SPONSORED BYDr. Alexander M. Eaton & Dr. Hussein Wafapoor of the RETINA HEALTH CENTER

and Florida Weekly

SET DESIGNERJIM HUNTER***

RUMORS is presented by special arrangement with SAMUEL FRENCH, Inc.

2011-12 GRAND SEASON SPONSORS

This entire season sponsored in part by in part by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs, the Florida Council on Arts and Culture. Florida Repertory Theatre is a fully professional non-profit LOA/LORT Theatre company on contract with the Actors’ Equity Association that proudly employs members of the national theatrical labor unions. *Member of Actors’ Equity Association. **Member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society. ***Member of United Scenic Artists.

The Fred & Jean Allegretti Foundation • Bruce & Janet Bunch • Cheryl & David CophamGholi & Georgia Darehshori • John & Marjorie Madden • Arthur Zupko

HISTORIC ARCADE theatre • fort myers river districtROBERT CACIOPPO, producing artistic director

PRESENTS

by neil simon

STARRINGVIKI BOYLE* • DAVID BREITBARTH* • MARK CHAMBERS* • MICHELLE DAMATO*

BRAD DePLANCHE* • DAVID S. HOWARD* • CARRIE LUND* • JACKIE SCHRAMPETER THOMASSON* • JULIANNE AVOLIO

DIRECTED BYROBERT CACIOPPO**

COSTUME DESIGNERROBERTA MALCOLM

LIGHTING DESIGNERDAVID M. UPTON***

ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGERJASON PARRISH*

STAGE MANAGERAMY MASSARI*

SOUND DESIGNERKATE SMITH

(In Order of Appearance)Chris Gorman.............................................................................MICHELLE DAMATO*Ken Gorman.................................................................................BRAD DePLANCHE*Claire Ganz............................................................................................CARRIE LUND*Lenny Ganz................................................................................DAVID BREITBARTH*Ernie Cusack.................................................................................DAVID S. HOWARD*Cookie Cusack...........................................................................................VIKI BOYLE*Glenn Cooper............................................................................PETER THOMASSON*Cassie Cooper................................................................................JACKIE SCHRAM*Officer Welch...............................................................................MARK CHAMBERS*Officer Pudney.............................................................................JULIANNE AVOLIO*

TIME & PLACEPresent Day • Sneden’s Landing, New York

There will be a 15-minute intermission.

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

*The Actors & Stage Manager employed in this production are members of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

ABOUT THE playwrightNEIL SIMON (Playwright) began his career in television and established himself as America’s leading writer of comedy by creating a succession of Broadway hits beginning with Come Blow Your Horn. During the 1966-67 season, Barefoot in the Park, The Odd Couple, Sweet Charity, and The Star Spangled Girl were all running simultaneously; in the 1970-71 season, Broadway theatergoers had their choice of Plaza Suite, Last of the Red Hot Lovers, and Promises, Promises. Next Came Little Me, The Gingerbread Lady, The Prisoner of Second Avenue, The Sunshine Boys, The Good Doctor, God’s Favorite, They’re Playing Our Song, I Ought to Be in Pictures, Fools, a revival of Little Me, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Biloxi Blues (Tony Award) a new version of The Odd Couple starring Sally Struthers and Rita Moreno as the title duo, Broadway Bound, Rumors, Lost in Yonkers (Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize), Jake’s Women and London Suite.

Mr. Simon has also written for the screen: the adaptations of Barefoot in the Park, The Odd Couple, Plaza Suite, Last of the Red Hot Lovers, The Prisoner of Second Avenue, The Sunshine Boys, California Suite, I Ought to Be in Pictures, Chapter Two, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Biloxi Blues, the TV motion picture of Broadway Bound and Lost in Yonkers. Other screenplays he has written include After the Fox, The Out-of-Towners, The Heartbreak Kid, Murder by Death, The Goodbye Girl, The Cheap Detective, Seems Like Old Times, Only When I Laugh, Max Dugan Returns, and The Marrying Man.

CAST LIST

VIKI BOYLE* (Cookie Cusack) is a 30 year veteran of New York and regional theatre, film, and TV and is delighted to be back with this talented company at Florida Rep. Off-Broadway credits include her own works

The Whole Truth (Manhattan Class Company), winner of the Samuel French Short Play Series, and Term Limit for which she recently won the top prizes for both acting and writing. She has received two Carbonell Awards for The Little Foxes and Don’t Dress For Dinner at the Caldwell Theatre in Boca Raton. Her TV credits include over 150 commercials, where her work has been recognized with the CLIO award. She and writing partner Doug Kampsen publish NYC Trivia Tours, a series of self-guided walking tours of New York City. Viki was recently a contestant on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire! You’ll have to tune in to find out how she did!

