Different
Stages
presents
The Miser
by Moliere
Translated by David Chambers
Director Karen
Sneed
Set Design Ann-Marie
Gordon
Light Design Bill
Peeler
Costume Design Kim
Ngo
Sound Design Carl
Ziegler
Stage Manager/ Asst Director Jonathan
Urso
Assistant Stage Manager Cary
Urso
CHARACTERS AND
CAST
Valere
Anthony Cortino
Elise Melissa
Vogt-Patterson
Cleante Ousama
Itani
Harpagon Norman
Blumensaadt
La Fleche Andrew
Cowen
Master Simon Craig
Kanne
Frosine Carol
Ginn
Master Jacques
Rudy Sandoval
Marianne Valerie
Ann Lara
Chief of Police Craig
Kanne
Anselme Doug
Bonner
Setting
Paris, Harpagon’s house.
ONE INTERMISSION
Produced by special
arrangement with Dramatist Play Service, Inc..
This translation of THE
MISER was first produced at
South Coast Repertory,
Costa Mesa, California.
THE PRODUCTION COMPANY
DOUG
BONNER (Anselme) Film historian, college
professor and Emmy®-winning filmmaker Doug Bonner is happy to make his Austin
theatrical debut. His previous roles
have run the gamut from being a spectator in Orson Welles’ last unfinished film
to playing the violin in a Japanese TV commercial for sushi.
NORMAN BLUMENSAADT (Harpagon) is the Producing Artistic Director for Different
Stages. As an actor he has worked in Shakespeare Festivals in Madison, New Jersey,
Dallas, and Odessa, Texas. For Different
Stages he has recently appeared in Arms
and the Man and The Playboy of the Western World. Among
the 41 plays he has directed are The
House of Bernarda Alba, An Ideal Husband,
The Beard of Avon, The Hollow and The Constant Wife. In celebration of his long and outstanding
work in the Austin theater scene, the Austin Circle of Theaters bestowed upon
Norman the 1998 Deacon Crain/John Bustin Award. His production of The Goat or Who is Sylvia won the 2006-2007 ACOT Award for Best Production
of a Drama. This season he directs
Tennessee Williams’ Garden District
(Something Unspoken and Suddenly Last Summer and the premiere
of Austin playwright Tom White’s What I
Want Right Now.
ANTHONY CORTINO (Valere) was last seen in Carousel as Billy Bigalow in
2006 at the San Pedro Playhouse in San Antonio.
He was awarded the ATAC Globe in 2005 for Best Leading Actor in a Musical when
he played Joe Hardy in Damn Yankees. When Anthony was a fulltime
performer he was fortunate to play a full spectrum of leading roles ranging
from Prince Charming in Cinderella to
FranknFurter in The Rocky Horror Show. Anthony is now a Healthy Living
Manager for HEB and would like to give them special thanks for allowing him the
time to be on stage for the first time since he has started his new and fulfilling
career with the company.
ANDREW COWEN (La Fleche) This is Andrew's first show with Different
Stages. He previously appeared as Caiaphas the Elder in The Last Days of
Judas Iscariot at City Theatre. Andrew has a fairly expansive CD collection
and digs that crazy rock 'n 'roll music.
CAROL GINN (Frosine) Carol's previous on-stage appearances with Different Stages were in
Dylan Thomas' Under Milk Wood and Moss Hart's Light Up the Sky. She has also worked as the director's assistant
and done music and sound for several Different Stages productions -- Terrence
McNally's A Perfect Ganesh, Tom Stoppard's Arcadia, Giles Havergil's
Travels with My Aunt, Arthur Miller's All My Sons, Jean Baptiste
Moliere's The Hypochondriac, Amy Freed's The Beard of Avon,
Agatha Christie's The Hollow, and W. Sommerset Maugham's The Constant
Wife.
ANN MARIE GORDON (Set Designer) is the resident designer at The Vortex. Her designs
for St. Enid and the Black Hand won a
B. Iden Payne Award. Recent Vortex
designs include Bell(e) (B. Iden Payne nomination) and The Dragonfly
Princess. She has also designed for Ariel Dance Theater and The Rude
Mechanicals. For Different Stages she has designed Life and Limb, The Beard of
Avon, and Lettice and Lovage.
OUSAMA ITANI (Cleante) is making his first appearance
with Different Stages. He can be seen trying to be funny in the improv
troupe Gigglepants, and wore tights five years in a row in the Texas Union's Madrigal
Dinner, beginning in 2002 as a starry-eyed University of Texas freshman.
Ousama is relieved to still be acting after graduating and is thrilled about
his first role in a play on the Austin scene. He thanks all the wonderful
people who led him down this road, and all the wonderful people he found along
the way.
CRAIG KANNE (Master Simon/Chief of Police) has been working for the City of Austin's Water Conservation
Department for longer than he cares to remember and working in theatre for
longer than he can remember.
Recent shows that he does recall are It
Runs in the Family for Oracle Theater
Company and The Beard of Avon for Different Stages.
