DiRECTED BY BRAD SHAW SEPTEMBER 7 - 25, 2022
THE CAST & PRODUCTION TEAM CynthiaLevin BrownTanyaShawBrad LaVonneJaeda L. HawkinsRoi VardimanRobert WyattTerraceJr. Coppage,Robert III KeenanRamos “KingAdariusDari”Wells DanielAndré AaronEllis FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR UNICORN THEATRE THIS SEASON HAS BEEN PROVIDED BY:
* Denotes member of &
Commissioned by Roundabout Theatre Company and Samantha Barrie. Originally Produced by Roundabout Theatre Company, New York, NY in Association with Samantha Barrie
Tanya Brown* Jenise Cook Atif VictorRomeEnYu Tan Rachael Honnold David
Toni Stone is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc. www.concordtheatricals.com
Toni Stone received development support from the Resident Artists Program at Arena Stage, Washington, D.C.
Based on “Curveball, The Remarkable Story of Toni Stone” by Martha Ackmann
AshleyAnnaTaylorLoganEricDanelleArwenKiehlWhitePorterPalmquistBlackSullivanSmithChampion
Actors’ Equity Association Stage Manager Intimacy Coach
Toni Stone Alberga / Rufus D. Willie / MillieElzie King Tut / WoodySupervisor/Mother Jimmy / Father O’ Keefe Stretch / Sydney Spec / Gabby
Jaeda LaVonne L. Roi RobertTerraceRobertHawkins*VardimanWyattJr.Coppage, III Keenan Ramos Adarius “King Dari” Wells Daniel André* Aaron Ellis Directed by Brad Shaw
UNICORN THEATRE PRESENTS Opening Night: September 10th, 2022 An Original Play By Lydia R. Diamond THE CAST 3828 MAIN STREET | KANSAS CITY, MO 64111 | (816) 531-7529 | UNICORNTHEATRE.ORG PRODUCTION TEAM
LightingScenicChoreographerDesignerDesigner Asst. Lighting Designer Sound Designer Costume Designer Asst. to Costume Designer Props Designer Fight SoundProductionLeadChoreographerElectricianAssistantBoardOperator
TIME & SETTING ABOUT THE CREATORS
SPECIAL THANKS TO Various
Centerfield1920-1950’sLocationsUSA-CoachTodd
South-Broadland Youth Recreational League City MLB Urban Youth Academy
Kansas City Monarchs Baseball - Suzi Hallas & Staff Negro Leagues Baseball Museum
Bob Kendrick, Ray Doswell, Joan Finley, and Staff
There will be ONE 15 minute intermission.
Lydia R. Diamond (PLAYWRIGHT) Award winning Plays include: Smart People, Stick Fly, Voyeurs de Venus, The Bluest Eye, The Gift Horse, Harriet Jacobs, The Inside, and Stage Black. Theatres include: Arena Stage, Cort Theatre (Broadway), Chicago Dramatists, Company One, Congo Square, Goodman, Hartford Stage, Huntington, Jubilee, Kansas City Rep, Long Wharf, Lorraine Hansberry, McCarter, Mo’Olelo, MPAACT, New Vic, Playmakers Rep, Plowshares, Second Stage, Steppenwolf, and TrueColors. Commissions include: Arena Stage, Steppenwolf (4), McCarter, Huntington, Center Stage, Victory Gardens and The Roundabout. A recipient of many playwriting awards, Lydia was also an ‘05/’06 W.E.B. Du Bois Institute non-resident Fellow, a 2007 TCG/NEA Playwright in Residence at Steppenwolf, an 06/ 07 Huntington Playwright Fellow, a 2012 Sundance Institute Playwright Lab Creative Advisor, is a Board Member at Chicago Dramatists, and a 2012/2013 Radcliffe Institute Fellow. Lydia is an NU graduate (‘91), has an Honorary Doctorate of Arts from Pine Manor College and is 2013-14 Playwright in Residence at Arena Stage. Roundabout Theatre Company (Todd Haimes, Artistic Director/CEO) Founded in 1965, New York’s not-for-profit Roundabout Theatre Company celebrates the power of theater by spotlighting classics from the past, cultivating new works of the present, and educating minds for the future. Roundabout produces a mix of revivals and world premieres on and off Broadway, winning eight Best Revival Tony Awards and debuting such new playwrights as Stephen Karam, Lindsey Ferrentino, Steven Levenson, Ming Peiffer, and Jireh Breon Holder. Its educational initiatives impact 15,000 students and over 1,000 teachers annually. roundabouttheatre.org.
