CREATIVE BIOS

JAMES LAPINE (Book) is a playwright and director. On Broadway he has worked with Stephen Sondheim on Sunday in the Park with George; Into the Woods; and Passion. He also conceived and directed the musical review Sondheim on Sondheim. With William Finn he created Falsettos recently revived by Lincoln Center Theater; Little Miss Sunshine; Muscle; and directed Finn’s The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Other Broadway credits include his play based on Moss Hart’s memoir Act One (also LCT), Amour, The Diary of Anne Frank, Golden Child, and Dirty Blonde. He has written the plays Table Settings, Twelve Dreams, The Moment When, Fran’s Bed and Mrs. Miller Does Her Thing. Lapine has been nominated for eleven Tony Awards, winning on three occasions. He has also been the recipient of the Pulitzer Prize, SDC’s Mr. Abbott Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theater, and inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame.

STEPHEN SONDHEIM (Music & Lyrics) wrote the music and lyrics for Saturday Night (1954), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1962), Anyone Can Whistle (1964), Company (1970), Follies (1971), A Little Night Music (1973), The Frogs (1974), Pacific Overtures (1976), Sweeney Todd (1979), Merrily We Roll Along (1981), Sunday in the Park with George (1984), Into The Woods (1987), Assassins (1991), Passion (1994) and Road Show (2008) as well as lyrics for West Side Story (1957), Gypsy (1959) and Do I Hear a Waltz? (1965) and additional lyrics for Candide (1973). Anthologies of his work include Side by Side by Sondheim (1976), Marry Me a Little (1981), You’re Gonna Love Tomorrow (1983), Putting It Together (1993/99) and Sondheim on Sondheim (2010). He composed the scores of the films “Stavisky” (1974) and “Reds” (1981) and songs for “Dick Tracy” (1990) and the television production “Evening Primrose” (1966). His collected lyrics with attendant essays have been published in two volumes: “Finishing the Hat” (2010) and “Look, I Made A Hat” (2011). In 2010 Broadway’s Henry Miller’s Theatre was renamed The Stephen Sondheim Theatre in his honour; in 2019, London’s Queens Theatre was also renamed the Sondheim.

JOEL FERRELL (Director/Choreographer) is a seasoned director, choreographer, educator, and consultant based in Dallas, Texas. Mr. Ferrell has directed and choreographed extensively around the country for Dallas Theater Center, Denver Center Theater, Portland Center Stage, North Shore Music Theater, and more. Mr. Ferrell is the former Associate Artistic Director of Dallas Theater Center (2011-2019) and Artistic Director of Casa Manana Musicals (Fort Worth, TX; 1996 to 2001). His experience as both theater producer and creator has made him valuable for non-profit and commercial organizations, re-envisioning mission, purpose, and programming. Directing credits for DTC include; Cabaret, Dreamgirls, Frankenstein, Romeo andJuliet, Dividing the Estate, The Christians and many more. Ferrell has served as adjunct theater faculty for Southern Methodist University, Texas Wesleyan University, The University of North Texas, The University of Texas at Arlington, as well as teaching regularly for Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas. His acting credits include Broadway National tours, regional theater, television and film, most recently appearing in the Dallas produced film Final Dress. Ferrell is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and a proud union member of Society of Directors and Choreographers and Actor’s Equity Association

GARY ADLER (Music Director) worked on and off-Broadway in New York City for over 30 years. As a pianist and conductor, his NY credits include Avenue Q, Kinky Boots, Next to Normal, Urinetown, and The Radio City Christmas Spectacular. As a writer, Gary wrote both music and lyrics for the long-running off-Broadway musical Altar Boyz for which he received two Drama Desk nominations. Other writing credits include Disney Channel’s “Johnny and the Sprites” and a number of contributions to the “Carols for a Cure” album series. Gary has toured extensively with Telly Leung and Chita Rivera.

