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Welcome to Red Bank. We love it here too. RED BANK 732.747.8466 ASBURY PARK 732.775.4660 MANASQUAN/WALL 732.223.4611
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ABOUT US
LEADERSHIP
John Dias Artistic Director
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Michael Hurst Managing Director
Robert M. Rechnitz Executive Producer
Two River Theater, under the leadership of Artistic Director John Dias and Managing Director Michael Hurst, develops and produces great American theater. Through 8 theatrical productions each year (including world premieres, musicals, classics and theater for families) and 40+ annual events happening around Monmouth County, we produce exceptional theater and cultivate engaged audiences. Two River celebrates and honors our core values of Artistic Excellence; Education and Community Engagement; Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion; and Operational Excellence.
Joan H. Rechnitz Associate Producer
BOARD OF TRUSTEES Todd Herman President Anne Luzzatto Vice President Hon. Edward J. McKenna, Jr. Treasurer Susan Olson Secretary Stephen Becker Marilyn Broege Amanda Butterbaugh Robert Butters Carolyn Cushman DeSena Kathleen Ellis Gale Grossman Caroline Huber Mary Jane Kroon Nyire Melconian Adam Rechnitz Joan H. Rechnitz Robert M. Rechnitz Geoffrey Sadwith Maureen Silliman Mary Carol Stunkel Webster Trammell Richard B. Worley Howard P. Aronson William Marracini Kathryne Singleton Emeritus Board Members
Clockwise from left to right: Crystal A. Dickinson, Owen Tabaka, Brenda Pressley in A Raisin in the Sun. Photo by T. Charles Erickson
ARTIST ADVISORY BOARD May Adrales Barbara Andres Brandon J. Dirden Joel Grey Lisa Kron Martin Moran Brenda Pressley Ruben Santiago-Hudson Tanya Saracho Maureen Silliman Leigh Silverman Jennifer Tipton
Founded by Joan and Robert Rechnitz in 1994, Two River is recognized in the national theater community for its newplay commissioning program, which creates a pipeline for developing work that contributes to the vitality and future of the American theater. Each season, the theater hosts numerous artist residencies, workshops and readings, and presents an annual Cabaret of New Songs for the Musical Theater in association with NYU’s Graduate Musical Theatre Writing program. The Crossing Borders (Cruzando Fronteras) festival and Nosotros program foster a closer relationship between the theater and Latino artists and audiences. Two River cultivates a new generation of theatergoers through innovative arts education programs that introduce young people to the theater and create opportunities for them to engage with renowned theater artists. For more information, visit tworivertheater.org or call 732.345.1400. Â
5 Title Page 7 Patron Services 9 A Note from the Artistic Director, John Dias 11 Cast of Characters 12 Bios 19 Leadership Bios 21 Slamming Doors: The Excruciating Existential Machinery of Farce 23 Two River 25th Anniversary: Tragedy Tomorrow, Comedy Tonight! EducationtoSpotlight: Littl CelebrateA our 24 Little 25th 225 Continue tle Shakespeare: Macbeth 25th Anniversary with Us! Shakespeare: Macbeth Anniversary with Us! A our Little25th 226 7 Education Continue toSpotlight: Celebrate Shakespeare: Macbeth Anniversary with Us!
29 Coming Soon: Theo 30 New Year, New Work: An Interview with Joe Iconis and Madeleine George 33 Summer Intensives 35 Meet our Restaurant Partner: Triumph Brewing Company 37 Backstage Pass Benefits 38 Individual Donors 41 Institutional Support 42 Meet Our Staff & Volunteers 45 Save the Date: Our 25th Anniversary Gala 46 Scene at Two River
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EMPOWERING OUR COMMUNITY TO ACHIEVE OPTIMAL HEALTH & HEALING
Hackensack Meridian Integrative Health & Medicine has developed a comprehensive health and well-being program like no other. Completely customized and focused around our Five Pillars of Health and Well-Being: Sleep, Activity, Purpose, Nutrition and Resilience. Begin your path to optimal health and healing with one of our clinical experts: integrative medicine physicians, nurse practitioners, acupuncturists, nutritionists, massage therapists, health coaches, health psychologists, and movement & energy specialists.
To learn about the events and classes we offer or to schedule a consultation, please call 732-263-7999 or visit HackensackMeridianHealth.org/IntegrativeMedicine for more information.
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NOISES OFF By Michael Frayn
John Dias Artistic Director Michael Hurst Managing Director Robert M. Rechnitz Executive Producer Joan H. Rechnitz Associate Producer
With Kathleen Choe Gopal Divan Adrianna Mitchell
Kimiye Corwin Ellen Harvey Jason O’Connell
Michael Crane Philip Goodwin Phillip Taratula
SCENIC DESIGNER................................................................Charlie Corcoran COSTUME DESIGNER ........................................................Valérie Thérèse Bart LIGHTING DESIGNER .........................................................Ken Billington SOUND DESIGNER ................................................................Karin Graybash WIG DESIGNER ..........................................................................Dave Bova MOVEMENT COORDINATOR .....................................Lorenzo Pisoni DIALECT COACH ....................................................................Ron Carlos CASTING ........................................................................................ Calleri Casting PRODUCTION STAGE MANAGER ........................ Jane Pole
Directed by Sarna Lapine
OPENING NIGHT: JANUARY 18/2019 JOAN AND ROBERT RECHNITZ THEATER
Noises Off is presented by special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc.
SEASON SPONSOR:
RESTAURANT PARTNER:
Made possible by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a partner agency of the National Endowment of the Arts.
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Dearborn Market is excited to once again be hosting the Deep Cut Orchid Society’s 22nd Annual Orchid Show. Orchid societies as well as other local and commercial growers will be presenting landscaped exhibits that are sure to delight all who attend. Come join us in our warm greenhouse!
SAT. February
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6:30pm - 9pm
The Frances Foundation WINE & CHEESE BENEFIT
Help us raise money for The Frances Foundation at our 8JOF $IFFTF #FOFÃŽU The Frances Foundation is a MPDBM OPO QSPÃŽU PSHBOJ[BUJPO UIBU IFMQT CSJOH TNJMFT UP LJET ÃŽHIUJOH DBODFS Purchase tickets in-store or online today!
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Phone: 732-264-0256 Õ Web: dearbornmarket.com Hours: Sunday - Saturday, 8am - 8pm 6
PATRON SERVICES
ACCESS
Thank you for joining us at this performance. Two River Theater is dedicated to making your experience the best that it can possibly be. Please note the following offerings and requests to better enhance your time at the theater:
BEFORE PLAY
VIRTUAL TOUR & ACCESS
Join us 45 minutes prior to every performance in the Two River lobby for a pre-performance talk, which will give you valuable insight into the play you are about to see. Talks last 10-15 minutes and are led by a member of the company or Two River’s Artistic Department.
Two River Theater is committed to making theater accessible to all. If you would like to view our space in detail, in advance of your visit, a virtual tour is available on our website, tworivertheater.org
POST-PLAY DISCUSSIONS Post-play discussions are scheduled following select performances of every subscription series production. During these discussions, audiences are invited to share their questions and responses to the work on stage with members of the cast and staff of the theater. Post-play discussion dates for the current season can be found in our season brochure or on our website.
INSIDE TWO RIVER EVENTS A series of mostly FREE arts & humanities events specially curated for each of our productions. Events include film screenings, book club, poetry readings, crafting nights, lectures, social events with our artists & more! To make sure you are first to hear about these events sign up for our email list, follow us on Facebook, and stay tuned to our website!
BOX OFFICE
ACCESS DATES SIGN INTERPRETED PERFORMANCE: FEBRUARY 2, 2019 AT 3PM Noises Off AUDIO DESCRIPTION: Offered at one 1PM Wednesday matinee performance of all subscription series productions* OPEN CAPTIONING: Offered at one 3PM Saturday matinee performance of all subscription series productions*
*Dates may vary. Please confirm on tworivertheater.org or by calling 732.345.1400.
Box Office Hours: Monday through Saturday 10am-6pm, Sunday from 12-5pm and starting one hour prior to all performances.
CONCESSIONS Coffee, tea, water, soda, candy, and snacks are available at the concessions stand in the lobby. Only water will be permitted into the theater during performances.
Access programs made possible through support from New Jersey State Council on the Arts.
COURTESY Please limit food and drink, taking photographs and cell phone usage to our lobby or outside the theater. Late seating will occur at the discretion of Management.
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A NOTE FROM THE
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
JOHN DIAS Photo by Danny Sanchez.
There must be an infinite number of ways we can drive ourselves crazy. As a species, we seem to be very good at it. We spin ourselves into frenzies and wonder, “how did I get into this mess?” I hate that I do this more often than I’d like to admit. But why do it at all? At the risk of over-simplifying, I wonder that the reason—the primary cause of our self-distraction—is simply that we take ourselves far too seriously. That perhaps there’s valuable wisdom in that old cliché: “the truth is as plain as the nose on your face.” But mostly, we just don’t see it. Our own nose, that is. Maybe that’s why clowns always have that big red one. Have you ever put one of those things on your face? Try it and I guarantee it’ll make you giggle. Have a look at yourself and you’ll see—you can’t miss it. The truth. I don’t know about you, but I’m sure I don’t often enough hold up that proverbial mirror to see that the fool is actually me! There’s tremendous value in laughing at ourselves and we can be very grateful to artists like Michael Frayn who know very well how to trick us into doing it. In this current climate of partisan intransigence, media cross-talk and government shutdown here at home and things like Brexit, civil war and authoritarian crackdowns over there, I think the whole world could learn from the humbling nature of farce. I’m not saying we ought to take these issues any less seriously, but perhaps we could break through our own obstinance by attempting to see how ridiculous we can be. And by that, I do not mean we should find more ways to laugh at others (although those late-night comedians are doing their damnedest) but rather to take a hard look at our big red noses. I’m not suggesting that sitting at a play in Red Bank is going somehow to make you capable of bridging our deep divides, or that together we’ll end the government shutdown or get Mexico to pay for the wall but at the very least you can let the theater do what it does best: “to hold, as it were, the mirror up to nature.” I’m reminded of something from Be More Chill—that canny little musical we premiered a few years ago that’s in rehearsal now for its Broadway opening. The self-professed theater nerd, Christine, in a moment of crisis says: “I look around and everyone’s hurting, and the people who don’t show it are just better at hiding it. I wish there was something real I could do to make things better, but I don’t know how. So I guess I’ll just do theater.”
