before you go - La Jolla Playhouse

KNOW
BEFORE YOU GO
BEGINS JULY 28
BEFORE YOU GO
KNOW
We look forward to seeing you at La Jolla Playhouse at your
upcoming performance of Up Here. Below is some additional
information about the production and the venue to enhance
your theater-going experience.
Parking
Parking is free for all subscribers. For all others parking is $2 (subject
to change), Mon-Fri. Upon arrival to campus, please purchase your
parking permit from one of the automated pay stations located next
to the information kiosk. Simply park, note your space number, and
pay $2 at the pay station. Pay stations accept Visa, MasterCard,
American Express or cash ($1 and $5), and do not give change. You
will not need to return to your car. Parking is free on the weekends.
Audience Engagement Events
The Playhouse offers unique opportunities for audience members
to delve deeper into the play with these special performance
series options:
Foodie Friday: Buy a ticket to the performance and enjoy San
Diego’s finest food trucks, plus a complimentary microbrew
tasting from Stone Brewing Company.
- Friday, August 28 starting at 6:00 pm
Talkback Tuesdays: Participate in a lively discussion with actors
and Playhouse staff members after the performance.
- Tuesday, August 4 following the 7:30 pm performance
- Tuesday, August 11 following the 7:30 pm performance
Discovery Sunday: “Sex in the Lab: The Neurobiology of
Attraction and Love” with special guest Mike Datko (Cognitive
Science, UCSD)
- Sunday, August 30 following the 2:00 pm performance
Insider Events: Join Playhouse staff for a special pre-performance
presentation that gives an insider’s view of the play.
- Wednesday, August 19 at 6:45 pm
- Saturday, August 29 at 1:15 pm
Accessibility
A golf cart is available to assist patrons with accessibility issues to
and from the parking lot. Please notify Patron Services prior to your
performance if you are in need of this service; additionally, you may
pull into the five minute parking in front of the theatre, and a friendly
La Jolla Playhouse greeter will assist you.
ACCESS PERFORMANCES
Open Captioned Performance: This performance has open captioning for patrons who are deaf
or hard of hearing.
- Sunday, August 16 at 2:00 pm
ACCESS (ASL Interpreted & Audio Described) Performance: This performance has American
Sign Language interpretation for patrons who are deaf or hard of hearing, and audio description
for patrons who are blind or have low vision.
- Saturday, August 22 at 2:00 pm
ASL Interpreted Performance: This performance has American Sign Language interpretation
for patrons who are deaf or hard of hearing.
- Friday, August 28 at 8:00 pm
Dining
James’ Place is the Theatre District’s new on-site restaurant.
Developed by renowned Sushi Master James Holder, the menu includes his signature sushi, as well as
delectable dishes created with Prime and Angus cuts of beef, locally and sustainably harvested seafood,
along with seasonal dishes. A lighter fare menu is also served at the newly-redesigned sushi/cocktail bar,
featuring craft beer and California wines.
James’ Place is open daily. Happy Hour begins in the bar at 3:00 pm and dinner reservations begin at
5:00 pm. For reservations, please call (858) 638-7778.
We also recommend the following nearby restaurants:
Café la Rue and The Med
at La Valencia Hotel
1132 Prospect Street
La Jolla, CA 92037
lavalencia.com
Cusp Restaurant and Hiatus
Poolside Lounge
at Hotel La Jolla
7955 La Jolla Shores Drive
La Jolla, CA 92037
cusprestaurant.com
Dolce Pane e Vino
16081 San Dieguito Road
Rancho Santa Fe, CA 92067
dolcepaneevino.com
Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse
& Wine Bar
8970 University Center Lane
San Diego, CA 92122
flemingssteakhouse.com
Giuseppe Restaurants
& Fine Catering
700 Prospect Street
San Diego, CA 92037
giuseppecatering.com
Mustangs & Burros
at Estancia La Jolla Hotel & Spa
9700 N. Torrey Pines Road
La Jolla, CA 92037
estancialajolla.com
Pamplemousse Grille
514 Via de la Valle, Suite 100
Solana Beach, CA 92075
pgrille.com
Rock Bottom Restaurant
& Brewery
Playhouse Patrons Get 20% Off
8980 Villa La Jolla Drive
La Jolla, CA 92037
rockbottom.com
Roppongi Restaurant
& Sushi Bar
875 Prospect Street
La Jolla, CA 92037
roppongiusa.com
Children under the age of 6 are not permitted in the theatre during performances unless otherwise posted.
A MESSAGE FROM THE
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
MISSION STATEMENT:
La Jolla Playhouse advances
theatre as an art form and as a
vital social, moral and political
platform by providing unfettered
creative opportunities for the
leading artists of today and
tomorrow. With our youthful
spirit and eclectic, artist-driven
approach, we will continue to
cultivate a local and national
following with an insatiable
appetite for audacious and
diverse work. In the future,
San Diego’s La Jolla Playhouse
will be considered singularly
indispensable to the worldwide
theatre landscape, as we become
a permanent safe harbor for the
unsafe and surprising. The day
will come when it will be essential
to enter the La Jolla Playhouse
village in order to get a glimpse
of what is about to happen in
As anyone who is familiar with
new musicals can attest, the road
from idea to production can be
quite long. Today, you will witness
the culmination of many years of
dreaming and development on
Up Here. We originally slated
this musical as part of our season
several years ago; only now, as the
jam-packed schedules of Kristen
Anderson-Lopez, Robert Lopez and
© Howard Lipin/U-T San Diego/ZUMA Wire
Alex Timbers have finally aligned,
can this hugely imaginative show greet its first public audiences.
Musicals – particularly those written by the Lopezes – have the ability to
transport us to startling and surprising places. And no place is quite as
glorious and kaleidoscopic as our own minds. Up Here shows us how the
complexity of our inner landscape can be a gigantic obstacle to simply
living our lives. How well can we ever truly know another person? How
well can we let another person know us? Can we ever simply be?
In this collision between romantic comedy and circus, Kristen and Bobby
frame the fantastical against the backdrop of two everyday people: a
computer repairman named Dan and an extroverted t-shirt designer
named Lindsay. This contrast – the extraordinary hidden within the
ordinary – grounds the musical in a lovely way.
Alex Timbers is an ideal match for the material; he is among the most
theatrical and inventive directors around. If you saw the Playhouse’s
Page To Stage productions of Peter and the Starcatchers and HOOVER
COMES ALIVE! (both in 2009), you already know the playful boldness
with which Alex approaches each show. In the years since his last trip to
the Playhouse, his directorial prowess and imagination has only grown.
Thanks so much for joining us for Up Here, and for your ongoing support
of new works in this most adventurous season.
American theatre.
CHRISTOPHER
ASHLEY
Cover photo: Betsy Wolfe and Matt Bittner. Photo by Matt Murphy.
P4 PERFORMANCES MAGAZINe
LA JOLLA PLAYHOUSE presents
Michael S. Rosenberg
Managing Director
Christopher Ashley
Artistic Director
Book, Music and Lyrics by
KRIsten Anderson-Lopez AND Robert Lopez
DIRECTED BY
Alex Timbers
Choreographed BY
Joshua Bergasse
Featuring
Kikau Alvaro*, Matt Bittner*, Andrew Call*, N’Jameh Camara‡, Giovanni Cozic, Hanz Enyeart, Mary Glen Fredrick‡,
Jacob Haren*, April Jo Henry, Jeff Hiller*, Gizel Jimenez*, Zonya Love*, Zakiyah Markland‡, Lorena Martinez‡,
Sarah Meahl*, Tamara Rodriguez Mehl, Eric Petersen*, Devin Ratray*, Devere Rogers*, Charles South*,
Graham Stevens*, Nick Verina*, Betsy Wolfe*
Music Director/Incidental Music
Orchestrations
Vocal Arrangements
Scenic Designer
Costume Designer
Lighting Designer
Sound Designer
Projection Designer
Puppet Designer
Hair and Wig Designer
Fight Director
Dramaturg
Casting
Local Casting
Production Stage Manager
Assistant Stage Managers
Production Manager
Aron Accurso
Dave Metzger
Robert Lopez
David Korins
Ann Closs-Farley
David J. Weiner
Peter Hylenski
Dan Scully
Michelle Zamora
Lisa Chan-Wylie
George Yé
Gabriel Greene
Carrie Gardner, C.S.A.
