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AUGUST WILSON (Playwright, April 27, 1945 - October 2, 2005). August Wilson authored Gem of the Ocean, Joe Turner's Come and Gone, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, The Piano Lesson, Seven Guitars, Fences, Two Trains Running, Jitney, King Hedley II, and Radio Golf. These works explore the heritage and experience of African Americans, decade-by-decade, over the course of the twentieth century. Mr. Wilson's plays have been produced at regional theaters across the country and all over the world, as well as on Broadway. In 2003, Mr.. Wilson made his professional stage debut in his one-man show, How I Learned What I Learned. Mr. Wilson's works garnered many awards, including Pulitzer Prizes for Fences (1987); and for The Piano Lesson (1990); a Tony Award for Fences; Great Britain's Olivier Award for Jitney; as well as seven New York Drama Critics Circle Awards for Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Fences, Joe Turner's Come and Gone, The Piano Lesson, Two Trains Running, Seven Guitars, and Jitney. Additionally, the cast recording of Ma Rainey's Black Bottom received a 1985 Grammy Award, and Mr. Wilson received a 1995 Emmy Award nomination for his screenplay adaptation of The Piano Lesson. Mr. Wilson's early works included the one-act plays: The Janitor, Recycle, The Coldest Day of the Year, Malcolm X, The Homecoming and the musical satire Black Bart and the Sacred Hills. Mr. Wilson received many fellowships and awards, including Rockefeller and Guggenheim Fellowships in Playwrighting, the Whiting Writers Award, 2003 Heinz Award, was awarded a 1999 National Humanities Medal by the President of the United States, and received numerous honorary degrees from colleges and universities, as well as the only high school diploma ever issued by the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. He was an alumnus of New Dramatists, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a 1995 inductee into the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and on October 16, 2005 Broadway named the theater located at 245 West 52nd Street "The August Wilson Theatre." Mr. Wilson was born and raised in the Hill District of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and lived in Seattle, Washington at the time of his death. He is immediately survived by his two daughters, Sakina Ansari and Azula Carmen Wilson, and his wife, costume designer Constanza Romero.
LOU BELLAMY (Director) is founder and artistic director of Saint Paul's Penumbra Theatre. During his thirty-year tenure as artistic director, Penumbra has evolved into one of America's premier theaters dedicated to dramatic exploration of the African-American experience. Under his leadership, Penumbra has produced 20 world premiers, including August Wilson's first professional production, and is proud to have produced more of Mr. Wilson's plays than any theater in the world. Bellamy is an accomplished professional director, actor, and scholar. Representative directing assignments include: Grandchildren of the Buffalo Soldiers, Zooman and the Sign, Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill, On the Open Road, Dinah Was!, King Hedley II, Black Eagles, Louie and Ophelia, Riffs, Blues for an Alabama Sky, Hospice, Three Ways Home, African Company Presents Richard III, Little Tommy Parker Celebrated Colored Minstrel Show, Buffalo Hair, Seven Guitars, Portrait of the Artist As A Soul Man Dead, Raisin in the Sun, Two Trains Running, The Mighty Gents, Jitney, Someplace Soft to Fall , Angels in America, Shorteyes, A Lie of the Mind, Tod, the Boy Tod, Wedding Band, The Darker Face of the Earth, and Big White Fog. Outside of Penumbra Theatre, Mr. Bellamy has accepted directing assignments at Kansas City Repertory, Arizona Theatre Company, Guthrie, and Trinity Repertory theaters. He holds degrees from Mankato State, Minnesota, and Hamline universities and is appointed to the teaching faculty of the University of Minnesota's Theatre and Dance Department at the rank of Associate Professor. Bellamy was appointed a McKnight Fellow to the Salzburg Seminar in Theater, convened at Schloss Leopoldskron in 1996. He is the 2006 McKnight Distinguished Artist and has been honored with numerous other awards including The W. Harry Davis Foundation Award for Excellence in Afro-centric Education, The Minnesota Martin Luther King, Jr. Humanitarian Award, The National Association of Negro Musicians, Inc. Distinguished Contribution Award, The First Bank Sally Ervine Ordway Arts Award of Commitment, and the first ever IVEY Award for Lifetime Achievement.
LEON ADDISON BROWN (Hambone). Broadway: On the Waterfront; Prelude to a Kiss (u/s); Someone Who'll Watch Over Me. Off-Broadway: The Alexander Plays (Signature Theatre Company) The Lights (Lincoln Center Theater); Before It Hits Home (Second Stage); A Tempest (UBU Rep). Regional: The Exonerated (Harfordford Theatre Works); Julius Caesar (Shakespeare Theatre of NJ); Bus Stop (Williamstown Theatre Festival); Master Harold...and the Boys (Westport Country Playhouse). Film: The Whirly Girl; Music of the Heart; Hamlet; The Associate; The Edge; Mandela Was Late. Television: "The Jury," "Law & Order," "Help." Training: North Carolina School of the Arts.
