Company Bios
A Christmas Story, The Musical!
CAST
Becky Barta (Miss Shields and others) is thrilled to return to her hometown with A Christmas Story, The Musical!, and this wonderful production team! Becky appeared in Les Miserables both on Broadway and the National Tour and spent three years as Mrs. Claus in The Radio City Christmas Spectacular in New York. Off-Broadway credits include Frankenstein (original cast recording), Sessions, Forbidden Broadway, How Now Dow Jones,title role in Always, Patsy Cline and Katie in Meet Me in St. Louis at the Irish Rep. She hasperformed leading rolesregionally across the country including at Goodspeed, Paper Mill Playhouse, North Shore Music Theatre, the Denver Center, TUTS (Houston), TOTS (Atlanta), the Alliance (Atlanta), Pittsburgh CLO, Cincinnati Playhouse and proudly at every professional theatre here in Kansas City. Becky recorded her debut CD, Crazy and Then Some, last year,which is available in KC at the Mission Road Antique Mall. Have fun and don't shoot your eye out!
John Bolton (The Old Man) is happy to return to Kansas City after playing Lord Evelyn Oakleigh in Starlight’s Anything Goes this past summer. He most recently appeared on Broadway as Grady, the villainous critic in Curtains, where he also played David Hyde Pierce’s role during Mr. Pierce’s vacation. He was in the original cast of Monty Python’s Spamalot, Contact and Titanic – all three of which won Tony Awards for Best Musical. He was featured in the hit Broadway revivals of How to Succeed… (in the starring role of Finch opposite both Megan Mullaly and Sarah Jessica Parker), Annie and Damn Yankees. Off-Broadway: Einstein in Einstein’s Dreams, Five Course Love, It’s Only Life, several editions of both Project Shaw and Don’t Quit Your Night Job and many NY concerts, most recently the all-star Chance and Chemistry: A Centennial Celebration of Frank Loesser at Broadway’s Minskoff Theatre. World premieres: The Opposite of Sex, Señor Discretion Himself, Paper Moon. Regional: extensive work at Geva, Goodspeed, Paper Mill, Arena, The Old Globe, The Muny, the Ahmanson and many more. TV & Film: “Gossip Girl” (recurring), “All My Children” (recurring), “Law and Order”, “Law and Order: Criminal Intent”, “Ed”, “As the World Turns”, “The Guiding Light”, “Great Performances”, and various silly stuff at “Letterman”, Eleven and The Savages.
Aaron Dwight Conley (Flick and others) is a native ofWest Point, Mississippi and is thrilled to be joining "A Christmas Story" cast and is also making his return to theatre. Broadway: Disney's The Lion King(2004-2006),How the Grinch Stole Christmas(November 2006-January 7, 2007). Commercials: AdColor Awards "The Catch", Rubiks Revolution, Diane WilliamsandSade Baderinwa, andNickelodeon's “Iron Man”.Voiceovers: “How to Drive Everybody Crazy”, guest star singer in “The Backyardigans”, guest star in“Pinky Dinky Doo”. Music video:Luther Vandross' Shine. Thanks to Mom, Dad, sisterKenya, Carson Adler Agency, andAbyssinian Baptist Church familyfor their much needed support. Aaron thanks God for his past progress and looks forward to doing much more!
Troy Doherty (Scut Farcus and others) ,age 13, is from Wall Township, New Jersey and makes his Kansas City Repertory Theatre debut as Scut Farkus in A Christmas Story, the Musical. Troy is no stranger to holiday musicals. Troy performed as the Artful Dodger in the 2008 production of Oliver! at the John W. Engeman Theatre in New York. Troy rocked the house at the Triad in New York City with his electrifying version of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” and his own rendition of Michael Buble’s “Feeling Good”. Troy can also be seen this holiday season on the big screen as Sal in Hachiko, a Dog’s Tale starring with Richard Gere. In addition, Troy is featured as Jeremy in the “Swashbuckling Perils of Men and Jeremy” on TV’s Cartoon Network. Troy will also be rolling down the tracks as Emery in the animated series “Chuggington Station”. A special thanks to Shirley Grant Management for their continued support, Rob LaRocco for vocal training and inspiration, and Stephen Nachamie for his confidence in me. And finally to my family, I love you all.
Patrick DuLaney (Santa and others) just appeared at the Rep in Into the Woods. He has worked from Maine to Alaska and now calls Kansas City home. He is a recent graduate of the UMKC Master’s Program in Acting. Mr. DuLaney’s favorite roles include the title roles in Macbeth, Floyd Collins and Tartuffe, Jud in Oklahoma!, Jerry in Zoo Story, Pinchwife in The Country Wife and multiple roles in Forever Plaid. He is also a founding member of the Alaska Shakespeare Festival, now in its ninth season. www.patrickjdulaney.com
Karen Errington (Radio Quartet and others) has been proud to call herself a local Kansas City actor for over 15 years, and is a familiar face on stages all over town. Favorite local roles include: Fanny Brice in Funny Girl, Miss Adelaide in Guys and Dolls, The Witch in Into the Woods, Jeannie Garstecki, in The Great American Trailer Park Musical, Mistress Page in Merry Wives of Windsor and Meredith Parker in Bat boy. She has also appeared in national tours of Forbidden Broadway and Forbidden Hollywood, playing everyone from Barbra to Pocahantas. When not on stage, Karen is one of the busiest vocalists in Kansas City, and takes joy every day in being Mom to 8-year old Jack - the light of her life.
