FORWARD THEATER COMPANYpresents

A Thousand WordsBy Gwendolyn Rice

Directed byJennifer Uphoff Gray

Set Designer Nate Stuber

Costume Designer Hyewon Park

Properties Designer Charles J. Trieloff II

Assistant Stage Manager Kim Patch

Lighting Designer Jason Fassl

Sound Designer Paul Hurley

Stage Manager Jacqueline Singleton*

Assistant Director Frank Honts

A Thousand Words is generously sponsored by:

with additional funds from the Wisconsin Arts Board.

Season sponsors:

and the Pleasant Rowland Great Performance Fund for Theater, a component fund of the Madison Community Foundation

*Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers.

The script for A Thousand Words was previously workshopped by The Wisconsin Wrights New Play Development Project, and presented

as part of the Montgomery Davis Play Development Series.

Tune in for robots, heroes,bandits, spies and more.

Saturday & Sunday8pm - 11pm on 970 AM

Old Time Radiowith Norman Gilliland

(He’s not a robot, honest.)

Online at WPR.org

3A Thousand Words

FORWARD THEATER COMPANY STAFF

ARTISTIC

Artistic Director ......................................................................................... Jennifer Uphoff Gray

Artistic Associate ........................................................................................................Frank Honts

ADMINISTRATIVE

General Manager ........................................................................................................Sarah Marty

Communications Director .............................................................................. Gwendolyn Rice

Director of Audience Development ................................................................ Julia Nicholas

Interns...........................................................................................Michele Langer & Aliza Feder

PRODUCTION

Assistant Director .......................................................................................................Frank Honts

Dramaturg ............................................................................................. Kimberly Megna Yarnall

Production Manager .................................................................................................Sarah Marty

Stage Manager ..........................................................................................Jacqueline Singleton

Assistant Stage Manager .............................................................................................Kim Patch

MAPC Technical Direction Services ............................................................................Ric Lantz

Master Electrician ...........................................................................................Louis Kreienkamp

Carpenter ..................................................................................................................Kevin Zimmer

Scenic Painter ..............................................................................................................Nate Stuber

Stage Crew ........................................................................................................... Joanne Chaloub

Wardrobe ........................................................................................................................ Emily Popp

This production of A Thousand Words is a collaboration with Milwaukee Chamber Theatre

Founded in 1975, Milwaukee Chamber Theatre produces intimate, high-quality, professional theatrical works of literary merit that engage and challenge the audience, while employing

and nurturing principally local theater artists. Under the leadership of Producing Artistic Director C. Michael Wright and Managing Director Kirsten Mulvey, MCT offers five mainstage productions each season at the Broadway Theatre Center in Milwaukee’s Historic Third Ward.

In addition, MCT produces a Young Playwrights Festival and the Montgomery Davis Play Development Series. Each season the play development series features staged readings of two new scripts with Wisconsin connections and A Thousand Words was performed as part of this series in 2008-2009. MCT is now particularly excited to partner with Forward Theater

Company on the world premiere. A Thousand Words continues at Milwaukee Chamber Theatre February 16 – March 11, 2012. For tickets or more information, (414) 291-7800 or

milwaukeechambertheatre.com

4 Forward Theater Company

FORWARD THEATER COMPANY BOARD OF D IRECTORS

Chad Bartell, Springs Window FashionsDonna Beestman, Career Success Strategies, LLC

Jane Elder, Jane Elder StrategiesEllen Foley, Foley Media

Dr. Charles Ford, UW Division of OtolaryngologyMarta Gialamas, The Gialamas Company

Gail Kohl, GMK Associates, LLCErika Monroe-Kane, National Center for Media Engagement

Kathie Nichols, First United Methodist ChurchJoseph Shumow, WHEDA

Brent Wagner, Baker Tilly Virchow Krause

FORWARD THEATER ADVISORY COMPANY

Ann M. ArchboldJim BuskeSarah Day

Richard GanoungMichael Herold

Celia KlehrCasey Martin

Karen MoellerFrank Schneeberger

Kirk StantisSam White

Jack Forbes WilsonKimberly Megna Yarnall

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Each staged reading will be held in the Rotunda Studio at Overture Center. No advance tickets will be sold, but a suggested donation will be collected at the door.

and get a sneak peek at some

exciting new work!

Join Forward Theater Company for our New Play DeveloPmeNT SerieS

OateslandBy Sam White May 19th at 7:30pmWisconsin Wrights New Play Project Selection When a group of American soldiers stationed in Antarctica begins to give in to the cold and isolation, at least one of them believes he’s seen the ghost of Lawrence Oates, a member of a doomed polar expedition party in 1912.

The Bombing of Sterling Hall March 9th & 10th at 7:30pm By the Wisconsin Story Project

When a bomb exploded just outside Sterling Hall in the early morning hours of August 24, 1970, it was a thunderous event in the history of Wisconsin. While the intended target – the Army Mathe-matics Research Center was not affected by the blast, many people on both sides of the anti-war movement were. Hear their stories, in their own words.

SponSored By

April 12-29, 2012, Overture Center

It’s an evening dedicated to love — stories of courtship, marriage, and the inevitable evolution of relationships over time.

tiCkets: $10-$37 tO Order: call (608) 258-4141

or visit overturecenter.com.

7A Thousand Words

FROM THE ARTISTIC D IRECTOR , JENNIFER UPHOFF GR AY

Welcome to Forward Theater! We are so happy you could join us today for the world premiere production of A Thousand Words. I had the pleasure of working with the playwright, Gwen Rice, on a reading of this play back in March 2009 as part of Milwaukee Chamber Theatre’s Montgomery Davis Play Development Series. (In fact, the reading took place just a few days before Forward Theater was founded!) It’s been wonderful to follow the play’s evolution over the past four years and help shape it into the performance you’ll see today.

