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CAST AND CREATIVES

MIKE BIRBIGLIA (Writer and Performer, he/him/his) is a comedian, director, actor, and New York Times bestselling author. He has written and performed a series of award-winning solo plays, including Sleepwalk with Me, My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend, and Thank God For Jokes. His last show, The New One, was filmed for Netflix during its 99-performance run on Broadway and was staged at the Ahmanson Theatre here at Center Theatre Group. As an actor, he has appeared in Trainwreck, The Fault in Our Stars, Orange is the New Black, Billions, and the forthcoming Marc Forster film, A Man Called Otto starring Tom Hanks. He is also the writer, director, and star of the films Sleepwalk With Me and Don’t Think Twice. He is the host of Mike Birbiglia’s Working It Out podcast. The Old Man and the Pool marks Birbiglia’s fifth solo show collaboration with director Seth Barrish.

SETH BARRISH (Director, he/him/his) Seth Barrish is the Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director of The Barrow Group. Directing Credits: (Broadway) The New One; (Off-Broadway) The New One (Outer Critics Circle Award: Outstanding Solo Performance); The Tricky Part (OBIE Award, Drama Desk Nominations for Best Play and Best Solo Show); All The Rage (Lucille Lortel Award for Best Solo Show); My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend, (Lucille Lortel Award for Best Solo Show, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominations for Best Solo Show); Sleepwalk With Me; Pentecost (Drama Desk Nomination for Best Play); Old Wicked Songs (Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award); and 17 Minutes among dozens of productions spanning a 40-year career. Film and TV directing credits include numerous Netflix specials. Seth appears regularly in film and on television. Seth is also a composer and most proud of his affiliation with his family, Lee Brock, Phillip and Rachel Barrish.

BEOWULF BORITT (Scenic Design, he/him/his) Designed Bent at the Mark Taper Forum and The Scottsboro Boys at the Ahmanson. He has designed Mike Birbiglia's The New One, Sleepwalk With Me, My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend, and Thank God For Jokes. His 26 Broadway designs include the Tony Award-winning set for Act One, the Tony Award-nominated sets for The Scottsboro Boys, Therese Raquin, POTUS, and Flying Over Sunset. Also on Broadway, Come From Away, Freestyle Love Supreme, Be More Chill, The New One, Bernhardt/Hamlet, Meteor Shower, A Bronx Tale, Prince of Broadway, Hand to God, Sondheim on Sondheim, …Spelling Bee, LoveMusik, Rock of Ages, Chaplin, On the Town, Sunday in the Park... (2017), Bronx Bombers, Grace, and The Two And Only. 100 Off-Broadway shows include The Last Five Years, Fiddler on the Roof (in Yiddish), Sleepwalk With Me, Miss Julie, Shakespeare in the Park’s Much Ado... and Merry Wives. He has designed for The NYC Ballet and the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus and around the world in England, Russia, China, Australia, and Japan. 2007 OBIE Award for sustained excellence.

TONI-LESLIE JAMES (Costume Design, she/her/hers). Broadway: Birthday Candles; Paradise Square; Thoughts of a Colored Man; Bernhardt/Hamlet; Come From Away; Jitney; Amazing Grace; Lucky Guy; The Scottsboro Brothers; Finian’s Rainbow; Chita Rivera: The Dancer’s Life; Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom; King Hedley II; One Mo’ Time; The Wild Party; Marie Christine; Footloose; The Tempest; Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992; Angels in America; Chronicle of a Death Foretold; and Jelly’s Last Jam. Awards: Four Tony nominations, Drama Desk Award, Lucille Lortel Award, and two Hewes Design Awards.

AARON COPP (Lighting Design, he/him/his)’s recent projects include the Broadway production of The New One by Mike Birbiglia, Falling Out Of Time at Carnegie Hall, Red State Blue State for Colin Quinn at the Minetta Lane, Candide at Tanglewood Music Center, One Line Drawn by Brian Brooks for Miami City Ballet, Newsies at Village Theater, and Shahrazad for The Royal Ballet of Flanders. Music projects include designs for The Silk Road Ensemble, Natalie Merchant, The Goat Rodeo Sessions, SO Percussion, Maya Beiser, and the Bang On A Can All-Stars. Aaron has designed for The Old Globe, The Kennedy Center, Dallas Theater Center, and other major theatres around the country. He has worked extensively in the dance world, and in 2008 received his second Bessie Award for Jonah Bokaer's The Invention Of Minus One. He had a long association with Merce Cunningham, designing such pieces as Ground Level Overlay, Windows, and Biped, for which also won a Bessie.

