Artistic Director’s Welcome
Welcome to the world premiere of Becoming a Man!
Becoming a Man is adapted from the critically acclaimed memoir written by P. Carl, who joins me at the helm of this production as writer and co-director. I first got to know Carl when he founded HowlRound Theatre Commons and came to Boston as co-artistic director of ArtsEmerson. We then worked closely together on Claudia Rankine’s The White Card for which Carl served as dramaturg.
When Carl shared an early draft of his memoir with me many years ago, my immediate question to him was, “What if we made this into a play?” His answer resulted in a commission of this new work for the A.R.T. and a developmental process that has spanned over the last few years.
We are thrilled to be finally producing this new play with such an incredible cast led by Petey Gibson. Our extraordinary creative team includes a number of artists returning to the A.R.T.: costume designer Qween Jean (Macbeth In Stride, What to Send Up When It Goes Down), lighting designer Cha See (What to Send Up When It Goes Down), music and sound designer Paul James Prendergast (All the Way) and video designer Brittany Bland (1776). We are excited to welcome scenic designer Emmie Finckel and associate director Lyam B. Gabel who are making their A.R.T. debut.
Every performance of Becoming a Man includes Act II, a facilitated conversation with the audience about the play and its themes featuring an incredible roster of local leaders, artists, or medical professionals, and activists exploring the production’s Essential Question, “When we change, can the people we love come with us?” We are so grateful to have received funding from The Boston Foundation in support of the community engagement we will be cultivating around this production.
Act II is facilitated by Athena Vaughn (she/her), Chastity Bowick (she/her), Dan Rice (he/they), Dante Gonzalez (he/they), and Lyam B. Gabel (they/he). Please see the updating list of Act II guests.
I am deeply moved by Carl’s courage and desire to share his story with the world. I am honored to be part of the journey in bringing this story to the stage.
Thank you for coming to the theater and joining us!
Diane Paulus
Terrie and Bradley Bloom Artistic Director
American Repertory Theater
Terrie and Bradley Bloom Artistic Director:
Diane Paulus
Executive Director:
Kelvin Dinkins, Jr.
presents
BECOMING A MAN
Creative Team
Written by
P. Carl
Written by
P. Carl
P. Carl is a Senior Distinguished Artist in Residence, Department of Performing Arts, at Emerson College, Boston and the author of the memoir, Becoming a Man: The Story of a Transition (Simon & Schuster, 2020). He was the Spring 2020 Anschutz Fellow at Princeton University, awarded a 2017 Art of Change Fellowship from the Ford Foundation, the Berlin Prize fellowship from the American Academy, and the Andrew W. Mellon Creative Research Residency at the University of Washington.
Directed by
Diane Paulus
(she/her) Diane Paulus is the Terrie and Bradley Bloom Artistic Director of the American Repertory Theater at Harvard University. A.R.T.: 1776, WILD: A Musical Becoming, Gloria: A Life, Jagged Little Pill, ExtraOrdinary, The White Card, In the Body of the World, Waitress (film available online, French-language production in Quebec summer 2024), Crossing, Finding Neverland, Witness Uganda, Pippin (Tony Award, Best Revival and Best Director), The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess (Tony Award, Best Revival; NAACP Award, Best Direction), Prometheus Bound, Death and the Powers: The Robots’ Opera, Best of Both Worlds, The Donkey Show. Other work includes Cirque du Soleil’s Amaluna, Invisible Thread at Second Stage, and the Public Theater’s Tony Award-winning revival of HAIR on Broadway and London’s West End. As an opera director, her credits include The Magic Flute, the complete Monteverdi cycle, and the trio of Mozart-Da Ponte operas, as well as the upcoming Carmen (2024 Glydenbourne Festival). Paulus is Professor of the Practice of Theater in Harvard University’s English Department and Department of Theater, Dance & Media. She was selected for Boston magazine’s 2023, 2022, 2020, and 2018 lists of Boston’s most influential people, the 2014 Time 100, Time magazine’s annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world, and as one of Variety’s “Trailblazing Women in Entertainment for 2014.”
