“Good Luck, God Bless” to the following:
Gina Thompson
David Monk
Les and Karen Tibbetts
Benjamin Fehl
The cast and their families
Michael Sgouros & the Players Theatre staff
David Hughes & the Dramatists’ Guild
Bob Ost & TRU
Will Snyder & Waterstreet Designs
A New Musical Comedy
Libretto by Music and Lyrics by
Pam Monk Stacy Glen Tibbetts
Monday, July 27, 2009
7 PM
Staged Reading
Dramatists’ Guild Loewe Room, Times Square
CAST (in order of appearance)
Donna Corleone …………………………………………………………Victoria Bundonis *
Gina Marie Brownlee …………………………………………………Lia Menaker
Sam Pinsky ………………………………………………………………..Jeffrey Nunez
Mariposa Rodriguez …………………………………………………..Lia Menaker
Patrice Telemann ………………………………………………………Michael Armstrong Barr *
Rickie Muscarella ………………………………………………………Bianca Sutlovich
Rutherford Brownlee ………………………………………………..Gregg Lauterbach *
Jim Bonney ……………………………………………………………….Brian Marchetti *
Sarah Foley ……………………………………………………………….Amanda Serra *
* Appearing courtesy of Actors Equity Association
Music Director/Pianist ……………………………………………Markus Hauck
Technical Director ………………………………………………….Gina Thompson
Suggestions about Dialing for Donna can be sent to or . Info: drop a note to .
Setting: Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, home of radio station WMFU (Whatsa Matta For You?)
The action takes place over the span of about five months, during the summer of 2008.
ACT I
Scene 1. Exterior of WMFU, a Tuesday morning in May
“Brooklyn Bound”
Scene 2. WMFU DJ booth, immediately following
“Good Luck, God Bless”
Scene 3. Gina Marie Brownlee’s bedroom, immediately following
“Almost Seventeen”
“Gina Maria”
Scene 4. WMFU control room, that evening
“Brooklyn Bound” reprise
“On The Air”
Scene 5. WMFU DJ booth, the next morning
“Waste of Time”
Scene 6. WMFU DJ booth, Thursday
“I’ll Be There At Eight”
Scene 7. Bella Sicilia restaurant, Thursday evening
Scene 8. WMFU control room, Friday morning
Scene 9. WMFU DJ booth/Brownlee residence, later that afternoon
Scene 10. Bella Sicilia restaurant, Saturday night
“Donna”
A 10-minute intermission will follow ACT I.
ACT II
Scene 1. WMFU DJ booth, the following Monday
Scene 2. Bella Sicilia, Tuesday evening
“A Little Cup of Tea”
Scene 3. WMFU DJ booth/Brownlee residence, a Thursday in late June
Scene 4. WMFU DJ booth/control room, Saturday morning, one week later
Scene 5. Bella Sicilia, one week later
Scene 6. WMFU DJ booth/Brownlee residence, late July
Scene 7. Bella Sicilia, late August
“It’s Easier Said Than Done”
Scene 8. WMFU control room, that same week
Scene 9. WMFU control room/DJ booth, the next evening
“On The Air”
Scene 10. Bella Sicilia, the next day
Scene 11. WMFU DJ booth/Brownlee residence, a Monday in early September
“Dialing for Donna”
BIOS
VICTORIA BUNDONIS (Donna Corleone) NYC Theatre: La Vigilia and December (Manhattan Theatre Source), The Memory of Water (Cherry Lane), The Flood (Prospect Theater), Albee’s Everything in the Garden (John Houseman Theatre) and Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up? (Producer’s Club). National tours: Grease with Frankie Avalon and Susan Stroman’s revival of The Music Man. Regional Theatre: Beauty and the Beast (Mrs. Potts), Damn Yankees (Meg), 42nd Street (Dorothy Brock), and Footloose (Vi). TV & Film: Nurse Jackie, All My Children, The Hacking Chronicles, Under Jakob’s Ladder, The Tale of White Boy Brown and numerous independent short films and readings of new works.
LIA MENAKER (Gina Maria Brownlee, Mariposa Rodriguez)Favorite roles include Marta (Company), Urinetown (Ensemble), and Lisa, the Homeless Woman (New Brain). Lia is a singer/songwriter, working on her first CD (unsigned). More info at .She has a BFA in Musical Theatre from Penn State.
JEFFREY NUNEZ (Sam Pinsky) just graduated from Penn State with a B.F.A. in musical theatre. Originally from Long Island, Jeffrey was recently seen in the Pennsylvania Center Stage production of The Apple Tree (Ensemble), as a featured performer in the Broadway on Allen Concert Series, and URTC productions of The Wiz (Familiar), Die Fledermaus (Ensemble), As You Like It (Adam), Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (Alexander), and Parade (Ensemble). Jeffrey would like to thank his family and friends for all their support and inspiration.
MICHAEL ARMSTRONG BARR (Patrice Telemann) is ecstatic to join the cast and creative team of Dialing for Donna. Some favorite musical credits: The Philadelphia Premiere of Parade (Frankie Epps, "Best Supporting Actor" nomination by the Philadelphia Weekly), The Philly Premiere of Urinetown (Hot Blades/Old Man Strong), Lucky Stiff (Harry Witherspoon) The Last Five Years (Jamie), Paul Revere (Samuel Adams) and You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown (Linus). Training: Villanova University (BA in English/Theatre), AMDA. He is a proud member of AEA, a writer, and has been involved in numerous plays, readings, and workshops in NYC and regionally. Love and thanks to friends, family, Lindsay, and of course, God.
