MR. BURNS, A POST-ELECTRIC PLAY to Open Next Month at the Lyric Stage
By: BWW News Desk Mar. 10, 2016
Mr. Burns, a post-electric play takes place after an unknown global disaster and follows the evolution of a beloved story, from campfire retelling to high art. The story the survivors tell? The "Cape Feare" episode of The Simpsons! Mr. Burns is funny, dark, frightening, theatrical, and a completely immersive experience in the intimate Lyric Stage space. Whether you're a Simpsons fanatic or not, you'll delight in this provocative piece about how stories are made, travel through time, and shape who we are. Mr. Burns is a paean to live theater, storytelling, and the resilience of Bart Simpson through the ages.
Featuring: JorDan Clark*, Aimee Doherty*, Brandon G. Green, Gillian Mackay-Smith, Joseph Marrella*, Lindsey McWhorter*, Nael Nacer*. *Member of Actors' Equity Association (AEA)
On the production team are: Scenic Design, Shelley Barish; Costume Design, Amanda Mujica; Lighting Design, Wen-Ling Liao; Sound Design, Samuel Hanson; Mask Design & Construction, Lauren Duffy; Assistant to the Director, Caitlin Bailey; Production Stage Manager, Brittany K. Giles-Jones*; and Assistant Stage Manager, Danielle Pancoast.
Performances play: Wednesdays, Thursdays - 7:30pm; Wednesday matinees - 2pm, April 13, May 4, 2pm; Fridays - 8pm; Saturdays - 3pm & 8pm; and Sundays - 3pm.
Post-show Q&A with the artists: Sundays, April 10 & 24, after 3pm performance and Thursdays, April 14, 21, 28, May 5, after 7:30 performance.
The Lyric Stage is located at 140 Clarendon Street, Copley Square, Boston, MA 02116.
Tickets start at $25; Seniors - $10 off regular price; Student rush - $10; Group rates available. Box Office: 617-585-5678 or online at lyricstage.com.
Playwrights Horizons, Inc. produced the New York City premiere of the play off-Broadway in 2013. Originally produced in June, 2012 by Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Washington, DC, Howard Shalwitz, Artistic Director; Jeffrey Herrmann, Managing Director. Mr. Burns was commissioned by The Civilians, New York NY, Steven Cosson, Artistic Director.
For the language of the remembering of The Simpsons' episode, "Cape Feare," the author would like to credit The Civilians actors involved in the initial workshop: Quincy Tyler Bernstine, Maria Dizzla, Gibson Frazier, Matt Maher, Jennifer Morris, Colleen Werthmann, and Sam Breslin Wright.
Mr. Burns CAST & CREATIVE TEAM:
JorDan Clark* (Jenny) returns to the Lyric Stage having appeared in Light Up the Sky and Death of a Salesman. Other area credits include: Arabian Nights (Central Square Theater), The Trumpet of the Swan, Pinocchio, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon (Wheelock Family Theatre), You For Me For You, She Kills Monsters (Company One), Blue Window (Brown Box Theatre Project), and Smile! (New Exhibition Room). She also works with educational and interactive theatre companies such as Theatre Espresso, The Bok Players, and True to Life Training. Jordan holds a B.A. in Vocal Performance from The University of the Incarnate Word in her hometown of San Antonio, TX.
Aimee Doherty* (Quincy) returns to the Lyric Stage after performing in Into the Woods, Sondheim on Sondheim, One Man, Two Guvnors, On The Town, Follies, Animal Crackers, Grey Gardens, See What I Wanna See, and Adrift in Macao. Regional credits include A Little Night Music (Huntington Theater), How To Succeed in Business withouth Really Trying (Stoneham Theater), Big Fish (SpeakEasy Stage), and The Little Foxes and Mr. Burns, a post-electric play at New Century Theater. Television and radio credits include The Makeover (ABC) and The Making of a Monster: Whitey Bugler (Discovery) as well as various radio spots for D'angelos, Papa Gino's and the Museum of Science. Aimee received Elliot Norton Awards in 20013 and 2014 for Best Actress in a Musical for Hairspray (Wheelock Family Theater), Far From Heaven (SpeakEasy Stage), On The Town and Into The Woods (Lyric Stage), and an IRNE Award in 2011 for Best Actress in Nine (SpeakEasy Stage).
