Asolo Repertory Theatre Set for HEARTS; Runs 1/22-4/11

Asolo Rep Proudly Presents
HEARTS
January 22 -April 11, 2009
Willy Holtzman's Pultizer Prize nominated play;
Winner of the Arthur Miller Award for Dramatic Writing and
Barrymore Award for Outstanding New Play

Hearts, author Willy Holtzman's award-winning play inspired by his father's experiences as a
Jewish-American soldier in World War II and subsequent struggles to cope with them, opens on January 22, 2010 and runs through April 11, 2010, on Asolo Rep's mainstage in the Mertz Theatre.
This blunt-spoken, comedic drama is directed by Greg Leaming; with set and costume design by Judy Gailen, lighting design by James Sale, sound design by Matthew Parker, wig & hair design by Michelle Hart, dance by Jimmy Hoskins, voice coaching Patricia Delorey, and stage management by MarIan Wallace.

Hearts moves back and forth between the closing days of World War II and infantryman Donald Waldman's (played by Douglas Jones) postwar pursuit of the American Dream. He has a wife, a family, a small business and three wise-cracking, card-playing friends (Michael Joseph Mitchell, James Clarke, and Peter Mendez) who would walk through fire for him. He also has an eating compulsion, chronic insomnia, and bouts of depression that eventually land him on a psychiatric ward. Rather than surrender to the trauma of the past, Donald finds the courage to search back through memory to liberation day at Buchenwald and the tragic secret that has nearly
devoured him. From the foxholes of Europe to the frontiers of cyberspace, Hearts looks at the invisible wounds of America's "Greatest Generation" with humanity and surprising humor. The cast is rounded out by Sarah Gavitt, Kirstin Franklin, Alexandra Guyker and Kevin Stanfa.
Asolo Rep's production of Hearts draws on the experience and knowledge of four local military veterans who will work with the actors and creative team during the rehearsal process.

Len Gumley, Flight Officer WWII, USAAF (stateside) Glider Pilot, 1st Trooper Carrier Command

Lt/Col USAF (ret).

Dennis Plews, SPC 1st class, Vietnam (combat), 196th Combat Infantry Brigade & 82nd Artillery Division.

Jacob Pollack, PFC WWII Combat Infantry, Europe 10th Mountain Division, Italy.

Harry M. Stimmel, S/Sgt., WWII New Guinea (combat medic), Korea 1st Infantry Division, Pusan &
Inchon.

Willy Holtzman's plays include: Hearts (Long Wharf Theatre, Northlight Theatre, ALLIANCE THEATRE,

People's Light and Theatre, nominated for 2003 Pultizer Prize, Arthur Miller Award for Dramatic Writing, Barrymore Award for Outstanding New Play, Best New Plays), Sabina (Primary Stages, Portland Stage Company, Gradiva Award Nominee), Bovver Boys (Primary Stages, Cleveland Play House, Berkshire Theatre Festival), The Closer, (GeVa Theatre, Nebraska Rep, Davie Award) Inside Out, (New Federal Theatre, Portland Stage Company, Nebraska Rep), Blanco, (Goodspeed), San Antonio Sunset (New York, Los Angeles, London, Dublin, Bombay; Best Short Plays of 1989). For film and television: Edge of America (directed by Chris Eyre, Sundance 2004), Blood Brothers (HBO, Cine Golden Eagle, WGA Nomination), The Aaron Henry Story (HBO, Emmy Nomination), Mad Dogs and Englishmen (Two Drivers Films), The Plagiarist (Cornucopia Films). Willy received the HBO Award at the National Playwrights Conference. He taught as a visiting artist at Bronx Regional High School in the South Bronx, 1987-89, and was Resident Playwright at Juilliard, 1990-92. He has worked with the 52d Street Project in New York's Hell's Kitchen and on the Navajo Reservation. He is a former member of New Dramatists and now serves on its Board of Directors.

"...an exceptional piece of work." -Philadelphia Daily News
"...an appealing WWII drama with solid commercial potential." -Variety
"...a capacity audience stood during curtain calls, shouts of bravo resounding." -NY Times

Hearts previews on January 20 & 21, at 8 p.m. in the Mertz Theatre, Asolo Rep's mainstage. Opening night is Friday, January 22, at 8 p.m., followed by Asolo Rep's mingle-with-the-stars champagne afterparty in the lobby. The play runs through April 11, 2010, in rotating repertory with days and times alternating. Please consult the box office for more details.
Subscriptions include a Flex-package or Season Subscription, $119 Play Pass or $35 Student/Youth Pass; for subscriptions please call 941-351-9010 ext. 4812.

