Rider New Works 2022 Program

RIDER UNIVERSITY

School of Fine and Performing Arts

PLAYS WRITTEN, PERFORMED AND DESIGNED BY RIDER UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Kyle Metzger and Rose Freeman, guest directors Robin Shane, producer Playwrights Alisha Atkins, Tiffany Beckford, Madison Elliott, Blake Gonzales, Isabella Kramb, Spencer Petro, Carly Walton, Matt Zadera

Friday, March 25 | 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, March 26 | 2 p.m.

Saturday, March 26 | 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, March 27 | 2 p.m.

Yvonne Theater Rider University Lawrenceville, New Jersey

Directors’ Notes Theatre is an immediate artform. Most other art forms have some luxury of archival reference: painting, film, writing all capture the moment in which it was created. A film made in 2003 will always in some way be living in 2003. However, live theatre, regardless of when written, will live in the moment in which it is performed. Performing pieces written, edited and performed within the same moment of time brings to light this immediacy. The work is not translated into the now, but created in the now. The world responses seen in these plays are not just immediate in the performance, but the written word itself. Theatre is a meditation on impermanence: an experience that happens once only to live in the archives of our memories. This is where these new works get to live: in this fragile immediacy.

Each one of these plays tackles the hopes, grief, endurances and fears that have been urgently living within us in the very immediate time of “now,” freshly spoken, of the freshly written page and living (if just for a moment) with you in the now of Spring 2022.

—Rose Freeman

Storytelling is more than a form of entertainment: it is a means of survival.

100,000 years ago, a story about the Terrifying Saber-tooth Tiger! that attacked your neighbors helped keep you alive. People who told stories and people who listened survived. Thousands of years later, story is still the fabric of our existence.

You’ve probably heard dozens of stories in the last few hours before coming to the theatre– marathon running is dangerous... my friend should get a divorce... 11:11 make a wish!... Story is how we make sense of our world, bringing order to the chaos of reality so that we can survive.

Each story that these student theatre makers have created centers on people trying to make sense of themselves and the challenges they face. We bring you these stories with an abundance of joy–something so important to the creative process and harder to find in these uncertain times.

We are here–in this space together–to tell stories. How lucky are we?!

Let us share our joy for our craft with you. And if you know the words, sing along...

—Kyle Metzger

SPECIAL THANKS Dr. Sean McCarther: fight choreography Bridget Gum: script supervisor

SPECIAL EFFECTS This show includes large amounts of fake blood, simulated knife violence, loud sounds and bright, flashing lights.

Program The Proposal

by Tiffany Beckford

Counseling

by Isabella Kramb

Passed Connection

by Blake Gonzales

The King’s Choice

by Matt Zadera

Intermission Ups and Downs

by Madison Elliott

The French Lesson

by Carly Walton

Zombie Warriors

by Spencer Petro

The Perfect Eulogy

by Alisha Atkins

Cast PLAYS DIRECTED BY ROSE FREEMAN The Proposal

by Tiffany Beckford Mary

Sophia Porter

Susan

Liberty Ashe

Mike

Mike Ricciardone Counseling

by Isabella Kramb

Dominic

Sean McDonald

Bryce

David Langoski

Kennedy

Sophia Porter Passed Connection

by Blake Gonzales Javier Santos Benito

Patrick Alyssa

Liberty Ashe

Bartender

Aileen Pujols The King’s Choice

by Matt Zadera

Alex

Sean McDonald

Sabrina

Alexa Goyden

Steve

David Langoski

Brad

Javier Santos Benito

Coach

Liberty Ashe

Casey Annabel

Mike Ricciardone Isabelle Oliver

PLAYS DIRECTED BY KYLE METZGER Ups and Downs

by Madison Elliott Jessica

Nicole Duffy

Jason

Daniel Menjivar

Griffin

Nick Franki

Meredith

Wendy Heath The French Lesson

by Carly Walton

Noah

Juliette Eddings

Madison

Rachel Favetta

Librarian

Nicole Duffy Zombie Warriors

by Spencer Petro

Stella

Madeline Shaw

BND

Daniel Menjivar Wendy Heath

Mrs. Johnson Norah

Mack Regan

Paul

Nick Franki The Perfect Eulogy

by Alisha Atkins

Haddie

Meredith Bishop

Karen

Kate Harbison

Amy

Krystal Vaughan

Rebecca

Rachel Favetta

Artistic Staff and Crew Directors Production Stage Manager Stage Manager Assistant Stage Managers Producer Fight Coach/Intimacy Coach Technical Director Scenic Designers Costume Designers Associate Scenic Designers/ Props Coordinators Lighting Coordinator Lighting Designers

