Director’s Note
Love, laughter, and a happy ever-after: These are the quintessential elements of a fantastic musical comedy, and theyre just what Me and My Girl offers. Back in December when we were looking for a show for Carnival, we wanted something big and warm and lighthearteda musical with a lot of energy. We wanted a show with infectious charm and catchy melodies, witty humor and toe-tapping dance numbers. We found that in Me and My Girl.
From the very beginning, Me and My Girl proved to be a massive undertaking for ScotchnSoda. A cast of nineteen, half a dozen dance numbers, a two-story set, magical effects…the list of challenges goes on. Thanks to the dedicated staff of 68 students, SnS was able to overcome these challenges to bring to the stage what you will see before you tonight. Thousands of hours of work have been logged, both by the tech staff and the cast, all of whom do this in their precious spare time. Every student on stage and backstage has fit this enormous time commitment around classes, other extracurricular activities, homework, and a social life.
That said, we would like to take this opportunity to thank our dedicated production staff, headed up by Todd, Aaron, and Natalie, for their many hours of hard work making that picture in our heads of what everything is supposed to look like a reality. Thanks to our stage managers, Alex and Jay, for keeping this production rolling and playing mother hens by keeping track of our cast and their ever elusive schedules. Endless thanks to the immeasurable Matta and Dan, without whom nothing you are about to see would have been possible. And finally, to our fantastic cast, who put in countless hours of work to bring the world of Me and My Girl to life, we cannot say thank you enough. You are all fantastic, and we couldnt be more proud of you!
We invite you to sit back, relax, and enjoy the show as ScotchnSoda Theatre proudly presents Me and My Girl.
Shannon Deep and Alex DiClaudio, Co-Directors
A Little History
When the revival of Me and My Girl premiered in New York in 1986, it was described as a trip through the sunny, charming world of musical comedy. This world was not far from the one portrayed by the musical. 1937 England was a place of unusual prosperity. Most of the country had only been lightly affected by the Great Depression, and many production industries in the south proved resiliant to the global economic crash. The horrors of World War I were a distant memory, and many people were looking forward to a golden age, with luxuries such as cinema and television becoming more accessible and general living conditions improving across the country.
Sadly, someone had to pay the price of this improvement, and the bill fell on the lap of the British aristocracy. One of the oldest in all of Europe, the gentry of England and Scotland were hit hard throughout the 1920s and 30s, with land reform bills and a downturn in farming hitting them hardest of all. To escape these very real problems, many packed their bags and fled their urban dwellings for their ancestral mansions in the English countryside. This has been a habit of theirs for centuries and has been well documented by writers like Jane Austen and Oscar Wilde. But for the nobles of late 1930s, this was the last vestige of the priveleges they had enjoyed since William the Conqueror.
These were the surroundings L. Arthur Rose and Douglas Furber were faced with as they wrote Me and My Girl. Originally written and premiered in London in 1937, it was a brilliant success on the West End, running for 1600 performances. The theatregoers of the time would have seen in the story a symbolic changing of the guard, a change that was occuring all around them, and most symbolically represented by the abdication of King Edward VIII to allow him to marry an American divorcee. Bill and Sally, with their Crass and blunt language and manners, were reapidly becoming the norm, while the Harefords and their ilk were fading into the pages of their own history books. Yet while Rose and Furber could have catalogued this change as sad, they used their words and the music of Noel Gay to give these nobles one last hurrah and welcome the rising lower classes in style and splendor.