YU-HSUAN CHEN (Scenic Design) is a set and production designer working in theater, film and TV. Selected theater credits include: What To Send Up When It Goes Down (Playwrights Horizons), Measure For Measure (The Public Mobile Unit), Our Dear Dead Drug Lord (WP Theater / 2nd Stage), The Last of the Love Letter & The Homecoming Queen (Atlantic Theater Company, NYC) and many more. Regional theater credits include: The Supreme Leader (Dallas Theater Center, TX), What To Send Up When It Goes Down (Woolly Mammoth Theater, DC), Paradise Blue (Long Wharf Theatre, CT), Great Expectations (Everyman Theater, MD) Her design for Our Dear Dead Drug Lord won the 2020 Obie Award for Outstanding Set Design and is nominated for 2020 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Set Design. Check out more work at www.yuhsuanchendesign.com

YVONNE L. MIRANDA (Costume, Hair, Wig & Makeup Design) is excited to be back at Dallas Theater Center for her first production of Into the Woods. A USMC war veteran, she traded in her combat boots for a career in theater artistry after returning to her hometown of Dallas, Texas where she pursued degrees in fashion and stage design. Her passion for visual storytelling has led to a diverse array of work and accolades that include work in film/television and opera. She currently resides in the Chicago, IL area and has recently been nominated for a Helen Hayes Award for Best Costume Design for her work on Woolly Mammoth Theatre and Baltimore Center Stage’s co-production of Ain’t No Mo and has been named one of American Theatre’s Role Call People to Watch. www. yvonnemirandadesigns.com

SETH REISER (Lighting Design) is a New York based designer who works in theatre, opera, dance, and music. Seth was born and raised in Houston, TX. His work has been seen throughout the United States and internationally. DTC: Tigers Be Still, King Lear, Clybourne Park, A Raisin in the Sun, HAIR. NYC: The Public Theatre, Second Stage, The Pearl Theatre Company, Ensemble Studio Theatre, HERE Arts; PS 122, and many others. Regional: Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Two River Theatre Company, Portland Center Stage, Trinity Repertory, Berkeley Repertory, Seattle Repertory, The Denver Center Theatre Company, Woolly Mammoth, American Repertory Theatre, and Playmakers Repertory. He received his Bachelors Degree from Ohio Wesleyan University and MFA from NYU/Tisch School of the Arts. www.sethreiserdesign.com

JOANNA LYNNE STAUB (Sound Design) is excited to be designing her first show with Dallas Theatre Center. Her decades of experience in live entertainment include extensive credits in regional theatre design at Alliance Theatre, Asolo Rep, 5th Avenue Theatre, Geva Theatre, Goodman Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Public Theater, Seattle REP, Starlight Musical Theatre, Theatreworks Hartford, and WP Theatre. She has associate designed and engineering dozens of Broadway shows, concerts, television, and multi-media events. She was a 2022 GRAMMY-Nominated recording engineer for the album soundtrack Snapshots. She lectures sound design at Princeton University and Ithaca College. She holds degrees in music, audio engineering and technical theatre from Ithaca College and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. jlssound.com

ASHLEY WHITE (Intimacy Coach & Fight Director) is pleased to join DTC for the sixth time! She is an award-winning director, fight & intimacy director, and teaching artist, with international credits and nearly two decades of experience. She is an accomplished Fight Director and is a Certified Teacher with the Society of American Fight Directors. She has provided Fight Direction for more than fifty productions across the country. She is a certified Intimacy Director with IDC Professionals. As an ID, she has worked across the U.S, in addition to on film & television, where her intimacy coordination work can be seen on Amazon, The CW, Paramount+, among other networks and studios. She is a sought-after educator and is the creator of The Cycle of Consent – an approach to building and navigating safe creative spaces, which she has taught internationally. She is the recipient of 5 DFW Critics Forum Awards for Outstanding Direction as well as special recognitions from the Critics Forum for her Fight & Intimacy work. Ashley is a proud member of SDC, and has received nominations for the SDC Zelda Fischander and SDC Barbara Whitman awards for innovation in directing. www.ashleyhwhite.com

LAURA ELAINE BERRIOS (Production Stage Manager) is a Resident Stage Manager at Dallas Theater Center where her credits include Sweat, Cake Ladies, Sound of Music and A Christmas Carol, Public Works Dallas: The Odyssey. Other credits include: Dolly Parton’s Smokey Mountain Christmas Carol (Red Tail Entertainment); As You Like It, Othello, Titus Andronicus, Macbeth, Tempest, She Stoops to Conquer, King Lear, Cymbeline (Shakespeare Dallas); Funny You Don’t Act Like a Negro (Theatre Three); A Christmas Carol (Arrowrock Lyceum); Alice and the Bookstore Palace and Pants on Fire (Creede Repertory Theatre); Antony and Cleopatra and A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Heart of America Shakespeare Festival. She has a M.F.A. in Stage Management from UMKC.

