About Villanova University Since 1842, Villanova University s Augustinian Catholic intellectual tradition has been the cornerstone of an academic community in which students learn to think critically, act compassionately and succeed while serving others. There are more than 10,000 undergraduate, graduate and law students in the University s six colleges the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the Villanova School of Business, the College of Engineering, the College of Nursing, the College of Professional Studies and the Villanova University School of Law. As students grow intellectually, Villanova prepares them to become ethical leaders who create positive change everywhere life takes them. In Gratitude The faculty, staff, and students of Villanova Theatre extend sincere gratitude to those generous benefactors who have established endowed funds in support of our efforts: Marianne M. and Charles P. Connolly, Jr. 70 Dorothy Ann and Bernard A. Coyne, Ph.D. 55 Patricia M. 78 and Joseph C. Franzetti 78 The Donald R. Kurz Family Peter J. Lavezzoli 60 Msgr. Joseph F.X. McCahon 65 Mary Anne C. Morgan 70 and Family & Friends of Brian G. Morgan 67, 70 Anthony T. Ponturo 74 For information about how you can support the Theatre Department, please contact Heather Potts-Brown, Director of Annual Giving, at (610) 519-4583.
Villanova Theatre gratefully acknowledges the generous support of its many patrons & subscribers. We wish to offer special thanks to our 14-15 Benefactors: This list is updated as of February 1, 2015 A Running Friend John L. Abruzzo, M.D. Donna Adams-Tomlinson Loretta Adler Marion Angelini Daphne Apostolidis Nancy Arthur Dr. Joan Baker Phoebe Baxter Thomas Blackburn Joe & Miriam Blimm Donald & Phyllis Born Coral Boslet Robert & Kathleen Campbell Bonnie Cook Dr. Mary Desmond Valerie Downing Bud Drago Mary Jane Fullam Karen Gaffney Honorable John & Anne Gartland Thomas & Josephine Gudowicz Sonja Haggert Dick & Carolyn Hammond Jane & Walter Harrington John A. Hermann & Delia Mullaney Peggy & Bill Hill Nancy & Joseph Hopko Kerri L. Huntsman John Immerwahr & Kathy Byrnes in Honor of Fran and Jim Christy Edward Kaier Martha & Leo Kob Joan & Jack Kramer Edward & Gloria Kresch Dr. Sarvesh & Priscilla Kulkarni Bob & Mary Lawler Ken & Fran Leider Patricia Loudis Dave & Karen Mainhart Dorothea D. Martin James Matthews Dr. & Mrs. Edward McAssey Barbara Ann McCarraher Layne & Terry McHugh Mary Jane McKenna Mary Ann McPherson Mary Beth Miller Peg & George Murphy Martin Myers Bill & Mimi Nolan Beverly Nolan Dr. & Mrs. Bruce Northrup Dot Plantholt Tom Plavcan John Ricciutti Joe Schick & Michael Williamson Louis Sirico Mary & Bill Schremp Barry & Laura Selinsky Sheila Shannon Elaine Sharer Bill & Cathy Siple Norman K. Smith Terry & Joe Sousa Robert Stokes Gay Strickler Joyce Swoyer Tangerine Lloyd B. Tepper Joseph & Susame Thompson Joanne & Paul Tierney Mary Ellen Trainer Barbara Wall James Weeks Seth & Becky Whidden Patricia Wood Gifts of $25 and above are acknowledged in the program. If your name has been misprinted or omitted, or if you are interested in supporting Villanova Theatre, please contact: Kimberly Reilly, Director of Marketing & PR at (610) 519-7454
NEXT ON STAGE: VILLANOVA THEATRE PRESENTS APRIL 14-26, 2015 book and lyrics by Bertolt Brecht english adaptation by Marc Blitzstein music by Kurt Weill directed by Valerie Joyce THE THREEPENNY OPERA book and lyrics by Bertolt Brecht, music by Kurt Weill English adaptation by Marc Blitzstein directed by Valerie Joyce A masterpiece of modern theatre, Bertolt Brecht s biting critique of capitalism explodes with colorful characters, gritty London streetscapes, and toe-tapping tunes like The Ballad of Mack the Knife and Pirate Jenny. A sensational spin on the 18th-century Beggar s Opera, Brecht & Weill s groundbreaking musical tells the tale of MacHeath, London s most notorious criminal, as he pursues the woman he loves while dodging the police and London bourgeoisie. APRIL 14 26, 2015 TICKETS/ INFO: 610.519.7474
Villanova Theatre Presents MICHAEL & EDIE by Rachel Bonds Scenic Design MEGHAN JONES Costume Design JENNIFER LANYON Lighting Design JEROLD R. FORSYTH Sound Design / Composition JOHN STOVICEK Dramaturgy SARAH MCAFEE Directed by JAMES IJAMES FEBRUARY 10-22, 2015 Vasey Hall, Villanova Theatre Michael & Edie is produced by special arrangement with THE GERSH AGENCY, 41 Madison Avenue, 33rd Floor, New York, NY 10010.
