Hump Day Inspiration song

When you're working on a play it's pretty common to run into some music that hits you because it feels so relevant to the story that you're telling. In the case of Wild Boy, one of the songs that hit the team was Galileo by the Indigo Girls. And really, anytime I get to crank up some old Indigo Girls it's a good day, so here's a little music for YOUR hump day enjoyment:

The lyrics

Wild Boy: Meet the Design Team

Ken Sonkin (Director & Sound Designer) returns to Dragon Theater after directing the 2014 production of Take Me Out. He is an actor/director who has worked at American Conservatory Theater, Berkeley Rep, SF Playhouse, Magic Theater, Center REP, Marin Shakespeare Company, Sonoma Rep, Broadway by the Bay, San Jose Stage Company, California Conservatory Theatre, Pacific Resident Theater (LA), Grove Shakespeare Festival (LA), Seacoast Rep (NH), Denver Center, and Pennsylvania Centre Stage. He holds an MFA from A.C.T., is a company member of PlayGround, and a member of Actors’ Equity Association. Directing credits: Angels in America, Metamorphoses, Sleuth, The Three Musketeers, Twelfth Night, Tartuffe, Humble Boy, Summerland (world premiere), The Trestle at Pope Lick Creek, Incorruptible, Welcome Home, Jenny Sutter, The Subject Was Roses, Almost, Maine, Golf With Alan Shepard, A Southern Christmas (world premiere), Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Little Shop of Horrors, The Last Five Years, The Full Monty, West Side Story, and The Producers. Under Bill Ball and Allen Fletcher, Ken was a member of A.C.T.’s acting company and core conservatory faculty. He has taught and directed for The National Theatre Conservatory, Stanford University, Northwestern University, Solano College, Sonoma State University, Cornell College, and The San Francisco Ballet School. He was the founding director for the professional actor-training program at American Musical Theater of San Jose, and served as artistic director for The Regency Center in San Francisco. Ken teaches Acting, Personal Clown Technique, and Careers in Theater at the University of San Francisco.

Jesse Ploog (Stage Manager) graduated from the University for Arizona in May 2015 with a degree in Scenic Design and immediately moved to the Bay Area following graduation. After moving, Jesse began working at various South Bay theatres as a Scenic Artist and Stage Manager. She was extremely lucky to be quickly taken in by the Dragon Staff, who made it so she was not only been able to work on multiple shows as a Designer and Stage Manager, but also so she was able to become the Associate Production Manager. Through Dragon, she has been able to continue to fulfill her passion of learning as many different aspects of theatre with an amazing staff and continuously fabulous production teams!

Stina Pinsky (Assistant Stage Manager) is a student in Washington DC studying Women's Studies and Theater and she is incredibly thrilled to be doing theater back home in the Bay Area! This is her first time working with Dragon and is incredibly grateful for this opportunity. Previous credits include Vanya, Sonia, Masha, and Spike (Dresser, Palo Alto Players), As You Like It (Stage Manager, American University), and King Lear (Assistant Stage Manager, American University).

Joshua McDermott (Scenic & Lighting Designer) was graduated from the University of Hawai'i with an M.A. in Asian Theater and Brown University with an M.S. in Physics.  He is currently employed at the University of San Francisco as the Technical Director for the Performing Arts Department, where he coordinates the Tech and Design Certificate program and teaches scenic design and stage-craft.

Dan Garrett (Master Electrician) is excited to join the cast and crew in bringing you Wild Boy!  This is his second show with Dragon Productions, bringing his twelve years of technical theater experience to Redwood City. A native of the Santa Cruz area, he has supported over eighty productions with twenty different companies in a dozen venues with all aspects of technical work from light to flight. Recent credits include Master Carpenter for Santa Cruz Shakespeare, Lighting Designer for Dragon Production’s When The Rain Stopped Falling and Lead Flight Operator for Cabrillo Stage’s Mary Poppins. Connect via linkedin.com/in/dangarrett 

