The Spitfire Grill

Creative Team

Director/Choreographer

Rebecca Katz Harwood

Music Director
Patrick Colvin

Scenic Designer
Scott Boyle

Assistant Scenic Designer

Elyssa Munch

Assistant Technical Director

Cody Burgoon

Properties Coordinator

Olivia Zastrow

Costume Designer

Miller James

Lighting Designer

Maddy Uecker

Assistant Lighting  Designer

Wesley Christianson

Sound Designer

Samantha Brown

Stage Manager

Katy Lacy

Assistant Stage Manager

Cooper Mccalister

Assistant Stage Manager

Emma Wylie

Cast (in order of appearance)

Percy Talbott

Kaitlyn Callahan

Joe Sutter
Ryan Armstrong

Hannah Ferguson
Olivia Nelson

Caleb Thorpe

John Toven (10/6-10/8, 10/11)

Erik Rasmussen (10/12-10/14)

Effy Krayneck

Sophia Nelson

Shelby Thorpe

Mackenzie Ammon

The Visitor

Erik Rasmussen (10/6-10/8, 10/11)

John Toven (10/12-10/14)

*******

Understudies

Elsa Persson (Effy, Hannah)

Kate Warmka (Shelby, Percy)

John Toven (Joe)

The Band

Keyboard/Conductor

Patrick Colvin

Accordion

Elizabeth Brophy

Guitar/Mandolin

Cory Clay 

Violin

Rebecca Farmer

Cello

Toko Nakajima

Acknowledgments

Special thanks to Jesse and Arnold's Roadside Cafe, UWS Department of Communicating Arts Theatre, and UMD Sports Medicine and Performance.

Cast & Creative Team

Director's Note

At the beginning of our show, when Percy Talbott first steps into freedom after five years in prison, she is looking for a fresh start.  Based on a photograph and a hunch she can’t quite name, she boards a bus for Gilead, Wisconsin. It is 1988, there is no internet, no YouTube or social media to have shown her more about her intended destination. Her leap of faith shows her resilience and will to survive. What she is able to help build for herself and those she meets once she arrives, shows her true strengths - her imagination and willingness to change, even when it is hard. None of our characters are perfect, but as a collective they show us many of the facets of what it means to be part of a community, to accept others and ourselves.

On behalf of the entire creative and production team, we are excited to be the show that launches UMD Theatre’s 2023-2024 season. As the Director, I am honored to have this opportunity to collaborate with our talented students, faculty and staff colleagues, and the fantastic local musicians in our band, beautifully led by Musical Director Patrick Colvin.

Acknowledging that any show is a collective work, and therefore not mine as a whole to dedicate, I would like to dedicate my contribution to my father, Albert Katz. He found his own Gilead, the best of Gilead - the community and the connection to nature, here in the Twin Ports. We held auditions and cast this show the week he passed away, so the value of life, of second chances, of daring to give and receive of yourself and others, was especially present then and has remained on my shoulder throughout this process. 

We hope you enjoy your visit to our Gilead and even more, that you are lucky enough to find your own.

• Rebecca Katz Harwood

Scenes and Musical Numbers

Act One

Scene 1 - Montage: Taycheedah Prison/ Trailways bus / town of Gilead/The Spitfire Grill. February.

“Ring Around the Moon”.........................Percy

Scene 2 - The Grill. The next morning.

“Something’s Cooking at the Spitfire Grill”........Company

Scene 3 - The Grill. Eleven days later.

“Hannah Fell Down”..............................Effy

“Out of  the Frying Pan”........................Percy

Scene 4 - The Grill. Morning, about a week later.

“When Hope Goes”.............................Shelby

Scene 5 - Montage: Town of Gilead / The Grill. Early March to early April.

“Ice and Snow”...................................Effy, Joe, and Caleb

“Colors of Paradise”...........................Percy and Shelby

Scene 6 - The Grill. Three weeks later.

“Digging Stone”.................................Caleb

Scene 7 - The Grill. Morning, early May.

“This Wide Woods”..............................Joe and Percy

Scene 8 - The Grill. After closing, mid May.

“Forgotten Lullaby”............................Hannah

Scene 9 - The Grill. Late May to late June.

“Shoot the Moon”.............................Company

Act Two

Scene 1 - The Grill / Town of Gilead. July to September.

“Come Alive Again”.........................Company

Scene 2 - Behind the Grill. Night, October.

“Forest for the Trees”.......................Joe

“Wild Bird”.......................................Shelby

Scene 3 - The Grill. Later that night.

Scene 4 - The Grill / The woods. Just before dawn, the next morning.

“Shine”............................................Percy

Scene 5 - Outside The Grill. Later that morning.

Scene 6 - The Grill. Later that day.

“Way Back Home”...........................Hannah

Scene 7 - The street / The Grill. Several days later.

“Finale”.........................................Company

Production Crew

Technical Director Scott Boyle
Assistant Techncial Director Cody Burgoon
Master Carpenter Jake Pulkrabek
Properties  Coordinator Olivia Zastrow
Shift Crew Zoe Griese,  Heidi Mintz
Stagecraft Practicum Instructor Nick Wright
Dressers Sylvia Cabak, Morgan Ryals
Makeup/Hair Kay Boster
Costume Shop Supervisor Laura  Piotrowski
Costume  Construction Practicum Instructor Alice Shafer
Master Electrician Jacob Steen
Lighting Programmer Elizabeth Jensen
Light Board Operator Lisa Scott
Follow Spot Operators Cora Manrodt, Irie Unity
Audio Engineer Caleb Knudsen
A1/Sound  Board Operator Andrew Segal
A2/Deck Electrician Kimberly Hodgman
Lighting/Sound Faculty Advisor Jon Brophy

Scenic Construction Crew: Zeva Anderson, Erin Christoferson, Zsofi Eastvold, Tanner Longshore, Kirstyn Saulsbury, Emmalyn Danielson, Jonathan Lake, Cora Manrodt, Olivia Nelson, Jesse Bakken, Kaitlyn Callahan, Cindy Hansen, Kylee Paar, Aristotle Taylor, Hope Davis, Kade Gau, Sam LaBounty, Rosa Olson, Lisa Scott*

Costume Construction Crew:  Samantha Brown, Rose Buttell, Maryn Cruser*, Emmalyn Danielson, Ro Feitl*, Jordan Fields, Kaitlee Fluegel, Kade Gau*, Morgan James, B Kelly, Caleb Knudsen, Courtney Larson, Celeste Lee, Sophia Nelson, Gray Paguyo, Cadence Pipenhagen, Morgan Ryals*, Courtney Schreiber, Jennette Schmitt, Tyler Thomas, Kate Warmka, Ella Wennes, Violet Whelan

Lighting/Sound Crew:  Andrew Segal, Gabriel Mann, Katy Lacy, Luke Pfluger, Zawadi Mwabury

*Indicates College Work/study

Other Information