I am thrilled to be able to say to you all – our long 2 year intermission is over!

Welcome Back to The American Theatre

2022-2023 represents our 35th Anniversary Season presenting the entire Coastal Virginia region with performing arts excellence from around the world, and around the corner!

The last 35 years have presented audiences with diverse and crowdpleasing repertoires. We have been privileged to have artists like Bea Arthur, Mavis Staples, Manhattan Transfer, Sandra Bernhard, David Sanborn, The Shanghai Ballet, John McCutcheon, The Mystical Arts of Tibet, Nell Carter, Arlo Guthrie, Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo and hundreds more! Our Lighthouse Series highlights our region’s talented arts organizations that make Hampton Roads home – and our Family Fun Series is chock full of family friendly programming with our Saturday Morning Club!

As Artistic Director, it is my goal to combine bold artistic statements with innovative creative approaches, to engender strong support from the entire community.

It is with this in mind, I am ecstatic to introduce our audiences to the 2022-2023 35th Anniversary Season!

From innovative modern music to cutting-edge American jazz, from Broadway blockbusters to a variety of Christmas and Holiday celebrations— next season’s performers are all storytellers! With or without words, these 35th Anniversary performances are telling these stories just for you!

As part of our ongoing growth, I am proud to announce some exciting changes for Season 35 – starting with the grand opening of our new Studio Theatre. This newly renovated, intimate space will provide an opportunity for audiences to have a more personal performance experience with a variety of artists. I hope you share our excitement in the addition of this space to our regular annual programming!

We also continue our price-accessibility with tickets starting at $35 – with a number of preferred seating for those who want to guarantee the most sought-after seats early in the season. As always, patrons save the most money with our Subscription Passport.

I am tremendously grateful for everyone’s patience and commitment during our long intermission. We are glad to have the opportunity to once again share the magic of the performing arts with you. Creativity and imagination are the threads that weave our cultural tapestry and advance our mission to enhance the quality of life for the artists and audiences we serve.

Now, lean forward in your seats and get ready for a memorable year of joyful stories as we celebrate our 35th Anniversary!

I will see you at the Theatre!

Richard M. Parison, Jr.
Artistic Director

The Acting Company
presents

ROMEO AND JULIET

By William Shakespeare

Featuring

Torée Alexandre*, Zoe Anastassiou*, Edwin Brown III*, Darius Deon*, Sam Encarnacion*, Max Antonio Gonzalez*, Ty Camren Hawthorne, Travis Raeburn*, Christopher Then*, William Oliver Watkins*, Eunice Woods*, Caro Zeller*

Melissa Richter*, Production Stage Manager
Josh-Andrew Wisdom*, Assistant Stage Manager
Directed by Leah C. Gardiner

* Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

(in alphabetical order):

Torée Alexandre* (Juliet)

Zoe Anastassiou* (Nurse)

Edwin Brown III* (Friar)

Darius Deon* (Tybalt)

Sam Encarnacion* (Benvolio)

Max Antonio Gonzalez* (Paris)

Ty Camren Hawthorne (Prince)

Travis Raeburn* (Mercutio)

Christopher Then* (Romeo)

William Oliver Watkins* (Lord Capulet)

Eunice Woods* (Lady Capulet)

Caro Zeller* (Lady Montague)

Kate Pitt, Assistant Director

Row Walters, Production Manager and Audio Supervisor

Kis Knekt, Assistant Scenic Designer and Props Supervisor

Hannah Sgambellone, Technical Director

Hannah Chalman, Assistant Costume Designer

Amanda Stutzman, Tour Wardrobe Supervisor

Kat C. Zhou, Assistant Lighting Designer

Devan Kelty, Tour Lighting Supervisor 

Ien DeNio, Associate Sound and Music Designer

Nina Field, Production Audio

Luzmyrna Crespo, Associate Fight Choreographer

Leon Qin and Miles Segura, Fight Choreography Interns

Anthony “YNOT” Denaro, Assistant Choreographer

Jessica E. Ellison, Assistant Dramaturg

John Anselmo and Dan Mullins, Production Electricians

Sara Rosenthal, Production Assistant

Victor Vasquez, X Casting, Casting Agent 

Devin Brain, Producing Director

Kent Gash, Artistic Director

Erik Schroeder, Managing Director

Brianna Rafidi, Associate Producer

Pamela Reichen, General Manager

Hillary Cohen, Director of Development

AJ Jackson, Company Manager

Nayah Ferris, Development Associate

Maddie Hopfield, Office Manager and Bookkeeper

Photos and video recording of this performance are explicitly prohibited.

