When Luke and Jess decide to support their 10-year-old Morgan, who was assigned male at birth but identifies as female, they relocate in order to give the family a clean start. Luke takes a job at the local waterpark, where he meets Gaby, the girl in the mermaid tank. With money tight, Jess starts working at a local coffee shop where she meets Will. These new relationships provide an escape from an already complicated family life. But when an accident threatens to expose the truth about Morgan, tensions run high. Luke finally admits the real reason they moved, a confession that could potentially destroy their family. Faced with losing his child and his family, Luke must decide what’s worth fighting for.
Starting at $17 - $53
2 hours, including intermission
pg13
Executive DirectorKappy Kilburn
Artistic DirectorKevin Moore
Present:
Directed by Kevin Moore ^ +
Scenic Designer Tamara L. Honesty #
Lighting Designer John Rensel ^
Costume Designer David M. Covach
Composer Jay Brunner ^
Sound Designer Alexander Koker
Produced by Tara Lail & Kevin Moore
Everything That’s Beautiful is produced through a special arrangement with the playwright.
Developed and Produced at The New Conservatory Theatre Center, March 25, 2016 – Opening Night, San Francisco, CA, Ed Decker, Artistic Director
Everything That’s Beautiful was further developed at Red Mountain Theatre Company’s Human Rights New Works Festival in Birmingham, Alabama. Keith Cromwell, Executive Director
Time: The Present
Place: A backyard, an apartment, a coffee shop, and a mermaid tank
Theo
Eric is thrilled to be back at The Human Race Theatre Company where he was last seen as Eugene in Brighton Beach Memoirs. He is originally from the Rochester, NY area and earned his BFA in Theatre and Dance from the State University of New York at Fredonia. Eric has traveled the world with Disney Cruise Line appearing onstage as Peter Pan and also as an original cast member of Tangled the Musical. In his spare time Eric plays French Horn with the LGBAC Symphonic Band in New York City and is an avid knitter. Favorite credits include the title role in the stage musical Peter Pan, West Side Story, All Shook Up, Lend Me a Tenor, Beauty and the Beast, A Chorus Line, Assassins, and 42nd Street. Member of Actors’ Equity. For my family, Julian and Gigi.
Morgan
Jax is honored to make his debut with The Human Race Theatre for this important role. A Dayton local, Jax has most recently appeared on the La Comedia stage as Randy in A Christmas Story, and as Flounder in The Little Mermaid. Jax is nine years old, in 4th grade, and has performed in local productions of The Grunch, Newsies, and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Jax wants to thank his family, friends, and coaches for their continued support, and encourage other kids to be themselves no matter what, because every child deserves a voice! #speechapraxiaawareness
Gaby
Teresa is a Boston native & Rihanna enthusiast. She is thrilled to be making her Human Race debut! Off-Broadway: Drama Desk-nominated, Beardo (Pipeline Theatre Company), Cute Activist (Bushwick Starr/New Saloon). Regional Theatre: Are You There? (44th Annual Humana Festival of New American Plays), The Sensational (Actors Theatre of Louisville), To Kill A Mockingbird (Gloucester Stage). Education: BFA in Acting (Boston University), Classical Acting Certificate (LAMDA), 2019-2020 Acting Apprentice (Professional Training Company at Actors Theatre of Louisville). She is eternally grateful for families, given & chosen. For more information, visit teresalangford.com!
Luke
A 15-year member of Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, MA, Josh has performed in over 25 of their productions, including: The Tempest, Cymbeline, Comedy of Errors; Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged); Mother Courage and Her Children (starring Olympia Dukakis); Love’s Labour’s Lost; 39 Steps; Hound of the Baskervilles; As You Like It; Mystery of Irma Vep; Winter’s Tale; Richard III; Les Liaisons Dangereuses; Merry Wives of Windsor. Off- Broadway: Peep Show (Actor’s Playhouse). Regional: Berkshire Theatre Group, Oldcastle Theatre, Connecticut Rep, Madison Rep., Forward Theater, Milwaukee’s Chamber Theatre, Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati, Milwaukee’s Renaissance Theaterworks. National commercials, Daytime Serials and Saturday Night Live. Josh is an Assoc. Professor of Acting at Wright State University. AEA & SAG-AFTRA.