Directed by
P. Carl
P. Carl is a Senior Distinguished Artist in Residence, Department of Performing Arts, at Emerson College, Boston and the author of the memoir, Becoming a Man: The Story of a Transition (Simon & Schuster, 2020). He was the Spring 2020 Anschutz Fellow at Princeton University, awarded a 2017 Art of Change Fellowship from the Ford Foundation, the Berlin Prize fellowship from the American Academy, and the Andrew W. Mellon Creative Research Residency at the University of Washington.
Scenic Design
Emmie Finckel
Scenic Design
Emmie Finckel
(they/them) A.R.T.: Debut. Off-Broadway: Comedy of Errors, Public Theater Mobile Unit; As You Like It, La Jolla Playhouse; 53% Of, 2nd Stage; In the Southern Breeze, Rattlestick Theater; The Watering Hole, Signature Theatre; In the Penal Colony, NYTW Next Door. Education: MFA, Yale School of Drama. Faculty of the Playwrights Horizons Theater School at NYU. www.efinckel.com.
Costume Design
Qween Jean
Costume Design
Qween Jean
Qween Jean founded Black Trans Liberation, an organization that aims to provide access and employment resources for the TGNC community. She organizes community events, protests, and weekly mutual aid drives. In 2022 Qween wrote Revolution Is Love. In 2023 she joined the Board of TCG and received an Obie Award for Excellence in Costume Design. This year Qween was a finalist for The David Prize, which awards $200,000 to transform the city of New York. She has an MFA degree from NYU Tisch.
Lighting Design
Cha See
Lighting Design
Cha See
A.R.T.: What to Send Up When It Goes Down. Off-Broadway: You Will Get Sick, Roundabout Theatre Company; The Seagull/
Music & Sound Design
Paul James Prendergast
Music & Sound Design
Paul James Prendergast
A.R.T.: All the Way. Broadway: All The Way, The Great Society. Off-Broadway: Manahatta, Julius Caesar. Selected Regional: Guthrie, Taper, Seattle Rep, Arena Stage, Long Wharf, McCarter, Geffen, Hartford Stage, Berkeley Rep, A.C.T., La Jolla Playhouse, Alley, Oregon Shakespeare, Kennedy Center. Extensive theme park and museum credits. Awards: Grammy and Drama Desk nominations; BroadwayWorld, Ovation, Drama-Logue, Garland, Gregory, Footlight, and Gypsy Rose Lee awards. Paul’s work as a singer/
Video Design
Brittany Bland
Video Design
Brittany Bland
A.R.T.: Debut. New York: Westerly Breath, Met Museum’s Temple of Dendur; Amani, Rattlestick Theater; A Raisin in the Sun, Public Theater; Seize the King, Classical Theatre of Harlem; Twelfth Night, NYU Skirball; A Dozen Dreams immersive installation, Brookfield Place. Regional: Goddess, Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Education: MFA Yale School of Drama. Awards: 1/52 Project grant recipient, New York Stage and Film NEXUS cohort. bcbmediadesign.com
Fight Director
Ted Hewlett
Fight Director
Ted Hewlett
A.R.T.: Life of Pi, Charlotte’s Web, The Pirate Princess. Broadway: Shōgun, Marquis Theater. Off-Broadway: Bill W. and Dr. Bob, New World Stages. Regional: Huntington Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre, Syracuse Stage, SITI Company, Lyric Stage. Film: Hook, Army of Darkness. Faculty: Emerson College; Shakespeare & Company.
