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Rose Hemingway (Belle) is delighted to be making her NSMT debut! Past favorite roles include, (Broadway) Rosemary, How to Succeed...; (Nat'l Tour) Lauren, Kinky Boots; Sophie, Mamma Mia; (Regional) Dallas Theatre Center: Misty Mae, Moonshine, That Hee Haw Musical; Weston Playhouse: Molly, Peter and the Starcatcher, The Old Globe: Hazel, Time and the Conways, Mark Taper Forum: Mary Phagan, Parade. (TV) "Blue Bloods", "The Mob Doctor". Love to Geoffrey.
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Stephen Cerf (Beast) is making his NSMT debut! Broadway/Tours: Jersey Boys, Motown the Musical, Spamalot, and Rock of Ages. Off-Broadway: Nevermore: The Imaginary Life and Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe, That Bachelorette Show. Regional Theaters: The Denver Center, Weston Playhouse, Arvada Center, John W. Engeman Theater, Oqunquit Playhouse, New Bedford Festival Theater, Reagle Music Theater, and Surflight Theater. As an author, he wrote The Not So Starving Artist, a book on finances and investing for performers, and has been a guest columnist for financial advice for Backstage.com. Stephen attended the Boston Conservatory’s musical theater program and is a proud member of Actors Equity. Follow him @cerfsup on instagram and visit www.stephencerf.com for more info. To God be the glory!
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David Coffee (Maurice) returns to NSMT for his 24th season and his 54th production! Local accolades include 2 IRNE Awards for his work with NSMT (where his Scrooge has become a New England tradition), a Tribute Evening given by the theatre and having the green room named in his honor. In his home state of Texas, David has been honored by the DFW Critics’ Forum and Column Awards for his work with the (Tony Award winning) Dallas Theater Center and the Trinity Shakespeare Festival as well as receiving the Elston Brooks Lifetime Achievement Award from the Live Theatre League of Tarrant County. www.DavidCoffee.org
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Taylor Crousore (Gaston) is excited to be making his NSMT debut! Recently, Taylor was in The Blueprint Specials, a collection of long lost WWII musicals written by Frank Loesser as a part of The Public’s UTR Festival. Taylor’s Off-Broadway credits include Forbidden Broadway: Comes Out Swinging, and NEWSical The Musical! Regional credits include Peter Pan (Captain Hook), The Music Man (Harold Hill), and Angels in America (Joe Pitt). Taylor is also a stand up comedian and impressionist. One of his proudest accomplishments was having his comedy short The SheetWOW, screened at the Cannes Film Festival. How that happened… he still doesn’t know. Special thanks to Michael Heitzman and everyone at NSMT, Binder Casting, and the love of his life, Jamie Anderson and their puppy Emma!
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Joy Hermalyn (Madame de la Grande Bouche) has been performing professionally since the age of 8! A long time! Thrilled to return to NSMT after debut in A Little Night Music. Broadway/Off-Bway credits: Fiddler on the Roof (Fruma Sarah/Yente), Cyrano The Musical (Chaperone), Candide (Old Lady u/s), A Christmas Carol (Mrs. Fezziwig/Mrs. Cratchit), Baz Luhrmann’s production of Puccini’s La Boheme, Maury Yeston’s Death Takes a Holiday, numerous Encores! productions at City Center in NY and most recently was acclaimed for Gertrude in Hamlet – A Version, a play by Boris Akunin. Carnegie Hall performances include Sister Berthe in The Sound of Music and Kristine, by Andersson & Ulvaeus (ABBA). Opera/Concerts from Alaska-France-Italy-Oklahoma- Utah. Recent and favorite credits: Sweeney Todd (NY Philharmonic/PBS Live from Lincoln Center starring Emma Thompson); “The Sound of Music - Live!” on NBC with Carrie Underwood; Seven Deadly Sins - New York City Ballet (standby for LuPone); Sweeney Todd - Mrs. Lovett with Norm Lewis - Casa Manana; Gypsy (Rose); Into the Woods (Witch); Encompass New Opera Theatre’s Wake or a Wedding; and Goodspeed’s Fiddler on the Roof (Fruma/performed Yente). Joy teaches Voice/Song Interpretation at Yale University in the Shen Curriculum for Musical Theatre, at Kean University and privately in NYC/NJ. Proud mom, yogi, francophile and member of AEA/SAG-AFTRA/AGMA. Come visit www.JoyHermalyn.com!
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Benjamin Howes (Lumiere) is thrilled to be returning to NSMT after his show-stopping turn as the evil, little Lord Farquaad in Shrek The Musical. Originally from Australia, he has appeared on Broadway in Mary Poppins, Scandalous and theatre crowd favorite [title of show], and Off Broadway, most recently in The View Upstairs. Regional credits include A.R.T. in the award winning The Shape She Makes, Goodspeed Opera House, The Old Globe and Pittsburgh Public among many others. Film: Miles, Easter Mysteries, Stalled. TV: “Law and Order: Criminal Intent”, “Flight of the Conchords”, “One Life To Live”. Favorite roles include Professor Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady, Lord Evelyn Oakleigh in Anything Goes, Luther Billis in South Pacific, and Albin in La Cage Aux Folles. Follow @benjthestar, more info at benjaminhowes.com
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Andrew Kruep (Lefou) is ecstatic to be making his NSMT debut! Off Broadway: Big River (New York City Center Encores!) National Tours: Elf the Musical (The Kennedy Center, Madison Square Garden), Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (Madison Square Garden), and Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. Other credits include Fulton Theatre, Stages St. Louis, Northern Stage, and The Joyce SoHo. Special thanks to Jay Binder and the entire NSMT team for this opportunity! Also to everyone at CLA, and friends and family for all their support.
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Ryah Nixon (Babette) is très excitè to be making her North Shore Music Theatre debut! She recently starred alongside Rose Hemingway (Belle) in the world premiere of Moonshine: That Heehaw Musical at the Dallas Theatre Center. She played Doralee in the Broadway nat'l tour of Dolly Partons 9 to 5 the musical. Other favorite roles: Legally Blonde (Paulette), Rent (Maureen), Million Dollar Quartet (Dyanne). Ryah can be heard on the cast album "LIZZIE" for Broadway Records. TV: “Louie,” “Head Games.” Proud graduate of the Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama. Much love and thanks to Michael, CGF, and my family.