I think the reason A Thousand Words resonated so deeply with me – and one of the things I like most about the script – is that it brings up some really interesting and relevant questions about how art and artists can be part of the solution in times of national crisis.

As you’ll see, a portion of the play takes place in 1937 – focusing on the work of the Farm Security Administration, which commissioned artists to record the living conditions of the rural poor in the Dust Bowl during the Great Depression. This effort not only employed Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange, and other famous black-and-white-photographers of the time period, it also used art to publicize, document, and ultimately address the devastating economic and social conditions across the country.

When we first established Forward Theater Company, I was often asked why a group of Madison arts proponents would risk starting a new theater during a recession. The answer was remarkably similar to something Walker Evans’s boss at the Farm Security Administration might have said: “In times of transition, the arts become even more essential in our communities.”

In order to play our essential role in the Madison area, FTC depends on support from hundreds of individuals, corporations, and foundations. Last summer we also established a fund to underwrite the salary for one actress per season as a tribute to Colleen Burns, an original member of Forward Theater Company who brought great joy to Madison audiences. We are pleased to announce that Sarah Day is the first actress to receive this distinction for her role in A Thousand Words. Through this endowment, we look forward to many more creative collaborations in the years to come. For more information, or to make a contribution to this fund, please contact me at jgray@forwardtheater.com.

Sunday Worship8:00 | 9:30 | 11:00

Come Change Your Life

www.fumc.org | 608-256-9061 | 203 Wisconsin Ave., Madison, WI 53703

8 Forward Theater Company

FROM THE BOARD OF D IRECTORS , K ATHIE N ICHOLS

As the president of the FTC board of directors, let me tell you two things:

First, I am extremely excited about our current season. Forward’s stages will be filled with virtuoso performances of some of the most evocative, challenging, humorous, and poignant stories you’ve ever seen. I predict that these characters and the actors who embody them will live in your memory long after the final applause fades.

Second, I am thrilled to serve as president of Forward’s board of directors. I’ve been on the board for most of Forward’s young life, and I cannot tell you how proud I am of this start-up professional theater company in Madison. We have received nothing but positive reviews for our productions to date (thanks in no small part to our incredibly talented artistic director, Jennifer Uphoff Gray). Our subscriber base has increased by 43% over last year, and 78% of previous subscribers renewed their tickets – figures that are almost unheard of in the performing arts. And I’m even more proud to say we’ve done all of this without having to borrow a cent. We ended our first two seasons “in the black,” and we are budgeting carefully to do the same this season.

Though it’s sometimes hard to believe, as an organization we are still in our infancy. Our accomplishments are profound, especially considering that we are still putting key pieces of infrastructure in place. It has been a lot of work, but it has been a (successful!) labor of love.

Of course, FTC’s amazing work on stage and behind the scenes is only possible because of the commitment of donors and audience members like you. Your support has given us a very strong foundation on which to grow. We look forward to partnering with you – and seeing you at the theater – for many years to come!

9A Thousand Words

Phot

o by

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rge B

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overturecenter.com608.258.4141

groups: 608.258.4159

TomcaT producTs ouTside The box series evenT

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provideo comedy and TheaTer series evenT

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11A Thousand Words

FROM THE ADVISORY COMPANY, J IM BUSKE

Forward Theater’s advisory company is made up of theater artists—a body unique to FTC. When we formed the company, we wanted to ensure that the artistic side of the theater would always be in balance with the business side. It’s been three years and we’re still working our way through this new concept, but so far it’s working pretty well.

What are some of the things that the advisory company does? We (along with FTC staff ) read dozens of scripts each year to find plays that are both exceptionally written and interesting to our audience. We also greet patrons like you in the lobby at each performance. This way we can talk to the people who attend our plays and get direct feedback. Each fall the AC hosts a public forum where interested community members are invited to share their questions, concerns, and ideas. By maintaining this dialogue, we hope to build a theater that exceeds expectations.

As you can see, our focus is making sure that Forward Theater responds to its audience. We have many other responsibilities (some involve making pie for backstage meals, some involve moving furniture to the rehearsal space) but none is more important than making sure we stay in contact with you—our patrons, donors, and sponsors. Your support through our first two seasons has been nothing short of amazing. Midway through our third season, be assured that our commitment to you is as strong as your commitment to us!

This world premiere production of A THOUSAND WORDS by Gwendolyn Rice continues at Milwaukee Chamber TheatreFebruary 16 - March 11, 2012

MCT’s 2011-12 Season concludes withWilliam Inge’s contemporary classic BUS STOP, April 12-29, 2012

MILWAUKEE CHAMBER THEATRE | BROADWAY THEATRE CENTER158 N. Broadway | Milwaukee’s Historic Third Ward

Tickets 414.291.7800 | milwaukeechambertheatre.com

12 Forward Theater Company

FROM THE DR A M ATURG, K IMBERLY MEGNA YARNALL

Collaboration is something that is easy to define and difficult to do well. The first defi-nition listed in the dictionary for “collaborate” generally says something about work-ing together, as in a joint artistic effort. Interestingly enough, the second definition often mentions treason and cooperating with an enemy nation. Why is collaborating so hard? Most artists will tell you the answer is other people. But if it’s so hard to work together, why do we do it?

Roy Stryker, head of the historical section of the Farm Security Administration (FSA), collaborated with more than a dozen photographers over an eight-year period, to produce 270,000 pictures documenting the state of rural America during the Depres-sion. Writing about this enormous partnership, he said, “I think the work we did can be appreciated only when the collection is considered as a whole. The total volume, and it’s a staggering volume, has a richness and distinction that simply cannot be drawn from the individual pictures themselves.”

A single picture from this collection is arresting. We can all recall seeing an iconic photo from the era in a high school textbook: a father and his two children running for shelter during a dust storm; men in overcoats lined up for bread on an urban street. But when we’re searching for the truth – what it was really like during those very desperate times – we need to flip through dozens of pages of these photos, taken by many photographers, who traveled throughout the country and throughout the decade. By considering all of these points of view we can truly appreciate how successful they were in their task: “We introduced Americans to America.”

