DISTRACTED
BY LIsa Loomer
November 27-December 12, 2010
Previews November 23, 24 and 26
Co-Produced with UMKC Theatre
Directed by Cynthia Levin
Featuring Katie Gilchrist, Rusty Sneary, Andi Meyer, Rachel Hirshorn, Dina Kirschenbaum, Mark Thomas, Amy Urbina, Molliann McCulley and Zackary Hoar
On The Mainstage
RITALIN FOR BREAKFAST
Are we so tuned in to our info-rich world that we’ve tuned out the things that really matter? Jesse is eight and easily distracted, but so are his parents, neighbors—even the doctors. Is Jesse’s Attention Deficit Disorder caused by over-stimulation, bad parenting, chemicals in food, or is he just a kid in an ADD world? It’s a fast-paced, comic look at parenting in the Internet age.
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About UMKC Theatre
UMKC Theatre has been ranked by U.S. News and World Report among the top graduate theatre training programs in the country. The program trains a select group of highly talented actors, designers, stage managers and dramaturgs for careers in the performing arts. Graduates from the UMKC program are invited to the most prestigious New York competitions and auditions to exhibit their work and secure positions with national and international performing companies. The program is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Theatre (NAST) and is a member of the University/Resident Theatre Association (U/RTA). Faculty and alumni of UMKC Theatre have founded the following theatres in Kansas City: New Theatre Restaurant, Coterie Theatre, American Heartland Theatre, Heart of America Shakespeare Festival, Actors Theatre KC, Gorilla Theatre, Martin City Melodrama, Kansas City Repertory Theatre and the wonderful Unicorn Theatre.
About the Playwright
Lisa Loomer's most recent play, Distracted, had its world premiere at the Mark Taper Forum, went on to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and will open at the Roundabout Theater in New York in 2009. Living Out had its world premiere at the Mark Taper Forum and was produced at Second Stage in New York in 2003, directed by Jo Bonney. It has subsequently been produced across America at such theaters as Seattle Repertory, Missouri Repertory, Mixed Blood, Borderlands and Theater Works, as well as abroad, in both English and bilingual productions. Loomer is perhaps best known for The Waiting Room which went from the Williamstown Theater Festival to the Mark Taper Forum to highly successful productions at Arena Stage and Trinity Repertory Company and then on to the Vineyard Theatre in New York. It has subsequently been produced at theaters throughout the United States, in Europe and in Egypt. Loomer's first work for theater was a collaboration entitled A Crowd of Two at the American Place Theatre. This was followed by a one-woman show All By Herselves at the Westside Arts. She began writing plays at the Intar playwrights lab, under the direction of Maria Irene Fornes. Her first play, Birds, was produced by South Coast Repertory. Subsequent works include Maria, Maria, Maria, Maria!; Accelerando; Looking for Angels; Cuts and Chain of Life, which have been produced at such theaters as the Public Theatre, Intar, the Los Angeles Theatre Center, Mixed Blood, the Open Eye and the Odyssey. Expecting Isabel had its world premiere at Arena Stage and its West Coast premiere at the Taper. Bocon!, a political fable for young audiences, began at the Taper and has been seen throughout the country from the Kennedy Center to Seattle's Group Theater, Stage Left in Chicago, the La Jolla Playhouse, as well as in Germany, Alaska and Mexico. For the Cornerstone Theatre Company, she wrote Broken Hearts, produced at the Los Angeles Theater Center. The "B.H. Mystery" brought together actors and community people from four "BH" neighborhoods in L.A.: Boyle Heights, Broadway Hill (or Chinatown), Baldwin Hills and Beverly Hills. Loomer is an alumna of New Dramatists and the recipient of two grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and a grant from the New York Foundation for the Arts. Awards include the Jane Chambers Award, the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, the Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays Award, a Garland Award and the American Theatre Critics Association Award (twice). She also received an Imagen Award for positive portrayals of Latinos in all media. Her plays appear in The Best Plays of 1998-1999, The Best Plays of 1994-1995 and The Best Plays of 2003-4 and are published by Dramatists Play Service, TCG (Theatre Communications Group), Dramatic Publishing and Arte Publico Press. The Waiting Room and Living Out are taught in university drama programs, Women's Studies programs and Latino Studies programs. Loomer is also a screenwriter. Her first film, Looking For Angels, was chosen by Sundance for its first co-lab with the Latin American Film Institute in Cuba where she had the opportunity to work with Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Other film credits include Girl, Interrupted and Nappily Ever After for Halle Berry, soon to be in production.
