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The Two Gentlemen of Verona
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About CSF's production
Synopsis
Cast list
Biographies of the director, guest artists & designers

PHOTOS
Photo Credit: Lou Costy


 

Aaron Munoz as Launce & Mountie as Crab

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Aaron Munoz as Launce & Mountie as Crab

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Aaron Munoz as Launce & Mountie as Crab

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Clockwise from top: Aaron Munoz as Launce, Daniel Larlham
as Proteus, Kyle Haden as Valentine, & Mountie as Crab

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(r to l) Erin Moon as Julia, Daniel Larlham as Proteus,
Kyle Haden as Valentine & Gloria Biegler as Sylvia

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(r to l) Erin Moon as Julia, Daniel Larlham as Proteus,
Gloria Biegler as Silvia, & Kyle Haden as Valentine

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ABOUT CSF'S THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA
 
Love at first sight is a guiding principle in director Jane Page's production of The Two Gentlemen of Verona.  The play opens in sedate Verona but audience members are soon transported to the alluring amusement park setting of Milan.  Here, amidst thrilling rides and games of chance, characters fall for and away from each other.  A band of putti, cherubic guardians, watch over all to safeguard love's power.  Adding to the fun, the clownish Launce, his canine counterpart Crab, and his companion Speed revel in hilariously idiosyncratic notions of romance.

To complement Page's celebratory concept, scene designer Bruce Bergner has constructed a veritable fun park. Above the heads of the lovers a roller coaster soars, echoing the erratic nature of their relationships. Balancing the physical thrill of the coaster are brilliant banners evoking the games of skill on the midway. Setting love in motion, an illuminated Ferris wheel rises in the center of the stage.

While the action remains in Verona, costume designer Maureen Stevens creates a strong impression of propriety. Julia's simple skirt and blouse remind us that people in this environment do not indulge in  revelry. Proteus and Valentine likewise don respectable suits. Once the two gentlemen arrive in Milan, the audience sees color and more color. The lovers are transformed in the park's free-for-all atmosphere but Launce and Speed seem more at home here than in Verona.  Putti roam the set in wings and diapers reminding us that, for an evening at least, love reigns supreme.
 

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SYNOPSIS
 

Valentine departs for the court of Milan, leaving his childhood friend Proteus in Verona deeply in love with Julia. The couple's happiness is soon upset when Proteus' father Antonio orders him to the Milanese court where he will be attended by his servant Launce (and Launce's dog, Crab). Before they separate, Proteus and Julia exchange rings and vows of fidelity.

In Milan, Valentine falls for the Duke's daughter Silvia who unfortunately is already betrothed to the wealthy Thurio. Silvia returns Valentine's affections, and the two lay secret plans to elope when Proteus arrives from Verona. Launce meets Speed, Valentine's page, and they discuss with Crab the virtues of maidens and the peculiar nature of dogs. Proteus, meanwhile, has been smitten with Silvia and plots to win her for himself. Revealing the planned elopement to the Duke, he forswears both Julia and Valentine. The Duke banishes Valentine who retreats to the forest where he encounters a band of outlaws that take him in as their leader.

Pining for Proteus in Verona, Julia decides to disguise herself as Sebastian and travel to Milan. There she finds her supposed lover wooing Silvia. Taking Sebastian as his page, Proteus employs Julia in his deceit. Dreading Proteus and the impending marriage to Thurio, Silvia flees into the forest. Proteus and Sebastian follow and find her amidst Valentine's woodland bandits. In the mystery of the forest, the friends and lovers are forced to determine the value of faithfulness and forgiveness.
 

