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Cast

Rebecca Eichenberger
Act I Big Edie,
Act II Little Edie

Rebecca starred on Broadway as Carlotta in Phantom of the Opera and received a Helen Hayes Award nomination for her portrayal of Mother in the national tour of Ragtime. She played Nettie in the critically acclaimed national tour of Carousel, directed by Nicholas Hytner, and was in the Tony Award-winning Lincoln Center production. Other Broadway credits include 1776, The Frogs, It’s a Grand Night for Singing and Dessa Rose at Lincoln Center. Regional credits include Sharon in Master Class, Carrie in Carousel at DCTC and Dot in Sunday in the Park with George at Seattle Rep. Rebecca’s varied career includes concert work with major symphonies (The Boston Pops), cast recordings (Carousel, The Frogs, Dessa Rose, Broadway by the Year), film (The Object of My Affection) and television (Law & Order). Rebecca was a Met Opera Regional Finalist and lives outside New York City with her husband and two children. For her mother and daughter.

Dale Soules
Act II Big Edie

Dale is a prolific performer, appearing on Broadway, off-Broadway, regionally and internationally for more than 40 years. She made her Broadway debut in the landmark musical Hair as Jeanie. Other Broadway productions include The Magic Show (Cal), where she introduced the Stephen Schwartz songs “Lion Tamer” and “West End Avenue,” The Crucible (Sarah Good), directed by Richard Eyre, and the Tony Award-winning Grey Gardens (covering and playing Edith Bouvier Beale). She has been nominated for a Bay Area Critics Circle Award for her recreation of that role for Theatre Works in 2008. Recent off-Broadway work includes Killing the Boss, where her creation of Monique was reviewed by Caryn James of The New York Times as “pitch perfect.” Dale has created work for Lincoln Center, Atlantic Theatre Company, The Public, Manhattan Theatre Club and many others. Extensive regional work includes Seattle Rep, The Guthrie, La Jolla Playhouse, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Yale Rep. and most recently Vermont Stage Co. (Well) and Gulfshore Playhouse (Doubt). TV credits include American Playhouse, Law & Order, Sesame Street and Maurice Sendak’s Really Rosie. Her most recent film is Motherhood with Uma Thurman. A usual suspect at NYTW, Dale has received awards from Mabou Mines, New Dramatists and the Richard Porter Leach Fellowship in Theatre from SUNY.

Janine DiVita
Act 1 Little Edie/ Dance Captain

Janine just finished playing Betty Rizzo in the 2007 Broadway revival of Grease. As an Overland Park, Kansas native, proud University of Michigan graduate and AEA member, her other credits include Lucie u/s and dance captain in A Tale of Two Cities (Asolo Repertory Theatre), Dot/Marie in Sunday in the Park with George (Heritage Repertory Theatre), Singin’ in the Rain (St. Louis Muny), Sister Mary Amnesia in Nunsense (Heritage Repertory Theatre), Fania Fenelon in Arthur Miller’s Playing for Time, Ginevra King in Pete Mill’s The Pursuit of Persephone, Alaura Kingsley in City of Angels and Kathy in Company.

Rick Lewis
George Gould Strong/ Music Director

Grey Gardens marks Rick’s eighth production at Portland Center Stage. He served as musical director for Batboy, The Fantasticks, West Side Story (Drammy for Musical Direction), Cabaret and Guys and Dolls, and composed new music and arrangements for A Christmas Carol. On stage, Rick’s favorite roles include Harold in The Full Monty, Pete in Pete ‘n’ Keeley (Broadway Rose), Marvin in Falsettos (Triangle), Frankie Cavalier in Pageant (Triangle) and President Wintergreen in Of Thee I Sing (Musical Theatre Company – Drammy Best Actor/Musical). Rick is the creator/author/musical arranger of the hit off-Broadway musical The Taffetas, with productions around the world. He has also written the off-Broadway productions The Cardigans: Those Swingin’ Singin’ Guys from Alpha Mu Phi Pi (Backstage New York Bistro Award for Outstanding Musical Revue), and Have a Nice Day!: A ’70s Musical Flashback. Rick has written and/or arranged original music for Disney Family Live Entertainment, American Hawaii Cruises, MGM/UA Home Video, the Democratic National Convention, Macy*s Thanksgiving Day Parade, American West Steamboat Company, American Hawaii and American Classic Voyages. He is currently director of entertainment and marketing for Portland Spirit, where he produces the Cinnamon Bear Cruise. His storybook (based on the 1937 radio show) The Cinnamon Bear and the Adventure of the Missing Silver Star is available in bookstores across the country and online. His new sequel to The Taffetas: A Taffeta Wedding, opens at the Tabard Theatre in San Francisco in October 2009.

