S ’ Y L L E J
L AS T
M A J G FC SV B S Z
UP
TFBTPO
S ’ Y L L E J
L AS T
M A J G FC SV B S Z
UP
TFBTPO
february 13 to 18, 2009
Yale School of Drama
James Bundy, Dean
Victoria Nolan, Deputy Dean
Presents
Jelly’s Last Jam book by GEORGE C. WOLFE lyrics by susan
birkenhead music by jelly roll morton and luther henderson directed by patricia mcgregor ARTISTIC TEAM Music Director
Jay HoggarD
Choreography
developed by the company under the guidance of
Clarence Agbi Paloma McGregor Jennifer Harrison Newman Tiffany Rachelle Stewart Scenic Designer Costume Designer Lighting Designer Sound Designer Dramaturg Stage Manager
Germán Cárdenas Alaminos Elizabeth Barrett Groth Marie Yokoyama Charles Coes Rebecca Phillips Karen Hashley
Season Media Sponsor
CAST
MUSICAL NUMBERS
in alphabetical order
Anita
Buddy Bolden/Crowd/ Rag Man/Chorus Foot in Your Ass Sam/Ancestor/ Beignet Man/Chorus Chimney Man/Root Man Jack/Tin-A-Feex Man
Hunny #1/Yard Girl/ Gumbo Lady/Chorus
Christina Maria Acosta Eddie Brown
Austin Durant
“Street Scene Part 1, 2, and 3”................................................... Jelly Roll Morton & Company “Ferdinand”..................................................................................................... Chimney Man
Marcus Henderson
Jelly
Ancestor/Frank/Nick/ Gator Man/Chorus Hunny#3/Yard Girl/Chorus Amede/Crowd/Chorus
“Follow That Uptown”.............................................................Hunny #1, Hunny #2, Hunny #3 “Michigan Water” ....................................................................... Miss Mamie, Buddy Bolden
Emily Jenda
Aja-Naomi King
“Jelly’s Jam” (Reprise)................................................................ Jelly Roll Morton & Company “The Whole World’s Waitin’ To Sing Your Song”.......................... Jelly Roll Morton, Young Jelly
Hunny #2/Yard Girl/Chorus
Gran Mimi/Mamie/
“In My Day”................................................................................ Jelly Roll Morton & Company “The Creole Way”.............Chimney Man, Amede, Viola, Young Jelly, Ancestor #1, Ancestor #2
Andrew Z. Kelsey
Green Sass Man/Chorus
“Jelly’s Jam”............................................................................................................ Company
Trai Byers
Young Jelly/Al/Gus/Chorus
Viola/Crowd/ Brick Dust Lady/Chorus
ACT ONE
“Short Piano Roll”................................................................................................... Company “The Banishment”..................................................................................................Gran Mimi “Lonely Boy”.................................................................................................Jelly Roll Morton “Somethin’ More”................................................................... Jack the Bear, Jelly Roll Morton “The Pool Game”..................................................................................................... Company
Irene Sofia Lucio Quincy O’Neal Da’Vine Joy Randolph Ken Robinson Babak Tafti
“New Pool Hall Tag”........................Chimney Man, Jack the Bear, Jelly Roll Morton & Company “A Chain Gang”..............................Chimney Man, Jack the Bear, Jelly Roll Morton & Company “That’s How You Jazz”............................................................... Jelly Roll Morton & Company “Recitative”............................................................................................................. Company “The Chicago Stomp”....................................................................................... Chimney Man “Play the Music For Me”................................................................................................ Anita “Lovin’ is a Lowdown Blues”............................................Hunny #1, Hunny #2, and Hunny #3 “Dr. Jazz”................................................................................... Jelly Roll Morton & Company
Nondumiso Tembe Emily Trask
Jelly’s Last Jam Band Samuel Adams Taylor Ho Bynum Brian Ellingsen Justin Haaheim There will be one 15−minute intermission.
ACT TWO “Gool Ol’ New York”................................................................................................ Company “Too Late, Daddy”...................................................................... Jelly Roll Morton & Company “New York Suite Part 2”.........................................................Jelly, Chimney Man, & Company “That’s The Way We Do Things in New York”...................Frank Melrose, Al Melrose, Nick, Gus “New York Suite Part 4”.............................................................. Jelly Roll Morton & Company “After Radio Contest”....................................................................................... Chimney Man “The Last Chance Blues”.................................................................. Anita & Jelly Roll Morton “Central Avenue”..................................................................................................... Company “The Last Rites”.................................................................................. Gran Mimi & Company “Creole Boy/Finale”.................................................................... Jelly Roll Morton & Company
CAST
MUSICAL NUMBERS
in alphabetical order
Anita
Buddy Bolden/Crowd/ Rag Man/Chorus Foot in Your Ass Sam/Ancestor/ Beignet Man/Chorus Chimney Man/Root Man Jack/Tin-A-Feex Man
Hunny #1/Yard Girl/ Gumbo Lady/Chorus
Christina Maria Acosta Eddie Brown
Austin Durant
“Street Scene Part 1, 2, and 3”................................................... Jelly Roll Morton & Company “Ferdinand”..................................................................................................... Chimney Man
Marcus Henderson
Jelly
Ancestor/Frank/Nick/ Gator Man/Chorus Hunny#3/Yard Girl/Chorus Amede/Crowd/Chorus
“Follow That Uptown”.............................................................Hunny #1, Hunny #2, Hunny #3 “Michigan Water” ....................................................................... Miss Mamie, Buddy Bolden
Emily Jenda
Aja-Naomi King
“Jelly’s Jam” (Reprise)................................................................ Jelly Roll Morton & Company “The Whole World’s Waitin’ To Sing Your Song”.......................... Jelly Roll Morton, Young Jelly
Hunny #2/Yard Girl/Chorus
Gran Mimi/Mamie/
“In My Day”................................................................................ Jelly Roll Morton & Company “The Creole Way”.............Chimney Man, Amede, Viola, Young Jelly, Ancestor #1, Ancestor #2
Andrew Z. Kelsey
Green Sass Man/Chorus
“Jelly’s Jam”............................................................................................................ Company
Trai Byers
Young Jelly/Al/Gus/Chorus
Viola/Crowd/ Brick Dust Lady/Chorus
ACT ONE
“Short Piano Roll”................................................................................................... Company “The Banishment”..................................................................................................Gran Mimi “Lonely Boy”.................................................................................................Jelly Roll Morton “Somethin’ More”................................................................... Jack the Bear, Jelly Roll Morton “The Pool Game”..................................................................................................... Company
Irene Sofia Lucio Quincy O’Neal Da’Vine Joy Randolph Ken Robinson Babak Tafti
“New Pool Hall Tag”........................Chimney Man, Jack the Bear, Jelly Roll Morton & Company “A Chain Gang”..............................Chimney Man, Jack the Bear, Jelly Roll Morton & Company “That’s How You Jazz”............................................................... Jelly Roll Morton & Company “Recitative”............................................................................................................. Company “The Chicago Stomp”....................................................................................... Chimney Man “Play the Music For Me”................................................................................................ Anita “Lovin’ is a Lowdown Blues”............................................Hunny #1, Hunny #2, and Hunny #3 “Dr. Jazz”................................................................................... Jelly Roll Morton & Company
Nondumiso Tembe Emily Trask
Jelly’s Last Jam Band Samuel Adams Taylor Ho Bynum Brian Ellingsen Justin Haaheim There will be one 15−minute intermission.