Brooke Jennings (Costume Designer) is ecstatic to return to Dragon with this stunning production of Wild Boy. A graduate of UC Santa Cruz's Theater Arts Masters Program, Brooke is an award winning Costume Designer working in the Bay Area and New York, including San Francisco Playhouse (Colossal, The Nether, Stage Kiss), Berkeley Playhouse (Peter Pan The Musical), We Players (HeroMonster, Ondine), Magic Theater (asst. designer: A Lie of the Mind, Bad Jews), Virago Theatre (The Singularity (New York Premier, 2015), Crooked, Ransom, TX), Custom Made Theater Company (Six Degrees of Separation, Middletown, In Love and Warcraft, Grey Gardens The Musical, The Crucible), and Santa Cruz Shakespeare (asst. designer, Frog and Toad). Brooke is the 2015 Recipient for Best Costume Design by Theatre Bay Area for her work on We Players’ Ondine at Sutro, directed by Ava Roy and Carly Cioffi.

Assistant Costume Designer – Kitty Torres

Properties Designer – Emily James

Dresser – Daniela Talavera Rangel

Dresser – Brandon Ah Tye

Dialect Coach – Kimberly Mohne Hill

Natalie Greene (Movement Consultant) is a performer, teacher, choreographer and director working in dance, theater and community engagement. This is her first show with Dragon Productions. Natalie was the movement consultant on the premiere of Wild Boy at the University of San Francisco, where she has been Adjunct Faculty since 2006. She is thrilled to revisit this powerful piece with Ken, Josh and this remarkably talented cast. As a performer and collaborator, Natalie has created several new productions with the innovative devised theater ensemble, Mugwumpin. Currently, as Mugwumpin's Interim Artistic Director, she is in residence at Pro Arts in Oakland and developing a new production slated to premiere in 2017. For current events and more information, please visit www.mugwumpin.org.

Wild Boy: Meet the Cast

Ryan O’Donnell as Paul Collins

Ryan O'Donnell most recently appeared in The Foreigner at CCCT, also directed by the fabulous Ken Sonkin. Other favorite shows include: Take Me Out (Dragon); Buried Child (Boxcar Theatre); God's Ear, Ubu for President, Owners (Shotgun Players); Three Sisters (Porchlight Theatre); Devil On All Sides (PS 122 in NYC with foolsFury), Big Love, Twelfth Night (foolsFury); Rabbit Hole, and Importance of Being Earnest (Town Hall Theatre). He also teaches English and Drama at University High in SF, and holds an MFA in Acting from The Theatre School at DePaul. He sends big love to his family, and to the hilariously fun and dedicated team of theatre-makers in this show.

Olivia Haas as Jennifer Collins

After graduating from Stanford in 2011, Olivia Haas moved to NYC where she enjoyed stints at The Public Theater and Manhattan Theatre Club. After realizing that it’s hard to live in New York with no money, she moved to LA where she enjoyed a longer stint working in film and television. After realizing that she wasn’t actually enjoying that stint, she chose to ditch the entertainment industry and return to the Bay Area where she is thoroughly enjoying her newfound peace of mind. A writer/director at heart, Olivia has had her plays produced both locally and Off(Off)-Broadway, and she has trained as an improviser at The Groundlings in Los Angeles. This is her second Dragon production -- she was last seen in this year's season opener U.S. Drag. A big thank you to Ken for this opportunity, and for his support throughout the journey.

Johnathan Tierney as Morgan/Peter

John Tierney is filled with delight to be a part of Dragon Productions’ Wild Boy. He recently was Hunter in Bandcandy Theater Company’s [title of show], Wildboy in University of San Francisco’s Wild Boy, and King Ferdinand in University of San Francisco College Player’s Love’s Labour’s Lost. Over the past three years, he has made ten short films for his personal enjoyment. In his free time, he creates digital art on Instagram under the alias KingPaleWave. He would like to thank the cast and crew for making this a wonderful show, and he is very grateful for his family and friends with their relentless support. 

John Stephen King as King George I (et al)

John Stephen King is excited to perform for the first time with Dragon Productions. He was most recently seen in a production of Catch-22 with the Los Altos Stage Company and before that with Artists Rep SF in San Francisco in a production of Peer Gynt. He recently relocated to the Bay Area from Atlanta where he performed with various theatre companies from 2007-2014. Before that, he spent 2002-2006 living and performing in Chicago. Companies he has worked with include; Give Us Brains Sketch Comedy, The Fern Theatre, The Shakespeare Tavern, Button Theatre, Onion Man Productions, Coup de Theatre, Corn Productions, and WNEP.