Victor Morris
Brooks Heir Sr.

Victor was last seen at PCS as an elephant dancing in a tutu, Reverend Hightower and Mrs. Taylor in Batboy: the Musical (2003). Other theaters include the Intiman, Seattle Rep, ACT Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, San Diego Rep, Northwest Children’s and Seattle Children’s Theatres, respectively. Recently, he portrayed Samuel Mizinga, a Rwandan government official implicated in the genocide of 1994, in J.T. Roger’s The Overwhelming for Salt Lake Acting Company. Recent film/TV credits include The Auteur, Selfless, Come Hell or Highwater, and a guest star in TNT’s Leverage with Timothy Hutton this summer. He was the featured cornet/trumpeter for the score of Honus & Me for Oregon Children’s Theatre, and is euphonium/tenor soloist for Tuba Christmas concerts under the direction of maestro John Richards. He is a voice for Nike’s Sports Knowledge Underground. In the vocal music genre, Victor has prepared the roles of Otello, Lohengrin and Jean Valjean, under the guidance of maestri Franco Corelli, Grace Bumbry, George Peckham and his present mentor, George Shirley. Last December was his debut singing at The Apollo Theatre in Harlem. Greatest roles include husband/co-pilot to artist/educator Sarah Welsh, and dad/flight attendant to Anaka and Raina.

Ryan Jesse
Joe/Jerry

Ryan has toured internationally in Cinderella starring Lea Salonga (Prince u/s). Regional credits include West Side Story, My Fair Lady and Smokey Joe’s Café, and he has performed at the New York Musical Theatre Festival in The Last Starfighter. Ryan has a B.A. in musical theater from the University of Northern Colorado.

Evan Thompson
Major Bouvier, Norman Vincent Peale

Evan’s Broadway credits include Ivanov for Lincoln Center Theatre and the musicals City of Angels, 1776 and Jimmy. Off-Broadway credits include Everybody’s Ruby at the New York Shakespeare Festival, 1984, the U.S. premiere of Mahagonny, The Fantasticks, Big Doolie (directed by his daughter Jenn Thompson) for the New York Fringe Festival and new plays by Horton Foote, Michael Weller, Charles Grodin and Thulani Davis. Evan co-starred with his wife, Joan Shepard, in The Subject Was Roses in New Harmony, IN, and he has played Henry Drummond and Matthew Harrison Brady in separate revivals of Inherit the Wind. He has won two DayTony awards for his work in Copenhagen and Painting Churches for the Human Race Theatre in Dayton, OH. Other favorite roles include Governor Danforth in The Crucible, Dr. Rance in What the Butler Saw, the title role in Da, Sir Toby Belch, Prospero, Friar Laurence and Bottom. He was a core member of The River Rep Theatre Company in Connecticut, where he played 67 roles in 20 seasons, including Robert in Proof (with Jenn), the title role in The Mikado (directed by his son, Owen Thompson) and Joe Keller in All My Sons (with Joan, Owen and Jenn).

Madison Wray
Jackie Bouvier

Madison is thrilled to return to PCS, where she was most recently seen as Tiny Tim in A Christmas Carol. She made her musical theater debut at age seven as Gretl in The Sound of Music and has been performing non-stop since then. Favorite roles include Young Cosette in Les Misérables (Broadway Rose), the Third Spirit in The Magic Flute (Portland Opera), Cis in Albert Herring (Portland Opera), Young Atlanta in Prometheus (Lakewood) and Young Kangaroo in Seussical the Musical (NWCT). She was also in Carmen (Portland Opera), Brundibar (PSU), Kids Company Northwest (NWCT), and she did the voiceover solo for Cabaret (PCS). She’s a sixth grader at the Arts and Communication Magnet Academy, where her focus is dance. When not onstage, she can be found tearing up the soccer field or composing poetry. She thanks her family for their love and support, and Chris and Rose for this amazing opportunity.

Allisonn O’Neill
Lee Bouvier

Allisonn is excited to be joining the cast and crew of Grey Gardens at Portland Center Stage. She made her musical theater debut at the age of seven with Krayon Kids Musical Theater Co. Since then, she has sung the national anthem throughout Oregon and performed around the Portland area. Her favorite role was playing Marta in The Sound of Music (Clark College) and singing the national anthem for the Portland Trail Blazers. When not performing, she can be found hanging out with her friends or playing with her dog Liz. She is 10 years old, in the fifth grade and is homeschooled in the Oregon City area. She would like to thank the cast, crew and staff of Portland Center Stage for this opportunity and experience, and her family for their love and support.

