WilmaBill - The Wilma Theater

Wilmabill
2 0 1 4 /2 0 15 SEASON
FROM THE
Artistic
Director
B LAN K A ZIZK A
In her foreword to The Feminine Mystique (1963),
Betty Friedman suggested there was one unspoken
question American women asked themselves at night:
Is this all? Fifty years later, in Gina Gionfriddo’s Rapture, Blister, Burn, the question is asked again by two
forty-something women who have more opportunities
than their predecessors had to change their lives. But
will they? Can they? And are they truly determined to
do so? Gina Gionfriddo, whose Becky Shaw we produced a few years ago, takes on feminist theories and
juxtaposes them with messy human desires, needs
and wants. She creates a witty, smart, and emotionally-charged comedy that asks many probing questions about sexual freedom, relationships, feminism,
careers, love, horror movies, academia, and desires to
be fulfilled.
Director Joanna Settle has just moved to Philadelphia
to become the new director of the Ira Brind School of
Theater Arts at The University of the Arts. Joanna has
done lots of developmental work on new plays, including Nine Parts of Desire (which the Wilma created in
a seperate production in 2006). Until recently she was
the Artistic Director of Shakespeare on the Sound, where she collaborated with composer and rock’n’roll musician Stew. Joanna and Stew are presently working on two
different projects; one has just premiered at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and
the other will open at The Public Theater next fall. I’m very happy to welcome Joanna
to Philadelphia and the Wilma.
Theater is the closest art form to life; it is concerned with time and it is as unpredictable and ephemeral as life is. After the performance is finished, it only lives in the
minds of us who have seen it and who perhaps will remember it. How do we speak
about it? What comes out of this new encounter between the experiences, ideas,
and presumptions that we bring with us to the theater and those explored on stage?
That’s what is fascinating to me about theater - these unknown and unpredictable
possibilities in the encounter that lie there in the open.
Enjoy.
FROM THE
Managing
Director
JAMES H ASKIN S
Welcome Wilma WynTix! Important information:
Please read!
With the opening of the 2014/15 Season and Rapture,
Blister, Burn, we are thrilled to launch Wilma WynTix:
Big Theater. Small Prices. Subsidized tickets by the
Wyncote Foundation. Our goal is to make the living,
adventurous art we create on our stage affordable and
available to a much broader audience.
All tickets for the four-week subscription run of Wilma
productions are now enjoyed by the general public at
the subsidized rate of $25 and $10 for students and
theater artists. What happens if we extend a show
beyond four weeks? Ticket prices will revert to the
standard Philadelphia regional theater price of $45
and upgrade fees will apply. That is why we encourage you to come early and come often! We also enlist
your support to spread the word: bring friends, family,
and colleagues, and help promote the vitality of living,
adventurous art in Greater Philadelphia.
Modelled closely after Signature Theatre’s “A Generation of Access,” Wilma WynTix and its success in broadening our audience will be
carefully monitored and assessed during the weeks and months to come. We are
not yet in a position to emulate Signature Theatre and offer subsidized tickets to
an entire generation. But then again, Signature Theatre started their program as a
one-year initiative, and from there it blossomed. We already have an unprecedented
number of new subscribers to the Wilma this season and we extend a special welcome to them to Gina Gionfriddo’s Rapture, Blister, Burn.
In closing, I would be remiss if I did not mention the incredible generosity of the
Wyncote Foundation at the recommendation of Leonard C. Haas in fulfilling our
dreams to make Wilma WynTix a reality. We invite others who have the means to
join Leonard in making theater affordable and available to everyone. Help us to go
beyond a three-year initiative and join Signature Theatre in providing a generation of
access and beyond.
Enjoy Wilma WynTix! Enjoy the show!
Season Sponsors
The Wilma Theater is grateful for
significant support provided by:
The Horace Goldsmith
Foundation
Wyncote Foundation
The Virginia and Harvey Kimmel Family Campaign to Build the
Audiences of Tomorrow provides positive early theater experiences for Philadelphia area students.
Opening Night Sponsors
under the direction of
Blanka Zizka
Artistic Director
James Haskins
Managing Director
presents
rapture,
blister,
burn
by Gina Gionfriddo
directed by Joanna Settle
featuring
Krista Apple-Hodge*, Nancy Boykin*, Maia DeSanti*,
Campbell M. O’Hare, Harry Smith*
Set Designer
Kristen Robinson
Costume Designer
Rosemarie McKelvey
Lighting Designer
Thom Weaver
Sound Designer
Larry Fowler
Composer
Stew
Musician
Michael McGinnis
Musician
Sara Schoenbeck
Assistant Director
Alexandru Mihail
Dramaturg
Walter Bilderback
Associate Dramaturg
Nell Bang-Jensen
Production Manager
Clayton Tejada
Resident Stage Manager
Patreshettarlini Adams*
Playwrights Horizons, Inc., New York City, commissioned and produced the world premiere of RAPTURE, BLISTER, BURN Off-Broadway in 2012. RAPTURE, BLISTER, BURN was commissioned by Playwrights Horizons with funds provided by The Harold and Mimi
Steinberg Commissioning Program. RAPTURE, BLISTER, BURN is presented by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc.,
New York City.
*Members of Actors Equity Association,
the Union of Professional Actors and
Stage Managers in the United States.
This theater operates under an agreement between the
League of Resident Theatres and Actors’ Equity Association,
the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the
United States.
The scenic, costume, lighting and sound
designers in LORT Theatres are
represented by United Scenic Artists,
Local USA-829 of the IATSE.
Cast of Characters
(in order of appearance)
Krista Apple-Hodge..................................................................Catherine
Maia DeSanti....................................................................................Gwen
Harry Smith........................................................................................ Don
Nancy Boykin....................................................................................Alice
Campbell M. O’Hare........................................................................Avery
A college town in New England, summer.
There will be one 15-minute intermission.
The Wilma Theater is a member of the following organizations: Avenue of the Arts, Inc., Greater
Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, League of Resident Theatres, Rittenhouse Row, Midtown Village
Merchants Association, and Theatre Communications Group, Inc.
Please note
Photography or sound recording inside the theater, without the written permission of the management, is prohibited by law. Violators may be asked to leave the theater and may be liable for financial
charges.
Children Policy
Some subject matter may be deemed objectionable for children; therefore, children under 12 will not
be permitted in the theater.
Distracting Noise and Light
The noise of cellular phones and candy wrappers, and the light from electronic devices, are distracting
to both audiences and actors. Please turn off all cellular phones and electronic devices. Also, please
be sure that your watch alarm does not sound during the performance.
Smoking, eating, and drinking are prohibited inside the theater.
