield, Mia Buchsbaum, Robert Caplis, Barbara Crowther, Talia Curtin, Linnea Donnelly, Katie Flanagan, Madeleine Gibbons, Ryan Impagliazzo, Terry McCarthy, Laura Meilman, Maura Neff, Maegan Passafume, Tiniqua Patrick, Nick Perron, Leah Reber, Sarah Schnebly, Ciera-Sadé Wade, Dalton Zogleman Custodian.................................................................................Jose Andrade Security Coordinator...............................................................Greg Haugh Subscription and Box Office Audience Services Manager.....................................................Jon Slater Assistant Audience Services Manager...........................Katie Catano BU Theatre Box Office Coordinator......................... Victoria Swindle Pavilion Box Office Coordinator...........................................Noah Ingle Subscriptions Coordinator...................................................Amy Klesert Box Office Associates..........................................Brittany Rae Bonnell, Brenton Thurston Full-Time Customer Service Reps.............................. Christine Lefter, Tasha Matthews, Ellie Solomon, Nicole Williams Customer Service Reps................................Victoria Barry, Nick Boonstra, Lizzie Benway, Victoria Cunha, Sue Dietlin, Taylor Granger, Mary Olsen, Katelyn Reinert, Katie Sumi, Yurika Watanabe
STAFF (continued) PRODUCTION Production Manager ...................................... Todd D. Williams Associate Production Manager....................................... Bethany Ford Stage Management Apprentice.........................................Billy Cowles Graduate Assistant...............................................................Emily Vaughn Scenery Technical Director.................................................. Dan Ramirez Associate Technical Director........................................ Adam Godbout Assistant Technical Director..................................................Dan Oleksy Master Carpenter....................................................................Larry Dersch Scenery Mechanic...........................................................Jesse Washburn Carpenters................................................................... Andrew Cancellieri, Milosz Gassan, Christian Lambrecht, Nick Hernon Carpenter/Scene Shop Assistant...........................Carolyn Daitch Stage Carpenter.....................................................................Chris Largent Scenery Apprentice..........................................................Grayson Basina Properties Properties Master.............................................Kristine Holmes Assistant Properties Master.............................................Justin Seward Properties Artisan.....................................................................Ian Thorsell Properties Run................................................................Andrew DeShazo Paints Charge Scenic Artist............................................Kristin Krause Assistant Charge Artist.........................................Romina Diaz-Brarda Scenic Artist...........................................................................Chelsey Erskin BU Certificate Interns..................................................Katherine Keaton, Jaqueline Kempe, Lauren White
Costumes Costume Director.............................................. Nancy Hamann Assistant Costume Director................................. Virginia V. Emerson Costume Design Assistant.....................................................Mary Lauve Head Draper...........................................................................Anita Canzian Costume Crafts Artisan/Dyer................Denise M. Wallace-Spriggs First Hand............................................................................Rebecca Hylton Wardrobe Coordinator.......................................................Christine Marr Costume Intern..................................................................... Lauren Reuter Electrics Master Electrician........................................... Katherine Herzig Assistant Master Electrician..................................................Alisa Hartle Electrics Apprentice.......................................................... Paige Johnson Sound Sound Supervisor................................................. Ben Emerson Sound Engineer.......................................................................... J. Jumbelic Sound Apprentice.........................................................Terrence Dowdye Graduate Assistants..............................Collin Barnum, Aubrey Dube
BU SCHOOL OF THEATRE PRODUCTION STAFF Theatre Complex Production Manager...................................... Johnny Kontogiannis Senior Staff Assistant Design & Production...........................................................Renee Yancey Costume Shop Supervisor............................................ Karen Martakos
Additional Staff for Topdog/Underdog Fight Consultant................................................................ Ted Hewlett Assistant to the Director...................................... Pascale Florestal Production Assistant.......................................................... Sam Layco Guitar Coach....................................................................... Riley Snyder Associate Scenic Designer............................................ Bryce Cutler Carpenter............................................................................. Gary Beisaw Scenic Artist................................................................ Amanda Gimbel Costume Design Assistant.......................................... Becca Jewett Draper....................................................................................Jen Bennett First Hands........................................... Sara Marhamo, Katie Kenna
Associate Lighting Designer.....................................Adam Honoré Assistant to the Lighting Designer.................. Marcella Barbeau Electricians...... Carmen Alfaro, Kevin Barnett, Shannon Clarke, Bridget Collins, Evey Connerty-Marin, Sumner Ellsworth, Kevin Fulton, Aaron Henry, Nate Jewett, Alex Kennedy, Daryl Laurenza, Bill O’Donnell, Taylor Ness, Liz Ramey, Brian Shaw, Brittany Trymbulak, Gifford Williams Assistant Sound Designer....................................Samantha Sewell Assistant to the Sound Designer..............................Aubrey Dube
The Huntington Theatre Company is a member of the League of Resident Theatres (LORT), an association of the nation’s leading resident professional theatres; Theatre Communications Group, a national service organization for the nonprofit professional theatre; StageSource, a regional alliance of theatre artists and producers; and ArtsBoston, the voice and resource for the arts in Greater Boston. This theatre operates under an agreement between the League of Resident Theatres and Actors’ Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States. The director is a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, a national theatrical labor union. The scenic, costume, lighting, and sound designers in LORT theatres are represented by United Scenic Artists Local USA-829, IATSE.
