The Normal Heart

Who's Who

CAST (in alphabetical order)

TOM BERKLUND (Craig Donner/Grady) is very excited to make his Arena Stage Debut! Broadway: A Chorus Line (Greg, Zach u/s), The Addams Family (Ancestor, Lurch u/s). Regional: Ahmanson Theatre, Papermill Playhouse, Houston TUTS, Goodspeed, Portland Center Stage, Music Theatre of Wichita, Theatre by the Sea, Casa Mañana. Film/TV: Disney’s Enchanted, The Academy Awards, Dancing with the Stars, Rosie Live!, Late Show with David Letterman. Tom trained and received his BFA at the University of Michigan. Unending gratitude to his family, friends and teachers for their enduring support and to George and all at Telsey Casting for this great opportunity. back

MICHAEL BERRESSE (Mickey Marcus) is honored to be making his D.C.-area debut in this historic production. In the Broadway and London revivals of Kiss Me, Kate, Michael’s performance as Bill Calhoun earned him Tony, Outer Critics’ Circle, Astaire and Olivier Award nominations. Other Broadway appearances include The Light in the Piazza (Outer Critics’ Circle nom.), A Chorus Line, Chicago, Damn Yankees, Fascinating Rhythm, Guys and Dolls, Carousel and Fiddler on the Roof. As a director, Michael received a 2006 OBIE Award for his work on [title of show] and made his Broadway directorial debut with the show’s transfer in 2008. Regional appearances include Parade at Mark Taper Forum (Ovation Award nom.), Great Lakes Theatre Festival (Channon in The Dybbuk), Cincinnati Playhouse, St. Louis Rep and others. Film: A.I. Artificial Intelligence, State of Play and the forthcoming The Bourne Legacy. TV credits include roles on Person of Interest, Law & Order, SVU, Criminal Intent and Live from Lincoln Center. Recent projects include directing the Off-Broadway premiere of Now. Here. This. and co-authoring a development project for ABC TV. back

PATRICK BREEN (Ned Weeks) Broadway: The Normal Heart, Next Fall, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Big River. Off-Broadway: Wild Animals You Should Know, Fuddy Meers, The Substance of Fire, Celebration/The Room, View of the Dome, Baby Anger, The Hothouse and Life and Limb. Films include: Men in Black, Get Shorty, Cirque Du Freak, Galaxy Quest, Radio, One True Thing, Christmas with the Kranks, Just a Kiss and The Bleeding House. TV: The Good Wife, Nurse Jackie, Kevin Hill, Sex and the City, Law & Order, Will and Grace, CSI, Frasier and 21 Jump Street. Patrick's art gallery is featured in the web series "Whole Day Down." Season one can be seen at Wholedaydown.tv.
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CHRIS DINOLFO (David) is honored to be making his Arena debut with this production. Recent Washington appearances include Luke in Next Fall at Roundhouse Theatre, Cordelio in Synetic Theater’s silent adaptation of King Lear and as Johnny Meister in Johnny Meister and the Stitch at Solas Nua. Chris has also worked at Woolly Mammoth (Clybourne Park), Shakespeare Theatre Company (The Alchemist, The Imaginary Invalid), the Folger (Henry IV, Part 1), Studio Theatre and their 2ndStage (The History Boys, All That I Will Ever Be), The Kennedy Center’s TYA (Nobody’s Perfect), Keegan Theatre (Death of a Salesman, The Importance of Being Earnest, Elizabeth Rex) and the Maryland Shakespeare Festival (The Two Gentlemen of Verona). Chris graduated from Catholic University with a BA in Drama and is based in Washington, D.C. back

