Tony Award Winning Playwright
Joe DiPietrohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_DiPietro
Joe DiPietro is a playwright and lyricist. He has won two Tony Awards, a Drama Desk Award and 3 Outer Critics Circle Awards. His musicals and plays have received thousands of productions across the country and around the world.
Broadway: Nice Work If You Can Get It starring Matthew Broderick and Kelli O’Hara (10 Tony noms, including Best Book, Best Musical), Memphis (4 Tony Awards including Best Musical, Best Book, Best Score,) All Shook Up, Living on Love (starring Renee Fleming)
Off-Broadway: Ernest Shackleton Loves Me, Clever Little Lies (starring Marlo Thomas) The Toxic Avenger (OCC Award – Best off-Broadway Musical) The Thing About Men (OCC Award – Best off-Broadway Musical), the much-produced comedy, Over the River and Through the Woods, and I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change (the longest running musical revue in off-Broadway history)
Other recent regional credits include: The Second Mrs. Wilson (Long Wharf Theatre & George Street Playhouse) Hollywood and Chasing the Song (La Jolla Playhouse,) The Last Romance (The Old Globe,) Creating Claire (George Street Playhouse.)
His murder mystery, The Art of Murder, won the Edgar Allen Poe Award for Best Play and his adaptation of Schnitzler’s La Ronde, — called Fucking Men — is the longest running Fringe play in London history.
He sits on the board of Only Make Believe, a charity dedicated to bringing interactive, therapeutic theatre to chronically ill children.
Director
Ray ManfrediRay wears many hats at our theater. He is our foundation President, and from time to time you might catch him either in a play or directing a play. For this season, he is directing: 'A Christmas Carol'; 'Overt the River and Through the Woods'; 'Sing On!'; and 'The Thanksgiving Play'. A child actor appearing in numerous commercials, he later progressed to be a well publicized stand-up comedian, comedy writer, and seasoned actor/director. Ray now in fact owns an Allstate agency in Springfield and is our primary benefactor responsible for the $100,000 theater buildout and our new 6,000 square foot facility, 44-foot stage, and 200 tiered seating auditorium as well as many other improvements all part of his vision of bringing a real community theater to his home town. Ray along with his Wife Catherine, Son Thomas, and Daughter Noelle all reside is North Stafford on several acres, zoned peaceful and quiet.
Stage Manager
Catherine ManfrediCatherine is 'related' to the theater through marriage and motherhood.
One might say she was dragged into the behind the scenes work after being married to a thespian and raising another for many years.
Occasionally hosting a cast party, she has now started to take on more and more active roles.
This will be her third time stage managing a production.
We expect soon to have her join the other actors in the spotlight - on stage one day.
She along with her husband owns and manages an Allstate Insurance Agency in Springfield VA.
Set Design & Construction
Ethan DunnEthan Dunn has acted in a few theatrical productions and worked backstage in a few more. His most notable portrayal was that of the historical figure Ulrich Zwingli. He sang for 5 seasons with Saint Paul’s Masterworks Choir, where he developed his basso profundo voice. He is a carpenter by trade and has designed/built most of the 2021 and forward sets for Stage Door Productions, in addition to providing much of the labor to build our new theater. Ethan also currently serves on the foundations’ Executive Board as Secretary.
Sound Technician
Kayden JurlandoKayden is 13 years old, and in 7th grade, and had mastered the sound board for Stage Door Productions at the age of 12. As the primary sound controller for ‘A Christmas Carol’, ‘Aladdin Jr’, ‘Descendants’, ‘The One Act Festival’, and running the Light Board for ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’. Her grandmother is one of the actors in the play, and her sister is alongside her in the sound booth. In her free time, Kayden loves to read, and every few days she starts a new sci-fi or fantasy book, and although for some reason her sister and mom always criticize her for it, she loves country music. Hee-Haw.
Lighting Technician
Marlie JurlandoMarlie is 13 years old and in 7th grade. This is her third show with Stage Door Productions, but her first time being backstage. She is very excited to be involved with a lights system as it will be her first time. Her sister is backstage with her, and her grandmother is in the cast. She loves reading fantasy books and writing short stories. She hopes the show goes well and if she makes a mistake, she will most likely blame it on someone else. {Director’s Note: What makes it hard to tell Marlie from her twin sister, is that they are both amazing volunteers who really love the theater.)
Props Manager
Kitt MurphyKitt is a wonderfully willing volunteer who donates most of her spare time to either the theater or animal rescue efforts. She comes to Stage Door Productions by way of the Williamsburg Players, at the James-York Playhouse. She continued her prior role here as Props Manager and sits on the Board of Directors for our Foundation. She works locally in the antique and rare book trades – and she has vowed ‘never to appear on stage’, but we are certain that will change. Can anyone say, ‘Ensemble cast in the making?’
Spot Light
Molly Grace BurchMolly Grace Burch has been involved in the performing arts since she was three years old. She has held the title role in ‘Annie’ and starred as Clara in ‘The Nutcracker’. She has worked with CYT Fredericksburg, Drama Kids International, The Dorothy Hart Community Centre and many more establishments. Most recently she played the Ghost of Christmas Past in ‘A Christmas Carol’ and a Fairy in a ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’ both Stage Door Productions. This is her first time working with our light department. In this play the spot light is also a character, so her control of this spectrum adds more enjoyment to the play and its depth.
Director's Note
For those of you who have seen the other shows I have directed, you may have
come to the understand that I only direct productions that have a special meaning to
me. This production, ‘Over the River and Through the Woods’ is no exception to that
general rule. The author Joe DiPietro completely embraces the New York/New Jersey
Italian household dynamic, conversation, and love. The story touches the hearts of
those who see it, bringing a mix of both joy and sadness in such a way that a warning
needs to be presented that at any given moment you may go from a heavy laugh to
tearing up as you recall your own fond memories of those special to you.
This award-winning play was written in the early nineties and was first produced
at the Belmont Italian American Playhouse in New York, which has strict rules to get on
that stage. A featured winner in the 1994 National Playwrights Conference, as
developed at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center, followed by the American Stage
Company in 1996 and the Berkshire Theatre Festival in 1997 as well as the Helen Hayes
Performing Arts Center in the same year. Originally produced on the New York Stage by
Jonathan Pollard, Bernie Kukoff, Tony Converse and James Hammerstien, the type of
folks who only put money behind real winners.
I had the privilege of playing the lead role Nick and earning both a nomination
and an award for Best Actor. It was also a time in my life when I got to work with the
amazing Broadway Director, Richard Elichuk, who I stay in touch with to this day.
Having retired in Canada, I don’t get to work much with him anymore, but after ‘Over
the River and Through the Woods’ we worked closely together many times in other
productions. He taught me how to hone my comedic timing and gave me the power to
build the character Nick in a way I thought would bring more depth to him and that
empowerment and trust was key to our partnership and success for years to come.
My wife was in the audience the first time I performed Nick and she told me after
the show, that there was not a dry eye anywhere around her as the audience was
overcome with both joy and tears as the play progressed, and to this day she cannot
watch the last scene without filling with emotion and crying.
It is my honor to bring my rendition of this wonderful family play to you today. I
have pretty much stayed to the original text, with one or two minor additions to help
develop the flow in today’s fast paced world better. Having wanted to Direct this play
since the day I took my last curtain call to a standing audience on closing night way back
when I was as young as Nick and as full of aspirations as he, it checks one more thing off
my bucket list. Thank you for allowing me to bring to you this amazing story – I hope
you feel the same as we do when we think of Nick and his family. Let me know if you cry
– tears of joy. It will make my day if I can get your emotions flowing the way this play is
meant to do.
