Tuesdays with Morrie Digital Program

Marc

MARC ROBIN EXECUTIVE ARTISTIC PRODUCER

PRESENTS THE FULTON THEATRE PRODUCTION OF

by Jeffrey Hatcher and Mitch Albom based on the book by Mich Albom

AMELIA RINGER* STAGE MANAGER

GWENDOLYN COX SCENIC DESIGNER

GRIFFIN ALLEN LIGHTING DESIGNER

GRANT PATRICK SOUND DESIGNER

With

BETH DUNKELBERGER COSTUME DESIGNER

KATELIN WALSKO PROPS DESIGNER

JOEY ABRAMOWICZ CASTING ASSOCIATE

JARED MICHAEL DELANEY*• PETER DELAURIER*

DIRECTED BY MATT PFEIFFER

MARCH 29 – APRIL 14, 2024

Original New York production produced by David S. Singer, Elizabeth Ireland McCann, Joey Parnes, Amy & Scott Ncderlander, Harold Thau, Moira Wilson, Shadowcatcher Entertainment.

Originally presented by New York Stage and Film Company and the Powerhouse Theatre at Vassar, 2002.

Tuesdays with Morrie was supported by a playwright’s residency and public staged readings at the 2001 O’Neill National Playwrights Conference of the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, Waterford, CT.

*Member of Actor’s Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

SERIES SPONSORS: CREATIVE PART- PRINT PART-

IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER

Mitch..........................................................................Jared Michael Delaney*

Morrie....................................................................................Peter DeLaurier*

CREW

Stage Manager................................................................................................Amelia Ringer*

Production Assistant...................................................................................Gracious Mattson

Crew Chief ...........................................................................................................Dana Landis

*Member of Actor’s Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

Peter DeLaurier*

Jared Michael Delaney*

WHO’S WHO CAST

JARED MICHAEL DELANEY* (Mitch) A writer & actor, he’s appeared on stages Off-Broadway and regionally across the U.S, happily now including the Fulton! Select TV/Film credits: Mare of Easttown (HBO), Dispatches from Elsewhere (AMC) and the upcoming Catamount (Apple); Kinderwald, Love & Communication, Hayride to Hell and the upcoming Alice & the Vampire Queen. His plays have been produced around the country and he’s co-host of a podcast about the musician Prince, titled When Doves Podcast. www.jaredmichaeldelaney.com.

PETER DELAURIER* (Morrie) Broadway - Equus. Co-founder, Producing Director - Delaware Theatre Co. 40-yr company member, Peoples Light. Lantern Theatre – acted in Uncle Vanya, Tempest, QED, and many others. Directed Faith Healer, Hapgood, Red Velvet, 36 Views, Vigil, and many others. 5 seasons with Missouri Repertory. Artistic Director – New Stage, Jackson, MS. Two individual acting Barrymore Awards; Playwright - plays produced all over USA, Canada, and 9 other countries. Nominated for Best New Play.

WHO’S WHO PRODUCTION

JOEY ABRAMOWICZ (Casting Associate) is in his 6th season as Associate Casting Director. He contracts actors, directors & choreographers for all Fulton productions! Joey works alongside Fulton’s Executive Artistic Producer Marc Robin to cast actors from NYC, Chicago, Philadelphia, Lancaster, and beyond. A frequent Fulton performer and director, he was most recently seen as Bob Crewe in Jersey Boys. Fulton Casting Highlights: Titanic, Doubt, I Am My Own Wife, and the Diversity Festival. Love to P, J & J. @joeytumble he/him

MITCH ALBOM (Playwright) Mitch Albom is a best-selling author, a nationally acclaimed newspaper columnist (with the “Detroit Free Press”), a radio host (with WJR-AM), and a television commentator (with ESPN and ABC). His well-known book “Tuesdays With Morrie” is now the bestselling memoir of all time, with nearly ten million copies sold worldwide. Albom, along with playwright Jeffrey Hatcher, adapted the book into a hit play, which opened Off-Broadway in late 2002 and has been performed in regional theaters throughout North America. Albom’s first novel, “The Five People You Meet in Heaven,” was published in 2003 and was on the “New York Times” best-sellers list for two years. With a screenplay by Albom, “Five People” was adapted into an ABC movie that aired in December 2004 and starred Jon Voight, Ellen Burstyn, and Jeff Daniels. Albom has founded three charities in Detroit: “The Dream Fund,” “A Time To Help,” and “S.A.Y. Detroit,” which helps Detroit’s homeless. He serves on numerous charitable boards around the country and makes his home in suburban Detroit.