 

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CAST THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA
Juliette Avila...................Lucetta
Gloria Biegler......................Silvia
Kyle Haden..................Valentine
Richard Haratine..............Thurio
Daniel Larlham...............Proteus
Erin Moon............................Julia
Mountie...............................Crab
Aaron Munoz..................Launce
Jill Palmer...........................Babe
Chip Persons....................Speed
Lars Tatom..........................Duke
John Tessmer.................Antonio
Annie Yim..........................Ursula
James Esley, John Jurcheck, Sam Sandoe, Dana Wall, Jordan Young............Outlaws





 

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BIOGRAPHIES
Jane Page, Director
Jane Page, a first time CSF director, was CSF production stage manager from 1978-1980.  Her directing credits include work with the Denver Center Theatre Company, Snowmass Repertory Theatre, Virginia Museum Theatre and Chicago’s Fusion Theatre.  At Studio Arena Theatre in Buffalo, N.Y., Page recently directed the U.S. premiere of A Secret Garden, as well as the North American premiere of Dead Guilty, and productions of Italian American Reconciliation, How I Learned to Drive, and Wait Until Dark.  She has directed over 70 regional productions, including the regional premieres of Marvin’s Room, Spoils of War, Nora, Three More Sisters, and Four Portraits of Mothers.  Her production of A Shayna Maidel received the Denver Drama Critics "Best Play of the Year" Award.  She also won the Fringe First Award at the Edinburgh International Theatre Festival in Scotland for the world premiere of Amelia Lives.  Page, who is married to past CSF director Gavin Cameron-Webb, lives in Denver. 

Gloria Biegler*, Guest Artist playing Silvia
Gloria Biegler most recently appeared as Ellen in Over the Tavern at Virginia Stage Company in Norfolk.  Boulder area audiences may remember her work at The Denver Center Theatre Company in Macbeth, Life is a Dream, The Rivals and The Miser.  She was a member of the Broadway companies of Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia and Michael Weller’s Spoils of War, and of the off-Broadway company of Mrs. Klein, starring Uta Hagen.  Biegler played Cordelia to Hal Holbrook’s King Lear at New York’s Roundabout Theatre.  Her numerous regional credits include Elizabeth in the world premiere of Thomas Babe’s Great Day in the Morning at the South Coast Repertory (for which she won the Drama-Logue Award for Best Actress) and Valerie in the regional premiere of The Weir at The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis.  Biegler has also appeared on television in Law & Order, All My Children, One Life to Live and The Guiding Light.  This is her first season with CSF. 
*Appearing courtesy of Actor’s Equity

Bruce Bergner, Scenic Designer
Designer of the C.U. Heritage Center’s CSF exhibit and resident scene designer for the C.U. Department of Theatre and Dance, Bruce Bergner designed the 1999 CSF productions of The Merry Wives of Windsor and The Comedy of Errors.  For more than 15 years, he’s been a scenic and lighting designer for regional theatres on the West Coast, as well as in Chicago, St. Louis and the Southeast.  Recent credits include A Thousand Cranes at the Repertory Theatre and On the Town at Stages, both in St. Louis; Candida at the Clarence Brown Company in Knoxville, Tenn., and Café Universe at the Hemingway Foundation in Chicago.  Bergner has also designed numerous industrial events, and commercial parties. 

Maureen Carr-Stevens, Costume Designer
The faculty costume designer at Niagara University, Maureen Carr-Stevens received her B.S. from SUNY College-Buffalo and her M.F.A. in costume design from the University of Illinois’ Karat Center for the Performing Arts.  A former CSF painter/dyer and costume director, she was the costume designer for the 1997 production of The Taming of the Shrew.  Other favorite credits include the premiere of Over the Tavern at Buffalo’s Studio Arena Theatre, Niagara University’s production of Steel Pier, and On the Verge for Illinois Repertory Theatre.

Michael Wellborn, Lighting Designer
In his 13th season at CSF, Michael Wellborn began his association with the Festival in 1980 as the sound designer for Henry V and Love’s Labours Lost.  Over the past eleven years he has designed lighting for 28 productions, including last season’s Twelfth Night, Julius Caesar and Henry V.  A member of the dance program faculty at the University of Washington, Wellborn designed lighting for Seattle’s A Contemporary Theatre, Repertory Theatre and Children’s Theatre, as well as for various theatre, dance and opera companies around the Pacific Northwest.  His dance designs have toured the U.S., Europe and Asia.

 

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