Cast and Creative Announced for Lyric Stage's ROAD SHOW
By: Julie Musbach Dec. 18, 2017
On his continuing journey through the works of Stephen Sondheim, director Spiro Veloudos brings us Sondheim's latest work,Road Show, the true boom-and-bust story of two of the most colorful and outrageous fortune-seekers in American history. From the Alaskan Gold Rush to the Florida real estate boom in the 1930s, entrepreneur Addison Mizner and his fast-talking brother Wilson were proof positive that the road to the American Dream is often a seductive, treacherous tightrope walk.
FEATURING:
Neil A. Casey*, Tony Castellanos*, Jordan Clark*, Shannon Lee Jones*, Robin Long*, David Makransky, Will McGarrahan*, Sean McGuirk*, Brandon Milardo, Vanessa J. Schukis*, Patrick Varner*
Scenic Design, Cristina Todesco**
Costume Design, Amanda Mujica
Lighting Design, John R. Malinowski
Sound Design, Elizabeth Cahill
*Member of Actors' Equity Association (AEA) ** United Scenic Artists, Local USA 829
?CAST:
- Neil A. Casey* Addison Mizner
- Tony Castellanos* Wilson Mizner
- Patrick Varner* Hollis
- Vanessa J. Schukis* Mama Mizner/Ensemble
- Sean McGuirk* Papa Mizner/Ensemble
- Jordan Clark* Myrna/Ensemble
- Shannon Lee Jones* Ensemble
- Will McGarrahan* Ensemble
- Robin Long* Ensemble
- David Makransky Ensemble
- Brandon Milardo Ensemble
January 12 - February 11, 2018
Wednesdays, Thursdays - 7:30pm
Wednesday matinees - 2pm, January 17 & 31
Fridays - 8pm
Saturdays - 3pm & 8pm
Sundays - 3p
Post-show Q&A with the artists: January 14 & 28, after the 3pm performance
The Lyric Stage, 140 Clarendon Street, Copley Square, Boston, MA 02116
TICKETS: Start at $25
Seniors - $10 off regular price
Student rush - $10
Group rates available
Box Office: 617-585-5678
website: lyricstage.com
JOIN THE CONVERSATION
instagram: @lyricstageboston
Road Show BIOS:
Spiro Veloudos (Director, Producing Artistic Director), now celebrating his 20th season as Producing Artistic Director of the Lyric Stage, directed Souvenir this season, and Company and Camelot last season. In previous seasons, he directed Sondheim by Sondheim, Peter and the Starcatcher, Sweeney Todd, City of Angels, Into the Woods(Independent Reviewers of New England (IRNE) Awards for Best Director, Best Musical, and Best Ensemble), One Man, Two Guvnors, Death of a Salesman (IRNE Award for Best Play),The Mikado, 33 Variations, On the Town, Avenue Q (Elliot Norton Awards for Outstanding Musical and Outstanding Ensemble, five IRNE Awards including Best Musical and Best Director), The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (Elliot Norton Award for Best Production and Best Director, five IRNE Awards including Best Director), Big River, Superior Donuts, Animal Crackers, Blithe Spirit, Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill, and Kiss Me, Kate. Spiro received the Lifetime Achievement in the Arts Award from Salem State College. He was the recipient of the 2006 Elliot Norton Prize for Sustained Excellence. During his tenure, the Lyric Stage has earned numerous awards and honors including Elliot Norton Awards for Outstanding Production (Nicholas Nickleby, Speech & Debate, Miss Witherspoon, The Old Settler), and Outstanding Musical Production (Sunday in the Park with George); IRNE Awards for Outstanding Production (Nicholas Nickleby, The Old Settler, Glengarry Glen Ross), and Outstanding Musical Production (Grey Gardens, Urinetown: The Musical, A Little Night Music, Sunday in the Park with George). His numerous directing credits at the Lyric Stage include A Little Night Music (IRNE Award for Direction), Glengarry Glen Ross (IRNE Award), Sunday in the Park with George (Best of the Year in Boston's Globe, Herald, and Phoenix; Elliot Norton and IRNE Award for direction), Assassins (Best Production of 1998: The Boston Globe), Lost in Yonkers, Never the Sinner: The Leopold and Loeb Story (Elliot Norton Award, along with Assassins), and Speed-the-Plow (Elliot Norton for Outstanding Production). Mr. Veloudos received StageSource's Theatre Hero Award (2003) and was named Best Artistic Director by Boston Magazine in 1999. He serves as the president for the Producers' Association of New England Area Theatres, and is adjunct faculty in Performing Arts at Emerson College.