John
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CAST OF CHARACTERS (IN ORDER OF SPEAKING)
Dotty Otley .............................................................................Ellen Harvey Lloyd Dallas ............................................................................Gopal Divan Garry Lejeune ........................................................................Michael Crane Brooke Ashton ......................................................................Adrianna Mitchell Poppy Norton-Taylor.........................................................Kimiye Corwin Frederick Fellowes..............................................................Jason O’Connell Belinda Blair ...........................................................................Kathleen Choe Tim Allgood ............................................................................Phillip Taratula Selsdon Mowbray................................................................Philip Goodwin TIME & PLACE ACT ONE: The living-room of the Brents’ country home. Wednesday afternoon. (Grand Theatre, Weston-Super-Mare, Monday, January 14th) ACT TWO: The living-room of the Brents’ country home. Wednesday afternoon. (Theatre Royal, Goole, Wednesday matinee, February 13th)
Organic Vegan & Gluten Free Foods 1 Bridge Ave in the West Side Lofts Red Bank, NJ 07701 732.268.8630 www.GOODKARMACAFENJ.com Free Parking in the Garage Monday-Saturday 11:30 am-7:30pm Follow us on Facebook & Instagram @karma2gonj for daily specials Don’t Forget Our Original Location! Good Karma 17 E. Front St., Red Bank 732.450.8344
ACT THREE: The living-room of the Brents’ country home. Wednesday afternoon. (Municipal Theatre, Stockton-on-Tees, Saturday, April 6th) Noises Off will be performed with one intermission and one pause. PRODUCTION CREDITS Assistant to the Director: Brian Eckert Assistant Costume Designer: Aidan Griffiths Assistant Lighting Designer: Jacob Zedek Associate Wig Designer: Cassie Williams
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The Actors and Stage Manager employed in this production are members of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.
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The Director is a member of the STAGE DIRECTORS AND CHOREOGRAPHERS SOCIETY, a national theatrical labor union
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The Designers at this Theatre are Represented by
United Scenic Artists • Local USA 829 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employes
The scenic, costume, lighting, and sound designers in LORT theatres are represented by United Scenic Artists, Local USA-829 of the IATSE
Full Ful F ulll Serv Service S ervice ice De esig sign i n
Two River Theater Company is a member of the League of Resident Theaters (LORT), Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the New Jersey Theatre Alliance, and ArtPride New Jersey. Serving the Tri-State area for over 30 years
The videotaping or making of electronic or other audio and/or visual recordings of this production or distributing recordings on any medium, including the Internet, is strictly prohibited, a violation of the author’s rights and actionable under United States copyright law. For more information, please visit www.samuelfrench.com/whitepaper.
Jersey Printing Associates 153 First Ave., Atlantic Highlands, NJ 07716 732.872.9654 UÊjerseyprinting.com
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BIOS
LARGE FORMAT
POSTERS CANVAS PRINTS
MEET THE ARTISTS! Kathleen Choe (Belinda Blair) is thrilled to be part of this lovely, happy company of Noises Off at Two River Theater. Selected theater credits: When the Sari Travels (Rising Circle Theater Collective), Devising the American Dream (Geva Theatre Center), A Piece of My Heart (Speranza Theatre Company), Avenue Q (Arkansas Repertory Theatre), You Are Now the Owner of This Suitcase (Theatre 167), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (dir. Austin Pendleton), Ginger (Ensemble Studio Theatre), 4.48 Psychosis (59E59 Theaters), Trying to Find Chinatown (Bank Street Theatre). Film and TV: Maniac, The Dangerous Book for Boys, Quantico, Show Me a Hero, Mysteries of Laura, Forever, Broad City, Delivery Man. Thanks to Sarna, the wonderful cast and creative team for this amazingly hilarious ride, and much love to my family and friends. Training: MFA, The New School for Drama. www.Kathleen-Choe.com, IG: @katchoe
The
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Kimiye Corwin (Poppy Norton-Taylor) New York Theater: The Changeling (Red Bull), Martyrs (La MaMa), Wasted: An Historical Burlesque (Ars Nova), Fire Throws (Ripe Time), Kate’s Chink-O-Rama (Joe’s Pub). Regional: Sense and Sensibility (Guthrie), Hedda Gabler (Studio Theatre), A Christmas Carol (McCarter), Love’s Labour’s Lost (Actors Theater of Louisville), Midsummer Night’s Dream (Syracuse Stage), Now Circa Then (TheatreWorks Palo Alto), Snow Falling on Cedars (Hartford Stage), Twelfth Night, Hamlet (Shakespeare Festival St. Louis). TV/Film: The Blacklist, The Family, The Following, The Michael J. Fox Show, One Life to Live, Five Dances (film by Alan Brown). Kimiye had trained as a dancer at Juilliard and danced with the José Limón Dance Company for five years before training as an actor. She enjoys combining her movement and acting backgrounds with work as a choreographer and movement consultant for theater. Thrilled to be at Two River and for her loves, Jesse, Ruby and Maxine! Training: BFA Juilliard, MFA Brown/Trinity. www.kimiyecorwin.com
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Michael Crane (Garry Lejeune) New York Theater: Gloria (Vineyard), This Day Forward (Vineyard), The Body of an American (Primary Stages/Hartford Stage), Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, King Lear and Richard III (Public Theater), Taking Care of Baby (MTC), Doris to Darlene (Playwrights Horizons), The Mag-7 (Naked Angels), The Young Left (Cherry Lane), The Tenant (Woodshed Collective), West Moon Street (Prospect Theater Company), Bone Portraits (Stillpoint Prods), The Leopard and the Fox (TBG), Brack’s Last Bachelor Party (59E59), Middlemen (Human Animals). Regional Theater: Father Comes Home from the Wars (A.R.T.), Hamlet (Pioneer Theatre), Hell Meets Henry Halfway (Pig Iron Theatre Co.), Long Wharf, Williamstown, Berkshire Theatre Festival, Weston Playhouse. TV/Film: People of Earth, Succession, Barry, Damages, White Collar, Winter’s Tale, Forever, Law & Order, Kings. MFA: NYU.
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Gopal Divan (Lloyd Dallas) Off-Broadway: The Low Road (Public Theater/NYSF). Regional/ International: Disgraced (Best Actor, Houston Press; 4th Wall), White Rabbit/Red Rabbit (The Ringling), Ideation (Best Ensemble, Herald Tribune; Urbanite), Love’s Labour’s Lost, Señora Carrar’s Rifles (The Cochrane, London), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (The Junction, Cambridge UK), Around the World in 80 Days, Emma (Hong Kong Civic Centre). TV: Divorce (HBO), Casualty (BBC). Film: In Heaven’s Hands, The Groundskeeper, Consensus Reality, Draupadi, Forbidden, Guys Reading Poems. Training: Drama Centre, London. RADA. Thankful to be making his Two River Theater debut! Philip Goodwin (Selsdon Mowbray) Two River Theater: As You Like It, Lives of Reason. Broadway: The Diary of Anne Frank, The School for Scandal, Tartuffe. Off-Broadway: Cymbeline, Pericles, Macbeth and as the Fool in King Lear with Kevin Kline at The Public Theater; The Broken Heart, Troilus and Cressida and as Henry VI in Henry VI (Drama Desk nomination) at Theatre for a New Audience; Grace at MCC with Lynn Redgrave; Drowning at Signature Theatre; The Trestle at Pope Lick Creek at New York Theatre Workshop; Richard III, Double Falsehood at CSC; Celebration at Atlantic Theatre Company. Regional: Associate Artist at the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington DC. Roles include Malvolio in Twelfth Night, Timon in Timon of Athens and Mayor Stockbridge in Enemy of the People (Helen Hayes Awards); Kenneth Tynan in Tynan, The Lisbon Traviata, The Puppetmaster of Lodz at Studio Theatre, DC; Dr. Tambourri in Passion at The Kennedy Center. Other regional appearances include Hartford Stage, Cleveland Playhouse, Great Lakes Theater Company, Portland Stage, Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, Intiman Theatre, Williamstown Theatre Festival and The Acting Company. Film: The Pink Panther, The Pink Panther 2, Diary of a City Priest. Television: Law & Order, Law & Order: Criminal Intent and Hamlet for PBS.
