About Women in Jeopardy!
Thelma and LouisemeetsThe First Wives Club in this fun and flirtatious new comedy! Divorcees Mary and Jo are suspicious of their friend Liz’s new dentist boyfriend. He’s not just a weirdo; he may be a serial killer! After all, his hygienist just disappeared. Trading their wine glasses for spyglasses, imaginations run wild as the ladies try to discover the truth and save their friend in a hilarious off-road adventure.
Ensemble Theatre Company(ETC) at the New Vic is excited to present theWest Coast premiereof a side-splitting new comedy,Women in Jeopardy!,byWendy MacLeod.Thelma and LouisemeetsThe First Wives Clubin this fun and flirtatious laugh-out-loud comedy, under the direction ofBart DeLorenzoand featuring comedic actress, author and columnistAnnabelle Gurwitch. Filled with side-splitting laughs and a perfect recipe for holiday fun.
Divorcees Mary and Jo are suspicious of their friend Liz’s new dentist boyfriend. He’s not just a weirdo; he may be a serial killer! After all, his hygienist just disappeared. Trading their wine glasses for spyglasses, imaginations run wild as the ladies try to discover the truth and save their friend in a hilarious off-road adventure. “Modern, lively, and loads of fun,” saysThe Boston Globe.
Playwright Wendy MacLeod on Women and Comedy
Anna Jensen:Why do we need more women writing for the stage?
Wendy MacLeod(playwright): I remember I was having coffee with a literary manager and he was talking about how there were no comedies written by women, and I’m sitting across the table from him and I’m thinking, “I have comedies. If you’re looking for–” I mean it was kind of a surreal moment. “How can you say that to me, a woman who writes comedies?” So, this idea that people can’t find plays written by women or they can’t find comedies written by women, I think it just means they’re not looking hard enough because I know in my teaching, I have some tremendously gifted young women writers. And I think there’s a little bit of a particular bias about women in comedy, that people think women are less funny than men but it’s possible that women find different things funny for men. I think it’s important that we do plays by women because most theater subscribers are women, for one thing, and they want to see their stories told.
AJ: There also seems to be something that dogs women, in the sense that plays by men “universally address the audience,” whereas plays by women “only speak to the women in the audience”—that somehow there’s something more particular or specific about women writing comedy or even tragedy. So, how do you see this play in that polarity?
WM:Well, I remember reading an astonishing statistic that it was something like 85% of the women on the screen are between the ages of 18 and 34. And if you see a woman older than that, she is somebody’s mother, possibly somebody’s wife. And so, what I’m interested in is having the women characters be the agents of the action, that they’re not appendages to a story, they are the story. And even if you look at the cast distribution, the play is four women and two men, that’s the inversion of most cast sizes. So, I’m not saying it’s a politically important play but I just think the act of putting women at the center of a story and seeing them trying to solve a problem [is important]. In some ways romances are the obstacles as opposed to the goal in this play, and as it ends, although it appears to be about somebody’s bad love relationship, it’s really about the long-term friendship among these three women and how they negotiate that when somebody suddenly has fallen in love and makes that their priority.
AJ:And we see that happening all the time to our friends, especially where you think, “Wow, this is a really bad choice you’re making?” And you’ve taken that paradigm to a funny, farcical extreme. “You might be dating a serial killer and you’re sending your teenage daughter off to go camping with him.”
WM:It’s a really bad choice.
Artists
Cast
- HEATHER AYERS MaryRead Bio Matthew Grondin TrennerRead Bio Annabelle Gurwitch JoRead Bio DeeDee Rescher LizRead Bio William Salyers Jackson/Sgt. KirkRead Bio Sophie Ullett AmandaRead Bio
HEATHER AYERS(Mary) is so excited to be back at ETC so soon! She just completed their run ofSweeney Todd& has appeared in their productions ofA Little Night Music & Intimate Apparel.Heather’s Broadway credits include Mel Brook’sYoungFrankenstein,On A Clear Day You Can See Foreverwith Harry Connick Jr., & Trevor Nunn’sA Little Night Music.Off-Broadway, she has been seen in several Encores! productions,Five Course Love, Forbidden Broadway, & Sarah, Plain & Tall. Regionally, she has performed at Yale Rep, The Old Globe, Barrington Stage, St. Louis Rep, Kansas City Rep, & Cincinnati Playhouse, among others. TV credits include “Scandal,” “The Exes,” “Lights Out,” & “Z Rock.” Happy Holidays!
