Andrew Undershaft is a millionaire weapons manufacturer. His daughter, Barbara, is a Major in the Salvation Army. When the two of them are reunited after many years, what follows is a fascinating and uneasy debate about the best way to save a man’s soul—with bullets or bread, cannons or Christ. Filled with humor, pathos and some of Shaw’s most challenging ideas, this show is guaranteed to spark fierce post-show discussions.
Joseph McGrath’s performance is supported in part by a generous gift from Joan & Doug Cook.
Marissa Garcia (Barbara Undershaft) and Matt Bowdren (Adolphus Cusins)
Marissa Garcia (Barbara Undershaft), Joseph McGrath (Andrew Undershaft) and Matt Walley (Bill Walker)
Lucas Gonzales (Snobby Price) and Leanné Whitewolf Charlton (Rummy Mitchens)
Photos by Tim Fuller
Del Pueblo Brass Quintet performs the music preshow
Listen to a sound clip of the Del Pueblo Brass Quintet:
Major Barbara, at Rogue Theatre, seems like a modern discussion
Armaments, altruism bandied about in social critique from 1905
Review of Major Barbara by Kathleen
Allen in the September 16 Arizona Daily Star
Across the Big Pond
A classic work at the Rogue Theatre offers a compelling discussion
Review of Major Barbara by Sherilyn Forrester
in the September 15 Tucson Weekly
Shaw’s wit, themes from 1905 remain relevant
Rogue Theatre stages comedy-laced drama Major Barbara
Preview of Major Barbara by Kathleen
Allen in the September 2 Arizona Daily Star
Lee Rayment (Stephen Undershaft), Cynthia Meier (Lady Britomart Undershaft), Joseph McGrath (Andrew Undershaft), Marissa Garcia (Barbara Undershaft), Jennifer Rose Hijazi (Sarah Undershaft), Daniel Thomson (Charles Lomax) and Matt Bowdren (Adolphus Cusins)
Photo by Tim Fuller
Direction
David
Morden (Director) directed The Rogue’s
productions of Ghosts, A Delicate Balance, The
Goat (2008 Arizona Daily Star Mac Award), Six Characters
in Search of an Author and Krapp’s Last Tape, Not I and Act Without Words. He has appeared with
The Rogue Theatre as Rinieri in The Decameron, Stephano in The
Tempest, Brabantio and Montano in Othello,
Editor Webb in Our Town, in the ensembles of Animal
Farm and Orlando, as Madame Pace in Six Characters
in Search of an Author, The Pope in Red Noses, Yephikhov
in The Cherry Orchard, The Man in the Silver Dress in
the preshow to The Maids and Glaucus in Endymion.
He has acted locally with Arizona Opera (The Pirates of Penzance, The Threepenny Opera, among others), Arizona Onstage Productions (Assassins),
Actors Theatre (The Bible: The Complete Word of God (Abridged))
and Green Thursday Theatre Project (Anger Box, Rain),
of which he was a co-founder. David has also
directed productions with Green Thursday, Oasis Chamber Opera,
DreamerGirl Productions, and Arts for All.
Director’s Notes
I first saw this play when I was quite young; I remember seeing the movie version in high school, with the brilliant Wendy Hiller playing Barbara. When I was 24, I saw the stage version and it made an even stronger impression on me. Even now, I can remember the uneasiness I felt watching characters that I really liked saying things that I didn’t particularly like—or saying things that made perfect sense but didn’t fit with my world view, my “morality.” I often gauge whether a play is of any value by whether or not I’m still thinking about it the morning after I see the performance. Major Barbara is a play that I am still thinking about 26 years after the performance. The complexity of the discussion contained therein is breathtaking.
When I was offered the chance to direct this play, I already had vacation plans in place for the end of August. I readily changed those plans because I knew this show had too much to offer for me to pass it up. I was not disappointed by my choice. It has been a rare privilege to explore the skill and intelligence with which George Bernard Shaw crafted this play. More importantly, it has been a beautiful challenge to listen to the arguments of the characters each night in rehearsal and weigh them in my mind and test their validity. This play has expanded my conception of the world. It has allowed me to accept things that I previously considered unworthy of my respect and to reject ideas that are too easy or too pat. It has allowed me to look at my life in a more “whole-istic” way and has allowed me to better understand the views of others who don’t think like me. Perhaps I rhapsodize, but of all the plays of which I have been a part, either as actor or director, Major Barbara is one of the most powerful. I very much hope that you catch some of that power as you watch the play today. And, of course, I look forward to hearing what you discover in this play; what you think of Mr. Shaw’s arguments.
