Fall LIMELIGHT Newsletter by Actors Theatre of Louisville

LIMELIGHT A U G U S Tâ&#x20AC;&#x201C; O C TO B E R 2 0 1 7

ANGELS IN AMERICA PART ONE: MILLENNIUM APPROACHES PART TWO: PERESTROIKA PAGE 4

DRACULA PAGE 10

ANGELS IN AMERICA 4

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THE PAIN OF PROGRESS The season kicks off with a Pulitzer Prize-winning, two-part epic about love and betrayal, justice and democracy, and the moral imperative of progress. Learn more about this rare opportunity to experience Tony Kushner’s masterpiece in its entirety. FACT MEETS THE FANTASTICAL Angels in America juxtaposes real historical figures against wildly theatrical appearances of the divine. Take a closer look at some of Tony Kushner’s inspirations.

FIFTH THIRD BANK’S DRACULA BEHIND THE SCENES WITH TEAM DRACULA 10

Learn the answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about Louisville’s favorite vampire thriller.

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AROUND ACTORS 14 16

ACTORS THEATRE WELCOMES A NEW INTERACT PRESIDENT Seema Sheth is a financial advisor for Northwestern Mutual with a flair for the arts and a passion for getting younger people involved. INTRODUCING THE 2017-2018 PROFESSIONAL TRAINING COMPANY Actors Theatre is pleased to welcome its 46th incoming Professional Training Company. Meet the PTC as they join us for the 2017-2018 Season!

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18 EVENTS CALENDAR

WELCOME TO ACTORS THEATRE’S 54TH SEASON! VOLUME 17, ISSUE 1 MANAGING EDITOR Laura Humble SENIOR EDITORS/WRITERS Hannah Rae Montgomery Jenni Page-White Jessica Reese Amy Wegener GRAPHIC DESIGNER Mary Kate Zihar CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Liz Magee John Rooney CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Bill Brymer Kate Leggett

316 West Main Street Louisville, KY 40202-4218 ARTISTIC DIRECTOR Les Waters MANAGING DIRECTOR Kevin E. Moore TICKET SERVICES CALL 502.584.1205 OR 1.800.4ATL.TIX ONLINE Ac torsTheatre.org

We’re back, featuring both angels and demons as we kick off our 2017–2018 Season with Tony Kushner’s Pulitzer Prize-winning, two-part epic, Angels in America, as well as the beloved Fifth Third Bank’s Dracula. We’re so happy to have you with us as we start the season on an ambitious note. Directed by Actors Theatre’s Associate Artistic Director, Meredith McDonough, Angels in America launches our lineup of wildly entertaining stories. This production will run in repertory in September and October, so whether you see Parts One and Two separately, or together on one of our two-show days, we’re sure this will be an unforgettable theatrical experience. Our fall productions continue with Fifth Third Bank’s Dracula, and we’re excited to welcome back Randolph Curtis Rand as the titular vampire, a role he’s played six times before on the Bingham Theatre stage. Opening in November is the deeply compelling Skeleton Crew, part of Dominique Morisseau’s acclaimed three-play cycle about the city of Detroit. And, as you begin to mark your calendars for your annual visit to Fifth Third Bank’s A Christmas Carol, don’t forget to check out our new holiday play, The Santaland Diaries, starring one of Actors Theatre’s favorite comic performers, Nathan Keepers (Black Stache in Peter and the Starcatcher, director of The 39 Steps)! Given the powerful and lasting impact live theatre can have on an audience, we’re pleased to host Community Conversation events this season. Community Conversation events focus on exploring important topics in Louisville’s cultural landscape, through the lens of Actors Theatre productions that have similar themes. Following a performance and pre-show reception in the Sara Shallenberger Brown Lobby, audience members can engage in a stimulating conversation with leaders in the Louisville community, as well as fellow theatregoers. Tickets to the event are $20 and can be purchased by calling 502.585.1210. Take a look at our Events Calendar on page 18 to save the date for the first Community Conversation event in conjunction with Angels in America, Part One: Millennium Approaches! We want to thank our Season Ticket Holders and donors for the essential role you play in supporting the work that we do. If you are not a Season Ticket Holder, and would like to become one, we highly encourage you to join us—there’s so much to experience this season. Flexible dates and savings make it so easy to enjoy world-class theatre in your own backyard. Visit ActorsTheatre.org or call 502.584.1205 for more information. See you at the theatre!

