Maureen Anderman
Joan Didion
Westport Country Playhouse:
Later Life, After-Play. Her numerous Broadway credits include
Driving Miss Daisy, The Year of Magical Thinking, Seascape, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, The Lady From Dubuque, Benefactors, Social Security, You Can't Take It With You, The Last of Mrs. Lincoln, Hamlet and
Macbeth (both for Lincoln Center Theater),
The Man Who Came to Dinner, A History of American Film, and
Moonchildren. Off-Broadway she appeared in
Passion Play, Later Life, Ancestral Voices, and
The Waverly Gallery. Regionally, she has worked at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, Berkshire Theatre Festival, Huntington Theatre, Yale Repertory Theatre, Hartford Stage, Long Wharf Theatre, Goodman Theatre, The Old Globe, and Guthrie Theater. Ms. Anderman's film and television credits include
Jesus, Maria; Final; Man, Woman, and Child; The Seduction of Joe Tynan; "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," "Homicide," “One Life to Live,” and recurring roles on "The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd" and "The Equalizer." She has been honored with IRNE, Drama Desk, and Tony Award nominations, and has received a Theatre World Award and Connecticut Critics Circle Award. A Weston, Connecticut, resident, she was recently honored for her work in theater with a Westport Arts Award.
Joan Didion
Playwright
Born in California and a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, Didion has spent her adult life in New York and Los Angeles. Winner of the 2005 National Book Award,
The Year of Magical Thinking is one of 13 books by Joan Didion. Her other books include
Play It As It Lays, Democracy, Slouching Towards Bethlehem, The White Album, Salvador, Miami and
Political Fictions. With her husband, John Gregory Dunne, she wrote the screenplays for such pictures as
The Panic in Needle Park with Al Pacino,
True Confessions with Robert De Niro and Robert Duvall,
A Star Is Born with Barbra Streisand and
Up Close & Personal with Michelle Pfeiffer and Robert Redford. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, which awarded her its 2005 Gold Medal in nonfiction. She also received the 1996 Edward MacDowell Medal, the 1999 Columbia Journalism Award and the 2002 George Polk Book Award. She contributes to various periodicals, most frequently The New York Review of Books.
Nicholas Martin
Director
Westport Country Playhouse: The Circle, A Cheever Evening, The Substance of Fire. Broadway: Present Laughter, Butley, Match, Hedda Gabler, The Rehearsal, You Never Can Tell. Off-Broadway: Christopher Durang’s Why Torture Is Wrong, and the People Who Love Them (The Public Theater); Observe the Sons of Ulster… (Drama Desk Award nomination), The Time of the Cuckoo, Chaucer in Rome, Saturn Returns, Paul Rudnick’s The New Century (Lincoln Center Theater); Fully Committed (Vineyard Theatre, Cherry Lane Theatre); Full Gallop (Manhattan Theatre Club, West Side Arts); Betty’s Summer Vacation (Obie Award, Drama Desk Award nominations), Sophistry (Playwrights Horizons); Bosoms and Neglect (Signature Theatre). Mr. Martin’s numerous regional credits include She Stoops to Conquer (McCarter Theatre), The House of Blue Leaves (Mark Taper Forum), Dead End (Ahmanson Theatre), Macbeth (Old Globe Theatre), The Verizon Play (Actors Theatre of Louisville) and My Wonderful Day (Two River Theater Company). Upcoming: Christopher Durang’s Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike (McCarter Theatre, Lincoln Center Theater). Mr. Martin is the former artistic director of the Williamstown Theatre Festival and of Boston’s Huntington Theatre Company. During his tenures at both theaters, he directed numerous classical and new plays.
