BWW Stage Mag Comfort - New Jersey Repertory Company Stage Mag

New Jersey Repertory Company

presents
 
Comfort  

written by
Neil LaBute

 
starring
 

Jordan Baker* and Rudy Galvan*

                Scenic Design                   Costume Design                      Lighting Design               Sound Design

        Jessica Parks    Patricia E. Doherty    Jill Nagel        Nick Simone         

                                  Fight Choreographer              Production Stage Manager                 Production Assistant

                       Brad Lemons              Rose Riccardi*                  Ian Duhart
 

Directed by Evan Bergman

* Denotes a member of Actors Equity Association, the union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States. ActorsEquity.org

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Cast

Jordan Baker*
Iris
RUDY GALVAN*
Cal

Creative Team

NEIL LABUTE

Playwright

EVAN BERGMAN

Director

JESSICA PARKS

Resident Scenic Designer/Props Designer

PATRICIA E DOHERTY

Costume Designer

JILL NAGLE

Resident Lighting Designer

NICK SIMONE

Resident Sound Design

BRAD LEMONS

Fight Chorographer

BRIAN SNYDER

Technical Director/Facilities Manager

ROSE RICCARDI*

Production Stage Manager

IAN DUHART

Production Manager

JAMES LOCKHART

Master Electrician

JT PUBLIC RELATIONS

PR/Public Relations

JOEL STONE

Literary Manager

DEE DEE IRWIN

Managing Director

SUZANNE BARABAS

Artistic Director

GABOR BARABAS

Executive Producer

NJRep Staff

Gabor Barabas, Executive Producer

SuzAnne Barabas, Artistic Director

Evan Bergman, Associate Artistic Director

Dee Dee Irwin, Managing Director

Joel Stone, Literary Manager

Jessica Parks, Production Manager and Resident Scenic Designer

Patricia E. Doherty, Resident Costume Designer

Jill Nagle, Resident Lighting Designer

Nick Simone, Resident Sound Designer

Brian Snyder, Technical Director

Martin Fullone, Facilities Manager

Karen Wharmby, House Manager and Volunteer Coordinator​​​​​​ 

Melinda Applegate, Box Office Associate

Joe Trentacosta, Public Relations

Jordan Ryder, Choreographer

Brad Lemon, Fight Choreographer

Kristin Pfeifer*, Production Stage Manager

Rose Riccardi*, Production Stage Manager

Ian Duhart, Production Assistant

James Lockhart, Master Electrician

Janey Huber, Artistic Associate & Assistant Lighting Designer

Gail Winar, Artistic Associate

Donna Stiles, Production Assistant

Blake Robinson, Scenic Artist/Props Assistant

Gary Mayer, Scenic Carpenter

Joe Grosso, Graphic Designer

David Becerra, Head Custodian

John Pocalyko, Head of Finance Committee

ArtsFMS, Finance Company

Jephens Technology, IT Consultants

Mare Akana, Gallery Curator

Andrea Phox, Photographer

 

 

Meet the Company

Jordan Baker*

Iris
Jordan Baker* - Iris JORDAN BAKER recently performed Lucas Hnath’s solo play Dana H at Berkeley Repertory Theatre and Crow’s Theatre (Toronto) directed by Les Waters. She created the role of Fran in the American Premiere of Andrew Bovell’s Things I Know to be True directed by Mark Clements at the Milwaukee Rep and Arizona Theatre Company. She appeared in Steven Spielberg’s, The Post with Meryl Streep and in Netflix’s, The Land of Steady Habits with Ben Mendelsohn. She is best known for creating the role of “C” in Edward Albee’s 1994 Pulitzer Prize winning play Three Tall Women and received a Theatre World Award for Best Broadway Debut in Tennessee Williams’ Suddenly, Last Summer. She is a graduate of The American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AA), Smith College (BA), and Rutgers University: Mason Gross School of the Arts (MFA). She is married to the actor, Kevin Kilner. Teaches at AMDA NY.

