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Jack Barrett
Dylan Kento Curtis
Michael Doppe
Ayelet Firstenberg
Lila Gold
Crissy Guerrero
Billy Hutton
Ruth Keith
Erin Kommor
James Lloyd Reynolds
Moira Stone
Oliver Copaken Yellin
Alison Bechdel
Lisa Kron
Jeanine Tesori
Robert Kelley
Andrea Bechert
Cliff Caruthers
Dottie Lester-White
William Liberatore
Jeffrey Lo
Steven B. Mannshardt
Randall K. Lum
B. Modern
Emily Anderson Wolf
Phil Santora
Cast
JACK BARRETT (Christian) is thrilled to make his TheatreWorks debut in Fun Home. He has performed with SF Playhouse in A Christmas Story, The Musical (Dill/Flick). He has been seen at Hillbarn Theatre in The Full Monty (Nathan Lukowski) and To Kill a Mockingbird (Townskid). He has also appeared in several Hillbarn Conservatory shows, including Once Upon A Mattress (Prince Dauntless) and 13 The Musical (Richie). Mr. Barrett has training in tap, jazz, singing, and acting. He would like to thank his family and friends for all the support.
DYLAN KENTO CURTIS (Christian) is excited to be performing in his second TheatreWorks production, having performed in last season’s world premiere of The Prince of Egypt. He has performed in San Jose Dance Theatre’s Nutcracker (Fritz) as well as multiple shows for StarStruck Theatre in the East Bay, including Bye Bye Birdie (Randolph), Annie (Rooster), My Son Pinocchio (Dante & Giuseppe), and Aladdin (Aladdin). Mr. Curtis would like to take this opportunity to thank his family for supporting him to achieve his dreams.
MICHAEL DOPPE* (Roy/Mark/Pete/Bobby Jeremy) is making his first appearance with TheatreWorks. Regional credits include: Pacific Coast Repertory Theatre, Center REPertory Company, Foothill Music Theatre, Contra Costa Musical Theatre, and San Jose Stage Company. Offstage, he teaches theatre at the Performing Arts Studio and the Young REP program in Walnut Creek. “Doppe” is a proud member of Actors’ Equity. michaeldoppe.com
AYELET FIRSTENBERG* (Joan) returns to TheatreWorks after originating the role of Yocheved in last season’s The Prince of Egypt. Off-Broadway credits include: Pinkalicious and Angelina Ballerina at Vital Theatre Company. Select credits include: The Effect, Sunday in the Park with George, and She Loves Me (SF Playhouse); Noises Off (Pacific Coast Repertory Theatre); The Wild Party (Ray of Light Theatre); and Chicago (Performance Riverside). She has appeared in workshops and staged readings at American Conservatory Theater, Shotgun Players, Golden Thread Productions, PlayGround, and Custom Made Theatre. More at AyeletFirstenberg.com
LILA GOLD (Small Alison) is thrilled to make her professional debut in TheatreWorks Silicon Valley’s production of Fun Home. She has performed with theatre companies across the Bay Area. Recently, she played the Artful Dodger in Menlo School’s production of Oliver, as well as Pepper/Annie understudy in the Hillbarn Theatre’s Annie. She got her start in theatre at the age of four with Pied Piper Players in San Mateo. Her favorite Pied Piper roles include Evillene in The Wiz and Jojo in Seussical. This past year, she was a member of ACT’s Middle School Cabaret and trained with The Broadway Artists Alliance in Manhattan. Ms. Gold is a seventh grader at Menlo School.
CRISSY GUERRERO* (Helen) originated the role of Soyla in the world premiere of American Mariachi at Denver Center Theatre Company and The Old Globe. Other credits include: Black Butterfly (Jasmine), Mark Taper Forum; La Posada Magica (Gracie & Mariluz), South Coast Repertory; Wild in Wichita (Lillian), Bilingual Foundation of the Arts/Los Angeles Theatre Center; In the Heights (Camila), Performance Riverside; and Ed Begley Jr.’s Cesar and Ruben (Helen Chavez), NoHo Arts Center. She also serves as producer, writer, and performer of C & C Variety Hour (Steve Allen Theater). Ms. Guerrero’s television credits include Conan O’Brien, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, George Lopez, and Mind of Mencia. Her voice can be heard on Parks and Recreation, SpongeBob SquarePants, Handy Manny, and Big Mouth. She is thrilled to be making her TheatreWorks debut.
