Issuu

JUNE 5 – JUNE 29, 2025

2024/2025 SEASON

FROM THE ARTISTIC & MANAGING DIRECTORS

Welcome to Hurricane Diane, the final production of our 2024/2025 season. We’re so glad you’re here.

As this vibrant season comes to a close, we are thrilled to end on a note as powerful and thought-provoking as Madeleine George’s Hurricane Diane Equal parts comedy, myth, and commentary, this play invites us into a world where gods walk among us—challenging our comfort, confronting our habits, and asking what it truly means to change.

There is something exhilarating about live theater’s ability to blend the ancient and the contemporary, the divine and the domestic. That’s exactly what Hurricane Diane does—with a sharp tongue, a wild heart, and a keen eye on the future. It’s a fitting final word for our season—and a reminder of theater’s power to spark conversation, laughter, and connection.

As we look ahead to the 2025/2026 season, we invite you to continue joining us for more. You, our audience, are the foundation of our artistic community—your commitment helps us invest in these bold productions, emerging voices, and the next generation of theatermakers. We are so lucky to have an audience and dedicated subscribers whose support makes this work possible.

Thank you for being part of this remarkable season. We hope Hurricane Diane stirs your spirit, makes you laugh, and leaves you reflecting on the world outside these walls—and the one we might create together.

Enjoy the show, enjoy the summer, and we hope to see you in October for the world premiere of Rope adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher.

Your fans,

Melia Bensussen Artistic Director

Cynthia Rider Managing Director

BENSUSSEN

Artistic

Director

RIDER Managing Director

PRESENTS

By Madeleine George Directed by Zoë Golub-Sass

Choreography Lillian Mae Ransijn

Scenic Design Emmie Finckel

Costume Design An-lin Dauber

Lighting Design Krista Smith

Sound Design & Original Composition Joyce Ciesil

Wig Design Jodi Stone

Dialect & Voice Coach Julie Foh

Casting Alaine Alldaffer, CSA and Lisa Donadio

Production Stage Manager Avery Trunko

Assistant Stage Manager Alison Fischer Greene

Associate Artistic Director Zoë Golub-Sass Director of Production Bryan T. Holcombe

General Manager Emily Van Scoy

JUNE 5 – JUNE 29, 2025

HURRICANE DIANE is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc. www.concordtheatricals.com

HURRICANE DIANE had its New York City Premiere at New York Theatre Workshop in 2019, in a co-Production between WP Theater, Lisa McNulty, Producing Artistic Director, Michael Sag, Managing Director and New York Theatre Workshop, Jim Nicola, Artistic Director, Jeremy Blocker, Managing Director

HURRICANE DIANE was commissioned and originally produced by Two River Theater, John Dias, Artistic Director, Michael Hurst, Managing Director

SEASON SPONSORS

MELIA

THE COMPANY

Carol Fleischer ............................................................................................

Pam Annunziata ....................................................................................

Beth Wann

Renee Shapiro-Epps

Katya Campbell

Christina DeCicco

Alyse Alan Louis

Sharina Martin

Diane .............................................................................................................

Bernadette Sefic

SETTING: A well-appointed cul-de-sac in Red Bank, New Jersey.

TIME: Early Anthropocene (Present Day).

THIS PLAY IS PERFORMED WITHOUT AN INTERMISSION.

ADDITIONAL PRODUCTION SUPPORT

Assistant Director ........................................................................................ Kat Corrigan

Associate Scenic Designer Forest Entsminger

Assistant Sound Designer Joe Krempetz

Intimacy Coordinator ..................................................................... Lillian Mae Ransijn

Program Dramaturg ............................................................................. Sophie Greenspan

Production Assistant ............................................................................ Alyssa Edwards

The Actors and Stage Managers employed in this production are members of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

The Scenic, Costume, Lighting and Sound Designers in LORT theatres are represented by United Scenic Artists Local USA-829, IATSE.

The Director and Choreographer are members of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, a national theatrical labor union.

Katya Campbell

Christina DeCicco Alyse Alan Louis

Sharina Martin Bernadette Sefic Zoë Golub-Sass Director

THE BACCHAE: THE SEQUEL

SCENES OF SUFFERING AND SEDUCTION IN SUBURBIA

BY SOPHIE GREENSPAN

Playwright Madeleine George has described Hurricane Diane as a sequel (sort of) to Euripides’s Greek tragedy, The Bacchae (pronounced bock-eye). In The Bacchae, Dionysus comes to Thebes with an agenda: to prove his divinity to the family of his late mortal mother, Semele. In anger, Dionysus—god of wine, agriculture, ecstasy, insanity, and theater—uses his power to turn the women of Thebes into rabid, insatiable creatures: the titular “bacchae.” This culminates in the tragedy of the play, when the wild Agave—one of Semele’s sisters—realizes she has torn her own son limb from limb, believing him to be a mountain lion.

This “sequel” departs from its source material in terms of time (405 BCE vs. present day), place (Thebes vs. Red Bank, New Jersey), tone (tragedy vs. comedy), and plot (no palace intrigue here).

Still, the ethos of the gender-bending, cultaccumulating, chaos-creating Dionysus—one of liberation and reconnection with nature—courses through them both. In Hurricane Diane, Diane (Dionysus reincarnate) seeks not a personal vengeance, but a universal resurgence. Climate change is real, it’s happening now and—as Diane agonizes—“…if I don’t step in now, the glaciers are gonna melt and the permafrost is gonna thaw and fast-forward a hundred years and there won’t be a single human left on the planet to worship me!”

This play and this production represent their source material more in structure and style than in story. As you watch, try to trace the elements of a Greek tragedy, of which The Bacchae is archetypical.

ABOVE: The Adolescent Bacchus (another name for Dionysus) ca. 1596 by Caravaggio (1571–1610). HEADER: Maenads (followers of Dionysus) and Pentheus from the House of the Vettii.

First the main, often mortal, character’s hamartia or “fatal flaw” is presented. In the case of Hurricane Diane, the fatal flaw is a collective, not an individual one. We, collectively, cannot and will not see that it is “eleven fucking forty-five,” as Diane so eloquently puts it. Our time to save our planet is running out.

Next comes an anagnorisis or “moment of recognition.” Will the ladies of this manicured cul-de-sac, whom Diane has pinpointed as the path towards salvation, be able to recognize the small part they may play in turning back the climate clock?

Then occurs what is called a peripeteia, some sort of “reversal” of fortune or circumstance. A peripeteia can go either way: an emergence from bad fortune to good, or vice versa. The peripeteia is often brought about by a deus ex machina, during which a god miraculously appears in the final inning to disentangle the plot.

