2018 August Wilson's King Hedley II Playbill

DIRECTED BY BRANDON J. DIRDEN

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ABOUT US

LEADERSHIP

John Dias Artistic Director

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Michael Hurst Managing Director

Robert M. Rechnitz Executive Producer 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

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.

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 Patron Services 7 Title Page 9 A Note from the Artistic Director, John Dias 11 Cast of Characters 12 Bios 17 From Seven Guitars to King Hedley II 19 Leadership Bios 20 August Wilson's American Century Cycle 23 Two River 25th Anniversary: Putting the Playwright First 24 August Wilson & Me: Meet Two River's New Literary Manager, Taylor Barfield 26 Interview with Director Brandon J. Dirden: "We're in this Together" 29 Coming Soon: Noises Off 33 Subscribe to our 25th Anniversary Season 35 Two River Stars and Shows on Broadway & Beyond 37 First Monday Masters Classes 39 Local Spotlight: The T. Thomas Fortune Foundation and Cultural Center 40 Halloween Ball III Recap 42 Individual Donors 45 Institutional Support 46 Meet Our Staff & Volunteers 49 Meet our Restaurant Partner: Danny's Steakhouse + Sushi 50 Scene at Two River 3

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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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3/22/18 4:01 PM

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 Box Office Hours: Monday through Saturday 10am-6pm, Sunday from 12-5pm and starting one hour prior to all performances.

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* RELAXED PERFORMANCE: NOVEMBER 25, 2018 AT 10AM Journey to Oz *Dates may vary. Please confirm on tworivertheater.org or by calling 732.345.1400.

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.

COURTESY

Access programs made possible through support from New Jersey State Council on the Arts.

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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AUGUST WILSON’S

KING HEDLEY II

John Dias Artistic Director Michael Hurst Managing Director Robert M. Rechnitz Executive Producer Joan H. Rechnitz Associate Producer

With Brittany Bellizeare Elain Graham

Harvy Blanks Charlie Hudson III

Brian D. Coats Blake Morris

SCENIC DESIGNER.................................................................Michael Carnahan COSTUME DESIGNER.........................................................Karen Perry LIGHTING DESIGNER..........................................................Kathy A. Perkins SOUND DESIGNER.................................................................Kay Richardson HAIR & WIG DESIGNER......................................................Erin Hicks FIGHT DIRECTION..................................................................UnkleDave’s Fight-House CASTING .........................................................................................Heidi Griffiths & Kate Murray PRODUCTION STAGE MANAGER ......................... Laura Wilson

Directed by Brandon J. Dirden

OPENING NIGHT: NOVEMBER 16/2018 MARION HUBER THEATER

Originally Produced on Broadway by SAGEWORKS In December 1999, this play premiered at The Pittsburgh Public Theater; in February 2000, the play premiered at Seattle Repertory Theatre; additional presentations were mounted at Huntington Theatre Company (Nicholas Martin, Artistic Director; Michael Maso, Managing Director), Center Theatre Group/Mark Taper Forum (Gordon Davidson, Artistic Director) and The Goodman Theatre (Robert Falls, Artistic Director; Roche Schulfer, Executive Director).

August Wilson’s King Hedley II is presented by special arrangement with SAMUEL FRENCH, INC.

LEAD SPONSOR:

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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monmouth.edu

Monmouth University proudly supports Two River Theater

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A NOTE FROM THE

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

JOHN DIAS Photo by Danny Sanchez.

King Hedley II is the fifth play in August Wilson’s 10-play American Century Cycle that we’ve brought to Red Bank audiences. Many of you in the theater today have had the great, good fortune of seeing those other four plays here and are holding us to our promise to produce the remaining five. Some of you have even applied pressure—and a little guilt—telling me things like “I’m not getting any younger, so hurry up!” I get it. Although each of the plays is a distinctly satisfying work, knowing that each one fits into a larger whole makes us impatient to experience the full Cycle. It’s as if you’re gathering the pieces to the puzzle, feeling their interconnectedness but sensing that the whole is even greater than the sum of its parts.

There are some obvious organizing principles that underpin the whole Cycle. Each decade of the 20th century gets its own play. Nine of the 10 plays are set in the same Hill District neighborhood of Pittsburgh where Wilson grew up. King Hedley II is (uniquely) essentially a sequel to the story and characters from nearly 40 years earlier in Seven Guitars.

These—and other connections—become more obvious as you experience more of the plays. But what isn’t so obvious—until you experience a play like King Hedley II—is that there’s a religious cosmology to the work of August Wilson, a spirituality that frames the universe of AfricanAmericans through these plays. Seems to me that Wilson has synthesized a number of aspects of his life and culture into a sui generis religion of his own.

Taken as a whole, the Cycle operates much like a mythology, like a core religious text. Every culture in every age in the history of humans has them. Wilson’s is not exactly an origin story of Africans in America—although there’s some of that— as much as it is a sort of heroes’ journey. But, over the course of this Cycle there is no single individual at the center, but rather a community—a whole people—to represent the hero.

Released from literal bondage at the start of the Cycle, they go on to seek freedom in all its manifestations: corporeal, psychological, spiritual.

In terms of traditional religion, most obviously in his plays is the Christianity of African Americans with its reliance on the Old Testament’s parables of suffering, redemption and freedom. Additionally, you need not look too long at the poster we’ve created for the show to imagine that we see parallels between King Hedley and Christ the King’s sacrifice and hope of rebirth.

Then, there is the near religious status of the doctrine of the “the American dream.” It’s a potent and energizing narrative that functions as a beacon of hope to the world’s multitudes, including every man, woman and child of the Hill District.

Lastly, Wilson incorporates one of the defining aspects of African spirituality—ancestor worship—in the character of Aunt Ester (say her name three times, quickly, and you’ll begin to hear the word play that got Wilson to “ancestor”).

She was first mentioned in Two Trains Running when one of the characters, Holloway, tells the others to go visit her house and knock on the red door if you’re looking for wisdom.

She’s a central character in the first play of the cycle, Gem of the Ocean, where she acts as a sort of shaman connecting folks via the Middle Passage to the city of bones and their ancestral homelands. In Hedley, she has been forsaken and overlooked. At the start of the play, Aunt Ester has just died.

She is 366 years old, having arrived in North America with the first Africans in 1619. The people have forgotten the value of their past and suffer for it in the present, on these mean streets of 1985. She is the ancestor, the last direct link to the “mother of us all.” It’s ancient. It’s divine. Without that connection to our past we cannot move forward into the present. There must be a sacrifice or there is no future. It’s Stool Pigeon who understands it. We are all one family. One love. And we’ve got to get ourselves back to the garden.

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CAST OF CHARACTERS (IN ORDER OF SPEAKING)

Stool Pigeon................................................................................... Brian D. Coats Ruby.................................................................................................... Elain Graham King Hedley II................................................................................ Blake Morris Mister.................................................................................................. Charlie Hudson III Tonya.................................................................................................. Brittany Bellizeare Elmore................................................................................................ Harvy Blanks

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TIME AND PLACE Pittsburgh, the Hill District, 1985 King Hedley II will be performed with one 15-minute intermission

A mutual company founded in 1845

PRODUCTION CREDITS Assistant to the Director: Brian Eckert

A S S OC IAT ES ,

INC.

Assistant Scenic Designer: Amelia Bransky

Award-Winning Full Color Printing, Digital Printing, Design, Binding, Distribution and Promotion Direct to Plate Technology Utilizing Macintosh

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.

and PC Platforms Full Service Design

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UNITED

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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

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

Jersey Printing Associates 153 First Ave., Atlantic Highlands, NJ 07716 732.872.9654 • jerseyprinting.com

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Brittany Bellizeare (Tonya) previously appeared at Two River Theater as Ruby in Seven Guitars and is happy to return to work on yet another August Wilson masterpiece. She is a native of Philadelphia who currently resides in Scotch Plains, New Jersey.

Her New York credits include an interactive play, In the Blue Hour (Emily) at La Maison d’Art Gallery in Harlem, A Raisin in the Sun (Beneatha) at The Gallery Players, and various festivals including The Fire This Time, 48 Hours in... Harlem, NY Fringe, and Samuel French. Regionally she’s been blessed to work at Portland Center Stage (Oregon) JAW Festival: three girls never learnt the way home (Edith), Baltimore Center Stage: Skeleton Crew (Shanita), The Guthrie: The Bluest Eye (Pecola), TheaterWorks Hartford: Sunset Baby (Nina), a co-production with La Jolla Playhouse and Berkeley Rep: The Last Tiger in Haiti (Rose) [where she and the cast received an NAACP Theatre for Best Ensemble nomination], Northern Stage: The Mountaintop (Camae), the Yard: Archy & Mehitabel (Ensemble) and the Educational Tour of Sunjata Kamalenya (Player 3) at McCarter Theatre. Her Film/TV credits include The Blacklist, Eye Candy and The Knick. And if you’re watching closely, you can catch her in Burlington Coat Factory’s National Commercial currently airing! She received her MFA from The New School for Drama and her BS in Mathematics from Spelman College. She remains grateful for all the blessings she’s received and all the love and support from her family and friends. www.brittanybellizeare.com Harvy Blanks (Elmore) appeared on Broadway as Shealy in the Tony-winning production of Jitney. Off-Broadway, he received the Drama Desk Award for his performance in Tabletop. Other Off-Broadway credits include First Breeze of Summer and The Guest at Central Park West. His regional appearances include Moscow, Moscow, Moscow, Moscow, Moscow, Moscow (Williamstown), Familiar (Yale Rep, The Guthrie and Seattle Rep) and Fire on the Mountain (TheatreWorks Palo Alto). At the Denver Center he starred in Ruined, Fences, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, Gem of the Ocean, Seven Guitars and Radio Golf, among others. Harvy can be seen this season in Terrence Nance’s Random Acts of Flyness (HBO). His other television appearances include Preacher and Crime Story. He is very happy to return to Two River where he appeared in Jitney, Two Trains Running and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.