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Christiane Noll (Mrs. Potts). Broadway/Tour: Elf (MSG), Chaplin (Drama Desk nom), Ragtime (Tony & Drama Desk nom, Helen Hayes award), Urinetown (Ovation award), The Mambo Kings, …Nothin But The Blues, Jekyll & Hyde, (FANY award), Grease, Miss Saigon, City of Angels. Film & TV: The Good Fight (CBS), The Sound of Music Live (NBC), The King & I (Singing Anna). Other: Next to Normal (CT Critics Circle award, NYC bound), Follies (STL Critics award), 1776 (Encores!), Mary Poppins, Closer than Ever (Off-Bway Alliance award), Ace (Helen Hayes nom), Witches of Eastwick, Frankenstein, New Moon (Encores!), Mack & Mabel (CT Critics Cir award), Lizzie Borden (Goodspeed), Lincoln Center “American Songbook Series.” Symphony Guest Soloist with over 100 orchestras worldwide. Opera: Washington National Opera, opposite Placido Domingo. Five solo cds. www.christianenoll.com
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Phillip Taratula (Cogsworth). New York theater includes: Tink! (NYMF); Empire Travel Agency (Woodshed Collective); Two Gentlemen of Verona (Urban Stages); The Deepest Play Ever (Collaboration Town/New Ohio); Taylor Mac's The Lily's Revenge (HERE); The World is Round (Ripe Time); Accidentally, Like a Martyr (Wild Project); workshops/readings at Ars Nova, Lincoln Center, Atlantic Theatre Co., etc. Regional credits include Hound of the Baskervilles (Gulfshore Playhouse); Wellesley Girl (Humana Festival); Out of Sterno (Portland Stage Co.); The King Stag (Williamstown Theatre Festival); The George Place (W.H.A.T.). Opera: Die Fledermaus (Metropolitan Opera, Frosch u/s); The Soldier's Tale (Castleton Festival, Lorin Maazel, conductor). TV: "The Outs" (Vimeo Original Programming). BFA, Boston University School of Theatre. Thanks to everyone at Binder casting.
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Ben Choi-Harris (Chip) is thrilled to return to NSMT for this amazing production! Ben recently performed here in The Music Man, and at Wheelock Family Theatre in Charlotte’s Web, Billy Elliot The Musical, Akeelah and the Bee, A Year with Frog and Toad, and The Trumpet of the Swan. Sincere gratitude to NSMT for ‘being your guest’ this season and for not ‘making me sleep in the cupboard’, and especially for the opportunity to join this terrific cast and production team!
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Katie Anderson (Ensemble, u/s Madame de la Grande Bouche, Dance Captain) is making her NSMT debut! Favorite regional: Annie Get Your Gun (u/s Annie Oakley), Fulton Opera House; The Rocky Horror Show (Columbia), Buck's County Playhouse; Cabaret (Cape Playhouse); Oklahoma! (u/s Ado Annie), Merry-Go-Round Playhouse; White Christmas (Rita), Syracuse Stage; Legally Blonde (Margot). Syracuse University BFA. Tremendous thanks to Binder Casting, Lisa, Michael, and the NSMT team for this opportunity. Thank you to CESD, and my loving and supportive family. All my love to Zack.
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Ben Cullen (Pepper, Ensemble, s/c Beast, s/c Gaston) just can't be kept out of the provincial town! National Tour: Beauty and the Beast (U/S Beast & Gaston). Regional: Beauty and the Beast (Arrow Rock Lyceum; Gaston), White Christmas (Arts Center of Coastal Carolina), Les Misérables (The Fulton; Foreman, Courfeyrac), Joseph…Dreamcoat (The Fulton; Naphtali), The Wedding Singer (Glen Guglia). Proud Penn State alumnus; WE ARE! Many thanks to Margaret Emory of SW Artists for crushing it! @Built_by_Ben, www.BenCullenWalker.com
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Mark DiConzo (Bookseller, Salt, D’Arque, Ensemble, u/s Maurice) is elated to be returning home to New England for his NSMT debut! TV: (STARZ): "Power," (ABC): "Person of Interest," "Elementary," "Ugly Betty," "Six Degrees," (NBC): "Lipstick Jungle," "30 Rock." FILM: Mark stars in, choreographed, and produced the award-winning original movie musical, How Do You Write a Joe Schermann Song. His next feature that he stars in and produced, Among Us, releases this summer on Netflix. Broadway Tours: The Producers. Off-Bway: The Bonus Army (choreographer/Douglas MacArthur), The Best of Lerner and Loewe (Carnegie Hall, soloist), Benjamin Button at the York! (Character Man). Regional: South Pacific (Stages St. Louis; Billis), Priscilla (Ogunquit/Gateway; Frank/Dance Captain/Tick u/s), Billy Elliot (Maltz Jupiter; Scab), South Pacific (Riverside; Stewpot), Les Miserables (Javert), The Little Mermaid (King Triton), Miss Saigon (Engineer), Guys and Dolls (Sky Masterson). Other: Chicago (Billy Flynn) and Saturday Night Fever (Monty/Frank Sr.), both for Royal Caribbean Productions. Mark recently premiered his solo big band show, “It Had to Be You” touring the west coast and is also an FAA certified drone pilot and aerial photographer. Love to his wife Kelly, friends, and family! Thanks to Binder Casting and everyone at Judy Boals Inc. www.markdiconzo.com.
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Briana Fallon (Ensemble) is overjoyed to return to her home theatre, NSMT! Previous NSMT credits: Mary Poppins, Singin' in the Rain, Billy Elliot, Saturday Night Fever. Off-B’way: Anything Goes and Funny Face (Dance Captain). Regional: Theatre by the Sea, Arts Center of Coastal Carolina. BFA from The Boston Conservatory. Many thanks to Kevin, Bill, Michael, Lisa, Rick, BlocNYC, and Binder Casting for this great opportunity. Thanks to Mom, Dad, David, and family for their endless love and support.
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Joshua Gillespie (Youth Ensemble, s/c Chip), age 9, from Wilmington, MA, is thrilled once again to be returning to North Shore Music Theatre. Joshua's previous shows include performing in The Music Man and A Christmas Carol at NSMT for the past two seasons (Tiny Tim 2016, Iggy/Want 2015). He would like to thank everyone involved in this production as well as his friends and family for all their support.
