Caroline, or Change

CAROLINE, OR CHANGE

JUL 05 – JUL 22
BOOK AND LYRICS BY TONY KUSHNER
MUSIC BY JEANINE TESORI
DIRECTOR ROBERT BARRY FLEMING

Change come fast and change come slow

It’s 1963 in Louisiana, and for Caroline Thibodeaux the world is changing too fast. The president has just been shot and a fight for racial justice is sweeping the nation. Caroline, a black maid serving a Jewish household, desires only a good night’s rest and a decent life for her children. A melodious moon provides the commentary as her relationship with young Noah, the precocious son of her employers, becomes complicated by pocket change. With its moving rock, gospel, and klezmer score, this magical, Tony Award-nominated musical is a riveting statement addressed to a nation still gripped by inequality.

Cast

LONI ACKERMAN
GRANDMA GELLMAN

Loni Ackerman, who just became a grandmother, has been a longtime favorite of Broadway theatergoers. She captivated New York audiences in such coveted roles as Eva in Evita and Grizabella in Cats. Other Broadway credits include leading roles in The Magic Show; So Long, 174th Street; No, No, Nanette; and George M!. She was in the original cast of Starting Here, Starting Now and appeared Off-Broadway in Diamonds, The Petrified Prince (both under the direction of Hal Prince), Brownstone, and Dames At Sea. She is married to Tony Award-winning Sound Designer Steve Kennedy and has two sons, Jack and George.

STANLEY BAHOREK
STUART GELLMAN

Stanley Bahorek can currently be seen on the Emmy Award-winning Netflix show Master of None starring comedian Aziz Ansari. Most recently he produced the world premiere of Charles Mee’s Soot and Spit off-Broadway. Other producing credits include the films Sign, Mama Told Me and Sent By Hand. He toured the country with the Tony Award-winning, Deaf West revival of Big River. In New York, Broadway and Off-Broadway credits include The 25thAnnual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Circle in the Square), West Side Story (Carnegie Hall), Amazing Grace (The Nederlander), February House (The Public Theater), Queen of the Mist and See Rock City (Transport Group), Inventing Avi (Abingdon Theater Company), The Explorers Club (Manhattan Theatre Club), and Little Me (Encores!). Other TV: HBO’s Boardwalk Empire, NBC’s Law and Order: CI. Originally from Columbus, Ohio he is a graduate of Thomas Worthington High School. BFA, University of Michigan. MA, Baruch College. Debut album to be released on Broadway Records, fall 2017. Follow him on twitter: @stanleybahorek

AMY BLACKMAN
ROSE STOPNICK GELLMAN

Amy Blackman is a recent graduate of The Old Globe/University of San Diego Graduate Theatre MFA Program and is excited to join Tantrum Theater for their second season. Amy most recently performed at the Old Globe as Maria in Kathleen Marshall’s production of Love’s Labor’s Lost. Other regional credits include Macbeth; The Comedy of Errors; and Twelfth Night (The Old Globe), Titanic; Singin’ In The Rain; Kiss Me, Kate; Beauty and the Beast; and The Sound of Music (The Muny). In NYC, she has worked on various readings and workshops, including Titus Andronicus (The Queens Company), The Brothers Karamazov (Classic Stage Company), The Bootlegger and the Rabbi’s Daughter (New York Musical Theatre Festival), and Mrs. Hughes (New York Theatre Workshop). She is also a Creative Associate with VR4Shakespeare and a Teaching Artist with the NYC Police Athletic League Acting Program. She received her BFA in musical theatre from the University of Michigan.

