Murder on the Orient Express Program

March 13 – 31, 2024

Adapted for the stage by

ken ludwig

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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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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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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TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S 11 | Letter from the Managing Director 13 | Title 14 | Cast & Credits 15 | Taking Photos in the Theatre 16 | 50th Anniversary Celebration 24 | Dramaturgical Notes 30 | Cast & Artistic Team Bios 44 | Who We Are Our Mission Our Vision Our Core Values In the Community Anti-Racism Pledge 45 | About Syracuse Stage Land Acknowledgement 46 | Board of Trustees 47 | Emeritus Trustees Education Advocacy Board Young Adult Council 48 | Corporate, Foundation & Government Sponsors 49 | Sponsor Statements 50 | 50th Anniversary Campaign Gifts 51 | Individual, Corporate, Foundation, & Government Gifts 52 | In Honor of 56 | Planned Giving Matching Gift Program 58 | Syracuse Stage Staff

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

Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express | March 13 - 31, 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 MANAGING DIRECTOR

HELLO, FRIENDS -

 JILL ANDERSON. PHOTO: BRENNA MERRITT.

Welcome to Syracuse Stage and to Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express! We extend a warm greeting to each of you as we embark on this captivating journey together – it’s always especially thrilling to see artistic director Robert Hupp’s work on our stage, as we do with this production.

With this classic tale of mystery and intrigue, we also continue celebrating a significant milestone in our history – Syracuse Stage’s 50th anniversary.

For half a century, we have had the privilege of entertaining, inspiring, and challenging audiences in Central New York and beyond. It is with profound gratitude that we acknowledge the unwavering support of our community, without whom this achievement would not be possible.

We hope you’ll return to Syracuse Stage for our upcoming 2024-2025 season, as we kick off the next 50 years of incredible storytelling. Subscription ensures the best prices and all the perks – consider joining us today!

More information can be found in the lobby, or at www.syracusestage.org.

Syracuse Stage owes its success in large part to the extraordinary contributions of its dedicated staff, both past and present. Their remarkable dedication, commitment to excellence, and boundless artistry have left an indelible mark on our community and enriched the cultural landscape of Central New York for 50 years. With this production, and as we commemorate this anniversary, we recognize and celebrate the staff’s invaluable contributions and look forward to all that is ahead . . . and what is ahead is thrilling!

Once again, welcome to Syracuse Stage. Thank you for being part of our journey, and enjoy the show!

Warm regards,

Jill Anderson Managing Director

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50th

ANNIVERSARY

THE

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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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PRESENTS

Adapted for the stage by

ken ludwig D I R E C T E D BY

Robert Hupp SOUND AND ORIGINAL MUSIC

SCENIC DESIGN

COSTUME DESIGN

LIGHTING DESIGN

Czerton Lim

Tracy Dorman

Dawn Chiang

Daniela Hart & UptownWorks

PROJECTIONS DESIGN

WIG DESIGN

I N T I M ACY A N D FIGHT DIRECTOR

PRODUCTION S TAG E M A N AG E R

Nitsan Scharf

Bobbie Zlotnik

Hannah Roccisano

Stuart Plymesser*

D I A L E C T C OAC H

D I A L E C T C OAC H

CAS T I N G

Celia Madeoy

Blake Segal

Bass/Valle Casting

Robert Hupp

Jill A. Anderson

Melissa Crespo

Kyle Bass

Artistic Director

Managing Director

Associate Artistic Director

Resident Playwright

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COMMUNITY PARTNER

Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc. www.concordtheatricals.com Agatha Christie’s Murder On The Orient Express adapted by Ken Ludwig was originally staged by McCarter Theater Center, Princeton, NJ (Emily Mann, Artistic Director; Timothy J. Shields, Managing Director). The production subsequently transferred to Hartford Stage, Harford, CT (Darko Tresnjak, Artistic Director; Michael Stotts, Managing Director).

March 13 - 31, 2024 13

CAST (in order of speaking)

Hercule Poirot............................................Jason O'Connell* Head Waiter...............................................Ryan P. Kennedy† Colonel Arbuthnot...............................................John Tufts* Mary Debenham............................................Isa Providence† Helen Hubbard............................................Shannon Lamb* Hector MacQueen..............................................Blake Segal* Monsieur Bouc..............................................Shabazz Green* Princess Dragomiroff..................................Barbara Kingsley* Greta Ohlsson....................................................Angie Janas* Michel the Conductor....................................Tanner Efinger Samuel Ratchett...................................................John Tufts* Countess Andrenyi.............................................Sarah Joyce*

ADDITIONAL VOICEOVERS Serkeci Station Announcer.............................Agathe Baggieri Radio Man...............................................Donovan Stanfield

OPENING SEQUENCE CAST Mother............................................................Lilli Komurek Little Girl....................................................Mayde Anastasio Father................................................................Robert Hupp The Nanny.......................................................Celia Madeoy The Man................................................................Unknown

UNDERSTUDIES Understudies never substitute for the listed players unless a specific announcement is made at the time of performance.

For Colonel Arbuthnot, Samuel Ratchett – Tanner Efinger; For Countess Andrenyi – Avaana Harvey†; For Mary Debenham, Greta Ohlsson – Ella Johns†; For Michel the Conductor – Ryan P. Kennedy†; For Helen Hubbard – Lilli Komurek; For Hector MacQueen – Derek Emerson Powell; For Monsieur Bouc – Donovan Stanfield; For Hercule Poirot – John Tufts*; For Princess Dragomiroff – Karis Wiggins;

*Member 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. Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express 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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ADDITIONAL CREDITS Fight Captain: Blake Segal* Co-Sound Designers: Noel Nichols, Bailey Trierweiler Associate Sound Designer: Bryn Scharenberg Associate Scenic Designer: Donnie Woodard Student Assistant Director: Kate Grover† Student Dramaturg: Wesley Tipton† Student Lighting Design Assistant: Maddy Clark† 1st Production Assistant: Erin C Brett 2nd Production Assistant: Em Piraino Stage Management Intern: Rachel Mondschein† Wardrobe and Wig Supervisor: Dylinn Andrew Wardrobe: Emelina White Sound Assistant/A1: Garrett Frink Electrician/Board Op: Alex Malli Deck Crew: Basil Allen, Andrew Fiacco, Chris Green, Bayley Leyshon, Caitlin Radziewski, Alex Steffen

SPECIAL THANKS Special thanks to Rebecca Karpoff and Andrea Leigh-Smith.

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 Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express | Adapted for the Stage by Ken Ludwig | Directed by Robert Hupp | Scenic Design by Czerton Lim | Costume Design by Tracy Dorman | Lighting Design

by Dawn Chiang | Sound and Original Muisc by Daniela Hart & UptownWorks | Projections Design by Nitsan Scharf | Wig Design by Bobbie Zlotnik

The videotaping or making of electronic or other audio and/or visual recordings of this production and distributing recordings or streams in any medium, including the internet, is strictly prohibited, a violation of the author(s)’s rights and actionable under United States copyright law. For more information, please visit: https://concordtheatricals.Com/resources/protecting-artists

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volume 5

CELEBRATING A MYSTERY

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In books, in film, on television, and on stage, mysteries have legions of loyal fans. Still, there are those for whom the genre is less than appealing.

Over the course of 50 years of incredible storytelling, Syracuse Stage has produced a variety of mysteries: Whodunits, Howdunits, thrillers, and farces. Titles such as Sleuth, Wait Until Dark, Deathtrap, and Dangerous Corner reach back to earlier years in the theatre’s history, while Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps, Agatha Christie’s The Unexpected Guest, Ken Ludwig’s Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery, and The Play that Goes Wrong represent more recent productions. Photos from some of these productions illustrate this discussion of the genre.

In the dangerous and cutthroat world of literary criticism, someone must play the curmudgeon. For much of the last century, Edmund Wilson, that “ferocious man: petty, pretentious and petulant,” excelled in the role while serving as an editor first for Vanity Fair, then The New Republic, and as a longtime regular contributor to The New Yorker.

Take for example two infamous essays from 1944 (“Why Do People Read Detective Stories?”) and 1945 (“Who Cares Who Killed Roger Ackroyd?”) in which he excoriates not only the entire genre of crime fiction, but as well the readers who dare to derive pleasure from 16 | 50th Anniversary 16

2022  ERIN BRETT, KATE HAMILL, BLAKE SEGAL,

JOHN TUFTS, AND RISHAN DHAMIJA IN THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG. BY HENRY LEWIS, HENRY SHIELDS, AND JONATHAN SAYER. DIRECTED BY ROBERT HUPP. PHOTO BY BRENNA MERRITT.

“

The plots of great mystery plays are relentlessly linear.

