Six Degrees of Separation by VIA MEDIA / BAYSTAGES

CUSTOM MADE THEATRE CO. PRESENTS

SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION By John Guare

Directed By Stuart Bousel

B AY STAG E S .C OM B AY STAG E S .C O M B AYSTAG E S .C O M B AY STAG E S. C O M B AY STAG E S. C OM

B AY STAG E S .C OM

Opens 06-03-16 Thru 06-11-16 Thru 06-19-16

Thru 05-29-16

C tr. O rch. C tr. O rch .

Sub s c ri b er Sub s c ri b er

Thru 06-25-16

415 . 5 5 2 . 8 0 4 0

Co m i n g S o o n

adver t i se@bayst ages. com

C tr. O rch .

SOON

C t r. O rch .

COMING

BERKELEY PLAYHOUSE SILICON VALLEY SHAKESPEARE

C tr. O r ch .

SAN FRANCISCO PLAYHOUSE Strand Theater, 1127 Market Street, San Francisco 415.677.9596 • sfplayhouse.org

C t r. O rch .

CITY LIGHTS THEATER COMPANY 529 South Second Street, San Jose 408.295.4200 • cltc.org

S u b s c ri b e r

RAY OF LIGHT THEATRE Victoria Theater, 2961 16th Street, San Francisco 415.677.9596 • sfplayhouse.org

S u b s cr i b e r

DRAGON PRODUCTIONS THEATRE COMPANY 2120 Broadway Street, Redwood City 650.493.2006 • dragonproductions.net

S u b sc ri b e r

Opens 06-03-16 Thru 05-29-16 Thru 06-11-16 Thru 06-19-16 Thru 06-25-16 Coming Soon

BROADWAY BY THE BAY Fox Theatre, 2215 Broadway Street, Redwood City 650.579.5565 • broadwaybythebay.org

S u b s c ri be r

C tr. O rch. C tr. O rch . C tr. O rch . C tr. O r ch . C t r. O rch . C tr. O r ch.

N O W F E AT U R E D O N

T HE CUSTOM MA DE T HE AT RE C O. pres e n t s

John Guare

SETTING: New York City, 1990.

graphic design + publishing

CAST [ IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER ]

Rick............................................................................... Sam Bertken Elizabeth...................................................................... Alisha Ehrlich Woody/Hustler............................................................. Kyle Goldman Larkin................................................................................. Brian Levi Geoffrey/Policeman....................................................... Carl Lucania Tess..................................................................... Kathleen McHatton Ben/Detective............................................................ Kyle McReddie Paul................................................................................. Khary Moye Ouisa....................................................................Genevieve Perdue Kitty..............................................................................Kelly Rinehart Doug/Trent............................................................... Richard Sargent Dr. Fine....................................................................... Karl Schackne Flan................................................................................Matt Weimer

CREATIVE TEAM

including what you are holding right now to the lgbt, arts, business and hospitality communities since 1998

]

clients include

Director.............................................................................. Stuart Bousel ♦ Assistant Director....................................................................Neil Higgins Stage Manager.......................................................................Grisel Torres Scenic Designer.......................................................................Ryan Martin Costume Designer.......................................................Brooke Jennings ♦ Lighting Designer.......................................................... William Campbell Sound Designer..............................................................Ryan Lee Short ♦ Props Designer.......................................................................Grisel Torres Assistant Costume Designer....................................................Kitty Torres Scenic Painter..................................................................Nicola McCarthy Scenic Construction............................................................. Sydney Porter ♦ Member, The Custom Made Theatre Co.

This production sponsored by KOU RTNEY PARRY + B RI AN DI C E

san francisco playhouse broadway by the bay custom made theatre co. san francisco pride castro street fair sonoma county pride s.f. gay men’s chorus golden gate business association silicon valley shakespeare and the merchants associations of San Francisco’s

mission, noe valley, castro, bayview, potrero/dogpatch, north beach, soma/ south beach-mission bay and inner sunset

Performances:

May 19 to June 18, 2016

neighborhoods

Custom Made Theatre, 533 Sutter Street, San Francisco, CA 94102

415.552.8040

The play is performed without an intermission.

advertise@via.media

Please turn off your cell phones. Videotaping or other recording of this production is strictly prohibited. 2016.05 • BAYSTAGES.COM