KAI HARADA (Sound Design, he/him/his). Sound Designer: Broadway: Mister Saturday Night; Head Over Heels; The Band’s Visit (Tony Award, Drama Desk Award); Amélie; Sunday in the Park with George; Allegiance; Gigi; Fun Home; On the Town; First Date; Follies (Tony, Drama Desk Nominations); and Million Dollar Quartet. Other: The Karate Kid The Musical (Stages St. Louis); The Bedwetter (Atlantic); Swept Away (Berkeley Rep); Kimberly Akimbo (Atlantic–Drama Desk Nomination); Merry Wives (co-designer, Delacorte); Hercules (Delacorte); Soft Power (Public, CTG); Kismet (Santa Barbara); Marie: Dancing Still (5th Avenue); The Light in the Piazza, Candide (L.A. Opera); We Live in Cairo, The Black Clown (ART); Silent Night (Washington National Opera); Zorro (Moscow; Atlanta); Hinterm Horizont (Berlin); Sweeney Todd (Portland Opera); assorted musicals at City Center Encores! and The Kennedy Center. Recorded Media: Spandex: The Musical, Row (Audible/WTF). Audio Consultant for the revival of Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Education: Yale University.

HANA S. KIM (Projection Design, she/her/hers). Off-Broadway/New York: The Visitor, Eve’s Song (The Public Theater); Magdalene (Beth Morrison Project); Fallujah (New York City Opera); Everything Rises (BAM). Regional: American Conservatory Theatre, Baltimore Centerstage, Geffen Playhouse, South Coast Rep, Pasadena Playhouse, Magic Theater, among others. Awards: Princess Grace Award, Sherwood Award from CTG, Helen Hayes Award, LA Drama Critics Circle Distinguished Achievement Award among others. hananow.com IG: @hana.s.kim

JOSEPH BIRBIGLIA (Producer, he/him/his) has run Mike’s production company since 2006. Joseph contributed writing and served as executive producer on Sleepwalk With Me off-Broadway and as a screenwriter for the feature film of the same name. Joseph has also served as a producer and writer on the Netflix specials My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend, Thank God For Jokes, and The New One and was an executive producer on the film Don't Think Twice. Joseph produces comedy specials, jokes, podcasts, houses, and, along with his wife Carolyn, has co-reproduced two sons, Henry and Merritt.

PETER SALOMONE (Creative Consultant, he/him/his) is a writer and producer. His work has been featured in the humor magazine The American Bystander. He is a producer on Mike Birbiglia’s Working It Out podcast and was also a creative consultant on The New One on Broadway as well as the Netflix special of the same name. For better or worse, Peter may be best known for his series of online videos entitled The Walk of Life Project.

MABEL LEWIS (Creative Consultant, she/her/hers) first worked with Secret Public Productions on The New One Off-Broadway at the Cherry Lane Theatre in 2018. She has since helped Mike develop The Old Man and the Pool and is an associate producer on Mike Birbiglia’s WorkingIt Out podcast.

DAVID S. FRANKLIN (Production Stage Manager, he/him/his). Center Theatre Group Highlights: An Enemy of the People, Baz Luhrmann’s La Bohème, Art, Romance, The Cherry Orchard, Curtains, Nightingale, The History Boys, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, Two Unrelated Plays by David Mamet, Ain’t Misbehavin’, Parade, The Subject Was Roses, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, Randy Newman’s Harps and Angels, God of Carnage, Vigil, Waiting for Godot, Los Otros, Red, Seminar, Tribes, Humor Abuse, The Steward of Christendom, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Bent, The Christians, Disgraced, A View From The Bridge, Zoot Suit, Archduke, King of the Yees, Head of Passes, Valley of the Heart, Linda Vista, Lackawanna Blues, A Play Is a Poem, A Christmas Carol (Western Tour) King James, and had the pleasure of assisting on Soft Power. Other Los Angeles: Los Angeles Theatre Center in its heyday from 1985–1990, Pasadena Playhouse, and the Geffen Playhouse. Regional: Seattle Rep, Intiman Theatre. New York: Public Theater. Tours: Europe—Quotations from a Ruined City, Law of Remains (with Reza Abdoh’s Dar a Luz company).

MICHELLE BLAIR (Stage Manager, she/her/hers) has enjoyed a long history of stage managing in Los Angeles and has worked extensively with Center Theatre Group on over thirty productions at their three theatres. Other favorites include A Christmas Carol First National Tour, The Pee-wee Herman Show at Club Nokia, A Long Bridge Over Deep Waters with Cornerstone Theater Company, Henry IV with Shakespeare Center Los Angeles, Jersey Boys in Las Vegas, and Eurydice and La Traviata with the Los Angeles Opera. Graduate of the University of Southern California and the University of Amsterdam. Mom to fourteen-year-old Liam and ten-year-old Imogen. For Susie Walsh.

