Shakespeare Theatre Company has announced the cast and creative team for Tom Stoppard’sLeopoldstadt, directed by Carey Perloff. The show is produced in association with The Huntington, where it completed a record-setting run earlier this month, ending up as one of the top five highest-grossing shows in the theater’s history. The Tony and Olivier Award-winning play will run in STC’s Harman Hall from November 30 to December 29.
Leopoldstadtfollows a Jewish family as it grows and struggles over the course of nearly 60 years, beginning with their initial assimilation into Viennese culture, negotiating the outbreak of two World Wars through to the aftermath of the Holocaust. Traversing decades of joy and strife, the family strives to maintain their delicate bonds of shared history. Celebrated playwright/director Carey Perloff directs this new arrangement she crafted with Stoppard, bringing to STC “an intensely personal family drama” (Variety) for the holiday season.
“My mother was a Viennese refugee who fled the Nazis in March 1938, so Stoppard’s gorgeous and heartbreaking play has enormous resonance for me personally,” says Perloff. “I’m honored that The Huntington and Shakespeare Theatre Company have given us the chance to stage the first American production, and having had a wonderful run in Boston, I’m excited to bring this trenchant story to the city where I grew up.Leopoldstadtis a play about a complicated Jewish family, and about the choices we make and fail to make in our attempts to survive and to preserve our culture. It is also Stoppard’s most deeply personal play, in which he reckons with the impact of his own Jewish heritage on his life and work, and he has been a crucial part of our collaboration throughout the process.”
Leopoldstadthas quickly become recognized as Tom Stoppard’s most personal play. In interviews, he has been very direct in drawing the parallels between the play and his lived experience of not connecting with his own Jewish heritage until later in life. He toldThe New York Times, “In the final scenes a young Englishman, Leonard Chamberlain, recalling buried memories, comes to accept that he was at one time Leopold Rosenbaum, a boy terrorized by Nazis. This mirrors the true tale of the Czech boy Tomáš Sträussler, whose widowed mother married a British man and had his name changed to Tom Stoppard.”
The co-production brings together a large ensemble cast that includes numerous recognizable actors from both Washington and Boston. STC welcomes back to its stage familiar names to the DC community Samuel Adams(Red Velvet),Firdous Bamji(Much Ado About Nothing, Richard II,and more),Sarah Corey(Much Ado About Nothing), and Maboud Ebrahimzadeh(Here There Are Blueberries). In addition, the cast includes two of STC’s Academy graduates who have performed extensively throughout DC, Anna Theoni DiGiovanni andRachel Felstein.
Cast members making their STC debut includeJoshua Chessin-Yudin,Samuel Douglas,Rebecca Gibel,Phyllis Kay,Adrianne Krstansky, Brenda Meaney,Nael Nacer,Anna Slate, andMishka Yarovoy.
The cast is joined by six young local actors playing the child roles in alternating performances of the show:Harrison Morford,William Morford,Teddy Schechter,Adrianna Weir,Mila Weir, andAudrey Ella Wolff.
Understudies for the production includeJacob SchmittandJackie Scholl.
The creative team for this production includes Scenic DesignerKen MacDonald, Costume DesignerAlex Jaeger, Lighting DesignerRobert Wierzel, Sound Designer/ComposerJane Shaw, Projection DesignerYuki Izumihara, and Wig and Makeup DesignerTom Watson.
Also working with the cast areDaniel Pelzigfor Movement, Fight Director and Intimacy CoordinatorJesse Hinson, Vocal/Dialect CoachLisa Beley, and Dialect CoachLee Nishri-Howitt.
The Production Stage Manager isLaura Smith, with Assistant Stage ManagersAnthony O. BullockandRebecca Talisman.
TICKETS AND INFORMATION
Leopoldstadtruns in Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Harman HallNovember 30 – December 29. Single tickets start at $35 and are available now. For more information, please visitShakespeareTheatre.org or call the Box Office at 202.547.1122.
SPECIAL PERFORMANCES
Young Prose Night(Under 35) –Friday, December 6 | 7:30pm
Audio Description– Saturday, December 21 | 2pm
Open Captioning –Saturday, December 14 | 2pm and Thursday, December 26 | 7:30pm
ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES
CAST
SAMUEL ADAMS*
Fritz, Percy
STC:Red Velvet; STCA:As You Like It. NEW YORK: Off-Broadway: Kraine Theater:Hamlet| Red Bull:The Inn at Lydda(reading) | Theatre Row:Summer & Smoke| Symphony Space Theatre:Surface to Air| Off-Off-Broadway: New Ohio Theatre:Leni & Joseph| Miller Theatre:The Bacchae| Ophelia Theatre Group:Your Alice| IRT Theater:The Execution of Mrs. Cotton.REGIONAL: Folger Shakespeare:Amadeus| Chesapeake Shakespeare Company:Henry V| Public Theater:Jeeves & Wooster| Walden Shakespeare:A Midsummer Night’s Dream.FILM/TV:Time After Time(ABC),Mildred Pierce(HBO),Red Dead Redemption 2(Rockstar Games). PERSONAL: Sam is a teacher, director, and gardener. Training: Adelphi University (BA), London Dramatic Academy, Shakespeare Theater Company Academy (MFA).