[

providing outstanding graphic design + publishing solutions

a division of Caselli Partners LLC

BOARD OF DIRECTORS Sheri Abrams Leah S. Abrams Linda Ayres-Frederick Serge Bakalian Phil Bartenetti Norman Berman Nancy Cooper Frank Barbara Janney Brian Katz Marsha Katz Mel Katz Brandy Leggett-Petricka Daunielle Rasmussen Yvonne Steffen

COMPANY MEMBERS Perry Aliado Terry Bamberger Lewis Campbell Stefin Collins Ashley Cowan AJ Davenport Jennifer Dean Giana DeGeiso Danielle Doyle Mark Eisman Stephanie Ann Foster Justin Gillman Ryan Hayes Eric Johnson Shelley Lynn Johnson Tavis Kammet Catherine “Cat” Luedtke Brian Martin Eden Neuendorf Fred Pitts Eric Rice Gabriel A. Ross Jessica Jade Rudholm Kim Saunders Rona Siddiqui Dave Sikula Paul Stout Richard Wenzel Teri Whipple

FROM THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR We have the biggest news! Coming this August, we hope you will join us for a special event: Stacy Ross in the NNPN Rolling World Premiere of Steve Yockey’s The Thrush & the Woodpecker: A Revenge Play. Directed by Tracy Ward and also starring Fontana Butterfield and Adam Magill, this thriller is sure to be the hit of the summer season, and you can see it for free! All early-bird subscribers to our 2016-2017 season will receive one free ticket per subscription to see Stacy in Thrush. Of course, you will also experience our amazing upcoming season detailed on the next page. Subscribe today at custommade.org/subscribe or fill out the form included in this program. Our subscribers receive up to 50% off on their ticket purchases and get a host of other perks. Most importantly, they are our best supporters and are dedicated to helping small theater thrive in San Francisco. Whether renewing or joining our family for the first time, we are grateful for your support and cannot wait to for you to experience these amazing shows!

Brian Katz Artistic Director bkatz@custommade.org

Now in our 17th season of production in San Francisco, The Custom Made Theatre Co. is committed to producing plays that awaken our social conscience, focusing on the strength of the ensemble and creating an intimate theatrical experience. PLEASE FILL OUT YOUR AUDIENCE SURVEY! Why? You will reap good karma like: • • • •

being entered in a drawing to win two free tickets getting on our mailing list for great discounts and news helping Custom Made receive grants being that kind of cool person

Please deposit it in the handy bowl as you leave the theater. Thank you! 2

BAYSTAGES.COM • 2016.05

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR 2016-2017 SEASON SEP 2016 • CHESS

book by Richard Nelson • lyrics by Tim Rice music by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus Set towards the end of the cold war, Chess uses politics and sport as a metaphor for a love triangle between an enfant-terrible American superstar (loosely modeled on Bobby Fisher), his Hungarian-born lover/ second and a Soviet player looking to start a new life. With such hits as “One Night in Bangkok,” “Pity the Child” and “I Know Him So Well,” the eclectic score ranges from classical to Euro-pop. It's truly an adult musical.

533 Sutter Street San Francisco, CA 94102 415.798.2682 info@custommade.org custommade.org

STAFF Brian Katz

OCT 2016 • RAPTURE, BLISTER, BURN

artistic director

by Gina Gionfriddo (San Francisco Premiere) Not since Wendy Wasserstein’s Pulitzer Prize-winning The Heidi Chronicles has a play taken on the complexities of the women’s liberation movement with such intimacy and acerbic wit. Rapture reunites three old friends confronting mid-life questions of paths and purpose, hilariously and painfully exploring the concept of trying out that life you rejected.

Leah S. Abrams executive director

Eden Neuendorf company manager

Beth Hall production manager

JAN 2017 • BELLEVILLE

by Amy Herzog (Bay Area Premiere) Young Americans Zack and Abby have the perfect ex-pat life in Paris: a funky bohemian apartment in up-and-coming Belleville, a stable marriage, and Zack’s noble mission to fight pediatric AIDS. When Abby finds Zack at home one afternoon when he’s supposed to be at work, the questions and answers that follow shake the foundation of their seemingly beautiful life.

