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Origin Story 14 · An interview with Mira Nair 16 · The epic Indian wedding 19 · The program for Monsoon Wedding 22
THE BERKELEY REP M AGA ZINE
2 016 –17 · I S S U E 6
I N T H I S I S SU E
BE R K E L E Y R E P P R E S E N T S MON S OON WE DDING · 2 2
P ROL O G U E
M E E T T H E C A ST & C R E W · 24
Connect with us online!
A letter from the artistic director · 5
A letter from the managing director · 7
Visit our website berkeleyrep.org
You can buy tickets and plan your visit,
watch video, sign up for classes, donate to
the Theatre, and explore Berkeley Rep.
R E P ORT
A spectacular OVATION for Monsoon Wedding · 10
Harnessing imaginative power... · 12
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F E AT U R E S
Origin Story · 14
Considerations
Relation translation: Who’s who in
Monsoon Wedding · 15
An intoxication with life: An interview with
Mira Nair · 16
The epic Indian wedding · 19
CON T R I BU T OR S
Foundation, corporate, and in-kind sponsors · 41
Individual donors to the Annual Fund · 42
Michael Leibert Society · 44
A BOU T BE R K E L E Y R E P
Staff, board of trustees, and sustaining advisors · 46
No food or glassware in the house
Beverages in cans or cups with lids
are allowed.
Please do not touch the set or props
You are welcome to take a closer look, but
please don’t step onto the stage.
No smoking or vaping
Smoking and the use of e-cigarettes is
prohibited by law on Berkeley Rep’s property.
Bringing youth to the Theatre
Many Berkeley Rep productions are
recommended for students high school age
and above. Please inquire before bringing
young children to the theatre. All attendees
must be ticketed: please, no babes in arms.
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Many patrons are sensitive to the use of
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alarm will not beep. Use of recording
equipment or taking of photographs in the
theatre is strictly prohibited.
No re-entry
If you leave during the performance, we may
not be able to reseat you until an appropriate
break. You may watch the remainder of the
act on a lobby or bar screen.
T H E B E R K E L E Y R E P M AG A Z I N E
201 6 –17 · I S S U E 6
The Berkeley Rep Magazine is published
at least seven times per season.
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contact Pamela Webster at 510 590-7091
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2 0 1 6 –1 7 · I S S U E 6 · T H E B E R K E L E Y R E P M AG A Z I N E · 3
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P ROL OG U E
from the Artistic Director
Some directors impress you with their
talent. Others with their passion. Still others with their ability
to mobilize their fellow artists. It’s rare that one person
combines all these skills in equal measure. Mira Nair is one
such person.
I met Mira three years ago in New York. We sat in a very
loud restaurant in midtown as she told me of her desire to
turn Monsoon Wedding into a musical. “It’s been a dream of
mine for 10 years,” she told me. “The clash between classes,
between the old traditions and the modern, Western world
is only increasing…so the story is still very relevant. And there’s so much music at
an Indian wedding! It makes perfect sense as a musical.” As she talked the sound of
everyone else in the restaurant disappeared. Her words were inspiring, offering me
a glimpse into the wellspring of her imagination, the ferocity of her intellect, and the
openness of her heart. Within 20 minutes I knew that, at the very least, I wanted to
work with her. Two hours later I was dying to read the script.
But it’s a long journey from artistic dreaming to an actual production. Most new
plays are developed through a series of workshops, and Monsoon Wedding was no
exception. Spearheaded by the esteemed producing team of Margo Lion and Steve
and Ruth Hendel, several drafts were created and read before Berkeley Rep became
involved. A few months after my initial date with Mira, we were invited to attend a
workshop where the role of the patriarch of the family was played by none other
than Mira herself. (It turned out that she was pretty damned good!) Even at that
early stage of development, several things stood out: the music was spectacular, the
romantic, multi-layered story compelling, and it was a gigantic undertaking. Mira
was rightfully insistent that the entire look and feel of the piece be utterly authentic,
meaning that every detail, from the props and costumes to the musical arrangements
to the accents used by the actors…everything had to be exactingly specific. Just to
cast the play meant a worldwide search for South Asian actors who could bring
the play to an English-speaking audience. When you added up all the risks, it was
fantastically ambitious.
Which is why it’s perfect for us. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right? Berkeley is a great place to incubate the play, not only because we have a great staff, but
because our audience (that’s you) is the best in the country. This is a city that embraces difference, that celebrates people of every race, creed, and color. A city that seeks
to empathize as part of its political practice, and to understand other cultures as a
means of deepening our understanding and appreciation of the world.
This spirit of respectful openness allows us to do the work we do.
It’s why you come to the theatre.
So it is with great joy that we welcome you here tonight.
May you be drenched in the loving water of the monsoon.
Four floors
of fabulous fabrics
since 1952.
Sincerely,
Tony Taccone
2 0 1 6 –1 7 · I S S U E 6 · T H E B E R K E L E Y R E P M AG A Z I N E · 5
May 2017
Volume 49, No. 5
Paul Heppner
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6 · T H E B E R K E L E Y R E P M AG A Z I N E · 2 0 1 6 –1 7 · I S S U E 6
P ROL OG U E
from the Managing Director
I can’t think of a time when we’ve been able
to announce a new season that was filled with more luminaries, more exciting projects, more eclecticism, or more great
stories than the 2017–18 season.
The season features the first major Bay Area revival of
Angels in America (Parts One and Two!) in 20 years, directed
by Tony Taccone, whose collaboration with playwright Tony
Kushner goes back 26 years. It’s a production that has attracted some of the best actors ever seen on our stage, and some
who have yet to be seen here!
In a partnership with our friends Tom Hulce and Ira Pittelman, who helped us
bring American Idiot to Berkeley in 2009, we open the new musical Ain’t Too Proud—
The Temptations, helmed by the really brilliant director Des McAnuff (of Jersey Boys
and The Who’s Tommy fame). This show is destined to move on to New York after its
Berkeley run. See it here first. You already love the songs. Now sit back and enjoy the
story behind them.
For all of you who loved Aubergine as much as I did, you’ll be pleased to hear
we’re bringing back playwright Julia Cho with her new play, Office Hour, a shocking
and timely story about one of the crises playing out in our schools today. Julia’s inventive approach to storytelling and her keen intelligence will not disappoint you.
If that were all, it would be a season we’d be so proud to offer you. But there is
so much more. Beloved Bay Area writer Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snicket, who’s A
Series of Unfortunate Events is a television hit) brings his wicked humor and keen eye
to a family drama that will speak to anyone who had a family...right. I mean all of us!
We are so lucky to have Nilaja Sun back with us. She blew us all away 10 years
ago with her piece about the state of our schools, No Child...In fact, we turned hundreds of people away when she sold out in a matter of days. But you have a chance to
guarantee your seats to her new show, Pike St., by subscribing now. Judging from the
initial response to the show’s first performances in Washington, DC and New York,
Nilaja’s performative power is still as potent as when we last saw her.
And we have yet to announce any of the special events that will round out the
year. As always, our subscribers will get first dibs on every one of those shows as they
fall into place.
Without an ounce of cynicism or a hint of hucksterism, I’m telling you this is a
season you are not going to want to miss. So sign up today. Go online to berkeleyrep.
org and just do it. You are going to thank me for it!
Warmly,
Susan Medak
2 0 1 6 –1 7 · I S S U E 6 · T H E B E R K E L E Y R E P M AG A Z I N E · 7
S E A S O N
SUBSCRIBE TODAY FOR THE BEST SEATS
AT THE BEST PRICES!
TICKET PACKAGES ON SALE NOW
BERKELEYREP.ORG/SUB
Left to right Dominique Morisseau, playwright of AIN’T TOO PROUD—THE TEMPTATIONS; Daniel Handler, playwright of Imaginary
Comforts, or The Story of the Ghost of the Dead Rabbit; Lisa Peterson, director of Watch on the Rhine; Julia Cho, playwright of Office Hour
(photo by Jennie Warren); Tony Taccone and Tony Kushner (photo by Kevin Berne); Nilaja Sun, playwright of Pike St. (photo by Carol Rosegg)
8 · T H E B E R K E L E Y R E P M AG A Z I N E · 2 0 1 6 –1 7 · I S S U E 6
AIN’T TOO PROUD—THE TEMPTATIONS
Book by Dominique Morisseau
Music and Lyrics from The Legendary Motown Catalog
Music by arrangement with Sony/ATV Music Publishing
Orchestrations by Harold Wheeler
Musical Direction/Supervision & Arrangements by Kenny Seymour
Choreographed by Sergio Trujillo
Directed by Des McAnuff
Limited Season · Roda Theatre · Starts Aug
Imaginary Comforts, or The Story of the Ghost of the Dead Rabbit
By Daniel Handler
Directed by Tony Taccone
Main Season · Peet’s Theatre · Starts Sep
Watch on the Rhine
By Lillian Hellman
Directed by Lisa Peterson
A co-production with the Guthrie Theater
Main Season · Roda Theatre · Starts Nov
Office Hour
By Julia Cho
Directed by Lisa Peterson
Limited Season · Peet’s Theatre · Starts Feb
Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes
PART ONE: MILLENNIUM APPROACHES
PART TWO: PERESTROIKA
By Tony Kushner
Directed by Tony Taccone
Main Season · Roda Theatre · Starts Apr
Pike St.
By Nilaja Sun
Directed by Ron Russell
Main Season · Peet’s Theatre · Starts May
SEASON SPONSORS
2 0 1 6 –1 7 · I S S U E 6 · T H E B E R K E L E Y R E P M AG A Z I N E · 9
R E P ORT
The OVATION committee with Mira Nair and
Berkeley Rep staff members
P H OTO BY C H E S H I R E I S A AC S
Gavel girl DawnMarie Kotsonis
captures a winning bid
P H OTO BY C H E S H I R E I S A AC S
A spectacular OVATION for Monsoon Wedding
B Y J U L I A S TA R R
On Saturday, April 1, the ballrooms at the San
Francisco Fairmont Hotel were stunningly transformed into
the world of Monsoon Wedding for Berkeley Rep’s biggest
night of the year! Together with over 350 of the Bay Area’s
top arts supporters, we raised our glasses to toast director
Mira Nair and the creation of bold and imaginative theatre
over a truly unforgettable evening full of music, wonder, and
joyous celebration.
In keeping with the baraat custom in Indian wedding
ceremonies, an intricately costumed white horse greeted
guests upon their arrival and provided the perfect photo op.
While sipping specialty cocktails, guests strolled the Marigold
Market, our Silent Auction featuring thrilling cultural adventures, exquisite culinary experiences, and delectable wines.
The Silent Auction came to a memorable close as the reverberating beats of Deep Singh’s dhol filled the room, beginning a
procession into the banquet hall.
Guests were awed as they moved into the Grand Ballroom, which exuded color with beautiful tents and vibrant
table settings. During the sumptuous feast featuring oven-roasted lamb and fine wines, Mira Nair and the cast of
Monsoon Wedding took the stage to give guests a special sneak
peek of the new musical—including two numbers from the
show. Before dessert, DawnMarie Kotsonis, fondly known as
the Gavel Girl, started a thrilling live auction, all in support of
Berkeley Rep. Competition was fierce for hot tickets like an
adventure in India, dinner prepared by famed food and wine
connoisseur Narsai David, and a trip on The World, the largest
private residential yacht on earth.
1 0 · T H E B E R K E L E Y R E P M AG A Z I N E · 2 0 1 6 –1 7 · I S S U E 6
The evening’s festivities came to a close as guests raised
their paddles in support of Citizen Rep, the Theatre’s initiative to encourage civic engagement through community
partnerships, public programs about critical issues, and teen
advocacy programs. All told, the evening raised $775,000
to support the Theatre’s artistic endeavors and community
engagement programs.
We extend a heartfelt thank you to all of our guests for
helping us toast Mira Nair and showing their love for Berkeley
Rep. A very special thanks to our Diamond Sponsors—Fossil
Group, Bruce Golden and Michelle Mercer, Hotel Shattuck
Plaza, and the Roda Group—and the dedicated OVATION
committee who made this event truly special.
Drs. Thomas Kailath and Anuradha Luther Maitra with Mira Nair
and members of the Monsoon Wedding cast
P H OTO BY C H E S H I R E I S A AC S
R E P ORT
Harnessing imaginative
power from generation
to generation
BY MARCELA CHACÓN
The Suffrag-Ant was assistant-directed by Jack Nicolaus in 2016
P H OTO BY C H E S H I R E I S A AC S
Five Crows Summer Intensive 2016
Evangeline Summer Intensive 2016
P H OTO BY C H E S H I R E I S A AC S
P H OTO BY C H E S H I R E I S A AC S
Magick Golf Summer Intensive 2016
P H OTO BY C H E S H I R E I S A AC S
1 2 · T H E B E R K E L E Y R E P M AG A Z I N E · 2 0 1 6 –1 7 · I S S U E 6
Having opened its doors in 2001, the Berke-
ley Rep School of Theatre has grown along with its students
and teaching artists, making it an important member of the
vibrant local theatre community. Fulfilling our mission to
foster creative potential, the School continues to witness the
transformation of young students into flourishing artists. Their
talent, creativity, and curiosity have helped build a safe space
for artistic exploration, limitless imagination, and self-discovery. This shared passion for cultivating the artistic tradition of
theatre and the common belief of using performing arts as a
powerful educational tool has given birth to a large family of
professional artists committed to supporting the next generation of theatre advocates. Today, many of our former School
of Theatre students are coming back as directors, playwrights,
teachers, and teaching assistants, passing down the knowledge
and experience they have accrued over their careers and helping others find their artistic voice.
This summer our School of Theatre family gets together
again for another year of vast creation and theatremaking in
our Summer Intensive Program. As they are welcomed to our
dynamic family, middle and high school students will immerse
themselves in the fascinating world of theatre through teambased projects. New students will discover their own voice, as
well as enjoy the opportunity to learn from our very talented
teaching alumni, who will encourage them to develop the
commitment necessary for artistic excellence. As we take a
journey through Monsoon Wedding and explore the traditions
around one of the most exuberant family reunions ever seen at
Berkeley Rep, we thought it would be the perfect opportunity
to introduce you to some members of our School of Theatre
family and tell you bit more about our tradition. We asked
some of our former students who are now returning as teaching artists about what the School of Theatre means to them,
and the importance of the theatre today.
Sam Weiner started at the Berkeley Rep School of Theatre
when he was a freshman in high school. Today he teaches
improv and is an assistant director in our Summer Intensive
program. Roxie Perkins’ first encounter with the Berkeley Rep
School of Theatre was in the Summer Intensive of 2006; after
taking a number of classes, she directed a play in the Teen
One-Acts Festival. She is now one of the School’s professional
playwrights. Alyssa Gable started taking classes at the School
of Theatre 10 years ago and will be a teaching assistant this
summer. Jack Nicolaus has been at the School every summer
since 2001. Now he teaches Beginning Acting and will be
directing one of the original plays that will be written and performed during the high school Summer Intensive session. He
also helps students around the Bay Area apply their creative
potential through our outreach program.
What does the Berkeley School of Theatre mean to you?
Roxie: The first class I took at the School of Theatre was
the high school Summer Intensive, and the experience was revelatory. Never before had I felt so supported and challenged
by teachers and students alike. That experience set the bar
for the type of artistic communities I wanted to be a part of
and the type of artist I wanted to become. Having my voice be
heard and respected as an artist gave me a sense of purpose
and possibility that motivated me to turn my previously poor
“That experience set the
bar for the type of artistic
communities I wanted to
be a part of and the type of
artist I wanted to become.”
—ROX IE PE R K IN S
academic life around, graduate high school, and go to college
to study theatre.
Alyssa: A family. The summers I spent at Berkeley Rep
were where I created my second home. The directors, playwrights, and my peers gave me the confidence to be comfortable with who I am. I will hold on to the memories and the
important lessons I’ve learned forever. I want to give back to
the community that had already given me so much. I learned
important skills like accountability and responsibility, not only
to myself, but also to others.
Sam: The School of Theatre not only imparts first-rate
training in acting, something I have dedicated my life to,
but also represents the greater values of understanding,
curiosity, and a sense of play. These eternal touchstones are
incredibly important both on and off the theatre stage, and
I’m proud to say that Berkeley Rep helped foster them in me,
and I can only hope to do the same in the hearts and minds
of the next generation.
Jack: The School of Theatre is my artistic and educational
home space. It has blessed me with countless opportunities to
define my identity as an arts educator, and gave me support to
spread my wings and advocate the transformational power of
theatre in communities around the Bay.
What is the importance of theatre today?
Sam: With so much technological evolution in the way
we live our lives, so much (cyber) space in between us as
individuals, seeing real human beings have intense emotional
experiences mere feet from us in the audience could not be
more important.
Roxie: Theatre is an important tradition because it is the
most pure form of storytelling: bodies in a shared space and
time looking for meaning in themselves and each other.
Alyssa: Theatre is a form of expression. It pushes you to
places you could never go, mentally and physically. Its importance is invaluable.
The tradition of passing down our love for theatre continues as new students and artists come to our School and the
commitment to inspire and support our students gets stronger
through the years. Thank you for supporting Berkeley Rep, and
welcome to our family!
2 0 1 6 –1 7 · I S S U E 6 · T H E B E R K E L E Y R E P M AG A Z I N E · 1 3
The
Origin Story:
Monsoon Wedding
When producer Margo Lion called Tony
Taccone to ask if he’d be interested in talking to Mira
Nair about a theatre project, Tony did not need any
time at all to think about it. One resounding yes
and a trip to New York later, he found himself face
to face with one of the most luminous, dynamic,
fiercely generous, and inarguably talented artists of
our time. Mira’s body of work speaks for itself—films
like Salaam Bombay! and Mississippi Masala helped
redefine what a Hollywood success could look like.
The chance to work with an artist of this magnitude
doesn’t come along every day, and Tony wasn’t about
to pass it up.
Mira wanted to adapt her radiant film, Monsoon
Wedding, for the stage. It would be one of the
most expansive endeavors Berkeley Rep had ever
attempted, with artists coming from all over the
world, designs pushing the limits of our theatre’s
capacities, resources stretched to their max, and
requiring more people firing on all cylinders than ever
before. Normally, an artistic director would take time
to carefully consider a proposition this massive, really
weighing whether or not we could serve the project
well. In this case, there was just no need: Mira is a
force of nature. She, and we, would make it work.
Mira’s exceptional artistry and uncompromising
appetite for excellence, along with her devotion to
creating a spectacle worthy of an Indian wedding,
combine to take an already great story and transform
it into a truly unparalleled theatrical experience. We
are honored that Margo and Mira selected us as
the company they wanted to work with to premiere
this production.
1 4 · T H E B E R K E L E Y R E P M AG A Z I N E · 2 0 1 6 –1 7 · I S S U E 6
Vijaya
Ria's
parents
Tej
a.k.a. "pRaAjI"
"daadi" a.k.a. "matAjI"
Ria
VERMA
gRaNd
motHER
MOHaN
RaI
SaROJ
RaI
"MUMMy"
HEMaNT
RaI
In Indian social circles, the terms “aunty” and
“uncle” can apply to any person in the generation above yours.
Terms for relatives are a lot more specific: titles vary for family
members on the father’s versus the mother’s side of the family, for their elder versus their younger siblings, and for how to
address someone versus how to refer to them. “Mumma” and
“Papa” are as common as the American “Mom” and “Dad,”
but that is where the simplicity ends. For example, “Daadi”
means paternal grandmother and “Naani” means maternal
grandmother. One of the songs in Monsoon Wedding refers
to “sassey” (plural for “sas”), which means mothers-in-law.