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Heather Klobukowski (Enchantress, Ensemble) is excited to be making her NSMT debut. She has been seen in The Producers National Tour, the LifeBall in Vienna, Austria, Chicago at Woodminster Amphitheatre (Mona), and on the Amazon Series “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.” Heather received her BFA in Dance from San Jose State University. I am so thankful for my team, Mom, Dad, Andrew and Lucille! www.heatherklobukowski.com @heatherklobukowski
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Justin Ronald Mock (Wolf, Ensemble), a native Pittsburgher, is thrilled to be performing with NSMT! Justin is fresh off a two-year run with Third Rail Projects critically acclaimed show, Then She Fell. Previous Dance Companies include, Hubbard Street 2, Hou Ying Dance Theatre, Peridance Contemporary Dance Co. Thanks to Baker Management. Love to Mom, Dad and the entire family!
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Cam Perrin (Young Prince, Ensemble) just finished Music Man at NSMT! Previous NSMT performances include A Christmas Carol 15’ and 16’ seasons and Singin’ in the Rain. Cam attends Tyngsboro High School and has done many performances with Boston Children’s Theatre that include; The Velveteen Rabbit (Velveteen Rabbit), Flat Stanley (Arthur), and Fancy Nancy ( Lionel). Weston Drama Worksop performances include; Urinetown (Hot Blades Harry) and Pinocchio. Many thanks to NSMT, BCT, Mr. G, and my family!
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Tyler Roberts (Wolf, Ensemble, s/c D’Arque) is honored to be returning back to NSMT. He was last seen staking his mark in NSMT’s West Side Story. Previous shows include: A Chorus Line, Cats, Carousel, Hello, Dolly! and David & Lisa. Tyler would like to thank Bill, Kevin, Tom, Michael, Lisa, and everyone at NSMT for this wonderful opportunity. Tyler is a proud graduate of Wagner College. Much love to family, friends, and LDC!!
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Sydney Mei Ruf-Wong (Silly Girl, Ensemble) is honored to return to NSMT after last season’s beloved West Side Story. Originally a midwest gal (BFA in Musical Theatre, UW-Milwaukee), Sydney currently resides in NYC when she’s not sailing over the ocean as an aerialist for Royal Caribbean or traveling for tango festivals. Most recently Anita in The Wick Theatre’s West Side Story, other credits include Theatre By The Sea, Anabella Lenzu DanceDrama, and Silva Dance. Huge thanks to NSMT and her eccentrically inspirational family!”
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David Visini (Wolf, Ensemble, s/c Lumiere, s/c Cogsworth) is thrilled to return to NSMT! Previous NSMT credits include Funny Girl, Singin' in the Rain, and Spamalot. Off Bway: Anything Goes (Musicals Tonight!). Other Regional Credits include Finger Lakes Musical Theatre, Gateway Playhouse, and Forestburgh Playhouse. BFA from Rider University, and alumni of the School at Jacobs Pillow. Thanks to CTG, Kevin, Bill, Michael, Lisa, Rick, and Binder Casting for this opportunity. Thanks to family, Briana, and friends for their support!
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Caitlin Wilayto (Silly Girl, Ensemble, u/s Mrs. Potts) is originally from Pepperell MA where she grew up seeing shows at NSMT and watching Disney movies on repeat! Needless to say, she is so excited to be a part of this cast! Her credits include Judy in A Chorus Line (Riverside Theater), June in Gypsy (Coastal Carolina), Roxie in Chicago (Mac Haydn Theatre) and Janice in Come From Away (Goodspeed Musicals). She thanks her family, friends, KG and BPS for their love and support! Hartt '13 @caitwilayt
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Daisy Wright (Silly Girl, Ensemble, u/s Belle, u/s Babette) is thrilled to be making her NSMT debut in one of her favorite shows! Daisy’s regional credits include: Hello, Dolly! (Minnie Fay), Oklahoma! (US Ado Annie), Mamma Mia! (Ali/US Sophie), 42nd Street, West Side Story - Music Theatre Wichita. The Wizard of Oz (Ensemble) - The Muny. Daisy is a proud graduate of the University of Oklahoma. She sends her love to her family, and her thanks to NSMT for making her Disney dreams come true!
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David Wright (Carpet, Ensemble, s/c Lefou) is a Los Angeles, California native. University of California, Irvine for Music Theatre is excited to make his debut here at NSMT. David recently finished his first National Tour of R&H Cinderella as Male Swing/Fox, Footman. Recent credits include: Tangled the Musical, Disney Dreams: An Enchanted Classic, and the Magic Carpet in Disney’s Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular. David is excited and honored to join the cast of Beauty and the Beast! Entelechy! @dawright1
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Alan Menken (Composer) heater: God Bless You Mr. Rosewater, Little Shop Of Horrors, Real Life Funnies, Atina: Evil Queen Of The Galaxy, Kicks, The Apprenticeship Of Duddy Kravitz, Beauty And The Beast, A Christmas Carol, Weird Romance, King David, Der Glöckner Von Notre Dame, The Little Mermaid, Sister Act, Leap Of Faith, Aladdin and Newsies. Film: Little Shop Of Horrors, The Little Mermaid, Beauty And The Beast, Newsies, Aladdin, Pocahontas, The Hunchback Of Notre Dame, Hercules, Life With Mikey, Lincoln, Home On The Range, Noel, Enchanted, Shaggy Dog, Tangled and Mirror Mirror. Songs: Rocky V, Home Alone 2 and Captain America. Awards: 8 Oscars (19 nominations), 11 Grammys (including Song of the Year), 7 Golden Globes, Tony (plus 4 nominations), Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, New York Drama Critics, Olivier and London’s Evening Standard Award, Drama League. Honors: Songwriter’s Hall of Fame, Doctorates from New York University and University of North Carolina School of the Arts.
Howard Ashman (Lyrics) conceived, wrote and directed Little Shop of Horrors, based on Roger Corman’s 1960-era horror flick, with music by Alan Menken. Little Shop played for five years off-Broadway at the Orpheum Theater. The show continues to be produced to great acclaim in the U.S. as well as internationally. In 2003, Little Shop was revived on Broadway and in 2007 it was revived on the West End. It is currently one of the most produced shows in American High Schools. In 1986, Ashman wrote and directed the Broadway musical, Smile, music by Marvin Hamlisch. Little appreciated at the time, Smile is now considered a lost gem of musical theater and is performed by high school students around the U.S. Turning his talents toward film, Ashman was pivotal in the renaissance of Disney animated musicals and in the development of Disney’s The Little Mermaid (Producer and Lyrics), Beauty and the Beast (Executive Producer and Lyrics) and Aladdin (Lyrics), all with music by Alan Menken. Ashman’s contributions to the revival of classic Disney animated musicals were perhaps best expressed by the dedication to the film Beauty and the Beast: “To our friend Howard, who gave a mermaid her voice and a beast his soul. He will be forever missed.” Ashman’s numerous awards include two Oscars, two Golden Globes, four Grammys, a Drama Desk and a London Evening Standard. He died in 1991 at age 40 from complications arising from AIDS. Ashman Sings Ashman, a CD of his work, with never-before-heard demos, including those from Smile, is available from PS Classics. Ashman’s papers are in the permanent collection of the Library of Congress.
