The American Century Theater presents

About The American Century TheaterThe American Century Theater was founded in 1994. We are a professional nonprofit theater company dedicated to presenting great, important, and worthy American plays of the twentieth century—what Henry Luce called “the American Century.”

The company’s mission is one of rediscovery, enlightenment, and perspective, not nostalgia or preservation. Americans must not lose the extraordinary vision and wisdom of past playwrights, nor can we afford to surrender the moorings to our shared cultural heritage.

Our mission is also driven by a conviction that communities need theater, and theater needs audiences. To those ends, this company is committed to producing plays that challenge and move all Americans, of all ages, origins, and points of view. In particular, we strive to create theatrical experiences that entire families can watch, enjoy, and discuss long afterward.

This program is supported in part by Arlington County throughthe Arlington Commission for the Arts and Arlington Cultural Affairs, a division

of Arlington Economic Development; the Virginia Commission for the Arts;the National Endowment for the Arts; and many generous donors.

Louis GeorgeWes MacAdam Wendy KenneyGabe Goldberg, Madi Green, Vivian Kallen, Jack Marshall, Kevin McIntyre

Chair Vice-Chair Treasurer Board

Staff Jack Marshall Artistic Director

Board of Directors

Rip ClaassenBrian CraneEllen DempseyKate Dorrell

Tom FullerRhonda HillBill GordonSteven Scott MazzolaLindsey E. Moore

Emily Morrison Ed MoserJoli Provost Ginny Tarris

An Evening with Danny Kaye is supported in part by a grant fromThe McElwaine-Stroock Fund of the Jewish Communal Fund,

made in memory of Robert M. McElwaine.

The American Century Theater presents

July 18-August 16, 2014

Gunston Theatre Two2700 South Lang Street, Arlington

Please—Silence and stow all electronic devices.The video and/or audio recording of this performance by any

means whatsoever is strictly prohibited.

This production of An Evening with Danny Kaye appears as part of TACT’s Robert M. McElwaine “Reflections” Series.

There will be one fifteen-minute intermission.

Stage Manager Lindsey E. Moore

Production ManagerEd Moser

Lighting DesignMarc Allan Wright

Musical DirectorJeffrey Biering

DirectorStephen Nachamie

An Evening with

On stageDanny Kaye . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Brian ChildersMusical Director. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jeffrey Biering

Special thanks to—Anya and Marcel Drimer Ernie Fimbres Lou GeorgeMelinda PatricianEdith Marshall

Andrew McElwaine Silver Spring StageQuotidian Theatre CompanyGail Winston and Gary Donaldson

Become a fan of The American Century Theater on Facebook. Keep up with shows, auditions, volunteer opportunities, podcasts, videos, and more. www.AmericanCentury.org

Download the podcast. Listen in as Artistic Director Jack Marshall discusses An Evening with Danny Kaye with Brian Childers (Danny Kaye), Director Stephen Nachamie, and Musical Director Jeffrey Biering.

Production staffDirector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Stephen NachamieProduction Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ed MoserStage Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lindsey E. MooreLighting Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Marc Allan WrightProjections Technician . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Shayne WeykerMaster Carpenter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Michael SalmiAssistant Stage Manager/Sound Technician . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chris Beatley Master Electrician . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Juan Ramirez-CortesFollow Spot Operator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Colin MartinProperties Master . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lindsey E. MooreWardrobe Assistant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Catherine CasinoWig Stylist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Paul Alan HoganPublicist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Emily MorrisonProduction Photography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Johannes MarkusProgram Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Michael ShermanHouse Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Joli ProvostPoster and Cover Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ernie Fimbres

The director is a member of the STAGE DIRECTORS AND CHOREOGRAPHERS SOCIETY, a national theatrical labor union

It was the Fall of 2000, and a musical I had directed for The American Century Theater, Hollywood Pinafore, was playing at Gunston’s Theatre Two. At the same time, my friend, the late Robert McElwaine, a publicist for many Hollywood stars during the Fifties and Sixties, was trying to interest me in directing a two-actor musical he had written (with music supplied by legendary Hollywood bassist Bob Bain) about his long-time client, Danny Kaye, and Kaye’s relationship with his wife, lyricist, and mentor, Sylvia Fine. It was called Danny and Sylvia.

