Women's Project presents the
World Premiere of
BETHANY
By Laura Marks
Directed by
Gaye Taylor Upchurch

City Center Stage II
131 West 55th Street, NYC

LORTEL AWARD NOMINATIONS

OUTSTANDING PLAY

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS AMERICA FERRERA

THE CAST & CREATIVE TEAM

Laura Marks, Playwright
Gaye Taylor Upchurch, Director

Emily Ackerman, role of Shannon
America Ferrera, role of Crystal
Kristin Griffith, role of Patricia
Ken Marks, role of Charlie
Tobias Segal, role of Gary
Myra Lucretia Taylor, role of Toni

Lauren Helpern, Scenic Design
Sarah J. Holden, Costume Design
Mark Barton, Lighting Design
Leon Rothenberg, Sound Design

Lydia Fort, Assistant Director
Lanie Zipoy, Associate Producer

The Playwright
LAURA MARKS is a recent graduate of Juilliard’s Lila Acheson Wallace playwriting program, an alumna of the Public Theater’s 2011 Emerging Writers Group, and a new member of New Dramatists.  Her play about the foreclosure crisis, Bethany, won the Leah Ryan Prize for Emerging Women Writers as well as Synchronicity Theatre’s SheWrites award, was published in Methuen’s American Next Wave anthology in the UK, and was chosen by John Guare as runner-up for Yale’s David C. Horn Prize.  Bethany and her other plays, Mine and Gather at the River, have had readings or workshops at the Public Theater, Juilliard, the Women’s Project, Manhattan Theatre Club, Steppenwolf, the Black Dahlia, the Wilma Theater, HighTide Festival Theatre (UK), the Lark, Naked Angels, Partial Comfort et al. Ms. Marks grew up in Kentucky, attended Boston University, Indiana University and the BMI Lehman Engel Composer/ Lyricist Workshop, and currently holds a new play commission from South Coast Repertory. 

The Director
GAYE TAYLOR UPCHURCH's credits include: Off-Broadway: Simon Stephens’ American premiere of Bluebirdwith Simon Russell Beale (Atlantic Theater); Simon Stephens’ Harper Reganwith Mary McCann (Atlantic Theater). NYC: Susan Mosakowski’s Escape (La Mama); Patrick Huguenin’s Paper Dolls(NY Fringe; Outstanding Ensemble Award); Naomi Iizuka’s Language of Angels(Lincoln Center Institute); Charles Forbes’ minor gods (SPF). She has developed new work at New Dramatists, NY Stage & Film, The Kennedy Center, Dixon Place, Playwright’s Center, LCT Director’s Lab, and SPACE on Ryder Farm. She worked with Sam Mendes as Associate Director on The Bridge Project productions of Cherry Orchard, Winter’s Tale, Tempest, andAs You Like It (BAM/Old Vic/international tour). GT is an alumna of UNC School of the Arts, Women’s Project Directors Lab, and The Drama League.

The Cast

EMILY ACKERMAN (Shannon) This Beautiful City (Vineyard, Humana 2008, Studio, Center Theatre Group), Gone Missing (Barrow Street, ATL, Cast Album), Stray (Cherry Lane), Precious Little (Clubbed Thumb), Well (as Lisa Kron, Arena), The Constant Wife (American Conservatory Theatre & Seattle Rep), Ghosts (Berkeley Rep), The Seagull, Twelfth Night, Love’s Labours Lost, (California Shakespeare Theater), Clean Alternatives (59E59th/Edinburgh, Fringe First Award), The People’s Temple (Perseverance), St. Joan, The Entertainer, The Weir (Aurora Theatre Company). Upcoming Film: Bert & Arnie’s Guide to Friendship. Co-author of ReEntry (Actor’s Theater of Louisville, Baltimore Center Stage, Roundhouse, Segerstrom Center, Urban Stages, Two River Theater. Published by Playscripts). Associate Artist, The Civilians.

AMERICA FERRERA (Crystal) is perhaps best known for her fearless portrayal of “Betty Suarez” on ABC's hit comedy Ugly Betty. This breakthrough role has earned Ferrera an Emmy®, Golden Globe®, and Screen Actors Guild Award, as well as ALMA and Imagen Awards.

Ferrera recently wrapped production on Diego Luna's biography, Chavez, which centers on the civil-rights activist and labor organizer, Cesar Chavez. Portraying his wife, "Helen Chavez,” Ferrera stars opposite Michael Peña and alongside an impressive cast including Rosario Dawson and Gabriel Mann.

Ferrera can currently be seen in David Ayer's crime thriller, End of Watch, also starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Anna Kendrick, Michael Peña, and Cody Horn. The film is set to release September 21st. Also this fall, Ferrera is set to appear in Todd Berger's comedy It's a Disaster opposite Julia Stiles and David Cross. The film premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival in June.

In addition to her fall film lineup, Ferrera participated in Half The Sky, the four-hour television series for PBS. The series, which was shot in 10 under-privileged countries, delivered audiences with an intimate and dramatic portrayal of the women and young girls in the world that live under some of the most difficult circumstances imaginable. Ferrera joined reporter Nicholas Kristof, and actresses Diane Lane, Eva Mendes, Meg Ryan, Gabrielle Union and Olivia Wilde, in an inspiring program that captivated the struggling and empowering stories of females fighting for change. The series premiered on October 1st and 2nd.

