Clyde's Program

January 31 – February 18, 2024

WHERE THE ARTS TAKE CENTER STAGE As a VIP Platinum Sponsor, Syracuse University proudly supports Syracuse Stage, the creative arts and the theatre’s role as a cultural and educational resource for students and our community.

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syracuse.edu

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Br a v o t o Sy r a c u s e St a g e

for entertaining and enlighting our community w i t h o u t s t a n d i n g t h e a t e r, Ca t h e d r a l Ca n d l e Co m p a n y i s h o n o re d t o s u p p o r t your work.

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TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S 9 | Letter from the Artistic Director 11 | Title 13 | Cast & Credits Taking Photos in the Theatre 14 | 50th Anniversary Celebration 20 | Dramaturgical Notes 28 | Cast & Artistic Team Bios 37 | Who We Are Our Mission Our Vision Our Core Values In the Community Anti-Racism Pledge 39 | Land Acknowledgement About Syracuse Stage 40 | Board of Trustees 41 | Emeritus Trustees Education Advocacy Board Young Adult Council 42 | Corporate, Foundation & Government Sponsors 43 | Sponsor Statements 44 | 50th Anniversary Campaign Gifts 45 | Individual, Corporate, Foundation, & Government Gifts 46 | In Honor of 50 | Planned Giving Matching Gift Program 52 | Syracuse Stage Staff

PROGRAM BOOK Editor: Matthew Nerber Advertising: Joanna Penalva Layout: Jonathan Hudak Cover Artwork: Brenna Merritt

Clyde's | January 31 - February 18, 2024 The Syracuse Stage program is produced six times a year.

For advertising rates and information contact Joanna Penalva at 315-443-2636. Printed by QMC Group.

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The Slutzker Family Foundation is proud to be the Presenting Sponsor for the 50th Anniversary Season, celebrating 50 years of incredible storytelling in the Central New York community.

Born in Budapest, Hungary in 1917, Lillian Slutzker was a survivor. After fleeing Nazi control for England, she met her husband at a USO dance and later returned to his hometown of Rome, New York.

She dedicated her life to bettering her community. The Foundation’s purpose is to carry on her incredible legacy and fulfill her passion for Judaism, education, the arts, and enriching the community.

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LET TER FROM THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

DEAR FRIENDS,

 ROBERT HUPP. PHOTO: BRENNA MERRITT.

Welcome to our production of Lynn Nottage’s Clyde’s. We’re glad you’re here. We’re pleased to present Clyde’s in partnership with our colleagues from Portland Center Stage in Oregon. You’ll recall we most recently partnered with PCS for our production of Native Gardens in 2019. Partnering with other non profit theatres allows Syracuse Stage to share costs and resources, which is vitally important in this post pandemic climate.

You’ll also note that this production is sponsored, in part, by the Syracuse Stage Board of Trustees. Our trustees–43 members strong, representing our Central New York community and Syracuse University–are the theatre’s core volunteer leadership group. They are Stage’s biggest fans and among its most generous supporters. Many have served on the Stage board for decades. We look to our board for guidance and insight; their oversight of Stage’s fiscal health is central to the vitality of the organization.

of the past five decades. Our hats are off to each one for their commitment to the promise of professional, non profit theatre in Central New York.

Thank you for joining us for this production of Clyde’s. We hope you enjoy it, and we look forward to seeing you again soon here at Syracuse Stage!

With warmest regards,

Over the course of this 50th anniversary season, we’ve celebrated various individuals and groups who’ve made Stage what it is today. No group is more deserving of our applause than the hundreds of individuals who have served as Stage trustees over the course

Robert Hupp Artistic Director

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50th

ANNIVERSARY

THE

315.443.3275 SYRACUSESTAGE.ORG

2023/2024 SEASON

WHAT THE CONSTITUTION MEANS TO ME

LADY DAY AT EMERSON’S BAR AND GRILL

By Heidi Schreck Directed by Melissa Crespo SEPT 13 - OCT 1, 2023 A Wholly Impactful and Timely Theatre Experience

By Lanie Robertson Musical Arrangements by Danny Holgate Directed by Jade King Carroll OCT 18 - NOV 5, 2023 Experience the Soulful Music of Billie Holiday

Boundary-breaking show traces the relationship between four generations of women and the founding document that shaped their lives. Hilarious, hopeful, and honest!

“Every American should see this play!” – The Seattle Times

An intimate look at Billie Holiday’s life story told through the songs that made her famous.

“The richest jazz singing in town.” – The New York Times

A CHRISTMAS CAROL

By Charles Dickens | Adapted

by Richard Hellesen and David de Berry with music orchestration by Gregg Coffin Directed by Melissa Rain Anderson | Circus and Phantom Staging by 2 Ring Circus | CoProduced with the Syracuse University Department of Drama NOV 24 – DEC 31, 2023 The Greatest Ghost Story Ever Told!

Shines a light on the power of kindness and love in this uplifting tale of Mr. Scrooge and his journey to redemption. Share the season with the people you love!

“A beautiful, timeless message of generosity’s triumph over greed.” – Chicago Tribune

CLYDE’S

By Lynn Nottage | Directed by Chip Miller | Co-produced with Portland Center Stage JAN 31 - FEB 18, 2024 Feel Good Comic-Drama Takes a Shot at Redemption This masterful and delicious new ‘dramedy’ has it all – wit, heart, snappy dialogue, big surprises, and the search for the perfect sandwich – deeply felt, quirky, and urgent.

"An absolutely thrilling experience. Laugh-out-loud funny!" – The Hollywood Reporter

AGATHA CHRISTIE’S MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS

ONCE

By Agatha Christie Adapted by Ken Ludwig Directed by Robert Hupp MAR 13 - 31, 2024 From the Undisputed Queen of Crime

Book by Enda Walsh | Music and Lyrics by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová | Based on the motion picture written and directed by John Carney Directed by Melissa Crespo MAY 1 - 19, 2024 Award-Winning Emotionally Captivating Musical

Wherever famed detective Poirot goes, murder is never far behind! An avalanche stops the famed Orient Express, and Poirot must solve the on-board murder before the killer strikes again!

The exuberant spirit of a lively pub session meets an out-of-theordinary love story in this irresistible musical based on the beloved indie film. Winner of 8 Tony Awards, including Best Musical.

“Glamourous and enthralling from the beginning to the end.”

– BroadwayWorld

“Hearts soar and music shimmers in this deeply-felt, generous musical.” – The Guardian

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IN COLLABORATION WITH PORTLAND CENTER STAGE PRESENTS

BY

Lynn Nottage D I R E C T E D BY

Chip Miller SCENIC DESIGN

COSTUME DESIGN

LIGHTING DESIGN

SOUND DESIGN

Britton Mauk

Dominique Fawn Hill

Marika Kent

Phil Johnson

HAIR AND WIG DESIGN

FIGHT CHOREOGRAPHER

E M OT I O N A L S U P P O R T C OAC H

I N T I M ACY C O N S U LTA N T

Dylinn Andrew

Alec Barbour

Adam Stevens

Teniece Divya Johnson

D R A M AT U R G

S TAG E M A N AG E R

CAS T I N G

Kamilah Bush

Bianca Mercado-Boller

Bass/Valle Casting

Robert Hupp

Jill A. Anderson

Melissa Crespo

Kyle Bass

Artistic Director

Managing Director

Associate Artistic Director

Resident Playwright

PRESENTING SPONSOR

SEASON SPONSORS

SPONSOR

MEDIA SPONSOR

PAY-WHAT-YOU-WILL SPONSOR

Clyde's is presented by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc., New York.

January 31 - February 18, 2024

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COMMUNITY PARTNER

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Today, these individuals are doctors, lawyers, teachers, nurses, entrepreneurs, police officers, firefighters, architects, and much, much more.

Will you help us help the next On Point for College student?

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CAST (in alphabetical order)

Pascal Arquimedes............................................................Rafael Orion Bradshaw.................................................................Jason Lauren Steele....................................................................Letitia Andrea Vernae...................................................................Clyde Setareki Wainiqolo...................................................Montrellous

S TA N D B Y S Standbys never substitute for the listed players unless a specific announcement is made at the time of performance.

For Clyde, Leticia – Ahmanee Simmons; For Montrellous, Rafael – Donovan Stanfield; For Jason – Tanner Efinger

ADDITIONAL CREDITS Knife Consultant: Elias Kushner Student Assistant Directors: Micaiah John†, Jakobi Oliver† 1st Production Assistant: Em Piraino 2nd Production Assistant: Erin C Brett Wig and Wardrobe Supervisor: Dylinn Andrew Wardrobe: Caitlin Radziewski, Emelina White Electrician/Board Op: Alex Malli Sound Assistant: Garrett Frink

TA K I N G P H O T O S I N T H E T H E AT R E Audience members may take photos in the theatre before and after the performance and during intermission. If you post photos on social media or elsewhere, you must credit the production's director and designers by including the names below.

Please note: Photos are strictly prohibited during the performance. Photos of the stage are not permitted if an actor is present. Video and audio recording is not permitted at any time in the theatre. Photo credit: The Syracuse Stage production of Clyde's | By Lynn Nottage | Directed by Chip Miller | Co-Produced with Portland Center Stage | Scenic Design by Britton Mauk | Costume Design by Dominique Fawn Hill | Lighting Design by Marika Kent | Sound Design by Phil Johnson | Hair and Wig Design by Dylinn Andrew

The Actors and Stage Manager 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 is a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, a national theatrical labor union. Clyde's is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature. †Student, Syracuse University Department of Drama.

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volume 4

CELEBRATING

50

THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

This production of Lynn Nottage’s Clyde’s is sponsored by the Syracuse Stage Board of Trustees. Each season the Board, currently 43 members, selects one play to specifically support. The selection represents a kind of endorsement of artistic choice and is but one of many ways the Board supports Syracuse Stage. If the technical and administrative staffs are the strength behind the scenes of Syracuse Stage, the Board is the support behind the staff.

As with most not-for-profit arts organizations, the Syracuse Stage Board of Trustees provides organizational oversight and plays a significant role in fundraising. With Syracuse Stage generating only about 40% of its operating costs through Box Office revenue, fundraising is indispensable to maintaining financial stability. The Board is vital to those efforts (as are the many patrons who generously contribute to Syracuse Stage).

A distinguishing characteristic of the Stage Board is its function in the theatre’s partnership with Syracuse University. Seven members of the Board are University employees, including the dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts and a senior University administrator, who serves as Board president. Five others are appointed by the 14 | 50th Anniversary 14

1980  EXTERIOR RENOVATION PHOTO DOCUMENTING THE CONVERSION OF THE OLD REGENT MOVIE HOUSE INTO THE JOHN D. ARCHBOLD THEATRE, WHICH OPENED IN TIME FOR THE 1980 – 1981 SEASON.

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Eventually, a total of $1,230,000 was raised, with the largest single contribution, $450,000, coming from John Dana Archbold, for whom the theatre is named. Groundbreaking for the new theatre took place on March 3, 1980.

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University. Their presence on the Board certifies the value of the partnership and ensures that the relationship continues to enhance both institutions. Certainly, the resources and advice available to Stage leadership through University and community trustees assisted greatly in theatre’s ability to continue operation and produce plays during the pandemic.

The history of the Syracuse Stage Board as an entity actually pre-dates the founding of Syracuse Stage. In 1961, then Department of Drama chair Gerald F. Reidenbaugh formed a community-oriented summer theatre called The New Playhouse, which performed in the old Re-

gent Theatre, acquired by the University in 1958. It was Reidenbaugh’s plan to use professional actors in the new company.

