The West. The 1920s. Mabel’s had a hard few weeks. A dynamite accident at a gold mine has left her wealthy but orphaned, and she’s shipped off to a calculating aunt whose nephew is charged with seducing her to control Mabel’s fortune. This hapless courtship reveals a shared love of silent movies and a plan for greater things. A story of mishaps and moxie, the romance of Hollywood and ultimately a Hollywood-caliber romance. A world-premiere slapstick comedy from the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright of Crimes of the Heart.
Runtime: This performance will run approximately 2 hours and fifteen minutes with one intermission.
Laugh is generously underwritten
by Dr. Mark Epstein and Amoretta Hoeber.
WAMU 88.5 is the official media sponsor
for Laugh.
Beth Henley is a playwright and screenwriter whose 1979 drama Crimes of the Heart received the Pulitzer Prize and New York Drama Critics Circle Award. She began writing plays as a BFA student at Southern Methodist University. The success of Crimes of the Heart has been followed by a long and distinguished career that includes the screenplay for the 1986 film of the play which featured Diane Keaton, Jessica Lange, Sissy Spacek, Tess Harper, and Sam Shepard.
Other notable achievements are The Miss Firecracker Contest (both play and screenplay), The Wake of Jamey Foster, The Debutante Ball, The Lucky Spot, Ridiculous Fraud, and Abundance. Her most recent plays are Signature, Control Freaks, L-Play, Impossible Marriage (with Holly Hunter in the lead), and The Jacksonian, directed by Robert Falls at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles and The New Group in New York.
In addition to the screenplays of Crimes of the Heart and The Miss Firecracker Contest, Ms. Henley has written several television and movie screenplays, including “Survival Guides” with Budge Threlkeld for PBS and the films Nobody’s Fool and True Stories (the latter is a collaboration with Stephen Tobolowsky and David Byrne of the rock group Talking Heads). Ms. Henley is a Theatre Arts Presidential Professor at Loyola Marymount University LA.
(As of March 2015)
Wayne Barker received a Tony Award nomination and a Drama Desk Award for his music for Peter and the Starcatcher. He also composed the music and co-wrote lyrics for the Broadway production of Dame Edna: Back with a Vengeance and contributed songs to the current Dame Edna farewell tour, as well as her 2004 Royal Command Variety Performance. His other scores include The Great Gatsby and The Primrose Path at the Guthrie Theater, Twelfth Night and The Three Musketeers at Seattle Repertory Theater, and Parallel Exit’s dance theater piece I Heart Bob. He has arranged and conducted a variety of scores for regional theatres and in 2010 he orchestrated Mark Bennett’s score for A Midsummer Night’s Dream at La Jolla Playhouse. His symphony pops arrangements have been played by orchestras all over the world. Last fall, Mr. Barker made his acting debut as Cosme McMoon in Souvenir at Portland Stage Company.
(As of March 2015)
David Schweizer makes his Studio debut with Laugh, after a career of more than 40 years developing and directing new theatre, opera, and performance art both nationally and internationally. Mr. Schweizer attended the Yale School of Drama and made his New York debut at Lincoln Center with a radical version of Shakespeare’s Troilus and Cressida (produced by his early mentor Joseph Papp); he returned to Lincoln Center decades later with his landmark staging of Richard Rodney Bennett’s opera The Mines of Sulphur. Recent career highlights include Rinde Eckert’s And God Created Great Whales, an Obie Award-winning chamber opera in New York (and on tour worldwide), as well as his recent staging of Frank Martin’s rarely performed chorale opera The Love Potion at Boston Lyric Opera. His extensive regional theatre work includes productions at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Arena Stage, and many shows at Baltimore’s Center Stage, most recently this past fall’s production of Next to Normal. Mr. Schweizer will direct the upcoming world premieres of the original musical Max Understood at the Cowell Theater in San Francisco and The Long Walk at Opera Saratoga.
(As of March 2015)
Helen Cespedes returns to Studio Theatre, where she was last seen as Sylvia in Tribes. She recently understudied the role of Helen McCormick in the Broadway production of The Cripple of Inishmaan, starring Daniel Radcliffe at The Cort Theatre. Off Broadway, she performed in A Picture of Autumn at The Mint Theater. Her regional credits include Cecily in The Importance of Being Earnest (directed by David Hyde Pierce and starring Tyne Daly) at the Williamstown Theatre Festival and Love’s Labour’s Lost at Chautauqua Theatre Company. Her film credits include The Way I Remember It, starring Christine Ebersole. Ms. Cespedes holds a BA in Comparative Literature from Barnard College and is a graduate of The Juilliard School, where she received the John Houseman Prize for exceptional ability in classical theater.