Danny Kaye was the first and only entertainer whom I actively idolized, and Bob’s show seemed like a perfect opportunity to pay Danny back for all the joy he brought to the world with his unique—indeed, inimitable—talents. But who could possibly play Danny Kaye? It may have been my discussions with Bob that sparked it, but one night, as I watched Brian Childers (starring as a hapless Hollywood screenwriter) do a comic scene in Hollywood Pinafore, something about his body language and timing suddenly reminded me of Danny. I had never thought of Brian as being anything like Danny Kaye before, but this one second convinced me: if anyone could play “The Kid from Brooklyn,” Brian could. After the performance, I told Brian about the McElwaine script and asked if he would be interested in doing it. “Are you kidding?” he said. “I love Danny Kaye!” (Months later, Brian confessed to me that he barely knew who Danny Kaye was.)

The TACT board agreed to let me direct a workshop production of Danny and Sylvia, and Bob, who was on the board of The Writer’s Center in Bethesda, rented that organization’s theater for a limited two-week run in the Spring of 2001. During rehearsals, I worked with Brian on Danny’s signature postures and moves—his expressive hands, his dancer’s stance, his loose-limbed clowning. They had been imprinted in my brain from watching every Kaye movie, never missing an episode of his CBS variety show, and seeing him live on stage. Every night, Brian went home and watched videotapes of Danny, over and over. He was especially anxious about doing Kaye’s patter songs justice: Danny Kaye was probably the greatest patterer who ever lived.

“I can’t do that!” Brian protested the first time I had played a series of Kaye songs for him. “Nobody can do that,” I told him. “But if you can do eighty percent of that, it will still be better than anyone else alive.” Brian worked and worked. Bob McElwaine was pessimistic. “I don’t see Danny,” he once told me. For my part, I doubted that the show would find an audience. Kaye’s movies, other than White Christmas, are seldom seen on television, and I was afraid that there was no longer an audience for the real Danny Kaye, much less a nervous imposter.

Well, we were all wrong. The Bethesda run sold out, and every performance ended with cheers and standing ovations. On closing night, Bob grabbed me by the arm and said with wonder in his voice, “I saw Danny on that stage! He was there!” TACT opened its 2001–2002 season with a new production in Arlington, and despite opening on September 12, just a day after the tragedy of 9/11, Danny and Sylvia got rave reviews and full houses. Brian’s channeling of Danny Kaye went from solid to remarkable to eerie, and even though the Helen Hayes Awards seldom recognize performances from small theater companies (especially ours), nobody was surprised when Brian Childers won the 2002 Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Performance in a Musical.

Brian Childers has gone on to successful and still expanding performing career, but he didn’t abandon Danny Kaye. He performed Danny and Sylvia off Broadway, starred in another Kaye revue in Florida, and in a magnificent tribute to his reputation and the definitive Kaye portrayer, was chosen to play Danny at the Hollywood Bowl in a gala honoring the 100th year of Kaye’s beloved Brooklyn Dodgers. When I learned that Brian had launched a new one-man show reenacting the unforgettable concert performances that were widely acknowledged to show the great entertainer’s talents at his best, I asked if he would bring it to Gunston Theatre Two. Brian immediately agreed.

So here we are, in 2014. There is magic in the air, for much is honored by this performance: The American Century Theater, which in this instance achieved its mission with perfection, bringing back to public consciousness a major figure in 20th century American entertainment, and allowing his memory, legacy, and style to make audiences laugh again; Robert McElwaine, Danny’s loyal friend and advisor, who made it his quest to ensure that the culture didn’t forget the man whom he regarded as the greatest pure talent he ever experienced in a lifetime surrounded by Hollywood immortals; Brian Childers, who epitomized the courage, sweat, and inspiration of the acting profession by transforming himself from someone who didn’t know who Danny Kaye was into a performer who could conjure up the essence of Kaye’s talent and charm to delight a new generation of audiences; and most of all, Danny Kaye himself.

It’s good to have you back, Danny.

