“If you build it, they will come.” - From the film “Field Of Dreams”

That oft-quoted phrase could not be more appropriate for our summer Shakespeare productions than had it been originally penned about us! For certainly, on this open field for 18 glorious summers, our dream of outdoor Shakespeare for the greater Stamford community has been realized, and, as we’ve built it, so too, have you come. Welcome!

We are thrilled to have you here at our 18th annual Shakespeare on the Green presentation. While we were able to present our Shakespeare and Song cabaret last summer, having a full-blown Shakespeare show now, feels about as normal as it can get for us as we get back to operating at the levels we’re accustomed to.

The level of support we’ve received over the years - and especially during the past 16 months - has proven that Stamford residents (and our surrounding neighbors) love what we’re doing and want more. And we will continue to do so for many years to come. This time last year, our very survival was on the line. I’m happy to say that we’re back and we’re here to stay!

Free outdoor Shakespeare is a summer ritual all around the world, but hadn’t been a part of the Stamford cultural landscape until we launched this program in 2004. We’re proud to be joining other great area presenters in adding to the wonderful opportunities in the arts that Fairfield County is known for. As Stamford's longest-running and only year-round, non-profit producing theatre organization, this program was a natural extension of our expanding base of programs.

Of course, none of this would be possible without the generous financial support of our founding sponsor, The Garden Homes Foundation, and our producing sponsors The Royal Green Restaurant/The Stillery Bar & Restaurant, and many individuals. Additional support from The Stamford Golf Authority, RBC, Simply Signs and many individuals make this event possible.

We know that tonight may mark for many of you your first theatre-going experience at Sterling Farms. Please know that we are here year-round with virtually one show a month—indoors—in The Kweskin Theatre and the intimate Dressing Room Theatre. Please join us throughout the season. (See our full season listing inside.) Discounted Flex Passes make regular theatre-going very reasonable.

Once again, welcome, and enjoy the show!

Lou Ursone Executive Director
	2011 Governor’s Award for Excellence

ACT I

PROLOGUE

THERE WILL BE A
15-MINUTE INTERMISSION

Roderick Adams (Ensemble) Rod, making his debut with Curtain Call, has chosen this time to return to a more personal participation in live theater. He is a graduate of Mercy College with a B.S. in Music Technology. His last onstage acting performance was as Duke Frederick in As You Like It (NCCS).

Azra Ahmed (Lady Montague) Azra is delighted to return to Curtain Call, where she played Madame Caron in Is He Dead in 2018. Her acting debut the year prior was in How To Succeed at The Wilton Playshop. Azra also performed in the East/West Playfest in 2019, in which the One Act play she was in won first place. She is thankful to Kyle Runestad for giving her this wonderful opportunity to play Lady Montague on the outdoor stage of Shakespeare on The Green. Azra is a hairstylist and lives in Wilton with her two daughters, Zareen and Zehra. Autumn Raye Arthur (Nurse) Autumn is super jazzed to be making her Curtain Call debut! Her previous Shakespeare roles include Benvolio (Romeo and Juliet), Horatio (Hamlet), Friar Francis (Much Ado About Nothing), and Peter Quince (Midsummer). She would like to thank 2020 for aging her enough to play the Nurse.

Peter Barbieri Jr. (Founding Director / Scenic Design) Peter has been a theatre professional since 1979. He is our Associate Artistic Director and was the founding director of our outdoor, summer Shakespeare. Peter’s work has been seen both here and abroad. Broadway credits include technical direction of the Tony Award-winning revivals of Cabaret and A View From The Bridge. Overseas, his work was seen as far as Shanghai, China and he designed the sets for the Danish production of Cats. Peter directed our productions of Titanic, Twelve Angry Men, To Kill A Mockingbird, Macbeth, The 

Producers, Oklahoma, A View From The Bridge and Romeo & Juliet. For many years, he was a member of Rehabilitation Through the Arts, a nonprofit organization that works in the prison system of the State of NY. He directed their productions of Macbeth, Twelve Angry Men and their first musical, West Side Story in Sing Sing Prison. Peter and his wife, Julia, live in Fairfield with their son, Peter III, and daughter, Miranda.

