Director: Traci Ledford
Assistant Director: Lily Schwarz-Peterson
Producer: Brent Maddox
Stage Manager
Caitlyn Campbell
Technical Director
Jerry Stratton
Lighting Design
Jules Robinson
Assistant Sound Design
Jonah Burch
Projections Designer
Jack Johnson
Dramaturg
Gabi Martinez
Assistant Stage Manager
Nora Jones
Set Design
Paul Gatrell
Sound Design
Micah Waid
Costume Design
Caroline Million
Properties Design
Sofia Cross
Henrietta Leavitt…………………………………Kylie Campbell
Margaret…………………………………………..Laura Walker*
Annie Jump Cannon………………………………....Jaden Lily*
Williamina Fleming…………………....Mary Margaret Hughes*
Peter…………………………………………….Sam Riesenberg*
Swings
Kelby Horne*, Kathryn Davidson, Savannah Raeder*,
Maddie Patoto, John Walters Smith*
*indicates member of APO
Wardrobe
Light Crew
Addie Andrews Kyla Bradfield Isabel Janoyan Shelby McDonald Carla Lombardo
Jules Robinson Lilyanne SchwarzPeterson Hannah Weinman*
Set Crew
Caitlyn Campbell* Jaden Lily* Jessica Farley Jack Freedman Weston Ginoza
Mary Margaret Hughes* Nora Jones Gabi Martinez Molly Ryan
Projections
Anna Rae Eppard
Costume Crew
Tori Benser Belle Hipp* Mia Ridling Marie Sheets
Props Crew
Sofia Cross Michelle Easler
Nicolette Manrique Alayna Wilburn
*indicates member of APO
Henrietta Leavitt, Annie Jump Cannon, and Williamina Fleming were “computers” who worked for Edward Pickering and the Harvard Observatory in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, where they examined thousands of photographic glass plates, taken from telescopes, to find and categorize objects in the night sky. To say they were “computers” minimizes their work: they were astronomers, each of whom made incredible discoveries that advanced stellar photometry and astrophysics to where it is today.
Willimina Fleming, a Scottish national and single mother (whose husband had abandoned her shortly after they immigrated to Boston), discovered the Horsehead Nebula and worked to classify tens of thousands of stars. Annie Jump Cannon is responsible for the Harvard spectral classification system, which categorizes stars based on temperature, that is still in use today. She identified and recorded over 300,000 stellar objects in her lifetime. Henrietta Leavitt, through her work on Cepheid variable stars and their period-luminosity relationship, discovered the pattern that would become the basis for measuring the distances between stars. It is upon her efforts that Ejnar Hurtzsprung and Edwin Hubble built their great legacies, notably measuring the distance to Leavitt’s Cepheids and the determination that galaxies existed outside our own respectively. Leavitt’s work was so important that she was considered for a Nobel Prize; unfortunately, she died a few years prior, and the award cannot be given posthumously.
The advances made by these three women (among others who worked at Harvard Observatory with them) were largely obscured by their male supervisors who were often credited with their work. Their wages were between $0.25-$0.50 an hour, a budgetsaving move that Pickering was quite proud of. Publications were either attributed to Pickering or, at best, co-authored with him. As a result, shortly after their deaths, the contributions of Leavitt, Cannon, and Fleming were largely obscured. The 21st century is finally acknowledging the weight of their work with biographies, articles, and plays; lunar craters, asteroids, and observatory telescopes are now named for them. The acknowledgements are, regrettably, a hundred years too late.
I often wonder how advanced science, medicine, law, and politics would be today if women had been able to participate since the beginning of time. Given the evidence, it seems we can do anything, including catalogue and measure the universe.
Traci Ledford, DirectorFor my niece, Ashlan, who is pursuing a degree in astronomy and astrophysics.
“Hearts and stars can be blinding.”
DR. STEPHEN EAVES
FRIENDS OF THE ARTS AT BELMONT
VIRGINIA
TRACI LEDFORD (DIRECTOR) is an Assistant Professor in the Belmont University Department of Theatre and Dance. She received her MFA in Directing and her BFA in Directing and Design from Baylor University. In the interim between the two degrees, Traci served as the Education and Outreach Intern at the Dallas Theater Center before devoting nine years to teaching theatre in public schools. After receiving her MFA, she began work at East Texas Baptist University, serving as Department Chair. An associate member of the Stage Directors & Choreographers Society, Traci has helmed nearly seventy productions in both professional and educational venues. www.traciledford.com
LILY SCHWARZ-PETERSON (ASSISTANT DIRECTOR) Credits include: Stage Manager, Love's Labor's Lost (Belmont University with Nashville Shakespeare Festival); Assistant Stage Manager, The Good Times are Killing Me (Belmont University); Narrator, Savage (Community College of Aurora); Student Director, Beauty and the Beast (SkyView Academy); Student Director, Into the Woods (SkyView Academy); Student Director, Seussical (SkyView Academy); Student Director, Anne of Green Gables. Originally from Colorado, Lily is a recent transfer student to Belmont. She holds her Bachelor of Science in Management and is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre Directing.
