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Anneliese van der Pol to Lead New Musical JANE AUSTEN'S EMMA at Arizona Theatre Company

By: Nov. 26, 2012
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Arizona Theatre Company presents the Arizona Premiere of "Jane Austen's Emma" a new romantic musical comedy that brings Jane Austen's masterpiece to life. "Jane Austen's Emma" plays at the Temple of Music and Art and runs from December 1, 2012 – December 22, 2012. It continues its run in Phoenix at the Herberger Theater Center from December 31, 2012 – January 20, 2013. "Jane Austen's Emma" is sponsored by Shirley Estes. ATC's season sponsors are I. Michael and Beth Kasser.

In this timeless love story, the beautiful and clever Emma takes pride in her matchmaking abilities but is so preoccupied with the romance of others, shefails to realize that she is clueless when it comes to her own feelings about love. The path to true love is never smooth so, when she takes on the challenge of helping her hapless friend Harriet, her well-intentioned efforts misfire, leading to a whirlwind of comical complications and ultimately, the man of her dreams.

Tony Award-nominated composer Paul Gordon brings Jane Austen's charming classic to musical life with songs that are "cleverly woven throughout" and "enhance the story in wonderful ways" according to Variety. San Diego Union Tribune called it "A musical that's a total pleasure" and StageSceneLA said, "Sparklingly tuneful, witty, and romantic as all get-out, Jane Austen's Emma is a musical dream come true."

The leading role of "Emma" will be played by Anneliese Van Der Pol, who is recognizable to younger audiences for her starring role in the successful Disney show, "That's So Ravan" as Chelsea Daniels.

"It is a thrill to be working on this musical masterpiece with Paul Gordon," said Stephen Wrentmore, director and associate artistic director, Arizona Theatre Company. "Paul has a deep and empathetic understanding of theatrical storytelling which complements Austen's trademark genius in creating wonderful characters that reveal the truth. The ideas and vivacity of the classic fiction, "Emma," leap from the page and across generations, making this novel that's two centuries old, feel fresh, relevant and alive. Co-directing with David Ira Goldstein, we are blessed with a cast and design team of extraordinary ability. We are excited to bring this glorious piece of theatre to Arizona audiences."

Paul Gordon (Book, Music and Lyrics) was nominated for a 2001 Tony Award for his score to the Broadway musical "Jane Eyre." He won the 2011 Ovation Award for his score to "Daddy Long Legs" and the 2007 Bay Area Critics Circle Award for his book to the musical, "Jane Austen's Emma." First developed at TheatreWorks in Palo Alto, "Jane Austen's Emma" has gone on to have productions at The Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis and The Old Globe Theatre in San Diego where it won The San Diego Theatre Critics Circle Award for Best Musical in 2011. "Daddy Long Legs," written with John Caird, had its world premiere at the Rubicon Theatre in Ventura, California in the fall of 2009, and its unique rolling tour has had 15 productions throughout the country. It opened at the St. James Theatre in London in November of 2011. His other works include "Analog and Vinyl, Death: The Musical," "The Sportswriter," and "Little Miss Scrooge," written with John Caird and Sam Caird, which will have its staged concert premiere this Christmas at the Rubicon Theatre in Ventura, California. "Being Earnest," written with Jay Gruska, will have its world premiere at TheatreWorks in April of 2013.

Stephen Wrentmore (Co-Director) first came to Arizona Theatre Company as an Associate Director with The National Theatre's production of "Hamlet" and later returned to direct "Copenhagen" and "Macbeth." Currently celebrating his second season as Associate Artistic Director at ATC, he has also directed "The Great Gatsby" and numerous performances for ATC's Café Bohemia; later this season he will direct "Freud's Last Session" and Café Bohemia's "War of the Worlds." Highlights of Mr. Wrentmore's directing career include, in the United Kingdom, Howard Barker's "Wounds to the Face and Picasso's Women" by Brian McAvera, "Bedevilled" by Richard Hurford and "Loveplay" by Moira Buffini. He was Artistic Director of the Byre Theatre in Scotlandfrom 2004 to 2007; productions include "Not About Heroes," "The 39 Steps," "The Twits," "Translations," "Private Lives" and "Vincent in Brixton." In Russia, he directed "The Cripple of Inishmaan," "Far Away" by Caryl Churchill at the Meyerhold Theatre in Moscow, and "Theatre5" in Omsk. In Pristina, Kosovo, he directed "The Vagina Monologues" and "The Lieutenant of Inishmore" at The National Theatre, and at The National Theatre in Belgrade, Serbia, he directed "The Country" by Martin Crimp. Other projects include directing, teaching, studio readings and masterclasses in Norway, Latvia, Kazakhstan, Sweden, Denmark, USA, Ireland, and Cyprus. In 2008, Mr. Wrentmore worked with Tate Galleries in London and spent 2009 as a visiting academic at Hertford College, Oxford.