CHAD L. COLEMAN (Sterling). Off-Broadway: Elle (w/Alan Cumming); Force Continuum (Atlantic Theatre Co); Living in the Wind (American Place Theatre); North Atlantic (w/ Willem Dafoe & Steve Buscemi - Wooster Group); Joe Turner's Come and Gone (New Federal Theatre, dir. Clinton Turner Davis); Watch of the Nightingales (Naked Angels); Man in the Polyester Suit (Playwrights Horizons, dir. Pam Berlin), Admissions (dir. Austin Pendelton), Miss Evers' Boys. National Tour: The Exonerated (dir. Bob Balaban). Regional: House Arrest (dir. Anna Deavere Smith, Mark Taper Forum); Othello (w/Patrick Stewart, dir. Jude Kelly - Shakespeare Theatre). Television: "The Wire" (HBO, Series Regular), "Numbers," "Law & Order: SVU."
FRANKIE FAISON (Memphis). Thanks and dedication to: Lloyd Richards, August Wilson, Joseph Papp, Mr. Pitchford, John Ficca, Harold Guskin, Nannie Grandberry and Carrie Brown. And the Faisons: Edgar (Ike), Carmena, Jane, Blake, Amanda, Rachel and Derek Faison! A play: Fences. A film: Coming to America. A TV series: "The Wire." A truth: I am always thrilled to be doing theatre. A proud member of AEA since 1973.
ARTHUR FRENCH (Holloway). Broadway: Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, The River Niger, The Iceman Cometh, Death of a Salesman, Design for Living, You Can't Take It with You, All God's Chillun Got Wings, Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death. Off-Broadway: Driving Miss Daisy, Fly, Living in the Wind. Film: Music of the Heart, The Out of Towners, Kinsey, Round Midnight, Car Wash. Founding member of original Negro Ensemble Co.; OBIE award for Sustained Excellence of Performance.
RON CEPHAS JONES (Wolf) Theatre: Prince in Romeo & Juliet (Williamstown Theatre Festival), Rooftop in Our Lady of 121st St., (Labyrinth Theatre and Union Square Theatre), Lucius Jenkins in Jesus Hopped the A-Train (Labyrinth Theatre, London: Donmar Theatre and Arts Theatre), The Wooden Breeks (Lucille Lortel Theatre); Richard III, Satellites, Everybody's Ruby (Public Theatre), Jose Rivera's Massacre: Sing to Your Children (Labyrinth Theatre: Public Theatre), Othello (London's Royal Theatre), The Exonerated (Culture Project), "TeeVee" in Black Codes from the Underground (Lincoln Center Theatre), "Silas" in Holiday Heart (MTC), House Arrest (Arena Stage), Thunder Knocking on the Door (Yale Rep - Connecticut Critic's Circle Award: Outstanding Actor in a Play), Don't Explain (Nuyorican Poet's Café - Audelco Best Actor Award). Film: Across the Universe; Carlito's Way; Riser & Fall; He Got Game; and Woody Allen's Sweet and Low Down. Independent Film: On the One, Little Senegal, A Day in Black and White, Murder Magic, Bachelor's Club, Naked Acts, Real Men, Sex & Friendship. Television: "Law & Order," "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," "All My Children," "NYPD Blue," "Feds," and "NY Undercover."
JANUARY LAVOY (Risa). Off-Broadway: Joy. Regional: world premieres of Christopher Durang's Mrs. Bob Cratchit's Wild Christmas Binge (City Theatre); Dael Orlandersmith's Raw Boys (Wilma Theatre); and Keith Glover's Jazzland (Contemporary American Theatre Festival); Stella, A Streetcar Named Desire, Portia, The Merchant of Venice, Dawn, Lobby Hero (Denver Center Theatre Company); The Piano Lesson (Pittsburgh Public Theatre). Film: War of the Worlds. Television: "3 lbs.," "Law & Order," "Law & Order: SVU," "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," "One Life to Live," "Guiding Light," "All My Children." MFA: National Theatre Conservatory (Denver). Proud member of Actor's Equity.
ED WHEELER (West) is a native New Yorker. (Brooklyn) Appeared last season as Howard in Arena Stage's production of Cuttin' Up. Other theatre credits include: Dance on Widows' Row (Henry Street Settlement), The Death of Papa (Hartford Stage), Zooman and the Sign (Second Stage Theatre), East Texas Hot Links (Public Theatre), The Gang on the Roof (Capitol Rep). Film: Broadcast News, Godzilla, Presumed Innocent, Drop Squad, Daylight, Copland, Thinner, Mickey Blue Eyes, The Core of the Apple, Head of State, The World According to Coltrane. Television: "Law & Order," "The Cosby Show," "New York Undercover," "Love Songs," "Third Watch," "Soul Food," "The Good Life," "Whoopi," "Hope & Faith," "The Chris Rock Show." He has been heard throughout the years on national television and radio commercials.