ACT TWO “Gool Ol’ New York”................................................................................................ Company “Too Late, Daddy”...................................................................... Jelly Roll Morton & Company “New York Suite Part 2”.........................................................Jelly, Chimney Man, & Company “That’s The Way We Do Things in New York”...................Frank Melrose, Al Melrose, Nick, Gus “New York Suite Part 4”.............................................................. Jelly Roll Morton & Company “After Radio Contest”....................................................................................... Chimney Man “The Last Chance Blues”.................................................................. Anita & Jelly Roll Morton “Central Avenue”..................................................................................................... Company “The Last Rites”.................................................................................. Gran Mimi & Company “Creole Boy/Finale”.................................................................... Jelly Roll Morton & Company
Birth of the Roll
by r e b ecc a ph i l l i ps , p r o d ucti o n d r a m atur g
The history of jazz is as elusive as the history of America. Its improvisatory character reflects the cultural imagination of outsiders who, time and again, found their way into the mainstream by redirecting its flow. While it would be impossible to identify a sole “inventor” of jazz, Jelly Roll Morton (c.1885–1941) was certainly one of the first to blend together dance hall ragtime, minstrel show cakewalks, and funeral band marches into what would later be classified as Dixieland jazz. Born into a black Creole family in the Faubourg Marigny neighborhood of New Orleans, Ferdinand “Fred” Joseph Lamothe Morton was raised on classical music and elegant European manners, but broadened his “education” by playing piano in the back rooms of Storyville “sporting houses”—brothels in the red-light district of the Big Easy. Morton earned his nickname with his hit “Jelly Roll Blues” in 1915, possibly the first jazz composition ever published as sheet music.
above: Morton and his Red hot peppers in chicago, 1926. from left: omer simeon, andrew hilaire, john lindsay, morton (seated), johnny st. cyr, kid ory, and george mitchell; below left: morton during a 1926 victor recording session in chicago; below right: morton with anita gonzalez in los angeles.
Like a good riff, Jelly Roll Morton’s story changed every time he—or anyone else—tried to tell it. Conflicting dates of birth (he said 1885, his baptismal certificate gives it the year 1890), causes of death (hospital records note complications from asthma, he was sure it was a Voodoo curse), and everything in between, obscure a complete biographical portrait of the Creole boy who scraped and scammed his way across the country, from Chicago speakeasies to Tin Pan Alley in New York. Jelly worked hard throughout his career to write his own creation myth, and to set himself apart from the black community whose music he claimed to have invented. George C. Wolfe’s musical does not seek to dispel the lies, expose some final truth, or put Morton on a pedestal or on trial. Instead, the play celebrates the flourishes of cultural memory, reveling in the narrative motifs that decorate the chord progressions of history. And that, after all, “is how you jazz.”
“If you have to ask what jazz is, you’ll never know.”
— Lo u i s
A r mst r o n g
Birth of the Roll
by r e b ecc a ph i l l i ps , p r o d ucti o n d r a m atur g
The history of jazz is as elusive as the history of America. Its improvisatory character reflects the cultural imagination of outsiders who, time and again, found their way into the mainstream by redirecting its flow. While it would be impossible to identify a sole “inventor” of jazz, Jelly Roll Morton (c.1885–1941) was certainly one of the first to blend together dance hall ragtime, minstrel show cakewalks, and funeral band marches into what would later be classified as Dixieland jazz. Born into a black Creole family in the Faubourg Marigny neighborhood of New Orleans, Ferdinand “Fred” Joseph Lamothe Morton was raised on classical music and elegant European manners, but broadened his “education” by playing piano in the back rooms of Storyville “sporting houses”—brothels in the red-light district of the Big Easy. Morton earned his nickname with his hit “Jelly Roll Blues” in 1915, possibly the first jazz composition ever published as sheet music.
above: Morton and his Red hot peppers in chicago, 1926. from left: omer simeon, andrew hilaire, john lindsay, morton (seated), johnny st. cyr, kid ory, and george mitchell; below left: morton during a 1926 victor recording session in chicago; below right: morton with anita gonzalez in los angeles.
Like a good riff, Jelly Roll Morton’s story changed every time he—or anyone else—tried to tell it. Conflicting dates of birth (he said 1885, his baptismal certificate gives it the year 1890), causes of death (hospital records note complications from asthma, he was sure it was a Voodoo curse), and everything in between, obscure a complete biographical portrait of the Creole boy who scraped and scammed his way across the country, from Chicago speakeasies to Tin Pan Alley in New York. Jelly worked hard throughout his career to write his own creation myth, and to set himself apart from the black community whose music he claimed to have invented. George C. Wolfe’s musical does not seek to dispel the lies, expose some final truth, or put Morton on a pedestal or on trial. Instead, the play celebrates the flourishes of cultural memory, reveling in the narrative motifs that decorate the chord progressions of history. And that, after all, “is how you jazz.”
“If you have to ask what jazz is, you’ll never know.”
— Lo u i s
A r mst r o n g
Cast CHRISTINA MARIA ACOSTA (Anita) is a
ANDREW Z. KELSEY (Young Jelly/
second-year MFA candidate at Yale School of Drama, where she has appeared as Natasha in The Three Sisters. Other recent credits include the role of Billie Holiday in Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill and Kesa in See What I Wanna See (Yale Cabaret).
Al/Gus/Chorus) is a first-year MFA candidate at Yale School of Drama. Recent credits include Dead Letter Office (HERE Arts Center) and As Much As You Can (Celebration Theatre). Other credits include Good Boys and True (The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center), The Automata Pieta (Magic Theatre), Time on Fire (Magic Theatre/Royal National Theatre), and The Rose Tattoo (American Conservatory Theater). Andrew is a frequent volunteer with the 52nd Street Project in New York and has performed in plays with them at Ensemble Studio Theatre and The Public Theater. Andrew is a graduate of Amherst College.
EDDIE BROWN (Buddy Bolden/Crowd/ Rag Man/Chorus) is a third-year MFA candidate at Yale School of Drama.
TRAI BYERS (Foot in Your Ass Sam/ Ancestor/Beignet Man/Chorus) is a first-year MFA candidate at Yale School of Drama.