Last, there is a “scene of suffering,” or pathos

As you watch, you can decide for yourself how many of these elemental boxes Hurricane Diane ticks. Enjoy the antics of her attempts to convert these women into permaculture-loving, nature-communing members of her cult, but also watch, skeptically, to see if this knot we have created for ourselves is too hard for even a god to untie. Will this comedy end with hope, begotten by a reversal of fortune for the better? Despair, a scene of suffering that shows our planet is doomed beyond repair? Or something in between?

Enhancing the Greek inspiration of Hurricane Diane is the thrust stage on which this production is set. The architectural shape of this theater mimics the structure of the Theater of Dionysus in Athens, at which The Bacchae (appropriately) premiered. The stage, which was then called the orchestra—provided the main play-space. While it is often represented as a semi-circle, some believe it was, much this one, a polygon. The single, builder-grade kitchen before you, designed by Emmie Finckel, is not unlike a skene, a standalone, wooden structure that was erected at the back of the orchestra. While in Ancient Greek times, the skene served as a catch-all for indoor spaces with most of the action taking place outdoors, in Hurricane Diane the characters are stuck inside, safe behind French doors, and the beauty and the terror of the world beyond is left to the imagination.

Perhaps the most striking similarity between this production and that of the original Bacchae is you, the audience. You, in Hartford, Connecticut—though less in number than the 14,000 citizens of 405 BCE Athens at the Theater of Dionysus—are, as they were, performing your civic duty. You are about to embark on a journey that asks the same questions Euripides and his contemporaries asked approximately 2,500 years ago. What does it mean to be part of a collective, a nation, a family? When do we force ourselves to open our eyes to our own fatal flaws? What happens when our status quo threatens our collective progress?

LEFT: Rendering of the Theater of Dionysus by Johann Heinrich Strack (1805-1880).

RIGHT: Theater of Dionysus today; photo by Robert Anders.

PERPETUAL CARE HURRICANE DIANE IN

BY SOPHIE GREENSPAN

Hurricane Diane playwright Madeline George cites journalist Michael Pollan’s writings on Johnny Appleseed from his 2001 book, The Botany of Desire: A Plant’s-Eye View of the World, as an inspiration for her play’s titular character. According to Pollan, Appleseed was not the image of a wholesome cartoon farmer spreading the joy of apples across the United States as is embedded in the American collective imagination. Rather, he was spreading seeds of apples that were too bitter to be eaten raw. Pollan supposes that this was because Appleseed was motivated by stimulating the production of hard cider, not delicious, “fun for the whole family” apples. “Johnny Appleseed was bringing the gift of alcohol to the frontier…” said Pollan in an NPR interview. “He was the American Dionysus. He was the guy bringing the booze.”

Rendering of Johnny Appleseed, from A History of the Pioneer and Modern Times of Ashland County, 1862.

In every depiction of Dionysus, a pursuit of permanence seems to be the god’s modus operandi. In Pollan’s depiction, the “American Dionysus” sought to establish the permanent cultivation of cider throughout the frontier. In Euripides’s depiction, the Dionysus of The Bacchae has returned to Thebes to establish a permanent cult, one that forever embeds him as an unimpeachable god. And in Hurricane Diane, Diane proselytizes permaculture, a method of planting what is native to an environment to create a self-sustaining garden. A permanent culture.

George sets the play today, in the Early Anthropocene, the current geological age in which human behavior has become the dominant influence on our environment. A period where it has become easy to prioritize immediacy and instant gratification over sustainability in almost every facet of life — to seek the

Image of a Yellow-billed Cuckoo in a Pawpaw Tree by John James Audubon (1785-1851).

newest device, the quickest delivery option, the easiest meal, and a life of abundance in isolation. And production has largely kept up with demand, despite the consequence on the environment.

When you bury a loved one, you are often given the option (for a price) to request perpetual care. In theory, this should mean that as the years progress, long after the deceased’s children, or grandchildren, or even great-grandchildren are gone, as long as the earth still turns and the cemetery is still operational, there will be a groundskeeper looking for a marker on their headstone. They will come once the frost clears. They will whack the weeds, mow the grass. They will provide, for as long as is possible, permanent care.

Hurricane Diane asks: what if we gave the living the same care? What would it look like if we pursued this kind of perpetual care while we still have time? How might we shift both our external habits and internal ideologies to prioritize sustainability, interdependence, and permanence while we are alive, and have neighbors with whom we can connect, commiserate, and cultivate community? To honor life, we must care for it as we care for the dead: with patience, with intention, and with the promise of return.

THE REAL HURRICANE DIANE

BY SOPHIE GREENSPAN

In August 1955, a real Hurricane Diane devastated the eastern seaboard and caused massive flooding across Connecticut, resulting in approximately $200 million (roughly $2.4 billion today) of property damage and 87 fatalities. In the aftermath, the United States Army Corps of Engineers constructed approximately $70 million ($850 million today) worth of dams and flood walls. And, despite the rate of flooding in coastal New England increasing by approximately 300 percent since 1955, it worked! The floods caused by Hurricane Diane have remained the biggest on record in the state of Connecticut. The dams and walls have, ostensibly, served as an effective prophylactic, preventing just one of the endless symptoms of climate change from wreaking havoc again.

The Hurricane Diane of our play, however, is not interested in band-aids or symptom-assuaging. She wants a cure. She wants a future. She has seen the chaos that a warming world has wrought and, in answer, has chosen to fight fire with fire… or storm with storm, as the case may be.

HEADER: Flooded Street in Naugatuck, August 1955. State Archives, Connecticut State Library.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

KATYA CAMPBELL | Carol Fleischer

Hartford Stage: Debut. Broadway: Mary Jane, The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window, Disgraced, The Big Knife, Mauritius Off-Broadway: The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window (BAM); How To Make Friends and Then Kill Them, Cal in Camo (Rattlestick); Laugh it Up, Stare it down (Cherry Lane); Fisheye, Everything is Ours, Recall (Colt Coeur); 27 Wagons Full of Cotton (Ensemble Studio). Regional: The Other Place (Barrington Stage); Matt and Ben, Three Days of Rain (Amphibian). Selected Film: Echo Valley, Crazy Glue, Aya, Archaeology of a Woman Television: Blindspot, Law and Order, Guiding Light. Education/Training: MFA, Rutgers; Williamstown apprenticeship. katyacampbell.co

CHRISTINA DECICCO | Pam Annunziata

Hartford Stage: Debut. Broadway: Evita; Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark; Sister Act, the Musical. Off-Broadway: The Marvelous Wonderettes (Westside Theatre). Tours: Wicked (First National). Regional: Born Yesterday (Asolo Repertory Theatre); Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Triad Stage); War of the Roses (Delaware Theatre Company); Boeing Boeing (Gulfshore Playhouse); Clue (The Engeman Theatre); Mary Poppins (Theatre Under the Stars); Les Misérables (Walnut Street Theatre); Sunset Boulevard (Ogunquit Playhouse). Television: FBI, The Other Two, The Blacklist, The Last OG. Education: BA, Wagner College. Professional Positions: Girl mom. Awards: Barrymore Award. christinadecicco.com

