SOCIAL UPHEAVALS CREATE TURMOIL IN FAMILY COMEDY
AT NORTH COAST REPERTORY THEATRE
INCIDENT AT OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL HELP
Written by Katie Forgette
A San Diego Premiere Directed by Jenny Sullivan
Oct. 23 – NOW EXTENDED THROUGH Nov. 24, 2024

Solana Beach, Calif. – Embark on a delightful journey down memory lane as North Coast Repertory Theatre presents the San Diego Premiere of INCIDENT AT OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL HELP. Set against the vibrant backdrop of the 1970s, Katie Forgette’s charming comedy unfolds within the confines of a working-class home. The quirky O’Shea clan navigates the tumultuous and sometimes awkward realities of this rapidly changing decade.  This heartwarming play keeps audiences engaged and laughing, while delving into themes of faith, friendship, personal choices, and their values. Spend an unforgettable evening with the hilarious O’Shea clan.

Jenny Sullivan directs Samantha Gorjanc,* Erin Noel Grennan,* Shana Wride,* Abbi Hoffpauir, and Tom Dugan* in INCIDENT AT OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL HELP. The Design Team includes Marty Burnett (Scenic Designer), Matthew Novotny (Lighting Designer), Elisa Benzoni (Costume Designer), Evan Eason (Sound Designer) and Peter Herman (Hair & Wigs). Christopher M. Williams* is the Stage Manager and Props Designer. Tyler Dean is the Production Assistant.

*The actor or stage manager appears through the courtesy of Actors’ Equity Association.

INCIDENT AT OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL HELP previews begin on Wednesday, Oct. 23.  Opening Night is set for Saturday, Oct. 26, at 8 pm. The play runs Wednesday, Oct. 23, NOW EXTENDED BY POPULAR DEMAND to Sunday, Nov. 24, with performances on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7 pm, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm, and Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2 pm and Sundays at 7 pm. Added matinee performances at 2pm on Friday, Oct. 25, and Wednesday, Nov. 13. A talkback session with the director and cast is scheduled for Nov. 1.

BIOS:

KATIE FORGETTE (Playwright) Katie spent most of her professional life as an actor. At the Seattle Repertory Theatre, she was privileged to work with such directors and playwrights as Doug Hughes, Bill Irwin, Mark O'Donnell, Dan Sullivan, John Patrick Shanley, Liviu Ciulei, Lillian Garrett-Groag and Jon Robin Baitz. Her plays include Linda Loman is Leaving, A Facility for Living, Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Jersey Lily, The O'Conner Girls, Everybody's A Critic, It Went Like This, The Body Snatcher and Welcome to Vital Vista Village. Her scripts have been produced at The Seattle Repertory Theatre, ACT Theatre, Manitoba Theatre Centre, CAP21, People's Light, Park Square Theatre, Barter Theatre, Austin Playhouse, Cortland Repertory Theatre, Dorset Theatre Festival, Vertigo Theatre, Taproot Theatre, Centenary Stage Company, Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, Bristol Valley Theater, Chenango River Theatre and Theatre 40. She lives in a tiny brick house in Seattle with her favorite husband, actor R. Hamilton Wright, and a giant, judgmental, gray cat named Eddie.

JENNY SULLIVAN (Director-SDC) is thrilled to add North Coast Rep to her list of favorite theaters: NYC Acorn and Wallis Annenberg productions of Tom Dugan’s Wiesenthal. Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre: The Dresser (Len Cariou and Granville Van Dusen). Geffen Playhouse: Love, Loss, and What I Wore. Laguna Playhouse: The Year of Magical Thinking (Linda Purl), I Am My Own Wife, Steel Magnolias. Rubicon Theatre: The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Twilight: Los Angeles 1992, A Moon for the Misbegotten, The Rainmaker, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf. ETC of SB: The Mystery of Irma Vep, Good People, Tea at Five, Lion in Winter, Clean House, The Legend of Georgia McBride, The Children.  Premiere of Jane Anderson’s The Baby Dance: Pasadena Playhouse, Williamstown, Long Wharf (CT Critics’ Directing Award), Lucille Lortel Theatre. Film: “Access All Areas”, “The Next Best Thing” (in which she had the good fortune to direct her father Barry). Jenny’s most proud of her play J for J starring the late great John Ritter.

(IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE)

SAMANTHA GORJANC* (Linda O’Shea) is so excited to be making her San Diego theatre debut with this show. Originally from the Bay Area, Samantha currently spends most of her time in New York. Previous credits include Ragtime - 25th Anniversary Concert (Mother u/s), To Sir, With Love (Tara), Much Ado...(Bea), This Random World (Bernadette), and more. She is a proud member of Actors' Equity. instagram: @samanthagorjanc.

