Different
Stages Presents
The
Misses Overbeck
by
Tom White
Director Norman
Blumensaadt
Set
Design Steve
Pire
Lighting
Design Laura
Sandberg
Costume
Design Jeanette
Driscoll
Stage
Manager T.J.
Moreno
Video David
Zepeda
Video
Director Wm.
Holliman
CHARACTERS
AND CAST
(in order of
appearance)
Norma Jennifer Underwood
Margaret Overbeck Karen
Jambon
Elizabeth Overbeck
Paula Ruth Gilbert
Hannah Overbeck Christina
Frankenfield
Mary Francis Overbeck Beth
Burroughs
Sarah Jessica
Medina
Harriet Overbeck Karen Jambon
Melanie Lucy
Jennings
Mark Keith
Yawn
Bobby Errich
Petersen
The
play is performed in TWO ACTS with
one
intermission.
Setting:
The Overbeck's house 1910-55 and
Norma's
house - the present.
Produced by special arrangement
with Tom White
THE PRODUCTION COMPANY
BETH BURROUGHS (Mary Francis) This marks Beth's second production with Different Stages, after
finishing The Hasty Heart in
March. She finally gets to reunite on stage with Karen (Harriet) since they
were in Sam Bass Theatre's Chicago
together. Beth has been in Austin 4 years and is feeling pretty used to it
by now. She acts whenever she can, and when she can't, she works at
Southwestern University, and hangs out with her husband and her 4 cats (just
got the 4th one to add to the brood)! Gotta give thanks to Norman, TJ, and all
the cast and crew. Special love and thanks to Paul for the figurine and well,
just for being you. Hi Scott. Hi B.
CHRISTINA FRANKENFIELD (Hannah) This is Christina’s debut
with Different Stages. Recently she was seen as the Christmas Fairy is 2nd
Youth’s production of The Toys Take Over Christmas. She also played Judy
in the Rubber Repertory’s ACOT nominated production of Designated Mourner.
Christina has also acted in various independent films, but most recently she
made her major motion picture debut as the Judge in Robert Rodriguez/Frank
Miller’s Sin City.
PAULA RUTH GILBERT (Elizabeth) “I, Paula Ruth
Gilbert, hooked up with Norman in 1981 for The Tempest and have remained
an active member of the Different Stages family. I’m also actively
associated with The Vortex and Austin Lyric Opera. Suffice it to say that
in 37 years of acting, a lot of people deserve thanks. All of you know
who you are. Some of those at the top of the list are Norman, Mike,
David, Joe, Mimi, Jack, Ann Marie, Marti, & Jackie. I act for
myself. All else is gravy. “
KAREN JAMBON (Margaret/Harriett) Karen’s last
appearance with Different Stages was as Lady Markby in An Ideal Husband.
Other recent roles include Mame in Auntie Mame, Babe in Queen of
Bingo and Eileen in The Cripple of Iniishman. Karen has also directed numerous productions
for Different Stages as well as other area theatres.
LUCY
JENNINGS (Melanie)
Lucy recently graduated from Southwest Texas state University with
a BFA in Acting. She has also studied at the London Academy of Music and
Dramatic Arts and spent a year in the Actor's Training Program at Solano
Community College in Northern California. This is Lucy's second appearance with different stages and she is delighted to be a part of the Austin theater community.
JESSICA MEDINA (Sarah) relocated to Austin
from Houston two years ago and since has appeared in two previous Different
Stages productions, including The Traveling Lady as Georgette and The
House of Bernarda Alba as Adela for which she recieved a B. Iden Payne
Nomination. Other roles include Yencha in Fools (SBCT), Peaseblossom in A
Minsummer Night's Dream (Masquerade Theatre), Bette in Jackson Square (Country
Playhouse). She has recently completed (but not yet finished) a session of the
Austin Acting Workshop led by Barry Pineo. Much love and thanks to him, Norman
and to her Parker, for help and unfaltering support.
ERRICH PETERSEN (Bobby) Errich is thrilled to work with such lovely people in his Different Stages debut. He is a student at the State Theatre and was most recently seen in the Gaslight's Summer Cyclone and the Vortex's Coriolanus. Errich would like to thank both Norman and Tom for this unique opportunity.