DAVID BREITBARTH* (Lenny Ganz) is thrilled to be making his Florida Rep debut. Over 65 productions in 15 years at Asolo Rep in Sarasota where he’s a company member, including: 12 Angry

Men, world premieres of Jason Wells’ Men of Tortuga and Perfect Mendacity, The Winter’s Tale, A Few Good Men, Pride and Prejudice, Laughing Stock, Rounding Third, Art, Peter Pan, The Front Page, The Immigrant, Hobson’s Choice, Nicholas Nickleby. Broadway/ national tour: Spring Awakening. Off-Broadway: Short Change, Perfect Crime, Fluorescent Hunger, This Hard Life. Film & Television: Frasier, Taken!, Law & Order, Fame. For the Banyan Theater (founding member): Betrayal, Sight Unseen, Don Juan in Hell, Otherwise Engaged. David is married to the actress Kate Hampton. They live in Sarasota with Koufax, their dog.

MARK CHAMBERS* (Officer Welch) made his Florida Repertory debut as man # 5 in Sherlock Holmes and the West End Horror. He has appeared in Enchanted

April, The Rainmaker, Scapino, Breaking Legs, A Funny Thing…Forum, Rounding Third, King o’ the Moon and August: Osage County. Mark has appeared in productions at Actors Theatre of Louisville, Portland Center Stage, American Stage Company, Charleston Stage Company, City Theatre, 42nd Street Moon, Greenbriar Valley Theatre, Hippodrome Theatre, and Seaside Music Theatre. Mark can be seen in the recent films Baby Jane? and I Want to Get Married, and can be heard on the CD Veil of Tears by the Swiss group MGY. Mark was the Florida Theatre Conference 2006 honoree for distinguished career in professional theatre.

MICHELLE DAMATO* (Chris Gorman) is returning for her sixth show with Florida Rep. Audiences will remember her from her roles in Sylvia, Rabbit Hole, Almost, Maine, A Funny Thing…Forum, and

Dancing at Lughnasa. She is a graduate of Circle in the Square Theatre School in NYC, and came to Florida by way of Louisville, KY, where she was a company member with Stage One for four years. Some of her favorite roles include Oliver Twist off-Broadway at the Promenade Theatre and the voice of Shawna in MTV’s Daria: Is It College Yet? Michelle is a proud member of Actors’ Equity.

BRAD DePLANCHE* (Ken Gorman) is thrilled to be back at Florida Rep, where last season he appeared in The 39 Steps. Recent work: both Dromios in The Comedy of Errors (Shakespeare Santa Cruz), The 39

Steps (Actor’s Playhouse in Miami & Orlando Shakespeare Theater), Porthos in The Three Musketeers (People’s Light and Theatre Company) and Pseudolus in A Funny Thing…Forum (Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival). Off-Off Broadway: China; The Whole Enchilada ( NY Fringe), Gameshow! (Dodger Theatricals) Cloud Nine (Classic Stage Company) and Armchair in Hell (Theatre at St. Clements). Regional Theatre: Actors Theatre of Louisville (5 Seasons), American Conservatory Theater, South Coast Repertory, Syracuse Stage, Utah

CREATIVE TEAM

Shakespearean Festival, Cape Playhouse, Florida Studio Theatre, Hangar Theatre, B Street Theatre and Seattle Shakespeare Company. Upcoming, here at the Rep: It’s a Wonderful Life and The Mystery of Irma Vep. Brad hails from Michigan and holds an MFA from the American Conservatory Theatre.

DAVID S. HOWARD* (Ernie Cusack) holds an M.F.A. from Brandeis University and worked there as guest artist and acting teacher from 1967 to 1975. He became a resident member of

the Asolo Rotating Repertory in 1976 and appeared there for 18 seasons during a 33 year span. Florida Rep roles include Prof. Morrie Schwartz in Tuesdays With Morrie, Mr. Green in Visiting Mr. Green, Grandfather in Indian Blood, Ralph Bellini in The Last Romance, Martin Vanderhof in You Can’t Take It With You and Judge Biddle in Trying. On film, Mr. Howard was featured as Anthony Hopkins’ friend Eddie Sloan in Meet Joe Black, Robin Williams’ doctor in Woody Allen’s Deconstructing Harry, Doctor Kramer in Substance of Fire, Irv in Moonstruck, and Sol Rosenthal in Woody Allen’s Crimes and Misdemeanors. He has played Nat on Broadway in I’m Not Rappaport and has worked in numerous Off-Broadway and Regional theatres and in TV daytime and evening dramas. Proud member of Actors Equity.

