December 11, 2014
Asolo Repertory Theatre’s 2014-15 Season Continues
with David Lindsay-Abaire’s Good People
(SARASOTA, December 11, 2014) — Asolo Rep’s 2014-15 season continues with GOOD PEOPLE, David Lindsay-Abaire’s 2011 Tony® nominated play that cracks open the gritty world of the blue collar worker to reveal America’s often rigid social strata. Academy Award®-winning actress Frances McDormand received a Tony Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of the play’s central character, Margie Walsh, in 2011. This sharp comedy-infused drama opens Friday, January 16, 2015 at 8pm, with previews Wednesday, January 14 and Thursday, January 15 at 8pm. Directed by Greg Leaming, Associate Artistic Director of Asolo Rep and the Director of the FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training, GOOD PEOPLE will close on Sunday, March 1, 2015.
Margie Walsh has just been fired from yet another minimum-wage paying job in the impoverished South Boston neighborhood she never escaped. With an adult child with disabilities to care for, she lives paycheck to paycheck and is desperate to make ends meet. Her brief high school flame, Dr. Mike Dillon, has managed to break the “Southie” chain and is a successful, wealthy physician with a beautiful young wife and daughter. After more than 30 years apart, she visits Mike hoping to find a job and, instead, slowly unravels the tightly wound web of their messy, wrong-side-of-the-tracks adolescence.
“What makes this play so thrilling for me is that playwright David Lindsay-Abaire brings to it the same kind of absurd sense of humor and enormous heart that overflows in his plays like Fuddy Meers, Kimberly Akimbo, and the musicals Shrek and High Fidelity,” said Leaming. “Lindsay-Abaire has a winning sense of humor and such a passionate connection to his characters that, no matter where the plot might take them, these people always seem to have the kind of spirit that allows them to find hope in the darkest of situations. Margie may be struggling, but she has a sharp, edgy sense of humor that keeps her afloat at all times.”
Playwright, screenwriter and lyricist David Lindsay-Abaire is one of the most provocative and raw voices in American theatre and film. His 2006 play Rabbit Hole received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. He also wrote the screenplay for the film version of the play, which starred Nicole Kidman. Mr. Lindsay-Abaire wrote the book and lyrics for Shrek: The Musical.
GOOD PEOPLE continues the third season of Asolo Rep’s in-depth American Character Project, a five-year exploration of where the U.S. is as a nation and where it came from. GOOD PEOPLE poignantly delves into the explosive collision of class and race, an issue that remains a national and global hot topic.
“GOOD PEOPLE is a striking contemporary piece that deals with a very present economic reality,” said Michael Donald Edwards, producing artistic director of Asolo Rep. “Margie represents so many who are constrained by their upbringings and must truly fight to climb to another socioeconomic class. Playwright David Lindsay-Abaire has placed a magnifying glass on an impoverished South Boston neighborhood and, in turn, has artfully illuminated the challenges that this country must still overcome.”
CAST
(in order of appearance)
| Denise Cormier* Jory Murphy Peggy Roeder* Anne-Marie Cusson* Tim Grimm* Tyla Abercrumbie* |
Margaret Stevie Dottie Jean Mike Kate |
*Members of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.
SELECTED CREATIVE TEAM MEMBERS
| Director Scenic Designer Costume Designer Lighting Designer Sound Designer Hair/Wig & Make-Up Design |
Greg Leaming Bill Clarke Dane Laffrey Eric Southern Matt Parker Michelle Hart |
SELECTED ARTISTIC BIOS
(In Alphabetical Order)
TYLA ABERCRUMBIE* GUEST ARTIST, THIRD SEASON (Gertrude, The Matchmaker; Kate, Good People) is excited to return to Asolo Rep, under the direction of Peter Amster and Greg Leaming. She appeared in last season’s Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike and The Grapes of Wrath. Regional credits; Next Theatre, Northlight, TimeLine, The Goodman, Court Theatre, Portland Theatre Company, Pittsburgh Public, Milwaukee Repertory, ATL, St. Louis Black Repertory, Victory Garden, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Studio Arena, Onyx Theatre Company, Coronet Theatre. Film & Television Credits: The Poker House, Crisis, Low Winter Sun, The Mob Doctor, Chicago Code, Detroit 187, The Beast, ER, and the 2015 spring release of the film Unexpected.