Playwright Gwendolyn Rice calls her play, “a conversation in art – a collaboration across decades and thousands of miles.” And indeed, the story told in A Thousand Words explores how the (fictional) writer Shirley Hughes and the famed photogra-pher Walker Evans, shape each other’s point of view as they attempt to capture the lives of tenant farmers in Kansas in 1937. Walker, with his naturalistic photographic style, helps Shirley see how her words can simply describe without romanticizing. And Shirley personalizes Walker’s experience – reminding him of the names of the families they photograph.

This exploration of artistic collaboration doesn’t end with photographs. Rice also in-troduces a group of women who created exceptional quilts – works of textile art in-fused with the aesthetic of the community in which they were created. These riffs on traditional patterns transcended convention to create something altogether new and startlingly beautiful. Going even further, the play shows the tenuous relationship that modern commercialism plays in supporting art and how sometimes collaboration is born of – or dies at the hands of – fiscal and legal constructs.

The depth of collaboration involved in producing live theater is something of a luxury in today’s fast-paced, bottom-line world. The playwright uses words to create characters, setting, action. But that’s only the beginning. Directors, actors, designers, and crew come in and add their points of view. Actors put a voice to the words and subtext deepens. Where those characters live becomes textured and specific in a set designer’s hands. Every person moving a set piece alters the pace, the urgency, of the action. Finally, each night the house fills with audience members. One night the audience finds the second scene hilarious. Another night, another audience responds to the same scene with silence, or anger. The humanity and artistic merit of the play is enhanced because we change it during the collaboration. Each person adds life to the story and we get closer to the truth.

This world premiere expands that collaboration beyond the walls of this theater. Art-ists from across the state read A Thousand Words and created multimedia works of art. Each new piece expresses another opinion. Lectures and discussions are being held throughout this season to add even more voices in this conversation. And in a few weeks the production travels to the Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, where the collabo-ration continues.

I can think of no greater argument for the importance of live theater than the unique experience it affords us to create art together – to search for shared truth in our expe-riences – to introduce a community of people to each other.

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15A Thousand Words

FROM THE PL AY WRIGHT, GWENDOLYN R ICE

When I read the newspaper article, I was intrigued by the words. But I was captivated by the pictures.

Long-hidden prints reveal the friendship between Walker Evans and Ernest Hemingway

KEY WEST - In the spring of 1933, Ernest Hemingway had escaped the Great Depression on a borrowed boat to Cuba, where he fished, drank and gathered material for his next novel, To Have and Have Not. With him for three weeks in the bars and bistros was a young Walker Evans, who would soon become known as one of the great American photographers of the 20th century.

But for decades, the tale of their friendship and influence on each other’s work remained hidden in a storage room of a Key West bar. In boxes and crates, Benjamin “Dink” Bruce discovered 46 original photographs taken by Evans in Havana in 1933.

I remember this moment very clearly: I was eating lunch at my desk at work, with the newspaper spread over my keyboard. I set my sandwich down and typed Evans’s name into a search engine. And the photos I found took my breath away.

Like a lot of people, I had seen these photos before, but I hadn’t associated a name with them. Along with Dorothea Lange, and other artists working with the Farm Secu-rity Administration, Evans created stark, arresting, beautiful pictures of Dust Bowl fami-lies that awakened the country to the plight of the rural poor. I clicked on one web-page after another, looking for more images and more information about this incred-ible artist. I learned that he was credited with pioneering a naturalistic photographic style, documenting the world around him instead of manipulating it for his photos. He was considered a master of black and white, and was the first photographer to have a solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

More intriguing details emerged as I read through online biographies and art history commentaries on his work. In Evans’s photos, there is a clear fascination with billboards and marketing messages turned on their heads. He also loved urban scenes, and man-made landscapes. Trying to catch people in unguarded moments – oblivious to the fact that they were being photographed – he hid a camera in his coat and took pic-tures of people riding the subway in New York.

Looking at the people in these frames, I was enthralled. Intrigued. Embarrassed to be staring so long at dirty faces marked with poverty, or simply caught unaware. It be-came clear the longer I looked that Evans saw the world in a way that no other photog-rapher had before him. And he captured that world on film. I wanted to talk to him. To know him. To get inside his head. After finishing my lunch I announced to my cowork-ers that I would write a play about Walker Evans someday.

Playwriting is a solitary process. Sitting alone at a computer, typing late into the night, it is an exercise in introspection – the transcription of conversations between charac-ters who live and speak only in your mind. But art is meant to be shared with readers, with audiences, with other artists, and the play A Thousand Words has benefitted from many, many other collaborators. They include the Wisconsin Wrights New Play Project; the University of Wisconsin, Madison; The Terry Family Foundation/Edenfred Artists Residence; Milwaukee Chamber Theatre; Forward Theater Company; The Montgomery Davis Play Development Series; Jacque Troy; Martine Kei Green-Rogers; Trevin Gay; Michael Wright; Jennifer Uphoff Gray; and all the actors who have participated in read-ings of the play over the last four years. A sincere thank you to everyone – including today’s audience – who has contributed to the development of this work. This has been an amazing journey.

I hope that the play will encourage artists and audiences alike to think about the na-ture of authenticity, the process of art creation, and the power of words and images to change the world. I know the pictures of Walker Evans certainly changed mine.

16 Forward Theater Company

THE CAST

PLEASE NOTE

T. Stacy Hicks ........................................................ Brian Walters, Roy Stryker, John Connors

Sarah Day* .....................................................................................................................Sally Quinn

Josh Aaron McCabe* ...............................................................................................Walker Evans

Molly Rhode* .........................................................................................................Shirley Hughes

Georgina McKee ................................................................................................. Andrea Munroe

Libby Amato ..................................................................Jessica Shoemacher, Abbie Lehman

* member, Actors’ Equity Association

There will be one 15-minute intermission.