CARRIE LUND* (Claire Ganz) has been the Associate Producer with Florida Rep since its inception, and has acted in over 100 productions in Southwest Florida. Selected credits include: August: Osage County,

Sylvia, Noises Off (1998, 2010), Boeing-Boeing, You Can’t Take It With You, The Last Romance, Alone Together, Dancing at Lughnasa, Enchanted April, Rabbit Hole, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife, All My Sons, I’m Not Rappaport, The Last Night of Ballyhoo, and Private Lives. Her work as a voiceover artist can be heard on NPR and industrial DVDs. She founded the Pirate Playhouse on Sanibel Island in 1984, served as a theatre faculty at Florida Gulf Coast University, produced theatre

companies in her hometown of Erie, PA & New York City, performed in regional theatres in NY, VT and NC, as well as the Three River Shakespeare Festival, Pittsburgh Playhouse and American Ibsen Theatre. In 1987, the Sanibel-Captiva Chamber of Commerce awarded her the Distinguished Citizen Award and the Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997. She and husband Robert Cacioppo enjoy empty nesting with Matt at UCF and Julia and FSU.

JACKIE SCHRAM (Cassie Gooper) is the happiest to be back at Florida Rep! Previously at the Rep: You Can’t Take It With You (Essie) and Boeing Boeing (Stewardess Understudy).

She also performed with the Educational Outreach Company in the 2009-2010 Season. Jackie studied at The University of Tampa and recently returned from the second national tour of Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps (Pamela/Annabella/Margaret). She is now based out of New York and gets by with a little help from her friends. www.jackieschram.com.

PETER THOMASSON* (Glenn Cooper) last appeared at the Rep in Dancing at Lughnasa as Fr. Jack. He has appeared at Sarasota’s Banyan Theatre in Becky’s New Car, Ghosts and Retreat from Moscow. At home, in Atlanta, he

recently appeared as Oscar Hubbard in Theater in the Square’s Suzi Award-nominated The Little Foxes and On Golden Pond. In 2010 he was named Actor of the Year for his work in The Men of Mah Jong and The Sunset Limited. He worked for 17 seasons at NC’s State Theatre, The Flat Rock Playhouse. Favorite Florida Rep roles include Bob Ewell in To Kill A Mockingbird and File in The Rainmaker.

JULIANNE AVOLIO (Officer Pudney) is a recent Theatre Arts graduate from the University of Pittsburgh where she also received a certificate in Children’s Literature. Past

creative team

productions include Violet Sharp (Betty Gow) with Terra Nova Theatre Company; Angels in America: Perestroika (Harper), As You Like It (Celia), Alice (Alice), Eleemosynary (Echo), The Complete Works of William Shakespeare: Abridged (Jess’s Lines) with Pitt Repertory Theatre; and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Rona), The Farnsworth Invention (Pem Farnsworth) with Little Lake Theatre Company. She feels extremely fortunate to be interning with Florida Rep this season!

JIM HUNTER*** (Set Designer) is happy to return to Florida Rep this season! Rumors is Jim’s twelfth show at Florida Rep since he completed the lighting for The Last Night of Ballyhoo in 2000. Last season Jim designed the set for August: Osage County and lighting for The 39 Steps. His scenic and lighting designs have been seen at theatres such as LaMama in NYC, Phoenix Theatre, Arkansas Rep, Charlotte Rep, Playhouse on the Square, Drury Lane Theatre, The Lost Colony, Theatre Virginia, the World Stage Exposition in Toronto, Heritage Rep, The Flat Rock Playhouse, the Veggie Tales Live! National Tour, Wall Street Danceworks, and others. Jim is a member of the national designers union, United Scenic Artist, Local 829 in scene and lighting design. He serves as the Chair and Artistic Director for the Department of Theatre and Dance at the University of South Carolina. Recent national educational activities include serving as a member on the Commission for Accreditation with the National Association of Schools of Theatre and as a mentor for the Association for Theatre in Higher Education’s Leadership Institute.

ROBERTA MALCOLM (Resident Costume Designer) After 25 years traveling the country as a costumer/designer for everyone from community theatre performers to Florence Henderson, John Ritter, LeVar Burton, Tony Bennett, Patti LaBelle, Margaret O’Brien, Dean Jones, and Cloris Leachman, Roberta is pleased to be returning for her eighth season at the Florida Rep. Favorite productions include: Gaslight, Boeing-Boeing, You Can’t Take it With You, My Three Angels, Lucky Stiff, Florida Follies starring Florence Henderson, Too Big to be a Waitress, Show Boat (Dean Jones and Cloris Leachman national tour), Little Shop of Horrors, Curly McDimple starring Margaret

O’Brien, Blithe Spirit, Annie Get Your Gun, A Funny Thing…Forum, Death of a Salesman, and Cinderelle – a Rock Fairy Tale. Thanks to Sean, Becca, John, Bob – family always; and to the Florida Rep and its board for the opportunity to showcase the best theatre around.

