The Kennedy Center IMAGINATION CELEBRATION® on Tour presents
Dreams in the Golden Country Adapted for the stage by Barbara Field Directed by Gregg Henry
with
Michael John Casey*, Yuval David*, Laura Giannarelli*, Rana Kay*, Michael Laurino*, and Tricia McCauley*
Set Designer Tony Cisek
Costume Designer Catherine Norgren
Lighting Designer Daniel Covey
Composer Seth Kibel
Sound Designer Kevin Hill
Properties Artisan Dreama J. Greaves
Production Dramaturg Lenora Inez Brown
Casting Director Eli Dawson
Tour Technical Staff
Stage Manager Technical/Sound Director Lighting Director Asst. Technical Director/Wardrobe
Elizabeth Wiesner* Robert Humphrey David Paige Annie Kremin
*Dreams in the Golden Country is a professional production employing members of Actors’ Equity Association
Commissioned by The Kennedy Center Education Department and Scholastic Entertainment as part of a cooperative agreement creating adaptations of new plays for young people and families based on Scholastic’s Dear America™ and My Name is America™ book series.
scholastic.com/dearamerica
SCHOLASTIC, DEAR AMERICA, MY NAME IS AMERICA and logos are trademarks of Scholastic Inc.© Scholastic Inc. All rights reserved
Cast (in alphabetical order)
Papa………………………………………………………………….………Michael John Casey* Yitzak Silver…………………………………………………………………...…….Yuval David* Mama…………………………………………………………………….……..Laura Giannarelli* Zipporah (Zippy)………………………………………………………………………..Rana Kay* Sean O’Malley…………………………………………………….……………..Michael Laurino* Tovah……………………………………………………………………………Tricia McCauley* *Dreams in the Golden County is a professional production employing members of Actors’ Equity Association
Barbara Field (playwright) has had work produced across the United States and Canada and in Europe. She served as a playwright-in-residence at the Guthrie Theater, Minneapolis, from 1974 to 1981. During that time she created a number of adaptations and translations for the Guthrie, including translations of Gogol’s Marriage, Bulgakov’s Monsieur de Moliere and Ghelderode’s Pantagleize. Her adaptations for the Guthrie Theater from novels include Camille (from the Dumas novel) and Playing with Fire- a response to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (a Guthrie national tour followed). Her adaptation of Dickens' Great Expectations was commissioned by Seattle Children's Theatre; then played at the Guthrie Theater and subsequently on national tour. A recent revival won a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award in 1998. Her adaptation of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol has been a part of the Guthrie and Missouri Repertory Theatre seasons for twenty-five years. Her adaptation of The Boxcar Children played at the Seattle Children's Theatre in the fall of 1999. Scaramouche, her adaptation of the Rafael Sabatini swashbuckler, was commissioned by Jon Jory for Actors Theatre of Louisville, and produced by Iowa State University in November and December 1999. Her original work includes Neutral Countries, first produced at Actors Theater of Louisville’s Humana Festival, where it was named Best American Play; Coming of Age for Indiana Repertory Theatre; Quality Time for Pennsylvania Stage Company; Boundary Waters, which premiered at California’s South Coast Repertory in 1992 and subsequently won a DramaLogue Award; and Off the Ice, which was produced at the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis in 1996. She has written one original opera libretto, Rosina (composer Hiram Titus), which was commissioned and produced by the Minnesota Opera Company. Her musical, The Skinflint (for which she wrote the book and lyrics with composer Hiram Titus), was produced at the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis in November 1998. She is a founding member of the Playwrights Center in Minneapolis, and has held both Bush and McKnight