LaLIT
VERMA
PiMMI
VERMA
"Papa"
“muMMa"
varun
VERMA
Aditi’s “sas”-to-be is Saroj Rai, who encourages Aditi to call her
“Mummy,” an affectionate term for a mother. “Sas” is her title,
but “Mummy” is how she wishes to be addressed. Furthermore, relatives may refer to each other by more casual titles
rather than use the most proper terminology. Tej, as Lalit’s elder brother-in-law, should be addressed as “Jijaji” but is instead
called “Praaji,” a way to refer to an elder brother (indicating a
greater closeness than with a brother-in-law). Literary Fellow
Ankita Raturi and Graphic Design fellow Cynthia Peñaloza took
some time to decode the familial relationships and terminology that appear in Monsoon Wedding.
CL
CHaWLa
SHasHi
CHaWLa
aLIya
cHawLa
PRAAJI
respectful term for elder brother
MATAJI
respectful term for mother
DAADI
father’s mother
"NaaNI"
NAANI
mother’s mother
MUMMY
alternative for “Mumma”
AdItI
VERMA
ViKrAm
Pk
dUBEy
ALICe
2 0 1 6 –1 7 · I S S U E 6 · T H E B E R K E L E Y R E P M AG A Z I N E · 1 5
AN INTOXICATION WITH LIFE: AN INTERVIEW WITH
Mira Nair
P H OTO BY I S H A A N N A I R
1 6 · T H E B E R K E L E Y R E P M AG A Z I N E · 2 0 1 6 –1 7 · I S S U E 6
BY SARAH ROSE LEONARD & JOEL DOCKENDORF
Mira Nair, the renowned film director, returns to
her theatre roots with a musical adaptation of her 2001 hit
independent film Monsoon Wedding. Her diverse body of work
ranges in subject matter and style, including feature films and
documentaries such as Salaam Bombay!, Mississippi Masala,
India Cabaret, Vanity Fair, The Namesake, and Queen of Katwe.
However, they all universally exude Nair’s signature infectious
curiosity. She is a woman you can’t say no to. Her warmth is
irresistible, her sense of humor contagious, her artistic rigor
inspiring. Joel Dockendorf, Berkeley Rep’s video and multimedia producer, sat down with Nair between rehearsals to discuss
what it’s like to reimagine her film as a new musical.
I hear that you started your career in theatre.
Making Monsoon Wedding as a stage musical was in a way
like coming home. I was deeply, intuitively happy as an actor
on stage when I first began working. From age 16 until 19, I was
part of a repertory company—several actually—in Calcutta
with this radical Bengali playwright called Badal Sircar; we used
to take political theatre out into the streets. Then I came to
this country on a scholarship to Harvard to study theatre and
to become an actor. At the time, Harvard didn’t offer a theatre
concentration, so I spent my summers at La MaMa in New
York, where I apprenticed with the extraordinary founder Ellen
Stewart. There, I got to observe and work with great heroes of
mine like Joseph Chaikin, Andrei Serban, and Liz Swados. Theatre is part of my dna and it feels comfortable to adapt one of
my films into a musical. But this certainly is also new for me. It
is my first musical, and it has been a long time in the making.
Namit Das (Dubey) and Anisha Nagarajan (Alice)
P H OTO BY J OA N M A R C U S
What is it like coming back to a piece of work that you
started 16 years ago?
When we made this film, we were painting a portrait of
a globalizing India, the India in fact that we now live in, you
know? It was a juxtaposition of the ancient and modern in every way: architecturally, emotionally, sexually. That was almost
15 years ago. Now, India is almost a superpower—more known
to the world and more confident in its crossover wealth. Now
more than ever, there is an enormous division and discrepancy
between the rich and the poor. There is actual depravity with
the ostentation of wealth. There are all kinds of manifestations
of this crazily global yet not always progressing India. So now
in 2017, we’ve updated the musical to reflect not just the complexity and the madness of today’s India, but also what’s going
on in America. Monsoon Wedding the musical is equally about
today’s India and today’s America: the bride and the groom
both meet across the oceans and they both have their own
vision of India and America. This is that beautiful collision that
is at the heart of Monsoon Wedding.
The heart of our story is also about different kinds of love.
There’s what I call “ old shoe love”—the love between the
father and mother of the bride over many years that may have
faded in passion and yet completely finds itself again. Then
there is the love that is arranged that could ignite—the love
between the groom and the bride. There is the love over a
flower, the nonmaterial love of Alice and Dubay, the maid and
the tent man. And finally there is the sick, twisted love that is
also unfortunately in our lives. Monsoon Wedding, we hope, is a
gorgeous blend of all these different kinds of love that together creates a sense of joy on stage. That is what we are aspiring
for. And it’s just kind of nice to be making an antidepressant.
We need that right now! When did the idea that Monsoon
Wedding could be a musical pop into your head?
When the film opened in 2002, it ran for months and
broke box-office records at the Paris in New York. My agent,
the legendary Sam Cohn, had his office in front of it. He told
me he would pop in for 20 or maybe 45 minutes every other
day to see the film to, “save his shrink bills,” because it made
him happy. One day he took me to dinner and casually said,
“You should really think about making it into a musical.” That
was my “aha!” moment.
The film is an explosion of what we call masti—the
intoxication to live. Music was already in the bones of the film
of Monsoon Wedding; I work with music like it’s oxygen. So his
suggestion to turn it into a musical just seemed right. That was
already more than 12 years ago.
The first people I talked to were two of my friends—Vishal
and Sabrina. Vishal is the great composer of our musical, he
understands the pulse of the pop of Indian music but comes
from the ancient study of the classical music, which is exactly
how I wanted that bridge to be served. Sabrina is the writer of
the screenplay who I jumped into learning the completely new
form of the book of a musical. Together we made the first few
songs, which are still with us in the play. And then we found
Susan Birkenhead, a veteran Broadway lyricist, who has this
amazing talent for entering another culture and completely,
sinuously understanding the colloquialisms and language, then
CO N TIN U E D O N N E X T PAG E
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CO N TIN U E D FRO M PR E VI O U S PAG E
Mira Nair (center) with the cast and crew of Monsoon Wedding
P H OTO BY J OA N M A R C U S
translating that into lyrics. It can be a little hard to put the four
of us in a room, because we all have big-ish lives and live across
oceans but the devotion has been steadfast. And our fantastic producers like Margo Lion and Stephen and Ruth Hendel
have labored to create these oases of time for us across the
years. We’ve gone through about five workshops, continuing
to hone the piece together. And then the casting! Casting
Monsoon Wedding, without exaggeration, has taken five years.
Because—the talent is so there—but to sing, dance, and act
onstage amongst the best is not an opportunity that is given
to many South Asian actors, you know? We tapped into the
world of classical Indian singing and dancing in India, and even
within America. Our casting directors really had to scour the
place, and now we are beholden with treasures.
I recently saw an article about the show Natasha, Pierre
& the Great Comet of 1812, talking about when Shoba
Narayan stepped into the lead role for a night, it made her
the first South Asian female in a principal role on Broadway
since Bombay Dreams ran over 10 years ago. And she is currently the only South Asian female in a Broadway musical.
You know the first day of rehearsal for Monsoon Wedding,
I got out of the subway in Times Square, and I said “All brown
people follow me!” Because we were heading to rehearsal!
[Laughs.] It really is a gorgeous privilege to bring our talent to a
world that needs to know it, and will be enlivened for it.
What does music add to the story?
All kinds of music and song are interwoven into any
wedding. So we had that on our side, but also the musical form
meant that great emotions, or even small ones, could be sung.
And the beautiful thing about working with such an authen1 8 · T H E B E R K E L E Y R E P M AG A Z I N E · 2 0 1 6 –1 7 · I S S U E 6
tic team is that we know how and where to explore different
traditions of music. For example, we had a big song in Act Two
that is sung and performed in our story in the Qawwali tradition, a North Indian tradition of duet singing. One day I asked
Vishal, “Let’s have a Bhatially melody,” a boatman’s melody
which is part of our tradition. And Vishal immediately came
up with this beautiful melody which became “Goddess of the
Light.” It became this exquisite moment in our musical when
Alice emerges like a candelabra, like this goddess of the light.
How do you envision the musical speaking to the audience?
I think the musical is coming from a very authentic place,
but a place that is also playful, irreverent, and modern in terms
of its use of design, music, and costume. It is about the character of an India that is constantly changing and of an America
that is constantly changing. So it is very topical. It is about people who come from other places and make either this country
home, or vice versa. I think people will see themselves in this
story and in this family because it is a universal story. The story
of a family that does not want to split, that does not want to
break despite the vicissitudes of life. In Monsoon Wedding, the
story of this family is told in a combination of great truth and
great fun. Fun is critical, but fun cannot mask darker things.
We strived for a beautiful kind of balance between silence and
music, darkness and real joy. At its foundation, our story is
about love. We all yearn for that, don’t we? We all want to understand love. We want to recognize what love is and how we
become a part of it. That is what I hope to create onstage—a
feeling of masti, of a kind of intoxication with life. I want to
take you to an India you may not have seen, and an America
that has to wake up to us.
the epic indian wedding
B Y A N K I TA R AT U R I
There may not be any such thing as the “typical”
Indian wedding. The bride and groom may practice Hinduism,
Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Buddhism, Jainism; might ethnically descend from North or South India; and could reside in any
one of India’s culturally distinct 36 states and union territories.
On top of that, the ceremony could follow traditional or modern customs, and the marriage could arise from an arranged or
a love match. The possibilities are dizzying. Moreover, Indian
families celebrate for at least three days with events each
day. From hours of henna application to the bride’s hands and
feet to the groom’s entrance dancing atop an elephant to the
myriad mischievous games between their two families, Indian
weddings across the board are nothing if not epic.
Popular culture has embraced North Indian weddings as
something of a gold standard. Even outside India, the most
iconic, recognizable wedding customs come from the North
Indian tradition. The Verma family in Monsoon Wedding originates from the North Indian state of Punjab, and Aditi Verma’s
wedding to Hemant Rai epitomizes all the staples of a big
Punjabi wedding. Each ritual holds its own religious or cultural
significance, but the essential undercurrent throughout a Punjabi wedding is its masti, a Hindi word perhaps best translated
as “indubitable fun.”
The first ceremony you’ll see in Monsoon Wedding is the
sagai, also sometimes called the mangni: the formal engagement ceremony. In an arranged marriage, the families agree on
the match, so no one proposes. Instead, they set a date for the
engagement, which includes an exchange of rings, gifts, and
sweets. On any happy occasion, especially an engagement or
wedding, you are likely to hear the phrase “muh meetha karo,”
meaning, “Sweeten your mouth” as aunties (those female
friends and relatives of all Indian parents that collectively take
it upon themselves to raise everyone’s children) jovially forcefeed sweets and confections to the happy couple.
Some time later, the wedding festivities begin in earnest.
These include a number of pre-wedding traditions taking place
over two or three days leading up to main ceremony. First up
comes the haldi ceremony, which takes place at the respective
homes of the bride and groom. Family members apply haldi, or
turmeric, paste to the bride and the groom’s skin to brighten
and even its tone in preparation for the wedding. The paste’s
yellow color is considered auspicious and purifying, and the
application supposedly protects the bride and groom from
the ominous nazar, or evil eye. Each family member applies
turmeric paste in turn to the face, neck, hands, and feet, but
inevitably someone will go for the hair and soon the ceremony
has turned into an all out war resembling a water balloon fight,
the bride or groom fending for themselves against the rest of
their respective families. After the haldi, the families ask the
Hindu Lord Ganesha to ensure that the wedding transpires
smoothly and without obstacle in a prayer ceremony called the
Ganesha pooja.
The next day’s affairs begin with the mehendi, the Hindi word for henna. The mehendi ceremony features henna
application to the bride’s hands, forearms, feet, and ankles.
Henna supposedly holds many medicinal uses, for example
as a cooling agent that calms the nerves or an antiseptic that
protects against infectious diseases; Hindu and Muslim weddings as well as other significant ceremonies throughout the
South Asian and Arab world feature henna application as an
important tradition. Two or three henna artists focus specifically on the bride, who may sit for as long as eight hours while
the henna artists adorn her skin. The bride’s female friends
and family also get their henna done, but the bride’s henna
features the most intricate and elaborate designs. The henna
artists typically hide the bride and groom’s names in the pattern on the bride’s hands for the groom to find later, a ploy to
make the groom hold the bride’s hands for as long as possible
while searching for their names.
Henna takes a long time to dry and fall off, leaving a dark
red design temporarily adorning the skin. The longer you wait
to rub the dry henna paste off, the darker and longer lasting
the end effect. Lemon juice and oil application over drying
henna helps to keep it wet and prevent it from falling off too
quickly. Some say the darker the henna’s color on the skin, the
CO N TIN U E D O N N E X T PAG E
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CO N TIN U E D FRO M PR E VI O U S PAG E
J O S H UA S I N G H
M EG A N D R A H U L
deeper the love will form between husband and wife, and the
later the design fades, the more auspicious for the marriage.
Next comes the sangeet, a Hindi word meaning “song,”
during which the bride’s friends and family entertain her with
song and dance while she waits for her henna to finally dry and
fall off. This function, partly born out of the long period of time
during and after the mehendi, when the bride cannot really use
her hands lest she ruin her henna, is traditionally a ladies-only
affair, and restricted to the bride’s side of the family. However,
in modern Indian weddings, the bride and groom enjoy a fullfledged song and dance show put on by the family and friends
of both. Guests organize themselves into groups, such as the
cousins or the aunties, and choreograph dance routines days
in advance, often informally competing for best performance.
Today, the sangeet serves as a pre-wedding reception of sorts,
a euphoric celebration of the wedding to come.
Finally, the day of the wedding arrives. Everyone wears
vibrant colors. In sharp contrast with Christian weddings,
Hindu wedding attire never features white, a color reserved
for mourning. Black also is considered too staid a color for a
wedding, which should be festive and bright. The most popular
outfit for a Punjabi groom is a sherwani, a kind of heavily
embroidered suit jacket that extends past the knees, worn
with fitted pajama pants. On his feet, the groom wears Punjabi
juttis, a flat, pointed shoe embroidered to match the sherwani,
which might have soft gold and cream-colored tones. The
groom in a Punjabi wedding also sports a turban in red, pink,
or some other vibrant color. Male family members wear matching turbans as well. The history of the Punjabi turban, or pagdi,
is steeped in Sikh history (Sikh men originate from Punjab and
wear a turban every day), but the practice soon spread to non2 0 · T H E B E R K E L E Y R E P M AG A Z I N E · 2 0 1 6 –1 7 · I S S U E 6
Sikh Punjabis who now wear turbans at weddings as a mark of
esteem and dignity. Lastly, the groom wears a dupatta, a long
scarf hanging loosely around the neck, which will become a
crucial component of the wedding ceremony.
Many Indian brides wear sarees, but in North Indian
weddings and Punjabi weddings in particular, lehengas reign
in popularity. Bridal lehengas consist of a high-waisted, widebrimmed, ankle-length skirt and a crop top, both heavily
embroidered in vibrant bridal colors: typically reds, pinks, and
oranges. The bride’s mother, grandmothers, and mother-inlaw give her jewelry to wear specially on this day, often pieces
these women wore on their own wedding days. These may
include her nath, a hoop nose ring with a chain that runs across
the cheek and connects with jewelry worn on the bride’s ear or
in her hair. In another uniquely Indian adornment, the maang
tikka, a chain runs along a center parting in the bride’s hair with
a pendant at the end that rests on her forehead. Punjabi brides
also wear chooda, a set of 21 red and white bangles, presented
by the bride’s maternal uncle. Traditionally, the bride would
wear her chooda for 40 days after the wedding, a useful identifying feature of a young bride new to her husband’s community, but since the bride now does not necessarily move in with
the groom’s family, many Punjabi brides no longer heed this
old custom. Like the groom, the bride also wears a dupatta, but
hers is a wide, translucent scarf matching her lehenga, draped
back from her forehead flowing over her hair, shoulders, and
down her back.
Skin glowing from haldi, hands and feet covered in intricate mehendi designs, lehenga on and dupatta draped, jewelry
and makeup applied, the bride finally appears ready for the
main wedding ceremony, traditionally hosted by her family.
The groom, along with his family and friends, arrive singing and
dancing in nothing less than a full-fledged party known as the
baraat. The groom sits atop a horse or elephant surrounded by
F L I C K R U S ER S AG A R
F L I C K R U S ER R U N R A N
N I C U B U C U L EI
On the seventh step, they vow to be loyal to one another.
Here, they often play another game to win dominance: the
bride and groom race back to their seats after the completion
of the final circle and the first to sit down will end up the dominant partner in the marriage.
A grand reception follows the wedding ceremony featuring a buffet of North Indian dishes, and lots of drinking and
dancing. In the most common Indian wedding game of all,
the bride’s siblings and cousins try to steal the groom’s shoes
during the ceremony (which takes place barefoot). If they
emerge successful, then they can barter with the groom at the
reception for money or gifts in exchange for his shoes back.
The groom’s side stays on high alert to protect the groom’s
shoes, but the bride’s side almost always wins.
Finally comes the bidaai, or the goodbye. Traditionally, the
bride left her home to go live with the groom’s family at this
moment. The bride would throw rice and coins behind her as
she left her parents’ house to wish them health and prosperity. The modern bidaai serves as a farewell for both bride and
groom, and resembles the moment in a Western wedding
when the bride and groom drive off in a “Just Married” car.
Like everything else in a Punjabi wedding, it of course must
feel bigger and brighter. Family and friends might line up on
either side of the road and create an archway with handheld
sparklers for the bride and groom to walk under as they leave
the wedding venue. Instead of a car, perhaps a brightly ornate
rickshaw or tuk-tuk awaits the newlyweds who leave, as they
arrived, in splendor. They leave behind them endless memories, a hefty cleanup, and those ever-present Indian aunties
reminding the unmarried next generation, to their ceaseless
chagrin, “You’re next!”
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P H OTO S CO U R T E S Y O F C R E AT I V E CO M M O N S L I C E N S E S V I A F L I C K R A N D W I K I M ED I A
his friends, family, and drummers playing the Indian dholak (a
horizontal drum worn around the neck). The group dances to
the wedding venue, often the bride’s home, where the bride’s
family welcomes the groom’s family. The bride and groom
take their places beneath the mandap, or the wedding stage, a
four-posted canopy somewhat resembling the Jewish chuppah.
Their parents also sit under the mandap, with close relatives at
the periphery.
Traditional Hindu wedding ceremonies can last hours;
guests get offered snacks and beverages at regular intervals. Modern couples go so far as to abbreviate many of the
customary prayers and rituals. In one of the most iconic and
enduring rituals, the bride and groom exchange garlands,
called the jai mala, typically made of marigolds. The couple
places the garlands around each other’s necks, each bowing
their head to the other in turn. Derived from the Ramayana, a
sacred Hindu epic, the jai mala exchange echoes the moment
Sita garlanded Rama by way of accepting his proposal. In
modern ceremonies, the bride and groom both garland each
other, signifying their acceptance of the marriage. Each will
try to garland the other first, a game family members will egg
on by hoisting the bride and groom’s chairs higher, trying to
give their own side the advantage. A common joke holds that
whomever garlands the other first will emerge the dominant
partner in the marriage.
Another quintessential ritual, the saat phere, or the “seven
circles around the fire” (also sometimes called saptapadi, or
the “seven steps”), begins with a family member, typically the
bride’s brother, tying a knot between the bride and groom’s
dupattas (scarves). The couple then walks seven times around
a ceremonial fire, indicating god as a witness to the marriage.
Each circle or step represents a different wedding vow or
prayer for the marriage. For example, on the fifth step, the
bride and groom pray for healthy, beautiful, and brave children.
