CAST
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DAVID M. LUTKEN (Deviser, Original Cast) BROADWAY: Inherit the Wind ('07); Ring of Fire; The Civil War; The Will Rogers Follies. OFF-BROADWAY: Southern Comfort; Stars in Your Eyes; Winter Man; Woody Guthrie’s American Song; The Portable Pioneer and Prairie Show. With the NYCity Opera, he appeared in Benjamin Britten's Paul Bunyan as the Balladeer. REGIONAL: UK: Dark of the Moon; Bonnie and Clyde; A Month in the Country. REGIONAL: USA: Man of La Mancha; Big River; Elmer Gantry; Finian’s Rainbow; Fire on the Mountain; Buddy; Pump Boys and Dinettes; Stand By Your Man; The Love List; Death in England; Smoke on the Mountain; The Man Who Came to Dinner; On Golden Pond,and In the Deep Heart’s Core.Originally from Dallas, Texas, David studied acting at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Arts in London. He has performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, The 92nd St Y, with the North Carolina Symphony, the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra and The Louisiana Hayride. With his original show, Woody Sez; The Life and Music of Woody Guthrie, he and his company have toured Europe, The British Isles, The US, The Middle East, and China. David won the Helen Hayes and the Joseph Jefferson Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Woody Guthrie. |
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DARCIE DEAVILLE (Co-Deviser, Original Cast) Pilots and musicians are of the same breed. They all have their heads in the clouds, Darcie muses. Born in Toronto to bush helicopter/ journalist parents, she lived in Northern Canada and constantly moved around North America, from one culture to another. At 16, she left home, making her living as a Toronto street musician, and has since toured from the Yukon Territories to Central America, Europe to the Far East. Now in Austin, Texas, Darcie is well known for her fiery fiddling and singing her American roots based songs, and working with artists including Ani di Franco, Tom Paxton, Mary Gauthier, David Lindley, Eliza Gilkyson, and Slaid Cleaves. A multi-instrumentalist, Darcie's guitar playing is a well kept secret. She was the first woman (and first Canadian) to enter the National Flatpicking Championships in Winfield KS, taking her place in the top 10. A writer, producer, musical director and coach, Darcie's theatre work includes the 2001multiple productions of Woody Guthrie's American Song, Back Bog Beast Bait, Cottonpatch Gospel, and Always, Patsy Cline. The latest of her five CDs is called Livin' on the Lucky Side (Taller Dog Music). |
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HELEN JEAN RUSSELL (Co-Deviser, Original Cast) grew up making music. After relocating from a small town in Maryland to New York City, she switched her focus to acting, which led to producing variety shows that featured The City Singers, an a capella choir that she cofounded and directed. Helen is an original cast member of Woody Sez and was part of its 2007 debut in Edinburgh, as well as subsequent tours throughout the UK and Europe, the American debut at the Lyric in Oklahoma, the Arts Theatre in London's West End, and at A.R.T. in Boston. At home in Manhattan, she works as an actor, musical director and publishing technology consultant. Helen was nominated for a Helen Hayes Award for Best Lead Actress in 2012. Her debut CD, Holly Days, was released in 2008, and she is currently working on a second. “Her voice, pure and supple, handed down through generations, recalls the rich and rolling piedmont of her native home.” |
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ANDY TEIRSTEIN (Co-Deviser, Original Cast) In addition to performing, Andy writes music inspired by the rich and diverse folk roots of modern culture. His compositions have been described by The New York Times and The Village Voice as "magical," "ingenious," and "superbly crafted." A student of Leonard Bernstein and Henry Brant, Teirstein writes music for the concert hall, film, theater, and dance. His newest CD, The Open String, will be released on Naxos Records in August, featuring David Lutken narrating "The Shooting of Dan McGrew." He has composed film scores for BBC and PBS. A Blessing on the Moon premiered in 2012, and two of his musicals, Winter Man and Skels recieved NEA Opera/Musical Theatre Awards. Andy received his MFA at NYU, where he studied with Stephen Sondheim & Arthur Laurents. He extended his musical education in the pubs of Ireland and performing as a musical clown with a Mexican circus. He is currently an Associate Arts Professor at NYU.
