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Los Angeles, CA – Andak Stage Company presents a Tony Award winning play based on the life of Joseph Merrick, who lived in the Victorian era and became known for the extreme deformity of his body. Dignity triumphs in this disconcerting and uplifting account of a man so intensely challenged every day of his life.
Bernard Pomerance (Playwright) attended the University of Chicago and later moved to London when he was in his early thirties, where he is now based. After arriving in England, he began working with small, innovative theatre groups. With director Roland Rees, he founded the Foco ...Read More
Los Angeles, CA – Andak Stage Company presents a Tony Award winning play based on the life of Joseph Merrick, who lived in the Victorian era and became known for the extreme deformity of his body. Dignity triumphs in this disconcerting and uplifting account of a man so intensely challenged every day of his life.
Bernard Pomerance (Playwright) attended the University of Chicago and later moved to London when he was in his early thirties, where he is now based. After arriving in England, he began working with small, innovative theatre groups. With director Roland Rees, he founded the Foco Novo theatre group, which produced Pomerance’s early plays. The Elephant Man was first produced at the Hampstead Theatre and soon moved to New York where it eventually opened on Broadway, garnering numerous awards and nominations. After writing two more plays, Quantrill in Lawrence (1980) and Melons (1985), Pomerance finally published his first novel, We Need to Dream All This Again, in 1987.
Director John DeMita has helmed over 25 productions, including, including Andak’s 2008 production of Betrayal (nominated for Revival of the Year by the LA Weekly), the multi-award nominated Southern California premiere of Martin Crimp's The Misanthrope and As You Like It at the Vital Express Center. His credits include work at the Antaeus Company, the Geffen Playhouse, Pacific Resident Theatre, ACT, Seattle’s Intiman Theater, the Oregon Shakespeare festival, and the Williamstown Theater Festival. In addition, he was a series regular on Comedy Central's The Clinic, and has guest-starred in numerous films, and television shows (most recently CSI and Eyes). As a voice actor he was the voice of action star Jet Li in 11 movies.
Andak Stage Company has been in existence for five years, opening its first season with the West Coast premiere of Agustín Moreto’s Spite for Spite in February 2004 in Los Angeles—and touring it to the International Siglo de Oro Festival in El Paso, where it received the Walker Reid Award for Translation and the Franklin G. Smith Award for Production. Since then ASC has produced six world premieres and three L.A. premieres, including four original plays and two new classical translations, garnering four more awards for playwrighting, translation, acting, and production. In its third season (2007-2008), the Company broke new ground by including Los Angeles premieres of new classical adaptations (Martin Crimp’s The Misanthrope) and contemporary plays (David Hare’s The Bay At Nice, Harold Pinter’s Betrayal) in it repertoire along with world premieres of new plays and new translations. It fourth season opened with John W. Lowell’s critically acclaimed The Letters; The Elephant Man is its eleventh production.
THE ELEPHANT MAN opens May 16th and runs through June 21, 2009. Performances Thursdays-Saturdays at 8:00pm and Sundays 3:00pm at the New Place Studio Theatre, 10950 Peach Grove Street in North Hollywood, CA 91601. Tickets are $25 and may be purchased by calling (866) 811-4111 or on-line through www.theatermania.com or a link on www.Andak.org.
Producer Dakin Matthews (a memorable Dick Cheney in Stuff Happens at Mark Taper Forum, and LADCC award recipient for Water & Power) is the Artistic Director of the Andak Stage Company, the Founding Artistic Director Emeritus of The Antaeus Company and a founding member of John Houseman's Acting Company. Dakin has produced or co-produced all seven of Andak’s productions, acted in four of them, written three of them, and translated two. He is a member of both the Motion Picture and Television Academies with over 40 years of acting experience and is also a director, dramaturge, Shakespeare scholar, acting teacher, and Emeritus Professor of English from California State University East Bay.
Anne McNaughton (Producer) is the Associate Artistic Director of Andak Stage Company and directed previous productions of Spite for Spite and The Bay At Nice, and world premieres of The Letters, The Prince of L.A., The Savannah Option, A Magic Christmas, Don Juan The Trickster of Seville, and her own Molière update, San Fran Scapin. She was the Artistic Director of the Valley Shakespeare Festival in Saratoga and a founding member of both the Antaeus Company and John Houseman's Acting Company, for which she directed U.S.A. off-Broadway. She was a Resident Director at San Jose Rep, California Actors Theatre, Berkeley Stage Company, and Berkeley Shakespeare Festival, and taught and directed in the American Conservatory Theatre's advanced training program. She is a member of the first graduating class of the Juilliard Drama Division and holds a graduate degree in directing from Stanford University. Most recently, she directed The Prince of L.A. and Collected Stories at the Old Globe, Twelfth Night for Company Rep, and The Liar, The Proof of the Promise, Trial By Jury and The Will for the Antaeus Company.