In tandem with her work on the series, Ferrera is currently serving as ambassador on a campaign called, “America4America” joining Voto Latino, the leading non-partisan national youth empowerment organization. The campaign aims to reach people across the country by using online content to engage in conversations with the actress and discusses issues related to voter id laws, education, and immigration. Ferrera will be the face of the initiative for the upcoming 2012 election.

The actress recently starred as “Roxie Hart” in the West End production of the hit musical Chicago for an eight week run that started last November. Ferrera was also recently seen in a recurring role on the second season of the CBS hit series The Good Wife, in which she played an illegal, nanny and object of Eli's (Alan Cumming) affection.

Prior to this, Ferrera was seen in Ryan Piers Williams' The Dry Land opposite Melissa Leo and Jason Ritter. Ferrera also executive produced the film, which premiered at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival and won Best International Film at the 2010 Edinburgh Film Festival. The film was released by Maya Entertainment.

Other feature film work includes Fox Searchlights' Our Family Wedding, Dreamworks' How To Train Your Dragon and Warner Bros.' The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, the sequel to the 2005 original. She also starred in the bilingual independent film Towards Darkness, which she executive produced, and Fox Searchlight's independent film Under The Same Moon. Additional credits include the Brian Jun film Steel City, Catherine Hardwicke's Lords of Dogtown, and the 2005 Sundance Film Festival entry How the Garcia Girls Spent Their Summer. America also appeared off-Broadway in Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead, directed by Trip Cullman.

Ferrera first secured her place as one of Hollywood's most vibrant young talents with her starring role in the Patricia Cardoso film Real Women Have Curves. Her performance earned her a Sundance Jury Award for Best Actress, an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Debut Performance, and a Young Artist Award nomination for Best Performance for a Leading Young Actress.

(Ferrera photo by Yu Tsai.)

KRISTIN GRIFFITH (Patricia) Irish Repertory Theatre: It’s A Wonderful Life, Ernest in Love, The Master Builder; The Mint Theater: Mary Broome, The Charity That Began at Home, Mr. Pim Passes By, The Truth About Blades. Broadway: A Texas Trilogy: The Oldest Living Graduate; LuAnne Laverty Oberlander. Off Broadway: Lucy Thurber's Bottom of the World and Marriage, Jody's Mother, (The Atlantic Theater); Stretch: A Fantasia (Ohio Theater, The Living Theater); The Countess (Greenwich Street Theater, The Beckett, The Lambs); The Holy Terror, written and directed by Simon Gray (Promenade Theater) and many Marathons at Ensemble Studio Theater, where she is a member. Regional: The Wild Duck (Bard Summerscape); Snow Falling on Cedars, An Enemy of the People, Three by Thornton Wilder (Baltimore Center Stage); Widower's Houses, Great Catherine, Thark (The Shaw Festival, Ontario). Film: Woody Allen's Interiors, Merchant/Ivory's The Europeans, Steven Soderbergh's King of the Hill. Rose Hill, with Jennifer Garner, The Long Way Home, with Jack Lemmon, and the upcoming Drawing Home, with Kate Mulgrew and Rutger Hauer. TV: Guest Star on “Blue Bloods,” “New Amsterdam,” “Third Watch,” and all franchises of “Law & Order.

KEN MARKS (Charlie) Broadway: Michael in Dancing at Lughnasa (American cast), Arthur Miller’s After the Fall, Tom Stoppard’s Rock ‘n’ Roll, the last Wilbur Turnblad standing in Hairspray, Bill Austin in Mamma Mia! (original cast), Spring Awakening, Present Laughter.  Recently he originated the role of Uncle Ben in Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.  Off-Broadway: Editor Webb in David Cromer’s Our Town (original cast, Barrow Street), Laurence Olivier in Orson’s Shadow (Barrow Street), Stuff Happens (Public Theater, Drama Desk for Best Ensemble), Tony Kushner’s A Bright Room Called Day (Public), The Internationalist (Vineyard), Little Fish (Second Stage), When They Speak of Rita (Primary Stages), Bright Lights, Big City (NYTW), Henry V (NYSF). Regional: Long Wharf, ACT, the Guthrie, Seattle Rep, McCarter, Mark Taper, Actors Theatre of Louisville and many others. TV/Film: The Wackness, Bitter Pill, Henry’s Crime, Step Up 3D, “Royal Pains,” “Life on Mars,” “Elementary,” “New Amsterdam,” “Third Watch,” several “Law & Order” and “Law & Order: SVU”. Bay Area Critics Circle Award, Charles Bowden Award from New Dramatists.

