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, What the Butler Saw, Ten Unknowns, 'Master Harold' ...and the boys and QED. 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.

CHRISTOPHER TRUMBO (Playwright) was born in Los Angeles in 1940. His family spent two-and-a-half years in Mexico after his father was released from prison in 1951. A graduate of Columbia College in New York City, he began working in motion pictures in 1960 as an assistant director on Otto Preminger's production of Exodus. For the last 35 years he has worked as a writer, primarily in the motion picture and television industries. He shared a writing credit with his father on the television film, Ishi: The Last of His Tribe, completing the project after his father died. His most recent project is the motion picture script for Sinatraland, to be directed by Peter Bogdanovich.

TIM CONNELLY (Set Design) returns to GableStage where he designed the sets for Chinese Coffee, Tabletop, Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, Ten Unknowns, 'Master Harold'... and the boys and QED. 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 QED, 'Master Harold'... and the boys, Ten Unknowns, 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 Deuce 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, What the Butler Saw, Ten Unknowns and 'Master Harold' ...and the boys. Michael owns MH Productions, Inc., a post-production recording studio in Fort Lauderdale.

DENNIS DIAMOND (Video Design) is a Video designer and dance/video collaborator, and a 2001 Bessie Award Recipient. Broadway and theatre credits include John Leguizamo's Spic-O-Rama, Blue Man Group, Doug McGrath's Political Animal, Philip Glass' La Belle et La Bete, Bill Irwin's Largely New York and Larry Gelbert's Mastergate. Diamond is grateful to long-time engineer Michael P. Hesse, Kevin Frech, Tom Kennedy, David Quinn, Robin Hoffman, best boy Alexander, and hail to the Queen.

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.

MICHAEL CARROLL (Stage Manager) is thrilled to be on board with GableStage again for his third production with the company after recently completing successful runs of QED and Master Harold... and the boys. Michael graduated from Barry University in 2001 with a BFA in Acting, but found the chance to stage manage shows such as Little Shop of Horrors and Hello Dolly! before graduating. After completing an internship at Actors' Playhouse, he went on to become a member of the stage management department at the Coconut Grove Playhouse for two seasons, contributing to such notable productions as Proof (dir. David Auburn), and the pre-Broadway mountings of I'm Not Rappaport (Ben Vereen and Judd Hirsch) and Urban Cowboy. Michael then went from backstage to the booth as the production stage manager for productions of Yoo Hoo, Mrs. Bloom! (Hollywood Playhouse), Barefoot In The Park (Broward Stage Door Theatre), and the Miami premiere of Hedwig and the Angry Inch at Level Nightclub on Miami Beach. When not in a theatre, Michael enjoys guitar, Jim Sheridan films, and watching his collection of music videos grow. All thanks go to Mom. Sarah, "mo chride."