Fellowships. She is currently working on a musical for the Great American History Theater, to open in 2004. Her adaptation of Scaramouche will open at the Washington Shakespeare Company this fall, directed by Gregg Henry; and a volume of Field’s adaptations for the Guthrie was published this past spring by Smith and Krauss under the title “New Classics from the Guthrie Theatre: Classical Adaptations for the American Stage.” Gregg Henry (Director) is the Artistic Director of the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival. In addition to his KCACTF responsibilities, he coordinates the Kennedy Center/Kenan Foundation Acting and Directing Apprenticeship Program and assists Youth and Family Programs in the development and production of scripts for young people. Gregg received his MFA in Acting
from the University of Michigan and is formerly the director of theatre and an associate professor at Iowa State University. Recent productions include Macbeth, Neil Bartlett’s adaptation of The Misanthrope, David Edgar’s Pentecost and Hamlet. He has enjoyed a long creative relationship with Barbara Field, collaborating on productions of Frankenstein: Playing with Fire, her adaptation of Bulgakov’s Moliere, and the premiere of Scaramouche, adapted from the Sabatini swashbuckler. Gregg has acted, directed, and/or staged the fights with the Colorado, Iowa, Wisconsin and Oklahoma Shakespeare Festivals. His recent summer association has been directing The Comedy of Errors, Much Ado About Nothing and The Merry Wives of Windsor for the Michigan Shakespeare Festival, where he is an associate artist. Lenora Inez Brown (Dramaturg) is currently an Associate Editor for American Theatre Magazine. She has served as an artistic advisor/dramaturg for Sundance Theatre Lab 2000, where she worked on a musical based on Kafka's short stories (by Christopher Drobny; directed by Diane Paulus) and a new play about Carson McCullers (by Sarah Schulman; directed by Craig Lucas). She also worked with Ruth Maleczech in June of 2000 at the A.S.K. Theatre Projects' Creating Theatre from Non-traditional Sources Lab. She recently completed a class on dramaturgy for the Playwrights Horizons Theatre School. Before leaving to join American Theatre, she served as the Literary Manager and Dramaturg for Crossroads Theatre Company, the 1999 recipient of the Tony Award® for Outstanding Regional Theatre. While at Crossroads, she worked with the writers of It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues, which was nominated for a Tony for best musical. Before Crossroads she served three years as the Consulting Dramaturg for The Cleveland Play House. While there she wrote and designed the Educator's Packets for student audiences and interviewed various writers and directors for the theatre's playbill. She has also been the Resident Dramaturg for Syracuse Stage and a Festival Dramaturg for the Kennedy Center's New Visions/New Voices 2000, 1998 and 1996 new-play workshops and for the New Harmony Project. Ms. Brown has served as a performance auditor for NYSCA and a Theatre Panelist/Theatre Evaluator for The Ohio Arts Council. Ms. Brown is a graduate of Dartmouth College and The Yale School of Drama. Tony Cisek (Set Designer) has collaborated on YFP's productions of Dreams in the Golden Country, The Emperor’s New Clothes, The Great Quillow and Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse. His work has also been seen at Arena Stage, Guthrie Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Syracuse Stage, Folger Theatre, Delaware Theatre Company, Olney Theatre Center, Round House Theatre, Arden Theatre Company, Theatre of the First Amendment, City Theatre, Peabody Opera, Florida State Opera, and others. Tony is currently designing the theatres for the new Atlas Performing Arts Center in Northeast DC. He is the recipient of four Helen