—Jack Marshall, Artistic DirectorThe American Century Theater

Brian Childers (Danny Kaye) has captured hearts across the nation in concert, musical comedy, and most notably with his critically acclaimed portrayal of Danny Kaye. He received the 2002 Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Leading Actor in a Musical and the Mary Goldwater Award for his performance as Danny Kaye in Danny and Sylvia: A Musical Love Story. Off BrOadway: Danny and Sylvia, The Danny Kaye Musical (Danny Kaye). NatiONal tOur: The Kid from Brooklyn (Danny Kaye— Original). The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Tom Sawyer). New yOrk: Jake Kelly in Sophia (Write Act Repertory); Paolo in Obama in Naples (June Havoc Theatre); Marvin Shellhammer in Miracle on 34th Street: The Musical (Theatrical Gems); Prisoner 105 in Promenade (Legacy); The Musicals of Off-Broadway; Joseph Surface in Scandalous Behavior (York Theatre); Gabey in On the Town (St. George Theatre); Joey in Meester Amerika. regiONal: Ensemble in 90 North (Kennedy Center); The Titans (Kennedy Center), Harry Witherspoon in Lucky Stiff (Forum Theatre); The Prince in Becoming George (Metrostage); Emory in The Boys in the Band, Ralph Rackstraw in Hollywood Pinafore, Jamie Lockhart in The Robber Bridegroom, and Austin Lowe in The Second Man (The American Century Theater); Man of La Mancha (Olney Theatre); Crack between the Worlds (Studio Theatre). SOlOiSt: Hollywood Bowl: A Ball at The Bowl with the L.A. Philharmonic; Dodger Stadium (Special Guest Entertainer), A Tribute to Danny Kaye (Lincoln Center), Not a Day Goes By (Kennedy Center). In 2015 Brian will be starring as the title role in The Jazz Singer Off Broadway. This performance is dedicated to the memory of John Franklin Wagner. Brian is a proud member of Actor’s Equity. www.brianchilders.net

Jeffrey Biering (Musical Director) Off BrOadway: Danny and Sylvia, Naked Boys Singing, Splendora, The Talk of the Town. NatiONal tOur: Sweet Charity. Elsewhere, as musical director, arranger, orchestrator, composer, and performer: Spamalot, Pump Boys & Dinettes, and The Drowsy Chaperone for the Arts Center of Coastal Carolina; many projects for TheatreWorks USA, including orchestrations for one of their newest works, The Teacher from the Black Lagoon; lots of casino productions in Atlantic City, Reno, and some other unlikely places; three European tours of A Christmas Carol; many projects for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, including a Christmas extravaganza in the Charmin Toilets in Times Square; solo concerts all over the country with Emily Skinner. Jeff recently composed opening and closing numbers for the annual Cougar Ball in NYC, a benefit for the Actors’ Fund of America.

On Stage

Stephen Nachamie (Director) New yOrk: Mr. Confidential (The New York Musical Theatre Festival), Foreverman (NYMF, New World Stages Award), Naughty/Nice (Producers Circle Co.), Luck! (with Faith Prince), Into the Woods, Torch Song Trilogy (with Seth Rudetsky), Faraway Bayou, She Loves Me, Driving Miss Daisy (with Larry Marshall), I Hate Hamlet, and It’s a Wonderful Life, as well as numerous industrials. regiONal: Stephen has directed and/or choreographed for Goodspeed’s New Works Festival, Olney Theatre Center, North Carolina Theatre, Penguin Rep, John W. Engeman Theatre, New Rep, Tri-Arts, Maine State Music Theatre, Gateway Playhouse, Seacoast Rep, among many others. His production of A Chorus Line at Olney was awarded the 2014 Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Resident Musical Production. He was named one of DCMetroTheatreScene’s favorite directors of 2013. He is currently developing several new works for the stage and is co-bookwriter for the new musicals Foreverman and Kaleidescope (a new Leiber and Stoller/Peggy Lee Musical). Member SDC stephennachamie.com

Ed Moser (Production Manager) is a regional audio-production veteran whose designs include Long Day’s Journey into Night, A Little Trick, Afterplay, and Master Harold and the Boys (Quotidian Theatre), Amelia (a Kennedy Center Page-to-Stage reading), and A Christmas Carol, Underneath the Lintel, and Tuesdays with Morrie for Paul Morella. Favorite musical credits include Señor Discretion Himself (Arena Stage), Urinetown (University of Maryland), David in Shadow and Light (Theater J), and Godspell (Olney Theater Center). His sound designs for The American Century Theater include Native Son, Treadwell: Bright and Dark, Visit to a Small Planet, The Country Girl, Little Murders, and Marathon ’33. Since becoming Production Manager for TACT, Ed has produced Come Blow Your Horn, Bang the Drum Slowly, Oh Dad, Poor Dad . . . , and Judgment at Nuremberg.

Lindsey E. Moore (Stage Manager) has been the Stage Manager at The American Century Theater for Judgment at Nuremberg, Bang the Drum Slowly, I Do I Do, Voodoo Macbeth, The Show-Off, Marathon ’33, and Stage Door. Also for American Century she has been the Assistant Stage Manager for Come Blow Your Horn and Oh Dad, Poor Dad… and the Properties Designer for Biography. She worked in stage management in Roanoke VA for shows including Antigone, An Evening of Comic Variations by David Ives, The Laramie Project, The Sandbox, The American Dream, and The Good Woman of Setzuan. Lindsey earned her BA in Theatre and Design from Roanoke College.