Intimacy Coordinator
Kayleigh Kane
Intimacy Coordinator
Kayleigh Kane
A.R.T.: Debut. Regional: The Band’s Visit, Huntington Theatre; Summer Stock, Goodspeed Musicals; Angels in America, Pt. 2: Perestroika, Central Square Theatre/
Casting Director
X Casting / Victor Vazquez, CSA
Casting Director
X Casting / Victor Vazquez, CSA
(he/him) A.R.T.: Real Women Have Curves, Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992. Victor Vazquez, CSA, is the founder and lead Casting Director of X Casting. He has cast projects for Broadway (upcoming: Hippest Trip – The Soul Train Musical), London’s West End, TV (upcoming: “Genius: MLK/X” for 20th Television, Nat Geo, and Disney+), and film. He is the proud son of Mexican immigrants.
Associate Director
Lyam B. Gabel
Associate Director
Lyam B. Gabel
(they/he) A.R.T.: Debut. Off-Broadway: Storm, Still, The Sheen Center; The House of Telescopes (upcoming), Pipeline Theatre. Regional: Amm(i)gone, The Theater Offensive, Kelly Strayhorn Theater; the dance floor, the hospital room, and the kitchen table, New Orleans Contemporary Arts Center, Kelly Strayhorn Theater; Alleged Lesbian Activities, The Theater Offensive. Awards: Drama League Fellow 2018, Drama League Resident 2024, National Theatre Project grantee. Education: MFA Directing, Carnegie Mellon; Assistant Professor, Lehigh. www.lyambgabel.com
Production Stage Manager
Genevieve Kersh
Production Stage Manager
Genevieve Kersh
A.R.T.: 1776, Waitress, Finding Neverland. Broadway: Shucked, 1776, Finding Neverland; Noises Off, Roundabout. Off-Broadway: Superhero (world premiere), 2nd Stage; Eve’s Song (world premiere), Runaways, Public Theater. First National Tours: 1776, Finding Neverland, Cinderella, Blithe Spirit, Sister Act, Anything Goes. Regional: Flamingo Kid (world premiere), Hartford Stage. Other noteworthy credits: Boston Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Proud graduate of Ithaca College and Member of Actor’s Equity.
Actors’ Equity Association member
First performance at the Loeb Drama Center on February 16, 2024.
Production Support of Becoming a Man is provided by Marybeth and Stephen Bisson, Emerson College, and Alison and Bob Murchison.
Act II is supported in part by The Boston Foundation.
This production is supported, in part, by the Robert Brustein Endowment Fund for New Works.
Media Support of Becoming a Man is provided by WBUR.
A.R.T. Season support is provided by Harvard University, The Barr Foundation, The Bob and Alison Murchison New Work Development Fund, The Shubert Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Massachusetts Cultural Council, Barton & Guestier, and Meyer Sound.
The A.R.T. 2023/24 Season is supported in part by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, which receives support from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Runtime: 1 hour and 50 minutes with no intermission, including a 20-minute Act II discussion
This production contains brief physical violence, discussions of suicidal ideation, transphobic language, sounds and images of war, and haze. Recommended for ninth grade and up.
Company & Staff
Cast (in order of appearance)
Carl
Petey Gibson
Carl
Petey Gibson
(he/him) A.R.T.: Debut. Other live performance: The Mary Dolan Show. TV: “Alert: Missing Persons Unit” (C Hemingway/major recurring), “Broad City,” “Grace & Frankie,” “Transparent,” “NCIS: New Orleans,” and more. Film: The Sympathy Card (lead, three-time film festival audience award winner). Audiobook: Some Strange Music Draws Me In (upcoming), Audible. Training: The Groundlings School.
Eddie & Others
Justiin Davis
Eddie & Others
Justiin Davis
(he/him/his) A.R.T.: Debut. Off-Broadway: Patience (Daniel), 2nd Stage. TV: “Dr. Death” (Christopher Lyles), “The Bold and the Beautiful” (Dr. Colby), “The Boys” (Young Stan Edgar), “Boardwalk Empire” (Lester White), “The Politician,” “The Equalizer,” “Chicago Med,” “FBI,” “Manifest,” and more. Film: Due Season, Catfight, Central Park. Education: Acting BFA, Brooklyn College.