VALERIE ANN LARA (Marianne) is a junior theatre arts major at St. Edward's
University and couldn't be more excited to be performing with Different Stages
for the first time. Her previous works
include The Servant of Two Masters with the Transit Theatre Troupe and Sycorax
with New Works Festival. She wants to thank her family, her best friend
Rosemary, and her wonderful boss at Dillard’s for giving her all the time off
she needed to do what she loves.
KIM NGO (Costume Designer) designs for theatre,
film and television and is based in Austin, Texas. Enthusiastic
and self-driven, she has designed costumes for various award winning
projects including children’s puppet theatre, contemporary theatre productions,
period films and sketch comedy television. Her current work includes
feature documentary Andy Paris: Bubblegum
King, Emmy Award Winning PBS Show Biscuit
Brothers, Different Stages production of The Miser and works in progress with Reversal Films. Her
extensive knowledge of fiber arts, fabric painting, dyeing and costume
technology enrich the versatility in each project. Although she has accumulated
experience in television and film, she continues to love the theatre and plans
to work in both theatre and film.
WILLIAM (BILL) PEELER
(Light Designer) has over 30 years experience
as a theatrical lighting designer, holding both national and international
credits including Uncle Vanya with
the National Theatre Company of Costa Rica, a four-year stint lighting the International
Bluegrass Music Awards Show, in addition to Trying
and Men of Tortuga for the Asolo Rep
in Sarasota, Florida. Among his Austin area credits are the world premier productions
of Sonny's Last Shot at the State
Theatre, Austin, Texas, A Ride With Bob featuring
Grammy award winning Ray Benson and Asleep at the Wheel, culminating in a run
at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and seven previous shows for Different Stages. For the last six
summers, Bill’s design work, involving both conventional and automated lighting,
has been seen in San Jose, Costa Rica while serving as a director and faculty
member with the Institute for Digital-Performing Arts.
RUDY
SANDOVAL (Master Jacques) Rudy started acting while working in Frankfurt, Germany. Some favorite shows at the Frankfurt
Playhouse were Noises Off (Garry), The Nerd (Rick), How the
Other Half Loves (Frank), Charly's Aunt (Charly), Sly Fox
(Cpt. Crouch). Stateside in Houston Roosters
(Hector), The Odd Couple - Female Version (Manolo), and in
Seattle Kvetch (Mother-in-Law).
After a few years away from acting, he started again in 2005 with the
bilingual company Teatro Vivo in Austin with Marriage Is Forever (Enrique/Saul/Quito),
Petra's Pecado (Chano), Petra's Cuento (Red). He also appeared in Bent (Officer
& Kapo) at The Blue Theater in Oct 2005, but couldn't finish the last
weekend because a drunk driver slammed into him at 55 mph. Two years, an operation, and a LOT of
therapy later, he's VERY happy to be acting again. I'd like to thank my family
for helping me recover after that horrific car accident. LOVE Y'ALL.
KAREN SNEED (Director) began working with Different Stages way back in the olden
days when the company produced A Midsummer Night's Dream. Since
then she has served the company over the years as a director, actor, sound designer,
and stage manager. She doesn't work as much in the theatre as she used to,
since her most cherished roles are those of wife and mom, but she has enjoyed
cracking the whip as the big ole mean director for The Miser.
MELISSA VOGT-PATTERSON (Elise) is happy to be making
her Different Stages debut in The Miser. After graduating with her BFA
in Acting from Southwest Texas State University in 2003, she has since been
seen in many locally award-winning shows, including The Dragonfly Princess,
Bell(e), hOle, Pythia Dust, Vampyress, and The
Antonin Artaud Project: Wake for the Dark Poet, and has received two B.
Iden Payne awards for her work. She has also recently finished a regional tour
with the North Carolina Shakespeare Festival, Globeworks 2007, which is a
program committed to bringing Shakespeare into schools and communities. She
would like to thank her family and her husband, Matt, for being so supportive.
CARL ZIEGLER (Sound Design) I'm
not even sure how many plays this makes with Karen? All I know for sure is I wouldn't be here without her. This will be my first using a computer to
mix the sound f/x. Thank the Gods for
the Internet! Enjoy the show...contentement
passe richesse.
__________________________________
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Capitol Diesel Service, Inc.
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P.O. Box 18143 720 US Hwy 183 S., #213
Austin,
Texas 78760 Austin, Texas 78741
ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT
Jean-Baptiste
Poquelin, also known by his stage name, Molière, (January 15, 1622 – February
17, 1673) was a French playwright and actor who is considered one of the
greatest masters of comedy in Western literature. Among Molière's best-known
dramas are Le Misanthrope, (The Misanthrope), L'École des femmes
(The School for Wives), Tartuffe ou l'Imposteur, (Tartuffe or the Hypocrite),
L'Avare ou l'École du mensonge (The Miser), and Le Bourgeois gentilhomme
(The Bourgeois Gentleman).
Molière’ life is a
story of struggle, hard work, domestic unhappiness, death and burial in
obscurity and almost in shame. In time, he belongs between Corneille and
Racine, but he died before either of them. His birth is obscure. At school he
seems to have become acquainted with many Latin, Spanish, and Italian comedies.