Brian D. Coats (Stool Pigeon) Broadway: Jitney. He was previously seen at Two River Theater in Seven Guitars and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. Off-Broadway includes: Travisville (Ensemble Studio Theatre), La Ruta (Working Theater), The First Noel (Classical Theatre of Harlem/The Apollo), On the Levee (Lincoln Center), The Merry Wives of Windsor, Two Gentlemen of Verona (Public/ NYSF).

Regional: The Royale (Cleveland Play House), The Nest (Denver Center Theatre), Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man (Huntington Theatre, Studio Theatre DC), Fences, A Raisin in the Sun (Geva Theatre), Distant Fires (People’s Light and Theatre), Clybourne Park (Caldwell Theatre), The Wedding Gift, pen/man/ship (Contemporary American Theatre Fest), Count (PlayMakers Rep). TV includes: Law & Order, Law & Order: SVU, JAG, Blue Bloods, The Sopranos, Boardwalk Empire, Luke Cage, and The Blacklist. Upcoming: Fences.

Elain Graham (Ruby) is pleased to be back at Two River Theater, where she was seen as Mrs. Dickson in the critically acclaimed production of Intimate Apparel. Other stage credits include: Intimate Apparel, Dorset Theatre Festival; Dolores, While I Yet Live, Primary Stages; The Picture Box, Negro Ensemble Company; Mum in SoHo Rep’s critically acclaimed Born Bad; The Woman in Lynn Nottage’s Banana Beer Bath, Going to the River Festival/EST; Lena Younger, A Raisin in the Sun, Virginia Stage Company; Permanent Collection, Baltimore Center Stage; Mama Benin, Playboy of the West Indies, Lincoln Center. Film/Television: The Last O.G., The Breaks, The Detour, Law & Order: SVU, Law & Order, 666 Park Avenue, Smash, Unforgettable, Across the Universe, City Teacher, Arthur!: A Celebration of Life, The Jury, Messengers, 100 Centre Street, Oz, Third Watch, Turn It Up. She was also Etta Mae Burrell on the daytime soap opera, Another World.

Charlie Hudson III (Mister) is thrilled to be appearing again at Two River, where he was previously seen in A Raisin in the Sun and Seven Guitars. Previous shows include Detroit ’67 (Playmakers Rep); The Mountaintop (Northern Stage); Father Comes Home from the Wars (American Repertory Theater); A Raisin in the Sun (Barrymore Theatre, Broadway); The Raisin Cycle: Clybourne Park & Beneatha’s Place (Baltimore Centerstage); Hurt Village (Signature); Fences (Virginia Stage); The Piano Lesson (Yale Rep); Bike Wreck (Ensemble Studio Theatre); White Women Street (Irish Rep); “Master Harold”…and the boys (Portland Stage); Fly (Crossroads and Vineyard Playhouse); A Raisin in the Sun, Richard III, A Christmas Carol, All the King’s Men, Cyrano de Bergerac (Trinity Rep); Hillary (New Georges); Old Comedy (Classic Stage); Mother Courage (Public Theater/NYSF); Sweet Bird of Youth (Williamstown); Romeo and Juliet (Bread Loaf Acting Ensemble); Julius Caesar, Topdog/Underdog (Brown/Trinity Consortium). TV includes: Manifest, The Night Of, Shades of Blues, The Good Fight, Unforgettable, Forever, The Rosa Parks Story, and A Raisin in the Sun “Revisited.” Film credits include Roxanne Roxanne; Complete Unknown; Twelve; Newlyweeds; Lillian; and his voice is featured in the McGraw-Hill’s PodClass GRE Vocabulary Study Guide. Mr. Hudson is the 2003 KC/ACTF Irene Ryan Best Actor Award winner (Region IV) and is a graduate of Alabama State University and the Brown University/Trinity Repertory Consortium. Charlie would like to thank God for this opportunity and his loving family for their support.

Blake Morris (King Hedley II) Off-Broadway: Ain’t No Mo’ (The Public Studio), Kings of Harlem (New Horizon Theater). Festivals: New Black Fest, 48 Hrs. in Harlem, NYSAF Reading Series. TV: Pose (FX), Jessica Jones (Netflix).

August Wilson (April 27, 1945 – October 2, 2005) authored Gem of the Ocean, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, The Piano Lesson, Seven Guitars, Fences, Two Trains Running, Jitney, King Hedley II, and Radio Golf. These works explore the heritage and experience of African-Americans, decade-by-decade, over the course of the twentieth century. His plays have been produced at regional theaters across the country and all over the world, as well as on Broadway. In 2003, Mr. Wilson made his professional stage debut in his one-man show, How I Learned What I Learned. Mr. Wilson’s works garnered many awards including Pulitzer Prizes for Fences (1987) and for The Piano Lesson (1990); a Tony Award for Fences; Great Britain’s Olivier Award for Jitney; as well as eight New York Drama Critics Circle Awards for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Fences, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, The Piano Lesson, Two Trains Running, Seven Guitars, Jitney, and Radio Golf. Additionally, the cast recording of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom received a 1985 Grammy Award, and Mr. Wilson received a 1995 Emmy Award nomination for his screenplay adaptation of 13

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The Piano Lesson. Mr. Wilson’s early works included the oneact plays The Janitor, Recycle, The Coldest Day of the Year, Malcolm X, The Homecoming and the musical satire Black Bart and the Sacred Hills. Mr. Wilson received many fellowships and awards, including Rockefeller and Guggenheim Fellowships in Playwriting, the Whiting Writers Award, 2003 Heinz Award, was awarded a 1999 National Humanities Medal by the President of the United States, and received numerous honorary degrees from colleges and universities, as well as the only high school diploma ever issued by the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh.

He was an alumnus of New Dramatists, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a 1995 inductee into the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and on October 16, 2005, Broadway renamed the theater located at 245 West 52nd Street—The August Wilson Theatre. Additionally, Mr. Wilson was posthumously inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame in 2007. Mr. Wilson was born and raised in the Hill District of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and lived in Seattle, Washington at the time of his death. He is immediately survived by his two daughters, Sakina Ansari and Azula Carmen Wilson, and his wife, costume designer Constanza Romero.

Brandon J. Dirden (Director) made his directing debut at Two River Theater with August Wilson’s Seven Guitars. He has appeared at Two River in A Raisin in the Sun; August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and Jitney; the world premiere of Ruben Santiago-Hudson’s Your Blues Ain’t Sweet Like Mine; and Topdog/Underdog, in which he starred opposite his brother Jason Dirden under the direction of the play’s author, Suzan-Lori Parks. An award-winning actor/director, he is best known for portraying Agent Dennis Aderholt in the acclaimed FX series The Americans. ​A Morehouse College and University of Illinois graduate, he is also known for appearing on Broadway as Martin Luther King Jr. in the successful Tony Award-winning Broadway production of Robert Schenkkan’s All the Way opposite Bryan Cranston’s Lyndon B. Johnson. Other Broadway credits include August Wilson’s Jitney (2017 Tony Award for Best Revival), Prelude to a Kiss, Enron and Clybourne Park. In 2012 he was awarded an Obie and a Theatre World Award and was nominated for Drama League and Lucille Lortel Awards for his portrayal of Boy Willie in the Signature Theatre Company revival of August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson. ​He has guest starred in TV series such as The Good Wife, The Big C, Blue Bloods, Public Morals, Braindead and Baz Luhrmann’s The Get Down on Netflix. Brandon is married to actress Crystal Dickinson and currently lives in West Orange, NJ with their four-year-old son, Chase.

Michael Carnahan (Scenic Designer) previously designed The Ballad of Little Jo, Your Blues Ain’t Sweet Like Mine, Third, On Borrowed Time, and August Wilson’s Seven Guitars and Two Trains Running at Two River. Off-Broadway—Atlantic Theater Company: Skeleton Crew; 59E59: I and You; Second Stage: The Happiest Song Plays Last; Signature Theatre: The Piano Lesson, The First Breeze of Summer; Life Could Be a Dream, The Marvelous Wonderettes, Three Mo’

Tenors, Pygmalion, Howie the Rookie, Brando. Tours—Cheers, Live On Stage; A Christmas Story The Musical, Peter & The Starcatcher. Regional credits include Mark Taper Forum, Arena Stage, American Conservatory Theater, The Kennedy Center, McCarter Theatre, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Baltimore Center Stage, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Pasadena Playhouse, Two River Theatre, Chautauqua Theater Company, Cleveland Play House, Detroit Public Theater, Laguna Playhouse, Utah Shakespearean Festival, Northlight Theatre, Signature Theatre, Bucks County Playhouse, Ogunquit Playhouse, Arsht Center, Musical Theatre West, San Jose Repertory, Center Repertory. michaelcarnahandesign.com Instagram: Carnypics Twitter: @mike_carnahan Karen Perry (Costume Designer) previously designed Lives of Reason, Your Blues Ain’t Sweet Like Mine, Guadalupe in the Guest Room, Third, Trouble in Mind, and August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Jitney, Two Trains Running and Seven Guitars at Two River. Recent credits include Cabin in the Sky (Encores!); The Happiest Song Plays Last (Second Stage); Dreamgirls, Clybourne Park, A Raisin in the Sun (Dallas Theater Center); stop. reset. and The Piano Lesson (Signature); Joe Turner’s Come and Gone (dir. Phylicia Rashad, Mark Taper); the 10th Anniversary production of Crowns, written and dir. by Regina Taylor (Goodman); Pearl Cleage’s Blues for an Alabama Sky, dir. Sheldon Epps (Pasadena Playhouse); John Grisham’s A Time to Kill, dir. Ethan McSweeny (Arena); Regina Taylor’s Trinity River Plays, dir. McSweeny (Dallas Theater Center, Goodman); The Trip to Bountiful, Walter Mosley’s The Fall of Heaven, dir. Marion McClinton (Cincinnati Playhouse); The Brother/Sister Plays by Tarell McCraney, dir. Tina Landau (The Public) and Landau and Robert O’Hara (McCarter); Things of Dry Hours by Naomi Wallace (NYTW); Having Our Say, written and dir. by Emily Mann (McCarter); and Resurrection by Daniel Beaty (Arena). She has designed eight of the 10 August Wilson plays including: Gem of the Ocean, The Piano Lesson, King Hedley II, Radio Golf, Two Trains Running, and Seven Guitars.

