Lysistrata Program

Welcome to our Virtual Play Reading Series. I am excited to be able to share theatre with all of you in this new way. As you may know we announced our fifth season at The Studio recently, it will include: Spike Heels by Theresa Rebeck, Pipeline by Dominique Morriseau, 9 to 5 The Musical by Dolly Parton and Ada and the Engine by Lauren Gunderson. We chose those stories to highlight seminal moments in herstory so we can celebrate how far women have come and keep an eye on how far women have yet to go. We have selected those stories around the theme: “Well Behaved Women Seldom Make History.”

Now as we embark on this new chapter in our global history, I wanted to find a way to continue to bring theatre to our patrons in a way that will support the work we will be doing in the future. We started the series with George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion, and now we will continue to bring you stories that highlight the struggles woman have faced through out history. This week’s installment is Lysistrata by Aristophanes and adapted by Bobbie Bell.

This ancient Greek comedy explores gender roles and the power that comes with passion. Written in 411BC, this ancient Greek comedy still rings true today with laugh out loud relevance.

Enjoy The Show, Whitney Morse, Artistic Director

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LYSISTRATA

By Aristophanes Adapted by Bobbie Bell Producer Jason Goedken Artistic Director Whitney Morse Director Nathaniel Niemi

Production Manager Danielle Paccione

Company Manager Ryan Loeckel

Stage Manager Grace Zottig

Lysistrata Mary Ellen Moreno

Calonice/Laches Rachel Comeau

Myrrhina/Strymodorus Roberta Emerson

Lampito/Philurgus Heather Currie

Rhodippe/Cinesias Sean William Kelly

Stratyllis/Hipponax Sarah French

Mayor Bobbie Bell

Nicodice/Harold Alyson Johnson

Draces Lon Ward Abrams

Critylle Boon Abrams

Stay tuned after the show for a talk back with the actors and director.

You can ask questions about the play, its history and the performance!

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LYSISTRATA

By Aristophanes Adapted by Bobbie Bell Wars are won in the bedroom.

Lysistrata, the classic Grecian comedy written by Aristophanes explores what happens when women collectively say "get out, I'm not puttin' out!" The women of ancient Greece have had enough of the Peloponnesian War. They want their men back at home and off the battlefields. Lysistrata gathers the ladies together to unfold a plan of action. The women from Sparta, Thebes, and Athens vow to deny their husbands carnal pleasures until they sign a peace treaty.

This ancient Greek comedy explores gender roles and the power that comes with passion. Written in 411BC, this ancient Greek comedy still rings true today with laugh out loud relevance.

UPCOMING PERFORMANCES: A WOMAN OF NO IMPORTANCE

By Oscar Wilde Streaming: MAY 15 | 1PM EDT One woman bears the sin of two.

Set in Victorian England on Lady Hunstanton’s Estate, an intriguing family drama unfolds revealing closely-guarded secrets and unforgiven sins. A Woman of No Importance by Oscar Wilde satirizes the double standards between men and women in the English upper-class. Over teacups and biscuits insults are hurled and gloves are flung.

In a time when men are readily forgiven of their indiscretions, women are condemned for similar moral failings. The bravery of strong independent women brings the most surprise as Wilde voices this commentary through conversations in drawing rooms, parlors, and gardens.

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ElegAieSosng Cycle

by William Finn

ON SALE MAY 12TH

VIA PHONE AND/OR ONLINE

ELEGIES A SONG CYCLE

By William Finn Preview: AUG 13 Opening: AUG 14 | Closing: AUG 22

“Elegies: A Song Cycle� is presented by special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc., a Concord Theatricals Company.

$15 Preview Performance | $25 Performances "The living was the prize, the ending's not the story" Goodbye lyrics from Elegies The Studio Theatre Tierra del Sol presents their annual summer song cycle, Elegies by Tony Award-winning composer, William Finn. This 5-person show is inspired by the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. Elegies is a heartfelt collection of songs about the deaths of various people Finn has known, including some of his closest friends and family members.