HUNTINGTON THEATRE COMPANY 37
GUIDE to LOCAL THEATRE Mike Strong
MARCH–APRIL 2017 DOWNTOWN/THEATRE DISTRICT BLUE MAN GROUP, Charles Playhouse, 74 Warrenton St., 800-BLUE-MAN. Ongoing. This giddily subversive offBroadway hit serves up outrageous and inventive theatre where three muted, blue-painted performers spoof both contemporary art and modern technology. Wry commentary and bemusing antics are matched only by the ingenious ways in which music and sound are created. THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME, Boston Opera House, 539 Washington St., 800-982-2787. Mar 7–19. This Tony Award-winning adaptation of Mark Haddon’s best-selling novel tells the story of 15-year-old Christopher and his extraordinary brain—he is exceptionally intelligent but ill-equipped to interpret everyday life. When he falls under suspicion for killing his neighbor’s dog, he sets out to identify the true culprit, which leads to an earth-shattering discovery and a journey that will change his life forever. FINISH LINE, Boston Theater Company, Boch Center, The Shubert Theatre, 265 Tremont St., 866-348-9738. Mar 15–26. This documentary play about the 2013 Boston Marathon is a story of recovery, resilience and determination that was created verbatim from dozens of interviews with survivors, runners, doctors, police officers, journalists, clergy, students and many others. GIRLS NIGHT—THE MUSICAL, Boch Center, The Shubert Theatre, 265 Tremont St., 866-348-9738. Apr 7. Share the fun and laughter at this hilarious, feel-good musical comedy as five girlfriends go from heartbreak to happiness during a wild night of karaoke that includes such favorite tunes as “Lady Marmalade,” “It’s Raining Men,” “Man, I Feel Like a Woman,” “I Will Survive” and many more. THE ILLUSIONISTS—LIVE FROM BROADWAY, Boston Opera House, 539 Washington St., 800-982-2787. Apr 4–9. This mind-blowing spectacular showcases the jaw-dropping talents of the most incredible illusionists on earth. This stage extravaganza has shattered box office records across the globe and dazzled audiences of all ages with its powerful mix of the most outrageous and astonishing acts ever to be seen on stage. THE KING AND I, Boston Opera House, 539 Washington St., 800-982-2787. Apr 11–23. Lincoln Center Theater’s acclaimed 38 TOPDOG/UNDERDOG
DANCE FEVER: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater makes its annual return to Boston this spring, presenting a mix of classic works along with newer material April 27–30 at The Wang Theatre.
production of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s classic, winner of four Tony Awards, tells the story of the relationship that develops between the King of Siam and Anna Leonowens, a British schoolteacher whom the modernist King, in the imperialistic world of the 1860s, brings to Siam to teach his many wives and children. OCTAVIA E. BUTLER’S PARABLE OF THE SOWER, Emerson/ Paramount Center Robert J. Orchard Stage, 559 Washington St., 617-824-8400. Mar 23–26. Octavia Butler’s classic AfroFuturist novel about a society driven to the brink of extinction roars to musical life in a show highlighted by 200 years of African-American song traditions woven into a genre-defying concert performance that features 20 artists on stage. PAW PATROL LIVE! RACE TO THE RESCUE, Boch Center, The Wang Theatre, 265 Tremont St., 800-982-2787. Mar 18 & 19. Based on the hit animated TV series on Nickelodeon, this stage spectacular brings everybody’s favorite pups to life for an action-packed, high-energy musical adventure. When Mayor Goodway goes missing during the day of the Super Adventure Race, the Ryder, Chase, Marshall, Rocky, Rubble, Zuma, Skye and Everest come to the rescue. RENT, Boch Center, The Shubert Theatre, 265 Tremont St., 866-348-9738. Apr 11–23. In this vibrant 20th anniversary touring production, Jonathan Larson’s Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning reimagining of Puccini’s La Bohème once again follows an unforgettable year in the lives of seven artists struggling to follow their dreams without selling out. 17 BORDER CROSSINGS, Emerson/Paramount Center Jackie Liebergott Black Box Theatre, 559 Washington St., 617-8248400. Apr 19–29. The history of passports, smuggling Kentucky Fried Chicken into other countries and the peculiarities of airline security—it’s all covered in this miraculous, one-man
StageSpotlight
Building Audiences for Greater Boston’s Outstanding Not-For-Profit Performing Arts Organizations
Orchestra • March 10 Bruce Hangen, conductor. Featuring Boston Conservatory Chorale and Women’s Chorus. Sanders Theatre at Harvard University Tickets: 617-496-2222
Die Lustigen Weiber von Windsor • March 30–April 2
Based on Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor. Music by Otto Nicolai. Libretto by Salomon Hermann Mosenthal. Conducted by Andrew Altenbach. Directed by Johnathon Pape.