Select film/TV credits include: Gregory Hines Show, Saturday Night Live, and The Brother from Another Planet by director John Sayles.

Kathy A. Perkins (Lighting Designer) made her Two River debut with Seven Guitars. She has designed both nationally and internationally including Switzerland and South Africa. In New York, she has designed for New Federal Theatre, Manhattan Theatre Club and in such venues as Carnegie Hall and Brooklyn Academy of Music. Regionally, Kathy has designed for Goodman Theatre, Arena Stage, Steppenwolf, Alliance Theatre, Mark Taper Forum, Berkeley Repertory, Actors Theatre of Louisville, St. Louis Black Repertory, American Conservatory Theater, Indiana Repertory, Seattle Repertory, Congo Square, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Writers Theatre and Playmakers Repertory Company. She is the editor/co-editor of six anthologies focusing on African/African Diaspora women. A graduate of Howard University and the Univ. of Michigan, Kathy is Professor Emerita of Theatre at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

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Kay Richardson (Sound Designer) is a two-time Suzi Bass nominated Sound Designer and Audio Engineer. This production marks her Two River Theater debut. Regional theater designs include: Eclipsed at Synchronicity Theatre; Thurgood at Theatrical Outfit; Smart People; Fetch Clay, Make Man; and Gut Bucket Blues for Kenny Leon’s True Colors Theatre Company in Atlanta, GA; Sister Act in Whitefish, MT; the Medora Musical in Medora, North Dakota; and Crowns in Savannah, GA. Other designs include A Man of No Importance, Spring Awakening, The Colored Museum, A Song for Coretta, Hoodoo Love, and Seven Guitars. As an Audio Engineer she’s toured with Jekyll & Hyde, Ring of Fire, Church Basement Ladies and The Honky Tonk Angels. At the Alpine Theatre Project in Whitefish, MT she’s mixed Matilda the Musical, Smokey Joe’s Cafe, Singin’ in the Rain, The Addams Family, Sister Act, Big River, The Who’s Tommy, Little Shop of Horrors and Master Class. She has also toured in over 45 countries around the world mixing live for Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines International. Kay is currently the Resident Sound Engineer at the Lewis Center for the Arts in Princeton, NJ. Erin Hicks (Hair & Wig Designer) grew up in Harlem, NY. She began styling hair as an assistant on The Winter’s Tale at the New York Shakespeare Festival, starring Alfre Woodard, Mandy Patinkin, and Diane Venora. Over the last 20 years she has worked on various Broadway, film and TV shows. This is Erin’s fourth show at Two River, following Guadalupe in the Guest

Room and August Wilson’s Seven Guitars and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.

UnkleDave’s Fight-House (Fight Direction) UnkleDave’s FightHouse is a Drama Desk Award-nominated company of fight directors founded by Dave Anzuelo. The core members of the team are Jesse Geguzis, Gerry Rodriguez, Sean Fletcher and Aldo Uribe. Two River Theater credits: El Coqui Espectacular and the Bottle of Doom, Be More Chill, Seven Guitars, A Raisin in the Sun. Broadway credits: Escape to Margaritaville (Marquis), Tuck Everlasting (Broadhurst), An American in Paris (Palace), Disgraced (Lyceum). Off-Broadway: Girl from the North Country; Mother of the Maid and Oedipus El Rey (Public Theater), Downtown Race Riot (New Group). Regional: Oklahoma!

(Goodspeed). National Tour: An American in Paris. London: Buried Child.

Heidi Griffiths (Casting) has worked for more than 25 years at the Joseph Papp Public Theater in NYC, where she has cast over 200 productions Off-Broadway and at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, including Shakespeare, new plays, and musicals.

On Broadway: Sweat; Shuffle Along; The Crucible, Eclipsed; A Delicate Balance; A Raisin in the Sun; Lucky Guy; Chinglish; The Motherf**ker with the Hat; The Merchant of Venice; Hair; Passing Strange; Caroline, or Change; Take Me Out (Tony Award, Best Play 2003); Topdog/Underdog (Pulitzer Prize, 2002); The Wild Party; Bring in ’Da Noise, Bring in ’Da Funk; On the Town; and The Tempest. She also cast the films The Incredibly True Adventures of Two Girls in Love, MURDER and murder, Saving Face and Ladybird. King Hedley II is her 10th collaboration with Two River Theater.

Kate Murray (Casting) Two River Theater: The Importance of Being Earnest, The Women of Padilla, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Seven Guitars, Your Blues Ain’t Sweet Like Mine, and The School for Wives. Broadway (as Casting Associate): The Crucible, A View from the Bridge, A Delicate Balance, A Raisin in the Sun, Lucky Guy (Casting Assistant). Additional casting credits include work with Center Theater Group, The Cherry Lane, Bedlam, Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, LAByrinth, New Georges, TheaterWorks Hartford, The Studio Theatre, and Throughline Artists. Kate is a Casting Director at The Public Theater.

Laura Wilson (Production Stage Manager) Previously at TRT: Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Seven Guitars, Your Blues Ain’t Sweet Like Mine, Third, No Place to Go. Broadway: Roman Holiday (OOT Tryout), Jitney, All The Way, First Date, A Free Man of Color, The People in the Picture. Off-Broadway: Paradise Blue (Signature Theatre); School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play (MCC); Skeleton Crew (Atlantic Theater Company); Exit Strategy (Primary Stages); The Really Big Once, A Family of Perhaps Three (Target Margin Theater). Regional: Bull Durham (Alliance Theatre); Guys and Dolls (Riverside Theatre); The Three Sisters, The Boys from Syracuse, and Things of Dry Hours (Centerstage, Baltimore); Tom Stoppard’s On the Razzle (Clarence Brown Theatre).

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Jason Dirden (Canewell), Charlie Hudson III (Red Carter), and Kevin Mambo (Floyd Barton) in TRT’s Seven Guitars. Photo by T. Charles Erickson.

Brittany Bellizeare (Ruby) and Brian D. Coats (King Hedley I) in TRT’s Seven Guitars. Photo

by T. Charles Erickson.

FROM SEVEN GUITARS TO KING HEDLEY II During his career, August Wilson completed his majestic 10-Play American Century Cycle, writing one play exploring African American life for each decade of the 20th century. All of the plays in the cycle but one (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom) are set in Pittsburgh’s Hill District, where Wilson was born and lived until 1978. Wilson’s dramatic version of the Hill District connects most of the characters in the cycle. Each play in the collection contains a distinct story, but each occurs within the greater narrative of the Hill District during the 20th century.

In King Hedley II, Wilson picks up the stories of characters first introduced in Seven Guitars.

A

ugust Wilson’s Seven Guitars, set in 1948 and produced at Two River in 2015, begins as a murder mystery. The play opens as many of the play’s characters return from the funeral of Floyd ‘Schoolboy’ Barton. Then, the play travels back in time to ask the question: how did this on-the-rise bluesman die?

The rest of the play follows Floyd as he tries to convince his former bandmates, Canewell and Red Carter, as well as his ex-lover, Vera, to accompany him from the Hill District to Chicago, where a record label wants him to record new music.

Canewell and Red Carter initially hesitate because of their lack of funds and because Canewell was wrongfully arrested after their first recording session in Chicago. Vera struggles to forgive Floyd for running off to Chicago in the first place with another woman, leaving her with “a little bit of nothing.”

The play’s cast also includes the brash and lively Louise, Vera’s friend and landlord, and King Hedley I, a Haitian man who lives by his own set own set of principles. Hedley searches for a woman to have a child with and waits patiently for the ghost of ‘King’ Buddy Bolden (from whom he gets his name) to come down and give him money that his father promised him in a dream. Louise anticipates the arrival of her

niece, Ruby, who is traveling to Pittsburgh after a love triangle in Alabama leaves one of her lovers, Leroy, dead and another, Elmore, in prison. After she arrives, Ruby and Hedley form an unlikely relationship.

F

loyd’s manager cheats him out of the money he was supposed to use to get his instruments out of a pawnshop. Desperate to make it to Chicago, Floyd robs a finance office. With that money, he purchases a new guitar, some clothes, and tickets to Chicago for himself and his band. Vera agrees to go with Floyd and marry him— but also reveals that she has bought a one-way bus ticket from Chicago to Pittsburgh, which she’ll use should Floyd ever do her wrong again. This news comes as a blow to Canewell, who is also in love with Vera. However, he steps aside upon hearing of Floyd and Vera’s reconciliation.

After Floyd’s comeback concert, Canewell finds the money that Floyd stole, but gives it back after Floyd pulls a gun on him. Once Canewell leaves, Hedley enters; he believes Floyd to be the ghost of Buddy Bolden, there to finally give him his father’s money. When Floyd fights him off, Hedley takes his machete and severs Floyd’s windpipe, killing him. The play ends with Hedley revealing to Canewell the money he believes came from Buddy Bolden.

