3

TABLE OF CONTENTS

MiSSiON

Dear Friend,

East 88th Street travels horizontally across the map of NYC’s upper East Side, running only

eight blocks, connecting the Museum Mile section of Central Park (home to the Metropolitan and the Guggenheim) to Carl Schurz Park on the East River (home to Gracie Mansion, the official residence of the Mayor of New York). It’s a nice place to live, and one of the last places you’d expect to find a crocodile lounging in the bathtub.

Nonetheless, that’s exactly what happened to the Primm family 50 years ago, when The House on East 88th Street first hit the chil-dren’s best seller list in the New York Times. Since then, Lyle’s adventures have been translated into German, Dutch, Danish, Spanish, Afrikaans, Swedish and Japanese, with millions of copies in print.

When Bernard Waber, creator of Lyle, saw our touring production in New York, he came backstage afterward to meet the cast, praise the adaptation, and autograph all of the books used in the show. We’re proud to share his wonder-ful stories with you today.

All the Best,

Bruce MillerArtistic Director

Virginia Repertory Theatre creates in Central Virginia professional productions of the great comedies, dramas and musicals—past, present and future. We seek to be a regional theatre of national standing. We embrace the art form in its entirety, presenting plays of all genres and national origins, serving an audience of all ages and backgrounds.

In keeping with the legacies of Barksdale and Theatre IV, the hallmark of our nonprofit company is community engage-ment. To that end, we seek national caliber excellence in the arts, education, children’s health, and community leadership.

4 Meet the Author5 Title Page6 Cast/Setting/Show Staff7-9 Company Bios10 Fairy Tale Ball / Camps11 Board of Directors12 Staff16 Virginia Rep - Impact17 Awards/Recognition18 Now Playing in RVA20 Coffee & Conversations23 Patron Services24 Company Profile31 Planning for the Future32 Education35-42 Donor Recognition43 Read More About It44 Lyle’s New York45 Children’s Health48 Birthday Parties50 Group Sales

Cover Illustration by Robert Meganck

4

Artistic Director Bruce Miller

Managing Director Phil Whiteway

5

DirECTiON Chase Kniffen

COSTuME DESigN Marcia Miller Hailey

ChOrEOgrAphy Jan Guarino*

STAgE MANAgEMENT Katie Monfet

LighT DESigN Lynne M. Hartman+

SET DESigN Ben Burke

MEET ThE AuThOr

The name “Bernard” means “strong like a bear.” The name “Waber” is of German Jewish origin, and means “weaver.” The artist and author Bernard Waber has woven together many stories about animals with strong character, including the Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile books! Waber lives on Long Island with his wife and grandchildren. He is 88 years old.

Born in Philadelphia, Waber began his adult life as a finance major at the University of Pennsylvania, leaving college to enlist in the army at the beginning of World War II. During the war, Waber discovered his love of art. At war’s end, he enrolled at the Philadelphia College of Art and began his work as an illustrator.

After graduating, Waber married Ethel Bernstein and moved to New York City where they raised three children. He loved to read picture books to his children

at bedtime, and one night he decided to write and draw some children’s books of his own. He worked in a magazine art department during the day and created children’s books at night and on weekends. He also enjoyed playing the piano, cooking, and attending Broadway theatre.

Several of Waber’s children’s books involve animals, including Do You See a Mouse?, Evie and Margie, and A Lion Named Shirley Williamson. Waber’s Lyle series is his best known work. Some of Waber’s books don’t involve animals. Ira Sleeps Over tells the story of a young boy who struggles to decide whether he should leave his favorite teddy bear home for a sleepover at his friend’s house. Many of Waber’s stories come from his experiences as a child, when his family moved frequently and he was often characterized as the “new kid” in the neighborhood.

Shortly after September 11, 2001, Waber wrote a new picture book for children entitled Courage.

Waber credits his family for much of what he has achieved. He not only comes from a long line of artists, but also a family of love, support, and encouragement.

