Program: Fiction

M O N TA LV O A R T S C E N T E R P R E S E N T S

fiction

JUNE 23-25, 2021

Fiction by

Stephen Dietz CAST

William Giammona Tanya Marie Mary Melnick Production Manager

Tim Reeve Directed By

Chris Reber

Welcome

to our new series, Play on the Grounds.

Growing up in New York, it was a tradition for my family and I to attend the theatre often. And so it is a personal thrill for me to support live theater at Montalvo.

I cannot begin to express my excitement and gratitude in being able to welcome you back to Montalvo in person. After a year of watching art and culture on a screen, I look forward to all the events, new and returning, that we get to share with you as we re-open.

Thanks for joining us tonight.

Angela Torre McConnell Executive Director

JOIN US FOR MORE

Caught by Christopher Chen ​J uly 21–23 • 6-7:30pm • Tickets $25 An art gallery hosts a retrospective of the work of a Chinese dissident artist who was imprisoned for his art. The artist himself is present, and shares details of an ordeal that defies belief. What follows is a labyrinthine exploration of truth, art, social justice and cultural appropriation, where nothing is as it first appears. tickets available at

montalvoarts.org/play

A Note from Director Chris Reber: Origin stories are everywhere—every superhero seemingly has one. We want to know why people are the way they are. What are the things that made him or her the person that we know? Well… are you comfortable with your significant other looking at your browser history? Do you want to lay your entire life, your thoughts, your secrets, your passions out on the floor for someone to see? Can you justify everything you’ve ever done? Moreover, was it all worth it? This wonderful story, Fiction, bends our perceptions of time and place to ask these questions. In the end, do you want people to know your origin story? The real one?

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR:

Chris Reber has been an actor for longer than he hasn’t. He’s worked all over the Bay Area and beyond in that capacity and now he is thrilled to try his hand at directing these three amazing actors in Fiction at Montalvo.

About the Cast William Giammona (Michael) was honored with the 2014 Theatre Bay Area Award for Outstanding Performance in a Principal Role in a Musical for playing Frank Shepard in Merrily We Roll Along (Pinole), a role he will reprise with 42nd Street Moon once theater returns after COVID. Before everything shut down, he was most recently seen as Tommy in Brigadoon (42nd Street Moon) and as Ron/ Cat in Iron John as part of the TheatreWorks 2019 New Works Festival the previous fall. Other roles include: Robert in Company (Altarena), Carl-Magnus Malcolm in A Little Night Music (Lamplighters and Hillbarn), Napoleon the Solider & Alex in Sunday in the Park with George (SF Playhouse), Princeton and Rod in Avenue Q for four sold-out seasons (NCTC), Leo Frank in Parade (Palo Alto), and Thomas Weaver in The Story of My Life (NCTC & CCCT). He has originated roles in the world premiere of three plays: Marcus in

Still at Risk, Luke Miller in Everything That’s Beautiful, and Tom Zeller in American Dream all at NCTC. Find out more at williamgiammona.com.

Tanya Marie (Abby) is honored to be returning to the stage in Montalvo Arts Center’s live production of Fiction.

A Boston native and recent transplant to the Bay Area from Paris, France, Tanya has worked internationally in film, television, radio and theater. Some recent projects include: Persuasion (San Jose Stage Co. d/ Ken Kelleher), Oslo (Los Altos Stage Co. d/ Gary Landis), Oskar Tour (TheatreWorks d/Lisa Giglio), Metamorphoses (Inferno Theatre d/ Giulio Cesare Perrone); For Honor (d/ Lee San-kowich); Cat On A Hot Tin Roof (San Jose Stage Co. d/ Lee Sankowich); The Postman Always Rings Twice (San Jose Stage Co. d/ Ken Kelleher); A Collection of Stories (Word for Word/ Z Space, Paris Tour, d/Susan Harloe); Café Winnipesaukee (Whitebridge Farm Productions d/ Oscar-winner Ernest Thompson); Ballerina (animated feature, Paris, d/ Eric Summer); Dr. Junod (animated feature, Paris, d/ Matthew Géczy); Company Member with DramaTies (Paris); and many more! Look for Tanya in San Jose Stage Co.’s postponed production of August: Osage County. In addition to acting, Tanya is a teaching artist and public speaking coach. She wishes everyone health and wellness during these difficult times, and she thanks the cast, crew, and visionary director, Chris Reber, for this rewarding experience!

