Department of Musical Theatre StudioDecember 8-11, 2011 • Arthur Miller Theatre

The University of Michigan, School of Music, Theatre & DanceDepartment of Musical Theatre Studio presents

Book by Allan KneeLyrics by Mindi Dickstein • Music by Jason Howland

Based on the novel by Louisa May Alcott

DirectorMusic Director

Visual CoordinatorLighting DesignerCostume Designer

Sound SupportStage Manager

Danny GurwinCatherine Walker AdamsArthur RidleyAndrew LottKatie RouseMark GordonKelsy Durkin

Little Women will be performed with one intermission.

Little Women is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI). All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI. 421 West 54th Street,

New York, NY 10019. Phone: 212-541-4684 Fax: 212-397-4684 www.MTIShows.com

Little Women is a studio production of the Department of Musical Theatre. Funding for the guest director made possible by generous support from the Benard L. Maas Foundation. Additional support from the Friends of Musical Theatre.

Latecomers will be seated at a suitable break or scene change. As a courtesy to others, please set pagers to silent mode and refrain from texting during the performance. Cellular phones and electronic watch alarms should be turned off so as not to interrupt the performance. Photography, audio recording and videotaping of any kind are not permitted due to copyright restrictions. Flash photography endangers performers by causing momentary blindness.

Conductor/Piano ...................................................................... Catherine Walker AdamsReeds ......................................................................................................... Paul OnachukCello ....................................................................................................... Mihaela CuljakBass ...................................................................................................... Billy SatterwhiteDrums ..................................................................................... Dylan Green/Darren Lin

Subs: Erin K. O’Shea (Flute), Raul Jimenez (Clarinet)

Professor Bhaer ............................................................................ Trevor St. John-GilbertJo March ......................................................................................................... Jane BruceAmy March .................................................................................................... Ali GordonMeg March ......................................................................................... Samantha MassellBeth March ............................................................................................... Paige SilvesterMarmee ............................................................................................. Katherine ThomasMr. Laurence ........................................................................................... Harry KatzmanLaurie .............................................................................................................Joel SparksAunt March .........................................................................................Olivia HernandezJohn Brooke ......................................................................................................Dan Tracy Mrs. Kirk .................................................................................................. Grace Morgan

Cast of CharaCters (in order of appearance)

orChestra

from the DireCtor It is a true privilege to be back at U-M with Brent Wagner and the Department of Musical Theatre, a program that has given me so much since I had the honor of graduating back in ’94. It is doubly special as this musical adaptation of Little Women is a work in which I had a central role in creating through numerous readings and workshops as “Laurie” beginning in 2002, through to the Broadway opening in 2005. It is such a pleasure to not only pass along the legacy of what I hope you will find to be a charmingly powerful show, but also my own experiences within the industry since I tapped and sang my way through Pal Joey, Quilt, and so many of the other transforming experiences I’ve had here onstage at Michigan. A tremendous nod to the show’s original director, Susan H. Schulman, and choreographer, Michael Lichtefeld, as well as the writers for creating such a beautiful, rich, and wonderfully broad canvas on which to build this production. And most of all to my wonderfully gifted colleagues, student designers & stage managers, and cast — a huge thank you for your commitment, energy, care, skill, and brimming heart.

— Danny Gurwin, Director

ACT I“An Operatic Tragedy” .....................................................Jo, Clarissa, Braxton, Rodrigo“Better” ........................................................................................................................ Jo“Our Finest Dreams” ........................................................................Jo, Meg, Beth, Amy“Here Alone” ...................................................................................................... Marmee“Could You” ........................................................................................... Aunt March, Jo“Delighted” ................................................................................Marmee, Meg, Jo, Beth“Take a Chance on Me” ........................................................................................ Laurie“Better” - Reprise ......................................................................................................... Jo“Off to Massachusetts” ..................................................................... Beth, Mr. Laurence“Five Forever” ...................................................................... Jo, Laurie, Amy, Meg, Beth“More than I Am” ................................................................................Mr. Brooke, Meg“Take a Chance” - Reprise ..................................................................................... Laurie“Astonishing” ............................................................................................................... Jo

