SEASON 1--Friendly Hour

NEWS FLASH: Cloris Awards for Excellence in Theatre Arts, 2019

IOWA PREMIERE
May 9, 10, 11, (7:30)
May 12 (2:00) 2019!
VIKING THEATRE, DES MOINES, IA

Playbill (click)

Reviews (click)

Photos and Video (below)

Story

Based on the actual minutes of a women’s club formed in rural South Dakota in 1934, this poignant comedy charts 70 years of personal and national history, from skinning skunks and julebukking in the ’30s to restoring native prairie in the new millennium.

TheatreMidwest production, May 2019

Original production, Los Angeles, 2008

"These five women deliver a memorable, unique performing arts experience. Guided by focused direction, a superb ensemble and enveloped by a solid production design concept, The Friendly Hour leaves its profound imprint within our souls....This show is a masterful immersion into an historically-based bit of Americana....With the warmth and appeal of an edgy Norman Rockwell, The Friendly Hour will satisfy." --Culture Buzz, Des Moines (TheatreMidwest Production)

“Tom Jacobson’s lovely new play chronicles the rituals of a women’s club in rural South Dakota from the late ’30s to 2007, and we watch the women with whom we grow increasingly familiar age and engage in theological disputes that are really at the heart of the matter. God’s purpose, and the purpose of community, interweave and clash through the decades … an impressionistic landscape that straddles the literary worlds of Anton Chekhov and Thornton Wilder.” --L A Weekly (original production)

THE FRIENDLY HOUR
is produced by special arrangement with Broadway Play Publishing Inc, NYC
www.broadwayplaypub.com

World premiere by The Road Theater Company, Los Angeles

CAST

Jami Bassman Ahart
Dorcas Briggle

THEATRE Repertory Theatre of Iowa: Glass Menagerie, Diary of Anne Frank Our Town, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Sense and Sensibility, God of Carnage, Blood Red Poe; Des Moines Playhouse: Metamorphosis.; Stage West: Miss Witherspoon; Theatre For A Change: The Dead Guy, Taming of the Shrew; Drama Workshop: Les Liaisons Dangereuses; FILM/COMMERCIAL Fertile Ground, Strong Medicine, Guilty or Innocent, Girlfriends, E.Confessions, Unsolved Mysteries, I. Sessions, Love You Back.

Tiffany Flory
Opal Zweifel
Choreographer

ACTING Tallgrass Theatre: The Foreigner, Independence, Barefoot in the Park; Iowa Stage Theatre: Lion in Winter, Romeo and Juliet; Repertory Theatre of Iowa: Turn of the Screw; Des Moines Playhouse: West Side Story, Rent; Goldfinch Theatre: Macbeth; University of Idaho: Winter's Tale, Three Strikes to First; Simpson College: Learned Ladies, Servant of Two Masters, Henry 5, Antigone. CHOREOGRAPHY Urbandale Community Theatre: Music Man; Des Moines Playhouse (Academy): Fame Jr.; University of Idaho: A Christmas Carol; Lincoln High School: Sound Attraction and Infinity Show Choirs; Southeast Polk High School: IHSSA Musical Theatre;

Rebecca Haroldson
Wava Jamtgaard

THEATRE Urbandale Community Theatre: Hello Dolly; Twisted Tragedy Improv: Troupe Member; Black Hole Theater: Spoon River Anthology, Welcome to the Monkey House; Turning the Page; FILM/COMMERCIAL Courting Des Moines, EMBEDS, Dead Awake, Molly's Girl, LIving the Country Life, Upper Iowa University, Hy-Vee, Casey's, Kaplan University.

Deidra Mohr
Isabelle Hagen (+)

THEATRE Kata Klysmic Productions: The Rocky Horror Show, Vagina Monologues; California Theatres: Young Frankenstein, Burning Opera LA, Ragtime in Concert, Company, Not Your Mama's Broadway, The Nitch, Stepping Out, Marat/Sade, Mousetrap, Laramie Project; FILM/TV My Friend Max, That Night, Lost Soulmates, Antique America.

