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Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage
Old Globe Theatre
Conrad Prebys Theatre Center
The cast of Almost Famous. Photo by Neal Preston.
Book and lyrics by Cameron Crowe
Music and lyrics by Tom Kitt
Directed by Jeremy Herrin
Based on the Paramount Pictures and Columbia Pictures motion picture written by Cameron Crowe
It’s all happening… San Diego, 1973. Led Zeppelin is king, Richard Nixon is President, and idealistic 15-year-old William Miller is an aspiring music journalist. When Rolling Stone magazine hires him to go on the road with an up-and-coming band, William is thrust into the rock-and-roll circus, where his love of music, his longing for friendship, and his integrity as a writer collide. Written by Academy Award winner Cameron Crowe based on his iconic film, Almost Famous is about a young man finding his place in the world and the indelible characters he meets along the way. Directed by Tony Award nominee Jeremy Herrin, it features classic hits as well as new songs by Pulitzer Prize and two-time Tony Award winner Tom Kitt. This joyous world premiere is a celebration of community and the power of music. Contains strong language. This production contains lit (cocoa bean) cigarettes.
Running time: 2 hours and 45 minutes, with one 15-minute intermission.
Production Sponsors
Terry Atkinson and Kathy Taylor
Peter Cooper and Erik Matwijkow
Elaine and Dave Darwin
Una Davis and Jack McGrory
HM Electronics, Inc.
Darlene Marcos Shiley
Viasat
Sheryl and Harvey White
Artist Sponsors for Colin Donnell (Russell Hammond)
Ellise and Michael Coit
Artist Sponsors for Solea Pfeiffer (Penny Lane)
Arlene and Richard Esgate
Artist Sponsor for Tom Kitt (composer and lyricist)
Mandell Weiss Charitable Trust
Gibson is proud to be the official guitar sponsor of Almost Famous.
Cameron Crowe (Book and Lyrics) covered music and culture as a journalist for such publications as Rolling Stone, Playboy, The New York Times, Newsweek, and Los Angeles Times. His first book, the nonfiction study of a year in the life of a California high school, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, became a best seller, and his subsequent screenplay was nominated for Best Comedy Adapted from Another Medium by the Writers Guild of America. His other film credits include Jerry Maguire, nominated for five Academy Awards including Best Original Screenplay and Best Picture. That year, Crowe also received a nomination from the Directors Guild of America for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film, and received the PEN Literary Award for Screenplay. He next penned Conversations with Wilder, a heralded collection of interviews with the legendary director Billy Wilder. The book was published by Knopf in November 1999. (Wilder, with tongue firmly in cheek, declared it “the best book I’ve ever read.”) Almost Famous, released in September 2000, was the culmination of a 10-year process to put Crowe’s experiences working for Rolling Stone on film. The movie received four Golden Globe nominations and four Academy Award nominations, and won two Golden Globes (Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical, and Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Kate Hudson). Crowe was also awarded the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay and a Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media. His other film credits include his directorial debut, Say Anything…; Vanilla Sky; Elizabethtown; and We Bought a Zoo. His documentary work includes Elton John’s The Union and Pearl Jam Twenty. Most recently, Crowe produced the acclaimed documentary David Crosby: Remember My Name, which debuted at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. He is still a Contributing Editor for Rolling Stone, where his most recent cover story was an in-depth portrait of Harry Styles.
Tom Kitt (Music and Lyrics, Orchestrations and Arrangements) received the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama as well as two Tony Awards for Best Original Score and Best Orchestrations for Next to Normal. He is also the composer of If/Then, High Fidelity, Bring It On: The Musical (co-composer with Lin-Manuel Miranda), Superhero (Second Stage Theater), Disney’s Freaky Friday (stage production and Disney Channel Original Movie), Dave (Arena Stage), and The Winter’s Tale, All’s Well That Ends Well, and Cymbeline (The Public Theater’s New York Shakespeare Festival). As a music supervisor, arranger, and orchestrator, his credits include The SpongeBob Musical, Head Over Heels, Jagged Little Pill, Grease Live!, “Rise” (NBC), and American Idiot. He received an Emmy Award as co-writer (with Miranda) for the 2013 Tony Award opening number, “Bigger!” As a musical director, conductor, arranger, and orchestrator, his credits include the Pitch Perfect films, 2CELLOS featuring Lang Lang (“Live and Let Die”), “The Kennedy Center Honors,” 13, Everyday Rapture, Laugh Whore, Deaf West Theatre’s Pippin, and These Paper Bullets.