Seth Golay (Jimbo and others) has previously appeared at the Rep in Winesburg, Ohio, A Christmas Carol, The Pirates of Penzance and The Front Page. His Off-Broadway credits include Soar like an Eagle with Playwright’s Horizons and the national tour of The Lullaby of Broadway. Mr. Golay has appeared in I Love You Because, Dames at Sea, The Rainmaker, Forever Plaid and The 1940s Radio Hour at American Heartland Theatre; Seussical, Twice Upon a Time and Stuart Little at the Coterie Theatre; New York State of Mind, Tapestry, Tin Pan Alley and Love is Here to Stay at Quality Hill Playhouse; The Foreigner at New Theatre Restaurant and the title role in Bat Boy: The Musical at Unicorn Theatre. His film credits include Michael Moore’s The Awful Truth.
Jennie Greenberry(Radio Quartet and others) ispleased to be making her Kansas City Rep debut! Past performances include the world premiere musical U Bug Me, Atypical Boy, Seussical, and Once on This Island at the Coterie Theatre, and numerous TV commercials. She was also seen as Christine Scott in Murder by the Book at the American Heartland Theatre, for which she was named one of three"Emerging Artists of 2009" by The Kansas City Star Magazine.Ms. Greenberrywill next appear as Serena in Lucky Duck at the Coterie Theatre. She would like to thank her family, Jack, and dearest friend Yeshuafor all their encouragement and prayers-- she wouldn'tbe here withoutyou!
Dakota Hoar (Schwartz and others) returns to the Rep, having performed in A Christmas Carol in 2007. He has kept busy since then performing in Oliver! at Centerstage Theatre, Schoolhouse Rock with Music Theatre for Young People, Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You at the Unicorn Theatre, Seussical the Musical and Witches at the Coterie Theatre and The Sound of Music at New Theatre. When not on stage, Dakota is a seventh grade student at Prairie Trail Junior High, a member of the Miller Marley Entertainers troupe and the Coterie comedy troupe. He works hard training in voice, dance and acting with a great group of teachers.
James Judy (Jean Shepherd) is honored to be returning to Kansas City Repertory Theatre wherehe appeared last seasonas The Writer in Winesburg, Ohio. His Broadway credits include Into the Woods,Dewhurst in the original company of The Scarlet Pimpernel, andFred in A Christmas Carol. Off-Broadway credits include Tin Pan Alley Rag with the Roundabout Theatre Company, Floyd in Fiorello with City Center Encores, 1,2,3,4,5 and The Gig with Manhattan Theatre Club, Lonny in Catch Me If I Fall at the Promenade Theatre, and La Boheme with the New York Shakespeare Festival. National tours include Deaf West's Big River and South Pacific. Regional credits include many seasons at Williamstown Theatre Festival, appearingin Inherit the Wind, Madwoman of Chaillot, 1776 and as Editor Webb in Our Town with James Whitmore and Calista Flockhart;Goodspeed Opera House appearingin Half a Sixpence and The Gig and as Finian in Finian's Rainbow; TennesseeRepertory theatre, appearing as George Baileyin A Wonderful Lifeand at Pioneer Memorial Theatre, appearing in Enchanted April and as Peron in Evita andJavert in Les Miserables. James would like to thank Kathy and Moochie for being his refuge.
Katie Kalahurka (Elf and others)) recently appeared at the Rep in Into the Woods and A Flea in Her Ear and was an understudy in The Arabian Nights and The Borderland. Originally from Kansas City, she has performed with Jackson Hole Playhouse, Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre, Post Playhouse, Theatre at Lime Kiln and Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre. Locally, Ms. Kalahurka has worked for the Unicorn Theatre, Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre and Eubank Productions. This winter she can be seen in Glorious at American Heartland Theatre. Ms. Kalahurka holds a B.F.A. in music theatre from Illinois Wesleyan University.
Katherine McNamara (Esther Jane and others)) is delighted to return to the KC Rep this holiday season! Some of her credits include Anything Goes! and The Music Man (Starlight Theatre), Galileo, The Crucible, and The Secret Garden (Metropolitan Ensemble Theater), The Happy Elf and Gunplay! (Coterie Theatre), The Sound of Music and Oklahoma! (New Theatre Restaurant), The Barber of Seville (Lyric Opera of Kansas City) and Children’s Letters to God (Chestnut Fine Arts Theater). In addition, Katherine was Belinda Cratchit in last year’s A Christmas Carol and also understudied Scout Finch in the Rep’s production of To Kill a Mockingbird. Some of Ms. McNamara’s film credits include Sam Steele and the Junior Detective Agency and Matchmaker Mary. Katherine can next be seen as young Jackie Bouvier in Grey Gardens at the Unicorn Theatre. www.katherinemcnamaraonline.com
Alexiya Lourdes Mendez (Mary Beth and others) is delighted to be a part of A Christmas Story, The Musical!. Her recent performances include a Royal Princess and Dancer in The King and I at the City Theatre of Independence, and an Angel and a party scene girl in The Nutcracker for the Moscow Ballet performance at the Folly Theatre. She currently dances with the Kansas City Ballet. Alexiya would like to thank her family and friends and everyone at the Rep for their love and support. www.Alexiyalourdes.com
