Happy Birthday, Wanda June - The American Century Theater

The American Century Theater
presents

The American Century Theater
Presents
Happy Birthday, Wanda June
Director
Ellen Dempsey
Set Designer &
Properties
Trena Weiss–Null
by Kurt Vonnegut
March 7 - 29, 2008
Gunston Theatre II
2700 S. Lang Street
Arlington, Virginia
Producer &
Costumer
Rip Claassen
Lighting Designer
AnnMarie Castrigno
The Setting:
Heaven, The Ryan apartment, other locales
1970
Stage Manager
Maggie Clifton
Sound Designer
Jake Null
Happy Birthday, Wanda June is presented
by special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc.
There will be one 15 minute intermission.
Supported in part by the Virgina Commission of the Arts and
The Arlington County Department of Parks, Recreation and
Community Services, Cultural Affairs Division
PLEASE NOTE:
The use of recording equipment and/or the taking of photographs
during the performance is strictly prohibited.
Cast (In order of appearance)
Penelope Ryan.................................................................................... Kari Ginsburg
Looseleaf Harper..................................................................................... Joe Cronin
Paul Ryan................................................................ Andrew Newman, Adin Walker
Dr. Norbert Woodly................................................................................ Brian Crane
Herb Shuttle....................................................................................... Brian Razzino
Harold Ryan...................................................................................... William Aitken
Wanda June......................................................................................... Rachel Weber
Siegfried von Koningswald................................................................... Bill Gordon
Mildred................................................................................... Deborah Rinn Critzer
Production Staff
Producer............................................................................................... Rip Claassen
Director............................................................................................. Ellen Dempsey
Stage Manager.................................................................................. Maggie Clifton
Set Designer.................................................................................. Trena Weiss–Null
Lighting Designer.................................................................... AnnMarie Castrigno
Sound Designer.......................................................................................... Jake Null
Costumer.............................................................................................. Rip Claassen
Properties...................................................................................... Trena Weiss–Null
Board Operator.................................................................................... Bryn Deacon
Wardrobe........................................................................ Izzy Angel, William Angel
Set Construction....................................................... Michael Null, Jonathan Stricts
Caroline Cecot, Kristen Kiselewich
Photographer...................................................................................... Ian Armstrong
Program........................................................................................ Michael Sherman
Program Logo............................................................................... Michael Sherman
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Ahmed Niazi, Lou George, Don Barton, Steven Scott Mazzola, Backstage, Inc.,
The Arlington County Department of Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Resources,
Cultural Affairs Division, and all others whose names were not available
as this program went to press.
TACT is funded in part by Arlington County through the Cultural Affairs
Division of the Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources and
the Arlington Commission for the Arts; the Virginia Commission for the Arts;
numerous foundations; and many generous donors.

Artistic Director’s Notes: Happy Birthday, Wanda June (1970)
by Kurt Vonnegut
With Kurt Vonnegut’s Happy Birthday, Wanda June, we once again enter
the odd realm of plays authored by novelists. Almost no American writers
have shown themselves to be equally skilled on the printed page and on the
stage; only one has a legitimate claim to being equally successful in both
mediums. (I’ll reveal that exceptional novelist/playwright later.) The rule
works both ways, for the novels penned by great playwrights have seldom
reached the soaring heights of their scripts. Have you read The Roman
Spring of Mrs. Stone (Tennessee Williams)? Focus (Arthur Miller)? Good
Luck, Miss Wyckoff (William Inge)?
Probably not.
Why is this true? One reason may be the motivations that drive an author
from one form to the other. High among them are boredom, depression
and ego. In Vonnegut’s case, it was apparently all three: “I felt after I
finished Slaughterhouse Five that I didn’t have to write at all anymore if
I didn’t want to,’’ he wrote in his memoirs, entitled Wampeters, Foma,
and Granfalloons. “It was the end of some sort of career.’’ After he saw
his novel’s film adaptation, which he liked very much, Vonnegut became
enamored of the idea of seeing his characters in the flesh, referring to the
characters in novels as “spooks.” “It’s plays from now on,’’ he announced.
