THE BERKELEY REP
![](https://assets.isu.pub/document-structure/230926164544-5bb7a894943f8c0641a410f350414553/v1/95bcef477c537a1c0aeba66e4d0ca0cb.jpeg)
![](https://assets.isu.pub/document-structure/230926164544-5bb7a894943f8c0641a410f350414553/v1/6e333a1022a53c7683209a44089f0a5a.jpeg)
![](https://assets.isu.pub/document-structure/230926164544-5bb7a894943f8c0641a410f350414553/v1/42b474abb946f8571052979b0db05db7.jpeg)
![](https://assets.isu.pub/document-structure/230926164544-5bb7a894943f8c0641a410f350414553/v1/9d5eb76d01cf64bcea9961ab71e81edc.jpeg)
![](https://assets.isu.pub/document-structure/230926164544-5bb7a894943f8c0641a410f350414553/v1/010acaf96e92278d18be0bb6209c52ea.jpeg)
![](https://assets.isu.pub/document-structure/230926164544-5bb7a894943f8c0641a410f350414553/v1/ca6cd07d9ad70105cf43e966d2266509.jpeg)
![](https://assets.isu.pub/document-structure/230926164544-5bb7a894943f8c0641a410f350414553/v1/0e9ef93e5a13a29fd02837134ad3432a.jpeg)
![](https://assets.isu.pub/document-structure/230926164544-5bb7a894943f8c0641a410f350414553/v1/4d1525ebb3783d225e21011268ef7fe3.jpeg)
![](https://assets.isu.pub/document-structure/230926164544-5bb7a894943f8c0641a410f350414553/v1/d3218a2d93b4943c763fa39ececb283b.jpeg)
![](https://assets.isu.pub/document-structure/230926164544-5bb7a894943f8c0641a410f350414553/v1/26d7038edf4093c3a7733524280d1c86.jpeg)
![](https://assets.isu.pub/document-structure/230926164544-5bb7a894943f8c0641a410f350414553/v1/d4566b4d89d5f9801f5119bea1b2584b.jpeg)
![](https://assets.isu.pub/document-structure/230926164544-5bb7a894943f8c0641a410f350414553/v1/9582b582e720a32f16dc320c3170c528.jpeg)
![](https://assets.isu.pub/document-structure/230926164544-5bb7a894943f8c0641a410f350414553/v1/65d3eea71e919bb590b2aa6fcd6811ae.jpeg)
![](https://assets.isu.pub/document-structure/230926164544-5bb7a894943f8c0641a410f350414553/v1/a724795743a71499093d36809b1796ef.jpeg)
![](https://assets.isu.pub/document-structure/230926164544-5bb7a894943f8c0641a410f350414553/v1/dc3b2e1f84f212c51315826bd713df8b.jpeg)
![](https://assets.isu.pub/document-structure/230926164544-5bb7a894943f8c0641a410f350414553/v1/cf39615e1e9c25e59bb029afda1f9604.jpeg)
![](https://assets.isu.pub/document-structure/230926164544-5bb7a894943f8c0641a410f350414553/v1/3658c0f604c12a04fbe6025b39b11357.jpeg)
![](https://assets.isu.pub/document-structure/230926164544-5bb7a894943f8c0641a410f350414553/v1/360a52fef7b32bb88450e0cc80cecd97.jpeg)
![](https://assets.isu.pub/document-structure/230926164544-5bb7a894943f8c0641a410f350414553/v1/4d9031e403c111c01fe83e03da81a9bc.jpeg)
![](https://assets.isu.pub/document-structure/230926164544-5bb7a894943f8c0641a410f350414553/v1/dbb32b6bc153df6cd010193448f70783.jpeg)
![](https://assets.isu.pub/document-structure/230926164544-5bb7a894943f8c0641a410f350414553/v1/2ddce1645e5970b378b0b3121dd247b3.jpeg)
![](https://assets.isu.pub/document-structure/230926164544-5bb7a894943f8c0641a410f350414553/v1/7343340969013e03b5fa1b82621c1d0d.jpeg)
![](https://assets.isu.pub/document-structure/230926164544-5bb7a894943f8c0641a410f350414553/v1/c730a2a11dce452fa2c8a761a59373b3.jpeg)
![](https://assets.isu.pub/document-structure/230926164544-5bb7a894943f8c0641a410f350414553/v1/b38ab491f3dff963df4fe1d170e06e0b.jpeg)
![](https://assets.isu.pub/document-structure/230926164544-5bb7a894943f8c0641a410f350414553/v1/20876dcb8017e5d69c1ea1e7553b6371.jpeg)
OR, BEHIND EVERY GREAT DUMBASS ARE SEVEN WOMEN TRYING TO KEEP HIM ALIVE
BY SELINA FILLINGER | DIRECTED BY ANNIE TIPPEBenoît Charest, composer and conductor
Le Terrible Orchestre de Belleville
eight-piece orchestra in a live version of his Oscar-nominated score from the charming animated French feature film
The Triplets of Belleville.
“[A] bracing blend of silliness and sophistication…. It’s comic, touching and a visual knockout”
Rolling Stone
Oct 21–22
Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor Carey Bell, clarinet
BAY AREA PREMIERE
A Cal Performances Co-commission
Grant Gershon, conductor Peter Sellars, director
Peter Sellars, Grant Gershon, and singers of the Los Angeles Master Chorale reunite to perform Heinrich Schütz’s Music to Accompany a Departure, a deeply personal meditation on what it means to say goodbye during times of struggle.
“Art that makes you sad yet grateful for every minute of life” Los Angeles Times
ZELLERBACH HALL
Tony Award-winning star of stage and screen John Cameron Mitchell teams up with international cabaret powerhouse Amber Martin for Cassette Roulette, an irreverent and hilarious evening of songs and stories—all chosen by the hand of fate and the artists’ unpredictable game of “cassette roulette.”
“Ever the magnetic and dynamic performer, Mitchell held the crowd in the palm of his manicured hand the entire night”
DC Metro Arts
Nov 4
ZELLERBACH HALL
WEST COAST PREMIERE
A Parade Trance Extravaganza for the Living Library of the Deviant Theme
The dynamic and versatile San Francisco Symphony returns to Berkeley with music director Esa-Pekka Salonen in a oneof-a-kind program showcasing the world premiere of a new work by Jens Ibsen, Salonen’s own Kínēma, and Stravinsky’s cinematic and propulsive Symphony in Three Movements.
Nov 10
ZELLERBACH HALL
Musical comedy diva and winner of Emmy and Tony Awards for both her singing and acting, Kristin Chenoweth presents an evening of unforgettable songs made famous by great women singers who have inspired her, from Doris Day’s “When I Fall In Love” to Barbra Streisand’s “The Way We Were,” Peggy Lee’s “I’m a Woman,” and Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You.”
Nov 15
ZELLERBACH HALL
Taylor Mac, the MacArthur Fellow, Kennedy Prize winner, and Pulitzer Prize finalist visits with Bark of Millions, an epic four-hour rock opera meditation on queerness. Featuring 54 original songs— one song per year since the Stonewall uprising—this West Coast Premiere is inspired by queer antecedents throughout world history and is performed by a diverse cast of 13 ensemble members and a band of 11 musicians.
“Taylor Mac uses his many talents to get us to listen, think and feel. The effect is heartening, vital and liberating.”
The London Times
Feb 23–25
ZELLERBACH HALL
To ensure the best experience for everyone:
While always encouraged, masks are required for audiences in our theatres on all Sundays (matinees and evenings) and Tuesdays throughout our 2023/24 season.
Food and drink: Beverages in cans, cartons, or plastic cups with lids are welcome in the theatre for Wednesday through Saturday performances only. Food is prohibited in the theatre during all performances.
Courtesy reminder: To avoid disruption to everyone, please turn off your cell phones, beeping watches, and electronic devices, and refrain from unwrapping cellophane wrappers during the performance. For the comfort of all patrons, please avoid wearing strongly scented personal products.
Photos: Photos may be taken in the theatre before and after the performance and during intermission. Photos and videos during the performance are strictly prohibited. Photos posted on social media must credit Berkeley Rep and the show’s designers.
Smoking and vaping: Berkeley Rep’s public spaces are smoke- and vape-free.
One of the joys of live theatre is the collective experience . Audience members respond to the show in many different ways. We invite you to join together and enjoy the show! If there is anything we can do to make your experience more enjoyable, please see a member of the house staff.
Get closed captioning on your smartphone! Closed Captioning is available for the following performances: 9/16 Sat preview, 9/27 Wed, and every matinee. Use your smartphone to scan this QR code: Then, switch your WiFi to the network CCTheaterRoda. Password: cctheater1 When the CC page appears, choose English captions. If you’d like assistance, please see an usher or house manager.
To access this program on your phone, scan the QR code above. Plus, be sure to register to save your digital program.
PAUL HEPPNER
President & Publisher
BRIEANNA HANSEN
Vice President of Sales
SHAUN SWICK
Brand & Creative Manager
CIARA CAYA
Marketing & Communications Manager
GENAY GENEREUX
Accounting & Office Manager
CALEB AGEE
Design & Publications Manager
LIZELLE DIN
Production Designer
JAMES SCHRECK
Account Executive
KALLINS MEDIA SALES
MARILYN KALLINS , Bay Area Representative
JACQUI DZIAK
Regional Sales Representative
Encore Media Group
1631 15th Ave W Suite 219 Seattle, WA 98119-2796
206.443.0445
info@encoremediagroup.com encoremediagroup.com
Encore—Connecting Arts, Culture and Community.
Encore Media Group acknowledges that we are on the lands of the Duwamish People, and their other Coast Salish relations—past and present. We recognize that these lands are unceded and we support the Duwamish Tribe in their struggle to gain Federal Tribal Recognition. We honor with gratitude the land itself. This acknowledgement does not take the place of authentic relationships with Indigenous communities, which we seek to build. We hope that this step of honoring these lands, and the First People of Seattle who remain their stewards, will help us become better neighbors to the Duwamish Tribe and all the people who have called the Pacific Northwest home since time immemorial.
