F. Scott Fitzgerald’s
The Great Gatsby
Creative Team Bios
F. SCOTT FITZGERALD
AuthorF. Scott Fitzgerald was born in St. Paul, Minnesota on September 24, 1896. He attended the St. Paul Academy and was first published at the age of 13 – a detective story he’d written for his school newspaper. He attended Princeton University, where he wrote articles for the Princeton Tiger, a humor magazine, as well as scripts and lyrics for the Triangle Club musicals and stories for the Nassau Literary Magazine, a Princeton publication. Having served in the infantry in World War I, he moved to New York City in 1919. His first novel, This Side of Paradise, set at Princeton and cataloguing the love and career aspirations of Armory Blaine, was published in 1920. It achieved immediate success and Fitzgerald was quickly catapulted to the position of one of the most promising young writers in America. He authored numerous short stories in popular publications such as Esquire and The Saturday Evening Post, including “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” and “The Diamond as Big as the Ritz.” In 1922, Fitzgerald published his second novel, The Beautiful and the Damned. To maintain the momentum of his creativity, Fitzgerald moved to Paris in 1924, where he joined many important artistic and literary figures of his day including Gertrude Stein, Ernest Hemingway, James Joyce, Ezra Pound and Samuel Beckett. In 1925, Fitzgerald published his greatest work, The Great Gatsby. The novel received critical acclaim at its publication, but it was not until much later in the 1950s and 1960s that it achieved its iconic status as the definitive portrayal of the Jazz Age – a term Fitzgerald coined himself. In 1934, Fitzgerald published his fourth, semi-autobiographical novel, Tender is the Night. He moved to Hollywood in 1937, where he worked as a screenwriter and freelance storywriter. It was there that he began his fifth novel, The Love of the Last Tycoon, in 1939. The manuscript was approximately halfway completed at the time of his death from a heart attack at the age of 44 on December 21, 1940. F. Scott Fitzgerald died believing himself a failure, but critics and readers remember him today as one of the greatest American novelists of all time.
SIMON LEVY
AdaptorSimon Levy is the Producing Director for the Fountain Theatre in Los Angeles where he's been a resident playwright, director, and producer since 1993. His stage adaptation of The Great Gatsby, a Finalist for the PEN Literary Award in Drama, completes his Fitzgerald Trilogy, which includes Tender is the Night, Winner of the PEN Literary Award in Drama, and The Last Tycoon, winner of numerous awards and nominated for the prestigious Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Ted Schmitt Award for Original Play. He’s currently writing a new adaptation/translation of Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People: A New Version for America; as well as a young adult novel based on the story of Tristan and Iseult. His stage adaptation of Eliot Weinberger’s celebrated article, What I Heard about Iraq, was produced worldwide, including the Edinburgh Fringe Festival where it won the Fringe First Award; the Adelaide Fringe Festival where it won the Fringe Award; was produced by BBC Radio, and received a 30-city UK tour culminating in London. His directing, writing, and producing credits and awards are numerous. He was recently honored with the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Milton Katselas Lifetime Achievement Award in Directing. Please visit www.simonlevy.com for more information.
STEPHEN WRENTMORE
DirectorPlease see Mr. Wretmore's bio on our Leadership Bios page.