FIRDOUS BAMJI*
Ludwig, Kurt
STC:Much Ado About Nothing, Richard II, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Troilus & Cressida.NEW YORK: Broadway: Lincoln Center Theater:A Disappearing Number(Complicite). Off-Broadway: Roundabout:Indian Ink| WP Theater:Gum, Crocodiles in the Potomac| BAM:Homebody/Kabul| Theatre For a New Audience:Measure for Measure, The Changeling| Lincoln Center:SubUrbia.TOURS: International:A Disappearing Number.REGIONAL: The Huntington:Leopoldstadt, Mary Stuart| Theatre J:This Much I Know| St. Louis Rep & Huntington Theatre:The Lehman Trilogy| ACT:The Birthday Party| Goodman:Dollhouse| Hartford Stage:Othello| Steppenwolf:Homebody/Kabul.INTERNATIONAL: Bristol Old Vic:Hamlet.FILM:Ashes,The War Within,Justice,Analyze That,Unbreakable,The Sixth Sense.TV:Madam Secretary,Berlin Station,Law and Order,Law and Order: SVU. AWARDS: Obie Award (Outstanding Performance), Independent Spirit Award Nomination (Best Supporting Male). PERSONAL: Training: Shakespeare Theatre Company; University of South Carolina: MFA Acting.
JOSHUA CHESSIN-YUDIN*
Zac, Nathan
NEW YORK: Broadway:Prayer for the French Republic, The Sound Inside.Off-Broadway: MTC:Prayer for the French Republic.REGIONAL: The Huntington:Prayer for the French Republic| Golden Thread:We Swim, We Talk, We Go to War| Theater 22:The Happiest Song Plays Last| ArtsWest:Really, Really;My Mañana Comes| Seattle Shakespeare Company:Romeo & Juliet,Macbeth. PERSONAL: Training: University of Washington (BA).
SARAH COREY*
Wilma
STC:Much Ado About Nothing.NEW YORK: Off-Broadway:A Letter to Harvey Milk,Love & Real Estate, Illyria.INTERNATIONAL TOURS: Prospect Theater Company:Death ForFive Voices.REGIONAL (selected): The Huntington:Leopoldstadt, The Band’s Visit|Commonwealth Shakespeare Company:Much Ado About Nothing| Alabama Shakespeare Festival:In the Book Of|Theater J:Nathan the Wise,Love Sick,The Chameleon| Gamm Theatre:Bad Jews| Gulfshore Playhouse:The Refugees|Tantrum Theater:Rhinoceros| TheatreSquared:A Christmas Carol|Olney Theatre Center:Oil| Arena Stage:A Thousand Splendid Suns| The Public Theatre:Beau Jest, Love/Sick| Rep Stage:Songs for a New World,Falsettos| SpeakEasyStage:Caroline, or Change| New Repertory Theater: Lippa’sThe Wild Party(IRNE Award, Best Supporting Actress) |Barnstormers:Educating Rita, Nunsense.TV:Swagger, Lady in the Lake, We Own This City.PERSONAL:She/her.Training:Princeton University (AB),LAMDA, Shakespeare & Company.
ANNA THEONI DiGIOVANNI*
Hanna, Hermine
STCA:Pericles.REGIONAL: The Huntington:Leopoldstadt| The Kennedy Center:Through the Sunken Lands| Mosaic Theatre Company:The Till Trilogy| Studio Theatre:Cry It Out| Her Majesty & Sons:Founding Producer, Twelfth Night| Chesapeake Shakespeare Company:Much Ado About Nothing,Romeo and Juliet,Measure for Measure,She Stoops to Conquer| Rorschach Theatre:She Kills Monsters| 4615 Theatre:Venus in Fur| Prologue Theatre Company:The Revolutionists, Bike America, The Explorers Club.PERSONAL: Training: Anna is a proud graduate of Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Academy at George Washington University.
SAMUEL DOUGLAS*
Otto, Civilian, u/s Ernst
NEW YORK: Off-Broadway: Manhattan Theatre Club:Wipeout.REGIONAL: David Geffen School of Drama:Uncle Vanya,Macbeth,Ruzante,The Misanthrope,The Cherry Orchard,Affinity,Esme,The Figs| Yale Cabaret:Arlington,The Betrayal Project| Chicago Shakespeare Theatre:Comedy of Errors| Northlight Theatre:Mr. Dickens’ Hat| Milwaukee Chamber Theatre:Gently Down the Stream| Nashville Shakespeare Festival:A Midsummer Night’s Dream| Montana Shakespeare in the Parks:Romeo and Juliet.AWARDS: Geoffrey Ashton Johnson/Noël Coward Scholarship, David Geffen School of Drama. PERSONAL: he/him/his. Training: David Geffen School of Drama at Yale: MFA in Acting. Northwestern University: BA in Theatre and German.
MABOUD EBRAHIMZADEH*
Ernst
STC:Here There Are Blueberries(with Tectonic Theatre). REGIONAL: McCarter Theatre:Murder on the Orient Express, Disgraced| Milwaukee Rep:Disgraced| Arena Stage: The Price| Studio Theatre:English;People, Places & Things;Water by the Spoonful| Round House Theatre:Seafarer, Ink, Oslo, Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, Small Mouth Sounds, Book of Will, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo| Kennedy Center:Mockingbird| Olney Theatre Center:Lend Me a Soprano, Oil| Theatre Exile:The Invisible Hand| Theater J:Hatmaker’s Wife, Nathan the Wise, The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife| Folger Theatre:1 Henry IV,King John,Timon of Athens, Julius Caesar. FILM:Don’t Be Shy,Imperium,Sally Pacholok.TV:Jessica Jones, Homebound, Day After Disaster. AWARDS: Barrymore Award for Outstanding Lead Actor.