Bryan Moriarty as Chad (et al)

Bryan was last seen as Yossarian in Los Altos Stage Company’s production of Catch-22. His other recent credits include Jewel Theatre Company’s production ofGuys & Dolls as Angie the Ox, Courfeyrac in Les Misérables (South Bay Musical Theatre), the Earl of Kent in Mary Stuart (Jewel Theatre Company), and if you watch Giants games, as the Backyard Coach Dad in the San Francisco Giants’ 2016 TV ad campaign. In addition to his stage and screen acting work, Bryan is also a podcaster. He co-hosts two series: Nerds on Film and Nerds on History  through his Podcast channel, nerdonomy.com, which are available to download on iTunes.

 

Isabel Siragusa as Queen Caroline (et al)

Isabel is ecstatic to be making her Dragon Productions debut! Isabel graduated from Yale University with a degree in Theater Studies, and has studied at Shakespeare & Company in the Berkshires, the Moscow Art Theater in Russia, and the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco. She got her professional start at B Street Theatre in Sacramento performing for thousands of school kids all over Northern California. Favorite theatrical experiences include performing with Clowns Without Borders in South Africa and doing stand up around the bay. Watch out for Isabel in the upcoming horror film, Capps Crossing. 

Mary Lou Torre as Dr. Rapp (et al)

Mary Lou Torre (Dr. Rapp, Alice, Paul’s Mom) is very grateful to be back at Dragon Productions to work with this wonderful group of artists in this amazing play. (Thank you, Ken! Thank you, Meredith!) Previous favorite roles at Dragon include Becky in Becky’s New Car, Bessie in Marvin’s Room, and Froggy in The Country Club. She has also worked with City Lights Theater Company, Arabian Shakespeare Festival, The Pear, Bus Barn (now Los Altos Stage Company), theatreQ, and Chanticleers. She sends heartfelt thanks to all of you for joining us for Wild Boy.

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Wild Boy: Meet the Authors

Oliver Goldstick

Oliver Goldstick is an award-winning playwright, television screenwriter, and producer.

Originally from Detroit, Goldstick received a degree from the University of Michigan, followed by graduate work at Columbia University where his plays were produced off-Broadway including Dinah Was (2000). In 2009 his play Wild Boy (adapted from Not Even Wrong by Paul Collins), had its premiere in Los Angeles at the Pacific Resident Theatre. His plays have earned him Dramalogue and Hopwood awards as well as nominations from the NAACP Theatre and L. A. Ovation Awards.   

Most notably, Goldstick is credited as executive producer and writer for a number of television series including Desperate Housewives, Lipstick Jungle, Ugly Betty, Everwood, State of Mind, Partners, Coach, and Caroline in the City. He is the executive producer and writer for the Emmy award-winning ABC series Pretty Little Liars.

In association with BBC Worldwide, he is currently filming The Collection, Amazon’s first original UK drama series which are 8 hour-long episodes. The show tells the story of an illustrious Paris fashion house (think: Dior) just after World War II.

Paul Collins

Paul Collins is a writer specializing in history, memoir, and unusual antiquarian literature. His seven books have been translated into eleven languages, and include Not Even Wrong: A Father's Journey Into the Lost History of Autism (2004), and The Murder of the Century: The Gilded Age Crime That Scandalized a City & Sparked the Tabloid Wars (2011). He is a 2009 recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship in Nonfiction. His recent freelance work includes pieces for the New York Times, Slate, and New Scientist.

In addition to appearing regularly on NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday as its resident “literary detective” on odd and forgotten old books, he is also the founding editor of the Collins Library imprint of McSweeney's Books, where he has revived such disparate works as a World War I internment camp memoir and an absurdist 1934 detective tale.

Collins lives in Portland, Oregon, where he teaches creative nonfiction as an associate professor in the MFA program at Portland State University. He is currently the chair of the English Department.

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