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DAVID FINCH (Cast) has played beside artists as diverse as Alan Cumming, Serj Tankian, Tony Bennett, Amanda Palmer, Kylie Minogue and Dee Snider in venues from Lincoln Center to San Francisco’s Castro Theatre. Most recently he played in the PBS special Alan Cumming Sings Sappy Songs. Broadway: Cabaret. West End: Woody Sez. He returned to London in 2015 playing chromatic harmonica as the Mock Turtle with the BBC Symphony Orchestra in the opera Alice In Wonderland – reprising his role from the L.A. Philharmonic’s production. National/Int.Tours: Cabaret, Fame the Musical. Off-Broadway: Allegro, Fame on 42nd Street, Spring Storm. Regional: Indian Joe, Prometheus Bound, Hank Williams’ Lost Highway, Grapes of Wrath, 1940s Radio Hour, Fiddler on the Roof, Buddy, Cotton Patch Gospel. Finch was an Associate Producer at Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS in NYC from 2004–2006. He is the co-creator of Careless Love: A Down Home Musical. FiddlerFinch.com. |
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LEENYA RIDEOUT (Cast) Broadway: War Horse; Cyrano de Bergerac (w/Kevin Kline); Company (directed by John Doyle); Cabaret, (1998 revival, original cast). Off-Broadway: Taming of the Shrew, Public Theatre; Yiddle with a Fiddle, The Portable Pioneer and Prairie Show, Melting Pot Theatre Co.; Cowgirls, Minetta Lane. Regional: Camelot, Capital Rep.; Man of La Mancha, Milwaukee Rep.; Home, ATF; Cowgirls, Pioneer Theatre; On Golden Pond, Casa Manana; Man of La Mancha, CFRT and ACCC; Fairfield, Cleveland Playhouse; The Secret Garden, Capital Rep; Woody Sez, Theaterworks, Milwaukee Rep., Cleveland Playhouse; The Last of the Red Hot Lovers, Gypsy, Hangar Theater; Holidays with the Chalks, Alliance Theater; Merrily We Roll Along, Cincinnati Playhouse; Cardenio, ART; Summer of 42, Mill Mountain Theater; The Canterbury Tales, Guthrie Theater; Guys and Dolls, North Carolina Theatre; Avenue X, Cincinnati Playhouse. International Tour: My Fair Lady. Film: Mona Lisa Smile, Loser. Television: Great Performances, PBS; Nashville Star, USA. Radio: Selected Shorts, NPR. Two time medalist in Savannah's American Traditions Vocal Competition. |
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MEGAN LOOMIS (Cast) Megan Loomis recently finished touring the US in the Tony award winning production of A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, and has toured North America and Asia in War Horse (Paulette), Cabaret (Helga) and Sweeney Todd (Standby Mrs. Lovett). She’s performed in Woody Sez, at Lyric Theatre Oklahoma, Artsgarage, the Edinburgh Fringe and most recently, Vienna’s English Theatre in Vienna Austria. Favorites include Ring of Fire at Flat Rock, Merry-Go-Round and Ivoryton Playhouses, Beaulah in John Doyle’s critically acclaimed production of Allegro at Classic Stage Company in New York and the world premiere of The Road to Where, written by and starring Cass Morgan at GeVa Theatre. Her one-woman show, The Girl In The Band, premiered at the Emerging Artists Theatre’s One Woman Standing Festival in 2012, and then again in 2015 along with Sounds of the City summer concert series. Megan is a proud graduate of the Eastman School of Music. www.megloomis.com |
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SAM SHERWOOD (NYC Cover) Sam just completed a development lab of a new country musical, Fancy at the Westside Theatre. He’s also performed at Carnegie Hall, 54 Below, (le) Poisson Rouge and other great New York venues. Regional Theater includes Ring of Fire (Riverside Theatre, People’s Light, Arrow Rock Lyceum and others); Dream A Little Dream (Phoenix Theatre); The Road: My Life With John Denver (People’s Light); Stand By Your Man (Ivoryton Playhouse); …Forum, Pump Boys & Dinettes and Hank Williams: Lost Highway (Flat Rock Playhouse); Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story (NC Theatre, Theater By The Sea); Cotton Patch Gospel (Mountain Playhouse); and Titanic (National Tour); The Music Man (National Tour).
