The rock musical SPRING AWAKENING is live on stage at ZACH Theatre.
Here’s a clip of the cast singing “Totally F***ed” from the show: http://youtu.be/DbfoMP9IUsM
Tickets and info at http://www.zachtheatre.org/show/spring-awakening or 512-476-0541 x1.
Jordan Barron plays Moritz in the rock musical SPRING AWAKENING, live on stage at ZACH Theatre.
Here’s a clip of Jordan singing “B**** of a Living” from the show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oElKF8QwJo
Tickets and info at http://www.zachtheatre.org/show/spring-awakening or 512-476-0541 x1.
“ZACH Theatre’s current season-opening production of Spring Awakening captures the energy and heart of the hit show that shocked and exhilarated audiences.” – The Austin American-Statesman (Read more.)
Check out ZACH’s new commercial with music from the show and a sneak-peek at the actors and set you’ll see live on stage at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcsngaP_DDY
SPRING AWAKENING is live on stage at ZACH Theatre. Here are some fantastic production shots by photographer Kirk Tuck. Feel free to share them, but remember to credit Kirk wherever they appear.
JORDAN BARRON (Moritz) – joins ZACH Theatre for the first time.p REGIONAL THEATRE: Footloose, Music Man, Beauty and the Beast, My Favorite Year and Annie Get Your Gun with Zilker Theatre Productions; Damn Yankees and Big River with TexArts at the Paramount,Wizard ofOz with Broadway Texas at Bass Concert Hall. OTHER CREDITS: He is a senior at Bowie High School and plans to study Radio/Television/ Film in college.
GLENN BRITTON (Ernst/Reinhold) – At ZACH: Hairspray (Sketch). REGIONAL THEATRE: Forever Plaid (Jinx), Pirates of Penzance (Frederic), The Wizard of Oz (Cowardly Lion), Grease (Teen Angel), Oklahoma! (Ike Skidmore), The Music Man (Quartet), Scrooge-The Musical (Young Ebenezer), Joseph … Dreamcoat (Dan), Cabaret, Tommy, Guys & Dolls, 42nd Street, Footloose. OTHER CREDITS: Beautiful, Beautiful World (Bock & Harnick revue), All Shook Up and Lippa’s TheWild Party at Texas State University-San Marcos. Glenn just started his junior year at Texas State University pursuing his B.F.A. degree in Musical Theatre.
SARA BURKE (Wendla) – AT ZACH: Hairspray (Amber Von Tussel). REGIONAL THEATRE: Sweet Charity (Charity Hope Valentine) for Summer Stock Austin (B. Iden Payne nomination), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (Featured Dancer/Dance Captain); Evita (Eva Peron), A Little Night Music (Anne Egerma), Little Shop of Horrors (Audrey), The Producers (Ulla) and Cats (Rumpleteazer) with The Georgetown Palace Theatre. OTHER CREDITS: Sara works as a choreographer and dance instructor at The Palace Playhouse Musical Theatre Workshops.
TRAVIS CORNETT (Georg/Dieter) – joins ZACH Theatre for the first time. REGIONAL THEATRE: A Chorus Line (Roy) at Texas State University-San Marcos; West Side Story, Godspell and Forever Plaid at the Harbor Playhouse in Corpus Christi. OTHER CREDITS: Travis recently graduated from Texas State University-San Marcos, where he earned a B.F.A in Theater Education.
MAX GREEN (Otto/Ulbrecht) – joins ZACH Theatre for the first time. REGIONAL THEATRE: Urinetown: The Musical and Sweet Charity with Summer Stock Austin; Almost, Maine; Gypsy; The Who’s Tommy; Into The Woods; Call It Courage and Red Noses (featured at the Edinburgh FRINGE festival). OTHER CREDITS: Max is a Junior at St. Stephen’s Episcopal School and a member of his high school’s Theatre Focus program and a member of the St. Stephen’s Thunder Drumline.