Teresa Sapien
Matthew DiCarlo*
Rachel Bauder*, Shawn Pennington*
Audrey Hoo
Commissioned by Roundabout Theatre Company, New York, NY | Todd Haimes, Artistic Director; Harold Wolpert, Managing Director; Julia C. Levy, Executive Director
By special arrangement with Scott Sanders Theatrical Productions
THE CAST
(in order of appearance)
Dan........................................................................................................................... Matt Bittner
Lindsay..................................................................................................................... Betsy Wolfe
Dan's Consciousness/Ensemble....................... Kikau Alvaro, Andrew Call, N’Jameh Camara,
Giovanni Cozic, Mary Glen Fredrick, Jacob Haren,
Jeff Hiller, Gizel Jimenez, Zonya Love, Zakiya Markland,
Lorena Martinez, Sarah Meahl, Eric Petersen,
Devin Ratray, Tamara Rodriguez Mehl, Devere Rogers,
Charles South, Graham Stevens, Nick Verina
Tim/Ensemble........................................................................................................Eric Petersen
Ed/Ensemble............................................................................................................. Nick Verina
Tina/Ensemble...........................................................................................................Zonya Love
Swings: Hanz Enyeart, April Jo Henry
Up Here is performed with a 15-minute intermission.
Additional Staff
Associate Director...............................................Richard J. Hinds
Associate Music Director............................. Anthony De Angelis
Associate Scenic Designer.....................................Rod Lemmond
Associate Lighting Designer....................................Jake DeGroot
Moving Light Programmer..............................................Alex Fogel
Associate Sound Designer.................................Simon Matthews
Sound Engineer........................................................ Justin Stasiw
Assistant Projection Designer/Programmer............. Shawn Duan
Video Editor...........................................................Robert Figueira
Assistant Choreographer....................... Bethany Christine Elkin
Assistant Scenic Designer....................................... Jenna Carino
Members of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage
* Managers in the United States. The theatre operates under an agreement between the
League of Resident Theatres and Actors’ Equity Association.
This theatre operates under an agreement between the League of Resident Theatres
and the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, an independent national labor union.
Scenic Design Assistant..........................................Raphael Zhao
Assistant Director.................................................... Will Detlefsen ‡
Assistant Costume Designer....................................Mary Rochon
Costume Design Assistant.................................Danae McQueen ‡
Lighting Design Assistant................................ Anthony Jannuzzi ‡
Production Assistant............................................. Rachael Albert
Stage Management Assistant......................... Morgan Zupanski ‡
Stage Management Interns........ Cheyenne Splinter-Newlander,
Plato Seto
Studio Teacher.......................................................Judy Ridgeway
Vocal Coach................................................................. Adrian Alita
This theatre operates under an agreement between the League of Resident Theatres
and United Scenic Artists, Local USA-829 of the IATSE.
La Jolla Playhouse is a member of the League of Resident Theatres (LORT) and a
constituent of Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national service organization
for the nonprofit professional theatre.
‡ UC San Diego M.F.A. Candidates in residence at La Jolla Playhouse.
ORCHESTRA
Music Director/Conductor/Keyboard 1.................. Aron Accurso
Associate Music Director/Keyboard.............Anthony De Angelis
Violin.........................................................................Tiffany Sieker
Cello.............................................................................Erica Erenyi
French Horn...................................................... Adam Krauthamer
Flute/Clarinet/Oboe/English Horn
Tenor Sax/Baritone Sax.................................................John Reilly
Trumpet...................................................................Andrew Elstob
Electric, Acoustic Steel Guitars/Banjo........................ Alec Berlin
Acoustic, Electric Basses.................................... Michael Pearce
Drumset/Percussion..........................................Damien Bassman
Orchestra Contractor..................................................Lorin Getline
Rehearsal Piano................Anthony De Angelis, Brendan Whiting
Rehearsal Drums.................. Damien Bassman, Joshua Samuels
Keyboard Programmer...............................................Randy Cohen
Copyist...................................................................... Annixter Rice
Music Department Assistant.............................Brendan Whiting
Music Department Intern...................................Michelle Fogarty
All musicians are represented by the American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada.
Acknowledgements
Special thanks to:
Victor and Gail Alvarez • Warner/Chappell Music • Sally Horchow International Productions • Caiola Productions • Dominion Pictures
ELS • Masque Sound • WorldStage • Robert Miller • Robert Prior • Lauren Oppelt • Hochi Asiatico
Banjo provided by Deering Banjo
THE COMPANY
Kikau Alvaro, Captain of the Guard/Ensemble
La Jolla Playhouse: Debut. Regional: Bernardo in West
Side Story (San Diego Musical Theatre); Grantaire in Les
Misérables (SDSU); Flower Drum Song, Beauty and the
Beast, The Full Monty (AMTSJ). Director/Choreographer.
Education: M.F.A. candidate at San Diego State University.
For Derrick. @kikautown
Matt Bittner, Dan
La Jolla Playhouse: Debut. New York: Much Ado About
Nothing (Shakespeare in the Park); Be a Good Little Widow
(The Wild Project). Regional: As You Like It (Two River);
All Is Calm (Hudson Valley Shakespeare); Sweeney Todd
(Pennsylvania Shakes); productions with Allentown Shakes,
Mile Square Theatre and Playhouse Theatre Tulsa. He is also a sound
designer/composer, having arranged original pieces for theatres in New
York and across the country, including arrangements for Tony Awardnominated director Moritz Von Stuelpnagel, the first regional production
of Misterman (featuring Academy Award winner Olympia Dukakis) and
14 collegiate productions while earning his M.F.A. in acting from Rutgers
University. Mr. Bittner has designed sound for original works by Neil LaBute
and Brooke Berman and for LaGuardia Performing Arts High School. He is
developing/composing a new musical called Little Krushe, based on true
events surrounding the ethnic cleansing in Kosovo, where he has spent
much of his time abroad. He can also be seen doing his infamous “Girl
Voice” in a viral video by the same title and on episodes of Tosh.0. Thanks
to God, my loving family, Grandmama & Grandad, Meghann, Meg &
Katie, Courtneay and the Rutgers M.F.A. faculty. www.mattbittner.com
Andrew Call, Cool Guy/Ensemble
La Jolla Playhouse: Debut. Broadway: Rock of Ages,
American Idiot, Glory Days, Cry-Baby and High Fidelity. OffBroadway: FOUND The Musical, Brooklynite and Altar Boyz.
Regional: The Rocky Horror Show (The Old Globe).
N’Jameh Camara, Galaxy/Ensemble
La Jolla Playhouse: Debut. UC San Diego M.F.A. acting
candidate ’16. Regional: The Wiz (Theater at the Center); The
Last Story Teller (Light Opera Works); Between Legs and Open
Ears (Black Ensemble Theater). UC San Diego credits include:
Second Skin, Mr. Burns, The Burial at Thebes, A Doll’s House,
The Grapes of Wrath and The Mango Farmer of Vermont. Last summer
with The Ubuntu Theater Project, she wrote and performed a one-woman
show, Marguerite to Maya Angelou, which showcased around the Bay
Area from an art gallery, to the Eugene O’Neill Tao House, to the Alameda
juvenile detention hall. TV: BOSS (STARZ). Thanks M.D.H.R.I.
Giovanni Cozic, Child
is thrilled to be making his La Jolla Playhouse debut at age
nine. He’s been a student at San Diego Junior Theatre (SDJT)
for over 6 years. SDJT credits include Snoopy: The Musical,
The Addams Family, Fancy Nancy, Magic Tree House:
Dinosaurs Before Dark and It’s a Bird...It’s Superman. Hobbies
include soccer, cooking and U.S. History. Special thanks to his parents,
brother Pierre, Mr. Richard, The Q’s for their constant love and support,
and his entire SDJT family for their unending encouragement. And mostly,
to the cast and crew of Up Here for this life-changing experience.