This created a need for an administrative apparatus to manage relations with Actors’ Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers. On January 25, 1962, the New York State Education Department approved a provisional charter for the S.U. Theatre Corporation, which is still the official legal name of Syracuse Stage. The charter established a five-member board of trustees: Clark D. Ahlberg, president; Francis A. Wingate, vice president; Alexander N. Charters, secretary; Victor J. Conway, treasurer; and Clifford L. Winters. The

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1980  INTERIOR RENOVATION PHOTO DOCUMENTING THE CONVERSION OF THE OLD REGENT MOVIE HOUSE INTO THE JOHN D. ARCHBOLD THEATRE, WHICH OPENED IN TIME FOR THE 1980 – 1981 SEASON.

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Arthur Storch paid tribute to Sutton in a program note during the Archbold’s inaugural season, writing in part: ‘Dan’s life-energy which I felt in his presence was palpable. It was an energy that made me more aware of the excitement, the commitment, the passion of what it is to be fully alive in this world.’

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charter stated: “The purposes for which such corporation is formed are to promote and further the education of the general public by producing, sponsoring, and fostering literary, musical, and dramatic productions of high artistic and cultural value and to develop in the public an enhanced appreciation of art, drama, and music.”

fining the Board’s role and opening access to new resources and talent to work on Stage’s behalf. The significance of this change became apparent in 1978 when one of the new community Board members, Daniel C. Sutton, agreed to chair a capital campaign to raise funds to transform the old Regent movie house into what is now the Archbold Theatre.

When founding artistic director Arthur Storch presented his first season in 1974, the Board was still made up of only University appointees and remained so until the fourth season, 1976/77, when Charles Schoeneck and Sandy Dietz became the first community members, thereby rede-

Sutton worked with then chancellor Melvin A. Eggers to develop a plan whereby the Syracuse Stage board would raise half of the projected $800,000 cost and the University would provide the rest. Eventually, a total of $1,230,000 was raised, with the largest single contribution, $450,000, coming

50th Anniversary | 17 17

2023  KATE ABBRUZZESE AND EMMA RAMOS IN ESPEJOS: CLEAN,

THE FIRST DUAL LANGUAGE (SPANISH / ENGLISH) PLAY PRODUCED AT SYRACUSE STAGE. ESPEJOS: CLEAN WAS SUPPORTED

BY THE BOARD IN THE 2022 – 2023 SEASON. BY | ESCRITA POR CHRISTINE QUINTANA. SPANISH TRANSLATION AND ADAPTATION BY | TRADUCCIÓN Y ADAPTACIÓN AL ESPAÑOL POR PAULA ZELAYA CERVANTES. DIRECTED BY | DIRIGIDA POR MELISSA CRESPO. IN ASSOCIATION WITH | EN COLABORACIÓN CON HARTFORD STAGE PHOTO BY | FOTO POR T. CHARLES ERICKSON.

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Each season the Board, currently 43 members, selects one play to specifically support. The selection represents a kind of endorsement of artistic choice and is but one of many ways the Board supports Syracuse Stage.

th 18 || 50 18 50th Anniversary Anniversary 18

”

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The purposes for which such corporation is formed are to promote and further the education of the general public by producing, sponsoring, and fostering literary, musical, and dramatic productions of high artistic and cultural value and to develop in the public an enhanced appreciation of art, drama, and music.

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- 1962 CHARTER FOR THE

S.U. THEATRE CORPORATION

from John Dana Archbold, for whom the theatre is named. Groundbreaking for the new theatre took place on March 3, 1980.

Sadly, Sutton passed away before the project was completed. The atrium lobby that connects the Archbold with the Storch Theatre bears his name, the Sutton Pavilion. Arthur Storch paid tribute to Sutton in a program note during the Archbold’s inaugural season, writing in part: “Dan’s life-energy which I felt in his presence was palpable. It was an energy that made me more aware of the excitement, the commitment, the passion of what it is to be fully alive in this world.”

The commitment that Storch notes, from Sutton and his fellow board members, has certainly had long last-

ing impact on Syracuse Stage, a once in the lifetime of an organization achievement. But whatever the goal, the underlying idea of commitment to Stage, to its success and its mission in the community, has defined the very best of the board and its members through 50 years. Many board members have given generously of their time, their money, their expertise, and their good will.

Mostly, what they receive is a heartfelt thank you offered far from center stage: that and perhaps (although they may not know it) when the audience rises to their feet to bestow an ovation on a company of actors, some of the applause goes to them.

–Joseph Whelan

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 LYNN NOTTAGE. PHOTO: LYNN SAVARESE.

LYNN NOTTAGE: ON PLAYWRITING

“I think that the first piece of storytelling that inspired me was my grandmother who was one of the great raconteurs. She was a master storyteller, and from the time I was really young we all sat rapt at her knees.”

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“I grew up in Brooklyn, in a multicultural community, and so I was in dialogue with lots of people the moment I stepped outside of my door.

We were economically diverse, and we were racially diverse. I think of my audience as those folks who still live on my block.”

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I can say what I think the American theatre should strive to be, which I think is a reflection of the beauty and diversity of this culture. I think that we fail to live up to it, but I think that’s what American theatre should be: a real reflection of what’s happening today.

“I think of myself as a playwright who is socially engaged. It’s important. I get very frustrated when I go to the theatre and it feels like we’re in some sort of bubble that has no relation to what’s going on in the world. I don’t understand it. I don’t understand how young playwrights choose not to be actively in conversation with the culture. I don’t understand how theatergoers can go to the theatre and not want to have more active and rigorous conversations with what they’re seeing on the stage.”

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“In all my plays, I’m trying to figure out how someone who feels marginalized, invisible, can at the same time be powerful and self-possessed. My characters are fighting to be seen in a world that fundamentally doesn’t want to recognize their power.”

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“I recently had a revelation about this because I was just like, ‘Why am I so interested, why do I constantly want to tell stories about working people?’

Number one, I’m a working person. I don’t think that folks often think of artists as working people. We’re folks who’ve experienced a lot of economic hardship and we work very hard for very little reward. There’s a real connection between what we do as artists, craftspeople, and folks who are working in factories and working for minimum wage. We understand that. That’s just the bottom line. I recall when I was growing up, we had some hardship in my life and our circumstances changed very, very quickly.

“I watched my mother who was this incredible woman having to work 24/7.

She’d get up at six in the morning, she’d be out the door and she didn’t finish working until 9 and 10 o’clock at night. That as a child really makes an imprint. I think I wanted to tell her story and the story of my grandparents and the people who I encountered who were working people. I thought: I don’t see those stories that often. I don’t see the people like my family drawn in ways that are threedimensional and compassionate.”

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LYNN NOTTAGE: ON CLYDE'S “[Clyde’s] really came about from the work and interviews that I was doing while I was researching my plays Sweat and Ruined in Pennsylvania. I came across so many people who were open and generous and who also happened to be formerly incarcerated.

I began listening to their stories and many of them were incredibly heartbreaking. I want to figure out how can I tell this story about folks who are in limbo, in a liminal space who really feel stuck and trapped because of their circumstances.

“Many of the folks that I interviewed had been out of prisons from anywhere from a week to a year and they had one thing in common; they kept hitting up against the wall when they were looking for opportunity, whether it’d be housing or whether it’d be jobs or whether it was reintegrating with their families.

They hit that box that you have to check when you’re going for employment that says you were incarcerated, and it became this door that slammed in their faces. I was really interested in how do people resurrect their lives? How do they get out?”

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“One of the things that I love about humor is that it is disarming, it's one of those things that you just said, but laughter also is this fantastic conduit which you can filter through truths. I think that an audience when they're laughing, in some ways, they're more open, the mouth is open, the body is open and relaxed. I think that they're more ready and willing to engage with complicated ideas.”

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Oh, it’s lovely. When you just think about savory and sweet and dissonant and harmonious, and the sandwich really can be all of those things. You can have a grilled cheese sandwich and you can put some chutney on it, and a slice of bacon, and suddenly you have like a small piece of heaven.

“I was trying to find the perfect metaphor for creativity, for how people reconstitute their lives, and the sandwich—I don’t know why or how it came to me—but it’s something that I love. And food is the one thing that we can all unite around regardless of where we are. I began thinking of the sandwich really as a way in which people can reinvent themselves and the great thing about the sandwich, and I think it’s something that is said in the play, is that it’s one of the few things in which you can combine relatively ordinary ingredients and have this extraordinary culinary outcome.

Sources: The Paris Review (Fall 2023 interview

by Christina Anderson), The Interval (October 2015 interviewed by Victoria Myers), The United States of Anxiety, WNYC Studio (January 2022, interviewed by Kai Wright).

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WRITING NEW FUTURES PROJECT MEND, CLYDE’S, AND “THE CONTEXTUAL NOW” In 2017, 113 million American adults had an immediate family member impacted by the criminal justice system (FWD.us, 2018). While the crisis that is mass incarceration is undeniable, we tend to pay less attention to formerly incarcerated people, as they are dispersed within various disenfranchised communities across the country after they are released.

Census Bureau data shows three decades of “persistent poverty” in 23 census tracts in Onondaga County (Tampone, 2023).

A quarter of the residents in state prison from Syracuse hail from four of the poorest neighborhoods in the city with the highest number of Black residents, and there are 864 people in state prison per 100,000 city residents (Wildra and Encalada-Malinowski, 2022). In one of the poorest and most racially segregated cities in the United States, this population represents a community formed through social and economic hardship.

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In some respects, it is a community, as we see in Clyde’s, formed through struggle, in which basics such as a job and a home can be hard to come by.

Project Mend supports formerly incarcerated people and their families in Syracuse, New York, as they struggle to rebuild their lives despite seemingly insurmountable hurdles. The initiative consists of two parts: Mend Syracuse, a publishing apprenticeship for justiceimpacted people, and Mend, a journal featuring the works of people impacted by mass incarceration. Both components emphasize the power of writing to bring about change, exploring how individuals learn to write themselves into new identities and new lives.

When formerly incarcerated writers and their families compose against the stigma of mass incarceration, we see efforts to write new futures and disrupt

Project Mend supports formerly incarcerated people and their families in Syracuse, New York, as they struggle to rebuild their lives despite seemingly insurmountable hurdles. the totalizing rhetoric of the prisonindustrial complex. In Clyde’s, we see a different type of composition, a sandwich rather than a piece of writing. Yet, in both, we are drawn toward being interested in the processes of making and remaking lives in ways both big and small.

 ABOVE: MEND TEAM

PATRICK W. BERRY, FÂTIMA BINGS MARTINÉZ, BRIAN T. SHAW, AND TROY WHITE

Too often, programs for the incarcerated or the formerly incarcerated focus narrowly on recidivism, reducing education-

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al programming to a sole focus on upward mobility. This trend is not confined to prisons, as institutions of higher learning often emphasize the utility of what is learned over the human experience of learning and building community.

Despite the restoration of Pell Grants that once again makes college possible for incarcerated people, the challenges facing this community and their families persist, as resources for education and the humanities after prison are limited (Kenner, 2023). Even with a record-low unemployment rate in the United States, more than 60 percent of those leaving prison are unemployed one year later (Wang and Bertram, 2022). For decades, researchers have noted that incarcerated people tend to lack sufficient literacy skills, often connecting this to poverty (Haigler et al., 1994). This crisis has prompted the offering of remedies that fall back on basic-skills initiatives in prison such as GED training, which, while important, are not enough. Project Mend recognizes how the humanities—through the use of reading and writing as ways of understanding the world—can help.