Tickets: 617-912-9222 or bostonconservatory.berklee.edu/events
COMMONWEALTH COMMONWEALTH SHAKESPEARE COMPANY SHAKESPEARE COMPANY
A World Premiere by Jake Broder Directed by Steven Maler
Meremonths months after President Mere after President Lincoln’s Lincoln’sassassination, assassination, John Wilkes Booth’s John Wilkes Booth’sbrother brother Edwin—one of of the Edwin—one thegreatest greatest actors of the of 19th to actors the century—returns 19th century— thereturns stagetointhe a sold-out stage in aproduction of Hamlet in an attempt to sold-out production of reclaim the family name. Hamlet in an attempt to reclaim the family name. March 23–April 2, 2017
March 23-April 2, 2017 Carling Sorenson Theatre,
Carling Sorenson Theatre, Babson College, Wellesley Babson College, Wellesley
781-239-5660 • commshakes.org 781-239-5660 • commshakes.org
“A brilliant comedy!” —NY Post Life imitates art and art imitates life in Sarah Ruhl’s hilarious, romantic backstage comedy.
February 24–March 26, 2017 Lyric Stage • Copley Square 617-585-5678 • lyricstage.com
Book by Cy Coleman Lyrics by Michael Stuart Music by Mark Bramble
April 8–30, 2017 Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA 617-933-8600 • bostontheatrescene.com
ULTRASONICperforms ROCK ORCHESTRA
JESUS CHRIST
SUPERSTAR
“Phenomenal... ”
—Show of the Month Club
SHOWS: March MARCH24–April 24th - APRIL 1st 55 Shows: 1, 2017 781-646-4849 M www .regenttheatre 7 Medford St., Arlington .com 7 medford street, arlington, ma 781-646-4849 • regenttheatre.com Save $7.50 per ticket — use code “Playbill”! Save $7.50 per ticket—use code “Playbill”!
Melinda Lopez and Thomas Derrah star in this acclaimed drama that explores the mysteries of faith and forgiveness.
March 3–April 1, 2017 Tickets from $25 617-933-8600 • SpeakEasyStage.com
SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
GUIDE TO LOCAL THEATRE (continued) saga that unpacks how the mundane details that govern global travel become the actual journey. SHEAR MADNESS, Charles Playhouse Stage II, 74 Warrenton St., 617-426-5225. Ongoing. It’s a day like any other at the Shear Madness salon, when suddenly the lady upstairs gets knocked off. Whodunit? Join the fun as the audience matches wits with the suspects to catch the killer in this wildly popular comedy.
LOCAL/REGIONAL THEATRE ALTAR BOYZ, Stoneham Theatre, 395 Main St., Stoneham, 781-279-2200. Mar 23–Apr 9. In this foot-stomping, rafterraising musical comedy, a fictitious Christian boy band—five all-singing, all-dancing heartthrobs from Ohio named Matthew, Mark, Luke, Juan and Abraham—utilize tight harmonies, tight pants and spectacular choreography to try to lift the soul of every single member of the audience on the last night of their national tour. BARBECUE, Lyric Stage Company, 140 Clarendon St., 617-5855678. Apr 7–May 7. The O’Mallery family gather in their local park to share some barbecue and straight talk with their sister. They are the kind of family that comes to an intervention armed with a Taser, even though their own downward spirals rival hers. But that’s only the beginning as familial and cultural stereotypes are stripped away in this piercingly funny new play. BARNUM, Moonbox Productions, Roberts Studio Theatre, Stanford Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont St., 617-933-8600. Apr 8–30. This dazzling show traces the career of P.T. Barnum, America’s greatest showman, from 1835 to 1881, the year he joined James A. Bailey to form “The Greatest Show On Earth.” Over the objections of his wife Charity, Barnum attempts to create a show in which the main attractions are freaks of society, making sacrifices along the way in this tale of hope, determinism and having the courage of your convictions. BECKETT IN BRIEF, Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, Sorenson Black Box, Sorenson Center for the Arts at Babson College, 231 Forest St., Wellesley, 866-811-4111. Apr 27–May 7. This presentaion of a trio of Beckett’s most autobiographical works—Rough for Radio II, The Old Tune and Krapp’s Last Tape—explores universal questions of creativity, memory, aging, sex, friendship and the proximity of death. CHARLOTTE’S WEB, Wheelock Family Theatre, 200 The Riverway, 617-879-2300. Apr 14–May 14. In this tale of friendship and loyalty, based on the best-selling children’s paperback of all time by beloved author E.B. White, Charlotte the extraordinary spider works a miracle with her web to save Wilbur the irresistible young pig. COYOTE ON A FENCE, The Hub Theatre Company of Boston, First Church in Boston, 66 Marlborough St., 617-267-6730. Mar 31–Apr 15. Illiterate but likable, Bobby Reyburn is a funny young guy who loves to do impressions. He’s also a member of the Aryan nation, a racist predator convicted of a horrific crime. John Brennan is educated and arrogant, a serious writer who may only be guilty of doing society a favor. As each awaits his fate, one evokes sympathy, the other derision. In vivid scenes, Bruce Graham searing drama explores the disturbing question: Can one be innocent though proven guilty? 40 TOPDOG/UNDERDOG
