Mimi Quillin's CALL FOSSE AT THE MINSKOFF Directed by Michael Berresse to Premiere at Vassar College

Call Fosse at the Minskoff, a 90-minute solo play written and performed by Mimi Quillin, and directed by Tony Award nominee Michael Berresse, will premiere as part of the 37th Powerhouse Theater Season at Vassar College (124 Raymond Avenue, Vassar College Poughkeepsie, NY), which features a slate of musical and play workshops, readings, and performances through July 30. The performances are Thursday, July 20 to Saturday, July 22 at 8:00 p.m., and Sunday July 23 at 2:00 p.m. 

There are “legends” and then there are legends.  In this entirely true, middle age coming-of-age story, dancer and actor Mimi Quillin brings audiences along with her into the inner sanctum of two of the greatest giants the theatre world has ever known: Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon. 

 In Call Fosse at the Minskoff, Quillin recounts her experience working with Fosse and Verdon on what would be their final collaboration, investigating the life-altering effects of proximity to true greatness, and revealing all the thrills and terrors of walking the high wire on the riskiest platform in entertainment.

 “I am delighted to return to Vassar and introduce audiences to Call Fosse at the Minskoff – where 37 years ago I was part of the team that envisioned, founded, and launched The Powerhouse Theater,” said producer Carol Ostrow.

 The design team includes set designer Tim Mackabee, lighting designer Robert J. Aguilar, Costume Designer Claudia Brown and sound designer Joanna Lynne Staub. The team also includes dramaturg Anika Chapin, stage manager Michal Mendelson and production manager Reilly Horan.

 Developed and produced by The Fabulous Invalid (Jamie DuMont and Rob Russo) and Stop the Wind Theatricals (Carol Ostrow).

 Additional upcoming projects in the Powerhouse Season include The Chevalier, by Vassar alum and writer Bill Barclay (Concert Theatre Works), a play and concert focused on the life of composer Joseph Bologne, featuring the Harlem Chamber Players. Direct from the Broadway revival of 1776, real-life couple Ariella Serur and Sav Souza present We Start in Manhattan: A New Queer Musical, directed by Ellie Heyman. Powerhouse is also partnering with The Tank to present Behind the Attic Wall, a puppet theater piece based on the young adult novel by Sylvia Cassedy, adapted by Peggy Stafford, directed by Meghan Finn.  Returning to Powerhouse for the next installment of their Shapeshifters musical canon is Truth Future Bachman (Lincoln Center, The Public) and their workshop presentation of Skyward: An Endling Elegy, directed by Zhailon Levingston. And rounding out the Powerhouse Season are free readings of new works by Johnny G. Lloyd (The Tank), Judson Jones (Theatre East), Vassar Drama Professor Peter Gil-Sheridan, and Gloria Majule,  the winner of the Leah Ryan Fund’s “Leah Award.” 

 Tickets for Call Fosse at the Minskoff and the entire Powerhouse Season are on-sale now. All tickets are $30 and can be purchased at https://www.vassar.edu/powerhouse.

 

Mimi Quillin

(Playwright and Performer) is a dancer, actor, and teacher. Her career started with the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre and the Milwaukee Ballet, changing to theatre dance with Lee Theodore’s American Dance Machine where she performed the iconic choreography of Carol Haney, Agnes De Mille, Pat Birch, Ron Field, and Ona White.  Bob Fosse cast her in the 1986 Broadway revival of Sweet Charity where she also served as dance captain, assisting Fosse and Gwen Verdon in recreating the original 1966 choreography. Other credits include working with Graciela Danielle, Michael Shawn, and Wayne Cilento, the original Canadian and Broadway productions of Ragtime, Ain’t Broadway Grand, Jean Genet’s The Balcony, Carnal Knowledge, and A.R. Gurney’s Snowball. International credits include BBC Radio’s Custom of the County by Edith Wharton and Zero Hour by Ray Bradbury. Mimi is the author of two plays, Call Fosse at the Minskoff and Dégagé, and as a teacher and reconstructeur for the Verdon Fosse Legacy, she contributed several dances to FX’s Fosse/Verdon.

 

Michael Berresse

(Director) is a Tony and Olivier Award nominated actor/dancer and OBIE award winning director. He has appeared in over 6,000 performances on Broadway including Kiss Me, Kate, The Light in the Piazza, A Chorus Line, Chicago, Damn Yankees, Guys & Dolls, Carousel and most recently The Cher Show. Select credits as director/choreographer include: (On and Off-Broadway), Darling Grenadine (Roundabout), Now. Here. This. (Vineyard Theatre), The Golden Apple (Encores!), The Last Five Years (ACT), Analog And Vinyl (world premiere), A Christmas Story (Pittsburgh Public), Round And Round The Garden, Once, Next to Normal, Million Dollar Quartet, and Peter and the Starcatcher.

 

Tim Mackabee

(Set Designer) Broadway: The Elephant Man, Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth. West End: The Elephant Man. Off-Broadway: Heathers, Darling Grenadine,The Last Match (Roundabout), Poor Yella Rednecks, Vietgone, Important Hats of the Twentieth Century (MTC), Guards at the Taj, Describe The Night, The Penitent, Our New Girl (Atlantic), Luce (LCT), Gigantic (Vineyard). Regional: oh yeah lots. Music Video: Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Surrender My Heart”. TV: Amy Schumer: Live at the Apollo (HBO), Smash. Education: NCSA, Yale School of Drama. @timmackabeedesign.

