UCI Drama presents "Airness"

PRESENTS

February 4 - 12, 2023

CLAIRE TREVOR THEATRE

Generous support for this production is provided by the Robert and Lorna Cohen Endowment for Excellence in Drama, Theatre Guild, and Claire Trevor Society.

By Chelsea Marcantel

Scenic Designer

Lighting Designer

Costume Designer

Sound Designer Projections Designer

Stephanie Bernardini

Rin Mizumoto

Ashley Duncan

Jeremiah Turner

Merle DeWitt

Air Guitar Mentors

Lisa and Jason Farnan

AKA Pvt. and Lt. Facemelter

Director

Eli Simon

Production Stage Manager

Bri Westad

AIRNESS is performed without intermission.

Please be aware that this production uses strong language, strobes, flashing lights, haze and fog.

Presents

DIRECTOR'S NOTE

I had a roommate in college that cranked up iconic Jimi Hendrix songs in our tiny dorm room, then jumped around pretending to be a rock star. Turns out he was channeling the same aweinspiring power of rock and roll as the characters in this play. It’s something called “Airness,” a moment in time when you transcend the imitation of real guitar and your performance becomes an artform in and of itself.

Before I read this play, I didn’t know the first thing about Air Guitar and was curious to learn that many people took Air Guitar competitions very seriously. In directing Airness, I have become fascinated by the intersection of acting and air guitar, and how the brilliance of our playwright, Chelsea Marcantel, capitalized on the potential for theatricalizing this unusual form of performance art. Here you meet people that care deeply about their community, and support like-minded artists to achieve their dreams on stage. In Air Guitar, the only thing that matters is the song you choose and your sixty seconds of performance time. You go for it with a full heart because you want to win the regional qualifier, then the national championship, and then the world title. That’s the dream. Yet you also want your friends to win. It always takes a communal effort to produce the next U.S. champ. I’ve spent my career trying to build theater ensembles that operate on this level of community engagement. Air Guitar enthusiasts say, “Air guitar is about world peace. You can’t hold a gun while you’re playing air guitar.” Idealistic? Maybe. Spiritually uplifting? Rock on.

The world of Air Guitar competitions is unique unto itself. We needed serious advice and so we turned to our mentors in these endeavors: Lisa and Jason Farnan, aka Private and Lieutenant Facemelter. Lisa is a professional Air Guitar organizer and judge and has overseen a decade’s worth of national tours and events. Jason is a 7-time U.S. Air Guitar National Finalist, won the title in 2013, and represented the U.S. at the World Championships in Oulu, Finland. Both have been inducted into the U.S. Air Guitar Hall of Fame. Lisa and Jason shared with us how they got hooked on Air Guitar after signing up for their first competition on a whim, and then how

DIRECTOR'S NOTE, cont.

they became obsessed with winning it all. Being crowned the national champion of Air Guitar took countless hours of diligent music editing, choreography, and practice, practice, practice. Their notes for our actors were precise and detailed because holding the guitar, strumming, and moving your fret hand takes technical mastery. After that, you have to cut loose and throw your heart and soul into your song. All of this took as much practice as the actual scenes in the play. Rest assured, all of the actors are out to prove that they can actually win a regional competition. Feel free to clap, hoot, and yell at them. You’re part of the show…and that’s part of the fun. Welcome to Airness!

- Eli Simon, director

OFFICIAL RULES

Official Rules of Air Guitar Competition

• Each performance is played to one minute of a song.

• These sixty seconds can start anywhere in the song.

• The instrument must be invisible and be a guitar.

• A competitor does not have to live in a city to compete in a qualifier held there.

Rounds

Round 1, Freestyle: Each competitor performs to a song of their choice.

Round 2, Compulsory: Top competitors from Round 1 perform a surprise song.

