Inspired by Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night
Conceived by Sheldon Epps
Book by Cheryl L. West
Music by Duke Ellington
Choreography by Edgar Godineaux
Directed by Sheldon Epps
The Yard
Play On!
Inspired by Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night
Conceived by Sheldon Epps
Book by Cheryl L. West
Music by Duke Ellington
Choreography by Edgar Godineaux
Directed by Sheldon Epps
The Yard
Presented by special arrangement with MMaxwellMedia, Alyssa Melani, and Willette Klausner.
Run Time: 2 hours, 30 minutes (including intermission)
Seat Map
Musicians supported by:
The Gayle and Glenn R. Tilles Music Fund
“★ ★ ★ ★ Highly entertaining… an experience that bops along quite deliciously”
– Chicago Tribune
“★ ★ ★ ★ Shines with an exceptional cast that delivers show-stopping performances”
– Chicago Sun-Times
“★ ★ ★ ★ A visual feast, a show-stopping extravaganza of pure magic”
– Let’s Play Theatrical Reviews
Duke Ellington’s timeless jazz tunes set the score for this exuberantly joyful musical inspired by Shakespeare’s romantic comedy Twelfth Night. Aspiring songwriter Vy takes the A-Train to Harlem in the swingin’ 1930s with big dreams of a career in showbiz, only to find that it’s a man’s world. She disguises herself to reach the inner circle of renowned band leader, The Duke—but plans backfire when she catches the eye of Lady Liv, the star singer of the Cotton Club, and mistaken identities make way for romance. Music is indeed the food of love with big band pizzazz and Ellington’s hit songs “It Don’t Mean a Thing,” “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore,” “I’m Beginning to the See the Light,” and much more. A stellar cast of 15 create musical fireworks under the direction of the show’s original creator Sheldon Epps, who returns to stage the three-time Tony-nominated musical for a new generation.
Presented by special arrangement with MMaxwellMedia, Alyssa Melani, and Willette Klausner.
Run Time: 2 hours, 30 minutes (including intermission)
Seat Map
Musicians supported by:
The Gayle and Glenn R. Tilles Music Fund
Audience React to PLAY ON!
Play On! | Official Trailer
Gallery: On Stage
Video: Choreography
Gallery: Costume Renderings
Play On! Teaser Trailer
Audience React to PLAY ON!
Play On! | Official Trailer
Gallery: On Stage
The company of Chicago Shakespeare’s production of Play On! Duke Ellington’s timeless jazz tunes set the score for this exuberantly joyful musical inspired by Shakespeare’s romantic comedy Twelfth Night. Conceived and directed by Sheldon Epps, the production runs September 11 – October 18, 2026, in The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare. Photo by Kyle Flubacker.
Alan H Green as Rev, with the company of Chicago Shakespeare’s production of Play On! Conceived and directed by Sheldon Epps, the production runs September 11 – October 18, 2026, in The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare. Photo by Kyle Flubacker.
Hailee Kaleem Wright as Vy and Krystal Joy Brown as Lady Liv in Chicago Shakespeare’s production of Play On! Conceived and directed by Sheldon Epps, the production runs September 11 – October 18, 2026, in The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare. Photo by Kyle Flubacker.
Krystal Joy Brown as Lady Liv in Chicago Shakespeare’s production of Play On! Conceived and directed by Sheldon Epps, the production runs September 11 – October 18, 2026, in The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare. Photo by Kyle Flubacker.
Hailee Kaleem Wright as Vy and Edred Utomi as Duke in Chicago Shakespeare’s production of Play On! Conceived and directed by Sheldon Epps, the production runs September 11 – October 18, 2026, in The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare. Photo by Kyle Flubacker.
Alanna Lovely as Miss Mary and James Earl Jones II as Sweets in Chicago Shakespeare’s production of Play On! Conceived and directed by Sheldon Epps, the production runs September 11 – October 18, 2026, in The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare. Photo by Kyle Flubacker.
James Harkness as Jester in Chicago Shakespeare’s production of Play On! Conceived and directed by Sheldon Epps, the production runs September 11 – October 18, 2026, in The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare. Photo by Kyle Flubacker.
The company of Chicago Shakespeare’s production of Play On! Conceived and directed by Sheldon Epps, the production runs September 11 – October 18, 2026, in The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare. Photo by Kyle Flubacker.
Hailee Kaleem Wright as Vy in Chicago Shakespeare’s production of Play On! Conceived and directed by Sheldon Epps, the production runs September 11 – October 18, 2026, in The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare. Photo by Kyle Flubacker.
Hailee Kaleem Wright as Vy in Chicago Shakespeare’s production of Play On! Conceived and directed by Sheldon Epps, the production runs September 11 – October 18, 2026, in The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare. Photo by Jeff Sciortino.
