Joy and Pandemic
A play by Taylor Mac
Directed by Loretta Greco
The Huntington
@ Calderwood/BCA
527 Tremont St. Boston, MA 02116
This event has passed
Approximate run time: 1 hour, 55 minutes with one intermission.
Show Synopsis:
Joy and Pandemic questions how our passions regarding family, art, and war impact the very meaning of our lives. As Joy finds her Philadelphia children’s art school at risk in a burgeoning public health crisis, she hopes to keep her dream of the school alive. When her unyielding faith runs up against another mother’s beliefs, an afternoon in the early 20th century transforms the world for both of their daughters for decades to come. With infinite humor and insight, MacArthur Fellow Taylor Mac and The Huntington’s artistic director Loretta Greco explore the complex and ever-evolving relationships between science and faith, art and tradition, parents and children, and choice and consequence.
Cast & Crew:
Ella Dershowitz
Young Pilly
Ella Dershowitz
Ella Dershowitz Off Broadway: Can You Forgive Her? (Vineyard Theatre), Intimacy (The New Group), Card and Gift (Clubbed Thumb), Connected (59E59), On the Verge (Attic Theater), Three Musketeers 1941 (Project Y), A Splintered Soul (Theater Three).
Breezy Leigh
Melanie / Marjory
Breezy Leigh
Breezy Leigh Off Broadway: Le Blanc (People’s Improv Theater); A Sketch of New York (The Producers’ Club Theater). Regional: Superstitions (OKC Rep); Oedipus Rex/ Symphony of Psalms (SF Symphony); Animals Out of Paper (Chautauqua Theater Company).
Stacy Fischer
Joy / Pilly
Stacy Fischer
Stacy Fischer The Huntington: Common Ground Revisited, Our Town, A Month in the Country. Regional: The Pink Unicorn, Necessary Monsters (SpeakEasy Stage); Photograph 51 and Hysteria (Central Square Theater); Frozen, Three Sisters (Harbor Stage Company). Also, Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, Gloucester Stage, Greater Boston Stage Company, Lyric Stage, New Repertory Theatre, North Shore Music Theatre, and WHAT.
Marceline Hugot
Rosemary
Marceline Hugot
Marceline Hugot Broadway: Prelude to a Kiss. Off Broadway: Marys Seacole, Measure for Measure (Lincoln Center); Christina Alberta’s Father (Vineyard Theatre); Cider House Rules (Atlantic Theatre). Regional: A Moon for the Misbegotten (Actor’s Theatre of Louisville); Pride’s Crossing (Old Globe); Lake Hollywood (Guthrie Theatre). Also, McCarter Theatre, Berkeley Rep, LaJolla Playhouse, Milwaukee Rep, and Cape Playhouse.
Ryan Winkles
Bradford
Ryan Winkles
Ryan Winkles Regional: Universe Rushing Apart (Commonwealth Shakespeare); Mr Fullerton Between the Sheets (Gloucester Stage); Breakwater (Great Barrington Public Theater); Visitors (Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse); Pericles (the rig); ROE (WAM Theater).
Rebecca Whitney Klein
U/S Young Pilly
Rebecca Whitney Klein
Rebecca Whitney Klein Off Broadway: Woman on Fire (Royal Family Productions). Regional: Brundibar (Central Square Theatre); Br’er Cotton, Buried Deep (Endstation Theatre Company). University: Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again (JMU). Education: James Madison University. Signed with UGA Talent, Rebecca is a Brooklyn- and Boston-based actor/singer/creator. IG: @rebeccawhitneyklein
Alexander Platt
U/S Bradford
Alexander Platt
Alexander Platt Regional: Stage Kiss, Chinglish (Lyric Stage Company); Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery, True West (Gloucester Stage); Miss Holmes, Miss Holmes Returns, Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, Neville’s Island (Greater Boston Stage Company); Hamlet (Actor’s Shakespeare Project); Cloud 9, Arcadia, Insignificance (Central Square Theatre); Macbeth (The Hanover Theatre Rep); Macbeth, Social Creatures, Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Trinity Rep); Assassins, Hedda Gabler, Far Away, Festen, Paul, Don Carlos (Gamm Theatre).
Marina Re
U/S Rosemary
Marina Re
Marina Re The Huntington: Saturday Sunday Monday. Off Broadway: LaMama, NY Classical, Bleecker Street, Flea, Abington, Lion on Theatre Row, HB Playwrights Theatre. Regional: Two River Theatre, Riverside Theatre, Centre Stage, Florida Studio Theatre, Gulfshore Playhouse, Merrimack Rep, Connecticut Rep, National Theatre of the Deaf National Tour, Peterborough Players, Charles Playhouse, Arts Center of Coastal Carolina, Public Theatre of Maine, Coachella Valley Rep, Gloucester Stage, Lyric Stage of Boston, Shadowland Stage, Seven Angels Theatre.