Photos by Lisa Campbell
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Ellen Harvey (Dotty Otley) Broadway: Miss Erikson in Present Laughter (starring Kevin Klein), Miss Jones in How to Succeed in Business… (starring Daniel Radcliffe), Madame Giry in Phantom of the Opera, The Music Man, Thou Shalt Not. Off-Broadway: Big Love (Eleanor), Signature Theatre. Shakespeare in the Park: Into the Woods (Cinderella’s Stepmother). National Tours: Mary Poppins (Miss Andrew), Disney’s High School Musical (Ms. Darbus), Mamma Mia! (Tanya) and Sunset Boulevard. She previously appeared at Two River as Dionyza in Pericles. Other regional favorites: Company (Joanne, Barrington Stage Company with Aaron Tveit; BTCA 2017 Award), Sweeney Todd (Mrs. Lovett, KC Rep), Animal Crackers (Mrs. Rittenhouse, Williamstown Theatre Festival), Last Night of Ballyhoo (Boo Levy, Bay Street Theater), Sister Act (Mother Superior, North Shore Music Theatre), The Little Mermaid (Ursula, NC Theatre), and Gypsy (Mazeppa, The MUNY). TV: Martha Wilson on House of Cards, Gotham, Younger, and Partners. Proud owner of a rescue dog! Everything else: www.ellenharvey.net & @ellenharveynyc
Adrianna Mitchell (Brooke Ashton) is an actor/writer/ director and teaching artist from Atlanta, GA and recent graduate of American Conservatory Theater’s MFA program. Adrianna has been blessed to work her way through Shakespeare’s canon, playing Juliet in Chautauqua Theater Company’s Romeo and Juliet; The Player Queen in A.C.T.’s Hamlet; Isabella in Actor Shakespeare Project’s Measure for Measure; and most recently Kate in Taming of the Shrew for an educational website spearheaded by Stanford University. Other credits include Topdog/Underdog, Last Days of Judas Iscariot, and Sunset Baby. Adrianna directed, co-devised and designed a one-woman show called The Crooked Room about dismantling harmful stereotypes about black women, and she also co-authored A Subtlety: The Sugar Play, a magical satire exploring the impact of Sugar on black history and bodies. She is a two-time alumna of the prestigious Chautauqua Theater Company, The British American Drama Academy, and a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Spelman College. Jason O’Connell (Frederick Fellowes) is thrilled to be returning to Two River, where he appeared in 2017’s The Merry Wives of Windsor. OffBroadway: Harold Ryan in Kurt Vonnegut’s Happy Birthday, Wanda June (Wheelhouse Theater at The Duke on 42nd St), Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice (Primary Stages), Bottom and Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (The Pearl), Edward and Robert Ferrars in Sense and Sensibility (Gym at Judson), Trigorin in The Seagull (Bedlam), The Saintliness of Margery Kempe (The Duke), and Jason’s own solo show, The Dork Knight (Abingdon Theatre Company, Joe’s Pub, etc). NYIT Award for Outstanding Lead Actor—Don Juan in Hell (Phoenix Theatre Ensemble). Regional: American Players, Great Lakes Theater, Peterborough Players, Florida Studio, Arkansas Rep, and Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival. TV: Law & Order: SVU and Law & Order: Criminal Intent. Upcoming: Jason will direct his fiancée, Kate Hamill, in her adaptation of Pride and Prejudice at Syracuse Stage in March, and will then return to Hudson Valley Shakespeare for his 10th summer season, playing the title role in his own adaptation (with co-writer Brenda Withers) of Cyrano De Bergerac (simply titled Cyrano), which has already enjoyed productions at Fort Worth’s Amphibian Stage and MA’s Gloucester Stage (Boston Globe Critic’s Pick). www.jason-oconnell.com Phillip Taratula (Tim Allgood) is a New York-based actor and writer. His theater credits include Empire Travel Agency (Woodshed Collective); Taylor Mac’s The Lily's Revenge (HERE Arts Center); understudying the role of Frosch in Die Fledermaus at the Metropolitan Opera; Two Gentlemen of Verona (directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel); and several shows with the theatre company Collaboration Town, including The Deepest Play Ever (New Ohio Theatre). He is a co-bookwriter of the musical Bloody Bloody Jessica Fletcher,
CELEBRATING
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an unauthorized parody of Murder, She Wrote, which is currently in development. Regionally, he’s appeared in productions at North Shore Music Theatre, Argyle Theatre, Humana Festival, Gulfshore Playhouse, Huntington, Williamstown Theatre Festival, O’Neill Playwrights Conference, Portland Stage, Castleton Opera Festival, and several others. Film/TV includes Sell By and the hit webseries The Outs. Instagram @ptaratula Michael Frayn (Playwright) was born in London in 1933. He began his career as a reporter for the Guardian and later the Observer. After leaving the Observer he continued to write as a columnist as well as publishing novels and plays for television and stage. His plays for stage include: Democracy, Copenhagen, Afterlife, The Two of Us, Alphabetical Order, Donkeys’ Years, Clouds, Balmoral (Liberty Hall), Make and Break, Noises Off, Benefactors, Alarms and Excursions, Look Look, Here and Make and Break. His translations include: four full-length Chekhov plays (The Cherry Orchard, Three Sisters, The Seagull and Uncle Vanya) and four one-act plays (The Evils of Tobacco, Swan Song, The Bear and The Proposal). Mr. Frayn is married to the biographer and critic Claire Tomalin. Sarna Lapine (Director) is a director and developer of new work. Current: Into the Woods (Juilliard), a site-specific production of The Rape of Lucretia (Boston Lyric Opera) and Kate Hamill’s adaptation of Little Women (Primary Stages). Recent productions include: Frost/Nixon by Peter Morgan (Bay Street Theater); a new musical by Brian Hill and Neil Bartram, You Are Here (Goodspeed Musicals); Japan premiere of Anna Ziegler’s Photograph 51; Sondheim on Sondheim (Boston Pops and the L.A. Phil) and the critically acclaimed Broadway revival of Sunday in the Park With George, starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Annaleigh Ashford. Sarna directed a national tour of Dirty Dancing, South Pacific and was Associate Director of The National Theatre’s War Horse, North American Tour and Japan production. She began her career in theater as Bartlett Sher’s assistant director on The Light in the Piazza and worked with him on three more Broadway shows: Awake and Sing!, South Pacific and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. She holds an MFA in film from Columbia University and was an IFP/Marcie Bloom Film Fellow. Charlie Corcoran (Scenic Designer) previously designed The Importance of Being Earnest, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Lives of Reason and Absurd Person Singular at Two River Theater. OffBroadway: Billy and Ray (Vineyard Theatre), The Emperor Jones (Hewes Design Award nomination), The Quare Land (Origin’s First Irish Award), Shining City, The Seafarer, The Weir, The Freedom of the City, Prisoner of the Crown, Defender of the Faith, The Field (Irish Rep), Craving for Travel (Peter J. Sharp Theatre), Smash (Juilliard), The Last Smoker in America (Westside Theatre), A Perfect Future (Cherry Lane), The Late Christopher Bean (TACT), Sophistry, The Black Monk, The Bully Pulpit (Beckett Theatre), Exits and Entrances (Primary Stages). Regional: A Comedy of Tenors (Cleveland Play House and McCarter Theatre), Vanya, Sonia, Masha and Spike (Goodman Theatre), The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Bucks County Playhouse), The Barber of Seville, The Marriage of Figaro (McCarter Theatre), The Night Watcher, Without Walls (Center Theatre Group), Fallen Angels (NJ Shakespeare Theatre). Opera: Fidelio (Santa Fe Opera), The Bartered Bride, Cosi Fan Tutte (co-production Metropolitan Opera and Juilliard), Don Giovanni, The Marriage of Figaro (2015) (Juilliard), The Magic Flute (Music Academy of the West). TV: Full Frontal with Samantha Bee (TBS), Madam Secretary (CBS), Mozart in the Jungle (Amazon). 16
Valérie Thérèse Bart (Costume Designer) Regional: The Song of Summer (world premiere by Lauren Yee, Trinity Rep); A Doll’s House, Part 2 (Actors Theatre of Louisville); Vietgone (Denver Center); You Are Here (Goodspeed); The Great Leap (world premiere by Lauren Yee, Denver Center/Seattle Rep); The Invisible Hand (Cleveland Play House); Too Heavy for Your Pocket (world premiere by Jiréh Breon Holder, Roundabout); The Servant of Two Masters (Seattle Rep, Guthrie, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Yale Rep); POP! (Yale Rep; sets). Off-Broadway: Vanity Fair (world premiere by Kate Hamill, Pearl Theatre); The Servant of Two Masters (TFANA); Twelfth Night and What You Will (Bedlam); Macbeth (Acting Company); Tina Packer’s Women of Will (sets/costumes). Opera: Rocking Horse Winner/ Vinkensport (Opera Saratoga); Rigoletto (Minnesota Opera); Fidelio; Butterfly (Heartbeat Opera); Listen, Wilhelmina! (Wolf Trap; sets/ costumes); She, After (Urban Arias; sets/costumes). Training: M.F.A. Design Yale School of Drama. For more: valeriebart.com Ken Billington (Lighting Designer) creates lighting for the theatre, television, interior spaces, and architecture. Among his nearly 100 Broadway shows are the original production of Sweeney Todd, the current Chicago (the longest-running American musical in history and a hit in over twenty countries), Act One, Hugh Jackman Back on Broadway, The Scottsboro Boys, White Christmas, Title of Show, Footloose, as well as revivals of My Fair Lady, Hello Dolly, Sunday in the Park with George (twice), Annie (twice), and Fiddler on the Roof (three times). Ken’s craft has illuminated many spectacular events and venues; he designed the Christmas Show at The Radio City Music Hall for 27 years. He has devised the lighting for over 100 opera productions, including Porgy and Bess for Milan’s La Scala, Madrid’s Teatro Real, and Opéra Bastillle. His lighting designs have enhanced such landmarks as New York’s Tavern on the Green and 54 Below, as well as many other important architectural and interior design projects around the world. Ken’s awards include the Tony, the Luman (architecture), and the Ace (television). In 2015, Ken Billington was inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame. Karin Graybash (Sound Designer) has created numerous sound designs for regional theater and Off-Broadway, including: Hartford Stage, Long Wharf, Berkeley Rep, Dallas Theater Center, Yale Rep, McCarter, Arena Stage, Portland Stage, TheatreWorks, and the Alliance. Her work has been nominated for the Helen Hayes Awards and she is a recipient of the Bay Area Theatre Critics Award for her sound design of Polk County at Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Karin was the original live sound consultant for the multi-media production Freedom Rising at the National Constitution Center. Many of her soundscapes can be heard at The Franklin Institute’s exhibit entitled Your Brain. Karin also holds the position of Sound Supervisor for the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University. David Bova (Wig Designer) Broadway designs include The Visit, The Real Thing, Violet, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill, Motown, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess, All About Me, and Next to Normal. Films include Angelica and The Night Before. TV includes Six by Sondheim, Scream Queens, Gotham, Mozart in the Jungle, and Inside Amy Schumer. Lorenzo Pisoni (Movement Coordinator) Broadway: Beetlejuice (Spring 2019), Disney’s Frozen, Noises Off, Taller than a Dwarf. OffBroadway: All the Fine Boys, Humor Abuse, Harlequin Studies, Lobster Alice. Other selected credits: Pickle Family Circus, Cirque du Soleil. As an actor, Lorenzo works on and Off-Broadway and regionally, as well as on film and TV. His work has been recognized with Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel, Obie, and Outer Critics Circle Awards, among other honors. social: @lorenzopisoni