Luckily for the many fans of his novels, the newspaper strike that helped
close Wanda June and the abundant aggravations of professional theater
soon had him writing books again.
As a novice playwright, Vonnegut didn’t feel any pressure to obey the
requirements of the “well-made play,” and charted his own theatrical
territory. In this his closest equivalent was William Saroyan, one of the most
successful of the breed, who also created plays (including the Nobel Prizewinning
The Time of your Life) that broke more rules than they followed.
Vonnegut shared other traits with Saroyan. Both were humorists at heart,
though Vonnegut lacked Saroyan’s creamy sentimental center. Both excelled
at creating memorably quirky characters that could verge on being cartoons
yet still be capable of delivering an emotional jolt.
And both were masters of language. This is not necessarily a virtue for
a playwright. Stage plays communicate in many ways, novels in only
one; language without a strong sense of how the other elements of a stage
production create an emotional response from the audience will lead to an
over-written and over-long bore-fest. Fortunately for Vonnegut, language
was not his only tool, just his sharpest. Jack Kroll, reviewing Happy Birthday,
Wanda June’s original production for Newsweek, wrote that Vonnegut’s
mastery of wordplay “shows up” the non-novelist playwrights. “Vonnegut’s
dialogue is not only fast and funny, with a palpable taste and crackle, but it
also means something,” he wrote.
But Happy Birthday, Wanda June, Vonnegut’s first play, turned out to be his
most successful by far. This also mirrored Saroyan’s pattern as a dramatist:
the more plays he wrote, the less successful they were. Perhaps there is
a brief period for a novelist when working in a new medium sparks the
creation of fresh and unconventional plays that succeed because of their
authors’ lack of playwriting savvy, rather than in spite of it. Or perhaps it
is just that novelists tend to put their best ideas onto the page rather than
the stage. (This principle seems to hold in the other direction as well, when
established playwrights produce novels. For example, Thornton Wilder,
whose plays included such classics as The Matchmaker, The Skin of Our
Teeth, and Our Town, published his most successful novel, The Bridge of
San Luis Rey, at the very beginning of his career.)
Whatever the reason, it is nearly impossible to be equally successful writing
plays and novels. With Happy Birthday, Wanda June, however, Kurt
Vonnegut proved that he belongs with Saroyan, Wilder, and Gore Vidal in
the elite group of American writers who did both extremely well…at least
once.
The notable exception? It is Ira Levin, who died last year. He wrote four
acclaimed and best-selling novels: A Kiss Before Dying, The Boys From
Brazil, The Stepford Wives, and, of course, Rosemary’s Baby. He also wrote
a musical and eight plays that played on Broadway, and four of them were
big hits: No Time for Sergeants, Critic’s Choice, Veronica’s Room, and the
Tony-nominated Deathtrap—which The American Century Theater will be
producing in the 2008-2009 season.
Jack Marshall,
Artistic Director

THE COMPANY
WILLIAM AITKEN (Harold Ryan) The Rorschach Theatre Company:
Sir Walter Raleigh in Kit Marlowe. The American Century Theater: Ned
Crossman in The Autumn Garden, Ishmael/Actor in Orson Welles’s Moby
Dick Rehearsed, Herb Lee in Tea and Sympathy, McCarthy/Society
Gentleman in The Time Of Your Life, Phil Foley in Paradise Lost, and
Mannion in Mister Roberts. Washington Shakespeare Company as Diego
in The Royal Hunt of the Sun, Old Jew in Arthur Miller’s Incident at Vichy
and Dr. Joe Cardin in The Children’s Hour. Arena Stage as Robert (u/s)
in Proof. The Keegan Theatre as Juror Ten in Twelve Angry Men, Pedro
in Man of La Mancha, Capulet in Romeo and Juliet, and IRA Officer in
The Hostage. He also directed and designed the set for American Century
Theater’s production of Eugene O’Neill’s Desire Under The Elms.
