1992-93

1992-93

SEASON

Although History Theatre paid its design and acting talent from the beginning (1978-79 season), this season is the first in which the organization had a contractual agreement with Actors’ Equity Association (AEA), the union of professional actors and stage managers. This means that, whenever possible, we hire AEA members for roles in the productions that we bring to the public. In programs given to each attending audience member since 1992, you have seen this statement, which we reprint here:

Actors’ Equity Association was founded in 1913 to protect Actors from severe treatment that permeated the industry at that time. The 49,000 member Association consists of distinguished stars and other professional Actors and Stage Managers who work nationwide, from New York’s Broadway to Los Angeles, from Minneapolis to Miami Beach, in regional, in small professional, stock and dinner theater, and theaters for young audiences which build the audiences of tomorrow.

These Actors and Stage Managers are committed to working in the theater as professionals, not as an avocation, and bring you the finest professional training experience. By presenting Equity productions, this theater offers you, our audience, the best entertainment presented by the finest quality Actors and Stage Managers that your admission dollars can buy.

STAFF
Producer/Co-Artistic Director – Lynn Lohr
Playwright in Residence/Co-Artistic Director – Lance S. Belville
General Manager/Tour Director – Thomas H. Berger
Education/Group Director – Carole Marget
Box Office Manager/Administrative Assistant – Kathryn Maguet
Publicity/Marketing Consultant – Joe Diacou
Box Office Assistants – Bonnie Peet, Liv Tollefson, Tracy Willis
House Management – Matthew Miller, Deidre Scott, Susan Whitaker

A Country Christmas Carol
November 29-December 27, 1992
Book by Ed Graczyk, Music by David Tolley, Lyrics by John Dempsey

Based on Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, the authors re-set the plot to Eureka Springs, Minnesota in the middle of the Great Depression and re-name characters as a study in the politics of economic selfishness. Then they added heel-kicking country music. The play begins after the 1936 re-election of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Cast
Ezekial Skrudge – Walt Weaver
Amos Greeley/Ghost #2 – Clark Cruikshank
Charlie Olson/Ghost #3 – Paul Reyburn
Clovis Watson/Jonas Simpson – Edward J. Williams, Jr.
Seth Parker – Kevin A. King
Sarah Parker – Jewel Rae
Ruby Parker – Siobhan Tolar
Myron Thorn/Elwood Finchley – Tom Bengston
Edgar Thorn/Cyrus Perkins/Ike Flitner – Jeff Huset
Ghost #1 – Brad Hamilton
Gertie Delmar – Margo Andrews
Lizzie Simpson – Patricia NiemanEffie
Clark/Daisy Finchley – Marti George
Cora Simms – Beth Magnuson
Nora Claybourn/Widow Flintner – Angela Drahos
Leona Blair – Shiuvan Harris
Understudies – Kesha Dent, Jon D. Kohnen, Linda J. Howell, Shiuvan Harris, Mary Jo Donahue

Standing, L-R: David Graetzer, Margo Andrews, Walt Weaver
Kneeling: Tom Bengston; Seated, Kevin A. King

Musical Numbers
Act I
Eureka Springs, 1936 – Company
It’s Christmas Eve – Seth, Ruby, Sarah, Company
The Old Song & Dance/Taken To Task – Skrudge, Greeley
Hurry On Down! – Ghost 1
Holiday Hoedown – Elwood, Daisy
Yesterdays – Lizzy Simpson

Act II
There’s Hope In You Yet – Ghost 2, Mission Band, Company
Now! – Sarah, Seth, Company
Our Little Girl – Seth, Sarah
Going, Going Gone – Gertie, Widow Flintner, Company
I Will – Skrudge
Yesterdays (reprise) – Skrudge
God Bless Us, Everyone – Ruby, Skrudge, Company

Musicians
Piano – Marya Hart
Mandolin/Guitar/Fiddle – Bill Hinkley
Guitar – Judy Larson