Or,
Every
Are
Women Trying to Keep Him Alive, and the beginning of your 2023/24 season at Berkeley Rep! Given the current widespread challenges in the American theatre, I feel incredibly fortunate to be kicking off such a robust season, full of work of significant theatrical scale, created by world-class artists. We picked each one of these plays with our community in mind, and I hope over the course of the season you will have been delighted, challenged, and surprised.
One of the great privileges of embarking on a season together is the mutual assurance that there will be more nights in the theatre — each one full of promise, and the possibility that at any given moment something truly transformative could occur.
I’m so pleased to have Selina Fillinger’s wickedly funny POTUS launch us into the season. Selina lived here in the Bay Area as a kid, before taking NYC by storm. I’m delighted to welcome her back, especially to do so in partnership with director Annie Tippe, whose production of Dave Malloy’s exquisite Octet was a highlight of the 2021/22 season. Putting together this cast of brilliant actors was a joy, and I can’t wait for you to spend a little time in their midst.
We all really deserve a good laugh right now. Satire is inherently (and notoriously) tricky, but Selina has brought a modern, pointed perspective to the form, with an intentional and grateful nod to Chaplin, Churchill, and Molière. Like the classic works of those lauded artists, POTUS brings us subversive humor, linguistic rigor, and physical style. As Selina says, “With POTUS I wanted to use the structural elements of farce — mistaken identities, life and death stakes, slamming doors — while centering characters often pushed to margins.” Classic structure, contemporary politics, a new generation of artists bringing a fresh and specific point of view? Sounds like Berkeley Rep!
Welcome back. We are so glad to have you with us.
Warmly,
As I celebrate my oneyear anniversary at Berkeley Rep, it seems like yesterday and forever ago that I joined you. It has been such a joy getting to know the many fans of Berkeley Rep.
These are exceptionally challenging times for nonprofit theatres, and we are facing extraordinary headwinds, but your support and patronage puts wind in our sails. We are meeting this moment by investing in bold, theatrical productions like POTUS that reengage and excite audiences, and as a result, we have seen audiences growing and growing, and for many shows, attendance is largely at or exceeding pre-pandemic levels. The rising costs of making live theatre, however, require growing levels of philanthropy, and we are so thankful for those that have stepped up to help.
If you are not yet a subscriber to Berkeley Rep, I encourage you to join us. In addition to guaranteeing yourself the best seats at the best prices for every production before they sell out, you will also be making memorable moments for yourself — nights out with family or friends sharing fantastic stories told by the best artists from the Bay Area, Broadway, and beyond. You will always be in great company. Subscribing is easy, flexible, and affordable — and the best and most popular way to experience all that Berkeley Rep has to offer.
This is an exciting time to be a part of Berkeley Rep, and we’re so glad you are here. Thank you for coming and enjoy the show!
Sincerely,
Tom Parrish Managing DirectorBerkeley Rep’s Transformational Arts Program serves participants in the carceral system with workshops in storytelling, personal development, and communication, building from themes in Berkeley Rep’s mainstage productions. The goal is to share theatre-based skill-building activities and empower participants to express themselves through creative writing, movement, acting, and other artistic methods. Each 10-week session culminates in the creation of a new original play collectively written and performed by the participants, reflecting their stories in their own voices.
The School of Theatre’s Director (Anthony Jackson) and Associate
Director (Dylan Russell) — who lead curriculum development and serve as teaching artists within the program — each have experience teaching theatre arts within the carceral system and at youth detention centers. They recently completed the first stage of a pilot Transformational Arts curriculum in San Francisco County Jail’s San Bruno facility and are thrilled to begin a second run of the program in the Downtown San Francisco facility. This work would not be possible without the knowledge, compassion, and artistry of our partnering organization, FIPPP : the Formerly Incarcerated People’s Performance Project. Directed and produced by Mark Kenward, FIPPP highlights formerly incarcerated individuals and their stories through workshops and festival performances. In addition to bringing their experience as artists and performers, FIPPP artists engage deeply with participants in the carceral system and provide a dynamic representation of voices while speaking to community-specific issues such as reentry, substance abuse, and housing problems.
Partnered with FIPPP artists, Berkeley Rep teaching artists begin this program by leading physical,
vocal, and imagination-based exercises. From there, participants begin to create their own theatrical pieces, utilizing themes from a relevant Berkeley Rep mainstage production as building blocks. (For our first round of workshops, participants watched Berkeley Rep’s 2022/23 production of Clyde’s by Pulitzer Prize-winner Lynn Nottage and explored the power of radical imagination.) Participants will then revise and refine their solo work before sharing their completed piece either within the group or with the wider community. In sharing their stories, participants find resilience by regaining their own voice in their narrative, while fostering empathy and a greater sense of connection within their audience.
We at the School of Theatre believe arts education programs give all individuals, regardless of background, the ability to access their creativity and be impactful members of their communities. Our Transformational Arts Program is just one step toward providing arts access to underserved communities, and we invite you to stay tuned as we continue to unlock the transformative power of storytelling both here at Berkeley Rep and in communities beyond.
After two and a half years of investigation, research, conversations, listening, and experimentation, Berkeley Rep is proud to officially share with you our newest programmatic initiative: In Dialogue.
In Dialogue places our skills and resources in service of the community. Launched during the 2021/22 season, In Dialogue has facilitated
During the run of POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass
Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive, we invite audiences to enjoy a pre-show beverage and poetry and music from Bay Area artists, co-curated with Natalia Neira Retamal, executive director of La Peña Cultural Center. Join us on September 22, September 28, and October 6 starting at 7pm in Michael’s Second Act bar. For more information about La Peña Cultural Center, visit lapena.org.
BY SUNSHINE DEFFNERand supported amplifying the work of social justice organizations focusing on immigration, local indigenous awareness, the afro-cultural experience, food insecurity, youth leadership, and sex trafficking. In Dialogue is an investment in building genuine, long-term relationships with new and existing collaborators, including Afro Urban Society, East Bay Sanctuary Covenant, Sogorea Te’ Land Trust, Asian Art Museum, and Community Works West.
In Dialogue hosts a series of Community Salons, open to the public for free before select performances, featuring artists and others whose work relates to the shows on our stages. We also host post-show Community Dialogues: moderated discussions that feature experts and community resources reflective of the realworld experiences of the stories we tell on stage. We also collaborate with our partners on Cultural Celebration nights for select shows.
Ari'el Stachel speaks at an In Dialogue Community Salon in Michael’s Second Act barPlaywright Selina Fillinger drew from a rich canon of satire and farce to create POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive. “I love farces,” she said in an interview with The New York Times, “but they typically rely on sexist and racist tropes.”
Berkeley Rep’s Artistic Department asked Fillinger to share some insights into the literary legends whose works helped shape the wit, language, and aesthetic of her comedy.
“My family had a set of 10 vhs tapes of Charlie Chaplin shorts, and they were the first movies I ever saw. His timing, his impishness, and the poignancy he brought to even the silliest antics forged my comedic taste early and gave me a lifelong love of Clown.”
Charlie Chaplin (1889–1977) is perhaps best remembered for his on-screen character The Tramp, who, with his signature look of baggy pants, fitted coat, bowler hat, cane, and mustache, embodied Chaplin’s social commentary critiquing wealth and class amidst industrialization.
“These days, playwrights rarely write in verse or iambic pentameter. However, when I was an actor studying classical texts, I realized how rhythm, consonants, vowels, alliteration, and breath unconsciously play on our bodies. I do not write in verse, but I am always paying attention to the aural experience of the language. I try to think of each character as an instrument, and their conversations a symphony.”
William Shakespeare (1564–1616), an English poet, actor, and playwright, is largely remembered for his long list of theatrical stage plays, including comedies, tragedies, and histories, as well as his
PHOTOS: (FILLINGER) COURTESY JENNY ANDERSON; (CHAPLIN, SHAKESPEARE, MOLIÈRE) PUBLIC DOMAIN; (WILDE) NAPOLEON SARONY; (CHURCHILL) JANE BOWN; (NOISES OFF) SHUTTERSTOCK Charlie Chaplincollection of sonnets. Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (1622-1673), known by his stage name Molière, was a French poet, playwright, and actor who is considered the founder of modern French comedy. His exploration of comedy includes farces, tragicomedies, comédie-ballets, and more, some of which pushed social and religious boundaries to the point that they were banned by parliament or denounced by the French Catholic Church.
OSCAR WILDE
“The king of wit and subversion. He had the ability to write work like The Importance of Being Earnest — which was, on its surface, just good fun — while skewering the bourgeoisie.”
Oscar Wilde (1854–1900), an Irish poet and playwright whose work
brought wit and levity to stories loaded with subversion and sharp social critiques. He was famously convicted and imprisoned for “gross indecency for consensual homosexual acts.”
CARYL CHURCHILL
“I believe she remains one of our finest living playwrights. The way she writes gender, sexuality, power, and violence stuns me. Her work is wildly funny and dangerous at the same time.”
Caryl Churchill (1938–) is a British playwright whose work explores gender and sexuality using non-naturalistic techniques. Her acclaimed works include Cloud 9 (produced at Berkeley Rep in 2002), Far Away, Love and Information, Escaped Alone, and Top Girls, where she introduced the ‘/’ signal to indi-
cate when one character begins speaking over another character’s line, a key used widely by contemporary playwrights.
“I saw this play for the first time when I was in middle school, and it taught me what a contemporary farce could be. With POTUS I wanted to use the structural elements of farce — mistaken identities, life and death stakes, slamming doors — while centering characters often pushed to margins.”
Noises Off (1982), by English playwright Michael Frayn, theatricalizes a play within a play and is loaded with mishaps, hilarity, and slapstick physical comedy and continues to be frequently produced today.
DAVID MENDIZÁBAL: Selina Fillinger’s POTUS calls for a world of heightened physical comedy. How did you approach the play’s needs and the spirit of satire?
