The City of Conversation

ANTHONY GIARDINA

Playwright

ANTHONY GIARDINA (Playwright)’s first play, Living at Home, was produced in Arena Stage’s “In the Process” series in the Old Vat Room in 1977, before moving on to its New York premiere at Playwrights Horizons. Arena Stage subsequently produced two more of his plays—a commissioned adaptation of An American Tragedy and The Child. His other plays, including Scenes from La Vie de Boheme, The Beach, Black Forest and Custody of the Eyes, have been produced at Manhattan Theatre Club, Long Wharf Theatre, Yale Repertory Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre and Cleveland Play House. The City of Conversation, which premiered at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater at Lincoln Center in May 2014, was nominated for both the Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desk Awards for Best Play of the 2014/15 season. The play is now being developed as a three-part miniseries on FX. In addition to his work as a playwright, Anthony has published five novels and a book of short stories. His most recent novels, “White Guys” and “Norumbega Park,” were published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. He is a regular visiting professor at the Michener Center for Writers at The University of Texas at Austin.

DOUG HUGHES

Director

DOUG HUGHES (Director) makes his Arena Stage debut. His previous D.C. productions are Hughie and The Little Foxes (Helen Hayes Award nomination, Best Director), both with Shakespeare Theatre Company. Broadway productions include Outside Mullingar, The Big Knife, An Enemy of the People, Born Yesterday, Elling, Mrs. Warren’s Profession, Oleanna, The Royal Family (Tony Award-nominated revival), A Man for All Seasons, Mauritius, Inherit the Wind (Tony Award-nominated revival), A Touch of the Poet, Frozen (Tony Award nomination, Best Director) and Doubt, for which he won the Tony Award for Best Director. Off-Broadway productions include The City of Conversation, Death Takes a Holiday (Drama Desk Award nomination, Best Director of a Musical), The Whipping Man, Engaged, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, Flesh and Blood and Defiance. Additional awards include the Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Lucille Lortel, Obie and Callaway.

JOHN LEE BEATTY

Set Designer

JOHN LEE BEATTY (Set Designer) previously designed for Arena Stage’s The Tot Family (1976) and A Streetcar Named Desire (1978). His Broadway credits include Disgraced, The Heidi Chronicles, Chicago, The Nance, Outside Mullingar, Venus in Fur, Other Desert Cities, Good People, Rabbit Hole, After Midnight, The Color Purple, Doubt, Proof, The Sisters Rosensweig, Talley’s Folly, Fifth of July, A Delicate Balance, The Heiress, The Last Night of Ballyhoo, Ain’t Misbehavin’ and Abe Lincoln in Illinois. Off-Broadway credits include Dada Woof Papa Hot; Shows for Days; The City of Conversation; and Much Ado About Nothing and King Lear in Central Park. Designer of more than 100 Broadway shows, he is the recipient of multiple Tony, Obie, Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desk Awards and is a member of the Theater Hall of Fame.

CATHERINE ZUBER

Costume Designer

CATHERINE ZUBER (Costume Designer)’s received Tony Awards for The King and I, The Royal Family, South Pacific, The Coast of Utopia, The Light in the Piazza and Awake and Sing!, and nominations for Golden Boy, How to Succeed…, Born Yesterday, Seascape, Dinner at Eight (Outer Critics Circle Award) and Twelfth Night. Additional Broadway credits include Fiddler on the Roof, Gigi (Drama Desk Award), The Bridges of Madison County, Macbeth, Outside Mullingar, The Big Knife, Enemy of the People, Women on the Verge…, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, The City of Conversation, Blood and Gifts, Oleanna, Cry-Baby, Mauritius, Doubt, Little Women, Ivanov, Triumph of Love, The Sound of Music and The Red Shoes. TV credits include Peter Pan Live and The Sound of Music Live. Awards include Henry Hewes, Lucille Lortel, Ovation and Obie Awards.

