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Cast and Crew of “The Temperamentals”

Daniel Wood (Harry Hay)

Daniel WoodDaniel is so excited to be debuting with Arouet. As an ardent supporter of and advocate for LGBTQ rights he is especially delighted to be debuting in this play, a play that touches him personally and has sparked a continued interest in the history and development of the gay civil rights movement. Some of Daniel’s favorite roles around town include Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing (SecondStory Rep), the title role in The American Pilot (Theater Schmeater), Stephano in The Tempest (GreenStage), John Alex in the world premier of Of Dice and Men (Critical Threat Theater @ PAX) and multiple roles in the Seattle Times Footlight Award winning production of Edmond (Balagan Theatre). You may have also seen him perform with Book-It Rep, Seattle Public Theater, Wooden O, Annex Theatre, Centerstage, Sound Theatre Company, Harlequin Productions, the Schoolyard and the Seattle Opera. Much love to his beautiful wife and strongest supporter Julia Evanovich. He would like to take this time to express his extreme pleasure that his gay brothers and sisters can now enjoy the same joys of marriage that he does. Love and equality for all!


Jaryl Draper (Rudi Gernreich)

Jaryl DraperThis is Jaryl’s first show with Arouet. He is thrilled to take part in this production of The Temperamentals, and feels very lucky to join this incredible cast. Around town he has worked with such theaters as Book-It Repertory, Stone Soup Theatre, Greenstage, Harlequin Productions, Women Seeking…, Pacific Play Company, Seattle Playwrights Collective, Woodinville Repertory, UPAC, and Eclectic Theatre Company. He received his B.A. in perfomance at Central Washington University in 2009 and has hopes for Graduate school in the near future. Some of his favorite roles include Bill in Sure Thing, Sherwin in The Lifeboat is Sinking, Tranio in The Taming of the Shrew, and Uncle Peck in Stone Soup Thatre’s production of How I Learned to Drive, for which he received a 2011 Gypsy Rose Lee Award for Excellence in performance by a lead actor.


Greg Bee (Chuck Rowland and others)

Greg BeeGreg is a writer, actor and nationally recognized performance poet who lives in Seattle. He has written and performed poetry at Poetry Slams across North America for more than 10 years, and was a contributing writer on Arouet’s 2012 production of Lawfully Wedded in Seattle.


Will Halsey (Bob Hull and others)

Will HalseyWill is thrilled to make his Arouet debut in The Temperamentals with this wonderful cast and crew. Will grew up in Missouri, way too shy and closeted to perform. During the past 10 years in Seattle, he’s been trying to make up for lost time with local companies, including The Village Theatre, Puget Sound Opera, Book-It Repertory, Driftwood Players, the Seattle Men’s Chorus, and the former Northwest Actor’s Studio. Favorite roles include Joshua in Corpus Christi, Mitch in Saucy Jack and the Space Vixens, Brian in Party, and Toby (the mute), in Gian Carlo Menotti’s opera, The Medium. Will’s formal training is in music – trumpet performance and conducting. Much gratitude to Roy for this opportunity, to the men portrayed here for their world-shifting strength and conviction, and Charlie – for your love and acceptance of me in all my temperamental-ness.


Justin Ison (Dale Jennings and others)

Justin IsonJustin is an artist who has worked in illustration, animation, comic books, graphic design, and of course, theater, as well as less-successful forays into sculpture, music, and stand-up comedy. You may have seen Justin on stage in 2012 as Judge Littlefield in Ghost Light Theatricals’ production of The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, or playing guitar in the house band for Scapin, or as straight-laced Detective Ed Shepard in LAPDSMU, produced for the Seattle Fringe Festival. In January 2013, Justin will be making his directorial debut with The Rest Is Silence (which he co-wrote with Stephen Scheide), an absurdist comedy exploring the relationship between Hamlet, Horatio, and reality television. He also has a website, which you can see here.