Orville Mendoza (Elf, Radio Quartet, and others) is appearing for the first time at the Rep. Broadway: revival of 2004 Pacific Overtures. Off-Broadway: Road Show and Romeo and Juliet (The Public); Adrift in Macao- Drama Desk Award nomination for Featured Actor in a Musical (Primary Stages); The Constant Couple (Pearl Theatre); Ivanov (Mint Theatre); Killing the Boss (Cherry Lane Studio); Blind Mouth Singing and Antigone (NAATCO); Rashomon (Pan Asian Rep) and The Day Before Spring (The York). Tours: Miss Saigon and The King and I with Shirley Jones. Regional: The Wiz (La Jolla Playhouse); world premiere of Adrift in Macao-Barrymore Award for Supporting Actor (Philadelphia Theatre Company); The Romance of Magno Rubio (Long Wharf Theatre, Laguna Playhouse); Mame with Michele Lee and Annie Get Your Gun (Pittsburg Civic Light Opera), Pacific Overtures-Backstage West Garland Award and Sweeney Todd-L.A. Ovation Award. nomination (East West Players) and original cast of Disney’s Aladdin (Walt Disney Company). TV: “Law & Order: Criminal Intent.” www.orvillemendoza.com
Alan Mingo, Jr. (Radio Quartet and others ) comes directly from Broadway’s The Little Mermaid and has starred as Tom Collins in the Broadway production of Rent, as well as first and second national companies. Mr. Mingo also staged, choreographed, and performed in the late Luciano Pavarotti’s Italian production of Rent. He has starred as Seaweed in the first national tour of Hairspray, and Simba in the first national and Los Angeles companies of, Disney’s The Lion King. Regional: Jeffrey, Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris and The Wiz. Mr. Mingo received his M.F.A. from the University of California, at Irvine. www.alanmingo.com
Anne L. Nathan (Mother) is thrilled to be back at the Rep after performing last season as Lucienne in A Flea in Her Ear. Ms. Nathan has performed on Broadway in Roundabout Theater Company's revival of Sunday in the Park With George playing Nurse, Mrs. and Harriet, Matron "Mama" Morton in Chicago, Emma Goldman in Assassins, and in the original companies of Ragtime and Thoroughly Modern Millie, in which she played Miss Flannery. Off-Broadway, Ms. Nathan played Marthe in the Encores! production of Music in the Air, Aunt Eva in Stephen Sondheim's Road Show at The Public Theater, The Piven Monologues at Joe’s Pub and Swingtime Canteen. She has toured with the national companies of Chicago(Carbonell Award), Les Miserables and Aspects of Love. Ms. Nathan’s recent regional credits include productions at George Street Playhouse, Huntington Theatre Company, La Jolla Playhouse, Barrington Stage Company and Asolo Theatre Company. Her film and television credits include Baby Mama, King Of California, “Dirt”, “Law & Order” (“Trial By Jury”, “Special Victims Unit” and “Criminal Intent”), “Veronica Mars”, “What I Like About You”, and “Bull”. She has also been on two Tony Award Telecasts, “The Rosie O’Donnell Show” and “The Today Show”. Ms. Nathan is a graduate of the Boston Conservatory.
Kip Niven (Tree Salesman and others) has appeared at the Rep in Into the Woods, Later Lives and Blithe Spirit. A Kansas City native and KU alum, Mr. Niven has appeared on Broadway, Off-Broadway and in regional theatres, as well as in feature films, network television and commercials. Having recently appeared in Anything Goes at Starlight and Big River for Musical Theater Heritage, his upcoming productions include Cactus Flower at New Theatre Restaurant and Lucky Duck at the Coterie Theatre. Mr. Niven is a member of the award-winning radio comedy show “Right Between the Ears”.
Zach Rand (Grover Dill and others), age 11, is thrilled to be a member of the cast of the Kansas City Rep production of A Christmas Story, The Musical! He began his Broadwaycareer at age nine asGavroche in the revival ofLes Misérables and has been seen most recently on Broadway asMichael Banks in Mary Poppins, toured with its national company and appeared in the special feature Step In Timeonthe 45th anniversary DVD of the film Mary Poppins. Zach thanks everyone at Kansas City Repertory Theatrefor the opportunity to originate a role on their stage! Many thanks to Nancy Carson and Amelia DeMayo and Anne Ratray. For my siblingsLiv, Ava andElijah (whose love and patience has allowed me to follow mydreams)and especially for my sisterChloe, who is always watching me from above.
Zachary Carter Sayle (Ralphie Parker), age 13, is thrilled to be back in Kansas City for the world premiere of A Christmas Story, the Musical! Kansas City audiences most recently saw Zachary flying in a famous car at the Starlight Theatre in the role of Jeremy Potts in the final stop of the first National Tour of Broadway’s Chitty Chitty Bang Bang! Prior to that, Zachary helped take Broadway to Asia, traveling across China playing Kurt von Trapp in the international tour of The Sound of Music. Regional credits include: Les Miserables, A Christmas Story (non-musical version), Bye Bye Birdie, Ah! Wilderness, and Scrooge!. He has also sung the national anthem for the Texas Rangers and Colorado Rockies major league baseball teams. Zachary’s new album “New Kid in the Neighborhood” is available on iTunes. Special thanks to his agent, Nancy Carson, Amelia DeMayo, all of his dance teachers, and his family for all their love and support. Last, but certainly not least, he would like to thank Kansas City and KC Rep for welcoming him back to this great city! www.zacharycartersayle.com
Vanessa Severo (Mrs. Schwartz and others) is thrilled to be returning to Kansas City Repertory Theatre in A Christmas Story, The Musical!. She was last seen here in A Christmas Carol. Her Kansas City credits include I'll Be Back Before Midnight at American Heartland Theatre, Much Ado About Nothing at Heart of America Shakespeare Festival, Absurd Person Singular and Desdemona with Actors Theatre of Kansas City, Rumors at New Theatre Restaurant, Eubank Productions’ Hedwig & The Angry Inch, and The Clean House at the Unicorn Theatre, for which she was named Kansas City’s “Best Actress (2009)” by The Pitch. In 2005-06, she served as the Coterie Theatre’s Artist in Residence. Ms. Severo is also a member of Hybrid Productions, which created The Coppelia Project and staged her original one act Advice From A Spider. She can next be seen this spring in Green Wales at the Unicorn.