MICHAEL & EDIE CAST Edie...Sophia Barrett Michael...Mitchell Bloom Ben...Kyle Fennie Sarah...Sarah Ochocki John...John Baxter PRODUCTION CREW Stage Manager...Meghan Trelease Assistant Stage Managers...Elizabeth Campbell, Christopher Dayett Stage Management Consultant...Jessica Simkins Master Electrician...Michael Hamlet Master Carpenter...Seth Thomas Schmidtt-Hall Cutter/Draper...Jennifer Lanyon Scenic Painter...Kate Coots Sound Board Operator...Rebecca Jane Cureton Michael & Edie runs approximately one hour and thirty minutes, with a 15 minute intermission. Please silence all cell phones and electronic devices. The video or audio recording of this performance by any means whatsoever is strictly prohibited. SPECIAL THANKS The Title Page, Rosemont; Seth Thomas Schmitt-Hall, Norman Pitt and the Villanova University Counseling Center
WILLIAM MASTALSKI, CFP Villanova 78 M.A CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER Unbiased, objective advice for comprehensive wealth management Committed to providing thoughtful guidance and personalized service Client-centered approach to investment and retirement strategies Philadelphia Magazine Multi-Year 5-Star Wealth Manager William J. Mastalski First Vice President/Wealth Management Janney Montgomery Scott 40 Morris Avenue, Suite 200 Bryn Mawr, PA 19010 wmastalski@jmsonline.com
VILLANOVA COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING The College of Engineering congratulates the Villanova Theatre on a successful 2014-2015 season! Expand Your Horizons Explore Villanova University s Graduate Programs in Arts and Sciences More than 60 graduate and certificate programs Full- or part-time; evening classes available Small, seminar classes and personal attention Outstanding faculty dedicated to meeting your educational goals Competitive tuition rates, with assistantships available Villanova has been ranked #1 by U.S.News and World Report as the best regional University in the North for two decades. Visit gradartsci.villanova.edu for more information and a complete list of graduate programs in the liberal arts and sciences.
CAST AND CREW SOPHIA BARRETT (Edie) is a second-year graduate student earning her M.A. in Theatre with a certificate in Non-Profit Management. She was most recently seen in Big Love (Lydia), Eurydice (Eurydice) and last season s Red Herring (Lynn McCarthy). Sophia earned her B.A. in Drama in 2013 from Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida. There, she performed in Some Girl(s), Boeing-Boeing, The Vagina Monologues, Antigone, The 24-Hour Theatre Project, Project Nuremberg, and many others. She also directed The Diviners while at Lynn. Sophia spent two summers as an intern at Cape May Stage in Cape May, NJ. There she performed in Five Women Wearing the Same Dress and John Cariani s Almost Love. This year, Sophia served as the play research/ season selection intern at Lantern Theatre Company, the development intern at Theatre Horizon, and the Sue Winge Marketing Intern at the Arden Theatre Company. JOHN K. BAXTER (John) is a second-year graduate student. John has appeared on the Villanova stage in Big Love (Kostas), The Light in the Piazza (Ensemble), The School for Lies, (Dubois/Basque) and Everyman (Confession). John also cofounded and appeared as Malvolio in The Shakespeare Initiative production of Twelfth Night last summer. John has been seen in several shows at The Media Theatre for the Performing Arts. Favorites include Alistair Lane in Death on the Sixteenth Fairway, Baron Elberfeld and Franz (understudy, performed) in The Sound of Music, ensemble for Annie with Wanda Sykes, and Lord Savage in Jekyll & Hyde: The Musical. John has a BA from Neumann University and appeared in and assistant or co directed many shows there. Favorite roles include Officer Lockstock in Urinetown, Miles Gloriosus in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Jerry in The Zoo Story (also co -directed) and The Director in Six Characters in Search of an Author. John was the 2010 recipient of the Stephanie Marek Award for Excellence in the Performing Arts at Neumann. MITCHELL BLOOM (Michael) is a second-year graduate acting scholar. Mitchell earned his B.A. in English from Temple University, where he appeared in numerous Temple Theaters productions. Most recently, he was seen on the Villanova stage in the role of Nikos in Villanova Theatre s production of Big Love. Previously at Villanova: Fred Sterroll in Fallen Angels, Giuseppe Nacarelli in The Light in the Piazza, Philinte in The School for Lies, Death in Everyman, and Underling in The Drowsy Chaperone. In addition to his graduate work at Villanova, Mitchell is the Development
