Holmes and Watson Program

HOLMES WATSON

&

by Jeffrey Hatcher

JUNE 6 - 23

Nov 13 - Dec 8 2019

V

VEGAS THEATRE COMPANY

Stories that bring us

together

NOV 13 - DEC 8 ART SQUARE THEATRE HE MAY NOT BE THE MAN YOU ONCE CALLED FRIEND. TIME HAS PASSED. A PERSON CHANGES - Dr. Evans Holmes & Watson This performance runs for 1hr 25 minutes Holmes and Watson is presented by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc., New York.”

The World Premiere of HOLMES AND WATSON was originally commissioned and produced by Arizona Theatre Company, Tucson / Phoenix, Arizona (David Ira Goldstein, Artistic Director) *Member of Actors’ Equity Association, The Union of professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States, appearing under a special appearaance contract.

WRITER / Jeffrey Hatcher DIRECTOR / Andrew Paul CAST / Christopher Brown Geo Nikols Bryan Todd Maythinee Washington Marcus Weiss* Daz Weller Jonas Woolverton SET DESIGN / Daz Weller LIGHTING DESIGN / Ellen Bone COSTUME DESIGN / Hailey Eakle SOUND DESIGN / Angela Baughman DIALECT COACH / Christina Gardener PRODUCTION STAGE MANAGER / PROPS / Marni Lewis ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER / Heather Gibeau Horvat MASTER ELECTRICIAN / Sydney May ELECTRICS ASSISTANTS/ Camren Wakefield Anthony Ward SET CONSTRTUCTION / Daz Weller Christopher Brown Maria Brown Heather Gibeau Horvat Laine Hunkeler Gary Parlanti SOUND TECHNICIAN / Toby Allen FIGHT CONSULTANT / Alio Fan

Poster Image: Robert John Kley Production Photos: Richard Brusky

WELCOME to Vegas Theatre Company!

Yes, we have a new name which better reflects our love of the city we call home and positions us strongly to achieve our vision of continuing to build a fully profesional regional theatre company for Las Vegas.

Thank you for sticking with us and spreading the word about what we do.

We have a great season of plays in our 2019/2020 season, all Vegas premieres, and are thrilled presenting Jeffrey Hatcher’s latest mystery, Holmes and Watson. Check out the full season in the back of the program and if you like what you see, consider purchaing a ticket to the remaining shows with a 3 show subrcription.

The world is an unpredictable and divided place right now, so join us as we explore stories that connect us, challenge us and remind us of our common humanity.

I’m so happy you’re here.

Daz

HOLMES X?

A note from playwright Jeffrey Hatcher The question, “Who is Sherlock Holmes?” has been asked countless times since the character first appeared in Arthur Conan Doyle’s A Study in Scarlet. Sometimes the question has to do with Holmes’ character or personality. Sometimes it’s about his background and upbringing. And since Holmes quickly became one of the most depicted characters in modern fiction, the question also has to do with how is he drawn, what features do the illustrators emphasize, who plays him on stage, in film, on television? I’ve wondered “Who is Sherlock Holmes?” dozens of times. On occasion the question shifts to “Who should portray Sherlock Holmes in a play or film script I’ve written?”

Sherlock Holmes, like James Bond, Scarlett O’Hara, Harry Potter and a very few others. is one of those imagined characters that gets such a firm grip on the imagination that the reader believes he possesses the man, at least his own version of him. We read a book, a character is described, we form a mental picture: how she moves, the timbre of her voice, the look in her eye. Some descriptive power is so vivid – theatrical even – that it gives the casting department little wriggle room. Charles Dickens describes Scrooge and Mr. Micawber and Fagin with such specificity and relish that one must search for an actor to fill the role. It’s not the same with Hamlet, Oedipus, Willy Loman, George and Martha, or Mama Rose. Actors as disparate as Ethel Merman, Angela Lansbury and Patti LuPone all played Rose in Gypsy without being similar to one another in any way. The same goes for Laurence Olivier, David Tennant and Simon Russell Beale, all three are splendid Hamlets without being in the least the same type. But a Scrooge must look like Scrooge. A Fagin must appear as Fagin is described as appearing. Bond has that cruel lip and the comma of black hair that falls onto his forehead (Sean Connery’s comma was part of a toupee starting with Goldfinger.) “Scarlett O’Hara was not beautiful,” wrote Margaret Mitchell, but who would cast a “not beautiful” actress in Gone With the Wind?” Vivien Leigh may have been the most beautiful woman in motion pictures. She wasn’t American, she wasn’t from the South, she wasn’t of Irish background. She was an English rose. Yet she was the perfect Scarlett.