THE COMPANY
Hanz Enyeart, Swing
La Jolla Playhouse: THE GRIFT at the Lafayette Hotel. Other
regional credits include: Cabaret, Chicago (Welk Resort
Theatre); West Side Story, Annie Get Your Gun (San Diego
Musical Theatre); My Fair Lady, The Who’s Tommy (Moonlight
Stage Productions); Legally Blonde (Performance Riverside);
Edgar & Annabel, Far Away, Chicago (ion theatre); Altar Boyz (Diversionary
Theatre). Theme parks: Disneyland, Tokyo Disneyland. Education:
Certificate of passable joke-making from The Second City, Hollywood.
Mary Glen Fredrick, Galaxy/Ensemble
La Jolla Playhouse: Debut. Regional: As You Like It, The
Winter’s Tale (Heart of America Shakespeare Festival). UCSD:
Widower, LEAR, Hamlet, The Burial at Thebes. Stanford:
King Lear, The Tempest, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, The
Taming of the Shrew, Romeo and Juliet. Education: M.F.A.
Acting candidate at UC San Diego. BA from Stanford University.
Jacob Haren, Bnok/Ensemble
La Jolla Playhouse: Debut. Select credits Include: Frank
Abagnale Jr. in the West Coast regional premiere of Catch
Me If You Can, Laurie in Little Women (Moonlight Stage
Productions); Rock of Ages (Las Vegas company); How the
Grinch Stole Christmas! (The Old Globe); Mungojerrie in
Cats (Musical Theatre West); Mark in A Chorus Line (3-D Theatricals); as
well as various shows and special events at the Disneyland Resort. Mr.
Haren holds a B.F.A. in Musical Theatre from UC Irvine. Special thanks to
The Mine, the Up Here team and God. Follow on Instagram and Twitter
@jacobdharen. www.jacobharen.com.
April Jo Henry, Swing
La Jolla Playhouse: Debut. Regional: Side Show, Seussical
The Musical starring Cathy Rigby (3-D Theatricals); 42nd
Street (Musical Theater West); My Fair Lady, Anything Goes
(Moonlight Stage Productions); The Music Man, Guys and
Dolls, Glory Man, BASH!, Mix It Up (Lamb’s Players Theater
and LPT Educational Outreach); Grease, Anything Goes, Man of La
Mancha, Stepping Out (Welk Resort Theater); White Christmas (San
Diego Musical Theater); Young Frankenstein (Center Stage Theater).
Jeff Hiller, Critic/Frederick/Ensemble
La Jolla Playhouse: Debut. Broadway: Bloody Bloody
Andrew Jackson. Off-Broadway: Bloody Bloody Andrew
Jackson (The Public); Love’s Labour’s Lost (Shakespeare in
the Park); Trinculo in The Tempest (Public Works); Lady Be
Good (Encores); Silence! (original casts in NYC and LA);
Baby Wants Candy (Improvised Musicals). Regional: Bright Star (The
Old Globe), Emmett Otter (Goodspeed). Film: Ghost Town, Morning
Glory, Adam and The Little Tin Man. TV: 30 Rock, The McCarthys,
Impastor, Hotwives of Orlando, Ugly Betty, Law & Order: CI, Psych and
Community. Regular performer at the UCB Theatre in LA and NYC.
Gizel Jimenez, Cool Girl/Ensemble
La Jolla Playhouse: Debut. Broadway tour: Rosalia in West
Side Story. Regional/NYC: Vanessa in In the Heights (Walnut
Street Theater, Westchester Broadway Theater); Caroline in
The Theory of Relativity (Goodspeed Musicals); The Shimmy
Girl in Smokey Joe’s Café (Capital Repertory Theater); Mary
in Rosario and the Gypsies (Theater for the New City). TV/Film: Guest star
on Law & Order: SVU; The Tale of Timmy Two Chins. Other credits include:
National Anthem (Barclays Center), Habanera (The Paramount Theater in
Seattle), Dancer in Another Land music video, Nick Kroll Gets Tasered for
Charity (Comedy Central). Education: B.F.A. from NWSA Miami, FL.
Zonya Love, Tina/She Monster/Ensemble
La Jolla Playhouse: Side Show. Broadway: The Color
Purple. National Tours: Avenue Q. Off-Broadway: Avenue
Q. Regional credits include: The Wiz (Maltz Jupiter
Theater); Show Boat, Kiss Me Kate (Sacramento Music
Circus); Hairspray (Flat Rock Playhouse); Blues in the Night
(Milwaukee Repertory Theater). Education: B.F.A. from North Carolina
A&T State University, M.F.A. from UN Las Vegas. Romans 8!
Zakiya Iman Markland, Lindsay's Shrink/Erika/Ensemble
La Jolla Playhouse: Debut. UC San Diego: The Grapes of
Wrath, A Lie of the Mind, Battlecruiser Aristotle, Venus, Burial
at Thebes, Second Skin. FIU: RENT, The Last Days of Judas
Iscariot, Medea, Swimming in the Shallows, Top Girls, Body
and Sold, The Arabian Nights. Education: M.F.A. Acting
candidate at UC San Diego. B.F.A. from Florida International University.
Lorena Martinez, Kimberly/Ensemble
La Jolla Playhouse: Debut. UC San Diego: Mr. Burns, a
post-electric play; Golden Boy; A Lie of the Mind; 3 Women
in 4 Chairs (WNPF). Other theater credits include: Olive
Ostrovsky in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
(also translated and produced), Martha in Spring Awakening,
Florinda in Into the Woods (MX), Coral in Children of Salt (NYU Music
Theater Grad), The Caucasian Chalk Circle (NYU). Film: Claudia in Hotel
Pennsylvania (Storm Films Inc). B.F.A. from NYU Tisch School of the Arts.
UC San Diego M.F.A. candidate.
Sarah Meahl, Lindsay Two/Jen/Ensemble
La Jolla Playhouse: Debut. NYC: Workshops of Anastasia
and One for My Baby. Regional: Paper Mill Playhouse,
Theatre Under the Stars, Theatre of the Stars, Dallas Summer
Musicals, The MUNY, Kansas City Starlight, D.C. Shakespeare
Theatre Co., Walnut Street Theatre and Pittsburgh Musical
Theatre. Television: Natalee in The Natalee Holloway Story (Tru TV),
Disney commercials, Barney! Education: Point Park University 2012. Ms.
Meahl judges dance competitions for multiple corporations, and teaches
dance and gymnastics in NYC. www.sarahmeahl.com
Tamara Rodriguez Mehl, Roller Coaster Girl/Ensemble
La Jolla Playhouse: Debut. Regional: Les Misérables regional
tour (Theatre Royal); West Side Story (TVP); Tik Tok Man of
Oz (Winkie Con); Annie Get Your Gun (SDMT); Wizard of
Oz (Moonlight Productions); Chicago (Berklee). TV: Sweet
Fifteen: Mom, I Want to Be an Artist (Telemundo) and
Buscando a Timbiriche, La Nueva Banda (Univision), Nokia Theatre Live
with Shakhar Binespajooh, alongside the L.A. Philharmonic; Lena Horne
Tribute (Isabella Gardner Museum); Mexican Independence Bicentennial
in San Antonio, TX; San Diego Latin Film Festival 2015 Featured
Artist. Education: graduated cum laude with a dual major in Voice and
Songwriting from Berklee College of Music. www.tamaraonline.net
Eric Petersen, Tim/Dog/Ensemble
La Jolla Playhouse: Debut. Broadway: Shrek: The Musical,
Peter and the Starcatcher. First National Tours: Shrek: The
Musical (Shrek), 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
(Barfeé). TV: Kirstie, Big Bang Theory, Modern Family, CSI,
Law & Order, Law & Order: SVU, GCB, The Brittany Murphy
Story and the Disney Channel shows Jessie, Kirby Buckets and Pair of
Kings. Graduate of Bradley University. Proud member of Actors’ Equity.
