Download The Gershwins` Porgy and Bess

Contents
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SEPTEMBER 2011
Artistic Director’s Welcome
The Gershwins’ Porgy
and Bess program
About the A.R.T.
A.R.T./MXAT Institute
Donors
General Information
Staff
PLUS:
4
6
Backstage
Re-imagining an American Classic
by Christopher Wallenberg
46
54
60
62
Guide to Local Theater
Guide to Cambridge Dining
Dining Out: Upstairs on the Square
Dining Out: Nubar
theatrebill
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THE GERSHWINS’ PORGY AND BESS
3
BACK STAGE
Behind the scenes in local
and national theater
The high-profile, Broadway-bound musical adaptation of The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess is basking in the
glory of its triumphant return to the Greater Boston
area, but in a bittersweet turn of events, Porgy’s original birthplace, the Colonial Theatre on Boylston
Street, went dark earlier this summer for what could
be an extended period of time.
Porgy premiered at the historic Colonial Theatre
in 1935 (September 30, to be exact) prior to its engagement on Broadway. The new revival is testing
its wings at the American Repertory Theater in
Cambridge. Meanwhile, the 1,700-seat Colonial, famous for pre-Broadway tryouts, including the premieres of such landmark musicals as Oklahoma! and
La Cage aux Folles, was shut down in early July following a four-week engagement of a revival of West
Side Story, and its future is uncertain. Boston’s oldest
continuously operating theater, the Colonial is
known for its spectacular murals, extensive ornate
gold leafing throughout the interior and unbeatable
sight lines for a venue of its size. The Colonial’s shuttering comes on the heels of a breakdown in negotiations between Emerson College, which
purchased the theater in 2006, and Broadway
Across America-Boston, which has been the theater’s longtime presenter of Broadway touring musicals, having leased it for more than a decade.
According to a report in The Boston Globe,
Emerson told Broadway Across America-Boston in
early 2010 that it first wanted to explore the option
of leasing the theater to other potential producers. A
lease renewal was finally offered by Emerson last
November, but Broadway Across America-Boston declined, saying it had waited as long as it could and
went ahead with other plans for its 2011–12 season.
Instead, the organization will present two touring shows next season at Boston’s Shubert Theatre,
as well as The Opera House, which it owns. The
Shubert Theatre, which is operated by the Citi
Performing Arts Center, has been used mostly by
the Boston Lyric Opera, although the Boston premiere of Jersey Boys played there three summers ago.
4
AMERICAN REPERTORY THEATER
Liz Lauren
The Colonial Theatre Goes Dark
BERNSTEIN IN BOSTON: The Huntington
Theatre Company mounts Mary Zimmerman's
new adaptation of Leonard Bernstein's classic
musical Candide, based on Voltaire's famous
satire, at the Boston University Theatre beginning September 10.
Next year, Broadway Across America-Boston will
present a tours of La Cage aux Folles and The
Addams Family at the Shubert.
Andrew Tiedemann, Emerson’s vice president for
communications, told Playbill.com in July, “Emerson
is actively seeking a new tenant. We have enjoyed
having Broadway Across America as our tenant…we
hope in the future they would consider a lease.”
While Emerson hopes that Broadway Across
America will return the following season, it is seeking out other presenters and producers in the meantime. According to the Globe and other sources, last
year Emerson was in negotiations with longtime
Boston theater stalwart Jon B. Platt, who ran the
Colonial for more than a decade before selling his
company, American Artists/Broadway in Boston, in
1998 to SFX Theatricals (which, after various owners and entities, has morphed into Broadway Across
America). But discussions between Platt and
Emerson reportedly stalled. Platt, a veteran
Broadway producer of shows like the current blockbuster The Book of Mormon, helped to raise the
money for a $2 million renovation to the Colonial
in the early ’90s. In a statement to the Globe, Platt
said, “For Boston to lose The Colonial Theatre as a
home for Broadway shows would indeed be a tragic
day in the cultural life of our beloved city.”
b ackstage
(continued)
Zimmerman’s new Candide
at the Huntington
While Porgy and Bess has been generating a lot of
buzz in the theater scene of late, there’s another
high-profile adaptation of a classic opera-musical
hybrid playing on the other side of the Charles
River this month. Beginning September 10,
Boston’s Huntington Theatre Company kicks
off its 30th anniversary season with Mary
Zimmerman’s new version of the Leonard
Bernstein classic Candide, playing the Boston
University Theatre through October 16.
A Tony Award winner and MacArthur “Genius”
grand recipient, Zimmerman has newly adapted the
book for Candide from the classic French satire by
Voltaire, using her signature style of close collaboration with her company and creative team.
(Zimmerman most famously directed her play,
Metamorphoses, on Broadway in 2002.) Her new version of Candide played to packed houses in Chicago
and Washington, D.C., last year, and was greeted by
mixed to enthusiastic reviews in both cities.
While Zimmerman has newly adapted the
libretto (originally written by Lillian Hellman, yet
rewritten in 1974 by Hugh Wheeler), the immortal Leonard Bernstein score, with lyrics by Richard
Wilbur, remains as luscious as ever. The nearly 30
songs include the classics “The Best of All Possible
Worlds,” “Oh Happy We,” “Glitter and Be Gay”
and “Make Our Garden Grow.”
The show recounts the tale of Candide, a sheltered and sunny optimist subscribing to the crackpot philosophy of Dr. Pangloss, who teaches that
everything happens for the best in this “best of all
possible worlds.” Living on his uncle’s Eden-like estate, Candide falls in love with Cunegonde, the couple’s illicit affair is discovered, and they are thrown
out into an often cruel world where increasingly
awful misfortune tests their unbounded optimism.
Questioning Our Values and
Malkovich Come to Town
ArtsEmerson’s ambitious slate of performers and
artists for its second season at the Paramount Center
downtown kicks off with the world premiere of The
Foundry Theatre’s How Much Is Enough: Our
Values in Question, which grapples with the concept of “value” in people’s lives and how we deter-
mine what matters to us. The show runs from
September 13–25 at the Center’s Jackie Liebergott
Black Box theater.
Based in New York, the Foundry touts that it has
developed the first “audience performance company”
in which the audience shapes the show’s narrative
through an interactive question and answer session.
The play itself will be built out of questions posed by
performers to audience members about the ways
they’ve lived their lives, their plans for the future, how
they balance priorities and any advice they have for
helping create lives of value. The questions are asked
as the audience is seated around tables. The answers
make up the evening’s performance, which explores
how notions of “value” change throughout life.
“The experience will change with every performance because the ‘dialogue’ isn’t scripted.
Rather, it comes from the hearts and minds of the
audience,” said ArtsEmerson executive director Rob
Orchard in a press statement. “The atmosphere is
relaxed and communal. People will be asked to participate only at a level that suits them.
On September 29 and 30, ArtsEmerson presents internationally acclaimed film and theater actor
John Malkovich performing in The Infernal
Comedy: Confessions of a Serial Killer at the
Cutler Majestic Theatre for two performances only.
The award-winning Malkovich is famed for his
roles in films like Places in the Heart, The Killing
Fields, Dangerous Liaisons, In the Line of Fire and for
playing a cinematic version of himself in Charlie
Kaufman’s Being John Malkovich.
Written and directed by Michael Sturminger,
The Infernal Comedy is the perfect vehicle for
Malkovich’s patented brand of creepy, self-possessed
intensity. The play is based on the true story of serial killer Jack Unterweger, who was sentenced to life
in prison in 1976 for murdering a young girl and
later became a literary celebrity after the publication
of his autobiography. Considered a model of prisoner rehabilitation, Unterweger was paroled in
1990—only to end up murdering 11 more women.
Sturminger’s play imagines Unterweger back from
the grave for an autobiographical book tour as he
narrates his sordid story. Each section concludes with
a different aria—yes, an aria—from the likes of
Mozart, Haydn and Vivaldi, sung by two sopranos
and accompanied by the Musica Angelica Orchestra.
THE GERSHWINS’ PORGY AND BESS
5
Michael Lutch
RE-IMAGINING AN
AMERICAN CLASSIC
Seventy-six years after its premiere, Diane Paulus,
Suzan-Lori Parks and company revamp the Gershwins’
landmark masterpiece, Porgy and Bess by Christopher Wallenberg
G
eorge and Ira Gershwin’s landmark “folkopera” Porgy and Bess, with a libretto cowritten by DuBose Heyward, may be
three quarters of a century old, but Diane Paulus,
the director of the current re-imagining of this operatic masterpiece, has been steadfastly approaching Porgy and Bess as if it’s a living, breathing entity
as relevant today as it was in 1935. To that end,
she’s simultaneously looking backwards to understand its history and its original inspirations while
pushing forward to think about what this iconic
American work means right now.
“What makes a classic great is that it responds. Shakespeare responds. It’s not stuck in
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AMERICAN REPERTORY THEATER
1598. And Porgy and Bess continues to reverberate and hold universal meaning over time,” says
Paulus, nestled in an armchair in her spacious
office at the American Repertory Theater’s Loeb
Drama Center in Cambridge, where her
musical-theater version of The Gershwins’ Porgy
and Bess made its highly anticipated debut on
August 17.
“That’s been my whole interest as a director:
How do we look to the masterworks of our theGONE FISHIN’: (above, left to right) Norm Lewis
(as Porgy), Joshua Henry, Wilkie Ferguson,
Roosevelt André Credit and Trevon Davis perform
a scene from The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess.
Michael Lutch
atrical history and bring them forward in a way
that continues to make them feel pertinent and
immediate—to make the audience feel as if
they’re alive with the work, almost as if it were
written yesterday.”
These aren’t platitudes, says Paulus, the
A.R.T.’s artistic director. She says that she
believes in this approach and in these ideals with
all her soul and tries to infuse them into every
aspect of the theater she creates, which includes
the 2009 Broadway revival of another landmark
musical work, Hair. That production landed
Paulus on the national radar, and Porgy marks
another watershed moment for the artistic leader.
Indeed, it stands as her biggest and boldest
project yet—and the one with the highest
stakes—since she took the reins at the A.R.T.
three years ago, dramatically shaking up that
storied institution.
The creative team she’s assembled for Porgy,
including Pulitzer Prize-winning writer SuzanLori Parks and Obie Award-winning composer
Diedre Murray, have been hard at work, shaping
and developing their vision for Porgy, which hasn’t been seen on Broadway in decades. (Today, it’s
mostly performed as an opera.) The fruits of
Paulus and Co.’s nearly year-long labor was unveiled at the A.R.T. last month when the curtain
went up on The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess for a
seven-week run, with the production then moving to Broadway in December. (The star-studded
cast includes four-time Tony Award-winner
Audra McDonald as Bess, Broadway veteran
Norm Lewis as Porgy and actor/comedian David
Alan Grier as Sporting Life.)
The project was launched when Paulus’ Hair
producer, Jeffrey Richards, told her that the
Gershwin estates and the DuBose Heyward trust
(Heyward helped adapt the libretto from his
original novel) had been looking for a team to
revive Porgy as a musical and asked her if she was
interested. “What moved me was their impulse
to come to a team in 2011 and say, ‘The opera
is the opera. But what about Porgy and Bess living
on the musical stage? What could that be? How
could it speak to the next generation?’ That was
the gauntlet they threw down to us—how can
you make this piece dramatically the most
powerful and meaningful version for an audience
today?”
BESS ACTRESS: Stage and screen star Audra
McDonald portrays Bess alongside Broadway
veteran Norm Lewis, who plays Porgy, in the
American Repertory Theater’s production of
The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess.
When Porgy premiered in 1935 at the
Colonial Theatre in downtown Boston, it was
immediately embraced. Yet when it moved to
Broadway, it was greeted by a mixed reaction. Its
reputation, however, grew in the 1940s, especially in Europe. Over time, the groundbreaking
and culturally significant nature of the score was
applauded. Not only did George Gershwin
mash-up the operatic form with folk music styles
like gospel and the dynamic sounds of jazz and
THE GERSHWINS’ PORGY AND BESS
7
blues, but he insisted on casting classically
trained African-American singers—something of
a bold decision at that time.
When Paulus and Parks made their presentation for the estates last year, they talked about the
strength of the show being the immortal score,
including classic songs such as “Summertime,”
“It Ain’t Necessarily So” and “I Loves You,
Porgy.” But what needed developing and underlining, they argued, was the story and character
arcs. They talked about a production that wasn’t
operatic in scope, but intimately scaled—zooming in on the interior life of the characters.
The story centers on the denizens of the
Catfish Row enclave in Charleston, South
Carolina circa 1930, focusing in particular on the
searing love triangle between three unlikely lost
souls. When the troubled prostitute Bess is abandoned after her controlling lover Crown commits
murder and flees town, she turns to the crippled
beggar Porgy for nurturing and a place to call
home. As their love blooms, Crown and his conniving cohort, the drug-dealing gambler Sporting
Life, threaten to pull the new lovers apart—while
Bess struggles to contain her addiction and Porgy
veers towards a desperate act.
Paulus says she and Parks were clear from
Day 1 that they were not going to “Katrina-ize”
Porgy by moving it to a contemporary setting.
Instead, the women concentrated on strengthening and adding dimension to the characters and
their story arcs, figuring out what makes these
people tick and underlining the dramatic transformations that happen to them through the
course of the story—often using the novel as a
guide to flesh out specifics. They paid particular
attention to fleshing out Bess’ character arc and
understanding her motivations.
“We want to strip away anything that becomes
distracting, that would raise the question of: Is
that authentic? What’s authentic is the emotions,
the story, the desperate journeys of these characters and the complexity of who these people are.
Therein lies the richness of the theatrical experience: The audience’s identification with these people. Sitting in the audience, no matter what
century I live in and whatever my background, I
can say I understand what Bess is feeling. I can
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AMERICAN REPERTORY THEATER
identify with Porgy. I’m rooting for that love affair
to survive. It’s the specific becoming universal.”
In moving Porgy from the opera form to the
musical-theater idiom, the team has had to decide
which musical recitatives should now be spoken as
dialogue instead of sung and which ones should
be retained. Paulus has also kept the set design
simple, shunning supposedly authentic scenery in
favor of a more abstract, timeless approach. “We’ve
tried to break free of the past conventions of Porgy and Bess,
having ‘realistic’ architecture on stage, with gates
and shutters and buildings. We all know that’s
not real anyway.” Two other potentially controversial changes to the show: Gone is Porgy’s goatdrawn cart (he ambles around with a cane
instead), and there’s a new, more upbeat ending.
One of the biggest challenges facing Paulus
and Parks is the thorny problem of racial stereotyping in Porgy and Bess. With the birth of the
Civil Rights movement, Porgy became a radioactive property among African-Americans. Harry
Belafonte turned down the 1959 film version,
and Sidney Poitier later said he
THREE’S COMPANY:
American Repertory
Theater Artistic
Director Diane Paulus
(middle) poses with
The Gershwins’ Porgy
and Bess collaborators Suzan-Lori Parks
(left) and Diedre
Murray (right).
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THE GERSHWINS’ PORGY AND BESS
9
regretted doing it. But Parks has talked about the
script’s flirtations with minstrelsy and “noble savage” cliches as a “shortcoming of understanding.”
While the creative team has altered material in
the book, always with a careful hand, Paulus says
the stereotyping usually stems from the lack of
dramaturgical purpose.
“ ‘I Got Plenty of Nuthin’’ can have a bad
rap, because here it is, this African-American
man singing how he’s happy with nothing. What
Suzan-Lori was interested in, even more than
[the derogatory stereotyping], is the context of
the song in the show. So she has written a few
lines that give it a purpose that relates to the specific action of the story at that moment. We’re
looking at anything in the script that sticks out as
dramaturgically questionable, because usually the
problem is that the characters are incomplete.
Therefore, you can look at them as cliches.”
Paulus may be striving to make Porgy and Bess
resonate today, but she certainly has a reverence
for the work’s rich history. After all, she taught a
course on Porgy at Harvard last spring with
renowned cultural historian Marjorie Garber.
Indeed, Paulus’ grasp of Porgy’s roots are impressive. She mentions how George Gershwin and
his associates famously walked Boston Common
the night after the show’s premiere and decided
to make major cuts to the show. She talks
passionately about Porgy’s complex social and
racial history and its evolution over the decades
in various mediums. She points out that Porgy
had its real breakthrough and solidified its status
in the canon when it was revived on Broadway
in 1942 as a musical under the auspices of
Cheryl Crawford, ran for nine months, then
toured the country.
In the 1950s, it became a main diplomatic
export of the U.S. State Department, she says,
and the cast (including a young Maya Angelou)
were some of the first American artists to perform behind the Iron Curtain. When the 1960s
hit, with the rise of the Civil Rights and black
power movements, few wanted to touch Porgy
and Bess because of its stereotypes and perceived
racism. But at that time, the music exploded into
the popular consciousness, as jazz and blues
artists, from Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday to
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AMERICAN REPERTORY THEATER
Miles Davis and Nina Simone, popularized
many of its songs. In the ’70s, Porgy and Bess
reentered the culture as an opera (thanks to the
famous 1976 Houston Grand Opera production), and the fashion was to perform it uncut.
Today, that’s the medium where most people experience the show.
Paulus relishes sharing one anecdote in particular about Porgy’s history that most people
don’t know. Following the show’s run on
Broadway in 1936, it went on a four-city tour,
including a stop in Washington, D.C. Todd
Duncan, who played Porgy, discovered that the
National Theatre, where they were scheduled to
play in D.C., was segregated. He said he would
refuse to perform the show there if the theater
was not desegregated, and the cast, including
Anne Brown as Bess, rallied to his side. The theater offered to open up the top half of the balcony and to hold specific “blacks only”
performances, says Paulus. The musicians’ union
even threatened to fine the performers, yet the
cast would not relent. Finally, the National
Theatre management acquiesced, and the venue
was desegregated for the run of the show.
“This is all because Todd Duncan said, ‘I will
not perform this unless anybody can sit anywhere—regardless of the color of your skin.’ This
is March 1936—like 20 years before Rosa Parks
and the birth of the Civil Rights movement. Who
knows that this man did this? Here’s an artist who
stood up for his rights politically, who made this
social action through this piece of work. It’s sort
of reprehensible that we as a country, or certainly
as artists, don’t even know the history that goes
back only 76 years—that we don’t own that action and that story and teach people about it.”
Considering Porgy’s lofty status as such a bold
work for its time, Paulus says she and her creative
team are trying to honor, embrace and tap into
the same daring spirit in which the show was created. “Gershwin was a hybrid artist, this mash-up
artist who was way ahead of his time,” Paulus
says. “So our goal is to get in touch with those
original impulses and to transfer all those impulses out of the opera house and onto a musical
stage, where we can create a more intimate, theatrical, visceral experience that is putting as much
emphasis on the words and the story as the music.
That’s the radical step for Porgy and Bess now.”
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THE GERSHWINS’ PORGY AND BESS 11
Photo: Dario Acosta
Artistic Director’s Welcome
Welcome to the American Repertory Theater’s production
of The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess!
This production is a homecoming of sorts. The first
performance of this American masterpiece took place on
September 30th, 1935 at the Colonial Theatre, right across
from Boston Common where Gershwin famously walked
for hours after the curtain came down, making forty-five
minutes of cuts to the score that very evening. That night
marked the beginning of a journey for Porgy and Bess
that tells a story about American history as much as it
does about the evolution of this iconic work.
In 1936, the show went on a tour that landed the cast in Washington, D.C. at
the National Theatre, which had a policy of segregation. Todd Duncan, the first
Porgy, was determined not to perform unless every seat was made available to
any person regardless of the color of their skin. Anne Brown, the original Bess,
stood by his side. The theater’s manager offered to allow African Americans to
attend Wednesday and Saturday matinees. When Duncan refused, he offered to
allow African Americans to sit in the second balcony for every performance.
But Duncan did not relent, and in March of 1936, the National Theatre was desegregated for the first time in its history. It is to the memory of Todd Duncan
and Anne Brown that we dedicate this production. As we look to the future of
sharing this important classic with new generations, we honor the legacy of
these two artists and their impact on our cultural and social history.
We are very grateful to the estates of George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin, and
DuBose and Dorothy Heyward for their support of this production. They have
encouraged us to create a show for an intimate theatrical setting that focuses on
the story and characters as much as on the glorious score that we all cherish. I
could not imagine a better team to work on this than Suzan-Lori Parks, Diedre
Murray, Ron K. Brown, our designers, orchestrators, musical and production
staff, and the entire cast of performers who have thrown their hearts and souls
into this process.
Lastly, I must express gratitude to the A.R.T. Trustees and Advisors for their
belief in this project, and to all the individuals and companies who have come
forward to support Porgy and Bess and our mission to serve the broadest
possible audience in Boston with a version of this work that promotes dialogue,
education and access. The A.R.T. lost a longtime friend and supporter with the
passing of Myra Kraft, a true force within the Boston community. We honor her
spirit of inclusion and community building with this production.
Thank you for engaging with us at the A.R.T., and joining us for this next
chapter in the history of Porgy and Bess.
12
AMERICAN REPERTORY THEATER
Charlie Haydock, CFA
Chief Investment Officer
Harvard A.B. 1974
Adrienne Silbermann, CFA
Director of Research
Knowing wealth.
Knowing you.