Who’s Who
GINA GIONFRIDDO (PLAYWRIGHT) Rapture, Blister,
Burn was a finalist for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in Drama and had a
twice-extended run Off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons. The
play was subsequently produced by The Geffen Playhouse in Los
Angeles and The Hampstead Theatre in London. Her play, Becky
Shaw, also a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Drama, enjoyed a long
Off-Broadway run at Second Stage Theatre (Outer Critics Circle
Award) and in London at the Almeida Theater (nominated for two
Evening Standard Awards). Her other plays include After Ashley
(Vineyard Theatre - Obie Award) and U.S. Drag (Clubbed Thumb and the stageFARM).
Gina has received a Guggenheim Fellowship and The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize.
She has worked as a writer/producer for Law & Order and Law & Order: Criminal Intent. Other TV work includes Borgia and House of Cards.
JOANNA SETTLE (DIRECTOR) credits include Family
Album by Stew and Heidi Rodewald; Harry Clarke by David Cale
(Warhol Museum); Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer’s Night Dream,
Othello, Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare on the Sound); The
Total Bent by Stew and Heidi Rodewald, Winter Miller’s In Darfur,
the finale of Suzan-Lori Parks 365 Days/365 Plays, Stephen Brown’s
Future Me (The Public Theater). Directed the premiere of Heather
Raffo’s Nine Parts of Desire for Manhattan Ensemble Theater and
restaged the production for The Geffen Playhouse, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art, MassMOCA,
Seattle Repertory Theatre, and Arena Stage; directed and/or adapted 15 of Chicago’s
Division 13 Productions 17 projects, including BLOOD LINE: The Oedipus/Antigone
Story, two plays by Sophocles, Macbett by Ionesco, and several Samuel Beckett shorts
including Cascando and Play. Other Credits: Artistic Director, Shakespeare on the Sound
(2009-2012); Artistic Director of Division 13 (1998-2004). Teaching: Director of the Ira
Brind School of Theater Arts, The University of the Arts, Philadelphia. Education: BA,
Hampshire College; graduate of the inaugural Julliard School graduate directing program.
KRISTA APPLE-HODGE (CATHERINE) is happy to be
back at the Wilma, where her credits include Our Class, Macbeth,
Leaving, and In the Next Room, or the vibrator play (2011 Barrymore, Best Supporting Actress). Also in Philadelphia: Walnut
Street Theatre (Other Desert Cities, Proof), Lantern Theatre (Henry
V), Arden, InterAct, PlayPenn, Theatre Exile, and the Philadelphia
Artists’ Collective/PAC (Mary Stuart, Creditors), where she serves as
Artistic Associate. Film/TV: Law & Order; the_source. She is a current faculty member at the University of the Arts, and a graduate of
Temple University (MFA, Acting) and Kenyon College (BA, English/
Theatre). More info at www.kristaapple.com. Many thanks to Blanka, Joanna, and Pat.
And to Mom … this one’s for you.
NANCY BOYKIN (ALICE) is pleased to be returning to the
Wilma (Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Raw Boys). Recent Philadelphia
performances include Circle Mirror Transformation (Theatre Horizon), Endgame (Arden), The Importance of Being Earnest (Mauckingbird), and the world premiere of James Ijames’ The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington (Flashpoint),
in addition to work with InterAct (Reinventing Eden, Silverhill), Act
II Playhouse (Alarms and Excursions) and Temple Repertory Theater
(Buried Child). Regional work includes Arena Stage, Long Wharf,
Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival, Alabama Shakespeare Festival,
the Alley, and Indiana Repertory Theater and, for years, with Interact Theater in Los
Angeles. She is devoted to the development of new work and participates regularly with
PlayPenn. She is a member of the faculty at Temple University.
MAIA DeSANTI (GWEN) was last seen at the Wilma as the
Angel in Angels In America. She most recently appeared in Arden
Theatre Company’s production of Water By the Spoonful, in the role
of Yaz. Other area performances include MicroCrisis at InterAct, All
My Sons at Delaware Theatre Company, and the PlayPenn New Play
Development Conference. Regional Theatre: Arena Stage, Everyman
Theatre, Folger Theatre, Kennedy Center, New York State Theatre
Institute, Olney Theatre Center, Round House Theatre, Shakespeare
Theatre Company, Theater J, Woolly Mammoth. Devised/Mixed
Discipline: Happenstance Theatre, WordDance Theatre. Training:
National Shakespeare Conservatory, Michael Chekhov Association, The Center for Movement Theatre.
CAMPBELL M. O’HARE (AVERY) Allegra in Pretty Theft (The
University of the Arts). Regional: Carrie in The Walls, Tinker in Nightmares in Neverland (FringeArts Festival), Angie in The Urban Retreat
(PTC @ Play), Rain in Rudy: An American Tall Tale (Dixon Place NYC
New Play Festival). Film: A Debauched Little Rogue (Zimbo Films),
Heart of the Beast (Truly Brave Films), The Bhakti Boy (Joy Marzec
Films). Training: BFA Acting from The University of the Arts, winner
of the 2014 Director’s Choice Award. Upcoming: Ellie in The Whale
(Theatre Exile). This one’s for Dixie.
HARRY SMITH (DON) is delighted to be returning to the Wilma
after appearing in The Real Thing last season. Other Philadelphia area
theatre includes Pumpgirl, Walworth Farce, Hand of Gaul (Inis Nua),
The Mousetrap, An Ideal Husband (Walnut Street Theatre), Emma
(Lantern Theater), Pride and Prejudice (People’s Light & Theatre),
and Spacewang (Azuka/Tiny Dynamite). UK theatre includes The
Merchant of Venice (Edinburgh Royal Lyceum), Twelfth Night, Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Bristol Old Vic), Serious Money (Cambridge Arts
Theatre), Arcadia (Old Fire Station, Oxford), Treasure Island (Tobacco
Factory, Bristol), Gorboduc (Shakespeare’s Globe), and numerous
tours. On-screen appearances include The Good Wife, Crossbones, and the feature film
Freedom. Harry trained at Cambridge University and the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.
Thanks to Joanna, Blanka, Walter, Pat, and all at the Wilma.
KRISTEN ROBINSON (SET DESIGNER) Nora (Westport Country Playhouse);
Jen Shyu’s Solo Rites: 7 Breaths (Roulette); Macbeth (DramaCentre); The Last Days of
Mankind (Bard College, Fisher Center for the Performing Arts); He Ate Quietly Into the
Wall (The New Ohio); Old Paper Houses (Columbia Stages); Chorus of All Souls (Experiments in Opera at Abrons Art Center); Caucasian Chalk Circle (The Atlantic Acting
School); My Friend’s Story (International Festival of Arts and Ideas); American Night the
Ballad of Juan Jose (Yale Repertory Theatre); The Princess Play’s 2&1 (New Haven, site specific project); Chicago, Pippin, Big River, Oliver! (The Carnegie Visual and Performing Arts
Center); Engaged! (Cincinnati Shakespeare Festival); and Equus (New Edgecliff Theatre).