MARIAH BURKS
THE MOON/RADIO #1

Mariah Burks graduated from Bowling Green State University with a BAC in musical theatre. She is beyond thrilled and blessed to be performing this show with her amazing cast mates. Credits include: Spring Awakening, Legally Blonde, Book of Days, Urinetown: The Musical, Toxic Avenger. Recipient of the 2015 National Irene Ryan Scholarship; Acting Award recipient at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival in Washington, DC. Currently studying at Case Western Reserve University/Cleveland Play House MFA Acting Program, with credits including Mary Zimmerman’s Metamorphoses, Clybourne Park, and She Stoops To Conquer. She was last seen performing for New Ground Theatre Festival at Cleveland Play House in The Nolan Williams Project: A New Musical. She couldn’t be more excited and humbled by this opportunity! Shout out to her mother for being a Wonder Woman! Enjoy the show!

HOWARD ELSON
GRANDPA GELLMAN

Howard Elson is excited to be making his Tantrum Theater debut! It is NOT, however, his Ohio debut, as he was “Professor Baseball” for three Major League Baseball All Star Fan Fests and TV’s This Week in Baseball including the All Star game in Cleveland in 1997. Howard sang himself through college and dental school…yes, dental school…performing in New York City nightclubs and Catskill Mountain (Borscht Belt) resorts. In his adopted hometown of Pittsburgh, Howard has starred thrice as Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof and performed leading roles in professional productions of Evita, Chicago, A Little Night Music, Oliver!, Lion in Winter, 1776, A Funny Thing Happened…Forum, Come Blow Your Horn, Jacques Brel…, She Loves Me, Lend Me a Tenor, and took it all off for The Full Monty. Howard enjoys basking in reflected glory and has shared the stage with such great Broadway performers as Billy Porter, Kathleen Marshall, Karen Prunzik, Lenora Nemetz, Randy Graff, Judith Blazer, and the great character actor, Nehemiah Persoff. He is just as thrilled to be sharing the stage with this wonderful cast! Howard’s also traveled all around the United States and Canada performing his show for dental conventions…yes, dental conventions, “Dr. Howard Elson, A Dentist’s Life” His CD can be found on his website, . Baseball has been one of Howard’s lifelong passions. In Pittsburgh, he was an award winning sports commentator and hosted the weekend sports talk shows, Sports Saturday and Sports Sunday on KDKA radio. Howard and his wife Robin, a CPA, have two children and four gorgeous grandchildren. A semi-retired pediatric dentist, Dr. Elson is thrilled to be able to tour, travel and rehearse during the day, and is a proud member of Actor’s Equity and the American Dental Association.

ARIANNA HANSON
EMMIE THIBODEAUX

Arianna Hanson is thrilled to be making her debut with Tantrum Theater. A recent graduate from the American Musical Dramatic Academy, Arianna recently appeared in the workshop of The Donna Summer Project, directed by Des McAnuff. She has performed the music of composers Carner and Gregor and Jonathan Reid Gealt at 54 Below and The West End Lounge, and is the winner of Amateur Night at the famous Apollo Theatre.

ALAINA KAI
RADIO #2

Alaina Kai is an actress and singer from Cincinnati, Ohio. She graduated from 51�� with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in acting, and a Bachelor of Science in media arts. She has participated in productions such as: The Rover (Angelica Bianca), Urinetown: The Musical (Billy Boy Bill), The Penelopiad (Icarius/Maid/Suitor), and other productions such as Ragtime, Little Shop of Horrors, and is thrilled to be making her debut with Tantrum Theater for Caroline, or Change. She hopes to participate in creative work that inspires a community, and she will be a part of Actors Theater of Louisville’s Professional Training Company this fall. She would like to thank her family and friends for their amazing support!