BIANCA SUTLOVICH (Rickie Muscarella) Referred to as "lightning in a bottle," Bianca has over 15 years of stage experience, with favorite characters including Anna Antonelli (The Rink), Olive Madison (The Female Odd Couple), and Lillian LeFleur (Nine). Always praised for her stage presence and belting ability, she's been reviewed as a "solid actress in the Ethel Merman tradition." She recently received rave reviews for her work (with Markus Hauck) as Dolores Montoya in The Wild Party. Bianca recently became a member of AFTRA and has been cast in two independent films (in production). She dedicates this performance to husband Michael and fellow party favor act Nelson, and to Markus and Stacy for the opportunity. This year Bianca has decided to focus on her acting full-time, and the only thing she misses from the 9-to-5 rat-race is the cheese...another major addiction of hers.
GREGG LAUTERBACH (Rutherford Brownlee) is happy to be reunited with Victoria Bundonis, who played his wife in the national tour of The Music Man. Mr. Lauterbach has also appeared in several new musicals, notably as: Puccini (Don’t Cry, Butterfly in the Midtown International Theatre Festival); George in Michael Holland’s Hurricane; and Cardinal Richelieu (Three Musketeers, Wings Theatre) and D.L. Van Holden (You Never Can Tell!!) both by Paul Johnson. Shakespeare: Shylock, Oberon, Edward IV, Duke Frederick, Cardinal Winchester Henry VI, pt.1. Other New York: Danilo, Merry Widow; Lord Mountararat, Iolanthe; Jupiter/Amphitryon, Olympus on My Mind; Paul Fontaine, Desert Song; and Gen. Overton, Gathering of Eagles (NY Fringe Fest). Regional: Emil DeBecque, South Pacific; Dr. Chumley Harvey, The Matchmaker, Horace Vandergelder, Voltaire/Pangloss/Governor, Candide. Movies: A Beautiful Mind, Kinsey, Across the Universe, upcoming Laid Off.
BRIAN MARCHETTI (Jim Bonney) was most recently seen in the national tour of Dr. Dolittle. Favorite past productions include West Side Story, Kiss Me, Kate, Fame and Sweeney Todd. Thanks to Stacy, Pam and Markus for this opportunity. Also, a million thanks to my amazingly supportive family and friends! I love you guys! Training: NYU/CAP21..
AMANDA SERRA (Sarah Foley) is thrilled to be a part of Dialing for Donna. Regional credits include: A Musical Christmas Carol (Ghost of Christmas Past), The Music Man (Maude Dunlop), Hello, Dolly (Mrs. Rose), Me and My Girl (Lady Battersby), and Sound of Music (ensemble) at Pittsburgh CLO; Oliver! (Widow Corney) and Evita (Ensemble) at West Virginia Public Theatre; Pajama Game (Mabel), Two by Two (Esther), and Bells Are Ringing (Sue) at the Theatre Factory.
MARKUS HAUCK (Music Director, piano) recently returned from the second national tour of Irving Berlin's I Love A Piano. Originally trained as a classical pianist in Germany, he studied jazz on a scholarship at Berklee College of Music and earned a Master's Degree at the Boston Conservatory. He has also lived in France and Spain, figured out the meaning of life, played keyboards in a rock group while dressed in a neon pink jumpsuit, co-founded an opera company, and published two CDs featuring his own compositions for solo piano. .
STACY GLEN TIBBETTS (Composer/Lyricist, guitar)is a professional show guitarist, songwriter, and author. Recent performance credits include productions of Little Shop of Horrors, Bye Bye Birdie, Dreamgirls, and Hello, Dolly. Stacy has written hundreds of songs, and the original score for his 2004 book musical Bella Sicilia: The Gourmet Musical (Pam Monk, libretto) was called “melodious” and “nice work” by NYC professional theatre critic Peter Filichia. Bella Sicilia was a finalist in the 2006 TRU New Voices Reading Series competition, and was in the “final four” for production by 4th Wall Musical Theatre in Bloomfield, NJ in 2007. From 2001 to 2003 Stacy was an active member of NOMTI, the New Opera and Music Theatre Initiative writing workshop at Berklee College of Music in Boston. He has studied classical and jazz composition at the college level, as well as music theatre writing and producing. Stacy has also performed widely as a solo singer-songwriter, and songs from his two original CDs, Alleyways and Back Alleys, have aired on Pennsylvania and New England radio stations. Stacy teaches at Penn State and is a member of the Dramatists’ Guild, TRU, ASCAP, and the AFM. Many thanks to teachers and family. .
PAMELA BONGIORNO MONK (Librettist) is a Pennsylvania Council on the Arts (PCA) playwright whose work has been staged by companies including Manhattan Theatre Source, the Boal Barn Playhouse, and Ithaca, NY’s Hangar Theatre. Her newest play, Terranova, will be produced in the NYCFringe Festival in Manhattan in August, 2009. In October of 2008, her ten-minute play Buy and Buy was produced in Week 3 of Manhattan Theatre Source’s 2008 Estrogenius Festival. Since 2000, Pam has been the head writer for the annual Forbidden Valley cabaret revue of events in and around State College, PA. She teaches writing at Penn State and conducts playwriting residencies in area public schools. For more Rules of Family, see the Madrone’s column at .