Ilyse Robbins (Co-Director/Choreographer) returns to the Lyric Stage after creating the choreography for both Sondheim on Sondheim and Peter and the Starcatcher. At the Lyric Stage she directed and choreographed Working and choreographed Peter and the Starcatcher, Sondheim on Sondheim, On the Town, Avenue Q, Kiss Me Kate, Grey Gardens, Speech and Debate, Follies, Man of La Mancha, 1776, Urinetown (IRNE Award, Best Choreography), Shakespeare in Hollywood, A Little Night Music, When Pigs Fly '03, Dirty Blonde, Sunday in the Park with George, Curse of the Bambino, A my Name Is Also Alice (IRNE Award, Best Choreography), World Goes 'Round (IRNE Award, Best Choreography), She Loves Me, Never the Sinner, Assassins. Acting credits at the Lyric Stage: On the Town, Lost in Yonkers, She Loves Me, Urinetown, Shakespeare in Hollywood. Other directing credits: United Solo Festival New York City, Greater Boston Stage Company (Elliot Norton Award, Best Direction for Thoroughly Modern Millie), New Repertory Theatre, UpStage Lung Cancer, Wheelock Family Theatre Summer Youth Intensive. Other choreography credits: SpeakEasy Stage Company (IRNE Award, Best Choreography for Scottsboro Boys), Hanover Theatre, Greater Boston Stage Company (IRNE Award, Best Choreography for 42nd Street and H2$), New Rep (IRNE Award, Best Choreography for Das Barbecue), Underground Railway, Fiddlehead Theatre, Overture Productions, Jewish Theater of New England, American Stage Festival, Boston Theatre Works, Wheelock Family Theatre, Hope Repertory Theatre, Museum of Science, Publick Theatre (IRNE Award, Best Choreography for Gypsy), Boston Women on Top Festival, Liberty Mutual, Fidelity. Acting credits: Lyric Stage Company of Boston, Greater Boston Stage Company, New Rep (IRNE Award, Best Ensemble for The Wild Party), Hanover Theatre, Wheelock Family Theatre, New Arts at the Modern Theater, Fiddlehead, Reagle Players, Publick Theatre. Coming up, Ilyse will be choreographing Allegiance for SpeakEasy Stage Company. Ilyse holds a B.S. in Theater from Northwestern University and an Ed.M. from Harvard University. She teaches Musical Theatre Performance at Northeastern University and Creative Drama Ed. at Brandeis University. Ilyse is a presentation skills coach and works for Mohr Collaborative and Ovation Communication. Associate Member of SSDC. Here's to another collaboration with Spiro and Jon. ilyserobbins.com
Jonathan Goldberg (Music Director) has won four IRNE Awards for the musical direction of Lyric Stage's Kiss Me, Kate, Grey Gardens, Man of La Mancha, and A Little Night Music. Other Lyric shows include Sondheim on Sondheim, Sweeney Todd, Working, On the Town, The Mikado, Big River, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Follies, 1776, Urinetown, Sunday in the Park with George, She Loves Me, and Assassins, and the last nine seasons of the Lyric First Stage summer teen program. Jon is full-time faculty in the Musical Theatre program at Emerson College, and has been music director for Emerson Stage productions of Titanic, Guys and Dolls, Merrily We Roll Along, The Spitfire Grill, Carousel, Starting Here, Starting Now, Two Gentlemen Of Verona, Standardized Testing, She Loves Me, Man of La Mancha, Nine, Into the Woods, Illyria, City of Angels, Bat Boy, Little Women, and Assassins. Other credits include Pacific Overtures (North Shore Music Theatre) and numerous productions at Wheelock Family Theatre (most recently Billy Elliot).
Neil A. Casey* (Addison Mizner) has appeared at the Lyric Stage in When Pigs Fly, One Man Two Govners, It's All True, Assassins, Nicklas Nickelby. and Noises Off just to name a few. Other credits include The Dazzel, My Fair Lady, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, The Woman in Black (Stoneham), Hamlet, 42nd Street(NSMT), Theatre District, Take Me Out (SpeakEasy Stage). National tour: The Diary of Anne Frank. International tour: 42nd Street. B.F.A., Niagara University. M.F.A., The Shakespeare Theatre Company through George Washington University.
