Who's Who . . . Backstage

JOSEPH ADLER (Director/Producing Artistic Director) is in his sixth season as Artistic Director of GableStage with this production. He previously directed on many local stages, including Coconut Grove Playhouse, New Theatre, Area Stage, Hollywood Boulevard Theatre, Players Theatre, Ruth Foreman Theatre, Florida Shakespeare Theatre, City Theatre (Summer Shorts), Hollywood Playhouse and Shores Performing Arts. At GableStage, Adler has directed Skylight, Of Mice and Men, Full Gallop, Psychopathia Sexualis, Closer, Killer Joe, This Is Our Youth, Arms and The Man, Side Man, Popcorn, Tape, The Real Thing, Adam Baum and the Jew Movie, Citizen Tom Paine, The Blue Room, Mindgame, Boy Gets Girl, James Joyce's The Dead, Edward Albee's The Play About the Baby, A Lesson Before Dying, Nixon's Nixon, Chinese Coffee, The Guys, The Shape of Things, Dirty Blonde, Tabletop, The Diary of Anne Frank, Frankie and Johnny at the Clair de Lune, The Goat and What the Butler Saw. Active in South Florida's film and theatre community for many years, Adler has directed hundreds of television commercials and industrial films, winning many awards, including the Clio. Other directorial credits include several independent feature films, a video version of the Broadway hit comedy Doubles and a cable TV series. He has received fifteen nominations (eight at GableStage) and four times won the Carbonell Award for Best Director: The Shadow Box (Coconut Grove Playhouse); The Killing of Sister George (Players Theatre); A Lesson Before Dying and James Joyce's The Dead (GableStage). He also received a Remy Award from the Theatre League of South Florida, and was awarded the prestigious George Abbott Award by the members of South Florida's arts, entertainment and media professions for "significant contributions to the artistic life and cultural development of greater Miami, Fort Lauderdale and the Palm Beaches." Adler studied drama at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, and graduated from the Film Department at NYU.

JON ROBIN BAITZ (Playwright) was born in Los Angeles in 1961, and grew up there, in Brazil and in Durban, South Africa. Among his works are Mizlansky/Zilinsky or Schmucks, A Fair Country, The Film Society, The Substance of Fire, The End of the Day, Three Hotels and an adaptation of Hedda Gabler which starred Annette Benning in L.A. He is the recipient of Rockefeller, Revson, NEA and American Academy of Arts and Letters fellowships, New York Newsday's Oppenheimer Award, and the Helen Hayes and Humanitas Prize for the PBS TV version of Three Hotels (which he also directed). Baitz is also known as a producer and actor. His work for the screen includes People I Know starring Al Pacino, and The Substance of Fire which was released by Miramax, an adaptation of his own play. He also acted in Last Summer in the Hamptons. He is currently at work on a new play in Los Angeles.

TIM CONNELLY (Set Design) returns to GableStage where he designed the sets for Chinese Coffee, Tabletop and Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune. Tim hails from Kentucky, and has lived and worked in South Florida for 20 years. He owns and operates the Charles T. Studio, designing and building sets for the film and commercial industry. Among Tim's finest accomplishments are his three children, Justin, Jessica and Ryan. Between raising kids and working, Tim fills his time sailing and fishing.

JEFF QUINN (Lighting Design) has been seen by our audiences many times. His lighting designs include The Goat, Closer, Killer Joe, Boy Gets Girl, Tabletop and The Diary of Anne Frank. He has also done the scenic and lighting designs for The Shape of Things, The Play About the Baby, The Blue Room, The Real Thing and Sideman. Jeff also designed Fidelio and The Inner Ear for the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra, The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe and Steel Pier at Actors' Playhouse; Little by Little at the Coconut Grove Playhouse; Irma La Douce and The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940 at Florida Repertory Theatre; Anything Goes at the Hirschfeld; HMS Pinafore and Eleemosynary at the Minorca Playhouse for Florida Shakespeare Theatre; Faith Healer for New World Repertory Company; Angels in America and Love! Valour! Compassion! at New Theatre. His lighting for dance includes work for Freddick Bratcher and Company, Maximum Dance, Ballet Espagnol Rosita Segovia, Momentum Dance Company, Ballet Theatre of Miami, Ballet Etudes, Duende Ballet Español and Ballet Blue Ridge. Further afield, Quinn has designed for the Fulton Opera House, Pennsylvania Festival Theatre, Walt Disney Enterprises, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, Norwegian Cruise Lines, Hilton Head Playhouse and the Kayagum Theatre in Seoul, Korea. He serves on the Florida Steering Committee of United Scenic Artists (Local 829, I.A.T.S.E.) and teaches at New World School of the Arts. Jeff is married to director Deborah Mello.