COLLEEN LONGSHAW
DOTTY MOFFETT/RADIO #3

Colleen Longshaw is thrilled to be making her Tantrum Theater debut with this brilliant cast in this beautiful show. She is a Cleveland, Ohio native who holds an MFA in acting from Kent State University. She sends love to her husband, friends and family for their continued love and support. Credits include: Kiss me, Kate (National Tour); The Groove Factory (New York Music Theatre Festival); Hairspray (Northshore Music Theatre and Porthouse Theatre); The Full Monty (Northshore Music Theatre); Piano Lesson (Cleveland Play House); Sister Act (Porthouse Theatre and Karamu Theatre); Starmites (Porthouse Theatre); Made in America (Dobama Theatre); A Christmas Carol (Great Lakes Theatre); The Color Purple (Karamu Theatre); Caroline, or Change (Karamu Theatre); South Pacific (Porthouse Theatre); Dreamgirls (Cain Park); Once on This Island (Porthouse Theatre); Big River (Porthouse Theatre); Avenue X (Cain Park); Godspell (Cain Park and Porthouse Theatre); Aida (The Beck Center); The Buddy Holly Story (Carousel Dinner Theater); Twelfth Night (Ohio Shakespeare Festival). Romans 15:13

CHRISTINA ACOSTA ROBINSON
CAROLINE THIBODEAUX

Christina Acosta Robinson was most recently seen as Berniece in the Hartford Stage Company production of August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson, and will be seen in the world premiere of SUMMER: The Donna Summer Musical, at La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego this fall. Other credits include starring in the rebirth of Tony Award-winning composer/lyricist William Finn’s Romance in Hard Times at Barrington Stage Company. Other notable roles include Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (The Guthrie Theater); Vera in Seven Guitars (Two River Theatre); Shug Avery in The Color Purple (Milwaukee Repertory Theater); The Unfortunates and My Fair Lady (Oregon Shakespeare Festival); Caroline, or Change (Syracuse Stage); Ragtime (Arvada Center); Death of A Salesman (Yale Repertory Theatre); The House of the Spirits (Mixed Blood Theatre); The Exonerated (Pittsburgh Playhouse); and Joe Turner’s Come and Gone (Pittsburgh Playwrights). Blessed and humbled to be working on Caroline, or Change at Tantrum Theater, and with so many extraordinary and unforgettable collaborators! Member of the Broadway Inspirational Voices. MFA in acting from Yale School of Drama. Winner of the Herschel Williams Prize in acting.

KEN ROBINSON
BUS/DRYER

Ken Robinson appeared on Broadway in the Tony Award-winning revival of The Color Purple, Memphis, and Baby It’s You! His regional credits include: Between Riverside and Crazy (Cleveland Play House), The First Noel (Classical Theatre of Harlem), The Colored Museum (Huntington Theatre), The Piano Lesson (Seattle Rep and Syracuse Stage), Choir Boy (Marin Theatre Company), My Fair Lady (Oregon Shakespeare Festival), Big River (STAGES St. Louis), Ain’t Misbehavin’ (Arizona Theatre Company, Cleveland Play House, San Jose Rep, and North Shore Music Theatre), Five Guys Named Moe (Casa Mañana Theatre), Being Alive! (Westport Country Playhouse), and The Donny Hathaway Story (Yale Cabaret). Ken received his MFA in acting from the Yale School of Drama and his BA in economics from Morehouse College.

GORDON STANLEY
MR. STOPNICK

Gordon Stanley appeared in seven original Broadway casts, including: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Beauty and the Beast, and Ragtime. He was also in the first Roundabout revival of Cabaret. Tours: Annie and Promises, Promises. Some of his off-Broadway credits are Dear World with Tyne Daly; A Time For Singing and Dragons; all for York Musicals in Mufti; Iron Curtain; Flamingo Court; White Woman Street; and Take Me Along, both for the Irish Repertory Theatre; Lies My Father Told Me for National Yiddish Theatre; Hal Prince’s Diamonds; Elizabeth and Essex. Regional: Cap’n Andy in Showboat (North Shore Music Theatre/ IRNE Nomination); Mashkan in Old Wicked Songs (Fulton Theatre and Triad Stage); Ahab in Moby-Dick (Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theatre), and fifteen productions for Barrington Stage, most recently His Girl Friday. Movies and TV: Beauty and the Beast, Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Law and Order: Criminal Intent. Best credit and longest run: thirty-seven years married to Renée.