For my family Lisa, Sophia and Miles. www.EricPetersenOnline.com
THE COMPANY
Devin Ratray, Mr. Can-Do/Calvert/Ensemble
La Jolla Playhouse: Debut. Off-Broadway: Marie and Bruce
and An Early History of Fire. Film and TV credits include:
Masterminds (fall 2015), The Lennon Report (winter 2015),
Blue Ruin (2014), Nebraska (2013), R.I.P.D. (2013), Side
Effects (2013), Construction (2016), award-winning musical
docu-comedy Courting Condi, Surrogates, Dennis the Menace and Little
Monsters. He guest-starred in the season finale of Louie (2015). Other
credits: Agent Carter (2014-15), Elementary (2015), Supernatural (season
5) and every Law & Order series made. Usually as a pedophile. Other film
credits include the role of the notorious older brother "Buzz" in Home
Alone and Home Alone 2. Mr. Ratray has also been in the Cash Cab
(season 1). And won. Devin loves his mama.
Devere Rogers, Humbug/Ensemble
La Jolla Playhouse: Debut. Workshops: Up Here, The
Robber Bridegroom. National Tours: Five Guys Named
Moe. Off-Broadway: For Flow, We in Silence..., Dance Dance
Revolution. Select regional credits: The Wiz (True Colors); Ain’t
Misbehavin’ (Merry-Go-Round Playhouse); Little Shop of Horrors
(Peterborough); Five Guys Named Moe (Alliance Theatre); Sophisticated
Ladies (Gateway Playhouse); Bonfire Nights (NY Stage & Film). TV: Sex Sent
Me to the ER (TLC), For Flow (HBO). Commercial: NY Lottery, Budweiser. Film:
Pour Amerie Encore. Education: B.F.A. from NYU Tisch School of the Arts.
Charles South, Haka/Ensemble
La Jolla Playhouse: Debut. International Tour: West Side
Story. Regional: Fiddler on the Roof (Goodspeed Musicals);
A Christmas Carol (Hartford Stage); Seussical (Connecticut
Repertory Theatre); Swing! (The Wick Theatre); Les Misérables
(Little Theatre...Square); Annual Dancer for Omaha Christmas
Spectacular. Education: B.F.A. from the Hartt School Conservatory.
Graham Stevens, Dan’s Shrink/Dog/Ensemble
La Jolla Playhouse: Debut. Off-Broadway: Peter and the
Starcatcher, In Transit, The Lightning Thief, Skippyjon Jones.
Regional: Carmen (New York City Opera); The Bald Soprano
(Yale Cabaret); The Scarlet Letter (Edinburgh Festival Fringe);
The Mikado (Lyric Opera San Diego). Mr. Stevens won a
Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Ensemble for his performance in
the Off-Broadway a cappella musical In Transit. He is a proud San Diego
native and is very excited to be making his Playhouse debut. Education:
B.A. in Theater Studies, Yale University.
Nick Verina, Ed/Dog/Ensemble
La Jolla Playhouse: Debut. Broadway: Young Ben in Follies.
National Tours: Sonny in Grease (1st national tour, 2010). OffBroadway/Regional: Edward Ferrars in Sense and Sensibility
(The Denver Center); Follies (The Kennedy Center and The
Ahmanson in L.A.); Abe in Altar Boyz (Chicago production);
Perchik in Fiddler on the Roof (PCLO); Forbidden Broadway: SVU,
That Time of the Year (York Theatre); Wallenberg (NYMF); co-author of
Balls: The Musical (Theatre Row and NYMF). TV: Limitless (CBS, 2015).
Recordings: Follies (2011 revival), That Time of the Year (original cast
recording). Education: B.F.A. from Wright State University, The Second
City Chicago, UCB New York. Love to Erin and Mary Elizabeth.
www.NickVerina.com
Betsy Wolfe, Lindsay
La Jolla Playhouse: 2015 Gala. She was last seen on Broadway
starring in Woody Allen’s musical adaptation of Bullets over
Broadway as “Ellen,” under the direction of Susan Stroman.
Ms. Wolfe made her Metropolitan Opera debut in Douglas
Carter Beane’s adaptation of Die Fledermaus and returns to the
Met this winter to reprise her role. She starred in the Off-Broadway revival
of The Last Five Years at Second Stage Theatre and the Broadway revival
of The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Prior to that she played Beth in Merrily
We Roll Along at Encores and created the role of Mary Ann Singleton in
ACT’s world premiere of Tales of the City, a musical based on the Armistead
Maupin novels. Other Broadway credits include Everyday Rapture, 110 in the
Shade and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. She has been a
guest artist for over 35 Symphony, Pops and Philharmonic Orchestras across
the U.S. and internationally, including the NY Philharmonic and Chicago
Symphony. Her concert debut at Carnegie Hall was with the Cincinnati Pops
under Maestro Erich Kunzel. Ms. Wolfe was a guest soloist for the New York
City Ballet, where she performed at Lincoln Center and at The Coliseum in
London. Recordings include Bullets over Broadway, The Last Five Years, The
Mystery of Edwin Drood, Stage Door Canteen, 35MM and Merrily We Roll
Along. She holds a B.F.A. in musical theatre from Cincinnati Conservatory of
Music (CCM). Ms. Wolfe can also be seen in the film adaptation of The Last
Five Years. Ms. Wolfe will headline the National Symphony Orchestra with
Maestro Steven Reineke at The Kennedy Center February 26 and 27, 2016,
and with the NY Pops Orchestra on March 11, 2016 at Carnegie Hall.
Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, Book, Music, Lyrics
are the Oscar and Grammy-winning married songwriting team behind
the Disney animated film sensation, Frozen. Bobby co-conceived and
co-wrote the smash-hit musicals Avenue Q and Book of Mormon, which
both earned him Tony Awards. Kristen’s show, In Transit, opened OffBroadway in 2010 and earned recognition at the Drama Desk, Drama
League and Lucille Lortel awards that year. Kristen and Bobby have
written for television, film and stage, including the stage version of
Finding Nemo, songs for The Wonder Pets (two Emmy Award wins) and
the Winnie the Pooh animated film. Bobby is the youngest of twelve
people to “EGOT” (that is, win Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Awards).
We’d like to thank our families and everyone who believed in this show
enough to help us get it out of our heads and onto the stage.
Alex Timbers, Director
La Jolla Playhouse: Peter and the Starcatchers (co-director with Roger
Rees), HOOVER COMES ALIVE!. Also in San Diego: The Last Goodbye
at the Old Globe Theater. Broadway: Peter and the Starcatcher (OBIE
Award – Best Director; Tony nomination – Best Director), Rocky (Drama
Desk and OCC Award nominations – Best Director), Bloody Bloody
Andrew Jackson (also book writer; Tony nomination – Best Book; Drama
Desk Award – Best Book; Lortel and OCC Awards – Best Musical) and
The Pee-wee Herman Show. His Off-Broadway credits include Here Lies
Love (Lortel Award – Best Director; Drama Desk and OCC nominations
– Best Director; Evening Standard Award), A Very Merry Unauthorized
Pageant (OBIE Award, Garland Award – Best Director), Love’s Labour’s
Lost (Shakespeare in the Park). For Roger.
Joshua Bergasse, Choreographer
La Jolla Playhouse: Debut. Broadway: On the Town (Astaire Award; Tony,
Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desk Award nominations), Gigi; Little
Me, It’s a Bird… It’s a Plane… It’s Superman! (City Center Encores!); Guys
and Dolls, The Sound of Music (Carnegie Hall). Off-Broadway: Cagney,
Bomb-itty of Errors, Captain Louie. National/International tours: Fame The
Musical. Regional: Bull Durham (Alliance Theatre); Nerds (Philadelphia
Theatre Company – Barrymore nomination); Secondhand Lions (5th Avenue
Theatre); West Side Story (Stratford Festival); On the Town, Guys and Dolls,
Carousel, West Side Story and The World Goes Round (Barrington Stage
Company). TV: SMASH (Emmy Award), So You Think You Can Dance.
THE COMPANY
Aron Accurso, Music Director/Incidental Music
La Jolla Playhouse: Debut. Broadway: Aladdin, Sister Act, Nice Work If You
Can Get It, The Little Mermaid, Billy Elliot. National Tour: Seussical. Regional
includes: Music Director/Incidental Music for Calvin Berger (George Street).
