News From the Festival
New Director Promises "Joyous" Greenshow
By Liz Armstrong
Last year, Utah Shakespeare Festival patrons enjoyed a fabulous production of The Pirates of Penzance, with a colorful and buzzing energy that entranced audiences throughout the play. This season, patrons can expect the same at The Greenshow. “It’s going to be joyous, fun, and nonstop,” director Cassie Abate said.
And Abate should know. She directed that acclaimed production of The Pirates of Penzance and this year is writing, directing, and choreographing The Greenshow, the Festival’s free pre-play entertainment.
Abate said that directing The Pirates of Penzance last year prepared her for directing The Greenshow this year. “Being at the Festival last year, I really got a sense about the traditions, and experiencing what the Festival is all about was awesome,” she said. “I’m so excited to be back.”
Directing The Greenshow will have its challenges, but this vivacious director is up for the task. “The Greenshow has been a fun learning experience for me because I’ve never fully written a show before,” she said. “So taking an [idea] all the way through has been a really fun, interesting, dynamic experience.”
Abate is also extremely excited about how collaborative the process of putting together The Greenshow has been. “What’s so great about this kind of production is because it’s new, the cast gets to be a collaborative part of it,” Abate said. “So things shift and change and adapt more so than when you have a set show that you are producing.”
“It’s a lot less predictable than when you’re inside a theater,” she said in discussing the outdoor space on the green. “I’m looking forward to experiencing how we fill that space and how we utilize it to its full potential so that we don’t just make it an entertainment, but an immersive experience for the audience—where they’re interacting with the performance.”
Abate plans to honor the traditions of the Festival and The Greenshow while adding fun and new elements. Jokingly, she promised to mention the Festival-famous tarts in each show.
Patrons can also expect an extremely fun soundtrack. Abate hinted that in addition to pulling from the musical theatre canon, the company will also be using more popular songs from the ’40s to the ’60s.
Because The Greenshow is presented every night before the plays, Abate’s biggest goal is to make sure it complements the shows being performed, as well as making sure each of the three versions of The Greenshow can stand alone as a fun and family-friendly entertainment. The Last Time I Saw Paris will play before All’s Well That Ends Well; British Music Hall before Sweeney Todd; and Coronation Day before King Lear. Abate promises each one is unique in its own way.
The 2022 season of the Utah Shakespeare Festival runs from June 20 to October 8 and includes All’s Well That Ends Well, Sweeney Todd, King Lear, The Sound of Music, Trouble in Mind, Clue, The Tempest, and Thurgood, as well as all the experiences surrounding the plays, such as The Greenshow, seminars, orientations, and backstage tours. Tickets and information are available by calling 800-PLAYTIX or going online to bard.org.
The Place the Festival Was Born!
By Liz Armstrong
For the Utah Shakespeare Festival, it all started in a laundromat.
And now the Cedar City Historic Preservation Commission and Visit Cedar City • Brian Head—The Iron County Tourism Bureau have installed and dedicated a plaque highlighting the place where the idea of the Utah Shakespeare Festival was born.
Titled the Birthplace of the Utah Shakespeare Festival, the memorial plaque is located near 100 North and 100 West streets on the east side of 100 West where the Fluffy Bundle Laundromat stood in the 1950s and ’60s
Local businessman W. Arthur Jones opened the Fluffy Bundle in 1959, and a young Fred C. Adams and his financée Barbara Gaddie were doing their laundry there in the spring of 1960 when the idea of a Shakespeare festival was born. At this time, Fred was the only drama professor at what was then the College of Southern Utah.
“Notes written on a yellow notepad while waiting for their clothes to dry would become the blueprint for the Utah Shakespeare Festival,” the plaque reads. “Little did [Fred and Barbara] know that those notes would drastically change their lives and help shape the future of this community.”
Those notes did change the Cedar City community. Over sixty years later, the Utah Shakespeare Festival has entertained hundreds of thousands of people from around the world and is recognized as one of the best professional theatre events in the nation.
It is with tender hearts that the Festival reminisces on the birthplace and beginning of Fred and Barbara’s dream. Without those inspired and candid notes scrawled during mundane daily chores in the Fluffy Bundle Laundromat, the Festival would not be the theatrical and entertainment jewel it is today.
Twelve Children Cast in The Sound of Music
By Liz Armstrong
The Sound of Music is an incredibly memorable piece of theatre, and the Utah Shakespeare Festival predicts that its production this summer will be made even more so with the casting of twelve talented children to play the six youngest von Trapp children.
Each of the six roles have been double cast to make it easier to work with the schedules of these young, part-time thespians and their diverse schedules. The twelve young actors are:
Gwynn Christ and Rubey Pearson as Gretl
Shelby Fawson and Molly Pearson as Louisa
Liv Harter and Kate Sowards as Brigitta
Penny Hodson and Ridley Hulse as Marta
Mack Lawrence and Ian Wilson as Kurt
Brooke Mellen and Joel Wilson as Friedrich
Michael Bahr, Festival education director who assisted in the recruitment and rehearsal process, is excited about the caliber of these children.