BRIAN CRANE (Dr. Norbert Woodly) is making his fifth appearance with
The American Century Theater (TACT). Previous appearances with TACT
include: the Producer in Hellzapoppin’, the Egg of Head in MacBird!, Harris
in Tea and Sympathy and Felix/Williams in Paradise Lost. Other area roles
include Clotaldo in Life’s a Dream at Journeymen Theatre, Man (u/s) in The
Long Christmas Ride Home and Teddy Lloyd/Gordon Lowther (u/s) in The
Prime of Miss Jean Brodie at Studio Theatre; and Ralph (u/s) in Frozen at
Studio Theatre Secondstage. He has been seen at Washington Shakespeare
Company as Lepidus in Caligula, Lodowick in Edward III, and DeNizza/
Manco in The Royal Hunt of the Sun.
DEBORAH RINN CRITZER (Mildred) was most recently seen as an
Audience Hellion in TACT’s Hellzapoppin’, Constance Tuckerman in The
Autumn Garden (TACT), Mrs. Hoadley in Natural Theatricals’ production
of Herakles and in “An Evening with Dave Brubeck” at Constitution Hall.
Other credits include Fiddler on the Roof (Hodel/Chava/Tzeitel), Pajama
Game (Gladys), Brigadoon, Camelot, State Fair, Oklahoma, musical
reviews Curtain Up and Rhythm of the Night at The Timbers Dinner
Theater under the musical direction of Tony Award nominee Michael John
LaChiusa, Ismene in Sophocles’ Antigone and Chorus in Euripides’ Electra.
Training: The George Washington University, The Theatre School, and The
Shakespeare Theatre Company.
JOE CRONIN (Looseleaf Harper) has appeared with many companies
in New York and throughout the Washington area, including Arena Stage,
Theater J, the National Players, Olney Theater, Rep Stage, Interact Theater,
Everyman Theater, Washington Shakespeare Company, Washington Stage
Guild, Keegan Theater and Spooky Action Theater. He has frequently
performed with The American Century Theater, playing MacBird in
MacBird!, Gus in Paradise Lost and Nick in The Time of Your Life, and
other roles in Moby Dick Rehearsed, Machinal, The Robber Bridegroom,
The Seven Year Itch and Dear World. Joe has an MFA in acting from the
Catholic University of America.
KARI GINSBURG (Penelope Ryan) Previous TACT credits include: Ah,
Wilderness! (Muriel McComber), Stage Door (Olga) and The Crucible
(Mary Warren). Other regional productions include: Spooky Action, Spring
2008: The Marriage of Bette and Boo (Bette); Trumpet Vine: As Bees in
Honey Drown (Alexa Vere de Vere); Fallen Angels: Girlfriends (Sally);
Rep Stage: Arcadia (Chloe); Heritage: Equus (Jill Mason); Syracuse Stage:
Eight Reindeer Monologues (Vixen) and Hidden in this Picture (Robert);
The Center Company, Round House, Arena Stage, Shakespeare Theatre,
Adventure Theater, Venus Theatre, eight seasons with The Washington
Opera. Various television, film, radio and print credits include: g14
productions, UPN20, WILL Interactive, AAAS, Caryatid Films, Prudential,
The Washington Warthogs, Homicide. Kari is an Equity Membership
Candidate.
BILL GORDON (Siegfried Von Koningswald) was last seen as “The
Cabbie,” and heard as Lt. Buchevski, in TACT’s production of Cops. He is
a founding member and former president of the Firehouse Theatre Project
in Richmond, Virginia, where his favorite roles include Russell Boam in
The Big Slam, Dean Swift in Nebraska, Bob in Women of Manhattan, the
interrogator in Tone Clusters, and Roland Reynolds in the world premiere
of The Persistence of Memory. Other roles include Jack Worthing in the
Importance of Being Earnest and Poprischin in Diary of a Madman with
Richmond’s Experiential Theatre Company; and Uncle Peck in How
I Learned to Drive with ShenanArts in Staunton, Virginia. Bill is also a
former staff member of the American Shakespeare Center in Staunton.