ERIN NOEL GRENNAN* (Josephine ‘Jo’ O’Shea) is delighted to return to North Coast Rep after appearing last season as Olga in The Angel Next Door. Regional: The Outsider (premiere) at Paper Mill Playhouse; Reckless at Cincinnati Playhouse; Unnecessary Farce (premiere), Wit at Boarshead Theatre; Timon of Athens at Chicago Shakespeare; A Moon for the Misbegotten, Blithe Spirit, Taming of the Shrew at First Folio; Christmas Carol at Geva; A Flea in Her Ear, The Foreigner, The Man Who Came To Dinner at Drury Lane; Noises Off at Totem Playhouse; Petrified Forest, Making God Laugh (premiere), Miracle On South Division at TATC; King O’ The Moon at Mercury; eight seasons with Peninsula Players Theatre, two seasons with Gaiety Theatre, Ireland. TV: “The Other Two,“ “Dr. Death,” “Bull,” “Law & Order,” “Law & Order: SVU,” “Blue Bloods,” “FBI: Most Wanted,” “Chicago,” “Chicago Fire,” and umpteen commercials. Big love to Paul, as always. For Mom, who would’ve adored this play. erinnoelgrennan.com

SHANA WRIDE* (Theresa “Terri” Carmichael) is a San Diego based actor and director who has been involved in many shows at North Coast Repertory Theatre, most recently as the Director of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. She has also worked with The Old Globe Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, The Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles, Diversionary Theatre, Cygnet Theatre, The San Diego Symphony, Intrepid Theatre, Moxie Theatre, Compass Theatre, The Colony Theatre, Open Fist Theatre, San Diego Repertory Theatre, Idaho Shakespeare Festival, Gaslamp Quarter Theatre, and Sledgehammer Theatre. While living in Los Angeles, she co-hosted the nationally syndicated radio show, “Women Aloud,” with actor/comedienne Mo Gaffney. shanawride.com

ABBI HOFFPAUIR (Becky O’Shea)  is ecstatic to be making her North Coast Rep debut! Some favorite credits include: Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes (MiraCosta Theater), Natalie/Ed in All Shook Up, Ellie Blake in Freaky Friday (Ritz Theater Company), Ms. Lark/Winifred Banks u/s in Mary Poppins, Featured Dancer/Glinda u/s in The Wizard Of Oz (Moonlight Amphitheater), Sarah Brown in Guys and Dolls, Ariel in The Little Mermaid, Finch/Katherine Plumber u/s in Newsies, Pugsley in The Addams Family (Classical Academy), California Center of the Arts Escondido Rising Stars, 2023 Broadway San Diego Awards top three women’s finalist. Many thanks to her wonderful family and friends for their love and support.

TOM DUGAN* (Mike O’Shea/Father Lovett/Betty Heckenbach) Lauded as a “National Treasure” by critics, Tom Dugan is a celebrated Los Angeles-based playwright and actor with a host of awards and nominations, including from the New York Drama Desk and Los Angeles Ovation. His meticulously researched historical one-person plays have received acclaim worldwide, from the U.S. and Canada to Australia, Israel, and London. Dugan’s notable work Wiesenthal (“Heartbreaking and beautiful” - New York Times) was produced Off-Broadway and featured on PBS. His other acclaimed plays include Tell Him It’s Jackie (“Masterful” - Curtain Up), Tevye in New York! (“Delightful” - Broadway World), The Ghosts Of Mary Lincoln (“Spellbinding” - LA Times), and Robert E. Lee – Shades Of Gray (“Brilliant” - Stage Happenings). His recent project, The New Jersey Trilogy, includes Cemetery Pub (“Terrifically entertaining” - Theatre Notes), Irish Goodbye (“Hilarious” - Stage Raw), and Hank & Otto, set for production in 2025. Contact Tom at tom.dugan@outlook.com.