Video: Choreography
Gallery: Costume Renderings
Costume Renderings of Play On!, playing at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater beginning September 11.
Costume Renderings of Play On!, playing at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater beginning September 11.
Costume Renderings of Play On!, playing at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater beginning September 11.
Costume Renderings of Play On!, playing at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater beginning September 11.
Costume Renderings of Play On!, playing at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater beginning September 11.
Costume Renderings of Play On!, playing at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater beginning September 11.
Costume Renderings of Play On!, playing at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater beginning September 11.
“A jazzy, joyful tribute to the Bard that will have your toes tapping from beginning to end.”
–1 Minute Critic
“This exuberant celebration of Black jazz is… just what we need right now.”
–Third Coast Review
“A love letter to Black culture and an empowering tale of women artists… A wonderful piece of dance-in-your-seat, clap-along entertainment.”
–Chicago Stage and Screen
“A fast-paced delight… Play On! amuses at every angle.”
–The Fourth Walsh
“A love letter to Black culture and an empowering tale of women artists… A wonderful piece of dance-in-your-seat, clap-along entertainment.”
–Chicago Stage and Screen
“A fast-paced delight… Play On! amuses at every angle.”
–The Fourth Walsh
ARTISTS
Krystal Joy Brown
CST: Debut. BROADWAY: Merrily We Roll Along (Gussie Carnegie), Hamilton (Eliza Hamilton), Motown: The Musical (Diana Ross), Big Fish (Josephine), Leap of Faith (Ornella), Hair. OFF-BROADWAY: Lights Out (New York Theatre Workshop). NATIONAL TOUR: RENT; REGIONAL: Huntington Theatre Company (Man in the Ring), Ogunquit Playhouse (My Best Friend’s Wedding). FILM: Magic Camp, Heaven Down Here. TV: Power Book III: Raising Kanan; Law & Order: SVU (NBC); The Equalizer (CBS). VOICEOVER: Barbara Gordon in Batman: Caped Crusader. EDUCATION: MFA candidate, NYU IMA Program. AWARDS: Grammy, AUDELCO, Lucille Lortel, and Chita Rivera Award nominations; two Fred Astaire Award nominations.
Alan H Green
CST: Debut. CHICAGO: A Little Night Music (Marriott Lincolnshire Theatre). BROADWAY: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, School of Rock, Sister Act, Play On!. OFF-BROADWAY: Bat Boy (Encores), The Jerusalem Syndrome, Broadway Bounty Hunter. REGIONAL: The Preachers Wife (Alliance Theatre), The Griswold’s Broadway Vacation (5th Avenue Theatre), The Karate Kid (STAHES St. Louis), A.D. 16 (Olney Theatre Center). INTERNATIONAL: Miss Saigon (sung in German). TV: Jimmy Fallon Westminster Thrust Ensemble, 30 Rock, Murphy Brown, Almost Family, Law and Order SVU, Unforgettable, The Guiding Light, and Peter Pan Live! EDUCATION: BA in Vocal Performance, Rice University. AWARDS: Berkie, Lead Actor in a Musical; Broadway World Award, Best Actor in a Streamed Musical. ADDITIONAL: Board Member, Barrington Stage Company; Board Member, Clinton Housing Development Company. Deacon, Metro Baptist Church Hell’s Kitchen. IG: @alanhgreen
James Harkness
CST: Debut. CHICAGO: Cabaret Zazou (Cambria Hotel); BROADWAY: Ain’t Too Proud, Beautiful: The Musical, Chicago, Guys and Dolls, The Color Purple, Aida; NATIONAL TOUR: Aida, Dreamgirls REGIONAL: Pennsylvania Shakespeare Theater (A Chorus Line), The FOX Atlanta (Dreamgirls 25th Anniversary), Alliance Theatre Atlanta (The Color Purple World Premiere), Bay Street Theater (Grey Gardens, Camelot). FILM: The Mend, The Maids Room, North. TV: Law & Order SVU (NBC), Blue Bloods, Unforgettable (CBS). DIRECTING: The Color Purple (Westcoast Black Theater Troupe), Hands (Red Top Roof reading series), Bill & Ginger (Custom Made Theater).
Kaylah Janssen
CST: Debut. CHICAGO: Pinto (A Red Orchid Theatre); Ride the Cyclone (The Theatre School). REGIONAL/TOUR: Beauty and the Beast, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical (Crane River Theatre). EDUCATION: MFA in Acting, DePaul University; BFA in Performance, University of Missouri.
