Time:

November 10, 2002

Place:

Secaucus, New Jersey and Sheffield, England

JOHANNA DAY (Mags) Broadway: How I Learned to Drive, The Nap, Sweat (Tony Nomination), You Can’t Take It With You, August: Osage County, Lombardi, Proof (Tony Nomination). Theatre: Scene Partners (Vineyard), Floyd’s (Guthrie) Peace for Mary Francis (New Group), Peter and Jerry (Second Stage – Drama Desk Nomination) Appropriate (Signature – Obie Award, The Lilly Award), Poor Behavior (Mark Taper), Realistic Joneses (Yale), Choice (Huntington), The Rainmaker (Arena Stage – Helen Hayes Award), How I Learned to Drive (Vineyard). Television: “Bull”, “The Good Fight”, “Madam Secretary” (5 Years Recurring), “For Life”, “New Amsterdam”, “The Blacklist”, “Escape at Dannemora”, “The Knick”, “The Americans”, “Masters of Sex”. Film: Worth, The Post, Great Gilley Hopkins, How Far She Went, The Breatharian. 

NANCY MCKEON (Bernie) An actress, director, and producer best known for playing the role of Jo Polniaczek on the beloved long-running 1980s sitcom, “The Facts of Life.” She starred in and produced the sitcom “Can’t Hurry Love” and starred with Jean Smart in the sitcom “Style & Substance.” She portrayed Inspector Jinny Exstead on the Lifetime police drama “The Division” from 2001 to 2004. She also directed two episodes. McKeon starred in numerous made-for-TV movies in the 1980s and 1990s, some including A Cry for Help: The Tracey Thurman Story, in which she portrayed the title role of Tracey Thurman, and Firefighter portraying the first female firefighter in Los Angeles County. Strange Voices, she portrayed a woman with schizophrenia. “Love, Honor and Obey”; “The Last Mafia Marriage” , mini series with Eric Roberts. She produced many of these movies through her film company, Forest Hills Entertainment. In 1999, she wrote and directed her own short film, A Wakening. The film won two film festival awards. 

GAIL WINAR (u/s Mags, Bernie) – Acting credits include original roles in Pen Pals (NJ Rep); Trans Scripts, Part I: The Women (59E59, Edinburgh Festival Fringe); Missa Solemnis (Shotgun Productions); Beyond Gravity (NJ Rep); and What I Heard About Iraq (Edinburgh Festival Fringe), as well as numerous tours throughout the U.S., U.K., and Europe, As a director, producer, and/or creative consultant, Gail has collaborated

on 50+ theater projects globally including Not Another Deaf Story at the Group Repertory Theatre in LA, TimeSlips at HERE Arts Center in NYC, and multiple award-winning productions at the internationally acclaimed Edinburgh Festival Fringe. As an educator, Gail has taught for the Roundabout Theatre Company on Broadway, Kean University, Marymount Manhattan College, NYU/Lee Strasberg Studio, American Globe Theatre, National Shakespeare Company, and Theatre for a New Audience, as well as serving as guest lecturer at Stockholm University in Sweden, Starfish Academy in West Africa, and the Jakarta International School in Indonesia – among others. 

ROSE RICCARDI (Production Stage Manager) has been a NJ Rep Company member since 1998, contributing to over 100 productions. Her work at NJ Rep includes The Housewives of Mannheim (Alan Brody), The Little Hours (David Bucknam), Fern Hill (Michael Tucker), Dead Ringer (Gino DiIorio), Naked By The River (Michael Folie), Adult Fiction (Brian Mori), Bookends (Katharine Houghton, Dianne Adams, James McDowell), Whores (Lee Blessing), Donna Orbits The Moon (Ian August), and Find Me A Voice (SuzAnne Barabas, Gabor Barabas). Off-Broadway credits include: Songbird (Michael Kimmel and Lauren Pritchard), Butler (Richard Strand), The Violin (Dan McCormick), The Road to Damascus (Tom Dulack), Terms of Endearment (Dan Gordon), Poetic License (Jack Canfora), On a Stool at the End of the Bar (Robert Callely), A Better Place (Wendy Beckett), Murder in the First (Dan Gordon), Martin Luther on Trial (Chris Cragin-Day), Phoenix (Scott Organ), and In the Pocket: A Sideman’s Tale (James Manos Jr. and Mark Rivera). Rose has been a proud member of Actors’ Equity since 1999. 