Book, Music and Lyrics by BruCE CrAig MiLLEr

Based on The House on East 88th Street and Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile by BErNArD WABEr

SpECiAL ThANkS TO Our prEMiEr SpONSOrS

ADDiTiONAL FuNDiNg By

6 7

In order of appearance:

Josh Primm kyle CornellMr. Primm Mark persingerMrs. Primm Jan guarino*Mover Christie JacksonLyle Durron TyreMr. Grumps paul S. MajorHector P. Valenti Mark persingerSkippy paul S. MajorSusie Christie JacksonCubby Jan guarino*Broadway Performers Jan guarino*, Christie Jackson

CAST

SONgS

FOr ThiS prODuCTiON

COMpANy BiOS

kyle Cornell (Josh Primm) was recently seen in Virginia Rep’s production of Spring Awakening. He has also been seen in Richmond area productions of Bare: a pop opera (Peter), Grease! (Roger), Animal Farm (Squealer), Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead (C.B.), and You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown (Char-

lie Brown). Kyle is a proud recent graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University.

Jan guarino (Mrs. Primm, Cubby, Broadway Performer, Choreography) is so happy to be working with such a terrific cast in this adaptation of one of her favorite children’s books! She was last seen on this stage as An-nette in God of Carnage and before that as the larger than life Julia Leverett in the wacky comedy Lend Me a Tenor. Some of Jan’s other favorite roles include Mona in

the world premiere of Mona’s Arrangements, Virginia in The Clean House and Prudie Cupp in all seven productions of Pump Boys and Dinettes. A familiar face and voice in Richmond-area advertising, Jan is perhaps best known as spokesperson for Haynes Furniture. Less public (but no less dramatic!) are her roles as Supportive Wife (of playwright/director Bo Wilson) and Doting Mother (Nora, 20 and Zachary, 18).

Christie Jackson (Mover, Susie, Broadway Performer)is thrilled to finally be stepping back on the stage with this wonderfully talented and energetic cast! Previous Va Rep credits include Spring Awakening (Ilse Neumann, RTCC winner 2012, Best Supporting Actress in a Musi-cal), My Fair Lady and Disney’s High School Musical. Other favorite credits include, Arcadia (Hannah Jarvis,

KCACTF Irene Ryan nominee), Picasso at the Lapin Agile (Suzanne, KCACTF Irene Ryan nominee), All Shook Up (Natalie), What the Butler Saw (Geraldine Barclay). Look out for Christie, who will be joining the cast of Cadence Theatre’s Production of Next to Normal in the spring! Love to mom. www-christie-jackson.com.

paul S. Major (Mr. Grumps, Skippy) was last seen in Virginia Rep’s hit production of The Producers at the No-vember Theatre. He also recently played General Geng-his Khan Schmitz in Seussical. Paul has received several performance awards including the I.A.A.P.A. Award, the highest honor bestowed upon theme park performers

worldwide while at Dollywood. BFA Music Theatre from Shenandoah Conservatory. Regional Credits: Fyedka, Fiddler on the Roof; Claude, The Baker’s Wife; Willie Conklin, Ragtime; The Big Bopper, The Buddy Holly Story.

Stage Manager katie MonfetSound Engineer Derek Dumais or Chase kniffenLight Board Operator Emily ClarksonDeck Crew Tommy hawlfield, Lauren Mistilis

* Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers in the U.S.A.

+Member of USA, United Scenic Artists’, local 829

The House of East 88th Street The Company

Movin’ to New York Mover, Mr. primm, Mrs. primm,

Josh

We’re Talking Reptiles Mrs. primm

The Love Me For Who I Am Lyle

Kids Have Power Susie, Cubby, Skippy, Josh

I’m Gonna Make You a Star hector p. Valenti

Best Friends Josh

Lyle on Broadway Broadway performers, hector

p. Valenti, Lyle

To Be Like You Josh, Mr. primm

The House of East 88th Street (Reprise) The Company

8 988

COMpANy BiOS (continued) COMpANy BiOS (continued)