ANNIE TIPPE: Selina said to me, “My intention for this play is that it could be done with four chairs and a couple of doorframes.” So, Andrew and I have tried to explore the most creative way to traverse all the locations of the White House in this play and honor Selina’s offering that simplicity
and clarity allow more space for the humor and the wit to live and breathe. We were interested in how we can both lift the most potent comedic elements as well as the harriedness of people coming in and out of different doors.
ANDREW BOYCE: We’ve been on such a journey of wrestling with how to move from place to place within the world. I feel like we’ve maintained, in all the different iterations of the design, that kind of speed and fluidity moving back and forth between the various
places. That sense that people are coming and going and could be around any corner.
Andrew, what’s it like designing the White House?
AB: It’s tricky to honor and think comprehensively about the multitude of perspectives that are going to be engaging with something that has as much baggage as the iconography of this place, institution, and symbol. There is an incredible amount of documentation about the White
House’s aesthetics and the way it has been built and who it has been built for. We wanted to lean into that. We’ve also talked a lot about how this building has an institutional white supremacist history that has defined its architecture and the experience of people living in it and working from it. In that sense, we’re paying attention to the details of the decor and the paneling on the doors, but then we’re also trying to give a little bit more perspective on the design by subliminally and subtly acknowledging the troubling history of the institution. We’ve been in collaboration with Berkeley Rep’s wonderful props department to find bits and pieces of decor that might live in this space, but decor that points to its colonialist, patriarchal, white supremacist history that is inherently a part of everybody’s understanding of the institution.
Annie, what about Andrew made him the right match for you?
AT: I admire Andrew’s work, which is, above everything, elegant. I feel like you have clarity of ideas, and in all the work that I’ve seen, you let the play live and breathe on stage. This play is extremely hard to design, and you need someone with clarity of vision, flexibility, a willingness to be collaborative. Andrew has a great sense of humor, and he knows how to make magic happen. That is what this play requires to be successful – humor, elegance, and a little bit of cheekiness, which I think we have.
AB: That’s very generous of you. Thank you, Annie.
Andrew, how did your design process begin?
AB: I really love diving into research and exploring the world of the play, and trying to wrap my head empathetically around what the writer is saying with their work. Then we begin to have wonderful conversations where we layer in other folks’ points of view, and I begin to think about how to support that. That’s where Annie comes in, and she’s been extraordinary to work with. Then I do a lot of structural work in terms of making sure I really understand what the action on stage might need to be. From there, I eventually move into a three-dimensional form. But it always comes back to those preliminary conversations and the text. At the end of the day, I’m there to support other people doing the work that connects with an audience.
Annie, your roots are in design. How does this inform or shape the way you approach collaborations with designers?
AT: I grew up in the dressing room getting to watch fittings with
iconic performers. The design is where, with the choice of a painting or a high-heeled Croc shoe, we get to say, “We have a point of view on this, and we’re not shy about it.”
We want the audience to feel intellectually and emotionally what they are receiving on stage. To me, clothing is an extension of the script. It is writing. The set is also an additional piece of writing that exists in conversation with the play.
Andrew, having designed for the Roda before, are there any peculiarities or tricks you’ve learned about the space?
AB: The Roda has a real breadth to it. It is an open space, and yet it’s a very present space. A lot of my time is spent thinking about how to focus the audience on the actors and on the action on stage. How do you dial in to the things you want people to pay attention to and the language and the action? I also acknowledge and give huge thanks to the wonderful production team there. It’s an incredible group of artists that have been extraordinarily generous with helping us think through certain problems and challenges and guide us through the process. There’s a strong sense of community there, which I love!
Any final words from you, Annie, about this design?
AT: Our intention is to surprise and delight the audience. I think people can expect bold gestures that lift the play’s messages about how we are both complicit in the system and how we can come together to change the way that our system works. That and get a bathroom on stage in under seven seconds!
BERKELEY REPERTORY THEATRE
Johanna Pfaelzer, Artistic Director | Tom Parrish, Managing Director presents
OR, BEHIND EVERY GREAT DUMBASS ARE SEVEN WOMEN TRYING TO KEEP HIM ALIVE
BY SELINA FILLINGERDIRECTED BY ANNIE TIPPE
SCENIC DESIGN ANDREW BOYCE
CASTING WHITLEY THEATRICAL BENTON WHITLEY, CSA MICAH JOHNSON-LEVY
COSTUME DESIGN HAYDEE ZELIDETH
WIG DESIGN EARON NEALEY
FIGHT DIRECTOR DAVE MAIER
LIGHTING DESIGN YI ZHAO
INTIMACY COORDINATOR
CHELSEA PACE
SOUND DESIGN PALMER HEFFERAN
PRODUCTION STAGE MANAGER
KARYN MEEK*
ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER
CHRISTINA HOGAN*
Originally produced on Broadway by Seaview 51 Entertainment Glass Half Full Level Forward
Salman Al-Rashid Runyonland Productions Sony Music Masterworks One Community Jay Alix and Una Jackman
Jonathan Demar Imagine Equal Entertainment Lucas Katler David J. Lynch Leonid Makaron Mark Gordon Pictures
Liz Slager Ted Snowdon Natalie Gorman/Tish Brennan Throop and The Shubert Organization
Mark Shacket, Executive Producer
POTUS is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc. www.concordtheatricals.com
Sep 16-Oct 22, 2023
Roda Theatre
THIS SHOW HAS A 15-MINUTE INTERMISSION
Harriet – His chief of staff. Deirdre Lovejoy*
Jean – His press secretary Kim Blanck*
Stephanie – His secretary. Susan Lynskey*
Margaret – His wife. The First Lady. Stephanie Pope Lofgren*
Chris – A journalist. Dominique Toney*
Dusty – His dalliance. Stephanie Styles*
Bernadette – His sister. Allison Guinn*
Harriet, Stephanie Deborah Offner*
Jean, Bernadette Renee Rogoff*
Stephanie, Dusty Luisa Frasconi*
Margaret, Chris Rolanda D. Bell
*Indicates a member of Actors’ Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States
The videotaping or making of electronic or other audio and/or visual recordings of this production and distributing recordings or streams in any medium, including the internet, is strictly prohibited, a violation of the author(s)’s rights and actionable under United States copyright law. For more information, please visit: https://concordtheatricals.com/resources/protecting-artists
SEASON SPONSORS
Stephen & Susan Chamberlin
Bruce Golden & Michelle Mercer
Frances Hellman & Warren Breslau
Wayne Jordan & Quinn Delaney
Gisele & Kenneth F. Miller
Jack & Betty Schafer
The Strauch Kulhanjian Family
Gail & Arne Wagner
ASSOCIATE SPONSORS
Martin & Margi Celluci McNair
Gary & Noni Robinson
Jean
Berkeley Rep: Octet.
New York and regional: Octet (Signature Theatre, winner of the Drama Desk Ensemble Award), The Best We Could ( MTC ), Alice by Heart ( MCC ), The Tattooed Lady (Philadelphia Theatre Company), Moby-Dick (ART), Twelfth Night (Alley Theatre), among others. TV: East New York (CBS), New Amsterdam (NBC), WeCrashed (Apple TV+), Dr. Death (Peacock). Film: Call Jane, Friday Afternoon, Women Who Kill, Gloria (upcoming, as writer/director). Training: BFA, NYU Tisch; MFA, UC San Diego. Public speaking & communication coach and proud Bay Area native! kimblanck.com
Allison Guinn
Bernadette
Berkeley Rep debut!
Broadway: On the Town, Hair. National
Tour: Les Misérables, Hair. Television: Only Murders in the Building (Hulu), The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon), Inside Amy Schumer (Comedy Central), The Knick (Cinemax). Education: Circle In The Square Theatre School & East Tennessee State University (BA in Theatre). Social Media: @allison.guinn (she/her)
Stephanie Pope
Lofgren
Margaret
Stephanie Pope Lofgren is thrilled to be making her Berkeley Rep debut! Broadway and touring credits include Chicago (Velma Kelly), the revival of Pippin (Astaire Award nomination, an ACCA Award, and the beloved Legacy Robe), Thoroughly Modern Millie (Muzzy Van Hossmere), Fosse (Leading Player), Smokey Joe’s Café (Brenda), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (Gymnasia), Kiss of the Spider Woman (Standby for Ms. Chita Rivera), Jelly’s Last Jam (The Hunnies), and The Will Rogers Follies, just to name a few. She sends
love to her husband, Aarne Lofgren, and daughter, Mari. Proud member: AEA, SAG-AFTRA, SDC stephaniepope.com
Harriet
Berkeley Rep: Tony Kushner’s The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures directed by Tony Taccone. Broadway: Lucky Guy starring Tom Hanks, Six Degrees of Separation (original production), The Gathering, Getting and Spending, How I Learned to Drive (original production), and over four decades of theatre. Deirdre has played murderous moms, crooked cops, mourning mothers, crackerjack lawyers, and serial killers on The Blacklist, Raising Dion, Girls, Bones, Law & Order and dozens of other television series. She is best known as Rhonda Pearlman on HBO’s critically acclaimed series The Wire. Upcoming film: Lilly. BFA, University of Evansville; MFA, NYU. Complete bio at deirdrelovejoy.com. Social: @ddlovejoy. For John David.