“I’m thrilled we are doing The Sound of Music because we can utilize talented youth performers from the region,” Bahr said. “It is a really great way to celebrate both their talent and for them to learn from professional actors.” The children cast are from the Wasatch Front and Las Vegas, as well as from the Cedar City and St. George area.
The auditions were a day-long process, with over eighty children ranging from ages 5 to 19 vying for the roles. Beginning at 9 a.m., they sang, danced, and acted; then over half of the children were called back for a second round.
Bahr said the large callback wasn’t about not breaking the kid’s hearts, but about finding the very best actors. “I said to Brian Vaughn [the Festival artistic director], ‘You didn’t have to call that many kids back,’ and he said, ‘I know but they’re really good, and I want to give them a chance, to teach them,’” Bahr related.
Bahr explained that in addition to looking for children that could sing, dance, and act, they were on the lookout for those with a kind of professional demeanor and teachability. Ultimately, Bahr, Vaughn, and director Keenon Hooks were asking the question, “Who is best at sharing?” “Theatre is about a conversation between the performers and the audience,” Bahr explained. “We need child performers that can share and connect with the audience and their cast members. When you find that, it’s a very special and unique thing, and I think they got that with this group.”
Bahr praised Hooks, explaining that because he has worked with all levels of actors, including children, he expects that as a director will be able to draw out their very best performances.
Although most everyone is familiar with the Julie Andrews’ production, patrons will get to see this specific show again for the first time. “They have never seen this production before,” Bahr said. “You will hear the songs again and go, ‘Wow, I’ve never noticed that before,’ because of what these performers and director have to offer.”
At the end of the day, theater is about representing humanity onstage so that patrons can see a bit of themselves in every production, and that is what the Festival will accomplish this year with The Sound of Music. “Shakespeare knows that you have to have all of humanity represented on stage,” Bahr said. “We want to make sure, as a company, that we are engaging with all of humanity, and children are part of that humanity. Having children onstage engaging with other children in the audience is important.”
Announcing the 2022 Season Cast of The Greenshow
“This summer I am so excited to be working with such an incredibly talented group of performers,” said Cassie Abate, director of The Greenshow. “This season The Greenshow has a total of nine performers with six performers in each cast. So along with three different shows, there will be three different cast makeups. There will be lots of song, dance, and fun!”
The Greenshow is the Utah Shakespeare Festival’s free, pre-play entertainment that is performed nightly before the evening play. All nine actors in this talented group of performers are looking forward to their work this year. They are:
Lucy Austin will be playing Johanna in Sweeney Todd and Ursula and Ensemble in The Sound of Music in addition to appearing in The Greenshow. She has appeared in Into the Woods, Much Ado about Nothing, Cymbeline, and The General from America at Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, as well as in Cabaret, Macbeth, Good Kids, Little Women, Cagebirds, and Carousel at The Boston Conservatory. She also acted in the film Little Women. She received her B.F.A. from The Boston Conservatory.
Whitney Black is performing, in addition to The Greenshow, the roles of Soldier, French Lady, and Ensemble in All’s Well That Ends Well. Elsewhere, she has performed such roles as Mother Courage in Mother Courage (Southern Utah University), The Witch in Into the Woods (Southern Utah University), Olivia in Twelfth Night Or What You Will (Utah Valley University), The Angel in Angels in America (Utah Rep. Theatre), Caroline Bingley in Pride and Prejudice (Creekside Theatre Fest), and Witch in The Tragedy of Macbeth (Creekside Theatre Fest). She is working on her BFA degree in acting at Southern Utah University.
Black appears courtesy of the Southern Utah University Fellowship Program.
Augusto Guardado will appear in The Greenshow and in the Ensemble of The Sound of Music. Work at other theatres includes On Your Feet, Beauty and the Beast, West Side Story (Moonlight Amphitheater); White Christmas (Musical Theatre West); América Tropical (McCoy Rigby Entertainment); Something Rotten, Shrek the Musical (5-Star Theatricals). He received his B.A. from California State University Northridge.
Elizabeth Harlen is playing Sister Margaretta in The Sound of Music in addition to performing in The Greenshow. She has appeared in a workshop of Galt MacDermot‘s The Human Comedy at New York City Center, Rosa Bud in Manhattan School of Music’s The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Performer in Stephen Schwartz’s 70th Birthday Gala, and Performer in The Drama League Gala Honoring Sutton Foster. She received her bachelor of music degree from Manhattan School of Music.
Malory Myers, in addition to performing in The Greenshow, will fill the roles of Postulant/Ensemble in The Sound of Music. Other work includes Jerusha Abbott in Daddy Long Legs and Dolly Levi in The Matchmaker (radio) at Southern Utah University; Molly Aster in Peter and the Starcatcher and Rosalind Hay in Moon Over Buffalo at Dixie State University; and Soprano in Hunchback of Notre Dame at Tuacahn Center for the Arts. She was also a dancer in the Disney film High School Musical 2. She holds a BFA in musical theatre and minor in dance degree from Southern Utah University.