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MIMI BESSETTE (Weston, Malvern Cast, Boston Cover) Mimi recently played the role of Emma Parker in the Broadway musical Bonnie & Clyde. Other credits include: Broadway: A Christmas Story (workshop w/Beau Bridges), The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (Dawn). Off-broadway: Little Shop of Horrors (Audrey), Smoke on the Mountain (Denise) and Good Ol’ Girls. National tours: Parade, Big River, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (Angel) and Keep on the Sunny Side (Maybelle Carter). Regional: Always...Patsy Cline (Patsy), Hank Williams Lost Highway (Mama Lilly and the Waitress), Woody Guthrie’s American Song (Young woman), Cowgirls (Lee), Pump Boys and Dinettes (Prudie), The Sound of Music (ria) and Nunsense (Sister Amnesia). Mimi is the producer and singer on her album Lullabies of Broadway, which was nominated for Best Children’s Album: New York Music Awards. |
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BEN HOPE (Houston Woody) Ben made his Broadway debut in 2012 in the Tony Award winning musical Once. Ben developed an early passion for good music and story telling through his upbringing in Birmingham, Alabama. This passion has taken him around the world playing such notable musical greats as Hank Williams, Elvis Presley, George Jones, and Buddy Holly, among other more traditional musical theatre roles. Hope has a BFA in Musical Theatre from the University of Central Florida. He leads NYC-based Honky-Tonk band Ben Hope & The Uptown Outfit. Learn more about Ben and the band on their Facebook page. All of Ben’s music is available on iTunes and other digital music outlets. |
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KATIE BARTON HOPE (Houston Cast) After earning her degree in musical theatre at Birmingham Southern College, Katie went on to intern at the renowned Flat Rock Playhouse, followed by another internship at the prestigious Actors Theatre of Louisville. In the years since she’s been working in regional theaters all over the country as well as a Broadway National Tour, an international tour, a brief stint in Las Vegas, and a few commercials. She currently lives in New York City with her husband Ben Hope (Houston Woody). Her favorite past roles include: Dyanne - Million Dollar Quartet (National Tour, Las Vegas, Norwegian Getaway), Tammy Wynette in Stand By Your Man, June Carter Cash in Ring of Fire, Audrey Williams in Hank Williams: Lost Highway (Stages Rep.), Lucy - Dracula (Actors Theatre of Louisville). |
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SPIFF WIEGAND (Weston, Houston Cast) Spiff was born with two thumbs on his right hand. He plays over 20 instruments and up to seven simultaneously as a one man band (videos on YouTube). Jimmy Fallon and Brad Pitt have lip-synced to his yodeling, and his accordion playing was featured on John Oliver. His children's songs were commissioned by and performed at Carnegie Hall. Spiff was caught doing the right thing on TV's What Would You Do? Besides acting, he also performs with multiple bands, plays in pit orchestras, and has taught at the Omega Institute, Amherst Early Music, and The Syria Fund, as well as rock camps and private instruction. He has released two albums of original music. National Tour: War Horse (National Theatre), Fame The Musical. Off-Broadway: Enemy of the People (Barrow Group), New York Animals (Bedlam Theatre Company), Much Ado About Nothing (Theatre for a New Audience), Fame on 42nd Street (Little Shubert Theatre) Ring of Fire (Infinity Theatre Company), Cyrano de Bergerac (Fulton Opera House), Godspell (Walnut Street Theatre), Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (Goodspeed Opera House).