Will
Justin is thrilled to be onstage with The Human Race for the first time after appearing in their streaming production of Now and Then last spring. He moved to Ohio in 2006, when he joined the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company and since then he has worked on over 100 productions there. Favorite productions include: Henry V, Death of a Salesman, The Grapes of Wrath, Othello, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, and Noises Off. He has also appeared onstage at Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati and Know Theatre. He sends special thanks to his wife, local actress and playwright Maggie Lou Rader and their three hilarious pets.
Jess
Kelly is elated to be returning to The Human Race!!! She was last seen here (too long ago!) in Brother Wolf and Shenandoah. Living in Cincinnati, she has been working with the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Know Theatre Cincinnati, Xavier University, and Tantrum Theatre with Ohio University. Film credits include Dark Waters, Old Man and the Gun, A Kind of Murder, Perception, Healing River, and C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America. She sends special love to her husband, Jeremy. kellymengelkoch.com
Morgan
Isabella is thrilled to be making her professional debut. Her credits include Inside Voices with The Chickasaw Nation Arts Academy and a showcase for her acting class at Town Hall. Isabella attends the Montessori School of Dayton as a 4th grader, where she loves art and music. She is an award-winning Irish Dancer with McGovern Irish Dance where she has been dancing since 2016, competing in over a dozen competitions and performing for thousands. She loves spending time with her friends, drawing and playing outside. Isabella would like to thank her mom, dad and family for believing in her.
Jay has designed sound, music directed, performed, and composed music for countless theatrical events, and is proud to call The Human Race his artistic home. He has composed music and recorded audio projects for many musical groups, voiceovers, regional commercials, radio spots, training videos, collegiate theatre projects, marching bands, clubs, and organizations. Jay owns and operates a professional recording studio (Audio Forest) with his wife, fellow HRTC Resident Artist Christine Brunner.
David is thrilled to return to The Human Race Theatre where he last designed Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill in 2019. David is the costume shop manager for Asolo Repertory Theatre in Sarasota, FL, where he first began his residency 25 years ago. He also recently designed Pippin for freeFall Theatre in St. Petersburg, FL and At the Wake of a Dead Drag Queen for Urbanite Theatre in Sarasota, FL. David is excited to be working on Everything That’s Beautiful for many reasons, especially being able to share in Kevin’s last season as Artistic Director.
Jacquelyn is delighted to begin her fifth season with HRTC! Jacquelyn received her BFA in Theatre Design & Technology with an emphasis in Stage Management from Wright State University. During her collegiate years, Jacquelyn had the pleasure of working for Adam Pascal, Jason Robert Brown, and Tom Hanks. Her first show with HRTC was Hail Mary! back in October 2016. After nine consecutive shows as the Production Assistant, Jacquelyn was promoted to Production Stage Manager in Spring 2018 during Brighton Beach Memoirs. She is a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association and encourages you all to follow us on social media!
Tammy is delighted to return to The Human Race Theatre! A few of her favorite designs at HRTC include Gloria: A Life!, Banned from Baseball, Family Ties, Crowns, Other Desert Cities, Becky’s New Car, Lombardi, and Managing Maxine. She also enjoys designing theatre for young audiences, having designed ten shows for Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park’s Educational Touring Company. Her designs have been on stages from New York City to the Midwest and as far south as Florida. She co-authored the book, The Fake Food Cookbook. Currently, she is an Associate Professor of Scenic Design at Kent State University. Check out her website at www.tammyhonesty.com
Alex is a Wright State graduate of the Design and Technology program, with an emphasis in Sound Design. He has previously worked for Norwegian Cruise Lines before the pandemic, and is happy that theater is returning. He recently worked as Sound Engineer for The Revolutionists, Airness, and Sound Design & Engineer for Who’s Holiday! at The Human Race Theatre Company, and will be working with them throughout their current season. He is happy to be working on this production, and back to sound designing.
