Download About the play - Baltimore Theatre Project

About the play:
Susan's decision to cut loose to live her life to the fullest all in one summer, in the
face of insurmountable odds, upends the small town life of her protective, widowed
brother and her out-of-the-blue rebellious teenage niece. Told with humor, candor
and hope, Fortune’s Child is a touching, bittersweet story about letting go to live.
Fortune’s Child is a 2012 O'Neill semi-finalist, a Great Plains Theatre Conference Play
Lab play, and received staged readings in the Piccolo Spoleto Festival in Charleston,
SC and as part of the Dramatist Guild Baltimore Reading Series. The play was also
accepted by the 2014 Sewanee Writers Conference where Mr. Scharf was a
contributing participant in playwriting. This production is being presented under the
auspices of the Actors' Equity Association Members Project Code. It is presented by
the 'Fortune's Child' company members.
Meet the Playwright:
Mark Scharf ‘s plays have received productions across the USA and internationally including shows in Australia,
Canada, Mainland China, Singapore and the U.K.
Mark’s plays “Off the Grid,” “Like White on Rice,” “Wilderness,“ and his adaptation of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”
are published by Brooklyn Publishing. His plays “Memory Garden,” “The Machine,” and his adaptation of
“Frankenstein” are published by Pioneer Drama, his plays “Our Place” and “Grey Hair and Zits” are published by
Greenroom Scripts, his plays “Get Stuffed,” “Lizard Brains,” and “Keeping Faith” are published by Original Works
Publishing, and his play “Replay” is published by Heurer Publishing.
Mark’s awards include First Place, The 2014 Storefront Theatre Festival of Ten-Minute Plays, The 2009 Maryland
State Theatre Festival's Special Award for Best Original Script, The 2008 Robert J. Pickering Award for Playwriting
Excellence, The 2006 Arts and Letters Prize in Drama, First Place Best Play and First Place Best Production in the
21st Baltimore Playwrights Festival and three Individual Artist Awards for Playwriting from the Maryland State Arts
Council.
Mark served as Playwright-in-Residence for Theatre Virginia’s New Voices for the Theatre Program and served three
terms as Chairman of the Baltimore Playwrights Festival (2003-2006). He taught Playwriting at the University of
Mary Washington from 2004-2013, and is teaching Playwriting this semester at Howard Community College. Mark
has an MFA in Playwriting from the University of Virginia and is a member of the Dramatists Guild.
Meet the Director:
Yvonne Erickson has primarily been a stage, screen and voiceover performer for over 30 years. Notable local stage
appearances “Amadeus” and "Lady Windemere's Fan" at Baltimore’s Center Stage, “A Young Woman of Property”
and "The Guys" at Rep Stage honoring the 10th anniversary of fallen firefighters in NYC on 9/11 and "Guantanamo"
at the Studio Theatre among others. Principal roles on television include episodes of "VEEP,” "Hack," "Homicide,"
"The Wire," "Matlock" and others, and in the films "The Mothman Prophecies,” "The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys,"
and "The Prince of Tides," among others. Yvonne has directed many staged readings around the area, including at
Rep Stage, The Studio Theatre (Welsh Words Festival-Smithsonian Institute), The Dramatist Guild, Baltimore
Playwrights Festival, and the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. She is a member of Actors’ Equity Association and
SAG-AFTRA.
Meet the Artists:
Marianne Angelella (Susan) recently appeared in “Social Creatures” at the Single Carrot Theatre; and “A Young
Woman of Property” at Rep Stage. Other credits include “Exonerated” at UB Spotlight; “Taking Sides,” “Hedda
Gabler,” and “Children’s Hour” at Everyman Theatre; and “Much Ado About Nothing,” “Julius Caesar,” “All’s Well That
Ends Well,” and “Weird Sisters” at the Baltimore Shakespeare Festival. Marianne teaches creative drama at the
Everyman Theatre and is the drama teacher at the Baltimore Lab School. She was an artistic associate and teaching
artist for 10 years at the Baltimore Shakespeare Festival, where she also served as Education Director. She is a
member of Actors’ Equity Association.
