MARCH 29 – APRIL 16, 2023

Gillings Center for Dramatic Art | playmakers.org | 919.962.7529

Letter from Vivienne

Friends of PlayMakers

Corporate and Foundation Partners

Desktop Computer Version of playbill available here

Preliminary costume sketches by Asa Benally

Greetings and welcome!

Thank you for joining us for the last offering of our memorable 2022/2023 season, Matthew López’s The Legend of Georgia McBride. When López was asked what he wanted audiences to take away from the show when it was first performed in 2014, he said, “pure, unadulterated joy.” When we programmed this show over a year ago, it was mostly with the thought of gifting our audiences that experience. Tonight, I know you will indeed experience a wonderfully transportive evening of theatre in the great hands of director Jeffrey Meanza and his fabulous creative team and cast. The Legend of Georgia McBride, among many attributes, is a heart-filled, theatrical gateway to better understanding and celebrating the art and experience of Drag. But it cannot go unsaid that today, April of 2023, in many places across our nation— there is far more fear than joy being experienced in the real lives of many people in the Trans and Drag community.

López wrote this play in a time of hope. We are currently in a time of
divided confusion. It will resonate differently today. But I continue to
believe in the power of theatre as an agent of transformation. It can help us better understand the human messes we find ourselves in and allow us the shared experience of stepping into other people’s shoes (with heels of all different shapes and sizes!) I do hope this production will penetrate beyond the deeply needed entertainment it provides— and serve as an invitation to us all to be (or continue being) advocates and allies to the
LGBTQ+ communities.

Whether this is the first or sixth show you’ve seen this season, thank
you for sharing your time with PlayMakers. We’ve just announced our
2023/24 season and it’s filled with Fabulous Fun that will dazzle your
senses, move your minds, and open your hearts. We are saving a seat for YOU.

Warmly,

Vivienne

PlayMakers Advisory Council

Jackie Tanner, Chair

Betsy Blackwell, Vice Chair

Duncan Lascelles, Vice Chair

Joanne Garrett, Deborah Gerhardt, Amy Guskiewicz, C. Hawkins, Betty Kenan, emerita, Stuart Lascelles, Robert Long, emeritus, Graig Meyer, Julie Morris, Paula Noell, Florence Peacock, Diane Robertson, Wyndham Robertson, Jennifer Werner, and Mike Wiley

As the new chair of the PlayMakers Advisory Council, I am honored to welcome you to the Paul Green Theatre to enjoy the delightful remainder of our season.

The power of live theatre first made an impression on me as a child in England, where I grew up enjoying frequent exposure to the West End in London. Theatre brought a ‘multiverse,’ as they say these days, of alternative imagination and emotion through which to encounter the world. So, I missed the theatre when I landed in Chapel Hill almost 30 years ago, and it was a delight to discover PlayMakers within such easy reach and to have the opportunity it afforded to introduce my own children to this theatre world.

I believe that an artist is an adventurer who seeks through creative bravery to more deeply understand human beings and their surroundings. In turn, the theatre is a place where we audience members can share a cultural experience, entering into this depth together with the other intimate guests as though we are all in someone’s living room. We are on an adventure together through reimagined classics, world premieres, and often our own Southern stories, both old and new, learning to acknowledge the validity of the lived experience of others while at the same time realizing how many emotions are shared.

At times the theatre prompts us to reassess profound aspects of our lives, and at other times simply to laugh, be entertained, and lighten our spiritual load. Either way, it is a treasure and a testament to the communities of both the town of Chapel Hill and University of North Carolina that PlayMakers exists here among us.

For decades PlayMakers theatre has been adding vitality not only to our community, but to the Triangle and the State, coming to us ‘heart forward’ as our ‘fearless leader’ and beloved Artistic Director might say. For our community to remain heart healthy, for PlayMakers to remain with us and to serve our community and beyond, we must remember that what sustains us must also be sustained. Art and life are reciprocal in that way. PlayMakers cannot exist without our support.

There are a number of ways to sustain and support PlayMakers. Financial gifts of any amount are gratefully received but simply being an ambassador of the PlayMakers experience by inviting your friends and neighbors, sharing and liking us on social media and simply talking about your experiences here, these are also invaluable to us.

With much gratitude to you all for taking your time to be with us.

Warmly,

Jackie Tanner

Donate

SUMMER YOUTH CONSERVATORY PRESENTS:

THEATRE QUEST CAMPS AVAILABLE

Summers camps for middle and high school students starting in June!

You can learn more about these programs here.

The Legend of Georgia McBride

By Matthew López

Directed by Jeffrey Meanza

Choreography by Matthew Steffens

Scenic Designer
Michael Raiford

Costume Designer
Asa Benally

Lighting Designer
Charlie Morrison

Composer & Sound Designer
Kate Marvin

Intimacy Choreographer
Tracy Bersley

Dramaturg
Jo Holcomb

Vocal Coach
Tia James

Stage Manager
Sarah Smiley

Assistant Stage Manager
Aspen Blake Jackson

March 29 – April 16, 2023

THE LEGEND OF GEORGIA MCBRIDE is presented by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc., New York.

The video or audio recording of this performance by any means is strictly prohibited.

The Professional Theatre of the Department of Dramatic Art
Kathryn Hunter-Williams, Chair
Vivienne Benesch, Producing Artistic Director
Produced in association with the College of Arts and Sciences
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

PlayMakers is…

“One of America’s Best Regional Theatres” (American Theatre Magazine), PlayMakers Repertory Company is North Carolina’s premier professional theatre company, proudly in residence on the dynamic campus of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. The professional company was founded in 1976, growing out of a storied 100 year tradition of playmaking at Carolina. Our mission is to produce relevant, courageous work that tells stories from and for a multiplicity of perspectives. We believe that theatre can have a transformational impact on individuals and entire communities, and we are committed to the work of becoming an anti-racist organization whose work is accessible to all.

At the very heart of the PlayMakers experience is one of the nation’s last remaining resident theatre companies, made up of accomplished performers, directors, designers, artisans, and technicians, and supported by exceptional graduate students in UNC’s Department of Dramatic Art. Our company works side by side with guest artists from all over the world and our alumni include Pulitzer Prize, Tony®, Emmy®, and Grammy Award® winners.

Creating Tomorrow’s Classics, Today

Producing Artistic Director Vivienne Benesch is continuing PlayMakers’ tradition of producing vibrantly reimagined classics, large-scale musical theatre, and significant contemporary work, but is also broadening the company’s reach to become a home for new play development and a true hub of social and civic discourse in the region. Her first five seasons have already given life to ten important new American plays.