ALYSE ALAN LOUIS | Beth Wann

Hartford Stage: Debut. Broadway: Amélie, Disaster, Mamma Mia. OffBroadway: TEETH (Outer Critics Circle, Lucille Lortel nominations/Playwrights Horizons, New World Stages); Soft Power (Drama Desk Award Nomination/ The Public Theater); White Girl In Danger (Second Stage); A New Brain (Encores Off Center); The Civilians’ Pretty Filthy (Abrons Arts Center). Regional: Pioneer Theatre Company, The Denver Center, Barrington Stage Company, Center Theatre Group, The Curran, Bucks County Playhouse, Berkeley Rep, Olney Theatre Center, Pittsburgh City Theatre, Revision Theatre, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Prince Music Theatre, Walnut Street Theatre. Television: English Teacher (Season 2). Original Cast Recordings: TEETH, Soft Power (Grammy Nomination), Pretty Filthy, Amélie, Encores’ A New Brain, The Michael Friedman Collection’s The Abominables. IG: @alyselouis

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

SHARINA MARTIN | Renee Shapiro-Epps

Hartford Stage: Debut. Broadway: The Piano Lesson Off-Broadway: Confederates (Signature Theater); Crumbs from the Table of Joy (Keen Co); Round Table (59E59/Faultline); The Extinctionist (EST); Manhood (NBT); The Beautiful Sea Next Door (ArsNova). Regional: Black Moon Lilith (Williamstown); Everybody Black (Humana); Doubt (Westport Playhouse); Fabulation (Chautauqua); Familiar (Woolly Mammoth); Dracula (Actors Theatre of Louisville); A Christmas Carol (McCarter); Metamorphoses (Arden). Film: Caravan, Blind, Queen of Glory, Nowheresville. Television: Z: The Beginning (Amazon); Dear Edward (Apple TV+). Education/Training: Northwestern University, School at Steppenwolf, Labyrinth, Esper, Krakower. Professional Positions: Member of Ensemble Studio Theatre. Awards: CT Critics Circle Award - Featured Actor in a Play.

BERNADETTE SEFIC | Diane

Hartford Stage: Debut. Regional: The Comedy of Errors, Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Taming of the Shrew, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Henry IV, Measure for Measure (The Old Globe); Little Women (Geva Theatre); Bite Size (Denver Center); Everybody (Catamounts); Twelfth Night, Measure for Measure (Theatreworks); Romeo and Brewliet, Much Abrew About Nothing, The Tempest (Shakesbeer). Film: There She Goes Education: MFA, The Old Globe/USD Shiley Graduate Theater Program; BFA, CU Boulder.

ZOË GOLUB-SASS

| Director / Richard P. Garmany Associate Artistic Director

Hartford Stage: 2.5 Minute Ride, It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play (2022). Regional: R&J Redux (also co-adaptor, FringePVD/The Wilbury Group); 2.5 Minute Ride (Kitchen Theatre Company); Lost and Found, What the Market Will Bear, and Pyramid Effect (Williamstown Theatre Festival Directing Studio); Twelfth Night (Leonard Bernstein Festival of the Creative Arts); Martyr (Hartt School). She has directed readings and workshops with the Denver Center, New Dramatists, Boston Playwrights’ Theater, Story House Ithaca, HartBeat Ensemble, Playhouse Creatures Theatre Company, and MIT Playwrights Lab. Prior to Hartford Stage, Zoë served on the artistic staff of Kitchen Theatre Company and Bridge Repertory Theater. Education: BA in English and Theater Arts, Brandeis University. Affiliations: Member of the Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab, the 2018 Williamstown Theatre Festival Directing Corps, the 2025 Hartford Foundation for Public Giving’s Senior Leaders Circle, and the Emerging Leadership Team at the Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford.

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ABOUT THE ARTISTS

LILLIAN MAE RANSIJN | Choreography

& Intimacy Coordination

Hartford Stage: Romeo & Juliet Regional: Much Ado About Nothing, The Moors, A Doctor’s Dilemma (Connecticut Repertory Theater); Free/ Fall (Theatre Emory); The Elephant Man, Young Frankenstein, 4,000 Miles (Berkshire Theater Group). Film: Femininity, Lazybones, Jigsaw. Education/ Training: MFA Devised Performance Practice, UArts; BA Dance and Movement Studies and Theater Studies, Emory University (magna cum laude); Intimacy Coordination, IDC Professionals. Professional: Visiting Assistant Professor of Movement and Intimacy Director for Connecticut Repertory Theater, UCONN. lillianransijn.com

EMMIE FINCKEL | Scenic Design

Hartford Stage: The Hot Wing King. Broadway: Mary Jane; KPOP (Associate Scenic Designer). Off-Broadway: In the Amazon Warehouse Parking Lot (Playwright’s Horizons); Medea Re:Versed (Red Bull); The Comedy of Errors (Public Theater); 53% Of (2nd Stage); In the Southern Breeze (Rattlestick Playwright’s Theatre); The Watering Hole (Signature Theatre); Heart Strings (Atlantic Theater Company); In the Penal Colony (New York Theatre Workshop Next Door). Regional: Ragtime (Goodspeed); Sanctuary City (TheaterWorks Hartford); Problems Between Sisters (Studio Theatre D.C.); Manning (Portland Stage); Becoming a Man (A.R.T.); the ripple, the wave that carried me home (Yale Repertory Theatre); As You Like It (La Jolla Playhouse). Upcoming: Indian Princesses (La Jolla Playhouse); Nothing Can Take You From the Hand of God (Playwright’s Horizons); Animal Wisdom (Signature Theatre). Education: MFA, Yale School of Drama; BA, Wesleyan University.

AN-LIN DAUBER | Costume Design

Hartford Stage: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, All My Sons, Lost in Yonkers, It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play. New York: Paul Swan is Dead and Gone, What You Are Now (The Civilians); Letters That You Will Not Get (American Opera Project); H*tler’s Tasters, Great Novel (New Light Theater); Salesman 之死; June is the First Fall (Yangtze Repertory Company); Bulrusher, Passage (Juilliard); By The Queen (Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival). Regional: The Odyssey (American Repertory Theater); As You Like It (Oregon Shakespeare Festival); Primary Trust, Metamorphoses, Little Women, Public Works: The Tempest (Seattle Rep); Common Ground Revisited (Huntington Theater). Professional Positions: Assistant Professor of Costume Design at the University of Washington, Company member of The Feast. Education: MFA, Yale School of Drama. anlindauber.com

