MR. PARENT

ABOUT THE SHOW

You’re never too old to learn a thing or two. A struggling actor turns to teaching for a steady paycheck, thinking "how hard could it be?" But as he careens from an urban public school system by day to serious thespian at night, Mr. Parent starts to wonder where he really belongs. Based on personal stories and his own real-life adventures, writer-performer Maurice Emmanuel Parent takes the stage in a deeply felt and hilarious solo performance about crushingly inequitable systems, the brilliance of every kid and how we might all find the space to be ourselves.

ADVISORY

Mr. Parent is recommended for older teenage and adult audiences. This one-man show details the beauty and struggles of teaching at a public school while relaying stories about sexual identity, racism, profiling and inequitable systems that include descriptions of violence and strong adult language.

VIEW PROGRAM

You can view the Digital Program now online.

Digital Program

RUNNING TIME

This show runs approximately 85 minutes, with no intermission.

ARTISTS

Maurice Emmanuel Parent

Mr. Parent

Maurice Emmanuel Parent

CINCINNATI PLAYHOUSE IN THE PARK: Debut. REGIONAL THEATRE: Geva Theatre, Huntington Theatre Company, Barrington Stage Company, Northern Stage, Fulton Theatre, Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, SpeakEasy Stage Company, Lyric Stage, New Repertory Theatre and Central Square Theater. FILM/ TELEVISION: Kevin Can F**K Himself, Castle Rock and Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody. AFFILIATIONS/AWARDS: Three-time Elliot Norton Award Winner; Resident Company Member of Actors’ Shakespeare Project; Co-Producing Artistic Director, Front Porch Arts Collective; Professor of the Practice, Tufts Department of Theatre, Dance and Performance Studies. INSTAGRAM: @MauriceEparent.

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Melinda Lopez

Playwright

Melinda Lopez

CINCINNATI PLAYHOUSE IN THE PARK: Debut. REGIONAL THEATRE: Mr. Parent (Lyric Stage Boston, Geva Theatre and Boston Playwrights’ Theatre), Stir (The Old Globe), Mala (ArtsEmerson, Huntington Theatre Company, Guthrie Theatre, The Old Globe, Audible – available in Spanish and English), Yerma (adaptation, Huntington Theatre), Sonia Flew (Huntington Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre and many others). AFFILIATIONS/AWARDS: 2019 Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding Achievement, recognizing her 20-year career as a playwright, performer and educator; 2019 Massachusetts Cultural Council Award in Dramatic Writing (as well as 2004 and 2013); Mellon Foundation’s National Playwrights Residency Program (Huntington Theatre); Professor of the Practice at Northeastern University; and MFA Playwriting faculty at Boston University. EDUCA- TION: Dartmouth College and Boston University. Melinda also performs on stage, radio and film. WEBSITE: www.melindalopez.com.

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Megan Sandberg-Zakian

Director

Megan Sandberg-Zakian

CINCINNATI PLAYHOUSE IN THE PARK: Debut. OFF-BROADWAY: Nat Turner in Jerusalem (New York Theatre Workshop). REGIONAL THEATRE: Arena Stage, Cal Shakes, Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, Huntington Theatre Company, Geva Theatre, Merrimack Repertory Theatre, Lyric Stage and Providence Black Repertory Company. EDUCATION: MFA from Goddard College. AFFIL- IATIONS: Artistic Director of Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, the author of There Must Be Happy Endings: On a Theater of Optimism and Honesty (The 3rd Thing Press) and proud SDC member. WEBSITE: megansz.com.

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Cristina Todesco

Set Designer

Cristina Todesco

CINCINNATI PLAYHOUSE IN THE PARK: Debut. REGIONAL THEATRE: Actors Shakespeare Company, Boston Playwright’s Theatre, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Capital Repertory Theatre, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, Company One, Geva Theatre, Huntington Theater Company, Kitchen Theatre Company, Lyric Stage Boston, Merrimack Repertory Theatre, New England Conservatory, Olney Theatre Center, Shakespeare & Company, Speakeasy Stage Company, Summer Play Festival, Trinity Repertory Company, Williamstown Theatre Festival, among many more. FILM/TELEVISION: Black Mass and Spirited. EDUCATION: MFA from Boston University School for the Arts. TEACHING: Boston University School of Theater. AFFILIATIONS/AWARDS: Member of USA 829; four-time recipient of the Elliot Norton Award and one IRNE Award for “Outstanding Design;” board member and founding artist tenant of Humphreys Street Studios Artist Collective, one of the first majority artist-owned and operated affordable artist workspace communities in perpetuity in the City of Boston; and founding member of #artstayhere, an organization dedicated to helping prevent artist displacement. WEBSITE: cristinatodesco.com.