Kansas
Moore
ABOUT THE CREATORS
Cynthia Levin (PRODUCING ARTISTIC DIRECTOR) is in her 44th season with the Unicorn. Over the years she has served as a director, actor, designer or producer for over 300 productions. Most recently Cynthia directed Our Black Death and Bernhardt/Hamlet. Some of the other productions she has directed here are Bond, Vietgone, Chesapeake, Priscilla Queen Of The Desert: The Musical (co-directed with Missy Koonce), Eclipsed, Hand to God, Heathers: The Musical (again, with Missy), The Oldest Boy, Women Playing Hamlet (world premiere), Bad Jews, Grounded, Venus in Fur, My Name is Asher Lev, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, The Soul Collector (world premiere), Hungry (world premiere), Red, Two Jews Walk Into A War…, Distracted, Green Whales (world premiere), Miss Witherspoon, My First Time, The Clean House, Mauritius, 9 Parts of Desire, The Great American Trailer Park Musical, Bat Boy: The Musical and additionally the world premieres of rightnextto me (both at the Unicorn and Geva Theatre Center, Rochester, NY), How His Bride Came to Abraham, Light:Damage, Mercy Killing, Innocent Thoughts and Jack and Jill. At Coterie Theatre, she has directed Number the Stars, And Then They Came for Me, Frankenstein, Gatherings in Graveyards (I and II), Valley Song and To Kill A Mockingbird. At the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., she directed readings of Our Black Death, Occupants, In The Belly Of The Whale, The Friendship Of Her Thighs, The Last Pair Of Earlies, Tigers Be Still and White Devil and Loving Mother for the MFA Playwright’s Workshop. Cynthia is a graduate of Park University which also awarded her an Honorary Doctorate in 2002. She is a founding board member of the National New Play Network, an organization dedicated to the development and production of new works. She has been honored with the Pinnacle Award for Excellence in the Arts, the Human Rights Campaign Equality Award and most recently the Kathryn V. Lamkey Award from the Actors’ Equity Association for her ongoing commitment to inclusion and diversity. She shares her home with Zia (the beagle), Dodger (the cat) and the spirit of the big red dog, Sylvia.
THE CAST & PRODUCTION TEAM
Samantha Barrie (Commissioning Producer) Prior to commissioning and developing Toni Stone, Samantha was the Casting Director for The Old Globe and worked in the artistic departments of The Public Theater and Roundabout Theatre Company. In addition to producing, she designs educationally-focused tours around the world for some of the country’s most prestigious media outlets and non-profit institutions. She feels immense pride that because of this project, her son Isaac knows Toni Stone’s story.
Brad Shaw (DIRECTOR) A product of the Kansas City Art Institute, has worked in nearly all of the theaters in Kansas City as an actor, singer, storyteller, dancer, choreographer, set designer/builder, puppet designer/builder, playwright, and costume designer/builder. He is currently a contract teacher, teaching acting and visual art in the Kansas City schools.
L. Roi Hawkins (ALBERGA / RUFUS) L. Roi is honored to once again be on the Unicorn stage to help tell this amazing story. Recent credits include The Humans, Informed Consent, Betrayal of the Black Jesus (Unicorn Theatre), Of Mice and Men, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (The Kansas City Repertory Theatre), The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, A Wrinkle in Time, & too many more to list LOL (Theatre for Young America), How I Learned What I Learned, Honky, A Soldier’s Play, Stick Fly (Black Rep of KC). Thanks for coming on this journey with Us. Robert Vardiman (D. WILLIE / MILLIE) Robert is so jubilant to be working on the Unicorn Theatre stage!! You may recognize Robert from shows such as Ma Rainy’s Black Bottom, Memphis, The Meeting (The Black Repertory Theatre of Kansas City) The Royale (The Kansas City Repertory Theatre) In The Heights, Ragtime, Hair, Blame it on the Boogie (Music Theater Heritage). Robert can’t wait to continue his journey and would like to thank everyone at Unicorn Theatre for allowing him to express himself in a safe place. Robert dedicates every performance to his late father and grandmother E.O.E.
Terrace Wyatt, Jr. (ELZIE) Terrace is excited to make his Unicorn Theatre Debut! He has worked his butt off since the lockdown doing what he loves. Graduated with a B.F.A. in Theatre at William Jewell College and has been working NONSTOP in the KC area in The Royale, (The Kansas City Repertory Theatre), Something Rotten! (The White Theatre), Titanic: The Musical (Music Theatre Heritage), Memphis, Redwood, (The Black Repertory Theatre of Kansas City), Alice’s Wonderland (The Coterie Theatre - U/S), A Christmas Story (MTKC-Pro), and The Snowy Day & Other Stories (Mesner Puppet Theater). Terrace recently workshopped one of his plays through KC Public Theatre, Black Man, MO. You can catch Terrace in A Charlie Brown Christmas (The Coterie Theatre) from Nov. 15Dec. 31.
