Bill Crean (Boss) Bill returns to Prime Stage Theatre, having previously played Sheriff Heck Tate in To Kill a Mockingbird. Recently, Bill played Lee in The Melville Boys at South Park Theatre where he has also played Father O'Reilly in Do Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up? and as Chet in Over the Tavern. Bill has appeared at numerous area theaters including Open Stage Theatre, The Baldwin Players, The Theater Factory, The Heritage Players, New Works, and McKeesport Little Theater.

Brian Czarniecki (George Milton) is making his debut with Prime Stage. Brian performs regularly with the Unseam'd Shakespeare Company, and has also worked for City Theater, Quantum Theatre, Thank You Felix Productions, and many others. In addition to his work in theater, film and voice-overs, Brian is the host of the Monday Night Music Mix on WYEP, 91.3FM and at www.wyep.org.

Zach Dietrich (Whit) This is Zach's first show in Pittsburgh, having performed with the Atlanta Shakespeare Company in plays by Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, Oscar Wilde, Sheridan, and William Shakespeare primarily. Working his way through the classics, favorite roles include a witch in the Scottish play, a brick in a Southern one, a Puck in a funny one, and anything with swords.

Dominick Giovanni (Curley) is a recent graduate from Point Park University where he received his BA in musical theater. This is his Dominick's first appearance with Prime Stage. At the Pittsburgh Playhouse, Dominick has performed in Contact directed by Tome` Cousin, The Velveteen Rabbit and Jane Eyre. He is also a dance apprentice for The Pillow Project, a multi-media dance based company in Pittsburgh.

Monteze Freeland (Crooks) hails from Baltimore City and is a sophomore acting major at Point Park University. He is thrilled to be apart of this re-telling of one of his favorite stories. Monteze was last seen in Thou Shalt Not as Papa Jack at the Pittsburgh Playhouse, directed by Tome Cousin. Some past credits include Alice in Wonderland, Pinnochio, Into the Woods and The Wiz. He is a 2005 recipient of the Sir Henry Irving Drama Award.

Randy Kovitz (Lennie) is making his first appearance with Prime Stage. Randy has appeared on Broadway in Burn This, Othello and in Macbeth at Lincoln Center. In Regional theatres he has performed at Yale Rep., American Shakespeare Festival, Laguna Playhouse, L.A. Theatre Center and Shakespeare Festival/L.A., among others. In Pittsburgh, Randy has appeared in Woyzek, Cat's Cradle and Jewel Walker's Tuesday for Theatre Express, a season with City Players (now City Theatre) and, more recently, The Ride Down Mount Morgan for the Jewish Theatre of Pittsburgh, The Visit, The Exonerated, The Real Thing and Mother Courage at Playhouse REP, The Grey Zone for barebones Productions, Stuff Happens for Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theatre, and the critically acclaimed Criminal Genius for Late Night REP. His television credits include E.R., The Practice, Numbers, Chicago Hope, Frazier, Seinfeld and King of Queens among many others. Some of his film appearances include Dawn of the Dead, Knightriders, Reunion (with Denzel Washington), and Music from another Room (with Jude Law). A graduate of Carnegie Mellon's Department of Drama, Randy is currently completing his M.F.A. at Point Park University. His short film, The Specials, which he wrote, produced and co-directed and in which he plays the central character has played at film festivals across the country. Most recently, Randy produced, directed and performed his own show, Happy to be Here at the Bricolage theatre in Pittsburgh.

Ashley Laverty (Curley's Wife) ) is making her Prime Stage debut. A musical theater major at Point Park University, she was last seen as Angie and Dull Gret in Top Girls. Ashley is currently co-writing and co-directing Dotty Dot, an original children's musical that will tour local elementary schools in April.

Ken Lutz (Candy) Ken is a retired Pittsburgh Public Schools music teacher. His professional pursuits have included acting with the American Conservatory Theatre, Pittsburgh Playhouse, Civic Light Opera, announcing on WQED television, and conducting the McKeesport Symphony Orchestra, and Carnegie Civic Symphony. Being active in music and theatre, Ken plays clarinet in the East Winds Symphonic Band and the Edgewood Symphony Orchestra. His recent acting roles include George Spelvin in The Actor's Nightmare with Proudly Presents Productions, Weller in Grand Dream Productions' The Gin Game, and Charles Thomson in 1776 with Artscape. He is delighted to return to Prime Stage, where he performed Robert E. Lee Ewell in last season's production of To Kill a Mockingbird.

Lin St. Clair (Slim)Lin is a middle school mathematics teacher at Community Day School in Squirrel Hill. He also coaches cross-country, basketball, and girls softball. Lin appeared as Sillers in Inherit the Wind and Judge Taylor in To Kill a Mockingbird for Prime Stage.