On a personal note, I would like to acknowledge the many brilliant partners I had in crafting this play—all of whom brought unique insights to each and every rehearsal. A director dreams of a production team like this one. I am forever grateful to each of them for their generosity and adventurous spirits.
Dedicated to Anne Morden, the greatest teacher of all.
Marissa Garcia (Barbara Undershaft), Matt Bowdren (Adolphus Cusins) and Joseph McGrath (Andrew Undershaft)
Photo by Tim Fuller
Cast
in order of appearance
Lady Britomart Undershaft
Cynthia Meier
Stephen Undershaft
Lee Rayment
Barbara Undershaft
Marissa Garcia
Sarah Undershaft
Jennifer Rose Hijazi
Charles Lomax, engaged to Sarah
Daniel Thomson
Adolphus Cusins, engaged to Barbara
Matt Bowdren
Morrison
Paul Barby
Andrew Undershaft
Joseph McGrath
Rummy Mitchens
Leanné Whitewolf Charlton
Snobby Price
Lucas Gonzales
Peter Shirley
David Greenwood
Jenny Hill
Dylan Page
Bill Walker
Matt Walley
Mrs. Baines
Kathryn Kellner
Cast Biographies
Paul Barby (Morrison) returns to The Rogue for a second time, his first role being Simon Stimson, the drunken choir director in Our Town. In the early 1960s he studied acting at the American Academy for Dramatic Arts, New York City, followed by two years with Lee Strasberg. He appeared professionally during the 1960s and 1970s in numerous musicals produced by the Pittsburg Civic Light Opera, the St. Louis Muny Opera, Houston’s Sharps Town Music Theatre and the Albuquerque Civic Light Opera. From the early 1980s until moving to Tucson in 2006, he focused on family business responsibilities back in Oklahoma with occasional roles in local community productions. After that protracted period away from the theater, he is pleased to work with the very talented people at The Rogue.
Matt Bowdren (Adolphus Cusins) is the current Resident Artist of The Rogue Theatre. Past credits at The Rogue include Arthur in New-Found-Land, Moon in The Real Inspector Hound, Benjamin in The Four of Us, the Director in Six Characters in Search
of an Author and Billy in The Goat.
Matt graduated with his BFA in Acting from the University of Arizona,
and is pursuing his MFA in Acting at the University of Georgia.
Matt is one of the founding members of The Now Theatre, which co-produces the
“Rogue After Curfew” series, where he was recently seen as Tupolski in The Pillowman. Other acting credits include Hamlet (Live Theatre Workshop), Betrayal, The Shape of Things (University of Georgia), Titus
Andronicus, Romeo and Juliet, and Biloxi Blues (Arizona Repertory Theatre).
In New York City, he toured in Midsummer Night's Dream with Hudson Shakespeare Co., and Somewhere in Between with Collaborative Stages.
Leanné
Whitewolf Charlton (Rummy Mitchens) has previously performed
with The Rogue Theatre in The Real Inspector Hound, Endymion, Red Noses, The Good Woman of Setzuan and The Tempest. She received her BFA in Acting from the University of Arizona in May and was last seen as Anna Trumbell in the ART
production of What I Did Last Summer, Corin in As You Like It, Edith Frank in The Diary of Anne
Frank, and others. Other favorite Arizona credits include
Maud Moon/Albertine in Borderland’s production of Dust
Eaters, as well as Linda Waterman in Fiction for
Beowulf Alley Theatre. Leanné earned her Actors' Equity Association candidacy as the understudy for Amanda in the Arizona Theatre Company production of The Glass Menagerie and as Grandma Kurnitz in ATC’s production of Lost in Yonkers.