Roy Arauz (Director)

Roy ArauzRoy is very excited to bring The Temperamentals for the first time to the Northwest stage, and for the chance to work with his first all-male cast. With a background dance, choreography, and stage management, he now directs around the Puget Sound and is Artistic Director at Arouet. Locally he has worked in various capacities at ArtsWest, The Driftwood Players, Redwood Theatre, SecondStory Repertory Snoqualmie Falls Forest Theatre, Studio East, and Valley Community Players. Recent directing credits: The Hen Night Epiphany (a The Driftwood Players’ TIP/Arouet collaboration), The Music Man (The Driftwood Players), and Anna in The Tropics (Latino Theatre Projects.)


Mariajose Barrera (Production Manager)

Mariajose BarreraI am a Guatemalan born and raised, have lived permanently in the U.S.A. for 12 years, a business manager and owner who came into theater by chance, when given the opportunity to write and perform a short monologue for the 2011 Latino Community fund.


John Epperson (Sound Design)

John Epperson, SeattleJohn is a recording artist. His work appears on many albums, compilations and DVDs as well as television, film and video games. When not making weird noises with synthesizers, Epperson designs sound for theatre. He has previously worked with Arouet, ArtsWest, Driftwood Players, Latino Theatre Projects, Redwood Theatre and Theatre 9/12. John has a website.


Keith A. Gehrig (Lighting Design)

Keith A. GehrigKeith is a 20 year veteran of theater in the Puget Sound area. He has designed lighting for Evergreen Theatre, Civic Light Opera (now Seattle Musical Theatre), Driftwood Players, Tacoma Little Theater, Northwest Savoyards, Seattle Comic Opera, and Gaydar Productions. Also a scenic designer, master electrician, actor and playwright, his day job is running the front office for The Driftwood Players in Edmonds. When not in a theater, he spends his time with his two “guys”, Chazz and Dave.


Dani Dodge (Stage Manager)

Dani DodgeDani has been in Seattle since October and is loving it. She last Stage Managed Ghost Light theatricals Hamlet, and will be working on Props for Theater Schmeater’s Game Show. She is a legal assistant by day, Theatre enthusiast by night, and an artist on the weekends.


Kim Rosin
 (Set Design)

Kim Rosin, Set Designer, VancouverKim’s path to set design has meandered through several creative jobs in the architecture and interior design fields, with a start in her working life at Sotheby’s in Johannesburg and London, all of which provided valuable influences to her work. She has also designed her own fabrics and line of products, manufactured locally under the label: Kimthings. She has a degree in Fine Art and Art History from the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa and studied Textile Design at Central St Martin’s College of Art in London.

In 2012 she designed and painted the sets for Timepieces, The House of Bernarda Alba and Woman in the Wall. She has also designed sets for productions of Snakes and Ladders, The Torch Bearers, Once in a Lifetime and Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean.


Kristina Hestenes Stimson (Costuming)

Kristina Hestenes StimsonKristina recently provided Costuming for Arouet’s production of The House of Bernada Alba, and Set Design, Costuming, and Props for the play Frankie and Johnny. In film, she did Set Decoration and Production Design for Sister Billie’s Sinner Hour, which won best costuming in the 2010 48-Hour Film Festival; and she was the Production Designer for the film short Three Mothers. She is a licensed architect and studied fine art in France at the L’Ecole Des Beaux-Arts.

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The Rewards and Challenges of a Prop Designer

For me designing props for a play is a process unique to each individual show. Most of the time when I read a script it will be immediately obvious to me what most of the props will be, what they’ll look like, where to get them or how to build them. For some unexplained reason this show was the exception. I read the script and it wasn’t immediately obvious, I mean yes there were some obvious props that were spelled out such as a bottle of Jack Daniels but there were so many things I couldn’t get the feel for—the images just weren’t coming. It was a scary and frustrating experience. So to overcome this “block” I decided to make a list of everything that was obvious and then wait to go to the reading of the script with all of the actors in place, I thought then I’ll get to know the character’s personalities better and get a feel for what sorts of items these people would use in their every day lives and in particular for this specific event in their lives. The reading cleared some things up, but not everything. After that I needed to balance what I wanted with what the director wanted and what would ultimately fit within the budget—which can be tricky with so many props called for. Through weeks of scouring the prop storage space at the theatre plus items borrowed from individual people and some shopping a cohesive design seemed to pull itself together, almost taking on a life of its own, it’s this part that I find most rewarding, the feeling of it come together…under budget (phew!).