In his poverty he associated with low companions, and at one time he acted as
valet in the household of the king. At about the age of twenty-two he became an
actor and manager; but for a time he was wholly unsuccessful. One theatrical
enterprise after another failed, and in 1645 he was imprisoned for debt. After
being released, he gathered together a group of actors and left Paris for a
tour of the provinces -- a tour which lasted about ten years.
In 1658 Molière
brought his company of actors to Paris and played for the first time in the
presence of the king, Louis XIV, in the guard room of the old Louvre. The
pieces presented were Corneille's Nicomède, and Docteur Amoureux,
by Molière himself. Fortunately, on this return to the capital Molière's sense
of humor was tickled by the absurdities of the salons and the literary ladies
whose chief aim in life was to promote culture; and the production of Les précieuses
ridicules (The Pretentious Young Ladies) in 1659 proved the turning point
in his career. Les précieuses ridicules was an immediate success, and
encouraged its author to believe that contemporary life was his true field.
From that time on
Molière gradually perfected his style, though as manager he continued to
produce the plays of intrigue and roistering adventure which were
characteristic of the older school. In his own plays he created a new genre, attacking
not only the sentimental blue-stockings and the vapid swains of the salon, but
nobles, actors, priests, doctors, Corneille and the high-flown writers of his
class together with the plays of the rival theater -- anybody and everybody afforded
a target for his laughter-provoking shafts. He was not only dramatist but also
chief actor in his company, and as comedian he must have had extraordinary
gifts. While acting in his last play, Le malade imaginaire, in 1673, he
was seized with an attack of coughing which proved to be the forerunner of his
death. He was denied the sacrament of the Church, and grudgingly allowed
Christian burial. During the following century his bust was placed in the
Academy, and a monument erected over his grave.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND SPECIAL THANKS
Andy Berkovsky and Travis Tinnin
and the staff of City Theatre, Russ Wiseman and Dougherty Arts Center, Unity
Church of the Hills, Austin Circle of
Theaters, Paul
Licce, Karen Jambon, Joe McDermott,
Emily Erington, Don Sneed, Sunny Sneed, Ercey L.
Carver, Ellen Fannin, Nancy Wood, Robin Grace Thompson, Paula Gilbert, Katy
Tiner, Brenda Weaver, Dawn Knauss, Stephen Wheeler, Krisann and Cordy Hadenfeldt,
Roz Mandola, Susan Hood and Plant Interscapes
Different Stages, Inc. has been a
community-based organization since its inception in 1981 and incorporation in
1984. It produces works by playwrights
whom we believe to be defining forces in theatre. We seek to entertain with performances that reveal life in all
its comedy, tragedy and intensity; and we hope to educate by choosing plays
that provide exceptional insight into the human condition. By challenging ourselves as artists and our
audiences as participants, we endeavor to provide the community with vigorous
and exciting live theatre.
Board of Directors: Karen Jambon, T.J. Moreno, Norman Blumensaadt Operating
Board: Norman E. Blumensaadt, Sarah
Seaton, Royce Gehrels, and Paula Ruth Gilbert.
Funding and Donations
Director Level $5000+
The City of Austin
Actor Level $1000 - $5000
Karen Jambon & Jennifer Underwood,
Jack Grimes
Stage Manager Level $500-$999
Designer Level $250-$499
Royce
Gehrels, Bruce McCann, Emily and Kent Erington,
Connie McMillan, Harvey Guion
Stage Hand
Level $100-$249
Karen
Kuykendall, Irene Dubberley, Sarah & David Seaton Keith Yawn, Pamela Bates,
Marla Boye, Melanie & Travis Dean, Anonymous, Ann Bower, The Pizer
Foundation, Bonnie & Frank Cahill
Audience Level
$20-$99
Miriam Rubin, David Smith and Tom White,
M.D., Rebecca Robinson, Reba Gillman, Charles Ramirez Berg, Dianne Herra,
Rodney and Donna Le Roy
IN-KIND DONATIONS
Mary Alice
Carnes, Sarah Seaton
This project is funded and
supported in part by the City of Austin through the Cultural Arts Division and
by a grant from the Texas Commission on the Arts and an award from the National
Endowment for the Arts, which believes that a great nation deserves great art.
PRODUCTION
STAFF
Light Operator Cassie Fitzgerald
Sound Operator Jonathan Urso
Set Construction Ember, Manuel, Skekhar Govind
Carpenters Jerry Reed, Elaine Jacobs
Web Master Martina
Ohlhauser
Properties Norman
Blumensaadt, Karen Sneed
Graphic Artist Mary Alice
Carnes
Photographer-Publicity Brett
Brookshire
Program Norman
Blumensaadt
Publicity Carol
Ginn, Norman Blumensaadt, Martina Ohlahauser
Email Guru Scot Tesh
Assistant to Mr. Blumensaadt Martina
Olhauser
Box Office
Manager TJ
Moreno