Kevin Moore is the Artistic Director and Founding Member of The Human Race Theatre Company, having served previously from 1986 – 2011 as Executive Director. He has directed Human Race productions of The Gifts of the Magi, A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine, The Rocky Horror Show, Beehive, Zombies from the Beyond, Children of Eden, Bat Boy, Convenience, Shenandoah, Play It by Heart, Mame, Fiddler on the Roof, An Act of God, Looped and world premieres of Tenderly, Green Gables, Wild Blue, Family Shots and Family Ties. Kevin produced the world premiere of the musical Was, produced and directed the midwest premieres of Harold & Maude and Ordinary Days, produced the Midwest premiere of the Stephen Schwartz musical Snapshots: A Musical Scrapbook, the premiere of Gregg Coffin’s right next to me, and the world premieres of Eric Ulloa’s 26 Pebbles and Patricia O’Hara’s Banned From Baseball. In 2003, Kevin was inducted into the Dayton Theatre Hall of Fame and in April 2010, he and Marsha Hanna received the Governor’s Award for Arts Administration. Kevin Moore is a member of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers, an independent labor union.
John is the long-term Resident Lighting Designer for The Human Race Theatre Company, Muse Machine, the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra Pops series, and the Dayton Opera Association. He also serves as the long-time Technical Director for the Fraze Pavilion and has provided advanced technical production coordination, lighting designs, automation programming, and performance operation services for many artists and productions that have visited that venue. John also has a diverse dance lighting background, having provided lighting designs and technical production services for many years to The Dayton Ballet and Dayton Contemporary Dance Co. John’s national credits include a lighting design package for a National Touring Production of the Elton John/Tim Rice collaboration Aida. Some of his most recent local credits include all the designs for The Human Race’s season at the Loft Theatre; Muse Machine’s productions at the Victoria Theatre and the Dayton Opera Association’s season at the Schuster Center. At 70, John just had his tonsils removed. Ouch!
Technical Director
Head Carpenter/Charge Artist
Production Stage Manager
Assistant Director
Production Assistant
Production Intern
Health Resources Officer
Prop Master
Costume Shop Manager
Wardrobe
Sound Engineer
Production Electrician
Production Advisors
Production Photography
Production Artwork
On Thursday, February 17 at 7:15 pm in the Loft lobby, the regular “Inside Track” will feature the Director of Everything That’s Beautiful, Kevin Moore. He will be joined by Heather Stewart, MD, FAAP , Chief, Div of Adolescent Young Adult Medicine, Dayton Children’s Hospital. Together they will provide insights to the play, which begins at 8 pm.
Heather Stewart, MD, FAAP is the Chief of the Division of Adolescent Young Adult Medicine at Dayton Children’s Hospital and Assistant Professor in Pediatrics at Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine. Dr. Stewart stays active in the community with Public Health Dayton & Montgomery County LGBTQ Health Alliance, PFLAG Dayton, and the Gatlyn Dame Group. She serves as faculty co-advisor to Boonshoft PRIDE medical students at Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine, which provides additional educational opportunities on LGBTQ+ topics for doctors-in-training. Dr. Stewart received the Elaine Fultz Community Award from PFLAG Dayton in 2018 and the Greater Dayton LGBTQ Her/History Rubi Award for Ally Activism in 2019.
Audience “Talkback” with the Cast, Director and featured guests following the February 27th 2:00 pm matinee.
