Who's Who . . . Backstage

JOSEPH ADLER (Director/Producing Artistic Director) is in his seventh season as Artistic Director of GableStage. 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, QED, Trumbo (in which he also performed), Frozen, BUG, Retreat From Moscow, The Syringa Tree and A Bad Friend. 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 sixteen nominations (nine at GableStage) and five 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, James Joyce's The Dead and Edward Albee's The Goat (GableStage). He also received a Remy Award from the Theatre League of S. 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.

STEPHEN KING (Author), Originally a short story writer, King's first novel Carrie went on to become an award winning movie. Since then he has captured the imagination of fans around the world with his chilling stories - over thirty turned into feature length films. Of Misery he says: "I wrote most of Misery by hand, sitting at Kipling's desk at Brown's Hotel in London. Then I found out that he had died at that desk! That spooked me so I quit the hotel."

SIMON MOORE (Playwright), A veteran script writer with a host of high profile television, film and theatre credits, Simon directed the original London production of Misery, starring Sharon Gless (of Cagney & Lacey fame), himself. Asked about the differences between his interpretation of Stephen King's novel and the film version he said: "Underlying the theme of the book is the whole idea of fan worship - the film really played for shocks but the theatre production is a much more intimate experience."

LYLE BASKIN (Set Design) is happy to be back in Miami from western NC where he and his wife Sue moved three years ago, and where Lyle continues to design theatre sets. Lyle's previous designs with Director Joseph Adler include Killing of Sister George (Players Theatre), Cantorial (Hollywood Playhouse), Shadow Box (Coconut Grove Playhouse) and at GableStage, Skylight, Of Mice and Men, Full Gallop (Carbonell nomination for Best Set Design), Psychopathia Sexualis, Closer, Killer Joe, Citizen Tom Paine, Boy Gets Girl and A Lesson Before Dying. Lyle's 30 year career in South Florida also includes set designs for Coconut Grove Playhouse, Actors' Playhouse (Evita, 2001 Carbonell nomination), Burt Reynolds Dinner Theatre, Area Stage, New Theatre, Acme Theatre, Hollywood Playhouse, Players State Theatre. He has also designed for Ring Theatre (U.M.), New World School of the Arts, Miami-Dade Community College, Bloomsburg Theatre in Pennsylvania, Corning Summer Theatre, and Ft. Lauderdale Presbyterian Church.

JOHN D. HALL (Lighting Designer) is currently Resident Lighting Designer at Miami City Ballet. John is very happy to be returning to Gablestage for Misery after having designed the lighting for Bug last fall. Locally, he has designed for The New World Symphony, Barry University, and for the past eight seasons, City Theatre's Summer Shorts. Recent projects include Seascape and Lips Together, Teeth Apart for Palm Beach Dramaworks and The Big Bang for The Maltz Jupiter Theatre. He is a 1988 graduate of North Carolina State University, and a member of United Scenic Artists Local 829. John and wife Shannon have two sons, John and William.

MICHAEL J. HOFFMANN (Sound/Music) 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, 'Master Harold' ...and the boys, QED, Trumbo, Frozen, Retreat From Moscow, The Syringa Tree, A Bad Friend and Bug, for which he received this season's Curtain Up Award. Michael owns MH Productions, Inc., a post-production recording studio in Fort Lauderdale.

ERIN AMICO (Costumes) is thrilled to be returning to work as a costume designer and designing for her second production at GableStage after A Bad Friend. Previous work in the region includes Jacques Brel and Seascape at Palm Beach Dramaworks; Beguiled Again, Puttin' on the Ritz, Below the Belt and Cabaret Verboten at Florida Stage. She also designed the premier production of Sophie Tucker, Last of the Red Hot Mamas at the Kravis Center. Erin is a lifelong resident of South Florida, currently living in Deerfield Beach with her husband, Michael and raising her two children Dante, 6 and Bridget, 4.

MICHAEL JOHN CARROLL (Stage Manager) is thrilled to be continuing his second season with GableStage after recently completing successful runs of A Bad Friend, The Syringa Tree, The Retreat From Moscow, Bug, Frozen, Trumbo, QED and 'Master Harold' ...and the boys. Michael graduated from Barry University in 2001, and though he received his BFA in Acting, he also stage managed their productions of Little Shop of Horrors and Hello Dolly. He subsequently contributed to a dozen productions at Actors' Playhouse and the Coconut Grove Playhouse, and then went from backstage to the booth again as Stage Manager for the Hollywood Playhouse and the Broward Stage Door Theatre. Michael also stage managed the Miami premiere of Hedwig and the Angry Inch at Level Nightclub on Miami Beach. He is a proud member of Actors Equity Association and the Theatre League of South Florida. Michael's short list of inspirations include Jeff Buckley, Michel Gondry, and Mom.

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, What the Butler Saw, Ten Unknowns, 'Master Harold'...and the boys, QED, Frozen, Bug, Retreat from Moscow and A Bad Friend. A former folk art gallery owner, Claire resides in Coconut Grove with her husband.