EDWARD II, Actors’ Shakespeare Project, Charlestown Working Theater, 442 Bunker Hill St., 866-811-4111. Through Mar 19. Edward II, great-grandfather of Richard II, showered favor on his treasured friend, Gaveston, leading to bitter resentment from the nobles with fatal consequences in Christopher Marlowe’s tragic history play. EVERY PIECE OF ME, Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, 949 Commonwealth Ave., 866-811-4111. Apr 20–30. When Aine returns home to Ireland to introduce her American fiancé to her family, she finds her younger sister pregnant, her mother still over-controlling and her father suffering from a bad heart. Her departure might have been the cause, but some wounds never heal in this play about guilt, mercy and the power of love. EVERYMAN, Apollinaire Theatre Company, Chelsea Theatre Works, 189 Winnisimmet St., Chelsea, 617-887-2336. Apr 7–May 6. In this centuries-old cornerstone of English drama adapted by Carol Ann Duffy, Everyman is successful, popular and riding high when Death comes calling. He is forced to abandon the life he has built and embark on a last, frantic search to recruit a friend, or anyone, to speak in his defence. But Death is close behind, and time is running out. FRANKLIN, Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, 949 Commonwealth Ave., 866-811-4111. Mar 23–Apr 2. The Franklin expedition to the Arctic in 1845 sought the Northwest Passage and instead found ice, starvation and insanity. The ship was never found. Modern-day underwater archaeologist Caroline has been searching for three years, but time is running out in this play involving two crews, two ships and one 200-year-old mystery. GAY SHORTS, Open Theatre Project, Club Cafe, 209 Columbus Ave., 800-838-3006. Mar 30–Apr 2. This brand-new 10-minute play festival explores the ups, downs, ins, outs, comedy and drama of growing up gay. Written by local playwright George Smart, these seven short works feature dozens of local talent from Boston’s gay communnity. GOLDA’S BALCONY, New Repertory Theatre, Charles Mosesian Theater, The Dorothy and Charles Mosesian Center for the Arts, 321 Arsenal St., Watertown, 617-923-8487. Mar 25–Apr 16. Follow Golda Meir from her humble beginnings as a Wisconsin school teacher to her meteoric rise through Israel’s early political system to become one of the world’s first elected female heads of state and one of the most influential women in Jewish history in this one-woman play by William Gibson. GRAND CONCOURSE, SpeakEasy Stage Company, Roberts Studio Theatre, Stanford Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont St., 617-933-8600. Mar 3–Apr 1. Called to a life of religious service, Shelley now struggles to find meaning in her work as the manager of a Bronx soup kitchen. The arrival of Emma, a college dropout looking for a sense of purpose, is at first a welcome addition, but the girl’s erratic behavior soon pushes Shelley to the breaking point, in this compelling drama about the mysteries of faith, forgiveness and compassion. JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, Ultrasonic Rock Orchestra, Regent Theatre, 7 Medford St., Arlington, 781-646-4849. Mar 24–Apr 1. Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s groundbreaking rock opera tells the story of Jesus in the final days of his life through such favorite tunes as “Everything’s Alright,” “I Don’t Know How to Love Him” and “Superstar.”
GUIDE TO LOCAL THEATRE (continued) LOVE’S LABOUR’S LOST, Wellesley Players, Black Box Theater, The Dorothy and Charles Mosesian Center for the Arts, 321 Arsenal St., Watertown, 617-923-8487. Apr 14–23. Sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll—this isn’t your parents’ Shakespeare. The Bard’s tale of love gone awry is presented against the backdrop of the women’s liberation movement, the sexual revolution and the counter culture of the late 1960s.
“TECHNICALLY BRILLIANT, DIZZYINGLY SO.” -THE STAGE (UK)
MASS, The Boston Conservatory Theater, 31 Hemenway St., 617-912-9222. Apr 7–9. Leonard Bernstein’s most ambitious theatre work, inspired by the Tridentine Mass of the Roman Catholic Church, features a large cast of performers, including dancers, singers, a boy chorus, rock and blues singers, actors, two orchestras and a marching band that plays through the audience, making for a truly unique experience. MRS. PACKARD, Bridge Repertory Theatre and Playhouse Creatures Theatre Company, Multicultural Arts Center, 41 Second St., Cambridge, 617-577-1400. M ar 12–Apr 9. Illinois, 1861. Proclaimed insane by her husband, Elizabeth Packard is committed against her will to an asylum. Inspired by true events, Emily Mann’s stunning American drama chronicles one woman’s struggle to fight for her life and, in the process, right a system gone wrong. NO EXIT, Exiled Theatre, The Space Studio at Auspicious Phoenix Productions, 438 Somerville Ave., Somerville, 617-416-3132. Apr 14–30. Jean-Paul Sartre’s masterpiece involves three damned souls locked in the same room in hell who discover that, instead of thumbscrews and other torture devices, “Hell is just—other people.” ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST, Boston Children’s Theatre, Plaza Theatre, Boston Center for the Arts, 539 Tremont St., 617-933-8600. Apr 15–30. Dale Wasserman’s stage adaptation of Ken Kesey’s novel tells the story of a charming rogue who, in manipulating a short prison sentence into what he thinks will be an easier stay in a mental institution, comes into conflict with a strict head nurse while trying to stir up his fellow inmates. OUR AMERICAN HAMLET, Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, Carling-Sorenson Theater, Sorenson Center for the Arts at Babson College, 231 Forest St., Wellesley, 866-8114111. Mar 23–Apr 2. In 1866, less than a year after President Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth, his brother Edwin, one of the greatest Shakespearean actors of the 19th century, decides to perform Hamlet on Broadway, a role he had performed in the past to great acclaim. A huge crowd turns up for the performance—but it isn’t clear whether they were there to see the actor perform, or to exact their revenge, in this world premiere by Jake Broder. PETER PAN, The Post-Meridian Radio Players, Responsible Grace Church, 204 Elm St., Somerville, 800-838-3006. Apr 21–29. This original adaptation of J. M. Barrie’s beloved tale presents the story of the Darling children—Wendy, John and Michael—who are whisked away to Neverland by the boy who won’t grow up to face the danger of the cunning Captain Hook. Will the Darlings ever make it home? Will Pan triumph at last over Hook? And most importantly—do you believe in fairies?