The biggest challenge for me on this show believe it or not, was the champagne bottle. I struggled for weeks on what to do about it! Which is crazy, it’s just a fricken champagne bottle. But it wasn’t just a champagne bottle. At first it was going to be a champagne bottle that was going to be opened and the champagne was going to be poured into champagne glasses. This seems easy enough to make happen, just open a bottle of champagne and pour it, right?! Oh contraire, first we have the aforementioned budget to stay within, a new bottle of champagne for every show plus tech rehearsals will not achieve that goal. Second, it’s alcohol, which can come with its own set of issues. So real champagne was out and I needed to come up with a way to re-cork a bottle of champagne, fill it up with a carbonated beverage that would produce enough pressure to make the “pop” sound and have it look like actual champagne once poured. After days of playing with re-usable bottle stoppers, carbonated water and food dye I wasn’t getting the look and sound I wanted. Finally after I could not come up with anything else and was going crazy trying to figure it out my husband suggested instead of continuing to mess with the liquid inside why notget a different stopper—like magic, that solved most of my issues (he’s truly a genius)! I actually had a stopper in my house that allowed me to achieve the outside look I wanted and for the liquid I decided I would just fill the bottle up with sparkling cider, the only component that I really couldn’t achieve was the pop, without a good shake of the bottle which unfortunately would make a fantastic unwanted mess. It turns out that wasn’t necessary because the bottle never ends up getting opened. Sometimes it’s the simplest props that end up being the most challenging, which sometimes also ends up being the most rewarding.

Jen Cabarrus, Properties

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A Partnership to Help Raise Awareness About Domestic Violence

I have really fallen in love with The Hen Night Epiphany over the past few months. I have read through the script at least five times since the education team began working on our lesson plans, and I find that I am touched emotionally every single time. Award-winning author Jimmy Murphy is incredibly insightful and gifted, and he succeeds in creating a hauntingly realistic portrayal of domestic violence. As the production and education team explored the script we realized that Murphy’s story mirrors reality, and that this production is one that cannot be produced for entertainment purposes alone.

As a company with a mission that supports all people in need, we found our call to action was to take an active role to speak out against domestic violence. There are some great resources for those suffering from domestic violence in Washington State, and I am excited to announce that Arouet will be partnering with Domestic Abuse Women’s Network (DAWN). This fantastic organization works diligently to speak out and prevent domestic violence, as well as support those who are, or have been, affected by domestic violence.

To help DAWN with their incredible efforts, Arouet will be collecting donations at every performance. I encourage all of you to take a stand with Arouet and speak out against domestic violence. Below I have included statistics regarding DAWN and domestic abuse in Washington State.

DAWN’s mission is to lead and support efforts in south King County communities to end domestic violence. Over the past 33 years, DAWN has provided programs and services to an estimated 370,000+ survivors of domestic violence and their children.

For more information, please visit www.DawnOnline.org
DAWN is a 501(c)(3) organization

Daniel Cords,
Arouet Director of Education and Outreach

About DAWN

  • DAWN has been committed to providingculturally fluent services to survivors of domestic violence since 1980. DAWN remains the ONLY non-profit agency located in south King County that operates a 24-hour advocacy and crisis line and provides confidential emergency domestic violence shelter and services. 82% of every contributed dollar goes toward providing direct services to women and their children escaping domestic abuse.
  • In 2012, DAWN served a total of 13,068 clients including: 8,283 bed nights to 209 women and their children at DAWN’s emergency confidential shelter; 120 bed nights to 60 women, men and their families through hotel and motel vouchers; 3,245 bednights to 19 families in our Extended Stay transitional housing program;
  • 11,564 crisis calls from women, men and teens; and 1,216 individuals in our Community Advocacy Program, which includes support groups (in English and Spanish), mental health counseling, legal advocacy, children and you programs, and direct rent and utility assistance.
  • Also in 2012, DAWN’s DV institute trained more than 100 new ambassadors in the
    movement to end violence.
  • Over the past 33 years, DAWN has provided services to approximately 376,000+ survivors and their children.

