Joe Iconis and Family: A Special Benefit Concert by Two River Theater

A SPECIAL EVENING TO BENEFIT TWO RIVER THEATER’S PROGRAMS TO DEVELOP NEW WORK JOE ICONIS AND FAMILY

F EATU R IN G A CONC E RT P E R FO R M A N C E BY

O CTOB ER 2 ND, 2 02 1 TONIGHT’S EVENTS 6:00 | VIP COCKTAIL RECEPTION 7:00 | Concert Performance by Joe Iconis and Family 8:30 | Sponsor Dinner

LEADERSHIP JOHN DIAS ARTISTIC DIRECTOR MICHAEL HURST MANAGING DIRECTOR ROBERT R. RECHNITZ JOAN H. RECHNITZ FOUNDERS

BOARD OF TRUSTEES HON. EDWARD J. MCKENNA, JR PRESIDENT MARILYN BROEGE VICE PRESIDENT MARY JANE KROON SECRETARY GEOFFREY SADWITH TREASURER

DR. ANN BAGCHI MICHAEL BLAND AMANDA BUTTERBAUGH CAROLYN CUSHMAN DESENA DR. WALTER GREASON SAMUEL G. HUBER LAUREN NICOSIA ADAM RECHNITZ JOAN H. RECHNITZ ANNE MARIE SCHULTZ MAUREEN SILLIMAN MARY CAROL STUNKEL RICHARD B. WORLEY

EMERITUS TRUSTEE KATHRYNE SINGLETON

HackensackMeridianHealth.org

CONGRATULATIONS Hackensack Meridian Health and Hackensack Meridian Riverview Medical Center are proud to support Two River Theater. ■■■

We are excited to see you all back on the stage

A SINCERE THANKS

TO OUR GENEROUS SPONSORS

LIFE IN HATE NATION $10,000

Dr. Joan Rechnitz Hackensack Meridian Health Riverview Medical Center

REVOLUTION SONG $5,000 TEENAGE DELINQUENT $2,500 Cathy and Tom Sivo

Marilyn and Robert Broege Elizabeth Columbo

SOLITARY $1,000 Elizabeth and Robert H. Barrett, Jr. Jane Bergère Janice P. Haggerty Tom Hessman Samual G. Huber with Samuel G. Huber and Catherine Weiss Robin and John Klein The Honorable Edward J. McKenna, Jr. Sean O’Connell Patricia and Vernon Ralph Anne Marie Schultz June and Mort Seligman Susan E Whyman

UNDERWRITERS Elizabeth Columbo Robert Evanson Nancy Karpf Mary Jane and Richard Kroon 4

With the release of the original cast album, BE MORE CHILL caught fire online through the power of music streaming services. New fans from all over the world (the vast majority of whom had not seen the original Two River Theater production) took to social media and the web to express their love for the show through fanart, fanfiction, dressing up as their favorite characters, and more. On the strength of that viral and international adoration, in spring 2018 BE MORE CHILL announced an Off-Broadway run at the Pershing Square Signature Center. The limited engagement, which featured the same creative team and much of the same cast from Two River’s production, completely sold out. BE MORE CHILL opened on Broadway that summer, and Joe Iconis was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Original Score. You, our most loyal and generous supporters, made that journey possible. Your commitment to invest in our new work initiatives help to inspire a generation of artists. Tonight, as we celebrate the original cast recording of LOVE IN HATE NATION, based on the show’s 2019 world premiere production here at the Two River, we ask for your continued generosity and support as patrons, donors, and ambassadors to help spread the word. Thank you for being a part of this celebration of Two River Theater’s mission to develop new work.

John Dias Artistic Director

A NOTE FROM ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Tonight, we are thrilled to welcome home one of those exceptional artists, Joe Iconis. Joe first hit the Two River stage in 2010 as part of our very first Cabaret of New Songs for the Musical Theater, featuring work written by graduates from NYU’s Musical Theatre Writing program. I was instantly charmed by Joe’s lively—and surprising—ode to “Helen,” performed by Jason SweetTooth Williams. Two River approached Joe the very next day with a commission for a full musical, and in the 2014/2015 season, we premiered BE MORE CHILL, with music and lyrics by Joe Iconis and book by Joe Tracz.

JOHN DIAS

Building a robust initiative to develop and produce new plays requires patience, hard work, and encouragement. Here at Two River, we are committed to supporting the voices and visions of emerging and leading artists in the creation of new and original work. Our seasons include work by Pulitzer, Tony, Obie, and Grammy winners—as well as some of the brightest, most exciting rising talent in the American theater.