It was in prison where social critic and author Earl Shorris (2013) found inspiration for the Clemente Course in the Humanities, a 1995 program that offered to the poor humanities courses in five humanistic disciplines wherein students explore the great works of literature, art history, moral philosophy, and American history. “Why do you think people are poor?” he recalled asking one woman who was incarcerated at Bedford Hills. Rather than speaking of “jobs and money,” she spoke of the

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“moral life of downtown,” which she explained could be built by providing children with access to the cultural capital—the “plays, museums, concerts, lectures”—that they were often denied.

Shorris (2013) rightly underscores how engagement with the humanities is a social justice issue.

In my book, Doing Time, Writing Lives: Refiguring Literacy and Higher Education in Prison, I offer “the contextual now,” a term that urges a focus on learning in the present moment as a way to understand community-building and assess initiatives like Project Mend.

Such efforts are essential, as are the humanities more broadly, in combating dehumanizing rhetoric that impacts this population. To that end, Project Mend incorporates programming on interpretative writing, philosophy, literature, and history.

My work with the incarcerated and the formerly incarcerated is also personal, informed by my own experience reconnecting in 2021 with my then 57-yearold cousin Peter, who, like my father and my uncles, had spent most of his adult life struggling with addiction and incarceration. Released from prison to a hotel in New York City, Peter found himself in a space where, as he explained, he did not even have to go out the door to get drugs. Within days of his release, Peter relapsed and suffered a stroke, and he is now in a nursing facility in the Bronx, struggling to find the words to tell his story. During a series of meetings with him, I began to see the value of documentary film as a storytelling medium, and I have worked with Peter to create short documentaries about his life.

This attention to reflection and aspects of being human, I think, is at the heart of Clyde’s, as seen in the exchanges between the characters and how they illustrate the power of everyday experiences as they begin to really see one other, to recognize their shared humanity, to reflect on their mistakes and realize the possibilities for writing themselves into new futures.

...

Patrick W. Berry is an associate professor of writing and rhetoric at Syracuse University and faculty advisor for Project Mend. He is the author of Doing Time, Writing Lives: Refiguring Literacy and Higher Education in Prison (2018, Southern Illinois University Press). He completed his doctoral work in the Center for Writing Studies and Department of English at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Project Mend is made possible through collaboration with the Center for Community Alternatives (CCA) and through an HNY Post-Incarceration Humanities Partnership, which is generously supported by the Mellon Foundation. Additionally, the project has been supported at Syracuse University by the Engaged Humanities Network; the Humanities Center; the SOURCE; the Department of Writing Studies, Rhetoric, and Composition; and a CUSE research grant.

Since 2022, Project Mend has partnered with CCA to build a network of formerly incarcerated individuals and their family members committed to writing, storytelling, and the humanities. CCA is a private notfor-profit agency whose mission is to promote reintegrative justice and reduced reliance on incarceration through advocacy, services, and public policy development in pursuit of civil and human rights across New York.

Berry, Patrick W. 2018. Doing Time, Writing Lives: Refiguring Literacy and Higher Education in Prison.

Southern Illinois University Press.

FWD.us. 2018. “Every Second: The Impact of the Incarceration Crisis on America’s Families.” https://everysecond.fwd.us/#chapter1-6.

Haigler, Karl, Caroline Wolf Harlow, Patricia E. O’Connor, and Anne Campbell. 1994. Literacy Behind Prison Walls: Profiles of the Prison Population from the National Adult Literacy Survey.

Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement. https://nces.ed.gov/pubs94/94102.pdf.

Kenner, Max. 2023, Nov. 17. “Something Wonderful Is Happening in American Prisons. Really.” New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/17/opinion/college-prisons.html.

Shorris, Earl. 2013. The Art of Freedom: Teaching the Humanities to the Poor. New York: Norton.

Tampone, Kevin. 2023. “See the 23 Places in Onondaga County Plagued by ‘Persistent Poverty’ for Decades.” Syracuse.com. https://www.syracuse.com/data/2023/05 /see-the-23-places-in-onondaga-county-plagued-by-persistent-poverty-for-decades.html.

Wang, Leah, and Wanda Bertram. 2022. “New Data on Formerly Incarcerated People’s Employment Reveal Labor Market Injustices.” Prison Policy Initiative. https://www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2022/02/08/employment.

Wildra, Emily, and Nick Encalada-Malinowski. 2022. “Where People in Prison Come From: The Geography of Mass Incarceration in New York.” Prison Policy Initiative.

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CAST Pascal Arquimedes (Rafael). Syracuse Stage Debut! Broadway: Clyde’s (u/s, Second Stage), Regional: Party People (Actor’s Theatre of Louisville), I and You (Portland Stage Company), others. Television: Blue Bloods, Awkwafina is Nora from Queens, Lioness. IG: @pascal_arquimedes Orion Bradshaw (Jason) is a Storyteller, Licensed Teacher, Equity Facilitator and Social Justice Advocate; he is a proud member of the Actors’ Equity, National Education, and Oregon Education Associations. He holds a BFA in Theatre Arts and a Minor in Shakespeare Studies from Southern Oregon University (SOU). Orion spent six seasons as an Actor and Teacher for the renowned Oregon Shakespeare Festival, relocating to his beloved Portland in 2011 to co-found Post5 Theatre, a modern Classics company. He then earned his Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) degree from his alma mater SOU in 2019, while also training with the Racial Equity Coalition, among others. Orion has been a professional Performer and Teacher for over 16 years, and currently serves as a licensed Substitute Teacher for Portland Oregon area schools, as well as an EDI Facilitator with Matthew Reynolds Consulting, LLC. He humbly hopes that this powerful Story sparks deep emotion, thought and dialogue within you and your community. May our Learning never cease! www.mrrconsulting.org/ www.facebook.com/thebardparty Lauren Steele (Letitia) is a multidisciplinary artist from Portland, Oregon with a BFA in Theatre from Southern Methodist University. Some of her favorite roles to date include: Susan in Tick…Tick…Boom! and Jeannie in Hair at Portland Center Stage, #13 in The Wolves at Dallas Theatre Center and Ann in What I Learned in Paris with Penumbra Theatre and Portland Playhouse. Also an accomplished vocalist and songwriter, Lauren recently released her first full-length album Happy Girl under her musical stage name Lo Steele. Named one of Willamette Week’s “Best New Bands” of 2022, Lauren recently had the privilege of opening for Tank and the Bangas at Revolution Hall, and looks forward to opening for the great Dianne Reeves as a part of the PDX Jazz festival in February. Check out Lo’s music, available on all platforms. Lauren is so grateful to be joining Syracuse Stage for the first time, and would like to thank the team at Portland Center Stage for helping to create such an amazing opportunity! @Losteele

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CAST Andrea Vernae (Clyde) is so excited to make her Syracuse Stage debut! She feels incredibly honored and grateful to be telling this story with this amazing cast and creative team. Some of her favorite credits include August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean, Redwood, The Wolves, and Pen/Man/ Ship. She would like to thank her family for their love and support. You can see her next in Passing Strange at Portland Playhouse and Clyde’s at Portland Center Stage!

Setareki Wainiqolo (Montrellous) Thank you to Syracuse Stage for welcoming me with an open heart into their beautiful and vibrant theater and community. Thank you to Chip Miller and Kamilah Bush for their wisdom, generosity and support throughout this immense process. Thank you to the beautiful cast for their joy and brilliance.Thank you deeply to all the folks who still come to watch and support live theater.

Your presence is an integral part of the power of theater as we endeavor to experience, for a brief time together, our shared humanity through storytelling.

I'd love to dedicate my offering of “Montrellous” to the formerly and currently incarcerated members of our families and communities, as well as the Essential Workers across America, especially those in the service and restaurant industry who work tirelessly for our nourishment. Thank you. Yale Drama M.F.A. ARTISTIC TEAM Britton Mauk (Scenic Designer) has scenic designed for regional theatres Portland Center Stage (Hedwig and the Angry Inch and Rent); Long Wharf Theatre (I am My Own Wife); Gulfshore Playhouse (Steel Magnolias and 26 Miles) in Naples, Florida; Resident Ensemble Players (In the Heat of the Night) in Newark, DE; Constellation Stage (Matilda and Fun Home) in Bloomington, IN; and Mixed Blood (Mermaid Hour Remixed) in Minneapolis, MN. Closer to home in Pittsburgh, Britton has designed three world premieres: Untitled and The Burdens at City Theatre and Old Man and the Sea at Pittsburgh Playhouse.

His other designs from these venues include American Fast and The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey at City Theatre; Good Grief, Uncle Vanya, Urinetown, and Wig Out! at Pittsburgh Playhouse. He has also designed for Pittsburgh Public Theatre (The Chief), Front Porch Theatricals, CLO Cabaret, Prime Stage, Pittsburgh Musical Theatre, and Quantum Theatre. He is a member of the USITT IDEAS Committee, co-coordinator for the USITT Gateway Program, and assistant teaching professor at the University of Pittsburgh.

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ARTISTIC TEAM Dominique Fawn Hill (Costume Designer) is a Tony Award-nominated and Obie Award-winning costume designer for Broadway and film. Dominique’s designs include world premieres of plays and musicals produced at major venues such as The Public Theatre, Playwright’s Horizons, Ford’s Theatre in Washington DC, The Geffen Playhouse, and the Chautauqua Theatre Company. Her theatre credits include the Broadway production of Fat Ham (Tony Award and Lucille Lortel nominations) and off-Broadway productions of Tambo & Bones (Lucille Lortel nomination), Fat Ham (Obie Award), Where the Mountain Meets the Sea (Manhattan Theatre Club), The Dark Girl Chronicles (The Shed), and 125th & FREEdom (National Black Theatre). Her regional theatre credits range from Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Choir Boy, and Rent for Portland Center Stage; School Girls for Kansas City Repertory; and Little Foxes for South Coast Repertory Theatre.

Her design for Suzan-Lori Parks' play, Venus, was awarded Best Costume Design at the international Prague Quadrennial Exhibit in 2019. Dominique is currently designing across the nation while teaching at The University of California, Berkeley. Dominique earned her M.F.A. from the University of California, San Diego.

You can find her work at DominiqueFHill.com Marika Kent (Lighting Designer) (she/her) is a Brooklyn based lighting designer. Recent/upcoming: Fences (Trinity Rep), POTUS (Arena Stage), Ulysses; Seagull (Elevator Repair Service), Amani (National Black Theater), Bernarda’s Daughters (The New Group / NBT), Catch as Catch Can (Playwrights Horizons), Choir Boy; Gem of the Ocean; School Girls; or, The African Mean Girls Play (Portland Center Stage), Measure for Measure (Shakespeare & Company), Get Your Ass in the Water and Swim Like Me (The Wooster Group), Generation Rise; Generation NYZ (Ping Chong + Co). Marika teaches design at NYU’s Playwrights Horizons Theater School and is a proud member of USA Local 829. www.marikakent.com Phil Johnson (Sound Designer) is a visual and theatrical artist based in the Pacific Northwest. He currently serves as the Program Director of Coho Productions in Portland OR. Some of his favorite recent productions include Gem of the Ocean, Redwood, School Girls; or, The African Mean Girls Play (Portland Center Stage), Pipeline (Confrontation Theater) Cop Out, Hands Up (Red Door Project), American Fast, A Doll’s House, Part 2, Everybody, The Humans and An Octoroon (Artist Repertory Theater). Phil is a multidisciplinary artist who likes to express himself in as many art forms as possible. As a technologist, Phil likes to find ways to use technology and sound to create, whether it is creating using virtual reality, binaural recordings, or new programming software that enhances the theatrical experience. As a theatrical artist, Phil is curious about the performer-spectator relationship and enjoys finding ways to deconstruct theater norms. Phil has a BFA and MA from Ohio University.