About the Director
CYNTHIA LEVIN (DIRECTOR) is in her 32nd season with Unicorn Theatre as Producing Artistic Director where she has served as a director, actor, designer or producer for over 200 productions. Most recently she worked on the world premiere of The Last Pair Of Earlies at the Kennedy Center for the MFA Playwrights’ Workshop. At the Unicorn, she recently directed Green Whales (world premiere), Miss Witherspoon, My First Time, The Clean House, Mauritius, 9 Parts of Desire, The Great American Trailer Park Musical, BatBoy: The Musical and the world premieres of rightnextto me (both at the Unicorn and Geva Theatre Center, Rochester, NY), How His Bride Came to Abraham, Light:Damage, Mercy Killing, Innocent Thoughts and Jack and Jill. At Coterie Theatre she has directed And Then They Came for Me, Frankenstein, Gatherings in Graveyards (I and II), Valley Song and To Kill A Mockingbird. Additional shows at the Kennedy Center include the world premieres of Tigers Be Still and White Devil, Loving Mother. Cynthia is a graduate of Park University where she was additionally awarded an Honorary Doctorate in 2002. She is also a founding board member of the National New Play Network, an organization dedicated to the development and production of new works. She is the 2006 recipient of the Pinnacle Award for Excellence in the Arts from the Johnson County Library Foundation and the 2007 recipient of the Human Rights Campaign Equality Award. This season at the Unicorn Cynthia will also direct Two Jews Walk Into A War… Thanks to her teammates Zia, Sylvia, Dodger and Areli.
About the Cast
KATIE GILCHRIST (MAMA) is so happy to return to her first professional home at the Unicorn, where her credits include: Lobby Hero, Bug and Rabbit Hole. She has appeared locally at almost every theatre, most recently at The Living Room (The Oil Boiler, Talk Radio); Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre (Mappa Mundi, Hedda Gabler) and with Staged Readings/Horsehead Productions as a number of misfits and miscreants. She is the co-founder/co-Artistic Director of Bee's Knees Burlesque, sings with the Vi Tran Band, and can be heard on various local recordings. Many thanks to Cynthia and the cast, the crew and to all of you that support the Arts in this phenomenal community.
RUSTY SNEARY (DAD) is very happy to return to Unicorn Theatre where he has been lucky enough to be in numerous productions including Take Me Out, Frozen and Pillowman. Since his recent return to KC from New York, he has co-founded and opened The Living Room with his beautiful partner, Shawnna Journagan. The Living Room was recently voted Kansas City's Best New Theatre in The Pitch Best Of. Rusty co-produced and appeared onstage there in On An Average Day and This Is How It Goes, directed Talk Radio, and is currently co-producing Beirut which last appeared here at the Unicorn. He was most recently seen as Charlie Gordon in Flowers for Algernon in the Coterie Theatre's Science Fiction Triple Feature. Thanks to Cynthia for all her support and for welcoming him back to his theatre home away from his now literal theatre home.
ANDI MEYER (MRS. HOLLY/DR. WALLER/NURSE) is delighted to work with Cynthia Levin again. Andi last appeared at the Unicorn for the opening of The Jerome Stage in 9 Parts of Desire. Other Unicorn productions include Bright Ideas, In the Blood, The Waiting Room, An American Daughter and Suburbia. She has been a professional actress for 20 years and holds a BA in theatre. Andi has performed locally at the New Theatre Restaurant with Loretta Switt and Gary Sandy, The Kansas City Repertory Theatre, The Coterie Theatre, and of course, the Unicorn. Andi is also a cast member and Education Director of the international award-winning radio comedy troupe, Right Between the Ears. RBTE can be heard on KPR and weekly on Sirius 105/XM 151. Andi is a strong proponent for arts education and has taught a comprehensive Shakespearean curriculum, acting, scene study, and creative dramatics classes for such places as The Community School for the Arts at KCYA, VSA MO, Marillac, JCCC, Herstiner Child Development Center, Starlight Theatre, Accessible Arts, The Heart of America Shakespeare Festival, The Kansas City Rep, The Coterie, as well as at to a wide variety of ages and cultural backgrounds.