James Earl Jones II
CST: Beauty and the Beast (Cogsworth), Shrek The Musical (Donkey). CHICAGO: David Byrne’s Theater of the Mind, Carlyle, Wonderful Town (Goodman Theatre); Catch Me If You Can, Titanic, She Loves Me, October Sky, Elf, Madagascar, Dreamgirls, The Full Monty (Marriott Theatre); Porgy & Bess, Five Guys Named Moe, The Secret Garden, The Good Book, Satchmo at the Waldorf (Court Theatre); Company, Sweet Charity (Writers Theatre); Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Paramount Theatre); Ragtime, Spamalot, Aida (Drury Lane Theatre); Annie Get Your Gun starring Patti LuPone (Ravinia Festival); Memphis, The Scottsboro Boys, Sondheim on Sondheim (Porchlight Music Theatre); Mr. Rickey Calls a Meeting (Lookingglass Theatre Company); Cymbeline (First Folio Theatre); Civil War Christmas (Northlight Theatre); The Wiz (Theatre at the Center). TOURS: 1st National Tour of Come From Away, 1st National Tour of Gershwin’s Porgy & Bess. OPERA: Porgy & Bess (Lyric Opera of Chicago/San Francisco Opera). FILM: Maybe I Do, The Poker House. TV: Empire (FOX); Chicago Med, Chicago Fire (NBC); South Side (HBO MAX), 4400 (The CW), Sherman’s Showcase (IFC), Hot Date (POP). James’ voice can be heard on various commercials and also singing “Sunday Morning” from the movie Breaking In, starring Gabrielle Union.
Alanna Lovely
CST: Debut. CHICAGO: Big White Fog (Court Theatre); Beautiful: The Carol King Musical, The Little Mermaid, Ain’t Misbehavin’, Guys and Doll, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s: Cinderella; Shrek The Musical (Drury Lane Theatre); Personality: The Lloyd Price Musical (The Studebaker Theatre); The World Goes Round, The Wizard of Oz (Marriott Theatre); The Steadfast Tin Soldier (Lookingglass Theatre Company); Nina Simone: Four Women (Northlight Theatre); Merrily We Roll Along (Porchlight Theatre); A Christmas Story: The Musical (Paramount Theater). REGIONAL: Ain’t Too Proud (Gateway Playhouse); The Wanderers (Forward Theatre); Nina Simone: Four Women (Merrimack Rep). TV: Power Book IV: Force (STARZ); Chicago Fire (NBC); Empire (FOX).
Edred Utomi
CST: Debut. BROADWAY: Alexander Hamilton in Hamilton. OFF-BROADWAY: A Sign of the Times (Cody). NATIONAL TOUR: Hamilton (Alexander Hamilton, Standby for Aaron Burr, George Washington, Marquis de Lafayette/Thomas Jefferson). REGIONAL: The Old Globe Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, 3D Theatricals, Moonlight Amphitheater. FILM: A Life Lived. TV: FBI: Most Wanted (CBS) EDUCATION: BA in Theatre Arts/Performance Studies, University of San Diego.
Hailee Kaleem Wright
CST: Debut. BROADWAY: Moulin Rouge! The Musical (Satine Alt.), SIX (Catherine of Aragon), Paradise Square (Original Broadway Cast), including a performance with the company at the 75th Annual Tony Awards. REGIONAL/TOUR: The Black Clown (American Repertory Theater/Lincoln Center), Paradise Square (Berkeley Repertory Theatre), Beautiful: The Carole King Musical (National Tour). FILM/TV: Boxes and Elephants (short film); True Life (MTV); national campaigns for IKEA, Samsung, T-Mobile, and Book of the Month Club. AWARDS: Best Actress nominee for Boxes and Elephants at the Newark Independent Film Festival and the Black Film Festival of New Orleans; winner, 2023 USA Songwriting Competition for the original song “Toxic Love Story”; Veterans of America of Greater New York Achievement Award.
Uria Bennett
CST: Debut. CHICAGO: Personality: The Lloyd Price Musical (Studebaker Theater); Imitation of Life (Theater 47). REGIONAL: Stompin‘ at the Savoy (Delaware Theatre Company). OPERA: Champion (Lyric Opera of Chicago). EDUCATION: Chicago High School for the Arts; studied dance at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Marquez Linder
CST: Debut. FIRST NATIONAL TOUR: Mrs. Doubtfire (Andre), Tootsie. REGIONAL: Ain’t Too Proud, Evita (Gateway Playhouse), Macgregor, Brigadoon (Village Theatre), The Bodyguard, Beautiful: The Carol King Musical (Theatre by The Sea). FILM: MP, Atlantic Rim
Selena Robinson
CST: Debut. CHICAGO: Cats (Paramount Theatre); Legally Blonde (Music Theatre Works); Little Shop of Horrors (Metropolis Performing Arts Centre). REGIONAL: Jesus Christ Superstar (Goodspeed Musicals); Elf (Arvada Center); The Little Mermaid, Matilda, Scrooge (Fireside Theatre); Waitress, Cabaret, Escape to Margaritaville (Mill Mountain Theatre); Chicago (Arizona Broadway Theatre); Tootsie (Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre); The Queen’s Ball: A Bridgerton Experience (Netflix/Fever). EDUCATION: BA in Performing Arts Management, New York University; The Chicago Academy for the Arts, Dance Department. @selenarobinson_97
Dylan C. Smith
CST: Debut. CHICAGO: The Little Mermaid (Uptown Music Theatre of Highland Park). FILM: The Young Lords of Lincoln Park; Once Upon a Christmas Wish. TV: Chicago P.D. (NBC). EDUCATION: BFA in Musical Theatre, University of Southern California.