Will Bruno (Gregory) Will is currently pursuing his BFA in Acting at Elon University. There, he has starred in Bent (Kapo), Macbeth (Duncan u/s), and #silenced (Actor 8). Though he's worked with Curtain Call extensively before, (several summer youth theatre shows) he is excited to be in his first Shakespeare on the Green pro-duction!

Lynn Carbino (Lady Montague/Ensemble) This is Lynn’s first time performing with Curtain Call and only her second time performing a Shakespeare piece in her life! Until now, she has been very active with the Saint Catherine’s Players with her most recent part as the librarian in Matilda the Musical. She would like to thank Kyle and Lou for giving her the opportunity to take part in this show!

Jim Chiles (Peter) Jim’s wife, Ruth, is extremely grateful that Jan Ursone has consented to elder-sit her husband after a year of, at times, much too cozy Covid-19 quarantine togetherness. Previous SOTG roles include: Verges - Much Ado About Nothing; Publius and Titinius - Julius Caesar; and Duke Senior - As You Like It. At the West Marin County, California Shakespeare Festival, he played Gremio - The Taming of the Shrew. At Curtain Call Jim has played: Pap Finn and Harvey Wilkes Big River; Herman - Sweet Charity; Mr. Fezziwig - Scrooge the Musical; and, The Deputy - The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. At the Town Players of New Canaan: Gloss - The Beaux Stratagem; and, Major Domo - Cinderella Panto.

Sarah Chute (Ensemble) Sarah is a Junior from Norwalk, CT. Her most recent roles include Helen in Carrie: The Musical at Brien McMahon High School and Darla in Crystal Theatre's Louder Than Words. She is delighted to be a part of the 2021 Shakespeare on the Green production of Romeo & Juliet!

Dante DiFederico (Romeo) Dante is a professional singer for weddings, funerals and other events in CT with John Masi Jr (MC Music Management) and is thrilled to play Romeo! It feels great to be back with the Curtain Call Family (and has happily been part of it for 13 years)! You may have seen him here in Joseph...Dreamcoat, Pippin, Newsies, and many more. Thanks to God and all who support him!

Martha Dombroski (Props Mistress/Assistant Stage Manager) Being a part of Curtain Call since 2016 has been a most rewarding experience for Martha and she quickly jumped in with both feet crewing and acting in so many shows, she’s lost count. Close to her heart are her two firsts; City of Angels (Ensemble) - her first on-stage CC show and Ragtime, her first as an Asst. Stage Mgr. Other shows include: Sister Act (Ensemble), Wedding Belles (Stage Mgr.) Outdoor Cabaret events (Performer and Crew) and several shows as ASM and/or Props Mistress. Martha is beyond rapt to be back outdoors with her Shakespeare family! Can’t wait to share laughs and non-socially distant hugs, soon-ish. Globe Theatre-sized thanks to Lou, Jan, Kyle, John, Peter, Jamie and Robin.

William Kenyon (Friar John) William ap-peared in Stamford’s Hamlet and As You Like It: elsewhere in Macbeth; One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (Dr. Spivey); theSherman Play-ers in Jack and the Beanstalk, Taming of the Shrew, Life With Father, Dark of the Moon, Arsenic and Old Lace, and It’s a Won-derful Life.

Jordan Kulick (Ensemble) Jordan is so excited to be a part of Shakespeare on the Green’s Romeo and Juliet. Jordan is thrilled to be returning to Curtain Call after some time away...she was in Fiddler here in 2013! She played Ella in a new play called Pheromone at Elon University where she’s getting her BFA in Acting. Olivia Lapine (Juliet) Olivia is a Junior at Tufts University and a veteran of Curtain Call having previously performed in Julius Caesar, Beauty and The Beast, and Little Shop of Hor-rors, among others. She is very excited to be a part of this production and grateful to her family for their support.