Single ticket prices range from $13 to $60, depending on the show, day/time/seating, theatre and method of purchase. Contact the box office at 941-351-8000 or toll-free at 800-361-8388, or go to the website at www.asolo.org.

Groups of 10+ save 20% off single ticket prices. 941-351-9010 ext. 6013 or email group_sales@asolo.org.

The country has spent a lot of time in recent years talking about the "Greatest Generation." In his 1998 book on the subject, Tom Brokaw wrote: "They stayed true to their values of personal responsibility, duty, honor and faith...[They were] battle-scarred and exhausted, but oh so happy and relieved to be home...The war had taught them what mattered most in the lives they wanted now to settle down and live."

All true, of course, but to those of my generation, the Baby Boomers, there is something a little too simplistic in this description. It is a beautiful summation of those men and women who took part in World War Two, but somewhat vague about the ones who came home, about what happened to them as they attempted to settle down into their new suburban lives. My own father was deeply affected by what he experienced in the South Pacific during the war, but never spoke in detail about those events - not to anyone. The man I knew was a thorny, difficult character, easily explained by what he went through, or so I assume, but incapable of discussing those events. We've gone through quite a few wars since World War Two, and we speak so easily now about post traumatic stress. We expect it. We prepare for it. But the Greatest Generation did not have that option. They had no name for what they were experiencing. They were shown horrors most of us can't even imagine, and then they were told to forget these images when they returned. To speak of them was impossible. It would have been "unmanly."
Willy Holtzman was fortunate enough to have a father who broke through, or maybe even broke down, spoke of what he saw, and of what it made him feel. And because he did, we all have the great good fortune to spend an hour or so in the presence of a big hearted, loud, funny, messy man who simply couldn't forget.

Cast Bios
James Clarke* - Associate Artist, fourteenth season. Last season: Purgeon, The Imaginary Invalid; Old Shepherd/Gaoler, The Winter's Tale; Major Swindon, The Devil's Disciple. Past seasons: Mansky, The Play's the Thing; Jansenius, Smash; Dalton, Equus; Graham, Lady. Other Asolo credits include Amadeus, Men of Tortuga, A Few Good Men, Pride and Prejudice, Enchanted April, Anything to Declare?, Lady Windermere's Fan, Rounding Third, Sherlock Holmes & The West End Horror, The Front Page, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Crucible, The Millionairess, Murder by Misadventure, The Diary of Anne Frank, Inherit the Wind, You Never Can Tell, Filumena, A Flea in Her Ear, Born Yesterday, The Hollow and Twelfth Night. He has performed at Yale Rep, Pittsburgh Public, Geva, Circle in the Square and Soho Rep. He graduated from the FSU/Asolo Conservatory in the 1970s and spent a year with Asolo Rep after graduation. TV credits include Ryan's Hope
(Pat Ryan), Search for Tomorrow, Guiding Light, Legwork (CBS series) and Saracen, a series in England.

Kirstin Franklin - First season, third-year conservatory student. Last season, Cook Stage: Dot in Blur, Dodie & Caroline in Wilder!, Wilder!, Wilder! Also Tybalt/Nurse in Romeo & Juliet and Miranda in The Tempest. Kirstin has a BA in theatre (St. Olaf College) and has performed at The Guthrie, Pangea World Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville, and NYC Players Theater. She thanks: The Baers, The Sieglers, C. Camiener, J. Herrington, and her family and classmates. She dedicates this season to the love of her life and biggest fan: her husband John. Sarah Gavitt was born and raised in Iowa where she also graduated from Grinnell College. She has been seen
on stages in Chicago, New York, and Kentucky, and has performed in such diverse works as The Medieval Cycle Plays, Keely and Du, Arcadia, and Mileep & the Attack of the Jelly Bean People. Last year she appeared on the Cook stage in Wilder!, Wilder!, Wilder!, Blur and Miss Julie. She is deeply grateful to her donors, Dr. Dean Hautamaki and Ray & Ann Hautamaki, and to Abbie & Alan Kurland. Alexandra Guyker - Originally from Washington, D.C., she graduated Magna Cum Laude from Niagara University with a BFA in Theatre Performance and minors in Communications and Fine Arts. At Asolo Conservatory she went on as understudy for the Nurse in Equus and a Maid in Play's the Thing. She also played Angelique in the Late Night Performance of The Imaginary Invalid. A student of classical voice, she has taken workshops with the Washington Opera Center, Richard Crittendon, and Elizabeth Vrenios. Other interests include photography, digital art, and standup; and she is currently a voice over student at John Burr Productions. Alexandra sends her love and thanks to her parents and her donors.

