CAST LIST
Melissa Gardner, Leslie Brott*
Andrew Makepeace Ladd III, Chris Mixon*
PRODUCTION TEAM
Director, Richie Call
Assistant Director, Daniel Simons
Executive Producer, Jeff Olsen
Managing Producer, Vanessa Olson
Consulting Producer, John Sweeney
Sound Coordinator, Russell Bush
Technical Director, Adam Flitton
Assistant Technical Director, Jonah “Ducky” Garrick
Audio Engineer, Rachel Mardis
Light Board, Kai Sadowski
Light Board Operation, Colter Lincoln
Box Office Supervisor, Cypress Stevens
Front of House Supervisor, Estephany Pasillas
Costume Shop Manager, Kelsey Nichols
Development, Donn Jersey
Marketing, Amanda DeBry
Graphic Design/Social Media, Kat Peterson
*The actor or stage manager appears through the courtesy of Actors' Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.
SYNOPSIS
When Andrew Makepeace Ladd III accepts an invitation to Melissa Gardner’s birthday party, and Melissa writes a thank-you note to ask just why he got her “The Lost Princess of Oz” (answer: she looks like a lost princess), a romantic friendship and correspondence destined to last for almost half a century is born. Both from affluent, East Coast families -- Melissa has more money, but Andy has better parents -- the friends communicate with each other through angst-ridden boarding school experiences, European adventures, failed marriages, and the ups and downs of career. Over the course of their lives, Andy and Melissa’s relationship goes through many changes, as the sometimes-sweethearts/sometimes-friends go through periods of estrangement, and the intense, clandestine affair which will accelerate Melissa’s emotional breakdown. Despite the painful differences which will ultimately tear them apart, they remain each other’s most trusted confidante, and are “true lovers” on paper, if not on the earth. A.R. Gurney’s Love Letters is a tender, tragi-comic, and nuanced examination of the shared nostalgia, missed opportunities, and deep closeness of two lifelong, complicated friends. While spanning five decades and numerous locations, it is staged simply, with two actors behind desks or sitting in cozy chairs, letting their words describe a world of emotion.
BIOGRAPHIES
Richie Call, Director
Richie is the head of the Department of Theatre Arts at Utah State University in Logan, Utah where he also serves as the Artistic Director of the Lyric Repertory Company – a company founded by his grandfather, W. Vosco Call, in 1967. Richie has spent 23 seasons working with the Lyric Rep. Other professional credits include work for Utah Shakespeare Festival, Pioneer Theatre Company, Salt Lake Acting Company, Mile Square Theatre, American Globe Theatre, and Gorilla Rep. He has an MFA in Acting from Rutgers University, Mason Gross School of the Arts and a BFA in Performance from Utah State University.
Leslie Brott*, Melissa Gardner
Leslie is an Associate Dean for the Caine College of the Arts, and Professor and Head of Actor Training for the BFA-Acting program at Utah State University. Her credits include 17 seasons with the Utah Shakespeare Festival; the Great River, Idaho, and Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festivals; Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, PCPA Theaterfest, GeVa Theatre, Dallas Theater Center, Sacramento Theatre Company, Salt Lake Acting Company, Madison Repertory Theatre, and the Southwest Shakespeare Company. She is a member of Actors Equity Association and is from Northern California.
Chris Mixon*, Andrew Makepeace Ladd III
Chris has been a regular to Utah audiences having spent 11 seasons with the Utah Shakespeare Festival from 2002-2024, and with the Pioneer Theatre Company in many productions including Once, Little Shop of Horrors, Crazy for You, and others. His regional credits include Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse, Philadelphia Theatre Co., George Street Theatre, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, GeVa Theatre Center, the Alabama Shakespeare Festival (11 Seasons), Great River Shakespeare Festival (9 seasons), and the Orlando, Hudson Valley and Nebraska Shakespeare Festivals. In New York he was a resident company member with Off-Broadway’s Pearl Theatre Company, and he spent a year touring with Broadway’s How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying starring Ralph Macchio and Roger Bart. Film & TV credits: Law & Order, One Life to Live, All My Children and The Rosa Parks Story starring Angela Bassett.
A.R. (“Pete”) Gurney
A.R. (“Pete”) Gurney was born in 1930 in Buffalo, New York. He graduated from Williams College in 1952, served as an officer in the Navy, and afterwards attended the Yale School of Drama. For many years, he taught literature at M.I.T., but moved to New York in 1982 to devote more time to writing for the theatre. He won a fair amount of awards during his career, and became a member of the Theatre Hall of Fame and of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Gurney was married to his wife Molly for over fifty years. They had four children, and eight grandchildren, and lived in Roxbury, Connecticut and New York City. His plays include The Problem, Love Letters, and Scenes From American Life.
*The actor or stage manager appears through the courtesy of Actors' Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.