King Hedley II takes place 37 years later, in 1985. After years on the road, Ruby has returned to Pittsburgh for Louise’s funeral and to see her son, King Hedley II. Elmore sends a letter telling Ruby that he is coming to visit. Canewell, now known in the neighborhood as Stool Pigeon, lives next door to King. Along with his best friend, Red Carter’s son Mister, King works to establish his own legacy in the decaying Hill District.

But like his namesake from Seven Guitars, King Hedley II lives by his own set of principles… n 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 theater’s first literary department and commissioning program for new plays; presenting annual events such as a musical theater cabaret in collaboration with New York University’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 Shakespeare’s plays performed by high-school students. He is the co-author and was the director of Two River’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 Kron’s Well and Shakespeare’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 theater’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 Park’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 Tesori’s Caroline, or Change. Michael was also part of all strategic planning including the opening of Joe’s Pub, now considered one of the country’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 theater’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 Jersey’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 River’s Executive Producer, he oversaw the theater’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 River’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 Can’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, Thieves’ 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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AUGUST WILSON’S King Hedley II is the halfway point in Two River’s commitment to present all 10 plays.

HE R E ’S A LO OK BACK AT OU R FI R ST FO UR P R O D UCT I O NS .

JITNEY

TWO T R AINS R UNNING

Photo by T. Charles Erickson.

Photo by Michal Daniel.

During our 2011/12 season, Two River produced Jitney, set in 1977 Pittsburgh in a makeshift storefront depot for gypsy cab drivers. Directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson, the production extended following rave reviews from critics and audiences; it was hailed as “a superb revival” in The StarLedger and “exceptionally well cast” in the Asbury Park Press.

The company of Jitney included Harvy Blanks (Shealy), J. Bernard Calloway (Booster), Anthony Chisholm (Fielding), Chuck Cooper (Becker), Brandon J. Dirden (Youngblood), Roslyn Ruff (Rena), Ray Anthony Thomas (Philmore), James A. Williams (Doub), and Allie Woods Jr. (Turnbo).

In 2012/13, we produced Two Trains Running, directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson. Set in 1969, during the civil rights movement, the play takes place in a rundown Pittsburgh diner that is scheduled to be torn down, a casualty of an urban renewal project that is destroying the buildings of a community—but not its spirit. Extended prior to the start of performance, Two Trains Running featured Harvy Blanks (West), Anthony Chisholm (Hambone), Chuck Cooper (Memphis), John Earl Jelks (Wolf), Owiso Odera (Sterling), Roslyn Ruff (Risa), and James A. Williams (Holloway). The New York Times praised it as a “dramatically and comically rich production…directed with gusto by Ruben SantiagoHudson,” and New Jersey Monthly called our production “exceptional,” noting that “the actors and their director—all steeped in Wilson’s variously exuberant, sassing and blunt vernacular—show why he is the Shakespeare of black American life in the 20th century.”

IN MEMORIAM: ROGER ROBINSON 20

Two River Theater mourns the loss of Roger Robinson (May 2, 1940-September 26, 2018), a great Wilsonian actor who appeared here in our 2013/14 production of Trouble in Mind by Alice Childress. “Roger Robinson movingly renders a stark monologue as his character recalls witnessing a lynching when he was a boy,” the New York Times wrote of his performance, and The StarLedger raved that in that moment, “Robinson’s happy-go-lucky façade falls away and his performance becomes haunting.”

AMERICAN CENTURY CYCLE SE V E N G U ITARS

Photo by T. Charles Erickson.

Seven Guitars, a beautiful and wrenching story set in 1948, came to our stage in 2015/16 under the direction of Brandon J. Dirden. “Rookie director Dirden has hit one out of the park in his first at-bat; playing Guitars for all its abundant humor, passion, poetry and music,” wrote the Asbury Park Press.

The play is framed by a funeral, as a close-knit community in the Hill District gathers to mourn one of their own—Floyd “Schoolboy” Barton, a blues guitarist with one final chance at stardom. The cast included Brittany Bellizeare (Ruby), Brian D. Coats (Hedley), Crystal A. Dickinson (Louise), Jason Dirden (Canewell), Charlie Hudson III (Red Carter), Kevin Mambo (Floyd), and Christina Acosta Robinson (Vera). “You will go far and wait long to find a collaborative success to equal Seven Guitars,” raved the Two River Times.

“It is a marvel.”

MA R AINEY' S BLACK BOT TO M

Photo by T. Charles Erickson.

And in 2016/17, we produced Ruben Santiago-Hudson’s production of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. “You know you’re in good hands with director Ruben Santiago-Hudson,” wrote The Huffington Post. “If he’s directing a mounting of a play from Wilson’s Century Cycle anywhere in the country, you know it’s going to reach a certain standard.” Wilson’s incendiary drama, set in the 1920s, took audiences into the world of legendary singer Ma Rainey (the real-life “Mother of the Blues”) as she lay down tracks with her band in a Chicago recording studio. Chanté Adams (Dussie May), Harvy Blanks (Slow Drag), Brian D. Coats (Toledo), Michael Cumpsty (Irvin), Brandon J. Dirden (Levee), Bob Mackasek (Policeman), Marcel Spears (Sylvester), Peter Van Wagner (Sturdyvant), Arnetia Walker (Ma Rainey), and James A. Williams (Cutler) were featured in the cast. n

Robinson won the 2009 Tony Award for his performance as the mystic Bynum Walker in Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, produced by Lincoln Center Theater. The first Wilson play he did on Broadway was Seven Guitars in 1996; he received a Tony nomination for his performance as Hedley.

(Image left) Robinson won the 2009 Tony Award for his performance in Joe Turner’s Come and Gone at Lincoln Center Theater; photo by T. Charles Erickson. (Image right) Roger Robinson as Sheldon Forrester in Trouble in Mind at Two River Theater in 2013/14, with McKinley Belcher III as John Nevins; photo by T. Charles Erickson.

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TWO RIVER 25TH ANNIVERSARY:

PUTTING THE PLAYWRIGHT FIRST Here at Two River, we believe that the playwright is the central, generative artist of the theater. They take us to magical places, through their imaginations, with their stories.

The playwright creates the reason that all the rest of us are here. And a great theater must keep the writer at the center of the stage at all times.

In 2016, we made that commitment literal with the appointment of Two River’s first Playwright-in-Residence, the marvelous Madeleine George, whose Red Bank productions include Seven Homeless Mammoths Wander New England in 2011 and the commissioned world premiere of Hurricane Diane in 2017.

But perhaps no writers are more emblematic of this emphasis on the playwright than Shakespeare and August Wilson—the Bard, and the great writer who has been called the American Bard. We have produced seven of Shakespeare’s plays, and (with this production) five from Wilson’s monumental series the American Century Cycle, which explores the African-American experience in each

decade of the 20th century. Today, we are incredibly proud that Two River Theater is recognized as an artistic home for August Wilson and the American Century Cycle.

Since Two River’s inception in 1994, we have created new productions of the world’s most provocative and entertaining dramatic work, embracing theater that challenges the mind and touches the heart. Our seasons have included plays

by European masters such as Shaw, Coward, Wilde, Ibsen, Chekhov, and Strindberg—in the words of our Founder, Robert M. Rechnitz, “the great dramatists…whose terrain is that of myth and dream and mystery.”

From our very first season, however, Two River has had an affinity for classics (including modern masterpieces) by great American writers. Bob Rechnitz’s productions of plays

by Sam Shepard (Curse of the Starving Class and True West), Arthur Miller (A View from the Bridge), Tennessee Williams (The Glass Menagerie), David Mamet (American Buffalo) and Kaufman & Hart (You Can’t Take It With You) are particularly indelible. n

Arnetia Walker as Ma Rainey with James A. Williams, Brian D. Coats, and Harvy Blanks in August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom at Two River Theater in the 2016/17 Season.

We are proud to be recognized as an artistic home for August Wilson and the American Century Cycle. Photo by T. Charles Erickson.

23

AUGUST WILSON

& ME: MEET TWO RIVER’S NEW LITERARY MANAGER, TAYLOR BARFIELD

Two River’s new Literary Manager, Taylor Barfield, will be getting to know our audiences through projects including the Before Play preshow lecture series and the Two River Book Club. Here, we asked him to introduce himself—and his relationship with August Wilson.

My first real engagement with August Wilson occurred in grad school, which I began as a bright-eyed, 22-year-old straight out of undergrad.

Despite spending the majority of my college career training to be a research biochemist, the theater bug bit me my sophomore year. I slowly began spending my free-time working with the campus’s black theater ensemble. In order to read more plays, I added an English major to go along with my science degree. And when the time came to decide, which path I would follow—biochemistry or theater—I decided to let the fates decide and applied to programs in both disciplines. Somewhat bewilderingly, the fates led me to the Yale School of Drama’s dramaturgy department.

When I arrived to campus, most of my experience studying plays had come from classes in Shakespeare and other early-modern playwrights.

I didn’t know at the time, but the majority of my curricular training would be rooted in plays from Europe. Although these classes were invaluable, they didn’t expose me to much work by black artists. It took my involvement with an extracurricular student group, FOLKS, to provide me with an unexpected crash course in the plays of August Wilson, a giant of American theater, whose work focuses on black experiences in this country throughout the 20th century.

FOLKS is the School of Drama’s black affinity group. It was founded in the 1980s by Angela Bassett as a space where the black students could convene, hang out, and discuss specific issues pertaining to them as they traversed the ivy-covered buildings of New Haven. Along with Bassett, the original group included artists such as Charles ‘Rock’ Dutton and Courtney B. Vance. These actors trained at the same time that Lloyd Richards, then Dean and Artistic Director at Yale, and August Wilson worked on their first three collaborations together, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (1984), Fences (1985), and Joe Turner’s Come and Gone (1986).