If you would like to learn more, comment using @philjohnsonlive or visit philjohnsondesignstheworld.com for more content.

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ARTISTIC TEAM Dylinn Andrew (Hair and Wig Designer) is the resident Wig and Wardrobe Supervisor for Syracuse Stage as well as an adjunct professor for Syracuse University. Drawing on years of experience as a licensed cosmetologist and makeup artist, she has designed shows like Guys and Dolls (Syracuse University Department of Drama) and 9 to 5 (Jamesville-Dewitt High School).

Styling work includes Disney’s The Little Mermaid, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill, and A Christmas Carol (Syracuse Stage). As a jack of all trades type, she has worked alongside many community, regional, and touring theater companies in a variety of skill areas, including costume design/stitching, directing, choreography, music directing, education and Stars of Tomorrow adjudication. Her experience also extends on the stage through professional opera, acting, and as a multi-instrumentalist.

Alec Barbour (Fight Choreographer) is a Rochester, NY based actor, fight choreographer, and playwright. He has been studying stage combat since 2005 and is a certified teacher with the Society of American Fight Directors. He received his M.F.A. in acting at the Hilberry Repertory Theatre at Wayne State University in Detroit, where his roles included Iago in Othello, Carson in Gross Indecency, and Charles Lomax in Major Barbara. Regional acting credits include Sir Castor (and fight captain) in Camelot at Drury Lane Theatre and Horner in The Country Wife at Franklin Stage. Intimacy Direction: (for Syracuse Stage) Amadeus; (for Syracuse University Department of Drama) Romeo and Juliet, Everybody, Wild Party; (for Wallbyrd Theatre Co.) Bard Bending: Fight Club Edition, Two Gentlemen of Verona; (for Utica College) Dracula. Fight Direction: (for Syracuse Stage) Amadeus, Suzette Who Set to Sea, Deathtrap, Disgraced; (for Syracuse University Department of Drama) Wild Party, Kiss Me, Kate; (for University of Rochester) Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again. (with J. David Brimmer); (for Nazareth College) Spring Awakening, Hayfever, Vinegar Tom; (for Le Moyne College) She Kills Monsters, Macbeth in Concert, Romeo and Juliet in Concert, The Liar; (for Hilberry Repertory Theatre) The Cripple of Inishmaan, Macbeth, The Mousetrap, Moon Over Buffalo; (for Wayne State University) Arabian Nights, Dead Man’s Cell Phone, SubUrbia; (for Wallbyrd Theatre Co) Two Gentlemen of Verona, Taming of the Shrew, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, Dracula. Alec teaches stage combat courses at Le Moyne College, Nazareth College, and Utica College. He is an apprentice with Intimacy Directors International, and is a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association and SAG/AFTRA. Teniece Divya Johnson (Intimacy Consultant) (they/them) is an Intimacy Director, Fight Director, Stunt Performer, and Movement Storyteller working across television, film and stage. The first Black and first non-binary intimacy director on Broadway with Slave Play and first Black intimacy coordinator working on TV/Film, Teniece serves as a resolute advocate for a decolonized

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ARTISTIC TEAM collaborative approach to art, Black intimacy, Kink and Queer representation. They are also the founder of www.BlackIntimacyConsentCollective.org, a community based educational organization around Black intimacy, consent and wellness. Off stage they share consent-based advocacy with colleges, universities, corporations and other organizations to promote healthy community practices. Additional credits: Succession, Pose, Ramy, Reacher, She Hulk, Picard, BlacKkKlansman, West Side Story, The Underground Railroad, MJ the Musical, Harry Potter, Richard III and RAQI on Power Book II Ghost.

Kamilah Bush (Dramaturg) is a playwright, dramaturg, and educator originally from North Carolina. She holds a BFA in theater education from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro and was an NC Teaching Fellow.

She currently holds the position of Literary Manager at Portland Center Stage in Portland, OR. Kamilah has spent several seasons at celebrated regional theaters across the country, including Triad Stage in Greensboro, NC, Asolo Repertory Theater in Sarasota, FL, and Two River Theater in Red Bank, NJ. Her play Nick & The Prizefighter was a semifinalist for the 2022 L. Arnold Weissberger Award, the 2021 Bay Area Playwright’s Festival and won the 2021 Urbanite Theater Modern Works Festival.

Bianca Mercado-Boller (Stage Manager) (she/her) is thrilled to return to Syracuse Stage. She has previously worked on New Kid (Children’s Tour) and A Christmas Carol (2023). Other select credits include This Day Forward (Vineyard Theatre), Where Did We Sit on the Bus? (Ensemble Studio Theatre), EST Marathon 2019 and Doubt (Franklin Stage Company) and Williamstown Fridays at 3 series (Wipeout, Chapters of a Floating Life, Plunder and Lighting and Nick & the Prize Fighter). She has also spent time working as a Covid Safety Officer for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Aladdin, The Lion King and KPOP. Education: Juilliard apprenticeship, Syracuse University.

Bass/Valle Casting (Casting) formerly Harriet Bass Casting, is a leading NYC boutique casting office. To know more about their upcoming projects and casting philosophy please visit www.bassvallecasting.com. Harriet Bass has cast for ABC/TV, Fox Television Studios, The Public Theatre: NEW WORK NOW, The Minetta Lane Theatre, The Women’s Project, La MaMa E.T.C., New York Women in Film and Television, and The Jewish Repertory Theatre.

She has cast the last three of the late August Wilson’s ten part play series: the original Radio Golf, Broadway Gem of the Ocean, and off-Broadway Jitney.

Harriet is also a leading educator in audition technique, side and monologue coaching, and the business of acting. She has taught at the nation’s top universities and professional training programs. Gama Valle is a director, playwright, screenwriter, children’s book author, and casting director. His casting credits include: The American Tradition, The Great Novel, Split Second, I Wanna Fuck

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ARTISTIC TEAM Like Romeo and Juliet, among others. He is a proud member of New Light Theatre Ensemble and the recipient of the Van Lier Directing Fellowship at Repertorio Español. Gama received the First Prize in playwriting from Puerto Rico’s Institute of Culture for his play Queishd&Dilit. Their regional casting credits include: Mark Taper Forum, Hartford Stage, Arena Stage, Trinity Rep, San Jose Rep, Geva, Syracuse Stage, Pittsburgh Public, Merrimack Rep, Longwharf Theatre, Alliance Theatre, The Goodman Theatre, Kansas City Rep, Baltimore Center Stage, Huntington Theatre Company, Virginia Stage Company, Dallas Theatre Company, Berkeley Rep, Portland Center Stage, and Actors Theatre of Louisville. Feature films credits include: Pushing Hands directed by Ang Lee, Underheat, starring Lee Grant, First We Take Manhattan, produced by Golden Harvest Inc., and Graves End, directed by Sal Stabile.

DIRECTOR Chip Miller is a director and producer, currently in the role of Associate Artistic Director at Portland Center Stage at the Armory. They were previously the Artistic Associate/ Resident Director at Kansas City Repertory Theatre. Directing: Choir Boy, It’s a Wonderful Life, Rent, August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, the world premiere of Redwood (Portland Center Stage at the Armory), Larry Owens’ Sondhemia (Carnegie Hall), Journeys to Justice (Portland Opera), the world premiere of American Fast (Artists Repertory Theater), School Girls; or, The African Mean Girls Play, Welcome to Fear City, Sex with Strangers, A Raisin in the Sun (KCRep); the world premiere of Becoming Martin by Kevin Willmott (The Coterie); dwb (driving while black) (Lawrence Arts Center, Des Moines Metro Opera, Greensboro Opera); 4:48 Psychosis (The Buffalo Room). Chip has developed work with playwrights including Kevin Wilmott, Kara Lee Corthron, Brittany K. Allen, Catherine Trieschmann, Darren Canady, Andrew Rosendorf, Susan Kander & Roberta Gumbel, Michelle T. Johnson, and Michael Finke. They have developed work at The William Inge Theatre Festival, NYU’s New Plays for Young Audiences, La Jolla Playhouse’s DNA Series, Portland Center Stage’s JAW Festival, The Midwest Dramatists Center, KCRep’s OriginKC New Works Festival, The Living Room Theatre, and Musical Theatre Heritage.

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P L AY W R I G H T Lynn Nottage is a playwright and a screenwriter, and the first woman in history to win two Pulitzer Prizes for Drama.

Her plays have been produced widely in the United States and throughout the world. Recent work includes the book for MJ the Musical (Broadway), the libretto for the Intimate Apparel opera (LCT), and Clyde’s (Broadway, 2ST, Goodman Theatre), and co-curating the performance installation The Watering Hole (Signature Theatre). Past work includes Sweat, Ruined, the book for The Secret Life of Bees; Mlima’s Tale; By the Way, Meet Vera Stark; Intimate Apparel; Fabulation, or the Re-Education of Undine; Crumbs from the Table of Joy; Las Meninas; Mud, River, Stone; Por’knockers; and POOF!. She has also developed This is Reading, a performance installation in Reading, Pennsylvania. Ms. Nottage is a member of the Theater Hall of Fame, and the recipient of a MacArthur “Genius Grant” Fellowship (among other awards). She is also an Associate Professor at Columbia University School of the Arts and is a member of the Dramatists Guild.

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR Robert Hupp is in his eighth season as artistic director of Syracuse Stage. He recently directed Our Town, The Play That Goes Wrong, Eureka Day, Annapurna, Talley’s Folly, Amadeus, Noises Off, Next to Normal, and The Three Musketeers for Stage. Prior to coming to Central New York, Robert spent seventeen seasons as the producing artistic director of Arkansas Repertory Theatre in Little Rock. He directed over 30 productions for Arkansas Rep ranging from Hamlet to Les Miserables to The Grapes of Wrath. In New York City, Robert directed the American premieres of Glyn Maxwell’s The Lifeblood and Wolfpit for the Phoenix Theatre Ensemble. He also served for nine seasons as the artistic director of the Obie Award-winning Jean Cocteau Repertory. At the Cocteau, Robert’s directing credits include works by Buchner, Wilder, Cocteau, Shaw, Wedekind and the premieres of the Bentley/Milhaud version of Brecht’s Mother Courage and Her Children, Seamus Heaney’s The Cure at Troy, and Eduardo de Filippo’s Napoli Millionaria. He has held faculty positions at Pennsylvania’s Dickinson College and, in Arkansas, at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and Hendrix College. Robert served as vice president of the Board of Directors of the Theatre Communications Group and has served on funding panels for the New York State Council on the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, the Theatre Communications Group, the New Jersey State Council of the Arts, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. While in Arkansas, Robert was named both Non-Profit Executive of the Year by the Arkansas Business Publishing Group, and Individual Artist of the Year by the Arkansas Arts Council. He and his wife Clea ride herd over a blended family of five children, one dog, and two cats.

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MANAGING DIRECTOR Jill A. Anderson has served as managing director of Syracuse Stage since 2016. Jill is responsible for Stage’s more than $8 million operating budget and has oversight of fundraising, marketing, and operational matters within the organization. Prior to joining Stage, Jill spent a decade as general manager at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center in Waterford, CT. During her tenure, the O’Neill completed a $7 million capital campaign and campus expansion, doubled its operating budget, and was honored with the National Medal of Arts and a Regional Theatre Tony Award.