A Hub of Engagement

PlayMakers seeks to provoke thought, stimulate discussion and push the boundaries of the theatrical form in everything we do. Whether through our intimate @Play series, our mainstage offerings or our virtual line-up, we look for opportunities for direct, dynamic engagement between audiences, artists and thinkers. The Vision Series, post-show discussions and a host of unique engagement opportunities – including the continuation of last season’s online PlayMakers Keeping You Company – enrich our audience’s experience of the live arts.

Theatre for the People

PlayMakers Mobile is an initiative that seeks to contribute positively to the civic and social life of our region by taking world-class theatre out of our building and into the community. We create a streamlined production of a play each year and take it to schools, transitional housing facilities, and long-term treatment facilities around the Greater Triangle area. And best of all, it’s all free of charge. We look forward to getting back on the road as soon as we can do so safely.

Passing the Torch

PlayMakers’ award-winning Summer Youth Conservatory is the only professionally supported training program of its kind in the region. The Theatre Quest program provides camps to area middle and high school students, while the Theatre Intensive and TheatreTech programs allow Triangle high schoolers to apprentice directly with professional directors, choreographers, musical directors, and technicians, culminating in a professional quality production on the PlayMakers mainstage for the whole community to enjoy.

Eliminating Barriers

With a commitment to eliminating barriers for attendance when we host live events, PlayMakers offers All Access performances for our patrons living with disabilities, we offer accessible $20 tickets for all performances, and tickets reduced to just $10 for UNC students and $12 for all other students. For more information, please contact prcboxoffice@unc.edu.

Our Mission

PlayMakers Repertory Company is North Carolina’s premier professional theatre company, proudly in residence on the dynamic campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Our mission is to produce relevant, courageous work that tells stories from and for a multiplicity of perspectives. We believe that theatre can have a transformational impact on individuals and entire communities, and we are committed to the journey of becoming an anti-racist organization whose work is accessible to all. PlayMakers is devoted to nurturing and training future generations of artists and audiences inextricably linked to UNC’s Department of Dramatic Art.

Our Vision

Provoke. Represent. Create.

Antiracism Accountability Statement

At the heart of PlayMakers Repertory Company’s mission is the belief that theater has the power to transform individuals and entire communities. There is no more aspirational or urgent a use of that power than working to dismantle the systems of oppression, white supremacy, and racism that pervade American life and consume the American Theatre. PlayMakers continues to assess and evaluate our own practices in order to embed equitable, antiracist policies into strategic planning, our mission, and our operations.

PlayMakers Repertory Company, and those of us who work here, commit to the following:

To work intentionally to create an antiracist culture in our company.
To continually educate ourselves on the ways in which we can combat racism locally and nationally as we move to create an inclusive, diverse, and equitable sense of belonging for every one of our constituents.
To demonstrate our values through action in our policies, practices, and procedures.

As a professional theatre company embedded in, and inextricably linked to the Department of Dramatic Art (DDA) at the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill, the path forward will be complex and singular. We will therefore be updating our action items and commitments continuously as our work evolves.

We at PlayMakers understand our responsibility not only to the artists, staff, and audiences with which we engage, but significantly, to the many students training here for a career in the theater.

For more information on our next steps, please read our full statement here.

These are not our first steps, and by no means our last. They are not perfect. And they are not enough. But they are steps forward. We invite you to come back to our website and our theater often and monitor our progress. We take our responsibility to this effort seriously and we welcome your involvement and assessment.

Land Acknowledgement

We acknowledge that the Center for Dramatic Art is located on the unceded lands of one or more of Abiayala’s (the Americas’) original sovereign nations, the name(s) of which have not yet been affirmed. The unjust acquisition of these Indigenous lands came about through a history of racism, violence, dispossession, displacement, and erasure of cultures by settlers as part of the larger, land-centered project of settler colonialism. As we look to the future, please join us in acknowledging and learning about the atrocities committed against these Nations and work with us towards inclusion, representation, and a better relationship with citizens of sovereign American Indian and Alaska Native nations.

Why is Land Acknowledgement important?

This statement is part of the continual interrogation of our own participation and complacency in colonial structures and a call for greater awareness, accountability, and intentionality in the work we do. As storytellers we are committed to learning and telling stories in ways that will have transformational impact in our immediate and extended communities.

We are excited by future partnerships with Native Americans and look forward to sharing this journey of knowledge and growth with you.

Learn more: UNC American Indian Center

Administration

Vivienne Benesch, Producing Artistic Director

Artistic

Jeff Aguiar, Director of Engagement
Tracy Bersley, Movement Coach/Choreographer
Kathryn Brown, Education & Engagement Coordinator
Chelsea James, Producing Assistant
Tia James, Vocal Coach
Gregory Kable, Dramaturg
Jacqueline E. Lawton, Dramaturg
Jeffrey Meanza, Associate Artistic Director
Mark Perry, Dramaturg
Gwendolyn Schwinke, Vocal Coach
Sarah Tackett, Assistant to Producing Artistic Director
Adam Versényi, Dramaturg

Administration

Johanna Ashwell, Administration Assistant
Matara Hitchcock, Company Manager
Kate Jones, Associate General Manager
Lisa Geeslin, Accountant
Maura Murphy, General Manager
Undergraduate Assistants: Elena Holder, Sage Howard, Amy Madrigal, Nigel Morgan, Hannah Richmond, Alexis R, Steele-Kubuanu

Development

Kymberly Burkhead-Dalton, Director of Development
Kyle Kostenko, Assistant Director of Annual Giving
Lenore Fields, Events and Gala Coordinator

Marketing & Audience Services

Hannah LaMarlowe, Marketing & Communications Specialist
Thomas Porter, Box Office Manager
Rosalie Preston, Associate Director of Marketing
Lauren Van Hemert, Marking Consultant
Kori Yelverton, Audience Services Associate
Jenna Zottoli, Audience Services Associate
Connor Sule, Marketing Undergraduate Assistant
Lucy Albani-Rangel, Marketing Undergraduate Assistant
Box Office and Front of House Undergraduate Assistants:
Albert Carlson
Eli Dietrich
Tygia Drewhowell
Tina Lin
Ava Lytle
Olivia Morse
Alicia Norman
Krystal Rivera
Faith Robisch
Naomi Smith
Katherine Stevens
Lily Vance
Cora Willis
Kevin Zhang

