University of Charleston's

Department of Speech and Drama

And Theatre Aside

presents

Thurs., March 25 to

Sat., March 27, at 8:00pm

Sunday, March 28 at 2:00 PM

1999

Keenan Recital Hall

All in the Timing

by David Ives

ACT ONE:

Variations on the Death of Trotsky

Trotsky: Dave McBrayer

Mrs. Trotsky: Francina Lynn Hatfield

Ramona: Jedida Oneko

The Philadelphia

Co-directed by Suzanne Lawrence and Brian Roller

Al.. Tony Pava

Waitress...Morgan Elliott

Mark.Stephen Beasley

Words, Words, Words

Swift..Allison Brownlee

Kafka.....Mandy Marchani

MiltonDave McBrayer

ACT TWO:

Universal Language

Dawn......LaHoma Nida

Don....Brian Roller

Young Woman....Jedida Oneko

Philip Glass Buys a Loaf of Bread

Woman #1..Beth McKinnon

Woman #2....Kamisha Hart

Philip Glass....Ryan Helton

Baker....Stephen Beasley

Sure Thing

Bill...Jason Wilson

Betty.Suzanne Lawrence

"It's all in the timing"

"Know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em,

Know when to walk away, know when to run."

Production Staff

Director: Stephen A. Schrum

Student Co-directors:

Suzanne Lawrence & Brian Roller

Costume Designer: Dianna L. Bourke

Set Construction & Painting...Suzanne Lawrence,

Jeremy Burnside, Dave McBrayer,

Shauna M. McGinniss, Brian Roller

Lighting Operator..................Shauna M. McGinniss

Running Crew....Zarpash Babar

Box Office.................Kathie Holland

Some students working on this show earned credits for

SPCH 312, Acting, SPCH 313, Directing & SPCH 314, Play Production.

Acknowledgments:

The Director, Cast and Crew would like to thank:

Janet Cogar Alice Holstine

David Cottrell Dr. Mark Hornbaker

Dr. Robert Frey Dr. Barbara Yeager

There will be one 10-minute intermission between acts.

Audience members are requested to refrain from

taking flash photographs during the performance.

Please turn off all alarm watches, cell phones, beepers

and pagers during the performance.

The videotaping of this production, except for archival

purposes, is a violation of United States Copyright Law

and is an actionable Federal offense.

ABOUT THE CAST

Stephen Anthony (Mark/The Baker), from Louisville, KY, is a freshman Vocal Performance/Music Administration major. Stephens past experience includes Mushnik in last semester's UC production of Little Shop of Horrors, as well asBlacks in the Old West, Ho Jon in M*A*S*H, Yearbook (the high school musical) at Nia Day Camps. Stephen also sang a solo at his Class of 1998 graduation ceremony. He was a member of the Kentucky All-State Chorus for three years, and also attended the Governors School for the arts in the summer of 1996.

Allison Brownlee (Swift) lists roles in The Crucible, Beauty and the Beast, and Rhinoceros at Wheeling's Towngate Theater, and Our Miss Brooks, Steel Magnolias and Runaways at John Marshal High School for previous theatre credits. A sophomore English major from Glen Dale, WV, Allison thanks her family, her sister, and Brad for their support. She also thanks her boss at Outback for letting her have the time off. (The director seconds this.)

Morgan Elliott (Waitress) is a freshman Respiratory Care major from Wellsville, NY. Her past theatre credits include: Chorus in Annie, Pippin, and Bye Bye Birdie; Belle in Beauty and the Beast; Anybodys in West Side Story; The Tornado, a Poppy and a Townsperson in The Wiz, and the Mayor in Lola Abner. Last semester she appeared as the dancing Baglady in Little Shop.

Kamisha Hart (2^nd Woman) first appeared on stage lasts semester in Little Shop of Horrors as the Agent. A freshman Biology and Sports Med major from Long Island, NY. Kamisha has previously performed in McDonalds Gospel Feast, high school workshops, and choral programs.

Francina Lynn Hatfield (Mrs. Trotsky) is making her theatrical debut with this show. A native of Delbarton, WV, Francina is a freshman Pre-Med major. She is also the Chair of the Student Activities Board and works with CampUC.

E. Ryan Helton (Philip Glass) is a sophomore Mass Comm major from Cincinnati, OH. His past theatre experiences include last semester's Little Shop of Horrors, Man of La Mancha (also here at UC), Bye Bye Birdie, South Pacific, and Music Man. His other notable experiences include studying voice with Gwen Coleman, Stacy Rouche and Mark Hornbaker.

Suzanne Lawrence (Betty/Co-Director) is a junior psychology major from Charleston, WV. Her past acting experiences include A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and Faugh. She played Bernstein in Little Shop last semester.

Mandy Marchani (Kafka), from Moundsville, WV, is a freshman psychology major. Mandy has appeared in productions of Runaways, The Magic in Me, Rendezvous, Ten Nights in a Barroom, and Member of the Wedding. She played Chiffon in Little Shop last semester, and also has taken nine years of dance classes, sung in choir, and participated in high school drama and speech classes/teams.

Dave "The Rave" McBrayer (Trotsky, Milton), a freshman Mass Comm major from Hurricane, WV, was voted "Most Unusual Senior" in his graduating class. Before coming to UC, he played Big Poppa Clod in The Clods of Hopper, Galen in Alky, Alen Lefenfeld in This is a Test, and Judas in The Living Last Supper. Most recently, Dave played Orin Scrivello in Little Shop.

