From the Artistic Director, Rick Fortney -- Welcome! --
“White. A blank page or canvas. So many possibilities …”
Welcome to Sunday in the Park with George! I am very pleased to present this particular musical. During the 1980s I called New York City my home, and consequently lived and breathed theatre. Sunday in the Park with George quickly became one of my favorites, and although I saw it multiple times, watching Mandy Patinkin and Bernadette Peters bring George and Dot to life always left me in awe. Songs such as Finishing the Hat, Putting it Together and Move On, and of-course Sunday, captured my heart and soul – not only for their beautiful music, but for their lyrics as well. I hope that this production touches your heart as it has mine. Enjoy! Every production begins as a blank canvas from which to build, and I am blessed to have such a great production team, staff, cast, orchestra and crew to work with. Heading the team is director Martin Friedman. While this is his first show at TrueNorth, I hope it will not be his last. We also welcome back music director Jordan Cooper who hasn’t been involved in a TrueNorth production for several seasons…we celebrate his return! I thank everyone who has had a hand in crafting this remarkable piece of the theatre. I invite you to read their bios, and note the time and talent they have shared. Please look at the various ads in the playbill, and familiarize yourself with everything taking place here at TrueNorth and throughout the Lorain County Metro Parks. The TrueNorth Chamber Orchestra will perform Peter and the Wolf on May 25th, and the TrueNorth Chorale will join them July 3rd as we commemorate our freedom with our annual Patriotic Concert, this year to be held in Lorain at Lakeview Park. Opening May 30th in our Family Life Theatre is Charlotte’s Web, and Big the Musical will hit our main stage in July. This August we’ll wrap-up our 2013-2014 season by hosting our annual summer theatre camps, culminating in a one-weekend run of Seussical the Musical. Our summer outdoor concert series, Arts in the Park and Music under the Stars, resume this June on Thursdays and Sundays. TrueNorth is producing over 20 free concerts throughout the Lorain County Metro Parks this summer, so please come out and enjoy nature and the arts. Visit our website – TNCArts.org – and ‘like’ us on Facebook for up-to-date listings of performances, times and locations. The visual arts continue to play a vital role here at TrueNorth, so the next time you need that special gift for your home or loved one, consider supporting local artists and purchasing original art. We are open 7-days a week, 10:00am-4:30pm, as well as during all performances. White. A blank page or canvas. The challenge: bring order to the whole. Through Design. Tension. Composition. Balance. Light. And Harmony. We hope you will be our guest again and again as together we celebrate the arts.
Rick Fortney Artistic Director TrueNorth Theatre / French Creek Nature and Arts Center
TrueNorth Cultural Arts presents:
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
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Book by James Lapine
Originally Directed on Broadway by James Lapine Originally Produced on Broadway by The Shubert Organization and Emanuel Azenberg By arrangement with Playwrights Horizon, Inc. New York City which produced the original production of “Sunday in The Park With George� in 1983.
Directed by Martin Friedman
/
Musical Direction by Jordan Cooper
Sunday In The Park With George Is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI). All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI. 421 West 54th Street, New York, NY 10019 Phone: 212-541-4684 Fax: 212-397-4684 www.MTIShows.com
From the Director of the Lorain County Metro Parks Hello and welcome from Your Lorain County Metro Parks! We hope you enjoy the wonderful production of Sunday in the Park with George. We are thankful for all the local talent who participated in this production. Enjoy the show! Be sure to grab an Arrowhead newsletter on your way out to discover dozens of programs we offer throughout the year. Our staff has worked diligently to offer a variety of free and inexpensive programs for your family to enjoy. TrueNorth has another wonderful Mainstage production this season coming up in July in Big, The Musical. Even before that, however, there are two family freindly shows coming up in May. Make sure to bring the whole family to see Peter and the Wolf followed by Charlotte’s Web. We have many other park programs for you and your family to enjoy throughout the season. If you’re into kayaking, make sure to come out to Lakeview Park on May 18th for our annual Kayaking Symposium. We also have many other musical options that combine the wonderful setting of our Metro Parks with many talented musicians from all throughout the county and beyond. Music Under the Stars, the Summer Concert Series at Mill Hollow and our Arts in the Park series all begin in the coming months. For information on all of our programs be sure to visit our website at www.MetroParks.cc. We thank you for your continued support of Lorain County Metro Parks and hope you enjoy the rest of the TrueNorth season!