Department of Dramatic Art

Kathryn Hunter-Williams, Chair and Associate Professor

FACULTY

Milly Barranger, Professor Emerita
Vivienne Benesch, Professor of the Practice
Tracy Bersley, Associate Professor
Jan Chambers, Professor
McKay Coble, Professor
Jeffrey Blair Cornell, Associate Chair, Teaching Professor
Ray Dooley, Professor Emeritus
Samuel Ray Gates, Assistant Professor
Julia Gibson, Associate Professor
David Hammond, Professor Emeritus
Letitia James, Assistant Professor
Gregory Kable, Teaching Professor
Jacqueline E. Lawton, Associate Professor
Adam Maxfield, Teaching Professor
Triffin Morris, Professor of the Practice
David Navalinsky, Professor
Bobbi Owen, Distinguished Professor Emerita
Laura Pates, Teaching Assistant Professor
Kathy Perkins, Professor Emerita
Mark Perry, Teaching Associate Professor
Rachel E. Pollock, Teaching Assistant Professor
Michael Rolleri, Professor
Gwendolyn Schwinke, Assistant Professor
Aubrey Snowden, Teaching Assistant Professor
Craig Turner, Professor Emeritus
Adam Versényi, Professor
Tao Wang, Assistant Professor

STAFF

Lisa Geeslin, Accounting Technician
Taylor McDaniel, Student Services Manager
Karen Rolleri, Business Coordinator
Jamie Strickland, University Manager

Production

Michael Rolleri, Production Manager

Costumes

Amy Evans, Costume Shop Manager
Marissa Lupkas, Wardrobe Supervisor
Matthew Mallard, Assistant Costume Director
Triffin Morris, Costume Director
Rachel Pollock, Costume Craftsperson
Costume Production Graduate Students:
Matty Blatt, Jocelyn Chatman, Emma Hoylst, Zachery Morrison, Lou Pires, Sally Rath, Athene Wright

Lighting

Benjamin Bosch, Electrics Supervisor

Props

Emma Anderson, Props Artisan
Lauren Reinhartsen, Properties Supervisor
Lydia McRoy, Undergraduate Assistant

Scenic

Anthony Cacchione, Production Carpenter
Adam Maxfield, Technical Director
Laura Pates, Assistant Technical Director
Jessica Secrest, Scenic Artist
Technical Production Graduate Students:
Brock Burton, Joel Ernst, Luke Robinson, Rachel Van Namen, Garrett Weeda
Will Peele, Undergraduate Assistant-Scene Shop
Danielle Mou, Carpenter Work Study
Alex Rhinehalt, Carpenter Work Study
Faith Wang, Paint Work Study
Holly Turner, Paint Undergraduate Assistant

Sound

David Bost, Sound Supervisor

Stage Management

Aspen Jackson, Stage Manager
Sarah Smiley, Stage Manager
Zoe Lord, Production Assistant

PlayMakers’ Resident Acting Company

Jeffrey Blair Cornell
Samuel Ray Gates
Julia Gibson
Kathryn Hunter-Williams
Tia James
Gwendolyn Schwinke

Professional Actor Training Program:

Hayley Cartee, Heinley Gaspard, Jamar Jones, Saleemah Sharpe, Sanjana Taskar, Adam Valentine

For this Production of “The Legend of Georgia McBride”

Chelsea James, Assistant Director
Ethan Sichel, Assistant Choreographer
Garrett Weeda, Production Technical Director
Brock Burton, Assistant Technical Director
Zoe Lord, Production Assistant
Rachel Van Namen, Shop Lead
Angella Fraser, Wigs
Matty Blatt, Jocelyn Chatman, Emma Holyst,
Lou Pires, Sally Rath, Athene Wright, Drapers
Zachary Morrison, Crafts Assistant
Toni Darden, Isabella Patterson, Denasia Pegues, Katherine Ryan, Wardrobe crew
Lily Lehman, Madeline Litty, Kieran Murphy, Deck crew
Chris Baumann, Light Board Operator
Theo Holt, A2

PROGRAM NOTES

The Legend of Matthew López

By Jo Holcomb

Take a rundown bar on Panama City Beach with an Elvis impersonator (he’s the only real talent in the place); add two drag queens down on their luck (but they’ve also got talent), scratch the Elvis impersonator; add some six-inch heels, a soupçon of chutzpah and fifteen or sixteen pounds of sequins (not to mention some serious body enhancements) and you’ve got The Legend of Georgia McBride.

Written by Matthew López, the play introduces us to Casey, who is actually a great Elvis impersonator, his wife, Jo — overworked, tired, scared about money and newly pregnant; and Eddie, the owner of Cleo’s, where Casey does his best Elvis nightly. The problem is: no one in Panama City really wants to see his act. Unbeknownst to Casey is the fact that Eddie has invited his cousin, Bobby, to come to Panama City and spice up Cleo’s with a drag show. When Miss Tracy Mills arrives (Yes, Queen) with her sidekick Rexy, Eddie’s former vision of his cousin disappears into the rouge and feathers and the fun begins. The rest of the play is filled with fun, the transformation of Elvis into Georgia, great music and dance and a whole lot of love.

The play comes directly from the life experience of the playwright. In an interview that Matthew López gave when the play was premiering at Denver Center, López talked about how he came to the world of drag:

“I started going to the gay bars in Panama City around the age of 16 or 17,” López said in the 2014 Denver interview, “long before I was legally allowed to go in. The downtown had started to die… but this bar stayed open — for 40 years — and was the only gay bar in town. If you wanted to get a drink within a 15-mile radius you had to go to The Fiesta … I had never been in a place that was so accepting of who I am. I was able to be safe and be myself, and I was taken under the wing of the drag queens there…”

When asked what he wants an audience to take away from the show, Matthew López says:

“Joy. Pure, unadulterated joy. I genuinely have no higher goal than that.”

Matthew López

is an American playwright and screenwriter. He was born in Panama City, Florida. His play The Inheritance premiered at the Young Vic
in London in 2018, where it was called “the most important American play of the century.”(Young Vic website.) It opened in New York on Broadway in 2019. The play swept awards both in London and the U.S. with López garnering a Tony Award as the first Latino
writer to win a Tony for Best Play.

Other works include The Whipping Man, The Legend of Georgia McBride, Somewhere and Reverberation.

The Legend of Georgia McBride is being developed into a full length film starring Jim Parsons as Miss Tracy Mills.

Rendering of set piece by Michael Raiford

The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) Center works to foster a welcoming and inclusive environment for UNC-Chapel Hill community members of all sexual orientations, gender identities, and gender expressions.

