Thank you for joining us in Beirut:Special Thanks to:

Wayne BryanEsmerai Sena

Thank you to our Sponsors:Without your generosity and support, this could not have been possible

Platinum:Dr. Thomas and Lily AshcomDr. Bassam and Rita Mattar

Dr. Shaker and Kathie DakhilDr. Pierre and Karla Wakim

Wakim Cosmetic and Family Dentistry

Gold:Dr. Greg and Sherri Lakin

Dr. Nassim and Nelly El-NabboutDr. Dennis and Ann Ross

AnonymousMatt and Erika Lillie

Steve Peterson and Dan Dakhil London and Galina YoungerGeorges and Jocelyne Ausseil

Meet the Cast and Crewhave been presented in a dozen countries around the world. She is a recipient of the Woodward International Playwriting Prize as well as the First Prize in the Earth Mat-ters on Stage Ecodrama Festival and the Uprising National Playwriting Competi-tion. She is currently at work on a series of eight plays that look at the social and environmental changes taking place in the eight Arctic states. www.cbilodeau.comJennifer Vellenga (Director): Jennifer’s work on new plays includes directing the American premiere of  Bustown, by Aus-tralian playwright, Lachlan Philpott and workshop productions of Forward by Chantal Bilodeau in Chicago and Tromsø, Norway. Jen is a professor and the direc-tor of the theatre program at Kansas State University where she directed the first stage reading of An American in Beirut. Other credits in clude work at Lincoln Center, Cincinnati Playhouse, Dallas Theater Cen-ter, Old Globe, and the Guthrie Theater. As a member of Actors’ Equity Association, Jennifer (Guindon) performed as an actor and singer in New York, Chicago and as far away as China and Croatia. Emily Sternfeld-Dunn (Music Director): is a strong advocate for new music and un-conventional performances of art song and opera. Her award-winning album, SHE, which features songs cycles by Jake Heg-gie and Ricky Ian Gordon, was released in April 2018. She has performed as a soprano soloist with the Wichita Symphony Orches-tra, Connecticut Concert Opera, the Idaho Washington Symphony, and the Palouse Choral Society. Emily is the music director for MTWichita’s teen choir and maintains a vibrant studio. You can read more about Emily at www.emilysternfelddunn.com.Kristen Cruz (Stage Manager): Kristen Cruz is happy to be involved in the making of An American in Beirut at the Crown Up-town Theatre. Some previous productions include Into the Woods at Chapman The-atre, Spring Awakening at the B. J. Warner Theatre, and Candide at Crafton – Preyer Theatre. She is a graduate of Kansas State University.Mason Gates (Lighting Designer): Is a graduate from Kansas State University with a bachelor’s degree in theatre, with an em-phasis in lighting design. While at K-State,

Mason designed a number of shows in-cluding, Bug and Unity (1918). Since graduating he has worked as a lighting technician for the City of Manhattan Parks and Rec Department for their Arts in the Park concert series.  He also worked as the lighting designer for the Parks and Rec Department’s collaboration with the K-State Theatre Department’s Summer Theatre Camp..Sterling Matthew Oliver (Sound Design-er): Sterling Matthew Oliver is thrilled to be returning to An American in Beirut, in his professional debut as a sound design-er! Previously, he designed the reading at Kansas State University, in addition to Boy Gets Girl, The Effect,  music directing the premiere of  Inn-Dependent  and compos-ing for the premiere of 21st Century Car-nival. As well as sound, Sterling is also a writer, composer, actor & director. To keep up to date with his work, find him at  www.sterlingmoliver.com  or on Insta-gram @SterlingMOliver. Juan Dussán (Additional Orchestrations/ Copyist): is a screen composer based in New York City. He is steadily growing as an orchestrator, producer and music ed-itor among the film scoring community. Born in 1995 in Medellín, Colombia, Juan was formerly trained in classical piano. He got admitted into NYU, in the acclaimed Screen Scoring Master’s Program where he was a winner of the NYU Film Scoring Competition, during his first semester.Jonah Kirkhart Ericson (Producer): Is a writer for both stage and screen, director, artistic director, and actor. He has written The Tragedy of Norton the First as well as an early draft of An American in Beirut. He currently resides in Salt Lake City, Utah where he is the President and Artis-tic Director of ThreePenny Theatre Com-pany devoted to using theatre arts to help build community and skills in lower class and impoverished communities. You can keep up to date on Jonah and his company at www.jonahkirkhart.com.

