Boston Court Pasadena present
MEASURE STILL FOR MEASURE
Written and Directed by Jessica Kubzansky
SEPT 7 – OCT 15, 2023
MEASURE STILL FOR MEASURE Program
Welcome Theatre Lovers,
What an absolute pleasure it is to have you here with us at Boston Court Pasadena, a place that resonates with innovation, diversity, vitality, and the spirit of adventure. As a long-time admirer of this incredible group of collaborators and champions of theatre, I am tremendously enthusiastic to join the BCP family at this time and share this moment with you. We’re not just creators and presenters; we’re a performing arts center that thrives on pushing boundaries and crafting experiences that stay etched in your minds and hearts.
With heartfelt excitement, I extend my warmest welcome to each and every one of you as we gather to celebrate a remarkable milestone in our journey – the grand finale of our 20th-anniversary season. It brings me immense joy to introduce you to Jessica Kubzansky’s Measure STILL for Measure, BCP’s first-ever site-specific interactive theatrical marvel. This production stands as a testament to our unwavering commitment to artistic evolution and marks our 38th world premiere.
Our dedication to producing relevant programming remains steadfast in a world where change is the only constant. Amid the tumult and social shifts, we continue to brighten the stage with narratives that explore the most pressing issues of today. With that in mind, I encourage you to stay for our “Illuminations,“ post-show conversations that delve further into the themes that today’s play touches upon. These conversations offer a chance to deepen connections, broaden perspectives, and explore our collective power to drive positive change in our world.
I hope this production impassions you to join us as a member of Boston Court Pasadena. Along with our generous sponsors and benefactors, you too can uphold our mission to innovate in the American Theatre.
Enjoy the show,
Manuel Prieto
Executive Director
Boston Court Pasadena
Boston Court Pasadena is located on the unceded lands of the Tongva, Gabrielino, and Kizh peoples, specifically the lands of the Hahamog’na band of the Tongva tribe. We honor and uplift these still-enduring communities and we are grateful for their stewardship of these lands.
Kuuyam nahwá’a is a Tongva peoples concept that means guest exchange, a belief that when given a chance to affect history in a positive way that a human being would make the just move. One action people and institutions can take is to make a voluntary recurring contribution to support Tongva-led Land Back efforts, acknowledging both relationship and reciprocity to the lands and Native Peoples of Tovaangar, this place many of us now call home.
You can learn more about kuuyam nahwá’a and make your contribution on the Tongva Taraxat Paaxavxa Conservancy website: https://tongva.land/donate-personal/
DISCOVER MEASURE STILL FOR MEASURE
BUKOLA OGUNMOLA*
DIONNA, the actor playing Isabella
Bukola Ogunmola is a Nigerian-American actor, writer and producer born and raised in NYC. She is so excited to be making her Boston Court Pasadena debut and so grateful for the wonderful cast and crew. Some of her latest theater projects with LA’s Shakespeare in the Park include Twelfth Night as Viola and Knight of the Burning Pestle as the titular Knight Rae. Some of her film credits include Better Than Dreams’ Romeo and Juliet as Juliet and Live at the Porpentine: A Comedy of Errors as Adriana. TV: Bob Hearts Abishola. MFA, USC.
ROBERT BEITZEL*
BRUCE ELLIOT NORTON, the actor playing Duke Vincentio, also the play’s Director
Off-Broadway: Women or Nothing, Atlantic Theater Company. Our Town, Barrow Street Theatre. In Masks Outrageous and Austere, The Culture Project. Hallway Trilogy, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater. Finer Noble Gases, Rattlestick. Faster, Ra
Robert has a BFA in drama from the Juilliard School.
DESIREE MEE JUNG*
ALEXIS, the Stage Manager
Des was last seen at Boston Court in Colony Collapse. Select credits include: Vietgone (Alley Theatre); Sense & Sensibility (South Coast Rep); Much Ado About Nothing (Denver Center); Richard III, Comedy of Errors, Pericles (Utah Shakespeare Festival); Love’s Labour’s Lost and Edward III (Colorado Shakespeare Festival); Gloria, The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide (Curious Theatre Company); All’s Well That Ends Well, Frankenstein (A Noise Within); As You Like It, Measure for Measure, Henry IV Part I, Diana of Dobson’s, The Curse of Oedipus (Antaeus Theatre Company); Hamlet (The 6th Act); The Bonesetter’s Daughter (world premiere Book-It Rep). TV: NCIS, The Winchesters. DesireeMeeJung.