RACHEL FELSTEIN*
Eva, Nellie
NEW YORK: Off-Broadway: BAM:This American Life – As Seen on Radio(BAM) | Ensemble Studio Theater:A Tender Offer| City Center: The George Sand Play Festival | New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players:The Mikado, Patience.REGIONAL: Arena Stage:The High Ground, Holiday, Right to be Forgotten| Olney Theater Center:Lend Me A Soprano| George Street Playhouse:The Pianist| Mosaic Theater Company (D.C.):Pilgrims Musa and Sheri In the New World| Virginia Stage Company:Fun Home| Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey:The Merry Wives of Windsor| Washington Stage Guild:Mrs. Warren’s Profession, Summerland| Taffety Punk:Antigonick| Allenberry Playhouse:The Marvelous Wonderettes. TOURS: National:Man of La Mancha.PERSONAL: Education: Shakespeare Theatre Company Academy: MFA in Acting; Mannes The New School for Music: BM in Voice
REBECCA GIBEL*
Hilde, Rosa
REGIONAL: The Huntington:Leopoldstadt, Merrily We Roll Along| Trinity Rep (selected):The Prince of Providence, Othello, Oklahoma, Pride & Prejudice, Fairview, Ragtime, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, A Lie of the Mind| Actors Theatre of Louisville:Noises Off| Cleveland Play House:Yentl| Arden Theatre:The Three Sisters| The Feast (selected):Orpheus Descending, Blues For Mr. Charlie, Gross Indecency. FILM:CODA, Salem’s Lot, Finestkind, Don’t Look Up, Sheepdog, Spenser Confidential.TV:Bridge & Tunnel, The Plot Against America, NOS4A2, Law & Order: SVU, Blue Bloods, Castle Rock.AWARDS: SAG Award (Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture,CODA), Denver Post Ovation Award (Best Year by an Actress). PERSONAL: Rebecca is a member of the Resident Acting Company at Trinity Rep, and a founding member of The Feast, a living wage theater in Seattle. | Training: Brown University/Trinity Rep: MFA (Stephen Sondheim Fellowship)
PHYLLIS KAY*
Grandma Emilia, Eva
REGIONAL: The Huntington:Leopoldstadt, Prayer for the French Republic, We All Fall Down| Trinity Rep (member of Resident Acting Company):Macbeth, Lend Me a Tenor, Angels in America, The Beauty of Queen Leenane, The Cider House Rules, The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Cherry Orchard, All the King’s Men, Cabaret, The Hunchback of Seville, Appropriate, Death of a Salesman, Into the Breeches!, Tiny Beautiful Things| Dallas Theater Center:King Lear| Arena Stage:JQA| Gamm Theatre:The Children, Doubt| Joe’s Pub:Let’s Go, Olympia.FILM:Smithereens, Federal Hill, Brooklyn Rules, The Proposal, Fairhaven, Some Freaks, Polka King, Game of Love.TV:Miller’s Court, Law & Order, The Sopranos, Body of Proof, Kevin Can F**k Himself.AWARDS: 2015 Lunt-Fontanne Fellow; IRNE Award (Death of a Salesman).
ADRIANNA KRSTANSKY*
Poldi, Hanna
NEW YORK: Off-Broadway: Atlantic Theater Company:Luck, Pluck and Virtue| Public Theater:365 Days/365 Plays.REGIONAL: Hartford Stage:The Art of Burning|The Huntington:Leopoldstadt; The Art of Burning; A Doll’s House; Come Back, Little Sheba| ART:Paradise Lost, Britannicus, Ubu Rock| Kitchen Theater:Tribes| Vineyard Playhouse:Danny and the Deep Blue Sea| Steppenwolf Theater:A Clockwork Orange, Twelfth Night| Telluride Theater Festival:No Second Troy| LaJolla Playhouse:Luck, Pluck and Virtue. FILM:American Woman, Little Women, Company Men.TV:Olive Kitteridge, Invitation to a Bonfire.AWARDS: Eliot Norton Award for Outstanding Performance (Lola inCome Back, Little Sheba), IRNE Award for Outstanding Solo Performance (Every Brilliant Thing). PERSONAL: Pronouns: She/Her. Teaching: Adrianne holds the Sachar Chair in Creative Arts at Brandeis University. Training: University of California, San Diego: MFA.
BRENDA MEANEY*
Gretl
NEW YORK: Broadway: Lincoln Center Theatre:Uncle Vanya. Off-Broadway: Roundabout:Indian Ink| MTC:Incognito| NY City Center:Party Face| TFANA:Fuente Ovejuna| Irish Rep:Little Gem| The Mint:The Mountains Look Different, The New Morality| LaBute Short Play Festival:Great Negro Works of Art.REGIONAL: ACT:Venus in Fur, The Hard Problem| La Jolla Playhouse:Queens| Yale Rep:Caucasian Chalk Circle, Owners| Westport Country Playhouse:And a Nightingale Sang.INTERNATIONAL: Ireland: Landmark Productions/Galway International Arts Festival:bedbound| Anu Productions:Basin. FILM:Fear The Night, There’s Always Hope, Clay. TV:For Life, FBI: Most Wanted, Hell on Wheels, Love/Hate.OTHER: Podcast:Fear, A Love Story.PERSONAL: Training: Trinity College, Dublin: BA; Yale School of Drama: MFA.