TanyaMarie.info Mary Melnick (Linda) is excited to join the Montalvo family to bring live theater back to the bay area! For the past 25 years, Mary has performed with professional and community theater companies, with favorites that include TheatreWorks’ Dessa Rose (Ruth’s Mother & Susannah), Foothill Music Theatre’s (FMT) Anything

Goes (Erma—Bay Area Theater Critics nominee for Best Supporting Actress), FMT’s Ragtime (Mother—Dean Goodman Choice Award), South Bay Musical Theatre’s

Mame (Mame—Theatre Bay Area Finalist for Outstanding Performance of a Principal Role), and Tabard Theater’s all-female version of 1776 (John Adams). Love to Robin and Andrew!

Play on the Grounds is made possible through the generous support provided by

Cathie and Jeff Thermond

UPCOMING EVENTS Workshop: Connections in Nature ​J uly 14 • 6pm • $55 Explore the ways in which nature can inspire and inform how we see, connect, and create. Walk Montalvo’s grounds using a “Seeing Frame,” an experimental optical tool to look more deeply at connections and patterns around us. After documenting inspirational forms with smartphones or cameras, we will take these images and translate them into works of art using simple materials like paper, pencil, and watercolors.

Play on the Grounds: Caught by Christopher Chen ​J uly 21–23 • 6-7:30pm • $25 An art gallery hosts a retrospective of the work of a Chinese dissident artist who was imprisoned for his art. The artist himself is present, and shares details of an ordeal that defies belief. What follows is a labyrinthine exploration of truth, art, social justice and cultural appropriation, where nothing is as it first appears.

Play on the Grounds: Japan = Black Man’s Heaven Save the Date: August 12 In this publicly staged reading and conversation, Lucas Artists Fellow and Fulbright Scholar Andrew Saito debuts Japan = Black Man’s Heaven (J=BMH), a new work about a forgotten corner of history. During World War II, Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs enlisted African American prisoners of war (POWs) to record radio dramas that contrasted the horrors of US racism with the joys POWs supposedly experienced in Japan. Japan’s goal was to broadcast these plays in Black American communities and foment civil unrest to destabilize its enemy from within. Japan destroyed all scripts and recordings upon surrender in 1945; informed by extensive research, Saito is recreating these lost radio dramas in a play that dives into dynamics within and between POWs and Japanese captors, and each character’s conflicted inner world. In collaboration with Miranda Haymon, developmental director. Supported by the MAP Fund. for tickets and more information, visit

montalvoarts.org

UPCOMING EVENTS: SUNSET CINEMA Nothing says summer more than being outside under the stars watching a great movie. Join us this year on our Great Lawn and enjoy a great film on the big screen in the beautiful environment of Montalvo.

Ghostbusters (1984) July 25 • 8:30pm • Tickets $13-18 • Rated PG Three former parapsychology professors set up shop as a ghost removal service called the Ghostbusters. Together, they uncover an ever-growing population of specters in Manhattan, culminating in an epic showdown with a giant marshmallow man as the fate of New York City hangs in the balance.

Coco July 30 • 8:30pm • Tickets $13-18 • Rated PG In this heartwarming animated classic from Pixar, aspiring musician Miguel is confronted with his family’s ancestral ban on music. His own love of music leads him to the Land of the Dead to find his great-great-grandfather, a legendary singer.

The Birds August 27 • 8pm • Tickets $13-18 • Rated PG-13 This classic from master of suspense Alfred Hitchcock follows a wealthy San Francisco socialite pursuing a potential boyfriend to a small Northern California town that slowly takes a turn for the bizarre when birds of all kinds suddenly begin to attack people. for tickets and more information, visit

montalvoarts.org/cinema

if you enjoyed tonight’s performance...

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