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• STUDIO, 1 AND 2 BEDROOM APTS • ELEGANT DINING ROOM • BISTRO, TAVERN • 24/7 STAFF; NURSE ON CALL • EMERGENCY RESPONSE SYSTEM • ASSISTED LIVING, INDEPENDENT LIVING, MEMORY CARE Ron Carlos (Dialect Coach) is a New York-based voice, speech, and dialect coach. He is currently a lecturer in Acting at the Yale School of Drama and has taught at Harvard University, City College of New York, Marymount Manhattan College, Atlantic Theater School (NYU/Tisch School of the Arts), The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, the National Student Leadership Conference, and Shakespeare Academy @ Stratford. Coaching credits include: Broadway: The Glass Menagerie, It’s Only a Play. Off-Broadway: Mother of the Maid, Fire In Dreamland, Mlima’s Tale, The Low Road, Kings, Oedipus El Rey, Gently Down the Stream, Sweat, Party People, Plenty, Privacy (Public Theater); The Gentleman Caller (Abingdon); Grounded (Westport Country Playhouse); Charm (MCC); Mary Jane (NYTW); The Capables (Gym at Judson). Regional: Native Son, Assassins, Mary Jane, Seven Guitars, War (Yale Rep); The Piano Lesson (Hartford Stage); Misalliance, Love’s Labour’s Lost (Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey); The Lily’s Revenge (ART); “Master Harold”…and the Boys (Gloucester Stage). Film: The Week Of, Look Away. Television: OITNB, Madam Secretary, Unforgettable, Power, Fringe. Ron holds his MFA in Voice and Speech Pedagogy from the American Repertory Theater Institute at Harvard University. He is a Certified Associate Teacher of Fitzmaurice Voicework® and a Certified Teacher of KnightThompson Speechwork. Calleri Casting (James Calleri, Paul Davis, Erica Jensen) Broadway: Fool for Love, Hughie, The Elephant Man (also West End), Hedwig and The Angry Inch, The Visit, Of Mice and Men, Venus in Fur, Living on Love, 33 Variations, A Raisin in the Sun, Chicago, James Joyce’s The Dead. Previously at Two River Theater: Songbird. National Tour: Hedwig and The Angry
ARTIST RTI RTIS RT RTI TIIS TIS ST RENDERING EN END ENDE NDE ND N D DE ERING RING NG NG
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Inch, Bright Star (NY Casting). Select Theater: Casting for the Alliance, Berkeley Rep, Classic Stage Company (14 seasons), CTG, The Flea, Keen Company, Long Wharf (15 seasons), McCarter, OSF, Playwrights Horizons (10 seasons), The Playwrights Realm, Williamstown (4 Seasons) Television: Dickinson for Apple, The Path for Hulu, Army Wives, Lipstick Jungle, Monk, Hope & Faith, Ed. Select Film: Mike Cahill’s Sundance winners Another Earth and I Origins. Calleri Casting has been awarded 14 Artios Awards for Outstanding Casting Achievement. They are members of the Casting Society of America. callericasting.com Jane Pole (Production Stage Manager) is thrilled to be working at TRT for the first time, and delighted to be working with Sarna again. Broadway: The Addams Family, Macbeth, Tartuffe. OffBroadway includes: School for Scandal, 39 Steps, The Anthem, Bill W. & Dr Bob, Hurt Village, On the Levee, Evil Dead The Musical, Measure for Pleasure, Almost Heaven, Coriolanus, Švejk, The Oldest Profession, Franny’s Way and Breath, Boom. Regional includes: You Are Here, A Connecticut Christmas Carol (Goodspeed); The Rocky Horror Show, Million Dollar Quartet, Guys & Dolls, Clue, Cake Off, Steel Magnolias, Barefoot in the Park (Bucks County Playhouse); Trying, Daddy Long Legs, Rich Girl, One Slight Hitch, The 39 Steps (George Street Playhouse); Intimate Apparel (Westport Country Playhouse); The Bridge Project: The Cherry Orchard & Winter’s Tale (& International Tour), Macbeth, Happy Days, King Lear, The Seagull, Medea (BAM). In the UK: Over 50 productions for the RSC, working with Sir Peter Hall, Sam Mendes, Edward Hall, Matthew Warchus, Terry Hands, David Leveaux and others. 17
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LEADERSHIP BIOS JOHN DIAS (ARTISTIC DIRECTOR) assumed his position as Artistic Director of Two River Theater in August 2010 after working as a producer and dramaturg in New York for 20 years. In partnership with Managing Director Michael Hurst he has brought new vitality to the 25-yearold Red Bank theater, including producing subscription shows on two stages for the first time; launching the theaterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first literary department and commissioning program for new plays; presenting annual events such as a musical theater cabaret in collaboration with New York Universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program and the Crossing Borders festival of Latino plays; and developing numerous arts-education initiatives for young people including A Little Shakespeare, an annual production of one of Shakespeareâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s plays performed by high-school students. He is the co-author and was the director of Two Riverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s musical The Ballad of Little Jo, which he wrote with composer Mike Reid and lyricist Sarah Schlesinger. Throughout his career, John has been a leading advocate for bold new American plays and stimulating productions of the classics, including the Broadway productions of Lisa Kronâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Well and Shakespeareâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s The Tempest. For 12 seasons, he worked in a variety of capacities at The Public Theater/New York Shakespeare Festival, including Associate Producer and Associate Artistic Director. Previously, John was dramaturg at Hartford Stage Company. He also co-founded and led Affinity Company Theater, a production company dedicated to bringing daring new works from around the world to New York, and The Playwrights Realm, an off-Broadway company that produces new plays by emerging artists. He has been a Tony Award nominator, a consultant for the National Endowment for the Arts and numerous other organizations, and he has taught at New York University and Yale University. John currently teaches in the graduate school at Columbia University. He received his BA from George Washington University and his MFA from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. MICHAEL HURST (MANAGING DIRECTOR) has been the Managing Director of Two River Theater since 2011. During his tenure, Two River has embarked on a new Strategic Plan; began producing subscription shows on two stages for the first time; and launched the theaterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first commissioning program for original plays, as well as numerous new community and education programs. Under his joint leadership with Artistic Director John Dias, Two River has experienced ambitious growth and enjoyed new recognition in the national theater community. Prior experience includes 16 years at The Public Theater, including four years as General Manager and six as Managing Director, overseeing budgets that ranged from $16 to $20 million. Michael was responsible for all financial aspects of the productions at The Public Theater and Central Parkâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Delacorte Theater. During his tenure at The Public, he oversaw the Broadway transfers of many productions, including Topdog/Underdog by Suzan-Lori Parks, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama; Take Me Out, winner of the Tony Award for Best Play; and Tony Kushner and Jeanine Tesoriâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Caroline, or Change. Michael was also part of all strategic planning including the opening of Joeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Pub, now considered one of the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s best small venues for music and performance. Prior to coming to Two River, Michael was Chief Operating Officer of the Film Society of Lincoln Center, which presents the New York Film Festival. At the Film Society, he oversaw the building of a new three-theater, $40-million facility that opened in June 2011, and he managed the organizational growth necessary to support the facility. Michael served as Vice President for The Off-Broadway League and was a member of The Broadway League for 14 years. He is a graduate of Rutgers University and currently serves on the Board of Trustees for the New Jersey Theatre Alliance and on the Advisory Board for the Indie Street Film Festival. ROBERT M. RECHNITZ (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER) founded Two River Theater in 1994 and serves as the theaterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Executive Producer. In 2015/16, Two River premiered his play (written with Kenneth Stunkel), Lives of Reason. An educator, writer, and director, he is one of New Jerseyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most esteemed theater leaders. He earned his PhD from the University of Colorado and was a Professor of American Literature at Monmouth University for 35 years, contributing scholarly articles and short stories to various academic journals. As Two Riverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Executive Producer, he oversaw the theaterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s move from Monmouth University in West Long Branch to the Algonquin Arts in Manasquan. While the company was in residence in Manasquan, he planned for and oversaw the building of Two Riverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s state-of-the-art, two-theater complex in Red Bank as its permanent home. He directed the opening production in the new building, the classic American comedy You Canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t Take It with You, in 2005. Among the other notable productions he has directed at Two River are Curse of the Starving Class (for which he received a nomination for Best Director of a Comedy from The Star-Ledger), True West, A View from the Bridge, The Glass Menagerie, Thievesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Carnival, Uncle Vanya, American Buffalo, and Barefoot in the Park. Bob is an active member of a number of organizations benefiting our Monmouth Country, including serving as a Board member for several local non-profits. He has been the recipient of numerous awards, honors, commendations, and accolades.
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JIT N E Y
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SLAMMING DOORS: The Excruciating Existential Machinery of Farce by Madeleine George
from column to column to indicate the spectacularly carefully timed cues that characters in Farce A must give to their victims in Farce B. It might seem like a lot of sweat and tears—and math and cues—just for a night of laughs, but Michael Frayn, the playwright of Noises Off, has all the respect in the world for the existential reality of farce. He says:
On we bloodily stagger. —Lloyd Dallas, Noises Off, Act 1
F
arce has a reputation for silliness and absurdity, but its great practitioners know that the writing of one is serious business. A farce is a tragedy played at warp speed, and the joy of farce is, paradoxically, that we get to watch the all-too-grave experience of compounding disaster sped up until our characters are in an escalating vortex of anguish—and that that anguish is happening to someone else instead of us. Unlike in, say, a romantic comedy or a comedic memory play, there’s no room in a farce for “funny takes,” jokes, or character work of any depth. The given circumstances of a farce may be preposterous, but a farce only works when its characters believe themselves to be in real, escalating peril, and when they take their problems deadly seriously.