The audience is asked to silence cell phones during the performance. The video and/or audio recording of this performance by any means whatsoever is strictly

prohibited.

Technical assistance for this production has been provided by the Children’s Theater of Madison and Madison Arts Production Cooperative.

Jazz series

Village Vanguard Jazz Orchestra

Opening: UW-Madison Jazz Orchestra

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February 4, 2012 , 8pmFamily savings EvEnt!

Gaelic Storm Friday,

February 17, 2012 , 8pm

David Finckel, Wu Han, & Philip Setzer piano trioFan Taylor Memorial Concert

Friday,

February 24, 2012 , 7:30pmFamily savings EvEnt!

BEla Fleck & The Flecktones thursday,

March 1, 2012 , 8pm

This theater season is supported in part by a grant from the Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the State of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts. The Wisconsin Union Theater Season is programmed by the Wisconsin Union Directorate student Performing Arts Committee.

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18 Forward Theater Company

ARTIST B IOGR APHIES

Libby Amato (Jessica Shoemacher, Abbie Lehman) is very pleased to return to Forward Theater after performing in Forward’s inaugural

production of All About Eve. Other credits include productions with Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, First Stage Children’s Theater, In Tandem Theatre, Alchemist Theatre, Windfall Theatre, Bunny Gumbo Theatre, and the former New Court Theatre. She also keeps busy with a variety of on-camera work, including commercials and print ads. Libby is a graduate of Carroll University with a BFA in theater performance, and now resides in Milwaukee. Raised just outside of Madison, Libby is grateful for this opportunity to come “home” and sends a special thank you to her amazing family and friends for the their constant love and support.

Sarah Day (Sally Quinn) is a founding member of Forward Theater, and serves on its advisory company. She has appeared in Forward’s

productions of All About Eve, and Why Torture is Wrong, and the People Who Love Them, as well as directing a monologue in last season’s festival of new work, The Love That Changed My Life. Sarah has been a member of the acting company at American Players Theatre in Spring Green since 1986.

T. Stacy Hicks (Brian Walters, Roy Stryker, John Connors) is a familiar face to Milwaukee theater patrons. Most recently he appeared as Algernon in The

Importance of Being Earnest with Southwest Shakespeare and Patrick in Pink Champagne with Uprooted

Theatre. He has performed with Chicago, Milwaukee, and Southwest Shakespeare Companies as well as Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, Renaissance Theaterworks, In Tandem Theatre, Optimist Theatre, Uprooted Theatre, and Youngblood Theatre companies. Stacy recently served as the movement coach for the world premiere of The Edwin Booth Company Presents at the University of Wisconsin, Whitewater, where he also choreographed The Provok’d Wife. A native North Carolina Tarheel, Stacy studied at the North Carolina School of the Arts. Future roles include Southbridge with Uprooted Theatre and Veronica’s Position with In Tandem Theatre.

Josh Aaron McCabe (Walker Evans) is thrilled to return to Madison, where he received his MFA in acting from the University of Wisconsin in 2006.

He is currently a company member with Shakespeare & Company in the Berkshires, where he has performed the title role in a New England tour of Macbeth, Camillo in The Winter’s Tale, Oliver in As You Like It, Catesby in Richard III, the Host in Merry Wives of Windsor, Valmont in Dangerous Liaisons, multiple roles in The Mystery of Irma Vep, Birdboot in The Real Inspector Hound, and Pierson in War of the Worlds. Josh was especially proud to perform Sherlock Holmes (plus six other characters!) in the critically acclaimed American premiere of The Hound of the Baskervilles. He has performed Off-Broadway and in principal roles in national commercials, as well as various daytime serials and Saturday Night Live. Regional credits include Madison Repertory Theatre, Milwaukee’s Chamber Theatre, Renaissance Theaterworks, and Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati. Josh is a proud member of AEA, AFTRA, and SAG.

19A Thousand Words

ARTIST B IOGR APHIES (c o n t.)

Georgina McKee (Andrea Munroe) is delighted to be making her Forward Theater debut! Raised in Madison, she couldn’t be happier to be working in her

hometown with such a great company. Georgina now lives in Milwaukee where her recent credits include; Sylvia in Sylvia and Mary in Mary’s Wedding (Next Act Theatre), Meg in Crimes of the Heart (Milwaukee Chamber Theatre), Viola in Twelfth Night (Optimist Theatre), Carly in Reasons To Be Pretty (Renaissance Theaterworks), Eve/Barbara/Ella in The Apple Tree, Lori in Romantic Fools (In Tandem), and ensemble in A Christmas Carol (Milwaukee Rep). Some of her regional credits include; Connie Boylen in Annie (Fireside Dinner Theatre), Mariana in Measure for Measure, Lady Montague in Romeo and Juliet and the Cook in The Matchmaker (American Players Theatre), Envy and the Old Woman in The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus, and Teresa in Napoli Milionaria (The Oregon Shakespeare Festival). Georgina attended Southern Oregon University in Ashland and holds a BFA from their acting program. She would like to thank her friends and family for all their love and support. She also sends out a special thank you to the people of Madison for supporting this company and keeping theater alive and well. Let’s spread the word!

Molly Rhode (Shirley Hughes) had the distinction of playing the title role in Forward Theater’s very first production – she played Eve Harrington in FTC’s

All About Eve. As an actress, she has performed onstage with all of Milwaukee’s professional theaters as well as appearing at American Players Theatre, the Utah Shakespeare Festival, Door Shakespeare, and the last several summers at American Folklore Theatre. Molly also enjoys working as a director, choreographer, and theater educator. Recent directing credits include Main-Travelled Roads at Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, Miss Nelson is Missing at First Stage Children’s Theater, and An American Girls Revue at the Children’s Theater of Madison. Molly holds a BFA in theater studies from Southern Methodist University. She is extremely proud to make her entire artistic living right here in Wisconsin, and she is a proud union member.