Marc Allan Wright (Lighting Design) has almost thirty years’ experience as a lighting designer, production manager, educator and arts administrator here in the Washington DC area. Marc is currently Director of Operations at the BlackRock Center for the Arts. Past designs for The American Century Theater include Judgment at Nuremberg, Two Masks, I Cry Aloud, Danny and Sylvia, The Andersonville Trial, Home of the Brave, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Benchley Despite Himself, The Robber Bridegroom, If Only in My Dreams, Mr. Roberts, A Flag is Born, Machinal, Drama Under the Influence, and Hellzapoppin’.

Production Staff

An Evening with Danny Kaye is the fourteenth production presented as part of the Robert M. McElwaine Reflections Series, an American Century Theater initiative designed to inspire and produce new and original stage works that complement the company’s repertoire of important American plays and musicals from the 20th century. RMM Reflections includes new revues, plays, and musicals which bring to life the remarkable personalities, events and movements of “the American Century” that make up our nation’s cultural and historical heritage. These stage works may be developed by TACT itself, or submitted for consideration to the company by playwrights, producers, directors, and actors.

The Reflections Series began in 1999 with a staged reading of Jason Sherman’s It’s All True, which dramatized the circumstances surrounding Orson Welles’s production of The Cradle Will Rock. This was the first American presentation of the play, which later had many full productions in New York and other cities.

Next was the original TACT one-man show, I Cry Aloud—The Clarence Darrow Story (currently performed as A Passion for Justice), created by TACT Artistic Director Jack Marshall, in collaboration with director Terry Kester and star Paul Morella, who continues to perform the show around the U.S. Robert Benchley’s grandson, actor Nat Benchley, premiered his one man salute to his grandfather’s career in the next year’s Reflections entry, Benchley Despite Himself. Reflections then presented TACT’s most popular and most produced show, the original musical Danny and Sylvia, by Bob McElwaine and Bob Bain, dramatizing the show business marriage of Danny Kaye and his wife, songwriter Sylvia Fine. It won a Helen Hayes Award for its star, Brian Childers, as well as a nomination for his co-star, Janine Gulisano.

Other Reflections entries include: Laughter at Ten O’Clock, which recreated memorable skits from TV’s The Carol Burnett Show; If Only in My Dreams, combining actual letters from WWII servicemen with music from the period to evoke the bittersweet Christmases at home during the war; and Drama Under the Influence, a collection of seven plays by female playwrights of the Prohibition and Depression eras, assembled and crafted by director Steven Mazzola to create a coherent dramatic experience.

The 2007–2008 Reflections project was a full production of Bob McElwaine’s dramatic recreation of the Cuban Missile crisis, The Titans, which had been presented as a staged reading at the Kennedy Center’s “From Page to Stage” event in 2003.

The 2008 Christmas season brought another Reflections production, An American Century Christmas, recreating highlights from TV Christmas specials through the years. Stunt Girl, a new musical about investigative reporter Nelly Bly, received a staged reading in 2009 as a combined “Rescues” and Reflections production. Its lyrics and book were by Tony nominee Peter Kellogg. In 2010,

About the Robert M. McElwaine Reflections Series

AARPRose Kobylinski and Rick AlbaniElizabeth and Tom AndersonDavid W. Briggs and John F. BentonSally Beth BergerElizabeth Borgen

Ron and Dorothy BrandtJennifer BrownCharlotte ClearyDan and Nan CooperSally H. CooperGloria Dugan

The Players ($100–$249)

Richard and Jean BartonRobert DuboisDr. Coralie FarleeTracy FisherEdwin L. FountainBarbara GallagherIrene Szopo and Alan HermanRhonda HillIBM International Foundation

Eileen KennaRaymond KogutAngus and Sharon MacInnesRichard and Dorothy MillerMaria Milnes-VasquezGary and Christine MooreRalph and Susan ShepardFrontis Wiggins

Living Theater Lovers ($250–$499)

Thank you to the many generous donors who provided support from July 1, 2013 –July 15, 2014.

