Download Rutherford`s Travels

ILESA DUNCAN
Executive Artistic Director
Presents the World Premiere of
Rutherford’s Travels
Adapted for the stage by Ilesa Duncan & David Barr, III
From the novel Middle Passage by Charles Johnson
Directed by Ilesa Duncan
Music Composed/Directed by Shawn Wallace
Choreography by Nicole Clarke-Springer
This play is performed through arrangement with Georges Borchardt, Inc. for Charles Johnson. All rights reserved.
Scenic Design
Elyse Balogh
Lighting Design
Josh Wroblewski
Sound Design
Sarah Putts
Costume Design
Melissa Perkins
Violence Design
R&D Choreography
(Victor Bayona &
Richard Gilbert)
Production Manager
Liam Fitzgerald
Props Design
Zeke Reineccius
Master Electrician
Carley Walker
Dramaturg
Reginald Edmund
Technical Director
Becca Venable
PRODUCTION SPONSORS:
Press Opening Sunday, November 6, 2016
Pegasus Theatre Chicago’s main stage productions are generously supported by the MacArthur Fund at the Richard
Driehaus Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, and the Illinois
Arts Council Agency. Education programs are generously supported by: The Lloyd A. Fry Foundation, The Polk Bros.
Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, The Leo S. Guthman Fund, and The Seabury Foundation.
Photographing, videotaping or other audio/visual recording of this production is strictly prohibited.
Rutherford’s Travels
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CAST
Rutherford Calhoun................................................................................................................... Breon Arzell
Captain Falcon........................................................................................................................Gary Houston*
Santos/Diamelo/Riley.......................................................................................................... Osiris Khepera
Jackson/Ngonyama........................................................................................................... Andrew Malone
Papa Zerinque/Ensemble...................................................................................................... Darren Jones
Josiah Squibb.................................................................................................................................Ron Quade
Cringle/Rev. Chandler....................................................................................................Nelson Rodriguez
Isadora/Allmuseri Mother....................................................................................... Naima Hebrail Kidjo
Baleka/Allmuseri God.......................................................................................... Tiffany Renee Johnson
Tom/Meadows.....................................................................................................................Heather Chrisler
McGaffin/Quakenbush................................................................................................................David Fehr
*Member of Actors Equity Association – appearing under special Guest Artist Contract
There will be one ten-minute intermission.
P R O D U C T I O N S TA F F
Co-Adapters................................................................................................. Ilesa Duncan & David Barr, III
Director.........................................................................................................................................Ilesa Duncan
Music Director/Composer..................................................................................................Shawn Wallace
Choreographer......................................................................................................Nicole J. Clarke-Springer
Scenic Design.............................................................................................................................. Elyse Balogh
Lighting Design................................................................................................................... Josh Wroblewski
Sound Design................................................................................................................................ Sarah Putts
Costume Design.................................................................................................................... Melissa Perkins
Violence Design........................................................................................................... R&D Choreography
Props Design.......................................................................................................................... Zeke Reineccius
Production Manager..........................................................................................................Liam Fitzgerald
Technical Director...................................................................................................................Becca Venable
Master Electrician.....................................................................................................................Carley Walker
Stage Manager.....................................................................................................................Beth Weinstock
Assistant Stage Manager..............................................................................................................Toni Ward
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Pegasus Theatre Chicago
BIOGR APHIES
Breon Arzell
(Rutherford) is an actor/
choreographer whose
recent credits include
The Hypocrites’ You on
the Moors Now. Other
Chicago credits include: The Hairy Ape (Oracle Productions - Jeff
Award for Artistic Specialization Choreography and Jeff Award Nominee for
Best Ensemble), The Scottsboro Boys (Raven
Theatre - Jeff Award for Best Ensemble and
Broadway World Nomination for Best
Actor), Johanna Faustus and All Our Tragic
(The Hypocrites - Jeff Award for Best
Ensemble); Xtigone (Chicago Danztheater
Ensemble), War Song (The Plagiarists), and
Superman 2050 (Theater Unspeakable). A
Detroit native and graduate of Miami of
Ohio University, Arzell has performed in
London, Wales, Denmark, Singapore, and
all across Italy, Germany, and the U.S.
www.breonarzell.com.
