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Cast:
Frances - Karen Arnold
Meredith - Linda Metz
Trisha - Sandy Squillo
Georgeanne - Bridget Bittman
Mindy - Roxanne Taylor
Tripp - Bill Busch
Synopsis:
Eavesdrop with us on five bridesmaids who are going through
"wedding hell"--outlandish hairdos and ugly identical
dresses-- as they dish the dirt in an upstairs bedroom during a grand,
Southern-style wedding reception. It's a raucous, raunchy comedic romp
about life, love, men, marriage and intimacy as seen through the eyes of
five very different, yet similar women.
About the Author
By Carin Klock
Alan Ball, a Georgia native, studied acting and playwriting at the
University of Florida before heading to New York to seek his fame
and fortune. He was a founding member of the Theater Company Alarm
Dog Rep, where he wrote, acted in and directed a variety of plays
and revues. Inevitably several of his plays were produced at various
venues off-off and off-Broadway.
In
1993 Five Women Wearing the
Same Dress, what is perhaps his best known play, debuted at
Manhattan Class Company and caught the attention of Hollywood. In
1994 producers Marcy Carsey and Tom Werner offered him a chance to
write scripts for their sitcom, "Grace Under Fire" (ABC).
The following season he began writing for
"Cybill" (CBS), where he spent three seasons
(1995-98) and rose through the ranks from coproducer to coexecutive
producer.
All
the while, Ball was concentrating on an idea for a play loosely
inspired by the real-life case of Amy Fisher, a Long Island teenager
who, after becoming involved with an older married man, shot his
wife. Ball spent several years refining his version, which morphed
into a dark comedy-drama that served as his first produced
screenplay, American Beauty,
which won him the 1999 Academy Award® for Best Original Screenplay.
Continuing with his success, Ball is currently writing for the HBO
hit series “Six Feet Under.”
Director’s Corner
Have
you ever wanted to sneak into a place where you didn’t belong?
Ever wanted to be a voyeur in a secret world?
Well, I have been just such a secret visitor for the past six weeks
as we’ve been rehearsing Five
Women Wearing the Same Dress.
Even
though I’ve lived with women all my life, starting with my mother
and sister and now eight years into my second marriage, the world of
women still remains mysterious to me.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m very familiar with the world I
share with the women I know. If
men are from Mars and women are from Venus, I’ve spent lots of
time with the aliens on this neutral meeting ground we call Earth.
I like spending time with them here very much.
However, I’ve only infrequently been able to sneak to their
home planet to find out what they are like when they are alone with
their own kind — when their guards are down a bit because they are
not actively engaged in either the dance of attraction or the
eternal battle with the opposite sex.
Doing a play that is set so squarely in the world of women
has been a venture as foreign to me as doing a play set in ancient
China. And believe me,
I’m very grateful to our male playwright, Alan Ball, for providing
us such a detailed and rich vision of that world.
All
through the rehearsal process I’ve had to ask a lot of questions
of the women, many of them quite technical –
“How long does it take to put on nail polish?
Can you wear your bra like that comfortably? Would a woman
actually do that? Do
bracelets come with different kinds of clasps?
Can you do that with her hair? What
part of a man do you find sexiest?”
My thanks to all of the cast members and to the female crew
members for their patience, and for helping me through the rehearsal
process with my many research queries.
Of
course, much of the work we’ve done has been in the order of what
is done in every show – finding out what these characters need,
what they fear, and how they relate to each other.
I was so fortunate to work with this cast, because they
immediately bonded together in a way that parallels the way the
characters do in the play. So,
the residents of Venus provided the all-important and ever-elusive
quality of cast chemistry, and they were very willing to let us few
Martians, Terry the stage manager, Bill (Tripp), and me into their
group as well.
So
for those of you who hail from Venus, we hope you recognize and
relate to the imaginary view of your homeland we’ve created for
you. To my fellow
Martians who wonder what women talk about in the restroom, when left
alone at parties, and over the phone with each other, here is a peek
into that secret world (and no, I couldn’t believe it either!).