AUSTIN DURANT (Chimney Man/Root Man) is a second-year MFA candidate at Yale School of Drama, where his credits include I Am a Superhero, Romeo and Juliet, and Peer Gynt. His other stage credits include Passion Play (Yale Repertory Theatre); The Who’s Tommy, Kids These Days, Recess (Yale Summer Cabaret); The Illusion, The Pilgrim Papers, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (Berkshire Theatre Festival); Mum Puppettheatre and Philadelphia Theatre Workshop. He received his BA in Theatre from Temple University.
MARCUS HENDERSON (Jack/Tin-A-Feex Man) is a first-year MFA candidate at Yale School of Drama. He received a BA in theatre arts from Alabama State University, Montgomery in 2008. His theatre credits include A Raisin in the Sun, Othello, Jesus Christ Superstar.
EMILY JENDA (Hunny #1/Yard Girl/ gumbo lady/Chorus) is a junior theatre studies major at Yale College. Her theatre credits include The Full Monty, Merrily We Roll Along, The Second Annual Yale Show, The Colored Museum; Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill (Yale Cabaret), Usher the Musical (New York International Fringe Festival); and Hot as Cole (Joe’s Pub).
AJA-NAOMI KING (Hunny #2/Yard Girl/ Chorus) is a second-year MFA candidate at Yale School of Drama. Recent credits include Amalia in The Robbers, Irina in The Three Sisters (Yale School of Drama); Irina in Three Sisters, or The Dormouse’s Tale (Yale Cabaret); and Lady Anne in Richard III (Raven Playhouse). Aja-Naomi graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara with a BFA in theatre.
IRENE SOFIA LUCIO (Viola/Crowd/Brick Dust Lady/Chorus) is a first-year MFA candidate at Yale School of Drama. Recent credits include Lady Croom (Princeton Summer Theater); Hedda in Hedda Gabler; Woman in Laughing Wild; and Casi Casi, an HBO Latino movie. She received a BA in comparative literature at Princeton University.
QUINCY O’NEAL (Green Sass Man/ Chorus) is a junior at Yale College, majoring in African American studies and theater studies. Recent credits include Man=Man at Yale School of Drama, The Diva Daughters Dupree with Yale College’s Heritage Theatre Ensemble, In the MEANtime at Yale Cabaret, and Kaleidoscope with the Yale College Dean’s Office. Other credits include Jitney; Barefoot in the Park; Dead Man Walking; You’re a
Good Man, Charlie Brown; Graffiti; Broken Hearts; and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
DA’VINE JOY RANDOLPH (Gran Mimi/ Mamie) is a first-year MFA candidate at Yale School of Drama. She received her BA from Temple University, where she portrayed the Witch in Into the Woods, Norca in Our Lady of 121st Street, and the title role in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. KEN ROBINSON (Jelly) is a third-year MFA candidate at Yale School of Drama, where he has appeared in Man=Man, Romeo and Juliet, and A Month in the Country. Yale Cabaret credits include Little Shop of Horrors, Sidewalk Opera, Dancing in the Dark, and The Donny Hathaway Story; at Summer Cabaret, The Who’s Tommy. Regional credits include Being Alive (Westport Country Playhouse), Ain’t Misbehavin’ (North Shore Music Theatre), Jelly’s Last Jam and tick, tick... BOOM! (Alliance Theatre). Ken graduated from Morehouse College with a degree in economics.
BABAK TAFTI (Ancestor/Frank/Nick/ Gator Man/Chorus) is a first-year MFA candidate at Yale School of Drama. He graduated from the University of New Mexico with a BA in theatre.
NONDUMISO TEMBE (Hunny #3/ Yard Girl/Chorus) is a third-year MFA candidate at Yale School of Drama. She proudly hails from Durban, South Africa. Recent acting credits include The Youth Ink Festival (McCarter Theatre); and staged readings of Eclipsed by Danai Gurira (McCarter Theatre) and the new musical Step Aside (New Dramatists). Yale School of Drama credits include Marcus; or the Secret of Sweet by Tarell Alvin McCraney and Romeo and Juliet. She also recently sang at Nelson Mandela’s 90th-birthday celebrations at his home in Qunu, South Africa. Nondumiso holds a BFA in theatre
and political science from The New School and The American Musical and Dramatic Academy (New York).
EMILY TRASK (Amede/Crowd/Chorus) is a first-year MFA candidate at Yale School of Drama. Previous credits include: Neelie in Jeffery Hatcher’s Armadale (Milwaukee Repertory Theater); Mariane in Tartuffe, Dina in Pirandello’s Yes. No. (Maybe So . . .), Mabel in Chaps! (Next Act Theatre); Brighton Beach Memoirs (Milwaukee Chamber Theatre); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Montana Shakespeare in the Parks); Bedroom Farce, Scapin, Seussical the Musical (Hope Summer Repertory Theatre); and three seasons with the Utah Shakespearean Festival. Emily received her BA in literature and theatre from Grinnell College.
CREATIVE TEAM SAMUEL ADAMS (MUSICIAN) is a firstyear MM candidate in composition at Yale School of Music. He received his BA in music at Stanford University, where he worked with Mark Applebaum, Jonathan Berger, Thomas Schultz, and Jean-Claude Risset. Although Sam focuses most of his energy on composing (these days), he remains a dedicated performer of both contemporary classical and jazz. Notable commissions include The Paul Dresher Ensemble, Betal Collide, Lisa Moore and Karen Bentley Pollick, The Merce Cunningham Dance Group, and The Stanford Symphony Orchestra.
CLARENCE AGBI (CHOREOGRAPHER) is a senior electrical engineering major at Yale College. Since 2006, he has danced with Steppin’ Out, Yale’s premier (and only) step group and is currently co-president of the organization.
Cast CHRISTINA MARIA ACOSTA (Anita) is a
ANDREW Z. KELSEY (Young Jelly/
second-year MFA candidate at Yale School of Drama, where she has appeared as Natasha in The Three Sisters. Other recent credits include the role of Billie Holiday in Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill and Kesa in See What I Wanna See (Yale Cabaret).
Al/Gus/Chorus) is a first-year MFA candidate at Yale School of Drama. Recent credits include Dead Letter Office (HERE Arts Center) and As Much As You Can (Celebration Theatre). Other credits include Good Boys and True (The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center), The Automata Pieta (Magic Theatre), Time on Fire (Magic Theatre/Royal National Theatre), and The Rose Tattoo (American Conservatory Theater). Andrew is a frequent volunteer with the 52nd Street Project in New York and has performed in plays with them at Ensemble Studio Theatre and The Public Theater. Andrew is a graduate of Amherst College.
EDDIE BROWN (Buddy Bolden/Crowd/ Rag Man/Chorus) is a third-year MFA candidate at Yale School of Drama.
TRAI BYERS (Foot in Your Ass Sam/ Ancestor/Beignet Man/Chorus) is a first-year MFA candidate at Yale School of Drama.
