Playwright & Director

Mat Smart (playwright) is a two-time winner of San Diego Playbill’s award for Best New Play for The Hopper Collection and Hand, Foot, Arm and Face. After the world premiere at the Magic, The Hopper Collection will have another production this spring at the Huntington Theatre Company in Boston (dir. Daniel Aukin). His New York credits include Music for a High Ceiling, The Debate of Courtney O'Connell of Columbus, Nebraska and Shoes (Slant Theatre Project); Chopin's Preludes (The American Living Room Festival at HERE); and Pure (NY Fringe Festival, PSNBC). His plays have had readings at Manhattan Theatre Club, the O’Neill Playwrights Conference, Cherry Lane Theatre, Underwood, Soho Rep, Pittsburgh Public, The New Harmony Project and Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre. He is currently working on a commission for South Coast Rep and the book & lyrics for Keep Ishmael, a new rock musical (music by Ethan Deppe) that will be produced next summer by White Horse Theatre Company in Chicago. MFA: UCSD.

   

Chris Smith (Director / Artistic Director) His work at the Magic includes world premieres of John Belluso’s The Rules of Charity and Charles Grodin’s The Right Kind of People (which will open Off-Broadway at Primary Stages in February, 2006 under his direction). In NYC, prior to joining the Magic, Chris was the Artistic Director of Youngblood, the Associate Artistic Director of The Ensemble Studio Theatre and the Founding Program Director for the acclaimed EST/Sloan Project. In NYC and regionally, he has directed dozens of world premiere plays, including works by Pulitzer Prize-winner Frank Gilroy, Brad Desch, Lloyd Suh, Arthur Giron, Romulus Linney, David Ives, Joyce Carol Oates, Joe Pintauro, Gen LeRoy, David Zellnik, Paul Selig, Kate Robin and Dmitry Lipkin. His work in TV includes directing for CBS’s As The World Turns. Chris is the author to the musical books of A Sense of Freedom (with composer/lyricist Domenick Allen) and Signs and Wonders (with composer Tom Boros and lyricist Herschel Garfein). He is a graduate of Brown University and the proud father of Micaela and Anderson.

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Cast

 

Julia Brothers* (Marjorie) Recent Bay Area Credits: Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing, San Francisco Shakespeare; Medea (title role), directed by Joseph Chaikin, Pacific Repertory Theatre; Gareth Pearce in Guantanamo: Honor Bound To Defend Freedom, Brava; Wife in Triptych, Magic Theatre; Maude in Fortune and Ines in Life x3, Marin Theatre Company; Gail/Marge in Nickel and Dimed, Brava/TheatreWorks; Bunny in The House Of Blue Leaves, Sierra Repertory Theatre; Vivian Bearing in Wit, San Jose Stage. TV: The Young and the Restless and Days of Our Lives as well as various stand up appearances on Comedy Central and in clubs in New York and Los Angeles.
   

Anna Bullard (Sarah) is delighted to return to her native San Francisco. Recent credits include the world premieres of Kia Corthron’s Moot the Messenger and Uncle Sam’sSatiric Spectacular for the 2005 Humana Festival at Actors Theatre of Louisville and a reprisal of Uncle Sam’s in the NYC Fringe Festival. Other credits include Dracula, The Caucasian Chalk Circle, 2B (or not 2B) (ATL); The Mousetrap, Nunsense (Dorset Theatre Festival); The Diary of Anne Frank, What I Did Last Summer (ArtRise Theatre) and The House of Bernarda Alba (Prospect Theater Company, NYC). BA in English and Theatre from Whitman College; Acting Apprentice, Actors Theatre of Louisville.
   

Zac Jaffee (Edward) has performed with Word for Word, Traveling Jewish Theatre, Impact Theatre, Oakland Public Theater and in the Bay Area Playwrights Festival, Playground and many staged readings during Z/Magic Monday which he now co-manages. Zac has performed at the Magic in a workshop production of Michael McClure’s The Red Snake and in many Young California Writers Project evenings. He was the Head House Manager at Magic Theatre from 2001-2005, served on the literary committee and was the sound designer for The Black Eyed. For Andy.
   
Joe Mandragona (Edward - replacement) Regional credits include: Berkeley Repertory Theatre: Fêtes de la Nuit. California Shakespeare Theatre: Julius Caesar, Arms and the Man, Measure for Measure, Much Ado About Nothing. Magic Theatre: The Opposite of Sex, The 13 Hallucinations of Julio Rivera. The Center for Theatre Arts: Caucasian Chalk Circle, Orestes, Escape From Happiness. Napa Valley Repertory Theatre: Peter and the Wolf. BA: UC Berkeley. Thanks and love to my family.
   

Andy Murray* (Daniel) last appeared at the Magic in A Child’s Christmas in Wales. He has worked at ACT, Berkeley Rep, San Jose Rep, California Shakespeare Theater, Seattle Rep, Kansas City Rep, Baltimore Center Stage, Marin Theatre Company, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, among others. He teaches at Berkeley Rep School of Theatre and Cal Shakes.