MARA KLEIN
BROOKE, the actor playing Marianna
Mara is honored to return to Boston Court’s stage having previously appeared in The Judas Kiss. Select theatre credits include: An Octoroon (Fountain Theatre), According to the Chorus (The Road), Sucker Punch (Coeurage Ensemble), the world-premiere of Mary Laws’ Blueberry Toast (Echo Theater Company), and Marina in Pericles (Porters of Hellsgate). She is a proud union member #SAGAFTRAstrong with TV credits on Casual as “Young Valerie,” Startup, Young & Hungry, and Fresh off the Boat, among others. Mara hails from the suburbs of Washington D.C. She holds a BFA from NYU Tisch, and trained at RADA in London. More at www.aboutmara.com or say hi @mararklein
DINAH LENNEY*
MARY, the actor playing Escalus and the Provost
Dinah Lenney has played countless roles on stage and screen, among them Murphy Brown’s Secretary #3, ER’s Nurse Shirley, and Sister Miriam, a nun with a gun, on FX’s Sons of Anarchy. She’s a graduate of Yale (where she didn’t study theater) and the Neighborhood Playhouse where she did, and the author or editor of six books, including Acting for Young Actors, with director Mary Lou Belli. She lives with her husband in Echo Park—and you can watch her TEDX talk here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
LEO MARKS*
SAM, the actor playing Angelo
Boston Court: Shylock in Everything That Never Happened and Lewis Carroll in The Missing Pages of Lewis Carroll. He’s played the Fountain, Rogue Machine, Playwrights’ Arena, Geffen Playhouse, the Kirk Douglas, the Ahmanson, Pasadena Playhouse, Evidence Room, Antaeus, D.C.’s Shakespeare Theatre Company, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Seattle Rep, Berkeley Rep, The Intiman, Cleveland Playhouse, Houston’s Alley Theatre, ACT’s The Strand, the Old Globe, South Coast Repertory, Playwrights Horizons, and he played Hamlet in Jessica Kubzansky’s acclaimed production.
Awards include an Obie, Stage Raw, LA Ovations, Ticketholder, Bay Area Critics, and LA Drama Critics Circle nominations and awards.
Watch for him as Red in the upcoming feature The Line.
ALEXANDER MATOS
J. TODD, the actor playing Claudio
Alexander Matos (SAG-AFTRA/EMC) is hyped to make his Boston Court debut! Raised in Brazil and LA, he’s a graduate of Brown University/Trinity Rep’s MFA Acting program and holds a BA in Ethnomusicology/Composition from UC Berkeley. Recent theater work includes Gordon Silver in Dr. Silver (South Coast Rep), Florizel in The Winter’s Tale (A Noise Within), Lysander in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Chautauqua Theater), Younger Brother in Ragtime & Caliban in The Tempest (Trinity Rep), and various pandemic virtual-theater productions (Kennedy Center/NNPN, Hudson Stage Company, Pork Filled Productions). Screen work includes a commercial for Toyota and a co-star on ABC’s American Housewife. —www.alexandermatos.com— IG/Twt: @AlexanderDMatos
RANDOLPH THOMPSON
GRIFFIN, the actor playing Lucio
Favorite productions include: Much Ado About Nothing (A Noise Within), Pericles (New Swan Shakespeare Festival), Ready, Steady, Yeti…Go (Rogue Machine), Trevor (Circle X), 1984 (Greenway Court), Secret in the Wings (Coeurage), The Hamlet Project (Loose Canon), Henry V (Pacific Resident Theatre), Dancing vs. The Rat Experiment (LaMama), Roberto Zucco (Ohio Theatre), Love’s Labour’s Lost (Baryshnikov Arts Center), The Winter’s Tale (San Antonio Shakespeare), Schriebstück (U.S. & Canadian Premieres). Television appearances include: Frankenstein’s Monster’s Monster (Netflix), Criminal Minds (CBS), Rosewood (Fox), Serious Music (ABC), and several national commercial campaigns.
JENAPHER ZHENG*
FRANKIE, the Assistant Director
Jenapher Zheng is an actor and multi-disciplinary artist from Alhambra, CA with her training from CalArts. Past work includes NCIS:LA, festivals like SXSW and HAAPIFest, major brand commercials, and videogames by Tender Claws and Niantic. Theatre credits include Man of God at Geffen Playhouse, Seize the King at La Jolla Playhouse, Kentucky at East West Players, and readings of The Great Leap and Tokyo Fish Story at The Old Globe and South Coast Repertory. Past immersive theatre credits include activations for John Wick 4, American Horror Story, and Warrior, and productions with Ceaseless Fun, After Hours, and MetaForYou. She is the editor of Kwento Comics, and is JenZany on Twitch.
*Indicates a member of Actor’s Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage members in the United States.
SHARLEE TAYLOR*
Dionna, the actor playing Isabella
Sharlee Taylor received her MFA from the American Repertory Theater at Harvard University. Having just completed the New York to Los Angeles pilgrimage, she is thrilled to be making her Boston Court premiere as understudy for Dionna. New York theater credits include: The Messiah Complex (La Mama), A Harlem’s Night Dream (Classical Theater of Harlem), Nice Fish with Mark Rylance (A.R.T), and many more odd-ball and beloved productions. So much gratitude to Vanguard Management, family near and far, and the Boston Court theater community.
DANIEL ABRAHAM STEVENS
Bruce, the Director and the actor playing the Duke, and Sam, the actor playing Angelo
is a huge fan of Measure for Measure, making this chance to see this group of brilliant artists crack it open and have a look at the guts of the play a joy. Recent credits include Scoutmaster Pete in the off-Broadway debut of SCOUTS, George in WVPTs adaptation of It’s a Wonderful Life, and Jaime in The Last Five Years. This winter, Dan will be appearing as Isaac in Liberty Theater Co’s production of Ayad Akhtar’s Disgraced. Thanks, as always, are due to mom and dad, and Connor. Find Dan @TheOtherDanStevens // www.TheOtherDanStevens.com
DAWN ALDEN
Mary, the actor playing the Provost and Escalus, and Alexis, the stage manager
is a mover, a shaker and a Maker. She holds an MFA in Acting, and has over 30 years experience in that, stage combat, and new play development. She founded and ran an all-female theatre company in Chicago (Babes With Blades), acts with and runs a film production company in LA (Vicarious Films) and co-hosts a podcast (34 Circe Salon). She is dedicated to creating work by and about women, for everyone. vicariousfilms.com, babeswithblades.org
MARY ANN PIANKA
Brooke, the actor playing Marianna, and Frankie, the assistant director
A lifelong fan of the Bard, Mary Ann Pianka (she/her) hails from Lancaster, Pennsylvania with a BFA in Acting from Syracuse University. After an eventful decade in LA she has come full circle back home to theater and is honored to be working at Boston Court. Her production company The Combined Forces specializes in telling stories by women, about women, for everyone. You can next see her playing Romeo in her interactive production reigniting the classic love story at Idle Hour bar. In her spare time she endeavors to keep her house plants alive.