Heather Chrisler (Tom/
Meadows) Chrisler
makes her Pegasus
debut with Rutherford’s
Travels, for which she
was also part of its
development for nearly
a year. As a Chicago based actor she was
most recently seen as Natalie in the world
premiere of Good Friday at Oracle. Chrisler
has worked on productions at Stage Left
Theatre, Remy Bumppo, First Folio, and
Muse of Fire Theatre Collective among
others. Regionally Chrisler has appeared in
productions at Riverside Theatre in Iowa
City, Door Shakespeare in Wisconsin, The
Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, The
Monomoy Theatre on Cape Cod, and
Portland Center Stage in Oregon. Chrisler
holds a Masters of Fine Arts from Ohio
University. Favorite film/television role:
Tawny Darrens on Chicago PD on NBC. She
appears under the representation of
Shirley Hamilton, Inc.
David Fehr (McGaffin/
Quakenbush) has
worked in Chicago with
Remy Bumppo,
Continuum, The
Mammals, Halcyon and
others. A few of his
recent favorite parts include Treplev in The
Nina Variations, Bastard in King John
(Linchpin), and Agamemnon in
Iphigenology (Neapolitians). He obtained
his MFA from the University of Missouri,
Kansas City and is the Co-Artistic Director
of Linchpin Theatre. Gary Houston (Falcon)
was last onstage in
Nina Raine’s Tribes
(Fusion Theatre in
Albuquerque) and, in
Chicago, Henry H.
Perritt Jr.’s Airline Miles
(Second Stage), It’s a Wonderful Life
(American Blues), Mauritius (Northlight)
and Uncle Vanya (TUTA). He appeared as
Nelson Algren in Nelson & Simone (Live
Bait), Saul Alinsky in The Love Song of Saul
Alinsky (Terrapin), American Enterprise
(Organic), The Tempest (European
Repertory), William Blake in Blake, and
Damon, Ring and F. Scott (Writers’),
Unchanging Love (The Artistic Home), Mrs.
Warren’s Profession (BoarsHead), Panic
(Peninsula Players), Heroes (Stormfield),
Hamlet (The Shakespeare Project), Richard
III (Oak Park Festival), A Raisin in the Sun
(Goodman), After the Fall (National Jewish),
Free Advice from Prague (Northlight) and
Berlin ‘45 (Victory Gardens). Gary is also a
director, working with Steppenwolf, Magic
Circle, the Museum of Contemporary Art
and The Goodman.
Rutherford’s Travels
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BIOGR APHIES
c o n t.
Tiffany Renee Johnson
(Baleka/Almuseri God)
is a proud Chicago
native and graduate of
Howard University
(Theatre Arts BFA).
Some of her favorite
theatre credits are RACE (Next Act Theatre);
The Story of Wilma Rudolph (Historical
Perspectives for Children); Hairspray (Drury
Lane Theatre); The Nativity (Congo Square
Theatre); The Bluest Eye & The Sirens
(Environmental Theatre Space). TV/film
credits include Chicago PD, Chicago Fire &
Dhoom 3. She also had the pleasure of
filming her first national commercial last
year. She is represented by Gray Talent
Group.
Darren Jones (Zerinque/
Ensemble) Jones is a
25-year stage veteran
whose recent credits
include: What I Learned
in Paris (Congo Square
Theatre), Repairing A
Nation (eta Creative Arts Foundation);
Katrina: Mother-In-Law Of ‘Em All
(!nterrobang Theatre); Fabulation, or The
Re-Education of Undine (Pulse Theatre
Company); The Alton School Cases of 1867
(DePaul Theater School); If Scrooge Was a
Brother (eta Creative Arts); and The
Whaleship Essex, Mill Fire (Shattered Globe
Theater). Film and television credits include
Chi-Raq, HOOD, No Chaser, Mo’ Money, and
Chicago PD (NBC). He also is a commercial,
industrials and training film actor. Darren is
an Artistic Associate with Shattered Globe
Theatre Company and is represented by
Lily’s Talent Agency, Chicago. Special
thanks to Karen Stavins Enterprises.