Susan Lynskey
Stephanie
Berkeley Rep: Imaginary Comforts, Roe (w/OSF/Arena Stage). Off-Broadway: Handbagged (59E59th St), Jewish Wife (NewLight). Recent regional: performing Gloria Steinem in Gloria: A Life (Theater J), Indecent (Arena/CenterStage), Intimate Apparel (Theatre J), Steel Magnolias (CPIP/IRT), A passionate new play developer, Susan’s Ground Floor collaborations: w/Ryan Haddad (Good Time Charlie), Sarah Ruhl (Becky Nurse), and Dustin Chinn (Colonialism Is Terrible, But Pho Is Delicious); w/Magic Theatre (VirginPlays); and as a regular at The Kennedy Center. Season 2 (EPIX), Susan went toe-toe with Vincent D’Onofrio on the award-winning Godfather of Harlem. Lynskey is a multiple Helen Hayes Award Nominee recipient for Outstanding Lead/Supporting Actress. POTUSLOVE and gratitude for her Parents, Susie, Berkeley Rep, KFox, AnnieleadswithjoyTippe, SelinasobrilliantFillinger,
thisFabulouslyFunnyFeminstEnsembleCast&Crew, and “for any woman who’s ever found herself the secondary character in a male farce.” Rep: HCKR Agency. susanlynskey.com
Dusty
Broadway: Kiss Me, Kate (Roundabout Theatre). Off-Broadway: The Bobby Darin Story (92Y Lyrics and Lyricists), Kingdom Come (Roundabout Theatre), The Little Prince (New York City Opera). Regional/ national tours: Roman Holiday, Newsies, The Sound of Music. Film/TV: Bombshell, Loot, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist, BONDiNG, Pretty Smart, Country Comfort, American Vandal. Graduate of The University of Michigan. Love to JWW
Chris
Dominique is elated to be in her first Berkeley Rep production!
TV/film: series regular on Puppy Place (Apple TV+), Lethal Legacy (BET+), Killer Cheer Mom (Lifetime), Why Women Kill (CBS All Access), Supergirl (The CW), Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (The CW), Family Reunion (Netflix), and most recently in the HBO comedy special John Early: Now More Than Ever. You can find her debut album A Love Like Ours on all streaming platforms. Graduate of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Love and gratitude to my family, friends, and DDO Artists Agency. dominiquetoney.com
U/S Harriet/ Stephanie
Berkeley Rep debut! NY Theatre: Act One (Lincoln Center, dir: James Lapine), Rebel Women, Merry Wives of Windsor, Don Juan, Poets from the Inside, The Maids (CSC), Hair (Broadway), The Job (WPA). Bay Area and regional: Sideman (San Jose Rep), Indiscretions (Marin Theatre Company), Sisters Rosenzweig (Huntington Theatre), A Grave Undertaking (McCarter Theatre),
Seattle Rep, Guthrie, Yale Repertory, O’Neill Playwright’s Conference. Film and TV : Shiva Baby, The Good Fight, Divorce, Medium, Six Feet Under (recurring), Law & Order (recurring).
Renee Rogoff
U/S Bernadette/ Jean
Renee is delighted to make her Berkeley Rep debut. Other appearances include Mrs. White, Clue (SF Playhouse), Ellen/Mrs. Saunders/Lin, Cloud 9 (Custom Made Theatre Company), The Voice, Ways To Leave a Body (Cutting Ball), Alice Paul, Strange Ladies (Central Works), Josie, A Moon for the Misbegotten (Roustabout Theater), and Hannah, When We Were Young and Unafraid (CMTC), for which she won the Bay Area Critics Circle Award for Best Featured Performance in a Play. She also recently played Tracy in the major motion picture Asian Persuasion, which will be released in 2024. Renee Rogoff is an alumnus of The Lee Strasberg Acting Studio, Stella Adler, Repertory Philippines, and The American Academy of the Dramatic Arts. (she/they).
Luisa Frasconi
U/S Dusty/ Stephanie
Luisa happily returns to Berkeley Rep after understudying for The White Snake and Three Sisters. Most recent credits include White at Shotgun Players and the world premiere of Cow Pie Bingo by Larissa Fasthorse at Alter Theater. Marin Shakespeare Company: Measure for Measure, Three Musketeers, Othello, Romeo & Juliet, All’s Well That Ends Well, As You Like It, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Additional Bay Area credits: The Liar and The Taming of the Shrew at Livermore Shakespeare Festival, Mechanics of Love at Crowded Fire, and Detroit at Aurora Theatre Company. Training: Shakespeare & Company. (she/her),
U/S Margaret/Chris
Rolanda D. Bell is an actress, model, singer, and overall storyteller born and raised
Oakland, California who is very excited to be returning to Berkeley Rep! Theatre credits: Is God Is, Oakland Theater Project; Paradise Blue, Aurora; Cinderella, African American Shakes; Passing Strange, Shotgun Players; Judy Moody & Stink and Last Stop on Market Street, BACT; I, Too, Sing America, SFBATCO; and is a company member of Oakland Theater Project. Screen credits: All Day and A Night, Netflix; Blindspotting, Starz; Erica Campbell’s “Positive” music video; and deleted scenes of Pixar’s Lightyear. Bell is a former student of Laney College under Michael Torres and is a proud member of SAG-AFTRA represented by JE Talent. IG/Twitter: @Rolandadene Facebook: Rolanda D. Bell-Actress (she/her)
Selina Fillinger is an internationally produced playwright. In 2022, her feminist farce, POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive, debuted on Broadway, earning three Tony Award nominations. Other plays include The Collapse, Something Clean, and Faceless. She has developed work at Roundabout Theatre, Manhattan Theatre Club, McCarter Theatre, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Old Globe Theatre, Alley Theatre, and Northlight Theatre. She wrote for the third season of Apple TV’s The Morning Show, and, prior to going on strike with the Writers Guild of America, was developing a pilot with Hulu/Hunting Lane. (she/her)
Annie Tippe is a director and creator of new work, film, and music theatre. Berkeley Rep: Dave Malloy’s Octet, for which she also directed the NY premiere (Signature; Lortel Award for Best Direction, SDC Callaway Finalist). She directed the premiere and subsequent tours of Malloy’s award-winning Ghost Quartet. Recent: Your Own Personal Exegesis (LCT), Life After (Goodman; Jeff Award Nominee), Cowboy Bob (Alley Theatre), Cult of Love (premiere; IAMA), The Hombres (Two River), and The Conversationalists (Bushwick Starr). Her film Help Me
Mary won Best Narrative Short at the L.E.S. Film Festival. Former Ars Nova Director-in-Residence, Drama League Directing Fellow, Williamstown Directing Corps. Upcoming: premiere, Malloy’s Three Houses. annietippe.com
Scenic Design
Berkeley Rep: A Doll’s House, Part 2; Dana H. Broadway: Dana H. Off-Broadway credits with Lincoln Center Theater, Roundabout Theatre Company, Atlantic Theater Company, New York Theatre Workshop, Vineyard Theatre, Primary Stages, Playwrights Realm, Lucille Lortel, Barrow Street, Rattlestick. Regional credits with most major regional and LORT theatres across the U.S. Opera credits include Lyric Opera of Chicago, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Boston Lyric Opera, Kentucky Opera, Curtis Opera, Philadelphia Orchestra, and San Francisco Conservatory of Music. MFA: Yale School of Drama. Assistant Professor of Design at Northwestern. andrewboycedesign.com
Costume Design
Haydee is a Chicana artist and costume designer. Clothes carry on public conversations with others and share stories about who we are, who we are not, and who we wish to be. They are a means of exploring how image can open up perceptions of race, class, socioeconomic status, and more — all of which is what most interests her. She grew up on both sides of the Mexican border and these experiences inform her point of view and how she approaches her work, giving depth, dimension, and color to the specificities of someone’s life. haydeezelideth.com
Yi Zhao
Lighting Design
Berkeley Rep: A Doll’s House, Part 2; A Doctor in Spite of Himself. Regional: American Conservatory Theater, Guthrie Theater, Yale Repertory Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Dallas Theater Center, Wilma Theater, Huntington Theatre Company, Mark Taper Forum, Shakespeare Theatre (DC), Goodman Theatre,
Steppenwolf Theatre, McCarter Theatre Center. Broadway: The Skin of Our Teeth (Tony nomination). Off Broadway: Lincoln Center Theater, Signature Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop, Soho Rep., Manhattan Theatre Club. Opera: Norwegian National Opera, Opera Colorado, Detroit Opera, Opera Omaha. Dance: Sasha Waltz & Guests (Germany), Ballet de Lorraine (France). Upcoming: I Need That (Broadway), El Niño (Metropolitan Opera). yi-zhao.com
Palmer Hefferan
Sound Design
Select credits include Broadway: Alex Edelman: Just For Us (Hudson Theatre), The Skin of Our Teeth (Tony nomination, Lincoln Center), Grand Horizons (Second Stage), The Lifespan of a Fact (Studio 54). Off-Broadway: Fabulation, or the Re-Education of Undine; The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World (Signature Theatre), what the end will be, Something Clean, Bobbie Clearly (Roundabout Theatre), Merry Wives, shadow/ land, Shipwreck, Wild Goose Dreams (The Public), Fefu and Her Friends (TFANA), Flex, Becky Nurse of Salem, Marys Seacole (Lincoln Center), Nollywood Dreams, BLKS, Collective Rage: A Play in Five Betties, Charm, School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play (MCC). Awards: 2019 Obie Award (Sustained Excellence in Sound Design). MFA : Yale School of Drama palmerhefferan.com
Broadway: Fat Ham . Other design: Hamlet, shadow/land, The Harder They Come, Cullad Wattah, Mojada (The Public Theater), Joe Turner’s Come and Gone (The Huntington), Dames at Sea, Kinky Boots (Bucks County Playhouse), Last Supper (SOPAC), Twelfth Night (Marcus Garvey Park), On Killing (Soho Rep), Little Girl Blue (Goodspeed, New World Stages), Meet Vera Stark, Matilda (Colorado University), On Sugarland (NYTW), Nina Simone: Four Women (Berkshire Theatre Group), Little Women (Dallas Theater Center), Oklahoma!, Patsy Cline (Weston Playhouse), Memphis, Dream Girls (Cape Fear Regional Theater), Cadillac Crew, Twelfth Night (Yale Rep).