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

KRISTA SMITH | Lighting Design

Hartford Stage: The Mousetrap Off-Broadway: Onegin In Our Own Words, Three Love Stories Near the Railroad, Metamorphoses (KrymovLabNYC); King Lear (Compagnia de’ Colombari); Letters You Will Not Get (American Opera Project); Threshold of Brightness, It is a Comfort to Know (Beth Morrison Productions); Ni Mi Madre (Rattlestick Theater); Zoetrope (Exquisite Corpse Company); Coop (Paradise Factory); At Black Lake (The Tank); Stinney: An American Execution (Prototype Festival); Twin Size Beds (The Public Theater); This American Wife (New York Theater Workshop Next Door); Doll’s House Pt3 (Ars Nova). National Tours: American Girl Live Regional: The Good Person Of Setzuan (Wilma Theater); Peter Pan, Potus, The Lehman Trilogy, Red Riding Hood (Arden Theatre Co); The Thanksgiving Play (Dorset Theatre); What the Constitution Means to Me (Weston Theater); TOWN (Theatre Horizon); Twelfth Night (Two River Theater Little Shakes); Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? (Triad Stage); An Enemy of The People (Yale Repertory Theater); The Marriage of Figaro, Once on This Island, Rent (Cinnabar Theater); The Great Tragedies by Mike Daisey (California Shakespeare Theater); Anatol (Aurora Theatre); FireWork (Theatre FIRST); Little Brother (Custom Made); A Doll’s House, The Wild Party, Flu Season, Sueño (A.C.T. Conservatory); Equus (Boxcar Theatre). Education: MFA, Yale School of Drama.

JOYCE CIESIL | Sound Design

& Original Composition

Hartford Stage: Debut. Regional: Notes on Killing Seven Oversight Management and Economic Stability Board Members, Falcon Girls (Yale Rep); Hurricane Diane (Theater Wit); SPAY (Rivendell Theater Ensemble). Education: MFA Sound Design, The David Geffen School of Drama at Yale; BFA Sound Design, The Theatre School at DePaul University.

JODI STONE | Wig Design

Hartford Stage: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Seder, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Queens for a Year Broadway: Wig builder for Hamilton, Tommy, Jersey Boys, Beautiful, Ain’t Too Proud, Allegiance, Motown, The Color Purple, Beetlejuice, Great Gatsby, Wicked. Regional: Richard II (Oregon Shakespeare Festival); The Cherry Orchard, The Sisters Rosensweig, Gem of the Ocean, The Rivals (Huntington Theatre Company). Film: Dan In Real Life, Underdog, What Lies Beneath, Outside Providence Television: The Wiz, Jesus Christ Superstar, Brotherhood. Education: Bachelor’s Theatre Arts, Gettysburg College 1992. Proffesional Positions: Custom wig maker for CGL Wig Designs 2021-current, Wig and Makeup Supervisor HSC 2018-2020; Wig and Makeup Designer Children’s Theatre Company 2001-2004; Wig Master HTC 1995-1997, Stitcher/ Wardrobe HTC 1992-1995.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

JULIE

FOH | Dialect & Voice Coach

Hartford Stage: Romeo & Juliet, All My Sons, The Winter’s Tale. Off-Broadway: Belfast Girls (Irish Rep). Regional: The Woman in Black (Weston Theater Company); A View from the Bridge (Long Wharf Theatre); falcon girls; Escaped Alone; the ripple, the wave that carried me home (Yale Rep); A Christmas Carol, Sense and Sensibility, As You Like It, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, The Caretaker (Shakespeare Theatre of NJ); Ride the Cyclone: The Musical and Sleuth (McCarter Theatre); Mlima’s Tale (Repertory Theatre of St. Louis & Westport Country Playhouse). Podcast: Wolverine: The Lost Trail (Marvel); Timon of Athens, Julius Caesar, As You Like It, The Taming of the Shrew, Othello, Love’s Labour’s Lost, The Tempest, The Winter’s Tale, Measure for Measure, Henry V, Twelfth Night, Coriolanus (Next Chapter Podcasts). Television: Cobra Kai Education: MFA, American Repertory Theatre; BA, Duke University. Professional Positions: Associate Professor at the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale.

ALAINE ALLDAFFER, CSA & LISA DONADIO | Casting

Hartford Stage: Romeo & Juliet, August Wilson’s Two Trains Running, A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, All My Sons, Simona’s Search, Pride and Prejudice, Trouble in Mind, The Art of Burning, The Mousetrap, It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play, Ah, Wilderness!, Quixote Nuevo; Ether Dome. Broadway/Off-Broadway: Downstate, Circle Mirror Transformation, Stereophonic, A Strange Loop, Clybourne Park, Grey Gardens, The Flick (Playwrights Horizons); The Flick (Barrow Street Theatre). Regional: The Old Globe Theatre, The Huntington, Williamstown Theatre Festival. Television: The Knights of Prosperity, Ed, Monk. Awards: Artios Award (Stereophonic, Downstate, Circle Mirror Transformation, Present Laughter); Drama Desk and Obie Awards, Best Ensemble (Circle Mirror Transformation).

AVERY TRUNKO | Production Stage Manager

Hartford Stage: 2.5 Minute Ride, The Mousetrap. Broadway: Les Liaisons Dangereuses Off-Broadway: Dig, Ibsen’s Ghost, The Confession of Lily Dare (Primary Stages); Belfast Girls (Irish Repertory Theater); Hangmen, On the Shore of the Wide World (Atlantic Theater Company); Privacy, Julius Caesar (Public Theater); This Space Between Us, Molly Sweeney (Keen Company); Dropping Gumballs on Luke Wilson (The Working Theater); Uncle Vanya (Hunter Theater Project); By the Way Meet Vera Stark (Signature Theatre); Eureka Day (Colt Coeur); Superstitions, The Ding Dongs, Is Edward Snowden Single? (The Pool Plays). Select Regional: Hard Road to Heaven (Bucks County Playhouse); True Art, Misery, Thirst (Dorset Theater Festival); Superstitions (Oklahoma City Rep); The Heart of Robin Hood, Rip Van Winkle (Hudson Valley Shakespeare); The Moors, Elevada (Yale Repertory Theatre). Education: MFA, Yale School of Drama; BFA, Hofstra University.

Is there such a thing as a perfect crime?

Adapted by Jeffrey

Hatcher

Based on the play Rope’s End by Patrick Hamilton

Directed by Melia Bensussen

World Premiere

OCTOBER 10 –NOVEMBER 2, 2025

A comedy about doing the right thing with the wrong person.

The Cottage

By Sandy Rustin

Directed by Zoë Golub-Sass

JANUARY 16 –FEBRUARY 8, 2026

A salesman has got to dream.

Death of a Salesman

By Arthur Miller

Directed by Melia Bensussen

FEBRUARY 27 –MARCH 29, 2026

By Karen Zacarias

APRIL 17 – MAY 10, 2026

The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim Book by Hugh Wheeler

From an adaptation by Christopher Bond

Directed by Rob Ruggiero

In partnership with TheaterWorks Hartford

JUNE 5 – JULY 5, 2026

Hartford’s Beloved Holiday Tradition

By Charles Dickens

Adapted & directed by Michael Wilson

NOVEMBER 22 –DECEMBER 28, 2025

On sale to subscribers only until June 24.