Sincerely,
James E. Ziemnik, Director
Director’s Notes It has been a delight and humbling experience to immerse myself in Stephen Sondheim’s work over the last twenty years or so. His range is extraordinary; his lyrics are rapier sharp and his music can be heartbreaking, and is always inspired. Consequently, I am grateful that Richard Fortney, TrueNorth Executive Director, has provided me with the opportunity to direct Sunday in the Park with George. The centerpiece of my career has been the interpretation of Stephen Sondheim’s work. I am proud to have now directed 10 of Sondheim’s musical productions (with number 11, The Frogs, arriving in August at Cain Park in Cleveland Heights). I am drawn in and compelled by his soaring music and astonishingly clever, wry, clear-eyed and profound lyrics. As both director and theatergoer, I have been delighted, enchanted and challenged by Sondheim. I got my first tantalizing taste of both in 1974, when my parents took me to see the Broadway production of A Little Night Music. I was captivated by this sophisticated bittersweet examination of love and determined to see more of Sondheim’s work. And what better way to understand his work than to reexamine Sondheim’s 1984 Pulitzer Prize-winner Sunday in the Park with George. Earlier that same year it lost the Tony Award for best musical. The story, ostensibly about Impressionist painter Georges Seurat, is at once simple and complex; a tribute to the creative process and a testament to the trials of creative genius, both to the artist and to those who loved him. The story follows George Seurat’s emotionally complicated relationship with his principal model, Dot. She adores Seurat in part because she recognizes his brilliance even though she doesn’t understand it. She longs for him to invest the same kind of interest in her that he gives to his work. Seurat, on the other hand, is ruled by his passion for his work, which keeps him at an emotional distance from everyone and everything. As George himself says, “watching through a window.” The second act takes place almost a hundred years later, in 1984, in an American museum at the debut of a light show by an artist also named George who is a descendent of Seurat. It is a time when business and financial grants decide what art will be produced, rather than the passion of the artist. And it is this business reality that has brought George to a crisis. Unable to find inspiration within himself, he travels to Paris in hopes of finding it. And he does you know. He connects with his artistic heritage and ultimately with himself.
Director’s Notes For me, this has been an artistic process also. This is the third time I have directed this play. I have been lucky to have been able to follow my passion to work in the theatre directing and teaching. I suppose I have seen it all come together the way George’s painting came together. This has only become possible through the love of my wife Sandy and my children Kate and Alex. It has been a remarkable experience able to work with such talented artists once again. At the risk of signaling out any individual I want to thank Amiee Collier for once again lacing up her corset and bustle to examine Dot. Unlike George, I am a collaborator. I find great satisfaction working with others. Enjoy this musical play.
– Martin Friedman, Ph.D.
– About Stephen Sondheim – People have never been neutral about the work of Stephen Sondheim. He leaves some theatergoers elated and others enraged. At the theatres where his musicals are playing, the heat and tension of battle seem to charge the air…. One sits in a theatre where people are cheering or sneering; the pitch and conflict of the battle drift into intermission, where heated arguments ensue. At the packed closing performance of Follies at the Winter Garden Theatre in 1972, people threw flowers at the stage in the same theatre where, only a week or so earlier, audiences had greeted the same production with indifference and coughing. . . . At a final-week performance of the short-lived Merrily We Roll Along, scattered clumps of theatergoers rose to give every song an ovation while the majority of house looked on in perplexed, dumbfounded silence. I never saw a performance of Sunday in the Park with George at which some members of the audience didn’t walk aout early- often not even waiting until intermission to doso- while others, sobbing in their seats, refused to budge until well after the house lights were up…. Obscurity for its own sake, of course, is no asset in art, but Mr. Sondheim has never been as willfully opaque as his unsympathetic critics maintain. The passion and excitement of his work is to be found in his elliptical dramatization of his themes; The tension between his meaning and his expression of that meaning is what gives a Sondheim musical its biting theatricality. Without that tension, the electricity dissipates.
Frank Rich, 1987
Cast of Characters Act I
Bevan Haynes........................................................GEORGE, an artist Aimee Collier...........................................................DOT, his mistress Theresa Dean................................................................an OLD LADY Antoinette Kula................................................................Her NURSE Trey Gilpin........................................................JULES, another artist Neely Gevaart........................................................YVONNE, his wife *Tia Karaplis, Understudy Robert Pierce..................................................................a BOATMAN Sophie Madorsky..........................................CELESTE #1, a shop girl *Tia Karaplis, Understudy Kate Atherton.....................................CELESTE #2, another shop girl Abby Golden............LOUISE, the little daughter of Jules and Yvonne Eric Fancher..........................FRANZ, coachman to Jules and Yvonne Kate Michalski..........................................FRIEDA, cook for Jules and Yvonne and wife to Franz Devon Turchan..................................................................a SOLDIER Nate Sayatovich.........................................................................MR. & and Antoinette Kula.................................MRS., an American couple Andrew Parmelee......................................................LOUIS, a baker
Act II