Samantha Paredes is in the ensembles of Sweeney Todd and The Sound of Music, as well as appearing in The Greenshow. She has also worked at Hale Center Theatre, Center Theatre Orem, Hopebox Theatre, Westminster College Opera Studio, Wasatch Theatre Company and On Pitch Performing Arts. She has also appeared in two films: Sol (SpyHop Productions) and Wallsburg (Crash Forward Productions). She won first place in the 2022 Grand Prize Vienna International Competition and first place in singing in the 2020 International Model and Talent Association Competition. She received a BA in vocal performance from Westminster College.
Taylor Tveten is playing Sister Berthe in The Sound of Music and Ensemble in Sweeney Todd, in addition to appearing in The Greenshow. She played Priscilla Presley/Dance Captain in the United States premiere of Elvis the Musical at Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre, Elizabeth in Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde at Jobsite Theater, and others. She is the 2020 second place National Winner in Musical Theatre with the National Society of Arts and Letters and the first place St. Louis Regional Winner in Musical Theatre with the National Society of Arts and Letters. She has a BFA in musical theatre from The Sargent Conservatory of Theatre Arts at Webster University
Ethan Van Slyke, in addition to performing in The Greenshow, will play Tobias Ragg in Sweeney Todd and Rolf Gruber in The Sound of Music. Other theatre work includes Newsies, Watch on the Rhine, and Oliver! (Arena Stage); Altar Boyz, and You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown (Forestburgh Playhouse); and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Dogfight, Hair (University of Michigan). He is a 2017 Helen Hayes Award Nominee, and he holds a BFA in musical theatre from The University of Michigan
Spencer Watson is also appearing in The Greenshow. Other theatre work has included James Lingk in Glengarry Glen Ross, Snail (understudy) in A Year with Frog and Toad, Barnaby in The Matchmaker, Cinderella’s Prince/The Wolf in Into the Woods, Whizzer in Falsettos (Southern Utah University); Smee/Nana in Peter Pan (Pickleville Playhouse), and Younger Brother in Ragtime (Centerpoint Legacy Theatre). He is working on a BFA in musical theatre from Southern Utah.
Watson appears courtesy of the Southern Utah University Fellowship Program.
The Festival season runs from June 20 to October 8, featuring All’s Well That Ends Well, Sweeney Todd, King Lear, The Sound of Music, Trouble in Mind, Clue, The Tempest, and Thurgood. Tickets are now on sale. You can order or receive more information by visiting www.bard.org or calling the Ticket Office at 800-PLAYTIX.
BUY TICKETSMore Casting News
All’s Well That Ends Well Casting Story
Announcing the Cast of Thurgood
“The casting process for Thurgood was a little different,” said director Delicia Turner Sonnenberg when talking about the one-man play she will be directing this season at the Utah Shakespeare Festival. In fact, it was almost the opposite of how casting usually works at the Festival. Instead of the director being hired first and then casting taking place, “Derek Charles Livingston, Festival director of new play development/artistic associate, contacted me about directing the show with him already in the role.”
Sonnenberg and Livingston have known each other for over a decade, which will be a bonus as they work together to bring to the stage the life of Thurgood Marshall, the first African American Supreme Court Justice. “The collaboration has to be different. We have to work more closely, collaboratively on character and intentions,” said Sonnenberg. “The entire play has to come from one actor, and it has to live comfortably in his mouth and body. Already having a prior working relationship means Derek and I can get right to the work, and that’s exciting.”
“And as long as he remembers I’m the director, it’ll be fine,” she joked.
Livingston has played the demanding role before, as well as numerous others across the country: Tupolski in The Pillowman, Simon in The Whipping Man, Hoke in Driving Miss Daisy, Nat Turner in Insurrection: Holding History, Billy Flynn in Chicago, Gregory in Love! Valor! Compassion!, Oberon (twice) in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Pridament in The Illusion, Capulet in Romeo and Juliet, Duke Frederick in As You Like It.
He has also worked as a theatre director, producer, and new play developer. He served for over four years as the managing artistic director of Los Angeles’s Celebration Theatre (the country’s second oldest, continuously operating LGBT-focused theatre). During that time and after, he produced and/or directed several acclaimed plays and musicals; those productions received over fifty Los Angeles theatre awards or nominations (including acknowledgements for Derek’s directing work on five productions). Later he lived in San Diego where he produced or co-produced a host of new play festivals, helping give life to over forty new plays. For San Diego’s Diversionary Theatre, he directed the award-nominated San Diego premiere of Tru, depicting the life of Truman Capote.
In his position at the Festival, Livingston is responsible for re-envisioning and overseeing the Festival’s new play program, Words Cubed, as well as other artistic and senior staff duties.
The Festival season runs from June 20 to October 8, with Thurgood being performed from September 14 to October 8 only. Other plays in the season are All’s Well That Ends Well, Sweeney Todd, King Lear, The Sound of Music, Trouble in Mind, Clue, and The Tempest. Tickets are now on sale. You can order or receive more information by visiting www.bard.org or calling the Ticket Office at 800-PLAYTIX.
BUY TICKETSMore Casting News
All’s Well That Ends Well Casting Story
Welcome the 2022 Company!
Yesterday was arrival day at the Utah Shakespeare Festival. It was the yearly day of celebration, old and new friendships, anticipation, and palpable excitement. It was the day the bulk of the company members for the 2022 season arrived in Cedar City. Actors, directors, designers, and artists of every kind checked in, attended an opening meeting (which included a video welcome from the Festival’s founder, the late Fred C. Adams), and then went to work.