Jake Bennett Siegfried (Randy Parker) is thrilled to be playing the part of Randy Parker in this world premiere of A Christmas Story, the Musical!. Jake was born and raised in New York and is having a great time exploring Kansas City. Jake has voiced a national MasterCardcommercial and an upcoming episode of “Wonderpets”! He has been seen in several stage productions, most recently in Oliver! at the John W. EngemanTheatre on Long Island and as Prince Dauntless in Once Upon A Mattress at the UsdanCenter for the Creative and Performing Arts. Special thanks to my family, Kansas City Rep, Trapper Felidesand my friends at Shirley Grant Management for believing in me! I'm so happy, "I can't put my arms down!"
MUSICIANS
Thomas Aber (Reed 3), a founding member of newEar, is also the bass clarinetist with the Omaha Symphony. His studies of the bass clarinet took him to the Juilliard School and then to the Netherlands, where he studied contemporary techniques and repertoire of the bass clarinet with Harry Sparnaay. In 1979 he was a prize winner in the Gaudeamus Foudation's International Competition for Interpreters of Contemporary Music. Aber earned his D.M.A in clarinet at the Conservatory of the University of Missouri at Kansas City. His musical interests are wide-ranging, extending from many current styles to traditional music and traditional instruments from the Balkans and Turkey.
Stephanie Bryan (Trombone 1) is one of the busiest freelance trombonists in Kansas City. She performs with ensembles as diverse as Blue Riddim reggae band,New Ear contemporary chamber ensemble, Northland Symphony, Kansas City Brassworks, and the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra. Stephanie received a bachelor’s degree in trombone performance from the UMKC Conservatory of Music and her advanced study includes work with members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the St. Louis Symphony, and the American Brass Quintet.
Daniel Doss (Synthesizer/Rehearsal Pianist) has performed at the Rep in Into the Woods. He has performed with and/or conducted for the American Heartland Theatre, the New Theatre Restaurant, the Unicorn Theatre, Musical Theater Heritage, Coterie Theatre, Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre, Theater League, Eubank Productions, Thin Air Theatrics, and Stagedoor Manor in New York. www.danieldoss.com
Jeff Harshbarger (Bass) has performed at the Rep in Into the Woods and was voted KC’s Best Bassist by Pitch magazine in 2007. Performance credits: Bobby Watson, Curtis Fuller, Forever Tango, Eugene Chadborne, Milt Abel, Tango Lorca, Jimmy Carl Black, Angela Hagenbach, Krystle Warren, Snuff Jazz, Brad Cox, Nathan Granner, Ghosty, People’s Liberation Big Band of the Greater Kansas City Area, Jazz Discharge and Forrest Whitlow. He is a co-founder of Tzigane Music, an artist-run collective and record label, and curator of Jeff Harshbarger Presents: An Alternative Jazz Series, promoting new improvised music in Kansas City. Awards: the Kennedy Center’s Betty Carter Fellowship, the Steans Institute Fellowship and a Professional Development Grant from the Creative Capital Foundation. He will be an artist-in-residence for Escape to Create in 2010.
Ron Hashhorn (Reed 1) began his studies of clarinet and saxophone with his father and then worked further for several years under the tutelage of Robert Luyben. He pursued advanced studies in clarinet at the University of Kansas. Since 1970 he has had wide variety of professional performance experience with the major musical organizations in Kansas City. He has performed with the Kansas City Philharmonic, the Kansas City Symphony, the Lyric Opera, the Kansas City Ballet, and the Starlight Theater Orchestra. He has toured as the lead alto sax player with the Tommie Dorsey Band and has also toured throughout the United States and Europe with several National Broadway productions, including Evita and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
Stephen Molloy (Trumpet) has performed at the Rep in Into the Woods and Guys and Dolls. Local performance credits: Starlight Theatre, New Theatre, the Kansas City Symphony, the St. Joseph Symphony, Fountain City Brass Band and Kansas City Jazz Orchestra. He is an artist-in-residence at Missouri Western Stage University.
Dan Strom (Trombone) is a free lance musician in the Kansas City area. He has played many musicals as a member of the Starlight Theater Orchestra and has also played in musicals in the downtown theater district. He has played with numerous jazz ensembles in Kansas City. As a long time member of the New Red Onion Jazz Babies, he has appeared in traditional jazz festivals throughout the country. He has also performed with the Kansas City Symphony, Lyric Opera, and American Ballet. He has toured with such artists as Steve Lawrence, Edie Gorme, Henry Mancini and Johnny Mathis. Dan played on dozens of commercials jingles for companies such as Wal-Mart, Commerce Bank and Pizza Hut. As a member of the Ragtime group, Turpintyme Ragsters, he performed some of the music in the documentary “Blackhand Strawman” about the history of the Kansas City Mafia. He also played on the sound track of the Kansas City based documentary “Civil War Stories”. Dan has maintained a private music studio in Kansas City for many years.