NEW WORK 6

n SUPPORTING THE CREATION OF GREAT AMERICAN THEATER More than twenty-five years ago, Two River Theater began with a dream to establish an exceptional professional theater in our community. At the heart of our mission is the goal to cultivate, develop and produce new work. Since its launch in 2010, we have been committed to sustaining and expanding our new-play commissioning program through artist residencies, retreats, readings, workshops and collaborations—all with an eye toward moving each promising new work through to production. Today, Two River is receiving national recognition for the nurturing of ambitious new plays and musicals. We invite you to flip through the following pages to see photos from some of our past world premiere productions. Love In Hate Nation by Tony Award nominee Joe Iconis (produced in the 2019/20 Season) was critically acclaimed as “A Revolutionary Theatrical Experience” by The Tricity News and the release of the Love in Hate Nation original cast recording is coming this fall.

The company of Love in Hate Nation. Photo by T. Charles Erickson.

Pamela’s First Musical by the late Wendy Wasserstein and Cy Coleman (produced in the 2018/19 Season) had a creative team with a combined total of more than 20 Tony Award nominations and 6 wins. Having been 20+ years in the making, Pamela’s First Musical was the theatrical event of the season.

Carolee Carmello and Sarah McKinley Austin in Pamela’s First Musical. Photo by T. Charles Erickson.

El Coqui Espectacular and the Bottle of Doom: A Superhero Play by Matt Barbot (produced in the 2017/18 Season) was heralded as “Smart, warm, inventive, vibrant, and simply a great deal of fun” by The Star Ledger. The play wowed patrons with its creative and joyful nature. Flor De Liz Perez and Cesar J. Rosado in El Coqui and the Bottle of Doom. Photo by Richard Termine.

The company of The Women of Padilla. Photo by T. Charles Erickson.

The Women of Padilla by Tony Meneses (produced in the 2016/17 Season) was inspired by the heightened lyricism of the renowned playwright and poet Federico García Lorca. Critically acclaimed as “Heart-stopping,” “succinctly composed,” and “artfully staged” by The Asbury Park Press, this beautiful play showed there is always a way— even through the hardest of times— to set our love free.

The Bridge of San Luis Rey adapted for the stage by David Greenspan (produced in the 2017/18 Season) was originally written by threetime Pulitzer Prize winner Thornton Wilder.

The Ballad of Little Jo by Mike Reid, Sarah Schlesinger and John Dias (produced in the 2016/17 Season) was based on a film of the same name and inspired by the remarkable real-life story of a woman named Josephine Monaghan. A cast album was released in November 2017.

Elizabeth Ramos in The Bridge of San Luis Rey. Photo by T. Charles Erickson.

The company of The Ballad of Little Jo. Photo by T. Charles Erickson.

Hurricane Diane by Playwright-in-Residence Madeleine George (produced in the 2016/17 Season) enjoyed an acclaimed, extended Off-Broadway run in New York in a coproduction between New York Theatre Workshop and WP Theater, and was called an “astonishing new play” by The New York Times and received an Obie Award for its Off-Broadway run.

The worldwide sensation Be More Chill by Tony Award nominee Joe Iconis and oe Tracz (produced in the 2014/15 Season) was the theater’s first Broadway production. The Wall Street Journal raved that it is “one of the strongest new musicals of the past decade.” Having found an enormous fanbase online, the original cast recording and Broadway cast recording have surpassed a total of 350 million streams.

Becca Blackwell and Mia Barron in Hurricane Diane. Photo by T. Charles Erickson.

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

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CONGRATULATIONS TWO RIVER THEATER from Betsy and Bob Barrett

Bradley James Tejeda, Elizabeth Ramos and Zachary Infante in The Bridge of San Luis Rey. Photo by T. Charles Erickson.

Vernon and Patricia Ralph are proud to support

TWO RIVER THEATER

The company of Pamela’s First Musical. Photo by T. Charles Erickson. 99

BIOS MEET THE ARTISTS!

BADIA FARHA is always excited to sing the songs of Joe Iconis and work with such a talented group of performers and creatives! Emmy Win for BWI Airport! Broadway: School of Rock. Off-Broadway: Broadway Bounty Hunter, Sistas, We The People: America Rocks!, Things to Ruin, and ReWrite. Tours: 1st National/Broadway of Little Shop of Horrors, International/National of Rent. Regional: Sister Act, Dreamgirls, Ragtime, and Smokey Joe’s Café to name a few. Lincoln Center: Joe Iconis & Family, Tribute to Alan Menken. Film/TV: FBI’s Most Wanted, A Gifted Man, All My Children, and America’s Got Talent. Badia is also a recording artist who can be heard on her releases “Still Waiting?” self-titled “Badia Farha,” “Things to Ruin” (Joe Iconis), and a host of Singles. NYU Graduate. Love to Al+ Alanna Rose, + Creya Rae, my family, and everyone who makes this a fun journey. Always for you Dad! Facebook/Instagram: @ Badiafarha AMINA FAYE is so excited to be back at Two River! She was recently seen in Love In Hate Nation at Two River Theater. (Cast album coming this fall!). She is a recent graduate of Penn State University. We ARE!!!