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Designers and Crew

Nicole Dickerson* (Stage Manager) most recently worked as assistant stage manager for TheatreWorks’ production of Intimate Apparel. Her previous work in the Bay Area has included stage management for Colossus of Rhodes and For the Pleasure of Seeing Her Again at American Conservatory Theater, The Guys and Master Class at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, 3F, 4F at Magic Theatre, Times Like These and Windows and Mirrors at Traveling Jewish Theatre, lighting supervision and stage management for the US tour of Stories by Tobias Wolff with Word for Word, and assistant stage management and production coordination for Word for Word’s Tour de France 2004 and 2005 in Paris, France.

Erik Flatmo (Set Design) San Francisco: Missives, Beautiful Child, Medea, the Musical! and The Philanderer (Theatre Rhinoceros); Titus! ( Yerba Buena Center for the Arts). New York: Hecuba (The Culture Project); Sick, Sweetness and Sam & Lucy (Summer Play Festival); Smashing (The Play Company); Saint Scarlet (WET); Paris Commune (The Civilians), After the Show (Drama League New Directors/New Works). Regional: The Illusion ( Dartmouth College), Machinal ( University of Rochester), L'Enfant et Les Sortileges ( Music Academy of the West), Betty's Summer Vacation (Yale Repertory Theatre), Our Town ( Yale School of Drama). Education: BA, Columbia University; MFA, Yale School of Drama. Upcoming projects with San Francisco Opera Center and Joe Goode Performance Group. Mr. Flatmo teaches set design at Stanford University.

Christopher Studley (Light Design) is excited to be working again at the Magic after designing The Rules of Charity and The Black Eyed for Hot House’05. Chris has also designed with ACT Conservatory, Encore Theatre Company, Campo Santo + Intersection for the Arts, Solano College and Pacific Alliance Theatre Co. He is the 2004 Elly award recipient for best lighting in a comedy for his work in Wonder of the World and best lighting in a musical for Seussical!. Chris is involved in lighting and production of film, is a stagehand at the SF Opera and member of IATSE 16.

Callie Floor (Costume Design) is happy to return to Magic Theatre. Callie earned her BFA from the University of Utah and her higher diploma in Theatre Design from the Slade School of Fine Art, University College, London. In the Bay Area, she has designed for ACT, ACT Masters Program, Zaccho Dance Theatre, San Francisco Mime Troupe and West Bay Opera. Recent projects include The Caucasian Chalk Circle for ACT MFA Program. Upcoming projects include The Ice-Breaker for the Magic and A Number for ACT. Ms. Floor is the resident designer for California Revels and holds the position of Costume Rentals Supervisor at ACT.

Yvette Janine Jackson (Sound Design) designed sound for Tape and The Lonesome West at Magic Theatre. Recent designs include Youth Speaks’ production of Dante’s Divine Comedy directed by Ellen Sebastian Chang and Blue/Orange at Aurora Theatre Company. She has also designed for Asian American Theater Company, Campo Santo, Cultural Odyssey, Golden Thread Productions and The Shee Theatre Company. Yvette received Theatre Bay Area’s Eric Landisman Fellowship in 2004 and a Dean Goodman Choice award in 2002 for The Shape of Things at Aurora Theatre Company.

Laley Lippard (Assistant Director) is honored to be working with Magic Theatre. Directing: Shylock, The Jew of Venice (The Greenbelt Arts Center); The Vagina Monologues (The Castro Theatre); Art, Proof (Seaside Repertory Theatre); Savage Love, Tongues (Coastal Stages/ Shepard Festival); The Rocky Horror Show (CUA Centerstage Company) and Action (Callan Theatre). Assistant Directing: Le Diable en Partage (foolsFURY - 2006); The Water (TheatreWorks); True West (SRT) and Animal Farm (Hartke Theatre). Directing Intern: Ethan McSweeny’s Romeo and Juliet at Guthrie Theatre and Robert Kelley’s A Little Night Music at TheatreWorks.

Jill Matichak Handelsman (Executive Producer) has been a Magic subscriber, donor and Board member for many years. She and her late husband, Scott Handelsman, were drawn to the Magic’s new play mission and the opportunity to make a contribution to an organization with a rich history in the Bay Area that also plays a very special role in the national theatre landscape. Jill is a partner in the law firm of O’Melveny & Myers LLP and an avid theatregoer. Her other “producing” credits include Tape, Blue Surge, Drifting Elegant and The Sweetest Swing in Baseball.

* Member of Actors' Equity Association

AEA, founded in 1913, represents more than 45,000 actors and stage managers in the United States. Equity seeks to advance, promote and foster the art of live theatre as an essential component of our society. Equity negotiates wages and working conditions, providing a wide range of benefits, including health and pension plans. AEA is a member of the AFL-CIO, and is affiliated with FIA, an international organization of performing arts unions. The Equity emblem is our mark of excellence. ww.actorsequity.org.

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