HARRISON MORFORD
Young Jacob, Heini
REGIONAL: Ford’s Theatre:A Christmas Carol. OTHER:The Little Mermaid, Jr., Frozen Kids, Beauty and the Beast Kids| Linda Townsend Management. AWARDS: Odyssey of the Mind State and World Finalist. TRAINING: Dream on Dance, Rock Ridge Performing Arts, Virtual Performing Arts Academy, School Chorus. PERSONAL: Loves basketball and math.
WILLIAM MORFORD
Pauli, Young Leo
REGIONAL: Ford’s Theatre:A Christmas Carol.OTHER:Beauty and the Beast, Jr., The Little Mermaid, Jr., Frozen Kids| Linda Townsend Management. TV:Wake Up Willard,Good Morning Gators.AWARDS: Odyssey of the Mind State Finalist. TRAINING: Dream on Dance, Rock Ridge Performing Arts, Virtual Performing Arts Academy, School Band/Chorus. PERSONAL: Loves soccer and traveling.
NAEL NACER*
Hermann
NEW YORK: Broadway: Manhattan Theatre Club:Prayer for the French Republic. Off-Broadway: Arlekin Players/B.A.C.:The Orchard. REGIONAL: The Huntington:Prayer for the French Republic;Romeo and Juliet;A Doll’s House;Bedroom Farce;Come Back, Little Sheba;Awake and Sing!;The Seagull;Our Town| Commonwealth Shakespeare Company:The Winter’s Tale, Macbeth, The Tempest| Bedlam/CST:Angels in America| SpeakEasy:People, Places & Things;Small Mouth Sounds| Gloucester Stage:The Ding Dongs, Tiny Beautiful Things, True West | Actors’ Shakespeare Project:Merchant of Venice, Macbeth, Equivocation| Israeli Stage:The Return| Lyric Stage:Mr. Burns, Intimate Apparel| New Rep:A Number, Lungs, Pattern of Life. PERSONAL: Nael is an Elliot Norton award winner, a resident acting company member of Actors’ Shakespeare Project, and a monologue coach with My College Audition.
JACOB SCHMITT
u/s Jacob/Leo, Zac/Nathan
OTHER: University: RADA:Macbeth,The Tempest| Boston University:Sense and Sensibility, Once, Colossal, Shakespeare’s R&J, Museum. PERSONAL: Training: Boston University School of Theatre: BFA. Additional training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.
TEDDY SCHECHTER
Young Jacob, Heini/ Pauli, Young Leo
REGIONAL: Studio Theater:Fun Home. Local:The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, Shrek The Musical, Peter Pan, Metropolis. PERSONAL: Teddy is passionate about dancing and is a member of C & C Dance Company’s show troop team, specializing in lyrical, musical theater, contortion, tap, ballet, jazz, and acro. His performances have earned him first place in lyrical and overall top score awards. Teddy is represented by Linda Townsend Management and is a vocal student of Adante Carter.
JACKIE SCHOLL
u/s Jana/Sally, Hanna/Hermine
REGIONAL: Wheelock Family Theatre:Stuart Little, Akeelah and the Bee, Frog and Toad, Pinocchio.OTHER: University:The Wolves, Banksy: a new work, Much Ado About Nothing, Urinetown, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot.PERSONAL: A Boston and New York-based actor. Training: Pace University Sands College of Performing Arts: BFA Acting; additional training at British American Drama Academy.
ANNA SLATE
Jana, Sally
REGIONAL: The Huntington:Leopoldstadt| Trinity Repertory:La Cage aux Folles, By The Queen| Wilbury Theatre:Indecent;Natasha, Pierre, & the Great Comet of 1812| North Carolina Stage Company:Handle with Care| Four Seasons Theatre:A Little Night Music, The Fantasticks| Nautilus Music-Theatre:Alice Unwrapped| Dixon Place:Cruisical the Lesbian Musical.OTHER: Opera: Berkeley West Edge Opera:Xerxes| Heartbeat Opera:Dido and Aeneas| OperaRox:Alcina.PERSONAL: she/her. Training: UW-Madison: BA Vocal Performance
ADRIANNA WEIR
Young Sally/Mimi, Young Rosa/Bella
STC:Macbeth, Once Upon a One More Time.REGIONAL: Ford’s Theatre:A Christmas Carol| PWLT:Annie| RCPA:Wonka Jr.FILM:Audrey’s Children. TV:Sesame Street;PBS, CBN, HBO, Lifetime. AWARDS: Nova Star Award. OTHER: KidzBop, Disney, Legoland, Great Wolf Lodge national campaigns. PERSONAL: she/her. Love to Parents, Lil Sis, Mila, and Linda Townsend Management
MILA WEIR
Young Sally/Mimi
STC:Macbeth, Once Upon a One More Time. NEW YORK: Broadway:Once Upon a One More Time.REGIONAL: PWLT:Annie.FILM:Renewed & Received(Ascension Press). TV:Sesame Street; PBS, CBN, BET, Lifetime. AWARDS: Nova Star Award. OTHER: NYFW, Kohl’s, Disney, Great Wolf Lodge, Nike national campaigns. PERSONAL: she/her. Love to Parents, Big Sis, Adrianna, and Linda Townsend Management
AUDREY ELLA WOLFF
Young Rosa, Bella
REGIONAL: Toby’s Dinner Theatre:Miracle on 34th Street. FILM:Stalemate,The Audition. OTHER: Not Just Dance:Les Misérables,Beauty and the Beast,The SpongeBob Musical. PERSONAL: Audrey is twelve years old and lives in Chantilly, VA. Training: NJD, Broadway Kids Auditions, Stagedoor Manor. Rep: Barry Kolker. Instagram: @audrey.acts.
