MADWOMEN OF THE WEST (Bios)
MADMEN+ OF MADWOMEN OF THE WEST
Over several decades, Sandra has found Los Angeles to be the most wonderfully adventurous and hospitable city for theater in the world. Deep thanks go to these extraordinary people:
BART DeLORENZO is the Founding Artistic Director of the Evidence Room Theater. Recent work includes Sandra Tsing Loh's Sugar Plum Fairy at South Coast Repertory, East West Players, and Skylight Theatre; Stage Kiss, Death of the Author, Coney Island Christmas, Joan Rivers: A Work in Progress, and Shipwrecked at the Geffen Playhouse; Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, tokyo fish story, Fast Company, and Doctor Cerberus at South Coast Repertory; Annapurna with The New Group (Off-Broadway); Ghosts, Loot, Hir, Kiss, Go Back to Where You Are, Day Drinkers and A Number at the Odyssey, as well as Evidence Room co-productions The False Servant, Passion Play, Annapurna, Ivanov, Margo Veil and The Receptionist; Nomad Motel at Pittsburgh's City Theatre; Time Alone at LATC; Women in Jeopardy! at the Ensemble Theater of Santa Barbara; Need to Know at Rogue Machine, Too Much Sun for Indie Chi Productions, and Driving Wilde at Theater of NOTE. He is on the faculty at CalArts. For his work, he has received LA Drama Critics Circle Awards including the Milton Katselas Award for career achievement, LA Weekly awards, Backstage Garlands, and TCG's Alan Schneider Director Award.
FRIER McCOLLISTER has served as Sandra Tsing Loh's producing partner and general manager for all of her west coast theatrical productions including: BAD SEX WITH BUD KEMP (Tiffany); ALIENS IN AMERICA (Tiffany, Seattle Rep); I WORRY (Tour); MOTHER ON FIRE (24th Street); THE BITCH IS BACK (Broad Stage); THE MADWOMAN IN THE VOLVO (SCR, Pasadena Playhouse, Berkeley Rep) and both iterations of SUGAR PLUM FAIRY (San Jose Rep and Geffen; Skylight and East West Players). With director Bart De Lorenzo and The Evidence Room, he produced FLOW MY TEARS, THE POLICEMAN SAID; NO ORCHIDS FOR MISS BLANDISH; and THE BERLIN CIRCLE. Since arriving in LA from NYC in 1994, he has served as general manager or production manager on a wide range of independent theatrical productions including the LA production of THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES (Canon); Lily Tomlin's THE SEARCH FOR SIGNS… (Ahmanson); Eric Idle's RUTLEMANIA! (Montalban, The Blender NYC); Paul Rubens' PEE WEE PLAYHOUSE (Nokia). As general manager he revivified the Coronet Theatre (now Largo), in partnership with producer Jim Freydberg and launched the Falcon Theatre (now the Garry Marshall Theatre).
KEITH MITCHELL, a native Californian, is an artist and award winning Commercial Art Director and Theatrical/ Live Event Scenic Designer. Keith earned his B.A. in Communication from U.S.C. Annenberg and currently designs for an extensive list of production companies, theatres, music tours, and immersive interactive events. Southland Theaters include: South Coast Repertory,The Geffen Playhouse, Disney Music Hall, Center Theatre Group, The Getty Villa, Ensemble Theater Center Santa Barbara, The Odyssey, 24th Street Theater, Celebration Theater, The Lounge, Bootleg Theater, The Evidence Room, and The Rogue Artists Ensemble. He is a member of USA829 and ADG800.
JARED A. SAYEG is a nine-time Ovation Award nominee and winner of the Ovation, StageRaw, Garland, and LADCC Kinetic Lighting Awards. His designs have been seen on Broadway, London, Spain, Edinburgh, Saudi Arabia, Canada and throughout the US. National Tours: The Illusionists, Blithe Spirit, Broadway: The Illusionists, Bravo Bernstein, Gotham Glory; as well as on design teams for Primo, The Woman in White, Radio City Christmas Spectacular. Regional: Center Theatre Group, Pasadena Playhouse, South Coast Repertory, 5th Avenue Theatre, Sacramento Music Circus, McCoy Rigby Entertainment, Reprise!, 5-Star Theatricals, Ensemble Theatre Company, Laguna Playhouse, Virginia Stage Company, Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey. He is the principal Designer for USA International Ballet Competitions and became the Youngest member of United Scenic Artists Local 829 and serves as Vice-Chair to the executive board. www.jaslighting.com
SANDI SILBERT is an award-winning art director and graphic designer who has spent her career working in theatre, advertising, and publishing. Most recently she spent six years at Center Theatre Group as a senior graphic designer working on shows like The Lehman Trilogy and Slave Play. She is also a teacher at LA County High School for the Arts where she hopes to inspire the next generation of graphic designers. Sandi is thrilled to have Madwomen of the West kick off her return to freelance graphic design. For more info, visit: sandisilbertdesign.com.