Coming into my first year, I had unwittingly become part of a group, whose very foundation was inextricably linked to Wilson, his work, and his collaborators. This fact, however, was not lost on a third-year actor, who early in the year, lamented that he was about to graduate with an MFA from Yale and had not once worked on a Wilson play. Two first-year actors, some of the most driven individuals I know, teamed up with this third-year to concoct an ambitious plan. Under the auspices of FOLKS, they would produce readings of all 10 plays in Wilson’s American Century Cycle before the end of the school year. That meant seven months to produce 10 staged readings.

Before I was even properly settled into grad school, they enlisted me to serve as dramaturg for all 10. I seemed the natural choice considering I was the dramaturgy department’s only black student and, therefore, the only member of FOLKS studying dramaturgy. However, I had not yet officially served as dramaturg on any play and had only encountered one Wilson play, Fences, as an actor. And they were asking me to read, research, and generate actor packets for 10 of the densest plays in American drama. The challenge was daunting, but the opportunity would prove transformative.

Taylor Barfield

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Taylor Barfield (middle back) with his FOLKS collaborators. Photo by Rasean Davonte Johnson.

First, at a relatively young age, I engaged with Wilson’s work as a cycle as opposed to individual plays. From Jitney in 1982 to Radio Golf in 2005, Wilson built a self-contained, semi-fictional Hill District that morphed throughout the 20th century. Engaging with his plays, almost as chapters in a story, allowed me to gather a fuller picture of Wilson’s decades-long project. This unique outlook would later serve me in a variety of essays, articles, and lectures I would write on his work. Furthermore, the reading series provided me with an indelible foundation for examining plays written by African-American playwrights (a topic that would later become the focus of my doctoral dissertation).

Also, practically speaking, the FOLKS August Wilson Reading Series gave me the opportunity to learn and grow as an artist before the dramaturgy curriculum would have allowed me to work on productions.

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom was the first play I worked on as dramaturg.

The Piano Lesson was the first full-length play I directed. The reading series provided me with my first four acting opportunities in grad school (Toledo, Holloway, Red Carter, Harmond Wilks). Through the project, I also became fast friends and close collaborators with a number of my classmates, who are now all doing amazing things in regional theaters, on Broadway, and in Hollywood.

For my classmates and me, the reading series served as a microcosm for the opportunities Wilson’s work has provided black artists for the past 30-plus years. His impact on American theater and black artists in particular cannot be understated. Wilson is regularly one of the most produced playwrights in the country. As of February 2018, 14 regional theaters had produced all 10 American Century Cycle plays.

Each production offers new opportunity for black artists not only to shine onstage by digging into brilliant dramas, but also to engage with their ancestors and history. Wilson’s plays also help cultivate a community of artists linked through his work. From the original casts and crews to student groups like FOLKS, Wilson’s Century Cycle provides shared vocabulary, stories, and, in many cases, memories from past productions. Like his character Bynum in Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, Wilson undoubtedly had the Binding Song— a unique power to bind people together “like glue.” For a playwright that has given the American theater so much, that is perhaps Wilson’s greatest gift. n TAYLOR BARFIELD Literary Manager

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“WE’RE IN THIS TOGETHER” Brandon J. Dirden alongside Artistic Assistant Brian Eckert, Stage Manager Laura Wilson and Production Assistant Joaquin Gomez. Photo by Yurik L. Lozano.

Brandon J. Dirden made his directing debut at Two River Theater with August Wilson’s

Seven Guitars and has appeared here in many productions, including Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and Jitney. During rehearsals for King Hedley II, he spoke with our Playwrightin-Residence, Madeleine George, about why he sees the play as a love story, embracing its intimacy—and why he wants to say ‘thank you’ to Red Bank audiences.

I

’ve never done the play [as an actor]. I’ve only seen a few different productions of it. But in my experience, the overriding feeling that people have is that it isn’t an easy play. I think we, as theatrical beings, sometimes have an appetite to run

26

headfirst into the darkness because the theater is a safe place where we can explore elements we don’t get to explore with such safety in life. People say, ‘this is hard,’ ‘it’s so dark.’ And while that may be true, I think we have to recognize the audience’s feeling of its having stirred up something inside that makes us feel uneasy, that stirs our DNA. And to do that, I think we have to honor the love that exists in the play.

It is a fact that King has been in prison for murder, that Elmore has been to prison for murder. Those are facts. But what is also a fact is that, at present we see men who are desperately trying to connect to their loves. We see Elmore coming to claim this woman that he has loved for 40 years, and we see King doing whatever it takes to earn Tonya’s trust so that she can see him as a worthy provider and mate. We see him wrestling against all odds in a system that has everything stacked up against him, but we don’t see him defeated. We see him getting up every day and trying to earn a living for him and for his family and for his unborn child.

T

he play starts with a moment of such nobility: Ruby comes out of the house and says, “When you gonna get the phone back on?” and King says, “soon as I get two hundred twenty-five dollars.” She says, “I told you I can put it in my name.” And he tells Ruby, “you ain’t gonna get my phone in your name.” [King’s thought process is,] ‘this is my debt; I’m not going to put that on you, this is my responsibility.’

And we learn that the phone bill was created by his stepdaughter, not even his flesh and blood. So we start the play with this grand act of nobility. It may seem small, but it’s huge.

And I think there are moments like that throughout the play, and that’s what we’re leaning into with this particular production.

That is what, in my opinion, earns us the tragedy at the end.

You’re going to have a great time getting to [the tragedy], you will! Because there’s so much humor, there’s so much love, and there’s so much joy. You’re rooting for these people. It’s not tragic until it’s tragic, you know what I mean?

You get a sense of continuation, of hope, and of rebirth, and that is a testament to Wilson’s maturation as a playwright. You’ll be sent back into the world, hopefully, expanded—your hearts, your minds, your sense of responsibility to your community, to your loved ones, to your unborn children, to your neighbor’s unborn children. I think King Hedley II will do that.

P

Brandon J. Dirden as Levee in August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom at Two River in the 2015/16 Season. Photo by T. Charles Erickson

art of my job as a director is giving the play the best opportunity to succeed on its mission. And I felt, given the two theaters at Two River, I was really adamant that the Marion Huber would give this play the best opportunity to succeed at its mission. There are only six characters in the play, it’s one of August Wilson’s smaller casts, and it is so intimate. I think some of that intimacy can get swallowed up in larger theaters. Not just that, but I think what happens when we watch some of Mr. Wilson’s plays, because they’re set in other decades, is we have the opportunity to say, ‘Oh, this is a history play, this is a period piece,’ so to speak.

There’s a separation because it places us in a different time. And so sometimes, if we’re in a larger theater, we can look around if we’re feeling uncomfortable or not willing to [confront] it; it allows us to escape. I think this play really lends itself towards capturing the audience. It’s saying, ‘we’re in this together and we have to stay together in order to get out.’

On top of that, [Two River is] halfway through the American Century Cycle. We’ve given four incredible August Wilson productions on the Rechnitz stage, well-received and very well supported by the Red Bank communities and the surrounding Roslyn Ruff and Brandon J. Dirden as Rena and Youngblood in August Wilson’s Jitney areas. And part of my reasoning for wanting to do this play in at Two River in 2011/12. Photo by T. Charles Erickson the smaller, more intimate theater was to honor the level of commitment that audiences have shown. What I want to say is thank you. Thank you for supporting us in this process so far, and here’s a treat. Now come up close and personal with these characters, words, and this setting; really be bathed by this portrait, this music, and by the hearts of these actors and designers. Let us transport you. Let us surround you in a cocoon for this production. I definitely want to honor the commitment the audience has shown us. n

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C reating our future, together.

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NOISES OFF

BY MICHAEL FRAYN DIRECTED BY SARNA L APINE RECHNITZ THEATER JANUARY 1 2 – FEBRUARY 3 / 2019

COMING SOON:

Michael Frayn’s Noises Off belongs on any list of the funniest plays ever written. Mayhem ensues as a third-rate touring theater troupe rehearses and then performs the ill-fated sex comedy Nothing On. Screwball antics, sight gags, pratfalls, misplaced props, slamming doors and flying sardines all combine in this celebrated, flawless farce-within-a-farce. Sarna Lapine, whose credits include the acclaimed recent Broadway revival of Sunday in the Park with George with Jake Gyllenhaal, directs.

The cast will include Two River veterans Philip Goodwin (As You Like It), Ellen Harvey (Pericles), Mahira Kakkar (The Importance of Being Earnest) and Jason O’Connell (The Merry Wives of Windsor). Joining them will be Kathleen Choe, Michael Crane, Gopal Divan, Adrianna Mitchell and Phillip Taratula.

FOR TICKETS, VISIT T WORIVERTHEATER.ORG, CALL 73 2 . 34 5.14 00 OR STOP BY THE BOX OFFICE .

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A Christmas Carol CHARLES DICKENS Adapted by DAVID THOMPSON Directed by ADAM IMMERWAHR By

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Don't Miss This Season's Theater for Families Shows!

A Wonderful Thanksgiving Weekend Treat for Ages 4+

A Little Shakespeare engages young artists and audiences with the work of the Bard in a 75-minute adaptation, directed and designed by professional theater artists; performed and supported backstage by local high school students. Sara Holdren, director of last season’s A Little Shakespeare: The Comedy of Errors, adapts and directs the haunted tale of Macbeth, a soldier whose encounter with three mysterious witches begins a violent quest for power and the crown.