Andrew Matthews (Frederick Treves, Belgian Policeman #1) is a longtime member of the Andak Stage Company. He played Scapin in San Fran Scapin, Catalinon in Don Juan the Trickster of Seville, and Father Kieran O’Reilly in The Prince of L.A. He has also appeared in productions at South Coast Repertory Theatre, Kingsmen Shakespeare Festival, and the Old Globe in San Diego. He recently received his MFA from the Academy of Classical Acting at The George Washington University.
Norman Snow (Carr Gomm, Belgian Policeman #2, Conductor) appeared in the Andak Stage Company of Martin Crimp's The Misanthrope. On Broadway Mr. Snow appeared in The School for Scandal, The Beggar's Opera, Macbeth, Inherit the Wind, The Robber Bridegroom, Edward II, The Three Sisters, Scenes and Revelations, The Time of Your Life, Measure for Measure, and Next Time I'll Sing For You. Off-Broadway, he was seen in One Crack Out, The Lower Depths, The Fantod, Timon of Athens, and Cymbeline. He has appeared regionally at the Goodman Theatre (Richard III, Holiday, Lone Canoe), Great Lakes Theatre (Man and Superman, Hamlet), Annenberg Theatre (The Power and the Glory), The Old Globe (Art, Henry V, Hamlet, A Midsummer Night's Dream), Pasadena Playhouse (David's Mother), Yale Rep (Major Barbara), Long Wharf Theatre (Reclaimed), Mark Taper Forum (Richard II), South Coast Rep (The Company of Heaven), Matrix Theatre (Habeas Corpus), and the Globe West Hollywood (If Only). His films include The Europeans, Hard Choices, The Last Starfighter, and Manhunter. On TV he has appeared in many series and soaps, including Law and Order, L.A. Law, Quantum Leap, Star Trek, Days of Our Lives, and The Young and the Restless. Mr. Snow graduated from Juilliard as part of the first drama class (Group One), and was a founding member of John Houseman's The Acting Company and of The Antaeus Company. He was also, for ten years, a member of the renowned choir at St. Charles Borromeo in L.A. under maestro Paul Salumunivich, with whom he sang on numerous picture soundtracks as well as with the L.A. Master Chorale and the L.A. Philharmonic in Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex. He is married to actress/director/teacher Mary-Joan Negro; they live in L.A. with their two sons Daniel and John.Norman Snow (The Director) appeared in the Andak Stage Company of Martin Crimp's The Misanthrope. On Broadway Mr. Snow appeared in The School for Scandal, The Beggar's Opera, Macbeth, Inherit the Wind, The Robber Bridegroom, Edward II, The Three Sisters, Scenes and Revelations, The Time of Your Life, Measure for Measure, and Next Time I'll Sing For You. Off-Broadway, he was seen in One Crack Out, The Lower Depths, The Fantod, Timon of Athens, and Cymbeline. He has appeared regionally at the Goodman Theatre (Richard III, Holiday, Lone Canoe), Great Lakes Theatre (Man and Superman, Hamlet), Annenberg Theatre (The Power and the Glory), The Old Globe (Art, Henry V, Hamlet, A Midsummer Night's Dream), Pasadena Playhouse (David's Mother), Yale Rep (Major Barbara), Long Wharf Theatre (Reclaimed), Mark Taper Forum (Richard II), South Coast Rep (The Company of Heaven), Matrix Theatre (Habeas Corpus), and the Globe West Hollywood (If Only). His films include The Europeans, Hard Choices, The Last Starfighter, and Manhunter. On TV he has appeared in many series and soaps, including Law and Order, L.A. Law, Quantum Leap, Star Trek, Days of Our Lives, and The Young and the Restless. Mr. Snow graduated from Juilliard as part of the first drama class (Group One), and was a founding member of John Houseman's The Acting Company and of The Antaeus Company. He was also, for ten years, a member of the renowned choir at St. Charles Borromeo in L.A. under maestro Paul Salumunivich, with whom he sang on numerous picture soundtracks as well as with the L.A. Master Chorale and the L.A. Philharmonic in Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex. He is married to actress/director/teacher Mary-Joan Negro; they live in L.A. with their two sons Daniel and John.