Mark persinger (Mr. Primm, Hector P. Valenti) appeared most recently in Virginia Repertory Theatre’s produc-tion of Madeline’s Christmas. Other Richmond cred-its include Guys and Dolls, The Odd Couple, Joseph… Dreamcoat, She Loves Me, Seussical, Honk!, A Christmas Carol, Annie, Peter Pan (Virginia Rep); A Servant of Two Masters (Henley Street Theatre); Floyd Collins, As

Thousands Cheer (Swift Creek Mill Theatre); Ragtime in Concert (Stage 1 Theatre) and The Last Session (Richmond Triangle Players). He has also appeared in productions with Virginia Shakespeare Festival, Heritage Repertory Theatre, and at Dogwood Dell. Mark would like to thank his amazing wife Caryn and daughter Lorelei for their love and support.

Durron Tyre (Lyle) was last seen as Ugly in Virginia Rep’s production of Honk!. He holds BA in Theatre Perfor-mance from the University of Richmond. Favorite roles include Seymour Krelbourne in Little Shop of Horrors (Dogwood Dell), Jinx in Forever Plaid and Plaid Tidings (Swift Creek Mill), Coalhouse Walker in Ragtime (Guest Artist-SPARC), and Tom Collins in Rent at the Firehouse

Theatre Project (Richmond Theatre Critics Circle Award for Best Actor in a Musical in 2010). Durron is also adjunct faculty at SPARC.

Chase kniffen (Direction) is the Associate Artistic Director of Virginia Repertory Theatre, where he most recently directed Cotton Patch Gos-pel at Hanover Tavern and Madeline’s Christmas. He won the 2010, 2011 and 2012 Richmond Theatre Critics Circle Awards for Best Direction of a Music for his work on Virginia Rep’s productions of Spring Awakening, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and The Sound of Music. Those productions also won the RTCC Awards for Best Musical. As the Artistic Director of Richmond’s Stage 1 Theatre Company, he directed productions of tick, tick...BOOM!, nor-mal, Children’s Letter to God and Summer of ‘42. Additional direction work includes productions of A Christmas Carol, A Christmas Story, Disney’s High School Musical, Grease, Pocahontas and many more. He was also awarded StyleWeekly’s Top 40 Under 40.

Benjamin Burke (Set Design) is a third year scene design student at Virginia Commonwealth University. Lyle, Lyle Crocodile is his first fully realized scenic design. His other credits include projections design for The Colored Museum and assistant scenic designer for Avenue Q, both at VCU.

Lynne M. hartman (Light Design) has worked with Virginia Rep for 20 years. Recent Rep designs include Hay Fever, The Magic Flute, Mad-eline’s Christmas, The Producers, Night Blooms, Spring Awakening, Seussical, Legacy of Light (2011 RTCC Award), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and The Sound of Music (2010 RTCC Award). Lynne has designed lo-cally for TheatreVirginia, CenterStage, Richmond Ballet, Theatre VCU and Dogwood Dell among others. Regional design credits include The Lost Colony, McCarter Theatre, Auburn University, and Kings Dominion.

Lynne held a Fellowship in Theatre at VMFA and was educated at Mary Washington and University of Maryland. Member USA, Local 829.

Marcia Miller-hailey (Costume Design) has been a costumer for over twenty-five years. Her work has been worn by performers at the Colo-rado, Utah, and Virginia Shakespeare Festivals, Virginia Repertory The-atre, Richmond Ballet, Theatre Virginia, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, and The Big Apple Circus. Recent Virginia Rep design credits include Scorched Earth, Bus Stop, Sanders Family Homecoming and many The-atre IV national touring productions.

10 43

Did you know that all alligators are crocodiles, but not all crocodiles are alligators? In the big family of Crocodylia, there are 23 different species, and alligators are one. Here’s another really cool fact. Crocodylia have been around for 240 million years, going all the way back to the days of the dinosaurs. Feeling perfectly at home in water or on land, crocodiles can swim 20 miles per hour, hold their breath for up to an hour, and run on land as fast as most marathon winners!