Paul Stout facilities manager

Gabriel A. Ross casting director

Stuart Bousel director of new works

Adam L. Sussman

FEB 2017 • ISAAC’S EYE

by Lucas Hnath (Bay Area Premiere) A hilarious and poignant exploration of love, greatness and the nature of truth that playfully combines contemporary language, historical fact, deadpan humor and scientific inquiry. Hot New York playwright Hnath pits two ruthless thinkers against one another in a battle of wits while playing a thrilling game of meta-theatrics, calling attention to the way we establish truth onstage through deception and imagination.

literary manager

Cat Howser resident stage manager

Brooke Jennings resident costume designer

Maxx Kurzunski resident lighting designer

Ryan Lee Short

APR 2017 • THE HOUSE OF YES

by Wendy MacLeod Arriving during a hurricane, Marty comes home for Thanksgiving with his fiancé, Lesly, This is not taken well by his twin sister, Jackie-O, who has been recently released from a mental hospital, nor the rest of the family and a series of seductions and games start to spin out of control. This classic indie play is a love story that is both sensational and devastating.

resident sound designer

Jon Bailey resident fight choreographer

Liz Ryder resident composer

Perry Aliado resident dramaturge

MAY 2017 • KURT VONNEGUT’S MOTHER NIGHT

adapted by Brian Katz (World Premiere) Vonnegut’s third and highly celebrated novel is newly adapted for the stage. The metafictional tale of Howard W. Cambell (last seen in 2014’s Slaughterhouse-Five) is that of duplicitous spies, bumbling white supremacists and a timeless love affair that rejects patriotism and borders - instead fantasizing an idyllic “nation of two.” Mother Night reminds us “We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.”

custommade.org/subscribe 2016.05 • BAYSTAGES.COM

@CustomMadeSF

ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES SAM BERTKEN (Rick) is very pleased

BERTKEN

EHRLICH

GOLDMAN

to return to the Custom Made stage to play Rick in Six Degrees of Separation after playing Warren in this year's critically acclaimed season opener, This Is Our Youth. Sam has been performing in huge theaters, tiny black boxes and the occasional bar in the Bay Area for the past few years. Other recent credits include Buck in Dick 3 (San Francisco Theater Pub), Meekins in O Best Beloved and Aesop Amuck (Idiot String, Best of Fringe, San Francisco Fringe Festival, 2013), Mitch in Faulted (foolsFury Theater) and Chris in Becky's New Car (Dragon Productions). Sam is also a co-host of the monthly instant theater festival, Saturday Write Fever.

ALISHA EHRLICH (Elizabeth) is

excited to work with Custom Made again! She was last seen here as Mary Warren in The Crucible. She has also had the joy of working on the roles of Eurydice in Eurydice (Douglas Morrisson Theatre), Philotis in 'Tis Pity She's a Whore (The Breadbox) and understudying the role of Mariane in Dominique Serrand's Tartuffe at Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Lately, she has come to discover she enjoys using her acting skills for good and not for evil and has increasingly been working with medical and police training programs.

KYLE GOLDMAN (Woody, Hustler)

LEVI

LUCIANA

is thrilled to be a part of his first show with Custom Made. This is also Kyle's third show of 2016, following performances as Stevie in Good People and Tom Buchanan in The Great Gatsby (Role Players Ensemble). Kyle will be returning to Role Players for their 2016-2017 season, in the role of Leslie in Edward Albee's Seascape, which will also partner with the Eugene O'Neill Foundation for the 2016 Eugene O'Neill Festival. Kyle would like to thank all his friends and family for their support throughout his journey in the theatre world. "See you all on the other side." 4

BAYSTAGES.COM • 2016.05

BRIAN LEVI ( Larkin ) debuts

at Custom Made after many shows around the Bay Area over the years including To Kill a Mockingbird (Atticus, Hillbarn Theatre), Sheherezade's Last Tales (Playwright's Center of San Francisco, EXIT Theatre), Sylvia (Greg, Coastal Repertory Theatre), Pear Slices 2015 (TBA Award finalist for Outstanding Anthology Production, Pear Theatre), Three Sisters (Vershinin, Douglas Morrisson Theatre) and The Birthday Party (McCann, Dragon Productions). Other favorites roles include Tito in Lend Me a Tenor and Captain von Trapp in The Sound of Music (Altarena Playhouse), Sidney Bruhl in Deathtrap and Freud in Dark Sonnets of the Lady (Pacifica Spindrift Players), Otto in The Diary of Anne Frank (ArtRise) and El Gallo in The Fantasticks in Houston. Brian was also heavily involved with theatre while at Rice University, including productions directed by the Royal Shakespeare Company. brian.levi.actor