EKS 2 WE ! ONLY Imaginary lines. Real consequences. True border crossings.
17 BORDER crossings APR 19 - 29
EMERSON/PARAMOUNT CENTER JACKIE LIEBERGOTT BLACK BOX THEATRE
FROM USA/COLOMBIA
ARTSEMERSON.ORG 617.824.8400
PROMISES, PROMISES, The Footlight Club, 7A Eliot St., Jamaica Plain, 617-524-3200. Apr 7–22. Set in New York City
HUNTINGTON THEATRE COMPANY 41
GUIDE TO LOCAL THEATRE (continued) in 1968, this Neil Simon-penned tuner featuring music by Burt Bacharach is based on the 1960 film classic The Apartment and relays the misadventures of junior executive Chuck Baxter, who climbs the corporate ladder by letting his bosses use his apartment for trysts. All is well, until he learns that the object of his affection is one of the mistresses. THE REAL INSPECTOR HOUND, Bad Habit Productions, Deane Hall, Stanford Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont St., 617-933-8600. Mar 18– Apr 2. Feuding theatre critics Moon and Birdboot—the first a fusty philanderer and the second a pompous and vindictive second stringer—are swept into the whodunit they are reviewing. A hilarious spoof of Agatha Christie-like melodrama follows, complete with a mysterious body under the sofa. As mists rise about isolated Muldoon Manor, Moon and Birdfoot become dangerously implicated in the lethal activities of an escaped madman. SILENT SKY, Flat Earth Theatre, Black Box Theater, The Dorothy and Charles Mosesian Center for the Arts, 321 Arsenal St., Watertown, 617-923-8487. Mar 10–25. At Harvard Observatory at the turn of the 20th century, Henrietta Leavitt joins a group of women tasked with charting the heavens without being allowed to touch a telescope. Despite restrictions placed on her because of her sex, Henri devotes her life to the study of celestial bodies while balancing the needs of love and family in Lauren Gunderson’s melodious, evocative work inspired by the real-life woman whose work allowed astronomers to measure the distance of faraway galaxies.
STAGE KISS, Lyric Stage Company, 140 Clarendon St., 617-585-5678. Through Mar 26. Two squabbling, long-lost loves are cast as long-lost lovers, and quickly lose touch with reality in this romantic and revealing play-within-a-play by Sarah Ruhl. VIOLET, American Repertory Theater, Oberon, 2 Arrow St., Cambridge, 617-547-8300. Apr 4–15. A musical ride on a moving bus for 25 people, this show tells the story of a young woman who travels cross-country to seek treatment for a disfiguring scar. WEST SIDE STORY, Moonstruck Theater Company, The Arlington Center for the Arts, 41 Foster St., Arlington, 800838-3006. Apr 7–9. Featuring 30 talented actors from all over New England and the beautiful Leonard Bernstein/Stephen Sondheim score, this beloved musical tells the story of a boy and a girl whose very different worlds collide one night at a dance on New York’s Upper West Side. THE WHO & THE WHAT, Huntington Theatre Company, Wimberly Theatre, Stanford Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont St., 617-266-0800. Mar 31–May 7. Brilliant novelist Zarina is writing about women and Islam when she meets Eli, a young convert who bridges the gap between her modern life and traditional heritage. When her conservative father discovers her controversial manuscript, they all must confront the beliefs that define them in this fierce and funny new play about relationships, religion and the contradictions that make us who we are.
The
Labyrinth of D esire MAY 2017
THU
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For ticket information, visit BostonTheatreScene.com
by Caridad Svich Boston University College of Fine Arts School of Theatre
42 TOPDOG/UNDERDOG
Boston University Theatre 264 Huntington Ave, Boston BostonTheatreScene.com
GUIDE TO LOCAL THEATRE (continued)
go
BE DEVOTED.
DANCE ALVIN AILEY AMERICAN DANCE THEATER, Boch Center, The Wang Theatre, 270 Tremont St., 800-982-2787. Apr 27–30. The magnificent Ailey company continues its exciting new expansion of repertoire under Artistic Director Robert Battle while celebrating the core works that have made it the world’s leading modern dance company.
to “Re the m th ind CH eat s yo ICA er u GO in of w SU the h N T fi y y IM rst ou ES pla ce .”