Zander Miller, Dramaturg
| Directorial Staff | ||
| Directors | Shannon Deep | |
| Alex DiClaudio | ||
| Musical Director | Matt Aument | |
| Choreographer | Dan Wetzel | |
| Dramaturg | Zander Miller | |
| Stage Managers | Alex Marakov | |
| Jay Rockwell | ||
| Cast | ||
| Bill Snibson | Scott Wasserman | |
| Sally Smith | Caity Pitts | |
| Maria, Duchess of Dene | Gillian Hassert | |
| Sir John Tremayne | Steven Das | |
| Lady Jacqueline Carstone | Michelle Stewart | |
| The Hon. Gerald Bolingbroke | Nick Ryan | |
| Herbert Parchester, Esquire | Piers Portfolio | |
| Mr. Charles Hethersett | Christopher Wheelahan | |
| Lord Battersby | Mike Surh | |
| Lady Battersby | Lizzee Solomon | |
| Sir Jasper Tring | Joshua Patent | |
| Ensemble | Lee Beyle | |
| Erin Burnside | ||
| Ian Coleman | ||
| Kyle Gee | ||
| Tim Hieter | ||
| Natalie Keil | ||
| Patricia Rupinen | ||
| Sharon Wong | ||
| Orchestra | ||
| Reeds | Karen Branick | |
| Audrey Williams | ||
| Jessica Virdo | ||
| Robert Randazzo | ||
| Kyle Gee | ||
| Trumpet | Jeffrey Miller | |
| Trombone | Luc Cesca | |
| Violin | Andrew Campbell | |
| Viola | Carmeline Dsilva | |
| Keyboard | Bill Yanesh | |
| Harp | Robert Randazzo | |
| Drums | Dillon Henry | |
| Percussion | Cameron Exner | |
| Technical Staff | ||
| Production Manager | Todd Snider | |
| Technical Director | Aaron Gross | |
| Assistant Production Manager | Natalie Mark | |
| Set Designer | Leto Karatsolis-Chanikian | |
| Curtain Traveler | Aislinn McCloskey | |
| Master Carpenter | Nick Petrillo | |
| Assistant Master Carpenter | Spencer Williams | |
| Carpentry Crew | Daniel Freeman | |
| Katharyn Gaslowitz | ||
| Chris Lebowitz | ||
| Paint Charge | Katharyn Gaslowitz | |
| Paint Crew | Jonathan Ciscon | |
| Nabiha Hossain | ||
| Daniel Freeman | ||
| Jay Rockwell | ||
| Patricia Rupinen | ||
| Lighting Designer | Theodore Martin | |
| Lighting Consultants | Kendra Albert | |
| Anthony Chivetta | ||
| Master Electrician | Bridget Hogan | |
| Assistant Master Electrician | Matt Dickoff | |
| Spotlight Operator | Megan Kaplon | |
| Lighting & Electrics Crew | Kevin D. Bocaneyra-Guzman | |
| Haydee Naula | ||
| Laura Paoletti | ||
| Sound Designer | Daniel Freeman | |
| Sound Crew | Matt Dickoff | |
| Mattt Thompson | ||
| Spencer Williams | ||
| Costume Designer | Chloe Perkins | |
| Assistant Costume Designer | Stephanie Guerdan | |
| Costumes Crew | Natalie Abrams | |
| Matt Aument | ||
| Nancy Brown | ||
| Katie Dickson | ||
| Nabiha Hossain | ||
| Katharyn Gaslowitz | ||
| Emily Kennedy | ||
| Kamya Khanna | ||
| Aislinn McCloskey | ||
| Theresa Myers | ||
| Crystal Wray | ||
| Hair & Make-Up Designers | Noelle Crochet | |
| Samantha Skinger | ||
| Hair & Make-Up Crew | Caity Cronkhite | |
| Elyssa Goodman | ||
| Rebecca Jacobs | ||
| Hand Props Mistress | Ami Tian | |
| Set Props Mistress | Caity Cronkhite | |
| Properties Crew | Megan Kaplon | |
| Ishita Kapur | ||
| Publicist & Designer | Josh Jelin | |
| Assistant Publicist & Designer | Jasmine Friedrich | |
| Publicity Crew | David Andrews | |
| Paul Combe | ||
| Greg Delmar | ||
| Liz Kaufman | ||
| Americo Fraboni | ||
| Kelly Rivers | ||
| Hannah Rosen | ||
| Tim Sherman | ||
| Elliot Smith | ||
| Shaun Swanson | ||
| House Manager | Kelly Rivers | |
| House Crew | Paul Combe | |
| Jasmine Friedrich | ||
| Elliot Smith | ||
| Shaun Swanson | ||
| Special Thanks | ||
| Aaron Tarnow, Anna Li-Conrad, ARCC & J4, Buds Sign Shop, The Carnegie Mellon School of Drama, The Carnegie Mellon School of Music, CMU TV, Dave Ruvolo, Dining Services, Greg Delmar, Jason Meyers, Ken Tew, The Kiltie Band, Liz Vaugh, Marcia Gerwig, Matt Joachim, Mr. and Mrs. Chronkite, Point Park Playhouse, Student Activities, Tim Sherman, Tom Pike, The University Center Staff, & (Ampersand) | ||