Dave is a prolific fight director with over 300 professional credits. He has choreographed violence for 19 Berkeley Rep productions, including Becky Nurse of Salem, Macbeth, and The Lieutenant of Inishmore. He is a Master Fight Director with Dueling Arts International and the resident fight director at San Francisco Opera and Oakland Theatre Project. He is a five-time recipient of the Theatre Bay Area Award for Outstanding Fight Choreography. Recent credits include Poor Yella Rednecks (ACT), Hamlet and Twelfth Night (Marin Shakespeare Co.), Private Lives (Arizona Theatre), King Lear and Taming of the Shrew (Santa Cruz Shakespeare), and Cyrano (Aurora Theatre). Dave teaches stage combat-related classes at Berkeley Rep School of Theatre.
Berkeley Rep debut. Broadway: A Strange Loop, Leopoldstadt, K-POP. Off-Broadway: HELP, Bundle of Sticks. Regional: La Jolla: Sumo*, As You Like It; Signature: Bridges of Madison County, Into the Woods, Rent, Detroit ’67; Woolly Mammoth: Incendiary, A Strange Loop; Studio Theatre: Fun Home, John Proctor is the Villain, White Noise; Folger: Midsummer; Philadelphia Theatre: Tattooed Lady. Film: Tender Bar, Drive Away Dolls*. TV: League of Their Own, Harlem, Best Man, Wu-Tang, Dr. Death*, American Sports Story* (*upcoming). Co-Founder, Theatrical Intimacy Education. Author: Staging Sex: Best Practices, Tools, and Techniques for Theatrical Intimacy. Awards: Kennedy Center Gold Medallion. chelseapace.com @professorpace (she/her)
Benton Whitley CSA & Micah Johnson-Levy. Current Broadway/NY: How to Dance in Ohio, Hadestown (Artios Award). Previous Broadway/NY: Life of Pi, Chicago the Musical, Paradise Square, Rock of Ages, Lightning Thief, Great Comet of 1812, Elf, On the Town, Pippin, La Cage aux
Folles, Radio City Christmas Spectacular. TV/film: Netflix, 20th Century Fox, NBC, Lionsgate, Disney Channel. West End/UK: Hadestown, Thriller Live, Menier Chocolate Factory. U.S. tours: Hadestown, Hairspray, Waitress, Charlie & the Chocolate Factory, Finding Neverland, Into the Woods, We Will Rock You. Regional: American Rep, Berkeley Rep, Alley, Shakespeare Theatre Co, Bay Street, For The Record, TUTS, Hollywood Bowl, McCarter, Signature. Follow: @whitleytheatrical and whitleytheatrical.com
Karyn Meek*
Production Stage Manager
Broadway: Paradise Square; Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812; Elf; Fiddler on the Roof; Rent; Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Tours: The Lion King; Hello, Dolly!; The Drowsy Chaperone; Chicago; 9 to 5; La Cage Aux Folles. Off Broadway/regional: Hamlet (NYSF), Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 (Kazino, ART), The Royale, Preludes (LCT), as well as Classic Stage Company, Primary Stages, Playwrights Horizons, The Vineyard Theatre, Dallas Summer Musicals, TUTS, TOTS, Pantages Theatre, and Starlight Theatre. Six seasons at Pittsburgh CLO Proud AEA member.
Christina Hogan*
Assistant Stage Manager
Christina returns to Berkeley Rep after working on English, Sanctuary City, and It Can’t Happen Here. Other theatre credits include The Headlands, Fefu and her Friends, Gloria, Top Girls, and Men on Boats (American Conservatory Theater), Two Trains Running by August Wilson, Pass Over, and Georgiana and Kitty (Marin Theatre Company), Lear (Cal Shakes), Josephine’s Feast, In Old Age, and The Baltimore Waltz (Magic Theatre), The Road to Mecca and Ripped (Z Space). Hogan has a BA in theatre arts from Saint Mary’s College of California. (she/her)
Johanna Pfaelzer
Artistic Director
Johanna joined Berkeley Rep in 2019 as its fourth artistic director, following 12 years as artistic director of New York Stage and Film (NYSAF), a New York City-based developer of new works for theatre, film, and television. Johanna is
proud to have developed work by notable established and early career writers like Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda; Goddess by Saheem Ali, Michael Thurber, and Jocelyn Bioh; The Humans by Stephen Karam; Hadestown by Anaïs Mitchell; The Wolves by Sarah DeLappe; The Invisible Hand by Ayad Akhtar; A 24-Decade History of Popular Music by Taylor Mac; The Homecoming Queen by Ngozi Anyanwu; The Great Leap by Lauren Yee; Doubt by John Patrick Shanley; The Fortress of Solitude by Michael Friedman and Itamar Moses; The Jacksonian by Beth Henley; and Green Day’s American Idiot. Johanna previously served as associate artistic director of American Conservatory Theater and is a graduate of Wesleyan University and the Actors Theatre of Louisville Apprentice Program. She lives in Berkeley with her husband, Russell Champa, and their son, Jasper.
Tom has served as a theatre leader and arts administrator for over 20 years, with experience in organizations ranging from multi-venue performing arts centers to major Tony Award-winning theatre companies. Prior to Berkeley Rep, he served as executive director of Trinity Repertory Company, Geva Theatre Center, and Merrimack Repertory Theatre and as associate managing director/general manager of San Diego Repertory Theatre. His work has been recognized with a NAACP Theatre Award for Best Producer and “Forty Under 40” recognition in Providence, Rochester, the Merrimack Valley, and San Diego. He received his MBA/MA in Arts Administration from Southern Methodist University; BA in Theater Arts and Economics from Case Western Reserve University; attended the Commercial Theater Institute, National Theater Institute, and Harvard Business School’s Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management; and is certified in Leading Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion by Northwestern University. He and his husband live in Berkeley.
REBECCA CHAN (PETER F. SLOSS ARTISTIC FELLOW) ASSISTANT DIRECTOR
TIFFANY HERNANDEZ ALBERTO
SOPHIA LYND (LIGHTING FELLOW)
ASSISTANT LIGHTING DESIGNERS
BELLE ALATORRE
(HARRY WEININGER SOUND FELLOW) ASSISTANT SOUND DESIGNER
COURTNEY AUGUSTE HORRY WIG ASSISTANT
EMILY BETTS
ANTHONY LOPEZ (STAGE MANAGEMENT FELLOW) PRODUCTION ASSISTANTS
JAMES MCGREGOR
AUTOMATION
ISAAC JACOBS | ANTHONY MARTIN
CHRIS RUSSELL | SIOBHÁN SLATER
DECK CREW
BARBARA BLAIR (SUPERVISOR)
CAZ HIRO | EMILY MILLS
WARDROBE CREW
KENNETH COTÉ
LIGHT BOARD PROGRAMMER/OPERATOR
AKARI IZUMI
SOUND BOARD OPERATOR
ADAM CLAY | JESSICA LONEY
CARL MARTIN | SEAN MILLER
MAGGIE WENTWORTH | ZACH WZIONTKA
LAUREL CAPPS (SCENIC CONSTRUCTION FELLOW) SCENE SHOP
KENZIE BRADLEY | JULIE ANN BROWN
FLAVIA BUSTAMONTE SMITH | NEENA HOLZMAN
ALEXANDRA KRANYAK | CAYLA RAY-PERRY
E WAYMAN-MURDOCK (SCENIC ART FELLOW) SCENIC ART
KRISTINA FOSMIRE | ROBIN MAEGAWA-GOESER
BRITTANY WATKINS | KATIE OWEN (PROPS FELLOW) PROPS
JANET CONERY | NELLY FLORES | MILENA GEARY COSTUMES
SHY BANIANI | ASH BROWN | BRITTANY COBB
ZAID DAWSARI | RICHARD FONG | JACK GRABLE
TIFFANY HERNANDEZ ALBERTO | JASON JOO
RILEY RICHARDSON | TAYLOR RIVERS
C. SWAN-STREEPY | BEN VISINI | KIRA WEFERS LIGHTING
COURTNEY JEAN | CAMILLE RASSWEILER
C. SWAN-STREEPY SOUND
KAYLA BADIA
(PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT FELLOW) ASSISTANT PRODUCTION MANAGER
FAITH ELDER
(COMPANY MANAGEMENT FELLOW)
ASSISTANT COMPANY MANAGER
LARRY TASSE
PRODUCTION DRIVER
MEDICAL CONSULTATION FOR BERKELEY REP PROVIDED BY AGI E. BAN DC, JOHN CARRIGG MD, CINDY J. CHANG MD, CHRISTINA COREY MD, NEIL CLAVERIA PT, PATRICIA I. COMMER DPT, KATHY FANG MD PHD, STEVEN FUGARO MD, OLIVIA LANG MD, ALLEN LING PT, LIZ NGUYEN, DPT, CHRISTINA S. WILMER OD, AND KATHERINE C. YUNG, MD
SPECIAL THANKS TO JENNY ANDERSON, MALEK NAJJAR, RANA NAJJAR
We thank the many organizations, companies, and individuals who enrich our community by championing Berkeley Rep’s artistic, education, and community engagement programs. We gratefully recognize these supporters of Berkeley Rep who made their gifts between September 1, 2022 and August 3, 2023.
FOUNDATION
Anonymous (3)
Civic Foundation, Inc.
Davis/Dauray Family Fund
The William H. Donner Foundation, Inc.
Edgerton Foundation
The Ira and Leonore S. Gershwin
Philanthropic Fund
The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
JEC Foundation
Koret Foundation
Laurents/Hatcher Foundation
Jonathan Logan Family Foundation
The Maurer Family Foundation
The Bernard Osher Foundation
The Shubert Foundation
Taube Philanthropies
Woodlawn Foundation
SEASON SPONSORS
SPONSORS
Donkey & Goat Winery
PUBLIC FUNDING
Alameda County Arts Commission ARTSFUND
Berkeley Civic Arts Program and Commission
California Arts Council
National Endowment for the Arts
State of California
EXECUTIVE SPONSORS
First Republic Foundation
Mechanics Bank Wealth Management
Semifreddi’s Wells Fargo Foundation
CORPORATE PARTNERS
Armanino LLP
Aurora Catering Bank of Marin
Comal
Hugh Groman Catering
The Morrison & Foerster Foundation
BENEFACTOR SPONSORS
Gallagher Risk Management Services
Heroic Italian
Kermit Lynch
Lucia’s Berkeley
Picante
Residence Inn Downtown Berkeley
Revival Bar + Kitchen
PERFORMANCE SPONSORS
Andrea Gordon Real Estate
Bayer
Berkeley Repertory Theatre gratefully recognizes the following contributors for their transformational contributions to The Resilience Campaign that support the Theatre’s future.