Under the O’Neill’s aegis, Jill also developed the Baltic Playwrights Conference, an annual international new play development retreat held in Hiiumaa, Estonia. Previously, Jill spent five years in the production office at Washington, D.C.’s Arena Stage, after working as a stage manager in Minnesota, New Mexico, and Massachusetts. In addition to her work at Stage, Jill is an instructor in the theater management program of the Syracuse University Department of Drama, building on her work with high school and college students elsewhere, including at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival. Jill has been recognized as part of the Central NY Business Journal’s “40 Under Forty” and serves on numerous municipal and non-profit boards. Jill is delighted to call Central New York home, but will always be a proud cheesehead, originally hailing from Marshfield, Wisconsin.

ASSOCIATE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR Melissa Crespo (she/her) has made a career of developing new plays, musicals, and opera around the country and abroad. She recently directed the world premiere of Bees and Honey by Guadalís Del Carmen off-Broadway at MCC Theater. Other favorite past credits include, Espejos: Clean

by Christine Quintana (Hartford Stage & Syracuse Stage), form of a girl unknown by Charly Evon Simpson (Salt Lake Acting Company), and ¡Figaro! (90210) (The Duke on 42nd Street). As a playwright, her play Egress, co-written with Sarah Saltwick, had a world premiere at Amphibian Stage and won the Roe Green Award for Outstanding Achievement in Playwriting at Cleveland Play House. As a producer, she is one of the Founding Editors of 3Views on Theater, an online publication conceived by The Lillys.

Fellowships and residencies include: Time Warner Fellow (WP Theatre), Usual Suspect (NYTW), The Director’s Project (Drama League), Van Lier Directing Fellow (Second Stage Theatre), and the Allen Lee Hughes Directing Fellow (Arena Stage). Melissa received her M.F.A. in directing from The New School for Drama. https://www.melissacrespo.com

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R E S I D E N T P L AY W R I G H T Kyle Bass is the author of Tender Rain, which premiered at Syracuse Stage last season, and Possessing Harriet, which premiered at Syracuse Stage and has been produced at Franklin Stage Company, East Lynne Theater Company, HartBeat Ensemble and is published by Standing Stone Books. Salt City Blues was produced at Syracuse Stage in the 21/22 season, and Citizen James, or The Young Man Without a Country, about a young James Baldwin, was commissioned by Syracuse Stage, has streamed nationally, was recently presented at Brown University and is under option for an international feature film. Toliver & Wakeman was commissioned by and premiered at Franklin Stage Company. His libretto for Libba Cotten: Here This Day, an opera based on the life of American folk music legend Libba Cotten, was commissioned by The Society for New Music. With Ping Chong, Kyle is the co-author of Cry for Peace: Voices from the Congo, which premiered at Syracuse Stage and was produced at La MaMa Experimental Theatre in New York. His other full-length plays include Baldwin vs. Buckley: The Faith of Our Fathers, which has been presented at Cornell University, Colgate University, the University of Delaware, and Syracuse University, and Separated, a documentary theatre piece about student military veterans at Syracuse University, which was presented at Syracuse Stage and the Paley Center in New York, and Leeboe & Sons. Kyle is the co-author of the original screenplay for the film Day of Days (Broad Green Pictures, 2017) and is a three-time recipient of the New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship, a finalist for the Princess Grace Playwriting Award, and a Pushcart Prize nominee. He is currently developing a television series with co-writer Jaffe Cohen. As dramaturg, Kyle has collaborated with acclaimed visual artist Carrie Mae Weems, and was the script consultant on Thoughts of a Colored Man, which premiered at Syracuse Stage in 2019 and opened on Broadway in 2021. Kyle is Assistant Professor of Theater at Colgate University, where he previously served as Burke Chair for Regional Studies. He has also taught in the M.F.A. creative writing program at Goddard College, at Syracuse University, and at Hobart & William Smith Colleges. Kyle was the Susan P. Stroman Visiting Playwright at the University of Delaware and the Flournoy Visiting Playwright at Washington & Lee University. He holds an M.F.A. in playwriting from Goddard College, is a proud member of the Dramatists Guild of America and is represented by the Barbara Hogenson Agency. A descendant of African people enslaved in New England and the American South, Kyle resides and writes in Upstate New York where his family has lived free and owned land for nearly 225 years.

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WHO WE ARE Syracuse Stage is the non-profit professional theatre company in residence at Syracuse University. We are nationally recognized for creating stimulating theatrical work that engages Central New York, and for our significant contribution to the artistic life of Syracuse University, where we are a vital partner in achieving the educational mission of the University’s Department of Drama.

OUR MISSION Syracuse Stage tells stories that engage, entertain, and inspire us to see life beyond our own experience.

OUR VISION Reimagining what's possible for regional theatre–through active inclusion, innovative outreach, and bold productions–Syracuse Stage shapes the culture and social vitality of Central New York, enriches the Syracuse University student experience, and fosters change in ourselves, our communities, and our world.

O U R C O R E VA L U E S People - Actively including diverse individuals, communities, ideas, and perspectives.

Passion - Commitment to integrity, excellence, and enthusiasm in our work.

Curiosity - Fostering an innovative and adaptive environment that elicits wonder.

IN THE COMMUNITY Stage has collaborated with a myriad of institutions in the Syracuse area. Community partners include 100 Black Men of Syracuse, AccessCNY, ARC of Onondaga, ARISE, ArtRage, CNY Reads, Interfaith Works of Central New York, La Casita, McMahon/Ryan Child Advocacy Center, Onondaga Historical Association, Rosamond Gifford Zoo at Burnet Park, SUNY Upstate Medical University, the VA Medical Center, and Vera House. Additionally, the educational department collaborates with many CNY schools.

ANTI-RACISM PLEDGE Syracuse Stage stands firmly against racism and discrimination. We pledge to stand with under-represented and oppressed communities and to advance antiracism in all aspects of our work, including the outward facing, public dimension of our creative endeavors and the less visible internal practices of the organization.

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Paik at Syracuse Stage on view in the mezzanine through May 19, 2024

From the series Adios 20th Century published by Point of Contact in The Americas Baroque (1993) Photograph/Mixed Media, 10 x 7” Point of Contact Art Collection

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LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Syracuse Stage respectfully acknowledges the Onondaga Nation, Firekeepers of the Haudenosaunee, the Indigenous people on whose ancestral lands we now stand.

A B O U T S Y R A C U S E S TA G E Originally constructed as the Regent Movie House in 1914, the physical space of Syracuse Stage has seen many films, musicians, actors, and artists pass through its doors over the course of the past century. The Syracuse Stage that exists today is a non-for-profit professional theatre company founded in 1974, and a longstanding League of Resident Theatres (LORT) member. Since its inception, Stage has produced over 350 shows, both plays and musicals, within its walls. Now, Stage produces six to seven shows per season, while also offering educational programs to students, various pre- and post-show events, and fundraising events each year. Stage is Central New York’s only LORT theatre and one of the largest performing arts organizations in the area. Stage has a strong commitment to giving the community access to a range of high-quality productions; it is equally committed to bringing in actors, designers, and directors who are among the leading theatre professionals, both locally and across the nation.

SAVE THE DATE

SYRACUSE STAGE ANNUAL FUNDRAISER

CAST PARTY WHERE YOU’RE THE STAR...

SATURDAY, JUNE 1, 6 - 10 PM TICKETS + SPONSORSHIPS ON SALE NOW 39

S Y R A C U S E S TA G E B O A R D O F T R U S T E E S CHAIR

Rocco Mangano Partner Mangano Law Office, PLLC PRESIDENT

Herman R. Frazier* Senior Deputy Athletics Director Syracuse University

Colleen A. Gaetano Retired- Vice President Global Education & Artistry Estée Lauder Companies, NYC Helene Gold Private Voice & Piano Instructor Jacki Goldberg Community Volunteer

CHAIR-ELECT/VICE CHAIR

Richard Driscoll Sr. Commercial Banking Relationship Manager Commercial Banking Division NBT Bank TREASURER

Brett Padgett* Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Syracuse University SECRETARY

Sharon Sullivan Community Volunteer AT-LARGE EXECUTIVE

Nancy Green Managing Member Edward S. Green & Associates Larry Harris EVP and CFO Saab, Inc. Robert Hupp** Artistic Director Syracuse Stage Cydney Johnson* Vice President for Community Engagement and Government Relations Syracuse University

COMMITTEE MEMBER

Phil Turner Pastor Bethany Baptist Church Jill A. Anderson** Managing Director Syracuse Stage Janet Audunson Assistant General Counsel National Grid George S. Bain Freelance Editor and Writer Barbara Beckos Retired - Syracuse Stage Nancy Byrne Community Volunteer Dr. Ruth Chen* Professor of Practice Syracuse University College of Engineering and Computer Science Robin Curtis NYS Lic. RE Asso. Broker Hunt Real Estate ERA Denise Dyce Associate Vice President of Labor and Employee Relations Syracuse University

Rebecca Karpoff* Professor of Practice, Musical Theater/Coordinator of Vocal Instruction, Musical Theater Syracuse University Department of Drama Kathy Kelly Retired - Health Educator, PNP Larry Leatherman Retired - Bristol-Myers Squibb, MOST Dan Lent Vice President Citizens Bank

Suzanne McAuliffe Retired - Educator Rod McDonald Bond, Schoeneck & King Molly Mulvihill Sr. Relationship Manager Global Commercial Banking Bank of America Fran Nichols Retired - Mower, Inc. Mona Paradis Stadium International Trucks Virginia Parker Retired - Educator (1996 - 2023) Molly Ryan Partner, Goldberg Segalla LLP Robert Sarason Retired - Lawyer, Organizer, Fundraiser Melvin T. Stith Dean Emeritus, Whitman School of Management Syracuse University Cora Thomas Radio Host and Office Manager, WAER Michael S. Tick* Dean, College of Visual and Performing Arts Syracuse University Dr. Amy Tucker Chief Medical Officer SUNY Upstate Medical University Andrea Waldman Community Volunteer

Rob Lentz EVP of Enterprise Operations Zeta Global Maria Lesinski Attorney Newman and Lickstein Anthony Malavenda Retired - Duke’s Root Control Julia Martin Partner Bousquet Holstein

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Maryam Al-Hindi Wasmund Chief Financial Officer Filtertech Inc. Ralph Zito** Chair Syracuse University Department of Drama *University Trustee **Ex-Officio

S Y R A C U S E S TA G E E M E R I T U S T R U S T E E S We are grateful to the following individuals who have served as Members of the Stage Board of Trustees and continue to provide significant support to Syracuse Stage.