And Holmes? Holmes allows a certain amount of leeway, but he had better be tall, he had better be trim, with aquiline features not soft ones, and God help the actor with a pug nose. His voice must have the authority of intellect and empire, and his diction must cut through diamonds.

The idea for Holmes and Watson was the result of this kind of thinking. It’s difficult to write much more about the play without giving away the game. It’s a stage thriller, like the ones that used to print in the program: “For the enjoyment of future audiences, we ask you not to reveal the surprising plot twists that occur in Holmes and Watson.” I know what it’s like to sit in the theater and try to out-guess the writer, but if you know even one or two details about the plot, you’ve got an unfair advantage.

So try not to get ahead of H&W. It’s more fun not to know anything before the curtain goes up. You’ll get a bigger kick out of it if you haven’t been clued in. I can attest to that. I never read a word about The Sixth Sense before I saw it, and I was delighted to be fooled.

Although Sherlock Holmes probably wasn’t. i

The VTC staff, board and cast and crew of The Thanksgiving Play would like to thank: Vijaya Poulri, Toby Allen, Mandy Iacono, Jane Walsh, Richard Brusky, Camren Wakefield, Anthony Ward, Shawn James and Alio Fan

JEFFREY HATCHER Playwright Jeffrey Hatcher (Playwright) is the author of Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Suicide Club, Compleat Female Stage Beauty, Scotland Road, Ten Chimneys, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Ella, and co-author of Work Song: Three Views of Frank Lloyd Wright and Tuesday’s with Morrie. Mr. Hatcher authored the book for the Broadway musical, Never Gonna Dance. Off-Broadway he has had several plays produced, including Three Viewings and a Picasso at Manhattan Theatre Club, Scotland Road and The Turn of the Screw at Primary Stages, Tuesday’s with Morrie (with Mitch Albom) at Minetta Lane Theatre, The Government Inspector at Red Bull Theatre, Murder by Poe and The Turn of the Screw with The Acting Company and Neddy at The American Place Theatre. His plays have been seen at such theatres as Yale Repertory Theatre, The Old Globe, South Coast Repertory, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Asolo Repertory Theatre, City Theatre in Pittsburgh and dozens more in the U.S. and abroad. Mr. Hatcher wrote the screenplays for Stage Beauty, The Duchess, Casanova and Mr. Holmes as well as authoring episodes of the Peter Falk series, Columbo, and The Mentalist. He is a member and/or alumnus of The Playwrights’ Center, The Dramatists Guild of America, Writers Guild of America and New Dramatists.