Emily Solo
Effie Voss
Music Director

THEATRE Iowa Stage Theatre: It's a Wonderful Life-The Radio Play; Des Moines Playhouse: The Addams Family; MTH Theatre at Crown Center: Tony Awards Cabaret, McCarter Theatre: A Christmas Carol; Charlottesville Opera: Oklahoma, Rigoletto; Other Opera: Godspell, The Bartered Bride, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Street Scene; FILM/TV Z: The Beginning of Everything; Knee High, Plus One, The Cast.

PRODUCTION TEAM

Katie Privitera
Associate Producer/Hair & Makeup

PRODUCTION/BUSINESS MANAGEMENT Des Moines Social Club, Historic Valley Junction Foundation, Theatre Simpson STAGE MANAGEMENT Theatre Simpson: A Year With Frog And Toad, The Learned Ladies, Festival of Short Plays 2010; THEATRE DESIGN Repertory Theater of Iowa: That Championship Season; Theatre Simpson: Festival Of Short Plays, The Servant Of Two Masters; ACTING Theatre Simpson: Push-Up 1-3, The American Dream, Back Story, Spring Awakening, Fall From Grace

Mackenzie Sheehan
Marketing Director

THEATRE MANAGEMENT/MARKETING Des Moines Symphony: Marketing Manager; Iowa Dental Association: Marketing & Membership Manager; Alexandria (MN) Schools: Performing Arts Manager; Mixed Blood Theatre (MN): Management Intern. ACTING Alexandria (MN) Arts: The Addams Family; Theatre Simpson: Antigone, The Love Talker, Trash Anthem, One Flea Spare, Into the Woods, The Bear, Trojan Women. Countryside Players: The Sound of Music.

Erin Tracy
Graphics, Audience Services

GRAPHIC/AD DESIGNER Carroll Daily Times Herald, The Graphic Edge, Kingman Row Entertainment, Carroll Library, Donna Reed Foundation, AUDIENCE SERVICES Simpson College: Box Office Manager, House Manager, Audience Services (Undergraduate Assistant.) THEATRE DESIGN Theatre Simpson: Eurydice, Festival of Short Plays, A Year With Frog and Toad; ACTING/DIRECTING Theatre Simpson: Spring Awakening, Necessary Targets, Henry 5, The American Dream, Pride and Prejudice; Carroll Community Theatre: Steel Magnolias, Wizard of Oz, Annie, Peter Pan (Director); Kuemper Catholic High School: Speech Coach, Assistant Musical Director.

Erin Webb
Props Manager

THEATRE DIRECTING/MANAGEMENT Theatre Simpson: Knowing Joan, Festival of Short Plays-Eco-Drama, Vagina Monologues, Women of Lockerbie. DESIGN/PRODUCTION Stage West: Baltimore Waltz; Des Moines Metro Opera: Three Decembers; STAGES St. Louis, Texas Shakespeare Festival, Theatre Simpson: Memory of Water, Lysistrata Jones, Alice's Trip, University; Costume Shop (Undergraduate Assistant), Scene Shop. ACTING/DIRECTING Theatre Simpson:

Rick Goetz
Lighting

LIGHTING DESIGN Stage West: The Underpants, I am My Own Wife; Theatre Simpson: Kiss Me Kate, Tartuffe, Playhouse Creatures, The Comedy of Errors, Noises Off, Marisol, Carousel, Lysistrata Jones, The Winter's Tale, Peer Gynt, Love Letters, The Learned Ladies, Henry 5, A Year with Frog and Toad, Push Up 1-3; Lyric Opera of Kansas City: Don Giovanni, La Boheme, Tosca, Vanessa, The Pirates of Penzance, The Mikado, The Barber of Seville, Madama Butterfly, The Ballad of Baby Doe; Music at Simpson: La Canterina/Prima la Musica e poi le parole, Dido and Aeneaus/Venus and Adonis, Cendrillion, The Mikado, Die Zauberflute, I Paggliaci; SCENIC DESIGN Theatre Simpson: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Pericles, The Women of Lockerbie, The Glass Menagerie, Betrayal; TECHNICAL DIRECTION Theatre Simpson: Festival of Short Plays '19/'18/'17/'16, Kiss Me Kate, Silent Sky, The Bald Soprano, These Shining Lives, Knowing Joan, Marisol, Peer Gynt.