MISHKA YAROVOY*
Jacob, Leo
REGIONAL: TheatreWorks Hartford:Sanctuary City| Actors’ Shakespeare Project:As You Like It, Let the Right One In| Front Porch Arts Collective:Chicken and Biscuits| SpeakEasy Stage:The Inheritance| Parallel 45:Stupid F****** Bird.FILM:Don’t Look Up(Netflix). TV:Little America(Apple TV);Brilliant Minds(NBC). PERSONAL: Mishka was born in Mexico to a family of Russian musicians. He spent his life living between Mexico and Russia before settling permanently in the United States at the age of 14. Training: Interlochen Arts Academy ’19; Boston University BFA ’23.
CREATIVE TEAM
TOM STOPPARD
Playwright
Internationally award-winning writer Tom Stoppard’s first playRosencrantz and Guildenstern are Deadpremiered at the National Theatre in 1967. His plays includeThe Real Inspector Hound;After Magritte;Jumpers;New-Found-Land;Dogg’s Hamlet, Cahoot’s Macbeth;Travesties;Every Good Boy Deserves Favour(a play for actors and orchestra written with André Previn);Night and Day;The Real Thing;Hapgood;Arcadia;Indian Ink;The Invention of Love;The Coast of Utopia;Rock ‘n’ Roll; andThe Hard Problem.His radio plays includeAlbert’s Bridge, Artist Descending a Staircase,The Dog It Was That Died,If You’re Glad I’ll Be Frank, and most recently, his dramatic imagining of Pink Floyd’sDark Side of the Moon,Darkside. His adaptations and translations include Schnitzler’sUndiscovered Country, Nestroy’sOn the Razzle, Molnár’sRough Crossing, Chekhov’sThe Seagull, Pirandello’sEnrico IV, Sibelyras’sHeroes, and Chekhov’sIvanovandThe Cherry Orchard.Stoppard is also a writer for film and television: his screenplay forShakespeare in Love(1998) won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay; he had previously been nominated for the same award forBrazil(1985). Other honors include five Tonys and three Olivier Awards.
CAREY PERLOFF
Director
NEW YORK: Off-Broadway: Roundabout:Indian Ink.Six seasons as Artistic Director of CSC Repertory:The Birthday Party, Ezra Pound’sElektra,Creditors,and many more.REGIONAL:25 seasons as Artistic Director of American Conservatory Theater:The Homecoming,The Orphan of Zhao,A Thousand Splendid Suns,Waiting for Godot,Mary Stuart,‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore,The Tempest,and many more.The Huntington:The Lehman Trilogy,Mary Stuart,Rock ‘n’ Roll.Repertory Theater of St. Louis:The Lehman Trilogy| Santa Cruz Shakespeare:As You Like It| Voices Festival, D.C.:Home?| Seattle Rep and Williamstown:Ibsen’sGhosts| La Jolla Playhouse:Queens| Arena Stage, Old Globe, Seattle Rep, ACT:A Thousand Splendid Suns.INTERNATIONAL: Gate Theater (Dublin):Pale Sister| Stratford Festival (Ontario):Private Lives,John Gabriel Brkman,Phedre| The Shakespeare Company (Calgary):Merchant of Venice.AWARDS: Obie and Jujamcyn Awards. OTHER: Director commission: Seattle Rep and Red Bull Theater:The Oedipus Cyclewith John Douglas Thompson. Creator ofTiny Theatricals, an online digital rehearsal project. Author ofPinter and Stoppard: A Director’s View(Bloomsbury Methuen, 2022) andBeautiful Chaos: A Life in the Theater(City Lights Press, 2016). As a playwright:Vienna, Vienna, Vienna;Edgardo or White Fire;If God Were Blue;Kinship;Higher;The Fit.
KEN MACDONALD
Scenic Designer
REGIONAL: ACT, Old Globe, Seattle Rep:A Thousand Splendid Suns| ACT, Mark Taper Forum:Vigil| Arena Stage:The Shoplifters, Anything Goes, Newsies, Sovereignty.INTERNATIONAL: Canada: Stratford Festival:Frankenstein: Revived, Private Lives, Moby Dick| Shaw Festival:Our Town, Sweet Charity, When We Are Married, Arms and the Man, The Doctor’s Dilemma, Design For Living, My Fair Lady| Theatre Aquarius:Maggie| Pacific Opera Victoria:The Marriage of Figaro, Flight, Barber of Seville, Macbeth| Theatre Calgary:The Shoplifters| Vancouver Playhouse, Canadian Stage, and Canadian, U.S., and U.K. tours:The Overcoat| Vancouver Opera:Susannah, The Rake’s Progress, The Threepenny Opera.AWARDS: 17 Jessie Richardson Awards, four Dora Mavor Moore Awards, a Gemini Award, a Betty Mitchell Award, and a San Diego Critics Award.
ALEX JAEGER
Costume Design
NEW YORK: Off-Broadway: Public Theatre:Two Sisters and a Piano| Acorn Theatre:Wiesenthal | REGIONAL: The Guthrie:Mr. Burns| American Conservatory Theater:Arcadia, The Homecoming, Maple and Vine, Major Barbara, Once in a Lifetime, Venus in Fur| The Huntington:Prayer for the French Republic, Rock ‘N Roll| Mark Taper Forum:Other Desert Stories, A Parallelogram| Oregon Shakespeare Festival:All’s Well that Ends Well, Romeo and Juliet, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, August: Osage County, A Streetcar Named Desire, A Wrinkle in Time, Stop Kiss, Dead Man’s Cell Phone| South Coast Repertory:She Loves Me, Amadeus, All My Sons, Nostalgia, True West, Goldfish| Studio Theatre, Magic Theatre. OTHER: Teaching: UCLA. | Training: BFA, Massachusetts College of Art; MFA, UCLA.
