Download Dear Friends - The Pasadena Playhouse

Charles Dillingham
Interim Executive Director
Dear Friends,
I welcome you to The Playhouse. And
I happily welcome back to our stage the
rich language, lively characters, complex
relationships, and emotional vitality of August
Wilson as we end our season with Jitney. Sheldon Epps. Photo by Bill Youngblood.
Sheldon Epps
Artistic Director
Many of you will remember that this great playwright’s distinct artistry filled
our stage several years ago with our quite remarkable production of Fences,
starring Laurence Fishburne and Angela Bassett. I am both pleased and proud
to have his theatrical finesse on display once again with yet another play from
his amazing American canon to light up our theatre with theatrical electricity. I
am especially happy that this production represents an exciting collaboration
with South Coast Repertory, our much admired neighbors to the south. We are
honored to partner with them, as we bring their production to our theatre. I
express my deep gratitude to my colleagues there who made this possible, and I
also want to thank all of the valued artists involved for their contributions to the
success of this effort.
Jitney brings us to the close of what I believe has been a truly rewarding
and satisfying season here at The Playhouse. I am so proud of the work that
has come alive on our stage over the course of this season with dramatic
energy and admirable theatrical diversity. I hope that those of you who have
been here often will agree that this season has displayed our theatre at the top
of its game, as we delivered a wide variety of dramatic and musical styles and
wide ranging storytelling with equal dazzle and confidence. This has led us to
tremendous acclaim all around, and prompted us — quite wisely, I would say
— to declare that The Playhouse is “Better Than Ever!” You can imagine how
pleased and happy I am to share that good news with you, on so many different
levels... And to know that this message is not hyperbolic, but simply true.
Given that, I hope that you will be motivated to support this vigorous energy
by joining us for each production of our upcoming year. For those of you who
are already subscribers, I hope that you will renew (and I thank you for your
ongoing support). And I sincerely hope that those who are not will consider
subscribing. It is both one of the best ways to support this theatre and the
way to guarantee that you will be here for all of the theatrical magic that we
hope to create on our stage. Our upcoming season, which is described later
in the program, holds as much promise as the current season has delivered
satisfaction! It is our intention to keep getting “Better and Better!” Certainly
we will try. Your kind and generous support makes that possible. And your
being here makes the experience complete.
And now, it’s time for Jitney.....Enjoy the ride! I believe that you will.
Sincerely,
Sheldon Epps
Artistic Director
PErFORMANCEs MAGAZINE P1
Sheldon Epps
Charles Dillingham
Artistic Director
Interim Executive Director
CAST OF CHARACTERS
presents
South Coast Repertory’s
(in order of appearance)
production of
August Wilson’s
starring
Larry Bates Rolando Boyce Gregg Daniel Kristy Johnson David McKnight
Charlie Robinson Montae Russell James A. Watson, Jr. Ellis E. Williams
Youngblood/Darnell ........................................................................................ Larry Bates*
Turnbo ........................................................................................................ Ellis E. Williams*
Fielding . ..................................................................................................... David McKnight*
Doub ................................................................................................. James A. Watson, Jr.*
Shealy ......................................................................................................... Rolando Boyce*
Philmore ........................................................................................................... Gregg Daniel*
Becker ................................................................................................... Charlie Robinson*
Rena ............................................................................................................ Kristy Johnson*
Booster . ...................................................................................................... Montae Russell*
*Appearing through the courtesy of Actors’ Equity Association.
Scenic Design by
Costume Design by Shaun Motley Dana Rebecca Woods
Casting by
Fight Consultant
Joanne DeNaut, CSA
Ken Marckx
Lighting Design by
Sound Design by
Brian J. Lilienthal
Vincent Olivieri
Production Stage Manager
Jamie A. Tucker
Press Representative
Patty Onagan
Setting
A gypsy cab company, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Early fall, 1977.
Production Manager
Joe Witt
Technical Director
Brad Enlow
Company Manager
Kristen Hammack
Jitney will be performed with one fifteen-minute intermission.
Directed by
Ron OJ Parson
August Wilson’s JITNEY is presented by special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc.
June 21 – July 15, 2012 • Opening Night June 24, 2012
P2 PERFORMANCES MAGAZINe AKA Bistro congratulates The Pasadena Playhouse
for their opening of JITNEY
PErFORMANCEs MAGAZINE P3
A Note From
The director
S
ometimes when asked to write
something about the project I
am working on I shy away from
it. But with August Wilson it seems to be easy
to talk about the experience, and what it means
as an artist to work on his plays, in particular
Jitney, one of my favorite plays of all time. I
had the good fortune of working on the play
as an understudy to "The Wilsonites" as I like
to call them. I worked with powerhouse actors
Paul Butler, Stephen McKinley Henderson,
Anthony Chisholm, Russell Hornsby, Willis Burks II, Michole Briana White and Barry
Shabaka Henley, who I feel are friends to this day even though our paths haven't crossed
much over the years. That Jitney experience never left me. Understudying can be a very
frustrating and difficult job, but it was such a family atmosphere that it was a joy and
pleasure to be around in whatever capacity. I felt like a sponge soaking it up. My mother
fell ill during the run, and again it felt like I was with family during that trying time. Working
on this production of Jitney, and all of August's plays, I feel his spirit exist in the room at
all times. Watching August and my friend and mentor Marion McClinton work their magic
was an experience I can never replace. Thank you, Marion. That experience has given
me some insight that I know has helped in every Wilson play I have directed or acted in.
With this production we have assembled a great cast and I feel honored to be working
with Charlie Robinson, someone whose work I have admired for many years. It has been
such a joy bringing Jitney to life again.
I want to thank SCR and The Pasadena Playhouse for giving me the opportunity to
tackle another August Wilson masterpiece, making it my 19th August Wilson production.
I have to say a special thank you to Steve (Henderson), for pushing me and giving me the
confidence to continue my career when I was about to chuck it in, and I would also like to
dedicate this production to Israel Hicks, Paul Butler and Willis Burks II, three pioneers in
the business who influenced me without even knowing it. They left us too soon. And of
course, thank you August for making all our lives richer.
Peace,
Ron OJ Parson
P4 PERFORMANCES MAGAZINe August Wilson:
A Personal Recollection
A
By Charles Dillingham
Interim Executive Director
ugust Wilson’s career was deeply entwined with non-profit theatres such as The Pasadena Playhouse. He
was discovered at the O’Neill Playwrights Conference by Lloyd Richards, a celebrated African-American
director who was then Dean of the Yale School of Drama. Richards directed Wilson’s first successful play, Ma
Rainey’s Black Bottom at Yale, from where it transferred to Broadway. That inaugurated a process that grew into a unique
partnership with about a half dozen regional theatres that serially produced each of August’s new plays prior to their New
York debut. This process provided August unprecedented opportunities to test, rewrite, retest and hone his work. The
result was August’s great cycle of ten plays — all set in his native Pittsburgh — chronicling the African-American experience
in each decade of the twentieth century.
While I was Managing Director there, Center Theatre Group of Los Angeles was one of those theatres. When we coproduced the Broadway production of Two Trains Running (with a career-defining performance by Laurence Fishburne) we
invited our New York funders to a matinee and a cocktail reception with August after. As the reception wound down, August
and I found ourselves alone, and I noticed that he didn’t seem to have any particular place to go, so I struck up a conversation
with him, mostly to thank him for coming to the event. That pleasantry led to a two-hour conversation about our shared
passion and one of his inspirations: the blues. When August was talking to you, he was riveting — all his attention and energy
were focused on you in that moment, and he drew you in like few people I have known. He also liked to talk standing up; we
stood and talked for over an hour. I think we were both happy to find someone to talk the blues with, although everyone
knows about the blues, few really know it. So the blues became my personal path into his plays, and I urge you to keep this
important influence in mind while you watch this performance.
All blues music shares certain formal characteristics — 12 bars, a fixed repetitive chord structure, etc. — but the real unique
element is that, unlike most popular music it shuns traditional love songs for profound comments on the human condition.
And August’s plays avoid conventional plots and love stories for the same kind of observations on what it means to be human.
These comments are most eloquently expressed in characters’ “monologues” — longer speeches that begin on the subject
at hand but improvise off into solo variations not unlike blues solos. Jitney has many. As you listen to the monologues, listen
for the blues.
As we continued to produce his plays over the years, my relationship with August deepened, and led to one of my most
satisfying moments in the theatre. While Jitney was playing in New York, I persuaded a London producer I knew to see it
with the idea of presenting it there. She was immediately excited, and was able to arrange to co-produce it at the Royal
National Theatre. I then helped reassemble most of the original American cast for two engagements here so the production
could travel to London ready to be performed with very little rehearsal. Sitting in the National on opening night was a very
special evening, as was the news later that season that the play won the Olivier Award (London’s Tony) for Best New Play.
To have helped Jitney and August achieve that acclaim in Britain was the kind of experience that keeps one working in the
theatre.
I last saw August the day after the Yale premiere of the last play in his cycle, Radio Golf. He talked animatedly about all the
improvements he planned to make. He was able to write most of them, but a month later he was diagnosed with liver cancer
and four months later he was gone. But I had one final connection to him a month after he died, standing in the middle of
52nd street when the marquee was dramatically lit on the newly-renamed August Wilson Theatre. Helping him to bring much
of his cycle to life was a rare honor.
PErFORMANCEs MAGAZINE P5
Jitney
Where August Wilson Began
A
ugust Wilson wrote an early version of Jitney
(then called Jitney!) in 1979. His first fulllength play, it was written before Wilson had
even imagined what would become his great,
enduring achievement—his 10-play Pittsburgh cycle about the
lives of African-Americans in each decade of the 20th century.
“I didn’t start out with a grand idea,” he explained in a 1991 interview with Sandra G. Shannon. “I wrote a play called Jitney!
set in 1977 and a play called Fullerton Street that I set in ’41.
Then I wrote Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, which I set in ’27, and
it was after I did that I said, ‘I’ve written three plays in three
different decades, so why don’t I just continue to do that.’”
Working with his closest collaborators, led primarily by director Lloyd Richards, Wilson developed each of his plays over a
series of productions at theatres across the country, en route
to Broadway. Jitney—the only one never (so far) to have had
a Broadway production—was first produced at Pittsburgh’s
Allegheny Repertory Theatre in 1982. Wilson returned to the
play at the invitation of the Pittsburgh Public Theatre in 1996,
reworking certain scenes and clarifying relationships, particularly between station owner Becker and his son Booster, and
the young lovers Youngblood and Rena. The revised version
of the play went on to productions at eight regional companies
before opening, to great acclaim, in New York and London.
Pat’s Place on Centre Avenue in the
heart of Hill District, c. 1959-1960.