Robert Coppage, III (KING TUT / SUPERVISOR) is an actor and teacher from Wyandotte County, KS. He has over 20 years of theatre experience and has enjoyed performing all over the KC Metro area doing film, commercial, theatre, and improv. He co-founded a program and now teaches improvisation to young people in neighborhoods similar to where he was raised. Through improv, he is able to give voice and confidence to overlooked stories and storytellers. Tribe University
Jaeda LaVonne (TONI STONE) Jaeda LaVonne is excited to return to the Unicorn stage for their 2022-23 season. In May, she graduated from UMKC with an MFA in Acting & Directing. Prior to UMKC Jaeda received her BFA in Acting for the Stage and Screen from Azusa Pacific University. Recent credits include Dance Nation (Unicorn Theatre), The Tempest (HASF/UMKC), Jane Eyre, Jump, Antigonick (UMKC). In addition to acting, Jaeda is passionate about inspiring the next generation of actors through devising and acting techniques as a Teaching Artist. She is thankful to Cynthia and the Unicorn Family for having her and would like to thank the cast, director, and team for their great work. Lastly, Jaeda would like to thank her husband for his endless love and support.
THE CAST & PRODUCTION TEAM
THE CAST & PRODUCTION TEAM promotes public speaking skills and clear decision-making skills. This is his debut with the Unicorn Theatre and he is honored and excited to work with them.
Daniel André (STRETCH / SYDNEY) hails from Kansas City, MO. His career started at the young age of nine in his elementary’s school play Follow the Drinking Gourd. He said, “I knew then that I had found my passion, my purpose.” He is a graduate of The University of Central Missouri. Daniel has acted in productions with KC Melting Pot and various theatres during his career. This is Daniel’s debut production with Unicorn Theatre. Daniel credits his family for always supporting him. “This is for you!”
Aaron Ellis (SPEC / GABBY) is thrilled to be a part of his first production at Unicorn Theatre. As a Nebraska native, this marks his second show in Kansas City after Becoming Martin (The Coterie), and he couldn’t be more excited. Previous credits include The Jungle Book (The Rose), Heathers: The Musical (The Bluebarn Theatre), and Hairspray (The Omaha Community Playhouse). While not on stage, Aaron enjoys dancing, singing karaoke with his partner Dalton or playing with his fur babies Brooks and Bina Braxton.
Tanya Brown (STAGE MANAGER) is in her 17th season with Unicorn Theatre. Some of her all-time favorites have been The Revolutionists, Venus in Fur, Hand to God, Cock, Stupid F##king Bird, and Priscilla Queen of the Desert (Unicorn Theatre).
Atif Rome (SCENIC DESIGNER) is a visual artist and designer for the performing arts. His first Unicorn Theatre design was the set for As Is in 1987. Since then he has continued to apply his visual arts training to the design of sets and costumes for professional and academic theatre, dance, and music in the Kansas City area.
Victor En Yu Tan (LIGHTING DESIGNER) most recently designed the world premiere of Freedom Rider, co-production Alabama Shakespeare Festival and Crossroads Theatre. For Unicorn Theatre, he designed Nomad Hotel, Vietgone, and
Keenan Ramos (WOODY / MOTHER) is humbled and honored to be back on the boards at Unicorn Theatre. Right out of Kansas State University, Cynthia cast him in the amazing (and revealing) production of Take Me Out. Since then he has worked on stages all across the country, including the Kennedy Center and the Huntington Stage. Of course, home is where the heart is and he has proudly worked at The Coterie, KC Rep, The MET, Heart Of America Shakespeare Festival, MTH, and the all-important Unicorn Theatre. Keenan would like to thank his beautiful family for all their support. Most importantly, GO CHIEFS! Adarius “King Dari” Wells (JIMMY / FATHER O’ KEEFE) is making his Unicorn Theatre debut and is excited for this opportunity! An alum of Missouri Western State University, Adarius is an aspiring artist and has recently performed as part of a duet act in 2020 (KCACTF), Schroder in You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, and Laurie in Little Women (Missouri Western State University).