ANDREW NEWMAN (Paul Ryan), 12, is making his professional stage
debut in Happy Birthday, Wanda June. At age 9, Andrew appeared in Mame
as Peter. He’s also had some modeling gigs in Hong Kong and played
a mass murder’s son in an HBO movie. Andrew is training to become a
professional actor.
BRIAN RAZZINO (Herb Shuttle) was most recently seen as Barberson in
TACT’s production of Cops. Prior to that he appeared in The Philadelphia
Story (Stephen Mazzola, Dir.) where he played Dexter Haven and in Edward
III at the Washington Shakespeare Company. Brian completed a year-long
intensive training program with the Theatre Lab’s Honors Conservatory to
study acting in 2007. At the conservatory, he performed in Othello in one

of his favorite roles as Iago on the Lab’s main stage. He also co-directed
and acted in the one act play Penguin Blues at The Theatre Lab. In addition
to these endeavors, Brian completed shooting the feature length Sci-Fi Film
The Photon Effect this last Spring (Spring, 2008 release), in which he plays
the principal villain, Dr. Robert Chase. He will be seen early this summer in
WSC’s production of The Romans in Britain directed by John Vreeke.
ADIN WALKER (Paul Ryan), 14, is an eighth grader at the Field School
in Washington. REGIONAL: Ford’s Theatre: A Christmas Carol (Peter
Cratchit); Washington Ballet: The Nutcracker; California Shakespeare
Theatre: Much Ado About Nothing, Macbeth (Macduff’s son); American
Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco: A Christmas Carol (Tiny Tim).
TELEVISION: Homicide: Life on the Street (“Abducted”). LOCAL: Act
Two Performing Arts: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Puck), Jekyll & Hyde,
Cats (Mistoffelees), 42nd Street (Abner Dillon/featured dancer); Ballibay
Camp for the Performing Arts: You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown
(Snoopy). TRAINING: Dance—Washington Ballet, D.C. Dance Collective;
Acting—Young Conservatory of American Conservatory Theatre, Act Two
Performing Arts.
RACHEL WEBER (Wanda June) is 15 years old and attends Dominion
High School. Her credits include: A Christmas Carol, Ford’s Theatre; Les
Miserables, The Theatre Lab; Red vs. The Wolf, Elden Street Players; The
Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Dominion Stage; Monster in the Closet, The
Children’s Theatre; Beauty and the Beast, The Children’s Theatre; Fiddler
on the Roof, Herndon Boosters.
PRODUCTION STAFF
ELLEN DEMPSEY (Director) Directing: MacBird!, It Had To Be You
(TACT), Twelve Angry Men and Unquiet Hearts (Keegan Theatre), Sweet
Charity, The Antigone in Warsaw. Assistant Director: That Championship
Season, Paradise Lost and Moby Dick Rehearsed. Stage Management
credits include Pump Boys and Dinettes, Hamlet, On The Verge, Violet, and
A Streetcar Named Desire (US and Ireland). Last seen “on stage” in TACT’s
production of Hellzapoppin’.
RIP CLAASSEN (Producer & Costumer) is a staff member of the Theatre
Department at Duke Ellington School of the Arts, teaching Improvisational
Theatre, Theatre criticism, and running the extra curricular activities. He
has served as the dramaturge in residence at Backstage Inc. for 16 years. He
has guest taught at Bowie State university (costuming), The Fairfax County
Public Schools Institute for the arts (Improvisational Theatre and Comedy),
The Maryland State High School Theatre Festival, and The Actors Center.
He is an Artistic Associate with The American Century Theater. Rip has
directed for Natural Theatricals, HITS (which he co-founded), The Lincoln
Park Players, Duke Ellington, and is the Artistic Director and founder of
Teens and Theatre Company. He attended NCDA (National Conservatory
of Dramatic Arts) back in its humble beginnings as the Theatre School.