Tim Rice (Lyrics) (Sir Tim to you), has been writing lyrics for musical theatre and related enterprises for over forty years, something he only intended to do for a few months while waiting to become a pop star. The waiting has been extended, mainly because of the world’s failure to accept him as a rock god, but also because of the distracting success of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita with Andrew Lloyd Webber, Aladdin, King David and Beauty and the Beast with Alan Menken, Chess with Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson, and The Lion King and Aida with Elton John. He is well known in England, his home country, for his love of cricket and as a tolerable radio and television personality. He has won numerous awards along the way, including Oscars, Tonys and life-saving badges, but often for the wrong thing and often for simply turning up. He is currently working on a musical play about Machiavelli, and is plugging the recently released DVD and album of Chess in Concert starring Josh Groban, Idina Menzel and Adam Pascal. More gripping info can be found on www.timrice.co.uk but please don’t feel obliged to go there.
Linda Woolverton (Book) While working as a development executive at CBS, Linda Woolverton wrote two young adult novels: Star Wind and Running Before the Wind. After her books were published by Houghton Mifflin, she began to write full time. She started by writing scripts for animated television shows. When one of her novels caught the attention of a Disney executive, she was hired to write the script for the animated feature, Beauty and the Beast. Upon its release in 1991, the film won the Golden Globe for the best comedy/musical and became the first animated film to be nominated for the best picture Academy Award. Woolverton was then hired to write the screenplay for The Lion King. She then rewrote the script for Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey as well as writing on the animated feature Mulan. She went on to adapt the script of Beauty and the Beast for the Broadway stage and received the Tony Award nomination for best book of a musical in 1994. Woolverton was also awarded the Laurence Oliver Award for Beauty and the Beast for best new musical in the U.K. Beauty and the Beast ran between 1994 and 2007, becoming the eighth longest running show in Broadway history. She also wrote the book for Elton John and Tim Rice’s musical Aida which ran for five years at the Palace Theatre. In 2008, Linda received a lifetime achievement award from the Writers Guild of America-Animation Writers Caucus for her longtime work in the field of animation. Linda Woolverton’s script for Alice In Wonderland, directed by Tim Burton and starring Johnny Depp, was released in March of 2010. The film grossed over one billion dollars worldwide. Woolverton’s screenplay for Disney’s Maleficent starring Angelina Jolie was released in May of 2014 and became a worldwide success. She recently completed Through the Looking Glass for Disney, which is in production in the UK, and is currently working on a television pilot based on the Jean Auel’s novel, The Clan of the Cave Bear.
Michael Heitzman (Director) is honored to be returning to NSMT having previously directed Shrek and Disney's The Little Mermaid, which received seven of Boston’s IRNE Award nominations, including Best Director. Recent directing credits include Big River and Legally Blonde at Sacramento Music Circus, and Buyer & Cellar at The Mason Street Warehouse. He is also the director and co-writer of VICES: A Love Story (8 Jefferson Award nominations, including Best Director), and just finished his eighth year directing The Lucille Lortel Awards which celebrates excellence Off-Broadway. This fall he will direct 42nd Street at The Drury Lane Theatre in Chicago. Other credits: Associate Director Disney’s Beauty and the Beast/Moscow, Paris and Amsterdam and The Little Mermaid/Paper Mill Playhouse, Pittsburgh CLO, Dallas Summer Musicals and Houston TUTS. A 2009 Dramatist Guild Fellow, he and writing partner Ilene Reid are co-writers and received a Grammy nomination for their song “Throw That Girl Around” from the Broadway musical Swing! Their original musical Solana will receive a workshop in NYC this fall and they are currently writing the musical adaptation of the novel Genius by Patrick Dennis. Their musical Bingo (The Winning Musical), written with David Holcenberg had a successful Off-Broadway run and is licensed by Samuel French. www.michaelheitzman.com
Lisa Shriver (Choreographer) is thrilled to be a part of NSMT this season. Selected Broadway credits include Jesus Christ Superstar (2012 Revival), The Farnsworth Invention (by Aaron Sorkin), and The Story of my Life. In addition, Lisa was the Assistant Choreographer on over 10 Broadway productions including, The Producers, Oklahoma, Into the Woods and Titanic. Regional and Off-Broadway credits include Caesar and Cleopatra with Christopher Plummer, The Scottish Play, and The Tempest, also with Christopher Plummer at The Stratford Shakespeare Festival, Fetch Clay, Make Man (McCarter Theatre and NYTW), Yellowface (The Public), Sideways (La Jolla Playhouse) and the critically acclaimed production of Fiasco Theatre’s Into the Woods. The reimagined production was produced at the McCarter Theatre, The Old Globe, Roundabout (Off-Broadway), In addition to her theatre work, Lisa Shriver has worked extensively in film and TV. Her choreography credits include the Oscar winning film, A Beautiful Mind, Hysterical Blindness (HBO), starring Uma Thurman and Juliette Lewis, and the motion-capture film, A Christmas Carol, starring Jim Carrey and directed by Robert Zemeckis. She was also the Assistant Choreographer on Mr. Zemeckis' The Polar Express, Mixed Nuts w/ Steve Martin and the dance cult hit, Center Stage. She choreographed Bill Murray’s A Very Murray Christmas (Netflix), directed by Sofia Coppola, the Season 3 Finale of Broad City w/Adam Levine and the Season 2 premiere of The Detour (TBS). Lisa holds a BA in History and a BFA in Dance Performance from Southern Methodist University. Her work on this production is inspired by her favorite Disney princess, her daughter, Viola.