AMERICAN REPERTORY THEATER
PRESENTS
BY
GEORGE GERSHWIN, DUBOSE and DOROTHY HEYWARD and IRA GERSHWIN
ADAPTED BY
SUZAN-LORI PARKS
SCENIC DESIGN
DIEDRE L. MURRAY
COSTUME
DESIGN
RICCARDO
HERNANDEZ
ESOSA
LIGHTING DESIGN
SOUND DESIGN
CHRISTOPHER
AKERLIND
ACME SOUND
PARTNERS
ORCHESTRATORS
WILLIAM DAVID BROHN and CHRISTOPHER JAHNKE
MUSIC SUPERVISOR
DAVID LOUD
CONDUCTOR
ASSOCIATE CONDUCTOR
SHEILAH WALKER
BRIAN HERTZ
CASTING
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR/PRODUCTION STAGE MANAGER
TELSEY + COMPANY
NANCY HARRINGTON*
CHOREOGRAPHER
RONALD K. BROWN
DIRECTOR
DIANE PAULUS
First performance on August 17, 2011
Production Sponsor
Gala Sponsor
Opening Night Sponsor
THE WORLDWIDE COPYRIGHTS IN THE WORKS OF GEORGE AND IRA GERSHWIN FOR THIS PRESENTATION
ARE LICENSED BY THE GERSHWIN® FAMILY
THE GERSHWINS’ PORGY AND BESS 15
Cast
(in order of appearance)
Clara ..................................................................................NIKKI RENÉE DANIELS*
Mariah ....................................................................NATASHA YVETTE WILLIAMS*
Frazier, the Crab Man ......................................................................CEDRIC NEAL*
Lily..................................................................................................HEATHER HILL*
Jake................................................................................................JOSHUA HENRY*
Mingo, the Undertaker ....................................................................J.D. WEBSTER*
Sporting Life ..........................................................................DAVID ALAN GRIER*
Robbins ............................................................................NATHANIEL STAMPLEY*
Serena ........................................................................BRYONHA MARIE PARHAM*
Porgy ................................................................................................NORM LEWIS*
Crown ..........................................................................................PHILLIP BOYKIN*
Bess ........................................................................................AUDRA McDONALD*
Peter, the Honey Man ............................................................PHUMZILE SOJOLA*
Detective ..........................................................................CHRISTOPHER INNVAR*
Policeman ..................................................................................JOSEPH DELLGER*
Strawberry Woman ........................................................ANDREA JONES-SOJOLA*
Fishermen................................................................ROOSEVELT ANDRÉ CREDIT*,
TREVON DAVIS*,
WILKIE FERGUSON*
Women of Catfish Row ....................................................ALLISON BLACKWELL*,
ALICIA HALL MORAN*,
LISA NICOLE WILKERSON*
(*) members of Actors’ Equity Association
UNDERSTUDIES
Understudies never substitute for listed players unless a specific announcement
for the appearance is made at the time of the performance.
For Porgy and Crown—NATHANIEL STAMPLEY*; for Bess—ALICIA HALL MORAN*;
for Sporting Life—CEDRIC NEAL*; for Serena and Mariah—ALLISON BLACKWELL*,
ANDREA JONES-SOJOLA*; for Clara—ANDREA JONES-SOJOLA*; for Robbins—
WILKIE FERGUSON*; for Jake and Mingo—TREVON DAVIS*; for Frazier and Peter—
J.D. WEBSTER*; for Male Ensemble—CARL JAMES; for Female Ensemble—SARITA LILLY
ORCHESTRA
Violin—SASHA CALLAHAN; Viola—ASHLEIGH GORDON; Cello—LEO EGUCHI;
Bass—JOE HIGGINS; Piano/Celeste—BRIAN HERTZ; Flute/Piccolo—
EBONEE THOMAS; Oboe/English Horn—MIE SHIRAISHI; Clarinet/Flute/Alto Sax—
BOB BOWLBY; Clarinet/Bass Clarinet/Alto & Tenor Sax—PETER L. COKKINIAS;
Horn 1—ROSLYN BLACK; Horn 2—DIANTHA MILLOTT; Trumpet 1/Flugelhorn—
JOHN REPLOGLE; Trumpet 2/Flugelhorn—GREG SMITH; Trombone—
MARTIN WITTENBERG; Tuba/Bass Trombone—DON ROBINSON;
Tenor Sax/Bari Sax/ Bassoon—GREG NEWTON; Accordion—ROBERTO CASSAN;
Percussion—ROBERT SCHULZ
THE GERSHWINS’ PORGY AND BESS 17
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ADDITIONAL STAFF
Dialect Coach..............Denise L.Woods
Dramaturgy................Ryan McKittrick,
Jenna Clark Embrey
Stage Manager................Julie Baldauff*
Asst. Stage Manager ........Sharika Niles*
Asst. Director ......................Mia Walker
Asst. Choreographer ......Arcell Cabuag
Asst. to Diedre Murray ........Robin Pitre
Dance Captain....Lisa Nicole Wilkerson
Orchestra Coordinator ......Neil Grover
Rehearsal Pianist ......David F. Coleman
Music Preparation ..............Larry Abel,
Supervising Copyist
Music Preparation International
Wig/Hair Design ..........J. Jared Janas &
Rob Greene
Asst. Set Designers ..........Maruti Evans,
Andrew Boyce
Asst. Costume Designer ....Ashley Farra
Asst. Lighting Designer ......Seth Reiser
Music Interns ......................Neil Reilly,
Nehemiah Luckett
Sound Intern..............Samantha Sewell
PORGY AND BESS
INTERNSHIP PROGRAM—
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Charlotte Alter, Directing
Haley Bennett, Music
Andrew Boyd, Artistic
Jacob Brandt, Artistic
Kayla Ixtlahuac, Stage Management
Lily Karlin, Dramaturgy
Margaret Kerr, Costumes and Props
Anh Marie Le, Production
Elizabeth Yun Yeng Mak, Lighting
Katherine Olaskiewicz, Marketing
Telsey + Company:
Bernie Telsey CSA, Will Cantler CSA,
David Vaccari CSA,
Bethany Knox CSA, Craig Burns CSA,
Tiffany Little Canfield CSA,
Rachel Hoffman CSA,
Justin Huff CSA, Patrick Goodwin CSA,
Abbie Brady-Dalton CSA,
David Morris, Cesar A. Rocha,
Andrew Femenella, Karyn Casl
Rehearsed from July 5–15, 2011 at the New 42nd Street Studios
Rehearsed from July 18–August 16, 2011 at the Loeb Drama Center
SPECIAL THANKS
Jerry Frankel and Jeffrey Richards
Bess costumes by Tricorne, Inc.; Huntington Theatre Costume Shop (Nancy
Brennan, Costume Director; Anita Canzian, Draper; Becky Hylton, First Hand;
Michelle Theresa Ross, First Hand); Liz Perlman and Costume Works, Inc.;
Cyberhoist North America; Pearl Studios NYC; Steve Weiss Music; Eric Engel,
Dana Knox, Andrew Gitchel, New College Theater; Christie Teeters; Patrick
Hollenbeck; Brenda Anderson and the Kendall Hotel; Robin Young; Evgenia Eliseeva;
Anastasia Korotich; Will Trice; Jody Steiner
THE GERSHWINS’ PORGY AND BESS 19
A Note from Suzan-Lori Parks
When Diane Paulus called me on the phone and said, “I’m thinking about doing a
revival of Porgy and Bess, do you want to help revive the book?” My first question was,
how many other writers are you talking to? She said, “Just you.” And I said, “I’m in.”
Was I familiar with the book of Porgy and Bess? Not at all. But I felt a gut thing: I was
literally called on the phone, and I felt that I’d also been “called” in a spiritual sense. This
project feels right up my alley; an organic next-step in the kind of writing I’ve been doing
for years. Whether riffing on The Scarlet Letter, or “dancing” with Abraham Lincoln
throughout my plays, or entering the world of Porgy and Bess to help give it a new life—
throughout my work, shaped by the aesthetic of “repetition and revision,” I’m continually
called (and re-called) to create an understanding between the past and the present.
Porgy and Bess was written by white authors attempting to replicate an “authentic”
black voice and, while the original opera triumphs on so many levels, I feel the writing
sometimes suffers from what I call “a shortcoming of understanding.” There are times in all
of our lives when, regardless of who we are, we experience shortcomings of understanding.
In DuBose and Dorothy Heyward and the Gershwins’ original, there’s a lot of love and a lot
of effort made to understand the people of Catfish Row. In turn, I’ve got love and respect
for their work, but in some ways I feel it falls short in the creation of fully realized
characters. Now, one could see their depiction of African-American culture as racist, or one
could see it as I see it: as a problem of dramaturgy. It’s very important and very liberating
to my writing process that I continually make that distinction and that I allowed myself to
see Porgy and Bess as a piece of writing that, while not morally flawed, very much needed
to be fleshed out.
When I wrote Topdog/Underdog, and we premiered it downtown, the rapper Mos Def,
before he was cast in the Broadway version, attended the off-Broadway production
countless times. Once he ran backstage wanting to meet “the guy who wrote the play.”
Ah! He hadn’t read the program! He thought some dude wrote Topdog—he was having a
shortcoming of understanding. As a writer, you’re constantly extending yourself; and if,
like DuBose and Dorothy Heyward, like George and Ira Gershwin, and like myself now
with Porgy and Bess, if you’re a writer going into new and important territory, you’ve got
to be much more than badass. You’ve got to be bold.
Diedre Murray, Diane Paulus and Suzan-Lori Parks
20
AMERICAN REPERTORY THEATER
Porgy and Bess:
Reinvention and Restagings
By Jenna Clark Embrey
September 30, 1935: Colonial Theatre, Boston
Courtesy of Ira and
Leonore Gershwin Trusts
On the opening night of Porgy and Bess, George Gershwin receives a fifteenminute standing ovation. Despite the applause, director Rouben Mamoulian
paces Boston Common with Gershwin until 3 o’clock in the morning and tries
to convince him to make cuts to the almost four-hour production. Before the
show transfers to Broadway, Gershwin agrees to cut 45 minutes from the score.
October 10, 1935: Alvin Theatre, New York City
Porgy and Bess opens on Broadway starring Todd Duncan (Porgy), Anne
Brown (Bess), and John Bubbles (Sportin’ Life). Some critics deride the work as
either a too-populist opera or an overly ambitious piece of musical
theater. Others laud the work—Brooks Atkinson writes in the New
York Times, “Mr. Gershwin has contributed something glorious.…A
resounding new sound in American theater.” The production runs
for 124 performances.
March 21, 1936: National Theatre, Washington D.C.
Courtesy of Ira and
Leonore Gershwin Trusts
Todd Duncan and
Anne Brown
January 22, 1942: Majestic Theatre, New York City
Cheryl Crawford directs a streamlined Broadway revival with Todd Duncan
and Anne Brown reprising their roles as Porgy and Bess. Crawford replaces
the recitatives with spoken dialogue and reduces the orchestra by half. The
musical theater-style revival runs for a record 286 performances.
March 23, 1943: Danish Royal Opera, Copenhagen
The European premiere opens in Copenhagen with an all-white cast in blackface, during the Nazi occupation. The Gestapo strongly disapproves of this
American work about blacks and written by a Jew, and orders the theater to
1956 Breen-Davis
close the production. The Royal Opera only shuts down the show after the
Tour Warsaw poster
Gestapo threatens to bomb the theater. Later, the Danish underground jams
Nazi radio broadcasts with recordings of “It Ain’t Necessarily So.”
Institute on the Federal Theatre Project and
New Deal Culture, George Mason University
Institute on the Federal Theatre Project and
New Deal Culture, George Mason University
When the national tour makes its final stop in Washington, D.C., Picnic time: “Oh, I Can’t Sit
Todd Duncan will not perform unless the National Theatre forgoes Down” (Vandamm Studio, NYC)
its policy of white-only audiences. The theater’s manager, S.E. Cochran, refuses. Duncan holds his
ground, even under threat of a ten-thousand dollar fine from the Theatre Guild. Finally, Cochran
relents, and the National Theatre allows integrated audiences for the first time.
1952–1956: International Tour
Director Robert Breen and producer Blevins Davis take a new production
of Porgy and Bess on an international tour, which is funded in part by the
U.S. Department of State. Leontyne Price (Bess), William Warfield (Porgy),
Cab Calloway (Sportin’ Life), and Maya Angelou (ensemble) all perform in
the production. After playing in Berlin, London, Athens, Cairo, New York,
and the famed Teatro alla Scala in Milan, the company arrives in the Soviet
Union. Performances in Leningrad and Moscow prove to be a hit with
Russian audiences, and the show sells out.
June 24, 1959: The Samuel Goldwyn Company, Hollywood
1952 Breen-Davis Tour
Chicago
Porgy and Bess makes it to the big screen, though critics are underwhelmed. Despite the star power of Sidney Poitier, Dorothy Dandridge, Diahann Carroll and
THE GERSHWINS’ PORGY AND BESS 21
THE GAMES PEOPLE PLAY
p r o g r a m no te s
(con tin u ed )
Pearl Bailey, reviews cite the film’s “loss of
authenticity” from the stage versions.
Foreign and Domestic Board Games
and Table Games
Chess Sets, Clocks, Books
Mathematical Puzzles and Toys
Jig Saw Puzzles from 35 to 32,000 Pieces
Since 1974
As a featured event
in Charleston’s Tricentennial celebration,
Porgy and Bess is performed in the town of its
setting for the first time.
The George and Ira Gershwin
Collection, Library of Congress
June 25, 1970:
Municipal
Auditorium,
Charleston, South
Carolina
1959 Porgy and Bess
film poster
September 26, 1976:
Houston Grand Opera, Texas
Directors Jack O’Brien and John DeMain restore
many of the cuts that had been made to Porgy
and Bess since the Boston opening in 1935.
This expanded three-hour production becomes
the first opera to win a Tony Award.
February 6, 1985:
Metropolitan Opera, New York City
Fifty years after the premiere, Anne Brown and Todd
Duncan meet with the leads, Simon Estes and Grace
Bumbry, of the Metropolitan Opera production, 1985
“We’re A.R.T. fans!”
watertownsavings.com
Not your average bank.
Member FDIC Member DIF
22
AMERICAN REPERTORY THEATER
Fifty years after its Broadway premiere, Porgy
and Bess is finally performed at the Met. The
production features Grace Bumbry and Simon
Estes in the title roles. James Levine, who
served as music director and conductor for
the production, describes Porgy and Bess as
having “everything great opera has—great
music, great drama and a psychological and
social milieu that is as involving as the milieu
of Don Giovanni or Boris Godunov.”
July 5, 1986:
Glyndebourne Festival, England
British director Trevor Nunn mounts a nearly
four-hour production, which is later scenically
expanded and filmed for television in 1993.
Winnie Klotz, photographer,
Metropolitan Opera Association, Inc.,
Lincoln Center, New York, NY 10023
MAKE A SMART MOVE
VISIT
Cast
ALLISON
BLACKWELL
Woman of Catfish Row
A.R.T.: Debut. Las Vegas:
The Lion King (u/s Shenzi &
Sarabi). Regional: Ragtime,
Paper Mill Playhouse;
Caroline, or Change,
TheatreWorks and The Studio Theatre; A Little
Night Music and Nunsense, Sacramento Music
Circus; Aida, Arvada Center; Dreamgirls, PCLO;
Hairspray and Les Misérables, North Shore Music
Theatre. Concerts: Show Boat, Carnegie Hall;
Burt Bacharach to the Future, New World Stages;
Kurt Weill and His Music, NY Historical Society.
Award: 2008 San Francisco Bay Area Critics
Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress
(Caroline, or Change). B.A. Spelman College,
M.M. The Boston Conservatory.
PHILLIP BOYKIN
Crown
A.R.T.: Debut. National
Tours: The 75th anniversary of Porgy and Bess
(Crown, dir. Charles
Randolph-Wright), Show
Boat (Joe, dir. Clayton
Phillips). Regional: Crowns (Man, dir. Ken
Roberson), Arena Stage; Jesus Christ Superstar
(Caiaphas, dir. Robert Johanson), North Shore
Music Theatre; Smokey Joe’s Café (Fred, dir.
Barry Ivan), Pittsburgh CLO; If This Hat Could
Talk (Sonny/Roy Wilkins, dir. George Faison),
The Apollo Theater; Ain’t Misbehavin’ (Ken),
Show Palace. Opera credits: Séance On A Wet
Afternoon (Inspector Watts, Stephen & Scott
Schwartz), New York City Opera; Porgy and Bess
(Crown) Dayton Opera, also in Germany,
France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Japan, Australia,
Russia, Poland and New Zealand; The Rape of
Lucretia (Tarquinius), Così fan Tutte (Don
Alfonso), The Hartt School Opera. Gospel: Jesus
Christ Super Star Gospel (Lewis St. Lewis),
Alliance Theater; Golden Gospel Singers, Europe,
Harlem Gospel Singers Europe, Director/
Baritone NY Harlem Singers (Linda Twine)
annual Asian tour, concert: You Believed In Me
Phillip Boykin Live Recording. For more information www.phillipboykin.com.
ROOSEVELT
ANDRÉ CREDIT
Fisherman
A.R.T.: Debut. Broadway:
Harold Prince revival of
Show Boat (also national
tour). Off Broadway: Marie
Christine, Prince and the
Pauper at Madison Square Garden. Regional theater: Show Boat and Ragtime, Forestburgh
Playhouse; For The People, Majestic Playhouse,
Gettysburg; Voice From Within, Apollo Theatre;
The Whitehouse Cantata, Alice Tully Hall.
Concerts: Neil Burg’s 100 Years of Broadway, U.S.,
Barbados; Duke Ellington’s Sacred Service, Jazz
at Lincoln Center; Schubert’s Mass, Carnegie
Hall; Music Is In the Air, Town Hall; Bach’s B
Minor Mass, Basically Bach Festival of Saint
Peter’s Church; Fauré’s Requiem, Bach’s St. John
Passion and Handel’s Messiah. Movie short, All
American Eyes. Recordings: Ol’ Time Religion,
Letting Go. Published choral and solo music
with Laurendale Publishing. Eagle Scout of
troop 254. M.M. in Voice and M.M. in
Conducting Northwestern University, B.S.
Oregon State University. For more information
visit www.RooseveltACredit.com.
NIKKI RENÉE
DANIELS
Clara
A.R.T.: Debut. Broadway:
Anything Goes; Promises,
Promises; Les Misérables
2006 revival; Little Shop of
Horrors; Lestat; Nine; The
Look of Love; Aida. New York City Opera: Porgy
and Bess (Clara). Regional: Caroline, or Change
(Emmie), The Guthrie; Anything Goes (Hope
Harcourt), Williamstown Theatre Festival; Ray
Charles Live! (Della B), Pasadena Playhouse;
Beauty and the Beast (Belle), American Musical
Theater of San Jose and Sacramento Music
Circus; Ragtime (Sarah), North Shore Music
Theatre; Dorian (Celia Vane), The Denver
Center; Aida (Aida), Artpark. Television/Film:
“Chappelle’s Show” and The Other Woman.
Concert appearances: soloist with the San
Francisco Symphony Orchestra, the Ottawa
Symphony Orchestra, the Cincinnati
Symphony Orchestra and at Carnegie Hall.
B.F.A. in Musical Theatre from the University of
Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music.
THE GERSHWINS’ PORGY AND BESS 23
c ast
(con tinued)
TREVON DAVIS
Fisherman
A.R.T.: Debut. New York
City: Dreamgirls (C.C.
White), Apollo Theater/national Broadway tour;
Amazing Grace (Reading).
Atlanta, Georgia: Black
Voices: The Struggle Continues, The Urban Theatre
Company of Atlanta, Inc. Television: BET’s
“Sunday Best” Season 1 (Top 7 Finalist), MTV’s
“Making the Band 4” (Atlanta Finalist; New York
City Contestant). Graduate of Clark Atlanta
University, B.A. Mass Media Arts: Television.
Member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity of
America, Inc. and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.
JOSEPH DELLGER
Policeman
A.R.T.: Debut. Broadway:
Ragtime (Father), Lestat
(Magnus). Regional: My
Way—A Sinatra Tribute,
Infinity Theater Company,
Annapolis, MD; A
Christmas Carol (Scrooge), Arvada Center; Jacques
Brel (Man #1), Alliance Theater; 101 Dalmatians
(Splendid Vet). National Tour: The Phantom of the
Opera (André), San Francisco; The Visit (Inspector
Hanke), The Goodman Theater; Man of La
Mancha 25th anniversary production (Padre),
Goodspeed Opera House; Nerds (Tom Watson),
world premiere at the Philadelphia Theatre
Company; Follies (Ben), Signature Theatre;
Camelot (Arthur), Shubert Theatre, Boston; Les
Misérables (The Bishop), Theater of the Stars.
WILKIE FERGUSON
Fisherman
A.R.T.: Debut. Broadway:
Wonderland. First national
tours: In The Heights,
Hairspray. Other theater:
Sister Act (world premiere),
Pasadena Playhouse; Ray
Charles Live! (Young Ray), Pasadena Playhouse;
Stormy Weather (with Leslie Uggams), Pasadena
Playhouse; Porgy and Bess (Undertaker, Jim),
Hollywood Bowl; Dreamgirls (with Frenchie
Davis), West Coast tour, Pittsburgh CLO; Annie,
Trinity Rep; South Pacific (with Reba McEntire),
Hollywood Bowl; Smokey Joe’s Café (Victor),
Pioneer Theatre, Westchester Broadway; Miss
Saigon (John), Westchester Broadway. Assistant
Director/Piano Accompanist/Music Theory
Instructor, Boys’ Choir of Harlem. Eastman School
24
AMERICAN REPERTORY THEATER
of Music, classical piano performance, Morehouse
College, New World School of the Arts.
DAVID ALAN GRIER
Sporting Life
A.R.T.: Debut. Broadway: The
First (Jackie Robinson, Tony
nomination, Theatre World
Award), Dreamgirls, A Soldier’s
Play, Race (Tony nomination). Films: A Soldier’s Story,
Robert Altman’s Streamers (Golden Lion for Best
Actor at the Venice Film Festival), Dance Flick and
the upcoming We the Peeples. Television: “In Living
Color” (1990–1994, Emmy Award); “DAG”
(2000–2001); “Life with Bonnie” (2003, Image and
Golden Satellite nomination); and he also appeared
on “Chocolate News.” Grier has been named one of
Comedy Central’s “100 Greatest Stand-ups of All
Time.” In his first, recently published book, Barack
Like Me: The Chocolate Covered Truth, he expounds
on politics, culture and race while recounting his
own life story in this edgy, timely, timeless and hilarious memoir and look at all things Barack. He
holds an M.F.A. from the Yale School of Drama.