Jitney is the only one of Wilson’s cycle plays
to be written in the decade in which it takes
place. Asked years later by interviewer
Elizabeth Heard if he would still choose that
setting and subject for the play if he were
writing from a different time, Wilson said, “It’s
not so much Jitney, it’s the period of urban
renewal that was part of the early seventies
and the late seventies. It is just a setting, if
you will, an opportunity to use this group of
men to expose that culture, to get at some
of the ways that this particular community
of people solved its problems, abused itself,
and all those kinds of things. If I were to do
it today I might come up with a different setting, but it would be the same community
and [would] concern their struggles to remain whole in the face of all these things that
threaten to tear them apart.”
Wilson on Writing
“When I first started writing plays I couldn’t write good dialogue because … I
thought that in order to make art out of their dialogue I had to change it, make it
into something different. Once I learned to value and respect my characters, I
could really hear them.”
“The language is defined by those who speak it. There’s a place in Pittsburgh
called Pat’s Place, a cigar store, which I read about in Claude McKay’s Home of
Harlem. It was where the railroad porters would congregate and tell stories. I
thought, Hey, I know Pat’s Place. I literally ran there. I was twenty-one at the
time and had no idea I was going to write about it. I wasn’t keeping notes. But
I loved listening to them. They would argue about how far away the moon was.
They’d say. ‘Man, the moon a million miles away.’ They called me Youngblood.
They’d say, ‘Hey, Youngblood, how far the moon?’ And I’d say, ‘150,000 miles,’ and
they’d say, ‘That boy don’t know nothing! The moon’s a million miles.’ I just loved
to hang around those old guys—you got philosophy about life, what a man is, what
his duties, his responsibilities are.…That’s where I learned how black people talk.”
~ August Wilson from The Paris Review: Playwrights at Work, edited by
George Plimpton, New York: The Modern Library, 2000.
P6 PERFORMANCES MAGAZINe T
The Pittsburgh Cycle
By Christopher Rawson
he ten plays with which August Wilson conquered
the American theater have been sometimes called
his Century Cycle, since each is set in a different
decade of the twentieth century. But they are better called the Pittsburgh Cycle, since nine are set in a square
mile or so of that city’s Hill District and all ten are rich with the
voices, stories and passions that Wilson absorbed in the years
that he spent walking the Hill’s streets and listening to the talk
in its diners, barbershops, numbers joints, and jitney stations.
The Hill is an active character as well as a literal crossroads and
metaphoric microcosm of black America.
By 1904, the real Hill District had become a multiethnic melting
pot. Roughly one-third Eastern European Jews, one-third black
and one-third everything else (Italian, Syrian, etc.), its population grew to some 55,000. For blacks, who often weren’t welcome elsewhere, it was a city within a city, its commerce and
entertainment spiced with music (a dozen native jazz greats),
sports (baseball’s Josh Gibson and the Negro National League
team, the Crawfords), and journalism (the Pittsburgh Courier,
once the nation’s largest black newspaper, with nationwide
circulation).
But at mid-century the aging Hill was torn apart, first by “urban renewal,” as some 15,000 were displaced from the Lower
Hill to make room for a new Civic Arena, and then by the fires
that protested the 1968 assassination of Martin Luther King,
Jr. Born in 1945, Wilson
witnessed this decline up
close. He had dropped
out of school at fifteen
after bouts with racism,
then educated himself at
the Carnegie Library before doing his graduate
studies in culture, politics
and art on the streets of
the Hill. By the time he
moved to St. Paul, Minn.,
in 1978, the Hill was broken, its population shrunk
to the vicinity of 12,000. In
recent years it has started
to come back. But, as if in
cosmic compensation for
history’s cruelty, it already
lives in Wilson’s art.
he heard more clearly the voices from the street corners and cigar stores of his youth. And he kept coming back to Pittsburgh
to dip the ladle of his art into this crucible of memory and inspiration. The outcome is stories rich in the “love, honor, duty,
and betrayal” that Wilson said are at the heart of all his plays.
Along the way, Hill names, shops, streets, and even addresses
are adapted, hinted at, or disguised. First comes 1727 Bedford
Avenue, where Wilson lived until he was thirteen with his family
in two back rooms, later four—a family that grew to include six
children. His memories of the gossip and the card playing mark
that backyard as the setting for Seven Guitars. In front was
Bela’s Market, run by Eastern European Jews, and next door
was the watch and shoe-repair shop of the Italian Butera brothers, making the two houses an epitome of the multi-ethnic Hill
of Wilson’s youth.
Back in Pittsburgh, working on the 1999 premier of King Hedley
II, Wilson identified its setting with the backyard of his mother’s
final house, just down Bedford. For the cycle’s other backyard
play, Fences, the best guess is across Bedford at the house of
the former prizefighter Charlie Burley, a close historical model
for Troy Maxson.
The cycle’s second most important location is 1839 Wylie
Avenue, the faded mansion that is home to Aunt Ester, the seer
supposedly born in 1619, when the first African slaves reached
The result is that we now
speak of August Wilson’s
Hill, a gritty urban landscape
transformed
by art into something
mythic, like Faulkner’s
Yoknapatawpha County
or Friel’s Ballybeg. Writing
from St. Paul and later
Seattle, Wilson said that
PErFORMANCEs MAGAZINE P7
Virginia. In Gem of the Ocean, Aunt Ester’s house serves as a
modern station on the Underground Railroad of black empowerment, and in Radio Golf it is central to the conflict between
that past and the rising black middle class. Today 1839 Wylie
Avenue is a grassy hillside. Whether or not a mansion ever
stood there, it is an evocative space, but fictional: Wilson actually chose 1839 because it was the year of the famous Amistad
slave-ship revolt.
later said that he set the play in Chicago because, being from
Pittsburgh, he didn’t think the Hill sounded important enough.
But he soon realized that it could stand for all black America.
Jitney has a special place in the Pittsburgh Cycle because it was
the first play written, in 1979, when Wilson still fancied himself
primarily a poet, and the first produced, in a small Pittsburgh
theater in 1982. When Ma Rainey debuted on Broadway in
1984, followed quickly by Fences and Joe Turner, Jitney waited
in a drawer. But in 1996 Wilson returned to Pittsburgh to expand Jitney, specifically to dig deeper into the relationships
between Becker and Booster (father and son) and Rena and
Youngblood (the young couple). Wilson’s experience can be
seen in both: his relationship with his own father was fraught,
and his nickname was once Youngblood.
All the plays are rich with the 33 years of Wilson’s experience
in Pittsburgh. He was often furious with the city, with an anger
that came from its streets, where each day could be a fresh negotiation with danger. But as in the blues, his characters turn
that pain into hope. Wielding comedy and tragedy, often simultaneously, Wilson speaks with prophetic passion across the
great American racial divide.
Left: Wilson in front of his boyhood home on Bedford Street
November 1999. Below: the Hill district today.
The Hill District
“W
hen I was twenty, I left the library and left my mother’s house and went out into the community of
the Hill District to learn what it was they had to teach me. I went out on the street corners, the
bars and restaurants and barbershops to learn how to be a man, to learn what codes of conduct
the community sanctioned and how I might best live a full and dedicated life. What did the community of people among whom I lived and shared a common past expect of me?”
“I moved from Pittsburgh to St. Paul, Minnesota, on March 5, 1978. I left Pittsburgh but Pittsburgh never left me. It
was on these streets in this community in this city that I came into manhood and I have a fierce affection for the
Hill District and the people who raised me, who have sanctioned my life and ultimately provide it with its meaning.”
The three Hill plays set in public spaces are naturally located in the business district on Wylie
and Centre Avenues. In Two Trains Running,
Memphis’s Diner is near Eddie’s Diner, Lutz’s
Meat Market (which still stands on Centre), and
the West Funeral Home. The diner’s address is
later given as 1621 Wylie Avenue, many blocks
away, but that number is Wilson’s tribute to the
Bedford address where his mother died.
The most specific location belongs to Jitney,
which Wilson imagined as set in a jitney (gypsy
cab) station, either one now gone, or its successor at the corner of Wylie Avenue and Erin
Street, which still has the same phone number used in the play.
Less specific is Radio Golf, set in a storefront office somewhere
on Centre Avenue. For The Piano Lesson, the only clue is that
Berniece and Avery drop Maretha off at the Irene Kaufman
Settlement House on their way downtown, so their house must
be east of there.
As for Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, since the Hill slopes down
toward the southwest, references to “up on Bedford” and
“down on Wylie” suggest that the Holly boarding house is between them, on Webster, where Loomis could watch the house
from the corner “right up there on Manilla Street.” Wilson’s
only play not set on the Hill is Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. He
P8 PERFORMANCES MAGAZINe ~August Wilson, “Feed Your Mind, The Rest Will Follow,” Pittsburgh-Post Gazette, March 28, 1999
Christopher Rawson is immediate past chair of the American
Theatre Critics Association and serves on the boards of the
Theatre Hall of Fame and Best Plays Theater Yearbook. Now
senior theater critic for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and KDKATV, he has reviewed, interviewed, and chronicled August Wilson
since 1984. Some of the Post-Gazette’s extensive Wilson coverage is available at www.post-gazette.com/theater. With
historian Lawrence Glasco, Rawson has written a compact
introduction to Wilson’s life, works and their Hill District background, August Wilson: Pittsburgh Places in His Life and Plays
(Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, 2011).
Photos by Charles “Teenie” Harris, who for more than four decades was one
of the principal photographers for the Pittsburgh Courier, one of the nation’s
pre-eminent black newspapers. Clockwise from top: Eddie’s Restaurant at
2172 Wylie Avenue (c. 1964-1975); Count Basie seated at piano surrounded
by band members with a trophy on piano inscribed “Count Basie King of
Pittsburgh Courier Band Contest 1942”; Eartha Kitt leaping though poster
to launch a Citizens Committee on Hill District Renewal program, Vine and
Colwell Streets, Hill District (May 1966).
PErFORMANCEs MAGAZINE P9
who’s who
Larry Bates
(Youngblood/Darnell).
Larry Bates is pleased
to be making his
Pasadena Playhouse
debut as Youngblood.
His past theatre credits
include: Youngblood at SCR, Booth in
Topdog/Underdog, Cory in Fences and
the world premiere of Mr. Marmalade
by Noah Haidle; the Theatre for Young
Audiences productions of Sideways
Stories from Wayside School, Tales of
a Fourth Grade Nothing, The BFG (Big
Friendly Giant), The Only Child and The
Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly
Stupid Tales; Other regional theatre
credits include A Christmas Carol at
Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. Film and
television credits include Lions for Lambs
directed by Robert Redford, Lawyers
directed by Roger Donaldson, “Dark Blue,”
Sick Puppy, “The Unit,” “Lincoln Heights,”
“Bones,” “CSI: Miami,” “Numb3rs,” “Huff,”
“The District,” “NYPD Blue,” “Boston
Public,” “JAG,” “18 Wheels of Justice” and
Expecting Mary. Mr. Bates is a graduate
of The Theatre School, DePaul University.
larrybates.me
Rolando Boyce
(Shealy) is making his
Pasadena Playhouse
debut. The native
Chicagoan made his
start at the historic ETA
Creative Arts and Black
Ensemble Theatres where credits include
Fortunes of the Moor, In the Wine Time,
When the Water Turns Clear and The
Dreamers (ETA); and The Jackie Wilson
Story: My Heart is Crying, Crying and
Unforgettable: The Nat King Cole Story
(BET). Other Midwest credits include 2
(Eclipse Theatre), Soldiers Play (Congo
Square Theatre), Lobby Hero and Dreams
of Sarah Breedlove (Goodman Theatre),
Topdog/Underdog (Madison Repertory
Theatre) and Fences (Court Theatre). Los
Angeles credits include Jitney at South
Coast Repertory Theatre, Topdog/
Underdog and Riff Raff (Columbia College,
Hollywood). Television and film credits
include “Prison Break” (Fox), “Numb3rs”
(CBS), “Medium” (CBS), “24” (Fox),
“Justified” (FX), “Off Their Rockers” (NBC)
“Pretty Little Liars” (ABC Family), The Last
Laugh, Cornered, Talent, Someone Heard
My Cry, Put It in a Book, Vile and Under
the City. Mr. Boyce also has a recurring
role in R Kelly’s “Trapped in the Closet.”