GROUP SALES 502.585.1210 FAX 502.561.3337 STOP BY the Box Office at Third & Main. Free shor t-term parking jus t inside the Main Street entrance.

Les Waters

Artistic Director

Kevin E. Moore

Managing Director

A N GELS IN AM ERICA PA R T O N E | M I L L E N N I U M A P P ROA C H E S PA R T T WO | P E R E S T RO I K A by Tony Kushner

directed by Meredith McDonough

THE PAIN OF PROGRESS When Tony Kushner began writing Angels in America, all he knew was that he wanted it to be about AIDS, Roy Cohn, and Mormons. And he thought he was writing just one full-length play. But after a year of development, he had written 120 pages in which his guiding image—a celestial messenger crashing through the ceiling—hadn’t appeared yet. The frustrated playwright lamented, “I can’t get these people to change fast enough!” Oskar Eustis, the play’s first dramaturg and now the artistic director of The Public Theater in New York, explains: “By the time that year ended, Tony had changed his formal problem—getting his characters to change—into the core content of the play. Angels in America is about how excruciatingly difficult, but absolutely necessary, it is to change.” When Angels in America premiered in its entirety at the Mark Taper Forum in 1992, Kushner’s canvas had expanded into a seven-hour masterpiece, comprised of two full-length plays: Millennium Approaches and Perestroika. The epic stunned audiences with the breadth of its ideas and the depth of its humanity, ringing out as a political call to arms during the AIDS crisis. Told with thrilling wit and exuberant theatricality, it covers territory as rich and as timeless as life, death, religion, power, sexuality, justice, and democracy. Twenty-five years after the play’s groundbreaking debut, its impact is perhaps most deeply felt in the questions it asks of Americans: who are we, and what kind of country do we intend to become? (Continued on next page)

Nothing’s lost forever. In this world, there is a kind of painful progress. Longing for what we’ve left behind, and dreaming ahead. At least I think that’s so. —Harper in Angels in America, Part Two: Perestroika

he play begins in 1985, in the midst of sweeping cultural and political change worldwide. Communism is in its death throes, scientists have just discovered holes in the ozone layer, and Reagan-era ideology is beginning to show its flaws. Meanwhile, the AIDS epidemic is decimating the gay population with no treatment in sight, while the White House has responded with tacit indifference (Reagan famously didn’t utter the word “AIDS” publicly until four years into the outbreak). Although Angels in America is set in a very specific cultural moment, it is always in conversation with the broader forces of human progress that define our American character, conjuring up the arduous journeys of immigrant Jews across the Atlantic, Mormons across the American frontier, and African Americans through the Middle Passage. At the center of this expansive history unfolds an intimate drama about a group of people in crisis. When Prior learns that he’s dying of AIDS, his lover Louis abandons him, unable to face the impending downward spiral of illness. Meanwhile, closeted Mormon Republican Joe Pitt learns that his growing alienation from his wife Harper has as much to do with his sexual ambivalence as it does her Valium-induced escapist fantasies. Looming over it all is Joe’s mentor, Roy Cohn—a closeted gay man and ruthless scoundrel of a lawyer who fights disbarment proceedings while he conceals his own AIDS diagnosis and deteriorating health. Kushner’s drama swings between bedroom realism and surrealistic hallucination, between gallows humor and divine revelation, as these characters’ lives become increasingly intertwined in unexpected ways. It seems that almost anything can happen as history begins to “crack wide open.” Harper meets Prior in a bewildering shared dream that she calls “the threshold of revelation.”