20 Forward Theater Company

TECHNICAL ARTISTS

Jason Fassl (Lighting Designer) has designed lighting for more than 200 theatrical productions in Milwaukee in the last ten seasons, as well as more than 100 other projects across the state. His work brings illumination solutions to plays, musicals, operas, ballet, and corporate settings. In addition to his work in Wisconsin, Jason served as head sound and lighting technician onboard Royal Caribbean International Cruise lines and has toured the globe with the magician David Copperfield as a programmer and electrician. He is an artistic associate for First Stage Children’s Theater and the resident designer for the Fireside Dinner Theatre. Jason’s designs have graced the stages of The Milwaukee Ballet, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Skylight Opera Theatre, American Players Theatre, Peninsula Players, Renaissance Theaterworks, Next Act Theatre, Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, the former Madison Repertory Theatre, and Youngblood Theatre Company, among many others. Jason graduated from the University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point, with a BFA in theatre design/technology and is a member of United Scenic Artists Local 829.

Jennifer Uphoff Gray (Director/FTC Artistic Director) directed Forward Theater’s productions of The Farnsworth Invention, Moonlight and Magnolias, In the Next Room or the vibrator play, All About Eve, and Why Torture is Wrong, and the People Who Love Them. Before helping to found Forward Theater, she directed a staged reading of A Thousand Words for Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, Love’s Labour’s Lost for Milwaukee Shakespeare (“Best of 2008”) and The Diary of Anne Frank for Madison Repertory Theatre (“Best of 2008”). She also produced (and directed for) the Madison Rep’s 2007 New Play Festival. Other credits include; the national tour of Copenhagen, associate director of Copenhagen, Cabaret, The Blue Room (starring Nicole Kidman) and The Life on Broadway. Off-Broadway, she directed the world

premiere of the musical Suburb. Jen grew up in the Madison area and is now raising her family on the near west side with her husband Peter.

Frank Honts (Assistant Director) is happy to be working with Forward for a second season, this year as an artistic associate. In this role he participates in play evaluation and casting for upcoming seasons, oversees the management of a literary database, and assists with outreach and educational programs. Frank has worked with Madison Opera, Wisconsin Wrights, the Utah Shakespeare Festival, and the Children’s Theater of Madison.

Paul Hurley (Sound Designer) is an actor and sound designer, and is thrilled to be working with Forward Theater for the first time. Previously he has designed sound for Renaissance Theaterworks (Gorgons, Reasons to be Pretty, The Smell of the Kill, and The Shape of Things), Chamber Theatre (Picnic), and American Players Theatre (The Syringa Tree).

Ric Lantz (MAPC Technical Direction Services) received a BA in theater from Colorado State University. He then worked as a scenic craftsman at Pittsburgh Public Theater. His freelance projects include PBS’s This Land is Your Land and the motion picture Wonderboys. Ric earned an MFA in production technology and management from Carnegie Mellon University in 2002. Upon graduation he served as the technical director for Madison Repertory Theatre until it closed in 2009. In addition to his current role as technical director at the Children’s Theater of Madison, Ric is also a co-founder of The Bricks Theatre.

Hyewon Park (Costume Designer) was born and educated in South Korea. She started her career with the television drama Ilwol in Seoul. In the late 1990s she moved to the United States to pursue an MFA in costume design from the University of Wisconsin,

21A Thousand Words

TECHNICAL ARTISTS (c o n t.)

Madison. As a designer/guest artist, she has worked with Strollers Theatre, the Regent Drama Club, the University of Wisconsin, Madison’s Department of Theatre and Drama, the Seattle Opera, Miller Brewing Company, De Maurier (Australia), Lucky Duck Productions (New York), Wild Hawk Entertainment (Texas), University of Arizona, Marquette University, and Clarke University. She is currently the resident designer for the University of Wisconsin, Madison’s Opera Department, where she has designed La Bohème, Don Giovanni, Maria Stuarda, Thaïs, Alcina, Merry Widow, Pelléas Et Mélisande, Marriage Of Figaro, Don Giovanni, Orpheus In The Underworld, Xerxes, and the world premiere of Maura Bosch’s opera Art and Desire.

Kim Patch (Assistant Stage Manager) received her BFA in stage management from the University of Southern California. This is her fifth production with Forward Theater Company, and she recently completed her second season at American Players Theatre as an assistant stage manager. In Los Angeles she stage managed the world premiere of Oliver Mayer’s Laws of Sympathy for Playwrights’ Arena. She also assisted the production manager for the USC School of Theatre.

Gwendolyn Rice (Playwright) holds a Bachelor’s degree in English and theater from the University of Iowa, and a Master’s degree in literature, history, and criticism of the theater from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Gwen has won awards for short fiction as well as playwriting, and has had plays produced in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Iowa. She is also the author of the book, The Coronado Theatre: Rockford’s Crown Jewel. Professionally, Gwen has worked in marketing and fundraising for a variety of performing arts organizations, including First Stage Milwaukee, the Friends of the Coronado Theatre, and the Rockford Symphony Orchestra. She currently works as the communications director for Forward

Theater Company in Madison. Gwen would like to extend special thanks to Jen Gray, Kimberly Yarnall, Jacque Troy, Michael Wright, and the entire Forward Theater advisory company for giving her this tremendous opportunity. She also sends her love to Joe, Charlie, and Ethan for inspiring her and making her laugh every day.

