Production History

Warren Leight’s Side Man was presented during CST’s Season 19 (2002–2003) at Stage Center, 400 W. Sheridan Avenue. CST advertised the production as the play’s Oklahoma City debut. Narrated by Clifford Glimmer, the memory play moves between 1953 and 1985, tracing his family’s unraveling alongside the decline of the jazz world that sustains his trumpet-playing father. Music provides Gene with purpose and companionship while leaving Clifford and his mother, Terry, struggling with its personal costs. The play won the 1999 Tony Award for Best Play and was a 1999 Pulitzer Prize for Drama finalist. The original CST promotional copy connects the story to Leight’s childhood and his trumpet-playing father, Donald Leight. Director Rhonda Clark discussed balancing the play’s melancholy and joy while emphasizing the complexity of its ensemble.

CST Connections

Steve Vann previously played Officer Welch in Rumors (1992) and Harold Kent in Murder by Misadventure (1994).
James Tyra previously played Martini in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1992) and Ketch Freeman in Our Country’s Good (1993). He later stage-managed Rabbit Hole (2008) and Orphans (2009).
Sara Phoenix later played Claire in Proof (2004).
John Brumley also contributed set construction and scenic painting to Proof.
Rhonda Clark, Steven Gillmore, Corey Martin, Bob Cross, Shane Schnetzler, and Bob Bates contributed acting or production work to Proof the following season.
Steven Gillmore, Corey Martin, Bob Bates, and Jennifer Coon also worked on Murder in Green Meadows earlier in Season 19.
Bob Cross, Steven Gillmore, Corey Martin, Shane Schnetzler, and Rhonda Clark contributed to Romance in D immediately before Side Man.
Jennifer Coon served on the running crew for Never the Sinner (2001).
Roger Oxford later served on the running crew for Picnic (2007) and as stage manager and spotlight operator for Reefer Madness (2010).
Suzanne Charney, the opening-night party sponsor, played Helen Norton in Romance in D.

Press and Photography

“Effortless Performance: ‘Side Man’ Shows True Skill of Carpenter Cast” — The Oklahoman, February 26, 2003, contemporary review.
“10 in Town & 10 Around” — The Oklahoman, March 7, 2003, performance-listing lead.

Acknowledgments

Cast Sponsor — Chris Steves
Opening-Night Party Sponsor — Suzanne Charney

Special thanks: Tom’s Formalwear, Inc.; Horn Trader; Tommy’s Italian-American Grill; Suzanne Charney; Chris Crane; Addie Veal; Mark Wegener; Terry Veal; Lance Garrett; Ellen Webster.

CST acknowledged assistance from the Oklahoma Arts Council, National Endowment for the Arts, and Allied Arts.

Licensing

Licensed through Dramatists Play Service, Inc., according to the supplied original CST record. Current performance licensing is available through Concord Theatricals, which lists Side Man as a Dramatists Play Service title.

THEATRE UP CLOSE & PERSONAL

Russell Webster