About Domestic Abuse

  • 1 in 3 women and 1 in 7 men will experience domestic violence at some point in their lifetime.
  • On just one day in 2011, domestic violence programs in WA could not meet 502 requests for services due to a lack of resources – 79% of these requests were for emergency shelter and transitional housing.
  • Battering is the single major cause of injury to women – exceeding rapes, muggings, and auto accidents combined.
  • Ex-boyfriends perpetrate 11 percent of domestic violence homicides.
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Entrapment! The trials of Dale Jennings

Dale Jennings (1917-2000) was a writer, producing and stage director in Los Angeles and Pasadena. He studied dance with Lester Horton and Martha Graham, and served in the U.S. Army stationed in the Asiatic-Pacific theater. He was awarded a World War II Victory Medal, an American Campaign Medal, and Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, and a Philippine Liberation Ribbon.

Dale DancingIn 1950 he was one of the original founders of the Mattachine Society.

In 1952 he was arrested for indecent behavior, and they decided to fight the charge in court under grounds of entrapment. After a dramatic court trial, Jennings was acquitted, which energized other persecuted homosexual people into action throughout the nation and brought respect to the Mattachine Society. Most states have removed the infamous “Crimes Against Nature” statutes, party due to the influence of Dale Jennings.

He went on to publish ONE Magazine, dedicated to speaking out for homosexuals and sold on newsstands and by mail subscription. In 1954, the mailing was confiscated by the Los Angeles Postmaster on the basis of obscenity. The Federal Court case that followed ended with a 1958 U.S. Supreme Court decision ruling that a magazine calling for equality for homosexuals is not obscene. This decision brought more freedom to all media and was the basis for all future growth of the gay and lesbian press.

Source: http://www.outhistory.org/wiki/Dale_Jennings

The Temperamentals

Justin Ison will portray Dale Jennings and others in Arouet’s upcoming production of The Temperamentals, which recalls the founding of the Mattachine Society. Contribute to our Kickstarter campaign to bring their story to the Seattle stage.

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Where did we put the money from “The House Of Bernarda Alba”?

Here’s the thing: we are asking you to support The Temperamentals, but if our last Kickstarter Campaign is any evidence, then the money will be carried forward to other events in the Seattle community. For example, not only did our last Kickstarter campaign cover The House Of Bernarda Alba, but it also funded the free Arts Crush even Lawfully Wedded and our next production (with Driftwood Players) called The Hen Night Epiphany.

Your donation to support The Temperamentals will probably fund many other theatre events that enrich the community. And you can get tickets out of the deal. And a tax write off. How cool is that?

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Rudi Gernreich

Rudi Gernreich
Photo of Rudi Gernreich by Julian Wasser

Rudi Gernreich (1922-1985) was born in Vienna, Austria and moved with his mother to the United States following the 1938 Anschluss as Jewish refugees, settling in Los Angeles, California. Gernreich was a dancer with the Leslie Horton Modern Dance Troupe from 1942 to 1948 and, when he moved to the fashion world, took that influence with him translating the flexibility and comfort of dance clothes to high fashion. In 1950, having been convicted in an entrapment case himself, he became one of the five founding members of the Mattachine Society with his lover, Harry Hay. He supported the organization financially albeit anonymously, known only as “R.” He is noted for creating the monokini – the first topless bikini – and the thong, and designed the Moonbase Alpha uniforms in the British sci-fi series Space: 1999. He has been hailed as “one of the most original, prophetic, and controversial American designers of the 1950s through the 1970s” and was named one of Time Magazines All-TIME 100 Fashion Icons.

Read more about Rudi Gernreich on Wikipedia and The New York Times online.

