POTUS

Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women
Trying to Keep Him Alive

By Selina Fillinger

Directed by Stephen Kaliski

Featuring Jennifer Adams*, Marla Brown, Iris DeWitt, Sarah Molloy,
Iesha Nyree, Katy Shepherd, Valerie Thames

Production Manager Carrie Cranford

Production Stage Manager Kathryn Harding

Costume Design Ashleigh Poteat

Fight Choreography Allison Collins

Intimacy Choreography Sarah Provencal

Lighting Design Gordon Olson

Scenic Design Chip Davis

Sound Design and Original Music Matt Sherwin

Technical Director Joshua Murray

Scenic Artist Gina Belmont

Portrait Artist Eva Crawford

Assistant Costume Design Allie Hildebran

Graphic Design Alan Buttar/Muse Graphic Design

Digital Media Morgan Henderson

*Appears courtesy Actors' Equity Association

Who's Who

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Jean

Jennifer Adams

Jennifer Adams is a theatre and film actress currently based in Charlotte, NC. Jen has been in several independent films and was recently nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the Los Angeles Indie Shorts Fest, she was also nominated for Best Actress with Charlotte Magazine’s Best of the Best Awards 2022. Some of her favorite roles include Madame in The Maids (XOXO), Jennie Malone in Neil Simon’s Chapter Two (The Actors Gym) and Meg in Crimes of the Heart (Theatre Charlotte). Jen is currently working on writing her own material for the stage and screen and thanks Pierce for his love and support. She would also like to thank everyone with Charlotte Conservatory Theatre for this wonderful opportunity and YOU our audience for supporting the Arts in Charlotte! Jennifer Adams is represented by Rusty Wiggs with Artists Resource Agency.

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Bernadette

Marla Brown

Marla Brown is an area theatre producer and founding member of Charlotte Conservatory Theatre. She is an adjunct faculty teaching Dramaturgy and Play Analysis. Marla graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill with a B.A. in Drama and from the University of Texas, Austin with a Ph.D. in Theatre and Performance Studies. She has directed such works as Constellations, Defying Gravity, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Gynecologic Oncology Unit of the Memorial Sloan- Kettering Cancer Center in NYC, Fuddy Meers. Favorite roles include Vivian Bearing in Wit (DP), Margery in Hand to God (Actor’s Theatre), Blanche in A Streetcar Named Desire (DP), and Juliana Smithton in The Other Place (CAST). Marla lives with her husband and two children in Davidson.

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Chris

Iris DeWitt

Iris DeWitt is excited to make her CCT debut! Originally from Arizona, Iris has been performing in the greater Charlotte area since 2016 after graduating from law school. Her most recent work could be seen in Rock of Ages (Justice) at Hickory Community Theatre. She is currently preparing to star in Legally Blonde (Elle Woods) at Lee Street Theatre in July. Other favorite credits include Evil Dead the Musical (Cheryl) at Actor’s Theatre of Charlotte, Sister Act (Deloris) at Matthews Playhouse, Ghosts of Bogotá (Lola) at Actor’s Theatre of Charlotte, Chess (Florence) at CPCC, and Beehive the 60s Musical (Wanda) at CPCC Summer Theatre. In her downtime, Iris enjoys cooking and volunteering with her lovely Alpha Kappa Alpha sisters. She is also a first degree black belt in taekwondo. Iris would like to thank her family and friends for their continuous support of her theatre endeavors. #LawByDayTheatreByNight

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Dusty

Sarah Molloy

This is Sarah's first time working with Charlotte Conservatory Theatre and she couldn't be more excited! She was recently in Three Bone Theatre's Andy and the Orphans (Sarah), Paperhouse Theatre's Penny Penniworth (Penny), and Shepherd Shakespeare Company's Twelfth Night (Viola/Sebastian). Sarah would like to thank her husband Connor and dog Earnest for all their love and encouragement.

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Margaret

Iesha Nyree

Iesha Nyree is thrilled to be making her debut with Charlotte Conservatory Theatre. She was last seen performing with the Children’s Theatre of Charlotte Resident Touring Company production of Aesop’s Fables. She has appeared in many local theatre productions over the years and currently works as a professional voice-over talent. She is the proud mom of two awesome kids and entirely too many pets.