ANDREW PAUL director

Andrew Paul (Director) – is pleased to return to Vegas Theatre Company, where he directed George Brant’s Grounded (starring Mindy Woodhead) in 2015 and Mike Bartlett’s Love, Love, Love (US Regional Premiere) in 2017. Andrew is the founder and producing director of Kinetic Theatre Company in Pittsburgh, PA, where he has directed Scapino by Jeffrey Binder after Moliere, The Speckled Band by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, An Octoroon by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, The Father by Florian Zeller, The Liar by David Ives after Corneille, The Christians by Lucas Hnath, Three Days in the Country by Patrick Marber after Turgenev (US Premiere), Love, Love, Love (US Regional premiere) & Cock by Mike Bartlett, Romance by David Mamet, and Strindberg’s The Dance of Death (in a new version by Conor McPherson). He previously co-founded the acclaimed Pittsburgh Irish & Classical Theatre (PICT) and served as the company’s producing artistic director from 1996 to 2013. Under his leadership, PICT produced more than a hundred plays, festivals devoted to the plays of Samuel Beckett, John Millington Synge, Harold Pinter, and Anton Chekhov, and two successful international tours. In 2008, he directed and collaborated with David Hare on the non-English language premier of his play Stuff Happens at the Slaski Theatre in Katowice, Poland. In Vegas, he directed The Hound f the Baskervilles and Richard Greenberg’s Take Me Out for Nevada Conservatory Theatre. His production of Three Days in the Country received its West Coast premiere at the Antaeus Theatre (L.A. Times Critics Pick) in 2017. He has taught acting at Duquesne University, directing at Carnegie Mellon University, and has served as a panelist for Theatre Communications Group and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. In 2010, Andrew was a featured speaker at the World Theatre Conference in Baku, Azerbaijan. He lives in Summerlin with his wife, Maria, and children, Cristina and Alex. Thank you to Daz, Marcus, and this incredible cast and crew for bringing Holmes & Watson back to life in Las Vegas.

CHRISTOPHER BROWN Holmes 2

GEO NIKOLS Holmes 1

Christopher Brown has been seen on stages in New York, Nashville, Chicago, Washington D.C. and Las Vegas with companies including Nashville Shakespeare Festival, The Shakespeare Theatre of D.C., Jean Cocteau Repertory, Cockroach Theatre, A Public Fit, among many others. Some roles he has taken on include Benedick in “Much Ado About Nothing”, “Coriolanus”, The Creature in “Frankenstein”, Juror 7 in “Twelve Angry Men”, Mark Rothko in “Red”, King Henry in “Henry V”, Garcin in “No Exit”, among others. He has directed multiple plays and three of his own films. He was a Blue Man with BLUE MAN GROUP for fourteen years where he performed all over the world. He holds a degree in Commercial Music. He studied acting at GATE in New York, The Shakespeare Theatre in D.C., and Steppenwolf in Chicago.

Geo trained at UNLV and with John Armond while performing for and serving on the board of The Insurgo Theater Movement. He has appeared in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Chicago, Cleveland, and London. Active since 2008 he has played Macbeth (Macbeth), Hamlet (Hamlet), Raúl (Extremities), and the lead in the Las Vegas premier of Stupid Fucking Bird as well over 30 other productions. He wishes to thank Vegas Theater Company for presenting quality theater to city he calls home, and to his shining star, Bex. Thank you for being alone with me and being my wife.

BRYAN TODD Orderly

MAYTHINEE WASHINGTON Matron/Woman

Bryan Todd is a musician, actor and director from Las Vegas, who is excited to be back acting with the company after directing Cockroach Theatre’s award-winning play, The Nether. Bryan is an Aries, Gryffindor, and definitely a Samantha.

Maythinee Washington is excited to work with the Holmes and Watson ensemble here at the newly re-established Vegas Theatre Company. She returned to Las Vegas for Sweat after playing Konstantin (The Seagull) and Lady Macbeth (Macbeth) both for Atlanta-based Serenbe Playhouse, recently named one of the World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies 2019 by Fast Company.

Before working in Atlanta she was a part of the lauded production of Constellations for which she was named Best Actress by KNPR’s Desert Companion in 2017.

She is an alumna of The Royal Central School of Speech & Drama London and holds an MFA from the University of Washington.

MARCUS WEISS Dr. John Watson A professional actor for more than 30 years, Marcus Weiss has worked extensively in theater, film, television, radio, and voice-overs across the country and in Europe.