ANNA BARANSKI (Assistant Stage Manager) Anna is excited to be returning to the Dallas Theater Center, her previous Credits include: American Mariachi, Fade, Ann, penny candy, The Wolves, Fetch Clay Make Man, The Trials of Sam Houston, Inherit the Wind, The Mountaintop (SM); Hairspray, Frankenstein, Hair, Public Works Dallas’ The Winter’s Tale, Sense and Sensibility, The Book Club Play, Driving Miss Daisy (ASM). Anna is a graduate of the University of California, Irvine, with an MFA in Stage Management, and is a proud AEA freelance stage manager. Currently she resides in Atlanta where she works with the Alliance Theatre. In addition, she has enjoyed stage managing at the following select theaters: Hartford Stage, The Children’s Theatre Company, Arena Stage, Triad Stage, Musical Theater West, Circle Theater, Casa Mañana, Theatre Arlington, Kids Who Care, Inc., Trinity Shakespeare Festival, Texas Shakespeare Festival, and Second Thought Theatre. Anna completed her professional internship at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. www.annabaranski.com @dinosaur.stage.manager

MARY RUTH KNACKSTEDT (Assistant Stage Manager) is excited to be returning to Dallas Theater Center where her previous credits include: Trouble In Mind, Our Town/Nuestro Pueblo, Cake Ladies, and Public Works Dallas: As You Like It. Other credits include: And Then There Were None (Florida Rep), Big Scary Animals (Theatre Three), If Pretty Hurts (Jubilee Theatre), 10 Seconds (Dallas Children’s Theater), and The Rape of Lucretia (SMU). Mary Ruth is a graduate of Southwestern University, and proud to be an AEA freelance stage manager. www. maryruthknackstedt.com @maryruthknackstedt

ASHLEY OLIVER (Production Manager) is an actor, stage manager and director from Arlington, TX. She holds a BA in Drama from Prairie View A&M University and has been working in theaters around Dallas/ Fort Worth for 15 years. She has worked on such shows as Marie Anotinette (Amphibian Stage) Cake Ladies, Little Women, Ann, Fetch Clay Make Man (Dallas Theater Center) Amazing Grace, Hurt Village, Dot, Do No Harm (Soul Rep Theatre) What to Send Up, Bootycandy, Mr.Burns Post-Electric Play, Deer (Stage West) and Erykah Badu’s One (Hu)man show (TBAAL) and many others. “A word can equal a thought, a thought an idea, an idea an action, an action can change the world.”-Claude McKay

ANDREW J. BROWN (Director of Production) has been with Dallas Theater Center since March of 2020. He served as lead Production Manager on recent productions including Public Works Dallas’ 2022 production of The Odyssey, The Sound Of Music, Our Town/Nuestro Pueblo, and Tiny Beautiful Things, as well as the world premiere productions of The Supreme Leader and Cake Ladies. Previously Andrew worked with Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma (Oklahoma City, OK), Huntington Theatre Company (Boston, MA) and the Cape Playhouse (Cape Cod, MA). He holds an MFA in Production Management from Boston University and a BFA in Scene Design from the University of Oklahoma. he/him

SARAHBETH GROSSMAN (Artistic Producer) is a Tony Award®-nominated and Olivier Award-winning producer. Her credits include Broadway: Indecent; An American in Paris (Broadway, West End National Tour); Come From Away (West End); Dames At Sea; Ann and Stick Fly. Off-Broadway: The Irish Curse. A graduate of the Commercial Theater Institute, Sarahbeth holds an MFA in Theater Management from the Yale School of Drama where she served as Associate Managing Director of Yale Rep. She is a proud member of the Broadway League, Theater Communications Group, National Alliance for Musical Theatre and the Producer’s Guild of America.

EISENBERG/BEANS CASTING (Casting) Daryl Eisenberg, CSA & Ally Beans, CSA. NYC Theater: Gettin’ The Band Back Together (Broadway); Bedlam, WP Theatre, Baghdaddy, Cherry Lane’s Mentor Project, Altar Boyz, and more. Regional/Other: Florida Georgia Line’s May We All (TPAC), Heartbreak Hotel (Broadway in Chicago), Dallas Theater Center, Folger Theatre, Cape Cod Theatre Project, WaterTower Theatre, Norwegian Cruise Line, Ivoryton Playhouse, Tenors of Rock, Wheelhouse Theatre Co, countless NYMF/Fringe. Film: The Cathedral (Sundance), Menorah in the Middle (Hulu), The MisEducation of Bindu (Peacock), Shadows (HBO), Hands That Bind, Project Pay Day, Kendra and Beth. Podcasts/New Media: Both seasons of the critically acclaimed series Limetown, Shipworm, City of Ghosts, Falling in Love With Mr. Dellamort, Verdict.