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Pegasus Theatre Chicago
Osiris Khepera (Santos/
Diamelo/Riley) fancies
himself a Renaissance
Artist: Actor, Poet,
Playwright, Painter, &
Singer. Recent works
include: Bars &
Measures (PROP THTR - BTAA Best Actor
Nomination); This Great Nation and Much
Enduring (Chicago Slamworks); R.E.A.C.H,
(Second City); The American Revolution
(Theater Unspeakable and Lincoln Center);
The Fagtionary, (MPAACT); The Tennessee
Williams Project, (Hypocrites); Harry & The
Thief (Pavement Group); and A Few Good
Men (Peninsula Players).
Naïma Hebrail Kidjo
(Isadora/African
Mother) is a FrancoBeninese actress who
grew up in France and
Brooklyn. Theatrical
credits include: You On
The Moors Now (U/S, The Hypocrites), A Big,
Big Knowing (Jackalope Living Newspaper
Festival, Chicago), Milkwhite (The
Kinematics, Chicago), The Whole World is
Watching (Dog and Pony, Chicago), Solo
Crowd performances (Chicago), How To Be
Alone! (Dixon Place, New York City), The
Tempest (Yale University), and Dracula
(Williamstown Theatre Festival). She
received a BA in Theatre Studies from Yale
University.
Andrew Malone
(Jackson/Ngonyama)
Andrew recently
appeared in Marriott
Theatre’s How to
Succeed in Business
Without Really Trying,
Porchlight’s Dreamgirls, and Raven
Theatre’s Jeff Award winning, Direct From
Death Row: The Scottsboro Boys where he
BIOGR APHIES
c o n t.
won Broadway World’s Best Actor Award.
Other credits include, but are not limited
to: Seaweed in Hairspray, Audrey II in Little
Shop of Horrors, Richie in A.C.L., and Mitch
Mahoney in Spelling Bee. Andrew is a
graduate of AMDA-NY.
Ron Quade (Squibb) This
is Ron’s 5th play at
Pegasus having
appeared in Heat Wave,
Black Caesar and 2
others. He has worked
at many theatres in
Chicago appearing in 4 shows at Chicago
Dramatists, 17 shows at Raven Theatre and
various other venues around town. Raised
in Texas, Ron is an associate artist at
Chicago Dramatists.
Nelson Rodriguez
(Cringle/Chandler/
Ensemble) is Artistic
Director of Pride Films
and Plays where he
appeared in The
Children’s Hour, Some
Men, The Boys Upstairs, and Men on the
Verge of a His-Panic Breakdown for which he
received a 2016 Joseph Jefferson Award
nomination in Solo Performance.
Additional Chicago credits include The
Compass (Steppenwolf for Young
Audiences); Graveyard of Empires (16th
Street Theatre); and work with Chicago
Dramatists, Signal Ensemble Theatre,
Urban Theatre Company, and Adventure
Stage where he is an Associate Artist. On
camera, he has appeared in Easy Abby,
Dudes, Kissing Walls, and stars
in the upcoming feature film En Algun
Lugar. He is a member of The Alliance of
Latinx Theatre Artists’ playwrights circle El
Semillero. Mr. Rodriguez is represented by
Gray Talent Group.
Michael Denini (U/S:
Falcon, Squib)Recent
Chicago credits include
The Whale (Victory
Gardens), A Raisin In The
Sun (TimeLine), The Liar
Paradox (Stage Left),
The Invasion of Skokie (ShPIeL), Miracle on
34th St., Look Homeward Angel and The
Petrified Forest (Artistic Home), and The
Diary of Anne Frank and A Christmas Carol
(Metropolis Performing Arts Center).