KYLE T. HESTER
J.Todd, the actor playing Claudio, and Griffin, the actor playing Lucio
Regional credits include Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Hamlet (Santa Cruz Shakespeare), The Canadians (South Coast Repertory, world premiere), Arms and the Man (Jewel Theatre Company), The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberley (Ensemble Theatre Company), Wild Goose Dreams (La Jolla Playhouse, world premiere), King Lear (Harold Clurman Lab Theatre), and Girlfriend (Dezart Performs). He received his MFA from UC San Diego and BFA from NYU. During the theatre-less plague years, Kyle staved off insanity by picking up a pencil and drawing theatre posters. Check out his work on Instagram at @kyle.t.hester or at www.kyle-t-hester.com.
*Indicates a member of Actor’s Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage members in the United States.
JESSICA KUBZANKSKY*** | PLAYWRIGHT & DIRECTOR
is a passionate storyteller for the theatre. She is the artistic director of Boston Court Pasadena, where she champions innovative, adventurous work across all art forms. She began her artistic life as a playwright; her first full-length play, Inventory, had its world premiere directed by Edward Albee in Baltimore, with subsequent productions in Austin, San Francisco, and more. She became an award-winning national director working at venues such as Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre, The Cherry Lane, Arena Stage, Portland Center Stage, A Contemporary Theatre (ACT) Seattle, Utah Shakespeare Festival, Pasadena Playhouse, South Coast Rep, The Geffen Playhouse, and many other Los Angeles theatres. Kubzansky combines her passions by treating new works like Shakespeare, and Shakespeare like new work, which is how she arrived at her own adaption of Shakespeare’s Richard II, called RII (initially developed and world-premiered at Boston Court, recently produced at Santa Cruz Shakespeare Festival). Favorite Shakespeares she’s directed include Hamlet (with Leo Marks), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Utah Shakespeare Festival), The Winter’s Tale, Othello, Measure for Measure, Macbeth, Richard II, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Twelfth Night, and a Scottish/American walking production of Macbeth in Edinburgh, Scotland.) More recently, she’s directed the Los Angeles Drama Critic Circle award-winning The Father with Alfred Molina (Pasadena Playhouse), Jeanne Sakata’s Hold These Truths (San Diego Rep, Arena Stage), Luis Alfaro’s Mojada, a Medea in Los Angeles (Boston Court/The Getty Villa), and most recently for Boston Court Pasadena, the world premieres of Kit Steinkellner’s Ladies, and Sarah B. Mantell’s Everything That Never Happened (which would have gone on to play at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in 2020 had the Coronavirus not interfered).
FRANCOIS-PIERRE COUTURE ** | SCENIC DESIGNER
has had the privilege of working in Los Angeles and the United States for the last decade as a scenic, lighting and projection designer. He has received multiple Ovation, LADCC, LA Weekly awards & nominations. Designs include: Invisible Tango, A Picasso, Geffen Playhouse; Everything that Never Happened, With Love and Major Organ, Boston Court Theatre; Destiny of Desire, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Arena Stage Theatre, South Coast Repertory & Goodman Theatre; Jackie Unveiled, Wallis Theatre; The Mexican Trilogy, an American History, Los Angeles Theatre Center; Metamorphoses, Woyzeck, Ensemble Theatre Company; Médée and Teseo, Chicago Opera Theatre; www.fpcouture.com
DENITSA BLIZNAKOVA** | COSTUME DESIGNER
is happy to return to Boston Court, where she previously designed the costumes for With Love and a Major Organ and Everything that Never Happened. Her theatre design work has been seen nationwide at venues including the Geffen Playhouse, Mark Taper Forum, Old Globe Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Kennedy Center, South Coast Rep, Pasadena Playhouse, Williamstown Theatre Festival, and others. Denitsa’s work for opera includes productions at Los Angeles Opera, San Diego Opera, and Santa Fe Opera. Costume design and stylist credits for other media include films and music videos. Nominations for Outstanding Costume Design: LA Stage Alliance Ovation Award and Colorado Theatre Guild Henry Award. She is the 2020 recipient of the Costume Design Award from Costume Society of America. Denitsa is a Professor in the School of Theatre, TV, and Film at SDSU and leads the M.F.A. Design and Technology program there. Her work may be viewed at www.Denitsa.com.
TOM ONTIVEROS** | LIGHTING DESIGNER
Credits include OSF, ART, Berkeley Repertory, Cornerstone Theatre Company, Native Voices, East West Players, Denver Center, Center Theatre Group, South Coast Repertory, Pasadena Playhouse, Geffen Playhouse and the La Jolla Playhouse, Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Hungarian National Theatre, Phoenix Symphony, Bass Symphony Hall, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Park Avenue Armory, Kennedy Center, and L.A. Opera. B/C shows include Happy Days, My Barking Dog (L.A. Drama Critics Choice Award), Shiv (Nominated Best Projection, StageRaw), Seven Spots on the Sun, The House in Scarsdale (Nominated Best Projection, L.A. Drama Critics). Tom is the Chair of the Department of Theatre Arts at the University of La Verne.