"When I first started writing farces, interviewers would ask me, Why do you do farces? Why don’t you write about life as it is? and I couldn’t understand what their lives must be like. I Excerpt from the Noises Off script; acting edition. Courtesy of Samuel French, Inc. mean it seems to me that everyday life has a very strong tendency towards farce, that is to The great farceurs—Feydeau, Ayckbourn, say, things go wrong. And they go wrong Orton—knew that the key to making this often in a very complex and logically ecstasy of agony work is precision. We constructed way—one disaster leads revel, in farce, in the perfection of the to another, and the combination of two near-miss, the slammed door concealing disasters leads to a third disaster, which the maid or the jammed door preventing is the essence of classical farce: disaster the lover from escaping the boudoir building upon itself. It seems to me that until the screaming last moment. “The the same thing happens in life, in my life simplest aspect of farce is you need a lot anyway." of doors,” Neil Simon observes. “And you need people to go running in and out of In this sense, farce is the one of the purest them, just missing each other. Generally forms of theater, the slammed door one of speaking, in a farce people are trying to the most exquisite symbols of the pain of withhold information from other people. living. Lloyd Dallas, the harassed director [And] everybody in the play is in trouble.” character in Noises Off, certainly thinks so: “That’s what it’s all about,” he opines It’s hard enough to work this kind to his hapless company. “Doors and of complicated plot machine in a sardines. Getting on—getting off. Getting straightforward farce, but the wildly clever the sardines on—getting the sardines off. Noises Off is farce squared—a farce within That’s farce. That’s the theatre. That’s life.” a farce—thus rendering what is normally fiendishly complicated truly diabolical. Thank god for right now we only have to In Act Two we’re living inside a double watch other people suffer. Noises Off is a disaster, and the acting edition of the sublime confection of pain—you’ll laugh script (captured above) is built like a fouruntil you cry. Q part score, with horizontal lines extending 21
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TWO RIVER 25TH ANNIVERSARY:
TRAGEDY TOMORROW, COMEDY TONIGHT! Two River’s mission, from its founding through the present day, has been to bring to the theater’s audiences plays “that most richly direct our gaze to the life of the human spirit.” Over the past 25 years, we have developed, created, and produced works that encourage contemplation; nourish what is best in us; and inspire us to take imaginative leaps, and to see ourselves as ‘other’ in the presence of others venturing to do the same. Sometimes—as with our most recent offering, Brandon J. Dirden’s profound and moving production of August Wilson’s King Hedley II—we do this through gut-wrenching tragedies. And sometimes, as Stephen Sondheim says in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, it’s “tragedy tomorrow. Comedy tonight!” Twenty years ago, Two River celebrated its 5th Anniversary Season with a production of Michael Frayn’s Noises Off, directed by Dennis Delaney. This season, we return to Frayn’s masterpiece, which has been called one of the funniest plays ever written. Laughter has been part of the lifeblood of Two River from its very season, which included A.R. Gurney’s comedy of manners, The Cocktail Hour, and Shaw’s satirical Misalliance. All in the Timing, a collection of short comedies by David Ives, delighted audiences in the theater’s second season, and plays by English and Irish masters such as Nöel Coward (Blithe Spirit) and Oscar
The Company of You Can’t Take It With You, which opened Two River Theater’s permanent home in Red Bank in 2004/05, directed by Founder Robert Rechnitz.
Wilde (The Importance of Being Earnest) followed (and have remained constant throughout our 25-year history).
Plays that mix genres—and showcase a particular kind of dark comedy that comes from pain—have flourished at Two River, with such notable examples as John Guare’s The House of Blue Leaves, Martin McDonagh’s The Beauty Queen of Leenane, Sam Shepard’s True West, Joe Orton’s What the Butler Saw, Molière’s The School for Wives, translated into English verse by Richard Wilbur, and Shakespeare’s Pericles, with original music and lyrics by Rinde Eckert. Classic American comedies have also been a hallmark of Two River’s history, including You Can’t Take It With You by George S. Kaufman & Moss Hart and Barefoot in the Park by Neil Simon, both directed by our Founder, Robert Rechnitz. Some of the most memorable Two River comedies over the past 25 years have included La Bête by David Hirson, directed by Jonathan Fox; A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare, directed by Aaron Posner; Seven Homeless Mammoths Wander New England by Madeleine George, directed by Ken Rus Schmoll; Alan Ayckbourn’s My Wonderful Day and Absurd Person Singular (directed by Nicholas Martin and Jessica Stone, respectively); Present Laughter by Noël Coward, directed by David Lee; As You Like It by William Shakespeare, directed by Michael Sexton; and The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde, directed by Michael Cumpsty. Q
Michael Cumpsty (Garry Essendine), Cole Escola (Roland Maule) and Veanne Cox (Monica) in Noël Coward’s Present Laughter, directed by David Lee in 2012/13.
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CONTINUE TO CELEBRATE WITH US! ANNIVERSARY
25 YEARS OF GREAT AMERICAN THEATER
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3 SHOWS FOR AS LOW AS $90! SEASON SUBSCRIPTIONS Two River has turned 25! It’s a big year for us, filled with new adventures and exciting opportunities for our family of artists and audiences. That’s why we want to make sure you lock in the biggest discount off tickets and prime seating by joining our subscription program today.
BENEFITS • Prime Seating – Subscribers and Flex Ticket Buyers have access to the best seats, before tickets go on sale to the general public. • Free & Unlimited Ticket Exchanges - Swap your tickets into another equally priced performance date if plans change. • Exclusive Pre-Show Access to the theater’s VIP Lounge with complimentary tea and coffee. • 10% Off Add-On Tickets for you and your friends! • No Box Office Fees on additional tickets. • Gifts & Discounts to local businesses throughout the season.
TO SUBSCRIBE, STOP BY THE BOX OFFICE, CALL 732.345.1400 OR VISIT WWW.TWORIVERTHEATER.ORG. *Tickets must be exchanged into an equally priced performance or upgrade fees may apply. Subscription discounts cannot be used on Section C tickets, or combined with any additional offers. 24
THEO By Obie Award winner Martin Moran Directed by Carolyn Cantor
FEBRUARY 23 – MARCH 24/2019 World Premiere When Margret Flynn’s health begins to fail, her son Theodore returns to their Catskills home after many years away. And so, a family’s reckoning begins. Long unsettled hurts rise up and we bear witness to the enduring power of kinship—the longing to love in the face of unstoppable change.
THE BELLE OF AMHERST Starring Maureen Silliman By William Luce Directed by Robert Rechnitz
APRIL 13 – MAY 5/2019 Crafted from diary entries, letters, and poems by Emily Dickinson, The Belle of Amherst is a spellbinding and insightful look at the life of one of America’s greatest poets. The production features the return of the beloved actress Maureen Silliman to the Two River stage and will be directed by Two River Founder Robert Rechnitz, who was a Professor of American Literature at Monmouth University for 35 years.
OO-BLA-DEE By Golden Globe winner Regina Taylor Original Music by Obie Award winner Diedre L. Murray Directed by Tony Award winner Ruben Santiago-Hudson
JUNE 8 – 30/2019 Oo-Bla-Dee paints a shimmering portrait of an all-female band of African-American bebop musicians traveling the country following the end of World War II. A sweeping and ambitious play-with-music, Oo-Bla-Dee is created by Golden Globe-winning actor and playwright Regina Taylor (I’ll Fly Away, Crowns), Obiewinning jazz composer Diedre L. Murray (The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess) and Tony Award winner Ruben Santiago-Hudson (August Wilson’s Jitney at Two River and on Broadway). 25
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SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES
EDUCATION SPOTLIGHT
A LITTLE SHAKESPEARE:
MACBETH
ALL HAIL, MACBETH! HAIL TO THEE, THANE OF GLAMIS! All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of Cawdor! All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter! Hail! Hail! Hail! One of Two River Theater’s most popular education programs returns for the 6th year with the Bard’s dark tale of supernatural horror, ambition, scheming, prophecy, and murder - all in just 75 minutes, directed and designed by theater professionals, and performed and supported backstage by high school students. A Little Shakespeare: Macbeth is adapted and directed by Sara Holdren, who also lent her educational and interpretative powers to last season’s A Little Shakespeare: The Comedy of Errors. The laugh riot seen in 2018 makes way for a darker scene, when Scottish general Macbeth’s encounter with three mysterious witches starts a bloody quest for power and the throne.
Lily Grace Riddle, Olivia Ferrigine and Natasha Allen.
In taking Macbeth down to just 75 minutes, Holdren trims away everything but the sheer brutality of the unstable Scottish landscape, keeping intact the terror of friend turning to foe, reason turning to madness, and powerful institutions revealing how fragile they really are. In addition to the lords and witches onstage, local high schoolers help bring the production to life backstage as well, as Assistant Director and Stage Manager, Production Assistant, and assistants to each professional designer. Between the onstage talents and backstage magicians, A Little Shakespeare: Macbeth features students from the following high schools: Arts, Freehold Borough, Henry Hudson Regional, Howell, Matawan Regional, MCVTS East Brunswick, Middletown North and South, Red Bank Regional, and Trinity Hall. You don’t have to be a student, or know one of them involved in the production, to enjoy an A Little Shakespeare performance. The professional guidance combined with the talent of the young cast creates an experience unlike any you’ve seen before, with fresh enthusiasm and revelatory interpretations perhaps bolder than those sometimes favored by adult troupes. All are welcome to re-discover one of Shakespeare’s most popular works with A Little Shakespeare: Macbeth.
Î
Shea Grant and Abigail Devine. Photos by Yurik L. Lozano.
A Little Shakespeare: Macbeth runs from January 25 through February 2 in the Marion Huber Theater. Tickets are $20, and $15 for those under the age of 12. Visit tworivertheater.org for tickets and more information. 27
MONMOUTH UNIVERSITY
CENTER FOR THE ARTS
2019 EVENTS
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S ngs & Stories
ÌÌÌÌÌÌ FEATURING SPECIAL GUEST & FOLK LEGEND
PETER YARROW
OF PETER PAUL AND MARY
FEBRUARY 9 8 PM Ɣ
MARCH 9 8 PM Ɣ
Featuring
James Dalton
MARCH 29 8 PM
and Friends
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Bridgman | Packer Dance Voyeur & Other Works STARRING
CHAZZ PALMINTERI
APRIL 6 8 PM Ɣ
APRIL 13 8 PM Ɣ
MAY 4 8 PM
AND MORE!! CHECK OUT ALL OUR EVENTS ONLINE!
ALL SHOWS AT THE POLLAK THEATRE 732.263.6889 | MONMOUTH.EDU/MCA
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COMING SOON: WORLD PREMIERE THEO BY MARTIN MORAN DIRECTED BY CAROLYN CANTOR MARION HUBER THEATER FEBRUARY 23 – MARCH 24 / 2019 “Martin Moran is a graceful, witty, perceptive writer” —Tony Kushner, author of Angels in America When a family’s matriarch, Margaret, is forced to acknowledge that her health is deteriorating and that her death is imminent, her son Theodore (Theo) returns to their Catskills home after many years away. There, he finds his sister, Beth, struggling to cope with their ailing mother. As Theo confronts painful memories of his youth, he reconnects with Abe, his mother’s home aid, an acquaintance from his earlier high school years. And Beth, a single mother, finds herself trying to understand the mysterious journey upon which Maddy, her teenaged child—who longs to transition from male to female, and become her true self—has embarked. The cast of Theo includes Zachary Booth (Theo), Jesse James Keitel (Maddy), Jon-Michael Reese (Abe), Andrea Syglowski (Beth) and Brenda Wehle (Margaret).
CAST:
Zachary Booth (Theo)
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Jesse James Keitel (Maddy)
Jon-Michael Reese (Abe)
Andrea Syglowski (Beth)
Brenda Wehle (Margaret)
Don’t miss this stunning world-premiere play by Obie Awardwinner Martin Moran, directed by Carolyn Cantor. For tickets, visit tworivertheater.org, call 732.345.1400 or stop by the box office. 29
NEW YEAR | NEW WORK Featuring interviews with JOE ICONIS and MADELEINE GEORGE
2019 is a big year for Two River Theater! In addition to celebrating our 25th Anniversary Season, two of our commissioned world—premiere productions will start performances on and Off-Broadway in February!