Tiffany Fulson (U/S:
Isadora, Baleka) Tiffany
studied theater at
Arcadia University for
Global Studies in
London and received
her BFA in Theatre
Performance from the University of Illinois
at Chicago. Her theatre credits include:
Passing Strange, As You Like It, Clybourne
Park, The Bluest Eye (University of Illinois at
Chicago) In My Head (Madison Street
Theatre) Cats, Thirteen the Musical, The Wiz
(Journeyman Company/Gallery 37).
Directing credits: The Angry Brigade, A
Woman’s World, and an original adaptation
of Amiri Baraka’s Dutchman. She is
currently a teaching artist at Global Girls
Inc. and Steppenwolf Theatre.
Kevin Patterson (U/S:
Calhoun, Ngonyama/
Jackson) Some of his
recent credits include,
The Marvin Gaye Story
(Black Ensemble
Theatre), Passing
Strange, SNAFU (UIC School of Theatre and
Music), and Raven Theatre’s Jeff Award
Winning Direct From Deathrow: The
Scottsboro Boys (Best Ensemble). He is
currently attending UIC School of Theatre
and Music. Kevin is represented by Big
Mouth Talent.
Rutherford’s Travels
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BIOGR APHIES
c o n t.
Charles Johnson (Author, Middle
Passage) University of Washington
professor emeritus and the author of
21 books, Johnson is an award-winning
novelist, essayist, literary scholar, shortstory writer, cartoonist and illustrator,
screen-and-teleplay writer, and
philosopher. A MacArthur fellow, Johnson
has received a 2002 American Academy
of Arts and Letters Award for Literature,
a 1990 National Book Award for his novel
Middle Passage, a 1985 Writers Guild award
for his PBS teleplay “Booker,” the 2016
W.E.B. Du Bois Award at the National Black
Writers Conference, an inductee into the
American Academy of Arts & Sciences,
and many other awards. The Charles
Johnson Society at the American Literature
Association was founded in 2003. Dr.
Johnson recently published Taming the Ox:
Buddhist Stories and Reflections on Politics,
Race, Culture, and Spiritual Practice. His
fiction also includes Dr. King’s Refrigerator,
Dreamer, Oxherding Tale, Faith and the
Good Thing and The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.
His forthcoming book is The Way of the
Writer: Reflections on the Art and Craft of
Storytelling. A native of Evanston, Illinois,
he now lives in Seattle.
David Barr, III (Co-Adapter) is the winner
of the Joseph Jefferson Award for Best
New Work, the Mixed Blood Versus
America National Playwriting Contest,
the Edgar Allan Poe Award, the Theodore
Ward Contest, Unicorn Theatre National
Playwriting Award, the Donahue-Tremaine
Trust Award for excellence in playwriting
and three Illinois Arts Council Fellowships.
His plays, which have been produced at
the Goodman Theatre, Chicago Dramatists
(where he is a resident playwright
alumnus) and many other local and
national theaters. His works include The
Face of Emmett Till (co-written with Mamie
Till Mobley), The Death of the Black Jesus,
By the Music of the Spheres, A Red Death
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Pegasus Theatre Chicago
(adapted from the Walter Mosley novel
of the same title), The Journal of Ordinary
Thought, Billy (adapted from the Albert
French novel), Black Caesar, The Upper
Room and Every Time I Feel the Spirit.
Rutherford’s Travels marks Barr’s fifth world
premiere with Pegasus Theatre Chicago.
Barr is also a co-writer of the screenplay
adaptation of Death Of Innocence: The
Story of Emmett Till and The Hate Crime That
Changed America. The screenplay (novel
written by Christopher Benson and Mamie
Till-Mobley) was optioned by HBO Films for
development.