ACT II“The Weekly Volcano Press” .............................................................................Company“Off to Massachusetts” - Reprise .........Mr. Laurence, Beth, Marmee, Meg, Mr. Brooke“How I Am” ...........................................................................................Professor Bhaer“Some Things are Meant to Be” .......................................................................... Jo, Beth“The Most Amazing Thing” ..........................................................................Amy, Laurie“Days of Plenty” ................................................................................................. Marmee“The Fire Within Me” .................................................................................................. Jo“Small Umbrella in the Rain” ............................................................Professor Bhaer, Jo“Volcano” - Reprise ...................................................................................................... Jo

minDi DiCkstein (Lyrics) is currently writing Strange Vacation, a new musical commissioned by Playwrights Horizons in New York. Other current work includes The Mystery of King Tut, an original musical commissioned by Theatreworks USA, which ends a three-year national tour this year. Her songs were also recently included in Lincoln Center’s American Songbook series as part of “Hear and Now: Contemporary Lyricists.” Other work includes: Beasts and Saints, performed at the Boston Music Theater Project, ASCAP Workshop,

and MTW’s “Fresh Voices”; Notes Across a Small Pond, produced by the Bridewell Theater, London; and several musicals for Theatreworks USA. Her work has been performed at New York Theater Workshop, The Women’s Project, Second Stage, Westbeth Theater Center, and the Cucaracha Theater. She has received numerous awards, including the Jonathan Larson Foundation Award, Second Stage Theater Constance Klinsky Award for Excellence in Musical Theater, New York Foundation for the Arts and Massachusetts

musiCal numbers

about the authors

Artists Foundation playwriting fellowships, the Jane Chambers Award, and the ASCAP Bernice Cohen Award. She received her MFA from New York University’s Graduate Musical Theater Writing Program, where she was an Oscar Hammerstein Fellow.

Jason howlanD (Music) is a 1993 graduate of Williams College with an Honors degree in Music Composition. Last Season, Howland’s play written with Larry Pellegrini, Blessing In Disguise, premiered Off-Broadway. He was the musical supervisor for Wildhorn Productions, serving as musical director and conductor for the long running Broadway hit Jekyll & Hyde, and musical supervisor for Broadway’s The Scarlet Pimpernel and The Civil War. He was chosen to be the last Music Director of the long running Broadway mega-hit, Les

Miserables, and had the honor of conducting the final perfomance of that show at the Imperial Theater. He was also the Music Director for the Broadway bound Taboo by Boy George, produced by Rosie O’Donnell. Howland has worked as an arranger, conductor, writer and producer on a number of recording projects including the Grammy-nominated cast album of Jekyll & Hyde (Musical Director/Conductor/Vocal Arranger), The Dreams in You, for the September 11th Fund (Producer, Composer), the Broadway cast album of The Scarlet Pimpernel (Associate Producer), Atlantic Records’ release of The Civil War (Choral Conductor), the double disk compilation album Jekyll & Hyde: The Complete Work (Vocal Arranger), the solo album for acclaimed international harpist Jung Kwak (conductor), Chuck Wagner (Producer), and Linda Eder’s Christmas album Christmas Stays the Same (Arranger, Vocal Arranger). He has conducted in concert across the country for such notables as Ray Charles, Natalie Cole, Brandy, Bebe & Cece Winans, Carl Anderson, Linda Eder, Sebastian Bach and Davis Gaines, and was musical director and conductor for the opening ceremonies of 1998 The Goodwill Games held in New York City. Howland has a co-publishing deal with Cherry Lane Music Publishing, Inc. and is at work on two other musicals, Mariel and Quickstep.