CHRISTOPHER M. WILLIAMS* (Stage Manager/Props Design) During his 30 years in the industry, Christopher has made his theatrical career as a director, union actor and stage manager, as well as, fight choreographer, designer, and instructor. His directing credits include: Last of the Red Hot Lovers, Visiting Mr. Green, and the West Coast Premieres of Gabriel and Desperate Measures (North Coast Rep); Romeo and Juliet (Southwest Shakespeare); Beau Jest and Leading Ladies (Moonlight Stages); Halpern and Johnson (AZ Jewish Theatre); I Hate Hamlet (Intrepid Theatre); Julius Caesar (New Village Arts); The Outsider and Chapatti (Scripps Ranch Theatre). He served six years as Associate Artistic Director and Casting Director for North Coast Rep following his duties as founding Artistic Director of Oceanside Theatre Company. Christopher has also worked in the film industry where he was producer, casting associate, and on-set acting coach for the WWII feature “Walking with the Enemy,” starring Sir Ben Kingsley and Jonas Armstrong.

NORTH COAST REPERTORY THEATRE LAUNCHES SEASON 43
WITH GRIPPING CLASSIC DRAMA,
A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE
Written By Arthur Miller
Directed By David Ellenstein
Now Extended to Oct. 13, 2024

Solana Beach, Calif. – North Coast Repertory Theatre auspiciously begins Season 43 with Arthur Miller’s explosive masterpiece, A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE. This Tony Award-winning play delves into the complexities of family, love and justice. Set in a tight-knit Italian-American community in 1950s Brooklyn, the play explores the lives of its characters with raw emotion and powerful storytelling. As tensions rise and secrets unravel, the audience is drawn into a world where loyalties are tested, and the consequences of one’s actions have far-reaching implications. With compelling characters and intense relationships, this timeless drama keeps audiences on the edge of their seats from start to finish. Tickets are on sale now for this brilliant not-to-be-missed American classic, now extended through October 13. Production Sponsor Leonard Hirsch.

David Ellenstein directs Richard Baird,* Lowell Byers,* Frank Corrado,* Steve Froehlich,* Coby Rogers, Matthew Salazar-Thompson,* Margot White,* and Marie Zolezzi in A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE. Jason Heil* is the Stage Manager. The Design Team includes Marty Burnett (Set Design), Matthew Novotny (Light Design), Elisa Benzoni+ (Costume Design), Ian Scott (Sound Design), Kevin Williams (Props), and Peter Herman (Hair & Wigs).

*The actor or stage manager appears through the courtesy of Actors’ Equity Association / +United Scenic Artists

A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE previews begin on Wednesday, Sept. 11. Opening Night is set for Saturday, Sept. 14, at 8 pm. The play runs Wednesday, Sept. 11, to Sunday, Oct. 13, with performances on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7 pm, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm, and Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2 pm and Sundays at 7 pm. Added matinee performances at 2pm on Friday, Sept. 13, and Wednesday, Oct. 7. A talkback session with the director and cast is scheduled for Sept. 20.

BIOS:
ARTHUR MILLER (Playwright) (1915-2005) was born in New York City and studied at the University of Michigan. His plays include The Man Who Had All The Luck (1944), All My Sons (1947), Death Of A Salesman (1949), The Crucible (1953), A View From The Bridge and A Memory Of Two Mondays (1955), After The Fall (1964), Incident At Vichy (1964), The Price (1968), The Creation Of The World And Other Business (1972), The Archbishop's Ceiling (1977), The American Clock (1980) and Playing For Time. Later plays include The Ride Down Mt. Morgan (1991), The Last Yankee (1993), Broken Glass (1994), Mr. Peters’ Connections (1998), Resurrection Blues (2002), and Finishing The Picture (2004). Other works include “Focus,” a novel (1945), “The Misfits,” a screenplay (1960), and the texts for “In Russia” (1969), “In the Country” (1977), and “Chinese Encounters” (1979), three books in collaboration with his wife, photographer Inge Morath. Memoirs include “Salesman in Beijing” (1984) and “Timebends,” an autobiography (1988). Short fiction includes the collection “I Don’t Need You Anymore” (1967), the novella “Homely Girl, a Life” (1995) and “Presence: Stories” (2007). He was awarded the Avery Hopwood Award for Playwriting at University of Michigan in 1936. He twice won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award, received two Emmy awards and three Tony Awards for his plays, as well as a Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement. He also won an Obie award, a BBC Best Play Award, the George Foster Peabody Award, a Gold Medal for Drama from the National Institute of Arts and Letters, the Literary Lion Award from the New York Public Library, the John F. Kennedy Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Algur Meadows Award. He was named Jefferson Lecturer for the National Endowment for the Humanities in 2001. He was awarded the 2002 Prince of Asturias Award for Letters and the 2003 Jerusalem Prize. He received honorary degrees from Oxford University and Harvard University and was awarded the Prix Moliere of the French theatre, the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Pulitzer Prize.

