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university at albany State University of New York
UAlbany Theatre
Department of Music & Theatre College of Arts and Sciences presents August Wilson’s THE PIANO LESSON Directed by Jean-Remy Monnay
Vocal Coach Ryan Garbayo Lighting Design Andi Lyons
Scenic Design Devon Drohan Costume Design Anne Croteau
Sound Design Nathan Cooper Stage Manager Jack Besterman Technical Direction John Knapp
Originally Produced on Broadway by Yale Repertory Theatre (Lloyd Richards, Artistic Director; Benjamin Mordecai, Managing Director), Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre (Gordon Davidson, Artistic/Producing Director), Gordon Davidson and Jujamcyn Theaters (James H. Binger, Chairman; Rocco Landesman, President); produced in association with the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center, Huntington Theatre Company (Peter Altman, Producing Director; Michael Maso, Managing Director), Goodman Theatre, Old Globe Theatre (Jack O’Brien, Artistic Director; Thomas Hall, Managing Director) and Manhattan Theatre Club (Lynne Meadow, Artistic Director; Barry Grove, Managing Director); associate producer, Stephen J. Albert.
Originally mounted in 1987 by Yale Repertory Theatre (Lloyd Richards, Artistic Director; Benjamin Mordecai, Managing Director) and Huntington Theatre Company (Peter Altman, Producing Director; Michael Maso, Managing Director)
Originally presented at National Playwright’s Conference of The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center.
A Note from the Director
goals is to direct or produce all ten plays in August Wilson’s Pittsburgh Cycle. I have directed Fences twice. The Piano Lesson is one of my favorite plays. Thanks to UAlbany Theatre Program for giving me the opportunity to direct it, with these talented and amazing students. It has been a wonderful and rewarding experience working with the designing team, the creative team, and all the actors. All 10 of August’s plays are about family struggle, pain, racism, dysfunctional at times, but love eventually wins.”
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~ Jean Remy MonnayThis production is made possible with the generous support of The John Orser ’55 Theatrical Endowment, the Futterer-Gould Fund and University Auxiliary Services.
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Who’s Who
JAYLEN ADISON (Wining Boy) is an Informatics major concentrating in cybersecurity with a minor in Theatre. He is a transfer student from Queensborough Community College and is now in his junior year at UAlbany. Jaylen performed in many musical plays for charity as a child and participated in school plays throughout middle school. He now has a deeper interest in acting and plans to pursue it as a career. This is Jaylen’s first production at UAlbany.
BORGIATU TENNEH BANGURA (Maretha) is a sophomore and is beyond thrilled to work alongside the UAlbany Theatre Program’s students and faculty to present this amazing play. BB has a deep passion and admiration for music, Broadway, film and TV. She would like to thank her Audition Techniques Professor Chad Larabee for suggesting she try out for this play. The Piano Lesson is the first ever production that BB has participated in.
DONNIE FRAZIER (Avery) is a senior at UAlbany, and very excited to work on The Piano Lesson. He has performed in the Theatre Program’s New Play Arena, FRESH ACTS, and Authors Theatre reading of Kudzu Calling by Donnetta Lavinia Grays, in which he performed alongside his current director, Jean-Remy Monnay. He is enjoying his roles as both a member of the cast and the production crew, as the marketing associate.
ALEXANDER HECK (Boy Willie) is a first-year student with The Blue Horse Repertory Company Acting School at the Theatre Institute at Sage College. He is a young father of two, and that is what drives him to keep striving every day! He would like to thank his teacher Lora Lee, and classmates for motivating him to audition for this production. The Piano Lesson is Alexander’s first production.
LUIS LOWERY (Doaker) is a junior at UAlbany, who transferred this year from SUNY Orange in Middletown, NY. He participated in many plays and musicals while a student at Middletown High School. Luis is very honored to be working with his lovely and talented castmates, and he would like to thank Jean Remy Monnay for this opportunity.