CHRISTOPHER J. HANKE (Tommy Boatwright) Broadway: How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (Bud Frump), Cry-Baby (Baldwin), Rent (Mark), In My Life (J.T.). NYC: Claude in Hair (The Public’s Shakespeare in the Park), Buddy Baxter in Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa’s Golden Age, Eddie in A.R. Gurney’s Indian Blood (LCT Reading Series), Alvin in The Story of My Life (Manhattan Theatre Club 6@6). Tours: Deaf West’s Big River (Tom Sawyer) and The Full Monty (Ethan). Regional: D.C.’s Ford's Theatre (Barnaby in The Matchmaker). TV: series regular, Ryan Abbott, in Three Rivers (CBS), Brothers & Sisters, HBO’s Big Love (recurring) and Lifetime’s new show, The Client List. Christopher is a graduate of Baylor University and proud Actors’ Equity member. Follow him on Twitter at @cjHANKE. George Wolfe, you are a dream, and Larry Kramer, you are a hero. Thank you, both, for this important production! back

JON LEVENSON (Hiram Keebler/Examining Doctor) is honored to join the Arena production of The Normal Heart after covering several roles in last year’s Broadway production. Off-Broadway Jon played Harold in the 40th anniversary revival of The Boys in the Band at Transport Group. Other Off-Broadway credits include Gaslight and The Hairy Ape at Irish Repertory Theatre, and Crime and Punishment at 59E59. Regionally, Jon played Orlando in As You Like It andThe Baker in Into the Woods at Clarence Brown Theatre, and Treplev in The Seagull at Porchlight Theatre. MFA, University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Proud member of AEA and SAG-AFTRA. For Erika and Dave. back

LUKE MACFARLANE (Felix Turner) is best known for his role of Scotty on ABC’s Brothers & Sisters. He has appeared in several Off-Broadway plays, including The Busy World is Hushed with Jill Clayburgh, Christopher Shinn’s Where Do We Live and Juvenilia. Luke made his Broadway debut in The Normal Heart last summer and is honored to be returning to the production in the role of Felix. Film roles include Kinsey and Trapped Asses. TV credits include the CBC miniseries Iron Road opposite Peter O’Toole, a starring role on FX’s series Over There, and Tanner on Tanner, directed by Robert Altman. Most recently Luke was seen at Pittsburgh City Theatre in the one man show Sam Bendrix at the Bon Soir. Luke is a graduate of the Juilliard School. back

NICK MENNELL (Bruce Niles) debuts at Arena Stage after last being seen on Broadway in A Free Man of Color (also directed by George C. Wolfe). He has been seen on and off Broadway in Hamlet, Lobby Hero, Misalliance, Macbeth, American Occupation, The Marriage of Figaro, Richard III, The Odyssey, Three Sisters, A Memory of Two Mondays and The Importance of Being Earnest (at The Guthrie). Nick can most recently be seen on film in Bad Parents and Michael Bay’s remake of Friday the 13th. TV credits include the critically acclaimed Southland and Numb3rs. back

JOHN PROCACCINO (Ben Weeks) Broadway: An American Daughter, A Thousand Clowns, Conversations with My Father, 'Art' and Blood and Gifts (Lincoln Center). National tour: The Light in the Piazza. Regional: 'Art,' Good Boys and True (Steppenwolf); A Prayer for My Enemy, Down the Garden Paths and Sylvia (Long Wharf Theatre); A Moon for the Misbegotten, All the Kings Men, Arms and the Man and The Singing Forest (Intiman Theatre); Tartuffe, Caucasian Chalk Circle and Long Day’s Journey into Night (Seattle Repertory) and The Night of the Iguana, Dinner with Friends, Side Man and The Crucible (ACT Theatre). Film and TV: The Runner Stumbles, Three Fugitives, Born to Be Wild, Law & Order, NYPD Blue, Northern Exposure, Rose Red and Smash. back

PATRICIA WETTIG (Dr. Emma Brookner) Patricia, a member of Circle Repertory Company, originated parts in The Woolgatherer, A Tale Told, Childe Byron and Innocent Thoughts and Harmless Intentions. She appeared in the world premiere of Jon Robin Baitz’s A Paris Letter and has acted in The Diviners, Angels Fall, The Dining Room, Crimes of the Heart, Nightfall, Three Sisters and A Streetcar Named Desire where she met her husband Ken Olin. She has a long association with New York Stage and Film, participating as a playwright. Reading Festival: Headlong, A Life Imagined and F2M. Workshop Production: My Andy. Main Stage Production: F2M. My Andy was also done at the One Voice Festival at Hartford Stage and was a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. Films: City Slickers I & II, Guilty by Suspicion, Bong Water and Me and Veronica. TV: Brothers & Sisters, Prison Break, Alias, The Langoliers and thirtysomething, for which she won three Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award. back