JOHN NOBORI | SOUND DESIGNER
John Nobori is a California-based sound designer, composer, and ensemble member of Cornerstone Theater Company. His work has been heard in plays produced by such organizations as Seattle Rep and Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Other recent credits include The Geffen Playhouse’s production of The Ants and Pasadena Playhouse’s production of Sanctuary City. He has been nominated for several awards for excellence in sound design and is the recipient of an Ovation Award for his work on The Golden Dragon at Boston Court Pasadena. BA University of California, Irvine.
JASON H.THOMPSON** | VIDEO/PROJECTION DESIGNER
has designed on Broadway as well as internationally at Frankfurt Opera, Karlsruhe, Vienna State Opera, Musikverein in Vienna, and Disney Shanghai Resort. Recent projects include: Proximity and Twilight:Gods (Chicago Lyric); The Valkyries (Hollywood Bowl and Detroit Opera) with an upcoming production, Grounded at Washington National Opera and the MET in 2024. His work has been seen in many regional theatres across the country, Stars on Ice, The Peterson Auto Museum, and a co-design at LACMA. During the pandemic, he worked with Stanford University, Boston Court, and The Wallis Annenberg to create unique digital experiences and offerings when traditional means were unavailable, including the experimental performance Blood/Sugar. His love for fusing art and technology and pushing the boundaries of storytelling has been a driving force in his design work with his wife at PXT STUDIO.
Instagram: @pxtstudio. pxtstudio.com
CINDY CAMPOS | PROPS DESIGNER
Cindy Campos is a sophomore at East Los Angeles College in Monterey Park, California. She is currently enrolled in the Theater Arts Program which teaches a well-rounded approach to all aspects of Technical Theater. She plans to transfer to UC or Cal State university with honors in Fall of 2024. Mentor designer Francois-Pierre Couture encouraged her to join the team at Boston Court Pasadena as a Properties Master Associate. She looks forward to working with a talented group of individuals.
KIMBERLY SANCHEZ GARRIDO | PRODUCTION STAGE MANAGER
is the Production Stage Manager of Measure STILL for Measure. She is proudly born and raised in Altadena, CA and is very excited to work with Boston Court Pasadena. Her recent credits in Stage Management include Smile (IAMA Theatre Company), Brother Play (BP Production), Cabaret (Wagner College Theatre) and New Works Festival 2022 (IAMA Theatre Company). She would like to thank everyone who has worked on the show for their hard work and dedication. She would also like to thank her family and friends for their continued support and encouragement.
EMILIE PASCALE BECK | DRAMATURG
Emilie Pascale Beck served as dramaturg for The Children, Heavier Than, Alcestis, RII, Everything You Touch, The House in Scarsdale, Everything That Never Happened and Both And (A Play About Laughing While Black). As director: How the Light Gets In, Cassiopeia, and Shiv at Boston Court. Elsewhere: Miss Keller Has No Second Book, Block Nine, and Because They Have No Words, among others. As playwright: Number of People, Sovereign Body, And Let the Skies Fall, and Trace. Her writing has been published in Colorado Review, Los Angeles Review of Books, Waxwing, Howlround, and she received the 2023 Levis Prize in Fiction.
CARLY DW BONES | INTIMACY DIRECTOR
Carly DW Bones is a theatre director, intimacy director/coordinator, sex educator, community facilitator and thespomancer. She works as a freelance intimacy director and educator in the Los Angeles area for theatre companies (A Noise Within, Antaeus, Boston Court, Coeurage, Coin & Ghost, EST LA, Ghost Road, Hero, IAMA, The Road, Skylight, StarKid) and university theatre programs (Cal Lutheran, CSULA, Occidental, UCLA, USC, Pomona). Carly created and directed at the feminist theatre ensemble, The Illyrian Players, from 2011-2019. They have also directed for: Coin & Ghost, The Echo, EST LA, Inkwell Theater, Rogue Artists Ensemble, The Vagrancy. Connect: carlydwbones@gmail.com
MIRANDA JOHNSON-HADDAD | SHAKESPEARE CONSULTANT
holds a B.A. from Princeton in Comparative Literature and a Ph.D. in Renaissance Studies from Yale. She has taught Shakespeare and Renaissance Literature at Yale, Vassar, Howard, and UCLA, and she has been affiliated with the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C.; Shakespeare Quarterly; and the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, D.C. She is the Resident Dramaturg at A Noise Within Theatre in Pasadena, and she is a frequent speaker at many Southern California venues. She is the co-editor, with Lena Cowen Orlin, of Staging Shakespeare, and she is the author of numerous articles and reviews.
JULIA FLORES | CASTING DIRECTOR
Proud and honored to continue our 20 year relationship with Jessica Kubzansky and Boston Court. Past productions include: Ladies, With Love and a Major Organ, My Barking Dog, Stupid F**cking Bird, Everything You Touch, Se Llama Cristina, RII, American Misfit, Cassiopeia, The Children, How to Disappear Completely…, Pal Joey, Futura, Paradise Lost and Cold/Tender. Additional credits include productions for McCoy Rigby Entertainment, The REV Theatre Company, Ensemble Theatre Company, TheatreWorks, Denver Center Theatre, A Noise Within, The Pasadena Playhouse, Portland Center Stage. Dedicated with love and eternal thanks to the brilliant Ms. Kubzansky. Here’s to another 20 years my friend!