JOE ICONIS (Book, Music and Lyrics) is a musical theater writer, composer and lyricist. He has been nominated for a Tony Award, four Drama Desk Awards, two Lucille Lortel Awards, two Outer Critics’ Circle Awards, and is the recipient of an Ed Kleban Award, a Jonathan Larson Award, a Richard Rodgers Award, and is a former Ars Nova artist-in-residence. Joe’s musical Be More Chill (with Joe Tracz) debuted in March 2019 at Broadway’s Lyceum Theatre, following a sold-out Off-Broadway run at The Pershing Square Signature Center and a world premiere at Two River Theater. He is the author of Broadway Bounty Hunter (with Lance Rubin and Jason SweetTooth Williams; Barrington Stage Company and Greenwich House Theater Off-Broadway), Bloodsong of Love (Ars Nova, NAMT), The Black Suits (with Robert Maddock; Center Theater Group, Barrington Stage Company), ReWrite (Urban Stages, Goodspeed Opera House), and Theaterworks USA’s The Plant That Ate Dirty Socks and We the People. Musicals currently in development include The Untitled Unauthorized Hunter S. Thompson for La Jolla Playhouse (with Gregory S. Moss; directed by Christopher Ashley), Punk Rock Girl. Commissions: Two River Theater (with Joe Tracz). His music appeared on season two of NBC’s Smash, with his song “Broadway, Here I Come!” hailed by the New York Times as a new entry in The Great American Songbook. Albums: Be More Chill (OCR), which has been streamed over 350 million times; Things to Ruin (OCR); Two-Player Game, and The Joe Iconis Rock & Roll Jamboree, all available on Sh-K-Boom/Ghostlight Records. TOM JORGENSEN Since beginning playing the drums at the age of three, Tom has known that music was his passion. He is most known for his stylistic versatility, advanced sightreading, musical sensibility, and for occasionally putting his perfect pitch to good use by mentioning what note the chair produced when screeched across the floor. Tom was born and raised in Aurora, Colorado and grew up in Omaha, Nebraska before moving to New York City, where he studied and graduated from The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music. Since graduating, Tom has maintained an active schedule of live performances and recording session work in NYC, and has also done an extensive amount of touring, notably playing drums for the First National Broadway tour of “Waitress The Musical”. He is also an active touring drummer for the Youtube group Postmodern Jukebox, with which he has toured all over the world featuring concerts at venues such as Radio City Music Hall, The Harpa Concert Hall in Reykjavík, Iceland, Salle

Pleyel Concert Hall in Paris, and the Sydney Opera House. Tom continues to perform live around the New York City area, and maintains a regular recording and mixing schedule in his remote studio. LAUREN MARCUS After originating the role of Brooke Lohst in Be More Chill at Two River Theater in 2015, Lauren made her Broadway debut with the show at the Lyceum Theatre in 2019! Other select regional and New York credits include: Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors (Pittsburgh Public Theater), Brigid in The Humans (St. Louis Rep), Amy in Company (Barrington Stage), Beatsville (AsoloRep), The Jonathan Larson Project (Feinstein’s/54 Below), Mary Flynn in Merrily We Roll Along (Sharon Playhouse), Pregnancy Pact (Weston Playhouse), and Miss Asp in Love in Hate Nation (Two River Theater). Lauren is also a singer/songwriter and her debut EP, Never Really Done With You, can be found on Spotify and iTunes. She received her Bachelor of Music from NYU and her Master of Arts from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. More info at www. laurenmarcus.com, @laurmarcus. ERIC WILLIAM MORRIS: Broadway: King Kong, Coram Boy, Mamma Mia! Eric frequently collaborates with composer Joe Iconis, starring in Be More Chill (Original Cast Recording, Two River Theater), Things To Ruin (OCR, 2ndStage), and Bloodsong of Love (Ars Nova). TV/Film Include: Mind Hunter, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, FBI, Quantico, Blue Bloods, and the feature film Trust, Greed, Bullets, & Bourbon. Other Regional/Off Broadway: Richard Greenberg’s The Perplexed (MTC), Songbird (59E59, Two River), The Ballad of Little Jo (OCR, Two River), The Last Goodbye, Dog & Pony (both at The Old Globe), and Talk to Me Like The Rain… (Theatre Row). Eric is also a play, screen, and songwriter who loves working and collaborating and talking to people...and he misses doing that and looks forward to getting back into rooms and creating with other humans again. WILL ROLAND is a Brooklynbased actor best known for the original Broadway productions of Be More Chill and Dear Evan Hansen. He is also featured on seasons 3 through 6 of Billions on Showtime. Other theatre credits include The Black Suits