ROBERT WIERZEL
Lighting Design
NEW YORK: Broadway:Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill, Fela!(Tony nomination),David Copperfield: Dreams and Nightmares.Off-Broadway: Roundabout:Indian Ink| Signature:Two Trains Running, Hot ‘N’ Throbbing| New York Shakespeare Festival:Taming of the Shrew, Troilus & Cressida, Othello.Music: New York Philharmonic:The March to Liberation.REGIONAL: Shakespeare Theatre Company, ACT, Goodman Theater, Guthrie Theater, Alliance Theater, Hartford Stage, Chicago Shakespeare, Arena Stage, Center Theatre Group, OSF, Old Globe. The Huntington. OTHER: Dance: The Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company (1985–Present). Opera: Glimmerglass Festival, NYCO, Seattle Opera, San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, BLO, Canadian Opera, Vancouver Opera, Opéra de Montréal, Washington National Opera, Atlanta Opera, Dallas Opera, Opera Colorado, Huston Grand Opera, Minnesota Opera. AWARDS: Tony Award nomination:Fela!, Bessie Award:Deep Blue Sea.PERSONAL: Robert is a creative partner at Spark Design Collaborative. | Teaching: Adjunct Faculty, NYU Tisch School of the Arts.
JANE SHAW
Sound Design and Original Music
NEW YORK: Roundabout, Playwrights Horizons, Manhattan Theatre Club, Theatre for a New Audience, Mint Theater Company, National Black Theatre, Repertorio Español, NYTW, Cherry Lane Theatre, The COOP, Bedlam. REGIONAL: The Huntington, The Alley, The Guthrie, Hartford Stage, Cleveland Play House, The Old Globe, Mark Taper Forum, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Two River Theater, Seattle Rep, Milwaukee Rep, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Asolo Repertory Theatre, Dorset Theatre Festival, ACT, ART, Theatreworks Silicon Valley, Capital Rep, Northern Stage. AWARDS: Drama Desk Award, Connecticut Critics Circle Award, Henry Award, Bessie Award, Meet the Composer Grant, NEA/TCG Career Development Grant. Nominations: Lucille Lortel Award, Elliot Norton Award, Henry Hewes. PERSONAL: Member of TSDCA (Theatrical Sound Designers and Composers Association) and USA Local 829. | Training: Harvard, Yale School of Drama.
YUKI IZUMIHARA
Projection Design
OTHER: LA Opera, Opera Philadelphia, Boston Lyric Opera, Opera Omaha, San Diego Opera, Opera Santa Barbara, New World Symphony, SF Symphony, Hartford Symphony, Jacksonville Symphony, LA Chamber Orchestra, Sun Valley Music Festival, ODC Dance, the Hammer Museum, Getty Villa Museum, Cardi B’s Art Basel Concert. PERSONAL: Award-winning scenic, projection, and production designer born in Shimonoseki City, Japan, and based in Oakland, CA. Izumihara’s work is influenced by years of martial arts training and is animated by a belief in discipline, ethics, and craftsmanship. She also serves as an art director, concept designer, and visual artist to establish, clarify, and amplify project identities through visual language.
TOM WATSON
Wig and Makeup Design
NEW YORK: Broadway: Over 100 productions includingHarmony, Spamalot(2023),Wicked, Rock of Ages, The King & I, Fiddler on the Roof, Oslo, Falsettos, The Little Foxes, Junk, My Fair Lady, King Kong, All My Sons, Plaza Suite, The Coast of Utopia.PERSONAL: Originally from Northern Ireland, Tom headed the wig and makeup department at the Metropolitan Opera for 17 years.
DANIEL PELZIG
Movement
NEW YORK: Broadway:33 Variations, A Year with Frog and Toad, Sweeney Todd(Kennedy Center Sondheim Festival). Off-Broadway:Privates on Parade, Newyorkers, The New Moon, Valhalla.REGIONAL: The Huntington:The Band’s Visit, Sunday in the Park with George, A Little Night Music, Company, Candide, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Tartuffe, The Mikado, H.M.S. Pinafore| Guthrie, Alliance, Goodman, and Shakespeare Theatres. OTHER: Choreographer: Metropolitan Opera, Teatro alla Scala, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Los Angeles Opera. | Director: Santa Fe Opera, Opera Philadelphia, Houston Grand Opera, Opéra National du Rhin, Palau des Artes in Valencia, Ft. Worth Opera, Central City Opera, Odyssey Opera, BU Opera Institute, Opera Boston. PERSONAL: Former Resident Choreographer at Boston Ballet and Joffrey II Dancers. | Teaching: Professor of Dance, Theatre, and Opera at Boston Conservatory at Berklee College of Music. | Training: Columbia University: Cellular Biology.
JESSE HINSON
Fight Director and Intimacy Coordinator
REGIONAL: The Huntington:Leopoldstadt,Fat Ham| SpeakEasy Stage:Pru Payne,Cost of Living,Casa Valentina| Boston Playwrights’ Theatre:Rx Machina| Umbrella Arts:The Minutes| Lyric Stage Company:Anna Christie,The Little Foxes| Wheelock Family Theater:Bud, Not Buddy. PERSONAL: Boston-based violence designer, intimacy choreographer, actor, and educator. He is a Teaching Professor and the Undergraduate Coordinator for the Department of Theatre in the College of Arts, Media, and Design at Northeastern University.