Jeremy Herrin (Director) is Artistic Director of Headlong, where his credits include All My Sons (The Old Vic), This House (National Theatre, West End, U.K. tour), Labour of Love (West End), People, Places & Things (National Theatre, West End, U.K. tour, New York), The House They Grew Up In (Chichester Festival Theatre), Common (National Theatre), Junkyard (Bristol Old Vic, Theatr Clwyd, Rose Theatre Kingston), Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme (international tour), The Absence of War (U.K. tour), and The Nether (Royal Court Theatre, West End). His other theatre work includes Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies (Royal Shakespeare Company, West End, Broadway), That Face (Royal Court Theatre, West End), Tusk Tusk, No Quarter, Hero and Kin, The Heretic, The Priory, and The Vertical Hour (Royal Court Theatre), The Plough and the Stars (National Theatre), The Moderate Soprano (Hampstead Theatre), The Tempest, Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare’s Globe), and Uncle Vanya (Chichester Festival Theatre).
Lorin Latarro (Choreography) choreographed The Heart of Rock & Roll last season at The Old Globe. She recently choreographed Broadway’s Waitress (also West End), Les Liaisons Dangereuse with Janet McTeer and Liev Schreiber, and Waiting for Godot with Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart, and she is the associate choreographer of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and American Idiot. Her additional choreography includes La Traviata (The Metropolitan Opera), Merrily We Roll Along (Roundabout Theatre Company), Superhero (Second Stage Theater), Chess (The Kennedy Center), Lin-Manuel Miranda’s 21 Chump Street for “This American Life” (Brooklyn Academy of Music), The Public Theater’s Twelfth Night and The Odyssey (Delacorte Theater), Queen of the Night (Diamond Horseshoe), Assassins, Fanny, and God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater (City Center Encores!), Between the Lines (Kansas City Repertory Theatre), Beaches (Drury Lane Theatre), and A Christmas Carol (McCarter Theatre Center). Latarro is a Bucks County Playhouse Artistic Associate, Juilliard School graduate, and a Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel, and Chita Rivera Award nominee. Her upcoming works include Mrs. Doubtfire, The Visitor, and The Outsiders. lorinlatarro.com.
Derek McLane (Scenic Design) has designed over 350 productions on Broadway, Off Broadway, internationally, regionally, and on television. He was last at The Old Globe with The Heart of Rock & Roll and In Your Arms. His Broadway credits include Moulin Rouge! The Musical, American Son, Burn This, The Price, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Fully Committed, Noises Off, Gigi, Anything Goes, Ragtime, 33 Variations, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, The Heiress, Nice Work If You Can Get It, Follies, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, Million Dollar Quartet, The Pajama Game, and I Am My Own Wife. His Off Broadway credits include If I Forget, Love Love Love, The Night of the Iguana, Sweet Charity, Buried Child, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Spoils, Into the Woods, Ruined, Macbeth, and Hurlyburly. McLane’s television credits include the Academy Awards (2013–2018) and the live NBC musicals The Sound of Music, Peter Pan, The Wiz, and Hairspray. He has received Tony, Emmy, Obie, Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel, and Art Directors Guild Awards. He is on the board of directors at The New Group and Fiasco Theater and has been a mentor for Theatre Development Fund’s Open Doors program for the past 17 years.