Ilesa Duncan (Director/Co-Adapter)
is Pegasus’ executive artistic director.
Her recent directing work includes For
Her as a Piano and Blacula at Pegasus,
Darlin’ with Step Up Productions, Broken
Fences at 16th Street Theater, the Jeff
Award-nominated The Nativity with Congo
Square, and the Jeff Award-winning Jar the
Floor at ETA Creative Arts. Duncan has also
worked with Goodman Theatre, Writers
Theatre, Victory Gardens Theater, Rivendell
Theatre Ensemble, Lifeline Theater,
Stage Left and Chicago Dramatists, as
well as Contemporary American Theatre
Company (Ohio), The Alliance Theatre
(Atlanta), Arena Stage (Washington DC)
and Lincoln Center Theater (New York).
Ilesa’s creative nonfiction short stories
have been published (Columbia College
Chicago), and she’s written poems and
screenplays. For the stage, she was a
co-writer and director of Blakk Love:
Stoeez of a Darker Hue, and facilitated the
group writing project Portraits (2007) for
the Chicago Foundation for Women and
the devised project Do You See What I’m
Saying for Chameleon. Ilesa is a member
of the Lincoln Center Theatre Director’s
Lab, a NEA/TCG Directing Fellow, and an
Associate Artist at Chicago Dramatists.
BIOGR APHIES
c o n t.
Elyse Balogh (Scenic Design) received her
BFA in Scenic Design from the Theatre
School at DePaul University. Recently,
she designed Christina, The Girl King (Cor
Theatre), Dying City (The Comrades), The
Legend of Sleepy Hollow (Mudlark), and An
Almanac for Farmers and Lovers in Mexico
(The Jades). Recent paint charges include
A Life Extraordinary (The Gift), and The
Full Monty (Peninsula Players). Upcoming
designs: Turtle (Redtwist), The Snow Queen
(St. Patrick’s High), Death of a Salesman
(Redtwist). www.elysebalogh.com
R&D Choreography (Violence Design Victor Bayona & Rick Gilbert) work with
Pegasus once again after designing
violence for Blacula: Young, Black, and
Undead. R&D was founded in 1997 for
the purpose of improving the power and
effectiveness of Chicago area theatre
through the art of violence design –
choreographing better fights for better
shows! We have designed violence for
over three hundred productions and films,
and taught stage combat at universities,
colleges, andworkshops. We have designed
violence for dozens of Chicago area
theatres, including About Face, Akvavit,
ATC, Bailiwick, First Folio, Griffin, Lifeline,
The Paramount, Piven, Steep, Theatre at
the Center, Theo Ubique, Two Pence, and
Vitalist.
Melissa Perkins (Costume Design) joins
Pegasus Theatre Chicago on her first
design since moving from Dallas, TX. Her
previous credits include I’m Gonna Pray
for You So Hard (Kitchen Dog Theater),
Temple Spirit, The Adventures of Flo and Greg
(Echo Theatre), You’re a Good Man Charlie
Brown (KD Studios & Imagination Players),
The Drowsy Chaperone (University of
Oklahoma). Her assistant costume design
credits include Mr. and Mrs. Pennyworth
(Lookingglass Theatre Company), Still
(Interrobang Theatre Project), The Van
Gogh Cafe (Filament Theatre), Moonshine:
That Hee-Haw Musical (Dallas Theater
Center).
Sarah Putts (Sound Designer) Recent
credits include Grizzly Mama at Rivendell
Ensemble Theatre, The Way She Spoke with
Greenhouse Theatre, Dryland at Rivendell,
The New Sincerity with Theater Wit, and
Beautiful Autistic with Chicago Dramatists,
She assistant design on Jeeves at Sea
with First Folio Theatre, Marvin’s Room
with Shattered Globe Theatre, Merchant
of Venice (Heart of America Shakespeare
Festival), King Lear (Heart of America
Shakespeare Festival), Freedom Rider
(Crossroads Theatre), Merchant o Venice
(Heart of America Shakespeare Festival),
Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo (Unicorn
Theatre), Violet (Spinning Tree Theatre),
Hamlet & Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
are dead (Kansas City Actors Theatre),
and Afflicted: Daughters of Salem –World
Premiere (Coterie Theatre).