Mysteries take us on a ride, starting at the beginning and driving straight through to the end. Like roller coasters, the best mysteries may twist and turn, climb and plunge, but they’re always headed straight forward and zoom on to the finish.

”

- KEN LUDWIG 50th Anniversary | 17 17

the likes of Agatha Christie and Dashiell Hammett. They are like incorrigible drunks, he opines, “habitually on the defensive, and all their talk of ‘well-written’ mysteries is simply an excuse for their vice, like the reasons that the alcoholic can aways produce for a drink.”

out of print, we shall do well to discourage the squandering of this paper that might be put to better use.”

Wilson concludes “Who Cares Who Killed Roger Ackroyd?” with undisguised contempt and supercilious dismissiveness: “With so many fine books to be read, so much to be studied and known, there is no need to bore ourselves with this rubbish. And with the paper shortage pressing on all publication and many first-rate writers forced

Wilson no doubt must have known, and no doubt must have considered suspect, G.K. Chesterton’s 1901 essay, “A Defense of Penny Dreadfuls.” Chesterton, author of the highly popular mystery series Father Brown, wrote the essay in response to pronouncements by certain judicial magistrates that an uptick in petty theft on London streets could be blamed

Not worth the paper it is written on?

The genre Gertrude Stein called “the only really modern novel form?”

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1990  MARY McTIGUE AND MARJORIE ANN MILLER IN

DANGEROUS CORNER. BY J.B. PRIESTLY. DIRECTED BY ARTHUR STORCH. PHOTO BY LAWRENCE MASON, JR.

“

I think the austerity and stern discipline that goes to making a ‘tight’ detective plot is good for one’s thought processes. It is the kind of writing that does not permit loose or slipshod thinking. It all has to dovetail, to fit in as part of a carefully constructed whole.

- AGATHA CHRISTIE

on the influence exerted on young readers by the likes of Dick Deadshot and the Avenging Nine—as if famished children needed to be informed in print that apples would alleviate their hunger pangs, or that famished children would otherwise eschew pilfering ripe fruit had they not read about such exploits in vile stories. Rubbish, indeed.

Chesterton dares more, though. He declares the necessity of story in people’s lives, not literature necessarily, but stories, fiction: “We are in some danger of becoming petty in our study of pettiness; there is a terrible Circean law in the background that if the soul stoops

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too ostentatiously to examine anything it never gets up again. There is no class of vulgar publications about which there is, to my mind, more utterly ridiculous exaggeration and misconception than the current boys’ literature of the lowest stratum. This class of composition has presumably always existed, and must exist. It has no more claim to be good literature than the daily conversation of its readers to be fine oratory, or the lodging-houses and tenements they inhabit to be sublime architecture. But people must have conversation, they must have houses, and they must have stories. The simple need for some kind of ideal world in which fictitious persons play an un-

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2010  JOE FOUST AND ROB JOHANSEN IN ALFRED HITCHCOCK'S THE 39 STEPS. ADAPTED BY PATRICK BARLOW FROM THE NOVEL BY JOHN BUCHAN. DIRECTED BY PETER AMSTER. PHOTO BY ROGER MASTROIANNI.

“

The simple need for some kind of ideal world in which fictitious persons play an unhampered part is infinitely deeper and older than the rules of good art, and much more important.

”

- G.K. CHESTERTON

20 || 50 20 50th Anniversary Anniversary th

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hampered part is infinitely deeper and older than the rules of good art, and much more important.”

Significantly, Chesterton continues: “Literature and fiction are two entirely different things. Literature is a luxury; fiction is a necessity.” Not too long ago, the late and (in his way) great Michael Feingold, longtime theatre critic for The Village Voice, expressed his incomprehension about colleagues who would “laugh themselves silly and fall into the aisles” while watching a comedy, only to pan the show in their reviews the next day. Therein lies the difference. They were enjoying the fiction but critiquing the literature.

In this regard, Ken Ludwig, the author of this adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express, might offer some insight. In a 2020 essay, “Why Do Mysteries Grab Us,” Ludwig reveals that he became enamored of the genre while watching a performance of The Mousetrap in London with his family. “As I watched the play unfold that night,” he writes, “[I] saw the joy that it gave to our entire family.” High praise for Dame Agatha so many years on, and inspiration for Ludwig to write his own mystery.

“Why Do Mysteries Grab Us” is akin to a mini-Poetics of mystery writing, and like Aristotle some 2,500 years before him, Ludwig concludes, to misquote Hamlet, that the plot’s the thing, the admirable literary engine that drives the fun forward.

For context, Ludwig cites E. M. Forster’s Aspects of the Novel: “‘The king died and then the queen died’ is a

story. ‘The king died and then the queen died of grief ’ is a plot. The time sequence is preserved, but the sense of causality overshadows it. Or again: ‘The queen died, no one knew why, until it was discovered that it was through grief at the death of the king.’

This is a plot with a mystery in it, a form capable of high development.”

As for mysteries in particular, he quotes Dame Agatha: “I think the austerity and stern discipline that goes to making a ‘tight’ detective plot is good for one’s thought processes. It is the kind of writing that does not permit loose or slipshod thinking. It all has to dovetail, to fit in as part of a carefully constructed whole.”

He concludes: “The plots of great mystery plays are relentlessly linear. Mysteries take us on a ride, starting at the beginning and driving straight through to the end. Like roller coasters, the best mysteries may twist and turn, climb and plunge, but they’re always headed straight forward and zoom on to the finish.” In this way, they are much like the Greek Tragedy championed by Aristotle, most of which also tally up impressive body counts.

Concerned as they are with matters of death and justice, mysteries, Ludwig contends, inevitably resonate to deeper layers of meaning, questions central to us all. “We try to find out who the killer is just the way we question other, deeper questions of identity. We want answers to vital questions that can make the world more rational and sensible because answers give us peace of mind.” The satisfaction derives from the restoration of order to a situation thrust into chaos.

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About four years after Wilson’s disparaging essays appeared, the poet W.H. Auden took up the defense of the indulgent pleasures afforded by a good mystery. In “The Guilty Vicarage,” published in Harper’s in 1948, Auden proposed an argument similar to Ludwig’s but with a personal twist: I suspect that the typical reader of detective stories is, like myself, a person who suffers from a sense of sin. From the point of view of eth-

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ics, desires and acts are good or bad, and I must choose the good and reject the bad, but the I which makes this choice is ethically neutral; it only becomes good or bad in its choice. To have a sense of sin means to feel guilty at there being an ethical choice to make, a guilt which, however “good” I may become, remains unchanged. As St. Paul says: “Except I had known the law, I had not known sin.”

2016  GIL BRADY, MATTHEW GREER, JONATHAN SPIVEY, AND LIAM CRAIG IN KEN

LUDWIG'S BASKERVILLE: A SHERLOCK HOLMES MYSTERY. BASED ON A NOVEL BY ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE. DIRECTED BY PETER AMSTER. PHOTO BY MIKE DAVIS.

“

We try to find out who the killer is just the way we question other, deeper questions of identity.

We want answers to vital questions that can make the world more rational and sensible because answers give us peace of mind.

”

- KEN LUDWIG

For Auden, the journey from order to chaos back to order becomes a movement from innocence to guilt back to innocence, a restoration to a state of grace from a fall into sin. It is a fantasy, he concedes, a fantasy of escape as addictive as alcohol or tobacco yet capable of holding poetic yearning: “The phantasy, then, which the detective story addict indulges is the phantasy of being restored to the Garden of Eden, to a state of innocence, where he may know love

as love and not as the law. The driving force behind this daydream is the feeling of guilt, the cause of which is unknown to the dreamer.”

Thus, the poet dreams and the curmudgeon fumes and stories continue . . . to inspire.

–Joseph Whelan

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Another

mystery

HOW LIKE A CRIME SCENE. At 8 a.m. on the morning of Saturday, December 4, 1926, a green Morris Cowley motor car was found part way down an embankment at Newland Corners in Surrey, England. The car’s lights were on, the hood up, and the front wheels pitched precariously over a chalk pit. Some fortuitously positioned hedges apparently had saved the vehicle from falling in altogether. The contents of the car included a small suitcase packed with clothes, a fur coat, and an expired driver’s license bearing the name of the famed novelist, Agatha Christie, who, quite alarmingly, was nowhere to be found.

Of immediate concern, of course, was the possibility that the “Queen of Mystery” had herself become the victim of foul play: kidnap, murder, even suicide. The

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near proximity of a pond called the Silent Pool, reportedly bottomless, fed fears of the worst.