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Yao Chen

Costume Designer

Yao Chen

CINCINNATI PLAYHOUSE IN THE PARK: Debut. INTERNATIONAL: Mozart l’opera rock (Seven Ages, Ltd and Beijing) and Amadeus (Espresso Theatre, San Jose, Costa Rica). REGIONAL THEATRE: Little Prince (Seattle Children’s Theatre); A Midwinter Night’s Dream, Merry Wives of Windsor and Titus Andronicus (Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey); The Music Man (Berkshire Theatre Group); Radio Golf (Trinity Repertory Company); Glass Menagerie, Folks at Home, Paper Dream of Harry Chin, Diary of Ann Frank and The House that Jack Built (Indiana Repertory Theatre); Until the Flood, Holy Fudge, Macbeth and The Letter from Home (Merrimack Repertory Theatre); CATS (Utah Opera and Musical Festival); Elephant and Piggie’s “We are in a Play!” (Children’s Theatre of Charlotte); Emily Song and the Queen of the Night (First Stage); Babel and Ushuaia Blue (Contemporary American Theater Festival); Skippyjon Jones, Diary of Worms, Nancy Drew and Her Biggest Case Ever, Pete the Cat (Orlando Family Stage); Antony and Cleopatra, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Orlando Shakespeare Theatre); Miss You like Hell (TheatreSquared); and other productions at Lyric Stage Company of Boston, Boston Playwrights’ Theatre and Geva Theatre. AFFILIATIONS: Member of USA 829. WEBSITE: www.yao-chen.com.

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Karen Perlow

Lighting Designer

Karen Perlow

CINCINNATI PLAYHOUSE IN THE PARK: Debut. REGIONAL THEATRE: Shakespeare & Company, Geva Theatre, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Merrimack Repertory Theatre, Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, SpeakEasy Stage Company, Lyric Stage Company of Boston, Actors’ Shakespeare Project, Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, Barnstormers Theater, Wheelock Family Theatre, Central Square Theater, New Repertory Theatre, Gloucester Stage Company and Greater Boston Stage Company. AFFILIATIONS/AWARDS: Independent Reviewers of New England: “Best Lighting Design” and USA 829 Union Member.

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Arshan Gailus

Original Music/Sound Designer

Arshan Gailus

CINCINNATI PLAYHOUSE IN THE PARK: Debut. REGIONAL THEATRE: Shakespeare & Company, ArtsEmerson, The Old Globe, California Shakespeare Theater, Huntington Theatre Company, Capital Repertory Theatre, Contemporary American Theater Festival, Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, Lyric Stage Company of Boston, Actors’ Shakespeare Project, SpeakEasy Stage Company and Company One. EDUCATION: MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts from Goddard College and BS in Music from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. WEBSITE: arshangailus.com.

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Christine Hamel

Associate Director

Christine Hamel

CINCINNATI PLAYHOUSE IN THE PARK: Debut. BROADWAY: Fish in the Dark (voice coach). OFF-BROADWAY: The Possibilities, After-Dinner Joke and Brecht on Brecht (PTP/NYC). REGIONAL THEATRE: Olney Theatre Center, Geva Theatre, Huntington Theatre Company, Merrimack Repertory Theatre, SpeakEasy Stage Company, New Repertory Theatre, Lyric Stage Boston, Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, North Shore Music Theatre, Actors’ Shakespeare Project, Greater Boston Stage Company, Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts, Nora Theatre Company, Underground Railway Theater, Vineyard Playhouse and Wellesley Repertory Theatre. Specializes in devising and directing solo work, including Ibrahim Miari’s In Between, Leahy Ardon’s Conflict Zone and Antonia Lassar’s God Box. AWARDS: Granada Artist Fellowship Award at UC Davis to create the new work Alone/Together. EDUCATION: MFA from Boston University. AFFILIATIONS: Assistant Professor of Voice and Acting, Boston University; member of Actors’ Equity; VASTA (Voice and Speech Trainers Association); and MICHA (Michael Chekhov Association). CO-AUTHOR: Sounding Bodies: Identity, Injustice, and the Voice (Bloomsbury/ Methuen). WEBSITE: www.christinehamel.info.