Tickets Adult: $20 | 12 and Under: $15 Adapted and Directed by SARA HOLDREN

By WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

Runtime 75 minutes

Jan 25–Feb 2

Nov 23–25 Written and Directed by CHRISTOPHER PARKS Music Composition and Sound Design by JOSH TOTORA

Runtime: 1 hour

All Tickets $20 You are invited on a magical journey to Oz with the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, the Lion and all the citizens of the Emerald City! Kids and their adults become part of the cast in this interactive production, singing, dancing and acting alongside professional actors. Who knows, you might even get the chance to play key roles, such as a Munchkin, flying monkey, or Dorothy herself!

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Shakespeare in Just 75 minutes for Ages 9+

Subscribe Subscribe Subscribeto totothe the theRest Rest Restof ofofOur Our OurSeason Season Season and and andSee See See444Shows Shows Showsfor for foras as asLow Low Lowas as as$120! $120! $120!

By By MICHAEL MICHAEL

By MICHAEL FRAYN FRAYN FRAYN Directed Directed Directed by by by SARNA SARNA SARNA LAPINE LAPINE LAPINE

By By MARTIN MARTIN

By MARTIN MORAN MORAN MORAN Directed Directed Directed by by by CAROLYN CAROLYN CAROLYN CANTOR CANTOR CANTOR

Starring Starring Starring MAUREEN MAUREEN MAUREEN SILLIMAN SILLIMAN SILLIMAN

By By WILLIAM WILLIAM

By WILLIAM LUCE LUCE LUCE Directed Directed Directed by by by ROBERT ROBERT ROBERT RECHNITZ RECHNITZ RECHNITZ

By By REGINA REGINA

By REGINA TAYLOR TAYLOR TAYLOR Original Original Original Music Music by Music by by DIEDRE DIEDRE DIEDRE L. MURRAY L. MURRAY L. MURRAY Directed Directed Directed by by by RUBEN RUBEN RUBEN SANTIAGO-HUDSON SANTIAGO-HUDSON SANTIAGO-HUDSON

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And And so, And so, a aso, a insightful antics, antics, antics, sight sight gags, sight gags, pratfalls, gags, pratfalls, pratfalls, many family’s family’s reckoning reckoning reckoning begins. begins. begins. one one ofone of America’s America’s of America’s greatest greatest greatest thethe end the end ofend of World World of World War War II.War A II. AII. A misplaced misplaced misplaced props, props, props, slamming slamming slamming family’s sweeping sweeping sweeping and and ambitious and ambitious ambitious doors doors doors and and flying and flying flying sardines sardines sardines all all all Long Long unsettled Long unsettled unsettled hurts hurts rise hurts rise uprise up uppoets. poets. poets.

The The production The production production features features thethe return the return return of of thethe of the play-with-music, play-with-music, play-with-music, Oo-Bla-Dee Oo-Bla-Dee Oo-Bla-Dee combine combine combine in in thisthis incelebrated, this celebrated, celebrated, and and weand we bear bear wewitness bear witness witness to to thethe to the features is created is created byby Golden Golden

by Golden GlobeGlobeGlobebeloved beloved actress actress actress Maureen Maureen Maureen is created flawless flawless flawless farce-within-a-farce. farce-within-a-farce. farce-within-a-farce.enduring enduring enduring power power power of of kinship— kinship— of kinship—beloved Silliman Silliman to to thethe to Two the Two River Two River River winning winning winning actor actor and actor and playwright and playwright playwright Sarna Sarna Sarna Lapine, Lapine, Lapine, whose whose whose credits credits credits thethe longing the longing longing to to love love toinlove in thethe in the Silliman face of face of unstoppable unstoppable of unstoppable change. change. change. stage stage stage and and will and will bewill be directed directed be directed byby byRegina Regina Regina Taylor Taylor Taylor (I’ll(I’ll FlyFly (I’ll Away, Fly Away, Away, include include include thethe acclaimed the acclaimed acclaimed recent recent recentface Two River Two River Founder River Founder Founder Robert Robert Robert Crowns), Crowns), Crowns), Obie-winning Obie-winning Obie-winning jazz jazzjazz Broadway Broadway Broadway revival revival revival of of Sunday Sunday of Sunday Playwright Playwright Playwright Martin Martin Martin Moran Moran Moran Two composer composer composer Diedre Diedre Diedre L. L. Murray Murray L. Murray Rechnitz, Rechnitz, who who was who was a was Professor a Professor a Professor in in thethe in Park the Park with Park with George with George George with withwithperformed performed performed hishis solo solo hisplays solo plays The plays TheTheRechnitz, American American of American Literature Literature Literature at at at (The (The Gershwins’ (The Gershwins’ Gershwins’ Porgy Porgy Porgy and andand Tricky Tricky Tricky Part Part and Part and Alland All thethe All Rage the Rage Rageof of Jake Jake Gyllenhaal, Jake Gyllenhaal, Gyllenhaal, directs. directs. directs.

Monmouth Monmouth University University University forfor 3535 for 35 Bess) Bess) Bess) and and Tony and Tony Award Tony Award Award winner winner winner in in repertory repertory in repertory at at Two Two atRiver Two River River Monmouth Ruben Ruben Ruben Santiago-Hudson Santiago-Hudson Santiago-Hudson Theater Theater Theater in in 2014, 2014, in at 2014, at which which at which time timetime years. years. years.

(August (August (August Wilson’s Wilson’s Wilson’s Jitney Jitney Jitney at at Two Two at Two Theo, Theo, Theo, hishis first first hisplay first play for play for other other for other River River and River and onand on Broadway).

Broadway). on Broadway). actors, actors, actors, was was commissioned was commissioned commissioned byby by thethe Theater. the Theater.

Theater.

Carolyn Carolyn Carolyn Cantor Cantor Cantor willwill direct will direct direct thisthis world-premiere this world-premiere world-premiere production. production. production.

SUBSCRIPTIONS SUBSCRIPTIONS SUBSCRIPTIONS ON ON SALE ON SALE SALE NOW NOW NOW ATAT THE AT THE THE BOX BOX BOX OFFICE OFFICE OFFICE 732.345.1400 732.345.1400 732.345.1400 or or tworivertheater.org tworivertheater.org or tworivertheater.org

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TWO RIVER STARS AND SHOWS ON BROADWAY & BEYOND YOU SAW THEM HERE FIRST!

From left: Susan Heyward and Alison Cimmet in My Wonderful Day. Photo by T. Charles Erickson.

S U SA N HEYWARD

From left: Will Connolly and Eric William Morris in Be More Chill. Photo by T. Charles Erickson.

E RIC W ILLIA M M O RRIS

Teal Wicks as Josephine Monaghan in The Ballad of Little Jo. Photo by T. Charles Erickson.

T E A L W IC KS

Susan played Winnie Barnstairs in Alan Ayckbourn’s farcical comedy, My Wonderful Day, our 2011/12 season closer. She is currently starring as Rose Granger-Weasley in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

Eric William Morris originated the Teal starred as Josephine (“Jo“) role of the Squip in our 2014/15 Monaghan in our 2016/17 musical, world-premiere hit, Be More Chill, The Ballad of Little Jo. Starting this then went on to play Jordan in The November, Teal will play “middle” Ballad of Little Jo and Beck in last Cher in The Cher Show musical. year’s season closer, Songbird. He is currently starring as Carl Denham in King Kong.

From left: Anthony Boyle, Susan Heyward and Sam Clemmett in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Photo by Sara Krulwich.

Christiani Pitts and Eric William Morris in Broadway’s King Kong. Photo by Joan Marcus.

From left: Teal Wicks, Stephanie J. Block and Micaela Diamond in The Cher Show. Photo by Joan Marcus.

YOU SAW IT HERE FIRST!

TWO RIVER THEATER COMMISSIONED WORLDPREMIERES CAN BE SEEN IN NEW YORK CITY IN 2019

The Company of Be More Chill. Photo by T. Charles Erickson.

Mia Barron of Hurricane Diane. Photo by T. Charles Erickson.

BE MORE CHILL premiered at Two River in June 2015 and will open on Broadway at the Lyceum Theatre.

HURRICANE DIANE premiered at Two River in January and will open Off-Broadway at New York Theatre Workshop.

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FIRST MONDAY MASTERS Two River Theater hosts a series of master classes called First Monday Masters, led by some of the marvelous artists who are involved in our season.

Some master classes are for high school students, some for adults, and some are for mixed ages. Classes are taught by actors, directors, playwrights, and designers—great artists who are excited to share their visions and work with students and lifelong learners.

Teachers can use our two-hour First Monday Masters classes for professional development, and will receive a certificate of completion at the end of the evening.

First Monday Masters classes are on Monday evenings from 6-8pm at Two River Theater. Cost varies per class and spots are limited.

Shakespeare: Macbeth, after making her TRT debut with The Comedy of Errors last season. This master class is for anyone interested in how directors and designers approach producing Shakespeare for modern audiences. As a student from Sara’s last First Monday Masters class said, “You were right. Sara is a rock star—insightful, validating, artistically and creatively empowering.”

JANUARY 7, 2019 – The Physical Comedy and Clowning of Noises Off For adults and high school students, limited to 16 participants, 6-8pm, $40 per person Michael Frayn’s Noises Off belongs on any list of the funniest plays ever written.

Screwball antics, sight gags, pratfalls, misplaced props, slamming doors and flying sardines all combine in this celebrated, flawless farce-within-a-farce. A member of this production’s cast or creative team will teach a clowning workshop that will showcase how artists can combine their skills with language with their gifts for physical comedy.

DECEMBER 3 – Adapting Shakespeare with Sara Holdren For adults and high school students, limited to 16 participants, 6-8pm, $40 per person Back by popular demand! Sara Holdren, a director and teacher, is the Artistic Director/ co-founder of Tiltyard theater company and lead theater critic for New York Magazine and Vulture.com. This season, Sara is adapting and directing Two River’s A Little

off than by singing a joyful song on the Rechnitz Theater stage! In this participatory master class, multi-talented Elliot Roth will teach a new arrangement of an unlikely mashup with lots of harmonies for singers of all ages. Hailed by the New York Times for his “silky smooth voice”, Elliott is the Musical Director for Two River’s Summer Intensives program. A Masters graduate of the prestigious Manhattan School of Music jazz arts program, he has Broadway (Our Sinatra and A Christmas Carol) and Off-Broadway credits, and currently teaches voice, rock/pop audition technique and jazz/soul recording arts in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Come join the fun!