Very little was known about Agatha’s activities prior to her disappearance. On the night of December 3, with her husband Archie off for a weekend stay with friends, Agatha kissed her sleeping daughter Rosalind good-night, and leaving her in the care of a maid, drove off in the Morris Cowley, destination unknown. When contacted, Archie said Agatha had been suffering from nervous exhaustion.

Her beloved mother, Clara Miller, had passed away only months before and Agatha was bereaved.

Upward of 15,000 volunteers joined hundreds of police in one of the largest manhunts in English history. For the first time airplanes were used in a search. Bloodhounds were brought in. Agatha’s favorite

PORTRAIT GALLERY, LONDON. ESTATE OF BERTRAM PARK/CAMERA PRESS.

 AGATHA CHRISTIE WITH HER DAUGHTER ROSALIND, 1923. PHOTO: NATIONAL

terrier lent a nose. Fellow writers Dorothy L. Sayers and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle joined, with Doyle enlisting the aid of medium to try to locate Agatha. A group of spiritualists conducted a séance near where the car was found. All to no avail.

Meanwhile the tabloid press reveled in speculation. Agatha had been murdered, had killed herself, had engineered a hoax in order to boost sales of the already best-selling The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, or to frame Archie for murdering her. Most bizarre of all was that

Very little was known about Agatha’s activities prior to her disappearance. On the night of December 3, with her husband Archie off for a weekend stay with friends, Agatha kissed her sleeping daughter Rosalind good-night, and leaving her in the care of a maid, drove off in the Morris Cowley, destination unknown.

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she fled her home in Sunningdale because she believed it to be haunted; it “spooked” her.

Confusing matters further was a series of letters from Agatha. The first, posted after her disappearance to her brother-in-law Campbell Christie, indicated that she was at a spa in Yorkshire. At first, police deemed the mystery solved, then inexplicably (and apparently without much investigation), they determined the letter was not credible and resumed the search.

A few days later, three more letters surfaced, all posted before her disappearance. The first was to Agatha’s secretary asking her

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to cancel a scheduled engagement in Yorkshire. The second, again to Campbell, was either lost, unopened, or destroyed. The last was to her husband Archie, who flatly refused to reveal the contents.

On December 14, eleven days after she disappeared, Agatha Christie, alive and seemingly well, was identified by a musician named Bob Tappin at the Harrogate Hydro spa in Yorkshire. She had been there since December 4, the same day the Morris Cowley had been found, registered as Teresa Neele of Cape Town, South Africa.

Case closed, but not the mystery.

 ROYAL BATHS, HARROGATE, ENGLAND. CA. 1900.

On December 14, eleven days after she disappeared, Agatha Christie, alive and seemingly well, was identified by a musician named Bob Tappin at the Harrogate Hydro spa in Yorkshire.

What had happened?

When Archie arrived with the police at the spa, Agatha apparently greeted him with “a stoney stare.” She claimed, and he later concurred, that she was suffering from an extraordinary case of total amnesia. Whether or not that was true, it was the only explanation she offered. But there was more,

much more that never made it into the press at the time.

Earlier in the day of December 3, Archie and Agatha had quarreled bitterly about an affair Archie was having with a younger woman named Nancy Neele, the same last name Agatha used when she checked into the spa. In the parlance of the 1920s, Archie was a

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 AGATHA CHRISTIE AND HER SECOND HUSBAND, SIR MAX MALLOWAN, AT THEIR WINTERBROOK HOUSE, 1950. PHOTO: NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY, LONDON.

known philanderer. Nancy Neele was not his first affair. Consequently, for some time, the couple had been having difficulty and during their fight Archie said he wanted an immediate divorce.

Among the friends with whom he intended to spend the weekend was Nancy Neele.

Already emotionally fragile due to her mother’s death, Agatha became distraught. In her biography of the writer, Agatha Christie: An Elusive Woman, historian Lucy Worsley pieces together what amounts to the closest Agatha ever came to giving an account of her actions: “I just wanted my life to end. All that night I drove aimlessly about … In my mind

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there was the vague idea of ending everything. I drove automatically down roads I knew … to Maidenhead, where I looked at the river.

I thought about jumping in, but realized that I could swim too well to drown . . . then back to London again, and then on to Sunningdale.

From there I went to Newlands Corner . . . When I reached a point in the road which I thought was near the quarry I had seen in the afternoon, I turned the car off the road down the hill towards it. I left the wheel and let the car run.

The car struck something with a jerk and pulled up suddenly. I was flung against the steering wheel and my head hit something.”

Somehow, she made her way to

In 1928, Archie and Agatha divorced and Archie married Nancy Neele. Agatha married the archeologist Sir Max Mallowan and accompanied him on digs at places around the globe, some of which became locations for future novels.

Waterloo train station, then to King’s Cross where she purchased a ticket to Harrogate and on to the Hydro Hotel, having brought along a substantial amount of cash in a money belt, which according to friends was not unusual for her.

Medical experts and psychologists deemed Agatha’s explanation plausible—a specific condition known as dissociative fugue, a state brought on by trauma and stress in which people literally forget who they are. Others, however, were skeptical and ever since alternative theories have surfaced. There are at least two books, two films, and an episode of Dr. Who that address the subject. The two leading alternatives are that Agatha staged the disappearance as a publicity stunt (though already a best-selling author, she had just signed with a new publisher and had a book on the way), or angered and hurt, she wanted to punish Archie for the affair. Despite Archie’s efforts to keep that matter private, it certainly became public knowledge after Agatha was found.

nothing strange about her. She dined in public, danced with other guests, played billiards, and having arrived without luggage, shopped at nearby stores. When her picture started to appear on the front pages of newspapers, she acknowledged the resemblance and laughed it off. At times, though, one guest later reported, she “would press her hand to her forehead and say: ‘It is my head. I cannot remember.’”

As to Agatha’s behavior during those days at the spa, fellow guests for the most part observed

–Joseph Whelan

In 1928, Archie and Agatha divorced and Archie married Nancy Neele. Agatha married the archeologist Sir Max Mallowan and accompanied him on digs at places around the globe, some of which became locations for future novels.

No one involved in the disappearance episode ever spoke publicly of it again. Agatha barely mentions it in her posthumously published autobiography, apparently content to stick with her explanation to the very end and let speculation run where it will—a final enduring mystery.

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CAST Mayde Anastasio (Little Girl ) is so grateful to be back at Syracuse Stage. She most recently performed as Fan in A Christmas Carol this past holiday season. Mayde discovered her love of theater through Syracuse Children’s Theatre, and some of her favorite shows and roles include Moana, Jr. (Moana), Finding Nemo, Jr. (Dory), Mary Poppins, Jr. (Jane), Seussical Kids (Jojo), Beauty and the Beast (LeFou) and Lion King, Jr. (Rafiki). Mayde loves singing, dancing, playing lacrosse, crocheting, and being a young entrepreneur.

Tanner Efinger (Michel the Conductor, u/s: Colonel Arbuthnot, Samuel Ratchett) is thrilled to make his Syracuse Stage acting debut in this classic whodunnit. A Syracuse transplant, Tanner is the Founding Artistic Director of Breadcrumbs Productions creating new theatrical work such as The Picture of Oscar Wilde which featured in Stage’s 2019 Cold Read Festival directed by Bob Hupp. Select acting credits: Footloose and Rough Crossing (Cortland Rep), Hamlet (Boston Theatre Co), The Marriage of Figaro (Boston Lyric Opera), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Oxford University Press).

Shabazz Green (Monsieur Bouc) is blessed to return to Syracuse Stage after the recent production of The Play That Goes Wrong. Regional credits include: A Christmas Carol (Denver Center for the Performing Arts); Cinderella, Hands on a Hardbody (Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center); Topdog/ Underdog and Sister Act (Theatre SilCo). Notable New York credits include: Bars and Measures (Urban Stages); Philosophy for Gangsters (Beckett Theatre); Intruder: The Musical (Hudson Guild). Other Regional productions include: Mamma Mia! (Village Theatre); To Kill a Mockingbird (Greenbrier Valley Theatre); The Ballad of Trayvon Martin (New Freedom Theatre); Little Rock (Passage Theatre); Portrait of the Widow Kinski (Vivid Stage); Humbug (Premiere Stages). Shabazz also appeared on screen in the film Romance in the Digital Age. @shabazzgreen www.shabazzgreen.com FEAR NOT! Avaana Harvey (she/her) (u/s: Countess Andrenyi) is a junior acting major from Singapore and is thrilled to be making her Syracuse Stage debut! She has recently performed in the Syracuse University Department of Drama mainstage productions of Dance Nation and Failure: A Love Story. She is very grateful for the opportunity to work alongside such a brilliant cast and crew, and thanks her friends and family for their continuous support!