Marissa Garcia (Barbara Undershaft) is a Tucson native and received her BFA in Acting/Directing from the University of Arizona. Since graduating, Marissa has performed and directed with companies throughout Arizona, Colorado and California. She was seen on Los Angeles stages in premieres of Bernardo Solano’s Lost and Evangeline Ordaz’s Visitors’ Guide to Arivaca, a show she was also involved in here with Borderlands Theater. Other credits include: Ana in Living Out (2005 Mac Award Nominee–Best Actress), Julia in School of the Americas (Borderlands Theater); Thomasina in Arcadia, Cordelia in King Lear (Arizona Repertory Theatre); and Evelyn in Close Ties (Catalina Players). Marissa would like to dedicate her performance to Christopher Patrick Ellis.
Lucas
Gonzales (Snobby Price) has performed with The Now Theatre in Overruled and The Bald Soprano. Lucas’ past credits include Eurydice, Shining City, The Miracle Worker, Bus Stop, and others. Upon graduating from the UA, Lucas
will be moving to Los Angeles in hopes of pursuing a career in
acting.
David Greenwood (Peter Shirley) was a member of the cast of The Rogue Theatre’s first production, The Balcony, and has recently appeared in The Real Inspector Hound and The Decameron. He has appeared locally in Shining City and The Birthday Party at Beowulf Alley Theatre and The One-Armed Man, The Disposal and The Glass Menagerie at Tucson Art Theatre.
Jennifer
Rose Hijazi (Sarah Undershaft) is a senior musical theatre
major at the University of Arizona. She has been seen in Arizona Onstage Productions’ The
25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and Arizona Repertory Theatre’s Dracula.
She has performed with the Now Theatre in its production of Overruled. She thanks her family,
friends, and educators for all of their love and support.
Kathryn Kellner (Mrs Baines) is returning to acting after a several year hiatus. Her professional acting career has included work in the areas of television, film, industrial film and training, voiceover, musical theatre, as well as regional theatre and off- Broadway. Locally, Kathryn was last seen at Invisible Theatre as Roseanne in Brilliant Traces and Christa McAuliffe in Defying Gravity. Kathryn has a BFA from the University of Arizona and continuing studies with the Royal National Theatre Studio, London. Kathryn runs the Kellner Studio, a multidisciplinary consulting and coaching practice that provides consultation and theatre based training in presentation skills and communication strategies. She has lectured and taught in the U.S. and Canada in the fields of higher education, law, science, and politics.
Joseph
McGrath (Andrew Undershaft) is a graduate of the Juilliard
School of Drama and is the Artistic Director for The Rogue Theatre
for which he has performed in many of its plays. Joe has
recently been seen as Bernard in New-Found-Land, Deely in Old Times, Caliban in The Tempest, Pastor Manders
in Ghosts, The Man/Naga in Naga Mandala, and
Iago in Othello. In 2009, Joe won the Arizona Daily Star
Mac Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Tobias in A
Delicate Balance. Joe also authored and directed Immortal
Longings for The Rogue and has directed The Balcony, Endymion, The Maids (winner of the Arizona Daily
Star 2007 Mac Award for Best Play), Red Noses, Our
Town, The Decameron and The Real Inspector Hound. He has toured with John Houseman’s Acting Company,
performed with the Utah Shakespearean Festival, and he is a frequent
performer with Ballet Tucson appearing in The Hunchback of
Notre Dame, Cinderella, A Midsummer Night’s Dream,
Dracula and The Nutcracker. He has also performed
with Arizona Theatre Company, Arizona Opera, Tucson Art Theatre,
and Arizona OnStage.
Cynthia Meier (Lady Britomart Undershaft) is the Managing and Associate Artistic Director for The Rogue Theatre for which she has directed and acted in many plays. Most recently she was seen as Mrs. Drudge in The Real Inspector Hound, Pampinea in The Decameron and Mrs. Alving in Ghosts. In 2008, she received Arizona Daily Star’s Mac Award for Best Actress for her performance in The Rogue’s production of The Goat. Cynthia has also performed in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Arizona Repertory Theatre), A Streetcar Named Desire (Arizona Theatre Company), Blithe Spirit and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Michigan Repertory Theatre), Romeo & Juliet and Chicago Milagro (Borderlands Theatre), A Namib Spring (1999 National Play Award winner), and Smirnova’s Birthday, The Midnight Caller, and The Ballad of the Sad Cafe (Tucson Art Theatre). Cynthia holds a Ph.D. in Performance Studies from the University of Arizona.