Alexander Dodge
Set Design
Westport Country Playhouse:
The Circle, The Archbishop’s Ceiling. Broadway:
Present Laughter (Tony Award nomination),
Old Acquaintance, Butley, Hedda Gabler. West End:
All New People. Off-Broadway:
Rapture Blister Burn, Maple and Vine (Playwrights Horizons);
All New People, Trust, The Water’s Edge (Second Stage);
The Understudy (Roundabout Theatre Company);
Measure for Pleasure (Public Theater);
Observe the Sons of Ulster… (Lortel Award),
Chaucer in Rome (Lincoln Center Theater). Regional: Alley Theatre, Arena Stage, Centerstage, Hartford Stage, Huntington Theatre Company, Guthrie Theater, La Jolla Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, Old Globe Theatre, Mark Taper Forum, Shakespeare Theatre DC, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Yale Repertory Theatre. Opera:
Il Trittico (Deutsche Oper Berlin),
Cosi Fan Tutte (Minnesota Opera),
Der Waffenschmied (Munich),
Der fliegende Holländer (Würzburg),
Lohengrin (Budapest). Training: Yale University.
Philip S. Rosenberg
Lighting Design
Westport Country Playhouse:
The Circle; I Do! I Do! Off-Broadway:
Cactus Flower. Regional:
Bus Stop, She Loves Me (Huntington Theatre Company);
Summer and Smoke (Manhattan School of Music);
[title of show] (George Street Playhouse);
Sweeney Todd (Barrington Stage Company);
Bach at Leipzig, The Syringa Tree, The Morini Strad, God of Carnage (Portland Stage Company);
The Memorandum (TACT);
The Lisbon Traviata (Kennedy Center);
A Dram of Drummhicit (La Jolla Playhouse);
The Winter’s Tale (Guthrie Theater);
The Taming of the Shrew, Macbeth, Edward II, Amadeus, Cymbeline, Elizabeth Rex (Chicago Shakespeare);
Knickerbocker (Williamstown Theatre Festival);
The Motherfucker with the Hat (TheaterWorks);
The Recommendation (The Old Globe);
Shanghai Moon, The Lady in Question (Bay Street Theatre). Over the past 12 years Philip has served as associate lighting designer on more than 35 Broadway plays and musicals.
Drew Levy
Sound Design
Westport Country Playhouse:
The Circle. Broadway:
The Importance of Being Earnest, Present Laughter. Off-Broadway:
Why Torture Is Wrong and the People Who Love Them, Emergence-See!, Rainbow Kiss, Dutchman (AUDELCO Viv Award nomination),
The Mistakes Madeline Made. Regional:
You, Nero (Arena Stage);
She Stoops to Conquer, Our Town, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Quartermaine's Terms, She Loves Me, The Corn Is Green, Crimes of the Heart (Williamstown Theatre Festival);
Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well... (Two River Theater Company);
She Stoops to Conquer (McCarter Theatre);
Pirates!, The Corn Is Green, She Loves Me, Present Laughter, The Cherry Orchard, Love’s Labour’s Lost, The Sisters Rosensweig, Burn This, the world premiere of
Sonia Flew (Huntington Theatre Company);
Shipwrecked! An Entertainment (Long Wharf Theatre). Associate and Production credits:
Ghost; One Man, Two Guvnors; Rock of Ages; That Championship Season; Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown; Everyday Rapture (Drama Desk Award nomination);
The 39 Steps (Tony Award);
South Pacific; Cymbeline; Happiness; The Apple Tree; Adding Machine; and the Metropolitan Opera's 125th Anniversary Gala.
Matthew Melchiorre
Stage Manager
Westport Country Playhouse:
Into the Woods; Twelfth Night, or What You Will (directed by Mark Lamos);
Suddenly Last Summer; Lips Together, Teeth Apart (directed by Mark Lamos);
Beyond Therapy; The Diary of Anne Frank; Happy Days (directed by Mark Lamos); She Loves Me (directed by Mark Lamos);
That Championship Season (directed by Mark Lamos);
Tick, Tick...Boom!; Around the World in 80 Days; A Holiday Garland; The Pavilion. Broadway:
The Light in the Piazza, Coram Boy, Hamlet, Curtains, Monty Python’s Spamalot, Wicked, The Lion King, All Shook Up, The Frogs. Off-Broadway:
Black Tie (directed by Mark Lamos),
Happy Now?, Shipwrecked! An Entertainment…, Buffalo Gal (directed by Mark Lamos),
White Chocolate, Open Heart, The Architecture of Loss. Other New York:
Show Boat In Concert (Carnegie Hall). Regional:
Honk! (Two River Theater Company),
Into the Woods (CENTERSTAGE).