Pride Week: April 10-14, 2023

Get Connected! Instagram: @uncchlgbtq Twitter: @uncchlgbtq

Actor Bios

Eddie — Jeffrey Blair Cornell*
Rexy/Jason — Jamar Jones*
Jo — Saleemah Sharpe*
Tracy — Jamison Stern*
Casey — Adam Valentine*

Time: Right Now

Place: Panama City Beach, FL

“The Legend of Georgia McBride” is performed without intermission.

Jeffrey Blair Cornell

Eddie

PlayMakers: This marks Jeff ’s 28th season with PlayMakers.
Recently: Polonius/Gravedigger in “Hamlet,” Mr. Weston/Mr.
Woodhouse in “Emma,” Frank in “Native Gardens,” Brutus
in “Julius Caesar,” Father in “Ragtime,” Uncle Peck in “How I
Learned to Drive,” Sipos in “She Loves Me,” and Darren (the Woodchuck) in “Bewilderness.” Some favorites: Henry Higgins in “My Fair Lady,” Caliban in “The Tempest,” Colonel Brandon in “Sense and Sensibility,” Roy Cohn in “Angels in America” and Herr Schultz in “Cabaret.”

New York: “Two by Two,” “Down to Earth,” “Serious Business.”

Regional: Guthrie Theater, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Pittsburgh Public Theater, Paper Mill Playhouse, Geva Theatre Center, among others.

Education/Other: Carbonell Award nominations for Best Actor – “Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me” and “Falsettoland” (Caldwell Theatre – FL). Studied at HB Studios in New York with Uta Hagen, Austin Pendleton, and Elizabeth Wilson and received his MFA from the PATP/UNC-Chapel Hill. Serves as Teaching Professor/Associate Chair in UNC’s Department of Dramatic Art

Jamar Jones

Rexy/Jason

PlayMakers: Company member in their second year of UNC’s
Professional Actor Training Program. “Hamlet,” “Emma,”
“Blues for an Alabama Sky,” “A Wrinkle in Time,” “Stick Fly”
(U/S performed), “The Skin of Our Teeth”. “The Tempest”
(PlayMakers Mobile). “Den of Thieves,” “The Brothers Size” (PlayMakers Ground Floor). Assistant Director: “How I Learned What I Learned”.

Regional: “Black Like Me” (Chautauqua Theater Company); “Everybody” (Cadence/Virginia Rep); “Fires in the Mirror,” “Passing Strange” (Firehouse Theatre); “Fences,” “Akeelah and the Bee” (Virginia Repertory Theatre); “Red Velvet” (Quill Theatre); “An Octoroon,” “Topdog/Underdog” (TheatreLab); “Free Man of Color” (The Heritage Ensemble Theatre Company); and “Choir Boy” (Richmond Triangle Players/THETC).

Education/Awards: The College of William and Mary, B.A. Sociology and Theatre. 2022 RTCC Award, Best Lead Performance- Play for “Fires in the Mirror,” 2020 RTCC Award, Ernie McClintock Best Ensemble Acting for “Passing Strange,” 2019 Richmond Theatre Critics Circle Award, Best Actor in a Leading Role – Play for “An Octoroon”.

Saleemah Sharpe

Jo

PlayMakers: Company member in second year of UNC’s
Professional Actor Training Program. “Hamlet,” “Blues
for an Alabama Sky,” “The Skin of Our Teeth”. “The
Tempest” (PlayMakers Mobile). “The Mountaintop,” “Den
of Thieves,” “A Doll’s House, Part 2,” “Gloria” (PlayMakers Ground
Floor).

New York: “King Lear” (NY Classical).

Regional: “Dontrell, Who Kissed the Sea” (Rhinoleap Production NC).

University: “As You Like It” (Stella Adler Studio of Acting); “King Lear,” “Soon Again Not Yet,” “Sopita” (Royal Social Distance Company); “Sins of the Father” (Eden Theater Company); “Significant Other” (The Theatre Project); “The Block” (Lakai Dance Theatre); “Ubu Roi,” “Straight Outta Kansas,” “Antigone” (Montclair State University). Film: “The Girl With the Eyes” (Independent film), “Remission Accomplished” (Student film).

TV: “iCarly” (Nickelodeon), “The Electric Company” (PBS Kids).

Education: Montclair State University B.A. Theatre Studies & a doubleminor in Myth Studies & Business.

Jamison Stern

Tracy

PlayMakers: Debut.

Broadway/ National Tours: “By Jeeves,” “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” “Little Shop of Horrors,” and Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast”.

Regional Theatre: “Into the Woods” (NC Theatre); “The
Legend of Georgia McBride,” “Fully Committed” (Hartford
Theaterworks); “La Cage Aux Folles” (Goodspeed Musicals and Pioneer Theatre); “Torch Song Trilogy” (The Human Race Theatre Company); “Young Frankenstein” (Fulton Theatre); “Sweet Charity” (Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma); “[title of show]” (Theatreworks); “Black Comedy,” “Invention of Love,” “As Bees in Honey Drown,” “Flea In Her Ear,” “Comedy of Errors” (Alley Theatre).

Film & TV: Currently starring as Paul on the Amazon Prime series “AFTER FOREVER” (6 Daytime Emmys including Best Digital Drama), Season 3 coming soon. “Annabelle Hooper and the Ghosts of Nantucket,” “My Bakery in Brooklyn,” “Day Zero,” “Hightown,” “Law & Order,” “The Entrepreneurs”.

Instagram: @jamisonstern
Twitter: @jamisonstern
Tiktok: @jamisonstern

Adam Valentine

Casey

PlayMakers: Company member in their second year of UNC’s Professional Actor Training Program. “Hamlet,” “Emma,” “A Wrinkle in Time,” “The Skin of our Teeth”. “The Tempest” (PlayMakers Mobile). “Den Of Thieves,” “Gloria” (PlayMakers Ground Floor).

Regional: “Small Mouth Sounds” (Cadence Theatre); “The Tempest,” “The Heir Apparent” (Richmond Shakespeare); “The Curious Incident…” (Virginia Rep); “Hand To God,” “LEVEL 4,” “Heathers: The Musical” (TheatreLAB); “Maple & Vine,” “Stupid Kid” (Firehouse Theatre).

Education/Awards: Virginia Commonwealth University, B.A. 2021 RTCC Ernie McClintock Best Ensemble Acting for “Small Mouth Sounds”.

ANNOUNCING OUR 23/24 SEASON!

Jeffrey Meanza

Director

See PlayMakers Leadership page.

Matthew Steffens

Choreographer

PlayMakers: “Violet,” “Guys & Dolls,” “Hairspray” (Summer Youth
Conservatory).