Joey Stone
CST: Shrek the Musical (Donkey u/s, Dance Capt., Ensemble, dir. Rachelle Rockwell). CHICAGO: Candide (Goodman Theatre); The Color Purple (Drury Lane Theatre); The Snow Queen (Victory Gardens Theatre); What to Send Up When It Goes Down (Lookingglass & Congo Square Theatre); Pippin (Leading Player, Music Theatre Company); Sophisticated Ladies (Porchlight Music Theatre). BROADWAY: Motown the Musical (Norman Whitfield, Smokey Robinson u/s). REGIONAL: Ogunquit Playhouse (Ain’t Too Proud) Hardin County Performing Arts Center (Ragtime) Peninsula Players Theatre (Dames at Sea) (Lucky, Peninsula Players Theatre); FIRST NATIONAL TOUR: Mrs. Doubtfire (Andre u/s); Motown the Musical (Norman Whitfield, Smokey Robinson u/s). TV: 4400 (CBS); Life on the River (PBS). EDUCATION: Musical Theatre, University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM).
Shelbi Voss
CST: Debut. CHICAGO: The Color Purple, The Penelopiad (Goodman Theatre); South Pacific, White Christmas, Spelling Bee, Frozen, Peter and the Starcatcher, Kinky Boots, Cinderella, Beautiful, Dreamgirls, Little Shop of Horrors, The Sound of Music (Paramount Theatre); Cinderella (Drury Lane Theatre).
Danny Dwaine Wells II
CST: Debut. CHICAGO: Cabaret, Elf the Musical (Paramount Theatre), Shrek the Musical (Marriott Theatre), Saturday Night Fever (Drury Lane Theatre), A New Brain (Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre). NATIONAL TOUR: Sesame Street Live. REGIONAL: Chicago, La Cage aux Folles (Cabrillo Stage), Hair (Seacoast Repertory Theatre). Represented by BMG Talent Group.
Natalie Henry
CST: Debut. CHICAGO: The Little Mermaid (Drury Lane Theatre) Young Frankenstein (Mercury Theatre) Cabaret (Porchlight Music Theatre) The Play That Goes Wrong, Rock of Ages, Mary Poppins, Ragtime, Sister Act (Metropolis Performing Arts Center) Urinetown (Theo Ubique) Hairspray (Uptown Music Theatre) Little Shop of Horrors (Citadel Theatre) EDUCATION: BA in musical theatre, Columbia College Chicago
Olivia Pryor
CST: The Merry Wives of Windsor, Short Shakespeare! A Midsummer Night’s Dream. CHICAGO: OAK (Raven Theatre), Cabaret (Metropolis Performing Arts Centre). REGIONAL/TOUR: Matilda (Summer Theatre of New Canaan) Zuma/Sweetie, u/s Mayor Goodway in the world premiere of PAW Patrol LIVE! “Heroes Unite” EDUCATION: BA in theatre and statistics, Northwestern University.
Maurice Rex Randle
CST: Debut. CHICAGO: Dreamgirls, The Little Mermaid (Paramount Theater), Scottsboro Boys (Porchlight Music Theatre), Grand Hotel (Kokandy). INTERNATIONAL: Disney’s The Little Mermaid, Disney’s Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular, Victrophonics (Disney Cruise Line Productions).
Maxel McLoud Schingen
CST: Beauty and the Beast. CHICAGO: Shrek the Musical, Grease, Cinderella, Guys and Dolls, The Little Mermaid (Drury Lane Theater); Men of Soul (Black Ensemble Theater); Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Arthur and Friends Make a Musical (Marriott Theatre); New Faces Sing Broadway 1971 (Porchlight Music Theatre); Chicago Celebrates Sondheim (The Auditorium Theatre); Cruel Intentions: The 90s Musical (Kokandy Productions); Mary Rose (Black Button Eyes Productions). OPERA: safronia (Lyric Opera of Chicago) TV: Chicago Med (NBC). EDUCATION: BFA in Musical Theatre, Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University.