and Communications Associate at Philadelphia Young Playwrights. He also serves as the Director of Development for Mauckingbird Theatre Company, with whom he has performed as Borachio in Much Ado About Nothing and as Merriman in The Importance of Being Earnest. He is a proud recipient of the Brian G. Morgan Memorial Theatre Award. KYLE FENNIE (Ben) is a firstyear graduate acting scholar. This is his third production at Villanova after Big Love (Constantine) and Fallen Angels (Willy). Kyle earned his B.F.A. from the University of the Arts with a focus in Stage Combat. His previous roles include: John Patrick Shanley s Doubt (Father Flynn), Agatha Christie s The Mousetrap (Sergeant Trotter u/s) and William Shakespeare s Macbeth (Macbeth). Fight Directing credits include: Macbeth, Beauty and the Beast, and Oklahoma. SARAH OCHOCKI (Sarah) is a second-year assistant in Costume Construction. She was last seen on the Villanova stage in the ensemble of The Light in the Piazza. Sarah graduated in 2012 with a B.A. in Theatre from Muhlenberg College. At Muhlenberg, she was the musical director of an all-female a cappella group and studied theatre abroad at Queen Mary University of London. RACHEL BONDS (Playwright) Originally from Sewanee, TN, Rachel Bonds currently lives in Brooklyn. Her plays have been developed or produced by New Georges, Ars Nova, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Williamstown Theater Festival, American Theater Company, The McCarter, Roundabout Underground, Manhattan Theatre Club, Two Rivers Theatre, Arden Theatre Company, New York Stage & Film, and SPACE at Ryder Farm. She is an affiliated artist of New Georges, an alumna of EST s Youngblood and Ars Nova s Play Group, and a recent winner of the 2012 Samuel French Short Play Festival. She was the 2013 Writer s Room Resident at the Arden Theatre and was granted a commission from the Studio Theatre in DC as part of their inaugural series of commissioned works. Bonds is a graduate of Brown University. JAMES IJAMES (Director) is a Philadelphia-based actor, playwright and director. He has appeared regionally in productions at The Arden Theatre Company, The Philadelphia Theatre Company, The Wilma Theatre, Baltimore Center Stage, Mauckingbird Theatre Company, People s Light and Theatre and Interact Theatre Company. James plays include The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington, White, Moon Man Walk, The Threshing Floor, and Osiris:Redux....Miz Martha was developed with PlayPenn and the Wilma Theater and received its world premiere with Flashpoint Theater. James has worked as a director for
Theatre Horizon and Simpatico Theatre Company. James was the 2011 F. Otto Haas Award for an Emerging Artist recipient, and he also won two Barrymores for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Play for Superior Donuts and Angels in America and one Barrymore for Outstanding Direction of a Play for The Brothers Size with Simpatico Theatre Company. In 2011, James received an Independence Foundation Fellowship in Performing Arts to create a new solo piece with Emmanuelle Depech and Shavon Norris called FRoNTiN. James is a member of the InterAct Core Writers Group and a mentor for The Foundry. He is also a Founding Member of Orbiter 3, Philadelphia s first playwright producing collective. He received a B.A. in Drama from Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA and a M.F.A. in Acting from Temple University in Philadelphia, PA. James is Assistant Professor of Theatre at Villanova University and resides in South Philadelphia. JEROLD R. FORSYTH (Lighting Designer) has designed over 300 productions to date. Philadelphia