CAST
Dan Fenaughty *
(Jack) is grateful to be back on stage for his VSC debut. After this year's turmoil, he is honored to share a story that exemplifies the hopeful nature of our human spirits. These characters reach out to each other across time and distance to find love in uncertain times. I pray that if, and when, your life is touched by struggle you can access the same hope exemplified by Jack and Louise. My humble thanks to our talented crew, production team, and theater management staff who made this event possible. All my love to Larissa without whom this life, past year, and all my tomorrows would lack the joy, passion, and clarity that you bring. And my undying gratitude to all the service members and military families, like mine, who protect our country as we become a more perfect union. This role is dedicated to them.
Larissa Klinger *
(Louise) is overjoyed by your support of Live, Local theater in her VSC Debut! After growing up in an Army family that traveled the world, Larissa chose to pursue a performing career that has brought her around our country. Along with her theatre career, she has shared her talents with our military through the USO Show Troupe. Larissa hopes that you will join her in giving back to a community of service members and their families that need our support before, during, and after deployment. Thank you to all the people at VSC who made this event possible during these uncharted waters. All my love to Dan, my favorite scene partner.
CREATIVE TEAM
SEEMA SUEKO
(Director) grew up in Honolulu, with a Pakistani father and a Japanese American mother. Conversations about the arts, politics and community wove through her upbringing, stitching the tapestry of her core belief: theater is transformative and can contribute to building successful communities when we intentionally activate this art form for the public benefit. Now based in the Washington, D.C. region, Seema directs stage, film, consensus organizing and R&D projects and productions for theaters, think tanks, and the greater good. Seema previously served as Deputy Artistic Director of Arena Stage where she also directed, including the world premiere of Sharyn Rothstein's Right to be Forgotten. Other past leadership positions include Associate Artistic Director of Pasadena Playhouse and Co-Founder & Executive Artistic Director of Mo`olelo Performing Arts Company in San Diego. In addition, she has directed or acted in plays and musicals at theaters across the U.S. R&D projects include using theater to improve empathy, compassion, and well-being in older adults. She has won the NAACP San Diego Lorraine Hansberry Award, American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee Artistic and Cultural Achievement Award, Asian Pacific American Friends of the Theater Artist of the Year, San Diego Craig Noel Awards, and the California State Assembly Shirley N. Weber Award. Seema earned her M.A. in International Relations from the University of Chicago and she serves on the Boards of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society and the Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation. Seema has served as a panelist for the Yale Drama Prize, the Susan Blackburn Smith Prize, Creative Lab Hawaii, Playwrights' Center, National Endowment for the Arts, and other grants and prizes.
Alan E. Muraoka
(Set Designer) has worked in the entertainment industry as a production designer and art director for film and television, corporate communication as well as a theatrical set designer, having been honored with 2 Emmy nominations and 3 Art Directors’ Guild Award nominations. Splitting his time between New York and Los Angeles, Alan initially started his career as an assistant set designer in New York on Broadway shows and ballets. Alan began his career as a scenic designer while in grad school designing operas. After a 13 year hiatus from the theater to pursue a career in corporation communication and film/television design, Alan returned to the theater. Scenic designs have included “Our Town”, “Dead Man Walking”, and the musical “Oklahoma!” for Central City Opera. ”Iolanta”, “Thérèse Raquin”, “Fall of the House of Usher”, “The Consul” with Patricia Racette and the world premiere of Stewart Copeland and Jonathan Moore’s opera “The Invention of Morel” for Chicago Opera Theater and Long Beach Opera. In addition, Alan is also known for designing critically acclaimed site-specific productions for Long Beach Opera most notably of Ricky Ian Gordon’s “Orpheus and Euridice” with clarinetist Todd Palmer and soprano Elizabeth Futral, presented in an Olympic swimming pool and “The Diary of Anna Frank” presented in a subterranean parking garage. Most recently, Alan designed the Beaumarchais trilogy “Il Barbiere di Sivilia”, ”Figaro 90210”, and “The Ghosts of Versailles” for Chautuaqua Opera. Film and television production design credits include the television series “Maron” for FOX/FX channel and “The Adventures of Superboy” for Viacom, which earned Alan his first Emmy Nomination, as well as feature films “I Hate Kids” with Tom Everett Scott and Titus Burgess, “Dirty Girl” with Juno Temple, Milla Jovovich and Mary Steenburgen, “BaadAsssss!” with Mario Van Peebles, ”Edmond” with William H. Macy and “Sex, Death and Bowling” with Adrian Grenier, Selma Blair, and Drea de Matteo. In the new media genre, Alan has recently designed “Balzac’s Coffee” for The New Yorker Presents for Amazon with Paul Giamatti. Alan is currently the production designer for the television series “New Amsterdam” for NBC/Universal. Feature film art direction credits include “Little Miss Sunshine”, “Ghost World”, “Ace Ventura-Pet Detective”, “The Specialist”, “Washington Square”, “Liberty Heights”, and the television series “NYPD Blue” for which Alan received his second Emmy nomination.