BAND
Nathanael Wilkerson
Associate Music Director/Conductor/Keyboard
Kevin King
Reeds
David Spencer
Trumpet
Norman Palm
Trombone
Rafe Bradford
Bass
Charles Heath
Drumset / Percussion
CREATIVE TEAM
Nathanael Wilkerson
Associate Music Director
Alexis Distler
Associate Scenic Designers
Trey Brazeal
Associate Lighting Designer
John Blane
Music Preparation
Charles Heath
Rehearsal Drummer
Heather Boehm
Musicians Contractor
Nathanael Wilkerson
Associate Music Director
Alexis Distler
Associate Scenic Designers
Trey Brazeal
Associate Lighting Designer
John Blane
Music Preparation
Charles Heath
Rehearsal Drummer
Heather Boehm
Musicians Contractor
Sheldon Epps
CST: Debut. CHICAGO: Personality (Studebaker Theater), Purlie, Play On! (Goodman Theatre), Bravo Piaf! (Apollo Theatre). BROADWAY: Baby, It’s You, Play On!, Blues In The Night (both Tony Nominated), Scenes and Revelations. OFF-BROADWAY: Manhattan Theatre Club, Playwrights Horizons, Vineyard Theatre, Minetta Lane Theatre, The Production Company (Founder) LONDON: Blues In The Night (Olivier Nominated). REGIONAL: Pasadena Playhouse (Artistic Director, 1997-2017), Ford’s Theatre (Senior Artistic Advisor), Old Globe Theatre (Associate Artistic Director), Arena Stage, Guthrie Theatre, Cleveland Playhouse, Alley Theatre, McCarter Theatre, George St. Playhouse and others. TV: The Upshaws, Frasier, Friends, Girlfriends, Everybody Loves Raymond, George Lopez Show and others. AWARDS: Jeff Award, NAACP Theatre Awards, Audelco Awards, Irvine Foundation Leadership Award. AUTHOR: MY OWN DIRECTIONS, A Black Man’s Journey in the American Theatre.
Cheryl L. West
CST: Debut. CHICAGO: FANNIE: The Music and Life of Fannie Lou Hamer, Pullman Porter Blues, Play On!, Puddin ‘n Pete (Goodman Theatre). Watsons Go To Birmingham, Last Stop on Market Street; (Chicago Children’s Theatre). LONDON: Play On! (Talawa Productions), Jar the Floor (Leeds Theatre). OFF-BROADWAY: Holiday Heart (Manhattan Theatre Club), Before It Hits Home, Jar The Floor (Second Stage). REGIONAL: Seattle Rep, Arena Stage, Old Globe, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Minneapolis Children’s Theatre, Seattle Children’s Theatre, Arizona Theatre Center, Indiana Rep, Merrimack, Arkansas Rep, St. Louis Black Rep, Baltimore Center Stage, Syracuse Stage, Ford’s Theatre, Cleveland Play House, South Coast Rep, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, among others. FILM/TV: Disney, Paramount, MTV Films, Showtime, TNT, HBO, CBS, and BET. AWARDS: Allen Lee Hughes Fellowship, Susan Smith Blackburn, Lorraine Hansberry Legacy Award, AATE/TYA distinguished play award, and the Helen Hayes.
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington was born in 1899 in Washington, DC. His first band, The Washingtonians, played at NYC’s The Kentucky Club in the mid-’20s, where he wrote his first musical, The Chocolate Kiddies. In 1924, Ellington made his first recording, “Choo Choo (I Gotta Hurry Home).” His first big hit, “Mood Indigo” (1930), made him a household name. His subsequent compositions, “Solitude,” “Sophisticated Lady,” “In a Sentimental Mood,” “I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart,” “It Don’t Mean a Thing,” “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore,” and more spread the legend of The Duke around the world. Ellington continued to compose and tour until his death on May 24, 1974.
Edgar Godineaux
CST: Debut. CHICAGO: Personality: The Lloyd Price Musical (Studebaker Theater). BROADWAY: Ain’t Too Proud – The Life and Times of the Temptations, Memphis, the Musical, Leap of Faith. OFF– BROADWAY: Jelly’s Last Jam, La Cage Aux Folles (New York City Center), The Harder They Come, Sally and Tom (The Public Theater), Lights Out: Nat “King” Cole (New York Theatre Workshop). REGIONAL: Stompin’ at the Savoy (Delaware Theatre Company), Memphis, the Musical (Musical Theatre West). FILM: Idlewild, Boldin, The Five Heartbeats, Jersey Boys (Associate Choreographer). TV: Motown 30: What’s Goin’ On! (CBS), Law and Order SVU (NBC), Awkwafina is Nora from Queens (Comedy Central), Dancing with the Stars (ABC), Law and Order Criminal Intent (NBC). TOURS: Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, Mariah Carey. AWARDS: Lucille Lortel Award 2026, Jeff Awards (Nominee 2023).