Charles Wines (Reed 2) is a native of Kansas City and a woodwinds specialist. Performance credits: Philharmonia of Greater Kansas City, Emerald Isle Irish band, Kansas City Baroque Consortium, Kansas City Chamber Orchestra, Civic Opera of Kansas City, and New Theatre Restaurant. Current: Saint Michael's Baroque Ensemble, of which he is a founding member.
Andrew Yates (Percussion) is a busy Kansas City conductor/arranger/orchestrator and percussionist. He was a conducting student of Frederick Fennel’s and studied with legendary arranger Vic Schoen. Mr. Yates had arranged music for choirs, orchestras, and bands throughout the country. Most recent orchestral arrangement commissioned by “Doc” Severinsen.
PRODUCTION TEAM
Cynthia Cahill (Production Stage Manager) has worked extensively in New York and around the country for over 15 years, most recently on Broadway with the Tony nominated musical Passing Strange. She has worked Off Broadway at Second Stage Theatre with Sarah Rhul’s Eurydice, and Mary Zimmerman’s Notebooks of Leonardo, at The Culture Project on Sarah Jones’ Bridge and Tunnel and at The Public theatre on Passing Strange; regionally at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, ACT, The Guthrie, Seattle Rep, Hartford Stage, The McCarter and Kansas City Rep, among many others. Directors include, Mary Zimmerman, Les Waters, Leigh Silverman, Tony Taccone, & Annie Dorsen. Cynthia is very pleased to be back here at Kansas City Rep for this production.
Beth Ellen Spencer (Assistant Stage Manager) served as production stage manager for the Rep’s productions of The Borderland, Gee’s Bend, A Christmas Carol (2007 & 2008) and Bad Dates; Assistant Stage Manager for Into the Woods, The Arabian Nights, Radio Golf, To Kill a Mockingbird, Under Midwestern Stars, King Lear, The Trip to Bountiful, Jitney, and A Christmas Carol and was production assistant for Man and Superman. Ms. Spencer has also stage managed La Cage aux Folles and Nickel and Dimed at the Unicorn Theatre and The Merry Wives of Windsor, Othello, Romeo and Juliet and King Henry V at Heart of America Shakespeare Festival and she just completed Glengarry Glen Ross, which she stage managed for Kansas City Actors Theatre. She is currently a lecturer for the M.F.A. stage management program at UMKC where she teaches assistant stage management. Ms. Spencer earned her M.F.A. in stage management from UMKC and her B.F.A. in theatre from Missouri State University.
Eric Rosen (Director), nationally recognized playwright, director and producer, is the fourth artistic director in the 45-year history of Kansas City Repertory Theatre. He is also co-founder and former artistic director of Chicago’s acclaimed About Face Theatre, where he developed, wrote, produced and/or directed nearly 30 world premieres in his thirteen seasons there. Rep credits include direction of Metamorphoses and The Trip to Bountiful prior to his appointment, and direction of Clay and Winesburg, Ohio, for which he also wrote book and lyrics. His original plays and musicals include Winesburg (Chicago’s Jefferson Award for best new work, and five Barrymore Awards including best musical); Dream Boy (Jeff Award for best direction and production); Wedding Play (Jeff nomination for best new work); Dancer from the Dance, Whitman and Undone. His production of Clay was seen at Kansas City Rep, About Face and Lookingglass Theatres in Chicago, Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles, and Lincoln Center Theatre/LCT3 in New York. Other directing credits include the world premieres of M. Proust by Mary Zimmerman (Jeff nomination for best new play) and Theater District (Jeff Award for best new play), and the Chicago premiere of Take Me Out, all in About Face/Steppenwolf co-productions. Regional credits include work at Steppenwolf, the Goodman, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Hartford Stage, Cincinnati Playhouse, St. Louis Rep, 7 Stages in Atlanta, and workshops at Playwrights Horizons and Center Theatre Group. As dramaturg and producer, he collaborated on Doug Wright’s play I am My Own Wife, winner of the Tony Award for best play and the Pulitzer Prize; produced the famed site-specific performance Eleven Rooms of Proust created by Mary Zimmerman; and was dramaturg for Frank Galati and Stephen Flaherty’s Loving Repeating at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Moisés Kaufman’s One Arm at Steppenwolf Theatre, all in About Face Theatre partnerships; and Kaufman’s 33 Variations at Sundance Theatre Lab, where he also directed Carlos Murillo’s Diagram of a Paper Airplane in 2009. Rosen earned his Ph.D. in performance studies from Northwestern University, and is the recipient of numerous awards and honors including a Human Rights Campaign Community Leadership Award and a National Endowment for the Arts (NEA)/Theatre Communication Group (TCG) Career Development Fellowship for Directors. He has twice served as a theatre panel member for the NEA and has participated in the TCG/ Pew Charitable Trusts’ National Theatre Artists Residency Program. Rosen has taught at Northwestern University, University of Chicago, Brooklyn College, and his alma mater, the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.
Joseph Robinette (Book) is the author or coauthor of fifty-one published plays and musicals. His works have been produced in all fifty states and in several foreign countries, including England, Australia, Germany, Spain, Saudi Arabia and South Africa. His plays have been produced by Lincoln Center, Pittsburgh Playhouse, Dallas Children’s Theatre, Connecticut Children’s Theatre, Coterie Theatre, Seattle Children’s Theatre, Theatreworks and the BBC, among others. Mr. Robinette collaborated on the authorized stage version of Charlotte’s Web, and he wrote the musical version with composer Charles Strouse (Annie and Bye Bye Birdie). Other authorized dramatizations include Stuart Little, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Sarah, Plain and Tall. He is the recipient of numerous playwriting awards, and in 2006, he received the Children’s Theatre Foundation of America’s Medallion for his “body of dramatic works for children and young people in the United States and beyond.”