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Creative Team

Doug Wright
Book
Doug Wright received Tony and Drama Desk nominations for his book for the Broadway musical Grey Gardens. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, a Tony Award, the Drama Desk Award, a GLAAD Media Award, an OCC Award, a Drama League Award and a Lucille Lortel Award for I Am My Own Wife, which premiered at Playwrights Horizons in 2003. In 1995, Doug won an Obie Award for his play Quills. His screen adaptation was named Best Picture by the National Board of Review and nominated for three Academy Awards. Plays include The Stonewater Rapture, Interrogating the Nude, Watbanaland and Unwrap Your Candy. For career achievement, Doug was cited by the American Academy of Arts and Letters and awarded the Tolerance Prize from the Kulturforum Europa. Currently he serves on the board of the New York Theatre Workshop and the Dramatists Guild Council. He lives with singer/songwriter David Clement.

Scott Frankel
Music

Scott was nominated for Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards for his work as composer of Grey Gardens. He’s written music for Doll (Ravinia Festival; Richard Rodgers Award) and Meet Mister Future (winner, Global Search for New Musicals), both with lyricist/librettist Michael Korie. As a musical director, conductor and pianist, he has been associated with the original Broadway productions of Into the Woods, Les Misérables, Jerome Robbins’ Broadway, Rags and Falsettos, as well as off-Broadway’s Putting It Together starring Julie Andrews. Motion picture credits include Mike Nichols’ Postcards From the Edge, where he can be seen (and heard) playing for Meryl Streep and Shirley MacLaine. His many recordings include Barbra Streisand’s Back to Broadway and a slew of original cast albums. Scott is a two-time fellow of the MacDowell Colony and a graduate of Yale University.

Michael Korie
Lyrics

Michael was nominated for Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards for his lyrics to Grey Gardens. He and composer Scott Frankel received The ASCAP Foundation Richard Rodgers New Horizons Award for their score. Also with Frankel, he wrote book and lyrics to Doll (Sundance Institute, Chicago’s Ravinia Festival) and Meet Mister Future (Cardiff Festival, 2005). His libretto to Williamson Music composer Ricky Ian Gordon’s opera The Grapes of Wrath premiered to acclaim at Minnesota Opera in February, with productions at Utah Opera, Houston Grand Opera and Pittsburgh Opera in 2007-08, directed by Eric Simonson and conducted by Grant Gershon. His libretti for operas composed by Stewart Wallace include Harvey Milk (San Francisco Opera) and Hopper’s Wife (Long Beach Opera; NYFA Award), both directed by Christopher Alden; Kabbalah (Next Wave Festival) directed by Ann Carlson; and Where’s Dick? directed by Richard Foreman (Houston Grand Opera). He co-wrote lyrics with Amy Powers to composer Lucy Simon’s Zhivago, book by Michael Weller, directed by Des McAnuff (La Jolla Playhouse, 2006). Michael’s lyrics were awarded The Edward Kleban Award and Jonathan Larson Foundation Award.

Chris Coleman
Director

Chris joined Portland Center Stage as artistic director in May 2000. Before coming to Portland, he was artistic director at Actor’s Express in Atlanta, a company he co-founded in the basement of an old church in 1988. In the 12 years of his leadership, the Express grew from a shoestring operation to one of the most highly regarded small theaters in the country. This season, he directed Guys and Dolls, The Importance of Being Earnest and Crazy Enough. Last season, he directed Cabaret, The Beard of Avon and The Little Dog Laughed. He has directed at major theaters across the country, including Actor’s Theater of Louisville, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, A Contemporary Theatre in Seattle, The Alliance Theatre, Dallas Theatre Center, Asolo Center for the Performing Arts, Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera, Pittsburgh Public Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop and Center Stage in Baltimore. A native Atlantan, Chris holds a B.F.A. from Baylor University and an M.F.A. from Carnegie Mellon. He has long been a public advocate for the arts, both locally and nationally. From 1998 – 2004 he served on the board of directors of Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national service organization for professional theaters, and he currently chairs the Creative Advocacy Network board. Since moving to Oregon, Chris has skied down Mt. Hood, rappelled in The Dalles, climbed a ropes course in Eastern Washington, biked through most neighborhoods of the city and hiked all over the state.