JOSHUA HENRY
Jake
A.R.T.: Debut. Broadway:
The Scottsboro Boys
(Haywood Patterson, Tony
nomination), American Idiot
(Favorite Son), In the Heights
(Ensemble/u.s. Benny,
Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Ensemble
Performance). Off-Broadway: The Wiz and In the
Heights. Regional: American Idiot, Berkeley Rep
Theatre; Godspell, Paper Mill Playhouse. Film: Sex
and the City. Television: “Kings.” Bachelor in Music
degree from University of Miami Frost School of
Music. Founding member of Jaradoa Theater
Company and Revolucion Latina, for which he
composed the title track “Dare to Go Beyond” on
their debut CD Dare to Go Beyond the album.
HEATHER HILL
Lily
A.R.T.: Debut. Opera:
L’elisir d’amore, Semiramide,
Caramoor Festival; MobyDick, Dallas Opera;
Mitridate, LOTNY; Strange
Fruit, New York City Opera
Vox; Porgy and Bess, European/Australian tour;
Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Opera Colorado;
Die Zauberflöte, Bronx Opera. Concert soloist ap-
c ast
(con tinued)
pearances include Knickerbocker Holiday and
Grapes of Wrath at Lincoln Center, Carmina
Burana at Carnegie Hall. Education: B.S. Biology
Clark Atlanta University, M.M. Voice Manhattan
School of Music. www.HeatherHillSoprano.com.
ANDREA
JONES-SOJOLA
Strawberry Woman
A.R.T.: Debut. Theater:
Three Mo’ Divas, Big River,
Iroquois Amphitheater.
Opera: Porgy and Bess, New
York Harlem Productions
in Germany and Italy; Carmen, Die Zauberflöte,
Dayton Opera; Don Giovanni, Lucca, Italy; Dead
Man Walking, Cincinnati Opera. Concerts: Show
Boat, Carnegie Hall; The Messiah, Milwaukee
Symphony; Fauré Requiem, Lexington
Philharmonic. Film: For Colored Girls.
Recordings: For Colored Girls soundtrack; The
Tender Land; The Spirit of the Holidays, Old Time
Religion, with the American Spiritual Ensemble;
and Treemonisha, with Paragon Ragtime
Orchestra.
CHRISTOPHER
INNVAR
Detective
A.R.T.: Debut. Broadway:
The People In The Picture
(Chaim), 110 In The Shade
(File), The Three Penny
Opera (Tiger Brown),
Roundabout at Studio 54; Les Misérables (Javert);
Victor/Victoria. Off-Broadway: Floyd Collins, GunShy, Playwrights Horizons; The Boys In The Band,
Transport Group; A New Brain, Lincoln Center;
The Witch Of Edmonton, Red Bull; The Chemistry
Of Change, Women’s Project; Eight Days
Backwards, Vineyard; Speck’s Last, Atlantic; Time
And Again, MTC. Regional: Steppenwolf,
Guthrie, Yale Rep, McCarter, Long Wharf,
Wilma, Shakespeare Theatre D.C. (Affiliated
Artist). Director: The Whipping Man, Collyer
Brothers At Home, Period Piece, Barrington Stage
(Artistic Associate). Film/TV: Don’t Mess With
The Zohan, Prime, Speck’s Last, Rock The Paint,
“Gravity,” “Law & Order CI/SVU,” “Third
Watch,” “Spin City.”
COMMONWEALTH SCHOOL
BEST PRIVATE SCHOOL
—Boston magazine, September 2009
Photo by Layla M.,
Class of 2011
SHARP MINDS & GENEROUS HEARTS
Small, challenging classes led by inspiring faculty. Meaningful
service to others. Independent projects each year. Deep and
durable friendships. High-powered academics and robust arts.
Fall Open House, Sunday, October 23, 3–5 p.m.
www.commschool.org/learnmore
151 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02116 | (617) 266-7525
THE GERSHWINS’ PORGY AND BESS 25
c ast
(con tinued)
NORM LEWIS
Porgy
A.R.T.: Debut. Broadway:
Sondheim on Sondheim
(Soloist), The Little Mermaid
(King Triton), Les Misérables
(Javert, Drama League
nomination), Chicago (Billy
Flynn), Amour, The Wild Party, Side Show (Jake),
Miss Saigon (John) and Tommy. London: Les
Misérables (Javert), West End, London; Les
Misérables 25th anniversary concert, London’s
O2 Arena. Off-Broadway: Dessa Rose (Nathan,
Drama Desk nomination, Audelco Award), The
Two Gentlemen of Verona (Valentine, Drama
League nomination), Captains Courageous (Doc),
A New Brain (Roger). Regional: Ragtime
(Coalhouse), Dreamgirls (Curtis, with Jennifer
Holliday), First You Dream, Sweeney Todd
(Sweeney), The Fantasticks (El Gallo). Concerts:
Chess (Molokov, with Josh Groban), Dreamgirls
(Curtis), Actor’s Fund; Golden Boy (Eddie),
Encores! Film and television: Sex and the City 2,
Preaching to the Choir, Confidences, Mystery
Woman, “Cosby,” “Strong Medicine,” “All My
Children” and “As the World Turns.” Recordings
include: his debut solo CD, Norm Lewis: This Is
The Life. www.normlewis.com.
AUDRA McDONALD
Bess
A.R.T.: Debut. Broadway:
Carousel (Tony Award),
Master Class (Tony Award),
Ragtime (Tony Award), A
Raisin in the Sun (Tony
Award), Marie Christine
(Tony nomination), 110 in the Shade (Tony nomination, Drama Desk Award for Best Actress in a
Musical), Henry IV, The Secret Garden. Opera:
Francis Poulenc’s La Voix Humaine and the world
premiere of Michael John LaChiusa’s Send (who
are you? I love you), Houston Grand Opera; Kurt
Weill’s Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, Los
Angeles Opera. Television: “Private Practice” (Dr.
Naomi Bennett) on ABC, “A Raisin in the Sun”
(Emmy nomination), “Wit” (Emmy nomination), “Homicide: Life on the Street,” “Law &
Order: SVU,” “Having Our Say: The Delany
Sisters’ First 100 Years,” “The Bedford Diaries,”
and “Kidnapped,” and the 1999 television remake of “Annie” (Miss Farrell). Films: She Got
Problems, Best Thief in the World, It Runs in the
Family, The Object of My Affection, Seven Servants
and Rampart (upcoming, starring Woody
Harrelson). McDonald has recorded four solo al26
AMERICAN REPERTORY THEATER
bums for Nonesuch Records, including Way Back
to Paradise, How Glory Goes, Happy Songs and
Build a Bridge, and won two 2009 Grammy
Awards for The Rise and Fall of the City of
Mahagonny. She maintains an active concert career, appearing with her own ensemble and with
major orchestras and conductors across the U.S.
and abroad. In the fall of 2011, she opens the
season of Celebrity Series of Boston at Symphony
Hall and embarks on a coast-to-coast North
American concert tour. Training: The Juilliard
School. Favorite role: Mommy to Zoe Madeline.
ALICIA HALL
MORAN
Woman of Catfish Row
A.R.T.: Debut. Theater: The
Motown Project Chamber
Ensemble (Leading Lady);
Things of the Heart (Marian
Anderson); Threepenny Opera
(Jenny); Milestone (Wife). Concert and Recital:
Jazz@Lincoln Center with Charles Lloyd, Café
Sabarsky, Duke University, WNYC Greene Space,
Rubin Museum. Other Theater: Bill T. Jones/
Arnie Zane Dance Company’s Chapel/Chapter
(U.S./Europe, Bessie Award for Musical
Collaboration); Jason Moran & the Bandwagon’s
Slang and Live: Time and Milestone (U.S./Europe);
Simon Schama’s Rough Crossings; Joan Jonas’ Mirror
Piece II (U.S./Mexico); Adam Pendleton’s The Revival
and three scenes (Isabella Gardner Museum); Simone
Leigh and Liz Magic Laser’s Breakdown (opera/film).
Education: B.A. Barnard College of Columbia
University, B.M. Manhattan School of Music.
CEDRIC NEAL
Frazier
A.R.T.: Debut. Regional: A
Christmas Carol; Henry IV;
It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane…It’s
Superman; Death Of A
Salesman; A Midsummer
Night’s Dream; The Who’s
Tommy (Rabin Award), Dallas Theater Center; Lost
In The Stars, A Dog’s Life, Theatre Three; Porgy and
Bess (Austin Critics Circle Award), Zach Theatre,
Austin; Ain’t Nothin’ But The Blues, Brief History of
White Music, WaterTower Theatre; The Life, Aida,
The Normal Heart and tick, tick…BOOM!, Uptown
Players; Crowns, Ain’t Misbehavin’, Jubilee Theatre.
Television/Film: “The Good Guys,” “Chase,”
“Friday Night Lights.” Attended Eastman School
of Music (Rochester, New York) and a member of
the Brierley Resident Acting Company, Dallas
Theater Center.
c ast
(con tinued)
BRYONHA MARIE
PARHAM
Serena
A.R.T.: Debut. Broadway:
Ragtime (revival). New
York: Red Eye of Love (workshop), Ain’t Love Grand
(workshop). Regional:
Ragtime, Kennedy Center; For the Glory/Civil War,
Networks/Flat Rock Playhouse; Ain’t Misbehavin’,
Mason Street Warehouse; Crowns, Seaside Music
Theatre; Once on This Island, Coterie Theatre; A
Streetcar Named Desire, Greenbrier Valley Theatre;
Kiss Me, Kate, Show Palace; Chicago/Seussical,
Peach State Summer Theatre. Graduate of
Illinois Wesleyan University, B.F.A. Music
Theatre. Proud Actors Equity member.
PHUMZILE SOJOLA
Peter
A.R.T.: Debut. Off-Broadway
and tour: Three Mo’ Tenors,
Little Schubert Theater,
Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Opera: L’étoile, Troubled
Island, New York City
Opera; Porgy and Bess, Edinburgh International
Festival, Opera National de Lyon, New York
Harlem Theater; Lost in the Stars, Skylark Opera;
Just Above My Head, Pittsburgh Opera Theater; La
Bohème, Missouri Symphony Orchestra; Carmen,
Die Zauberflöte, Dayton Opera; Death in Venice,
Glimmerglass Opera; La Traviata, Cincinnati
Opera. Recordings: Paragon Ragtime Orchestra—
Treemonisha; American Spiritual Ensemble—The
Spirituals, Lily in the Valley. Education: B.M.
University of Kentucky, College Conservatory of
Music University of Cincinnati.
NATHANIEL
STAMPLEY
Robbins
A.R.T.: Debut. West End,
London: The Lion King
(Disney UK Ltd). Broadway:
The Color Purple, The Lion
King. Tours: Ragtime.
Regional: Abyssinia, North Shore Music Theatre;
Pacific Overtures, Chicago Shakespeare Theater;
Lost in the Stars, NY City Center’s Encores!; Strike
Up the Band and One Touch of Venus, Auditorium
Theatre’s Ovations! Series; Violet, Once on This
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THE GERSHWINS’ PORGY AND BESS 27
c ast
(con tinued)
Island and Big River (Joseph Jefferson Award nomination), Apple Tree Theatre; Show Boat,
Sacramento Music Circus. The voice of “Sudden
Death” on NFL Rush Zone: Guardians of the Core.
“Lanette’s husband, Ayana and Isaiah’s papi.”
J.D. WEBSTER
Mingo
A.R.T.: Debut. Broadway:
Wonderful Town, Ragtime,
Show Boat. New York: Two
Gentlemen of Verona, New
York Shakespeare Festival;
17 Encores!, City Center;
Mufti Series, York Theatre; Bernstein’s Mass, South
Pacific, Ira Gershwin at 100 and Spring is Here,
Carnegie Hall. Regional: Avenue X, Jesus Christ
Superstar Gospel, Alliance Theatre; An American in
Paris, Houston Alley Theatre; The Blackamoor
Angel, Bard Music Festival; Violet, Connecticut Rep;
Jam and Spice, Westport Playhouse; Guys and Dolls,
Alabama Shakespeare Festival; Finian’s Rainbow,
Coconut Grove; The Desert Song, Sacramento
Music Circus. Graduate of The College of William
and Mary and The Juilliard School.
LISA NICOLE
WILKERSON
Woman of Catfish
Row/Dance Captain
A.R.T.: Debut. Broadway: The
Lion King (Nala u/s, Shenzi
u/s). National Tours: Mamma
Mia! (Ali), The Lion King
(Nala). Off-Broadway: River Deep: Tribute to Tina
Turner, Playwright’s Horizons. Regional: Abyssinia
(Lily), Goodspeed, North Shore; Once on This Island
(TiMoune), Gallery Players; Godspell (Robin), St.
Louis Black Rep; Purlie (with Blaire Underwood
and Loretta Devine, respectively), City Center
ENCORES!, Pasadena Playhouse. Television: “The
Tony Awards” 2008, “The Today Show,” “Oprah,”
“Jay Leno.” Film: Unconditional Love. Dance: xodus
dance collective, Karen Gayle, artistic director; Joel
Hall Dancers, Joel Hall, a.d.; Deeply Rooted (apprentice), Kevin Iega Jeff, a.d. Broadway in South Africa cofounder. Northwestern University, B.S., Journalism.
NATASHA YVETTE
WILLIAMS
Mariah
A.R.T.: Debut. Broadway:
The Color Purple (Sofia) and
Dessa Rose, Lincoln Center.
West End, London: Trevor
Nunn’s Gone With the
Wind (Mammy). National Tours: Xanadu
(Melponmene), The Drowsy Chaperone (Trix the
Aviatrix), All Shook Up (Sylvia), Seussical the Musical
(Sour Kangaroo), Cinderella (Grace). Selected regional credits: Hairspray (Motormouth) and Ain’t
Misbehavin’ (Armelia), Paper Mill Playhouse;
Mahalia (title role), Cleveland Playhouse;
Abyssinia (Selma), Goodspeed/North Shore.
Featured soloist with the Indianapolis, Baltimore
and Ottawa symphony orchestras and The
Naples Philharmonic. NaTasha will be singing at
Carnegie Hall in October with the NY Pops. She is
the mother of newborn twins Mackenzie and
Nile. NaTasha’s CDs are available at www.digstation.com; for more information, please visit her
website at www.natashayvettewilliams.com.
Orchestra
SASHA CALLAHAN
ASHLEIGH GORDON
Violin
Assistant principal 2nd violin, Portland
Symphony; member of Rhode Island
Philharmonic and New Hampshire Music
Festival. Frequent performances with Boston
Modern Orchestra Project, Boston Lyric Opera,
Opera Boston, the Boston Pops and Boston
Pops Esplanade. B.M. in Violin Performance,
Rice University; M.M. in Violin Performance,
Boston University. Further studies:
Meadowmount School of Music, Mozarteum
Academy, Leopold Auer Academy, Tanglewood
Music Center.
Viola
Member of Neponset Valley Philharmonic
Orchestra and Juventas New Music Ensemble.
Performances with Callithumpium Consort,
Atlantic Symphony and Glens Falls Orchestra.
Anticipated Master of Contemporary Music from
International Ensemble Modern Academy
(Germany), Master of Music in Viola
Performance from New England Conservatory,
Bachelor of Music in Viola Performance from
Baldwin-Wallace College. Summer Festivals:
International Ensemble Modern Academy
(Austria, 2010), Pierre Monteux School for
Conductors and Orchestral Musicians (Maine,
2003/2007), Aspen Music Festival (Colo., 2005).
28
AMERICAN REPERTORY THEATER
o r chestra
(continued)
LEO EGUCHI
Cello
Xanthos (a new music ensemble in residence at
Boston University); Assistant Principal of
Camerata New England; principal of New
Bedford Symphony; member of New
Hampshire Music Festival and Portland
Symphony. Frequent performer with the
Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Boston Lyric
Opera, Boston Pops Esplanade. B.S. in Physics,
University of Michigan; B.M. in Cello
Performance, University of Michigan; M.M. in
Cello Performance, Boston University;
Meadowmount School of Music (1998–2001).
JOE HIGGINS
Double Bass/Electric Bass
Principal Bass, New Hampshire Music Festival;
member of the Rhode Island Philharmonic
Orchestra. Regular performer with the Portland
Symphony Orchestra, Providence Performing
Arts Center, North Shore Music Theatre.
Performances with the Boston Pops Esplanade
Orchestra, Hartford Symphony Orchestra,
Spoleto Festival, Emmanuel Music, the Artie
Shaw Orchestra, Jaki Byard, George Garzone and
the Aardvark Jazz Orchestra. B.M. from the New
England Conservatory. Studies in Double Bass
Performance at Oberlin Conservatory.
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EBONEE THOMAS
Flute/Piccolo
Principal Flute of the Florida Grand Opera in
Miami, Florida. One-year position as Second
Flute with the Houston Symphony. Recently
completed a four-year fellowship with New
World Symphony. Degrees from Southern
Methodist University and the New England
Conservatory. Performances with: Star Wars in
Concert Orchestra, The Los Angeles
Philharmonic; Sarasota Orchestra; Florida
Orchestra; Oregon, Omaha, Kansas City and
San Antonio symphonies. Studies with Claire
Johnson, Patty Mecklin, Helen Blackburn, Jean
Larson and Fenwick Smith.
MIE SHIRAISHI
Oboe/English Horn
Member of Atlantic Symphony Orchestra;
performances with Boston Pops Esplanade
Orchestra, A Far Cry Chamber Orchestra,
Gardner Chamber Orchestra, New Bedford
Symphony Orchestra, Plymouth Philharmonic
Orchestra; International Musical Arts Institute,
Chamber Music Concert Series, Fryeburg, Maine,
2005–2011. Graduate Performance Degree from
THE GERSHWINS’ PORGY AND BESS 29
o r chestra
(continued)
Longy School of Music; M.M. New England
Conservatory; B.M. from Musashino Academia
Musicae, Tokyo, Japan.
BOB BOWLBY
Flute/Clarinet/Alto Saxophone
Multi woodwind player in Boston theaters.
Saxophonist with Boston Pops since 1981.
Toured with Artie Shaw, Buddy Rich, Frank
Sinatra, Mel Torme, Natalie Cole, Rita Moreno,
Carol Channing, Barry Manilow, Star Wars in
Concert. National Broadway tours: Fosse, Avenue
Q, Cats. Berklee College of Music: alumnus/
former faculty.
JOHN REPLOGLE
Trumpet/Flugelhorn
Performances with Chico O’Farrill Afro Cuban
Jazz Orchestra, George Russell The Living
Time Orchestra, Terri Lyne Carrington, Danilo
Perez, Warren Wolf, Eric Reed, Idan Santhus
Jazz Orchestra, Kendrick Oliver and the New
Life Jazz Orchestra, NPR/WGBH: “Toast of the
Nation” program, Boston Pops eight-piece
group and others. Bachelor of Arts Berklee
College of Music in Jazz Performance. Master
of Music New England Conservatory in
Jazz Studies.
GREG SMITH
PETER L. COKKINIAS
Clarinet/Bass Clarinet/Alto
Saxophone/Tenor Saxophone
Professor at Berklee College of Music. Boston,
Rhode Island and North Shore Musicians’
Union. Performances with Boston Symphony
and Boston Pops, Music Director/Conductor
Metrowest Symphony Orchestra. Theater
Musician: Boston Opera House, Colonial,
Huntington Theatre. Doctor of Music.
College: Conservatory University of
Cincinnati, Ohio. Master: Manhattan School
of Music; Hartt School of Music, Tanglewood
Music Center: 1980.
ROSLYN BLACK
French Horn
Member of the New World Symphony, Miami
for four years; in 2008 Acting Sub-Principal
Horn of the BBC Symphony, London. Other:
Porgy and Bess, Opéra Comique, Paris. Performs
regularly with the Toronto Symphony and the
Canadian Opera Company. B.M. from the
University of Victoria, M.M., New England
Conservatory.
Trumpet/Flugelhorn
Member: Atlantic, Cape Cod and Glens Falls
symphonies. Performances with Emmanuel
Music and the Berkshire, Indian Hill, Granite
State, Lexington, Nashua, New Bedford and
New World symphonies. Graduate diploma
from New England Conservatory; B.A. from
Bard College; fellowships for the Tanglewood
Music Center, Pacific Music Festival and the
Spoleto Festival USA.
MARTIN WITTENBERG
Trombone
Bala Brass. Principal Trombone, Philharmonia
of the Nations, 2006–09. Leipzig Gewandhaus
Orchestra, Boston Modern Orchestra Project,
Opera Boston, Colorado Music Festival, Spoleto
Festival USA, Munich Brass, Munich Bach
Soloists, Ensemble Classique, Cape Cod
Symphony. Recordings: Decca Concerts,
EuroArts, BMOPSound, MMO, Profil, Haenssler
Classics, NCA. Trombone Faculty: Longy School
of Music, Gordon College. Doctoral Candidate,
Boston University; M.M. Yale University; Music
Performance and Music Education Diplomas,
Trossingen Hochschule für Musik, Germany.
DIANTHA MILLOTT
French Horn
Regular member of Bay Colony Brass
Ensemble, Occasional Brass and Strings.
Recent theater: Joseph and the Amazing
Technicolor Dreamcoat, Orpheum Foxboro
Theater; 42nd Street, Walnut Hill School for
the Arts; Curtains, Newton North. Former
member of the Air Force Band of Liberty at
Hanscom Air Force Base, Sudbury Savoyards,
New Philharmonia Orchestra, Concord Band.