Noble Shropshire and Allen Gilmore in A Christmas Carol (2024). Photo by T. Charles Erickson.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

ALISON FISCHER GREENE | Assistant Stage Manager

Hartford Stage: The Mousetrap. Off-Broadway: Helen. (En Garde Arts & The SuperGeographics); This Space Between Us (Keen Company); The Ding Dongs, Superstitions (The Pool Plays). Regional: Hard Road to Heaven (Bucks County Playhouse); Vietgone (Oklahoma City Reparatory); Betrayal (Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater & Harbor Stage Company); Westminster, Northside Hollow, The Thin Place, Bread & Butter, Frozen, The Ballad of Bobby Botswain (Harbor Stage Company). Education: BA in Mathematics and Theater, Bates College.

Photo

ABOUT HARTFORD STAGE

Hartford Stage has been led by Artistic Director Melia Bensussen and Managing Director Cynthia Rider since the summer of 2019. The theater’s mission is to enlighten, entertain, and educate by creating programming of the highest caliber that has a transformative impact on audiences, the community, and its field. Under Bensussen’s artistic vision, the theater has reimagined classics including Eugene O’Neill’s Ah, Wilderness! which reopened the theater to great acclaim following the pandemic and brought more work celebrating the Latiné heritages in the region, including Laughs in Spanish, Quixote Nuevo, the virtual American Voices New Play Festival, Kiss My Aztec!, Espejos: Clean, and Simona’s Search. Hartford Stage has produced various world premieres including the Broadway successes Anastasia and A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder (winner of four 2014 Tony Awards), and Quiara Alegría Hudes’ Water by the Spoonful (winner of the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Drama). Hartford Stage’s vast education programs engage students of all ages from across the state through student matinee performances, in-school programs, theatre classes, and youth productions. HartfordStage.org

María Victoria Martínez and Luis Vega in Laughs in Spanish (2025). Photo by T. Charles Erickson.

ABOUT HARTFORD STAGE

MELIA BENSUSSEN

Artistic Director

Melia Bensussen is an award-winning director and artistic leader who has directed extensively at leading theatres throughout the country. The first woman to lead Hartford Stage, she has been its Artistic Director since the summer of 2019. Devoted to new work as well as to classic texts, she was appointed Artistic Director of the National Playwrights Conference at the O’Neill Theater Center in 2024. Raised in Mexico City, Bensussen is fluent in Spanish and has translated and adapted a variety of texts, including her edition of the Langston Hughes translation of Federico Garcia Lorca’s Blood Wedding, published by Theater Communications Group. Among her credits developing and premiering new works, she co-conceived and directed, alongside playwright Kirsten Greenidge, the theatrical adaptation of Anthony J. Lukas’ Pulitzer Prize winning Common Ground, which premiered at the Huntington Theater in Boston. A graduate of Brown University, Bensussen serves on the Arts Advisory Board for the Princess Grace Foundation, and on the executive board of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC). Prior to her position at Hartford Stage, she was Chair of the Performing Arts Department of Emerson College, in Boston. She is the recipient of an OBIE Award for Outstanding Direction, as well as the Statue Award from the Princess Grace Foundation for Excellence in Directing.

CYNTHIA RIDER

Managing

Director

Rider has been the Managing Director of Hartford Stage since 2019. Previously, she was the Executive Director at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and prior to joining OSF, Cynthia Rider spent nine years at Kansas City Repertory Theatre as Managing Director and the Associate Director for Advancement & Administration. Her experience also includes six years as Executive Director of the Kansas City Friends of Alvin Ailey. In her early non-arts career, she served as Associate Director of the Massachusetts Manufacturing Partnership, which worked to strengthen small and mediumsized manufacturers across the state. Rider’s theatre experience also includes time spent on the stage. After graduating from Boston University, she started her theatre career as a resident company member at the Alley Theatre in Houston.

Our award-winning education programs provide students of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds with innovative opportunities that challenge and inspire. Using theater techniques, we build community, promote a passion for literacy and creative expression, and encourage life-long learning.

ADULT & YOUTH CLASSES: Throughout the year, we have classes for youth and adults looking to improve their acting skills.

STUDENT MATINEES: Middle and high school students are invited to join us for special performances throughout the year. They’ll get to see the show, plus participate in a talkback with the cast. Tickets start at $20, with discounts available for Title 1 schools.

CONNECTIONS: Connections is an in-school program that brings teaching artists into classrooms to explore a book through drama, strengthening reading comprehension skills and building excitement about reading.

AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAMS: Bring a Hartford Stage teaching artist to your afterschool program! Programs range from drama classes to full productions and are designed based on the needs of each individual school.

ABOUT HARTFORD STAGE

Diversity, Equity, and Belonging.

At Hartford Stage, equity is not a destination—it’s an ongoing journey. From the stories we bring to life on our stage to the voices behind the scenes at our organization, we are committed to amplifying diverse perspectives and fostering inclusion in every aspect of our work. See Equity in Action at HartfordStage.org

Artistry & Craft

We believe artistic excellence is achieved through a collaborative process that is rooted in creativity and a willingness to take risks.

Lifelong Learning

We believe theater creates opportunities for personal growth and learning for people of all ages.

Relationships

We believe in developing connections within and beyond the theater, extending our reach into the community and fostering a sense of mutual belonging.

Integrity & Responsibility

We believe that fiscal, operational, and programmatic decisions must embrace physical safety, financial sustainability, and equity with kindness and respect.

A THANK YOU TO THE PEOPLE WHO FIRST LIVED ON AND CARED FOR THESE LANDS

We recognize that our theater is built on land that was once and still is peopled by indigenous tribes, specifically territory of the Mohegan, Mashantucket Pequot, Eastern Pequot, Golden Hill Paugussett, and Schaghticoke peoples and their ancestors of these lands: the Wangunk, the Podunk, and the Tunxis.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