Bevan Haynes........................................................GEORGE, an artist Aimee Collier..............................................MARIE, his grandmother Eric Fancher......................................................DENNIS, a technician Trey Gilpin.............................BOB GREENBERG, the music director Sophie Madorsky....................................NAOMI EISEN, a composer *Tia Karaplis, Understudy Antoinette Kula................HARRIET PAULING, a patron of the arts Andrew Parmelee................................BILLY WEBSTER, her friend Theresa Dean........................................................PHOTOGRAPHER Robert Pierce....................CHARLES REDMOND, a visiting curator Devon Turchan...........................................................ALEX, an artist Kate Michalski.........................................................BETTY, an artist Nate Sayatovich................LEE RANDOLPH, the museum’s publicist Neely Gevaart....................................BLAIR DANIELS, an art critic *Tia Karaplis, Understudy Kate Atherton.....................................ELAINE, George’s former wife Abby Golden...............................................................................GIRL
Crew Production Team
Martin Friedman.............................................DIRECTOR Jordan Cooper....................................MUSIC DIRECTOR Rick Fortney..................................ARTISTIC DIRECTOR Shane Joseph Siniscalchi.....................STAGE MANAGER Cameron Caley Michalak..........................SET DESIGN & TECH DIRECTOR Nina Fisher....................................................STAGE CREW Louis Fisher...............................................STAGE CREW Amber Michalak...................................SCENIC PAINTER Tobias Peltier.............................................LIGHT DESIGN Stan Kozak...............................................SOUND DESIGN Jordan Cooper............................CO-COSTUME DESIGN Antoinette Kula..........................CO-COSTUME DESIGN Connie Robb (Perrier)....................COSTUME DRESSER Caroline Kamper......................................................CREW Chanda Curtis...................................BOARD OPERATOR **Costume Rentals: Tracy Original Costumes** ann@tracytheatreoriginals.com
Instrumentalists
Jordan Cooper.............................PIANO / CONDUCTOR Robin Davis..................................................KEYBOARD 2 Lisa Kaye...................................................FRENCH HORN Linda Atherton.....................................................CELLO Olivia Clark..........................................................CELLO Justin Hart.................................................PERCUSSION
Staff TrueNorth Staff
Founder/Artistic Director.............................................................Rick Fortney Cultural Arts Programmer/Family Life...................................Brian McNally Administrative Assistant...........................................................Nancy Spencer Marketing/Social Media.............................................................. Brian Bowers Box Office/Front Desk....................................Melody Penfound, Alex Craig, Tyson Douglas Rand Gallery Manager..........................................................................Susan Schauer Gallery Assistant-ceramics, glassware, and jewelry............... Teresa Hoenig Greeters, Ushers, and Concessions...............................Friends of TrueNorth Financial Secretary/Accountant...................................................William Voit
TrueNorth Board of Directors
Acting President/Secretary.........................................................Teresa Hoenig Treasurer.......................................................................................Bob Kenderes Board Members........Rick Fortney, K.C. Zuber, Hu Auburn, Tom Madden
French Creek Nature and Arts Center
Cultural Arts Manager / Site Manager ......................................Rick Fortney Ranger Supervisor / Park Manager.......................................... Brian Holmes Senior Naturalist....................................................................... Aimee Potonic Cultural Arts Programmer........................................................Brian McNally FCNAC Building and Grounds Crew.....................Tim Barrett, Sue Biddle, Russ Workman
Lorain County Metro Parks
Director.......................................................................................James Ziemnik Assistant Director....................................................................Jennifer Bracken Operations Supervisor.....................................................................Paul Hruby Chief Naturalist......................................................................Grant Thompson Public Information Officer........................................................Vanessa Klesta GIS and IT Manager.........................................................................Isaac Smith Web Developer and Graphic Artist.........................................Nicholas Baker
Lorain County Metro Parks Board of Park Commissioners
Chairman ..........................................................................Ms. Cookie McLoda Board Member........................................................................Mr. Fred Alspach Board Member.................................................................Mr. Robert Campana
Musical Numbers Act 1 A series of Sundays from 1884 to 1886; a park on an island in the Seine just outside of Paris and George’s studio.
“Sunday in the Park with George”................... Dot “No Life”.....................................................Jules, Yvonne “Color and Light”.....................................Dot, George “Gossip”.........................Celeste #1, Celeste #2, Boatman, Nurse, Old Lady, Jules, Yvonne “The Day Off”...................George, Nurse, Franz, Frieda, Boatman, Soldier, Celeste #1, Celeste #2, Yvonne, Louise, Jules, Louis “Everybody Loves Louis”......................................Dot “Finishing the Hat”..........................................George “We Do Not Belong Together”..............Dot, George “Beautiful”.........................................Old Lady, George “Sunday”..........................................................Company
Musical Numbers Intermission Act 2 An American art museum and on the island in 1984.