BILLY HUTTON (John) is making his TheatreWorks debut. Most recently he appeared at Foothill Music Theatre in The Sound of Music (Kurt). He is 11 and has performed locally in over 16 shows. Favorites include Mary Poppins (Michael Banks) with Children’s Musical Theater of San Jose Marquee and Peter Pan (Michael Darling) with Palo Alto Players. You can look for him this holiday season performing with his big sister at SF Playhouse in Mary Poppins (Michael Banks). Interests outside of theatre include baseball, riding bikes with friends, and playing on his Nintendo Switch.
RUTH KEITH (Small Alison–selected performances) is excited to make her TheatreWorks debut. Past regional appearances include two American Conservatory Theater productions of A Christmas Carol (Tiny Tim, Turkish Fig), and later this fall she will be playing Jane Banks in SF Playhouse’s Mary Poppins. Other productions include Once on This Island (Andrea) and The Boy Friend (Nancy) at Stagedoor Manor in New York, and 101 Dalmations (Cruella De Ville) and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Veruca Salt) at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco. Ms. Keith trains with the ACT Young Conservatory and recently performed with its Middle School Cabaret. She studies contemporary, jazz, and tap dance at the Geary Dance Center and is in the sixth grade at Roosevelt Middle School in San Francisco.
ERIN KOMMOR* (Medium Alison) is honored to perform this dream role at TheatreWorks. Off-Broadway: Interview: A New Musical. Regional: The Man in the Ceiling (Bay Street Theater), The Theory of Relativity (Goodspeed Musicals), Come From Away (Goodspeed Festival of New Artists), Animal Crackers (Baltimore Centerstage). She recently recurred in the NBC television series, Rise as Sasha Foley. She can also be seen next year in the final season of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt on Netflix. Original Cast recording of Rise (Atlantic Records) and The Theory of Relativity (PS Classics). Boston Conservatory BFA 2013. All of my love to Momma. Instagram: @spriinkles
JAMES LLOYD REYNOLDS* (Bruce) is making his TheatreWorks debut. He was most recently seen in the Gulfshore Playhouse world premiere of Miss Keller Has No Second Book (Darryl). Other regional credits include three seasons at Goodspeed Musicals including 42nd Street (Julian Marsh), Mame (Beauregard) opposite Louise Pitre, and La Cage Aux Folles (Georges). He played Herbie opposite Julia Murney in Gypsy at the Cape Playhouse and opposite Michael Learned in Mothers and Sons at Philadelphia Theatre Company. Other favorites include Syracuse Stage productions of Deathtrap (Sidney) and The Miracle Worker (Captain Keller), the Weston Playhouse production of To Kill a Mockingbird (Atticus), and Arkansas Repertory Theatre’s production of Spamalot (King Arthur). Mr. Reynolds’ recent TV credits include The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Homeland, Mr. Robot, Blacklist, and Odd Mom Out. He earned his MFA from the Yale School of Drama.
MOIRA STONE* (Alison) is thrilled to make her TheatreWorks debut. Regional work includes Fun Home (Alison) at Vermont Stage, The Underpants at The Human Race Theatre Company, and Side by Side by Sondheim at Brown County Playhouse. Ms. Stone is best known for her work in new and experimental performance in New York at venues including the Ohio Theatre, The Brick, HERE, 3LD, and The Tank. She recieved the 2017 New York Innovative Theatre Award for Oustanding Actress in a Leading Role and was inducted into the Indie Theatre Hall of Fame. She is a proud alumna of Indiana University.