As a composer: The Dogs of Pripyat (Jerry Bock Award, NAMT, Goodspeed
Festival, Weston New Musical Award); Strega Nona (National Tour); The Trail
(commissioned/premiered by the Colorado Children’s Chorale); currently
writing a new musical with Sesame Street’s Joey Mazzarino. BMI Workshop
(Harrington Award); Dramatist Guild Fellow. TV: The View, Regis and Kelly,
Wendy Williams. Education: B.A. from St. Olaf College. Special thanks to
Bobby and Kristen, his family, and his fiancée, Rachel.
Dave Metzger, Orchestrations
La Jolla Playhouse: Debut. Broadway: The Lion King (Tony and Drama Desk
Award nominations for Best Orchestrations), August Rush (in progress).
Orchestrator and/or arranger of over 60 films, including: Frozen (songs and
score), How to Train Your Dragon (1 and 2), Tarzan (songs and score), Rio (1
and 2), Wreck-It Ralph, The Avengers, Training Day, August Rush, Planes,
Shooter, Kung Fu Panda (1 and 2), Muppets Most Wanted, Ice Age (2 and
3), Captain America. Composers that Mr. Metzger has worked with include
Bobby Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Mark Mancina, Hans Zimmer,
Alan Silvestri and Christophe Beck. www.davemetzgermusic.com
David Korins, Scenic Designer
La Jolla Playhouse: Little Miss Sunshine. Broadway: Misery (Upcoming),
Hamilton, Motown, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Annie,
Bring It On!: The Musical, Magic/Bird, An Evening with Patti Lupone
and Mandy Patinkin, Godspell, Chinglish, The Pee-wee Herman
Show, Lombardi, Passing Strange and Bridge and Tunnel. Extensive
Off-Broadway/regional theatre, opera, concert, hospitality, event and
experience design. 2009 OBIE Award for Sustained Excellence in Design.
Dad: Stella & Vivian. @davidkorins
Ann Closs-Farley, Costume Designer
is a West Coast designer. Recent theater credits include: Pride and
Prejudice: The Musical, Billy Elliot, Broadway’s AnnaPurna, Stinky Cheese
Man, Broadus, Discord, Cunning Little Vixens and Carnage. Other theater
credits: Rabbit Hole, Broadway Bound, Coney Island Christmas, Eric Idle’s
What About Dick?, The Pee-wee Herman Show, Disney’s Toy Story The
Musical, An Evening Without Monty Python and Around the World in
80 Days at the lovely Cleveland Play House. She is currently designing
for the Shanghai Disneyland Park, Kaiser Permanente Theatricals and
styling The World Poker Tour television show, but her favorite job hat
she wears is stylist for the amazing Pee-wee Herman. Mrs. Closs-Farley is
also a longtime member of the Actors’ Gang and Evidence Room theater
companies. www.annclossfarley.com.
David Weiner, Lighting Designer
La Jolla Playhouse: The Darrell Hammond Project, American Night and The
Seven. Broadway: Romeo and Juliet, Dead Accounts, Grace, Godspell,
The Normal Heart, reasons to be pretty, Butley, Dinner at Eight, Betrayal
and The Real Thing. Off-Broadway: Atlantic, MTC, MCC, Second Stage,
Playwrights Horizons, The Public, NY Theater Workshop, Theater for a New
Audience, Vineyard. Regional: The Old Globe, Steppenwolf, Center Theatre
Group, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Guthrie, Alley, McCarter, Huntington,
ART. Awards: 2012 Lortel Award (Through a Glass Darkly), 2011 LA Ovation
Award (Venice), 2011 Drama Desk Award nomination (Small Fire) and 2005
Lortel Award (Rodney’s Wife). Upcoming: Broadway premiere of Stephen
King’s Misery. www.DavidWeinerDesign.com
Peter Hylenski, Sound Designer
La Jolla Playhouse: Cry-Baby. Grammy, Olivier and four-time Tony
Award-nominated. Selected Broadway designs: Something Rotten, After
Midnight, Motown, The Scottsboro Boys, Rock of Ages, Side Show,
Rocky, Bullets over Broadway, Shrek the Musical, On a Clear Day, Lend
Me a Tenor, Elf, Wonderland, Cry-Baby, The Times They Are A-Changin’,
The Wedding Singer, Sweet Charity, Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me,
Little Women and Brooklyn. Other credits: Le Reve and ShowStoppers at
Wynn Las Vegas, Ragtime (London), Rocky Das Musical (Hamburg), King
Kong (Melbourne), How to Train Your Dragon, Walking with Dinosaurs.
Mr. Hylenski is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University.
Dan Scully, Projection Designer
is a Brooklyn-based projection and lighting designer who, through a
background in the performing arts and computer engineering, explores
the intersection of visual art, technology and storytelling. Recent work
includes: Rocky (Broadway); Jedermann (Salzburger Festpiele); Another
Night (Alvin Ailey/ADT); Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (NY Pops); The
Orchestra Moves! (Carnegie Hall); When the Wolves Came In/Watershed
(Kyle Abraham/Abraham.In.Motion); Seven Last Words (Lincoln Center
Chamber Orchestra Society); Lake Lucille Chekhov Project. Regional:
A.R.T., Trinity Rep, Cleveland Play House, Asolo Rep. M.F.A. from NYU.
Michelle Zamora, Puppet Designer
is a puppet designer, builder, and puppeteer originally from Brownsville,
Texas. She graduated from Cal State-L.A. with a degree in Theater and
now has a full-service puppet shop in Los Angeles, Viva La Puppet,
LLC. She received a 2014 Ovation Award for Roald Dahl’s The Magic
Finger (MainStreet Theatre) and past credits include Peter and the Wolf
(LA PHIL), Snoop Dogg’s “California Roll,” Caribou’s “Can’t Do Without
You,” Garfunkel & Oates, Katy Perry’s “This Is How We Do,” Comedy
Bang!Bang!, and The Pee-wee Herman Show (shadow puppets).
Currently she is collaborating with Nickelodeon on puppets debuting
at Comic-Con 2015! All thanks to the VLP team and her parents, the
biggest inspirations for these puppets.
Lisa Chan-Wylie, Hair and Wig Designer
Ms. Chan-Wylie has been the hair and makeup supervisor at La Jolla
Playhouse for the past five years and is thrilled to be designing the
hair and wigs for Up Here. She has worked for 20 years backstage at
the Playhouse, The Old Globe, the San Diego Opera and San Diego
Repertory Theatre.
George Yé, Fight Director
La Jolla Playhouse: Ether Dome, Kingdom City, Peter and the
Starcatchers, Blood and Gifts, Hands on a Hard Body, A Dram of
Drummhicit. Other favorites include: Twelfth Night, Time and the
Conways, Double Indemnity, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead,
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, 2013 Shakespeare Festival, Allegiance,
August: Osage County, God of Carnage, The Whipping Man, Dancing
in the Dark (The Old Globe); Oedipus El Rey, Claybourne Park (San
Diego Rep); True West, Fool for Love, The Motherf**ker with the Hat,
Shakespeare’s R&J, Communicating Doors, Bug (Cygnet Theatre).
Feature: The King’s Guard with Ron Pearlman. M.F.A., M.A., SAFD, AEA.
Mr. Yé is head of performance training at Mesa College.
Gabriel Greene, Dramaturg
joined La Jolla Playhouse’s artistic staff in 2007, and currently serves as
their Director of New Play Development. He has dramaturged nearly
twenty new plays and musicals for the Playhouse, including The Darrell
Hammond Project, Sheri Wilner’s Kingdom City, Herbert Siguenza’s El
Henry, Ayad Akhtar’s The Who & The What, Des McAnuff and The Flaming
Lips’ Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Kirsten Greenidge’s Milk Like Sugar
(Off-Broadway transfer; OBIE Award) and Joe DiPietro and David Bryan’s
Memphis (Broadway transfer; four Tony Awards). In addition to curating and
producing the Playhouse’s annual DNA New Work Series, he dramaturged
the DNA workshop productions of Michael Benjamin Washington’s
Blueprints to Freedom and Aditi Brennan Kapil’s Brahman/i. Other
dramaturgy: UCSD’s Wagner New Play Festival (eight years), Steppenwolf,
Playwrights Horizons, New York Theatre Workshop, South Coast Rep’s
Pacific Playwrights Festival and TimeLine Theatre, among others. He is a
graduate of University of Michigan and Trinity College, Dublin.