(As of March 2015)
Creed Garnick debuted on Broadway as Spike in Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike. He was also seen as Bob Cratchit in A Christmas Carol at McCarter Theatre Center. Mr. Garnick is a graduate of The Juilliard School’s Drama Division, where he performed in Savage in Limbo (directed by Pam MacKinnon), Othello, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Scapin, The Mound Builders, The Seagull, and The Crucible. His film and television work includes The Broken Towers (directed by James Franco), To. Be. Determined., and Unsolved Mysteries.
(As of March 2015)
Evan Zes makes his Studio Theatre debut. His New York credits include Freedom of the City, Man and Superman, White Woman Street, Around the World in 80 Days at Irish Repertory Theatre and American Dreams and As You Like It with The Acting Company. His DC area work includes Pericles at the Shakespeare Theatre Company and The Arabian Nights at Arena Stage. His international credits include Julie Taymor’s The King Stagg at the Barbican in London and A Dream Play at the Moscow Art Theatre. Select regional credits include productions at The Goodman, The Old Globe, New York Stage and Film, La Jolla Playhouse, Pittsburgh Public Theater, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Baltimore Center Stage, and Berkeley Repertory Theatre, among others. His film and television credits include The Street, Last Night at Angelo’s, and All My Children. He received his MFA from A.R.T./ Moscow Art Theatre at Harvard University.
(As of March 2015)
Jacob Ming-Trent appeared on Broadway in Hands on a Hardbody and Shrek the Musical. His Off Broadway credits include Father Comes Home from the Wars and The Tempest, Public Theater; Julie Taymor’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Merchant of Venice, Theatre for a New Audience; On the Levee, Lincoln Center; Dispatches from (A)mended America, Widowers’ Houses, Epic Theatre Ensemble. Regional credits include productions at American Repertory Theatre, Yale Repertory Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Long Wharf Theater, Dallas Theater Center, A.C.T., Williamstown Theatre Festival, and New York Stage and Film. Mr. Ming-Trent’s film and television appearances include A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Forbidden Love, Fort Greene, Law & Order, Bored to Death, 30 Rock, and Unforgettable.
(As of March 2015)
Emily Townley has appeared at Studio Theatre in Between Riverside and Crazy, Laugh, Skin Tight, Rock ‘n’ Roll, and The Bright and Bold Design. She is a Company Member at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, where she has performed in multiple productions; her favorite roles there include Penny Easter in The Totalitarians (2015 Helen Hayes nomination for Best Actress), Mary in Detroit, Pauline in A Bright New Boise, Lizzie in Mary Stuart, Heidi in Fuddy Meers, and Marilyn in Watbanaland. Locally and regionally, she has appeared in numerous productions for the Folger Theatre, Everyman Theatre, Rep Stage, MetroStage, Washington Stage Guild, Source Theatre, The Kennedy Center, Round House Theatre, and Gulfshore Playhouse. She was most recently seen in Bad Dog at Olney Theatre Center and will next perform as Lucinda in the DC premiere of The Mystery of Love & Sex at Signature Theatre. Ms. Townley is a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association.
(As of January 2016)
Felicia Curry was last seen at Studio Theatre as the Storyteller in Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson. Her area credits include A Christmas Carol and ...Spelling Bee at Ford’s Theatre, This at Round House Theatre, and Home at Rep Stage, as well as shows at The Kennedy Center, Signature Theatre, Shenandoah Summer Music Theatre, Arena Stage, Imagination Stage, Adventure Theatre MTC, MetroStage, Olney Theatre Center, and Toby’s Dinner Theatre. Her regional credits include Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike and The Mountaintop at Gulfshore Playhouse and The Color Purple at Virginia Repertory (RTCC Award). Her New York credits include We Three Lizas at Joe’s Pub, as well as Petite Rouge and Dizzy Miss Lizzie’s Roadside Revue Presents the Brontes at the New York Musical Theatre Festival. Ms. Curry co-hosted the 28th Helen Hayes Awards, has been nominated for three individual Helen Hayes Awards and two ensemble awards, receiving one for the ensemble of Les Miserables. She is a member of the Capitol Steps and Factory 449 and is a graduate of the University of Maryland, College Park.