RUDY GALVAN*

Cal
RUDY GALVAN* - Cal RUDY GALVAN (He/Him) makes his New Jersey Rep mainstage debut after appearing in the Salon Readings of Wipeout and Cincinnatus. New York: Stutter (Staged Reading with Roundabout Theatre), LAByrinth Theatre’s Barn Series, You Should Be Worried (Loading Dock’s Forklift Series), Stubborness and Bone (Arthouse Productions). Chicago: Uncle Bob, American Buffalo (Mary-Arrchie Theatre), Lord of the Flies (Steppenwolf Theatre), Private Lives, The Gentleman Caller (Raven Theatre), United Flight 232 (The House Theatre), A Life Extra Ordinary (The Gift Theatre) and many others. Regional: Sweat (Asolo Rep), Almost, Maine and The Mousetrap (Next Act Theatre). Film/TV: His Three Daughters (Netflix), Chicago PD (NBC), Search Party (Max), Slice (A24), Shameless (Showtime) and the infamous Megan is Missing. Representation: DDO Artists Agency, WEG Talent.

NEIL LABUTE

Playwright
Neil LaBute is a writer and director for theater, television and film. Some of his work includes IN THE COMPANY OF MEN, YOUR FRIENDS & NEIGHBORS, SOME VELVET MORNING, BASH, THE SHAPE OF THINGS, FAT PIG, REASONS TO BE PRETTY, THIS IS HOW IT GOES, TEN X TEN and BILLIE & BILLY.

EVAN BERGMAN

Director
Over the years Evan has directed over 15 productions for New Jersey Rep, many of them world premieres. He has also directed world premieres at many other theater including Ensemble Studio Theater, The Duke, Daryl Roth, Barrington Stage, Jane Street, Playwrights Horizon, Arclight, The Tiffaney and 59E59. His film work includes the recent short film “Day Zero” which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival Dig A Hole, Find A Finger, Palm Springs and Newport Beach International Film Festivals and his Documentary for Warner Music Group featuring Roger Daltry (The Who), Philip Bailey (Earth Wind and Fire). Currently he is in pre-production for a new feature film about the life of Oyster Farmers called “Life on the Flats”

JESSICA PARKS

Resident Scenic Designer/Props Designer
JESSICA PARKS has been working for NJ Repertory Company since 2003 and has been the resident scenic designer and prop designer since 2010. Set designs at NJ Rep include: The Promotion, Memoirs of a Forgotten Man, Wolf at the Door, The Jag, Swimming at the Ritz, Happy and Broomstick. NYC credits at 59E59 St. Theaters include: Michael Tucker’s Fern Hill, Butler, The Housewives of Mannheim, Jericho and Poetic License. Other credits include: The End of Hester at Theatre Row NYC, Bretch:Call & Response at Paradise Factory Theatre and Dan Lauria's Dinner with the Boys at Theater Row NYC.

PATRICIA E DOHERTY

Costume Designer
As NJ Rep’s resident costume designer since 2000, Doherty’s work includes: The Housewives of Mannheim, The Color of Flesh, Old Clown Wanted, The Good Daughter, Place Settings, Bookends, Engaging Shaw, Puma, Noir, Broomstick, View of the Mountains, Swimming at the Ritz, Dinner with the Boys (with Dan Lauria), Closure (with Wendy Malick, Gary Cole), Nobody’s Girl, Butler, Mad Love and Iago , Fern Hill (with Jill Eikenberry, Dee Hoty and John Glover) to name just a few. New York: Southern Comfort—The Musical (The Public Theater 2016 Lucille Lortel, Outer Critics, Drama Desk Award Nominations with Annette O’Toole, Jeff McCarthy); Dinner with the Boys with Dan Lauria (The Acorn Theatre) Academia Nuts (2014 NYMF Best New Musical); The Devil’s Music (St. Luke’s); The Goldman Project (Abingdon Theatre); Freed, Fall to Earth, Poetic License, The Housewives of Mannheim, Butler, Small World (59E59th St Theatres); Love Therapy (DR2) Regional: Alley Theatre (past resident designer), Barrington Stage, Cleveland Play House, Merrimack Rep, Florida Rep, Penguin Rep, Engeman Theatre, Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, Montreal Jazz Festival , Luna Stage, Playwrights Theatre of NJ, Merrimack Rep (MA), People’s Light and Theatre Festival (PA), Rubicon Theatre of LA, Mosaic Theatre (DC), Cape Cod Playhouse (MA), Weston Playhouse (VT) TV/Video: AT&T, “Unsolved Mysteries,” Pennsylvania Public Television Guest Artist: Monmouth University, Case Western Reserve University, Ohio University, Niagara University, Syracuse University Guest Artist and Instructor: Kent State University, School of Theatre and Dance 1992-95.