Matthew Grondin(Trenner). Matthew is thrilled to be back at ETC, where we was previously seen as Stevie inGood People.Regional:Bad Jews(Stage West),A Moon for the Misbegotten(Rubicon Theatre), World Premiere of Shelia Callaghan’sEverything You Touchand the West Coast Premiere ofShiv(Theatre @ Boston Court). Los Angeles:Orphans(LANCT),Ah Wilderness!(Antaeus ClassicsFest),Rabbit HoleandSpinning Into Butter(Actor’s Co-op),This Is Our Youth(TAC Theater). NY:Friends Like These(Cherry Pit). Also interested in writing – his first play,Granite, was staged at Joan Scheckel’s Collective Loft. He is a member of Antaeus Theatre Company’s A2 Ensemble in LA. Huge thanks to this terrific cast and crew – and to Jonathan, Amy and Bart for having me back!
Annabelle Gurwitch(Jo). Most recently: Annabelle appeared in a theatrical adaptation directed by Mr. DeLorenzo at The Skylight Theater in Los Angeles and The Edinburgh Fringe Festival of her latest book,The New York TimesBestseller,I See You Made An Effort: compliments, indignities and survival stories from the edge of 50,which was a finalist for the James Thurber Prize for American Humor Writing 2015. Theatrical highlights: World Premiere of Donald Margulies’A Coney Island Christmasat The Geffen Playhouse directed by Mr. DeLorenzo, The 20th Anniversary Production ofUncommon Women and Others, Off- Broadway at The Lucille Lortel,Our Lady of 121st Street,Sixteen WoundedandAdam’s Ribwith L.A. TheaterWorks. She played the title role in Murray Mednick’sJoe and Betty,produced on both coasts, earned her place in “The Top Ten Performances of the Year” by critics in bothThe New York TimesandLos Angeles Times. Annabelle was the co-host of the popular “Dinner and a Movie“on TBS for seven seasons, “WA$TED” on The Planet Green Network, a Discovery Channel for three seasons, and two seasons of anchoring the award winning “Not Necessarily the News” on HBO,“Dexter,” “Boston Legal,” “Medium,” “Murphy Brown” and “Seinfeld” amongst other programs. Films:Daddy Day Care,Shaggy Dog,Melvin Goes to Dinner,It’s Us(2016). Annabelle’s other books:You Say Tomato, I Say Shut Upco-written with her husband Jeff Kahn, and “Fired!”which was also a Showtime Comedy Special. Her writing appears inThe New York Times,Los Angeles Times,More Magazine, on NPR and inThe New Yorker. She frequently tours with The Moth Radio Hour, The Jewish Book Council, and other literary salons across the country. The National Tour ofI See You Madean Effortproduced by Groundswell Productions hits the road for the 2016-2017, first stop, Toronto. You can keep up with her at www. annabellegurwitch.com.
DeeDee Rescher(Liz) is excited to be returning to The New Vic after her super fun run here in David Lindsay-Abaire’sGood Peoplein 2014, directed by Jenny Sullivan. Theatre credits include Steve Martin’sThe Underpants, the world premiere of Richard Dresser’sThe Pursuit of Happiness, Michael Hollinger’sRed Herringand her recurring celebrated solo performance ofShirley Valentine, all under the direction of Andy Barnicle at the Laguna Playhouse. Other recent stage credits:Love, Loss and What I Woreby Nora and Delia Ephron,Everybody Say Cheeseby Gary Marshall, Neil Simon’sPrisoner of Second Avenuewith Jason Alexander, andLombardiby Eric Simonson. Recurring TV credits include the roles of Bryan Cranston’s wife on “The King Of Queens,” Fran Dresser’s pal Dottie in “The Nanny,” Rory’s mom on “Days Of Our Lives,” detective Joy Shulack in “The Whole Truth” and Donna in “The Comeback” with Lisa Kudrow. Most recently she has appeared on “Anger Management” with Charlie Sheen, “Back in the Game” with James Caan, TV Land’s “The Exes,” and Disney’s “Good Luck Charlie,” “Shout It Out,” “Better With You,” and “I Didn’t Do It”. Over her extensive career DeeDee has appeared on dozens of iconic television shows, including “Friends,” “Malcolm in the Middle,” “My Name is Earl,” “Frazier,” “Party of Five,” “Jamie Foxx”, “Roseanne,” “Cybill,” “Coach,” “Empty Nest,” “It Had to Be You” and “Dream On.” Favorite film credits includeSkin Deepwith John Ritter, Communion with Christopher Walken,Summer Schoolwith Mark Harmon and the affable bus driver inFerris Bueller’s Day Off. For more information DeeDee invites you to visit her web site: www.deedeerescher.com.