(As of March 2015)
Wayne Barker received a Tony Award nomination and a Drama Desk Award for his music for Peter and the Starcatcher. He also composed the music and co-wrote lyrics for the Broadway production of Dame Edna: Back with a Vengeance and contributed songs to the current Dame Edna farewell tour, as well as her 2004 Royal Command Variety Performance. His other scores include The Great Gatsby and The Primrose Path at the Guthrie Theater, Twelfth Night and The Three Musketeers at Seattle Repertory Theater, and Parallel Exit’s dance theater piece I Heart Bob. He has arranged and conducted a variety of scores for regional theatres and in 2010 he orchestrated Mark Bennett’s score for A Midsummer Night’s Dream at La Jolla Playhouse. His symphony pops arrangements have been played by orchestras all over the world. Last fall, Mr. Barker made his acting debut as Cosme McMoon in Souvenir at Portland Stage Company.
(As of March 2015)
Andromache Chalfant's recent New York credits include Laura Eason’s Sex with Strangers (directed by David Schwimmer) at Second Stage Theatre and Kimber Lee’s brownsville song (b-side for tray) (directed by Patricia McGregor) and Daniel Pearle’s A Kid Like Jake (directed by Evan Cabnet) at Lincoln Center Theater. Her opera designs include a co-production with The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Gotham Chamber Opera of Monteverdi’s Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda; a new work by composer Lembit Beecher titled I Have No Stories To Tell You, directed by Robin Guarino; El Gato Con Botas produced by Gotham Chamber Opera at El Museo Del Barrio; A Streetcar Named Desire at Virginia Opera; and Faust at Minnesota Opera. Regionally, she has designed at Hartford Stage, The Old Globe, Arena Stage, McCarter Theatre, The Curtis Institute, Kansas City Repertory Theatre, American Repertory Theater, Hartford Stage, Westport Country Playhouse, Two River Theater, and Williamstown Theatre Festival, among others. Ms. Chalfant is a graduate of Bennington College and NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.
(As of March 2015)
Michael Lincoln has designed Constellations, The Night Watcher, The Adding Machine: A Musical, Bachelorette, Venus in Fur, The History Boys, Grey Gardens, Privates on Parade, Take Me Out, and Topdog/Underdog, among many productions for Studio since 2000. He was also the lighting consultant for Studio Theatre’s building expansion and renovation in 2002. His work in New York City includes Copenhagen, Skylight, and More to Love on Broadway and Off Broadway productions of Mr. Goldwyn, The Bubbly Black Girl…, If Love Were All, Defying Gravity, and Bunny Bunny. Mr. Lincoln was the Associate Designer for Broadway’s Guys and Dolls, Six Degrees of Separation, and City of Angels. He has designed over 300 productions with other long associations at Indiana Repertory Theatre, Alley Theatre, and Cleveland Play House. He is currently serving as the Artistic Director of the Theater Division at Ohio University.
(As of February 2016)
Frank Labovitz returns to Studio Theatre where he has previously designed Wig Out!, having previously designed Cloud 9, Silence! the Musical, Laugh, Torch Song Trilogy, and Dirt. His other design credits include The Threepenny Opera and Dreamgirls for Signature Theatre, NSFW and Ordinary Days for Round House Theatre, Guards at the Taj and The Totalitarians for Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, and The Tale of The Allergist's Wife and The Religion Thing for Theater J. Mr. Labovitz is a company member of Pointless Theatre, where his designs include Gimme a Band, Gimme a Banana and Doctor Caligari. Mr. Labovitz received his MFA in costume design from The University of Maryland.
(As of April 2018)
Adam W. Johnson, a DC-based sound designer and engineer, returns to Studio after designing and mixing Carrie the Musical for 2ndStage. Locally, he has designed Los empeños de una casa and Puro Tango 2 at GALA Hispanic Theatre, as well as F@#king Up Everything for the New Musical Foundation. Other designs include Always... Patsy Cline at Stoneham Theatre, Aesop’s Network for the BTF PLAYS! program at Berkshire Theatre Festival, and Metamorphoses at Live Arts. He was the Associate Sound Designer for The Love of the Nightingale with Tom Teasley at Constellation Theatre, and has assisted John Gromada on productions at Ford’s Theatre including Fly and The Laramie Project. Mr. Johnson works as a staff audio engineer at Arena Stage, where his engineering credits include The Mountaintop, The Music Man, and the world premiere of Pullman Porter Blues. He is a proud graduate of the University of Virginia.