TYLER MICOLEAU

Lighting Designer

TYLER MICOLEAU (Lighting Designer)’s D.C. credits include Shakespeare Theatre Company’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Much Ado About Nothing (Helen Hayes Award nomination), Ion and Ghosts. Off-Broadway credits include Pike St. (Epic Theatre Ensemble), First Daughters Suite (The Public), King Liz (Second Stage Theatre), Young Jean Lee’s We’re Gonna Die (Southbank Centre, UK), Iowa (Playwrights Horizons) and The World of Extreme Happiness (Manhattan Theatre Club). Regional credits with Huntington Theatre Company, Alley Theatre, Goodman Theatre, American Repertory Theater, Trinity Repertory Company, The Old Globe, Dallas Theater Center, Philadelphia Theatre Company and Long Wharf Theatre. Tyler received the 2010 Obie Award for Sustained Excellence, 2010 Lucille Lortel Award (When the Rain Stops Falling), 2009 Henry Hewes Design Award (Blasted), 2004 Obie and Lucille Lortel Awards (Bug) and four Philadelphia Barrymore Award nominations. Twitter: @micty, www.tylermicoleau.com

MARK BENNETT

Original Music and Sound Designer

MARK BENNETT (Original Music and Sound Designer)’s work was last heard at Arena Stage in The Rainmaker. Broadway credits include Macbeth, The Coast of Utopia (Drama Desk Award), Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Dead Accounts, Driving Miss Daisy, A Steady Rain, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, The Goat, Henry IV, The Search…, Golda’s Balcony and A View From the Bridge. Off- Broadway credits include The Bridge Project (BAM, Old Vic); Dogeaters, The Seagull and eight Shakespeare productions (The Public); The City of Conversation (Lincoln Center); and My Children! My Africa!, Mad Forest and An Iliad (NYTW, Obie Award). Regional credits include Salome and Coriolanus (Shakespeare Theatre Company); A Christmas Carol (Ford’s Theatre); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (La Jolla Playhouse, Craig Noel Award); and A Confederacy of Dunces and Dead End (Huntington Theatre Company). Mark received the 1998 Obie Award for Sustained Excellence, Ovation Award and 14 Drama Desk Award nominations.

TOM WATSON

Wig Designer

TOM WATSON (Wig Designer) is head of the wig and makeup department at the Metropolitan Opera. He has designed wigs for more than 70 Broadway productions. Current and recent Broadway designs include Wicked, Rock of Ages, How to Succeed…, The Addams Family, Annie, Act One, You Can’t Take it With You, The King and I, The Sound of Music National Tour, Dames at Sea, Therese Raquin and the current revival of Fiddler on the Roof. His designs can also be seen in the upcoming production of Bright Star.

AMBER DICKSON

Stage Manager

AMBER DICKERSON (Stage Manager) has spent over a decade working at Arena Stage and is delighted to return after spending the last several years in New York, working on Motown, the Musical with Charles Randolph-Wright. Other recent credits include The Secret Garden with Marcia Milgrom Dodge; Pride and Prejudice and The Whipping Man with Hana Sharif; Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike with Aaron Posner; Pullman Porter Blues with Lisa Peterson; The Normal Heart with George C. Wolfe; Trouble in Mind with Irene Lewis; Dreamgirls with Robert Longbottom (national tour); and Looped with Valerie Harper and Rob Ruggiero in Florida and D.C. Additional credits include Syracuse Stage, Ogunquit Playhouse, Berkshire Theatre Festival and Heritage Repertory Theatre. Thanks to God and her family for their continuous love and support!

RACHAEL DANIELLE ALBERT

Assistant Stage Manager

RACHAEL DANIELLE ALBERT (Assistant Stage Manager) is thrilled to return to Arena Stage after working on Erma Bombeck: At Wit’s End. Her credits include Bright Star (Kennedy Center, pre-Broadway); Up Here, Ether Dome and Peer Gynt (La Jolla Playhouse); Snakeskin (Malashock Dance and SACRA/PROFANA); Rich Girl (The Old Globe); and The Last Days of Judas Iscariot (Stage 773). She is a founding member of Ubuntu Theater Project, where she stage managed The Radicalisation of Bradley Manning, Grounded, Waiting for Lefty, Marguerite to Maya Angelou, Dance of the Holy Ghost, Fool for Love, Here Lies Henry, Dutchman and Yellowman at site-specific locations across Berkeley, Oakland and San Francisco. She received her M.F.A. from the University of California, San Diego and her B.F.A. from the University of Michigan. Proud AEA member.