“... The story is about ... two young adults exploring their Lebanese backgrounds. But, ‘The bigger question is how do we deal with our ev-

er-changing relationships...’” - Splurge Magazine

“Solidly entertaining … all the parts of a successful musical seem to be in place.” – Manhattan Mercury

Meet the Cast and Crewthe opportunity to explore this concept piece. Some of his credits from around the country include: Richard Willey in Out Of Order, Gabe in First Date (Re-gional US Premiere), Franklin Hart Jr. In 9 to 5, Captain Hook in Peter Pan, Corny Collins in Hairspray, and the US Tour of The Rat Pack Reunion: Live From L.A. as Joey Bishop, Jerry Lewis and Elvis Presley. You may have also caught him at the Crown with the show he co-wrote Judy & Frank: A Tribute to Judy Garland & Frank Sinatra. He often works with Prairie Pines Playhouse, Forum Theatre & Mosley Street Melodrama. He’d like to thank his two incredible sons, his beau-tiful, talented & darling Rhonda and his family for all their support!Leah Heathcote-Osburn (Advisor, Ma-lia, Archivist 2, Spirit): is a Kansas native mezzo-soprano known for performing roles in operas, musicals, and plays. She graduated from Wichita State Univer-sity with a Bachelor’s of Music, Vocal Performance Emphasis in 2017 and has devoted her time to performing and teaching music since. Leah has recently performed as Mrs. Fox in Opera Kan-sas’s Fantastic Mr. Fox, Mrs. Segstrom in Hawaii Performing Art Festival’s A Lit-tle Night Music, and many Wichita State University productions—some of which include Sesto in La Clemenza di Tito and Roberta in The Dead Guy. Leah is thrilled to join An American in Beirut!Grace Roush (Bella, Archivist 1, Spir-it, Woman): is a Junior transfer student pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre at Wichita State Uni-versity. She previously appeared as Jen-ny in Theory of Relativity (Wichita State University,) a Player in Pippin, (Missou-ri Southern State University) a stoner chick as well as the swing for the female leads in Heathers (Joplin Little Theatre,) and Humpty Dumpty as well as Mama Ogre in Shrek (Joplin Little Theatre.) Grace’s mission as an art-ist is summed up in a Cesar Cruz quote, “Art should comfort the dis-turbed and disturb the comfortable.”Ethan Harmon (Waiter, Achmed, Archi-vist 3, Spirit): is so excited to be joining the workshop for American in Beirut! He will be entering is Sophomore year as a

Musical Theatre/Dance student at Wichita State University, and will have most recent-ly been seen in their last fall production Seussical as well as CYT’s My Fair Lady. Ethan’s favorite part about doing theatre is showing the audience a part of themselves and he can’t wait to do that in An American in Beirut. Ethan credits his talent solely to God, thanking Him and his family for get-ting him where he is today.Charles Turley (Airport Attendant, Tobie, Archivist 4, Spirit, Man): Has sung over 45 lead and supporting operatic roles, including recent successes as Morales (Carmen), Farmer Bean (Fantastic Mister Fox), Marquis d’Obigny (La Traviata), the Judge (Trial by Jury), and Marullo (Rigo-letto). Dr. Turley is on the voice faculty at Friends University and teaches a large stu-dio of private students in Wichita and sur-rounding areas. He has served as the stage director for the DRC Camp Center Stage Productions for the past three years, where he works with the children in Derby, KS to produce an annual musical. He is the Tra-ditional Music Director for Good Shep-herd Episcopal Church, a Resident Artist for Wichita Grand Opera, and the proud step-father of six amazing kids. Alex Wakim (Music, Lyrics, Orchestra-tions, Producer): Alex Wakim is an inter-nationally recognized Lebanese-Ameri-can composer whose interest in blending French, Middle Eastern, jazz, and classical music has led him to explore fresh avenues in writing for the screen and the theater. Based in New York, Wakim has recent-ly completed several independent media projects,  Re-Entry  (2019),  LaLuz Medi-tation  (2019), and is self-producing his musical, An American in Beirut, as a work-shop production in Kansas. Continuing his masters at NYU Steinhardt’s graduate film program has led him to many new avenues, and he looks forward to exploring new challenges and projects. He is thrilled for the opportunity to showcase his musical to the Wichita audience and looks forward to pushing the project closer towards be-ing a refined and effective piece of theatre.Chantal Bilodeau (Book): Is a Montre-al-born, New York-based playwright and translator, and the Artistic Director of The Arctic Cycle. Her plays and translations

The Crown Uptown Theater Presents:

Trevor Seyl ..........................................................................................Katie Hayes ......................................................................................Rhonda LaRue ...............................................................................Michael Karraker ...............................................................................Grace Roush ...................................................................Leah Heathcote-Osburn...............................Ethan Harmon ............................................Charles Turley ...............................................................