Join with all of us at the Festival in welcoming this amazing group of people to Cedar City! And click on any of the above photos to see a larger version.
Here’s what some of the company members had to say about the upcoming season:
“The chance to do King Lear is a mountain every classical actor dreams of climbing.”
—Anthony Heald (Lear in King Lear and King of France in All’s Well That Ends Well)
“It’s season thirty-one for me. I’m very excited to be doing Sweeney Todd, the first musical outside at the Festival, because I’m a big Sondheim fan.”
—Bill Black (costume designer for Sweeney Todd)
“I am excited to be in rehearsal again with other actors and, of course, Sondheim!”
—Lucy Austin (Johanna in Sweeney Todd, Ursula/Ensemble in The Sound of Music; Featured Performer in The Greenshow)
“It’s an exciting time for The Greenshow. We have a new director and three brand new shows.”
—Paula E. Trimpey (costume and scenery designer for The Greenshow)
“Playing the role of Maria feels like home, honestly in every way.”
—Daria Redus Pilar (Maria in The Sound of Music; Ensemble in Clue)
“It’s my first year being a first hand and I’m so excited to work with these wonderful artists to build King Lear.”
—Tanah Hislop (costume first hand for King Lear)
“I’m most excited to play Mr. Green in Clue because he is such a startle-able klutz.”
—Michael Doherty (Mr. Green in Clue; Lavatch in All’s Well That Ends Well; Jonas Fogg in Sweeney Todd)
Announcing the Cast of The Tempest
“I’m excited by this cast because it is truly a diverse group of imaginative artists that value language and poetry,” said Cameron Knight as he prepares to direct The Tempest this season at the Utah Shakespeare Festival. “I believe this will allow us to really unpack the questions in this play that pull on our humanity.” This group of actors includes actors with years of experience, including past work at the Festival, as well as actors whose faces will be new to Festival audiences.
The actors are:
Jasmine Bracey is returning to the Festival this year to take on the magical Duchess Prospero in The Tempest. In 2021, she played to great acclaim at the Festival as Belarius in Cymbeline and Mrs. Dickson in Intimate Apparel. She has also worked at numerous other theatres, including Asolo Repertory Theatre, Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, American Blues Theater, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Alley Theatre, Guthrie Theater, Resident Ensemble Players, The Acting Company, Ten Thousand Things, Chicago Dramatists, and Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival. She has also appeared in the television series New Amsterdam and Chicago P.D. and has performed voiceover work. She is a member of Actors’ Equity Association and SAG-AFTRA.
Freedom Martin is making his debut at the Festival this season, playing the roles of Ferdinand in The Tempest and Edgar in King Lear. Trained at the Juilliard School, the British American Drama Academy, National Youngarts Foundation, and the Chicago High School for the Arts, he has extensive regional theatre experience. He has worked at Definition Theatre, TimeLine Theatre, the Artistic Home, Haven Theatre, and others, as well as at such academic venues as the Juilliard School, Chicago Youth Shakespeare, and Fury Theatre. He also appeared in the film Giving Voice.
Sophia K. Metcalf is also debuting at the Festival this season in the roles of the ethereal Ariel in The Tempest and Citizen and Musician in All’s Well That Ends Well. Work at other theatres includes Guilty Party at Cosmic Cherry Arts Festival and Twelfth Night with The Acting Company (both in New York City), Twelfth Night with the Irvington Shakespeare Festival, Gilgamesh with Counterbalance Theatre Company, and The Penelopiad, Human Error, Book of Will, and Macbeth at the University of California–Irvine. Metcalf also appeared in the Netflix film I Am No Longer Here.
Aidan O’Reilly is returning for his second year at the Festival to play Caliban in The Tempest and the Fool in King Lear. In the 2021 season, he played Cerimon in Pericles, Richard in Richard III, and Angelo in The Comedy of Errors. Other theatres he has worked at include Prague Shakespeare Company, Marin Shakespeare Company, American Shakespeare Center, City Lights Theatre Company, Renegade Players, Avalon Players, Sonoma Valley Shakespeare Company, Arkansas Repertory Theatre, and Studio Theatre of Little Rock. A graduate with honors from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, O’Reilly is a member of Actors’ Equity Association.
Amara Webb returns to the Festival after appearing as Sister in The Pirates of Penzance and Ensemble in Ragtime in 2021. This year in The Tempest she will perform the role of Miranda; and in All’s Well That Ends Well, Diana. She has played numerous roles at other theatres, including Henriette in The Learned Ladies and Sarah Chandler in The Living, both at Sargent Conservatory at Webster University.
Other members of the cast include:
- John Bixler as Sebastian, Ceres, and Ensemble
- Anatasha Blakely as Stephano and Ensemble
- Steven Jensen as Gonzalo and Ensemble
- Kevin Kantor as Trinculo, Iris, and Ensemble
- Arizsia Staton as Antonio, Juno, and Ensemble
- René Thornton Jr. as Alonso and Ensemble
More Casting News
Bios and Photos
All’s Well That Ends Well Casting Story
Announcing the Cast of Clue
“The key to comedy is finding good actors,” said director Hunter Foster. “And we definitely found them!” Indeed, the Utah Shakespeare Festival has assembled an inspired group of actors to play the iconic oddballs in this season’s production of the madcap comedy, Clue. Almost all have appeared at the Festival in past seasons, and most are members of Actors’ Equity Association, the professional actors union.