California Wellness Foundation
Stephen & Susan Chamberlin
Robin & Rich Edwards
David & Vicki Fleishhacker
Kerry Francis & John Jimerson
Jill & Steve Fugaro
Karen Galatz & Jon Wellinghoff
Bruce Golden & Michelle Mercer
Marcia Grand
Frances Hellman & Warren Breslau
Dugan & Philippe Lamoise
The Jonathan Logan Family Foundation
Sandra & Ross McCandless
Gisele & Kenneth F. Miller
Jack & Betty Schafer
Pat & Merrill Shanks
Michael & Sue Steinberg
The Strauch Kulhanjian Family
Kelli & Steffan Tomlinson
Gail & Arne Wagner
Linda & Steve Wolan
We thank the many individuals in our community who help Berkeley Rep produce adventurous, thought-provoking, and thrilling theatre and bring arts education to thousands of people every year. We gratefully recognize our donors at the Champion level and above, who made their gifts between September 1, 2022 and August 7, 2023. We also express our deep gratitude to all of the Friends of Berkeley Rep that we are unable to recognize here due to space limitations.
SEASON SPONSORS
Stephen & Susan Chamberlin
Bruce Golden & Michelle Mercer
Frances Hellman & Warren Breslau
Wayne Jordan & Quinn Delaney
Gisele & Kenneth F. Miller
Jack & Betty Schafer
The Strauch Kulhanjian Family
Kelli & Steffan Tomlinson
Gail & Arne Wagner
LEAD SPONSORS
Anonymous
Barbara Bass Bakar
Kerry Francis & John Jimerson
Marcia Grand
Mary Ruth Quinn & Scott Shenker
Allan Smith/Peet's Coffee
Michael & Sue Steinberg
EXECUTIVE SPONSORS
Anonymous
Anne & Anuj Dhanda
Bill Falik & Diana Cohen
Scott & Sherry Haber
Melanie Maier
Sandra & Ross McCandless
Pat & Merrill Shanks
Christopher Doane & Neal Shorstein, MD
Jean & Michael Strunsky
Steven & Linda Wolan
SPONSORS
Shelley & Jonathan Bagg
David & Vicki Cox
Christina Crowley
Robin & Rich Edwards
Jill & Steve Fugaro
Karen Galatz & Jon Wellinghoff
Melinda Haag & Chuck Fanning
Paul Haahr & Susan Karp
Ms. Wendy E. Jordan
Rosalind & Sung-Hou Kim
Jack Klingelhofer
Susan & Moses Libitzky
Ed Messerly & Sudha Pennathur
Jack & Valerie Rowe
Anonymous (4)
Edward D. Baker
Italo & Susan Calpestri
Jennifer Chaiken & Sam Hamilton
Karen & David Crommie
Richard DeNatale & Craig Latker
Thomas W. Edwards &
Rebecca Parlette-Edwards
Merle & Michael Fajans
Cynthia A. Farner
Linda Jo Fitz
Lisa Franzel & Rod Mickels
Dennis & Susan Johann Gilardi
Rico & Maya Green
Karen Grove & Julian Cortella
Richard N. Hill & Nancy Lundeen
The Jackson Family Foundation
Duke & Daisy Kiehn
Peggy Kivel
Randy Laroche & David Laudon
Joel Linzner & Teresa Picchi
Rosa Luevano & Charles Marston
Elsie Mallonee
Marymor Family Fund
Peter Pervere & Georgia Cassel
Pure Dana Fund
Sue Reinhold & Deborah Newbrun
Barbara Sahm & Steven Winkel
Jaimie Sanford & Ted Storey
Emily Shanks
Shirlen Fund, in memory of
Shirley & Philip Schild
Ed & Ellen Smith
Deborah & Bob Van Nest
Elizabeth Werter & Henry Trevor
Sheila Wishek
BENEFACTOR
Anonymous
Norman Abramson, in memory of David Beery
Eric Allman & Kirk McKusick
George & Marcia Argyris
Michelle L. Barbour
Ashvini Bhave & Kishore Bopardikar
Becky & Jeff Bleich
Broitman-Basri Foundation
Ronnie Caplane
Constance Crawford
Dr. Jim Cuthbertson
Barbara & Tim Daniels
Richard & Anita Davis
Ilana DeBare & Sam Schuchat
Chris & Mike Rupp, Descendant Cellars
Joan Sarnat & David Hoffman
Felicia Woytak & Steven Rasmussen
Anonymous
Edith Barschi & Robert Jackson
Lynne Carmichael
Cindy J. Chang, MD & Christopher Hudson
Narsai & Venus David
William T. Espey & Margaret Hart Edwards
David & Vicki Fleishhacker
Steven Goldin
Dr. Daniel F. Goodman
Elise Haas
Earl & Bonnie Hamlin
Lynda & Dr. J. Pearce Hurley
Fred Karren, in memory of Beth Karren
Sy Kaufman & Kerstin Edgerton
Suzanne LaFetra Collier
Bill DeHart
Corinne & Mike Doyle
Linda Drucker
Sandra & Ken Eggers
William & Susan Epstein
Jerry Falk
The Flatows
Dean Francis
Sharon & Tom Francis
Herb & Marianne Friedman
Mio & Johni Good
Mary Graves
Robert & Judith Greber
Migsy & Jim Hamasaki
Dan & Shawna Hartman Brotsky
Tamra C. Hege
Ruth Hennigar
Thomas & Elizabeth Henry
Elaine Hitchcock
Bill Hofmann & Robbie Welling
Paula Hughmanick & Steven Berger
Marilyn & Michael Jensen-Akula
Bill & Lisa Kelly
Dana Kirkland
Stephen F. Kispersky
Michael H. Kossman
Jane & Mike Larkin, in memory of
Lynn & Gerald Ungar
Dugan & Philippe Lamoise
Eileen & Hank Lewis
Ali Long, In Honor of T. Dixon Long
Helen M. Marcus, in memory of David J. Williamson
Phyra McCandless & Angelos Kottas
Erin McCune
Martin & Margi Cellucci McNair
Juan Oldham & Deborah Morgan
Tom Parrish & Steve Dow
Johanna Pfaelzer & Russell Champa
Gary & Noni Robinson
Arthur & Toni Rembe Rock
Leonard X & Arlene B. Rosenberg
David S. H. Rosenthal & Vicky Reich
Patricia Sakai & Richard Shapiro
Cynthia & William Schaff
Sarah E. Shaver
Audrey & Bob Sockolov
Salomon Strategic Development
Susan West
Wendy Williams
Jay & Eileen Love
Susanna & Brad Marshland
Rebecca Martinez
Henning Mathew & Michelle Deane
Miles & Mary Ellen McKey
Susie Medak & Greg Murphy
Stephanie Mendel
Andy & June Monach
Muriel Mora
Pam & Mitch Nichter
Carol J. Ormond
Janet & Clyde Ostler
Sandi & Dick Pantages
Barbara L. Peterson
Richard A. Rubin & H. Marcia Smolens
Monica Salusky & John K. Sutherland
Jeane & Roger Samuelsen
Jon and NoraLee Sedmak
David & Lori Simpson
Karen Stevenson & Bill McClave
Alison Teeman & Michael Yovino-Young
Henry Timnick
Larry Vales
Kimberly Webb & Richard Rossi
Beth Weissman
Patricia & Jeffrey Williams
Mark Zitter & Jessica Nutik Zitter
Anonymous (5) • Michael Barnett and Judith Bloomberg • Don & Gerry Beers • Caroline Beverstock • Eric Brink & Gayle
Vassar • Jon Carr • Paul Feigenbaum & Judy Kemeny • Donald & Dava Freed • Sally Freedman • Marjorie Ginsburg & Howard
Slyter • Anne & Peter Griffes • Henry L. Hecht • Alan Karras & David Schulz • Janet Kornegay & Dan Sykes • Woof Kurtzman & Liz Hertz • Shirley Langlois • Sherrill Lavagnino & Scott
McKinney • Andrew Leavitt & Catherine Lewis • Ellen & Barry
Levine • Marcia C. Linn • Tom Lockard & Alix Marduel • Lois & Gary Marcus, in memory of Ruth Weiland, Mose & Selma
Marcus • Geri Monheimer • Jane Neilson • Shanna O'Hare & John Davis • Judy O'Young, MD & Gregg Hauser • Bob & MaryJane Pauley • Teresa L. Remillard • John & Jody Roberts
Mitzi K. Sales • Dorothy Saxe • Jackie Schmidt-Posner & Barry
Posner • Amrita Singhal & Michael Tubach • Suzanne Slyman
Cherida Collins Smith • Lisa Salomon • Valerie Sopher • Henry
Spencer & Nicky Cass • Gary & Jana Stein • Trevor & Anne-
Marie Strohman • Sam Test • William van Dyk & Margi Sullivan
Brian Watt & Daisy Nguyen • Jonathan & Kiyo Weiss
Anonymous (13) • Philip Arca & Sherry Smith • Berit Ashla & Aron Cramer • Anne M. Baele • Linda & Mike Baker • Celia Bakke
Deborah Barrera & John Steinbuch • Patti Bittenbender • John Brennan & Stephanie McKown • Cathy Bristow • Tracy Brown & Greg Holland • Jane V. Buerger • Fran Burgess • Robert & Margaret Cant • Bruce Carlton • Laura Chenel • John Clawson & Teri Behm • Barbara & Rodgin Cohen • Bart Connally • Pam & Mike Crane • Lynne Dal Poggetto • Harry & Susan Dennis
Jacqueline Desoer • Dr. Donald J. Dodelson • Adrienne M. Edens • Ben & Mary Feinberg • Martin & Barbara Fishman • Mary & Stan Friedman • Chris R. Frostad • Ellen Geringer & Chris Tarp • Jane Gottesman & Geoffrey Biddle • Karen Greig & Mike
Frank • Don & Becky Grether • Ellen Haddock • Al Hoffman & David Shepherd • Rick Hoskins & Lynne Frame • Barbara & Peter