The Temperamentals

Rudi Gernreich will be portrayed by Scott Abernethy in Arouet’s production of The Temperamentals in May 2013. Contribute to our Kickstarter campaign today to bring the story of The Temperamentals to the Seattle stage.

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Harry Hay

Harry Hay
Photo of Harry Hay by LeRoy Robbins

Harry Hay (1912-2002) was a controversial labor advocate, teacher, actor, and early leader in the American LGBT rights movement. He was active in the Los Angeles avant-garde arts movement of the 1930s and fought against Fascism, racism, and anti-Semitism in 1940s. He is known for his roles in helping found several gay rights organizations, including the Mattachine Society, the first sustained gay rights group in the United States, and the Radical Faeries, a counter-cultural movement seeking to reject hetero-imitation and redefine queer identity through spirituality. His belief in the cultural minority status of homosexuals led him to take a stand against assimilationism, which led to his support to controversial groups and to criticize both the mainstream gay rights movement and some of the movement’s radical components.

Read more about Harry Hay on Wikipedia and The San Francisco Public Library website.

The Temperamentals

Harry Hay will be portrayed by Daniel Wood in Arouet’s production of The Temperamentals in May 2013. Contribute to our Kickstarter campaign today to bring the story of The Temperamentals to the Seattle stage.

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The Mattachine Society

The Mattachine Society
The Mattachine Society in a rare group photograph. (l-r) Harry Hay, Konrad Stevens, Dale Jennings, Rudi Gernreich, Stan Witt, Bob Hull, Chuck Rowland (in glasses), Paul Bernard. Photo by James Gruber.
[/caption]The Mattachine Society was the first sustained gay rights group in the United States. Founded in 1950 by Harry Hay, Rudi Gernreich, Dale Jennings, Bob Hull, Chuck Rowland, James Gruber, and Konrad Stevens. Referred to as “Society of Fools” at their first meeting, the group changed its name to “Mattachine Society” as suggested by Gruber and chosen by Hay. The name is inspired by a French medieval and renaissance masque group of masked men who, through anonymity, were empowered to criticize ruling monarchs with impunity. “So we took the name Mattachine because we felt that we 1950s Gays were also a masked people, unknown and anonymous, who might become engaged in morale building and helping ourselves and others, through struggle, to move toward total redress and change.”

Mattachine’s membership grew slowly at first but received a major boost in February 1952 when founder Jennings was arrested in a Los Angeles park and charged with lewd behavior. Often, men in Jennings’ situation would simply plead guilty to the charge and hope to quietly rebuild their lives. Jennings and the rest of the founders saw the charges as a means to address the issue of police entrapment of homosexual men. The group began publicizing the case (under the name “Citizens Committee to Outlaw Entrapment”) and the publicity it generated brought in financial support and volunteers. Jennings admitted during his trial to being a homosexual but insisted he was not guilty of the specific charge. The jury deadlocked (11-1 in favor of acquittal) and Mattachine declared victory.

Following the Jennings trial, the group expanded rapidly and diversified, with more women and people from a broader political spectrum becoming involved. With that growth came  concern about the radical left slant of the organization. In particular, Hal Call and others out of San Francisco along with Ken Burns from Los Angeles wanted Mattachine to amend its constitution to clarify its opposition to so-called “subversive elements” and to affirm that members were loyal to the United States and its laws, laws which declared homosexuality illegal. In an effort to preserve their vision of the organization, the founding members revealed their identities and resigned their leadership positions at Mattachine’s May 1953 convention. With the founders gone, Call, Burns and other like-minded individuals stepped into the leadership void, and Mattachine officially adopted non-confrontation as an organizational policy. The reduced effectiveness of this newly-organized Mattachine led to a precipitous drop in membership and participation. The Los Angeles branch of Mattachine shut down in 1961.

The Temperamentals

The Temperamentals is a play about the Mattachine Society and the complex relationships of its founding members. Contribute to our Kickstarter campaign today to bring the story of The Temperamentals to the Seattle stage.

Sources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mattachine_Society
http://www.outhistory.org/wiki/Harry_Hay:_Founding_the_Mattachine,_part_2