- Marga (Writer/Performer)
- David Schweizer (Director)
- Jonathan Reinis (Producer)
- Alexander V. Nichols (Set and Lighting Design)
- Mark O'Brien (Sound Design)
- Miriam Colón Valle (Co-Producer)
- Jamie Cesa (Associate Producer/GM)
- Eva Price (Associate Producer)
- Adam Friedson (Associate Producer)
- Acknowledgments
Marga Gomez
Marga Gomez (Writer/Performer) tours nationally as one of the first openly gay comedians in the country and as the writer/performer of seven solo shows. She is the recipient of the 2004 GLAAD Award for Off-Off Broadway theater and the 1994 "Theatre LA's Ovation Award" for her performance with Culture Clash at the Mark Taper Forum. She was born in Manhattan and lives in Brooklyn.
Margas' solo shows; A Line Around The Block; Memory Tricks; Marga Gomez is Pretty, Witty & Gay; jaywalker; The Twelve Days of Cochina; Marga Gomez's Intimate Details and Los Big Names have been produced Off-Broadway at The Public Theater, The Whitney Museum, Performance Space 122, La Mama Theater, Dixon Place, nationally at The Kennedy Center, Museum of Contemporary Arts Massachusetts, Boston Center for the Arts, San Diego Repertory Theater, Highways Performance Space and The Mark Taper Forum (Los Angeles,) The Marsh and Theater Rhinoceros (San Francisco), and internationally at The Montreal Comedy Festival, The Edinburgh Fringe Festival, London ICA and Amsterdam's Triple X Festival. Since 2000 Marga has been collaborating with director David Schweizer.
Marga's career is profiled in the 2003 documentary Laughing Matters. As a stand-up comic she has appeared on HBO's Comic Relief, Showtime's Latino Laugh Festival, Comedy Central's Out There and the PBS series In The Life. Marga's comedy recording, Hung Like a Fly, is available on Uproar Records. Her acting credits include Off- Broadway and San Francisco productions of The Vagina Monologues and featured roles in Sphere, Batman Forever, Guiding Light, and HBO's Tracy takes on... She is also featured in recent indie film festival comedies The D Word and Rosa Negra.
Selections from Marga's work have been published in several anthologies including "Extreme Exposure" (TCG Books), "Out, Loud & Laughing" (Anchor Books), "Contemporary Plays by American Women of Color" (Routledge), "When I Knew" (Harper-Collins) and "Out of Character" (Bantam Books). She has written for the Village Voice, Out Magazine and Velvet Park Magazine. Marga was one of eight playwrights to be commissioned by the Mark Taper Forum's "Latino Theater Initiative" as part of 2004's Amor Eterno project. For more about Marga visit www.margagomez.com.
David Schweizer (Director) is delighted to continue his collaboration with Ms Gomez which has included JAYWALKER (Theater Rhinoceros, San Diego Rep) SINGLE WET FEMALE (PS 122, New York City), an earlier incarnation of LOS BIG NAMES at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, and last summer's local hit INTIMATE DETAILS. This spring he directed HANNAH AND MARTIN, the prize-winning play by Kate Fodor at San Jose Rep where he also staged Sandra Tsing Loh's SUGAR PLUM FAIRY earlier this season. Trained at the Yale School of Drama, he has directed new theater, performance, and opera work nationally and internationally for twenty five years- spanning his debut at Lincoln Center with his controversial TROILUS AND CRESSIDA to last year's triumph at Glimmerglass Opera Festival with Richard Rodney Bennett's THE MINES OF SULPHUR. Also in San Francisco- A HISTORY OF SEXUALITY with Theatre X at "Life On the Water", Ann Magnuson's YOU CUOLD BE HOME NOW, and Claire Chaffee's Even Among These Rocks. International residencies and festivals include Prague, Lisbon, Bonn, Toga Village- Japan, Avignon, Edinburgh, and Warsaw where his adaptation of Ibsen's PEER GYNT is still running. His production of Rinde Eckert's OBIE-award winning chamber opera AND GOD CREATED GREAT WHALES ran at the Barbican Center in London. Recent off-Broadway premieres include Charles Mee's WINTERTIME, William Hamilton's WHITE CHOCOLATE, Mike Albo's MY PRICE POINT and Mark Campbell's SONGS FROM AN UNMADE BED. Opera work began with his debut at Houston Grand Opera with Mozart's ABDUCTION FROM THE SERAGLIO/ Thomas Ades' POWDER HER FACE, Offenbach's LA PERICHOLE, Purcell's THE INDIAN QUEEN (new scenario by Guillermo Gomez-Pena) all at Long Beach Opera- and he will make his New York City Opera debut this fall with THE MINES OF SULPHUR- also directing Britten's ALBERT HERRING at Gotham Opera next season and the world premiere of BOULE DE SUIF or THE GOOD WHORE by Stephen Hartke and Philip Littell at Glimmerglass next summer.