MFA Yale School of Drama, Princess Grace Theatre Fellowship: 2013 Pierre Cardin Award
www.kristenrobinsondesign.com
ROSEMARIE McKELVEY (COSTUME DESIGNER) is delighted to be design-
ing costumes for Rapture, Blister, Burn. Previous designs for the Wilma include Assistance and Body Awareness. Locally Rosemarie designs costumes for Arden Theatre, New
Paradise Laboratory, People’s Light & Theatre Company, The National Constitution Center,
Villanova University, and InterAct. Rosemarie is on the teaching staff of The
University of the Arts and Moore College of Art & Design. Rosemarie was awarded the
2007 and 2009 Barrymore Award for Costume Design. For more, visit rosemariemckelvey.
com
THOM WEAVER (LIGHTING DESIGNER) Previously for the Wilma: The
Real Thing, Don Juan Comes Home from Iraq, Assistance, Body Awareness, In the Next
Room, Coming Home, Scorched, Becky Shaw. In the area, his work has been seen at the
Arden, Delaware Theatre Company, People’s Light, Azuka, Theatre Exile, Curtis Opera,
New Paradise Laboratories, Headlong, Lantern, 1812, and Flashpoint Theatre Company
where he is also artistic director. Other theatre credits include: Teller’s Play Dead in New
York, CenterStage, Syracuse Stage, Milwaukee Rep, Shakespeare Theatre, Asolo, Theatre
J, Berkshire Theatre Festival, Williamstown, Signature Theater Company, Folger Theatre,
Cleveland Playhouse, Round House Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse, Hangar, York Theatre,
Lincoln Center Festival, Summer Play Festival, 37 ARTS, Spoleto Festival USA, City Theatre, Virginia Stage, Pittsburgh Public Theatre, and Yale Rep. Awards include 18 Barrymore nominations, winning in 2011 and 2012, 3 Helen Hayes nominations, the 2007 Best
Lighting Design AUDELCO Award for Signature Theater’s King Hedley II, and the 2003
Entertainment Design Magazine Tyro Talent award. He received his B.F.A. from Carnegie
Mellon University and his M.F.A. from Yale School of Drama.
LARRY FOWLER (SOUND DESIGNER) has enjoyed working as a sound artist
(DJ, Designer, Engineer) in the Philadelphia area for a number of years. He is honored to
be at the Wilma for this production. Other theatre companies he has designed for include
Simpatico Theatre Project, Plays and Players, Camden Repertory Theatre, New Paradise
Labs, Arden Theatre, Flashpoint Theatre, Theatre Horizon, Act II Playhouse, and The
University of The Arts, where he is a faculty sound design lecturer. Up next is The (Curious
Case of the) Watson Intelligence at Azuka Theater. Thanks Rapture cast and crew and the
Wilma Staff for the opportunity to build and share. Love to M.O.L.
STEW (COMPOSER) Awards include 2008 Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical,
Obie Awards for Best New Theater Piece and Best Ensemble (Passing Strange). Stew’s
theater work includes Family Album, Book & Lyrics. Music w/ Heidi Rodewald. (Oregon
Shakespeare Festival); The Total Bent (The Public Theater); Brooklyn Omnibus (BAM
Brooklyn Academy of Music) Making It (St. Anne’s Warehouse); A Midsummer Night’s
Dream, Othello, Much Ado About Nothing and Romeo & Juliet (Shakespeare on the Sound)
Directed by Joanna Settle; Passing Strange (The Public Theater/Belasco Theatre, Public
Theater, Berkeley Repertory Theatre). Through the band Stew & The Negro Problem. His
album work includes Post Minstrel Syndrome, Joys and Concerns, Guest Host, The Naked
Dutch Painter, Welcome Black, Something Deeper than These Changes, and the cast album of Passing Strange. Stew is co-composer (w/ Heidi Rodewald) of “Gary Come Home,”
for SpongeBob SquarePants.
MICHAEL McGINNIS (MUSICIAN) is a musical explorer who will not be
limited by stylistic barriers. As a clarinetist and saxophonist, he can swing in the straight
ahead tradition, improvise on the furthest edge of the avant-garde, or navigate the rigorous turns of a contemporary classical composition. His open-minded and determinedly
individual approach has led to work with jazz innovators like Anthony Braxton, Alice and
Ravi Coltrane, Steve Coleman, and Lonnie Plaxico; Parliament/Funkadelic keyboardist
Bernie Worrell; indie rock mainstays Yo La Tengo; the Afro-Baroque band Stew & The Negro Problem, authors of the Tony-winning musical Passing Strange; as soloist for the Tonywinning Broadway hit Fela!; and as co-leader of the inventive ensembles DDYGG and The
Four Bags. The prolific McGinnis’ wide-ranging imagination comes stunningly to the fore
on his latest releases, Road*Trip and The Ängsudden Song Cycle, both of which feature
extended compositions showcasing McGinnis’ skills as both composer and improviser.
SARA SCHOENBECK (MUSICIAN) The Wire magazine places Sara Schoenbeck
in the “tiny club of bassoon pioneers” at work in contemporary music today, and The New
York Times has called her “riveting, mixing textural experiments with a big, confident
sound.” Sara is a member of Anthony Braxton’s 12+1(tet), the Mancini Orchestra, Dakah
Hip Hop Orchestra, the Gravitas Quartet, and Wet Ink composers collective. Sara has
performed at major venues and festivals throughout North America and Europe including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center out of doors, the Guggenheim, Disney Hall, SXSW, New
Orleans Jazz Festival, Berlin Jazz Festival, Biennale Musica in Venice Italy, Vancouver Jazz
Festival, and the San Francisco Jazz Festival. She has recorded for major feature films
including The Matrix Trilogy and Spanglish.
ALEXANDRU MIHAIL (ASSISTANT DIRECTOR) is a NY based director,
originally from Bucharest, Romania. His most recent productions include the European
premiere of Aliens with Exceptional Abilities by Saviana Stanescu (Odeon Theatre ,
Bucharest, Romania, 2014), the American premiere of The Last Days of Mankind by Karl
Kraus (Bard Center for Performing Arts, 2014), and The Stronger by August Strindberg
(The Drama League NY, 2013). He graduated from the Yale School of Drama MFA directing program in 2012. At Yale and at Yale Cabaret his productions included Chekhov’s The
Seagull; Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night; the friendship of her thighs, a new play by Martyna
Majok; Chekhov’s The Wedding Reception; Ingmar Bergman’s Persona; and The Bachelors, a new play by Caroline V. McGraw, (Carlotta Festival of New Plays). In Romania,
among other awards, he won the prestigious UNITER Prize for his direction of Peter Shaffer’s Black Comedy. He also directed The Dresser by Ronald Harwood, the world premiere
of Ticked Off by Gabriel Pintilei, the Romanian premiere of The Underpants by Carl Sternheim and the television series Poor Man, Rich Man. Recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship.
2013 League Directing Fellowship.
WALTER BILDERBACK (DRAMATURG) has been the Dramaturg and Liter-
ary Manager at The Wilma Theater since 2004. Walter has worked as a freelance or staff
dramaturg for three decades at regional theaters across the country and on Broadway.