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Stephanie

Katy Shepherd

Katy Shepherd has acted and taught theatre in TX, IN, MI, WV, IA, OH, GA, and NC. Her acting credits include Actor's Theatre of Charlotte (Lizzie Borden in Lizzie the Musical, Regina in Rock of Ages, Riff Raff in Rocky Horror Show, Angela in Stage Kiss, Darlene in The Great American Trailer Park Christmas Musical, and Ensemble in American Idiot) and Children’s Theatre of Charlotte (Wicked Witch & Gingy in Shrek The Musical, Lilly in Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse, Cadpig in 101 Dalmatians, Mullins in Peter Pan, Connie in The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, among others). Katy and her husband co-founded Shepherd Shakespeare Company and tour Shakespeare across NC, working on fulfilling their mission of making Shakespeare accessible for all! Her favorite role to date though is that of Mom to Perry Alan. All my love to my boys for making it possible to be up on this stage!

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Harriet

Valerie Thames

Valerie is thrilled to have been given the opportunity to join this phenomenal cast for such a wickedly funny show. This is her first time onstage with Charlotte Conservatory Theatre, but she has practiced her power stances and is ready to go! Valerie’s notable credits include Shelly in Dot (Three Bone Theatre), Fran in Thembe (ACT's NuVoices), and Jenny in Daffodil Girls (Three Bone). She would like to thank E for his continued love and support. And sends a huge thank you to all of you and hope you enjoy the show!

Playwright

Selina Fillinger

Selina Fillinger is an LA-based writer and performer. Original plays include The Collapse; Something Clean; Faceless; and Armor Plays: Cinched/Strapped. Her plays have been developed at Roundabout Theatre, Manhattan Theatre Club, McCarter Theatre, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Old Globe Theatre, Alley Theatre, St. Louis Repertory Theatre, and Northlight Theatre. She’s currently commissioned at South Coast Repertory, Roundabout, and Williamstown. Selina writes for the third season of Apple TV’s “The Morning Show” and is developing a feature for Chernin/Netflix.

Director

Stephen Kaliski

Steve is a theatre artist and educator. A Charlotte native, he worked professionally in New York for eleven years before returning to North Carolina in 2018. He was Resident Director of Broadway's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and he has written and directed several of his own plays, including The Refugees and Gluten. He acted as Scratch in Charlotte Conservatory Theatre’s inaugural production, Witch. He is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor of Theatre and Writing Studies at Davidson College.

Chip Davis (Scenic Design) is thrilled to be joining CCT for his first production. Chip returns to Charlotte via Davidson after receiving his MFA in Technical Direction from Indiana University in 2018. Prior to Indiana, Chip was the Technical Director and in house designer for Northwest School of the Arts as well as La Muscia Lirica Opera. Chip currently serves as Technical Director for the Davidson College Theatre Department and Common Thread Theatre Collective where he teaches and designs. Recent projects include set design for Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley at Davidson College Theatre, Violet and Barbecue at Common Thread Theatre, and Andy and the Orphans with 3 Bone Theatre.

Gordon W. Olson (Lighting Design) (Senior Lecturer in Lighting Design at UNCC) Gordon’s lighting design efforts in the Charlotte area include; Annie, Madagascar: The Musical!, School House Rock Live!, and Batboy: The Musical at Children’s Theatre of Charlotte, The Producers, The Addams Family, Spring Awakening, Jesus Christ Superstar and Footloose at Theatre Charlotte, Grease!, Side by Side, and Our Town with Providence Day, Spamalot, Annie and Chicago with Davidson Community Players, Twelfth Night, Hamlet, Spring Awakening, The Seagull, and 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, and over 50 music and dance concerts at UNC-Charlotte. Regional credits; City of Angels at Theatre Raleigh, Hansel and Gretel at Detroit Opera, Associate LD for A Christmas Carol at Actor’s Theatre of Louisville, Pagliacci at San Antonio Opera, and New Voices in Dance at James Madison University. Before assisting on the Broadway productions of Good People (World Premiere) and Jerusalem (Tony Nominated - Best Lighting Design) in 2011, Gordon spent three years as Resident Lighting Designer with Florida Grand Opera where his designs for Madama Butterfly, Lucia di Lammermoor and Cosi fan tutté won critical praise. Between 2006-2008 Gordon served as the Lighting Supervisor for Houston Grand Opera where he designed the lighting for a world premiere production of Hansel and Gretel. To date, Gordon has been involved with the lighting of over 130 productions in his professional career. Gordon received his BFA from the University of Arizona in 2001 and his MFA from the University of Texas - Austin in 2004.