Theodis Rodgers Jr.
CST: Debut. CHICAGO: Teatro ZinZanni Chicago (Music Director/Keyboard); Chicago Jazz Festival; Jazz Showcase; Winters Jazz Club. REGIONAL: Music Director for the Johnson Publishing EBONY Fashion Fair (1986–2003); Ravinia Festival (The Music of Quincy Jones); Music Director for Curtis Mayfield; Ain’t Misbehavin’, Dreamgirls, and Jesus Christ Superstar. FILM: A Family Thing (co-composer); Indecent Proposal (featured appearance). COLLABORATION: Ramsey Lewis, Patti LaBelle, Jennifer Holliday, Angela Bofill, Sarah Vaughan, Freddie Hubbard, Jerry Butler, Phil Upchurch, and The Chi-Lites.
Luther Henderson Jr.
BROADWAY: Worked on over 50 Broadway productions including Beggar’s Holiday (Orchestrator—hired by Duke Ellington), Ain’t Misbehavin’ (Original Pianist, Orchestrator, Arranger, Musical Supervisor); Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music (Musical Consultant, Arranger); Raisin, Play On!, Jelly’s Last Jam (Orchestrator); Flower Drum Song, Do Re Mi, Funny Girl, No, No Nanette (Dance Arranger). AWARDS: Two-time Tony Award Nominee (Best Orchestrations for Jelly’s Last Jam, Play On!); In 2008 Juilliard School of Music established the Luther Henderson Scholarship Fund. EDUCATION: Juilliard class of 1942.
Beowulf Boritt
CST: Judgment Day. BROADWAY: 35 Broadway designs including New York, New York, Act One, The Scottsboro Boys, POTUS, Therese Raquin, Flying Over Sunset, Come From Away, Spelling Bee. AUTHOR: Transforming Space Over Time about Broadway set design. AWARDS: 2 Tony Awards (New York, New York and Act One) 4 Tony Nominations (The Scottsboro Boys, POTUS, Therese Raquin, Flying Over Sunset). Founder of the TONY and OBIE winning The 1/52 Project which has over $500,000 in grants to early career designers.
An-Lin Dauber
CST: Debut. NEW YORK: Paul Swan is Dead and Gone; What You Are Now (The Civilians), El Mentiroso (Arts On Site), Letters That You Will Not Get (American Opera Project), H*tler’s Tasters; Great Novel (New Light Theater), Salesman 之死; June is the First Fall (Yangtze Repertory Company), By The Queen (Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival). REGIONAL: Arena Stage, A.R.T, Alliance Theater, Cleveland Playhouse, Dallas Theater Center, Geva Theater, Guthrie Theater, Huntington Theater Company, Hartford Stage Company, Magic Theater, Mixed Blood Theater, Milwaukee Rep, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, St Louis Rep, Trinity Repertory Company, Utah Shakespeare Festival, Virginia Stage Company, Yale Repertory Theater. TRAINING: MFA Yale School of Drama. AWARDS: Connecticut Critics Circle 2025. Assistant Professor of Costume Design at the University of Washington. Proud member of USA 829. anlindauber.com
Adam Honoré
CST: All’s Well That Ends Well. BROADWAY: Wanted; Cats: The Jellicle Ball (Tony Nomination), Ragtime (Tony Nomination); Jeff Ross: Take a Banana for the Ride (Netflix); Purlie Victorious (Great Performances, PBS); Ain’t No Mo’; Chicken & Biscuits. OFF– BROADWAY: Amahl & The Night Visitors (Lincoln Center Theater, Drama Desk Nomination); Carmen Jones (Classic Stage Company, Drama Desk Nomination); The Lonely Few (MCC, Obie Award – Sustained Achievement in Design). @itsadamhonore
Ray Nardelli
CST: Fault, Peter Pan, Madagascar, Shakespeare in Love, The Tempest, Sense and Sensibility, Road Show, Gypsy, Sunday in the Park with George, Follies, As You Like It, King Lear, The Wizard of Oz, Romeo y Julieta. CHICAGO: Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Court Theatre, Northlight Theatre, Drury Lane Theatre, Lookingglass Theatre Company, Victory Gardens Theatre, Writers Theatre. OFF BROADWAY: Lookingglass Alice (New Victory Theatre). PRE BROADWAY: The Addams Family. All Shook Up, The Light in the Piazza. REGIONAL: McCarter Theatre, The Old Globe, Guthrie Theatre, Dallas Theatre Center, Long Wharf Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Hartford Stage, Alliance Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Alley Theatre, Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival, Skylight Music Theatre AWARDS: four Equity Jeff Awards and seven nominations. Mr. Nardelli has composed music for over 400 films, television programs, DVDs, and computer games worldwide, and has recorded, mixed, and edited eight original cast recordings.