credits include designs for The Wilma Theater, Villanova Theatre, Amaryllis Theatre, Philadelphia Shakespeare Theatre, Simpatico Theatre Project, Arden Theatre Company, Walnut Street Theatre, InterAct Theatre Company, American Music Theatre Festival, People s Light & Theatre Company, Bristol Riverside Theatre, Venture Theatre, Philadelphia Festival Theatre for New Plays, and Philadelphia Drama Guild. Additional East Coast credits: Kennedy Center, New York Shakespeare Festival, Lincoln Center Theatre, York Theatre Company, Village Theatre Company, and Opera Ebony - New York. Jerold has been nominated thirteen times for Barrymore Awards, twice receiving the Barrymore Award for Outstanding Lighting Design. In addition, he has twice received Most Notable Lighting Design citations from The Philadelphia Inquirer. MEGHAN JONES (Set Designer) is delighted to join the creative team for Michael and Edie. Her previous designs for Villanova Theatre include The Tempest, and As You Like It. Meghan designs scenery throughout the Philadelphia area and is Production Manager for The Lantern Theater Co. Her recent designs in the Philadelphia area include Long Live the Little Knife, and Arcadia. Her upcoming design work includes Who s Afraid of Virginia Woolf for Theatre Exile and Penelope with Inis Nua Theatre Co. She holds her MFA from Temple University. www.mcjonesdesigns.com JENNIFER LANYON (Costume Designer) is Villanova Theatre s resident Cutter/Draper. She earned her B.S. in Fashion Design from Philadelphia University. She previously worked at the Walnut Street Theatre in the costume shop, where she worked on several productions
as an apprentice. She has designed A Christmas Carol, Diary of a Worm, Spider and Fly; Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, and several touring outreach shows. She also designs for Central Bucks West High School s productions. She previously worked at the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire. Jennifer also designs custom evening wear and wedding gowns. She has previously designed gowns for the Opera Company of Philadelphia, The Philadelphia International Flower Show, and The Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts. SARAH MCAFEE (Dramaturg) fell in love with with theatre when she played a bunny rabbit in her Sylva, North Carolina, community theatre production of Wind in the Willows at the age of six. In the intervening time, she has worked to learn everything she can about all aspects of theatrical production and history. She holds a degree in Theatre and Philosophy from the University of Georgia. Ms. McAfee was the company dramaturg for Paragon Theatre in Denver, Colorado, for three years before coming to Villanova, where she is an assistant in the Props Shop. JOHN STOVICEK (Sound Designer, Composer) has designed for Villanova Theatre: Fallen Angels, Everyman, Red Herring, The School for Lies, The Light in the Piazza, How I Learned to Drive, Muswell Hill, The Drowsy Chaperone, Three Days of Rain, The Cherry Orchard, Bat Boy: The Musical (Set Design), Annie Get Your Gun, The Chairs, Three Sisters, Incorruptible, Prayers of Sherkin, Urinetown, Big River at Villanova Theatre. Other regional credits include: Angels in America: Millennium Approaches, Any Given Monday, Boeing-Boeing, Chasin Dem Blues, Blithe Spirit, Sylvia, The Tempest, The 12 Dates of Christmas, Lend Me A Tenor, I Am My Own Wife. MEGHAN TRELEASE (Stage Manager) is thrilled to be making her stage management debut at Villanova Theatre as a first-year graduate Theatre and Nonprofit Management certificate student. Meg received a B.A. in Theatre from Holy Cross in Worcester, MA, and has worked as a theatre and dance educator, choreographer and director. Meg was the Coordinator of the Gifted and Talented Musical Theatre program at Somerset County Vo- Tech in Bridgewater, NJ, where she wrote the pilot musical theatre curriculum for New Jersey and directed three full-length musicals each year. Most recently, Meg choreographed A Year with Frog and Toad at the University of Scranton (dir. Bob E. Gasper), and directed and choreographed Under a Rest for the Penn Glee Club at the Annenberg Center.