AUSTIN DURANT (Chimney Man/Root Man) is a second-year MFA candidate at Yale School of Drama, where his credits include I Am a Superhero, Romeo and Juliet, and Peer Gynt. His other stage credits include Passion Play (Yale Repertory Theatre); The Who’s Tommy, Kids These Days, Recess (Yale Summer Cabaret); The Illusion, The Pilgrim Papers, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (Berkshire Theatre Festival); Mum Puppettheatre and Philadelphia Theatre Workshop. He received his BA in Theatre from Temple University.
MARCUS HENDERSON (Jack/Tin-A-Feex Man) is a first-year MFA candidate at Yale School of Drama. He received a BA in theatre arts from Alabama State University, Montgomery in 2008. His theatre credits include A Raisin in the Sun, Othello, Jesus Christ Superstar.
EMILY JENDA (Hunny #1/Yard Girl/ gumbo lady/Chorus) is a junior theatre studies major at Yale College. Her theatre credits include The Full Monty, Merrily We Roll Along, The Second Annual Yale Show, The Colored Museum; Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill (Yale Cabaret), Usher the Musical (New York International Fringe Festival); and Hot as Cole (Joe’s Pub).
AJA-NAOMI KING (Hunny #2/Yard Girl/ Chorus) is a second-year MFA candidate at Yale School of Drama. Recent credits include Amalia in The Robbers, Irina in The Three Sisters (Yale School of Drama); Irina in Three Sisters, or The Dormouse’s Tale (Yale Cabaret); and Lady Anne in Richard III (Raven Playhouse). Aja-Naomi graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara with a BFA in theatre.
IRENE SOFIA LUCIO (Viola/Crowd/Brick Dust Lady/Chorus) is a first-year MFA candidate at Yale School of Drama. Recent credits include Lady Croom (Princeton Summer Theater); Hedda in Hedda Gabler; Woman in Laughing Wild; and Casi Casi, an HBO Latino movie. She received a BA in comparative literature at Princeton University.
QUINCY O’NEAL (Green Sass Man/ Chorus) is a junior at Yale College, majoring in African American studies and theater studies. Recent credits include Man=Man at Yale School of Drama, The Diva Daughters Dupree with Yale College’s Heritage Theatre Ensemble, In the MEANtime at Yale Cabaret, and Kaleidoscope with the Yale College Dean’s Office. Other credits include Jitney; Barefoot in the Park; Dead Man Walking; You’re a
Good Man, Charlie Brown; Graffiti; Broken Hearts; and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
DA’VINE JOY RANDOLPH (Gran Mimi/ Mamie) is a first-year MFA candidate at Yale School of Drama. She received her BA from Temple University, where she portrayed the Witch in Into the Woods, Norca in Our Lady of 121st Street, and the title role in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. KEN ROBINSON (Jelly) is a third-year MFA candidate at Yale School of Drama, where he has appeared in Man=Man, Romeo and Juliet, and A Month in the Country. Yale Cabaret credits include Little Shop of Horrors, Sidewalk Opera, Dancing in the Dark, and The Donny Hathaway Story; at Summer Cabaret, The Who’s Tommy. Regional credits include Being Alive (Westport Country Playhouse), Ain’t Misbehavin’ (North Shore Music Theatre), Jelly’s Last Jam and tick, tick... BOOM! (Alliance Theatre). Ken graduated from Morehouse College with a degree in economics.
BABAK TAFTI (Ancestor/Frank/Nick/ Gator Man/Chorus) is a first-year MFA candidate at Yale School of Drama. He graduated from the University of New Mexico with a BA in theatre.
NONDUMISO TEMBE (Hunny #3/ Yard Girl/Chorus) is a third-year MFA candidate at Yale School of Drama. She proudly hails from Durban, South Africa. Recent acting credits include The Youth Ink Festival (McCarter Theatre); and staged readings of Eclipsed by Danai Gurira (McCarter Theatre) and the new musical Step Aside (New Dramatists). Yale School of Drama credits include Marcus; or the Secret of Sweet by Tarell Alvin McCraney and Romeo and Juliet. She also recently sang at Nelson Mandela’s 90th-birthday celebrations at his home in Qunu, South Africa. Nondumiso holds a BFA in theatre
and political science from The New School and The American Musical and Dramatic Academy (New York).
EMILY TRASK (Amede/Crowd/Chorus) is a first-year MFA candidate at Yale School of Drama. Previous credits include: Neelie in Jeffery Hatcher’s Armadale (Milwaukee Repertory Theater); Mariane in Tartuffe, Dina in Pirandello’s Yes. No. (Maybe So . . .), Mabel in Chaps! (Next Act Theatre); Brighton Beach Memoirs (Milwaukee Chamber Theatre); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Montana Shakespeare in the Parks); Bedroom Farce, Scapin, Seussical the Musical (Hope Summer Repertory Theatre); and three seasons with the Utah Shakespearean Festival. Emily received her BA in literature and theatre from Grinnell College.
CREATIVE TEAM SAMUEL ADAMS (MUSICIAN) is a firstyear MM candidate in composition at Yale School of Music. He received his BA in music at Stanford University, where he worked with Mark Applebaum, Jonathan Berger, Thomas Schultz, and Jean-Claude Risset. Although Sam focuses most of his energy on composing (these days), he remains a dedicated performer of both contemporary classical and jazz. Notable commissions include The Paul Dresher Ensemble, Betal Collide, Lisa Moore and Karen Bentley Pollick, The Merce Cunningham Dance Group, and The Stanford Symphony Orchestra.
CLARENCE AGBI (CHOREOGRAPHER) is a senior electrical engineering major at Yale College. Since 2006, he has danced with Steppin’ Out, Yale’s premier (and only) step group and is currently co-president of the organization.
CREATIVE TEAM GERMÁN CÁRDENAS ALAMINOS (SCENIC DESIGNER) is a second-year MFA candidate at Yale School of Drama. He received a BA in architecture at Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico, Mexico City (2000). After working as an architect, Germán codesigned several productions, including Doubt, Mixed Emotions, The Robbers, The Overcoat, The Comedy of Errors, The Taming of the Shrew, Venus, El Método Gronhölm, La Piel, Mi Joven Corazón Idiota, and La Nueva Familia, and the musicals Hoy No Me Puedo Levantar, Emperadores de la Antártida, and The Producers. He designed sets and lights for Am Ziel by Thomas Bernhard. Germán is the recipient of the National Fund for Culture and the Arts (FONCA) Foreign Studies Program Scholarship.
TAYLOR HO BYNUM (MUSICIAN) is a brass instrumentalist, composer, bandleader, and interdisciplinary collaborator with artists in dance, film, and theatre, hailed by Time Out Chicago as “one of the most exciting figures in jazz’s new power generation.” He leads various ensembles ranging from duo to big band, and performs with some of the most innovative figures in creative music, such as Anthony Braxton, Cecil Taylor, and Bill Dixon. He is featured on over fifty CDs, has toured throughout the world, and is deeply involved with the arts community as an educator, writer, organizer, and producer.