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WILLIAM WOLFE HOGAN (UK, 2016 Maple Tree Tour) Bilingual actor-musician William graduated from Goldsmiths’ College with an honours degree in Drama and French. Theatre credits include covering and playing Woody Guthrie in Woody Sez (West End), Dan Cassidy in The Eva Cassidy Story (UK No.1 Tour), Bob Cratchitt in A Christmas Carol (Derby Playhouse), Captain Tempest in Return To The Forbidden Planet (UK No.1 Tour), Schlomo Metzenbaum in Fame (West End, Sweden and Norway Arenas Tour, and UK No.1 Tour), William Calcraft in The Ballad of Martha Brown (Tour) Sister Josephine in Sister Josephine Kicks The Habit (UK Tour), Vittorio Vidal in Sweet Charity (Oldham Coliseum), Pike in Black Eyed Susan (Theatre Royal, Bury St. Edmunds) Beauty and The Beast (The New Vic, Newcastle-Under-Lyme), City of Angels (The Landor, London) and The Ballad of Little Jo (Bridewell, London). William has recorded on numerous albums as a vocalist and violinist, he releases his own violin-driven music under the name of Wolfe Hogan (www.wolfehogan.com) and is looking forward to more recording and touring with "Street-Folk" outfit Lester Clayton later this year. Screen credits include feature films; Close But No Cigar, Didier, Martyr, The Wedding Ensemble, Fedz, and Self Made; many short films (notably); The Prime Location, Avenue de Nullepart, Break Point, and Persona; in France; New Apple Pie, and Sans Frontières (Arté/La 5) and the role of Gregory Blaine in Doctors (BBC1). |
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RUTH CLARKE-IRONS (UK, 2016 Maple Tree Tour) Ruth comes from South Wales and now lives in North London. She gained a music degree from Exeter University before studying Musical Theatre at Central School of Speech and Drama. Projects since drama school include And the World Goes ‘Round (Landor Theatre), The Merchant of Venice (Arcola), Failed States (Pleasance, Edinburgh) and The Busy Body (Southwark Playhouse) . Ruth is also the resident Musical Director of Principal Theatre Company, which specializes in outdoor musical Shakespeare productions in London. Recent productions with them include Midsummer Night's Dream and Julius Caesar. More than anything Ruth loves playing instruments and singing, and has spent many years learning several instruments including piano, flute, viola and more recently, the cello. She has been a keen folk singer and guitarist since discovering Joni Mitchell and Fairport Convention in her early teens.
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ELEANOR BRUNSDON (London Cover, 2016 Maple Tree Tour) Eleanor trained at Rose Bruford College of Speech and Drama. Her theatre credits include The Comedian (Watermill Theatre), The Wind In The Willows and The Greek Plays (West Yorkshire Playhouse), Tom Sawyer (West End), August (Theatre Clwyd – directed by Anthony Hopkins) Chinamen (Sevenoaks Playhouse), A Midsummer Nights Dream and Teechers (Nuffield Theatre), Say Something Happened (Trinity Theatre, Tunbridge Wells), The Yiddish Queen Lear (Bridewell Theatre, London), What If (Pop Up Theatre), The Ballad of Mad Dog Creek (Eastern Angles). Eleanor has also appeared in a number of films, including playing Megan in I Shaved My Legs For This and Sam in The Fall with South Bank Productions.