MICHAEL GRIFFO (Playwright) is overjoyed to bring Bernie & Mags to NYC! Other plays include 9th Street Water, The Date, No More Sundays – NJ Perry Award Best Original Play, Can Dina Even Spell Afghanistan? – Reva Shiner Comedy Award finalist. His High School plays – Material Girls and Promapocalypse! – are licensed by TheatricalRights.com. He has published 15 novels including Unnatural, Moonglow, and The Ferrara Family Mysteries. His new series set in Positano, Italy includes Murder In An Italian Village and Murder In An Italian Café. Screenplays include THE SILVER REINDEER and HOLIDAY HIGH SCHOOL REUNION. For Mom and Sheila. 

SUZANNE BARABAS (Director) is the Artistic Director of New Jersey Rep. For NJ Rep, SuzAnne directed Two-Hander (premiere), Find Me a Voice, North Fork (premiere), Immortal Interlude (premiere), Octet (premiere), Till Morning Comes (premiere), Maggie Rose, Getting in Touch With My Inner B*tch (starring Christine Lavin, premiere), The Adjustment, 10% of Molly Snyder, Romulus Linney’s Klonsky & Schwartz, Apostasy (premiere), Women Who Steal, Apple, The Housewives of Mannheim (premiere), Evie’s Waltz, Dead Ringer (premiere), Steven Dietz’s Yankee Tavern, Puma (premiere), Night Train (premiere), Just In Time: The Judy Holliday Story, Bakersfield Mist, Annapurna, Happy, Broomstick (premiere), Lucky Me (premiere), Swimming at the Ritz (US premiere), and The Realization of Emily Linder (premiere). SuzAnne directed productions of The Housewives of Mannheim at 59E59 Theater (NYC), Ensemble Theater of Santa Barbara (CA), and Phoenix Theater (Indianapolis). In addition, she directed regional productions of Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, The Fantasticks, The Roar of the Greasepaint the Smell of the Crowd, Cabaret, Shaw’s

Heartbreak House, A.R. Gurney’s The Perfect Party, Marsha Norman’s ‘Night Mother, Philip Barry’s The Philadelphia Story, Christopher Durang’s Beyond Therapy, Mark Dunn’s Belles, Lee Blessing’s Down the Road among others. She is a member of Actors Equity Association, BMI, the Dramatists Guild, SDC, and LPTW. 

JESSICA PARKS (NJ Rep Scene Design) has been a professional theater designer since 2003 and has served as the resident scenic designer at New Jersey Repertory Company since 2010. NYC credits include Fern Hill (Michael Tucker), Butler, The Housewives of Mannheim, Jericho, and Poetic License at 59E59 Theaters; The End of Hester at The Lion Theatre at Theatre Row (upcoming November production); Brecht: Call & Respond at Paradise Factory Theatre; and Dan Lauria’s Dinner with the Boys at The Acorn Theater. New Jersey Repertory Company designs include Your Name Means Dream, Memoirs of a Forgotten Man, Wolf at the Door, The Jag, Swimming at the Ritz, Happy, and Broomstick. Jessica continues to bring her innovative artistry to stages across New York and New Jersey. 

DAVID C. WOOLARD (Costume Consultant) received Tony Award nominations for The Rocky Horror Show and The Who’s Tommy. He has designed over 20 shows on Broadway and over 200 shows around the world, including West Side Story, Damn Yankees, the operas Diving Bell, Cold Mountain, Everest. In addition to his Tony nominations, Mr. Woolard has won a Drama Desk Award, the Henry Hewes Design Awards and was nominated for an Olivier Award. For additional credits, please visit http://davidcwoolard.com. 

JILL NAGLE (NJ Rep Lighting Design) New York City credits include designs at Theatre Row, 59E59, The Westside Arts, La Mama, Bank Street, The School of Dramatic Arts, The Pulse, and the NY Shakespeare Festival. Jill is the Resident Lighting Designer at NJ Repertory Company and Technical Director at Montclair Kimberly Academy. Jill has also designed numerous shows for Chester Theater, Luna Stage, Dreamcatcher Repertory, The Theater Project, Montclair State University, and New Jersey City University. 