CHARLES COES (SOUND DESIGNER) is a third-year MFA candidate at Yale School of Drama, where his credits include Grace, or the Art of Climbing and A Month in the Country. He recently designed Eurydice at Amherst College, and Passion Play at Yale Repertory Theatre. His Yale Cabaret credits include Little Shop of Horrors, Bone Songs, Hillbilly Antigone, Perk/ Pussy/Pathos, WASP, and Three Sisters, or The Dormouse’s Tale. He is a frequent collaborator with Green Chair Dance Group and has designed light and sound for
Escape!, The Coefficient of Static Friction Cannot Exceed..., and For Use in Case of Emergency. He has also designed and mixed numerous shows at Swarthmore College.
BRIAN ELLINGSEN (MUSICIAN) is a double bassist who received his bachelor’s degree in music from the Hartt School, and is currently completing his master’s degree at Yale School of Music. As a soloist, Mr. Ellingsen has won prizes in competitions such as the Van Rooy Competition for Musical Excellence, the Paranov Concerto Competition, and the Hudson Valley Youth Symphony Concerto Competition. Summer festivals include the Bang on a Can New Music Festival and the Spoletto Festival USA. As an advocate for new and experimental music, Mr. Ellingsen has hosted recitals and improvisations in contemporary art galleries across New England.
ELIZABETH BARRETT GROTH (COSTUME DESIGNER) is a second-year MFA candidate at Yale School of Drama. In 2004 she graduated as a Presidential Arts Scholar from George Washington University, with a BA in fine art and art history. She has worked as a costume designer and assistant costume designer at Folger Elizabethan Theatre, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Huntington Theatre Company, Boston University Opera Institute, American Repertory Theatre’s Institute for Advanced Theatre Training, and Berkshire Theatre Festival. Her designs for Silk Road Dance Company’s American premiere of Egypta were nominated for a 2004 DC Metro Dance Award. She recently designed sets and costumes for The Five Fists of Science and One for the Road (Yale Cabaret) and was the set designer for the Dwight/Edgewood Project 2008. This spring she will be designing a set for the Carlotta Festival of New Plays at Yale School of Drama.
JUSTIN HAAHEIM (MUSICIAN) is a
PALOMA McGREGOR (CHOREOGRAPHER)
drummer and percussionist living in New Haven and pursuing a Masters of Divinity degree at Yale Divinity School and the Institute of Sacred Music. His credits include classical performances with the Dale Warland Singers at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis and performance tours throughout China and Eastern Europe. His jazz credits include concerts with Allen Vizzutti and the late Frank Mantooth, as well as a performance on Garrison Keillor’s A Prairie Home Companion. He is an active musician in the area, currently playing with a variety of groups and co-leading two jazz ensembles.
has choreographed work presented in New York at Bronx Academy of Art and Dance, Solar One Arts Festival, and New Dance Group; as well as The Dance Place in Washington, DC and Cleveland Public Theatre. She co-founded Angela’s Pulse Performance Projects with lifelong collaborator and sister, Patricia, and is associate artistic director of INSPIRIT: a dance company. Since 2005, she has performed nationally and internationally with the critically acclaimed Urban Bush Women. She earned her BS in journalism from Florida A&M University and her MFA in choreography and performance from Case Western Reserve University.
KAREN HASHLEY (STAGE MANAGER) is a second-year MFA candidate at Yale School of Drama. She received a BFA in stage management from The Theatre School at DePaul University. Her credits at Yale include The Ghost Sonata, Pericles, Good Egg, and 99 Ways to Fuck a Swan (Yale School of Drama); and Passion Play (Yale Repertory Theatre). Other credits include All My Sons, The Last Night of Ballyhoo, Pentecost, and The Trial, as well as the US premiere of Sir Fredrick Ashton’s Cinderella with the Joffrey Ballet.
JAY HOGGARD (MUSIC DIRECTOR) is a vibraphonist-composer who has recorded 20 CDs as a band leader, including Soular Power, Swing Em Gates, The Right Place, and Songs of Spiritual Love. He has also recorded over 50 CDs as a collaborator and has performed in many of the world’s finest music venues with jazz greats Lionel Hampton, Milt Jackson, Tito Puente, Kenny Burrell, Billy Taylor, Dizzy Gillespie, Max Roach, Bobby Hutcherson, Hilton Ruiz, and many others. He has been featured internationally on radio, television, and film. Jay is also a professor of music at Wesleyan University where he directs the Jazz Orchestra and has taught and mentored hundreds of students.
PATRICIA McGREGOR (DIRECTOR) is a third-year MFA student at Yale School of Drama and Artistic Director of Yale Cabaret. Yale Cabaret directing credits include Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill, In the Cypher, The Twenty-Four Hour Plays, Sidewalk Opera, and Dancing in the Dark. Yale School of Drama directing credits include In the MEANtime, Romeo and Juliet, The Covering Skyline Is Nothing, Imaginary Audience, and Guernica-The Musical! Other directing credits include 365 Days /365 Plays at The Public Theater; Clarisse and Larmon, Totems, My Children! My Africa!, and The Seagull. Patricia was a Van Lier Directing Fellow at Second Stage Theatre. She has worked at Brooklyn Academy of Music, the O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, Lincoln Center Institute, and on Broadway with Deborah Warner’s Medea. She is currently directing a dance theatre piece based on Patricia Smith’s award-winning book Blood Dazzler about Hurricane Katrina with choreographer Paloma McGregor. At Yale, she is a McDougal Scholar and received the Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans.
CREATIVE TEAM GERMÁN CÁRDENAS ALAMINOS (SCENIC DESIGNER) is a second-year MFA candidate at Yale School of Drama. He received a BA in architecture at Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico, Mexico City (2000). After working as an architect, Germán codesigned several productions, including Doubt, Mixed Emotions, The Robbers, The Overcoat, The Comedy of Errors, The Taming of the Shrew, Venus, El Método Gronhölm, La Piel, Mi Joven Corazón Idiota, and La Nueva Familia, and the musicals Hoy No Me Puedo Levantar, Emperadores de la Antártida, and The Producers. He designed sets and lights for Am Ziel by Thomas Bernhard. Germán is the recipient of the National Fund for Culture and the Arts (FONCA) Foreign Studies Program Scholarship.
TAYLOR HO BYNUM (MUSICIAN) is a brass instrumentalist, composer, bandleader, and interdisciplinary collaborator with artists in dance, film, and theatre, hailed by Time Out Chicago as “one of the most exciting figures in jazz’s new power generation.” He leads various ensembles ranging from duo to big band, and performs with some of the most innovative figures in creative music, such as Anthony Braxton, Cecil Taylor, and Bill Dixon. He is featured on over fifty CDs, has toured throughout the world, and is deeply involved with the arts community as an educator, writer, organizer, and producer.