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AINDRIAS DE STAIC (London Cover) Aindrias has been described in the media as ‘a captivating yarn-spinner’. He is also an accomplished musician and actor. He won the Best Actor award at the Geelong Film Festival, Australia for Malarkey (dir. Joe Loh 2006) and The Galway Music Award 2007. Born in Galway, his rich and rare style of fiddling is as unique to the west of Ireland as his story-telling, antics and humor. Aindrias is known internationally for his one man show Around the World on 80 Quid which won Best Solo Show at New Zealand Fringe, rave reviews throughout Australia, and a nomination for Most Outstanding Performer at the Dunedin Fringe Festival 2008. The Year I Got Younger, a spoken word novel loosely based on his own experience of travelling in Australia, became a one-man theatre show, nominated for the Malcolm Hardee Award. Aindrias’ screen work includes Ras na Rún (TG4), The Clinic (RTE), Neighbours (Channel Ten), Green Freedom and Summer of My Flying Saucer (both for Magma Films), Aindrias recently played the lead role of Michael in Moment of Grace, which won the Bright Spark Award at Trop Fest 2010. He also played lead role Rafteiri in the Irish language feature film Mise Rafteiri for TG4. |
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BRIAN GUNTER (Shreveport Woody) Brian has had a long and happy association with the art of Woody Guthrie, having performed in over a dozen regional productions of Woody Guthrie's American Song including productions at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, Northlight Theatre in Chicago, The Delaware Theatre Company, and Berkeley Rep, for which he received a Bay Area Critic's Circle Award. Other favorite credits include The Caine Mutiny Court Martial and Anna Christie at San Jose Rep, Hank Williams: Lost Highway and Off the Map at the Depot Theatre, Smoke on the Mountain at Northlight and Fire on the Mountain at Florida Studio Theatre. He has a BA
in Theatre from Wichita State University and an MA in Theatre from Northwestern University.
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EMILY MIKESELL (NYC Cover) |
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EMILY CASEY (Chicago Cover) Emily joins the Woody Sez gang by way of Chicago, where she currently resides. Originally from Wheaton, Illinois, Emily was raised playing old-timey tunes in her family band. Previous theatre credits include Pirates of Penzance (The Hypocrites and Regional Tour to A.R.T. ), Sirens (Fox Valley Repertory), Mad Dog Blues (Hootenanny Productions), Comedy of Errors (Chase Park Theatre), Scapin (Hope Summer Repertory Theatre) You can see Ms. Casey in Chicago playing Yum-Yum/ the Mikado in Mikado (The Hypocrites) this winter. Also, Emily looks forward to returning to American Repertory Theatre this spring with Pirates of Penzance. Thanks to her dad for teaching her tunes on the fiddle, mandolin and guitar from a young age.
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KEVIN BARRY CROWLEY (Chicago, Milwaukee Woody Cover) Kevin has lived and worked as an actor, musician and Performing Arts educator in New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles. Currently, he is teaching Music and Theater at The Academy at Penguin Hall, an all-girls high school in his home state of Massachusetts. He received an MFA in Acting from The Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University. He is a founding member of The Back Room Shakespeare Project which began in Chicago and has since opened chapters in many cities across the country. Whether educating, creating or performing, he is proud and happy to claim music and theater as both his passion and his career. Original music can be found on Bandcamp, YouTube and Soundcloud under Kevin Barry Crowley.
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KENDRA JO BROOK (Mohonk Mountain House) Kendra Jo, a Montana native, is a NYC actor, singer and fiddler. Credits include The Goree All-Girl String Band (NYMF), Return to Spoon River (Theatre Row), The Brightness of Heaven (Cherry Lane Theatre), Big River (Alpine Theatre Project), This Land is Your Land (Theatreworks Hartford), Ring of Fire (Virginia Sanford Theatre) and Cowgirls (Mountain Playhouse). Kendra Jo plays in several bands including The Snowy Mountain Sisters, The East River Ramblers and a bluegrass duo with her sister Britt, The Brook Sisters.
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ANDY CHRISTOPHER (Ivoryton Playhouse) National Tour: Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story (Buddy Holly - 25th Anniversary Tour). Regional: Jersey Boys (Bob Gaudio - Ogunquity Playhouse), Once (Andrej - Pittsburgh CLO), Buddy… (Buddy Holly - The Muny, Pittsburgh CLO, Fulton Theatre, Bucks County Playhouse, Main State Music Theatre and many others), Hank Williams: Lost Highway (Hank Williams - Flat Rock Playhouse, West Virginia Public Theatre), This Land is Your Land (Woody Guthrie - TheaterWorks Hartford), Rock & Roll Man (Swing - Bucks County Playhouse) , Godspell (Jesus - Garza Theatre). Concert: Muny Magic at the Sheldon, TheatreSquared, The Baby Show(er). TV: Bands.
