Jon Kimbell (Adaptor) is a producer in residence for SenovvA, Inc. a design and management company offering services to the entertainment, special event, architectural/construction and media services industries with offices in Los Angeles, New York City, Toronto and Dublin. As Artistic Director for North Shore Music Theatre for 25 years retiring in 2007, he helped develop over 60 musicals, including Memphis, winner of four 2010 Tony Awards, including Best Musical. Kimbell produced Langston in Harlem, an original musical that opened Off-Broadway winning four 2010 Audelco Awards, including Best Musical. Audelco Awards celebrate excellence in Black Theater. Kimbell has received the Elliot Norton Award and the New England Theatre Conference Award for Outstanding Achievement in American Theatre; Salem State College’s Lifetime Achievement Award; the Moss Hart Award and the 2010 Spotlight People’s Choice Award for his musical adaptation of A Christmas Carol in addition to several awards for his work promoting tolerance and diversity. A champion of new works, Kimbell served as Vice Chair for the New York Music Theatre Festival and on the National Alliance for Musical Theatre’s New Works Committee. He has served as a panelist and evaluator for the National Endowment for the Arts, New Hampshire Commission on the Arts, Massachusetts Cultural Council, Maine State Council on the Arts and Humanities, Ohio Arts Council, and the Cultural Arts Council of Houston. He currently chairs Somerset Cultural Planning, a project of the Wesserunsett Arts Council, which is developing a cultural plan for Somerset County, Maine as well as serving as Chair of the Skowhegan Opera House Renovation Committee.
Kevin P Hill (Director and Choreographer, Producing Artistic Director). Born and raised in Waltham, Massachusetts, Kevin began his theatrical career as dancer and actor. He appeared in National Touring companies of Hello, Dolly! with Carol Channing, Leslie Uggams and Michele Lee, Anything Goes and the International Touring Company of A Chorus Line. New York audiences have seen him in the Off-Broadway production of Party. Regional credits as a performer include: West Side Story, Good News! A Chorus Line, My Fair Lady and Marvin in Falsettoland. Kevin has directed and choreographed over 100 productions across America. He has had the privilege of working with such stars as Marin Mazzie, Joanne Worley, Kathleen Turner, Josh Groban, Jonathan Groff and Tony Award winner, Cady Huffman. In New York, he was the assistant to the director of On the Twentieth Century at the New Amsterdam Theatre and assistant to the choreographer on the revival of Guys and Dolls. Most recently he directed and choreographed Smokey Joe’s Cafe, Sister Act, Young Frankenstein, Mary Poppins, and at Bill Hanney's Theatre By The Sea in Rhode Island, where he is also Producing Artistic Director. Kevin has been nominated as Best Director/Choreographer for his work on Smokey Joe's Café, Rent, The Full Monty, Chicago, and Edwin Drood, and was awarded the NH Theatre Award for Best Choreography for West Side Story at the Papermill Theatre. Future projects include an original danced play called Standing Still. As a Professor of Dance, Kevin has been on faculty at Pennsylvania State University, Kansas State University and most recently The Boston Conservatory of Music. He currently owns Hill Studios Dance and Fitness Center located in Newton, Massachusetts, and is a proud member of SDC, AEA and Dance Masters of New England, Chapter 5. Milton Granger (Music Director) has previously served as Music Director in NSMT productions of 42nd Street, Young Frankenstein, The Music Man, A Christmas Carol (’14 – ’16), West Side Story, Singin’ in the Rain, Mary Poppins, Saturday Night Fever, Anything Goes, Cats and Swing! As pianist/conductor: Broadway: Mary Poppins, The Woman in White, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Cyrano the musical, and Camelot (with Robert Goulet). National tours: Sunset Boulevard, Big, The Phantom of the Opera, Only a Kingdom (with Sally Struthers). Off-Broadway: A Fine and Private Place, Fermat's Last Tango (CD and DVD), Company, Different Fields. International: West Side Story in Paris and Berlin; over one hundred productions in regional theaters. As composer/lyricist/librettist: Two first-place awards from the National Opera Association; Castle Walk a Next Link selection in the New York Music Theatre Festival; Bronze Mirror a selection of the Manhattan