MELISSA GROGAN (The AdultWomen) – joins ZACH Theatre for the first time. REGIONAL THEATRE: House of Several Stories with Search Party Productions at the Blue Theatre and the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC; Electra at Texas State University; Vanities with Paradox Players; Sylvia with Barn Dinner Theatre; The Visit, The Real Thing, Grapes of Wrath, Winter’s Tale,Waiting for the Parade and The Adding Machine at UNCG. FILM: Runaway Night directed by GeorgeMurray,Cecily’s Storm directed by Felipe Portela, Special Day on Showtime Network and The War at Home with Avatar Entertainment. ADDITIONAL CREDITS: M.F.A. in Acting from University of North Carolina–Greensboro, Associate Teacher of Fitzmaurice Voicework, web commercials and voiceover work.
SARAH HOWARD (Anna) – AT ZACH: Disney’s High School Musical. OTHER THEATRE: Les Miserables, Into the Woods, The Sound of Music and August: Osage County with the Starlight Theatre Company. OTHER CREDITS: Sarah is currently a Senior at James Bowie High School.
ELIZABETH KOEPP (Ilse) – AT ZACH: Hairspray (Tammy). OTHER THEATRE:Orchesis Dance Company at Texas State University-SanMarcos, American Spirit Dance Company and Spirit of Grace Dance Company at Oklahoma City University, Into The Woods (Cinderella) and Plaza Suite (Mimsey and Jean McCormack) at the Permian Playhouse. OTHER CREDITS: Elizabeth is working on her B.F.A. Dance Performance and Choreography degree with a minor in Theatre at Texas State University-San Marcos, where she is a member of Merge Dance Company.
TIFFANY MANN (Martha) – AT ZACH: Hairspray (Dynamite), Rockin’ Christmas Party and Caroline, or Change (Radio 1/Moon). REGIONAL THEATER: Dividing the Estate at Dallas Theater Center. OTHER CREDITS: Soul on Fire (World Premiere), Big River, Chicago, Rent, Ain’t Misbehavin’, Lucia diLammermoor.
ALINE MAYAGOITIA (Thea) – joins ZACH Theatre for the first time. OTHER THEATRE: The Producers (Ulla) with SummerStock Austin; Evita, Thoroughly Modern Millie, The Angelina Project and Almost, Maine at The MAC. TELEVISION: La Revancha. FILM: Coronado, Aquella Noche. OTHER CREDITS: Aline is a student at McCallum High’s Fine Arts Academy. She intends to pursue a B.F.A. in Musical Theatre.
JOHNNY NEWCOMB (Melchior) – joins ZACH Theatre for the first time. A native of Boston, Johnny has performed in theatres across New England including The North Shore Music Theatre, The Barnstormers Theatre, and Boston’s Metro Stage Company. REGIONAL THEATRE: The Rocky Horror Show (Riff Raff), in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Chip), Jesus Christ Superstar (Jesus) and Next Fall (Luke). OTHER CREDITS: Proud graduate of The Boston Conservatory with a B.F.A. in Musical Theatre.
JASON PHELPS (The Adult Men) – AT ZACH: Angels in America (Prior Walter, Austin Critics’Table Award for “Best Actor.”) REGIONAL THEATRE: Lipstick Traces – US Tour with The Rude Mechs, Tilt Angel with Salvage Vanguard, MS/Nerve Dance Co. and his solo dance work in the 2011 Fusebox Festival. OTHER CREDITS: His voice work is featured in The Intergalactic Nemesis (2011/2012 Tour) as well as the voice for “Green Lantern” in the DC Universe Online series. Jason has won four other “Best Actor Awards” for his work with Frontera/Hyde Park Theatre, which he co-founded. In addition to performing, Jason is also a grade school teacher at the Discovery School.
J
OSH WECHSLER (Handschen/Rupert) – joins ZACH Theatre for the first time. REGIONAL THEATRE: Josh has formerly appeared in Cabaret, Cats, West Side Story, Cinderella, Guys and Dolls, Into The Woods, The Music Man, Nefertiti and various concerts and cabarets in Dallas, Oklahoma and Austin. OTHER CREDITS: Josh currently teaches private voice in Round Rock ISD. He has a Bachelor of Music from Oklahoma City University where he studied voice under Prof. Vicky Leloie Kelly.
