Cast
Kati Brazda, Tim Curtis, Nathan Dame, Donna Jay Fulks, Coby Getzug, Jennifer Grace, Nicholas R Grava, Helen Hunt, Jeffrey Hutchinson, Matthew Kimbrough,
Ronete Levenson, Jonathan Mastro, David LM McIntyre, James McMenamin,
Lori Myers, Maximilian Osinski, Daniel Stewart, Jeff Still
With
Dan Alemshah, Elizabeth Audley, Wayne Baldwin, Timothy Howard Davis, Lee DeBroux, Jonathan Edwards, Lesley Fera, Lisa Goodman, Dana Jacks, George Ketsios, Jonathan Palmer, Vincent Selhorst-Jones, and Gordon Wells
Stephen Dobay
Scenic & Properties designerHeather Gilbert
Lighting designer
Alison Siple
Costume designerAmy M. Dalba
General management consultant
Richard A. Hodge
Production stage managerMelissa Jernigan
Assistant stage manager
Sarah Butke
Production stage managerMichael Padden
Assistant director
Jonathan Mastro
Original music & music direction
McCorkle Casting, LTD.
Pat McCorkle,
CSA & Joe Lopick
Casting
Directed by David Cromer
Oscar, Emmy, and Golden Globe-winner Helen Hunt stars in this groundbreaking new version of Wilder’s iconic American play. Our Town tells the story of young lovers George and Emily, whose life in a small New England town becomes a microcosm of every day life. The wisdom of the play, rendered through a deceptively simple story, makes Our Town an enduring treasure of the American theater. This electrifying new production is directed by Broadway director and MacArthur Fellow David Cromer in his LA debut. Most of the seating for this production will be on stage with the actors.
Opening Night is Wed, Jan 18th. Don't Miss Out!
All audience members are invited to join us after the show at Zengo, one of Santa Monica's newest premiere hot spots located at Santa Monica Place. Come and enjoy scrumptious bites, cocktails, and delicious desserts while mingling with fellow patrons and stars. Valet parking provided.
Preview Performances include Jan. 13, 14, 15, and 17. Premier and Level A seating is on stage.
SOLD OUT. Please call the box office at 310.434.3200 for last minute availability.
This fall, in anticipation of The Broad Stage debut of Our Town, Broad Stage Director Dale Franzen hosted a donor salon with Our Town Director and MacArthur Fellow David Cromer and his design team at Santa Monica’s Annenberg Beach House.
Here are excerpts from the conversation which also included Heather Gilbert, lighting designer, Alison Siple, costume designer, and Michelle Spadaro, scenic designer.
Dale: How did you re-envision Our Town for The Broad Stage?
David: The show changes it shape to fit the room it’s in. The first line of the play is, “This play is called Our Town, which means we are in a theater, we’re in this theater right now, whatever this theater is right now, tonight, with you (points out to the audience), we’re here so it has to change shape every night to fit our relationship to you.
Michelle: And that started happening as soon as we got into the space. Because the space is so beautiful, and unique, and entirely different from any other place that it has been done, so, it’s going to be a surprise to us, as much as it is for you.
Audience member: Would you compare your concept and Thornton Wilder’s concept of theater with Bertold Brecht’s concept of theater?
David: I would think those two men would have a difficult time being in the same room together… They were both distressed…Both of them make other kinds of theater look like frippery.
Heather: And they sort of had similar concerns... David: Yes. They went about it in different ways, but the goal was: we are this close to animals and there’s a very, very thin thread of humanity. So, hold on to it.
Audience member: Since Our Town takes place in a small New Hampshire town, what accents do the actors use?
David: The actors speak in their own voices as much as possible. This is a very specific choice on my part…The second you hear a New England accent it’s like a period costume. You think that person is warm. You think that person is folksy. You think they’re charming. I’m a Midwesterner. We were doing it in Chicago and I said, let’s talk like we’re from here. Just talk in your own voice.
Alison: Don’t you also think that, when Wilder wrote it, if he had wanted it to be so New England-y he wouldn’t have called it Our Town. I feel he always wanted it to be more...universal.
Dale: Yes, every town.