OFFICERS

Michael D. Nicastro

President

Elease Wright

Vice President

Devon Francis

Treasurer

Richard G. Costello

Secretary

GOVERNING DIRECTORS

Douglas Adkins

Don Allan

Patti Broad

Marla J. Byrnes

Shari Cantor

Jamie Hait Cohen

Julio Concepción

Mark G. Contreras

Alana Curren

Anne D’Alleva

Jarret Eamiello

John Doran

Marilda Lara Gándara

Rev. Darrell L. Goodwin

Emily Harrington

Rydell Harrison

Annie Hildreth

Barnaby Horton

Very Rev. Miguelina Howell

Jackie B. Iacovazzi

Katherine Lambert

Aaron Lyles

Kelly M. Lyman

Sibongile Magubane

Amy Leppo Mandell

Barri Marks

Marjorie E. Morrissey

Andy Pace

Sarah M. Patterson

Esther A. Pryor

Allan B. Taylor

Judith E. Thompson

William J. Thompson

Rhonda J. Tobin

Nicole Vitrano

Patty Willis

Yvette Yelardy

STAGE ONE

Young Professional Board Directors

Cordelia Brady

Kentavis Brice, Co-Chair

Brennden D. Colbert

Angel Cotto

Brittnee Johnson-Colbert

Kaitlyn Keeler

Greidy Miralles

TJ Noel-Sullivan

Malia Peres

Claire Stermer, Co-Chair

Nathan Sykes

Maxwell R. Toth

Alia Walwyn-James

LIFE DIRECTORS

George L. Estes III

Arnold C. Greenberg+

Walter Harrison

Jeffrey S. Hoffman

George A. Ingram+

David M. Klein

Roger S. Loeb+

Belle K. Ribicoff

Christina B. Ripple

Linda Fisher Silpe

Sherwood S. Willard

HONORARY DIRECTORS

Carrie Hammond

Barbara Hennessy

Nancy P. Hoffman

Robert A. Penney

Rosalie Roth

Bruce Simons

EMERITUS DIRECTORS

Margaret B. Amstutz+

R. Kelley Bonn

Sara Marcy Cole

Susan J. Copeland

Susan G. Fisher

Judith C. Meyers

PAST PRESIDENTS

Jill Adams

Joel B. Alvord

Paul L. Bourdeau

David W. Clark Jr.+

Sue Ann Collins

Ellsworth Davis+

Elliot F. Gerson

Thomas J. Groark Jr.+

John W. Huntington+

Walter Harrison

David R. Jimenez

David M. Klein

Edward Lane-Reticker+

Janet Larsen+

Thomas D. Lips

Scott McAlister+

Tuck Miller+

Christina B. Ripple

Jack Sennott

Deanna Sue Sucsy

Jennifer Smith Turner

Peter R. Wilde+

EX OFFICIO DIRECTORS

John B. Larson

US Representative, First Congressional District of Connecticut

Arunan Arulampalam

Mayor City of Hartford

Melia Bensussen

Artistic Director

Hartford Stage

Cynthia Rider

Managing Director

Hartford Stage

+ Deceased

ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF

LEADERSHIP

Melia Bensussen, Artistic Director

Position endowed by Janet S. Suisman

Cynthia Rider, Managing Director

ADMINISTRATION

Emily Van Scoy, General Manager

Sara Walnum, Business Manager

ARTISTIC

Zoë Golub-Sass, Richard P. Garmany Associate Artistic Director

EDUCATION

Jennifer Roberts, Director of Education

Nina Pinchin, Associate Director of Education

Emely Larson, Studio Manager

2024/2025 Teaching Artists

Marie Altenor, Isaiah Artis, Thomas Beebe, Lauren Cavanaugh, Grace Clark, Caitlin Collazo, Levi Cote, Brandon Couloute, Robert H. Davis, Shelby Demke, Erica LuBonta, Greg Ludovici, Jan Mason, Emma MacLaren, Jessica MacLean, Tori Mooney, Justin Pesce, Erin Rose, Kevin Scott

EXTERNAL RELATIONS

Jennifer Levine, Director of External Relations

Rachel Phillips, Associate Director for Marketing

Travis Kendrick-Castanho, External Relations Manager

Evan Kudish, Manager of Board & Donor Relations

Sierra Vazquez, Annual Fund Manager

Todd Brandt, Audience & Revenue Data Analyst

House Management

W. Scott McEver, Audience Experience and Front of House Manager

Lindsay Abrams, Events Coordinator/ Assistant House Manager

Aarron Schuelke, Assistant House Manager Bartenders: Marsha Arpin, Tanya Bermudez, Lexi Blinder, Sam Chiasson, Tracy Chinnici, Karen Kudish, Michaela McManus, Kimberly Quinn, Nefris Quiterio, Erica Santa Lucia, Kerry Yerkes

Gift Shop Attendants/Event Bartenders: Art Arpin, Paulette Caldwell, John Harbison

Patron Services

Lindsey Hoffman, Box Office Manager

Corey Welden, Box Office Supervisor

Box Office Representatives: Julie Borsotti, Amaris Diaz, Rick Sahlin, Lindsey Taft

PRODUCTION

Bryan T. Holcombe, Director of Production

Wesley McCabe-Schroeder, Assistant Production Manager

Alyssa Edwards, Production Assistant

Christian Collazo-Roman, Hartt School Technical Theater Intern

Set Construction & Scenic Art

Aaron D. Bleck, Technical Director

Jared Wolf, Assistant Technical Director

Ian Sweeney, Lead Carpenter

Audra Giuliano, Scenic Carpenter

Nathalie Schlosser, Charge Scenic Artist

Costumes & Wardrobe

Alex Meadows, Costume Director

Grace Petersen, Assistant Costume Director

Joshua Richardson, Wardrobe Supervisor

James Weeden, Staff Draper

Rio Cañas, First Hand

Props

Joe Dotts, Props Manager

Claire Linden-Dionne, Assistant Props Manager

Lighting

Jackie Costabile, Lighting Manager

Ethan Sepa, ALDM, Programmer

Sara Dorinbaum, Light Board Operator Sound

Lucas Clopton, Audio/Video Manager & Content Creator

Jim Busker, Assistant Audio/Video Manager

Company Management

Christopher Rowe, Company Manager

Facilities

Michael Langer, Facilities Manager

FOR THIS PRODUCTION

Kyle Artone, Swatcher

Julius Cruz, A2

Matt Hennessey, Deck Crew/Automation Operator

Callum McCabe-Schroeder, Carpenter

Nico Platz, Set Electrician

Erin Sagnelli, Scenic Artist

Marissa Wiles, Costume Crafts

Stitchers:

Joseph O’Brien, Margaret McFarland, Allison Nishimura

Wardrobe & Wig Crew: Emma Sowards, Hanna Zammeriah

SPECIAL THANKS

Downtown Hartford YMCA

Residence Inn by Marriott Hartford Downtown

You’re Invited to Play a Part

You are invited to join the leaders of the Set the Stage campaign.

As we look ahead, we envision a thriving theater that continues to tell compelling and relevant stories—from the classics to the contemporary— that tell of our common humanity and welcomes intergenerational audiences that reflect the communities around us.

The $20 million raised will secure our vision and enhance our community.

The Set the Stage campaign is focused on two areas where donors like you can impact the future.

ENDOWMENT Building a robust endowment will ensure Hartford Stage is here fulfilling its mission for decades to come.

PROGRAMMING Donations are a crucial component to creating the world-class art you see on our stage, and for sharing the power of what theater can do with our community.

After 60 years of bringing world-class theatrical programming to audiences in our theater, and students in our schools, Hartford Stage is making an important investment in our future. Be a part of the legacy. Play a role in our $20 million goal.