Sound Designers Wardrobe Supervisor Wardrobe Runner Lightboard Operator Sound Operators Prop Supervisor Prop Runner Spot Operator

Rose Freeman, Kyle Metzger Amanda Donnelly Emily Siegel Lindsay Clarke, Maddie Sullivan Robin Shane Dr. Sean McCarther Buck Linton Rylee Berger, Bella Mazzoni Lindsay Clarke, Jenni Profera, Emily Siegel, Gavin Wright Brinley Degwert, Lyle Greene, Madeleine Leonard, Bella Mazzoni, Sean McDonald Todd Loyd Tiffany Beckford, Paula Ciko, Lyle Greene, Josiah Jacoby, Scarlett Liput, Jaiden Patterson Jaiden Patterson, Samantha Schucht Sam Ringor Macy Champlin Scarlett Liput Sam Schucht/Jaiden Patterson David Isaacs Noemie Callanquin Aniky Salima

About the Cast & Artistic Staff LIBERTY ASHE (Susan/Alyssa/Coach) is a freshman B.F.A. Acting major with a minor in Sociology. This is her Rider mainstage debut.

MEREDITH BISHOP (Haddie) is a freshman Acting major making her Rider main stage debut.

NICOLE DUFFY (Jessica/Librarian) is a sophomore B.F.A. Musical Theatre major. Rider credits include Rider New Works 2021 (Sarah/Actor 2) and JRB Cabaret (RSTC). Professional credit: Heathers: The Musical (Heather McNamara). Film credit: Mistletoe in Montana (Lifetime; Laura singing voice-over).

JULIETTE NERO EDDINGS (Noah) is a sophomore B.F.A. Acting major. Rider credits include The Ungodly Hour radio play (multiple voices), Everybody (Kinship/ Strength), Pride and Prejudice (ASM), Pete(Her)Pan (Spot Op), Polaroid Stories (Stage Manager).

RACHEL FAVETTA (Rebecca/Madison) is a sophomore Acting major. Rider credits include It’s a Wonderful Life (Clarence), Everybody (Costumes) Professional credits include Paper-Mill Playhouse (Broadway Show Choir), Putnam County Spelling Bee (Theater Next Door).

NICK FRANKI (Griffin/Paul) is a freshman B.F.A. Acting and B.A. Technical Theatre double major. This is his first production at Rider University.

ALEXA GOYDEN (Sabrina) is a junior Acting and Communication Studies major.

Rider credits include Pride and Prejudice (Mrs. Bennet), Me Too Monologues (featured dancer) .

KATE HARBISON (Karen) is a freshman pursuing a B.F.A. in Acting for Film, Television, and Theatre and a B.A. in Dance Performance. Earlier this month she performed in Rider Dances 2022, and she is excited to be performing in her first mainstage play at Rider.

WENDY HEATH (Mrs. Johnson/Meredith/Funeral Attendee) is a Professor in Rider’s Psychology Department. Rider credit: The Vagina Monologues. Assistant Costume Designer for Rider Productions: Laughter on the 23rd Floor, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, My Favorite Year.

DAVID LANGOSKI (Steve/Bryce) is a Music Production major. He is excited to do his first show at Rider.

SEAN MCDONALD (Dominic/Alex) is a sophomore Technical Theatre and Music Production double major. This is his first Rider mainstage acting credit.

DANIEL MENJIVAR (Jason/BND) is a freshman B.F.A. Acting major. This is his first production at Rider.

ISABELLE OLIVER (Annabel) is a freshman Acting major appearing in her first main stage performance at Rider.

SOPHIA PORTER (Mary/Kennedy) is a freshman B.F.A. Acting in Film, Television, and Theatre major. This is her main stage debut.

AILEEN PUJOLS (Grace/Bartender) (she/her) is a freshman B.F.A. Acting in Film, Television, and Theater major.

MACKENZIE REGAN (Norah) is a freshman Liberal Arts and Sciences major.

This is her first Rider main stage production.

JAVIER SANTOS BENITO (Patrick/Brad) is a junior Acting and Film and Television double major. He is an exchange student from Spain, making his Rider University main stage debut.

MADELINE SHAW (Stella) is a sophomore Acting major and French minor.

Rider credits include Macbeth (Macduff), ISM: Fall Cabaret (Soloist; Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide).

MIKE RICCIARDONE (Mike/Casey) (he/him) is a junior dual major in Accounting & Finance. Credits include The Music Man (Harold Hill), 9 to 5 (Franklin Hart), and The Addams Family (Lucas Beineke).

KRYSTAL VAUGHAN (Amy) is a junior Popular Music & Theatre Studies double major. Rider credits: Shoulders (Singer).

