07/08 limited season
Danny Hoch, Creator / Performer
Tony Taccone, Director
Annie Smart, Scenic and Costume Design
Alexander V. Nichols, Lighting Design
Asa Taccone, Composer
Drew Campbell, Composer
Michael Suenkel *, Stage Manager
danny hoch
(Creator / Performer) Danny Hoch’s theatre work has toured to 50 U.S. cities and 15 countries. His plays Jails, Hospitals, Hip-Hop; Pot Melting; and Some People have garnered numerous awards, including two Obies, an NEA Solo Theatre Fellowship, CalArts/Alpert Award in Theatre and a Tennessee Williams Fellowship. He is a senior fellow at the New School’s Vera List Center For Art and Politics, and his writings on hip-hop, race and class have appeared in American Theatre, The Nation, New York Times, The Village Voice and several books: Creating Your Own Monologue, Extreme Exposure, Out Of Character and Total Chaos. His writing and acting credits for television and film include American Splendor, Bamboozled, Blackhawk Down, HBO’s Def Poetry, Lucky You, Prison Song, Subway Stories, Thin Red Line, War Of The Worlds, Washington Heights, Whiteboys and the upcoming We Own The Night. Danny founded the Hip-Hop Theater Festival in 2000. Since then, the festival has presented over 100 hip-hop generation plays and appears annually in Chicago, New York, San Francisco and Washington D.C. He directed Will Power’s hit show Flow at New York Theatre Workshop, and Representa! for the San Francisco International Arts Festival at La Peña Cultural Center. His play ‘Till The Break Of Dawn premiered in New York at Abrons Arts Center, and he is the 2007 Sundance Theatre Lab’s playwright-in-residence. He sits on the board of Theatre Communications Group and the Hip-Hop Theater Festival. For more information, please visit dannyhoch.com.
tony taccone
(Director) is in his 11th year as artistic director of Berkeley Repertory Theatre, where he has staged more than 35 shows, including the world premieres of The Convict’s Return, Culture Clash in AmeriCCa, The First 100 Years, Geni(us), Ravenshead, Virgin Molly and Zorro in Hell. He commissioned Tony Kushner’s renowned Angels in America, co-directed its world premiere at the Mark Taper Forum and has collaborated with Kushner on six projects. Their latest piece, Brundibar, featured designs by beloved children’s author Maurice Sendak. It debuted at Berkeley Rep and then traveled to Yale Repertory Theatre in New Haven and the New Victory Theatre in New York City, where it sold out its run and was nominated for two Drama Desk Awards. Tony recently made his Broadway debut with Bridge & Tunnel, which was universally lauded by the critics and won a Tony Award for its star, Sarah Jones. He also staged the show’s record-breaking off-Broadway run, workshopped it for Broadway at Berkeley Rep and directed Jones’ previous hit, Surface Transit. In 2004, his production of David Edgar’s Continental Divide transferred to the Barbican in London after playing the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Berkeley Rep, La Jolla Playhouse and England’s Birmingham Rep. Tony frequently works in Ashland, where he has also directed Coriolanus, Othello, Pentecost and the American premiere of Seamus Heaney’s The Cure at Troy. His other regional credits include noted theatres such as Actors Theatre of Louisville, Arizona Repertory Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, San Jose Repertory Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre and San Francisco’s Eureka Theatre, where he served six years as artistic director before coming to Berkeley Rep. Mr. Taccone has served on the faculty of U.C. Berkeley, sat on the board of Theatre Communications Group and acted as a regional representative for the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers.
annie smart
(Scenic and Costume Design) is originally from London, where she designed sets and costumes for the UK and US premieres of Caryl Churchill’s Fen, Ice Cream and Hot Fudge and A Mouthful of Birds. She designed regularly for numerous English companies such as the Royal Court and Joint Stock Theatre Group, including five shows at the National Theatre: Black Snow; The Father; Man, Beast, and Virtue; The Mountain Giants; and The Skriker. Her Bay Area credits include American Conservatory Theater, California Shakespeare Theater, Magic Theatre, San Jose Repertory Theatre, Theatreworks and ten shows at Berkeley Rep: Big Love, Fêtes de la Nuit, Finn in the Underworld, Heartbreak House, Honour, The Mystery of Irma Vep, Passing Strange, Suddenly Last Summer, To the Lighthouse and Yellowman. She also designed the set for The Josh Kornbluth Show on KQED-TV. Nationwide, Annie’s designs have been seen at Arena Stage, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Guthrie Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, The Public Theater, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, etc. She chaired the Master’s program in Theatre Design and Scenography at London’s Wimbledon School of Art and taught design at UC San Diego and UC Berkeley.
alexander v. nichols
(Lighting Design) was the lighting designer for last season’s Mother Courage. Other Berkeley Rep designs include Continental Divide, Culture Clash in AmeriCCa, Fêtes de la Nuit, Surface Transit and Zorro in Hell, among others. He has also worked at A.C.T., Alley Theatre, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Arena Stage, Baltimore Center Stage, Boston Ballet, Cal Shakes, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Huntington Theatre Company, the Kronos Quartet, National Theater of Taiwan, ODC/SF, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the Paul Dresher Ensemble, Royal Winnipeg Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, and on projects with Rinde Eckert. Alexander has served as resident designer for the Hartford Ballet, Margaret Jenkins Dance Company and Pennsylvania Ballet, and has been the lighting director for American Ballet Theater. His dance credits include designs for choreographers Christopher d’Amboise, Ann Carlson, Val Caniparoli, Jean Grand-Maitre, Bill T. Jones, Mark Morris, Mikko Nissinen, Kevin O’Day, Kirk Peterson, Stephen Petronio, Dwight Rhoden, Michael Smuin and Brenda Way.
asa taccone
(Composer) is an Emmy-winning musician and composer who lives in Los Angeles. He composed music for the famed “Natalie Portman Rap” and “Dick in a Box” featuring Justin Timberlake, both of which aired on Saturday Night Live. Currently, he is in the studio producing an album with Blackalicious’ Gift of Gab, and working on an album of his own.
drew campbell
(Composer) is a composer, producer and owner of Adeline Studios in Oakland. His tracks have been featured everywhere—from MTV to the popular video game Dance Dance Revolution. He has recorded with major artists including B-Legit, Bushwick Bill, Dru Down, Mistah F.A.B., The Pack and Too $hort. He is currently busy producing the score for a Canadian film entitled Good Day, Bad Day, and working on a third solo electronic album.
* Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.
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