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MAGGIE HOLLINBECK (GEVA, Merrimack, Ivoryton Playhouse ) Maggie made her Ivoryton Playhouse debut in Woody Sez and was thrilled to have been back on stage with some old—and new—friends! National Tour: Once (Baruska standby); Annie (Connie Boylan). Off-Broadway: Red Roses, Green Gold (Miss Glendine) Other favorite credits include: Once (Baruska, Pittsburgh CLO); The People vs. Mona (Mavis Frye, Pasadena Playhouse); Richard III (Queen Elizabeth, Bridge Production Group); Finian’s Rainbow (Lavinia & Sharon u/s, Goodspeed Opera House). Maggie is also a recording artist and this year she and composer Graham Sobelman released three albums, Jane Kenyon Sessions: Volume One, Two and Three. |
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NYSSA DUCHOW (Weston)
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PATRICK BUDDY (Milwaukee Cover) |
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ELYSE EDELMAN (Milwaukee Cover) |
CREATIVE TEAM
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NICK CORLEY (Director/Co-Deviser) Nick made his West End and A.R.T. directing debut with Woody Sez. (Evening Standard Award “Best Musical” nomination) He has directed many world premieres including Woody Sez for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and the off-Broadway/NY productions of Tall Grass, Flight (Callaway Award Nomination), About Face (NYMF best direction nomination), Fables In Slang, Tim and Scrooge, The Overcoat, and Tallboy Walkin’. Regional premieres include The Civil War (co-directed with Gregory Boyd at Houston’s Alley Theatre), A Young Lady of Fashion (Fulton Opera House -also co-author) and Eliot Ness...in Cleveland (Denver Theatre Centre - also a co-author). As former artistic director of Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma he directed Sweeney Todd (starring Jeff McCarthy and Emily Skinner) The Music Man, The Who’s Tommy, and Steel Magnolias. Other directing credits include The Bomb-itty of Errors (Adirondack Theater Festival and St. Louis Rep. - 4 Kevin Kline nominations), Mother Russia (Carnegie Hall), The Little Foxes (Fulton Opera House), and The Robber Bridegroom, Drood, Man of La Mancha, Bat Boy, A Little Night Music and Lucky Stiff all for The Commons Group in Vermont. He has directed over 100 workshops and readings, many of them for NYU’s Graduate Musical Theater Writing Program. His appearances as a performer include Broadway (Mary Poppins, A Christmas Carol, She Loves Me), off-Broadway, regional theatre, film (Kissing Jessica Stein), recordings, and television.
SHERRY LUTKEN (Associate Director) has been working in the theater for over thirty years. Her acting credits include Off Broadway: Abigail in the critically acclaimed 2008 Off-Broadway revival of The Crucible, and Nicole in Moliere's The Bourgeois Gentleman,which she also choreographed, at the Jean Cocteau Repertory. Regional Theater: Stars In Your Eyes (Moonbeam #3/Choreographer); Crimes of The Heart (Babe); Last Night of Ballyhoo (Lala); Pump Boys and Dinettes (Prudie/ Choreographer); Anything Goes (Bonnie/Choreographer) and Brighton Beach Memoirs (with Robert Sean Leonard). As Associate Director of Woody Sez: The Life and Music of Woody Guthrie, she set the show at the Northlight Theater in Chicago (Best Musical Revue, Joseph Jefferson Award Nomination), Theater J in Washington, D.C. (Best Musical, Helen Hayes Award Nomination), as well as a tour of Great Britain. Sherry co-directed, set musical staging and choreography for the first Regional production of Ring of Fire in 2009 at North Carolina's Flat Rock Playhouse. She directed subsequent productions at the Merry Go-Round Playhouse, Arts Garage, Adirondack Theater Festival, Arrow Rock Lyceum, People's Light, and The Ivoryton Playhouse where she also directed Stand By Your Man: The Tammy Wynette Story.