Casting Assistant: Kodi Jackman
ERICA CHAMBLEE | ASSISTANT DIRECTOR
Directed Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill for Rhinoleap Productions. She has choreographed dances at Dance Place, Atlas Performing Arts Center, Arena Stage and was lead choreographer for the Truck Touch Ballet for DDOT all in Washington, D.C. She was both a producer and lead actor in the feature film.Jazz in the Diamond District.
Film and television credits as an actor include: Lincoln, Toe to Toe, Split, House of Cards and The Wire. Regional Theater credits as an actor include: The Royale (Arizona Theater Company),Cherokee (Woolley Mammoth Theater Company), Trojan Women (Taffety Punk Theater Company),3⁄4 of a Mass for St. Vivian (Kennedy Center), Haroun and the Sea of Stories (Theater Alliance), Anna K (Roundhouse Silver Spring), Pride and Prejudice (Rhinoleap) and Gospel of Lovingkindness, Sooner/Later, A Human Being Died that Night and Eureka Day (Mosaic Theater Company). As a dancer she performed with BodyWise Dance in Brazil, Alight Dance Theater, Baltimore Dance Invitational, Printz Dance Project, Contradiction Dance, and Dance Place. Erica graduated from SUNY Purchase Acting Conservatory and studied acting and dance at Duke Ellington School for the Performing Arts. When she is not making art she teaches yoga and spends time with her family.
JENNIFER GONZALEZ | ASSOCIATE LIGHTING DESIGNER
Jennifer Gonzalez (Associate Lighting Designer) is a third year MFA student with an emphasis in lighting & projection design at Texas State University. She was the lighting designer for Big Love & Antigone (KCACTF Runner-Up) at Texas State. She is currently the LD for RENT at Texas State & the ALD for The Elixir of Love at Minnesota Opera. She has also been the ALD for The Great Comet of 1812 at Idaho Shakespeare Festival, Timon of Athens/Coriolanus at Utah Shakespeare Festival, and Fetch Clay, Make Man at the Kirk Douglas Theatre. She also serves as a Sherry Wagner Board Fellow for USITT. Jennifer graduated from the University of La Verne with a BA in Theatre Arts. She fell in love with lighting design when she realized that you could tell a story just with lighting.
CAITLIN LEONG | ASSOCIATE SOUND DESIGNER
Caitlin Leong is thrilled to be a part of this Boston Court production. She has been an audio engineer for Disney, Universal Studios, the House of Blues, and various theater and live music events. She recently worked as the Assistant Sound Designer for the Geffen’s production of The Ants
JASMINE LEUNG | ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER
Jasmine Leung is a Canadian stage manager and writer. Past immersive credits include Safehouse ’77 and Safehouse ’82 (Spy Brunch), Deep Into Darkness (Third Wheel Production), and Delusion: Valley of Hollows. She’s thrilled to be returning to the creative home at Boston Court after working on their spring production, Unrivaled.
** Indicates a member of the United Scenic Artists Association, the union of professional designers, artists, and craftspeople in the entertainment and decorative art industries.
***Indicates a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers society, the union representing theatrical directors and choreographers.
NICKI HESKIN | PRODUCTION MANAGER
is beyond thrilled to have joined the Boston Court Pasadena family after working for 10 years as a theatre professional in a variety of roles throughout Greater Los Angeles. Primarily having worked as an AEA stage manager, freelance director, and civic and intimate theatre producer prior to the COVID quarantine, she decided to go back to graduate school during the pandemic closure to prepare to face the challenge of an ethical and inclusive recovery of the LA theatre ecosystem. Nicki entered the dual master’s program at Claremont Graduate University’s Drucker Graduate School of Management/Center for Business and Management of the Arts, completing her MBA in 2022 and will complete her MA in Arts Management in 2023. Selected favorite theatrical credits include Stage Management: Center Theatre Group (PSM, To T or Not to T), South Coast Repertory (ASM, The Canadians, Last Stop on Market Street), The Wallis (PSM, Reckoning: A Short Play Festival), Musical Theatre West (ASM, Catch Me if You Can), and Lewis Family Playhouse (PSM – CATS, Into The Woods, The Music Man); Director: Bad Jews, Ophelia’s Jump Productions; Gidion’s Knot, Circle Mirror Transformation, Women’s Theatre Workshop; Assistant Director: Parade, 42nd Street, 3-D Theatricals, and Producer: In the Heights, Seussical, Miracle on 34th Street, Lewis Family Playhouse. Nicki also worked as the Temporary COVID Communication Manager at Center Theatre Group through 2022. None of this is possible without the love and support of Russel, Jenna and Alicia, the most important stories I’ve ever supported telling.
JESSE SOTO | TECHNICAL DIRECTOR
has worked in almost every aspect of technical theatre since 2002, both in the professional and academic world. He has been a TD, Set Designer, Lighting Designer, Prop Master, Master Carpenter and Master Electrician, often performing multiple roles simultaneously. He graduated with a BA in Technical Theatre and Lighting Design from the University of La Verne and has an MA in progress at CSULA. When he’s not hanging off the grid, crawling under the deck or just hammering away on set, he is spending his days with his amazing wife and beautiful daughter and sons.