B.M. DePaul University, M.M. Yale University
School of Music.
30
AMERICAN REPERTORY THEATER
DON ROBINSON
Bass Trombone/Tuba
Member of Indian Hill and New Hampshire
Music Festival orchestras. Performances with
Boston Symphony, Boston Pops, Esplanade,
Boston Ballet and Boston Lyric Opera.
Performed in musicals at the Colonial, Shubert,
Wang Center and Boston Opera House. B.M.
Eastman School of Music, M.M. New England
Conservatory.
o r chestra
(continued)
GREG NEWTON
Tenor Saxophone/Baritone
Saxophone/Bassoon
Member of Boston Philharmonic, Boston
Classical Orchestra, Radius Ensemble, Landmarks
Orchestra. Performances with Boston Symphony,
Boston Pops, Boston Ballet, Bolshoi, Prague
Radio Orchestra, BMOP, Boston Lyric Opera,
Opera Boston. Pre-Broadway/National Tours
(New England segments): A Chorus Line, Carousel,
Marty, Titanic, Miss Saigon, The Producers, The
Sound of Music, Sweet Charity, Camelot, Fiddler on
the Roof, The Light in the Piazza, Dirty Rotten
Scoundrels, Young Frankenstein. M.M. New
England Conservatory, B.F.A. SUNY Buffalo.
ROBERTO CASSAN
Accordion
Performed and recorded with many artists, including Mexican folk singer Lila Downs and
singer-songwriter Martin Sexton. The duo
Roberto Cassan and John Muratore (guitar) performs music of Piazzolla, Galliano, Brouwer,
Debussy and Cassan. Member of Grand Fatilla,
a superb world music quartet; Newpoli, a ninepiece ensemble exploring the ancient Southern
Italian Tarantella; and Musaner. Degree in
Musicology from University of Cremona and
studies at Berklee College of Music.
ROBERT SCHULZ
Percussion
A.R.T.: The Sound of a Voice. Principal
Percussionist with Boston Landmarks Orchestra,
Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Boston Musica
Viva, Opera Boston. Grammy nomination in
2004 for Yehudi Wyner’s The Mirror, world premiere recording of Kick and Ride (concerto for
drumset and orchestra) by Eric Moe, to be released on BMOP/Sound in 2011. International
tours with Allea III, Boston Symphony, Musica
Viva and pipa virtuoso Wu Man.
THE GERSHWINS’ PORGY AND BESS 31
Creative Team
GEORGE GERSHWIN
Music
George Gershwin was born in Brooklyn on
September 26, 1898, and began his musical training when he was 13. At 16 he quit high school to
work as a “song plugger” for a music publisher,
and soon he was writing songs himself.
“Swanee,” as introduced by Al Jolson, brought
George his first real fame and led to his writing a
succession of 22 musical comedies, most with his
older brother, Ira. The Gershwins’ shows include
Lady Be Good; Oh, Kay!; Strike Up The Band; Girl
Crazy; and the Pulitzer Prize-winning Of Thee I
Sing. From his early career George had ambitions
to compose serious music. These ambitions were
realized in some of his masterpieces, among them
“Rhapsody In Blue,” “Concerto In F,” “An
American In Paris” and “Second Rhapsody.” In
the late ’20s George became fascinated by the
DuBose Heyward novel Porgy, recognizing it as a
perfect vehicle for opera using jazz and blues idioms. George’s “folk opera” Porgy and Bess opened
in Boston on September 30, 1935, and had its
Broadway premiere two weeks later. In 1937
George was at the height of his career. While
working on the score of The Goldwyn Follies in
Hollywood, he collapsed, and on July 11, died of
a brain tumor. He was not quite 39 years old.
DUBOSE HEYWARD
Librettist/Lyricist
DuBose Heyward (1885–1940) was a native and
life-long resident of Charleston, South Carolina.
Although born into modest economic circumstances, he was of an old Charleston family and
his ancestors were prominent members of
Charleston society, one of whom, Thomas
Heyward, Jr., was a signer of the United States
Declaration of Independence. In the early 1920s,
Heyward co-founded the Poetry Society of South
Carolina and co-published Carolina Chansons:
Legends of the Low Country, which established his
reputation as an American poet. In 1923 Heyward
married Dorothy Hartzell Kuhns (1890–1961),
whom he had met the previous year at the
MacDowell Colony, an artists’ retreat in New
Hampshire, and who was an aspiring author from
Ohio. He then devoted himself full-time to writing. The first major result of this effort was the
novel, Porgy, published with great success in 1925.
In his 2000 biography of Heyward, James
Hutchisson describes Porgy as the first major southern novel to present African Americans realistically
and without condescension. Dorothy inspired,
and collaborated in, the transformation of Porgy
32
AMERICAN REPERTORY THEATER
into a play, which ran a total of 367 performances
on Broadway. The Heywards later collaborated
with George and Ira Gershwin in the creation of
the opera, Porgy and Bess, contributing the libretto,
based largely on the play, and co-writing many of
the songs. Heyward’s many other works include
the novel, Mamba’s Daughters, which he, together
with Dorothy, transformed into a play. Mamba’s
Daughters successfully opened in New York in
1939, with Ethel Waters in the cast; a 1997/1998
production was awarded an Obie, and was also
presented at the 1999 Spoleto Festival in
Charleston. Among his other works were the play,
Brass Ankle, the novella, Half Pint Flask, and the
novel, Peter Ashley, all of which portray the lives of
African Americans in Charleston and the surrounding low country. He also wrote (for his
daughter, Jenifer) Country Bunny and the Little Gold
Shoes, which became an American classic children’s book, and the screenplays for the movie versions of Eugene O’Neill’s Emperor Jones, starring
Paul Robeson, and Pearl Buck’s The Good Earth.
IRA GERSHWIN
Lyricist
Ira Gershwin, the first songwriter to be awarded
the Pulitzer Prize, was born in New York City on
December 6, 1896. In 1917 The Evening Sun published his first song (“You May Throw All The
Rice You Desire But Please Friends, Throw No
Shoes”). Four years later Ira enjoyed his first
major stage success, Two Little Girls in Blue, written with another Broadway newcomer, Vincent
Youmans. In 1924 Ira and his brother, George,
created the smash hit Lady Be Good and went on
to continue their remarkable collaboration
through a dozen major stage scores, producing
such standards as “Fascinating Rhythm,” “The
Man I Love,” “S’ Wonderful,” “Embraceable
You,” “I Got Rhythm,” “But Not For Me” and
others far too numerous to mention. During his
long career, Ira also enjoyed productive collaborations with such songwriters as Harold Arlen,
Vernon Duke, Kurt Weill, Burton Lane and
Jerome Kern, with whom he created his greatest
song hit of any one year, “Long Ago And Far
Away.” Ira Gershwin died on August 17, 1983,
in Beverly Hills, California.
SUZAN-LORI PARKS
Adapter/Additional Scenes
A.R.T.: The America Play. Named one of Time
magazine’s “100 Innovators for the Next New
Wave,” Ms. Parks’ plays include The Book of
Grace, In the Blood (2000 Pulitzer Prize finalist),
c r eative team
(continued)
Venus (1996 OBIE Award), The Death of the Last
Black Man in the Whole Entire World, Father
Comes Home from the War Part I: The Union of My
Confederate Parts, Fucking A, Imperceptible
Mutabilities in the Third Kingdom (1990 OBIE
Award for Best New American Play), and
Topdog/Underdog (Broadway) for which she won
the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Drama becoming the
first African-American woman to do so. Ms.
Parks has a leading acting role in The Making of
Plus One, which premiered at the Cannes Film
Festival. She’s written screenplays for Brad Pitt,
Denzel Washington, Girl 6, written for Spike Lee,
and adapted Zora Neale Hurston’s classic novel
Their Eyes Were Watching God, which premiered
on ABC’s “Oprah Winfrey Presents.” In 2007,
her project 365 Days/365 Plays was produced in
over 700 theaters worldwide, creating one of the
largest grassroots collaborations in theater history. Parks’ first novel, Getting Mother’s Body,
(Random House, 2003) is set in the west Texas of
her youth. A student of James Baldwin, with
whom she credits the launch of her interest in
playwriting, Ms. Parks is a MacArthur “Genius”
Award recipient, and has been awarded grants
by the National Endowment of the Arts, the
Rockefeller Foundation, the Ford Foundation,
and the New York State Council on the Arts. She
is recipient of a Lila-Wallace Reader’s Digest
Award, a CalArts/Alpert Award, a Guggenheim
Foundation Grant and is an alumna of Mount
Holyoke College and New Dramatists. Her work
is the subject of the PBS film The Topdog Diaries.
Ms. Parks is at work on her second novel and
her Ray Charles musical, Unchain My Heart, is
scheduled to premiere on Broadway within the
coming year. She teaches at NYU, and is currently performing her experimental solo show,
Watch Me Work at the Public Theater, where she
serves as Master Writer Chair. Please visit
Suzanloriparks.com.
DIEDRE L. MURRAY
Musical Adapter
A.R.T.: Best of Both Worlds (composer). Pulitzer
Prize finalist, two-time OBIE Award winner, innovative composer, cellist, and producer. In the
1970s and 1980s, she pioneered the use of the
cello as a jazz and new world music instrument
touring extensively worldwide. Musical and theater works: Unending Pain, a choral/chamber
work (co-presented by the Performance Garage
and the Whitney Museum of American Art);
Let’s Go Down to the River, a score for octet,
Willasau Jazz Festival in Switzerland; The Eves of
Nhor, a string trio for National Dutch Radio and
De Effenaar Festival in Eindhoven Holland;
Kamerados, for mixed ensemble, The Women’s
Improviser Festival in New York; Five Minute
Tango, a score for the inaugural concert at the
Danny Kaye/Sylvia Fine Playhouse, performed
by the Manhattan Brass Quintet; The
Conversation for the Seattle-based New
Performance Group at the Walker Arts Center in
Minnesota; You Don’t Miss the Water, a musictheater piece, in collaboration with noted poet
Cornelius Eady, produced by the Music-Theatre
Group (MTG); FANGS; Women In The Dunes, a
dance piece created by Blondel Cummings for
the Japan Society; the jazz-opera Running Man,
for which she wrote the original story and score,
and book with Cornelius Eady, Here Theatre in
New York City (two OBIE Awards, finalist for the
1999 Pulitzer Prize for Drama); music arrangements for Eli’s Coming (OBIE Award), Vineyard
Theatre; In 2006 Ms. Murray composed the
music for the Music Theater Group/Kathryn
Walker production of the Rage of Achilles and the
Odyssey which was performed at the Lensic
Theater in Santa Fe; The Blackamour Angel, an
opera written by Carl Hancock Rux, Bard
College; an adaptation by Diane Paulus of James
Baldwin’s Another Country, Columbia University;
an adaptation of The Voice Within with Marcus
Gardley, Harlem Stage and the Apollo Theatre.
Current projects include a new musical, Sweet
Billy and the Zooloo’s, with writer Lynn Nottage,
for Colored Girl Productions; and Patient Zero,
book by Cornelius Eady for the Music Theater
Group for a production scheduled for 2012. Ms.
Murray has received numerous grants and
awards for her work as a composer. She received
a B.S. degree from Hunter College in ethnomusicology, and has appeared on over 100 recordings
as a cellist.
DIANE PAULUS
Director
Artistic Director of the A.R.T., where her directing credits include: Prometheus Bound, Death
and the Powers: The Robots’ Opera (premiered
in Monaco in September 2010), Johnny
Baseball, Best of Both Worlds and The Donkey
Show, a disco adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s
Dream, which ran for six years Off-Broadway.
Her recent theater credits include The Public
Theater’s revival of HAIR on Broadway (2009
Tony Award winner for Best Revival of a
Musical, nominated for eight Tony Awards including Best Director, as well as winner of a
Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle Award
and Drama League Award for Best Revival of a
THE GERSHWINS’ PORGY AND BESS 33
c r eative team
(continued)
Musical), and in the West End. Other recent
work includes Kiss Me, Kate (Glimmerglass
Opera) and Lost Highway (ENO co-production
with the Young Vic). Opera credits include Il
Mondo Della Luna (Gotham Chamber Opera at
the Hayden Planetarium), Don Giovanni, Le nozze
di Figaro, Turn Of The Screw, Cosi fan tutte; and Il
ritorno d’Ulisse in patria, L’incoronazione di Poppea
and Orfeo at the Chicago Opera Theater. Diane is
a Professor of the Practice of Theater at Harvard
University. This year Paulus was named one of
the “50 Most Powerful Women in Boston” by
Boston magazine and received the 2011 Elliot
Norton Award for Best Director for her work on
Prometheus Bound, Johnny Baseball and HAIR.
She is a recent recipient of an Honorary
Doctorate from Boston Conservatory.
RONALD K. BROWN
Choreographer
A.R.T.: Debut. Founder and Artistic Director of
Evidence, A Dance Company, a New York-based
contemporary dance ensemble since 1985. Has
also created work for the African American Dance
Ensemble, Philadanco, Cleo Parker Robinson
Dance Ensemble, Dayton Contemporary Dance
Company, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
(Grace in 1999, Serving Nia in 2001, IFE/My Heart
2005 and Dancing Spirit during special tribute season), Ailey II, Cinque Folkloric Dance Theater,
Jennifer Muller/The Works and Jeune Ballet
d’Afrique Noire. He has collaborated with composer/designer Omotayo Wunmi Olaiya, the late
writer Craig G. Harris, director Ernie McClintock’s
Jazz Actors Theater, choreographers Patricia
Hoffbauer and Rokiya Kone, and composers
Robert Een, Oliver Lake, Bernadette Speech,
David Simons and Don Meissner. Awards and fellowships include a John Simon Guggenheim
Memorial Foundation Fellowship in
Choreography, a National Endowment for the
Arts Choreographer’s Fellowship, a New York
Foundation for the Arts Fellowship in choreography, New York Dance and Performance Award
(Bessie), a Black Theater Alliance Award, the
American Dance Festival Humphrey/Weidman/
Limón Award, and fellowships from the Edward
and Sally van Lier Fund. In addition, Brown was
named Def Dance Jam Workshop Mentor of the
Year in 2000. In 2003, he received an AUDELCO
(Black Theatre Award) for his choreography for
Crowns: Portraits of Black Women in Church Hats,
originally produced by the McCarter Theater and
presented off-Broadway in 2003. In fall 2006,
Brown received The United States Artists Rose
Fellowship, being one of only four choreogra34
AMERICAN REPERTORY THEATER
phers out of fifty artists to receive the inaugural
award. He is a member of Stage Directors and
Choreographers Society.
RICCARDO HERNANDEZ
Set Designer
A.R.T.: Close to 20 credits, including most recently
Prometheus Bound, Best of Both Worlds, The
Seagull, Julius Caesar, Britannicus and
Marat/Sade. On Broadway he designed The People
in the Picture (Studio 54); Caroline, or Change (also
National Theatre London); Topdog/Underdog (also
Royal Court, London); Elaine Stritch at Liberty (also
West End’s Old Vic, London and national tour);
Parade Hal Prince director (Tony and Drama Desk
nominations); Bells Are Ringing; Noise/Funk (also
national tours and Japan); The Tempest. Other
New York credits: Over two dozen productions at
New York Shakespeare Festival/Public Theater; as
well as Lincoln Center, Second Stage, NYTW,
MTC, MCC, Playwrights Horizons, Cherry Lane,
BAM; and numerous regional theaters: Guthrie,
Goodman, Taper, etc. Opera: Lyric Opera of
Chicago, San Francisco Opera, NYCO, Houston
Grand and most recently Il Postino for Los Angeles
Opera, Opera de Chatelet Paris, Theater an der
Wien and Lost Highway (London’s English
National Opera/Young Vic) directed by Diane
Paulus. Also: Avignon Festival, Festival Automne
Paris, Oslo National Theater, Det Norske Teatret,
Norway. Upcoming: Die Entfuhrung Aus dem Serail
for Opera de Nice, France.
ESOSA
Costume Designer
A.R.T.: Best of Both Worlds. Broadway:
Topdog/Underdog, also London and various regional theaters. Off Broadway: By the Way, Meet
Vera Stark and Trust, Second Stage; Break of Noon,
MCC, also Geffen Playhouse; The Capeman,
Delacorte; Juan and John; Father Comes Home
from the Wars, Parts 1, 8 & 9, Public Labs; Romeo
and Juliet, The Public Theater and Shakespeare in
the Park; The Story and Radiant Baby, The Public
Theater. Regional: Ruined, Arena Stage; Twist,
Alliance; Measure for Measure and American Night,
Oregon Shakespeare Festival; Fences, Geva
Theatre. 2003 Audelco Award and 2006 TDF/
Irene Sharaff Young Master Award. ESosa is a
“Project Runway” Season 7 finalist.
CHRISTOPHER AKERLIND
Lighting Designer
A.R.T.: The Seagull, Britannicus, Island of Slaves,
Orpheus X, Olly’s Prison, Desire Under the Elms,
Oedipus, La Dispute, Uncle Vanya, Enrico IV,
c r eative team
(continued)
and Misalliance. Broadway: Superior Donuts, Top
Girls, 110 In The Shade (Tony nom.), Talk Radio,
Shining City, Awake and Sing! (Tony nom.), Well,
Rabbit Hole, A Touch of the Poet, In My Life, The Tale
of the Allergist’s Wife, Reckless, The Piano Lesson,
Seven Guitars (Tony nom.), and The Light in the
Piazza (Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics’ Circle
Awards). Recent credits include Groove Lily’s new
musical Sleeping Beauty Wakes (La Jolla
Playhouse/McCarter Theatre), Ariadne auf Naxos
(Opera Nationale de Bordeaux), The Emperor of
Atlantis/After Image (Boston Lyric Opera),
Kafeneion (Athens/Epidaurus Festival), Franco
Dragone’s holiday circus K’do! (Foret Nationale,
Brussels), All My Sons (Huntington Theatre), and
the world premiere of Phillip Glass’s opera,
Appomattox (San Francisco Opera). His extensive
credits in opera include productions at the Boston
Lyric, Bordeaux, Dallas, Glimmerglass, Hamburg,
Houston, Los Angeles, Metropolitan, Minnesota,
New York City, Nissei, San Francisco, Washington
National, and Santa Fe operas, and over 50 productions for Opera Theater of Saint Louis where
he was Resident Lighting Designer for twelve
years. He is the recipient of an OBIE Award for
Sustained Excellence in Lighting Design, the
Michael Merritt Award for Design and
Collaboration and numerous nominations for the
Drama Desk, Lucile Lortel, Outer Critics Circle
and Tony Awards.
ACME SOUND PARTNERS
Sound Design
A.R.T.: Johnny Baseball. Over 30 Broadway
shows since 2000 including: Bengal Tiger at the
Baghdad Zoo (Tony nomination), The Merchant of
Venice, Lombardi, Fences (Tony nomination), The
Addams Family, Ragtime, Hair (Tony nomination),
In The Heights (Tony Nomination), [title of show],
Legally Blonde, A Chorus Line (2006), The Drowsy
Chaperone, The Light in the Piazza, Monty Python’s
Spamalot, Avenue Q, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and
La Bohème. Acme is Tom Clark, Mark Menard,
Nevin Steinberg and Sten Severson.
WILLIAM DAVID BROHN
Orchestrations
A.R.T.: Debut. Orchestrations: Miss Saigon, Martin
Guerre, Crazy For You, The Secret Garden, Wicked,
Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific, My Fair Lady,
Oliver!, Betty Blue Eyes, Witches of Eastwick, Sweet
Smell of Success, Curtains, Ragtime (1998 Tony
Award—Best Orchestrations), Dessa Rose, A Man
of No Importance, The Three Musketeers, Marguerite,
Wuthering Heights, High Society, Show Boat, Jerome
Robbins’ Broadway, Gone With the Wind, Hey Mr.
Producer, Busker Alley, The Red Shoes, 110 in the
Shade, King of Hearts. Arranger: O! Freedom (with
Jack Waddell). Recordings: Joshua Bell (Gershwin
album/West Side Story Suite), Andre Previn,
Prokofiev “Alexander Nevsky” (Reconstruction),
Marilyn Horne, Placido Domingo.
CHRISTOPHER JAHNKE
Orchestrations
A.R.T.: Debut. Orchestrations: Dessa Rose, A Man
of No Importance, Legally Blonde (2011 Olivier
Award Best Musical), Cry-Baby, Grease (2007 revival), Tom Jones (Stiles/Leigh), Chasing Nicolette,
The Toxic Avenger Musical, Not Wanted On The
Voyage (Bartram & Hill), Just So (Stiles & Drewe),
Dear World. New orchestrations for Les Misérables
(Broadway/U.S. tour/Madrid/Netherlands/
London/UK tour/Dutch cast album/25th anniversary cast album/O2 arena concert in London, UK,
DVD/Blu-ray). Assistant to William David Brohn:
Sweet Smell of Success, Ragtime, The Three
Musketeers (Stiles/Leigh), The Witches of Eastwick,
Mary Poppins, Wicked. Music Producer/Music
Supervisor of Memphis (Tony Award Best Musical
2010). Current: Music Producer/Arranger of
Operation: Mindcrime with actor Adam Pascal and
writer Micah Schraft.
DAVID LOUD
Music Director
A.R.T.: Debut. Broadway: The Scottsboro Boys,
Ragtime, Curtains, Sondheim On Sondheim, Steel
Pier, A Class Act, The Look of Love and revivals of
She Loves Me, Sweeney Todd, Company and The
Boys From Syracuse. Off-Broadway: And the World
Goes ’Round, for which he wrote the vocal and
dance arrangements, and Pacific Overtures.