JENNIFER UNDERWOOD (Norma) Jennifer’s last Different Stages production was as Mrs. Siezmagraff in Betty’s Summer Vacation for which she won the B. Iden Payne Award as Outstanding Actress in a comedy. Other Different Stages productions include the title role in The House of Bernarda Alba, Gertie in Fuddy Meers, (B. Iden Payne nomination), The Devil’s Disciple, (B. Iden Payne and Critic’s Table nomination), as Mrs. Dudgeon, and as Kate in The Cripple of Inishmann, (B. Iden Payne nomination). Her first opportunity to work with Different Stages was as Kate in All My Sons. Other Austin area productions include Volumnia in Coriolanis, Bessie in Marvin’s Room, Elizabeth in The Petition, Betty in The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon-Marigolds, Evie in The Gingerbread Lady and Big Mama in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Thank you to Different Stages for all the wonderful plays it produces!
KEITH YAWN
(Mark)
The
Misses Overbeck is Keith’s debut performance with Different Stages; a
rewarding experience he would eagerly repeat. His previous acting credits
include the Mainline Theatre Project’s production of Billy Budd and Neil
Simon’s Fools for the Sam Bass Community Theatre. Keith would like to
thank the director for providing him the opportunity to be a part of an
amazingly talented cast and crew; his family and friends for their unwavering
patience and love; and the audience for their continued support of local
theater. Enjoy the show!
NORMAN
BLUMENSAADT (Director) ) is the
Producing Artistic Director for Different Stages. Recent acting roles include:
Millet in Fuddy Meers, Aunt
Augusta/Henry Pulling in Travels With My Aunt and Vanya in Uncle
Vanya. He was given the Austin
Circle of Theaters’ Deacon Crain/John Bustin Award in 1998 for his work with
Different Stages. For Different Stages
he has directed: An Ideal Husband, Two Gentlemen of Verona, The House of
Bernarda Alba, and Summer and
Smoke. Next year, he will direct plays by Tennessee Williams and
Shakespeare.
STEVE PIRE (Set Designer) Steve is pleased to work again with Different Stages were he previously designed Fuddy Meers and Summer and Smoke. Other Austin credits include; A Murder of Crows with the Dream Assassins, Burn This for Alchemy Works, and Soul Picnic produced by Peter Yarrow. Steve has also designed sets for the TV pilot Stars Over Texas. He has many academic credits with the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, and the University of Iowa where he studied set and lighting design. Mr. Pire is a member of IATSE local 205.
LAURA
SANDBERG (Light
Designer) has been designing scenery and lighting for a little longer than
she cares to admit these days, but takes solace in the knowledge that theatre
helps keep her young at heart. She grew
up in Texas, but trekked north to study theatre design at Northwestern University.
Afterwards, she worked at the Norton Center for the Arts in Kentucky, designing
local shows and serving as a technician/stage manager for touring performers
like Marcel Marceau, Leontyne Price and Rudolf Nureyev. She returned to Texas
to get her MFA at UT Austin, and works on theatre around Austin, as her day job
as a computer geek permits. Favorite
design credits include: The Snow Queen, A Doll House, Our
Country's Good, Etta Jenks, Mad Forest, King Stag, A
Perfect Ganesh, Liu The Dragon King, and The Hobbit
JEANETTE
DRISCOLL (Costume
Designer) has a Bachelor's degree in Theatre Arts from UT El Paso. She has
been working in the area of costuming for 8 years, mainly on touring shows. She
has been in Austin for 2 years and this is her sixth Different Stages
production. She also works regularly with Austin Lyric Opera.
T.J. MORENO
(Stage Manager): This is T.J.’s third production with Different Stages, having
previously acted in The Rise and Rise of Daniel Rocket and stage managed
An Ideal Husband. He wants to
thank everyone involved for their dedication to the craft.