He is represented by Reign Agency &
Stevenson Talent.
Gregg Daniel
(Philmore) is pleased to make his Pasadena
Playhouse Debut. At SCR he appeared in
P10 PERFORMANCES MAGAZINe A Christmas Carol and
August Wilson’s Fences
and Jitney. Other SCR
appearances include
the Theatre for Young
Audiences production
of James and the Giant
Peach and the NewSCRipts readings of
Tanya Barfield’s Blue Door, Steven
Drukman’s The Bullet Round and Lynn
Nottage’s Crumbs from the Table of Joy.
Other regional credits include Joe Turner’s
Come and Gone at The Fountain Theatre,
Much Ado About Nothing at Shakespeare
Santa Barbara, A Midsummer Night’s
Dream, Taming of the Shrew, The Merry
Wives of Windsor and Two Gentlemen of
Verona at Shakespeare Festival L.A.,
Master Harold… and the boys at Cape May
Stage and Actors Theatre of Louisville and
Peer Gynt at Hartford Stage Co. Film
credits include Hancock, Spiderman 3,
Evan Almighty and Hollywood Homicide.
Television credits include a recurring role
in “True Blood” (Reverend Daniels) and
guest starring roles in “Harry’s Law,” “The
Nick Kroll Show,” “Kickin’ It,” “Weeds,”
“The Sarah Silverman Program,” “Saving
Grace,” “Castle,” “Parenthood” and
Disney’s “Good Luck Charlie.” Love to
Veralyn and Kennedy.
Kristy Johnson (Rena)
is thrilled to make her
Pasadena Playhouse
debut. Theatre credits
include Jitney (South
Coast Repertory) The
Good Negro (u/s,
Goodman Theatre), Ma Rainey’s Black
Bottom (Court Theatre), A Song for Coretta
(Eclipse Theatre Company, Joseph
Jefferson Award nominee, Actress in a
Supporting Role), It’s a Wonderful Life
(touring company, American Theater
Company), I Am Who I Am: The Story of
Teddy Pendergrass (Black Ensemble
Theater), Let the Circle Be Unbroken (Apple
Tree Theatre) and The Trial (ETA Creative
Arts.). Film: Planet B-Boy (dir. Benson Lee).
Television: “House.” Ms. Johnson is a
graduate of Harvard University and The
University of Chicago Law School.
kristyjohnsonactress.com
David McKnight
(Fielding) has appeared
in numerous stage
productions in his
career and is honored
to make his August
Wilson and Pasadena
Playhouse debuts. Mr. McKnight previously worked with his friend Charlie
Robinson in Desire Under the Elms at
Odyssey Theatre Ensemble, where he also
performed in Baba Chops, written and
directed by Pulitzer Prize-winner Charles
Gordone. He was also a member of the
ITP Co. and the Mark Taper Forum where
he trained, performed comedia del arte
and appeared in A Christmas Carol. He
was nominated for a Drama-Logue and
NAACP Theatre Award for his work in
Soljers at the West End Playhouse. Recent
work includes Voices, a legacy to remember at Wilshire Ebell Theatre and Nate
Holden Theatre. Mr. McKnight hails from
Chicago where he made his television
debut in PBS’s “Bird of the Iron
Feather”(the first Black drama series in
U.S. history). He went on to appear in films
and in co- and guest starring roles on
“Boston Legal,” “Mr. Sterling,” “ER,” “The
District,” “Moonlighting,” “The Client,” “Dynasty,” “Hill Street Blues,” “Roc,” “Benson,”
“Kojak,” Under Siege, Superhero Movie,
Pizzaman, J.D.’s Revenge, The Glass Shield,
The Five Heartbeats and Hollywood
Shuffle to name a few. He is a proud
member of The Actors Studio. Thanks
Martin Landau, Mark Rydell , Johnny Ray
McGhee and of course his personal Lord
and Savior. Mr. McKnight proudly embraces the role of Fielding in honor of his late
father Edward “Doc” McKnight, who was
for years a jitney cab driver in Chicago.
Charlie Robinson
(Becker) is making his
debut at The Pasadena
Playhouse. He has
appeared in productions with SCR in The
Piano Lesson, My
Wandering Boy and Fences, a play for
which he won the 2006 Best Actor in a
Play Ovation Award for his portrayal of
Troy, which he played again at the
PlayMakers Repertory in North Carolina.
This past August he won the NAACP’s
Theatre Image Award for Best Actor in a
Play for The Old Globe’s production of
The Whipping Man. He was recently seen
in The African Company Presents Richard
III and Love’s Labors Lost at the Oregon
Shakespeare Festival. “Soul Man” with
Cedric the Entertainer is his most recent
pilot. He is best known for his television
credits, especially as Mac in “Night Court,”
as well as regulars in “Buffalo Bill,” “Love &
War,” “Ink” and “Buddy Faro;” recurring
roles in “Home Improvement” and “The
Secret Life of the American Teenager.” Mr.
Robinson has performed countless guest
roles in shows such as “House,” “Big Love”
and “Cold Case.” He also is a Cammie
Award Winner for the made-for-television
movies Miss Lettie and Me and Secret
Santa. Other television movies include
Roots: The Next Generation, King and
Buffalo Soldiers. Features, to name a few,
include Apocalypse Now, The River, Gray
Lady Down, Beowulf, Set It Off, Antwone
Fisher, Even Money, Jackson, Steam,
Natural Disasters, Sweet Kandy and House
Bunny.
Montae Russell
(Booster). This veteran
theatre, television and
film actor is pleased to
be making his Pasadena
Playhouse debut. He
has guest starred in
several television shows, most recently
“Detroit 187,” and spent several seasons on
NBC’s “ER” as Paramedic Zadro White.
Film credits include The Player’s Club,
opposite Lisa Raye; Banged Out, Laurel
Avenue and Lily in Winter opposite Natalie
Cole. New York credits include Broadway
productions of King Hedley II and Prelude
to a Kiss. He has performed in several
Off-Broadway and Los Angeles productions, as well a many regional theatres, most
recently Last of the Line by Samm-Art
Williams, at The August Wilson Culture
Center. In his career, he has performed in
all but one of the plays in August Wilson’s
Pittsburgh Cycle. He is originally from
Pittsburgh, and is a graduate of Rutgers
University’s Mason Gross School of Arts.
For more info about Mr. Russell, visit
MontaeRussell.com and
LAYoungKnicks.org.
James A. Watson, Jr.
(Doub) is making his
Pasadena Playhouse
debut reprising the role
of Doub from South
Coast Repertory
Theatre. He has
trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic
Arts (U.S. extension) and has been
nominated for an Emmy and NAACP
Image Awards. Plays include National
Pastime (The Fremont Centre Theater,
Pasadena), Dream on Monkey Mountain
(Mark Taper Forum), Lemon Meringue
Façade (Best Supporting Actor nomination, San Fernando Valley Awards), In
White America and Room Service (American Conservatory Theater, San Francisco)
and Rashomon/Outrage, Golden Boy and
Calculated Risk (Marla Gibbs Theater). In
his 43 years as a professional actor, Mr.
Watson has been fortunate to co-star or
work in a variety of feature films and in
more than 90 commercials and 80
television shows with the likes of Edward
G. Robinson, Leslie Caron, Michael
Crichton, Renee Valente, Jamie Foxx, Tom
Selleck, Jeff Bridges, Sidney Poitier and
James Coburn. Film credits include Halls
of Anger, The Organization, Golden Girl
and Airplane II. Television credits have
included “Love American Style,” “Kojak,”
“Quincy,” “The Jeffersons,” “Back Stairs at
The White House” (mini-series), “Colum-
bo,” “The Love Boat,” “The Rockford Files,”
“Hill Street Blues,” “Gimme a Break,” “The
District,” “Strong Medicine” and “Medium.”
Mr. Watson has directed his own theater
company, been a choreographer and is
currently finishing his first novel Resurrection. Career info at www.jamesawatson.
com.
Ellis E. Williams
(Turnbo) is making his
Playhouse debut. He
has appeared on
Broadway in Once on
This Island, The Pirates
of Penzance, Requiem
for a Heavyweight, Solomon’s Child, The
Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel and the
national tour of Driving Miss Daisy with
Julie Harris and the late Brock Peters. Mr.
Williams is a previous winner of the
prestigious L.A. Ovation Award for Best
Featured Actor in Distant Fires and an
NAACP Image Award nominee for Best
Featured Actor in Blade to the Heat. He
has performed at numerous regional
theatres including Atlanta’s True Colors
Theatre, Theatre Company of Boston,
Long Wharf Theatre, Mark Taper Forum in
Los Angeles, New York Shakespeare
Festival Public Theater and the famed
Negro Ensemble Company. Mr. Williams
performed in Radio Golf, August Wilson’s
final play, and in August Wilson’s 20th
Century at The Kennedy Center. Last
year, he appeared at the Ebony Repertory
Theatre and at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in
A Raisin in the Sun, which received eight
2011 L.A. Ovation Award nominations;
winner for Best Play (Large Theatre) and
winner of the Los Angeles Drama Critics
Circle Award for Best Ensemble Performance.
August Wilson (Playwright) (April 27,
1947 - October 2, 2005) authored Gem of
the Ocean, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone,
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, The Piano
Lesson, Seven Guitars, Fences, Two Trains
Running, Jitney, King Hedley II and Radio
Golf. These works explore the heritage
and experience of African-Americans,
decade-by-decade, over the course of the
twentieth century. His plays have been
produced at regional theatres across the
country and all over the world, as well as
on Broadway. In 2003, Mr. Wilson made
his professional stage debut in his oneman show, How I Learned What I Learned.