This work is a commentary on the rewards and woes of being part of a family, a group of friends, and a society in good times and bad. Although the show is all about death and dying, it's no sad trip down memory lane. Never morbid, Elegies is touching, funny, and ultimately buoyant; floating on the spirits of those who inhabit its songs.

Announcing a new season of

Entertainment From your favorite venues, including...

MAY 10TH | THE DAILY SUN TheStudioTheatre

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ANNOUNCING SEASON 5 Well Behaved Women Seldom Make History Anne Richards once famously remarked, “Ginger Rogers did everything that Fred Astaire did. She just did it backwards and in high heels.” This quote clearly illustrates the awkward balancing act women have been performing for years. Do I nurture my career or my children? Do I support my spouse or my own goals? Do I forego family life all together and focus on myself? This season at The Studio we are going to take a deep dive into the struggles women have faced finding their footing over the last two and a half centuries as homage to the centennial anniversary of women’s suffrage this year. Women no longer need to wear heels, or even be the partner that follows. Instead, we can take the lead in footwear of our own choosing! We chose these four stories to highlight seminal moments in herstory so we can celebrate how far women have come and keep an eye on how far we have yet to go. I am proud to present season five at The Studio: “Well Behaved Women Seldom Make History”

SPIKE SPIKE HEELS S HEEL

PIPELINE LINE PIPE

ADA & THE ENGINE

BY DOMINIQUE MORISSEAU

BY THERESA REBECK

BY LAUREN GUNDERSON MUSIC & LYRICS

BY DOLLY PARTON

BOOK BY PATRICIA RESNICK

BASED ON THE 20TH CENTURY FOX PICTURE ORIGINALLY PRODUCED ON BROADWAY BY ROBERT GREENBLATT, APRIL 2009

“Spike Heels” is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc. www.concordtheatricals.com

9/22/20-10/24/20

“Pipeline” is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc. www.concordtheatricals.com

11/17/20-12/19/20

9 TO 5, THE MUSICAL is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI).

All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI. www.MTIShows.com

1/26/21-3/13/21

4/6/21-5/8/21

INDIVIDUAL TICKETS ON SALE JUNE 9TH

MARK YOUR CALENDARS! MAY 12TH Summer Song Cycle ON SALE MAY 19TH Season 5 Subscriptions Renewals Begin

JUNE 9TH Season 5 New Subscriptions ON SALE

JUNE 9TH Season 5 Individual Tickets ON SALE

JUNE 16TH Season 5 Preview Tickets ON SALE

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BOON ABRAMS (Critylle) is thrilled to have been asked to join The Studio's theatrical family, albeit virtually. A former Actor's Equity member, Boon has served as actor, director, writer, teacher and stage manager at numerous regional theatres in Georgia and Florida. She met husband Lon, a regular at The Studio, at an audition thirty years ago and they have been doing shows together ever since. They opened the Broward Stage Door Theatre in Coral Springs back in 1995, playing Amanda and Elyot in Private Lives, the venue's first main stage production. She has worked the Atlanta opening of Menopause the Musical and taken Atlanta's Metropolis Theatre's, A Bald Soprano to the International Theatre Festival in Russia. Most recently, the couple did On A First Name Basis, a two person comedy they hope to reprise in The Villages when the smoke clears. Thank you for this wonderful opportunity.

LON WARD ABRAMS (Draces) has been a part of The Studio Theatre since its inception. He was cast as Robert in the award winning production of Proof in their inaugural season, a role for which he received a Best Actor award nomination from Theatre World Orlando. He was one of four actors selected to perform White Rabbit Red Rabbit and played Dr. Rank last season in A Doll's House. Lon has understudied three roles here as well including Rothko in Red. Favorite roles in regional theatre include Matt in Talley's Folly, Levinsky in Nuts, Lee in True West, Weller in The Gin Game, Henry VIII in Anne Of The Thousand Days, Henry II in The Lion In Winter, both Max and Saunders in Lend Me A Tenor and Mitch in Streetcar. Many thanks to The Studio staff who keep thinking of me and to my wife Boon who helps keep life a gas.