CONSTANZA ROMERO (Associate Artist). Ms. Romero's Costume Design credits include: Broadway: Seven Guitars, The Piano Lesson and Gem of the Ocean (Tony nomination.) Regional theatres: Goodman Theatre, Huntington Theatre Company, Mark Taper Forum (2003 Ovation Award for Best Costume Design, Gem of the Ocean); The Oregon Shakespeare Festival; Crossroads Theatre Company; Intiman Theatre in Seattle; A Contemporary Theatre; Indiana Repertory Theatre; Yale Repertory Theatre; Milwaukee Repertory Theater; The Acting Company, New Mexico Repertory Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Shakespeare Santa Cruz and Ahmanson Theater in Los Angeles. Ms. Romero taught costume design at the University of Washington, as well as scenic design at the University of California at Santa Cruz. Additionally, Ms. Romero designed the artwork for both the Broadway productions and publications of The Piano Lesson and Seven Guitars. Ms. Romero received an MFA from the Yale School of Drama and currently resides in Seattle with Azula Carmen Wilson, her daughter with her late husband, August Wilson.
DEREK MCLANE (Set Design). Broadway: The Pajama Game (2006 Tony nom; Tony Award, Best Revival); The Threepenny Opera; Little Women; I Am My Own Wife (Tony Award, Best Play); Barefoot in the Park; Lestat; The Women; Present Laughter; London Assurance; Holiday; Honour; Summer and Smoke; The Three Sisters. Off-Broadway: Macbeth (Shakespeare in the Park); Hurlyburly; Abigail's Party; Modern Orthodox; The Great American Trailer Park Musical; Aunt Dan and Lemon; The Creadeux Canvas; What the Butler Saw; Servicemen; East is East; suburbia; The Waverly Gallery; Macbeth (Shakespeare in the Park); Hello Again; Saturday Night. Regional: Sondheim Celebration at the Kennedy Center and productions at most of the major US resident theatres and operas. Awards: 1997 and 2004 OBIE Awards for Sustained Excellence in Scenic Design; 1997 Drama League Award for Harmony at La Jolla Playhouse; 2003 Michael Merritt Award; 6 Drama Desk Nominations; 2004, 2005 Lucille Lortel Awards.
MATHEW J. LEFEBVRE (Costume Design). Off-Broadway: Bach at Leipzig (New York Theatre Workshop); set design: Shapiro and Smith Dance, Anytown and Notes From a Séance (The Joyce) Regional: Fifteen productions at The Guthrie Theatre including: She Loves Me, Pride and Prejudice, Wintertime, Merrily We Roll Along, and The School for Scandal; Jitney, Raisin in the Sun, and Two Trains Running (The Kansas City Rep), Jitney and Joe Turner's Come and Gone (Penumbra Theatre). Other regional credits: The Milwaukee Rep, Arizona Theatre Company, Trinity Rep, Theatre de la Jeune Lune, Geffen Playhouse, and American Players Theatre.
ROBERT WIERZEL (Lighting Design). Mr. Wierzel has worked in Theatre, Dance, New Music, Museums and Opera, with artists from diverse disciplines and backgrounds, on stages throughout the country and abroad. Regional theatre credits include Arena Stage; Shakespeare Theatre; Milwaukee Rep; Chicago Shakespeare; Hartford Stage; Long Wharf; Goodman Theatre; Guthrie; Mark Taper Forum; Westport Country Playhouse and the Berkley Rep, among others. Opera credits include productions with opera companies of Paris; Berlin; Tokyo; Toronto; Boston; San Diego; San Francisco; Seattle; Virginia; Chicago; Glimmerglass and New York City Opera among others. Additional credits include productions at the Roundabout Theatre Company; New York Shakespeare Festival; MCC; the Signature Theatre and on Broadway (David Copperfield's debut Dreams and Nightmares). Numerous collaborations with Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance (Bessie awards) and Philip Glass including Hydrogen Jukebox (American Theatre Wing Award). MFA from the Yale School of Drama and serves as a faculty member of the Design Department at NYU Tisch School of the Arts.
BRETT JARVIS (Sound Design). Theatre: Kiki and Herb - Alive on Broadway!; The Cherokee Historical Association's retelling of Unto These Hills (Cherokee, NC); Bill Irwin's Mr. Fox: A Rumination, The Regard Evening, and Harlequin Studies; Landscape of the Body and The Trip to Bountiful (Signature Theatre Company); and Best of Both Worlds (Women's Project Theatre); People Be Heard (Playwrights Horizons); Avenue Q (Lucille Lortel Award 2003); The Karaoke Show; Lypsinka! As I Lay Lip-Synching; Eli's Comin', Swimming with Watermelons; Brutal Imagination (Vineyard Theatre - Lucille Lortel Nomination 2002, co-design), Music Theatre Group's Running Man; Mark Dendy's Dream Analysis; The Donkey Show. Dance: National Tour of Donald Byrd and Duke Ellington's The Harlem Nutcracker, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Ivy Baldwin Dance, and Maureen Fleming's After Eros and Decay of the Angel. Brett holds a degree in Sound Score Design from The North Carolina School of the Arts.
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