Jonathan Reinis (Producer) built Theatre On The Square in San Francisco (1982) and ran it until 2002. He has won two Tony Awards: Dame Edna: The Royal Tour (2000) and Russell Simmon's Def Poetry Jam (2002). He has been nominated for two Tony Awards: Bill Maher's Victory Begins at Home (2002) and It Ain't Nothin But the Blues (1999).
Over the years Mr. Reinis has produced over 150 plays, musicals, and dance performances. These include: Eve Ensler's The Vagina Monologues, Josh Kornbluth's Love & Taxes and Ben Franklin: Unplugged, Sam Shepard's The Late Henry Moss, Ennio, His Way; Sandra Bernhardt, Steve Martin's Picasso at the Lapin Agile, John Leguizamo's premiere of Freak, the award-winning Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde, and Forever Tango. Forever Tango, Freak, Def Poetry Jam and Dame Edna transferred to Broadway after their successful San Francisco runs at Reinis's Theatre on the Square.
His other San Francisco productions include: Jeffrey; Irving Berlin in Revue; Bubbe Meises; The Piano Lesson (national tour); The Kathy and Mo Show; Shirley Valentine; Love Letters; Mass Appeal; Nehemiah Persoff's Sholem Aleichem; Shay Duffin in Brendan Behan; Biloxi Blues; I'm Not Rappaport; Curse of the Werewolf; and Phantom of the Opera by Ken Hill.
Touring productions include Mikhail Baryshnikov's White Oak Dance Project in Northern California, the premiere production of Smuin Ballets/SF Dances With Songs, the Kirov Ballet's original Nutcracker, Ballet Folklorico de Mexico de Amalia Hernandez, Stomp, Riverdance-The Show, Guys and Dolls, Fame: The Musical, Dirty Blonde, Forever Tango, The Piano Lesson, Fully Committed, Dame Edna and Ennio.
From 1979 through 1985, he refurbished and managed the Alcazar Theatre in San Francisco.
Alexander V. Nichols (Set and Lighting Design), has worked with companies such as American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, San Jose Repertory Theatre, Arena Stage Company (Washington, D.C.), National Theatre of Taiwan, and others both national and international. He has served as Resident Designer for Margaret Jenkins Dance Company, Hartford Ballet and others, and as Lighting Director for American Ballet Theatre. He has designed for numerous choreographers including Val Caniporoli, Bill T. Jones, Mark Morris, Michael Smuin and Brenda Way.
Mark O'Brien (Sound Design) is thrilled to be working once again with the triumvirate of Marga Gomez, David Schweizer and Heather Deutsch, with whom he collaborated on Marga Gomez's Intimate Details at Theatre Rhinoceros last summer. Other favorite productions include War Letters at the Canon Theatre in Beverly Hills, and Execution of Justice at USF. He has designed sound, written music, and music directed theatre productions throughout California. As a composer and musician, Mr. O'Brien's work has been heard in films, recordings, and television. His proudest accomplishment of late was completing the 585-mile AIDS/LifeCycle ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles in June of this year.
Miriam Colón Valle (Co-Producer) Founder and Artistic Director of the Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre, Ms. Colón Valle is a pioneer of the Latino theater. She is the leading creative force behind the PRTT's 38 years of activity. Under her guidance, the PRTT has introduced new and significant Latino voices to the professional theater mainstream; sustained a culturally diverse model for playwright development and enrichment; expanded awareness of the theater as a viable career for economically disadvantaged youth; and established a home for Spanish and English language theatrical activity in the heart of the Broadway district.
Her work in television, film, and theater includes projects with Raúl Juliá, Marlon Brando, Billy Bob Thornton, Al Pacino, John Sayles, and Sally Field. Her stage credits include performances at the Guthrie, the Milwaukee Rep, Mark Taper Forum, and numerous collaborations with distinguished Latino theater artists nationwide.