Douglas Jones* - Associate Artist, twenty-fourth season. Last season: Argan, The Imaginary Invalid; Camillo, The Winter's Tale; General Burgoyne, The Devil's Disciple; Roger, Perfect Mendacity. Past seasons: Mortimer, The Constant Wife; Turai, The Play's the Thing; Frank, Equus; Dyson, Lady. Other Asolo credits include Amadeus, Men of Tortuga, A Few Good Men, Pride and Prejudice, Darwin in Malibu, Laughing Stock, Enchanted April, Lady Windermere's Fan, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Crucible, Hay Fever, You Never Can Tell, Art, A
Flea in Her Ear, Golden Boy, Black Coffee, King Lear, Nicholas Nickleby and The Kentucky Cycle. Other favorites: Directing The Clean House and playing Vanya in Uncle Vanya at The Banyan Theater. He has directed and acted in many Asolo Late Nites. Doug has spent seasons at Baltimore's Center Stage, The Cleveland Play House, Milwaukee Rep, California Shakespearean Festival, Stage West, Cincinnati Playhouse, Boston's Huntington Theatre, American Stage, The Playmakers, Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, Florida Studio Theatre and four plays Off-Broadway. Doug trained at The Guildhall School of Music & Drama, London.

Peter J. Mendez was seen last season in Wilder! Wilder! Wilder!, Blur, Miss Julie. Regional Theatre: Round House Theatre: Our Town, Problem Child, The Cherry Orchard; The Shakespeare Theatre Company: Coriolanus, Timon of Athens, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Camino Real, King Lear; Folger Shakespeare Library: Romeo and Juliet, Much Ado About Nothing; The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts: Shear Madness; The Olney Theatre Center for the Arts; Camille, After Play. Thank you to Angel and Eric Hissom and Foster Harmon for their support.
Michael Joseph Mitchell Guest artist, first season (The Perfume Shop, The Life of Galileo) appeared most recently in Chicago in the one-person play Underneath the Lintel (City Lit Theatre) and was nominated for a Jefferson Award for best solo performance. Other recent work includes: Permanent Collection, Doubt, Capote's Holiday Memories, and an earlier run of Underneath the Lintel (all at BoarsHead Theater); Voyeurs de Venus (Chicago Dramatists); and four roles in the new musical In the Bubble (American Music Theater Project), directed by Michael Greif. He has also worked with The Noble Fool, Drury Lane Oakbrook, Notre Dame Shakespeare,
Actors Alliance, Blackfriars Shakespeare, and Theater Three. He is a proud member of Actors Equity. Deep appreciation to Mr. Edwards, from a fellow three-name artist, for inviting me.

Kevin Stanfa is excited to embark on his third and fi nal year in Asolo Rep Conservatory for Actor Training. Recent credits include Blur (Father O'Hara) and Wilder!, Wilder!, Wilder! in the Conservatory's 08-09 season, Much Ado About Nothing (Benedick), Romeo and Juliet and Drunk Enough to Say I Love You? (Guy). Kevin holds an Honors Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from the University of Utah. Professional credits include The Merry Wives of Windsor (Shakespeare and Company), Julius Caesar and Cyrano de Bergerac (Pioneer Theatre Company).
He would like to show his extreme gratitude for his generous sponsors, both past and present, Walker Croskey, Jim Goddard, Emily, Anne and Larry Levine, as well as the entire community of donors that support our work in the conservatory and lastly his family, without whom none of this would be possible.