TWO RIVER PRODUCTIONS MOVE TO BROADWAY & BEYOND!
BE MORE CHILL
The Company of Be More Chill. Photo by T. Charles Erickson.
Following its 2015 world-premiere at Two River Theater and a SOLD-OUT Off-Broadway run this summer, the smash-hit musical, Be More Chill by Joe Iconis and Joe Tracz, will start previews at the Lyceum Theatre on February 13. Named “one of the most popular new musicals in America” by the New York Times and a “sensation” by Variety, Billboard, Time Out New York & more, Be More Chill has become of the most highly anticipated Broadway productions of 2019.
HURRICANE DIANE
This 2017 world-premiere by Two River’s Playwright in Residence and Pulitzer Prize finalist, Madeleine George, starts previews Off-Broadway at New York Theater Workshop on February 6. Tony nominee Leigh Silverman will direct this wild comedy about four housewives in a suburban New Jersey cul-de-sac and climate change, as a co-production with WP Theater. Mia Barron of Hurricane Diane. Photo by T. Charles Erickson.
We recently spoke with both Joe Iconis and Madeleine George about their experiences at Two River and their upcoming runs in New York. Check out what they had to say!
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Be More Chill Composer and Lyricist, Joe Iconis.
TWO RIVER THEATER: How did Two River Theater help jumpstart the creation of Be More Chill? JOE ICONIS: Two River commissioned myself and Joe Tracz to write Be More Chill. The theater supported us artistically and financially through our creative process. Two River nurtured me as a writer and as a human being. I’ve never had a better time working at a regional theater and I’ve never experienced a community as supportive and engaged as Red Bank. TWO RIVER THEATER: What was it like to premiere the show at Two River Theater? JOE ICONIS: A complete thrill. The theater feels just removed enough from the intense, watchful gaze of New York City but close enough to still feel connected to the NY theater scene. The staff at Two River is a collection of the smartest and most passionate human beings I’ve had the privilege of working with, under the gorgeous leadership of John Dias and Michael Hurst. It feels like a family business in the best way. TWO RIVER THEATER: What were your expectations for the show following its premiere? JOE ICONIS: My dream of dreams was that the show would transfer to a fancy non-profit theater in NYC and then move to Broadway. It became clearer after opening that that particular dream wasn’t in the cards for Be More Chill and that was hugely disappointing but not entirely surprising. The fact that the show was reborn two years after closing at Two River and went on to an off-Broadway production and, now, a Broadway production is the biggest surprise of my entire career. Or possibly my entire life. TWO RIVER THEATER: How did the Two River Theater original cast recording impact the show’s future success?
JOE ICONIS: The show would not have found its audience without the original cast recording, period. Two River made the recording happen, period. Without the album there would’ve been no viral sensation and no off-Broadway production and no Broadway. TWO RIVER THEATER: What are you most looking forward to as the show moves to Broadway? JOE ICONIS: My dream has always been to have a show on Broadway that I care about, surrounded by artists I love and respect. That dream is coming true this February on 45th street. I’m looking forward to seeing this misfit musical we birthed in a beautiful regional theater in New Jersey come to life in a beautiful old theater in New York City. The only downside is that I won’t be able to run to the Molly Pitcher for a nightcap after the show. Just another reason to get back to Two River to work on a new musical as soon as humanly possible.
Playwright in Residence, Madeleine George.
TWO RIVER THEATER: How did Two River Theater help jumpstart the creation of Hurricane Diane? MADELEINE GEORGE: John Dias commissioned me to write Hurricane Diane back in 2014 based on a harebrained pitch—I told him I wanted to write an apocalyptic comedy about the ancient Greek god Dionysus coming back to the American suburbs to restart a mystery cult in an attempt to halt global warming. Who says yes to a play like that, sight unseen? John did! And he and Stephanie and the entire team at Two River made the play happen at every point in its development, from the earliest readings of chunks of the first draft all the way through to inspiring marketing meetings and beautiful set construction and talkbacks and events with audience members during the premiere in January 2017. TWO RIVER THEATER: What was it like to premiere the show at Two River Theater?
MADELEINE GEORGE: Since the play was written for Two River and set in an imaginary version of Red Bank, it was truly a dream come true to premiere it here on the banks of the Navesink. Two River audiences are always adventurous, but I felt like this play really brought out people’s eagerness to talk—I had some amazing conversations in the lobby of the theater with people who had seen the play and wanted to talk about their experiences during Hurricane Sandy, their hopes for the future of coastal New Jersey, and their curiosity about new plays. TWO RIVER THEATER: What were your expectations for the show following its premiere? MADELEINE GEORGE: New plays really need more than one production to find their finished form—this is why there’s a tradition of “trying out” Broadway shows around the country before bringing them in to New York—so of course I hoped I’d get to take another whack at the script. As much work as we did on it during the premiere, I still had lots of things I wanted to clarify and make simpler and bolder before I could feel finished with the play, and production is the very best way to rewrite a script. The folks at New York Theatre Workshop came out to Red Bank to see the first production, and they were interested enough in the play to support us—my director, Leigh Silverman, and the original cast from the Two River production—in doing a number of developmental workshops since that first production. It’s a huge stroke of luck for me to have them and WP (f.k.a. The Women’s Project) producing the second production now in New York. TWO RIVER THEATER: What are you most looking forward to as the show moves to New York? MADELEINE GEORGE: I can’t wait to get into the rehearsal room again with this creative team, who all know each other so well after working so hard on the premiere, and to try to get the play into the best shape we can. My goal as a playwright is always to find the best, most thrilling form in which to explore an idea, and my dream in this case is that audience members will leave wondering actively about the questions the play raises—how can we manage our overwhelming feelings about climate change? how can we reconnect with the natural world around us?—and not wondering what happened in the story! Q 31
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PARENTS AND G UA RDI ANS SPE AK A BOUT S UMME R I N TEN S I VE S:
SUMMER
Photos by Scott L. Friedman.
INTENSIVES Start looking forward to warm weather, and to the return of Two River’s program for theater lovers in grades 7-12! Summer Intensives 2019 runs for three weeks in July, and each week offers students a chance to create an entirely original show every Friday. The Onstage Track is for actors, singers, dancers, and writers who want to perform; and the Backstage Track is for designers, artists, stage crew, aspiring directors, and technicians to work behind the scenes. Students are encouraged to take the Track in which they feel most comfortable, or to learn entirely new set of skills by trying a different Track. Or to sign up for multiple weeks and try everything! The program returns after its 2018 debut, but the 2019 shows will be entirely new; created by the students and shaped by the directors, the shows evolve around a theme to include what interests the ensemble, what moves them, and what they love. Last year, that meant Hamilton with Panic! at the Disco with spoken word selections from
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Spring Awakening alongside original poetry and slam tap dancing, lighting and shadow puppetry paired with selections from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. This year – the options are without limit. Created as they are over the course of just a week, Summer Intensives performances offer a perfect look into all that it takes to dream up an idea, create it as a team, and bring it to life onstage. It’s the theater-making process, condensed into 5 days. For its second year, the team of professionals leading the Summer Intensives Backstage and Onstage Tracks returns, with the Onstage Track led by Director Devin Fletcher and Musical Director Elliot Roth, and the Backstage Track led by Director Lea Anello and Assistant Director Shane O’Neil. Plus a roster of incredible guest teaching artists, covering everything from creating text to movement to stage combat to costume design to set creation and beyond. Registration is open – book your spot now!
Summer Intensives 2019 is for students going into grades 7 - 12 and runs for 3 weeks: July 8 - 12, July 15 - 19, and July 22 - 26. The camp is $475 for one week; sign up for two or more and save 10%! Full and partial need-based scholarships are available, visit tworivertheater.org for more information.
“It’s an amazing program, I can only speak for our child, but it has opened up a whole new world to her with regard to art, set design, costuming, lighting.... she intends to pursue this at high school and beyond!”
“The intensity, effectiveness, love for the students, allowing them to create and explore, and so much more.” “Love the collaborative spirit and creativity that emerged in just one week!”
"The scholarship made it possible for my son to attend and it seriously ignited a desire to pursue the arts after last summer. I have watched him fall in love with theater and gain confidence and set goals for his future."
“I am so thrilled that this program exists!”
"It's the perfect next step for students who have participated in more traditional productions and are looking for ways to grow and learn new perspectives within the theater community. As a parent, it was amazing to see what the campers accomplished in a week!"
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The
Niceties By
ELEANOR BURGESS Directed by
KIMBERLY SENIOR
mccarter.org 609.258.2787 In association with Huntington Theatre Company and Manhattan Theatre Club Cast of The Niceties: Lisa Banes and Jordan Boatman, photo by Nile Hawver – Nile Scott Shots.
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NOW – FEBRUARY 10 TICKETS START AT $25 Made possible by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a partner agency of the National Endowment of the Arts
MEET OUR RESTAURANT PARTNER:
TRIUMPH BREWING COMPANY B E E R A ND B E YOND
The highly-anticipated Triumph Brewing Company has opened its doors on Bridge Avenue! Triumph’s Princeton location is celebrating 24 years in business and hopes to start a similar legacy here, directly across from Two River Theater. The view of Two River from Triumph Brewing Company.
Not fitting neatly into any established restaurant genre, Triumph is as committed to their varied and upscale menu as they are to the creation of their beers on tap. Triumph celebrates the possibilities of pairing beer with Fritto Misto or Iberico Pork Loin, with seasonal beers accompanying seasonal menu specials. “Only in this country is beer viewed as a somewhat lowbrow drink; something to guzzle with burgers and weenies at the ballpark or frat-house. Belgians wash down their moules frites with a tangy wheat beer. The English
slurp their oysters with Stout. Germans pair a bracing pilsner with their schnitzel. We want to show what the rest of the world is having with their beers,” says Triumph Founder Adam Rechnitz. TWO RIVER RECOMMENDS: before or after your next night out at the theater, stop over at Triumph for dinner or a quick bite. Our staff particularly enjoys sharing the Oysters Rockefeller, Pear and Goat Cheese Salad, and Mushroom Toast. Triumph will enthusiastically let you sample any beer on tap. There is also a full bar featuring single-malt scotches, smallbatch bourbons and seasonal cocktails. The kitchen is open from noon till 11 pm. Triumph Brewing Company is located at 1 Bridge Avenue in Red Bank. Visit triumphbrewing.com or call 732-852-7300 for more info.