 

Robert J. Aguilar

(Lighting Designer) (he/him-Latinx) Credits include work at:   Seattle Rep, Portland Center Stage, ACT, Pittsburgh Public Theater, The 5th Avenue Theater, The Old Globe, Seattle Opera, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Utah Shakespeare Festival, Intiman Theater, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Milwaukee Rep, and Village Theatre among others. Film: The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Special and Potato Dreams of America. Robert is the Lighting Director at Seattle Rep. USA829.www.robertjaguilar.com. IG: @fake_robert

 

Claudia Brown

(Costume Designer) has designed costumes for theater, dance and film. She has worked in New York City theaters for thirty years largely on new works by contemporary playwrights at The Flea Theater, The Signature Theater, Playwrights Horizon, The Alley Theater, MCC Theater Company, and En Garde Arts. She has designed costumes for Lava Dance, Hartford Ballet, and Arizona Ballet as well as nine movies including River’s Edge and Copycat. She is a graduate of The Yale School of Drama.

 

Joanna Lynne Staub

(Sound Designer) is a NYC-based sound designer and audio engineer.  Regional credits include work at Alliance Theatre, 5th Avenue Theatre, Goodman Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Public Theater, Seattle Rep, Theatreworks Hartford, Weston Theatre Company, and WP Theatre, among others.  She has associate designed and engineering dozens of Broadway shows, concerts, and multi-media events, with TV credits including the NBC-Live! Productions of The Sound of Music, Peter Pan, and The Wiz. A 2022 GRAMMY-Nominated recording engineer for the album soundtrack Snapshots, she holds degrees in music, audio engineering, and technical theatre from Ithaca College and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. jlssound.com

 

Anika Chapin

(Dramaturg) is dramaturg who specializes in musical theatre.  She is director of artistic development at Signature Theatre in Arlington, Virginia, and previously the artistic associate and resident dramaturg at Goodspeed Musicals, the literary manager at Two River Theater, and producer of the Encores! Unscripted discussion series at City Center. Anika is the co-creator and co-host of Know the Show, a podcast about musicals, and a guest professor at Yale University, the University of Florida, and Berklee College of Music. She has an MFA in Dramaturgy from Columbia University.

 

 

PRODUCER BIOS

 

Stop The Wind Theatricals

believes that theater is a place for experimentation, discovery, mystery and ultimately magic. We offer a page to stage framework for developing authentic and audacious new plays and we understand the resources necessary for artists at each stage of the process.  We nurture, connect and cultivate - but most of all, STOP THE WIND moves plays toward production.  Whether experimental or commercial, from the head or from the heart, we understand how good theater works.  And with 30 years of producing experience we've done it all - classical and avant-garde, devised and structured, ensemble and solo.  Our networks are local, national and global.  STOP THE WIND was created to propel the widest range of theatrical possibility.  Current projects include Pierre by Keith Reddin, Ann, Fran And Mary Ann by Erin Courtney and Call Fosse at the Minskoff written and performed by Mimi Quillin.  Next up are plays by Thomas Bradshaw, Todd Solondz and newcomer Martha Pichley. 

 

The Fabulous Invalid

is a theatrical production company founded in 2018 by Jamie DuMont and Rob Russo with the mission to illuminate untold stories and fascinating personalities on air and on stage with a reverence for the past, a bold outlook for the future, and a dash of panache.  The company takes its name from the title of a 1938 backstage play by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart that has since become a loving nickname for Broadway itself—always deemed on the verge of decline, yet always bouncing back: the fabulous invalid!  Projects to date include Bob Fosse’s DANCIN’ on Broadway, Call Fosse at the Minskoff, and Broadway Barbara Live! (SoHo Playhouse), in addition to four podcasts for the Broadway Podcast Network, and several additional projects in development.

Powerhouse Theater

Now in its 37th season, Powerhouse Theater (Ed Cheetham, Michael Sheehan, Producing Directors) is dedicated to both emerging and established artists in the development and production of new works. For five weeks every summer, the Powerhouse Theater Program comes to life on the Vassar College campus to provide a nurturing environment in which passionate theater lovers from students to professional practitioners and audience members learn from one another. The Powerhouse Theater Training Program provides aspiring theater professionals a chance to immerse themselves in acting, directing, and playwriting. The program’s Training Company also offers free performances throughout the season. Established as a joint endeavor with New York Stage and Film, Vassar College continues to produce The Powerhouse Season, alongside new partnerships with theater institutions and individual artists. Together with our adventurous partners, students, and dedicated audiences, we create a crucial community—one that gives time, space and voice to artists of the American theater.

 

Recent projects that have premiered in New York City developed by Powerhouse include: Luna and the Starbodies (Lincoln Center), Sweet Chariot (The Public), Sanctuary City (New York Theatre Workshop), Diana (Broadway), Head Over Heels (Broadway) The Secret Life of Bees (Atlantic Theatre Company)

The Great Leap (Atlantic Theatre Company), Alice by Heart (MCC Theatre), A 24-Decade History of Popular Music (St Ann’s Warehouse) and The Wolves (Broadway–Lincoln Center Theater). Other projects developed at the Powerhouse include the Tony Award-winning Side Man and Tru; the multi-award-winning Doubt by John Patrick Shanley; the groundbreaking Broadway musical Hamilton; and Stephen Karam’s The Humans.

Photo credit: Emilio Madrid