13 minute read
Company Bios
THE COMPANY
DAVID ALAN ANDERSON | FEZZIWIG, CHRISTMAS PRESENT, PAWNBROKER, & ENSEMBLE
IRT audiences have seen David in Looking Over the President’s Shoulder, Fences, What I Learned in Paris, Julius Caesar, The Whipping Man, Radio Golf, The Mountaintop, A Christmas Carol, and many others. His most recent work includes two seasons with the Shaw Festival in Canada, where he appeared in The Devil’s Disciple and Trouble in Mind. In Chicago, he has been seen in West Side Story at Lyric Opera; Stick Fly, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, and Witch at Writers Theatre; and Gem of the Ocean (Black Theatre Alliance Award winner) and The Mountaintop (Jeff Award nominee) at Court Theatre. Other regional credits include the Guthrie Theater; CenterStage; Denver Theatre Center; Actors Theatre of Louisville; Asolo Repertory; the Idaho, Pennsylvania, and Lake Tahoe Shakespeare festivals; Penumbra Theatre, where he is a company member; and many more. Directing credits include The Color of Justice and Most Valuable Player on the IRT Upperstage and Two Trains Running and Topdog/Underdog at the Phoenix Theatre. Recent television credits include two seasons on The Chi, Shameless (both on Showtime), and Chicago PD (NBC). He is a recipient of the Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship, sponsored by the Ten Chimneys Foundation, where he worked with Alan Alda. He received a Creative Renewal Fellowship from the Arts Council of Indianapolis, and was honored by the Circle City Links and the Center for Leadership Development for his achievements in the arts.
RYAN ARTZBERGER | BOB CRATCHIT, MARLEY, TOPPER, & ENSEMBLE
Ryan’s IRT credits include Cyrano, Tuesdays with Morrie, Murder on the Orient Express, A Christmas Carol, The Diary of Anne Frank, Holmes and Watson, Noises Off, Romeo and Juliet, The Three Musketeers, To Killa Mockingbird, The Crucible, A MidsummerNight’s Dream, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, God of Carnage, JuliusCaesar, Fire in the Garden, Rabbit Hole, Iron Kisses, Death of a Salesman, and Macbeth. Ryan is a member of Indianapolis Shakespeare Company, where he has directed Hamlet and As You Like It and appeared in Coriolanus, The Winter’s Tale, Twelfth Night, The Tempest, The Taming of the Shrew, and Othello. At the Phoenix Theatre he performed in Reasons to Be Pretty. Regional credits include the Seattle Children’s Theatre, the Shakespeare Theatre and the Studio Theatre in Washington DC, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, the Goodman Theatre, Berkeley Rep, Kansas City Rep, Lookingglass, and Great Lakes Theater Festival. Ryan is a graduate of Ohio University and the Juilliard School.
QUINTIN GILDON | CHILD SCROOGE, TINY TIM, POULTERER’S SON, & ENSEMBLE
Quintin is 13 years old and is in the 8th grade at Chapel Hill Middle school in Wayne Township. He is an aspiring young actor and has a passion for acting as he believes it is a talent God has given him. His previous school teacher from Bridgeport Elementary encouraged him to pursue theatre after a project he did in her class. He performed at the IRT in A Christmas Carolin 2019 as Henry Cratchit, and he has participated in various local plays at school and at Lakeview Church, where he attends youth group regularly; additionally, he was an extra in a movie. He loves singing and works with vocal coach Kim Kenny. Off stage, Quintin plays catcher with his traveling baseball team.
