The Festival Announces External Understudies for 2026 Season

With the 65th Season of the Utah Shakespeare Festival opening soon, there is one group of performers with a unique job. Understudies are a critical part of each production at the Festival who ensure that performances can continue should there be a reason the cast members cannot perform. 

What does it actually take to be an understudy? These performing artists study the lines, movements, staging, exits/entrances, costume changes, and if needed, music and choreography of another performer (or performers) in the event they must step in. Much of the time understudies are either in the production already as another character (or characters), or are a part of the acting company and prepare understudy roles in shows of which they are not a part of the main cast.

Actors called external understudies focus on preparing assigned understudy roles only. They are not cast in other productions this season, though they may have other positions at the Festival.

For this season, the external understudies are:

Brittni Shambaugh Addison is the understudy for Helen in Troilus and Cressida, Horatio in Hamlet, Olivia in Twelfth Night, and Miss Skillon in See How They Run. Addison earned an MFA in Directing from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. She has performed at Creede Repertory Theatre, Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival, and Cleveland Play House, among others. She is the winner of the Best Lead Performance Award from Cultural Voice of North Carolina for her performance as Narrator in Every Brilliant Thing. 

Nick Case is understudying Menelaus/Pandarus/Myrmidon in Troilus and Cressida and Lionel Toop/Bishop of Lax in See How They Run. Case teaches at UNLV where he recently earned an MFA in acting. Performing credits include productions at Nevada Conservatory Theatre, Fulton Theatre, Interlakes Theatre, and APEX Theatre Studio, among others.  

Kristina C. Harding is the understudy for Agamemnon/Ulysses in Troilus and Cressida and Gertrude in Hamlet. Previously at the Festival, she performed in Pericles and The Comedy of Errors, and understudied roles in Silent Sky and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. She has also performed with American Crossroads Theatre, Hoosier Shakespeare, Women of Will, and Kayenta Center for the Arts. 

Molly Pearson will understudy Ida/Penelope in See How They Run. She was previously seen at the Festival as Louisa in The Sound of Music and at Tuacahn Ampitheatre in The Hunchback of Notre Dame. She is currently pursuing a BFA in musical theatre at Southern Utah University, where she performed in Alice By Heart, The Anastasia Trials in the Court of Women, and Pippin. 

Giuseppe Michael Pipicella is understudying Percy/Victor/Byron/Creature in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Will/Rob in The Book Club Play. He recently performed in the Festival’s Shakespeare in the Schools tour of The Comedy of Errors. He has also performed with Montana Shakespeare in the Parks, Orlando Shakespeare Theater, and Wisconsin Shakespeare Festival, among others. He teaches at the University of Central Florida where he also earned an MFA in acting. 

Patrick Vest will understudy Priam/Nestor in Troilus and Cressida, Ghost/Polonius in Hamlet, Malvolio in Twelfth Night, and Man in See How They Run. He was previously seen at the Festival in Antony and Cleopatra, As You Like It, Macbeth, Henry VIII, and Much Ado About Nothing. He earned an MFA in acting from Alabama Shakespeare Festival and has also performed at Rubicon Theatre, Laguna Playhouse, and Asolo Rep, among many others. 

The Festival’s 65th season runs June 18 through October 3, and includes Shakespeare’s Troilus and Cressida, Hamlet, and Twelfth Night, along with the Tony Award-winning musicals Something Rotten! and She Loves Me, the hilarious farce See How They Run, the bold reimaginig of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, and the contemporary comedy The Book Club Play. For tickets and information, visit bard.org or call 800-PLAYTIX.