The ghost of Ethel Rosenberg, whom Roy helped convict and execute, comes back from the grave to gloat over her nemesis in his dying days. And a magnificent Angel invades Prior’s dreams—or is he awake?—with an order to deliver her message to humankind. Astonishingly, the Angel’s appearance has nothing to do with comforting a dying man. Throughout the course of Millennium Approaches, Prior is told to “prepare” for the messenger; but when the Angel finally reveals her divine command in Perestroika, it is a confusing and disturbing directive. Descending from Heaven, she bellows, “YOU MUST STOP MOVING!” Humankind’s propensity for intermingling and forward progress has disturbed the Heavens, and the Angel is desperate for humans to “turn back.” Prior, whose body is ravaged by AIDS and whose lover has abandoned him, knows that change is often a brutal, unforgiving process. But he also knows that change is unavoidable. Desire, motion, migration—these are the very essence of humanity. As Prior puts it, “The world only spins forward.” This is precisely the reason why director Meredith McDonough (who had previously directed Part One of Kushner’s epic while she was in graduate school, but not Part Two) decided that she wanted to tackle Angels in America in its entirety. It’s in Perestroika that these characters must explicitly confront the imperative of change. Betrayed by their loved ones, by their government, and even by their own bodies, they mend their wounded hearts and forge ahead, finding a sort of grace in their connections to each other. Ultimately, it is not the Angel, but humans who have the capacity to see hope in human progress. As Harper muses, “Nothing’s lost forever. In this world, there is a kind of painful progress. Longing for what we’ve left behind, and dreaming ahead. At least I think that’s so.” —Jenni Page-White

THE LEGACY OF ANGELS IN AMERICA When Angels in America premiered in its entirety for the first time 25 years ago, New York Times theatre critic Frank Rich wrote, “Some visionary playwrights want to change the world. Some want to revolutionize the theater. Tony Kushner, the remarkably gifted 36-year-old author of Angels in America, is that rarity of rarities, a writer who has the promise to do both.” Kushner’s two-part epic won a Pulitzer Prize and two Tony Awards for Best Play, and was universally praised as a groundbreaking drama. Making no distinction between the personal and the political, it placed gay men at the center of its narrative at a time when homosexuality was marginalized in both politics and popular culture. Angels in America energized a wave of activism in the gay community, and its ambition, scope, and astonishing theatricality influenced a generation of theatre artists.

I saw the Broadway production four times when I was 16 years old, sitting in a folding chair on a catwalk above the lighting grid. I’d never seen anything like it—it fundamentally changed who I am as a person and artist. —Associate Artistic Director Meredith McDonough, director of Angels in America

It was exhilarating. There was rapid change around the attitude toward gays, and Angels was a catalyst for that without being didactic. It was explosive, but rich, textured, complicated. It really engaged a discussion that hadn’t been going on before, to some degree, in the culture at large. —Rocco Landesman, producer of the original Broadway production

What Angels did for writers all over the world, including me, is that it challenged us to write ambitious work. —Ellen McLaughlin, who originated the role of the Angel

[Kushner has a] genius for constantly rewarding the audience for venturing into uncomfortable territory— rewarding them in a very unpretentious sort of way: rewarding them with laughs, with lumps in their throat… You take the audience through that loop, again and again over a period of hours, allowing them a greater and greater embrace of a larger and larger imaginative landscape—by the end of eight hours, it’s a kind of delirium that I don’t think can be produced by almost any other piece of writing that I’ve ever encountered. …It’s all felt in the [theatre], by everyone, the performers and audience together. —Ben Shenkman, Louis in HBO’s adaptation of Angels in America 7

FACT MEETS Angels in America is both a historical drama, delving into Reagan-era politics and the horrors of the AIDS epidemic, and an audaciously theatrical celebration of the form filled with bewildering visions and divine revelations. To create the breadth of style and substance in the play, Tony Kushner juxtaposes real historical figures against manifestations of the supernatural.