The role of “Morgan” will be played by Jax Heritage and Isabella Roberts. Their alternating schedule* is as follows:
Wed. Feb 16 8 pm Pay What You CAN Isabella Roberts
Thurs. Feb 17 8 pm Preview Jax Heritage
Fri. Feb 18 8 pm Opening Isabella
Sat. Feb 19 8 pm Jax
Sun. Feb 20 2 pm Isabella
Sun. Feb 20 7 pm Jax
Tues. Feb 22 7 pm Jax
Wed. Feb 23 7 pm Isabella
Thurs. Feb 24 8 pm Jax
Fri. Feb 25 8 pm Isabella
Sat. Feb 26 8 pm Jax
Sun. Feb 27 2 pm Isabella
Tues. Mar 1 7 pm Isabella
Wed. Mar 2 7 pm Jax
Thurs. Mar 3 8 pm Isabella
Fri. Mar 4 8 pm Jax
Sat. Mar 5 8 pm Isabella
Sun. Mar 6 2 pm Closing Jax
*Subject to Change
Cast of EVERYTHING THAT'S BEAUTIFUL. Photo by Scott J. Kimmins
Cast of EVERYTHING THAT'S BEAUTIFUL. Photo by Scott J. Kimmins
Isabella Roberts in EVERYTHING THAT'S BEAUTIFUL. Photo by Scott J. Kimmins
Theresa Langford in EVERYTHING THAT'S BEAUTIFUL. Photo by Scott J. Kimmins
Cast of EVERYTHING THAT'S BEAUTIFUL. Photo by Scott J. Kimmins
Theresa Langford & Isabella Roberts in EVERYTHING THAT'S BEAUTIFUL. Photo by Scott J. Kimmins
Isabella Roberts in EVERYTHING THAT'S BEAUTIFUL. Photo by Scott J. Kimmins
Jax Heritage & Eric Deiboldt in EVERYTHING THAT'S BEAUTIFUL. Photo by Scott J. Kimmins
Justin McCombs & Kelly Mengelkoch in EVERYTHING THAT'S BEAUTIFUL. Photo by Scott J. Kimmins
Josh Aaron McCabe and Kelly Mengelkoch in EVERYTHING THAT'S BEAUTIFUL. Photo by Scott J. Kimmins
Cast of EVERYTHING THAT'S BEAUTIFUL. Photo by Scott J. Kimmins
Josh Aaron McCabe & Isabella Roberts in EVERYTHING THAT'S BEAUTIFUL. Photo by Scott J. Kimmins
Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder’s plays include Gee’s Bend, Fresh Kills, The Flagmaker of Market Street, The Furniture of Home, White Lightning, Provenance, and Everything That’s Beautiful. Her plays have been produced at the Royal Court (London), Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Denver Center, Cleveland Play House, KC Rep, Northlight, the Arden, B Street Theatre, and Hartford Stage, among others. Her one act, “Santa Doesn’t Come to the Holiday Inn” was featured in the Marathon of One Act Plays at the Ensemble Studio Theatre.
New work includes The Light of the World, which explores our relationship with Confederate iconography. It was workshopped at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival’s Southern Writers’ Festival in 2018. Her play, Looks Like Pretty, which explores racial bias and the development of color photography, was a co-commission from the Geva Theatre and the Sloan Foundation. It will premiere at Geva in the 2019-2020 season.
Other plays include A Requiem for August Moon (Pioneer Theatre workshop), The Bone Orchard (Denver Center commission, Great Plains Theatre Conference), and a short play for the acclaimed My America, Too project (Baltimore Center Stage), as well as four commissions from the Alabama Shakespeare Festival.
Elyzabeth is the recipient of the Osborn Award given by the American Theatre Critics Association and is a graduate of the dramatic writing program at New York University. In 2018 Elyzabeth traveled with the Alabama Shakespeare Festival on their State of the South tour where they hosted town hall discussions in 12 cities throughout the South as they explored the changing face of Southern identity.
Elyzabeth is the current Tennessee Williams Playwright-in-Residence at Sewanee: The University of the South where she teaches playwriting.
Bio and image courtesy of https://www.wilderwriting.net/
Download a copy of the official playbill, optimized for use on mobile devices, for comprehensive information about this production.
We are incredibly grateful to our sponsor organizations whose support makes all of our programming possible.
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ORGANIZATIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY
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Special Thanks & Acknowledgements