OLIVER COPAKEN YELLIN (John) is thrilled to return to TheatreWorks for this production of Fun Home. Last season, he played Young Aaron in The Prince of Egypt. Most recently, he appeared as Young Tarzan in Palo Alto Players’ Tarzan. He discovered a passion for theatre at Children’s Musical Theater of San Jose. Favorite roles there: Jojo (Seussical), Mike Teevee (Willy Wonka), Bullfrog (Honk), Benjamin (Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat), Lolly Jr. (Schoolhouse Rock Live!). Outside theatre, he sings/plays keyboards for Yavneh Day School’s rock band program, studies ballet, shoots hoops, and plays with his puppy, Sadie. Much gratitude to his teachers, friends, and family for their support, with special thanks to his sister, Samara.
Creatives
ALISON BECHDEL (Graphic Novel) is an award-winning author of the 2006 bestselling graphic memoir Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic, which was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and won an Eisner Award for Best Reality-Based Work. Fun Home was later adapted into the Tony Award-winning musical of the same name. Her second graphic memoir, Are You My Mother?, was published in 2012. Ms. Bechdel is also the creator of the long-running comic strip, Dykes to Watch Out For, which she self-syndicated from 1983 to 2008. In 2014, she was named a MacArthur Fellow, unofficially known as the “genius grant.” Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, Slate, McSweeney’s, The New York Times Book Review, and Granta, among others.
LISA KRON (Book & Lyrics) is a New York-based playwright. Her works include the Tony Award-winning musical Fun Home, and plays 101 Humiliating Stories, 2.5 Minute Ride, Well, In the Wake, and The Ver**zon Play. She has received several playwriting fellowships, including ones from the Lortel and Guggenheim Foundations, Sundance Theatre Lab, and the Lark Play Development Center, and was a resident playwright at Arena Stage’s American Voices New Play Initiative. She is a founding member of Five Lesbian Brothers, an Obie and Bessie Award-winning collaborative theatre company. In addition to writing, she is also a performer, appearing in her own works, those of the Five Lesbian Brothers, and in productions at such companies as the Public Theatre, MCC Theater, and the New York Theatre Workshop.
JEANINE TESORI (Music) is best known as the composer of Broadway musicals Thoroughly Modern Millie; Caroline, or Change; Shrek the Musical; and Fun Home. Each of these works earned her Tony nominations for Best Original Score; for Fun Home, she won. She also composed the music for Violet, a 1997 Obie Award-winning musical that was revived for Broadway in 2014. Most recently, she wrote the music for Soft Power, produced by Center Theatre Group and Curran Theater. Her opera compositions include A Blizzard on Marblehead Neck for Glimmerglass and The Lion, The Unicorn, and Me for the Kennedy Center. She has written music for plays including Mother Courage and Her Children, A Free Man of Color, and Romeo and Juliet, and has composed songs for film as well. Ms. Tesori is the founding artistic director of Encores! Off-Center, and lectures at Yale University.
ROBERT KELLEY (Director) is a Bay Area native and Stanford University graduate. He founded TheatreWorks in 1970 and has directed over 175 TheatreWorks productions, including many world and regional premieres. He has received the Silicon Valley Arts Council’s Legacy Laureate Award; the Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Paine Knickerbocker Award and Jerry Friedman Award for Lifetime Achievement; BATCC Awards for Outstanding Direction for The Hound of the Baskervilles; Into the Woods; Pacific Overtures; Rags; Sweeney Todd; Another Midsummer Night; Sunday in the Park with George; Jane Eyre; and Caroline, or Change; and Back Stage West Garland Awards for his direction of Side Show and Sunday in the Park with George. He recently directed The Bridges of Madison County, Around the World in 80 Days, Constellations, Rags, Daddy Long Legs (Theatre Bay Area Award for Outstanding Direction of a Musical, 2017), Outside Mullingar, Cyrano, and Jane Austen’s EMMA.
ANDREA BECHERT (Scenic Designer) has designed over 30 productions with TheatreWorks. She designs scenery for theatres across the country including Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Colorado Shakespeare Festival, the Cleveland Playhouse, Chautauqua Theater Company, American Musical Theatre of San Jose, The Starlight Theatre, The Stardust Casino in Las Vegas, Opera San José, Center REPertory Theatre, and many others. Her awards include three Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle awards, a Denver Ovation Award, and her designs have been included in the 2005 World Design Expo and 1996 Prague Quadrennial. She is currently teaching design at San José State University, and has taught at several other universities across the country. Ms. Bechert is a member of United Scenic Artists Local 829.