Photo courtesy of Red Bank Pulse.
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!
T H E AT R I U M AT N AV E S I N K H A R B O R Cosmopolitan Waterfront Living g
Join Our PRIORITY
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An Unprecedented Lifestyle in Downtown Red Bank
CALL TODAY: 877-628-1526 40 Riverside Avenue, Red Bank, NJ 07701 atriumatnavesink.org A Senior Living Community 36
DID YOU KNOW... TICKET SALES COVER LESS THAN 1/3 OF OUR OPERATING EXPENSES? BENEFACTOR ($5,000+)
CHAMPION ($2,500-$4,999)
PATRON ($1,000-$2,499)
PRODUCER ($500-$999)
SPECIAL BENEFITS!
DIRECTOR ($250-$499)
YOUR GIFT ENTITLES YOU TO THESE
ASSOCIATE ($100-$249)
Each season we rely on generous individuals—like you—to enable us to pursue our mission to create great American theater while keeping our ticket prices low. PLEASE SUPPORT TWO RIVER WITH A GIFT TODAY. Your contribution entitles you to membership in BACKSTAGE PASS, our exclusive benefits program for our closest supporters. EVERY GIFT COUNTS— NO MATTER THE SIZE!
DONATE NOW Make a gift in person at the Box Office, send a check by mail, call us with your credit card information, or donate online.
Backstage Pass Membership Card Acknowledgment in Annual Report Acknowledgment in production programs
ADD-ON DONATIONS Supporting Two River can be as easy as adding a gift to your ticket or subscription purchase.
Invitation to select Opening Nights Waived ticket fees Acknowledgment on website
HONORARY & MEMORIAL GIFTS Celebrate a special occasion or honor the memory of a loved one with a gift in their name.
Invitation to VIP Season Announcement event Acknowledgment on lobby donor board
MATCHING GIFTS Check to see if your employer will double or even triple your gift.
Invitations to and prime seating for readings Invitations to exclusive VIP events and receptions
STOCK TRANSFERS We gratefully accept gifts of stock. Please contact us to arrange.
Printed copy of Annual Report Private Backstage Tour Invitation to all Opening Nights
PLANNED GIFTS Bequests and other types of planned gifts provide long-term financial stability and ensure the future of Two River. For more information, contact contact Development, at x1805 or at backstagepass@trtc.org
One use of the Library for a private event Access to house seats for select NYC theaters Invitations to select Artist Meet and Greet Events Two complimentary tickets per season
MAKE YOUR GIFT TODAY!
Invitation to Luncheon with Two River’s Artistic Director Four complimentary tickets per season Customized single performance sponsorship
Call 732.345.1400 x1805 Visit tworivertheater.org Email backstagepass@trtc.org
(Reserved Parking Benefits Will Resume Post-Construction
BACKSTAGE PASS membership cards come loaded with special features including: Q Q Q Q
20% discount on single ticket purchases. $1 off concessions in the Lobby. Free coffee or tea at the theater. Access to the theater’s VIP Lounge, the Victoria J. Mastrobuono Library, one hour prior to performances.
WAYS TO GIVE
Membershi
p Card
FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO MAKE A DONATION, VISIT WW.TWORIVERTHEATER.ORG
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INDIVIDUAL
DONORS THANK YOU to the following generous individuals who made contributions to the theater! VISIONARY CIRCLE ($25,000+) Anonymous Caroline P. Huber Sidney and Helaine Lerner Victoria and William Marraccini Joan and Robert Rechnitz The Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation
THE INNOVATOR CIRCLE ($10,000-$24,999) Anonymous Lisa and Stephen Becker* Jane Bergere Marilyn and Bob Broege Phyllis Kinsler Mary Jane and Rick Kroon Joanna and Brian Leddin* Anne Luzzatto and Gordon Litwin Liz and Adam Rechnitz
BENEFACTOR ($5,000-$9,999) Sam Chevalier Elizabeth Columbo Kelly and Brooks Cullen Carolyn DeSena Kathleen Ellis and the Honorable Kenneth Pringle* Robert E. Evanson Gale and Dr. Robert B. Grossman Guttenplan Family Foundation Joan and Paul Hamelberg Lanae and Todd Herman Barbara and Jim Hrebek Beth and Vincent Mazza* Linda McKean The Honorable Edward J. McKenna Nyire and Gregory Melconian
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Diane and Ross Millhiser JP Nicolaides and the Honorable Ed Zipprich Sean Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Connell Susan and Ty Olson Elizabeth Tortorella and Ivan Polonsky Mary Beth and Gerald Radke Anne Marie Schultz Kathy and Webster Trammell Anne and Sheldon Vogel
CHAMPION ($2,500-$4,999) Jeanne Achille Howard P. Aronson Shirely S. Boll Diane and Robert Butters Patrick Callinan Juliet Cozzi and Ronald Gumbaz Melissa and Joseph C. Del Broccolo, III The Devon Group Joan Ellis The Gravina Family Foundation, Inc. Christina Hewitt Eileen and Tim Hogan Barbara and Joseph Hollander Maureen and James Hurst* Michael Hurst Nancy Karpf and Scott Brady Katherine Kovner Cathy Larson Kathleen and Arthur McConnell Gloria Nilson Fund Allyn and Patrick Quagliano Patricia and Vernon Ralph Daryl and Steven Roth Foundation Linda and Andrew Safran Mary Carol and Ken Stunkel Susan E. Whyman Meta and Dr. Ralph Wyndrum Chryssa Yaccarino
PATRON ($1,000-$2,499) Anonymous Jutta and George Aguilar Barbara and Andy Andres Elizabeth and Robert Barrett Kasandrea Banks The Honorable William G. Bassler Lois Broder Barbara and Tom Carroll Tamara Casriel Joan and John Cleary Jennifer Colyer and Shemmy Mishaan Robert Cordrey and Bruce Sherill Lynne and Jan Dash Nancy and Michael Del Priore John Dias Gail and John Duffy Linda and Bob Ensor Margean Gladysz Lorraine and Bob Henry Thomas K. Hessman Herbert Paul Melissa and Paul Hurst Jean Jaslovsky and Vincent Gifford Ginny Kamin Gerri and Brett Lawrence Edward Madden Wendy and Gerald Marks Renee Maxwell Aida and Brian Murphy Patricia Perfect Barbara and Rev. William Riker Monica and John Ryan Lori and Geoffrey Sadwith Candy and Dr. Sigmund Sattenspiel June and Mort Seligman Caryl and Charles Sills Maureen Silliman and William Parry Cathy Sivo
Rita and Arthur Steinman Laura and Gregg Wallace Warters Family Fund Cathy and Gene Weber* Catherine Weiss and Samuel Huber Joan Zakanych David Zippel
PRODUCER ($500-$999) Anonymous Jennifer and Joe Anderson Nancy and Ed Butler Barbara and Harold Chafkin Patricia and Dr. E. F. Cheslock Isabella and John Chiappinelli Kathleen Anderson Culebro Judy and Richard Fuller Valerie Gordon-Johnson Eve R. Hershkowitz Sheela Jain, M.D. and Suresh Jain, M.D. Giovanna Kanu Judith Laufer Kim Mason Lisa McKean Lois and Robert Mortenson Lauren Nicosia Barry V. Qualls Penney Riegelman The Craig and Flori Roberts Foundation, Inc. Anita and Robert Stix* Penny and Larry Turtel The Wilder Family Gail and Stuart Van Winkle Carolyn Williams Nancy Winter*
DIRECTOR ($250-$499) Anonymous (2) Lisa and Michael Absatz Lucille and Richard Adelmann Meredyth Armitage Lynne and Edward Beach Nancy and Frank Bellezza Alba Di Bello Peg and John Bennett Barbara Boas and Stephen Hecht
Dr. Janice Breen Jill and Harmon Butler Amanda Butterbaugh and Michael Mulheren Dr. Joseph J. Calabro Lucy Campanella Barbara and Peter Carton Donna and Michael Castellano Marjorie and Peter Cavalier Susan and Alan Coen Robert Connolly Karen and Joseph Dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Amore Lisa and Carl Dumont Judith and William Fraser Barbara G. Fleischman Maria and Paul Galeota Susan and Roy Gelber Matthew Goldzweig Suzanne Longley and Guy Gsell Gail and Marc Harrison Phyl and Don Howard Patricia and William Jaeger May Louie and Walter Graczyk Ann Roseman and Stan Lumish Bob MacKasek Linda Mitchell Jennifer and Thomas Mullins Barbara R. Nevius and Tom Curtis Marion and Michael Portnoy Karen and David Rajala Toni Rinella and Brian Compton Louis Rodriguez Barbara Sager Peggy Sansone Peter A. Schkeeper Linda Schottland William G. Shlala Kathryne and Richard Singleton Susan Stamler Karin and Joe Stein Patrice Sullivan Nannette and Richard Tereo Stephen Thurber Jennifer Tipton Judith and Joseph Vassallo Cheryl Wild Dee and Fred Williamson Marjorie and Zeke Zaccaro Barbara and Maurice Zagha
MATCHING GIFTS The following have provided matching gifts to Two River on behalf of their employees. C.R. Bard Foundation Goldman Sachs HSBC Matching Gifts Program IBM Corp Johnson & Johnson Matching Gifts JPMorgan Chase Foundation New Jersey Resources Matching Gift Microsoft Corporation Prudential Financial, Inc. (2) TE Connectivity Verisk Analytics (2) Verizon Wireless *Includes matching gift.
TRIBUTES AND MEMORIALS In memory of her mother Leona Soudavar Magaloff: Layla Diba In memory of her mother Jane: Kristi Kaepplein In memory of Art Kamin: Renee Maxwell In memory of Mary (Penny) Buchner: Barbara McCarthy In memory of Leon Yarusi: Paula Yarusi In memory of Bernice Steinman: Arthur and Rita Steinman In honor of Hannah Walker Jodi Magee
Listing reflects gifts made between October 1, 2017 and December 31, 2018.