Anne Keefe
Assistant Stage Manager
Westport Country Playhouse: Two seasons as resident stage manager (1977, 1978); artistic director with Joanne Woodward (2008); associate artistic director, also with Ms. Woodward (2000-2006); currently artistic advisor and
Script in Hand Series curator. Regional and Broadway stage manager for over 40 years. Winner of the Del Hughes Lifetime Achievement Award from the Stage Managers’ Association and a 2012 honoree by the Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame.
An Evening with Joan Didion
Presented by the College of Arts and Sciences of Fairfield University, the MFA in Creative Writing at Fairfield University and Fairfield Public Library
Thursday, June 7
Barone Campus Center, Fairfield University
Oak Room - 7:00pm
$10 admission
To reserve your seats, please phone Laura Keller at 203.254.4110
Literary Salon: Books Worth Talking About
Wednesday, June 13th
6:30pm salon ● 8pm performance
Join us for our inaugural Literary Salon featuring
Nina Sankovitch, author of
Tolstoy and the Purple Chair: My Year of Magical Reading and
Tessa Smith McGovern, short-story author and writing professor at Sarah Lawrence College, as they discuss memoir writing as a healing tool.
LGBT Night OUT
Thursday, June 14
6:30pm reception ● 8pm performance
Specifically for the lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender community and allies, mingle with those you know and/or meet someone new while sampling delicious appetizers from
Matsu Sushi and sipping complimentary adult beverages. Plus, we're celebrating our community as we welcome our friends from
The Unitarian Church in Westport,
St. Paul's on the Green and
The Pride Network.
Opening Night
Saturday, June 16
8pm performance and post-show reception
Join the cast, crew and staff for a festive celebration immediately following the performance featuring food provided by Cabot Cheese and wine from Castle Wine.
Sunday Symposium
Sunday, June 17
3pm performance and post-show discussion
Join acclaimed author, essayist, and playwright Joan Didion and Playhouse Associate Artistic Director and Sunday Symposium moderator David Kennedy for an enlightening discussion about Didion’s play
The Year of Magical Thinking.
Open Caption Performance
Sunday, June 24
3pm performance
Audiences with varying degrees of hearing loss will be able to enjoy the performance while watching an easy-to-read digital screen of the actors' dialogue. When purchasing tickets to the open caption performance, please be sure to choose orchestra level seats located on the left hand side of your computer screen to be sure to see the open caption screen.
Backstage Pass
Wednesday, June 27
Immediately following the 2pm performance
Join the Playhouse production staff as they share with you the finer points of what makes a play work on the stage. From moveable scenery to lighting effects, from trapdoors to design renderings, you never know what you’ll see.
InteraCT: Playhouse Young Professionals
Thursday, June 28
6:30pm reception ● 8pm performance
Meet and mingle with fellow young professionals while enjoying light appetizers and complimentary adult beverages. Make a new friend or business connection while enjoying a night of theater!
TalkBack
Thursday, June 28
Immediately following the 8pm performance
The actors take the stage again for an interactive, lively Q&A with the audience.
The Year of Magical Thinking, June 12 - 30, 2012
For all media inquiries please contact:
Patricia Blaufuss, Public Relations Manager 203-227-5137 x 197 or pblaufuss@westportplayhouse.org
Review Quotes - The Year of Magical Thinking
(Playing June 12 - 30, 2012 - Westport Country Playhouse)
Westport News
By Geary Danihy
“...subtly directed by Nicholas Martin...starring the absolutely mesmerizing Maureen Anderman as Didion...a wonderfully controlled performance...”
