This page serves as a virtual playbill.
IOWA STAGE VIRTUAL THEATER
PROUDLY PRESENTS
Tuesdays With Morrie
by Jeffrey Hatcher and Mitch Albom
based on the book by Mitch Albom
SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS
SEASON SPONSOR
Craig & Betty Miller
SHOW SPONSOR
CO-SPONSOR
SEASON UNDERWRITERS
Kay Myers
Director Underwriter
Trudy Hurd
Designer Underwriter
C. Dean Carlson
Designer Underwriter
Harry and Pam Bookey
Actor Underwriter
WITH SUPPORT FROM
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MESSAGE FROM THE BOARD
Empathy and compassion are something we have all learned a lot about recently. The world is going through a turbulent period, and we all have been facing new challenges each day. Our selection of Tuesdays With Morrie as part of our virtual performance series underscores the way we are able to see and communicate with each other is adapting, but the fundamental need for connection remains.
From the start of this pandemic, the ISTC board has worked to adapt to whatever challenges faced us, because, at our core, we want to continue to bring great theater to our community. Working with our staff, Board members, and volunteers, we continue to find ways to share the craft and talents of our Resident Artist Company.
The ISTC community continues to expand. Our organization is looking at partnerships and relationships throughout Des Moines to not only support and provide visibility to our own efforts, but to theirs as well. The production you are about to see is rooted in that desire for connection – built on empathy and compassion.
As we find our footing in the virtual world, we want to express our gratitude to our community partners, donors, and supporters, who provide the infrastructure and support to allow us to continue on. We also want to thank you, our patrons, for buying a ticket to see this performance – we may not be able to be in a theater space – but we appreciate that your “suspension of disbelief” can extend beyond the play and into the built environment.
Thank you for your continued support and we are proud to present this production to you.
Enjoy the show!
Joe Benesh
ISTC Board President
MESSAGE FROM THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
"The hardest thing I’ve ever done"
We were shooting some video promotional for Tuesdays With Morrie. Benjamin Sheridan, playing Mitch, and Tom Geraty, playing Morrie, each spoke about working on the show, and Tom popped out a quote that surprised me.
“This is the hardest thing I’ve done in 36 years of theater.”
The pandemic has forced changes across the globe, and the arts are some of the most heavily impacted. Iowa Stage Theatre alone lost 40% of our season and we have no idea when it will be safe to return to in-person performance. ISTC has turned to virtual performances to continue to connect with our audiences.
But the struggles of a theater company pale in comparison to the struggles of those dealing with illness, loss, and loneliness in a quarantine. There are some 24,000 Iowans in nursing homes, often unable to be with their families. Those who have died during covid have often been alone.
Tuesdays With Morrie is the heartwarming and heartbreaking story of a young man, Mitch Albom, who reconnects with his college mentor 16 years later. Professor Morrie Schwartz is dying of ALS, Lou Gehrig’s disease, and in the Tuesdays he has left teaches Mitch that dying can show us how to live.
We have re-set this story of life, love, and loss as a series of Zoom calls, to capture the way we live now. We find ways to be together even while we are forced apart. Though times are hard, we are here for one another. Even amidst so much loss, there is love.
Matthew McIver
Artistic Director
CAST AND CREW
Tom Geraty
Morrie Schwartz
Benjamin Sheridan
Mitch Albom
Tom and Ben are supported by underwriting from Pam and Harry Bookey
Matthew McIver
Director
Matthew is supported by underwriting from Kay Myers
Lauren Dursky
Stage Manager and Production Manager
Lauren is supported by underwriting from C. Dean Carlson
Josh Jepson
Sound Designer
Josh is supported by underwriting from Trudy Hurd
Run time approx. 90 minutes.
Biographies
Benjamin Sheridan is a member of ISTC’s Resident Artist Company and has been on stage as Malcolm in Macbeth, Romeo in Romeo & Juliet, and Torvald in A Doll’s House.
In 2017, Benjamin received a Dionysos Award from the Des Moines Playhouse for his performance of Nick Carraway in The Great Gatsby.
Benjamin Sheridan
(Mitch)
Tom Geraty is a member of ISTC’s Resident Artist Company and has been on stage as the title role in Macbeth, Jacob Marley in A Christmas Carol, and Torvald in A Doll’s House, Part 2. Tom and his wife Katie were some of our special performers at this year’s virtual Cocktails + Cabaret fundraiser.
Tom Geraty
(Morrie)
Matthew McIver (Director)
Matthew McIver is a writer, director and actor based in Des Moines, IA. Matthew served as the founding Artistic Director of the Des Moines Social Club for five years. An Equity member since 1997, Matthew serves as Artistic Director of Iowa Stage Theatre Company and has directed Cloris Award -winning shows such as A Christmas Carol, A View From The Bridge, The Crucible, August: Osage County, Disgraced, and a host of other shows. Much love to Julie, Vaughn, and Flynn.
Lauren Dursky (Stage Manager)
Lauren Dursky is a member of ISTC's Resident Artist Company and serves as Director of Production. She has stage managed It's A Wonderful Life, The Christians, A View From The Bridge, The Flick, Company, A Doll's House, and a variety of others. She previously worked with Repertory Theatre Company, StageWest, Iowa State University, and The Des Moines Playhouse, with previous credits including Taming of the Shrew, August: Osage County, Broadway Bound, The Magic Flute, and Les Miserables.
Josh Jepson (Sound Designer)
Josh Jepson is a Cloris Award -winning sound designer and a proud member of the Resident Artist Company at Iowa Stage Theatre. Josh has worked on every show since the founding of the company, has worked freelance, and works in sound a lights design at Hoyt Sherman Place.