Hayes Awards for Outstanding Set Design, is a member of USA Local 829, and holds a Master of Fine Arts in Design from NYU. Daniel Covey (Lighting Designer) is delighted to be working with director Gregg Henry for this new production of Dreams in the Golden Country as part of the Imagination Celebration series here at the Kennedy Center. Other lighting designs include Anna Lucasta, The Swan and The Judas Kiss at Rep Stage; The Amen Corner and SPUNK for ACTCo; The Laramie Project and She Loves Me at Olney Theatre Center; Othello, She Stoops to Conquer and Macbeth at Folger Theatre; Insurrection at the Berkshires Theater Festival; Oleanna, Corpus Christi and Intimate Exchanges at Source Theatre Company; A Lesson Before Dying at Syracuse Stage; bee-luther-hatchee and Perseus Bayou at Theater of the First Amendment, among many others. Mr. Covey is a Helen Hayes Award winning lighting designer living in the D.C. area. Please visit dancovey.com for upcoming projects, portfolio photographs, and contact information. Dreama J. Greaves (Properties Artisan) has served as properties artisan for many Kennedy Center Youth and Family Programs shows. Her credits include such diverse productions as The Snow Queen; Little Women; Alice in Wonderland; The Nightingale; Alexander and the Terrible,
Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day and others; many of which have toured nationally. She has a Master of Fine Arts from Northwestern University and free-lances throughout the metro area. Kevin Hill (Sound Designer) recently moved to Washington, DC from Omaha, NE where he received a BA in Dramatic Arts from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. For 5 years he was the resident Sound Designer/ Composer for the Omaha Theater Company for Young People. He has designed/ composed for many productions such as the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Babe the Sheep Pig and Stuart Little. He operates his own recording studio where he produces original music, sound design and web-based multi-media audio for such clients as Discovery Channel, TLC and BBC America. Seth Kibel (Composer) is the leader, clarinetist, and composer for The Alexandria Kleztet, an "alternative" klezmer band based in the Baltimore/Washington area. The band's two award-winning albums, Y2Klezmer (1999) and Delusions of Klezmer (2002) are both available nationwide. Seth also fronts a variety of swing and jazz groups, including Corner Pocket, The Bay Jazz Project, and Seth Kibel's Dixieland All-Stars. He has performed with such notables as Sam Moore (Sam & Dave), Percy Sledge, The Coasters, and Johnnie Johnson. Seth can be heard on recent CD releases by Cayuga Klezmer Revival, The Hot Kugel Klezmer Band, guitarist David Kitchen, boogie-woogie pianist Daryl Davis, jazz vocalist Esther Haynes, bluesman Eugene "Hideaway" Bridges, and flamenco guitarist Gerard Moreno. Check him out on the web at www.sethkibel.com. Catherine F. Norgren (Costume Designer) is a member of United Scenic Artists. She has an MFA from Carnegie Mellon University, and a BA from Mount Holyoke College. Cathy is currently working on designs for the Alabama Shakespeare Festival. She has designed costumes for the National Shakespeare Company; Vermont Stage Company; Studio Arena Theatre, Buffalo; Pennsylvania Center Stage; the Arden Theatre of Philadelphia; Indiana Repertory Theatre; the North Carolina Shakespeare Festival; and Interlochen Summer Arts Camp. She has been a Visiting Artist at Villanova University, Gannon University, & Juniata College, all in PA; at Iowa State University; and at the University of Evansville, IN. She teaches design to students in the Department of Theatre & Dance at the University of Buffalo, where she is Head of Design & Technology. Ms. Norgren is also the National Chair of the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival.