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LUKE HEGEL-CANTARELLA (Scenic Designer) Luke is making his London debut with Woody Sez which he originally designed for the Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma. New York credits include work at The Atlantic Theatre Company, Lucille Lortel, HERE, The Lambs, and the 2004 Whitney Biennial. Internationally he designed Blue Shade at the Rozentheatre, Amsterdam and Redwood Curtain for the American University-Cairo. Luke has worked extensively in regional theatre, including projects at Yale Rep., Pittsburgh Public Theatre, CITY Theatre, Two Rivers Theatre Company, Berkshire Theatre Festival, TheaterWorks, Barrington Stage Company, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Adirondack Theatre Festival, Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma and the Prince Music Theatre. Designs for Opera include La Clemenza di Titio at Wolftrap, Cosi fan Tutte at Curtis and La Traviata at Peabody. He was art director for the second season of the hit FX show Damages (starring Glenn Close) and has worked as a set designer on the films Julie & Julia, Pink Panther 2, State of Play, Synecdoche New York and The Accidental Husband. Luke is head of the set design program at the University of California-Irvine and a graduate of the Yale School of Drama.
MATT FREY(Lighting Designer) Matt’s recent projects include Freefall with Dublin-based Corn Exchange at the Abbey Theatre; Credo at Lincoln Center’s White Light Festival featuring new work by Kjartan Sveinsson, Jonsi Birgisson (both of Sigur Ros) and Alex Somers; Orange, Hat, and Grace at Soho Rep; This Wide Night with Naked Angels; Melissa James Gibson’s This at Playwrights Horizons; Heidi Schrek’s Creature with P73 and New Georges; Jack’s Precious Moment also with P73; and Happy Now? at Primary Stages, all in NYC. Other credits include: Brooklyn Academy of Music, Ridge Theater Company, NY Theatre Workshop, Theatre for a New Audience and Paper Mill Playhouse, as well as many other theatres, regional and abroad.
JEFFREY MEEK (Costume Designer) Jeffrey is in his twelfth season as costume designer and this past fall was privileged to costume his fiftieth production with Oklahoma’s Lyric Theatre. For ten years, Jeffrey served as principal costumer for The Ohio Light Opera. He has been privileged to work with such companies as The Point Theatre, Jewel Box Theatre, Carpenter Square, The Eastman School of Music and Colossal Studios. Jeffrey also designed Romeo and Juliet for Oklahoma City’s Reduxion Theatre Company. He has designed A Christmas Carol: The Musical, Annie and Disney’s High School Musical for Casa Manana Theatre. For the past five years he has designed A Very Merry Pops for the OKC Philharmonic. He has also branched out into the film, designing wardrobe most recently for Pearl Carter Scott with Media 13. |
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MARY COSSETTE PRODUCTIONS (Executive Producer) Mary Cossette’s generosity and enthusiasm have brought Woody Sez to life. A long-time fan of Woody Guthrie’s music and message, she is pleased to have been the executive producer of this show from its initial development and production at The Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2007 through its European engagements to the West End premiere, which was nominated for the Evening Standard Ned Sherrin Award for Best Musical of 2011.
From her childhood in Hollywood in its heyday, to twenty-five years as the wife of the late, legendary impresario Pierre Cossette, Mary Cossette has been a strong theatrical presence behind the scenes. Cossette Productions’ music and entertainment credits, thirty-five years of the televised Grammy Awards and numerous other U.S. and Canadian programs, include acclaimed Broadway productions: The Egg, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Tommy Tune Tonight, The Civil War, and The Will Rogers Follies which garnered six Tony Awards.Mary Cossette Productions carries on this tradition with support of works both Off-Broadway—Mind Games starring Keith Carradine and directed by Ken Russell, and On—The Addams Family, Bonnie and Clyde, That Championship Season starring Kiefer Sutherland and Jason Patric, and Peter and the Starcatcher, which won five 2012 Tony's. |
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LARRY HIRSCHHORN (Developmental Producer)
is a three time Tony Award winning theatre producer with credits on Broadway, Off-Broadway, National Tours and the West End of London. He was one of the lead producers of the multi-award winning Vanya And Sonia And Masha And Spike by Christopher Durang. Starring Sigourney Weaver and David Hyde Pierce, it went on to win every major theatre Award for Best Play in the 2013 Season, including the Tony and Drama Desk Awards. Since closing in NY, there have been over 100 productions of it around the country, and was named the most produced American play of 2014. It will be opening in London’s West End in the very near future. More recently he is a co-producer on Broadway of On Your Feet (The Gloria Estefan Musical), The Elephant Man, starring Bradley Cooper, (Drama Desk Award for Best Revival 2015), and A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder which also won a Tony and Drama Desk Award for Best Musical 2014. Other Broadway credits include: Peter and the Starcatcher (5 Tony Awards); Gore Vidal’s The Best Man (Starring James Earl Jones, John Laroquette, Angela Lansbury, Eric McCormack, and Candice Bergen); Driving Miss Daisy (w/ James Earl Jones and Vanessa Redgrave); The Addams Family (w/ Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth); Hair (Broadway/London/ National Tour- winner of Tony & Drama Desk Awards for Best Revival); The Seagull (w/ Kristin Scott Thomas); Passing Strange (Drama Desk Award for Best Musical); Butley (w/ Nathan Lane); and Well.