ANNMARIE CASTRIGNO (Lighting Design) TACT: Cops, The Emperor
Jones. Nominations and awards for Outstanding Lighting Design: Murder
Room (LTA, 2000), Misery (LTA, 2001), Master Class (LTA, 2002), Kiss Me
Kate (TAP, 2003), Evita (Vienna, 2004), The Weir (ESP, 2005) and Fiddler
on the Roof (TAP, 2006). AnnMarie holds both community and professional
credits in lighting and electrics at many DC metro area theaters, including
Toby’s Dinner Theater in both Columbia and Baltimore, MD.
MAGGIE CLIFTON (Stage Manager) is a recent transplant from North
Carolina. Some of Maggie’s favorite past projects include: Stage and Tour
Manager for Burning Coal Theatre Company’s production of Travesties
at the Piccolo Spoletto Festival, as well as Costume Design for Bat Boy,
The Musical (UNC-G), Lipstick Traces and A Midsummer Night’s Dream
(Burning Coal). This is her first production with The American Century
Theater, and she is thrilled with the opportunity to work with this great
ensemble cast. When she is not indulging in her love for theatre, Maggie
spends her free time spinning straw into gold.
JAKE NULL (Sound Designer) has musical directed 12 theatrical
productions and has run sound on countless more. He has designed sound
for 3 previous shows and owns and operates his own music business Europa
Studios. He has produced 5 albums and is the musical director for Always
In Christ, a Christian music group. This is his first show with TACT and
looks forward to many more in the future.
TRENA WEISS-NULL (Set and Prop Designer and Construction) most
recently designed and built the set for TACT’s production, Cops, and wrote
and directed Racing Through Aesop in an educational setting. She works
as a director, designer, and Theatre teacher in professional, community, and
educational venues and has a Bachelor’s degree in Acting-Directing, and
Master’s degrees in both Theatre and Education. She has recently designed
and built sets for Godspell, Haracles, and Grease and is a member of the
Theatre History Initiative through the Shakespeare Theatre and NEH.

DONORS
GROUP THEATER GOERS- $5000+
Arlington Commission for the Arts
Virginia Commission for the Arts
PROVINCETOWN PLAYERS $2,500 - $4,999
Ann Marie Plubell
THEATER GUILDERS $1,000 - $2,499
Anonymous
Arlington Community Foundation
Rebecca & Gene Christy
Robert G. DuBois
Peri Mahaley
Jack & Eleanor Marshall
Constance McAdam
MERCURY THEATER BACKERS $500 - $999
Ellen Maland & Donald Adams
Mr. & Mrs. Alan Branigan
Joya B. Cox
Francis Cunningham
John Dawson
Gloria Dugan
Allison & Craig Fields
LIVING THEATER LOVERS $250 - $499
John Acton
Rick Albani
Peter & Cherry Baumbusch
Barney Black
Marvin & Ellen Cantor
Brian Crane
Suzanne Thouvenelle & Dennis Deloria
Thomas & June Hoya
Vivian & Art Kallen
Louis Kriser
Katherine & Robert Krubsack
THE PLAYERS $100 - $249
Deborah Taylor Ashford
Steven & Candice Barrigar
Tom & Loretta Beaumont
Jon Blackman
Ron Brandt
Boris & Earlene Cherney
Sally & Charles Cooper
Savtanter Dillon
Bob & Wendy Kenney
Robert McElwaine
Steve Cohen & Mary McGowan
Loren Platzman
Willa & David Siegel
Sheldon Wallerstein
Janet Reingold & Philip Yasinski