Actors’ Equity Association member
Carl’s Father & Others
Christopher Liam Moore
Carl’s Father & Others
Christopher Liam Moore
(he/him) A.R.T.: Becoming a Man, Fingersmith (dramaturg), All the Way, Olympian Games, Alcestis, the CIVIL warS, The King Stag (1984). Broadway: All the Way (Walter Jenkins). Off-Broadway: The Far Country, Atlantic Theater Company. Regional: Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Guthrie, Yale Rep, South Coast Rep, Arena Stage, Mark Taper Forum, Berkeley Rep, Old Globe, Long Wharf. TV/
Actors’ Equity Association member
Carl’s Mother & Others
Susan Rome
Carl’s Mother & Others
Susan Rome
A.R.T.: Debut. Regional: Something Moving, Ford’s Theatre; Angels in America: Millennium Approaches, Indecent, The Great Society, All the Way, Arena Stage; Our Town, Folks at Home, Indecent, After the Revolution, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Mud Blue Sky, An Enemy of the People, Baltimore Center Stage; If I Forget, Hand to God, Studio Theatre.
Actors’ Equity Association member
Polly
Stacey Raymond
Polly
Stacey Raymond
(they/any) A.R.T.: Debut. Off-Broadway: The Sugar Fountain, Ensemble Studio Theatre’s Asking For Trouble; Anchorpectoris, La MaMa; The Cult Play, Phoenix Theater Ensemble. Workshops/
Actors’ Equity Association member
Lynette
Elena Hurst
Lynette
Elena Hurst
(she/her) A.R.T.: Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992. Off-Broadway: Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 (Lucille Lortel Best Revival), Signature Theatre; Summer and Smoke, Transport Theatre Group; A Grave is Given Supper, New Ohio Theatre. Regional: Love All, La Jolla Playhouse; Tina Modotti, Teatro Dallas; Andalé Raul…, International Tour/Teatro Dallas; A Christmas Carol, Dallas Theater Center. TV: “The Changeling,” “Get Rolling with Otis,” “Homeland,” “Elementary,” “Tales from the City,” “Blue Bloods,” “Gossip Girl.” Education: BS in Radio, TV, Film, University of Texas at Austin.
Actors’ Equity Association member
Nathan
Cody Sloan
Nathan
Cody Sloan
(he/him) A.R.T.: Debut. Off-Broadway: Seven Deadly Sins, Tectonic Theatre Project. Regional: As You Like It, Pick Me Last, La Jolla Playhouse; Tales of the Trancestors, Celebration Theatre; Men on Boats, Speakeasy Stage; Nurse Play (IRNE Award nomination), Exiled Theatre; Amadeus, Moonbox Productions; Extraordinary Fall of the Four-Legged Woman, FringeNYC. Film: Selah and the Spades, Birder. Education: MFA in Acting, University of California San Diego.
Actors’ Equity Association member
Understudies
Carl, Eddie & Others
Cody Sloan
Carl, Eddie & Others
Cody Sloan
(he/him) A.R.T.: Debut. Off-Broadway: Seven Deadly Sins, Tectonic Theatre Project. Regional: As You Like It, Pick Me Last, La Jolla Playhouse; Tales of the Trancestors, Celebration Theatre; Men on Boats, Speakeasy Stage; Nurse Play (IRNE Award nomination), Exiled Theatre; Amadeus, Moonbox Productions; Extraordinary Fall of the Four-Legged Woman, FringeNYC. Film: Selah and the Spades, Birder. Education: MFA in Acting, University of California San Diego.
Actors’ Equity Association member
Carl’s Father & Others
Paul Tavianini
Carl’s Father & Others
Paul Tavianini
(he/him) A.R.T.: Debut. Regional: Picasso at the Lapin Agile (Einstein), Terra Nova (Birdie Bowers), Capital Rep; A Raisin in the Sun (Karl Lindner), Indiana Repertory; Stones in His Pockets (Jake, et al.), Hippodrome State Theatre; Alabama Story (Garth Williams), Actors Theatre of Indiana; Bright Star, Phoenix Theatre, Indianapolis; And Then There Were None, Drury Lane Theatre. TV/Film: “Chicago P.D.,” “Dark Matter,” “Kidnap & Rescue,” Rampage: The Hillside Strangler Murders. Education: MFA, Brandeis University.