THE COMPANY
NINA JAYASHANKAR | FELICITY, BELLE, LAUNDRESS, & ENSEMBLE
Nina is a graduate of Northwestern University, where she earned her Bachelor of Arts in Theatre with the Music Theatre Certificate, as well as another major in Mathematics. Based in Chicago, Nina has worked at a number of companies including the Goodman Theatre, TimeLine Theatre, Porchlight Music Theatre, CPA Theatricals, and Music Theatre Works. Favorite credits include Shakuntala (the Goodman Theatre), Sohni Mahiwal (the Blank Theater), and Peter Pan (Music Theatre Works). Most recently, she performed as an understudy in Mr. Burns at Theater Wit. She is proud to be represented by Gray Talent Group. When she is not acting, she works as a social media manager for Token Theatre and project manager for Essie Justice Group. ninajayashankar.com
JENNIFER JOHANSEN | MRS. FEZZIWIG, PRUDENCE, CHARWOMAN, & ENSEMBLE
Jen gratefully returns to live indoor theatre and to her 11th IRT Carol. Select IRT appearances include The House That Jack Built, Holmes and Watson, The Mousetrap, The Game’s Afoot, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Syringa Tree, Julius Caesar, The Ladies Man, Macbeth, and Twelfth Night. Phoenix Theatre favorites include The Pill; The Christians;Hir; On Clover Road;Mr. Burns, a post-electric play; andVanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike. At the Human Race Theatre Company she has played Gloria Steinem in Gloria: A Life, and has also appeared in God of Carnage, Sex with Strangers, and Romeo and Juliet. Jen is a proud member of Indianapolis Shakespeare Company with whom she recently appeared as Oberon in A Midsummer Night’s Dreamat the newly restored Taggart Memorial in Riverside Park. Proud board member of both American Lives Theatre and Summer Stock Stage. Proud spouse of Rob Johansen. “Dedicated to Robert Neal. Love to family near and far, here and gone.”
ROB JOHANSEN | SCROOGE
This is Rob’s 14th Carol and his 50th show at the IRT. Among his other IRT favorites are three one-person shows—This Wonderful Life, Underneath the Lintel, and After Paul McCartney—as well as The Grapes of Wrath, The Game’s Afoot, The 39 Steps, Cyrano (2002), and The Mystery of Irma Vep. “There is no better way to celebrate 50 shows at IRT than playing Scrooge, and getting to do it with my sweet wife, Jen! And directed by James, who was so brilliant in bringing Irma Vep a gorgeous shape.” Rob is a passionate worker at the Humane Society of Indianapolis, and asks people to consider getting their fur babies there. Shelter pups make the best pets! “I dedicate this Carol to my best friend in the Indy theatre scene: actor, novelist, and all around super human Robert Neal.”
WILL MOBLEY | FRED, YOUNG SCROOGE, CHRISTMAS FUTURE, & ENSEMBLE
Will is delighted to make his third appearance in A Christmas Carol at the IRT, where he has also been seen in The Book Club Play, Other Desert Cities, and The Hound of the Baskervilles. Chicago credits include The Lady from the Sea at the Court; The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberley at Northlight; The Winter’s Tale at the Goodman; Ragtime at the Marriott; My Fair Ladyat Lyric Opera; SS! Twelfth Night at Chicago Shakespeare Theater; and Days like Today and Antony and Cleopatraat Writers Theatre. Regional credits include Miss Bennett: Christmas at Pemberley at TheatreSquared; The Legend of Georgia McBrideat Cardinal Stage Company; and A View from the Bridge,The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Hamlet,Antony and Cleopatra, Twelfth Night,Richard III, The Admirable Crichton,The Taming of the Shrew,The Critic,and Of Mice and Menat American Players Theatre. Will is also a member of the Chicago band the Winchesters. thewinchestersband.com
MARIA ARGENTINA SOUZA | CHRISTMAS PAST, MRS. CRATCHIT, PENELOPE, & ENSEMBLE
Maria is delighted to make her IRT debut with A Christmas Carol alongside this marvelous team. She was most recently seen as June in Alabaster at the Phoenix Theatre. Off-Broadway she has been seen as Miranda in The Tempest, Mel in Does This Woman Have a Name, and Woman in HAK. Regional credits include Jordan Baker in The Great Gatsby, Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, Lucinda in The History of Cardenio, Lily Booker in Current Economic Conditions: A Comedy, Antigone in The Theban Plays, Eliza Doolittle in Pygmalion, Liz in ReEntry, Adriana in The Comedy of Errors, Ophelia in Hamlet, and Libby in Blue Window. Maria received her MFA from the Actors Studio Drama School. “Thank you for supporting the arts. May your holidays be filled with joy, peace, and wonder!”