William Salyers(Jackson/Sgt. Kirk). Bill voices Rigby the raccoon on Cartoon Network’s Emmy award-winning “Regular Show” and was the voice of Reverend Putty on Adult Swim’s Moral Orel.” He is a lead voice in popular video games such as“Fallout 4,”“The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim,”and“Mass Effect 3.” His work on screen includes the series “iCarly,” “The Ex List,” “Judging Amy” and “Northern Exposure,” as well as the films Regular Show:The Movie, Bedazzled, Book of StarsandCrocodile Tears. He has also acted in many plays for Circle X and other theaters from coast to coast, most recently playing several roles in the Ovation award-winning,The Behavior of Broadus, for the Burglars of Hamm at Sacred Fools.
Sophie Ullett(Amanda) started her career at the age of 12 doing children’s shows,Rumple WhoandWiseacre Farm, at The 13th Street Repertory Company in New York. She has been doing readings and shows with EST/LA from childhood to the present. Her first professional gig in LA, was John O’Keefe’sThe Reapersat The Odyssey Theatre. She went on to do Tom Baum’sShock Therapyat The Lillian Theatre. Her film credits includeMr. Vinegar and the Runaway. She makes the rent as a singing waitress at Miceli’s. She is now thrilled to be part of this production at Ensemble Theatre Company.
Production Team
- Wendy MacLeod PlaywrightRead Bio Bart DeLorenzo DirectorRead Bio Keith Mitchell Scenic DesignerRead Bio Pablo Santiago Lighting DesignerRead Bio Dianne K. Graebner Costume DesignerRead Bio Aleah Van Woert Stage ManagerRead Bio Avery Wheeler Sound DesignRead Bio Jonathan Fox Executive Artistic DirectorRead Bio Anna Jensen DramaturgRead Bio Amy Lieberman, CSA CastingRead Bio Actors’ Equity Association AEARead Bio
Wendy MacLeod(Playwright)Women in Jeopardy!premiered at Geva Theater and her new playSlow Foodwas selected for the 2015 O’Neill National Playwrights Conference. Her playThe House of Yesbecame an award-winning Miramax film and was produced throughout the United States and at The Maxim Gorki Theater in Berlin and The Gate Theater in London. Her other plays includeSin(The Goodman, Second Stage),Schoolgirl Figure(The Goodman Theatre),The Water ChildrenandJuvenilia(Playwrights Horizons), andThings Being What They Are(Seattle Repertory Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre). A graduate of the Yale School of Drama, she is the Artistic Director of the Kenyon Playwrights Conference.
Bart DeLorenzo(Director) is a Los Angeles-based theater director and the founding artistic director of the Evidence Room Theater. His recent work with the company includes Marivaux’sThe False Servant, Sarah Ruhl’sPassion Play, Anton Chekhov’sIvanov, Len Jenkin’sMargo Veil, and Adam Bock’sThe Receptionist, produced with the Odyssey Theater. Other recent directing includes the world premiere of Jonathan Caren’sNeed to Know, Rogue Machine Theatre; the world premieres of Steven Drukman’sDeath of the Authorand Donald Margulies’Coney Island Christmas, Geffen Playhouse; Sharr White’sAnnapurna, The New Group (NY); Charlayne Woodard’sThe Night Watcher, Studio Theatre (DC); the world premieres of Kimber Lee’stokyo fish story, Carla Ching’sFast Company, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa’sDoctor Cerberus, and Donald Margulies’Shipwrecked!An Entertainment, South Coast Repertory; Shakespeare’sCymbeline, A Noise Within; Justin Tanner’sDay Drinkers, Odyssey, andVoice Lessons, Zephyr; Karen Zacarias’Legacy of Lightand Mark Brown’sAround the World in 80 Daysat the Cleveland Play House;King Lear, Antaeus Company; Sarah Ruhl’sDead Man’s Cell Phoneat SCR; Michael Sargent’sThe Projectionist, Kirk Douglas Theatre; Charles Mee’sbobrauschenbergamerica, Inside the Ford; and Caryl Churchill’sA Number, Odyssey. He has participated in the development of new plays at the O’Neill Playwrights Conference, SCR’s Pacific Playwrights Festival, Perry-MansfieldNew Works Festival, and the Ojai Playwrights Conference. He is on the faculty at CalArts. For his work, he has received LA Weekly awards, Backstage Garlands, LA Drama Critics Circle Awards including the Milton Katselas Award for career achievement, and the Alan Schneider Director Award.
