The Violet Sisters Program

Welcome to our Staged 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 music and lyrics by Dolly Parton, book by Patricia Resnick 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 start the Staged Play Reading Series with Gina Femia's The Violet Sisters. This modern play is the perfect mix of comedy and gut-wrenching realism; unfolding in real time, it is rightfully unapologetic Enjoy The Show, Whitney Morse, Artistic Director

Elegies A Song Cycle

Has been postponed. All ticket holders will receive a full refund. All ticket holders will be called by a box office representative to process their refund in the coming weeks. If you are not contacted by August, please call 352-753-3229 to update your contact information and receive your performance refund.

NEW DATES: PREVIEW: 8/19/21 | OPENING: 8/20/21 | CLOSING: 8/28/21

All patrons will need to purchase their tickets new for next year's performances to Elegies. Thank you for your understanding. We look forward to hosting you at the theatre in the future. #TheStudioTheatreTDS #TheVioletSisters

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THE VIOLET SISTERS

By Gina Femia

Producer Jason Goedken Artistic Director Whitney Morse Director Nathaniel Niemi

Set Designer Kenneth Constant

Lighting Designer David Krupla

Sound Designer Nick Erickson

Production Manager Danielle Paccione

Technical Director Clayton Becker

Video Producer/ Company Manager Ryan Loeckel

Master Electrician Lindsey Young

Stage Manager Grace Zottig

Assistant Production Manager Layna Hoopfer

Assistant Production Manager Leslie Munson

Assistant Stage Manager Stephanie Horn

Sam Whitney Morse

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Pam Leslie Munson

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THE VIOLET SISTERS

By Gina Femia Streaming only available on: JULY 17, 24, 31 7PM EDT | $10 Forgiving when you cannot forget In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, two estranged sisters, Pam and Sam, reunite in Brooklyn after the tragic death of their father in the storm. The sisters go head to head over drugs, guilt, and abuse as they struggle to find common ground. After 8 years apart the sisters are forced to deal with all that they have let slip away, all the words that have been left unsaid for years. The Violet Sisters is a modern play that is the perfect mix of comedy and gut-wrenching realism that is rightfully unapologetic.

THE AUNTIE NETWORK

By Elenna Stauffer Streaming Only Available: AUG 14, 21, 28 & SEPT 4, 11 | 7PM EDT | $10 You have a choice.

Anne, a desperate, pregnant young woman makes her way to the sanctuary city of New York, as abortion rights have been stripped away across America.

Two friends, Bex and Tish, open their home and hearts to her through a secret underground community called The Pipeline, an organized network that aids young women seeking abortions.

When Anne makes an unexpected decision she forces Bex and Tish to reckon with the consequences of their best intentions. This modern day tale explores the realities of making choices for a baby as an adolescent.

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DEBORAH

By Elizabeth A. M. Keel Streaming Only Available: SEPT 25 & OCT 2, 9 7PM EDT | $10 A mostly true tale of a revolutionary woman.

This play is a feisty reimagining of the life of Deborah Sampson, a real woman who dressed as a man and fought in the Revolutionary War alongside soldiers like Paul Revere. Inspired by the infamous British sailor Hannah Snell, she chooses to swap her fate for a man’s and enlists in the Continental Army. Despite its difficulties, she proves a fantastic soldier. After the war she squeezes uncomfortably into the role of wife and mother and saves the family farm by becoming a successful author. This rebellious drama vivifies her astonishing journey straddling the realms of both genders embodying mother and warrior, loner and celebrity, wild rover and wife.

SEASON 5 | Well Behaved Women Seldom Make History TICKETS ON SALE NOW

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

11/18/20-12/12/20

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

NOW APPEARING ON THE SHARON STAGE!

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WHITNEY MORSE (Sam) kicked off The Studio Theatre's Inaugural season in Next To Normal, The Last Five Years, Proof, and Songs for a New World. For her performance in Proof she won Broadway World's Best Supporting Actress. Since the first season she has starred in Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, Company and A Doll’s House at The Studio. She accomplished a once-in-a-lifetime acting experience performing in White Rabbit Red Rabbit. She has starred in Summer Song Cycle's Tell Me On a Sunday and Now. Here. This. Her Central Florida Theatre credits include The Secret Garden, 1776 and Big River (Mad Cow Theatre). Chicago: Next To Normal (Skokie Theatre), Other Desert Cities (Citadel Theatre), The Children's Hour (Pride Films and Plays), Spike Heels (Brown Paper Box), Down Range (Genesis Theatricals), Trafford Tanzi and I Carry Your Heart (Prologue Theatre Company), Accomplice (Jedlicka Performing Arts Center), The Turn of the Screw, Jeeves at Sea, Unnecessary Farce and The Merchant of Venice (First Folio Theater). Whitney is the Artistic Director of The Sharon and The Studio Theatre. MFA Acting Columbia University School of the Arts. www.whitneymorse.com LESLIE MUNSON (Pam) is delighted to be appearing at The Studio Theatre. Some of her favorite acting credits include The Tin Woman, I Love You Because, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (The Black Box Theater, IL), and Rocky Horror Show (Circa ’21 Dinner Playhouse, IL). Leslie has also enjoyed bringing kooky characters to life performing with It’s A Mystery, professional dinner theatre back home in the Midwest. Most recently she can be found behind the scenes with her talented work family at The Sharon L. Morse Performing Art Center.

Thank you to The Studio Theatre and their wonderful team for the opportunity and for keeping art alive when we need it the most.

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NATHANIEL NIEMI (Director) is thrilled to be directing The Violet Sisters! He previously directed The Studio's virtual play reading of Lysistrata, A Woman of No Importance and Tartuffe.

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.

GINA FEMIA (Playwright) Gina Femia's work has been seen/ developed at MCC Theater, Playwrights Horizons, Ensemble Studio Theater, Page 73, Center Theater Group, Theater of NOTE, among others. Gina’s the 2020 Otis Guernsey New Voices award winner, a 2019-2022 Core Writer with the Playwrights Center, 2019 Parity Commission Winner and a 2019-2020 member of Ingram New Plays Lab & Parsnip Ship's Radio Roots writer's group. She is an Alum of EST Youngblood, Page73's Interstate 73, Pipeline Theatre’s PlayLab, New Georges' Audrey Residency and Project Y's Writer's Group. Gina’s a New Georges Affiliated Artist and has received residencies with Page73, Powerhouse, NTI at the O’Neill, SPACE on Ryder Farm, and Fresh Ground Pepper. MFA, Sarah Lawrence College (Lipkin Prize in Playwriting). Find out more: www.femiagina.com

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CAST Sam............................................................................................Whitney Morse Pam............................................................................................. Leslie Munson

PRODUCTION TEAM Director...................................................................................Nathaniel Niemi Video Producer/Company Manager.............................................. Ryan Loeckel Set Designer.......................................................................... Kenneth Constant Lighting Designer.........................................................................David Krupla Sound Designer............................................................................Nick Erickson Master Electrician....................................................................... Lindsey Young Production Manager............................................................... Danielle Paccione Technical Director...................................................................... Clayton Becker Stage Manager................................................................................ Grace Zottig Assistant Production Manager.....................................................Layna Hoopfer Assistant Production Manager..................................................... Leslie Munson Assistant Stage Manager............................................................ Stephanie Horn Read more about our production team and designers at www.TheSharonStudio.com

SPECIAL THANKS The VillagesÂŽ Marketing

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New

Digital Offerings Page!

All of our upcoming virtual & streaming offerings in one convenient location.

www.TheSharon.com/Schedule-Digital-Offerings TheStudioTheatre

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Stay safe & enjoy the show!

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