Regional: The Visit (world premiere), Harold and
Maude (world premiere), First You Dream, Billy
Bishop Goes to War. He recently created the
arrangements for two acclaimed concerts in
New York: All the Things You Are (Songs of
Jerome Kern) and On a Clear Day: the Musical
Vision of Burton Lane. Acting credits: originated
three roles on Broadway: Curtains (Sasha)
Terrence McNally’s Master Class (Manny) and
Harold Prince’s original production of Stephen
Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along (Ted). He is a
graduate of Yale University and has served on
the faculty of the Yale School of Drama.
SHEILAH WALKER
Conductor
A. R. T.: Debut. Winner of the 2005, 2006 Leon
Rabin Award for Outstanding Music Direction
for Ragtime and Urinetown, Dallas-Ft. Worth area.
THE GERSHWINS’ PORGY AND BESS 35
c r eative team
(continued)
Music Supervisor for Ragtime in London, starring
Maria Friedman. Music Director/Conductor:
National tour of Ragtime, with David Loud, supervisor; two national tours of Fiddler on the
Roof, starring Theodore Bikel; national tour of
Funny Girl, starring Deborah Gibson; national
tour of Oprah Winfrey’s production of The Color
Purple, starring Fantasia (NAACP Theatre Award
nomination for Best Music Direction in Los
Angeles). Broadway: Fiddler on the Roof (associate
conductor) starring Topol, Don’t Get God Started
with BeBe Winans. National tours of The Mystery
of Edwin Drood, Grand Hotel, South Pacific and
Hello, Dolly!, with Jean Stapleton, Joel Grey,
Liliane Montevecchi and Carol Channing. Tours
in Europe, Japan, Canada and Puerto Rico as pianist/accompanist for several theater productions. Acting credits: Ain’t Misbehavin’ and
Tintypes, Dallas-Ft. Worth; Barnum (Joyce Heth),
New Mexico. Vocal coach/accompanist in New
York; former head of the Vocal Department at
Dallas Arts Magnet High School, receiving a
teacher of the year award for outstanding work.
BRIAN HERTZ
Associate Conductor/Piano/Celeste
A.R.T.: Debut. Pianist for the Radio City
Christmas Spectacular; played in the Broadway
orchestras of Shrek, 9 to 5, The Little Mermaid,
Avenue Q, Legally Blonde, Xanadu, Les Misérables,
Sister Act. Assistant conductor at Avenue Q and
Altar Boyz. National tours: Legally Blonde
(Associate Music Director), Wonderful Town
(Associate Conductor); Paper Mill Playhouse:
Peter Pan (conductor), Forum (keyboards), Full
Monty (keyboards). Ithaca College grad.
TELSEY + COMPANY
Casting
A.R.T.: Debut. Broadway/Tours: SPIDER-MAN:
Turn Off the Dark, The Normal Heart, Baby It’s You!,
Sister Act, Catch Me If You Can, Priscilla Queen of
the Desert, The Addams Family, Memphis, Rock of
Ages, Wicked, Bring It On, Next to Normal, 9 to 5,
Peepshow in Vegas. Off-Broadway: Rent, Million
Dollar Quartet, Atlantic, MCC, Signature. Film:
The Odd Life of Timothy Green, Joyful Noise, Friends
with Kids, Margin Call, Howl, Sex and the City 1 &
2, Jonah Hex, Main Street, The Other Woman, I Love
You Phillip Morris, Rachel Getting Married, Dan in
Real Life, Then She Found Me, Across the Universe,
Ira & Abby, Rent, Pieces of April, Camp, The Grey
Zone, Finding Forrester, The Bone Collector. TV:
“Smash,” “A Gifted Man,” “The Big C,” “Ugly
Betty” (pilot), “Whoopi,” HBO’s “Undefeated,”
commercials. www.telseyandco.com.
36
AMERICAN REPERTORY THEATER
NANCY HARRINGTON
Associate Director/
Production Stage Manager
A.R.T.: Children of Heracles, Prometheus
Bound, Death and the Powers. Broadway:
Collaborator of Bill Irwin for 28 years, one of
the creators of the Tony Award-winning Fool
Moon, Largely NY & The Regard of Flight. Other
Broadway: The Rainmaker, Uncle Vanya, A View
From The Bridge, The Full Monty, The Play What I
wrote, I Am My Own Wife, HAIR. Other projects
with Ms. Paulus include: Capeman, Turandot—
Rumble For The Ring, HAIR also in Central Park,
London, and national tour. In Additional: 60
premiere productions of New American plays
and musicals, over 200 productions worldwide.
DENISE L. WOODS
Dialect Coach
A.R.T.: Debut. Denise Woods’ work as a dialect
coach includes working with Academy Awardnominated actors Will Smith (Ali) and Ken
Watanabe (The Last Samurai). Woods has worked
as a vocal coach with “NBC Nightly News,”
CNBC, “The Today Show,” CNN, “Inside
Edition” and “KTLA News.” Some of her clients
include Phylicia Rashad, Ellen Burstyn, Jeanne
Tripplehorn, Morris Chestnut, Taye Diggs, Paul
Rodriguez, Ray Liotta, Porscia Derossi, Rachel
Weisz, Forest Whitaker, Maggie Gyllenhaal and
Mike Myers. She is a graduate and former faculty
member of The Juilliard School and is currently
on faculty at California Institute of the Arts.
RYAN McKITTRICK
A.R.T. Dramaturg
A.R.T.: Lead dramaturg on more than thirty productions, half of which were world premieres.
He is the A.R.T. Dramaturg and Co-Head of the
A.R.T. Institute’s Dramaturgy Program. He received his M.F.A. in Dramaturgy from the
A.R.T./Moscow Art Theatre School Institute for
Advanced Theater Training at Harvard and his
B.A. in History and Literature from Harvard. He
is also a Lecturer in Dramatic Arts at Harvard
University and a Lecturer in Theater Arts at
Brandeis University. His articles on theater have
appeared in The Boston Globe, Correspondence,
Theatre and The Boston Phoenix. He is a recipient
of the TCG New Generations Award and the
NTC Scholarship Award. His co-translations
with Julia Smeliansky include Anton Chekhov’s
Lady with a Lapdog, Rezo Gabriadze’s Forbidden
Christmas and The Selected Letters of Olga
Bokshanskaya.
c r eative team
(continued)
JULIE BALDAUFF
Stage Manager
A.R.T.: Children of Herakles, Death and the
Powers: The Robots’ Opera. Broadway: Hair, The
Wedding Singer, I Am My Own Wife, King Lear,
Henry IV parts 1 & 2, The Play What I Wrote, The
Full Monty, Fool Moon, The Little Foxes, The
Rehearsal, Summer and Smoke, Getting Away with
Murder. Off-Broadway: You Never Can Tell,
Roundabout; Prides Crossing, LCT; Arms and the
Man, Roundabout; Hapgood, LCT. Regional:
Death and the Powers: The Robots’ Opera, Monaco
and Chicago; I Am My Own Wife, European and
U.S. tour; The Children of Herakles, European
tour; Fool Moon, Kennedy Center; and six seasons and more than twenty productions at The
Old Globe Theatre in San Diego.
SHARIKA NILES
Assistant Stage Manager
A.R.T. Debut. Broadway: The Color Purple, First
National Tour. Other credits: Seed; Without You
(Korea); P**ssy Valley; Indomitable; F**king A; See
What I Wanna See; All That I Will Ever Be; Flow;
The Seven; Satellites; Richard III; Well; Take Me
Out; Helen; House Arrest; A Winter’s Tale;
Slanguage; Cavedweller; Suburbia; Caroline, or
Change; Two Gentleman of Verona; This Is How It
Goes; The Book of Grace; Summerstage NYC; The
Apollo Theater; KCD Worldwide; The Public
Theater/New York Shakespeare Festival; HBO;
Lincoln Center. Film: Our Song.
MIA WALKER
Assistant Director
A.R.T.: Prometheus Bound, Johnny Baseball.
New York: Paul Simon’s The Capeman (The
Public Theater, dir. Diane Paulus). Trained at The
Berkshire Theatre Festival, American
Conservatory Theater, NYU Tisch and Vassar
Powerhouse. Resident Director at The Flea
Theater, where she directed the world premiere
of Trista Baldwin’s American Sexy. B.A. in Film
Production/Studies (Magna Cum Laude),
Harvard University.
Tabuchi Show, Branson, Missouri; the Richard
Rodgers Centennial Production of The King and I,
Paper Mill Playhouse. Television: Episode
“Choreographed” on “Law and Order: SVU.”
Commercial: “Codorinu” with Pilobolus.
NEIL GROVER
Orchestra Coordinator
A.R.T.: Debut. Principal: Boston Musical Services.
Founder: Grover Pro Percussion, Inc. On the
Board of Directors of Percussive Arts Society
(Indianapolis, Ind.), Margaret & H.A. Rey Center
(Waterville Valley, NH) and Winchester
Community Music School (Winchester, MA). He
has lectured in music at more than 100 universities throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe and
Australasia, a published author (Alfred Music)
and a former faculty member of Boston
Conservatory, University of Massachusetts.
Grover attended Florida State University. New
England Conservatory.
J. JARED JANAS & ROB GREENE
Wig/Hair Design
A.R.T.: Debut. Broadway: All About Me, Next to
Normal. Other: By the Way, Meet Vera Stark
(world premiere), Twist, Alliance Theatre;
Curtains and Peter Pan, Paper Mill Playhouse;
Meet Me in St. Louis, TUTS; NEWSical; Beebo
Brinker Chronicles; Shout!; Smokey Joe’s Café;
Speech and Debate; Oroonoko; Ohio State Murders;
M. Butterfly; Tea and Sympathy; Accomplices;
Dinah Was; Silence! the Musical; Trouble in
Paradise. National Tour: The Full Monty.
Television: “The Supreme Court” (PBS documentary). They have also built wigs currently seen in
Wicked, The Addams Family, How to Succeed…
and Jersey Boys.
Members of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of
Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.
Actors’ Equity Association (AEA), founded in 1913, represents
more than 45,000 actors and stage managers in the United
States. Equity seeks to advance, promote and foster the art of live theatre
as an essential component of our society. Equity negotiates wages and
working conditions, providing a wide range of benefits, including health
and pension plans. AEA is a member of the AFL-CIO and is affiliated
with FIA, an international organization of performing arts unions. The
Equity emblem is our mark of excellence. www.actorsequity.org
ARCELL CABUAG
Assistant Choreographer
A.R.T.: Debut. Associate Artistic Director and senior dancer of the Ronald K. Brown Evidence
Dance Company. He has assisted Brown in creating work on Ballet Hispanico, MUNTU,
Philadanco and the Alvin Ailey American Dance
Theater. 2004 recipient of the New York Dance
Bessie Award. Dance credits include: Paramount
Picture’s Rock the House, California; The Shoji
The scenic, costume, lighting and sound designers in
LORT Theatres are represented by United Scenic Artists
Local USA-829 IATSE.
A.R.T. Musicians are members of the Boston Musicians’
Association, Local 9-535 which has protected the interests
of musicians and promoted the art of live music since 1896.
GERSHWIN is a registered Trade Mark of Gershwin Enterprises,
and PORGY AND BESS is a registered Trade Mark of Porgy and
Bess Enterprises
THE GERSHWINS’ PORGY AND BESS 37
About the A.R.T.
Diane Paulus, Artistic Director
The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) is one of the country’s most celebrated resident
theaters and the winner of numerous awards, including the Tony Award, the Pulitzer Prize
and regional Elliot Norton and I.R.N.E. Awards. In May of 2003 it was named one of the
top three regional theaters in the country by Time magazine. The A.R.T. was founded by
Robert Brustein in 1980, who served as Artistic Director until 2002, when he was succeeded
by Robert Woodruff. In 2008, Diane Paulus became the A.R.T.’s Artistic Director. During its
31-year history, the A.R.T. has welcomed many major American and international theater
artists, presenting a diverse repertoire that includes premieres of American plays, bold reinterpretations of classical texts and provocative new music theater productions. The A.R.T.
has performed throughout the U.S. and worldwide in 21 cities in 16 countries on four
continents.
The A.R.T. is also a training ground for young artists. The Theater’s artistic staff teaches
undergraduate classes in acting, directing, dramatic literature, dramaturgy, voice, and design at Harvard University. In 1987, the A.R.T. founded the Institute for Advanced Theater
Training at Harvard University. A two-year, five-semester graduate program that operates
in conjunction with the Moscow Art Theater School, the Institute provides world-class
professional training in acting, dramaturgy and voice.
Since becoming the A.R.T.’s Artistic Director, Diane Paulus has programmed innovative
work that has enhanced the A.R.T.’s core mission to expand the boundaries of theater.
Productions such as Sleep No More, The Donkey Show, Gatz, The Blue Flower and
Prometheus Bound have immersed audiences in original theatrical experiences. The
A.R.T.’s club theater, OBERON, which Paulus calls a “second stage for the 21st century,”
has become an incubator for local artists and has also attracted national attention for its
groundbreaking model for programming. Through all of its work, the A.R.T. is committed
to building a community of artists, technicians, educators, staff and audience, all of whom
are integral to the A.R.T.’s mission to expand the boundaries of theater.
A.R.T. Board of Trustees
A.R.T. Board of Advisors
Donald Ware, Chairman
Kathleen Connor, Co-Chair
Rachael Goldfarb, Co-Chair
Philip Burling
Paul Buttenwieser
Kevin Cole Costin
Mike Dreese
Michael Feinstein
Provost Alan M. Garber
Lori Gross
Ann Gund
Sarah Hancock
Fumi Matsumoto
Rebecca Milikowsky
Ward Mooney
Diane Paulus
James Rhee
Diana Sorensen
Lisbeth Tarlow
Frances Shtull Adams
Joseph Auerbach*
Page Bingham
Greg Carr
Antonia Handler Chayes*
Susan Cohen
Susan Edgman-Levitan
Erin Gilligan
Barbara Grossman
Horace H. Irvine II
Dan Mathieu
Natalie Reed
Ellen Gordon Reeves
Linda U. Sanger
Maggie Seelig
John A. Shane
Michael Shinagel
Sam Weisman
Alfred Wojciechowski
Yuriko Jane Young
*Emeriti
Founding Director
Robert Brustein
38
AMERICAN REPERTORY THEATER
A.R.T./MXAT Institute
For Advanced Theater Training
Scott Zigler, Director Julia Smeliansky, Administrative Director
Marcus Stern, Associate Director
Nancy Houfek, Head of Voice and Speech Andrei Droznin, Head of Movement
Anatoly Smeliansky, Co-Head of Dramaturgy Ryan McKittrick, Co-Head of Dramaturgy
American Repertory Theater
Diane Paulus, Artistic Director/CEO
Moscow Art Theater School
Anatoly Smeliansky, Head
The Institute for Advanced Theater Training at Harvard was established in 1987 by the
American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) as a training ground for the professional American theater. Its
programs are fully integrated with the activities of the A.R.T. In the summer of 1998, the Institute
commenced a historic joint program with the Moscow Art Theater (MXAT) School. Students engage with two invaluable resources: the work of the A.R.T. and that of the MXAT, as well as their affiliated schools. Together, this exclusive partnership offers students opportunities for training and
growth unmatched by any program in the country.
The core program features a rigorous two-year, five-semester period of training in acting,
dramaturgy, or voice pedagogy, during which students work closely with the professionals at
the A.R.T. and the MXAT as well as with the best master teachers from the United States and
Russia. At the end of the program, students receive a Certificate of Achievement from the faculty of the American Repertory Theater and an M.F.A. Degree from the faculty of the Moscow
Art Theater School.
Further information about this program can be obtained by calling the Institute for a free catalog at (617) 495-2668 or going to our web site at www.harvardtheatertraining.org.
Faculty
Staff
Donna Ames
Singing
Robert Brustein
Criticism and Dramaturgy
Erin Cooney
Yoga
Thomas Derrah
Acting
Andrei Droznin
Movement
Jane Guyer Fujita
Voice
Tatyana Gassel
Russian Language and Culture
Jeremy Geidt
Acting
David Hammond
Acting, Shakespeare
Arthur Holmberg
Theater History, Dramaturgy
Nancy Houfek
Voice and Speech
Robert Lada
Alexander Technique
Jodi Leigh Allen
Coordinator of
Movement Training
Will Lebow
Voice-over
Ryan McKittrick
Dramaturgy, Dramatic Literature
Pamela Murray
Singing
Robert Najarian
Combat
Diane Paulus
Theater Practice
Anatoly Smeliansky
Theater History, Dramaturgy
Julia Smeliansky
History of Set Design, Translation
Marcus Stern
Acting
Tommy Thompson
Alexander Technique
Catherine Ulissey
Ballet
Robert Walsh
Combat
Sam Weisman
Director of Professional
Development
Scott Zigler
Acting, Dramaturgy
Angela DeVivo
Chelsea Keating
Christopher Viklund
Skip Curtiss
Financial Aid
Institute Associate
Production Manager
Technical Director
Acting
David Abrams
Milia Ayache
Elizabeth Bates
Kristen Alyson Browne
Matthew Christian
Liza Dickinson
Samantha Eggers
Marisa Fratto
Teri Gamble
Ashruf Ghanimah
Alison Gregory
Dustyn Gulledge
Elijah Guo
Rose Hogan
Megan Hopp
Amen Igbinosun
Carl James
Michael Kane
Rushi Kota
Luke Lehner
Lindsey Liberatore
Lisa Maley
Mark Parrish
Scott Ray
Sarah Beth Roberts
Adeola Role
Lanise Shelley
Henry Austin Shikongo
Dereks Thomas
Robert Torres
Katherine Vos
Roland Walsh
Luke Woodruff
Alexandra Wright
Jing Xu
Dara Yazdani
Dramaturgy
Annie DiMario
Jenna Clark Embrey
Christina Farris
Kenneth Molloy
Liana Stillman
Tyler Monroe
Voice
Ronald Carlos
Sarah Jessop
THE GERSHWINS’ PORGY AND BESS 39
The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess:
Sharing a Cultural Treasure
The American Repertory Theater expresses our sincere thanks to the following generous donors
whose extraordinary gifts were designated to support the production as well as the expanded
education and community access programs for The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess:
LEADERSHIP CIRCLE
Bank of America
Paul and Katie Buttenwieser
Philip and Hilary Burling
Bernadette Mannix Feeney
Ira and Leonore Gershwin
Philanthropic Fund
Marc George Gershwin and
Andrea Gershwin
Frances Gershwin Godowsky Trust
Ann and Graham Gund
John Hancock Financial
Marcia Head
DuBose Heyward Trust
KarmaLoop
Lizbeth and George Krupp
Rebecca and Nathan Milikowsky
Don and Susan Ware
Welch and Forbes
Anonymous
FRIENDS:
Jim and Chris Barker; Nancy and David Berman; Michael and Linda Frieze; Paul Traub; Susan Whitehead
Special thanks to Dan Mathieu and Max Ultimate Food for underwriting the celebratory
Welcome Reception for The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess cast.
Annual Fund Donors
The American Repertory Theater is deeply grateful for the generous Annual Fund support from
individuals, foundations, corporations and government agencies, whose contributions make our
work possible. The following gifts were received between August 1, 2010 and August 11, 2011.
$100,000 and above
The President and Fellows of Harvard College
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
The Shubert Foundation
The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust
$50,000–$99,999
Anonymous
The Carr Foundation
Edgerton Foundation New
American Plays Award
Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Rebecca and Nathan Milikowksy
Sarah Hancock
Lisbeth Tarlow and Stephen Kay
Hershey Family Foundation
Don and Susan Ware
$25,000–$49,999
Philip and Hilary Burling
Paul and Katie Buttenwieser
Michael and Laura Dreese
The E.H.A. Foundation, Inc.
Ann and Graham Gund
Massachusetts Cultural Council
Ward K. and Lucy Mooney
National Corporate Theatre Fund
National Endowment for the Arts
Michael Feinstein and Denise Waldron
Barbara W. Hostetter
Horace H. Irvine II
Heni Koenigsberg
Fumi and Kako Matsumoto
Cokie and Lee Perry
James Rhee
Greg and Dina Selkoe
Trust for Mutual Understanding
Yuriko Jane Young
Steve and Rosemarie Johnson
Dan Mathieu and Neal Balkowitsch/
MAX Ultimate Food
Bob and Alison Murchison
Janet and Irv Plotkin
Valerie Beth Schwartz Foundation
Maggie and John Seelig
The Shane Foundation
Beth Weir
Ted and Mary Wendell
Alfred Wojciechowski and
Tammerah Martin
Joseph W. Hammer
The Roy A. Hunt Foundation
Paul and Wladzia McCarthy
Robert and Janine Penfield
Cynthia Samuelson
John Travis
$10,000–$24,999
Anonymous (2)
Leo L. Beranek Foundation
Cambridge Trust Company
Kevin Cole Costin
Ted and Joan† Cutler
$5,000–$9,999
Anonymous
Bernard Chiu
Clarke and Ethel D. Coggeshall
Susan and Gerald Cohen
Erin Gilligan and Hoil Kim
Rachael Goldfarb
$2,500–$4,999
Anonymous
Dr. Millicent Bell
Barbara Wallace Grossman and
Steve Grossman
40
AMERICAN REPERTORY THEATER
a nnual fund donors
(continued)
$1,000–$2,499
Anonymous (2)
Elizabeth Adams
Frances Shtull Adams
Sheldon Appel
Barbara E. Bierer and
Steven E. Hyman
Linda Cabot Black Foundation
Sheldon and Dorothea Buckler
Candy Kosow Gold
Jill Goldweitz and Morris Levitz
Nicholas Greville
Lori E. Gross
Gardner Hendrie and
Karen Johansen
Jerome and Sheridan Kassirer
Lars Foundation
Mr. and Mrs. Richard Levitan
John D.C. Little
Nick and Jennifer Littlefield
Gregory Maguire
James and Marie Marlas
Alan Muraoka
Diane Paulus
Finley and Patricia Perry
Carol and Steve Pieper
Dr. Lawrence Pratt
Ellen Gordon Reeves
Andres Rodriguez
Patricia Romeo-Gilbert and
Paul B. Gilbert
The Schneer Foundation
Michael Shinagel and
Marjorie North
Marshall Sirvetz
Mason and Jeannie Smith
John Snow, Inc.