LEE NISHRI-HOWITT
Dialect Coach
REGIONAL: The Huntington:The Band’s Visit, Prayer for the French Republic, The Lehman Trilogy, Romeo and Juliet, The Art of Burning| SpeakEasy Stage:Once, Allegiance|Lyric Stage:The Book of Will, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder| New Rep:Oliver!, Hair, Trayf| Wheelock Family Theatre:Little Women, James and the Giant Peach| Greater Boston Stage Company:All is Calm.
LISA BELEY
Dialect Coach
STC (selected):The Lehman Trilogy,Macbeth,King Lear,Jane Anger,Much Ado About Nothing,Red Velvet,Our Town,Peter Pan and Wendy,Everybody,The Oresteia,Vanity Fair,Richard III,Romeo and Juliet,Camelot,Noura,Hamlet,Twelfth Night,The School for Lies| STC Academy:As You Like It,Measure for Measure,Macbeth,Pericles,Julius Caesar,A Midsummer Night’s Dream.INTERNATIONAL: Canada: Rumble Theatre:Indian Arm| Vancouver Playhouse:The Music Man| UBC Theatre:The Glass Menagerie,Arcadia.FILM:Horns,Diary of a Wimpy Kid,Suckerpunch,Apollo 18,Pirates of the Caribbean 3,Elektra. TV:The Good Doctor,Bates Motel,The 100,Alcatraz,The Good Wife.PERSONAL: Directing:The Bay at Nice,Agamemnon| Teaching: STC Academy: Voice, Speech, and Text Instructor; Canada’s National Voice Intensive: Voice and Text Instructor | Training: York University: MFA in Acting, Voice Teacher’s Diploma, University of British Columbia: BFA in Acting.
CHARLES HAUGHLAND
Dramaturg
REGIONAL: The Huntington: Director of New Work, currently in his 17th season with the company. OTHER: His credits include world premiere productions by Lenelle Moïse, Kirsten Greenidge, Kate Snodgrass, Melinda Lopez, Lila Rose Kaplan, Eleanor Burgess, Craig Lucas, Gina Gionfriddo, and Lydia Diamond, along with co-creating the audio play seriesDream Boston. His dramaturgy has appeared in publications by TCG Books, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and in theNew England New Play Anthology. He recently served as the dramaturg for the world premiere ofGalilee, 34by Eleanor Burgess at South Coast Repertory, in addition to workshops at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center.
DREW LICHTENBERG
STC Artistic Producer/Dramaturg
STC: Senior member of artistic staff, dramaturg in residence since 2011-12, working on over 60 productions. Selected dramaturgy credits: NEW YORK: Broadway: Roundabout Theatre Company; Off-Broadway: Brooklyn Academy of Music, Public Theater, La Mama. REGIONAL: Oregon Shakespeare Festival, McCarter Theatre, ACT, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Baltimore Center Stage, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Yale Repertory Theatre. INTERNATIONAL: Royal National Theatre. OTHER: Writing: guest essays inThe New York Times,Lincoln Center Review, and many theatre journals. He is the author ofThe Piscatorbühne Century(Routledge, 2021) andShakespeare in the Theatre: Shakespeare Theatre Company(Arden/Bloomsbury, 2024, with Deborah C. Payne). PERSONAL: Proud husband of Rebecca Ende Lichtenberg, father of Dylan and Noah. Teaching: Catholic University of America, David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University, Eugene Lang College of the Liberal Arts at the New School. Training: Doctor of Fine Arts in Dramaturgy and Dramatic Criticism, Yale School of Drama.
JANET FOSTER
Casting
NEW YORK: Off-Broadway: Nine years at Playwrights Horizons, first as assistant and then as casting director. REGIONAL: Eight years at American Conservatory Theater included working with directors Carey Perloff, Mark Lamos, Mark Rucker, Annie Kaufmann, Loretta Greco, and many more. | The Huntington: Toni Stone, The Band’s Visit. FILM: The Deal. TV: Tracey Ullman Takes on New York. OTHER: Radio:The Day That Lehman Died(Peabody, Sony, and Wincott Award winner),T is for Tom(WNYC & WQXR) | Podcasts:Life/After(GE Theater),Passenger List(BBC, Webby Award). | Janet has been casting for over 35 years. As a freelance casting director, she has worked on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway, and in film, TV, and many regional theaters. AWARDS: Two Artios nominations.
DANICA RODRIGUEZ
Resident Casting Director
STC:Babbitt, Comedy of Errors, The Matchbox Magic Flute, Macbeth, The Lehman Trilogy, As You Like It, Macbeth In Stride, Evita, Here There Are Blueberries, King Lear, Jane Anger, Much Ado About Nothing, Red Velvet, Our Town, The Merchant of Venice.NEW YORK: Off-Broadway: The Public Theater:cullud wattah*, Romeo y Julieta, Soft Power, for colored girls…, Much Ado About Nothing(Shakespeare in the Park),Mojada, Ain’t No Mo’*.REGIONAL: Folger Theatre:Our Verse in Time to Come | Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company: The Sensational Sea Mink-ettes*,Incendiary | The Kennedy Center: The Day You Begin |JAG Productions:Next to Normal | The Civilians: El Condor Magico, and others. AWARDS: Theatre Communications Group 2021 Rising Leader of Color. PERSONAL: she/her | Founding Trainer with Broadway for Racial Justice Casting Directive | Training: Dartmouth College: BA in Film & Media Studies. | *World Premiere
DORI A. ROBINSON
Associate Director
REGIONAL: TheHuntington: The Band’s Visit, Prayer for the French Republic. OTHER: Directing credits include Silent Sky, Educating Rita, The Elm Tree, Fully Committed, A Bright Room Called Day, Julius Caesar, The Merchant of Venice, The Lion in Winter, Winter of Discontent, Peter and the Starcatcher, A Bintel Brief, The Chelmites Capture the Moon.Dori’s original plays have been produced in New York, Chicago, and Boston, and is a company member of Alight Theater Guild.