WestportPatch.com
By Karen Kovacs Dydzuhn
“...a beautiful production... another hit for Westport Country Playhouse...Do not miss it....a story of hope and moving forward...It's inspiring.”
Fairfield County Theater Examiner
By James Cooper
“...riveting theater from the first word to the last... Didion’s writing is so exceptional that I found myself hanging on very word. Anderman is simply excellent... extremely compelling...”
Elm City Newspapers
By Tom Holehan
“Staged fluidly... in Ms. Anderman’s hands, [the play] becomes something approaching revelation...a central, blazing performance of light and shadow, insight and compassion that is simply too good to miss.”
WestportNow.com
By Ina Chadwick
“... a magnificent life-transforming performance... riveting... a master of her craft at work. Holding you to her every motion, nuance, and tone.”
BroadwayWorld.com
By Sherry Shameer Cohen
“...empowering...a tour-de-force performance.”
The Hour
By David A. Rosenberg
“...an evening of mysticism and wonder...inches its way into the heart.”
The New York Times
By Anita Gates
“...moving...Westport has made a solid choice in hiring Maureen Anderman, who happened to be Ms. [Vanessa] Redgrave’s standby [on Broadway]... a lovely performance...smoothly directed...”
Newtown Bee
By Julie Stern
“...Anderman offers a powerful, riveting performance that left everyone in the theater deeply moved.”
Hartford Courant
By Frank Rizzo
“Anderman is extraordinary...brilliant...one of this country's finest actresses...a revelation.”
News / Articles
June 29, 2012
WPKN - State of the ARTS
Maureen Anderman on The Year of Magical Thinking
Hosts: Richard Pheneger, Peggy Nelson
June 20, 2012
The Hour
Author Joan Didion Discusses the Writing Process
by Leslie Lake
June 19, 2012
Examiner.com
Joan Didion Speaks at Westport Country Playhouse
by James Cooper
June 17, 2012
WestportNow.com
Sunday Symposium with Playwright Joan Didion
Photos by Dave Matlow
June 16, 2012
WestportNow.com
Opening Night - The Year of Magical Thinking
Photos by Dave Matlow
June 13, 2012
Hearst News Media
The Year of Magical Thinking - Literary Salon
Photos Submitted by Leslie Datsis
June 13, 2012
WestportNow.com
Playhouse Debuts Literary Salon Series
Photo by Phyllis Groner
June 12, 2012
WestportNow.com
Playhouse Previews Didion Play
Photo by Dave Matlow
June 12, 2012
Playbill.com
Tony Nominee Maureen Anderman Inhabits The Year of Magical Thinking at Westport, Beginning June 12
by Adam Hetrick
June 10, 2012
The Hour
Playhouse Symposium with Author Joan Didion
by Leslie Lake
June 7, 2012
Westport News
Author Didion talks about loss, catharsis and looking within
by Gloria Cole Sugarman
June 6, 2012
Westport News
Guest Opinion: When art's beauty brings a tear
by Mark Lamos
June 6, 2012
Hearst News Media
'Books Worth Talking About!' Literary Salon Begins at Westport Country Playhouse
by Joe Meyers
June 5, 2012
Hartford Courant
Award-winning Writer Joan Didion Coming to Connecticut
by Maryellen Fillo
June 4, 2012
Playbill.com
Joan Didion Will Offer Magical Thinking Talkback at Westport
by Adam Hetrick
June 5, 2012
Hartford Courant
Award-winning Writer Joan Didion Coming to Connecticut
by Maryellen Fillo
June 4, 2012
BroadwayWorld.com
BWW Interviews: Maureen Anderman Talks The Year of Magical Thinking and Getting into a New Habit
by Sherry Shameer Cohen
May 16, 2012
Theatermania.com
Maureen Anderman to Star in The Year of Magical Thinking at Westport Country Playhouse
by Bethany Rickwald