* = Member Actors’ Equity Association
DAVE STEAKLEY (Producing Artistic Director) – Now in his 20th season, Dave is dedicated to creating a place where our community gathers for a collective imaginative act. Dave believes theatre offers an arena in which we might be challenged to understand not just our own lives, but also the world in which we live, and is committed to creating plays and musicals that open meaningful conversations on topics that have resonance in our community. Under Dave’s leadership:
WORLD PREMIERES: New plays by Anna Deavere Smith, Steven Dietz, Everett Quinton, John Walch, Allen Robertson & The Flaming Idiots; 365 Plays/365 Days by Suzan-Lori Parks. ZACH served as the Austin hub of a nationwide, year-long festival; Jesucristo Superestrella – ZACH created the first bi-lingual adaptation of Webber and Rice’s landmark musical; The Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, a jazz/R&B reinvention set in Katrina ravaged New Orleans, which received national acclaim from The New York Times and the Gershwin Estate.
PRODUCER, DIRECTOR & CHOREOGRAPHER ON MORE THAN 250 ZACH PRODUCTIONS INCLUDING: August: Osage County, Rent, Metamorphoses, Our Town, The Grapes of Wrath, Caroline, or Change, The Clean House, Take Me Out, I Am My Own Wife, Urinetown, Crowns, Omnium-Gatherum, Hair, The Laramie Project, Hedwig, Jelly’s Last Jam, The America Play, Dreamgirls, The Mystery of Irma Vep, Angels In America and Beehive
REGIONAL DIRECTING CREDITS: Actors Theatre of Louisville, New Stage Theatre, American Heartland Theatre, WaterTower Theatre, City Theatre and Downstairs Cabaret
PLAYWRIGHT: Rockin’ Christmas Party, Keepin’ It Weird, a play about Austin’s unique character featured on CBS Sunday Morning, NPR, The Wall Street Journal and American Theatre
SERVICE TO THE THEATRE FIELD: National Endowment for the Arts Theatre and Musical Theatre Panelist • Texas Commission on the Arts Young Masters Program Panelist • National Alliance for Musical Theatre New Works Committee
RECOGNITION: 2010 Spike Gillespie Kick Ass Award; 2009 Austin Dancing with the Stars Champion; 2005 Austin Circle of Theaters’ Special Recognition Award for “Outstanding Contribution to Austin Theatre”; City of Austin declares May 18, 2001 as “Dave Steakley Day”; Austin Chronicle “Best of Austin” Readers Poll “Best Stage Director” six times; Multiple Austin Critics’ Table and B. Iden Payne Awards for Outstanding Director, Choreographer; 2000 Austin Under 40 Outstanding Arts & Entertainment Award.
ELISBETH CHALLENER (Managing Director) – joined ZACH Theatre as Managing Director in 2007 after having served as a non-profit consultant and the Executive Director of One World Theatre since moving to Austin. As ZACH’s Managing Director, Elisbeth is responsible for a $22M capital campaign towards the building of a new theatre as well as the management, development and finances of the organization. Under her guidance ZACH completed a Five Year Strategic Plan that will move the organization into the next phase of its significant expansion. Prior to Austin, she resided in the San Francisco bay area where she was Montalvo Arts Center’s Executive Director, spending nearly 20 years with the organization. As Executive Director, Elisbeth led Montalvo’s growth from a small, community-based organization into a major presenting venue and home to an internationally acclaimed artists’ residency program. Other accomplishments during her tenure included increasing ticket sales from less than $500K to more than $4 million, expanding the patron base from 6,000 to 80,000, and raising more than $20 million for capital projects. Earlier in her career, she served as Administrative Director for the San Francisco Boys Chorus, Education/Outreach Director of the Fairmount Theatre of the Deaf, and as department chair and faculty member of the performing arts department of The Purnell School in New Jersey. Elisbeth graduated from the Boston Conservatory of Music with a bachelor’s degree in fine arts in drama and musical theatre. She attended the Harvard Business School Executive Education Program, Center for Excellence in Nonprofit Management Leaders Institute in San Jose, Calif. and served in leadership roles for the American Leadership Forum, Silicon Valley, Saratoga Rotary Club and Arts Council of Silicon Valley. She is currently serving on the National Alliance of Musical Theatre’s Festival of New Musicals Committee. Elisbeth has always had a passion for the theatre and performed for many years in summer stock, dinner theatre, and semi- professional productions on the east coast and in California.