EASTON SUMLIN
JACKIE THIBODEAUX

Easton Sumlin is excited to make his Tantrum Theater debut! Easton is eleven years old and in the seventh grade. He can most often be found singing, dancing, reading, building with Legos, creating comics, or recreating scenes from Hamilton with his sister. He was most recently seen as Boris Tumbleweed in The Battle of the Cockroach and the Rhinoceros Beetle at Dobama Theatre; Schwartz in A Christmas Story at the Cleveland Play House; and The Dauphin in Marie Antoinette at Dobama Theatre.

NICOLE SUMLIN
WASHING MACHINE

Nicole Sumlin makes her Tantrum Theater debut! New York Credits: Medusa (Medusa), How to Be a Winner (Winner 3, Judge Jill Joyce), Reb + Vodka + Me (Columbiner). Regional Credits: Blues in the Night (The Girl) at Karamu House; Lines in the Dust (Denitra Morgan) at Cleveland Public Theater; and Songs for the Asking at Playhouse Square. Also seen at The Fine Arts Association, Near West Theatre, Mercury Theatre Company, Lakeland Civic Theatre, Cain Park, and Dobama Theatre. Proud AEA member. Future performances: Cain Park’s The Music Man (Marian Paroo). All my love to God, Eugene, Easton, and August.

JOSHUA TURCHIN
NOAH GELLMAN

Joshua Turchin is honored and thrilled to be working with Tantrum Theater! Joshua is based out of NYC and is the proud winner of the 2016 Broadway World Phoenix Award for Best Actor in a Musical (Professional) for his portrayal of the lovable Randy Parker in the National Broadway Tour of A Christmas Story, the Musical. He returned to the tour this past year, and covered seven roles, including Ralphie. Joshua is also a member of the School of Rock Broadway Promo Team. Other professional credits include: Christine (ASCAP Musical Theater Workshop production of XY), Young Philip (The Pill Equity Reading), Jack (Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Fallen Giant Opera Workshop), Duncan (Moonshine and Mistletoe cast recording), Davin (Hell is for Real cast recording), Sam I Am (Green Eggs and Hamadeus / Cleveland Orchestra), Boy Elf (Kris Kringle, the Musical, Equity Reading) and the English Egg animated series (recurring). When he is not performing, Joshua, also a musician, is composing a new musical, which he hopes to bring to the stage soon! Thanks to everyone at Tantrum Theater for this opportunity, and to Nancy, Janine, Julia, Sherry, Chris, and my family! & Instagram @joshuaturchin! In memory of MomMom and Papa Jerry. ILY Shaina!

ANTONIO WATSON
JOE THIBODEAUX

Antonio Watson is very excited to be making his professional stage debut with Tantrum Theater. Most recently, Antonio has appeared on the Late Night Show with Stephen Colbert, Nick Jr.’s “Magic Carpet Ride” music video, Sesame Street Workshop, and Sprout TV’s “Kindness is a Muscle” music video. Other favorite roles include: Dough in the short film LILY, and Ray Ray in the short film In the Field. He has also been featured in the Off-Off-Broadway show Alice in Christmas Land as the Caterpillar, under the direction of Adam Roebuck, and Winnie the Pooh KIDS as Roo, Seussical KIDS as a Who, and Oliver! Jr. as Nipper, all under the direction of Lindsay Maron. In his spare time, Antonio loves to create fun drawings, play soccer, and conduct science experiments. Special thanks go to Zoom Talent, Abrams Artists, Mom, Dad, Winston, Mrs. DeBaere, and Adrienne Mckeown. You can find Antonio on Instagram @antonio.j.watson.

KRISTIN YATES
UNDERSTUDY EMMIE THIBODEAUX

Kristin Yates is thrilled to be joining Tantrum again for their second season. Last year she performed in Little Shop of Horrors playing Crystal, one of the street urchins. She is a rising senior BFA candidate at 51��. Some of her favorite roles include What Every Girl Should Know (Theresa) and This Is How You Got Me Naked (Jackie). She’d like to thank her family and friends for their endless support.