Jim Breuer Sandra Brown Mary Beth Carmen Bea González Joan Green

Elizabeth Hartnett John Huhtala Margaret Martin Kevin McAuliffe Eric Mower

Judy Mower Michael Shende Richard Shirtz Jack Webb Michael Zoanetti

SYRACUSE STAGE EDUCATION ADVOCACY BOARD Sara Bambino

Elizabeth Defurio

Linda Ponza

CICERO-NORTH SYRACUSE

NOTTINGHAM HIGH SCHOOL

SOLVAY HIGH SCHOOL

David Fisselbrand

Jennifer Sabatino

AUBURN HIGH SCHOOL

CATO-MERIDIAN MIDDLE SCHOOL

HIGH SCHOOL

Todd Benware CHRISTIAN BROTHERS ACADEMY

Melissa Morgan

Jordan Berger

BAKER HIGH SCHOOL

JAMESVILLE-DEWITT HIGH SCHOOL

Matthew Phillips

Rhiannon Berry

JAMESVILLE-DEWITT HIGH SCHOOL

LIVERPOOL HIGH SCHOOL

Y O U N G A D U LT C O U N C I L Paige Blair

Beatrix Karn

Octavia Miller

CAZENOVIA HIGH SCHOOL

CAZENOVIA HIGH SCHOOL

FAYETTEVILLE-MANLIUS HIGH SCHOOL

Sadie Broderick

Sophia Kelly

EAST SYRACUSE MINOA CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL

CATO MERIDIAN JUNIOR-SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

Finnegan Coons

Stephanie Kelly

Francesca Smith

G. RAY BODLEY HIGH SCHOOL

CHRISTIAN BROTHERS ACADEMY

BISHOP GRIMES JR./SR. HIGH SCHOOL

Ella Culligan

Margot Klein

LIVERPOOL HIGH SCHOOL

CHARLES W. BAKER HIGH SCHOOL

Joliette Doyle

Tessa Komar

TULLY JUNIOR SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

FAYETTEVILLE-MANLIUS HIGH SCHOOL

Kate Fennessy AUBURN HIGH SCHOOL

Claire Foran EAST SYRACUSE MINOA CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL

Kennedy Hilton FAYETTEVILLE-MANLIUS HIGH SCHOOL

David Warne Peters CORCORAN HIGH SCHOOL

Caleb Smith MANLIUS PEBBLE HILL SCHOOL

Abbie Sundet PAUL V. MOORE HIGH SCHOOL

Rei Korthas

Zariah Taylor

HOMESCHOOLED

JAMESVILLE-DEWITT HIGH SCHOOL

Madison Macomber

Rebecca Wheeler

EAST SYRACUSE MINOA CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL

HOMESCHOOLED

Zoie Markowski SOLVAY HIGH SCHOOL

Mira Jensen

Minerva Miller

CORCORAN HIGH SCHOOL

FAYETTEVILLE-MANLIUS HIGH SCHOOL

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Sophia Zogby CATO MERIDIAN JUNIOR-SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

SYRACUSE STAGE ANNUAL FUND GIFTS Syracuse Stage depends on the generosity of contributions from individuals, corporations, businesses, foundations, and government agencies. It is with much gratitude that we recognize the following donors to our annual campaign. For information regarding levels of contribution and benefits of each please contact the Development office at 315-443-3931 or visit syracusestage.org.

CORPORATE, FOUNDATION, AND GOVERNMENT SPONSORS

Richard Mather Fund

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CORPORATE, FOUNDATION, AND GOVERNMENT SPONSORS

Contributions listed above are current as of January 11th, 2024 and reflect operating support of $5,000+ and in-kind donations of $10,000+.

SPONSOR STATEMENTS

The Dorothy and Marshall M. Reisman Foundation is proud to be a sponsor of the arts in Central New York.

We recognize the deep importance live theatre plays in shaping the cultural and social vitality of our community. In these challenging times, theatre brings us together to be inspired and celebrate the richness of the human experience.

We are delighted to continue to support Syracuse Stage and this very special production of Clyde's.

The Syracuse Stage Board of Trustees is proud to sponsor Clyde's by Lynn Nottage. Congratulations to the cast and creative team.

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50 TH ANNIVERSARY CAMPAIGN GIFTS Syracuse Stage's 50th Anniversary Season is presented by Slutzker Family Foundation Sarah Alden Robert & Jeanne Anderson Frank Badagnani George S. Bain Rosemary Baker & Stuart Spiegel Keith Batman & Barbara Post Helen Beale Jean Beers Carrie Berse & Chris Skeval Michael & Jennifer Blowers Leslee Boissy Thomas & Carol Boll Jon & Patricia Booth Mary Brady Dennis & Mary Anne Brady Marion Brillati Angel Broadnax Paul Brown & Susan Loevenguth Marlene Brown Pamela Brown-Benjamin Gary & Kathleen Bruno Lia & Dean Burrows Kathleen Burt Patricia Bush Nancy & William Byrne Lori Campitello Rich & Mary Cappelli Patricia & Sandy Colabufo Nicholas & Louanne Colaneri Elaine Coppola Raymond W. Cummings, Jr. Kevin & Kristin Curtis Therese & Walter Dancks Anthony & Deborah D'Angelo Bill & Terry Delavan Roger & Naomi DeMuth Robert Desimone Mary DiSanto James & Leona Dowd Ron Ehrenreich & Sondra Roth Richard Ellison & Margaret Ksander Linda Fabian & Dennis Goodrich Carole Farfaglia Carol Fedrizzi

David & Karen Fitch Molly Carole Fitzpatrick Robert & Terry Flower Peter Frantzis Nancy Freeborough George & Halina Gagne Jim & Carol Galvin Barbara Genton Jacki & Michael Goldberg William Goodwin Muffy & Baird Hansen Tom & Cynthia Helmer Kenneth Hendel Steven Herwood Michele Hickman Judy Huckle Robert & Clea Hupp Norma Huxter Linda Imboden Emily Johnson & Vijay Ramachandran Deborah Joiner Laura & Ed Jordan Gwenn & John Judge Brian Kane & Phyllis Perrotti Michael & Audrey Kane James & Jan Kaplan Dana Keefer John & Gloria Kennedy Stewart Koenig & Judy Schmid Dean Kolts Jill Ladd Lorraine LaDuke Andrea Latchem Stephen Lessie Linda Loomis Rocco & Roberta Mangano Wade Manning Nicholas Martin Alan Fischler & Karen McDonold Andreas & Margaret Meier Carl Mellor Michael & Claudia Miceli Gail Mitchell Bruce Moseley & Leigh Yardley Janet Munro Claire Myers Richard & Barbara Natoli

As of January 11th, 2024.

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Marty & Millie Newshan Becky Nicandri Leslie Noble & Bill Morris Sally O'Herin Marjorie Ostrander Cindy Paikin Ricky & Whitney Pak David & Susan Palen Cathy Palm Nolan & Phyllis Palsma Peter & Constance Palumb Robert & Teresa Parke Susan Perriello Debra Petzold Jane Pickett Duane & Karleen Preske Nancy Radoff David Rankert Jean Reilly Todd Relyea Ross & Melanie Relyea Patrick & Kuni Riccardi Terry & Monica Richmond James & Tricia Sadowski Robert Sarason & Jane Burkhead Mike & Marilyn Sees Theresa Slosek & Ronald Wilson Joseph & Carolyn Smith John & Jamie Sutphen Amy Sweeney Delia & Sandy Temes Angi Tipton John Toomey Hon. Karen M. Uplinger Joseph & Carole Valesky Nancy Wadopian Marc & Marcy Waldauer Estate of George Wallerstein & Julie Lutz Mark Watkins & Brenda Silverman Liz & David Wei Lynda Wheat Dr. Kelvin White Tom & Desiree Wight Evelyn B Williams Diana Wolpert Leslie & Jerry Zaborsky Joyce Zadzilka

INDIVIDUAL, CORPORATE, FOUNDATION, & GOVERNMENT GIFTS New and increased gifts this season will be matched by The Richard Mather Fund.

It is our goal to provide a complete list of all donors $100+. Nevertheless, if your gift is not listed or is listed incorrectly, please accept our apologies, and contact the Development Office at 315-443-9848.

$100,000+ CNY Arts, Inc. Onondaga County Syracuse University $50,000 - $99,999 Advance Media New York New York State Council on the Arts The Dorothy & Marshall M. Reisman Foundation The Shubert Foundation $20,000 - $49,999 George S. Bain iHeart Radio Richard Mather Fund National Endowment for the Arts $10,000 - $19,999 Bank of America Nancy & William Byrne Cathedral Candle Company Central New York Community Foundation JP Morgan Chase Cumulus Radio Elizabeth Hartnett M&T Bank News Channel 9 The John Ben Snow Foundation & Memorial Trust Sharon Sullivan & Paul Phillips Urban CNY WAER WRVO $5,000 - $9,999 Jim & Juli Boeheim Foundation Bousquet Holstein Dr. Ruth Chen & Chancellor Kent Syverud

CNY Business Journal CNY Latino Roger & Naomi DeMuth Dramatists Guild Foundation Peggy & Dana Dudarchik The Estate of Mary Louise Dunn Colleen Gaetano Neil & Helene Gold Jacki & Michael Goldberg Nancy Green & Tony Marschall Larry & Ann Harris Hayner Hoyt Corporation Larry & Mary Leatherman Rocco & Roberta Mangano Kevin & Suzanne McAuliffe Eric & Judy Mower Claire Myers NBT Bancorp Inc Sally Lou & Fran Nichols Joel Potash & Sandra Hurd Sam & Carolyn Spalding Melvin & Patricia Stith Wegmans Kathy Kelly & Len Weiner Kristen Weslowski $3,500 - $4,999 Janet Audunson & David Youlen The Benz Family Brine Wells, LLC & Marriott Downtown Syracuse Pete & Mary Beth Carmen Ernst & Young, LLP Maggie & Jake Feldmeier Inner Harbor Radio Cydney Johnson & Jeff Comanici Ashley McGraw Architects Selma Radin Sharye Skinner

Syracuse University Humanities Center Maryam Wasmund $1,800 - $3,499 Barbara Beckos & Arthur McDonald Kathleen Bice Francine Boutet Constance Bull Craig & Kathy Byrum James Clark & Sharon Gordon The Estate of William Clark Jr. Robin Curtis Barbara Sheklin Davis Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation Edward & Susan Downing Dick & Therese Driscoll Melvin & Mildred Eggers Family Charitable Foundation Michael & Barbara Flintrop Herman Frazier & Caroline Beal Deborah & Samuel Haines Dennis & Judi Hebert David & Sally Hootnick John & Kimberly Huhtala Robert & Clea Hupp Randy & Elizabeth Kalish Leslie Kohman & Jeffrey Smith Daniel & Ann Lent Robert Lentz & Anne Russ Maria Lesinski & Benjamin Hicks Lockheed Martin Employees' Federated Fund Tony Malavenda & Martine Burat Julia & Lee Martin

As of January 11th, 2024. Donor list reflects gifts made over the past 12 months and does not include gifts made to the special 50th Anniversary Campaign.