Having performed and directed for many prominent Las Vegas companies— Nevada Conservatory Theatre (Macbeth, Take Me Out), The LAB LV (Iphigenia), A Public Fit (W;t, The Glass Menagerie (Vegas Valley Theatre Awards Best Lead Actor Nomination) Incognito (Valley Awards Best Ensemble Nomination) Small Mouth Sounds (Valley Awards Best Ensemble Nomination), and Cockroach Theatre (Bright Side, Every Brilliant Thing, for which he won the Valley Awards Best Lead Actor), Still Dance The Stars, director). Marcus received particular critical acclaim for his starring role in the Las Vegas premiere of Hedwig and The Angry Inch, winning a Best Actor nod from The Las Vegas Review- Journal and was named Best Local Theatre Actor by NPR’s Desert Companion “Best of the City,” 2019 Edition. Some of his favorite screen credits include Life Is Beautiful, The Trust, All My Children, 21, and Scrubs. Born in New York and raised in Switzerland, Marcus received a B.A. in Drama from Dartmouth College and an M.F.A. in Acting from Temple University. While working as an original cast member of Blue Man Group Las Vegas, Marcus simultaneously performed for the world-renowned improvisation and sketch comedy show, The Second City for over 7 years.

A former clown in Le Rêve--The Dream at The Wynn, Marcus is a current clown for O at The Bellagio. Marcus has taught improvisation for The Second City Training Center and countless classes and workshops in acting, movement, voice, and speech for students of all ages.

When not onstage, Marcus is a Teaching Artist for The Smith Center For The Performing Arts’ Disney Musicals in Schools and Southern Nevada Wolftrap programs, an original, core faculty member of the Las Vegas Performing Arts Initiative, an adjunct faculty member of Acting and Improvisation in the Theatre Department of The College of Southern Nevada and the Univeristy of Las Vegas, a Part-Time Instructor at The Univeristy of Las Vegas, a former teacher and director for The Adelson Educational Campus, and an Teaching Artist in Cirque Du Soleil’s Arts Nomades program. In between it all, Marcus enjoys juggling his family life, which includes his lovely wife, Anastasia, and two nutty kids, Jacob and Lukas.

DAZ WELLER Dr. Evans

Daz Weller moved from Australia to Las Vegas in2010 and is the Artistic Director at Vegas Theatre Company (VTC). Daz graduated with a BA in Acting from the Queensland University of Technology in 1998 and has worked extensively with most of Australia’s major theatre companies including The Sydney Theatre Company, Company B Belvoir, Griffin Theatre Company, The Bell Shakespeare Company, Theatre of Image, Melbourne Theatre Company, Queensland Theatre Company and The State Theatre Company of South Austrlia. His US directing credits include: “Macbeth”, “Good Kids” and “The Crucible” at Nevada Conservatory Theatre, “Spinning into Butter”, “Seven Deadly Sins”, “The Father”, “Gianni Schicchi” and “Sweat” at VTC, “27” and “Cooperstown” for Opera Las Vegas, “Piano’s to the Death Game Show” for The Space LV, “The Piff the Magic Dragon Show” at The Flamingo, “The Small Space Festival” at Emergency Arts, As Resident Director: “Human Nature’s The Motown Show” at The Venetian Resort and Casino, and Spiegelworld’s “Vegas Nocturne” at Rose.Rabbit.

Lie. inside The Cosmopolitan. Since moving to Vegas he has appeared for; VTC in The Christians” and “Love, Love, Love”; NCT in “The Hound of the Baskervilles”, “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “Pippin”; A Public Fit in “The Beauty Queen of Leenane”; Las Vegas Little Theatre in “Doubt”; The Las Vegas Shakespeare Company in “The Wizard of OZ” and “A MidSummer Nights Dream”.

JONAS WOOLVERTON Hoklmes 3

Jonas Woolverton is thrilled to return to the Vegas Theatre Company stage in Holmes & Watson. Previous roles at VTC include The Cat/Marcus in “The Dog/ The Cat” and Mace in “The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity.” On the Las Vegas Strip he played Casanova in Cirque du Soleil’s “Zumanity” for over a decade also performing his Cyr Wheel act. Jonas is a graduate of Vassar College, the Clown Conservatory at San Francisco Circus Center, studied improv comedy at Groundlings in Los Angeles and works his craft weekly as a member of DK Acting Class in Las Vegas. Currently, he is producing and playing the lead in a improv based mockumentary film “McEnfro: The Anger Within.”