Ashleigh Poteat (Costume Design) is a costume and scenic designer based out of South Carolina. She has designed costumes and scenery for Off-Broadway, regional and professional shows around the country and internationally. Ashleigh completed her undergraduate BA in Design & Production at the University of North Carolina at Asheville and her MFA in Production Design at the University of Las Vegas, Nevada. Ashleigh has taught courses in fashion, costume, scenic and properties design and production at UNLV, LaGrange College, Centenary University and Coastal Carolina University.

Matt Sherwin (Sound Design & Original Music): Based in New York, Matt’s credits include the Obie Award-winning Born Bad at Soho Rep, as well as productions Off-Broadway with The New Group, 59e59 and Ensemble Studio Theater. Regional and university credits include productions with Williamstown Theatre Festival, Barrington Stage, TheatreSquared, University of Wisconsin-Madison and Yale University. Matt was the recipient of an Innovative Theatre Award in Outstanding Original Music for his work on Gluten!, also directed by Stephen Kaliski. He is a veteran singer-songwriter, holds an MFA in Musical Theatre Writing from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts in Musical Theatre Writing and currently teaches songwriting at SUNY Purchase and with Lincoln Center Theater's Songwriting in the Schools Program.

Director's Note

The play you’re about to see is smartly stupid, or stupidly smart, however you choose to look at it. As an avid consumer of political culture, from podcasts to cable news to prestige television (Veep fans, you’re in the right place), I am not the least bit surprised that POTUS succeeded as a widely appealing Broadway comedy. Its seemingly paradoxical standoffs of brilliance vs. incompetence, actual power vs. deserved power, and vulgarity vs. esteem all feel profoundly familiar in our Age of Spiraling. You don’t need me to explain it to you. You will get it.

It is largely because of this crowd pleasing (and crowd-guffawing) commercial zest that I believe POTUS is the perfect second play for Charlotte Conservatory Theatre. For those of you who don’t know us, we are brand new to the city as a producing organization, but our wide-ranging team of artists are all seasoned Queen City veterans. We are all deeply aware of our city’s troubled history in sustaining professional local theatre companies–I’ll remind you that Charlotte, world class in almost every way, is the only city of its size WITHOUT a true professional regional theatre. We abound with talent, but impasses and bottlenecks between creators and funders have stymied theatrical development. How can we fix this?

Let’s start by putting it in writing. Charlotte Conservatory Theatre strives to become a professional regional theatre for you. It’s daunting yet possible.

But we can’t do it alone. As we are just getting started and organized, I want to encourage you to consider how you might take some agency in this process. Individual donations are of course helpful and necessary, but business and community connections are also indispensable. Talk us up. Help us breathe ourselves into existence. If you would like to see more powerhouse plays like POTUS brought to top-shelf life by your local artists, connect us to the decision-makers at your work. Your team can become one of the key stakeholders in our shared cultural goals.

We aren’t punting responsibility on initiative–we’ll still be approaching you, don’t worry :)--but we believe that the Gordian knot of Charlotte theatre can only be untied by grit and determination within both the producer AND the audience. As the cast of POTUS shows us, it takes a village (or at least seven badass women) to undo historic structural obstacles. We’re in this together. Let’s call it CHARLOTTE: Or, Behind Every Top-20 American City are Thousands of People Trying to Make it a Theatre Town.

And also, be careful about quoting this play in mixed company. So sorry about that.

Steve Kaliski
Founding Member, Charlotte Conservatory Theatre

Support CCT

Special Thanks

Jim Brown, Davidson College Theatre Department, Davidson Community Players, Savannah Deal, Loren Harrison, Zoe Harrison, BJ Havens, Jim Kallo, Anne Lambert and Charlotte’s Off-Broadway, Page Leggett, Tim Miner, Mike & Darlene Morton, Sylvia Schnople, Alan Singerman, Kellee Stall, Breanna Suarez, Roger Watson, Hank West and Metrolina Theatre Association, Gina Belmont, Mackenzie Hornbeck, Michael Knight, Ron and Carol Cranford, Chip Decker, Mike Snow, Dan Grogran, Matt Levitsky, IATSE Local 322

Thank you to our sponsors!

Hank West, Frances Bendert, Frances Fairley Graham, Alan Singerman, Sylvia Schnople, Alan and Sue Kaliski, Glynnis O’Donoghue, Rachel McPhee, David & Cynthia Crane