He has been a judge or reader for playwriting awards and organizations including the
Jerome Fellowships, the Horton Foote Prize, and New Dramatists, and was a nominator for
The Kilroys’ first annual list of underproduced female playwrights. This summer he was
a guest dramaturg for the National New Play Network/Kennedy Center MFA playwriting
showcase in Washington, DC. Most recently at the Wilma, he worked with Blanka Zizka
and Paula Vogel on Ms. Vogel’s world premiere, Don Juan Comes Home From Iraq, and
curated the play’s ancillary events.
NELL BANG-JENSEN (ASSOCIATE DRAMATURG) joined the Wilma staff
as Artistic Assistant in February 2014. She has worked as a dramaturg, actor, and devisor
for many Philadelphia theater companies including Luna Theater, Applied Mechanics,
The Riot Group, Hedgerow Theatre, Plays & Players, InterAct Theatre Company, and the
Philadelphia Dramatists Center. Nell has also worked in education as a teaching artist for
Philadelphia Young Playwrights and Hedgerow Theatre, and as a curriculum designer for
Microsoft’s Bing in the Classroom initiative. She is a founding member of Murmuration
Theater and a 2011 graduate of Swarthmore College with a degree in English Literature
and Theater. After her graduation she was awarded a 2011-2012 Thomas J. Watson Fellowship and spent a year conducting independent research in seven countries.
PATRESHETTARLINI ADAMS (STAGE MANAGER/AEA) has been the
Production Stage Manager at the Wilma since the theater made its new home on the
Avenue of the Arts in 1996. She has captained all but three productions in her tenure here
and is very happy and proud to be a part of the Philadelphia theater community. “Pat”
is celebrating season #19 at the fabulous Wilma! Prior to her coming home to Philly, Pat
was stage manager at the Tony Award-winning Crossroads Theatre in New Brunswick,
NJ. In past years, Pat has worked the National Black Arts Festival in Atlanta, GA and the
National Black Theater Festival in Winston-Salem, NC. When not at the Wilma,
she has found herself traveling the world with critically-acclaimed dance company Noche
Flamenca! Most recently, she is using all her free time to spoil her grandsons, Isaiah and
Elijah. God Is Good!
CLAYTON TEJADA (PRODUCTION MANAGER) is celebrating his tenth
season at the Wilma, his third as Production Manager after seven as Technical Director. Clayton started his professional career as an Apprentice at Arden Theatre, and then
worked there for several years as Stage Supervisor. Before coming to the Wilma, he
worked as a freelance Technical Director or Production Manager for 1812 Productions,
Mum Puppettheatre, Lantern Theater, and Azuka Theatre. Clayton is a graduate of the
Theater Arts program at The University of Puget Sound. He is proud to make Philadelphia
his professional and artistic home. Thanks and love to his sweet Kate, and his boys Alex
and Gabriel.
BLANKA ZIZKA (FOUNDING ARTISTIC DIRECTOR)
has been Founding Artistic Director of The Wilma Theater since
1981. In the fall of 2011, Blanka received the Zelda Fichandler Award
from the Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation, which
recognizes an outstanding director or choreographer transforming
the regional arts landscape. For the past three years, she has been
developing practices and programs for local theater artists to create
working conditions that support creativity through continuity and
experimentation. She has organized nine compensated advanced
training workshops for dozens of Philadelphia artists with the goal
of creating an ensemble of actors surrounding the Wilma. Most recently, Blanka directed
Paula Vogel’s World Premiere Don Juan Comes Home from Iraq, Richard Bean’s Under the
Whaleback, Tony Kushner’s Angels in America, Tadeusz Słobodzianek’s Our Class, Sarah
Ruhl’s In the Next Room, and Macbeth, which included an original score by Czech composer and percussionist Pavel Fajt. Blanka has directed over 60 plays and musicals at the
Wilma. Her recent favorite productions are Wajdi Mouawad’s Scorched, Tom Stoppard’s
The Invention of Love and Rock ’n’ Roll, Sarah Ruhl’s Eurydice (which featured an original score by composer Toby Twining, now available from Cantaloupe Records), Brecht’s
The Life of Galileo, Athol Fugard’s Coming Home and My Children! My Africa!, and Caryl
Churchill’s Cloud 9. She collaborated closely with Dael Orlandersmith on her plays Raw
Boys and Yellowman, which was co-produced by McCarter Theatre and the Wilma and
also performed at ACT Seattle, Long Wharf, and Manhattan Theatre Club. Blanka was also
privileged to direct Rosemary Harris and John Cullum in Ariel Dorfman’s The Other Side
at MTC. For the Academy of Vocal Arts, she directed the opera Kát’a Kabanová by Leoš
Janácek. She has collaborated with many playwrights including Paula Vogel, Richard
Bean, Yussef El Guindi, Doug Wright, Sarah Ruhl, Tom Stoppard, Linda Griffiths, Polly Pen,
Dael Orlandersmith, Laurence Klavan, Lillian Groag, Jason Sherman, Amy Freed, Robert
Sherwood, and Chay Yew.
JAMES HASKINS (MANAGING DIRECTOR)
is now in his
ninth season in partnership with Blanka Zizka, the Board of Directors,
and staff to advance the mission of The Wilma Theater. James began
his work in theater administration at Circle Repertory Company,
where he learned early on the value and resonance of an artist-centered approach to running a theater company. He went on to work
with a variety of theaters in New York and Seattle as an actor, director,
and administrator. Upon moving to Philadelphia, James worked as
Managing Director of InterAct Theatre Company and then Executive
Director of the Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia before coming to the Wilma. As a theater artist, he is most proud of his directorial and dramaturgical
work on the plays of his future husband Michael Whistler. James holds an MFA from the
University of Washington and a BA from The College of Wooster (Ohio), where he currently
serves as President of his alumni class and as a member of the Alumni Board.