MICHAEL & EDIE Close your eyes. In your mind, reach out your hand. Stretch for someone special. Toward whom are you reaching? Can you touch them? Can you hear their voice? How does it sound? Have you missed it? Remember the first time you really connected to them. Was there a moment, surrounded in golden light, that you knew their story? Or did you miss? Did your fingers clutch at air, striving past their range for the fingertips of the other person, only to grasp at the space where you thought they were? Have they passed the veil between this world and what lies beyond? Can you still feel the weight of their arms, wrapped around you in a great bear hug? Does that weight still sit on your heart, making even the act of breathing a great effort? How does your love for them continue to live on, even through the quotidian tasks of drinking coffee and brushing your teeth? Does telling their story keep them close? In Michael & Edie, Rachel Bonds experiments with how people s stories interact, how they meet, how they connect, and how they separate. How two lives still tumble together, even when one is beyond death. Her characters strive for connection; to bridge the space between their hearts and make the world a little less lonely. They met Only for a moment In passing And he would never know but that he left Fingerprints on the ice. ~ Morgan Mitchell Hunt
Rachel Bonds Rachel Bonds hails from Sewanee, a small, college town in eastern Tennessee. She attended Brown University, where she earned a Bachelor s degree in Theatre. Her plays have been produced at Manhattan Theatre Club and New York Stage and Film, Actors Theatre of Louisville, and the Arden Theatre in Philadelphia. In 2012, she won the Samuel French Short Play Festival, and in 2014 received the Heideman Award from Actors Theatre of Louisville. Bonds credits her small-town upbringing, with much time spent isolated and getting lost in the woods, for her interest in strange and frightening events. An avid runner, she describes writing as an athletic process, the need to push through something and get to the other side. She is especially interested in the theatricality of contrasting language: how characters can speak in seemingly inarticulate means in one minute, and with heightened elegance and eloquence in the next. How mundane conversations can open and reveal an otherworld of whimsy and ghostliness. What we know of other people is only our memory of the moments during which we knew them. ~ T.S. Eliot, THE COCKTAIL PARTY
Story & Magic Bonds says she is interested in the marriage of theatricality and simplicity, such as if someone on stage held up a plastic shopping bag and shone a flashlight on it and called it the moon. In this production of Michael & Edie, we have concentrated on the transformative, on the multiple possibilities of an object, beyond their seemingly obvious purpose: a ladder or packing boxes become a bed, phones appear in books, and a coat becomes a coverlet. Set amidst a great volume of stories, the tale of Michael & Edie intertwines with the pages that these characters read. Ben uses story to calm and connect to Edie. Michael and Edie begin to participate in each other s imaginations, spurring story and spinning tales. Michael and Sarah relate the story of their days, trying to connect through the tin cans of their shared childhood. Bonds play revolves around intelligent, young adults in the process of making their way in the world for the first time: navigating first jobs, leaky apartments, the grief of loss, and the possibility of a new relationship. Bonds mines these mundane interactions to provide the magical quality she desires, revealing the beauty and magic of the everyday. Adam Szymkowicz,(Bonds, I Interview Playwrights Part 295: Rachel Bonds) (Bonds, Meet Rachel Bonds) In my dreams the world would come alive, becoming so captivatingly majestic, free and ethereal, that afterwards it would be oppressive to breathe the dust of this painted life. ~ Vladimir Nabokov, INVITATION TO A BEHEADING Program Notes by SARAH MCAFEE, Dramaturg
