Driving Miss Daisy
June 24 – 29
Driving Miss Daisy is the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Alfred Uhry. The place is the Deep South, the time 1948, just prior to the civil rights movement. Having recently demolished another car, Daisy Werthan, a rich, sharp-tongued Jewish widow of seventy-two, is informed by her son, Boolie, that henceforth she must rely on the services of a chauffeur. The person he hires for the job is a thoughtful, unemployed black man, Hoke, whom Miss Daisy immediately regards with disdain and who, in turn, is not impressed with his employer’s patronizing tone and, he believes, her latent prejudice. But, in a series of absorbing scenes spanning twenty-five years, the two, despite their mutual differences, grow ever closer and their relationship transforms from employer-employee to deep companionship as they navigate issues of race, class, and aging over several decades. This play later inspired the Academy Award-winning film of the same name starring Morgan Freeman and Jessica Tandy.
The run time of this production is 90 minutes without an intermission.
Performances
Wednesday, June 4
7:30PM
Gladys G. Davis Theater
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The Creative Team
Director – Jane Jones
Jane is the Founder and Founding Co-Artistic Director of Book-It Repertory Theatre in Seattle Washington. In her 30+ years dedication to staging literature she has directed, adapted, produced and acted in upwards of 120 Book-It world premiere adaptations. She directed with Tom Hulce The Cider House Rules which enjoyed successful runs in NYC (Atlantic Theatre, Drama Desk Nomination) L.A. (Mark Taper Forum, Ovation Award) Seattle Repertory Theatre, and Book-It (Gregory Awards). For Portland Center Stage she directed Pride and Prejudice, Cyrano de Bergerac, Great Expectations, and Twelfth Night (Drammy Award), She has guest taught/directed at The Juilliard School, Stanford University, the Universities of Arizona, Washington and Oregon, Drexel University and Cornish College of the Arts. As an actress of stage, film and TV, she has performed dozens of roles in many prominent regional theatres across the U.S, as well as productions in NYC (including one Broadway credit), but a favorite best career high was being on set with David Lynch acting in the original pilot of Twin Peaks. She is happy to be back at WVPT this summer after directing last summer’s delightful romp with the Steel Magnolias.
Dialect/Texts – Gary Logan
Currently Professor of Speech & Dialects at Carnegie Mellon University and Resident Dialect Coach at Everyman Theatre, Gary Logan has coached over 200 productions for stage, TV, and film. Regional credits include the Kennedy Center; Signature Theatre; Arena Stage; Studio Theatre; Ford’s Theatre; Folger Theatre; Shakespeare Theatre Company; Chautauqua Theater Company; & Denver Center Theatre Company. Internationally: Royal Shakespeare Company; & the Stratford Festival of Canada. He’s the author of The Eloquent Shakespeare: A Pronouncing Dictionary for the Complete Dramatic Works, With Notes to Untie the Modern Tongue (University of Chicago Press).
Scenic Designer – Maguire Glass
Maguire Glass is thrilled to return to WVPT with Driving Miss Daisy, serving as Scenic Designer. He made his scenic design debut with the company last season on Clue: On Stage and is excited to be back.
Costume Designer – Trace Swisher
Trace Swisher (he/him) is a recent graduate of West Virginia University, completing a BFA Theatre Design & Technology and BSJ Advertising and Public Relations dual-degree. Some of his recent works include Anatomy of a Suicide, Steel Magnolias and The Final Girl Exodus (Costume Designer), Carrie: The Musical and Clue: On Stage (Asst. Costume Designer), For Whom the Southern Belle Tolls, Sister Mary Ignatius Explains it All for You, and The God of Carnage (Director).
Lighting Designer – Alan McEwen
Alan McEwen is currently the Clinical Professor of Lighting and Sound Design at West Virginia University’s School of Theatre and Dance. Alan has designed numerous productions for WVU as well as Whitman College. Other workplaces include Idaho Repertory theatre, Colorado Shakespeare Festival, Mountain State Repertory, and other companies in various capacities. Alan earned his MFA in Lighting from the University of Oregon. Recent designs include Sherlock: The Final Adventure and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time with WVPT, and The Skriker with WVU.
Sound Designer – Lex Allenbaugh
Lex Allenbaugh is excited to return to her roots at WVPT for “Driving Miss Daisy”. Based in DC, her recent DMV area sound design credits include “A Bright Room Called Day” (Nu Sass Productions) and “Pliant Girls” (Theatre Prometheus). Past WVPT sound design credits include “Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure” and “The Mountaintop”. Lex would like to thank K.S.
for his continuous support of her creative endeavors. Visit Lex’s website “lexallenbaugh.com” for a more in depth scope of her work and upcoming productions!
Stage Manager – Rachel Rock
Recent credits include: Stage Manager for the Chicago Opera Festival, Stage Manager for Music Theatre Works’ Guys and Dolls, Stage Manager for IU Jacobs School of Music’s Pop-Up Opera, and Stage Management Intern for Cirque du Soleil’s KÀ. Originally from West Virginia, Rachel earned her BFA in Theatre Design and Technology with a focus on Stage Management from West Virginia University. Now based in Chicago as a Freelance Entertainment Manager, she is excited to return to WVPT for the summer!
The Cast
Daisy – Carol Halstead
Carol has worked on and off Broadway and extensively in regional theatre around the country. Last season with WVPT she played Ouiser in “Steel Magnolias”.
Most recently Carol was the standby for both Patti Lupone & Mia Farrow in the Broadway production of “The Roommate”. Other roles include: Doris in “Pocatello”, Margaret Quinn in the world premiere adaptation of Elin Hilderbrand’s “Winter Street”, Martha in “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf”, Lady Bracknell in “The Importance of Being Earnest”, Nora in “A Doll’s House, Part 2”, Dotty in “Noises Off”, Masha in “Vanya, Sonia, Masha, & Spike”, Jean in “Good People”, Barbara in “August: Osage County”, Gertrude in “Hamlet”, Lady Macbeth in “Macbeth”, Celeste in “Into the Breeches” & The National Tour of CS Lewis’s “The Great Divorce”.
Carol lives in New York City where she trains as a 4th degree black belt in Seido Karate. She is a graduate of F.S.U. & San Francisco’s American Conservatory Theatre.
TV: Madame Secretary, Elementary, Law & Order.
Upcoming films: Books & Drinks, Damages and Collisions.
carolhalstead.com, @carol_halstead
Hoke – Eugene Nesmith
Eugene Nesmith is a Professor Emeritus of Theatre at CCNY and the Founding Artistic Director of the New Haarlem Arts Theatre (NHAT). He has performed and directed in New York and Regional Theatres across the country, such as The Chairs adapted from Eugene Ionesco by Theodora Skipitares at LaMama, Oyamo’s Let Me Live at the Clurman Theatre (NYC), and Julius Caesar for Shakespeare and Company. He recently directed James Baldwin’s Blues for Mister Charlie, and August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom for NHA). NYU – Ph.D., MFA – UCSD. gene0255@gmail.com
Boolie – Jon Stutzman
Jon is excited to be working with West Virginia Public Theatre for the first time! He spends his time living, acting, and hiking in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, calling Seattle his home. In Seattle, Jon has appeared in productions at Book-It Repertory Theatre, A Contemporary Theatre (ACT), Seattle Shakespeare Company, and Taproot Theatre. In Chicago, he has performed with companies such as Shattered Globe Theatre, Raven Theatre, Lifeline Theatre, The Artistic Home, Steep Theatre, and the Building Stage (where he was a company member), and toured nationally for two years in Defamation: The Play with Canamac Productions. Special thanks to Megan.