COCKROACH THEATRE COMPANY BOARD OF DIRECTORS Lauren Rosenblatt (Chair), Alexia Chen (Vice-Chair), Jessica Scheitler (Treasurer), Matthew Neely, Ann C. Pongracz, Michael Roitman ADVISORY BOARD Vijaya Poluri, Chuck Akin, Will Adamson, Scott McAdam, Lisa Howell.

ARTISTIC & PROGRAMMING Artistic Director / Daz Weller Executive Director / Levi Fackrell Associate Producer / Kelly Hawes Casting Director / Jamie Carvelli FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION Accounts and Venue Manager / Marni Lewis MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS Marketing and Social Media / Nicci Lee Season Photographer / Robert John Kley Graphic Design / Annette Houlihan Verdolino Daz Weller TICKETING & BOX OFFICE Box Office Manager / Rebecca Kennard PRODUCTION Resident Stage Manager / Nichole Killion Event Director / Jami Jones Special Events Stage Manager / Amanda Peterson

Volunteers are the life blood of Cockroach Theatre Company.

While we have been able to build a budget that supports a wage for our casts and crews, our staff positions remain completely volunteer.

Thank you to all of our wonderfully committed staff who love creating theatre in Las Vegas as much as you love seeing it.

If you or someone you know is interested in volunteering for CTC, we have many opportunities available.

Visit us at cockroachtheatre.com/volunteer

COMMUNITY PARTNERS Artifice Bar, EatMoreArtVegas.com,

history

“We love our city - our new identity honors that conn with our home. In a way the mission is in the name, w stories by and for Vegas.” - Artistic Director, Daz Weller

Vegas Theatre Company began its journey as Cockroach Theatre Com founded in 2003 by a group of UNLV students to expand the theatric experience in the valley. After 15 intrepid years of growth and chang Cockroach Theatre Company decided to transform into Vegas Theatr Company. The rebranding marks the evolution of the company as it w toward creating the first professional theatre company in Las Vegas.

Meanwhile, Cockroach Theatre Company will kindle a new fire by reo around its founding mission of producing new and neglected works a developing original work with local talents.

2019 LAS VEGAS VALLEY TH

BEST PL BEST DIREC BEST ACT

“Sweat” (20 Photo by Richard

nection we tell

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organizing and

HEATRE AWARDS

LAY CTION TRESS

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mission Vegas Theatre Company is Nevada’s home for compelling theatrical productions that illuminate our shared human experience, awaken our sensibilities about our world, and develop our art form and artists. We tell stories that bring us together.

Why Theatre?

Theatre connects the community through complex ideas, timeless emotions, and joyous laughter.

Theatre provides a window into another reality, instilling passion in the audience - a reminder that, although we each live separately, we have empathy. Theatre is where we tell our stories and bear witness to our common humanity.

make a difference VegasTheatre Company has big plans for next season, with budgets that support the talent and new programming in between productions.

We need you, our family of patrons and fans, to help us meet our goals for the season. Consider sponsoring the season, a particular production, or giving any amount that is significant to you.

2019 LAS VEGAS VALLEY THEATRE AWARDS

BEST ACTOR “Every Brilliant Thing� (2018) Photo by Richard Brusky

vision

Nominated for Best Direction and Best Ensemble “Accidental Death of an Anarchist” (2018) Photo by Richard Brusky Vegas Theatre Company seeks to become a fully professional regional theatre housed in an innovative and highly-adaptable venue in the heart of Vegas. We will develop a robust outreach program throughout Nevada with a special focus on underserved populations and Nevada’s youth.

DONATE on our website by clicking “DONATE” button for a tax deductible donation VOLUNTEER to become ambassadors, help build sets, work the box office, or support marketing IN KIND products or services including: radio advertisements, print or web-marketing, catering, equipment or construction materials, etc.

get involved Join the Vegas Theatre Company! Support our innovative, diverse, and powerful programming.

Everyone can contribute and we are eager to engage you as patrons, volunteers, and donors to ensure you are realizing your VTC experience to the fullest potential. Use your passion for theatre by getting involved today. Speak with VTC staff or volunteers for more information.