NICHOLAS SIMONE (NJ Rep Sound Design) NJ Rep resident sound designer and chief audio engineer for Fenix Studios in Staten Island. Shows include A Progressive Love Story, The Norwegians, North to Maine, IYOM, Wild Children, Time Travelers Trip to Niagara, The Diorama, Shakespeare’s Hamlet at Bryant Park, Extreme Weather, Don’t Dress for Dinner, Villainous Company, Capone, & Romantic Trapezoid. Teaching Artist: Roundabout Theatre Company, Apollo Theater, and Sundog Theatre specializing in sound design and musical disciplines. He has credits on multiple albums, films, broadcasts, streaming, music videos, and mobile apps and has worked with up-and-coming talent and platinum-selling artists in different genres, from Lorde to Coldplay. 

JOEL GOLDES (Dialect Consultant) Broadway: Come From Away (Also First North American Tour, Toronto, West End, Australia and Gander). Selected Film/TV: Dexter: Original Sin on Showtime; The Perfect Couple on Netflix; Washington Black on Hulu;

The Handmaid’s Tale; Monster; Presumed Innocent; The Woman King; The Shrink Next Door; 24; Escape at Dannemora; The Crazy Ones (coaching Robin Williams) and Hatfields & McCoys (for which his client, Kevin Costner won an Emmy for Best Actor). Joel helps clients retrain their brains, in order to better hear new accent sounds. He has consulted with GM, Maximus, Anthem, Honeywell Analytics, Ernst & Young, Imperial Capital Bank, and Reuters TV. TheDialectCoach.com 

RED RISING (Advertising/Marketing) develops campaigns for live entertainment and events. Select current/past clients include A Guide for the Homesick, Mama I’m A Big Girl Now, A Guide for the Homesick, Kowalski, Katsura Sunshine’s Rakugo, Okuni, The Life and Slimes of Marc Summers, Tennessee Williams’s The Night of the Iguana, Anthony Rapp’s Without You, Jersey Boys, Emergence, Tripping On Life, Love + Science, Little Girl Blue, A Bronx Tale, Summer: The Donna Summer Musical, Showstoppers! and A Letter to Harvey Milk. 25 years in, Michael Redman has worked on over 400 theatrical projects. www.redrisingnyc.com. 

JT PUBLIC RELATIONS (Publicity/Co-Producer) was founded by Joe Trentacosta in 2014 and represents projects on and Off-Broadway, National Tours, as well as developmental and industry presentations, film releases, special events, and non-profit organizations. Recent/ current projects include A Guide for The Homesick, Mama, I’m A Big Girl Now!, Godless (Film), Pen Pals (co-producer), Katsura Sunshine’s Rakugo (Executive Producer), Okuni, The Life and Slimes of Marc Summers, Tennessee Williams’s The Night of the Iguana, Anthony Rapp’s Without You. Theatre companies Urban Stages, Theatre Breaking Through Barriers, Houses on the Moon, NJ Rep, Argyle Theatre, and SAY. He is currently in development for the new musical Six Triple Eight. 

LDK PRODUCTIONS (General Manager) is a NYC-based theatrical general management and production firm founded in 2007. Select recent/upcoming credits include Pen Pals, A Guide for the Homesick, Cellino v. Barnes, The Life and Slimes of Marc Summers, White Rose: The Musical, The Night of the Iguana (directed by Emily Mann), Patrick Olson’s Emergence: Things Are Not As They Seem, Anthony Rapp’s Without You, Eisenhower: This Piece of Ground, Little Girl Blue, Katsura Sunshine’s Rakugo, Be More Chill, the immersive theatrical adaptation of the film Sideways, A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur, and A Letter to Harvey Milk. LDKProductions.com 

LISA DOZIER SHACKET (Producer) founded LDK Productions, a NYC-based theatrical management and producing firm, in 2007. Select recent credits: Mama, I’m A Big Girl Now!, The Life and Slimes of Marc Summers, Anthony Rapp’s Without You (US and Japan), Tennessee Williams’s The Night of the Iguana, White Rose the Musical, Eisenhower: This Piece of Ground, Little Girl Blue, Katsura Sunshine’s Rakugo, Be More Chill (Off-Broadway, Broadway, West End), the immersive theatrical adaptation of the film Sideways, A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur, A Letter to Harvey Milk (NY and UK). Lisa was the founding producing director of the regional theatre Miami New Drama and was the general manager of the National Alliance for Musical Theatre’s Festival of New Musicals for eleven years. LDKProductions.com.