Broadway: “Into The Woods,” “Doctor Zhivago,” “Promises Promises,” “Women On the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown”.

National Tours: “Into the Woods,” “West Side Story,” “Contact”.

Off-Broadway: “Queen of the Night” (Diamond Horseshoe); “The Visitor” (The Public); “Superhero” (2ST); “Bountiful” (R.Evolución Latina).

Selected Regional: Guthrie Theater, Virginia Theater Festival,
Transcendence Theater Company, Axelrod PAC. Upcoming: “Oliver”
(Encores NY City Center); “Cabaret” (Virginia Theatre Festival).

Other: Matthew also serves as a Team Director for the non-profit arts group R.Evolución Latina. @steffensmatthew

Michael Raiford

Scenic Designer

PlayMakers: “Private Lies”.

Regional: South Coast Repertory, The Alliance Theatre, City Theatre, Cleveland Playhouse, Geva Theatre Center, Kansas City Repertory Theatre, Maltz Jupiter Theatre, Ford’s Theatre, New Victory Theatre, Merrimack Repertory Theatre, The Lyric Theatre, ZACH Theatre, Antaeus Company, and Actors Theatre of Louisville. Plus 20 productions, and twelve world premieres for the Humana Festival.

Ballet/Opera: Kansas City Ballet, Colorado Ballet, The
Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Ballet Austin, Opera Boston, and Central City
Opera. Designs for “The Wizard of Oz” were nominated for the “Benois de la Danse” at the Bolshoi Ballet in 2019. Director of “Blast: The Music of Disney,” Tokyo.

Training/Other: M.F.A. from The University of Texas at Austin, where he taught for 10 years. He is a Member of United Scenic Artists. michaelraiford.myportfolio.com
@MichaelRaiford @raifordm

Asa Benally

Costume Designer

Citizen of the Navajo and Cherokee Nations.

PlayMakers: Debut.

Regional: “The Rez Sisters,” “1939” (Stratford Festival); “Seven Minutes”(Waterwell); “Where We Belong” (Woolly Mammoth Theater, Baltimore Center Stage, The Public Theater); “Mrs. Warren’s Profession” (The Gingold Group); “Blues for an Alabama Sky” (Keen Company, Drama Desk Nomination); “Somewhere Over the Border” (Syracuse Stage); “Too Heavy For Your Pocket” (George Street Playhouse); “Skeleton Crew” (Westport Country Playhouse); “Measure for Measure” (The Public Theater Mobile Unit); “The Brobot Johnson Experience” (The Bushwick Starr); “Tricks the Devil Taught Me” (Minetta Lane Theater); “Whale Song” (Perseverance Theater); “The Winter’s Tale” (HERE Arts Center).

University: “Father Comes Home…” ( Juilliard); “Cymbeline” (Yale Repertory Theater); “Coriolanus,” “The Seagull” (Yale School of Drama); “Roberto Zucco” (Yale Cabaret).

Training: M.F.A Yale School of Drama. B.F.A. Parsons School of Design. www.asabenally.comCj
Instagram: @Asa_Benally_Design

Charlie Morrison

Lighting Designer

PlayMakers: “Assassins,” “Red,” “An Enemy of the People,” “Noises Off,” “Big River,” “As You Like It,” “The Importance of Being Earnest,” “The Underpants”.

NYC/National and International Tours: Disney’s “The Little Mermaid,” “A Christmas Story: The Musical,” Dr. Seuss’s “How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, The Musical,” “A Chorus Line,” “Chitty
Chitty Bang Bang,” “Miss Saigon,” “Aida,” “The Producers,” “Legally
Blonde,” “Man of La Mancha,” “Guys and Dolls,” “Groovaloo,” “Hello,
Dolly!,” “My Fair Lady,” “The King and I,” “Spelling Bee,” “Gypsy,” “42nd Street,”“Smokey Joe’s Cafe,” “The Who’s Tommy,” “Titanic,” “The Music Man” and many others.

Regional: Paper Mill Playhouse, Guthrie Theater, Shakespeare Theatre Company (D.C.), Goodspeed Musicals, Seattle Repertory, Seattle 5th Avenue, Broadway Sacramento, Theatre Under the
Stars, Dallas Summer Musicals, Kansas City Starlight, Pittsburgh CLO, George Street Playhouse, North Carolina Theatre, PlayMakers Repertory, Tulsa Opera and many others.

TV: “Finding Magic Mike” for HBOMax.

Charlie is the recipient of two Helen Hayes Awards for Outstanding
Lighting. www.cmlighting.com

Kate Marvin

Composer & Sound Director

PlayMakers: “A Wrinkle in Time”.

Off Broadway/New York: “The Best We Could” (MTC); “Wolf Play” (MCC/Soho Rep); “Heartland” (59E59); “Fidelio” (Heartbeat Opera); “Blood Meal,” “The Little Hours” (Theater in Quarantine); “Wives” (Playwrights Horizons); “Fruiting Bodies” (Ma-Yi); “Chimpanzee” (HERE Arts Center); “Porto” (WP Theater); “Wilder Gone” (Clubbed Thumb); “Happy Days” (TFANA).

Regional: Two River Theater, Northern Stage, Geva Theatre Center, Guthrie Theater, Alliance Theater, Mark Taper Forum, among others.

Film: “The Memory Trade” (Handmade Puppet Dreams); “Out of Office” (NYS Puppet Festival); “White Flags” (AC Pictures).

Education/Other: Kate is an associate artist
with Target Margin Theater and Little Lord. MFA, Yale School of Drama.

Instagram: @katemarvinsound

Tracy Bersley

Intimacy Choreographer

PlayMakers: Movement coach and resident choreographer in her sixth season.

Off-Broadway/New York: As director/choreographer— Lincoln
Center, The Public Theater, BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music), The
Lortel Theatre, Primary Stages, and many award-winning Off-Broadway companies, such as The Civilians and Red Bull Theatre.

Regional: As director/choreographer— Carolina Performing Arts, McCarter Theatre, Williamstown Theatre Festival.

Eduction/Other: Served as professor or guest artist at Yale School of Drama, Princeton University, New York University, Purchase College, Columbia University/Barnard College, and The Juilliard School. Tracy received her MFA in Directing from Syracuse University and is currently co-head of the Professional Actor Training
Program in the Department of Dramatic Art at UNC-Chapel Hill, a
member of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, and a Drama League Fellow.

Jo Holcomb

Dramaturg

PlayMakers: Debut.