Jacqueline Singleton (Stage Manager) is happy to be returning to Forward Theater after stage managing The Farnsworth Invention, Going to St. Ives, In the Next Room or the vibrator play, and Why Torture is Wrong, and the People Who Love Them. Her Wisconsin credits include ten seasons with American Players Theatre and seven seasons with the Madison Repertory Theatre. Some favorite shows include Macbeth, The Winter’s Tale, Timon of Athens, The Merchant of Venice, Hay Fever, Lobby Hero, Topdog/Underdog, I Am My Own Wife, and Anna Christie. Originally from Chicago, she worked for the Goodman Theatre, Writers’ Theatre, Lifeline Theatre, Next Theatre Company, and Stage Left Theatre, among many others. She now lives in Spring Green (with A. Bulldog), and is the head chef at The Kitchen at Arcadia Books.

Nate Stuber (Set Designer) is an artist, carpenter, and introvert who resides and works in Spring Green, Wisconsin. This is his first show with Forward. Past designs at other theaters that he acknowledges include Burn This, Timon of Athens, Waiting for Godot, The Syringa Tree, We Won’t Pay-We Won’t Pay, The Jammer, and Never the Sinner.

Charles J. Trieloff II (Properties Designer) received his MFA in set design from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. For Forward Theater Charles previously designed The Farnsworth Invention and Going to St. Ives. For University Theatre he has designed Antigone, The Passion of Dracula, A Little Night Music, Man of La Mancha, The Water Station, Smash, Steel Magnolias, True West, and Stop

22 Forward Theater Company

TECHNICAL ARTISTS (c o n t.)

Kiss. For Children’s Theater of Madison he designed the recent productions of Little Women, Narnia, Goodnight Moon, and A Wonderful Life. Charles is also the designer for Madison Opera’s Opera in the Park events. As a visiting artist at the University of Wisconsin,Whitewater, he designed A Lie of the Mind, Hay Fever, Guys and Dolls, and Antigone. In Madison he was the prop master at Madison Repertory Theatre for nine years, and is currently the prop master at American Players Theatre. He has also designed props for Forward Theater, CTM, Madison Ballet, and Madison Opera. Outside of the theater world Charles designed the themed reception areas for the Old Sauk location of Children’s Dental Health.

Kimberly Megna Yarnall (Dramaturg) has been a member of Forward Theater’s advisory company since 2009. She helped create last season’s The Love That Changed My Life monologue festival, and had two original pieces in the program, including audience favorite, “The Nuts That Changed My Life.” In Madison she worked as dramaturg on FTC’s staged reading of Kiritsis by David Schanker, and with the Madison Repertory Theatre on the 2007 New Play Festival’s The Journey to Sakhalin, and The Diary of Anne Frank, directed by Jen Uphoff Gray. Kimberly was the literary assistant for the Blue Heron Theatre in New York City (2001-2004) where she worked with many playwrights including New York Times Notable Author, John Dufresne on his first play, Trailerville. She curated the Juggernaut Theatre’s First 100 Years reading series. Kimberly was also an assistant writer on Broadway’s Tony nominated A Class Act. A published and produced playwright, Kimberly holds a Bachelor’s degree in English and theater from the University of Notre Dame and was a member of the Actors Theatre of Louisville apprentice company.

Bill WhiteMichael Best & Friedrich LLPOne South Pinckney Street, Suite 700Madison, WI • 53703 • 608.257.3501

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Forward TheaterCompany

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ISTHMUS

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25A Thousand Words

DONORS

Your gift plays an important role in the success of Forward Theater Company. Ticket revenue covers only 40% of the full cost of presenting live theater. Annual fund donors bridge the gap and enable Forward Theater to fulfill its mission - to provide exceptional theater experiences for area audiences and give professional actors, designers, writers, and directors an artistic home.

The following list reflects donations received by December 15, 2011. To make a tax-deductible donation to Forward Theater or learn about donor benefits, please visit our website at forwardtheater.com.

Season Sponsors($10,000+)John and Carolyn Peterson

Charitable Foundation, Inc.

The Pleasant Rowland Great Performance Fund for Theater, a component fund of the Madison Community Foundation

Premium Sponsors($5,000-$9,999)Dane County Cultural Affairs

CommissionFoley & Lardner, LLPW. Jerome Frautschi &

Pleasant RowlandGroup Health Cooperative of

South Central WisconsinDavid & Paula KraemerMarguerite Casey

FoundationMGE Foundation

Associate Sponsors($2,500-$4,999)American Family InsuranceBeth Bovis & David FeldsteinCUNA Mutual GroupCuster Financial ServicesEvjue FoundationJ.H. Findorff & Son, Inc.Madison Arts CommissionMichael Best & Friedrich LLPKathie Nichols & Bill WhiteTerry & Jean PrahlQual Line FenceWegner CPAs & Consultants

New Play Series/Studentand Educator NightSponsors ($1,000+)Alliant Energy FoundationBoardman, Suhr, Curry &

Field LLPPark BankSteve Brown Apartments

Platinum Founders($1,000-$2,499)Nancy & Dean BaumgardnerAnthony & Mardell BlaschkaElectronic Theatre Controls,

Inc.Aris & Marta GialamasWalter & Betty GraySusan HorwitzEric & Sara SchwartzTim Size

Founders Circle ($500-$999)Donna & George BeestmanDaniel & Joyce BromleyNancy Ciezki & Diane

KosteckeAl Goldstein & Phyllis

LefcowitzTerry L. HallerEsther KaplanJonathan & Susan LippKathleen McElroy & David

NewbyLynn & Gary MecklenburgJohn PetersonJames & Carol RuhlyTim & Ann SalutzKristy SchusterDorothy Steele

Benefactors ($250-$499)Anonymous Simon Anderson & Ledell

ZellersJanneke & Richard BaskeCharles Bauer & Charles

BeckwithPhilip BlakePeggy & Christopher BuggJim & Stephanie BuskeKent Carnell & Barbara

McFarlandShobhina Chheda & Robert

GriffenJane ColemanDan & Pat CornwellMichael DanoffDr. Frederick DavisMarty DenschWilliam & Lynne Eich