CHE MALAMBO, Boch Center, The Shubert Theatre, 265 Tremont St., 866-348-9738. Mar 31 & Apr 1. Making its Boston debut is this Argentine dance company that presents a thrilling, percussive dance and music spectacle celebrating the unique South American cowboy tradition of the gaucho. KYLIÁN/WINGS OF WAX, Boston Ballet, Boston Opera House, 539 Washington St., 617-695-6955. Mar 23–Apr 2. A trio of heart-racing ballets by 20th century masters features George Balanchine’s charming and spirited Donizetti Variations, the return of Jirˇí Kylián’s sensuous and intriguing Wings of Wax and Alexander Ekman’s surprising and witty Cacti. LIMITLESS, The Boston Conservatory Theater, 31 Hemenway St., 617-912-9222. Apr 27–30. Presenting iconic masterworks by internationally renowned choreographers alongside new work created especially for Boston Conservatory dance students, this program feature How to Pass Kick Fall and Run by Merce Cunningham, Dancing Spirit by Ronald K. Brown, Happy Little Things (Waiting on a Gruff Cloud of Wanting) by Aszure Barton and a world premiere by Yury Yanowsky.
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THE SLEEPING BEAUTY, Boston Ballet, Boston Opera House, 539 Washington St., 617-695-6955. Apr 28–May 27. This quintessential production of the coming-of-age fairy tale features Tchaikovsky’s soaring music, sumptuous costumes, superlative dancing, the triumph of good over evil and the power of a single kiss.
OPERA THE DANGEROUS LIAISONS, Boston Opera Collaborative, Plaza Theatre, Boston Center for the Arts, 539 Tremont St., 617-9338600. Mar 24–Apr 1. Based on the scandalous 18th century novel by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, this Boston premiere by Conrad Susa and Philip Littell explores the sexual machinations of the Vicomte de Valmont and the Marquise de Merteuil, two French aristocrats locked in a battle of wits, wills and sexual conquest. DIE LUSTIGEN WEIBER VON WINDSOR (THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR), The Boston Conservatory Theater, 31 Hemenway St., 617-912-9222. Mar 30–Apr 2. Written in 1841, Otto Nicolai’s delightful interpretation of Shakespeare’s comedy was an important contribution to early German romantic opera. It tells ths story of Mrs. Ford and Mrs. Page, who teach the lecherous knight Sir John Falstaff a much-deserved lesson after they each receive identical letters from him proposing illicit affairs. THE RAKE’S PROGRESS, Boston Lyric Opera, Emerson/Cutler Majestic Theatre, 219 Tremont St., 617-542-6772. Mar 12–19. In a surreal battle of temptation, Tom Rakewell abandons his suburban life to cavort in the pleasures of “sin city” with a devilish valet at his side. But can he find his way back to the virtuous Anne Trulove—and his sanity—before all is lost? With influences of Mozart and the Faust myth, Igor Stravinsky’s opera blurs the lines between the 18th and 20th centuries with witty and wicked insight. 43 TOPDOG/UNDERDOG
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BOSTON DINING GUIDE L–Lunch • D–Dinner • B–Breakfast C–Cocktails • VP–Valet Parking SB–Sunday Brunch • LS–Late Supper
49 SOCIAL, 49 Temple Pl., 617-338-9600. This eclectic bar and restaurant at Downtown Crossing serves refined modern American cuisine. The seasonal dinner menu draws inspiration from around the globe while also incorporating ingredients from local New England farms. D, C. 49social.com. ARAGOSTA BAR & BISTRO, Three Battery Wharf, 617-9949001. This latest addition to Boston’s vibrant waterfront restaurant community offers a new take on Italian cuisine by award-winning chef David Daniels who shows his signature flair through hand-made pastas, prime meats and classic New England seafood. Using quality, local farm-raised ingredients, Aragosta offers a warm, social atmosphere in a stunning waterfront setting. Also offering an open kitchen with Chef’s Counter and an outdoor terrace. B, L, D. Mon–Sun 6:30 a.m.– 10 p.m.; Sat & SB 10:30 a.m.