Actors’ Equity Association member
Carl’s Mother & Others, Lynette
Rebecca Mozo
Carl’s Mother & Others, Lynette
Rebecca Mozo
(she/her) A.R.T.: Debut. Theater: Hoi Polloi’s White on White (New York Times Critic’s Pick), JACK in Brooklyn. Regional: Mark Taper Forum, Antaeus, Pasadena Playhouse, Shakespeare Theatre of NJ, Ensemble Theatre Company, South Coast Repertory. World Premieres: The Parisian Woman, Going to a Place Where You Already Are, Emilie…, Five Mile Lake. TV/Film: Here’s Yianni, Zerophilia, The Waterhole, Headless Horseman, “Grey’s Anatomy,” “9-1-1,” “Cold Case,” “Modern Family.”
Actors’ Equity Association member
Polly
Rachel Towne
Polly
Rachel Towne
(they/she) A.R.T.: Debut. Regional: Valor, Guthrie; Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey; A Midsummer Night’s Dream, To Kill a Mockingbird, Syracuse Stage; Romeo & Juliet, Smith Street Stage; Brave Smiles…Another Lesbian Tragedy, Rattlestick Pride Plays. TV: “Law & Order,” “Law & Order: SVU.” Education: Acting MFA, NYU.
Actors’ Equity Association member
Nathan
Adam Plant
Nathan
Adam Plant
(he/him) A.R.T.: Debut. Regional: The Cripple of Inishmaan (Billy), Spring Awakening (Moritz), Blood Brothers (Mickey), Sweeney Todd (Jonas Fogg), The Drowsy Chaperone (Gangster 1), Matilda (Ensemble). TV/Film: “The Summer I Turned Pretty” (Recurring co-star), Order for Ben (Lead), Super Smash (Lead), Family Meal (Lead). Education/
Fight Captain
Susan Rome
Fight Captain
Susan Rome
A.R.T.: Debut. Regional: Something Moving, Ford’s Theatre; Angels in America: Millennium Approaches, Indecent, The Great Society, All the Way, Arena Stage; Our Town, Folks at Home, Indecent, After the Revolution, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Mud Blue Sky, An Enemy of the People, Baltimore Center Stage; If I Forget, Hand to God, Studio Theatre.
Actors’ Equity Association member
Understudies never substitute for listed players unless a specific announcement for the appearance is made at the time of the performance.
Additional Staff
Assistant Stage Manager
Rachel A. Zucker
Assistant Stage Manager
Rachel A. Zucker
(they/them) A.R.T.: Debut. Broadway: SIX, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, The Prom, True West, Pretty Woman, Farinelli and the King, Indecent. Select Off-Broadway: JOB, Connelly Theater, SoHo Playhouse; Scene Partners, Lessons in Survival: 1971, Vineyard Theatre; Kinky Boots, Stage 42; Misty, HELP, The Shed; Hamlet, Othello, Tiny Beautiful Things, Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Plenty, Southern Comfort, Troilus and Cressida, Cymbeline, Grounded, Public Theater; Lazarus, New York Theatre Workshop. Education: MFA in Stage Management, Columbia University.