“It’s Hot Up Here”.........................................Company “Chromolume #7”...................................George, Marie “Putting It Together”...................George, Company “Children and Art”...........................................Marie “Lesson #8”..........................................................George “Move On”...................................................George, Dot “Sunday”........................................................Company
Biographies Kate Atherton (Celeste 2 / Elaine) is pleased to make her TrueNorth debut in Sunday in the Park with George. Kate was recently in Jacques Brel and the regional premiere of A Christmas Story the musical both at Near West Theatre where she also works as a properties assistant. She graduated from the Rhode Island School of design with an Illustration BFA and is still trying to figure out how to put it all together between art, theatre and life, thanks for the tips, George. To see her work visit kateatherton.com! Finally Kate would like to thank her family and friends for their support and this wonderful cast, with whom it is an honor to work and be captured in a painting with forever. Amiee Collier (Dot / Marie) is making her TrueNorth debut and is happy to be revisiting one of her favorite roles. Stephen Sondheim has been her favorite composer since she was a child and she is thrilled to be performing in her fifth Sondheim musical. Previous works include Sweeney Todd (The Beggar Woman) at Cain Park, Into the Woods (The Baker’s Wife) at Tri-C West, and Anyone Can Whistle (Cora Hoover Hooper) and Assassins (Sara Jane Moore) both at Lakeland with Martin Friedman directing. Favorite roles include: Diana
Goodman in Next to Normal at Lakeland and Ilona Ritter in She Loves Me at Beck Center for the Arts. Amiee will be spending her summer at the Beck Center as Frau Blücher in Young Frankenstein. Love to Russ and Sir Buckley. Theresa Dean (Old Lady / Photographer) This is Theresa’s first appearance at True North Cultural Arts, though she has appeared in numerous productions throughout NE Ohio and in Burlington, Vermont. Most recently, she was seen as Paulette in Legally Blonde at Chagrin Valley Little Theatre and with Near West Theatre in the casts of Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris and Ragtime. Favorite past roles include Anita in West Side Story, the Beggar Woman in Sweeney Todd, Jenny in The Three Penny Opera, and Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. “Many thanks to Martin, Jordan, and this incredibly talented cast.” Eric Thomas Fancher (Franz/ Dennis) is very excited to be returning to TrueNorth for his fourth production. Other TrueNorth credits include Ten Cents a Dance (George), Altar Boyz (Luke), and You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown (Charlie Brown). Recent credits
Biographies include The Light in the Piazza (Giuseppe) at Lakeland Civic Theatre, Godspell and The Texas Chainsaw Musical! (Steven) at Blank Canvas Theatre; Ragtime (Younger Brother), Children of Eden (Adam/Noah), and Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris at Near West Theatre; and Monty Python’s Spamalot (Dennis/Sir Galahad/Black Knight/Herbert’s Father) at Beck Center for the Arts. Coming up in June, Eric will be performing in Move On! at Near West Theatre and can be seen this summer in The Frogs at Cain Park. This fall, Eric will be directing The Boy Friend at Cassidy Theatre. TPOG. Neely Gevaart (Yvonne / Blair Daniels) is excited to be back at True North! She last performed here as Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. She received a Bachelor of Music from Millikin University. Some favorite past roles include: Fanny Brice in Funny Girl, Cathy Hiatt in The Last 5 Years, and Ensemble in the world premiere of A Carol for Cleveland at the Cleveland Playhouse. She would like to thank Martin and Jordan for this opportunity and her family and friends for their continued support. Trey Gilpin (Jules / Bob Greenberg) is thrilled to return to TrueNorth after playing Chip Tolentino in The 25th Annual… Spelling Bee in 2011. Trey is a Kentucky native who moved to Ohio after working with the Roundabout Theatre Company in New York City. As an adopted Clevelander,
Trey has appeared at Beck Center for the Arts, Cain Park, Blank Canvas Theatre, Actors’ Summit, Mercury Summer Stock, Lakeland Civic Theatre, and more. Favorite shows include The Importance of Being Earnest (Algernon), Anything Goes (Lord Evelyn), ASSASSINS (Zangara), The Drowsy Chaperone (Aldolpho), Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (Van Buren), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (Freddy), and The Last Five Years (Jamie). Hi Mom! Hi Dad! Abby Golden (Louise / Girl) Abby is a 6th grader at Troy Intermediate in Avon Lake. She recently appeared in Near West Theater’s production of Once on This Island, Jr. (ensemble). Abby is thrilled to be back on the TrueNorth stage. Her previous appearances were; Shrek the Musical (White Rabbit), Tarzan the Musical (Young Terk.) as well as Winnie the Pooh (Pooh.) She has also performed at Lorain Palace Youth Theater Mulan, Jr. (Daughter/Cricket Chorus.) In addition to theater, Abby is also involved with Troy Singers, piano, competitive baton and is a goalkeeper for her travel soccer team. She would like to give a big thank you to Martin, Jordan and all of her fellow cast and crew for making this, such a wonderful experience. Enjoy the show!