Would you like to read more about crocodiles? There are eight Lyle books by Bernard Waber, including The House on East 88th Street, Lyle Lyle Crocodile, Lyle and the Birthday Party, Lyle Walks the Dogs, Lyle Finds His

Mother, Lyle at the Office, Lyle at Christmas, and Lovable Lyle — all of which can be purchased in our lobby gift shop.

Other fun crocodile books include: Crocodile and Hen: A Bankongo Folktale by Joan Lexau, illustrations by Doug Cushman; John Jensen Feels Different by Henrik Hovland, illustrations by Torill Kove; Guji Guji, written and illustrated by Chih-Yuan Chen; The Enormous Crocodile by Roald Dahl, illustrations by Quentin Blake; I’d Really Like to Eat a Child by Sylviane Donnio, illustrations by Dorothée de Monfreid; and Counting Crocodiles by Judy Sierra, illustrations by Will Hillenbrand.

Cool alligators can be found in these children’s books: May I Please Have a Cookie?, written and illustrated by Jennifer Morris (plus other titles in this series); Gaston Goes to Mardi Gras, written and illustrated by James Rice (plus other series titles); Zack’s Alligator by Shirley Mozelle, illustrations by James Watts (plus other series titles); There’s an Alligator Under My Bed, written and illustrated by Mercer Mayer; Hooray for Amanda & Her Alligator, written and illustrated by Mo Willems; Waking Up is Hard to Do by Howard Greenfield, based on the song with new lyrics by Neil Sedaka, illustrations by Daniel Miyares; The Three Little Gators by Helen Ketteman, illustrated by Will Terry; and The Missing ‘Gator of Gumbo Limbo, a chapter book by Jean Craighead George.

rEAD MOrE ABOuT iT!

SuMMEr iS FuN

AT ThE ChiLDrEN’S ThEATrE

OF VirgiNiA

STAgE ExpLOrEr’S CAMpFor rising 1st — 6th Graders June 17 — June 289:00 — 4:00 pm With Extended Day Options

Acting, Dancing, Singing, Lights, Sound, Sets

Contact Jessica Malicki 783-1866 Ext. 1132www.va-rep.org

44 45

Our vital, acclaimed programs include:

hugs and kisses co-produced with Prevent Child Abuse VirginiaThis historic play, now in its 30th Anniversary year as Virginia’s principal child sexual abuse prevention program, has helped to establish the way adults talk to children about this sensi-tive issue worldwide. After early national showcases in Chicago with the National Committee for Prevention of Child Abuse, and in Washington D C’s Children’s Hospital under the auspices of the U. S. Senate Subcommittee on the Sexual Victimization of Children, the messages developed for Hugs and Kisses were univer-sally adopted by child advocates everywhere. Over 14,000 Virginia children have found the help they need because of the lifesaving prevention messages they learned from Hugs and Kisses.

Other children’s health programs in our repertory include:

runners co-produced with the National Network of Runaway and Youth Services runaway and delinquency prevention

Walking the Line performances sponsored by SADD and MADDalcohol and other drug abuse prevention

Dancing in the Dark produced in association with the National Organization of Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention adolescent pregnancy prevention, sexual responsibility

Better Safe Than Sallie produced with support from Safe Kids Virginia and the Virginia Dept. of Motor Vehicleschildhood injury prevention

give us This Day co-produced with Cincinnati Children’s Hospi-tal Medical Center promoting the proper and continuing use of seat belts and child safety seats

ChiLDrEN’S hEALThLyLE’S NEW yOrk

When Theatre IV was founded in 1975, the vision was to create a com-pany that was committed to using theatre to serve the community in non-traditional ways. The name Theatre IV derived from the mission to seek national caliber excellence in four areas: the arts, education, chil-dren’s health, and community leadership. That commitment is included in Virginia Rep’s mission today.

Naysayers have always questioned why a theatre would be interested in children’s health. We choose to respond using a quote from Shake-speare, Othello, Act I, Scene 3: “Our bodies are our gardens, to the which our wills are gardeners.” Theatre has the opportunity to influence the “wills” of children, and to that end improve their health. Knowing that we have this power, how can we not take advantage of it?