JAMES STILL | DIRECTOR
This is James’s 24th season as the IRT’s playwright-in-residence; the company most recently produced his play The House That Jack Built. James has directed many productions at the IRT, including Twelve Angry Men, A Doll’s House Part 2, The Originalist, Dial “M” for Murder, The Mystery of Irma Vep, Red, Other Desert Cities, God of Carnage, Mary’s Wedding, Becky’s New Car, Rabbit Hole, Doubt, Bad Dates, Old Wicked Songs,Plaza Suite, The Immigrant, and Dinner with Friends, as well as his own I Love to Eat, Amber Waves (2000), and Looking Over the President’s Shoulder (2001). (complete bio on page 8)
RUSSELL METHENY | SCENIC DESIGNER
Russell has designed more than 50 IRT productions, including The House That Jack Built, Cyrano, A Christmas Carol, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, The Game’s Afoot, Who Am I This Time?, A Little Night Music, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, God of Carnage, The Heavens Are Hung in Black, Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure, Iron Kisses, The Unexpected Guest, The Gentleman from Indiana, Old Wicked Songs, Searching for Eden, Plaza Suite, Arcadia, The Immigrant, Ah, Wilderness!, and Looking Over the President’s Shoulder (2001). He has also designed for the Studio Theatre, the Great Lakes and Idaho Shakespeare festivals, Asolo Theatre, Maltz Jupiter Theatre, Weston Playhouse, Dallas Theatre Center, the Old Globe Theatre, Geffen Playhouse, Missouri Rep, Actors Theatre of Kansas City, the Goodman Theatre, Syracuse Stage, Buffalo Studio Arena, Portland Stage, and Goodspeed Musicals.
LINDA PISANO | COSTUME DESIGNER
Linda designs for theatre, dance, musical theatre, ballet, and opera throughout the United States; her ballet designs have toured the UK and Canada. This is her 17th design collaboration with IRT, including most recently Cyrano. Her work has been selected twice to represent the United States in the Quadrennial World Design Expo in Prague and twice for the World Stage Design exhibition. She is a three-time winner in performance design at the National Stage Expo, and a four-time recipient of the Peggy Ezekiel Award for Excellence in Design. Her work was selected from top designers in the United States to be featured in a world design exhibition with the Bakhrushin Museum in Moscow and the China Institute of Stage Design in Beijing. She serves as chair of the Department of Theatre, Drama, and Contemporary Dance at Indiana University in Bloomington, where she is professor of costume design and directs the Theatre and Drama study abroad program in London. Recent opera includes Candide for the Des Moines Metro Opera, Florencia en el Amazonas at the San Diego Opera, and Salome at Opera San Antonio. For the IU Jacobs School of Music she recently designed Wagner’s Parsifal and will design a new Nutcracker in 2022.
THE COMPANY
MICHAEL LINCOLN | LIGHTING DESIGNER
Michael has designed more than 40 productions at the IRT, including You Can’t Take It With You; Noises Off; Finding Home; April 4, 1968;Who Am I This Time?;A Little Night Music; The House That Jack Built; The 39 Steps; This Wonderful Life; Old Wicked Songs; The Immigrant; Ah, Wilderness!; and The Glass Menagerie. Highlights of his career include the Broadway productions of Copenhagen and Skylight, as well as off-Broadway designs including Mr. Goldwyn, The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin, Defying Gravity, Bunny Bunny, and Swingtime Canteen. In addition to the IRT, Michael has had long associations with the Alley Theatre, Cleveland Play House, Studio Theatre DC, Santa Fe Opera, and Los Angeles Ballet. He is artistic director of Tantrum Theater, the professional company of Ohio University. michaellincoln.net
MICHAEL KECK | COMPOSER
At the IRT, Michael has composed music for Cyrano; Murder on the Orient Express; all three productions of Looking Over the President’s Shoulder; Holmes and Watson; A Raisin in the Sun;April 4, 1968 (in which he also acted); Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde;Rabbit Hole; Gem of the Ocean; Searching for Eden; and As You Like It. His music has accompanied productions at Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Milwaukee Rep, Mark Taper Forum, Arena Stage, Cincinnati Playhouse, and many others. His international credits include the Market Theatre Johannesburg South Africa, National Theater of Croatia–Zagreb, the Barbican Theatre Center, and Bristol Old Vic. Excerpts from his solo performance piece Voices in the Rainare published by Temple University Press and Alta Mira Press. Michael received the Theatre Bay Area Award in San Francisco and three Barrymore Award nominations for his work in Philadelphia. He has served as a panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Arts Council, and Meet the Composer. He is a member of AEA, SAG–AFTRA, ASCAP, PEN, and the Dramatists Guild.