CARL LUCIANA ( Geoffrey ,

Policeman) is happy to be making his Custom Made debut. He’s appeared on local stages in the critically acclaimed Hermes and as a staple at San Francisco Theater Pub and the San Francisco Olympians Festival. He was in AtmosTheatre’s productions of the classics Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Frogs. Carl studied acting and music at San Francisco State University but spent much of his youth in local rock bands singing very loudly and writing the occasional song or two. During that time he played to (presumably) more sober audiences only occasionally, starring in Baby with Broadway By the Bay, Lysistrata and several Lamplighter productions.

KATHLEEN MCHATTON (Tess) is

thrilled to be making her debut at Custom Made and to be working alongside such an amazing cast. She studied English and theatre

at Chico State University before moving to San Francisco five years ago. Most recently, she’s taken courses at Shelton Studios and Studio A.C.T.

KYLE MCREDDIE (Ben, Detective)

is an actor, improviser and fight choreographer in the Bay Area. Since graduating with a BA in drama from San Francisco State University, he has been busy performing as a purple gorilla in the San Francisco Fringe Festival, a Mars colonist with Wily West Productions and as a myriad of deities with the Olympians Festival. When he's not performing on stage, Kyle works with Wild SF Walking Tours, writes historical fiction and plays the accordion. He is terribly excited to be performing in his first show with Custom Made and wants to thank all his friends and family who have supported him over the years.

KHARY L. MOYE (Paul) is thrilled

to be making his debut with Custom Made! A New York native, he has appeared in several Off-Broadway productions and worked with a repertory group in Harlem before moving to the Bay Area. He has worked with several theatre companies here including Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Word For Word, the African-American Shakespeare Company, Role Players Ensemble, Altarena Playhouse, Shotgun Players and the Douglas Morrison Theatre Company. Most recent credits include Lennie in Of Mice and Men (Role Players Ensemble), Leroy and Herb in By The Way, Meet Vera Stark (Douglas Morrisson Theatre) and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in The Mountaintop (Contra Costa Civic Theatre). His film and television credits include Comedy Central's The Chappelle Show, the Discovery Channel's I Faked My Own Death, Wives With Knives and the Netflix original series Sense8. He would like to thank Stuart for this amazing opportunity and for believing in him to create this amazing and complex character with this talented group of actors. As always, he thanks his family and friends for their continued support. To quote the great Sidney Poitier,

"The journey has been incredible from its beginning." Onward!

GENEVIEVE PERDUE (Ouisa) is

a first-timer to Custom Made’s stage. She was seen recently as the dire first wife Mara in the premiere of Dominion with At Last Theatre. She’s also worked with Wily West Productions (where she is a company member) and Actors Ensemble of Berkeley. She has recently been found on the Diego Rivera Theatre stage at City College, appearing as Marty in Circle Mirror Transformation and as Raymonde Chandebisse in A Flea in Her Ear. She loves to be part of the development of new works and the nurturing of local talent and participates in various play reading series throughout the Bay Area. Before returning to her home state of California, she received an eclectic theatrical education from unlikely sources while gallivanting around Wyoming, Colorado and North Carolina.

MCHATTON

MCREDDIE

KELLY RINEHART (Kitty) is pleased

to be returning to Custom Made after performing in The Heidi Chronicles (2009) and The Diary of Anne Frank. Other favorite Bay Area roles include Lennie in Crimes of the Heart (Hillbarn Theatre), Ivy in August: Osage County (Contra Costa Civic Theatre, TBA Award finalist) and Betsy/Lindsay in Clybourne Park (Palo Alto Players). By day, Kelly works as a teaching artist and speech-language pathologist and AAC specialist. She also likes to play outside. So much to be grateful for… especially Custom Made!

MOYE

RICHARD S. SARGENT ( Doug, Trent) is thrilled to be making his

debut with Custom Made. He has been performing in San Francisco for years, splitting his time between film and the stage. Recent credits include Screaming Queens and #WTFamily (Left Coast Theatre Company), Breaking the Code (Theatre Rhinoceros) and Noises Off (Shelton Theater). He has also contributed to several short films, commercials and industrials. He is currently working on developing his own feature film. He would like 2016.05 • BAYSTAGES.COM

PERDUE

RINEHART

to thank his wonderful friends and family and his amazing husband for being so supportive.