allan knee (Book) has written for the stage and film. His play, The Man Who Was Peter Pan, was released by Miramax Films as Finding Neverland in October 2004. It costars Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet and Dustin Hoffman. Syncopation won an American Critics Theater Award after premiering at the Long Wharf Theater and George Street Playhouse. It will open this fall on Broadway, produced by Vaud Massarsky, directed by John Tillinger and choreographed by John O’Connell (Strictly Ballroom). His musical version of Little Women

won a Richard Rodgers Musical Theater Award. Among his other works are Shmulnik’s Waltz (Music by David Shire), Santa Anita ‘42, The Minister’s Black Veil, St. Valentine’s Day Massacre and Sholem Aleichem Lives, which toured with Theodore Bikel. For young audiences he adapted Around The World In 80 Days, which toured nationally for TheaterWorks/USA. For PBS he wrote the four-part adaptation of The Scarlet Letter. Allan is a graduate of the Yale Drama School and a founding member of the Workshop Theater Company.

about the authors

about the Cast Jane bruCe (Jo March) junior, Ogden, UTali GorDon (Amy March) senior, New York, NYolivia hernanDez (Aunt March) senior, Fullerton, CAharry katzman (Mr. Laurence) junior, Columbia, SCsamantha massell (Meg March) senior, New York, NYGraCe morGan (Mrs. Kirk) senior, Fishers, INPaiGe silvester (Beth March) junior, Sacramento, CAJoel sParks (Laurie) senior, Washington, DCtrevor st. John-Gilbert (Professor Bhaer) junior, Rockwall, TXkatherine thomas (Marmee) senior, Kenosha, WIDan traCy (John Brooke) junior, Providence, RI

about the artists

Catherine walker aDams (Music Director) Assistant Professor, Dept. of Musical Theatrekelsy Durkin (Stage Manager) senior, BFA Design & Production, Ann Arbor, MIanDrew lott (Lighting Designer) junior, BFA Design & Production, Westport, CTarthur riDley (Visual Coordinator) Properties Master, University Productionskatie rouse (Costume Designer) senior, BFA Design & Production, Alpharetta, GA

Danny Gurwin (Guest Director) Hailed by the Chicago Sun-Times for his “thrilling voice”, Gurwin is originally from Southfield, MI. He has been performing on and off-Broadway for the last 14 years. Broadway: The Scarlet Pimpernel, The Full Monty, Urinetown, Little Women, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Encores! Kismet, and A Little Night Music with New York City Opera and Los Angeles Opera. Off-Broadway: Shakespeare’s R & J, The Thing About Men, The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told, Manhattan Theatre Club’s Captains Courageous; original companies of Kuni-Leml, A Majority of One with Phyllis Newman, A New Brain at Lincoln Center and Forbidden Broadway 2001: A Spoof Odyssey. Regional Theatre: Numerous recordings and regional productions include plays and musicals at the Philadelphia, Delaware, Source, and Pioneer Theatre Companies, as well as the MUNY, Moonlight, and McCarter Theatres, Sacramento Music Circus, the Great Lakes Theatre Festival, La Jolla Playhouse, Musical Theatre West, O’Neill Theatre Center, and Sundance Theatre Lab,. Concert: Performed in concert at the Library of Congress, Chicago’s Grant Park Symphony, the New Haven Symphony, the South Coast Symphony, and recently making his Disney Concert Hall debut singing selections from Die Fledermaus and The Merry Widow with the California Philharmonic to name a few. His new solo evenings Miracle of Miracles and Sail Me Away are currently touring. TV: Law & Order, Desperate Housewives, The Young & The Restless. Other: As a renowned teacher & guest artist Danny has taught and directed at U-M, UCLA, Western Michigan University, Youngstown University, both the prestigious Las Vegas and Orange County High Schools of the Arts, the Professional School for the Arts, the Showchoir Camps of America, and is currently on the faculty of AMDA in Los Angeles. Gurwin holds a BFA in Musical Theatre from U-M.

Special thanks to University Productions, UMS/League Ticket Office, and the Dept. of Theatre & Drama.

The performers in this production are undergraduate students pursuing a BFA in Musical Theatre in the SMTD. The designers are undergraduate students and faculty in the Dept. of Theatre & Drama. Ticket sales assist in providing SMTD students with practical training experience before live audiences. Thank you for supporting our educational mission.