Daniel Reichert (John Merrick) The Elephant Man is Daniel’s third production with Andak Stage Company; he appeared in Martin Crimp’s adaptation of The Misanthrope, and Harold Pinter’s Betrayal, both of which were directed by John DeMita. Daniel’s theater work includes roles for the Pasadena Playhouse, South Coast Repertory Theater, A Noise Within, Denver Center Theater, American Conservatory Theater, Intiman Theater, Portland Center Stage, San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, American Players Theater, and New York Stage and Film Company. He has appeared in films and television shows such as Batman Forever, Judging Amy, Charmed, Get Real, and Days of Our Lives. Daniel is a graduate of Vassar College, and the American Conservatory Theater Advanced Training Program.
Brian George (Ross, Bishop How, Snork ) has been seen in Stuff Happens (Mark Taper Forum); A Perfect Wedding (Kirk Douglas Theatre); Second City (Toronto); Speaking in Tongues (Open Fist), and The Misanthrope (Andak). Film roles include Roxanne, Keeping the Faith, Ghost World, The Prime Gig, Bubble Boy, Touch of Pink, Employee of the Month, Numb, and Shades of Ray. Television appearances include Seinfeld, Star Trek DS9 and Voyager, Live from Baghdad, the Showtime mini-series Traffic, Regular Joe (cast), Desperate Housewives, NCIS, Weeds, Saved, and Big Bang Theory.
Aandrea Reblynn (Juggler, Pinhead #1, Princess Alexandra) appeared in children's theater company playing everything from Dorothy to Juliet, she hopped a train and found her way to Los Angeles. She juggles instead of playing outside with the rest of the kids.
Katie Graham (Nurse, Pinhead #2, Miss Sandwich, Duchess) has a YouTube channel, K80blog, has over 13,000 subscribers and millions of views. She is also a cinematographer and editor, and her most recent project, the documentary Best Worst Movie, is currently enjoying its festival run.
Abby Craden (Pinhead #3, Mrs. Kendal, Countess) has performed numerous roles at the Will Geer Theatricum including Cleopatra in Antony and Cleopatra, Nina in The Seagull , Elvira in Blithe Spirit and Abigail in The Crucible and she can currently be seen in their 2009 season as Calpurnia in Julius Ceasar and Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. She is a Resident Artist at A Noise Within and has performed numerous roles there some of her favorites being Ruth in The Homecoming , Cherie in Bus Stop, Celimene in The Misanthrope, Roxanne in Cyrano De Bergerac and Rosaura in Life is a Dream. Playing the role of Abigail in The Crucible garnered her a Backstage Garland performance award. She has performed regionally in Portland, Sante Fe and Santa Barbara and extensively in Los Angeles. Film credits include Water Dreams, After Midnight, Portrait of Madame Marousia, Cold Love, Born to Lose, Flamingo Dreams , In Rhyme, and Only Human.
Michael Quill (Voice, Pinhead Manager, Policeman, Porter, Lord John) is making his Andak debut. As a graduate of Circle in The Square in NYC, he followed Nikos Psacharopoulos to The Williamstown Theatre Festival. New York credits include The Zoo Story, Geography of A Horse Dreamer, The Feast of Dionysus and A Prayer in A Bar. He has appeared in films, soap operas, commercials and played the infamous Mark Miles on HBO’s “Oz”. Michael is also an Emmy Award winning Assistant Director and a writer. He came to LA to workshop his play The Fish Story twenty years ago and never left.
Max Quill (Street Violinist) began playing violin at the age of 6. He is proud to be one of the youngest members of the Kadima Conservatory Philharmonic Orchestra, and has been awarded various scholarships and awards over the years. He began acting at about the same age and has appeared in a number of short films and plays. Max most recently appeared in the Millikan Performing Arts Magnet production of The Madness of Pecos Bill, as Buck and The Fiddler, and played the title role in a short version of Macbeth at the Secret Rose Theatre.
SET: Steven Markus
LIGHTS: Dan Volonte
COSTUMES: Kim Deshazo Wilkinson
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