5/7/19
Trinity Rep staff share what shows in the upcoming season they are most excited about. By Kate Brandt.
The 2019-20 Season is already the talk of the town. If you haven’t heard about the lineup yet, check it out on the previous page. You can also read more about the shows and the people behind them at TrinityRep.com/1920Season.
We polled our staff to find out which show next season they were most looking forward to. These are the folks who end up being the most familiar with the productions. By the time we reach each opening night, staff members in all departments will be intimately familiar with these shows and what it takes to put them on stage for you, our audience. In fact, early conversations have already begun for many of these shows between directors, designers, and our team here on the ground. No matter what their job is though, our staff members are also all theater lovers who enjoy seeing the finished product on stage. So some of our staff picked their favorites below based on their role in the process of bringing the show to life and others selected the shows they are most excited to be in the audience for.
Trinity Rep’s teams’ opinions are varied, and every show is the headliner for someone. We know our subscribers feel the same way. That’s one of the best parts of being a subscriber — the variety. Instead of only seeing blockbusters, you will be rewarded with the unanticipated thrill of discovering a new work that truly moves you in ways you never could have predicted, and that you might have skipped had you not subscribed.
Check out what our staff is excited about and you’ll soon see that you won’t want to miss a single one.
GAYLE ULRICH, GENERAL MANAGER:
“I am most excited for August Wilson’s Radio Golf. I was really impressed with the movie Fences, which is based on one of the 10 plays in August Wilson’s American Century Cycle, all set in Pittsburgh. My husband is from there, and I have spent many vacations in Pittsburgh visiting his family. It is so different from my East Coast upbringing! I am really looking forward to seeing another play in the cycle on our stage.”
MICHAEL GETZ, PROPERTIES MASTER:
“I am most excited about The Prince of Providence for a couple of reasons. First, having lived in Providence for almost 25 years now (YIKES!), Buddy was the mayor when I first started working at Trinity Rep, so I lived here during a lot of the subject matter. I also absolutely love George Brant’s writing. The Mourners Bench is my all-time favorite new play that we have premiered since I have worked here, and I adored Into the Breeches! last season. Buddy’s story is in great hands with George Brant, and I hope that Providence and Rhode Island will be interested in seeing it come to life on the Trinity Rep stage.”
LAUREN USTASZEWSKI, DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR:
“I’m most excited to see next year’s production of Fade! As a part-time screenwriter, I know how much our experiences in life are woven into the stories we tell and how necessary it is for everyone’s story to be seen and heard. I’m excited to watch and see the journey of a writer who comes to the table with a diverse voice and struggles in a writing room dominated by the status quo. It’s a story about class and representation that I find particularly important, and I cannot wait to see it on our stage!”
JESSICA TOPOROSKI, ACCOUNTS PAYABLE & HUMAN RESOURCES ASSISTANT:
“One of the shows that I am most looking forward to seeing is A Christmas Carol because I want to see how the play gets changed up from staging to cast to adaptation from last year to this coming year.”
MAXWELL SNYDER, MARKETING INTERN:
“I’m most excited for Brian McEleney’s adaptation of A Tale of Two Cities! It’s one of those stories that everyone vaguely remembers from high school, whether they actually read it or not. Brian has such a creative and inventive brain, which was showcased during his performance of An Iliad. I can only imagine the things he has done to this story to reinvent it and tie it into what’s going on today.”
ANGELA BRAZIL, RESIDENT ACTOR & DIRECTOR OF THE BROWN/TRINITY REP MFA PROGRAMS IN ACTING & DIRECTING:
“I’ve felt a pull towards the conversation that Sweat invites since it premiered at Oregon Shakespeare Festival a few years ago. I knew, reading it, that it would be wonderfully cast with our company and our Brown/Trinity Rep MFA students. It’s the kind of rich contemporary American story — about a group of friends and co-workers whose relationships are jeopardized by tears in their economic and societal fabric — that might become even richer when told by a group of actors who have deep relationships with one another. This story is deeply resonant at this moment in Rhode Island‚ a perfect marriage of why this play, why us, why now.”
LIZZY PEGLER, COSTUME TECHNICIAN:
“I’m really excited for A Christmas Carol! I know we do it every year, but I love [director] Kate Bergstrom and it’s my first chance getting to run wardrobe on the show! I love the holiday season, and I’m so excited to celebrate it for two months!”
BRIAN McELENEY, RESIDENT ACTOR:
“Do I really need to say how excited I am that Trinity Rep is producing my adaptation of A Tale of Two Cities? It’s an exciting, moving story that I think says a lot about where we are in our polarized country today. I’m thrilled and honored …and I can’t wait!!!”
CAITLIN HOWLE, DIGITAL MARKETING COORDINATOR:
“I’m a Rhode Island transplant, and I’ve fallen in love with the Buddy Cianci story. Love him or hate him, his legacy has meant so much to the city of Providence. From listening to Crimetown to reading the book by Mike Stanton, I can’t wait to see The Prince of Providence as only Trinity Rep is able to tell it.”
HENRY BARCOHANA, BOX OFFICE REPRESENTATIVE:
“I’m most excited for The Prince of Providence. Having grown up in Providence, I am very familiar with the rise and fall of Buddy Cianci. Buddy as a politician, had a charisma that no longer exists in today’s politics. I cannot wait to see how Trinity will bring his story to life!”
KATHERINE NIEDZWIADEK, FRONT OF HOUSE STAFF:
“I’m most excited for Trinity Rep’s production of A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. This is because when I was a little girl, I remember my dad giving me an enormous black book that had golden edges containing four Charles Dickens novels including A Christmas Carol, Great Expectations, Oliver Twist, and most importantly, A Tale of Two Cities. It was the first Charles Dickens novel that I read in that enormous book. This novel gave me my love for stories. This is why I’m so excited to see Trinity Rep’s production of A Tale of Two Cities.”
LINDA BARONE, SALES FULFILLMENT MANAGER:
“I’m looking forward to August Wilson’s Radio Golf. I read it and think the language is beautiful, the characters fully developed and he hit on a very important issue, but not in a heavy-handed way.”
KAREN PIGEON, FRONT OF HOUSE STAFF:
“Sweat, because I love Lynne Nottage’s work.”
And as for me, the Director of Marketing and PR, Sweeney Todd takes the top spot. I have been a huge Stephen Sondheim fan for years. His music and lyrics are like Trinity Rep — fascinatingly complex while still absolutely accessible, memorable, and utterly, delightfully unexpected.
Subscriptions are currently available for the 2019-20 Season, which includes all six subscription series shows, plus early, discounted access to A Christmas Carol. Packages start at just $120 for all six shows — that’s less than the price of a single Broadway show and include discounts of up to 33% off. In addition to first access to seats and great discounts, subscribers have the ability to exchange their tickets for another performance at no extra charge. The savings and flexibility can’t be beat. Non-subscriber tickets will go on sale this summer, but the only way to guarantee a seat — especially for high-demand shows like The Prince of Providence — is to subscribe.
More information about subscriptions can be found online at TrinityRep.com/subscribe or by calling our friendly box office staff at (401) 351-4242.