Zeke Reineccius (Props Design) Zeke is a
props artisan, carpenter and scenic painter
who graduated from UIUC in 2013. He’s
excited to be in Chicago after working
summer stock for Creede Repertory
Theatre in Colorado.
Nicole Clarke-Springer (Choreography)
is a member of Deeply Rooted Dance
Theatre where she has performed with
artists such as Roberta Flack in Kevin Iega
Jeff’s Flack as well as Jennifer Holiday
in the world-renowned Penumbra
Theatre’s Black Nativity. As a member of
Deeply Rooted’s artistic team, ClarkeSpringer choreographed works such
as Nine, Dounia and Femme, and was
assistant choreographer to Kevin Iega
Jeff for Congo Square Theatre’s Nativity
for two years.Nicole received her B.S. in
Arts Administration-Dance from Butler
University where she received the award as
Butler Ballet’s Outstanding Performer.
Rutherford’s Travels
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BIOGR APHIES
c o n t.
Shawn Wallace (Music Director/
Composer) is a keyboardist, composer
and music director. He has music directed
and composed for such theatres as
MPAACT, Chicago Theatre Company and
DanzTheatre Chicago. He has worked with
luminary artists such as Common, Ice Cube,
Bobby Brown, Dwele, Johnny Gill, Jon B.,
Bilal, Estelle, Julie Dexter, Rene Neufville,
Rakim, Eric Roberson, Maggie Brown,
Ugochi and Cherisse Scott. Shawn studied
Music Theory and Composition at the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
and currently serves as Musical Director
for two New Thought congregations: The
Emmaus Center and the Namaste Center
for Spiritual Living-Chicago. Shawn has
worked for several years as a Teaching
Artist throughout Chicago schools
teaching Record Production and Theatre
Tech to youth from 6th through 12th
grades. His independent film score
credits include; Severed Ties (Showcase
Productions/ Lions Gate Films), Puzzle
Love (Storybox Productions) and Son of
America (Tanskin Productions/N’Spire
Entertainment INC).
Josh Wroblewski (Lighting Design) Josh is
a freelance lighting designer while also
working for the University of Chicago
and Freeman Audio Visual. Josh obtained
his MFA from the University of Nevada,
Las Vegas and joins the talented team at
Pegasus Theatre again. Past credits include
the 29th Young Playwrights Festival with
Pegasus, Becky Shaw, A Summons from the
Tinker..., and Foxfinder (Las Vegas Valley
Award-Best Lighting 2015) among many
others. Check out his work at
www.jwlightingdesign.com.
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Pegasus Theatre Chicago
Liam Fitzgerald (Production Manager) This
is Fitzgerald’s first show with Pegasus
Theatre. His Chicago production credits
include American Beauty Shop (Chicago
Dramatists), D.O.A. (Strawdog Theatre),
Trash (New American Folk Theatre),
Sketchbook 15 (Collaboraction), Physical
Theatre Festival (Theatre Unspeakable)
Taste, Feast (Red Theatre) Frederick,
Wonderland, Jabari Dreams of Freedom,
and Mr. Chickee’s Funny Money (Chicago
Children’s Theatre). He is an Artistic
Associate at Red Theatre and a Resident
Designer at Links Hall.
Becca Venable (Technical Director) works
as a stage manager, technical director,
lighting designer, and sound designer at
companies including Oil Lamp Theater, The
Jades, Collaboraction, and The Comrades.