Michael Kahn
William Kolodrubetz
Jacqueline Manger
Jim & Marjie Mayer
Harriet McGuire
Mary Patricia Michel
William Bunting & Virginia Tarris
Geraldine Kuryla
Margaret Mulcahy
Carl E. Nash
Suzy Platt
Mr. & Mrs. A.A. Raizen
Bill & Connie Scruggs
Alan P. Simon
Adam S. Posen & Jennifer A. Sosin
Frontis Wiggins
Bonnie Williams
Annette Zimin
Coralie Farlee
Timothy Farris
Donna Feirtag
Tracy Fisher
Marian Flynn
Sharon Galm
Jean Getlein
Gabriel Goldberg
THE PLAYERS $100 - $249 (cont’d)
William C. Hamilton
Adriana Hardy
Virginia Harris
Alan Herman
Robert Honeygosky
Roger & Katharine Hood
Elaine Howell
Angela Hughes
Sharon Judge
Nancy Kassner
Alan King
Philip & Patricia l;arson
Mary Ann Lawler
Barbara & Wilber Leventer
Constance & Wesley MacAdam
Winnie Macfarlan
Judith & David McGarvey
Thomas McGovern
George & Thene Martin Mernick
Doreen Mueller
Donn B. Murphy
THE FEDERAL THEATER FUNDERS $10 - $99
Harry Bacas
Richard & Jean Barton
Patricia Chapla
Ronald Cogan
Walt & Sue Duka
Jim & Laura Farrand
Renee Fischman
Cathleen Garman
James & Maria Gentle
Lois Goodman
Margaret Gough
Madi Green
Bob Griffin
Jack Hahn
Sally & Robert Hoffman
Marta Hopmann
William Kelleher
Peter Kellogg
Charles Kennedy
Robert L. Kimmins
Ronald Lafferty
Mark Linton
Dennis Nollette
Dennis O’Connor
Sherman & Anastasia Pratt
Mr. & Mrs. Henry Raduazo
Morton Rubenstein
Charline Rugen
Sharon Schoumacher
Bill & Connie Scruggs
Carole Shifrin
Joe & Elizabeth Silversmith
Jennie Sinsabaugh
Jean V. Smith
James & Patricia Snyder
Pat Spenser Smith
Kathryn Tatko
Helen Trilling
Jane W. Vanneman
George & KayWagner
Heathcote W. Wales
George Krumbhaar & Lee Zahnow
Gudrun Luchsinger
Terri Lynch
Angus MacInnes
Phoebe K. Masson
Barbara & Kenneth McLean
Anne Meagher
Mitch & Marnie Metzman
Sam & Lynn Miller
Carol Mudrak
Carol Parowski
Sheila Hess & Suzanne Perry
Mr. & Mrs. Cecil Richardson
Glory Sabatier
Henry Shields
Bertha Shostak
Robert L. Spatz
Bernita Starks
Sharman Stephens
Peter & Erika Streng
Sue Swift
Marjorie Townsend
Col. William Wright

There’s Still Time ...
TACT’s 2007-2008 Season continues
Eccentricities of a Nightingale
by Tennessee Williams
April 4 - 26, 2008
Stunt Girl
A Staged Concert Reading of a New Musical
by Tony-Nominated Playwright/Lyricist Peter Kellogg
June 26 - 29, 2008
The Titans
by Robert McElwaine
July 18 - August 16, 2008
THE AMERICAN CENTURY THEATER
STAFF AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Chair: Wendy Kenney
Board: Rebecca Christy, Peter Kellogg, Jack Marshall,
Steven Scott Mazzola, David Siegel, Peri Mahaley,
Ann-Marie Plubell, Loren Platzman.
Jack Marshall, CEO and Artistic Director
Rhonda Hill, Executive Producer
Steven Scott Mazzola, Associate Artistic Director
Brian Crane, Artistic Associate
Ellen Dempsey, Artistic Associate
Rip Claassen, Artistic Associate
Jason Beagle, Artistic Associate
Bill Aitken, Artistic Associate
Virginia Tarris, Director of Development
Ed Bishop, Artistic Associate
Tom Fuller, General Counsel
Becky Hunger, Director of Operations
Jeff Bell, Photographer
Robert McElwaine, Resident Playwright
Michael Sherman, Graphic Artist / Program Design