Just as Ludwig Bemelmans loved to draw pictures of Paris for his Madeline books, Bernard Waber loves to create illustrations of his adopted hometown of New York City.

Lyle lives with the Primms in a three-story brownstone on East 88th Street. You can read more about E 88th in the Welcome Letter to this playbill. Thousands of brownstone houses exist throughout New York. Just like yellow cabs and mile-high deli sandwiches, they are part of what gives New York a unique feel. These homes are actually brick buildings faced with brownstone, a Triassic or Jurassic sandstone that was formed millions of years ago during the age of dinosaurs. Most of the brownstone you’ll see in New York was quarried in Connecticut. Because Con-necticut brownstone is no longer available, brownstone homes like the Primms are highly cherished, and would sell today for millions of dollars.

Parades are also a distinctive feature of life in the Big Apple (the nickname for New York City). Every year, New York proudly and famously hosts over 30 parades, both large and small. Some of the City’s most famous and family friendly marches include parades celebrating Chinese New Year’s, Columbus Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, Halloween in Greenwich Village, mermaids on Coney Island, and, of course, Macy’s world- famous Thanksgiving Day Parade.

If you travel west on E. 88th Street, you’ll wind up smack dab in the middle of Central Park. Central Park includes 26 baseball and softball fields for players of all ages and experience. There is also a zoo in Central Park, but no crocodile. To find a viewable crocodile in New York City today you have to leave Manhattan and visit the Bronx Zoo.

Radio City Music Hall is a nearly 6,000 seat entertainment palace located 38 blocks south of E. 88th Street, at the corner of 6th Ave-nue and 50th St. Originally known as the Showplace of the Nation, Radio City is part of the 12-acre Rockefeller Center, developed between 1929 and 1940. Today it is home mostly to live concerts and the annual Christmas Extrava-ganza featuring the Rockettes.

Through TrusT and Knowledge

we build ParTnershiPs

5911 West Broad St | Richmond VA 23230804.855.1200

www.BieglerCPA.com

800-990-4828bankatunion.com

We are Proud to Support Virginia Repertory Theatre’s Presentation of Cotton Patch

Gospel

MemberFDIC

Magnolias Ad

JuLy 12 — AuguST 18

Children's Theatre of Virginia at Willow LawnJuLy 5 — 28

fill ‘er up!want to accelerate business?

For 10 years, we’ve been creating fresh, action-oriented ads, websites, and marketing materials that help businesses differentiate their brand, attract customers, build business, and thrive.

See for yourself at blog.93-octane.com

On behalf of our staff, friends, and clients, we applaud Virginia Rep for entertaining us with captivating performances.

is proud to supportVirginia Repertory Theatre

For the travel experienceand savings you deserve,

upgrade to Covington.

Business Travel Meetings & Events

Vacations

covingtontravel.com

hAVE yOur BirThDAy pArTyAT ChiLDrEN’SThEATrE OF VirgiNiA!Pizza | Show Tickets | Workshops | Character Meet and Greet

Call Mark Persinger for more info 804-783-1688 ext. 1118, or at mpersinager@va-rep.org

TM

PRODUCED BY CAROL PIERSOL,IN PARTNERSHIP WITH VIRGINIA REPERTORY THEATREVirginia Rep’s Willow Lawn Stage

March 7 - 19, 2013

BOOK BY LISA HAYES, MUSIC AND LYRICS BY JOAN CUSHING CONCEIVED BY EILEEN MITCHARD

DIRECTED BY BILLY CHRISTOPHER MAUPINMUSIC DIRECTION BY KIM FOX

CHOREOGRAPHY BY JENNIFER HAMMOND

THE FIRST ORIGINAL MUSICAL ABOUT SAVING THE TA TAS!

“The audience laughed, cheered, whooped it up, while wiping away tears.”

- Maryland Theatre Guide

ONLY 6 PERFORMANCES!GET YOURTICKETS TODAY!

Starring Andrew Hamm, Brittany D. Simmons, Chloe Williams,Jeanie Rule, Lauren Leinhaas-Cook, and Russell Rowland