DAVID ELLENSTEIN (Director) Born into a theatrical family, David is an actor, director, producer, and playwright. Before joining North Coast Rep in 2003 as Artistic Director, he served in that position for the Los Angeles Repertory Company and the Arizona Jewish Theatre Company (AJTC). He is a veteran of over 300 theatrical productions at theatres from San Diego to Maine, and from Alaska to Miami and most places in between. David has won numerous theatre awards, including the San Diego Theatre Critics Circle Award for “2018 Director of the Year.” David has also appeared in dozens of film and television roles, as well as having been guest faculty for numerous universities including California State University Northridge, Cal Arts, and Shakespeare workshops privately. He is now the Artistic Director of Laguna Playhouse as well as continuing to be the Artistic Director of North Coast Rep.

Cast in Alphabetical Order:

RICHARD BAIRD* (Eddie Carbone) is an award-winning actor, director and producer.  Select regional credits include: The Laguna Playhouse; The Old Globe; Chicago Shakespeare Festival; Oregon Shakespeare Festival; Portland Centre Stage; Arizona Theatre Company; Shakespeare Santa Cruz; San Diego Repertory Theatre; Santa Barbara Theatre Ensemble; Southwest Shakespeare Company; Backyard Renaissance; Kingsmen Shakespeare; Intrepid Theatre Company and many more.  He is the founding Artistic Director of New Fortune Theatre Company in San Diego.  A View from the Bridge marks his 35th production at North Coast Repertory Theatre which include An Iliad (also at KOTOR festival in Montenegro); Way Downriver: William Faulkner’s Old Man; multiple plays by Harold Pinter, Henrik Ibsen and world premieres.  For NCRT he has directed Of Mice and Men, A Walk in the Woods, Amadeus, Dancing Lessons and Tartuffe.

LOWELL BYERS* (Marco) is thrilled to be making his North Coast Rep debut. Favorite theater roles include Pericles, Pericles: Prince of Tyre (Old Globe), Darcy, Pride & Prejudice (Virginia Stage), Trotter, Mousetrap (Alabama Shakespeare), Don John/Dogberry, Much Ado About Nothing (Old Globe), Antonio/Sea Captain, Twelfth Night (Old Globe), Angelo, Comedy of Errors (Old Globe), Salvatore, North Shore Fish (Gloucester Stage), Two Gentlemen of Verona, Thurio (Old Globe). Currently recurring as Jed in, “The Chosen,” (CW, Amazon, Disney+). Other TV/Film credits include, “Promised Land,” “Red Dead Redemption,” “Alina,” “Five Senses of Fear,” “Brewsie & Willie.” He has also dubbed numerous roles in TV/Film projects for Netflix and Amazon. In addition to being an actor, Lowell is an accomplished playwright. His original play Luft Gangster ran Off-Broadway at The Sheen Center in New York City and was directed by Austin Pendleton. MFA: Old Globe. LowellByers.com.

FRANK CORRADO* (Alfieri) has worked in the theatre primarily as an actor, but also as director, producer, and playwright, for close to fifty years. Much of that time he resided in Seattle, playing major roles in various venues there, as well as making frequent appearances at theatres across the country. He has been seen at North Coast Rep in productions of Madagascar, The Dumb Waiter, The Drawer Boy, The Homecoming and earlier this year, Sense of Decency. He also served as director here of Betrayal.

Although his career has spanned the literature from the Greeks to Shakespeare to Moliere to Shaw to the moderns and contemporaries, he has enjoyed a special focus on the plays of Harold Pinter. Shortly after the playwright’s death in 2008, he produced a series of readings at A Contemporary Theatre (ACT) in Seattle that over the course of three years and twenty-five evenings presented virtually all of Pinter’s works to an ever-growing and enthusiastic audience. The series culminated in 2012 in a festival at ACT of full productions of a number of the plays. In 2010, largely in recognition of his adventures in Pinterland, he was awarded the William and Eva Fox Foundation Fellowship for Distinguished Achievement by Theatre Communications Group.

STEVE FROEHLICH* (Mike/Tony/Second Immigration Officer) Local Theatre includes: Sweat (San Diego Repertory Theatre), Craig Noel Award Nominee for Outstanding Ensemble; Marjorie Prime (North Coast Repertory Theatre); Bliss…or Emily Post is Dead! (world premiere), Our Lady of Kibeho and Orange Julius (world premiere) at Moxie Theatre; The Taming of the Shrew (Petruchio) and Disappearing Act (world premiere) by InnerMission Productions at Diversionary Theatre; Disappearing Act (remount) by InnerMission Productions at the San Diego International Fringe Festival; The Nutcracker (adaptation) at New Village Arts Theatre; Reasons to Be Pretty and Bug at Ion Theatre. Steve trains with world-renowned theater acting coach Larry Moss in Los Angeles. He is also an award-winning film producer, an award-winning film actor and a casting director.