GRIFFIN ALLEN (Lighting Designer) is grateful to be starting his second season here at the Fulton. Griffin’s previous designs here include Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Shear Madness, and Ragtime. Over the years, he’s had the opportunity to work in five states spanning over 2,500 miles including multiple seasons at the Lexington Theatre Company and Tuacahn Amphitheatre. Thanks to everyone here at the Fulton, his family, his fiancee Kennedy, and their dogs Ripley and Whiskey for their continued support.

WHO’S WHO PRODUCTION

GWENDOLYN COX (Scenic Designer) received her BFA in Scenic Painting from UNC School of the Arts and has painted backdrops and scenery for theatres up and down the East Coast. Gwen also teaches at Cobalt Studios and does freelance set design, with credits including Frozen, Matilda, and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at Riverside Theatre; The Glass Menagerie, An Act of God, Fun Home, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, and Shear Madness at the Fulton. She would like to thank her parents for always supporting her creative endeavors.

BETH DUNKELBERGER (Costume Designer) thanks the Fulton and other local theatre companies who have provided her the opportunity to pursue her career in her home town. Her most recent projects have been White Christmas, Doubt and Grease at the Fulton and Big Fish for Servant Stage. Beth wishes to dedicate her work on Tuesdays with Morrie to the memory of Lamar Dourte, a wonderful singer, actor, Christ-follower, and friend who lost his battle with ALS on November 5, 2023.

JEFFREY HATCHER (Playwright) Jeffrey Hatcher’s Broadway credits include: NEVER GONNA DANCE (book). Off-Broadway credits include: THREE VIEWINGS and A PICASSO at Manhattan Theatre Club; THE GOVERNMENT INSPECTOR at Red Bull Theater; SCOTLAND ROAD and THE TURN OF THE SCREW at Primary Stages; LUCKY DUCK (book w/ Bill Russell) at the New Victory Theater; TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE (w/ Mitch Albom) at the Minetta Lane Theatre; MURDER BY POE, THE TURN OF THE SCREW, and A CONNECTICUT YANKEE AT KING ARTHUR’S COURT at the Acting Company; TEN CHIMNEYS at Peccadillo Theater Company; NEDDY at American Place; and FELLOW TRAVELERS at Manhattan Punchline. Other theatre credits include: COMPLEAT FEMALE STAGE BEAUTY, MRS. MANNERLY, MURDERERS, MERCY OF A STORM, SMASH, ARMADALE, KORCZAK’S CHILDREN, WORK SONG (w/ Eric Simonson), TO FOOL THE EYE, SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE SUICIDE CLUB, JEFFREY HATCHER’S HAMLET, THE SCARECROW AND HIS SERVANT, DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE, THE CRITIC, HOLMES AND WATSON, and others at the Guthrie, the Old Globe, Yale Rep, the Geffen, Seattle Rep, Huntington Theatre Company, the Shakespeare Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse, Cleveland Playhouse, South Coast Rep, Arizona Theatre Company, San Jose Rep, the Empty Space, Indiana Rep, Children’s Theatre Company, History Theatre, Madison Rep, Intiman Theatre, Illusion Theater, Denver Center, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Milwaukee Rep, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Asolo Repertory Theatre, City Theater, Studio Arena, and dozens more in the US and abroad. FILM/TV: “Stage Beauty,” “Casanova,” “The Duchess,” “Mr. Holmes,” “The Good Liar,” “Columbo,” “Murder at the Cannes Film Festival,” and “The Mentalist.” GRANTS/AWARDS: NEA, TCG, Lila Wallace Fund, Rosenthal New Play Prize, Frankel Award, Charles MacArthur Fellowship Award, McKnight Foundation, Jerome Foundation, Barrymore Award (Best New Play), and the 2013 Ivey Lifetime Achievement Award. He is a member and/or alumnus of the Playwrights’ Center, the Dramatists Guild, the Writers Guild, and New Dramatists.

GRANT PATRICK (Sound Designer) Grant Patrick is a local sound designer from the Lancaster County area. After spending last year designing Doubt: A Parable and Shear Madness, Grant is excited to return to design Tuesday’s with Morrie. He was recognized for Best Sound Design of a Play or Musical in 2022 by Broadway World for his work in EPAC’s Amadeus. With his business, Anarchy Sound, he is excited to collaborate once again with the Fulton Theatre. Grant would also love to thank his amazing girlfriend Rachel.