Creative

ROBERT BARRY FLEMING
DIRECTOR

Robert Barry Fleming makes his Tantrum Theater debut with Caroline, or Change. He recently made his Cleveland Play House directorial debut with a critically acclaimed production of Between Riverside and Crazy. He serves as Associate Artistic Director at the Cleveland Play House and on the Case Western Reserve University/CPH MFA Acting Program faculty. He has worked as a director, choreographer, and actor in many of the leading resident theaters across the country, including  The Public, The Taper, The Guthrie, La Jolla Playhouse, South Coast Rep, The Goodman, and The Old Globe, and his work has been represented on Broadway (Stand-Up Tragedy, Ragtime), in television and film (including  Oscar-winner, L.A. Confidential). He was an Associate Producer for the NYC revival of Tennessee Williams’ The Two-Character Play,  starring Amanda Plummer and Brad Dourif, and was a tenured Associate Professor and Chair of the Theatre Arts and Performance Studies Department at the University of San Diego ( Old Globe/USD Graduate Acting MFA Program faculty as well). Robert was a Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation Charles Abbott Directing Fellow, San Diego Critics Circle Craig Noel Award winner,  two-time honoree of the Bay Area Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Direction of a Musical, and a Helen Hayes Award nominee for Outstanding Choreography for a Play for the world premiere of Karen Zacarias’ Destiny of Desire at Arena Stage. Previously, he was the Director of Artistic Programming at Arena Stage under Artistic Director, Molly Smith. Other Arena Stage world premieres commissioned, scouted, and/or nurtured under his watch include the 2017 Best Musical Tony-winner, Dear Evan Hansen and 2017 Pulitzer Prize winner, Sweat. Upcoming projects include: Destiny of Desire (OSF), The Royale (CPH), and continued development of a new musical with the working title, The Nolan Williams Project, which was recently presented as a concert presentation in the Cleveland Play House New Ground Theatre Festival.

BRANDON ADAMS
MUSIC DIRECTOR

Brandon Adams was most recently the Associate Music Director for Secret Garden at both 5th Avenue Theatre and Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C. He is the recipient of numerous San Francisco Bay Area awards for Music Direction, and he has helmed three Bay Area premiers: The Last Five Years; the revised Flower Drum Song; and Musical of Musicals, the Musical! (BATCC Award) at Center Rep. Some favorite credits include: She Loves Me (Shellie Award), Funny Girl, Girl Crazy, Me and My Girl, Too Many Girls, Shrek!, Anything Goes and Les Misérables (Shellie Award). Recent cabaret engagements as pianist and singer include Don’t Tell Mama’s, Xavier’s on the Hudson, the Duplex (NYC), Martuni’s and Feinstein’s (SF). Other pianist and/or MD work includes: Arena Stage, Marin Theater Company, 42nd Street Moon, American University, SF Conservatory, SF State, and the Grammy-Award Winning Pacific Boychoir Academy.

ALLISON EPPERSON
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR

Allison Epperson is a third-year MFA candidate in directing at 51��. Her 51�� credits include Big Fuckin’ Giant, Mrs. Packard, Making Charlie and Really Really. In the fall, she will direct her thesis production, Top Girls. Allison is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma and most recently worked for Missoula Children’s Theater as a performer and director in over 300 productions with children across the USA, Canada, Mexico, and Europe.