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CAST Angie Janas (Greta Ohlsson) is thrilled to return to Syracuse Stage, where she previously appeared as Sandra in The Play That Goes Wrong and Lizzy Bennet in Kate Hamill’s Pride and Prejudice (BroadwayWorld Award for Best Actress in a Play). Off-Broadway: Hamlet, Macbeth, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (The Acting Company); Stuffed (Westside Theatre). Select regional credits include The Glass Menagerie at Barrington Stage Company, The Lion in Winter at the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Romeo and Juliet, The Three Musketeers, Love’s Labor’s Lost and King Lear at the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, In Game or Real and The Winter’s Tale at the Guthrie Theater and Steel Magnolias, The Revolutionists and The Merchant of Venice at Gulfshore Playhouse. Angie is a graduate of the University of Minnesota/Guthrie Theater B.F.A. Actor Training Program. Many thanks to Bob Hupp and all the incredible artists here at Syracuse Stage. Love to Carl. www.angiejanas.com Ella Johns (u/s: Mary Debenham, Greta Ohlsson) is a junior acting major at Syracuse University, originally from Birmingham, Alabama. She is so excited to understudy her first Syracuse Stage show and work with this fabulous company. Most recently she appeared in the Syracuse University Department of Drama production of Failure: A Love Story as a member of the chorus and as understudy for Jenny June. She has also performed with the Alabama Shakespeare Festival and Atlanta Shakespeare Company in a myriad of Shakespeare productions. Her first movie, The Skeletons Compass, premiered on Apple TV last year! She would like to thank her family and friends for supporting her and hopes everyone enjoys Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express!

Sarah Joyce (Countess Andrenyi) is thrilled to be making her Syracuse Stage debut! Recent credits include Maria in Twelfth Night (The Old Globe, dir. Kathleen Marshall), off-Broadway: Normalcy (Playwrights Horizons), TV: Blue Bloods. Education: Stella Adler Studio, USD Old Globe. sarahjoyce.biz, @butcansheact. Big thanks to Daddy, Nik and Emmelyn Thayer for the Zsa Zsa of it all.

Ryan P. Kennedy (he/him/his) (Waiter, u/s: Michel the Conductor) is a third year Syracuse University undergraduate acting major from Connecticut. He is beyond ecstatic to be appearing in his first Syracuse Stage production. He appeared in the Syracuse University department of drama productions of The Myth of the Mountain and Melancholy Play:

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CAST A Chamber Musical last spring, and recent professional credits include Sweeney Todd at Black Rock Theater and Happily: The Musical at the Actors’ Temple.

He would like to thank Bob Hupp, the Syracuse Stage team, the Syracuse University Drama faculty, and his proud mom and dad Andrea and Rob Kennedy.

Barbara Kingsley (Princess Dragomirof) has appeared in over two hundred stage productions. Most recent NYC credits include: Mamán in Vanya, NYC, Babs in Life Sucks (off-Broadway, NYTimes Critics’ Pick), August: Osage County (Broadway and National tours), Uncanny Valley (off-Broadway). Her regional theater career includes the Guthrie Theater, St. Louis Rep, Berkeley Rep, Cincinnati Playhouse, Arizona Theater Co, Baltimore Center Stage, and Gulfshore Playhouse. Barbara stars in the film Honeydew (available on Amazon Prime). Other film and TV appearances include: Servant (recurring), Hello Tomorrow!, New Amsterdam, The Flight Attendant, Boarding School, Jessica Jones, Law & Order SVU, Time After Time. Barbara’s play, Under This Roof was produced at the Guthrie Theater in 2018. For a sneak preview of her reel, Google: IMDb Barbara Kingsley.

Lilli Komurek (Mother, u/s: Helen Hubbard) is delighted to return to Syracuse Stage aboard the Orient Express! Previous Stage credits include Our Town, the world premiere of Tender Rain by Kyle Bass, Charles Martin’s Medea, and The Picture of Oscar Wilde. Her regional work includes: Sandra in Big Fish, Lily in The Secret Garden, and Mother Superior in Sister Act (Redhouse Arts Center); The Skin of Our Teeth (Hangar Theatre); The Honky Tonk Angels and Footloose (Cortland Repertory); and Into the Woods, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, State Fair, Footloose, and Grand Hotel (The REV). Lilli’s work as a performer and director has garnered numerous awards, including Best Actress in a Musical (SALT Award for her turn as Adelaide in Guys and Dolls), Best Supporting Actress in a Play (Broadway World for Almost, Maine), and 2021 Theatrical MVP (Syracuse Post Standard). Above all, Lilli is thrilled to share this life with her favorite people in all the world. lillikomurek.com Shannon Lamb (Helen Hubbard) is thrilled to be making her Syracuse Stage debut! She is an actor, vocalist, and psalmist that has performed in venues across the country.

Some of her theater credits include: Bertha in Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, and Rachel Twymon Sr in Common Ground Revisited (Huntington Theatre); Marlena Madison in The Buddy Holly Story (Majestic Theater); It Happened in Little Rock, Because of Winn Dixie (Arkansas Repertory Theatre); Temptation in Pandemonium (Cherry Lane Theatre, NYC – world premiere); Building The Wall 32

CAST (Academy of Music – rolling world premiere); Jar the Floor, Gee’s Bend, Mary Poppins, and The Full Monty (Arkansas Repertory Theatre); Smokey Joe’s Cafe, Little Shop of Horrors, and Annie (Murray’s Dinner Playhouse); Lead Vocalist in Me and The Sky Fall Cabaret (WAM Theatre) and singing the national anthem at Madison Square Garden. TMDE…Gil Isa Providence (Mary Debenham) is beyond excited to be returning to Syracuse Stage for her second show! She’s currently a senior acting major in the Syracuse University Department of Drama and feels very lucky to end her time as a student by being a part of this show. Previous credits include Our Town (Syracuse Stage) and Ghost Ship (Syracuse University Department of Drama). Isa would like to thank her family, friends, Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express team, and Bob Hupp for their constant support! Isaprovidence.com @isaprovidenceactor Jason O’Connell (Hercule Poirot) is thrilled to be returning to Syracuse Stage, where he last appeared as Chris in The Play That Goes Wrong. Prior to that, Jason performed in Eureka Day and Talley’s Folly, and played Salieri in Amadeus. He also directed Stage’s 2019 production of Pride and Prejudice, adapted by his wife Kate Hamill. Off-Broadway: Judgment Day (Park Avenue Armory), Happy Birthday, Wanda June (Wheelhouse Theater Company), Pride and Prejudice (Primary Stages), Becomes A Woman (The Mint, City Center), Sense and Sensibility (Bedlam, The Gym at Judson), The Saintliness of Margery Kempe (The Duke on 42nd St), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (The Pearl), The Seagull (Bedlam), and multiple productions of Jason’s solo show The Dork Knight (Joe’s Pub, Primary Stages, Abingdon Theatre Company, etc). Recent Regional: Twelfth Night (The Old Globe), The Mousetrap (Hartford Stage), God of Carnage (Cape Playhouse), Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson - Apt. 2B (Kansas City Rep), and the title role in Jason’s own co-adaptation (with Brenda Withers) of Cyrano (Two River Theater and Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival). TV: Search Party, Law & Order: SVU, Law & Order: Criminal Intent. www.jason-oconnell.com @jasono15 Derek Emerson Powell (u/s: Hector MacQueen) is honored to be returning to Syracuse Stage and to be working with this magnificent cast and creative team. Last season he appeared in Our Town (Howie Newsome) and Tender Rain (Brother u/s). Other recent credits include The Play That Goes Wrong (Syracuse Stage), Inherit the Wind; By the Way, Meet Vera Stark (Red House Arts Center), Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Chenango River Theatre), Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express; Kiss Me, Kate (Cortland Repertory Theatre), As You Like It; The Fan (The Cherry 33

CAST Arts), and An Odyssey (Hangar Theatre). Derek thanks his friends and family for all of their love and support. Learn more @derekemersonpowell Blake Segal (Hector MacQueen, Dialect Coach, Fight Captain) is thrilled to return to Syracuse Stage after appearing in Our Town, The Play That Goes Wrong, Noises Off, Amadeus, and Matilda The Musical. National Tour: Mary Poppins. Regional: Williamstown, The Old Globe, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Yale Rep, Paper Mill Playhouse, PlayMakers Rep, Connecticut Rep, Chautauqua Theater Company, Adirondack Theater Festival, Tantrum Theater, The Public Theatre, Virginia Theater Festival; NYC: Noor Theatre, The Araca Project, NYMF, Fault Line Theatre, Three Day Hangover. TV: Blue Bloods; Awards: Barrymore & BroadwayWorld Award nominee. Dialect coaching credits include NYC: Ensemble Studio Theatre, New Georges, Fault Line Theatre; Regional: Geva Theatre Center, Berkshire Theatre Group, Two River Theater, PlayMakers Rep, Cortland Rep, Cleveland Musical Theatre, Luna Stage, Passages Theatre, & Walkerspace at SoHo Rep; Training: University of Virginia (B.A.) and Yale School of Drama (M.F.A.); Faculty: Syracuse University Department of Drama. Please visit www.blakesegal.com for more.