CHRISTOPHeR KenDALL, DeAnPaul Boylan Collegiate Professor of Music

DePARTMenT Of MuSICAL THeATReChair ...................................................................Brent WagnerAdmin. Assistants ......................... Jennifer Knapp, Tim AbbottStudent Services ............................................Becky SeauvageauFaculty ..............................................Catherine Walker Adams, Mark Esposito, Linda Goodrich, Mark Madama, Lisa Mayer, Sara Randazzo, Cynthia Kortman WestphalProfessor Emeritus .................................................Jerry DePuit

unIVeRSITy PRODuCTIOnSADMInISTRATIVe STAffDirector ................................................................Jeffrey KurasDepartment Administrator ............................. Fatima AbdullahOffice Assistant III/Usher Coordinator .................Shelda SmithMarketing & Communications Dir. ........... Kerianne M. TupacPhotographer .................................... Peter Smith PhotographyInformation Systems Manager .........................Henry ReynoldsFacilities Manager ................................................Shannon RiceHouse Manager ............................................ Dianne WidzinskiSenior Backstage Operations Mgr. .........................Barry LaRueBackstage Operations Mgrs. ........Mark Gordon, David Pickell, Kurt Thoma, Donald C. WatkinsAdministrative Office Assistants ................. Zoë Allen-Wickler, Allison Brown, Abrielle Case, Sara Shvartzman, Kevin Tan

PRODuCTIOn STAffProduction Manager .....................................Amanda MengdenProduction Stage Manager...................................Nancy UffnerProduction Office Assistants .....David Lee, Brandon PenbertonProperties Master ................................................Arthur RidleyAsst. Properties Master ........................................Patrick DroneMaster Electrician............................................Mark Allen BergCostume Shop Manager ......................................Laura BrinkerAssoc. Costume Shop Manager .......................... George BaconCostume Stock Administrator .............................. Renae Skoog

PRODuCTIOn CReWFirst Asst. Stage Manager .........................................Aaron TacyAsst. Stage Managers .....................Lindsay Alexis, Alex RapsonAsst. Costume Designer ......................................... Katie LantzLighting ................Robert Ariza, Carisa Bedsoe, Colin Bianchi, Mary Claire Blake-Booth, Andrew Burkhardt, Nicole Gellman, Jennifer Jacobs, Alyssa Loiacano, Andrew Lott, David Moiseev, Aaron Tacy, William Welch, Andrew Wysocki, students of Theatre 250

RunnInG CReWLight Board Operator ..........................................Dylan StasackSound Board Operator ........................... Rachel Eskenazi-GoldWardrobe .........Brittany Browning, Zimone Rose, Sam Yabrow

aCknowleDGments

February 10, 11, 17 & 18 at 8 PM • February 15 & 16 at 7:30 PMFebruary 12 & 19 at 2 PM • Arthur Miller Theatre

General Admission $17 • Students $10 with ID

League Ticket Office • 734-764-2538• tickets.music.umich.edu

A Department of Musical Theatre Studio Production

Directed by Malcolm TulipMusic Direction by Lynne Shankel

Winner of 8 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, The New York Times declared Spring Awakening “Haunting and electrifying! This brave new musical has a shivery, sensual allure unmatched by anything in the theater right now.” Adapted from Frank Wedekind’s 1891 expressionist play about the trials, tears, and exhilaration of the teen years, Spring Awakening celebrates the unforgettable journey from youth to adulthood with power, poignancy, and passion. Declared by Entertainment Weekly to be “the most gorgeous Broadway score this decade” Spring Awakening features an electrifying fusion of morality, sexuality and rock & roll. Spring Awakening is directed by Malcolm Tulip, who has directed past studios such as Our Country’s Good and All’s Well That Ends Well.

Recommended for mature audiences due to mature content, including brief partial nudity, sexual situations, and strong language.

Book & Lyr

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