FEBRUARY 4 – Everybody Sing! with Elliot Roth For everyone ages 10 and up, 6-8pm, $10 per person We all know that February is a cold, dark month. There’s no better way to kick it

MARCH 4 – Stage Combat with UnkleDave’s Fight-House For adults and high school students, limited to 16 participants, 6-8pm, $40 per person Violence on stage has to look realistic while remaining completely safe for all involved.

Founded by David Anzuelo, UnkleDave’s Fight-House is the stage combat team behind TRT’s productions of El Coquí Espectacular and the Bottle of Doom, Be More Chill, Seven Guitars, A Raisin in the Sun and this season’s production of King Hedley II. Combining his training as an actor, director, and martial artist, Anzuelo brings a unique approach to both fightchoreography and stage violence. His core team consists of Jesse Geguzis, Sean Griffin and Gerry Rodriguez. These amazing fight-directors/stage-combat teachers will discuss—and demonstrate—how violence fits into storytelling on stage.

TO REGISTER FOR A MASTER CLASS, VISIT THE BOX OFFICE, CALL 732.345.1400 OR VISIT TWORIVERTHEATER.ORG.

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JOIN OUR $25 FOR THE 25TH CAMPAIGNÂŹ

Photo Credits (Clockwise) from center: The Company of Be More Chill, 2015. David Josefsberg, Michael Urie, Christopher Fitzgerald, and Kevin Isola in A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum, 2015. The Company of The Ballad Of Little Jo, 2017. Ryan G. Dunkin, Britney Coleman, Kent Overshown & Perry Sook in Camelot, 2014. Brenda Pressley, Jeff Kready, Margo Seibert and Chuck Cooper in In This House, 2012. Photos by T. Charles Erickson.

In celebration of our 25th Anniversary Season, help us reach our fundraising goal of raising $25,000 from new donors. Your donation will help propel us forward into our next 25 years of artistic excellence and transformational educational programming.

NEW THIS SEASON! Use the DipJar in our lobby to make quick, easy and secure donations of $25 with any major credit card!

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QUESTIONS? Contact Individual Giving Manager, Jesse Beutell, at 732.345.1400 x 1805 or JBeutell@trtc.org Two River Theater is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization. No goods or services will be received in exchange for a gift made in the manner suggested. All contributions are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law.

THE T. THOMAS FORTUNE FOUNDATION AND CULTURAL CENTER “THE MOST FAMOUS PERSON YOU’VE NEVER HEARD OF”

LOCAL SPOTLIGHT:

Red Bank was once home to T. Thomas Fortune: turn-ofthe-century journalist, author, businessman, and intellectual giant who helped to shape the Civil Rights movement in America. And yet, for most of the country and even for the Red Bank community, Fortune’s legacy was almost entirely forgotten. But by preserving the James Parker Boulevard home of T. Thomas Fortune, the T. Thomas Fortune Foundation seeks to preserve his memory, and create a place to continue his legacy into the modern day.

Brookdale Community College professor, journalist, activist, and Two River Theater community relations representative Gilda Rogers has been involved in the effort to preserve Fortune’s home and legacy since 2008. Under her leadership, the T. Thomas Fortune Foundation became an official operating body in 2012, with a mission to spread awareness about Fortune’s historical significance and impact – and to turn his Red Bank home into the T. Thomas Fortune Cultural Center.

A soft opening is planned for February 2019, and the official launch of the T. Thomas Fortune Cultural Center will be in May 2019, as part of the annual Weekend in Old Monmouth tour of historic Monmouth County homes.

T. Thomas Fortune was born into slavery in Florida, in October 1856. Turning to journalism and a move north as an adult, he became the editor and owner of a newspaper eventually titled the New York Age, which became the most influential black paper in the nation over his 20-year tenure and established him as the leading African-American journalist of the 19th and 20th centuries.

A deeply connected intellectual and businessman, Fortune was an early mentor to Ida B. Wells and W. E. B. DuBois; a literary associate of Booker T. Washington and Marcus Garvey; and an advisor to President Theodore Roosevelt.

Fortune was an early advocate for using the term “AfroAmerican,” and co-founded the National Afro-American League, one of the earliest equal rights organizations in America. Fortune was an essential cultivating force in what BEFORE

would become the Civil Rights Movement, laying down a foundation in the late 19th century that would support the struggle for equality that would follow in the decades after his death.

But for all of these accomplishments he became, in the words of Foundation member Roger Mumford, “the most famous person you’ve never heard of.”

“That was the biggest hurdle,” Rogers says. “Making everyone aware of his prominence, and how important he was nationally to social justice in our country. Getting people to know who he was, and why he was important, and why this house was important.”

Fortune moved to his Red Bank home—which he dubbed Maple Hall—in 1901. The house was designated in 1976 as a National Historic Landmark, the Department of the Interior’s highest caliber of historic preservation.

“The house is being repurposed as a cultural venue,” Rogers says. “Not a museum, not a static historical home.

We want it to be vibrant and energetic, with a lot of programming going on, and a continuous flow of people coming in and out, offering them information and doing community outreach to bring them in.”

The house’s programming will not only reflect Fortune’s life and legacy and his place in Red Bank. It will also consciously reflect the Red Bank of today.

“As we grow I would love for us to be able to do something to spotlight and lift up all cultures. It’s important to reflect this American mosaic – everyone’s culture is important.

That was Fortune, as a journalist. He’s always listening, trying to take everything in and be able to speak something out in his paper that elevates all people.”

For more information about the T. Thomas Fortune Foundation and Cultural Center and ways to get involved, visit www.tthomasfortuneculturalcenter.org AFTER

The T. Thomas Fortune Foundation 39

HALLOWEEN BALL III RECAP On October 20, 2018 we hosted our third annual benefit bash Halloween Ball. The theater was transformed into a laboratory for unsound scientists and evil geniuses. Brave guests explored a secret lair and discovered experimental games, mad science dĂŠcor, and a diabolical dance floor. Food was provided by Brennan's catering, with tunes spun by DJ Tyler Valentine.

In our 25th Anniversary Season we continue to produce exceptional professional theater and inspire young people and life-long learners as a center for education. The proceeds of the Halloween Ball will benefit Two River Theater's many education programs and the development of new work. Annually over 5,000 students of all ages participate in a wide variety of Two River's innovative education and theater programs. Support for new work development includes the commission and development of new plays and musicals. Past support of new work has contributed to the success of Two River's Broadwaybound phenomenon Be More Chill and your support of the Halloween Ball 3 will contribute to the success of this season's world-premiere of Theo, running February 23 through March 24, 2019. Thank you to our sponsors for your support!

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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 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 Anne Luzzatto and Gordon Litwin Liz and Adam Rechnitz

BENEFACTOR ($5,000-$9,999) Anonymous Diane and Robert Butters Sam Chevalier Elizabeth Columbo Kelly and Brooks Cullen Carolyn DeSena Kathleen Ellis and the Hon. Kenneth Pringle* Robert E. Evanson Gale and Dr. Robert B. Grossman Guttenplan Family Foundation Joan and Paul Hamelberg Lanae and Todd Herman Joanna and Brian Leddin* Beth and Vincent Mazza*

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Linda McKean The Hon. Edward J. McKenna Nyire and Gregory Melconian Shirley and Bob Neff JP Nicolaides and the Hon. Ed Zipprich Sean O’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 Nancy Karpf and Scott Brady Patrick Callinan Lynne and Jan Dash Melissa and Joseph C. Del Broccolo, III The Devon Group Joan Ellis The Gravina Family Foundation, Inc. Juliet Cozzi and Ronald Gumbaz Christina Hewitt Eileen and Tim Hogan Barbara and Joseph Hollander Maureen and James Hurst* 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 Cynthia and William Wilby Meta and Dr. Ralph Wyndrum Chryssa Yaccarino

PATRON ($1,000-$2,499) Anonymous Jutta and George Aguilar Barbara and Andy Andres Marie and Robert Arbour Elizabeth and Robert Barrett Kasandrea Banks The Hon. William G. Bassler Lois Broder Amanda Butterbaugh and Michael Mulheren Barbara and Tom Carroll Tamara Casriel Joan and John Cleary Roberta Cohen Robert Cordrey and Bruce Sherill Nancy and Michael Del Priore John Dias Gail and John Duffy Linda and Bob Ensor Margean Gladysz Lorraine and Bob Henry Herbert Paul Catherine Weiss and Samuel Huber Michael Hurst Melissa and Paul Hurst Jean Jaslovsky and Vincent Gifford Ginny Kamin Gerri and Brett Lawrence Edward Madden

Wendy and Jerry Marks Jennifer Colyer and Shemmy Mishaan Aida and Brian Murphy Patricia Perfect Barbara and 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* Joan Zakanych David Zippel

PRODUCER ($500-$999) Anonymous Jennifer and Joe Anderson Nancy and Ed Butler Dennice and Ray Carey 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 Thomas K. Hessman Patricia and William Jaeger Sheela Jain, M.D. and Suresh Jain, M.D. Giovanna Kanu Judith Laufer Kim Mason Renee Maxwell Lois and Robert Mortenson Lauren Nicosia Penney Riegelman The Craig and Flori Roberts Foundation, Inc. Anita and Robert Stix* Penny and Larry Turtel

The Wilder Family Barry V. Qualls Gail and Stuart Van Winkle Carolyn Williams Nancy Winter

DIRECTOR ($250-$499) Anonymous (2) Lisa and Michael Absatz Lucille and Richard Adelmann Edward Beach Nancy and Frank Bellezza Peg and John Bennett Dr. Janice Breen Harmon P. Butler Dr. Joseph J. Calabro Lucy Campanella Barbara and Peter Carton Marjorie and Peter Cavalier Susan and Alan Coen Robert Connolly Karen and Joseph D’Amore Lisa and Carl Dumont Judith and William Fraser Barbara G. Fleischman Maria and Paul Galeota Susan and Roy Gelber Suzanne Longley and Guy Gsell Gail and Marc Harrison Barbara Boas and Stephen Hecht Kerri Hoffmaster Phyl and Don Howard May Louie and Walter Graczyk Ann Roseman and Stan Lumish Bob MacKasek Linda Mitchell Jennifer and Thomas Mullins Karen and David Rajala Toni Rinella and Brian Compton Louis Rodriguez Barbara Sager Peggy Sansone Peter A. Schkeeper Linda Schottland

William Shlala Kathryne and Richard Singleton Susan Stamler Karin and Joe Stein 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 IBM Corp Johnson & Johnson Matching Gifts 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 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 September 1, 2017 and October 26, 2018.