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Rod & Jana McDonald Walter & Elizabeth Merriam Anne Morford Molly & Kevin Mulvihill Brett & Jeannie Padgett Mona & John Paradis Amy Parker Michael & Rissa Ratner Molly Ryan & Tim Byrnes Robert Sarason & Jane Burkhead Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation Raymond & Linda Straub Douglas Sutherland & Nancy Kramer Michael & Cathy Tick Dr. Amy Tucker Joshua & Andrea Waldman $1,200 - $1,799 James & Nancy Asher Debbie & Candido Bermudez Donald Blair & Nancy Dock Jim & Cathy Breuer Ana Díaz-Diez & Javier Maymi-Perez Fox 68 Paul & Carolyn Frymoyer Dorothy & Lawrence Gordon Heritage Masonry Restoration, Inc. Rebecca Karpoff Kevin & Jessica Kopko David Rankert Frank and Frances Revoir Foundation Richard & Margaret Shirtz James Shults John Steigerwald IV Jack & Linda Webb Michael & Laurie Zoanetti $600 - $1,199 Chris Arnold Guthrie & Louise Birkhead Marlene Blumin BMI Supply Brenda Bousfield & David Marcus Thomas & Susan Brett Angel Broadnax Citizens Charitable Foundation Amy & Tom Clark

Jerilyn Costich Mark Cywilko & Marianne Moosbrugger Allen & Anita Frank Bea Gonzalez & Michael Leonard Joyce Day Homan Richard & Margaret Ingraham Steven & Elaine Jacobs Charles Martin & Johanna Keller John & Maren King Bob & Pat Lebel Brian & Susan Lison James MacKillop Susan Martineau John & Elizabeth McKinnell John & Joan Nicholson Sally O'Herin David & Susan Palen David & Janice Panasci Paolo & Nicole Pastore Kathy & Dan Rabuzzi Edward & Lois Schroeder Gracia Sears Robert & Anita Wagner Angela Winfield & Lance Lyons John & Mitzi Wolf $300 - $599 Susan & Allison Ambrosie Charles Amos Timothy Atseff & Margaret Ogden Andrew & Margot Baxter Edward & Angela Bernat Eric & Carol Boyer Marlene Brown Gary & Kathleen Bruno Paul & Linda Cohen Anita Cottrell Susan Crossett James & Suzanne Cusack Frederick Dever William & Elizabeth Elkins Richard Ernst Elizabeth Etoll Linda Fabian & Dennis Goodrich Thomas & Melissa Ferrara Gasparini Sales, Inc. Roger & Vicki Greenberg Muffy & Baird Hansen David & Ellen Hardy Daniel & Julia Harris Joseph & Paula Himmelsbach

In Honor of Contributions have been made to Syracuse Stage to honor someone, celebrate a special occasion, or offer an expression of sympathy in memory of a loved one.

Warren Abrahams in memory of Ruth Smulyan.

Dr. Mark & Kathy Adelson in memory of Laura Edell.

James Aiello in memory of Pamela Johnson.

Bethany Anthony to my big sister, Rebekah Tadros, the biggest star I know.

Thomas Antonini in memory of Ginny Parker.

Badger State Civic Fund in memory of Hal & Ruth Smulyan.

George S. Bain in memory of Ginny Parker.

Candice Bermudez & Joe Guido in memory of Ginny Parker.

The Bermudez & Guido Families in honor of the marriage of Candice Bermudez & Joseph Guido.

Carrie Berse & Chris Skeval in memory of Ginny Parker.

Gus & Susan Birkhead in memory of Ruth Smulyan.

Louise Birkhead in memory of Ruth Smulyan.

Kathy Brodsky in memory of Ginny Parker.

Carol Bryant in honor of Virginia Parker.

Craig & Kathy Byrum

As of January 11th, 2024. Donor list reflects gifts made over the past 12 months and does not include gifts made to the special 50th Anniversary Campaign.

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Trudy & Earl Kletsky James LeGro George & Roseann Lorefice Donald & Patricia MacLaughlin John & Candace Marsellus Albert Marshall Donyce & Kenneth McCluskey Mary Ellen McDonald James & Elizabeth Megna David & Beth Mitchell Susan Moskal Marty & Millie Newshan Doren Norfleet Judy Oplinger Robert & Teresa Parke Patricia A Parker Jane Pickett Mickey & Pat Piscitelli Susan Plemons Jennifer Roberts William Schuyler Lowell Seifter & Sharon McAuliffe Robert & Cheryl Shallish Beth & Tobias Sienel Dr Craig A Simmons Joseph & Carolyn Smith Dirk & Carol Sonneborn Michael Stanton George & Helene Starr H. Paul Steiner Carter & Nan Strickland Cora Thomas Victor & Diane Tice James & Deborah Tifft Joseph & Carole Valesky Lynda Wheat John & Judy Winslow Deborah & Michael Zahn $150 - $299 Mark & Kathy Adelson James Aiello Kristi Andersen Robert & Jeanne Anderson Beatrice Angus Dianne Apter Frank Badagnani Holmes & Sarah M Bailey Rosemary Baker & Stuart Spiegel Jean Beers Dr. Sylvia Betcher & Martin Korn Carl & Alice Borning Mary Brady Dennis & Mary Anne Brady

Carmelita Britton & Richard Probert Michael Byrne Andrea Calarco Ronald Capone Lexi Carlson & Sebastian Karcher Joseph Cerroni & Linda Tassa Douglas & Diane Chilson Joe & Nancy Clayton Sam & Carolyn Clemence Donna Coloton Raymond Colton Robert & Joan Conine Terri Cook Anthony & Mary Anne Corasaniti Molly & Travis Corley Elizabeth Cowan Richard Cross & Kathryn Davis Linda Czerkies Judith Dannible Carol Decker Bill & Terry Delavan Rossybell Diaz Stephen & Emily DiMarco Diane Dimond Elizabeth Drew & Joe Marusa Nathaniel & Karen Dunn Mary Dunn Denise Dyce Lorraine Erlenback Cynthia Ferguson Michael & Mrs Fish Molly Carole Fitzpatrick Gerard Flynn Kim Fontana Lois & Jill Fowler Jeffrey & Teresa Freedman Elinor Freeman Barbara Friedman Thomas & Karen Fruehan Allen & Nirelle Galson Claudia Gasiorowski Robert Geiger Margaret Gelfuso Ernest & Lynne Giraud Karen Goldman Bernice Gottschalk Andrea Graham Gregory & Elaine Hallett Judith Hand Nancy Hanna Mark & Carole Hansen Georgina Hegney Karl & Mary Herba

In Honor of (Continued

in memory of Ginny Parker.

Molly & Travis Corley in honor of Fran Nichols for his birthday.

Ana Díaz-Diez & Javier Maymi-Perez dedicated to the memory of Pedro Díaz-Molina.

John Eng-Wong & Priscilla Angelo in memory of Ruth Smulyan.

The Farfaglia Family in memory of Edward J Farfaglia.

Zachary Ferris in memory of Virginia Parker.

Leila Ann Finkelstein in memory of Ruth Smulyan beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and friend.

Kim Fontana in memory of Ginny Parker.

Brant & Ellen Rosborough Ford in memory of Ginny Parker.

Nancy Freeborough in memory of Virginia Parker.

Margaret Gelfuso in memory of Peter Scheibe.

Jacki & Michael Goldberg in memory of our dear Ginny Parker. May her memory be a blessing!

Winnie Greenberg in memory of Ginny Parker.

Briann Greenfield in memory of Ruth Smulyan.

Gail S. Hauss in memory of Ruth Smulyan

As of January 11th, 2024. Donor list reflects gifts made over the past 12 months and does not include gifts made to the special 50th Anniversary Campaign.

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Kathleen Hinchman Donna & Joseph Hipius Barbara & Ronald Hoffman Howard & Linda Hollander Michael Hungerford & Margaret Ryniker Daniel & Rhea Jezer Philip & Judith Kaplan Robert & Christina Keim Norma Kelley Amy Kemp Shelly Kempton Tim & Susan Kennedy John & Gloria Kennedy Diane King Russell & Joan King Barry & Kathy Kogut Richard & Roxanne Kopecky Janice Kophen Lorraine LaDuke W & Nancy Lambright Andrea Latchem Victor & Linda Lebedovych Mark & Jeannette Levinsohn Bonnie Levy Edward & Carol Lipson John & Marian Loosmann Vito Lovecchio Gerald Mager Robert & Nancy Mandry Frederick & Virginia Marty Elizabeth Mascia Janice Mayne Margot McCormick Wallace & Gayonne McDonald Kathleen McLeod Sam & Margaret McNaughton Andreas & Margaret Meier Clifford & Marjorie Mellor Diana Ingraham Milkovic Daniel & Terry Miller Donna Miller Leslie & Barney Molldrem Janet Moore Elizabeth Mosher James & Kathleen Muldoon Janet Munro Alan & Rosalind Napier Richard & Barbara Natoli Katharine O'Connell Marjorie Ostrander John & Elizabeth O'Sullivan Joan & Lawrence Page Cathy Palm

John & Robert Parsons Michael & Susan Petrosillo Susan Pieczonka William & Merriette Pollard YiWei Qi & Julie Yu Scott Reinhart Steve Reiter & Annegret Schubert Todd Relyea Terry & Monica Richmond Cathy Robinson Nancy Machles Rothschild Elaine Rubenstein George & Sharon Schmit Mike & Marilyn Sees Denise Seltzer Roger & Nancy Sharp Nancy Sharpe Geraldine Sheehan Judith Smith Jeffrey Sneider & Gwen Kay Jonathan Solomon James Sonneborn Paul & Jean Soper Patricia & Michael St. Leger Karl Crossman & John Steinburg Bethany Stewart Kathleen & Mark Sunheimer Andrew & Kathleen Tompkins Charles Tremper John & Jean Tromans Joseph Tucker Hon. Karen M. Uplinger Peter Vanable & Anne Jamison William & Linda Veit Susan Wadley Marc & Marcy Waldauer David & Mary Walsh Donald & Martha Washburn Connie Webster Howard Weinstein David & Daryll Wheeler David Whitman Fred & Karen Whitney George & Mrs Whitton Tom & Desiree Wight Christopher & Renee Wiles Roger & Carolyn Williams Tom & Carol Wolff Mary Yurco $100 - $149 Jerrold & Harriet Abraham John Andrake

In Honor of (Continued

Guy & Patricia Howard in memory of Viriginia Parker.

Joan Kesselring in memory of Ginny Parker.

Leslie Kohman & Jeffrey Smith in memory of Ginny Parker.

Suzanne Lourie in memory of Ruth Smulyan.

Thomas & Mary Lou Mees in loving memory of Ginny Parker.

The Moore Family in memory of Ginny Parker.

Susan Moore-Palumbo & Frank Palumbo in memory of Ginny Parker.

Elizabeth Mosher in memory of Ginny Parker.

Claire Myers in memory of Drs. Lawrence & Betty Jane Myers, for granting me my love of theatre.

Wendy Neikirk Rhodes & Adrian Rhodes in honor of Ginny Parker.

Sally Lou & Fran Nichols in memory of Ginny Parker.

Sally Lou & Fran Nichols in honor of Tracey White.

Anonymous in memory of Ruth Smulyan.

Judy Oplinger in memory of Tim Rice.

Peter & Connie Palumb in memory of Ginny Parker.

Amy Parker in honor of my mother, Virginia B. Parker.

Patricia A Parker in

As of January 11th, 2024. Donor list reflects gifts made over the past 12 months and does not include gifts made to the special 50th Anniversary Campaign.