CENTER THEATRE GROUP

NEEL KELLER (Associate Artistic Director, he/him/his). For Center Theatre Group, Neel has directed the World premieres of Eliza Clark’s Quack, Lucy Alibar’s Throw Me On The Burnpile and Light Me Up, Dael Orlandersmith’s Forever, Kimber Lee’s different words for the same thing, Jennifer Haley’s The Nether, and Jessica Goldberg’s Good Thing, as well as productions of Sheila Callaghan’s Women Laughing Alone With Salad, David Greig’s Pyrenees, Dael Orlandersmith’s Until the Flood, and Marie Jones’ Stones in His Pockets. He has also directed for New York Theatre Workshop, The Public Theater, La Jolla Playhouse, South Coast Repertory, Long Wharf Theatre, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, Goodman Theatre, Portland Center Stage, Williamstown Theatre Festival, and several hospitable theatres in the UK and EU. As a producer at Center Theatre Group, Neel has worked closely with dozens of creative teams on the development and production of a wide range of plays and musicals. Neel is a member of The Stage Directors and Choreographers Society and the Directors Guild of America.

KELLEY KIRKPATRICK (Associate Artistic Director, he/him/his). Since his arrival at CTG in 2005, Kelley has produced over 100 productions, readings, and workshops, many of which have gone on to Broadway, Off-Broadway, and beyond. He has collaborated with celebrated artists including David Henry Hwang, Phylicia Rashaad, Ruben Santiago Hudson, Michael Friedman, Culture Clash, Lucas Hnath, Roger Guenveur Smith, Les Waters, Leigh Silverman, Lauren Yee, and Danai Gurira.

MEGHAN PRESSMAN (Managing Director/CEO) joined Center Theatre Group in 2019. Previously, she served as Managing Director of Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company (D.C.), Director of Development for Signature Theatre (N.Y.), and Associate Managing Director of Berkeley Rep. She is a graduate of Yale School of Drama/Yale School of Management, and serves as a mentor in the Theater Management program. Meghan has served as the Vice-Chair for the Theatre Communications Group Board of Directors, and is a member of the Broadway League.

DOUGLAS C. BAKER (Producing Director) joined Center Theatre Group in 1990. Doug is an active member of the Broadway League, the Independent Presenters Network (IPN), and is a proud member of the Association of Theatrical Press Agents and Managers (ATPAM). In 2013, Doug received the Broadway League’s prestigious Outstanding Achievement in Presenter Management Award.

GORDON DAVIDSON (Founding Artistic Director) led the Taper throughout its first 38 seasons, guiding over 300 productions to its stage and winning countless awards for himself and the theatre—including the Tony Award for theatrical excellence, Margo Jones Award, The Governor’s Award for the Arts, and a Guggenheim fellowship. The Kentucky Cycle and Angels in America (Part One) won the Pulitzer in consecutive years and, in 1994, three of the four plays nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play were from the Taper (Angels in America won). In 1989, Gordon took over the Ahmanson and, in 2004, he produced the inaugural season in the Kirk Douglas Theatre.


Special Thanks for The Old Man and the Pool

John Buzzetti, Isaac Dunham, David Berlin, Stephen Serulla, Judd Apatow, Atsuko Okatsuka, Ryan Harper Gray, Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, Alex Edelman, Hannah Einbinder, Kate Bilinski, Chuck Staton, The YMCA, Columbus Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre, Bay Street Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Gina Mazza, Dave Mazza, Carolyn Birbiglia, Irene Tu, Jack Antonoff, The Pizza Social, Tamara Bullock, Patti Birbiglia, Juan Molina Maravilla, Pete and Amanda Docter, Frank Oz, Victoria Labalme, Lee Brock, Nicole Calascibetta and all our friends at WME, The Comedy Cellar NYC

Cherry Lane Theatre, Lucille Lortel Theatre, Guild Hall, City Winery NYC, Westport Country Playhouse, CT, Leicester Square Theatre, London, John Mulaney, Derek DelGaudio, Bella Lewis, Natasha Lyonne, Red Hearse, Janet Pierson, Nowhere Comedy Club, Flanny and Largo, Vincent and Mary Jean Birbiglia

And a very special thanks to:

J. Hope Stein and Oona Millay Birbiglia


Additional Staff for The Old Man and the Pool


Assistant Director.........................Elizabeth Bennett

Associate Scenic Designer...................Alexis Distler

Associate Lighting Designer..........Marcella Barbeau

Associate Sound Designer................Douglas Graves

Disguise Programmer................................Jon Haas

Production Assistant.............................Janete Avila

Associate Projections Designer..........Jared LeClaire

Assistant Projections Design.................Jesus Hurtado

Story Consultant.........................................Ira Glass

Music Consultant.......Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson

Social Media Marketing for

Secret Public Productions.........Nick Demetroulakos .

and Gary Simons

Key Art by..............................Wendy MacNaughton

Key Art Photo by.................................J. Hope Stein

Promotional Photos by....................Kim Newmoney

Production Photos by........................Craig Schwartz

Mike Birbiglia’s Consigliere...............Mike Berkowitz

Publicity for Mike Birbiglia....Lewis Kay, Emily Vespa,

Gia Friedberg, and Kovert Creative


Music Credits

“Red Hearse” by Red Hearse: Sam Dew, Sounwave, and Jack Antonoff. Engineered by Laura Sisk