WAM Partners with BRIDGE on Powerful Play
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LENOX, MA (September 10, 2019) — Artistic Director Kristen van Ginhoven, Associate Artistic Director Talya Kingston, and the WAM team are proud to announce the cast for their fall Mainstage production of PIPELINE by Dominique Morisseau. After two preview performances, the production opens October 26, 2019, at Shakespeare & Company’s Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre, and runs through November 9.
PIPELINE was first presented by WAM as a Fresh Takes reading in August 2018, making this the second Fresh Takes reading to be produced as a Mainstage production. The company is proud to present a full production of this cutting edge new play, which Village Voice critic Michael Feingold praised as “powerful, passionate, and intelligent.”
In this thought-provoking examination of race, class, and the American education system Nya, an inner-city public high school teacher committed to her students, and desperate to give her only son opportunities they’ll never have, must confront his rage and her own choices as a parent when a controversial incident at his upstate private school threatens to get him expelled.
Making their WAM debuts are Alexandria Danielle King as Nya and Hubens “Bobby” Cius as her son, Omari; with James Ricardo Milord as Dun and Barbara Douglass as Laurie, two public high school employees. Reprising the role of Jasmine, which she played in the 2018 WAM Fresh Takes Play Reading of PIPELINE, is Sandra Seoane-Serí. And rounding out the cast is WAM favorite and Artistic Associate Kevin Craig West as Nya’s ex-husband and Omari’s father, Xavier.
Dominique Morisseau’s book for AIN’T TOO PROUD: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF THE TEMPTATIONS was nominated for a Tony Award this past season, and the show itself was nominated for Best Musical. In 2018 she won an Obie Award for Playwriting for the Lincoln Theatre Company production of PIPELINE. She is currently at work on the book for the new Soul Train musical.
Simmons, a busy and sought-after director in the Boston area, returns to direct this fully staged production. She is Artistic Director of the Front Porch Arts Collective, Co-Artistic Director of New Exhibition Room, a founding member of the Small Theatre Alliance Boston, and Executive Director of StageSource.
PIPELINE is being presented in partnership with local social justice organization Multicultural BRIDGE. In keeping with its double philanthropic mission, WAM Theatre will be donating a portion of the box office proceeds from PIPELINE to its 18th and 19th beneficiaries: Harmony Homestead & Wholeness Center and the Women of Color Giving Circle.
Additionally, PIPELINE is a co-production with The Nora Theatre Company at Central Square Theatre in Cambridge, MA, where the play will be performed from March 5-29, 2020.
Preview tickets to the October 24 & 25 WAM Theatre performances are $10-$30. Tickets to all other performances start at $30. In celebration of WAM’s 10th Anniversary Season, WAM will offer ten $10 tickets at every single Mainstage performance during the 2019 season on a first-come, first-served basis.
Student tickets are available for $15 each and may be purchased over the phone at 413-637-3353 or in person at the Shakespeare & Company Box Office. Student tickets are not available for purchase online. No Berkshire, Senior, Teacher, or Military Discounts.
Please note all sales are final. No refunds available. Patrons may exchange tickets up to 48 hours before curtain. No refunds or exchanges for already discounted tickets. Discounts are not available on the 10th anniversary $10 discounted tickets in Section D.
AT A GLANCE
PIPELINE
by Dominique Morisseau
Directed by Dawn Meredith Simmons
Presented at Shakespeare & Company’s Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre
70 Kemble St, Lenox, MA
https://www.wamtheatre.com/pipeline/
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A powerful and thought-provoking examination of race, class, and the American education system
Featuring Hubens “Bobby” Cius, Barbara Douglass, Alexandria Danielle King, James Ricardo Milord, Sandra Seoane-Serí, and Kevin Craig West
Shelley Barish, Scenic Designer
Michaela Carmelo Bocchino, Lighting Designer
Greg Smith, Sound Designer
Elizabeth Rocha, Costume Designer
JV Hampton Van Sant, Assistant Costume Designer
John ADEkoje, Projection Designer
Lauren Burke, Stage Manager
Presented in Partnership with Multicultural BRIDGE
Co-produced with The Nora at Central Square Theatre, Cambridge MA
In keeping with WAM’s philanthropic mission, a portion of box office proceeds will be donated to the Harmony Homestead & Wholeness Center and the Women of Color Giving Circle.
Mature language. Recommended for ages 13+
PERFORMANCES
Thursday, October 24 at 7:30pm (Preview)
Friday, October 25 7:30pm (Preview)
Saturday, October 26 at 7:30pm (Opening)
Sunday, October 27 at 2pm
Wednesday, October 30 at 12:30pm (Student Matinee, limited seats available to the public)
Thursday, October 31 at 7:30pm
Friday, November 1 at 7:30pm
Saturday, November 2 at 7:30pm
Sunday, November 3 at 2pm
Monday, November 4 at 12:30pm (Student Matinee, limited seats available to the public)
Thursday, November 7 at 7:30pm
Friday, November 8 at 7:30pm
Saturday, November 9 at 2pm
Saturday, November 9 at 7:30pm
This production is sponsored in part by Carolyn Butler.
ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT
DOMINIQUE MORISSEAU (playwright) WAM Theatre: Pipeline (2018 Fresh Takes Play Reading Series) Plays: The Detroit Project (A 3-Play Cycle) which includes the following plays: Skeleton Crew(Atlantic Theater Company), Paradise Blue (Signature Theatre), and Detroit ’67 (Public Theater, Classical Theatre of Harlem and NBT). Additional plays include: Pipeline (Lincoln Center Theatre), Sunset Baby (LAByrinth Theatre); Blood at the Root (National Black Theatre) and Follow Me To Nellie’s (Premiere Stages). She is also the book writer on the new musical Ain’t Too Proud – The Life and Times of the Temptations (Berkeley Repertory Theatre). Theatre Commissions: Her work has been commissioned by Steppenwolf Theater, Women’s Project, South Coast Rep, People’s Light and Theatre, and Oregon Shakespeare Festival/Penumbra Theatre. Film/TV: She most recently served as Co-Producer on the Showtime series “Shameless”. Awards: Spirit of Detroit Award, PoNY Fellowship, Sky-Cooper Prize, TEER Trailblazer Award, Steinberg Playwright Award, Audelco Awards, NBFT August Wilson Playwriting Award, Edward M. Kennedy Prize for Drama, OBIE Award, Ford Foundation Art of Change Fellowship, and being named one of Variety’s Women of Impact for 2017-18. Et Cetera: Dominique is an alumna of The Public Theater Emerging Writer’s Group, Women’s Project Lab, and Lark Playwrights Workshop and has developed work at Sundance Lab, Williamstown Theatre Festival and Eugene O’Neil Playwrights Conference.
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
DAWN M. SIMMONS (Director) WAM Theatre: Pipeline (2018 Fresh Takes Play Reading Series), Elsewhere: Lyric Stage Company of Boston (The Wiz, Warrior Class, Saturday Night Sunday Morning), Hibernian Hall, (With Glittering Eyes) Actors Shakespeare Project (Macbeth), Greater Boston Stage Company (The Three Musketeers, The Irish and How They Got That Way), SpeakEasy Stage Company (Just Cause (The Boston Project), Men On Boats), Commonwealth Shakespeare Company (The Tempest), Bad Habit Productions (The Real Inspector Hound), Boston Public Works (Hard and Fast: A Love Story), New Exhibition Room (Smile), Fresh Ink Theatre (The Embryos), Online: www.frontporcharts.org
ABOUT THE CAST:
Hubens “Bobby” Cius (Omari) WAM Theatre: Debut. Theatre: The Three Musketeers (Greater Boston Stage Company), Black Odyssey Boston (Central Square Theatre), A Free Man of Color (Salem State University). Training: BA in Theatre Arts at Salem State University. Awards: 2018 Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Region 1 ‐ NETC Best Scene Partner, 2019 KCACTF Region 1 ‐ Irene Ryan 1st Honorable Mention. Etc: Bobby is thrilled to join the WAMily with this production of Pipeline!
Barbara Douglass (Laurie) WAM Theatre: Debut. Elsewhere: Edith in Delicate Particle Logic (Flat Earth Theatre), Ruella in Communicating Doors, Alma in The Porch, Polly in Other Desert Cities (Vokes Theater), Becky in Becky’s New Car; Karen, Marjorie, and Norma in Plaza Suite; Sonia in Vanya & Sonia & Masha & Spike; Kafka in Wonder of the World (Quannapowitt Theater), Barbara in August: Osage County, Dotty In Noises Off, Sara in The Sisters Rosensweig, Sue in All My Sons (Footlight), Lyn in Apple, Frankie in Christmas Belles (Phoenix Theater Artists), Susan in Becky Shaw, Alarms & Excursions, Bertha in Boing Boing (Hovey Players). Awards: DASH Lead Actress: Becky’s New Car; DASH lead actress: Plaza Suite; DASH costuming: The Lion In Winter; DASH supporting actress: Moon Over Buffalo; MyTheater Award lead actress (nom): August: Osage County.
Alexandria Danielle King (Nya) WAM Theatre: Debut. Theatre: Title role in Antigone (Classical Theatre of Harlem), Chelle in Detroit ‘67 (New Horizon Theatre), Charley in The Girls of Summer (Layon Gray Productions), Marianne in The Revolutionists & Shahrazad in Arabian Nights (Central Sq Theatre), Emcee in Shockheaded Peter (Company One). Film: Lorraine Hansberry in Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart (American Masters). Training: BA. Drama, Tufts University, Advanced Theatre Certification, The Moscow Arts Theatre School. Awards: IRNE Nomination-Best Actress in a Musical. Online: @DivineLoveHeals, www.AlexandriaDanielleKing.com. Etc: Love to Journey and Mother!