Judging Criteria

All performances are scored on a scale from 4.0 to 6.0 – 6.0 being the highest possible. A single score is given to each air guitarist based on their overall performance in that round. The scores from BOTH ROUNDS are added to determine the contestant’s final scores. The score reflects the quality of the performance based on three key criteria: technical merit, stage presence and “Airness.”

Special Events

Aireoke Night after Airness on February 10 Regional Qualifier after Airness on February 11

CAST

The Nina Cannibal Queen

Shreddy Eddy

Golden Thunder

Facebender

D. Vicious

Announcer / Hooded Figure / Sprite Exec

Swing/Reader

Rachel Lykins

Vivianna McCormick

Tim Frangos

Erik Dylan Matibag

Cade Holbrook

Robert Zelaya

Jacob Buzza

Zane Caputo

Annelise Hermsen

ARTISTIC STAFF

Department Chair, Season Producer

Vice Chair, Production

Scenic Design Mentor

Costume Design Mentor

Lighting Design Mentor

Sound Design Mentor

Stage Management Mentor

Assistant Lighting Designer

Assistant Sound Designer Mix Engineer

Lighting Programmer

Assistant Stage Managers

Production Assistants

Don Hill

Joel Veenstra

Efren Delgadillo Jr.

Holly Poe Durbin

Jaymi Lee Smith

Mike Hooker

Don Hill

Jacqueline Malenke

Costandina J. Daros

Theresa Ramos

Jacob Nguyen

Logan Brubaker

Meg Dockter

Emmy Harmon

Ethan Pante

Lara Verret

CREW

Audio

Thalia Gonzalez, Eden Lemons, Taya Ovsiannikov, Dana Yan

Costumes

Ron Abinia, Kyra Lagrosas, Juliana Margulies

Projections Operator

Alana Barasorda

Scenic

Rheylie Bennie, Bri Cannon, Hitesh Jaiswal, Briana Tolentino, Ben Waters

E-Run

Lily Von Blanck, Alissa Bonilla, Emory Slane, Elizabeth Villasenor

E-Hang

Alana Barasorda, Kat Cotter, Barbara Dos Reis, Chong Feng, Valerie Garcia, Madeline Miller

CLAIRE TREVOR SCHOOL OF THE ARTS

PRODUCTION STAFF

Production Manager

Matthew Chandler

Assistant

Production Manager

Technical Director

Costume Shop Manager

Electrics/Lighting Supervisor

Sound Supervisor Properties Supervisor

Shop Foreman

Scenic Charge Artist

Master Electrician

Costume Shop Staff

Shih-Wei Carrasco-Wu

Bill Kingsley

Jenn Dugan

Joe Forehand

Mike Ritchey

Pamela Marsden

Geronimo Guzmán

Christine Salama

Diana Herrera

Yen Le Trang

Pauline Good

Sarah Eggar

Teresa Marchand

Director of Space and Planning Facilities

Box Office Manager

Director of Marketing and Communications

Graphic Designer

Jeff Stube

David Walker-Doyle

Jaime DeJong

Emily Zheng

Sr. Theatre Production Supervisor

Thank You!

The Claire Trevor School of the Arts would like to recognize those donors who gave $250 or more during the 2021-22 fiscal year.