Arlington Commission for the ArtsEstate of Rosemarie Bowie

Estate of Suzy PlattGroup Theater Goers ($5,000+)

AnonymousEllen Maland and Donald AdamsArlington Community Foundation

Wendy and Bob KenneyKevin and Jennifer McIntyreVirginia Commission for the Arts

Provincetown Players ($2,500–$4,999)

The Boeing CompanyNoreen Hynes and Seth CarusThe McElwaine-Stroock Fund of the Jewish Communal FundMary McGowan and Steven Cohen

Suzanne Thouvenelle and Dennis DeloriaWes MacAdamVictor ShargaiSheldon and Marilyn Wallerstein

Theater Guilders ($1,000–$2,499)

Ellen Dempsey and Louis GeorgeVivian and Arthur Kallen

Constance McAdamHarriet McGuire and The Troy Foundation

Mercury Theater Backers ($500–$999)

Allyson Currin’s one woman drama Treadwell—Bright and Dark, reintroduced audiences to a female trailblazer of the American stage, Sophie Treadwell.

The following season, another one-woman show, this time a musical, celebrated the life and legacy of “funny girl” Fanny Brice, in a lovingly rendered script by Chip Defaa. Then came the most ambitious Reflections production of all: a complete re-imagining (total audience immersion courtesy of Producer Rebecca Christy) of June Havoc’s re-creation of her harrowing experiences in the horrific dance marathons of the Depression years, 2012’s Marathon ’33.

From investigative journalism to epic trials to classic TV memories, the Robert M. McElwaine Reflections Series brings to life the events, images, and vivid personalities of the past that make this nation’s culture the rich and varied tapestry that it is today.

The Marilyn Johnson Sewing Design Studio LLCCatherine BanksSusan BarrettMichael and Lissa BarryPatricia BragdonSusan Sonnesyn BrookAdrienne CannonEdward CaressPeter CaressBoris and Earlene CherneyRonald CoganSusan M. CohenJoseph CrossKaren DarnerRobert DrabaWalter and Susan DukaWilliam ErdmannJohn FosterMartin L. GandersonAron GolbergLawrence GordonJon HatfieldArt HauptmanRachel HechtJonathan HelwigDaniel HodesNancy JarvisPhil KlingelhoferRobert KraftKathryn and Robert KrubsackDianne Levine

James LillyCarolyn LynchOzzi MaskPhebe MassonMilan and Evelyn MateyMarjorie MayerElizabeth McDanielMargaret MeathBruce MiltonRuth MitchellPamela NashKaren OstensoeEva PatakiCharles and Ruth PerryGerda PiccoAnn Marie PlubellJessica RawlsPatrick RileyFrancis RocheJerry StilkindJoyce SuydamMarjorie TownsendRenate WallenbergBarbara WashburnNancy WhiteClifford WhithamTammy WilesBob Skelly and Bonnie WilliamsJames WilsonRaymond WolfeCarol and Henry WolinskyDennis Wright

The Federal Theater Funders ($10–$99)

Donors-in-kind Peter Caress, Brian Crane, Dennis Deloria, Ellen Dempsey, Kate Dorrell, Tracy Fisher, Bill Gordon, Vivian Kallen, Wendy Kenney, Microsoft Corporation, Loren Platzman, and Bridget Serchak

Janet and Marty FaddenState Senator Barbara FavolaMarian FlynnCarl FrettsMargaret GaffenBob GronenbergBill Grossman Fund of the Isidore Grossman FoundationEdward and Shelley GrossmanJean HandsberryPat and Bruce HarrisonRoxanne Hoare, in memory of Sean R. HoareCarla HubnerRobert KimminsJo Ursini and Ken KrantzDavid LamdinDavid LitmanGudrun Luchsinger

Grace Bowen MarshallAlexandra McElwaineFranklin ReederGabriel Goldberg and Kim RendelsonDiane SchrothCarole ShifrinJennifer ShoupDavid and Willa SiegelAlan and Sarah-Mai SimonGene SmithBob and Deb SmithPatricia Spencer SmithJohn M. and Alison SteadmanJohn Blaney and Robin Suppe-BlaneyGeorge and Kay WagnerPete WalesDoug and Evelyn WatsonPatrick and Linda Wesley

The Players ($100–$249)

The Picture of Dorian Grayby Oscar WildeSee highlights from Wilde’s only novel about a haunting portrait that ages with each debaucherous vice that young Dorian entertains.Sunday September 29, 7:00 pm

Warehouse Theater DC645 New York Ave NW WDC 20001BY METRO: MT. VERNON SQ. (Green/Yellow Lines) GALLERY PLACE – Chinatown Exit (Red/Green/Yellow Lines)

INTERNATIONAL. SENSATIONAL. THEATER.

Tickets: scenatheater.org