Brandon G. Green (Sam) is an actor/poet/playwright from Selma, AL, currently residing in Boston, MA. Last seen in An Octoroon (Company One/Arts Emerson), Brandon is returning to the Lyric Stage after last season's production of Intimate Apparel. Other credits include: King Lear (Commonwealth Shakespeare Company), Arabian Nights (Nora/Underground Railway), One Man, Two Guvnors and 9 Ball (Cape Rep), The Chronicles of Kalki (Company One) and We Are Proud to Present...(Company One/Arts Emerson). Brandon teaches Suzuki at Brandeis University and has also worked with Brand New Classic, 3050 Music Group, and Fresh Ink. Alabama State University: B.A. Brandeis University: M.F.A. EspeciaLea for 6.
Gillian Mackay-Smith (Colleen) is making her Lyric Stage debut. Boston-area credits include The Real Thing, Translations, Top Girls (Bad Habit Productions), The Housekeeper, Outlaw Jean, Distant Neighbors, The Embryos (Fresh Ink Theatre Co.), and Greenland (Apollinaire Theatre Co.). She also recently appeared in the web series Conversations from the Afterlife. Gillian earned her B.A. in Theater Performance from Northeastern University and studied at the Gaiety School of Acting in Dublin, Ireland. gmacks.com
Joseph Marrella* (Matt) returns to the Lyric Stage having previously appeared in Death of a Salesman, Big River, and Nicholas NicklebY. Joseph is also a cast member of Boston's Shear Madness, where he has performed all four male roles. Other area credits include Twelfth Night (Summer Festival Theatre), Tales of Poe (New Rep on Tour), Story Time Preservation Hour (New Exhibition Room), and Sense and Sensibility: The Musical (Wellesley College). He has also directed and choreographed several works including Coriolanus and Twelfth Night for Lyric First Stage, and Zombie Double Feature for New Exhibition Room. Joseph can also be found in commercials and corporate videos for companies such as Staples, W.B. Mason, Titleist Golf, and HP. Joseph received his B.A. from Emerson College. For four years he served as the Theatre Arts Educator in Westborough, MA where he won several awards for his work. Joseph also serves as a monologue coach for My College Audition, providing one on one coaching for the competitive college audition process (mycollegeaudtion.com). Visit him online at josephmarrella.com. Love and thanks to Mandy and Lily.
Lindsey McWhorter* (Maria) returns to the Lyric Stage having appeared in Intimate Apparel. Boston credits include Arabian Nights (Central Square Theatre), The Farm (Boston Playwrights' Theatre), In the Next Room (SpeakEasy Stage), In the Continuum (Up You Mighty Race Theatre Company), A Midsummer Night's Dream and As You Like It (Commonwealth Shakespeare Company). Other theatre credits include Eclipsed (Yale Repertory Theatre, Understudy), Good Goods (Iseman Theatre at Yale), To Kill A Mockingbird National Tour (Montana Repertory Theatre), A Christmas Carol (Berkshire Theatre Festival), Seussical and All Shook Up (Idaho Summer Repertory). She began her professional acting career in 2006 at the Hangar Theatre with Bloodline: the Children of Argos and later appeared in The Overwhelming. Lindsey has also worked with Berkshire Playwright's Lab, Double Edge Theatre Company, and Debbie Allen Dance Academy. She received her M.F.A. from Brandeis and B.A. from Alabama State University and is a proud member of AEA. Originally from Atlanta, GA, Lindsey currently lives in Medway, MA with her daughter, baby boy, and husband, and she gives special thanks to God, her family, friends, and husband Joe for their love and support.