B ERKELE Y REPERTORY THE ATRE
TONY TACCONE, MICHAEL LEIBERT ARTIS TIC DIREC TOR AND
SUSAN MEDAK , M ANAGING DIREC TOR
PRESENT S THE WORLD PREMIERE OF
BA SED ON THE MOTION PIC TURE MONSOON WEDDING
BOOK BY
MUSIC COM POSED AND
ORCHES TR ATIONS BY
SABRINA DHAWAN
VISHAL BHARDWAJ
LYRIC S BY
SUSAN BIRKENHEAD
SCENIC DESIGN
LI G H T I N G D E S I G N
CO S T U M E D E S I G N
SOUND DESIGN
PROJ E C T I O N D E S I G N
MIKIKO SUZUKI
M AC ADA MS
DONALD HOLDER
ARJUN BHA SIN
SCOT T LEHRER
PE TER NIGRINI
A E R IA L D E S I G N
O RC H E S T R AT I O N S
ARR ANGEMENTS
GREGG CURTIS/
THE AERIAL S TUDIO
MIKE BRUN
VISHAL BHARDWAJ
C AR MEL DE AN
M AYUKH SARK AR
D R A M AT U RG
CASTING
A D D IT I O N A L C A S T I N G
S TAG E M A N AG E R
ARPITA MUKHERJEE
CINDY TOL AN
ADA M C ALDWELL
NANDINI SHRIKENT
S TEPHANIE GORIN
MICHAEL SUENKEL*
M U S I C D I R E C T I O N BY
GREG KENNA
M U S I C S U PE RV I S I O N BY
C AR MEL DE AN
C H O R E O G R A PH Y BY
LORIN L ATARRO
DIREC TED BY
MIRA NAIR
M AY 5–JUNE 25, 2017 · RODA THE ATRE · M AIN SE A SON
This show includes a 15-minute intermission.
Monsoon Wedding is made possible thanks to the generous support of
SEASON SPONSORS
Jack & Betty Schafer
Michael & Sue Steinberg
The Strauch Kulhanjian Family
2 2 · T H E B E R K E L E Y R E P M AG A Z I N E · 2 0 1 6 –1 7 · I S S U E 6
M E D IA S P O N S O R
We are especially grateful to the following sponsors
for their lead support of Monsoon Wedding:
Yogen & Peggy Dalal
Robin & Rich Edwards
Bruce Golden & Michelle Mercer
Lata Krishnan & Ajay Shah
Monica Lopez & Sameer Gandhi
Pam & Mitch Nichter
Rummi & Arun Sarin kbe
Tomlinson Family
Gail & Arne Wagner
CAST
Lalit Verma Jaaved Jaaferi
Pimmi Verma Mahira Kakkar*
Aditi Verma Kuhoo Verma
Varun Verma Rohan Gupta
Ria Verma Sharvari Deshpande
Vijaya/Naani Palomi Ghosh
Tej Alok Tewari*
CL Chawla
Sorab Wadia*
Shashi Chawla Monsoon Bissell
Aliya Chawla Emielyn D. Das
Hemant Rai Michael Maliakel
Saroj Rai Krystal Kiran
Mohan Rai/Tameesuddin Andrew Prashad
Grandmother Meetu Chilana*
Alice Anisha Nagarajan*
PK Dubey Namit Das
Vikram/Congress Ali Momen
Lottery Levin Valayil*
Swings Dani Jazzar,
Namita Kapoor*
BAND
Conductor/Keyboards Greg Kenna
Drums Russ Gold†
Acoustic and Electric Guitar Schyler McFadden†
Acoustic and Electric Bass Sascha Jacobsen†
Trumpet Scott Englebright†
Trombone and Tuba Ryan Black†
Dhol, Dholak, Tabla, Daf, Percussion Deep Singh
Contractor Aharon Wheels Bolsta
Contractor Kevin Porter
Copyist JoAnn Kane Music/Russell Bartmus
Affiliations
The director and choreographer are members
of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers, Inc., an independent national
labor union. The Scenic, Costume, Lighting,
and Sound Designers in lort Theatres are
represented by United Scenic Artists Local
usa-829, iatse.
*Indicates a member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of
Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States
Indicates a member of Musicians Union Local 6, American
Federation of Musicians
†
2 0 1 6 –1 7 · I S S U E 6 · T H E B E R K E L E Y R E P M AG A Z I N E · 2 3
BE R K E L E Y R E P P R E S E N T S
Monsoon Bissell
S H A S H I C H AW L A
Monsoon is making her
debut at Berkeley Rep.
She is the co-creator
of Two Women Talking,
a live, unscripted
performance in which
two women weave their
life stories together—
stories that take place
between western and
eastern worlds, touching on issues of personal
identity, culture, gender, sexuality, violence,
illness, and tradition. It has been performed
in theatres and universities across the United
States and India. She starred in Zindagi
Channel’s Jackson Heights. Monsoon was the
first assistant director of the film Monsoon
Wedding. She holds a Master of Arts and a
Master of Education from Columbia University
in Psychological Counseling.
Meetu Chilana
GR ANDMOTHER
Meetu is making her
Berkeley Rep debut.
Select credits include
principal vocalist in
Cirque du Soleil’s
Zarkana (Radio City
Music Hall, State Kremlin Palace Moscow)
and Cirque du Soleil’s
Kooza (national tour),
along with The Shaking Earth (New York
Theatre Workshop), and Jihad: The Musical
(Edinburgh). She hosts for Visit the usa (US
Tourism Board) and avs TV, an internationally
syndicated Bollywood program. She has released two original albums as a singer/songwriter and her voice-over work can be heard
on Ubisoft’s Far Cry 4, Google, Cuisinart, and
numerous books on Audible. bfa nyu Tisch,
and drama at Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film
Institute. Visit MeetuMusic.com.
Emielyn D. Das
A L I YA C H AW L A
Emielyn is a singer,
dancer, and actress.
She is of mixed Indian
descent and has sung
and acted in around
five different languages.
Emielyn has Facebook
page with over 3,800
likes, a Soundcloud
page with over 70,000
plays, and has just started a YouTube channel.
For the past six months, she has been working
on her first self written and composed EP,
which will be released soon. Emielyn has been
cast in August: Osage County, Into the Woods,
and the feature film, The Valley, and has directed a children’s play called What Happened
24 · T H E B E R K E L E Y R E P M AG A Z I N E · 2 0 1 6 –1 7 · I S S U E 6
profiles
After Once Upon a Time and many more. Now
debuting in Mira Nair’s musical Monsoon
Wedding, Emielyn hopes to take her career far
and to be forever in touch with the world of
music and theatre.
Namit Das
PK DUBEY
Namit is making his
Berkeley Rep debut.
He is a regular face on
Indian television and
films and has been
working in the theatre
for over 12 years. He
has been involved
with the long-running
Mumbai hit, Hamlet the
Crown Prince, for eight years. Other theatre
credits include Stories in a Song and The
President Is Coming. Film credits include the
much acclaimed Wake Up Sid, Ghanchakkar,
and Ankhon Dekhi. Television credits include
Sumit Sambhal Lega (the official Indian version
of Everybody Loves Raymond). For the past two
years he has been performing with his band,
Namit Das+Anurag Shanker.
Sharvari Deshpande
RIA VERMA
Sharvari is currently
living in New York and
making her Berkeley
Rep debut. Regional
theatre credits include
Kyun Kyun Ladki (Gillo
Theatre Repertory), Hanuman Ki Ramayan, and
She-He-Shey. New York
theatre credits include
Chokher Bali and The Queen. She is also trained
in Indian music and dance. She is studying
acting at Columbia University.
Palomi Ghosh
V I J AYA / N A A N I
Palomi is a film/theatre
actor. Her latest film,
Mukti Bhavan (Hotel
Salvation), premiered
at the 74th Venice Film
Festival, 2017. Prior to
that she received the
President’s Award for
her role in Nachom-ia
Kumpasar (Let’s dance
to the rhythm), an Indian Jazz biopic based in
1960s Goa. She played Carmen in the Indian
adaptation of George Bizet’s opera set in a
contemporary nightclub. She has also worked
on the yet-to-release Gandhi of the Month, a
feature film starring Harvey Keitel. Palomi is a
graduate in Applied Mathematics from North
Carolina State University whose interest in
acting peaked when she took theatre electives
in final year of university.
Rohan Gupta
VA R U N V E R M A
Rohan is making his
professional theatre
debut at Berkeley Rep.
He is a graduate of Bard
College where he performed in productions
including The Importance of Being Earnest,
Elektra, and Woyzeck.
He has appeared in the
films The Reluctant Fundamentalist (directed
by Mira Nair) and Framed. Born and raised in
India, Rohan now calls New York City home. Jaaved Jaaferi
L ALIT VER M A
Jaaved “JJ” Jaaferi is
globally popular in various ways with varied
audiences. He is an actor, a dancer, voice artist, choreographer, and
producer. From his first
Hindi film, Meri Jung
(1985), Jaaved has created iconic characters
over 60 Hindi films. Some of the films he has
acted in—Fire, Salaam Namaste, Singh Is Kinng,
Boom, The Forest, Bang Bang!, and more—
have breached the global market. On Indian
TV, Jaaved created and acted in path-breaking
shows like Flashback and Timepass on the
then newly launched Channel V (India). He
co-created and judged Boogie Woogie, India’s
first reality dance show on TV that had a
weekly run for 17 years. He has performed live
on stage, in dance shows, stand-up routines,
Bollywood, and variety shows. Jaaved is very
excited to make his Berkeley Rep debut.
Dani Jazzar
SWING
Dani is excited to be
making his Berkeley
Rep debut. His European credits include
Saturday Night Fever
(Cologne, European
tour), Miami Nights
(Dusseldorf), and
Fame the musical (UK
tour). Canadian credits
include Bernardo in several productions of
West Side Story (Vancouver Opera, Citadel Edmonton, Theatre Calgary); ups guy in Legally
Blonde, Cabaret, and Spamalot (Theatre Aquarius/Drayton Entertainment); Rum Tum Tugger
in Cats (Stirling Festival Theatre); Pirates of
Penzance, 9 to 5 The Musical, Oklahoma!, and
The Little Mermaid (Drayton Entertainment);
Jesus Christ Superstar (Stage West Calgary);
and several Christmas pantomimes (Elgin
Theatre/Ross Petty Productions). His film and
TV credits include appearances in American
BE R K E L E Y R E P P R E S E N T S
Gods, The Strain, Covert Affairs, Nikita, Traitor,
Anon, Mirror Mirror, The Love Guru, and Once
Upon a Mattress.
Mahira Kakkar
PIMMI VERMA
Mahira is making her
Berkeley Rep debut.
New York credits
include Trial of An
American President and
Sophistry (Theatre Row),
Romeo and Juliet (the
Public Theater), Clive
(the New Group), Opus
(Primary Stages), Miss
Witherspoon (Playwrights Horizons), When
January Feels Like Summer (Ensemble Studio
Theatre), Betrothed (Ripe Time), The Ragged
Claws (Cherry Lane Theatre), Harper Regan
(Atlantic Theatre), and Cavedwellers (the Pearl
Theatre Company). Select regional credits
include work at Hartford Stage, the Huntington Theatre Company, McCarter Theatre
Center, Cleveland Playhouse, the Old Globe,
Denver Center Theatre Company, Magic
Theatre, Westport Country Playhouse, Center
Stage in Baltimore, and Oregon Shakespeare
Festival. Film work includes Oil and Vinegar,
Hechki, Hank and Asha, and A Night in the Hill.
TV credits include Blue Bloods, Law and Order:
Criminal Intent, Odd Mom Out, The Big C, and
Blacklist. Mahira is a proud member of est,
Hero Theatre, and the Actors Center.
Training—Juilliard. Visit mahirakakkar.com.
Namita Kapoor
SWING
Namita is making her
Berkeley Rep debut.
She is the artistic director of Hindu Swing, a
rhythmic dance journey
exploring Jack Cole’s
relationship between
American jazz and
classical Indian dance.
Performing credits
include the first national tour of Bombay
Dreams (Theater of the Stars), The King and
I (American Musical Theater), Corposonic
(Lincoln Center), Jazz Tap Ensemble (the Joyce
Theater), The International Body Music Festival
(SF Jazz), The Love Guru (Paramount Pictures),
and Just Dance India (Star TV). Her choreographer, performer, and teacher credits span
from India, Brazil, Turkey, and Iceland to Japan,
and she works actively in the styles of jazz,
tap, and Indian contemporary choreography.
She has worked with Gregory Hines, Baayork
Lee, Lynn Dally, Marguerite Derricks, Hrithik
Roshan, Farah Khan, and Vaibhavi Merchant.
Visit namitakapoor.com.
profiles
Krystal Kiran
Ali Momen
Krystal is honored to
be making her Berkeley
Rep debut. Select live
stage/theatre credits
include Bombay Dreams
(original Broadway
cast, Broadway Theatre
nyc), lead vocalist on
AR Rahman’s Jai Ho
World Tour (Arenas),
Lord of the Rings (Princess of Wales, Toronto), and West Side Story (Citadel, Edmonton).
Select film/television credits include Suicide
Squad, Hairspray, Private Eyes, Minority Report,
Hemlock Grove, Workin’ Moms, Hellcats, and
The Love Guru. Krystal is an honorary graduate
of Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts
and scholarship graduate of the Professional
Theatre Training Program at the Banff Centre.
Passionate about teaching, she has taught
extensively across the U.S., Canada, Europe,
UK, and India and is founder of House of Kiran
& Maple Batalia Memorial Scholarship for
the Arts supporting South Asian female arts
students. Connect @krystalkiran.
Ali is thrilled to be
making his Berkeley
Rep debut with this
amazing team. A Canadian, his credits include
Disgraced (Mirvish),
Much Ado About Nothing (Tarragon Theatre),
A Midsummer Night’s
Dream (Canadian
Stage), Kite Runner (Theatre Calgary/Citadel
Theatre), Iceland (Why Not Theatre), Sultans
of the Street (Young People’s Theatre, Dora
Award), and Born Yesterday, An Ideal Husband,
Serious Money, After The Dance, and Devil’s
Disciple for the Shaw Festival. His film and
television credits include Beeba Boys (dir. Deepa Mehta), Traitor (dir. Jeffrey Nachmanoff),
Houdini and Doyle, Incorporated, The Strain, All
Gamer, Kim’s Convenience, L.A. Complex, and
Combat Hospital.
SAROJ R AI
Michael Maliakel
HEMANT RAI
Michael is making his
Berkeley Rep debut. A
classically trained baritone, Michael’s stage
credits include the title
role in The Marriage
of Figaro, the Shoe
Salesman in Argento’s
Postcard from Morocco,
Monsieur Presto in Les
mamelles de Tirésias, and the Baritone in Philip
Glass’ Hydrogen Jukebox. He recently appeared
in Purcell’s Dido & Aeneas and Britten’s Curlew
River with the Mark Morris Dance Group at
the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Michael
has performed as a soloist with orchestras
and ensembles across the country, including
the Savannah Philharmonic, the New Jersey
Festival Orchestra, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s,
the Aeolus Quartet, the Greenwich Choral
Society, and the Long Island Choral Society.
Awards include First Prize in the American
Traditions Competition, First Prize in the nats
National Music Theater Competition, and
Third Prize in the Lotte Lenya Competition.
Visit michaelmaliakel.com.
V I K R A M /C O N G R E S S
Anisha Nagarajan
ALICE
Anisha is making her
Berkeley Rep debut.
Broadway credits
include the role of
Priya in the original
cast of Andrew Lloyd
Webber and AR Rahman’s Bombay Dreams
(Broadway Theatre),
and the Actors’ Fund
benefit concert of Hair (New Amsterdam
Theatre). Most recently, she performed in
the concert production of Secret Garden at
Lincoln Center’s David Geffen Hall. Regional
credits include Princesses (5th Avenue Theatre,
Seattle), The Wiz (La Jolla Playhouse), and Rent
(Hangar Theatre, Ithaca). She is best known
for her role as Madhuri on NBC’s television
series Outsourced. Other television and film
credits include Rita (Bravo/Fox), Ugly Betty
(abc), Grey’s Anatomy (abc), Code Black (cbs),
and Jane Wants a Boyfriend, currently available
for viewing on Showtime. She has performed
with AR Rahman, U2’s Bono and the Edge, and
Devo. She has a bfa from nyu’s Tisch School
and the Stella Adler Studio of Acting.
Andrew Prashad
M O H A N R A I/ TA M E E S U D D I N
Andrew is making his
Berkeley Rep debut. A
trained and versatile
dancer as well as a musician, singer, and actor,
he is quickly becoming
one of the leading tap
dance artists in Canada,
teaching and choreographing across North
and South America. He is an award-winning
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BE R K E L E Y R E P P R E S E N T S
actor, composer, and writer, having recently
had his self-produced short film officially
selected in 12 festivals around the world
and winning four awards including Best Short
Film. He was a featured singer and dancer
on 20th Anniversary World Tour of Riverdance
and recently finished a production of Anything
Goes with Drayton Entertainment. Andrew
just finished mounting his one-person show
One Step at a Time to critical acclaim, and
is extremely excited to journey forward with
the Monsoon Wedding team. He graduated
from the University of Toronto at Mississauga
with an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree
in Theatre and Performance as well as
French Literature.
Alok Tewari
TEJ
Alok is making his
Berkeley Rep debut. His
theatre credits include
The Strangest (Semitic
Root); The Band’s Visit
(Atlantic Theater Company); Awake and Sing!
(the Public Theater/
naatco); The Queen,
Martyrs Street, and Blind
Angels (Theater for the New City); A Fable,
Through the Yellow Hour, and War (Rattlestick
Playwrights Theater); Bunty Berman Presents,
Rafta, Rafta…, and Marie and Bruce (the New
Group); Night Over Erzinga and Bengal Tiger at
the Baghdad Zoo (Lark); Masked (Buenos Aires);
Inana (Denver Center Theatre Company);
Betrothed (Ripe Time); and Marco Polo (the
Group, Argentina). Television credits include
Iron Fist, House of Cards, Royal Pains, The Blacklist, Madam Secretary, Deadbeat, Blue Bloods,
30 Rock, Homeland, Fringe, Law & Order, Law
& Order: Criminal Intent, Law & Order: Special
Victims Unit, and Guiding Light. Films include
Shelter and Brooklyn’s Finest.
Levin Valayil
LO T T E RY
Levin is making his
Berkeley Rep debut.
Regional credits include
Craig Carnelia and
Joe Tracz’s Poster Boy
directed by Stafford
Arima (Williamstown
Theatre Festival) and
The Fabulous Lipitones
(the New Theatre, Florida Studio Theatre, Virginia Repertory Theatre).
He recently performed in the new musical We
Live in Cairo as a part of the National Alliance
for Musical Theatre at New World Stages, and
has been seen by New York audiences as Bhuvan in Bollywood and Vine (the Lion Theatre)
and as Michael in Zuccotti Park (Robert Moss
Theater). Levin received first place in the Classical Singer Vocal Competition in the Young
Artist/Music Theater division in 2013. He has
profiles
a BM in music therapy and voice performance
from Berklee College of Music and an mfa in
musical theatre from Boston Conservatory.
Kuhoo Verma
ADITI VERMA
Kuhoo is making her
Berkeley Rep debut.
Her New York credits
include Good Kids,
Midsummer Night’s
Dream, and Spring
Awakening (New York
University). Film credits
include Judd Apatow’s
The Big Sick. She was
also a soloist at the album premiere of Calling
All Dawns at Lincoln Center, by Grammy
Award-winning composer Christopher Tin.
Sorab Wadia
C L C H AW L A
Sorab is making his
Berkeley Rep debut.
Born in Bombay, India,
he has performed
internationally as an
actor and singer in an
eclectic mélange of
projects ranging from
The Play of Daniel, a
medieval music-drama,
to the notorious Jihad! The Musical on London’s
West End. Last summer he was honored to
play Shylock and Gratiano in a historic production of The Merchant of Venice performed
outdoors in the Jewish Ghetto in Venice, Italy.