Regional: “Floyd’s” (as a developmental dramaturg with Lynn Nottage), “Metamorphoses,” “Indecent” (with Paula Vogel), “Native Gardens” (with Karen Zacarias), “The Crucible,” “A Christmas Carol,” “Uncle Vanya,” “The Burial at Thebes,” “M. Butterfly,” “The Glass Menagerie,” “Six Degrees of Separation” among others (Guthrie Theater); “Into the Woods,” “The Winter’s Tale,” “Comedy of Errors,” “Thunder Knocking at the Door,” “Sotto Voce,” “Iphigenia at Aulis,” and “Mlima’s Tale” (Ten Thousand Things Theater); Jo has served as dramaturg for Six Points Theater and Macalester College where she was the dramaturg for “Angels in America: Part One”.

Academia: Jo has taught at the University of Minnesota/Guthrie Theater B.F.A. Actor Training Program and the National Theatre Institute, O’Neill Center. She is currently the BFA program Dramaturg for the University of Minnesota.

Tia James

Vocal Coach

PlayMakers: Company member for three seasons. Actor: “Hamlet,”
“Blues for an Alabama Sky,” “A Wrinkle in Time,” “Julius Caesar,” “Native Son.” Vocal coaching includes “They Do Not Know Harlem,” “Stick Fly,” “Ragtime,” “How I Learned to Drive,” “Life of Galileo,” “Bewilderness,” “She Loves Me,” “Skeleton Crew,” “Sherwood,” “Jump,” “Your Healing is Killing Me.” Director: “How I Learned What I Learned,” “As You Like It,” “Macbeth” (PlayMakers Mobile) and “Constellations” (PlayMakers Ground Floor).

Broadway: “The Merchant of Venice.” Off-Broadway/New York:
“The Winter’s Tale,” “The Merchant of Venice” (Shakespeare in the Park).

Regional: “Much Ado About Nothing” (Commonwealth Shakespeare
Company); “Richard III” (Allentown Shakespeare); “Loving and Loving” (Stella Adler Studios); “Much Ado About Nothing” (Two River Theatre); “Civilization [All You Can Eat]” (Woolly Mammoth Theater).

Television: “Nurse Jackie,” “Treme.”

Teaching/Coaching/Directing: UNC-Chapel Hill, NYU Graduate Acting, NYU Dance, Atlantic Acting School, Montclair University.

Education/Awards: MFA NYU Tisch Graduate Acting Program, BFA Virginia Commonwealth University; Miller Voice Method Teacher Certification. Recipient of the 2014 NYU Graduate Acting Diversity Mentorship Scholarship, 2003 Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship winner for Best Actor; 2019 Michael Chekhov/Zelda Fichandler Scholarship.

Sarah Smiley

Stage Manager

After a seven-year hiatus in her home state of Florida, Sarah returns to PlayMakers as resident stage manager, having held that position from 2005 – 2015. In the interim, Sarah has been the resident stage manager at freeFall Theatre in St. Petersburg, FL.

She has worked with theatres, theme parks, and road houses in eight states and the U.K., including Tampa Playmakers, Virginia Stage Company, Busch Gardens Tampa, the Alliance Theatre Company, 7 Stages, Gulfshore Playhouse, Shadowland Theatre, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Sherman Theatre in Cardiff, Wales, and the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds.

She is a member of Actors’ Equity Association, and has been active in USITT and the Stage Managers’ Association.

She received her M.F.A. from the University of Iowa.

Aspen Blake Jackson

Assistant Stage Manager

PlayMakers: “They Do Not Know Harlem,” “Native Gardens.” “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” (Summer Youth Conservatory).

Aspen graduated in May of 2019 with a BA in Vocal Performance and Dramatic Arts from UNC-Chapel Hill. During her undergraduate career, she was stage manager for shows such as “Cendrillon,” “Dido and Aeneas” and “The Pillowman.”

After graduating, Aspen completed an internship with the Walt Disney World Company and she worked as a production assistant for PlayMakers Repertory Company during their 19/20 and 21/22 seasons. Aspen is thrilled to be returning to PlayMakers Repertory Company this season for her debut as Resident Stage Manager.

PlayMakers Leadership

Vivienne Benesch

Producing Artistic Director

Vivienne is in her seventh full season as a company member and Producing Artistic Director at PlayMakers, where she has helmed productions of “Hamlet,” “The Skin of Our Teeth,” “The Storyteller,” “Dairyland,” “Life of Galileo,” “Leaving Eden,” “The May Queen,” “Three Sisters,” “Love Alone,” “RED” and “In The Next Room.” In her seven seasons with the theatre, she is particularly proud to have produced 11 world-premieres and launched PlayMakers Mobile, a touring production aimed at reaching underserved audiences around the Triangle.

For 12 seasons, she served as Artistic Director of the renowned Chautauqua Theater Company and Conservatory, presiding over the company’s transformation into one of the best summer theatres and most competitive summer training programs in the country. Vivienne directed both the world premiere of Noah Haidle’s “Birthday Candles” for Detroit Public Theatre and, in 2022, its Broadway production starring Debra Messing. She has also directed for the Folger Shakespeare Theatre (Helen Hayes nomination for best direction 2019), The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, Trinity Repertory Company, NY Stage & Film, and Red Bull Theatre, among others.

As an actress, Vivienne has worked on and off-Broadway, in film and television, at many of the country’s most celebrated theatres, and received an Obie Award for her performance in Lee Blessing’s “Going to St. Ives.” Vivienne is a graduate of Brown University and NYU’s Graduate Acting Program.

As an educator, she has directed for and served on the faculty of some of the nation’s foremost actor training programs, including The Juilliard School, UNC-Chapel Hill’s Professional Actor Training Program, Brown/Trinity Rep MFA Program, and at her alma mater, NYU’s Graduate Acting Program. She is the 2017 recipient of the Zelda Fichandler Award given by the Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation.

Maura Murphy

General Manager

Maura is here for her seventh full season, returning after a 23-year hiatus. In that time, she honed her administrative skills at Duke, NCSU and of course, Carolina. She was production stage manager for PlayMakers from 1993-1996 and general manager from 1996-1999. Education: EdD and MS in Higher Education Administration, NCSU; BA in Drama, Muhlenberg College.

Jeffrey Meanza

Associate Artistic Director

An actor, director and educator, Jeffrey Meanza has spent the last 15 years working at two of the country’s most celebrated regional theatres overseeing the artistic, educational and community engagement efforts of the organizations.