Tony Castellanos* (Wilson Mizner) returns to the Lyric Stage having appeared in My Fair Lady and City of Angels. Other recent work includes In the Heights (Wheelock Family Theatre), Sister Act (Arkansas Rep, Walnut Street Theatre (Philadelphia), Riverside Theatre (FL), The Drowsy Chaperone (Theatre by the Sea), Man of La Mancha(Seacoast Rep), and Jesus Christ Superstar (National Tour). Originally from Phoenix, AZ. B.F.A. in Musical Theatre, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ.
Jordan Clark* (Myrna/Ensemble) returns to the Lyric Stage where she was previously seen in Gypsy, Camelot, Mr. Burns: A Post-Electric Play, Light Up the Sky, and Death of a Salesman. Other recent credits include Mrs. Packard (Bridge Rep), Significant Other (SpeakEasy Stage), Journey to the West, Arabian Nights (Central Square Theater), The Trumpet of the Swan, Pinocchio, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon (Wheelock Family Theatre), You For Me For You, She Kills Monsters (Company One), and Blue Window (Brown Box Theatre Project). Jordan holds a degree in Vocal Performance from The University of the Incarnate Word in her hometown of San Antonio, TX.
Shannon Lee Jones* (Ensemble) returns to the Lyric Stage where she last appeared in Gypsy, and previously in Working. On Broadway: Angelique in the original La Cage aux Folles. Tours include A Chorus Line, Hello Dolly (Carol Channing), Funny Girl, and the first national tour of La Cage aux Folles. Local Credits: Billy Elliot (Ocean State Theater), Mary Poppins (Wheelock Family Theater), Carnival (Gloucester Stage), Into the Woods w/Rachel York (Reagle Music Theater),The World Goes 'Round, Cabaret (New Rep), My Fair Lady (Stoneham Theater), Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (Foothills Theater), and A Chorus Line (North Shore Music Theater). Regional: Mamma Mia, Gypsy, Hairspray, The Drowsy Chaperone, Anything Goes, and Mame (Arts Center of Coastal Carolina), Cabaret (Barrington Stage), Guys and Dolls (Long Wharf Theater). Television & Film: The Judge, Guiding Light, All My Children, and The Irving Berlin Special at Carnegie Hall. Shannon teaches the Alexander Technique at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee.
Robin Long* (Ensemble) returns to the Lyric Stage after appearing in Ain't Misbehavin'. Robin's recent area credits include Billy Elliot and Alice (Wheelock Theatre), Rent (New Rep), Shear Madness (Charles Playhouse). Other credits include Seussical the Musical, The Full Monty (Marriott Theatre), Why Do Fools Fall in Love (Milwaukee Repertory Theatre), Smokey Joe's Café (The Skylight), and Little Shop of Horrors (Straz). B.A.in Performing Arts, University of Tampa.
David Makransky (Ensemble) is making his Lyric Stage debut. Recent credits include Romeo and Juliet (Bay Colony Shakespeare Company), The Tempest, (Sterling Renaissance), Legally Blonde (Academy Playhouse), Evita, Carousel, and Servant of Two Masters (Boston College). David graduated from Boston College in May with a degree in Theatre Arts, where he worked with the Prison Arts Outreach program to bring artistic workshops to MA state prisons.
Will McGarrahan* (Ensemble) returns to the Lyric Stage where he performed in Stage Kiss, Company, Peter and the Starcatcher, Light Up the Sky, Into the Woods, Death of a Salesman, Becky's New Car, The Chosen, The Temperamentals, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Grey Gardens, November, Souvenir, and Dirty Blonde. Other local credits include The Bridges of Madison County, Casa Valentina, Big Fish, Far from Heaven, Next Fall, The Drowsy Chaperone, Reckless, Some Men, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Five By Tenn, Company, The Last Sunday in June, Elegies: A Song Cycle, Ruthless!, A Class Act, A New Brain (SpeakEasy Stage),Mame (Stoneham Theater), A Raisin in the Sun (Huntington Theatre), The Wind in the Willows and Happy Days (Gloucester Stage); Nine Circles (Publick Theatre and Gloucester Stage), The Moon For The Misbegotten, Buried Child (Nora Theater), and The Wrestling Patient (SpeakEasy Stage/Boston Playwrights/40 Magnolias). Will worked as an actor, singer, and pianist for many years in Seattle before moving to Boston's South End.