MICHAEL BARON (Director) – is the Artistic Director of Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma and joins ZACH for the first time. He recently directed Lyric’s Ragtime, Oliver!, Boeing Boeing, Always…Patsy Cline, December Divas and The Rocky Horror Show. He has directed more than 65 productions at theaters across the country including the new production of A Christmas Carol at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, DC. REGIONAL THEATRE: The Little Dog Laughed, Songs for a New World - starring Alice Ripley, Brian D’Arcy James, Titus Burgess, Laura Griffith and music direction by Jason Robert Brown – and The Sex Habits of American Women at Signature Theatre; Meet John Doe at Goodspeed Musicals; The Civil War (Associate Director) at Ford’s Theatre; The Music Man at Washington Savoyards; Julia Nixon: Live in Concert at Lincoln Theatre; A Year with Frog and Toad, Stuart Little and You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown at Adventure Theatre; The School for Scandal at Trinity Repertory and 2010-11 Poetry Out Loud National Competition Finals with hosts John Leguizamo and Kerry Washington for the NEA. Baron also wrote and directed The Whore of Sheridan Square at La Mama, and the play is published in the anthology Plays and Playwrights 2006. He has taught at American University, Brown University, Holy Cross College and Rhode Island College. He received a 2003-2005 NEA/TCG Directing grant and has been a theatre grant panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts and the Massachusetts Council on the Arts. His training includes a B.A. in Theatre Arts from Wake Forest University and an M.F.A. in Directing from Trinity Repertory Conservatory. He also served from 2006-2010 as the Associate Director of Signature Theatre in Arlington, Virginia, winner of the 2009 Regional Theatre Tony Award.
ALLEN ROBERTSON (Musical Director/Conductor) – Allen is an Emmy Award®-winning co-creator of the PBS children’s show The Biscuit Brothers, as well as a co-producer, performer, writer, educational director and composer for the show. Allen is an award-winning musical director, composer, playwright, actor, director, sound designer and musician, and has worked on hundreds of productions from Chicago to Japan and just about everywhere in between – including 20 years of shows at ZACH. New York credits include Radio City Music Hall and the Off- Broadway run of The Flaming Idiots. As a vocalist, he can be heard on several Disney Records as well as television and radio commercials. Additionally, he is a composer with credits including the film Beyond Black Rock, the musical Jouet and the ballet Secret Garden.
ANDREA BECKHAM (Choreographer) – is a choreographer, dancer and educator, and joins ZACH Theatre for the first time. A longtime participant in the Sharir Dance Company (Sharir+Bustamante Danceworks), she has also performed with Llory Wilson’s Tallulah Dance Company in Seattle and on tour as a dancer, with Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company in New York, among many others, and has developed more than 25 new works with her own pick-up company, Andrea Beckham Collaborative Dance. Her choreography has been presented since 1989 in Texas, New York, Wyoming, Utah, Arizona, Louisiana, California, France, Taiwan, Mexico, several small venues around Europe, including UT/Dance Young Tanzsommer tours in Austria (2004 -10), and she has collaborated with Yacov Sharir in Holland, Portugal and China. Some favorite choreography experiences have been with the directors and actors at UT Austin – including Big Love, directed by Franchelle Stewart Dorn – The Honorable Urashima Taro, directed by Richard Isaackes and The Three Penny Opera, directed by Lucien Douglas. Other highlights include performing and teaching for Ballet Austin alongside artistic directors of Tapestry Dance Company in festivals in Limmasol and Nicosia, Cyprus 1996-97, choreographing and teaching for American Ballet Theatre Summer Intensive Workshops, and collaborating and performing with the amazing Heywood “Woody” McGriff. Andrea is currently teaching dance at the University of Texas at Austin, as well as running the Pilates-evolved Movement/Physical Conditioning Laboratory there, and recently received the Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award.