Sugar Bear (Candy's Dog) Sugar Bear is a 10 year old Labrador mix. He was born in Pittsburgh and lives with Rich Keitel, Director and his litter mates Snowball, Uncle Simple, Fiancé Sadie, and various humans as well. This is Sugar Bear's second production having appeared in Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre's The Nutcracker. His hobbies include chasing squirrels, begging, and long walks.

David Tabish (Carlson) David recently appeared with Prime Stage as the Mayor in Inherit the Wind. He has also performed as Pischik in the Chautauqua Theater Company's production of The Cherry Orchard with Lisa Harrow, and in Chautauqua productions of A Midsummer Night's Dream, Lysistrata, and Street Scene. In Pittsburgh area, David has worked at Allegheny Highlands Regional Theater, Pleasant Valley Playhouse, The Theater Factory, and Apple Hill Playhouse. For over fifteen summers with Indiana University of Pennsylvania's professional summer companies, Theater-by-the-Grove and Keystone Rep, David has played characters including Senex in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Watson in Sherlock's Last Case, Chausable in The Importance of Being Earnest, Mr. Webb in Our Town and Baptista in The Taming of the Shrew as well as working on several new plays. Last January, he appeared as guest artist with IUP's theater department as Arvide Abernathy in Guys and Dolls. Films include Silence of the Lambs, The Prince of Pennsylvania, and the Academy Award winning documentary The Johnstown Flood. Recently retired, Tabish taught English, theater and speech for 32 years at both the high school and university levels.

Director's Notes - Musings on Of Mice and Men

John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men is currently celebrating its 70th year in publication and is still one of the most widely read and beloved stories in American literature. My son's seventh grade class read the novel at Community Day School and I had a very interesting discussion with the students there last fall. There have been three wonderful film adaptations of the novel: Lon Chaney and Burgess Meredith in 1939, Randy Quaid and Robert Blake in 1981 and Gary Sinise and John Malkovich in 1992. It is also one of the most widely produced plays in the country. This adaptation is very true to the novel, in fact, this play contains 85% of the dialogue in the novel.

It is always interesting to think about why a work of art captures the zeitgeist. There are many ideas that intrigue me about this play. Let's start with the title, taken from the poem by Robert Burns (1759 - 96), "The best laid schemes o' mice and men Gang aft agley [often go wrong]." Lennie and George make grandiose schemes to live off the fat of the land only to have their dreams end in tragedy. Who among us has not made great plans and had wonderful dreams that get shattered? Certainly the Pittsburgh Pirates of the last fifteen years can identify with that! One theme that I hope the play conveys is the story of friendship amidst the loneliness in the play. Lennie certainly depends on George, but I think George needs Lennie just as much and would be lost without him. I also am intrigued by the theme of the poor migrant worker struggling during the Depression against the wealthy owners, a theme Steinbeck would explore further in his masterpiece The Grapes of Wrath - read the book! See the movie! They are both brilliant.

The novel/play has come under criticism for misogyny, in that there is only one female character and she is depicted as a temptress, and the other woman mentioned in the play are prostitutes. I think Curley's wife is just as lonely as the men in this play, and I think that the men are scared of women. There is not a loving, nurturing relationship between a man and a woman in the entire play.

As director, it is my job to choose the cast and prepare a unified production that achieves Steinbeck's vision. I consider myself a collaborator, working with the cast and crew, producers, designers, and the audience to utilize their good ideas - and, yes, I even take into account my sons' seventh grade class's comments!

Enjoy the show!

Richard Keitel

Richard Keitel (Director) Rich is a Professor of theatre at Point Park University. He has a BA in Theatre and Philosophy from SUNY Oneonta and MFA in Directing from University of Pittsburgh. Rich was the Associate Artistic Director for City Theatre during its 1997-98 season and Head of Undergraduate Acting and Directing Program at the University of Pittsburgh from 1991-1997. His directing credits include Collected Stories and American Buffalo for City Theatre, Wild Duck for Quantum Theatre, I'm Not Rappaport and the world premiere of Sam Hazo's Watching Fire, Watching Rain for Jewish Theatre of Pittsburgh, along with A Moon for the Misbegotten, Mad Forest, School for Scandal, What's Wrong with this Picture? Criminal Genius, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, and A Flea in her Ear. Regionally, Rich directed Communicating Doors and Dinner with Friends at St. Michaels' Playhouse in Vermont. Previous Prime Stage credits include Great Expectations and To Kill a Mockingbird where he received his sixth Best Director mention from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. He is regularly mentioned in the Pittsburgh newspapers' year-end top ten lists. As a member of Actors Equity, he performs with Pittsburgh Playback Theatre and serves as Associate Artistic Director. Rich was recognized with the "Harry" award for theatrical excellence by Pittsburgh Magazine. Next up for Rich will be the world premiere of Shirley Barasch's Mary Shelleys' Frankenstein in this beautiful theatre in November. Rich dedicates this production to his son Daniel Whitman who will become a man on May 31.