KARL SCHACKNE ( Dr. Fine ) is

SARGENT

SCHACKNE

appearing in his first production with Custom Made. Raised in the Bay Area, he began acting in 2009 at City College of San Francisco, where he’s played Claudio in Much Ado About Nothing, Schultz in Circle Mirror Transformation, Sebastian in The Tempest and Tournel in A Flea in Her Ear. He was Barnaby in Much Ado About Lebowski with the Primitive Screwheads (2010-2011) and enjoys performing at San Francisco Theatre Pub and in the San Francisco Olympians Festival. In August, he will perform as Gloucester in Margaret of Anjou with Those Women Productions. A playwright and a company member with Wily West Productions, he wrote for their collaborative productions of Superheroes (2014), Zero Hour: The Mars Experiment (2015) and I Saw It (2015). His short play, Age Old Wisdom, was a finalist in this year’s ShortLived Festival. When not working in a theatre, he enjoys epic game nights, world travel and slow-cooking meat.

MATT WEIMER (Flan) is making his WEIMER

Custom Made debut. In recent years, he has acted with such companies as New Conservatory Theatre Center, Theatre Rhinoceros, Indra’s Net, Eastenders Repertory, Porchlight, Bella Union, Pacific Alliance Stage Company and the video game company, Irresponsible Games. Some career highlights include two seasons of touring children’s theater with The Imagination Company and three years with the improv and sketch comedy troupe The Pros From Dover. In addition to acting, he has had the pleasure of seeing some of his writing staged. He was a TBA Award finalist for his performance in The Homosexuals at New Conservatory Theatre Center.

JOHN GUARE (Playwright) John

Guare was born in New York, NY on February 5, 1938. He wrote his first play at the age of eleven and very early became dissatisfied with traditional kitchen-sink dramas in 6

BAYSTAGES.COM • 2016.05

which everything was "real" right down to the kitchen-sink. He yearned for a theatre that would proclaim inner truth rather than surface reality. "The theater," Guare argued, "is a place of dreams were you lay out the unconscious and make it visible." After studying at Yale University, Guare set out to develop his own unique style of theatrical comedy, and he was soon rewarded with an Obie Award for his one-act play, Muzeeka (1968). It was not, however, until 1970 that he burst onto the national scene with The House of Blue Leaves, a darkly comic attack on American values that disrupted the conventions of realistic theatre by including the kitchen sink, but cramming it with "lots of songs and talking to the audience." In 1971, he wrote the libretto for Two Gentlemen of Verona , a pop-rock musical adaptation of Shakespeare's play which he created with composer Galt MacDermot (Hair) and Mel Shapiro. The musical was designed to play in the back of a truck from which it would tour the parks of New York, but the show was so successful that it soon moved to Broadway where it went on to win the Tony Award for Best Musical. In addition to The House of Blue Leaves (which won both an Obie and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for the Best American Play of 1970-71 and received four Tony Awards during its 1986 revival), his best known works include Four Baboons Adoring the Sun (produced at the Lincoln Center Theater in 1992 and nominated for four Tony Awards) and Six Degrees of Separation, winning the New York Drama Critics Circle Award in 1990 and an Olivier Award for Best Play in 1993. (Source: theatrehistory.com)

STUART BOUSEL (Director) has previously directed Grey Gardens, The Crucible, Prelude to a Kiss, The Merchant of Venice and M. Butterfly for (Custom Made), Twelfth Night, The Frogs and

A Midsummer Night's Dream (AtmosTheatre) and Ruth and the Sea (Wily West Productions). He also directed The Taming of the Shrew, Dick 3 and Measure for

Measure at San Francisco Theater Pub, where he is the executive director. Also a playwright, his play Everybody Here Says Hello! won Outstanding World Premiere Play at the first annual TBA Awards. His works, including Gone Dark, The Exiled, Vincent of Gilgamesh and Housebroken , have been produced in San Francisco, New York, Chicago, Seattle, Portland, Tucson, Dublin, Melbourne and beyond. He is the executive director of the San Francisco Olympians Festival and the director of new work development for Custom Made, as well as the publicist for DIVAfest and a resident artist at the EXIT Theatre, where he will be directing the American premiere of Clive Barker's Paradise Street later this year. His play Adventures

in Tech (with Pillow Talk on the Side) opens this June at PianoFight, after which he'll be returning to acting, first in Confessions of a Catholic Child at the EXIT and then in Chess with Custom Made. stuartbousel.com