Jensen • May Johnston • Jeanne Killian • Robert Kinosian • Susan Kolb • The Komoroske Family • Andrea & Kenneth Krueger
Susan Carol Ledford • Jennifer S. Lindsay • Steve & Judy Lipson • Paulette Lueke & Robert McCully • Gerry & Kathy MacClelland
Paul Mariano & Suzanne Chapot • M. Mathews & K. Soriano • Christopher McKenzie & Manuela Albuquerque • Steven & Patrece Mills • Judy Minor • Ron Nakayama • Thomas Nelson • Judy Ogle • Patti Oji Haas • Judith & Richard Oken • Geraldine
Paddock • Lynne Parode & Sterling Lim • Tina & Thomas Parrish • Regina Phelps • Susie & Eric Poncelet • Kathleen Quenneville & Diane Allen • Daniel & Barbara Radin • Elizabeth Raffin • Lisa Regul & Rand Hawkins • Orna Resnekov & David Tennenhouse
Maxine Risley, in memory of James Risley • Deborah Dashow Ruth, in memory of Leo P. Ruth • Gretchen Saeger • Dan Scharlin & Sara Katz • Helen Schulak • Teddy & Bruce Schwab • Deborah Sedberry & Jeff Klingman • Jacob Sevart • Steve & Susan Shortell • Christine Silver • Betsy Smith • George & Camilla Smith • Linda Snyder • Monroe W. Strickberger • Ragesh Tangri & Daralyn Durie • Fred & Kathleen Taylor • Ruthann Taylor • John & Christine Telischak • Karen Tiedemann & Geoff Piller
Dana Tom & Nancy Kawakita • Sarah Van Roo • Liz Varnhagen • Marcia & David Vastine • Rhona & Harvey Weinstein • Peter Wiley • H. Leabah Winter
Berkeley Rep gratefully acknowledges the following individuals who have generously provided for the theatre in their estate plans:
Anonymous (9)
Norman Abramson & David Beery*
Sam Ambler
Carl W. Arnoult & Aurora Pan
Ken & Joni Avery
Nancy Axelrod
Edie Barschi
Neil & Gene Barth
Susan & Barry Baskin
Linda Brandenburger
Broitman-Basri Family
Bruce Carlton & Richard G. McCall*
Victoria Carter*
Stephen K. Cassidy
Paula Champagne & David Watson
Terin Christensen
Sofia Close
Andrew Daly & Jody Taylor
Narsai & Venus David
M. Laina Dicker
Thalia Dorwick
Robin & Rich Edwards
Thomas W. Edwards & Rebecca Parlette-Edwards
Bill & Susan Epstein
William Espey & Margaret Hart Edwards
Bill Falik & Diana Cohen
Dr. Stephen E. Follansbee & Dr. Richard A. Wolitz
Kerry Francis
Dr. Harvey & Deana Freedman
Joseph & Antonia Friedman
Paul T. Friedman
Laura K. Fujii
David Gaskin & Phillip McPherson*
Marjorie Ginsburg & Howard Slyter
Mary & Nicholas* Graves
Elizabeth Greene
Sheldon & Judy Greene
Don & Becky Grether
Richard & Lois Halliday
Barry* & Micheline Handon
Julie & Paul Harkness
Linda & Bob Harris
Fred Hartwick
Ruth Hennigar
Daria Hepps
Douglas J. Hill
Peter Hobe & Christina Crowley
Hoskins/Frame Family Trust
Lynda & Dr. J. Pearce Hurley
Robin C. Johnson
Janice Kelly & Carlos Kaslow
Bonnie McPherson Killip
Lynn Eve Komaromi
Nancy Kornfield
Michael H. Kossman
Woof Kurtzman
Scott & Kathy Law
Jim Lillienthal*
Dot Lofstrom
Helen M. Marcus
Dale* & Don Marshall
Rebecca Martinez
Sarah McArthur LeValley
Sandra & Ross McCandless
Suzanne & Charles McCulloch
John G. McGehee
Miles & Mary Ellen McKey
Ruth Medak
Susie Medak & Greg Murphy
Stephanie Mendel
Toni Mester
Shirley & Joe Nedham
Jane & Bill Neilson
Pam & Mitch Nichter
Sharon Ott
Fr. David Pace
Amy Pearl Parodi
Barbara L. Peterson
Regina Phelps
Margaret Phillips
Marjorie Randolph
Gregg Richardson
Bonnie Ring Living Trust
David Rovno, M.D.
Tracie E. Rowson
Deborah Dashow Ruth
Patricia Sakai & Richard Shapiro
Brenda Buckhold Shank, M.D., Ph.D.
Emily Shanks
Kevin Shoemaker
Theresa Nelson & Bernard Smits
Valerie Sopher
Michael & Sue Steinberg
Dr. Douglas & Anne Stewart
Jean Strunsky
Mary, Andrew & Duncan Susskind
Jim Tibbs & Philip Anderson
Henry Timnick
Guy Tiphane
Dana Tom & Nancy Kawakita
Phillip & Melody Trapp
Janis Kate Turner
Gail & Arne Wagner
Dorothy Walker*
Barry & Holly Walter
Weil Family Trust - Weil Family
Susan West
Steven & Linda Wolan
The Woolfson Blumenfeld
Living Trust
Karen & Henry Work
Anders Yang, JD
Martin & Margaret Zankel
*deceased
BERKELEY REP
Estate of Suzanne Adams
Estate of Pat Angell, in memory of theater
architect Gene Angell
Estate of Nina Auerbach
Estate of Helen C. Barber
Estate of Fritzi Benesch
Estate of Carole B. Berg
Estate of Nelly Berteaux
Estate of Jill Bryans
Estate of Paula Carrell
Estate of Nancy Croley
Estate of John & Carol Field
Estate of Ralph Garrow
Estate of Audrey J. Lasson
Estate of Zandra Faye LeDuff
Estate of Ines R. Lewandowitz
Estate of John E. & Helen A. Manning
Estate of Richard Markell
Estate of Sumner & Hermine Marshall
Estate of Margaret D. & Winton McKibben
Estate of Robert S. Newton, in honor of John T. & Jean Knox
Estate of Sheldeen G. Osborne
Estate of Timothy A. Patterson
Estate of Gladys Perez-Mendez
Estate of Margaret Purvine
Estate of Guy T. Roberts, Jr.
Estate of Leigh & Ivy Robinson
Estate of Stephen C. Schaefer, in honor of Jean and Jack Knox
Estate of Peter Sloss
Estate of Harry Weininger
Estate of Grace Williams
ARTISTIC
Karina Fox
ASSOCIATE CASTING DIRECTOR & ARTISTIC ASSOCIATE
David Mendizábal
ASSOCIATE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Todd Almond · Christina Anderson
Rafael Casal · Daveed Diggs
Dipika Guha · Richard Montoya
Nico Muhly · Lisa Peterson
Sarah Ruhl · Tori Sampson
Jack Thorne Joe Waechter
ARTISTS UNDER COMMISSION
GENERAL AND PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT
Sara Danielsen
GENERAL MANAGER
Kali Grau
ASSOCIATE PRODUCTION MANAGER
Audrey Hoo
DIRECTOR OF PRODUCTION
Peter Orkiszewski
COMPANY MANAGER
STAGE OPERATIONS
Julia Englehorn
STAGE SUPERVISOR
Gabriel Holman
ASSOCIATE STAGE SUPERVISOR
James McGregor
HEAD STAGE TECHNICIAN
PROPERTIES
Amelia Burke-Holt
ASSOCIATE PROPERTIES SUPERVISOR
Lisa Mei Ling Fong
PROPERTIES ARTISAN
Jillian A. Green
PROPERTIES SUPERVISOR
SCENE SHOP
Patrick Keene
SCENE SHOP SUPERVISOR
August Lewallen
SCENIC CARPENTER
Matt Rohner · Jim Smith
CO-TECHNICAL DIRECTORS
Read Tuddenham
HEAD CARPENTER
Grant Vocks
DRAFTSPERSON
SCENIC ART
Lisa Lázár
CHARGE SCENIC ARTIST
COSTUMES
Barbara Blair
WARDROBE SUPERVISOR
Kiara Montgomery
RESIDENT DESIGN ASSOCIATE
Star Rabinowitz
DRAPER
Maggi Yule
COSTUME DIRECTOR
ELECTRICS
Desiree Alcocer
PRODUCTION ELECTRICIAN
Kenneth Coté
SENIOR PRODUCTION ELECTRICIAN
Frederick C. Geffken
LIGHTING SUPERVISOR
Sarina Renteria
ASSOCIATE LIGHTING SUPERVISOR
SOUND AND VIDEO
Angela Don
SENIOR SOUND ENGINEER
Lane Elms
SOUND AND VIDEO SUPERVISOR
Akari Izumi
SOUND ENGINEER
Chase Nichter
ASSOCIATE SOUND AND VIDEO SUPERVISOR
ADMINISTRATION
Jared Hammond
FINANCE DIRECTOR
Kate Horton
EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT
Jennifer Light
PAYROLL ADMINISTRATOR
Alanna McFall
BOOKKEEPER
Katie Riemann
ASSOCIATE FINANCE DIRECTOR
Modesta Tamayo
DIRECTOR OF HUMAN RESOURCES AND DIVERSITY
DEVELOPMENT
Marcela Chacón
INDIVIDUAL GIVING MANAGER
Laura Fichtenberg
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT
Elaina Guyett
STEWARDSHIP AND EVENTS MANAGER
Ari Lipsky
DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT
Andrew Maguire
PHILANTHROPY OFFICER
Cassidy Milano
DEVELOPMENT OPERATIONS COORDINATOR
Kelsey Scott
INSTITUTIONAL GRANTS MANAGER
MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS
Lindsey Abbott
AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT MANAGER
Voleine Amilcar
DIRECTOR OF MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS
Beatriz Hernandez
MARKETING ASSOCIATE
Kevin Kopjak, Prismatic
Communications