DINA KIRSCHENBAUM (Dr. Zavala/Carolyn/Waitress) is thrilled to be returning to the Unicorn after playing Mother 1 and 2 in last season's Miss Witherspoon. Dina is a 3rd year M.F.A. Acting Candidate at UMKC originally from New Jersey. Past credits at UMKC include: Miranda in The Tempest, Young Pip in Great Expectations, Natasha in The Master and Margarita, Hannah Jarvis in Arcadia, Various Kansas Citians (including Cynthia Levin!) in SLAMMED!, Hermia in A Midsummer Night's Dream and Cigollotta in The King Stag. Dina has also been very fortunate to play Rosencrantz in Hamlet and Cupid in The Death of Cupid, both directed by Kyle Hatley. Pre-graduate school regional and University credits include Cleareta in The Comedy of Asses, Witch in A Macbeth, Tzeitel in Fiddler on the Roof, Wife of Bath in Canterbury Tales and Sister James in Doubt. She would like to thank Cynthia and Ted for allowing another wonderful collaboration to occur, her family for the never ending support, and of course Mark for liking her enough to put a ring on it. Enjoy the show!
RACHEL HIRSHORN (SHERRY) is a recent MFA (Acting) graduate from the University of Missouri, Kansas City. She received her BFA in Acting from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County in 2004. In Kansas City, Rachel was most recently seen in Marion Bridge (Louise), with Kansas City Actors Theatre, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Titania/Hippolyta)and Killer Joe(Sharla)at UMKC, and Spooky Dog, A Scooby Doo-Like Mystery (Tiffany), through the UMKC/Coterie Theatre co-production. On the east coast, some of Rachelʼs credits include: Macbeth (Lady Macduff)and Illyria (Maria)with the Virginia Shakespeare Festival, Of Mice and Men (Curleyʼs Wife)at Tidewater Regional Repertory Theatre, and she has also worked in Baltimore, MD at Everyman Theatre and CenterStage. Since graduation, Rachel has been writing and working commercially out of NYC between productions here in Kansas City. Huge gratitude and abundant thanks to Cynthia - this is Rachelʼs first production with the Unicorn Theatre. www.rachelhirshorn.com
MARK THOMAS (DR. BROBER/DR. JINKS/dR. KARNES) is thrilled to be back for his second show at the Unicorn. Last season he played Stephen in Farragut North, another co-production with UMKC where he is a third-year student in the MFA acting program. Most recently at UMKC, Mark played Chris in Killer Joe, Lysander in A Midsummer Night's Dream and many people in Slammed!: KC Speaks Out On the Recession. He has also worked at the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival in The Merry Wives of Windsor and Richard III. Mark would like to thank his friends, family, faculty and fiancé.
AMY URBINA (VERA) is thrilled to be working on her second co-production with the Unicorn; she made her debut on the Unicorn stage playing Maryamma in last season’s Miss Witherspoon. Amy is currently a third-year M.F.A actor at UMKC where she has played Angela in The King Stag, Robin Starveling in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Noah/Pat in Slammed, Chloe in Arcadia, Frieda in The Master and Margarita, Mrs. Joe in Great Expectations and Caliban in The Tempest. She received her Bachelors in Theatre at California State University, Northridge. Some of her favorite undergrad roles include: Maria in Twelfth Night and Irina in Three Sisters. Amy has also worked with the Independent Shakespeare Company in Los Angeles in productions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Macbeth and this summer she returned to play Desdemona in Othello. Amy will be graduating from UMKC in the spring and would like to thank the Unicorn and her professors for their guidance on her journey.
MOLLIANN MCCULLEY (NATALIE) is thrilled to be making her Unicorn debut! Recently a student at Stephens College, she is excited to be back working in her hometown KC! She was last seen as Tonya in Sorority House of the Dead at The Living Room. Thanks to all (especially mom and dad) for their everlasting support, and of course to Cynthia for this great opportunity!
ZACKARY HOAR (JESSE) new to Unicorn Theatre, is a sixth grader at Prairie Trail Middle School in Olathe and fences competitively out of the Fencing Athletic Club of Kansas City. He took to the stage this past summer with the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival production of Richard III. Prior performances include Into the Woods and three seasons of A Christmas Carol with the Kansas City Rep, Rigoletto, John Brown and The End of the Affair at the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer at Lawrence Arts Center, Inherit the Wind for Olathe Community Theatre Association, Hecuba for Gorilla Theatre and Murder in the Cathedral with The Theatre Gym.