As a member of PlayMakers’ resident acting company, he has appeared in “Angels in America, “Into the Woods,” Lisa Kron’s “Well,” “Amadeus,” “Assasins,” and “The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby” among others. Since 2015, he served as the Guthrie Theater’s associate artistic director, overseeing the theater’s education and community engagement initiatives, the literary team, casting, and the theater’s professional training programs, as well as helping to guide the work on the Guthrie’s three stages.

During his tenure, Meanza managed the expansion of educational programming to serve over 35,000 students annually, including the creation of an artist residency program that put full-time teaching artists in high school classrooms throughout the state of Minnesota. In addition, under his leadership, the Guthrie piloted a new Fellowship program that offers paid training opportunities for emerging leaders to experience work at one of the nation’s leading regional theaters. In 2021, Meanza returned to PlayMakers Repertory Company as Associate Artistic Director, charged with overseeing the artistic, educational and engagement operations of the theater.

He holds an M.F.A in Acting from the Professional Actor Training Program at UNC-Chapel Hill and a B.A. in Theater and Performance Studies from the University of California, Berkeley.

Michael Rolleri

Production Manager

Michael is in his 36th season with PlayMakers Repertory Company. He has been Technical Director, Project Manager, Exhibition Technician, and Lighting Designer for industrial shows in the Southeast region, as well as lead carpenter for films, the U.S. Olympic Festival, and scenic studios. He has also been a rigger in the Southeast region and has served on the executive board and as President of IATSE Local 417. Michael is a 30 year Gold Pin member of IATSE. An active member of United States Institute For Theatre Technology (USITT), he is a three-time winner at USITT’s Tech Expo. He is a full Professor/Head of the Technical Production Program at UNC-Chapel Hill and was an instructor at High Point University and Tufts University.

Education: MFA in Design and Technical Production, UNC-Greensboro.

PlayMakers Repertory Company

Joan H. Gillings Center for Dramatic Art
CB# 3235, UNC-Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3235

Box Office: 919.962.7529
Website: www.playmakersrep.org

What Will Shows Look Like This Year?

The 22/23 season will feature six live, in-person performances featuring works that explore the resilience of family bonds in all their complicated forms, friendships that transcend language, time, and space, and one man’s connection to his community that helps him stand taller than he could alone.

Health and Safety

PlayMakers Repertory Company is committed to the safety and well-being of our patrons, artists and staff. We will be following state, industry and University safety guidelines in the 22/23 season.

All patrons are encouraged to wear masks while inside the Joan H. Gillings Center for Dramatic Art.

We have increased sanitation measures throughout the building and put some new protocols in place to improve safety including:

Touch free electronic ticketing
Hand sanitizers throughout the Center for Dramatic Art
More frequent cleaning of high-touch surfaces
HEPA filtration units

Box Office Hours

Tuesday-Friday, 12:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. and 90 minutes before each performance.

What If I Have to Miss My Performance Date?

For the safety of all our artists, patrons, and staff, if you feel unwell, please stay home. You may call our Box Office and ask to be reseated for another performance, or request a refund up to 48 hour before your ticketed performance.

If you know you will miss a performance date, we can exchange your ticket for you, based on availability. Please call our Box Office at least 48 hours before your scheduled performance, and please be aware that all exchanges are based on availability and a fee or additional cost may apply. Subscribers may exchange their tickets with no additional fee, but additional cost may apply with a change in performance or section.

Use of Cell Phones and Other Electronics

Texting and using cell phones, laptops, smart watches, and other devices light- or sound-emitting devices are strictly prohibited during the performance. Please turn all electronic devices to silent, theatre mode, or off during the show.

Cameras or Recording Devices

Taking photographs or videotaping inside the theatre is strictly prohibited during performances. However, before the show, during intermission, and after the show, you are invited to take and share your photos of the stage and scenery.

Parking

There are several paid and free parking options available near PlayMakers. We recommend arriving 30 minutes before the show so that you have time to park and pay (Monday-Thursday evenings only) and find your seat. For more information and an interactive map of nearby parking options, please visit www.playmakersrep.org/parking

Policy on Young Children

As a courtesy to our patrons, it is the policy of PlayMakers not to admit children under the age of 5. All of our shows have content ratings for each production (for example: Rated PG-13). If you are considering bringing your child, please refer to website or contact our Box Office for further information. All patrons, regardless of age, must have a ticket.

Headsets for Hearing Impaired Patrons

Our theatres are equipped with sound systems that amplify the sound from the stage. Patrons who wish to use the system may obtain headsets on a first-come, first-served basis from the coat check. Headsets must be returned immediately after the performance.

Late Seating and Leaving Your Seat During the Performance

To minimize disruptions to the actors and other patrons, late seating will be provided at the discretion of the house manager at an appropriate break in the action on stage. Patrons who need to be seated late must be escorted by house staff to seats at the rear entrance of the auditorium, which entails climbing a flight of stairs. Patrons can take their regular seat at intermission.

PlayMakers’ 2022/23 Season is Made Possible in Part by Grants from

Foundation Support

National Endowment for the Arts, North Carolina Arts Council, Orange County Arts Commission, The Shubert Foundation, Fidelity Foundation, Truist Foundation, The Educational Foundation of America

Additional Funding for Guest Artists is Provided by

Robert Boyer and Margaret Boyer Fund, Louise Lamont Fund, Emeriti Professors Charles and Shirley Weiss Fund

Producing Council

Mebane Lumber, Residence Inn Chapel Hill, Spoonflower, Larry’s Coffee, The Siena Hotel/Il Palio Restaurant

Corporate Council

De Maison Selections, Aloft

Associates

Cambria Suites

PlayMakers Repertory Company is a program of the Department of Dramatic Art, The College of Arts and Sciences, and The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The North Carolina Arts Council, a division of the Department of Cultural Resources, recognizes PlayMakers as a professional theatre organization and provides grant assistance to this organization from funds appropriated by the North Carolina General Assembly and the National Endowment for the Arts. PlayMakers is a beneficiary of the Elizabeth Price Kenan Endowment and the Lillian Hughes Prince Endowment.

PlayMakers Repertory Company is a Member of Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for the American theatre.

This Theatre operates under an agreement between the League Of Resident Theatres (LORT) 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.

The Director is a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, a national theatrical labor union.

THERE HAS NEVER BEEN A MORE IMPORTANT TIME TO SUPPORT PLAYMAKERS AND THE ARTS

As a nonprofit professional theatre, ticket sales traditionally cover only half of our annual operating costs. This year, we cannot count on ticket revenue as we have in the past. We must rely on the generosity of our community to help close the gap and keep our stages alive.