He garnered rave reviews for his performance
as Ali Hakim on the Broadway tour of Trevor
Nunn’s production of Oklahoma! Sorab tours
internationally with Kite Runner, a one-man
play directed by Wynn Handman. Off-Broadway shows include The Tempest (LaMama),
Bunty Berman Presents… (the New Group), and
Nymph Errant. TV credits include The Blacklist:
Redemption, Madame Secretary, Law & Order:
Special Victims Unit, 30 Rock, and Chapelle’s
Show. Films include The Spectacular Jihad of Taz
Rahim, and Suburban Girl. You can find more at
SorabWadia.com and follow him on Facebook
at SorabWadiaPerformer.
Ryan Black
TROMBONE/ TUBA
As a multi-low brass
instrumentalist, Ryan
is performing in many
different genres, from
the classical concert
hall to the salsa clubs.
He is seen playing tenor
trombone, bass trombone, euphonium, and
tuba around the Bay
Area’s bustling music scene, having performed
with many of the area’s finest orchestras here
and in several states of Mexico. Oftentimes
he is seen playing in the pit for Broadway
shows in San Francisco and Sacramento on
multiple instruments. He is currently working
with the Tommy Igoe Big Band, the Fil Lorenz
Orchestra, Avance, and the Marcus Shelby
Orchestra. He has performed in horn sections
for the Temptations, Natalie Cole, Lady Gaga,
Tony Bennett, Johnny Mathis, Frank Sinatra
Jr., the O’Jays, Sheila E., Wayne Newton, Idina
Menzel, and Kevin Spacey. Ryan can be heard
on a variety of recordings, including Pacific
Mambo Orchestra’s Grammy-winning self-titled album.
Scott Englebright
TRUMPET
Scott has been a
professional musician
since leaving University of North Texas to
play lead on Maynard
Ferguson’s band in
1995. In addition to
playing lead on Maynard’s band, Scott has
toured as lead player
with Paul Anka, Bobby Caldwell, and Woody
Herman. Scott’s favorite regional theatre
credits include Mambo Kings, Annie, 42nd
Street, Spamalot, and White Christmas. National tours include West Side Story and I Love
Lucy—Live on Stage. Scott can be heard on
the cast album of A Chorus Line among several big band recordings, radio, and television.
Scott currently plays with Transcendence
Theater Company of Glen Ellen and the Santa
Rosa Symphony. Scott resides in Vallejo and
you can check out his work on YouTube.
Russ Gold
DRUMS
Russ is enjoying his
third production at
Berkeley Rep having
performed with Emma
Rice’s acclaimed company Kneehigh in Tristan
& Yseult and in Berkeley
Rep’s An Audience with
Meow Meow. Russ has
toured extensively with
productions of Jersey Boys and Julie Taymor’s
The King Stag. Russ’ local productions include
Wicked (Orpheum), Rent (Golden Gate), and
Chicago (Harris Center). Russ pursued acting
at American Conservatory Theater and has
been featured in local and national television
broadcasts. A cbs recording artist with jazz
group Full Circle, Russ is thrilled to have been
on the Grammy list twice for his work with
Nando Lauria and Indian jazz group Natraj.
Russ is a graduate of Berklee College where he
received the Buddy Rich Jazz Master’s award.
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BE R K E L E Y R E P P R E S E N T S
profiles
Sascha Jacobsen
Schuyler McFadden
Sascha was born
into a musical family,
going as far back as
his great, great, great,
great-grandfather, who
was a bassist for the
Moscow Opera. Sascha
has performed with
Rita Moreno (Life Without Makeup, Berkeley
Rep), Hugh Jackman, Martin Short, Mandy
Patinkin & Patti LuPone, Marc Shaiman,
Bonnie Raitt, Randy Newman, Josh Groban,
Kristin Chenoweth, Andrew Lippa, and many
others. He is the founder of the Musical Art
Quintet, which performs his original works.
Strad Magazine say his music is “...Stylish and
Vigorous...beautifully arranged,” and the East
Bay Express declared, “Classical Music is sexy
again.” Sascha also performs with Argentine
tango group, Trio Garufa, and can be found
dancing tango when not performing music.
Schuyler is excited to be
returning to Berkeley
Rep. Schuyler has been
a local musician for the
last decade in the Bay
Area, playing many
musicals such as Book
of Mormon first national
tour, Motown the Musical first national tour,
Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Cabaret,
and many more. Schuyler’s last appearance at
Berkeley Rep was with Amélie, and is excited
to be part of another one of Berkeley Rep’s
world premieres!
AC O U S T I C A N D E L E C T R I C B A S S
AC O U S T I C A N D E L E C T R I C G U I TA R
Deep Singh
D H O L / D H O L A K / TA B L A /
DA F/ P E R C U S S I O N
Deep is making his
Berkeley Rep debut.
Born and raised in
London, England, he
has been steeped in
music since the age of
3, and at 6 years old
became a disciple of the
late tabla master, Ustad
Allah Rakha. Deep’s
versatility as a performer, composer, producer,
and engineer has given him a unique place
in the music industry, resulting in some very
innovative collaborations with leading artists
from the East and West. Some of Deep’s work
includes A.R. Rahman/Andrew Lloyd Webber’s
musical Bombay Dreams, Twyla Tharp’s musical Come Fly Away, composing music for the
prime minister of India “Anthem of Us” which
debuted at Madison Square Garden and Times
Square, Devo-Sutra, various projects with
Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, ghost-writing for several pop artists, Sharabi (intoxication)—a band which combines bhangra and
klezmer music. Visit halfkaste.com.
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BE R K E L E Y R E P
PRESENTS
profiles
Mira Nair
Villa Marin CCRC #158, CA Dept. of Health Lic: #22000161 • The Madison Company Realtors BRE# 000656419 • CA Dept. of Social Lic: #210108102
DIREC TOR
1 E · 2 0 1 6 –1 7 · I S S U E 6
3 0 ·BerkeleyTheatre_4.75x4.875.indd
T H E B E R K E L E Y R E P M AG A Z I N
“Villa Marin
is My Home”
Diane and Norris enjoy an
active life together that is filled
with traveling, performing,
composing,
painting and
RETIREMENT LIVING REDEFINED
much more. The freedom to
focus their time on their many
talents, along with being a part
of a community of like-minded
individuals, are just a few of
the reasons Diane and Norris
RETIREMENT LIVING REDEFINED
call Villa
Marin their home.
VILLA MARIN
Mira was born and raised in Orissa, India, and
graduated from Delhi and Harvard universities. A student of the theatre, she worked as
an actress in the Badal Sircar’s street theatre
in Kolkata in 1975, and Barry John’s Theatre
Action Group in New Delhi 1974–76. In New
York, she apprenticed at Ellen Stewart’s La
MaMa, working with Joseph Chaikin and the
Talking Band. She began making documentary films in the ’70s. Her narrative feature
debut, Salaam Bombay! (1988), won the
Camera D’Or at Cannes and was nominated
for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language film. A prolific independent filmmaker
who casts unknowns alongside Hollywood
stars, Mira has directed Mississippi Masala
(1991), The Perez Family (1995), Kama Sutra: A
Tale of Love (1996), the Golden Lion-winning
Monsoon Wedding (2001), Hysterical Blindness
(2002), Vanity Fair (2004), The Namesake
(2006), Amelia (2009), and The Reluctant
Fundamentalist (2012). Her most recent film,
Queen of Katwe, about a Ugandan girl with
an aptitude for chess, stars Lupita Nyong’o
and David Oyelowo. A longtime activist,
Mira founded Salaam Baalak Trust for street
children in 1988, and Maisha, a free filmmaking school for East Africans, in 2005. She was
awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2013, India’s
distinguished civilian honour.
Sabrina Dhawan
BOOK
This is Sabrina’s first time writing for the
stage. Produced screenwriting credits include
Monsoon Wedding, Cosmopolitan, 9/11, Kaminey, and Ishqiya, Rangoon. Sabrina received a
BA (English) from Delhi University, an MA
(Communications Research) from University
of Leicester, and an mfa (Film) from Columbia University. She is also a professor at the
Goldberg Department of Dramatic Writing at
the Tisch School of the Arts, nyu.
VILLA MARIN
Vishal Bhardwaj
VILLA MARIN
Vishal is a filmmaker, composer, director,
writer, and singer. He also produces films
under his banner VB Pictures. Vishal has
composed music and songs for numerous
films such as Maachis (1996), Satya (1998),
Chachi 420 (1998), Godmother (1999), and the
wildly popular theme songs for The Jungle
Book in Hindi. As a director, he is known for
his adaptations of Shakespeare’s plays—Maqbool (2003), based on Macbeth; Omkara
(2006), based on Othello; and Haider (2014),
based on Hamlet. Other directorial titles
include Makdee (2002), The Blue Umbrella
(2005), Kaminey (2009), 7 Khoon Maaf (2011),
RETIREMENT LIVING REDEFINED
100 Thorndale Drive, San Rafael
(415) 492-2408
www.villa-marin.com
3/23/17 6:44 PM
C O M P O S E R /A R R A N G E M E N T S
Passion, Flair, Romance
IT’S ALL AT THE SYMPHONY
MICHAEL TILSON THOMAS
ANTHEIL’S JAZZ SYMPHONY
SHOSTAKOVICH
TCHAIKOVSKY
MAY 25–27
JUN 23–25
JUN 28–JUL 1
Shostakovich with
Matthias Goerne and
Tchaikovsky’s Fifth
Music for
a Modern Age
MTT Conducts Berlioz’s
Romeo and Juliet
Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco
Symphony bring a uniquely theatrical concert
experience to Davies Symphony Hall, featuring the
movers and shakers of the American
contemporary classical music scene. Dynamic
dancers and imagery enhances the musical
program featuring Antheil’s A Jazz Symphony and
the West Coast Premiere of MTT’s own song cycle
of Four Preludes on Playthings of the Wind.
Experience Berlioz’s interpretation of
Shakespeare’s beloved tragedy, as Michael
Tilson Thomas leads the Grammy Awardwinning SF Symphony and Chorus, along with
internationally acclaimed opera singers
Sasha Cooke, Nicholas Phan and Luca Pisaroni
in this powerful production.
A symphony in all but name, Shostakovich’s
Suite on Verses of Michelangelo Buonarroti is a
tribute to Mahler’s song cycle Das Lied von der
Erde. Hear Shostakovich’s moving depiction of
the famous artist’s achievements and struggles
through the majestic voice of Matthias Goerne,
followed by Tchaikovsky’s soaring Fifth
Symphony. Conducted by Manfred Honeck.
The Jun 25 concert benefits the Orchestra’s pension fund.
This concert is performed without intermission.
These concerts, a part of The Barbro and Bernard Osher
Masterworks Series, are made possible by a generous gift from
Barbro and Bernard Osher.
FLOOR SEATS
START AT
$39*
sfsymphony.org 415-864-6000
Concerts at Davies Symphony Hall.
Programs,artists, and prices subject to change. *Subject to Availability
Box Office Hours Mon–Fri 10am–6pm, Sat noon–6pm, Sun 2 hours prior to concerts
Walk Up Grove Street between Van Ness and Franklin
Inaugural Partner
Official Airline
BE R K E L E Y R E P
PRESENTS
profiles
and Matru ki Bijlee Ka Mandola (2013). His music and films have won several national and
international awards.
Susan Birkenhead LY R I C I S T
Susan received a Tony Award nomination for
her first show, Working, in 1978. She received
another Tony nomination and a Drama Desk
Award for her lyrics for Jelly’s Last Jam (1992).
She was nominated for a Drama Desk Award
for Triumph of Love (1998), and won an Outer
Critics Circle Award for What About Luv?
(1984). She won an L.A. Drama Critics Award
for Minsky’s (2009). Regional theatres she
has worked at include Long Wharf Theatre;
Goodman Theatre; the Citadel Theatre in Edmonton, Canada; the Mark Taper Forum; Yale
Repertory Theatre; and Baltimore’s Center
Stage. She is currently working on The Secret
Life of Bees with Lynn Nottage, Duncan Sheik,
and Sam Gold, and Betty Boop with David
Foster, Sally Robinson, and Jerry Mitchell.
Lorin Latarro
CHOREOGR APHER
Lorin choreographed Broadway’s Waitress,
Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Donmar transfer), Waiting for Godot (Patrick Stewart/Ian
McKellen), The Curious Incident of the Dog in
the Night-Time (associate choreographer), the
Public Theater’s Twelfth Night and Odyssey
(the Delacorte Theater), Lin-Manuel Miranda’s 21 Chump Street and Peter and the Wolf at
bam, God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater and Fanny
(Encores), Queen of the Night (Drama Desk
Award), As You Like It (director Michael Mayer
in Toho Tokyo), Christmas Carol (McCarter
Theatre Center), Taste of Things To Come (the
York, as director), Beaches (Drury Lane), Kiss
Me, Kate (Barrington Stage Company), and
Green Day’s American Idiot (Berkeley Rep and
Broadway, associate choreographer). Lorin
performed in 12 Broadway shows, and danced
for Tharp, Momix, and Martha Graham. Lorin
is a Bucks County Playhouse artistic associate,
and a Juilliard graduate and adjunct professor.
Upcoming projects include Independence for
Des McAnuff, Assassins for Encores, and La
Traviata for the Metropolitan Opera.
Carmel Dean
MUSIC SUPERVISOR/
ARRANGEMENTS
Carmel is a New York-based, Australian-born
composer, musical director, and arranger. She
is thrilled to be returning to Berkeley Rep after
having been musical director for American
Idiot here and on Broadway. Other Broadway
credits include If/Then, Hands on a Hardbody,
and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling
Bee. As a composer, her work includes the new
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musical All I Could See (book by Dick Scanlan,
currently in development with nyc’s Transport
Group). She is a graduate of nyu’s Musical
Theatre Writing Program and a member of the
bmi Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop.
Visit carmeldean.com.
Music For The Land
Saving the places that make the East Bay special
Mayukh Sarkar
ARRANGEMENTS
Mayukh is a musician with 20 years of experience in this field. He specializes in playing the
guitar, bass guitar, tenor banjo, and mandolin
and played with various artists in India. He has
been conducting guitar workshops in many
Indian cities since 2004. He joined Indian film
industry in 2010. He has been assisting Vishal
Bhardwaj as a music assistant since 2014. He
has been associated with Monsoon Wedding
since 2015. It is an honor to be associated with
Berkeley Rep. Mayukh completed his high
school in 1998. He went on playing the guitar
and exploring music since then.
jmlt.org
San Francisco Opera Orchestra musicians Janet Popesco Archibald, Emil Miland
and pianist Margaret Fondbertasse are generously donating proceeds from the sale
of their new CD to John Muir Land Trust. Now available at jmlt.org.
Greg Kenna
MUSIC DIREC TOR
Greg’s previous credits include Frozen (workshop), An American in Paris (Broadway and Paris), The Wiz Live! (nbc), Dogfight (Second Stage
Theatre; music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and
Justin Paul), The Sound of Music and Guys and
Dolls (Carnegie Hall), Hair (international tour),
Lempicka (music and lyrics by Matt Gould and
Carson Kreitzer), and You Never Know and
Lysistrata Jones (Meadow Brook Theatre). He is
a graduate of nyu/Steinhardt.
Mike Brun
C O - O R C H E S T R AT O R
Mike is a composer, arranger, orchestrator,
and multi-instrumentalist known for the
wide range of his projects and skills. This is
Mike’s first production at Berkeley Rep. Other
theatre credits include music director/onstage
musician for Mr. Burns (Playwrights Horizons),
co-arranger/orchestrator/onstage musician for
Twelfth Night (Delacorte Theater), music director/arranger/onstage musician for Tumacho
(Wild Project), and co-arranger/onstage musician for Old Hats (Signature Theatre). Mike is
composer of Bull’s Hollow (in development as
a Jerome Foundation grant-funded commission for Ars Nova) and a co-composer of The
Gray Man and Folk Wandering. He serves
as adjunct faculty at Playwrights Horizons
Theater School, and is an alum of the 2014–15
Civilians Research & Development Group as
well as the 2014 Johnny Mercer Foundation
Songwriters Project.
Mikiko Suzuki MacAdams
SCENIC DESIGNER
Mikiko’s work has been seen at the Guthrie
Theater, Arena Stage, the Old Globe, Oregon
Shakespeare Festival, Long Wharf Theatre,
Seattle Repertory Theatre, Intiman Theatre,
Actors Theatre of Louisville, Honolulu Theatre
for Youth, A Contemporary Theatre, Yale Repertory Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse, Cornerstone Theater Company, and Opera Theatre
of St. Louis, among others. Her off-Broadway
credits include Working Theater, Epic Theatre
2 0 1 6 –1 7 · I S S U E 6 · T H E B E R K E L E Y R E P M AG A Z I N E · 3 3
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PRESENTS
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R E A L T O R S
Representing fine homes in Berkeley, Oakland and Piedmont
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Ensemble, Intar Theatre, Ensemble Studio
Theatre, and the National Asian American
Theatre Company. Her work has been seen
internationally at the Nissay Opera, Nikikai
Opera, Suntory Hall, Kanagawa Kenmin Hall in
Tokyo, Aichi Triennale in Nagoya, and Biwako
Hall in Otsu. As an associate scenic designer,
her Broadway credits include Fiddler on the
Roof, The King and I, The Bridges of Madison
County, Golden Boy, That Championship Season,
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown,
Next Fall, and Joe Turner’s Come and Gone.
Mikiko currently teaches at Rutgers University
and Fordham University.
Arjun Bhasin
COSTUME DESIGNER
This production marks Arjun’s return to
Monsoon Wedding; he designed the costumes
for the 2001 film. It is his fifth collaboration
with Mira Nair—their projects include The
Namesake, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, and
Kama Sutra. Today, Arjun shuttles effortlessly
between Hollywood and Bollywood, crisscrossing sensibilities and ideologies. Recent
film and television work includes Marielle
Heller’s upcoming film Can You Ever Forgive
Me? starring Melissa McCarthy, hbo’s Divorce
with Sarah Jessica Parker, 3 Generations, Love Is
Strange, Begin Again, and Ang Lee’s Oscar-winning Life of Pi. Bollywood films include Zindagi
Na Milegi Dobara, Dil Dhadakne Do, Rang De
Basanti, and Dil Chahta Hai. Arjun studied film
and design at nyu’s Tisch School of the Arts.
Donald Holder
LIGHTING DESIGNER
Donald previously designed Zora Neale Hurston’s Spunk and Maurice Sendak’s Brundibar
at Berkeley Rep. His recent work on Broadway
includes Anastasia, Oslo, In Transit, She Loves
Me, Fiddler on the Roof, The Father, The King
and I, On the Twentieth Century, The Bridges of
Madison County, Golden Boy, Spiderman—Turn
Off the Dark, Ragtime, Movin’ Out, The Boy
From Oz, Thoroughly Modern Millie, and many
others. He has designed over 50 Broadway
productions, received two Tony Awards
(The Lion King and South Pacific) and 11 Tony
nominations. Opera credits include Otello,
Two Boys, The Magic Flute, and the upcoming
Samson et Delilah at the New York Metropolitan Opera, Carmen for the Chicago Lyric and
Houston Grand Opera, and Death and the
Powers and Moby Dick for the Dallas Opera.
For television, he designed the theatrical lighting for seasons one and two of Smash (nbc
Dreamworks). Donald is a graduate of the Yale
School of Drama, and currently a Professor of
Lighting Design at Rutgers University.