CREATIVE TEAM

LARRY KRAMER (Playwright) Co-founder, Gay Men’s Health Crisis (world’s first HIV/AIDS service organization). Founder, ACT UP (the international network of activists responsible for the development/release of most HIV/AIDS treatments). BA Yale (1957). Film: Women in Love, producer and screenplay (Oscar nomination). Plays: Sissies’ Scrapbook, The Normal Heart, Just Say No, The Destiny of Me and A Minor Dark Age. Non-fiction: Reports from the Holocaust, The Making of an AIDS Activist and The Tragedy of Today’s Gays. Fiction: Faggots and The American People (forthcoming from Farrar Straus). Recipient: Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters; first openly gay person to receive a Public Service Award from Common Cause.He and his lover, architect-designer David Webster, live in New York. back

GEORGE C. WOLFE (Director) Theatre directing credits include Jelly’s Last Jam (Drama Desk and Outer Critics awards); Angels in America: Millennium Approaches (Tony and Drama Desk awards) and Perestroika (Drama Desk Award); Bring in ‘Da Noise, Bring in ‘Da Funk (Tony and Drama League awards); Topdog/Underdog (Obie Award); Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 (Drama Desk Award); Elaine Stritch at Liberty (Tony Award, Unique Theatrical Event); The Tempest, The Wild Party, Caroline, or Change, A Free Man of Color and The Normal Heart (Drama Desk Award). He is the writer of the award-winning The Colored Museum, directed Spunk (Obie Award), created Harlem Song for the world famous Apollo Theatre and conceived/directed a celebration of the American Musical at the White House. George directed the films Nights in Rodanthe and Lackawana Blues, for which he earned the Directors Guild Award, a National Board of Review Award, a Christopher Award and the Humanitas Prize. Additional awards include the Society of Directors and Choreographers’ Mr. Abbott Award, the Dramatist Guild’s Hull-Warner Award, Actors' Equity Paul Robeson Award, the New Dramatist Outstanding Career Achievement Award, the NAACP Lifetime Achievement Award, the Lambda Liberty Award, the Spirit of the City Award, the Brendan Gill Prize, the Distinguished Alumni Award from NYU, a Princess Grace Award for fostering the careers of young artists, a Cultural Laureate Award and a Library Lion. From 1993-2005 he was the Producer of The Public Theatre/New York Shakespeare Festival, serves on the President’s Committee for the Arts and the Humanities and was named a living landmark by the New York Landmark’s Conservancy. back

DAVID ROCKWELL (Set Designer) is the founder of Rockwell Group, a New York-based architecture and design firm.He designed the sets for the Broadway production of The Normal Heart as well as sets for Catch Me If You Can, Hairspray (Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle nominations), Legally Blonde The Musical (Drama Desk nomination), Free Man of Color, CQ/CX, The Rocky Horror Show (Drama Desk nomination), All Shook Up (Drama Desk nomination), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Harvey. David’s projects also include the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, the 2010 Academy Awards (Emmy award), Imagination Playground, the exhibition Reinventing the Globe: A Shakespearean Theater for the 21st Century and the Elinor Bunin-Munroe Film Center at Lincoln Center. back