TOBIAS SEGAL (Gary) made his Broadway debut playing “James” in The Miracle Worker. Previously at Women's Project, he performed in Kathryn Walat's Victoria Martin: Math Team Queen. He has also played roles in The Cherry Orchard and A Winter's Tale in Sam Mendes' Bridge Project (BAM, Old Vic, European and Asian Tour.) Off Broadway Drama Desk and Drama League nominations for From Up Here (MTC); also credits from Playwrights, Atlantic and Second Stage.  Film and television: R.I.P.D, Men In Black 3, Petunia, Fringe, Body Of Proof, Golden Boy, Law & Order SVU.

MYRA LUCRETIA TAYLOR (Toni) Broadway: Nine (Tony Award, Best Revival 2003), Macbeth, Electra, Chronicle of A Death Foretold, MuleBone, and A Streetcar Named Desire. Off Broadway: Love, Loss, and What I Wore, A Cool Dip in the Barren Saharan Crick, Crazy Mary, Fabulation (Playwright's Horizons). National Tour: Wicked (Madame Morrible); Love, Loss, and What I Wore. Regional: Romeo and Juliet (Actors Theatre of Louisville), Mary (World Premiere at the Goodman), Going to St. Ives (Barrington Stage), The Old Settler (World Premiere at the McCarter and Long Wharf). International: The Colored Museum (West End), A Winter's Tale, Pericles (Royal Shakespeare Company). TV: “The Big C”, all three “Law & Order” series.  Film: “Mega-Tsunami” (Upcoming), “Silver Tongues”, “The Private Lives of Pippa Lee”, “Changing Lanes”.  Myra is a Fox Fellow.

THE DESIGNERS

LAUREN HELPERN (Scenic Design) Current and upcoming NYC: Hit the Wall (Barrow Street), Totally Tubular Time Machine (Culture Club). NYC:  4000 Miles (LCT3/Lortel Award, LCT), Disgraced (LCT3), Bad Jews (Roundabout Underground), The Best of Everything (HERE), Chimichangas and Zoloft (Atlantic Theater Company), Escape (La MaMa), Desperate Writers (Union Square), BUG (Barrow Street, Obie Award), Kindness (Playwrights Horizons), Four (MTC), The Irish Curse and Underneath the Lintel (Soho Playhouse), Oliver Parker! (stageFARM at Cherry Lane), The Diary of a Teenage Girl (3LD, Hewes nomination), The Amish Project (Rattlestick, regional, tour), None of the Above (New Georges, Hewes Nomination), and the Broadway production of Voices in the Dark. Regional: Blue Man Group/Live at Luxor (Eddy Award), Portland Center Stage, Syracuse Stage, Prince Music Theater, Theater J, Anchorage Opera, among others.  Lauren is a member of New Georges’ Kitchen Cabinet and a partner in the design firm Luce Group.

SARAH J. HOLDEN (Costume Design) -- Recent productions include:   Doug McGrath’s Checkers (Vineyard Theatre, NYC), Simon Stephen’s Harper Regan (Atlantic Theater, NYC), Susan Mosakowski’s Escape (LaMama, NYC), Simon Stephen’s Bluebird (Atlantic Theater, NYC), Lanford Wilson’s Fifth of July (Williamstown Theatre Festival, MA & Bay St. Theatre, NY), Neil LaBute’s reasons to be pretty (Broadway production &  MCC Theatre, NY), Alexander Dinelaris’s Still Life (MCC Theatre), and Robert Altman’s Tanner on Tanner (Sundance Channel).

MARK BARTON – (Lighting Design) Off-Broadway: Bad Jews, Look Back In Anger (Roundabout); Detroit, The Big Meal, Circle Mirror Transformation (Playwrights Horizons); Uncle Vayna, Elective Affinities (Soho Rep); The Select, The Sound & The Fury, Gatz (Elevator Repair Service); February House, Titus Andronicus (Public); Notes From Underground, Chair (Theater for a New Audience); The Shipment; Church (Young Jean Lee); No Child. (Epic Theater Ensemble/Barrow Street); Thom Pain (DR2).  Other New York: Target Margin; New Georges; Clubbed Thumb; P.S.122; Signature Theater. Regional: A.R.T.; La Jolla Playhouse; Yale Rep; Perseverance Theater; Long Wharf; South Coast Rep; Berkeley Rep; Syracuse Stage; Asolo Rep. Many productions with Curtis Opera Theater, Philadelphia. 2012 Obie Award for Sustained Excellence.

LEON ROTHENBERG (Sound Design) - Broadway: The Heiress, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone (Tony Nom), Impressionism. Select New York: This Is Fiction (Cherry Lane), February House (Long Wharf, Public), Waiting For Lefty (Lee Strasberg Theater & Film Institute), Fall For Dance 2008-2012 and Grand Re-Opening Gala (New York City Center), Timon Of Athens (Public), Play Dead (Players Theater), On The Levee (LCT3), Heading East (Asia Society in New York), Encores!: Anyone Can Whistle (New York City Center). Select Regional and International: A Christmas Carol (North Shore Music Theater), Pullman Porter Blues (Arena, Seattle Rep), All Shook Up (North Shore Music Theater), Jitney (Two Rivers), Daibolidad (National Theater of Cyprus), Some Lovers (Old Globe), Sleeping Beauty Wakes (McCarter, La Jolla), Woyzeck (Oracle Theater), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (La Jolla). klaxson.net

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