STAFF
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR: Blanka Zizka
MANAGING DIRECTOR: James Haskins
ARTISTIC
Dramaturg/Literary Manager - Walter Bilderback
Artistic Assistant - Nell Bang-Jensen
Literary Interns - Josh Campbell, Maddie Charne, & Carl Roa
EDUCATION
Education Director - Anne K. Holmes
Education Assistant - Lizzy Pecora
Teaching Artists - Michael Cosenza, Kate
Czajkowski, Mike Dees, K.O. DelMarcelle, Elizabeth Filios, Katharine Clark Gray, John Jarboe, Tasha Milkman, Brian Ratcliffe,
Ed Swidey, Josh Totora
DEVELOPMENT and MARKETING
Development Director - Iain Campbell
Grants Manager - Justin Bauer
Events and Development Associate - Debby Lau
Marketing and Community Relations Manager - Sara Madden
Group Sales Manager - Alexa Smith
Digital Communications Manager Johnny Van Heest
Development Interns - Jessica Sawyer,
Katie VanEtten
Marketing Intern - Alex Stanchek
FRONT OF HOUSE
Box Office Manager - James Specht
Assistant Box Office Manager - Hilary Asare
Box Office Staff - Josh Millhouse, Richard Rubin,
Alexa Smith
House Manager - Javier Mojica
PRODUCTION
Production Manager - Clayton Tejada
Assistant Production Manager/Master Electrician - Ashley W. Mills
Technical Director - Ethan M. Mimm
Resident Stage Manager - Patreshettarlini Adams
Facilities Manager - Kenneth Deprez
Sound Engineer - Zachary Beattie-Brown
Costume Supervisor - Becca Austin
Production Fellow - Heather Felker
Stage Management Fellow - Lisa Sullivan
Custodian - Fetteroff F. Colen
BUSINESS
General Manager - Maggie Arbogast
Office Manager - Andrea Sotzing
Administrative Coordinator - Megan O’Donnell
Tessitura Application Systems Analyst Catherine Lachance-Duffy
Tessitura Training & Support Specialist Andy Wertner
PRODUCTION CREW
SPECIAL THANKS
Assistant Director - Alexandru Mihail
Assistant to the Director - Christina Franklin
Assistant Stage Manager - Lisa Sullivan
Assistant Set Designer - Michael Iacobucci
Properties Master - Kimitha Anne Cashin
Light Board Programmer & Operator Ashley W. Mills
Assistant Master Electrician - Nicole Rolo
Sound & Video Operator - Zachary Beattie-Brown
Costume Supervisor - Becca Austin
Running Crew - Heather Felker, Elliot Greer,
Ben Henry, George Spencer
Carpenters - Ben Henry, Elliot Greer, Ivan Dillinger, .
Stephen Hungerford, George Spencer,
Sam Shuker, Josh Friedman
Electricians - Nicole Rolo, Peter Escalada Mastik, .
Ali Blair Barwick, Michael Hamlet,
Justin McClintock, Melanie Leeds, Liz Nugent, .
John Allerheiligen, Susanna Grundstein,
Chris Hetherington, Melody Wong
Scenery Construction - Scenery First,
Sharon Hill, PA
The University of the Arts
Stephen Setterlun
American Repertory Theater Scene Shop
Logan Settle Rishard
HOW TO REACH US
The Wilma Theater
265 South Broad Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107
Box Office: 215-546-7824
Admin: 215-893-9456
Fax: 215-893-0895
Email: [email protected]
www.wilmatheater.org
OPEN
STAG E S
Wilma audiences swooned over
Gina Gionfriddo’s Becky Shaw in
the 2009/10 Season. The 2014/15
season opens with Rapture, Blister,
Burn, Gionfriddo’s newest play (and,
like Becky Shaw, a Pulitzer finalist).
The play follows Catherine, a celebrity academic, who returns to her
hometown after her mother’s heart
attack, and reunites with her best
friends from graduate school, who
are now married. Gina Gionfriddo
talks with Wilma Dramaturg Walter
Bilderback about the play.
Walter Bilderback: You’ve said that Rapture, Blister, Burn isn’t the play you
set out to write. Could you tell our audience a little about that?
Gina Gionfriddo: I actually set out to write a play about the impact of
Internet pornography on the American psyche. I had a pre-Internet
childhood. When we became curious about sex, we had to work so hard for
every little scrap of information. Now it’s just, as one of my characters says,
point-and-click to see full penetration online. . . But when you read about the
history of porn, you inevitably read about feminism because pornography as
an issue really split the movement in the eighties. . . So I found myself
reading these feminist texts for the first time at forty. That led me to start
thinking about different generations of women in conversation about their
lives.
WB: Rapture, Blister, Burn has a lot of topicality, with recent writing by Anne
Marie Slaughter (“Why Women Still Can’t Have It All”), Hanna Rosin (The
End of Men), Susan Patton (the Princeton mom), and the “War on Women.”
Were you expecting that?
GG: No, I wasn’t. I think the publication of [Sheryl Sandberg’s] Lean In fired
up the discussion about how viable it is for a woman to have a thriving career
and a thriving family at the same time. This isn’t a new conversation, of
course, but I’m always happy to engage it. . . I think the “you can have it all”
rallying cry carries its own kind of tyranny. My daughter is almost three. I
have scaled back my work life for her early years, and some of that is a choice
and some of it feels like a necessity just because I’m tired! The conversation really ought to be about how some other countries better accommodate
working families.
WB: One of the things I like best about the play is the literary seminar led by
Catherine, the protagonist, where we see three generations of women discussing a wide range of topics relating to feminism. At what point did that
become a focus for you? INTERVIEW CONTINUES ON NEXT PAGE
“The problem lay buried, unspoken, for many
years in the minds of American women. It was
a strange stirring, a sense of dissatisfaction,
a yearning that women suffered in the middle
of the twentieth century in the United States.
Each suburban wife struggled with it alone.
As she made the beds, shopped for groceries,
matched slipcover material, ate peanut butter
sandwiches with her children, chauffeured
Cub Scouts and Brownies, lay beside her husband at night—she was afraid to ask even of
herself the silent question—‘Is this all?’”
--Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique, 1963
GG: There came a point (a few
years ago) when I found myself
sounding like my mother when I
spoke to women ten and twenty
years my junior. And I was horrified, but also intrigued. Then,
when I was doing research on
Internet pornography, I was
surprised to find that Naomi Wolf
and Phyllis Schlafly make some
of the same points and recommendations. Both are saying that
–maybe– unlimited sexual freedom and access keeps women
alone. Wolf is more egalitarian
on the topic; she thinks porn is
harming men, too. The piece
that fired up the play was how curious it is to find such politically
different women finding common
ground.
“What does a woman want out of life? If
you want to love and be loved, marriage
offers the best opportunity to achieve
your goal…Marriage and motherhood
give a woman new identity and the
opportunity for all-round fulfillment as a
woman.”
–Phyllis Schlafly, Feminist Fantasies,
2003 2003
WB: You’ve said “Rapture, Blister, Burn feels like a play about years 40 to 45.”
Could you explain why?
GG: I think that Becky Shaw was a play about 35 and this is a play about 40
to 45. The difference is a question of how much time do you have to change
your life. Of course, it’s never too late to make a change, but it gets harder.
There’s a sense, at 40, of leap now or let it go. READ MORE OF THIS INTERVIEW
AT WILMATHEATER.ORG/BLOG
“Women of my generation have clung to the feminist
credo we were raised with, even as our ranks have been
steadily thinned by unresolvable tensions between family and career, because we are determined not to drop the
flag for the next generation. But when many members of
the younger generation have stopped listening, on the
grounds that glibly repeating “you can have it all” is simply airbrushing reality, it is time to talk. I still strongly
believe that women can “have it all” (and that men can
too). I believe that we can “have it all at the same time.”