SAMANTHA PESTANA-MARKEY | PRODUCTION ASSISTANT
EMMANUEL BRADSHAW | VIDEO OPERATOR
JONAS HUFFER | SOUND OPERATOR
SARAH TEMPLETON | MASTER ELECTRICAN
ROBBY MEREDITH | ELECTRICAN
GEENA ROSE WONG | ELECTRICAN
WESLEY BONILLA | CARPENTER
ROB HEINTZ | CARPENTER
FRANK JONES | CARPENTER
ROBBY MEREDITH | CARPENTER
KATHY NOLAN | CARPENTER
ELEANOR MONTECITO | CARPENTER
JENNA HESKIN | SCRIPT SUPPORT
SYNOPSIS OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE’S MEASURE FOR MEASURE
By Miranda Johnson-Haddad (Shakespeare Consultant)
For many years, Duke Vincentio of Vienna has neglected to enforce the city’s laws, preferring to live a quiet life out of the public eye. Realizing how corrupt Vienna has become, he announces his departure and delegates power to his rigid deputy, Angelo. Secretly, however, he remains in Vienna, disguised as a friar.
Angelo takes charge of the city and begins enforcing all the laws that the Duke had let lapse. He sentences to death a young nobleman, Claudio, who has gotten his fiancée pregnant prior to marriage. Claudio sends his friend Lucio to seek help from Claudio’s sister, the virtuous Isabella, who is about to enter a convent. Isabella goes to Angelo to plead with him to pardon Claudio. Her intelligence and purity sway him, and he encourages her to come back the next day. When she returns for a second visit, Angelo offers to spare Claudio’s life, but only on the condition that Isabella sleep with him. As a young novitiate, she is horrified by his proposition and refuses in order to protect her chastity. She threatens to tell everyone about his hypocritical proposal, but he replies that no one will believe her.
Isabella then visits her brother Claudio in prison and explains Angelo’s offer and her refusal. Claudio begs Isabella to submit to Angelo to save his life, but she angrily refuses. Overhearing this, the disguised Duke arranges for Isabella and Angelo’s abandoned fiancée, Marianna, to change places in a “bed trick” that deceives Angelo into unwittingly sleeping with Marianna. Nevertheless, Angelo orders Claudio executed. Thanks to the Duke’s quick thinking, Claudio is spared and another prisoner who has died is substituted in his place, yet the still disguised Duke tells Isabella that Claudio has died.
The Duke “returns” to Vienna, creates an elaborate public event that reveals Angelo’s perfidy, and compels Angelo to marry Marianna. Isabella forgives Angelo and then learns that Claudio is alive. The play concludes with multiple reconciliations, and the Duke proposes marriage to Isabella, who does not answer.
Actors’ Equity Association (AEA): The Actors’ Equity Association, commonly called Actors’ Equity or simply Equity, is an American labor union representing performers and stage managers who work in live theatrical performance.
ASM: assistant stage manager, they assist the stage manager during rehearsals and often work backstage during performances while the stage manager calls the show from the booth.
Bed Trick: The bed trick is a plot device in literature that involves the substitution of one sexual partner for another without the knowledge of the other partner. In several Shakespeare plays (including Measure for Measure) we see the bed trick used when a man goes to a sexual assignation with a certain woman, and without his knowledge that woman’s place is taken by a substitute.
Blocking/Staging: the movement of actors around the stage and in relation to each other, usually guided by the director and notated by the stage manager.
Callback: a second audition that usually indicates an actor is being strongly considered for a role.
Calling “Line”: as actors are learning their lines (getting “off book”) and no longer holding their scripts in rehearsal, they will call “line” when they have forgotten their line and the stage manager will feed them the line or the first few words of the line.
Called/Call Time: the time at which actors and crew are supposed to arrive for a rehearsal or performance.
Cross: to move across the stage.
Covering: understudying a role
Cues: a line or action that serves as a signal to the performers and/or stage manager. For performers a cue could be a line that comes before theirs or signals when they should come onstage. For a stage manager, an actor’s line or movement can be a cue to “call” (meaning press go/tell a technician to press go on) a certain lighting, sound, or other technical effect.
Designer Run: a rehearsal run through of a play for the design team so that they can see the staging and adjust their designs accordingly. Usually the designer run happens halfway through the rehearsal process.
Downstage: the area of the stage closest to the audience at the front of the stage.
Dramaturg: a dramaturg is a member of the creative team on a production whose primary task is to support the play or production’s development by asking key questions, starting conversations, researching, providing context, and helping the artists as they work together to tell the intended story. For example on this production of Measure STILL for Measure, there was a new play dramaturg whose primary responsibility was supporting playwright Jessica Kubzanksy in writing and rewriting Measure STILL for Measure, and there was also a Shakespeare dramaturg whose primary responsibility was helping the cast and creative team understand Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure text and its historical context.
Dramaturgical Packet: a packet of information relevant to a production that a dramaturg creates for the creative team. It can include things like the architecture, clothing, or cultural mores of a certain period; research on the biography of a historical figure or on a particular professional field featured in a play; or excerpts of texts that are referenced in a play.
Equity Health Weeks: actors and stage managers who are members of the Actors’ Equity Association (AEA, the primary union for theatre performers and stage managers) have to work a certain number of weeks per year on particular Equity contracts in order to qualify for union health insurance. The Equity-League Health Plan offers six months medical, dental and vision benefits to Actors’ Equity members who accumulate at least 12 weeks of work across a 12 calendar month period.