Mr. Wilson’s work garnered many awards
including Pulitzer Prizes for Fences (1987)
and for The Piano Lesson (1990); a Tony
Award for Fences; Great Britain’s Olivier
Award for Jitney; as well as eight New
York Drama Critics Circle Awards for Ma
Rainey’s Black Bottom, Fences, Joe Turner’s
Come and Gone, The Piano Lesson, Two
Trains Running, Seven Guitars, Jitney and
Radio Golf. Additionally, the cast recording
of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom received
a 1985 Grammy Award, and Mr. Wilson
received a 1995 Emmy Award nomination
for his screenplay adaptation of The Piano
Lesson. Mr. Wilson’s early works included
the one-act plays The Janitor, Recycle,
The Coldest Day of the Year, Malcolm X,
The Homecoming and the musical satire
Black Bart and the Sacred Hills. Mr. Wilson
received many fellowships and awards,
including Rockefeller and Guggenheim
Fellowships in playwriting, the Whiting
Writers Award, and the 2003 Heinz
Award. He was awarded a 1999 National
Humanities Medal by the President of the
United States, and received numerous
honorary degrees from colleges and
universities, as well as the only high school
diploma ever issued by the Carnegie
Library of Pittsburgh. He was an alumnus
of New Dramatists, a member of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a
1995 inductee into the American Academy
of Arts and Letters, and on October 16,
2005, Broadway renamed the theatre
located at 245 West 52nd Street The
August Wilson Theatre. Additionally,
he was posthumously inducted into the
Theater Hall of Fame in 2007. Mr. Wilson
was born and raised in the Hill District
of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and lived in
Seattle, Washington, at the time of his
death. He is survived by his two daughters,
Sakina Ansari and Azula Carmen Wilson,
and his wife, costume designer Constanza
Romero.
Ron OJ Parson (Director) is a native
of Buffalo, New York and a graduate of
the University of Michigan’s professional
theatre program. He is a co-founder,
and former artistic director of The Onyx
Theatre Ensemble of Chicago. Mr. Parson
is a resident artist at Chicago’s Court
Theatre. He has worked as an actor
and director. Chicago directing credits
include Chicago Theatre Company,
Victory Gardens Theater, Goodman
Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre, Chicago
Dramatists, Northlight Theatre, Court
Theatre, Black Ensemble Theatre, ETA
Creative Arts Foundation, City Lit Theater,
Writers’ Theatre, Urban Theater Company
and Congo Square Theatre Company.
Regional credits include Virginia Stage
Company, Portland Stage Company,
Studio Arena Theatre, Roundabout
Theatre, Wilshire Theatre, The Mechanic
Theatre, CenterStage, Actors Theatre
of Louisville, Milwaukee Repertory, St.
Louis Black Repertory, Pittsburgh Public
Theater, Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre,
Geva Theatre, Signature Theatre and
Alliance Theatre. In Canada, he directed
the world premiere of Palmer Park by
PErFORMANCEs MAGAZINE P11
Joanna McClelland Glass at the Stratford
Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Ontario.
He is a proud member of AEA, SAG,
AFTRA and SDC. ronojparson.com
Shaun Motley (Scenic Design) has worked
in theatre, television and film for the
last 15 years and he is thrilled to return
to SCR again this season. Most recent
productions include Topdog/Underdog
and Fences at SCR; Three Sisters, Lower
Depth Theatre Ensemble (recipient of 2011
NAACP Award for Best Set Design) and
Two Trains Running at Geva Theatre, NY.
Other productions include Po Boy Tango
at East West Players, L.A.; Leading Ladies
at Perseverance Theatre, Juneau, Alaska;
The Seagull at Chance Theatre, Anaheim,
CA; Frau Ohne Schatten at Zurich Opera
House, Switzerland; Shining City, The
Fountain Theatre, L.A.; Fences at Geva
Theatre; Home and Zooman and the Sign at
Signature Theatre Company, NY; Lady Day
and Cuttin’ Up at Arena Stage, DC; Chuck
Mee’s Full Circle and a new play, History of
Tears, both at the Abe Burrows Theatre,
NYC; and The Roof at the Meisner Theater,
NY. His film credits as an Art Director
include Mind the Gap, an Eric Schaffer
Film; The Cry, a Redbone Productions;
and Nicky’s Game, a Holland Production.
Film and television credits as the 2nd Art
Director include “The Sopranos,” (HBO),
“The Book of Daniel” (NBC), “The Bronx
is Burning” (ESPN), and Pride and Glory,
a New Line Productions. Mr. Motley is
currently Supervising Art Director for “Let’s
Make a Deal” on CBS.
Dana Rebecca Woods (Costume Design)
happily returns to The Pasadena Playhouse
to collaborate with the creative team and
wonderful cast of the production of Jitney.
Dana’s stage work includes South Coast
Repertory’s Jitney and Fences; Blues in
the Night at the Post Street Theater in
San Francisco and Pasadena Playhouse
productions Fences, Flying West, Importance
of Being Earnest, Waverly Gallery and
The Good Doctor. She has also designed
costumes for productions at the Fountain
Theater; Matrix Theater; Odyssey Theater;
Lillian Theater; A Noise Within Theater; the
Mark Taper; and the Colony Theater. Dana
has been a recipient of the Los Angeles
Dramalogue Award for Having Our Say;
Savage in Limbo; and Our Country’s Good;
a Bay Area Theater Critics Circle Nominee
for Blues in the Night; an NAACP Award
nominee for Central Avenue and an Ovation
Award Nominee for Our Country’s Good.
Dana designed the costumes for Watch
Over Me hour long episodic television and
the documentary From Wharf Rats to Lord
of the Docks. She has also collaborated
on many television and film projects. Dana
belongs to the professional organizations
United Scenic Artists Local 829; Designers
Guild Local 892; and Motion Picture
Costumers Local 705.
Brian J. Lilienthal (Lighting Design) has
designed over 200 productions across
the country, including 50 productions (20
for the Humana Festival of New American
Plays) at Actors Theatre of Louisville as
the Resident Lighting Designer, which
include Gem of the Ocean, Ma Rainey’s
Black Bottom (both directed by Ron OJ
Parson), The Tempest, Glengarry Glen Ross,
Shipwrecked! An Entertainment, Mary’s
Wedding and The Kite Runner (all directed
by Marc Masterson). At other theatres: 20
productions at Trinity Repertory Company,
six seasons with the Eugene O’Neill
Theatre Center’s National Playwrights’
Conference (where he is currently a
resident designer), The Evidence Room,
Merrimack Repertory Theatre, Cleveland
Playhouse, Milwaukee Repertory, Arizona
Theatre Company, Capital Repertory, The
Kennedy Center, Arden Theatre Company,
Pig Iron Theatre, New Paradise Labs, La
MaMa E.T.C., Cherry Lane Theatre, Capital
Repertory Theatre, Bard SummerScape,
Long Beach Opera, amongst many. Mr.
Lilienthal just accepted a teaching position
at Tufts University in Boston. He holds an
MFA from the California Institute of the
Arts. He received a 2005 Los Angeles
Ovation Award for the lighting design of
Echo’s Hammer by Ken Roht at the Theatre
@ Boston Court.
Vincent Olivieri (Sound Design) is pleased
to come to Pasadena Playhouse with
Jitney. Broadway credits include a design
& score for High. Off-Broadway design
credits include The Water’s Edge, OmniumGatherum, The God Botherers, and Fatal
Attraction: A Greek Tragedy. NYC &
regional credits include productions
with The Geffen Theater, South Coast
Repertory, Woolly Mammoth, Cincinnati
Playhouse in the Park, Actors Theater of
Louisville, Portland Center Stage, Center
Stage (Baltimore), Barrington Stage
Company, The Juilliard School, Syracuse
Stage, Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati,
Virginia Stage Company, and Berkshire
Theatre Festival. He has created designs
for world-premiere productions by Roberto
Aguirre-Sacasa, Kirsten Greenidge, Charles
L. Mee, Kira Oblensky, Adam Rapp,
Theresa Rebeck, and August Wilson. Mr.
Olivieri is a graduate of the Yale School
of Drama and serves on the faculty at
University of California-Irvine.
Ken Merckx (Fight Consultant) has
choreographed fights and taught actors
combat for film and television, theatres
and universities all across the country.
He is presently a faculty member at Cal
State Fullerton. He is the resident fight
Gelson’s
congratulates
The Pasadena Playhouse
for their opening of
JITNEY
P12 PERFORMANCES MAGAZINe choreographer for the Idaho Shakespeare
Festival, Great Lakes Theater Festival
(Cleveland), Lake Tahoe Shakespeare
Festival and A Noise Within (Los Angeles).
Mr. Merckx received his MFA, in acting,
from University of Illinois and his BA, in
theatre studies, from the University of
Washington.
Forum), Mask (The Pasadena Playhouse),
Will Ferrell’s You’re Welcome America (PreBroadway Development), Much Ado About
Nothing (Kirk Douglas Theatre), The Vagina
Monologues, Culture Clash’s Zorro in Hell!
Eddie Izzard, Sandra Tsing Loh’s Sugar Plum
Fairy and Mother on Fire, Eric Idle’s What
about Dick? and Jewtopia.
Jamie A. Tucker (Production Stage
Manager) is pleased to come to Pasadena
with Jitney. At SCR Mr. Tucker has stage
managed or assisted on 54 productions.
Some of his favorites have been the world
premieres of Richard Greenberg’s Three
Days of Rain, The Violet Hour and The
Dazzle; Rolin Jones’ The Intelligent Design
of Jenny Chow; and Noah Haidle’s Mr.
Marmalade. Other favorites include A
Midsummer Night’s Dream, Crimes of the
Heart, Fences, Anna in the Tropics, The
Trip to Bountiful, A View from the Bridge
and Hamlet. He has had the pleasure
of working seven seasons on La Posada
Mágica and four seasons at the helm of A
Christmas Carol. If you can’t find him in
the theatre, he is likely to be riding his bike
down PCH. Mr. Tucker is a proud member
of Actors’ Equity.
South Coast Repertory Tony Awardwinning South Coast Repertory, founded in
1964 by David Emmes and Martin Benson
and now under the leadership of Artistic
Director Marc Masterson and Managing
Director Paula Tomei, is widely recognized
as one of the leading professional theatres
in the United States. SCR is committed
to theatre that illuminates the compelling
personal and social issues of our time, not
only on its stages but through its wide array
of education and outreach programs. While
its productions represent a balance of classic
and modern theatre, SCR is renowned
for its extensive new-play development
program, which includes the nation’s largest
commissioning program for emerging and
established writers and composers. Each
year, it showcases some of the country’s best
new plays in the Pacific Playwrights Festival,
which attracts theatre professionals from
across the country. Of SCR’s more than
460 productions, one-quarter have been
world premieres, whose subsequent stagings
achieved enormous success throughout
America and around the world. SCRdeveloped works have garnered two Pulitzer
Prizes and eight Pulitzer nominations, several
OBIE Awards and scores of major new-play
awards. Located in Costa Mesa, California,
SCR’s Folino Theater Center is home to the
507-seat Segerstrom Stage, the 336-seat
Julianne Argyros Stage and the 94-seat
Nicholas Studio. Today, SCR produces 13
shows and eight public readings each season.