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INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT

THE VISIONARY CIRCLE $25,000+

THE STONE FOUNDATION

INNOVATOR CIRCLE $10,000-$24,999 The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust

The Philip & Tammy Murphy Foundation

BENEFACTOR $5,000 - $9,999 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 46

Thomas Dougherty Matt Markowski Daniel Pino Kayla Santry Gabby Scerbo John Knodel Front of House Staff 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 O’Neil Elliot Roth Teaching Artists Sara Holdren Adaptor/Director OPERATIONS Dave Hartkern Director of Facilities Vinnie Gillick Lamar Hicks William Hinton Wayne Van Saint Building Maintenance PRODUCTION Lauren Kurinskas Director of Production Will Cruttenden Associate Production Manager Kayla Allen Production Management Assistant Katherine Borden Company Management Assistant Joaquin Gomez Jackie Romeo Production Assistants Frank Meyer Technical Director Fiona Malone Assistant Technical Director Duane Noch Master Carpenter

Christian Dilks Staff Carpenter Laura Nuneliver Shop Assistant Colleen Dolan Scenic Charge Jeena Yoon Properties Supervisor Victoria Schilling Assistant Properties Supervisor Alison Marjean Frimmel Props Assistant Dan Montano Sound Supervisor Sue Patino Lighting Supervisor Abigail Lynn Smith Lighting Assistant Natalie Soto Sound Assistant Lesley Sorenson Costume Shop Supervisor Jill DiGiuseppe Draper Maggie Barnett Wardrobe Supervisor Jaclyn Vela Costume Assistant 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 Suzanne Allyn Marlene Abelon Debbie Adamchak Juanita Agee Irwin Altschiller Maddy Altschiller Karen Anderson Cecelia Ambrosio Ellen Balthazar Gale Baran Myriam Barthole

Paddy Barber Carl Battaglia Ellen Battaglia Joyce Becker Herb Bein Diane Bein Carmen Benimeli Barbara Berg Joan Blake Kathy Boushie Charles Blake Helena Blyskun Marti Bookstein Mercedes Brand Barbara Brodzinski Arlene Brown Robert Buchbinder April Bunn Carmen Cancel-Seaman Judith Carluccio Kathleen Castore Barbara Chasser Dora Chu Bob Connolly Roslyn Cooper Lynda Crawford Nancy Daley Elizabeth De Carvalho Diane DeLoche Florence Diller Eleanor Falcichio Ellen Falvo June Farkouh Steve Faustina Arleen Faustina Bonnie Foerst George Foerst Robyn Flipse Judy Fuller Prudence Frechette Janet Garcia Nancy Gargan Sidney Gelbein Pat George Bill Gerdes Lara Gomez Jim Graf Margaret Graf Marilyn Griffin Constance Gryczka Helene HelgesenMonserrate Roland Monserrate Nona Hammer Kathleen Hari Cynthia Hellman Greg Held Jeri Held Robert Hespe Karen Hespe Karen Heyer Marion Holinaty Caroline Huber Cecilia Jelic Shirley Johnson Bonnie Johnson

Thomas Johnson Virginia Kamin Barry Kaplan Dee Kaplan Karen Kelly Barbara Kenas Beverly Keyes Karen Kirkwood Valerie Kilpatrick Phyllis Kinsler Dottie Kirschenbaum Eleanor Kitzhoffer Mavis Kolb Diane Kragh Diane Kuriloff Harriet Kuropatwa Betti Lane Mary Anne Lapiana Margaret Lelivelt Donna Lizotte Bob Levine Carol Levine Barbara Lipton Kathy Lloyd Diane Lopresti Frank Lopresti Brittany Lovely Donna Lovely Gay Lowden Sharon Lucas Iris MacNeil Mary Mahoney Joanne Mallon Robert Mallon Janis Marano Pamela Marhan Libby Markowitz Mary Mason Susan Mazur Vinnie Mazza Joan McCue Eileen McDermott Jo McKeon-Hutton Bill McMurray Mary Melosh Evelyn Mendelsohn Anne Messinger Dorothy Michels Carol Migliore Bernard Miller Carol Miller Susan Minehardt Linda Monti Marilynne Morley Gloria Moro Susan Moss Michele Mullin Judith Mugrace Leslie Nicholson Kathy Nielsen Eileen Nolan Maureen O’Connor Leach Olivia Olson Linda Pacotti Dolores Palonetti Katherine Parisi

Terri Pinto Marilyn Pennell Art Perri Pat Perri Tracy Peternich Claire Planchere Terri Pontecorvo Philomena Porcello Lois Priest Marion Quinn Mark Rabinow Judy Rector Fran Reinhold Susan Richman Ruth Rosencrown Carl Rosencrown Lori Sadwith Gil Saltzman Marcia Saltzman Gail Sanderson Evelyn Schneider Connie Schulman Phyllis Searby Jeffrey Shepard Deb Sieron Robin Siegel Judy Simmons-Bradshaw George Smith Arlene Smelson Arthur Steinman Cathy Stelzner Howie Stelzner Linda Stewart Carol Stewart Mary Carol Stunkel Denise Sobotka Martin Sulkes Rose Sullivan Lorraine Stone Leila Sulkes Michele Susalis Eunice Taylor Steve Tepperman David Tolleth Deborah Tolleth Lauren Tolleth Chris Wallace Patricia Walter Mollie Warar Deborah Wasserman Marvin Wasserman Marty Weinstein Marla Weinstein Joy Weinstein Gregory White Nina Willey Kirk Willey Joyce Wingerter Barbara Withers Mary Ellen Wirin Zina Wolin Martin Wolin Joan Zakanych Laura Zakanych

The

G A L L E R I A ‘S

TUESDAY - FRIDAY 8 AM - 4 PM SAT & SUN 8 AM - 3 PM / CLOSED MONDAYS!

732.268.7365

Email: eaterywestside@gmail.com www.westsideeatery.com CATERING - BUSINESS NETWORK MEETING - SPECIAL DINNERS

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presented by

MEET OUR RESTAURANT PARTNER: DANNY’S STEAKHOUSE AND SUSHI

Danny’s Steakhouse + Sushi has been a long-time pillar of the Red Bank Community. Located next door to the theater, Danny’s is among the prime locations for Two River audiences to enjoy pre or post-show meals and cocktails. With lighter options including sushi and salads, and bigger portions of steak and pasta dishes, Danny’s menu offers something to please every palate.

Open daily from 11:30AM - 12AM. Happy Hour 7 days a week from 12 noon - 7pm

NEW THIS YEAR:

Roll Back Prices Every Monday!

Step back in time with Danny’s 1970’s menu items – for their original 1970’s price – every Monday! Enjoy any of the following dishes for just $10: n n n n n n n

Fettuccini Alfredo Tortellini Carbonara Baked Ziti Stuffed Shells Ravioli Spaghetti and Meatballs Spaghetti and Sausage

CELEBRATING

49 YEARS

IN BUSINESS

GAME DAY BAR MENU

It’s no secret that owner Danny Murphy is a huge Pittsburgh Steelers fan, so what better way to watch the game than with a special game day menu? Enjoy “Palamalu” Wings, The Ultimate “Antonio” grilled chicken sandwich, The “Hines” Pork Sandwich, and of course, The Ben Roethlis”burger”. Drink specials, bar pie, beer, and wing combos are available.

For more information on Danny’s Steakhouse + Sushi visit www.dannyssteakhouse.com or call 732.741.6900

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SCENE PAMELA’S FIRST MUSICAL OPENING NIGHT

AT

TWO RIVER

On Friday, September 14, Two River Theater hosted a post-show reception for donors and special guests attending the opening night performance of our 25th Anniversary Season opener Pamela’s First Musical. Those in attendance had the chance to mix and mingle with the cast, creative team and artists from past Two River productions.

Photos by Yurik L. Lozano.

THE WIZARD OF OZ MOVIE NIGHT

Photos by Yurik L. Lozano.

On Saturday, October 27, Two River Theater in partnership with Monmouth Film Festival held a special Wizard of Oz movie night in anticipation of our upcoming family-friendly production, Journey to Oz running November 23 - 25th. The movie opened with a welcome from Director of Education, Kate Cordaro and Monmouth Film Festival’s Director of Education Chris Adornato and concluded with some Oz-themed photo station fun! More film screenings this season to come.

Right two photos by Daniel Buckley.

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Call ahead or make reservations at 732.212.1700 Free Parking Available at the West Front Street Entrance

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