Band:Joseph Richey .............................................Danny Ibarra ....................................................................................Guillermo Mireles ............................................................................Renea Abdallah .................................................................................Christian Teufel ............................................................................

JackAnna

NabilaElie

Bella, EnsembleAdvisor, Malia, Ensemble

Waiter, Achmed, EnsembleTobie, Ensemble

Saxophone/ Flute/ ClarinetViolaCelloBass

Drums

Music and Lyrics by: Alex WakimBook by: Chantal Bilodeau

Original Concept Developed with Jonah Kirkhart EricsonDirector:

Jennifer Vellenga

Lighting Design:Mason Gates

Music Director:Emily Sternfeld-Dunn

Producers:Mimi Wakim

Jonah Kirkhart EricsonOrchestrations:

Juan DussánAlex Wakim

Marketing Director:Yvonne Maalouf Thomas

Website Developer:Natalie Stevens Salloum

Social Media:Monica Siegman

Stage Manager:Kristen Cruz

Sound Design:Sterling Mathew Oliver

Beirut ...........................................................................................................Nothing ...........................................................................................................................Pictures of my Past ......................................................................................................Silly American ............................................................................................................Help Me .....................................................................................................1/32nd Lebanese ............................................................................................Maalesh ...........................................................................................................American in Beirut .............................................................................................Happily ........................................................................................................................Voices of the Past ......................................................................................

15 Minute IntermissionAct II

No Power .....................................................................................................Why is Arabic so Hard? ..................................................................Voices of the Past (Reprise) ............................................................Thank You .......................................................................................................................You’re Out ........................................................................................Time to Go ..........................................................................................................Silly American (Reprise) ...........................................................................................American in Beirut/ Beirut (Reprise) ........................................................

Thank you to our Sponsors:Without your generosity and support, this could not have been possible

Silver:Basil and Patou Hourani

Dr. Ronnie and Joanna MoussaDr. Estephan and Janane Zayat

Drs. Pat and Sylvia DoDr. Bassem and Reina El-Nabbout

Alif and Brigitte HouraniPat and Leroy Thompson

Dr. Imad and Pascale NassifDr. Jody Galisha

Bronze:George Laham and Laham Development

Dr. Wissam and Samar SalibaDrs. Fadi and Lana Jodi

Mr. and Mrs. Scott HatchettTalal Ted Timsah

Dr. Philippe Nabbout

Act IThe Company

JackAnna

NabilaAnna, Company

Anna, Nabila The Company

Jack, AnnaNabila

Anna, Company

The CompanyAnna, Jack, CompanyJack, Anna, Company

JackAdvisor, Waiter, Anna

Anna, JackNabila

The Company

Meet the Cast and CrewKatie Hayes (Anna): is absolutely thrilled to be making her Wichita debut in this show! She is a Wichita native, but she currently attends Rockford University in Rockford, IL. She is going into her ju-nior year as a BFA Musical Theatre ma-jor this upcoming school year. Her pre-vious credits have been Frieda in Carrie, Georgeanne in Five Women Wearing the Same Dress, and Mayor Matilda Hyde in All Shook Up. Katie would like to thank her good friends Emily, Katie, Edwina, and Jacqueline, her parents for their un-ending support, and Dona Lancaster. Trevor Seyl (Jack): is a rising junior at Wichita State University pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre, a Certificate in Directing and a minor in Management. Trevor’s recent credits include The Theory of Relativity (Oliver, Wichita State University), Kiss Me, Kate (Asst. Director, Leawood Stage Com-pany), and Henry V (Bedford/ Gov. of Harfleur/Technical Director/Sound De-signer, Courtyard Shakespeare). Trevor

is proud to be working with this enthu-siastic, hardworking, and talented cast. He would like to thank his family and friends for their support as he pursues his dreams.Rhonda LaRue (Nabila): Is delighted, humbled, and grateful to be a part of this beautiful workshop musical especially with such talented people. Some of Rhon-da’s recent credits include Roxy’s Down-town as Sylvia in Sylvia, Gabriella in Boe-ing Boeing at the Forum, and many fun shows at Prairie Pines Playhouse and at Mosley Street Melodrama. Rhonda sends love to her family, her fur-babies, and to her darling Michael. Many thanks to Alex, Jennifer, and the entire production team for the opportunity, and of course to all of YOU for supporting live theatre! Amusez-vous bien!Michael Karraker (Elie): Is always hap-py to be back at Crown Uptown and this time to be with such an incredible workshop, it is an honor! He’s apprecia-tive to the entire production team for

“The corresponding music is just as diverse and culturally intertwined as Wakim’s characters — with influences of his Orthodox background from Byzantine chants to the Arabic melodies of Lebanon, with jazz, French

and traditional musical theater music...” - Wichita Eagle