Sean McGuirk* (Papa Mizner/Ensemble) last appeared at the Lyric Stage in Urinetown, the Musical. Local performances include Much Ado About Nothing (CSC, Shakespeare on the Common), Shear Madness (Charles Playhouse) and Double Indemnity, You Never Know, Mame (Stoneham Theater), Moby Dick, an American Opera (New Rep), Casa Valentina, Company, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Caroline or Change, Adding Machine, the Musical (SpeakEasy Stage). He received an IRNE Award for A Man of No Importance (co-production Súgán Theater). Regional credits include Whaleship Essex (Vineyard Playhouse), A Christmas Carol & Red (Theater Workshop of Nantucket), A Few Good Men (Casa Mañana), A Living Room In Africa (Gloucester Stage), and Born Yesterday and Race (Ocean State Theater). Next up: Calendar Girls (Greater Boston Stage Company). seanmcguirk.com
Brandon Milardo (Ensemble) returns to the Lyric Stage, having previously appeared in City of Angels and The Mikado and as an understudy for Camelot. He has most recently appeared in The Real Inspector Hound (Bad Habit Productions), Martha, The Bartered Bride, and The Merry Wives of Windsor (Boston Midsummer Opera), Threepenny Opera and Brundibar (Commonwealth Opera), and La bohème and Dead Man Walking (Boston Opera Collaborative). He has also appeared in performances with Mssng Lnks, where he was a teaching artist.
Vanessa J. Schukis* (Mama Mizner/Ensemble) last appeared at the Lyric Stage in A Little Night Music and has had a multi-faceted career as a character mezzo, actress, standup comedian, stage director, choreographer, vocal coach, educator, author, and administrator. She has sung a wide variety of operatic, oratorio, and Broadway repertoire to great critical acclaim and has performed roles with the Boston National Company of Nunsense starring Pat Carroll and Alice Ghostley, Boston Lyric Opera, Utah Festival Opera, Opera Providence, New England Light Opera, Intermezzo Chamber Opera, Raylynmoor Opera, Wheelock Family Theater, Lyric Stage Company of Boston, New Opera and Musical Theater Initiative, Opera New England, Longwood Opera Company, Northeastern Repertory Theater, Boston Publick Theater, the Stoneham Theater, Fine Arts Chorale in Weymouth and Newton Symphony. Vanessa is known throughout New England for her role as Julia Child in Bon Appétit. Ms. Schukis has been a soloist/section leader for the historic Old North Church, Boston, Massachusetts for 30 years and continues to perform in theater, opera, and concert engagements throughout the United States and has performed in Austria. Special performances that deserve mentioning are National Anthem at a Boston Red Sox Game at Fenway, National Anthem on the U.S.S. Constitution (Old Ironsides) turn around, National Anthem at New England Dragway, Epping, NH and the National Anthem at Lebanon Valley Speedway, MA, and a televised performance with The Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Salt Lake City, UT. In addition to being a performer, Vanessa is an award-winning teacher with over thirty years experience in performing arts education focusing on students with learning disabilities and special needs. Currently Vanessa teaches music at The Murphy School, Dorchester, MA and The Harvard-Kent School in Charlestown, MA through the outreach program of The Community Music Center of Boston. In 2014, Vanessa received the MacDill award for excellence in teaching. Ms. Schukis has been member of the guest faculty at New England Conservatory, Boston, MA and visiting faculty at Longy School of Music Cambridge, MA.
Patrick Varner* (Hollis) returns to the Lyric after appearing in Sondheim on Sondheim, Buyer and Cellar, and City of Angels. Recent Credits: Merrily We Roll Along, Sundayin the Park with George, A Little Night Music (Huntington Theatre), Fiddler on the Roof, Assassins (New Rep), Dogfight (SpeakEasy Stage), Brundibar & But, the Giraffe! (Central Square Theatre), Buyer and Cellar (6th Street Playhouse). Mr. Varner holds a B.F.A. in Acting from Boston University and studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. PatrickVarnerActor.com. For Sarah.