G.W. Mercier
Scenic Designer

Previous Portland Center Stage shows are Guys and Dolls, West Side Story and The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow. In New York he designed Juan Darien: A Carnival Mass (Tony and Drama Desk nominations), Miracle Brothers, Five Course Love, People Are Wrong, Wilder, Eli’s Comin’, Dream True (Drama Desk nomination), True History & Real Adventures, You Don’t Miss The Water, The Waiting Room, Bed & Sofa (Drama Desk nomination), Por Knockers, The Party, Lady Bracknell’s Confinement, Hannah, 1939, Urban Zulu Mambo, Catch Me If I Fall, Groundhog, The Red Sneaks, The New Americans, Winter Man, The Loman Family Picnic, The Tempest, Taming of the Shrew, Macbeth, Lemon Sky, Evening Sky and Judgment. Recent regional work includes Party Come Here, Urinetown, Our Town, Rag & Bone, Measure For Measure, A Christmas Carol, Guys & Dolls, The Time of Your Life (Bay Area Critics Award), The Ballad of Little Jo, Vigil, Frame 312, Theopolis North and Fuddy Meers. G.W. thrives collaborating with amazing writers, composers, directors, partner designers and actors creating original work or making established shows seem new. He and his family live in Connecticut.

Jeff Cone
Costume Designer

Jeff, costume shop manager for Portland Center Stage, has designed Crazy Enough, The Importance of Being Earnest, Apollo, A Christmas Carol, Guys and Dolls, Doubt, The Little Dog Laughed, Sometimes a Great Notion, The Underpants, Cabaret, Bad Dates, The Pillowman, Act a Lady, Misalliance, This Wonderful Life, I Am My Own Wife and West Side Story since PCS opened the Gerding Theater at the Armory. Other PCS credits include the world premieres of Celebrity Row and Another Fine Mess, as well as Underneath the Lintel, Things of Dry Hours, Anna in the Tropics, King Lear, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, True West, Flesh and Blood, A New Brain, Closer, Blues for an Alabama Sky, Bus Stop and Dirty Blonde. Jeff received Drammy Awards for Best Costume Design for both Act a Lady and Dirty Blonde. Highlights of his 20-year career include the world premiere of Pearl Cleage’s Flyin’ West at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, with subsequent productions at Indiana Repertory Theatre, Brooklyn Academy of Music and the Long Wharf Theatre; an expressionistic Charlotte’s Web and 10 annual productions of A Christmas Carol at the Alliance; and the coordination of costumes for Seattle Opera’s productions of Andrea Chénier and La Traviata.

Daniel Ordower
Lighting Designer

Daniel’s designs for Portland Center Stage include Frost/Nixon, How to Disappear Completely and Never Be Found, Guys and Dolls, Doubt, A Christmas Carol (2001 Drammy Award), Outrage, The Merchant of Venice, Things of Dry Hours, Celebrity Row (2006 Drammy Award), The Pillowman, Bad Dates and Cabaret. He has worked for operas and regional theaters including the Baltimore Opera, the Connecticut Opera, the Los Angeles Opera, San Jose Rep, Geva Theater Center, Coconut Grove Playhouse, American Stage Co., Actors’ Express and Writers’ Theater Chicago. Internationally he has worked with Teatro alla Scala, Opéra National de Lyon, Festspielhaus Baden-Baden and Regent Seven Seas Cruises. Daniel’s designs have toured nationally with I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change (Boston, San Diego, Reno, national tour) and West Side Story and Beauty and the Beast (Baci Productions). Festival and installation designs include MAKOR II at Pace-Wildenstein Gallery for Michal Rovner, the Tribeca Film Festival, New York Musical Festival, the New York Fringe Festival and the Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS Gypsy of the Year and Nothing Like a Dame benefits. He received the 2006 and 2001 Drammy Awards for Best Lighting Design and the 2005 NY IT Award for Outstanding Lighting Design. Daniel is a graduate of Northwestern University and has been published in Social Policy magazine.