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INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT THE VISIONARY CIRCLE $25,000+
THE STONE FOUNDATION
INNOVATOR CIRCLE $10,000-$24,999 7KH
The Philip & Tammy Murphy Foundation
+DUROG DQG 0LPL 6WHLQEHUJ &KDULWDEOH 7UXVW
BENEFACTOR $5,000 - $9,999 THE MAX AND BELLA SCHULMAN FOUNDATION
THE HILARIA AND ALEC BALDWIN FOUNDATION
COMMUNITY PARTNERS
DAVID SCHWARTZ FOUNDATION
The Merrill G. & Emita E. Hastings Foundation
IN-KIND SUPPORT
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MEET OUR STAFF & VOLUNTEERS! ARTISTIC Stephanie Coen Associate Artistic Director Taylor Barfield Literary Manager Madeleine George Playwright in Residence Brian Eckert Artistic Assistant ADMINISTRATION Alma MalabananMcGrath General Manager Margaret Shafai Director of Finance Karen Pierce Staff Accountant AUDIENCE SERVICES, PR & MARKETING Courtney Schroeder Director of Marketing Jenna Castano Associate Director of Marketing Hannah Walker Institutional Marketing Manager Yurik L. Lozano Multimedia Manager Michele Klinsky Box Office Manager Lauren Mancuso Box Office Supervisor Kristina Marinos Box Office Supervisor/ Student Matinee Coordinator Lynn Kroll Box Officer/Group Sales Coordinator Vernette Spicer Box Officer/Access Coordinator Evan Kudish Brianna Merriman Samantha Truglio Matt Yee Box Officers Angela White House Manager & Volunteer Coordinator Carmen Balentine Doreen Fromage Melissa Javorek Julie Mullen Donna Stiles Francesca Trerotola Assistant House Managers Briana Butler Colette Dante Thomas Dougherty Matt Markowski Daniel Pino Kayla Santry Gabby Scerbo 42
John Knodel Front of House Staff DEVELOPMENT Denyse Reed, Director of Development Jesse Beutell, Individual Giving Manager Katie Benson Special Events Manager EDUCATION Kate Cordaro Director of Education Amanda Espinoza Education and Community Engagement Manager Lea Anello Corinda Bravo Amanda Butterbaugh Devin Fletcher Shane Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Neil Elliot Roth Teaching Artists Sara Holdren Adaptor/Director OPERATIONS Dave Hartkern Director of Facilities Wayne Van Sant Maintenance Supervisor Vinnie Gillick Lamar Hicks William Hinton Building Maintenance PRODUCTION Lauren Kurinskas Director of Production Will Cruttenden Associate Production Manager Kayla Allen Production Management Assistant Katherine Borden Company Management Assistant Frank Meyer Technical Director Colleen Dolan Scenic Charge Fiona Malone Assistant Technical Director Duane Noch Master Carpenter Christian Dilks Staff Carpenter Laura Nuneviller Shop Assistant
Jeena Yoon Properties Supervisor Victoria Schilling Assistant Properties Supervisor Alison Marjean Frimmel Props Assistant Lesley Sorenson Costume Shop Supervisor Jill DiGiuseppe Draper Maggie Barnett Wardrobe Supervisor Jaclyn Vela Costume Assistant Sue Patino Lighting Supervisor Abigail Lynn Smith Lighting Assistant Dan Montano Sound Supervisor Natalie Soto Sound Assistant Jackie Romeo Joaquin Gomez Production Assistants SPECIAL SERVICES Gilda Rogers Community Relations Social Sidekick Press & Publicity Design Army Graphic Design Suzanne Anan Graphic Design T. Charles Erickson Production Photography Michael Boylan Director, Cinematographer Gordon N. Litwin, Esq., Litwin & Provence, LLC Legal Counsel WithumSmith + Brown Auditors VOLUNTEER GUILD Arthur Aaron Ronnie Aaron Marlene Abelon Debbie Adamchak Juanita Agee Irwin Altschiller Maddy Altschiller Cecelia Ambrosio Ellen Balthazar Dennis Banks Gale Baran Paddy Barber Myriam Barthole Carl Battaglia Ellen Battaglia Joyce Becker Herb Bein Diane Bein Carmen Benimeli Barbara Berg Joan Blake Roza Blackwood
Helena Blyskun Belinda Bohrman Kathy Boushie Marti Bookstein Charles Blake Mercedes Brand Carmela Brady Barbara Brodzinski Arlene Brown Monica SchneiderBrewer Robert Buchbinder Loriz Burke April Bunn Suzanne Bugbee Carmen Cancel-Seaman Colleen Carroll Kathleen Castore Dora Chu Barbara Chasser Rita Chiarini Bob Connolly Roslyn Cooper Nancy Daley Elizabeth De Carvalho Diane DeLoche Ronni Donza Florence Diller Barbara Ely Maddie Emile Eleanor Falcichio Ellen Falvo June Farkouh Robyn Flipse Prudence Frechette Bonnie Foerst George Foerst Judy Fuller Janet Garcia Nancy Gargan Sidney Gelbein Pat George Bill Gerdes Lara Gomez Margaret Graf Marilyn Griffin Constance Gryczka Mark Guberman Alice Greenberg Nona Hammer Kathie Hari Karen Harrington Helene HelgesenMonserrate Elaine Held Cynthia Hellman Jeri Held Karen Hespe Karen Heyer Marion Holinaty Caroline Huber Cecilia Jelic Shirley Johnson Bonnie Johnson Thomas Johnson Virginia Kamin Barry Kaplan Dee Kaplan Bev Keyes Karen Kelly Barbara Kenas Valerie Kilpatrick Phyllis Kinsler
Karen Kirkwood Dottie Kirschenbaum Eleanor Kitzhoffer John Knodel Mavis Kolb Diane Kragh Diane Kuriloff Harriet Kuropatwa Betti Lane Mary Anne Lapiana Victoria Later Margaret Lelivelt Bob Levine Carol Levine Barbara Lipton Donna Lizotte Kathy Lloyd Diane Lopresti Frank Lopresti Brittany Lovely Donna Lovely Sharon Lucas Gay Lowden Lynn Marie Macy Iris MacNeil Joanne Mallon Robert Mallon Sheryle Mallen Janis Marano Phyllis Marberry Libby Markowitz Pamela Marhan Lynne Martocci Mary Mason Susan Mazur Kathryn Mazur Casandra Mazzaro Vinnie Mazza Joan McCue Eileen McDermott Jo McKeon-Hutton Bill McMurray Mary Melosh Evelyn Mendelsohn Anne Messinger Dorothy Michels Carol Migliore Joanne Mieszkowski Bernard Miller Carol Miller Susan Minehardt Roland Monserrate Linda Monti Marilynne Morley Gloria Moro Susan Moss Michele Mullin Sophia Murillo Judith Mugrace Leslie Nicholson Judith Nock Kathy Nielsen Jennifer Newton Maureen O'Connor Leach Olivia & Gerald Olson Linda Pacotti Dolores Palonetti Sophia Parola Katherine Parisi Marilyn Pennell Art & Pat Perri Tracy Peternich
Claire Planchere Victoria Pater Jeanette Peterson Terri Pinto Terri Pontecorvo Philomena Porcello Lois Priest Marion Quinn Moira Quinn Judy Rector Fran Reinhold Mary Beth Reidy Renee Ready Lorri Reines Jill Reminick Susan Richman Carl Rosencrown Mirta San Martin Lori Sadwith Gil Saltzman Marcia Saltzman Gail Sanderson Evelyn Schneider Lorelle Shea Connie Schulman Matt Sivo Phyllis Searby Shirley Sexton Deb Sieron Judy SimmonsBradshaw Jeffrey Shepard Arlene Smelson George Smith Arthur Steinman Linda Stewart Carol Stewart Cathy & Howie Stelzner Rose Sullivan Denise Sobotka Mary Carol Stunkel Martin Sulkes Leila Sulkes Michele Susalis Eunice Taylor Steve Tepperman David Tolleth Deborah Tolleth Lauren Tolleth Marie Trezza Johnny Tuohy Chris Wallace Patricia Walter Mollie Warar Marvin Wasserman Deborah Wasserman Gregory White Raffaella Weiner Joy Weinstein Nina Willey Kirk Willey Joyce Wingerter Barbara Withers Rosemarie Wilkinson Marty Weinstein Marla Weinstein Mary Ellen Wirin Zina Wolin Martin Wolin Marion Wright Joan Zakanych Laura Zakanych Joe Zedeny
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ANNIVERSARY GALA
HONORING JOAN AND ROBERT RECHNITZ
S AT U R DAY, M AY 1 8 This 25th Anniversary Season marks an incredible milestone for Two River Theater and our founders, Joan and Robert Rechnitz. Join us on the Rechnitz stage as we celebrate Two River’s past, present and future, as well as the two special people who have played leading roles in the theater’s success. All proceeds of this event will benefit the programs and services of Two River Theater. For information on tickets and sponsorship packages, please contact Katie Benson at kbenson@trtc.org or 732.345.1400 ex 1817
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SCENE
AT
TWO RIVER
AUGUST WILSON’S KING HEDLEY II OPENING NIGHT
On Friday, November 16, Two River Theater hosted a post-show reception for donors and special guests attending the opening night performance of August Wilson’s King Hedley II. Those in attendance had the chance to mix and mingle with our creative and artistic teams along with a wide array of artists from Two River productions.
AUGUST WILSON’S KING HEDLEY II ARTISTS SUPPORTING ARTISTS
Photos by Yurik Lozano.
Throughout the run of August Wilson’s King Hedley II, we welcomed many incredible guests and familiar faces to our performances. Below are just a few photos captured.
Two River favorite, actor and director Ruben Santiago-Hudson (3rd from the left) came out to support his fellow artists.
Adrienne Moore of Orange Is the New Black backstage with cast member Brian D. Coates.
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Members of past Two River August Wilson productions, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and Seven Guitars came out to see our King Hedley II production!
Playwright and actor, Nikkole Salter (L) and actor John Scutchins backstage with cast member, Blake Morris.
Cast member Elain Graham backstage with friend and fellow artist, Terria Joseph.
Photo by Lia Chang.
Photo by Lia Chang
ACT ONE IS ON US!
Call ahead or make reservations at 732.212.1700 Free Parking Available at the West Front Street Entrance
URBANCOALHOUSE.COM RED BANK | PARAMUS | HOBOKEN | BRICK LOCATED AT THE GALLERIA, 2 BRIDGE AVE RED BANK, NJ
*VALID FOR ONE GROUP ONLY. OFFERS CAN NOT BE COMBINED.
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