Travis Charles Hudson (Brian/Patrick/Dude) recently appeared as Topper/George William Brown in “A Christmas
Carol,” and as Lysander in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” at Chesapeake Shakespeare Company; at Rep Stage as
Billy in “The Goat or, Who is Sylvia?,” and Angel in “The Butterfingers Angel… .” Additional credits
include “Metamorphoses,” “She Stoops to Conquer,” “The Faulkner Project: As I Lay Dying,” and “The Winter’s Tale.”
Travis received a BFA in Acting from The University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and also studied acting at The
University of Kwa-Zulu Natal in Durban, South Africa. He is a proud Actors’ Equity Association Member Candidate.
Lance Lewman (Mike) has been a professional performer for over thirty years in stage, television and film in both
New York City and the Washington/Baltimore area. Favorite stage roles include Romeo in “Romeo & Juliet,” Gunnar
Larson in “Vikings,” Tusenbach in “The Three Sisters,” Moth in “Love’s Labor’s Lost,” Scrooge in “A Christmas Carol,”
William Gibbs in “Off The Map” and Charlie Fox in “Speed The Plow.” Lance’s feature film credits include United
Artists’ “Hit and Run,” HBO’s “Shot In The Heart” and “Citizen Cohn,” as well as Universal’s “Murder At 1600,”
Paramount Pictures “True Colors” and “Tom Clancey’s Net Force. He won an Emmy for his work on the PBS live
Comedy series “Crabs,” and was seen in “Homicide; Life on the Streets,” , “America’s Most Wanted” and Netflix’s
“House of Cards.” He has done voice over looping for nearly every episode of all five seasons of HBO's “The Wire.”
Lance has also narrated countless programs for National Geographic, Discovery, Frontline and Nova on PBS, and
was a network announcer on CBS for The Kennedy Center Honors. He has also been the narrator for “Outdoors
Maryland” for Maryland Public Television for the last 10 years. In addition, Lance has voiced hundreds of radio and
television commercials. He is currently the president of the Washington Mid-Atlantic local SAG-AFTRA branch, and is
a graduate of The University of North Carolina School of the Arts. He is a long time member of Actors equity
Association and SAG-AFTRA.
Kathryn Zoerb (Sarah), recent credits include “A Young Lady of Property” at Rep Stage; “Look Homeward Angel” at
Compass Rose Theater; “The Night Fairy” at U/S Imagination Stage; and “Romeo & Juliet,” “The Tempest,” and
“Macbeth” at the Baltimore Shakespeare Factory. Kathryn received her BA in theatre and music from the University
of Pittsburgh, studied physical theatre at the Accademia dell’Arte, and is a proud Equity Membership Candidate.
Upcoming: An Original Pronunciation production of “Merchant of Venice” with Baltimore Shakespeare Factory and
“Our Town” with Faction of Fools. Kathryn is a proud Actors’ Equity Association Member Candidate.
Terry Cobb (Lighting and Scenic Projection Design) designed lighting for the Rep Stage’s
“A Young Lady of Property,” “Or,” “Two by Barrie,”; HCC’s “Urinetown”, “Christmas Carol” and ”Prelude to a Kiss” among
others. His scenic work was seen in Rep Stage’s “Barrymore” and “Yellowman,” as well as HCC’s “Christmas Carol” and
”Prelude to a Kiss.” Recently retired, he taught Light and Sound Design at UMBC for 31 years.
Leo Erickson (Dialect/Vocal Coach) first served as dialect coach for actors in the previous century with The
Production Company in Richmond Va. He works primarily as actor in the Baltimore/DC area. Local credits include
roles at The Shakespeare Theatre, The Studio Theatre, Theatre J, Rep Stage, Center Stage, Arena Stage, Washington
Stage Guild, Woolly Mammoth, among others. Leo is a proud member of Actor's Equity since 1974, and SAG-AFTRA.