CHARLES COES (SOUND DESIGNER) is a third-year MFA candidate at Yale School of Drama, where his credits include Grace, or the Art of Climbing and A Month in the Country. He recently designed Eurydice at Amherst College, and Passion Play at Yale Repertory Theatre. His Yale Cabaret credits include Little Shop of Horrors, Bone Songs, Hillbilly Antigone, Perk/ Pussy/Pathos, WASP, and Three Sisters, or The Dormouse’s Tale. He is a frequent collaborator with Green Chair Dance Group and has designed light and sound for
Escape!, The Coefficient of Static Friction Cannot Exceed..., and For Use in Case of Emergency. He has also designed and mixed numerous shows at Swarthmore College.
BRIAN ELLINGSEN (MUSICIAN) is a double bassist who received his bachelor’s degree in music from the Hartt School, and is currently completing his master’s degree at Yale School of Music. As a soloist, Mr. Ellingsen has won prizes in competitions such as the Van Rooy Competition for Musical Excellence, the Paranov Concerto Competition, and the Hudson Valley Youth Symphony Concerto Competition. Summer festivals include the Bang on a Can New Music Festival and the Spoletto Festival USA. As an advocate for new and experimental music, Mr. Ellingsen has hosted recitals and improvisations in contemporary art galleries across New England.
ELIZABETH BARRETT GROTH (COSTUME DESIGNER) is a second-year MFA candidate at Yale School of Drama. In 2004 she graduated as a Presidential Arts Scholar from George Washington University, with a BA in fine art and art history. She has worked as a costume designer and assistant costume designer at Folger Elizabethan Theatre, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Huntington Theatre Company, Boston University Opera Institute, American Repertory Theatre’s Institute for Advanced Theatre Training, and Berkshire Theatre Festival. Her designs for Silk Road Dance Company’s American premiere of Egypta were nominated for a 2004 DC Metro Dance Award. She recently designed sets and costumes for The Five Fists of Science and One for the Road (Yale Cabaret) and was the set designer for the Dwight/Edgewood Project 2008. This spring she will be designing a set for the Carlotta Festival of New Plays at Yale School of Drama.
JUSTIN HAAHEIM (MUSICIAN) is a
PALOMA McGREGOR (CHOREOGRAPHER)
drummer and percussionist living in New Haven and pursuing a Masters of Divinity degree at Yale Divinity School and the Institute of Sacred Music. His credits include classical performances with the Dale Warland Singers at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis and performance tours throughout China and Eastern Europe. His jazz credits include concerts with Allen Vizzutti and the late Frank Mantooth, as well as a performance on Garrison Keillor’s A Prairie Home Companion. He is an active musician in the area, currently playing with a variety of groups and co-leading two jazz ensembles.
has choreographed work presented in New York at Bronx Academy of Art and Dance, Solar One Arts Festival, and New Dance Group; as well as The Dance Place in Washington, DC and Cleveland Public Theatre. She co-founded Angela’s Pulse Performance Projects with lifelong collaborator and sister, Patricia, and is associate artistic director of INSPIRIT: a dance company. Since 2005, she has performed nationally and internationally with the critically acclaimed Urban Bush Women. She earned her BS in journalism from Florida A&M University and her MFA in choreography and performance from Case Western Reserve University.
KAREN HASHLEY (STAGE MANAGER) is a second-year MFA candidate at Yale School of Drama. She received a BFA in stage management from The Theatre School at DePaul University. Her credits at Yale include The Ghost Sonata, Pericles, Good Egg, and 99 Ways to Fuck a Swan (Yale School of Drama); and Passion Play (Yale Repertory Theatre). Other credits include All My Sons, The Last Night of Ballyhoo, Pentecost, and The Trial, as well as the US premiere of Sir Fredrick Ashton’s Cinderella with the Joffrey Ballet.
JAY HOGGARD (MUSIC DIRECTOR) is a vibraphonist-composer who has recorded 20 CDs as a band leader, including Soular Power, Swing Em Gates, The Right Place, and Songs of Spiritual Love. He has also recorded over 50 CDs as a collaborator and has performed in many of the world’s finest music venues with jazz greats Lionel Hampton, Milt Jackson, Tito Puente, Kenny Burrell, Billy Taylor, Dizzy Gillespie, Max Roach, Bobby Hutcherson, Hilton Ruiz, and many others. He has been featured internationally on radio, television, and film. Jay is also a professor of music at Wesleyan University where he directs the Jazz Orchestra and has taught and mentored hundreds of students.
PATRICIA McGREGOR (DIRECTOR) is a third-year MFA student at Yale School of Drama and Artistic Director of Yale Cabaret. Yale Cabaret directing credits include Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill, In the Cypher, The Twenty-Four Hour Plays, Sidewalk Opera, and Dancing in the Dark. Yale School of Drama directing credits include In the MEANtime, Romeo and Juliet, The Covering Skyline Is Nothing, Imaginary Audience, and Guernica-The Musical! Other directing credits include 365 Days /365 Plays at The Public Theater; Clarisse and Larmon, Totems, My Children! My Africa!, and The Seagull. Patricia was a Van Lier Directing Fellow at Second Stage Theatre. She has worked at Brooklyn Academy of Music, the O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, Lincoln Center Institute, and on Broadway with Deborah Warner’s Medea. She is currently directing a dance theatre piece based on Patricia Smith’s award-winning book Blood Dazzler about Hurricane Katrina with choreographer Paloma McGregor. At Yale, she is a McDougal Scholar and received the Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans.
CREATIVE TEAM JENNIFER HARRISON NEWMAN (CHOREOGRAPHER) is a first-year MFA candidate in theater management at Yale School of Drama. As a performer, her career has spanned national and international stages, film, and television working with choreographers and directors such as Garth Fagan, Donald Byrd, David Rousseve, Ronald K. Brown, Julie Taymor, Jerry Mitchell and Casey Nicholaw, to name a few. Most recent credits include Disney’s The Lion King on Broadway and ABC’s All My Children. Jennifer received her BA from the University of California, Los Angeles.
California State University, Long Beach with a BA in technical theatre arts in 2006. She designed lights for their production of Cloud Nine, The Dumb Waiter, My Media, Alice in Wonderland, Titus Andronicus, (M) asking Questions, Betrayal, The Cannibals, and Comedy Sketches. Yale School of Drama credits include The Ghost Sonata and Man=Man. Yale Cabaret credits include The Homecoming Project, Mask Ritual: Electra, One for the Road, and Little Prince. Other credits include King Cat Calico produced by Son of Semele and The Underpants by Little Fish Theatre.