DENISE CORMIER* GUEST ARTIST, FIRST SEASON (Margaret, Good People) credits include the Broadway national tour of The Graduate, the long-running Off-Broadway Bill W. and Dr. Bob, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis’ Good People, Actors Theatre of Louisville and Cleveland Play House’s Intimate Apparel, Indiana Repertory Theatre and Pioneer Theatre Company’s The Diary of Anne Frank, Northern Stage’s Clybourne Park, and the world premiere of Annapurna at Magic Theatre, as well as seasons at Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival and Theatre at Monmouth. Her TV and film credits include Law & Order CI, Six Degrees, Guiding Light and The Big Gay Musical. MFA: Shakespeare Theatre Company – Academy for Classical Acting at GWU. www.denisecormier.com
TIM GRIMM* GUEST ARTIST, SECOND SEASON (Mike, Good People) As an actor, Mr. Grimm’s regional theatre credits include work at Indiana Rep, Syracuse Stage, Steppenwolf, Victory Gardens, The Goodman, Centre Stage, Phoenix Theatre, Cleveland Play House, and The Chester Theatre. His film and TV credits are numerous and include Clear and Present Danger, opposite Harrison Ford and two seasons co-starring on NBC’s Reasonable Doubts. As an award-winning singer-songwriter, Tim tours North America and Europe with his unique brand of roots-folk-Americana music. He has released numerous recordings (most recently The Turning Point) that consistently reach the top of the Folk and Euro-Americana charts. Tim leads small group tours to Ireland and The Netherlands each year. For more information visit: www.timgrimm.com
GREG LEAMING TENTH SEASON (Director, FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training; Associate Artistic Director, Asolo Rep; Director, Good People) For Asolo Rep, he has directed his own translation/adaptation of Anything to Declare?; as well as Hearts; The Imaginary Invalid; The Play’s the Thing; Boeing, Boeing; The Game’s Afoot; Other Desert Cities; and the world premiere of Jason Wells’ Men of Tortuga. For the FSU/Asolo Conservatory, he has directed The School for Lies, Twelfth Night, Cloud Nine, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Pericles, Blue Window, Murder by Poe, and The Mystery Plays. He was the Director of Artistic Programming for Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, CT, as well as Acting Artistic Director for the 2001-2002 season. There he directed, among others, the world premieres of Going Native, Abstract Expression, The Third Army, Syncopation, and An Infinite Ache (also for Stamford Theatre Center, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park and Merrimack Repertory Theatre). Other credits include numerous productions around the country, including the world premieres of Losing Father’s Body, Church of the Sole Survivor, Jeffrey Hatcher’s The Turn of the Screw, as well as many other productions at Portland Stage Company, Contemporary American Theatre Festival, Philadelphia Drama Guild, Clarence Brown Theatre Company, Stage West, Shakespeare Sedona, Southwest Shakespeare, and Banyan Theater Company. His adaptation/translation of Pierre Feydeau’s Le Dindon titled The Patsy will premiere at the Resident Ensemble Players in Delaware in fall of 2015.
SPECIAL PUBLIC PROGRAMMING
Inside Asolo Rep
Wednesday, January 28 at 11am
FSU Center for the Performing Arts
Cook Theatre
Tickets for Inside Asolo Rep are $5 for the general public and free for donors and Asolo Rep Guild members.
Get a behind-the-scenes look at David Lindsay-Abaire’s Tony nominated Broadway play, GOOD PEOPLE. This panel discussion, led by Asolo Rep’s dramaturg/literary manager Lauryn Sasso, will feature Greg Leaming, director of GOOD PEOPLE and Asolo Rep’s Associate Artistic Director/Director of the FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training; and Peggy Roeder, who plays the role of Dottie in GOOD PEOPLE, as well as Dolly Levi in Asolo Rep’s upcoming production of The Matchmaker.
Inside Asolo Rep is sponsored by the Observer Media Group and Hotel Indigo.
Faces of Change
March 19 & 20; 7:30pm
FSU Center for the Performing Arts
Cook Theatre
Local residents lend their voices and their talents to our third annual documentary-style outreach production. Inspired by GOOD PEOPLE, we asked “When times are tough, what’s the hardest choice you have to make?”
Faces of Change is sponsored by the Koski Family Foundation and SunTrust Foundation
ONGOING PUBLIC PROGRAMMING
The Scoop
One hour prior to every performance of GOOD PEOPLE
Asolo Rep’s Mezzanine
Arrive early to get “The Scoop” from a member of the cast who will share the ideas and inspirations that contributed to the making of the production.
Tuesday Talkbacks
January 27, February 10 and February 24
Asolo Rep’s Mezzanine
Join us for an intimate post-show discussion with featured actors or guests following every Tuesday performance of GOOD PEOPLE.
Meet the Actors
Sunday, February 22
Asolo Rep’s Mertz Theatre
Immediately following the 2pm matinee, ask questions and learn more from members of the cast.
TICKETS
Tickets for GOOD PEOPLE and the entire 2014-2015 Asolo Repertory Theatre season are on sale now. Tickets for GOOD PEOPLE start at just $22. To purchase tickets, call 941.351.8000 or 800.361.8388, visit www.asolorep.org, or visit the Asolo Repertory Theatre Box Office, located in the lobby of the theatre. Asolo Repertory Theatre is located at 5555 North Tamiami Trail in the Florida State University Center for the Performing Arts. The box office is open Monday 10am – 4pm, Tuesday 10am – 7:30pm, Wednesday – Saturday 10am – 8pm, and Sunday 10am – 2pm. The box office closes at 5pm when there are no evening performances and phone lines close one hour prior to the start of any performance. Season subscription packages are also available online and by visiting or calling the box office.
SPONSORS
Asolo Rep is able to present GOOD PEOPLE because of the generosity of its sponsors. Corporate sponsors for GOOD PEOPLE are SRQ Magazine, Modern Events, and Gulf Coast Community Foundation. Asolo Rep’s major season sponsors are Florida State University, Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation, Gulf Coast Community Foundation, Designing Women Boutique, The Shubert Foundation, The Woman’s Exchange, Inc., and Tropical Cadillac. Asolo Rep’s artistic programs are paid for in part by Sarasota County Tourist Development Tax revenues. Asolo Rep is sponsored in part by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture.