MICHAEL RAIFORD (Scenic Design) – is a freelance scenic and costume designer based in Austin. Michael has been a resident designer at ZACH Theatre for almost 20 years, where he has designed more than 100 productions. Recent ZACH projects include Hairspray, The Book of Grace, August: Osage County, Rent, The Drowsy Chaperone, Becky’s New Car, Let Me Down Easy, Love Janis, Shooting Star, Caroline or Change and The Clean House. Michael has also designed more versions of Rockin’ Christmas Party than we can count! Michael is in his fifth season designing for the Humana Festival of New American Plays at The Actors Theater of Louisville. This season includes Elemeno Pea by Molly Smith Metzler and Bob by Peter Sinn Nachtrieb. Previous Humana projects at ATL include Sirens by Debra Zoe Laufer, Fissures by Dominique Serrand, Phoenix by Scott Organ and Absalom by Zoe Kazan. Other projects at ATL include Jouét, Shipwrecked, Hedwig and the Angry Inch and The Kite Runner. Other favorite regional productions include Well, The Chosen, and Inherit The Wind at Cleveland Playhouse; The Young Lady from Rwanda at Kansas City Repertory Theatre; Guys and Dolls and Tin Types at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre, Florida; The Bartered Bride at Opera Boston; The Fantastiks at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, DC; and What Goes Up at New Victory Theatre, NYC. Other Austin productions include Rigoletto for Austin Lyric Opera, Big Love and Tesla for The Rude Mechanicals and When Something Wonderful Ends for our own Barbara Chisholm. Upcoming designs this season include Carmen at Central City Opera and The Magic Flute for Ballet Austin. Michael received his M.F.A. from the University of Texas, where he taught for 10 years, and he is a member of United Scenic Artists.
JASON AMATO (Lighting Design) – Jason’s career has spanned 18 years, designing more than 500 local and international shows. In addition to designing at ZACH for 12 years, he is the resident lighting designer for Austin Shakespeare, Blue Lapis Light and the Vortex Repertory Theatre. Recent shows at ZACH: Hairspray, The Book of Grace, August: Osage County, Red Hot Patriot, Rent, Metamorphoses, Becky’s New Car, Our Town, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, The Grapes of Wrath, Shooting Star, Beehive and Caroline, or Change. The Austin Critics’ Table Awards has honored Jason for outstanding lighting in 25 shows. He has also received B. Iden Payne Awards for his lighting of Troades, Trickster, The Exonerated, Omnium-Gatherum, Triskelion, Panoptikon, Despair’s Book of Dreams and The Deluge. In 2008, Jason received the “Outstanding Contribution to Austin Theater” award from Austin Circle of Theaters. You can also view his design work at www.jasonamato.com.
MICHAEL McDONALD (Costume Design) – At ZACH: Dirty Blonde, Omnium-Gatherum, Crowns, Take Me Out and Hank Williams: Lost Highway. BROADWAY AND LONDON: Hair (2009 Tony, Drama Desk and Hewes Award nominations). OFF-BROADWAY: The Irish Curse (Soho Rep), A Perfect Future (Cherry Lane Theater), Tartuffe (Tribeca Playhouse), Amahl and the Night Visitors (Lincoln Center) Measure for Measure (Expanded Arts). REGIONAL: Hair (The Public Theater); and God of Carnage (George Street Playhouse); Take Me Out (RepertoryTWEET YOUR ZACH EXPEREINCE Theatre of St. Louis); Johnny Baseball (A.R.T.), IRNE Nomination; Amadeus, Sweeney Todd, The Laramie Project and Angels in America (Chatham Playhouse). OTHER CREDITS: As Assistant Costume Master for the Public Theater, notable collaborations include Mother Courage and Her Children starring Meryl Streep; Radiant Baby; Caroline, or Change; Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson; The Merchant of Venice; Topdog/Underdog; Passing Strange and Twelfth Night. S
SERRET JENSEN (Wig Design) – is the owner of Wig Witch Studios. She currently serves as the resident wig, makeup and special effects designer for Divergence Vocal Theater in Houston and BookPeople’s Literary camps for children in Austin. Since 1995, Serret has created wig and makeup work for numerous productions with the Alley Theatre, Houston Grand Opera, Austin Lyric Opera, Houston Ballet, Theater Under the Stars and the Society of Performing Arts, as well as several national touring shows.