Please join us in setting the stage for Hartford Stage’s next 60 years.

Contact Director of External Relations Jennifer Levine at 860-520-7249 or jlevine@hartfordstage.org

The cast of The Mousetrap (2022).*

Photo Credits *by T. Charles Erickson. ^by The Defining Studios.

Alejandra Escalante in Simona’s Search (2024). Photo by T. Charles Erickson.

SET THE STAGE CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTORS

$2 MILLION+

Stanley Black & Decker*

$1 MILLION+

The Hartford*

Travelers*

$750,000+

Don & Marilyn Allan

Rick & Beth Costello

$500,000+

Jill Adams & Bill Knight

The Richard P. Garmany Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving

Jack & Donna Sennott

$250,000+

David & Janice Klein

$100,000+

Douglas & Sheryl Adkins

Sue Ann Collins

The Robert & Francine Goldfarb Family Fund

Wes & Chloe Horton

Christopher Larsen

Thomas & Margah Lips

Chrissie & Ezra Ripple

Sally Speer

$50,000+

John & Suzanne Bourdeaux

Ellen Brown & Jim Bean

Carrie & Jonathan Hammond

Walter & Dianne Harrison

Barbara & Matthew Hennessy

Barnaby Horton & Hannah Granfield-Horton

Estate of Mary Jean Kilfoil

Marjorie E. Morrissey

$20,000+

Anonymous

David & Kathleen Jimenez

Barri Marks

Judith Meyers & Richard Hersh

Mike & Colleen Nicastro

Linda & Donald Silpe

$10,000+

Anonymous

Sara Bareilles

Marla & John Byrnes

The Edgemer Foundation

Marilda Gandara & Scott O’Keefe

Estate of Christine Hunihan

Andy & Jen Pace

Rosalie Roth

Elease & Dana Wright

$5,000+

Jaime & Isaac Cohen

Devon & Thomas Francis

David Hawkanson

Annie Hildreth & Ted Potters

George A.+ & Helen Ingram

Theodore & Nancy Johnson

Dan & Arlene Neiditz

Dr. William Petit Jr.

Ted Whittemore

Sherwood & Maggie Willard

Zachs Family Foundation

$100 - $4,999

William H. & Rosanna T. Andrulat Charitable Foundation

Kathleen & David Bavelas

Robert & Catherine Boone

Donna Collins

Alana & Matt Curren

Mary Ellison

George & Laura Estes

Matthew & Katherine Grosso

Emily & Patrick Harrington

Carolyn Johnson

Marcia Lattimore

Amy & Neal Mandell

Andrew Palmer

Robert Parrott & Sally Wister

Michael Ross

Gil & Kathy Salk

Pam & Peter Sobering

Claire Stermer

Rhonda Tobin & Jeffrey Smith

Paul & Karen Torop

Richard Wenner

Kathleen & Rick White

+ Deceased *Business Partner

ANNUAL CONTRIBUTORS

Thank you to all our donors. We are grateful for the generosity throughout our entire community and recognize all of our supporters on our website at HartfordStage.org/ Recognition. We are happy to acknowledge here those with leadership contributions in the past 12 months, May 16, 2024 – May 16, 2025.

ANNUAL FUND

DIRECTOR’S CIRCLE • $50,000+

Greg & Renata Hayes

PRODUCER CIRCLE • $25,000+

Jill Adams & Bill Knight

Don & Marilyn Allan

The Cheryl Chase & Stuart Bear

Family Foundation

Rick & Beth Costello

Wes & Chloe Horton

David & Janice Klein

Jack & Donna Sennott

Sally Speer

Judith & William Thompson

OVATION SOCIETY • $10,000+

Sheryl & Douglas Adkins

Sue Ann Collins

Francine & Robert Goldfarb

Arnold Greenberg+

Dianne & Walter Harrison

George A.+ & Helen Ingram

Jane & Roger+ Loeb

The Pryor Family Foundation

Chrissie & Ezra Ripple

Elizabeth Schiro & Stephen Bayer

Elizabeth Vandeventer

Veronica & Howard Wiseman

ENCORE SOCIETY • $5,000+

Andra Asars

Duff Ashmead & Eric Ort

Jennefer Carey Berall

Patti Broad

Jamie & Isaac Cohen

Devon & Thomas Francis

Nancy Goodwin

Barbara & Matthew Hennessy

Jeffrey & Nancy Hoffman

+ Deceased

Barnaby W. Horton & Hannah Granfield-Horton

Jackie & Drew Iacovazzi

Konover Coppa Family Fund

Katherine J. Lambert

Christopher Larsen

Barri Marks

Harry E. Meyer

Judith Meyers & Richard Hersh

Michael & Colleen Nicastro

Kristen Phillips & Matthew Schreck

Rosalie B. Roth

Suzanne B. Ruffee

Donald & Linda Silpe

Helen & Nelson Sly

Sally & Allan Taylor

Maggie & Sherwood Willard

Mark & Patty Willis

Elease & Dana Wright

The Zachs Family Foundation

PATRON SOCIETY • $3,500+

Paul & Joanne Bourdeau

John & Suzanne Bourdeaux

Marla & John Byrnes

Robert L. & Susan G. Fisher

Ruth Fitzgerald & Dave Sageman

Marilda Gandara & Scott O’Keefe

Doris & Ray Guenter

David & Gail Hall

Carrie & Jonathan Hammond

Adlyn & Theodore Lowenthal

Ed & Kelly Lyman

Cynthia K. Mackay

Amy & Neal Mandell

Ernest & Mickey Mattei

Robert A. & Joan C. Penney

Rhonda Tobin & Jeffrey Smith

Nicole Vitrano & Art Wallace

Yvette Yelardy & Daniel Morgenstern

ANNUAL CONTRIBUTORS

HONORARY GIFTS

IN HONOR OF MELIA BENSUSSEN

Tracy King

William V. & Patrick M. Madison-McDonald

IN HONOR OF ANNIE HILDRETH

Diane Hildreth

IN HONOR OF DAVID & JAN KLEIN

Wendy Avery

IN HONOR OF KATHERINE LAMBERT

Janet Faude

IN HONOR OF AMY & NEAL MANDELL

Debi & Peter Miller

IN HONOR OF CYNTHIA RIDER

Anne Rider & Rob Hinrichs

Ellen Rider & Stanley King

IN HONOR OF BELLE RIBICOFF’S 100TH BIRTHDAY

Rosalie Roth

IN HONOR OF ROSALIE ROTH

Karl Krapek Jr.