at Barrington Stage Company and Center Theatre Group, The Bus at 59E59, and more. Will is also a proud longtime member of Joe Iconis & Family. They have collaborated frequently over the last decade. Will’s solo show, Loser Songs played sold-out runs in New York City and in San Francisco. During the pandemic, he frequently collaborated with fellow Dear Evan Hansen alumni Andrew Barth Feldman and Alex Boniello on streaming events including Broadway Whodunit, Broadway Jackbox, and Supporting Rolls, collectively raising over $100,000 for charities including: The Actors Fund, Feeding America, the national chapter of Black Lives Matter, and I Need Diverse Games. JASON SWEETTOOTH WILLIAMS (he/him/his) is an actor and a writer and he is absolutely thrilled to be making music again with the Iconis & Family rabble-rousers at Two River Theater. Most recently Jason was seen making his Broadway debut in Be More Chill! He’s worked extensively with writer Joe Iconis, appearing in such Iconis-penned musicals as Bloodsong of Love (Ars Nova), The Black Suits (SPF- The Public Theater), ReWrite (Urban Stages), Things To Ruin, and others. Jason has also originated roles in Disney’s Freaky Friday (La Jolla Playhouse, Signature Theater), Benny and Joon (The Old Globe), and Crossing Brooklyn (Transport Group). He appeared opposite Jackie Hoffman as Prince Dauntless in Transport Group’s Off-Broadway revival of Once Upon a Mattress. As a writer, Jason is co-book writer (with Iconis and Lance Rubin) of the new musical Broadway Bounty Hunter, which premiered last summer in NYC at Greenwich House Theater and starred the great Annie Golden! JOHN SIMPKINS (Director) is most excited to again work with Joe Iconis – after directing last season’s World Premiere of Love in Hate Nation at Two River Theater. He also directed Mr. Iconis’ three-time Drama Desk nominated Bloodsong of Love (Ars Nova); The Black Suits (Center Theatre Group - Kirk Douglas Theatre, Barrington Stage Company); ReWrite (Urban Stages, Goodspeed Opera House); The Plant That Ate Dirty Socks (Theaterworks USA - Lucille Lortel); Things to Ruin (which he also co-conceived) and all 12 years of the Joe Iconis Christmas Extravaganza. Other work includes World Premiere plays and musicals at Fredericia Theater in Demark, Human Race Theatre Company, 59E59, Theaterworks Hartford. Regionally, he has directed at Sacramento Music Circus, Lyric Theatre Oklahoma, North Carolina Theatre, John W. Engeman Theatre and Sharon Playhouse (where he also served as Artistic Director). John is Head of Musical Theatre at Penn State University, where he has commissioned and directed Love in Hate Nation, The Last Day (Mike Reid/ Sarah Schlesinger), The Lucky Boy (Kirsten Childs), Dust and Embers (Sam Salmond) and Nostalgia Night (Matthew McCollum/ Sofya Levitsky- Weitz) through a New Musicals Initiative he created and curates. www.john-simpkins.com 11

CONGRATULATIONS TWO RIVER THEATER from Liz Columbo

The company company of of The Pamela’s FirstofMusical. Photo by by T. T. Charles Charles Erickson. Erickson. The Women Padilla. Photo 12

The Sivo Family is proud to sponsor

TWO RIVER THEATER!

Gabriel Diego Hernández and Bradley Tejeda of El Coqui Espectacular and the Bottle of Doom. Photo by Richard Termine.

CONGRATULATIONS TWO RIVER THEATER from Jane Bergère

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

The Hessman Siblings are proud to support new works like

LOVE IN HATE NATION!

The company of Love In Hate Nation. Photo by T. Charles Erickson. 14

Anne Marie Schultz and Brian Schwarz are proud to support

TWO RIVER THEATER

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

CONGRATULATIONS TWO RIVER THEATER from Judy and Joe Vassallo

Teal Wicks in Ballad of Little Jo. Photo by T. Charles Erickson.

TWO RIVER THEATER ROCKS!

Sydney Farley in Love in Hate Nation. Photo by T. Charles Erickson.

CONGRATULATIONS TWO RIVER THEATER

from Lauren Nicosia and Edward J. Mckenna, Jr

The company of The Ballad of Little Jo. Photo by T. Charles Erickson.

CONGRATULATIONS TO JOAN RECHNITZ AND TWO RIVER THEATER from Susie Whyman

The company of Love In Hate Nation. Photo by T. Charles Erickson. 16

THANK YOU TO JOHN DIAS, MICHAEL HURST AND THE WONDERFUL TWO RIVER THEATER STAFF. WE APPRECIATE ALL THAT YOU HAVE CREATED AND ACHIEVED! With love, Joan Rechnitz

Y PARK

ASBUR

RED BANK

at the Count Basie Center

IN LOVING MEMORY OF KATHLEEN MARIE O’CONNELL 1930

2020

YOUR DEVOTED SON, SEAN 18