Dylan Page (Jenny Hill) performed with The Rogue Theatre in its recent production of The Real Inspector Hound. She recently played Janice in Member of the Wedding with Arizona Onstage Productions, Evelyn in The Shape of Things at the Arizona Repertory Theatre, Mona in Come Back to the Five and Dime Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean, Elizabeth in Pride and Prejudice and Margaret in The Triangle Factory Fire at Tucson High Magnet School.
Lee Rayment (Stephen Undershaft) is a graduate from the University of Northern Colorado. Lee has recently returned from a brief stint abroad. Some previous roles include Katurian in The Pillowman for The Now Theatre, Salieri in Amadeus, Pantalone in The Servant of Two Masters, and Mr. Cladwell in Urinetown.
Daniel
Thomson (Charles Lomax) is a Theatre, Film and Television
student currently studying at the U of A. With The Now Theatre
he has appeared in This Property is Condemned, A
Night of Three Short Plays, The Bald Soprano, and G.B. Shaw’s Overruled,
which he directed. Dan is a member of The Charles Darwin Experience, the University of Arizona’s only all-improv comedy group.
Matt Walley (Bill Walker), graduated from Dell’Arte International in 2009 with an MFA in Physical Ensemble Theatre. Since then he has performed with The Pinnacle Peak Pistoleros and their Wild West Stunt Shows, as well as with Stories that Soar! Matt has been seen at Live Theatre Workshop here in Tucson and has acted in New York, Chicago, and San Francisco. He is teaching acting this year at The University of Arizona.
Marissa Garcia (Barbara Undershaft), Matt Bowdren (Adolphus Cusins), Joseph McGrath (Andrew Undershaft), Dylan Page (Jenny Hill) and Kathryn Kellner (Mrs. Baines)
Photo by Tim Fuller
Musicians
Dawn Sellers, Music Director
Del Pueblo Brass Quintet:
Trumpet
Lorelei Conrad
Trumpet
Ray Conrad
Tuba
Rip Lowman
Horn
Marcia Molter
Trombone
Glenn Sprague
Musician Biographies
Dawn C.
Sellers (Music Director) performed in
The Rogue’s production of Our Town, was Assistant
Director for Naga Mandala, Assistant Director and pianist
for Ghosts, and Music Director for The Tempest and Old Times.
Dawn was a pianist, composer and educator prior to receiving an
MFA in dramatic writing from Carnegie Mellon University. She has
composed music for Off-Broadway and is published by Hal Leonard,
Alfred and Kjos Music Publishers. In Tucson, her plays have been
produced by This Side Up Productions, Beowulf Alley Theatre Company,
Live Theatre Workshop, and Live Theatre Workshop’s Etcetera
series, as well as The Arizona Women’s Theatre. She is also
listed on nytheatre.com, which features emerging women playwrights.
The Del Pueblo Brass Quintet, formed in Tucson in May of 2010,
is an ensemble that bursts with talent and experience.
Learn more about the quintet at their Website and enjoy their audio gallery.
Lieutenant Commander Lorelei Allison Conrad (Trumpet), became the Navy’s first woman selected to receive a commission as Bandmaster and Director of the Navy Band San Francisco. She became Associate Conductor of the United States Navy Band in Washington, DC, interim Music Program Liaison Officer for Chief of Information at the Pentagon, traveled around the world and conducted three performances with the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra. Lorelei’s final assignment with the U.S. Navy was as Director of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet Band, the Navy’s largest Fleet Band. Currently, she lives in Green Valley with her husband, Ray, conducts the Green Valley Concert Band, an eighty-piece ensemble comprised of players ranging from 50 to 97 years of age, and has begun a new career in nursing.