JASON ARDIZZONE-WEST
SCENIC DESIGNER

Jason Ardizzone-West – Recent designs include the world premiere of Hungry, What Did You Expect?, and Women of a Certain Age (The Public Theater, international tour & BroadwayHD, w/ Susan Hilferty); 36th Marathon of One Act Plays (The Ensemble Studio Theater); Bullets Over Broadway (National Tour, NETworks Presentations); Love’s Labour’s Lost / A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Juilliard); & Adele, Live in NYC (NBC, with Es Devlin). Upcoming designs include The Royale (The Cleveland Play House), ETHEL Circus – Wandering City (Asolo Theatre), Illyria (The Public Theater, w/ Susan Hilferty). As an associate set designer, Jason has worked with Es Devlin: Beyoncé (Formation World Tour, MIA/GC Festivals, VMA 2016), American Psycho (Broadway), Jan Versweyveld: The Crucible (Broadway), Santo Loquasto: Bullets Over Broadway (Broadway), Mimi Lien: Natasha, Pierre, & The Great Comet of 1812, and Christine Jones: Harry Potter & The Cursed Child (Broadway). Jason received a Bachelor of Architecture from Cornell University, College of Architecture, Art & Planning, a Masters of Fine Arts from New York University, Department of Design for Stage & Film, and is a member of USA 829. Visit ardizzonewest.com for recent work and more information.

LEX LIANG
COSTUME DESIGNER

Lex Liang is delighted to make his Tantrum Theater debut with Robert Barry Fleming. Regionally, Lex has designed at Alliance Theatre, Asolo Rep/Dog Days, Cincinnati Playhouse, Cleveland Play House, Denver Center, La Jolla Playhouse, Portland Stage, Portland Center Stage, Syracuse Stage, and Paper Mill Playhouse, among others. He’s designed over 50 NYC/Off-Broadway productions, most recently 1001 and 9 Circles. Lex is the Principal/Founder of LDC Design Associates, a NYC design and production company for creative special events. Recent projects: Operation Smile’s 35th Anniversary Gala, NYC Wine and Food Festival, Tony Awards Gala, Fashion Week Gala, and GMHC’s upcoming 35th anniversary gala. Lex is a member of United Scenic Artists, Local 829. For Kitty.

MICHAEL LINCOLN
PRODUCTION LIGHTING DESIGNER, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR/HEAD OF THEATER DIVISION

Michael Lincoln designed Little Shop of Horrors, the inaugural production of Tantrum Theater. His professional lighting design career numbers well over 300 productions in theatre, opera, and dance. He has designed on Broadway, Off-Broadway, regionally and internationally for more than 30 years. Highlights: the Broadway and national tours of Copenhagen, the Playwrights Horizons production of The Bubbly Black Girl…, and the Cleveland Play House production of A Streetcar Named Desire. Michael’s extensive regional credits include long associations with Indiana Repertory Theatre, Alley Theatre in Houston, and the Studio Theatre in Washington, DC. He has consulted on renovations for both Indiana Rep and Studio, where he designed lighting systems for two new theaters and all support spaces in the three-building complex. Michael has multi-year associations with Los Angeles Ballet, Tulsa Ballet, and Santa Fe Opera. His multiple Broadway credits as an Associate Designer include hit revivals of Guys and Dolls and Anything Goes and original productions of City of Angels, Six Degrees of Separation, and Lend Me a Tenor. Michael taught for fourteen years at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and for two years at the University of Southern California. Michael began at 51�� in 2003, where he served as Head of the Production Design and Technology program from 2007–2012 and has since served as Artistic Director/Division Head of the Theater Division.

JANE SHAW
SOUND DESIGNER

Jane Shaw is delighted to be making her Tantrum Theater debut! Regional work includes Cleveland Play House (The Crucible, Steel Magnolias), Hartford Stage (Comedy of Errors, Rear Window, Hamlet – Connecticut Critics Circle award), Cincinnati Playhouse, Milwaukee Rep (Jane Eyre), Triad Stage, Capital Rep, Ensemble Theater Company (Santa Barbara), Asolo Theater, Northern Stage, Williamstown Theater Festival, and Dorset Theater Festival. In New York City her design and composition work includes The Killer, Tamburlaine, The Merchant of Venice, Measure for Measure, Jew of Malta, Antony and Cleopatra (TFANA), Men on Boats (Clubbed Thumb, Playwrights Horizons/ Drama Desk Nomination), Ironbound (Rattlestick, Women’s Project), Food and Fadwa (New York Theater Workshop) and numerous productions at the Mint and the Pearl. International touring includes Merce Cunningham, Baryshnikov Productions, and Wind Up Bird Chronicles. Recipient: Drama Desk, NEA/TCG Career Development Program, Henry Award, Premios ACE 2012 Award, Bessie. Nominations: Lortel, Henry Hewes, Eliot Norton. Graduate: Harvard College, Yale School of Drama.