Keith Mitchell(Scenic Designer) is excited and honored to be designing his first show for ETC! Recent projects include a spinning spaceship forOedipus Machinaat the Odyssey Theatre;Carlin Home Companionat the Falcon Theatre andFast Company, for South Coast Repertory. Keith has designed for most Southland venues including The Hollywood Bowl, Disney Hall/LA Philharmonic, Geffen Playhouse, A Noise Within, Kirk Douglas Theatre, Odyssey, The Getty Villa, 24th Street and even Venice Beach. He has over 20 shows under his belt for Garry Marshall’s Falcon Theatre, includingHappy Days, andThe Value of Names, with the late Jack Klugman, a 2007 Ovation Award winner for Scenic Design. Keith is an Emmy Award winning Art Director. His work includes advertising campaigns for the 2016 Olympics in Brazil, Nissan, Got Milk, Kay Jewelers, and such network shows as “American Horror Story,” “The Voice” and “The Tonight Show” starring Jimmy Fallon. He is a graduate of USC, Annenberg.
Pablo Santiago(Lighting Designer) Pablo is happy to return to the New Vic and ETC in Santa Barbara where he previously worked onWoyzeck.Pablo is the Winner of the Stage Raw Award 2015 for Best Lighting Design for his work onThe Brothers Size(Fountain Theater).Pablo has been nominated for the Ovation Award and for LA Weekly Award.Pablo’s designs have been seen at LATC, ODC in San Francisco, Teatro Brava, Su Teatro in Denver, Fountain Theater, The Road Theater, COC Performing Arts Center among others. Recently, he collaborated with the LA Phil as part of theirGreen Umbrella ProjectandAmor Brujo, with Gustavo Dudamel (conductor) and Siudy Garrido (choreographer) at Disney Hall,La Olla(the LTC at Getty Villa),Destiny of Desireat Arena Stage In Washington DC and the ongoing installationPearls of the Planet, at the Annenberg Space for Photography for Explore.org. Upcoming projects include:Breaking The Waves (Opera) at the Pearlman Theater for OperaPhila.Instagram: @pablosdesign
Dianne K. Graebner(Costume Designer) is happy to be back at Ensemble Theatre Company, having previously designedSweeney Todd,Amadeus, Intimate Apparel, Red, Opusand many others. Recent credits include:Ay, Carmela!Stella Adler Theatre Co. (Set-Frank Gehry, music-Gustavo Dudamel),Best of Enemies,Breath & Imagination(NAACP nomination) andThe Fabulous Lipitonesat the Colony Theatre, The Brothers Karamazov(Ovation nomination) andBattle Hymn(L.A. Weekly nomination)ICU, Eurydice, The Flu Seasonat CircleX Theatre,Breath & Imaginationat Virginia Stage Co.,Dying City(Ovation production of the year) and theNew Electric Ballroomat Rogue Machine Theatre Co.,DogeatersandClayat the Kirk Douglas Theatre, opening & closing weekends 365 days/ 365 plays for Center Theatre Group,Bright Light Cityat LATC, the original production ofPhilosophy of the World,The Shaggsand has originated the costumes for many new works and world premieres. She is a member of United Scenic Artists Local-829. www.diannegraebner.com
Aleah Van Woert(Stage Manager) is pleased to be stage managing her fourth season with ETC. Previous credits includeBlack Pearl Sings!,Crime and Punishment,Bell, Book and Candle,The Liar,The Year of Magical Thinking,Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune,A Little Night Music,Good People,Metamorphoses,Red,Looped,Amadeus,The Best Brothers,Intimate Apparel,Woyzeck,Venus in FurandSweeney Todd. A resident of Santa Barbara for ten years, she has also stage managed over 20 shows for PCPA Theaterfest in Santa Maria and Solvang, includingAll My Sons,Hairspray,Caroline or Change,Pride and Prejudice,Peter Pan,Songs for a New World,Curtains,The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,A Midsummer Night’s Dream,The Heart’s Desire,Art, andThe Importance of Being Earnest. Originally from Fallon, Nevada, she graduated in 2003 from Southern Oregon University with a BFA in Theatre Arts, emphasis in Stage Management.