WHO’S WHO PRODUCTION

MATT PFEIFFER (Director) Matt is thrilled to be back at the Fulton, where he last directed Blackbird. Other credits include Arden Theatre, People’s Light&Theatre, Delaware Theatre Co, Walnut St Theatre, and 24 seasons with the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, among others. Matt is a 12 time Barrymore nominee and winner for best Director for The Whale and The Invisible Hand both with Theatre Exile. He’s also the recipient of the F. Otto Haas Award. Love to Kim, John, and Annie

AMELIA RINGER (Production Stage Manager) Amelia Ringer (she/her) is excited to make her Fulton debut stage managing for Tuesdays! She studied at Ball State University (‘22) and has since been working as a freelance stage manager in the Midwest. She’s loved spending time in Lancaster and hopes you enjoy watching the show as much as she enjoys working on it! @ameliarose.sm

KATELIN WALSKO (Props Designer) Propping the Fulton since 2010! Some of her favorite creations: faux bearskin rug (And Then There Were None); Fester’s rocket-pack (Addams Family); Lumier’s candle hands (Beauty and the Beast); Audrey II hand puppets (Little Shop); break-away leg lamp (A Christmas Story); and dressing the set of In The Heights. Katelin attended the 2003 PA Governor’s School for the Arts and holds a BFA in Theatre Design/Technology from UArts, Phila. Love and props to everyone in the Fulton Family!

ACTORS’ EQUITY ASSOCIATION

(“Equity”) founded in 1913, is the U.S. labor union that represents more than 51,000 professional Actors and Stage Managers. Equity fosters the art of live theatre as an essential component of society and advances the careers of its members by negotiating wages, improving working conditions, and providing a wide range of benefits, including health and pension plans. Actors’ Equity is a member of the AFL-CIO and is affiliated with FIA, an international organization of performing arts unions. #EquityWorks

DRAMATISTS PLAY SERVICE (Licensing

Company) Formed in 1936 by a number of prominent playwrights and theatre agents, Dramatists Play Service, Inc. (DPS) was created to foster national opportunities for playwrights by publishing affordable editions of their plays and handling the performance rights to these works. Dramatists Play Service, Inc. has since grown steadily to become one of the premier play-licensing and theatrical publishing agencies in the world. Offering an extensive list of titles that includes many of the most significant plays of the past century, DPS preserves the rich history of drama. Dramatists Play Service, Inc. works with thousands of theatres to ensure the future vitality of the theatre. We are committed to providing a home for established writers and to nurturing new playwrights of exceptional promise.

FULTON THEATRE ORGANIZATION

View our staff and board members by scanning this QR code with your phone camera or QR reader

“If you wait until the last minute for the famous last words . . . well, you better have great timing. The wise and wonderful things you want to say at the end are the kinds of things you should say all your life” - Morrie

Schwartz

“You have to learn how to die if you wanna wanna be alive” - Jeff

Tweedy

“The readiness is all” - Shakespeare: Hamlet, Act 5 Scene 2

Welcome to Tuesdays with Morrie!

Mitch Albom’s book first hit stores in 1997. Mitch originally conceived of the book to help pay for Morrie’s medical expenses. “Dying costs a lot of money in this country.” Within a few years, the book became a phenomenon. It’s one of the best selling memoirs of all time. It was later adapted for the stage by Jeffrey Hatcher. This story has resonated with so many people. Why? We’ve all lost someone. We’ve all grieved. But at the heart of this story we grapple with how dying can teach us to live. And that lesson never ends. I think that’s why the story endures.

The quotes above share a few poetic notions. One attributed to Morrie Schwartz, one to Shakespeare, and one to Jeff Tweedy, the lead singer of the American rock band Wilco. I love Wilco and often have them playing for my kids, ages 7 and 3. One day, while playing the song “War on War” the lyric hit the speakers - “You have to learn how to die, if you wanna be alive.” My then 6yr old asked “Dad, why do we have to learn how to die?” You know they warn you about this stuff, but I wasn’t prepared. I fumbled my way through the poetical nature of the lyric. “You don’t really have do die to understand life. But you do have to humble yourself in the face of the universe.” Blank stares. Well done, Dad. “Ok, how about this? Just don’t take what you have for granted. Try to appreciate it everyday.” “How?” “Do you like who you are? Where you are? If so, be grateful. If you don’t, try to do better.” “Ok” he said. The full title of Albom’s book is Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, a Young Man, and Life’s Greatest Lesson. I guess I was doing my best “old man.”

My point is - the endeavor to live your best life and the desire to get everything out of it remains a daily exercise. Morrie Schwartz looked his impending death in the eye and said “I’ve got more to give.” And he did. And we listened. And we’re still listening. Even if it isn’t a Tuesday.

I invite you to give yourself over, sometimes in spite of yourself, to the humble and prophetic world view of Morrie and this play. I think we need it.

Thanks for being here!

Matt Pfeiffer, Director