MATT CORNISH
DRAMATURG

Matt Cornish is Assistant Professor of Theater History and Director of Studies for Honors Tutorial College in theater at 51��. Matt’s first book, Performing Unification: History and Nation in German Theater after 1989, will be published by University of Michigan Press in September. As a dramaturg, he has worked at Yale Repertory Theatre, Long Wharf Theatre, and Son of Semele, and with IAMA Theatre Company. Matt received his Doctor of Fine Arts from Yale School of Drama, where he also completed an MFA in dramaturgy and dramatic criticism. He is delighted to work with Tantrum Theater for the first time.

MICHAEL CASSARA
CASTING DIRECTOR

Michael Cassara, CSA recent credits include 9 Circles (off-Broadway premiere/Sheen Center), Spamilton (dir. Gerard Alessandrini – NYC and Chicago companies), Gigantic (dir. Scott Schwartz/Vineyard Theatre), Forbidden Broadway (last two editions/cast albums), The 12 (Denver Center/world premiere), The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity (Asolo Rep, dir. Jen Wineman), My Fair Lady (Gulfshore Playhouse, dir. Kristen Coury). Film: The Hyperglot (dir. Michael Urie, Artios nomination for excellence in casting), Grantham & Rose (dir. Kristin Hanggi). Resident Casting Director for the New York Musical Festival (NYMF) since 2007 and the National Alliance for Musical Theatre (NAMT) since 2013. Michael is a native Clevelander and a member of the Casting Society of America. He is thrilled to reconnect with his friends and family in the Central Ohio area, and is a proud BFA graduate of the Musical Theatre program at Otterbein University (back when it was Otterbein College). MichaelCassara.net / @michaelcassara

RUSS BLAIN
PRODUCTION MANAGER

Russ Blain received his BA and MFA degrees from The Ohio State University in 2003 and 2006. From 2008 to 2016 he served as the faculty lighting and sound designer for the Miami University Department of Theatre. Before joining the faculty at Miami, Russ served as the faculty lighting and sound designer and technical director for the Northern Arizona University, Department of Theatre. Prior to pursuing a path in academics, Russ enjoyed a diverse career in the entertainment industry, working as a production manager and also as a lighting and sound designer. He was the operations manager and lighting designer for Easter at The White House (1998 to 2000), and production manager for the Coastal Carolina Center for the Arts (1996 to 1998). Russ also served as the lighting designer and production manager for Hilton Head Dance Theatre (1996 to 2000). He toured as a lighting engineer with Tom Jones (1991 to 94), Al Jarreau (1992 to 93), and Nickelodeon’s Family Double Dare tour (1992 to 94). He has more recently worked as a member of the production management team for the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, and the Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Ceremonies. In August, at the completion of his work with Tantrum, Russ will be joining the faculty at Wayne State University, where he has accepted a position as a lecturer in lighting.

JOHN GODBOUT
STAGE MANAGER

John Godbout is happy to be returning for his second season at Tantrum Theater, where he stage managed Little Shop of Horrors and Dancing At Lughnasa. John also serves as a resident stage manager at Cleveland Play House. He has stage managed at North Shore Music Theatre, Northern Stage, Berkshire Theatre Festival, Capital Repertory Theatre, Weston Playhouse, Shakespeare and Company, Arkansas Repertory Theatre, American Stage, and Seaside Music Theatre.

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