Production Crew
Director/Choreographer – Michael Ellison
Musical Director – Marya Hart
Scene Designer – Robin W. McIntyre
Lighting Designer – Chris Johnson
Costume Designer – Katherine B. Kohl
Stage Manager – Monty Hicks
Assistant Stage Manager – Alva A. Crom
Technical Advisor – Trevor Vasey
Properties Design – Rose Holmes
Scenic Artist – Kimberly L. Lawler
Carpenters – Rose Holmes, Mark Wujcik, Daniel Widerski
Carpenter’s Assistant – Paul Epton
Master Electrician – Rose Holmes
Electricians – Mark Wujcik, Paul Epton, Ryan Julien
Technical Running Crew – Rose Holmes, Paul Epton, Suzanne Knight, James Elm, Julie Jackson

The Meeting
January 15-24, 1993
(in repertory with The Life and Times of Deacon A.L. Wiley)
By Jeff Stetson

Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. were dedicated, in different ways, to advocacy for African Americans. They only met once, and only for a few moments, during the 1963 March on Washington, DC. This play deals with what might have happened if these two men had been able to meet at length and discuss the problems they faced and solutions available to them. Unfortunately, within five years of their brief meeting, both men had been murdered.

Cast
Malcolm X – Evan Lionel
Rashad – Edward D. Richardson
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. – Gregory Alan-Williams
Understudies – Kevin McIlvaine, Kristian Crawford

Production Crew
Director – Chuck Smith
Lighting & Scenic Designer – Tim Oien
Costume Designer – Glenn Billings
Sound Designer – Corbiere Boynes
Opening interview editor – Chuck Smith

The Life and Times of Deacon A.L. Wiley
January 16-23, 1993
(in repertory with The Meeting)
By G. Travis Williams

Set in 1904 in the basement of Los Angeles’ First AME Church, a devout deacon and father of five with a fetish for gambling talks and sings about his experiences as a slave and a free man. This is an intimate theatrical experience with a man who refused to fight tor his freedom in the Civil War, yet cherishes freedom as his greatest possession.

Cast
Deacon A.L. Wiley – Gregory Alan-Williams
Brother Hudson – Walter Gates, Jr.

Production Staff
Director – Chuck Smith
Originally Staged by – Alexander Thomas
Production Design by – G. Travis Williams
Production Stage Manager – Chuck Smith
Assistant Stage Managers – Don Wilenski, Ryan Julien
Master Electrician – Rose Holmes

Scott and Zelda: The Beautiful Fools
February 17-April 4, 1993
(in repertory with The Great Gatsby)
By Lance S. Belville

The play consists of imagined remembrances in the mind of F. Scott Fitzgerald between July of 1918 and December of 1938.

Cast
Scott Fitzgerald – Jay Nickerson
Zelda Fitzgerald/Judge #3 – Janet Hanson
Scottie Fitzgerald/Judge #2 – Laura Mahler
Max Perkins – Clark Cruikshank
Harold Ober/Groucho Marx – Tom Bengston
Grace/Woman in hotel room – Helen Chorolec
Reporter/John Sellers – Edward J. Williams, Jr.
Xandra Kalman – Catherine Gasiorowicz
Kallie Kalman/Dr. Thomas Rennie/Peyton Mathis – Dennis Paton
Edouard Jozan/Ernest Hemingway – Trevor Vasey
Beatrice – Jill Whitney-Birk
Sheilah Graham/Judge #1 – Patricia Nieman
Understudies – Martha Benda, Ted Mattison, Leah Gautschi

L-R: Edward J. Williams, Jr., Patricia Nieman, Jay Nickerson, Jill Whitney-Birk

Production Staff
Director – Stephen DiMenna
Literary Intern – Kate Melenyzer
Choreographer – Michael Ellison
Scene Design – Thomas H. Berger
Costume Design – Katherine B. Kohl
Lighting Design – Thomas H. Berger & Chris Johnson
Stage Managers – Monty Hicks, Candice Coleman
Asst. Stage Manager – Daniel L. Widerski
Sound Designers – Stephen DiMenna, Ryan Julien
Scenic Artists – Kimberly L. Lawler
Master Carpenter – Daniel L. Widerski
Carpenters – Matthew Pavik, Tim Syvertsen
Master Electrician – Rose Holmes
Stitchers – Anne Lommel, Kristine Rapp
Technical Running Crew – Suzanne Knight, James Elm, Daniel Widerski

The Great Gatsby
February 17-April 4, 1993
(in repertory with Scott and Zelda: The Beautiful Fools)
Adapted by John Carlile

A theatrical adaptation of the novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Like the novel, the play is set during the summer of 1925 in and around Long Island and Manhattan, New York.