BOBBIE BELL (Mayor) Although originally from the Midwest, Bobbie has worked for the past 35 years in Central Florida as a director, actor, composer, playwright, and professor. He directed Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune in The Studio Theatre’s Second Season, as well as the postponed Other Desert Cities. He has worked for many companies and colleges including Mad Cow Theatre, Theatre Downtown, Valencia College, New World Theatre, The Huron Playhouse, Tropical Theatre, and Kent State University. Recent directing credits include: Skylight, Marcus; Or The Secret of Sweet, The Brothers Size, Clybourne Park, The Merchant of Venice, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, August: Osage County, Titus Andronicus, The Pitmen Painters, Measure for Measure, The Caretaker, and A Delicate Balance. He twice won the Florida Playwrights Competition for his plays: Pascua De Flores and Of: A Play of Artemis.

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RACHEL COMEAU (Calonice/Laches) is stoked to be a part of this groovy story! Rachel was first seen at The Studio as Daphna in Bad Jews. Past stage credits include A View From The Bridge, Three Sisters (Mad Cow Theater), The Whale, girl., and The Lieutenant of Inishmore (BethMarshallPresents). She can be seen in indie film Testament (Amazon) and an upcoming television series The Right Stuff (Disney+) premiering later this year. She’s trained at Rollins College where she earned her BA in Theatre Arts, The Stella Adler Studio, and currently takes classes at Class Act Studios in Orlando.

She thanks The Studio Theatre for this amazing opportunity and Bobbie Bell for this awesome script. Peace and love foxy people!

IG: thatrachelcomeu Facebook: rachel.comeau.10 HEATHER CURRIE (Lampito/Philurgus) is thrilled to work with The Studio Theatre Tierra del Sol again after having recently played Sarah Jane Moore in Assassins. Ms. Currie’s artistic home is Lifeline Theatre in Chicago, where she has worked as an actor, director and playwright for the last twelve years. Favorite acting credits include: One Came Home, Duck for President, Mrs. Popper’s Penguins (Lifeline Theatre); Godspell (Circle Theatre); Nunsense (Foundation Theatre). Most recently, she played the Wicked Witch in WOZ: A Rock Cabaret featuring Andre De Shields (Victory Gardens Theater). Ms. Currie holds an M.F.A. in Acting from the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and teaches in the department of Cinema and Television Arts at Columbia College Chicago.

ROBERTA EMERSON (Myrrhina/Strymodorus) is a Director, Actor and Producer, and teacher among many other hats she proudly wears. She is a graduate of both the University of Minnesota with BFA in Acting and Theatre Management and New York University with an MFA in Acting. She has worked as and actor and director in many regional theaters around the country, has done extensive voice over commercial and film work, and has been a teaching artist both state side and in Europe. She is currently the Director of Theatre for Montverde Academy's Theatre Conservatory and is repped by Lock Talent.

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SARAH FRENCH (Stratyllis/Hipponax) is thrilled to be participating in this virtual reading with so many friends from Stop Kiss at The Studio Theatre at Tierra del Sol. Other Central Florida Credits: It’s A Wonderful Life-The Radio Play at Orlando Shakespeare Theatre, Rapture, Blister Burn, Clybourne Park, The Big Meal, Picasso at the Lapin Agile at Mad Cow Theatre, Suite Surrender, Hank Williams: Lost Highway at The Ice House Theatre.

She has been featured in national and regional campaigns for Credit Karma, Home Depot, Spectrum, Universal Studios Florida, Hertz, and Publix Supermarkets to name a few. Sarah played Young Sally Rayburn (the flashback of Sissy Spacek’s character) on the hit Netflix series Bloodline for 3 seasons.