They are:
Cherita Armstrong will be making her first appearance at the Festival. She will be playing Miss Scarlet in Clue and Millie Davis in Trouble in Mind. She has appeared off-Broadway at American Place Theatre, MCC, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Theatre for the New City, and New York Theatre Workshop and at such other theatres as St. Louis Black Repertory Theatre, Baltimore Center Stage, Yale Repertory Theatre, Public Theatre, and Hollywood Fringe Festival. On television she has been in 9-1-1, Pretty Little Liars, Law & Order: SVU, and Law & Order: Trial by Jury. She is a member of both Actors’ Equity Association and SAG-AFTRA.
Bailey Blaise returns for her third season at the Festival. She will play the maid Yvette in Clue and Judy Sears in Trouble in Mind. In 2021 she played Evelyn Nesbit and Ensemble in Ragtime and a Sister in The Pirates of Penzance; in 2019 she was in various roles in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Featured Performer in The Greenshow. Other theatres she has worked at include Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre (Funny Girl, Oliver!, The Music Man); Hunterdon Hills Playhouse (Sherlock Holmes Returns!); Musical Theatre West (Catch Me If You Can); Opera San Luis Obispo (Carousel); Rubicon Theatre Company (South Pacific); and Musical Theatre Guild (Zorba!, Minnie’s Boys). She received aB.A. in musical theatre from the University of Alabama and is an Equity Membership Candidate.
Michael Doherty is returning to the Festival in the role of Green in Clue. He will also appear as Lavatch, the clown, in All’s Well That Ends Well and Jonas Fogg in Sweeney Todd. In past seasons at the Festival he has played Dromio of Syracuse in The Comedy of Errors and The Joneses in The Comedy of Terrors (2021); the solo performer in Every Brilliant Thing (2019); Charlie Baker in The Foreigner and Tom Sawyer in Big River (2018); and more. He has appeared at many other theatres, including Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, and the Denver Center. A member of Actors’ Equity Association, he is also the showrunner for Mythic Thunderlute: A D&D Podcast Musical.
Aaron Galligan-Stierle is returning for his tenth season at the Festival. He will be playing Wadsworth in Clue and Adolfo Pirelli in Sweeney Todd. In past Festival seasons, he has appeared as Tateh in Ragtime, Clarence in Richard III, Dromio of Syracuse in The Comedy of Errors, Feste in Twelfth Night, Smee in Peter and the Starcatcher, Grumio in The Taming of the Shrew, Launcelot Gobbo in The Merchant of Venice, Clown #2 in The 39 Steps. On Broadway he played Monsieur Andre in The Phantom of the Opera, Henry Ford in Ragtime, and Papa Who in The Grinch and acted in the White Christmas national tour, as well as at the Kennedy Center, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Papermill Playhouse, The Rev, TUTS, Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, and more. He is a member of Actors’ Equity Association.
Bree Murphy is returning to the Festival after an absence of several years—to play Mrs. Peacock in Clue and Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd. Most recently at the Festival she appeared as Miss Andrew and Mrs. Corry in Mary Poppins and Queen Isabel and Mistress Quickly in Henry V in 2016. She has also been in such Festival productions as South Pacific, The Taming of the Shrew, Henry IV Part Two, Measure for Measure, Henry IV Part One, and Into the Woods. A member of Actors’ Equity Association, she has appeared in the national tour of Les Misérables and in many other theatres, including Musical Theatre West, 3D Theatricals, PCPA, Swine Palace, New Swan Shakespeare, Kentucky Shakespeare, and Okoboji Summer Theatre.
Melinda Parrett is another actor returning to the Festival this season. She will play Mrs. White in Clue and Elsa Schraeder in The Sound of Music. Previously at the Festival, she has played numerous roles, including Titania/Hippolyta in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Adelaide in Guys and Dolls, Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes, Ariel in The Tempest, Belinda in Noises Off!, Lady Capulet in Romeo and Juliet, and many more. She has also acted across the country at such theatres as Denver Center, Goodspeed Opera House, Geva Theatre, Santa Cruz Shakespeare, PCPA Theaterfest, Sacramento Music Circus, Capital Stage, SLO Rep, B Street Theatre, Sierra Repertory Theatre, StageWorks Fresno, New Helvetia Theatre, Sacramento Theatre Company, Oregon Cabaret Theatre, Phoenix Theatre, Odyssey Theatre LA, Long Beach CLO. She is a member of Actors’ Equity Association.