Jacob Litt (Benvolio) Jacob is a music educa-tor currently working in Bridgeport. He was last seen at Curtain Call in Elf (Store Manager), and in several of the 2020 Curtain Call cabarets. He also performs as a singer across Fairfield Coun-ty. He is excited to be back on stage and wants to thank the entire Curtain Call team for their hard work.

LAJOIE Jamie LaJoie (Technical Director/Sound De-sign) Jamie is so happy to be a part of the Cur-tain Call family. He has been working in theatre as a Sound Designer, Carpenter, and Actor. He has designed the sound and built more than 75 shows. Some of his favorite Sound Designs in-clude Miss Saigon (Bucks County Play-house), Sisters Of Swing (Gretna Thea-tre), Tuesday’s With Morrie (Bristol Riverside Theatre) and Ragtime (Curtain Call). He would like to thank Lou Ursone for this unbelievable opportunity and Peter Barbieri for teaching me so much. He would also like to thank his parents for always believing in him and of course his wife Meghan for introducing him to theatre, I love you. To Savannah, Daddy loves you—you are my best design.

Kimberley Lowden (Lady Capulet) Kimberley is so excited to be back! (For a number of reasons!) Prior to last summer’s Shakespeare & Song, she was seen as Mistress Ford in The Merry Wives of Windsor, Emilia in Othello, Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing, Katharina/The Shrew in The Taming of The Shrew, and Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Kimberley also played Charlotte in Beyond Therapy. Recent roles: Duke Orsino in Twelfth Night with Red Monkey Theatre, Lottie in Enchanted April, Juror #4 in Twelve Angry Men, Marmee in Little Women and Pfeni in The Sisters Rosensweig. Other favorite roles include Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, Phoebe in As You Like It, Jean Brodie in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Tracey Lord in The Philadelphia Story, Olga in Three Sisters, Nora in A Doll’s House, Velma Von Tussle in Hairspray, and Lt. Cmdr. Joanne Galloway in A Few Good Men. Kimberley would like to thank her SOG family- so great to be back home!

Julia Maggiola (Apothecary) Julia is very happy to be a part of her 11th Shakespeare on the Green production. Previous credits include Julius Caesar (Cassius), Othello (Desdemona) The Tempest (Ariel), Macbeth (Witch), and many more. Her favorite experience on this stage came during the curtain call of Othello, when her spectacular, now-husband staged the best proposal ever. Kevin, I love you! Many thanks to everyone on the production team for their hard work to make this show amazing. Lots of love and thanks to my parents and Mia!

Richard Mancini (Friar Laurence) Rich is thrilled to appear with old friends and new in his onstage debut at Curtain Call after having directed nine shows here, most recently Same Time, Next Year and Cactus Flower. Recent acting credits include Lettice and Lovage (Westport Country Playhouse), The Seagull and Much Ado About Nothing (Players at Putney Gardens).

Daniel P. Mann (Balthazar) Daniel is a local actor from Greenwich CT. This is his 7th Shakespeare on the Green production having last played Friar Francis in 2019's Much Ado About Nothing. He recently appeared on the DRT stage as Theo in The Underpants fall 2019. Much love to my fellow actors and production team. Thank you Curtain Call for remaining a stronghold for theatre and the performing arts.

Robin L. Mazzola (Costume Design) Robin is very excited to again be part of the Shake-speare on the Green team. Costume Shop Manager and Adjunct Professor at Wesleyan University she is also a freelance costume designer. Visit RobinMazzolaCostumes on Instagram or robinmazzola.com to see her latest creations and transformations.

Humza Asim Mian ( Paris) Humza is very excited and grateful for the opportunity to be part of Curtain Call’s Shakespeare on the Green. This is his first time performing in a Shakespeare play and he remembers reading Romeo & Juliet for the first time at the age of 13. He would like to thank Kyle Runestad, Lou and Jan Ursone, and the rest of the Curtain Call team.