REBECCA PHILLIPS (DRAMATURG) is a
FRANCES BLACK (Associate Managing
third-year MFA candidate at Yale School of Drama. Dramaturgy credits include Richard II (Yale Repertory Theatre); Romeo and Juliet, Camino Real (Yale School of Drama); Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill, Bone Songs, and The Illusion (Yale Cabaret). She is an Artistic Associate at Yale Cabaret, where her other credits include Whose Cabaret Is It Anyway?, The Five Fists of Science, and Blood Box: An Evening of Grand Guignol. Rebecca holds an AB in comparative literature from the University of Chicago.
TIFFANY RACHELLE STEWART (CHOREOGRAPHER), an avid choreographer and dancer, received her MFA from Yale School of Drama, where she appeared in The Three Sisters, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Richard III, Hedda Gabler, and In the Red and Brown Water. She created, choreographed, and performed in “5,6,7,8...” at Yale Cabaret, and has choreographed for the company Yale Dancers and numerous theatrical productions. Her most recent acting credits include Obama Drama at the 45th Street Theatre and All My Children. She recently wrapped filming on the short film Play/Stop.
MARIE YOKOYAMA (LIGHTING DESIGNER) is a second-year MFA candidate at Yale School of Drama. She graduated from
Director) is a third-year MFA candidate in theater management at Yale School of Drama. Frances serves as a graduate affiliate of Ezra Stiles at Yale College, is a member of the Yale Entrepreneurial Society, and is the alumni class representative to Havergal College and University of King’s College. Previous work experience includes serving as the production manager for the Ice Theatre of New York, the new play development intern at the Canadian Stage Company, youth consultant for Young & Rubicam, and founder of the Executive Nanny Service and Wash ’n’ Go. Frances is a Torontonian and has attended school in Canada, Australia, England, and now the USA.
Cocktails, Wine & Sm all Plates Accepting Reservations for Holiday Parties & New years Eve
“E xcellent” -The New York Times
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SERGI TORRES (Associate Marketing Director) is a third-year MFA candidate in theater management at Yale School of Drama. A 2006-09 Fulbright Fellow, he was the Executive Fellow and consultant for artistic programs for Theatre Communications Group in New York. Previous experience includes serving as a curatorial assistant at the National Portrait Gallery in London, director of creative strategy at an advertising agency in Barcelona, and assistant to a brand manager at Renault Spain in Madrid. He holds an MA in cultural policy from City University London and a BA in communication sciences.
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CREATIVE TEAM JENNIFER HARRISON NEWMAN (CHOREOGRAPHER) is a first-year MFA candidate in theater management at Yale School of Drama. As a performer, her career has spanned national and international stages, film, and television working with choreographers and directors such as Garth Fagan, Donald Byrd, David Rousseve, Ronald K. Brown, Julie Taymor, Jerry Mitchell and Casey Nicholaw, to name a few. Most recent credits include Disney’s The Lion King on Broadway and ABC’s All My Children. Jennifer received her BA from the University of California, Los Angeles.
California State University, Long Beach with a BA in technical theatre arts in 2006. She designed lights for their production of Cloud Nine, The Dumb Waiter, My Media, Alice in Wonderland, Titus Andronicus, (M) asking Questions, Betrayal, The Cannibals, and Comedy Sketches. Yale School of Drama credits include The Ghost Sonata and Man=Man. Yale Cabaret credits include The Homecoming Project, Mask Ritual: Electra, One for the Road, and Little Prince. Other credits include King Cat Calico produced by Son of Semele and The Underpants by Little Fish Theatre.
REBECCA PHILLIPS (DRAMATURG) is a
FRANCES BLACK (Associate Managing
third-year MFA candidate at Yale School of Drama. Dramaturgy credits include Richard II (Yale Repertory Theatre); Romeo and Juliet, Camino Real (Yale School of Drama); Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill, Bone Songs, and The Illusion (Yale Cabaret). She is an Artistic Associate at Yale Cabaret, where her other credits include Whose Cabaret Is It Anyway?, The Five Fists of Science, and Blood Box: An Evening of Grand Guignol. Rebecca holds an AB in comparative literature from the University of Chicago.
TIFFANY RACHELLE STEWART (CHOREOGRAPHER), an avid choreographer and dancer, received her MFA from Yale School of Drama, where she appeared in The Three Sisters, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Richard III, Hedda Gabler, and In the Red and Brown Water. She created, choreographed, and performed in “5,6,7,8...” at Yale Cabaret, and has choreographed for the company Yale Dancers and numerous theatrical productions. Her most recent acting credits include Obama Drama at the 45th Street Theatre and All My Children. She recently wrapped filming on the short film Play/Stop.
MARIE YOKOYAMA (LIGHTING DESIGNER) is a second-year MFA candidate at Yale School of Drama. She graduated from
Director) is a third-year MFA candidate in theater management at Yale School of Drama. Frances serves as a graduate affiliate of Ezra Stiles at Yale College, is a member of the Yale Entrepreneurial Society, and is the alumni class representative to Havergal College and University of King’s College. Previous work experience includes serving as the production manager for the Ice Theatre of New York, the new play development intern at the Canadian Stage Company, youth consultant for Young & Rubicam, and founder of the Executive Nanny Service and Wash ’n’ Go. Frances is a Torontonian and has attended school in Canada, Australia, England, and now the USA.
Cocktails, Wine & Sm all Plates Accepting Reservations for Holiday Parties & New years Eve
“E xcellent” -The New York Times
116Crown.com 116 Crown Street N e w H av F O t 7 7 7 . 3 1 1 6
SERGI TORRES (Associate Marketing Director) is a third-year MFA candidate in theater management at Yale School of Drama. A 2006-09 Fulbright Fellow, he was the Executive Fellow and consultant for artistic programs for Theatre Communications Group in New York. Previous experience includes serving as a curatorial assistant at the National Portrait Gallery in London, director of creative strategy at an advertising agency in Barcelona, and assistant to a brand manager at Renault Spain in Madrid. He holds an MA in cultural policy from City University London and a BA in communication sciences.
Want to save money on your next mailing? CT Presort is a complete letter shop and mailing service facility. We offer:
Inkjet Addressing • Postnet Barcoding Mailing List Maintenance • Fulfillment Call us today to find out how we can save you money on postage! CT PRESORT, L.L.C. 87A State Street, North Haven 203.239.3199 • ctpresort@aol.com
jelly’s last jam production staff Associate Managing Director
Frances Black
Associate Production Supervisor
Matt Welander
Associate Marketing Director
Sergi Torres
Assistant Director
Charlotte Brathwaite
Assistant Scenic Designer
Po-Lin Li
Assistant Costume Designer
Aaron Mastin
Assistant Lighting Designer
Daisy Long
Assistant Stage Manager
Allison Johnson
Technical Director
Andrew Becker
Assistant Technical Directors
Samual Michael
Tien-Yin Sun
Master Electrician
Amanda Jane Haley
Properties Master
James Zwicky
Stage Carpenter
Tien-Yin Sun
Costume Shop Manager
Tom McAlister
Associate Costume Shop Manager
Robin Hirsch
Drapers
Clarissa Wylie Youngberg
Mary Zihal
“Confront the dark parts of yourself, and work to banish them with illumination and forgiveness. Your willingness to wrestle with your demons will cause your angels to sing. Use the pain as fuel, as a reminder of your strength.”