YOON BAE
Scenic DesignerYoon Bae recently designed the costumes for Don Giovanni at Welsh Nation Opera (directed by John Caird) and Bernstein’s Candide (directed by John Caird, based on John Napier’s National Theatre production) at the Imperial Theatre, Tokyo. For the Edinburgh International Festival, she designed Three Thousand Troubled Threads at the Royal Lyceum Theatre. In Seoul, Ms. Bae designed the award-winning musical Music in My Heart, The Full Monty and the Korean premiere of Patrick Marber’s Closer at Seoul Arts Centre. Other work includes Private Lives, Running the Silk Road (Barbican Theatre, London), Vassa Zheleznova, The Meeting, The Baltimore Waltz, Not About Heroes, The Wrestling School’s world premiere of Howard Barker’s Wounds to the Face, Arthur Smith’s Live Bed Show and Picasso’s Women for the West End production (starring Cherie Lunghi, Jerry Hall and Susannah York); Ms. Bae collaborated with Vivienne Westwood on Jerry Hall’s costumes. Ms. Bae has worked closely with John Napier (Les Misérables, Cats, Starlight Express and more) over the last seven years. She was Associate Designer on Trevor Nunn’s Gone with the Wind (New London Theatre, West End), Assistant Designer on the West End productions of Birdsong (Comedy Theatre; also directed by Trevor Nunn), Equus (starring Daniel Radcliffe, Gielgud Theatre, West End), Skellig at The Young Vic and Disconnect at the Royal Court Theatre. Ms. Bae studied Fine Art at Middlesex University (formally Hornsey School of Art), Theatre Design at Central School of Speech & Drama, and has an MFA from the Slade School of Fine Art at University College London.
DAVID KAY MICKELSEN
Costume DesignDavid Kay Mickelsen has designed costumes for ATC since the 1982-83 season when he designed Journey's End. Since then, he has designed 47 productions for ATC. He has designed more than 250 productions at some of the nation's leading theatres, including Guthrie Theater; Denver Center Theatre Company (50 productions); The Cleveland Play House (17 productions); Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park (13 productions); the Oregon, Utah, Colorado, and Illinois Shakespeare Festivals; Berkeley, St. Louis, Missouri, Tennessee, San Diego, New Mexico, Jean Cocteau, and Irish Repertory Theatres; Geffen, Laguna, Hampton, Timberlake, and Pasadena Playhouses; Ford's Theatre, The Old Globe, Studio Arena Theatre, Maltz-Jupiter Theatre, Geva Theatre Center, The Ensemble Studio Theatre; ACT Theatre; Northlight Theatre; Pioneer Theatre Company; the Williamstown and Sundance Theatre Festivals; Portland Center Stage; Pennsylvania Centre Stage; The Children's Theatre Company in Minneapolis; Florida Stage; and Theatre of the Open Eye. Originally from Canby, Oregon, Mr. Mickelsen graduated with an MFA from California Institute of the Arts and is a member of United Scenic Artists. His work can be seen at davidkaymickelsen.com.
DAWN CHIANG
Lighting DesignerDawn Chiang designed the lighting for Arizona Theatre Company’s productions of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Crowns, Blues for an Alabama Sky and Oh Coward. On Broadway, she designed Zoot Suit and co-designed Tango Pasion with Richard Pilbrow. Off-Broadway, she has designed for Manhattan Theatre Club and Roundabout Theatre. Her regional credits include the Mark Taper Forum, Guthrie Theater, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, South Coast Repertory, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Denver Center Theatre Company, San Jose Repertory Theatre, Alliance Theatre, Syracuse Stage and Alley Theatre. Ms. Chiang was Resident Lighting Designer for New York City Opera, where her designs included Anna Bolena, Fanciulla Del West and A Little Night Music. Ms. Chiang has earned two DramaLogue Awards and nominations for a Los Angeles Drama Critics Awards, a Bay Area Critics Circle Award and an American Theatre Design Award.
BRIAN JEROME PETERSON
Resident Sound DesignerBrian Jerome Peterson celebrates his 26th season at ATC, where he has designed 71 productions, including God of Carnage, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Lost in Yonkers, The Second City Does Arizona, Ain’t Misbehavin’, George is Dead, Somebody/Nobody, Enchanted April, Touch the Names, I Am My Own Wife, Twelfth Night, Tuesdays with Morrie, Crowns, Macbeth, The Pirates of Penzance, The Immigrant, A Streetcar Named Desire, Oh Coward!, Copenhagen, Fully Committed and The Mystery of Irma Vep (for which he won an ariZoni Award) and the world premieres of Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Suicide Club, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure, Inventing van Gogh, Rocket Man, Minor Demons and The Holy Terror. His designs have been heard in many theatres including Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre, The Cleveland Play House, Northlight Theatre, Portland Center Stage, Actors Theatre of Louisville and San Jose Repertory Theatre.