MARTIN PAKLEDINAZ (Costume Designer) Arena: Oklahoma!, The Piggy Bank, The Cocoanuts, Taming of the Shrew. Broadway: Nice Work If You Can Get It (Tony nomination), The Normal Heart, Anything Goes (Tony nomination), The Pajama Game (Tony nomination), Lend Me a Tenor (Hewes Award, Tony and Outer Critics nominations), Thoroughly Modern Millie, Blithe Spirit (Tony Award winner), Kiss Me, Kate (Tony Award winner). Off-Broadway: The Glass Menagerie (Lortel nomination - Starring Judith Ivey), The Wild Party (Lippa), Golden Child, Kimberly Akimbo, The Life. Opera credits include works at Metropolitan Opera, Juilliard, Paris Opera/Bastille, Salzburg, Paris/Chatelet, Santa Fe, Helsinki, Madrid; works throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe and Japan. Dance: Mark Morris Dance Group, SF Ballet, Boston Ballet, Arizona Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet. Awards: two Tonys, Drama Desk, Obie, Lucille Lortel, Helen Hayes Award. back

DAVID WEINER (Lighting Designer) Arena: Debut. Broadway: Godspell Revival, The Normal Heart, Reasons to be Pretty, Butley, Dinner at Eight (LCT), Betrayal (Roundabout), The Real Thing. Off-Broadway: MTC, Second Stage, Playwrights Horizons, MCC, The Public, NY Theater Workshop, Theater for a New Audience, Vineyard, Atlantic. Opera: LA Opera, Bard Summerscape. Regional: Center Theatre Group, Guthrie, La Jolla Playhouse, The Alley, McCarter, Huntington, ART, Kansas City Rep, Williamstown, Berkeley Rep. Museum Design: NC State Museum of Natural Sciences Nature Research Center-Raleigh, NC. Awards: 2012 Lucille Lortel Award (Through a Glass Darkly), 2011 LA Ovation Award (Venice), 2011 Drama Desk nomination (Small Fire), 2005 Lucille Lortel Award (Rodney’s Wife). Upcoming: The Nutty Professor based on the original 1963 Jerry Lewis film. www.DavidWeinerDesign.com
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DAVID VAN TIEGHEM (Original Music/Sound Designer) Broadway: Doubt, The Lyons, Don’t Dress for Dinner, Born Yesterday, Arcadia, The Normal Heart, Mrs. Warren’s Profession, A Behanding in Spokane, A Man for All Seasons, Inherit the Wind, Frozen, After Miss Julie, Judgment at Nuremberg, The Crucible, Three Days of Rain, The Best Man. Off-Broadway: Medieval Play, CQ/CX, The Broken Heart, Through a Glass Darkly, Wit, How I Learned to Drive, The Grey Zone, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. Film/TV: Buried Prayers, Working Girls, Penn & Teller, Wooster Group. Dance: Twyla Tharp, Doug Varone, Elizabeth Streb, Michael Moschen. Percussionist: Laurie Anderson, Talking Heads, Brian Eno, Steve Reich. Awards/Nominations: Drama Desk, Obie, Bessie, Eddy, Lortel, Guggenheim. CDs: Thrown for a Loop, Strange Cargo, Safety in Numbers, These Things Happen. Internet: www.vantieghem.com
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BATWIN + ROBIN PRODUCTIONS (Projection Design) Linda Batwin and Robin Silvestri. Broadway: Sinatra!, Golda’s Balcony, Bells Are Ringing, The Rocky Horror Show, The Best Man, Parade, Minnelli on Minnelli, How to Succeed in Business, Bring in ‘da Noise, Bring in ‘da Funk, Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 (Drama Desk nom), The Who’s Tommy, The Radio City Christmas Spectacular. Off-Broadway: The Seven, Radiant Baby (Drama Desk nom), Harlem Song, Slanguages, House Arrest, Mother Courage (Delacorte Theater), The Normal Heart (Hewes Design Award). Their multi-media design work has been featured in numerous exhibitions and museums such as the Smithsonian Institution, The American Museum of Natural History, The Museum of Jewish Heritage, The National Museum of the Marine Corps, The Walt Disney Museum and The National Museum of the American Indian. back