Cristina Todesco** (Scenic Design) returns to the Lyric Stage after designing 33 Variations, The Understudy, Dead Man's Cell Phone, Grey Gardens, Three Tall Women, Arms and the Man, and A Little Night Music. Theater companies include Actors' Shakespeare Project, Boston Conservatory, Boston Playwrights, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Company One, A.R.T. Institute, Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, The Culture Project, Gloucester Stage, Huntington Theatre, Israeli Stage, Merrimack Repertory Theater, New Repertory Theater, Olney Theater Center, Poet's Theater, SpeakeasyStage, Summer Play Festival, Trinity Rep, Wheelock Family Theater, Williamstown Theater Festival, among many more. She is the recipient of four Eliot Norton Awards and one IRNE Award for Outstanding Design. She holds an M.F.A. in scenic design from BU's School of Theatre Arts, where she currently teaches.
John R. Malinowski (Lighting Design) previously designed City of Angels, Working, The Chosen, The Temperamentals, Animal Crackers, Dead Man's Cell Phone, Side Man, Communicating Doors, When Pigs Fly, and The Heiress at the Lyric Stage. Other area credits: Oceanside, Visiting Mr. Green (Merrimack Rep), Cherry Orchard, A Midsummer Night's Dream, King John, Hamlet, Julius Caesar (Actors' Shakespeare Project), Twelfth Night, Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest, As You Like It (Commonwealth Shakespeare Company), Kiss of the Spiderwoman (IRNE Award, Outstanding Lighting Design), The Seafarer, Caroline, Or Change, Take Me Out (SpeakEasy Stage), Angels in America, Parts 1 and 2 (Boston Theatre Works), St. Nicholas (A.R.T. and Súgán Theatre), Arcadia (Nora Theatre), and the first national tour of Santaland Diaries. John has received three IRNE Awards. A NEA/TCG Design Fellow (2000-2002), he earned the Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding Design (1996). He has taught lighting at Northeastern, Suffolk University, and Brandeis.
Amanda Mujica (Costume Design) returns to Lyric Stage having previously designed Stage Kiss, Intimate Apparel, and Mr Burns: A Post Electric Play. Recent theater productions include Really, An Octoroon (Company One), and Bootycandy (Speakeasy Stage). She is a Boston-based freelance costume designer and seamstress. In addition to theater, she has designed for dance, film, and opera, most recently designing Odyssey Opera's spring 2017 production of Patience B. Gilbert & Sullivan. She earned a B.S. in History from Carnegie Mellon University. amandamujicadesign.com
Elizabeth Cahill (Sound Design) returns to the Lyric Stage after designing Camelot and Warrior Class, and assistant designing Stage Kiss. Other sound design credits include The Revolutionists (The Nora), Men on Boats (SpeakEasy Stage), 'Twas The Night Before Christmas, Alligator Road (Greater Boston Stage Company), Hamlet (Brownbox Theatre Project), The Fear Project (Open Theatre Project), Sister Anonymous (Second ACT Productions), Time Stands Still (Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theatre), and Robyn is Happy (Hub Theatre). Upcoming: Familiar (A.R.T. Institute). Emerson College B.F.A. Theatre Design/Technology. Select Emerson Stage sound design credits include Caucasian Chalk Circle, Mrs. Warren's Profession, Guys and Dolls, Richard III, Edward Tulane, The Spitfire Grill. elizabethsound.com
Matt Chapuran (Managing Director) was previously Managing Director of Stoneham Theatre, where he co-produced over 70 plays, musicals, concerts, and educational productions for an annual audience that grew to over 50,000. During his tenure, Matt ran the 2010 Boston Marathon with Producing Artistic Director Weylin Symes in support of Stoneham Theatre's educational mission. At The Nora Theatre Company, Matt was Managing Director during the inception of a capital campaign that ultimately led to the construction of the Central Square Theater. Matt comes to the Lyric Stage from the Huntington Theatre Company, where he managed institutional giving. A graduate of Boston College with an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Emerson College, Matt has performed, taught, and directed improvisation for two decades, most recently as a part of Babson College's M.B.A. program, as one half of the improv team The Angriest Show in the World, and as the director of An Improvised People's History of the United States. He lives in Jamaica Plain with his wife and their three daughters.
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