3 4 · T H E B E R K E L E Y R E P M AG A Z I N E · 2 0 1 6 –1 7 · I S S U E 6
Scott Lehrer
NEW ARRIVALS THIS SPRING:
SOUND DESIGNER
Scott received the first Tony awarded to sound
for the Lincoln Center Theater revival of South
Pacific. Recent theatre work includes Richard
Nelson’s Gabriel Family Plays at the Public
Theater, the national tour of The King and I,
the Broadway productions of Hello Dolly, The
Front Page, Chicago, Shuffle Along, Fiddler on
the Roof, Dames at Sea, The King and I, Living on
Love, Honeymoon in Vegas, A Delicate Balance,
A Raisin in the Sun, Lucky Guy, Chaplin (Drama
Desk Award), and Mike Nichols’ productions
of Death of a Salesman and Betrayal. He
has also designed over 50 of New York City
Center’s Encores series. Recording projects
include the Broadway cast recording of An
American in Paris (Grammy nomination), Loudon Wainwright’s Grammy-winning High Wide
and Handsome, Bebe Neuwirth’s Porcelain,
and Meredith Monk’s mercy. A graduate of
Sarah Lawrence College, Scott was faculty at
Bennington College from 2001 until 2013.
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Peter Nigrini
PROJEC TION DESIGNER
Peter’s Broadway credits include A Doll’s
House, Part 2; Amélie, A New Musical; Dear
Evan Hansen; An Act of God; Heidi Chronicles;
The Best Man; Fela!; and 9 to 5. His other
credits include Grounded and Here Lies Love
(the Public Theater), Wakey, Wakey (Signature Theatre), The Elaborate Entrance of Chad
Deity (Second Stage Theatre), Notes from
Underground (Yale Repertory Theatre), The
Grace Jones Hurricane Tour, Rent (New World
Stages), Real Enemies (bam Next Wave Festival), and Blind Date (Bill T. Jones). For Nature
Theater of Oklahoma, No Dice and Life & Times
(Burgtheater, Vienna). His upcoming projects
are Lucia di Lammermoor (Santa Fe Opera) and
The SpongeBob Musical (Broadway 2017–18).
Gregg Curtis
AERIAL DESIGNER
Gregg is an aerial director and designer conceiving gravity-defying action for live events,
theatre, and filmed media. Gregg has worked
with and for Julie Taymor’s A Midsummer
Night’s Dream at the Polansky Shakespeare
Center, Beyonce’s Formation Tour, Miley
Cyrus’ Bangerz Tour, The Bregenz Opera
Festpiele’s Andre Chenier, Franco Dragone’s Le
Reve at the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas, Cirque
du Soleil’s Alegria, and Delaguarda’s Villa Villa.
He has designed and directed many corporate events for clients such as Red Bull Media
House, The Gap, Adobe, and The Golden State
Warriors/Chase Center “Groundbreaking
Ceremony.” Gregg found his acrobatic roots
in the sport of gymnastics in which he is a
former U.S. national champion. Gregg is the
executive artistic director of the Aerial Studio
out of Ventura, CA, which is a circus arts training facility as well as a design and production
hub for all things aerial.
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and FIVE RESTAURANT & BAR
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Arpita Mukherjee
D R A M AT U R G/A S S I S TA N T D I R E C T O R
Arpita is the artistic director of Congressional
Award-winning Hypokrit Theatre Company.
2 0 1 6 –1 7 · I S S U E 6 · T H E B E R K E L E Y R E P M AG A Z I N E · 35
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BE R K E L E Y R E P
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2017/2018
SEASON
LUNA GALE
By Rebecca Gilman | Sept-Oct, 2017
A NUMBER
BAY AREA PREMIERE
By Caryl Churchill | Mar-Apr, 2018
At Harry’s UpStage in the Dashow Wing
THE ROYALE
EUREKA DAY
BAY AREA PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
WIDOWERS’ HOUSES
DRY POWDER
By Marco Ramirez | Nov-Dec, 2017
By George Bernard Shaw | Jan-Feb, 2018
By Jonathan Spector | Apr-May, 2018
By Sarah Burgess | June-July, 2018
BAY AREA PREMIERE
2081 Addison St., Downtown Berkeley | 510.843.4822 | auroratheatre.org
Credits include My First Time, Romeo and Juliet,
Eh Dah: Questions for My Father (Best Book
at New York Musical Festival), and Queen
(reading at Ma-Yi Theater Company). In 2015,
she founded the first South Asian Performing
Arts Festival in New York, Tamasha. Upcoming: How to Succeed as an Ethnically Ambiguous
Actor (off Broadway). Arpita is grateful to Mira
Nair for this opportunity and to the wondrous
cast and creative team of Monsoon Wedding.
Cindy Tolan & Adam Caldwell
CASTING
Cindy and Adam have worked together since
2005. Broadway credits include The Curious
Incident of the Dog in The Night-Time, Betrayal,
Macbeth, Cinderella, A View From the Bridge, All
My Sons, Xanadu, and Avenue Q. Film credits
include Straight Outta Compton, Maggie’s Plan,
The Place Beyond the Pines, Blue Valentine, and
Beasts of the Southern Wild, with TV credits
including the upcoming hbo movie The
Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Unbreakable
Kimmy Schmidt, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.
Michael Suenkel
P R O D U C T I O N S TAG E M A N AG E R
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3 6 · T H E B E R K E L E Y R E P M AG A Z I N E · 2 0 1 6 –1 7 · I S S U E 6
Michael began his association with Berkeley
Rep as the stage management intern for the
1984–85 season and is now in his 23rd year
as production stage manager. Some of his
favorite shows include 36 Views, Endgame,
Eurydice, Hydriotaphia, and Mad Forest. He has
also worked with the Barbican in London, the
Huntington Theatre Company, the Juste Pour
Rire Festival in Montreal, La Jolla Playhouse,
Pittsburgh Public Theater, the Public Theater
and Second Stage Theater in New York, and
Yale Repertory Theatre. For the Magic Theatre, he stage managed Albert Takazauckas’
Breaking the Code and Sam Shepard’s The
Late Henry Moss.
Karen Szpaller
A S S I S TA N T S TAG E M A N AG E R
Karen is thrilled to be back for her 13th season
at Berkeley Rep. Her favorite past Berkeley
Rep productions include Tribes, The Wild Bride,
The Lieutenant of Inishmore, Eurydice, Fêtes
de la Nuit, Comedy on the Bridge/Brundibar,
Compulsion, and Concerning Strange Devices
from the Distant West. Her favorites elsewhere
include The Unfortunates, A Christmas Carol
(2006–16), Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the
City, 1776, Stuck Elevator, Blackbird, Curse of the
Starving Class, and The Tosca Project at American Conservatory Theater; Anne Patterson’s
art and theatrical installation Seeing the Voice:
State of Grace and Anna Deavere Smith’s On
Grace, both at Grace Cathedral; the national
tour of Spamalot in San Francisco; Wild with
Happy, Striking 12, and Wheelhouse at TheatreWorks; Ragtime and She Loves Me at Foothill
Music Theatre; The 25th Annual Putnam
County Spelling Bee at San Jose Repertory
Theatre; Salomé at Aurora Theatre Company;
and Urinetown: The Musical at San Jose Stage
Company. Karen is the production coordinator
at TheatreWorks.
Garrett Rollins
A S S I S TA N T S TAG E M A N AG E R
Garrett’s recent credits include, on Broadway,
Our Mother’s Brief Affair (Manhattan Theatre
Club), Wolf Hall Parts One & Two, and Wicked,
and the first national tour of A Gentleman’s
Guide to Love and Murder. His off-Broadway
credits include Kid Victory (Vineyard Theatre)
and Piece of My Heart: The Bert Berns Story.
His regional credits include The Invisible Hand,
Art, Red, and Camelot (Westport Country
Playhouse). Garrett has an mfa in Stage Management from Columbia University and a BA
in Theatre from the University of Maine.
Tony Taccone
MICHAEL LEIBERT ARTISTIC
DIREC TOR
During Tony’s tenure as artistic director of
Berkeley Rep, the Tony Award-winning nonprofit has earned a reputation as an international leader in innovative theatre. In those
19 years, Berkeley Rep has presented more
than 70 world, American, and West Coast
premieres and sent 23 shows to New York, two
to London, and one to Hong Kong. Tony has
staged more than 40 plays in Berkeley, including new work from Julia Cho, John Leguizamo,
Culture Clash, Rinde Eckert, David Edgar,
Danny Hoch, Geoff Hoyle, Itamar Moses,
and Lemony Snicket. He directed the shows
that transferred to London, Continental Divide
and Tiny Kushner, and two that landed on
Broadway as well: Bridge & Tunnel and Wishful
Drinking. Prior to working at Berkeley Rep,
Tony served as artistic director of Eureka Theatre, which produced the American premieres
of plays by Dario Fo, Caryl Churchill, and David
Edgar before focusing on a new generation of
American writers. While at the Eureka, Tony
commissioned Tony Kushner’s legendary
Angels in America and co-directed its world
premiere. He has collaborated with Kushner
on eight plays at Berkeley Rep, including The
Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide to Capitalism
and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures. Tony’s
regional credits include Actors Theatre of
Louisville, Arena Stage, Center Theatre Group,
the Eureka Theatre, the Guthrie Theater,
the Huntington Theatre Company, Oregon
Shakespeare Festival, the Public Theater, and
Seattle Repertory Theatre. As a playwright, he
debuted Ghost Light, Rita Moreno: Life Without
Makeup, and Game On, written with Dan
Hoyle. In 2012, Tony received the Margo Jones
Award for “demonstrating a significant impact,
understanding, and affirmation of playwriting,
with a commitment to the living theatre.”
2 0 1 6 –1 7 · I S S U E 6 · T H E B E R K E L E Y R E P M AG A Z I N E · 3 7
BE R K E L E Y R E P P R E S E N T S
Susan Medak
M A N AG I N G D I R E C T O R
Susan has served as Berkeley Rep’s managing
director since 1990, leading the administration
and operations of the Theatre. She has served
as president of the League of Resident Theatres (lort) and treasurer of Theatre Communications Group, organizations that represent
the interests of nonprofit theatres across the
nation. Susan chaired panels for the Massachusetts Arts Council and has also served on
program panels for Arts Midwest, the Joyce
Foundation, and the National Endowment for
the Arts. Closer to home, Susan serves on the
board of the Downtown Berkeley Association (dba). She is the founding chair of the
Berkeley Arts in Education Steering Committee for Berkeley Unified School District and
the Berkeley Cultural Trust. She was awarded
the 2012 Benjamin Ide Wheeler Medal by the
Berkeley Community Fund. Susan serves on
the faculty of Yale School of Drama and is a
proud member of the Mont Blanc Ladies’
Literary Guild and Trekking Society. During
her time in Berkeley, Susan has been instrumental in the construction of the Roda
Theatre, the Nevo Education Center, the
renovation of the Peet’s Theatre, and in the
acquisition of both the Osher Studio and the
Harrison Street campus.
Theresa Von Klug
G E N E R A L M A N AG E R
Before joining Berkeley Rep, Theresa had
over 20 years of experience in the New York
not-for-profit performing arts sector where
she has planned and executed events for
dance, theatre, music, television, and film. Her
previous positions include the interim general manager for the Public Theater; general
manager/line producer for Theatre for a New
Audience, where she opened its new state-ofthe-art theatre in Brooklyn and filmed a major
motion picture of the inaugural production
of Julie Taymor’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream,
released June 2015; production manager at
the New Jersey Performing Arts Center and
New York City Center, including the famous
Encores! Great American Musicals in Concert;
and field representative/lead negotiator for
the Association of Theatrical Press Agents and
Managers. She holds a MS in Labor Relations
and Human Resources Management from
Baruch College.
Peter Dean
P R O D U C T I O N M A N AG E R
Peter began his Berkeley Rep career in 2014,
and since then some his favorite productions
include Party People, X’s and O’s (A Football
Love Story), and Aubergine. Previously, he
served as production manager at the Public
Theater, where favorite works include Here
Lies Love, Father Comes Home from the War
Parts 1–3, Mobile Shakespeare, and The Tempest
as well as musical collaborations with Sting,
3 8 · T H E B E R K E L E Y R E P M AG A Z I N E · 2 0 1 6 –1 7 · I S S U E 6
profiles
the Roots, and the Eagles. Peter also helped
Alex Timbers develop Rocky the Musical, The
Last Goodbye, and the cult classic Dance Dance
Revolution the Musical. Other favorites include
working with Edward Albee to remount The
Sandbox and The American Dream at their original home at the Cherry Lane Theatre, working
on Little Flower of East Orange directed by
the late Philip Seymour Hoffman, and being
a part of the development team for The Ride,
an interactive four-mile traveling performance
in the heart of Times Square. Regionally Peter
has worked with the Huntington Theatre
Company, American Repertory Theater,
Commonwealth Shakespeare, Trinity Rep,
Hasty Pudding Theatricals, Colorado Ballet,
Central City Opera, and the Denver Center
Theatre Company. Peter is a graduate of
Otterbein University.
Madeleine Oldham
R E S I D E N T D R A M AT U R G/
D I R E C T O R , T H E G R O U N D F LO O R
Madeleine is the director of The Ground Floor:
Berkeley Rep’s Center for the Creation and
Development of New Work and the Theatre’s
resident dramaturg. She oversees commissioning and new play development, and dramaturged the world premiere productions of
Aubergine, The House that will not Stand, Passing Strange, and In the Next Room (or the vibrator play), among others. As literary manager
and associate dramaturg at Center Stage in
Baltimore, she produced the First Look reading series and headed up its young audience
initiative. Before moving to Baltimore, she
was the literary manager at Seattle Children’s
Theatre, where she oversaw an extensive
commissioning program. She also acted as assistant and interim literary manager at Intiman
Theatre in Seattle. Madeleine served for four
years on the executive committee of Literary
Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas
and has also worked with act (Seattle), Austin
Scriptworks, Crowded Fire, the Eugene O’Neill
Theatre Center, the Kennedy Center, New
Dramatists, Playwrights Center, and Portland
Center Stage.
Amy Potozkin, csa
D I R E C T O R O F C A S T I N G/
A R T I S T I C A S S O C I AT E
This is Amy’s 27th season at Berkeley Rep.
Through the years she has also had the pleasure of casting plays for act (Seattle), Arizona
Theatre Company, Aurora Theatre Company, B
Street Theatre, Bay Area Playwrights Festival,
Dallas Theater Center, Marin Theatre Company, the Marsh, San Jose Repertory Theatre,
Social Impact Productions Inc., and Traveling
Jewish Theatre. Amy cast roles for various
independent films, including Conceiving Ada,
starring Tilda Swinton; Haiku Tunnel and Love
& Taxes, both by Josh Kornbluth; and Beyond
Redemption by Britta Sjogren. Amy received
her mfa from Brandeis University, where she
was also an artist in residence. She has been
an audition coach to hundreds of actors and a
presentation/communication coach to many
businesspeople. Amy taught acting at Mills
College and audition technique at Berkeley
Rep’s School of Theatre, and has led workshops at numerous other venues in the Bay
Area. Prior to working at Berkeley Rep, she
was an intern at Playwrights Horizons in New
York. Amy is a member of csa, the Casting
Society of America, and was nominated for
Artios Awards for Excellence in Casting for The
Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide to Capitalism
and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures and
One Man, Two Guvnors.
Lisa Peterson
A S S O C I AT E D I R E C T O R
Lisa is a two-time Obie Award-winning writer
and director who is currently the associate
director at Berkeley Rep. Previous projects
at the Theatre include It Can’t Happen Here
(2016); An Iliad (2012), which Lisa cowrote with
Denis O’Hare, and which won Obie and Lortel
Awards for Best Solo Performance; Mother
Courage (2006); The Fall (2001); and Antony &
Cleopatra (1999). For California Shakespeare
Theater, Lisa directed You Never Can Tell, King
Lear, The Winter’s Tale, All’s Well That Ends Well,
and Love’s Labour’s Lost. Other recent West
Coast productions include Hamlet, Henry IV Pt
2, and Othello (Oregon Shakespeare Festival);
and Chavez Ravine (Ovation Award for Best
Production), Palestine New Mexico, Electricidad, Water & Power, The House of Bernarda
Alba, Body of Bourne, and Mules (Mark Taper
Forum). She has directed world premieres by
many major American writers, including Tony
Kushner, Beth Henley, Donald Margulies,
Jose Rivera, Ellen McLaughlin, Mac Wellman,
Marlane Meyer, Polly Pen, Naomi Wallace,
and many others. She regularly works at the
Guthrie Theater, Actors Theatre of Louisville,
Long Wharf Theatre, Yale Repertory Theatre,
Hartford Stage, Seattle Repertory Theatre,
Arena Stage, O’Neill Playwrights Conference,
Ojai Playwrights Conference, and Sundance
Theatre Lab. Lisa and Denis are working on a
new play about faith and the Bible called The
Good Book, and a commission for the McCarter Theatre titled The Song of Rome. Lisa is also
writing a new music-theatre piece with Todd
Almond called The Idea of Order, co-commissioned by La Jolla Playhouse, Berkeley Rep,
and Seattle Rep.
Jack & Betty Schafer
SEASON SPONSORS
Betty and Jack are proud to support Berkeley
Rep. Jack just rotated off the Theatre’s board
and is now on the boards of San Francisco
Opera and the Straus Historical Society. He is
an emeritus trustee of the San Francisco Art
Institute and the Oxbow School. Betty is on
the board of EarthJustice, the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, and Sponsors of
SEASON SPONSORS
Michael and Sue have been interested in the
arts since they met and enjoy music, ballet,
and live theatre. Michael, who recently retired
as chairman and chief executive officer of
Macy’s West, served on Berkeley Rep’s board
of trustees from 1999 to 2006 and currently
serves on the board of directors of the Jewish
Museum. Sue serves on the board of the
World of Children. The Steinbergs have always
enjoyed regional theatre and are delighted to
sponsor Berkeley Rep this season.
The Strauch Kulhanjian Family
SEASON SPONSORS
Roger Strauch is a former president of
Berkeley Rep’s board of trustees and is
currently vice president of the board. He is
chairman of the Roda Group (rodagroup.com),
a venture-development company based in
Berkeley, focused on cleantech investments,
best known for launching Ask.com and for
being an early investor in TerraVia (nasdaq:
tvia, terravia.com), a next-generation food,
nutrition, and specialty ingredients company
that harnesses the power of algae. Roger
is chairman of the board of CoolSystems, a
medical technology company, and chairman
of the board of trustees for the Mathematical
Sciences Research Institute. He is a member
of the UC Berkeley Engineering Dean’s college
advisory board; a member of the board of
Northside Center, a mental-health services
agency based in Harlem, New York City; and
a co-founder of the William Saroyan Program
in Armenian Studies at Cal. Roger also leads
the Mosse Art Restitution Project, which
searches for family art illegally confiscated
during Germany’s Third Reich. His wife, Julie
A. Kulhanjian, is an attending physician at
Oakland Children’s Hospital. They have three
college-age children.
Yogen & Peggy Dalal
LEAD SPONSORS
Yogen and Peggy Dalal have been avid
theatregoers since they first met. Both have
served on the board of TheatreWorks, and
Yogen is currently on the board of the Oregon
Shakespeare Festival. They live in Palo Alto
and are engaged with a variety of arts organizations and nonprofits. They are fans of Mira
Nair and are excited to see a bit of Bollywood
make it to the Berkeley Rep stage.
Bruce Golden & Michelle Mercer
LEAD SPONSORS
Michelle and Bruce have been ardent
supporters of Berkeley Rep since 1993,
when they moved with two young children
in tow to Berkeley. Their favorite evenings
at Berkeley Rep were usually the discussion
nights, where often friends would join them
as well. Michelle and Bruce always felt that
Robin & Rich Edwards
EXECUTIVE SPONSORS
Robin and Rich have been strong supporters
of Berkeley Rep for more than 20 years when
they started serving on the gala committee
(on which they continue to serve). Rich was
co-chair of the Narsai Toast for five years.
Robin retired from active law practice as a
partner of Dentons US llp five years ago and
joined Berkeley Rep’s board in early 2012.
Rich retired in 1998 as a senior partner of
SF’s Robertson Stephens & Co., a high-techfocused investment bank, and became a professional photographer. Both Rich and Robin
have been very active as board members and
fundraisers for numerous Bay Area nonprofit
organizations. They now spend about half the
year traveling the world by sea.