Visionaries $1 million and above

William J. Gillespie Foundation

Ambassadors $100,000–$250,000

Beall Family Foundation

Michael R. Oppenheim ◊

Partners $50,000–$99,999

Thomas Nielsen *+

Investors $25,000–$49,999

Leo Freedman Foundation

Tonnie Katz

Beth Koehler Estate

James and Sheila Peterson *+

Cheryll and Richard Ruszat *+

Richard B. Siegel Foundation

Andy Warhol Foundation for Visual Arts

Charles and Ling Zhang

Patrons $10,000–$24,999

Dennis and Diane Baker Ω

Amer and Magdalena Boukai +

Mary Gilly and John Graham +

Cloud Hsueh and Fang Hsu

James and Katie Loss

Orange County Community Foundation

Benefactors $5,000–$9,999

Mary Watson-Bruce *+ ∆

Gill Causey

Anthony Chen, M.D. Ω

Yali Chen Ω

Jacki and Gilbert Cisneros

Valerie Glass

Kay Becknell Jones +

Fellows $2,500–$4,999

Talal Abdo

Michael and Linda Arias +

Rachel Fine and Christopher Hawthorne *+

Susan Hori *+

Patricia and Kenneth Janda

* Dean’s Arts Board Members

+ Claire Trevor Society Members

◊ Theatre Guild

Ω Friends of the Symphony

∆ Opera Guild

‡ Deceased

Pacific Life Foundation

Jackie Pirkle +

Schubert Foundation

Diane Silber +

Ivan and Erika Williams *+

Pamela and Carl Lagoni

James and Gail Lopes

Julia Lupton and Kenneth Reinhard +

Robert Peirson +

Steven Sorenson +

Eugene and Susan Spiritus

Timothy and Jean Weiss

Moon and Yong Kim

Eden Phair and Michael Manning

Randa Phair +

Ted and Jillyn Verdon +

Hemantha Wickramasinghe + ◊

Advocates $1,000 –$2,499

Elaine and Daniel Aldrich +

Stephen and Michelle Barker +

Kay Becknell Jones + ◊

Haroutune and Lorna Bedelian

Donald Bradley

Brien Amspoker and Ellen Breitman +

Greg and Lauren Brooks +

Edward and Janis Carpenter

Gary and Mindy Chanan ∆ Ω

Allison and Clinton Chao

Gerald and Veronica DeVries ◊

Molly and Christopher Dillon

Albert and Anne Encinias

Vivian Folkenflik

Paul Multari and Lynn Gardner

Arnnon and Rebecca Geshuri

Jeff Lefkoff and Mary Gholson

Stuart and Marilyn Goldberg

Robert and Audrey Greenfield

Carol Greenwald

Gillian Hayes and Steve Hosaflook +

Bobi Keenan ◊

Susan and Lynn Lasswell

Vanessa Lee

Louis and Christy Marlin

Jared and Kate Mathis +

Goran Matijasevic +

Anthony and Rachel Maus ◊

Supporter $500 $999

Vanguard Charitable

Annie and Clement Chu

Phyllis Gilmore Ω

Donald and Pamela Gilmour

Stuart and Marilyn Goldberg ◊

David Kuehn and Laura Gottesman

Nayla Nassif and Paul Hill

Vanessa Lee

Willard and Bettina Loomis ◊

Anthony and Rachel Maus ◊

Kathleen Mellon

William and Lane Minton

Howard and Ellen Mirowitz +

Jay Myers and Joni Segal

James Nelson

Betty and Harold Olson

Thea Palencia

Ross Peters and Linda White-Peters +

Linda Rogers +

Ryna Rothberg

Sharon Salinger Ω

Carolyn Scheer Ω

Nina Scolnik ∆

Robert and Jo Anne Simon

Kate Rosloff and M. Craig Singer ◊

Janice and Ted Smith +

Richard and Alison Stein *+

Deborah Sunday

Mitchell Sussman and Joan Ravenna Sussman +

Erica and C. Taylor

John and Mary Thorne +

Janice Veenstra +

Joel Veenstra and Family +

Irwin and Michele Walot

Shirley Zanton and Michael Whalen

Garrett Sanderson and Laura Woodman ∆

Stefano La Sala Foundation, Inc. ◊

David Lara ◊

Legacy and Endowment Donors

Tara Rodman and Jesse Wolfson ◊

We are grateful for the trust and foresight of those who have ensured the Claire Trevor School of the Arts’ brilliant future by establishing an endowed fund or have included us in their estate plans.

