Who's Who

MAX McLEAN (Screwtape) originated the role of Screwtape in New York, Chicago, D.C. and national tour. Mark’s Gospel, Mercury Theatre, Chicago, for which he received the 2009 Jeff Award for Solo Performance. Also toured Mark nationally. Genesis at Lamb’s Theatre NYC, Dallas Theater Center and national tour. Other roles include Stanley, A Streetcar Named Desire; Peachum, The Threepenny Opera; Berowne, Love’s Labour’s Lost; Mr. Puff, The Critic; Snoopy, You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown; Argan, The Imaginary Invalid; Messerschmann, Ring Round the Moon. McLean has recorded The Bible in three translations as well as John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress; Martin Luther’s Here I Stand; St. Augustine’s Conversion; Jonathan Edwards’ Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. His recordings have been nominated for four Audie Awards. For Sharon, Julia, Rachel, Mark & Grandbaby Emery Elizabeth.

ELISE GIRARDIN (Toadpipe) A native Australian, The Screwtape Letters is her New York debut. Theatre credits include: Rosalind/Ganymede - As You Like It, Anna Mann - Burn This, Annie Howard - Just A Kiss, Carolina Baxter - Sister Cities, Sibyl Chase - Private Lives, Pearl Truce - House and Garden, White Witch - Narnia, Dandini - Cinderella. Film and Television: Moulin Rouge, Crash Palace, The Projectionist, S’cool Torque. Training: A.A.D.A., R.A.D.A. [Shakespeare certificate]. Thank you to Eric and her family.

C.S. LEWIS (Author; 1898–1963) was one of the intellectual giants of the 20th century and arguably the most influential Christian writer of his day. He was a Fellow and Tutor in English literature at Oxford University until 1954 when he was unanimously elected to the Chair of Medieval and Renaissance English at Cambridge University, a position he held until his retirement. His major contributions in literary criticism, children’s literature, fantasy literature and popular theology brought him international renown. He wrote more than 30 books, allowing him to reach a vast audience, and his works continue to attract thousands of new readers every year. His most distinguished and popular accomplishments include The Chronicles of Narnia, Out of the Silent Planet, Mere Christianity and The Screwtape Letters.

JEFFREY FISKE (Adaptation) directed Mark’s Gospel for FPA. His original play Boudica, about the woman who commanded the largest rebellion against the Roman Empire, was performed at the Bouwerie Lane Theatre. Britomart, about the female knight of The Round Table, was included in the Spoleto Festival. His experimental play Clytaemnestra earned him a playwriting fellowship with the New Jersey Council on the Arts. A former NASA consultant and Drew University professor, he is currently a voter for the Lortel Awards.

CAMERON ANDERSON (Scenic Design). Theatre: The Language of Trees (Roundabout Underground), A Feminine Ending (Playwrights Horizons), Emilie (South Coast Rep), Fault Lines directed by David Schwimmer (Naked Angels), Massacre… (LAByrinth Theater Co.), Underground (David Dorfman Dance at BAM), Heddatron (Les Freres Corbusier), Dixie’s Tupperware Party (Ars Nova), Elvis People (New World Stages) and Dead City (New Georges). Opera: Cenerentola (Glimmerglass Opera), The Barber of Seville (Opera Theatre of St. Louis), West Side Story and A Little Night Music (Central City Opera), Maria Padilla (The Minnesota Opera), Don Giovanni (Wolf Trap Opera), Così fan tutte (Seattle Opera), The Consul (Opera Boston) and La Bohème (San Francisco Opera Center). www.cameronanderson.com

MICHAEL BEVINS (Costume Design) is excited to revisit The Screwtape Letters with Max, Karen and Aruba Productions. Michael is a 20-year veteran of the fashion industry and has recently been focusing his abilities on costume design for film and theatre. Recent film credits include The Killing of John Lennon (2007 Tribeca Film Festival special jury prize), Made of Each Other, Jack Ketchum’s The Girl Next Door, the upcoming The Last Kiddie Ride with James Gandolfini and the romantic comedy “It’s Not You” with Steve Guttenberg. He has also designed costumes for the Off-Broadway plays Sidd, All Eyes and Ears, Machiavelli, The End of Lines and the current Good Ol’ Girls. www.michaelbevins.com

JESSE KLUG (Lighting Design). National tour of The Screwtape Letters. Credits include The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity (Second Stage); Romulus (Guggenheim Museum); The Hourglass (NYMTF); Mark’s Gospel (FPA); Ragtime, Cabaret, Miss Saigon (Jeff nomination), Sweet Charity (Jeff nomination) (Drury Lane); Fiddler…, …Spelling Bee (Marriott); Aladdin, How Can You Run… (Chicago Shakespeare); …Chad Deity, Blackbird (Victory Gardens); Hedwig… (Jeff Award) (ATC); Oh Coward (Writers’); High Fidelity (Route 66); Voice of Good Hope (Boars Head). Resident Lighting Designer for Drury Lane, Route 66 and Chicago Tap Theatre. www.JesseKlugLightingDesign.com