Scott Davenport Richards (Music/Lyrics/Vocal Arrangements) Most recent: Charlie Crosses the Nation, an opera in a Jazz idiom-music, libretto, orchestration (New York City Opera as part of the VOX Festival); A Thousand Words Come to Mind, with Michele Lowe and performed by Tony-nominee Barbara Walsh (The Zipper Theatre and Joe’s pub); premiere of A Star Across the Ocean, a symphonic work, Tony Award-winner Chuck Cooper; premiere of Dance of the Holy Ghosts, by Marcus Gardley with music by Richards (Yale Repertory Theatre, directed by Liz Diamond). In development: musical projects at New York’s Public and Arlington’s Signature Theatres, funded by The Shen Family Foundation. Play-scores: premiere of Lee Blessing’s Cobb featuring Oscar winner Chris Cooper and Delroy Lindo (Yale Repertory Theatre). Acting credit: originated the role of Sylvester in original Broadway production of August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. Honors: Jonathan Larson and the Frederick Loewe awards, Mr. Richards is assistant professor of musical theatre at Montclair State University, and has taught at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts Graduate Musical Theater Writing Program since 1997.
Kelly Devine (Choreography) choreographed the Broadway and Off-Broadway productions of Rock of Ages (5 Tony nominations). Other Broadway credits: the new musical Memphis (associate choreographer) and the international hit Jersey Boys (associate choreographer, Tony Award/Olivier Award Best Musical). Choreographer, Off-Broadway: The Happy Embalmer (Directorial/choreographer), Frankenstein; Anne Wrecksick. La Jolla Playhouse: Peter and the Starcatchers (in association with Disney Theatricals); Private Fittings. Stratford Festival: Cabaret; Romeo and Juliet. Regional: Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson; Sneaux (L.A. Weekly Theater Award for best choreography); Wozzeck (San Diego Opera). Film & television: Happy Texas, Zombie Prom, Boychik, Passport to Paris, “30 Days Until I’m Famous”, “So Little Time”, “ Two of a Kind”. Commercials: Cingular Wireless; Oldsmobile. Associate choreographer: Zhivago and The Wiz at La Jolla Playhouse. Upcoming: Rock of Ages Toronto and National Tour.
Walt Spangler (Set Design) is designing for Kansas City Rep for the first time. Most recent: Broadway revival of Desire Under The Elms, Robert Fall’s King Lear, La Traviata (Lithuanian National Opera); On The Town (The 5th Avenue Theatre/Papermill Theatre); The Importance of Being Earnest (Guthrie Theatre).
Elizabeth Hope Clancy (Costume Design) has designed extensively in the United States and London for theatre, opera and dance. Credits include the Broadway designs for the musical Passing Strange, Edward Albee’s The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?, Bobbi Boland starring Farrah Fawcett and Arthur Miller’s The Ride Down Mt. Morgan. In London, Ms. Clancy designed the costumes for Aaron Sorkin’s A Few Good Men starring Rob Lowe (West End) and the premiere of Tony Kushner’s Homebody/Kabul (Chelsea Center). She styled the wardrobe for the new marching band The Asphalt Orchestra for Lincoln Center’s Out-of-Doors festival in 2009. Off-Broadway credits include Hamlet (Theatre for a New Audience); My Old Lady (Promenade); Passing Strange, The Ride Down Mt. Morgan, A Dybbuk, In The Blood (Public Theatre); Recent Tragic Events, The Wax, Memory House (Playwrights Horizons); The Oldest Profession-Henry Hewes award nomination, The Last of the Thorntons (Signature Theatre); Waiting for Godot starring John Tuturro, Endgame, The Entertainer (Classic Stage Company); Acts of Mercy, Adam Rapp’s Finer Noble Gases (Rattlestick); The Antigone Project-Henry Hewes award nomination, Gum (Women’s Project and Productions) and productions at Intar, The Vineyard and Cherry Lane. Regional theatre credits include Intiman Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the Guthrie Theater, Mark Taper Forum, Hartford Stage Company, the Shakespeare Theatre, Long Wharf, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Geffen Playhouse and many others. Opera credits include Don Giovanni (Wolf Trap Opera); Griffelkin, A Month in the Country, The Rape of Lucretia (Manhattan School of Music); La Boheme (Opera Delaware). Ms. Clancy has been resident costume designer for Sally Silvers & Dancers since 1997 and has also designed for choreographers Yvonne Rainer, Pat Catterson, Karen Sherman and Kate Gyllenhaal. She holds a B.A. in Theatre from The College of William and Mary and an M.F.A. in design from The Yale School of Drama.