He headed the acting program at Virginia Commonwealth University for 22 years.
Kristan King Lewman (Costumes) is an actor and voice talent (“Homicide”, “The Wire” and “Game Change”). As a DC
area On Camera and Voice Over Talent she has won multiple ITVA Peer awards. She is a private audition coach and
has worked in theatre as dialect coach and prop mistress. She designed costumes for “Laundry & Bourbon/Lone
Star” and “Snow” at FPCT, costumed “Joined at the Head” at Vagabonds, and directed the audience selected winner
“Missed Connections” for The 10X10 at Fells Point Corner Theatre in 2012. With husband Lance, she is a singer
and songwriter for their band “King Lewman.”
Natalia Chávez Leimkuhler (Properties Design) most recently designed props for Rep Stage’s productions of
“Barrymore,” “Yellowman,” “The Temperamentals,” “Mary Rose,” “Home,” “Boeing, Boeing” and “The Fantasticks.”
Other design credits for set and props include: “Marvin’s Room,” “Rounding Third,” “Barefoot in the Park,” “Back to
Bacharach and David,” “Driving Miss Daisy,” “Roar of the Greasepaint, Smell of the Crowd” and “Real Women Have
Curves” – for which she was recognized by BroadwayWorld.com, “Best of Baltimore, 2006.”
Ann Warren (Composer, Sound Design) Ann Warren comes to The Fortune’s Child Company from New York City,
where she is a composer/director/sound designer and creator for her own company, Concrete Timbre. Most recently
she composed and created "Un Lieu de Vie" at Gallery MC in NYC for her company. Other Concrete Timbre creations
include Composer/Director for "Coq tôt" at Theater for the New City, Composer for "Voices of Justice and
Consanguinity" at Clemente Soto Velez Center, and Sound and Music Designer for "In The Ring" at Theater for the
New City . Ann has also designed sound extensively for shows at such New York theatres as The Barrow Group, The
Chocolate Factory, Boomerang Theatre Company, Theatre for the New City to name a few. Ann is no stranger to
Maryland audiences as she designed sound for “A Young Lady of Property”, “Two by J.M. Barrie”, “Two by Pinter”,
“Intelligence”, “The Santaland Diaries” and “Mary Rose” (also composed music), for Rep Stage.
www.AnnWarren.net
Michael Stebbins (producer) is an actor, director and teacher based in Milwaukee, WI. Michael lived in NYC from
1992 - 2005, where he appeared off-Broadway at the Public Theater/NYSF, the Mint Theater Company, and
performed on some of the top regional theatre stages across the country - from DC’s Woolly Mammoth Theater Co.
to Berkeley Repertory Theatre in CA. From 2005 - 2013, he was the producing artistic director of Rep Stage, a
professional theatre in Columbia, MD, dedicated to presenting contemporary classics as well as regional premieres
by Liz Duffy Adams, David Davalos, Will Eno, Jenny Schwartz and others. He is a member of Actors’ Equity
Association, Screen Actor’s Guild, and is the recipient of a Helen Hayes Tribute Award. He holds his BFA/MFA from
University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee’s Professional Theatre Training Program.
Stage Management by Molly Raven Hopkins, Production Management by Iris Shih and the Assistant Stage Manager
is Chelsea Dove. Sierra Young is the production dramaturg.
About the Fortune’s Child Company:
The Fortune’s Child Company consists of a group of DC/Baltimore AEA actors who have come together to produce a
show using the AEA Members Project Code, similar to the Showcase Code in NYC. All company members serve as
producers: Marianne Angelella, Leo Erickson, Yvonne Erickson, Lance Lewman, and Michael Stebbins. Company
members also wear different production hats for this show. In addition to members Marianne Angelella and Lance
Lewman on stage, Michael Stebbins serves as Lead Producer, Leo Erickson serves as dialects and vocal coach and
Yvonne Erickson directs. The company is also proud and happy to have EMCs (future AEA members) Travis Charles
Hudson and Kathryn Zoerb on board for the show!