Dr. Clive Standley
Deborah Sweet and Steven Lazar
Francis H. Williams
Zipcar
Lawrence Kotin
Ellen Kulik and Bill Barry
Liberty Mutual Give with
Liberty Program
Barbara Manocherian
Erica and Bob Mason
Mark Natale
NSTAR Foundation
Jeryl and Stephen Oristaglio
Vincent Piccirilli and
Anita Meiklejohn
Skip Pile and Mary Jane Patrone
Thomas and Jennifer Pincince
Sally C. Reid and John D. Sigel
Charles and Patty Ribakoff
Janice Saragoni
Wendy Shattuck and
Sam Plimpton
Mark Slovenkai
Michele Steckler
Mindee Wasserman, Esq.
Ms. Kelsey Wirth and
Dr. Samuel Myers
Peter and Dyann Wirth
Margaret and Timothy Heitz
Alison M. Hodges and
Thomas F. Clarke
Hurlbut Family Charitable
Lead Trust
Dr. Joseph Kahan
Tosh Kawakami
Bill and Lisa Laskin
Mary Pfeifer Lentz and Tom Lentz
Greg and Mary Beth Lesher
Lorraine Lyman
Barbara A. Manzolillo
Steven and Kelly Migliero
Michael and Annette Miller
Evelyn Musser
Drs. Hilda and Max Perlitsh
Emily Rooney
Belinda and Evan Schapiro
Mary Shannon
Ellen Simons
Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Snider
Diana Sorensen
Stephen Stulck
Wendell Sykes
Arnold and Gloria Tofias
Kirk and Glynis Wood
$500–$999
Howard and Leslie Appleby
Leonard and Jane Bernstein
Diane Borger
Herrick Chapman and
Lizabeth Anne Cohen
Antonia H. Chayes
Liz Coxe and David Forney
Thomas Engelman and Laurie Burt
Howard Gardner
Dena and Felda Hardymon
Mr. and Mrs. James Joslin
Carol and Jonah Kanin
CC King and Tom Tarpey
$250–$499
Anonymous
Karen Allen
Clark and Susana Bernard
Ronnie Bretholtz
Paul and Cris Carter
Judith Chernoff, in honor of
Audra McDonald
Robert and Kathleen Garner
Tiffani Gavin
Mark Glasser
Marie and Daniel Glenn
Dr. Jeffrey and Laurie Goldbarg
Professor Byron Good and
Professor Mary-Jo DelVecchio Good
Homer Hagedorn
† deceased
In-Kind Supporters
The A.R.T. thanks the following individual and corporate supporters for their invaluable in-kind donations.
MAX Ultimate Food/Dan Mathieu & Neal Balkowitsch
The Weekly Dig
Boston Beer Company
Cambridge 1
The Charles Hotel
Event Illuminations
Google Inc.
Grafton Street
Grendel’s Den
Henrietta’s Table
OM
Sandrine’s
Robert Stolzberg
Tory Row
The Urban Grape
Upstairs on the Square
The Hotel Veritas
Every effort has been made to ensure that all donor information is accurate, but if you have any
questions or concerns, please contact the Development Office: 617.496.2000 x8847.
THE GERSHWINS’ PORGY AND BESS 41
National Corporate Theatre Fund
National Corporate Theatre Fund is a not-for-profit corporation created to increase and strengthen
support from the business community for ten of this country's most distinguished professional
theatres. The following foundations, individuals and corporations support these theatres through
their contributions of $10,000 or more to National Corporate Theatre Fund:
Bank of America #
Bloomberg
BNY Mellon *
Steven Bunson
Christopher Campbell/
Palace Production Center *
Cisco Systems, Inc. *
Citi #
Datacert, Inc.
Dorsey and Whitney Foundation
Ernst & Young
Goldman, Sachs & Co.
Marsh & McLennan Companies
The McGraw-Hill Companies #
MetLife
Morgan Stanley
Pfizer, Inc.
RBC Wealth Management
RVM/Vincent Brunetti
salesforce.com *
Sharp Electronics ^
George S. Smith, Jr.
James S. Turley
UBS
USA Today * ^
Vernalis Systems ^
Wells Fargo #
Wilkie Farr & Gallagher LLP *
* NCTF/BNY Mellon Fund for New
American Theatre
^ Includes In-kind support
# NCTF Fund for Theatre Education
As of June 2011
A.R.T. in N.Y.C.
This new initiative is expanding the A.R.T.’s presence and supporters in New York City. The first event, held in June
2011 in conjunction with Sleep No More, was a success thanks to the work of the A.R.T. in N.Y.C. Committee:
Kevin Cole Costin, Chair
Devon Aoki and James Bailey, Jim Bailey and RoAnn Costin, Rachel Berman and David Finch, Caroline Costin, John and
Jill Dietz, Stephanie Altman Dominus and Andrew Dominus, Leigh Fondakowski, Scott Frankel, David Goldweitz, Erin
Jacobs and Rob Valentine, Brian Kenny, Annmaria Mazzini and Rob Sedgwick, Brina Milikowsky, Rebecca Milikowsky,
Becky Mode, Joan Parker, Julia Pearlstein, Julia Pershan and Jonathan Cohen, Gwen and Woody Pier, Ellen Gordon Reeves,
Maura Costin Scalise and Bob Scalise, Angus Shillington and Lisa Tornell, Todd Shuster, Steven Skybell, Robert Stanton,
Don and Susan Ware, Ann Wozencraft Willey and Craig Willey
For more information about getting involved with A.R.T. in N.Y.C. please call the Development Office:
617.496.2000 x8847
The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess
Gala Celebration
On September 10, 2011, the A.R.T. will celebrate the landmark homecoming of this cultural treasure with a special
gala, which will raise funds to support the production and its education and outreach activities. For more
information or to order tickets, please contact Emily O’Neil: 617.496.2000 x8832 or [email protected].
GALA SPONSOR: Bank of America
Event Co-Chairs: Ann Gund, Trustee • Kevin Cole Costin, Trustee
Honorary Committee
Governor Deval Patrick and
First Lady Diane Patrick
Harvard University President
Drew Faust
Dr. Maya Angelou
Alexis Bittar
Ted Cutler
Harry J. Elam, Jr.
Morgan Freeman
Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
John Lithgow
Diane Paulus
Stephen Schwartz
Tommy Tune
Individual Sponsors
Jim Bailey and RoAnn Costin
Kevin Cole Costin
Ted Cutler
Ann and Graham Gund
Steve and Rosemarie Johnson
42
Host Committee
Andrew E.S. Anderson
Kathy Connor
Jim Bailey and RoAnn Costin
Phil and Hilary Burling
Carol Beggy
Paul and Katie Buttenwieser
Amy Fine Collins and
Brad Collins, Jr.
Daher Interior Design
Alan and Suzanne Dworsky
Michael Feinstein and
Denise Waldron
Pat Romeo-Gilbert and
Paul Gilbert
Erin Gilligan and Hoil Kim
Rachael Goldfarb
Alicia and Martin Gordon
Barbara Lemperly-Grant and
Frederic Grant
Sarah Hancock
Priscilla S. Hunt and Richard M. Hunt
AMERICAN REPERTORY THEATER
Hod Irvine II
Steve and Rosemarie Johnson
Lizbeth and George Krupp
Renée Landers and
Thomas L. Barrette, Jr.
Dan Mathieu
Kathleen McCartney
Rebecca and Nathan Milikowsky
Ward K. and Lucy Mooney
Karen and Gary Mueller
David G. Mugar
Bob and Alison Murchison
Ofer and Shelly Nemirovsky
Ellen Gordon Reeves
Saragoni and Company
James Swan
Lis Tarlow and Stephen Kay
Don and Susan Ware
Yuriko Young
Wine Sponsor: The Urban Grape
As of August 11, 2011
A.R.T. EDUCATION EXPERIENCE
& COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS
The A.R.T. outreach initiatives are designed to provide
an unprecedented level of access to A.R.T. artists and productions.
The Education Experience engages the theater’s resources to provide a
deep arts education experience for students in the Greater Boston area.
Each of the A.R.T.’s partner schools enter into a season-long collaboration
with the A.R.T., during which students are provided subsidized access to
A.R.T. performances, mentoring opportunities, classroom visits from A.R.T.
to specific A.R.T. productions. To date, more than 500 students are
committed to attend The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess.
Community Connections aligns the theater with Greater Boston nonprofit organizations, for the purpose of providing under-resourced families
and individuals with access to high-quality arts experiences. Community
Connections partners get a custom-built arts program that pairs
subsidized tickets to the A.R.T. with an array of enrichment programming—
ranging from private artist talks to creative workshops.
Our 2011/12 Community Connections Partners:
Artists for Humanity
Boston Learning Center
Downtown Boston Veterans Shelter
Goddard House
Mssng Lnks
MGH Center for
Community Health Improvement
Wheelock Family Theater
YWCA Boston
The A.R.T. would like to thank the following for being our “connectors”:
Susan Edgman-Levitan, Erin Gilligan, Mike Feinstein, Sheldon Fisher,
Sarah Patrick and Ann Moritz.
Both the A.R.T. Education Experience and A.R.T. Community
Connections are dependent upon charitable contributions.
Providing support for education and outreach not only underwrites
a ticket, but also provides a student or community member with an
unforgettable arts experience.
A Gift of $25 Sponsors a Child
A Gift of $50 Sponsors a Child and a Parent
A Gift of $100 Sponsors a Child for the Entire 2011-2012 Season
Please visit americanrepertorytheater.org, or call the Development
Department at 617.496.2000 x8838 for more information on
sponsorship, including opportunities to sponsor an entire school
or non-profit organization.
GET THE BEST SEATS AT THE BEST PRICES
WITH A SUBSCRIPTION OR MEMBERSHIP
VISIT: AMERICANREPERTORYTHEATER.ORG CALL: 617.547.8300
BOTH THE LOEB DRAMA CENTER
& OBERON ARE FULLY ACCESSIBLE.
ASSISTIVE LISTENING DEVICES ARE
AVAILABLE TO ALL A.R.T. PERFORMANCES.
LARGE
PRINT
LARGE PRINT PROGRAMS ARE AVAILABLE FOR
USE DURING EVERY A.R.T. PERFORMANCE.
THE A.R.T. OFFERS ASL INTERPRETATION
COMING SOON
Three Pianos
By Rick Burkhardt, Alec Duffy,
and Dave Malloy
Directed by Rachel Chavkin
Hilarity and heartbreak unfold on a
blustery winter night, when three friends
come upon a copy of Schubert’s song
cycle Winterreise. starts 12/7
AT DESIGNATED PERFORMANCES OF
PORGY AND BESS.
EMAIL: [email protected] FOR TICKETS
P
DISCOUNTED PARKING IS AVAILABLE AT
CHARLES SQUARE GARAGE (BENNETT ST.) &
UNIVERSITY PLACE GARAGE (UNIVERSITY RD)
FOR BOTH VENUES.
AT OBERON
OBERON IS THE SECOND STAGE
OF THE A.R.T.—A DESTINATION FOR
THEATER & NIGHTLIFE ON THE FRINGE
OF HARVARD SQUARE.
ADVANCED PURCHASE PERMIT PARKING IS
AVAILABLE AT THE 1033 MASSACHUSETTS
AVENUE LOT FOR OBERON.
REFRESHMENTS ARE AVAILABLE FOR
PURCHASE AT ALL A.R.T. PERFORMANCES.
LOOKING TO DINE BEFORE OR AFTER A
SHOW? FOR OUR RESTAURANT PARTNERS
In addition to A.R.T. season
programming, OBERON is a thriving
incubator for local and emerging artists.
Attracting national attention for its
groundbreaking model of programming,
the immersive experience at OBERON
makes the audience a partner in the
theatrical event. CLUBOBERON.COM
AND THEIR GREAT DEALS
VISIT: AMERICANREPERTORYTHEATER.ORG/
DISCOUNTS
NEW THIS SEASON: WEDNESDAY MATINEES
AT THE LOEB DRAMA CENTER
DON’T MISS POST-SHOW DISCUSSIONS
FOLLOWING SELECT MATINEES
BOX OFFICE
ADDRESS: 64 BRATTLE ST.,
CAMBRIDGE, MA. 02138
HOURS: TUE-SUN, NOON-5 P.M.
OR 1/2 HOUR BEFORE CURTAIN
The Donkey Show
NOW PLAYING—EVERY SATURDAY NIGHT
FAMILY FUN
The Snow Queen
By Hans Christian Andersen
Directed by Allegra Libonati
Adapted by Tyler Monroe
Featuring The A.R.T./MXAT Institute
Class of 2012
Hans Christian Andersen’s exuberant
ode to childhood comes to life in this
new adaptation.
starts 12/10 — TICKETS FROM $15
BOOK A GROUP:
AMERICANREPERTORYTHEATER.ORG/
GROUPS
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US?
Facebook: americanrepertorytheater
Twitter: americanrep
Give: americanrepertorytheater.org/support
Our 2011/12 Season is
generously supported by:
OFFICIAL
PRINT SPONSOR
Staff
AMERICAN REPERTORY THEATER STAFF
ARTISTIC
Artistic Director/CEO.......................................Diane Paulus
Producer/Interim Managing Director ..............Diane Borger
Artistic Coordinator .................................Chris De Camillis
Director of Special Projects ........................Ariane Barbanell
Dramaturg...................................................Ryan McKittrick
Special Assistant to the
Artistic Director/CEO...................................Lauren Antler
Artistic Associate .........................................Allegra Libonati
Artistic Director Fellow .............................Shira Milikowsky
Artistic Intern....................................Kendrick Terrell Evans
Dramaturgy Intern ................................................Eli Keehn
INSTITUTE
Director ...............................................................Scott Zigler
Administrative Director..............................Julia Smelianksy
Associate Director ............................................Marcus Stern
Co-head of Dramaturgy ........................Anatoly Smeliansky
Co-head of Dramaturgy..............................Ryan McKittrick
Resident Literary Advisor ..........................Arthur Holmberg
Head of Voice and Speech .............................Nancy Houfek
Institute Associate .......................................Chelsea Keating
Financial Aid ................................................Angela DeVivo
Production Manager............................Christopher Viklund
Technical Director..............................................Skip Curtiss
EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
DEVELOPMENT
Director of Development ....................................Ellen Kulik
Deputy Director of Development...............Megan Hinckley
Institutional Giving Officer .....................Meghan Coleman
Donor Information Coordinator .....................Emily O’Neil
MARKETING
Director of Marketing and Communications...Anna Fitzloff
Director of Press and Public Relations........Katalin Mitchell
Marketing and Communications Manager ..........Jared Fine
Interim Communications Manager........Amanda Gutowski
Graphic Design Associate .....................................Joel Zayac
Outreach and Education Associate.................Brendan Shea
Marketing and Communications Associate......Grace Geller
Marketing Interns ...........Chris Masterson, Olivia D’Angelo
FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION
Comptroller ................................................Barbara Addison
Assistant Comptroller ...................................Angela DeVivo
Financial Administrator ....................................Stacie Hurst
Theater and Facilities Manager .........................Tracy Keene
Company Manager .......................................Mark Lunsford
Front of House Manager ........................Stephen Wuycheck
Receptionists ............................Sarah Leon, Maria Medeiros
House Managers .........Kevin Cloud, Gretjen Hargesheimer,
Michael Haviland, Heather Quick,
Eleanor Regan, Matthew Spano, Matt Wood
Volunteer Usher Coordinator .................Barbara Lindstrom
BOX OFFICE
Head of Patron Systems .................................Derek Mueller
Box Office Manager ...........................................Ryan Walsh
Box Office and Group Sales Coordinator .........Alicia Curtis
Box Office Representative ...............................Karen Snyder
PRODUCTION
Production Manager...................................Patricia Quinlan
Associate Production
Managers .....................Christopher Viklund, Skip Curtiss
Loeb Technical Director ............................J. Michael Griggs
COSTUMES
Costume Shop Manager ...........................Jeannette Hawley
Assistant Costume Shop Manager ..................Mary R. Hurd
Crafts Artisan ......................................David Israel Reynoso
Costume Draper...........................................Caitlin Menotti
Wardrobe Supervisor ...................................Stephen Drueke
Costume/Props Stock Manager.....................Suzanne Kadiff
LIGHTS
Master Electrician ..........................................Derek L. Wiles
Light Board Operator ................................Matthew Houstle
PROPERTIES
Properties Manager ............................ Cynthia Lee-Sullivan
Properties Carpenter............................Stacey Horne-Harper
SCENERY
Technical Director ....................................Stephen Setterlun
Assistant Technical Directors.............................Nick Fouch,
Chris Swetcky
Scene Shop Supervisor....................................David Buckler
Scenic Charge Artist..............................................Jerry Vogt
Master Carpenter...........................................Peter Doucette
Scenic Carpenters ............York-Andreas Paris, Jason Bryant,
Kristin Knutson
Carpentry Interns .....................Nathaniel Drake, Jon Seilor
Paint Intern .....................................................Laura Muñoz
SOUND
Resident Sound Designer/Engineer ..............Clive Goodwin
Production Sound Engineer.......................Katrina McGuire
Sound Console Operator.................................Brian Walters
STAGE
Stage Supervisor .............................................Jeremie Lozier
Assistant Stage Supervisor ............Christopher Eschenbach
Production Assistants ..........Kevin Klein, Matthew Sebastian
OBERON
Producer .........................................................Randy Weiner
Associate Producer .....................................Ariane Barbanell
Production Manager ..........................................Skip Curtiss
Venue Manager....................................................Erin Wood
Programming Manager....................................James Wetzel
House Technician...........................................Garrett Herzig
Donkey Show VIP Coordinator......................Sonia Carrion
ADDITIONAL STAFF FOR PORGY AND BESS
Carpenters ...............................Dan Black, Nathaniel Drake,
George Kane, Rena Luczkiewicz, Martin Lynch,
Sam Lynch, Garrett McEntee, Jon Seilor, Ben St. Louis
Scenic Painters .........................Heather Morris, Lori Hruska
Paint Intern.....................................................Laila Milevski
Stitchers ......................................Ameera Ali, Teka England,
Sally Ravitz, Carmel Dundon
Dressers............................Robin Rittenour, Brian Choinsky,
Emily Damron, Amber Voner
Milliner .........................................................Denise Wallace
Crafts Assistant .............................................Jeffery Burrows
Draper.........................................................Penney Pinnette
First Hands..............................Jen Bennett, Karen Martakos
Wig Maintenance ..............................Rachel Padula-Shufelt
Wig Crew ..................................................Sydney Robinson
Props Assistant/Craftspersons ........................Justin Seward,
Rebecca Helgeson
THE GERSHWINS’ PORGY AND BESS 45
GUIDE to
LOCAL
THEATER
September/
October 2011
DOWNTOWN/THEATRE DISTRICT
BLUE MAN GROUP, Charles Playhouse, 74 Warrenton St., 617931-2787 or 617-426-6912. Ongoing. This giddily subversive
off-Broadway hit serves up outrageous and inventive theater
where three muted, blue-painted performers spoof both contemporary art and modern technology. Wry commentary and bemusing antics are matched only by the ingenious ways in which
music and sound are created. The show has recently been updated with new performance pieces and music.
DELUSION, Paramount Theatre, 559 Washington St., 617-8248000. Sep 27–Oct 2. This evening of performance art legend
Laurie Anderson’s personal meditations on life, language, mem-
ory and identity is centered around the belief that words and
stories can create the world, as well as make it disappear.
HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH?: OUR VALUES IN QUESTION, The
Foundry Theatre, The Jackie Liebergott Black Box at the
Paramount Center, 559 Washington St., 617-824-8000. Sep
13–25. This interactive theater piece, a world premiere, is a
series of questions posed to audience members, creating a
lively talk show environment that discusses how participants
have lived their lives, what plans they’ve made for the future
and what advice they can offer to us and one another as we all
attempt to create lives of value.
THE INFERNAL COMEDY, Cutler Majestic Theatre at Emerson
College, 219 Tremont St., 800-233-3123. Sep 29 & 30.
Featuring stage and screen star John Malkovich, this cross
between a chilling crime drama and Baroque opera (featuring
a live orchestra playing period instruments) is based on the
life story of serial killer Jack Unterweger. Mysteriously back
from the grave for an autobiographical book tour, Unterweger
oozes disconcerting charm as he narrates his sordid and
shocking history.
MORTAL TERROR, Boston Playwrights’ Theatre and Suffolk
University, Modern Theatre at Suffolk University, 525 Washington
St., 866-811-4111. Sep 15–Oct 2. National Medal of Arts winner
Robert Brustein brings the spirit of William Shakespeare back to
the stage in his imaginative story of political upheaval set during
the ignition of the Gunpowder Plot.
SHEAR MADNESS, Charles Playhouse Stage II, 74 Warrenton
St., 617-426-5225. Ongoing. This hilarious Boston-set whodunit, where the clues change every night and the laughs
THE FESSENDEN SCHOOL
Honesty, Compassion and Respect
ADMISSIONS OPEN HOUSES
Sunday, October 23, 1:00-3:00 p.m.
Tuesday, November 15, 6:30-8:00 p.m.
for prospective
Kindergarten
parents
Sunday, December 4, 1:00-3:00 p.m.
ADMISSIONS RECEPTION
Monday, January 9, 2012, 7:00-9:00 p.m.
BRINGING OUT THE BEST IN BOYS
K- GRADE 9 DAY, GRADES 5–9 BOARDING
250 Waltham Street, West Newton, MA www.fessenden.org 617-630-2300
46
AMERICAN REPERTORY THEATER
g uide to local theater
(continued)
come fast and furious, is a worldwide phenomenon filled with
up-to-the-minute spontaneous humor and quicksilver improvisation where the audience becomes part of the action and gets
to solve the crime.