Cast Michael John Casey (Papa) Michael John is happy to be working with the Kennedy Center’s Youth & Family Programs. Other companies he has worked with include: Longacre Lea Productions, Baltimore Shakespeare Festival, Washington Shakespeare Company, Project Y Theatre Company, Folger Theatre, Purchased Experiences Theatre Company, Keegan Theatre, and Rorschach Theatre Company. Michael John’s film work includes industrials with WILL Interactive, Inc. and The Discovery Channel’s Moments in Time series. He is a member of the Society of American Fight Directors. Training: MFA in Acting (Catholic University of America), BA in Theatre Arts (Nazareth College of Rochester). Yuval David (Isaac Silver) is pleased to perform in this production with the Kennedy Center. Recent Off and Off-Off Broadway credits include: Stray Dog Story (Mission Theatre Company), Boxing Ennui (Chashama Thatre), The Art of Being Oscar (Ideation Productions), Jake the Mechanic (Faux Real Theatre), In the Swing (Fringe Festival), and Fireworks (American Opera Projects). Regional Theatre credits include: Romeo and Juliet (Bridgeport Free Shakespeare), The Renegado (Shakespeare Globe Centre), Of Mice and Men (Arena Stage, u/s), At
the Rim of a Purple Volcano (Source Theatre Festival), Woman in Mind (Round House Theatre), and Camino Real (The Shakespeare Theatre). Film and Television credits include HBO, Comedy Central, National Geographic, The Learning Channel, and The Discovery Channel. Yuval is currently working on his new one-man show. Check out his website at www.yuvaldavid.com. Lots of love to his family and friends. Laura Giannarelli (Mama) Laura is very pleased to be a part of this production. The last time she played a Mama was at Olney Theatre: Mama in A Shayna Maidel. Area audiences may also know Laura from The Washington Stage Guild, where she is a founding company member, having appeared in 26 productions. Most recently, she played Lesbia in Shaw's Getting Married and Teresa in the Guild's acclaimed production of The Memory of Water. At Metro Stage, she was Sister Beatrice in Rapture. She has also appeared on many other local stages and has performed many times for the National Portrait Gallery's "Portraits in Motion" series. She is a longtime narrator for The Library of Congress' Talking Books program, having recorded over 500 titles. In 1990, she was honored with an Alexander Scourby Narrator of the Year Award for Children's Literature from the American Foundation for the Blind. She is a past president of the The Actors' Center and a member of AFTRA, SAG and Actors' Equity Association. Rana Kay (Zipporah) Rana Kay is excited to be back in DC working at the Kennedy Center. A graduate of the George Washington University, she was most recently seen in The Ride Down Mt. Morgan at Theatre J. Prior work includes the Washington Shakespeare Company's productions of Fifth of July (Helen Hayes Nomination), Marat/Sade, Troilus and Cressida, and Incident at Vichy. She has also worked with the Washington Stage Guild (The Chalk Garden), Project Y (One Flea Spare) and Classika Theatre. Rana has also had the opportunity to understudy at Arena Stage (The Miracle Worker) and Studio Theatre (Last Night of Ballyhoo). Her touring experience includes Kaiser Permanente's Educational Theatre Program. Most recently, Rana completed an independent film in New York which will soon be released. Michael Laurino (Sean O’Malley) stage credits include: Arena Stage/Geva Theatre Center: Theophilus North; The Shakespeare Theatre: The Merchant of Venice, The Country Wife, Coriolanus, A Midsummer Night's Dream and King Lear; Washington Jewish Theatre/American Century Theatre: Home of the Brave; Washington Shakespeare Company: Incident at Vichy; Antony and Cleopatra; Source Theatre: The Muckle Man: Horizons Theatre: I Want to Tell You. BAPA Imagination Stage: Strange Intelligence; Vpstart Crow: The Merchant of Venice, A Comedy of Errors; The Theatre Conspiracy: Vladivostok Blues; The Center Company: The Sisters Rosensweig; Williamstown Theatre Fesitval: A Murder of Crows, Dreading Thekla. Michael is also an affiliated teaching artist at The Shakespeare Theatre. He graduated cum laude from George Washington University. Tricia McCauley (Tovah) Tour Technical Staff Robert Humphrey (Technical Director/Sound Director) is extremely happy to be working with his friends at the Kennedy Center again after touring with My Lord, What a Morning: The Marian Anderson Story, the second national tour of Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, Harlem and this season’s A Light in the Storm. His most recent handiwork can be seen in Phoenix, Arizona where he has spent the last four years working on productions for Arizona Theater Company, Actors Theatre of Phoenix, Ballet Arizona, Arizona Jewish Theatre Company, and Childsplay to name a few. Mr. Humphrey is also the Resident Designer for Long Lake Camp for the Arts in Long Lake, New York.