–2 p.m. aragostabistro.com. AVENUE ONE RESTAURANT, Hyatt Regency, One Avenue de Lafayette, 617-912-1234. Newly renovated and located in the heart of the Theatre District, Avenue One restaurant and lounge serves contemporary New England cuisine in a relaxed atmosphere. Enjoy a refreshing cocktail, three-course prix fixe dinner or a delectable dessert. Discounted parking available. B 6:30–11:30 a.m., L noon–3 p.m., D 5–10 p.m. C, VP regencyboston.hyatt.com. BACK DECK, 2 West St. (corner of Washington), 617-6700320. With three deck spaces and a menu of grill-focused favorites, Back Deck invites everyone to gather around patio tables and chairs for a charcoal-cooked meal and backyardinspired cocktails. Its ambiance brings the outdoors inside with floor-to-ceiling open windows, carriage lighting, lush green planters, glazed brick and an open kitchen. Drawing inspiration from a roof deck, this restaurant is the ultimate urban retreat. L, D, Sat & SB, C. BackDeckBoston.com. BLU, 4 Avery St., 617-375-8550. Located in the heart of the Theatre District next door to the Ritz Carlton on the fourth floor, blu Restaurant and Bar is celebrating its 15th anniversary with a feast for the senses. Its contemporary American menu includes the all-time favorite lobster club. Featuring spectacular floor-to-ceiling windows, blu is perfect for a pre-show 44 TOPDOG/UNDERDOG
dinner, corporate events, weddings, cocktail receptions and private dining. L Mon–Fri 11:30 a.m.–2:30 p.m., D Mon–Sat 5–10 p.m. blurestaurant.com. CITYPLACE, On Stuart Street between Tremont and S. Charles streets in the State Transportation Building. Enjoy handcrafted beers at Rock Bottom Brewery, delicious treats from Panera Bread and gourmet Chinese at P.F. Chang’s as well as flatbread sandwiches, specialty pizzas, custom burritos and more in the Food Court. B, L, D, C. cityplaceboston.com. CLINK, The Liberty Hotel, 215 Charles St., 617-224-4004. Clink serves the freshest North Atlantic seafood, seasonal New England fare and delicious artisanal meats, highlights of a menu that artfully marries European culinary tradition with contemporary American innovation. The dining room features vestiges of original jail cells and an open kitchen, while gold leather seats, butcher block tables and granite accents add to the contemporary style. Nightly, Clink’s lobby bar draws urban dwellers and hotel guests to an energetic and social nightlife scene in the heart of Boston. B 6:30–11 a.m., L 11:30 a.m.–3 p.m., D 5–11 p.m., SB 10 a.m.–3 p.m. clinkrestaurant.com. DAVIO’S NORTHERN ITALIAN STEAKHOUSE, 75 Arlington St., 617-357-4810. This Boston institution is located in Park Square, within walking distance to all theatres. The Northern Italian steakhouse menu includes a selection of homemade pastas and Brandt meats (aged New York sirloin, Niman Ranch pork chop, Provini porterhouse veal chop), as well as Davio’s classics and selection of fresh seafood, before or after the theatre. Enjoy a lighter fare menu in the spacious bar and parlor area. D Sun–Tue 5–10 p.m., Wed–Sat ’til 11 p.m., L Mon–Fri. VP. davios.com. FAJITAS & ’RITAS, 25 West St., 617-426-1222. Established in 1989, Fajitas & ’Ritas is an easygoing restaurant and bar that features fresh, healthy Texan and barbecue cuisine at bargain prices. An all-around fun place to eat, drink and hang out, the walls are decorated with colorful murals and the bar boasts some of Boston’s best—and sturdiest—margaritas. L, D Mon & Tue 11:30 a.m.–9 p.m.; Wed, Thu & Sat ’til 10 p.m.; Fri ’til 11 p.m.; Sun ’til 8 p.m. C. fajitasandritas.com. THE HUNGRY I, 71½ Charles St., 617-227-3524. In a twostory townhouse with three working fireplaces and an outdoor patio, Chef Peter Ballarin celebrates 30 years of French country cuisine and creative desserts. Signature dishes include venison au poivre and braised rabbit a la moutard. Private dining rooms available. L, D, SB, C. hungryiboston.com. JASPER WHITE’S SUMMER SHACK, 50 Dalton St., 617-8679955; 149 Alewife Brook Parkway, Cambridge, 617-520-9500. Enjoy top-notch seafood such as pan-roasted lobster, awardwinning fried chicken and an impressive raw bar in a casual setting. L, D. summershackrestaurant.com. LEGAL SEA FOODS, 558 Washington St., 617-692-8888; 26 Park Plaza, Park Square Motor Mart, 617-426-4444; 255 State St., Long Wharf, 617-227-3115; Prudential Center, 800 Boylston St., 617-266-6800; 270 Northern Ave., Liberty Wharf, 617-477-2900; other locations. Legal Sea Foods, a Boston tradition for more than 50 years, features more than 40 varieties of fresh fish and shellfish as well as an award-winning wine list. Named “Boston’s Most Popular Restaurant” (Zagat 2010/2011). L & D. legalseafoods.com.