Dramaturg
Ryan McKittrick
Hair, Makeup & Wig Designer
Rachel Padula-Shufelt
Voice Coach
Erika Bailey
Voice Coach
Erika Bailey
A.R.T.: Gatsby; Becoming a Man; Life of Pi; 1776; WILD: A Musical Becoming; Jack and the Beanstalk; Gloria: A Life; Moby-Dick; We Live in Cairo; Endlings; Othello; ExtraOrdinary; The Black Clown; Jagged Little Pill; WARHOLCAPOTE; Burn All Night; The Night of the Iguana; Trans Scripts, Part I: The Women; Fingersmith; In the Body of the World; Waitress; O.P.C. Broadway: Mary Stuart. Regional: Vanity Fair, Central Square Theater; New Electric Ballroom, Gloucester Stage Company; Arms and the Man, Guthrie Theatre; The Foreigner, Cabaret, To Kill a Mockingbird, Kansas City Repertory Theatre. As Head of Voice and Speech at A.R.T., Erika also teaches in the Theater, Dance & Media concentration at Harvard as well as coaching public speaking skills across the university. Education: MA, Voice Studies, the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama; MFA, Acting, Brandeis University.
Associate Scenic Designer
Miguel Urbino
Assistant Scenic Designer
Juhee Kim
Associate Costume Designer
Ryan Wilbat
Assistant Lighting Designer
Piper Phillips
Associate Video Designer
Nitsan Scharf
Assistant to the Playwright and Script Supervisor
Annabeth Lucas
Video Programmer/Engineer
Devin Kinch
Production Assistants
Molly Bercutt
Morgen Doyle
Janie Hillman
Pat-rice Rooney
Lou Williams
Physical Therapists
Artistic Athlete Health Collective
Access Staff
Director of ASL Elbert Joseph
ASL Interpreters Luke Baer, Jessica Meyer
Open Caption David Chu
Audio Description Mel Watkins
Relaxed Spectrum Theatre Ensemble
A.R.T. Staff
Terrie and Bradley Bloom Artistic Director:
Diane Paulus
Executive Director:
Kelvin Dinkins, Jr.
SENIOR STAFF
Public Relations Director: Rebecca Curtiss
General Manager: Connor Davis
Managing Director: Anna Fitzloff
Director of Finance: Julia Goldmacher
Senior Theater and Facilities Manager: Tracy Keene
Producer: Mark Lunsford
Director of Production: Krystin Matsumoto
Director of Artistic Programs & Dramaturg: Ryan McKittrick
Interim Director of Development: Sarah McLellan
Associate Artistic Director: Dayron J. Miles
Chief Marketing Officer: Jennifer Weissman
STAFF
Artistic & EngagementArtistic Coordinator & Special Assistant to the Artistic Director: Karina Cowperthwaite ProducingLine Producer: Emma Watt Marketing & CommunicationsAssociate Director, Marketing and Communications: Susanna Jackson DevelopmentAssociate Director, Advancement & Development Engagement: Michael Winn FacilitiesDirector, Capital Projects: Peter Atkinson FinanceController: Toufiq Aitelfqih Patron ServicesHead of Patron Services: Emma Putnam |
ProductionProduction Manager: Skip Curtiss ScenicInterim Technical Director: Ross Wick Stage OperationsStage Operations Manager: Kevin Belcher CostumesCostume Manager: Muriel Mangual-Bennett WardrobeWardrobe Manager: Alycia Marucci SoundSound Manager: Camilo Atehortua Lighting & ProjectionsLighting & Projections Supervisor: Matthew Adelman PropertiesProperties Manager: Erin Kehr Production OverhireScenic Overhire: Dean Covert, Thomas Eckenfels, Michael Greene, Natalie Han, Martha Keslar, Courntey Licata, Em McGrory, Olivia Reinebach, Elise Tuckwood, Brian Vlasak, Courtney Walker, Julia Wonkka |
Special Thanks
Special thanks to Wicked Craft Co.
Lynette D’Amico, Edward Tim Carl Jr., Christian Carl, Lee Schere, Lee Pelton, LeAnn Egeto, Lenora Carl, Di Glazer, Robin Elkman, Dr. Cristina Cusin
Every trans person who risks embracing themselves
Rehearsed at the Roundabout Rehearsal Studios and Boston Center for the Arts
Additional lighting equipment provided by Christie Lites
Sound equipment provided by Meyer Sound
Additional Sound and Projections Equipment provided by Sound Associates, Inc.
Automation equipment provided by Creative Connors, Inc.