Donovan Stanfield (Radio Man, u/s: Monsieur Bouc) is a Syracuse based actor who’s been active in the community for the past 10 years. Mr. Stanfield’s recent credits include Our Town (Syracuse Stage), The Beckett Project (Building Company Theatre), By the Way, Meet Vera Stark (RedHouse Arts Center), and A Raisin in the Sun (Syracuse Stage). Donovan is thrilled to return to Syracuse Stage, and he hopes that y’all enjoy the show! Thank you! (@Donovanormous_s on Instagram) John Tufts (Colonel Arbuthnot, Samuel Ratchett, u/s: Hercule Poirot) is thrilled to be back at Syracuse Stage after last appearing in A Christmas Carol and The Play that Goes Wrong.

Off-Broadway, John has performed with Ensemble Studio Theater, The Mint Theatre, and Primary Stages where he received a Lucille Lortel Nomination for his roles in Kate Hamill’s celebrated adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. For 14 Seasons at The Oregon Shakespeare Festival John played many roles, and some of his favorite include Henry V in Henry V; Prince Hal in Henry IV, Parts One and Two; Philanax in Head Over Heels; Chico in The Cocoanuts; Robin Hood in The Heart of Robin Hood; Sharpe in Equivocation; Romeo in Romeo and Juliet; and Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Regionally John has acted at The Guthrie Theater, The Goodman Theater, Arena Stage, The Old Globe, Pioneer Theater, Seattle Rep, MTC, Actors Theater of Louisville, McCarter Theater, PlayMakers 34

CAST Rep, and Chicago Shakespeare. John is also a cook and author. His cookbook, Fat Rascals: Dining at Shakespeare’s Table explores the food of Shakespeare’s England. So much love to his wife, Chris, and their 10 year-old son, Henry. Television: Bad Teacher, Fashions for Men. Awards: Arthur Kennedy Award; Indy Award: I Am My Own Wife. www.john-tufts.com @johnnymtufts Karis Wiggins (u/s: Princess Dragomiroff ) is ecstatic and grateful to make her Syracuse Stage debut. Favorite credits include Angels in America, Noises Off, Twelfth Night, and Red Hot Patriot: the kick ass wit of Molly Ivins which she co-produced. She has been seen in numerous original plays written by regional playwrights. Favorite roles for Full Cast Audio include a mother, an alien and a Scottish Dragon. She is always grateful for her husband’s support and gives a special shout out to your Syracuse Stage bartender Meg, who coached her as a high school soccer player and most recently when auditioning for this role! www.kariswigginsactor.com ARTISTIC TEAM Czerton Lim (he/him) (Scenic Designer) is excited to be returning for another murder mystery after having designed last year’s co-production of Clue with Indiana Repertory Theatre and The Play That Goes Wrong in 2022. Previous productions for Syracuse Stage include Matilda The Musical, along with Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, Elf the Musical (SALT Award for Best Set Design of a Musical 2019) and designing the streaming production of Talley’s Folly.

Most recently, he collaborated with Cleveland Play House on their production of The Play That Goes Wrong. He has frequently worked at The Rev Theatre Company, having designed A Chorus Line last season, Murder for Two, Ghost the Musical, Parade, Crazy for You, Sweeney Todd and West Side Story to name a few. NYC credits include Storm Theatre, Ma-Yi Theatre Company, National Asian-American Theatre Company, Theatre Mitu/NYU-Abu Dhabi, and New York Musical Theatre Festival. He teaches Scene Design and other related topics at the State University of New York at Fredonia. A proud member of USA local 829, he is originally from the Philippines. www.czlimdesign.com Tracy Dorman (Costume Designer) has designed over a dozen productions at Syracuse Stage over the past two decades, most recently Tender Rain and Our Town last season. She has designed at regional theater and opera companies around the country, including Asolo Repertory Theatre, Maltz-Jupiter, Gulfshore Playhouse, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, The Cleveland Play House, GEVA, Milwaukee Rep, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Drury Lane (Chicago), Kansas City Rep, Manhattan School of Music,

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ARTISTIC TEAM Virginia Opera, Kentucky Opera, Opera Omaha, Chicago Opera Theatre, Glimmerglass, and New York City Opera. From 2005-2008 she was an associate costume designer on the CBS daytime drama As the World Turns, for which she won a 2007 Emmy Award for Costume Design. Tracy continues to work in TV along with her theater and opera work; most recently she has worked on Law & Order: SVU (NBC), Westworld (HBO), and The Equalizer (CBS). Please visit www.tracydorman.com for a more extensive listing of production credits.

Dawn Chiang (Lighting Designer) designed the lighting for numerous Syracuse Stage productions, including Amadeus, Tender Rain, Eureka Day, I and You, Native Gardens, Next to Normal, Talley’s Folly, To Kill A Mockingbird, Other Desert Cities, The Glass Menagerie, and Two Trains Running. She has designed the lighting at numerous regional theaters including Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Guthrie Theater, Arena Theatre, Mark Taper Forum, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, South Coast Repertory, Denver Center Theatre Company, Alliance Theatre, and Trinity Repertory Company. On Broadway, Dawn designed the lighting for Zoot Suit, was co-designer for Tango Pasion, and associate lighting designer for Show Boat, The Life and the original production of La Cage Aux Folles. Off-Broadway, she has designed for the Roundabout Theater, Manhattan Theatre Club, and co-designed the first two seasons of the Encores! concert musical series at City Center. Dawn was resident lighting designer for New York City Opera, where her designs included A Little Night Music and Fanciulla del West. Awards include a Broadway World award (for off-Broadway), two Lighting Designer of the Year Awards (Syracuse Area Live Theatre), two Dramalogue awards, a THEA award (Themed Entertainment Association) and nominations for the Maharam Design Award from American Theatre Wing, Los Angeles Drama Critics’ and San Francisco Bay Area Critics’ award.

UptownSound (Sound Designer) is a collaborative design team specializing in theatre, film, podcasts, installations and other media. Guided by a shared love for diverse storytelling, our collective merges skills and perspectives, while fostering a human first approach to design work. Select sound design highlights include Munich Medea (WP/PlayCO); To The Ends of the Earth (JACK); Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill (Baltimore Center Stage); Working: A Musical (CUBoulder); Tiny Father (Barrington Stage/Chautauqua); BMLD (National Black Theatre); Avaaz (South Coast Rep); The Singularity Play (HarvardTDM); Black Odyssey (Classic Stage); Chicken & Biscuits (Asolo Rep); Espejos:Clean (Hartford Stage/Syracuse Stage); Which Way To The Stage (Signature DC); the ripple, the wave that carried me home (Berkeley Rep/ Goodman); Complicity Island (Audible); Blues Clues & You! (Round Room Live); Queen (Long Wharf Theater/A.R.T.NY); Choir Boy and Today Is My Birthday (Yale Rep); Fires in the Mirror (Baltimore Center Stage/Long Wharf Theatre); already there (The REACH, Kennedy Center): First Down (59E59).

This design was led by Daniela Hart (uptownworksnyc.com), Bailey Trierweiler 36

ARTISTIC TEAM (btsounddesign.com) and Noel Nichols (noelnicholsdesign.com). All hold an M.F.A. in Sound Design from Yale School of Drama.

Nitsan Scharf (Projections Designer) is a multimedia artist, currently pursuing an M.F.A. in Integrated Media at the University of Texas, Austin. Recent design credits include tooth fairy (Fall For Dance, UT), Over/Under (Extreme Lengths Productions), Body of a Woman as a Battlefield (ExPats Theatre), The Ascension Project (Uprooted Dance), and A Chorus Within Her (Theater Alliance). He received his B.A. in Theatre from the University of Maryland.

More of his work can be viewed at nitsanscharf.com.