David Ira Goldstein (Co-Director) celebrates his twenty-first season as Artistic Director of Arizona Theatre Company with this production. He has directed more than 40 mainstage productions for ATC ranging from classics to new plays tomusicals, as well as many world premieres including most recently "Next to Normal," "Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure" and "Ten Chimneys" by Jeffrey Hatcher. Mr. Goldstein has been a guest director at theatres all across the country including Arizona Opera, The Pasadena Playhouse, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Kansas City Repertory Theatre, Northlight Theatre, San Jose Repertory Theatre, Village Theatre, Geva Theatre Center, ACT Theatre, Laguna Playhouse, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Mixed Blood Theatre, and The Children's Theatre Company in Minneapolis. His musical "A Marvelous Party" has played extensively across the US, winning four Jeff Awards in Chicago (including Best Director), the Elliot Norton Award in Boston, several Bay Area Critics Awards and the Los Angeles Drama Critics Award for Best Production.

Laura Bergquist (Music Director) returns to Arizona Theatre Company where she was last seen in "Daddy Long Legs." She has conducted National and International Tours of "The King and I," "Titanic" and "Miss Saigon." She just completed an acclaimed run of "Allegiance" at The Old Globe Theatre. Ms. Bergquist is a frequent guest conductor in regional theatres and a clinician in universities and churches. As an ASCAPAwards recipient for composition, her personal catalogue includes more thansixty works in print and several recordings. She has worked regionally at The Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Cleveland Play House, Rubicon Theatre, Northlight Theatre, TheatreWorks, Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma and Music Theatre of Wichita, as well as the New York Stage and Film Festival, The Juilliard School, New York Musical Theatre Festival,Midtown InterNational Theatre Festival and National Alliance for Musical Theatre.

Patricia Wilcox (Choreographer) returns to Arizona Theatre Company where she choreographed and created musical staging for "Hair," "The Pajama Game," "The Pirates of Penzance," "My Fair Lady," "HMS Pinafore," "Little Shop of Horrors," "The Fantasticks," and "Blues in the Night," among others. She is the choreographer for "Motown the Musical," opening on Broadway April 2013. Other credits include "Children's Letters to God" (Off Broadway), "Blues in the Night" (Off Broadway, the international companies, and Thames Television; NAACP Image Award nomination), "Bowfire" (National tour and PBS Special), and "A Marvelous Party" (co-conceiver and choreographer; Geva Theatre, Northlight Theatre, Laguna Playhouse, Center Repertory Theatre), which has garnered a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award, San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Award, Elliott Norton Award, and Jeff Award. Other credits include "Guys and Dolls" (Paper Mill Playhouse), "Smokey' Joes Cafe," "Camelot" and "Aida" (North Shore Music Theatre), "The Pajama Game" (Chicago's Marriott Lincolnshire; Jeff nomination, Sacramento Music Theatre, Moscow Arts Center), and "Broadway Under the Stars" in Bryant Park. She choreographed for the Ronacher Theatre in Vienna, the Berns Theatre in Stockholm, and numerous tours and television shows in Europe. Ms. Wilcox has created numbers for ice skating gold medalists Viktor Petrenko, Ilia Kulik,Katya Gordeeva, Miki Ando and two ice dancing teams for the 2006 and 2010 Winter Olympics.