Rick Fox (Music Direction). Music director/conductor/supervisor for over 100 theatrical productions in the U.S. and Canada., most recently The Secret Garden, STC, D.C. and 5th Ave, Seattle. Mr. Fox’s Broadway credits include Doctor Zhivago, Jesus Christ Superstar (2012), Rent and Blood Brothers. He was Director of Music for the Stratford Shakespeare Festival of Canada 2008- 2013. Shows as Music Director/Conductor include West Side Story, Evita, Cabaret, Tommy. He contributed new orchestrations for the Statford productions of Cabaret, Jacques Brel, Evita, Kiss Me Kate and composed scores for Stratford productions including Des McAnuff’s acclaimed Caesar and Cleopatra starring Christopher Plummer. Music Director for Canadian Premieres (Toronto): The Lion King, The Producers, Rent, The Who’s Tommy, We Will Rock You, and Phantom of the Opera starring Colm Wilkinson U.S. regionals includes Goodspeed, La Jolla Playhouse, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Dallas Theatre Center, Arena Stage (Smokey Joe’s Cafe). Festivals include Williamstown Festival, NAMT, Charlottetown Festival, New York Stage and Film. He provided music direction, arrangements and orchestrations for Colm Wilkinson and Patti LuPone PBS special filmed at New York’s famed Hammerstein Ballroom and music direction and orchestrations for Tony Award winner Brent Carver’s acclaimed one man show. As a music producer, Mr. Fox has produced numerous CDs for artists such as Chilina Kennedy, Cynthia Dale and Bruce Dow. Mr. Fox is a nine time Dora Award (Toronto theatre awards) nominee for Outstanding Music Direction (four-time winner). He is the recipient of the Bob Tilles Music Chair – Chicago and a Broadwayworld.com music direction (Jesus Christ Superstar) Website: rickfoxmusic.com
Stephen Dobay (Scenic Design). Previously at NSMT: Funny Girl. Fiddler on the Roof (NewRep) Grease, Jekyll and Hyde, 1776, God of Carnage, Miracle on 34th Street (Engeman) Come Back Little Sheba (Huntington), Our Town (Huntington, Almeida Theatre London, Broad Stage, Kansas City Rep). NYC credits: Under My Skin (Little Shubert Theatre), Adult (Abrons Arts Center), The Realists (HERE), The Cottage (Queens Theatre in the Park), Gidion’s Knot (59E59 Theaters), Holy Crap!! (La MaMa), and Allegro, The Cottage, Blood Brothers, A Hard Wall at High Speed, and The Pillowman (APAC). www.stephendobay.com
John Burkland (Lighting Design) is thrilled to be working at NSMT New York: Lincoln Center Institute, Peter Jay Sharp, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Fourth Universalist Society, Alice Tully Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, DR2, La Mama E.T.C., Sonnet Repertory, NYU Strasberg, HB Playwrights Studio, Guggenheim Arts and Process, The Blue Heron Arts Center, Flushing Town Hall, NYC Fringe, New York Musical Theater Festival, and The Summer Play Festival. Regional: Paper Mill Playhouse, Quintessence Theater Group, Northern Stage, Opera Tampa, Studio Theater, Studio Theater 2ND Stage, Long Acre Lea, Studio Lab, Critical Threat Theater, Theater Alliance, Washington Shakespeare Company, MetroStage, Rorschach Theater, The John F. Kennedy Center, Luna Stage, The Bay Theater, Williamstown Theater Festival, Source Theater, The Actors Theater of Atlanta, Bellingham Theater Guild, Andrea Dance, Big Apple Circus to Go, and the Dance Gallery among others. Education: North Carolina School of the Arts.
Ryan J Moller (Original Costume Design) holds his MFA from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, and a BA from Rockford University. Now based in New York, his designs can be seen around the country. He has been awarded the USITT Midwest Section Founders Award, Won the Innovative Theatre Award for Outstanding Costume Design (The Drowsy Chaperone, 2010), Nominated for a Broadway World Award (Twelve Angry Men, 2013), and nominated for the Innovative Theatre Award for Outstanding Costume Design for his work on the premiere production of The Cottage in 2014. He has worked with: The Metropolitan Opera, The Santa Fe Opera, Broadway Cares Equity Fights Aids, The Fulton Theatre, Norwegian Cruise Line, The John W. Engeman Theatre, Maine State Music Theatre, The Childrens Theatre of Charlotte, Araca Project, The New York Musical Theatre Festival, Westchester Broadway Theatre, Sierra Repertory Theatre, Primary Stages, Prospect Theatre, Gallery Players, Astoria Performing Arts Center, Troika Entertainment, GALA Hispanic Theatre, The Acting Company, Premiere Stages, The Herb Strauss Theatre, and The National Theatre of Bermuda.
Sandra Pelletier (Costume Coordination and Additional Costume Design) is very excited to be part of the Beauty and the Beast team. She has been working at NSMT since 2008 as a Costume Intern, then as Wardrobe Supervisor, and now as the Costume Coordinator. She’d like to thank her parents for taking her to shows at NSMT while growing up and instilling in her a love of theatre, and also thanks to Catherine, James, Jessie, Kat and Kelly for all your support. Most importantly love and thanks to Aaron Tobey, Happy 1st Anniversary.
Don Hanna (Sound Design) is happy to be returning to North Shore Music Theatre, where past credits include West Side Story, Monty Python's Spamalot, and Billy Elliot. Other notable credits include: Disney's Beauty and the Beast (Sound Design, Ogunquit Playhouse), Priscilla Queen of the Desert Regional Premier (Sound Designer, Gateway Playhouse/Ogunquit Playhouse), The Million Dollar Quartet (Sound Designer, Gateway Playhouse), Saturday Night Fever Regional Premiere (Sound Designer, Gateway Playhouse), Billy Elliot (Sound Designer, Gateway Playhouse), Rock of Ages Regional Premier (Sound Designer,Gateway Playhouse), Young Frankenstein Regional Premiere (Sound Designer, Gateway Playhouse/Ogunquit Playhouse). Touring Credits include: Pippin (Associate Sound Designer/Head audio, Apex Touring), (Fame The Musical (Sound Design), The Million Dollar Quartet National Tour (Head Audio), Smokey Joes Cafe 20th Anniversary Tour (Head Audio). Don is a freelance Sound Designer and Engineer in the NY Tristate area. Other freelance production includes Frontier Show Productions, The Engman Theatre, Shades of Buble: A Three Man Tribute to Michael Buble, among others. A special thank you to my friends and family for their continual love and support
Gerard Kelly (Wig and Hair 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.