Bobbie Zlotnik (Wig Designer) Syracuse Stage; Tender Rain, Our Town. OffBroadway; Emojiland (Drama Desk Nom.), Ibsen’s Ghost, The Great Gatsby: The Immersive Show, Fairycakes, Mornings At Seven, The Book of Merman, Drop Dead Perfect, Disenchanted, Forbidden Broadway, Bed Bugs!!!, and many more. National Tours; On Your Feet, Emojiland, Cocomelon LIVE. Film/TV; The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, The Gilded Age, A Holiday Spectacular, Halston, Getting Curious With Jonathan Van Ness. www.BobbieZlotnik.com Hannah “Rock” Roccisano (Intimacy and Fight Direction) is a New York City based fight and intimacy professional, director, educator and Shakespeare nerd. Her work has been seen off-Broadway including Wolf Play, A Bright New Boise, and Montag. Rock has additionally choreographed regionally and at multiple universities such as Columbia University, Syracuse University and the Hartt School. She is a Certified Teacher with the SAFD and holds two masters degrees, an M.F.A. and Master of Letters in Shakespeare and Performance from Mary Baldwin University. Hannah is the Chair of Development for the SAFD and the founder of “Expand, Educate, Empower,” an initiative bringing free stage combat training to students in underserved communities across the U.S. Stuart Plymesser (Production Stage Manager) is in his 28th season at Syracuse Stage where he has stage managed over 100 plays, musicals, and special events, working with such talents as Jason Alexander, Olympia Dukakis, Frank Langella, Elizabeth Franz, and Phylicia Rashad. Stuart has worked at numerous regional theatres around the country and in Cape Town, South Africa, and has toured nationally. Locally, he has also stage managed events for Syracuse Fashion Week. In addition, Stuart is adjunct faculty for the Syracuse University Department of Drama and has been a guest speaker/lecturer for Ithaca College, Wells College, SUNY Oswego, SUNY Fredonia, and the Zabalaza Festival in Cape Town. Outside of theatre, Stuart holds the rank of Nidan (second degree black belt) in Aikido and the title of Fukoshidoin (assistant instructor) at Aikido of Central New York. Stuart is a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers.

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ARTISTIC TEAM Celia Madeoy (Dialect Coach, The Nanny) is an associate professor of voice and acting with the Department of Drama at Syracuse University and Syracuse Stage. She has performed professionally with many League of Resident Theatres and Shakespeare festivals across the United States including The Shakespeare Theatre Company, Folger Theatre, The Acting Company, Guthrie Theater, Shakespeare & Company, Theatre J, The REV Theatre Company/ Broadway in the Finger Lakes, Marin Theatre Company, Arizona Repertory Theatre, and The Blackfriars Playhouse at the American Shakespeare Center.

Her international Shakespeare training and performance includes voice work alongside Andrew Wade, Patsy Rodenburg, Giles Block, and distinguished directors and voice teachers of the Royal Shakespeare Company, British American Drama and performed in several productions at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and been featured in many roles at Syracuse Stage including Deb in Elf The Musical for which she won a Syracuse Area Live Theatre (SALT) Award for Best Supporting Actress. Celia is a proud M.F.A. acting graduate of the Theatre School Conservatory at DePaul University in Chicago.

Andrea Leigh-Smith (Choreographer) has previously choreographed for Syracuse Stage’s productions of A Christmas Carol, Matilda the Musical, and The Underpants. She also served as the Associate Choreographer for the holiday production, Disney's The Little Mermaid. Other choreographic credits include Louis Braille: The World at Your Fingertips and Into the Woods at The Hangar Theater. She has choreographed numerous productions at Neptune Theater in Eastern Canada as well as 18 Syracuse University Department of Drama productions. Andrea is a member of the Department of Drama’s full-time dance faculty. As a performer, Broadway credits: Jerome Robbins Broadway and SMILE, also off-Broadway, Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular, U.S. tours, and major regional theaters in the U.S. and Canada. Andrea is a co-founder and resident choreographer for Irondale Ensemble Project Canada and The Building Company in Syracuse.

Rebecca Karpoff (Vocal Coach) has been featured soprano soloist with the Syracuse and Baltimore Symphony Orchestras, the Rochester Philharmonic, and the Rochester Oratorio Society in works of Szymanowski, Mozart, Handel, Bach, Schubert, Haydn, and Strauss. Operatic roles include the Countess, Fiordiligi, Rosina, Suor Angelica, Dorabella, and Zerlina. As recitalist and chamber musician, Karpoff has been heard at the Ravinia, Aspen, and Skaneateles Festivals and Merkin Hall in New York City. She has sung world premieres by Augusta Read Thomas and Samuel Adler as well as large works by Schoenberg, Boulez, Harbison, Varèse, and Ginastera. Currently serving as Associate Chair of the Syracuse University Drama Department, she is a Teaching Professor of Voice and has worked on numerous productions as vocal coach, director, or music director.

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ARTISTIC TEAM 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 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.

AUTHOR Agatha Christie is known throughout the world as the Queen of Crime.

Her books have sold over a billion copies in English with another billion in foreign languages. She is the most widely published author of all time and, in many languages, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. She is the author of 66 crime novels, 150 short stories, over 20 plays, and six novels written under the name Mary Westmacott. Her work includes Murder on the Orient Express, Death on the Nile, and the genre-defining And Then There Were None. Agatha Christie’s first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, was written towards the end of the First World War, in which she served in the VAD. In it she created Hercule Poirot, the little Belgian detective who was destined to become the most popular detective in crime fiction since Sherlock Holmes. It was published by Bodley Head in 1920. In 1926, after averaging a book a year, Agatha Christie wrote her first masterpiece. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd was the first of her books to be published by Collins and

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AUTHOR marked the beginning of an author-publisher relationship that lasted for 50 years and well over 70 books. Ackroyd was also the first of Agatha Christie’s books to be dramatized – under the title Alibi – and to have a successful run in London’s West End. By 1930, Agatha had introduced a new character to act as detective. When she created Miss Marple, Agatha did not expect her to become Poirot’s rival, but with The Murder at the Vicarage, Miss Marple’s first full-length outing, it appeared she had produced another popular and enduring character. The Mousetrap, her most successful play of all, opened in 1952 and is the longest-running play in history. Agatha Christie was made a dame in 1971. She died in 1976. Agatha Christie Limited (ACL) has been managing the literary and media rights to Agatha Christie’s works around the world since 1955, working with the best talents in film, television, publishing, stage and on digital platforms to ensure that Christie’s work continues to reach new audiences in innovative ways and to the highest standard. The company is managed by Christie’s great grandson James Prichard. Visit www. agathachristie.com for more information.

P L AY W R I G H T / A D A P T O R Ken Ludwig has had six productions on Broadway and eight in London’s West End. His 34 plays and musicals are staged around the world and throughout the United States every night of the year. His first play, Lend Me a Tenor, won two Tony Awards and was called “one of the classic comedies of the 20th century” by The Washington Post. Crazy For You is currently running on London’s West End. It was previously on Broadway for five years, on the West End for three, and won the Tony and Olivier Awards for Best Musical.

In addition, he has won the Edwin Forrest Award for Contributions to the American Theatre, two Laurence Olivier Awards, two Helen Hayes Awards, the Charles MacArthur Award, and the Edgar Award for Best Mystery of the Year. His other plays include Moon Over Buffalo, Leading Ladies, Baskerville, Sherwood, Twentieth Century, Dear Jack, Dear Louise, A Fox on the Fairway, A Comedy of Tenors, The Game’s Afoot, Shakespeare in Hollywood and Murder on the Orient Express. They have starred, among others, Alec Baldwin, Carol Burnett, Kristen Bell, Tony Shaloub, Joan Collins and Henry Goodman. His book How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare, published by Penguin Random House, won the Falstaff Award for Best Shakespeare Book of the Year, and his essays on theatre are published in the Yale Review. He gives the Annual Ken Ludwig Playwriting Scholarship at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival, and he served on the Board of Governors for the Folger Shakespeare Library for ten years. His first opera, Tenor Overboard, opened at the Glimmerglass Festival in July 2022. His most recent world premieres were Lend Me A Soprano and Moriarty, and his newest plays and musicals include Pride and Prejudice Part 2: Napoleon at Pemberley and Lady Molly of Scotland 40

P L AY W R I G H T / A D A P T O R Yard. His plays include commissions from the Agatha Christie Estate, the Royal Shakespeare Company, The Old Globe Theatre, and the Bristol Old Vic. For more information visit www.kenludwig.com.

DIRECTOR/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.

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.

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MANAGING DIRECTOR 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.

A S S O C I AT E A R T I S T I C D I R E C T O R Melissa Crespo (she/her) has made a career of developing new plays, musicals, and opera around the country and abroad. She recently directed the musical El Otro Oz by Tommy Newman, Mando Alvarez, and Jaime Lozano at Atlantic Theatre Company and is looking forward to directing Once by Enda Walsh, Glen Hansard, and Markéta Irglová at Syracuse Stage. Other favorite past credits include, Espejos: Clean by Christine Quintana (Hartford Stage & Syracuse Stage), Bees and Honey by Guadalís Del Carmen off-Broadway at MCC Theater, and form of a girl unknown by Charly Evon Simpson (Salt Lake Acting Company). 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. 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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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.