Ray Conrad (Trumpet) attended the Armed Forces School of Music in Anacostia, Virginia. Assigned to COMNAVAIRPAC Unit Band #186 in San Diego, California, Ray performed “People to People” concerts in Japan, Hong Kong, Guam, the Philippians, Wake Island, and Hawaii. He played in the U.S. Naval Academy Band, Navy Band San Diego, Brooklyn Navy Yard Jazz, Concert and Ceremonial bands as well as Navy Band Seattle. He’s even been heard playing with Santana. Ray remains active as a performer with the Tucson Concert Band, the Green Valley Concert Band, the Big Band Sounds, the Green Valley Stage Band, the Rhythm Gang, and the Bavarian Brass Band.
Rip Lowman (Tuba) played sousaphone at Duke University as an engineering student. He made it to the Orange Bowl, Orange Bowl parade and other Atlantic Coast Conference football venues in the marching band. During a long career as a Systems Engineer at IBM, Rip’s musical life was primarily piano playing for enjoyment. He has since rediscovered the joys of tuba. He plays with the Old Pueblo Brass Band, a British-style brass band in Tucson, Sonora Winds, a concert band, Cactus Brass, a social fun brass quintet and EuTuba, a tuba quartet consisting of two euphoniums and two tubas. As a diversion from tuba, Rip often plays one of his seven didgeridoos.
Marcia Molter (Horn) began playing French horn in the seventh grade because it was the only available rental instrument at school. She won music lesson scholarships while in school, played in the Oregon All-State High School Band, the University of Oregon Summer Band Camp the Portland Junior Symphony. Putting aside the horn for 24 years while raising a family and working, she picked it up again in Seattle in 1993, playing with The Boeing Orchestra. She was a member of several community music groups in Seattle until she brought her horn to Tucson in 1999. Marcia now plays with the Arizona Symphonic Winds and Tucson Concert Band, the Old Pueblo Brass Band, a British-style brass band, and the 4th Cavalry/Old Arizona Brass Band, which plays authentic arrangements from the Civil War era through early 1900’s. Marcia also plays piano and is currently employed as a software engineer. Playing music preserves her sanity.
Glenn Sprague (Trombone) attended the Armed Forces School of Music and became a member of the Quantico, Virginia & Okinawa Marine bands. He attended Florida State University and marched at the 1994 FedEx Orange Bowl during the school’s first National Championship Game victory against the Nebraska Cornhuskers. He later transferred to Ohio State University where, as a member of the O.S.U. Jazz Ensemble, he toured Europe and performed at the Montreaux and North Sea Jazz Festivals. Glenn currently teaches in the Tucson Unified School District, performs as bass trombonist for the Tucson Civic Orchestra and is active with his church orchestra and worship band.
Music Director’s
Notes
In 1878 Charles Fry and his three sons formed a brass quartet, played during outdoor meetings in Salisbury and immediately proved to be a success, not only calming rowdy, and sometimes, hostile crowds, but helping to promote the Salvationist's message of Jesus Christ as Savior. The Salvation Army's founder, William Booth, came to hear the quartet and started to use them in his own campaign. He recognized the power of music, even of a secular nature. He is said to have remarked, "Why should the Devil have all the good tunes?"
The paths of Booth and Shaw were destined to cross.
In the London of 1890, one might assume the words, “What is the use of the gospel of thrift to a man who had nothing to eat yesterday and has not three pence today to pay for his lodging tonight?” could have been written by Shaw, then music critic and political activist. So challenged In Darkest England The Way Out, a manifesto that declared allegedly Christian England was in no condition to compare itself favorably with the horror and degradation of central Africa. It argued salvation was not going to come by prayer but by drastic alteration of the social fabric.
In actuality, Shaw would not get around to reading the publication until 1891 and its real author was the feisty “General” William Booth. Shaw, however, seems to have never forgotten a line of it. It’s no wonder the Salvation Army Band appears in Shaw’s play of 1905, Major Barbara, and therefore in our pre-show performance by The Del Pueblo Brass Quintet.
Each evening’s performance will be slightly different, selected from a longer list by our performers. Selections often reflect either the characteristic march quality of the traditional brass band of the period, such as Sousa’s Fairest of the Fair or Joplin’s Rosebud March, or they have a more religious tone, such as Just a Closer Walk with Thee or Amazing Grace, though not necessarily played in a traditional style. Shaw plays with irreverence, so will we.