Nael Nacer* (Gibson) has previously appeared at the Lyric Stage in Intimate Apparel (Elliot Norton award, Best Actor), The Temperamentals, and Animal Crackers. Other area credits include Come Back, Little Sheba, Awake and Sing!, The Seagull (Elliot Norton award, Best Ensemble), Our Town (IRNE award, Best Supporting Actor, Huntington Theatre), It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play (Merrimack Repertory Theatre), Rhinoceros, Windowmen, The Farm, Gary (Boston Playwrights Theatre), A Number, Pattern of Life, Lungs, The Kite Runner (New Repertory Theatre), The Flick (Gloucester Stage), A Future Perfect, Tribes (SpeakEasy Stage), Shear Madness (Charles Playhouse), Sila, Distracted (Underground Railway), Love Person, 1001, The Aliens, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot (Company One), The Flu Season (Whistler in the Dark). Off-Broadway credits include The Hiding Place (59E59 Theatres) and Lemonade (NYC Fringe Festival). Nael is a proud member of StageSource and Actors Equity
Anne Washburn's (playwright) Mr. Burns, a post-electric play has been produced by Playwrights Horizons, Woolly Mammoth (DC), and The Almeida (London). Other plays include 10 Out of 12, The Internationalist, A Devil at Noon, Apparition, The Communist Dracula Pageant, I have Loved Strangers, The Ladies, The Small, and a transadaptation of Euripides'Orestes. Awards include 2015 Whiting Award, 2015 PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation Theater Award, the Guggenheim, a NYFA Fellowship, a Time Warner Fellowship, Susan Smith Blackburn finalist, and residencies at MacDowell and Yaddo. She is an associated artist with The Civilians, Clubbed Thumb, New Georges, Chochiqq, and is an alumna of New Dramatists and 13P. Currently commissioned by MTC, Yale Rep and CSC. Her play Antilia Pneumatica will premiere in March 2016 (Playwrights Horizons) in NYC.
A. Nora Long (Director) is the associate artistic director at the Lyric Stage where she directed last season's Dear Elizabeth and assistant directed 33 Variations. In addition to work at the Lyric Stage, Nora is one of the artistic directors for New Exhibition Room, a local fringe company that specializes in developing cheeky ensemble-based new work. She has directed and led the creation of several projects with NXR including Shh!, an exploration on the role of censorship which attended the New York International Fringe Festival after a sold-out run in Boston, The Paper Bag Princess, an all-ages show, and Midnight at the Last Night Cabaret and EEP! Show. Other recent and upcoming directing credits include Cymbeline, Macbeth (Commonwealth Shakespeare Company Apprentice Program), Noises Off!, Ruthless: the Musical! (Hackmatack Playhouse), Three (Boston Public Works), The Real Thing, Someone Who'll Watch Over Me (Bad Habit Productions), and Candyland (New Exhibition Room). She received her M.F.A. in Dramaturgy from The American Repertory Theatre/ Moscow Art Theatre School Institute for Advanced Theatre Training at Harvard University and her B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College in theatre and Italian.
Yo-El Cassell (Choreographer) is a graduate of the Boston Conservatory (Magna Cum Laude) and recipient of the Lotte Kaliski Award for Gifted Artists. Off-Broadway: Moonlight Interior. Film, TV: Shining Time Station (Debut Episode with Ringo Starr), What Alice Found, Cultivating Stillness, Anatomy of a Ballet (Anthony William's Urban Nutcracker), Comedy of Errors, All's Well That Ends Well, Othello, Coriolanus, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Twelfth Night, King Lear, Romeo and Juliet(Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, Resident Choreographer), Symphonic Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Kiss Me, Kate (CSC with Boston LandmarksOrchestra), Lilly's Revenge (American Repertory Theatre), The Understudy (Lyric Stage), Die Fledermaus (New England Conservatory), Alcina, A Little Night Music, Orpheus in the Underworld (Boston Opera Collaborative), The Sound of Music (Nantucket Dreamland Theatre), Resident Choreographer (Shadowbox Theatre), Sunlight Interior (San Antonio Ballet), Boston Ballet at the Strand. Upcoming: Midsummer Night's Dream (CSC II), Love's Labour's Lost (CSC), The Me I Didn't Know (Across the Ages Dance), Footloose and Fancy Free (Boston Landmarks Orchestra), CSC with Boston Landmarks Orchestra. To my wife, Melodie, and son, Keaton. yo-el.net