Theatre Mission festival; Peter Rabbit and the Garden of Doom winner of the Actors' Playhouse competition. Eight chamber operas which have been produced by 50 college opera workshops and small opera companies in U.S. and Canada. www.miltongranger.com Howard C. Jones (Original Scenic Design) . Past NSMT design credits include Disney’s The Little Mermaid, Legally Blonde, My Fair Lady, Bye, Bye Birdie, Contact, Forever Plaid, Hairspray, Singin' in the Rain ‘05, ‘92, Fame, Swing!, Cats, Chicago, Footloose ‘02, Carousel, Sweet Charity, Student Prince, Victor Victoria, Annie, Carnival, Crazy For You, Will Rogers Follies, Phantom, Showboat, South Pacific, Brigadoon, City of Angels, Guys and Dolls, Nunsense 2, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Camelot ‘91 and the annual production of A Christmas Carol. Mr. Jones has been a member of the faculty of the N.C. School of the Arts for the past 15 years. Before that he was the founder and owner of Cobalt Studios, an apprentice painting studio, in upstate New York. Other credits include Goodspeed Opera, Starlight Theatre, Missouri Repertory Theatre, CLO in Pittsburgh, Merrimack Repertory Theatre, Weston Playhouse, Virginia Opera and the American Heartland Theatre. Mr. Jones was proud to be included in the World Stage Design Expo 2005. He received the Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding Designer in June 2000 and several times has been awarded Best Design by KC Drama Desk. Paula Peasley-Ninestein (Costume Coordinator and additional Costume Design) has worked in the costume department at NSMT since 2008 as the costume coordinator, costume designer or wardrobe supervisor for over 50 NSMT productions. Some of her favorite productions are: Miss Saigon, Billy Elliot, Les Misérables, Sister Act and Bye, Bye, Birdie. Her costume designs for NSMT's productions of Guys and Dolls and Legally Blonde earned IRNE nominations. Other credits include Lake Dillon Theatre Company, Stoneham Theatre, Opera Carolina, Chautauqua Opera, Opera Boston, and La Jolla Playhouse. Paula enjoys volunteering at her son Tripp’s school, Rockport Elementary, and is a Co-Chair of the Rockport PTO. Jack Mehler (Lighting Design). Previous work with NSMT includes Scenery & Lighting for Singin’ in the Rain (2016), Billy Elliot The Musical (2015), Miss Saigon (2013), Scenery for West Side Story (2003), and Lighting for A Christmas Carol ('02-'16; 2012 IRNE nomination), Annie, Camelot (IRNE nomination), Children of Eden, 42nd Street, Funny Girl, Gypsy, Hairspray, High School Musical, Jesus Christ Superstar, The King and I, A Little Night Music, My Fair Lady, Nine (IRNE nomination), Ragtime, The Producers, Thoroughly Modern Millie, West Side Story (2016), Wizard of Oz, and Young Frankenstein. He received the 2012 (Elisabeth) and 2013 (Rebecca) Korean Musical Theatre Awards (Korean Tony) for Lighting Design of the Year. Other Theatre design credits include Walnut Street Theatre, Paper Mill Playhouse, Manhattan Theatre Club, Riverside Theatre, Cleveland Play House, Seattle Rep, Syracuse Stage, Weston Playhouse, The Working Theatre and WPA among many others. Dance: Joffrey Ballet, Lar Lubovitch, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, San Francisco Ballet, Donald Byrd/Spectrum Dance, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Jose Limon, Ballet Memphis and others. Jack also provides owner's design representation for organizations building or renovating performance and rehearsal spaces. Leon Rothenberg (Sound Design). NSMT: All Shook Up, Wizard of Oz, Les Misérables, Saturday Night Fever, Singin’ in the Rain, A Christmas Carol since 2012. Select Broadway: A Doll’s House Part 2, Violet, The Realistic Joneses, The Nance (Tony Award), The Heiress, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone (Tony Nom). Regional: Pasadena Playhouse, The Wallis (LA), Spoleto Festival, Huntington, A.C.T., Portland Center Stage, Arena Stage, Seattle Rep, La Jolla Playhouse, Old Globe, Folger Shakespeare Library, Long Wharf, McCarter, Williamstown Theater Festival, Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, Merrimack Repertory, Delaware Theater Company, New York Stage and Film, Two River Theater, Theatre By The Sea. Select New York/Off-Broadway: Second Stage, New York City Center, Manhattan Theatre Club, Public Theater, Culture Project, Tectonic. Tours/International: Dirty Dancing: The Classic Story Onstage, Cirque du Soleil. Faculty, CalArts. klaxson.net Gerard Kelly (Original Hair & Wig Design), Broadway: Disney’s The Lion King (Tony© Award - Best Musical), Hair (Tony© Award - Best Revival of a Musical). Gerard's hair and wig design has been seen at North Shore Music Theatre since 1999 as well as many other Regional Theatre's and Shakespeare Festivals across the country. Gerard has also created many wigs for performers such as Harvey Fierstein, Felicity Huffman, Laura Linney, Marlo Thomas, The B-52's (including the cover of their album Funplex), Varla Jean Merman, Charles Busch, S.Epatha Merkerson, Jennifer Holiday, RuPaul, Woopie Goldberg, and The Lady Bunny. Gerard's work can be seen in films such as Transamerica, Girls Will Be Girls, The Ten, The Savages, King Bolden, Notorious, The Conjuring and The Other Woman. Gregory Pierce (Puppet Design) is currently studying sculpture at Montserrat College of Art. Gregory likes to call himself a bit of a mad creature scientist. When not caring for his two lovely cat children, Gregory can be found impersonating a walrus about town, making fish-men in his basement, and building portals to other worlds. He would like to thank his family for their inspiration and support of his constantly growing creative menagerie. He would also like to thank you personally for your attendance tonight and asks that you don’t feed the puppets. Astin Stratoti (Puppet Design) is an artist, student, and an all-around puppet person of mystery! Astin is currently a senior at Montserrat College of Art, with a concentration in Puppetry. Having grown up in and around theaters, Astin is excited to return to the theatrical world after having been swept away by art school. Astin would like to thank the North Shore Music Theater for this opportunity, their co-gremlin Greg for his constant creativity, Blyth Hazen for her continued support, Roxie Myhrum for her unending inspiration, and their mother Cathy for her limitless patience. Natalie A. Lynch (Production Stage Manager). With NSMT: 42nd Street, Evita, Young Frankenstein, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, The Music Man and the 2010, 2011, 2012, 2016 Musical Seasons. Other Credits Include: Capital Repertory Theatre, Reagle Music Theatre, Lyric Stage Company of Boston, New Repertory Theatre, Pioneer Theatre Company, STAGES St. Louis, Stoneham Theatre and Maples Repertory Theatre. National Tours: The Magic Tree House: The Musical and A Christmas Carol. Natalie began at NSMT as the SM Intern in 2005 and is thrilled to return once again to her theatrical home. She is a graduate of University of New Hampshire and is a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association. Special thanks to her family and friends, especially her parents, for their endless love and support. For Andrew, Abigail and Devin. Dakotah Wiley Horan (Assistant Stage Manager) is thrilled to be back for the 2017 Season having worked as the Assistant Stage Manager on 42nd Street, Evita, Young Frankenstein, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, The Music Man, A Christmas Carol, West Side Story, Spamalot and Singin' In The Rain, and as the Production Assistant for Mary Poppins and Funny Girl. Some of her previous Stage Management credits include: Capital Repertory Theatre: Marvelous Wonderettes, Cactus Flower, 33 Variations, Leslie Uggams in Uptown Downtown, Man of La Mancha, and Single Girls Guide. Pendragon Theatre: Clean House, Twelve Angry Men, A Christmas Story. CPS: The King and I. She is a graduate of SUNY Postdam and Universidad de Sevilla. She would like to thank her parents for instilling and encouraging her love of theatre, her very supportive friends and Natalie, Tom, and Kevin for this amazing opportunity. Robert L. Rucinski (Assistant Music Direction). Past NSMT credits include: 42nd Street, School House Rock Live Jr., A Christmas Carol '04-'07 & '10-'16, West Side Story, Singin’ in the Rain '06 & '16, Les Misérables, The Little Mermaid, The King and I, Forever Plaid, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Crazy for You, Cinderella '05-'06, Ain't Misbehavin', Damn Yankees, Camelot, Fame. Robert is thrilled to be returning to NSMT after music directing last spring’s production of School House Rock Live. This past year, he was music director for shows such as Fiddler on the Roof, Little Shop of Horrors, and an award-winning production of Godspell at the various high school and university theater programs at which he works. A native of Jersey City, NJ, he now lives in