Chrissy Church (Assistant Stage Manager)
is a native Pittsburgher who is always excited
to re-visit her hometown through the eyes
of August Wilson. She is also thrilled to be
here with The Pasadena Playhouse for this
joint adventure. This past season as SCR
she spent some time “down the lake” with
The Prince of Atlantis, visited the Vineyard
with Elemeno Pea, spent her holidays with
Scrooge and company for her eighth year
of A Christmas Carol, went on The Trip To
Bountiful, and discovered her inner “Janeite”
with Pride and Prejudice. Previous SCR
credits include the world premieres of Silent
Sky, The Language Archive, Saturn Returns,
Our Mother’s Brief Affair, What They Have,
My Wandering Boy, Hitchcock Blonde, Mr.
Marmalade, Getting Framkie Married - and
Afterwards, Making It, and productions of
Three Days of Rain, A Midsummer Night’s
Dream, Becky Shaw, Misalliance, Crimes
of the Heart, Fences, Putting It Together,
Collected Stories, Noises Off, The Heiress,
Taking Steps, Charlotte’s Web, Doubt, a
parable, Habeus Corpus, The Real Thing,
Born Yesterday, Pinocchio, The Little Prince,
Intimate Exchanges, La Posada Magica,
Anna In the Tropics, and Proof.
JOE WITT (Production Manager). The
Pasadena Playhouse: South Street, Twist
and Dangerous Beauty. Broadway: Eric
Idle’s An Evening Without Monty Python,
George Gershwin Alone. Off- Broadway:
Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Stuffed and
Unstrung, Stonewall Jackson’s House, Dael
Orlandersmith’s Monster and The Gimmick,
Blown Sideways Through Life, and the
Lucille Lortel Awards. Los Angeles: The PeeWee Herman Show Live, Lydia (Mark Taper
Charles Dillingham
(Interim Executive
Director) brings to The
Pasadena Playhouse
over forty years of
senior executive
experience in
performing arts management as well as
teaching, executive coaching and consulting.
He has led some of the largest performing
arts institutions in the country and
partnered with several leading artistic
directors. At Center Theater Group he
supervised all development, marketing,
administrative and financial operations for
the company’s three theatres – the Mark
Taper Forum, the Ahmanson Theatre and
the Kirk Douglas Theatre. Prior to CTG, he
was CEO of the Entertainment Corporation
USA, presenting commercially the Bolshoi
Ballet and Opera, Kirov Ballet and Opera
and the Royal Ballet at the Metropolitan
Opera House and arranging American tours.
He was Executive Director of American
Ballet Theatre during Mikhail Baryshnikov’s
tenure as Artistic Director, supervising ten
television films, seventy-five new stage
productions and tours to Paris and Japan.
He previously served as Managing Director
of the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM)
Theatre Company and worked closely with
Artistic Director William Ball at American
Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco. He
began his career at the Yale Repertory
Theatre and the Williamstown Theatre
Festival with their founders Robert Brustein
and Nikos Psacharopoulos. Mr. Dillingham
holds a BA from Yale and a MFA from the
Yale School of Drama. He served on the
Board of Directors of The California Theatre
Council, Dance USA, LA Stage Alliance and
Arts for LA and on advisory panels at the
California Arts Council and the National
Endowment for the Arts. He also was Vice
President of the League of Resident
Theatres (LORT) and as a member of the
Board of Councilors of the USC School of
Theater. He has taught arts administration at
Columbia University, the Yale School of
Drama and the USC School of theatre. He
resides in Pasadena with his wife, Susan
Clines, an executive at the Greater Los
Angeles Zoo Association.
SHELDON EPPS
(Artistic Director) has
been Artistic Director
of the renowned
Pasadena Playhouse
since 1997. Before
beginning his tenure
at The Playhouse he served as Associate
Artistic Director of the Old Globe
Theatre for four years. He was also a cofounder of the Off Broadway theatre,
The Production Company. Mr. Epps has
directed both plays and musicals at many
of the country’s major theatres including
the Roundabout, Manhattan Theatre Club,
the Guthrie, Playwrights Horizons, Seattle
Repertory Theatre, Arena Stage, and the
Goodman Theatre. He conceived the highly
acclaimed musicals Play On! and Blues In
the Night, which both received Tony Award
nominations. He directed productions
of both of those shows on Broadway, in
London, and at theatres throughout the
world. Mr. Epps also has had a busy career
as a television director helming episodes
of shows such as “Frasier,” “Friends,”
“Everybody Loves Raymond,” “Girlfriends”
and many others. For more than a decade,
he served as a member of the Executive
Board of the Society of Stage Directors and
Choreographers. Mr. Epps received the
James Irvine Foundation Leadership Award
for his efforts and accomplishments at The
Pasadena Playhouse. Under his leadership
The Playhouse has earned distinction for
productions of artistic excellence, critical
and box office success, and highly praised
theatrical diversity. Recently he Co-Directed
the Broadway production of Baby It’s
You!, which premiered at The Pasadena
Playhouse.
PErFORMANCEs MAGAZINE P13
Board of Directors
Better
than
ever
Michele Dedeaux Engemann
Chair of the Board
Sheila Grether-Marion
Vice-Chair of the Board
2012-13 season
UnDer MY sKIn
a sUrPrIse ProDUCtIon!
Sept. 11 – Oct. 7, 2012
Mar. 19 – Apr. 14, 2013
From the acclaimed writing and producing
team of Robert Sternin and Prudence
Fraser and Tony-nominated Ragtime
director Marcia Milgrom Dodge, comes
this world premiere comedy about sex,
love and the health care business.
In the splendid tradition of past surprise
productions such as Sister Act, Looped
and Twist!
IntIMate aPPareL
Nov. 6 – Dec. 2, 2012
By Lynn Nottage
Directed by Sheldon Epps
In 1905 New York, Esther – a black
seamstress - must reconcile her dreams
with a harsh reality, as she learns that all
choices come with a price.
sLeePLess In seattLe
– the MUsICaL
June – July 2013
Based on Nora Ephron’s beloved
motion picture, with a book by Sleepless
screenwriter Jeff Arch, this musical will
give Playhouse audiences the special
gift of experiencing this timeless story
like never before.
a snoW WhIte ChrIstMas
(Special Presentation)
FaLLen anGeLs
Dec. 13 – 23, 2012
A Lythgoe Family Production
Directed by Bonnie Lythgoe
Jan. 29 – Feb. 24, 2013
By Noël Coward
Directed by Art Manke
This hilarious fable of love’s outrageous
complications is a delectable champagne
cocktail of wit and charm.
An updated version of the classic tale,
in the style of the traditional British family
Panto, A Snow White Christmas features
family-friendly magic, a comedic twist and
modern music.
David DiCristofaro
Treasurer
Linda Boyd Griffey
Secretary
Lenore Almanzar
Valerie Amidon
Sheri Ball
Stephen Bennett
William Carroll
Peggy Ebright
Sheldon Epps
Brad King
Darrell Miller
Tony Phillips
Bingo Roncelli
Lilah Stangeland
Corky Hale Stoller
Mike Stoller
Martha Williamson
Emeritus Board Members
David M. Davis
Ralph Hirschmann
Frank Kleeman
Albert Lowe
Dennis Lowe
Kerry McCluggage
Greg Stone
Dear Playhouse Friends,
With the arrival of wonderful Jitney to our stage, we have
reached the last show of this truly magnificent season here
at The Playhouse. And what a ride it has been this year
starting in Philly with South Street, journeying to Harlem
for Blues, jaunting off to Paris for ART, then sojourning
to some of history’s finest heroes with Hershey Felder’s
trio, including the world premiere of Lincoln, then off to
Washington Square, New York for Heiress and now, here we
are back in Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh with Jitney. I have
thoroughly enjoyed the trip of a lifetime with the shows this
year and most of all, enjoyed you being on the journey with
us.
My time on the Board at The Playhouse began in 1996, and
as Chair, in 2008, and with the completion of Jitney, so will be mine as Chair of The Pasadena
Playhouse Board of Directors — and how I have enjoyed the ride. I want to thank each of you
and want you to know your support has been the inspiration during my tenure, and at times
in the face of many changes and challenges we have faced, you are what has continued us to
move forward — and I am so very grateful.
To my prestigious fellow Board members, both past and present, it has been an honor to
serve next to you and as your Chair. I am so proud of each of you for all the work we have
done for the continued success of furthering the mission and impact of The Playhouse to the
arts and for the community. Your sheer will truly moves mountains and I am in awe of each of
you.
To Sheldon Epps, who I precede by just one year in leadership with The Playhouse, I thank
and exalt you for all you have done and do for The Playhouse, and sincerely cherish our
friendship and shared devotion to this magnificent jewel.
And to all the friends, volunteers, artists and staff with whom I have worked side by side to
be at the point we are at now thriving and growing, you are too numerous to list by name but
you know who you are, and I thank you for your hard work and devotion and tremendous
dedication. You will always be in my heart.
In closing, while my ride as Chair of the Board of Directors has come to an end, my journey
with The Playhouse continues in great stride and side by side with my fellow board members
and all of you.
As always, I look forward to seeing you at The Playhouse — in the audience, at events, at
our new play development series and various outreach/education programs — and most
importantly, and always, in my heart and mind as part of one of my most cherished lifetime
experiences.
Thank you for the journey of a lifetime,
Michele Dedeaux Engemann
Pasadena Playhouse Board of Directors Chair
The Gilmor Brown Society
Clockwise: Robin Givens in Blues for an Alabama Sky photo by Jim Cox; Richard Chamberlain in The Heiress
- photo by Jim Cox; The Company of TWIST - photo by
Craig Schwartz and (L-R) Bradley Whitford, Roger Bart and
Michael O’Keefe in Art - photo by Jim Cox.
sUBsCrIBe noW!
626.356.7529 WWW.PasaDenaPLaYhoUse.orG
Season subject to change.
P14 PERFORMANCES MAGAZINe The Gilmor Brown Society, dedicated to a legacy of live theatre and thus named after The Playhouse founder, was established to recognize,
honor and thank those individuals for provisions they have made through thoughtful estate planning to further the mission of The Pasadena
Playhouse:
Ellen Bailey
Estate of Evelyn Bray
Marjorie Cates
Estate of Angus Duncan
Estate of Shirley Filiatrault
Harriet L. Freeman
Estate of Ada Gory
Sheila Grether-Marion
Adele F. Morse
Shirli Nielsen
Estate of Charles Pierce
Estate of Constance Ropolo
Lyn Spector
Lilah and Roger* Stangeland
Estate of Bill Watters
Jim Watterson
* Deceased
39 s. eL MoLIno ave., PasaDena, Ca 91101
If you have included The Playhouse in your estate plans and your name is not currently listed, please notify the Development Office so we
may acknowledge you for your support and add your name to the Gilmor Brown Society. For further information or questions about other
gift opportunities, please contact Jennifer Berger, Director of Development at 626.921.1164 or by email at [email protected]
PErFORMANCEs MAGAZINE P15
THANK YOU!