JILL NAGLE

Resident Lighting Designer
JILL NAGLE is the Resident Lighting Designer at NJ Rep. Partial NJ Rep include: Dinner with the Boys, Closure, Butler, Broomstick, Happy, Puma, Night Train, and Noir. Partial NYC designs include: Butler, A Stool at the End of the Bar, Jericho, Poetic License, Housewives of Mannheim, The Man in Room 306, The Dishwashers (59E59), Love Therapy (Daryl Roth), Dinner with the Boys (The Acorn) The Bully Pulpit (Samuel Beckett), Do Not Go Gentle (Harold Clurman), Count Down (Bank Street), In the Parlance (The Pulse), Carrera (La Mama E.T.C.), South Beach Rapture (Dixon Place). Other venues: John Engeman Theatre, Chester Theatre, Luna Stage, Playwrights of New Jersey, Montclair State University, New Jersey City University. www.jillnagle.net

NICK SIMONE

Resident Sound Design
NICK SIMONE has been a performing arts educator in NYC for the past 18 years. He has worked at various music schools for all ages and has been a teaching artist for Roundabout Theatre Company, Apollo Theater, and Sundog Theatre specializing in sound design and musical disciplines. As a musician, Nick plays multiple instruments and has also performed at the renowned Carnage Hall and at the Metropolitan Opera House. Nick has also worked as sound designer and as an audio engineer for many productions such as: US: A Progressive Love Story, The Norwegians, North To Maine, IYOM, Wild Children, Time Travelers Trip To Niagara, The Diorama, Shakespeare's Hamlet at Bryant Park, Extreme Weather, Don’t Dress For Dinner, Villainous Company, Capone, & Romantic Trapezoid. Nick is also affiliated with MTV's production Artist to Watch series as a sound assistant. He is currently the chief audio engineer for Fenix Studios in Staten Island, NY and has credits on multiple albums, films, broadcasts, streaming, music videos and mobile apps. He has worked with up and coming talent and platinum selling artists in different genres from Lorde to Coldplay.

BRAD LEMONS

Fight Chorographer
Brad Lemons (Fight Chorographer) Over 25 productions with NJ Rep, including most recently: Welcome to Matteson!, Eden Praire: 1971, The Promotion, and Lily. Broadway: Camelot, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang; Off-Broadway: Treasure Island, Macbeth, Evil Dead: The Musical, Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, The Three Musketeers, Film: Bear With Us, Lies I told My Little Sister. Opera: Romeo et Juliette, Porgy & Bess; Fanciulla Del West, Carmen, Otello, Cosi Fan Tutte, Don Giovani; TV: “All My Children” and “Law & Order: Criminal Intent.” He teaches at The Neighborhood Playhouse and Circle in the Square Theatre School, and is the president of The American Association of Fight Directors.

BRIAN SNYDER

Technical Director/Facilities Manager
BRIAN SNYDER has been an artist, carpenter, and prop builder since 2003 for several companies in NY and NJ including The Art Department, PVS, Stone Dog Studios, Two River Theater Company, and NJ Repertory Company. After 4 years of teaching Visual Arts and Stagecraft at Lakewood High School he returned to the world of freelance and made his debut as Technical Director and Master Carpenter here at NJ Rep in 2014.

ROSE RICCARDI*

Production Stage Manager
Riccardi has been a NJ Rep Company member since 1998. She has worked on over a hundred productions for the Rep including: The Housewives of Mannheim (Alan Brody), The Little Hours (David Bucknam), Fern Hill (Michael Tucker), Dead Ringer (Gino Dilorio), Naked By The River (Michael Folie), Adult Fiction (Brian Mori), Bookends (Katharine Houghton, Dianne Adams, James McDowell), Whores (Lee Blessing), Donna Orbits The Moon (Ian August), Find Me A Voice (SuzAnne Barabas, Gabor Barabas) Off-Broadway credits include: Songbird by Michael Kimmel and Lauren Pritchard, Butler by Richard Strand, The Violin (Dan McCormick), The Road to Damascus (Tom Dulack), Terms of Endearment (Dan Gordon), Poetic License (Jack Canfora), On A Stool At The End Of The Bar (Robert Callely), A Better Place (Wendy Beckett), Murder In The First (Dan Gordon), Martin Luther on Trial (Chris Cragin-Day), Phoenix (Scott Organ), In The Pocket “A Sideman’s Tale (James Manos Jr. and Mark Rivera) Rose has also been a proud member of Actors’ Equity since 1999.