THE COMPANY
Carrie Gardner, C.S.A., Casting
La Jolla Playhouse: Debut. She also serves as senior casting director for
the Roundabout. Broadway: The Book of Mormon, The Real Thing, Violet,
Rocky, Machinal, Edwin Drood, Picnic, Cyrano, The Importance of Being
Earnest, Pee-wee Herman, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, American Idiot,
Spring Awakening, Mrs. Warren’s Profession and Les Liaisons. Off-Broadway
and Regional: Encores! Off-Center, Significant Other, Little Children Dream
of God, Indian Ink, The Last Goodbye, Dinner with Friends, Too Much…,
Tom Durnin, Sons of the Prophet, Look Back in Anger, Tigers Be Still,
Ordinary Days, Language Archive, Language of Trees, The Marriage of
Bette & Boo, The Understudy and Speech and Debate.
Matthew DiCarlo, Production Stage Manager
La Jolla Playhouse: Debut. Broadway: Honeymoon in Vegas and Rock of
Ages. Off-Broadway: Piece of My Heart. Regional: over 12 productions at
Paper Mill Playhouse, including the world premiere of Honeymoon in Vegas,
The Sound of Music, Peter Pan, Smokey Joe’s Café, The Full Monty and Little
Shop of Horrors. New York: Broadway Backwards 6, 7 & 8; The Embalmer
(NYMF); AMC Upfronts 2013. Matt holds a B.F.A. from Rutgers University
and is an Adjunct Professor of Stage Management at BMCC in TriBeCa.
Rachel Bauder, Assistant Stage Manager
La Jolla Playhouse: Debut. Broadway: Honeymoon in Vegas, Newsies The
Musical, Anything Goes, Bye Bye Birdie, Waiting for Godot, Sunday in the
Park with George and 110 in the Shade. National Tours: West Side Story.
Christopher Ashley, Artistic Director
has served as Artistic Director at La Jolla Playhouse since 2007. During his
tenure, he helmed the world premieres of Come From Away, The Darrell
Hammond Project, Claudia Shear’s Restoration and Arthur Kopit and Anton
Dudley’s A Dram of Drummhicit, as well as John Guare’s adaptation of His
Girl Friday, Mamet’s Glengarry Glen Ross, Shakespeare’s A Midsummer
Night’s Dream, and the musicals Xanadu and Memphis, which went on
to Broadway, winning four 2010 Tony Awards including Best Musical. In
addition, he spearheaded the Playhouse’s Without Walls site-specific theatre
series, the Resident Theatre program and the DNA New Work Series. Prior
to joining the Playhouse, Mr. Ashley directed the Broadway productions
of Xanadu (Drama Desk nomination), All Shook Up and The Rocky Horror
Show (Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Award nominations), as
well as The Kennedy Center Sondheim Celebration productions of Merrily
We Roll Along and Sweeney Todd (Helen Hayes Award for Direction). Other
New York credits include: Leap of Faith, Blown Sideways Through Life,
Jeffrey (Lucille Lortel and OBIE Awards), The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told,
Valhalla, Regrets Only, Wonder of the World, Bunny Bunny, Communicating
Doors, The Night Hank Williams Died and Fires in the Mirror (Lucille
Lortel Award). He also directed the feature films Jeffrey, Blown Sideways
Through Life for PBS, and Lucky Stiff, to be released July 2015. Mr. Ashley
is the recipient of the Princess Grace Award, the Drama League Director
Fellowship and an NEA/TCG Director Fellowship.
Debby Buchholz, General Manager
has served as general manager of La Jolla Playhouse since 2002. She is
the Secretary of the League of Resident Theaters (LORT) and a member of
its Executive Committee. In 2009, she received a San Diego Women Who
Mean Business Award from The San Diego Business Journal. Previously
she served as Counsel to The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing
Arts and the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C. She was a
faculty member of the Smithsonian Institution’s program on Legal Problems
of Museum Administration. Prior to The Kennedy Center, she served as a
corporate attorney in New York City and Washington, D.C. She is a graduate
of UC San Diego and Harvard Law School. Ms. Buchholz and her husband,
noted author and White House economic policy advisor Todd Buchholz, live
in Solana Beach and are the proud parents of Victoria, Katherine and Alexia.
Off-Broadway: Piece of My Heart, Hand to God and Reasons to Be Happy.
Regional: Oliver!, Honeymoon in Vegas, The Sound of Music, Hairspray,
Smokey Joe’s Café, The Full Monty and Oklahoma! (Paper Mill Playhouse).
Other NY: Broadway Backwards 8 (BC/EFA); Bells Are Ringing, Music in the
Air, On the Town (Encores!). Education: B.A. from James Madison University.
Shawn Pennington, Assistant Stage Manager
La Jolla Playhouse: Debut. Broadway: Wicked, Next to Normal and
Sondheim on Sondheim. National Tours: Peter and the Starcatcher, Rock
of Ages, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, The Pajama
Game, Gypsy, Will Rogers Follies, Fame and Smokey Joe’s Café. Regional
and Developmental: Little Miss Sunshine (Sundance Theatre Lab), A Wyly
Theatre Evening (Dallas PAC), Dust and Shadow (NYC workshop), In Transit
(NYC workshop). Love to Mom, Dad, Mark & Beth. Proud AEA member.
Scott Sanders Theatrical Productions
Scott Sanders Theatrical Productions (SSP) is the Tony and Emmy Awardwinning theatre, film and television company that launched, developed
and produced such Broadway shows as After Midnight (7 Tony Award
nominations, 2014); The Color Purple; Evita starring Ricky Martin; The
Pee-wee Herman Show (Broadway and Los Angeles) and Elaine Stritch: At
Liberty. This season, SSP will present Jennifer Hudson’s Broadway debut, in
a new production of The Color Purple, directed by John Doyle. Other new
projects in development include Coal Miner’s Daughter, Houdini, Tootsie
and a slate of new musicals in partnership with Sony Pictures Entertainment.
Michael S. Rosenberg, Managing Director
has served as the Managing Director of La Jolla Playhouse since April,
2009. Working in partnership with Artistic Director Christopher Ashley, he
has developed and produced new work by Ayad Akhtar, Trey Anastasio,
Amanda Green, John Leguizamo, Carey Perloff, Jay Scheib, Herbert
Siguenza, Basil Twist, Michael Benjamin Washington, Sheri Wilner, Doug
Wright and The Flaming Lips. Playhouse collaborations have included
projects with UC San Diego, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego,
The New Children’s Museum, San Diego Museum of Man, San Diego
Rep, Tectonic Theatre Project, the I.D.E.A. District and the cities of
Escondido and Chula Vista. Additionally, he fostered the growth of the
Playhouse’s award-winning Performance Outreach Program (POP) Tour,
achieving the most performances at local schools in Playhouse history.
Previously, Mr. Rosenberg was Co-Founder and Executive Director
of Drama Dept., a New York non-profit theatre company, where he
produced new works by the likes of Douglas Carter Beane, Warren
Leight, Isaac Mizrahi, Paul Rudnick and David & Amy Sedaris. His early
work included stints at The Kennedy Center, Kaiser Permanente, National
Dance Institute and an Atlantic City casino. As a Theatre Communications
Group Board member, he is proud to be on the Global and Diversity &
Inclusion Committees.
Des McAnuff, Director Emeritus
served as La Jolla Playhouse’s Artistic Director from 1983 through
1994, and from 2001 through April, 2007. Under his leadership, the
Playhouse garnered more than 300 awards, including the Tony Award for
Outstanding Regional Theatre. Playhouse to Broadway credits: Jersey
Boys (four Tony Awards); Billy Crystal’s 700 Sundays (Tony Award); How
to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (five Tony nominations);
director and co-author with Pete Townshend on The Who’s Tommy
(Tony and Olivier Awards for Best Director) and Big River (seven Tony
Awards), among others. Film credits: Quills, The Adventures of Rocky and
Bullwinkle, The Iron Giant (9 Animation Society awards) and Cousin Bette.