Cast
Jay Gatsby – Jay Nickerson
Daisy Buchanan – Janet Hanson
Tom Buchanan – Dennis Paton
Nick Carraway – Brad Hamilton
Jordan Baker – Catherine Gasiorowicz
Myrtle Wilson – Jill Whitney-Birk
George Wilson/Meyer Wolfsheim/Orchestra Leader – Clark Cruikshank
Mr. McKee/Old Gatz/Policeman – Trevor Vasey
Mrs. McKee/Twin #2 – Helen Chorolec
Catherine/Twin #1/Miss Baedecker – Patricia Nieman
Klipspringer/Michealis/Doc Civet – Tom Bengston
Slagel, Butler/Undergrad/Waiter – Edward J. Williams, Jr.
Understudies – Martha Bender, Ted Mattison

Production Staff
Director – Stephen DiMenna
Literary Consultants – Lloyd Hackl, David Page
Literary Intern – Kate Melenyzer
Choreographer – Michael Ellison
Period Dance Consultant – Lance Benishek
Ballroom Dance Consultants – Jack Cain, Ellen Newman
Scene Design – Thomas H. Berger
Costume Design – Mathew J. LeFebvre
Lighting Design – Thomas H. Berger and Chris Johnson
Dramaturg – Lance S. Belville
Stage Managers – Monty Hicks, Candice Coleman
Asst. Stage Manager – Daniel L. Widerski
Sound Designers – Stephen DiMenna, Michael Ellison, Ryan Julien
Scenic Artists – Kimberly L. Lawler
Master Carpenter – Daniel L. Widerski
Carpenters – Matthew Pavik, Tim Syvertsen
Master Electrician/Carpenter – Rose Holmes
Electrician – Jeff Cady
Technical Running Crew – Suzanne Knight, James Elm, Julie Zurn

Days of Rondo (World Premiere)
April 17-May 16, 1993
Adapted for the stage by Gregory Alan Williams

Based on the memoir of Evelyn Fairbanks, this is the story of a young black girl growing up in the 1930s, 40s and 50s among the zesty citizens of St. Paul’s lost treasure, the Rondo community. The play is set to the secular and popular music of the spirit.

Cast
Mrs. Edwards (Mama) – Stephanie Lusco
Young Evelyn – Maima Taaj Ajmal Brown
Mature Evelyn – Delores Wade
Aunt Good/Mrs. Dubois (Corsettiere) – Brenda Bell Brown
Morris/Ensemble Man – Jaimee Friend
Teen Evelyn/Train Passenger – Elizabeth Lasley
Isabelle/Ensemble Woman/Train Passenger – Joyce L. McKinley
Mrs. Neal/Ensemble Woman/Train Passenger – April Anderson
Understudies – Alanna LeRae Carter, Temeka Nicole Plair, Carl Scott, Vernell Wilson

L-R: Maima Taaj Ajmal Brown, Stephanie Lusco

Production Staff
Director – Gregory Alan Williams
Literary Consultants – Lloyd Hackl, David Page
Choreographer – Marvette Knight
Voice and Movement Coach – Donahue Hayes
Scene Design – Chris Johnson
Costume Design – Deidrea Whitlock
Lighting Design – Chris Johnson
Dramaturg – Lance S. Belville
Wardrobe – Rose Holmes
Dialogue Coach – Carl Scott
Properties Design – Jeffrey Cady
Hair Design – Sylestine Williams
Stage Managers – Thomas H. Berger & Candice Coleman
Sound Designer – Ryan Julien
Scenic Artist – Kimberly L. Lawler
Master Carpenter – Daniel L. Widerski
Carpenters – Matthew Pavik, Tim Syvertsen, James A. Elm
Master Electrician/Carpenter – Rose Holmes
Electrician – Mark Wujcik
Technical Running Crew – Pamela Banning, Jeffrey Cady, Michael Fitzpatrick, Rose Holmes, Sari Miller, Chris Policheri
Program Design – Zoe Diacou