COBY ROGERS (he/him) (Rodolpho) is a recent Pepperdine graduate from West Texas. He is thrilled to be making his North Coast Rep debut! Regional: Deathtrap (ICT Long Beach, Clifford Anderson), The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Tom Sawyer), Footloose, Cinderella, and Gunfight at the Not-So-Ok Saloon (Hollywood Fringe). He is breaking his way into film one indie short at a time. He was a 2019 Jimmy Awards nominee. Love always to God, family, friends, mentors. Thanks to Ryan & Skyfire Artists! For Sam & Mopsy. @cob.obe

MATTHEW SALAZAR-THOMPSON* (Louis/First Immigration Officer) : Select acting credits: The Car Plays, The Grift (La Jolla Playhouse);  Murder on the Links (The Laguna Playhouse); Spring Awakening (Cygnet Theatre); Murder on the Links, Moon Over Buffalo, The Father, The Spitfire Grill, The Odd Couple, THIS, Don’t Dress for Dinner, Over the Tavern, Dracula, Leading Ladies, A Thousand Clowns, Julius Caesar, The Comedy of Errors (North Coast Rep),Terra Nova (Compass Theatre); Cold Comfort Farm, West Side Story (Lamb’s Players; Yoga Play, Dead Man’s Cell Phone (Moxie Theatre); Now or Later (Diversionary Theatre); Moonlight and Magnolias (Sierra Rep) Much Ado About Nothing (Intrepid Theatre); Henry V (New Fortune Theatre); Beachtown (San Diego Rep [understudy]). TV credits: “C.S.I,” “Veronica Mars,” “Fashion House,” “Cover Me,” “Dharma and Greg,” “Watch Over Me,” “18 Wheels of Justice,” “Fraiser,” “The Invisible Man,” “Days of Our Lives,” “Baywatch.”  Proud member: SAG/AFTRA & AEA. Love to Jesse, Sadie and Beckett.

MARGOT WHITE* (Beatrice) Favorite credits include: Broadway: Farinelli & the King (Belasco); Love, Love, Love (Roundabout); Constellations (MTC), Aaron Sorkin’s The Farnsworth Invention (Music Box); Off-Broadway & Regional: The Refugees (Gulfshore Playhouse/World Premiere); Dirty Dancing (International Tour); The Traveling Lady (E.S.T, Dir Horton Foote); Pericles (Red Bull); Unspeakable (Harlem’s Apollo); Sweat (Pioneer Theatre); Talley’s Folly (The McCarter w/ Richard Schiff),Curious Incident.. (CTRep), for which she received the CT Critics Circle Featured Actress Award of Excellence. TV/Film/Podcast: “FBI,” “Bull,” “Unforgettable,” "L&O,” "L&O: Criminal Intent,” "Blue Bloods," “Limetown,” “Ask for Jane,” and a few other projects where she plays many a grieving widow. In addition to her acting career, she is the founder & creator of Sweets of Adversity, a baking company specializing in creative concessions for special events, along with catering the edible props for shows On and Off-Broadway. More at the sites margotwhite.com & sweetsofadversity.com

MARIE ZOLEZZI (Catherine) hails from Linden, a tiny farming town in Northern California. She relocated to SoCal after attending the USC School of Dramatic Arts. Marie is a bicoastal actress with shows at the Echo Theatre Company in LA as well as indie films such as "Big Break" and "Blue Nights." Marie is incredibly grateful to North Coast Rep for giving her the privilege to perform Arthur Miller’s words and thanks her Nonni for teaching her what it means to be Italian. Instagram: @marierosezolezzi

JASON HEIL* (Stage Manager) Stage Management Credits: Mixtape, Noises Off, The Rivalry, A Light in the Piazza, Silent Sky, Festival of Christmas, You Can’t Take It with You (Lamb’s Players Theatre). As an actor, Jason has appeared in over 150 professional productions, including Camelot, School for Lies, and Dracula at North Coast Rep.  Directing credits include Intrepid Theatre, New Village Arts, Moonlight Stage, as well as multiple college productions.  Proud member of AEA.   MFA: UC Irvine.  www.jasonheil.com