Biographies Bevan Haynes (George) is getting to fulfill his lifelong dream of being involved in a production of this spectacular show. Past credits include Cervantes/ Quixote (Man of La Mancha), Matt (The Fantasticks), Claudio (Much Ado About Nothing), Elegies: A Song Cycle, Our Town, Guys and Dolls, Coriolanus, Bat Boy: The Musical, and Beauty and the Beast. Art isn’t easy. Enjoy. Tia Karaplis (Understudy) is thrilled to be a part of such a wonderful production! Previously at Truenorth she has been seen in The Fantasticks, Children of Eden, The Secret Garden, Bunnicula, and The Lion King in Concert. She is also in TrueNorth’s upcoming production of Charlotte’s Web where she will be playing Charlotte. She has been seen performing at the Beck Center for the Arts, Fairmount Performing Arts Conservatory, MGP, Tri C East, The Cassidy Theatre, as well as other venues. She thanks the cast and crew for being so wonderful and wishes the cast many broken legs! Antoinette Kula (Nurse / Mrs. / Harriet Pauling) is elated to be taking the stage again at True North for Sunday in the Park with George after last being seen here
in ...Spelling Bee (Marcy Park). As a proud musical theatre graduate of Ashland University, Antoinette was most recently seen in The Light in the Piazza at Lakeland (Ensemble) and the regional premier of A Christmas Story the Musical at Near West Theatre (Miss Shields). Antoinette spends her days working at PlayhouseSquare and as resident drama director at Normandy High School, where she recently directed Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella. Antoinette is blessed to work with her passion of theatre each and every day and share this love with so many. Thanks to friends, family and mentors for all your support and encouragement throughout my career and to Jordan: for being the best partner in crime for the many projects we tackle together - I am blessed to work along your side. #LAUGH Sophie Madorsky (Celeste #1 / Naomi Eisen) is a senior at Cleveland Heights High School and has been involved in community theatre and performance for ten years. She has been seen as leads in numerous musical productions at Heights Youth Theatre and Playmakers Youth Theatre. Sophie is a 4 year member of HaZamir: The International Jewish High School Choir where she has been a featured soloist
Biographies at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. For the past two years, Sophie has performed cantorial services for the Temple-Tifereth Israel’s High Holy Day Renew My Soul Services. She has performed with the Cleveland Pops Orchestra at Severance Hall and the Palace Theatre. Sophie has participated in the Carnegie Mellon PreCollege Musical Theatre Program, the Dobama Emerging Actors Program, and was a semi-finalist in the Michael Feinstein Initiative’s High School Vocal Competition in 2013. In the fall, Sophie will be starting a BFA musical theatre program at the University of Michigan’s School of Music, Theatre, and Dance. Sophie would like to thank Martin Friedman, Jordan Cooper, and the rest of the cast for making the last show of her high school career a great one! Enjoy! Kate Leigh Michalski (Frieda/ Betty) is thrilled to be back at True North and a part of this wonderful production! Some past favorite roles include: Sarah Brown in Guys and Dolls, Lucretia in The Texas Chainsaw Musical, Olive Ostrovsky in ...Spelling Bee, Lucy in ...Charlie Brown, Marmee in Little Women, Irene Malloy in Hello, Dolly!, Marie Grosholtz in The Scarlet Pimpernel, and Godspell. Up next she can be seen in Young Frankenstein at The Beck Center. “So many thanks to Martin and Jordan for this amazing opportunity to work on a beautiful show, with some of the most fantastic and talented people!” Love you Mom! Love you Dad.
Andrew Parmelee (Louis / Billy Webster) is thrilled to return to the stage after a 4 year hiatus, graduating Magna Cum Laude with his B.A. in Journalism and Mass Communication. Andrew was last seen playing the role of Michael in Tick Tick Boom at Cassidy Theatre. This one’s for you, Dad. Robert Pierce (Boatman/Charles Redmond) is an Ohio native with experience in both opera and musical theater. He has performed with Opera Western Reserve, Opera Per Tutti, Nightingale Opera Theatre, Solon Center for the Arts, Beck Center for the Arts, Cleveland Institute of Music, and Otterbein Opera Theater. Opera: The Barber of Seville (with Lawrence Brownlee), La Bohème (Benoit/Alcindoro), TheApothecary (title role), Ariadne auf Naxos (Major Domo/Truffaldin), Street Scene (Harry Easter), La Traviata, La Rondine, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Madame Butterfly. Musical theater: Jerry Springer: The Opera (Chucky/Adam), Camelot (Mordred), Kiss Me, Kate (Gremio/Ralph), She Loves Me, Monty Python’s Spamalot. He was also a regular performer on “The Mighty Wurlitzer Radio Hour,” hosted by Robert Conrad. Robert holds degrees in vocal performance from Cleveland Institute of Music and
Biographies Otterbein University. He can next be seen in the ensemble of Young Frankenstein at Beck Center for the Arts. Nate Sayatovich (Mr./Lee Randolph) Nate recently appeared on the TrueNorth stage as Lennie Small in Of Mice and Men. He studied Theatre Education at Ashland University and currently is the Director of Theatre at Parma Senior High School. Much thanks to the entire cast and crew for bringing this story to life...art isn’t easy. Devon Turchan (Soldier / Alex) is so pleased to return to the stage after spending several years traveling and recently starting a journalism career with The News-Herald in Lake County. His theatre credits include work with Kringle’s Inventionasium, Ohio Valley Summer Theatre (Ohio premiere of Kathryn Shultz Miller’s Pinocchio, The Secret Garden,) The Lost Flamingo Company (Bat Boy,) Stagecrafters (Ragtime, Cabaret Troupe,) The Fine Arts Association (Guys and Dolls, Ohio premiere of Missionaries, You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown,) and as a child performed with Great Lakes Theatre Festival, The Cleveland Opera, Mercury Summer Stock and more.