ROY COHN Tony Kushner was inspired to include infamous attorney Roy Cohn as a character in Angels in America after reading a sneering obituary that seemed to gloat over Cohn’s death from AIDS. Kushner had long considered Cohn to be a major villain of the 20th century, yet he found himself angry on Cohn’s behalf—and he knew there was something to explore in that conflicted reaction. A ruthless powerbroker and closeted gay man, Roy Cohn rose to national prominence as the lead prosecutor in the 1951 trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who were accused of passing atomic secrets to the Soviets. Cohn claimed in his autobiography that he pulled strings to ensure the death penalty for Ethel, a clear violation of the law. Then in 1953, Cohn joined forces with Senator Joseph McCarthy, who was launching a series of sensational hearings to uncover communist infiltration in America. Blacklists were created and careers ruined. The lives of many innocent people were destroyed in the name of “security.” Controversy followed Cohn to the private sector, where his political cunning and bullying tactics brought him fame and powerful friendships. His lengthy client list included the Archdiocese of New York, a string of mafia bosses, and rising star Donald Trump (whom he also mentored as a personal friend). Hounded by the IRS for tax evasion, and repeatedly charged with professional misconduct and financial improprieties, Cohn evaded conviction in three separate trials. He was finally disbarred in 1986, just weeks before dying of AIDS-related causes. To the end, Cohn denied his homosexuality and his AIDS diagnosis, claiming instead that he had liver cancer. While Kushner was writing Angels in America, the AIDS Memorial Quilt had its first public display in San Francisco. The playwright came across a panel that read, “Roy Cohn: Bully, Coward, Victim.” Turning to his companion, he said, “If I can write something half as dialectical as that, it’ll be a great character.”

Roy Cohn

The AIDS Memorial Quilt

The

Fantastical THE ANGEL The moment the Angel crashes through the ceiling at the end of Millennium Approaches was a foundational image for Tony Kushner as he began writing his two-part epic set during the AIDS crisis. He recalls, Around November of 1985, the first person that I knew personally died of AIDS. … And I had this dream: Bill dying—I don’t know if he was actually dying, but he was in his pajamas and sick on his bed—and the ceiling collapsed and this angel comes into the room. And then I wrote a poem. … After I finished it, I put it away. No one will ever see it. Its title was ‘Angels in America.’ The Angel’s spectacular entrance remains one of the most memorable stage moments in 20th-century drama—it is, as Prior describes it in the play, “Very Steven Spielberg.” (Actors Theatre is teaming up with frequent partner ZFX Flying Effects to create the play’s airborne magic.) But who is this Angel? She may or may not be part of Prior’s illness-induced hallucinations; the play encourages us to consider that possibility, as the characters do. She is beautiful and terrifying, and her message for a dying man ravaged by AIDS is not particularly comforting. Kushner calls her “the angel of history,” a reference to philosopher Walter Benjamin’s eloquent essay, “Theses on the Philosophy of History.” Kushner turned to Benjamin’s theories about the ruins of history and the price of progress as a guiding metaphor for the play.

Costume Designer Alison Siple’s preliminary renderings convey both the ethereal and fearsome qualities of the Angel.

In Benjamin’s description: This is how one pictures the angel of history. His face is turned toward the past. Where we perceive a chain of events, he sees one single catastrophe which keeps piling wreckage upon wreckage and hurls it in front of his feet. The angel would like to stay, awaken the dead, and make whole what has been smashed. But a storm is blowing from Paradise; it has got caught in his wings with such violence that the angel can no longer close them. This storm irresistibly propels him into the future to which his back is turned, while the pile of debris before him grows skyward. This storm is what we call progress. —Jenni Page-White

DR A CULA originally dramatized by John L. Balderston and Hamilton Deane from Bram Stokerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s world-famous novel, Dracula as adapted and directed by William McNulty

BEHIND THE SCENES WITH TEAM DRACULA Every fall, Count Dracula takes the Bingham Theatre by storm, continuing his bloodthirsty reign of terror in a production that’s become a Louisville tradition. Whether you’re a veteran theatregoer who’s loved this vampire tale for years or it’s your first time catching a performance, you might be wondering: how do we do it? After all, bringing a horror classic to life on stage, replete with special effects and spine-tingling action sequences, is no small task—but at Actors Theatre, we’re up to the challenge. From our special recipes for fake blood to our four-legged cast members and talented backstage crew, here we reveal answers to some of the most frequently asked questions from Dracula fans. (Continued on next page)