Shelley Barish (Scenic Design) is a member of the Theatre Arts faculty at UMASS Lowell. She returns to the Lyric Stage after designing Becky's New Car and Dear Elizabeth. Recent Boston area designs include Someone Who'll Watch Over Me and Top Girls (Bad Habit Productions) and EEP! Show (New Exhibition Room). Other design credits include: The Addams Family (Cortland Repertory Theatre), Boom!, Barefoot In The Park, Private Lives, Next Fall (Bristol VAlley Theatre), Assassins (Eastman School of Music), and New Moon, HMS Pinafore(The Ohio Light Opera). She received her M.F.A from Michigan State University. shelleybarish.com
Amanda Mujica (Costume Design) returns to the Lyric Stage having previously designed Intimate Apparel. She is a Boston-based freelance costume designer and seamstress. Recent Theater Productions include An Octoroon (CompanyOne/ArtsEmerson) and Booty Candy (SpeakEasy Stage). In addition to theater, she has designed for dance, film, and opera, most recently designing Odyssey Opera's 2015 Spring Festival productions of The Zoo, The Bear, and Powder Her Face. She earned a B.S. in History from Carnegie Mellon University. amandamujicadesign.com
Wen-Ling Liao (Lighting Design) is making her Lyric Stage debut. Selected credits: Milk Like Sugar (Huntington Theatre), Sense and Sensibility (Dallas Theater Center ), Appropriate (SpeakEasy Stage), Luna Gale (Stoneham Theater), Grounded (Nora Theater), The Draft (Hibernian Hall), La traviata (Long Island Opera), A Nice Indian Boy (East West Players), I and You (Marin Theatre Company), The Exit Interview (San Diego Repertory Theatre), Scarlet Stone (Tirgan Festival/Toronto), Dis or Der (HERE Art Center), BodyParts/In Spite of It (TANZINOLTEN/Switzerland), Riz Soufflé & Riz Flambé (Avignon Off-Festival/France), and (Taipei Fringe Festival/Taiwan). Wen-Ling was the company lighting designer for Patricia Rincon Dance Collective. Education: She earned her M.F.A. from University of California, San Diego, and her B.A. from National Taiwan University. wenlingliao.com
Sam Hanson (Sound Design) returns to the Lyric Stage as a Sound Designer and audio engineer having designed My Fair Lady and Light Up the Sky. Originally from Williamsburg, MA, Hanson currently attends Northeastern University as a Music Composition and Technology major in his senior year. Hanson avidly works in the Boston area as an audio/visual technician, audio engineer, Sound Designer, composer, and musician. Recently, Hanson worked as a Sound Designer for the The House of Bernarda Alba (Northeastern University) and Much Ado About Nothing and Me and My Girl (Lyric First Stage). As a composer, Hanson's works were recently featured at a 2015 concert in Somerville, including Hanson's String Quartet No.1, Cello Sonata in G Major, and solo piano piece Bijoux à l'ombre. Additionally, several of Hanson's works will be performed at a free, public concert hosted at the Fenway Center on April 23rd, including Hanson's multi-movement suite Monarch.
Brittany K. Giles-Jones* (Production Stage Manager) is joining the Lyric Stage for the first time after being the production stage manager on Arcadia (University of Southern Indiana and New Harmony Theatre's Rep). Some of her stage management credits include Outside Mullingar, Full Monty, On Golden Pond, Boeing Boeing, Fences, Cotton Patch Gospel (New Harmony Theatre), Wild Blue, Rabbit Hole, Composers and Choreographers, New Dances: Edition 2014, Juilliard Jazz Orchestra Concert, In Arabia We'd All Be Kinds, The Rape of Lucretia, Playwrights Evening 2015, Measure for Measure (The Juilliard School), Maid's Door, Brothers From The Bottom (Billie Holiday Theatre), Beauty and The Beast Jr., Legally Blonde, LES MISERABLES (Fabrefaction Theatre Company), Spring 2014 Tour, Fall 2013 Tour (FoodPlay Productions), Eye for an Eye - Night of One Acts, A Night of David Ives, Santaland Diaries (Horizon Theatre Company). Brittany is a proud alumni of The Juilliard School's professional internship program and Horizon Theatre Company's professional apprenticeship program. Brittany is also a member of the Actors Equity Association and the Stage Managers Association. BrittanyGiles.com
Danielle Pancoast (Assistant Stage Manager) returns to the Lyric Stage having been ASM for Intimate Apparel last season. Danielle has previously worked with the Pearl Theatre Company (NYC), North Shore Music Theatre, and Berkshire Theatre Festival. She graduated from the University of New Hampshire with a B.A. in Theatre with an emphasis in Design and Theatre Technology.
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