Barrington Stage Announces 2020 Associate Artists: David Lander, Jeffrey Page and Alysha Umphress

Barrington Stage Company has announced the 2020 Associate Artists - lighting designer David Lander, director/choreographer Jeffrey Page and actress Alysha Umphress.

"I am tremendously excited to welcome these outstanding new Associate Artists," said Artistic Director Julianne Boyd. "Each one has made a significant contribution to the work we do at Barrington Stage. We could not have accomplished all that we have without their expertise and enthusiastic support. I am indebted to each of these artists for making Barrington Stage a more creative home for everyone who works here."

Celebrating the 10th Anniversary of its founding in 2010, the Associate Artists program's honorees include choreographer Joshua Bergasse, director Joe Calarco, costume designer Jen Caprio, music director Darren R. Cohen, actor Mark H. Dold, actress Gretchen Egolf, music director Vadim Feichtner, composer/lyricist William Finn, actor Alan H. Green, composer/lyricist Joe Iconis, actor/director Christopher Innvar, production stage manager Renee Lutz, actor Jeff McCarthy, casting director Pat McCorkle, lighting designer Scott Pinkney, scenic designer Brian Prather, director John Rando, actress Debra Jo Rupp, press director Charlie Siedenburg, playwright Mark St. Germain, actress Elizabeth Stanley, costume designer Sara Jean Tosetti, and actress Peggy Pharr Wilson.

Associate Artists are integral members of the BSC theatre family who have made extraordinary contributions to the theatre. They have helped the theatre accomplish its mission, both by collaborating on top-notch work at BSC and by fostering a close relationship with the community. Associate Artists are part of the artistic team and help by suggesting plays and musicals to be produced, by developing new work on both the Boyd-Quinson Mainstage and the St. Germain Stage and by consulting with the Artistic Director on various projects, both artistic and educational.

Associate Artist Bios

David Lander's BSC credits include Harry Clarke, Fall Springs, Gertrude and Claudius, West Side Story. Broadway: The Lightning Thief- The Percy Jackson Musical, Torch Song with Michael Urie and Mercedes Ruehl, The Heiress with Jessica Chastain, The Lyons with Linda Lavin, Master Class with Tyne Daly, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo with Robin Williams (Drama Desk Award; Tony and Outer Critics Nominations), 33 Variations with Jane Fonda (Tony and Outer Critics nominations.), I Am My Own Wife (Drama Desk and Outer Critics nominations), among others. Off Broadway: Coal Country with music by Steve Earle, The Young Man From Atlanta with Aidan Quinn, The Library directed by Steven Soderbergh with Chlöe Moretz, Too Much Sun with Linda Lavin, Fran's Bed with Mia Farrow, King Lear with Kevin Klein, Macbeth with Liev Schreiber and Jennifer Ehle, Modern Orthodox with Molly Ringwald and Jason Biggs; among others. Regional: Arena Stage, Goodman Theatre, Guthrie Theater, Hartford Stage, Huntington Theatre, Kennedy Center, La Jolla Playhouse, Mark Taper Forum, among others. International Theatre and Opera: Raunaq and Jassi the musical - a contemporary adaptation of Romeo and Juliette presented in Mumbai, Dublin, London, Melbourne, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo, among others.

Jeffrey Page's BSC credits include Company and Broadway Bounty Hunter (Berkshire Theatre Award) An Emmy Award-nominated director and choreographer, he spearheaded the 2015 and 2018 Tokyo productions of the musical Memphis, which received four Yomiuri Award nominations, including Best Musical. The first African American to be named the Marcus Institute Fellow for Opera Directing at The Juilliard School. Mr. Page won an MTV Video Music Award for his work with Beyoncé, whose creative team have included him for more than 12 years. His work was featured on Beyoncé's The Formation World Tour, in her historic Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival performance, and in two of her HBO specials. Mr. Page was the associate creative director for Mariah Carey's Sweet, Sweet Fantasy European Tour, and has been a featured choreographer on Fox Television's So You Think You Can Dance. He currently is the creative director for singer-songwriter Jazmine Sullivan, most recently working with her on the 2020 BET Soul Train Music Awards. Mr. Page was in the original, award-winning Broadway cast of Fela!. He worked alongside Tony Award-winning composer Jeanine Tesori to choreograph the hit Broadway musical Violet starring Sutton Foster (Roundabout Theatre Company). In 2016, he established Movin' Legacy as an Indianapolis-based nonprofit organization dedicated to the ethnology and documentation of contemporary and traditional dance from Africa and the African diaspora. Jeffrey holds a MFA degree, with a concentration in Theatre Directing from Columbia University in New York City, and serves as a lecturer at Harvard University and The Juilliard School. In 2019 he was awarded the Chuck Davis Emerging Choreographer Fellowship from the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Currently, as co-director and choreographer, he is working with Diane Paulus and The American Repertory Theatre at Harvard University to mount the Broadway revival of 1776.

Alysha Umphress's BSC credits include: On The Town, Funked Up Fairy Tales, The Hills are Alive, Songs by Ridiculously talented (x3) and many other concerts. Broadway: On The Town, American Idiot (OBC), On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Bring it On!. Off Broadway: Scotland, PA, Smokey Joe's Cafe (Lortel Nominee and Chita Rivera Award winner), Make Me a Song (The Music of William Finn). TV: Bonding, The Climb, Law and Order: SVU, Royal Pains, Nurse Jackie. Recordings: On The Town, Wonderful Town (Ruth) with the London Symphony Orchestra, American Idiot, Bring it On!, Fugitive Songs and I've Been Played; Alysha Umphress Swings Jeff Blumenkrantz.

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