Pam & Mitch Nichter
EXECUTIVE SPONSORS
Pam and Mitch recently retired from their
longtime careers as partners at Osterweis
Capital Management, a San Francisco investment manager, and Paul Hastings, a global
law firm, respectively. They recently moved
to their home in San Luis Obispo County
where they keep busy enjoying the beauty
that life offers by gardening, hiking, traveling,
and, of course, wine tasting. Pam serves on
the board of trustees at Berkeley Rep and is
chair of its Investment Committee. Pam and
Mitch have been enthusiastic supporters of
Berkeley Rep for years and are thrilled to help
sponsor this production of Monsoon Wedding.
Rummi & Arun Sarin kbe
EXECUTIVE SPONSORS
Both Rummi and Arun attended the University
of California at Berkeley and have lived in the
Bay Area for over 30 years. They have been
involved in many civic activities around the
University and have been major supporters of
the arts in the Bay Area. Rummi has served on
the boards of Berkeley Rep and the International House. Arun currently serves on the
Board of Visitors of UC Berkeley and the Blum
Center. Arun was knighted by Queen Elizabeth
in 2010 for his services to the communications
industry after serving as chief executive officer
of Vodafone plc.
Proud to
Support
Berkeley Rep
Personal attention
thoughtful litigation
final resolution
Our goal is to preserve our
client’s dignity and humanity.
L A W
Michael & Sue Steinberg
Berkeley Rep was an exceptional Bay Area
cultural treasure as it was willing to support
courageous new works and nurture innovative young playwrights. In 2002, Bruce and
Michelle moved to London, where they nourished themselves on a steady diet of English
theatre (note the proper spelling) until they
could return to their beloved Berkeley Rep.
They are delighted once again to be back in
the very center of leading-edge theatre and
are honored to be lead producers for two of
this season’s great productions. Their two
now-grown children are also tremendous
theatre junkies and will hopefully be joining
Bruce and Michelle for some of this season’s
performances.
F A M I LY
Educational Opportunity. In San Francisco, she
is engaged in the launch of “Wise Aging,” a
program for adults addressing the challenges
of growing older. They have three daughters
and eight grandchildren.
FA M I LY L AW G R O U P, P. C .
575 Market Street, Suite 4000
San Francisco, CA 94105
415.834.1120
www.sflg.com
It’s not a wedding
without gifts!
A NE W MU
AC CL AI ME
SIC
D DI RE CT AL FR OM
OR MI RA
NA IR
BOOK BY
Sabrina Dhaw
an
MUSIC BY
Vishal Bhard
waj
LYRICS BY
Susan Birke
nhead
DIREC TED
BY
Mira Nair
Visit the
Monsoon Wedding Bazaar
in our lobby for show
posters, T-shirts, and tasty
Indian treats
2 0 1 6 –1 7 · I S S U E 6 · T H E B E R K E L E Y R E P M AG A Z I N E · 3 9
Gail & Arne Wagner
EXECUTIVE SPONSORS
Arne Wagner retired from the law firm of
Calvo Fisher & Jacob in San Francisco. In his
retirement, he teaches high school math parttime and serves as treasurer for Tiba Foundation. Gail Wagner recently retired from Kaiser
in San Leandro where she was a hematologist
and oncologist. She is the founder of Tiba
Foundation (tibafoundation.org), an organization investing in community healthcare in an
underprivileged district of western Kenya, in
partnership with Matibabu Foundation. She is
also on the board of Africa Cancer Foundation
usa. Gail has been a Berkeley Rep trustee for
five years and, together, Gail and Arne have
been attending the Theatre since they were
students in 1972.
Additional staff
Assistant director
Arpita Mukherjee
Production driver
Larry Tesse
Assistant scenic designers
Libby Stadstad, Chika Shimizu,
G. Warren Stiles
Props
Amelia Burke-Holt, Zoe Gopnik-McManus,
Anya Kazimierski, Dara Ly, Kirsten Royston,
Samantha Visbal, Baz Wenger,
Rebecca Willis
Assistant costume designers
China Lee, Urmila Motwani (India)
Assistant to Ms. Nair
Molly Houlahan
Associate choreographer
Namita Kapoor
Associate lighting designer
Yuki Nakase
BART
Associate projection designer
Robert Figueira
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Associate sound designer
Will Pickens
Peet’s Coffee
Deck crew
Bradley Hopper, Sofie Miller,
Matt Reynolds (tent and fly),
Kourtney Snow (automation)
SEASON SPONSOR
SEASON SPONSOR
Peet’s Coffee is proud to be the exclusive coffee of Berkeley Repertory Theatre and salutes
Berkeley Rep for its dedication to the highest
artistic standards and diverse programming.
Peet’s is honored to support Berkeley Rep’s
renovation with the new, state-of-the-art
Peet’s Theatre. In 1966, Alfred Peet opened his
first store on Vine and Walnut in Berkeley and
Peet’s has been committed to the Berkeley
community ever since. As the pioneer of the
craft coffee movement in America, Peet’s is
dedicated to small-batch roasting, superior
quality beans, freshness and a darker roasting
style that produces a rich, flavorful cup. Peet’s
is locally roasted in the first leed ® Gold
certified roaster in the nation.
Wells Fargo
SEASON SPONSOR
As a top corporate philanthropist in the Bay
Area (according to the S.F. Business Times),
Wells Fargo recognizes Berkeley Repertory
Theatre for its leadership in supporting the
performing arts and its programs. Founded
in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco,
Wells Fargo provides banking, insurance,
investments, mortgage, and consumer and
commercial finance. Talk to a Wells Fargo
banker today to see how we can help you
become more financially successful.
4 0 · T H E B E R K E L E Y R E P M AG A Z I N E · 2 0 1 6 –1 7 · I S S U E 6
Projection editor
C. Andrew Bauer
Additional props support
Kathy Fabian/Propstar
Scene shop
Daniel Brickman, Ross Copeland, Jennifer
Costley, Will Gering, ET Hazzard, Carl Martin,
Sean Miller, Shannon Perry, Stephanie
Shipman, Jessica Tralka
Scenic artists
Chrissy Curl, Lassen Hines, Katie Holmes,
Christopher Jee, Anya Kazimierski, Anna
McGahey, Melanie Treuhaft
Sound technicians
Jermaine Battle, Sarah Jacquez, Greg Smith
Casting associate
Nicholas Petrovich
Video technicians
Cicily Clare Gruber, Sarina Renteria,
Lauren Wright
Creative consultant
Sarna Lapine
d3 programmers
Kyle Bjordahl, Dustin Engelskind
Costume shop
Nelly Flores, Milena Geary, Alea Gonzales,
Kelly Koehn, Allison Mortimer, Andrea Marlo
Phillips, Anna Slotterback,
Keely Weiman
Wardrobe
Claire Giffith, Eva Herndon, Andrea Marlo
Phillips, Maren Preston, Anna Slotterback
Dialect coach
Jessica Berman
Electrics
Shae Baer Burnette, Cicily Clare Gruber,
Gabriel Holman, Kelly Marie Kunaniec,
Melissa Ramirez, Minerva Ramirez, Sarina
Renteria, Matt Reynolds, Corey Schaeffer,
Nathanael Schiffbauer, Andrea J. Schwartz,
Kourtney Snow, Ericka Sokolower-Shain,
Caitlin Steinmann, Molly Stewart-Cohn,
Thomas Weaver, Lauren Wright
Followspot operators
Sarina Renteria, Caitlin Steinmann
Studio teacher
Victoria Northridge
Additional scenery elements
The Aerial Studio, Hudson Scenic Studios,
Kathy Fabian/Propstar,
Tom Carroll Scenery
Additional sound equipment
Masque Sound, Meyer Sound
Additional electrics equipment
Christie Lites, Inc.
Additional video equipment
SenovvA, Inc.
Immigration legal services provided by the
Law Offices of Lisa Palter.
Special thanks to Ruth & Steve Hendel,
Margo Lion, and Roy Gabay.
Keyboard programmers
Randy Cohen, Taylor Williams
Special thanks to Sukhinder Singh Cassidy,
Ash Chopra, Theresia Gouw, Lisa Hepps,
and Joe Ruck & Donna Ito.
Lightboard programmer
Bridget Chervenka
Special thanks to Congresswoman Barbara
Lee and Jose Hernandez.
Music assistant
David Aaron Brown
Rehearsed at
NEW 42ND STREET® Studios
Copyist
Alex Jackson
Medical consultation for Berkeley Rep
provided by Cindy J. Chang MD, ucsf Assoc.
Clinical Professor and Steven Fugaro, MD.
Production assistant
Betsy Norton
Production assistants (nyc)
Alice Pollitt, Jeana Caporelli
We thank the many institutional partners who enrich our community by
championing Berkeley Rep’s artistic and community outreach programs.
We gratefully recognize these donors to Berkeley Rep’s Annual Fund, who
made their gifts between February 2016 and March 2017.
LEGEND
BE R K E L E Y R E P
THANKS
Donors to the Annual Fund
Ground Floor donor
G IF T S O F $ 10 0,0 0 0 A N D A B OV E
The William & Flora Hewlett Foundation
The Shubert Foundation
G IF T S O F $50,0 0 0 –9 9,9 9 9
Edgerton Foundation
The Reva and David Logan Foundation
National Endowment for the Arts
The Bernard Osher Foundation
The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust
Time Warner Foundation, Inc.
Tournesol Project
G IF T S O F $2 5,0 0 0 –49,9 9 9
Anonymous
BayTree Fund
The Ira and Leonore S. Gershwin Philanthropic Fund
Wallis Foundation
Woodlawn Foundation
G IF T S O F $5,0 0 0 –9,9 9 9
Anonymous
Berkeley Civic Arts Program
Distracted Globe Foundation
Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation
Ramsay Family Foundation
Karl & Alice Ruppenthal Foundation for the Arts
G IF T S O F $ 1,0 0 0 –4,9 9 9
Joyce & William Brantman Foundation
Butte Creek Foundation
Civic Foundation
James Irvine Foundation
jec Foundation
San Francisco Foundation
Frank Sinatra Foundation
twanda Foundation
COR P OR AT E S P ON S OR S
SEASON SPONSORS
G I F T S O F $ 10 0,0 0 0 A N D A B OV E
SPONSORS
G I F T S O F $ 3,0 0 0 – 5,9 9 9
Mechanics Bank Wealth Management
The Morrison & Foerster Foundation
Bayer
Boston Properties, in memory of John & Carol Field
Gallagher Risk Management Services
Macy’s
CO R P O R AT E PA R T N E R S
G I F T S O F $ 6,0 0 0 –11,9 9 9
E XECU TIV E S P O N S O R S
G I F T S O F $ 2 5,0 0 0 –49,9 9 9
American Express
PE R FO R M A N CE S P O N S O R S
G I F T S O F $ 12 ,0 0 0 –2 4 ,9 9 9
Armanino llp
City National Bank
Deloitte
Faber Daeufer & Itrato PC
McCutcheon Construction
Panoramic Interests
Schoenberg Family Law Group
B U S IN E S S M E M B E R S
G I F T S O F $ 1, 5 0 0 –2 ,9 9 9
Aspiriant Wealth Management
BluesCruise.com
Cooperative Center Federal Credit Union
Field Paoli Architects, in memory of
John & Carol Field
Perforce Foundation
TMG Partners in memory of John & Carol Field
CH A M PI O N S
G I F T S O F $ 1,0 0 0 –1, 49 9
Reuben, Junius & Rose, LLP, in memory of John &
Carol Field
Is your company a corporate sponsor? Berkeley Rep’s Corporate Partnership program offers excellent
opportunities to network, entertain clients, reward employees, increase visibility, and support the arts
and arts education in the community.
For details visit berkeleyrep.org/support or call Daria Hepps at 510 647-2904.
I N-K I N D S P ON S OR S
act Catering
Almare Gelato Italiano
Angeline’s Louisiana Kitchen
Aurora Catering
Autumn Press
Avasar Mandap Rentals
B&B Kitchen & Bar
Bare Snacks
Big 4 Party Rentals
Bistro Liaison
Bogatin, Corman & Gold
brk
Cancun
Comal
Domaine Carneros by Taittinger
Donkey & Goat Winery
Drake’s Brewing Company
East Bay Spice Company
Eureka!
five
Gecko Gecko
Hafner Vineyard
Hugh Groman Catering &
Greenleaf Platters
Jazzcaffè
La Mediterranee
La Note
Latham & Watkins llp
Mayer Brown llp
Phil’s Sliders
Picante
PiQ
Platano Salvadoran Cuisine
Quady Winery
RAJ Tents
Ramsay Winery
RedHawk Foods llc
Revival Bar + Kitchen
Robert Meyer’s Mangia
Nosh Catering
St. George Spirits
Sudha Pennathur
Suya African Carribbean Grill
Sweet Adeline
Tigerlily
Venus Restaurant
Whole Foods Market
Hotel Shattuck Plaza is the
official hotel of Berkeley Rep.
Pro-bono legal services are
generously provided by
Latham & Watkins llp and
Mayer Brown llp
M AT C H I NG G I F T S
The following companies have matched their
employees’ contributions to Berkeley Rep. Please
contact your company’s HR office to find out if your
company matches gifts.
Adobe Systems Inc. · Advent Software · American
Express · Apple · Applied Materials · Argo Group ·
at&t · Bank of America · BlackRock · Bristol Myers
Squibb · Charles Schwab & Co, Inc · Chevron
Corporation · Clorox · Constellation Energy · Dolby ·
Gap · Genentech · Google · ibm Corporation · John
Wiley & Sons, Inc. · kla Tencor · Lawrence Livermore
National Laboratory · Macy’s Inc. · Matson
Navigation Company · Microsoft · Morrison &
Foerster · norcal Mutual Insurance Company ·
Nvidia · Oracle Corporation · Salesforce.com · Shell
Oil · Sidley Austin llp, San Francisco · Synopsys · The
Walt Disney Company · Union Bank, The Private
Bank · visa u.s.a., Inc.
2 0 1 6 –1 7 · I S S U E 6 · T H E B E R K E L E Y R E P M AG A Z I N E · 4 1
BE R K E L E Y R E P
THANKS
We thank the many individuals in our community who help Berkeley Rep produce
adventurous, thought-provoking, and thrilling theatre and bring arts education to thousands
of young people every year. We gratefully recognize these donors to Berkeley Rep’s Annual
Fund, who made their gifts between February 2016 and March 2017.
Donors to the Annual Fund
To make your gift and join this distinguished group, visit berkeleyrep.org/give or call 510 647-2906.
S P ON S OR C I RC L E
SEASON SPONSORS
$ 10 0,0 0 0 +
Jack & Betty Schafer
Michael & Sue Steinberg
The Strauch Kulhanjian Family
LE A D S P O N S O R S
$ 5 0,0 0 0 – 9 9,9 9 9
Barbara & Rodgin Cohen
Martha Ehmann Conte
Yogen & Peggy Dalal
Bruce Golden & Michelle Mercer
Frances Hellman & Warren Breslau
Wayne Jordan & Quinn Delaney
Jonathan Logan
Jane Marvin/Peet’s Coffee
Stewart & Rachelle Owen
Mary Ruth Quinn & Scott Shenker
E XECU TIV E S P O N S O R S
$ 2 5,0 0 0 –49,9 9 9
Edward D. Baker
Michelle Branch & Dale Cook
Rena Bransten
Susan Chamberlin
John & Stephanie Dains
Bill Falik & Diana Cohen
Kerry Francis & John Jimerson
Monica Lopez & Sameer Gandhi
Pam & Mitch Nichter
Marjorie Randolph
Jack & Valerie Rowe
Rummi & Arun Sarin kbe
Jean & Michael Strunsky
Guy Tiphane
Tomlinson Family
Gail & Arne Wagner
SPONSORS
$ 12 ,0 0 0 –2 4 ,9 9 9
Anonymous (2)
Barbara & Gerson Bakar
Carole B. Berg
Maria Cardamone & Paul Matthews
David & Vicki Cox
Thalia Dorwick
Robin & Rich Edwards
Cynthia A. Farner
David & Vicki Fleishhacker
Paul Friedman & Diane Manley
Karen Galatz & Jon Wellinghoff
Paul Haahr & Susan Karp
Scott & Sherry Haber
Jack Klingelhofer
Suzanne LaFetra
Sandra & Ross McCandless
Dugan Moore
Leonard X & Arlene B. Rosenberg
Sheli & Burt Rosenberg, in honor of
Len & Arlene Rosenberg
Joe Ruck & Donna Ito
Joan Sarnat & David Hoffman
Liliane & Ed Schneider
Janis Turner
Felicia Woytak & Steven Rasmussen
Martin & Margaret Zankel
A S S O CIAT E S P O N S O R S
$ 6,0 0 0 – 11,9 9 9
Anonymous (3)
Shelley & Jonathan Bagg
Edith Barschi
Neil & Gene Barth
Valerie Barth & Peter Wiley
Lynne Carmichael
Daniel Cohn & Lynn Brinton
Julie & Darren Cooke
Robert Council & Ann Parks-Council
Daryl Dichek & Kenneth Smith, in memory
of Shirley D. Schild
William Espey & Margaret Hart Edwards
Tracy & Mark Ferron
John & Carol Field, in honor of
Marjorie Randolph
Virginia & Timothy Foo
Jill & Steve Fugaro
Hitz Foundation
Ms. Wendy E. Jordan
Ted & Carole Krumland
Zandra Faye LeDuff
Dixon Long
Peter & Melanie Maier, in honor of
Jill Fugaro
Dale & Don Marshall
Martin & Janis McNair
Helen & John Meyer / Meyer Sound
Steven & Patrece Mills M
Norman & Janet Pease
Mary Ann Peoples, in memory of
Lou Peoples
Peter Pervere & Georgia Cassel
Barbara L. Peterson
Sue Reinhold & Deborah Newbrun
Pat Rougeau
Patricia Sakai & Richard Shapiro
Cynthia & William Schaff
Emily Shanks M
Pat & Merrill Shanks
Karen Stevenson & Bill McClave
Lisa & Jim Taylor
Wendy Williams
Linda & Steven Wolan
A R T I S T IC DI R E C T OR’ S C I RC L E
PA R T N E R S
$ 3,0 0 0 – 5,9 9 9
Anonymous (6)
Michelle L. Barbour
Stephen Belford & Bobby Minkler
Becky & Jeff Bleich
Cynthia & David Bogolub
Brook & Shawn Byers
Ronnie Caplane
Jennifer Chaiken & Sam Hamilton
Betsey & Ken Cheitlin
Constance Crawford
Karen & David Crommie
Lois M. De Domenico
Delia Fleishhacker Ehrlich
Nancy & Jerry Falk
Frannie Fleishhacker
Mary & Nicholas Graves
Ms. Teresa Burns Gunther &
Dr. Andrew Gunther
Richard & Lois Halliday
Earl & Bonnie Hamlin
Vera & David Hartford
Richard N. Hill & Nancy Lundeen
Renee Hilpert K
James C. Hormel & Michael P.