David Zinn (Costume Design) recently designed the scenery and costumes for the Broadway productions of Choir Boy, The Boys in the Band, The SpongeBob Musical (Tony and Drama Desk Awards), Fun Home (Tony nomination), Amelie, and The Last Ship. He designed scenery for The Waverly Gallery, Torch Song, Present Laughter, and The Humans (Tony Award), and costumes for A Doll’s House, Part 2 (Tony nomination) and Airline Highway (Tony nomination). Off Broadway he has designed sets and costumes for Hamlet and Fun Home (The Public Theater); Othello (New York Theatre Workshop); and The Flick, Kin, and Circle Mirror Transformation, all with director Sam Gold (Playwrights Horizons). Regionally he recently designed scenery for Ms. Blakk for President (Steppenwolf Theatre Company), Diana (La Jolla Playhouse), and Seascape (American Conservatory Theater).
Natasha Katz (Lighting Design) has designed extensively for theatre, opera, dance, concerts, and permanent lighting installations around the world. She is a six-time Tony Award winner whose recent Broadway credits include Springsteen on Broadway; Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune; All My Sons; Burn This; The Prom; Frozen; Hello, Dolly!; Long Day’s Journey into Night; the revival of Cats; School of Rock; An American in Paris; Aladdin; Skylight; The Glass Menagerie; and Once. Her recent dance credits include Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, The Winter’s Tale, and Tryst (The Royal Ballet), Cinderella (Dutch National Ballet, English National Ballet), and The Nutcracker (Joffrey Ballet). She is a Theatre Development Fund Wendy Wasserstein Project Mentor.
Peter Hylenski (Sound Design) is a Grammy, Olivier, seven-time Tony Award nominee. His select designs include Frozen, Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Anastasia, Once on This Island, Beetlejuice, Something Rotten!, King Kong, Rock of Ages, After Midnight, Motown The Musical, The Scottsboro Boys, Side Show, Rocky, Bullets Over Broadway, Shrek The Musical, On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, Lend Me a Tenor, Elf, Wonderland, Cry-Baby, The Times They Are A-Changin’, The Wedding Singer, Sweet Charity, and Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me. He has designed for Carnegie Hall, Radio City Music Hall, Madison Square Garden, and The Kennedy Center.
Bryan Perri (Music Director) served as music director on Broadway for Wicked, Chaplin, and Jagged Little Pill (opening this winter). His Off Broadway credits include Superhero, Dogfight, and Vanities (Second Stage Theater) and Freaky Friday (music supervisor, Signature Theatre). He was music director for Jagged Little Pill at American Repertory Theater; music director for the national tours of Next to Normal and Altar Boyz; and arranger, orchestrator, and music director for Born to Dance, which premiered on Princess Cruises in association with Stephen Schwartz. He is music director and arranger for Lindsay Mendez and Aaron Tveit, most recently performing with the American Songbook series at Lincoln Center and Webster Hall. He is resident musical supervisor and founding member at A Contemporary Theatre of Connecticut, a new Equity theatre in Ridgefield, Connecticut.
Daniel Green (Associate Music Director) is a pianist, music director, and composer. His Broadway playing/conducting credits include In Transit (associate music director), Rocky (associate conductor), An American in Paris, Big Fish, Matilda the Musical, Peter and the Starcatcher, The Addams Family, and Wicked. His other credits include Ever After (Alliance Theatre), The Wild Party (City Center Encores!), The Theory of Relativity (Goodspeed Musicals), and Between the Lines (Kansas City Repertory Theatre). His composing credits include “Full Frontal with Samantha Bee”; The Museum of Broken Relationships, winner of the Holof Lyricist Award at Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s National Music Theater Conference; The Remarkable Journey of Prince Jen, presented at The ASCAP Foundation Musical Theatre Workshop for Stephen Schwartz; and Window Treatment, produced Off Broadway at TBG Theatre. danielgreenmusic.com.
AnnMarie Milazzo (Vocal Design) served as vocal designer for Broadway’s Spring Awakening, Next to Normal, If/Then, and Finding Neverland. Her Off Broadway credits include Carrie, Bright Lights Big City, and Superhero. Her regional credits include Dangerous Beauty, Prometheus Bound, Some Lovers, Dave, and A Walk on the Moon. Milazzo served as the Broadway orchestrator, with Michael Starobin, for Once on This Island, for which she was nominated for Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Awards. She is the composer and lyricist of Pretty Dead Girl, winner of the Special Jury Award at the Sundance Film Festival, and the lyricist of Le Rêve and Le Perle. Milazzo is the Grammy-nominated female vocalist for East Village Opera Company on Decca/Universal Records.