WILLIAM CAMPBELL (Lighting

Designer) is a graduate student procrastinating finishing his MFA in technical theater at San Francisco State University. He is excited to be back for his fourth show with Custom Made where he designed lighting for Grey Gardens and The Crucible. Other work includes James and the Giant Peach (Bay Area Children's Theatre), Hitcher (99 Stock Productions) and 'Tis Pity She's a Whore (The Breadbox). Favorite designs while at SFSU include References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot, Othello and Engaged. He sincerely thanks his fiancée, Brighid, for putting up with his crazy schedule.

NEIL HIGGINS (Assistant Director)

is marking his second show with Custom Made and his first time assistant directing. He has directed for Performers Under Stress, Thunderbird Theatre, the Playwrights' Center of San Francisco, San Francisco Theater Pub and the San Francisco Olympians Festival. He has thrilled to be part of this

show and is grateful to Brian, Stuart and the amazing cast for the opportunity.

R E C O M M E N D S

BROOKE JENNINGS (Costume

Designer) is elated to return to Custom Made for her tenth production. A graduate of UC Santa Cruz’s theatre arts master’s program, Brooke is an award-winning costume designer working in the Bay Area and New York. Credits include Colossal, The Nether and Stage Kiss (San Francisco Playhouse), Peter Pan (Berkeley Playhouse), HeroMonster and Ondine at Sutro (We Players), A Lie of the Mind, Bad Jews (assistant designer, Magic Theatre), the New York premiere of The Singularity, and Crooked and Ransom, Texas in San Francisco (Virago Theatre), Middletown, Sam and Dede, Of Serpents and Sea Spray, In Love and Warcraft, This is Our Youth, Grey Gardens, How the World Began, Late: A Cowboy Song and The Crucible (Custom Made), The Rocky Horror Show (City Lights Theater Company) and A Year with Frog and Toad (assistant designer, Santa Cruz Shakespeare). Brooke received a 2015 TBA Award nomination for Outstanding Costume Design for her work on We Players’ Ondine at Sutro, directed by Ava Roy and Carly Cioffil.

PAINT YOUR WAGON | CONCERT CAST

Keith Carradine leads the recording that includes a “lost song" bonus. (masterworksbroadway.com)

JASPER IN DEADLAND | OFF-OFF BROADWAY

Ryan Scott Oliver's world premiere score has Matt Doyle visiting Hades. (sh-k-boom.com)

RYAN LEE SHORT (Sound Designer)

is excited to be making noises for Custom Made again after designing for this season’s This is Our Youth, Of Serpents and Sea Spray, Sam and Dede and 2012’s The Merchant of Venice. His designs can also be heard at San Francisco Shakespeare Festival where he is a resident artist and TheatreFIRST where his is an artistic associate. Occasionally he makes things louder at SF Sketchfest and in various musicals around the Bay Area. In the harsh light of day, he can be found (to the surprise of those who have heard him speak casually) wrangling young children and guiding them through the rigors of long division. Much love to his new wife, Laura.

WHEN EVEYTHING WAS POSSIBLE 2012 concert by Broadway couple Kurt Peterson and the late Victoria Mallory. (sh-k-boom.com)

GRISEL TORRES (Stage Manager)

is a lighting designer and stage manager. This Bay Area native 2016.05 • BAYSTAGES.COM

SISSLE&BLAKE SING SHUFFLE ALONG The authors sing songs that inspired the current Broadway hit. (harbingerrecords.com)

The Custom Made Theatre Co. presents

Stacy Ross in

Steve Yockey’s the

THRUSH & the

WOODPECKER a revenge play

with Fontana Butterfield &

Adam Magill BEGINS

AUGUST 4

attended San Francisco State University where she studied technical theatre under the guidance of Joan Arhelger. This is Grisel’s second production with Custom Made and hopes it will not be the last. This past year G has also worked with Circo Zero and Keith Hennessy, foolsFURY Theater and PUSH Dance Company. grisel-torres. squarespace.com

KITTY TORRES (Assistant Costume

Designer) is so happy to be a part of the production. Having the pleasure of completing her first season with Custom Made, she looks forward to working on the next season as well as the upcoming production of Confessions of a Catholic Child with Cutting Ball Theater. She is eternally grateful to Brooke Jennings, Brian Katz and all that made working on this show so memorable. She hopes you enjoy this show and its poignance in our current political and socioeconomic climate. Thank you all so much for attending. You're what keeps theater alive.