Nguyen, in honor of Rita Moreno
Lynda & Dr. J. Pearce Hurley
Kathleen & Chris Jackson
Barbara E. Jones, in memory of
William E. Jones
Seymour Kaufman &
Kerstin Edgerton
Duke & Daisy Kiehn
Rosalind & Sung-Hou Kim
Wanda Kownacki
Louise Laufersweiler &
Warren Sharp
Nancy & George Leitmann, in
memory of Helen Barber
Eileen & Hank Lewis
Tom Lockard & Alix Marduel
Elsie Mallonee
Helen Marcus & David Williamson
Phyra McCandless &
Angelos Kottas M
Miles & Mary Ellen McKey
Susan Medak & Greg Murphy,
in honor of Marcia Smolens
Toby Mickelson & Donald Brody
Eddie & Amy Orton
Janet & Clyde Ostler
Sandi & Dick Pantages
Rezwan & Azarmeen Pavri
Kermit & Janet Perlmutter
Gregg Richardson &
Lee Mingwei K
David S. H. Rosenthal &
Vicky Reich
Beth & David Sawi
Joyce & Jim Schnobrich
Stephen Schoen & Margot Fraser
Linda & Nathan Schultz
Beryl & Ivor Silver
Ed & Ellen Smith
Stephen & Cindy Snow
Audrey & Bob Sockolov
Vickie Soulier
Deborah Taylor
Pamela Gaye Walker/
Ghost Ranch Productions
Beth Weissman
Susan West
Patricia & Jeffrey Williams
Steven Winkel & Barbara Sahm
Sheila Wishek
Sally Woolsey
B E N E FAC TO R S
$ 1, 5 0 0 –2 ,9 9 9
Anonymous (5)
Mel Adamson K
Pat Angell, in memory of
Gene Angell
Martha & Bruce Atwater
Naomi Auerbach & Ted Landau
Nina Auerbach
Linda & Mike Baker
Leslie & Jack Batson
Don & Gerry Beers
David Beery & Norman Abramson
Michael S. Berman, in memory of
John & Carol Field
Barbara Bernstein K
Annikka Berridge
Caroline Beverstock
Naomi Black M
Brian Bock & Susan Rosin
42 · T H E B E R K E L E Y R E P M AG A Z I N E · 2 0 1 6 –1 7 · I S S U E 6
Caroline Booth
Bernard Boudreaux
Linda Brandenburger
Broitman-Basri Family
Don & Carol Anne Brown
Brenda Buckhold Shank, MD, PhD
Katherine S. Burcham M
Don Campbell & Family
Ed Cullen & Ann O’Connor
James Cuthbertson
Meredith Daane M
Barbara & Tim Daniels M
Richard & Anita Davis
Ilana DeBare & Sam Schuchat
Francine & Beppe Di Palma
Corinne & Mike Doyle
Linda Drucker
Susan English & Michael Kalkstein
Bill & Susan Epstein
Merle & Michael Fajans
Lisa & Dave Finer
Ann & Shawn Fischer Hecht
Linda Jo Fitz
Patrick Flannery
James & Jessica Fleming
Thomas & Sharon Francis
Lisa Franzel & Rod Mickels
Donald & Dava Freed
Herb & Marianne Friedman
Chris R. Frostad M
James Gala
Kevin & Noelle Gibbs M
Dennis & Susan Johann Gilardi
Marjorie Ginsburg &
Howard Slyter
Daniel & Hilary B. Goldstine
Nelson Goodman, in memory of
Marilyn Goodman
Robert & Judith Greber
William James Gregory
Anne & Peter Griffes
Garrett Gruener & Amy Slater
Migsy & Jim Hamasaki
Bob & Linda Harris
Ruth Hennigar
Christina Herdell, in memory of
Vaughn & Ardis Herdell
Doug & Leni Herst, in honor of
Susie Medak
Howard Hertz & Jean Krois
Elaine Hitchcock
Bill Hofmann & Robbie Welling M
The Hornthal Family Foundation,
in honor of Susie Medak’s
leadership
Paula Hughmanick &
Steven Berger
Polly & Greg Ikonen
Marilyn Jensen-Akula
Beth & Fred Karren
Doug & Cessna Kaye
Bill & Lisa Kelly
Stephen F. Kispersky
Jean & Jack Knox
Lynn Eve Komaromi, in honor of
the Berkeley Rep Staff
John Kouns & Anne Baele Kouns
Woof Kurtzman & Liz Hertz
Helen E. Land
Robert Lane & Tom Cantrell
Randy Laroche & David Laudon
Sherrill Lavagnino &
Scott McKinney
Andrew Leavitt & Catherine Lewis
Ellen & Barry Levine
Jennifer S. Lindsay
Suzanne & William Lingo
Vonnie Madigan
The Madison Family K
Naomi & Bruce Mann
Lois & Gary Marcus
Sumner & Hermine Marshall
Charlotte & Adolph Martinelli
Rebecca Martinez
Jill Matichak
Erin McCune
Kirk McKusick & Eric Allman
Dan Miller
Andy & June Monach
Scott Montgomery & Marc Rand
Jerry Mosher
Marvin & Neva Moskowitz
Daniel Murphy
Judith & Richard Oken
Sheldeen Osborne
Judy O’Young, MD & Gregg Hauser
Gerane Wharton Park
Bob & MaryJane Pauley
Tom & Kathy Pendleton
David & Bobbie Pratt
Linda Protiva
Lawrence Prozan
Andrew Raskopf &
David Gunderman
Bill Reuter & Ruth Major
Matt Pagel & Corey Revilla
John & Jody Roberts
Leigh Robinson
Deborah Romer & William Tucker
Boyard & Anne Rowe
Enid & Alan Rubin
Lisa Salomon & Scott Forrest
Monica Salusky &
John K. Sutherland
Jeane & Roger Samuelsen
Jaimie Sanford & Ted Storey
Stephen C. Schaefer
Jackie & Paul Schaeffer
Dan Scharlin & Sara Katz
Jackie Schmidt-Posner &
Barry Posner
Edie Silber & Steve Bomse
Beryl & Ivor Silver
Dave & Lori Simpson
Margaret Skornia
Cherida Collins Smith
Sherry & David Smith
Alice & Scott So
David G. Steele
Gary & Jana Stein
Stephen Stublarec &
Debra S. Belaga
Duncan Susskind K
Alison Teeman &
Michael Yovino-Young
Susan Terris
Samuel Test
Michael Tubach & Amrita Singhal
Jonathan & Kiyo Weiss
Barry Lawson Williams &
Lalita Tademy
Wendy Willrich
Charles & Nancy Wolfram
Ron & Anita Wornick
Sam & Joyce Zanze
Mark Zitter & Jessica Nutik Zitter
Jane & Mark Zuercher
BE R K E L E Y R E P T H A N K S
Donors to the Annual Fund
CH A M PIO N S
$ 1,0 0 0 –1, 49 9
Anonymous (7) · Tracy Achorn · Abbey Alkon
& Jonathan Leonard · Gertrude E. Allen, in
memory of Robert Allen · Roy & Judith Alper ·
Elisabeth Andreason & Melissa Allen · Marcia
& George Argyris · Ross E. Armstrong · Jolie
Baumgardner M · Susan Benzinger, in memory
of Zan Gray Bealmear · Patti Bittenbender ·
Naomi Black · Robert Bransten, in memory of
John & Carol Field · Eric Brink & Gayle
Vassar M · Davis Carniglia & Mary-Claire
Baker · Paula Carrell · Anthony J. Cascardi ·
Stan & Stephanie Casper · Sumir Chadha ·
Leslie Chatham & Kathie Weston · Ed & Lisa
Chilton · Patty & Geoff Chin · Terin
Christensen · Roberta Christianson, in memory
of Bea · Mike & Pam Crane · Abby & Ross
Davisson · Harry & Susan Dennis · Robert
Deutsch · David Deutscher · Burton Peek
Edwards · Paul Feigenbaum & Judy Kemeny ·
Martin & Barbara Fishman · Samuel Fogleman,
in memory of Zan Gray Bealmear · Dean
Francis · Mary & Stan Friedman · Don & Janie
Friend, in honor of Bill & Candy Falik · Craig
Labadie · Glennis Lees & Michael Glazeski ·
Kim Golden & Jean Suda in honor of Bruce
Golden & Michelle Mercer · Tim & Mary
Haifley · Ann Harriman, in memory of
Malcolm White · Dan & Shawna Hartman
Brotsky M · Don & Janice Holve, in memory of
Daisy & Paul Persons · Mr. & Mrs. Harold M.
Isbell · Randall Johnson · Corrina Jones · Dennis
Kaump · Marilyn Kecso · Christopher Killian &
Carole Ungvarsky · Janet Kornegay & Dan
Sykes · Susilpa Lakireddy · Henry Lerner, in
honor of Joanne Levene Lerner · Ms. Sidne S.
Long · Jay & Eileen Love · John E. Matthews ·
Susan & J. Patterson McBaine · Ruth Medak ·
Geri Monheimer, in honor of Sharon Kinkade ·
Brian & Britt-Marie Morris · Margo Murray ·
Claire Noonan & Peter Landsberger ·
Christina & Geoffrey Norman, in memory of
John & Carol Field · Pier & Barbara Oddone ·
Lynette Pang & Michael Man · Regina Phelps ·
We gratefully recognize
the following members
of the Annual Fund whose
contributions were
received from January 25,
2017 to March 31, 2017:
S U PP O R T E R S
$ 2 5 0 –49 9
Anonymous (4) · Alvin Baum, in memory of
John & Carol Field · Law Offices of Steven
Birnbaum · Carolyn & Phil Cowan · Martha &
William Crowe · Toni Deser & Paul Rodman M ·
Debashis Dhar & Devyani Biswas M · Daniel
Friedland & Azlynda Alim M · Kate Funk ·
Charlie Haas, in honor of John & Carol Field ·
Robert Jacob & Diane Penn · Beth & Tim
Kientzle M · Deborah & David Kirshman, in
memory of John and Carol Field · Marit Lash ·
Sandra MacKenzie-Cioppa, in honor of Josie
& Everett Goldfarb · Jennifer Nixon & Charles
Wood · Wendy Polivka & Evan Painter ·
Bonnie Raitt · William Yragui
CO N T RIB U TO R S
$ 15 0 –2 49
Anonymous (3) · Mehrdad Afrahi · Alice
Benet · Joanie Ciardelli · Carla & Paul Cooper, in
memory of John Field · Linda Biewer Elstob ·
The Department of Epidemiology-sph Brown
University Faculty and Staff, in memory of John
& Carol Field · Mrs. Robert Force · Miriam
Green · Austin & Lynne Henderson · Aaron &
Myra Latkin · John Lee · Adrienne W. Lewis ·
Gary F. Pokorny · David & Mary Ramos · Kent
Rasmussen & Celia Ramsay · Charles Rice ·
Helen Richardson · Maxine Risley, in memory
of James Risley · Horacio & Angela Rodriguez ·
Rosov Consulting · Deborah Dashow Ruth, in
memory of Leo P. Ruth · Laurel Scheinman ·
Teddy & Bruce Schwab · Seiger Family
Foundation · Brenda Buckhold Shank, M.D.,
Ph.D. · Neal Shorstein, MD & Christopher
Doane · Valerie Sopher · Douglas Sovern &
Sara Newmann · John St. Dennis & Roy Anati ·
Monroe W. Strickberger · William van Dyk &
Margi Sullivan · Pate & Judy Thomson · Prof.
Jeremy Thorner & Dr. Carol Mimura · Alistair
& Nellie Thornton · Jennifer M. Van Natta ·
William R. Weir
A DVO C AT E S
$500–999
Anonymous (20) · Fred & Kathleen Allen ·
Robert & Evelyn Apte · Steven & Barbara
Aumer-Vail · Celia Bakke · Jolie Baumgardner ·
Steven Beckendorf & Cynthia Hill · Richard &
Kathy Berman · Robert Berman & Jane
Ginsburg · Steve Bischoff · The Blackman
Family · Gun Bolin · Karen Bowen & Beth
Gerstein, in honor of Donald Trump and Mike
Pence · Ellen Brackman & Deborah Randolph ·
Marilyn Bray · Diane Brett · Peter Brock ·
Craig Broscow M · Dr. Paula Campbell ·
Robert & Margaret Cant · Bruce Carlton ·
John Carr · Kim & Dawn Chase · Laura Chenel ·
Karen Clayton & Stephen Clayton · Jane &
Tom Coulter · Michael & Denise Coyne ·
Sharon & Ed Cushman · Jill & Evan Custer ·
Brett D’Ambrosio · Robert & Loni Dantzler ·
Joshua Dapice M · Pat & Steve Davis · ddl
Productions, in memory of Zan Bealmear ·
Jacqueline Desoer · Jerome & Thao Dodson ·
Carol Dolezal · Amar Doshi · Kristen Driskell ·
Anita C. Eblé · Thomas W. Edwards & Rebecca
Parlette-Edwards · Roger & Jane Emanuel ·
Joseph & Judith Epstein · Gini Erck & David
Petta · Michael Evanhoe · James Finefrock &
Harriet Hamlin · Brigitte & Louis Fisher ·
Lisa Manning · Andrew R. McGrath · Jennifer
Miller & Jamie Isbester · Diane Schreiber &
Bryan McElderry M · Cathy J. Tennant, MD ·
Abba Terr · Robert Visser M
FRIE N D S
$ 75 –149
Anonymous (5) · Robert & Karen Abra · Alison
Boeckmann · Margaret Booth · Martha
Carothers & Bruce Bigatel, in memory of Zan
Gray Bealmear · Leslye Corsiglia · Lori
Crowley · Ira Dearing · Michael and Beni Fein ·
Joyce Field, in memory of Carol & John Field ·
Wendy Friefeld · John Gearen · Shauna Kay
Hannan · Joshua Jones · Elizabeth Kelly · Mike &
Mary Jo Kelly · Nancy Helen Kromm, in honor
of Peggy Thow · Melissa & Steve Lawton ·
Kewchang Lee, M.D. & Kevin DeYager · Paul &
Barbara Liston · Bruce & Myrna Lockey · Joseph
Matarese · Judith Maurier · Robert & Mia
Morrill · Sora Lei Newman · Rachael
Noguera M · Dominique Philippine M · Amanda
Pope, in memory of John & Carol Field · Bonnie
Preston · Larry E. Ruff · Bill Schubert · Carole
Sheft · Ida D. Shen M · Corinne Stewart · Kathy
& Corinne Stewart · Isabelle Stierli · Galyn
Susman · Ann Sydeman · Kara & Mark
Theiding M · Frederick Tollini · Dana Tom &
Nancy Kawakita M · Barbara & William
Vaughan · Meredith Watts · David J. Weber ·
Susan Weeks · Shawna Werle · Xinni Zhang
PAT RO N S
$ 1 –74
Anonymous (12) · Monica Ajer · Graciela S.
Alarcon · Adam Altgelt · Amanda Kay Amaro ·
Doug Anderson · Peter Armstrong · Karin
Ashley · Andrew Avins · Carole Barry · David &
Michael & Vicky Flora · Jacques Fortier · Midge
Fox K · Christie Fraser · Harvey & Deana
Freedman · David Gaskin & Phillip
McPherson · Karl & Kathleen Geier · Tim
Geoghegan · Arlene Getz · Judith & Alex
Glass · Gwendolyn Goldsby, in memory of
Angela Paton · Barry & Erica Goode · Gail
Gordon & Jack Joseph · Jane Gottesman &
Geoffrey Biddle · Gene Gottfried · Linda
Graham · Priscilla Green, in honor of Maya &
Rico Green · Sheldon & Judy Greene · Don &
Becky Grether · Frede S. Hammes · Ken &
Karen Harley · Janet Harris · Geoffrey &
Marin-Shawn Haynes · Irene & Robert Hepps ·
Dixie Hersh · Fran Hildebrand · George &
Leslie Hume · Alex Ingersoll & Martin
Tannenbaum · Stephen & Helene Jaffe K ·
Anne & Douglas Jensen · Pam & Ted Johann M ·
Charles & Laurie Kahn · Kaarel Kaljot ·
Helmut H. Kapczynski & Colleen Neff ·
Patricia Kaplan · Pat Kelly & Jennifer Doebler ·
Kimberly J. Kenley-Salarpi · Sue Fisher King ·
Jack & Birthe Kirsch · Beverly Phillips Kivel ·
Susan Klee & David Stoloff · Jeff Klingman &
Deborah Sedberry · Judith Knoll · Joan &
David Komaromi · Natalie Lagorio · Jane &
Michael Larkin · Barbara & Thomas Lasinski ·
David & Mari Lee · Renee M. Linde · Deidre &
Loren Lingenfelter, in memory of Zan Bealmear ·
Mark & Roberta Linsky · Dottie Lofstrom ·
Loveable Feast, in memory of Zan Bealmear ·
Bruce Maigatter & Pamela Partlow · Joan &
Roger Mann · Sue & Phil Marineau · Igor
Maslennikov · Caroline McCall & Eric Martin ·
Marie Singer McEnnis · Daniel & Beverlee
McFadden · Brian McRee · George & Jeri
Medak, in memory of Alexandra Victoria
Gray-Bealmear · Joanne Medak, in honor of
Susan Medak · Jamie Miller, in memory of
Helene Sabin · Marlene & Stephen Miller · Jeff
Miner · Harry Mixon Esq · James & Katherine
Moule · James Musbach · Aki & Emi Nakao ·
Ron Nakayama · Greg Neukirchner · Jeanne E.
Newman · Judy Ogle · Suzette S. Olson · Peggy
O’Neill · Carol J. Ormond · Nancy Park · Brian
D. Parsons · James Pawlak · Kyle Peacock ·
P. David Pearson · Bob & Toni Peckham, in
honor of Robert M. Peckham, Jr. · James &
Susan Penrod, in honor of Dale & Don
Marshall · Paul & Suzanne Peterson · Anne
Petrowsky · James F. Pine M · F. Anthony
Placzek · Malcolm & Ann Plant · Charles
Pollack & Joanna Cooper · Susie & Eric
Poncelet · Timothy & Marilyn Potter · Roxann
R. Preston · Rich Price · Laurel & Gerald
Przybylski · Lois & Dan Purkett · Sheldon
& Catherine Ramsay · Teresa L. Remillard M ·
Paul & Margaret Robbins · Rick & Stephanie
Rogers · Galen Rosenberg & Denise Barnett ·
Dorothy R. Saxe · Joyce & Kenneth Scheidig ·
Bob & Gloria Schiller · Mark Schoenrock &
Claudia Fenelon · Dr. David Schulz M · Cynthia
Sears · Andrew & Marva Seidl · Steve & Susan
Shortell · Joshua & Ruth Simon · William &
Martha Slavin · Carra Sleight · Suzanne
Slyman · Jerry & Dick Smallwood · Sigrid
Snider · Louis & Bonnie Spiesberger · Robert &
Naomi Stamper · Herbert Steierman · Lynn M.
& A. Justin Sterling · Carol Sundell · Tracy
Thompson · Karen Tiedemann & Geoff Piller ·
Amy Tobin & Scott Jacobson · Mike & Ellen
Turbow · Dean Ujihara · Sharon Ulrich &
Marlowe Ng · Mark Valentine & Stacy
Leier-Valentine · Jennifer M. Van Natta · Gerald
& Ruth Vurek · Adrian Walker · Louise & Larry
Walker · Buddy & Jodi Warner · Dena & Wayne
Watson-Lamprey · Mike Weinberger & Julianne
Lindemann · Harvey & Rhona Weinstein ·
Robert & Sheila Weisblatt · Sallie Weissinger ·
Dr. Ben & Mrs. Carolyn Werner · Elizabeth
Werter & Henry Trevor · Robert T. Weston ·
Sharon & Kenneth Wilson · Fred Winslow &
Barbara Baratta · Laura & Ernest Winslow ·
H. Leabah Winter · Susan & Harvey Wittenberg ·
Margaret Wu & Ciara Cox · Bob & Judi Yeager M ·
Lee Yearley & Sally Gressens · Sandra Yuen &
Lawrence Shore
Carol Berluti · Mr. & Mrs. Ross W. Blue · Dvora
& Neil Boorstyn · Sydney Buice · Lee & George
Burnett · Sophia & Virginia Cafaro-Mirviss ·
William Callahan · Ken Waldeck & Paula A
Clark · Pascale Cohen · Darlene B. Comstedt ·
Kelly Corcoran · Sara Castellanos Cortez · Sophie
H. Cripe · Sara Danielson · Paul E. Davis · Kyle
Dayrit · Janet M. DeMaio · Sharon Dickson ·
Shannon Dubach · Wendy Earl · Glenda
Edwards · Mica Estrada & Carl Magruder · Mr. &
Mrs. Richard Fallenbaum · Gail Falls · Ernie J.