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ou can’t tell a story about vampires without blood—but we can’t use the real stuff on stage, so how do we make a substitute that looks convincing? And just how much blood do Dracula and his fellow Undead spill and devour each night? There are two types of fake blood in Fifth Third Bank’s Dracula. When vampire characters feast on their victims— basically, any time stage blood comes in contact with an actor’s mouth—an edible mixture is required. The edible blood is concocted from corn syrup, chocolate syrup, and food coloring—it actually tastes sweet! A washable formula, designed not to stain costumes, is used for all other blood effects. To produce washable blood, laundry detergent is added to the edible recipe. Sometimes extra water is blended with each blood mixture as well, so that it will slide more easily and realistically through tubes or syringes (for instance, when characters give one another blood transfusions). Heather Lindert, the Soft Goods Artisan in the Props Department, estimates that six to eight gallons are used per performance. In addition to its 11 human actors, Dracula features two or three rats each year. Where do we find these rats, and how do we train them for performance? Once Dracula closes, what are they up to for the rest of the season? The rats currently in the show, Daria and Jane, have appeared in Dracula for the past two years; their acting careers began when they were purchased from a local pet store for the 2015 production. Daria and Jane typically join the cast and creative team for the entire rehearsal period. Starting on the same day as their human counterparts and spending lots of time in the rehearsal room helps them acclimate to the many loud noises, special effects, and new faces that will surround them in performance. In fact, crew members take the rats out of their cages and let them ride on their shoulders—or on top of their heads!—at least once a day. In their months off, Daria and Jane (along with other past Dracula rats) live with a caregiver from the Louisville Zoo.

Dracula is a thrilling adventure for audiences of diverse ages, including students and teachers. Every season, Actors’ Education Department holds a series of student

matinees, special daytime performances exclusively for school groups. On average, how many young theatregoers and schools come to be scared silly each year? This season, there are 19 showings of Dracula as part of the Yum! Family Series Student Matinees. These performances bring an estimated 5,000 students— representing at least 50 schools—to scream and laugh together in the Bingham Theatre over the course of the show’s three-month run. Students also have the opportunity to participate in pre-show classroom workshops led by Education Department staff, so that they can become familiar with the history, ideas, and themes of the play before seeing it. Attending Dracula on a class field trip is often students’ first experience of live theatre—and many return to the production as a Halloween pastime well into adulthood. With a large cast, elaborate costumes and effects, and plenty of heart-pounding physical action, Dracula calls for skilled hands backstage as well as in the spotlight. How many crew members does it take for each performance to run smoothly? In this tale of Good and Evil, audiences watch Dracula and his minions terrorize a small English village—but they may not realize that it also takes a village to make his haunting story manifest every night! For example, each showing of Dracula requires 14 Acting Apprentices from the Professional Training Company to be ready in the wings to help with speedy costume changes, move props and set pieces, and much more. The production also demands a four-person stage management team, responsible for making sure that light cues, sound cues, and scene changes happen on time. They keep an eye on actor safety as well, especially during the show’s fight sequences. Meanwhile, because the production involves intricate Victorian-era dress, there are four staff members from the Costume Department present to assist with makeup, outfits, and wigs. All told, every performance of Dracula is made possible by approximately 26 theatre professionals hard at work behind the scenes.

—Hannah Rae Montgomery

Top: The Monster (Mbali Guliwe) sinks his fangs into Mina’s (Park Williams) neck, as blood streams down. Photo by Bill Brymer, 2015. Bottom: Actor Howard Kaye, who played the title role in last fall’s production of Dracula, bonds with Jane, one of the show’s two rodent cast members, during a rehearsal. Photo by Kate Leggett, 2016.