Casi Pacilio
Sound Designer

Casi is thrilled to work at the Gerding Theater at the Armory as the sound supervisor and resident sound designer. Her credits with PCS include The Importance of Being Earnest, A Christmas Carol, Guys and Dolls, Doubt, The Little Dog Laughed, Sometimes a Great Notion, The Beard of Avon, Twelfth Night, A Christmas Carol, Cabaret, Bad Dates, The Pillowman, Act a Lady, Misalliance, I Am My Own Wife, West Side Story and Celebrity Row. Other credits include Squonk Opera’s Bigsmorgasbord-WunderWerk (Broadway, off-Broadway, regional, touring); I Am My Own Wife, I Think I Like Girls, Burning Deck (La Jolla Playhouse); Hair (Live On Stage); and Playland, 10 Fingers and Lips Together, Teeth Apart (City Theatre). Her film credits include Creation of Destiny, Out of Our Time and Powerful Thang. Her recording credits include Squonk Opera, Abigail’s Attic and Jana Losey. She was the event production coordinator for Portland’s Village Building Convergence from 2004 to 2006.

Amy Palomino
Assistant Director

Amy is thrilled to be a part of another exciting musical at Portland Center Stage. Other PCS credits include choreographing A Christmas Carol, playing the roles of Anybodys in West Side Story, Rosie in Cabaret and an assortment of characters in Guys And Dolls, including a guy! She has also choreographed musicals for The Broadway Rose Theatre Company, Stumptown Stages, Lakewood Theatre Company and a play for Third Rail Repertory Theatre. Before moving to Portland, Amy danced on Broadway in the revival of 42nd Street.

Jamie Hill
Stage Manager

Jamie is excited to be in her seventh season at Portland Center Stage. Previous PCS shows include The Importance of Being Earnest, A Christmas Carol (previous three seasons), Guys and Dolls, Doubt, A Feminine Ending, Cabaret, The Pillowman, Misalliance, I Am My Own Wife, West Side Story, Celebrity Row, The Fantasticks, Pride and Prejudice, My Fair Lady, King Lear, Fully Committed, 36 Views, Another Fine Mess, Man & Superman, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and True West. Other regional credits include Missouri Repertory Theatre, Shakespeare Santa Cruz and Huron Playhouse. Locally, Jamie has also worked on JAW and with Third Rail Repertory Company. A huge thank you to the always-fantastic PCS stage management team.

Mark Tynan
Assistant Stage Manager

Mark is happy to be winding up his seventh season with Portland Center Stage. In his seven years as stage manager here, Mark has been witness to: cotton balls aplenty, 2,152 boxes, gangsters, hookers, drunks, skulls, rats, divas, cross-dressing men in hoop skirts, snow, hundreds of shoes, fake goats, real mermaids, blood (fake and real), children, bats and, oh yeah, some Shakespeare for good measure. Prior to PCS, Mark toured nationally and internationally with musicals including Dreamgirls, The King and I with Rudolf Nureyev, How to Succeed…, The Phantom of the Opera and Rent. Mark has enjoyed being a part of the Broadway Rose Theatre Company productions in Tigard with shows including Jekyll and Hyde, Chicago, 42nd Street and They’re Playing Our Song. Mark wants to acknowledge the hard work of the phenomenal PCS production assistants, Zachary Lifton and Kelly Cullom, who really are the glue that holds these skits together. Remember: Take time to smell the roses.

Kelly Cullom
Production Assistant

This is Kelly’s second season at PCS. Last season she was PA for A Christmas Carol, A Feminine Ending and Doubt. Prior to coming to PCS she worked as a production assistant and light board operator at Artists Repertory Theatre for more than three seasons, including PA work on They Came from Way Out There, The Seagull and Take Me Out. A graduate of The Evergreen State College, she has been busy in the Portland tech theater scene since her arrival in 2004.

Reece Marshburn
Conductor/Assistant Musical Director

Reece graduated in 2002 from Western Washington University with a degree in jazz studies. For three years he led his own quartet and played seven nights a week for 32 weeks out of the year backing up diverse acts, from country to broadway. After landing in Portland in 2005, he has played all over town in a variety of capacities. Reece is musical director for the Tony Starlight Show, Jim Beatty Jazz Band and Marianna Thielen and The Baby Vamps. He has worked with PCS in A Christmas Carol, West Side Story, Cabaret and Guys and Dolls.

Mary McDonald-Lewis
Dialect Coach

Mary is an accomplished actor, director and dialect coach. She is a 25-year SAG/AFTRA member who has starred in cartoons and voiced hundreds of commercials. She can be heard as the voice of General Motors’ OnStar, and seen on Portland’s stages. As theater director, her work is regularly staged in Portland. Her dialect coaching can be found on films for Hallmark Hall of Fame and Paramount Productions, and most recently in Twilight. On stage, she’s coached dialects ranging from Irish to Yiddish-influenced German to Appalachian to Welsh, and many more. Mary holds her M.F.A. in directing from the University of Portland.