JENI SCHAEFER
(Costume Designer and Costume Shop Manager) is the Resident Costume Designer and Costume Shop Manager at the Virginia Stage Company in her 19th season. Regional credits include: A Christmas Story at Arkansas Repertory Theatre, Hound of the Baskervilles at The Hangar and White Heron Theatre, Always...Patsy Cline PCPA Theatrefest, World premiere of Tom Jones for Florida Studio Theatre, Wit for Playmakers Repertory Theatre and over 50 VSC productions including; The Legend of Georgia McBride, Matilda, Secret Garden, Fun Home, Always…Patsy Cline, Crowns, The Hound of the Baskervilles, Pride and Prejudice, The Wiz, A Streetcar named Desire, Oliver, The Tempest, Grounded, Peter and the Starcatcher, All my Sons, The Great Gatsby, The Fantasticks, Death of a Salesman, Red, Around the World in 80 days, Crowns, Billy Bishop Goes to War, Hank Williams: Lost Highway, and A Christmas Carol. Jeni Schaefer holds a MAC in Theatre/Costume Design from Wichita State University. Thank you to my family Tony, Sara, and Ethan for being my inspiration and for always believing in me.
LYNNE M. HARTMAN
(Lighting Designer), based in Norfolk, is delighted to return to VSC and the USS Wisconsin for Dear Jack, Dear Louise. Other VSC designs: Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Venus in Fur, The Hampton Years, All My Sons, Peter and The Starcatcher, Taming of The Shrew, Honky Tonk Angels, The Tempest, and Swingtime Salute. Lynne is a freelance designer transplanted from Richmond. Virginia Repertory Theatre designs include Beauty and The Beast, Airline Highway, A Raisin In The Sun, Polkadots: The Cool Kids Musical, Gypsy, Mame (Emily Skinner), Other Desert Cities, Shrek!, Spring Awakening, Suessical, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (Jeff McCarthy), Legacy of Light (2011 RTCC Award) and The Sound of Music (2010 RTCC Award). For over 35 years Lynne has designed regionally for Company of Fools (Idaho), TheatreVirginia, Virginia Shakespeare Festival, Richmond Ballet, The Lost Colony, McCarter Theatre, Barksdale Theatre, Porthouse Theatre, Theatre IV and the Kings Dominion & Carowinds theme parks among others. Proud member of USA, Local 829.
Andre Pluess
(Sound Designer) is happy to make his Virginia Stage Company debut. Broadway: The Minutes, 33 Variations, I Am My Own Wife, Metamorphoses, and the world premiere of The Clean House at Yale Repertory and Lincoln Center. Regional credits include multiple productions for the Goodman, Steppenwolf, Court, Chicago Shakespeare, Oregon and California Shakespeare Festivals, The Guthrie, Berkeley Repertory, Arena Stage, and La Jolla Playhouse among others. Based in Chicago, Andre is an ensemble member of Lookingglass Theatre Company.
BRITTANY SANDFORD
(Stage Manager) is so excited to be the Production Stage Manager after last season's The Legend of Georgia McBride and spending the last five years acting as an Assistant Stage Manager, Wardrobe Supervisor, and Production Assistant at Virginia Stage Company. Regional Stage Manager Credits: Guys and Dolls (VSC), Santaland Diaries (VSC), Disgraced (VSC), Other Regional Credits in Wardrobe and Makeup Artistry: Hamilton (Chrysler Hall) The Color Purple (Norfolk State University), Always Patsy Cline (VSC), Les Misérables (Chrysler Hall), Book of Mormon (Chrysler Hall) and countless weddings in the Hampton Roads and Honolulu area.
Light Board Operator BRITTANY SANDFORD
Sound Board Operator J.C. NIGH
Wardrobe Supervisor MEG MURRAY
* Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States
SPECIAL THANKS
Hans Herst, Nauticus