By Kent Gash

Kirsten Childs’ new version of The Three Musketeers and Leah Gardiners’ Romeo and Juliet both engage the unstoppable essential vitality of loving hearts and the soul of youth. Sometimes careless, sometimes reckless, always exhilarating. The lives in these plays are lived at a kind of warp speed that is thrilling!  There are moments in life when we feel invincible and throw caution to the winds. Actors, playwrights, and all of us who make theatre throw caution to the winds as the lights dim and we dare to imagine, create and embody a story to share with you, our audiences.  In William Shakespeare and Alexandre Dumas, we have two genius storytellers taking us on unforgettable journeys.  If we’re lucky, as D’Artagnan and the Musketeers, Romeo, Constance and Juliet are, we experience this invincibility aligned with love.  Romantic love, love of fraternity, love of ideals and those who are like-minded or who have shared lived experiences, and more importantly, we are Montague or Capulet and we come to love those who are different from us.  As we mature this sense of being invincible can lead to some of life’s most satisfying and unexpected adventures.  These adventures help to forge our identities and our beliefs. In a truly fulfilled life, they enrich and uplift us and we in turn enrich and uplift the lives of others. 

These classic stories unleashed by this effervescent company of actors are reclaimed to enthrall audiences anew. In every human heart lies, courage, loyalty, honor, faith, commitment, and an invincible endless capacity to love. Love flagrantly, with abandon and with joy!  As we return to the theatre and live performances, THE ACTING COMPANY happily invites you to enjoy these classic, romantic adventures!  WELCOME TO THE ACTING COMPANY!  WELCOME TO THE THEATRE!

The Acting Company develops emerging actors and builds enthusiastic audiences for the theater by touring professional productions across the United States and providing education programs, in-school residencies, and teacher training workshops to thousands of audience members and students every year. Founded in 1972 by John Houseman and Margot Harley, the company now seeks to reinvent the definition of classical theatre through the lens of who we are as citizens of the world today under the new leadership of artistic director Kent Gash. The Acting Company has toured 143 productions to millions of people in 48 states and 10 countries, has been honored with Tony, Obie, AUDELCO and LA Drama Critics Circle Awards, and helped launch the careers of two generations of actors including Patti LuPone, Kevin Kline, Rainn Wilson, Jesse L. Martin, Jeffrey Wright, Keith David, Hamish Linklater and Kelley Curran. Learn more at www.theactingcompany.org/learn-more

The Acting Company would like to extend its gratitude to Howard Sherman and Rober Bronsein at Baruch College, Corey Atkins, Samantha Robbins, Nina Field, Mieka Van Der Ploeg, Carol Rosegg, Nina Wurtzel, Pinecrest Creative (Joe Carroll, Dan Tracy), Maddie Greenberg, Melinda Berk, Taryn Sacramone, Jay Rogers, Victor Catano, Scott McKowen, John Williams, Audio Gods, Stage 3 Productions, 

Romeo and Juliet rehearsed at the Baruch Performing Arts Center, Baruch College, New York NY

Shane Marshall Brown, The Press Room, Press Representative

Jason Baruch, Sendroff & Baruch, LLP

Set Constructed By: F&D Scene Changes

Tour Lighting Equipment provided by: Hayden Production Services, LLC

Sound Equipment provided by: Bauder Audio Systems

Tour Trucking by: Clark Transfer

Margot Harley, Founder

Earl D. Weiner, Chair

Robert T. Goldman, Vice President

Lori-Ann Wynter, Secretary

Timothy K. Saunders, Jr., Vice Chair

Jean-Luc Sinninger, Treasurer

J. Barclay Collins II

Rufus Collins

Alireza Esmaeilzadeh

John N. Gilbert, Jr.

Harriet Harris

Dana Ivey

Kevin Kline

Ezra Knight

Joan M. Leiman

Patti LuPone

Dakin Matthews

Angela Pierce

John Rando

Richard J. Reilly, Jr.

Tejal Wadhwani

Nancy Bendiner Weiss

Edgar Lansbury, President Emeritus

Carol Crowley, Director Emeritus

Mary Ann Fribourg, Director Emeritus

The Acting Company’s 2022-23 National Tour is made possible, in part, by support from the Bloomberg Philanthropies; Booth Ferris Foundation; Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP; Chapman and Cutler, LLP; Barclay Collins; Peter Darrow; Jodi Della Femina; John Rando & Eileen Donohue; Alireza Esmaeilzadeh; John and Jill Gilbert; Joseph & Carson Gleberman; Douglas Gray; the Howard Gilman Foundation; The Rona Jaffe Foundation; Kirkland and Ellis LLP; Edgar & Louise Lansbury; Dakin Matthews; Mayer Brown; Morgan Lewis LLP; Henry Moriello; the National Endowment for the Arts; the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs; the New York State Council on the Arts; Paul Hastings LLP; Richard J.  Reilly & DLA Piper; Tim Saunders; Greg Schriefer; The Morris and Alma Shapiro Fund; The Shubert Foundation; Chris Shyer; Sidley Austin; Jean Luc Sinniger; Lorraine Toussaint; Tejal Wadhwani and Goldman Sachs; Earl Weiner; Kate & Seymour Weingarten; Nancy Weiss; Frank Wohl; and Lori-Ann Wynter. By arrangement with Alliance Artist Management.