Fazio Jr · Lindley Frahm · Marcy Fraser · Kristina
Galante · Bonnie Gamble · Barbara Ann
George · Deborah Gilman · Mitchell Gitin · Bob
Gomez · Ms. Phyllis Gorelick · Lorri Gray ·
Zachary & Carolyn Griffith · Daniel Guerrero ·
Rebecca Haggerty · Eileen Hamm · Eleanor
Grace Harnett · Nicholas Harsch · Michael &
Joan Healy · Lara Heisler · Steve Hernandez &
Vivian Jaquette · Melinda Hershon · Penny
Hubbard · Rebecca Husband · Michelle Huston ·
Don Ino · Denise W. James · Filip John · I-Ming
Kao · Ellyn Kaschak · Marsha Kermish · Leslie
King · Kali Klena · Thierry & Lisa Koblentz · Chris
Konnerth · Susan Kraft & Patrick Scott ·
Brooke Kuhn · Ana Lacasta · Lynne Lancaster ·
Zelda Laskowsky · Sara Lautenbach · Susan
Ledford · Michelle Lemieux & Melissa Browning ·
Len J. Lester · Barbara Lowe · Michael & Alex
Luby · Timothy Lupton · Kelsey Mackin · Sean
Marney · Anna Mattos-Massey · Margaret
McCaffery · Mark McLaughlin · Michelle
Medeiros · Maria Yecenia Mendez · Grace
Merecicky, in honor of Nora Merecicky · Kanako
Mhatre · Harriett Michael · Cameron Miller ·
Gordon Miller · John Mitchell · Jacob Moore ·
Nadine Nakazawa · Andrew Neuschatz ·
Jennifer Normoyle · Jean O’Donnell · Sara
O’Hearn · Vivian Olsen · Ian Patten · Margo
Pizzo · Edward & Virginia Plant, in memory of
John & Carol Field · Christy Ponte · Lisa Prach ·
Lisa Price · Andrew Procopiou · Martha Putnam ·
Teresa Ramirez · Jane Rioseco · Christina
Rogers · David Ross · Heather Dean Schulte ·
Benjamin Schwartz · Megan Segre · Roberta
Shao · William Simons · Andrea Sohn · Gwen
Souza · Lydia Stack · Ina-Katrin Stahl & Hendrik
Bluhm · Annie Stenzel · Gwynne Stoddart · Joe
Streng · Tom Sullivan · Christine Tachner · Scott
Steven Taylor · Tori Tichy · Elsa Trexler · Joan A.
Trezek · Ronald Trotter · Patti Birge Tyson ·
Margarita Ugarte · Lisa M. Walsh · Peter
Whitehead · Catherine Wilmoth · Leonardo
Martinez Witrago · Peter Yarbrough · Judy
Zimmerman · Christine Zwerling
LEGEND
K in-kind gift
M
matching gift
We are pleased to recognize first-time donors to
Berkeley Rep, whose names appear in italics.
2 0 1 6 –1 7 · I S S U E 6 · T H E B E R K E L E Y R E P M AG A Z I N E · 43
BE R K E L E Y R E P T H A N K S
Donors to the Annual Fund
Sustaining members
as of March 2017:
Anonymous (7)
Norman Abramson &
David Beery
Sam Ambler
Carl W. Arnoult &
Aurora Pan
Ken & Joni Avery
Nancy Axelrod
Edith Barschi
Neil & Gene Barth
Susan & Baskin
Linda Brandenburger
Broitman-Basri Family
Bruce Carlton &
Richard G. McCall
Stephen K. Cassidy
Paula Champagne &
David Watson
Terin Christensen
Andrew Daly & Jody Taylor
M. Laina Dicker
Thalia Dorwick
Rich & Robin Edwards
Thomas W. Edwards &
Rebecca Parlette-Edwards
Bill & Susan Epstein
William Espey & Margaret
Hart Edwards
Dr. Stephen E. Follansbee &
Dr. Richard A. Wolitz
Kerry Francis
Dr. Harvey & Deana Freedman
Joseph & Antonia Friedman
Paul T. Friedman
Dr. John Frykman
Laura K. Fujii
David Gaskin &
Phillip McPherson
Marjorie Ginsburg &
Howard Slyter
Mary & Nicholas Graves
Elizabeth Greene
Jon & Becky Grether
Richard & Lois Halliday
Julie & Paul Harkness
Linda & Bob Harris
Fred Hartwick
Ruth Hennigar
Douglas J. Hill
Hoskins/Frame Family Trust
Lynda & Dr. J. Pearce Hurley
Robin C. Johnson
Lynn Eve Komaromi
Bonnie McPherson Killip
Scott & Kathy Law
Ines R. Lewandowitz
Dot Lofstrom
Helen M. Marcus
Dale & Don Marshall
Sumner & Hermine Marshall
Rebecca Martinez
Suzanne & Charles
McCulloch
John G. McGehee
Miles & Mary Ellen McKey
Margaret D. & Winton McKibben
Susan Medak &
Greg Murphy
Stephanie Mendel
Toni Mester
Shirley & Joe Nedham
Pam & Mitch Nichter
Sheldeen G. Osborne
Sharon Ott
Amy Pearl Parodi
Barbara L. Peterson
Regina Phelps
Margaret Phillips
Marjorie Randolph
Bonnie Ring Living Trust
Tom Roberts
David Rovno
Tracie E. Rowson
Deborah Dashow Ruth
Patricia Sakai &
Richard Shapiro
Betty & Jack Schafer
Brenda Buckhold Shank,
M.D., Ph.D.
Kevin Shoemaker
Valerie Sopher
Michael & Sue Steinberg
Dr. Douglas & Anne Stewart
Jean Strunsky
Henry Timnick
Guy Tiphane
Phillip & Melody Trapp
Janis Kate Turner
Dorothy Walker
Weil Family Trust—
Weil Family
Karen & Henry Work
Martin & Margaret Zankel
Gifts received by
Berkeley Rep:
Anonymous
Estate of Suzanne Adams
Estate of Helen Barber
Estate of Fritzi Benesch
Estate of Carole B. Berg
Estate of Nelly Berteaux
Estate of Jill Bryans
Estate of Nancy Croley
Estate of Carol & John Field
Estate of Zandra Faye LeDuff
Estate of John E. &
Helen A. Manning
Estate of Richard Markell
Estate of Gladys
Perez-Mendez
Estate of Margaret Purvine
Estate of Leigh & Ivy Robinson
Estate of Stephen C. Schaefer, in
honor of Jean and Jack Knox
Estate of Peter Sloss
Estate of Harry Weininger
Estate of Grace Williams
Members of this Society, which is named in honor of Founding Director Michael W. Leibert, have designated Berkeley Rep in their estate plans. Unless the donor specifies otherwise,
planned gifts become a part of Berkeley Rep’s endowment, where they will provide the financial stability that enables Berkeley Rep to maintain the highest standards of artistic
excellence, support new work, and serve the community with innovative education and outreach programs, year after year, in perpetuity.
For more information on becoming a member, visit our website at berkeleyrep.org/mls or contact Daria Hepps at 510 647-2904 or dhepps@berkeleyrep.org.
Join Berkeley Rep’s community of donors and enjoy great perks—from backstage tours and
meet-the-artist events to access to prime house seats and personalized concierge service.
Join now and start your VIP experience today.
berkeleyrep.org/give
4 4 · T H E B E R K E L E Y R E P M AG A Z I N E · 2 0 1 6 –1 7 · I S S U E 6
PHOTO BY CHESHIRE ISAACS
YOUR BACKSTAGE PASS
“This decade’s most eloquent theatrical statement
on race in America today” —New York Times
NEXT AT BERKELEY REP
BY
Branden Jacobs-Jenkins
Eric Ting
DIRECTED BY
STARTS JUN 23 · PEET ’S THEATRE
SEASON SPONSORS
BOA R D OF
T RU ST E E S
BE R K E L E Y R E P STA F F
Michael Leibert Artistic Director
Tony Taccone
Managing Director
Susan Medak
General Manager Theresa Von Klug
ARTISTIC
Director of Casting &
Artistic Associate
Amy Potozkin
Director, The Ground Floor/
Resident Dramaturg
Madeleine Oldham
Literary Manager
Sarah Rose Leonard
Artistic Associate
Katie Craddock
Associate Director
Lisa Peterson
Associate Artist
Liesl Tommy
TCG Artist-in-Residence
Reggie D. White
Artists under Commission
Todd Almond · Christina Anderson ·
Jackie Sibblies Drury · Dave Malloy ·
Lisa Peterson · Sarah Ruhl · Tori
Sampson · Joe Waechter
P R ODUC T ION
Production Manager
Peter Dean
Associate Production Manager
Amanda Williams O’Steen
Company Manager
Jean-Paul Gressieux
Production Driver
Johnny Van Chang
S TAG E M A NAG E M E N T
Production Stage Manager
Michael Suenkel
Stage Managers
Leslie M. Radin · Karen Szpaller ·
Julie Haber · Kimberly Mark Webb
Production Assistants
Amanda Mason · Sofie Miller ·
Betsy Norton
S TA G E OP E R AT ION S
Stage Supervisor
Julia Englehorn
P R OP E R T I E S
Properties Supervisor
Jillian A. Green
S C E N E S HOP
Technical Director
Jim Smith
Associate Technical Director
Matt Rohner
Shop Foreman
Sam McKnight
Master Carpenter
Jamaica Montgomery-Glenn
Carpenters
Patrick Keene · Read Tuddenham
SCENIC ART
Charge Scenic Artist
Lisa Lázár
COSTUMES
Costume Director
Maggi Yule
Associate Costume Director/
Hair and Makeup Supervisor
Amy Bobeda
Draper
Alex Zeek
Tailor
Kathy Kellner Griffith
First Hand
Janet Conery
Wardrobe Supervisor
Barbara Blair
ELECTRICS
Master Electrician
Frederick C. Geffken
Production Electricians
Christine Cochrane · Kenneth Coté
S OU N D A N D V I DE O
Sound Supervisor
James Ballen
Sound Engineers
Angela Don · Annemarie Scerra
Video Supervisor
Alex Marshall
A DM I N I S T R AT ION
Controller
Suzanne Pettigrew
Associate General Manager/
Human Resources Manager
David Lorenc
Associate Managing Director/
Manager, The Ground Floor
Sarah Williams
Executive Assistant
Kate Gorman
Bookkeeper
Kristine Taylor
Associate Controller
Eric Ipsen
Director of Technology
Gustav Davila
Tessitura User Interaction
Administrator
Destiny Askin
Desktop Support Specialist
Dianne Brenner
Yale Management Fellow
Trent Anderson
DE V E L OPM E N T
Director of Development
Lynn Eve Komaromi
Associate Director of Development
Daria Hepps
Director of Individual Giving
Laura Fichtenberg
Director of Special Events
Julie Cervetto
Individual Giving Manager
Joanna Taber
Special Events Coordinator
Lauren Shorofsky
Development Database
Coordinator
Jane Voytek
Development Associate
Kelsey Scott
Executive Assistant
Jennie Goldfarb
B OX OF F I C E
Ticket Services Director
Geo Haynes
Subscription Manager
Laurie Barnes
Box Office Supervisor
Julie Gotsch
Box Office Agents
Carmen Darling · Faith Darling · Jordan
Don · Jaren Feeley · Katherine Gunn ·
Jeffrey Kimmich · Eliza Oakley · Jaden
Pratt · Anna Slotterback
4 6 · T H E B E R K E L E Y R E P M AG A Z I N E · 2 0 1 6 –1 7 · I S S U E 6
M A R K E T I NG &
C OM M U N I C AT ION S
Director of Marketing,
Communications, and
Patron Engagement
Polly Winograd Ikonen
Director of Public Relations
Tim Etheridge
Marketing Director
Peter Yonka
Art Director
Nora Merecicky
Communications & Digital
Content Director
Karen McKevitt
Audience Development Manager
Samanta Cubias
Webmaster
Christina Cone
Video & Multimedia Producer
Joel Dockendorf
Program Advertising
Pamela Webster
Front of House Director
Kelly Kelley
Front of House Manager
Debra Selman
House Managers
Steven Coambs · Juliet Czoka · Aleta
George · Mary Cait Hogan · Angie
Nicolas · Claire Patterson · Tuesday
Ray · David Rogers · Debra Selman
Lead Concessionaires
Steven Coambs · Angelica Foster ·
Nina Gorham
Concessionaires
Jessica Bates · Molly Conway · Alisha
Erlich · Lorenz Gonzales · Katie
Holmes · Daron Jennings · Benjamin
Ortiz · David Rogers · Chenoa Small
Susan-Jane Harrison · Gendell HingHernández · Andrew Hurteau · Krista
Knight · Julian López-Morillas · Dave
Maier · JanLee Marshall · Reid
McCann · Patricia Miller · Alex
Moggridge · Edward Morgan · Jack
Nicolaus · Slater Penney · Greg
Pierotti · Lisa Anne Porter · Diane
Rachel · Rolf Saxon · Elyse Shafarman ·
Arje Shaw · Joyful Simpson · Cleavon
Smith · M. Graham Smith · Daniel
Talbott · Elizabeth Vega · James Wagner
Jan and Howard Oringer
Teaching Artists
Amber Flame · Carla Pantoja · Dave
Maier · Elena Wright · Jack Nicolaus ·
Lindsey Schmeltzer · Radhika Rao ·
Salim Razawi · Simon Trumble · Teddy
Spencer · Gendell Hernandez · Andre
San-Chez · Sally Rademaker · Bryan
Quinn · Shannon Davis · Zoe
Swenson-Graham · Daryl Harper ·
Miriam Ani
Teen Core Council
Neo Barnes · Abram Blitz · Bridey
Caramagno · Carmela Catoc · Uma
Channer · Fiona Deane-Grundman ·
Lucy Curran · Devin Elias · Adin
Gilman-Cohen · Alecia Harger · Kyla
Henderson · Krysia Olszewska · Maya
Simon · Chloe Smith · Isabelle Smith
Docent Co-Chairs
Matty Bloom, Content
Joy Lancaster, Recruitment
Selma Meyerowitz, Off-Sites
and Procedures
Monsoon Wedding Docents
Ellen Kaufman, Lead Docent
Richard Lingua, Assistant Lead
Francine Austin · Sandy Greenberg
Joan Sullivan · Steve Wolan ·
Susan Wansewicz
2016–17 B E R K E L E Y R E P
FELLOWSHIPS
Bret C. Harte Directing Fellow
Chika Ike
Company Management Fellow
Morgan Steele
Costume Fellow
Kennedy Warner
Development Fellow
Julia Starr
Education Fellow
Michael Curry
Graphic Design Fellow
Cynthia Peñaloza
Harry Weininger Sound Fellow
Mariah Brougher
BERKELEY REP
S C HO OL OF T H E AT R E
Lighting/Electrics Fellow
Josh Hemmo
Director of the School of Theatre
Rachel Hull
Marketing/Digital
Communications Fellow
Associate Director
Lauren Goldfarb
MaryBeth Cavanaugh
Peter F. Sloss Literary/
Education Communications and
Dramaturgy Fellow
Partnerships Manager
Ankita Raturi
Marcela Chacon
Production Management Fellow
Program Manager, Training and
Zoey Russo
Community Programs
Anthony Jackson
Properties Fellow
Noah Kramer
Registrar
Katie Riemann
Scenic Art Fellow
Community Programs Administrator Yoshi Asai
Modesta Tamayo
Scenic Construction Fellow
Lauren Williams
Faculty
Bobby August Jr. · Erica Blue · Jon
Stage Management Fellow
Burnett · Rebecca Castelli · Eugenie
Laura Baucom
Chan · Iu-Hui Chua · Jiwon Chung ·
Sally Clawson · Laura Derry · Alexandra
Diamond · Deborah Eubanks · Susan
Garner · Christine Germain · Nancy
Gold · Gary Graves · Marvin Greene ·
OP E R AT ION S
Facilities Director
Mark Morrisette
Facilities Coordinator
Andrew Susskind
Building Engineer
Thomas Tran
Maintenance Technician
Johnny Van Chang
Facilities Assistants
Theresa Drumgoolie · Sophie Li ·
Alex Maciel · Carlos Mendoza · Jesus
Rodriguez · Diego Ruiz · LeRoy Thomas
President
Stewart Owen
Vice Presidents
Carrie Avery
Roger A. Strauch
Jean Z. Strunsky
Treasurer
Emily Shanks
Secretary
Leonard X Rosenberg
Chair, Trustees Committee
Jill Fugaro
Chair, Audit Committee
Kerry L. Francis
Board Members
Edward D. Baker
Michelle Branch
David Cox
Amar Doshi
Robin Edwards
Lisa Finer
Paul T. Friedman
Karen Galatz
Bruce Golden
Scott Haber
David Hoffman
Jonathan C. Logan
Jane Marvin
Sandra R. McCandless
Susan Medak
Pamela Nichter
Richard M. Shapiro
Tony Taccone
Gail Wagner
Felicia Woytak
Past Presidents
Helen C. Barber
A. George Battle
Carole B. Berg
Robert W. Burt
Shih-Tso Chen
Narsai M. David
Thalia Dorwick, PhD
Nicholas M. Graves
Richard F. Hoskins
Jean Knox
Robert M. Oliver
Marjorie Randolph
Harlan M. Richter
Richard A. Rubin
Edwin C. Shiver
Roger A. Strauch
Martin Zankel
Sustaining Advisors
Rena Bransten
Thalia Dorwick, PhD
William T. Espey
William Falik
David Fleishhacker
Nicholas M. Graves
Richard F. Hoskins
Carole Krumland
Dale Rogers Marshall
Helen Meyer
Dugan Moore
Mary Ann Peoples
Peter Pervere
Marjorie Randolph
Pat Rougeau
Patricia Sakai
Jack Schafer
William Schaff
Michael Steinberg
Michael Strunsky
Martin Zankel
F OU N DI NG DI R E C T OR
Michael W. Leibert
Producing Director, 1968–83
THE INTERNATIONALLY ACCLAIMED PRODUCTION COMES TO A.C.T.
BATTLEFIELD
BASED ON
THE MAHABHARATA
AND THE PLAY
“EXTRAORDINARY”
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
“EXCEPTIONAL”
BY JEAN-CLAUDE
CARRIÈRE
WASHINGTON POST
“STUNNING”
ADAPTED AND
DIRECTED BY
PETER BROOK
AND MARIE-HÉLÈNE
ESTIENNE
LE FIGARO
NOW–
MAY 21
A.C.T. CELEBRATES
THE SUMMER OF LOVE
WITH THE HIT BROADWAY MUSICAL!
BEGINS
JUN 7
“ROCKS
THE HOUSE!”
THE NEW YORK TIMES
“WILD AND
JOYOUSLY RAUCOUS”
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
A NIGHT WITH JANIS JOPLIN
WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY RANDY JOHNSON
A.C.T.'S GEARY THEATER
415 GEARY STREET
act-sf.org
415.749.2228
“City National helps keep
my financial life in tune.”
So much of my life is always shifting; a different city,
a different piece of music, a different ensemble. I need
people who I can count on to help keep my financial
life on course so I can focus on creating and sharing the
“adventures” of classical music. City National shares my
passion and is instrumental in helping me bring classical
music to audiences all over the world. They enjoy being
a part of what I do and love. That is the essence of a
successful relationship.
City National is The way up® for me.
Michael Tilson Thomas
Conductor, Educator and Composer
©2017 City National Bank
Hear Michael’s complete story at
cnb.com/Tuned2SF
CNB MEMBER FDIC
The way up.
®
4 8 · T H E B E R K E L E Y R E P M AG A Z I N E · 2 0 1 6 –1 7 · I S S U E 6
Call (866) 618-5242 to learn more or visit cnb.com