The cast of "Jane Austen's Emma" is lead by Anneliese Van Der Pol (Emma Woodhouse) making her Arizona Theatre Company debut. She made her Broadway debut in 2007 as the final Belle in "Beauty and the Beast" and starred for six years and in 100 episodes of the highly successful Disney show "That's So Raven" as Chelsea Daniels. Regional theatre credits include Kathy in "Vanities" (Pasadena Playhouse, Second Stage - NY), Esther in "Meet Me in St. Louis" (TUTS), Laurey in "Oklahoma" (Austin Musical Theatre), Eva Peron in "Evita" (Buena Civic Light), and Marian in "The Heiress" (Pasadena Playhouse). Ms. van der Pol has recorded numerous songs for Disney Records and most recently finished shooting the movie "Vampires Suck" in Shreveport, LA.

Andrés Alcalá (Mr. Weston) has worked throughout Arizona and Oregon in both acting and directing, including two seasons at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Regional credits include the one-man show "Men on the Verge of a His-Panic Breakdown", "Kiss of the Spider Woman", and "Sueño" at Borderlands Theatre; "Othello" (Iago), "Richard III" (Richard III), "Romeo and Juliet" (Friar Lawrence), and "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (Oberon) at Southwest Shakespeare Company, several productions at Teatro Bravo, and Bordertown atActors Theatre of Phoenix. For the past six years Mr. Alcalá was an associate artist at Childsplay where he taught, directed and performed in many productions including "The Color of Stars" and "The Sun Serpent", as well as two national tours of "Ferdinand the Bull" and "Peter and the Wolf." His recent directing work includes "Zoot Suit" at Arizona State University and "The Giver" for Childsplay in collaboration with ASU.

Richert Easley (Mr. Woodhouse) is a veteran of regional theaters throughout the U.S. including Studio Arena Theater, Stage West, Riverside Theatre and The Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre, to mention only a few. He has appeared on Broadway in Jack O'Brien's acclaimed revival of "Porgy and Bess" and "Oh! Calcutta!" Mr. Easley is happy to return to the role of Mr. Woodhouse, having played him previously at The Old Globe, The Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park and The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis. He has appeared on "Law & Order," and his film credits include the Canadian film "Outrageous."

Jon Eidson (Robert Martin) is making his ATC debut, and comes to "Jane Austen's Emma" fresh off his regional debut as Willard Hewitt in a San Diego production of "Footloose." A proud and recent graduate of UCLA's Ray Bolger Musical Theatre program, his favorite credits include "Xanadu" (Sonny), "RENT" (Collins), and "A Chorus Line" (Bobby). Eidson is a writer/actor with the LA based comedy group Extremely Decent whose work can be seen on MTVu and YouTube.

Suzanne Grodner (Miss Bates) has Broadway credits that include "Bye Bye Birdie" (Roundabout Theatre) and "The Rose Tattoo" (Circle in the Square). Her off-Broadway credits include "Sarah/Sarah" (Manhattan Theatre Club), "Old Jews Telling Jokes", "Cakewalk", "Death Defying Acts", "Appelemando's Dreams" (Vineyard Theatre) and "Show & Tell." Her national tour credits include "Phantom of the Opera" and "Brighton Beach Memoirs". Regional credits for Ms. Grodner include San Francisco Playhouse, Pioneer Theatre Company, ACT in Seattle, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Indiana Repertory Theatre, TheatreWorks, Cincinnati Playhouse, Syracuse Stage, Florida Stage, and Asolo Repertory Theatre. Ms. Grodner has played the role of Miss Bates since 2006 at TheatreWorks, Cincinnati Playhouse, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis and The Old Globe. TV credits include all three seasons of "Law & Order," "Ed", and "Hidden Signs."

Colin Hanlon (Frank Churchill) has credits that include ABC's "Modern Family" (Steven – recurring). Mr. Hanlon also produces and plays Tim on "Submissions Only" (Submissionsonly.com). His Broadway and Off-Broadway credits include "Wicked", "RENT", "The Pirates of Penzance" and "I Love You Because." Mr. Hanlon's regional credits include The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, New York Stage & Film, Kansas City Repertory Theatre, Westport Playhouse, George Street Playhouse, Adirondack Theatre Festival, Dallas Theater Center, Cape Cod Theatre Festival, TheatreWorks and O'Neill Theatre Center. Mr. Hanlon also was featured in the original cast of "Edges: A Song Cycle", and can be heard on the cast albums for "Next Thing You Know" and "I Love You Because", available on iTunes.