Eric Palmquist (PROPS DESIGNER) is a graduate of the University of Kansas theatre program and a founding member of Terra Femina Collective. Recent work includes The Inheritance Parts 1 & 2, Tiny Beautiful Things, Our Black Death, Dance Nation, Pipeline, The Lifespan of a Fact, American Son, Babel, Bernhardt/ Hamlet, Who’s Your Baghdaddy, The Revolutionists, The Humans (Unicorn Theatre), Caroline, or Change, Every Brilliant Thing, Billy Elliot (Spinning Tree), and A Moon for the Misbegotten (KCAT). An AEA member, he was last seen in Viper (Terra Femina) and Nomad Motel (Unicorn Theatre), and has performed with the Coterie, the Living Room Theatre, Equity Actors Reader Theatre, the MET, and the Buffalo Room.
THE CAST & PRODUCTION TEAM
David Kiehl (SOUND DESIGNER) is excited to be back at the Unicorn where he has worked as sound designer for over 50 productions. Previous Unicorn designs date back to 1997 and include Sylvia, The Laramie Project, and Proof; more recently they include Tiny Beautiful Things, Pipeline, The Lifespan of a Fact, & Kill Move Paradise. You may have heard his work around town in The Pests, ‘night, Mother (KCAT ), Nocturne, Milking Christmas (Living Room Theatre), and over 100 productions at The Coterie including SpongeBob The Musical, Electric Poe, and Puffs. Arwen White (COSTUME DESIGNER) is a Kansas City-based costume designer and founder of Juste Jaquet Designs, a creative studio for costume design and fine art. She has designed theatrically throughout the city on productions including Wicked Creatures (Confluence Theatre), Something Rotten!, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Peter Pan (The White Theatre), Tiny Beautiful Things, Our Black Death, Lifespan of a Fact, Who’s Your Baghdaddy…, The Revolutionists, Sweat, The Mountaintop, My Name is Asher Lev (Unicorn Theatre), Chainsaw (Living Room Theatre), Gruesome Playground Injuries (Fishtank Theatre). She is an Entertainment Contractor for Norwegian Cruise Line, stitching for Burn the Floor, Paradie, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, and Band on the Run. A Teaching Artist throughout Kansas City she is loving the opportunity to help young artists grow and explore through theatre and design. arwenjwhite.com, @arwenjwhite
Bad Jew. He designed over 40 plays for Pan Asian Rep including Brothers Paranormal, Rangoon, Imelda, Shogun Macbeth, Joy Luck Club, Cambodia Agonistes, Tea, and Rashomon and over 25 plays for the Public Theater including the premieres of For Colored Girls, The Colored Museum and Dance and the Railroad. He had also designed Romeo and Juliet, Death of a Salesman, Carousel, Broke-ology, Borderland, and The Whipping Man, Kansas City Rep; Vanya Sonia Masha and Spike, Center Stage; Sheila’s Day, Hartford Stage: The Ballad of Emmitt Till, Goodman Theatre; Resurrection, co-production Arena Stage and Hartford Stage; Stickfly, McCarter Theatre; KC Swing!, Fishy Waters, Train to 2010, Crossroads Theatre; Black Pearl Sings!, Virginia Stage/Capital Rep/Santa Barbara ETC co-production; and many others. He is currently Professor of Lighting Design at the University of Missouri – Kansas City.
Vice President
SuzanneAmyKimberlyMichaelCynthiaGeeLevinNonbelloSternWrightWheeler
President Sally Everhart Kirsty Melville Winnie Dunn Meredith Webster Kevin Gabriel Carol
VISION STATEMENT
UNICORN THEATRE’S MISSION
Unicorn Theatre enhances the Kansas City community by developing and producing high-quality, thought-provoking plays that have never been seen in the region. We illuminate social issues by shining a light on diversity and inclusive stories which include race, religion and gender identity. Unicorn creates opportunities for the advancement of emerging and established actors, directors, playwrights, designers, technicians and administrative staff. By producing provocative new plays Unicorn Theatre fosters the next generation of great American writers and artists, creating innovative and intimate theatrical experiences that transcend the ordinary. We inspire the community to think and feel deeply; to see the world in new and different ways. Unicorn strives to be one of the preeminent homes for new plays in the country.
Treasurer
Unicorn Theatre is a constituent of Actors’ Equity Association; Theatre Communications Group, Inc.; The National New Play Network; Missouri Citizens for the Arts; The Downtown Council; Main Street Development Corporation; Nonprofit Connect; Urban Core Group; and The Kansas City Convention and Visitors Bureau.
AFFILIATIONS
BOARD OF DIRECTORS Producing Artistic Director Cynthia Levin Director of Finance Jason Kralicek Director of Marketing Nathan Gwartney Director of Development Em Swenson Production Manager Taylor Jene Sullivan Technical Director Andy Peveler Box Office Manager Sarah Cooper Social Media Coordinator Anna Sell Production Stage Manager Tanya Brown Photography Cynthia Levin STAFF
Secretary
& MEMBERSHIPS