MEET SEEMA SHETH

Theatre shines most brightly when it is enjoyed by people of all ages. InterACT at Actors Theatre aims to help with just that—providing a way for young professionals to become more involved and to enrich their theatre experience. At the helm of this effort is Seema Sheth, financial advisor at Northwestern Mutual by day, new president of InterACT and arts-lover by night. With her passion and enthusiasm, Sheth wants to make sure you get the most out of your visit to Actors Theatre. But don’t just take our word for it! Let her tell you below. Tell us a little about yourself! What is your day job? SEEMA SHETH I am an actor-turned-model-turnedfinance junkie! I have two passions that I am currently pursuing professionally. I work for Northwestern Mutual helping clients with plan-based financial advising. I also run a financial literacy and life skills business called the Adulting Academy, which I founded earlier this year. What would someone be surprised to know about you? SS I think people will be surprised to know that, while eating is my favorite pastime, I am allergic to almost everything! I can’t eat legumes, nuts, gluten, dairy—at times the list feels endless. That being said, I’ll never turn down an invitation to lunch or dinner. If there’s a will, there’s a way. What is it that you like most about the arts? SS We often get swamped by the daily demands of the world. From ambitious careers to family obligations to clicks, likes, and downloads, it is sometimes hard in our ever-connected world to slow down and experience… anything. The arts allow for that momentary suspension of self-involvement. I most appreciate the beauty, freedom, expression, and experiences that the arts afford us. How did you get involved with Actors Theatre? SS I have been an Actors lover for as long as I can remember. A major factor in my undergraduate major decision (theatre, of course!) was the fact that I had been brought up here in Louisville, around such great artistic energy. When I returned to Louisville after seven years in Los Angeles, I leapt at the opportunity to become involved not only with the arts in general here in the city, but particularly Actors.

How would you describe InterACT to others? SS We are a group of young people in Louisville that enjoy experiencing all of the great, affordable, and spectacular art the city has to offer. In particular, we understand and appreciate the impact that live theatre has on those who are lucky enough to sit in the audience. We watch together, we eat together, and yes, we happy hour before shows together. If you are looking for a great group of people to have fun with, we are your ticket! What plans do you have for InterACT during the 2017-2018 Season? SS Carrie Syberg, my Actors staff counterpart, and I have so much planned for this season. Have I said happy hour already in this interview? If not, here it is once again. We will be meeting for drinks, dinners, shows, and community this season. We also hope to get some special behind-thescenes access for members of InterACT, so that patrons can not only understand the experience of the theatre, but also the hard work, craftsmanship, and people behind these fantastic works of living art. What are you looking forward to the most this season? SS It’s hard to pick just one thing! Of course, the Humana Festival is always a favorite of mine, but this year, another event takes the cake: I recently found out that my middle school improvisation partner, Neill Robertson, was cast in Dracula this season. I cannot wait to see him light up the stage. How do I get involved with InterACT? SS InterACT is excited to grow by leaps and bounds this year. If there is someone you know who might want to get involved, please reach out to me at seema.sheth@nm.com—I would love to share the arts!

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JOIN US IN WELCOMING THE 2017-2018 PROFESSIONAL TRAINING COMPANY! Selected from more than 2,000 applicants from across the nation, the 2017-2018 Professional Training Company consists of 42 talented early-career professionals who work in a wide variety of theatrical disciplines. Through their participation in the nine-month-long program, they will receive practical training, the opportunity to work with celebrated artists, and a firsthand look at the inner workings of one of the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leading regional theatres. The company will also mount a number of productions, including new work by nationally renowned playwrights and original creations developed by the members of the company themselves.