Brian Herndon (Mr. Elton) has regional credits that include "Jane Austen's Emma" (Mr. Elton) at TheatreWorks, The Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis and The Old Globe. Additional regionalcredits for Mr. Herndon include Aurora Theatre Company, Marin Theatre Company, Berkeley Playhouse, and San Francisco Shakespeare Festival. Mr. Herndon is a member of the PlayGround Company and the Society of American Fight Directors.

Jamison Lingle (Jane Fairfax) was last seen playing the role of Meg in Ken Ludwig's newest comedy "Leading Ladies" at the International City Theatre. Prior to that she originated the roles of Dawn Lovett in "Sidetracked" and Peggy in the musical "Wartime Romance." Ms. Lingle's regional credits include "The Robber Bridegroom" (Rosamund), "Guys and Dolls" (Sarah Brown), "Pazzazz!" (Josie Cohan), "Scary Musical" (Jamie Lee), "Anything Goes" (Charity), "A Christmas Carol" (Belle), and Mel Shapiro's new musical, "Homer in Cyberspace." Ms. Lingle made her TV debut as Mystery Hot Girl in "Dorm Life on HULU", and continues to work on various film and television projects in Los Angeles.

Dani Marcus (Harriet Smith) has New York credits that include "The Pirates of Penzance" with The National Yiddish Theatre (Drama Desk Award nomination), "River's End" in the New York Musical Theatre Festival, and "Civil War Voices" as a part of the 2010 Midtown InterNational Theatre Festival. Ms. Marcus' regional credits include "Jane Austen's Emma" (Harriet Smith) at The Old Globe, TheatreWorks, The Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, and The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" with San Jose Repertory Theatre, "Begger's Holiday" with Marin Theatre Company (Bay Area Theatre Critic's Choice Award), and "Lucky Stiff" with Center REP.

Patty Nieman (Mrs. Weston) has regional credits that include "Babes in Arms" (The Guthrie Theater) "Hot 'n Cole", "Anything Goes", and "A Little Night Music" (Ordway), "Sisters of Swing" and "Christmas of Swing" (History Theatre), "Vanishing Point"(American Stage), "Tell Me on a Sunday", "Vanishing Point" and "Two Weeks with the Queen" (Illusion Theater), "Most Happy Fella" (Vocal Essence), and "She Loves Me" (Skylark Opera). Ms. Nieman's Arizona credits include "A Little Night Music" (Theatre Works), and "The Music Man."

Shannon Stoeke (Mr. Knightley) has tour and regional credits that include Mordred in "Camelot", Claude in "Hair", and Arthur in "Camelot" at the Pasadena Playhouse. Other credit roles include Oswald in "Assassins", Eddie in "King O' the Moon", the Courier in "1776" and the Gentleman Caller in "The Glass Menagerie." Mr. Stoeke has performed in "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels", "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat", "Into the Woods", "Man of La Mancha", "Fiddler on the Roof" and "The Scarlet Pimpernel." Most recently he was seen in the national tour of Cathy Rigby's "Peter Pan" as the understudy to Captain Hook.

Jill Van Velzer (Mrs. Elton/Mrs. Bates) has national tour credits that include Anna in "The King and I." Her regional credits include "The Heiress" (Pasadena Playhouse), "The Matchmaker" (Utah Shakespearean Festival), "Harvey" (Laguna Playhouse), "Boeing Boeing" (Arrow Rock Lyceum), "The Great American Trailer Park Musical" (San Diego Repertory Theatre; San Diego Theatre Critics Circle nomination), "1776" (L.A. Ovation Award), "God Save Gertrude" (Backstage Garland Award), "Lend Me A Tenor: The Musical" (Utah Shakespearean Festival), "The Music Man", "Camelot," "Into the Woods", "Carousel", "Oklahoma!", "Brigadoon", "The Most Happy Fella", "Hairspray", "Kiss Me, Kate", and "She Loves Me."