Thomika Marie Bridwell
U/S Melanie / Marjory
Thomika Marie Bridwell
Thomika Marie Bridwell The Huntington: Joy and Pandemic. Front Porch Arts Collective and The Huntington: K-I-S-S-I-N-G. Front Porch Arts Collective: Chicken and Biscuits. Regional: A Christmas Carol(Hanover Theater); BLKS(SpeakEasy Stage); A Midsummers Night Dream(Boston Theater Company); Miss You Like Hell (Company One/ART); Coriolanus, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf (Praxis Stage).
Becca A. Lewis
U/S Joy / Pilly
Becca A. Lewis
Becca A. Lewis The Huntington: Dream Boston, Lizzie Stranton, Breaking Ground Festival. Regional: The Women Who Mapped the Stars (Nora, Central Square); Charlotte’s Web (Wheelock); Broken, The Book Club Play (Boston Playwrights’); Voyeurs de Venus, GRIMM, Splendor, Revolt. She said. Revolt again. (Company One); Greater Good (Company One / ART), Cry it Out, The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart, Three Sisters, Detroit, The Seagull, Proof (Apollinaire); Cato & Dolly (Bostonian Society/Plays in Place); The Pineapple Project (Queer Soup).
Taylor Mac
Playwright
Taylor Mac
Taylor Mac is a MacArthur Fellow, a Pulitzer Prize Finalist, a Tony nominee (for Best Play), and the recipient of the Kennedy Prize (with Matt Ray), the Doris Duke Performing Artist Award, a Guggenheim, a Drama League Award, a NY Drama Critics Circle Award, two Obie’s, two Bessies, and the first American to receive the International Ibsen Award.
Loretta Greco
Director
Lyndsay Allyn Cox
Associate Director
Lyndsay Allyn Cox
Lyndsay Allyn Cox is in her second season at The Huntington. Huntington acting credits: Common Ground Revisited, Our Daughters, Like Pillars, and Witch. Huntington directing credits: Joy and Pandemic (Associate Director). Select regional acting: Fairview, Men on Boats (SpeakEasy Stage) Fabulation, Barbecue and By The Way, Meet Vera Stark (Lyric Stage Company); Bright Half Life (Actors’ Shakespeare Project); Three Musketeers (Greater Boston Stage Company); Winter People (Boston Playwrights’ Theatre); Leftovers and The Overwhelming (Company One Theatre).
Shirley Fishman
Dramaturg
Shirley Fishman
Shirley Fishman As Associate Artistic Director, Director of New Play Development at La Jolla Playhouse and Dramaturg, Shirley has worked with playwrights and directors on new plays and musicals (including Tony Award-winning Come from Away and Indecent), the annual POP Tour that brings new plays to San Diego County elementary schools, and workshops and readings of projects in development for the DNA new work series and beyond.
Frances Hellums
Assistant Director
Frances Hellums
Frances Hellums (she/her) Regional (acting): The Tempest (Theater in the Open); And Your Little Dog Too (Apollinaire Theatre). University (acting): Sunlight Interior, Appropriate, My Fair Lady (Boston University). Dramaturgy: Hack (SheNYC). Directing: The Lady with the Lap Dog, Sometime When Everything Has Changed (Boston University). Education: BFA Theatre Arts Performance with concentrations in directing and musical theatre (Boston University). franceshellums.com @fbhellums
Arnulfo Maldonado
Set Designer
Arnulfo Maldonado
Arnulfo Maldonado Broadway: A Strange Loop (Tony Nominee); Topdog/Underdog, Trouble in Mind. Off Broadway: Shhhh (Atlantic Theatre Company); The Coast Starlight (Lincoln Center Theater); Nollywood Dreams, School Girls… (MCC); The New Englanders, Sugar in Our Wounds [Lucille Lortel Award] (MTC); Dance Nation, Wish You Were Here (Playwrights Horizons); To My Girls (Second Stage); A Case for the Existence of God, Fires in the Mirror, My Broken Language (Signature Theatre).
Sarita Fellows
Costume Designer
Sarita Fellows
Sarita Fellows was born in Freetown, Sierra Leone. The Huntington: Joy and Pandemic, Our Daughters Like Pillars. Broadway: Death of a Salesman. Off Broadway: Elyria (Atlantic Theater Company); The Ally, A Bright Room Called Day (Public Theater).
Rachel Padula-Shufelt
Wig and Hair Designer
Rachel Padula-Shufelt
Rachel Padula-Shufelt The Huntington: The Band’s Visit, The Heart Sellers, Joy and Pandemic, The Colored Museum. Broadway: Glass Menagerie, Waitress. ART credits: Life of Pi, Macbeth in Stride, Moby Dick (Elliot Norton Award winner- Best Design), Black Clown, Waitress, Fingersmith (Elliot Norton Award winner- Best Design), Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 (Elliot Norton award winner- Best Design), Marie Antoinette, and Crossing.
Jen Schriever
Lighting Designer
Jen Schriever
Jen Schriever The Huntington: Hurricane Diane. Broadway: A Strange Loop(Tony Nomination); Death of a Salesman; 1776; Birthday Candles; Lackawanna Blues; Grand Horizons; What the Constitution Means to Me (also on Amazon); The Lifespan of a Fact; Eclipsed; John Leguizamo’s Ghetto Klown. Off Broadway:White Girl in Danger (2ST/Vineyard); To My Girls, SuperHero (2ST); Shhhh(Atlantic); A Bright New Boise, My Broken Language, Thom Pain, Night is a Room (Signature); Strange Interlude (Transport Group); The Moors (Playwrights Realm).
