August Wilson's Seven Guitars
Guest Directed by Terrence Spivey
The performance runs two and a half hours plus one intermission.
Cast
Floyd
Jalen Carr
Ruby
Bráleena Pickens
Canewell
Aly Diallo
Louise
Maylon Johnson
Vera
Ona Garrett
Hedley
Othman Shuri
Red Carter
Amir Stokes
Boxing Radio Announcer Voice Over
Noah Bennett
Understudies
Ruby & Vera
Meron Aschalew
August Wilson's Seven Guitars is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc. www.concordtheatricals.com
Originally produced on Broadway by SAGEWORKS: Benjamin Mordecai, Executive Director; Centre Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre, Gordon Davidson, Artistic Director; Herb Alpert/Margot Lion Scott Rudin/Paramount Pictures and Jujamcyn Theatres in association with Goodman Theatre, Huntington Theatre Company, American Conservatory Theatre and Manhattan Theatre Club. Originally presented at National Playwright's Conference of The Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center.
THE VIDEOTAPING OR MAKING OF ELECTRONIC OR OTHER AUDIO AND/OR VISUAL RECORDINGS OF THIS PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTING RECORDINGS OR STREAMS IN ANY MEDIUM, INCLUDING THE INTERNET, IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED, A VIOLATION OF THE AUTHOR(S)'S RIGHTS AND ACTIONABLE UNDER UNITED STATES COPYRIGHT LAW. FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE VISIT: https://concordtheatricals.com/resources/protecting-artists.
The use of any recording device, either audio or video, and the taking of photographs, either with or without flash, is strictly prohibited. Please silence your cell phones and pagers prior to the beginning of the performance. In consideration of those seated around you, please refrain from texting during the performance.
Department Chair
E.J. Westlake
Production Manager
Sherée Greco
Guest Director
Terrence Spivey
Scenic Designer and Properties Designer
Megan Wells
Costume Designer
Rebecca Turk
Lighting Designer
Maranda DeBusk
Sound Designer
Keya Myers-Alkire
Production Stage Manager
Kami Bumpers
Technical Director
Chad R. Mahan
Assistant Director
A.J. Calderon
Dramaturg
Sydney Webb
Intimacy Coordinator
Aviva Neff
Fight and Violence Director
Bill Gordon
Assistant Properties Designer
Sunny Walton
Assistant Costume Designer
Julia Hodge
Assistant Lighting Designers
Kevin Campbell II
Robbie Wilt
Assistant Stage Manager
Zach Sudal
External Relations and Publicity Coordinator
J. Briggs Cormier
Ticketing Services and Audience Services Specialist
Julia Buttermore
Graphic Design
Jack Seal-Roth
Technical Director
Chris Zinkon
Scenic Studio Manager
Chad R. Mahan
Master Carpenter
Scott Stiles
Charge Artist
Carla Chaffin
Scenic Studio Teaching Associates
Kaitlyn Crosby, Katherine Simon, Megan Wells
Scenery Construction Crew
Ben Ault, Torrey Brown, Aly Diallo, Grace Dicus, Morgan Eisenbraun, Matthew Fisher, Gracy Frea, Desiree Gailes, Gregory Goldberg, Matt Henry, Sydney Howells, Luke Kleeman, Natalie Knaggs, Jennifer Oberly, Ellie Price, Jason Tang, Kamryn Wechter, Klaire Weinroth, Gabe Willenberg
Set Run Crew
Matt Fisher, Jillian Regal
Costume Studio Manager
Coco Mayer
Costume Studio Teaching Associate
Alexis Miller
Costume Construction Crew
Reva Baste-Bania, Avani Bhalla, Paige Bourquin, Macayla Childs, Brett Enders, Maddie Green, Claire Jesionowski, Thomas Robinett, Anastasia Smith, Kalee Sribanditmongkol, Emily Straughn, Tristan Weathers, Ava Williams
Wardrobe Crew
Macayla Childs, Mya English, Lilli Nelson, Kamryn Wechter
Lighting Studio Manager & Production Electrician
Eric M. Slezak
Lighting Studio Teaching Associates
Sarah Herkert, Evan Lane, Robbie Wilt
Lighting Programmer
Kevin Campbell II
Light Board Operator
Kalee Sribanditmongkol
Lighting Crew
Alan Bach, Eris Dale, Gregory Goldberg, Ruth Luketic, Samesh Mundra, Maya Stepnick, Katherine Swift
Sound and Media Studio Manager
Keya Myers-Alkire
Sound Board Operator
Torrey J. Brown
Sound Crew
Matthew Fisher, Gregory Goldberg, Ruth Luketic, Eliana Wellmeier, Ava Williams
Live Mix Operator
Ruth Luketic
Ticket Office Staff
Fatoumata Kante, Brenda Ramos Perez, Logan Thomas, Eryn Toppin, Julie Wietholter
Kami Bumpers (stage manager), senior
Hometown: Miami, FL
Major(s): theatre
Minor(s): screenwriting
Department Productions: She Kills Monsters
A.J. Calderon (asst. director), junior
Pronouns: he/him
Hometown: San Jose, CA
Major(s): English
Minor(s): screenwriting; video arts
Department Productions: Blood Wedding
Kevin Campbell II (asst. lighting designer), senior
Hometown: Canton, OH
Major(s): theatre
Department Productions: 1st department production
Jalen Carr (Floyd), graduate student
Pronouns: he/him
Hometown: Houston, TX
Major(s): theatre
Department Productions: Wilderness; Blood Wedding
Aly Diallo (Canewell), junior
Pronouns: he/him
Hometown: Brooklyn, NY
Major(s): theatre
Department Productions: debut
Onaniah Garrett (Vera), graduate student
Pronouns: she/her
Hometown: Akron, OH
Major(s): Social Work
Department Productions: debut
Maylon Johnson (Louise), sophomore
Pronouns: she/her
Hometown: Cleveland, OH
Major(s): theatre
Department Productions: debut
Bráleena Pickens (Ruby), sophomore
Pronouns: she/they
Hometown: Worthington, OH
Major(s): dance; theatre
Minor(s): musical theatre; voice acting
Department Productions: debut
Othman Shuri (Hedley), junior
Hometown: Makkah, Saudi Arabia