Are you an aspiring actor, director, scholar or playwright? THE A A Master of rts in TRE New! Certificate in Nonprofit Management to help prepare you for a career in the nonprofit arts sector Consider Villanova s Master s and Certificate Programs in Theatre Villanova s program places equal emphasis on scholarly and creative work. Students undergo a rigorous course of study that is a combination of scholarly, artistic and practical approaches to theatre. Learn from award-winning theatre artists Study on a full or part-time basis Competitive tuition rates, with scholarships and assistantships available For more information, Or to R.S.V.P to our Open House visit villanovatheatre.org or call 610-519-4760
VILLANOVA THEATRE FACULTY David Cregan, Ph.D., O.S.A....Chairperson; Gender, Politics and Performance; Modern Irish Drama; Acting; Voice & Movement Earl Bader, Ph.D....Dramatic Vision and Form Michael Hollinger, M.A....Solo Performance; Playwriting; Songwriting James Ijames, M.F.A....Acting, Collaborative Theatre Valerie Joyce, Ph.D....Musical Theatre; Script Analysis; Teaching of Theatre; Acting Harriet Power, M.F.A....Directing; Acting/Directing Styles; Creativity Raymond Saraceni, Ph.D....Dramaturgy; Acting Professors Emeriti...James J. Christy, Joanna Rotte VILLANOVA THEATRE STAFF Parris Bradley...Production Manager Elisa Loprete Hibbs...Business Manager Michael Hollinger...Associate Artistic Director Kimberly Reilly...Director of Marketing & Public Relations Janus Stefanowicz...Costume Shop Manager Ashley Leamon...Office Manager Sharri Jerue...Properties Master & Scenic Charge Rajiv Shah...Technical Director GRADUATE ASSISTANTS AND SCHOLARS Costume Construction...Cari Brezina, Jill Jacobs, Sarah Ochocki, Alix Rosenfeld Properties Construction & Scenic Artists...Sarah McAfee, Julia Salvo Set Construction...Lauren Davenport, Christen Mandracchia, Amanda Coffin, Christopher Dayett Marketing/Public Relations...Rebecca Cureton Acting Scholars...Mitchell Bloom, Kyle Fennie, Stephen Tornetta Research Scholar...Meghan Winch Merit Scholar...Hallie Martenson PRODUCTION ASSISTANTS Academic Office Staff...Megan Rose Wieder, Meghan Winch Business & Production Assistants...Daniel Cluskey, Brenden Kortenhaus, Emily Zvosec Media & Events Coordinator...Hallie Martenson Box Office Manager...Sophia Barrett Assistant Box Office Manager...Julie Kurtz Box Office Assistants...Raymond Dengler, Norbert Joseph Dengler, Daniel Doris, Carlos Galardo, Chris Gelardi, Karen McConarty, Sarah McMahon, Aimee Lee Russell, Austin Wild Assistants to Costume Designer...Jill Jacobs, Sarah Ochocki Wardrobe Managers...Gabby Bettaglio, Megan Hopkins, Anastasia Rose Schweiger, Mary Rose Makoski Costume Technicians...Megan Rose Wieder, Maggie Franzetti, Sidonie Cypher, Anira Jones, Arianne Wilson, Devon Carroll, Kasey Lynch, Victoria Ung, Kellie Joyce Set Construction...Mark Bowers, Indigo Brunson, Christian Cilley, Kyle Fennie Anthony Griffin, John Griffin, Austin Haitos, Brenden Kortenhaus, Lauren Webb Properties Construction & Scenic Artists...Courtney Lees, Mary Pat Norton, Luke Hensley, Elizabeth Campbell, Ali Laird, Meghan Trelease
Join us online! Like Villanova Theatre on Facebook! Follow Villanova Theatre on Twitter @VillanovaTheatr Follow Villanova Theatre on Instagram @villanovatheatre Find VillanovaTheatre on Tumblr! DELAWARE COUNTY SYMPHONY Tim Ribchester, Music Director 2014-2015 Concert Season Symphony Series March 1, 2015 Arturo Márquez Danzon No. 2 Sundays at 3:00 P.M. Peter Tchaikovsky Robert Schumann Violin Concerto in D Major Nina Vieru, violin Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major, Rhenish Chamber Series April 12, 2015 Domenico Cimarosa Bernhard Crusell Volkmar Andreae Quartet for Oboe and String Trio Quartet for Clarinet and String Trio Quartet for Flute and String Trio Neumann University, Meagher Theatre The Thomas A. Bruder, Jr. Life Center One Neumann Drive, Aston, PA 19014 (1/4 mile West of Concord Rd. & Rt. 452) Call (610) 879-7059 or visit our web site at dcsmusic.org for information or tickets. The Delaware County Symphony is a Non-Profit Organization