JOE WITT credits include lots and lots of glorious Sandra Tsing Loh productions, Eric Idle's An Evening Without Monty Python (LA/NYC), Will Farrell's Broadway debut You're Welcome, America: A Final Night with George W. Bush, the original off-Broadway production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and he's Associate Producer of the Jim Henson Company's Puppet Up. Broadway: George Gershwin Alone. LA credits include The Pee-wee Herman Show Live, The Vagina Monologues, Culture Clash's Zorro in Hell!, Much Ado About Nothing (w/Lyle Lovett & Helen Hunt), and the original LA production of the off-Broadway hit Jewtopia. Joe is currently Production Manager of the national tour of The Empire Strips Back, which just opened off-Broadway and in Chicago after sold out runs in San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego. Thank you, Sandra & Frier! And big love to Blythe.
MADWOMAN of the WEST
Production Staff
General Manager
Frier McCollister
Technical Direction and Sound
Jerry Buszek
Master Electricians
Jeremy Haven, Nick Massey
Scenic Stagehand
Connor Moody
Special thanks to Miles Williams (SAS Entertainment Group) and the Fun Department!
SHORT BIO:
SANDRA TSING LOH is the author of six books, including THE MADWOMAN IN THE VOLVO: MY YEAR OF RAGING HORMONES (2014, W.W. Norton), which was selected as one of the New York Times’ 100 Most Notable Books. It is based on her Best American Essay 2012 on menopause, originally published in The Atlantic Monthly. The Madwoman in the Volvo has inspired Sandra's new stand-up show, The B**** Is Back: An All-Too Intimate Conversation, running at The Broad Stage in July, 2015, as well as a multi-character play, which will premiere at South Coast Repertory Theatre in January, 2016.
SANDRA TSING LOH is the author of the THE MADWOMAN IN THE VOLVO: MY YEAR OF RAGING HORMONES (2014, W.W. Norton), which was selected as one of the New York Times' 100 Most Notable Books. It is based on her Best American Essay 2012 on menopause, originally published in The Atlantic Monthly. Her previous book, MOTHER ON FIRE, was inspired by her hit solo show about Los Angeles public education. During that time, she was named one of the 50 most influential comedians by Variety. Her other solo shows include "Aliens in America" and "Bad Sex With Bud Kemp" (both off-Broadway at Second Stage Theatre), "Sugar Plum Fairy" (Geffen Playhouse, Seattle Rep), and "I Worry" (Kennedy Center, Actor's Theatre of Louisville). Her short story, "My Father's Chinese Wives," won a Pushcart Prize in 1996, and is also featured in the Norton Anthology of Modern Literature. Loh's previous books include A Year in Van Nuys, Aliens in America, Depth Takes a Holiday, and a novel, If You Lived Here, You'd Be Home By Now, which was named by the Los Angeles Times as one of the 100 best fiction books of 1998. She has been a regular commentator on NPR's "Morning Edition," and on PRI's "This American Life" and "Marketplace"; currently, her weekly segment "The Loh Life"" is heard on KPCC. Loh's education includes a BS in physics from the California Institute of Technology, an institution which granted her a Distinguished Alumna Award, its highest honor, and for whom she was the first alumna to give a now-famous commencement speech. Loh's combining of her communication and science skills continue with her syndicated daily minute "The Loh Down on Science," which is heard weekly by 4 million people. Excerpts from her solo piano CD Pianovision has been heard on several NPR shows, and she also scored the music for the 1998 Oscar-winning documentary Breathing Lessons. A Pushcart Prize winner, MacDowell Fellow and three-time National Magazine Award nominee, she is a contributing editor for The Atlantic Monthly and adjunct professor of visual art and science communication at the University of California, Irvine. Sandra's stand-up show, The B**** Is Back: An All-Too Intimate Conversation, ran at The Broad Stage in July, 2015. Her multi-character play based on The Madwoman in the Volvo premiered at South Coast Repertory Theatre (SCR) in January, 2016, and enjoyed subsequent runs at The Pasadena Playhouse and Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Loh workshopped a new piece, "Blue State," at the Ojai Playwrights Conference in August, 2017. A new three-actor version of "Sugar Plum Fairy" will be produced by SCR in December, 2017. Loh is an adjunct associate professor of Drama at UC Irvine, where she also teaches Science Communication.