SOUTH PACIFIC, Boston Opera House, 539 Washington St.,
617-931-2787. Sep 27–Oct 2. Based on James Michener’s
Pulitzer Prize-winning book Tales of the South Pacific, Rodgers
& Hammerstein’s classic musical set on a tropical island during
World War II tells the story of two couples and how their happiness is threatened by the realities of war. The beloved show’s
songs include “Some Enchanted Evening,” “I’m Gonna Wash
That Man Right Outa My Hair,” “This Nearly Was Mine” and
“There is Nothin’ Like a Dame.”
THE SPEAKER’S PROGRESS, Sulayman Al-Bassam Theatre,
Paramount Theatre, 559 Washington St., 617-824-8000. Oct
12–16. Using Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night as a starting point
to explore events in the Middle East, this play set in a totalitarian Arab state where all forms of theater have been banned is
a satire on the decades of political inertia that have fed recent
revolts across the Arab region and a daring theatrical metaphor
for the mechanisms of dissent.
YOU BETTER SIT DOWN: TALES FROM MY PARENTS’
DIVORCE, The Civilians, Paramount Theatre, 559 Washington St.,
617-824-8000. Oct 12–16. This hysterical account of marriage
and divorce, based on the troupe members’ interviews with their
own parents, presents four actors—each playing his or her own
parents—who serve as conduits for stories of family division.
Stage
Spotlight
YOUR GUIDE TO
NEW ENGLAND THEATRE
PRESENTS THE MUSICAL ADAPTATION OF
NORTON JUSTER’S ACCLAIMED STORY
The Phantom Tollbooth
OCTOBER 21–NOVEMBER 20, 2011
617-879-2300 • [email protected]
www.WheelockFamilyTheatre.org
Boston’s Professional, Affordable Theatre
for Every Generation
LOCAL/REGIONAL THEATER
AS YOU LIKE IT, Theatre@First, Seven Hills Park (behind the
Davis Square T station), Holland Street, Somerville, 888-8747554. Sep 8–11. This free outdoor production presents one of
Shakespeare’s most enduring comedies, in which city and
country collide as Rosalind, a Duke’s daughter fleeing the
wrath of her uncle, heads into the woods to find her father—
and herself.
THE BACCHAE, Whistler in the Dark, Charlestown Working
Theater, 442 Bunker Hill St., 866-811-4111. Sep 15–23. In
Euripides’ ancient tragedy, the citizens of Thebes deny the divinity of Dionysos, who punishes them by inciting the women
into a frenzy—driving them from their homes into the mountains where they enact the wild rituals of worship to Bacchus.
The young king Pentheus wrestles the god for control of his
city, but will his lack of understanding lead to his ruination?
BEFORE I LEAVE YOU, Huntington Theatre Company, Wimberly
Theatre, Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts,
527 Tremont St., 617-933-8600. Oct 14–Nov 13. In a blink,
Emily’s Harvard Square world falls apart. Her husband Koji suddenly embraces his Asian roots. Her friend Jeremy’s work on his
novel gets interrupted by a health scare and his sister Trish moving in. Four longtime friends face too much past and too little future in this moving new comedy.
BIG RIVER, Lyric Stage Company, 140 Clarendon St., 617-5855678. Sep 2–Oct 8. Join Huck and Jim on the Mississippi River
in the 1840s, where Huck, escaping from his drunken father,
meets up with Jim, a runaway slave. The story of their journey
downstream is an American classic that captures the idyllic
pleasures and unacknowledged injustices of life on the big river
with humor, song and spirit.
THE BOSTON CONSERVATORY
Curtains
THE MUSICAL COMEDY WHODUNIT FROM
THE CREATORS OF CABARET AND CHICAGO
DIRECTED BY DAVID GRAM
MUSICAL DIRECTION BY BILL CASEY
OCTOBER 3–6, 2011
BY JEAN
The Balcony
GENET • DIRECTED BY JOHN KUNTZ
FOR MATURE AUDIENCES
NOVEMBER 17–20, 2011
The Boston Conservatory Theater
31 Hemenway Street
Box Office opens Sept. 6, 2011: 617-912-9222
http://bostonconservatory.ticketforce.com
Advertise in Theatrebill’s
Not-for-Profit Theater section.
Call 617-423-3400 for more information.
SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
g ui d e to l o c a l the a te r
book, music, and lyrics by Jonathan Larson
directed by Benjamin Evett
musical direction by Todd C. Gordon
choreography by Kelli Edwards
featuring New Rep Favorites
Aimee Doherty, Eve Kagan
and Maurice E. Parent
Sept. 4 - Sept. 25, 2011
charles mosesian theater
321 ARSENAL ST. WATERTOWN MA
Tickets start at $28
Free Parking!
(con tin u ed )
BUDDY COP 2, Stoneham Theatre, 395 Main St., Stoneham,
781-279-2200. Oct 20–Nov 6. For the residents of Shandon,
Indiana, it’s Christmas in August as the town rallies to honor a
girl’s dying wish and the local police fight crime from the community center after a flood. As the fruitcakes and Christmas
watermelons collect, this quirky and touching play shows how
a community unites to help one of its own, and how, even in
the smallest of towns, secrets are waiting to be revealed.
CANDIDE, Huntington Theatre Company, Boston University
Theatre, 264 Huntington Ave., 617-266-0800. Sep 10–Oct 16.
Featuring Leonard Bernstein’s soaring score and lyrics from
some of the wittiest writers of all time, this outrageous
musical satire tells the story of naïve Candide. Banished for
romancing the Baron’s daughter, Candide is plagued by a
series of absurd hardships that challenges his optimistic
outlook on life and love.
CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF, Riverside Theatre Works, 45
Fairmount Ave., Hyde Park, 617-361-5269. Sep 16–Oct 2. Set
in the 1950s in the Deep South, Tennessee Williams’ classic
begins as a plantation owner celebrates what he thinks is his
cure from cancer on his 65th birthday. This sultry drama explores a family’s internal battle to look truthfully at its own past
as shocking secrets are revealed.
CHICAGO, Metro Stage Company, Cambridge Family YMCA
Theatre, 820 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, 617-524-5013.
Oct 21–29. In roaring ’20s Chicago, Roxie Hart murders a
faithless lover and is sent to death row, where she and fellow
“Merry Murderess” Velma Kelly vie for headlines and the spotlight, ultimately joining forces in search of the “American
Dream”: fame, fortune and acquittal.
IN RESIDENCE AT THE
ARSENAL CENTER FOR THE ARTS
BY
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COLLECTED STORIES, New Repertory Theatre, Charles
Mosesian Theater, Arsenal Center for the Arts, 321 Arsenal St.,
Watertown, 617-923-8487. Oct 9–30. Ruth Steiner, a critically
acclaimed author, takes her student, Lisa, under her wing. When
Lisa becomes a much-admired published writer and uses
Ruth’s secretive life story for her own novel, the balance of
power shifts and the boundaries of their relationship is called
into question in this play by Pulitzer Prize winner Donald
Margulies (Dinner With Friends).
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newrep.org
617-923-8487
“Gorgeously
imagined,
Candide is
a garden
of delights!”
— CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
48
AMERICAN REPERTORY THEATER
CURTAINS, The Boston Conservatory Theater, 31 Hemenway
St., 617-912-9222. Oct 3–6. It’s the brassy, bright and promising year of 1959. Boston’s Colonial Theatre is host to the opening night performance of a new musical. When the leading lady
mysteriously dies on stage, the entire cast and crew are suspects. Enter a local detective, who just happens to be a musical theater fan.
DEARLY BELOVED, The CoLab Theatre Company, Unity Church
of God, 6 William St., Somerville, 800-838-3006. Oct 21–Nov
19. In this world premiere by by Brendan Doris-Pierce, Julius
and his best friend Morrie live together comfortably, reliving
their college days. But Julius’ girlfriend, June, is growing frustrated with Morrie’s quirks—specifically his phobia of all things
related to love and sex. They find themselves awash in wedding
invitations, prompting a crisis in Julius’ and June’s relationship.
THE DIVINE SISTER, SpeakEasy Stage Company, Roberts
Studio Theatre, Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for
the Arts, 527 Tremont St., 617-933-8600. Oct 21–Nov 19. This
gleefully twisted tale by Charles Busch (Die, Mommie, Die! and
Psycho Beach Party) tells the story of an indomitable Mother
g uide to local theater
(continued)
Superior trying to cope with a young postulant experiencing “visions,” a sensitive schoolboy in need of mentoring, a mysterious nun visiting from Berlin and a former suitor intent on luring
her away from her vows.
DOGG’S HAMLET and CAHOOT’S MACBETH, Whistler in the
Dark, Plaza Black Box Theatre, Boston Center for the Arts, 539
Tremont St., 617-933-8600. Oct 27–Nov 19. An evening of
word-wizardry combining two short Tom Stoppard plays is presented. In the first play, three students are setting up for their production of a 15-minute Hamlet to be performed in its original
language. The catch? These students speak Dogg—a language
comprised of English words but with different meanings. In the
second play, renegade actors stage a secret performance of
Shakespeare’s Macbeth that becomes a stark and moving
metaphor for resistance in a time of censorship.
THE DONKEY SHOW, American Repertory Theater, Oberon,
2 Arrow St., Cambridge, 617-547-8300. Ongoing. Bringing the
ultimate disco experience to Boston, this crazy circus of mirror
balls, feathered divas, roller skaters and hustle queens tells the
story of A Midsummer Night’s Dream through great ’70s anthems you know by heart.
THE FARM, Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, Walcott Theatre, 949
Commonwealth Ave., 866-811-4111. Sep 29–Oct 23. Something
went wrong, but Finn’s not talking. Instead, he’s retiring, and
Parker needs to know why. But trust doesn’t come easy at the
CIA, and as the two operatives match wits, it becomes clear that
they may not even be on the same side.
FIGHTING OVER BEVERLEY, Gloucester Stage Company,
267 East Main St., Gloucester, 978-281-4433. Through Sep
11. Israel Horovitz’s romantic comedy pits three 70-somethings—Beverley, a WWII English war bride; Zelly, her fisherman husband; and Archie, the Brit Beverley jilted 53 years
ago—against each other as they hash out their feelings while
plotting an uncertain future.
FISHNET-NETWORKS.NET!, The Theatre at Club Cafe, 209
Columbus Ave., 866-811-4111. Through Sep 9. Economy got
you down? Job trouble? Sick of being trapped in your cubicle?
Get the urge to smack your co-workers with a fish stick (or
10)? Don’t worry! FishNet-NetWorks.Net is hiring in this hilarious, politically incorrect audience-interactive parody of a large
American computer networking company.
THE GERSHWINS’ PORGY AND BESS, American Repertory
Theater, Loeb Drama Center, 64 Brattle St., Cambridge, 617547-8300. Through Oct 2. Internationally renowned stars
Audra McDonald, Norm Lewis and David Alan Grier and A.R.T.
Artistic Director Diane Paulus take on a revival adapted by
Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks
(Topdog/Underdog ) and OBIE-winning composer Diedre Murray
(Best of Both Worlds). Set in 1930s Charleston, South Carolina,
this classic (which had its world premiere at Boston’s Colonial
Theatre in 1935) tells the story of beautiful and troubled Bess,
who turns to crippled beggar Porgy in search of safety after her
possessive lover commits murder, and boasts such beloved
works as “Summertime,” “Bess, You Is My Woman” and “It
Ain’t Necessarily So.”
Richard Bell:
Uz vs.Them
Ken Gonzales-Day:
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THE GERSHWINS’ PORGY AND BESS 49
g uide to local theater
(continued)
THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES, Central Square Theater,
450 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, 866-811-4111. Sep
7–Oct 2. Three actors, sixteen roles: Steven Canny and John
Nicholson’s fast-paced send-up of the classic Sherlock Holmes
novel returns after a hit run in summer of 2010, teeming with
physical humor and visual gags.
IN THE RED AND BROWN WATER, Company One, Plaza
Theatre, Boston Center for the Arts, 539 Tremont St., 617933-8600. Oct 28–Dec 3. Oya can run faster than anyone, but
not fast enough to escape her fate. When pressed to choose
between her dying mother and her dreams of escape, she
makes a life-changing decision in this play by Tarell Alvin
McCraney, one of the most celebrated young writers in the
American theatre.
THE KING AND I, North Shore Music Theatre, 62 Dunham
Road, Beverly, 978-232-7200. Sep 27–Oct 9. It is 1862 in
Siam when an English widow and her young son arrive at the
Royal Palace in Bangkok, having been summoned by the King
to serve as tutor to his many children and wives. With both
keeping a firm grip on their respective traditions and values,
Anna and the King grow to understand and eventually respect
one another in a truly unique love story featuring a dazzling
Rodgers and Hammerstein score that includes such beloved
songs as “Getting to Know You” and “Shall We Dance.”
MOJO, Theatre on Fire, Charlestown Working Theater, 442
Bunker Hill St., 866-811-4111. Oct 7–22. Silver Johnny is the
new singing sensation of 1958 London. His success could be
the big break for two dead-end, pill-popping bar hands, but before they can dream what to do with all the money they’ll
make, the owner turns up dead, Silver Johnny disappears, the
second in command takes over the bar and a power struggle
ensues in this high-speed, menacing comedy filled with the
raw energy of early rock ’n’ roll.
NEIGHBORHOOD 3: REQUISITION OF DOOM, Happy Medium
Theatre, Factory Theatre, The Piano Factory, 791 Tremont St.,
617-549-9854. Oct 20–29. In a suburban subdivision with
identical houses, parents find their teenagers addicted to an
online horror video game. The goal? Smash through an army of
zombies to escape the neighborhood for good. But as the line
blurs between virtual and reality, both parents and players realize that fear has a life of its own.
NEXT FALL, SpeakEasy Stage Company, Roberts Studio
Theatre, Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts,
527 Tremont St., 617-933-8600. Sep 16–Oct 15. Luke, a devout Christian, and Adam, a non-believer, have been together
for four years, yet spiritual differences continue to spark trouble in their relationship. A sudden twist of fate, however,
changes everything in this compelling new play that looks at
what it means to believe and what it might cost us not to.
THE ODYSSEY, Charlestown Working Theater, 442 Bunker Hill
St., 866-811-4111. Sep 14–25. This adaptation of Homer’s
epic poem—told in fragments floating on top of song, text,
Intermezzo The New England Chamber Opera Series
presents
ROCKET’S
RED BLARE
an opera buffa in two acts
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For tickets call 617-899-4261
$20, 30, $45 in advance or at the door; cash or check
See www.intermezzo-opera.org for more information
50
AMERICAN REPERTORY THEATER
D’Anna Fortunato
David Kravitz
Ray Bauwens
Natalie Polito
Gregory Zavracky
Edward Jones, conductor
Kirsten Z. Cairns, director
William A. Fregosi, designer
g uide to local theater
(continued)
image and physicality—is performed by two people traveling
together in a small boat, sailing across a half-real, half
imaginary landscape of one-eyed giants, voodoo priestesses
and seafarers.
OR, Lyric Stage Company, 140 Clarendon St., 617-585-5678.
Oct 14–Nov 6. Aphra Behn is getting out of the spy game and
into showbiz. All she has to do is finish her first play, lure Nell
Gwynne to be the star, keep King Charles II as her patron and
stop her former lover from getting them all killed. This sexy, riotous comedy is loosely inspired by the true story of the literal
first lady of the stage.
OUR TOWN, Riverside Theatre Works, 45 Fairmount Ave., Hyde
Park, 617-361-5269. Oct 28–Nov 13. Thornton Wilder’s memorable American classic tells the story of two families in a
small New England town and their personal hopes for a good
life, lasting love and eternal peace as they experience life’s
greatest joys and tragedies.
THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH, Wheelock Family Theatre,
200 The Riverway, 617-879-2300. Oct 21–Nov 20. Passing
through a mysterious tollbooth, Milo embarks on a quest to
restore the Princesses of Rhyme and Reason to the Kingdom
of Wisdom in the musical adaptation of Norton Juster’s awardwinning book.
RENT, New Repertory Theatre, Charles Mosesian Theater,
Arsenal Center for the Arts, 321 Arsenal St., Watertown,
617-923-8487. Sep 4–25. Jonathan Larson’s Pulitzer Prize
and Tony Award-winning musical tells the story of a group of
struggling bohemian artists living in New York City’s Lower
East Side. This ground-breaking and powerful rock opera,
based on Puccini’s La Bohème, explores the necessity of love
and friendship, and the repercussions of living with AIDS in
modern day society.
THE RIVER WAS WHISKEY, Boston Playwrights’ Theatre,
Odyssey Theatre, 949 Commonwealth Ave., 866-811-4111.
Oct 27–Nov 20. A gritty ghost story set amongst the racial tensions of 1940s Mississippi, William C. Fancher’s Southern
Gothic tale features original music by the playwright and
pulses with past revenge and present retribution.
THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW, Turtle Lane Playhouse, 283
Melrose St., Newton, 866-811-4111. Oct 7–30. Newly engaged couple Brad and Janet encounter a problem when their
car halts in the rain and they find themselves at the castle of
transvestite Dr. Frank-N-Furter. A place to stay is offered, but
will Brad and Janet want to remain there? Especially when a
large group of Transylvanians dance to the “Time Warp” and
Dr. Frank-N-Furter builds his own man.
ROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD, The
Footlight Club, Eliot Hall, 7A Eliot St., Jamaica Plain, 617524-3200. Sep 16–Oct 1. Tom Stoppard’s absurdist, existentialist tragicomedy expands upon the exploits of two minor
characters from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, who voice their
confusion at the progress of events of which they have no
direct knowledge.
SLASHER, Apollinaire Theatre Company, Chelsea Theatre
Works, 189 Winnisimmet St., Chelsea, 617-887-2336. Oct
14–Nov 5. In this horrifying comedy by Allison Moore, Sheena
is cast as the “last girl” in a low-budget slasher flick. She
thinks it’s the big break for which she’s been waiting, but it in-
Located in Stowe, Vermont at the
EDVH RI 0W 0DQVÀHOG DQG 6SUXFH 3HDN
World class performances in a
stunning mountain setting...
your destination for the arts!
The Grand Opening 2010-2011
Season has included artists
and performances by
James Taylor, Ben Vereen, Juan
DeMarcos and the Afro-Cuban
All Stars, Little Feat, The Bacon
Brothers, Celtic Crossroads and
many more...
Upcoming events include:
An Evening with Groucho starring
Frank Ferrante (Sept 2-3)
Bo Bice in Concert (Sept 4)
Blackberry Smoke (Sept 9)
Orla Fallon (Oct 7)
Classic Albums Live! presents
Thriller (Oct 14)
ETHEL with Robert Mirabal
(Oct 21)
The Second City (Oct 22)
Mad Science Theatre presents
CSI Live! (Oct 28-29)
For more information, please
visit www.sprucepeakarts.org or
call 802-760-4634
THE GERSHWINS’ PORGY AND BESS 51
g uide to local theater
(continued)
stead unleashes her malingering mother’s thwarted feminist
rage. Mom is prepared to do anything to stop filming—even if
it kills her.
STEEL MAGNOLIAS, Stoneham Theatre, 395 Main St.,
Stoneham, 781-279-2200. Sep 15–Oct 2. On the morning of
her wedding day, Shelby Eatenton, her mother and her
mother’s outrageous friends—the lovable curmudgeon Ouiser
and small-town grande dame Clairee—gather in Truvy’s smalltown Louisiana beauty parlor. Filled with humor and heartbreak, these women make us laugh and cry as they face life’s
uncertainties with courage and humor.
TWELFTH NIGHT, Actors’ Shakespeare Project, Plaza Theatre,
Boston Center for the Arts, 539 Tremont St., 617-933-8600.
Sep 27–Oct 23. A shipwreck on the shores of Illyria provides
the collision that sends Shakespeare’s sublime characters
on a course toward self-discovery. Through foibles and
mistaken identities, we learn that neither love nor knowledge
is ever uncomplicated, and that laughter at others comes at
one’s own peril.
WOMEN OF WILL, The Nora Theatre Company, Central Square
Theater, 450 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, 866-811-4111.
Oct 13–Nov 6. Shakespearean impresario Tina Packer takes
audiences on a journey, illuminating the evolution of the femi-
nine in the Bard’s plays and revealing the ways in which
Shakespeare believed we could build a better world.
DANCE
KINGS OF SALSA, Cutler Majestic Theatre at Emerson College,
219 Tremont St., 800-233-3123. Oct 13–15. This sizzling,
high-energy dance and music performance captures the
hottest salsa moves direct from Havana.
OPERA
BÉATRICE ET BÉNÉDICT, Opera Boston, Cutler Majestic Theatre
at Emerson College, 219 Tremont St., 800-233-3123. Oct 21–25.
Based on Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, Hector Berlioz’
lovely, luminous opear stars tenor Sean Panikkar and mezzo-soprano Kelley O’Connor as Shakespeare’s battling couple who realize their love for each other through their friends’ plotting.
ROCKET’S RED BLARE, Intermezzo New England Chamber
Opera Series, Aggasiz Theater, Harvard University, 14 Mason
St., Cambridge, 617-899-4261. Sep 23 & 24. A king and
queen of a mythical kingdom forbid their son to marry a girl
from the village or risk banishment by being sent in a rocket to
the other side of the world in this two-act work by James
Yannatos fashioned after the traditional “opera buffa.”
Audra
McDonald
in concert
Sunday | October 2 | 5pm | Symphony Hall
Join Celebrity Series of Boston for the opening night performance of the
2011-12 season, an unforgettable evening of songs with Audra McDonald!