—August Wilson
“Yeah, I love being famous. It’s almost like being white, y’know?” —Chris Rock “Your family history is complicated and you have to know it all. If you don’t know the soil from which you were sprung, the world’s gonna roll all over you.”
—Angela McGregor
DiRECTOR’S NOTE For me this show is an exploration of some of my favorite obsessions: American
First Hands
Deborah Bloch
folklore, racial intersections, cultural authenticity, and the simple magic of
Sound Engineer
Michael Skinner
forgiveness. It is also about artisitic and family roots, which is why I have dedicated
Staff Sound Engineer
Paul Bozzi
my work on this production to August Wilson, Tarell Alvin McCraney, Marion
Head Electrician
Jason Wells
McClinton and Seret Scott, Marcus Gardley, Anna Deavere Smith, Lynn Nottage and
Scenic Charge
Ru-Jun Wang
Suzan Lori Parks, who taught and inspired me to “write it down”; to Oscar and Tina
Run Crew
Luke Brown
McGregor who are my soil and sunshine; and to Angela and Paloma McGregor who
Walter Chon
are my everything.
Tanya Dean Miriam Felton-Dansky Bona Lee Matthew Moses
Steward Savage
Rebecca Wolff Vocal Coaches
Vicki Shaghoian, Walton Wilson
Fight Director
Rick Sordelet
House Manager
Whitney Estrin
Program Design
Maggie Elliott
SPECIAL THANKS The Barrett-Groth Family, Susan Birkenhead, Chris Burney, Steven Cabral at the TDF Costume Collection, Ireri Chavez, Moria Clinton, Office of Ronald Delfini, Scott Dougan, Byron Easley, Aurélia Fisher, Bob Gatzen, Geraldine Florist, Carmen Gherty, Robbie and Valerie Goffin, Erik Graham-Smith at GPSCY, Group W. Bench, Slate Holmgren, Warren Ilchman, Kyala, Alan Lomax, Oscar and Tina McGregor, Angela and Paloma McGregor, Katie O’Neill, Art Priromprintr, Carole Rothman and Second Stage Theatre, Pierre-André Salim, Shatzy, Shane Sigler, Jeffrey, Paul and Daisy Soros, Vassi Spanos, Robert Thompson, Nicole West, George C. Wolfe, Yale Cabaret
It takes a village to create a show.
jelly’s last jam production staff Associate Managing Director
Frances Black
Associate Production Supervisor
Matt Welander
Associate Marketing Director
Sergi Torres
Assistant Director
Charlotte Brathwaite
Assistant Scenic Designer
Po-Lin Li
Assistant Costume Designer
Aaron Mastin
Assistant Lighting Designer
Daisy Long
Assistant Stage Manager
Allison Johnson
Technical Director
Andrew Becker
Assistant Technical Directors
Samual Michael
Tien-Yin Sun
Master Electrician
Amanda Jane Haley
Properties Master
James Zwicky
Stage Carpenter
Tien-Yin Sun
Costume Shop Manager
Tom McAlister
Associate Costume Shop Manager
Robin Hirsch
Drapers
Clarissa Wylie Youngberg
Mary Zihal
“Confront the dark parts of yourself, and work to banish them with illumination and forgiveness. Your willingness to wrestle with your demons will cause your angels to sing. Use the pain as fuel, as a reminder of your strength.”
—August Wilson
“Yeah, I love being famous. It’s almost like being white, y’know?” —Chris Rock “Your family history is complicated and you have to know it all. If you don’t know the soil from which you were sprung, the world’s gonna roll all over you.”
—Angela McGregor
DiRECTOR’S NOTE For me this show is an exploration of some of my favorite obsessions: American
First Hands
Deborah Bloch
folklore, racial intersections, cultural authenticity, and the simple magic of
Sound Engineer
Michael Skinner
forgiveness. It is also about artisitic and family roots, which is why I have dedicated
Staff Sound Engineer
Paul Bozzi
my work on this production to August Wilson, Tarell Alvin McCraney, Marion
Head Electrician
Jason Wells
McClinton and Seret Scott, Marcus Gardley, Anna Deavere Smith, Lynn Nottage and
Scenic Charge
Ru-Jun Wang
Suzan Lori Parks, who taught and inspired me to “write it down”; to Oscar and Tina
Run Crew
Luke Brown
McGregor who are my soil and sunshine; and to Angela and Paloma McGregor who
Walter Chon
are my everything.
Tanya Dean Miriam Felton-Dansky Bona Lee Matthew Moses
Steward Savage
Rebecca Wolff Vocal Coaches
Vicki Shaghoian, Walton Wilson
Fight Director
Rick Sordelet
House Manager
Whitney Estrin
Program Design
Maggie Elliott
SPECIAL THANKS The Barrett-Groth Family, Susan Birkenhead, Chris Burney, Steven Cabral at the TDF Costume Collection, Ireri Chavez, Moria Clinton, Office of Ronald Delfini, Scott Dougan, Byron Easley, Aurélia Fisher, Bob Gatzen, Geraldine Florist, Carmen Gherty, Robbie and Valerie Goffin, Erik Graham-Smith at GPSCY, Group W. Bench, Slate Holmgren, Warren Ilchman, Kyala, Alan Lomax, Oscar and Tina McGregor, Angela and Paloma McGregor, Katie O’Neill, Art Priromprintr, Carole Rothman and Second Stage Theatre, Pierre-André Salim, Shatzy, Shane Sigler, Jeffrey, Paul and Daisy Soros, Vassi Spanos, Robert Thompson, Nicole West, George C. Wolfe, Yale Cabaret
It takes a village to create a show.
february 13 to 18, 2009
Yale School of Drama
James Bundy, Dean
Victoria Nolan, Deputy Dean
Presents
Jelly’s Last Jam book by GEORGE C. WOLFE lyrics by susan
birkenhead music by jelly roll morton and luther henderson directed by patricia mcgregor ARTISTIC TEAM Music Director
Jay HoggarD
Choreography
developed by the company under the guidance of
Clarence Agbi Paloma McGregor Jennifer Harrison Newman Tiffany Rachelle Stewart Scenic Designer Costume Designer Lighting Designer Sound Designer Dramaturg Stage Manager
Germán Cárdenas Alaminos Elizabeth Barrett Groth Marie Yokoyama Charles Coes Rebecca Phillips Karen Hashley
Season Media Sponsor