Jason Lyons (Lighting Design) returns to the Rep after working on the lighting design for A Flea in Her Ear and Clay, for which he was nominated for a 2009 Drama Desk Award in lighting. Mr. Lyons’ New York credits include the Lincoln Center Theatre run of Clay, and the Broadway productions of Rock of Ages, The Threepenny Opera, Barefoot in the Park and Good Vibrations. His recent work includes lighting design for the Sleepwalk With Me at the Bleeker Street Theatre, Uncle Vanya with Classic Stage Company, Groundswell, Mourning Becomes Electra, Rafta Rafta and Two Thousand Years with The New Group, Body Awareness and Scarcity with Atlantic Theater Company, Sive and The Field with Irish Repertory Theatre, The Piano Teacher with South Coast Repertory Theatre, Vigils at the Goodman, Evil Dead: The Musical in NYC and Toronto, Once Around the Sun at Zipper Theatre and Kiki & Herb at Cherry Lane Theatre. Other projects with The New Group include The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, A Spalding Gray Matter, Abigail’s Party, HurlyBurly, ROAR, Aunt Dan and Lemon, Comedians, The Women of Lockerbie and Smelling a Rat. New York Stage & Film productions include Finks, Good Vibrations, Nerds, Good Canary and Roulette. Mr. Lyons was the associate lighting designer of the Broadway productions of The Pillowman, Fiddler on the Roof, Nine, Tartuffe, Frankie and Johnnie…, Into the Woods, The Women, A Thousand Clowns and Judgment at Nuremberg. Mr. Lyons is a lecturer of design and technology at Purchase College’s Conservatory of Theatre Arts and Film.
Carl Casella (Sound Design) has worked as a designer, engineer and producer for some of New York’s busiest recording studios and Fortune 500 companies for more than twenty five years. Broadway and Off-Broadway: Story of My Life, A Tale of Two Cities, American Buffalo, Xanadu; Mask, Ray Charles the Musical, Frankenstein, Moon for the Misbegotten, Ring of Fire, Southern Comforts, Latinologues, Once Around the Sun, Sly Fox, Little Shop of Horrors, They Wrote That, A Raisin in the Sun, Sexaholix, Adult Entertainment.
Domonic Sack (Sound Design) designs and consults on Broadway musicals, opera, and movie and concert reinforcement. Recent credits: Little House on the Prairie, Bare, Three Mo’ Tenors, The Rocky Horror Show, Movin’ Out, The Vagina Monologues, New Jersey Symphony, Washington Opera and the ASD on Bye Bye Birdie. Other credits: Westport Country Playhouse, BAM , HBO premiere of “Broadway on Broadway, In Memoriam” (New York State Theatre); premiere of Godzilla (Madison Square Garden); The Roots (Webster Hall). Mr. Sack is also a lyric tenor with the Metropolitan Opera.
Ian Eisendrath (Music Director) is Resident Music Supervisor at The 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle where he has musically directed Sam Buntrock's new production of Sunday In The Park With George, West Side Story, Sweeney Todd, Into the Woods, Company, Cabaret and Miss Saigon. He musically directed Cabaret at the American Musical Theatre of San Jose, Ordway Center and Theatre Under the Stars, and conducted the past three seasons of The Nutcracker at the Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle. He is currently serving as the music director for several new musicals in development at the Banff Centre in Canada. Ian graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in conducting.
Larry Blank (Orchestrations) has worked extensively as a conductor, composer and orchestrator/arranger in theatre, films, television and concerts. Broadway: Tony-nominated orchestrations for The Drowsy Chaperone, Irving Berlin’s White Christmas and additional orchestrations for La Cage Aux Folles. London: orchestrations for the recent revival of Fiddler On the Roof, The Drowsy Chaperone and Beautiful And Damned and all arrangements/orchestrations for John Barrowman Swings Cole Porter, which was released to coincide with Mr. Barrowman’s appearance in the film Delovely with Kevin Kline. Music and concerts: arrangements and orchestrations for Rags to Riches, Barry Manilows’s CD of standards, and orchestrations for Barbra Streisand’s most recent tour.
James Abbott(Dance Arrangements) has been Musical Director on Broadway for Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Rent, Aida, Bombay Dreams and Disney’s Tarzan. Dance Arrangements for Tarzan, Aida (Grammy and Tony winner), Bombay Dreams, Sweet Charity and Wicked (Grammy winner, RIAA Platinum). Orchestrations and Conductor for the Chicago Symphony ( with Heather Headley). Co producer of Aida Dutch cast recording (Gold), The Tarzan German cast recording and Adam Pascal’s Civilian. Playing credits include Footloose, Cats, Miss Saigon, Sunset Boulevard, Starlight Express and the Who’s Tommy. He has performed with Aretha Franklin, Dennis DeYoung of Styx, Shirley Bassey, Bob Hope, Vanessa Williams, Phil Collins and with Elton John in "Greatest Hits Live" at Madison Square Garden. Currently Musical Supervisor for Tarzan International Companies in Holland and Germany, Synthesizer Design for Addams Family, and Musical Director for the Workshops of Women On The Verge for Lincoln Center and Bruce Lee: Journey to the West.
Anthony Edwards (Music Contractor) recently served as assistant music director and conductor for Into the Woods and is delighted to be a part of this exciting season at the Rep. He has been privileged to be the musical director for theatres across the country including the Denver Center for the Performing Arts where he performed for four years in Always…Patsy Cline. He is currently the resident musical director for the American Heartland Theatre, Starlight, the Unicorn, All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church and Epic Entertainment. Mr. Edwards completed his Bachelor of Music degree in commercial music and piano performance at Belmont University in Nashville. While pursuing a Master’s Degree in piano performance at the UMKC Conservatory of Music, he has appeared with the New Theatre Restaurant, the Quality Hill Playhouse, Starlight Theatre, the Coterie Theatre, Theatre in the Park, Late Night Theatre, the American Heartland Theatre, the Unicorn Theatre, and the Red Barn Theatre and the Waterfront Playhouse in Key West.