Production Team Martin Friedman (Director) holds a BS degree in theatre education from Emerson College (Boston), an MA and a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor), and a certificate in nonprofit management from Case Western Reserve University’s Mandel School of Non-Profit Organizations. This is Friedman’s third production of Sunday in the Park with George and is thrilled to be able to work with previous collaborators Jordan Cooper and Amiee Collier, on one of the most beautiful and profound ruminations on the creative process ever attempted. Dr. Friedman’s most recent musical theatre credits include The Light in the Piazza, Next to Normal, Anyone Can Whistle, Company, Assassins, Cabaret, A Little Night Music, Into the Woods, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Merrily We Roll Along. His most recent non-musical plays include Boeing Boeing, Proof, November, The Miser, The Imaginary Invalid, Sylvia, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, A Long Day’s Journey into Night, The Importance of Being Earnest, The Ideal Husband, Death of a Salesman, Noises Off, Pride and Prejudice, All My Sons and, last November, Prelude to a Kiss at Ensemble Theatre. Dr. Friedman is an adjunct professor of theatre and communications at Baldwin Wallace University, John Carroll University
Biographies and Lakeland Community College. As a communications consultant, Friedman has worked with law firm and businesses to improve their communications with employees and the public, and to develop diversity programs using theatrical scenarios. This summer, Friedman will direct the Ohio premiere of Stephen Sondheim and Nathan Lane’s The Frogs at Cain Park in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. Jordan Cooper (Music Director) is thrilled to be returning to True North! Jordan brings to the table over twenty years of classical piano training and experience musical directing all over the east coast. He is incredibly proud to make the Cleveland theater community his home. Favorite recent music direction credits include: Altar Boyz; You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown, ...Spelling Bee (True North Cultural Arts); West Side Story, Assassins, A Year With Frog and Toad, Nunsense!, Blood Brothers, A Night With Rodgers & Hammerstein (Cassidy Theatre). The Secret Garden, Into the Woods, Miss Saigon, Ragtime, A Christmas Story: The Musical (Near West Theatre) Sideshow, The Producers (Firestone Theatre); Next to Normal; The Light in the Piazza (Lakeland) His thanks go out to his incredibly supportive friends and family. Shane Joseph Siniscalchi (Stage Manager) is thrilled to be working back at True North. Shane has been seen on stage in many shows throughout Northeast Ohio, including Baby here at True North. Shane also directed and choreographed the kid’s summer camp musicals here for 2 years before leaving to work at Disney World. He was a choreographer for Avon High School’s
musicals for 6 years and assistant directed and choreographed their show choir for the first 2 years of its creation, along with the wonderful Susan Vance Koch. Thanks to my family and Jake for all their love and support. Cameron Caley M i c h a l a k (Scenic Designer) Technical Director for Cleveland Play House has also designed sets for CPH productions of Venus In Fur, Every Good Boy Deserves Favor; A Soldier’s Tale with Catch and Release; the Case Western Reserve University/Cleveland Play House MFA Acting Program’s The Misanthrope and The Winter’s Tale; and CPH Theatre for Children productions The Little Mermaid, Huck Finn, A Jewel of a Tale, Tuck Everlasting, and The Emperor’s Groovy New Clothes. Local credits (selected) include Cinderella, Children of Eden, The Fantasticks, The Diary of Anne Frank, and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, True North Cultural Arts; The Music Man and Les Miserables, Fairmount Performing Arts Center; She Stoops to Conquer, St. Joseph’s Academy; The Masked Musketeer and Beauty and the Beast, Brush High School; Ten More Minutes from Cleveland, Dobama Theatre; Shrek: The Musical and Into the Woods (among many others) for the Music, Arts and Drama (M.A.D.) Factory in Oberlin. Tobias Peltier (Lighting Designer) is thrilled to join the team at True North! Tobias is a transplanted West Coast native
Biographies from Los Angeles who has been working in film and theatre since CHiPs was still on the air where he assisted his father with wardrobe. He’s never held a real job since! Formally a college professor in Portland, Oregon he has worked on many productions on both coasts and is glad to call Cleveland his home. Tobias currently works at Saint Ignatius High School where he serves as the Technical Director of The Breen Center for the Performing Arts. Tobias is a proud member of Actor’s Equity Association. Stan Kozak (Sound Design) currently in his twenty-seventh season at Great Lakes Theater, has more than 50 design credits include Bat Boy: The Musical, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Comedy of Errors. Amadeus, You Can’t Take It With You, Private Lives, Into the Woods and the Tom Hanks’ benefit performances. His work in 1979 and 1981 with Geraldine Fitzgerald on Streetsongs at GLTF led to the original cast album. Mr. Kozak was the resident sound designer for four seasons at the Porthouse Theatre Company, including productions of Driving Miss Daisy, Niteclub Confidential and And a Nightingale Sang. His collaborations with Victoria Bussert at Baldwin-Wallace College include productions of Chess, Hair, Company, Cabaret, West Side Story, Tommy in Concert, Parade, the Ohio premiere of Stephen Sondheim’s Passion, and one of the first nonprofessional productions of Phantom of the Opera. For Cain Park, his design credits include Secret Garden, Fiddler on the Roof, Grease, Bat Boy, Tick, tick…Boom, Nine, The Wiz, Harold and Maude and Pippin. Mr. Kozak has also designed sound for Wit and Last Five Years for the Dobama Theater, Iolanthe and Sweeney Todd for the Cleveland Opera, I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change and