Michael Sharon is returning to the Festival after a fifteen-year absence, this year to play the roles of Professor Plum in Clue and Captain Von Trapp in The Sound of Music. In past seasons he has played Orsino in Twelfth Night and Tullus Aufidius in Coriolanus in 2007; Antonio in The Merchant of Venice and The Dancin’ Kid in Johnny Guitar in 2006; and Lancelot in Camelot and Theseus/Oberon in A Midsummer Night’s Dream in 2005. He has performed off-Broadway in The Fantasticks (Jerry Orbach Theatre), The Most Happy Fella (NYCity Opera), and Happy Hunting and Josephine’s Song (The York). Regionally he has appeared across the country in theatres such as the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Folger Theatre, Los Angeles Theatre Center, and Milwaukee Rep. His training was at the University of Southern California and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and he is a member of Actors’ Equity Association.
Rex Young is also a veteran of the Festival stages. This year he will play Colonel Mustard in Clue and Al Manners inTrouble in Mind. In past seasons he has taken on the roles of Jack in The Importance of Being Earnest, 2003; Antipholus of Syracuse in The Comedy of Errors, 2003; Macduff in Macbeth, 2004; Cassius in Julius Caesar, 2016; and Murray in The Odd Couple, 2016. Off-Broadway he has appeared as Paddy O’Dowd in A Touch of the Poet at The Irish Repertory Theatre and Goering/Ensemble in Flight at The Lucille Lortel Theatre. He has worked extensively at regional theatres, including twenty-three seasons as an acting company member at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and work at Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Actor’s Theatre of Louisville, Indiana Repertory Theatre, American Repertory Theatre, and more. He is a member of Actors’ Equity Association and SAG.
Other actors in this year’s production are:
- Andrew Fehrenbacher as Mr Boddy and other roles
- Daria Pilar Redus as Cook and other roles
- André Spathelf-Sanders as Unexpected Cop and Cop
More Casting News
Bios and Photos As They Become Available
All’s Well That Ends Well Casting Story
Announcing the Cast of Trouble in Mind
For an extraordinary play about backstage drama and racial tropes, the Utah Shakespeare Festival has brought together a cast of diverse and experienced actors. The nine actors in Trouble in Mind by Alice Childress include many who will be familiar to Festival fans and several others who will soon become “Festival favorites.”
The cast members are:
Cherita Armstrong will be making her first appearance at the Festival. She will be playing the quick-witted Millie Davis in Trouble in Mind, as well as Miss Scarlet in Clue. She has appeared off-Broadway at American Place Theatre, MCC, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Theatre for the New City, and New York Theatre Workshop and at such other theatres as St. Louis Black Repertory Theatre, Baltimore Center Stage, Yale Repertory Theatre, Public Theatre, and Hollywood Fringe Festival. On television she has been in 9-1-1, Pretty Little Liars, Law & Order: SVU, and Law & Order: Trial by Jury. She is a member of both Actors’ Equity Association and SAG-AFTRA.
“I’m so excited to be joining Utah Shakespeare Festival’s 2022 season!” said Armstrong. “I’m a huge fan of Alice Childress’s work and looking forward to taking on the role of Millie in Trouble in Mind and continuing the fun as Ms. Scarlett in Clue. Groovy times ahead!”
Bailey Blaise returns for her third season at the Festival. She will play Judy Sears in Trouble in Mind and Yvette in Clue. In 2021 she played Evelyn Nesbit and Ensemble in Ragtime and a Sister in The Pirates of Penzance; in 2019 she was in various roles in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Featured Performer in The Greenshow. Other theatres she has worked at include Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre (Funny Girl, Oliver!, The Music Man); Hunterdon Hills Playhouse (Sherlock Holmes Returns!); Musical Theatre West (Catch Me If You Can); Opera San Luis Obispo (Carousel); Rubicon Theatre Company (South Pacific); and Musical Theatre Guild (Zorba!, Minnie’s Boys).
She received aB.A. in musical theatre from the University of Alabama and is an Equity Membership Candidate.
Yvette Monique Clark will be at the Festival for her first season this summer, playing the lead role of Wiletta Mayer in Trouble of Mind and Countess of Rossillion and Citizen in All’s Well That Ends Well. She has had extensive experience across the county including appearing in the world premiere of In the Upper Room (Denver Center for the Performing Arts), as well as in The Mountaintop (Depot Theatre), Ain’t Misbehavin’ (international tour and regional), Little Mermaid and To Kill a Mockingbird (Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre), Gun and Powder (world premiere, Signature Theatre), Smokey Joe’s Café (national tour and regional), Hairspray (national tour and regional), Chicago, Thoroughly Modern Millie, and Showboat (McHaydyn Theatre), and The Wiz, Unison, and The Merry Wives of Windsor (Oregon Shakespeare Festival).
On television she has appeared in Orange Is the New Black. She is a member of Actors’ Equity Association.
Michael Fitzpatrick is returning to the Festival after a twenty-one year hiatus to play Henry in Trouble in Mind and Max Detweiler in The Sound of Music. He last appeared at the Festival in 2001 as Launce in The Two Gentlemen of Verona and Stephano in The Tempest. In 1999 he played Frankie in Forever Plaid, Oswald in King Lear, Snug in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Daniel in The Compleat Works of Wllm. Shkspr (Abridged).