Creative Team Bios
Greg Leaming Director, FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training Associate Artistic Director, Asolo Repertory Theatre; Director, Hearts and The Mystery Plays Directed Pericles, Blue Window, and Murder by Poe for the FSU/Asolo Conservatory and The Play's the Thing, the world premiere of Men of Tortuga and his translation/adaptation of Anything to Declare? for Asolo Rep. Other credits include associate director and producing director, Hart-ford Stage Company; artistic director, Portland Stage Company; director of artistic programming and acting artistic director, Long Wharf Theatre; associate professor of theatre and head of direct-ing, Southern Methodist University. Off Broadway he directed the world premiere of Constance Congdon's Lips for Primary Stages. Other productions include: Arms and the Man, Mrs. Warren's Profession, Intimate Exchanges, Anna Christie, The Illusion, Private Lives, Baltimore Waltz, On the Verge and the world premieres of Constance Congdon's Losing Father's Body, Jeffrey Hatcher's Turn of
the Screw, Keith Curran's Church of the Sole Survivor, Steven Druckman's Going Native, Theresa Rebeck's Abstract Expression, Joe Sutton's The Third Army, Alan Knee's Syncopation and David Schulner's An Infinite Ache for theatres including Stage West, Philadelphia Drama Guild, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Merrimack Repertory Theatre, Southwest Shakespeare, Dorset Theatre Festival, Hangar Theatre, and Florida Stage. He has developed new works with the Eugene O'Neill Playwrights Conference, New Dramatists, New York Theatre Workshop, New York Stage and Film, Cape Cod Theatre Project, The Gathering at Bigfork and Theatre of the First Amendment.

Judy Gailen Scenic and Costume Designer (Hearts) designed the set for last season's The Imaginary Invalid. Other credits include sets (and sometimes costumes) for the Curtis Opera Theatre, Pittsburgh's City Theatre, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Bowdoin College (where she is adjunct lecturer in design), La Jolla Playhouse, Cincinnati Playhouse, Long Wharf, Trinity Rep, Beau Jest Moving Theater, Merrimack Rep, Portland Stage, Yale Rep, George Street Playhouse, Florida Stage, Triad Stage, Anchorage Opera, Opera Company of Philadelphia, Opera Omaha, Perseverance Theatre, Primary Stages, Berkshire Theatre Festival, Skylight Opera, Virginia Stage,
and Off and Off-off Broadway. Judy directed The Stooge: A Troubled Clown for Troubled Times and The Dark Clown, written and performed by Michael Lane Trautman. In 2003, she was awarded a Maine Arts Commission Individual Artist Fellowship for artistic excellence.

James D. Sale Lighting Designer (Hearts) Last season credits include: The Imaginary Invalid and The Devil's Disciple. Mr. Sale has designed over 500 shows in the last 30 years. His work in theater, opera and ballet has taken him all over the United States and the world. Design credits include: Oregon Shakespeare Festival, English Speaking Theater of Vienna, Denver Center, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Portland Center Stage, Alley Theater, Seattle Repertory, Studio Arena, Intiman Theater, St. Louis Repertory, Alliance Theater, Hartman, Alley Theater, Alaska Repertory, Spoleto Festival in Italy, LA Opera, Wolf Trap, Opera Colorado, Palm Beach Opera,
Tulsa Opera, Colorado Opera Festival, Kansas City Opera, Central City, Sarasota Ballet and Colorado Ballet. He is also senior designer and partner at James Sale Lighting, Inc., a fi rm specializing in high-end residential and commercial lighting design in Denver, Colorado.

Matthew Parker Sound Designer (Contact, The Perfume Shop, Searching for Eden, Hearts, New Play Festival) Since 1993 Matt has designed sound for most of Asolo Rep's productions. He also wrote and performed the musical scores for Asolo Rep productions of The Count of Monte Cristo and Nicholas Nickleby. Matt received his BFA. in Theatre Production Design and Technology from Ohio University, where he designed Heartbreak House, Luann Hampton Laverty Oberlander, The Importance of Being Earnest, and The Hot L Baltimore. As resident sound designer at the Monomoy Theatre (Cape Cod), he designed South Pacifi c, Dracula, Private Lives, Richard III and others. Sound and special effects credits at The Flat Rock Theatre (North Carolina) include I Hate
Hamlet, the world premiere of Gilligan's Island: The Musical and others. He is most proud of his sound and video designs for the 1992 production of Jesus Christ Superstar at Cumberland County Playhouse (Tennessee).

Michelle Hart Hair/Wig Design (all shows) a licensed cosmetologist and certified professional make-up artist, is in her ninth season with Asolo Rep and designs for Asolo Rep and FSU/ Asolo Conservatory shows. Other credits: Sarasota Ballet: Last Call, Rake's Progress; Florida Studio Theatre: Ruthless the Musical and Lady With All the Answers; West Coast Black Theatre Troupe: One Mo' Time; four seasons with Banyan Theater, and Open Stage Theatre: Ideal Husband, Dorian Gray and Rumors (where she won the Opius Award for Best Hair). She
has also done hair and make-up for Joan Rivers, Doris Roberts, Martin Short, Jane Russell, Arlene Dahl and for the music video "Second Chance" by Shinedown. She expresses her gratitude and great respect to all involved in every aspect of theatre.