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

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 45

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 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

Mira Jensen

Octavia Miller

CAZENOVIA HIGH SCHOOL

CORCORAN HIGH SCHOOL

FAYETTEVILLE-MANLIUS HIGH SCHOOL

Sadie Broderick

Beatrix Karn

EAST SYRACUSE MINOA CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL

CAZENOVIA HIGH SCHOOL

Natalie Corbin

Harper Shute FAYETTEVILLE-MANLIUS HIGH SCHOOL

Sophia Kelly

JAMESVILLE-DEWITT HIGH SCHOOL

CATO MERIDIAN JUNIOR-SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

Ella Culligan

Stephanie Kelly

LIVERPOOL HIGH SCHOOL

CHRISTIAN BROTHERS ACADEMY

Joliette Doyle

Margot Klein

TULLY JUNIOR SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

CHARLES W. BAKER HIGH SCHOOL

Abbie Sundet

Nina Doyle-Gonzalez

Tessa Komar

PAUL V. MOORE HIGH SCHOOL

MANLIUS PEBBLE HILL SCHOOL

Kate Fennessy AUBURN HIGH SCHOOL

Claire Foran EAST SYRACUSE MINOA CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL

Anqi Geng MANLIUS PEBBLE HILL SCHOOL

Kennedy Hilton FAYETTEVILLE-MANLIUS HIGH SCHOOL

Caleb Smith MANLIUS PEBBLE HILL SCHOOL

Francesca Smith BISHOP GRIMES JR./SR. HIGH SCHOOL

FAYETTEVILLE-MANLIUS HIGH SCHOOL

Zariah Taylor JAMESVILLE-DEWITT HIGH SCHOOL

Rei Korthas

David Warne Peters

HOMESCHOOLED

Madison Macomber EAST SYRACUSE MINOA CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL

Zoie Markowski SOLVAY HIGH SCHOOL

Minerva Miller FAYETTEVILLE-MANLIUS HIGH SCHOOL

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CORCORAN HIGH SCHOOL

Rebecca Wheeler HOMESCHOOLED

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 February 19, 2024 and reflect operating support of $5,000+ and in-kind donations of $10,000+.

Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express is made possible with funds from the General Operating Support program a regrant program of the County of Onondaga with the support of County Executive, J. Ryan McMahon II, and the Onondaga County Legislature, administered by CNY Arts.

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 Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express.

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50 TH ANNIVERSARY CAMPAIGN GIFTS Syracuse Stage's 50th Anniversary Season is presented by Slutzker Family Foundation Sarah Alden Jackie Anderson 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 Anthony & Carolyn Cimino 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 Alan Fischler & Karen McDonold

David & Karen Fitch Molly Carole Fitzpatrick Robert & Terry Flower Peter Frantzis Nancy Freeborough George & Halina Gagne Jim & Carol Galvin Barbara Genton Jacki & Michael Goldberg Douglas Goldschmidt & David Jacobs 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 Michael & Audrey Kane Brian Kane & Phyllis Perrotti James & Jan Kaplan Dana Keefer John & Gloria Kennedy Stewart Koenig & Judy Schmid Dean Kolts Jill Ladd Lorraine LaDuke Andrea Latchem Stephen Lessie Linda Loomis Estate of Julie Lutz & George Wallerstein Tony Malavenda & Martine Burat Rocco & Roberta Mangano Wade Manning Nicholas Martin Andreas & Margaret Meier Carl Mellor Michael & Claudia Miceli Gail Mitchell Bruce Moseley & Leigh Yardley Janet Munro

As of February 19, 2024.

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Claire Myers Richard & Barbara Natoli 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 The Dorothy & Marshall M. Reisman Foundation 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 Vinodhini Subramanian John & Jamie Sutphen Amy Sweeney Delia & Sandy Temes Angi Tipton John Toomey Hon. Karen M. Uplinger Joseph & Carole Valesky Nancy Wadopian Marc & Marcy Waldauer 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 Richard Bunce Nancy & William Byrne Cathedral Candle Company Central New York Community Foundation JP Morgan Chase Cumulus Radio Nancy Green & Tony Marschall 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 Larry & Ann Harris Hayner Hoyt Corporation Kathy Kelly & Len Weiner Larry & Mary Leatherman Sally Lou & Fran Nichols Rocco & Roberta Mangano Kevin & Suzanne McAuliffe Eric & Judy Mower Claire Myers NBT Bancorp Inc Joel Potash & Sandra Hurd Sam & Carolyn Spalding Melvin & Patricia Stith Theatre Development Fund Wegmans Kristen Weslowski $3,500 - $4,999 Ashley McGraw Architects Janet Audunson & David Youlen Brine Wells, LLC & Marriott Downtown Syracuse Pete & Mary Beth Carmen Ernst & Young LLP Maggie & Jake Feldmeier John & Kimberly Huhtala Inner Harbor Radio Cydney Johnson & Jeff Comanici

Selma Radin Syracuse University Humanities Center Maryam Wasmund $1,800 - $3,499 Barbara Beckos & Arthur McDonald Kathleen Bice Francine Boutet Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation Constance Bull Craig & Kathy Byrum James Clark & Sharon Gordon 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 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 February 19, 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 Sharye Skinner Raymond & Linda Straub Douglas Sutherland & Nancy Kramer Michael & Cathy Tick Dr. Amy Tucker Joshua & Andrea Waldman $1,200 - $1,799 James & Nancy Asher The Benz Family 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. John Steigerwald IV Rebecca Karpoff Kevin & Jessica Kopko David Rankert Frank and Frances Revoir Foundation Richard & Margaret Shirtz James Shults Jack & Linda Webb Michael & Laurie Zoanetti $600 - $1,199 Chris Arnold Guthrie & Louise Birkhead Marlene Blumin BMI Supply Thomas & Susan Brett Angel Broadnax Citizens Charitable Foundation Amy & Tom Clark Jerilyn Costich Mark Cywilko & Marianne Moosbrugger

Stephen & Emily DiMarco Allen & Anita Frank Joyce Day Homan Richard & Margaret Ingraham John & Maren King Bob & Pat Lebel Susan Lison James MacKillop Charles Martin & Johanna Keller 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 Beth & Tobias Sienel Sharon Sutter Peter Vanable & Anne Jamison Robert & Anita Wagner David & Daryll Wheeler Angela Winfield & Lance Lyons John & Mitzi Wolf $300 - $599 Susan & Allison Ambrosie Charles Amos Timothy Atseff & Margaret Ogden Andrew & Margot Baxter Edward & Angela Bernat Brenda Bousfield & David Marcus Eric & Carol Boyer Marlene Brown Gary & Kathleen Bruno Paul & Linda Cohen Anita Cottrell Susan Crossett James & Suzanne Cusack Frederick Dever Charley & Kim Driscoll Richard Ernst Elizabeth Etoll Linda Fabian & Dennis Goodrich Thomas & Melissa Ferrara Lois & Jill Fowler Gasparini Sales, Inc. Muffy & Baird Hansen David & Ellen Hardy

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.

Guthrie & Louise Birkhead in memory of Ruth Smulyan.

Kathy Brodsky in memory of Ginny Parker.

Carol Bryant in honor of Virginia Parker Craig & Kathy Byrum in memory of Ginny Parker.

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

As of February 19, 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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Daniel & Julia Harris Joseph & Paula Himmelsbach David & Noel Keith 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 James & Kathleen Muldoon Marty & Millie Newshan Doren Norfleet Judy Oplinger Robert & Teresa Parke Patricia A Parker Jane Pickett Mickey & Pat Piscitelli Susan Plemons Jennifer Roberts William Schuyler Robert & Cheryl Shallish 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 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 David Blair 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 Karl Crossman & John Steinburg Linda Czerkies Oran Day Carol Decker Bill & Terry Delavan Diana Ingraham Milkovic Diane Dimond Elizabeth Drew & Joe Marusa Mary Dunn Nathaniel & Karen Dunn Denise Dyce William & Elizabeth Elkins Lorraine Erlenback Cynthia Ferguson Michael & Mrs Fish Molly Carole Fitzpatrick Gerard Flynn Kim Fontana Jeffrey & Teresa Freedman Elinor Freeman Barbara Friedman Thomas & Karen Fruehan Allen & Nirelle Galson Claudia Gasiorowski Robert Geiger Ernest & Lynne Giraud Karen Goldman Douglas Goldschmidt & David Jacobs Bernice Gottschalk William Gray Roger & Vicki Greenberg Gregory & Elaine Hallett

In Honor of (Continued

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.

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.

Guy & Patricia Howard in memory of Viriginia Parker.

Joan Kesselring in memory of Ginny Parker.