Earlier in his career he was the Founder/Artistic Director of Off-Broadway’s Melting Pot Theatre. Highlights there include Cobb, which one the Drama Desk Award for Best Ensemble; the NY Premiere of Miss Evers’ Boys and Woody Sez.
Upcoming projects in development include a musical version of the MGM 1993 film Benny & Joon, and a musical based on the 1984 Disney film The Flamingo Kid. He lives in NYC with his wife, three kids, and a very large yellow lab.
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PAUL LUCAS PRODUCTIONS (Developmental Producer)
Paul Lucas is a producer and writer, based in NYC. A graduate of William Esper Studio, TCG's Commercial Theatre Institute and the John F. Kennedy Center's DeVos Institute of Arts Management, he has produced and general managed over two dozen award-winning shows in New York and Edinburgh, and on tour in the US, Canada, the UK and Ireland, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.
His first play, Trans Scripts, Part I: The Women received several awards in nominations at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, including a Fringe First Award and High Commendation from Amnesty International, and enjoyed a sold-out run at American Repertory Theater at Harvard University. In addition to working on Trans Scripts, Part II: The Men, Paul is currently co-writing a screenplay entitled Lavender Arms. He has received several writing residencies at Dorset Writers Colony and received grants from The National Endowment for the Arts, The Lucky Star Foundation, The Frances Alexander Foundation, the Pirret Family Foundation, the Arnold Glassman Fund, VDAY, and the Jean and Albert Nerken Foundation.
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HARTSHORN HOOK PRODUCTIONS (London Producer) Louis Hartshorn is a London-based independent theatre producer and executive director of the Arts Theatre in the West End. In 2007, Louis founded Hartshorn - Hook Productions, with Brian Hook, which has gone on to produce over 100 productions across 4 continents. Selected credits for Hartshorn - Hook include: Rotterdam, American Idiot, Urinetown, Richard II, Woody Sez, and Away From Home In 2017, Hartshorn - Hook Productions received an Lawrence Olivier Award for the play Rotterdam, by Jon Brittaina nd directed by Donnacadh O'Briain, in the category of Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre.
Louis joined the Arts Theatre in 2012 and became Executive Director in 2014, running the company alongside Managing Director Lizzie Scott. The Arts Theatre won the Broadway World Awards' Theatrical Venue of the Year 2016. In 2017 the theatre opened Above the Arts, a private members' club aimed at the entertainment industry.
In 2011 Louis and Gregory Batsleer created Pencil Music, a music company with an ethos of cross-genre experimentation. Pencil Music has formed a permanent choir, the Festival Voices. Venues include Village Underground in Shoreditch, Latitude and Wilderness Festival and the Southbank Centre. In 2016 Pencil collaborated with DJ Nico Bentley to create The Ecstasies Within, an electronic remix of Tarik O'Regan's The Ecstasies Above. |
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UK ARTS INTERNATIONAL (UK Producer) |
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MAPLE TREE ENTERTAINMENT (UK Producer) |
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