Richard L. Hinds (Associate Choreographer) is a graduate of the Interlochen Arts Academy. Choreography credits: The Sound of Music, All Shook Up (New Theatre); Naughty! (NYMF); Tease! A Night of Burlesque (The Cutting Room); Life’s Changing Tide (Laurie Beechman Theatre). Associate/Assistant Choreography: The Happy Embalmer (NYMF); The First Wives Club (The Old Globe); Pippin (CTG and Deaf West); High School Musical (Disney’s National and International tours); A Wonderful Life (Paper Mill Playhouse); The Pirate (Prince Music Theatre); Grease (Lenape Regional PAC), Rockers On Broadway (B.B. King’s), Broadway Under The Stars (NYC & Company); Frankenstein (37 ARTS, Off-Broadway).
Kyle Hatley (Assistant Director) is assistant artistic director of Kansas City Rep. Rep credits: director of The Borderland and this season’s Broke-ology, assistant director for Moisés Kaufman’s Into The Woods, Lou Bellamy’s Radio Golf and David Cromer’s The Glass Menagerie ( in which he also performed the role The Gentleman Caller). Chicago credits: assistant director and script supervisor for Moisés Kaufman, Emily Mann, Gary Griffin and Eric Rosen for About Face Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre and Chicago Children’s Theatre. Additional directing credits: And Baby Makes Seven, Third, No Exit, Seascape, Oliver!, Pounding Nails Into The Floor With My Forehead, Death and the Maiden, The Laramie Project and Romeo & Juliet. Other Kansas City credits: writing and directing Watering the Grave, Six, The Death of Cupid (Kansas City Fringe Festival); directing Hamlet (Studio 116) and How Does Your Garden Grow? (Equity Showcase). He is artistic director of Chatterbox Audio Theater where his original work includes “The Dead Girl” (Silver Ogle Award from The American Society for Science Fiction Audio) and “Surfacing”.
Stephanie Klapper Casting Stephanie Klapper’s work has been seen on Broadway, Off-Broadway, regionally, internationally, on television, internet and film. Selected recent Broadway and Off-Broadway: Dividing the Estate (2009 Tony Nomination); The Temperamentals; A Lifetime Burning; King Lear; Incident at Vichy; A Dangerous Personality; King of Shadows; an oak tree (Artios Award winner), Indoor Outdoor. Resident casting director for Primary Stages. NY casting for Eric Rosen’s Winesburg, Ohio (KCRep); Mary Zimmerman’s The Arabian Nights (KCRep and Berkeley Rep), The Sound of Music (The New Theatre); The Picture of Dorian Gray (Round House Theatre); A Streetcar Named Desire (English Theatre of Frankfurt); New York, U.S. and international tours of In the Continuum. She has ongoing projects in NYC, and with many regional theatres around the country as well as numerous independent films. She is a member of the Casting Society of America and the League of Professional Theatre Women.
PRODUCERS
Gerald A. Goehring (Producer) is co-founder of Patriot Productions, LLC. Recent New York productions and national tours include “Frankenstein, A New Musical” with Hunter Foster and Christiane Noll, “Raisin’ Cane” with Jasmine Guy, “God’s Fool” with Jack Klugman and the upcoming “Patty’s Green,” with Patty Carver, Ed Begley Jr. and LaVar Burton. For many years Mr. Goehring served as the Executive Director/CEO of the Tony Award®–winning National Theatre of the Deaf, producing multiple award-winning national tours. Mr. Goehring co-founded Connecticut Children’s Theatre, Inc., producing fifty-three new musicals for over one million children, including a Grammy® nominated CD of Ogden Nash’s “The Christmas That Almost Wasn’t,” starring John Lithgow for “Best Spoken Word for Children.” Future projects planned by Patriot Productions include the first Broadway revival of Rodgers and Hart’s “Babes in Arms” and a new Broadway musical based on the Newberry Award winning book “Because of Winn-Dixie.”
Michael F. Mitri (Producer) is co-founder of Patriot Productions, LLC and was a lead producer of the Off-Broadway “Frankenstein, A New Musical” (2007). He also is a producer of several independent films, including "I'll Believe You" (2007), "The Moment" and "The Dock Porter." In addition, he is working with studios in Los Angeles on full-length animation feature films currently being produced in China. Mr. Mitri is a founding partner in Stand Up Films, an innovative film distribution company focused on acquiring independent films for distribution and worldwide release. He is a longstanding member of the Manhattan Theatre Club and a founding member and leading sponsor of the non-profit Community Theatre Foundation located in his hometown of Fairfield, CT.
Bartner/Jenkins Entertainment (Producer) Robert G. Bartner and Michael A. Jenkins both have extensive theatrical backgrounds, including Broadway, national tours and London productions. Recent credits together include: Guys and Dolls, Boeing Boeing (Tony®, Drama Desk), Legally Blonde, Sixteen Wounded, Flower Drum Song, and Brooklyn the Musical. Tours: Love, Janis. London:Love Song. Mr. Bartner's recent Broadway credits include Memphis, Superior Donuts, The Norman Conquests (Tony®). In London: Prick Up Your Ears, La Cage Aux Folles, Carousel, Guys and Dolls (Olivier Award) and many others. Upcoming: Legally Blonde in the West End. Michael Jenkins serves as President and Managing Director of Dallas Summer Musicals, which produces/presents more than 20 productions annually. Their current season offers The Phantom of the Opera, Wicked, Dreamgirls, and Shrek the Musical amongst others. His credits also include the Broadway Tony® Award winning Jay Johnson: The Two and Only. Jenkins is also Founder and President of Leisure and Recreation Concepts, Inc. (LARC), consultants, designers and management for the entertainment industry.