LEAH C. GARDINER (Restaging Director) directed the national tour of Wit (Kennedy Center, Ordway, among others) and received a 2011 Obie Award for born bad (American premiere, Soho Repertory). Nationally, she has directed Clementine in the Lower Nine (World Premiere, TheatreWorks); Sucker Punch (U.S. Premiere, Studio Theatre); The Last Five Years (Crossroads Theatre Company); Othello (Houston Shakespeare Festival); Blue Door (World Premiere and Pulitzer Prize finalist, South Coast Repertory); Bulrusher (World Premiere and Pulitzer Prize finalist, Urban Stages); Fences (Oregon Shakespeare Festival); Topdog/Underdog (Philadelphia Theatre Company); Birdie Blue (City Theatre); Orange Flower Water (World Premiere, Contemporary American Theatre Festival); The Flag Maker of Market Street (World Premiere, Alabama Shakespeare Festival); A Streetcar Named Desire (Pillsbury House Theatre); Angels in America, Parts I and II (Connecticut Repertory Theatre). Leah holds an MFA in Directing from the Yale School of Drama. back

AMBER DICKERSON (Stage Manager), a proud Equity member, just finished working on The Whipping Man (Hana Sharif) at Hartford Stage. She has worked at Arena Stage for over a dozen seasons and also recently spent time on the Dreamgirls national tour. Arena credits include Trouble in Mind (Irene Lewis); Looped with Valerie Harper (Rob Ruggiero); The Mystery of Irma Vep (Rebecca Taichman); world premieres of The Women of Brewster Place and Passion Play, a cycle (Molly Smith); The Heidi Chronicles (Tazewell Thompson); Noises Off (Jonathan Munby); Crowns, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill and Ain’t Misbehavin’ (Ken Roberson) and The Piano Lesson (Seret Scott). Other credits: Syracuse Stage, Ogunquit Playhouse, Berkshire Theatre Festival and Heritage Rep. Thanks to God and her family for their continuous love and support! back

KURT HALL (Assistant Stage Manager) Favorite Arena credits include Red, Ruined, Trouble in Mind, every tongue confess, Sophisticated Ladies, Looped, Next to Normal, Ella, Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill, Awake and Sing! and The Goat. Other regional credits at Kennedy Center, Roundabout Theatre Company, Shakespeare Theatre and Signature Theatre. Thanks to his family for all their support. back

TELSEY + COMPANY (Casting) Broadway/Tours: A Streetcar Named Desire, Evita, The Best Man, Newsies, Porgy and Bess, Godspell, SPIDERMAN Turn Off the Dark, Sister Act, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Memphis, Rock of Ages, Wicked, Bring It On, The Addams Family. Off-Broadway: Rent, Million Dollar Quartet (and Tour, Chicago), Atlantic, MCC, Signature. Film: The Odd Life of Timothy Green, Friends with Kids, Joyful Noise, Margin Call, Sex and the City 1 & 2, I Love You Phillip Morris, Rachel Getting Married, Dan in Real Life, Across the Universe. TV: Smash, A Gifted Man, The Big C. www.telseyandco.com
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DARYL ROTH (Producer) is proud to hold the singular distinction of producing seven Pulitzer Prize-winning plays: Edward Albee’s Three Tall Women, Anna in the Tropics, How I Learned to Drive, Wit, Proof (Tony Award), August: Osage County (Tony Award) and Clybourne Park. She has produced over 75 award-winning productions on and off Broadway including: Edward Albee’s The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?, The Play About the Baby and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?; Bea Arthur on Broadway; Caroline, or Change; A Catered Affair; Closer Than Ever; Curtains; De La Guarda; The Divine Sister; Driving Miss Daisy; Fela!; Irena’s Vow; Leap of Faith; A Little Night Music; Love, Loss, and What I Wore; Medea; One Man, Two Guvnors; Salome; The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife; The Temperamentals; Thom Pain; Through the Night; Thurgood; Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 and The Year of Magical Thinking. Her production last year of Larry Kramer’s The Normal Heart was the recipient of three Tony Awards including Best Revival of a Play. Upcoming: John Grisham’s A Time to Kill, adapted by Rupert Holmes; and Kinky Boots, book by Harvey Fierstein, music by Cyndi Lauper. Love to Steven, my wonderful family, Lucy and Leo ever in my heart. DarylRothProductions.com
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