But not today, not with the way America’s economy and
society are currently structured.”
- Anne Marie Slaughter, “Why Women Still Can’t Have It
All”, 2012.
INTERVIEW WITH
DIRECTOR JOANNA SETTLE
BY WALTER BILDERBACK
Walter Bilderback: What interests you most about Rapture, Blister, Burn at
this point?
Joanna Settle: Last year I got a call from director JoAnne Akalaitis saying it
was time to get a bunch of women together at her house to read Betty Friedan
and talk about where feminism is right now. She was partly motivated by
seeing a string of celebrated productions that seemed to have no place (or a
diminished place) for women in them. At that gathering I found myself with
women ranging in age from 20 to 75. The conversation became heated and
divergent in many moments, crisply along generational lines, as we explored
our associations with it.
When Blanka reached out to me to consider directing Rapture, Blister, Burn
this fall, I called for students to come to my office and read me the play. What
happened at that table with my students and me was an explosion of exactly
the same urgency and content as the conversation that happened at JoAnne’s
house. It became clear to me that the play had struck exactly the conversation we were all ready to dig into. The theater is perhaps at its best when it
incites its audience into heated and dynamic terrain, and this play gets us
right there.
WB: You’ve recently moved to Philadelphia to head the Theater program at
University of the Arts. What are your responses to Philly’s theater scene so
far?
JS: So far, every time I see a play in Philadelphia, I feel giddy! Before The
University of the Arts reached out to me about the position I now hold, I was
looking around the country at Philadelphia, Austin, Detroit, San Francisco,
and Portland. I’ve been very fortunate in my career to be a New York artist,
working consistently and supporting my son and I through my directing. At
the same time, I’ve felt in recent years, after NYC was hit by recession after
recession, that the theater community’s work process was being negatively
impacted by the financial formula of NYC. I was looking around the country
at places where art and art making was a vital part of daily life, but where
time and space didn’t equal dollars in exactly the same formula as NYC.
When the cost of living drops, there’s a little bit of breathing room given to
the exploratory phase of creative development. The fruits of that can be seen
all over Philadelphia! Given a moment to breathe, artists come up with all
manner of innovation. I sought to locate my creative life in a place where exploration was more affordable and am very glad I was invited to join you here.
FIND MORE OF THIS AND OTHER
EXCLUSIVE CONTENT AT
WILMATHEATER.ORG/BLOG
A Special Note to Our Donors
This list acknowledges all donations of $150 or above from July 1, 2013 to
September 1, 2014. If your name has been omitted or misprinted, please accept
our apologies. If you have any questions about your support, wish to join the
Wilma as a contributor, or wish to notify us of changes to this list, please
contact Iain Campbell, Development Director, at 215-893-9456 x109.
FOUNDATION, GOVERNMENT, &
CORPORATE DONORS
Anonymous
Abbot Downing
Arronson Foundation
The Baxter Family Foundation
Benchmark Group, Inc.
The Corinne and Henry Bower Memorial Trust of the PNC
Charitable Trusts
The Louis N. Cassett Foundation
Charlotte Cushman Foundation
Connelly Foundation
The CHG Charitable Trust
The Dolfinger-McMahon Foundation
DoubleTree by Hilton,
Philadelphia Center City
Drexel University
Ernst & Young
General Econopak
Glenmede
The Hamilton Family Foundation
The Honickman Foundation
The Linda and David Glickstein Fund of the Philadelphia Foundation
The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation
Independence Foundation
Virginia and Harvey Kimmel Arts Education Fund of
the Philadelphia Foundation
John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
Liberty Property Trust
Lincoln Financial Foundation
Christian R. and
Mary F. Lindback Foundation
Craig Lewis and Dianne Semingson Family Charitable Giving Fund of
the Philadelphia Foundation
Lobro Associates
Marcum LLP
Walter J. Miller Trust
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP
National Endowment for the Arts
PECO
The William Penn Foundation
Penn Museum Docents
Pennsylvania Council on the Arts,
a state agency
The Pew Charitable Trusts
The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage
The Philadelphia Cultural Fund
The Philadelphia Foundation
Reinhold Residential
The Sam and Charles Foundation
The Caroline J. Sanders Trust #2
Saul Ewing LLP
Schuylkill Capital Management
The Shubert Foundation, Inc.
Joseph Kennard Skilling Trust
Ethel Sergeant Clark Smith Memorial Fund
The Sporting Club at the Bellevue, the preferred fitness center of
The Wilma Theater
The TJX Foundation
U.S. Trust
United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey
Wells Fargo
The Wyncote Foundation
The Zeldin Family Foundation
INDIVIDUAL DONORS
The Premiere Circle is a group of our
community’s leaders who
demonstrate their love of living,
adventurous art through their gifts
of $1,000 or more. The benefits of
the Premiere Circle are designed to
bring members closer to the artists
whose work they make possible. For
more information, please contact Iain
Campbell, Development Director, at
215-893-9456 x109. A plus sign(+)
denotes five year consecutive donors.
$5,000 and above
Anonymous
Daniel Berger, Esq.+
Valerie A. Arkoosh and
Jeffrey T. Harbison+
The Estate of Stanley D. Baurys
Sheldon and Jill Bonovitz
Lois G. Brodsky
Mark and Tobey Dichter+
Kathryn Doyle and
Maureen Alexander
Herman and Helen Fala+
Michael J. Finney+
Linda and David Glickstein+
Criswell Gonzalez
Peggy and Rich Greenawalt+
Carole Haas Gravagno and
Emilio Gravagno
Gay and Donald Kimelman+
Virginia and Harvey Kimmel+
Mrs. Patricia Kind+
Josephine Klein+
Kenneth Klothen and
Eve Biskind Klothen
Gerry Lenfest
Mr. and Mrs. Robert E. Linck+
Tom Mahoney
John Medveckis
Joseph Neubauer and
Jeanette Lerman-Neubauer
Don and Barbara Parman+
The Suzanne F. Roberts Cultural Development Fund+
John and Theresa Rollins+
Ellen B. Solms+
David and Lisa U’Prichard+
In Memory of Gillian Wakely
Mark and Kathi Wennell
Ted and Stevie Wolf+
The Wyncote Foundation recommended by Leonard C. Haas+
Stephen and Florence Zeller+
$2,500 to $4,999
Anonymous (2)
Paula and Arjun Bedi
Mr. and Mrs. Granville Crothers
Clare D’Agostino, Esq.+
Eduardo Glandt+
Mindy and Jerry Goldberg
Jane and Joseph Goldblum
Jane and Brad Hollingsworth
Mr. and Mrs. Richard V. Holmes+
Lewis and Ellen Johnston+
Gary and Roberta Kleiman
Sharon and Joel Koppelman
Sissie and Herb Lipton+
David E. Loder
Jeffrey Markowitz
James and Eleanor McGillin+
Marlene S. Molinoff
Nina Robinson Vitow
Dianne L. Semingson+,
in memory of H. Craig Lewis
Gillian Wakely
Dr. Robert J. Wallner+
The June and Steve Wolfson
Family Foundation+
Jeanne Wrobleski, Esq.+
$1000 to $2,499
Anonymous
Barbara and Todd Albert
David W. Anstice and
Ana-Maria Zaugg+
Peter Arger+
Carol Baker and Mark Stein+
Susan Basile+
Jim and Nancy Baxter
Amy Branch and Jeff Benoliel
Peter Benoliel and Willo Carey+
Louis Bluver+
Ira Brind and Stacey Spector
Jacqueline Bodin
Carol and Bruce Caswell+
Joseph Dante
Robert M. Dever
Penny and Bob Fox
Elizabeth H. Gemmill, Esq.