Filing a Charge with Equity: reporting an incident of harassment to Actors’ Equity Association.
Green Room: a room backstage where cast and crew can hang out when they are not working. Often green rooms will have a fridge, microwave, or small kitchen.
Hold: a director will often call “hold” in a rehearsal room when they want the actors to stop in the middle of rehearsing a scene so that they can offer them direction
Intimacy Director/Coordinator: an Intimacy Director (ID) is a choreographer, an advocate for actors, and a liaison between actors and director/producer for scenes that involve nudity/hyper exposed work, simulated sex acts, and intimate physical contact in live performance. Intimacy Director is the title used more commonly in theatre, while Intimacy Coordinator is more commonly used in film and TV.
Light/Sound Cue: a lighting look or a sound effect or music that happens at a particular moment in the show.
LORT House: the League of Resident Theatres or LORT is a professional association of over 75 regional theaters across the United States that administers collective bargaining agreements between its member theaters and Actors’ Equity Association, the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, and United Scenic Artists. Your minimum fee will be determined by these contracts if you join the show at a LORT theater as a cast member, director, crew member or designer. Generally speaking, LORT houses offer the most lucrative contracts for theatre professionals.. LORT contracts are broken down into lettered categories, often determined by the size of the house, as well as the box office receipts, so a smaller stage in a house with two theatres, with 200 seats or less, if often categorized as a LORT D. The Pasadena Playhouse mainstage, for instance,with 651 seats is a LORT B.
The Old Globe: a well known LORT theatre in San Diego
Places: a stage manager will call “places” to instruct the actors to go to the location where they should be at the beginning of the play or scene. For example, actors might start a play on stage or in the wings, or underneath the stage ready to emerge from a trap door.
Postcards: an advertisement for a show in postcard form that has all the show information on it and is usually handed out to the cast to distribute in addition to being mailed
Preset(s): a prop or costume piece that is set in a particular location before the show because it needs to be accessed at that location during the show. For example, a costume that requires a quick change might be preset backstage so that the actor can exit and immediately begin changing or a letter might be preset in the pocket of a coat.
Problem Play: in Shakespeare studies, a “problem play” is a play that defies easy categorization, like Troilus and Cressida, or a play that has some of the features we expect from a comedy (such as multiple marriages at the conclusion) but they feel forced and even disturbing. Examples include Measure for Measure and All’s Well That Ends Well.
Props: short for “properties,” props are any objects handled by actors in a show and can include “hand props” like cups, books, or letters; weapons like swords or guns; and larger items like furniture or the giant purse in Boston Court’s 2022 production of Both And.
Rehearsal Pieces (costumes/props): simple clothing items or props that stand in for final costumes during rehearsal. For example a plain long skirt that stands in for a period renaissance dress.
Scansion/Scans: the rhythm of a line of verse. For example, Shakespeare is written in iambic pentameter, which means (almost) every line in a Shakespearean play is made up of five iambs, pairs of one unstressed and one stressed syllable, that add up to ten syllables total per line. The scansion of the iambic pentameter helps guide which syllables in a line an actor should stress.
Set Model: a three-dimensional miniature version of the scenic design that gives the cast, crew and director an idea of how the set will look and function.
Stage Left/Stage Right: left and right from the point of view of the actors looking out toward the audience. The reverse of house left and right which is from the audience’s perspective.
Stage Manager: a vitally important position for any theatrical production, the stage manager keeps rehearsals organized and on time, manages the schedule, keeps track of actor conflicts, communicates the daily schedule to actors, notates blocking, communicates design/technical needs that arise during rehearsal to the design team, and “calls the show,” meaning they control the timing and running of light and sound cues during tech rehearsals and performances.
Table Work: rehearsal that focuses on reading and analyzing the text of a play and understanding the motivations or backstories of characters, usually done seated at tables and at the beginning of the rehearsal process before staging rehearsals.
“Take Ten”: a common phrase stage managers will say to indicate that everyone should take a ten minute break
Tech Rehearsal/Tech: rehearsals toward the end of the rehearsal process that integrate design and technical elements such as lights, sound, props, flying scenic elements, etc. into the performance and allow the stage manager to rehearse cue timing.
Theatre Industrial Complex Game of Thrones: the changes in leadership and public scandals at professional theaters that are akin to the dramatic leadership upheavals featured in the television series Game of Thrones. “Theatre industrial complex” refers to the way capitalism has become intertwined with the theatre industry and demands profit from art.
Upstage: the area of the stage furthest away from the audience toward the back of the stage.
Warm Ups: vocal or physical exercises that performers do to get their bodies and voices ready before a rehearsal or performance.
This play came into being over a very long time, with huge creative input along the way from so many wonderful people.
It had its roots at Boston Court pre-pandemic, where it started a journey with a powerful cohort of artist colleagues that stretched over years pre and post: most especially, Emilie Pascale Beck, Michael Michetti, Margaret Shigeko Starbuck, Cheryl Rizzo, Jesse Soto, Adrian Centeno, Paloma Arielle W.
It was given a Development Workshop at The Finish Line Festival at Cygnet Theatre in San Diego in February 2020:
Huge thanks to: Robby Lutfy for inviting me in, Actors Adrian Alita, Stewart Calhoun, Francis Gerke, Keiko Green, Kim Heil, Olivia Hudson, Tamara McMillan, Veronica Murphy, M.J. Sieber, Stage Manger Danielle Dudley, Dramaturg Dylan Southerd.