LEAH S. ABRAMS (Executive

Director) is co-founder of the Custom Made Theatre Co. Directing projects for the company include the world premiere of Gino DiIorio’s Sam and Dede, or My Dinner with Andre the Giant, the Bay Area premiere of Catherine Trieschmann's How the World Began, Wendy Kesselman's adaptation of The Diary of Anne Frank, Lee Blessing's Two Rooms, Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple, Mark Eisman’s Sightlines (New York) and a dozen Beckett shorts including Krapp’s Last Tape, Rockaby, Come and Go and Catastrophe. Having produced all of Custom Made’s shows these last nearly 20 years, she is especially proud of the company’s world premieres of Sam and Dede, Of Serpents and Sea Spray, The Braggart Soldier and Little Brother

as well as Bay Area premieres like Kurt Vonnegut’s SlaughterhouseFive and Red Light Winter. Leah manages Custom Made’s New York programming. Upcoming Custom Made directing projects include Gina Gionfriddo’s Rapture, Blister, Burn and Sam and Dede… at NYC’s Off-Broadway 59E59.

BRIAN KATZ (Artistic Director) is

the co-founder of the award-winning Custom Made Theatre Co. For the company, he has directed over thirty productions including Edward Albee’s The Play About the Baby (San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle's Excellence in Theatre Award for overall production, 2012) and the similarly nominated This is Our Youth (also nominated for direction). Other recent projects include Will Eno’s Middletown , Tony Kushner’s A Bright Room Called Day (SFBATCC nominee for direction ), Next to Norma l (SFBATCC nominee for overall production), and the regional premieres of Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five, Spalding Gray: Stories Left to Tell, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot ,

The Love Song of J. Robert Oppenheimer and Red Light Winter among many others. His adaptation of Candide has been presented in both San Francisco and New York. Brian has worked at California Shakespeare Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, the Goodman Theatre and Killing My Lobster. He is an alumnus of Clark University (Distinguished Young Alumni Award, 2006). Next up, he is ecstatic to be directing a new revival of the legendary musical Chess, which will open Custom Made’s 2016/2017 season. Please subscribe!

All images and/or content provided by The Custom Made Theatre Co. staff, contractors and/or creative artists unless otherwise credited. Opinions expressed by contractors, contributors and/or creative artists do not necessarily reflect the views of The Custom Made Theatre Co. or VIA MEDIA. Photo credits are included as provided.

CUSTOMMADE.ORG 8

BAYSTAGES.COM • 2016.05

DONORS FOUNDATIONS

Amazon Smile Foundation • Fleishhacker Foundation San Francisco Grants for the Arts • Zellerbach Family Foundation CORPORATIONS

Action Sprout • Apple Matching Fund • Charles Schwab Matching Fund Google Grants • Third Workplace • Workday ANGELS [$2,500+]

Anonymous • Sheri Abrams + Norman Berman • Brian Dice Marsha + Mel Katz • Ruth + William Isenberg • Jay Yamada BENEFACTORS [$1,000+] Joe Belanoff + Katherine Blenko • Andrea + Peter Klein • Frank Levinson • Fred Pitts ASSOCIATES [$500+]

Chuck Bailey • Monica Cappucini • Bruce Coleman • Catz + Jean Forsman • Catherine Johnson Marci Ring • Margaret Sheehan • Brett & Randi Singer • Ron Talbot

ADVOCATES [$250+] Linda Ayres-Frederick • Scott Baker • Terry Bamberger • Susan Cronholm • Krystyna Finlayson • Sharon Fish • Armando Fox Nancy Frank • Jeannette Harris • Barbara Janney • Brandy Leggett Petricka • Barry Lynch • Marten Mejstrik • Bert Mittler Danielle Moskowitz • Sarah Phykitt • Dave Sikula • Scott Sublett • Sue Valentine