James Haskins and
Michael Whistler+
Dortha Haskins
Nancy and Al Hirsig+
Robert and Sally Huxley+
Naomi Grabel and Neil Kutner
Megan and Lou Minella+
Edward J. and Regina I. Mitchell
Suzanne and Ronald Naples
Quan A. Nguyen and
Jessica Lynn Geyer
Noah and Annette Osnos
Eliana Papadakis
Annette and Chuck Pennoni
Vesna and Howard Sacks
Dr. Patrica Saddier
Mr. Louis Seitchik and
Ms. Kanani Titchen
Mari and Peter Shaw
Dr. William Sigmund and
Mr. Vito Izzo
Fred P. Slack and Patricia Henriques+
David and Gayle Smith
Mr. and Mrs. Jeffrey M. Sparling
Ms. Evelyn G. Spritz+
Kathleen Stephenson, Esq.+
John and Joan Thalheimer
Charles and Melissa Thorne+
Barbara Yaseen Tiffany Fund
of the Philadelphia Foundation
Annette and Peter Tobia
Constance H. Williams
Blanka Zizka+
The Annual Fund are donors who
are essential to the continuation of
the Wilma’s work and mission. We
rely on the support of these members
of the community who support bold,
original, well-crafted productions.
A plus sign(+) denotes five year
consecutive donors.
$750 to $999
Abbie and Patrick Dean
Elizabeth Higginbotham+
Mr. Robert Kirkwood+
David Lerman and Shelley Wallock+
Jerome Napson+, In memory of
Annie Richardson
Karen Scholnick+
Ms. Wendy E. Wilson and
Mr. Bruce McKittrick+
$500 to $749
Anonymous+
Charles Arnao and Rosemary Watt
Dr. Steven Averbuch and
Rachel Rivest
Elisabeth Beaird
Al and Marilyn Blatter+
Brian and Sherry Effron
John Erickson and Harry Zaleznik
Robert and Priscilla Foley
Pam and Rod Gagne
Suzanne Walker and Tom Gilmore
Gretchen Hall
Dr. Karen Harkaway and
Mr. Michael Grace
William Lake Leonard+
Vicki Le Vine
Brian and Dawn Mailey
Frank and Sally Mallory+
Drs. Julia Mayer and Barry Jacobs+
Jason McDonough
Dr. Daniel K. Meyer
Frank and Fiona Murray
Barbara Oldenhoff+
John Pcsolar and Alan Sandman
Jerome and Elizabeth Pontillo+
David Rasner and
Caroline Wischmann
David and Susan Rattner
Mr. Jerry Rojo+
Andrew Sacksteder and
Colleen Murphy+
Dr. Patricia Saddier+
Dr. Vincent Sanguineti and
Dr. Marion Frank
John and Patricia Sincavage
Gretchen Snethen
Gene Bishop and Andrew Stone+
Mr. and Mrs. Stuart Taylor+
Shirley and Howard Trauger
Sallie and James Warden+
Richard H. and
Barbara Jacobsen Woods+
Thomas and Jacqueline Zemaitis+
$250 to $499
Howard Aaronson+
Brian Abernathy
Sharon Binstok
Ann and David Brownlee+
David L. Buchbinder
Barbara and Bruce Byrne
Pearl Carpel
Ronnie and Jack Cimprich
Morton Collier and Mary Chomitz
Harriet and Tony Crane+
John Detre and Wendy Beetlestone+
Joanne Deutchman
Jill Dolan and Stacy Wolf
Dr. Joel K. Edelstein and
Ms. Elizabeth McKinstry+
Judith and Barry Elson+
Dan Gannon
Dr. Charles Gear
Susan V. Greene and
Kathleen Sheridan+
Bill and Helen Groft
Mr. and Mrs. Guercio
Marion V. Heacock+
Jim Heenehan and Carolyn Guss+
Jane and Steve Heumann
Mr. and Mrs. Ralph S. Hirshorn+
Ms. Terry Hirshorn+
Katherine Hayden and John Houle
Ian Kirschemann
Allen J. Kuharski
Eva and Michael Leeds+
Will and Sandra Lock+
Ann T. Loftus, Esq. and
Eileen M. Talone
Cirel and Howard Magen
Kimberlee Marino
Peter Kelly and Louise Marshall
Lynne Maxwell
Joseph and Ilene McCaffrey+
Linda Jones+
Ms. Muriel Moore
Jane Nelson
Nassya and Aaron Owens+
Ruth Perlmutter
Mrs. Marcelle G. Pick+
Joel and Bobbie Porter+
Bill and Mary Jo Potter+
Ms. Mary Jo Reilly
Gordon and Karen Rose+
Barbara and Dan Rottenberg
Ms. Nora Salzman
John F. Sanford
Mr. and Mrs. William Schwarze+
Monica Vachher and Jerry Selitto
Gerald and Linda Senker+
Samuel J. Serata, Esq.+
Christine J. Shamborsky+
Sharon and Irv Shapiro+
Claudia Pine Simon
Howard Spodek
Jonathan and Judith Stein+
Mark Steinberger and Ann Lebowitz+
Pat and Elaine Sweeney+
Eileen Talanian
The Toner Family
Rafaela Torres and Pedro A. Ramos
Hella and Lewis Volgenau+
Clifford Wagner and Ann Mintz
Sandra and Joseph Weicher
Bob Weinberg and Eleanor Wilner+
Susan West
Barbara Westergaard+
Wendy, Larry and Miriam White+
Harry and Mary Ann Woodcock+
Richard and Diane Woosnam
F. Gordon Yasinow
Peter Zutter and Tom Murphy+
$150 to $249
Anonymous+ (2)
Anonymous (3)
1812 Productions
Donald Ackerman and Gail Chapman
Phyllis and Charles Adams+
Ann and Reid Addis
Sherman Aronson
Dr. Donald Bakove and
Margaret G. McLaughlin
Jay Barnett
Leah and Rudy Baron
Ms. Catherine Beath
Diane Bech
Bill B. Benton and
Margaret H. Perryman
Torsten and Katrin Bernewitz
Sandra M. Berwind*
Ann and Tom Blackburn+
Joan and James Blaine+
Dr. and Mrs. Benjamin Blank+
Allen G. Bonner
Joy Ellen Booth
Michael Boyle+
Dr. Liz Braun
Dede and Tony Brown,
in honor of Flo Zeller
Carol Buettger
Sean Buffington
Susan P. Davidson and John V. R. Bull
Donna Butchko
Katie, Iain, and Malcolm Campbell
Mr. Frank Cebula
Mr. and Mrs. Nick Cernansky+
Mr. and Mrs. Scott Childress+
Ms. Frances Cichetti
Nona and Darrell Cira
Mr. and Mrs. Blaise H. Coco Jr.