Dear Friends,
Oh, the places we’ve been! From Lincoln’s
Washington, D.C. to the Washington
Square address of The Heiress. From
Alabama skies to the New York art scene,
from the music of South Street, to the
Parisian boulevards of Chopin and the
West Side stories of Bernstein. And
finally August Wilson delivers us to a
stunning season conclusion with an unforgettable ride in Jitney.
Welcome to the Pasadena Playhouse’s 2011-2012 season finale with a bumpy ride
through the American Dream in a gypsy cab full of magnificent performances.
Jitney is a journey of forgiveness and survival with heartbreaking humor and
a lesson in tough love that asks the question we must all answer about what
makes a family.
I know that question has already been answered in this theatre by you – our
own Playhouse family. You have supported the great work accomplished this
season on this stage with loyalty and love. Your attendance has encouraged
us, your gifts have sustained us, your applause has lifted us. And, like the best
of families, you have always been there. Some of you have been Playhouse
patrons for years, some only recently. But when the lights go down and the
curtain rises, we all travel together, and the trip is always magical.
*
Thank you for another great year in this legendary house. Enjoy Jitney, have
a great summer, and be sure to come back home to the Playhouse in the fall.
Oh, the places we’ll go!
Martha Williamson
Board Member and Chair, Development Committee
Our thanks to the following individuals and companies who donated gifts-in-kind to The Playhouse since September 1, 2011. Any
gifts-in-kind received after May 14, 2012 will be acknowledged in the next program.
P16 PERFORMANCES MAGAZINe Anonymous(2); Sheila Grether-Marion and Mark Marion; Wells Fargo Bank
Artistic Director’s Circle — $25,000 - $99,999
Anonymous; Jon Andersen and Martha Williamson; Avery and Andrew Barth; Chantal and Steve Bennett; Mary Lea and Bill Carroll; Michele and Roger Engemann; Connie and
Ed Foster; The Green Foundation; Julie and Don Hopf; Pam and Brad King; Terri and Jerry Kohl; David Lee and Mark Nichols; Mattel, Inc.; The Ralph M. Parsons Foundation;
Randy and Candy Renick; Bingo and Gino Roncelli; Rick Saveri; Lilah Stangeland; U.S. Bank; Jinny and Scott Wilcott; Frank Williams
Director’s Circle — $10,000 - $24,999
Diane and Fred Blum; Marilyn and Don Conlan; Ann and Paul Demartini; Patti and Jim Dolan; Dorothy Collins Brown Charitable Foundation; Linda and Jay Griffey; Ann and
Robert Hamilton; Sumi and Bill Hughes; Jerry Katell; Lindemann Foundation; Gayle and Tad Lowrey; Shannon and Darrell Miller; Gayle and Edward P. Roski, Jr. – Majestic Realty
Playwright’s Circle — $5,000 - $9,999
Ann Peppers Foundation; Dan and Sandy Bane; The Bank of America Charitable Foundation; Bea and Paul Bennett; Julieta and Jeffrey Bennett; Meta and Jay Berger; Lynn
and Carl Cooper; The Dedeaux Family – Justin & Mary Lin, Terry & Christine and Denise; Gail and Jim Ellis; St. Paul and Kathryn Epps; Sheldon Epps and Monette Magrath;
Brenda and Bill Galloway; Tracy and Richard Hirrel; Helen and Steven Kerstein; Ellen and Harvey Knell; Diane and Craig Martin; Susan McGuirl and Bob Musselman; Merrill
Lynch; Milo W. Bekins Foundation; Gaylord Nichols; Skip and Si Ober; Christine Ofiesh; Pacific Global Investment Management Company; Barbara and Tony Phillips; Kay and
Bob Rehme; Michael Roney; Marty Salvin; Betty Sandford; Deidra Schumann; Sidney Stern Memorial Trust; Anne Taubman and David Boyle; Laney and Tom Techentin; Sid and
Betsey Tyler; Judy and Robert Waller; W.M. Keck Foundation
Performer’s Circle — $2,500 - $4,999
Ars Viva Symphony Orchestra; Cynthia Bennett and Ed de Beixedon; Claire and Bill Bogaard; Lesley Brander; Z. Clark Branson; Frank Brooks, in loving memory of Betty Ann
Brooks; The Capital Group Companies Charitable Foundation; Jean De Silvestri; David DiCristofaro; Peggy Ebright; Dorothy Falcinella; Don Foster and Erin Quigley; Friends
of The Pasadena Playhouse; Susan Hauk; Marcia L. Hoffman; Teena Hostovich; June and Gareth Hughes; Justin Dart Family Foundation; Jennifer and Michael LaRocco; Lily Lee
and Tom Chang; Shelly and Dennis Lowe; Greta and Peter Mandell; Liz and David McFadzean; Stephanie and Greg McLemore; Edith Mehlinger; Sharon and Sam Muir; Jane and
Kris Popovich; Thomas Safran; The Seaver Institute; Danielle and Elliot Stahler; Mindy and Gene Stein; Martha Tolles; Mary and William Urquhart; Cindy Vail and Greg Stone;
Richard von Ernst and Thomas Castaneda; Alyce and Warren Williamson
Stage Manager’s Circle — $1,000 - $2,499
Sara and George Abdo; Dann Angeloff; Anonymous (2); Anonymous, in memory of Edward N. Glad, O.B.E.; AT&T; Mrs. William E. Ballard; William Barney; Ann and Olin Barrett; Neil Bauman; Monty
Bernstein/Easy Parking Service; Sue and Richard Biggar; Barrett and Carol Bingaman; Brian Bissell; Brick’s Lissy Lantz, in honor of Edward N. Glad; Darrell Brown; Michael Budd; John Casani; Brent
Chang; Catherine “Tink” Cheney; Marty and Jim Childs; Carol Chua; Terry and Anthony Clougherty; Barbara and Wes Coleman; Stephen Courtney; William Cunningham; Ginny and John Cushman;
Gary Dahle and Derek Whitefield; Faye and Robert Davidson; David and Holly Davis; Richard and Bryn DeBeikes; Darrell Done; Barbara and Tom Dukes; Frank Epinger; Alan Ett; Fishbein Family
Foundation; Margaret Foley Jagels; Donna and Henri Ford; Bridget and Bob Furiga; Tim Garrity; Richard Gilman; Don Gorsch; D.G. Gumpertz; Rose Ann Hall – California Custom Fruits & Flavors; Paul
Theodore Hammond; George Handtmann; Arlene and Robert Harder; Virginia Hawkins and James C. Kenaga, M.D.; LeAnn and Michael Healy; Felicia D. Henderson; Susan Hoffman; Colin Hurren; Sally
and Bill Hurt and Bernadette Glenn; Donna and Lou Jones; Marcia and Gordon Kanofsky; Kelton Fund Inc./David and Lenora Kelton; Stacey and Charles King; Evans Lam; Helen L. Lambros; Sherry
and Al Lapides; Sally Jean Lash; Mattie and Michael Lawson; Melba Macneil; Sandra Martin; Judy and Donald Matthews; Deborah Maxson; Vicki and Kerry McCluggage; Linda McManus and Prof. Bill
Bridges; Susan and Allan Mohrman; Lani and Jesse Moore; Mr. and Mrs. Chase Morgan; Cheryl and Judd Morris; Ceil and Mort Mortimer; Michael Naples; Mark Ogden; William and Judy Opel; Jennifer
Parker-Stanton; Pasadena Playhouse Alumni & Associates; Marilyn and Herbert Piken; Carol and Glenn Pomerantz; Jeffrey Porter; Jane Prickett Luthard; Anette and Edward Pumphrey; Charles
Reardon; Lorna and Chuck Reed; Debby and Bill Richards; Saks, Inc.; Sossi and Norman Sarafian; Jean Scott and Kent Keller; Rodney S. Shepard; Charles Sheppard; Bernadette and Russell Sherman;
Judy and Bill Shupper; Ronald Slates; Boyd Smith; Vivien Stanley Foran and William Foran; Anthony Stein; Amy and Charles Stephens; Philip Swan; Martin Pierce Udell; Ashana and Tom Thorman; June
Thurber Paine and Garrett Paine; USC Alumni Association; Mary and Michael Veselich; Michele Vice-Maslin; Lin Vlacich; Lyla White; Rita Whitney; Carolyn R. Williams/Southern California Gas; James
Wilson; Mark Withers; Molly and Ralph Wolveck; William H. Wright, Jr.
Anonymous; Malcolm Axon; Meghan and Monte Baier; Michael Balale; Stacy and Michael Berger; Paula Brand; John Brende; Marlene and Nolan Charbonnet; Dottie and Joe Clougherty; Suzanne and
Walter Cochran-Bond; Craig Colbath and Ann Voyer; Sharleen Cooper Cohen and Martin Cohen; Corky and Marilyn Conzonire; George Coulter; William Craver; D. Bello Associates; Dorothy and
William Davila; Janet and Edgar Davis; Jarita and Tony Davis; Edwina and David Dedlow; Mr. and Mrs. Leo Dencik; Laura Diaz; Ann and Gene Dryden; Dr. Thomas Edwards and Sally Edwards; Robert
Ellis; Mary Ann and Thomas Fell; Carol Fox; Ken Frankel; Scott and Barbara Gantz; Patrick Garcia and Eric Baker; Cleola Gavalas; Harry Gilbert; Cherie and Mark Harris; Diane and James Harris; Tom
Hatten; Sue Haynie Horn; Schuyler and Deborah Hollingsworth; Gail and Bob Israel; Patti Johns Eisenberg; Nancy and John Killen; Charlotte and Frank Kleeman; Elizabeth Koen, in loving memory of
Elizabeth Koen Brooks; Donald Kottler; Diane Lau; Sue and John Leisner; Coco Lorenzo and Bryan Beasley; Maria Low Way and George Way; Christine Madsen and Steven Perry; C. Peter Magrath;
Pamela and J.C. Massar; Dreux McNairy; Roger C. Memos; Jessie Milano; Gloria and Accie Mitchell; Wendi and Bill Moffly; Elly and Jim Morgan; Kenneth and Richel Nash; Sharon and Robert Novell;
Mimi O’Brien; Mr. and Mrs. A.F. Osterloh, III; Ellen and Doug Patton; The Estate of Charles B. Pierce; Gloria and Don Pitzer; John Plimpton; Marianna and Charles Plott; Jack Pollock; Linda and John
Poore; Gregory Probert; Rancho Book Club; Redhill Group; Winnie and Lynn Reitnouer; Ed Richmond; Isi Russ and Liz Fitzgerald-Russ; Chief and Mrs. Phillip Sanchez; Fran Scoble; Jeff Scofield;
Katharine Sickel Higgins; Rosemary Simmons; Janis and Stuart Simon; Gail and David Snyder; Phillip Sotel; Frank Taylor; Sheran and David Voigt; Vroman’s Bookstore; Greg Wessels; Michael Westmore;
J. Patrick Whaley and Lynda Jenner; Richard Yadley
Friend — $250 - $499
GIFT-IN-KIND DONATIONS
Jon Andersen and Martha Williamson
Chantal and Steve Bennett
Mr. and Mrs. Kevin Blake
Michele and Roger Engemann
Elements Kitchen
FramePros
Executive Director’s Circle — $100,000 - $1,000,000+
Supporter — $500 - $999
Sincerely,
*
We salute the individuals and institutions that have made
extraordinary gifts to The Pasadena Playhouse.