CLIFF CARUTHERS (Sound Designer) is pleased to be designing his 71st production for TheatreWorks. Recent work includes TheatreWorks’ The Prince of Egypt, Constellations, and Outside Mullingar; American Night and Irma Vep for California Shakespeare Theater; Elektra and Dead Metaphor for ACT; Man in Love for Kansas City Repertory Theatre; Death of a Salesman and We are Proud to Present for San Jose Stage Company; Troilus and Cressida for Oregon Shakespeare Festival; Born Yesterday for Alley Theatre; Circle Mirror Transformation for Marin Theatre Company; TRAGEDY: a tragedy for Berkeley Repertory Theatre; The Happy Ones for Magic Theatre; Detroit and The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity for Aurora Theatre Company; Happy Days for Guthrie Theater; Julius Caesar for The Acting Company; Bug for SF Playhouse; and Ubu Roi and A Dreamplay for Cutting Ball Theater.
DOTTIE LESTER-WHITE (Associate Director/Choreographer) choreographed TheatreWorks’ The Four Immigrants, Rags, Peter and the Starcatcher, Marry Me a Little, Finks, and The Bridges of Madison County. She choreographed The Music Man in Concert for Showtune Productions in Arizona. She performed on Broadway in Katharine Hepburn’s Coco; Ruby Keeler’s No, No, Nanette; and New York City Center’s production of Carnival. National Tours include Hello Dolly; Cabaret; and No, No, Nanette. Ms. Lester-White choreographed for American Musical Theatre of San Jose (Singin’ in the Rain, The Sound of Music, Phantom of the Opera, Fiddler on the Roof, Children of Eden, and The Three Musketeers); San Jose Stage Company (Ug The Musical, Urinetown, Beehive, Altar Boyz, The Great American Trailer Park Musical); and PEG Productions (South Pacific, Showboat, Will Rogers Follies, Funny Girl, Hello Dolly, Miss Saigon, My Fair Lady, Oliver, Christmas Carol, and Guys and Dolls).
WILLIAM LIBERATORE (Musical Director) is TheatreWorks’ Resident Musical Director and has conducted over 35 shows, including The Prince of Egypt, Rags, The Life of the Party, Jane Austen’s EMMA, Sweeney Todd, Once on This Island (2014 TBA Award), Little Women, The Secret Garden, A Christmas Memory, Crowns, Jane Eyre, Ragtime, and Pacific Overtures. He was Musical Director at American Musical Theatre of San Jose, conducting over 30 shows including Flower Drum Song, Gypsy, A Chorus Line, 42nd Street, Follies, and Children of Eden. He has won Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Awards for A Little Night Music, South Pacific, and Damn Yankees (AMTSJ), and Bat Boy: The Musical; Into the Woods; Emma; Caroline, or Change; The Light in the Piazza, and The Four Immigrants (TheatreWorks). He is also the director of the award-winning Gunn High School Choirs.