Anonymous donors

Diane and Dennis Baker

Edna Beach ‡

The Donald Bren Foundation

Ann Cullen ‡

Robert and Lorna Cohen

Frank D'Accone

William Daughaday

Kris and Linda Elftmann

Leo Freedman Foundation

William J. Gillespie ‡

Henry W. Bull Foundation

Gunther Holland ‡

Bobi Keenan

Victor Klein ‡

Walter Koehler ‡

Beth Koehler ‡

Michael and Stacy Koehn

Elaine Koshimizu ‡

Lucille Kuehn ‡

Betty C. Leidal ‡

Alice S. Lowell ‡

Fariborz and Azam Maseeh

Meyer Sound

Thomas Nielsen *+

Virginia and Norman Nixon ‡

Ronald C. Offen ‡

Michael R. Oppenheim

Lois J. Osborne ‡

Marjorie and Robert Rawlins ‡

Sylvia and Frederick Reines ‡

Ryna H. Rothberg

Cheryll and Richard Ruszat *+

Nancy Ruyter

Helene Santley ‡

Audrey M. Schneiderman ‡

H. Colin Slim ‡

Winifred Smith ‡

Thomas and Elizabeth Tierney +

Claire Trevor ‡

Andrew Vacca

Bette Warner ‡

Hal B. Yolen ‡

This list represents generous gifts, pledge, and pledge payments made between July 1, 2021, and June 30, 2022. Multiyear pledges are recognized for their full amount in the fiscal year they are made, and subsequent payments are recognized for their cash value. Please accept our apologies for any errors or omissions in this list. For questions, please contact ctsadevelopment@uci.edu.

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The Department of Drama offers a premier academic and professional training program encompassing various theatre programs, distinguished resident and guest faculty, and an extraordinary alumni placement record. Designated a Department of Excellence in the UC system, UCI Drama delights in our diverse curriculum, student body and faculty.

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SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS

Edna Helen Beach Scholarship

Keiko Austria

Lilian Martinez

Kris and Linda Elftmann Scholarship

Annelise Hermsen

Cloud Hsueh Foundation Scholarship

Yvonne DiGirolamo

Leo Freedman Scholarship

Talin Abadian

Claire Trevor Society Scholarship

Mary Hill

Medici Circle 2022

Summer Scholarship

Blake Elliott

Minwoo Park

Rachel Sharp

Meyer Sound Design Endowed Fellowship

Natalie Houle

Theresa Ramos

Frederick Reines Drama Scholarship

Abel Garcia

Andrew Landeros

Elizabeth and Thomas Tierney Scholarship

Cindy El Jamrah

Bette and Steven Warner Endowed Award in Drama

Alexandra Anderson

Ian Bowers

Kayla Quiroz

Hailey Schnitzius Mogul

Jessica Spruiell

H.B. and Isabelle Yolen

Memorial Scholarship

Eric Ramos

Ali Roustaei

DRAMA FACULTY

Lonnie Alcaraz

Cynthia Bassham

Andrew Borba

Richard Brestoff

Robin Buck

Juliette Carrillo

Myrona DeLaney

Efren Delgadillo Jr.

Zachary Dietz

Holly Poe Durbin

Marcy Froehlich

Michael Hooker

Anthony Kubiak

Daphne Lei

DRAMA STAFF

Annie Loui

Mihai Maniutiu

Ian Munro

Vincent Olivieri

Jane Page

Andrew Palermo

Zachary Price

Bryan Reynolds

Tara Rodman

Eli Simon

Jaymi Lee Smith

Philip Thompson

Joel Veenstra

Don Hill, Chair Marcus Beeman, Management Services Officer Charmayne Durham, Department Analyst

Jane & Louise Wilson DREAMTIME TM Curators Juli Carson & Bruce Yonemoto Contemporary Arts Center (CAC) Gallery Hours: Tues - Sat | 12 - 6 pm | 949.824.9854 uag.arts.uci.edu January 21 to March 25, 2023

In addition to our MainStage shows, the Department of Drama invites you to join us for other exciting productions throughout the year, created by artists in the following groups:

Brown Bag Theatre Company