PUBLIC RELATIONS CONSULTANT
Karen McKevitt
COMMUNICATIONS AND DIGITAL CONTENT DIRECTOR
Calvin Ngu
VIDEO AND MULTIMEDIA CONTENT CREATOR
Heather Orth
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF MARKETING
DC Scarpelli
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
OPERATIONS
Destiny Askin
CRM PROJECT MANAGER
Christina Cone
WEB AND DATABASE SPECIALIST
Theresa Drumgoole · Wendi Lau
Sophie Li
FACILITIES ASSISTANTS
Adam Johnson
FACILITIES MANAGER
Mark Morrisette
FACILITIES DIRECTOR
Amanda Williams O’Steen
DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS
Nicole Peña
BUILDING MANAGER
Jesus Rodriguez
BUILDING TECHNICIAN
Thomas Tran
BUILDING ENGINEER
PATRON SERVICES
Emma Allen-Landwehr
Alicia Battle · Megan Bedig
Steven Cole · Matthew Hayden
Latasha Hayes · Armando Herrera
Caitlyn Lee · Jennifer Light
Maura Oliverira · Angela Phung
Tuesday Ray · Anna Riggin
Alana Scott · Debra Selman
Sloane Sim · Anna Vorobyev
PATRON EXPERIENCE REPRESENTATIVES
Derik Cowan
DIRECTOR OF TICKETING AND SALES
pan ellington · Joelle Joyner-Wong
Alanna McFall · Aya Newman
Em Parker · Dom Refuerzo
Christy Spence
BOX OFFICE AGENTS
Maddi Gjovik · Nina Gorham
PATRON SERVICES SUPERVISORS
Kelly Kelley FRONT OF HOUSE DIRECTOR
Gianna Francesca Vescio
BOX OFFICE SUPERVISOR
BERKELEY REP SCHOOL OF THEATRE
MaryBeth Cavanaugh
DIRECTOR OF CLASSES AND SUMMER PROGRAMS
Si Mon’ Emmett
CURRICULUM AND EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS MANAGER
Anthony Jackson
DIRECTOR OF THE SCHOOL OF THEATRE
Ashley Lim
CLASSES AND COMMUNICATIONS ADMINISTRATOR
Dylan Russell ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR
Elizabeth Woolford
INTERIM EDUCATION ASSOCIATE
Bobby August, Jr. · Erica Blue
Diana Brown · Rebecca Castelli
lu-Hui Chua · Jiwon Chung
Robin Dolan · Jim Edgar
Deborah Eubanks · Joshua Feltman
Nancy Gold · Gary Graves
Marvin Greene · William Hodgson
Julian López-Morillas · Eleanor Maples
Carolyn McClandish · Patricia Miller
Hans Probst · Joyful Simpson
Samuel Tomfohr
TEACHING ARTISTS
Matty Bloom · Joy Lancaster
Selma Meyerowitz
DOCENT CO-CHAIRS
Ted Bagaman · Michelle Barbour
Beth Cohen · Miles Drawdy
Alice Galoob · Randi Helly
Muriel Kaplan · Ellen Kaufman
Jim Krampf · Richard Lingua
Mark Liss · Judith O’Rourke
Thomas Sponsler · Susan Wansewicz
Linda Williams
DOCENTS
Eloise Biddle-Gottesman
Kelsey Dougherty · Maelle Griffin
Lalima Gluesenkamp · Harper Iles
Oxford Lewis · Maya Madsen
Jaina Manning · Nakayla Moore
Chance Newby · Billie Nolfi-Makau
Eghosa Otokiti Blue Pascopella
Amy Perez-Soto · Zoe Poyeton-Wolf
Arunima Stroller · Tessa Rosen
Kailamae Sands · Bree Shennum
Jay Trauner
TEEN LEADERSHIP COUNCIL
2023/24 BERKELEY REP FELLOWSHIPS
Belle Alatorre
HARRY WEININGER SOUND FELLOW
Kayla Badia
PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT FELLOW
Gabrielle Bañuelos
COSTUMES FELLOW
Louis Blachman
BRET C. HARTE ARTISTIC FELLOW
Laurel Capps SCENIC CONSTRUCTION FELLOW
Rebecca Chan
PETER F. SLOSS ARTISTIC FELLOW
Rodrick Edwards
DEVELOPMENT/MARKETING FELLOW
Faith Elder
COMPANY MANAGEMENT FELLOW
Anthony Lopez
STAGE MANAGEMENT FELLOW
Sophie Lynd
LIGHTING FELLOW
Katie Owen
PROPERTIES FELLOW
E. Wayman-Murdock
SCENIC ART FELLOW
William T. Espey
PRESIDENT
Bruce Golden
VICE PRESIDENT
Juan Oldham
VICE PRESIDENT
Sudha Pennathur
VICE PRESIDENT
Emily Shanks
TREASURER
Scott Haber
SECRETARY
Jill Fugaro
CHAIR OF THE GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE
Steven C. Wolan
CHAIR OF THE AUDIT COMMITTEE
Henning Mathew
CHAIR OF THE INVESTMENT COMMITTEE
Susan Chamberlin
Christopher Doane
Sandra Eggers
Chuck Fanning
Steven Goldin
Jonathan C. Logan
Melanie Maier
Sandra R. McCandless
Anne Nemer Dhanda
Tom Parrish
Johanna Pfaelzer
Leonard X Rosenberg
Alfredo Silva
Allan Smith
Sherry Smith
Brian Watt
BOARD MEMBERS
Rena Bransten
Diana Cohen
Robin Edwards
William Falik
David Fleishhacker
Paul T. Friedman
Karen Galatz
David Hoffman
Richard F. Hoskins
Dugan Lamoise
Helen Meyer
Peter Pervere
Marjorie Randolph
Patricia Sakai
Jack Schafer
William Schaff
Richard M. Shapiro
Michael Steinberg
Roger A. Strauch
Jean Z. Strunsky
Michael S. Strunsky
Gail Wagner
Felicia Woytak
Martin Zankel
SUSTAINING ADVISORS
Helen C. Barber
A. George Battle
Carole B. Berg
Robert W. Burt
Shih-Tso Chen
Narsai M. David
Thalia Dorwick, PhD
Nicholas M. Graves
Richard F. Hoskins
Jean Knox
Robert M. Oliver
Stewart Owen
Marjorie Randolph
Harlan M. Richter
Richard A. Rubin
Emily Shanks
Edwin C. Shiver
Roger A. Strauch
Gail Wagner
Martin Zankel
PAST PRESIDENTS
FOUNDING DIRECTOR
Michael W. Leibert
PRODUCING DIRECTOR, 1968–83
Berkeley Rep’s scenic artists are one of several teams tasked with bringing the scenic designer’s vision to life.
Here, they’re reproducing a piece of scenic wallpaper called “Views of North America,” originally created and printed by France’s Zuber Manufactory in 1834, still in existence today.
“Views of North America” was installed in the White House in the 1970s, rescued from a Maryland hotel scheduled for demolition. First, the scenic artists scaled up the scenic designer’s image — in this case, ½ inch equaled one foot — to the 30-foot-wide by 12-foottall painted fabric you see on stage. To match the wallpaper’s colors as accurately as possible, the team created a color palette and mixed the paint from their original formulas.
“Zuber’s wallpaper was printed from hand-carved woodblocks, pre-Industrial Revolution,” says Charge Scenic Artist Lisa Lázár. “Likewise, everything we do is intensely handmade and hand painted. We’re incredibly lucky to employ such talented Bay Area artists.”
A CO-PRODUCTION WITH McCARTER THEATRE CENTER
OCT 27–DEC 3, 2023 | PEET’S THEATRE
Berkeley native Eisa Davis’ lyrical coming-of-age story follows a multiracial girl found as an infant floating in a basket on the Navarro River in Mendocino County. It’s 1955, and Bulrusher is 18 and restless, with a gift for clairvoyance that makes her feel like a stranger even amongst the eccentric, dialect speaking folks of her predominantly white enclave of Boonville. When a mysterious Black girl from Birmingham comes to town, Bulrusher discovers new facets of her identity — and uncovers her place in the world. A Pulitzer Prize finalist called “captivating and lushly poetic” by the LA Times, Bulrusher is infused with rhythmic language, passion, and down-home humor.
Members of the Michael Leibert Society are dedicated supporters who have included Berkeley Repertory Theatre in their estate plans. These gifts help to secure the Theatre’s future and ensure that for generations to come, Berkeley Rep will be creating ambitious theatre that entertains and challenges its audiences.
For more information, please contact Andrew Maguire, Philanthropy Officer at 510-647-2904 or amaguire@berkeleyrep.org.
35 22 1
TEACHING ARTISTS BERKELEY REP COMMUNITY
Fall Classes for all ages, levels, and abilities now open for registration at the Berkeley Rep School of Theatre
berkeleyrep.org/classes
MUSIC SUPERVISION, ORCHESTRATIONS, & ARRANGEMENTS BY Kenny
Kamilah Forbes
SeymourFEATURING THE MUSIC THAT DEFINED A GENERATION
TONI REMBE THEATER
“MY FAMILY TURNED ON SOUL TRAIN EVERY WEEK EXPECTING NOTHING LESS THAN A HOUSE PARTY . . . WE GOT THAT, AND A WHOLE LOT MORE.” —AHMIR “QUESTLOVE” THOMPSON, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER GET YOUR TICKETS TODAY! ACT-SF.ORG/SOULTRAIN