JOHN GROMADA (Original Music & Sound Design). Broadway: original scores and sound designs for Next Fall, Proof, Dividing the Estate, Prelude to a Kiss, A Bronx Tale, Well, Rabbit Hole, A Streetcar Named Desire, Twelve Angry Men, Sight Unseen, Retreat From Moscow, Enchanted April, Summer and Smoke, Holiday, A Few Good Men and more. Other NY: The Orphans’ Home Cycle, Shipwrecked!…, Clybourne Park, Streamers, Bach at Leipzig, Small Tragedy, many others. The Public Theater: The Singing Forest, Henry V, Julius Caesar, Tartuffe, The Skriker, Machinal, The Swan, others. Regional: more than 200 productions. Television: “The Interrogators.” Awards: Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel, Obie, Eddy, Drama-Logue, NEA Opera Music Theatre Fellowship, Connecticut Critics Circle. www.johngromada.com

BILL CASTELLINO (Production Supervisor) directed the world premieres of Dr. Radio, Reflections, Cagney, Dorian Gray, Lizzie Borden, Heartbeats, Fishwrap, Holiday for Hope, House Divided, Singing Weatherman, Happy Holidays, The Presidents, Crash Club, Beautiful Dreamer, Rhythm Rox, Another Summer, Breathe. Also: Carousel, …Drood, Godspell, La Cage…, The Music Man, West Side Story, Chicago, Joseph…, Tommy, Little Shop…, Beehive, Evita, Slabboys, Oliver, Cabaret, Abyssinia, Rap Master Ronnie, The Last Five Years, The Spitfire Grill, Smokey Joe’s Café, Hair. Tours: Jolson, Chess, Fame, Tomfoolery, Les Misérables.

JANE GREY (Production Stage Manager). B’way:August:Osage County, Talk Radio; Faith Healer; Streetcar; Long Day’s Journey; Death of a Salesman; Fortune’s Fool; A Thousand Clowns; Gore Vidal’s The Best Man; In My Life; Taller Than a Dwarf; Titanic; Twilight: L.A., 1992; The Big Love; Tru. Nat’l tours: August:Osage County,The King and I, Sunset Boulevard, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Blood Brothers, Tru. Off- B’way: Neil LaBute, Sam Shepard, A.R. Gurney, Caryl Churchill, Joe Papp, etc. Education: Sarah Lawrence.

TECHNICAL THEATER SOLUTIONS, LLC (TTS) (Production Management) is a company of dedicated theatre professionals based in Charleston, South Carolina. The main focus of the company is technical direction for live theatrical events. In addition, we work as theatre consultants, lighting, sound and scenery designers, and scenic fabricators, painters and installers. We are delighted to be part of the Screwtape Letters team. We are also currently contracted to provide production services to the following clients: Disney Cruise Line, Inc. (including the recently opened Villains Tonight!), Spoleto Festival USA, Mabou Mines’ DollHouse and Worklight Productions (U.S. tours of Avenue Q and Frog and Toad…). Past associations include the Broadway musicals Les Misérables, Phantom of the Opera and Play On! as well as multiple Broadway productions for the National Actors Theatre. We served as the theatre consultant on the renovation of the Memminger Auditorium in Charleston, work closely with the Charleston Museum and look forward to supporting Worklight Productions in developing a musical version of Roald Dahl’s James and the Giant Peach in 2010–2011. www.technicaltheatersolutions.com

ARUBA PRODUCTIONS (Executive Producer/General Management). Mr. Ken Denison with associates Samantha Schuster and Eddie Williams, develops, manages, produces and licenses theatrical properties. Current productions include Stormy Weather, Robin and the 7Hoods, Grumpy Old Men: The Musical, Good Ol’ Girls, Mark’s Gospel, Bingo the Musical, Brooklyn the Musical, Zhivago, An Officer and a Gentleman and John Denver Theatrical Properties including Almost Heaven, Whisper the Wind and Holiday Concert. Mr. Denison has served as Associate Producer for The Lion King (worldwide), Bombay Dreams and The Elephant Man, to name a few.

NOREEN HERON & ASSOCIATES (Press Representative) is a full service PR, Marketing and Advertising agency. Current clients include the Allstate Arena, Marriott Theatre, Drury Lane Oakbrook, Theatre at the Center, Porchlight Music Theatre, Provision Theatre Company and Chicago Dramatists, as well as handling the marketing for Good Ol’ Girls at the Black Box at the Harold & Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre. Additionally, they handle the PR for the Hyatts of Chicagoland.

FELLOWSHIP FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS (Producer). Founded in 1993, FPA is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization whose mission is to produce theatre from a Christian worldview that engages a diverse audience. FPA has developed theatrical productions in multiple venues in NYC; Lansburgh Theatre, Washington D.C.; Mercury Theatre, Chicago; Dallas Theater Center; Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey; Edinburgh Theatre Fringe Festival; Stratford Festival Theatre, Stratford, Ontario; and national tours of colleges and performing arts venues.

THE WESTSIDE THEATRE, originally constructed in 1889 as a German Baptist Church and a theatre since the early 1980s, was reopened in 1991 after extensive renovations under the management of Reno Productions, Inc. (Peter Askin, Director). The Screwtape Letters joins a host of successful Off-Broadway productions that have been presented on these stages. Former occupants include I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change; Trumbo; The Vagina Monologues; Full Gallop; The Food Chain; Later Life; Spic-O-Rama; And the World Goes ’Round; The Kathy and Mo Show; Frankie and Johnny in the Clair De Lune; Penn & Teller; Extremities; and Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You.