MASSIMINO’S CUCINA ITALIANA, 207 Endicott St., 617-5235959. Owner/chef Massimino—former head chef of Naples’ Hotel Astoria and Switzerland’s Metropolitan Hotel—offers specialties like the veal chop stuffed with arugula, prosciutto, smoked mozzarella and black olives, amongst numerous other delights. L, D, C. Sun–Thu 11 a.m.–10 p.m., Fri & Sat ’til 11 p.m. massiminosboston.com. MERITAGE RESTAURANT + WINE BAR, Boston Harbor Hotel, 70 Rowes Wharf, 617-439-3995. Known for its excellence in wine and food pairings, Meritage enters a new era with an exciting transformation featuring a stylish, refined dining room, sophisticated wine bar and the addition of two new private dining rooms overlooking Boston Harbor. To complement the bold and elegant interiors, Chef Daniel Bruce has introduced a unique vineyard-to-table menu. D Tue–Sat 5–10 p.m., SB 10 a.m.–2 p.m. C, VP. meritagetherestaurant.com. PARKER’S RESTAURANT, Omni Parker House, 60 School St. at Tremont Street, 617-725-1600. Executive chef Gerry Tice celebrates nostalgic cuisine with a contemporary flair at Parker’s Restaurant, the birthplace of Boston Cream Pie, the Parker House Roll and Boston Scrod. B Mon–Fri 6:30–11 a.m., Sat–Sun 7–11:30 a.m., offering an elaborate buffet in addition to a la carte selections. L Mon–Fri 11:30 a.m.–2 p.m.; D Mon– Thu 5:30–10 p.m., Fri & Sat 5–10 p.m. ROWES WHARF SEA GRILLE, Boston Harbor Hotel, 70 Rowes Wharf, 617-856-7744. Rowes Wharf Sea Grille delivers the sea straight to your table. Enjoy power breakfasts and lunches followed by a vibrant after-work cocktail and dinner scene. The sunlight-filled dining room or seasonal outdoor terrace is an ideal spot for a leisurely lunch or special date night. B 6:30–11 a.m., L 11:30 a.m.–4 p.m., Afternoon Tea 2:30–4 p.m., D 4:30–10 p.m. roweswharfseagrille.com. RUTH’S CHRIS STEAK HOUSE, 45 School St., 617-742-8401. At Ruth’s Chris Steak House, each steak is hand-selected from the top 2% of the country’s beef, broiled to perfection at 1,800 degrees and served in the restaurant’s signature style—on a sizzling, 500-degree plate so every bite stays hot and delicious. Located at Old City Hall, Ruth’s Chris also features fresh seafood, an award-winning wine list and a gracious environment with warm hospitality. L, D, C. ruthschris.com. THE TAJ BOSTON, 15 Arlington St., 617-536-5700. This 1927 landmark offers dishes reflecting the seasonal flavors of New England as well as authentic Indian dishes for dinner. The Cafe: B, L, D, Sat & SB. The Lounge: L, D, C. The Bar: L, D, C. tajhotels.com/boston. TOP OF THE HUB, 800 Boylston St., Prudential Center, 617-536-1775. Located 52 stories above the city, Top of the Hub is Boston’s special occasion favorite. With upscale American cuisine, live entertainment nightly, a spectacular view and romantic atmosphere, Top of the Hub promises a unique experience for both visitors and native Bostonians alike. L, D, C, SB. topofthehub.net. YE OLDE UNION OYSTER HOUSE, 41 Union St., 617-2272750. America’s oldest restaurant, now celebrating 191 years, serves Yankee-style seafood, beef and chicken, and is famed for the oyster bar where Daniel Webster dined daily. Specialties include clam chowder and fresh lobster. L & D Sun–Thu 11 a.m.–9:30 p.m., Fri & Sat ’til 10 p.m. C ’til midnight. unionoysterhouse.com.
N E W E N G L A N D’ S BEST VIEW B OS TO N ’ S M OS T RO M A N T I C FINE DINING EXPERIENCE
B R U N C H / L U N C H CO C K TA I L S / D I N N E R 52ND FLOOR OF PRUDENTIAL TOWER TOPOFTHEHUB.NET CALL: (617) 536-1775
HUNTINGTON THEATRE COMPANY 45
DINING OUT
Top of the Hub W
hile the view remains as spectacu- Other seafood highlights include the tenlar as ever, change is in the air at der sea scallops served with Himalayan black Top of the Hub, one of Boston’s rice, roasted butternut squash, green curry favorite fine dining destinations. And butter and candied kumquats. Meat it’s all for the better. The addition of still gets its due with such dishes as German-born Executive Chef Stefan TOP OF THE HUB the Misty Knolls Farm chicken breast, Jarausch, who oversaw the transfor- 800 Boylston St. grilled filet mignon and butcher’s cut mation of the Fairmont Copley Plaza’s Prudential Center Duroc pork chop. 617-536-1775 acclaimed Oak Long Bar & Kitchen Refer to Dining Guide, Another thing Top of the Hub page 45 in 2012, has ushered in a new era for continues to excel at is offering an this beloved eatery. unparalleled, Wine Spectator-lauded Featuring a re-tooled menu of selection of vintages from its cliNew England-inspired cuisine, Top Change is in the mate-controlled, glass-encased wine of the Hub has put a particular room near the entrance, as well air at Top of emphasis on seafood. Old favoras creative cocktails from the bar. ites, like the decadently creamy lobNightly live music in the lounge the Hub. ster bisque and the chock-full-ofarea remains another mainstay. And crustaceans clam chowder, have been dessert is as sweet as ever, including re-formulated to adhere to triedthe mocha mascarpone mousse served and-true tradition. Welcome newcomers include with salted caramel and biscotti, and the classic the New England fisherman’s bowl, a stick-to- crème brûlée with seasonal berries and whipped your-ribs stew of lobster, mussels, clams and cream. There’s also a tempting array of dessert the fresh catch of the day accented with kale, wines, premium whiskeys and liqueurs availchorizo, potatoes and a clam butter broth nearly able as after-dinner drinks. Regardless of how bursting at the seams with fresh ocean offerings you end your meal, it would be hard to top the that encapsulates Chef Jarausch’s love of local engrossing vista, impeccable service and re-born ingredients in one dish. cuisine at this Back Bay landmark.
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46 TOPDOG/UNDERDOG
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