TICKETS $33 General Admission | $25 Discounted SHOWTIMES 7:30 p.m. Evenings | 2:00 p.m. Matinees

5:00 p.m. Sunday

Box Office opens 1 hour before every show Doors open 30 minutes before every show

box office: 725.222.9661 1025 s. 1st st. #110, Las vegas, nv 89101

V

VEGAS THEATRE COMPANY

2019/2020

Men on Boats

The

The OLD Mo

n

by Jaklyn Backhaus

By Pig Pen Theatre Co

and

Ten explorers. Four boats. One Grand Canyon. Men on Boats is the true(ish) history of an 1869 expedition, when a one-armed captain and a crew of insane yet loyal volunteers set out to chart the course of the Colorado River. Masculinity and manifest destiny meet their gender-flipped match in this hilarious and highly physical show.

The Old Man has kept his post as the sole caretaker of the moon for as long as he can remember.

When his wife is drawn away by a mysterious melody he abandons his post to follow her, throwing the world into chaos. The Old Man and The Old Moon is a musical odyssey that is a blend of storytelling, live indie-folk music and inventive puppetry that will get your toes tapping and win you over with its big heart.

Age 11+ (language, mild adult themes)

Suitable for all Ages

FEB 19 - MARCH 15

OLD MAN and

APRIL 8 - MAY 3

2019/2020 SEASON DONORS

Friends Circle 1-249 Stephen Sitar Jona Jones George Greenberg LV.Net Peter Ivanov Nadia Herrera Mindy Woodhead Anita Getzler Gail Romero Hilary Katz Alex & Lucy Roitman Joe Basso Steve Childs & Thanh Le Jude Halawi Nevada Lighting Sklar Williams PLLC Sally Galati Bob Dickerson Caron Richardson Michail Roitman Jona Jones Patricia Curtis Jo Ann Angerson Joan Israel Ann-Marie Pereth Sherri Brewer in memory of Robert Brewer Jim Sohre Donna Segreti Reilly Nina Smithwick Evey and Dave Weller Linda Bearman David Pongracz Yoken

Vegas Theatre Company Fall Fundraising Campaign Help us raise $25,000 by December 8th, 2019 Founded in 2003 as Cockroach Theatre Company and now as Vegas Theatre Company, we are one of the Valley’s longest-running and most-regarded theatre groups, now in our 16th season and 8th season producing from our downtown home-- Art Square Theatre.

We opened Art Square Theatre in 2012 with an initial crowdfunded investment of $23,000. Nearly 8 years later that investment has paved the way for nearly 40 season productions, multiple theatrical collaborations with fellow artists, and established a home for countless community gatherings and events. Theaters like ours provide economic stimulus to surrounding businesses and opportunities for artists, creatives, and volunteers to grow. We’re proud to have helped fill that role in the Las Vegas Arts District. Not a bad community ROI!

Now, as we grow into our new name, we’re impelled to take our fundraising efforts more seriously than ever.

Like most non-profit theaters our size, ticket sales only cover a fraction (typically around 25%) of what’s needed to operate sustainably. The rest is made up with earned income, volunteer hours, grants, corporate partnerCrew Circle 250-499 Pietra Sardelli in memory of Venetia ships, and most importantly, financial support from Sardelli individuals like you who enjoy our productions or simply understand the intrinsic value theaters like ours bring to Cast Circle 500-999 our community and add to our local way of life.

Russell & Brenda Frank Jim & Toni Gogert

Designer Circle 1000-4999 Ann C. Pongracz & Mark R. Cole Jane Walsh & Robert Laney Thomas Wong Lauren Rosenblatt David Stalder Director Circle 5000-9999 Keith Barker & Dina Emerson Producer Circle 10K+ William Wray and Sarah Saunders

Thank You for your Support

From now through December 8th, we have set a benchmark goal of $25,000 in individual contributions. Your support goes directly to production costs, programming, keeping Art Square Theatre clean and comfortable, and pursuing funding initiatives to keep this community resource vibrant and accessible.

Please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to our campaign at any amount comfortable for you.

Thank you.

SCAN THIS CODE TO DONATE OR GO TO

vegastheatrecompany.com