RONALD SANDERS (Lymon) is a first year student at UAlbany, and this is his first production with the Theatre Program. He began performing theatre in his high school and is excited to continue with his acting in college.
MARIAM SANOU (Grace) is a sophomore at UAlbany. In the Theatre Program she previously appeared in Josephine in the New Play Arena last fall, and as an ensemble member in FRESH ACTS last spring. She is looking forward to taking on the character Grace in The Piano Lesson!
SHANELL WEST (Bernice) is a junior at UAlbany majoring in Theater. Previous roles include Virtue in Josephine in the New Play Arena last fall, and Valentina in Twelfth Night last spring semester. Shanell wishes to thank all her friends, family, and cast for their support.
GODSWILL UTIONKPAN (Assistant Director) is a junior majoring in Informatics (software development) and minoring in Theatre. He was first drawn to acting after watching Denzel Washington in Training Day and Marlon Brando in A Streetcar Named Desire, but it wasn’t until he took Acting 1 with Professor Kenner that he found it was something that he loved to do. Godswill was an ensemble member in last spring’s FRESH ACTS festival. He commends the cast of this production and is excited to explore on a new avenue in his career, seeing the play through the eyes of the director.
JACK BESTERMAN (Stage Manager) is a senior at UAlbany studying Theatre and Journalism. His previous work includes assistant directing Lovers & Lunatics, dramaturgy for A Dream Play, and production assistance for FRESH ACTS. He is excited to be a part of bringing August Wilson’s historic work to life on stage.
EMILY CHOON (Assistant Stage Manager) is a senior at UAlbany majoring in Theatre. This is her first time being an ASM, and she is excited to work with everyone. She has worked with the run crew for the Theatre Program’s productions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2019), and There Was a Dent Here, It’s Gone Now and Josephine (2021) in the New Play Arena. Her first performance as an actor was the online production of Love & Other Destinations (2021) directed by Chad Larabee. She wants to thank the cast and crew for their amazing work and is glad she had the courage to sign on as an ASM. She hopes everyone enjoys the show, and efforts the team put into the production.
CLAIRE DELL-PRISCOLI (Assistant Stage Manager) is a senior at UAlbany, double majoring in Theatre and Engl ish. Claire enjoys writing play as much as performing in them. Previous productions include Suddenly Last Summer and Twelfth Night, as well as her own play, There Was a Dent Here, It's Gone Now, which was part of FRESH ACTS last spring. She is also a library ambassador and hopes to become a librarian in her future. Claire is excited to be working on this production and wants to thank her friends and family for helping her get this far!
JEAN-REMY MONNAY (Director) was born in Haiti. In 1982, at the age of 18, he moved to New York, hoping to continue his education and acting career. He has appeared in over 200 plays, films, commercials, voice overs, and documentaries; and has produced and directed over 100 one act, short, and full length
plays. Remy is an Associate Artist with Capital Repertory Theatre in Albany, and with the Troy Foundry Theatre. He is the Producing Artistic Director of the Black Theatre Troupe of Upstate NY, founded in 2009 with the mission of promoting performances and theatrical pieces by, and about, artists of color. In highlighting these works, he hopes to foster greater understanding, appreciation and participation in the performing arts within communities of color. Remy became a member of the Screen Actors Guild American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG/AFTRA) in 2019, and recently retired after 30 years of service with New York State.
RYAN GARBAYO (Vocal Coach) Ryan is a Cuban American screen and stage actor. On television, Ryan played Ruben Ortiz on Law and Order: SVU in seasons 22 and 23. He has also been seen on Elementary, The Good Wife and Person of Interest. He has performed extensively with Red Bull Theater in New York City, and at several regional theaters including Denver Center Theater Company, The Shakespeare Theatre of DC, Westport Country Playhouse, Pittsburgh Public Theater and the Maltz Jupiter Theater. He earned a BFA at Emerson College and is an alum of NYU’s Graduate Acting Program where he received an MFA. Ryan has held faculty positions at the University of Miami, The Professional Performing Arts School and New York Film Academy, before joining the faculty at UAlbany this fall as Visiting Assistant Professor of Acting.