Jim & Evey FlemingMichael FumelleKathleen HarkerJohn & Karen IckeStanley InhornEfrat LivnyArthur & Susan LloydWilliam MartenMolly RhodeGary & Kathy SandefurJoseph D. ShumowJeanne & Joe SilverbergDavid StrattonSVAMike & Suzanne SwiftThomas & Jane TavesScott ThorntonLee & Mary WaldhartTheodora Zehner

Patrons ($100-$249)Anonymous Michael & Rima AppleAllen ArntsenPaul & Kristine AsheRuth & Richard BackerHarvey & Trudy BarashShannon Barry & Bill BolzKleo Baruth Kritz & Thomas

HurstRebecca BaumbachLarry Bechler & Patricia

StruckMichael BemisNorlin BenevengaStephen & Trudy BernstenNorman BervinLinda Bochert & Dave

Hanson Carl & Judith BowserJoann Brabstine & Jude

ShavlikAnn BricksonNancy BruchSuzanne BuchkoCathy Buege & Jerate

StewartJohn ChoseyLau & Bea ChristensenRichard & Nancy

ChristiansenKeith & Linda Clifford

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27A Thousand Words

DONORS (c o n t.)

Lee CullenCorkey & Betty CusterJohn & Colleen DangolaElizabeth DavisSude Dentinger & Mark HillWalter & Londa DeweyJennifer Donnelly & David

HelbachDennis & Katherine DornNancy & Robert DottMaxine DuceyJohn & Deidre DunnFrederick & Ivy EdelmanDr. Edward & Rosanne

EhrlichDave Eide & Ann TheringJean ElvekrogJustin FehrmanSandra FernandezStephen Fleischman &

Barbara KatzEllen & Thomas FoleyByron & Janet FrenzLaurie Frost & Jeff HenriquesBrandi M. FunkJohn & Brenda FurlowJac & Edye GarnerNorris GlickConstance GroganJoAnn Gruber-HagenMatthew & Katie HargroveJeffrey HenriquesNona Hill & Clark Johnson Gilbert HillmanCynthia HitemanJohn & Valerie HochVirigina Hoke & Mona

JohnsonHenry Huemmer & Kathy

KuntzMarnie Hulan & Charles

ThomasBruce & Diana HulbregtseJane IlgenMonica JaehnigRebecca JallingsBarbara JohnsonMilton Johnson & Eileen

KennedyMiriam KerndtJudith KlehrBenjamin & Shannon KleiberGail & Tim KohlMarie Kohler & Brian ManiBrad Kose & Jessica LaniusFritz & Kathy KrugerJohn & Virginia KruseJoan E. LarsonDavid LawverKathryn Lederhause & Daryl

Sherman Peter & Patricia Lipton

Ellen Louise & Howard Schwartz

Eileen & Mary MaherRobert & Ruth MartinDan & Mari McCartyDonald McCartyShawn & Colleen McGuireDavid & Allison McKeeJoe & LuAnn MeyersJack & Bonnie MitchellDaniel & Joyce MuxfeldMarilyn C. NelsonMary & John NeumannJoy NewmanTom & Julia NicholasErik & Gail NordheimJames ObrienKathryn Padorr & Raymond

RobertsDebi PetersFranklynn Peterson & Judi

TurkelReynold PetersonJeffery & Megan PierceJoan PulverDr. Arthur & Ursula RathburnLaurel RiceAnn RifenbergSusan RogersBruce Rosen & Diane SederPaul & Ann RuteckiBetty SchleinPaul & Christine SchmidtJames SchneiderDiane SchuckMarnie SchulenbergNicholas & Wendy SeayDavid SharpeKjerstin ShefchikMatthew & Jessica SmithKarin SmylieElliott & Norma SoberGuridndar & Marilyn SohlThomas SpearJayne SquirrellKirk StantisGerald & Vicki StewartKarl StollDavid & Suad StrattonMichael ThomArdith J. ThomasMichael VerveerSarah Jane VolchickKim Voss & Karen Hartmann-

VossRoland Richard WagnerBrent WagnerPeter & Alice WaldronCatherine & Ellis WallerGary WankerlWilliam WartmannTosha WetterneclJulie White

Paul WhiteJudith WilcoxDeirdre Wilson GartonJennifer WinigerNicole WyrembeckTodd & Katherine YoungJanet Zimmerman

Friends ($25-$99)AnonymousRobert AltFernando & Carla AlvaradoMary AmbrosavageJill Andersen & Neils WalterJohn AndersonHugh & Eric Anderson, &

Jennifer Hirsch Kristine AndrewsChristoper BabiarzJean Bae & Gregg KisselM.R. BarroilhetAnita BeenNirval & Carolyn BernhardtRabbis Jonathan Biatch &

Bonnie MargulisFrances BicknellBarbara BolanMalcolm & Penny BrettCarol CohenRoss & Julie CowingAllen Cross & Mary KlehrJamie CusterJohn & Mary DammannGene DeweyCarla & Michael DiIorioSusan DoppSusan & Joe DrennanAngie DryeVicki DuhrPaul EastwoodJane ElderGay EliasonAvis ElsonMichael EschGordon EwyEugene FarleyBob Fenchel & Mary VernonJacqueline FerrisEdith FirstSusan FischerEvelyn FoxGary & Judith FoxClayton & Belle FrinkPeter GarganoDaniel & Margaret GeislerDr. & Mrs. Thomas GobelKaren GodshallJeffrey GoldenMichael GrafPeter Gray & Jen Uphoff GrayJane GroganKristine Guderyon GoetzDr. Alan & Geraldine Gurman

Thank you for the transformation,

MARIE GRABER

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29A Thousand Words

DONORS (c o n t.)