Andrea Abello Acting Bedminster, New Jersey

Gabriela De La Rosa Festival & Events Management Austin, Texas

Vivian Barnes Dramaturgy/ Literary Management Stafford, Virginia

Nayib Felix Acting Manchester, Pennsylvania

Jordan Bean Producing & Casting Huntington, West Virginia

Brandon Fox Acting Wall, New Jersey

Calum Bedborough Acting Green Bay, Wisconsin

Kevin Hanley Stage Management Seabrook, New Hampshire

Bear Brummel Acting Green Bay, Wisconsin

Rigel Harris Acting Lebanon, New Hampshire

Sergio Caetano Acting Kearny, New Jersey

Laurel C. Henning Communications Louisville, Kentucky

Satya Chavez Acting San Diego, California

Nathan Hewitt Development Fishers, Indiana

Jelani Cornick Directing Brooklyn, New York

Kelly Jonske Stage Management Barrington, Illinois

Shannon Csorny Production Management Stonybrook, New York

Alaina Kai Acting Cincinnati, Ohio

Emily Kaplan Acting Media, Pennsylvania

Dwaine Jihaad Potts Sound Wichita, Kansas

Jessica Kemp Stage Management Saranac Lake, New York

Marika Proctor Acting Saint Paul, Minnesota

Emily Kleypas Acting Temple, Texas

Margaret Rial Stage Management Erie, Pennsylvania

Bridget Kojima Company & Artistic Management Clarkston, Michigan

Zoe Rosenfeld Education/Teaching Artist San Francisco, California

Emma Kravig Costumes Saint Croix Falls, Wisconsin

Omer Abbas Salem Acting Darien, Illinois

Jerardo Larios Acting Merced, California

Jonathan Schmitt Acting Cleveland, Ohio

Meghan McLeroy Dramaturgy/ Literary Management Cullman, Alabama

Joan Sergay Directing Bethesda, Maryland

Joseph Miller Acting Dayton, Ohio

Jessie Lynn Smith Lighting Cresco, Pennsylvania

Abigail Miskowiec Education/Teaching Artist Charleston, West Virginia

Corey Umlauf Scenic Painting Bellingham, Massachusetts

Connor Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Leary Properties Hanover, New Hampshire

Suzy Weller Acting Lawrence, Kansas

Tory Parker Marketing Charleston, West Virginia

Karoline Xu Acting San Antonio, Texas

Tim Peters Acting Bloomfield Hills, Michigan

Jenna Zhu Acting Dallas, Texas

Please visit our website at ActorsTheatre.org for more information on the Professional Training Company and to learn about their season of new work. 17

AUGUST, SEPTEMBER & OCTOBER 2017 A COMPLETE GUIDE TO EVENTS AT ACTORS THEATRE

8/26 BEHIND-THE-SCENES TECH EVENT: ANGELS IN AMERICA, PART ONE: MILLENNIUM APPROACHES 7 p.m. Season Ticket Holders: FREE General Admission: $15

After a light reception, guests will have a chance to step into the theatre and glimpse what goes on during a technical rehearsal. For more information and ticket reservations, please call the Box Office at 502.584.1205 or visit ActorsTheatre.org.

8/31 OPENING NIGHT KORBEL TOAST & RECEPTION: ANGELS IN AMERICA, PART ONE: MILLENNIUM APPROACHES immediately following the 7 p.m. performance

9/6 FIFTH THIRD BANK’S DRACULA BLOOD DRIVE from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. at Fifth Third Bank’s location in Fourth Street Live!

Support Actors Theatre and the Red Cross by helping us reach our goal of 50 pints! To reserve your spot, contact Carrie Syberg, Community Philanthropy Manager, at 502.584.1265, ext. 3023.

9/6 – 10/15 HALLOWEEN COSTUME DONATIONS Do you have children’s Halloween costumes cluttering up your closet? Bring them with you when you see Dracula! Actors Theatre is partnering with Americana World Community Center to provide Halloween costumes to immigrant, refugee, and low-income children so they can experience the joy of dressing up for the holiday.

9/7 COMMUNITY CONVERSATION: ANGELS IN AMERICA, PART ONE: MILLENNIUM APPROACHES cocktail reception from 6 – 7 p.m. discussion following the 7 p.m. performance

The Community Conversation event focuses on exploring important topics in Louisville’s cultural landscape, through the lens of Actors Theatre productions that have similar themes. The evening will include a pre-show reception with hors d’oeuvres and beverages in the Sara Shallenberger Brown Lobby, a performance of Angels in America, Part One: Millennium Approaches, and a dynamic conversation enriched by input from several local leaders representing a range of involvement in the community. Use the promo code COMMUNITY to purchase a $25 ticket.

9/14 GIVE FOR GOOD LOUISVILLE A 24-hour online giving day created to inspire people to make our community a better, more vital place to live. Support Actors Theatre and help us reach our goal by visiting giveforgoodlouisville.org.