PRODUCTION STAFF
Light/Sound Operator Irene Dubberley
Set Construction
Steve Pire
Costumes Jeanette
Driscoll
Graphic Artist Sarah Hauck
Seaton
Photographer Brett
Brookshire
Program Norman
Blumensaadt
Properties Norman
Blumensaadt, Tom White, The Cast
Publicity Carol
Ginn
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
AND SPECIAL THANKS
TeraQuest, for Rehearsal Space,
Daugherty Arts Center for Rehearsal Space, Laura
Sandberg and Second Youth Family Theatre, Clayways Pottery Studio and Kit Adams,
potter Kathy Hull for making the Overbeck vase, Lester Jensen of TEE TIME,
Driving & Practice Range, Bruce Holliman and Christina Frankenfield,
Douglas Kelly, Steve Zinggraft , Paul Martin for creating Father Overbeck,
Pecan Square Emporium, Universal Publishers, Richard E. King, DDS
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: Margaret A. (Peggy) Centilli, Henry V. Fitzgerald, Jr. & Randolph Stripling. Operating Board: Norman E. Blumensaadt, Mike Groblewski, Royce Gehrels & Paula Ruth Gilbert.
UNIVERSAL PUBLISHERS
Special Event Advertising • (512) 478-6306
The complete program & poster graphic for this and other events can be downloaded from www.upstages.com.
DIRECTOR’S NOTES
Pottery can be
shattered, but the pieces will remain, indeed have remained intact for
thousands or years...Glass decays and flakes away. Wood, leather, papyrus,
paper and cloth disappear unless properly protected or buried in absolutely dry
places where no moisture can penetrate. Pottery alone is impervious to such
chemical changes and has endured since it was first invented, as an exceedingly
important handmaid of history.
Nelson Glueck,
RIVERS IN THE DESERT
Overbeck
History
In
Cambridge City, Indiana, in1911, four sisters established the Overbeck Pottery
in their home. At a time when most pottery was copied from European and
Japanese art, they believed that "borrowed art is bad art". The
majority of their work stemmed from their surroundings and included painted porcelain;
redware; imported vases, Art Nouveau and Art Deco; and figurines modeled on
real-life persons or "grotesques" which Mary called "humor of
the kiln". They were especially noted for their subtle hues in matte
glaze as well as brilliant turquoise and heliotrope in bright glaze. They
never divulged these formulas. It is believed they are in the possession
of their nephew.
From
its inception Overbeck Pottery has been held in high esteem. Awards were
won in Paris, Chicago, New York, Syracuse, Baltimore, St. Louis, Detroit, in
Indiana on a regular basis and at the Panama Pacific Exposition. In
recent years growing groups of museum curators, art schools and collectors have
developed a full realization of the artistry of Overbeck Pottery. It has
earned an important place in the history of American art and has been exhibited
at the Indianapolis Museum of Art and Wayne County Museum. In 1990 the
Los Angeles County Museum of Art featured a prize Overbeck vase in their
exhibition. In 1987-88 Overbeck Pottery was awarded national recognition
in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston sponsored exhibit, "The Art That Is
Life"; The Arts and Crafts Movement in America, 1875-1920. A vase in
the collection was chosen as an example of originality in early American pottery
and was exhibited in Boston, Detroit, Los Angeles and New York Art
Museum. The modest, genteel Overbeck sisters would be astounded at the
fame they have achieved.
ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT
Tom White (Playwright) is the author of Willie the Shake, Silo Stud, Colonel Mustard, and other plays. (See his website.) To support this vocation, he recently got a real estate license--and would appreciate your custom! Tom wishes to acknowledge the definitive work on the Overbecks, The Chronicle of the Overbeck Pottery, by Kathleen Postle.
Contributors
The
City of Austin, AT&T Foundation, Tera Quest Metrics, Inc.