ALYSON JOHNSON (Nicodice/Harold) has performed for nearly 20 years in Central Florida regional and community theatres. Favorites at The Studio include Neighbors: A Fair Trade Agreement, A Doll's House, It Shoulda Been You, Stop Kiss, and Next to Normal. Graduate of University of Central Florida, 2001 and 2019. She has spent this time of uncertainty mostly homeschooling and staring at books, and is eternally grateful to everyone at The Studio for giving her and the community some art and comfort right now.

SEAN WILLIAM KELLY (Rhodippe/Cinesias) is delighted to (virtually) return to The Studio Theatre after appearing in Stop Kiss in 2018. He is a Chicago actor who most recently headlined AstonRep Theatre’s critically-acclaimed production of Equus. Additionally, he has worked with RedTwist Theatre, Oak Park Festival Theatre, The New Colony, Pride Films and Plays, Artemisia, Spartan Theatre, Chicago Kids Company, and The New American Folk Theatre. Regionally he has worked with The Hedgehog Ensemble on Pandemic, which he also helped devise, and with Lakeside Shakespeare. In New York he appeared in The Last Session as a part of the New York Thespis Festival. Sean was an originating company member of Quicksilver Shakespeare and a part of their inaugural production of Mercury Hamlet.

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MARY ELLEN MORENO (Lysistrata) is thrilled to be back with so many of the Stop Kiss cast and crew and some new brilliant faces to be reading this very serious play about sex. Her favorite past theatre credits are Callie in Stop Kiss (The Studio Theatre Tierra del Sol, FL), As You Like It (Classic Stage Company, NY), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Theatricum Botanicum, CA), and Three Sisters (Riverside Theatre, NY). Favorite TV credits: Unbelievable, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Rhett & Link’s Buddy System.

Favorite Film credits: Graduation (won Best Supporting Actress in a Short at LIIFE). She holds an MFA in Acting from Columbia University, and is a proud member of SAG-AFTRA. www.maryellenmoreno.com NATHANIEL NIEMI (Director) is thrilled to be directing this adaptation of Lysistrata! He was last seen in The Studio's virtual play reading of Pygmalion team. Recent credits include Sparkle at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Hawaii: Thumbelina, Ouch!, Elephant and Piggie's We Are in a Play (Honolulu Theatre for Youth), Noodle Doodle Box (Hawaii Theatre). Chicago: How to Survive a Fairy Tale, Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed: The Musical, Dooby Dooby Moo, Duck for President, Click Clack Boo (Lifeline Theatre), The Baker's Wife (Circle Theatre), Into the Woods (Quest), Hey Dancin'! Hey Musical! (Factory Theatre). TV: "Hawaii 5-O".

Nathaniel holds an MFA in Theatre for Young Audiences from the University of Hawaii at Mānoa and is a recipient of the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival National Directing Award. Nathaniel is currently the Resident Director at The Studio Theatre and the Director of Education at The Sharon.

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CAST Lysistrata .......................................................Mary Ellen Moreno Calonice/Laches...................................................Rachel Comeau Myrrhina/Strymodorus..................................... Roberta Emerson Lampito/Philurgus................................................Heather Currie Rhodippe/Cinesias..........................................Sean William Kelly Stratyllis/Hipponax.................................................. Sarah French Mayor........................................................................ Bobbie Bell Nicodice/Harold.................................................. Alyson Johnson Draces..............................................................Lon Ward Abrams Critylle.................................................................... Boon Abrams

PRODUCTION TEAM Director............................................................. Nathaniel Niemi Production Manager..........................................Danielle Paccione Company Manager...................................................Ryan Loeckel Stage Manager...........................................................Grace Zottig Reading Graphics................................................Kenny Constant Sound Design...........................................................Nick Erikson

SPECIAL THANKS The VillagesÂŽ Marketing

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Stay safe & enjoy the show!

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