WHO'S WHO - California Shakespeare Theater

Who’s Who
Marin Theatre Company, TheatreWorks, Aurora
Theatre, Word for Word, and PCPA Theaterfest;
the world premiere of Moisés Kaufman’s The
Laramie Project at the Denver Center, New York,
and Berkeley; and for several films. She has both
acted with and coached dialects and text for
Cal Shakes in the past including Spunk, Titus
Andronicus, Macbeth, Mrs. Warren’s Profession,
Private Lives, Pericles, An Ideal Husband,
Nicholas Nickleby, Restoration Comedy, and
Man and Superman. She currently teaches
at A.C.T., Marin Theater Company, and Marin
Shakespeare, and works as an actor at many
Bay Area theaters.
Laxmi Kumaran*
(Stage Manager)
Ms. Kumaran is enjoying her third season at Cal
Shakes where she has stage managed Hamlet,
Spunk, Candida, and Titus Andronicus. In the
Bay Area, Ms. Kumaran has also stage-managed
for San Jose Rep and Center Rep. Before moving
to the Bay Area, Ms. Kumaran stage managed
in Chicago for a variety of theaters, including the
Goodman Theatre and the Court Theatre. Some
of the directors with whom she has had the
pleasure of working include Patricia McGregor,
Liesl Tommy, Joel Sass, Jonathan Moscone,
Rick Lombardo, Timothy Near, Amy Glazer,
Richard Seer, John McCluggage, Kirsten Brandt,
Barbara Damashek, Michael Butler, Robert Falls,
Mary Zimmerman, David Ira Goldstein, JoAnne
Akalaitis, Robert Woodruff, Karin Coonrod,
Gary Griffin, and David Cromer. Ms. Kumaran
has taught stage management classes at San
Jose State; Northern Illinois, DePaul, and
Northwestern universities; and currently teaches
at the University of California Santa Cruz.
Bethanie Baeyen*
(Assistant Stage Manager)
Ms. Baeyen is a stage manager for operas and
plays. She has worked with Marin Theatre
Company, Shotgun Players, Livermore Valley
Opera, Opera San Jose, Opera Boston, Ash Lawn
Opera Festival, Opera Academy of California,
the Merola Program, Sacramento Opera,
PlayGround Festival, Music Circus, Garbeau’s
Dinner Theatre, Sacramento Theatre Co., and
Le Theatre Mouffetard in Paris. BethanieBaeyen.
com
CAL SHAKES PROFILES
Susie Falk
(Managing Director)
Ms. Falk was appointed Cal Shakes’ Managing
Director in February 2009, after serving for
four years as Cal Shakes’ Marketing Director,
overseeing all marketing, sales, and public
relations efforts for the Theater, as well as box
office and front of house operations. During her
tenure, the company has seen ticket revenue
increase by 24% and completed a rebranding
effort. She previously served for five years as
Press and Public Relations Director for Berkeley
Repertory Theatre. Prior to that, she spent five
years in the PR and Marketing Departments
at American Conservatory Theater, and one
season as part of the Professional Arts Training
Program at Seattle Rep. She served for seven
years on the board (four as vice president) of
Theatre Bay Area, the local service organization
for theater companies and theater workers. She
is a graduate of Vassar College and completed
course work in organizational psychology at JFK
University in Pleasant Hill. She lives in Berkeley
with her husband, lighting designer York
Kennedy, and their daughter Pippa.
Jessica Richards
(Associate Artistic Director, Casting Director)
Ms. Richards is in her sixth season as Associate
AD, and directed casting for all productions
at Cal Shakes last season. As Associate AD,
she produced the world premieres of John
Steinbeck’s The Pastures of Heaven (2010)
and The Verona Project (2011). Previously, Ms.
Richards served for two years in Cal Shakes’
Artistic Learning department where she oversaw
artist residencies and other in-school programs.
As a director, she has worked with Town Hall
Theatre, Bay Area Children’s Theatre, SF Theatre
Pub, SF Young Playwrights, Commonwealth
Classic Theatre Company (PA), among others.
Ms. Richards has been a grantee of the Creative
Capacity Fund’s NextGen Arts Program, and a
grant review panelist for the City of Oakland’s
Cultural Funding Program. She holds a BA in
theater and political science from the University
of Evansville in Indiana.
Philippa Kelly
(Resident Dramaturg)
Dr. Kelly moved ten years ago from Australia
to settle in America with husband, composer
Paul Dresher, and son Cole. Her work has
been supported by many foundations and
organizations, including the Fulbright,
Rockefeller, and Walter and Eliza Hall
Foundations. Her latest book, The King and I
(Arden Press)—available for purchase in the
Cal Shakes Theater Store, and now in its third
print run—is a meditation on Australian identity
through the lens of Shakespeare’s King Lear.
The book has been celebrated for its poignant
and humorous exploration of Australian life,
and for its illumination of various contemporary
social attitudes toward those on the fringes of
society. Dr. Kelly teaches for Cal Shakes and
UC Berkeley, chairs selection panels for the
Australian government’s Endeavour Foundation,
and travels to Saudi Arabia to assist university
women with quality assurance. For most of
the summer she can be found out here at Cal
Shakes, where she is one of the regular pre-show
Grove Talk speakers.
*Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.
Rebecca Novick
(Triangle Lab Director)
Ms. Novick was the founder of Crowded Fire
Theater Company and served as its artistic
director for 10 years, growing the company
from an all-volunteer group to one of San
Francisco’s most respected small theaters. She
has developed and directed new plays for many
theaters in the Bay Area and elsewhere, and,
among other awards, her directing work has
been recognized by the Goldies for outstanding
local artist. Ms. Novick has also held a number
of arts management and consulting positions
including serving as interim arts program officer
for the San Francisco Foundation, project
coordinator for the Wallace Foundation Cultural
Participation Initiative in the Bay Area, and
director of development and strategic initiatives
for Theatre Bay Area. She regularly writes and
speaks on issues relating to the arts sector;
recent publications include contributions to
20under40, the GIA Reader, Counting New
Beans, and Theatre Bay Area magazine.
Ms. Novick has a BA from the University of
Michigan in drama and anthropology.
California Shakespeare Theater
Founded in 1974, now under the leadership
of Artistic Director Jonathan Moscone and
Managing Director Susie Falk, Cal Shakes is an
award-winning, nationally-recognized regional
theater. Through seasonal productions at our
outdoor amphitheater, and in year-round school
and community-based programs, Cal Shakes
expands access to the arts and builds diverse
ownership of our region’s cultural vitality by
fostering participatory approaches to the artistic
process and arts education.
ELLEN & JOFFA DALE
(Executive Producers)
Long-time subscribers and donors, Ellen and
Joffa Dale live in Orinda. Ellen is serving her
second stint on Cal Shakes’ Board of Directors;
she was also on the board in 1991 when
the Bruns Amphitheater first opened. While
Ellen and Joffa thoroughly enjoy picnics and
performances at the Bruns, the primary focus of
their donations is Artistic Learning. They believe
that the lives of children reached by Cal Shakes’
education programs are enormously enriched
and that these children are the artists and
audiences of the future!
OUR CORPORATE PARTNERS
BART
(Presenting Partner)
The Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) is
a 104-mile, automated rapid transit system
serving over three million people. Fortyfour
BART stations are located in Alameda,
Contra Costa, San Francisco, and San Mateo
counties, and serve to truly connect the Bay
Area. BART’s mission is to provide a safe,
26 california shakespeare THEATER WWW.calshakes.org