(As of March 2015)
THE STUDIO 2NDSTAGE: Songs of the Dragons Flying to Heaven. NEW YORK: Romeo and Juliet, The Metropolitan Opera (upcoming). REGIONAL: Macbeth, Two River Theatre; The Three Musketeers, The Alabama Shakespeare Festival. LOCAL: Macbeth and Cyrano, Folger Theatre; The Lieutenant of Inishmore, Signature Theatre. AWARDS: S.A.F.D 2010 Swashbuckler of the Year. INSTRUCTOR: North Carolina School of the Arts, Summer Session. EDUCATION: North Carolina School of the Arts.
(As of December 2010)
Elena Day pecializes in movement theatre and circus. Ms. Day served as the Movement Director for Moth in Studio 2ndStage and teaches Movement for the Actor at the Studio Theatre Acting Conservatory. Other area credits include directing Balloon Plays at Capital Fringe and directing/producing on the nOse at Round House Theatre, which was also seen at Brick Theater and Orlando Fringe. She served as Movement Director on Wiley and the Hairy Man at Imagination Stage, Merrily We Roll Along at Sidwell Friends, and Mockingbird at The Kennedy Center. Ms. Day served as Assistant Director on Stuart Little and Movement Consultant on Tiny Tim at Adventure Theatre MTC. She also consulted on the Look Both Ways Festival at The Kennedy Center. Regionally, Ms. Day directed Hair at Mad Cow Theatre and Cirque du Charme at Artscape, which she also wrote. Her performing credits include Cirque Mechanics’ Boom Town and Cirque du Soleil’s La Nouba. Ms. Day performs worldwide with Cirque du Soleil in their special events department and is a graduate of Oberlin College, L’Ecole Jacques Lecoq, and the Studio Theatre Acting Conservatory.
(As of March 2015)
Adrien-Alice Hansel is the Literary Director at Studio, where she has dramaturged the world premieres of Queen of Basel, The Remains, No Sisters, I Wanna Fucking Tear You Apart, Animal, Laugh, Red Speedo, Dirt, Lungs, and The History of Kisses as well as productions of Cry It Out,Translations, Curve of Departure, The Effect, Wig Out!, Straight White Men, Cloud 9, Hedda Gabler, Constellations, Jumpers for Goalposts, Bad Jews (twice), The Apple Family Plays, Invisible Man, Sucker Punch, The Golden Dragon, and The New Electric Ballroom, among others. Prior to joining Studio, she spent eight seasons at the Actors Theatre of Louisville, where she headed the literary department and coordinated project scouting, selection, and development for the Humana Festival of New American Plays. She also served as production dramaturg on roughly 50 new, contemporary, and classic plays there, including premieres by Naomi Wallace, Gina Gionfriddo, Kirk Lynn and Rude Mechs, Rinne Groff, The Civilians, Anne Bogart and SITI Company, Jordan Harrison, and John Belluso. She is the co-editor of eight anthologies of plays from Actors Theatre and editor of eight editions of plays through Studio. Adrien-Alice holds an MFA from the Yale School of Drama.
(As of April 2019)
Anthony O. Bullock returns to Studio Theatre after previously being the Resident Stage Manager for two seasons. Prior Studio credits include The Hard Problem, Cloud 9, Hedda Gabler, Moment, Between Riverside and Crazy, Chimerica, Jumpers for Goalposts, and Laugh. Additional DC area credits include Signature Theatre, Arena Stage, Baltimore Center Stage, and Theater J, where he will be their new Resident Stage Manager for the 2019-2020 season. Other regional credits include McCarter Theatre Center, Barrington Stage Company, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Passage Theatre, and Shakespeare & Company, among others. He toured with The White Snake by Mary Zimmerman in association with the Goodman Theatre, as part of the Wuzhen Theatre Festival in Wuzhen, China. Anthony received his BFA from Oklahoma City University. He is also on the board of The Stage Managers’ Association as the Eastern Regional Director. He is a proud member of AEA.
(As of April 2019)
Nathan Norcross is Studio Theatre’s Artistic Apprentice. He serves as the Assistant Director for each Subscription Series production as well as collaborating with the literary department. As a director, Mr. Norcross’ early professional career has spanned a variety of genres and forms—from large-scale musicals to intimate chamber pieces, from developing new plays with living playwrights to developing his own adaptation of Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Mr. Norcross has worked alongside a number of directors he now counts as valuable mentors, including Mark Lamos, Nicky Martin, Gary Griffin, Bob Moss, and Eric Rosen. He assisted Phylicia Rashad in directing a production of A Raisin in the Sun at the Westport Country Playhouse. Mr. Norcross is a graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts where he earned a BFA in acting, as well as Florida State University where he recently completed an MFA in directing.
(As of May 2015)