Kevin S. Foster II
CST: Debut. CHICAGO: Ain’t Misbehavin, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Sister Act! (Drury Lane). OFF-BROADWAY: The Art of Leaving (Signature Theatre), This Is Not A Drill (The York Theatre), Rolling Thunder (New World Stages). REGIONAL: Drury Lane, Fulton Theatre, Maine State Music Theatre, Maltz Jupiter Theatre, Peterborough Players, Tuacahn Center for the Arts, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Virginia Repertory Theatre. TV: We Chose to Go to the Moon (PBS at Carnegie Hall). EDUCATION: B.A. in Theatre, Virginia Tech. www.kevinsfosterii.com @wigsbykevin
Claire Burke, CSA
THE TRC COMPANY Led by partners Claire Burke, Kevin Metzger-Timson, Xavier Rubiano, and Peter Van Dam. BROADWAY: Wanted, Beaches, Mamma Mia!, Dead Outlaw, BOOP! The Musical, Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends, Buena Vista Social Club, Death Becomes Her, Left on Tenth, The Outsiders, SIX, Aladdin. NATIONAL TOURS: Death Becomes Her, BOOP!, Dirty Dancing, The Phantom Of The Opera, Beauty & The Beast, Water For Elephants, The Wiz, Back To The Future, Mamma Mia!, Les Misérables. The TRC Company is proud to continue the casting legacy of Tara Rubin Casting and Johnson-Liff Associates.
Kevin Metzger-Timson, CSA
THE TRC COMPANY Led by partners Claire Burke, Kevin Metzger-Timson, Xavier Rubiano, and Peter Van Dam. BROADWAY: Wanted, Beaches, Mamma Mia!, Dead Outlaw, BOOP! The Musical, Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends, Buena Vista Social Club, Death Becomes Her, Left on Tenth, The Outsiders, SIX, Aladdin. NATIONAL TOURS: Death Becomes Her, BOOP!, Dirty Dancing, The Phantom Of The Opera, Beauty & The Beast, Water For Elephants, The Wiz, Back To The Future, Mamma Mia!, Les Misérables. The TRC Company is proud to continue the casting legacy of Tara Rubin Casting and Johnson-Liff Associates.
Bob Mason
CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE: 150 plus productions over 24 years, including 35 plays in Shakespeare’s canon under current Artistic Director Edward Hall and Founding Artistic Director Barbara Gaines. Also at CST: nine productions of Stephen Sondheim musicals under the direction of Gary Griffin. CHICAGO: Bounce, Light in the Piazza (Goodman Theatre); REGIONAL: SIX (CST, American Repertory Theater–Artios Award, Ordway Center, The Citadel); Ride the Cyclone (CST, Fifth Avenue Theatre/A Contemporary Theater, Alliance Theatre); OFF-BROADWAY: Ride the Cyclone (MCC); Rose Rage: Henry VI, Parts 1, 2 and 3, directed by Artistic Director Edward Hall (The Duke on 42nd Street); Marionette Macbeth (New Victory); BROADWAY: SIX, The Notebook; INTERNATIONAL: The Lord of the Rings: A Musical Tale (Auckland, NZ); Pacific Overtures (Donmar Warehouse–Olivier Award, Outstanding Musical); Henry IV, Parts One and Two (RSC). Prior to casting, Mason enjoyed a career as a Joseph Jefferson Award-winning actor and singer and has been a visiting educator at Northwestern University and multiple college programs across the country.
Christopher Chase Carter
CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE: Brokeback Mountain, Sunny Afternoon (Associate Director) CHICAGO: Former Artistic Director of Mercury Theater Chicago and Venus Cabaret Theater: Big River, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, Young Frankenstein, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill, Jersey Boys. AWARDS: Joseph Jefferson Awards (Big River, Prascilla Queen of the Desert)
Kaeli Carr
CST: Debut. CHICAGO: Personality: The Lloyd Price Musical (Studebaker Theater). OFF– BROADWAY: Lights Out: Nat “King” Cole (New York Theatre Workshop). REGIONAL: Stompin’ at the Savoy (Delaware Theatre Company), Memphis, the Musical, In the Heights (Musical Theatre West). THEATRICAL REVUE: HITCity Temptations Edition (Associate Director/Choreographer). TV: Bunheads (ABC Family), Law and Order SVU (NBC), FBI (CBS), Law and Order Organized Crime (NBC).