PHILLIP OWEN (Sound Design) – joins ZACH Theatre for the first time with his sound design for Spring Awakening. REGIONAL THEATRE: Measure for Measure and A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Stonington Opera House; Notes from Underground at Yale Rep, La Jolla Playhouse and Baryshnikov Arts Center; Rough Crossing at Yale Rep and Waking at Yale Cabaret. OTHER CREDITS: Assistant to the composer on A Steady Rain in New York City. Phillip currently works as the Lead Sound Engineer at the Alley Theatre in Houston. He holds an M.F.A. from Yale School of Drama.
BLAKE REEVES (Properties Design) – AT ZACH: Hairspray, The Book of Grace, August: Osage County, Fiction, Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins and Rent. Blake has also worked with ZACH’s production team in numerous facets for The Santaland Diaries, The Drowsy Chaperone, Metamorphoses, Becky’s New Car, Our Town and The Flaming Idiots. In addition to production work, he performed with the award-winning cast of Our Town. Blake attended Baylor University and, during his time as a student, he designed, choreographed and performed in a number of productions. He later returned to serve as the Co-ordinator of Special Performances for the university, producing and designing several shows. He also provided prop design for Footloose with Zilker Theatre Productions this summer.
PAUL FLINT (Director of Production) – joined ZACH Theatre in 2008. He earned his B.F.A. from Shorter College and M.F.A. from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, with a focus on Technical Direction, Scenic Design and Arts Management. He has more than ten years experience in technical theatre and has worked as a Technical Director for eight years. His theatre credits include the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, Ga., Glimmerglass Opera in Cooperstown, New York, Vitalist Theatre Company in Chicago, Ill., and he is a founding member of Seaside Repertory Theatre in Seaside, Florida. Paul is the author of Managing the Creative Mind: A Technical Director’s Process.
JIM O’SULLIVAN (Technical Director) – is excited to be working on his second show at ZACH. He came to Austin from TheatreWorks–Silicon Valley where he was the Assistant Technical Director from 2007-2011. He worked on over 30 productions, with 7 world premieres, at TheatreWorks including the musicals Emma, Tinyard Hill and Daddy Long Legs. He also served as Technical Director for Renegade Theatre Experiment and the Cutting Ball Theatre. He won an Arty Award for scenic design of On Golden Pond at the Benicia Old Town Theatre Group.
BLAIR HURRY (Costume Shop Manager) – grew up in Austin and studied Costume Design & Technology at the University of Texas. Her costume design works at ZACH Theatre include Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins, Metamorphoses, Shooting Star (2009- 2010 Season), Farm to Market and Call It Courage (ZACH’s Performing Arts School). Other local designs include Vampyress (Vortex Theatre), Parade: A Musical (St. Edward’s University), The Famous Rio Grande, The Trojan Women and Cabaret (University of Texas). Prior to ZACH, she built costumes for the Williamstown Theatre Festival, The Ohio Light Opera Company and STAGES: St. Louis. She also worked as Head of Wardrobe and Make-up for the national tour of Playhouse Disney’s The Doodlebops LIVE! and the 2008 national tour of The Moscow Ballet’s The Great Russian Nutcracker. She is currently an active member of the local 205 IATSE union.
LILY WILLIAMS (Company Manager) – graduated from Montana State University with degrees in Media & Theatre Arts and Spanish Language & Literature. During her time in Montana, Lily served as the producer and stage manager for numerous university productions, including The Last Acts and Allen Ball’s Five Women Wearing the Same Dress. She has vast experience in film, event management and visual art.