BUCK LINTON (Technical Director) Between earning his M.F.A. in Scenography and Technical Design (Virginia Tech) and joining Rider as its Technical Director in 2012, he professionally produced nearly 200 productions with such venues as The Kennedy Center, Paper Mill Playhouse, Manhattan Theatre Club, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse and McCarter Theatre. Selected works include Travesties, Sleeping Beauty Wakes, Take Flight, Herringbone, Lookingglass Alice and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Falstaff, Die Zauberflöte, Pelléas et Mélisande, Dialogues des Carmélites, La Clemenza di Tito, Oreste, Sunjata Kamalenya, The Odyssey Experience, Die Fledermaus, Rigoletto, Turandot, Chicago, EDDA (Ping Chong & Sequentia Ensemble, international tour). Since then, he has produced over 100 productions for Rider University’s Westminster College of the Arts in theater, dance, and opera.

TODD LOYD (Lighting Designer) is the lighting director for Rider University’s Department of Theatre and Dance. He supervises the lighting for every performance that the department produces in addition to mentoring several students that assist in designing, hanging, focusing, and programming the lighting for each show. At Rider he has designed over 30 productions including plays, musicals, dance recitals, cabarets, and operas. Some of the highlights include Rider Dances: Moving in Our Community, Pippin, Pride and Prejudice, Everybody, Bright Star, Hair,

Heathers The Musical, The Theory of Relativity, Once On This Island, She Kills Monsters, Our Town, A Chorus Line and Metamorphoses. Other selected professional projects include Rock of Ages and Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery (Forestburgh Playhouse), Journey to Oz (Children’s Theatre of Charlotte and Experiential Theater Company), and The Gun Show (Passage Theatre).

DR. SEAN MCCARTHER (Fight Choreographer) graduated from Indiana University with a Doctorate in Vocal Performance and Pedagogy. He currently serves as Associate Professor of Voice at Westminster Choir College and Acting Chair of the Theater and Dance Department. Dr. McCarther has presented internationally, nationally, and regionally on embodied performance, peak performance psychology, motor learning, and extreme theatrical emotions. He is an advanced actor combatant with the Society of American Fight Directors and the Academy of Fight Directors Canada and is working toward certification as an intimacy choreographer. Previous Rider violence choreography credits include Polaroid Stories, These Seven Sicknesses, Oklahoma, Heathers, She Kills Monsters, and Spring Awakening. Other violence and intimacy choreography credits include Next to Normal and Spring Awakening (Westminster Players), Romeo and Juliet (The Lawrenceville School) and Pirates of Penzance (Pennsbury High School).

ROBIN SHANE (Producer) is an Assistant Professor of Theatre in the School of Fine and Performing Arts. Robin is usually a costume designer, and recent costume designs include Rider Dances: Here We R, Polaroid Stories and Pride and Prejudice at Rider, and OK Trenton at Passage Theatre in Trenton, NJ. Regionally she has designed costumes in New York, Philadelphia and regionally in such varied theaters as Theatre Exile, Philadelphia Artist’s Collective, EgoPo, Passage Theater, Shakespeare Theater of NJ, The National Constitution Center, The Revision Theater, the Jean Cocteau Repertory Theater, Soho Rep and The Harrisburg Opera. Robin holds an M.F.A. from the Tisch School of the Arts and a B.A. in Theater and Psychology from Wesleyan University.

About the Student Artistic Crew TIFFANY BECKFORD (Lighting Designer) is a junior Musical Theatre and Technical Theatre double major. Recent Rider University tech credits include Polaroid Stories (Sound Designer), Pete(Her)Pan (Light Board Operator), Rider New Works 2021 (Playwright), Hänsel und Gretel (Makeup Crew), Rider New Works 2020 (Playwright), Bright Star (Spotlight Operator), and Anything Goes: A Tap Cabaret (Assistant Director).

RYLEE BERGER (Scenic Designer/Coordinator) (she/her) is a sophomore Theatre Design and Technology and Arts and Entertainment Industries Management double major. Recent Rider University Credits include Polaroid Stories (PSM), Pete(HER) Pan (SM), Pride and Prejudice (SM; Stage Carpenter), Working (SM), and Monstersongs (SM).

PAULA CIKO (Lighting Designer) is a sophomore majoring in Theatre Design and Technology with a concentration in Lighting Design. Her technical credits include Monstersongs (Projection Op), Pippin (Light Board Op), Hänsel und Gretel (Light Board Op) and Cabaret (Assistant Lighting Designer).

LINDSAY CLARKE (Assistant Stage Manager/Costume Designer) is a junior Management/Leadership and Design/Technical Theater double major. Recent Rider University Credits include: Pippin (Wardrobe Supervisor).