Annie Kremin (ATD/Wardrobe) David Paige (Lighting Director) After several years as a Technical Services representative for Barbizon Lighting and Product Manager for City Theatrical Inc., David is happy to return to an actual performance schedule. A graduate of the University of Arizona, David has been in the lighting/technical field for over ten years. He was recently the Master Electrician for Studio Theatre’s productions of The Shape of Things and Bat Boy – The Musical and is happy and excited to be a part of the Kennedy Center’s The Nightingale. Elizabeth Wiesner (Stage Manager) has been with this show since its first production in 2002 and is delighted to be taking it on the road with this fabulous group. Last season she was the stage manager for the Kennedy Center's national tour of The Nightingale. Locally, she has also worked with Project Y (Production Manager), Cherry Red, Smallbeer, Source, Washington Shakespeare Company, Theatre J and Woolly Mammoth. Ms. Wiesner is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts. About the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is a presidential memorial mandated by Congress to present and produce the finest performing arts from this country and abroad. Since its opening in 1971, performances of every imaginable kind have enlivened its halls… and millions of people’s lives. As the national center for the performing arts, the Kennedy Center is committed to increased opportunities for all people to participate in and understand the arts. To fulfill that mission the Kennedy Center strives to commission, produce, and present performances reflecting the highest standards of excellence and diversity indicative of the world in which we live and to make those performances accessible to the broadest possible audience through arts education. The Kennedy Center Education Department has determined that the inclusion of the performing arts in a broad-based curriculum improves the quality of a child’s educational experience. The arts teach discipline, improve self-esteem, inspire creativity, and help young people to set and reach goals. Knowledge of the arts makes good teachers better and makes participating schools exciting, challenging places for children- places where they are encouraged to explore, to create, and to reach their full potential. The Kennedy Center Education Department is reaching out to the nation with a variety of arts education programs, including the Kennedy Center: Partners in Education program, which focuses on development opportunities for teachers and community cultural partnerships; the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival, which promotes excellence among other theater educators and their students; and A RTSEDGE, the Kennedy Center’s national arts and education information network. Kennedy Center Youth and Family Programming annually produces and presents more than 350 international, national, and local professional performances in music, dance, opera, puppetry, storytelling, and theater for nearly 150,000 young people, their teachers, and families. In its 30-year history the Kennedy Center has commissioned more than 70 dance, music, and theater works for young people, many of which have toured to young audiences throughout the nation and abroad. About Scholastic Entertainment Scholastic Entertainment (SE) is the entertainment and media division of Scholastic Inc., the global children's publishing and media company. A proven leader in the children's entertainment landscape, SE ranks as one of the foremost producers of quality, family-oriented television programming, feature films, videos, and web sites, and an award-winning licensor and marketer of children's properties worldwide. SE's production credits include such popular television series as the
top-rated Clifford The Big Red Dog™ (PBS KIDS), Clifford’s Puppy Days (PBS KIDS), the Emmy-winning series Scholastic’s The Magic School Bus® (TLC) and I SPY (HBO Family), as well as Dear America, The Royal Diaries™, Animorphs® and Goosebumps®. Clifford The Big Red Dog has been recognized as LIMA’s 2002 Best Character License of the Year. In the feature film arena, SE has produced the critically-acclaimed The Baby-sitters Club, The Indian in the Cupboard and The Mighty and is currently adapting the best-selling Philip Pullman trilogy, His Dark Materials, for the big screen with New Line Cinema. Additionally, SE serves as the exclusive licensing, merchandising and promotional representative for such prominent franchises as Schoolhouse Rock™, Noah's Park™ and Home Movies™. The company also develops and markets a line of branded toys - PLAY! Scholastic - with Toys 'R' Us that won the 2002 LIMA award for best brand/corporate license. For more information, visit Scholastic's Webby awardwinning web site at scholastic.com. SCHOLASTIC, DEAR AMERICA and logos are trademarks of Scholastic Inc.© Scholastic Inc. All rights reserved