James Ricardo Milord (Dun) WAM Theatre: Debut. Theatre: The Handmaid’s Tale (Boston Lyric Opera), The Agitators and Cyrano (Gloucester Stage), Anna Christie and Barbecue (Lyric Stage), Akeelah and the Bee (Wheelock Family Theatre), Clybourne Park (Longwood Players Club), The Good Negro, Splendor, The Brothers Size Trilogy, Clockwork Orange (Company One), & Macbeth (Shakespeare Now). Film: Honest Thief (Solution Entertainment Group), Proud Mary (Screen Gems), The Brotherhood (Showtime), a handful of indies and industrial commercials. Etc: Mr. Milord continues to pursue his dreams professionally and encourages all to do the same.
Sandra Seoane-Serí (Jasmine) WAM Theatre: Pipeline (Fresh Takes Play Reading). Theatre: Rachel in Baltimore, Angel in Marisol, Aline in Infants of the Spring, Attendant in Tape, Fei Fong Torres, Snowflakes, Shar in The Happiest Song Plays Last, John Williamson in Glengarry Glen Ross, Abigail Williams in The Crucible, Lidia in Runaways, Stepmother in Cinderella. Film/TV: In the Heights, HER in TWO & two Training: University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Online: @triplees
Kevin Craig West (Xavier) WAM Theatre: Pipeline and Noms de Guerre (Fresh Takes Play Readings), 24 Theatre Project, Artistic Associate. Regional Theatre: Shakespeare in Love, The Trip to Bountiful, Race, Metamorphoses, To Kill a Mockingbird, Take Me Out, Midsummer Night’s Dream, Friend of a Friend (Capital Repertory Theatre), Dracula (Actors Theatre of Louisville), Race (Northern Stage), To Kill a Mockingbird (Florida Repertory Theatre). Off-Broadway: Sonnets for an Old Century (The Barrow Group), Joe Fearless (The Atlantic Theatre Company). Other Theatre: Grant & Twain (PS21), Master Harold and the Boys… (Leatherstocking Theatre Company), Judevine, Panache (Oldcastle Theatre), My Children! My Africa! (Siena), Macbeth, Of Mice and Men, A Tale of Cinderella (NYSTI). Film: The Way Forward, Bumpin Uglies, I Hate Being Black, LazerTown, Twilight Storytellers-The Groundskeeper, Little Bi Peep. Award-winning filmmaker. Online: @KevinCraigWest
WAM 10th Anniversary Sponsors
WAM’s 2019 sponsors include Adams Community Bank, Annie Selke, Baystate Financial, Berkshire Gas, Berkshire Hand to Shoulder Center, Berkshire Magazine, Berkshire Sterile Manufacturing, Blue Q, Blue Spark Financial, Brabson Library & Educational Foundation, Canyon Ranch, Chez Nous, Custom Business Solutions, Dr, Jay Wise, DDS and Dr. Casey Jones, DMD, The Dylandale Foundation, Frankie’s Ristorante Italiano, Garden Gables Inn, Greylock Federal Credit Union, Guido’s Fresh Marketplace, Haven Cafe and Bakery, Health Professional Coaching, Heller & Robbins, Interprint, J.H. Maxymillian, Inc., Lee Bank, Maggie Barry, New England Public Radio (NEPR), Massachusetts Cultural Council, Only in My Dreams Events, Onyx Specialty Papers, OUTPOST, RB Design Co., The Rogovoy Report, The Rookwood Inn, Salisbury Bank, T Square Design Studio, Toole Insurance, and a. von schlegell & co.
WAM Theatre is also supported in part by grants from the Alford-Egremont Cultural Council, Cultural Council of Northern Berkshires, Hinsdale-Peru Cultural Council, Lenox Cultural Council, New Marlborough Cultural Council, Otis Cultural Council, Richmond Cultural Council, Sandisfield Cultural Council, Sheffield Cultural Council, Washington Cultural Council, West Stockbridge Cultural Council—local agencies that are supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.
LADY RANDY was sponsored in part by an anonymous donor and PIPELINE is sponsored in part by Carolyn Butler.
ABOUT WAM THEATRE
Based in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, WAM Theatre is celebrating its 10th anniversary of being a place Where Arts and Activism Meet. The company was co-founded in 2010 by Canadian director, actor, educator, and producer Kristen van Ginhoven. WAM’s vision is to create opportunity for women and girls through the mission of theatre as philanthropy.
Inspired by the book Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, WAM donates a portion of the proceeds from its theatrical events to organizations that benefit women and girls.
Since 2010, WAM Theatre has provided paid work to more than 200 theatre artists and donated more than $65,700 to 17 local and global organizations taking action for women and girls in areas such as girls education, teen pregnancy prevention, sexual trafficking awareness, midwife training and more. In addition to the main stage productions and special events, WAM Theatre’s activities include a comprehensive educational outreach program and the Fresh Takes Play Reading Series. For more information, visit www.WAMTheatre.com