Beth McKinnon (1^st Woman) is once again on the UC stage, having previously appeared in The Butler Did It Singing, Winnie the Pooh and Rumpel-stiltskin, along with the role of Crystal in Little Shop. Beth is a graduating senior Biology/Pre-Med major from Davidsonville, MD.

LaHoma Nida (Dawn) is a freshman Music Education major from Dunbar, WV. Past theatre credits include Mother Meg in Robin Hood, Snow White in Snow White, a munchkin in The Wizard of Oz —all in high school—and Miranda in The Tempest, at the Charleston Stage Company.

Jedida Oneko (Ramona, Woman) appeared as a monkey in her high school's production of The Jungle Book and as a streetwalker in Little Shop last semester. A freshman Environmental Science major, Jedida comes to UC all the way from Nairobi.

Brian Roller (Don, Co-Director) lists, among his many previous theatrical experiences, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Baby, Faugh, Anything Goes, and Up the Down Staircase, all at Capitol High School here in Charleston. He was last seen emerging breathlessly from the Audrey II plant in Little Shop last semester.

Kimberley Snyder (Rehearsal Pianist) is a Bachelor of Science in Nursing major, graduating this semester. Previously, Kim served as accompanist for The Butler Did It Singing and Man of La Mancha here at UC, and did a great job as Musical Director for Little Shop.

Jason R. Wilson (Bill) is a freshman Music Education major from Looney-ville, WV. While Jason has no prior theatre experience, he has much performing experience, being a National Directorsπ Award Recipient for Music and Outstanding Drum Major in Music in the Parks. Here at UC, he is active as a Student Ambassador and singing in the Concert Choir., and played bass in the band for Little Shop . He is now serving as an intern for the WV Symphony Orchestra

ABOUT THE CREW

Shauna M. McGinniss (Lighting Operator) is on loan to us from Shepherd College where she is a sophomore majoring in Social Work and minoring in Theatre. A native of Spencer, WV, Shauna worked for four years in her high school Drama Department, three years in the Roane County Arts and Humanities Council Plays, three years in Shepherd College's theatre, and one season at the Contemporary American Theater Festival last summer—where her work with props earned her the nickname, "Prop Tart."

Dr. Dianna L. Bourke (Costume Designer), a recent addition to the UC faculty as an Assistant Professor, teaches Human Anatomy & Physiology and Anatomy & Physiology of Man in the Department of Natural Sciences. Dianna received her Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and did Postdoctoral work at the University of California, Davis. While at Penn State University as an undergrad, Dianna completed 15 credits in theatre, with a concentration in costume design, and served as costume designer for Dr. Schrum's productions over the last seven years. Dianna has found production meetings much easier since she lives with the director. Incidentally, they are married, but neither changed their last names.

Dr. Stephen A. Schrum received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley (B.A., Temple U; M.A., OSU), and is currently Adjunct Assistant Professor of Speech and Drama here at UC. His teaching duties this year included Acting, Directing, Theatre Production, Intro to Speech, Screenwri-ting and Humanities (in the Initial College Experience), as well as Theatre His-tory 441 for Marshall University's extension program at the Coonskin Armory. Steve is also awaiting the arrival from his publisher the book of essays he edit-ed, entitled Theatre in Cyberspace: Issues of Teaching, Acting and Directing. Steve began incorporating technology into teaching with his Intro to Theatre course while teaching at the Penn State Hazleton Campus. The owner of the internet listserv COLLAB-L, which is dedicated to bringing artists together for collaboration, Steve is presently collaborating on a music-theatre adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's Peer Gynt with Jeremy dePrisco and UC student Jason Wilson.

The Music

Some of the music heard during the show tonight was written by Jeremy dePrisco, a singer/songwriter from Pennsylvania. The songs include:

Copies of his Homegrown Music CD are available for purchase for $10.00 after each performance (see the director), or can be ordered directly from Jeremy. Send a check or money order for $10.00 per CD with your name and complete address to:

Jeremy dePrisco

Blue Buddha Records

PO Box 4936

Harrisburg PA 17111

(717) 657-0611

For more information, contact Jeremy directly,

via email at: jdeprisco@paonline.com,

or visit Jeremy's website: http://www.mindspeak.com

Director's Notes

Velcro! Belljar!

When deciding on the spring play for production here at the L'university de Charlton Heston (as we have come to say in Unamun-da, the Universal Language), I desired several things. First, I wanted to do an intimate production, following the larger scale of Little Shop of Horrors in the auditorium last semester (and earlier this semester). Second, I needed a play that could be rehearsed in a flexible manner, around busy schedules and the chorus' trip to New York. Finally, I des-perately wanted a play that did not involve a large human-eating plant.

I first read David Ives' short plays a few years ago, and later dir-ected Sure Thing as part of an evening of one-acts, hoping to eventually direct the rest. All six plays that we present here depict an odd, one might say, molto blizzardo, world as playwright Ives sees it, full of strange visions of science and the humanities: An exploration of the death of Leon Trotsky, with applied variables. A man stuck in a Philadelphia, a Twilight Zone-like state where nothing works right (and having lived in the City of Brotherly Love for two years, itπs an apt description). Monkeys as part of a scientific research project trying to produce Hamlet. The teaching of the Universal Language to a young woman with a tonguestoppard (a stutter). A parody of the music of Philip Glass, the minimalist postmodern composer (who's a personal favorite of mine, actually). And finally, the courtship ritual of a man and a woman at a cafe, as they slowly move forward to—a union?

So—enny quislings? Dop?

Enjoy the show!

—Dr. Stephen A. Schrum