ANNE CROTEAU (Costume Designer) returns to the UAlbany Theatre Program after previously designing and constructing costumes for Eurydice, Spring Awakening, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, Good Kids, and In The Next Room. Professional theatre credits include the American Repertory Theatre; Huntington Theatre Company; Costume Works, Inc.; Krannert
Center for the Performing Arts and many others. She holds a MFA in Costume Construction and Design from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, and a BA in Theatre from the University at Albany. Anne is the owner of Dress You Up, a custom bridal and formal gown design studio in Ballston Lake.
DEVON DROHAN (Scenic Designer) is a scenic designer, production designer, props master and scenic charge hailing from Westborough, Massachusetts. Most recently she served as Scenic Designer for A Walk in the Woods, and Scenic Charge for the summer season at Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, Massachusetts. She has been serving as Adjunct Professor/ Scenic Designer at UAlbany since Fall 2021, designing scenery for A Dream Play and Twelfth Night. She received the Broadway World Berkshires 2021 Award for Best Scenic Design for her Shakespeare & Co’s production of Becoming Othello: A Black Girls Journey. Other scenic design credits include Taming of the Shrew, Love’s Labor’s Lost, and God of Carnage (Shakes-peare & Co); The Magic Flute (UNCG Opera); Antigone and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (UNCG); Machinal and Casanova (UMass Amherst). She holds an MFA in Design from UNC Greensboro’s School of Theatre, and a BA from UMass Amherst.
JOHN KNAPP (Scene Shop Supervisor/Technical Director) holds a BA in Theatre from UAlbany. He has been part of the team of students and artistic colleagues for approximately twenty-seven years, helping to build roughly 100 productions at UAlbany. John’s designs include The School for Scandal, Cloud 9, My Children! My Africa!, Miss Reardon Drinks a Little, The Importance of Being Earnest, and In the Next Room. John doubles as the Theatre Program’s Archivist. In 2006 John started collecting documents (photos, programs, posters, etc.) to create a digital archive of Theatre at the University. We now have over
110 years of known Theatre history at UAlbany. If you have memorabilia that relates to theatre here, please contact John at: jknapp@albany.edu
ANDI LYONS (Lighting Designer) is Professor Emeritus/O’Leary Professor of Theatre, former chair of UAlbany’s Theatre Department, and former head of Design and Technology. Andi has designed over 300 productions for a variety of professional and academic venues. Favorites include Ann for Dallas Theatre Center and Arena Stage, WAM Theatre’s Emilie, Capital Repertory Theatre’s The Seahorse, La MaMa E.T.C.’s Sole Sisters, Theater for the New City’s Distant Music, Tri-Cities Opera’s Tosca, and Des Moines Metro Opera’s Il Trovatore. Andi received both Chancellor’s and President’s Awards for Excellence in Teaching and in Academic Service. She is a lifetime fellow of USITT, a member of United Scenic Artists Local 829, and earned her MFA from Yale University’s School of Drama.
Jonathan Larson's hit musical follows a year in the life of a group of impoverished young artists and musicians struggling to survive and create in New York's Lower East Side, under the shadow of HIV/AIDS. It’s about falling in love, finding your voice, and living for today. Winner of the Tony Award for Best Musical and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, RENT shaped a generation of audiences and taught us all to measure our life in love.
UAlbany Theatre
Thank you for supporting 110 years of live theatre at the University at Albany. The UAlbany Theatre Program has a long, proud history of creating thought provoking theatre while training the next generation of theatre artists, and we need your help to continue. We hope you will consider donating to the UAlbany Theatre Program to support our productions, student scholarships, and special endowments to ensure we can provide the best training for our talented students for the next 100 years. You will also help us cover a portion of the costs of the sets, costumes, lighting, royalties, and other expenses required to produce theatre. For more information on how you can help, contact the Theatre Program at 518-442-4200. www.albany.edu/theatre www.Facebook.com/UAlbanyTheatre