Recipient of the Drama League’s 2006 Julia Hansen Award, Mr. McAnuff
served as Artistic Director at Canada’s Stratford Festival from 2007 through
2012. He recently directed the hit productions of Sideways, Yoshimi
Battles the Pink Robots and Jesus Christ Superstar at the Playhouse.
Up Here authors Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez
and director Alex Timbers took a break from rehearsal to speak
with Director of New Play Development Gabriel Greene about
breaking rules, seeing your relationship onstage and the miracle
of consciousness.
Gabriel Greene: What was the initial creative spark
for Up Here?
Robert Lopez: It started a long time ago, when I first
joined the BMI [Broadcast Music, Inc.] Musical Theatre
Workshop. Someone came in and gave a lecture
about the basic rules to keep in mind when creating
a musical. One was, choose a setting that’s long ago
and far away, because everyone knows people don’t
break into song in real life. The second one was,
have a main character that’s larger than life, with
an external goal and external obstacles and clear
conflict. Also, limit yourself to as few indoor spaces as
you can; no living room couches.
And I figured, that really limits the playing field for
me, in terms of writing any musical I’d want to write.
I decided to figure out a way to design an original
concept that would stay within all those rules, and
yet violate them at the same time. The idea of Up Here
is that someone’s consciousness is a crazy, surreal
world. People do break out into song in their minds.
The inner life of a deep person is full of variety and
fantasy and craziness, and that would be a perfect
world for a musical.
Kristen Anderson-Lopez: To create dramatic
tension [within that world], we had to figure out
how to create obstacles. I remember someone once
telling me that the best way to bring out any of your
issues is to get in a relationship. If you have anything
you need to work on in your life, get in a relationship
and it will surface pretty quickly. And I’ve always
wanted to do a romantic comedy musical, since I am
a consumer of romantic comedies.
RL: And we couldn’t get the rights to Bridget Jones’s
Diary, so… [laughs]
KAL: So, when Bobby had this idea, I said: hey, what
if we did it as a boy-meets-girl, boy-loses-girl, boypossibly-gets-girl-back musical?
GG: Nice catch. We don’t want to give anything away.
KAL: No.
GG: Do you generally find inspiration in wanting to
break the typical conventions of musical theatre?
RL: Oh yeah. I think the conventional musicals about
conventional subjects have all been written – and
they’ve all been done very well and they are the
classics. The way to aspire to create new classics is
either to break the mold formally, or to use the forms
that we know to tell unconventional stories.
KAL: Speaking as someone who is sensitive to the
evolution of gender equality, there’s also an inherent
breaking of the rules happening as women gain
more and more equality in our society. The romantic
comedy of 2015 is very different from the romantic
comedy of 1975 and the romantic comedy of 1955.
Hopefully it will keep progressing forward.
GG: Does being married inform your working
relationship, especially when creating a musical
about a romantic relationship?
KAL: It gets a little meta, sometimes – while
watching and working on a scene we wrote, we will
sometimes find ourselves in the same emotional
dynamic as what is depicted onstage. At least we
know we are writing from truth.
But at the same time, there are positives, too. We trust
each other and have faith in our communication. And
no matter how tricky or heated it gets, I know that at
a certain point, we’re going to have to go home and
make dinner [laughs].
GG: What’s your collaborative process like?
KAL: We talk and we talk and we talk a lot. If we’re
writing the book, often I’ll draft something and then
Bobby will polish and “plus” that, then we’ll edit and
put it together. If we’re writing music, Bobby sits at the
piano and we’ll improv music and lyrics. Sometimes I’ll
scribble something and he’ll scribble something and
we’ll throw it all together in a kind of pile we can draw
from. If something is tricky, we’ll attack it like a physics
problem and work on our big white board together.
RL: When we first started [on Up Here], we decided to
brainstorm a list of songs that we were just dying to
write. So we came up with the idea for the opening
song, “Happy Go Lucky,” and a bunch of others on
index cards…
KAL: …the date montage…
RL: And on one of those index cards, we came up
with this idea, “the B plot should be about a rock!”
Which is the kind of thing you write down in a fit of
inspiration, and you look at it the next say and say,
“What did that mean?” [laughs]
GG: And without giving too much away, what does
that mean?
KAL: We thought it would be very “punk rock,” so
to speak, to dramatize a story with a rock as the
protagonist.
RL: We’re writing a show about consciousness. So
we thought: the best foil for a character that has
a consciousness is a character that doesn’t have a
consciousness.
GG: Alex, what drew you to this musical?
Alex Timbers: I was lucky enough to read the first
draft of the first act, once they’d finished it. This
was late summer 2007, I think. I fell in love with it
immediately because of the ambition of what they
were trying to do, intellectually and emotionally. I
loved the music and I was so excited to see characters
I recognized up on stage.
GG: On the first day of rehearsal, you all described
the show as a love triangle between a man, a
woman, and a psyche. As a director, how do you
approach a show that melds real life with the
intellectual abstractions of the mind?
AT: Some people might look at that as a challenge,
but for me it seems like a lot of fun. You have all these
juxtapositions between the intimate world of real
life and the epic world of Dan’s mind. The fun part is
getting to figure out: What does the real world look
like? What does consciousness look like? How can
you visually distinguish between these two worlds
clearly? Playing with those dialectics becomes really
theatrical and exciting.
“We have these amazing galaxies in our
head and yet we only have incredibly
primitive tools – words and sight, smell
and touch – to understand those galaxies”
Scenic ground plan by David Korins
GG: The whole scenic design concept speaks to that
kind of tension between reality and the mind.
AT: With set design, you often talk about, “What’s the
surround?” “What’s the envelope?” We thought a lot
about that for this show, because we wanted it to be
an abstract space that could be interpreted in many
different ways. Often, musicals exist in a grounded
world or a heightened world, but they don’t usually
exist simultaneously in both, and that’s the great
thing that Up Here offers. For the book scenes that
take place in various locations all over New York City,
those want to be really grounded. You need to supply
real things like doors and couches, but it all exists
within a much more abstract framework.
GG: Another idea that came up on the first day
of rehearsal was that one’s psyche can be both
playground and prison.
KAL: As we were developing this piece, we kept
asking: how can we [scenically] create this experience
for the audience as well? We wanted to simulate the
experience of going through life thinking, “This is fun,
this is fun – oh my gosh, I’m trapped in the prison of
my own mind.” Which is how we can often be in our
own consciousness. We can be going around thinking
we are part of life, and then suddenly hit a wall where
we realize our experience of reality is completely
different from others’ around us. Communication can
only get you so far, then you come up against the
walls of your own head.
GG: What would you like for the audience to have
on their minds as they leave the show?
RL: It would be great for them to get the sense of
what a miracle their own inner universe is; the very
fact that they’re alive. But then also to leave with the
feeling of what a great miracle the external universe
is. That’s the journey of the show.
KAL: There’s this huge leap of faith you take when
you’re in a relationship or communicating with
anyone. We have these amazing galaxies in our head
and yet we only have incredibly primitive tools –
words and sight, smell and touch – to understand
those galaxies, to bridge them. I hope people leave
celebrating those galaxies and trusting that if they
send out enough beacons, beacons will come back.
[Pause] Wow, there is no way to talk about this show
without sounding a little crazy [laughs].