Major(s): theatre
Department Productions: Blood Wedding; The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Amir Stokes (Red Carter), junior
Pronouns: he/him
Hometown: Canton, OH
Major(s): engineering
Department Productions: debut
Zach Sudal (asst. stage manager), senior
Hometown: Dublin, OH
Major(s): theatre
Minor(s): psychology
Department Productions: 1st department production
Sunny Walton (asst. properties designer), senior
Pronouns: they/them
Hometown: Clarksburg, MD
Major(s): theatre
Minor(s): studio art
Department Productions: She Kills Monsters
Sydney Webb (dramaturg), senior
Pronouns: she/her
Hometown: Galena, OH
Major(s): business administration; theatre
Minor(s): musical theatre
Department Productions: 1st department production
Megan Wells (scenic designer and properties designer), graduate student
Pronouns: she/her
Hometown: Milwaukee, WI
Major(s): theatre
Department Productions: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Robbie Wilt (asst. lighting designer), graduate student
Pronouns: he/him
Hometown: Tyler, TX
Major(s): theatre
Department Productions: 1st department production
Terrence Spivey is a native of Kountze, Texas, and a graduate of Prairie View A&M University under the guidance of late legends, playwright/professor Dr. Ted Shine and director/professor, Clarance Lee Turner. After college, Spivey relocated to New York City and studied at William Esper Studio. Appeared in plays such as Elmo Terry- Morgan’s AUDELCO award-winning The Fruits of Miss Mourning, the late Monteria Ivey’s Only For a Moment at The National Black Theatre, Waiting for Lefty at Michael Chekhov Studio, Lisa Jones Combination Skin: The $100,000 Tragic Mulatto Show at New Voices/New Vision Festival, Ethnic Cleansing for NPR. Films; indie West New York with Frank Vincent, Norman Loftis Messenger, indie slasher cult-classic Slime City. Soaps includes One Life to Live, music videos with Anita Baker and The Fat Boys. His NYC directing included Ntozake Shange's For Colored Girls Who Considered Suicide When The Rainbow Is Enuff in Harlem, A Solo Song: For Doc for Blackgirl Ensemble. His first script, Smokestack Lightnin' was a finalist for Theodore Ward Prize for African American Playwriting, in Chicago.
After New York, he was the artistic director of Karamu House, the oldest black theatre in the country, in Cleveland Ohio, for twelve years. During his position at Karamu House, he directed award-winning productions included bee- luther-hatchee, Dream of Monkey Mountain, The Blacks: A Clown Show, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, Bourbon at the Border, Permanent Collection, The Wiz, God’s Trombones and more. He and the historical institution garnered multiple accolades; 2005 National Black Theatre Festival Longevity Award, 2005 BTN Pathfinder Award, AUDELCO 2013 Repertory Company of the Year. Spivey was awarded a Proclamation from the City of Cleveland in 2010, 2017 Best Director by Cleveland Scene and 2017 Alan Schneider Award Nominee.
He is currently the founder of Powerful Long Ladder and The Ultimate Reach (TUR), its outreach program. He inaugurated his company with James Baldwin's The Amen Corner and produced the Ohio premiere of Resistance by Golden Globe winner Regina Taylor in collaboration with Cleveland's Borderlight Theatre Festival. His freelance work included; Fences, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill (Weathervane Playhouse), Radio Golf (Cleveland Ensemble Theatre), Bootycandy, Neighbors (convergence-continuum), Objectively/Reasonable: A Community Response to Tamir Rice, 11/22/14, The Phoenix Society, Live Bodies for Sale, (Playwrights Local), Breath, Boom (John Carroll University), Bourbon at the Border (Alleghany College), Master Harold and the Boys (Cleveland State University), No Niggers, No Jews, No Dogs (Kent State University Pan African Studies.
In 2022, he was commissioned to write and direct An Ocean in My Bones, about the last illegal slaves by Joycelyn Davis for the Clotilda Descendants Association in Mobile Alabama. It premiered February 2022 in Africatown, the only black community in the country founded by enslaved Africans. Accolades followed such as Who’s Who in Black Cleveland 2023, 2023 Resolution from Cleveland City Council. He was also bestowed the Preserving Truth in Education Award in 2023 by Color of Change, one of the nation’s largest organizations on racial justice. His original short play. Outta da Horse's Mouth was presented at Africatown Heritage House last summer.
Spivey has worked with legends Ruby Dee, Bill Cobbs, Leslie Uggams, Ntozake Shange, Je Franklin, Regina Taylor, Spike Lee Richard Brooks, Mississippi Charles Bevels, Arthur French, Frank Vincent, Clebert Ford, Javon Johnson, Kim Sullivan. He has appeared in prestigious magazines and newspapers; New York Times American Theatre, Artist and Influence, Back Stage, Black Theatre, Ebony, Macelle Mahala’s Black Theatre, City Life, featured in PBS /Ideastream Karamu: 100 Years in the House. He was Keynote Speaker at the 2015 USITT Conference at the Duke Energy Center in Cincinnati, Ohio. He is a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, Dramatist Guild, board member for AUDELCO in New York City.
He has been selected as a 2024 Visiting Voices Ambassador by the Dramatist Guild Foundation in New York City.