LISA GOERING (Stage Manager) – At ZACH: Stage Manager for Hairspray, August: Osage County, Rent, The Drowsy Chaperone, Our Town, The Flaming Idiots, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Jesus Christ Superstar/Jesucristo Superestrella and Keepin’ It Weird, among others. She stage managed An Ideal Husband for Austin Shakespeare, and keeps busy working as a dresser, sound board operator and freelance seamstress/stitcher, as well as traveling regionally to work in costume shops, including two summers for the Shakespeare Festival at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego. She has appeared onstage in Carousel and A Christmas Carol at ZACH and The Snow Queen with Second Youth.
TAYLOR NOVAK (Production Assistant) – recently moved to Austin from San Angelo and was awarded an internship position at ZACH Theatre with the stage management team for August: Osage County. She served as substitute sound board operator during August: Osage County and The Book of Grace, and substitute Assistant Stage Manager and running crew for Hairspray. OTHER: Resident Stage Manager for the Angelo Civic Theatre Youth Program from 2006 to 2011.
STEVEN SATER (Books & Lyrics) – was awarded the 2007 Tony Awards for “Best Book of a Musical” and “Best Original Score” for Spring Awakening along with the Drama Desk and Outer Critic Circle Awards for “Best Lyrics.” With alt-rocker Duncan Sheik, he received the 2007 Grammy Award for “Best Musical Show Album” for Spring Awakening. The pair received The Dramatists Guild Hull-Warriner Award, the Outer Critics Circle, the Drama Desk, the Lucille Lortel, New York Drama Critics’ Circle and Drama League Awards for “Best Musical.” Steven is the author of numerous plays, including the long-running Carbondale Dreams, Perfect for You, Doll (the Rosenthal Prize, Cincinnati Playhouse); Umbrage (Steppenwolf New Play Prize); A Footnote to the Iliad (New York Stage and Film, The Miniature Theatre of Chester); Asylum (Naked Angels); Murder at the Gates (commissioned by Eye of the Storm); In Search of Lost Wings (Sanford Meisner Theater) and a re-conceived version of Shakespeare’s Tempest, with music by Laurie Anderson, which played London’s Lyric Hammersmith and toured throughout Great Britain. In addition to Spring Awakening, Sater has collaborated with Sheik on the NY premiere of Umbrage (HERE), Nero (The Magic Theatre, workshopped at the New York Shakespeare Festival and New York Stage & Film) and The Nightingale (workshopped at the O’Neill Musical Theatre Conference, La Jolla Playhouse, A.C.T., and New York Theater Workshop). He is also hard at work with System of a Down’s Serj Tankian on a musical version of Prometheus Bound, to be directed by Diane Paulus at the American Repertory Theater. Sater is the lyricist for Sheik’s critically acclaimed album Phantom Moon (Nonesuch), and together the two wrote the songs for Michael Mayer’s feature film A Home at the End of the World (Warner Classics) as well as the independent features Brother’s Shadow and Mary Stuart Masterson’s The Cake Eaters. Sater is also co-creator and executive producer, with Paul Reiser, of recent pilots for both NBC and Sony/FX, and has developed two projects for HBO, and another for Showtime (with Reiser). He is also at work, with Jessie Nelson, on a feature film and is creating an original movie musical for producer Larry Mark. In addition, Steven works as a lyricist with various composers in the pop/rock world, recently writing songs with Burt Bacharach, Johnny Mandel, Andreas Carlsson, and William Joseph.
DUNCAN SHEIK (Music) – In addition to writing the music for Spring Awakening (2007 Tony Awards for “Best Orchestrations” and “Best Original Score”, 2008 Grammy Award for “Best Musical Show Album”), Sheik’s other theater credits include: Nero (Another Golden Rome,currently in development), The Nightingale (currently in development) and Whisper House (currently in development). Recorded works include: Whisper House (Sony/Victor 2009), White Limousine (Rounder 2006), Daylight (Atlantic Records 2002), Phantom Moon (Nonesuch 2001), Humming (Atlantic Records 1998) and Duncan Sheik (Atlantic Records 1996 – Grammy Nomination “Best Male Vocal”). Film Scores include: DARE (2009), Little Spirit: Christmas in New York (2008), Capers (2007) and The Cake Eaters (2007). Producer credits include: Holly Brook (forthcoming CD 2009), Micah Green (2008), Spring Awakening Original Cast Album (Universal 2007) and Chris Garneau (2006).