Dena Olivieri (Makeup Design) is thrilled and honored to join the creative team of Beauty and the Beast at NSMT. Being a NYC based TV & Film artist, moving her artistic mind to a Disney production has been an amazing creative outreach. Not to mention … she’s a Disney fanatic. Dena is profoundly grateful for director Michael Heitzman and NSMT for this opportunity. She would like to thank her parents for always letting her pursue her dreams as well as her grandfather for instilling her love for theater. www.DenaOlivieri.com
Natalie A. Lynch (Production Stage Manager). With NSMT: 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 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.
Luke Flood (Assistant Music Director) happily returns to North Shore Music Theatre for his fifth season! Previously at NSMT: The Music Man, Mary Poppins, Sister Act, Billy Elliot, Disney’s The Little Mermaid, and The Wizard of Oz. National Tours (as a sub): The Sound of Music, Kinky Boots and Sister Act. Other recent regional credits include Sister Act, Billy Elliot (Gateway Playhouse), Carousel, and Wonderful Town (Reagle Music Theatre). He holds a BM in Piano Performance from UMass Amherst and is currently pursuing an MM in Orchestral Conducting from the University of Cincinnati – CCM.
Binder Casting (Casting) Upcoming projects include: Intermission, Austen’s Pride, When Pigs Fly, Southern Rapture. Broadway includes: In Transit, Lion King, Dames at Sea, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder, , Nice Work If You Can Get It, Born Yesterday, The Miracle Worker, Finian’s Rainbow, Brighton Beach Memoirs, A Chorus Line, Gypsy, The 39 Steps, White Christmas, Is He Dead?, Inherit The Wind, Journey’s End, Butley, Virginia Woolf, Sweet Charity, Wonderful Town, Movin’ Out, 42nd Street, Music Man, Iceman Cometh, Charlie Brown, Sound of Music, Beauty & the Beast, Last Night of Ballyhoo, Chicago, King & I, Damn Yankees, Lost in Yonkers, Jake’s Women, Jerome Robbins’ Broadway, The Goodbye Girl. Film/TV: Dreamgirls, Chicago, Nine, Hairspray, Carousel (PBS/NY Phil), Six by Sondheim (HBO). Regional/Other: Hartford Stage (currently 5th season), NY City Center Encores!, Twelve–time Artios Award winner. Part of RWS Entertainment Group.
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 is beginning 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 has been named to the North Shore Top 100 by the North Shore Chamber of Commerce. 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.
Kevin P. Hill (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.
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.
Music Theatre International (MTIShows.com) is one of the world’s leading theatrical licensing agencies, granting schools as well as amateur and professional theatres from around the world the rights to perform the largest selection of great musicals from Broadway and beyond. MTI works directly with the composers, lyricists and book writers of these shows to provide official scripts, musical materials and dynamic theatrical resources to over 60,000 theatrical organizations in the U.S. and in over 60 countries worldwide
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.
Howard Ashman (Lyrics) conceived, wrote and directed Little Shop of Horrors, based on Roger Corman’s 1960-era horror flick, with music by Alan Menken. Little Shop played for five years off-Broadway at the Orpheum Theater. The show continues to be produced to great acclaim in the U.S. as well as internationally. In 2003, Little Shop was revived on Broadway and in 2007 it was revived on the West End. It is currently one of the most produced shows in American High Schools. In 1986, Ashman wrote and directed the Broadway musical, Smile, music by Marvin Hamlisch. Little appreciated at the time, Smile is now considered a lost gem of musical theater and is performed by high school students around the U.S. Turning his talents toward film, Ashman was pivotal in the renaissance of Disney animated musicals and in the development of Disney’s The Little Mermaid (Producer and Lyrics), Beauty and the Beast (Executive Producer and Lyrics) and Aladdin (Lyrics), all with music by Alan Menken. Ashman’s contributions to the revival of classic Disney animated musicals were perhaps best expressed by the dedication to the film Beauty and the Beast: “To our friend Howard, who gave a mermaid her voice and a beast his soul. He will be forever missed.” Ashman’s numerous awards include two Oscars, two Golden Globes, four Grammys, a Drama Desk and a London Evening Standard. He died in 1991 at age 40 from complications arising from AIDS. Ashman Sings Ashman, a CD of his work, with never-before-heard demos, including those from Smile, is available from PS Classics. Ashman’s papers are in the permanent collection of the Library of Congress.
Tim Rice (Lyrics) (Sir Tim to you), has been writing lyrics for musical theatre and related enterprises for over forty years, something he only intended to do for a few months while waiting to become a pop star. The waiting has been extended, mainly because of the world’s failure to accept him as a rock god, but also because of the distracting success of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita with Andrew Lloyd Webber, Aladdin, King David and Beauty and the Beast with Alan Menken, Chess with Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson, and The Lion King and Aida with Elton John. He is well known in England, his home country, for his love of cricket and as a tolerable radio and television personality. He has won numerous awards along the way, including Oscars, Tonys and life-saving badges, but often for the wrong thing and often for simply turning up. He is currently working on a musical play about Machiavelli, and is plugging the recently released DVD and album of Chess in Concert starring Josh Groban, Idina Menzel and Adam Pascal. More gripping info can be found on www.timrice.co.uk but please don’t feel obliged to go there.
Linda Woolverton (Book) While working as a development executive at CBS, Linda Woolverton wrote two young adult novels: Star Wind and Running Before the Wind. After her books were published by Houghton Mifflin, she began to write full time. She started by writing scripts for animated television shows. When one of her novels caught the attention of a Disney executive, she was hired to write the script for the animated feature, Beauty and the Beast. Upon its release in 1991, the film won the Golden Globe for the best comedy/musical and became the first animated film to be nominated for the best picture Academy Award. Woolverton was then hired to write the screenplay for The Lion King. She then rewrote the script for Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey as well as writing on the animated feature Mulan. She went on to adapt the script of Beauty and the Beast for the Broadway stage and received the Tony Award nomination for best book of a musical in 1994. Woolverton was also awarded the Laurence Oliver Award for Beauty and the Beast for best new musical in the U.K. Beauty and the Beast ran between 1994 and 2007, becoming the eighth longest running show in Broadway history. She also wrote the book for Elton John and Tim Rice’s musical Aida which ran for five years at the Palace Theatre. In 2008, Linda received a lifetime achievement award from the Writers Guild of America-Animation Writers Caucus for her longtime work in the field of animation. Linda Woolverton’s script for Alice In Wonderland, directed by Tim Burton and starring Johnny Depp, was released in March of 2010. The film grossed over one billion dollars worldwide. Woolverton’s screenplay for Disney’s Maleficent starring Angelina Jolie was released in May of 2014 and became a worldwide success. She recently completed Through the Looking Glass for Disney, which is in production in the UK, and is currently working on a television pilot based on the Jean Auel’s novel, The Clan of the Cave Bear.