IN HONOR OF ROSALIND SPIER

Karen & Phillip Will

IN HONOR OF RHONDA TOBIN

Shari & Jay Tobin

IN HONOR OF HANS WALSER & CAROL SCOVILLE

Karen Kleine

IN HONOR OF PATTY WILLIS

The Burkehaven Family Foundation

IN HONOR OF YVETTE YELARDY

Benna Kushlefsky

MEMORIAL GIFTS

IN MEMORY OF ROBERT EPSTEIN

David & Janice Klein

IN MEMORY OF GALINA FAYNGERSH

Diana Lee

IN MEMORY OF ARNOLD GREENBERG:

David & Jan Klein

Katherine Lambert

Jane Loeb

Deborah Raboy

Rosalie Roth

Donald & Linda Silpe

IN MEMORY OF BEVERLY G. HIMELSTEIN

Michael J. Moran

IN MEMORY OF GEORGE INGRAM

Scott Bartelson

Sue Ann Collins

Craig T. Ingram

Jonathan & Rita Johnson

David & Janice Klein

Judith Kronick

Tom & Margah Lips

Linda Mackay-Morgan

Chrissie & Ezra Ripple

Donald & Linda Silpe

Mike Stotts

Sharon & Rodger Stotz

Kevin Truex & Frank Burnes

IN MEMORY OF ROGER LOEB

Marge Abrams

Theresa I. Awad Roe

Bank of America Private Bank

Dr. & Mrs. Robert Berland

Patty Bernstein

Suzan & Keith Bickel

Bros. Associates

Brown Forman Inc.

Edgar B. Butler Jr.

Cardon’s Hair Designs Ltd

Elizabeth Casanovas

The Cheryl Chase & Stuart Bear Foundation

Crazy Bruces Discount Liquors

John Cummings

Diageo North America

Eder Brothers Inc.

Epstein & Rubenstein Families at HB

F & F Distributors Inc.

Rick & Judie Goldenthal

Drivers and Warehousemen of

Allan S. Goodman

Arnold Greenberg

The Greggains Family

Bill & Paula Hannon

Bonnie & John Harte

Jill & Brad Hutensky

David & Janice Klein

Melanie & David Landau

Larry Levine & Addison Reserve

Eliot N. Mag

Joan Merritt

Harold & Janet Moskowitz

Robert Naboicheck

Arlene & Daniel Neiditz

Continued on next page.

Entertain clients, engage vendors, or reward employees and support Hartford Stage.

Your charitable or in-kind contribution will support the artistic, educational, and community programming at Hartford Stage. Select benefits that align best with your priorities, and receive prominent recognition all season-long.

It’s easy to become a Business Partner and all partnerships will be fully customized to meet your needs!

Benefit options include:

• Complimentary Show Tickets

• Recognition Opportunities

• Unique Private Event Spaces

• Fully Catered Events

• Conversations with Artists

• Invitations to Special Events

Call us today to create your unique partnership agreement! Contact Director of External Relations Jennifer Levine at jlevine@hartfordstage.org or 860-520-7249.

ANNUAL CONTRIBUTORS

IN MEMORY OF ROGER LOEB (CONT’D)

Nicola, Yester & Co.

Elizabeth Paquin

Gail Perfetti

Susan & Michael Perl

John & Roselie Polo

Lori Rickles and Cuong Do

Chrissie & Ezra Ripple

Judith Satlof

Sue Shechtman

Donald & Linda Silpe

Lainy Silver

Mike Stotts

Kathy Suisman

Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of CT

IN MEMORY OF BOB MONTSTREAM

Ami Monstream

IN MEMORY OF LOIS M. O’HARE

Mr. & Mrs. Michael E. O’Hare

IN MEMORY OF ELIZABETH PIERCE

Dorella Bond

IN MEMORY OF MARGARET RUMFORD

Robert & Marilyn Anderson

Helen Deag

Jackie & Joe Kelley

Dariel Muldonn

INSTITUTIONAL GIVING

$200,000+

The Shubert Foundation

Stanley Black & Decker*

$125,000+

Connecticut Department of Economic & Community Development

Hartford Foundation for Public Giving

$100,000+

The Richard P. Garmany Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving

The Hartford*

Raytheon Technologies*

$75,000+

Burry Fredrik Foundation

CT Humanities

The Katherine K. McLane & Henry R. McLane Charitable Trust

$50,000+

Connecticut Judicial Branch

Greater Hartford Arts Council

The John and Kelly Hartman Foundation

SBM Charitable Foundation, Inc.

The Scripps Family Fund for Education and the Arts Travelers*

$25,000+

Cigna

The Elizabeth M. Landon & Harriette M.

Landon Charitable Foundation

Ensworth Charitable Foundation

Roberts Foundation for the Arts

Robinson & Cole LLP*

$15,000+

Cummings & Lockwood*

Global Atlantic*

Lucille Lortel Foundation

The MorningStar Fund

Talcott Resolution*

United States Treasury

$10,000+

The BFA Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving Conning*

Liberty Bank*

The William & Alice Mortensen Foundation

$5,000+

Allan S. Goodman, Inc.

Bradley, Foster & Sargent

The Burton & Phyllis Hoffman Foundation

The George A. & Grace L. Long Foundation

Jana Foundation

JCJ Architecture*

McDonald Family Trust

Stanley D. & Hinda N. Fisher Fund

William H. & Rosanna T. Andrulat

Charitable Foundation

$2,500+

The Blair Fund

BBE, Inc.*

Enterprise Rent-A-Car Foundation

Fiducient Advisors*

Mabel F. Hoffman Charitable Trust

IN-KIND

The University of Saint Joseph

+ Deceased *Business Partner

Hartford Stage has an exciting new partnership with FreeWill, a free will-making tool, for YOU to:

• Protect your loved ones and assets

• Designate beneficiaries for your 401(k), IRA, & retirement accounts

• Ensure that your wishes and values are honored

• Support the theater’s future with an optional gift

A simple yet powerful way to build your legacy for the people and causes that matter most to you, and a small way for us to show our gratitude for your support — and our commitment to serving you.

At Hartford Stage, we believe in planning for our future by nurturing new plays, new artists, and new audiences. We’re honored to help you plan for your future, too.

Including Hartford Stage in your plans is optional. Consider leaving your legacy here, and make a lasting investment in the power of storytelling.

The cast of Pride and Prejudice (2023). Photo by T. Charles Erickson.

SHAKESPEARE SOCIETY

The Shakespeare Society comprises individuals who have provided for the future of Hartford Stage in their estate plans. Hartford Stage is deeply grateful for their generosity and foresight. The members of this group help to ensure the legacy of Hartford Stage. Have you included Hartford Stage in your estate plans? Tell us about it! Call Evan Kudish, Manager of Board & Donor Relations, at 860-520-7241 to share your plans and allow us to thank you.

Anonymous (15)

Brian & Betty Ashfield

Richard & Alice Baxter

Mr. & Mrs. Paul Bourdeau

Mrs. Joan Brown

Kimberley & Christopher Byrd

Marla & John Byrnes

Mario R. Cavallo

Sue Ann Collins

Richard G. Costello

Ms. Linda Diana DeConti

Mr. Reginald Gregory DeConti