Tickets start at $40. To purchase call:
SymphonyCharge | 888-266-1200
www.celebrityseries.org
52
AMERICAN REPERTORY THEATER
Direct from its sold-out run
at the New York Theatre Workshop
THREE
PIANOS
A lively romp inspired by Schubert’s Winterreise
"Just the cure for seasonal
affective disorder conceived
with hedonistic gusto. Three Pianos is
a fast festive ode to a somber work of art."
Ben Brantley, The New York Times
ON SALE NOW
TO MEMBERS & SUBSCRIBERS
ON SALE TO PUBLIC: OCT. 11
STARTS DEC. 7
VISIT: americanrepertorytheater.org
CALL: 617.547.8300
GUIDE to
CAMBRIDGE
DINING
L–Lunch • D–Dinner • B–Breakfast
C–Cocktails • VP–Valet Parking
SB–Sunday Brunch • LS–Late Supper
THE ASGARD IRISH PUB & RESTAURANT, 350 Massachusetts
Ave., 617-577-9100. The Asgard was designed in Ireland, with
local artists putting the finishing touches on a truly one-of-akind bar. Communal tables and a variety of cool, comfortable
places to sit—along with an extensive menu, a large craft beer
selection, outdoor patio, live music, trivia nights, DJs and no
cover charge—make the Asgard a perfect spot for a pint and a
meal. L, D, Sat & SB, LS, C.
BONDIR, 279A Broadway, 617-661-0009. This cozy, farmhouse-style restaurant showcases the pastoral and marine
SOME ’PHIN FOR EVERYONE: Enjoy some of
the freshest seafood around—from oysters and
lobsters to fried clams and swordfish—at
Dolphin Seafood.
bounty of New England and offers a finely curated selection
of American and European wines and beers. Following a
simple philosophy of quality and care, Chef Jason Bond uses
vegetables picked the same day, fish hours out of the ocean
and pasture-raised meats on his daily-changing menu. D
Wed–Mon 5–10 p.m.
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54
AMERICAN REPERTORY THEATER
g uide to cambridge di ni ng
(continued)
BORDER CAFE, 32 Church St., 617-864-6100. Sizzling fajitas,
overstuffed quesadillas and giant margaritas are the highlights
at this Tex-Mex hotspot in Harvard Square. Other specialties include Cajun and Creole dishes, all served in a bustling, lively
and fun atmosphere. L, D, C, LS.
CAMBRIDGE, 1., 27 Church St., Harvard Square, 617-5761111; 1381 Boylston St., Boston, 617-437-1111. City dwellers
looking for refined, sophisticated pizzas can find comfort in
Cambridge, 1. Its Best of Boston award-winning, thin crust,
charcoal-grilled pies include such toppings as grilled chicken,
potato, arugula and even lobster. Both locations offer salads in
addition to beer and wine while the Fenway site features select
appetizers and pasta dishes. L, D, C, LS.
CHEZ HENRI, 1 Shepard St., 617-354-8980. Chef/owner Paul
O’Connell offers up delicious French cuisine with a Cuban twist
in a classy and comfortable settting, located between Harvard
and Porter Squares. Be sure to sample signature dishes like
the camarones rellenos de yuca (baked stuffed shrimp) and the
blanquette de lapin (braised rabbit with creme fraiche), and
pair them with one of Chez Henri’s standout tropical cocktails.
D Mon–Thu 6–10 p.m., Fri & Sat 5:30–10:30 p.m., Sun
5:30–9:30 p.m.
DANTE, Royal Sonesta, 40 Edwin H. Land Blvd., 617-4974200. Chef Dante de Magistris dishes out playful, rich fare with
Italian, French and Spanish influences. The sophisticated
eatery boasts a seasonal patio and gorgeous views of the
Charles River and the Boston skyline. B Mon–Fri 6:30–10:30
a.m., Sat & Sun 7–11 a.m.; L Mon–Fri 11:30 a.m.–2:30 p.m.;
D Mon–Thu 5:30–10 p.m., Fri & Sat ’til 11 p.m.; Sat & SB
11 a.m.–2 p.m.
DOLPHIN SEAFOOD, 1105 Massachusetts Ave., 617-6612937. If you’re in the mood for quality seafood, then this longtime neighborhood favorite is not to be missed. From fried
seafood platters to healthier options like swordfish to all varieties of shellfish, if it comes from the sea, Dolphin serves it up
deliciously and fresh off the boat. L, D.
EAST COAST GRILL, 1271 Cambridge St., 617-491-6568. This
eatery from chef Chris Schlesinger offers fresh seafood and
grilled fish as well as hot and spicy barbecue options, all
served with traditional sides like cole slaw, beans, cornbread
and watermelon. An oyster bar, cabana-like cocktails and a
funky atmosphere prove fine dining can be fun. D, SB.
THE ELEPHANT WALK, 2067 Massachusetts Ave., 617-4926900. Offering the city’s most extensive menu of Cambodian/
French cuisine, The Elephant Walk has long been lauded as
one of Cambridge’s most unique and delicious dining destinations. Chef Gerard Lopez pleases all palates with a full range of
menus—including those for vegetarians, vegans and glutenintolerant diners—packed with tasty traditional Cambodian
soups, salads and entrees and classic French dishes.
FINALE, 30 Dunster St., Harvard Sq., 617-441-9797; One
Columbus Ave., Boston, 617-423-3184; 1306 Beacon St.,
Brookline, 617-232-3233. A trendsetter among dessertfocused restaurants, Finale offers a wide array of time honored
favorites and specialty desserts, savory fare for lunch and
“Serving The Best Since 1975”
TWIN
TW
WIN LO
LOBSTERS
OBS
BSTER
RS $22.95
special price for Theatrebill readers
must present ad for discount
LATE NIGHT
DINING
EVERY FRIDAY
& SATURDAY
NIGHT
EVERY
WEDNESDAY–
SATURDAY
$1 RAW
BAR
617-661-2937
1105 MASS
MASSACHUSETTS
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nseafood.com
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THE GERSHWINS’ PORGY AND BESS 55
guide to cambridge dining
(continued)
dinner, and an impressive selection of Illy coffee drinks, wine
and cocktails. Sample award-winning creations like the gooey
Molten Chocolate Cake and enjoy carry-out options from The
Finale Bakery including freshly baked cookies, cakes, minipastries and tarts. Dunster St.: Mon 11 a.m.–11 p.m.; Tue–Thu
’til 11:30 p.m.; Fri ’til 12:30 a.m.; Sat noon–12:30 a.m.; Sun
’til–11 p.m. Columbus Ave.: Mon 11:30 a.m.–11 p.m.; Tue–Thu
’til 11:30 p.m., Fri ’til midnight; Sat 5 p.m.–midnight; Sun 4–11
p.m. Beacon St.: Sun & Mon 11 a.m.–11 p.m.; Tue–Thu ’til
11:30 p.m.; Fri–Sat ’til 12:30 a.m. www.finaledesserts.com.
GRAFTON STREET, 1230 Massachusetts Ave., 617-497-0400.
This neighborhood hotspot is named after the spirited
cobblestone-lined shopping district in Dublin’s famed Temple
Bar area. Grafton Street deftly combines a traditional Irish
pub’s warmth and coziness with a comfortable full-service
restaurant serving contemporary American cuisine. L,D, LS, C,
Sat & SB.
Sustainable,
Sustainable, fresh,
fresh,,
local ingr
ingredients
edients dai
daily.
ilyy.
279A Broadway
Broadway | Cambridge, MA
A 02139
5–10 p
p.m.
.m. | Closed on Tuesday
Tuesd
uesday
day
now
617-661-0009
Call no
w for rreservations:
eservations: 617-661
1-0009
www
www.bondircambridge.com
w.bondircambridge.com
m
GRENDEL’S DEN, 89 Winthrop St., 617-491-1160. Since 1971,
Grendel’s Den has been a comfortable, down-to-earth neighborhood eatery and bar, justly earning landmark status in the
Harvard Square community. Priding itself on a wide and varied
selection of domestic and imported beer, Grendel’s also offers
excellent food at even better prices. Tucked away in a basement off the cobbled paths of Winthrop Street, this Cambridge
classic is open late and never disappoints. L, D, BR, LS, C.
HARVEST, 44 Brattle St., 617-868-2255. In keeping with its
name, Harvest—located in the heart of Harvard Square—specializes in dishes that incorporate only the freshest local ingredients. Chef Mary Dumont adjusts her expansive menu of
classic American cuisine seasonally, taking full advantage of the
bounty available from New England farms and greenhouses.
Diners can treat themselves to delicious dishes like roasted
squash and apple soup, roasted local beet salad and Nova
Scotia halibut, as well as selections from Harvest’s raw bar.
HENRIETTA’S TABLE, The Charles Hotel, One Bennett St., 617661-5005. Nothing but locally grown and organic produce is
used to create a lively, textured menu of reinterpreted New
England classics. Private dining room available. B Mon–Fri
6:30–11 a.m., Sat 7–11 a.m., Sun 7–10:30 a.m.; Sat and SB
noon–3 p.m.; L Mon–Fri noon–3 p.m.; D daily 5:30–10 p.m.
58 JFK
JFK St
St.,., Cambr
Cambridge
idge
617.864.9161
617.864.9161
HONG KONG, 1238 Massachusetts Ave., 617-864-5311. A local
favorite for more than five decades, this Harvard Square fixture
serves a full array of classic Chinese dishes and exotic drinks,
including its world-renowned scorpion bowl. Perfect for a meal
with friends, including lunch, dinner or late-night snacks, or for
checking out the latest sports action in the bar. Sun–Wed 11:30
a.m.–2 a.m., Thu ’til 2:30 a.m., Fri & Sat ’til 3 a.m.
what to do • where to go • what to see
THE
Welcome Center
A T
C O P L E Y
P L A C E
presented by PANORAMA, The Official Guide to Boston
Adjacent to the Skybridge connecting to The Westin Hotel
56
AMERICAN REPERTORY THEATER
JASPER WHITE’S SUMMER SHACK, 149 Alewife Brook
Parkway, 617-520-9500; 50 Dalton St., Boston, 617-8679955. Top-notch fare such as pan-roasted lobster, awardwinning fried chicken and an impressive raw bar in a casual
setting. Boston: Sun–Wed 11:30 a.m.–10 p.m., Thu–Sat ’til
11 p.m., raw bar Thu–Sat ’til 1 a.m. Cambridge: Mon–Thu
11:30 a.m.–10 p.m., Fri & Sat ’til 11 p.m., Sun 3–9 p.m.
LEGAL SEA FOODS, 20 University Road, Charles Square,
617-491-9400; 5 Cambridge Center, Kendall Square, 617-8643400; Prudential Center, 800 Boylston St., Boston, 617-2666800; other locations. Legal Sea Foods, a Boston tradition for
more than 50 years, features more than 40 varieties of fresh
g uide to cambridge di ni ng
(continued)
fish and shellfish as well as an award-winning wine list.
Named “Boston’s Most Popular Restaurant” (Zagat 2009). L &
D. www.legalseafoods.com.
NOIR, The Charles Hotel, One Bennett St., 617-661-8010. This
award-winning, stylish bar and lounge offers seasonally inspired cocktails as well as classic drinks like the Sidecar and
Old-Fashioned along with crispy pressed sandwiches, flavorful
flatbread pizzas, fresh salads and small bites in a sophisticated
setting. C 4:30 p.m.–2 a.m.; D 5–11 p.m.
NUBAR, Sheraton Commander Hotel, 16 Garden St., Harvard
Square, 617-234-1365. Under the glow of a Cambridge landmark, this restaurant and lounge boasts food reflective of its
surrounding neighborhood: smart, seasonal and approachable.
Nubar serves elegant comfort food with a modern approach
applied to classic dishes. Private dining & reservations available. B, L, D daily ’til 11 p.m. C Sun–Thu ’til midnight, Fri & Sat
’til 1 a.m. www.nubarcambridge.com.
OM, 92 Winthrop St., 617-576-2800. OM Restaurant & Lounge
in Harvard Square offers globally-influenced modern American
cuisine, drawing in foodies and neighborhood patrons alike. A
popular nightlife destination, OM’s lounge boasts sleek leather
sofas, a hypnotic water wall and signature cocktails. D, C.
THE RED HOUSE, 98 Winthrop St., 617-576-0605. Savor the cozy
atmosphere inside this funky 1802 cottage nestled in the center of
Harvard Square, which offers an intimate main dining space, a
cozy fireside bar, three private dining rooms for small groups and a
shaded bluestone patio for seasonal al fresco dining. Chef/owner
Paul Overgaag serves eclectic European and Mediterranean fare
loaded with fresh, organic ingredients from his very own local
farm, as well as homemade pasta, fresh seafood and Maine lobster. L & D Tue–Sun noon-3 p.m. and 5–11 p.m.
RENDEZVOUS, 502 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square, 617576-1900. Acclaimed Boston chef Steve Johnson uses regional
products and the spices of Northern Africa, Italy, France and Spain
to create his own twist on seasonal cuisine. Rotating entrees can
include grilled Portuguese sardines with roasted peppers, fennel
and capers or Moroccan style kofte with minted yogurt. D.
RUSSELL HOUSE TAVERN, 14 JFK St., 617-500-3055.
Combining Executive Chef Michael Scelfo’s seasonally inspired
menu of modern interpretations of American classics with a
bar serving all-American wines, a locally driven craft beer selection and classic as well as modern hand-crafted cocktails,
this Harvard Square restaurant is a comfortable gathering spot
for every occasion. L, D, SB, LS, C.
SANDRINE’S BISTRO, 8 Holyoke St., 617-497-5300. Renowned
chef Raymond Ost serves delicious French cuisine with German
flair in a cozy, upscale atmosphere right around the corner from
Harvard University. Signature dishes include Alsatian pizza, escargots, steamed mussels, foie gras and creme brulee for dessert. L
Mon–Sat 11:30 a.m.–2:30 p.m.; D daily 5:30–11:30 p.m.
SHAYS PUB & WINE BAR, 58 JFK St., 617-864-9161. A
Harvard Square fixture since 1984, this casual and comfortable
tavern boasts an excellent beer and wine selection along with
made-from-scratch appetizers, burgers, sandwiches and
*Applies to food items only.
Our Treat
Enjoy 10% off* any meal or dessert, pre or
post theatre during the ART 2011 season.
a t t h e c o m m a n d e r · 16 garden street cambridge, ma
617.234.1365 · www.nubarcambridge.com · dining until 11pm
THE GERSHWINS’ PORGY AND BESS 57
guide to cambridge dining
(continued)
Best Western PLUS
Bravo!
t Experience the BEST of
Cambridge & Boston
t Family friendly lodging
t Complimentary hot buffet
breakfast daily
t Bar 220, now open
t Convenient to area attractions
t Free shuttle to Harvard Square
& public transportation
AAA and Special Packages available
Stephanie Mitchell
www.hoteltria.com
(617) 491-8000 or (866) 333-Tria
SWEET DREAMS: Finale, a paradise for dessert
aficionados, offers such delectable dishes as
the Chocolate Crescendo (above) at its
Harvard Square location, one of three in the
Boston area.
Mexican specialities, all at reasonable prices. L & D Mon–Sat
11 a.m. –1 a.m., Sun noon–1 a.m.
TORY ROW, 3 Brattle St., Harvard Square, 617-876-TROW.
Located at the heart of Harvard Square, Tory Row takes its
name from the 1770s term for Brattle Street, once populated by
British loyalists. Serving up an eclectic mix of Euro-American
dishes at affordable prices, this neighborhood bar and restaurant has shed the conservative roots of its name and replaced
them with a diverse and creative culinary aesthetic. L, D.
UPSTAIRS ON THE SQUARE, 91 Winthrop St., 617-864-1933.
Boasting an eclectic decor, this lush urban oasis features
everything from poached Atlantic salmon to fire-roasted
Meadow Farms lamb chops. A charming blend of eccentricity
and culinary luxury. L, D, C, LS.
ZOE’S, 1105 Massachusetts Ave., 617-495-0055. Offering a
menu of delicious homemade Greek and American food in a
fun atmosphere, this retro establishment serves breakfast all
day, and take-out and catering are available. A popular destination for the weekend brunch crowd, Zoe’s is also a great
place for dinner, boasting an affordable selection of beer and
wine. For dessert, try the delicious cheesecake frappe or the
famous frozen hot chocolate. B, L, D, SB. Mon–Wed 7:30
a.m.–9 p.m., Thu–Sat ’til 10 p.m., Sun 8 a.m.–9 p.m.
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AMERICAN REPERTORY THEATER
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Our Neighborhood Partners
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Sandrine’s
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Grafton Street
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UpStairs on the Square
Henrietta’s
Table
The Charles Hotel
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Hotel Veritas
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MEMORIAL
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CHARLES RIVER
27 Church St.
cambridge1.us
1 Bennett St.
charleshotel.com
1230 Massachusetts Ave.
graftonstreetcambridge.com
1 Remington St.
thehotelveritas.com
1 Bennett St.
henriettastable.com
92 Winthrop St.
omrestaurant.com
8 Holyoke St.
sandrines.com
3 Brattle St.
toryrow.us
91 Winthrop St.
upstairsonthesquare.com
For current promotions and discounts,
visit: americanrepertorytheater.org/discounts
Restaurant Partners as of Aug. 1.
Dining Out UPSTAIRS ON THE SQUARE
H
aute cuisine and childlike whimsy deliFor appetizers, the salad of wild arugula, shaved
ciously and delightfully intersect in zucchini and tempura blossom with a sliver of feta
Harvard Square at Upstairs on the tart offers a refreshing start to any meal. On the
Square, a venerable restaurant that offers diners a heartier side, the gorgonzola dulce ravioli served over
wealth of refined culinary experiences in
roasted peach and pistachio delivers a
a vibrant setting.
UPSTAIRS ON perfect blend of sweet and salty.
Diners who come to Upstairs have THE SQUARE
Entrees are presented with panache
the option of eating in either the first- 91 Winthrop St. but never resemble the kind of over-the617-864-1933
Refer to Dining
floor Monday Club Bar, a bright and coltop modern “food art” that diners are too
Guide, page 58
orful wood-paneled room which features
afraid to dig into. Whether one opts for
a rotating menu of upscale casual
Chef Steven Brand’s prime skirt steak
brunch, lunch and dinner fare; or the
served with tater tots and
Where haute
Soiree Dining Room, which resembles
chimichurri, the roasted chicken pancuisine and
the inside of a young girl’s dollhouse
zanella served with cucumber, sunwith its pink and raspberry walls and childlike whimsy burst tomato and fennel flowers, the
gold-painted chairs. Both venues are
sirloin cheeseburger on a buttered potato
deliciously
lighthearted and welcoming, allaying
roll with gruyere cheese, Niman
intersect.
any fears of a stuffy dining experience.
Ranch bacon and pickles, or any of
One notable aspect about dining at Upstairs is the other sumptuous selections, diners are assured
the equanimity with which carnivores and vege- of a dish bursting with flavor and flair.
tarians are considered, with almost an even split
Delectable desserts range from rich zebra cake
between meat and meat-free dishes. Even the chef’s to ginger pavlova served with roasted peaches,
tasting menu (available nightly in five- or seven- blackberries and honey ginger ice cream, and are
course options) has a vegetarian version, making the perfect way to round out your meal. Upstairs
Upstairs that rare restaurant where those who es- on the Square truly elevates gourmet cuisine,
chew meat can still feel fully invited to the fine proving that fine dining and fun dining aren’t
dining party.
mutually exclusive.
“
”
60
AMERICAN REPERTORY THEATER
Dining Out
NUBAR
I
f you were familiar with the old-fashioned white wine sauce), pan seared diver scallops (acrestaurant formerly at the landmark Sheraton companied by wild mushrooms, spinach and poCommander Hotel in Harvard Square, then tatoes) and a thick-as-can-be New England clam
Nubar, the newly renovated eatery that stands in its chowder, garnished with steamed littlenecks still in
place, will be a revelation. For those who
their shells and crumbled bacon.
NUBAR
weren’t familiar with the Commander’s
Innovative dishes that give a nod to
Sheraton
old dining space, welcome to one of
seasonal fare include appetizers like the
Commander Hotel
Cambridge’s newest places to enjoy the
blue fish fingers and the asparagus, golden
16 Garden St.
617-234-1365
freshest New England cuisine around.
beet
and goat cheese salad. New England’s
Refer to Dining
Guide, page 57
With a modern and stylish decor
ethnic heritage is highlighted as well in
highlighted by dark wood floors,
starters like the Taleggio polenta served
cream-colored walls, a sleek bar and a
with wilted baby spinach and a crispy
Cambridge’s
cozy lounge warmed by a gas firepoached egg, entrees such as potato
newest place to
place, Nubar boasts an elegant and
gnocchi with seasonal vegetables and
enjoy the
breezy atmosphere thanks to its high
even a savory meatball sandwich loaded
ceilings and open floor plan.
freshest cuisine with marinara sauce and mozzarella.
The decor is not the only thing
Tasty flatbreads are also available and
around.
that is brand new, however. The
can be topped with everything from
menu has been reinvented as well, taking advan- caramelized onion, bacon and gruyere to duck contage of the bounty available throughout the region fit, mushrooms and Manchego cheese.
with a heavy emphasis on local ingredients.
Nubar even keeps it local with desserts, servUpdated takes on crowd pleasers like grilled steak ing Cambridge’s own Christina’s ice cream, among
frites and the Nubar burger (Angus beef served on other sweet treats. A wonderful wine, beer and
a brioche bun) are joined by Nubar’s variations on cocktail selection and a friendly, knowledgeable
Yankee staples, such as Maine peeky toe crabcake, waitstaff help complete a dining experience sure
Gloucester cod, Pat’s littleneck clam roast (served on to stay as enjoyable and ever-surprising as the
angel hair pasta with baby shrimp in a garlic and changing of the seasons.
“
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62
AMERICAN REPERTORY THEATER
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