PATRONS [$100+]

Leah Abrams • Janice + Roger Anderman • Ashrafa Anik • Aj Baker • Carole Bennett • Stuart Bousel • Kim Bromley • Wayne Bryan Diane Carlson • James Caughman • Mark Dietrich • Laura Domingo • Betsyann Duval • Crystelle Egan • Robert Estes • Lea Ann Fleming Chris Hannafan • Stanley Hartzell • William Heap • Karen Hollenbeck • Bren Johnson • Eric Johnson • Brian Katz • Siobhan King Jude Knab • Dan Kurtz • Donna Lavallee • John Lehnert • Eula Loftin • Thomas Lustenader • Barry Lynch + Dennis Blanchard Gail Macgowan • Jennifer Marks • Mary Jo Price • Harry Rabin • David Raymond • Glenn Reid • Eleanor Reinholdt • Cary Cronholm Rose Robert Rudholm • Barbara Scrafford • William Senkus • Kirk Shimano • Jeunee Simon • Robert Stumpf • Joan Sullivan • Leslie Sullivan Patrick Walsh • Renee Ward • Alison Wong

DONORS [$25+] Leanna Ampola • Jamie Antonazzo • Jeremy Barcan • Mary Bellack • Thomas Bertken • Virginia Blanco • Rachel Bublitz • Lynnette Campbell Deb Cardenas • Jake & Anne Carlson • Gary Carr • Christie Chew • Pat Chun-Spielberg • Melissa Clason • Stephen Coffin • Ariel Craft Scott Cunningham • A J Davenport • David Davison • Gino DiIorio • Tina + Richard Dinitz • Danielle Doyle • Susan Dunn • Elyse Eisner • Deb Elitzur Evelina Elwood • Maria Esteve • Jane Field • Justin Gillman • Jane Gorsi • David Grabstald • Elizabeth Groenewegen • Carey Groom Stanley Hartzman + Joan Rost • Barbara Hebert • Albert Heller • Lawrence Helman • Melissa Hillman • Bruce Huston • Stanley Hutter • Bob Jaffe Hass James • Alyssa Jenkins • Shelley Johnson • Eli Katz • Scott Kirker • Joanne Koltnow • Kristi Kuhnen • Alexandra Kutik • Marc Larby • Robert Leach William Leben • Kelly Lee • Sandy Levitan • Margaret Levitt • Carlo Lindsey • Rebecca Longworth • Ernie Lowenstein • Carl Lucania • Liz Lucero Catherine Luedtke • Michael Lushington • Gail Macgowan • Kathryn Malone • Mara Matsumura • Tim May • Pat McKelvey • Randy McMullen Pidge Meade • Joseph Mersol • Cynthia Metcalfe • Henry Milich • Evelyne Mobbs • Cheri Murrell • Judy Nakaso • Eden Neuendorf • Lisa-Marie Newton Pat Nims • Paul Nocero • Royi Noiman • Alan Olejniczak • Evelyn Jean Pine • Jim Preston • Clare Prowse • Madeline Puccioni • Matt Quinonez Dorothea Rastegar • Nina Fojaco Reed • Kelly Rinehart • Kathleen Rivera • Chris Robbins • Deborah L Robbins • Gabriel Ross • Geoff Rubio Susan Rutberg • George Santori • Richard Sargent • Kim Saunders • Lisa Semeraro • Andrew Sexton • Madhuri Shekar • Randall Shields • Michael Shipley David Sklar • Kathleen Slobin • Glenna Snyder • Leo Stutzin • Agata Sulczynski • Adam Sussman • Adrian Tiller • Alastar Wade • Kathleen Walker Barbara Sonner Weissman • Richard Wenzel • Elizabeth Werter • Teri Whipple • Michael Williams • Daniel Wilson • Joseph Yee • Virginia Yee

THANK YOU! 2016.05 • BAYSTAGES.COM

Photo by

Photo by Mario Elia s.

“JAW-DROPPING SONGS!”

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

Photo by Mario Elia s.

VULTURE.COM

“STUNNING!”

ias.

Mario El

THRU JUNE 5 ACT-SF.ORG A.C.T.'S GEARY THEATER 415.749.2228 415 GEARY ST. GROUPS OF 15+, CALL 415.439.2309.