As a Texas native, Becca worked with such
companies as Ballet Lubbock, Lubbock
Moonlight Musicals, Eastern New Mexico
University, Texas Tech University, Lubbock
Community Theatre, and Flatlands Dance
Theatre. Favorite shows include The
Nutcracker, Beauty and the Beast, Weekend
Comedy, Oklahoma, Dying City, The Boys
Next Door, Reckless, Fuddy Meers, The
Country Wife, and Rent.
Beth Weinstock (Stage Manager) has stage
managed many shows in Houston, Texas.
This is her first show in Chicago. Beth is a
graduate of the University of St. Thomas
where some of her favorite shows to stage
manage were Hedda Gabler and Much Ado
About Nothing.
Toni Ward (Assistant Stage Manager) This is
Toni’s first show post-college.
PAG E TO S TAG E
PEGASUS THEATRE CHICAGO’s 2016-17 season is an intimate look at the development
of new work. Readings, open rehearsals and special events demonstrate how new work
moves through ‘in process” to production. By making the journey public, we hope to
develop a more sustainable infrastructure for our theatre. This process may seem to
be an endless cycle of readings-feedback-revisions follows. But we conduct Readings,
open rehearsals and creative process events to demonstrate commitment to new work,
and page to stage adaptations. We are on a quest to innovate ways to seed it, create
it and produce it; with engaged communities and audiences. Rarely does the team of
playwrights, adapters, designers and audiences sit in the room working together in the
workshop process. We were delighted to have that plus Dr. Johnson with us during the
Spring of 2016. Our dramaturgy is richer for every opportunity to engage in discussions
with the author and each other.
Ilesa Duncan, Producing Artistic Director
ABOUT US
PEGASUS THEATRE CHICAGO’s mission is to produce boldly imaginative theatre,
champion new and authentic voices and illuminate the human journey.
Our Core Values:
• Community Engagement - We build community through respect, honesty and trust,
ensuring connection and accessibility for all.
• Social Relevance – We reflect social issues through creative and fearless storytelling.
• Audacious Boldness - We reserve the right to rock the boat in a purposeful and
imaginative way.
• Adventure – We will explore the new, the extraordinary, or the unusual to give our
audiences an exciting experience.
• Excellence – We choose important stories to tell, and with great attention to our
theatrical artistry, create memorable experiences for our artists and our supporters.
The founding company was created in 1978, growing out of original student writings
performed by both faculty and students in the City Colleges. From 1984-2010, the theatre
was in residence at the O’Rourke Center for the Performing Arts at Truman College in
the heart of Uptown. Pegasus then became theatre-in-residence at the Hull House’s Leo
Lerner Theater on Beacon Street from 2011-2013, which has since been demolished. The
Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs recognized the Young Playwrights Festival with
a special cash award for “Outstanding contribution to the arts and outreach efforts to
expand the accessibility of high quality arts experiences.” Pegasus’ has received 79 Joseph
Jefferson Non-Equity Awards and countless nominations. Currently in residence at
Chicago Dramatists in West Town, the new Pegasus Theatre Chicago is Where Epic Stories
Take Flight.
Rutherford’s Travels
9
B OA R D O F D I R E C TO R S
Mike Radzilowsky............................................................................................................................ President
David Barr, III.............................................................................................................. Secretary & Treasurer
Montie Apostolos.................................................................................................................. Board Director
Elizabeth Chadri..................................................................................................................... Board Director
Ilesa Duncan ........................................................................................................................... Board Director
Gerry Messler.......................................................................................................................... Board Director
Sarah Mostad.......................................................................................................................... Board Director
A DV I S O R Y C O U N C I L
Michelle Bibbs | Tsehaye Hébert | Harry J. Lennix | Topher McCullogh |
Nick Rabkin | Kevin Roberts | Juan Ramirez
P E G A S U S S TA F F
Executive Artistic Director......................................................................................................Ilesa Duncan
Program Manager................................................................................................................ Rachel DuBose
Literary Manager............................................................................................................ Reginald Edmund
Resident Dramaturg.................................................................................................... Dana Lynn Formby
Front of House ......................................................................................................................... Carley Walker
Fall Interns.................................................... Bethany Bendtsen, Serina Flores, Rachel Wolf-Adams
Graphic Design/Website............................................................................................. Topher McCullogh
Public Relations..................................................................................................... Shout! Public Relations
Legal Services...................................................................................................................... Radzilowky, LLC
Insurance Service....................................................................................... Paczolt Financial Group, Inc.
