Download By Lyle Kessler

Dollar Bill Productions
In Association With Theatre of NOTE
presents
By Lyle Kessler
Directed by Bill Voorhees
Stage Managed by Kelly Egan
Produced by Rebecca Light, Sigi Gradwohl and Bill Voorhees
Orphans is presented by special arrangement with
SAMUEL FRENCH, INC.
Production Team
Lighting Design
Costume Design
Prop Design
Graphic Design
Matt Richter
Lauren Thomas
Richard Werner
Bill Voorhees
Crew
Board Operator:
Front of House:
AMC Liaison:
Program Design:
Kelly Egan
Maggie Blake, Suzanne Voss and
Alysha Brady
Garett Maggart
Dan Wingard
Cast
(in alphabetical order)
Phillip ...................................................................................... Kjai Block
Harold ............................................................................. Darrett Sanders+
Treat ................................................................................... Bill Voorhees
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Member of SAG-AFTRA
The action takes place in an old row house in North Philadelphia
in the mid-80’s.
ACT I
A spring day
ACT II
Two weeks later
Orphans is performed with a 15-minute intermission.
The restroom will not be available during the performance.
Please turn off all electronic devices.
Texting, tweeting, flash photography or any other use of these devices
is prohibited during the performance.
The video and/or audio recording of this performance by any means
whatsoever are strictly prohibited.
AFTER THE SHOW, FOLLOW US
Twitter: @OrphansPlay
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Special Thanks
The Asylum
Paul Bales
David Latt
David Rimawi
Dan Wingard
John Money
LA Stage Alliance
Theatre of NOTE
Scotty Mullen
David Wilcox
Blaire Chandler
Will McMichael
Annette Werner
The Green Dragon
Lillian
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Cast Biographies
Kjai Block (Phillip) Kjai is over the moon to be involved with
such great artists. You may have last seen him at NOTE in Bill
Robens’ Entropy and David Bucci’s Possum Carcass. Much love
to Bill and all the love to the Father, Mother, Brother, and that
girl I know.
Darrett Sanders (Harold) – Sir Darrett started acting when he
was two months old. He played the cave baby in One Million
Years B.C. with Raquel Welch. The scene was cut from the film
but Darrett has the footage in a safety deposit box. His family
hindered his passion for acting by sending him away to a secret
military academy in the Ural mountains. At this time he was
taught how to survive and kill with great efficiency by a sect of specialized
monks. Darrett was recently knighted by the Queen of England in a secret
ceremony for his work with children of the Sudan. He taught them how to create
their own puppet theatre shows. The revenue from the traveling shows was used
to build a large sustainable fort in Babanusa. He is excited for this chance to once
again do theatre in the United States. Much of his life has revolved around
secrecy and disquietude. Please do not approach him from the rear. Continual eye
contact is your best bet.
Bill Voorhees (Treat) has worked regionally in Sacramento, San
Jose, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. As an actor, some of his
past roles include Treat in Orphans, The Peach in Cobb, Dr.
Treves in The Elephant Man, John Proctor in The Crucible,
Junior in the West Coast premiere of Brian C. Petti’s Banshee
and the title roles in Amadeus and An Evening With John Wilkes
Booth. He also played Abbie Hoffman in the River Stage production of The
Chicago Conspiracy Trial, Lash LaRue in Gunfighter: A Gulf War Chronicle and
James Leeds in Children of a Lesser God. Bill has also been cast in five separate
productions of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged). Film
work includes roles in Have You Seen Me?, Bright Day, Attila, 13/13/13,
Megashark vs. Giant Octopus, San Andreas Quake, and one of the lead roles in
Ardennes Fury. And look for Bill’s Television debut this fall on the SyFy hit
show, Z Nation. As a director, some favorites include The Miracle Worker, The
Boys Next Door, Dog Logic, Extremities, Beirut and the world premieres of
Skeleton Stories by Delondra Williams, Potential Space by Criminal Minds star
Kirsten Vangsness and comedienne Debbie Jhoon’s one-woman show, College.
He has also directed two music videos for the band Pie for the songs “For a
Reason” and “Yo Se.” Bill thanks his amazing production team and cast for
everything they have done to make Orphans happen. It has been an honor and a
pleasure to work in the company of such good people. Except for Darrett. He’s
kind of a jerk.