LAURA SMITH*
Production Stage Manager
STC:Comedy of Errors, The Matchbox Magic Flute, The Lehman Trilogy,Salome.NEW YORK: Broadway:The Thanksgiving Play| Off-Broadway: Atlantic Theater Company:Infinite Life, Shhhh, The Great Leap,Tell HectorI Miss Him| Manhattan Theatre Club:Morning Sun,Bella Bella| Signature Theatre:Hot Wing King,The Antipodes| Playwrights Horizons:Downstate,Noura| Second Stage Theater:Dying City| The Public Theater:The Low Road| Theatre for a New Audience:Remember This| Play Company:Intractable Woman| Julliard:Appropriate. REGIONAL: Eugene O’Neill Theater Center: National Playwrights Conference | Baltimore Center Stage:Detroit ’67,As You Like It,4000 Miles,After the Revolution,Wild with Happy,Twelfth Night,Fabulation,Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?| Woolly Mammoth Theatre:House of Gold,Gruesome Playground Injuries,Unmentionables.
ANTHONY O. BULLOCK*
Assistant Stage Manager
STC:Red Velvet, Our Town.NEW YORK: Off-Broadway: Classic Stage Company:The School for Lies|Project Springboard: Developing Dance Musicals:A Nation Grooves(workshop) andThe Night Falls(workshop). REGIONAL: Signature Theatre:Billy Elliot|Arena Stage:The Pajama Game|Baltimore Center Stage:SOUL: The Stax Musical(world premiere),Twisted Melodies| McCarter Theatre Center:A Christmas Carol, The Understudy, The White Snake(dir. Mary Zimmerman) |Barrington Stage Company:Waiting for Godot, Company, Ragtime|Studio Theatre:The Children, The Hard Problem, Cloud 9, Hedda Gabler, Moment, Between Riverside and Crazy, Chimerica, Jumpers for Goalpost, Laugh(world premiere) | Theater J: 5 Seasons as Resident Stage Manager, highlights include-Prayer for the French Republic, Hester Street(world premiere),Moses(world premiere),One Jewish Boy, Sheltered, among others. INTERNATIONAL: Wuzhen Theatre Festival/ The Goodman Theatre:The White Snake(dir. Mary Zimmerman). PERSONAL: he/him/any. Training: Oklahoma City University: BFA in Stage Management.
REBECCA TALISMAN*
Assistant Stage Manager
REGIONAL: Williamstown Theatre Festival:Paris, ACTORS!(dir. Jack O’Brien),The Pillowman(dir. Lila Neugebauer),Three Sisters|The Second City: The Revolution Will Be Improvised!|1st Stage:columbinus, Hero’s Welcome, How the Light Gets In| Adventure Theatre MTC:Blueberries for Sal| Kennedy Center:Acoustic Rooster’s Barnyard Boogie Starring Indigo Blume(tour),Super Cello!| Mosaic Theater:The Vagrant Trilogy;Hooded, or Being Black for Dummies;Paper Dolls;Queens Girl in Africa| Olney Theatre:Fiddler on the Roof, Frozen| Rorschach Theatre:Sing to Me Now| Theater J:Becoming Dr. Ruth, Hester Street, The Jewish Queen Lear, Love Sick, Occupant, Talley’s Folly, The Pianist of Willesden Lane, The Wanderers| UrbanArias:Glory Denied, The Juliet Letters, Why I Live at the P.O.| Washington National Opera:Il Trovatore.Up next: On tour withLook Both Ways(Kennedy Center TYA). PERSONAL: she/they.
* Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.
ABOUT SHAKESPEARE THEATRE COMPANY
For over 35 years, the Tony Award-winning Shakespeare Theatre Company has been recognized as the nation’s premier classical theater. STC tells vital stories in audacious forms, stories that are Shakespearean in the deepest sense, even if they are not written by Shakespeare. They stage epic stories in exhilarating style.
ABOUT THE HUNTINGTON
Celebrating over 40 years of outstanding theater, The Huntington is Boston’s theatrical commons and leading professional theater company. On its stages and throughout Boston, The Huntington shares enduring and untold stories that spark the imagination of audiences and artists and amplify the wide range of voices in our community.
Under the leadership of Norma Jean Calderwood Artistic Director Loretta Greco and Executive Director Christopher Mannelli, The Huntington is committed to welcoming broad and diverse audiences, provides life-changing opportunities for students through its robust education and community programs, is a national leader in the development of playwrights and new plays, has acted as the host organization for a multi-year residency of The Front Porch Arts Collective, a Black theater company based in Boston, and serves the local arts community through its operation of The Huntington Calderwood/BCA.
The Huntington reopened the historic Huntington Theatre in fall of 2022 after its transformational renovation, and is currently in phase two of the project; the renovation and building project of this storied venue with a bold vision for the future will allow the company to innovatively expand its services to audiences, artists, and the community for generations to come. For more information, visit huntingtontheatre.org.