In New York City, he has appeared in Theodore & Co, Gross Indecency, and The Taming of the Shrew; and he was in the national tours of Beauty and the Beast (Cogsworth) and 42nd Street (Bert Barry). He has played at numerous regional theatres including Great River Shakespeare, Denver Center, GEVA Theatre Company, and Willamette Rep. Company. He has appeared as a featured guest on television’s Six Degrees (ABC) and Nash Bridges (CBS) and in movies such as Remission, Pearl, and Fame Whore. He is a member Actors’ Equity Association and SAG-AFTRA.
Maurice-Aimé Green is making his Festival debut in the roles of John Nevins in Trouble in Mind, Oswald in King Lear, and various characters in All’s Well That Ends Well. He has also worked at Great River Shakespeare Festival, Nevada Conservatory Theatre, Las Vegas Composer’s Showcase, and Polyphone Festival of New and Emerging Musicals. On television he appeared on 2022 NFL Draft Open. He received his B.A. in stage and screen acting from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
“I’m very excited to be making my debut at Utah Shakes with such great company and strong material!” Green said in talking about the upcoming summer.
Antonio TJ Johnson is also appearing at the Festival for the first time this year. He will be playing Sheldon in Trouble in Mind. Some recent work includes La Jolla Playhouse, Blueprints to Freedom; San Diego Repertory Theatre, Sweat; Cygnet Theatre, Gem of the Ocean, Fences, Piano Lesson, Seven Guitars, King Headley. He has also appeared at numerous regional theatres, including Pittsburgh Playwright, Moxie Theatre, Kansas City Repertory, Intrepid Theatre, Lamb’s Players, Old Globe Theater, North Coast Repertory, and S D Black Ensemble.
He is a recent recipient of the San Diego Critics Circle Best Actor Award for Fences, as well as many other awards over the past thirty years. He is a member of Actors’ Equity Association
Chris Mixon has appeared in numerous Festival roles over the past two decades. This year he is playing Bill O’Wray in Trouble in Mind and Gloucester in King Lear. Favorite productions from past years include Pericles; Ragtime; Richard III; Big River; You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown; The Foreigner; Dracula; Twelfth Night; Book of Will; Mary Poppins; The Cocoanuts; and ‘Art’. He appeared in the Broadway national tour of How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying and off-Broadway at The Pearl Theatre Co. (eight seasons), The Mint, Riverside Shakespeare, and Manhattan Theatre Club. He has appeared in television in Law & Order, One Life to Live, and All My Children and on film in The Rosa Parks Story. He is a member of Actors’ Equity Association and SAG-AFTRA.
“I am thrilled to be working with director Melissa Maxwell and cast in Alice Childress’s Trouble in Mind,” he said. “It is a vitally important play for our times, even—and perhaps especially—sixty years after its first production. I am always thrilled and honored to be a part of the Festival season, but even more so with this incredible team in 2022.”
Jeremy Thompson is also a Festival alumnus, returning this year to play Eddie Fenton in Trouble in Mind, G. Dumaine in All’s Well That Ends Well, and Burgundy/Herald in King Lear. In past seasons at the Festival, he has played Caius Lucius/Arviragus in Cymbeline; Doctor Pinch/First Merchant in The Comedy of Errors; Horatio in Hamlet; Seyton in Macbeth; Lodovico in Othello; and Philiste in The Liar. He has also worked at Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Island Shakespeare Festival, Idaho Repertory Theatre, Book-It Repertory Theatre.
“I’m particularly excited for Trouble in Mind’s style of tragicomedy,” Thompson said. “All the characters’ words cut, sometimes on purpose, sometimes carelessly, and sometimes to themselves. As their armor gets chipped away, I’m interested in how they’ll react to uncomfortable truths about themselves.”
Rex Young is also a veteran of the Festival stages. This year he will play Al Manners in Trouble in Mind and Colonel Mustard in Clue. In past seasons he has played Jack in The Importance of Being Earnest, 2003; Antipholus of Syracuse in The Comedy of Errors, 2003; Macduff in Macbeth, 2004; Cassius in Julius Caesar, 2016; and Murray in The Odd Couple, 2016.
Off-Broadway he has appeared as Paddy O’Dowd in A Touch of the Poet at The Irish Repertory Theatre and Goering/Ensemble in Flight at The Lucille Lortel Theatre. He has worked extensively at regional theatres, including twenty-three seasons as an acting company member at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and work at Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Actor’s Theatre of Louisville, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Playmakers Rep, Seattle Shakespeare Company, Cincinnati Playhouse, Great River Shakespeare Festival, Virginia Stage Company, Long Wharf Theatre, and American Repertory Theatre. On television he has made appearances in Designing Women and All My Children Association and SAG.
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Announcing the Cast of The Sound of Music
Almost everyone has heard the songs and knows the story of The Sound of Music, including performances as Maria and Captain Von Trapp by Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer in the movie or Mary Martin and Theodore Bikel on Broadway. It is, indeed, a grand story with many memorable actors. The Utah Shakespeare Festival’s production this summer will have all of that—and just a bit more: this cast will feature actors of color in the roles of Maria, the Mother Abbess, and others.
“I’m excited to bring non-traditional casting into our version of The Sound of Music,” said director Keenon Hooks. “We have assembled an excellent cast to help bring this story to life. Rarely will you find classic stories like this told with casting actors of color at large scale regional theatres, and I couldn’t be happier to share our story this way.”