Fan Zhang
Sound Designer and Composer
Fan Zhang
Fan Zhang The Huntington: Joy and Pandemic.
Rebecca Schneebaum
Voice Coach
Rebecca Schneebaum
Rebecca Schneebaum The Huntington: K-I-S-S-I-N-G (co-production with Front Porch Arts Collective), Clyde’s, The Niceties. Regional: Angels in America (Central Square Theater/Bedlam); Photograph 51 (Central Square Theater/Nora Theater); Bud Not Buddy (Wheelock Family Theater); A Christmas Carol (Hartford Stage); Richard II, Edward II, Midsummer Night’s Dream, Twelfth Night (Actor’s Shakespeare Project).
Kevin Schlagle
Production Stage Manager
Kevin Schlagle
Kevin Schlagle is the Resident Producer and has worked on over 40 productions in 14 seasons with The Huntington, many times as a stage manager, including The Band’s Visit, Prayer for the French Republic, Joy and Pandemic, K-I-S-S-I-N-G, Witch, The Purists, Yerma, Merrily We Roll Along, Ripcord, Topdog/Underdog, Sunday in the Park with George, Milk Like Sugar, A Confederacy of Dunces, A Little Night Music, Smart People, Our Town, and Prelude to a Kiss.
Ashley Pitchford
Stage Manager
Ashley Pitchford
Ashley Pitchford The Huntington: John Proctor is the Villain, The Heart Sellers, Fat Ham, Joy and Pandemic, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, Our Daughters, Like Pillars, Teenage Dick, Witch, We All Fall Down, Man in the Ring. Regional: The Winter’s Tale, Macbeth, Much Ado About Nothing, The Tempest, Richard III (Commonwealth Shakespeare Company); A Strange Loop (SpeakEasy Stage); Seven Guitars (Actors’ Shakespeare Project); The Taming of the Shrew (Lanes Coven Theatre Company); Create. Inspire. Change Theatre Company; Happy Madison Productions. Education: BFA Stage Management.
Sondra R. Katz
General Manager
Sondra R. Katz
Sondra Katz is in her twenty-first season at The Huntington. She has worked on Broadway, Off Broadway, and regionally as a stage manager, company manager, production manager and general manager.
Rosalind Bevan
Casting
Rosalind Bevan
Rosalind Bevan The Huntington: Joy & Pandemic, Clyde’s, K-I-S-S-I-N-G, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, Common Ground Revisited, Our Daughters, Like Pillars, The Bluest Eye, (Line Producer); Witch (Assistant Director); Dream Boston audio plays: Echoes and The 54th in ‘22 (Director).
Additional Staff for Joy and Pandemic
Associate Director ……………………Lyndsay Allyn Cox
Assistant Director ………………………Frances Hellums
Voice Coach………………………..Rebecca Schneebaum
Movement Consultant………………………Ryan Winkles
Associate Sound Designer……………………Tyler Berg
Production Assistants……………………Winnie Chiang, Hannah Marks, Bethany Rachel
Carpenters…………………William Stanley, Amy West, Hannah Ashe, Joe Ellard, Julia Wonka, Steven Asaro
Scenic Artists………..Sam Galvao, Saskia Martinez
Props Artisan…………Ian Thorsell, Steven Doucette
Props Run……………………………………..Corey Roberts
First Costumer………………………………..Becca Jewitt
Stitcher…………………………..Ana-Ayanna Escalante, Maegan Pate
Wardrobe………………………………………….Zoë Sundra
Wardrobe Swing……………………………Jennie Fuchs
Wig Run…………………………………………..Lia Maynard
Season Electrician………………………..Anna Brevetti
Electricians…………………………………..Kevin Barnett, Violet Gayzagian, Gabe Karr, Callie Moos, Cameron Parsons Muniz, Dylan Norris, Eliott Purcell
Audio Run (A2)………………………….Lexie Lankiewicz
Brighter Boston Interns………………..Dillon Brooks, Nicolas Nolasco
COVID SAFETY POLICY FOR JOY & PANDEMIC
Masks are encouraged but are no longer required for any performances.
Anyone who feels uncomfortable can ask the House Manager about alternative options which may include:
- a better quality mask
- a new seat further distanced from other patrons
- re-scheduling for a different performance
- a shift to the at-home Digital Streaming option, when applicable
Any patron interested in attending a different performance will be able to exchange their tickets by contacting our ticketing services staff.
IF YOU ARE EXPERIENCING ANY COVID SYMPTOMS, STAY HOME.
If on the day of your performance, you are experiencing any COVID symptoms, please reach out to the box office to easily exchange to a different performance or to the at-home Digital Streaming option.
Please contact Ticketing Services at 617-266-0800 or tickets@huntingtontheatre.org for more information about exchanges and contact covidsafety@huntingtontheatre.org with any questions or concerns.