Avery Wheeler(Sound Design) has worked with Ensemble Theatre Company as resident sound engineer forVenus in Fur,Woyzeck,Intimate Apparel,The Best Brothers,Amadeus,Looped,Red,Metamorphoses, andGood People. A graduate of Musician’s Institute Hollywood, Avery was previously Assistant Engineer at Santa Barbara’s Playback Recording Studio, where he engineered audio for short films, music, national advertising campaigns, and television.
Jonathan Fox (Executive Artistic Director) joined ETC in 2006. He directed ETC’s productions ofSweeney Todd,Woyzeck, Amadeus, Metamorphoses, A Little Night Music, The Liar, Crime and Punishment, and a dozen others. He directed Opera Santa Barbara’s production ofThe Consulat the Granada Theatre. He recently collaborated with the Santa Barbara Symphony on theirMidsummer Night’s Dreamconcert. In April, he will direct ETC’s production ofBad Jews, which will then travel to Germany for the play’s German premiere. Other European productions includeWho’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, A Streetcar Named Desire, Visiting Mr. GreenandCat on a Hot Tin Roofat the English Theatre of Frankfurt, andOld Wicked Songs, Crimes of the Heart, andCat on a Hot Tin Roofat the Vienna English Theatre. Before joining ETC, Mr. Fox spent 12 years with Two River Theater Company in New Jersey, which he helped establish in 1994. He served as managing director of the company from 1994-99, and subsequently became its artistic director. For Two River, he directed over a dozen acclaimed productions. His production ofThe Umbrellas of Cherbourgwas profiled in American Theatre Magazine, as was his festival of work by Samuel Beckett. His directing work has been seen in New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Cologne, and has received critical acclaim inThe New York Times, Variety,theLA Times,and other publications. He received his MFA from Columbia University, and is a recipient of the prestigious Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Fellowship. He has served as an adjunct faculty member in theatre departments at UCSB, Columbia University, University of Utah, and Monmouth University.
Anna Jensen (Dramaturg) happily returns to Ensemble after serving as Dramaturg forSweeney Todd,Venus in Fur,Woyzeck,Intimate Apparel,The Best Brothers,Amadeus,Looped,Red,Metamorphoses,Good People,A Little Night Music,Creditors,Crime and Punishment, andThe Liar. In March of 2013, Austin College in Texas produced her new translation and adaptation ofWhen We Dead Awakenby Henrik Ibsen. She has her bachelor’s degree from UC Berkeley, where she majored in Rhetoric, focusing on the rhetoric of historical discourse. Her master’s degree was from UC Santa Barbara, where she wrote on the playwright August Strindberg’s dramas as interpreted by the film and stage director Ingmar Bergman. Her dissertation research, also at UC Santa Barbara, considers how Norse Saga material was instrumental to Henrik Ibsen’s dramaturgy. She teaches full-time in Santa Barbara at the Brooks Institute.
Amy Lieberman, CSA(Casting) has worked with Ensemble Theatre Company for eight seasons. The recipient of six CSA Artios Awards, with a total of twelve nominations. Broadway:The Dinner Party,Flower Drum Song,Big River. Recent Past: Reprise Theatre Company for three seasons. Center Theatre Group (Mark Taper Forum/Ahmanson/Kirk Douglas) 1999–2006, 1983-1989. Many regional theatres throughout the states as well as locally. L.A. TheatreWorks, Pasadena Playhouse, Ojai Playwrights Conference, The Granada, KCRW, Sundance Theatre Lab, Deaf West, Theatre@Boston Court, Falcon Theatre, Hollywood Theatre of the Ear. Film and television throughout the 90’s. Visiting Assoc. Prof. UCLA- MFA 3rd yr. graduate program 2007-2013.
Actors’ Equity Association(AEA) was founded in 1913 as the first of the American actor unions. Equity’s mission is to advance, promote and foster the art of live theatre as an essential component of our society. Today, Equity represents more than 45,000 actors, singers, dancers and stage managers working in hundreds of theatres across the United States. Equity members are dedicated to working in the theatre as a profession, upholding the highest artistic standards. Equity negotiates wages and working conditions and provides a wide range of benefits including health and pension plans for its members. Through its agreement with Equity, this theatre has committed to the fair treatment of the actors and stage managers employed in this production. AEA is a member of the AFL-CIO and is affiliated with FIA, an international organization of performing arts unions. For more information, visit www.actorsequity.org