LA JOLLA PLAYHOUSE
STAFF
ARTISTIC
Associate Artistic Director Jaime Castañeda
Resident Dramaturg Shirley Fishman
Director of New Play Development Gabriel Greene
Without Walls Associate Producer Marike Fitzgerald
Director Emeritus Des McAnuff
Executive Assistant to Christopher Ashley Rick VanNoy
Artistic Assistant Teresa Sapien
Audience Engagement Donnie Matsuda
Fellows Randall Eames, Courtney Kattengell
Interns Taryn O’Connor, Stephanie Prugh
Commissioned Artists Daniel Beaty, Mark Bennett,
Keith Bunin, Kirsten Greenidge, Quiara Alegría Hudes,
Joe Iconis, Naomi Iizuka, Aditi Brennan Kapil, Jon Kern,
Mona Mansour, Erin McKeown, Gregory S. Moss,
Alfred Uhry, Charlayne Woodard
2015/2016 Resident Artist BD Wong
PRODUCTION
Production Manager Audrey Hoo
Associate Production Manager Benjamin Seibert
Assistant Production Manager Becca Duhaime
Production Office Manager Tarin Hurstell
Production Office Intern Joan O'Leary
SCENE SHOP
Technical Director Chris Borreson
Assistant Technical Directors Mike Schwent, Curtis Green
Scene Shop Supervisor David Weiner
Technical Designer Tyler Grady
Staff Production Carpenters Kyle “Boo-Boo” Ahlquist,
Jeremy Luce, Preston Spence
Staff Carpenters Mihai Antonescu, Robin Barnett,
William Bender, Jacob Bruce, Clark Burrows,
Katelynn Cardon, Matt Clark, Danielle Dunne,
Sheldon Goff, James Hopper, Nick Jackson,
Scott Kinney, Stephanie Lee, Brian McVicker,
John Serbian, Don Dino Spezzini, Zane Whitmore
Shop Helper Doug Collind
PAINT SHOP
Charge Scenic Artist Joan Newhouse
Assistant Charge Artist Vicki Erbe
Scenic Artists Dwaine Best, Drea Healy, Justine Hopkins,
Stephanie Lee, Eileen McCann, Melissa Nalbach,
Kira Nehmer, Ashleigh Scott
PROPERTIES SHOP
Prop Shop Supervisor Deb Hatch
Prop Master Jeni Cheung
Assistant Prop Master Jenny Fajerman
Prop Shop Foreman Will Widick
Lead Artisan Carlos Wauman
Props Artisans Bethany Johnson, Tim Nottage, Gabe Serbian
COSTUME SHOP
Costume Shop Manager Sue Makkoo
Costume Shop Foreman/Tailor Lissa Skiles
Drapers Tara Bach-Richards, Elena Ham
Master Stitchers K-Joy Lehmann-Way, Yangchen Dolkar
First Hands Jan Blankenship, Rebecca Fabares,
Claudia LaRue, Sundus Yousif
Lead Craft Artisan Christy Jones
Craft Artisan Kristine Kerr
Stitchers Tracy Graham, Virginia Mershel
Costume Shop Assistant Desiree Hatfield-Buckley
Costume Shop Interns Paul Parnell, Danielle Rowe
ELECTRICS
Lighting Supervisor Mike Doyle
Assistant Lighting Supervisor Kathryn Sturch
Staff Electricians Kristyn Kennedy, Patricia Lesinski,
Mike Lowe, Andrea Ryan, Ramon Wenn, Matt Wilson
Electricians Alexandra Miller-Long, Tella Silver
Christopher Ashley, Artistic Director
SOUND/VIDEO
Sound/Video Supervisor Joe Huppert
Interim Sound/Video Supervisor Steve Negrete
Playhouse Sound Engineer Chris Luessmann
Video Technician Justin Humphres
Sound Technicians Chris Aldama, Chad Goss, Jim Zadai
Sound Intern Taylor Pilesvry
ADMINISTRATION
General Manager Debby Buchholz
Associate General Manager Jenny Case
Assistant General Manager Katherine Stout
Human Resources Specialist Nezam Etemadi
Corporate/Legal Counsel Robert C. Wright, Wright & L’Estrange
Theatre/Legal Counsel F. Richard Pappas, Esq.
Executive Assistant to Managing Director David Barnathan
COMPANY MANAGEMENT
Company Manager Megan Alvord
Assistant Company Manager Samantha De La Riva
Company Management Assistant Athena Espinoza
Interns Noah Bunton, Nicole Hernandez
FINANCE
Director of Finance John O’Dea
Payroll/AP Tamara Tipps
Staff Accountant Vincent Ng
Production Accountant Sharon Ratelle
Network Specialist Mike Salapow
DEVELOPMENT
Director of Development David W. Hanses
Sr. Associate Director of Development Erin Decker
Associate Director of Development,
Individual & Corporate Giving Bonnie Broberg
Associate Director of Development,
Special Events Rachel Terrones
Grants Manager Alexandra Kritchevsky
Corporate Relations Manager Alex Goodman
Development Manager Annie Dawson
Assistant Manager, Special Events Caitlin Finch
Donor Stewardship & Volunteer Coordinator Ryann Gaspara
Development Database & Research Analyst Tony Dixon
NCAF Grant Coordinator Naysan Mojgani
Fellow Jessica Humphrey
Interns Gabi D’Amico, Laura Humphrey
MARKETING
Director of Communications Mary Cook
Director of Public Relations Becky Biegelsen
Associate Director of Sales & Marketing Mia Fiorella
Communications Specialist Grace Madamba
Multimedia Designer Nancy Showers
Database Specialist Steven Jirjis
Marketing Campaign Manager John Olchak
Marketing Coordinator Tara Shoemaker
PATRON SERVICES
Associate Director – Patron Services Nikki Cooper
Patron Services Sales Manager Jordan Marrone
Patron Services Assistant Manager Travis Guss
Lead Patron Services Representative/Group Sales Specialist
Pearl Hang
Lead Patron Services Representative Danielle Smith
Patron Services Representative/UCSD Coordinator
Alexandra Ancira
Patron Services Representatives Mike Brown, DeAndre Clay,
Makayla Hoppe, Leticia Ridley, Bill Washington
Patron Services Sales Specialist Paul Preston
Sales Concierge William Guiney
Michael S. Rosenberg, Managing Director
EDUCATION & OUTREACH
Director of Education & Outreach Steve McCormick
Associate Director of Education & Outreach Alison Urban
Education & Outreach Coordinator Marisol Ferrá
Audio Describers Mernie Aste, Brian Berlau, Joanne Brook,
Tina Dyer, Shari Lyon, Kay O’Neil, Deborah Sanborn,
Janet Schlesinger, Sylvia Southerland, Susan Weekes
ASL Interpreters Lynn Ann Garrett, Anelia Glebocki,
Alycen Haneyoworth, Suzanne Lightbourn, Billieanne
McLellan, Geri Wu
Artist Instructors Judy Bauerlein, Julie Benitez, Brian Bose,
Rebecca Dennis, Lucas Dominguez, Kristen Giard,
Amanda Gosh, Catherine Hanna, Cory Hammond,
Rachel Hoey, Bex Hurt, Paola Kublis, Sara Luchini,
Blake McCarty, Ursula Meyer, Erika Phillips, James Pillar,
Mary Reich, Laurissa Rutgers, Cynthia Stokes,
Skylar Sullivan, Tomas Tamayo
Fellows Jacob Brent, Julia Cuppy
Interns Brianna Biffath, Emma Epps, Greg Feiner, Lila
Gavares, Kylie Holloway, Ali Lidbury, Dennis Peters, Joanna
Pisano, Alexander Rosesler, Veronica Thompson
2015/2016 STUDENT BOARD OF TRUSTEES OFFICERS
Chair Camryn Burton
Vice-Chair Gabi D’Amico
OPERATIONS
Director of Operations Ned Collins
Operations Associate Jen McClenahan
FRONT OF HOUSE
House Manager John Craft
Assistant House Managers Katherine Cordova, Paula Kubelis,
Sara Lucchini, Amy Marquez, Renee Tolson
Janitorial Professional Maintenance Systems:
Cesar Diaz, Luis Mena, Maria Mena
Up Here Staff
Production Carpenter Kyle Ahlquist
Assistant Production Carpenter Jeremy Luce
Automation Operator William Bender
Deck Crew Stephanie Lee, Mihai Antonescu, Nick Jackson
Prop Artisan Charlie Ellis
Prop Runners Carlos Wauman, Traci Van Wyk
Wardrobe Supervisor Jan Mah
Assistant Costume Shop Manager Jeannie Galioto
Dressers Debbie Allen, Jan Blankenship, Debbie Callahan,
Richard Corder, Jeri Nicolas, Agatha Ventura
Light Board Operator Ramon Wenn
Deck Electrician Mike Lowe
Spot Operators Kristyn Kennedy, Alexandra Miller-Long
Audio 2 Dana Pickop
Audio 3 Chad Goss
Video Technician Justin Humphres