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Michelle Arora Mary Roberts Bailey Rosanne Barbaglia Nancy Barnum Marjory Baruch Janine Bernard Carrie Berse & Chris Skeval David Blair Barbara Blaszak Jon & Patricia Booth Bernard & Ona Cohn Bregman Robert & Helene Brophy Bob & Kathy Brown Patricia Bush William & Mary Butler Thomas Carlin Delores Carney Marjorie Carter Christina Casella Nancy Christy Martha Cole Cheryl Cole John & Deloris Coleman James Traver & Marguerite Conan Stephanie Cross Paul & Cynthia Curtin CVS Lynette & Ethan Davis Oran Day Peter Deblois Paula Dendis Kate DiDonato Audrey Dolata James & Mike Doleski Patricia Arcana & Thomas Dorr Eric Drath Wynn Egginton Richard Ellison & Margaret Ksander Stanley & Penny Emerick Mark & Marci Erlebacher Carole Farfaglia Casey Holmes Fee Mary Gallagher William & Jean Gamble Mary Beth Gannon Rosamond Gifford Foundation Kathryn Glynn Michael & Wendy Gordon William Gray Mark & Cynthia Dowd Greene Briann Greenfield Seth & Lisa Greenky William & Ann Griffith

Charlotte Haas & Gary Quirk Marcia Haines Ann & Richard Harris Gail Hauss David & Elizabeth Hayes Gordon Hayes John Friedman & Polly Ann Heavenrich Pamela & James Helmer Michael & Elizabeth Hennessy Richard & Janice Hezel William & Phyllis Highland Rachel Hopkins Judy Huckle Sofia Hvozda Wanda Irish Alexander Joseph Michael & Audrey Kane Randy Karcher Marlene Kelly Jean Kimber Sheldon & Karen Kruth Kathleen LaGrow Robert & Lauren Lalley Amanda Lee Dennis Lerner Michael & Jean Loftus Michelle Lonergan Susan & Gerald Lotierzo Julia Mahaney Jon Maloff Mimi Mark Karin Martinez John Mathiason Douglas & Randi Matousek John & Mary McCulley Philip & Martha McDowell Linda McKeown Timothy McLaughlin & Diane Cass Gail Meagher Thomas & Mary Lou Mees Eckart & Mary Meisterfeld Marcia & Dave Mele Syracuse Mets David Michel & Peggy Liuzzi Thomas Miller & Mary MacBlane Dr. Merrill L. Miller Don Moore Susan Moore-Palumbo & Frank Palumbo Joseph Moorman & Catherine Gerard Tina Nabinger Wendy Neikirk Rhodes & Adrian Rhodes

In Honor of (Continued

memory of my dear sister-in-law, Virginia Parker.

Anonymous in memory of Lorne Runge.

Gail Ruterman in honor of Ruth Smulyan Robert Sarason & Jane Burkhead in memory of Ginny Parker.

Edward & Lois Schroeder in memory of Ruth Smulyan.

Edward & Lois Schroeder in memory of Virginia Parker.

Maura Harling Stefl in memory of Ginny Parker.

H. Paul Steiner in memory of Fritz & Ginny Parker.

Nan & Carter Strickland in memory of Virginia Parker.

Diane R. Swords in memory of my dear friend Ginny Parker, supporter of theater and of peace and social justice.

Anonymous in memory of Virginia Parker.

Anonymous in memory of Genn and Ted Thuma.

Kristen Weslowski in memory of Richard Brandt.

Lynda Wheat in memory of my friend Linda Drimer.

Lynda Wheat in memory of Virginia Parker Anonymous in honor of Tracey White.

Laura & Connor Williams in memory of Ginny Parker.

As of January 11th, 2024. Donor list reflects gifts made over the past 12 months and does not include gifts made to the special 50th Anniversary Campaign.

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Michael Newman Jane Ondich Bryan O'Quinn Marianna Pernia James Perry Anita Pisano Howard & Ann Port Kevin & Rachel Porter Duane & Karleen Preske Colleen Prossner Steve & Kate Pynn Mary Rose Ranieri Jim Read John & Dorothy Reiffenstein Lynn Richer Michael Riecke & Anthony McEachern Marybeth Riscica William & Gretchen Roberts Stacy Roberts

Brant & Ellen Rosborough Ford Bob Rose John & Judy Sabene Steven & Carla Salisbury Richard & Jill Sargent Roberta Savage Jennifer Scalione Jeffrey & Abby Scheer Madeline Slate Alan & Jean Smith William Smith Mark & Beth Steigerwald Milton & Mary Stevenson Susan Stred & Harold Husovsky Jennifer, Bridget & Audrey Stromer-Galley Calixto & Joyce Suarez Sharon Sutter Martha Sutter & David Ross

Kristin & Steve Swift Brady Systems Thomas & Carole Taylor Ron Thiele & Lynne Pascale Phil & Janice Turner Earl & Karen Turner Anthony & Martha Viglietta Bob & Claudia Visalli Timothy & Nancy Volk Francis & Elaine Walter Mark Watkins & Brenda Silverman Ardyth Watson Deborah Wood Christopher Wratney Samuel & Robin Young Leslie & Jerry Zaborsky Joyce Zadzilka Stephen & Patricia Zalewski Steven & Judith Zdep Loretta Zolkowski

As of January 11th, 2024. Donor list reflects gifts made over the past 12 months and does not include gifts made to the special 50th Anniversary Campaign.

PLANNED GIVING A planned gift is a way to make a significant and lasting gift to Syracuse Stage. By making a bequest to the theatre, you are assuring that Syracuse Stage will continue to inspire, stimulate, and entertain Central New York audiences for generations to come, as well as maintain its high artistic standards that are recognized locally, and nationally.

For more information about planned gifts contact: Ana Díaz-Diez, Director of Development 315-443-3931 or ajdiazdi@syr.edu Mary Louise Dunn Fund Dr. William J. Clark, Jr. Fund The Estate of Rosemary Curtis

In Honor and Memory of Sheldon P. Peterfreund and Josephine A Peterfreund

The J. Zimmeister-Yarwood Estate

MATCHING GIFT PROGRAM Many companies will match gifts of their employees, retirees, and spouses with a gift of their own to Syracuse Stage. Ask your personnel office for a matching gift form, send the completed form with your gift – and we’ll do the rest!

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T E WI H US!

T RA CEL

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Thank you to our sponsors!

PRESENTING

GOLD

JP Morgan Chase

Ernst & Young LLC Marriott Syracuse Downtown/ Brines Wells, LLC Mower Agency Ashley McGraw Architects, DPC

P L AT I N U M Jacki & Michael Goldberg Mangano Law Office PLLC Cathedral Candle Company Nancy Green & Tony Marschall Syracuse University Hayner Hoyt Corporation Dorothy and Marshall M. Reisman Foundation (Attending: David’s Refuge) National Grid Bousquet Holstein, PLLC Sharon Sullivan & Paul Phillips

S I LV E R Bond, Schoeneck, & King PLLC Peterson Guadagnolo Consulting Engineers, PC LeChase

BRONZE George S. Bain NBT Bank Bank of America

As of April 4, 2023

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S Y R A C U S E S TA G E S TA F F

Artistic Director.............................................................................................................Robert Hupp Managing Director.....................................................................................................Jill A. Anderson Associate Artistic Director............................................................................................Melissa Crespo Resident Playwright..............................................................................................................Kyle Bass

P R O D U C T I O N S TA F F

Director of Production Operations...........................................................................Don Buschmann Associate Director of Production Operations..........................................................Dianna Angell Company Manager and Production Management Associate......................................Brian Crotty Assistant Company Manager.....................................................................................Sarai Ford Technical Director..................................................................................................Randall Steffen Assistant Technical Director............................................................................Rebecca Schuetz Scene Shop Foreman...........................................................................................Michael King Technical Assistant...................................................................................................Liz Daurio Carpenters...............................................................................John Gamble, Brian McBurney Student Employees................................................................Emma Thoms, Gray Westbrook† Scenic Charge Artist...................................................................................................Emily Holm Lead Scenic Artist................................................................................................Laurel Arnold Scenic Painter....................................................................................................Jessica Culligan Props Supervisor............................................................................................................Mara Rich Assistant Prop Supervisor............................................................................Christine Goldman Craftpersons....................................................................................Alexis Frizzell, Nora Galley Costume Shop Manager..........................................................................Gretchen Darrow-Crotty Assistant Costume Shop Manager.....................................................................Amanda Moore Cutter-Draper...................................................................................................Kathryn Rauch First Hand.........................................................................................................Victoria Lillich Stitchers.......................................................................................Emily King, Katelyn Yonkers Craftsperson/Shopper.........................................................................................Sandra Knapp Wardrobe Supervisor.........................................................................................Dylinn Andrew Student Employee...................................................................................................Sofia Pizer† Lighting and Projection Supervisor...............................................................................Jed Daniels Electricians/Board Operators.................................................................Travis Burt, Alex Malli Resident Sound Designer/Audio Engineer.....................................................Jacqueline R. Herter Audio Engineer...............................................................................................Kevin O’Connor Sound Engineer/A1..............................................................................................Garrett Frink Production Stage Manager....................................................................................Stuart Plymesser Stage Managers................................................................Kyra Button, Bianca Mercado-Boller Production Assistants.........................................................................Erin C Brett, Em Piraino

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S Y R A C U S E S TA G E S TA F F

A D M I N I S T R AT I V E S TA F F

General Manager....................................................................................................Michael McCurdy Comptroller..............................................................................................Mary Kennett Morreale Associate General Manager...................................................................................Jacob G. Ellison Director of Information Management & Technology...................................Garrett Diaz-Wheeler Audience Services Manager.......................................................................................Korrie Taylor House Managers.........................................Pat Condello, Ella Lafontant, Alyssa Otoski-Keim, Adam Secor, Donna Stuccio Bartenders.................................................................................Michelle Cannizzo, Meg Pusey Audience Services Interns...........................................................Yushan Deng†, Lubeini Yang†

Front of House Student Staff...............Nathan Ayotte†, Carolyn Burch†, Christian Elwood†,

Sami English†, Henry Herbert†, Henry Jackson†, Sally Jewell†, Violet Lanciloti†, Arieza Mari† Martin Magalang†, James O’Leary†, Lucia Santoro-Velez†, Kevin Sene†, Julia Snoonan†, Eva Spaid†, Gracie Whaley†, Jakobi Deshun Oliver†, Hazel Kinnersley†, Delaney Teague† Director of Development.............................................................................................Ana Díaz-Diez Development Associate................................................................................Candice Bermudez Development Intern..............................................................................Jakobi Deshun Oliver† Director of Community Engagement............................................................................Joann Yarrow Community Engagement Intern.....................................................................Paige Kenneally† Director of Education.......................................................................................................Kate Laissle Community Engagement and Education Coordinator........................................Theorri London Education Interns.......................................Alethea Cicely Shirilan-Howlett†, Cricket Withall† Director of Marketing and Communications..............................................................Joanna Penalva Audience Development Manager.........................................................................Tracey White Creative Director, Marketing.............................................................................Brenna Merritt Marketing Content and Publications Manager................................................Matthew Nerber Box Office Manager.................................................................................Courtney Richardson Assistant Box Office Manager.....................................................................Ahmanee Simmons Box Office Show Supervisor.................................................................................Trevor Miller Graphic Designer............................................................................................Jonathan Hudak Marketing Associate..........................................................................Talia Gabriel-Shenandoah Box Office Intern....................................................................................................Ginger Bai† Executive Assistant............................................................................................................Julia Rakus Sign Language Interpreters.....................................................................Brenda Brown, Sue Freeman Open Captioning........................................................................Jacob G. Ellison, Michael McCurdy Audio Description........Kate Laissle, Talia Gabriel-Shenandoah, Ahmanee Simmons, Joseph Whelan Community Services Officers.......................................................Stacey Emmons, Joseph O'Connor Custodians...........................................................................................Tony Rogers, Candace Velario Student, Syracuse University Department of Drama.

†

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Play a Role AT SYRACUSE STAGE!

Join the ensemble with an Annual Fund donation to help us make a difference through live theatre.

Your gift supports educational, artistic, accessibility, and community engagement programming which provides the Syracuse and Central New York Community a platform for connectivity and cohesiveness.

Photos: Family Day, 2023 Photographer: Candice A Bermudez

GIVE NOW AT SYRACUSESTAGE.ORG/SUPPORT

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ADVERTISE HERE The Syracuse Stage program is published six times a year. For advertising rates and information contact Joanna Penalva at 315.443.2636, or jlpenalv@syr.edu

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