Kelsey Anne Johnson (Ensemble) has recent work at ATC that includes the understudy role for Natalie in "Next to Normal." Favorite credits include "Julius Caesar" (Calpurnia) and "The Secret Garden" (Rose) with Arizona Repertory Theatre. A member of the Society of American Fight Directors and an Equity Membership Candidate, Ms. Johnson will be completing her BFA in Musical Theatre this spring at the University of Arizona.

Chris Karl (Ensemble) is joining ATC for the third time, having previously understudied Michael in "God of Carnage" and Dr. Fine/Dr. Madden in "Next to Normal." Mr. Karl has also participated in ATC's Café Bohemia as Guy in "La Bella Familia" and Mike in "Wetback." Arizona credits include "Avenue Q", "Bat Boy: The Musical", "Hay Fever", "As You Like It", "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee", "Into the Woods" (Arizona Repertory Theatre), and "Grease" (Hollywood Bowl). Other regional credits include "Les Misérables" (Hollywood Bowl) and the Texas tours of "Hello Dolly" and "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat." Mr. Karl will be graduating from the University of Arizona in December 2012 with his BFA in Musical Theatre.

Sammie Lideen (Ensemble) is thrilled to be making her Arizona Theatre Company debut in "Jane Austen's Emma." As a part of the Arizona Repertory Theatre she has most recently appeared in "The Secret Garden" and understudied the leading role of Meredith in "Bat Boy: The Musical." Past credits include Nancy in "Oliver", Georgia Hendrix in "Curtains", and Marcy Park in "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee." Ms. Lideen is a junior at the University of Arizona, currently pursuing her BFA in Musical Theatre.

Michael Schauble (Ensemble) haspreviously worked at ATC, having understudied for "Next to Normal" (Henry), and "Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of The Suicide Club" (Constable/Hotel Clerk). Mr. Schauble has recently appeared as Tony in "West Side Story" (Forestburgh Playhouse), Bat Boy in "Bat Boy: The Musical" (University of Arizona), and Dickon in "The Secret Garden" (University of Arizona). He will graduate from The University of Arizona with a BFA in Musical Theatre in December 2012.

The creative team includes Bill Forrester (Scenic Designer) who designed ATC's productions of "The Pajama Game", "Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure", "The Pirates of Penzance", "Oh Lady", "Art", "Picasso at the Lapin Agile", "Valley Song", "The Two Gentlemen of Verona", "A Midsummer Night's Dream", "Dracula" and "Shadowlands." Mr. Forrester has designed settings for many theatres across the nation, including ALLIANCE THEATRE, ACT Theatre, Northlight Theatre, Geva Theatre Center, The Empty Space, Denver Center Theatre Company, Village Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Intiman Theatre, Portland Center Stage, Tacoma Actors Guild, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Honolulu Theatre for Youth, Yale Repertory Theatre and Utah Shakespearean Festival.

Yoon Bae (Costume Designer) recently designed the set for ATC's production of "The Great Gatsby." Other recent work includes the costume designs for "Don Giovanni" at Welsh National Opera, directed by John Caird, and sets for Bernstein's "Candide" at the Imperial Theatre, Tokyo. For the Edinburgh International Festival, she designed "Three Thousand Troubled." Ms. Bae designed the award winning musical "Music in My Heart," "The Full Monty" and "Closer" at Seoul Arts Centre. Other work includes "Private Lives", "Running The Silk Road", "Vassa Zheleznova", "The Meeting", "The Baltimore Waltz", "Not About Heroes", "Wounds to the Face", "Live Bed Show" and "Picasso's Women" for London's West End. Ms. Bae collaborated with Vivienne Westwood on Jerry Hall's costumes and she has worked closely with John Napier over the last seven years. Ms. Bae was Associate Designer on Trevor Nunn's "Gone with the Wind" (New London Theatre, West End), Assistant Designer on the West End productions of "Birdsong" directed by Trevor Nunn, "Equus" starring Daniel Radcliffe, "Skellig" (The Young Vic), and "Disconnect" (Royal Court Theatre).