Amber Miller
Designer

THEATRE Des Moines Playhouse: A Streetcar Named Desire; Coralville Arts Center: A Year With Frog and Toad, Bye Bye Birdie; Simpson College: Peer Gynt, The Learned Ladies; Yellow Tree Theatre: Expecting Isabel, Miracle on Christmas Lake; Jungle Theater (MN); Shirley Valentine, Driving Miss Daisy; Theatre in the Round (MN): Don't Dress for Dinner, The Burial at Thebes; Playwrights' Center (MN): 500 Words; Park Square Theater (MN): Rock 'n' Roll, Painting Churches. BUSINESS The Planning Center: Certified Financial Planner; Starbuck's: Store/Space Designer; Jungle Theater: Graphic/PR Designer.

Cassie Foster
Technical Director

EVENT/CREW MANAGEMENT Des Moines Metro Opera, Simpson College Conferences & Events, Brownville Village Theatre, Missoula Children's Theatre, Theatre Simpson DESIGN/TECHNICAL MANAGEMENT Brownville Village Theatre: I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change; Winterset Stage: Death by Disco; Theatre Simpson: Women Beware Women, Love Letters, The Learned Ladies, Festival of Short Plays; ACTING Brownville Village Theatre: June Groom, The Perfect Murder, Move Over Mrs. Markham, Lie, Cheat, and Genuflect; Theatre For A Change: The Winter's Tale; Missoula Children's Theatre: The Little Mermaid, Snow White, Cinderella, The Jungle Book; Theatre Simpson: Peer Gynt, Henry 5

Stephanie Eggert
Costume Designer

Styling/Design Trend Magazine, Atomic Garage. Education Iowa State University - Apparel Design and Merchandising: Historical Dress and Museum Studies.

Ann Woldt
Speech and Dialects

DIALECT/VOCAL COACHING Des Moines Playhouse: A Streetcar Named Desire, Metamorphosis, Dinner with Friends; Stage West: Cock; Simpson College: Noises Off, Pride and Prejudice, The Glass Menagerie, A Streetcar Named Desire, Woman in Black, Tons of Money; ACTING Stage West: Vanya, Sonya, Masha, and Spike, Dancing at Lughnasa; Des Moines Playhouse: Little Woman, Sabrina Fair COMMERCIAL VOICE Hummel’s Nissan, Wells Fargo, John Deere, EMC, Mediacom, GMAC, Dupont; DIRECTING Simpson College: Silent Sky, 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, These Shining Lives, Noises Off, The Memory of Water, University, Betrayal, Necessary Targets, Pride and Prejudice, Standing on My Knees TEACHING Simpson College: Acting, Voice, Dialects, Arts Management, Oral Interpretation, Directing; Des Moines Playhouse: Acting for Youth, Acting for Adults

Tom Woldt
Director

DIRECTING Repertory Theatre of Iowa: The Diary of Anne Frank, That Championship Season; Des Moines Playhouse: A Streetcar Named Desire; Duluth Playhouse: Singin' In the Rain; Yellow Tree (MN): Expecting Isabel; Williamston (MI): Five-Course Love; Guthrie Theatre (Studio): Hopscotch; Other Professional: Seven Year Itch, Jesus Christ Superstar, I Do! I Do!, Noises Off, Lysistrata the Bluegrass Musical!, Mother Courage, Night at the Carlton With Ray Charles; Guest Residencies; The 39 Steps, One Man-Two Guvnors, On The Razzle, As You Like It, Antigone; Simpson College: Peer Gynt, Learned Ladies, Henry 5, Into the Woods, Trojan Women, Godspell, Quilters, The Woman in Black, Twelfth Night; Other Academic: Machinal, The Winter's Tale, The Marriage of Figaro, The Bacchae; ACTING Goldfinch Theatre: Macbeth; Stagewest: Time Stands Still; Other: Taming of the Shrew, The Glass Menagerie, Brigadoon, Carousel, My Fair Lady, Equus, A Flea In Her Ear.
Homepage tomwoldt.com

MEDIA AND PHOTOS

Culture Buzz review