Forbidden Broadway SVU for the Hanna Theatre and A Shayna Maidel, Brooklyn Boy and Pangs of the Messiah for the JCC. He has served as sound designer for the All-City Musical for the Cleveland school system for eight seasons. He also had the good fortune to have worked with Bebe Neuwirth in her concert performance for the Ideastream Gala in 2005. He was honored to be among the first group of LORT sound designers to achieve recognition in USA 829. Chanda Curtis (Board Operator) hails from Tennessee and had been working at St. Ignatius High School and other surrounding theatres as a freelance sound, lighting, and stage technician. She has previously worked as a freelance lighting designer, deck chief at Allenberry Playhouse, and Barrington Stage Company as their Company Manager. She is pleased to be working with the True North Theatre. Amber Michalak (Scenic Painter) is excited to be the scenic painter for “Sunday in the Park with George”. She has a degree is Musical Theater from Baldwin Wallace College. She spends most of her time as the lead instructor for The M.A.D* Factory (*Music, Arts, Drama) in Oberlin where she teaches theater classes,
Biographies does lots of crafts, and performs in shows and in a band. This summer she looks forward to being in their production of “Hairspray”. Congrats cast and crew on a great show. Caroline Kamper (Crew) Cari is a junior at Avon High School and this is her 11th production since her freshman year. Some of her favorite roles include playing The Ghost of Christmas Past in A Christmas Carol and her various ensemble roles from Grease to Beauty and the Beast. It was especially fun to run around as a host of characters in the recent production of Guys and Dolls! She’s a Master Carpenter at Avon High School and she has completed work on sets that range from foam covered cars to Tudor houses to a boat to even 1920s New York City. When Cari has spare time, which isn’t often, she enjoys hiking out in the nature, writing, drawing, listening to music, spending time with friends, and playing videogames. She’d like to thank her drama director, Mr. Simons, for the help and direction he’s given her, as well as all the jokes and things he said not to repeat after conference. She’d like to note that she’s still learned more in (now 3) years in the Scene Shop than she has in all of high school. She’d also like to thank her choir director, Mrs. Koch, for all the support and assistance she provided to help her get backstage on Sunday in the Park with George. To Sunday’s cast, it has been a pleasure working with each and every one of you.
Gallery Artists Needed
We hope you’ve had the opportunity to browse through all the unique artwork in our Kiva, hallways, and art nook.
Here at TrueNorth, we represent approximately 150 local artisans. At any time, we feature 40 or so in our gallery here at French Creek Nature & Arts Center. Are you an artist, or do you know someone who is? We’re looking to expand and diversify our offerings. Fiber arts, paintings, sculptures, ceramics, weaving, jewelry, glasswork— all fine arts will be considered! Our gallery is open to the public daily all throughout the year, and always during our shows and special events. This is just one more way TrueNorth Cultural Arts works to bring the arts here to the northern Ohio community. For more information, please call 440.949.5200, ext. 221. Our Gallery Manager, Susan Schauer, will be in contact. Visit our Gallery page online at TNCArts.org.
Your Ad Here! TrueNorth serves thousands of captive audience members each year. What better way to spread your company’s message? For advertising opportunities call (440) 949-5200 Ext. 228
Lorain County Metro Parks is a proud partner of TrueNorth Cultural Arts!
Help keep the arts alive! Make a tax-deductible donation today. Remember the thrill you experienced the first time you were on stage? How about the first time you watched your child’s face light up as they were introduced to the magic of the theatre? Or the first time you experienced a beautiful piece of music or work of art? Help TrueNorth bring a set of “first times” to a brand new generation. Keep the arts alive for our children to enjoy and carry on our message. TrueNorth is a non-profit organization that relies on support from people just like you. Your donation is tax-deductible and helps us bring the following to the community: Professional theatre in Lorain County A Family Life Series geared towards younger children Arts Education programs A Chorale & Symphony Fine Arts Free workshops in arts and nature And much more! To make a tax-deductible donation, please contact Rick Fortney at (440) 949-5200 Ext. 229, or simply mail a check to TrueNorth Cultural Arts, Attn: Donations, 4530 Colorado Ave., Sheffield Village OH 44054.