JEFFREY LO (Casting Director) directed TheatreWorks’ The Santaland Diaries, and wrote Waiting For Next, which was part of the 2017 New Works Festival. He was the assistant director for TW’s The Four Immigrants: An American Musical Manga, Water by the Spoonful, and Superior Donuts. A graduate of UC Irvine, he is the recipient of the Leigh Weimers Emerging Artist Award, Arts Council Silicon Valley’s Emerging Artist Laureate, and Theatre Bay Area’s Titan Award. Additional directing credits include Yellow Face and The Crucible at Los Altos Stage Company, and Peter and the Starcatcher at Hillbarn Theatre. In addition to his work as a playwright and director, he is an alumnus of the Multicultural Arts Leadership Institute and works as an advocate and educator on issues of equity and diversity throughout the country. JeffreyWritesAPlay.com
STEVEN B. MANNSHARDT (Lighting Designer) has been the lighting designer for over 70 productions at TheatreWorks, having won numerous Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle, Theatre Bay Area, and Dean Goodman Choice Awards for his work. His regional design credits include Long Wharf Theatre, New Haven; A Contem-porary Theatre, Seattle; American Repertory Theater, Cambridge; Studio Arena Theatre, Buffalo; Magic Theatre; and Pasadena Playhouse. Mr. Mannshardt currently teaches lighting design and stage management at San José State University and previously taught lighting design at Santa Rosa Junior College. He also runs an organization dedicated to improving the education system for both children and adults in Nepal. www.nepal.wwep.org
RANDALL K. LUM* (Stage Manager) has stage managed TheatreWorks’ New Works Festival (Pride and Prejudice), Hold These Truths, Finks, Skeleton Crew, Around the World in 80 Days, The Prince of Egypt, Constellations, Rags, Outside Mullingar, Confederates, The Velocity of Autumn, Jane Austen’s EMMA, The Country House, Fallen Angels, The Lake Effect, Peter and the Starcatcher, Time Stands Still, Other Desert Cities, Once on This Island, and Little Women. Other credits include five years at Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Denver Center Theatre Company, La Jolla Playhouse, Center Theatre Group, The Old Globe, American Conservatory Theater, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, California Shakespeare Theater, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Laguna Playhouse, Pasadena Playhouse, and 18 seasons and over 90 productions as Resident Stage Manager at South Coast Repertory (Wit, Intimate Apparel, Three Days of Rain, Blue Door, The Further Adventures of Hedda Gabler, Kimberly Akimbo).
B. MODERN (Costume Designer) returns to TheatreWorks where she has designed numerous productions including Around the World in 80 Days, Outside Mullingar, The Country House, Peter and the Starcatcher, The Hound of the Baskervilles, Big River, The Pitmen Painters, and The 39 Steps. Regional theatre design credits include productions for Oregon Shakespeare Festival; The Old Globe; Denver Center Theatre Company; Santa Cruz Shakespeare; Geva Theatre Center, New York; Repertory Theatre of St. Louis; American Players Theatre, WI; Asolo Repertory Theatre, FL; Indiana Repertory Theatre; and the Jewel Theatre Company. Opera credits include Opera Theatre of Saint Louis and Opera San José. She has received four Drama-Logue Awards, three Dean Goodman Choice Awards, and a Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award. Ms. Modern is an Associate Artist at Santa Cruz Shakespeare, and at Geva Theatre Center.
EMILY ANDERSON WOLF* (Assistant Stage Manager) has been the Assistant Stage Manager for TheatreWorks’ Finks, The Bridges of Madison County, The Prince of Egypt, Rags, Crimes of the Heart, Jane Austen’s EMMA, Triangle, Fire on the Mountain, Peter and the Starcatcher, Sweeney Todd, The Hound of the Baskervilles, Little Women, Other Desert Cities, and Wild with Happy. She was also the Assistant Stage Manager for threesixty Entertainment’s First National Tour of Peter Pan; Journey to the West at the New York Musical Theatre Festival; and with American Musical Theatre of San Jose. Ms. Wolf also works as a stagehand throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and is a proud member of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees. She holds a BA in Theatre, Cum Laude from Mount Holyoke College.
PHIL SANTORA (Executive Director) joined TheatreWorks in 2007. He has served as Managing Director of Northlight Theatre (Chicago) and Georgia Shakespeare Festival (Atlanta), as well as Development Director for Great Lakes Theatre Festival (Cleveland) and George Street Playhouse (New Brunswick). He holds an MFA in Theatre Administration from the Yale School of Drama and a BA in Drama from Duke University. He has served as Vice President of the National Alliance for Musical Theatre Board. Prior board service also includes the League of Chicago Theatres, Atlanta Coalition of Theatres, and the executive committee of the League of Resident Theatres (LORT). He was named 2000’s Best Arts Administrator by Atlanta Magazine and received the Atlanta Arts and Business Council’s 1998 ABBY Award for Arts Administrator.
* Members of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.
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