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Brooke Redler

Stage Manager

Brooke Redler

CINCINNATI PLAYHOUSE IN THE PARK: The Chosen, A Christmas Carol, Frida. . . A Self Portrait, Destiny of Desire, 2 Pianos 4 Hands, Once on This Island, In the Heights, Million Dollar Quartet and Native Gardens. CINCINNATI: Cincinnati Opera. OFF- BROADWAY: Breathing Time, The Faire and From White Plains (Fault Line Theatre). REGIONAL THEATRE: Hair: Retrospection, Stillwater, The Whipping Man, August: Osage County, Cabaret and five seasons of A Christmas Carol (Kansas City Repertory Theatre); Peter and the Starcatcher (Utah Shakespeare Festival); Vanya, Sonya, Masha & Spike (Center Stage Baltimore); The Drowsy Chaperone and Is He Dead? (Creede Repertory Theatre); Hair- spray and The Sound of Music (Starlight Theatre); Stages St. Louis and Heart of Ameria Shakespeare Festival. OTHER OPERA: Opera Long Beach and Santa Fe Opera. AFFILIATIONS: Lead Producer of the Over the Rhine International Film Festival.

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Brandon T. Holmes

Stage Manager

Brandon T. Holmes

CINCINNATI PLAYHOUSE IN THE PARK: Stew, Clyde’s, Shane, The Chinese Lady, The Lion, Steel Magnolias and The West End. REGIONAL THEATRE: Jersey Boys, Fiddler On The Roof, Memphis, The Sound of Music, Chicago, Disney’s The Little Mer- maid, Legally Blonde, West Side Story, Newsies (The Lexington Theatre Company); Fun Home, The Mountaintop, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, An Iliad, Grounded, Violet, Pipeline, The Humans, Skeleton Crew and Hands on a Hardbody (Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati); Hello, Dolly!, The Drowsy Chaperone and Side By Side by Sondheim (LOOK Musical Theatre); Golden: MTWichita at 50, Sunset Boulevard, Xanadu, Miss Saigon, Gypsy, The Producers, Big River and Les Misérables (Music Theatre Wichita). WORKSHOPS: LET. HER. RIP. and Night of the Living Dead (Cincinnati Shakespeare Company); Teddy Bear Mountain and When We Vote (Cleveland Play House). AFFILIATIONS: Proud member of the Actors’ Equity Association.

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ENGAGE

Head of the Class

Maurice Emmanuel Parent shares reflections on his play, including an authentic desire to find his passion and how he juggles the complexities of being Mr. Parent.

Educate. Engage. Inspire.

Actor/playwright Maurice Emmanuel Parent’s former career as a teacher in an urban public school system provides the colorful, thought-provoking foundation for his aptly titled one-person show, Mr. Parent.

preview performances

Be among the first to see the show before opening night and save! Preview performance tickets are discounted.

Sat., Sept. 7 at 7:30 p.m.

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Sun., Sept. 8 at 2 p.m.

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Tue., Sept. 10 at 7:30 p.m.

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Wed., Sept. 11 at 7:30 p.m.

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opening night

Share the excitement of Thursday opening nights!

Thu., Sept. 12 at 7:30 p.m.

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art talks

(Formerly Meet the Artists), stay after select performances for a behind-the-scenes discussion with members of the artistic team.

Sun., Sept. 15 at 2 p.m.

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Sun., Sept. 22 at 2 p.m.

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Wed., Sept. 25 at 7:30 p.m.

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Thu., Oct. 3 at 7:30 p.m.

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HUES COMMUNITY NIGHT

Join Black influencers, leaders and tastemakers for an incredible evening of entertainment that highlights Black voices and stories and an ArtTalk with members of the artistic team after the performance. The evening recognizes No Excuses College & Tours Programs for its important work in the community.

Fri., Sept. 20 at 7:30 p.m.

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Production Sponsor

DIGI & MIKE
SCHUELER

Design Sponsor

MARK AND ROSEMARY
SCHLACHTER

Artist Sponsor

Season Sponsor

THE VONTZ
FAMILY

MR. PARENT

ABOUT THE SHOW

ADVISORY

VIEW PROGRAM

RUNNING TIME

ARTISTS

Maurice Emmanuel Parent

Mr. Parent

Maurice Emmanuel Parent

Melinda Lopez

Playwright

Melinda Lopez

Megan Sandberg-Zakian

Director

Megan Sandberg-Zakian

Cristina Todesco

Set Designer

Cristina Todesco

Yao Chen

Costume Designer

Yao Chen

Karen Perlow

Lighting Designer

Karen Perlow

Arshan Gailus

Original Music/Sound Designer

Arshan Gailus

Christine Hamel

Associate Director

Christine Hamel

Brooke Redler

Stage Manager

Brooke Redler

Brandon T. Holmes

Stage Manager

Brandon T. Holmes

ENGAGE

Head of the Class

Educate. Engage. Inspire.

EVENTS

preview performances

opening night

art talks

HUES COMMUNITY NIGHT

SPONSORS

Production Sponsor

Design Sponsor

Artist Sponsor

Season Sponsor

MR.
PARENT