Usher Services.................................................................................................................................The Saints
F O U N DAT I O N , C O R P O R AT E & G OV E R N M E N T S S U P P O R T
John Crewdson Memorial || The Polk Bros. Foundation || The Seabury Foundation
The National Endowment for the Arts || Anonymous
Pegasus Theatre Chicago seeks new board and volunteer members.
If you are interested in joining, please contact us at [email protected]
10
Pegasus Theatre Chicago
DONORS
SHIP’S FINANCIERS
($2500+)
David Barr, III
PanAmerica Performance
Works
Daiva & Rick Brannon
Roger Brown & Gaylon
Emerzion
Tsehaye Hebert
Kevin Roberts
BACKERS ($1,000-2499)
Gerry Messler
Sarah Mostad
Michael Radzilowsky
CAPTAIN ($300-499)
Anonymous
ADMIRAL ($500-$999)
Anonymous
Samara Harris Anderson
Paul & Gilmary Andrews
BOATSWAIN ($100-299)
Ilesa Duncan
Gary Houston
Toi D. Houston
Robert Khoury
Lin Roberts
Thomas & Drella Savage
Nicoline Shoffer
Amberlina Wicker
STOWAWAYS,
DECKHANDS &
SHIPMATES ($25-$99)
Marsha Estell
Hunter Koerner
Michelle Underwood
Oliver Moore Sr.
P E G A S U S A R T I S T I C A S S O C I AT E S
Melissa DuPrey
Rachel Dubose
Reginald Edmund
Dana Lynn Formby
Denise Karzcewski
Christopher Kriz
Mildred Langford
Jess Leeseburg
Coco Lemery
Steven Simoncic
SPECIAL THANKS
Pegasus Board of Directors, Dr. Charles Johnson, Anne & Georges Borchardt of the Georges
Borchardt Agency, Simon & Schuster, Jessica Yu of Scribner Publicity, Steve Scott, Tanya
Palmer of Goodman Theatre, Meghan Beals and Cindy Lantz of Chicago Dramatists, Victory
Gardens Theatre, Lookingglass Theatre, The Chicago Maritime Museum, The Chicago
Public Library, Columbia College Chicago, Juan Ramirez, Samara Harris Anderson, Reginald
Edmund, Julia Borcherts, Printer’s Row Book Fair, Barbara’s Bookstore, Glen Jeffers, Candace
Hunter Lee, Asadah Kirkland, Steve Delahoyde, Advisory Council (Tsehaye Hébert, Topher
McCulloch and Kevin Roberts), and Russ Tutterow (RIP).
And huge thanks to the amazing artists that helped develop the adaptation recently and
years past (including but not limited to): Daniel Bryant, Diana Coates, Aaron Todd Douglas,
Matt Fletcher, Charles Gardner, Amy Geist, Rashaad Hall, Angelica Herndon, Luce Metrius,
Jeff Meyer, Lance Newton, Jonathan Nichols, Osiris Khepera, Gary Houston, Heather Chrisler,
Andre Teamer, Edgar Sanchez, Aaron Snook, Craig Spidle, and Zahra Baker
WISH LIST
New or Gently Used Mac Computers
Printing Services
Marketing Services
Media Relations Services
Accounting services for annual audit
Pegasus Theatre Chicago is a 501(c)(3) organization.
All donation of services and goods are tax deductible to the full extent allowed by law.
Rutherford’s Travels
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The Midwest region
theatre community’s
fundraising effort in the
fight against AIDS.
For more information or to make a donation
please call 312.332.0518
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Pegasus Theatre Chicago