IAN DUHART

Production Manager
IAN DUHART is very excited to be a part of this show at NJ Rep. He just finished a run as Sebastian in The Little Mermaid and Gator in Memphis the Musical. He’s honored to be a part of this team, and hopes you all enjoy the show!

JAMES LOCKHART

Master Electrician
JAMES LOCKHART has the pleasure of working as the Master Electrician for NJ Repertory Company. He is a young, vibrant freelance lighting designer & master electrician that has worked in the tri-state. He has a comprehensive set of skills.

JT PUBLIC RELATIONS

PR/Public Relations
Founded by Joe Trentacosta, JT Public Relations is a full-service entertainment public relations firm. For over 20 years, they have handled over 300 projects on Broadway, Off-Broadway, festival productions, industry readings, films in release, film festivals, non-profit organizations, and special events. Current projects include Anthony Rapp’s Without You, Dog Man The Musical, and the international hit Katsura Sunshine’s Rakugo. Theater companies include AMT Theater, Houses on the Moon, Royal Family Productions, TheaterWorksUSA, Theater Breaking Through Barriers, and Urban Stages. Joe is currently developing a Broadway-bound musical about the Six Triple Eighth Postal Battalion with Holly Garman and Blair Underwood.

JOEL STONE

Literary Manager
JOEL STONE was formerly the artistic director of Off-Off Broadway’s The Theatre Asylum. On May 17, 1998, his play Horrors of Doctor Moreau (published by Samuel French, Inc.) became the first script-in-hand reading to debut at New Jersey Repertory Company. The following year, his short play The Age of Miracles premiered at NJ Rep and went on to be a finalist at the Samuel French Short Play Festival. Also in 1999, NJ Rep presented “Written in Stone”, an evening of Joel’s short plays, including The Speck of Dust in Bugsy’s Eye (featuring the late Kim Hunter). In 2001, he co-produced “One Night With You”, a collection of six short plays about Elvis, created exclusively by NJ Rep playwrights. From 2000-2002, he was the Theatre Education Coordinator for the New York City Board/Department of Education. He has written and directed for all four NJ Rep Theatre Brut Festivals, including Prairie Dogs (2004), Abilene (2004), Trouble on the PATH (2005), Seven4Seven (2006), and The Purgatory of Charlie Hustle (2008). In 2012, Joel directed the acclaimed MainStage production of Gino DiIorio’s Release Point. In 2014, Joel was the Director/Mentor of the award-winning NJ Rep Young Playwrights Project, “Shelter From The Storm”, in which local high school students wrote short plays about Hurricane Sandy. For the past three years, he has been an adjunct professor of playwriting at Monmouth University and recently taught the initial playwriting class for New Jersey Repertory Company’s West End Arts Center. Currently, he is the literary manager for NJ Rep. He was recently commissioned by NJPAC to write The Calling, his first full-length play in decades.

DEE DEE IRWIN

Managing Director
DEE DEE IRWIN joined NJRep in 2022, bringing with her almost 30 years of experience in the performing arts and live events industry. Prior to coming east, Dee Dee spent nine years as the Director of Marketing and Communications/Associate Producer for Laguna Playhouse in Laguna Beach, CA, and 12 years as part of the Broadway in Hollywood team for Nederlander’s beautiful Pantages theatre in Hollywood, CA. Dee Dee can also be found playing with puppets as part of the gang that produces "Brian Henson’s Puppet Up! Uncensored" at the legendary Jim Henson Company Lot. While in Laguna Beach, Dee Dee served as chair for the Laguna Beach Arts Alliance, celebrated the theatre's 100th birthday, and produced much of the virtual programming during the pandemic. Originally from Los Angeles, Dee Dee holds an MA in Humanities, a BA in Theatre, and is a proud member of IATSE 857. Special shout out to the love of her life, her dog Pickle, who you might see roaming the theatre and giving his opinion on, well, pretty much everything.