Arlington, MA. ZFX, Inc. (Flying Effects). Broadway: Peter Pan with Cathy Rigby; The Green Bird; Kiss Me, Kate; Dance of the Vampires; Wicked, Saturday Night Fever; Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me; Fiddler on the Roof and Frozen. National tours: Seussical the Musical, Blues Clues Live, Spiderman Live and Dora the Explorer. Television: A&E's "Peter Pan," CNN, the Tony Awards and "The Rosie O'Donnell Show." www.zfxflying.com. Bill Hanney (Owner/Producer) is honored and proud to have been responsible for the re-opening of the nationally renowned North Shore Music Theatre in 2010. He began his career in show business at age 19, leasing and developing movie theaters, including his first multiplex in Quincy, Massachusetts. Before long, he was booking rock shows (Jefferson Starship, Rush) and other types of live entertainment, which eventually led to the presenting and producing of Broadway productions. One such show was an appearance by the legendary mime artist, Marcel Marceau. As president of Broadway Productions, Bill presented national tours such as Annie, Amadeus, Dancin', Peter Pan, Rocky Horror Show and Mark Twain starring Hal Holbrook, throughout New England including Worcester, Springfield, Portland, Maine and Boston. Aside from his work operating North Shore Music Theatre, one of Bill's crowning achievements was the 2007 purchase and re-opening of Theatre By The Sea, a landmark 500 seat professional summer theatre and restaurant, which just completed its eleventh year of operation in Matunuck, RI (theatrebythesea.com). Throughout his career, Bill has stayed focused on his movie theatre chain having bought, built, owned, operated and sold more than 30 cinemas. His company, Entertainment Cinemas, currently operates seven movie complexes in four states. In 2009, Bill was elected President of the Theatre Owners of New England. Bill's ongoing work with NSMT inspires him to consider acquiring additional performance venues at which he plans to someday share his productions between his theatres. Bill was recently named a 2017 North Shore Distinguished Leader by the North Shore Chamber of Commerce as well as previously receiving their North Shore Top 100 honor. In 2012, he was recognized by both the Beverly Chamber of Commerce and Salem Chamber of Commerce as Business Person of the Year. He is the recipient of the 2015 Leslie S. Ray Hall of Fame Award, presented by the Greater Beverly Chamber of Commerce. Bill is a member of the League of Broadway Producers and was involved with the recent revival of Pippin. Tom Amos (Associate Producer) is excited to return to North Shore Music Theatre in his role as Associate Producer. Joining in 2005, Tom began in the Electrics Department and quickly moved into Company Management. Prior to working at NSMT, Tom received his Bachelor's Degree from Westfield State University and his Masters in Arts Administration from Boston University. Tom's passion for theatre and social justice issues motivated him to establish a LGBT Scholarship fund at Westfield State University where he created a Social Justice Theatre program to raise funds needed to maintain the scholarship. A big thank you to Bill, Kevin, Karen for their support and guidance. Actors' Equity Association (AEA), founded in 1913, represents more than 45,000 actors and stage managers in the United States. Equity seeks to advance, promote and foster the art of live theatre as an essential component of our society. Equity negotiates wages and working conditions, providing a wide range of benefits, including health and pension plans. AEA is a member of the AFL-CIO, and is affiliated with FIA, an international organization of performing arts unions. The Equity emblem is our mark of excellence. www.actorsequity.org North Shore Music Theatre (NSMT) Since 1955, NSMT has become one of the most attended theatres in New England, with approximately 250,000 patrons annually. With a national and regional reputation for artistic achievement, NSMT has received numerous industry awards including Elliot Norton Awards, IRNE Awards, the Rosetta Le Noire Award from Actors' Equity, and the Moss Hart Award. NSMT produced the World Premiere of Memphis in 2003, the show went on to win four 2010 Tony® Awards including Best Musical. Under the new ownership of Bill Hanney in 2010, NSMT continues to annually produce a musical subscription series and an annual production of A Christmas Carol along with celebrity concerts and children's programming. |