BRINLEY DEGWERT (Associate Scenic/Props Manager) is a freshman Musical Theatre major. Professional credits include Christian Bechdel in Fun Home at the American Stage and Gandry in the world premiere of Ready, Steady, Yeti, Go! AMANDA DONNELLY (Production Stage Manager) is a junior Musical Theatre and Technical Theatre double major. Previous Rider Stage Management credits include A Grand Night for Singing, MAD About You Cabaret, Steel Pier, It’s a Wonderful Life Radio Play, The Ungodly Hour Radio Play, Monstersongs and Pride and Prejudice.

LYLE GREENE (Lighting Designer) is a junior Musical Theatre and Technical Theatre double major from Long Island, NY. Rider credits include Monstersongs (Sasquatch), ISM (Company) and Polaroid Stories (Dionysus).

JOSIAH JACOBY (Lighting Designer) is a junior Dance Performance and Acting major. Rider credits include Pippin (Asst. Lighting Designer), Rider Dances 2022 (Asst.

Lighting Designer), Hamlet (Light Board Op.), Hide and Seek (Lighting Designer), Swingin’ in the Seasons 2021 (Lighting Designer).

BELLA MAZZONI (Scenic Designer) is a junior Technical Theatre and Psychology double major, concentrating in scenic design. Past Rider crew credits include Pippin (scenic designer & props team); Hide & Seek (scenic designer); Rider New Works (scenic & props designer); Monstersongs (props master); Everybody (props master); The Wolves (assistant stage manager); and Hair (props coordinator).

SEAN MCDONALD (Associate Scenic/Props Manager) is a sophomore Technical Theatre and Music Production double major. Rider credits include Rider New Works 2021 (Stage Manager), Everybody (Stage Manager), Pippin (Sound Board Op), Pride and Prejudice (Sound Designer/Live Mixer), Hide and Seek (Sound Designer/ Live Mixer/ Head Carpenter).

JAIDEN PATTERSON (Lighting Designer/Sound Designer) is a sophomore Theatre Design & Technology major. Rider credits include Polaroid Stories (Light Board Operator), Pete (Her)Pan (Projections Operator), Pride & Prejudice (Props Manager), Pippin (Sound Runner).

EMILY PORTER SIEGEL (Stage Manager/Costume Designer) is a freshman B.F.A. Acting and English Literature double major. Their previous Rider credits include: Pippin (Assistant Stage Manager), Hänsel und Gretel (Assistant Stage Manager), and Pete(Her)Pan (Stagehand).

JENNI PROFERA (Costume Designer) is a sophomore B.F.A. Acting major and works as a mainstage costumer in the theatre department. Rider credits include Monstersongs (ASM), Everybody (SM), Dance Day 2021 (SM), Pete(Her)Pan (Tootles).

Professional credits include Noises Off (Brooke Ashton). When not costuming, Jenni also enjoys acting, directing, playwriting, stage managing, and cooking.

SAMANTHA SCHUCHT (Sound Designer) is a freshman Theatre Design and Technology and Arts and Entertainment Industry Management double major.

Her recent Rider credits include ISM (Assistant Stage Manager/Sound Board Op.).

MADDIE SULLIVAN (Assistant Stage Manager) is a freshman Theater major with a concentration in Contemporary Theater Practice. Previous Rider stage management credits include Hänsel und Gretel Westminster Opera Production.

GAVIN WRIGHT (Costume Designer) is a freshman Musical Theatre major.

Rider credits include Polaroid Stories (Assistant Costume Designer) and Pride and Prejudice (Wardrobe Runner). He also works around the New Jersey area as a Showgirl and Drag Designer!

Guest Directors ROSE FREEMAN (Director) is a staging director, book writer, dramaturge, and professor specializing in new work and music theatre. Zie has directed operas, musicals, plays, hip hop concerts, and many other types of theatrical endeavors.

More information about Rose Freeman can be found at rosefreeman.org.

KYLE METZGER (Director) (he/him) is a Philly based theatre director, deviser and educator. He has over a decade of experience directing and devising new plays in NYC and New England. Recent directing credits include WYCK Live! (Philadelphia, PA), Murder for Two (Playhouse on Park – Hartford CT), Of Mice and Men, The Game’s Afoot (Monomoy Theatre – Chatham MA) Macbeth, Twelfth Night (Stages on the Sound, NYC). Kyle holds an M.F.A. in Directing from UNC Greensboro and a B.F.A. in Music Theatre from The Hartt School. He currently teaches theatre at Rowan University, and will be directing the pigeon by Jonathan Edmonson – the debut production by queer theatre company The Strides Collective – in Philly this October. kylemetzger.com

Westminster College of the Arts

2083 Lawrenceville Road Lawrenceville, NJ 08648

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