Campbell Young Associates (Hair, Wig, and Makeup Design) designed the Broadway productions of King Lear; Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus; To Kill a Mockingbird; The Waverly Gallery; Head Over Heels; Carousel; Three Tall Women; Meteor Shower; Hello, Dolly!; 1984; Front Page; The Crucible; Misery; Sylvia; Betrayal; It’s Only a Play; Les Misérables; One Man, Two Guvnors; and Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark. For New York and the West End, they designed Ink, The Ferryman, Girl from the North Country, Farinelli and the King, Groundhog Day, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, American Psycho, The Cripple of Inishmaan, Matilda the Musical, Ghost, Billy Elliot: The Musical, La Bête, Private Lives, and Rock ’n’ Roll. Their further West End credits include Rosmersholm, All About Eve, Company, TINA – The Tina Turner Musical, Funny Girl, City of Angels, High Society, Gypsy, Guys and Dolls, The Bodyguard, Present Laughter, A Christmas Carol, and Dr. Seuss’s The Lorax. They designed the operas Don Carlos and L’Enfant et les Sortileges (Bolshoi Opera) and Anna Nicole (Brooklyn Academy of Music). Their television credits include “Downton Abbey,” “The Americans,” and “Orange Is the New Black.”
Jim Carnahan, CSA (Casting) is Roundabout Theatre Company’s Artistic Producer, and he has cast over 100 Roundabout productions and over 50 non-Roundabout Broadway productions. His recent and upcoming Broadway credits include A Christmas Carol, Betrayal, Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Burn This, Tootsie, All My Sons, True West, The Ferryman, Head Over Heels, Travesties, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Angels in America, Farinelli and the King, 1984, Groundhog Day, Amelie, The Price, Fun Home, The River, You Can’t Take It with You, Matilda the Musical, Once, Peter and the Starcatcher, The Mountaintop, Jerusalem, The Scottsboro Boys, American Idiot, A Behanding in Spokane, The Seagull, Boeing-Boeing, Spring Awakening, Curtains, Gypsy, and Thoroughly Modern Millie. His Off Broadway credits include Little Shop of Horrors, Apologia, If I Forget, and The Beast in the Jungle. Carnahan also cast the London productions of Glengarry Glen Ross, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Glass Menagerie, and Nice Fish. His film and television credits include The Seagull, A Home at the End of the World, Flicka, and “Glee” (Emmy Award nomination). Carnahan has cast six Shakespeare productions for The Old Globe.
Jillian Cimini, CSA (Casting) has credits including Scotland, PA; Bat Out of Hell; The Ferryman; Usual Girls; Apologia; American Girl Live; Travesties; Bobbie Clearly; Time and the Conways; 1984; Groundhog Day; Fun Home; Matilda the Musical; Cabaret; Kingdom Come; Brooklynite; What’s It All About?; Peter and the Starcatcher; Here’s Hoover; The Book of Mormon; American Idiot; Spring Awakening; and Jerusalem.
Anjee Nero (Production Stage Manager) has previously worked on The Old Globe’s world premiere musicals Clint Black’s Looking for Christmas; The Heart of Rock & Roll; Benny & Joon; October Sky; Bright Star; Dog and Pony; Allegiance; A Room with a View; and Kingdom. Some of her additional credits include Life After; The Tempest; The Wanderers; Picasso at the Lapin Agile; Kiss Me, Kate; The Twenty-Seventh Man; The Winter’s Tale; Be a Good Little Widow; and Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show. Ms. Nero worked on the Broadway production of Bright Star and launched the first national tour. Her select La Jolla Playhouse credits include Sideways directed by Des McAnuff, Ruined directed by Liesl Tommy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream directed by Christopher Ashley, and Herringbone directed by Roger Rees and starring BD Wong. Ms. Nero has worked with several prominent regional theatres including The Kennedy Center, Center Theatre Group, Hartford Stage, SITI Company, Huntington Theatre Company, and Berkeley Repertory Theatre, to name a few.