Bridget and Bob Furiga
Glass Bee Partners Hospitality Consulting
Courtney Harper
Doris Kao, Steve Bickel and Bluelounge Design
The Krezel Family
Lerman, Pointer & Spritz, LLP
O’Melveny & Myers
little junebugs
Saunders Electric, Inc.
TechFirmation
Wells Fargo Bank
wild Up
Joan Aebi; Arden Albee; Robert Banning; Gale and Jane Bensussen; Jennifer and John Berger; Ruth Berger; David Blazek; Hilary and Richard Clark; Crickette Brown Glad and Paul Glad, in memory of
Ned Glad; Patty and Byron Capps; Renate and Mel Cohen; Linda and Charles Collier; Phyllis and David Crandon; Creative Capacity Fund’s Next Gen Arts Professional Development Program; Darlene
Crooks; Pat Cuneo; William Cunningham; Mr. and Mrs. Tony Dinardo; Christina and Richard Doren; Michele Dressback; Gerri and William Edson; Alan Eskot; Valerie Foster Hoffman; Maye FukumotoRyan; Lisa and Rob Gallo; Robert Galvan; Anita Glasco; Beryl and Graham Gosling; Thomas Greany; James Hayes; Richard Hoffing; Boyd Horne; Marguerite Hougasian; Dr. and Mrs. David V. Hubbell;
Gary Hunter; George Inadomi; Dr. James Johnson; Helga Johnstone; Keith Kato; Lena L. Kennedy; Marilyn Kezirian; Mr. and Mrs. Michael Korney; Mary L. Latimore; Barbara Lee; Karen and Victor
Limongelli; Lucas Public Affairs, in memory of Edward N. Glad; Mary Lyon; Michael Mackness; Jeanie McCarthy; Elizabeth McMurray; Asa Meudell; Michelle Moore; Mollie Murphy; Claudia Myles; June
Nelson; Debbie and Gregg Oppenheimer; Maiya Penberthy; Michaela Pereira; Ron Redcay; Shirley Reed; Florence Reese; Jean-Paul Revel; Harriet Scott; John Scott;; Dorothy Shepherd; Elizabeth and
Grant Smith; Floraline I. Stevens; Warren Stout, M.D.; Walt Sumner; Eileen T’Kaye and David Bischoff; Janet Thomasser; Janet and Robert Tranquada; Andrea and John Van de Kamp; Timothy Vient;
Jeph Willis; Ralyn and Nate Wolfstein; Erik and Tanya Zommers; Bob and Patty Zuber; Stephan Zusman
All donors listed gave $250 since April 1, 2011. Contributions received after May 14, 2012 will be acknowledged in the next program.
PErFORMANCEs MAGAZINE P17
Bingo and Gino Roncelli, Julie and Don Hopf, and Patti and Jim Dolan
Artistic Director’s Circle
Six neighbors and friends having fun in New York City,
sounds like a TV sitcom, except they are all generous
donors of The Pasadena Playhouse and they all live in
Arcadia but recently traveled to New York City together.
The Roncellis, the Hopfs and the Dolans are members of
the Artistic Director’s Circle at The Pasadena Playhouse.
They are generous donors, longtime subscribers and in
Bingo Roncelli’s case, an esteemed Board Member. In
researching this profile, we have discovered that the root
of their friendship goes back to their early 20’s with each
being members of the Junior Shakespeare Club. They
acted in plays and forged a lifelong friendship. Don Hopf
says that experience made him realize he loved good
acting, he just wasn’t very talented. Jim Dolan remembers
playing a coach in the play about baseball, Babes in
Arms. What they all know is the experience led them to
becoming lifelong friends, sharing a love of theatre.
As for their relationship with The Pasadena Playhouse,
Gino Roncelli remembers being 6 or 7 years old and
sneaking in to see Edgar Bergen and his puppet friend
Charlie McCarthy do their radio show from The Pasadena
Playhouse stage. Evidently, he took accordion lessons
across the street and if anyone is interested, he still has
the accordion. Julie Hopf says The Pasadena Playhouse has been a part of her family for four generations,
most recently with her grand-daughter interning at The Playhouse a few years ago. Julie first came to The
Playhouse when her parents brought her to see Mister Roberts when she was a young girl. She said she had
many questions afterwards and heard some “language” that was not part of her education up until then. She
and Don have subscribed with friends for years and when Don inquired about improving his seats, he found a
generous donation was just the ticket to do so. Bingo and Gino were subscribers who started to donate and
come to events until one day the Managing Director asked if Bingo would be interested in serving on our Board
-- she has served for six years. Jim and Patti believe The Pasadena Playhouse needs the community’s support.
They are glad The Playhouse is here and think we are doing a great job.
Several times, these three couples have taken advantage of a special benefit as donors in the Artistic Director’s
Circle -- the ability to have The Pasadena Playhouse Development Staff arrange for house seats for shows on
Broadway. As you can see pictured here, they traveled together in April to New York and enjoyed house seats for
Evita, One Man Two Guvnors, Seminar, Jesus Christ Superstar, and Porgy and Bess. Evidently they all loved Evita
but there were some divided opinions on Seminar (Don loved it, Bingo hated it).
Don and Julie Hopf have taken advantage of this benefit for
several years with trips with their grand-daughters, friends and
just the two of them. They love planning these trips and the
great seats The Playhouse is able to secure for them. When
Don comes home he always says “That was great, now let’s
start planning for the next trip!” When asked as a businessman
what his “Return on Investment” is for his generous donations
to The Pasadena Playhouse with arrangements for house
seats in New York, he says “Four Fold”.
P18 PERFORMANCES MAGAZINe Support The Playhouse
We believe in the powerful voice of the
theater but magic is expensive. Please
consider a tax deductible donation
to The Pasadena Playhouse. You
can make a donation online at www.
pasadenaplayhouse.org or call 626.921.1156.
Matching Opportunity
“We believe in The
Pasadena Playhouse,”
say long time subscribers
and supporters of The
Pasadena Playhouse.
These friends have been
very generous and we
appreciate their support
and close relationship.
When you ask them
“Why do you support The
Pasadena Playhouse?”
they respond: “We believe
in you. We believe in live
arts and we believe in live
theatre. Several years ago
we made the decision
to make all of our major
gifts within our Pasadena
community.”
Here at The Playhouse, we believe in the support of the many wonderful allies and boosters of our theatre.
Our special donors celebrate the magic of opening nights, join us for intimate gatherings and sometimes
celebrate with us at our Galas.
Two special donors have presented us with a
wonderful opportunity:
· They have a gift for The Playhouse of $250,000 if The Playhouse matches this three to one.
This gift is one that they hope will be a motivation to others to support The Playhouse. With
the match of $750,000 the impact of this $250,000 challenge will equal $1,000,000 for The
Playhouse.
· Gifts must start at $10,000 or more from current individual Playhouse supporters or brand
new/lapsed gifts from new and old friends of $5,000 or more.
· Gifts must be realized and received before the end of our season: August 31, 2012.
This generous opportunity will permit The Playhouse added Artistic Freedom
to make important programming choices for our community and our theatre.
We are pleased to announce that we are getting close to the finish line with $600,000 in gifts and pledges (at
time of printing). Please consider helping with this match and joining us year round as a special donor.
Contact Jennifer Berger at 626.921.1164 or [email protected].
PErFORMANCEs MAGAZINE P19
Pasadena Playhouse Alumni & Associates
May 19, 2012
Did you know The Pasadena Playhouse once founded and managed an accredited college of theatre arts?
The Pasadena Playhouse opened at the present site in 1925, and the School of the Theatre officially
opened with 24 students, in 1928. It became an accredited College of Theatre Arts in 1936, awarding both
Bachelor and Master of Theatre Arts degrees to those with sufficient undergraduate credits. The Alumni & Associates was
founded in 1953. Many well-known ‘names’ trained at this prestigious school, among them Charles Bronson, Barbara Rush,
Dabbs Greer, Lloyd Nolan, Victory Jory, Robert Preston, Dana Andrews, Frances Reid, Raymond Burr, Harry Dean Stanton,
Dustin Hoffman, Gene Hackman, Sally Struthers, Earl Holliman, Mako, Jamie Farr, Rue McClanahan, Ruth Buzzi and Jo Ann
Worley. Though the school closed permanently in 1969, the Alumni & Associates continues to be actively involved with the
Playhouse. They play a vital role in collecting and maintaining The Playhouse Archives and assist in guided tours of The
Playhouse. Our single greatest contribution to our beloved alma mater is the creation and administration of The Henry and
Joyce W. Sumid Scholarship for needy college students of the theatre arts. www.ppa-a.org
THE AMBASSADORS OF THE PASADENA PLAYHOUSE
A wonderful group of 23 of San Diego’s Old Globe constituency came to see The Heiress and were welcomed in the
Makineni Library by the Ambassador Hosts. Two of the group’s leaders, Wendy Ledford (who had just returned from
the Cavort Conference) and Marilyn Johns enjoyed a reunion with Artistic Director Sheldon Epps. Sheldon had served
as Associate Artistic Director under Jack O’Brien at the Old Globe before coming to The Pasadena Playhouse and was
warmly greeted by the entire group. For a bit more icing, Dámaso Rodriguez, director of The Heiress, charmed the group at
intermission. These are the special times the Ambassdor Hosts love.
Sheila Grether-Marion, Gala Chair and Vice-Chair
of the Board and Michele Dedeaux Engemann, Gala
Honoree and Chair of the Board
Chantal Bennett, Board Member Steve Bennett, Gala
Chair Sheila Grether-Marion, Gala Honoree Michele
Dedeaux Engemann, Roger Engemann and Artistic
Director Sheldon Epps
Ed & Connie Foster and Diana & Alex McBride
The Friends of The Pasadena Playhouse
George Cassat and Tammy Jutsum
Pam King and Board Member Brad King
Paul and Bea Bennett
In addition to their annual monetary pledge and other smaller donations, The Friends of The Pasadena Playhouse have been
able to make a difference in 2012 by purchasing needed items for the staff. Among the gifts are plants for the patio, a wine
refrigerator for the concession stand, computers for the box office, a new vacuum cleaner for the cleaning staff, and a Table
Saw Dust Collector for the set building shop. Everyone, staff and patrons, benefit from these items. The staff still has a long
“wish list”, and the Friends plan to fill them. All of these gifts are made possible by donations given in the box in the lobby.
Every small donation counts and goes to a good cause. The next time you are at the theatre, drop a little money in the box.
The Friends will make certain that it goes to one of the staff needs. For more information on how to become a Friend, please
check our website a www.friendsofthepasadenaplayhouse.org.