The cast will include the following:
Daria Pilar Redus is returning to the Festival after a standout performance last year as Sarah in Ragtime. She will be playing the role of Maria in The Sound of Music and will be in the ensemble of Clue. Other Festival roles from the past have included Kate in The Pirates of Penzance, Featured Soloist in Big River, and Featured Performer in The Greenshow. In the first national tour of The Spongebob Musical she took on the role of Sandy Cheeks and has also played Regina in Rock of Ages at the John W. Engeman Theatre, Ensemble in Kinky Boots at the Arvada Center, and more. She is a member of Actors’ Equity Association.
“To me, Maria embodies what it means to be beautifully flawed, sincere, courageous, nurturing, candid and self-loving,” she said in talking about the starring role. “And the very things that make Maria ‘a problem’ that some may feel the need to ‘solve’ could be the key to her happiness and freedom. I can’t wait to share this heartwarming story with you and hope that it inspires us all to pursue our dreams!”
Michael Sharon is returning to the Festival after a fifteen-year absence, this year to play the roles of Captain Von Trapp in The Sound of Music, as well as Professor Plum in Clue. In past seasons he has played Orsino in Twelfth Night and Tullus Aufidius in Coriolanus in 2007; Antonio in The Merchant of Venice and The Dancin’ Kid in Johnny Guitar in 2006; and Lancelot in Camelot and Theseus/Oberon in A Midsummer Night’s Dream in 2005.
He has performed off-Broadway in The Fantasticks (Jerry Orbach Theatre), The Most Happy Fella (NYCity Opera), and Happy Hunting and Josephine’s Song (The York). Regionally he has appeared across the country in theatres such as the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Folger Theatre, Los Angeles Theatre Center, Milwaukee Rep, Pioneer Theatre Company, and more. In additional he played Leontes in The Winter’s Tale at GBS Theatre in London. His training was at the University of Southern California and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.
Lisa Strum is “overjoyed to be joining the Utah Shakespeare Festival season!” In her first year at the Festival, she will be playing Mother Abbess in The Sound of Music and Goneril in King Lear. Her theatre credits are wide ranging and include work at Lincoln Center, Public Theatre, The Acting Company, Classical Theatre of Harlem, Resident Ensemble Players, Detroit Public Theatre, People’s Light, Julliard, Intiman Theatre, MECA Arts Festival (Puerto Rico), International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival (Dublin), and National Black Theatre. Television credits include Law & Order: SVU, New Amsterdam, The Blacklist, and Citizen Baines. She is a member of Actors’ Equity Association and SAG-AFTRA
Interestingly, she said, “I played Mother Abbess when I was sixteen years old in high school. To return to the character decades later is a full-circle moment!”
Ilyssa Rubin will be joining the Festival for the first time this season, appearing as Liesl in The Sound of Music, Ensemble in Sweeney Todd, and Featured Performer in The Greenshow. She has appeared at Cortland Repertory Theatre (Hermia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Hunterdon Hills Playhouse (Christmas at the Playhouse), Rider University (Margo in Bright Star), and others. She received a BFA in musical theatre from Rider University in 2021.
“I am so excited to be a part of the Festival’s 2022 season,” Rubin said. “Growing up, The Sound of Music movie was played on a constant loop at my house. I was in love with it! One of the first songs I ever worked on with a voice teacher was ‘Sixteen Going on Seventeen,’ so it . . . really is a dream come true!”
Ethan Van Slyke is also appearing at the Festival for the first time this season. He will be playing the roles of Rolf Gruber in The Sound of Music, Tobias Ragg in Sweeney Todd, and Featured Performer in The Greenshow. He has appeared in regional theares around the country, such as Arena Stage (Newsies, Watch on the Rhine, and Oliver!); Forestburgh Playhouse (Altar Boyz, You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, and And the World Goes Round); NextStep Theatre (Singin’ in the Rain); and the University of Michigan (A Midsummer Night’s Dream).
He is studying at the University of Michigan, working on a BFA in musical theatre.
Other members of the cast include:
- Lucy Austin as Ursula
- Liz Baxley as Sister Margaretta
- Andrew Fehrenbacher as Admiral Von Schreiber
- Michael Fitzpatrick as Max Detweiler
- Tim Fullerton as Herr Zeller
- Shannon Galligan-Stierle as Frau Schmidt
- Augusto Guardado as Ensemble
- Nathan Haltiwanger as Ensemble
- Luke Sidney Johnson as Baron Elberfeld
- Samantha Paredes as Ensemble
- Melinda Parrett as Elsa
- Mark Saunders as Franz
- Taylor Tveten as Sister Berthe and Baroness Elberfeld
In addition, twelve young actors will be taking on the roles of the younger children in the Von Trapp family. Each role is double cast as follows:
- Gwynn Christ and Rubey Pearson as Gretl
- Shelby Fawson and Molly Pearson as Louisa
- Liv Harter and Kate Sowards as Brigitta
- Penny Hodson and Ridley Hulse as Marta
- Mack Lawrence and Ian Wilson as Kurt
- Brooke Mellen and Joel Wilson as Friedrich
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