NICHOLAS A. OWENS | CHOREOGRAPHER
Nicholas is a freelance choreographer and director with nearly 20 years of dance experience. He is cofounder and associate artistic director of Kenyettá Dance Company. His goal is to create, encourage, and provide training/performance opportunities to aspiring dancers seeking professional dance experience. Credits for direction and choreography include Excerpts of Dreams, Signs of the Times, Out of the Box, Speaking without Words, Groundwork Suites, Breaking the Silence, Black Dance Matters, Black Box Theory, Sincerely Love, Summer Solstice, and Black Box Theory II for Kenyettá Dance Company; The Color Purple and Ragtime at Booth Tarkington Civic Theatre; The Color Purple, Shrek the Musical, The Wiz, and In the Heights at Pike High School; America the Modern, Love Is, Mad for Musicals, Super Soul, Ray & Ella, Voices of a Generation, Divas, and Divos for Dance Kaleidoscope; The Color Purple for the Cupboard; Memphis for KaidyDid; and Genius to the Beat of Soul for Asante Children’s Theatre. This is his fourth year teaching at Shortridge High School as co-director of the MYP/CP/DP Dance Program.
RICHARD J ROBERTS | DRAMATURG
This is Richard’s 32nd season with the IRT, and his 24th as resident dramaturg. He has also been a dramaturg for the New Harmony Project, Write Now, and the Hotchner Playwriting Festival. He has directed IRT productions of A Christmas Carol (four times), Bridge & Tunnel, The Night Watcher, Neat, Pretty Fire, The Cay, The Giver, The Power of One, and Twelfth Night. Other directing credits include Actors Theatre of Indiana, the Phoenix Theatre, Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, Edyvean Repertory Theatre, Indianapolis Civic Theatre, Carmel Symphony Orchestra, Butler University, University of Indianapolis, and Anderson University. This season he directs Pippin at Marian University. Richard studied music at DePauw University and theatre at Indiana University and has been awarded a Creative Renewal Arts Fellowship from the Arts Council of Indianapolis.
ERIN ROBSON-SMITH | STAGE MANAGER
Since moving to Indianapolis in 2013, Erin has had the pleasure of working with IRT and its incredible staff. Favorite productions include Mrs. Harrison, Pipeline, Romeo and Juliet,Finding Home, and And Then They Came for Meat IRT; The Hotel Nepenthe and Vino Veritas at the Phoenix Theatre; Sometimes a Great Notion and Frost/Nixon at Portland Center Stage; and Metamorphoses and The Drawer Boy at Artists Repertory Theatre. Erin spent the summers of 2008 and 2009 working with the JAW Festival at Portland Center Stage.
BECKY ROEBER | ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER
Becky hails from the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania where they attended East Stroudsburg University for musical theatre and technical theatre. This is their fifth season at Indiana Repertory Theatre and they are happy to be joining Actor’s Equity Association with this production. They also serve as production manager for Summer Stock Stage and as production stage manager for Eclipse productions. “I am so grateful to be producing beautiful productions with this talented company during these trying times.”
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