Production Team Biographies
Lyle Kessler (Playwright) began his career as an actor. His first
professional appearance was in the Philadelphia premiere of Waiting
for Godot, appearing opposite Bruce Dern. He has subsequently
appeared in several films, including James Dean (portraying Lee
Strasberg). Kessler studied acting with Mr. Strasberg and was
accepted into the Director’s Unit of the Actors Studio where he
wrote and directed his first one-act play, The Viewing, which he
subsequently directed at the Lucille Lortel Theater in New York.
Kessler’s most well-known plays include his first full-length work,
The Watering Place (written in 1969), and Orphans. The Watering
Place premiered on Broadway starring Shirley Knight and William
Devane. Orphans (1983) was directed by Gary Sinise and opened at
Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre before starting its successful OffBroadway run. Albert Finney won the Olivier Award for his
performance in the London West End production. Kessler’s other
plays include: Robbers (1987) which has been performed at the
Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, Connecticut and which starred
Judd Hirsch, Possession (1976) which was premiered by the
Ensemble Studio Theatre and which was directed by James
Hammerstein and Unlisted which was performed at the Tiffany
Theatre in Los Angeles starring Charles Robinson. Kessler was
awarded a Rockefeller Foundation Playwriting Grant for his play
The Watering Place and won the New York State Council of the
Arts Playwriting Award for his play Burning Bright.
Kelly Egan (Stage Manager) – After her brief stay at the Litchfield
Women’s Prison for trafficking rubber ducks and plastic palm trees,
Kelly is happy to be working on Orphans. When not working in
theatre, which is pretty much never, Kelly enjoys piña coladas and
getting caught in the rain. She is not into yoga... Much thanks to Bill,
Darrett, and Kjai for being super fun to work with. Also a big thankyou to the usual suspects for being in her life and making it all worth
it.
Rebecca Sigl (Producer) most recently produced the West Coast
premiere of Brian C. Petti’s Banshee, and the World Premiere of
Cody Henderson’s Wonderlust, both at Theatre of NOTE. She is also
an actor, children’s book writer, crafter, runner, and small business
owner (WhimsyDo.co). Favorite acting credits include Wanda in
The Baby Dance (Lounge Theatre), Mary Warren in The Crucible
(The Lillian Theatre), Sophie in He Asked for It (Theatre of NOTE),
and Hannah in Arcadia (Boston University). She is a graduate of
Boston University’s School of Theatre, and currently serves as the
Program Administrator for The Unusual Suspects Theatre Company.
It’s always a pleasure to team up with her lifelong friend, Bill
Voorhees.
Richard Werner (Prop Designer) is delighted to be working with
Bill and the cast of Orphans! Proud NOTE member for over two
decades! Got your Hellman’s right here!
Sigi Gradwohl (Producer) – is a bicoastal Israeli-Swiss-American
triple citizen. TV: Girl Meets World, Jessie (Disney), The Middle
(ABC), Chelsea Handler’s After Lately (E!). Film: James Franco’s
Killing Animals, Little Loopers, Spare Parts (premiered at Outfest
Film Festival this July). Sigi co-created the online series Bad
Nannies and stars in the viral YouTube hit Girls are Assholes.
Favorite theater credits are The Diary of Anne Frank (Anne) and
Askance, for which Sigi won a Scenie Award. Additional theater
credits include A Devil Inside, Bridge to Terabithia, Finding the Sun.
Sigi is a proud new member of Theatre of NOTE and thrilled to be
here. Special thanks to Bill for asking her to be a part of his passion
project within 10 minutes of her joining the company.
Lauren Thomas (Costume Designer) studied apparel design at the
University of North Carolina and abroad in London where she
developed a fascination with costume design and theater. Since
graduating, Lauren has worked with a wide variety of theatrical and
independent film productions. She designed costumes for Skeleton
Stories for Theatre of NOTE in 2010. She continues to do freelance
design work and costumes for film and theatre. Lauren would like to
thank her family back in North Carolina for their unending support.
Matt Richter (Lighting Designer) – is an award-winning Los
Angeles-based designer. Recent designs include Astro Boy and the
God of Comics for Sacred Fools, Enron for The Production
Company, A Small Fire/Row After Row for the Echo Theatre
Company, and Stanley Ann for the LA LGBT Center, where he also
works full time as designer-in-residence and tech and event
coordinator. He is also a company member of Sacred Fools, and is
active in the Los Angeles 99-seat theatre community. He also serves
as half of the experimental ambient folk duo Lanfair Field. For more
information, please visit lanfairfield.com or mattrichter.net. Thanks
to Ma and Pa.
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