The Laramie Project

Laramie, WY, is a small town which became infamous overnight in the fall of 1998, when Matthew Shepard, a gay college student, was found tied to a fence after being brutally beaten and left to die, setting off a nationwide debate about hate crimes and homophobia. A month after the crime, Moises Kaufman, a writer and director with the New York City theater troupe the Tectonic Theater Project, traveled to Laramie with a handful of actors to interview people who lived in and around Laramie in preparation for an upcoming production; Kaufman's goal was to create a play that focused not on the assault on Matthew Shepard, but on the community where such an attack could happen, and how many of the citizens reacted to the crime. The result was The Laramie Project, which was first performed in early 2000. In the play, the thoughts and opinions of Laramie residents from all points of the political spectrum are presented alongside re-enacted excerpts from the trials of the two men who attacked Matthew Shepard. Powerful and thought provoking, The Laramie Project is innovative, mournful, and politically charged, more of a sociological interrogation than a dramatic story. It is an evening of theatre that you will not soon forget.

Warning: due to mature themes and language, we advise parents against bringing young children to the show. The Laramie Project is comparable to a PG-13 movie.

Performances

Fall 2010
November 5 & 6, 7:00 pm
November 12 & 13, 7:00 pm

$5 for students
$13 for adults

Photos

Cast

The Laramie Project is performed by 33 actors portraying 85 characters

Actor -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Characters
Kari Barclay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Doc O'Connor, Dennis Shepard
Audrey Carleton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Leigh Fondakowski, Foreperson of Jury
Kristy Choi. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Romaine Patterson, Sherry Aanenson
Michael Clarke. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Greg Pierotti, Sergeant Hing
Sharika Dhar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ZubaidaUla, Reporter
Terence Dildy Jr . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Father Roger Schmidt, Reporter
Kieran Duffy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Aaron Kreifels, Russell Henderson
Emma Eisenberg. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Catherine Connolly, Judge, Sherry Johnson
Josh Emerson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Doug Laws, Cal Rerucha
Jonathan Frankle . . . . . Anonymous Friend, Rulon Stacey, Pastor Fred Phelps
Veronika Gajer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Alison Mears, Zackie Salmon, Mrs. Thompson
Hana Grothe. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tiffany Edwards, Kristen Price
David Haft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Governor Geringer, Priest at Funeral, Juror
Lara Haft. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Doctor Cantway, Kerry Drake
Helen Hanger. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . April Silva, Judge, Newsperson, Angel
Jesse Itskowitz. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jon Peacock, Jonas Slonaker
August McClelland . . . . . . . . . . Andy Paris, Murdock Cooper, Jeffrey Lockwood
Will McNamara. . . . . . . . . . Phil La Bree, Stephen Mead Johnson, Harry Woods
Casey Parker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Eileen Engen, Bailiff
Adanna Paul. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Amanda Gronich, Debbie
Zack Phillips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Philip Du Bois, Stephen Belber, Aaron McKinney
Samantha Reback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Reggie Fluty, Baptist MinisterÕs Wife
Andrei Romanov . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Moises Kaufman, Rob De Bree
Grant Salgaller. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Shadow the DJ, Conrad Miller
Joel C. Sati . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Matt Mickelson, Bill McKinney
Emily Schaefer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Narrator
Jenna Simmons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Marge Murray, Shannon
Patrick Smith. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Matt Galloway, Email Writer, Gil Engen
Andi Veltri . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Trish Steger, Barbara Pitts
Genevieve Wall . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mormon Home Teacher, Reporter, Newsperson
Michael Washington . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jedadiah Schultz, Baptist Minister
Hadyn Welch. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rebecca Hilliker, Jen

Professional Staff

Artistic Director
Emily Krebs Davis

Co-Artistic Director
Denise Duvall Saladyga

Set Designer
Emily Krebs Davis

Technical Supervisor
Eric Rodney

Business Manager
Joe Saladyga

Student Leadership

Assistant Directors
Ethan Carleton
Emma Strother

Technical Directors
Matthew Bailey
David Ingraham

Board of Directors
Matthew Bailey
Caroline Breul
Ethan Carleton
Rachel Meloan
Jenna Simmons

Stage Managers
David Beye
Anna Opryszko

Student Business Managers
Kimberly Barnes
Ryan Forsyth

Crew Chiefs and Members

Costumes

Elaine Bucknam *
Emily DiMambro *
Lori Gorbey *
Elizabeth Axley

Arthur Ellese
Amanda Gaut
Alisa Kuznetsova
Allison Larelle

Ariana Levinson
Helen Liu
Christine Pash
Scotia Penoyer

Polina Petersilie
Olga Prokunina
Leslie Schubel

Design Tech

Paula Huang *
Lucia Lu

Dale Park
Tudor Payson

Josh Samuels

Michael Wu

House

Kimberly Barnes *
Martha Diaz
Dira Djaya
Isabel Dunn
Adrian Feolo
Carey Georgius

Meem Haque
Alyssa Hu
Asma Husna
Joy Lee
Aurora Lozada

Rachel Meloan
Jasmine Nikakhtar
Samantha Pearson
Olga Prokunina
Nicolas Schenk

Leslie Schubel
Nora Strumph
Ryan Tendrich
Ariel Winton
Christina Xu

Lighting

Beatrice Kelley *
Nabeel Bokhari **
Leah Xu **
Haley Abramowitz

Bec Griffin
Paula Huang
Lucia Lu

Orest Pankiw
Dale Park
Roger Wang

Katie Weng
Alan Xie
Michael Wu

Makeup

Maria Lynn Okanlawon *

Josie Havens

Leah Herzfeld

Props

Amanda Gaut *
Lina Abisoghonyan

Saron Araia
Vanessa Guinto

Laura Hampe
Melissa Huang

Emily Payne
Sarah Weinstein

Publicity

Rachel Meloan *
Sophia Dellafiora
Anthony Gonzalez
Laura Hampe

Allison Henn
Alyssa Hu
Mai Nguyen
Christine Pash

Samantha Pearson
Polina Petersilie
Dania Valencia

Sheila Vasquez
Paige Washington
Christina Xu

Running

Walter Menendez *
Rylinn Sorini *

Rose Berman
Lindsey Noll

Ashley Taylor

Jesus Zelaya

Set Construction

Tudor Payson *
Nicolas Shenk **
Ali Bozzonetti
Andrew Carlson
Paige Carter
Vanessa Guinto

Melissa Huang
Shanshun Jin
Jessyca Khianthalat
Roy Lin
Alex Lu
Mai Nguyen

Clara Palha
Maitrel Panda
Alexa Quito
Sarah Radonic
Natalie Salive

Josh Samuels
Caitlyn Smith
Mandy Wang
Paige Washington
Doreen Yan

Set Decoration

Anna Opryszko *
Megan Haaga *
Susana Betancur
Rebecca Deng

Avvim Funtonilla
Kara Gorbey
Aurora Lozada
Marina Nada

Rachel Patterson
Samantha Pearson
Danilo Pila
Rachel Shaw

Rylinn Sorini
Meryl Thomas
Kate Weishaar

Sound

Jeffrey Goldgeier *
Niki Maheshwari **
Raynell Cooper

Alyssa Hu
Paula Huang
Asma Husna

Natalie Salive
Michal Shafrir

Dania Valencia
Katie Weng

* Chief ** Assistant Chief