Tim and Cathy Conahan+
James D. Crawford and Judith N. Dean
Mr. Daniel C. Drecksage and
Ms. Leslie Sudock+
Angela and Jason Duckworth
Phil Duncanson
Sheryl and Steve Durham+
Jay Federman and Sylvia Beck
Gilbert Feinberg and
Nadeen Van Tuyle+
Peter and Pamela Freyd
Drs. Alan and Patti Friedman
Friends of Virginia and
Harvey Kimmel
Dr. Joyce Frye
Galilea Family
Andrew Gelber
Anne and John Gerbner
Ms. Marie-Jeanne Girin
Dr. and Mrs. Stephen Gluckman
Judy and Alan Gordon
Paul D. Green
Anne and Michael Greenwald+
Mr. Michael Greer
Mr. Richard Grimes+
Maureen Hall
Ms. Birgitte Haselgrove+
Michael and Angela Hennessey
Marjorie E. Johnson and
Edward J. Hochreiter+
Mr. Wallace Hussong
Dean Kaplan and Barbara Mattleman
Ms. Muriel Kazansky
Kris J. Kolo
Michael Kuehl
Scott Kushner+
Ms. Susanna E. Lachs Adler Esq.
Charles and Lucinda Landreth+
Daniel T. Lee
Joe and Ginny Leonard
Dr. and Mrs. Rafael Levites+
Mr. and Mrs. Howard H. Lewis+
Gregory and Cynthia Line
Richard and Sandra Malkin
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Manko
Donna Mayforth
McGowan Associates
Mr. and Ms. David Miller+
Dr. Hortensia R. Morell
Dr. James and Jennifer Morgan+
Sue and Steve Munzer
Paul Neuwirth and Delaney
Michael Ochs
Carol Ann and Thomas O’Leary, Jr.
Larry F. Pace
Milton and Ruth Parnes+
Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas Patruno
In Memory of Michael Perelstein
Philip Reeves and Nancy Zeppa
Kelley Reilly
Gloria Reisman
Kurt and Mary-Ann Reiss
David Reuter
Dr. and Mrs. Wolfram Rieger+
Milt and Judy Riseman
Vernette Rivers
Marian Robinson and
Benjamin Zuckerman
Barbara and Tony Rooklin+
Dr. and Dr. Richard Ross
Mr. and Ms. Leon Rozinsky+
G. Craig Schelter
Susan Schewel
Lee and Linda Jean Schneider
Toni Sciallo+
Tom and Elinor Seaman+
MATCHING GIFT DONORS
AIG Matching Gifts Foundation
ACE INA Foundation
Ally Easy Match
ExxonMobil Foundation
FMC Corporation
GlaxoSmithKline Foundation
IBM Matching Gifts
Johnson & Johnson Family
of Companies
Merck Partnership for Giving
Moody’s Foundation
Norfolk Southern Foundation
The Pew Charitable Trusts
Matching Gift Program
Pfizer Public Affairs
PNC Foundation
ProQuest
Prudential Foundation
Matching Gifts
Tripos International
UBS Employee Giving Program
Verizon Foundation
OPENING NIGHT DONORS
Barefoot Wine & Bubbly
Cabot Creamery
Ruth’s Chris Steak House
Yards Brewing Company
Victorian Savories Bakery
IN-KIND DONORS
Adventure Aquarium
Chef’s Market
Cozen O’Connor
DoubleTree by Hilton,
Philadelphia Center City
Duel Piano Bar
Richard Kotulski and Julia Baldwin
Post Brothers Apartments
The Sporting Club at Bellevue
Starbucks Coffee Company
TRIA
Ms. Joann Seaver
Paul and Nancy Shallers
Jean and Parvin Sharpless
Dea Silbertrust and Wayne Welsh
Sara Corse and Kenwyn Smith
Elizabeth and Richard Soltan
Ms. Carol Klein and
Dr. Lawrence Spitz
Bruce and Christina Tarkoff+
Ms. Claudia Tesoro
Mr. and Ms. Harold S. Torrance
John and Terry Trudeau+
Ellen Weisberg
Arnold M. Weiss+
Drs. James and Jenette Wheeler+
Mr. Chester Wichowski
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Officers
David U’Prichard, PhD, Chair
Kathryn Doyle, Vice Chair
David E. Loder, Vice Chair
Clare D’Agostino, Esq., Secretary
Thomas Mahoney, Treasurer
Chair’s Council
Mark S. Dichter, Esq.
Peggy Greenawalt
Jeff Harbison
Lewis H. Johnston
John D. Rollins
A.E. (Ted) Wolf
Board Members
Arjun Bedi
Daniel Berger, Esq.
Janice Giannini
Linda Glickstein
Jerry Goldberg
Jane Hollingsworth
Kenneth Klothen
Robert E. Linck
Sissie Lipton
James F. McGillin
Reginald J. Middleton
Marlene S. Molinoff
Donald F. Parman
Ellen B. Solms
Mark Wennell
Florence Zeller
Ex-Officio
James Haskins
Blanka Zizka
Emeritus
Herman Fala
Harvey Kimmel
Dianne Semingson
Evelyn G. Spritz
Dr. R. J. Wallner
Jeanne P. Wrobleski, Esq.
Create a Legacy at
The Wilma Theater
If you like incredible theater at affordable
prices you’re sure to love what we do.
Challenge yourself to try something new
and learn more about what the Off Broad
Street Theatre Consortium can offer you!
Affordable tickets. Amazing theater.
THE
T H E AT E R
RAPTURE, BLISTER, BURN
will be followed in January by
the 2014 Horton Foote award
recipient, THE BODY OF AN
AMERICAN, a new play by Dan
O’Brien recounting his personal
journey to write a play about
Pulitzer Prize-winning
photographer Paul Watson. In
the spring, the Wilma will stage
back-to-back productions of
William Shakespeare’s
HAMLET and Tom Stoppard’s
now-classic behind-the-scenes
comedy ROSENCRANTZ AND
GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD
using essentially the same cast
for both productions.
2014/2015 Season
Thanks to a generous grant from the
Wyncote Foundation, all tickets to Wilma
productions during the first four weeks
are just $25 – or only $10 for students
and theater artists!
W I L M AT H E AT E R . O R G
215-546-7824
BROAD & SPRUCE STREETS