Kish Finnegan (Associate Costume Designer) has been with Arizona Theatre Company since 1989 and is the Costume Design Manager. Her ATC costume designs include "Next to Normal", "God of Carnage", "Woody Guthrie's American Song", "[title of show]", "The Kite Runner", "Hair", "Touch the Names", "Copenhagen" and "2 Pianos 4 Hands", among many others. Ms. Finnegan also enjoys designing costumes for children's theatre including "Seussical", "Never Ending Story", "Lyle Crocodile", "Junie B. Jones" and "Go Dog Go" at Childsplay, and "Sabunana" for Arts For All/Third Street Kids. A graduate of California Institute of the Arts, she began her career in Los Angeles in both theatre and film, designing for a variety of projects, fromanimated bears to MTV. Ms. Finnegan also designed for the Burbank Repertory Theatre and the Chamber Theatre, where she won the Los Angeles DramaLogue Award for Costume Design. Her most unique designs have been for Aquacades and aquatic costumes for the US national synchronized swimming team.

Michael Gilliam (Lighting Designer) returns to Arizona Theatre Company where he designed "The Mystery of Irma Vep", "Woody Guthrie's American Song", "[title of show]", "Hair", "George Gershwin Alone", "The Fantasticks", "Play On!", and "Blue". He has designed lighting on Broadway, The West End, Off-Broadway and regionally atsuch theatres as Arena Stage, The Old Globe, La Jolla Playhouse, Mark TaperForum, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Goodman Theatre, The Guthrie Theater, Pasadena Playhouse, Geffen Playhouse, The Kennedy Center, Ford's Theatre, The Philadelphia Theatre Company, Prince Music Theater, Denver Center Theatre Company and Syracuse Stage. Among the awards Mr. Gilliam has garnered are Los Angeles Ovation Awards, Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards, Drama-Logue Awards, Garland Awards, Robby Awards and the 1999 Career Achievement Award from the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle.

Brian Jerome Peterson (Sound Designer) celebrates his 27th season at ATC, where he has designed 72 productions, including "The Great Gatsby", "God of Carnage", "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom", "Lost in Yonkers", "Ain't Misbehavin'", "George is Dead", "Somebody/Nobody", "Enchanted April", "Touch the Names", "I Am My Own Wife", "Twelfth Night", "Tuesdays with Morrie", "Crowns", "Macbeth", "The Pirates of Penzance", "The Immigrant", "A Streetcar Named Desire", "Oh Coward!", "Copenhagen", "Fully Committed" and "The Mystery of Irma Vep" for which he won an ariZoni Award. Production designs also include the world premieres of "Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of The Suicide Club", "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde", "Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure", "Inventing van Gogh", "Rocket Man", "Minor Demons" and "The Holy Terror." Mr. Peterson's designs have been heard in many theatres including Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre, The Cleveland Play House, Northlight Theatre, Portland Center Stage, Actors Theatre of Louisville and San Jose Repertory Theatre.

Julie McBride (Assistant Music Director/Conductor) holds degrees from the Cincinnati College – Conservatory of Music and the Mannes College of Music. Her Broadway and other New York credits include "American Idiot", "Next to Normal", "In the Heights", "The Addams Family", "The Lion King", "CHIX 6" (Queens Theatre in the Park), "Altar Boyz" (Westchester Broadway Theatre), "Inner Voices: Solo Musicals" (Zipper Theatre), "The Happy Elf" (music written by Harry Connick, Jr.), "Judas and Me" (New York Musical Theatre Festival), and "Pride and Prejudice" (Eastman Theatre). Ms. McBride's regional credits include "Daddy Long Legs" (Arizona Theatre Company, Northlight Theatre, La Mirada Center for the Performing Arts and The Laguna Playhouse), "Unknown Soldier" (Huntington Theatre Company), "Suprema" (O'Neill Music Theatre Conference), "Room 16" (Goodspeed Musicals), and "Tales From the Bad Years" (TheatreWorks). She has served on the faculties of Syracuse University's Tepper Program and The Juilliard School (Drama Division, MAP).