BACKSTAGE TOURS
Board Member Tony Phillips and Barbara Phillips
Mayor Bill Bogaard
Alaman Diadhiou
“Thank you again for the lovely tour of The Pasadena Playhouse! I so appreciate you taking the
time and energy to take the kids ‘behind-the-scenes’ of your professional and beautiful theatre.”
The quote above is from a recent tour of elementary school children and their parents. Book your group for a rewarding,
informative and fun tour. For more information or to book a tour contact Ellen Bailey at 626-921-1162 or email [email protected].
P20 PERFORMANCES MAGAZINe PErFORMANCEs MAGAZINE P21
Outreach & Education
The Heiress continued to our exciting endeavor into Outreach and Education at The Pasadena Playhouse. Special
thanks to Sheldon Epps, Dámaso Rodriguez, Jill Van Velzer, Anneliese Van Der Pol, Steve Coombs, Beth Lewis,
Whitney Fortmueller, LoraBeth Barr, Kimberly Ruppert, Stacey Castillo, and everyone who participated in our 2nd
Annual High School Theatre Festival for their volunteering of time and resources. Jitney provides us the chance
to celebrate as an artistic family at home and right here at our Playhouse. Please join us!
Outreach & Education
“I am filled with joy to see the passion and purpose of New Generations.
There are a number of great components to this program one of
which is that: the young adults come to The Pasadena Playhouse to
see a show but often leave having shared their reactions, thoughts
and experience with the actors. This exchange is a vital and rewarding
part of the process for both performer and New Generations young
adult. The performer has a chance to feel the impact of the work
on young men and women who welcome the challenge in alternative
thinking and, conversely, the performers get a chance to hear views
and opinion from our youth with raw sensibilities when it comes to
theatre. As actors we welcome the truth of our youth and value the
time we get to encourage them in their daring to dream.”
UPCOMING EVENTS
during Jitney
Wednesday, June 27th 6:30-7:15pm
Featuring Artistic Director, Sheldon Epps, and Interim Executive
Director, Charles Dillingham, discussing the art behind Jitney.
Sunday, July 8th after the 2pm
showing of Jitney on the Mainstage
Join us for a talk-back, question and answer session with cast
members of Jitney.
Wednesday, July 11th 6:30-7:15pm
Come see someone put on the HOTSEAT in an intimate preshow discussion.
-Kevin Carroll, Actor Blues for an Alabama Sky
New Generations is an educational program that provides a theatrical experience to groups that include many members of
our community who have never been to the theatre before in their life. These groups have included It’s Time for Kids, the
Boys and Girls Club, Pasadena Unified School District, and others. Every New Generations group is paired with The Pasadena
Playhouse Teaching Artists who guide the group through an evening that includes a concessions voucher for each participant
and enriching discussions prior to and following the performance. These unique and key components of the program actively
engage these participants in their night out, get them thinking about what they are seeing, processing the experience as a
whole, and opening a door that hopefully leads to life in which the arts are appreciated and important.
All events take place in The Carrie Hamilton Theatre and are
free and open to the public unless otherwise noted.
Thank you to those who joined us as we
watched The Territory Of Dreams, Ass, and
Above The Fold grow in our HOTHOUSE.
More titles are under consideration for
next season, but there is no doubt that
each carefully vetted project will go on
to a life beyond HOTHOUSE at The
Playhouse. Please check the Playhouse
website for updated information as it
becomes available.
watch plays grow.
The HOTHOUSE program has proven its success by
developing material in early stages, nurturing that material
and the writers to such a degree that a huge percentage
of the work that has been produced by the program has
subsequently been produced in major productions at The
Pasadena Playhouse, at other companies throughout the
country, and even in commercial productions on Broadway
and London’s West End. Current projects that started in
HOTHOUSE at The Playhouse include NOgoodDEED
playing at [Inside] the Ford in Los Angeles, Sleepless
In Seattle, The Musical premiering
onstage next season at The Pasadena
Playhouse, and the Tony nominated
Sister Act, A Divine Musical Comedy
currently playing at The Broadway
Theatre in New York and launching
national and international touring
companies.
HOTHOUSE at The Playhouse was started in 2005
and since then has grown into an artistic home where
playwrights utilize the resources and support of The
Pasadena Playhouse.
Each HOTHOUSE at The
Playhouse project is tailored to the playwright’s needs
so that it aids the writer to grow in whatever way he or
she needs. HOTHOUSE at The Playhouse is vital to the
continued success of The Playhouse and theatre as an art
form in the sense of developing new work and nurturing
the artists who spend the time to create it. Join us and
watch plays grow.
Board Member and Chair of the Diversity Committee,
Darrell Miller, and Founder and Chair of the Annual
High School Theatre Festival, Mary Lea Carroll
Pasadena High School performing Guys & Dolls
The Pasadena Playhouse Outreach and Education programs are made possible
in part by the support of the Wells Fargo Theatrical Diversity Project.
P22 PERFORMANCES MAGAZINe La Salle High School performing 15 Minute Hamlet by
Tom Stoppard
Mayfield Senior School performing selections from
William Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet
John Muir High School performing original selections
Outreach and Education Coordinator Courtney Harper,
John C. Reilly, Founder and Chair of the Annual High
School Theatre Festival, Mary Lea Carroll, Bradley
Whitford, Chair of the Board, Michele Dedeaux
Engemann, and Director of Development Jennifer Berger
PErFORMANCEs MAGAZINE P23
Sheldon Epps
Sheldon
Epps
ArtisticDirector
Director
Artistic
Charles
Dillingham
Stephen
Eich
InterimExecutive
Executive Director
Director
ADMINISTRATION AND FINANCE
Controller...............................................Stephanie Surabian
Administrative Assistant.................Whitney Fortmueller
Finance Assistant........................................................ Chris Lu
Union Liaison......................................................Angela Sidlow
Accounting Consultant..................Mary Ann Heidsman
IT Consulting Firm.......................................... TechFirmation
THE PASADENA PLAYHOUSE
ALUMNI & ASSOCIATES
Executive Board
President............................................................Valerie Amidon
1st Vice-President................................................Anne LaRose
2nd Vice-President............................................Kim O’Rourke
Administrator.......................................Robert Muehlhausen
Recording Secretary.......................................Neva Wallace
Corresponding Secretary ............................. Marje Cates
Treasurer..................................................................... Eric Johns
BOARD OF DIRECTORS _________________________________________________
Lenore Almanzar, Ellen Bailey, Ross Eastty,
Bridget Furiga, John McElveney, Jaclyn Palmer,
Pete Parkin, Jack Scott
DEVELOPMENT/OUTREACH & EDUCATION
Development Director ..............................Jennifer Berger
Individual Giving &
Major Gifts Director................................Patti Johns Eisenberg
Outreach & Education Coordinator..Courtney Harper
Development Associate.......................................Beth Lewis
MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS
Marketing & Communications Director....Patty Onagan
Public Relations Director............................................Joel Hile
Marketing &
Communications Assistant.........................Jewel E. Moore
Subscriptions Manager.............................Jonathan White
Group Sales Associate.............................. Susan von Tress
Outreach/Communication
Consultant............................................................Jalila Larsuel
Broadcast Advertising........................ Nancy’s Media Buys,
Nancy Pank
Graphic Design........................................................Eric Pargac
Subscription Designer.......................................Blue Lounge
Telemarketing....................................................Theater Direct
JITNEY production staff
Production Stage Manager......................Jamie A. Tucker
Assistant Stage Manager . ........................ Chrissy Church
Company Manager .................................. Kristen Hammack
Dramaturg ................................................................Kelly Miller
Videographer................................................................Bill Ennis
Photographer...................................................Henry DiRicco
Costume Design Assistant ......................... Rachel Stivers
Assistant Sound Designer .......................... Stephen Swift
Crew Chief ............................................................ Matt Petosa
Props Master . ........................................... Shannon Dedman
Master Electrician ..................................... Chris Osborne
Light Board Operator ............................. Mark Daugherty
Production Sound Engineer .................. Eric Thompson
Lead Scenic Painter . ................................... Mia Campagna
Wardrobe Supervisor/Dresser . ....... Leslie Rehm Hunt
Wig/Makeup Supervisor . .............................. Gieselle Blair
Production Assistant ........................................ Katie Lantz
Lead House Rigger ................................................ Tim Moore
Master Carpenter . ......................................... Isa Mitsuharu
Carpenters ..................... Mike Askew, Christopher Cook,
Sean Lewellyn, Ryan Shull,
Takuji “Clutch” Kuramoto, Joel Schlessinger
LEGAL COUNSEL
Pamela M. Golinski, Esq. Beigelman, Feiner & Feldman P.C.
Special Thanks to the South Coast Repertory Staff.
A
I
O
29
•
UNITED
E
P24 PERFORMANCES MAGAZINe NI
SCE C A
ISTS
RT
Friends of THE Pasadena Playhouse
Executive Board
President............................................................Valerie Amidon
1st Vice President.............................................. Anne La Rose
2nd Vice President............................................Bridget Furiga
Administrator................................................RJ Muehlhausen
Corresponding Secretary.................. Charlyn d’Anconia
Recording Secretary.......................................Neva Wallace
Treasurer..................................................................... Eric Johns General Board ___________________________________________________________ Lenore Almanzar, Ellen Bailey, Marje Cates,
Ross Clark, Ross Eastty, John McElveney,
Jaclyn Palmer, Jack Scott
T
IA
•L
PRODUCTION
Production Manger...................................................Joe Witt
Company Manager ...................................Kristen Hammack
Technical Director .............................................Brad Enlow
Master Electrician ......................................Chris Osborne
Sound Engineer ..............................................Eric Thompson
Crew Chief .............................................................Matt Petosa
Wardrobe Supervisor . ...........................Leslie Rehm Hunt
Facilities Rental Manager ..........................LoraBeth Barr
The actors and stage managers employed in this
production are members of actors’ equity association, the union of professional actors and
stage managers in the United States.
S
PATRON SERVICES
Patron Services Manager..........Lemuel H. Thornton III
Subscription Services Manager....Frank Ensenberger
Patron Services
Asst. Managers............................... Louis Douglas Jacobs,
Whitney LaBarge
Patron Services Associates.........................Kenia Brown,
Kareem Cervantes, Elias Feghali, Deborah Geer,
Rafael Goldstein, Shelby Page, Adam Quinney,
Krista Taylor, Ben Torres.
Hospitality Manager...............................Kimberly Ruppert
Hospitality Associate............................... Stacey Castillo
House Managers..........................Lenore Bond Almanzar,
Sue Haynie-Horn, Patrick J. Oliva
JITNEY
SPONSORS
CA
8
L USA
The Designers at this Theatre
are Represented by
United Scenic Artists • Local USA 829
of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employes
warninG: The photographic or sound recording of any performance or the possession of any device for such photographing or
sound recording inside the theatre, without written permission
of the management, is prohibited by law. Violators may be punished by ejection and violations may render the offender liable for
money damages.
Proudly celebrates the
Opening Night of JITNEY