A champion of Puerto Rican, Latin American, and Spanish dramatic literatures, Ms. Colón Valle has earned many awards including seven Honoris Causa Doctorates, the international Lorca Award, the Obie Award for Sustained Performance, and a Special Recognition from the Office of the President of the United States. In 2004, she was featured in Visiones: Latino Art & Culture, a new documentary film airing nationally on PBS. She was also honored with Lifetime Achievement Awards by the National Association of Latino Arts & Culture (NALAC) and by the international San Juan Cinema Fest in Puerto Rico. Ms. Colón Valle is a sought-after theatrical producer and a visible spokesperson for Latino arts.
Jamie Cesa (Associate Producer/General Manager) Currently general managing SIDD at Dodger Stages, Talk Of The Town at the Algonquin Hotel, Transatlantic Liaison at Theatre Row and Associate Producer/General Manager of Los Big Names at the 47th Street Theatre. Recently general managed The Persians, Paradise, White Chocolate and Open Heart. In addition to producing the "Top 10 Longest Running Off-broadway Show", Naked Boys Singing!, he produced The Women Of Lockerbie (The New Group) which was awarded the Kennedy Center Playwrights Competition and the Onassis Foundation Award for Best New Play; 21 Dog Years: Doing Time @ Amazon.com; and was an Associate Producer of the Janis Joplin musical, Love Janis. His first production was the Outer Critics' Circle and Drama League "Best Musical" nominee, The Last Session. Other off-Broadway, touring and regional general management credits include: Naked Boys Singing!, Matt & Ben, Listen To My Heart, Love Janis, 21 Dog Years..., Criss Angel Mindfreak, High Infidelity, Gershwin's American Rhapsody, Now Hear This!, American Passenger, My Big Gay Italian Wedding, the China tour of Michael Mao's Firecracker, the national tour of Father, Son & Holy Coach; a season for the Lucille Lortel Theatre Foundation at the White Barn Theatre in Westport, Connecticut and a season for Mirror Repertory Company, NYC. Upcoming projects include: Look Ma, No Ears at the Laurie Beechman Theatre and All Dolled Up at Theatre Row.
Adam Friedson (Associate Producer) is the president of Friedson Enterprises that produces the United States tours of The Ballet Folklorico de Mexico de Amalia Hernandez. He co-produced Bill Maher: Victory Begins at Home (2002 Tony nomination), Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde, Dame Edna: The Royal Tour; Ain't Nothing But the Blues; The Vagina Monologues; Fully Committed, Guys and Dolls, Dirty Blonde, and Josh Kornbluth's Love & Taxes and Ben Franklin: Unplugged. Film producer credits include The Centerfielder, Fire From the Mountain (Emmy nomination), Children of Fate (Academy Award nomination). He also produced the radio play Midnight Moon at the Greasy Spoon by Miguel Piñero for NPR.
Eva Price (Associate Producer) made her Off-Broadway debut producing Joy (Actor's Playhouse). Her other NY theater credits include The Great American Trailer Park Musical and Sunfish, winner of the Jonathan Larson Award and Daryl Roth Award and featured as part of the Tru Musical Reading Series at The Blue Heron Theater. She recently produced the sold-out, one night-only premiere of All is Full of Love, A Benefit, with proceeds going to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids, hosted by Gary Beach (Tony-Award Winner/ The Producers). Upcoming projects include Los Big Names; Peter Gorin and Michael Lange's Kosher Christmas Carols; and Look Ma, No Ears, based on the life of Lindsey Alley. For five years Eva worked as an assignment editor and coordinating producer for special projects at ABC News, spending her last year producing and reporting on stories relating to Broadway for ABCNEWS.COM.
Acknowledgments:
Marga offers many thanks to: David Schweizer, Jonathan Reinis, Adam Friedson,
Denise Laws, Judy Boals, David Dower, The Z Space Studio, Carmelita Tropicana,
Animal Prints by Machine Dazzle, Hair by Kohl, Chicharron AKA Angel Candeleras,
Johnny Castro, Gordon Bowman Jones, Johnny Rodriguez, Alfredo Troche, Mr. Murray
Hill, Bethany Eppner, Tam Martin, Earl Dax, Shana and Anderson, Kathleen Chalfant,
Theatre Rhinoceros, Nicole Dickerson, Micky Rolfe, Patrick Herrold, and my
three Fs- friends, family, and fans.
This performance is dedicated to Willy, Margarita, Frida, Denise, Bobby, Dennis
Jr. and everyone with my blood.