ROBERTA CARLSON
ComposerRoberta Carlson is a frequent visitor to Arizona Theatre Company. She has composed scores for many productions at ATC, including Two Gentlemen of Verona, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Mystery of Irma Vep and Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Suicide Club. Her score for Stephen Dietz's Dracula, which premiered at Arizona Theatre Company, has been used in more than 200 productions around the world. Ms. Carlson is currently a resident of Minneapolis where her work has been heard at the Guthrie Theater, Children's Theatre Company, Illusion Theater, The Jungle Theatre and Penumbra Theatre Company. Nationally, her work has been heard at San Jose Repertory Theatre, Pasadena Playhouse, Seattle Repertory Theatre and Kansas City Repertory Theatre. An adaptation of My Antonia featuring her music will tour the Midwest this winter.
LARA KAMINSKY
Projections DesignerLara Kaminsky designed projections for Arizona Theatre Company’s Macbeth. She has studied and worked in the arts for over fifteen years in a variety of disciplines. Her personal work has spanned from photography to sculpture, and from dance to film. Professionally, she has worked in video and film production, video editing, design and art direction. She has worked in the theatre as a projection designer for The 5th Avenue Theatre, ACT Theatre, Seattle Children’s Theatre and Village Theatre. Currently, she is the Artistic Director of Rainy Night Productions and has produced an array of performances since 2005 with a focus on burlesque and variety shows. Her most recent endeavor was the re-envisioning of a 19th century cabaret entitled Barnstorm: The Cabaret Re-Imagined.
MELISSA LOWE
ChoreographerMelissa Lowe returns to Arizona Theatre Company where she worked on Woody Guthrie’s American Song. She studied dance at The School of American Ballet (official school of the New York City Ballet) and later, on scholarship, with the American Ballet Theatre School where she was an apprentice to the company. Ms. Lowe was a Soloist with both Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre and Houston Ballet, followed by a position as Principal Dancer with Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle. She has performed and taught extensively throughout the US and in England, Scotland, the Netherlands, Mexico, Taiwan, and China. Ms. Lowe has produced four dance instructional DVDs marketed internationally through Kultur International Films. She is currently a Professor of Dance at the University of Arizona.
BRENT GIBBS
Fight DirectorBrent Gibbs is a member of the Acting/Musical Theatre faculty at the University of Arizona where he teaches Acting and Stage Combat. He is a Certified Teacher and Fight Director with the Society of American Fight Directors. He has gained recognition as an Advanced Actor/Combatant by the Society of British Fight Directors, The Society of American Fight Directors and Fight Directors Canada. For several summers, he taught stage combat workshops at the International Theatreschool Festival held in Amsterdam. In Arizona, Mr. Gibbs garnered an ariZoni Award for his fight direction in the Southwest Shakespeare Company's production of Henry V. This year he will direct Julius Caesar at the Arizona Repertory Theatre, where he serves as Artistic Director. Mr. Gibbs is also a member of Actors' Equity Association and Screen Actors Guild.
JENNIFER BAZZELL
DramaturgJennifer Bazzell is the Literary Manager of Arizona Theatre Company, where she has provided dramaturgical assistance for many shows including The Lady with All the Answers, Enchanted April, I Am My Own Wife, Molly’s Delicious, Macbeth, Copenhagen and A Moon for the Misbegotten, as well as the world premieres of Ten Chimneys, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure. At ATC, Ms. Bazzell also manages the National Latino Playwriting Award, the Arizona Playwriting Award and the dramaturgical internship program (a collaboration with the University of Arizona). In addition, she manages ATC’s AMERICA PLAYS! community efforts and co-facilitates ATC’s new Café Bohemia series of play readings. She has been a reader for the NEA/TCG Theatre Residency Program for Playwrights. Ms. Bazzell has a Bachelor of Arts in Dramatic Theory and an MA in Theatre Studies from the University of Arizona.