AMY L. MASSARI* (Production Stage Manager) is thrilled to be back, for her second season as Florida Rep’s resident stage manager. Amy has been a proud member of Actor’s Equity Association for the past 21 years, working in some of the country’s finest regional theatres: the Alley Theatre (Houston, TX), the Dallas Theatre Center (Dallas, TX), Stage-West (Springfield, MA), The Pioneer Memorial (Salt Lake City, UT) and the Colorado Shakespeare Festival (Boulder, CO). Amy has been happily married to her husband of fifteen years, Michael. Michael teaches drama at North Fort Myers Academy for the Arts and is a terrific father to their children Jesse Cheyenne, age ten, and Caleb Dakota, age eight. “Mommy LOVES you!”

JASON PARRISH* (Assistant Stage Manager) is in his seventh season with Florida Rep and serves as an ensemble member and Associate Director. Acting credits with the Rep include: King o’ the Moon, The Santaland Diaries, Noises Off, The Big Bang, Relatively Speaking, The Last Romance, and A Funny Thing…Forum. He was seen most recently in The 39 Steps at Theatre by the Sea (Rhode Island). Parrish’s directing credits include How I Became a Pirate, The New Kid, Schoolhouse Rock Live!, and The Mischief Makers with Florida Rep’s Children’s Theatre Series, and It Runs in the Family at the Strauss Theatre on Sanibel, and the regional premiere of Forbidden Broadway at the Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre. His work with other theatres includes Actors’ Playhouse (Miami), Riverside Theatre (Vero Beach), and numerous appearances with the New York Philharmonic’s Young People’s Concert Series at Lincoln Center. Jason is a proud member of Actors’ Equity.

KATE SMITH (Sound Designer) is happy to return for her third season at Florida Rep. She is a native of Pennsylvania and a graduate from Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP). Kate has worked in many aspects of theater. She most recently served as the sound and

CREATIVE TEAM

lighting designer for Florida Rep’s production of King o’ the Moon. Sound Design credits include Sylvia, August Osage County, Trying, and You Can’t Take it With You. Lighting design credits include: Picnic (2009 KC/ACTF Region II Barbizon Award in Lighting Design for IUP) and Santaland Diaries and The Lady With All the Answers for Florida Rep’s Studio Theatre Series. Kate has also worked for Brevard Music Center, NC as Master Electrician, and as the light board operator at Flat Rock Playhouse, NC. This past summer she worked as the Lighting Designer for IUP’s Keystone Rep and part of the staff for the Footlight Players.

DAVID M. UPTON*** (Lighting Designer) is happy to be returning to Florida Rep to design Rumors. Other designs include work for The Revenge of the Mummy Attraction at Universal Studios Singapore, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Orlando Rep, North Carolina Theatre, The World Science Festival, Northern Stage, Merrimack Rep, Orlando Shakespeare, Seaside Music Theater, ReVision Theatre, Florida Studio Theatre, The Orlando Opera, and the Orlando Ballet, among others. David is a member of the United Scenic Artists Local 829. Much love to Sarah for her endless support and encouragement. www.dmujrdesigns.com.

Special Thanks to:Staging Matters, LLC

Getting ready to sell your house? We can help!239-939-3200 • StagingMatters.net2053 W. First St. Fort Myers, 33901

•Matt Fields at Lightning Radio

Actors’ Equity Association (AEA) was founded in 1913 as the first of the American Actor unions. Equity’s mission is to advance, promote and foster the art of theatre as an essential component of our society. Today, Equity represents more than 40,000 actors, singers, dancers and stage managers work-ing in hundreds of theatres across the United States. Equity members are dedicated to working in the theatre as a profession, upholding the highest artistic standards. Equity negotiates wages and working

conditions and provides a wide range of benefits including health and pension plans for its members. Through its agreement with Equity, this theatre has committed to the fair treatment of the actors and stage managers employed in this production. AEA is a member of the AFL-CIO and is affiliated with FIA, an international organization of performing arts unions. For more information, visit www.actorsequity.org.

FALL 2011Y!

I T ’ SY O U RWORLDY O U RWORLDRLDDY O RY O UWOaLIYIIYWYYW

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