MICHAEL J. HOFFMANN (Music/Sound Design) is an award-winning composer, arranger and producer with over 30 years experience in South Florida. His score for the documentary film, Heroes Hispanos, garnered an Emmy nod. He has also won numerous Clios, Addies and other industry awards. Originally from Philadelphia and New York, Hoffmann's composing talent ranges from classical orchestration to jazz fusion to whatever you can think of. He has designed and written music for GableStage productions among which are The Diary of Anne Frank, Dirty Blonde, Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, The Goat, and What the Butler Saw. Michael owns MH Productions, Inc., a post-production recording studio in Fort Lauderdale.

ESTELA VRANCOVICH (Costume Design) originally from Argentina, where she had her own design studio specializing in tango costuming for international dancers and children's independent theatre. She was the creator of Maria Burgos Indumentaria, a private school for costuming and fashion design, which she ran for nine years. Coming to S. Florida, Estela worked at Actors' Playhouse as assistant designer for Mary Lynne Izzo and as designer for The Children's Theatre under director Earl Maulding. Her work for Narnia was chosen for display at The Kennedy Center as part of The International Children's Theatre Festival. She later became Resident Designer at Hollywood Playhouse, receiving a Carbonell nomination for Man of La Mancha and Ruthless, as well as the Curtains Up Award for Ruthless. Estela has designed shows for GableStage, New Theatre and Caldwell Theatre where she received a Carbonell nomination for The Countess. As an independent designer, her work can currently be seen at GableStage, New Theatre and Hollywood Playhouse.

OSVALDO PALACIOS (Technical Director) is in his sixth season at GableStage. He began his career in Buenos Aires where he acted as director, dancer and choreographer. In S. Florida, he continued his active career in film television and theater, working for The Hispanic Theater League, Area Stage, FLA/BRA, Lenny Miller Productions, Channel 23, Inter-national Hispanic Theater Festival and La Salle High School as stage manager, technical director, coordinator and teacher.

MICHELLE S. WARGACKI (Stage Manager) returns to GableStage for her fourth production, having stage managed What the Butler Saw, Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune and The Goat. A native of NJ, Michelle made her Florida debut in 2003 with Pageant at the Cuillo Centre for the Arts in West Palm Beach. Her regional credits include Women's Theatre Company (The Women, Still Life, How I Learned to Drive, Uncommon Women and Others, and the NJ Premier of The Smell of the Kill), Bickford Theatre (The All Night Strut, Sylvia, I Ought to Be in Pictures, A Shayna Maidel) and Centenary Stage Company (Below the Belt, Inventing Montana). Michelle holds a Bachelor's degree in Educational Theatre from New York University, and has worked extensively as a Teaching Artist in the tri-state area, including work with the nationally recognized Write on the Edge residency program at Manhattan Theatre Club. She also founded the summer musical theatre workshop and led the youth educational touring program as the Director of Education for the Women's Theatre Company. Enjoying her first winter in South Florida, she is quite pleased to be where there is no snow.

CAESAR A. VELEZ (Production Painter) received a Bachelor of Architecture at Columbia University. He also attended the Arts Student's League in NYC, studying illustration, advertising art and sculpture, and studied structural design at the New York School for the Building Trade. Among his many awards are: Award of Honor (Atlanta School of Fashion and Design), Grand Champion (Modern World Exhibit Design Competition) and The Phoenix Award for Design (Atlanta Advertising Club). He relocated to S. Florida from Westborough, MA three years ago.

CLAIRE SAVITT (Props) loves "the hunt". As prop mistress for Gablestage, she has worked on a number of plays, including A Lesson Before Dying, James Joyce's The Dead, Dirty Blonde, The Shape of Things, Nixon's Nixon, The Diary of Anne Frank, The Goat and What the Butler Saw. A former folk art gallery owner, Claire resides in Coconut Grove with her husband.

CAITLIN WALSH (Assistant Stage Manager) Caitlin is delighted to be doing her third show at GableStage. She was Production Asst. for Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune and for hat the Butler Saw. Caitlin is a Senior at New World School of the Arts where she has appeared as Lucy in You're a Good Man Charlie Brown and Luisa in The Fantasticks.