Dan GustafsonJay & Kim Handy Jr.Eileen Hanneman & Larry

SromovskyDonald & Karen HesterDiane HighsmithLynne HillStuart HipkeLeslie & Susan HoffmanFrank HontsJames HudsonHickory HurieIrene IlgenMargaret JankowskiDick & Joanne JohnsonJanice & LeRoy JohnsonLois KarnDon KatzRobert & Phyllis KauffmanNicholas & Susan KiernanConstance KilmarkRobert KimbroughJim & Ruth KnutsonDebra KondrasukKen & Carol KoscikJennifer KraemerJames & Joan KrikelasKal & Bobbie KuninAnn LacyRobert & Joanne LarsenJames LarsonStacy LedingtonLeon & Beatrice LindbergWillis LongJudith LyonsJose Madera & Kim SantiagoErnest & Helen MadsenKarin MahonyRichard MasonS. & Maureen McGilligan-

BentinBen & Chan McKelveyDonald MetzSigurd MidelfortSue Milch & Wilton SandersN.J. Miles & S.P. SchneiderBrenda MillerRobert Mitchell & Marianne

MortonKaren Moeller & Tony TroutLynn MontgomeryJohn & Anne MurphyChristian NeuhausPatrick O’BrienPamela OliverReid & Gabriela OlsonWalter & Andrea O’NeillAlison O’ReillyElayne OrrMichael & Karen Ostrov

Susan PaddockBarbara ParisiSarah PerryMyra PfaffenbachJudy PierottiTad & Hannah PinkertonJanet PirainoSharon PoniewazJack & Lori PoulsonCathy PrescottTeresa RadamacherTim RadeletNancy RaglandFred & Sherry ReamesAnne RhymeTom & Joanna RiceEvan RichardsDiane RoangLaila & Zachary RobbinsLynne Roberts & Dave

SiegfriedEllen RobertsMichael RosenbergJules RosenthalAndrew & Katie RustleundLennie SaffianNorma SaldivarTimothy SauersMichael SchallAmanda Schmehil MicklosMelanie SchmidtMyron & Denise SchmidtMargaret ScholtesAlisa SchroederMarch & Nick SchweitzerClaire ShafferJohn SheskiKaren SielaffAdam & Elizabeth SimcockGary & Suzannah SislerKathryn SmithAnita SprengerLisa StefanikJulia Stein-BarnesEllen StephensonJoe & Phyllis StertzPrudence StewartMartha SullivanJames TaylorAndrew TeschWendy TupperTom & Sue UllsvikDaniel & Selma Van EyckRobert & Marjorie Van

HandelTeresa VenkerGreg & Peggy WaltersWilliam & Lorette WambachPatricia WatkinsJody Whelden

Patricia WherleyCarlyle & Judith WhippleAlex & Susan WhiteElizabeth WhiteselJosh & Kelly Wimmer

Feast Forward Donors andSponsorsBonfyre American GrilleFrancesca’s al LagoFromaginationMadison Concourse Hotel/

Dayton St. GrilleMadison MagazineMetcalfe’s MarketOpus LoungeOrange Tree ImportsQuivey’s GroveRestaurant Muramoto/43

NorthSardineWonder Bar Steakhouse

Gifts in Memory of LouiseUphoffAnn RifenbergBill White & Kathie Nichols

Gifts in Memory of ColleenBurnsMarty DenschIrene IlgenRichard MasonJohn & Anne MurphyJim & Carol RuhlyLynda Sharpe

Gifts in Memory of DavidShankerStacy Ledington

Matching GiftsAlliant Energy FoundationMacy’s Foundation

In-Kind DonorsAmerican Academy of

Cosmetic DentistryAmerican Players TheatreAmerican PrintingChildren’s Theater of

MadisonDistillery MarketingThe Gialamas Company, Inc.IsthmusCelia Klehr & Sam WhiteThe Madison Concourse

HotelWisconsin Public RadioJanet Zimmerman

If we have inadvertently listed your name incorrectly or made any other error in donor acknowledgement please contact Gwen Rice immediately (grice@forwardtheater.com).

We apologize for the error and will endeavor to correct it.

Visit www. fourseasonstheatre.com

presents...

The Music of Irving Berlin

Friday, March 2� at 7:30 pmSaturday, March 3 at 7:30 pmSunday, March 4 at 2�:00 pm

The Playhouse Theater in the Overture Center

31A Thousand Words

SPEC IAL THANKS

The faculty and staff of the University of Wisconsin, Madison’s Department of Theatre and Drama/University Theatres, First United Methodist Church, the Wisconsin Historical Society, Eric Ferguson Photography, Jessica Lanius, Courtney Neckar, Archil Pitimashvili, the Overture Center staff, Four Seasons Theatre, John Frautschy, Scott Thornton, Erin Wenzel, Karen Saunders, Evelyn Link, Rebecca Baumbach, Zane Williams, Paul Simon Heckel, David Wells, The Terry Family Foundation, The Center for Photography in Madison, The Madison Contemporary Fiber Artists, Stitcher’s Crossing, the Mad City Quilt Guild, Nick Berard, Peter Gray, and Joe Rice.

Thanks to our Friends of Forward Theater volunteers! Becky Baumbach Lindsay Bradish

Nina Cheney Maxine Ducey

Jane Elder Jackie Ferris Zuodian Hu

Gail Kohl Evan Kohl

Ann Kohl-Re Kathy Lederhause

Rex Owens Lynda Sharpe

Daryl Sherman Dick & Nancy Schultz

Myrna Williamson

Volunteers help Forward Theater by staffing events, papering the town with posters and postcards, making food for our hungry cast and production staff, helping with mailings, and other office support. If you’d like more information, please visit our website at forwardtheater.com or call Julia Nicholas at 608-234-5001 *1 for Audience Services.

Forward Theater Company is a member of the Madison Arts Production Center (MAPC), which provides high quality, functional, affordable production space, equipment, and theatrical inventory for Madison area artists and arts organizations. For information on rentals and membership options go to ctmtheater.org or contact Mike Lawler at 255-2080.

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