Connie
McMillan, Norman S. Blumensaadt, Paula Ruth Gilbert, Norman E. Blumensaadt, Steve
Chapman, Martin J. Reyes, Karen Kuykendall, Irene Dubberley, Austin
Theatreworks,
Mary Furse, Neal Jodeit/Vicky Boone, Scott K. Schroeder,
John Howrey, Deborah Hamilton-Lynne, Ora and Jim Shay, Terraquest, Inc.,
Jennifer Underwood, Karen Jambon, Harvey Guion, Don Howell, Corina Del Toro,
Don Howell, Carol Smith Adams, Jerry Conn, Valiere D'Antonio, Betsy Christian, William (Dirk) Van Allen,
Arno Blase, Deanna Abshire
Different Stages’ Repertory
Begun as Small
Potatoes Theatrical Company
1981: August
Strindberg’s Creditors and The Stronger. 1982: William Shakespeare’s The Tempest and
A Midsummer Night’s Dream. 1983:
George Bernard Shaw’s Candida; Anton Chekhov’s The Brute, Swan
Song, and Celebration. 1984:
Luigi Pirandello’s Right You Are (If You Think You Are); Jane
Martin’s Talking With… 1985:
Caryl Churchill’s Cloud 9; William Shakespeare’s As You Like
It; Carl Sternheim’s The Underpants; Michael Weller’s Moonchildren. 1986: Amlin Gray’s How I Got That Story;
William Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale; Eugene O’Neill’s Beyond the
Horizon. 1987: Michael Weller’s Loose
Ends; Aristophanes’ The Wasps; Larry Kramer’s The Normal Heart;
Arthur Schnitzler’s Anatol. 1988:
Wallace Shawn’s Aunt Dan and Lemon; Dylan Thomas’ Under Milk
Wood; Moss Hart’s Light Up the Sky; Jean Racine’s Phaedra;
Jean-Baptiste Moličre’s The Misanthrope. 1989: Caryl Churchill’s Fen; Charles
Ludlam’s The Artificial Jungle; William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of
Venice. 1990: Eric Overmeyer’s On
the Verge; Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night; Milan
Kundera’s Jacques and His Master; Tom White’s The Trouble with Tofu;
William Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus.
1991: George Kelly’s The Show-Off; George
Bernard Shaw’s Mrs. Warren’s Profession; Keith Reddin’s Life and Limb;
Mozart/Lorenzo da Ponte’s Cosě fan Tutte; Jean-Baptiste Moličre’s The
Learnčd Ladies. 1992:
Alan Ayckbourn’s Woman in Mind; Carlo Gozzi’s The Raven;
Henrik Ibsen’s The Wild Duck; Charles MacArthur’s Johnny on a Spot;
George Farquhar’s The Recruiting Officer. 1993: Timberlake Wertenbaker’s Our Country’s
Good; Charles Ludlam’s The Secret Lives of the Sexists; Tennessee
Williams’ Orpheus Descending. 1994:
Constance Congdon’s Tales of the Lost Formicans; William Shakespeare’s
Cymbeline; George M. Cohan’s The Tavern; Marlayne Meyer’s Etta
Jenks. 1995: Pierre Marivaux’s The
Triumph of Love; Tom Stoppard’s Travesties; Larry Kramer’s The
Destiny of Me; Alexander Ostrovsky’s The Diary of a Scoundrel. 1996: Caryl Churchill’s Mad Forest; Agatha
Christie’s Black Coffee; William Congreve’s The Way of the World. 1997:
Terrence McNally’s A Perfect Ganesh; Dorothy Parker’s Here We
Are; Alan Ayckbourn’s Drinking Companion; Terrence McNally’s Noon;
George M. Cohan’s Seven Keys to Baldpate; Sean O’Casey’s Juno and the
Paycock. 1998: Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia;
Aeschylus’ Agamemnon; Giles Havergal’s Travels with my Aunt;
Arthur Miller’s All My Sons. 1999:
Edit Villareal’s My Visits with MGM; Jean-Baptiste Moličre’s The
Hypochondriac (tr. Martin Sorrel); Edward
Percy and Reginald Denham’s Ladies in Retirement; Chekhov’s Uncle
Vanya. 2000: Peter Parnell’s The
Rise and Rise of Daniel Rocket; Ann
Ciccolella’s Fruits and Vegetables; George S. Kaufman and Marc
Connelly’s Merton of the Movies; Martin McDonagh’s The Cripple of
Inishmaan. 2001: Milcha Sanchez-Scott’s Roosters; George Bernard Shaw’s
The Devil’s Disciple; J. B. Priestly’s Dangerous Corner; Tennesee
Williams’ Summer and Smoke. 2002:
Ann Ciccolella’s Madame X; David Linsay-Abaire’s Fuddy
Meers; Agatha Christie’s The Unexpected Guest; Federico Garcia
Lorca's The House of Bernarda Alba. 2003: Christopher
Durang's Betty's Summer Vacation; Horton Foote The Traveling Lady, William
Shakespeare Two Gentlemen of Verona; Oscar Wilde's An Ideal
Husband;
2004: John Patrick's The Hasty Heart; Tom White's The
Misses Overbeck; Brian Friel's Molley Sweeney.