Danny Maly (Assistant Stage Manager) has worked on the Broadway productions of Hello, Dolly!; The Country House; and Casa Valentina. His Off Broadway credits include Stuffed, Shear Madness NYC, Posterity, The Commons of Pensacola, Lady Day, The Explorers Club, and Falling. His other New York credits include Christmas Spectacular Starring the Radio City Rockettes. He studied at Saint Louis University.
Kendra Stockton (Assistant Stage Manager) previously worked at The Old Globe as Assistant Stage Manager on As You Like It, Ken Ludwig’s The Gods of Comedy, Familiar, Clint Black’s Looking for Christmas, Much Ado About Nothing, Benny & Joon, October Sky, Bright Star, and Dog and Pony, as well as a production assistant on Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, The Few, and the 2013 Shakespeare Festival. She stage managed La Jolla Playhouse’s Home of the Brave and #SuperShinySara and has assistant stage managed their productions of Guards at the Taj, The Orphan of Zhao, and The Who & The What. Her other stage management credits include The Loneliest Girl in the World (Diversionary Theatre), miXtape (Lamb’s Players Theatre), and Irving Berlin’s White Christmas (San Diego Musical Theatre).
Tyler Larson (Assistant Stage Manager, October 22–27) received a B.F.A. with emphasis in Stage Management from Texas State University, and an M.F.A. in Stage Management from UC San Diego. His San Diego credits as stage manager, assistant stage manager, or stage management intern include the world premiere of The Coast Starlight, the world premiere of Diana, The Squirrels (substitute assistant stage manager), and the DNA New Work Series reading of SLAM (La Jolla Playhouse), Guys and Dolls (The Old Globe), Hulu’s “Castle Rock” Activation (Comic-Con). His other credits include Le Switch (Rattlestick Playwrights Theater’s Pride Plays 2019) and the Greater Austin High School Musical Theatre Awards (2014–2019).
Paramount Pictures has for over 100 years produced and distributed some of the world’s most iconic films, including The Godfather, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Forrest Gump, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Transformers, and the Mission: Impossible franchise. Paramount is currently represented on Broadway as a co-producer of Mean Girls and in the West End by School of Rock. Live stage productions in development include It’s a Wonderful Life, Roman Holiday, and Clueless. A division of Viacom, Paramount Pictures Corporation controls a collection of some of the most powerful brands in filmed entertainment, including Paramount Pictures, Paramount Animation, Paramount Television, Paramount Players, MTV Films, and Nickelodeon Movies.
This series provides Old Globe patrons with an opportunity to closely connect with productions both onstage and backstage. A panel selected from the artistic company of each show (playwrights, actors, directors, designers, and/or technicians) engages patrons in an informal and illuminating presentation of ideas and insights to enhance the theatre going experience. Each Insights Seminar takes place 90 minutes before curtain time on the Tuesday after performances begin, and includes an informal reception 30 minutes before the start. FREE; no reservations necessary.
Tuesday, September 17, 2019 at 6:00 p.m.
Join us after the show for an informal and enlightening question-and-answer session with cast members. Get the "inside story" on creating a character and putting together a professional production. Post-show forums are scheduled after select Tuesday and Wednesday evening performances. FREE; no reservations necessary.
Tuesday, October 1, 2019
Tuesday, October 8, 2019
Wednesday, October 9, 2019
Explore the ideas and issues raised by a production through brief, illuminating post-show discussions with local experts, such as scientists, artists, historians and scholars. Subject Matters will ignite discussion, bring the play's concerns into sharp focus, and encourage you to think beyond the stage! Subject Matters discussions follow select Saturday matinee performances. FREE; no reservations necessary.
Saturday, October 5, 2019
Open captioning is live text displayed simultaneously to the performance and does not require the user to have any special equipment for viewing the text. To purchase tickets within view of the captioning screen online, click the date below or contact our Ticket Services Department at (619) 23-GLOBE (234-5623) or Tickets@TheOldGlobe.org. Tickets for open-caption performances go on sale on the single-ticket on-sale date and are subject to availability. Support for open captioning is provided in part by TDF. This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Saturday, October 19, 2019 at 2:00 p.m.