Michael Heitzman (Director) is honored to be returning to NSMT having previously directed Shrek and Disney's The Little Mermaid, which received seven of Boston’s IRNE Award nominations, including Best Director. Recent directing credits include Big River and Legally Blonde at Sacramento Music Circus, and Buyer & Cellar at The Mason Street Warehouse. He is also the director and co-writer of VICES: A Love Story (8 Jefferson Award nominations, including Best Director), and just finished his eighth year directing The Lucille Lortel Awards which celebrates excellence Off-Broadway. This fall he will direct 42nd Street at The Drury Lane Theatre in Chicago. Other credits: Associate Director Disney’s Beauty and the Beast/Moscow, Paris and Amsterdam and The Little Mermaid/Paper Mill Playhouse, Pittsburgh CLO, Dallas Summer Musicals and Houston TUTS. A 2009 Dramatist Guild Fellow, he and writing partner Ilene Reid are co-writers and received a Grammy nomination for their song “Throw That Girl Around” from the Broadway musical Swing! Their original musical Solana will receive a workshop in NYC this fall and they are currently writing the musical adaptation of the novel Genius by Patrick Dennis. Their musical Bingo (The Winning Musical), written with David Holcenberg had a successful Off-Broadway run and is licensed by Samuel French. www.michaelheitzman.com
Lisa Shriver (Choreographer) is thrilled to be a part of NSMT this season. Selected Broadway credits include Jesus Christ Superstar (2012 Revival), The Farnsworth Invention (by Aaron Sorkin), and The Story of my Life. In addition, Lisa was the Assistant Choreographer on over 10 Broadway productions including, The Producers, Oklahoma, Into the Woods and Titanic. Regional and Off-Broadway credits include Caesar and Cleopatra with Christopher Plummer, The Scottish Play, and The Tempest, also with Christopher Plummer at The Stratford Shakespeare Festival, Fetch Clay, Make Man (McCarter Theatre and NYTW), Yellowface (The Public), Sideways (La Jolla Playhouse) and the critically acclaimed production of Fiasco Theatre’s Into the Woods. The reimagined production was produced at the McCarter Theatre, The Old Globe, Roundabout (Off-Broadway), In addition to her theatre work, Lisa Shriver has worked extensively in film and TV. Her choreography credits include the Oscar winning film, A Beautiful Mind, Hysterical Blindness (HBO), starring Uma Thurman and Juliette Lewis, and the motion-capture film, A Christmas Carol, starring Jim Carrey and directed by Robert Zemeckis. She was also the Assistant Choreographer on Mr. Zemeckis' The Polar Express, Mixed Nuts w/ Steve Martin and the dance cult hit, Center Stage. She choreographed Bill Murray’s A Very Murray Christmas (Netflix), directed by Sofia Coppola, the Season 3 Finale of Broad City w/Adam Levine and the Season 2 premiere of The Detour (TBS). Lisa holds a BA in History and a BFA in Dance Performance from Southern Methodist University. Her work on this production is inspired by her favorite Disney princess, her daughter, Viola.
Rick Fox (Music Direction). Music director/conductor/supervisor for over 100 theatrical productions in the U.S. and Canada., most recently The Secret Garden, STC, D.C. and 5th Ave, Seattle. Mr. Fox’s Broadway credits include Doctor Zhivago, Jesus Christ Superstar (2012), Rent and Blood Brothers. He was Director of Music for the Stratford Shakespeare Festival of Canada 2008- 2013. Shows as Music Director/Conductor include West Side Story, Evita, Cabaret, Tommy. He contributed new orchestrations for the Statford productions of Cabaret, Jacques Brel, Evita, Kiss Me Kate and composed scores for Stratford productions including Des McAnuff’s acclaimed Caesar and Cleopatra starring Christopher Plummer. Music Director for Canadian Premieres (Toronto): The Lion King, The Producers, Rent, The Who’s Tommy, We Will Rock You, and Phantom of the Opera starring Colm Wilkinson U.S. regionals includes Goodspeed, La Jolla Playhouse, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Dallas Theatre Center, Arena Stage (Smokey Joe’s Cafe). Festivals include Williamstown Festival, NAMT, Charlottetown Festival, New York Stage and Film. He provided music direction, arrangements and orchestrations for Colm Wilkinson and Patti LuPone PBS special filmed at New York’s famed Hammerstein Ballroom and music direction and orchestrations for Tony Award winner Brent Carver’s acclaimed one man show. As a music producer, Mr. Fox has produced numerous CDs for artists such as Chilina Kennedy, Cynthia Dale and Bruce Dow. Mr. Fox is a nine time Dora Award (Toronto theatre awards) nominee for Outstanding Music Direction (four-time winner). He is the recipient of the Bob Tilles Music Chair – Chicago and a Broadwayworld.com music direction (Jesus Christ Superstar) Website: rickfoxmusic.com
Stephen Dobay (Scenic Design). Previously at NSMT: Funny Girl. Fiddler on the Roof (NewRep) Grease, Jekyll and Hyde, 1776, God of Carnage, Miracle on 34th Street (Engeman) Come Back Little Sheba (Huntington), Our Town (Huntington, Almeida Theatre London, Broad Stage, Kansas City Rep). NYC credits: Under My Skin (Little Shubert Theatre), Adult (Abrons Arts Center), The Realists (HERE), The Cottage (Queens Theatre in the Park), Gidion’s Knot (59E59 Theaters), Holy Crap!! (La MaMa), and Allegro, The Cottage, Blood Brothers, A Hard Wall at High Speed, and The Pillowman (APAC). www.stephendobay.com
John Burkland (Lighting Design) is thrilled to be working at NSMT New York: Lincoln Center Institute, Peter Jay Sharp, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Fourth Universalist Society, Alice Tully Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, DR2, La Mama E.T.C., Sonnet Repertory, NYU Strasberg, HB Playwrights Studio, Guggenheim Arts and Process, The Blue Heron Arts Center, Flushing Town Hall, NYC Fringe, New York Musical Theater Festival, and The Summer Play Festival. Regional: Paper Mill Playhouse, Quintessence Theater Group, Northern Stage, Opera Tampa, Studio Theater, Studio Theater 2ND Stage, Long Acre Lea, Studio Lab, Critical Threat Theater, Theater Alliance, Washington Shakespeare Company, MetroStage, Rorschach Theater, The John F. Kennedy Center, Luna Stage, The Bay Theater, Williamstown Theater Festival, Source Theater, The Actors Theater of Atlanta, Bellingham Theater Guild, Andrea Dance, Big Apple Circus to Go, and the Dance Gallery among others. Education: North Carolina School of the Arts.