SUZANNE BARABAS

Artistic Director
SuzAnne Barabas directed the world premiere of Pen Pals in NYC and NJ with a rotating cast that includes Catherine Curtin, Sharon Lawrence, Nia Vardalos, Mary Beth Peil, Kate Burton, Pauletta Washington, Nancy McKeon and Johanna Day. Also in NYC at 59E59 Theaters the NY premiere of What Doesn’t Kill You by James Hindman. For NJ Rep, SuzAnne directed the world premiere of Make Believe, The Two Hander (with Jill Eikenberry and Ella Dershowitz), Find Me a Voice (premiere), North Fork (premiere), Immortal Interlude (premiere), Octet (premiere), Till Morning Comes (premiere), Maggie Rose, Getting in Touch With My Inner B*tch (starring Christine Lavin, premiere), The Adjustment, 10% of Molly Snyder, Romulus Linney’s Klonsky & Schwartz, Apostasy (premiere), Women Who Steal, Apple,(U.S. premiere),The Housewives of Mannheim (premiere), Evie’s Waltz, Dead Ringer (premiere), Steven Dietz’s Yankee Tavern, Puma (premiere), Night Train (premiere), Hummingbirds, Just In Time: The Judy Holliday Story, Bakersfield Mist, Annapurna, Happy, Broomstick (premiere), Lucky Me (premiere), Swimming at the Ritz (U.S. premiere), and The Realization of Emily Linder (premiere). SuzAnne directed productions of The Housewives of Mannheim at 59E59 Theater (NYC), Ensemble Theater of Santa Barbara (CA), and Phoenix Theater (Indianapolis). In addition, she directed regional productions of Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, The Fantasticks, The Roar of the Greasepaint the Smell of the Crowd, Cabaret, Shaw’s Heartbreak House, A.R. Gurney’s The Perfect Party, Marsha Norman’s ‘Night Mother, Philip Barry’s The Philadelphia Story, Christopher Durang’s Beyond Therapy, Mark Dunn’s Belles, Lee Blessing’s Down the Road among others. She is a member of Actors Equity Association, BMI, the Dramatists Guild, and SDC.

GABOR BARABAS

Executive Producer
For NJ Rep, he has produced over 80 world premieres including Ends, A World I Never Made, North Fork, Octet, The Girl With the High Rouge, In Search of Red River Dog, Naked by the River, An Unhappy Woman, Immortal Interlude, Getting in Touch With My Inner B*tch, Till Morning Comes, Slave Shack, Panama, Big Boys, Winterizing the Summer House, Piaf in Vienna, The Color of Flesh, Emil, Touch of Rapture, Beyond Gravity, A Child’s Guide to Innocence, The Good Daughter, Apostasy, The Best Man, Tilt Angel, Love and Murder, tempOdyssey, October 1962, Place Setting, And Her Hair Went With Her, Engaging Shaw, Poetic License, The Housewives of Mannheim, Dead Ringer, Exposure Time (recipient of and Edgerton New American Plays Award), Character Assassins, The Tangled Skirt (nominated for an Edgar Award by the Mystery Writers of America), Puma, Night Train, The Judy Holliday Story, Jericho (recipient of and Edgerton New American Plays Award), American Stare, Release Point, Esther’s Moustache, Ants, Noir, Happy, Broomstick, Admit One, A View of the Mountains, Butler (recipient of and Edgerton New American Plays Award), Lucky Me, Dinner with the Boys, Angels and Ministers of Grace, and the musicals Immortal Interlude,Bookends, The Little Hours (recipient of and Edgerton New American Plays Award), and Date of Lifetime. His book Miklos Radnoti: The Complete Poetry in Hungarian and English was recently published by McFarland.

NJRep Thanks the Following for Their Support

The Community Foundation of New Jersey, New Jersey State Council on the Arts, The Shubert Foundation, and The Stone Foundation of New Jersey. 

 

 

 

 

 

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