Leslie Kohman & Jeffrey Smith in memory of Ginny Parker.

As of February 19, 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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Judith Hand Nancy Hanna Mark & Carole Hansen Georgina Hegney Karl & Mary Herba 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 Tim & Susan Kennedy John & Gloria Kennedy Russell & Joan King Diane 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 Frederick & Virginia Marty Elizabeth Mascia Janice Mayne Margot McCormick Wallace & Gayonne McDonald Kathleen McLeod Sam & Margaret McNaughton Andreas & Margaret Meier Clifford & Marjorie Mellor Daniel & Terry Miller Donna Miller Leslie & Barney Molldrem Danielle Montagne & Mark Zlotnick Janet Moore Elizabeth Mosher Janet Munro Nancy Machles Rothschild 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 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 Bethany Stewart Kathleen & Mark Sunheimer James & Deborah Tifft Andrew & Kathleen Tompkins Charles Tremper Joseph Tucker Hon. Karen M. Uplinger Susan Wadley Marc & Marcy Waldauer David & Mary Walsh Donald & Martha Washburn Connie Webster Howard Weinstein David Whitman Fred & Karen Whitney George & Mrs Whitton Tom & Desiree Wight Christopher & Renee Wiles Roger & Carolyn Williams Tom & Carol Wolff Mary Yurco Loretta Zolkowski $100 - $149 Jerrold & Harriet Abraham John Andrake Patricia Arcana & Thomas Dorr

In Honor of (Continued

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.

Patricia A Parker in 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.

As of February 19, 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 Al & Jane Arras Mary Roberts Bailey Rosanne Barbaglia Nancy Barnum Marjory Baruch Janine Bernard Carrie Berse & Chris Skeval Diana Biro & Eric Rogers Barbara Blaszak Jon & Patricia Booth Bernard & Ona Cohn Bregman Robert & Helene Brophy Bob & Kathy Brown Patricia Bush William & Mary Butler Richard & Nina Cantor Thomas Carlin Delores Carney Marjorie Carter Casey Holmes Fee Nancy Christy Martha Cole Cheryl Cole John & Deloris Coleman Paul & Cynthia Curtin CVS Lynette & Ethan Davis Paula Dendis Kate DiDonato Audrey Dolata James & Mike Doleski Rebecca Downing Eric Drath Wynn Egginton Richard Ellison & Margaret Ksander Stanley & Penny Emerick Mark & Marci Erlebacher Carole Farfaglia Brant & Ellen Rosborough Ford John Friedman & Polly Ann Heavenrich Kathryn Glynn Michael & Wendy Gordon Mark & Cynthia Dowd Greene Briann Greenfield Seth & Lisa Greenky William & Ann Griffith Charlotte Haas & Gary Quirk James Hahn Ann & Richard Harris Gail Hauss David & Elizabeth Hayes Gordon Hayes

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 Shelly Kempton 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 Mary Beth Gannon John Mathiason Douglas & Randi Matousek John & Mary McCulley Philip & Martha McDowell Timothy McLaughlin & Diane Cass Gail Meagher Thomas & Mary Lou Mees Eckart & Mary Meisterfeld Marcia & Dave Mele David Michel & Peggy Liuzzi Dr. Merrill L. Miller Thomas Miller & Mary MacBlane Don Moore Susan Moore-Palumbo & Frank Palumbo Joseph Moorman & Catherine Gerard Tina Nabinger Wendy Neikirk Rhodes & Adrian Rhodes Michael Newman Jane Ondich Bryan O'Quinn Marianna Pernia James Perry Anita Pisano Howard & Ann Port Kevin & Rachel Porter

In Honor of (Continued

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.

Sharon Sullivan & Paul Phillips in memory of Virginia B. 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.

Duane & Karleen Preske Colleen Prossner Steve & Kate Pynn Mary Rose Ranieri John & Dorothy Reiffenstein Lynn Richer Michael Riecke & Anthony McEachern William & Gretchen Roberts

As of February 19, 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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Stacy Roberts Rosamond Gifford Foundation Bob Rose John & Judy Sabene Steven & Carla Salisbury Richard & Jill Sargent Roberta Savage Jennifer Scalione Jeffrey & Abby Scheer Lowell Seifter & Sharon McAuliffe Madeline Slate Alan & Jean Smith William Smith Mark & Beth Steigerwald

Milton & Mary Stevenson Susan Stred & Harold Husovsky Jennifer, Bridget & Audrey Stromer-Galley Martha Sutter & David Ross Kristin & Steve Swift Brady Systems Thomas & Carole Taylor Ron Thiele & Lynne Pascale James Traver & Marguerite Conan John & Jean Tromans Phil & Janice Turner William & Linda Veit

Anthony & Martha Viglietta Bob & Claudia Visalli Timothy & Nancy Volk Marcia Walsh 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

As of February 19, 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 Dr. William J. Clark, Jr. Fund The Estate of Rosemary Curtis Mary Louise Dunn Fund Deborah O'Shea

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

Michael and Rissa Ratner 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

EB

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 Student Employee...........................................................................................Rosario Figueira† 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, Laura Jane Collins, 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 Work Study Staff..............Nathan Ayotte†, Olivia Busche†, Carolyn Burch†,

Christian Elwood†, Sami English†, Henry Herbert, Andrej Humiston†, Henry Jackson, Henry Killbourne†, Violet Lanciloti†, Arieza Mari Martin Magalang, James O’Leary, Lucia Santoro-Velez, Kevin Sene, Eva Spaid, 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 Maria Yarrow Director of Education.......................................................................................................Kate Laissle Community Engagement and Education Coordinator........................................Theorri London Education Interns...............................................................Olivia Wernecke†, 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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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.

Jaelynn Pearl Evelyn Ricks in Backstory: Commanding Space.

Photographer: Brenna Merritt

GIVE NOW AT SYRACUSESTAGE.ORG/SUPPORT

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Summer @stage

SUMMER @ SYRACUSE STAGE RETURNS FOR STUDENTS ENTERING GRADES 3 – 5!

Make friends. Build confidence. Express yourself.

With an emphasis on musical theatre, acting, movement, and storytelling, students will learn from professional artists, get a behind-the-scenes look at the theatre-making process, and feel the thrill of creating and performing in their own original showcase. No experience necessary.

Space is limited.

Registration is now open!

Spots remaining only for Grades 3 – 5: July 29 – August 9 FOR MORE INFORMATION AND REGISTRATION

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Let’s get a round of

applause

Creativity builds connections, and at NBT Bank, we believe that inspiration is best when celebrated and shared. Thank you for using your talent and passion to make our communities shine.

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experience broadway

www.therevtheatre.com

315-255-1785

june 5 - 22

in the finger lakes!

aug. 14 - 31

july 10 - 27

2024 season single tickets on sale now!

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sept. 18 - oct. 5

THE ARTS

Donor-Advised Funds

More ways to give.

PATIENT One convenient CARE resource.

Let us assist you with your charitable giving.

RESEARCH ANIMAL RESCUE

COMMUNITY AND EDUCATION HEALTH WELL-BEING

If philanthropy is one of your priorities, establishing a donor-advised fund at the Upstate Foundation may be the next best step toward achieving your charitable goals.

A donor-advised fund can be established by an individual or company at the Foundation in order to disburse charitable gifts to qualified not-for-profit organizations. This includes, of course, Upstate Medical University as well as local and national nonprofits that are meaningful to you. Simplify your giving and enjoy the tax advantages of a donor-advised fund. www.UpstateFoundation.org/DAF | 315-464-4416 67

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For attending today’s performance,

h

We would like to extend to you a complimentary 5 week subscription to The Central New York Business Journal!

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In addition, you will be signed up to receive our news alerts for free!

Scan the QR Code to get started!

Central New York’s trusted source for business news and information for over 35 years

CNYBJ.COM 69

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IDENTITY & ILLUSION Mistaken identities, misadventures, mystery, and mayhem—don’t miss a moment of the 2024 season!

July 22 - August 19, 2024 THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE | Gilbert & Sullivan Set sail on a delightfully absurd adventure of swashbuckling fun for the whole family.

July 23 - August 17, 2024 LA CALISTO | Cavalli / Faustini Nymphs and satyrs cavort with the gods in this bawdy comedic caper.

July 27 - August 18, 2024 PAGLIACCI | Leoncavallo The shocking tale of jealousy and revenge which blurs the line between art and reality. Arrive early to picnic while enjoying a preshow performance on the new outdoor stage!

July 28 - August 20, 2024 ELIZABETH CREE | Puts / Campbell Music Hall murder mystery becomes modern masterpiece.

607.547.2255 | WWW.GLIMMERGLASS.ORG 71

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