Glenn Bruner (Production Stage Manager) is in his sixteenth season at ATC where he has stage managed, among many others, "Next to Normal", "The Great Gatsby", "The Mystery of Irma Vep", "[title of show]", "The Kite Runner", "Hair", "Enchanted April", "The Pajama Game", "The Pirates of Penzance", "2 Pianos 4 Hands" and the world premieres of Jeffery Hatcher's "Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of The Suicide Club", "Ten Chimneys", Steven Dietz's "Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure", "Rocket Man", "Inventing van Gogh" and "Over the Moon". Mr. Bruner has worked at Kansas City Repertory Theatre, Alley Theatre, Dallas Theater Center, Pasadena Playhouse, CENTERSTAGE, Studio Arena Theatre, and Maine's Portland Stage Company. He was the Assistant Stage Manager for the world premiere of "On the Waterfront" at The Cleveland Play House and stage managed the Off-Broadway premiere of Alan Ayckbourn's "Season's Greetings." He has also been the voice for many radio and television commercials and worked for Texas Public Radio in his hometown of San Antonio. Mr. Bruner has been a member of Actors' Equity Association since 1981.

Timothy Toothman (Assistant Stage Manager) is the Artistic Associate at ATC. He mostrecently stage managed ATC's productions of "Lombardi" and "God of Carnage", among others. Mr. Toothman spent five seasons as the Production Stage Manager for the Geva Theatre Center in Rochester, NY and was then Company Manager for five years for Sunshine Too, a national touring ensemble of deaf and hearing actors. He has also managed producing and presenting theatres in Indiana and Maryland. Prior to moving to Arizona, Mr. Toothman spent eleven years as a program and grants director for the Maryland State Arts Council and the Connecticut Commission on the Arts. Mr. Toothman stage managed the National Heritage Awards Program for the National Endowment for the Arts for ten years and was the Production Stage Manager for six seasons at the Vineyard Playhouse on Martha's Vineyard.

Ashley Simon (Assistant to the Stage Manager) was Assistant to the Stage Manager for Arizona Theatre Company's "Next to Normal", "Red", "The 39 Steps", "Daddy Long Legs", "Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of The Suicide Club", "Lost in Yonkers", "Woody Guthrie's American Song", "Backwards in High Heels", "The Glass Menagerie", "Ain't Misbehavin'", "The Kite Runner", "A Raisin in the Sun", "Hair" and "The Lady with All the Answers." She was also the Production Stage Manager for ATC's Summer on Stage 2010, 2011, and 2012. Other credits include stage managing "The Real Inspector Hound", "The Decameron", "The Four of Us", "Othello" and "Immortal Longings" with The Rogue Theatre; and "The Mousetrap", "Same Time Next Year" and "Forever Plaid" at The Theater Barn in the Berkshires. At Florida Stage, she was Assistant to the Stage Manager for the world premiere of Deborah Zoe Laufer's "End Days".

Arizona Theatre Company offers accessibility services for patrons with disabilities for select performances. AudioDescription provides patrons with vision loss a running audio description of the movement and activities onstage through an infrared broadcast system. An Audio-Described performance is offered on December 20 at 2:00 p.m. Interested patrons with vision loss may request a tactile tour one hour prior to curtain. American Sign Language Interpretation is presented by professional, theatrically-trained ASL-interpreters for people who have deafness or hearing impairment. An ASL-interpreted performance is offered on December 20 at 7:30 p.m. Open-captioning allows patrons to read the play's dialogue on an LED screen as the play progresses. An open-captioned performance is offered on December 20 at 2:00 p.m. For open-captioned or ASL-interpreted performances, patrons should request seats best suited to ASL interpretation or captioning when purchasing tickets. Large print and Braille playbills and infrared listening amplification devices are also available at every ATC performance with reservation. TTY access for the box office is available in Tucson at (520) 884-9723 or via Arizona Relay at (800) 367-8939 (TTY/ASCII).

Tickets for "Jane Austen's Emma" start at $32, are subject to change depending on time, date and section, and are available at www.arizonatheatre.org or by calling the box office at (520) 622-2823. Discounts are available for seniors and active military. A $10 student ticket pricing is now available for all performances. Half-price rush tickets are available for balcony seating for all performances one hour prior to curtain at the ATC box office (subject to availability). Pay What You Can is December 4 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets for this performance are available for a suggested $10 donation. (Tickets must be purchased at the Temple of Music and Art Starting one hour prior to curtain on December 4. Seating is first-come first served and is not guaranteed. Cash only, please. Two tickets maximum per person.) For discounts for groups of 10 or more, call (520) 622-2823.



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