Thank you for your continued support!
Connect with TrueNorth
Want to get the latest scoop on auditions, performances, behind the scenes photos, contests, videos, and more? Stay connected with TrueNorth by “liking� our Facebook page: www.Facebook.com/TNCArts
2013-2014 Donors LEADERSHIP SPONSORS ($7,500 or more) Community Foundation of Lorain County The Morning Journal PRESENTING SPONSORS ($2500 - $7499) CenturyLink Emerson Charitable Trust Ford Motor Co. Fortney Family Foundation Hindmarsh Foundation Norton Family Foundation Safety Controls Technology MAJOR SPONSORS ($1000 - $2499) Hu and Jan Auburn Avon Lake Printing Steven Bridge Center for Vascular & Thoracic Medicine & Surgery, Inc. D.M.R Management, Inc Cathy and Eric Harvey (in memory of George and Jane Oechsle) KeyBank Foundation Lorain County Community College Sherrill (Cookie) McLoda Bob & Lynn Miller Ohio Arts Council P. C. Campana O’Toole, McLaughlin, Dooley & Pecora Co., LPA; Attorneys at Law WOBL - AM WDLW - AM PODIUM PARTNERS ($500 - $999) Carole & C. James Bluhm Busch Funeral & Crematory Cleveland Clinic JoAnn & Rich DePolo Fitzgibbons Arnold & Co. Agency
Kohl’s John & Wendy Kozel Lorain County Community College Lorain County Metro Parks Dan & Tammy Martin Oldcastle Architectural Bill Ott (in Memory of Carol Ott) Todd Ott Parsons Insurance Sharon Pervo Judy Reich (in memory of Bob Reich) Judy Schutz (in memory of Rev. Dr. Roy Schutz) The Matthew Thompson Family Jim & Karen Traxler CONDUCTOR’S CIRCLE ($250 - $499) Jim & Rebecca Busch DeLuca’s Place in the Park John & Jennifer Ebenger FirstMerit Bank Gladys Flynn & Family (in memory of Howard Flynn) Mayor John & Christine Hunter Lorain County Joint Vocational School Darryl & Karen McCullough Mill Manor Care Center Benjamin & Jane Norton Oberlin Unitarian Universalist Church Peter Jewelers and Co. Carl & Ruth Prokop CONCERTMASTERS ($100 - $249) Anonymous Arlene Cassara Dance & Theater Center Joseph & Sandra Agnello Ed & Rosemary Balchak Bruce & Jennifer Barden Joe Batcha Rodney M. Beals Thomas & Jere Boyer
Want to see your name here? Contact Rick Fortney at (440) 949-5200 to find out how you can make your tax-deductible donation
2013-2014 Donors (cont.) Jennifer Bracken Louann Brenner Charlotte & Bruce Burge Tom & Darlene Cetkosky Crawford’s Trucking Paul Balcom & Cathy Dietlin Mildred (Jean) Duerk (in memory of Walt Duerk) Christine & John England Rev. Jon Fancher Jean A. Fischer (in memory of Delbert L. Fischer, M.D.) Friends of the Park in Avon Lake Bengt & Margerita Gerborg Griffith Paving, Inc. Caroline Hawes Health Care Corp. Teresa & Matthew Hoenig Ed & Muriel Homer Jozef Janis Bob Kenderes Klingshirn Winery KS Associates, Inc. Agency Lakeland Health Agency Myron Martier Leslie McGinnis Loretta Miller James & Karen Miraldi Sharon Pervo Dudley & Mary Ann Price Cecelia Randolph (in memory of her mother) Harold & Virginia Renkel Carole Restifo Memorial Fund Lynn & Sue Schlessman Lee and Holly Shrader (in memory of Alma Kinnard) Star Inc. Dr. Rita Stroempl John F. Stuart (in memory of JoAnn Stuart) Dennis Will, County Prosecutor Helen J. Woodward
FRIENDS OF THE ARTS ($50 - $99) Anonymous Cathy & John Aldrich Fred Alspach Arkinetics Edward and Rosemary Balchak June & Jack Barthels Sophie Beckler Jennifer Bertoni Blakeslee Insurance Timothy Botts Monique Boudreau Marilynn Bronson Peter Bronson Paul & Frances Burik Close Quarters Pub Lester C. Corrington (in memory of Eileen Corrington) Marilyn and Arthur Decker Jeryl Rae Denton David Dibble Lawrence & Linda Dolinsky D.M.R. Management, Inc. Theodore Dylewski Bradford B. Elles Michael Farr Fit Mind Cleveland Gregory & Kathleen Freeh Doris Gaertner & Elizabeth Floyd Sandi Gerhan Patrick and Laura Gerrasch James & Carolyn Griffen Brett Hall Charles and Joyce Hammer Glennie Hassen D.L. & Sharon Herzer Anita & Robert Hlava Patricia Horton Peg Joyce Bob & Mary Kahelin Ronald Keim Mark & Michelle Kelly
Want to see your name here? Contact Rick Fortney at (440) 949-5200 to find out how you can make your tax-deductible donation
2013-2014 Donors (cont.) FRIENDS OF THE ARTS (cont.) Kiwanis K-Cream Korner Holly Kowalski Marvin Krislov & Amy Sheon Peter and Sharon Kralt Peter Kratt Mrs. Paul Kuebler Lakeside Credit Union Lakeland Health Care Corp. Vicki Luschek Leonard & Doris Lyle Robert & Dorothy MacIntyre William & Cheryl McConnell Dan McDonnell Vera McKlveen (in memory of George (Al) McKlveen) Hugh Meabon (in memory of Marilyn Meabon) Helen and Vary Mengle Carolyn Miller Loretta Miller Lillian Morisky Jane Mueller Sybil Mundy Mr. & Mrs. Gene Nickley Barb and Joe Noll Benjamin & Brenda Norton Novotny Catering Frank O’Dell
Susan Otto Richard & Elizabeth Parks Laurie Piskur Paul & Janice Peters Lynn Reising Piano Keys Studio Denny & Bobbie Potonic The Saltzer Family Carol Schindler Edward Selavko Craig & Elizabeth Shoemaker David Smith Gail and Stephen F. Smith Matthew Smith Christian Stack Mark R. Stewart Roger and Linda Stewart Michael & Patricia Sweeney Robert Taylor Bob and Adrienne Terleck Bill & Gail Thornhill Barb & Mark Valponi Drago Vucic Dave & Gloria Weaver John & Marion Wesner Meredith Williams (in memory of Beulah Day Williams) Womadaughsis Alexander Zolli Iona Zvosek
Want to see your name here? Contact Rick Fortney at (440) 949-5200 to find out how you can make your tax-deductible donation
Ford Motor Company is proud to sponsor TrueNorth Cultural Arts!
1005 N Abbe Rd. Elyria, OH 44035 1-800-995-LCCC
COMING SOON!