GLENN BRUNER*
Production Stage ManagerGlenn Bruner is in his fifteenth season at ATC where he has stage managed, among many others, The Mystery of Irma Vep, [title of show], The Kite Runner, Hair, Enchanted April, The Pajama Game, The Pirates of Penzance, Much Ado About Nothing, 2 Pianos 4 Hands and the world premieres of Jeffery Hatcher’s Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Suicide Club and Ten Chimneys, and Steven Dietz’s Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure, Rocket Man, Inventing van Gogh and Over the Moon. Mr. Bruner has worked at Kansas City Repertory Theatre, Alley Theatre, Dallas Theater Center, Pasadena Playhouse, CENTERSTAGE, Studio Arena Theatre, and Maine’s Portland Stage Company. He was the Assistant Stage Manager for the world premiere of On the Waterfront at The Cleveland Play House and stage managed the Off-Broadway premiere of Alan Ayckbourn’s Season’s Greetings. He has also been the voice for many radio and television commercials and worked for Texas Public Radio in his hometown of San Antonio. Mr. Bruner has been a member of Actors' Equity Association since 1981.
MARTHA KULIG*
Assistant Stage ManagerMartha Kulig most recently stage managed the ATC production of The 39 Steps. She has been a stage manager for the Guthrie Theater for almost 25 years, working with such renowned directors as Joe Dowling, Garland Wright, Liviu Ciulei, Ethan McSweeney, Bartlett Sher, Michael Greif and Susan Stroman. As Stage Manager for over 45 productions and Assistant Stage Manager on more than 25, she has had the pleasure of working on world premieres by playwrights Lee Blessing, John Guare and Tony Kushner, as well as overseeing the Guthrie’s first international tour of Death of a Salesman at the Dublin Theatre Festival. In addition to her work at Guthrie Theater, Ms. Kulig has also stage managed for Mixed Blood Theatre, Children’s Theatre Company, History Theatre and Chimera Theatre Company.
TIMOTHY TOOTHMAN*
Assistant Stage ManagerTimothy Toothman is the Artistic Associate at ATC. He has stage managed ATC’s productions of Daddy Long Legs, God of Carnage, Lost in Yonkers, The Glass Menagerie, The Lady with All the Answers, Tuesdays with Morrie, The Immigrant and A Moon for the Misbegotten. Early in his career, Mr. Toothman spent five seasons as the Production Stage Manager for the Geva Theatre Center in Rochester, NY and was then Company Manager for five years for Sunshine Too, a national touring ensemble of deaf and hearing actors. He has also managed producing and presenting theatres in Indiana and Maryland. He was the Production Stage Manager for six seasons at the Vineyard Playhouse on Martha’s Vineyard.
CLAIRE HANCOCK
Assistant to the ChoreographerClaire Hancock has danced professionally with ODC/San Francisco and River North Dance Company in Chicago, and has been a guest teacher and choreographer for organizations such as the Limon Institute, the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance, Arizona Opera, UA Opera and UA Dance. Ms. Hancock received her BFA in Dance from the University of Arizona and earned a Master of Arts in European Dance Theatre from the Laban Centre in London, and a Master of Fine Arts in Dance at the University of Arizona. She is the Co-Founding Artistic Director of Art.If.Act Dance Project, a Tucson-based performance group dedicated to the collaboration of dance, live music, and film.
KATHERINE MONBERG
Assistant to the DirectorKatherine Monberg migrated to Arizona last summer to take on the responsibilities of the Artistic Intern at ATC after graduating in 2011 from Hamline University in St. Paul, MN, with a B.A. in Theatre Arts and English. She has worked around Minneapolis/St. Paul as an actor, stage manager, and director including work with Hamline University, Lakeshore Players Theatre, and Theatre Unbound, a women-centered theatre collective in Minneapolis. This is her third show at ATC as Assistant to the Director.
EMMA DeVORE
Assistant to the Stage ManagerEmma DeVore was the Assistant Stage Manager for Arizona Theatre Company’s God of Carnage. Regionally, she has worked at Utah Shakespearean Festival, Phoenix Theatre, Gulfshore Playhouse (Handsome Little Devils), Scottsdale Center of Performing Arts and Southwest Shakespeare Company, as well as on The Magic of David Copperfield.