CAITLYN CAMPBELL (STAGE MANAGER) has recently stage managed: The Good Times are Killing Me (Belmont University), The Importance of Being Earnest (Maui Onstage); directed: Finding a Chord (Belmont University), The Last Five Years (Belmont University); choreographed: The Lion King Jr; and has been seen onstage in Catch Me if You Can (Carol Strong), A Piece of My Heart (Sissy), Anything Goes (Reno Sweeny), and Almost Maine (Shelly & Glory).
NORA JONES (ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER) is a Theatre Directing major with a minor in Music at Belmont University. She serves as the co-founder and co-president of Curtains Up Belmont University, where she directed the “Halloween Musical Showcase” and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Nora spent her summer directing Annie Kids, assistant directing Twelfth Night, and assistant music directing/accompanying the Musical Theatre Bootcamp at the Greenwood Community Theatre of South Carolina. Her most recent roles include (gender bent) Sir Andrew (Twelfth Night) and Tootles (Peter Pan) in Upstate South Carolina’s 24-hour musical, where she received the award for best performance.
JULES ROBINSON (LIGHTING DESIGNER) Credits include: Lighting Designer, A Doll’s House (Belmont University); Assistant Set Designer, The Good Times Are Killing Me (Belmont University); Assistant Stage Manager, Kodachrome (Belmont University); Stagecraft Advisor (Camp Taconic); Lighting/Set Designer, Trojan Women (Belmont University); Stage Manager, The Last Five Years (Belmont University); Lighting/Props Designer, Bright Star (Belmont University); Costumer Designer, Lucky Stiff (Belmont University); Assistant Stage Manager, Things I Know To Be True (Actors Bridge).
CAROLINE MILLION (COSTUME DESIGNER) is a junior BFA Theatre Production Design major at Belmont University. Select Credits Include: Costume Designer, James and the Giant Peach (Millbrook Playhouse), A Doll’s House (Belmont University); Wardrobe Dresser, Jersey Boys, Rent (Millbrook Playhouse); Lighting Designer, Lucky Stiff (Belmont University); Assistant Lighting Designer, The Good Times are Killing Me (Belmont University); Props Coordinator, Mixed Bill XVIII (Belmont University).
JACK WILLIAM JOHNSON (PROJECTION DESIGNER) is a junior BFA Theatre Performance major making his designer debut. Credits include: Uncle Fester (The Addams Family); Buddy the Elf (Elf the Musical); Cousin Steve (The Good Times Are Killing Me); Tony Hendon (Lucky Stiff).
SOFIA CROSS (PROPERTIES DESIGNER) is currently a junior Theatre Education major. Credits include: Tracy Turnblad, Hairspray (ATNY); Olive Ostrovsky, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (NTPA); Marmee March, Little Women (NTPA); Mrs. Wormwood, Matilda (NTPA); Sour Kangaroo, Seussical (NTPA); Trix, The Drowsy Chaperone (NTPA); and Liesl, The Sound of Music (NTPA).
GABI MARTINEZ (DRAMATURG) Credits include Assistant Director, The Odyssey (Coral Reef Senior High School); Writer/Dramaturg, Masquerade Party (Coral Reef Senior High School); Dramaturg, The Welkin (Nashville Story Garden); Dramaturg, The Good Times are Killing Me (Belmont University); Dramaturg, Lucky Stiff (Belmont University). Gabi is a Senior pursuing a BA in Theatre and Drama, planning to go into professional dramaturgy when she graduates in December.
KYLIE CAMPBELL (HENRIETTA LEAVITT) is a junior BFA Theatre Performance major. She was most recently seen on the Belmont stage in The Aviator. Some of her favorite roles include Into the Woods (Rapunzel), As You Like It (Rosalind), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Puck), Peter and the Starcatcher (Prentiss), and Mamma Mia (Ensemble) in her hometown of Naples, FL. She has competed twice as a semi-finalist in the English-Speaking Union National Shakespeare Competition at Lincoln Center.
KATHRYN DAVIDSON (MARGARET LEAVITT u/s) is a freshman BFA Theatre Performance major. She recently completed a Top-Up Musical Theatre course with the International College of Musical Theatre in London as well as a summer session with Broadway Artists Alliance in NYC. At Darlington School, she performed the roles of Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady, Mary Warren in The Crucible, and Sabrina Fairchild in Sabrina Fair, among other roles. She has also acted in the short films “Mixed Signals” and “The Red Thread” as well as in many community theatre productions around North Georgia.