Ryan J Moller (Original Costume Design) holds his MFA from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, and a BA from Rockford University. Now based in New York, his designs can be seen around the country. He has been awarded the USITT Midwest Section Founders Award, Won the Innovative Theatre Award for Outstanding Costume Design (The Drowsy Chaperone, 2010), Nominated for a Broadway World Award (Twelve Angry Men, 2013), and nominated for the Innovative Theatre Award for Outstanding Costume Design for his work on the premiere production of The Cottage in 2014. He has worked with: The Metropolitan Opera, The Santa Fe Opera, Broadway Cares Equity Fights Aids, The Fulton Theatre, Norwegian Cruise Line, The John W. Engeman Theatre, Maine State Music Theatre, The Childrens Theatre of Charlotte, Araca Project, The New York Musical Theatre Festival, Westchester Broadway Theatre, Sierra Repertory Theatre, Primary Stages, Prospect Theatre, Gallery Players, Astoria Performing Arts Center, Troika Entertainment, GALA Hispanic Theatre, The Acting Company, Premiere Stages, The Herb Strauss Theatre, and The National Theatre of Bermuda.
Sandra Pelletier (Costume Coordination and Additional Costume Design) is very excited to be part of the Beauty and the Beast team. She has been working at NSMT since 2008 as a Costume Intern, then as Wardrobe Supervisor, and now as the Costume Coordinator. She’d like to thank her parents for taking her to shows at NSMT while growing up and instilling in her a love of theatre, and also thanks to Catherine, James, Jessie, Kat and Kelly for all your support. Most importantly love and thanks to Aaron Tobey, Happy 1st Anniversary.
Don Hanna (Sound Design) is happy to be returning to North Shore Music Theatre, where past credits include West Side Story, Monty Python's Spamalot, and Billy Elliot. Other notable credits include: Disney's Beauty and the Beast (Sound Design, Ogunquit Playhouse), Priscilla Queen of the Desert Regional Premier (Sound Designer, Gateway Playhouse/Ogunquit Playhouse), The Million Dollar Quartet (Sound Designer, Gateway Playhouse), Saturday Night Fever Regional Premiere (Sound Designer, Gateway Playhouse), Billy Elliot (Sound Designer, Gateway Playhouse), Rock of Ages Regional Premier (Sound Designer,Gateway Playhouse), Young Frankenstein Regional Premiere (Sound Designer, Gateway Playhouse/Ogunquit Playhouse). Touring Credits include: Pippin (Associate Sound Designer/Head audio, Apex Touring), (Fame The Musical (Sound Design), The Million Dollar Quartet National Tour (Head Audio), Smokey Joes Cafe 20th Anniversary Tour (Head Audio). Don is a freelance Sound Designer and Engineer in the NY Tristate area. Other freelance production includes Frontier Show Productions, The Engman Theatre, Shades of Buble: A Three Man Tribute to Michael Buble, among others. A special thank you to my friends and family for their continual love and support
Gerard Kelly (Wig and Hair 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.
Dena Olivieri (Makeup Design) is thrilled and honored to join the creative team of Beauty and the Beast at NSMT. Being a NYC based TV & Film artist, moving her artistic mind to a Disney production has been an amazing creative outreach. Not to mention … she’s a Disney fanatic. Dena is profoundly grateful for director Michael Heitzman and NSMT for this opportunity. She would like to thank her parents for always letting her pursue her dreams as well as her grandfather for instilling her love for theater. www.DenaOlivieri.com
Natalie A. Lynch (Production Stage Manager). With NSMT: 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 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.
Luke Flood (Assistant Music Director) happily returns to North Shore Music Theatre for his fifth season! Previously at NSMT: The Music Man, Mary Poppins, Sister Act, Billy Elliot, Disney’s The Little Mermaid, and The Wizard of Oz. National Tours (as a sub): The Sound of Music, Kinky Boots and Sister Act. Other recent regional credits include Sister Act, Billy Elliot (Gateway Playhouse), Carousel, and Wonderful Town (Reagle Music Theatre). He holds a BM in Piano Performance from UMass Amherst and is currently pursuing an MM in Orchestral Conducting from the University of Cincinnati – CCM.
Binder Casting (Casting) Upcoming projects include: Intermission, Austen’s Pride, When Pigs Fly, Southern Rapture. Broadway includes: In Transit, Lion King, Dames at Sea, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder, , Nice Work If You Can Get It, Born Yesterday, The Miracle Worker, Finian’s Rainbow, Brighton Beach Memoirs, A Chorus Line, Gypsy, The 39 Steps, White Christmas, Is He Dead?, Inherit The Wind, Journey’s End, Butley, Virginia Woolf, Sweet Charity, Wonderful Town, Movin’ Out, 42nd Street, Music Man, Iceman Cometh, Charlie Brown, Sound of Music, Beauty & the Beast, Last Night of Ballyhoo, Chicago, King & I, Damn Yankees, Lost in Yonkers, Jake’s Women, Jerome Robbins’ Broadway, The Goodbye Girl. Film/TV: Dreamgirls, Chicago, Nine, Hairspray, Carousel (PBS/NY Phil), Six by Sondheim (HBO). Regional/Other: Hartford Stage (currently 5th season), NY City Center Encores!, Twelve–time Artios Award winner. Part of RWS Entertainment Group.
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 is beginning 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 has been named to the North Shore Top 100 by the North Shore Chamber of Commerce. 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.
Kevin P. Hill (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.
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.
Music Theatre International (MTIShows.com) is one of the world’s leading theatrical licensing agencies, granting schools as well as amateur and professional theatres from around the world the rights to perform the largest selection of great musicals from Broadway and beyond. MTI works directly with the composers, lyricists and book writers of these shows to provide official scripts, musical materials and dynamic theatrical resources to over 60,000 theatrical organizations in the U.S. and in over 60 countries worldwide
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.