Tony
Vezner
Director
More Photos Page 2
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Production Credits:
Director, Tony
Vezner
Technical Director, Shelley
Dotson
Stage Manager, Terry
Locke
Assistant Stage
Manager, Cassandra
Johnson
Costume Designers,
Linda
Bremer, Mary Pavia
Costume Crew, Christine
Peterson, Jane Stacy, Dorothy Tressler
Dramaturg, Carin
Klock
Lighting Designer, Angelee
Johns
Lighting Crew, Peggy
Carlson, Mark Favoino, Mary Ellen Schutt
Makeup Designer, Stephanie
Abramowitz
Makeup Crew, Beverly
Bochenek, Peg Callaghan, Holly Cejka, Ann Marie Hultgren, Julie Knoch,
Laura Leonardo-Ownby, Jenny Maurer, Carolyn Redding, Ginny Richardson,
Nancy Schifo, Jackie Weiher
Program Editor, Mary
Maureen Gentile
Program Crew, Alison
Burkhardt, Cheri Campbell
Properties Designers, Judy
DiVita, Mary O’Dowd
Properties Crew, Brian
Centers, Carol Clarke, Danna Durkin, Bill Fitzgerald, Bonnie Hilton,
Dennis Hudson
Set Designer, Tom
Squillo
Set Construction, Tom
Squillo
Set Construction
Crew, Bryon
Abramowitz, Mark Favoino, Tim Feeney, Peter Sonnenberg, Tom Frohnapfel,
Harry Hultgren, Mike Huth, Mike Pavia
Set Painting Chair,
Susan
Remy, Tricia Boren
Set Painting Crew, Suzanne
Anthoney, Brian
Centers, Peter Sonnenberg, Karen Holbert, Jan Mahlstedt, Sandy Squillo, Tony Vezner
Sound Designer, Stephanie Williams
Sound Crew, Bryon Abramowitz, Jack Calvert,
Jon
Gensen, Martha Niles
Production Box Office, Mary
Ellen Schutt
Production Box Office Crew, Peg
Callaghan, Ruth Cekal, George Dempsey, Janet Ryan Grasso, JoAnn Mallon,
Jill Neeley,
Lori
B. Proksa, Joan Roeder, Carol Suda
Production Group Sales, Karen
Holbert
Production House Managers, Susan
Cardamone, Mike De Kovic,
Joe
Delaloye, George Dempsey, Jim Dutton,
Karen
Holbert, Jon Mills, Bill Wilson
Production Lobby Photo Display, Marjorie
Mason Heffernan, Jane Stacy
Production Posters, Kathleen
Kusper
Production Publicity Chair, Arlene
Page
Program Advertising Sales, Cheri
Campbell
Production Website, Judy
DiVita
Annual
Committee Chairs
Activator, Ginny
Richardson
Active Members, Denny
Wise
Actives Newsletter, Bonnie
Hilton
Activities, Angelee
Johns, Mary O’Dowd
Archives, Marjorie
Mason Heffernan
Box Office, Mary
Ellen Schutt
Budget and Finance, Bill
Rotz
Building and Grounds, Joe
Delaloye
By-Laws Review, George
Dempsey
Costumes, Linda
Bremer
Costumes Technician, Chris
Gavlin, Julie Suarez
Development, Mary
Ellen Druyan
Directors Workshop, Edward
Wavak
Front Row Center, Mary
Maureen Gentile
Group Sales, Carol
Clarke, Karen Holbert
Guest Director Selection, Dave
Bremer
Hospitality, Lisa
Machak
House Managers, Bill
Wilson
Librarians, Liz
Egan, Paulette Sarussi
Lighting, Benton
Bullwinkel
Lighting Technician, Cal
Turner
Lobby Archive Photo Display, Rob
Pold
Lobby Decorations, Jane
Stacy
Makeup, Bridget
Bittman
Office Support, Bill
Hammack, Fred Sauers, Sue Turner
Play Selection and Casting, Jill
Neely
Production Coordinator, Carol
Dapogny
Assistant Production Coordinator, Karen Holbert
Program Advertising,
Cheri
Campbell
Programs, Mary
Maureen Gentile
Properties, Pat
Huth
Properties Technician, Kathleen
Kusper
Publicity, Arlene
Page
Recognition, Noel
Smith
Safety, Marjorie
Mason Heffernan, Fred Sauers
Set Construction, Mike
Huth
Set Painting Technician, Donna
Marie Kanak
Sound, Stephanie
Williams
Sound Technician, Stephanie
Rychlowski
Strategic Marketing, Joe
Petrolis
Website, Judy
DiVita
Acknowledgments:
Produced
by special arrangement with Dramatists
Play Service Inc.
Special
Thanks:
Gingiss
Formalwear in LaGrange for the use of Tripp’s tuxedo.
About the Play
By Carin Klock
The
ladies boudoir, a sacred place for vanity, secrets, crying,
gossiping and hiding - the ideal sanctuary for reluctant bridesmaids
during a wedding reception. There’s Frances, a painfully sweet but
sheltered fundamentalist; Meredith, the bride’s younger sister
whose precocious rebelliousness masks a dark secret; Trisha, a jaded
beauty whose die-hard cynicism about men is called into question
when she meets Tripp, a charming usher; Georgeanne, whose heartbreak
over her own failed marriage triggers outrageous behavior; and Mindy,
cheerful, wise-cracking, and the lesbian sister of the groom. As the
reception progresses, these five very different women discover their
common bond in the retreat of the boudoir.
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