Christian Miller (Montague) Christian seems to love all things Shakespeare. Recently he took on the challenge of the Shakespeare 2020 Project. Over 6,000 actors, directors, teachers and lovers of Shakespeare from all over the world read, discussed and argued Shakespeare. The group spent twelve-months reading the Shakespeare canon of 39 plays, 154 sonnets and four narrative poems. For the plays that comes out to 1,200 characters, over 890,000 words, and 74 onstage deaths. He is super excited to be back at SOG and performing this summer. Best wishes to his family and friends who patiently put up with him droning on about the Bard this past year.

Rob Nichols (Capulet) Rob is excited to be returning to the SOG lawn. You may have seen Rob as Casca in Julius Caesar, Stephano in The Tempest, Lion in The Wizard of Oz, Snug in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Barry in Cheating, Shylock in Something Rotten, Adam in The Complete Works Of William Shakespeare (abridged) and many more. Rob would like to thank his lovely cast mates and production team for making this a wonderful experience. And as always, to his partner in crime for reasons that are none of your business.

Alana Pawlowski (Ensemble) Alana is excited for her performance debut at Curtain Call. She is currently studying Theatre at Loyola Marymount University and has trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. Her recent roles include Suzanne in Picasso at the Lapin Agile (Greenwich Academy) and Sarah in An Actors Nightmare (Greenwich Academy). Kyle Runestad (Director) Kyle is very excited to be able to return to the lawn for Romeo & Juliet. He has directed numerous shows for Shakespeare on the Green including Much Ado About Nothing, Hamlet, and As You Like It. He also directed The Beaux' Stratagem with the Town Players of New Canaan. Kyle is a graduate of the Gaiety School of Acting and the Connecticut School of Broadcasting. Kyle has also appeared on stage for many shows here including The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Man of La Mancha and several shows “on the green.” For Gwendolyn, Gabriel, and Zachary.

Michael T. Stack (Sampson) Michael is very excited to be back at Curtain Call and performing in his first Shakespeare produc-tion. Previously at Curtain Call: Andrew in Beyond Therapy. Other roles: Rudolpho in Matilda, Osric in Fortinbras, Sandy Dean in Brigadoon, along with a music video and a few student films.

Kevin Thompson (Prince Escalus) Kevin is excited to be returning to the Globe for his fifteenth consecutive SOG production! Yes, he's still counting last summer because we still made "summer on the Globe" happen with our Shakespeare Cabaret! Much love and thanks to Kyle, Peter, Jan, John, Martha, and Lou for this wonderful opportunity and all of their hard work behind the scenes! Bangarang! Tap-tap-sliiiiiiide-release-SNAP! Jan Ursone (Production Stage Manager) It is wonderful to be back…YEAH!! Special thanks to John and Martha - we make a great team!! Thank you to Louie for letting me have so much fun.

Ash Visker (Mercutio) Ash is a recent graduate from SUNY Purchase College where she studied Theatre and Performance with a double minor in Playwriting and Medieval History. She is a dramaturg, actor, and playwright who recently premiered her first adaptation with the Shakespeare Academy @ Stratford Rub Collective titled Castaway: Hamlet (or, The Life Rendering Pelican). She is incredibly excited to be working with the whole Curtain Call team as a newcomer, and can’t thank the audience enough for coming to experience our show!"

Mallory Zabrocky (Tybalt) After numerous student productions at the Colorado School of Mines, Mallory is delighted to be making her debut with Curtain Call. When she isn't picking fights with her rival house, you can find her dancing in the air @TheBergenworthSpider, TikTok, and YouTube.

John Zimmerman (Stage Manager) John always looks forward to working on summer Shakespeare, but this year after last year’s absence, is special. Thank you to the talent-ed cast and fantastic production team for making this an especially memorable sum-mer and to my wife, Martha, for actively helping with her line work and by indulging my obsession.

SPECIAL THANKS TO
Mayor David Martin,
Paul Grillo &
The Entire Sterling Farms Golf Course Crew