KELBY HORNE (HENRIETTA LEAVITT u/s) is a senior Theatre Performance major from Smithville, Mississippi. At Belmont, Kelby has appeared in The Radio Plays (Dale Arden/ Dr. Watson/etc…), Living in the Light (Ensemble), and The Aviator (Young Amelia Earhart). Most recently, Kelby spent a semester in New York City studying with The Barrow Group to further her acting education as well as working as an intern for KMR Talent Agency in Manhattan! Kelby is also a member of Bruin Recruiters and serves as the Marketing and Outreach Coordinator of Alpha Psi Omega.
MARY MARGARET HUGHES (WILLIAMINA FLEMING) is a senior Theatre Performance BFA with a minor in Design Communications. She has appeared in several productions at Belmont University, including Deirdre in White Rose Pirates, Devon Rex in Lorna Bea and Her ADHD, Arlin in Commencing, and Netta Snook in The Aviator. Most recently, she played Banquo and Lady Macbeth in Macbeth at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, during her time in their Classical Acting Short Course. She will also be making her screen debut in the short film Love Letters later this fall.
LAURA WALKER (MARGARET LEAVITT) is a Junior BFA Theatre Performance Major and Dance Minor from Paducah, KY. She has most recently been seen in Belmont University’s productions of Lucky Stiff (Drunk Maid/ Old Texan Man, Southern Lady 1), The Aviator (Ensemble), and Living in the Light (Ensemble). Laura is also a member of Belmont’s Dance Company, a Bruin Recruiter, and the Secretary/Historian of Alpha Psi Omega.
JADEN LILY (ANNIE CANNON) Credits Include: Anne Marie, A Doll’s House (Belmont University); Hawking Clam, Peter and the Starcatcher (Belmont University); Malcolm, Macbeth (Belmont University); Chorus, Disarming Girls (Belmont University); Fan, A Christmas Carol (Clarence Brown Theatre); Les Miserables (Cumberland County Playhouse); Tracy Turnblad, Hairspray, (Knoxville Children’s Theatre); Abigail Williams, The Crucible (Knoxville Children’s Theatre). Jaden Lily is training to receive a BFA in Theatre Performance at Belmont University. She spent this past semester training at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, and has trained with the University of Tennessee Knoxville theatre department. She has also taught theatre classes at Knoxville Children’s Theatre, where she was a veteran of over fifteen years.
MADDIE PATOTO (WILLIAMINA FLEMING u/s) is a BFA Theatre Performance major at Belmont University. This is her first mainstage production with Belmont. She has performed on stage with ManAlive Studios and Annie Moses Foundation, in addition to -on camera- as a narrator for the VBS 2022 and 2023 seasons. She played Margo in the Belmont student film Hey, Lord! and has worked as the wardrobe supervisor for Belmont’s 2023 musical Lucky Stiff.
SAVANNAH RAEDER (ANNIE CANNON u/s) is a junior BFA Theatre Performance major. Some of her previous credits include Emma Nolan, The Prom (Circle Players); Jacquenetta, Love’s Labor Lost (Belmont University/Nashville Shakespeare Festival); Theresa, The Good Times Are Killing Me (Belmont University); Narrator, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (St. Bernadette's Theatre); Rosie, Mamma Mia! (Hayfield Theatre). Savannah also is currently pursuing a minor in Entertainment Journalism and has performed on stages such as the Kennedy Center and Hershey Park Stadium with Josh Groban.
SAM RIESENBERG (PETER SHAW) is a Senior BFA Theatre Performance major at Belmont University. His roles include Laurie Laurence from Little Women, Peter and Miss Bumbrake Understudies from Peter and the Starcatcher, Nina/ Treplev Variations from The Nina Variations. He has also had the privilege to work with Nashville Shakespeare Festival and played Berowne in their production of Love’s Labour’s Lost.
JOHN WALTERS SMITH (PETER SHAW u/s) is a sophomore in the theatre department at Belmont University. He is a BFA Performance major and is excited to be involved in his first main stage production. He has previously been involved in the 2023 Junior Short Plays and Directing II One-Act Festival last spring.
2023 – 2024 Season
The Play that Goes Wrong
Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, and Henry Shields
Directed By Sean Martin
October 27th - Nov 4th
troutt Theater
A Wrinkle in Time
Tracy Young
Directed By Carla Lahey
Nov 10th - Nov 18th
Black Box Theater
MOVING Stories
A Dance Composition Showcase
Directed by Debbie Belue
December 2 & 3
Troutt Theater