You can help support and sustain all our work, both on stage and off, by making a tax-deductible gift which enables us to:

Bring innovative, entertaining, and relevant theatre to the Triangle
Serve students across the state through our award-winning educational programs
Engage with our audiences through artist and community conversations
Remain flexible, safe, and better prepared for the future

Every gift, big or small, makes a huge difference!

Ways to Give

Online

Donate

Phone or Email

Kymberly Burkhead-Dalton, Director of Development
kbdalton@email.unc.ecu
919.962.4846

Mail

Send your check to:
Kymberly Burkhead-Dalton
PlayMakers Repertory Company Development Department
Joan H. Gillings Center for Dramatic Art
CB 3235
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3235

PlayMakers is grateful to the members of the Friends of PlayMakers for their generous support. For more information about how to join this dynamic group of supporters, call the PlayMakers Development Office at 919.962.2481 or visit us at playmakersrep.org.

Donate

Friends of PlayMakers

Director’s Circle ($10,000+)

Anonymous
Susan Arrington
American Endowment Foundation
Betsy Blackwell and John Watson Jr.
Thomas and Holly Carr
Munroe and Becky Cobey
Mr. and Mrs. David G. Frey
Joanne and Peter Garrett
Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund
Joan Gillings ~
The Charles Goren and Hazen Family
Foundation, Trustees Tom and Lisa Hazen
Amy and Kevin Guskiewicz
T. Chandler and Monie Hardwick
Brian Hargrove and David Hyde Pierce
Mrs. Frank H. Kenan
Thomas S. Kenan III
John and Debra Ratliff
Wyndham Robertson
Coleman and Carol Ross
Shubert Foundation
Schwab Charitable
Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program
Alan H. Weinhouse

Angel ($5,000–9,999)

Anonymous
The Educational Foundation of America
Mr. and Mrs. Matt Hapgood
Prentice Foundation
Schwab Charitable
Mr. and Mrs. H. Edward Wright, III
Jim and Bonnie Yankaskas

Investor ($2,500–4,999)

Richard and Deirdre Arnold ^
Andrew and Katherine Asaro ^ +
Jennifer Cannizzaro
Susan E. Hartley
Susan J. Kelly
Duncan and Stuart Lascelles
Kim Kwok
Nick and Amy Penwarden
Jean and Joseph Ritok
Dr. and Mrs. Edward Smithwick

Page to Stage ($1,500–2,499)

David and Judy Adamson
Vivienne Benesch
Steve Benezra ^
Dr. Stephen Shaw Birdsall
Ed and Eleanor Burke ^
Cindy and Thomas Cook
Dustin and Susan Gillings Gross
Carol Hazard and Winston Liao
David J. Howell
Hugon Karwowski and Joanna Karwowska ^
Dr. Catherine Kuhn and Glenn Tortorici
Mark & Bette Morris Family Foundation
Mark and Julie Morris
Paul and Linda Naylor
Panter Foundation
Dr. Abigail T. Panter and Dr. George Huba
Bettina Patterson
RR Donnelley
Carole L. Shelby
The Rev. Wendy R. and W. Riley Waugh
Roger and Marlene Werner
Jenny and Julian Wiles

Backer ($500–999)

Anonymous (3)
Pete and Hannah Andrews
Dr. Thomas C. Apostle and Sharon E. Lawrence-Apostle
Adam C. Beck ^
John W. Becton and Nancy B. Tannenbaum
Dr. Stanley Warren Black, III
Thorsten A. Fjellstedt
Mrs. Linda Whitham Folda and Dr. Jaroslav Thayer Folda, III
James P. Gogan ^
Dr. and Mrs. Robert S. Greenwood
Dr. Konrad H. and Dr. Hannelore L. Jarausch C. Hawkins
Mr. and Mrs. David L. Henson
Moise Khayrallah
Michael Maness and Lois Knauff
Anand and Sandhya Lagoo
Dr. and Mrs. Morton D. Malkin
Ed and Connie McCraw
Cecelia D. Moore and William T. Schneider ^
Laurie E. McNeil and Patrick W. Wallace
Jeanne and Herbert Miller
Dr. James C. and Dr. Susan D. Moeser
Nelda and Douglas Lay
Linda W. Norris
Ariana Pancaldo and Michael Salemi
Jodi and Glenn Preminger
Rao Family Foundation
Lucy and Sidney Smith
Dr. William W. Smith and Brenda W. Kirby
T. Rowe Price Program for Charitable Giving
U. S. Charitable Gift Trust
George Weinhouse

^ Sustainers Club Member
+ Women’s Point of View (WPOV) Supporter
* PlayMakers Special Event Supporter
~ Deceased

This list is current as of February 28, 2023. If your name is listed incorrectly or not at all, please contact PlayMakers Development Office at 919.962.2481. We will ensure you are recognized for your thoughtful support.

Table of Contents

PlayMakers Advisory Council

SUMMER YOUTH CONSERVATORY PRESENTS:

THEATRE QUEST CAMPS AVAILABLE

The Legend of Georgia McBride

By Matthew López

Directed by Jeffrey Meanza

Choreography by Matthew Steffens

March 29 – April 16, 2023

PlayMakers is…

Creating Tomorrow’s Classics, Today

A Hub of Engagement

Theatre for the People

Passing the Torch

Eliminating Barriers

Our Mission

Our Vision

Antiracism Accountability Statement

Land Acknowledgement

Why is Land Acknowledgement important?

Administration

Artistic

Administration

Development

Marketing & Audience Services

Department of Dramatic Art

FACULTY

STAFF

Production

Costumes

Lighting

Props

Scenic

Sound

Stage Management

PlayMakers’ Resident Acting Company

Professional Actor Training Program:

For this Production of “The Legend of Georgia McBride”

PROGRAM NOTES

The Legend of Matthew López

Matthew López

Actor Bios

Jeffrey Blair Cornell

Eddie

Jamar Jones

Rexy/Jason

Saleemah Sharpe

Jo

Jamison Stern

Tracy

Adam Valentine

Casey

ANNOUNCING OUR 23/24 SEASON!

Jeffrey Meanza

Director

Matthew Steffens

Choreographer

Michael Raiford

Scenic Designer

Asa Benally

Costume Designer

Charlie Morrison

Lighting Designer

Kate Marvin

Composer & Sound Director

Tracy Bersley

Intimacy Choreographer

Jo Holcomb

Dramaturg

Tia James

Vocal Coach

Sarah Smiley

Stage Manager

Aspen Blake Jackson

Assistant Stage Manager

PlayMakers Leadership

Vivienne Benesch

Producing Artistic Director

Maura Murphy

General Manager