The last theme heard prior to the start of the show will be Per te d’immenso giubilo from Lucia di Lammermoor byDonizetti. His heroine, Lucy, like Shaw’s Barbara, is expected to marry someone she’d rather not. In the opera, the music appears as everyone gathers for the wedding. Listen for the reference to the theme later in the play and enjoy!
—Dawn Sellers, Musical Director
Lee Rayment (Stephen Undershaft) and Cynthia Meier (Lady Britomart Undershaft)
Clint
Bryson (Lighting Designer) has designed lights
for nearly every Rogue Theatre production. Other lighting design
credits include As Bees in Honey Drown and Golf Game
for Borderlands, Woman in Black for Beowulf Alley, and
The Seagull for Tucson Art Theatre. Clint is currently
the Shop Foreman, Production Technical Director and Marketing
Director for Catalina Foothills Theatre Department where he designs
and coordinates the construction of all scenery. He is also a
member of Rhino Staging Services, and a regular participant in
Arizona Theatre Company’s Summer on Stage program where
he designs and builds the scenery as well as teaches production
classes.
Leah
Taylor (Stage Manager) was Assistant to the Stage Manager for The Rogue Theatre’s The Decameron. She was Stage Manager for The Now Theatre’s The Pillowman, The Bald Soprano and Overruled. Other work includes shows with Winding Road Theatre Ensemble and Sacred Chicken Productions. Leah graduated from the University of Arizona in May 2011 with a Bachelor of Arts in Classics and Anthropology.
Susan
Collinet (House Manager) received her A.A. Degree
from Pima Community College in 2005, and her B.A. in Creative
Writing and English Literature from the UA
in 2008. Previously,
Susan spent twenty years in amateur theater as well as in the American Theater of Brussels and the
Theatre de Chenois of Waterloo, Belgium. She has worked in such
positions as volunteer bi-lingual guide in the Children’s
Museum of Brussels and volunteer assistant Director of Development
of the Arizona AIDS Project in Phoenix. Susan is currently peddling
a manuscript of poetry for publication and working
on collections of creative nonfiction and fiction. Her writing
has won awards from Sandscript Magazine, the John Hearst Poetry
Contest, and the Salem College for Women’s Center for Writing,
and has been published in the 2010 Norton Anthology of Student’s
Writing. In addition to being House Manager, Susan acts as Volunteer
Coordinator for The Rogue.
Marissa Garcia (Barbara Undershaft) and David Greenwood (Peter Shirley)
Photo by Tim Fuller
Our Thanks
Paul Lucas
Deon Dourlein
Clint Bryson
Bob Waskowich
Kathryn Kellner
Peggy Kellner
Jan-Ruth Mills
Silver Sea
Vincenza Gagliano
Tim
Fuller
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson Weekly
Chuck Graham
Shawn Burke
Jesse Greenberg
UA School of Music
Arizona Theatre Company
Catalina Foothills High School
The Salvation Army of Tucson
Performance
Schedule for Major Barbara
Location: The Rogue Theatre at The Historic Y, 300 East University
Boulevard
Free off-street parking! Click here
to see map and parking information.
Performance run time is approximately 2 hours and 35 minutes, not including
music preshow or post-show discussion. There will be one 10-minute intermission.
Thursday September 8, 2011, 7:30 pm PREVIEW
Friday September 9, 2011, 7:30 pm OPENING
NIGHT
Saturday September 10, 2011, 7:30 pm
Sunday September 11, 2011, 2:00 pm matinee
Thursday September 15, 2011, 7:30 pm, HALF-PRICE NIGHTSOLD OUT
Friday September 16, 2011, 7:30 pm
Saturday September 17, 2011, 7:30 pm
Sunday September 18, 2011, 2:00 pm matinee
Thursday September 22, 2011, 7:30 pm, HALF-PRICE NIGHTSOLD OUT
Friday September 23, 2011, 7:30 pm
Saturday September 24, 2011, 7:30 pm
Sunday September 25, 2011, 2:00 pm matinee
Matt Bowdren (Adolphus Cusins) and Marissa Garcia (Barbara Undershaft)
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