LOGAN DEWITT (Associate Producer) Assistant General Manager at LDK Productions. LIU Post Alumni. “We were girls together”. 

ANTHONY HAZZARD and SCOTT STOLZENBERG (Co- Producers) Proud sponsors of the arts! Theater:Godspell (Circle in the Square), Roundabout, Manhattan Theatre Club, Lincoln Center Theater, Encores. Film: Broadway Beyond the Golden Age, Elaine Stritch, Sesame Street. TV: Reading Rainbow. Music: Pippin-revival, Lea DeLaria, Marin Mazzie and Jason Danieley. 

NEW JERSEY REPERTORY COMPANY (Producer) was founded in 1997 by SuzAnne and Gabor Barabas. Its current central headquarters is the Lumia Theater, located on lower Broadway in Long Branch. The theater’s mission is to develop and produce new plays and to make a lasting contribution to the American Stage. Over two decades, NJ Rep has produced 152 plays, of which 128 have been world premieres. The theater has the additional distinction of having had many of its plays produced by other theaters around the country, totaling over 200 subsequent productions in the US and overseas. In 2012 and 2018, NJ Rep was the recipient of a National Theater Company Grant from the American Theater Wing that sponsors the annual Tony Awards for Broadway in recognition of its contribution to the repertoire of the American Stage. Only seven theaters have had this distinction. In addition, the theater has presented over 400 developmental readings as well as introduced 136 new works through its Theatre Brut Short-Play Festivals that focus on visionary and avant-garde works. NJRep acquired a new property, a 28,000 square foot school situated on 2 ½ acres and located just five minutes from its Main Stage Lumia Theater and two blocks from the Jersey Shore. The theater plans on gradually transforming the school in stages into a cultural center that will house additional performance spaces, an art cinema, an art museum, a rooftop café, an arts education wing, and residences for out-of-town actors and playwrights. When completed, the center will present a wide array of programs in acting, playwriting, art, sculpture, poetry, music, and photography and will serve as a catalyst for economic development and as the foundation for the cultural renaissance of the community. 

Staff for PEN PALS
Opening Night December 11, 2024
GENERAL MANAGEMENT
LDK PRODUCTIONS
Lisa Dozier Shacket
Michael Shannon
Logan DeWitt Michael Mroch
Paul Bakey Cecilia Bracey
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COMPANY MANAGER
Wendy Hall

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GENERAL PRESS REPRESENTATIVE
JT PUBLIC RELATIONS
Joe Trentacosta

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PROMOTIONS, MARKETING. ADVERTISING

RED RISING MARKETING
Michael Redman

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DIGITAL MEDIA
Ursa Creatives

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Production Stages Manager ………………………………………………….Rose Riccardi
Assistant Stage Manager ………………………………………………………………Louis B Crocco
Dialect Coach…………………………………………………………………….. Joel Goldes
Production Coordinator……………………………………………..Ray Anthony Rodriguez
Production Electrician………………………………………………………………Tom Dyer
Banking……………………………………………………………………..City National Bank
Production Photographer……………………………………………………..Russ Rowland
Bookkeeper…………………………………………………LDK Productions/Michael Mroch
Insurance…………………… Risk Strategies/Dewitt Stern Entertainment/Anthony Pittari

CREDITS

Rehearsed at CAM Studios. Lighting instruments provided by Theatre at St Clements.
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SPECIAL THANKS

Special thanks to Evan Bergman, Maria Cameron, Farrah Cukor,Tom Dyer, Kate

O’Carroll, Sarah Schetter, Alice Whitley.

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