Jim Hoskins Dance Advisor (Life of Galileo, The Last Five Years, Hearts) Mr. Hoskins has performed, directed and choreographed in education theatre, television, film, the corporate theatre, opera, nightclubs and the legitimate theatre. He has staged more than 400 productions in this country and abroad. Over the past 35 years Mr. Hoskins has taught period movement and dance, and was the movement specialist for both the graduate and undergraduate programs at Penn State University and the graduate program at the FSU/Asolo Conservatory. He resides in Sarasota, where he is an adjunct professor of theatre at the FSU/Asolo Conservatory and staff choreographer for Asolo Rep. Mr. Hoskins' book, The Dances of Shakespeare, is
published by Routledge, New York/London.

Patricia Delorey Voice & Dialect Coach (Life in the Middle, The Perfume Shop, The Life of Galileo, Hearts) This is Patricia's seventh season with Asolo Rep. She is the head of voice, speech and dialects at the FSU/Asolo Conservatory. Ms. Delorey is a Certified Associate Fitzmaurice Teacher with her M.F.A. in Voice & Speech from the M.X.A.T./American Repertory Theatre Institute for Advanced Theatre Training at Harvard University. Patricia
has taught voice at the Moscow Art Theatre School in Russia, Texas State University, and the University of Bologna in Italy. Ms. Delorey has worked extensively as a professional voice, speech and dialect coach both in the United States and internationally, including Plasticine with Studio 6 directed by Dmitry Troyanovsky, Phaedra 4.48 directed by RoBert Woodruff, and the world premieres of Nocturne, Ohio State Murders, and Stone Cold Dead Serious directed by Marcus Stern.

MarIan Wallace* Stage Manager (Contact, Hearts, Managing Maxine) is retiring as productions stage manager, a job she has held for 41 years, at the end of the 09-10 season. It's been a great run and it's time to let someone else share in the fun. Marian and her husband, Brad Wallace (Associate Artist), celebrated their 44th anniversary in September 2009. Along the way they've purchased the same home twice, driven one Dodge van for thirty years and raised three wonderful daughters.

Kelly A. Borgia* Stage Manager (The Perfume Shop, Galileo, New Play Festival) This marks Kelly's second season with Asolo Rep. Last season, she stage managed Inventing Van Gogh and Murderers. Regional theatre credits: Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Once on This Island and Betrayal at the Hangar Theatre; Beauty and the Beast and The Full Monty at Northern Stage; The Miser, Picnic, am Sunday and Speed-the-Plow at CenterStage Baltimore. Off Broadway: Hurricane: A New Musical, part of the 2009 New York Musical Theatre Festival and Cato at The Flea TheatrE. Kelly is a proud member of Actors Equity Association. 

Erin MacDonald Stage Management Intern (bio unavailable)
Dorothy Barnes Student Design Assistant (bio unavailable)

* Member of Actors' Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

Asolo Repertory Theatre is Florida's premier professional theatre and one of the most important cultural forces in the Southeastern United States. As a center for theatrical excellence, Asolo Rep crafts the highest quality productions of classical, contemporary and newly commissioned work all performed in the rarest form of rotating repertory. Featuring an accomplished resident company - complemented by distinguished guest artists - Asolo Rep offers audiences a unique and dynamic theatre experience. Under the leadership of Producing Artistic Director Michael Donald Edwards and Managing Director Linda DiGabriele, this world-class institution has taken bold steps toward the future, building landmark partnerships and collaborations which will add to its success for
generations to come.

Asolo Repertory Theatre (AKA: Asolo Theatre, Inc.) is funded in part by the Division of Cultural Affairs, Florida Department of State, The Florida Arts Council, the City and County of Sarasota and the Sarasota County Tourist Development Tax through the Board of County Commissioners, the Tourist Development Council and the Sarasota Arts Council. The Asolo Rep's Shakespeare productions are sponsored in part by Shakespeare in American Communities, a national theater initiative sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts and The Sallie Mae Fund in cooperation with Arts Midwest. Additional funding is also received through the efforts of support groups including the Asolo Angel Association, the Asolo Theatre Guild, The Directors Emeritus and the generosity of individuals, corporations and foundations.

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