9/16 BEHIND-THE-SCENES TECH EVENT: ANGELS IN AMERICA, PART TWO: PERESTROIKA 7 p.m. Season Ticket Holders: FREE General Admission: $15

9/21 OPENING NIGHT KORBEL TOAST & RECEPTION: ANGELS IN AMERICA, PART TWO: PERESTROIKA immediately following the 7 p.m. performance

9/25 & 9/26 PROFESSIONAL TRAINING COMPANY NEW PLAY PROJECT #1 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. on 9/25 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. on 9/26 Guestroom Records (1806 Frankfort Ave, Louisville, KY)

Actors Theatre has commissioned three playwrights to write one-act plays for the Professional Training Company to develop and perform this fall.

9/27 ARTISTIC EXCHANGE: AN EVENING WITH LES WATERS AND MEREDITH MCDONOUGH 7 – 8 p.m. Pamela Brown Auditorium

Join Artistic Director Les Waters and Associate Artistic Director Meredith McDonough as they discuss Angels in America and the process of bringing a play to the stage. The event is FREE, but ticketed. Please call the Box Office at 502.584.1205 to reserve.

9/29 & 9/30 PROFESSIONAL TRAINING COMPANY SOLO MIO ROUND #1 2 p.m. on 9/29 10 a.m. on 9/30

10/7 INSIDE THE COFFIN 11 a.m. – 12 p.m. Bingham Theatre General Admission: $20

Have you always wanted to know Dracula’s secrets? Join us as our production team demonstrates many of the tricks and special effects in this show. Please call the Box Office at 502.584.1205 or visit ActorsTheatre.org to purchase tickets.

10/16 & 10/17 PROFESSIONAL TRAINING COMPANY NEW PLAY PROJECT #2 The Green Building Gallery (732 East Market St, Louisville, KY)

Victor Jory Theatre

Actors Theatre has commissioned three playwrights to write one-act plays for the Professional Training Company to develop and perform this fall. The performance times will be announced in September.

Join the Acting Apprentices as they present their solo pieces, written and performed by each actor. The event is FREE, but ticketed. Please call the Box Office at 502.584.1205 to reserve. Donations to the Professional Training Company Showcase Fund will be accepted at the performance.

10/20 & 10/21 PROFESSIONAL TRAINING COMPANY SOLO MIO ROUND #2

10/6–10/8 ST. JAMES COURT ART SHOW from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. on 10/6 and 10/7 from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. on 10/8

Stop by our booth at the 61st Annual St. James Court Art Show!

10/7 TEEN NIGHT: ANGELS IN AMERICA, PART ONE: MILLENNIUM APPROACHES AND PART TWO: PERESTROIKA Calling all teens, grades 8-12! Bring your friends, see a great show, meet the cast and connect with other teens passionate about theatre! PLEASE NOTE: This special Two-Show Day of Angels in America requires a separate purchase for each performance. Dinner is provided for Teen Night participants. Use the promo code TEEN to purchase a $10 ticket.

2 p.m. on 10/20 10 a.m. on 10/21 Victor Jory Theatre

11/1 & 11/2 TREATS FOR TROOPS performances of Dracula on 11/1 & 11/2

Don’t get stuck with a bunch of Halloween candy again this year. Actors Theatre is partnering with Soldiers’ Angels to collect candy for military troops and veterans. Donate your candy at either of these performances of Dracula and receive a special ticket offer for The Santaland Diaries.

316 WEST MAIN STREET LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY 40202-4218 Les Waters, Artistic Director Kevin E. Moore, Managing Director

Thank you to our sponsors: The Shubert Foundation

Doris Duke Charitable Foundation

The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust

The Gheens Foundation

Jennifer Lawrence Arts Fund at the Fund for the Arts

LOOKING FOR A PLACE FOR YOUR EVENT? From receptions to meetings and everything in between, our versatile venue offers something for everyone. For details about our facility and pricing, please contact Erin Meiman at EMeiman@actorstheatre.org.