Shartoya Jn.Baptiste
CST: Debut. BROADWAY: Wanted (Assistant Scenic Designer). REGIONAL: Furlough’s Paradise (Theater Alliance), SLEEPOVA (Olney Theatre Center), Dodi & Diana (Mosaic Theatre Company), The Sea Beyond the Ocean (The Kennedy Center), Is God Is (Constellation Theatre Company), P.Nokio: A Hip-Hop Musical (Imagination Stage), and The Book Club Play and By The Way, Meet Vera Stark (The University of Maryland). Shartoya is a choreographer, creative director, and an adjunct professor at Towson University.
Emily Hayman
CST: Henry V, assistant sound designer on Play On!, Brokeback Mountain, Richard III, The Notebook. CHICAGO: LOKI: The End of the World Tour, Kitty and the Beanstalk, and Leaf (Lifeline Theatre); Briefly Breathless (Steppenwolf Lookout); associate sound design for, Iceboy!; Revolution(s), and Bust (Goodman Theatre); assistant sound designer on POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive, Describe the Night, Choir Boy, Seagull (Steppenwolf Theatre Company). REGIONAL: Geva Theatre, Montana Shakespeare in the Park; associate sound designer at The Old Globe, McCarter Theatre Center, Hartford Stage. EDUCATION: BFA in sound design, The Theatre School at DePaul University.
Chels Morgan
CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE: Billie Jean, 42 Balloons. CHICAGO: Honeypot (Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre/Northwestern); Into the Woods (Kokandy Productions); Seven Guitars (CityLit Theatre); cultural sensitivity director on Kid Prince and Pablo (Lifeline Theatre Company). OFF-BROADWAY: How to Defend Yourself (New York Theatre Workshop). REGIONAL: Afterglow (The Hudson Theatres); Destiny of Desire (Old Globe Theatre); Siluetas (Power Street Theatre); Hair, Bernarda Alba, Rent (University of Michigan). INTERNATIONAL: Orlando (Antipodes Theatre Company). FILM: all the words but the one, Some Kind of Paradise, Aristotle, Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe. TELEVISION: LACE (AllBlk Network). EDUCATION: MFA in directing, Loyola Marymount University. Morgan is an AASECT Certified Sexuality Educator (CSE), an adjunct professor at The Theatre School at DePaul University, and the Director of Accessibility and Inclusion at the Intimacy Professionals Education Collective (IPEC).
Rolando Linares
CST: Short Shakespeare! Romeo & Juliet, The Herbal Bed, Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Pacific Overtures, The Tempest, The Moliere Comedies. CHICAGO: The Amen Corner, A Christmas Carol, Dinner with Friends, Bounce, Proof, Electricidad, The Story (Goodman Theatre). NATIONAL TOURS: Wicked, Hamilton. OFF-BROADWAY: Anne Christie (St Ann’s Warehouse) EDUCATION: The Theatre School DePaul University.
Katrina Herrmann
CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE: Short Shakespeare! Hamlet, Much Ado About Nothing, The Comedy of Errors, All’s Well That Ends Well, As You Like It. CHICAGO: Twisted Melodies(Northlight); Lucy and Charlie’s Honeymoon, The Steadfast Tin Soldier (Lookingglass Theatre Company); Seussical, Rock of Ages (Drury Lane Theatre); Mary Page Marlowe (Steppenwolf Theatre Company); The Hundred Dresses, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane (Chicago Children’s Theatre); Kill Floor, The Royale, Sons of the Prophet (American Theater Company); Juno (TimeLine Theatre Company). REGIONAL: The King’s Speech (National Tour); Diana the Musical, Queens, The Cake, At the Old Place (La Jolla Playhouse); The Garden, Twisted Melodies (Baltimore Center Stage). OFF BROADWAY: The Flick, Kin, The Whale, The Big Meal, The Shaggs: Philosophy of the World, The Burnt Part Boys, Circle Mirror Transformation (Playwrights Horizons); Close Up Space (Manhattan Theatre Club); In the Wake (Public Theater). EDUCATION: BFA in stage management, DePaul University; MBA, Adams State University. Katrina is a proud AEA member. For nine years during the holidays, she worked for Santa Claus at Macy’s in New York City.
Uria Bennett
CST: Debut. CHICAGO: Personality: The Lloyd Price Musical (Studebaker Theater); Imitation of Life (Theater 47). REGIONAL: Stompin‘ at the Savoy (Delaware Theatre Company). OPERA: Champion (Lyric Opera of Chicago). EDUCATION: Chicago High School for the Arts; studied dance at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