It was given a Development Workshop at Boston Court Pasadena in February 2023:
Huge thanks to: Actors Andrew Borba, Ramon De Ocampo, Nell Geisslinger, Dinah Lenney, Leo Marks, Peter Mendoza, Mehrnaz Mohammadi, Kacie Rogers, Ellen D. Williams, Assistant Director June Carryl, Stage Manager Jasmine Leung, Dramaturg Emilie Pascale Beck.
And finally into becoming, with the amazing artists named in this program, each of whom had singular contributions to make to what you’re witnessing today.
Thanks most especially to the actors, who know how much their DNA is embedded in the hearts of these characters and their words. The Stage Management Team for their gigantic lift on this immersive beast. The cohort of powerful women in roles of dramaturgy (new play and Shakespeare), direction, intim
Thanks to William Shakespeare. And also, to Josephine Lavely, my ninth grade English teacher, who assigned us to write a fourth act to Ibsen’s A Doll’s House (long before Lucas Hnath got his brilliant idea), and taught me the thrill of playwriting. And to many teachers along the way, including: John Barth, Roberto Arellano, Wayne Koestenbaum, William Alfred, Mary Robison, Edward Albee.
And my family. Actual, Chosen, Artistic, along with everyone I’ve been blessed to make art with.
I am out of words to express the immensity of my gratitude, except:
Thank you.
—Jessica Kubzansky
MEET THE PRODUCERS
MISSION
Boston Court creates and nurtures innovative, boundary-pushing art that invokes the power of collective imagination to illuminate our common humanity.
STAFF
Jessica Kubzansky, Artistic Director, is a champion of innovation and artistic excellence, and as such she was invited to be one of two founding artistic directors of Boston Court Pasadena, creating a mission and vision for the company that produces risky adventurous new work coupled with intimate artistic excellence. Now Kubzansky shepherds all the art created at Boston Court, including visual art and richly eclectic music concerts as well as theatre. She is a passionate music lover and also an award-winning director working both locally and in regional theatres nationally. She is committed to illumination of texts and scores to create works that crack open minds and hearts so that people who experience the work walk out changed. Kubzansky creates inventive work across many genres. She is known as a play-whisperer for her ability to dramaturg new plays, breathe powerful life into classic adaptations, and create exciting new takes on old classics; and she nurtures innovative approaches to classic music, as well as urging musicians and composers to innovate their own practices. Her recent work at Boston Court includes staged excerpts of Philip Glass’s Madrigal Opera, public development workshops of May Treuhaft-Ali’s Escapegoat, Julia Adolphe and Stephanie Fleishman’s new children’s opera, as well as world premieres of Kit Steinkellner’s Ladies, Sarah B. Mantell’s Everything That Never Happened, plus for Boston Court elsewhere, Luis Alfaro’s Mojada, A Medea in Los Angeles (The Getty Villa), Sheila Callaghan’s Everything You Touch (Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre at The Cherry Lane). Recently at other venues: The Father with Alfred Molina (The Pasadena Playhouse), Othello (A Noise Within), Jeanne Sakata’s Hold These Truths (San Diego Rep, Arena Stage), Aditi Kapil’s Orange (South Coast Rep), Stupid Fucking Bird (ACT, Seattle). She has received many awards and honors, among them the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle’s Margaret Harford Award for Sustained Excellence in Theatre.
Manuel Prieto, Executive Director, is a visionary leader who has tirelessly championed equitable arts access and engagement for the community of greater Los Angeles. He was formerly the Director of Education at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, and prior to that, Manny was the Executive Director of the Los Angeles Music and Art School (LAMusArt), a not-for-profit arts education institution in East Los Angeles with a 78-year history. Prior to joining LAMusArt, Prieto worked in the education department at Center Theatre Group coordinating accessibility programs at the Ahmanson Theatre, Mark Taper Forum and Kirk Douglas Theatre and implemented bilingual curriculum for their initiative “The Shop: Theatre in Your Everyday Life”. Prieto holds a B.F.A. from the University of Southern California in Theater Design and a M.A. in Nonprofit Management from Antioch University. He was co-chair of the Americans for the Arts Emerging Leaders Council, member of the steering committee of the Latinx Theatre Alliance-LA and a former LACDAC internship program participant and peer mentor.
Margaret Shigeko Starbuck, Associate Artistic Director
Nicki Heskin, General Manager
Tarlisha Johnson-Lee, Development Manager
Paloma Arielle W., Marketing & Communications Manager
Adrian Centeno, Literary Manager
Jesse Soto, Technical Director & Facilities Manager
Hannah Trujillo, Patron Services & Administrative Associate
EmmaJo Spencer, General Management Fellow
Jasmine Vigil, Literary Intern
Stephanie Sherwood, ArtUpfront Coordinator
Fanshen Cox, Social Impact Consultant
Michael Michetti, Artistic Director Emeritus
Ethan Haslam, Adrian Zamora, Tiana Randall-Quant – Box Office & Front of House Show Leads
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Edward Rada, Chair
Robert Leventer, Vice Chair
Kris Fujita, Secretary
Chris Werner, Treasurer
Liza Beres
Z. Clark Branson
Rodney Bolton
Walt Cochran-Bond
Jered Gold
Robin Green
Sandy Greenstein
Robbin Kelley
Damaris Montalvo
Michael Ruff
Tony Segall
Eileen T’Kaye
Nick Vasels
Joy Veluz