ANNMARIE MILAZZO (Vocal Arrangements) – Composer/Lyricist for Pretty Dead Girl at Sundance Film Festival. Vocal arranger for the Broadway productions of Spring Awakening and Next To Normal. Bright Lights, Big City at The New York Theater Workshop and the Paramount feature film, The Marc Pease Experience. AnnMarie is a Grammy-nominated singer from The East Village Opera Company on Universal/Decca.
SIMON HALE (String Orchestrations) – After graduating from the University of London with an Honors Degree in Composition, Hale’s acclaimed solo album, East Fifteen, led to recordings with many artists, including George Benson, Simply Red, Jamiroquai and Björk. In 1996, he orchestrated Duncan Sheik’s first album, and their musical collaboration has continued ever since. Simon’s involvement with Spring Awakening marked his Broadway debut and the Tony Award for “Best Orchestrations” in 2007. He continues to work with Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik on other projects. For more information, please visit www.simonhale.co.uk
* = Member Actors’ Equity Association
ALLEN ROBERTSON ……………………………………………………………..Conductor, Piano
BOB OVERTON………………………………………………………………………Guitar
BRAD SHELTON……………………………………………………………………..Bass
MICHELLE ALANY…………………………………………………………………..Violin
HECTOR MORENO…………………………………………………………………Cello
ARNIE YAÑEZ ………………………………………………………………………..Percussion
Spring Awakening at ZACH - Set rendering by designer Michael Raiford
The Tony Award-winning rock musical Spring Awakening is ZACH’s 2011-12 Season opener next week – but don’t expect your typical Broadway musical.
A story about teenagers exploring the inner and outer bounds of sexuality, this explosive new musical was adapted from a once-banned, controversial 19th Century German play by Frank Wedekind of the same title. And, as with most anything that was ever banned, how could it not be scandalously delectable?
The masterful Steven Sater adapted and wrote the play, and ubertalented songwriter Duncan Sheik, famed singer of “Barely Breathing,” wrote the score. “Best Direction” and “Best Score” – not to mention “Best Musical” – were among the eight Tony nods the show won in 2007.
ZACH is now bringing the Texas regional premiere to Austin. As final rehearsals are held this week under the direction of Michael Baron, who is Artistic Director of Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma, it’s easy to see why The New York Times wrote “Broadway may never be the same again!”
This is a monumentally explosive score and script, and the frank and vivid expression of teenage (and adult) self-discovery makes Spring Awakening unlike any musical you’ve ever seen.
Brace yourselves for an experience you will never forget. Vibrant, lively, provocative, tender and ultimately entertaining, Spring Awakening is a phenomenon – with an utterly brilliant rock score – that, like the musical Rent, unites a whole new generation of theatregoers with a generation that, though they may never admit it, knows these issues far too well.
Check back on ZACH’s blog for more behind-the-scenes photos, music and video through the run: http://www.zachtheatre.org/blog. Tickets to Spring Awakening and all other ZACH shows can be purchased online 24/7 or with a box office representative at 512-476-0541 x1.
One of the most exciting new musicals to hit stage this decade, Spring Awakening has been called “a groundbreaking jolt of genius” by The New York Post. Rock composer Duncan Sheik’s score is said by Entertainment Weekly to be “the most gorgeous Broadway score of this decade!”
The electrifying, folk-infused rock musical hits ZACH’s stage one week from today, and many performances are selling out quickly. If you loved Rent, you don’t want to miss this new production of the Tony-winning musical. ZACH’s production promises to be a mind-blowing experience with a fresh new cast in a never-seen-before intimate new setting. Check out this video from the 2007 Tony Awards:
If the video does not appear on this page, check it out directly on YouTube, and stay tuned over the upcoming weeks for photos, behind-the-scenes details and new video at http://www.zachtheatre.org/blog.